Fantastic Fest 2014 Review: MY LIFE DIRECTED BY NICHOLAS WINDING REFN- Jonesy's Take

MY LIFE DIRECTED BY NICOLAS WINDING REFN

Directed by Liv Corfixen

Synopsis: A documentary about Refn while he's trying to make and produce ONLY GOD FORGIVES. 

Fantastic Fest 2014 Review: OPEN WINDOWS - Javi's Take

OPEN WINDOWS

Directed by: Nacho Vigalondo

Written by: Nacho Vigalondo

Starring: Elijah Wood and Sasha Grey

Synopsis: A disgruntled fan is blackmailed by an anonymous hacker to harass a famous actress. 

Fantastic Fest 2014 Review: NIGHTCRAWLER

NIGHTCRAWLER

Directed by: Dan Gilroy

Written by: Dan Gilroy

Starring: Jake Gylenhaal, Rene Russo, Bill Paxton, and Riz Ahmed

Synopsis: A con-man discovers and thrives in the underworld crime news world in LA. 

Fantastic Fest 2014 Review: BLIND - Javi's take

SPRING

Directed by: Eskil Vogt

Written by: Eskil Vogt

Starring: Ellen Dorrit Petersen, Henrik Rafaelsen, and Vera Vitali

Synopsis: A recently blinded woman retreats to her paranoid mind as she adjusts to her new life.

Fantastic Fest 2014 Review: THE DUKE OF BURGUNDY - Javi's Take

THE DUKE OF BURGUNDY 

Directed by: Peter Strickland

Written by: Peter Strickland

Starring: Sidse Babett Knudsen, Chiara D'Anna, and Monica Swinn

Synopsis: An intimate look at the romantic relationship between two women.

Fantastic Fest 2014 Review: THE GUEST - Javi's Take

THE GUEST

Directed by: Adam Wingard

Written by: Simon Barrett

Starring: Dan Stevens, Sheila Kelley, Maika Monroe, Brendan Meyer, and Lance Reddick

Synopsis: A strange man shows up to help a grieving family. 

Fantastic Fest 2014 Review: SPRING - Javi's Take

SPRING

Directed by: Justin Benson, Aaron Moorhead

Written by: Justin Benson

Starring: Lou Taylor Pucci, Nadia Hilker, Vanessa Bednar and Jeremy Gardner

Synopsis: An American in Italy meets a beautiful young grad student who is hiding a terrible secret.

Fantastic Fest 2014 Review: ELECTRIC BOOGALOO: THE WILD,UNTOLD STORY OF CANNON FILMS- Jonesy's Take

ELECTRIC BOOGALOO: THE WILD, UNTOLD STORY OF CANNON FILMS

Directed by Mark Hartley

Synopsis: A documentary about the rise and fall of Cannon Films during the 80s.

Fantastic Fest 2014 Review: THE HIVE- Jonesy's Take

THE HIVE

Directed by David Yarovesky

Written by Will Honley and Daivd Yarovesky

Starring: Gabriel Basso, Kathryn Prescott, Jacob Zachar, and Gabrielle Walsh

Synopsis: A young man wakes covered in a black substance with no recollection of how he got there or what happened to him

Fantastic Fest 2014 Review: ABC's OF DEATH 2- Jonesy's Take

ABCs OF DEATH 2

Directed by: a bunch of people

Written by: a bunch of other people

Starring:: So many people

Synopsis: A compilation of shorts each featuring a death starting with letters of the alphabet.

Fantastic Fest 2014 Review: CUB- Jonesy's Take

CUB

Directed by Jonas Govaerts

Written by Jonas Govaerts and Roel Mondelaers

Starring: Maurice Luijten, Titus De Voogdt, Stef Aerts, Evelien Bosmans, and Jan Hammenecker

Synopsis: A cub scout group encounters a violent, feral boy living in the woods. 

Everyone knows when a group of kids go camping in a film, chaos will ensue. There's always a murderous entity lurking beyond the trees ready to torture and kill the group at a moment's notice. Director Jonas Govaerts is known for his short films, but here he takes a chance on the classic terror in the woods with his first feature with marginally successful results.

Sam (Luijten) is a troubled boy who is a beacon for bullies within his scout group. He's not very confident, over imaginative, and always seems to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Before his group leaves for their annual camping trip, the two leaders, Chris and Peter, warn the boys of Kai, a feral boy lurking in the woods killing people at will. Of course, most know this is just a campfire tale, but as Sam is quick to learn, Kai is real. The first half of the film plays well, as the characters are being established and the mystery surrounding Kai is slowly revealed. Unfortunately, the film loses traction the closer it gets to the climax.

The film almost relies completely on Luijten's performance. Through other character's interactions and conversations, we begin to learn the history and sympathize with Sam's situation. Luijten has a quiet presence, but his performance is complex and is the highlight of the film. The other characters are equally fleshed out and dynamic making the characters the most interesting part of the film.

However, as we see more of Kai and what his situation is, the anticipation of the climax of the film begins to build. However, the plot becomes convoluted during the last third where Kai's intentions seem to change on a dime, and the movie becomes a bit of a mess. It seems that the plot initially wanted us to learn more and feel sorry for Kai, but then forgot to flesh out that plot point. There were also aspects of a some great and creative horror elements used by the bad guys, such a fairly creative traps set in the woods, but those elements weren't used to their full potential.

Govaerts has the potential to become a great genre filmmaker. He has a knack for creating fleshed out protagonists, but has trouble developing interesting antagonists. Individually, the horror elements are fun and creative, but they just didn't mesh well together in the end.


Tweet

Jonesy's Anticipated Fantastic Fest 2014 Films

Starting tomorrow, movie buffs from all over Texas, and the world, will descend upon Austin for the magnificent festival that is Fantastic Fest. It's a wonderful week of movies, beer, and more movies all in the confines of The Alamo Drafthouse. This year I will be covering the first half of the festival, while Javi will be at the second half. So, you can expect tons of coverage all over this site this week.

Now, onto my most anticipated films for Fantastic Fest 2014!

Javi's Most Anticipated Fantastic Fest 2014 Movies

This year is the 10th anniversary of the wonderful Fantastic Fest. To celebrate, they got an amazing line up of both new movies and some incredible repertory screenings as well. This year will be rad since I'll be there for the second half of the festival, and while Jonesy will be covering the 1st half.

Check out some of my most anticipated movies of the festival after the break.

Fantastic Fest 2014 Announces Final Wave of Films!

It's about the most wonderful time of the year. It's almost time for us to go down to Austin to spend some time with great movie people, drink craft beer, and watch some fantastic movies. Fantastic Fest has announced their final wave of films, which just makes the anticipation for this festival that much more palpable. 

As always, keep coming back here starting next week with our full coverage of the festival.

Now, onto the final wave of programming!

Fantastic Fest 2014: 10 Years of Chaos!

It's about to be our favorite time of year: Fantastic Fest. For the past three years, we've traveled down to Austin to partake in this amazing genre film festival. Even if you go down with a plan of what films you're going to see, you'll always find a hidden gem or a film that blows you away by the time you leave. Plus, it's a great festival to meet other great movie nerds like yourself. Stay tuned here for plenty of coverage!