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Fantastic Fest brings reunions with fantastic friends

The week-long swelter of movies, booze and friends known as Fantastic Fest has once again descended upon Austin, Texas. For the next eight days, the CultureMap team, as well as a sea of like-minded cinephiles, will dive headfirst into the madness, hoping to experience all the fest has to offer (and, with any luck, make it out alive). But we won’t be the only press at Fantastic Fest—far from it. Film journalists from all over the country, all over the world in fact, will be flocking to Austin in what always proves to be an amazing geek reunion.

There are a few particular out-of-town writers whom I look forward to seeing each and every year. If you are at the festival yourself, these are a few great people to know. I’ve included their Twitter handles as well; feel free to follow for up-to-the-minute fest updates.

Eric Snider (@EricDSnider)

Few people have ever had the ability to make me laugh so hard or so consistently as Mr. Eric Snider. Eric’s lightning wit effortlessly puts Hollywood comedies to shame. In addition to keeping us supplied with laughter in person, Eric keeps us in stitches with his various columns at Film.com and EricDSnider.com, including Snide Remarks and Eric’s Bad Movies. Apart from his penchant for hilarity, Eric is also one of the kindest people I know. Eric hails from Portland, Oregon.

Drew McWeeny (@DrewAtHitFix)

Known for years as Moriarty on Ain’t It Cool New s, Drew McWeeny has been an online film critic since the inception of the medium. Drew’s knowledge of the complexities of film production and the film industry is equaled only by his unbridled love for the art form. He is also one of the most engaging conversationalists I’ve ever met. Drew’s writing can be found at Hitfix.com. He’s based out of Los Angeles.

Devin Faraci (@devincf)

Always willing to stir the pot and foster debate, Devin Faraci is one of the blogosphere’s biggest personalities. But strike up a conversation with Devin and you will discover that he is among the most passionate film fanatics on the planet. Devin is the editor-in-chief of Badass Digest, the official film blog of the Alamo Drafthouse, where this great event takes place. Devin also comes to us from Los Angeles.

Scott Beggs (@ColeAbaius)

A former resident of Austin, Film School Rejects’ managing editor Scott Beggs is one of the brightest and most eloquent film critics in the business. His offbeat sense of humor will have you rolling on the floor mere seconds after making his acquaintance. Scott, who goes by the alias Dr. Cole Abaius on the site, has helped put together some of the most original content on the web. He’s also an incredibly nice guy, so buy him a beer. Scott is making his way back to Austin from his new home in Tucson, Arizona.

Erik Davis (@ErikDavis)

Erik Davis is an immensely genuine and humble human being. The managing editor of Movies.com and contributing editor of Fandango, Erik is a first class movie geek with a blockbuster-sized heart. This will mark Erik’s first Fantastic Fest, but I have had the pleasure of spending time with him at Austin’s other major film festival SxSW. Mr. Davis comes to us from New York City.

Jen Yamato & Todd Gilchrist (@jenyamato, @mtgilchrist)

The ultimate blogger power couple, Jen and Todd are two amazing people. Their approach to film criticism is both staggeringly scholarly and uniquely hip. They are charming separately, and dynamite as a pair. Either way, they are great friends to have. If you can’t immediately locate them at the fest, check the Karaoke rooms at The Highball, they’ll be rocking the place ‘til the break of dawn. Jen is the senior editor of Movieline.com and Todd’s work can be found at Movies.com, Box Office Magazine, Indiewire, and many more. Jen and Todd are yet more visitors from Los Angeles.

James Marsh (@Marshy00)

In the category of long treks to Fantastic Fest, James Marsh takes top prize of this group, hands down. The former Brit made the lengthy journey to the fest all the way from his current home in Hong Kong. James is a tremendously talented writer and knows more about Asian films than anyone I have ever met (and that is saying something, considering the caliber of movie geeks with whom I associate). In addition, and much in keeping with the running theme of this piece, Marsh is also a terribly nice guy. You can read his work online at Twitch Film and Hong Kong Movies Club.

Of course, there are many, many more and I humbly apologize for not being able to include them all.

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Weird Words

Cringy words and fading accents questioned in Austin linguistics show

Katie Graham via PBS/pbs.org

UT alum Erica Brozovsky hosts Otherwords, a PBS YouTube series all about language.

On January 30, PBS' original YouTube seriesOtherwords is coming back for its fifth season. This popular show produced in Austin tracks down the historical explanations for quirks in our weird English language, and it's hosted by former University of Texas alum-turned-professor Erica Brozovsky.

Otherwords digs into language to explore the stories behind the words and sounds we all use on a day to day basis. It covers everything from biology, to history, to literature, and more, expertly explained by Brozovsky, a sociolinguist.

In her time as a professor, she taught Asian American Literature and Culture as well as English Language and its Social Context. These days, Brozovsky lives in Massachusetts and teaches Writing and Rhetoric, but the show is entirely filmed and produced here in Austin by local media company Spotzen.

"I moved out of Austin in 2022 to be closer to my family in the Northeast," says Brozovsky, "so now I come back to film a couple of times a year. Right now, we've done the first few [episodes] of season five and we're still working on it."

"We" here means Brozovsky and a very small team local to Austin. Almost every episode is shot in a small studio, but one episode in particular, "Why Do We Use Cringey Words for Loved Ones?," was actually shot all around town. It even features some interviews with locals.

Throughout this entertaining, educational series, Brozovsky talks about things like why baby names fall out of fashion or whether or not the southern accent is disappearing (spoiler alert: it's definitely changing). All the while, the screen is filled with colorful, entertaining, and helpful animations and visuals. It's sort of like watching an infographic come to life, in a very fun way.

Host Erica Brozovsky discusses baby names. In a previous episode Brozovsky discusses the changing trends in baby names. Photo courtesy of PBS.

Season 5 will air on PBS' YouTube channel, Storied, from January 30 through October 23. While not all episodes have been finished at this point, here are a few to whet your palette (that one's from Old English):

January 30: Where Body Parts Got Their Names
February 27: How Do Languages Die?
March 27: Why Negation Is So Complex
April 24: Universal Grammar Controversy

"In all of these episodes, you're not just learning what the title is about," says Brozovsky. "For example, the first episode, "Where Body Parts Got Their Names," is not just literally about the body parts; you're also learning about sound change." For non-linguists, that's the phenomenon where the pronunciation of a language changes over time.

"And in the March episode, "Why Negation is So Complex," we start the episode by talking about AI," she continues. "As humans we know when something is 'not' bad, it's pretty good. Or 'not' dead means alive. But a lot of these [AI] systems can't perceive the entire thing. So if you ask one of these generative AIs, 'Make this picture without an elephant in it,' all it hears is 'elephant' and it adds an elephant. So negation is difficult for computers to understand."

This sort of nerding out about language is what Otherwords is all about.

"It's an educational program," says Brozovsky, "but it's also meant to entertain. Language is one of the things that separates us from non-humans, and I would encourage people not just to be talking, but to think about the little things that go into what we say and how we say it."

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