Idaho International Film Festival - Let the games begin!

Idaho International Film Festival – Getting Fired Up?! I am.

I plan to see a heap of great films this year at the Idaho International film Festival. Thanks to Bruce Fletcher, Festival Director of The Idaho International Film Festival, I’ve had a chance to see a few of them already. If you are not already really, really excited about this year’s festival then it’s time to quickly check for pulse. If you are not fired up it is quite likely that you are dead. Yep. This festival has a phenomenal mix of films. Time to make plans and if your plans do not include attending the festival then it might be time to reassess. This year you need to get out there and catch some films that will blow your mind! Not sure what to expect? No problem, allow me to reiterate: THIS FESTIVAL WILL BLOW YOUR MIND! Not sure what *not* to miss? Here’s two that are absolutely required:

The Ledgend of Gods Gun & Tokyo Gore Police!! Do not miss these films!!!!

Let’s start with The Legend of God’s Gun. Here’s what I wrote for Bruce Fletcher, (also founder and executive director of Dead Channels Film Festival in S.F. www.deadchannels.com) for his World Premiere Screening of this film for his White Hot Wednesdays Film series that played over the summer in S.F.

THE LEGEND OF GOD'S GUN is one of the most striking debuts in years -- a Western that takes you to hell and back through a kaleidoscope of images, black comedy and fast blasting, death dealing guns. It's a musical journey with peyote visions amidst the harsh backdrop of a cruel world and religious vengeance.

"El Sobero and his dirty, smelly, degenerate cohorts...'. Our narrator offers us hilarious snippets of crucial background on the damned residents of 'Playa Diablo' - the Devil's playground of whores, liars, cowards and thugs that's plagued by particularly ruthless banditos. A town in need of salvation: salvation that our dim-witted bounty hunter brings only in the form of side splitting comic relief.

El Sobero, the bad assed bandito, has no worries and assures us that "my bloodline has been raping and pillaging for thousands of years, with no ill effects..." He drinks the venom of the scorpion amidst swirling visuals - his warped form of religious ecstasy. Then the preacher comes to town--

-- and the preacher? "If that man's a preacher, then I'm saint-fucking-Francis!" He strolls through Hell to do the Lord's work in this wretched town of sinners. He's the man in black and he's not taking any crap.

Color enhanced images, and the snapping and popping of hissing film reels follow our cowboys on their path to ultimate justice. THE LEGEND OF GOD'S GUN will kick your ass and take no prisoners! You'll want to see it again. You'll want to buy the soundtrack. Miss it at your peril! - Mike Skurko

So, let me be very, very clear on this. I see a lot of films. Really. You can find me at Dead Channels Film Festival in S.F. every year and a number of other Bay Area Film Festivals. You might see me at Tribeca in New York if my schedule allows. I have a very active NetFlix account. I write about films for both S.F. Indie Fest and Dead Channels. I like movies and I am pretty certain and this point that I have reasonably good taste. Ask Bruce. We agree on a lot of films. We disagree on a good handful as well. This one? Total agreement. This is on of the best films of the year. By far, bar none. This one kicks ass. See it. Plan your night around it. I’ve seen it three times and I am flying to Idaho so I can get a chance to catch it again on the big screen. I hope to see you there.

What else? Tokyo Gore Police. Here’s what I wrote for the S.F. Indie Film Festival’s screening at the Another Hole in The Head Film Festival in 2008:

Tokyo Gore Police ‘protect and serve’ with a violent frenzy with all the requisite buckets of blood, mayhem and madness imaginable. There is an ongoing geyser of blood spraying battle in the streets of this horrible futuristic Tokyo. The ruthless, privatized police force is pitted against alien mutants known as ‘engineers.’ When they are wounded these ‘wounds’ quickly morph into killing machines. (a lobbed off arm becomes a death dealing chain saw etc.) They all have a key shaped tumor within their bodies that can be passed on and implanted to ‘re-engineer’ anyone. To kill one of these savages requires more than a head shot or a silver bullet. You need to sever the “key” from the body. Sound like fun? Sounds messy.

Our most accomplished ‘engineer hunter’ is a sweet, sexy thing. Distinguishing characteristics? She’s also a cutter. Ah, it’s all in the details. Now, what is this? Our cute alien killer about to do battle to with a masked quadruple amputee? Surprise! “Happy Birthday Ruka!” The horror has burst its’ bubble and it’s now a happy, fun in the Privatized Police Corporation scene...

We flash back and forth to some extremely demented and hilarious public service announcements as T.V. commercials throughout the film. My personal favorite being three cute school girls singing “Let’s go stylish with wrist cutting!” Just enough “Engrish” charm and realism to make this scene as cute as Hello Kitty while they morbidly introduce a new design that is “rounded for a cleaner cutting edge that school girls love!” Oh, this can’t be beat.

More great T.V. ads. “Remote Control Exterminate!!” is a demented Wii that lets the viewer slice and dice a tormented player. Complete with all the spraying blood we’ve come to expect from just about everything with the Tokyo Shock label.

Hard core latex fetish parties, girls with 69 branded on their asses, mutant space sluts with cocks for noses and perversely protruding eye balls, horrible mutations... Horizontal slices and a gaping stapled slash where the nipples ought to be. The grand finale is a performance art golden shower from the stage. The crowd of mask wearing, latex clad fetish fans screaming with pleasure as they are sprayed with fresh blasting streams. Can it get any weirder than this? Yes. What about a woman who’s private parts morph into a snapping, blood thirsty alligator? Well? Shocking enough? Tokyo Gore Police seems to get stranger every second. Nothing is sacred and yet in the immortal words of Hunter S. Thompson “It never got weird enough for me.” I’d say Hunter checked out too soon. He missed one where it most certainly gets weird enough! This film will take you into the extreme realm of cyber-shocking-blood gushing freaks. It’s beyond perverse. It’s more than brutal. It’s also funny. Tokyo Gore Police is absolute madness!

-Mike Skurko

So, if you haven’t already checked the schedule that’s your midnight movies this Friday and Saturday night! You won’t want to miss either of these films and I am greatly looking forward to seeing them both again myself. Absolute gems! See you kids at the movies.

Oh, and if this is *news* to you then you better get on it! Films will sell out. Hit the site and make it happen! You will kick yourself if you miss either of these films and that’s just the start. This year the selection of films is amazing. Want to pick five excellent films? Take a program guide and tack it to the wall. Toss five darts into the guide. You will have selected five unusually excellent films. Am I biased? Actually no. I am not biased! I am right! I am her to represent excellent taste in film and can assure you, this festival is going to rock! See you there. For schedule and details:

http://www.idahofilmfestival.com