The legend from last night: Trailers in italics, previews in bold, features in big bold. First full writeup comes this afternoon. Beastmaster 2 C.H.O.M.P.S. Hot Dog lobby snack ad The Secret of Magic Island The thought of remaking Beastmaster (was that being talked up) makes me chuckle. Devin from CHUD is right-on wanting to see The Secret of Magic Island. Looks like an ASPCA horror show of animal abuse. White Dog (1982) I gotta be honest, I missed parts of this due to exhaustion and slow, lingering closeups. Definitely deserves a re-watching and poring-over of the extras on the new Criterion edition. Push (2009) This looks utterly atrocious. I wish I could be more charitable than that. Know1ng (2009) This, on the other hand, looks great. Proyas wisely chose a solidly-choreographed sequence to send. Observe and Report (2009) Having recently re-watched The Foot Fist Way, I can't wait to see something else from the pen/typing hands of Jody Hill. Terminator Salvation (2009) McG looks to have a winner on his hands. He just needs to let the movie speak for itself and do what it does. Watchmen (2009) I've kept my wife entirely in the dark about Watchmen and what it is, and her reaction was, "that looks like it's going to be amazing. When does it come out?" Latino Encounter Amin: The Rise and Fall Pop Tarts commercial Mission Thunderbolt Latino Encounter only tangentially (I think?) involved actual latinos, Amin was a holdover from last year but the human bacon bit makes it hilarious each time, did you know pop tarts now feature frosting?, and I can't remember the last trailer for the life of me. Che (2008 Roadshow Cut) This was a rough time for almost everyone in the audience. This was the one thing I was desperate to see that I couldn't have otherwise, and it was excellent. Politics and armchair directing aside (the reasons most are slamming it combined with lack of what I consider reasonable movie-going patience), a brilliant achievement. ------------------------------------- I had to get something up here or I'd be behind. Today and throughout the week (maybe into the next) I'll be giving each piece of the puzzle its own attention. Admittedly, last year had its ups and downs, but this year's was universally strong. I never felt "bought," but all the same will give the various giveaway goodies their own focus, including Sex Panther cologne from Anchorman, which roughly 20 of my workmates have told me they are buying.

Blocking out 24 hours of your life on a weekend this time of year for an all-you-can-be-fed film festival makes various things very difficult to catch up on, especially sleep and your day job. I've recovered enough on both fronts that I can start piecing together adequate coverage of this year's 26-hour (once all was said and done) tenth annual Butt-Numb-a-Thon. I'll be delivering full-length features on individual films and chunks of related material, topping it off with a BNAT list of some sort regarding favorites and so on. For now, I'll drill through the lineup as it happened, trailers and all, limiting myself to one line apiece. Trailers in italics, previews in bold, features in big bold. Deal with it. Part two in the morning. Invasion USA The Slumber Party Massacre Pinnochio's Birthday Party Stunt Rock Chuck Norris fearmongering, slasher classic, terrible children's cash-in and a BNAT tradition. Teen Wolf (with Teen Wolf live, cut short by projector malfunction) The annual poking of fun at Harry Knowles' pal Jeff Mahler. Fake "wolf teeth" are always good for a laugh. Viva Villa (1934) Unintentionally homoerotic and full of man-love tension...entertaining as hell. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008) I'm glad I went in without staggering expectations. One of the year's best that I've seen, but requires 2.5-hour patience, which not as many have these days. Coraline (3D) Freaky and full of anti-establishment sentiment. Beautiful stop-motion work. The reason 3D should exist. Dr. Pepper Commercial The Terrornauts Ashley and I perked up at a commercial for our favorite soda (which we prefer the cane sugar variety of, made here in Texas) and chuckled at how badly someone can cut a trailer. Sahara (1943) Ashley can't roll with Bogart and feels him unappealing. I however love the guy, and he's full of salt and vinegar here. Doc Savage Mega Force The Villain Doc Savage always makes me laugh, Mega Force did not, in fact, contain the greatest stunts I'd ever seen, and I had never even heard of The Villain but now want to find it desperately. Valkyrie (2008) I expected to hate this movie for a laundry list of reasons that had nothing to do with giving the movie a shot. Others have said it "gets the job done and that's it," but I think that's why it's one of the most clean, efficient, no-bullshit things I've seen all year. UP (2009) One of my favorite things I saw. I'm in the tank for Pixar, but I didn't know what to expect. Animatics and storyboards made me well up. Metropolis (1984 Moroder cut) The sound was up waaayyy too high to the point Ashley and I had headaches for the next four hours or so. Hadn't seen it all the way through, and we were watching the only print known to exist. Monsters Versus Aliens (2009) 20 minutes or so, 3 scenes The 3D in this didn't wow me, some of the gags tried too hard, and Stephen Colbert was about the only thing that I unconditionally enjoyed. Not a fair way to judge it compared to the contiguous chunk of UP we saw. My Bloody Valentine The Devil Within Her Metalstorm I barely remember these. My Bloody Valentine 3D (2009) I'm not a horror fiend, gorehound, or whatever. This isn't my kind of movie, but it's much, much better than a lot of the crap being sequelized. It knows what it is and what it's doing, and I'll be damned if it doesn't use the 3D as a tool to stand out and not just blend in with the other slashers out there. A moviegoing event for the horror-hungry masses. I Love You Man I missed giant chunks of this due to Ashley still feeling the after-effects of Metropolis, but the consensus seemed positive among those I spoke with. Not earth-shattering, but a good pile of fun and contrast to Valentine. It was just announced as opening night film for SXSW, so I'll see it properly there.

Getting prepped for a 24-hour film festival takes a lot out of you. Ashley and I are getting our last things done before heading to the Alamo South Lamar, and I wanted to throw some last minute guesses based on the "fake lineup" Harry posted late last night. The movies below correspond to something we're seeing, whether new, old, clips or the whole movie. 1. THE CHAMP (1931) -not The Wrestler, that's too obvious 2. SOMEWHERE IN TIME (1980) -Star Trek 3. ALICE IN WONDERLAND (2010) -Coraline 4. ISHTAR (1987) -Reds? hell, I have no clue 5. THE STING (1973) -something with Newman. This is NOT The Brothers Bloom, it played Fantastic Fest. 6. KURENAI NO BUTA (1992) -Ponyo on a cliff 7. FLASH GORDON (1980) -Flesh Gordon 8. GOJIRA TAI MEKAGOJIRA (1974) -Monsters vs Aliens 9. DIAL M FOR MURDER (1954) -this is a stretch, but High Noon, linking from Grace Kelly 10. THE THIRD MAN (1949) -no clue 11. BIRTH OF A NATION (1915) -Valkyrie 12. FIRESTARTER (1984) -Grey Gardens? Whip It!? 13. THE DAY THE EARTH CAUGHT FIRE (1961) -2012 14. GREEN HORNET (2010) -Observe and Report 15. WHO IS KILLING THE GREAT CHEFS OF EUROPE? (1978) -Watchmen 16. EL CID (1961) -Che 1 & 2 (wishful thinking) 17. A BOY AND HIS DOG (1975) -The Road Most of these guesses are probably WAY off, but here's to guessing. See everyone on the other side.

My first Butt Numb a Thon experience was last year. My first Fantastic Fest was this year. From all indications, this year's BNAT will be the unholy combination of the two, and there are few other things that I find myself anticipating or thinking about in my idle time. I'm hoping the full-course Che is in the mix, since I know the Roadshow thing is NY/LA only (which is ridiculous).