Netflix Instant: TV and Movie Picks- Fantastic Fest Edition!

Well Fantastic Fest 2014 is officially over for us, but that doesn't mean there still aren't movies to watch. Just because our favorite fest is over for a year, there are still chance to watch previous Fantastic Fest films! Thankfully Netflix has many of them available for your enjoyment. Here are a few for this week to get you started.

THE AMERICAN SCREAM
This documentary will get you ready for the Halloween season. It was one of my favorites a couple years ago. From the same director who brought us BEST WORST MOVIE, this documentary follows families as they get into the spirit of Halloween by transforming their houses into haunted houses for the neighborhood. It has tons of heart and makes me wish I lived in a quaint New England town. 

THE SACRAMENT

I wasn't lucky enough to catch this last year, but I did see it during this past DIFF. My cohort absolutely loved this film, and it definitely lived up to the hype. Director Ti West has broken away from his usual standard of a slow-burn plot and has created this fake documentary which is tense, well acted, and quite thrilling.

ELITE SQUAD: THE ENEMY WITHIN
This movie we saw during our first ever Fantastic Fest. We were sad not get into the secret screening, but this film totally surprised us. It's has great action, the story is dense, and the characters are dynamic. 

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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!

Netflix Instant: TV and Movie Picks

The cold front has set in here in Dallas, and it's the perfect weather to cuddle up on the couch and watch some movies. Also, there seems to be an annoying cold running around, so even more reason to just chill, drink some hot tea, and stream away. 

ALL IS LOST

It's difficult to carry a movie by yourself, but Robert Redford is in top form in this film. He plays a man whose boat begins to take on water as a storm approaches. It's a harrowing tale of survival that will leave you on the edge of your seat. 

THE UNKNOWN KNOWN

My cohort saw this last year at Fantastic Fest, and he very much enjoyed this documentary. Former Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld, is put under the microscope by the legendary Errol Morris. Morris attempts to retell Rumsfeld story from the time he was young to piece together the enigma of a man we all got to know during the Iraq conflict.

BLUE RUIN

Yet another amazing Fantastic Fest film which has made its way to Netflix. This was my favorite movie from last year's festival. Revenge isn't easy, and if most of us tried to take revenge on someone, we would fail miserably. BLUE RUIN explores that concept as a man tries to seek revenge for the murder of his parents. It's tense, well acted, and easily one of the best movies streaming right now. 

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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!

Netflix Instant: TV and Movie Picks

All right folks. We're hitting the lull in the movie season here in September, and if you're not heading out to see RIDDICK this weekend, here are some fun titles for you to watch. Two of them I really enjoy, and one I absolutely hated. Now, that may seem weird because why would I recommend a film that I hated. I'm curious to hear your thoughts on it. So feel free to watch, and then come back and comment how right or wrong I am!

OPEN WATER

This is not a movie for agoraphobics. A couple is accidentally left in the open sea while on a scuba diving trip. It's a small but extremely tense and psychological thriller. And it will make you never want to go scuba diving, or it will make sure you make friends with everyone on your boat so you're not left behind. 

MY AMITYVILLE HORROR
We all know that the classic horror film, AMITYVILLE HORROR, was based on true events. In this documentary, director Eric Walter takes a look at the family centered around those hauntings, the Lutz's. Most of the siblings declined to be in the film, but the eldest, Daniel, agreed to tell his story. Being a freshman director, I'm not sure if Walter was prepared for the story he was about to hear. This ends up being a fascinating tale about Daniel's horrific childhood and the sour relationship between him and his father. Check out my review from last year's Fantastic Fest here!

AMERICAN MARY
I hated this film. Hated, hated, hated. I also cannot fathom how this film got positive reviews. It's a sad excuse for a so-called "female empowerment" horror film. It's actually a sad excuse for any film. But I am recommending it here because I need you to see how bad it is, and how much the Soska sisters do not need to make any more movies...ever. And you can check out my review here.

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Favorite Films of 2013...So Far- Jonesy's Take

The first half of 2013 has been a surprise for me. The smaller films have been more standouts for me, and while they didn't play everywhere, most you can find on demand somewhere. Also, I seem to be gravitating towards the funnier films, which is great because the later half of the year is always full of downers and dramas.

Now onto the movies! And all the films are in no particular order.

Drafthouse Films to Release Fantastic Fest Favorite: I DECLARE WAR

You know, it's a shame I never got around to writing that review of my favorite movie from last year's Fantastic Fest, I DECLARE WAR. The movie has a lot of heart, a great sense of humor, and tells a compelling story about the meaning of friendship. The film follows a group of friends in an innocent game of capture-the-flag and quickly begins exploring the boundaries of loyalty and trust.

It blew us away at Fantastic Fest, ended up being one of this site's favorites, and now, Drafthouse Films has acquired this gem of a film. Thank goodness. Seek this film out later this year. You won't regret it.

Check out all the details after the break.

The HOLY MOTORS trailer strangely sums up the movie well

HOLY MOTORS is one of those strange movies where the hype is well deserved. This movie premiered back in March at the Cannes festival, and I was lucky enough to see it during Fantastic Fest. While I haven't written a review for it, I will admit that this is becoming my favorite theatrically released movie of the year. It's beautiful and baffling all at the same time. It's a movie where you know the director knew exactly how to enact his vision on screen. In the trailers for movies that are as ambitious as this, the marketing is usually very misleading, but in this instance I'm surprised how good of a job it does at hinting at the larger themes of the movie while trying to be accessible. Check out the trailer below.

Dallas! Come see director Michael Paul Stephenson's new movie, THE AMERICAN SCREAM, with us at the Texas Theatre!

After falling in love with the movie at Fantastic Fest, Jonesy and I were sad to see that director Michael Paul Stephenson's new movie, THE AMERICAN SCREAM was not going to screen here in Dallas. So we got together with Tugg Inc., to bring you guys a special one-time screening of THE AMERICAN SCREAM on October 29th, 2012 at 7:30 pm at the historic Texas Theatre with a special Skype Q&A session with the Michael afterwards.

But wait! Just like any other Tugg screening, this cannot happen unless we get enough people to come. So join us for what I can tell you will be a great experience. Follow the link to reserve your ticket and use the Facebook, Twitter and other trendy social media button to tell all of your friends. I know we're famous on the Internet and everything, but every ticket counts towards the goal.

Go here to reserve your tickets and see you guys at the Texas Theatre!

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Fantastic Fest Shorts for 2012!

There are always hidden gems at festivals, and sometimes the best parts of programming comes in the form of the shorts. Every time I go to a festival, I try my hardest to take in as many short films as possible because most of the time, they end up being the highlights for me. No doubt I will make sure I attend at least one of the sets this year.

Check the list after the jump.

Fantastic Fest 2012 Announces Signature Events!

It's about that time again! It's our favorite time of the year. Time to travel to Austin to go to our favorite genre festival, Fantastic Fest. It's the best time of the year filled with movies, beer, and friends. We will be bringing you updates on as many events and movie reviews as physically possible starting with Fantastic Fest's release of their signature event series. Not only is the festival jam packed with movies, but it also plans exciting events every night of the week including themed parties and boxing matches!

Check out the list below!

Netflix Instant: Cool TV and Movie Picks- Fantastic Fest Edition!

Look at me! I actually have a Netflix column with a theme! I'm always jealous of my cohort because he is so much better at themes than I am. I would like to take absolute full credit for this theme, but it was definitely his idea. With that said, Fantastic Fest is a wonderful movie festival that happens ever September out of Austin. We were lucky enough to go last year, and we cannot wait to head back in a couple months. Here are some titles that have graced the Fantastic Fest that you can now enjoy!

BULLHEAD

I missed this one last year, but Javi wrote an absolute fantastic piece about this film that makes me want to watch and take notes. This film was released by Drafthouse Films and was nominated for an Oscar this past year. 

SOUND OF NOISE

In my most recent trip to Austin a couple months ago, I saw this unique little film. I didn't know much about the film going in, but I thoroughly enjoyed my experience. A tone-deaf cop is on the trail of a renegade percussionists who terrorizing a Swedish city...with music. It's a fun, absurdist comedy with some really interesting music numbers. Here's the short it's based off of. 

KNUCKLE

One of the features of this past Fantastic Fest, KNUCKLE is a documentary following two Irish families who settle their differences through good old fashioned bare-knuckle fighting. During the festival, the star of the film, James Quinn McDonagh, was challenged to a boxing match by Alamo Drafthouse founder Tim League. We were able to witness this battle, and McDonagh was the clear winner, though he probably took it a little easy on League considering League's wife had just given birth to twins a days before. 

That's it for me this week. I can't promise my future columns will be themed, but I will try my hardest. 

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Netflix Instant, Keeping You Glued To Your Couch For Hours: Fantastic Fest Edition

Hey cats and kittens, Javi here.  As any and all movie geeks know, next week is the glorious Fantastic Fest down at the Alamo Drafthouse in Austin, Texas.  This will be the first time Team WDYMS will be rocking that festival, and we couldn't be more excited to experience lots of great genre movies and meeting some more movie critics.  For this week's edition of Netflix recommendations, I'll be showcasing a few of the previous year's Fantastic Fest movies! Some I'm pretty sure we've featured before, but damnit, they're so good, I want to mention them again.

THE HOST

A family drama/big-ass monster movie all wrapped up in one fun little package.  Saw this a while ago in theaters so my memory is not the best on it, but I remember enjoying it greatly.

LET THE RIGHT ONE IN

AKA a GOOD vampire movie.  This was the original movie based on the book by the same name that inspired last year's equally superb American remake LET ME IN.

THE GOOD THE BAD AND THE WEIRD

I've gushed about this movie many times in the past, and it still holds up on repeated viewings.  The story of a bumbling thief, a loner lawman and totally badass villain all going after a mysterious map.

BRONSON

I'm still in the middle of watching it, but you have film with current buzz director Nicolas Winding Refn and current buzz actor Tom Hardy about British prisoner Charles Bronson is just a damn good movie that is highly underrated.

ENTER THE VOID

This one is more of an experience than a really good movie. Director Gaspar Noe has some of the most creative shots I've seen in a long time, seamlessly mixing regular camera shots along with CGI.  There's a lot of disturbing imagery, but damn if it isn't beautiful to look at.

I SAW THE DEVIL

This is a revenge movie squared. It's brutal, sadistic and it's got that fella from OLDBOY and Storm Shadow from GI JOE: RISE OF COBRA! Joking aside, this is a brutal movie, but it turns around a lot of the tropes of the "revenge" movie genre on their head which I found really refreshing.

Now these might not be the most obscure or the "coolest" titles that have come out of Fantastic Fest, but they are all worth watching. Follow @fantasticfest, @wdyms, @JaviFuentes and @angjonesy on Twitter for more news and reviews during the festival as Jonesy and I head down to Austin.

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Don't worry...it's 100% medically INaccurate: HUMAN CENTIPEDE 2: FULL SEQUENCE teaser trailer

A couple months ago, we reported that semi-hysteria behind the upcoming HUMAN CENTIPEDE sequel.  Well, now we've learned that the movie will make its premiere at Fantastic Fest (which we here are going to)!


Marketing for FULL SEQUENCE is definitely leaping on the fact that this was banned in the UK and is pushing the limits of the horror genre.  Check out the U.S. teaser after the break: