Expecting the glit and glamour of a slew of cameras and screaming fans, or at least a girl wanting her undergarments signed, the Austin red carpet experience for Thursday's world premier of "Zathura" fell short. A few reporters lined up in front of a strip of red fabric while John Favreau ("Elf" and "Swingers") and Dax Sheppard ("Punk'd" and "Without a Paddle") answered questions and quickly moved past the sparse crowd.
Organized by aintitcool.com's Harry Knowles and the No. 1 theater in the country according to Entertainment Weekly, the Alamo Drafthouse, "Fantastic Fest," got off to a slow start but ultimately did not disappoint.
Walking up to the South Lamar Alamo Drafthouse Friday evening, the air brewed thick with electricity. It was the same energy felt at the first screenings of "Star Wars," "Lord of the Rings," "Halloween" and this year's "Serenity."
Feverous anticipation bubbled from a crowd of long, scraggly-haired film enthusiasts all zombie T-shirts and Converse hi-tops waiting to watch the start of Austin's first film festival dedicated to sci-fi, fantasy, and horror.
The fans packed into the theater as the burgeoning crowd prepared for a weekend of never before seen cinema.
Everyone was excited to the point they didn't mind paying $11 for a hamburger or $3 for a soda.
The big premiere: "Zathura"
Austin is Dax Sheppard's favorite city in the country. At least that is what he said on the red carpet before the opening of "Zathura."
"I love it here, you can go to Barton Springs and see all the UT girls lying around topless," Sheppard said.
Sheppard plays an astronaut in a movie about a game that redefines interactive.
The film opens with two brothers, Danny (Jonah Bobo) and Walter (Josh Hutcherson), who fight for the affection of their dad and are extremely competitive, as brothers often are.
When their dad (Tim Robbins) has to go into work on a Saturday, the boys try to fight the boredom using their own methods.
While Walter watches "Sports Center," Danny discovers "Zathura" in the "Home Alone" style basement.
He starts to play the game and chaos ensues as their house is launched into outer space, bringing with it robots, meteor showers and people-eating lizards.
Using miniatures instead of CGI whenever possible - like the original "Star Wars" movies and "Battlestar Galactica" - turned out to be a good move on Favreau's part. The special effects had a vintage look that corresponded well with the vintage game.
One can't help but think of "Jumanji," and although it is less serious and more lighthearted than the Robin Williams flick, it was surprisingly entertaining. Like "Elf," "Zathura" is a children's movie that adults can also enjoy.
- LT
The "sex and zombie" film: "Night of the Living Dorks"
Tim League, one of the organizers of Fantastic Fest, eagerly introduced the film on Friday night, exclaiming, "Hey, the Germans are pretty funny." And funny they were. Combining two of the most ridiculous and awesome sub-genres: the teen sex comedy and zombie movies, turned out to be almost genius.
"Night of the Living Dorks" could have been a "Shaun of the Dead" rip-off, but it definitely holds its own and keeps you entertained.
The three "dorks" attend Fredrich Nietzsche High School and face the same problems all typical German geeks face: embarrassing rugby games in gym, boring history and biology classes, and rich bullies who use them as punching bags.
Of course, the lead dork is in love with the most beautiful and popular girl in school, so he asks his pretty neighbor next door to help him make a love spell.
The love spell is unsuccessful, but the ashes of a zombie used in the ritual spill all over the three dorks. After smoking copious amounts of weed and running their car into a tree, the dorks wake up in the mortuary. They embrace themselves as zombies, and begin to take their revenge.
The special effects include corn syrup blood and carefully constructed body parts and the film never takes itself too seriously. With witty punch lines and the integration of the American culture, this German zombie flick is radical.
- LT
The "sort of similar to 'Fargo'" film: "The Big White"
Holly Hunter has Tourrettes syndrome, or at least her character Margaret Barnell thinks she does.
"The Big White," Mark Mylod's first feature film is about travel agent Paul Barnell played by Robin Williams whose financial troubles and love for his hypochondriac wife force him to take drastic measures.
After finding a body in the dumpster at his place of employment, he embarks on a scheme to pass the body off as his missing brother, Raymond, played by Woody Harrelson whom he has a $1 million life insurance plan on.
Giovanni Ribisi ("Gone in 60 Seconds" and "Lost in Translation") plays the ambitious insurance agent who wants nothing more than to move up in his company, and in doing so takes a vested interest in the Barnell case.
In the tradition of "Fargo," the movie is essentially about a slew of characters trying to get away with stuff, and not always doing the best job. When reading the description of the movie prior to viewing it, I was sure no one could make a movie so seemingly close in content to "Fargo" with half of the zest the Coen brothers are able to pull off. Luckily I was mistaken. The film held its own making me laugh and care all at the same time. Hunter and Harrelson are hilarious and Williams set aside his funny man persona successfully to play troubled Paul.
"The Big White" was one of the better films of the festival.
- LT
The "not another twist ending!" film: "Dark Hours"
In this Canadian horror film, a convicted sex offender takes a terminally-ill psychiatrist, Samantha, hostage in a remote cabin. He proceeds to torture her and her family both physically and psychologically with a series of sadistic games. It's an intriguing plot, though similar to Michael Haneke's Funny Games. And on a purely visceral level, a few of the torture scenes pack quite a punch.
Ultimately though, Director Paul Fox never reaches the level of white knuckle intensity that he strives for. Many scenes are set up quite well, but Fox always seems to resolve the conflict before it hits its peak.
Also, the characters aren't particularly likeable, even before the intruder's games reveal their deep dark secrets. This factor makes it difficult to sympathize with them.
Like almost every other promising modern horror film, Fox pulls a huge psychological twist at the end. True, this reveal is more plausible and well-executed than some films. But enough! It's still not terribly enlightening and it's nothing we haven't seen before.
If this film finds distribution, it will hopefully spark a moratorium on twist endings in horror films.
- BC
The "Cory Feldman is still alive?" film: "The Birthday"
Much of the hype surrounding "The Birthday" concerns '80s icon Corey Feldman's return to the big screen. However, it's likely that Director Eugenio Mira will soon have an equally dedicated cult following, as his debut is one of the most ambitious and interesting horror films to emerge in quite some time.
The film works best if you know nothing, so I'll leave the plot synopsis at this: It happens in real time, and it follows Feldman's character through a birthday party that becomes increasingly strange and sinister.
During the first hour of the film, Mira perfectly blends comedy, tension, and surrealism to create an '80s horror/comedy with shades of Fellini, Lynch, and Beckett. In fact, the film's setup is so energizing and full of possibility that it actually hurts when Feldman meets an undercover agent who explains every bizarre detail from the first hour. And it's even more disappointing that the explanation is as convoluted and ludicrous as they come.
From this pivotal moment, the film spins more and more out of control, right up to a bizarre climax and disappointingly inconclusive ending.
However, even when the film's plot loses footing towards the end, Mira's lush visual style and use of sound remain fascinating and sometimes groundbreaking. And Feldman's restrained portrayal of a stuttering New Jersey everyman is consistently entertaining. So while the film ultimately doesn't succeed, it's an extremely interesting and commendable failure.
- BC
The "sex, drugs, and sadism" film: "Hostel"
Director Eli Roth follows up the blood-soaked comedy of "Cabin Fever" with what he claims is a hard core and more serious effort in the vein of "The Wicker Man" or "Takashi Miike's Audition." Like the latter, he gives almost no hint of the depravity to come during the first hour, which follows three college grads on their sex- and drug-fueled backpacking tour of Europe. Then the film takes a dark turn, and the sadism ensues.
The violence is heavy for an American film, but anyone familiar with recent Asian cinema will find most of it pretty tame. What Roth really lacks is any control over the tone or suspense of his film. By the end, he's in full "Cabin Fever" mode, throwing any image at the audience that might get a reaction, no matter how ridiculous. Ultimately, it feels like a film by a director who knows what makes all the best scenes of his favorite movies work, but not the film as a whole.
- BC
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