Larger version here.
TIFF page here.

Along with the review of Alone In Love X tossed some details on the new film from director Ryu Seung-Wan, seen here impaling someone with a sword in City of Violence, because when you get the chance to post a picture of a director impaling someone with a sword you take it.

We already knew that Yacha was to be a zombie action film, but what has spilled now is that it is apparently also a period piece set in the Shilla Dynasty, under the rule of the legendarily corrupt Queen Jinseong.  The title can apparently be translated as ‘she-devil’ or ‘female demon’ so it looks as though there are some interesting directions Ru could spin this thing ...

The trailer and website for Malaysian horror film Dukun have gone online. The film claims to be based on the true story of a woman tried and sentenced to hang for using the black arts - including blood sacrifices - to achieve wealth, youth and beauty. She sounds like a pleasant sort.

Dukun Website
Dukun Trailer (downloadable MP4)

Just a day behind the release of the first trailer Sony Pictures Classics has released a second trailer for Zhang Yimou’s Curse of the Golden Flower, this one focusing more on the film’s action elements. Chow Yun Fat looks to be in fine form and Gong Li ... well, let’s just say she’d get no complaints from me if she wore that dress every day. I’ll stop talking now.

Curse of the Golden Flower Website
Trailer One (downloadable Quicktime)
Trailer Two (downloadable Quicktime)

We got t-shirts! We got hats! We got a day left in the contest!

Details here.

Our giveaway contest for the new Tartan Video release of Oxide Pang’s One Take Only has come to an end and here are our winners:

Third Prize (One Take Only DVD): Joel Martin
Second Prize (One Take Only and Ab-Normal Beauty DVDs): Terry Osterhout
First Prize (One Take Only and Ab-Normal Beauty DVDs signed by Oxide Pang): Domenic Staiti

Congratulations!

[I’m very pleased to welcome - or, rather, welcome back - a special guest reviewer for this one. Our very own X makes an all too brief return - he’s doing well but time is still scarce for him - with this look at recent Korean drama Alone in Love]

연애시대 (Alone in Love)
SBS 2006 - 16 Episodes

Written by Park Yeon-Seon - Produced by Han Ji-Seung
Starring: Son Ye-Jin, Gam Woo-Sung, Gong Hyeong-Jin, Lee Ha-Na, Seo Tae-Hwa, Moon Jung-Hee, Oh Yoon-Ah, Kim Gab-Soo, Gi Ju-Bong, Jin Ji-Hee

Ice coffee and donuts, reading the newspaper; looking outside the bus’ window on the way to work, noticing the same old bicycles, thinking about the past. Going to the same little pub every day, drinking more or less the same, seeing the same faces; sitting at the same exact seat every day, feeling awkward in another. Life is all about habits, sometimes even when it comes to relationships. Dramas ooze with 가족주의 (familyism) from all angles, they tell us blood is thicker than water, remind us of how important the family unit is. But then you turn off the TV and you start bitching with your sister for the silliest of things (you stole my MP3 player! Waahh!), and every time your mother enters your room she angrily points out it looks more like Seoul City Hall after a soccer game with the National Team than something an human being can live in… only she’s the one who cleans every day, sans the ‘Hi Seoul’ t-shirt.

Continue Reading "Alone in Love Review"...

10 Canoes promises to be about as far from Rolf De Heer’s previous “Bad Boy Bubby” as one can get. Here he is working with an Aboriginal Community in the Northern Territory of Australia, filming on location in the local language. The story is in the mode of oral story telling of an old Aboriginal legend. A concept which is reminiscent of Canada’s “Atanarjuat”, an Inuit made film which captures their own legends on celluloid.

One of the principle actors in 10 Canoes is the legendary David Gulpilil who was the star of Nicolas Roeg’s Walkabout but has appeared in all facets of Aussie cinema, from last years The Proposition to Rabbit Proof Fence to Crocodile Dundee to Peter Weir’s The Last Wave.  From the films tagline “Ten canoes, three wives, one hundred and fifty spears...trouble” the impression that things are going to be entertaining as well as a glance at Aboriginal culture from the inside.

Curiously, the official site has not posted a trailer, and while there is one buried behind some commercials on Yahoo’s Austrailia site, we’ve video-grabbed it and are hosting it here. The film makes its North American debut at Telluride and is also screening at this years Toronto Film Festival (TIFF catalogue page).

10 Canoes Trailer (Downloadable Windows Media)
10 Canoes Trailer (Embedded in Yahoo.au, with commercials)

Since the Toronto International Film Festival inexplicably does not include trailer links on their website we’ve decided to try and build a link archive to trailers for as many TIFF-participating films as is humanly possible. But here’s the thing. With as many films involved as there are at TIFF this is far too large a job for any one person. If this is going to work it needs to be a group effort. So this is what I’m going to do: right now I am posting a list of the entire TIFF program with the complete lineup of films listed alphabetically. As time permits I will then go back and start filling in what trailer information I already have myself. But I won’t get it done alone. Not even close. I need your help. If anybody out there has a link to a trailer or video clip for any of these films, please post it in the comments area - only one link per comment to keep the anti-spam filters from kicking in - and we will then go along behind and add that information into the main film list. If everybody chips in this should come together quick and easy and provide a very useful resource.

ALL TWITCH WRITERS TAKE NOTE: Site settings have been changed to allow you to edit other people’s work so please check back in the comments thread here regularly and update the post body whenever you get a moment. This doesn’t need to wait on my personal availability. If you can erase the comments once the relevant info has been added to the list it will make it much simpler for the rest of the team to find the new links that need to be added. Thanks! Ultimate goal is to have this done completely before the festival starts ...

Continue Reading "It’s The One Stop TIFF Trailer Shop. Or, At Least, It Will Be."...

My first encounter with Andrew Bujalski was quite accidental and entirely pleasurable; the second was entirely intentional and only accidently pleasurable.

That he can inspire such pleasure and pain is evidence of a true auteur. Sadly, the glut of somewhat similar-looking American independent films (and I emphasize the look, because the content is entirely different) makes it difficult for his films to stand out in the marketplace, which makes it difficult for his films to be made and to be seen, despite the critical hosannas that have been showered upon him.

But see his work you should (here’s where and when to see his latest, Mutual Appreciation), not to be “blown away” or to be “moved to tears” or “because it’s good for you”; instead, see it to get a look at one man’s view of genuine, recognizable humanity, an exceedingly rare thing to encounter on-screen these days.

Quicktime Trailer
Windows Media Player Trailer

Continue Reading "Mutual Appreciation Review"...

Ohmaword! The Music Box Massacre went from a must attend Chicago event for me to a attend or die event. Most of you who read the site know I’m pretty high on the obscure 70’s horror film Let’s Scare Jessica to Death. Well it turns out that the newest guest to the MBM is none other than John D. Hancock the director of Jessica. In addition they’ve also announced additional films; An American Werewolf in London and to sate those who wanted better fare than Dante’s Homecoming they are also showing Pirhana. And The American Premiere of THE EYES OF EDWARD JAMES thedirectorial debut of Rue Morgue Magazine publisher Rodrigo Gudiño’s 15 minute short film!

Word has it that other surprise guests will be in tow as well as MBM favorite and Late Night TV Horror Show Host, Count Midnight. Tix are $24 ahead of time and $29 the day of.

For More Info visit The Music Box Theater

Silent Hill is based on a video game but whatever fans may think of it as an adaptation of it’s source material it stands tall as a recent American horror film. Far from flawless the film still showcases Christopher Gans at his best, a director who makes compelling images while still failing to tell altogether compelling stories. This is visceral horror that takes place in a hellish landscape whose greatest strength is making the viewer wonder what horrible thing might be outside the frame. And in that sense Gans makes a case for style over substance. We are so transfixed by where we are that we never really consider where we’re going. Is there a surer road to hell?

When her adopted daughter starts suffering from a dangerous sleepwalking habit mom takes her to back to her deserted hometown of Silent Hill hoping to discover why the daughter whispers the town’s name in her sleep. An accident on the way leaves the mom unconscious. When she awakens to find the daughter missing she finds herself searching through a parallel universe containing a town inhabitated by religious zealots who hide from the darkness as it brings creatures of unspeakable judgement. The featurettes offered on this disc are really good offering a solid sense of how visual were created but also offering a glimpse into why Gans films tend to lack story. And yet it’s mighter hard to find fault with some of the most intense beautifully shot horror imagery shot on these shores in a long time. gans has created something truly Boschian and I recomend you partake and think about the questions the film raises? Why is evil allowed to exist and why must it be judged? Gans comes awfully close to the morality tale here even if only in inverse.

Arriving unbidden on my desk this morning were SE’s of Romancing the stone and Jewel of the Nile. For those too young to remember these we’re sold as parodies of Indiana Jones and they certainly bore similarities but what they really satirized was the romance novel. The special features consist of 3 featurettes for Romancing along with deleted scenes and a really, really lame special feature that allows principal actors, Douglas, Turner and Devito to choose their favorite scenes (filler…ahem…filler) and two featurettes, deleted scenes and director commentary by Lewis Teague on Jewel. The problem here is that we need a flip-flop. Romancing should have the commentary and Jewel the sloppy second featurettes. But it hardly seems worth harping about. Two of the better action adventure comedies of the 80’s still can’t quite hold a candle to Remo Williams much less Indiana Jones but they have aged better and seem smarter than you might think.

My new edition of Grease arrived today dressed in a miniature leather jacket. If I were a middle-aged woman I’d be screaming with delight. But I ain’t. Still this this is a pretty good SE even if it does lack a Newton-John, Travolta commentary. One of the most memorable musicals of modern times deserved more than just gimmick packaging. Fans will be happy with the sing-a-long feature and new featurettes, which include looks at Thunder Roadsters and movies that inspired the musical.

But ultimately the most inspiring thing about Grease is the thing that leaves me a little sad. Grease tells the story of a bunch of horny teens who never really find out the truth about sex- that it’s just another part of life that has to balance out against everything else. Oh, wait, there is one teen who figures that out- Rizzo who gets pregnant but hey her and her boyfriend end up getting’ hitched so no problem right? The lyrics alone much less the plot make this an adult experience that often gets foisted off on kids because of it’s catchy song and dance numbers. Well acted, well sung and for this edition dressed in leather- which couldn’t be more appropriate. I’m certainly not saying anyone should throw away fond memories they have of encountering it or staging it for their high school but ultimately- taken at face value- Grease is just another sentimentalized portrait of a troubled period of American history where lust and machismo collide with the unhealthy sort of life most of us wish we could lead.

Ya gotta love a DVD that comes to you with goodies. Especially when the DVD is Pretty in Pink Everything’s Duckie Edition packaged in a Hot Pink Glitter cardboard box, Hot Pink accordian mini-streamers and a Official Pretty In Pink Sewing Travel Kit. My wife snagged the sewing kit but I’m keeping the DVD and now feel compelled to get St. Elmo’s Fire, The Breakfast Club, Sixteen Candles and any other Brat Pack flicks I can think of. Director Commentary would be a pretty good reason to pick this up but you also get five new featurettes on the Making Of and the Original Intended Ending for the film.

Now understanding that you won’t get the goodies either what’s a critic to say. The bottom line is there’s new material on the disc and a first ever commentary so this new edition is definitely worth owning especially the way prices have come down on SE discs in the last year. You could do a hilarious DF with All About Lily Chou-Chou or Bright Future, Battle Royale or Suicide Club.