Fantasia Film Festival Archives | Otaku No Culture

Updates on What the Astronots Are Up To

Until a feature length film finally gets off the ground (pardoning the pun), the short film AstroNots is ready to launch on streaming platforms.

AstroNots is finally landing after playing at twenty more film festivals worldwide! Anyone who has not seen this hilarious short film at their local event or Fantasia Film Festival 2024 can now stream it through Film Shortage, beginning June 23, 2025. When I interviewed the creative team last year, producer Andrew Seaton said they want to make a feature film length version of this film. Although not much has progressed since, he confirmed writers Adam Dunn and Aaron Glenane are working hard on putting a script together.

He said, “We are excited about the prospect of taking these characters and their unique dynamic even further. What we love is that we have an odd couple road-trip movie, set in space. Something truly hilarious and unique.”

Continue reading “Updates on What the Astronots Are Up To”

The Entanglements in Fly Me to the Saitama II, From Biwa Lake With Love Can Spell Disaster, If Rei Isn’t Careful!

It’s tough to be original in Fly Me to the Saitama II, From Biwa Lake With Love. What’s added on top is a romantic triangle which only makes this work more llike a Broadway style spectacle than anything else.

Fly Me to the Saitama II, From Biwa Lake With Love is one of those mixed genre types of film where viewers will get to see Shōjo, fantasy, cosplay, rom-com all mixed into a vaudeville style stage show.

When I first saw the full title, I had thoughts of Macross running through my head (mostly because the word, “Love” is often used in many subtitles). And I had to remind myself about how the conflict began by looking at the first film again (movie review can be read here). It’s basically a story about the citizens from a specific prefecture wanting to be free from Tokyo’s political wrangling and Rei Asami (Gackt) led the party.

Continue reading “The Entanglements in Fly Me to the Saitama II, From Biwa Lake With Love Can Spell Disaster, If Rei Isn’t Careful!”

After Fantasia 2024, Here’s Where Baby Assassins 3 Nice Days Will Play Next

Good news, John Wick fans! Baby Assassins 3 will be coming to North American theatres in September! It has just as equally stunning fist-to-fist action as the last film, and there’s gun play too!

Once armed with a proper rewatch from first film to the third, I was ready to tackle the aptly named Baby Assassins 3 Nice Days, which made its debut at Fantasia Film Fest. Even after the latest, I had to revisit the prior films to remind myself about what made this slugfest fun. With this latest, the dynamic duo finally get to go on vacation!

This film written and directed by Yugo Sakamoto is an action packed doozy! I’m sure he drew upon some other classic anime girls with guns series when he first fashioned this concept. There’s Dirty Pair and Noir, but I swear, everytime I look at this live-action take, I’m constantly reminded of Laverne & Shirley! The comedy is familiar, even though the world these youths live in are very different.

Continue reading “After Fantasia 2024, Here’s Where Baby Assassins 3 Nice Days Will Play Next”

[Fantasia 2024] In Sunburnt Unicorn, What is Alls Well Doesn’t Bode Well for Those Scared of the Future

The big question some people may have is with where in the world does the adventure in Sunburnt Unicorn takes place. It can be the Osoyoos here in British Columbia, or somewhere in Arizona–or could it be further?

Sunburnt Unicorn Movie Poster — **North American premiere at Fantasia Film Festival 2024**

Spoiler Alert

Frankie’s got a horn in Sunburnt Unicorn, and he doesn’t know how to use it. That’s because it may well be a car part embedded on his forehead after an accident has stranded him and his dad in a desert. As. for whether the fever dream that comes from being in the dry world for too long is real or not, I’m enjoying the concept! Here, the fauna identifies him as a saviour. Amusingly enough, I can imagine voice actress Diana Kaarina actually wearing a facsimile during recording.

This boy has issues. He’s not thrilled with the fact he’s going to a new school. Based on what I got from the argument they had preceding the crash, this lad was voicing his dissatisfaction. And with both their eyes off the road, just what he’s dealing with is a rather surreal parable concerning why it’s best not to behave; each talking critter he meets represents an aspect of himself, and what he learns to change his and their attitude makes for an interesting film.

Continue reading “[Fantasia 2024] In Sunburnt Unicorn, What is Alls Well Doesn’t Bode Well for Those Scared of the Future”

[Fantasia 2024] When The Dead Thing Involves More Than Just A Fatal Attraction

Be careful in who you ghost here, in this indie horror movie simply known as The Dead Thing.

The Dead Thing Movie Poster — **Played at Fantasia Film Festival 2024 July 26 & 28, 2024**

Alex (Blu Hunt) is a young woman who “would do anything for love.” And when I get this song by Meatloaf stuck in my head, to see what she will and won’t do in The Dead Thing can become fatal. When the question of who Kyle (Ben Smith-Petersen) truly is arises and this woman is trying to break away from him, life will not be like Paradise by the Dashboard Light either.

Had Meat’s music been used, I’d say we got a film to remember. In its current form, the question of what kind of reality Alex is living in is raised. She’s too reliant on her smartphone. As for her obsession with finding this man, whom we learn is dead (by the end of the first act), that’s when the maudlin drama turns into a thriller.

Continue reading “[Fantasia 2024] When The Dead Thing Involves More Than Just A Fatal Attraction”

Taking A Quick Look at Fantasia’s Short Film Selection, 2024 Edition

What’s offered here is a brief taste of Fantasia’s Short Film programs. There’s 17 different collections that’s still continuing to play. They may well appear at your local film festival next!

Fantasia Film Festival 2024 - Fantasia's Short Film As Montreal’s most beloved genre film festival enters its last week of celebrating an eclectic range of genre cinema, Fantasia’s short film celebration will have me keeping an eye out on these up-and-coming talents! Although I didn’t view everything in this category, what I saw so far is a great way to see what may get dreamed up to become feature length works in the future!

These filmmakers have come up with some fairly cool concepts. The following reviews do not make up a top five list, but are a sampler of what is there. I’m thankful to those who provided me with a screener, and I wish them all the best.

The True Shape of a Daisy

George MacDonald‘s narrative, “The Day Boy and the Night Girl,” provides the foundation for the cinematic The True Shape of a Daisy, and I’m fairly sure no one has ever compiled this tale into a book. This short story is available online.

What’s presented is a faithful adaptation, where we meet a witch named Watho, who would shape Photogen and Nycteris’ environments. True to their namesakes, one would live in perpetual daylight and the other at night. They don’t get to meet until later, and in this anime, they don’t live in enormous rooms. Instead, they are from a world of contrasts. The girl is from a beautiful forest, and the boy lived most of his life in a dark dungeon.

As an anime by Naoki Arata, I hope what she produced is more than just a tease, but an examination of how opposites can get along.