When I’m in the checkout line at the supermarket, and I see all of the celebrity magazines, I’m confused.  People who would buy those magazines and tabloids don’t seem to realize that celebrities are strangers.  If Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie have a baby, then I don’t see how that impacts anyone’s lives but their own.  But celebrities are viewed as a commodity, and Brandon Cronenberg‘s clever film Antiviral carries out this extension of human commodity into a perverse economy where there’s just enough shreds of truth to make us wonder if his world could really happen if the science was possible.  However, despite the fascinating ideas at the forefront, the story and characters almost feel perfunctory, and any attempts to make the movie feel like a thriller come off as heavy-handed.  Cronenberg has crafted a film that is sick, sad, smart, and serviceable.

We’ve already seen two waves of film announcements for the upcoming Fantastic Fest in Austin, including Dredd 3D, Room 237, The Shining, Looper, Sinister, The ABCs of Death, and Red Dawn as the festival’s closing film.  Now the festival has announced the final wave of films including the world premiere of the horror film The Collection. This final wave of films also includes Brandon Cronenberg’s Antiviral, the remake of Pusher, and the bizarre World War II film Danger 5.

Hit the jump to check out the press release, which includes the full final wave of film announcements.  The 2012 Fantastic Fest will take place September 20 – 27 in Austin, Texas at the Alamo Drafthouse.

An unnerving trailer for Brandon Cronenberg‘s Antiviral has gone online.  The film stars Caleb Landry Jones (X-Men: First Class) as a worker at a specialized clinic where patients pay to be infected with diseases harvested from celebrities as a way to feel closer to their idols.  Judging by the trailer, Brandon Cronenberg (son of David Cronenberg) seems to share his father’s understanding that being gory isn’t enough if you want to creep people out.  You have to find the right way to destroy the human body if you want to disturb the audience.  Antiviral looks like it’s going to disturb the hell out of its audience.

Hit the jump to check out the trailer along with the poster, a clip, and a viral promo (no pun intended).  Antiviral will play at the Toronto International Film Festival next month, and I plan to check it out provided I haven’t eaten beforehand.