Blog | Fantastic Fest

When it reigns, it pours

Brad — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 19:25:13 +0000

Two simple if nihilistic words uttered by one self-disemboweling fox in Lars von Trier’s ANTICHRIST have the cultural momentum to become THE catchphrase of the decade and, God willing, one hell of a self-fulfilling revelation.

Vulture, New York Magazine’s culture blog, picked up on the story, and once again our beloved Fantastic Fest and Mondo Tees have been inextricably tied to the phenomenon.

Read the whole article here.

CHAOS REIGNS!!

Fantastic Fest rallying cry “Chaos Reigns” voted catch-phrase of the century by VARIETY

Lars — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 17:17:51 +0000

If you were at Fantastic Fest this year, or even connected electronically to anyone who was at Fantastic Fest, you got a steady dose of “Chaos Reigns!” Everyone was yelling it, tweeting it, getting tattoos of it, wearing T-shirts with it emblazoned across their chests. Mondo Tees has sold over 80 million “Chaos Reigns” T-shirts already.

But what the hell does “Chaos Reigns” mean? I guess you’ll have to wait until Lars Von Trier’s devastating mind-whammy ANTICHRIST hits your screen – it hits ours on 11/20 - to find out. Suffice to say, you will not be disappointed in either the film or the bizarre context of the line itself.

What’s almost weirder than the movie is the fact that VARIETY, a fairly respected entertainment trade publication, has published a story about the “Chaos Reigns” phenomenon. It started at Fantastic Fest and it’s now projected to engulf the world like a super-tsunami – the perfect catch-phrase.

We’ve done our part. Now it’s up to you to do yours.

Japanese Videos from Fantastic Fest

tim — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 09:59:16 +0000

One of my personal highlights of the festival this year was the squadron of Japanese guests from Robo Geisha and Vampire Girl vs. Frankenstein Girl. From judging Samurai Calls to shooting machine guns to improvising a Michael Jackson Dirty Diana Pole Dance (above) these guys really sunk their teeth into the festival, made the most of the week and heightened everyone’s experience with their contagious enthusiasm.

Special thanks to Marc Walkow from New York Asian Film Festival for both hosting the crew and posting the videos to youtube!

Samurai Call Competition:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BDoBkwWOb_k

Japan party pole dance:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=deAATThKGkA

Nishimura-Iguchi karaoke
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QrvISOTDkZk

Cay-Asami karaoke
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y17v2IOAfDY

Michael Jackson pole dance:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sjHTkFHE5r8

PARANORMAL LEAVES NO SMALL TOWN BEHIND!

tim — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 07:52:54 +0000

Just got this release from our pals over at Paramount Pictures. I’ve been pretty intrigued by their promotional campaign for PARANORMAL ACTIVITY. It’s a very unique film and is being handled in a suitably unique way… and the buzz is spreading. If you have friends in other towns, get them to contact Paramount below to bring the film to their hometown. – Tim

PARANORMAL LEAVES NO SMALL TOWN BEHIND!

Thrilled by the growing fan demand and sold-out shows for PARANORMAL ACTIVITY across the country, Paramount is dedicated to YOU in bringing the film to its growing audience.

We are committed to releasing the film nationwide in every city, big or small, as soon as 1 MILLION demands are reached.

In addition, one lucky fan will be selected from the list of many demanding the film to receive a VIP screening of PARANORMAL ACTIVITY in their home town with the film’s director/writer/producer Oren Peli.

The 12 new markets where the film will open this weekend due to your demands so far at www.Eventful.com/ParanormalActivity are:

Boston, Charlotte, Cincinnati, Cleveland, El Paso, Hampton Roads metro area, Indianapolis, Kansas City, Pittsburgh, Portland, Salt Lake City, and Toronto.

College students represented an overwhelmingly large percentage of the film’s online demands. In response, Paranormal Activity will open at the University of Massachusetts Amherst as a special thank you to the college audience.

For a list of theaters playing PARANORMAL ACTIVITY visit the official site at http://www.ParanormalMovie.com

Thank YOU for the continued support – your voice is being heard!

Every demand counts in releasing PARANORMAL ACTIVITY nationwide.

PARANORMAL ACTIVITY not playing in your area?

DEMAND IT! Bring it to your city by reaching the 1 MILLION demands mark.

www.Eventful.com/ParanormalActivity

Closing Night Party Tonight: A Bloody Good Time!

AdamSweeney — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 21:30:36 +0000

Alas, the end of Fantastic Fest has come. Hopefully you will be attending the Daybreakers screening tonight at 9:45, starring Willem Dafoe Ethan Hawke and Isabel Lucas. It’s at the South Lamar Alamo and writers/directors Michael and Peter Spierig will be in attendance.

The year is 2019. A mysterious plague has swept over the earth, transforming the majority of the world’s population into vampires. Humans are now an endangered, second-class species – forced into hiding as they are hunted and farmed for vampire consumption to the brink of extinction. It’s all up to Edward Dalton, a vampire researcher who refuses to feed on human blood, to perfect a blood substitute that might sustain vampires and spare the few remaining humans. But time and hope are running out – until Ed meets Audrey, a human survivor who leads him to a startling medical breakthrough. Armed with knowledge that both humans and vampires will kill for, Ed must battle his own kind in a deadly struggle that will decide the fate of the human race. Daybreakers opens nationwide on January 8, 2010. Special thanks to Lionsgate for arranging this event.

After you’ve had your fill of vampire slaying, come by The Highball for the Closing Night Party. It’s a vampire’s ball so come dressed as your favorite vampire, maybe even your favorite vampire slayer. We’re going to dance and drink until the sun comes up. Take that, Stephenie Meyer. (We won’t judge if you come as shimmering bloodsucker that plays high school baseball.)

Samurai Call Championship

Zack — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 04:38:49 +0000

At the Meet the Japanese Party, we recreated the Samurai Call competition as seen in the Fantastic Fest film TOKYO ONLYPICS 2008. The competition is, well….see for yourself. Here’s a highlight reel:

Also, check out these other awesome videos from the party:

Sake, Shochu and Karaoke: Meet the Japanese! party w/ the Tengu Twins
Samurai Call Contest

SAAAAMMMMUUUUURRRAAIIIIII!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1!1!!

Fantastic Debates: Tim League v. Uwe Boll

Zack — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 04:29:09 +0000

The Fantastic Debates are always some of the most fun moments of the festival. This year was no different, as we got to see Alamo founder Tim League beat up director Uwe Boll in a series of rounds that left the German filmmaker begging for mercy. Check out these videos for proof.

And a little bonus:

RAMBO 101 Photos

Zack — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 04:23:12 +0000

On Monday, we went out shooting guns. No, not lame shotguns, although we did spend a day last week spraying the old buckshot. This time we stepped it up, and performed one of Texas’ greatest, and most dangerous, past times. We went out shooting fully-automatic machine guns. And Lord was it glorious.

As Woody Harrelson said in ZOMBIELAND, “Thank God for Rednecks.”

Check here for evidence of the insanity.

G4’s ATTACK OF THE SHOW attacks Fantastic Fest!

Matt — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 19:23:30 +0000

We were especially excited to have G4 on board at Fantastic Fest this year, not only as sponsors of the festival, but also to cover the fest and as our partners in the “Uwe Boll Totally Awesome Videogames Filmmaking Competition presented by G4 and Fantastic Fest” (entries are now available to view online). G4 spent much of the festival covering the special events, secret screenings and outright craziness that is Fantastic Fest, and on Monday night, they even brought in “Attack of the Show” hosts Olivia Munn and Kevin Pereira (along with Uwe Boll himself) to present Joseph Graham, the winner of the “Totally Awesome Videogames Competition” with their trophy/beer mug; Olivia Munn also did double duty by sitting on the jury for Best Animated Short (which went to Don Hertzfeld’s I AM SO PROUD OF YOU), and allowed Graham to hump her leg. All in all, their visit was a raging success.

Check out the footage below, and watch “Attack of the Show” tonight for more on Fantastic Fest 2009!

Video Games – E3 2009 – Attack of the Show

Thanks to all our friends at G4 for their support of Fantastic Fest!

Breasts, Crooks and Avatars – oh my!

Tinch — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 15:38:45 +0000

The Bare Breasted Countess Wed, Sep 30, 6:45 PM
The screen action, such as it is, is a pas de deux between Lina Romay’s Countess Irina Karlstein, a vampire who extracts the love juice of her victims, and Franco regular Jack Taylor’s Baron von Rathony, who feels imperceptibly drawn to the Countess until they are finally together in the most intimate way possible. Structured as a surreal tone poem accompanied by the unforgettable music of Daniel White, this is a film like no other.
A limited number of tickets are available to the general public. Click here to buy.

New Wave – Best Feature Winner: Down Terrace Wed, Sep 30, 9:15 PM
In 2007, the people behind the venerable Mondo Macabro DVD label released their first feature film production: a Pakistani gore film called HELL’S GROUND. Now, Mondo Macabro Movies has made a 180 degree turn with DOWN TERRACE, a darkly comedic drama from Britain about the daily travails of a family of crooks trying to keep their criminal enterprise from falling apart.
Click here for tix

Avatar Sneak Preview Footage Wed, Sep 30, 9:45 PM
One of the highlights of the Fantastic Fest 3D program will be a screening of exclusive footage from James Cameron’s AVATAR with producer Jon Landau in person to participate in a Q&A with Harry Knowles of Ain’t It Cool News. AVATAR footage courtesy of Twentieth Century Fox.
Click here for tix

Human Centipede (First Sequence) Wed, Sep 30, 11:55 PM
Tom Six’s The Human Centipede (First Sequence) is an insane biological horror film that enthusiastically explores territory that few filmmakers dare to tread. In The Human Centipede, Dr. Heiter (Dieter Laser) is a leering, sepulchral surgeon from Germany whose specialty is separating Siamese twins. Dr. Heiter decides to evolve his craft by sewing together living beings together at the “mucous-cutaneous zone” (guess) in order to create Siamese triplets with a single digestive system.
Click here to buy tix

The Double 3D Dance Party Wed, Sep 30, 11:55 PM at The Highball
Following the AVATAR presentation, Fantastic Fest will present a groundbreaking 3-D Film & Interactive Party, presented by RealD and 3DFF. The event will feature multiple 3-D displays and projection screens that will showcase 3-D interactive experiences, in addition to a 3-D Dance Floor Exhibit. By the end of this party, your senses will be completely ravaged.

Also be sure to check out Fantastic 2009 photos on Flickr and videos on YouTube.