Fantastic Fest 2022 Diaries: Day Two
I had planned on waking up for an 8 a.m. press screening of Unicorn Wars, since I missed it last night for A Wounded Fawn. As much as I enjoy cartoon bloodshed for breakfast, 5 hours of sleep isn’t enough for yours truly, so I bailed on the screening to stay in bed. There’s still another showing on Tuesday, so I’ll try to catch it then.
At 9 a.m., feeling much more rested and ready for a 12-hour day of movie madness, I walked and fed Lucy and breakfasted on a bowl of mixed berries and grapefruit in place of unicorn blood. After that, I banged out the Day-One diary, donned my Nicolas Cage "Raising Arizona" Retro Hawaiian Shirt, and started to take the dog for another walk before I headed to the fest, but… All of a sudden, I realize it’s past 10, tomorrow’s tickets are available, shit!
So I pivot briefly from the dog walk to swoop up some tickets lickety split before they’re sold out. I really have been struggling to get the jump on reserving tickets as soon as they’re available. Fortunately, the films I wanted to see were still available, so even though I’m a bit slow on the draw, everything worked out hunky dory.
With tickets reserved for tomorrow, I took Lue for a longer walk, filled up her water dish, and zipped downtown for the 11:45 a.m. screening of Give Me Pity! I scarfed down some vegan chorizo breakfast tacos courtesy of the special FF menu, which were petite but quite tasty, and I settled into my seat.
Give Me Pity! was a revved up and retrofied extravaganza of glittering and gleaming camp. Presented in the form of a mostly one-woman TV special, the film plays like a jazzy parade of pomp, pizazz, and ego. Theatrical, cinematic, and decidedly strange, the film’s manic meandering into madness is a pretty unique and mesmerizing one, full of monologues, skits, and interludes of songs and dance. Its soft and sparkling throwback aesthetic and animated lead performance are the major draws.
After the screening of Give Me Pity!, I danced on over to Medici cafe for some cold brew. Since the Drafthouse was out and never refilled my coffee, caffeination had yet to reach optimum level. I sat in the sun, drinking coffee and listening to a rotunde fella FaceTime about a movie project. I couldn’t exactly figure out his position in the production, but he assured whomever he was speaking to that he’d “do a lot for the world,” and “get the audience to ask why,” which he claimed would maximize audience engagement. Hard to argue with that, I suppose.
I tried to get some thoughts down. Covering the festival can lead to a pile of possible work, so it’s better for me to try and chip away whenever I can. I exorcise a few sentences and head off to my next screening: Shin Ultraman. The day was shaping up to be a campy, comedy-heavy day, which was A-OK with me.
Shin Ultraman comes from the team who did Shin Godzilla, and it’s in a similar vein but with a contrasting tone, trading in the political seriousness for lighthearted silliness. The film boasts a quality 60s sci-fi throwback aesthetic, giant monster fights, and metropolis mayhem, with a hearty dollop of optimism for the world and humankind. It’s a fun film, but wasn’t quite as strong as Shin Godzilla.
After Shin Ultraman, I sat in my car to charge up my phone, which was barely hanging on; I would need that healthy to record some filmmaker Q&As later for the podcast. Sitting in the car, I scribbled down some more thoughts on the day, and as soon as I felt like the phone had enough juice, I headed back out into the thick of things.
Exiting the parking garage, I run into Country Gold director Mickey Reece. I say hello, and ask him how he’s doing. It’s premiere day, and that always puts him a little on edge, but he was excited and ready for his film to screen. We talk about an interview and loosely line things up Sunday. We part ways, so I can take a little lap before heading into the theater for his screening; it’s a nice day, and I wanna enjoy some it while I can.
Next up was Reece’s Country Gold, which was preceded by a pretty funny short called Vertical Valor about stoner draft-dodgers tasked with delivering the unfortunate news of fallen soldiers. Reece’s latest is a spiritual companion to a previous work, Mickey Reece’s Alien, which finds him trading in Elvis iconography for that of Garth Brooks and George Jones. This contemplative comedy really hits hard, and it might be Reece’s best effort to date — something we find ourselves saying every time he makes a new film. Imagine the surrealism of David Lynch and the philosophy of Richard Linklater combined with the energy of David O. Russell ensembles, and you’re in the ballpark of this gem of a hangout flick. Highly recommend this one. So far, the best in the fest for our money.
After Country Gold, I rushed back up north to take Lucy for a quick walk and give her some dinner. She was stoked to see me, and we played for a bit, chasing each other around the apartment complex. But it was only a brief visit; I had to rush back for an 8:40 screening of Jaume Balagueró’s Venus, which I had picked since The Menu sold out.
I barely made it. Had to park all the way at the top of the garage — which has a great view of the city I was unable to take in because I had to hoof it to the theater. As soon as I found my seat, the house lights dimmed to get things started.
Venus was a pretty good watch. Many will know Balagueró from [Rec], and his latest blends crime thriller with cosmic and supernatural horror to interesting affect. It takes its time, struggling a bit to get all its elements lined up like celestial bodies, but once it draws all its various threads into alignment, it makes for a pretty rousing third act. Great performances as well.
After that, I pretty much walked out of one theater and into another, for a near-midnight screening of Kids vs. Aliens. It proved to be an excellent film to cap the night off with. From Hobo With A Shotgun director, Jason Eisner, Kids vs. Aliens is a ferociously fun and very funny satire of 80s sci-fi. It’s charmingly cheese, warmly nostalgic, and bursting with stylish attitude. It was a blast that rivals Reece’s Country Gold for the title so far.
Getting out around 1:30 a.m., it was time head home for some much needed rest. Tomorrow had intentions for making an 8 a.m. press screening of The Menu, since I had missed it, but we’ll see how that goes. I’m no fortune teller, but my crystal ball is showing me comfy sheets and extra rest…
Fiending for more Fantastic Fest?! Check out the link below:
Fantastic Fest 2022 Diaries: Day One
Fantastic Fest 2022 Diaries: Day Two
Fantastic Fest 2022 Diaries: Day Three
Fantastic Fest 2022 Diaries: Day Four
Fantastic Fest 2022 Diaries: Day Five
Fantastic Fest 2022 Diaries: Day Six
Fantastic Fest 2022 Diaries: Day Seven
Fantastic Fest 2022 Diaries: Day Eight
Fantastic Fest 2022 reviews
Fantastic Fest 2022 podcasts
Fantastic Fest 2022 lists
What do you think? We want to know. Share your thoughts and feelings in the comments section below, and as always, remember to viddy well!