Fantastic Fest Day Eight (Last Day!)

Last day of the festival and obviously bittersweet. It seems like a dream with all the days blurring together. Can't believe I've been in Austin for a week and seen probably all of 1% of it. As much as I'm sad to see the festival come to an end I am looking forward to getting back to normal life again. But I know I'll miss these days and moments.


Didn't get enough sleep but a little more than usual. Headed up to S.Lamar a little late but easily got boarding passes for the films & event I wanted (fortunately). First film for the day was another Donnie Yen vehicle and another good film to ease into the day, Daniel Lee's 14 Blades (2010). Really dug this flick and was thrilled to see Vicki Zhao again (have crushed on her since Shaolin Soccer and even more in So Close). This is a well crafted period piece with some excellent stunts and sequences. One to watch again on Blu-ray. 7.75/10


Next was a film I would've seen the first day had I arrived sooner, Jeon Woochi : The Taoist Wizard (2009), a S.Korean fantasy film both set in the past and present. Several familiar faces here but overall it was tiresome to me. Didn't help that my lack of sleep was catching up in a big way. Found myself wanting to doze off numerous times. Still don't think the movie is all that great as it's more silly and never really offers a true sense of urgency for the payoff. Watchable and my last film of Fantastic Fest. 6/10

Now it was time for a trip to the Frozen Banana Stand! Thanks to Josh (@VHSintheTruth) for tossing that idea out there. A bunch of us took the short stroll down to the stand and thanks to someone who came along, we had coupons! It cost like a buck for an awesome frozen banana!


Based on the tremendous buzz from yesterday's first showing for Nevermore... An Evening with Edgar Allan Poe, this turned into a must-see event. Soooooooo glad I was able to get into this. Written by Stuart Gordon, this is a live performance with Jeffrey Combs in the role of Edgar Allan Poe sharing some of his writing including a reading of The Raven. This might possibly be the greatest single thing I've experienced in the way of films & events at Fantastic Fest. Words really can't describe how magical it was to watch Combs embody and become Poe. Funny and tragic and extremely entertaining. I hope they can stage this show in more cities so people can experience this. I skipped Miike's 13 Assassins for this and have no regrets!

The Closing Night Party finished the night (for some). It was held at a ghost town outside of Austin and they bused us over. Free tequila and beer and food (an entire cow over fire). Drank more than I should have but everyone was feeling good and having a great time just winding down. Finally was able to meet a few more people and just relax and hang out. They had a live performance of Arc Attack with giant Tesla coils, which was nuts. 100 Best Kills on repeat on a big screen. Elijah Wood engaged in a roman candle war with Nacho Vigalondo. Did I mention the free booze?

Damon (@zombiefreak) gave me a ride back to the hotel around 2am. I packed everything up not looking forward to the early rise to catch my flight back to Chicago. 32 Films watched, 1 TV series, 1 shorts program, 4 events. Done!

Previous: Fantastic Fest Day Seven

For a current list of availability for all films shown at Fantastic Fest, please check out @DeadbeatAtDawn's Fantastic Fest List!

• September New: 77
• September Re-watch: 0
• September Total: 77
• 2010 TOTAL: 584
  

(Amazing that I did not re-watch a single film in September! That's a first.)