The official website for Justin O’Brien’s Irish horror-thriller Ghostwood is now functional, and there’s a trailer for the movie on that site.

As was reported here on Twitch back on May 24th, the screenplay for Ghostwood was written by O’Brien. The movie stars Alan Devine, Patrick Bergin, and Louise Osbourne (née Lennon).

Here’s a description of Ghostwood from the official website for the movie: “Driven to investigate the mysterious disappearance of his father, New York psychologist Ed Hunter (Alan Devine - Veronica Guerin / King Arthur) travels to a remote village in the West of Ireland and finds a community that has been living in fear for centuries. ¶ He meets a mysterious girl (Louise Osbourne - MTV’s The Osbournes) who tells him that his father had been searching for the spirits of a mother and child who were buried alive in the nearby forest over 1000 years ago. His father’s friend, the local parish priest (Patrick Bergin - Sleeping with the Enemy), holds all the answers but has locked himself in his church for fear of his life. ¶ Ghostwood is a supernatural thriller that delves into Ireland’s fascinating yet terrifying mythology.”

Ghostwood official website (w/ trailer)
Ghostwood stills gallery #1
Ghostwood stills gallery #2

Still finishing a few full reviews to be posted in the next day or so—and suffering from the usual post-festival hangover—but here are the awards for the recently-completed Fantastic Fest.

As noted in the festival’s press release: “Films without distribution at the time of their acceptance to Fantastic Fest were eligible for awards.”

AUDIENCE AWARDS
1st Place - HATCHET
2nd Place - ISOLATION
3rd Place - FIREFLY

SHORT FILM AWARDS
Best of Show - THE LISTENING DEAD
Best Short Form - THE COST OF LIVING
Best Long Form - ROGAIRI (VILLAINS)
Best Animated - IF I HAD A HAMMER
Best Comedy - THEY’RE MADE OUT OF MEAT

HORROR JURY AWARDS
Best Picture - ISOLATION

FANTASTIC FEST JURY AWARDS
Best Film - THE LIVING AND THE DEAD

The complete list of Jury Awards follows the jump, along with a few ‘Tales of Jury Duty’

Continue Reading "Fantastic Fest Report: Audience and Jury Awards Announced"...

It’s the same trailer we linked to earlier, only this time much larger and in a much, much higher resolution. How much difference can there be? Enough that what I previously took for eruptions of flowers can now clearly be seen as written prayers. It’s still a gorgeous shot, though.

The Restless Trailer (Streaming Windows Media)

Thanks to Loonatik for the link.

Glory be, boys and girls. We were most disappointed that we were unable to present a trailer for Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s Retribution at Thursday’s Toronto After Dark launch party - reason being that there hasn’t been one cut yet - but we have just managed to get two scenes from the film online and, yes, they are English subtitled! The encoding on these is poor, which I apologize for, but even with the contrast more than a little bit washed out it’s pretty easy to see that Kurosawa has brought his A-game.

For those who need a refresher, Retribution is the latest film by Kiyoshi Kurosawa, the hugely acclaimed director of Kairo (Pulse), Cure, Bright Future and a host of others. Not only does this film reunite the director with regular leading man Koji Yakusho and Bright Future star Joe Odagiri, but it also pairs him up with J-horror uber-producer Taka Ichise, the man behind Ringu, Ju-On and virtually every other significant piece of Japanese horror film of the past decade. Here’s a synopsis:

“Detective Yoshioka is haunted by the image of a woman in a red dress and caught in a terror that he himself might be a killer of the serial-killer case he chases after. Is his memory twisted? The grudge of the dead comes to this life and roar as ‘Retribution’ and this present life starts to shake.”
Retribution Clips Here
Toronto After Dark Ticket Information

Another one culled from our forum here, this one posted by Jon Pais. If you’re not already keeping tabs in there, you really should be ...

Director Choi Dong-hoon’s previous film, The Big Swindle drew the inevitable comparisons to Tarantino that come with any youn gfilm maker attempting an ironic, dialogue driven crime caper these days but based on the trailers if you must make a western comparison for his latest, War of Flowers, the correct one would be Guy Ritchie. The pre-Madonna Ritchie, just to be clear. Not only does the card table set up smack of Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels but he’s even gone and cast someone who’s got the looks of a Korean Nick Moran in one of the leads.

War of Flowers Trailer (streaming Windows Media)
Posters and stills

[Reproducing this word from word from our forum, where it was posted by GoldLeader. Shu Qi = not ugly.]

My Wife Is A Gangster 3 (조폭 마누라 3)
The newest sequel in the popular My Wife Is A Gangster franchise has a trailer available. Sexy Chinese actress Shu Qi (서기) takes on the role of a tough female gangster this time in the place of Shin Eun-kyung. The movie also stars Lee Beom-soo (이범수) and is directed by Jo Jin-kyoo (조진규) who directed the original My Wife Is A Gangster. I really liked Shu Qi as an action star in So Close, so I think she’ll be pretty good in this. In terms of her appearance, I tend to think of her as a hotter version of Aya Ueto.

Trailer streaming Real Video
Trailer streaming Windows Media

Photos

Thanks to Twitch’s own logboy for bringing to my attention the fact that Genius Products Inc. is scheduled to release the Hideshi Hino’s Theater of Horror 6-disc DVD box set in the U.S. on December 19th. The box set contains the Hino Hideshi no za horâ: kaiki gekijô hexalogy, which was released theatrically in Japan in 2004. All of the movies in the hexalogy were based on manga by Hideshi Hino.

As was reported here on Twitch back on September 15th of last year, there are downloadable trailers for each movie in the hexalogy (see individual listings below), and one for the complete hexalogy (see bottom of this article), on the website of Pal Kikaku K.K. (K.K. Paru Kikaku). There are synopses for each movie in the hexalogy (see individual listings below) on the page for it on the website of the international sales agent for it, Pony Canyon K.K. (K.K. Ponî Kyanion). The movies in the hexalogy were as follows…

The Boy from Hell (Jigoku kozô): directed by Mari Asato (supervised by Hiroshi Takahashi); starring Mirai Yamamoto, Mitsuru Akaboshi (rightmost on bottom row; height: 137 cm.), Shôta Someya, Kanji Tsuda, Baku Numata, and Hanae Shôji. Synopsis: “A mysterious old woman appears before Setsu, who has recently lost her only child in a tragic accident. She says she can bring Setsu’s son, Daio back to life. ¶ To [Setsu’s] horror, Daio returns to her, half-decomposed, inhuman.  ¶ To make him human again, he needs fresh human organs. Setsu does everything she can to reincarnate her son, but Daio just turns into a different kind of monster. No one can stop [him] as he continues to feed his hunger, producing victim after victim. Soon, a detective becomes suspicious and pays Setsu a visit....” Running time: 51 minutes. Official webpage. Trailer (downloadable 1.1 MB WMV file).

Continue Reading "HIDESHI HINO’S THEATER OF HORROR 6-disc DVD box set - the Hino Hideshi no za horâ: kaiki gekijô he"...

FOR TRAILER & STILLS, SEE THE BOTTOM OF THIS ARTICLE

Distribution rights for Alex Infascelli’s Hate 2 O - a.k.a. “H2Odio” (Italian title) - are to be offered for sale by Minerva Pictures Group s.r.l. at this year’s American Film Market (AFM) in Santa Monica, California. The movie is scheduled to be screened at the Fairmont #3 on Thursday November 2nd at 9:00 a.m., and at Le Merigot #1 on Saturday November 4th at 11:00 a.m.. 52 s.r.l., in association with Gruppo Editoriale L’Espresso S.p.A., released it directly to newsstand-distributed DVD in Italy on May 3rd.

The screenplay for Hate 2 O was written by Infascelli and Vincent Villani. The movie stars Chiara Conti as Olivia, Mandala Tayde as Nicole, Anapola Mushkadiz as Ana, Olga Shuvalova as Christina, Claire Falconer as Summer, Carolina Crescentini as Olivia’s mother, and Mauro Coruzzi as the psychiatrist. Sergio Stivaletti was responsible for its special effects.

Continue Reading "AFM: Alex Infascelli’s HATE 2 O - a.k.a. “H2Odio”"...

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Gabriel Range’s faux-doc was heavy on controversy at this years TIFF. First because it takes existing news and other media and recontextualizes it to tell the story of the assassination of current US president George W. Bush in 2007 and then goes into detail on the potential effects this would have on the US and the rest of the world. Second becuase it actually won the International Critics (FIPRESCI) prize, when nobody seemed to think the movie was any good. Seriously. Everyone I spoke to at the festival, and the majority of reviews online and in print are highly negative of this film, not because of its politics, but because it is a less than well made film.

Controversy sells though, and NewMarket Films, who have released controversial films in the past such as The Passion of the Christ, The Aristocrats, and The Woodsman are going to distribute it in the US and Canada starting October 27th.

With the wacky acronym of the title they used in the TIFF catalogue, I hope someone over at NewMarket Films capatalizes on the potential tagline: “Mischief. Mayhem. DOAP.”

Matthew’s Twitch Review

Trailer (Downloadable Quicktime)

Assassination Clip (YouTube)

[Source: Movie City News]

[This post will remain at the top of the page for the next twenty four hours.  New content will continue to be added below.]

Having just now cleared my head of the after affects of last night’s Toronto After Dark launch which saw us announce the remainder of the lineup followed immediately by a man pounding nails into his own face with a hammer - Mr. Daniloff, you throw a good party - I am very pleased to announce the rest of the festival lineup here.

Our initial announcement of seven titles - Behind the Mask, Shinobi, Mad Cowgirl, Re-Cycle, Beach Party at the Threshold of Hell, SL8N8, Night of the Living Dorks - has now been rounded up to the full thirteen.  Here are the new ones:

Special.  The opening night film stars Michael Rapaport as a New York City meter maid who joins a clinical drug trial to combat his depression and becomes convinced that he is developing super powers.  This is a Canadian premiere and co-writer / co-director Hal Haberman, a Toronto native, will be in attendance.
Festival Page Here

Retribution.  The Canadian premiere of the latest from acclaimed director Kiyoshi Kurosawa teams him with Ringu producer Taka Ichise and stars Koji Yakusho and Jo Odagiri (a second appearance for Odagiri in the lineup) for the story of a detective on the trail of a serial killer.
Festival Page Here.

Tokyo Zombie.  Do I need to explain this one?  It’s the zombie comedy starring cult icons Tadanobu Asano and Show Aikawa, directed by the script wrtier of Takashi Miike’s Gozu and Ichi the Killer.
Festival Page Here.

Funky Forest: The First Contact.  It’s Asano again, this time starring in one of the most surreal and absurdly funny films you will ever see, sprung from the mind of Kill Bill animator and Taste of Tea director Katsuhito Ishii.  It utterly defies description, so I won’t.
Festival Page Here.

Frostbite.  We got Swedish vampires happily dwelling north of the Arctic Circle where night lasts a loooong time in this award winning horror comedy.  Stylish, bloody, smart and very funny.
Festival Page Here.

Vengeance.  The international premiere of this Thai creature feature, never before seen on screens outside of Thailand.  Giant snakes, poison lizards, flesh eating wasps, sexually carnivorous fruit, vampire-like creatures, a bit of time travel and a whole lot of gunplay.  And it’s really pretty, too.
Festival Page Here.

This is the first time any of these films will appear on screen in Toronto and very likely the last time, too.  We’re only screening each title once, so if you want to see them the way they were meant to be seen move fast to get your tickets.  And yes, while all-festival passes are still available we are now also offering single ticket sales and discounted four-ticket bundles.  Ticket pricing and information is available here.

Additional information about our Short Film Program, Lloyd Kaufman’s Make Your Own Damn Movie Master Class, and the Toronto Zombie Walk are also now available on the TAD website.

No title or possible source material set for the new film yet, but it’s interesting to hear of the next Hayao Miyazaki film getting under way none the less.

It’s likely to be said that Miyazaki is heading towards what could be his final film, though given his passion for the work he does it’s also likely you’ll find him slumped in his chair, pencil clutched in hand, and gasping his final breath at a much riper old age than he currently is - so, it’s kind of unnecessary to get so morbid or final about it just because he’s a ripe old age (he’s had grey hair for many years) and because Goro is gradually stepping into the light.

Still, last film or not, special efforts are being made which suggest a lavish production adove and beyond most of the studios’ output, and it’s semi-irrelevant to speculate, like I say, so let’s just hope for a decent piece of work when the 20-month production period completes, for a release in the Summer of 2008. [Source : Ghibli World].

Thanks to Peter at Ghibli World, as usual.

Heared a mention of this last night on the BBC News 24 Channel, one of the few places Mark Kermode turns up to review films, and thought many out there might like to know where to pick up what I believe to be a great critics’ own podcast, free, online. It’s a 25mb or so MP3 file, released weekly (Friday, 3pm GMT) and always going to be worth a listen; with the mainstream stuff he shows his knowledge is above and beyond the usual standard. Recommended.

Mark Kermode’s Movie Podcast Page at BBC Radio Five Live.

Distribution rights for Karim Hussain’s The Beautiful Beast (La belle bête) are to be offered for sale by Rezo Films International at this year’s American Film Market (AFM) in Santa Monica, California. The movie is scheduled to be screened at the Laemmle Monica #4 on Sunday November 5th at 3:00 p.m.. It’s scheduled to have what appears to be its world première at the 39th Sitges - International Film Festival of Catalonia in Spain on October 11th. Equinoxe Films Inc. (Les Films Équinoxe Inc.) is scheduled to release it theatrically in Québec, Canada on November 3rd.

The screenplay for The Beautiful Beast (La belle bête) was written by Marie-Claire Blais in collaboration with Hussain and Julien Fonfrède, based on the eponymous (with regard to the French title) novel Mad Shadows (La belle bête) by Blais. The movie stars Carole Laure, Caroline Dhavernas, Marc-André Grondin, Sébastien Huberdeau, Vénutia-Ludivine Reding, Normand Lévesque, and David La Haye.

Here’s a synopsis for The Beautiful Beast from the website of Telefilm Canada: “A love triangle between a mother, son and daughter, The Beautiful Beast is a dark drama on the themes of jealousy, vanity, emotional incest and, finally, murder. Adapted from Marie-Claire Blais’ famous novel, written in 1959, the film explores the complex psychology of a family; Louise is rich and vain; Patrice, her son, is as handsome as he is socially dysfunctional; Isabelle-Marie, the daughter, is dangerously jealous. Only one member of the family will make it no matter what the consequences of his or her cruel acts.”

The Beautiful Beast large trailer (downloadable 5.2 MB WMV file)
The Beautiful Beast small trailer (downloadable 4.8 MB MOV file)
The Beautiful Beast small trailer (downloadable 3.6 MB WMV file)

The Beautiful Beast stills gallery
Equinoxe Films: The Beautiful Beast
Telefilm Canada: The Beautiful Beast

MGM and the Weinsteins know when they have an Oscar worthy picture on their hands, and obviously autumn was too soon to start beating the drums and dreaming of a golden statuette. Thus, the Corey Yuen directed videogame action flick Dead or Alive (DOA) is getting its October 20 US release date pulled in favour of December 8. For a future trivia question, this is the fourth time DOA has had its release date changed.

[Source: Box Office Mojo]