Fantastic Fest has announced its full 2010 short films lineup, including over 40 genre-bending selections from around the world. The festival has amassed the ultimate array of cool, twisted, beautiful, mind-bending, horrifying and hilarious short films. The best short films can pack in more emotion, laughs adrenaline, creativity and flat-out insanity than a million big-budget blockbusters. Or they can show you something so ambitiously horrendous that you beg for mercy.

FANTASTIC FEST 2010 SHORT FILM LINEUP

5 Minute Dating
Canada, Director: Peter Hatch
A dating service where anyone can find their soul mate.

12 Years
Germany, Director: Daniel Nocke
We’re not the only species that needs to endure the wrenching pain of relationships gone sour.

The Astronomer’s Sun
UK, Director: David Bunting
Lovely animated story about a boy and his bear and the secrets of the universe

Atomic Hubbub
UK, Director: Stephen Irwin
Here’s the newest way to enjoy mankind’s impending self-apocalypse.

Barcelona Venecia
Spain, Director: David Muñoz
When you’ve accidentally slipped through a wormhole, you’d better hope your guide isn’t a jackass.

By Night
Germany, Director: Juan DiazB
A man copes with the pain of life through a very unusual medium: snow globes.

Careful with that Crossbow
New Zealand, Director: Jason Stutter
Two children engage in a seemingly innocent game of William Tell.

Culebra
US, Director: Sean Carter
In the desert between the US and Mexico, there are more terrifying things to watch out for than the border guards.

Deus Irae
Argentina, Director: Pedro Cristiani
Exorcism. It’s a dirty job, but someone’s got to do it.

Fard
France, Director: David Alapont and Luis Briceño
A civilization built on the idea that “What you don’t see doesn’t exist” is severely disturbed when a man opens a mysterious package.

El Fin Del Mundo
Spain, Director: Alberto Gonzales
President Reagan has an extremely important message for us.

Giant
UK, Director: Yann Benedi
A bittersweet introduction to the not-so-human condition.

The Importance of Awards in Advertising
US, Director: Jim Hosking
A concise, informative, hairy and fairly nude introduction to the world of big business.

Interview
Germany, Director: Sebastian Marka
A journalist scores an interview with a notorious and so far uncaptured serial killer.

It’s Me, Helmut
Switzerland/Germany, Director: N. Steiner
Happy birthday! Your entire life was squandered and you’ll die alone!

Jaulas
Mexico, Director: Juan Jose Medina
A man treads across a post-apocalyptic landscape carrying a bitter, vengeful burden.

King Chicken
Canada, Director: Nicolas Bolduc
Even the most ridiculous, lonely people can find romance. Wait. No. Probably not.

King Jeff
UK, Director: Phil Dale
Two costumed medieval wannabes are forced to face off against all-too-real foes.

The Legend of Beaver Dam
Canada, Director: Jerome Sable
A bloodthirsty campfire terror legend goes…musical?

Music for One Apartment and Six Drummers
Sweden, Director: Johannes Stjärne Nilsson and Ola Simonsson
Percussion reaches bold new heights in this brilliantly unique tale of urban paradiddles and ratamacues.

My Invisible Friend
Spain, Director: Pablo Larcuen
A semi-catatonic young man is finally able to reach beyond his world of porn and video games thanks to his first and only friend: an alien fish-man.

Ninjas
Brazil, Director:  Dennison Ramalho
Emotionally tortured after accidentally shooting a child, a policeman is offered a brutal shot at redemption.

Off Season
USA/UK, Director: Jacob Jaffke
A burglar and his dog navigate seasonally abandoned houses, and find someone is committing much more terrible crimes.

One Man and His Dog
UK, Director: Jonathan Hopkins
An interstellar would-be savior stumbles across a violent flim-flam man. Hijinks ensue.

Only Son
New Zealand, Director: thedownlowconcept
A young man receives unwanted dating advice from his dead father.

La Petit Mort
Germany, Director: Jan Gallasch
This nurse does not abide by the Hippocratic Oath.

Piano Man
USA, Director: Andrew Wilding
It’s the perfect crime…what could possibly go wrong?

Picnic
Sweden, Director: Henrik Andersson
A happy couple enjoying a gorgeous summer day together is unprepared for the difficulties that attack their peaceful life.

La Piñata
Spain, Director: Manuel Arija
A street performer draws a tremendous crowd, including a young lady who may regret watching.

Pixels
France, Director: Patrick Jean
A full-scale invasion from the 8-bit dimension!!!

Protoparticles
Spain, Director: Chema Garcia Ibarra
Life is hard. Life in a hermetically sealed space suit is nearly impossible.

Renegades
USA, Director: Jim Hosking
Two tragic friends enter a world of weaponry, nudity and cake shaped like a clown’s head.

Le Rescape du Hippocampe
France, Director: Julien Lecat
A woman enters the deepest recesses of her friend’s brain to help him get back on track.

Rise of the Living Corpse
Canada, Director: Chris Walsh
Rotting flesh breaks soil and the fun begins. The shortest short in FF history.

Rosenhill
Sweden, Director: Johan Lundborg and Johan Storm
A lovable grandmother is certain that her nursing home caretakers are murderous maniacs. She’s right.

Sasquatch Birth Journal 2
USA, Director:  The Zellner Brothers
An unprecedented peek at the mysteries of nature.

Seed
Czech Republic/UK/USA, Director: Ben Richardson and Daniel Bird
Birth. Junk. Expansion. Technology. Death. Usually in that order.

Sorry…I Love You
Spain, Director: Leticia Dolera
A shy, possibly non-human man ends up working with a girl who makes his heart — or something else in his chest — go pitter-pat.

St. Christophorus: Roadkill
Germany, Director: Gregor Erler
With the help of some corrupt cops, a man driving through the forest of Germany has the worst goddamn night in history.

Stranger Hero
USA, Director: Stephen Carolan
Prepare to witness the power of the ultimate warrior of the lost world: Stranger Hero!!

Teclópolis
Argentina, Director: Javier Mrad
Impossible landscapes created by everyday objects. Hypnotic and perfect.

To My Mother and Father
UK, Director: Can Evrenol
A nightmarish example of a practical joke gone awry.

Uncle Jack
USA, Director: Jamin Winans
A very special uncle soothes his nephew with a very special bedtime story.

Unholy Night
Sweden, Director: Arni Jonsson
Original Icelandic legend provides for 13 Santa Clauses, each of whom arrive in succession on different nights.  But their Santas aren’t as benevolent as ours, and tonight is the night for the one they call “Meathook.”

United Monster Talent Agency
USA, Director: Greg Nicotero
You’re likely already familiar with the classic monster films of Hollywood’s golden age. Now, learn how tough it was to get those monsters to behave on camera!

Vision
UK, Director: Jamie Hooper
A young woman receives a mysterious DVD in the post.  She soon comes to realize that pressing “play” was a bad mistake.

Voltage
Brazil, Director: Filippe Lyra and William Paiva
A crew of robots teaches us lousy humans how it’s really done.

Wisdom Teeth
USA, Director: Don Hertzfeldt
The latest hilarious heart wrecker from unstoppable animation force Don Hertzfeldt!

Yuri
Switzerland, Director: Cécile Brun, Katja Schiendorfer, Immanuel Wagner and Nils Hedinger
An astronaut wanders the spaceways in search of new life. When something shows up…he’s at a loss.

And if you don’t catch these shorts before one of our features, you’ll have a chance to see some of them in our shorts programs:

DRAWN & QUARTERED: Animated Shorts
It’s been said that animation isn’t just for kids anymore. Well, that’s ESPECIALLY the case at Fantastic Fest. We’ll be showcasing all aspects of genre entertainment in animated form, some of which will make you laugh, and some of which will make your bodily functions shut down entirely.
12 YEARS
ATOMIC HUBBUB
THE ASTRONOMERS SUN
FARD
GIANT
JAULAS
PIXELS
RISE OF THE LIVING CORPSE
SEED
TECLOPOLIS
VOLTAGE
WISDOM TEETH
YURI

Short Fuse! Severe Fantastic Fest Shorts
The best short films can pack in more adrenaline, creativity and flat-out insanity than a million big-budget blockbusters. Or they can show you something so ambitiously horrendous that you beg for mercy. Your intrepid Fantastic Fest programmers have scoured the international celluloid goldmines for the most skull-bursting, taste-annihilating and eyeball-destroying shorts in existence, and this program is truly the mother load.
DEUS IRAE
THE LEGEND OF BEAVER DAM
INTERVIEW
NINJAS
OFF SEASON
ROSENHILL
TO MY MOTHER AND FATHER

Fantastic Fest has scoured the globe for the very best in action, horror, science fiction, fantasy to the truly bizarre in contemporary cinema for your viewing pleasure. Look for more announcements in the final weeks before the festival, including information on our gala events, parties and AMD Next Wave filmmakers in attendance.

Fantastic Fest is the film festival with the boring parts cut out. Miss this one and your regrets will agonize you for years to come. You have been warned.

For the latest developments visit Fantastic Fest Facebook & Twitter.

It’s not easy making traditional films: you have to manage a budget, deal with high maintenance actors, choreograph dangerous special effects, secure locations, convince the owner of a local pizzeria to donate something to the craft services table. That’s just the tip of the iceberg.  Enter the ever-developing genre known as Machinima, where all of those concerns are a thing of the past.  Machinima is a relatively new way of filmmaking that utilizes the technology that is already built into videogames and re-purposes it for endless creative possibilities.

Rather than bug all of your friends to dress up like zombies- why not use the zombies from Left 4 Dead?  Rather than have an emaciated little girl tracking bloody footprints everywhere- why not just use Alma Wade from F.E.A.R.? Machinima gives the creators complete control of a virtual world that otherwise would be unattainable.  Day by day, it is becoming a more widely accepted medium. Click HERE for more information about the genre.

This year, Fantastic Fest proudly unveils a new branch of the festival dubbed Fantastic Arcade and one of the many ways we are integrating the two is thru our 48-hr Machinima Filmmaking Challenge.  We will provide registered teams with a prompt and a genre on Friday September 10th and give teams until Sunday the 12th to let their imaginations run wild and try their hand at taking home the prizes and the glory.  Let’s face it- this is a much more fun weekend project than finishing that fence in the backyard.

We’ll be giving away over $4,000 worth of prizes from our partners at Dell as well as a fantastic amount of glory. The first place team receives a Dell XPS 7100 PC including Eyefinity triple-monitor capability and hardware, plus 3 graphics cards ($ 2,500 value) and the second place team receives a Dell Inspiron M501R notebook and three graphics cards ($1,500 value)! In addition to the outlandish prizes for the best productions, the fine folks at Rooster Teeth will be recognizing excellence in Machinima acting! The winner of the Best Actor/Actress award will have a chance to perform their very own walk-on role in an upcoming Red vs Blue episode!

For more information and to register for this FREE filmmaking challenge, click HERE !

“Black Francis’s GOLEM” a Starving Art world premiere art and film event in collaboration with Alamo Drafthouse Rolling Roadshow.

Black Francis, the musical-genius frontman of highly influential alt-rock band The Pixies, has created a new score for the German Expressionist silent masterpiece DER GOLEM. A recording of this new film score will be spun along with the movie at the Starving Art Drive-in. Accompanying the music/film presentation, Francis’s related art work will be on display at the Starving Art Gallery.

“A silent classic and an exemplary specimen of German expressionist cinema, DER GOLEM is set in 16th century Prague. A rabbi fashions a proto–Frankenstein’s monster, sculpted from rough clay and brought to life through sorcery, to protect the Jewish ghetto from a Christian emperor’s decree that it be dissolved. Through means both surprising and charming, the creature manages to stave off the wrath of the emperor and his court. But it eventually goes haywire, as the rabbi’s jealous assistant turns the golem toward evil. A true juggernaut, the golem destroys everything in its path.

The last in a trilogy of films on the golem myth, all cowritten and codirected by Paul Wegener, The Golem depicts the labyrinthine ghetto as a baroque and anxious world of secrets and magic capable of producing amazing discoveries as well as horrific power. Wegener, who had a long career as an actor, plays the title character with odd grace. Photographed by master cinematographer Karl Freund (METROPOLIS, THE LAST LAUGH, DRACULA), the film…remains visually stunning.” (Sean Uyehara, San Francisco Film Festival)

The location: Starving Art and EAT – 2326 East Cesar Chavez, Austin
Starving Art Studios and EAT Park and Eatery. A place where people can see, take part of, purchase and even eat, some of the unique creative aspects of Austin, Texas. We have brought together various aspects of our creative community into one place so that people can come and enjoy.

Check out this great article about STARVING ART in Austin360 this week!

Friday, September 3, Rolling Roadshow Presentation at Starving Art and Eat, 8pm. Be there.

Austin’s favorite sci-fi radio thriller comes to life in a entirely new form! Three actors once again portray a variety of characters as sludge-monsters from the Planet Zygon invade the earth. Only this time, their adventures are accompanied by more 1200 drawings by graphic wizard Tim Doyle, projected on the Long Center’s huge screen and accompanied by Graham Reynolds’ original score.

Friday, Sept. 3 and Saturday, Sept. 4 at 8 PM at the Long Center for the Performing Arts.

If you didn’t happen upon performances of selected chapters of THE INTERGALACTIC NEMESIS before screenings at South Lamar, let me clue you in to all the hub-bub. THE INTERGALACTIC NEMESIS is a graphic novel serial performed LIVE. Three actors perform dozens of characters. One Foley artist creates hundreds of sounds. One keyboardist plays thousands of notes. All while more than 1000 hand-drawn full-color high-resolution mind-blowing multiply-hyphenated comic-book images blast from the screen.

“When a Pulitzer-winning reporter and her intrepid assistant stumble across a mysterious map, they uncover what might just be the story of the century: an invasion of sludge-monsters from the planet Zygon. With the help of a librarian from Flagstaff AZ, our heroes race against time to defeat Mysterion the Magnificent and his minions before they destroy Earth forever.”

You’ve seen chapters at various shows at the Drafthouse over the past year. Now see it all come together for a glorious performance at the Long Center this weekend. Don’t Miss It!

The 6th annual Fantastic Fest will honor director and master fight choreographer Yuen Woo Ping with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the world premiere of his new martial arts fantasy True Legend, starring Vincent Zhao (Fong Sai Yuk, Dragon Gets Angry) Zhou Xun (The Emperor and the Assassin, Suzhou River) with Michelle Yeoh (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon) and the late David Carradine (Kill Bill), on Saturday, September 25, 2010 at The Paramount Theatre in Austin, TX. The film will play as part of a double feature with Snake in the Eagle’s Shadow, Yuen Woo Ping’s directorial debut and the film that put action legend, Jackie Chan on the map. Fantastic Fest will play host to Yuen Woo Ping’s first U.S. festival appearance.

If you’ve ever walked out of a movie theatre after watching a martial arts film and left your jaw on the floor, your eyes were probably dazzled by the fight choreography of filmmaker, Yuen Woo Ping. Gods of kung fu—Jackie Chan, Stephen Chow, Jet Li, Donny Yen and Michelle Yeoh—have all had their impressive abilities molded into a cinematic language of fist-pounding aerial artistry at the hands of Yuen Woo Ping. His work headlines the top fight sequence lists of all time from films like The Matrix trilogy, Kill Bill Vol. 1 & 2, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Iron Monkey, Drunken Master, Once Upon a Time in China, Fist of Legend and Kung Fu Hustle.

“We are thrilled to have a filmmaker of Mr. Yuen’s incredible talent and filmography attend our festival to accept the Lifetime Achievement Award,” says Fantastic Fest co-founder Tim League. “A large part of our programming at Fantastic Fest is devoted to a genre of which Mr. Yuen represents the pinnacle of quality.”

Tickets for the Gala Screening of True Legend will go on sale Wednesday, September 8 at NOON CST on the Fantastic Fest official site.

True Legend (2010)
World Premiere, Hong Kong, director: Yuen Woo Ping
Yuen Woo Ping, legendary director and martial arts choreographer, brings TRUE LEGEND, an epic tale of Su Can, Master of the Drunken Fist.

A well-respected martial arts teacher and a good husband and father, Su Can’s journey begins when his vengeful brother, Yuan, returns from war. Seeking revenge from a dark family history, Yuan, armed with the Five Venom Fist, destroys Su Can’s family and dignity. Reduced to a beggar, Su Can finds apprenticeship from Lord Wushu and adapts to a new form of martial arts, the Drunken Fist. At peace with himself, he regains his strength to reclaim his life and returns home to claim retribution and his family honor. Good versus evil, two skilled rivals battle to become the ultimate warrior.

Snake in the Eagle’s Shadow (1978)
Hong Kong, director: Yuen Woo Ping
As a director and action choreographer, Yuen Woo Ping is identified with the ‘new school’ of kung fu. But just as a jazz musician must master the standards before he can take off on wild harmonic flights, Yuen had to earn his diploma from the old school before he could tear down the walls. Think of this movie as his graduate thesis. It’s similar to the Shaw Brothers training films so popular at the time, but there are crucial differences in humor and attitude. Jackie Chan, at his acrobatic best, stars as an orphan who ekes out a Dickensian existence as the janitor and human punching bag at a kung fu school. When he sees an old beggar (played to sheer perfection by Yuen Woo Ping’s father, Siu Tien Yuen) being roughed up by bill collectors, he jumps in to help. The old man, actually a great martial arts master, is touched by the gesture but appalled by the terrible kung fu so he takes the boy on as a disciple, teaching him the Snake Fist boxing style. Unfortunately, the master of the Eagle Claw style, played by phenomenal high-kicker Hwang Jang Lee, has vowed to eradicate the Snake Fist style and all its practitioners from the Earth, which spices things up considerably. The kung fu fights here are among the best you’ll ever see, with some staggering moves you won’t believe. Best of all, it’s entertaining from beginning to end.

Fantastic Fest has scoured the globe for the very best in action, horror, science fiction, fantasy to the truly bizarre in contemporary cinema for your viewing pleasure. Look for more announcements in the weeks to come, including information on our gala events, parties and AMD Next Wave filmmakers in attendance.

Fantastic Fest is the film festival with the boring parts cut out. Miss this one and your regrets will agonize you for years to come. You have been warned.

For photos of the announced films, visit this page.

For more photos from Fantastic Fest, visit our Flickr page.

For the latest developments visit Fantastic Fest Facebook & Twitter.

As mentioned in the last Badass Beer post, we have indeed gone to two Badass Bottles, but we lost one Badass Draft in the process. However, there’s a light on the horizon, a silver lining around the cloud, one door closes etc.

The reason for losing the draft is that summer is drawing to a conclusion. Now, all things are relative, and although we’re still experiencing near-100° temperatures and Austin’s hottest recorded temperature (112F/44.44C) happened in September, the fact is that we’re only three weeks away from the autumnal equinox, and to friends of John Barleycorn that means one thing – autumn seasonals! Yesterday (Monday), Live Oak rolled out the first kegs this year’s Oaktoberfest and it is delicious. I had me a few pints while watching Get Low, a film I highly recommend. We also tapped a keg of Sam Adams’ autumn seasonal, and there’ll be more Oktoberfests to follow in the coming weeks, including a Badass Oktoberfest draft or two. Stay tuned for details.

If sweet, malty German brews aren’t to your taste, we also have New Belgium Hoptober on tap. As the name suggests, it’s a hop-forward beer – a golden ale, moderately – but noticeably – hopped, possessing a decent malt balance and without too many IBUs (40, to be exact).

This weekend we tapped (and it’s our current Badass Draft) the first of two kegs of (512)’s descriptively-named TWO. The name is appropriate not just because this is their second anniversary brew, but also because it’s a double IPA, and a damn fine one. It is, and I quote, “…heavily hopped with over 4 lbs/bbl of Simcoe, Magnum, Nugget and Ahtanum. This is a big, malty ale with delicate hop aroma, complex hop flavor and sustained smooth hop bitterness. Hops are added from beginning to end during the brewing process and, like most (512) ales, this one is made using over 80% USDA certified organic ingredients.” Kevin and Nate have knocked out another good one, I reckon. If TWO is a double IPA, dare we hope that THREE will be a tripel?

So, what about that new Badass Bottle to partner the North Coast Le Merle Saison? This is an interesting one – Dogfish Head Squall IPA. It’s described as a bottle-conditioned and dry-hopped 90 Minute and, to be sure, you’ll find that characteristic 90 Minute sweetness, but with far more hop flavour and bitterness. There’s been some talk among the beer geeks regarding the carbonation of DFH Squall. Some have said their bottle was flat as a pancake while others have had a gusher! I’ve only had one experience of it so far – a bottle I bought a few weeks ago from Central Market – and I guess I got lucky because mine had that very soft carbonation you find in cask-conditioned beers. Perfect for my palate.

Dogfish Head founder Sam Calagione describes it as “the most hoppy beer we make at Dogfish Head“, and who am I to disagree with him? By DFH standards it is indeed a serious hop bomb, and well worth investigating. Being bottle conditioned, you will find some sediment at the bottom. It’s entirely drinkable and it’s up to you whether you go for a regular pour or decant the beer into your glass.

You do always drink your beer from a glass, right?

Jim Hughes, Head Beer Nerd, Alamo South Lamar
“If I had all the money I’ve spent on drink… I’d spend it on drink.” ~ Sir Henry Rawlinson

CalSeptOct_lores2

The Alamo Drafthouse & Fantastic Arcade announce the 2010 “Movies in the Park” lineup of free outdoor screenings in Republic Square, in partnership with theThe Austin Parks and Recreation Department. Republic Square Park is located at 4th and Guadalupe.

Check out the fantastic line-up of movies and fun! Bring your family and come enjoy a new twist on Austin night-life. All movies are free. Amusing pre-show antics start at 7:30 p.m. and movies start at dusk. Arrive early and have a picnic! Alcoholic beverages, glass and styrofoam are not permitted in the park. Please bring your own chair or blanket. For more information visit the Movies in the Park page.

Movies in the Park: RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK
Wednesday, September 1st at 8:00 PM (Republic Square Park)
Presented by Downtown Austin Alliance
Steven Spielberg’s RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK plays like an anthology of the best parts from all the Saturday matinee serials ever made. It takes place in Africa, Nepal, Egypt, at sea and in a secret submarine base. It contains trucks, bulldozers, tanks, motorcycles, ships, subs, Clippers, and a Nazi flying wing. It has snakes, spiders, booby traps and explosives. The hero is trapped in a snake pit, and the heroine finds herself assaulted by mummies. The weapons range from revolvers and machine guns to machetes and whips. It’s a Boy’s Own Adventure, a whiz-bang slam-a-rama. It’s done with a kind of heedless joy. Spielberg was old enough (34) to have the clout to make the film, and young enough to remember why he wanted to. (Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun Times)

Movies in the Park: THE WIZARD
Wednesday, September 8th at 8:00 PM (Republic Square Park)
Presented by Fantastic Arcade
In this ode to 8-bit gaming, Fred Savage takes his emotionally stunted, virtual-savant younger brother across the United States to play in the video championships. He’s competing to be the top gamer in the world, and to prove it he’s got to play a brand new game no one’s ever heard of: Super Mario Bros 3.

While it’s hard to imagine a world in which SMB3 didn’t exist, this movie actually introduced our country to the wonder that was this great adventure. Warp Whistles, the Raccoon Suit, the Koopa Kids, Chain Chomp, whatever the heck a Tanooki Suit is; all of this and more were first just dazzling images in this wonderful movie about the true love of video games. So strap on your Power Glove (“It’s so…bad!”) and come remember when video games were still imaginative and when a 12-year old boy could star in a movie that was actually good.

Movies in the Park: THE LAST STARFIGHTER
Wednesday, September 15th at 8:00 PM (Republic Square Park)
Presented by Fantastic Arcade
What sweaty-browed video game aficionado hasn’t pretended, while feverishly pounding away on their Playstation control, that they were actually saving the universe? That’s the conceit employed in 1984’s THE LAST STARFIGHTER, a lightweight yet wholly entertaining sci-fi adventure that’s come to command a special place in the heart of my disaffected generation. Our hero is the mild-mannered and anxious trailer-park denizen Alex Rogan. After mastering the local Starfighter video game, Alex is visited by an interstellar messenger who delivers a curious message: The game Alex has been dominating is much more than a simple plaything; a planet desperately in need of savvy star pilots has planted these games on Earth in an effort to find new recruits. Imagine that! Excel at a video game and you’re drafted to save a distant planet! How very cool. (Scott Weinberg)

Movies in the Park: PEE WEE’S BIG ADVENTURE
Wednesday, September 29th at 8:00 PM (Republic Square Park)
Presented by Mellow Johnny’s
There is only one truth in this life: PEE-WEE’S BIG ADVENTURE is the FUNNIEST MOVIE EVER MADE. If anyone tells you different, they’re just trying to start trouble. Watch the most entertaining man who has ever roamed the earth embark on a cross-country quest to reclaim his kidnapped best friend: a bicycle. Along the way, ol’ P.W. will encounter tough-as-nails bikers, giant dinosaurs, wild animals, ninjas, chubby billionaires, escaped convicts, buckin’ broncos, tone-deaf hobos, unwanted romance, fibbing gypsies, clumsy Godzillas, basement-less Alamos, vengeful boyfriends and even an undead trucker! Fun didn’t exist until Pee-Wee invented it, and now the most funrocious, funtacular, fungorious funsplosion in the history of FUN will be presented on the big BIG screen in a gorgeous 35MM print!

Movies in the Park: POLTERGEIST
Thursday, October 14th at 8:00 PM (Republic Square Park)
Presented by Fantastic Fest
This partnership between Steven Spielberg, Frank Marshall and Tobe Hooper is the great real estate horror film of all time. Starring Craig T. Nelson as a partriarch in charge of a haunted household and featuring some of the creepiest supporting characters of the ’80s (little blonde-haired Heather O’Rourke as Carol Anne, little raspy-voiced Zelda Rubinstein as Tangina Barrons), POLTERGEIST is a ghost story for our generation, hitching up the Indian burial ground angle with a more current medium – they come through the TV! The film that made us all afraid to watch the tube will give you bumps on your arms and static on your set. Make sure to unplug your TV before the show!!

Movies in the park is sponsored by the Downtown Austin Alliance, Mellow Johnny’s, Alamo Drafthouse Cinema, Fantastic Fest, Fantastic Arcade, and The Austin Parks and Recreation Department.

Fantastic Fest welcomes a bayou-dwelling psycho-killer, a disturbed housemaid, Muay Thai bone-crushers, blood-sucking vampires, undocumented immigrants, cannibal families, and more to its genre-bending lineup of mind blowing films for 2010. The lineup includes a Gala Screening for Stone on Friday, September 24 at The Paramount Theatre with Edward Norton, director John Curran and more

GALA
Stone (2010)
US Premiere, USA, director: John Curran
**Director John Curran and Edward Norton live in attendance.**
A seasoned corrections official and a volatile inmate find their lives dangerously intertwined in STONE, a thought-provoking drama directed by John Curran and written by Angus MacLachlan. STONE features powerful performances by Academy Award® winner Robert De Niro and Oscar® nominee Edward Norton, and a startlingly raw, breakout performance from Milla Jovovich as the sexy, casually amoral woman they both desire.
As parole officer Jack Mabry (De Niro) counts the days toward a quiet retirement, he is asked to review the case of Gerald “Stone” Creeson (Norton), in prison for covering up the murder of his grandparents with a fire. Now eligible for early release, Stone needs to convince Jack he has reformed, but his attempts to influence the older man’s decision have profound and unexpected consequences for them both. STONE skillfully weaves together the parallel journeys of two men grappling with dark impulses, as the line between lawman and lawbreaker becomes precariously thin. Golden Globe® winner Frances Conroy completes the superb ensemble as Madylyn, Jack’s devout, long-suffering spouse. Set against the quiet desperation of economically ravaged suburban Detroit and the stifling brutality of a maximum security prison, this tale of passion, betrayal and corruption examines the fractured lives of two volatile men breaking from their troubled pasts to face uncertain futures.

FEATURED SCREENINGS
30 Days of Night: Dark Days (2010)
World Premiere, USA, director: Ben Ketai Director Ben Ketai, Kiele Sanchez & Steve Niles (co-writer, author) in attendance (schedules permitting).

It’s been almost a year since the Alaskan town of Barrow’s population was decimated by vampires during its annual month-long sunset. Riddled with grief over the death of her husband, bound by nightmares and void of all emotions beyond hate and sorrow, Stella (Sanchez) has spent the past months traveling the world, trying to convince others that vampires exist. Met with skepticism and laughter, Stella is ready to throw in the towel when a group of lost souls (Coiro, Baird and Perrineau) offers an incredible opportunity: the chance to exact revenge upon Lilith (Kirshner), the vampire queen responsible for the assault on Stella’s sleepy Alaskan town. With nothing remaining to live for, and nothing left to fear, Stella joins their mission and ventures into the uncharted underbelly of Los Angeles where she pushes herself to the most extreme limits to stop the evil from striking again.

Carancho (2010)
Regional Premiere, Argentina, director: Pablo Trapero
Ambulance drivers and ambulance chasers, dirty police and corrupt doctors, fraudulent insurance brokers and some truly desperate people are the players in a wildly original and occasionally brutal thriller set on the streets of Buenos Aires.

Drones (2010)

Regional Premiere, USA, directors: Amber Benson and Adam BuschDirectors Amber Benson and Adam Busch as well as stars Angela Bettis and Kevin Ford will be in attendance.

When Brian discovers an improbable secret about his best friend and OmniLink coworker, everything in his world changes and his safe life of workplace detachment is no longer an option. Close encounters of the office kind, like sales or intergalactic war, is an uncertain business.

Fire of Conscience (2010)
US Premiere, Hong Kong, director: Dante Lam
A slick cops-and-robbers film that coats melodrama with a thick layer of blood and gunpowder. Dante Lam has emerged as one of the most exciting Hong Kong action directors with films like THE BEAST STALKER (2008) and SNIPER (2009). His latest work delivers the goods with chases, fisticuffs, massive fire fights; exploding bodies and more.

Hatchet 2 (2010)
North American Premiere, USA, director: Adam Green
Director Adam Green, Kane Hodder and Danielle Harris live in person!
Witness the resurrection of bayou-dwelling psycho-killer Victor Crowley (Kane Hodder), who terrorized a party of witless New Orleans tourists in Adam Green’s 2006 cult hit HATCHET. After emerging as the sole survivor of Crowley’s comically over-the-top murder spree, Marybeth (Danielle Harris) learns the secrets of the madman’s origins and returns to the Louisiana swamps to avenge her family’s death. Also featuring genre fan fave Tony Todd as Reverend Zombie and FRIGHT NIGHT director Tom Holland as Bob.

The Housemaid (1960)
South Korea, director: Kim Ki-young
Celebrated as one of the greatest Korean films of all time, THE HOUSEMAID tells the story of a composer who invites chaos into his home when he begins an affair with the family’s mysterious new maid, a disturbed woman with a penchant for catching rats with her bare hands. The print featured at this year’s Fantastic Fest has been restored by the Korean Film Archive with the support of Martin Scorsese’s World Cinema Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to the preservation of films from non-Western countries.

The Housemaid (2010)
Regional Premiere, Korea, director: Im Sang-soo
A reimagining of the Korean classic of the same name, the 2010 version of THE HOUSEMAID turns the tables on the story. This time around a perfectly normal servant enters the home of a truly dysfunctional wealthy family who beat her down with an array of psychological, sexual and sometimes physical trauma. With strong performances, lush design and an exceptional story, this update serves as a worthy companion to the original classic and makes for a truly unique double bill.

I Spit on Your Grave (2010)
Austin Premiere, USA, director: Steven R. Monroe
A remake of the controversial 1978 cult classic of the same title, Steven Monroe’s I SPIT ON YOUR GRAVE is a shock-fest that revisits the story of a young writer’s horrifying sexual assault at the hands of a backwoods gas-station attendant and his knuckle-dragging cronies while on sabbatical in the countryside. After being brutally attacked and left for dead, she returns for vengeance. Trapping her male attackers one-by-one, she inflicts acts of physical torment upon them with a ferocity that surpasses her own ordeal. When the carnage clears, victim has become victor.
Kidnapped (2010)
North American Premiere, Spain, director: Miguel Ángel Vivas
Jaime (Fernando Cayo) and Marta (Ana Wagener) are a middle-aged couple with a teenage daughter named Isa (Manuela Vellés). The family is in the process of moving into a big new house. Marta wants to gather the family for dinner at home to celebrate. Isa has her own plans; she wants to go out with her boyfriend. Jaime is stuck in the middle of it all. Everyone’s evening is ruined when a gang of masked hoodlums pay a visit to the home.

Legend of the Fist (2010)
US Premiere, Hong Kong, director: Andrew Lau
Life in Japanese-occupied Shanghai in the 1920s was no picnic. Military warlords and criminal henchmen ruled the streets. The city’s one ray of hope was the young martial artist Chen Zhen (Donnie Yen), whose legendary showdown against a dojo full of Japanese warriors ended with his apparent death, though his body is never found. Seven years later, a wealthy entrepreneur called Koo returns from abroad and makes a grand entrance on the Shanghai social scene by befriending the city’s most notorious mafia boss. Could this be the return of Chen Zhen?

Ong Bak 3 (2010)
North American Premiere, Thailand, director: Tony Jaa
The legend of ONG BAK 3 begins after Tien (Tony Jaa) has lost his fighting skills and his beloved step-father from the raid led by Jom Rachan (Saranyu Wonggrajang). Tien is brought back to life with the help from the Kana Khone villagers. Deep into the meditation taught by Phra Bua (Nirutti Sirijanya), Tien finally is able to achieve ‘Nathayut’. His talents are put to the test again when his rivals including the Golden-Armored King’s Guard (Supakorn ‘Tok’ Kijusuwan), the mysterious killers in black, and Bhuti Sangkha (Dan Chupong) return for the final massive showdown.

Redline (2010)
North American Premiere, Japan, director: Takeshi Koike
Rev your engines, adrenaline junkies! REDLINE is a new feature from famed Madhouse Studios that reunites animator Takeshi Koike (NINJA SCROLL, ANIMATRIX) with his long-time collaborator Katushito Ishii, the genius behind FUNKY FOREST: THE FIRST CONTACT. This meeting of warped minds results in a mind-melting psychedelic assault that is easily the wildest animated Japanese film to surface in years.

Stake Land (2010)
US Premiere, USA, director: Jim Mickle
Director Jim Mickle, Connor Paolo, Nick Damici and Danielle Harris live in person!
Following a political-economic meltdown of unexplained origins, the world has been overrun by humanoid creatures who feed off human blood. A disparate group of survivors band together to weave their way through the communities of both vampires and equally dangerous religious cultists in search of an alleged sanctuary in the north. The cast includes Nick Damici, Connor Paolo, Kelly McGillis, Danielle Harris and Michael Cerveris.

Undocumented (2010)
World Premiere, USA, director: Chris Peckover
Director Chris Peckover and cast members live in person!
A small group of documentary filmmakers chronicle the trials and inequities faced by Mexican illegal immigrants. When they join a group of families illegally crossing the border to record the experience firsthand, their truck is pulled over and detained. What happens next plunges their group into unimaginable horror.

We Are What We Are (Somos Lo Que Hay) (2010)
US Premiere, Mexico, director: Jorge Michel Grau
When the patriarch of the family passes away, the teenage children must take responsibility for the family chores: the preparation of the rituals, the hunting and putting the all-important meat on the table. These newfound responsibilities are even more daunting, however, when you live in the city and happen to be a family of cannibals.

Fantastic Fest has scoured the globe for the very best in action, horror, science fiction, fantasy to the truly bizarre in contemporary cinema for your viewing pleasure. Look for more announcements in the weeks to come, including information on our gala events, parties and AMD Next Wave filmmakers in attendance.

Fantastic Fest is the film festival with the boring parts cut out. Miss this one and your regrets will agonize you for years to come. You have been warned.

For photos of the announced films, visit the Fantastic Fest press site.
For the latest developments visit Fantastic Fest Facebook & Twitter:

The Action Pack presents
the WILLY WONKA AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY Quote-Along
Thursdays Aug 26, Sep 2 & 9 at the Ritz
Wednesday Sep 1 at Lake Creek
Advance tickets for Ritz available here
Advance tickets for Lake Creek available here

Come with me, and you will be in a worrrld of pure imagination… Gene Wilder is Willy Wonka. PERIOD. No amount of remaking, re-imagining, or rebooting will ever change the playfully haunting performance of one of the world’s greatest actors.

That being said, this movie never stops being amazing. When you were a kid it was all about how awesome it would be if you could eat a gummy bear the size of your face or drink from a river made of chocolate. Then you got older and you were nostalgic about that stuff while also seeing all the cracks of creepy shining through in this fantastically fun movie musical.

Well, The Action Pack is pulling out all the stops with little surprises around every corner…but nothing too dangerous. Bubbles for everyone, bubbles, bubbles everywhere as well as specialty menu items, singing, quoting, and so much more. We’d hate to ruin it all for you, so sign the contract at the bottom line and you’ll be in a world of pure imagination…if you truly, wish…to be. (Greg MacLennan)