The cinematic treats coming to this year’s fest that titillate our team the most
Fantastic Fest. Two words guaranteed to send a tremor of excitement running through the body of any film lover who knows what’s up. The 2017 edition is almost upon us, and as in years past, the Cinapse crew will be out in force to gorge on film, drink Shiner, and throw themselves into the famed ‘events’ portion of the festival. We’ve looked through this year’s lineup and each of the team attending has highlighted their “most anticipated” features.
Check our picks below, follow us all on Twitter for our thoughts as the Fest unfolds, and check back with Cinapse from September 21st-28th for in-depth coverage of Fantastic Fest XIII!
Alex Williams: @AlexWilliamsdt
After the terrific genre-bender BONE TOMAHAWK closed out Fantastic Fest a few years back, I couldn’t wait to see what else S. Craig Zahler would do next. Now he’s back with BRAWL IN CELL BLOCK 99, featuring a beefed-up Vince Vaughn as a mechanic-turned-drug-smuggler-turned-inmate who has to get in a number of brutal prison fights to protect his family. The early buzz on this title is downright hyperbolic, and Vaughn’s due for a redemption after TRUE DETECTIVE.
I’m also looking forward to BLADE OF THE IMMORTAL, the 100th film from Takashi Miike, next year’s Neon release GEMINI, and the evocatively titled LET THE CORPSES TAN. Oh, and of course, Nicolas Cage unleashed in MOM AND DAD.
Ben Mineo: @bmineo
Crank and Crank: High Voltage are two of my favorite movies. Nicolas Cage is my favorite actor. Brian Taylor, formerly of Neveldine/Taylor, the creative team behind Crank and Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance, has reteamed with Mr. Cage for MOM AND DAD. Apparently this is a film about parents going crazy and killing their children. Believe me when I say I could not possibly be more excited about a film than this.
David Delgado: @daviddelgadoh
Joseph Kahn is a relatively divisive director, but put me in the camp of “for.” Even if I don’t connect emotionally in any way with his previous films (TORQUE and DETENTION) both are kinetic and relentless, and his use of the camera is endlessly entertaining. Now I hear that the award-winning music video director made a movie (BODIED) about battle rap? Count me very much in.
Ed Travis: @Ed_Travis
Sure, I love to have my beliefs challenged, my horizons broadened, and my desensitization furthered, and my moral fiber unraveled… and cinema so often provides those kinds of experiences. But the end all, be all filmic experience for me is watching an absolutely kick ass action movie with a thrilled crowd, seeing fist fights or gun battles that melt our collective faces. It’s just who I am and who I’ve become. So my most anticipated films of any film festival are always going to be action titles, even if they don’t end up always being my top picks by the end.
I’m going to offer up my most anticipated action films and then simply list off a bunch of the non-action titles I’m pretty excited about as well:
1) JAILBREAK: Far and away the title I’m most excited to check out, this is the first major international release of any kind from the country of Cambodia. And it’s poised to be this year’s The Raid, featuring a regionally specific martial art, a stripped down “survive a prison break” plot, and previously unknown local martial artist/stars. Walking in with expectations as high as they were for The Raid is probably a mistake… but anything even close to Raid-levels of action, and I’ll count myself a happy man.
2) WHEELMAN: I know, I know… this movie is hitting Netflix very soon after the festival. I could just see it then. I’ve never been that festival goer that has this kind of maturity. I love Frank Grillo so very much… almost as much as I love car chase and crime films. Throw all of those together into a blender along with a highly stylized trailer and Wheelman is one I just can’t miss.
3) BRAWL IN CELL BLOCK 99: S. Craig Zahler’s Bone Tomahawk blew my mind right out of my skull. It was one of my very favorite titles the year it played Fantastic Fest. So, while the trailer for this film didn’t quite give me what I was expecting… in Zahler I trust.
Some other stuff I’m excited about that may border on action (or at least feature some gun & sword play), include FIVE FINGERS FOR MARSEILLES, BLADE OF THE IMMORTAL, and LET THE CORPSES TAN.
A few non-action titles I can’t wait to check out include: BAD GENIUS, LET THE CORPSES TAN, BODIED, THE ENDLESS, and MOM AND DAD.
Jon Partridge: @Texas_Jon
It would be a lie if I didn’t say I was saddened by the loss of THREE BILLBOARDS from the lineup. Frances McDormand kicking a obnoxious teen in the nethers warms my soul, and I wanted to see all this film had to offer.
THE LOBSTER as not only one of my favorite films of Fantastic Fest XI, but one of my favorite releases of 2016 full stop. Writer/director Yorgos Lanthimos’s latest THE KILLING OF A SACRED DEER looks like it ramps up the darkness in a big way and I’m all in on his bleak brand of humor and human insight. To balance that with some cheerier fare, what sounds more delightful than a Scottish zombie musical? John McPhail’s ANNA AND THE APOCALYPSE is sure to be one of the quirkier additions to the festival.
I’m a sucker for a good “turning the tables” story, never more so than when a woman gets to unleash hell on some assholes. Coralie Fargeat’s feature debut REVENGE looks likely to deliver on both counts with brutal intensity.
Last but by no means least, my heart fills with joy knowing I that will see WORLD OF TOMORROW 2: THE BURDEN OF OTHER PEOPLE’S THOUGHTS this week.
