9/6/13

Fantastic Fest 2013 Special Events

When people ask me why Fantastic Fest is the most fun festival I've been too there are so, so many potential answers that could be shared. But ultimately the simplest and most effective is the Fantastic Debates. Two adversaries debate a topic of global import. First with their oratory skills and then with their fists. There is no higher form of geek discourse. 

I've been lucky enough to document the 2012 and 2011 bouts in Austin. 2013 looks like it's going to continue to raise the bar.

The debates are the best example of the festival's twisted awesomeness. But this year's stuntmen demo outside the theater may give them a run for their money. Two event descriptions are below. The rest can be found on the festivals site. And yes, there is a Karaoke event that may include members of Metallica. I wouldn't bet against is all I'm saying. 



FANTASTIC FEST 2013 ANNOUNCES SIGNATURE EVENTS

The Fantastic Debates Presented By "Man of Tai Chi" and Radius-TWC Will See Fantastic Fest Co-Founder Tim League Face Off Against the One Himself, Keanu Reeves

Austin, TX - Friday, September 6 - Fantastic Fest proudly announces the signature events lineup for 2013.  Sure, Fantastic Fest is ostensibly a film festival, but a tremendous portion of the thunderous wildness happens off the screen.  The festival is pleased to continue the tradition with events like Fantastic Debates and Chaos Reigns: Fantastic Fest Karaoke Party along with new events like the Master Pancake Mystery Mockery Show and the Cards Against Humanity Happy Hour. 

This year's highly anticipated Fantastic Debates will be presented by MAN OF TAI CHI and Radius-TWC with director & star Keanu Reeves debating Fantastic Fest Co-Founder Tim League, followed by a round of boxing with Mr. League and MAN OF TAI CHI lead Tiger Hu Chen, a superhuman master of form and combat.

Full lineup and dates below.

Danger Gods!: The True Daredevils of Hollywood Legend
Location: The Alamo Drafthouse Lakeline
Time: 7pm
Description: Easily the most bombastic, explosive event in FF history, Danger Gods! is an in-person tribute to the top five surviving, pioneering stuntmen from Hollywood's greatest action era, the '70s and '80s. The following decades-spanning stunt legends will appear live for the show... Chuck Bail, Bob Ivy, John "Bud" Cardos, Gary Kent, and Bobby Sargent.  The night will start with an in-theater overview of their daredevil history, featuring eye-bulging clips and a Q&A with the stuntmen. THEN... the audience will move outside for an explosive, turbo-fueled, death-defying LIVE STUNT SHOW featuring the legends themselves! Death-defying stunts include car rollovers! Stunt fights! High falls - on fire! Cars on fire! Men on fire! Monster trucks... possibly on fire! It's going to be an evening of nerve-shredding thrills and wild impossibilities performed by Hollywood's real, immortal DANGER GODS!!!



The Fantastic Debates Presented By MAN OF TAI CHI and Radius-TWC
Location: John's Gym
Time: Midnight
Description: Quench your thirst for blood AND intellectual disputation with another installment of the Fantastic Debates, where the burning questions facing the fan community are resolved once and for all... first with words, then with furious FISTS!! In honor of the U.S. premiere of the epic martial arts film MAN OF TAI CHI, this year's main event features the film's director/star Keanu Reeves versus Fantastic Fest co-founder (and honorary black belt) Tim League, wherein Keanu will defend the negative in the debate: "Resolved: Tai Chi is a martial art relegated to elderly Chinese women and is inferior in every way to Tae Kwon Do." To back his stance, Reeves will hand over the physical portion of the match to MAN OF TAI CHI lead Tiger Hu Chen, a superhuman master of form and combat. It was nice knowing you, Tim.


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