Last night in Austin at Fantastic Fest producer Jon Landau screened footage from Jim Cameron’s upcoming major motion picture Avatar. Having not managed to see the footage at Comic-Con in San Diego and having not made it to Avatar day either, I was obviously curious to see what all the fuss was about. So, with a packed house of over 200, I watched several scenes from the film. Some already screened and some never before shown.

Don’t worry, I won’t be doing a review of the film based on this footage — I’ll save that until I see the entire film. However, I will render a few opinions on the footage, characters, action and the 3-D process I did see. My opinion can be summed up in one word: interesting. I know that probably doesn’t sound like a ringing endorsement but if you’ve followed my opinion on 3-D on The Flickcast podcast or here at the site, you know I’m not really a fan of this 3-D resurgence.

That said, I can tell you that the 3-D of Avatar is probably the best I’ve ever seen. The effect is pretty seamless and Cameron obviously knows his way around the process. Some of the scenes on the planet Pandora, in particular one where Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) as his Avatar has to tame a flying beast and bend its will so he can fly it, was outstanding. The sweeping vistas of Pandora, which would probably have looked great in 2-D, were made even more spectacular with the added third dimension.

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As a big fan of horror movies and the zombie sub-genre, I really wanted to like George A. Romero’s Survival of the Dead and was prepared to give it the benefit of the doubt as much as possible. Although, my expectations were pretty low after Romero’s last two zombie movie efforts Land of the Dead and Diary of the Dead. Sadly, this film didn’t even manage to rise up to the level of my lowered expectations and is, instead, a heavily flawed and often very bad addition to Romero’s body of work.

Still, this is the man who basically invented the zombie film genre, so attention must be paid and respect given for his enduring legacy as one of this country’s innovative artists. But something has obviously gone a bit off kilter and the writer/director seems to have lost his way. I’m not sure how this phenomenon works exactly, but somewhere along the way a director seems to lose his vision.

After several great and innovative films the later films start to get worse and worse. Unfortunately, George Romero seems to have fallen into that trap, much like another acknowledged master of horror John Carpenter seems to. Look at Carpenter’s last few films and tell me they are as good as his earlier work in The Thing, Starman, Escape from New York and, of course, the original Halloween.

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At a ceremony Monday night hosted by Fantastic Fest co-founder Tim League, the festival gave out awards to some of the top films and filmmakers in attendance. Awards given out this year include ones for animated and live action short film, horror and “fantastic” shorts, horror and “fantastic” features and the next wave award which showcases emerging talent.

In addition, in conjunction with G4 TV and writer/director Uwe Boll, the fest gave out the “Filmmaking Frenzy” award for the best video game trailer with a “fantastic” twist. Winners of some of these prestigious awards included the comedic drama Down Terrace, which took home the Next Wave award, Human Centipede, which won for best horror film and Mandrill, which was given the Fantastic Feature award.

Check out a list of all the winners below.

Jury results – SHORTS Awards

ANIMATED SHORTS:
Best Animated Short – I AM SO PROUD OF YOU (Don Hertzfeldt)
Special Mention – ALMA (Rodrigo Blaas)

FANTASTIC SHORTS:
Best Fantastic Short  – TERMINUS (Trevor Cawood)
Special Jury Award – NEXT FLOOR  (Denis Villeneuve)

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Solomon Kane, based on Conan creator Robert E. Howard’s series of stories, begins the film slashing his way around the world destroying anything, and anyone, who gets in his way. He even kills his own men, especially when they show cowardice. This tirade of evil comes to a screeching halt once Kane encounters the Devil’s Reaper, whom the devil has sent to collect Kane’s soul.

Kane, barely escaping with his life, realizes his evil ways have led him to this point and decides that he must change if he is to survive. Once he realizes the error of his ways, he then embarks on a new life, relinquishing violence in an effort to achieve redemption.

Of course, if Kane had stuck to that decision, this would be a very short movie indeed. Fortunately, he doesn’t and inevitably must return to his violent ways. But this time around, instead of the greedy, evil mercenary he once was, Kane now has a noble purpose and an actual chance at the redemption he seeks.

The innocent daughter of a Priest (Pete Postlethwaite) who had befriended Kane is taken prisoner and to save her, Kane will do whatever he needs to do — even if that means killing a few people along the way. Plus, an all-consuming evil is threatening to take over England and Kane has decided that man of peace or not, he can’t let that happen.

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Last night in Austin during Fantastic Fest (which runs from September 24th to October 1st), guests were treated to a party at the newly-minted High Ball bar. One of the main reasons for the party was to introduce some of the Japanese filmmakers responsible for fest entries like Hard Revenge, Milly, Vampire Girl Vs. Frankenstein Girl and “Secret Screening” Robogeisha to festival attendees.

During the evening, Fest co-founder Tim League kicked things off with, what else, Karaoke. Next, the Japanese contingent served as judges for a “Samurai Call” contest where contestants, fortified with delicious Sake, would use their best voice and call for a Samurai. Finally, and this is the really interesting part and something that makes Fantastic Fest the great time it is, there was a Japanese pole dancing demo provided by one of the Japanese actresses in attendance. And yes, she even brought her own pole all the way from Japan. And no, its not that kind of pole dancing, so get your mind out of the gutter.

Fortunately for those of you who couldn’t be in Austin last night to witness this unique demonstration of skill and beauty, I happened to have my video camera with me and captured the entire thing for your viewing pleasure. So, click through to watch this incredible demonstration and get a little taste of what Fantastic Fest is all about.

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When I first heard about writer/director Oren Peli’s first person video camera horror film Paranormal Activity, I have to admit I was skeptical. Seeing some of the advertising and hearing the buzz from various sources, this film seemed to be yet another cheap video production still hoping to cash in on the “magic” generated by The Blair Witch Project. Fortunately, after seeing the film at a sold-out midnight screening during Austin’s Fantastic Fest, I can thankfully say my first impressions of the film were completely wrong . . . mostly.

The premise of the film is simplicity itself. A young couple have lived together for a few years and gradually there have been strange and unexplained sounds and the woman (Katie Featherston) it is revealed has been experiencing this type of “activity” since she was a young girl. Her boyfriend, the annoyingly overconfident Micah (Micah Sloat), is determined to get to the bottom of these phenomenons and so begins his quest to videotape the couple’s activities 24 hours a day in order to catch the ghosts in action and ultimately, to take care of the situation and get them to stop.

One of the film’s biggest strengths is that it follows the Hitchcock tradition of not showing everything. Instead, during several scenes, the camera stays in one place as the couple goes off to investigates a noise or other disturbance and the audience is left only able to hear what’s happening, their imagination filling in the blanks. This conceit serves the film far more effectively than an outlandish display of gore or other visual effects would have. This technique is used very effectively in Paranormal Activity, much more than it has been lately in films like Cloverfield or Quarantine.

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Very rarely does the internet critic community throw around phrases like “scariest movie ever” or “looks amazing”, but those seem to be used a lot when talking about the newest film, Paranormal Activity. It’s said to have the same feel as The Blair Witch Project, just updated for today’s jaded audiences.

Much like Blair Witch, the cast and crew have done next to nothing else prior to this film. Writer/director Oren Peli has only worked on this film, which makes the general audience question whether this is a Hollywood film, or a real, documented haunting.

The story follows a typical suburban middle-class husband and wife who start to notice spooky things happening around their new house. They decide to document a few nights using a video camera, and the audience gets to watch as the haunting continues.

Check out the new trailer for the film after the jump, which opens up in select theaters September 25, and moving to different cities every week from there. For a complete schedule, check out their official website.

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Fantastic Fest in Austin is one of the best festivals in the country devoted to genre films. Previously, we brought you news about the first round of films scheduled to show during the fest. And now, there’s even more news to share today, including some great guests and some relly cool films we’re looking forward to seeing.

But really, I probably can’t do all this info proper justice (given my time constraints today at least) so I’ll just let Tim League, director/co-founder of the Fest, speak for himself via the latest Fest press release:

George Romero Returns to Fantastic Fest!

George RomeroIn 2007, Fantastic Fest was honored by the presence of one of the true masters of horror, George A. Romero.  Now, two years later, we are thrilled to welcome back the undisputed champion of all things undead for his latest blood-drenched thrillride, SURVIVAL OF THE DEAD.  When the idyllic retreat of Plum Island falls victim to the zombie plague, a new breed of clan war breaks out.  On one side is the camp who want to exterminate all undead with a wickedly diverse array of brain-splattering headshots.

On the other, devoted family members take the stance that “zombie-ism” is a disease, the undead have rights and they must be kept alive until a cure is found.  Unable to simply “agree to disagree,” the two clans go to war and make their island microcosm a whole hell of a lot bloodier. An undead parallel to the tribal wars that are plaguing our own society today, SURVIVAL OF THE DEAD exposes the futility of such conflict and the need for tolerance of the beliefs of others.  Plus it’s got zombie horses in it!

From the very beginning, Romero has been making more than simple gore films.  To be sure, he’s amazing at delivering “the blood-red goods,” but what makes his films classics are the underlying social and political threads interwoven with the rampant gut-munching.  NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD played with themes of Vietnam-era paranoia, DAWN OF THE DEAD poked fun at mass-consumerism all the way up to DIARY OF THE DEAD which took aim at the journalistic and new media ethics (or lack thereof).

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Film festivals are often a conumdrum for me because I sometimes wonder how they get started and, more to the point, who picks the films that get shown at them. My problem is that the films selected for many of the festivals don’t usually seem all that appealing (at least to me) and are often a collection of “art for art’s sake” films overwhelmed by their own sense of self-importance.

Fortunately, I don’t have this problem with the Fantastic Fest in Austin, which runs from September 24th to October 1st. The films selected for this festival represent an eclectic mix of genres and filmmakers and what I consider to be some of the most interesting, innovative and creative films being produced today. Sure, they’re not all potential Hollywood blockbusters, nor are they for everyone, but they are all pretty much guaranteed to be interesting, entertaining and in their own way, artistic and provocative. Plus, they’re just so darn fun to watch.

Besides, any festival that kicks off with Director Jared Hess’s (Napoleon Dynamite) film Gentlemen Broncos, starring Jemaine Clement of Flight of the Conchords fame, is aces in my book.

Here’s the first list of the films announced today that will be showcased at this years Fantastic Fest:

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