I am old now and as such don’t have the energy to go to as many Fantasia films as I once did. I still go to mainstream movies all the time – at least once a month if not more – but I prefer to go to theatres with comfortable seats and even assigned seating such as with that newfangled AVX dealio. I just don’t have the fortitude to deal with numb-butt and crazo lineups the way I once did.

This year I only managed to drag my saggy ass to seven Fantasia flics, which is better than none I suppose.

So on to the reviews:

Wrong – USA
Highly amusing. I won’t even bother trying to explain the plot because plot is not the point of this movie. It’s just off-beat, bizarre hilarity that remained subtle and never went over the top. I love surreal humour so it was right up my alley but everyone in the theatre was laughing their heads off. Good stuff. 3 1/2 niqueheads [rating:35]

Lloyd the Conqueror – Canada
A bunch of slacker students at a community college in Calgary get blackmailed into participating in larping. Amusing and fun but with a few off moments. Works more than it doesn’t but I would only recommend it to people who actually know what larping is. 3 niqueheads [rating:30]

Doomsday Book – South Korea
I really regret this one because there were other options that I passed up to see it. It was crap. Total snorefest. Three short films ostensibly about the apocalypse though I fail to see how a Buddhist robot is apocalyptic. Buddhist robot you say? Sounds intriguing, right? Yeah, I thought so too. I was wrong. Boring as shit. 2 niqueheads [rating:20]

RollerTown – Canada
A parody of roller disco movies from the ’70s and “overcoming the odds in some sort of sport or activity” movies from the ’80s. Absolutely hilarious. It probably helps to be familiar with the source material but I think it would be funny even to them kids today with their low riding pants. In fact I may be reading too much into it but I found certain elements to work not only as mockery of ’70s and ’80s movie cliches but also as satire of social norms in general, especially in terms of behaviour within romantic relationships.
I’m not sure it would be as funny seen alone in your home compared to the fun of seeing it with a Fantasia crowd but I think it’s worth it even if you only laugh at half the jokes. One of them has even become a running gag with me and my bf. 4 1/2 niqueheads [rating:45]

Love Strikes – Japan
Augh! I totally had tickets for this movie and then completely and utterly forgot about it, going straight home after work, having dinner, watching TV, talking to the bf on Facetime… then going through my purse looking for something else and finding the tickets. Oh right, I had a movie to go to!!! Christ, I’m old. Now I’ll never know if love struck.

RoboG – Japan
Scientists accidentally break their robot and they need to show it at the Robo expo so they hire an old man to wear its shell and fake it. Hijinks ensue. Cute, funny, Japanese. At a certain point I wondered how they would wrap it up and then was quite pleased by the ending. 4 niqueheads [rating:40]

Eddie: the Sleepwalking Cannibal – Canada
I got a free pass to this movie and was apprehensive because how good could a low budget Canada/Denmark co-production be?  Well, turns out, very good.  It’s about an artist who is searching for inspiration and finds it through a tender-hearted cannibalistic mute… as one does.  This dark comedy is consistently funny with a few genuinely disturbing moments and also works as a send-up of the art world/artistic process.  4 niqueheads [rating:40]

Grabbers – UK
Strange, tentacled creatures terrorize a small Irish town. Alcohol is naturally crucial to the townsfolk’s efforts in defeating the creatures. I was expecting a farce but it was a cute, even sweet movie with lots of laughs that took itself seriously when appropriate while remaining a proper monster movie throughout. The character development was way too cliched though and my favourite character died so I’m removing half a niquehead 🙁 [rating:35]

Now back to watching the Olympics. Seriously, way too much stuff happening at the same time this year.

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