What was your favourite film of the festival?
Andrew Mack - My favorite film during my week was the oldest film. The retro screening of Demon of the Lute from 1983 was nothing short of amazing! A Shaw Bros Wu xia pian film from the post Star Wars era in the 80s is completely different from Shaw Bros films from the 60s and 70s. The martial arts is still amazing but they added special effects to their films. Bejing-opera style martial arts. Child drunkeness. And the characters are incredible. When one of your villains arrives on scene in a chariot towed by two German Shepherd dogs, carrying a giant lance, then a giant axe, and when he gets angry he sprouts a shocking red afro, you know you are having a good time. We watched it from the only 35mm print in existence. And it was a gorgeous print with hardly any ‘love bites’ (signs of age) on it at all. Easily my favourite Fantasia 2014 cinema experience.
Kurt Halfyard - There was a huge groundswell in 'Sci-Fi Personal Drama' which I have started labelling 'Another Earth' movies. I saw several at this years Fantasia and my favourite was the Mark Duplass and Elisabeth Moss starring The One I Love, a kind of couples-therapy film that plays equally as a Twilight Zone comedy. I cannot talk about it further without spoiling all of the pleasures, so just go see it, it is available VOD right now!
Tonally opposite was the emotional POV mock-doc The Midnight Swim which sees three sisters dealing with the loss of their mother at the family cottage and facing their own eccentricities and demons. It is gorgeously shot and exceptionally directed piece of work.
Jason Gorber - I am mot sure I would have believed anyone that would have told me that the most fun I had all festival was at a film called Zombeavers, but, well, there we are. Weeks later I'm still pleased by In Order Of Disappearance as well. Both were terrific in their own ways, and well worth seeking out.
Peter K. - I saw much and enjoyed plenty, but it was Bennet Jones' anarchic comedy I am a Knife with Legs that refused to cease ping-ponging around my brain. Despite its beyond bargain-bin production values, home-movie aesthetics and barrage of prosumer editing FX plug-ins, the musical misadventures of International pop star Bené and his stalwart “foil character” Beefy utterly enraptured me and I have found myself quoting the characters or humming the title track nearly every day since seeing it. More then just a hodgepodge of infectiously delirious gags though, Jones' unflinching sincerity amidst all the silliness is what really put it over the top for me. Following a hypnotic amateur parkour chase and stellar Harrison Ford impersonation, there's a genuine third-act rumination on grief and friendship that gave me a good case of the feels. There be some soulful medicine in this mound of video sugar.
What was your biggest disappointment of the festival?
Kurt Halfyard - It seems a bit unfair to pick on Siti Kamaluddin's Yasmine which boasts the factoid of being the first commercially produced movie from the tiny country of Brunei Darussalem. It is the rare martial arts movie directed by a woman, and for that matter, originating from an Islamic state. But pick on it I must.
The Karate Kid type tournament movie piles one cliche on top of another. Obvious and overbearing soundtrack manipulation, excessive montages, and enough high-fives thrown around onscreen that it makes the rather tedious 90 minutes seem to go on for hours and hours. In the end, the spoiled rich girl gets everything she wants, quite easily, barely learns any lessons and just has her own way and everyone worshiping her. This is perhaps the only thing that isn't cliche, but it is still obnoxiously clueless and earnest.
Peter K. - With such an impressive spread of films at Fantasia, one is bound to run into disappointments, but I actually fared pretty well this year with nary a film concluding with my head in my hands. That being said there was the odd title that underwhelmed, or rather seemed to fall short of their ambition. I was excited at the prospect of Malaysia following in the footsteps of Indonesia and Thailand with a breakout martial arts flick, but THE RUN's clumsy mixture of parkour and double-fisted gun fights merely endeared, and didn't impress. It's akin to a 3-year old taking its first steps; sure its great, but everybody's been there already, no biggie. Here's hoping the country's next stab at the genre is a home run.
The second biggest disappointment was the previous pun I just made. Actually, The Creep Behind The Camera also left me torn. I loved being flabbergasted by the extraordinary scummy and sleazy Hollywood legend being unraveled by director Pete Schuermann, but found the film's dramatizations to often be a frustratingly tonal misfire. Schuermann conducts a precarious production that teeters between documentary and docudrama, and for every moment I relished, another few beats left me either cold or cringing. I suppose I could chalk up some of the film's tonal ricocheting as an homage to the slap-dash nature of its subject The Creeping Terror. In any event, I look forward to Schuermann's next and am at the very least grateful to have been introduced to the lore of Vic Savage.
Andrew Mack - Maybe I am disappointed that the directors of the two Asian action films I saw, The Run and Guardian, don’t eat steak the same way I do? (Read my Guardian review to understand how I like my steak) Gosh. It is just something so personal though, isn’t it? I am sure that there are people out there that like not knowing what is happening on screen when people throw fists and legs at each other. I get that. Somehow, this flurry of blurry and indecipherable images translates into “ACTION!!!”. It somehow places the person in the middle of the action, apparently. Really? If that is the case then I would like to get the fuck out and retreat to a safe distance so I don’t get hit. This is merely a subjective response. These actors and stunt performers work their asses off for my enjoyment. I simply would like to see how they are doing it.
Jason Gorber - I went in well expecting to see my share of turds, but even lowered expectations didn't account for how shit Kite would be. Yet as terrible as that film, it's likely the opener, Jacky in Women's Kingdom, that most annoyed. It wasn't a complete dud, which was actually more disappointing - there's a great, Monty Pythonesque opportunity here, but the film felt like a skit that just went on too far, with a silly punchline that pretty much ruined what had come before.
What was your biggest discovery of the festival?
Peter K. - Aside from I Am A Knife With Legs (because I sure as hell had no idea who Bennet Jones was a few weeks ago), Sarah Adina Smith's The Midnight Swim was pretty darn revelatory. While I was less ecstatic about where the film eventually took its story, it is nonetheless a tonal masterpiece, with entrancing performances, hypnotic camerawork and truly absorbing emotional peaks. But I don't need to tell you all of that – that's what Kurt is for!
In the meantime let me say that neither Knife nor Swim could compare to unbridled insanity of the Shaw Brothers' obscurity Demon Of The Lute which shattered my synapses and induced me into an “awesome-coma”. I like to think of myself as a pretty well-versed in my magic kung fu flicks, but this film had eluded me. Upon catching it amongst a riotous Fantasia audiences, it has instantly catapulted into to the upper echelon of the craziest-shit-I-have-ever-seen-on-celluloid. Not only is the film stuffed manic special effects, bizarre prosthetic make-up and an electric lute that rocks out notes of death, but nary a scene goes by without the appearance of an adorable cute baby animal - it’s like the Telus commercial of martial art films! When a spear-wielding warrior appeared in chariot being pulled by two young german shepherds and then proceeded to grow out his hair through sheer angry will, I full-on lost my mind. Seek this out for your next WTF movie night.
Kurt Halfyard - It sounds crazy to say this in 2014, after a decade-long career and many projects under his belt, but this years Fantasia festival really opened my eyes to Mark Duplass as an actor. The found footage stalker flick Creep would likely have been a disaster without him, and instead it is a hilarious, creepy, engaging found footage fun time at the movies. Likewise, his performance in The One I Love and chemistry with Elisabeth Moss is fresh and complex. I've seen and most of his directed efforts up until this point, and when he pops in for an appearance into the films of his mumble core pals, but I am ready after this one-two punch at this years Fantasia, it is time to label the man a national treasure.
Andrew Mack - Easy! I Am A Knife With Legs! I went into this a bit wary of what I may see and came out utterly full of joy. It really is an indescribable experience because Knife is just so… odd. But also hilarious as well. Filmmaker/Comedian Bennett Jones is clearly got a handle on his comedic craft and that translates oh so well into his film. Truly independent by its very nature. It is a hodge podge of live action, musical numbers and animation. And it is awesome!
Jason Gorber - Somehow, I'd never really seen a film by Iguchi, so for me it was an entrance into a very strange world indeed. My biggest takeaway however is about the fest itself - as rewarding as it was to be there early and reconnect with a few, it's clear that Fantasia really does erupt on the second weekend when the Industry people come in full force to pitch their wares. Next year for sure I'd skip the opening days in favour of making sure I'm around for the second weekend, a great departure from how almost every other festival operates.
What was your favourite non-film Fantasia moment?
Andrew Mack - Maybe it was when Krista Magnusson kissed me on the cheek after she found out I was the one who put Canadian Horror flick Bloody Knuckles on our Top 15 Anticipated List. She played the severed hand in the film. She is not unattractive.
Or, perhaps it was when I sat down next to a film studies professor from Connecticut. I mustered up some courage to introduce myself to her and when she found out who I was and who I wrote for she was very excited. She didn’t kiss me on the cheek but I’ve never met someone outside of the industry so happy to meet me in person. Yep. Me and my two member fan club. Mom is reluctant to send out the welcome package though.
Jason Gorber - After a long year of festivaling that began back last December in Tallinn, I've now got a small army of people from all of the world I can call my friend, and it was an absolute pleasure to reconnect once again at Fantasia. From the convivial times in various local pubs, to meeting new people in the screenings and discussing the vagaries of zombie aquatic rodents, it was a genuine pleasure to be in Montreal this year, and I'm already planning a return visit come next summer.
Peter K. - Hanging out with Bennett Miller (who was often in character as Bené) and getting the full unvarnished Harrison Ford experience when he re-enacted The Empire Strikes Back Ford/Leia spat with some random lady at the bar.
Kurt Halfyard - After the presentation of the 4K Restoration of the original The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Mitch Davis did a marathon hour long Q&A with director Tobe Hooper in the Hall Cinema in which a lot of details of that era of the directors career were covered.
Well past midnight Hooper, his wife, and a few other folks ended up in a quiet corner at a local watering hole to grab a bit to eat and a pint after the big Lifetime Achievement Award presentation. Conversing until well past 2 a.m. with the small group, the opportunity presented itself to just talk movies one-on-one in the bar with the legendary Tobe Hooper (I am afraid I monopolized him for a bit, but it felt natural and engaging on both sides). We never even talked about his films (even though I could have gone on at length with queries about Poltergeist, Invaders From Mars and Life Force). Instead we spent almost half an hour talking William Friedkin, Tracy Letts, Francis Ford Coppola, and film restoration as two cinephiles would over drinks.
This kind of casual but not shallow conversation about cinema is what I enjoy most about this festival. When the guy on the other side of the table happens to have made one of the all time classic horror films, well, all the better.