When mainstream Hollywood is busy making billions of dollars on rereleases of animated classics upgraded for 3D or movies with Morgan Freeman and a dolphin, it’s true independent cinema that holds some of the best stories and visuals.

That’s why we are seeing more and more film festivals pop up over the past few years, giving accolades to the up and coming filmmakers and writers who will one day run the town and bring art back to the theaters.

Shriekfest is one in the Los Angeles area that has been doing so for years. Since 2001, the international film fest has been bringing awareness to the lesser-known horror and science fiction filmmakers with films and shorts that easily surpass some of the movies we spend $10 to see every weekend.

This year’s winners have some of the most talented folks we’ve seen in some time, with aliens and monsters galore. Check out the full list of this year’s winners after the jump, and get the head start on checking out these films over at Shriekfest.com before your friends tell you about them first.

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In july we brought you the news that the first wave of programming for Austin’s amazing Fantastic Fest had been announced. Now, we’re delighted to tell you the schedule for the second wave of programming has been released as well.

Most of the second wave films are new to most people but they probably won’t be once the fest is underway. That’s just what happens.

Here’s the list of the new films announced. Expect more announcements, and lots of coverage, in the weeks ahead. Fantastic fest runs from September 22-29 in Austin, TX.

MOVIES ON FIRE: HONG KONG ACTION CLASSICS- presented by AGFA

The amazing Grady Hendrix of the famous New York Asian Film Festival will join us and introduce four surprise 35mm screenings of classic Hong Kong grindhouse gems (most not available on DVD) from Hong Kong’s exploitation heyday of the late 80’s and early 90’s, these movies are cinematic crystal meth: cheap n’crazy, they’ll spoil you for everything else. Designed to play to rowdy audiences who threatened mayhem if they weren’t delivered a dose of gonzo delirium every five minutes, they have a total disregard for three-act structure, Hollywood plotting and the lives of their stuntmen. Get ready to burn!

AARDVARK (2010)
Texas Premiere
Director Kitao Sakurai live in person
Director: Kitao Sakurai, Japan, 80 minutes
Larry (AARDVARK’s blind-since-birth protagonist) has an innate curiosity that lands him smack in the middle of a bizarre criminal underworld replete with mixed martial arts, intrigue, murder and pillow humping.

BLIND (2011)
US Premiere
Director – AHN Sang-hoon, Korea, 111minutes
A blind woman narrowly escapes from the clutches of a serial killer. When he circles back to get rid of any witnesses, the woman must rely on her other acute senses to identify and outwit the killer.

CALIBRE 9 (2011)
World Premiere
Director Jean-Christian Tassy & Producer Axel Guyot live in person
Director: Jean-ChristianTassy, France, 84 minutes
A city planner becomes strangely linked to a gun possessed by the soul of a dead hooker.

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Like most folks who attended the last screening of Natural Selection, I was catching the film mostly due to its winning both the audience and jury awards at SXSW. I hadn’t heard of it either, but then there were a ton of films on the venue, and I stuck to the ones I probably wouldn’t get screening invites to later (read “documentaries”).

So the hype for Natural Selection was ample, foremost among its champions was/is my Chicago colleague, the great Roger Ebert. And I can see why: It’s a tender, sweet story, the performances are terrific, and it’s all-around original, funny, and (forgive the use of this word) fresh.

Rachel Harris (whose eclectic credits range from The Hangover to Stuart Little 2 to SeaQuest DSV) plays the infertile, sexually frustrated, and very Christian housewife Linda White. Since she can’t produce a child and since she and her husband Abe Abe (John Diel) are such dedicated Christians, the two haven’t had sex in about a quarter of a century.

Abe finds a loophole in the only-sex-for-procreation by making weekly donations to the local sperm bank, something Linda is unaware of (as it would only compound her frustration at not being able to likewise relieve herself) until Abe suffers a stroke during one session and subsequently reveals to her that years ago one of his donations grew into a 23-year-old son Raymond (Matt O’Leary). He tasks Linda with tracking down Raymond so he can see the lad before he dies, and, like the dutiful wife she is, Linda accepts.

However, Raymond is the polar opposite of Linda—blasphemous, crooked, and, as the opening scene discloses, a fugitive. At first he resists her request, but after spying the opportunity to run some sort of grift on this gullible, overly patient woman, he accepts.

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More news from Austin! This time it’s the closing-night films, and they’re a pretty notable bunch at that. Headlining the bunch is the world premiere of Billy Bob Thornton’s Willie Nelson documentary, The King of Luck. In addition to that, they’ll also be featuring the work-in-progress Bridesmaids, directed by Paul Feig, written by Kristen Wiig, and produced by Judd Apatow; the Harmony Korine short Umshini Wam; and P. David Ebersole’s documentary of Hole drummer Patty Schemel, Hit So Hard. The full list and descriptions follow:

Headliners

The King of Luck
Director: Billy Bob Thornton
This is a documentary about Willie Nelson: the man, the songwriter, the friend, the father, legendary performer and champion of the family farmer. (World Premiere)

Special Events

Bridesmaids (Work In Progress)
Director: Paul Feig, Writers: Annie Mumolo & Kristen Wiig
Kristen Wiig leads the cast as Annie, a maid of honor whose life unravels as she leads her best friend, Lillian (Maya Rudolph), and a group of colorful bridesmaids (Rose Byrne, Melissa McCarthy, Wendi McLendon-Covey and Ellie Kemper) on a wild ride down the road to matrimony.

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Lots of exciting news is coming out of Austin as the town braces for the SXSW Film, Interactive, and Music festivals.  The official midnight movies have been announced, and they are sure to offer up some of the usual scares and surprises.

Midnighters

Scary, funny, sexy, controversial – provocative after-dark features for night owls and the terminally curious.

ATTACK THE BLOCK (UK-England)

Director & Writer: Joe Cornish A funny, frightening action adventure movie that pits a teen gang against an invasion of alien monsters. It turns a tower block into a sci-fi playground. It’s inner city versus outer space. Cast: Jodie Whittaker, John Boyega, Alex Esmail, Franz Drameh, Leeon Jones, Simon Howard, Luke Treadaway, Jumayn Hunter and Nick Frost (World Premiere)

THE DIVIDE (US-Canada)

Director: Xavier Gens, Writers: Karl Mueller & Eron Sheean To survive the end of the world…you must first survive each other. Cast: Michael Biehn, Milo Ventimiglia, Lauren German, Rosanna Arquette, Courtney B. Vance (World Premiere)

HOBO WITH A SHOTGUN

Director: Jason Eisner, Writer: John Davies A Hobo finds himself in an urban hell. When he witnesses a brutal robbery, he realizes the only way to deliver justice is with a shotgun. Cast: Rutger Hauer, Gregory Smith, Molly Dunsworth, Brian Downey, Nick Bateman

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By Jane Almirall and Shannon Hood

Day three of the festival we got some screenings in, a few interviews, and lots of shorts.

I Saw The Devil Directed by Ji-woon Kim.  Starring Byung-hun Lee (The Good the Bad, the Weird) and Min-sik Choi (Oldboy, Lady Vengeance.)

Shannon:  I seriously contemplated not attending this screening, because it was so early, and because it was subtitled, and it was 2 and 1/2 hours long.

I am so glad I decided to attend.  This Korean revenge movie blew me away, and is my favorite movie of the festival thus far.

I Saw The Devil is a beautiful, brutal, and horrifying revenge tale.  It has the most chilling sociopathic villain I have seen in any movie since Hannibal Lector. The 2 and 1/2 hour running time flies by.  Full review forthcoming.

Interview: Simon Rumley (director; Red, White, and Blue.)  Simon is from London, but directed his film entirely in the Austin area, and even hosted a pub crawl to the various venues that he used in the movie.  He talked about the taboos he broke in the movie, the jarring musical score, and how influential pal Tim League helped him with the movie.  Full interview forthcoming.

We Are What We Are Directed by Jorge Michel Grau.  Starring Adrián Aguirre, Miriam Balderas, Francisco Barreiro, and Carmen Beato. Summary:  When the patriarch of the family passes away, the teenage children must take responsibility for the family chores: the preparation of the rituals…

This was a bit of a mixed bag, about a mexican family of cannibals who must make do after the patriarch of the family passes away unexpectedly.

What’s surprising is that cannibals are usually depicted as redneck backwards ass families.  This is, by all appearances, a normal family.

They eat humans for “the ritual,”  but the movie never really explains what the ritual is.  I wish we would have found out more about their motivations for the cannibalism.  I’m kind of in the middle on this one.

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I have to admit, as we get closer to Fantastic Fest I’m getting more and more excited. It’s a great festival full of an incredible mix of films from around the world that can satisfy even the most demanding critic’s taste for something new, unusual and entertaining.

Previously, we brought you news of the fist films selected for the Fest and more. Now, the Fest’s organizers have announced a new wave of films that will be showcased during the event. Some of these films include the Gala premiere of Buried starring Ryan Reynolds (which was announced last week), the US premiere of the Edward Norton starer Stone, the world premiere of 30 Days of Night: Dark Days, the US premiere of Tony Jaa’s Ong Bak 3, the US premiere of Andrew Lau’s  Legend of the Fist and so much more.

With these new films announced, and even more still to come including, I’m sure, a few surprise screenings, the Fest looks to be even more amazing than last year. If you’re a fan of films and a great time, you don’t have an excuse not to be in Austin from September 23-30. For more on the great lineup of films announced today, check out the full press release after the jump.

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At the risk of repeating myself too much I will again express my love for a film festival in Austin, TX known as Fantastic Fest. It features some of the best and most innovative programming and events of any festival I’ve been to and is also a whole lot of fun. So naturally, whenever there’s news from the fest, as their is today, I’m going to share it.

With that in mind comes today’s news. Fantastic Fest has announced its opening night film and, drum roll please, that film is the vampire thriller Let Me In. The film, directed by Cloverfield‘s Matt Reeves, stars Chloe Moretz, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Elias Koteas and Richard Jenkins, tells the story of an alienated boy named Owen (Smit-McPhee) who spies on the other residents of his apartment complex. His only friend is his new neighbor, a young girl (Moretz) who lives with her silent father (Jenkins) and who turns out not to be at all what she seems.

The film will screen following a red carpet event and kick off the fest on Thursday, September 23rd at The Paramount Theater in Austin. Knowing the fest as I do this seems like a perfect film to kick things off. Sure, some people may not be into this upcoming remake of the terrific Let the Right One In but as a fan of Reeves’ earlier work on Cloverfield and after having seen some info about this new film, I’m convinced this was a great way to go.

Fantastic Fest runs from September 23-30 in Austin, Texas. Check out the full press release after the jump.

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Even though our minds are focused more on recovering from E3 and planning for San Diego Comic-Con, that doesn’t mean we’ve forgotten one of our favorite film festivals. Fantastic Fest, the annual fete featuring genre films in Austin, TX is near and dear to our hearts so as we get info on it we will dutifully bring it to you.

This time around the fest has announced some early films and special guests that will be part of the fun from September 23-30. Among these new announcements are appearances by director Stuart Gordon and Reanimator star Jeffrey Combs as well as a spotlight on Norway and its crop of young filmmakers making horror and other genre fare such as Roar Uthaug and the acclaimed Cold Prey.

Click through for the full press release with all the detailed scoop. Stay tuned right here for all the news on Fantastic Fest as we get it.

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Of all the film festivals I’ve been to over the years I rank Austin’s Fantastic Fest as one of my favorites. The selection of films, events, parties and the people running the fest, and in Austin in general, make it a thoroughly enjoyable experience. Now it seems the fine folks in charge of the fest are trying to make it even better with the announcement of the new Fantastic Fest Fantastic Arcade.

This new part of the fest will feature fresh, cutting-edge games designed by independent game developers and publishers. During the fest the infamous Highball ballroom will be transformed into an old style arcade to showcase all of these games. This event promises to further enhance Fantastic Fest’s already terrific lineup of things to see and do. I, for one can’t wait to check it out.

Fantastic Fest runs from September 23-30 in Austin, TX. If you love genre movies and want to have a great time, it is well worth the trip. Check out the full press release announcing the Fantastic Arcade after the jump.

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Chris Farina’s World Peace…and Other 4th Grade Achievements is one of the more fascinating documentaries you will ever see. Over the course of eight weeks, students in 4th-grade teacher John Hunter’s Charlottesville, Virginia class take on the roles of nation leaders, UN representatives, the World Bank, tribal chieftans who negotiate the trade rights to their resource-rich lands, arms dealers, and even a weather goddess in a comprehensive game designed to promote discussion, foster negotiation skills, and, of course, ultimately achieve world peace.

With each child’s duty defined, Hunter then introduces a number of crises ranging from economic hardships to global warming to mercenary attacks to even a saboteur whom the students must unmask, put on trial, and prove guilty.

It may sound like too much to cover in the span of a one-hour running time, but Hunter explains the game with concision and clarity, and Farina maintains pace by breaking up the game’s progress into eight installments—one for each week it’s played. The structure is similar to that of a television series: Hunter summarizes his goals for each step and provides a narrative arc for the whole, while Farina follows the children around as they deal with each week’s crisis.

It’s startling how quick the children are to adopt their roles and the seriousness with which they play them. Perhaps less surprisingly, this often leads to violent arguments, such as the dispute between a tribal chieftan who grants land rights to one of the world leaders and is furious upon discovering that his friend has farmed the rights out to others.

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The Jury and Audience Award-winners of the South by Southwest (SXSW) Film Conference and Festival were announced last night at the Festival’s closing Awards Ceremony hosted by comedian Eugene Mirman in Austin, Texas. Feature Films receiving Jury Awards were selected from the Narrative Feature and Documentary Feature categories.

Films in these categories, as well as the Spotlight Premieres, Emerging Visions, Midnighters, Lone Star States and 24 Beats Per Second categories were also eligible for the 2010 SXSW Film Festival Audience Awards. Only Narrative and Documentary Feature Audience Awards were announced tonight.

Spotlight Premieres, Emerging Visions, Lone Star States, 24 Beats Per Second and Midnighters Audience Awards will be announced separately on Monday, March 22.

SXSW also announced the Jury Award-winners in Shorts Filmmaking, and Film Design Awards, and Special Awards, including the SXSW Chicken & Egg Emergent Narrative Woman Director Award and the SXSW Wholphin Award.

Click through for the complete list of the 2010 SXSW Film Festival Award Winners:

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