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Things to do: Cons and Movies

The Film Fest entries grew too large to include with this post, so they got their own posting on Tuesday. I think I just may make that their regular posting day.

On the Convention front, Palmdale, CA has Ani-Magic, an Anime Con this weekend. In Salt Lake City Anime Banzai will also be running games, cosplay, and lots of Anime guests.

Rockville, MD (a suburb of Washington, DC) is holding CapClave 2009, a ReaderCon with Author GOH Harry Turtledove. Hosted by the Washington Science Fiction Association October 16th through the 18th, they will also be presenting the WSFA Small Press Award at CapClave, and are releasing Reincarnations by Harry Turtledove, available only through the WSFA.

ValleyCon 35 is also this weekend in Fargo, ND, with Author GOH George R.R. Martin and Media GOH Peter Jurasik. ValleyCon is a general SciFi/Fantasy/Comics/Gaming convention.

For movies, Where the Wild Things Are looks to be the most interesting new choice for this weekend. The Road, originally scheduled to be released this week, is now slated for November 25th.

Things to Do: Film Festivals

The number of Film Festivals grew this week, or perhaps I am just getting better at finding them. So for at least this week, I am breaking them out of the Wednesday post and giving them a night of their own.

The 53rd BFI London Film Festival runs from October 14th to the 29th, and includes presentation of the Southerland Trophy. I’m cheering on Cold Souls for that prize, but Metropia looks interesting as well. Other films of note include the Fantastic Mr. Fox, the non-stop MICMACS, the star-studded and based on a real military organization The Men Who Stare at Goats, and the long-delayed and heavily re-edited The Road.

Also in the UK, the Festival of Fantastic Films takes place in Manchester from the 16th to the 18th, covering Sci-Fi/Fantasy/Horror films of all kinds. Timed to take advantage of the larger British Film Association festival (as is next weeks Sci-Fi London Oktoberfest), it does a good job of including works you won’t be seeing on the bigger venue.

In the US, the 45th Chicago Film Festival continues to run until the 22nd (it started on the 8th of October). While there are a few SF/F films tucked away in this event, like The Rapture of Fe and Astro Boy, the movie I feel compelled to mention is The Castle; read the review to discover why.

October 15th to the 25th brings the Hawaii International Film Festival, which will feature their very own day-long Lost celebration. Movies of interest include Air Doll, the French sequel District 13 Ultimatum, anime Evangelion 2.0, You Can Not Advance, and the Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus by Terry Gilliam. There is also the live-action Gokusen The Movie, the animated FIRST SQUAD: THE MOMENT OF TRUTH and the silly-sounding Vampire Girl vs. Frankenstein Girl which may be the perfect Halloween movie this year.

From the 17th to the 25th is the TIFF, or Tokyo International Film Festival, one of the major fests each year. The usual large number of prizes will be handed out, which have categories non-native to Western Fests. Films of note include Go Find A Psychic, Yona Yona Penguin, and the Avatar Special Presentation. There is also Kung Fu Cyborg : Metallic Attraction, a comedic love story, and Chengdu, I Love You, a story of time-traveling rock-n-roll and romance (OK, it’s got a BIT of kung-fu in it).

And then there is the Rome Cinemafest, for yet another touch of the world, including some TwiLight references.

This news is interesting; at the 20th Stockholm International Film Festival this November they will be screening a movie on ice. They haven’t decided which movie they will be projecting onto the 11 ton slab of ice yet, but I recommend that you bundle up if you plan to attend.

A Fest I missed last week was Indie Memphis, but visit the Memphis Flyer site to see what they will be serving up in this weekends encore presentation. Likewise I missed mentioning the Takoma Film Festival (possibly because it ended the same day as the first Fest post), but if you are VERY quick you still have a chance to see at least a few of them, including Otis v. Monster.

2009 Ig Nobel Prizes, favorite SG moment

Once more, the team from the Annals of Improbable Research have handed out another year’s Ig Nobel Prizes. From the Gas Mask Bra to Tequila Diamonds, this years winners share a trait in common with each other and all previous winners. First they make you laugh… and then they make you think (mostly about how gullible some grant organizations may be, but every so often about the real-world problem that inspired the research in the first place). Some of the winners are just plain silly, and some, like the financial and mathematical winners, are very scary, but the fact that real scientists do this kind of thing gives me hope for the world. And then there is why people explore other worlds… one of my favorite SG1 moments starring Adam Baldwin, this video embed was inspired by SciFi Fangirl’s posting last night.

Emmy Winners goodies

I wasn’t in Hollywood tonight to attend the 2009 Emmy Awards: Creative Arts Awards presentation, but I will be watching on the 20th when it gets broadcast on air, and for those wondering that will be on CBS. But I have to congratulate a few of the winners, starting with Doctor Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog (and you can see Nathan’s reaction here), which won the Short-format Live-Action Special Class. Which makes sense, since it never actually played on television or in theaters, but premiered on the Web and then was released to DVD. The Wizards of Waverly Place won for Outstanding Children’s Program, and you can see their reaction here. Battlestar Galactica pulled in an award or three, and Dan Castellaneta got one for Best Voiceover (he’s Homer Simpson to you). There were a lot more awards handed out, for next year I am hoping to see a best topless flashing scene in a fantasy category.