“We’re coming to get you Barbara!“. The 10th Annual Fantastic Fest is a mere two days away, which is reason enough to celebrate. But aside from that, the Fest will also be home to the first ever MondoCon! If by chance you’re a movie fan and have not heard of Mondo (or, egads, the Alamo Drafthouse!) it’s possible you’ve been living under a rock. Not to fear, we’re here to help spread their good word for both those wonderful companies. “Mondo” is an art gallery and online store devoted to a passionate love of film, art, music and toys. They continually champion vinyl releases and as we too are fans of keeping turntables…
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Final Wave of Fantastic Fest Programming Announced!
It is exactly 8 days and counting until Austin, Texas explodes from the awesomeness of weird and wild films, talent and fans descending upon on it. To make this year all the sweeter (aside from the first ever Mondo-Con), Fantastic Fest is back in the newly renovated South Lamar Alamo Drafthouse where it belongs!! This year marks the 10th anniversary of the Alamo’s film fest which the programmers are simply calling FFX. We’ve started looking at the line up and are as excited about the films as the filmmakers who will be in attendance. For now we’ll just drop three big names on you: Nicolas Winding Refn, Nacho Vigalondo and, woah,…
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Fantastic Fest Announces Work-In-Progress Selections and Film Previews for Latin American Genre Film Market
Today is the first day of September and that means we are just about two weeks from Fantastic Fest! We recently got our hands on a press release for some exclusive programming happening in Austin and it sounds awesome. Sure the Fest is home to the likes of Robert Rodriguez (Machete) and Ernesto Díaz Espinoza (Mirage Man) but the festival is further championing genre filmmakers from counties near and far. As such FFX patrons will get to view selected Work-In-Progress and Film preview projects for the second edition of Fantastic Market | Marcado Fantastico. The market runs from September 18 through September 20, 2014 in Austin, Texas. “These work-in-progress selections represent a broad range of…
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‘Nightcrawler’ to Close FANTASTIC FEST 2014!
Celebrating its 10th anniversary, Fantastic Fest is excited to announce the second wave of events, special guests and film programming. Fantastic Fest 2014 takes place September 18–25th in Austin, Texas at the newly reopened Alamo South Lamar and Highball. Get ready to be blown away by Lionsgate’s latest action-packed thriller, John Wick starring Keanu Reeves, with a red carpet gala screening with Reeves and directors David Leitch and Chad Stahelski in attendance. JOHN WICK is the story of a former ex-hitman who comes out of retirement to track down the gangsters that took everything from him. With New York City as his bullet-riddled playground, John Wick (Keanu Reeves) is a fresh and stylized take…
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MondoCon 2014: Panels, Screenings, Exclusives and More!
Looking at the calendar we are less than a month away from the 10th Annual Fantastic Fest. Based in Austin, TX the Alamo Drafthouse will not only be celebrating a decade of genre films but the first ever MondoCon to showcase their amazing artwork, vinyl and other incredible merchandise. The convention is set to coincide with the first weekend of Fantastic Fest on September 20 & 21 at The Marchesa Hall & Theater in Austin, TX. The first wave of films was released earlier this month and recently the Fantastic Fest website just posted tons of info about MondoCon. Panels and screenings will take place in the theater and the…
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Announcing The First Wave Of Fantastic Fest 2014!
The sleepy little town of Austin, TX has been home to lots of businesses and startups but, in the eyes of film fans the world over, the Alamo Drafthouse takes the cake. This year marks the 10th anniversary of the Alamo’s film fest aptly named Fantastic Fest. If you ever thought that there’s nothing like the Alamo experience then you better believe a film festival under the same banner would be no different. We attended in 2012 and had our minds blow (check out our coverage here). So as the Fest kicks off next month (it runs September 18th-25th), have a look at the line up of spectacularly wild, weird…
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Second Wave of Film Programming Announced for Fantastic Fest 2013
Fantastic Fest is one of the most fun film festivals you will ever attend. Full stop. Sure it’s not as high profile or sophisticated as say Cannes or Sundance but it’s something extra special. If you like zombies, crazy robot violence, irreverent foreign films, serial killing aliens or absurd animation then you are most certainly a fan of genre films and Fantastic Fest is calling your name. If you’ve been there, you know what to expect. If not, read through of our coverage and experiences from last year, then get off your ass, head down to Austin, Texas next month (September 19-26 at the Alamo Drafthouse Lakeline) and prepare to have your world…
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Interview…’PostHuman’ Directors Cole Drumb and Jen Luk
Editor’s Note: This interview took place at the 2012 Fantastic Fest in Austin, TX. It has been republished to coincide with the 2013 San Diego Comic Con where directors Cole Drumb and Jen Luk will be screening PostHuman. Action anime isn’t something that American animation studios make all that often. Inspired by Akira and a slew of other seminal sci-fi titles, Jen Luk and Cole Drumb set out to create a modern rendition of what Heavy Metal was back in the 80’s. The duo has crammed so much awesome content into a 6 minute short that once you see PostHuman you will want to see so much more, trust us.…
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G-S-T Review…Drafthouse Films’ Graceland
Writer/director Ron Morales gives us a new spin on a familiar kidnapping yarn but tells a story that’s so believable and grounded you’d think it was a documentary. A superbly paced and intense flick, this is the kind of film we don’t get to see every day but would wish there were more of. In a world where we have films like Ransom and Taken, people walking out of Gracelandmight likely comment that Morales’ film is taken, er, taking its sweet time because this is a slow film. Yet that’s the point, it’s not about wiretaps, SWAT teams, a Tony Scott style of camera work, or an adrenaline-fueled rescue. Not at all. The focus of Morales’ film…
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Interview…’Graceland’ Writer/Director Ron Morales
Writer/director Ron Morales’ Graceland is a gripping and all-too-real feeling story of a kidnapping gone wrong. Ron’s work is very limited but his sophomore feature Graceland is so well-crafted and engaging you’d think he’d culled this from a lifetime of working in the film business. Before making his debut film Santa Mesa (with Melissa Leo) Ron had been working in the industry (in the camera/electrical department and as a key grip) for about 13 years and it’s likely he’s picked up a more than a few things watching/working on high profile films like Spider-Man 3, Michael Clayton and The Departed. His passion project Graceland, shot entirely in his home country of the Philippines,…
