In ten days, this year’s Fantasia International Film Festival begins its virtual iteration, and Sonic Cinema will be covering it from Georgia. (Maybe one day, I’ll be able to do so in Montreal, when in-person festivals return.) In truth, my beginning of my coverage has already started, as the press access to screeners has kept me pretty busy. You can look below at the films I have already screened, and there are actually a few more I’ll get to later. The reviews are mostly embargoed for the week prior to the festival, or after the film has screened, but there’s more to this than just films.
Unfortunately, not everyone will have access to the screenings (most of the live screenings are geo-blocked outside of Canada), but everyone will have access to the special events, as well as local short film blocks, and there are plenty of terrific ones I cannot wait to take in myself. So, when it comes to movies, put some of these under the category of “To watch in the future,” because there are some gems well worth watching here.
The Films
If you’re able to watch the movies, there are some interesting, crazy, and entertaining choices for you to take in. I will be adding to the below list throughout the festival, and before it, getting to as many pre-screenings as I can. It’s going to be a very busy end of the month from a review standpoint. Here are some of the highlights from the live screenings available:
Kicking off the festival on Thursday, August 20th at 7pm is Neil Marshall’s period thriller, “The Reckoning”, which is set during the Great Plague and witch hunts in England in the 17th Century. Currently, it has not been made available, but I am most looking forward to this unexpectedly-timely film.
On Friday, August 21th at 7pm is a block of comedy shorts from Quebec going under the title, “L’extraordinaire ouverture – Les Fantastiques week-ends du cinéma québécois”; this block will be streamed for free over Facebook. Meanwhile, at 9:30pm is “PVT Chat”, a graphic, smart film about online loneliness and intimacy co-starring “Uncut Gems’s” Julia Fox as a cam girl who becomes the fixation of a internet gambler; “PVT Chat” will also screen on 8/25 at 11pm.
On Saturday, August 22nd at 8pm is a block of horror and genre shorts called, “100% Fantasia – Les Fantastiques week-ends du cinéma québécois”. There is another block at 10pm called, “Le programme nocturne – Les Fantastiques week-ends du cinéma québécois”. Both of these short film blocks will be streamed for free over Facebook.
On Monday, August 24th there are a couple of films I’ve seen that are well worth taking in. The first- seen by me for its release by Neon- is the terrific documentary, “You Cannot Kill David Arquette”, about the actor’s return to his passion for wrestling after his controversial WCW World Championship, which will screen at 7:30pm. Meanwhile, at 9pm there is a meditative, ambitious epic called “Labyrinth of Cinema” from the late filmmaker, Nobuhiko Obayashi, that speaks to the power of cinema to make us want to change our world; it will also screen on 8/31 at 5pm. And, at 9:45pm, there is a thriller called “The Oak Room”, which uses storytelling for the purpose of conveying things the listener needs to understand, so long as they’re willing to hear it for themselves; “The Oak Room” will also screen on 8/31 at 11pm.
On Tuesday, August 25th at 5pm, a block of sci-fi shorts will run called, “International Science-Fiction Short Film Showcase 2020”.
On Thursday, August 27th at 7pm we get a charming musical fantasy from France in “A Mermaid in Paris”. Directed by musician Mathias Malzieu, imagine if Jean-Pierre Jeunet (“Amelie”) had directed “Splash,” and you’ll get this lovely romance, which will also screen on 8/30 at 1pm.
On Saturday, August 29, another short film block from female filmmakers screens called “Born of Woman”– one of the shorts playing in this block is Ashley George’s “Diabla”, which I screened during the Women in Horror Film Festival back in February. At 7pm, another free (on Facebook) short film block of Quebec shorts will be available in “Les grandes émotions – Les Fantastiques week-ends du cinéma québécois”. Later that night, a supernatural film about a caretaker and an old woman with dementia, and a family with secrets, will be playing at 7:30pm in Xia Magnus’s effective, slow-burn suspense film, “Sanzaru”; it will also screen on 9/1 at 5pm. I am also interviewing Magnus about the film. At 9:30pm, Troma and director Lloyd Kaufman are debuting their newest film in “#ShakespeareShitStorm”, which is the only feature screening available to American audiences. I will be taking advantage of that to watch the film live.
On Sunday, August 30, a free, Facebook-streamed collection of shorts from Quebec will play at 7pm called, “L’incroyable clôture – Les Fantastiques week-ends du cinéma québécois”.
On Monday, August 31, a short film block will be happening with shorts around the world being involved called “Small Gauge Trauma 2020” at 9:15pm.
On Tuesday, September 1, one of my favorite films I’ve seen in the lead-up to the festival plays at 7:15pm in the brutal, action-filled “For the Sake of Vicious”. There’s not a lot of narrative, but there is some purpose in what there is, and it’s a blast. (This actually got moved to 9/2 at 7:30pm.)
On Wednesday, September 2 the festival has a full day that concludes with the closing night film, “The Legend of Baron To’a”, an action comedy from New Zealand filmmaker Kiel McNaughton.
The festival has more movies than just those, however, for their Official Selection. My first screening associated with the festival was the exciting “Crazy Samurai Musashi”, which features a single, 77-minute take battle sequence as a clan tries to get revenge on a master swordsman. One of my favorite watches, thus far, has been the insane kaiju movie, “Monster Seafood Wars”, which is as ridiculously entertaining as that sounds. Also a part of the festival is “Hail to the Deadites”, a documentary retrospective on the fandom of the “Evil Dead” series; “Morgana”, a great documentary about a housewife whose turn to adult filmmaking makes for an inspiring second act to her life.
The Special Events
I’ll be honest, some of these are almost as exciting to me as the films themselves, and they are free to watch for everyone worldwide. You can read more on them here, but the highlights I will definitely be making sure I have time for are:
=John Carpenter: Masterclass and Lifetime Achievement Award– The horror legend will receive the festival’s first Cheval Noir award, as well as discuss his second career as a touring musician. I can get behind this on Saturday, August 22 at 4pm.
=Simon Gives Bad Career Advice: A Talk With Simon Barrett– An interview with the screenwriter of “You’re Next” and “The Guest,” which will happen on Monday, August 24 at 5pm.
=Narratives of Resistance in Folk Horror– An examination of the new traditions of folk horror popping up in modern culture. This one takes place on Tuesday, August 25 at 5pm.
=Score Salvations: The Art of Saving Soundtracks– This one looks at how specialty labels are preserving film scores, and I will be watching on Wednesday, August 26 at 5pm.
=Torn From the Page, Bled Into Light: Mike Flanagan on Literary Adaptations and Personal Horror Creation – A Live Post Mortem Event– A discussion with the filmmaker behind “Gerald’s Game” and “Doctor Strange,” on Sunday, August 30 at 3pm.
This is going to be a wonderful couple of weeks as a genre fan, and moviewatcher, and I cannot wait to bring it to you on Sonic Cinema.
2020 Fantasia International Film Festival: The Reviews
“Smiley Death Face”
“You Cannot Kill David Arquette” (Review on 8/24)
“Crazy Samurai Musashi”
“A Mermaid in Paris” (Review on 8/27)
“Diabla”
“Labyrinth of Cinema” (Review on 8/25)
“Monster Seafood Wars”
“Sleep”
“The Oak Room” (Review on 8/25)
“Hail to the Deadites”
“Sanzaru” (Review of 8/29)
“For the Sake of Vicious” (Review on 9/1)
“Morgana”
“PVT Chat” (Capsule Review on 8/21)
“Fried Barry”
“The Columnist”
“Clapboard Jungle”
“Special Actors” (Review on 8/20)
2020 Fantasia International Film Festival
The Announcement
Preparations
Thanks for listening,
Brian Skutle
www.sonic-cinema.com
