Hey folks, Harry here... last update for the night. More fest tomorrow!!!

Hi Harry,
After just the first two days, Fantastic Fest has already proven to be
so much more than it was last year. Here are my reviews for the first two days.
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The Hamster Cage
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The very first film of the festival, and a worthy one to set the tone.
This film treats the family unit like a gem that you pick up and
examine only to discover as you turn it over in your hand that it's
a polished turd. Every family has secrets, but most are never
uncovered. When the family uncle, a famed psychiatrist, arrives
with gifts for his niece, nephew, brother, and sister-in-law, it
appears he is trying to heal old wounds. Unfortunately, as each
gift is revealed, so is the dark secret which it represents. These
revelations have unintended consequences, but it's safe to say
that everyone generally gets what he (or she) deserves. The
filmmaker has set out to create an over-the-top depiction of
family disfunctionality, and he has succeeded marvelously.
Special props for intelligent dialogue, perfect comedic timing,
and a (possibly unintended) Monty Python reference. As the
first film of the festival, this left me very excited about all that
is yet to come.
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They're Made Out of Meat
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I've heard of this film, but somehow missed it when I first had
opportunity to see it. I was pleasantly surprised to discover it
was the opening short before The Hamster Cage. I don't know that
I can say anything about this that hasn't already been said, but
it is a MUST-SEE. If you are a Tom Noonan fan, then you should
already have seen it, though stand-up comic Ben Bailey seems to be
the star here. While this could be considered strictly science-
fiction, anyone should be able to enjoy the humor.
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I'm afraid I didn't see any other selections on the first day. I
had plans with friends to see the Nicholas Cage remake of 'The
Wicker Man' in order to compare it to the original made in 1973
starring Edward Woodward and a very much younger Christopher Lee.
Do yourself a favor, and pick up the original. It's available at
Wal-Mart for $10, so use the $10 you save by NOT going to see the
shittier-than-we-thought-possible remake. This remake shows how
Hollywood can take everything that is good and right about a movie,
remove it, package the corpse, and try to sell it to a clueless
American audience. This is what we get for not paying better
attention. With luck, Fantastic Fest can help raise the bar.
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Inside
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This was the second film of the festival for me, and was the PERFECT
follow-up to The Hamster Cage. The preview and writeup don't really
prepare you for the full impact of this film. While they seem to
promise a look at voyeurism, that topic only serves as a vehicle.
The real focus of this film would seem to be exploration of extreme
psychosis as a contagion. Really, it's too bad 'The Parent Trap' has
already been used as a title. Nicholas D'Agosto is great as Alex,
the squeaky-clean but troubled teen, but Cheryl White as Alice, the
grieving mother, stole the show portraying a griefi-driven descent
into a full-blown psychotic breakdown.
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The Snow Queen
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The synopsis posted on the Fantastic Fest site leaves no surprises
about this story, as it details every point of the plot in this short
film. It fails to express what a lovely film it is, however. Visuals
of this quality are rare in a short. I wasn't thrilled with the
choice to show this with 'Inside'. The role-playing/fantasy POV in
this film would better fit the theme of Gamerz. It was interesting
that the only adult with a speaking part in the film was the narrator,
the grown-up who is recounting her childhood. It worked well for
scenes of the little girl dealing with teachers, schoolmates, and her
father. None of them needed to talk, but one brief scene doesn't
completely gel. In it, she's in what appears to be a hospital bed
with a teenage boyfriend yelling at her silently. After some thought,
this might have been meant to show the aftermath of an attempted
suicide. Perhaps this is what the narrator is trying to explain to
herself/to the audience.
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Renaissance
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It is truly fortunate this film wasn't a contest entry, fortunate for
the other films. Don't read this review, because Renaissance is like
The Matrix or Dark City, a film where the less you know before you see
it, the better. The story is standard sci-fi/detective fare, but in my
opinion is much better than Sin City, to which this will visually be
compared. I had heard something about Daniel Craig doing an animated
film, but didn't realize this was it until the credits rolled. His
was just one of many accomplished actors who voiced the film, but the
*look* of Renaissance is something that has not been done before. The
story is slow, taking 20 minutes or so before things really start to
happen, but that's IMPORTANT, because it will take you about that long
to pick up your jaw and get over looking at everything. this must
receive at least an Academy nomination for visual f/x, if not the win,
and keep in mind the entire movie, with one exception, is in black and
white. No shades of gray, just solid black and solid white, as if
every frame were posterized in Photoshop. This is the kind of film I
expect to see associated with a name like 'Fantastic Fest'.
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Gamerz
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Gamerz has already been highly praised by the staff of AICN. I have
less gaming experience than many of my friends, but I've enough to know
this was written, lovingly, by someone who has directly experienced the
role-playing world and the related social dynamics. Gamerz brings
several unknown, but talented actors to the screen. Punctuated with
clips of the characters' role-playing alter-egos in silhouette or
shadow-form, this is a fun, quirky, at times emotional, trip through
what for many of us is solid nostalgia. Very enjoyable, constant
laughter keeps the mood light even in tenser scenes.
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Midnight Movies
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'Midnight Movies: From the Margin to the Mainstream' is a brief
documentary that explores six definitive works of the Midnight Movie
genre through clips, behind-the-scenes footage, and interviews with the
creators. Particular attention is paid to 'Night of the Living Dead,'
'Pink Flamingos,' and of course, 'The Rocky Horror Picture Show', with
slightly less screentime for El Topo (described as the film that began
the genre), 'The Harder They Come,' and 'Eraserhead'. Having seen only
one third of these titles, I now feel the urge to view the others,
especially El Topo and Eraserhead. Each of the filmmakers responsible
for these is allowed to tell his own story.
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See you in another day or two,
-Augustus Gloop