Fantastic Fest Announces Outposts in New York, San Francisco and Denver

By Kip Mooney • On • In News News 0

Fantastic Fest, Austin's epic genre film festival, has been going strong since 2005. Co-founded by Tim League (owner of Alamo Drafthouse, the greatest movie theater chain in the country) and Harry Knowles (one of the most influential critics of the last 20 years), it's been the source for oddball foreign films, cutting-edge science fiction, terrifying horror flicks and absolutely crazy experiences – like watching Buried in an actual coffin.

This year, they're expanding beyond Texas' capital. For the first time ever, the fest will have "satellite screenings" at Alamo Drafthouses in New York City, San Francisco and Denver. The shows will take place the weekend of September 29 to October 1, immediately after Fantastic Fest proper concludes on September 28.

Titles playing at all three locations include the prison riot thrillers Brawl in Cell Block 99 (starring a jacked Vince Vaughn) and Jailbreak; the graphic novel adaptation My Friend Dahmer; the samurai comedy Top Knot Detective; and what promises to be an absolutely crazy mystery movie from the saviors at American Genre Film Archive.

Both New York and Denver will also get an early look at Blade of the Immortal, the 100th(!) film from Japanese gore-master Takashi Miike, director of classics like Audition and 13 Assassins. And San Francisco and Denver will both see Hagazussa (a German horror flick subtitled A Heathen's Curse), as well as The Square, the Palme d'Or-winning dramedy from Force Majeure director Ruben Ostlund.

More titles will be announced in the weeks leading up to the festival, but tickets can be purchased starting Wednesday, September 7, at 1pm EDT, with a limited number of badges only for the San Francisco outpost available now.

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About Kip Mooney

Kip Mooney
Like many film critics born during and after the 1980s, my hero is Roger Ebert. The man was already the best critic in the nation when he won the Pulitzer in 1975, but his indomitable spirit during and after his recent battle with cancer keeps me coming back to read not only his reviews but his insightful commentary on the everyday. But enough about a guy you know a lot about. I knew I was going to be a film critic—some would say a snob—in middle school, when I had to voraciously defend my position that The Royal Tenenbaums was only a million times better than Adam Sandler’s remake of Mr. Deeds. From then on, I would seek out Wes Anderson’s films and avoid Sandler’s like the plague. Still, I like to think of myself as a populist, and I’ll be just as likely to see the next superhero movie as the next Sundance sensation. The thing I most deplore in a movie is laziness. I’d much rather see movies with big ambitions try and fail than movies with no ambitions succeed at simply existing. I’m also a big advocate of fun-bad movies like The Room and most of Nicolas Cage’s work. In the past, I’ve written for The Dallas Morning News and the North Texas Daily, which I edited for a semester. I also contributed to Dallas-based Pegasus News, which in the circle of life, is now part of The Dallas Morning News, where I got my big break in 2007. Eventually, I’d love to write and talk about film full-time, but until that’s a viable career option, I work as an auditor for Wells Fargo. I hope to one day meet my hero, go to the Toronto International Film Festival, and compete on Jeopardy. Until then, I’m excited to share my love of film with you.

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