Fantastic Fest Day Five: Bullets, Breasts, Beer and Boxing Gloves
Sep 30, 2009 by Kevin KellyDay Five of Fantastic Fest consisted of one movie. ONE MOVIE! Is it a shame when you attend a film festival and see only one …
Day Five of Fantastic Fest consisted of one movie. ONE MOVIE! Is it a shame when you attend a film festival and see only one movie on a particular day? I’d normally say yes, but when you see the alternatives that were available, I hope you’ll side with me on this one. It was not a day wasted. Besides, I’m stacking my days fairly film heavy for the rest of the festival, and I have a stack of screeners to wade through still, so it will not have been in vain.
One note on the day: Fantastic Fest VIP badges went on sale Monday morning for 2010 … and they sold out in one minute. That’s right, 60 seconds. That shattered their record from last year, when they sold out in two minutes. Fairly incredible for a festival this size, and it just shows how much people covet those VIP passes, which let you pick up tickets a day early for screenings, and gets you access into some of the fun events they have. Luckily, since they built The Highball lounge nearby, space hasn’t really been that much of an issue, and it’s a perfect venue for after-screening parties.
RAMBO 101: This is what I gave up most of my morning and afternoon for, missing the Chilean martial arts / hitman movie Mandrill in the process, which people have been raving about. Instead I was packed into a van and shuttled out of Austin, off into the boonies to the Astro Village Shooting Range where a group of private paramilitary guys called The BlackStone Group trained us to fire fully automatic weapons. Not replicas, not airsofts, and not paintball guns, but the real deal. Complete with bullets that could actually kill someone. Luckily, no one was “ventilated” as they referred to it. In the alternating pouring rain and pounding sun, I shot a UMP-45, a G-36, an AK-47, a semi-automatic combat shotgun, and a compact M-16. We were given five bags of ammo and were told we could do everything from single shots, to short bursts, to full auto … and let me tell you firsthand that full auto on an AK-47 is amazing. That sucker just wants to climb to the sky, and it would have been a wonder if I could have hit a target with it. My shoulder is still fairly bruised from the combat shotgun, but my favorite by far was the G-36. It had a holographic red-dot sight and double pistol-style grips and made a chattering sound when you fired it that would make lesser men pee in their pants. Thankfully my pants remained dry, but damn that whole event was a lot of fun.
Venus in Furs: They’re showing four of director Jess Franco’s films from the 1960s as part of the festival. In fact, the whole thing kicked off with Eugenie: The Story of Her Journey into Perversion last Wednesday, and since then they’ve also shown Succubus, The Bare Breasted Countess, and Venus in Furs. On surface level, the best way to sum up Franco’s films are “arthouse flicks with boobs.” They’re deeper than that once you see one, but a casual observer will notice that the women in his movies tend to hardly ever wear clothing. That was definitely true in Venus in Furs, which is a movie about a trumpet player named Jimmy who finds a woman’s dead body on the beach … or does he? “She was beautiful, even though she was dead.” When she begins to turn up alive in various places to seek revenge on the two men and woman who killed her in a night of depravity, Jimmy starts to question things. Is she undead? Or a ghost? Or is she even real? The movie doesn’t give you a real answer, and the final scene is a real “blow your mind, daddy-o” moment. You’re either going to hate Franco’s films, or think he’s a cinematic genius, so you might try watching these on your own. He does a lot of experimentation with the camera, and if you really needed further convincing, there are all the naked women. Just a reminder.
The Fantastic Fest Awards: When you win a category at Fantastic Fest, you aren’t presented with some cheeseball, bronze trophy. No, the award is a commemorative ceramic stein full of cold beer. When you accept your award, you have to chug down the beer and hoist your stein triumphantly. Definitely better than watching boring speeches and waiting for people to get played off by the music so they can hurry things along. From the press release: “Taking top prize in the Next Wave competition is the darkly comedic drama from Britain, DOWN TERRACE. The audience award goes to A TOWN CALLED PANIC, the best horror film goes to HUMAN CENTIPEDE while Chilean action thriller MANDRILL takes the Fantastic Feature award.” I had the honor of accepting the award for my favorite film Fish Story, which won for Best Fantastic Screenplay. I’m seeing the rest of the films this week, so hopefully I’ll be able to see what the hubbub was all about. At the end of the ceremony, the director of Down Terrace popped the cork off of a bottle of champagne with a sword, and we all raised a toast to all of the competing films and filmmakers, and to those who won. A nice touch.
The Fantastic Debates: Another Fantastic Fest staple are the midnight Fantastic Debates, where filmmakers, film critics, and other square off in a boxing ring. First they engage in verbal debates, then they actually go toe to toe in a very real boxing match. The topics this year included, “Michael Bay: Does He Deserve An Oscar or the Death Penalty?”, “Are Vampires Gay?”, and “Is Independent Film Dead?” Highly entertaining stuff. Especially seeing Drafthouse owner Tim League square off against director Uwe Boll. I’m just sad that Tim didn’t actually break his jaw, especially since he was wearing an “And the Oscar Goes To … Uwe Boll” t-shirt. That’s just a bit too much. I recorded audio from all of the debates, and you can give them a listen or download them in my post over on Cinematical. The Michael Bay one is fairly hilarious, and the independent film topic turned Tim League very passionate, and is well worth your time. He said we’re in a golden age for indie films, and I sure hope that inspires filmmakers out there to write some great stories and pick up a camera. It’s your turn in the spotlight.
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Dude, I am SO jealous of your Rambo experience. And is that Tamar in the top pic?
Vic
I’ll take a LWRC M6A2 over the G36 or any H&K any day…
LWRC M6A2 > H&K G36
DSA FAL > H&K G3
Springfield Armory XD45 or Glock in .45 ACP > H&K USP
Can’t think of anything to compete with the H&K UMP45 though, maybe except the KRISS but haven’t fired that myself so can’t say it’s better but from what I’ve read it’s pretty awesome and probably has better customer service than H&K… but then again, EVERYONE has better customer service than H&K… lol
Very cool coverage. So lucky, free ammo, can’t find ammo and I’m willing to pay!
Vic, that does look a bit like Tamar! But, it’s not. I can’t remember her name, but she is one of the horror judges.
You like the 45 Ken, I always hated that round because its so slow, (velocity wise.)
If I had to chose and assault rifle it would be a 223 cal.
Power and range all in one. Since in live in California my gun collection stops at assault rifles.
Whoever she is i’d rather see her holding a gun then angelina jolie in any movie anyday…
@790
Hehe, yah, the .45 is pretty slow, but it’s only relatively slow compared to other rounds. It’s still fast enough to do tons of damage. Penetration-wise, don’t believe in those fake reports about coats stopping them. Real penetration tests have shown that HOLLOWPOINTS (which usually have far less penetration) will penetrate over 17-20 inches of ballistics gellatin after going through clothing. I don’t know about you, but I know from front to back I’m less than 17 inches. So it’s more than enough penetration to reach vital organs and do enough damage.
And the added diameter has an advantage that no faster round can claim, and that’s in the size of the permanent cavity left by that round. Imagine you shoot at someone’s center mass. A 9mm might JUST miss the major arteries or the heart by a millimeter or less, while if that was a .45, you would have JUST hit it instead of just missed it. It makes enough of a difference in stopping that indivual from stabbing or shooting you.
And as far as rifle rounds, I prefer the 7.62x51mm (NOT the 7.62x39mm round of the AK47) over the 5.56x45mm, but in the classic M16 vs. AK47 argument, I prefer the M16 and its 5.56mm (.223). My favorite weapon is my DSA FAL which is chambered for the 7.62x51mm round. Devastating round…
If you like guns, California is one of the worst places to live. Well, better than Illinois or New York at least… I want to move to Kennesaw Georgia, where everyone is required to own a firearm and the murder rate is just about 0, lol, go figure…
@Jago
Hehe, I’m not a Jolie fan, but something about that girl’s tattoos and fake hair that doesn’t do it for me, haha. Still, chicks with guns = no arguments from me… (unless said gun is pointed in my direction… lol)
Lol… Not pointing at you. Idk… Something about girls with orange- redhair and tattoos is superhot for me… Plus she looks like she could be the one to wake up in the middle to check what was the noise downstairs in the living room.
Hehe, I know what you mean Jago, for me, I’m more into the “sweet girls.”
If it wasn’t illegal, I would just have automated machine guns guarding my property, lol.
(Since were talking guns,,,)
Besides the 380 and some low velocity 22 rounds the 45 is real slow. What’s the range on your stats? Its strictly close range where a AR15 has 4x the range and also supports armor piercing rounds, tracers etc. The 223 or 5.56mm round transfers all its energy on impact and leaves 4x the exit wound of a 45. Depending on the range most 45 handgun rounds don’t exit the body. The additional barrel length on a 45 cal assault rifle wouldn’t add that much fps to a round that travels around 1000 fps.
I don’t really like the 9mm, unless you have it loaded with Carbine loads. Not all handguns (Glocks/ Beretta) can take the pressure of those loads. They’re hard to find around here. (Cal.)
AK47 is a throwaway assault rifle. Poor accuracy make it a point and spray weapon. (IMO)
My weapon of home protection is a 12 gauge and 357 mag.
Haha,,, sounds like your living in a bad part of town Ken, shheShh.
I’ve always wanted to live out in the wilderness in a compound like Burt Gummer had in Tremors.
” I wanted Hollow points Chang, hollow points!!!”
@790
Wait, are we comparing the .45 to the 5.56mm??? How can you compare them? I’m comparing it to OTHER HANDGUN ROUNDS… Of course it’s at close range, you don’t use handguns for long range shooting, well, unless you’re Jerry Miculek and his uber wheel-gun skills, lol. Of course when comparing those two, there’s no competition. Same can be said for any other handgun round compared to the 5.56mm…
You don’t compare an intermediate-power rifle round to a handgun round, lol. Anyway, like they say: your handgun is for you to get to your longgun. So it’s purely secondary use. For handguns I prefer the .45, for longguns I prefer the 7.62x51mm, second is the AR15 and its 5.56x45mm, last is the AK’s 7.62x39mm.
I’m not a huge fan of the 9mm either, don’t want to get into the reasoning, probably won’t happen here, but in other forums, it always sparks an argument, lol.
12-guage is always the ideal home protection weapon, but my main home protection weapon is my “sock drawer gun” (which isn’t actually in my sock drawer, but that’s what it is commonly referred to) and it’s a little Smith and Wesson “Air Weight” .38 revolver, but if I were to hear a noise in my house, I would grab that since it’s right there, then make my way to the safe to get my .45, lol.
Haven’t had to yet, but always good to have a plan so you don’t just wake up all confused and directionless if you hear a noise in the middle of the night…
I actually live in a very nice suburban neighborhood, but all it takes is one group of trouble makers and you will have crime in the nicest of neighborhoods. And unfortunately I’ve experienced the results of this first hand. Had my house broken into once, but not while I was home, lucky for him… and had my car broken into twice… Bastards… lol. But someone down the street had his home broken into while he was inside and he actually shot and killed the intruder. And I remember a few years ago an old lady was mugged in my neighborhood. Sounds bad, but I’ve been living here for like 20 years… In the last neighborhood I lived in, crime was like a daily occurrance, lol. It’s always good to be prepared even if your neighborhood is “safe.” Better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it I like to say…
I must have read the article wrong as I thought you were comparing sub machine guns and assault rifles in the same group.
Yeah for close range the 45 handgun is effective, it just doesn’t hold as much as the 9mm. Ever shoot a 30 Carbine Automag? There’s some fun.
That sucks about the crime level where your at. Out here in LA its pretty bad as well, but luckily I’m in one of the safest residences around. But the crazies of Hollywood are all in walking distance and I don’t have enough rounds for all of them.
LOL, that is what extra mags are for! lol, just kidding.
Anywho, the crime where I live is actually not bad, it’s just the few bad apples that made my neighborhood bad for a little while. They moved away, now magically no more break-ins, muggings, or anything. We all knew who it was that was doing all of that, just no proof…
As for the .45 not holding as much, you don’t NEED as much.
Hehe, seriously though, yah, it would be nice to have more rounds, but it’s not bad, the Springfield XD-45 holds 13+1 rounds of .45 ACP. I think that’s more than enough. Two shots center mass with .45 Golden Saber hollowpoints will most likely put anyone down… hopefully…
But I actually like the 1911 more, which only holds 8 rounds of .45 ACP. With two extra mags that I carry with me, that’s 24 rounds of .45 ACP. Not too shabby… I am hoping not to ever have to use it on one person much less so many people I will need to reload more than twice, haha… If that’s the case, I’ll be shooting and running…
Hm, but when I’m out with my typical group of friends, let’s see, 24-rounds of .45ACP, sometimes 5 rounds of .38 in my stubby when I decide to bring that along as well, my friend either carries his 1911 also or his XD-45, so let’s just say 13 of .45, he carries one extra mag sometimes, my other friend carries his XD-9, that’s 16 rounds I think of 9mm and he carries one extra mag, and my other friend she usually carries her kahr 9mm which is like 6 rounds. So between all of us there is sometimes as much as 96 rounds to go around, haha, and I think they do the +1 thing, I don’t.
Hey, we don’t plan it, it just so happens all of my friends also carry, we’re not going to not carry because we know the others are carrying so it ends up we have quite a bit of firepower on us as a group everytime we go out, haha.
Holly crap, that’s why I stay at home most of the time,,,
Yeah I find that a lot of 45 fans like the 1911 model as there fav,,, very accurate and reliable.