The loss of my mobile computer (functionally, that is) on the first day of this year's Fantastic Fest has crippled my ability to get things posted in a timely manner. For that, I offer my apologies. I'm also tremendously behind on Disc reviews, but I should be all caught up by the weekend. I'm dashing this together so as to have something out there in the closing days of the festival.
The two movies I've seen that have most stuck with me are Merantau, which I saw the first day and is playing again tomorrow afternoon, and Private Eye, which plays once more this evening at 6:30pm. I highly recommend that anyone attending the festival make plans to see either or both, as their certainty of pick-up is not a lock. Quick thoughts on various things I've seen (with more detail to come):
Toy Story 1 & 2 Double Feature
This will lose some kids like the 8-year-old sitting next to me who had the youthful audacity to say "daddy, this is BOring" during "Jessie's Song" (the kid was not mine). The added depth is wonderful, particularly in the elevator shaft and Woody's Roundup-related sequences in Toy Story 2. The trailer for Toy Story 3 preceding the main attraction trained me to think of and look for hooks throughout the original two movies. I also noticed that bear briefly spotted in UP shows up in both Toy Story movies...
Zombieland
This movie is going to go over huge with the general public, and yes, The Cameo is pretty good stuff. Lines like "God bless rednecks" and "He's on the ceiling!" had me rolling, as did the opening lines making fun of Garland, Texas (my hometown) as looking "like a wasteland...but that's just Garland". The movie is gorier and bloodier than I'd been let on to believe.
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
I was right there with the movie until the third act, when it seemed to contradict some of the Imaginarium "rules" that had been set up. Then again, there were circumstances that threw thing out of whack. I'm still rolling over this one in my head, but I walked out feeling like it was really uneven.
Under the Mountain
This is better than almost every children's movie I've seen in the last few years. Adults would likely be bored by it, but it's a perfect pre-tweener thing. I hope some American distributor picks it up.
Yatterman
Anyone who has ever been a fan of Anime series will get the very intentional in-jokes included in Takashi Miike's Yatterman, based on a couple decades-old Japanese series of the same name. In the film adaptation, they basically condense an entire "show" worth of stories into one two-hour narrative, including criticism of the reptitive nature of the medium and a gentle jab at the end to fanboys who refuse to out their toys away and grow up. I hope Miike's name will get this one picked up for some sort of Stateside video release at minimum.
Love Exposure
From the director of Suicide Club, this one is outright bugfuck insane in places, and shifts tonally more times than I could count. I need more than a few lines to get into this, but suffice to say that it earns its runtime by continually giving you a new reason to keep watching.
The Men Who Stare At Goats
From what I understand, we saw an unfinished version of this film. The Jedi lines being said to Ewan McGregor are almost impossible to not laugh at. I'd buy or rent the DVD just to watch the Gag Reel of hours of mucked up lines where he and Clooney couldn't keep straight faces.
Ninja Assassin
I was asked by WB publicity to not write about this until opening day, which I think is hilarious on its face for a movie that's screening to the public at a festival. Once I see embargo broken all over the place, I'll add my thoughts to the throng. From what I gather, I'm neither as positive or negative on it as the majority of reviewers, who seem to have been hot or cold.
I've seen a great deal more than this, but this is the limit of what I have time to post on at present. I'm seeing Private Eye a second time tonight and an Avatar preview.