Fantastisk Filmfestival: feature film mini reviews
Having just returned from Lund International Fantastic Film Festival, I thought I'd (as usual) share my opinions on the movies. Since there are quite a lot of them, it's just the features in this post, and I'll add the short films in another.
Cooties
An aspiring author goes back to his childhood home to work as a substitute teacher in his old elementary school. This is humiliating enough on its own, and made even worse by the fact that virus-infected chicken nuggets are turning the students into zombies.
As someone who works in a school without being particularly well suited to that task, this film is quite gratifying - I've often felt like the kids are a horde wanting to eat me alive. :-) And it certainly has its share of laughs. (I quite liked the biology teacher, who reads books on how to carry on a normal conversation, and whose immediate reaction to the zombiefication of the students is a conversational, "Oh, look, carnage!") At the same time, though, it often takes the lazy way out: the lead actress is mainly there to be the prize in a love triangle, the black teacher dies first, the Asian janitor is a martial arts expert, and so on. Nothing here will surprise you, though certain things might very well amuse you.
Grade: 5/10
Cooties trailer
Nina Forever
Holly and Robert are starting a new relationship, but runs into some trouble when Robert's dead girlfriend Nina starts turning up in the middle of their sex acts - a talking corpse leaving blood stains on the bed sheets and turmoil in the young couple's lives.
This film had already won the Silver Melies when I saw it, which may be a contributing reason why I was a little disappointed. The idea, in my opinion, is better than the execution. The concept of a physical manifestation of grief is interesting and often funny. The main problem is that Robert is frequently an emotional blank and Nina is stuck in condescending sarcasm, leaving it to Holly to show nuance. While played by a fine actress, Holly's not quite up to the task of carrying the whole film on her shoulders. The film fares better in the scenes where other characters are involved. There are several touching scenes with Nina's parents, and an absolutely hysterical one with a stranger on the bus. Holly and Robert has been fighting, Holly sits down next to this guy, and his discomfort and WTF is so well played, without hardly any lines, that it makes me wish the entire film had that level of acting.
Still, I may be biased by not caring much about relationship dramas and never having experienced either proper grief or proper love.
Grade: 6/10
Nina Forever trailer
Love & Peace
Ryoichi is a bullied clerk dreaming of being a pop star. His only comfort is his turtle Pikadon - but Pikadon is flushed down the toilet and picked up by a hobo who... well, long story short, Pikadon gains the ability to fulfil wishes. Only problem is that each time he does, he grows bigger, and Ryochi's wishes aren't running out any time soon.
I freaking love Japanese movies. They have the unmatched ability to be bonkers in all the best way. This is a tale of friendship, love and hubris, crossed with Christmas sentiment, kaiju destruction, cheerful music, magic, talking toys, and just plain weirness, to a delightful result.
Grade: 8/10
Love & Peace trailer
Spring
When Evan's mother dies, he gets into a bar fight and has to flee the country. Ending up in a small town in Italy, he meets Louise, who is more than willing to take him home for a quick tryst, but very closed-lipped on her personal history - and for good reason. Louise, as it turns out, is rather more than meets the eye.
I liked this paranormal romance more than Nina Forever. It's slow sometimes, can get rather laddish, and I'm not sure I like the ending, but the actors are great and the romance engaging, even with the short timespan. Also, I appreciate when a movie tries something new in terms of its mythology.
Grade: 7/10
Spring trailer
H.
The film follows two couples in Troy, New York. Helen and Roy are a retired couple, where Helen devotes most of her time and affection on her "reborn angel", an incredibly lifelike baby doll. Helen and Alex are a younger couple, both artists, who have postponed their relationship troubles now that Helen is pregnant. All four - and plenty of other people - experience strange phenomena as something explodes in the sky: for instance, gravity isn't always reliable, the large head of a statue floats down the river, and people keep disappearing.
Another relationship drama mixed with genre elements, and this was my favourite of the bunch. I still have no idea what the film is about, but somehow leaving the theater without any questions answered didn't feel like being cheated. It's less an exploration of strange phenomena than it is an exploration of how people react in the face of strange phenomena, and as such it's very interesting indeed.
Grade: 8/10
H. trailer
Liza, the Fox-Fairy
Liza is a shy nurse living with her elderly patient and the ghost of Japanese pop singer Tomy Tani. When Liza starts dating, Tomy becomes jealous and decides to kill any man who so much as flirts with her. Liza doesn't realize that Tomy is behind the random deaths, but she does see the pattern and draws the conclusion that she's a "fox fairy", a demon who dooms men to a certain death, forced to live forever alone unless the curse can be broken.
In the programme, this film was described as Amelie Poulain with a death count, and that's not far wrong. It's also the best, funniest and most heartwarming film I've seen all festival. Acting, script and aesthetics all serve to make this a delightful, original experience. (Also, by sheer chance, the actor playing Tomy was there to answer questions, which was extra fun.)
Grade: 10/10
Liza, the Fox Fairy trailer
Last Girl Standing
Camryn is the only survivor of a serial killer. Five years later, she works at a dry cleaner's and stays away from social relationships as much as she can, still having nightmares and terrors of the killer coming from her. When a new guy starts working at the cleaner's, she's drawn into a circle of friends once again, but soon comes to believe that the killer is back and all her new friends in terrible danger.
I'm a bit torn on this film. It's well-acted and very involving, but while the first hour poses a realistic answer to the question of "what kind of consequences would the events of a horror movie have in real life?" the ending veers straight back into slasher film logic and just feels cheap. I'm fine with it right up until after the first murder, and then... not so much. It does hold the honour, though, of being the only film at the festival that made me sleep with the lights on.
Grade: 7/10
(Couldn't find a trailer for this one.)
Ash vs. the Evil Dead
A pilot episode, rather than a feature film, but I include it here anyway. 30 years after the events of Evil Dead, Ash is back - a bit older and creakier, but still able to chop off some heads when he needs to. Which he will, because in a drug-haze he got the bright idea to read from That Book, and now all the old troubles are back. A couple of colleagues from the store where he works, and a cop who has lost her partner, may prove to be some help in the battle.
This was the final film of the festival, and I'm mainly glad I saw it because it meant giving the festival a proper goodbye (along with karaoke in the VIP room). I can't in all honesty claim I cared much for it on its own merits. There are fun moments, sure, but by and large, it's just plain not my sense of humour. Plenty of other peope in the audience laughed a lot, though, so don't take my word for it!
Grade: 3/10
Ash vs. the Evil Dead trailer This entry was originally posted at http://katta.dreamwidth.org/637177.html and has
comments there.
Cooties
An aspiring author goes back to his childhood home to work as a substitute teacher in his old elementary school. This is humiliating enough on its own, and made even worse by the fact that virus-infected chicken nuggets are turning the students into zombies.
As someone who works in a school without being particularly well suited to that task, this film is quite gratifying - I've often felt like the kids are a horde wanting to eat me alive. :-) And it certainly has its share of laughs. (I quite liked the biology teacher, who reads books on how to carry on a normal conversation, and whose immediate reaction to the zombiefication of the students is a conversational, "Oh, look, carnage!") At the same time, though, it often takes the lazy way out: the lead actress is mainly there to be the prize in a love triangle, the black teacher dies first, the Asian janitor is a martial arts expert, and so on. Nothing here will surprise you, though certain things might very well amuse you.
Grade: 5/10
Cooties trailer
Nina Forever
Holly and Robert are starting a new relationship, but runs into some trouble when Robert's dead girlfriend Nina starts turning up in the middle of their sex acts - a talking corpse leaving blood stains on the bed sheets and turmoil in the young couple's lives.
This film had already won the Silver Melies when I saw it, which may be a contributing reason why I was a little disappointed. The idea, in my opinion, is better than the execution. The concept of a physical manifestation of grief is interesting and often funny. The main problem is that Robert is frequently an emotional blank and Nina is stuck in condescending sarcasm, leaving it to Holly to show nuance. While played by a fine actress, Holly's not quite up to the task of carrying the whole film on her shoulders. The film fares better in the scenes where other characters are involved. There are several touching scenes with Nina's parents, and an absolutely hysterical one with a stranger on the bus. Holly and Robert has been fighting, Holly sits down next to this guy, and his discomfort and WTF is so well played, without hardly any lines, that it makes me wish the entire film had that level of acting.
Still, I may be biased by not caring much about relationship dramas and never having experienced either proper grief or proper love.
Grade: 6/10
Nina Forever trailer
Love & Peace
Ryoichi is a bullied clerk dreaming of being a pop star. His only comfort is his turtle Pikadon - but Pikadon is flushed down the toilet and picked up by a hobo who... well, long story short, Pikadon gains the ability to fulfil wishes. Only problem is that each time he does, he grows bigger, and Ryochi's wishes aren't running out any time soon.
I freaking love Japanese movies. They have the unmatched ability to be bonkers in all the best way. This is a tale of friendship, love and hubris, crossed with Christmas sentiment, kaiju destruction, cheerful music, magic, talking toys, and just plain weirness, to a delightful result.
Grade: 8/10
Love & Peace trailer
Spring
When Evan's mother dies, he gets into a bar fight and has to flee the country. Ending up in a small town in Italy, he meets Louise, who is more than willing to take him home for a quick tryst, but very closed-lipped on her personal history - and for good reason. Louise, as it turns out, is rather more than meets the eye.
I liked this paranormal romance more than Nina Forever. It's slow sometimes, can get rather laddish, and I'm not sure I like the ending, but the actors are great and the romance engaging, even with the short timespan. Also, I appreciate when a movie tries something new in terms of its mythology.
Grade: 7/10
Spring trailer
H.
The film follows two couples in Troy, New York. Helen and Roy are a retired couple, where Helen devotes most of her time and affection on her "reborn angel", an incredibly lifelike baby doll. Helen and Alex are a younger couple, both artists, who have postponed their relationship troubles now that Helen is pregnant. All four - and plenty of other people - experience strange phenomena as something explodes in the sky: for instance, gravity isn't always reliable, the large head of a statue floats down the river, and people keep disappearing.
Another relationship drama mixed with genre elements, and this was my favourite of the bunch. I still have no idea what the film is about, but somehow leaving the theater without any questions answered didn't feel like being cheated. It's less an exploration of strange phenomena than it is an exploration of how people react in the face of strange phenomena, and as such it's very interesting indeed.
Grade: 8/10
H. trailer
Liza, the Fox-Fairy
Liza is a shy nurse living with her elderly patient and the ghost of Japanese pop singer Tomy Tani. When Liza starts dating, Tomy becomes jealous and decides to kill any man who so much as flirts with her. Liza doesn't realize that Tomy is behind the random deaths, but she does see the pattern and draws the conclusion that she's a "fox fairy", a demon who dooms men to a certain death, forced to live forever alone unless the curse can be broken.
In the programme, this film was described as Amelie Poulain with a death count, and that's not far wrong. It's also the best, funniest and most heartwarming film I've seen all festival. Acting, script and aesthetics all serve to make this a delightful, original experience. (Also, by sheer chance, the actor playing Tomy was there to answer questions, which was extra fun.)
Grade: 10/10
Liza, the Fox Fairy trailer
Last Girl Standing
Camryn is the only survivor of a serial killer. Five years later, she works at a dry cleaner's and stays away from social relationships as much as she can, still having nightmares and terrors of the killer coming from her. When a new guy starts working at the cleaner's, she's drawn into a circle of friends once again, but soon comes to believe that the killer is back and all her new friends in terrible danger.
I'm a bit torn on this film. It's well-acted and very involving, but while the first hour poses a realistic answer to the question of "what kind of consequences would the events of a horror movie have in real life?" the ending veers straight back into slasher film logic and just feels cheap. I'm fine with it right up until after the first murder, and then... not so much. It does hold the honour, though, of being the only film at the festival that made me sleep with the lights on.
Grade: 7/10
(Couldn't find a trailer for this one.)
Ash vs. the Evil Dead
A pilot episode, rather than a feature film, but I include it here anyway. 30 years after the events of Evil Dead, Ash is back - a bit older and creakier, but still able to chop off some heads when he needs to. Which he will, because in a drug-haze he got the bright idea to read from That Book, and now all the old troubles are back. A couple of colleagues from the store where he works, and a cop who has lost her partner, may prove to be some help in the battle.
This was the final film of the festival, and I'm mainly glad I saw it because it meant giving the festival a proper goodbye (along with karaoke in the VIP room). I can't in all honesty claim I cared much for it on its own merits. There are fun moments, sure, but by and large, it's just plain not my sense of humour. Plenty of other peope in the audience laughed a lot, though, so don't take my word for it!
Grade: 3/10
Ash vs. the Evil Dead trailer This entry was originally posted at http://katta.dreamwidth.org/637177.html and has
comments there.