Japanese film fans have a lot to be happy about at this year's Fantasia Film Festival

by Chris MaGee

Okay, it's coming up July in Montreal and what does that mean? It means that genre film fans aren't going to be getting much sun in La Belle Provence because between July 9th and July 27th the 13th Annual Fantasia Film Festival will be bringing some of the best genre/ horror/ sci-fi... and of course Asian films to the city. Japanese film fans will not, I repeat will not, be disappointed with this year's line up! For starters Fantasia's opening film will be Takashi Miike's "Yatterman" with the film's producers, Yoshinori Chia Tomohiro Hayashi, in attendance. Other guest presenting their films will be writer/ director Takanori Tsujimoto with his one-two punch of action "Hard Revenge Milly" and "Hard Revenge Milly: Bloody Battle", Yoshihiru Nishimura with his latest splatterfest "Vampire Girl vs. Frankenstein Girl", and Midnight Eye's Jasper Sharp will be making his first of two Canadian visits this year to present a programme of pinku eiga.

But there's more besides that... much,much more! Here's what you can expect on top of that:

- Sion Sono's 4-hour epic "love Exposure"

- Yukihiko Tsutsumi's blockbuster manga adaptations "20th Century Boys" Chapters 1 & 2

- Katsuhide Motoki's magical adventure "Kamogawa Harumo" (retitled "Battle League in Kyoto" for this North American screening)

- Kanji Nakajima's wonderful, thought-provoking sci-fi film "The Clone Returns Home"

- Keralino Sandorovich's zany comedy "Crime or Punishment?!?!"

- Tomoki Kyoda anime romp "Eureka Seven: Good Night, Sleep Tight, Young Lovers"

- The sweetest and funniest film of 2008, Yosuke Fujita's "Fine, Totally Fine"

- Yoshiki Yamakawa's animated descent into Hades, "Hells"

- Satoshi Miki's follow-up to "Adrift in Tokyo", "Instant Numa"

- Hitoshi Iwamoto's live-action adapation of Osamu Tezuka's dark revenge manga "M.W."

- Ryuhei Matsuda temas up with Shinya Tsukamoto again for "Nightmare Detective 2"

- Norio Tsurata's Kazuo Umezu adaptation, "Orochi"

- "Kamikaze Girls" director Tetsuya Nakashima returns with "Paco and the Magical Picture Book"

- Riichiro Mashima brings surreal, goofy animated fun with "Tokyo Onlypic 2008"

All of that? All in July! In Montreal! I feel a bit light-headed and giddy... While I regain my composure check out Fantasia's official website here for all the details of this year's fest.