Saturday, September 29, 2012

Fantastic ALIENS baby cake!

 I'm still recovering from Fantastic Fest. But today I wanted to share this picture of the cake that my friends (known as "The Charlie's") made for their own baby shower cake. Because every single time I look at a picture of this cake, I think how awesome it is.

Aliens baby shower cake!

It was also tasty!

The alien was hand-sculpted, not some store-bought plastic prop.

Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Fantastic Fest: The Seventh Inning Stretch

With the major craziness of the weekend of Fantastic Fest behind us, it's time to look at what films you can--and should--still catch at the festival as of Tuesday afternoon.

 The films are listed in the order of the effort that you should spend on getting to see them:

I should totally call these "Half-Dead Reviews." They aren't proper reviews, just a guide to where you should park yourself during the rest of the festival.

I Declare War: this low budget film with child actors is amazing. Well paced and tight, it feels far fresher than anything else at Fantastic Fest this year! See it now, as it doesn't have distribution. Doubt you'll see it on another big screen in America with the children swearing like they do.

Berberian Sound Studio: Sure, being released onto the Internet  in a couple of weeks, but trust me, if you are into eye candy and atmosphere you want to catch this one on the big screen. This beautifully shot film isn't about the the plot, it's about the creepy sounds and visuals. (If you are a fan of 70's Italian cinema, this should be at the top of your list.) 

The American Scream: A great solid documentary focusing on three families in New England who create their own "Haunted Houses." It's airing on the Chiller network in late October, if you have the Chiller network.

Thursday, September 20, 2012

Looking forward to the DIY Wackiness at Fantastic Fest!

Never mind the hella-awful Austin allergy forecast (which features the four icky horsemen of the achoopocalypse riding into town on their microscopic horses) ...but today is the first day of Fantastic Fest, 2012. It's a good thing.

While I'm most certainly looking forward to the films--and maybe even having a Heathers moment with Winona Ryder in the ladies' after Frankenweenie -- I'm super stoked about seeing my friends and seeing the DIY weirdness that always comes out at the festival!

True confession: I'm all about the costumes and the fun to be had at a horror movie festival.

A couple of years ago, the Fantastic Fest opening film was the wee-vampire film Let Me In (2010) the American remake of the amazing Swedish vampire film Let the Right One In (2009).

Yet the opening night craziness featured not only a children's choir, but dudes dancing in Viking horns, and an oath sworn while drinking a green vial of liquid. This was all nonsense tied to Let Me In in the most tangential ways.



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Tim League as a Viking.