Are you a fan of Hollywood blockbusters? Better head on over to EW.com, then, because Fantastic Fest is not for the faint of heart—or imagination. A genre film festival that’s been around Austin for a few years, Fantastic Fest is the place to go for films featuring gore, glory, gangstas, giggles, gigolos, and general greatness. Its self-described genres include science-fiction, fantasy, horror, animation, crime, Asian, but it also recognizes “all-around badass” cinema. New films and old favorites are featured each year in a lineup with 60 features and 30 short films, so stay tuned to Austinist and the Fantastic Fest website for updates on what you’ll see from Fantastic Fest this fall (September 20-27, to be exact).

Fantastic Fest has just announced its preliminary lineup for 2007, but don’t fear—late entries will be open through June 1 (though that’s only a week away!) and the extended deadline is July 15. Click here for more details on submissions, or just submit here if you're brave.

Nine features and six shorts are already confirmed for the festival program. Highlights are so spectacular, we can’t even find the words to describe them ourselves; we’ll let the Fantastic Fest organizers and filmmakers do the talking (after the break):

Aachi and Ssipak
"An animated film from director Joe Bum-jin about a futuristic world powered entirely by human feces. With the government anxious to control this sole, important source of energy, they install special sensors on its citizens' anuses to monitor production, while controlling the populace by distributing addictive popsicles."

Anesthesia
“A patient's failed anesthetic agent leaves her fully conscious during open-heart surgery, but paralyzed and unable to communicate with her doctors. Based on the real-life phenomenon of 'anesthesia awareness,' in which a patient becomes conscious during surgery--probably the most terrifying thing you can imagine, and this short film exploits that fear to the max!”

The Entrance
"In the early 1600’s, renowned exorcist Father Sebastien Michaelis wrote about a possessed nun, Sister Madeleine, in Aix-en-Provence, France. The demon possessing Madeleine revealed itself as a fallen angel, a punisher of sinners and tempter of the innocent. Four hundred years later, Ryan James, a streetwise drug dealer, has escaped from the hands of his kidnappers. Desperate and shaken, he seeks help from the police. Jen Porhowski, a strong-willed and dedicated detective, sceptically tries to separate fact from fiction in Ryan’s account of the night’s horrifying events. As the two are drawn further into the case, a greater truth unravels, drawing attention to those writings from centuries ago. In an effort to save lives, Porhowski soon finds that the life at stake is her own." (You had me at "possessed nun.")

Flight of the Living Dead
We'll just sum this one up for you: zombies on a plane.

G.I. Joe: Battle for the Serpent Stone
The title alone reveals this film’s obvious superiority, but we’ll let ‘em expand on it anyway: “The race is on as Duke, Lady Jaye and Snake Eyes take on Cobra in a perilous quest for the Apophis Stone, an Ancient Egyptian artifact with the power to summon a unstoppable demon army. Can they get to it before Cobra?”

Moebius Redux: A Life in Pictures
The story of French artist and author Jean Giraud is "a stunning HD trip that takes the viewer inside the visionary mind of a legend. Building on Giraud’s compelling pictorial language and featuring a stellar cast of participants including the artist himself but also Marvel Comics legend Stan Lee, American comic book artists Jim Lee (X-Men) and Mike Mignola (Hellboy) as well as Alejandro Jodorowsky and Dan O’Bannon (Alien), the film goes on a mind bending tour of imagination past, present and future. Ex-Kraftwerk legend Karl Bartos created the soundscape for the film."

The Sword Bearer
“Tortured by his childhood memories, Sasha returns to his town of birth to rid himself of his nightmares and break the shackles of the past. But no one in the city is waiting for him. He’s viciously beaten over his high school sweetheart by a local thug. Sasha does not have the habit of offering his right cheek when he’s hit on the left. He cripples his assailant and finds himself on the run from gangsters and the police. What they don’t know is that Sasha possesses a supernatural ability that enables him to destroy anything in his path. Trouble is in stall for anyone who dares to cross him. But then Sasha meets Katya. She loves him and is not afraid of his special powers. Will Sasha be able to protect his love in a world that wants him dead? The Sword Bearer is a gripping fantastic drama about how society has made a monster out of a man and how that man is transformed by love.”

Wicked Flowers
“In this surreal, Lynchian debut feature from Japan, an unsuspecting slacker is sucked into a strange and deadly parallel universe when he starts to play a mysterious videogame that seems to kill those who play it.”

The festival will be held, as always, at the beloved Alamo South Lamar, so you can booze and food it up while you watch characters spill their guts (literally and figuratively) on the big screen. VIP badges are already sold out, so get your gut in gear and grab a regular badge, which may not be as prestigious but should still get you into the films you want to see. Individual ticket sales will be available for some screenings, but badge holders get priority, so it’s not likely you’ll be able to wander into anything worthwhile at the last minute. (And since all the Fantastic Fest films are worthwhile, you’d better get your badge pronto!)

And for those who just can’t wait until September rolls around, July 2 brings us Robosaurus Live along with the new Transformers film. This ultimate transformers experience features a battle between the Autobots vs. the Decepticons, preceded by an amazing show from all 60 sexy feet of Robosaurus, a dazzling dragon-cum-transformer that eats cars and sometimes people, too. Buy your ticket early so you won’t be the one caught in his jaws. Fantastic Fest badge holders get first dibs, with ticket sales opening up to them on Friday, June 15, at 1:00 PM. Everyone else can shell out their $25 on Monday, June 17, at 1:00 PM. VIP tickets are available for $75 and include front-row seats, a custom Robosaurus poster, reserved seats for Transformers, and free popcorn and soda during the show.

Fantastic Fest is clearly the most fabulous thing in Austin since queso. Buy your badge now. No, not in like ten minutes, or tomorrow: NOW.

Robosaurus Live
Monday, July 2nd
Alamo South Lamar
10pm
Tickets

Fantastic Fest 2007
September 20 - 27
Alamo South Lamar
Tickets