on my fest behavior

one of my favorite weeks of the year, fantastic fest, will be upon us in just a few more days, so i thought i would give you guys a rundown of some of the things i am looking forward to most. my schedule is limited, so i am going to stick mainly with discussing things that i am potentially going to get to see.

saturday, 9.24.11, is going to be the first day that i get to really attend the festival in earnest and that morning is kicking off with a kids club screening of byron haskins' war of the worlds (1953). very excited about this one. never seen it on the big screen and this science fiction classic will be a nice way to ease into things before the full-tilt madness begins.

we will be going from the end of one world to the end of another with lars von trier's melancholia (2011). i approach this one with some trepidation, but after the unforgettable experience that antichrist (2009) was a couple of fantastic fests ago, i figure it's worth a shot. if nothing else, it appears to be beautifully photographed.

the rest of the evening is most likely going to be dictated by the size of the crowd. being badgeless, i anticipate difficulty getting into the screening of an american werewolf in london (1981), as revolutionary makeup artist rick baker will be in attendance. ditto for the more high-profile fest entry you're next (2011) with director adam wingard doing q & a afterward. fortunately for me, laurent achard's last screening (2011) looks to be flying under the radar with its intriguing mixture of french arthouse sensibilities and italian giallo tendencies, all while ruminating on the role of cinema in our lives, something i like to do a fair bit.

sunday, 9.25.11, starts with tomasz thomson's blackly comic snowman's land (2011).

following that, we have the return of a film that hasn't lost a single high-octane step in the decade or so since its original release, ryuhei kitamura's versus (2000). lead performer tak sagaguchi and writer yudai yamaguchi wii be in attendance for this one.

which brings us to my first absolute must-see on the schedule, jeff nichols' haunting take shelter (2011). michael shannon is the best actor working today that almost everyone is unfamiliar with and i have high hopes for this one. if there is one film during the week that i wish i could convince everyone to see, this is it.

hoping to close things down sunday night with hong kong action. throughout the week, they are screening a surprise roster of hong kong exploitation classics from the early eighties/late nineties and i am crossing my fingers that they won't be filled to capacity.

monday evening kicks off early with a screening of jiang wen's let the bullets fly (2010) which i recently featured in this installment of trailer tuesday. after a brief dinner break, i am shooting for a second round of the hong kong mystery movies. closing out the monday festivities will be the midnight madness of lucio fulci's house by the cemetery (1981)

tuesday evening begins with the second effort from nacho vigalondo, extraterrestrial (2011). i thoroughly enjoyed his debut feature, timecrimes (2007) and look forward to seeing what he does next. he will be in attendance along with producer nahikari ipiña for q & a after the film. following that, i will probably forego a third round of hong kong in favor of justin kurzel's snowtown (2011), which appears to be just the latest in a growing line of staggeringly powerful australian crime films. no one is doing it better than them right now.

i know it's a longshot, but i am going to try to get in to the 100 best kills event to close out tuesday evening.

barring any unforeseen openings in my work/band schedule, that looks like the extent of what i will be able to catch. of course, as with most festivals, plans B and C will probably come into play, but if you're interested in seeing any of these with me, just let me know. i guarantee a good time. fantastic fest never disappoints.