My favourite film of the fest was Best Worst Movie, which is surprising because it was one of the ones I was least excited about going in. It’s… well, it’s a documentary about Troll 2, as I mentioned before, but it ended up being one of the most hilarious, heartbreaking, and charming filsm of the festival. Absolutely see this if you get the chance. The two “protagonists,” Michael Stephenson and George Hardy (the son and dad of Troll 2) seem like two of the most genuinely nice people ever– especially George, who was at the screening of this and Troll 2 and too kthe time to shake every single person’s hand in line before Troll 2 played– some 800 people or so. I have to go to the dentist soon to get a tooth filled, and I am tempted to go down to Alabama to get him to do it (since he’s a full-time dentist now).

The next best, in my opinion, was also a documentary. Playing Columbine could have been awful– a discussion on games as a means of expression, directed by the guy who made Super Columbine Massacre RPG!– but he manages to make his point without being arrogant, or dickish, or insensitive. He comes off as a bit of a messiah, but it’s still a very thoughtful view on the current censorship battles that games are going through, and provoked some great discussion.

Daytime Drinking was probably my favourite non-documentary of the film. Slow, but meaningfully so, the lead actor’s incredibly muted emotion during the whole film makes for the perfect vacation-turned-crappy flick. That is was shot on such a shoestring budget is impressive, but it stands among the best of the festival even without knowing the amount spent on it. Similarly, Cryptic is the new Timecrimes, or even Primer; a microbudget (done for $250,000, and everyone who worked on it was unionized or at least paid fairly, which is insanely impressive in Hollywood) sci-fi time-manipulation flick about a cell phone that, for some reason, can call back in time. I barely even roused enough interest in myself to go see this, but I am so glad I did. It is another amazing addition to this decade’s scantily-funded science fiction flick glut.

There was a special thing on pink eiga films, which are Japanese skin flicks of approximately 60 minutes in length with five sex scenes. Aside from those two restrictions, the directors of these flicks — many would become premier Japanese auteurs after getting their feet wet making these films for the Japanese sex cinemas — were free to do anything they wanted. Blue Film Woman was one of the films screening — a stylish, dark (almost Greek) tragedy about a man who can’t pay his debt to a ruthless debt collector. It devolves into a bunch of people’s lives really sucking, with some really fucked up sex scenes inbetween.

The last film worth mentioning is Breathless, yet another amazing Korean flick this year. Written, directed, produced and starring one guy (who sold his house to fund the production), it tells a story about an incredibly unlikeable person who beats people up for money. Yet, it shows you why is is how he is, and by the end he becomes one of the most sympathetic anti-heroes in recent film history.

Any of those five films I would highly recommend. Now, that’s enough film-related talking for this blog for a while– back ot video games at some point in the future, I suppose!

That all changes in July, though, when Fantasia rolls into town. Instead of stupid chair kickers and dumb middle-aged dudes who tell you what’s hpapening on the screen you get a bunch of film geeks who are really excited to see the source material. And, even more important, you get to see a bunch of movies that you ACTUALLY have to see in theatres– because you will probably never find a DVD or even a torrent of some of these obscure flicks from around the world. Or, since it’s basically a “genre” film festival, there’s some stuff you have to see in theatres because it so damn scary that you need to experience 300 other people SCREAMING (last year’s [REC] for example).

Last year, [REC] and 4bia and ESPECIALLY Adrift In Tokyo (I feel like an idiot for not putting it on my top 5 movies from last year) blew me away. I’m hoping this year will be as good. Here are some of the highlights, at least, for me now (I have yet to actually watch these, so they might be disappointments– we shall see):

Daytime Drinking — in Korea, there’s a rule: never turn down the first drink someone offers you. A dude goes to a resort town in winter (not exactly when it’s packed with people) to meet friends who aren’t there. He wanders around and people keep giving him soju (rice-based alcoholic beverage, about 20%, vodka-esque). It was shot on $20,000 and it’s apparently beautiful and funny.

Thirst — Have you seen Oldboy? Because the director of Oldboy has a new movie. About a priest. Who is a vampire.

Dream — I suppose all I can say is that Kim Ki-Duk directed this. If this means anything to you, you’re excited. If not, well, watch 3-Iron, The Isle, and Spring Summer Fall Winter And Spring. Especially 3-Iron, though.

Power Kids — Okay, it’s a kid’s movie, but… damn it, lsiten to how amazing this is. It’s the same producers as Ong Bak. They got four kids and trained the hell out of them to make them Muay Thai machines. They made a movie with them. They do their own stunts. This is like Tony Jaa meets SURF NINJAS. From THAILAND. How could that not be incredible?! SO MANY KID KNEES TO THE FACE!

Grace — Dead babies and crazy moms scare me. This seriously looks scary as hell.

Instant Swamp — the trailer’s only in Japanese so I won’t link it, but it’s by the Adrift in Tokyo guy, so here’s that trailer. It was one of the most charming movies I ever saw, so I am gonig into his next movie blind.

Hells — some really crazy looking anime movie. Don’t know much of anything about it, but I’ll check it out.

The Chaser — While the director of Oldboy has a different film at the festival, this is apparently the REAL spiritual successor– keeping that awesome Korean New Wave brutal flick thing going.

Playing Columbine — A documentary about Super Columbine Massacre RPG? Well, okay. Seeing it in Montreal, with the bit about Kimveer Gill… there are gonna be some not-impressed people, I reckon. It’ll be interesting to see a film open a dialogue about games as more than just mindless nerdy entertainment.

Black — film from France about a Senegalese dude stealing diamonds with an awesome funk soundtrack and scenes that look like they’re out of every 70s exploitation or 80s action flick. I am really excited for this. Also, the pun at the end: “L’afrique? No. Le fric, oui.” Amazing. I guess you have to understand a bit of French for it to be funny, but it is.

Best Worst Movie / Troll 2 — Troll 2 is considered one of the worst films ever made. It has an insane cult following. This documentary, directed by the guy who played the kid in it, explores the phenomenon. It’s followed by a screening of Troll 2.

I’m also seeing a few other movies: Blue Film Woman, Canary, Cryptic, Deadgirl, and Breathless… I know next to nothing about them though, so perhaps I’ll talk about them once I see them. I am seeing the first 5 movies on my list over the next three days, so expect to hear back!

First, films!

5. All The Boys Love Mandy Lane

Of my top five movies this year, four were at the Fantasia Film Festival. This is probably because most of the movies I actually bothered to go see were at Fantasia. As such, a bunch of these probably didn’t even come out in 2008, but I think their Canadian premieres were in 2008, so that counts, right? Anyway, this is an AMAZING teen-slasher movie that starts with all of the grinning spookiness of the genre, and, at some point, warps into something really twisted and actually creepy. Highly recommended.

4. 4bia

Actually an anthology of sorts, 4bia is four short horror films by four Thai directors. Each one, however, plays out entirely differently; in fact, I’d say each fits into one of the horror subgenres that are actually relevant these days. The first plays out like an asian horror flick, but in thirty minutes. What makes it really crazy is that there’s no spoken lines, and (almost) the entire thing is shot inside a tiny Bangkok apartment. The second is a creepy black-magic-revenge story with buckets of gore, a huge departure from the previous one. The third, and audience favourite, is more of a ghost-comedy (if that makes ANY sense). And, the last one (my least favourite but that’s not saying much) feels like a Thai episode of Tales From The Crypt, about a mummified royal being returned to her country on a plane. All four are SO good, and they’re all bite-sized!

3. The Dark Knight

A no-brainer. Heath Ledger was a terrifying monster. What can I say? I never expected a cape film to be this good. It was. You’ve probably seen it, so I’ll shut up about it. But… wow.

2. [●REC]

A lot of horror this year, not because I’m a horror buff, but because I didn’t go see much else this year. [●REC] was astounding, though. If possible, make sure you don’t even see the commercial spots for the American Quarantine because it seems like a shot-for-shot remake (I didn’t see it, I heard it was bad) and it spoils a lot of the best moments. Just see [●REC]. I don’t think a movie has ever scared me more. All I’ll say to avoid spoiling things is that they completely SHATTER every idea I ever had about timing in horror movies. Best zombie movie of the decade, I reckon. Beats 28, Dawn remake, or whatever else. SEE THIS…

1. Let The Right One In

…But not before you see THIS. Best vampire movie of… well, EVER; this Swedish movie doesn’t patronize you by explaining for the fiftieth time all of the rules vampires need to follow. It’s not really a horror film as much as it is kind of an awkward kid-romance movie. Every character in this movie is intensely hug-worthy (thanks, Lyndsay, for pointing this out; Oskar really DOES look huggable) and an intriguing human being (or not, in one case). It’s a hard movie to explain, but see it.

Now, music!

5. Amadou & Mariam – Welcome to Mali

I’ll be honest– I wouldn’t have checked this out if not for Metacritic. I’m glad I did, though; at once bleak and exuberant, the album really jsut gets under my skin and makes me want to do everything in my life with even a sliver of the vigour they bring to their music.

4. Portishead – Third

Honestly, I wasn’t expecting much other than disappointment with this record. It was, what, eight years since the last album, or something? Plus, plenty of other bands have been making “combacks” recently and just proving to us that aging makes you lame. Portishead bucked the trend and made the perfect followup after such a long hiatus.

3. Fleet Foxes – Fleet Foxes

Aside from a few expections (three, to be precise: Joanna Newsom, Grizzly Bear, and Final Fantasy), the whole alt/freak/whatever folk scene has been at best uninteresting and at worst repulsive to me. This year, I added Fleet Foxes to my list of loved bands that get labelled as such, though. The EP is good, but the full-length is just astounding.

2. Zazen Boys – Zazen Boys IV

I can’t believe it took me until Zazen Boys IV to listen to Zazen Boys. I’m glad I did, though. Weekend is an amazing single, but it’s not even close to the highlight of the album. Honnoji is probably my favourite track (although practically every track is astounding). I wondered whatever happened to math rock that wasn’t boring; apparently it just moved to Japan.

1. Love Is All – A Hundred Things Keep Me Up At Night

I don’t even know what to say. I saw them in Manhattan, then I saw them in Montreal. I can’t stop listening to their music. The songs are sorrowful and lonely, but also noisy and fast and cathartic and exhilarating. I still can’t stop listening to this over and over and over. I’m as smitten with this album as one can possibly be with something that isn’t a person (or, uh… tangible, really).