Distribution rights for David L. Cunningham’s After... are to be offered for sale by Voltage Pictures at this year’s American Film Market (AFM) in Santa Monica, California. The movie is scheduled to be screened at the Broadway Cineplex #1 on Wednesday November 1st at 3:00 p.m.. It’s scheduled to have its world première at the AFI Fest in Los Angeles on November 4th, and to subsequently be screened there on November 5th. (Note that the world première of a movie is the first public screening of it.)

The screenplay for After... was written by Cunningham and Kevin Miller. The movie stars Daniel Caltagirone as Nate, Flora Montgomery as Adrian (a.k.a. Addy), and Nicholas Aaron as Jay. It features music by The Crystal Method.

Here’s a synopsis for After... from Voltage Pictures’ website: “Nate, grief-stricken over the death of his young son, jets off with his wife Adrian and her brother Jay to Moscow to do some urban exploration, the practice of investigating areas not designed for public use. Their adventure through Moscow’s underworld, Ivan the Terrible’s torture chambers, Soviet bomb shelters and Stalin’s fabled Metro-2 subway system turns into a nightmarish journey a la Jacob’s Ladder when they’re trapped underground and the lines between fantasy and reality become blurred.”

Here’s a description of After... from the AFI Fest website: “From the very first moment AFTER… slams onto the screen, it is clear this thrill-ride is not for the weak-of-heart. The film follows the exploits of a group of adventure-seekers who thrive on infiltrating the planet’s most dangerous man-made structures, just because they can. But, not everything is exactly as it seems. ¶ Nate and his pals set out on their latest mission - to find and document Stalin’s secret metro and Ivan the Terrible’s torture chamber. As this risky adventure plunges them deep into underground Moscow, the group quickly realizes that the journey might prove more dangerous than expected. As the stress of the situation begins to take its toll, it becomes clear that their descent may not just be a physical one. ¶ Director David L. Cunningham uses confined spaces, dynamic camera movement, and textured visuals to create a claustrophobic world with a visual sense of freedom. A pulsing, rhythmic soundtrack from the Crystal Method adds to the energetic pace of this unique cinematic experience.”

After... trailer (downloadable 21.3 MB MOV file)

After... trailer (downloadable 8.7 MB WMV file)
After... official website
MySpace: After... official page
AFI Fest: After...

Distribution rights for George Bessudo‘s Lake Dead will be offered for sale by Alliance Group Entertainment at this year’s American Film Market (AFM) in Santa Monica, California. Alliance Group Entertainment will be in office #241 at the Loews Santa Monica Beach Hotel.

The screenplay for Lake Dead was written by Daniel Coughlin. The movie apparently stars Kelsey Crane as Brielle Lake, Tara Gerard as Sam Lake, Kelsey Wedeen as Kelli Lake, Vanessa Viola as Amy, Malea Richardson as Tanya, Alex Quinn as Bill, Jim Devoti as Ben, Dan Woods as John Lake (the Lake sisters’ father), James C. Burns as Sheriff Chuck Lake, Edwin Craig as Willard Lake (the Lake sisters’ grandfather), Pat McNeely as Gloria, Trevor Torseth as Kane, and Christian Stokes as Abel.

Here’s a description of Lake Dead from the AFM website: “Three beautiful sisters learn of a long-lost grandfather, but only make this discovery upon the news of his grisly death. ¶ Enticed to visit grandpa’s old home after hearing of an inheritance, the sisters take a trip to the back country with some friends. ¶ We quickly follow the group of friends through the gates of a redneck-infested hell. The psychotic family occupying the inherited property goes on a long-awaited and much-enjoyed killing spree. ¶ Delightfully over the top, and never at a loss for just the right amount of murder, necrophilia, and incest, LAKE DEAD will make you cringe, but you won’t be able to make yourself turn away. ¶ As the family’s twisted motives unravel, the sisters discover a terror worse than death. It’s a nauseating thrill ride, as the sisters desperately fight to free themselves from this living nightmare. ¶ With all of its secrets and its sickness, LAKE DEAD will draw you into a world that strains the very fiber of human morality. A depraved little train wreck, you won’t be able to look away. LAKE DEAD clearly emulates the style and influence of some of the greatest classic horror films ever made, while exhibiting a disturbing originality that could set the mold for a new style of modern day horror. ¶ Some family traditions are born to die...”

A sequel to Lake Dead, the working title of which is “Lake Dead 2: The Rage of [spoiler omitted]”, is in development.

Lake Dead large trailer (downloadable 7.7 MB MPEG-4 file)
Lake Dead medium trailer (downloadable 3.7 MB MPEG-4 file)

Lake Dead small trailer (downloadable 2.6 MB MPEG-4 file)
Lake Dead official website

Variety reports the Jackie Chan and Jet Li project is moving forward in a $70 million action-adventure that Relativity Media will finance and Casey Silver produces.

Robert Minkoff (The Lion King, Stuart Little) will direct, while martial arts expert Yuen Woo-Ping (The Master) will create the action sequences. Shooting is set for April.

Li is set to play two roles, that of the monkey king and the silent monk. Chan will play the monk T’sa-Ho.

I’m not too thrilled with the idea that this will be a kids movie but knowing Yuen Woo Ping is attached assured me atleast the action will be high class.  The last time Yuen Woo Ping worked with Jackie Chan was in Drunken Master back in 78 which is one my all-time favorite kung fu flicks.  As for Jet, anytime they worked together, you can always count on them to deliver the goods.

Source: Variety via comingsoon.net

Highly anticipated Animated Feature from Korea - a frantic, dynamic (and very rude) action comedy told with great passion, honesty, though lacks a little clarity and originality in some respects. Very much an experience that demands to be repeated, and some of the nicest animation I can imagine being turned out around now. It blends clever CGI environments with 2D character animation better than any film I’ve seen to date, I would recommend this one highly to those that love the trailer.

Continue Reading "Review for Joe Bum-jin’s ‘Aachi & Ssipak’ (아치와 씨팍), 2006."...

Most South Korean films released this year, including Lee Joon-ik’s “Radio Star” and Kim Ki-duk’s “Time,” will be entered in the American Film Market this week in an effort to find foreign buyers, the market’s Web site said Monday.

The American Film Market that opens Wednesday in Los Angeles will screen 85 Korean films among the 589 films it offers over nine days, it said.

Continue Reading "Over 80 Korean Films To Be Shown At American Film Market"...

Kim Yong-hwa (김용화), director of the 2003 hit-comedy Oh! Brothers (오! 브라더스), is back with 200 Pounds Beauty (미녀는 괴로워) – a romantic comedy based on Japanese manga by Suzuki Yumiko, “Does Beauty tell your fate or what?”

Synopsis: “Hanna is a lip sync vocalist for Ami, the famous Korean pop singer. Hanna suffers from having extremely poor self-esteem, as she has been ignored because of her appearance. At last, she makes the decision of a lifetime to have full-body plastic surgery. However, life being as it is, something unexpected awaits her…” (KOFIC)

Hana is played by Kim Ah-joong (김아중), who portrayed Bong Tae-gyu’s girlfriend in When Romance Meets Destiny (광식이 동생 광태). Other cast includes Joo Jin-mo (주진모), Kim Yong-geon (김용건), Im Hyun-shik(임현식), Lee Won-jong (이원종), Sung Dong-il (성동일), etc.

Produced by KM Culture and Genesis Pictures, and distributed by Showbox (쇼박스), the film will open in December.

200 Pounds Beauty Teaser (streaming, Windows Media)

Variety reports that Kim Jee-woon (김지운)’s next film will be “an idiosyncratic western set on the plains of Manchuria.” With a tentative title of “The Good, the Bad, and the Weird,” it is scheduled to start shooting in the spring of next year, in China, Mongolia, and Russia. The role of “the weird” will go to Song Kang-ho (송강호) (The Host, Memories of Murder), who previously worked with director Kim six years ago, on The Foul King (반칙왕).

New Films: The Devil Wears Prada, Traces of Love, Hearty Paws, One Piece.

The box office is still in a post-Chuseok lull. For this weekend’s Top Ten, only seven titles made it on the list, as Koreans chose to do other things instead of going to the movies. With no major domestic releases, a Hollywood film with “Prada” in its title ended up in the first place. The opening film of the 2006 Pusan International Film Festival, Kim Dae-seung’s melodrama Traces of Love (가을로) came in 2nd, but with only 420,100 admission.

Title [country] - Seoul weekend admissions (total national admissions / # of screens):

1. The Devil Wears Prada [USA] – 129,800 (479,000 / 239)
2. Traces of Love (가을로) [Korea] – 101,900 (420,100 / 315)
3. Tazza: The High Rollers (a.k.a. War of Flower) (타짜) [Korea] – 84,000 (6,181,100 / 367)
4. Righteous Ties (거룩한 계보) [Korea] – 79,000 (1,217,000 / 381)
5. Hearty Paws (마음이… ) [Korea] – 76,700 (400,700 / 309)
6. Radio Star (라디오 스타) [Korea] – 39,400 (1,733,700 / 190)
7. One Piece [Japan] – 9,500 (36,300 /140)

Source: [FILM 2.0]

There’s a trailer for Paco Limón’s upcoming feature Doctor Infierno on the website of YouTube Inc.. The movie stars Arturo de Bobadilla, David Ransanz, Jorge Gallego, and Belinda Fernández. It was produced by Melanoma Films (Spain).

Those who are interested in Doctor Infierno may wish to watch the teaser trailer for Ramiro García Bogliano’s “mediometraje” (medium-length movie - 30-60 minutes) The Second Episode: Total Destruction (El segundo episodio: destrucción total). That movie stars Ana Luna, Nikky Schiller, and Cristina Marsillach (she played the protagonist, Betty, in Dario Argento’s Terror at the Opera (Opera)). Melanoma Films co-produced it with Roman Porno Eiga (Spain) and Paura Flics (Argentina).

YouTube: Doctor Infierno trailer page (trailer has no dialogue)
YouTube: The Second Episode: Total Destruction teaser trailer page (trailer has no dialogue)
Melanoma Films official blog (viewer discretion is advised)
Roman Porno Eiga official blog
Paura Flics official blog

Recent Lion’s Gate pickup The Hamiltons was a big favorite of our own Michael Guillen when it played this years Another Hole In The Head festival - his review here, interview here - and the film’s new trailer has just appeared online. I’m told a higher resolution version will be coming soon with wonky aspect ratio corrected but this is one fine introduction to the peculiar world of The Butcher Brothers ...

The Hamiltons Website
The Hamiltons Original Trailer (embedded Quicktime)
The Hamiltons New Trailer (YouTube)
Check out the poster all big and purty-like

Exactly as the headline says, boys and girls, it’s the first teaser for Eli Roth’s Hostel Part II, and it’s a good one. Have I mentioned recently that I find German to be implicitly funny? You’ll understand when you see it ...

The plot for this one looks to be essentially the same as the original Hostel with the twist being that the leads this time out are female - Lauren German and Bijou Phillips drawing the top billing. And apparently the powers that be have decided that Eli’s a big enough boy to stand on his own two feet now, there’s nary a mention of Tarantino to be found ...

In HOSTEL: PART II, three young Americans studying in Rome set off for a weekend trip when they run into a beautiful model from one of their art classes. Also on her way to an exotic destination, the gorgeous European invites the coeds to come along, assuring them they will be able to relax and rejuvenate.

Will the girls find the oasis they are looking for? Or are they poised to become victims for hire, pawns in the fantasies of the sick and privileged from around the world who secretly travel here to savor more grisly pursuits?
Hostel Part II Trailer (downloadable WMV)

I had a pair of lengthy conversations with people through the course of Toronto After Dark about how digital distribution has the potential to radically alter the way film is experienced worldwide if only people could get organized - and smart - enough to actually implement a few things rather than running from the technology. And while AOL is taking a completely different tack than the one that I would pursue myself their new AOL Red project is certainly a bold move and one that could be a harbinger of things to come ... imagine a world where instead of fighting online distribution of films the online world becomes the primary means of distribution, cutting out theater and DVD production costs entirely. That world is here. Or at least it will be as of tomorrow.

The film is Incubus, starring legendarily vapid scream queen Tara Reid, and it is being made available direct to download starting tomorrow - Halloween - bypassing the normal theatrical and DVD routes entirely. Here’s the skinny on the film:

Incubus is the story of six teenagers who break into what they think is an abandoned factory to seek shelter.

The bizarre sleeper and his horrific powers hold the key to their escape and ultimately their survival.
Incubus Website
Incubus Trailer (iFilm)
AOL Red Website

FOR TRAILER, SEE THE BOTTOM OF THIS ARTICLE

Distribution rights for Curtis Radclyffe’s The SickHouse are to be offered for sale by the Darclight Films division of Arclight Films Pty. Ltd. at this year’s American Film Market (AFM) in Santa Monica, California. The movie is scheduled to be screened at the AMC #1 on Friday November 3rd at 9:00 a.m..

The screenplay for The SickHouse was written by Romla Walker, based on a story by Radclyffe and Marc Zakian. The movie stars Gina Philips, Alex Hassell, Andrew Knott, Jack Bailey, Kellie Shirley, John Lebar, (Romla) Walker, Tom Wontner, Greg Harris, Gillian MacGregor, and Stuart Brennan.

Below is a synopsis for The SickHouse from Arclight Films’ website.

Continue Reading "AFM: Curtis Radclyffe’s THE SICKHOUSE"...

Distribution rights for Michael Winnick’s Shadow Puppets are to be offered for sale by Shoreline Entertainment Inc. at this year’s American Film Market (AFM) in Santa Monica, California. The movie is scheduled to be screened at the Fairmont #2 on Friday November 3rd at 1:00 p.m..

As was previously reported here on Twitch, the screenplay for Shadow Puppets was written by Winnick. According to the Internet Movie Database (IMDb), the movie stars Jolene Blalock as Kate, Tony Todd as Steve, James Marsters as Jack, Marc Winnick as Charlie, Natasha Alam as Amber, Diahnna Nicole Baxter as Stacy, Richard Whiten as Dave, and Jenni Ford as Melissa.

Here’s a synopsis for Shadow Puppets from Shoreline Entertainment’s website: “Eight people awake in an abandoned asylum without any previous memories of their whereabouts. They soon discover they were subjects of an experiment gone haywire. The experiment was intended to erase bad memories, but accidentally released a monstrous, blood-thirsty entity within the asylum. As they piece together their memories, a vicious Shadow Creature stalks them, threatening their lives from the darkness.”

Those who are interested in Shadow Puppets may also wish to read the Twitch articles on Sven Pape’s Hollywood Kills, Dominik Alber’s Frost, and Simon Hynd’s Senseless.

Shadow Puppets trailer (downloadable 10 MB WMV file)

Shoreline Entertainment: Shadow Puppets

There are literally no further details bu Damon Albarn is quoted in the current issue of Uncut as saying that Terry Gilliam is on board for an upcoming Gorillaz film project.  Which begs the obvious question:  will Terry get to animate himself?

Check the full article here.