Hey folks, Harry here... On this rather odd night - some very strange things happened. First off, CARTUNA - the lost wandering cartoonist of AICN popped into town (for Today's HARRYHAUSEN screening of KING KONG) - also 3 time Academy Award winner Randy Cook (Lord of the Rings digital wizard!) hooked up with me and Mine for a series of top secret discussions about one of my projects tonight. Meanwhile - Ray Harryhausen was crashing the set of GRINDHOUSE - just in time to see explosions and general mass mayhem - basic end of the world stuff... when Ray and his buddy Arnold called Randy to swing by the set. We just missed Ray tonight, as he was beat from his travel, but we got there in time for Quentin's birthday event.
Side Note: The "zombies" of Rodriguez's part look COMPLETELY unlike any Zombies you've ever seen. Very Cool. Kinda hard to describe, but you'll see... eventually - most likely through a cover of FANGORIA or a leaked online still of some sort.
Anyway, towards the end of their "midnight lunch break" Quentin tackled me to take me to task for never finishing my coverage of QT6 - I made incredibly lame excuses... and was thankful he wasn't a reader of my DVD column... When he asked me to do something on the site that he was generally curious about. This is for QT film fest vets alone. Quentin is curious what your top 5 picks from all 6 QT fests have been. Also - Quentin wanted me to stress that the upcoming QT FEST was not QT7 - that's coming at some undisclosed future event. This is formally THE BEST OF QT FEST - this will be a great fest filled with the highlights of the last several years... including some jewels from QT Fest 1 that haven't been seen in a billion years. He told me some of the line-up, but swore me to secrecy. It'll kick your ass!
So - If you've seen at least 20 films at QT FESTS or more - either post in TalkBack - or send an email to Harry@AintitCool.com with your top 5 picks from your time at QT Fests and why - and we'll post your rememberances right here as soon as any of our editors here at AICN see the email. REMEMBER - these are only films that you have seen at either the DOBIE or ALAMO DRAFTHOUSE downtown versions of Tarantino Film Fests. To be fair - I suppose I should list my personal faves from the 6 QT fests. As only Father Geek and I have attended every screening of every film that has ever played at a QT FEST. Enjoy...
Harry's Top Five: 1) TWISTED NERVE 2) FOUR DESPERATE MEN 3)GRAVY TRAIN 4) SAINT JACK 5)GAMBIT
Ahoy, squirts! Quint here with my desired repeats. Harry likes to rub it in that I missed a matinee of Destroy All Monsters, but notice his wording... "have attended every screening of every film..." I skipped out on the matinee because DESTROY ALL MONSTERS was playing that very night. Since QT Fest #1 and on I have seen every film, so I'm just a notch below the Knowles'... However, I think I'm still a couple screenings ahead of Tarantino himself who bailed on more than one flick.
Anyway, my picks are: 1) Gravy Train/Dion Brothers, 2) Pretty Maids All In A Row 3) Eyes of A Stranger 4) 3:10 To Yuma (since there's that remake in the works...) 5) Ghetto Freaks Trailer (NOT the movie, which ended up being a weird hippie commune thing, but the trailer, which rocked balls and promised to leave our "asses hanging in the goddamn breeze"). Thems is my votes.
Ahoy, squirts! Quint here again, this time with our friend, Blake, who has his favorite picks for Best of QT Fest. Blake's one of the Austin area geeks that really just seems drunk on film. I second WIPEOUT, BLADE (which means a whole lot to me, personally) and SNAKE IN MONKEY'S SHADOW!
Harry,
Blake here. I've been to QT3, QT4, QT5 and QT6.
Blake's Top Five: 1) Blade 2) Snake in the Monkey's Shadow 3) Wipeout! 4) Gambit 5) King of Beggars
Tarantino's Film Prints I'm Still Dying to See Him Bring to Austin:
1) What Have They Done to Your Daughters? 2) Fear is the Key
Can you just imagine getting to see Tsui Hark's "Blade" unleashed on the big screen again with the sound cranked up full blast at the Downtown Drafthouse? I'd also love to see Di Leo's "Shoot First, Die Later" again.
I also did a recap of everything I hope screens here.
Blake
Harry here - with Boba Fett's wife, Annie Bulloch...
Harry,
I've been to QT3-6 and I've picked five titles I'd love to see again.
It was tough to narrow it down, but I tried mostly to pick ones that
aren't readily available on DVD already. Oddly, my list contains no
Italian crime or westerns, though I love those too. Di Leo must be
represented!
1. Dragon vs. Snakefist (Snake in the Monkey's Shadow) -- I have this
on VHS but all the footage of the actual monkey and snake fighting have
been removed and it really kills the effect. I have such fond memories
of that particular night of the festival, and I hope the audience can
catch that lightning in a bottle again. Seriously, if there's an
afterlife, I hope it contains a way to go back to that screening
anytime I want.
2. The Blade -- why the hell isn't this on DVD here?
3. Hammerhead -- great soundtrack, and Judy Geeson's bouncing ass.
4. The Bonnie Parker Story -- is this a weird choice? I remember
loving this movie and I caught the last 30 minutes or so on AMC a few
years ago, back before they started playing Roadhouse 24/7. Dorothy
Provine is so awesome in this.
5. Rolling Thunder -- this is out of print on VHS, but it richly
deserves a really souped-up DVD. William Devane and Tommy Lee Jones
were youngish badasses, once upon a time. Can't have QT Fest without
revenge films, after all.
It's hard to pick only five! I wasn't at the first two festivals and
I've missed screenings here and there at the others, so I'm sure
there's plenty of goodies I'll see for the first time. I managed to
pick up a bootleg of Twisted Nerve a few years ago and it was cool, but
given the buildup from folks who saw it before I'd be surprised if it
didn't show again. There are several other titles I adored, but which
are available on DVD. I think you can get Slaughter Hotel or that
would be on my list, though I might be in the minority on that one.
See you at the fest!
Annie Bulloch
Houston, TX
Mr. Wilder's list...
In no particular order:
GRAVY TRAIN
HOLLYWOOD MAN
WHAT HAVE THEY DONE WITH SOLANGE?
TICK...TICK...TICK
SAINT JACK
Matthew D. Wilder
