EDITORIALS

Fantastic Fest 2010 Officially Kicks Off Down in Austin, Texas

by Jeremy Kirk
September 24, 2010

For many, Austin, TX is the center of outside of the box, that civilization of abnormal and cool that anyone who gets a taste wants so much more. Fantastic Fest, held at the world famous Alamo Drafthouse (the one on South Lamar), is the week-long celebration of that abnormality in film, and it honors those strange, genre titles that you may not be privy to otherwise. After months and months of anticipation, speculation, and otherwise debates on what is to be expected, the first day of Fantastic Fest 2010 is in the books, as the fest officially kicked off Thursday. Both myself and Alex will be covering the festival for the next week.

While the first day of Fantastic Fest 2010 only held three films in its cards for me, those three films were wholly different in terms of genre, scope, accessibility, and the parts of the world they respectively represented. Each of the films seen at Fantastic Fest will get some sort of coverage on FirstShowing, either in full reviews for the bigger films like Let Me In and the infamous secret screenings (speculation on what those might be would only lead to pointless rumors), or in capsule form for some of the ones that are lesser known and didn’t make a huge impression.

Day one, though, was nothing short of a complete run of the stylistic and Fantastic Fest gamut. Body transference, epic knife fights, and vampire love were the beers on tap today, and it seems the well has only begun to spill its assorted offerings of mayhem, mischief, and all-around madness. There might even be some love thrown out for the amazing food offered at the Alamo Drafthouse. I, personally, never come to town without downing at least one peanut butter and chocolate milk shake. Figure be damned.

In addition to the amazing lineup of films, we’re also looking forward to the Fantastic Debates, in which Alamo Drafthouse CEO Tim League will be boxing none other than Michelle Rodriguez. We know. We’re praying for Tim, too. Also in store outside of the film schedule is Fantastic Feud, a Family Feud-style game show offering the most outrageous answers to some off-the-wall, genre questions. There is also the Fantastic Fest Arcade where not only can patrons sample some of the wackiest in video game development, they can play the newly created Left 4 Dead mod that allows them to fight off hordes of zombies in the Alamo Drafthouse theater as well as the accompanying Highball bowling alley and bar.

Needless to say, there is plenty to partake in this coming week. We’ll be doing our best to bring you coverage on everything available and everything we get the chance to see. Go easy on us, though. Sleep does have to take over at some point. All in all, it’s going to be a wacky week of irregular entertainment. Precisely what we’ve come to expect from Fantastic Fest, the Alamo Drafthouse, and Austin, TX. Stay tuned. It’s going to be a bumpy ride.

For the full line-up at Fantastic Fest and more information, head over to the official website.

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