By Adam Ruhl
Well we have reached the halfway point in Fantastic Fest 2013 and there is still so much more to look forward to. Let's get to it.
The Strange Colour of Your Body’s Tears
This is an unusual and immensely beautiful film. There’s
something of an homage to Argento in its visual style. The colors are rich and
the cinematography is spectacular. The whole movie is shot inside this wondrous
old apartment complex that is almost a character unto itself. The story follows
a man who returns from a business trip to find his house locked from the inside
and his wife missing. He hears a story from a neighbor about people
disappearing into the walls of the building. From there it descends into a
murder mystery worthy of Lynch and Depalma. I found myself transfixed and
dazzled for the full duration of the picture.
Nothing Bad Can Happen
This movie is about a young man in Germany who’s part of a
Christian youth gang called the Jesus Freaks. After an epileptic fit he is
rescued and taken in by a seemingly stable family, but they soon bring extreme
tests of his faith. Nothing Bad has a superb cast of actors, especially lead
Julius Feldmeier as Tore, who plays the role with a naiveté that would be easy
to spot and dismiss if it weren’t totally genuine. The plot is a deep
examination of good and evil and faith but not preachy or cliché. I left this
film with many good questions and things to ponder. I was captivated by Tore’s
struggle and found Nothing Bad to be a very uniquely intelligent piece of
cinema. This film has been picked up by Drafthouse Films and will be released
in 2014.
Big Bad Wolves
Cutting edge Israeli Directors Aharon Keshales and Navot
Papushado return to Fantastic Fest this year with a stunning new revenge
thriller. The premise is a police detective and a victim’s father team up to
hold a private interrogation of the man they are convinced is a child killer.
Needless to say things do not go quite according to plan. Wolves is a departure
from their 2010 debut film Rabies and shows growth in their style and
storytelling. The plot is tense and interesting and there is plenty of torture
action to go around. This is a great
film for fans of the directors work or of the crime thriller genre in general.
Mirage Men
Nifty documentary about government disinformation in the UFO
enthusiast community. The filmmakers examine a man named Rick Doty who was an
Air Force disinformation agent, and the people he fed lies to about aliens in
an effort to cover government projects. Famous incidents such as Roswell
apparently owe their fame to his stories. A couple of civilians he was in contact with were driven
to disgrace, madness, and suicide. Interestingly since the premise is about
disinformation, one has to question if his stories are covering other truths about
aliens.
Commando A One Man Army
Karan was a Commando in the Indian army until he was
abandoned by his government behind the Chinese border. Now he must get justice
and rescue a beautiful woman in the process. Take the plot of a Rambo film, add
cinematography shot Michael Bay style, and set the whole thing in India and you
have Commando. The plot is follows formula, but if you enjoy action and
explosions this is pretty solid movie (also Vidyut Jamwal who plays Karan
performs some amazing stunts). The film has a strong 1980’s action film
nostalgia (even a few nods to Indiana Jones) and it’s violence and dance
numbers make for a fun viewing experience.
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