Saturday, September 25, 2010

LET ME IN premiere at Fantastic Fest in Austin, TX



So this post will be decidedly shorter than my previous screening post about Iron Man 2 since there's not really a ton to tell, even if equally awesome. Fantastic Fest is a film festival that happens every year for the past 6 or so years in Austin, TX. It was created by Tim League, CEO and founder of the Alamo Drafthouse, and Harry Knowles, founder of Butt-numb-a-thon Film Festival and Aint it Cool News. The idea is that Fantastic Fest is a genre festival, specializing in action, horror, sci-fi, fantasy, thriller, etc genre films from all over the world. I was unable to attend the whole thing this year, but I did get a chance to attend the opening night gala premiere of Let Me In, the American "remake" of the Swedish vampire film, Let The Right One In. I placed remake in quotation marks because director Matt Reeves (Cloverfield) didn't approach the film as a remake of the Swedish version, but as an adaptation of the same book both films are based on. I think he made the right decision, as obviously the two films will be the same in plot, but felt different in a lot of ways as well. On with the show!

Thursday, September 2, 2010

The Calm Before the Storm


Summer is pretty much over, and with it, the first half or so of 2010. With summer ending, fall begins, and with that, a new season of films. 2010 Hasn't really been too remarkable as far as movies go, but there have been some gems, and more than a handful of films to look forward to as we get into. That being said, I'm surprised at how conservative critics have been this year, especially with the more remarkable films so far. Generally speaking, critics tend not to line up with the average Joe-Six-Pack audience members, and praise a film for being different, bold, and not just another brick in the wall. But this year there's been this odd knee-jerk reaction amongst critics towards more original, fresh, and different material.