Every year, there are high-profile studio pictures and Secret Screenings at Fantastic Fest. This year, I'm proposing some alternative choices for those who are uninterested in one or more of these (or are unable to secure themselves a ticket). It's extremely difficult for many to choose between a major studio movie with real live talent due to appear and some Korean flick they've never heard of before, but my aim is to help ease that choice and hopefully wreak some last-minute havoc on the carefully-chosen schedules many have already agonized over.
Instead of...Gentlemen Broncos (Paramount Theater)
Merantau (Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar)
A coming-of-age martial arts movie that significant in that it's the first one from Indonesia in 15 years. "Merantau" is the rite of passage in which youths go and survive in the big city with no help from their family.
Instead of...Zombieland (Paramount Theater)
Antichrist (Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar)
People know what this movie is roughly more so than those who went in sight-unseen at Cannes. A limited IFC release in NY/LA means out-of-towners and even Austinites may not have the opportunity to see it otherwise.
Instead of...Secret Screening 1 (Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar)
Sweet Karma (Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar)
This starts in the same timeslot as Zombieland/Antichrist, and could be the best of them all. A mute woman's sister is kidnapped, and the perpetrators are likely a Russian prostitution and human trafficking ring. She goes on a bloody quest for revenge. Genre action combined with very real issues piques my interest.
Instead of...Secret Screening 2 (Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar)
Trick R Treat (Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar)
Whatever the second mystery show is, it will likely have some sort of actual theatrical release unlike Mike Dougherty's excellent, virtually direct-to-video horror anthology film. I'm reasonably certain this is one of the only chances to see this with an audience, and it plays really well. I wish WB had the balls to put it up against Saw.
Instead of...Secret Screening 3 (Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar)
Rampage (Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar)
I've never watched a movie made by "Dr." Uwe Boll. This one is about a man who gets fed up with his dead-end life, builds an armored suit, and goes around murdering his home town. This is a "I can't believe I saw something like that in a theater" experience.
Instead of...Secret Screening 4 (Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar)
Vampire Girl vs. Frankenstein Girl (Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar)
In another case of "if it gets picked up, who knows if it'll play in a theater near you," VG vs. FG is like so many love triangle girly animes, but full of blood and violence. Its first screening is up against the one and only show of Trick R Treat, so see it here.
Instead of...Secret Screening 5
Fireball
I'm sure whatever the recently-added SS5 is, it'll likely be possible to see it otherwise. Fireball is a Thai martial arts revenge movie about an underground, ultra-violent basketball league that puts a guy's brother in a coma. I always hope that distributors pick up movies like this one, but Magnet can't buy everything, and Thai films are otherwise tough to come by.
Instead of...Daybreakers (Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar)
Salvage (Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar)
I know Daybreakers doesn't come out until January, but even then it'll be on thousands of screens. A SWAT team invades suburban Liverpool and guns down a family, setting off a night full of "are they here to protect us or kill us" paranoia. Just the subject of this one creeps me out in light of as-we-speak debate over USA PATRIOT Act powers of search, seizure, and imprisonment. So why go to this show of Salvage and not the first? There's a daisy-chain effect at play. The first screening of this one is up against screening one of Dae-min Park's Private Eye, which I'm really looking forward to. The second show of Private Eye is up against Fish Story (hyped already as one of the best of the fest) and the retrospective screening of Jess Franco's Bare-Breasted Countess (link NSFW), also considered a hot ticket since Franco will be in attendance.
These recommendations come from what programmers and pals have successfully hyped me on as well as synopses or filmmakers I'm interested in. Yet others are titles I worry may join titles I enjoyed last year like The Good, The Bad, The Weird, La Creme, and Muay Thai Chaiya, all of which have not as yet secured US distribution (and they may not). The festival buzz on these "unknown quantities" can make the difference between a pickup and not, so go see them and blow up twitter with positive reactions.