Fantasia 2010: the Awesome continues!

The sub arctic cold of the hotel room work me up early, shivering under my sheets. I made the best use of my time by taking the elevator down to the gym for a morning workout, both to warm up and wake up. Burning off those poutine flavored calories couldn't hurt me either. I made it back to the room while every one else was waking up, checking e-mail, and trying not to wake Nicole, who was dead to the world. Vanessa, Forest, dined at Cafe M. The fresh squeezed orange juice actually made up for the spotty service, as did the food when it arrived. Our group converged on the street between the theaters, and split up again for the next film.

Golden Slumber - J. A. DeSave theater. Parters in Crime: Cris, Nicole

A man who once saved a Japanese pop idol (becoming a minor celebrity in his own right) is framed for killing the Japanese Prime Minister. He goes on the lam, while his old friends from college try to help prove his innocence. Forest described the film as a combination of "The Fugitive" and "The Big Chill". A very worthwhile film, with some very moving and humorous moments in it. 3/4

Our film was interrupted five minutes before the end due to a fire alarm in the building. We were all evacuated, and while we were waiting Forest found us in the crowd. One of the fireman was brandishing an ax as he walked inside, and we started making comments about zombies and contagions. When you get an alert from Fantasia, anything can go wrong. The building was cleared of any fires or infected, and we finished off the movie. I took the metro up to Mont Royal St. so I could pick up a new shirt or two at Cruella's, but arrived fifteen minutes after the store closed! Montreal subways are pretty cool, by the way. They are much more narrow than the ones in Boston, and run on rubber tires.

My adventure on the Metro left me just enough time to grab tasty cheap Indian food at Maharaja's. I almost had a flashback when I heard a baby crying during dinner, but I held it together long enough to make it to the next film.

The Disappearance of Alice Creed - J.A. DeSave theater. Partners in Crime: Hilary, Tony

Two men kidnap a woman and hold her for ransom. Then there's a twist. Then there's ANOTHER twist. That's all I can really say about the movie without spoiling it for you, because you have to see this yourself. It is brilliant! The kidnappers and their victim are the only characters in the movie, and their interplay is riveting. Keep your eyes on the Brattle and Kendall theater's, it will surely end up there. 4/4

Due to a few fire alarm delays, we were late for our next movie. The three of us races across the street to a packed theater, and managed to find some seats in the first row for ...

Blades of Blood - Concordia Hall theater. Partners in Crime: Forest, Hilary, Tony, Vanessa

There are always a few sweeping historical epics each year at Fantasia, this one was from Korea. Japan is invading, and while the East and West courts bicker in a way that makes our Congress look dynamic, a trio of men plot to overthrown the impotent Emperor to defend their country. One of the rebel leaders sells out the other, so he can eventually rule Korea. He is pursued by a blind swordsman (his former partner in rebellion) a hot headed boy (whose father was the murdered rebel leader) and a courtesan (who was in love with the man now leading the rebellion). Action, comedy, intrigue, drama, and a dash of romance make for an awesome movie experience. The only downside was that sitting up front makes it hard to focus on twelve foot tall characters on the screen, not to mention the noise. I pity the poor people who were in the front row for A Serbian Film the night before. One last thing: Koreans love their hats! Almost all the actors had awesome headgear. 4/4

Birdemic: Shock and Terror - Concordia Hall theater. Parters in Pain: Forest, Vanessa

Forest was dead set on seeing this movie, and Vanessa and I decided to tag along. I already knew this movie was billed as the "worst film of all time", so I had a pretty good idea of what to expect. I was right. Birdemic is awful in every singe way you can think of: editing, acting, sounds, effects, pacing, writing, it's all awful. hilariously, sometimes tediously awful. The kind of movie you have to watch drunk or high. The kind you can MST3K right off the get go. One half of the film is a tedious love story, and halfway through the "birds" finally appear and cause havoc. I'm sure there will be a screening at some point, and you too can know the shock and terror of... Birdemic!

Ninety minutes later we fled the theater to the safety of McKibbons Irish Pub, for several rounds of drinks and discussions of the movies we'd seen to date. There was some flirting with a waitress who mistook me for a fan of the Netherlands (it's the orange shirt, you see). Later I pondered that wearing orange to an Irish pub might land me in trouble, but the evening was violence free. We stumbled back to our hotel room, saturated in another day's worth of awesome movies.

Next up: flying battleships, flying cars, kidnapping, and free beer

Fantasia 2010: All good things...

Sunday: the last day of Fantasia is always sad. You never want the awesome to end, but nothing gold can stay, as the poet once said. So we pack everything up into my car and drive up near the theater, meeting up with Brian and Asta for breakfast at Eggspectations (breakfast restaurant inside an old brewery, very neat interior!) The crowd was small on a Sunday morning (not surprising) for our next viewing.

Space Battleship Yamato: Resurrection - Concordia Hall theater. Partners-in-Crime: Cris, Forest, Vanessa

A cascading black hole is traveling towards Earth, and the planet must be evacuated. The refugee fleets are being wiped out by a mysterious enemy, so the Yamato is rebuild for one more mission: escort a rag tag fleet to a new earth (sound familiar, BSG fans?) while defending against this new threat. The crew of the Yamato must safeguard the fleet and face an unexpected threat from beyond time and space.

The movie actually started off well. I got chills when they played the old theme song for the show, and the middle of the film was filled with space battles and intrigue. As the story progresses it gets wilder and more improbable, like a drunk telling a story who drinks more and more as the story goes on, until it stumbles into complete incoherence. In the end, we learn that there's still no dilemma so great that can't be fixed by shooting the wave motion gun at it. 2/4

Black Lightning - Concordia Hall theater. Partners in Awesomeness: Cris, Forest, Nicole, Vanessa

Slightly nerdy Russian boy gets a car from his father. This car was a supposed "failed" Russian experiment for a nanocatalyzer, which when installed in the car allows it to fly. At first he uses his car to make money by being the fastest delivery man in the city, but after a tragic incident he learns "with great power comes great responsibility" and uses his new found car to help people and fight crime.

This movie obviously had major parallels to the first Spider Man film (with a dash of Dark Knight and Iron man thrown in) but it also has the same energy, childish glee, and sense of Awesome that the first Spider Man film had. The audience cheered and applauded no less that six times during the course of the movie. This is the time of experience you come to Fantasia for: being in a room of like minded people who get excited at awesomeness and aren't afraid to express it! The production values are top notch, and even though the story is familiar, it is immensely satisfying. See it! 4/4

At this point it was five o'clock, and we had to get back on the road to Boston. Try as I might, I couldn't get my car to convert to flying mode, so we took the long, scenic land route home. Our border crossing was blessed with no traffic, but cursed with an overly inquisitive border guard who barraged us with questions about how we knew each other, the exact towns we were from, and what we did. I think he assumed that Forest and I were kidnapping Vanessa. I knew there was a reason we shouldn't have duct taped her to the back seat.

After dodging the border police in a high speed chase and losing them after a herd of moose attacked the police cars (those moose warning signs were right! Beware the moose!) we stopped for dinner at the Common Man. As soon as we sat down, one of the bartenders asked us if we liked Guinness. Someone had just ordered two glasses and didn' want them, so he offered them to us free of charge. This continues the three year tradition Forest and I have of getting free booze at Fantasia. We drank our free beers in front of a massive fireplace (I could have driven my car into it), and snacked on macaroni and cheese pizzas and buffalo burgers. The rest of the way home was in darkness, and shortly after midnight I pulled up in my driveway.

I'm already looking forward to next year!

PS - Monday night I got an email from Nicole saying another Fantasia film was playing at the Brattle [rec]2, the sequel to the Spanish "documentary zombie" movie from last year (which was remade as Quarantine). This had more of an action movie vibe to it, and had multiple camera points of view, so it felt much more artificial that the first film. It was a fun good time, and still worth seeing if you liked the first movie. It's still pretty disturbing, but I'm definitely jaded by now.