After the first day of being properly spoiled at Moviefest, I’d imagine people would have been happy with just a few movies – however they managed to make it even more exciting and worthwhile than the first day! Starting again at 10:30, here’s how the day went and what we were privileged to.
* The first movie was crime comedy 30 Minutes Or Less. Despite the controversial nature of the story (based on a true, grim story), I thought it was great – check out my review here. Even though it was early on a Sunday morning, the fest was sold out completely and the crowd just as enthusiastic as Saturday.
*After the movie, it was time for more exclusive footage and this time, we really did get a lot of stuff – so much so that they took our phones! It began with a scene from Aardman’s ARTHUR CHRISTMAS, their upcoming cgi Santa movie. Looking like a cross between Mission Impossible and the Santa Claus, the animation was slick and smooth but the humour was trademark Aardman – in the scene we saw elves descend on houses on Christmas Eve, military style, and it got a great reaction.
* Colin Farrell and director Len Wiseman gave us a special introduction to the TOTAL RECALL footage, direct from the set. Wiseman explained that he cut the footage with lots of unfinished cgi because a trailer wasn’t ready yet, but we still saw a lot of stuff – check out my detailed account here.
* That was followed by probably the most anticipated footage of the weekend – The AMAZING SPIDER-MAN scenes. We all had Spiderman t-shirts courtesy of Sony, and were treated to an absolute truckload of Spidey goodness. Read my account of the footage here.
* As if that wasn’t enough, we were privy to 15 minutes of PUSS IN BOOTS. Surprisingly, the 3D was excellent, and not even dark or blurred. The film itself looks great, very distinct from Shrek with a properly unique feel. I recognised a few Ennio Morricone tunes from Kill Bill 2 in there as well! We were introduced to (presumably) the villains of the story, Bonnie & Clyde-esque murderers Jack & Jill, and saw a great scene of Puss having a dance off with a mystery cat. I was very impressed.
* The mystery movie was FINAL DESTINATION 5, which to be honest I wasn’t that excited about. However, I was surprised…..check out my review here.
* The final movie was COWBOYS & ALIENS, by which time I was exhausted – but thoroughly enjoyed it, especially on the massive, massive screen 17. Jon Favreau gave an exclusive intro to the movie, and went into detail about why he chose to do the movie – a love of both genres, along with a desire to shoot on film, not digital, and in 2D. It was great that he spent so much time talking about the movie, just for the fest.
* Overall, I cannot recommend the Moviefest enough. We were all treated to some of the finest footage from Comic-Con (and more) along with six movies, for only 22:50 per day! The atmosphere was fantastic and everyone got plenty of goodies – I don’t think I’ll ever take off my Spiderman t-shirt. For many movie fans in Ireland, it often seemed that the only way to see all the footage and screenings of this type would be to go to Comic-Con. However, the Moviefest crew succeeded in bringing a new and very enjoyable experience to Dublin. Whether it was the extended montages of studio films, brilliant mystery screenings or exclusive footage, throughout the weekend the Moviefest served as a reminder why we film fans are so crazy about the business itself, and how exciting it can be.
