Anyone reading this likely knows that the end of summer portends a few important milestones in a moviegoing year, chief among them the proliferation of film festivals in locations as diverse as Venice; Toronto; Telluride; and, of course, Austin, Texas. Yes, we’re just over 5 weeks away from Fantastic Fest 2013. Today, the organizers announced the second wave of films being unveiled over the weeklong festival, with no lack of impressive and star-studded world and North American premieres. Perhaps the most intriguing to genre fans is A Field in England, the latest film from Ben Wheatley, director of Kill List and Sightseers. Set in the 17th century, A Field in England is described as being about a group of deserters helping an alchemist find buried treasure only to find the grisly, gruesome, and inexplicable.
Other notable second-wave premieres include The Congress, from Waltz with Bashir director Ari Folman and adapted from the Stanislaw Lem novel, about the actress Robin Wright (played by…well, you can probably figure that out) taking what may be her final Hollywood offer; the world premiere of Grand Piano, a Spanish horror film starring Elijah Wood as a concert pianist and John Cusack as the sniper trying to take him out; and Maruyama the Middle Schooler, about a middle-schooler whose stretching exercises are in service of his hopeful goal of licking his own genitals. (Wasn’t that last one a Saturday Night Live sketch back in the Will Ferrell days?) As mentioned above, there’s just over 5 weeks until Fantastic Fest kicks off, with Machete Kills as the opening-night film. However, that doesn’t mean the festival organizers don’t have a few more surprise selections and guests up their sleeves. Of course, make sure to keep watching this space for further updates. Fantastic Fest 2013 will run from September 19 to September 26. More details are available at http://fantasticfest.com.