Concrete Playground

The Fantastic Planet Film Festival is entering its terrible twos in spectacular fashion.
Tears and tantrums may well spill forth both onscreen and off as a scarily good line up of sci-fi and generally fantastical films take over Dendy Newtown.

It’s Christmas come early with the creepy Finnish number Rare Exports taking opening night honours. A seriously twisted take on the Santa legend, it might well have you wishing you never believed in the big man in red.

Another Philip K. Dick (Blade Runner, Total Recall, A Scanner Darkly) novel has been adapted to the big screen and this festival will host the world premiere of Radio Free Albemuth. With a strong performance from infamously 'ironic' singer Alanis Morrissette, director John Alan Simon's cinematic vision purportedly stays true to Dick's original vein of dark paranoia.

Closing night takes the cake with Robert Rodriguez's gloriously gratuitous, 'Mexploitation' revenge thriller Machete. Born of a fake trailer in Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino's exploitation experiment Grindhouse, the film stars Danny Trejo, Robert De Niro, Jessica Alba, Michelle Rodriguez and Steven Segal (plus a cameo from Lindsay Lohan). As a prelude to the closing night party, seriously, what more could you ask for?

Check out the program for further features (including Mortal Fools, an existential Aussie adaptation of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream), the short film contingent and info on the Fantastic Filmmaking Forum.

A two year old has never been so accomplished.