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Opening night scene at Fantastic Fest
For the first time in its five-year run, Fantastic Fest is using the Paramount Theatre for a handful of its bigger titles. That included “Gentlemen Broncos” — a loopy, all-over-the-place sci-fi/comedy directed by Jared Hess (“Napoleon Dynamite”) and starring Jemaine Clement (“Flight of the Conchords”) and Sam Rockwell — which launched Fantastic Fest #5 on Thursday night.
After a red carpet entrance for the director and part of the cast, festival co-founder and face Tim League introduced “Broncos,” noting that this year Fantastic Fest is hosting 200 stars, filmmakers and industry figures, 120 members of the press and, at that moment inside the Paramount, a near-capacity house of about 1,000 fans.
Most of the audience was generous with laughter during the screening, but this critic found “Broncos” something of a misfire, straining for quirks and never grasping a firm comic tone. In a word, it’s a strenuous, seldomly funny mess.
Gathering crowd awaiting the stars of “Gentlemen Broncos” at the Paramount on Thursday night
A Fantastic Fest fanatic’s badge
“Broncos” star Jemaine Clement arrives on the red carpet
Clement swarmed by the adoring masses
The movie’s co-star and executive producer Mike White arrives at the Paramount
Co-star Sam Rockwell gets in the spirit of the festival
Clement, in the role of sci-fi writer Dr. Ronald Chevalier, which he plays in the movie, regales the crowd by reading three haikus that he calls “sci-fi-kus.” Left to right are director/co-writer Jared Hess, stars Michael Angarano, Sam Rockwell and Mike White and co-writer Jerusha Hess.
One of the ironically bad sci-fi-kus, read in Dr. Chevalier’s imperious accent and stentorian tones, went like this:
Twinkly little star
If I do not get my wish
I will destroy you
It cracked up his colleagues and many in the crowd.
“Gentlemen Broncos” opens in theaters in late October.
For more Fantastic Fest screenings, including the premiere of “Zombieland” on Friday at the Paramount, go HERE.
Photos by Chris Garcia
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