Film 2.0 has announced that Kwak Jae-Yong, director of the hugely successful Korean romantic comedy My Sassy Girl, will direct a science-fiction film in Japan. Cyborg Girl, which Kwak wrote and will adapt himself for the big screen, is financed by a Japanese producer and will be shot entirely in Japanese. The subject as well as the casting remain unknown, but it is known that the budget comes to some 1 billion yen (US $8.5 million). Shooting should begin the end of January, after Kwak wraps up his latest film, Martial Girl Student, starring Shin Mina in the title role. Cyborg Girl is scheduled for release the second half of 2007.

[Source: Cinémasie]

The official website for Markus Fischer‘s Marmorera has been overhauled.

As was previously reported here on Twitch, the screenplay for Marmorera was written by Fischer and Dominik Bernet, based on the eponymous novel by Bernet. The movie stars Anatole Taubman as Simon Cavegn, Eva Dewaele as Julia, Mavie Hörbiger as Paula Cavegn, Urs Hefti as Romano Giovanoli, Mathias Gnädinger as Gregor Sonderegger, Stefan Gubser as Rudolf Lozzo, Hanspeter Müller as Dr. Michael Rand, Peter Jecklin as District Attorney Motta, Ursina Lardi as Dr. Alexandra Kovach, Pit-Arne Pietz as Dr. Christian Berger, Jessica Früh as Silvana Meyer, Corin Curschellas as Rosa Pelegrini, Ueli Jäggi as Heiri Caplott, Federico Pfaffen as Lucca Rizzi, Patrick Frey as Jürg Palottas, Dominique Jann as Thomas Palottas, Tatjana Steinbichl as Nurse Hanna, Ludwig Boettger as Dr. Sandro, and Hans-Peter Ulli as Nelli Affeltranger.

Here’s a synopsis for Marmorera from the production: “In the early 1950s, the Alpine village of Marmorera and the surrounding valley were flooded because of a local dam project. Even now, the sunken village hasn’t been laid to rest. In the present day, an unknown, confused young woman is rescued from Lake Marmorera, and soon becomes a puzzling figure of much concern for Zurich’s psychiatrists. One of them, Simon Cavegn - himself originally from Marmorera - treats the young woman, and slowly starts to discover the dark secret of Marmorera.”

Rialto Film AG is scheduled to release Marmorera theatrically in Switzerland on January 25th of next year.

Marmorera trailer (downloadable 19.6 MB MOV file)

Marmorera poster #1 (160 KB JPEG)

Marmorera poster #2 (172 KB JPEG)

Marmorera official website

A page for Tôru Kamei’s Woman Transformation (Yôkai kidan) has been added to GOMORRAHY.com, and on that page is a downloadable trailer for the movie.

The screenplay for Woman Transformation was written by Kamei, based on a story by Yûji Nagamori that itself was based on an idea by Kenji Matsui. The movie stars Anri Ban, Mariko Miyamitsu, Haruki Ichikawa, Akiko Monou, Hachirô Ika, Hijiri Sakurai, Chiyoko Asami, Miyuki Tanigawa, Gô Ayano, and Tôru Tezuka (Teduka Tôru).

As was previously reported here and there on Twitch, Woman Transformation had its world première at the Tokatsu International Film Festival 2006 (Tôkatsu Kokusai Eigasai 2006) in Chiba Prefecture, Japan on October 21st. Bio-Tide K.K. (K.K. Baio-Taido) is scheduled to release it at the Uplink X (Appurinku X) in Tokyo on January 13th of next year. Geneon Entertainment K.K. (Jeneon Entateinmento K.K.) is scheduled to release it on sale DVD (GNBD-7385; NTSC, region 2, no subtitles) in Japan on February 23rd of next year.

Kamei’s previous directing credits include Paradise (Rakuen: nagasarete), Double Suicide Elegy (Shinjû erejî) - a.k.a. “Shinju Elegy” - Maguma no gotoku (or “Magma no gotoku”, if you prefer back-transliterations), and Question (Kuesuchon).

GOMORRAHY.com: Woman Transformation (w/ trailer, etc.)
YesAsia.com: Woman Transformation Japanese sale DVD

Not many films have been as critically acclaimed as Ragnar Bragason’s ”Börn” (Children) here in Iceland. The film got 8 Edda nominations (our wannabe Oscars) but only received one having been overshadowed by Baltasar Kormakur’s hugely popular Jar City. That has more to do with the Edda being like the MTV video awards where the audience gets to chose who gets the price rather than filmmakers awarding each other for their good work. Börn was the first part of two films revolving around the relationships between parents and their children and how the past can come up and bite you in the ass when you least expect it. The website for the second part in this series is up and features some info and stills. A trailer is expected soon but the director has been battling the flu recently so it was held up. The poster is also ready and if you click on the thumbnail you get a better look at this masterpiece of a poster ; )
The film stars Ingvar E. Sigurðsson, Nanna Kristín Magnúsdóttir and Víkingur Kristjánsson in the lead parts. As before the cast worked with the director to write their characters and develop the story for a couple of years before shooting and the result is something that has never been tried in Icelandic cinema before. The film premiers on January the 19th 2007.

Parents website

Former Twitch articles about Children and Parents.

More Good Things From Iceland: Börn and Foreldrar
Ragnar Bragason’s Children (Born) Sweeps Iceland’s Edda Noms.

Although the first series has been out before on DVD, Sean Lock (sometimes Sean Locke, it changes in credits) still maintains the stance that this show was ”badly treated by the BBC” on his website. I agree. It’s a travesty when a clear frontrunner in quality completely misses its key audience and any additional viewers it might find because it’s just a little too askew from the usual stuff. It’s because of elements like this that shows tend to take their time to find the audience they deserve, and some shows are just so different (but clearly show familiar characteristics) that they never quite get the break they deserve; I think the BBC got a show they didn’t quite understand and so they didn’t know what to do with it. Here’s just one example, but there have been so many over the years, so it’s not so unusual to recommend or watch a show that never quite took because I know there’s many who like observational humor out there and this is a damn fine example of it.

This is a dry, gentle, subtle piece of work that could easily swoop over your head the first time you watch it (trust me, it really got me first time around, then it slowly dawned on me how it all worked so incredibly well), but it’s easily as good as other character-observation shows like ’Alan Partridge‘ or ’The League of Gentlemen‘. It doesn’t have that instant reaction laugh-out-loud or easily-appreciated style. Very dour, downbeat, everyday feel to it. Yet it’s like listening to a blues record, or something just inspired by blues, because it has a kind of euphoric joy to it. And Sean Lock, well, my favourite for the last couple of years becuase his sense of observation is so sharp, so different, but so familiar and understandable. Love it.

‘15 Storeys High‘ at Sean Locks’ Official Website.
Sean Lock at Wikipedia.
Sean Lock (and ‘15 Storeys High’) Search at YouTube.

Pre-Order ’15 Storeys High‘ Series 1 & 2, R2 UK DVD Box Set at Amazon.co.uk [Direct Link] for February 19th 2007 Release.

Hello, I’m Jim Tudor, the “mainstream” movie reviewer guy around here. While I realize I haven’t posted many reviews this year (and with good reasons - but I won’t bore you with them), I still figured I ought to show my face for the big year-end round-up fever that grips us this time of year. But here’s the thing – I only saw twenty-three 2006 releases this year. Does that make me unqualified for a year-end list? Probably. But does Todd still allow me to post crap like this? Yes!  Here we go:

1. The Departed

Not the most original #1 choice, I know, but it’s making up for last year when I picked “Revenge of the Sith”. I went into “The Departed” fully expecting it to be good Scorsese, but I came out shocked by just how utterly Scorsese it was. When we think of his best work – “Taxi Driver”, “Raging Bull”, “GoodFellas” – we think of straightforward, no-holds-barred raw movies that pack a punch and take some chances. “The Departed” fits that bill, but delivers a healthy amped-up dose of very black comedy to the mix to boot. (Yes, in many ways this was a comedy. They had the balls to end this bloody cat & mouse crime “drama” with one groaner of a joke, after all.) The wacky visual techniques (Scorsese uses iris shots from the silent era, for crying out loud) and crazy storytelling maneuvers (not gonna spoil ‘em) serve to make this one of the must-see movies of 2006.

Continue Reading "An American Film Geek’s Top 5 Movies for 2006"...

Hi, I’m supposed to be the “mainstream” movie reviewer at Twitch. But this year I got busy, and haven’t been around much. I did, however, miss writing about movies, and to prove it, I’m dumping out this Bottom 4 list. I realize that the notion of a bottom 4 list is about as pathetic as the movies it contains, but I really haven’t seen very many horrible duds in 2006. Of the twenty-three 2006 films I did catch, these are the ones that left me angrily demanding my precious time back.

1. The DaVinci Code

Where, oh where to begin? Some say the book is junk, and deserving of such a lousy adaptation. Others say the movie is a torrid mishandling of one of the best books ever written. Whatever, I never read the book. All I know is this was a 2 1/2 hour trip through snoozeville. I don’t view it as a threat to Christianity or the validity of Jesus Christ, or anything like that – no, I think even a great movie would have a hard time pulling that off. It’s just plain dull, A long, hard, cinematic slog. Dark, murky, and motionless. No other ’06 movie promised so much and fell so flat. When the highlight of this supposed action movie is a historical slide show presentation (and the second slide show presentation of the movie up to that point, I might add), you know you’re in for a bumpy ride. Do I blame Ron Howard, Tom Hanks, Tom Hanks’ hair, the writers, the producers, who? I don’t know, I hate even having to think about this movie this much. This over hyped junker willed itself into existence based on the book’s success – I just wish I could will it out.

Continue Reading "An American Film Geek’s Bottom 4 Movies for 2006"...

The official website for From Inside, the post apocalyptic animation from John Bergin adapted from his graphic novel of the same name, has just been updated with twenty four additional still shots from the film. In a word, absolutely stunning. Yeah, that’s two words but you get the point ...

From Inside Website

From Inside Trailer (downloadable Quicktime)

In an attempt to avoid the risk of some folk who visit the site not entirely engaging with who’s involved in the project, taking this opportunity now the full trailer is out and about to say there’s a fair bit of talent involved in this particular anthology that have seen films rocket into people’s minds in recent times. Yep, a lot of these folk have had other work appear in America on DVD, some of them are key names known by all fans of current Japanese stuff, others are known for films that (for some reason or another) didn’t quite make it to these shores - Yudai Yamaguchi, Kon Ichikawa, and Takashi Shimizu to name but a few. Hopefully this will get picked up for release then…

All You Need To Know About The Cast & Directors (plus Synopsis) at Ryunganji.

‘Yume Juya / Ten Nights of Dreams‘ Quicktime Teaser Trailer Download.

‘Yume Juya / Ten Nights of Dreams‘ Quicktime Final Trailer Download (6.0mb).

‘Yume Juya / Ten Nights of Dreams‘ Official Site (in Japanese).

The official website for Shion Sono‘s Exte - Hair Extensions (Ekusute) is now functional.

The screenplay for Exte - Hair Extensions was written by Sono, Masaki Adachi, and Makoto Sanada (given name may be “Tadashi”, etc.), based on a story by Sono. The movie stars (listed order corresponds to order on official website) Chiaki Kuriyama, Ren Ôsugi, Megumi Satô, Tsugumi, Eri Machimoto, Miku Satô, Mirai Yamamoto, Yûna Natsuo, Ken Mitsuishi, Hiroshi Yamamoto, Tetsushi Tanaka, Yoshikazu Ebisu, and Mayu Sakuma.

Here’s a synopsis for Exte - Hair Extensions from Kaiju Shakedown: “What if extensions carried the grudge of the individual to which the hair originally belonged and started attacking people wearing it at random? ¶ Customs agents discover a huge amount of human hair used as materials for ‘hair extensions’ along with the dead body of a young girl with a shaved head. With the corpse being soon transported by the police, the results of the autopsy determine that the woman’s internal organs have been harvested. the possibility is pointed out that she was kidnapped in some foreign country and was a victim of black market human organ racketeering ring. A sinister, fearless smirk comes over Yamazaki, the morgue night watchman. ¶ Yuko is a young wannabe hair stylist apprenticing at the Gilles de Rais hair salon. After working late each day, after returning home, she tirelessly practices her skills on head mannequins with wigs. One day, her sister, Kiyomi, forcibly entrusts her eight-year-old daughter, Mami, to Yuko. For some reason, Mami is abnormally timid and frightened and has several wounds on her body from abuse. ¶ Meanwhile, Yamazaki cuddles up with the corpse of the girl he stole from the morgue which now occupies his room. Hair has become to grow from her head once again, not only from her head but from where her organs were removed: the scars of her stomach and even her empty eye socket. ¶ Later, Yamazaki shows up at Yuko’s salon with Mami who got lost looking for Yuko. Yamazaki takes one look at Yuko and is captivated by her lovely flowing hair...”

Toei Company Ltd. (Tôei K.K.) is scheduled to release Exte - Hair Extensions theatrically in Japan on February 17th of next year.

Exte - Hair Extensions official website
Twitch: Exte - Hair Extensions previous article

The official website for Masashi Yamamoto’s ero-pop suspense (eropoppu sasupensu) Kikareta onna (Kikareta onna no mirareta yoru) is now partly functional. (Note: “Kikareta onna” is the title that the movie is being released theatrically under; “Kikareta onna no mirareta yoru” was the title that it premièred under.)

As was previously reported here on Twitch, the screenplay for Kikareta onna was written by Yamamoto, based on a story by Fumihiro Yamada (given name may be “Fumio”, etc.). The movie stars (listed order corresponds to order on cast page of official website) Sola Aoi (Aoi Sora), Keita Ôno, Hiroto Katô, Shô Nishino, Mutsuo Yoshioka, and Rumi Ôtori.

Kikareta onna had its world première at the Theater Pole-Pole Higashi-Nakano (Pore-Pore Higashi-Nakano) in Tokyo on April 15th. Transformer Inc. (K.K. Toransufômâ) is scheduled to release it at that same theatre on February 10th of next year.

Those who are interested in Kikareta onna may also wish to check out the official subsite for Jun’ichi Ishikawa and Kazuyuki Iwata’s 12-episode TV series Shimokita Glory Days, which TV Tokyo K.K. (K.K. Terebi Tôkyô) originally broadcast in Japan from April 14th to July 7th, and VAP Inc. (K.K. Bappu) released in a 5-disc sale DVD box set (VPBX-12966; NTSC, region 2, no subtitles) there on August 23rd. The teleplay for the series was written by Saemi Endô, based on the eponymous manga serial by Jirô Ôtani. The series starred (listed order corresponds to order on cast page of official subsite) Ichitarô, Saki Seto (1st column, 5th row), Manami Hashimoto, Rie Mashiko, Haruna Yabuki, Honoka, Yuma Asami, (Sola) Aoi, and Aya Sugimoto.

Kikareta onna official website
* * *
Shimokita Glory Days official subsite
YesAsia.com: Shimokita Glory Days 5-disc sale DVD box set

Why the interest in the DVD release then? Well, completely missed it at the cinema. Intentionally. Because it’s not the sort of thing I fancied sharing with an audience, completely hidden away in darkness or not. I just didn’t want to experience the variety of ways in which people would react to a film that likely attracts both those entirely incapable of seeing the irony in it… you know, kind of just missing the points potentially hidden within it, or just accidentally not managing to see the point as it seems to have been easy to do. Don’t entirely have faith in my own ability to consistently do so either, just because the flow of material is going to be pretty fast and hard to keep-up with, and the range of possible ways to take any given scene (doubly hard for the writers, I suspect) or inadvertantly misunderstand it, is going to be huge.

Still, although there has been some refreshing and reassuring response to the film from critics, I do kind of agree that it’s also distasteful to enough of an extent to make me question the reasonably snide poke at American culture that’s easily fallen back upon by British Comedians (and the public, in all too generalised a fashion) that kind of forgets the broader picture intentionally or accidentally in a way that’s a bit fashionable since the issue of Americas world perspective came so actively into question post 9/11, the conflicts, policies, general behaviour - particularly questioned with great speed by the British and portrayed as being a much slower process of questioning over the same stances with regards how the American Public seemed to turn on their own political climate much more slowly.

Certainly in two minds about it all, some stuff still manages to confirm worst fears (for me, in 2006 it was, in film terms, ’Hostel‘ that did this more than anything else) and some stuff surprises me (again, the positive response, critically, to the film in America) but you also realise that the pictures always a lot less black and white than anyone perspective (such as a film like ’Borat‘) can necessarily even begin to approach - and why should it? I don’t know, but it’s possible to say it should have been less snide. I wait with interest to see the film I’ve experienced so much coverage of, and to see the DVD-only responses (very likely) that Borat himself will give to the various legal cases, controversy, negativity that came as a result of the films content - and there should be some impressive outtakes and extras too…

Pre-Order Borat on R2 UK DVD at Amazon.co.uk [Direct Link] for March 5th 2007 release.

Though not exactly an interview gained at the Palm Springs International, I’m using this phone interview with Peter Ketnath—the German actor in Cinema, Aspirin & Vultures—to launch my coverage of PSIFF. Along with Café Transit, Cinema, Aspirin & Vultures is one of two Global Lens entries that were picked up as official submissions into the Academy Awards Foreign Language category, which credits not only Susan Weeks Coulter‘s eye for solid foreign films but confirms the Initiative’s distribution strategies for providing exposure to less-well-known directors. After following through on Alice Braga’s recommendation and catching Cinema, Aspirin & Vultures at its Global Lens screening earlier this year, I contacted Peter Ketnath in Berlin to talk about the film and his future projects. Subsequently, Peter also provided some additional comments via email which I’ve incorporated into our conversation.

Continue Reading "2007 PSIFF—Interview With Peter Ketnath"...

The business of scaring people is a tough one. You’re always in danger of having the audience laugh at the wrong moments, which was pretty much what happened with Bjarne Wong’s recent Possessed. But at least that film was entertaining, albeit for all the wrong reasons; even though it failed as a horror movie, it was still a barrel of fun.

Michael Chuah’s Seed Of Darkness, unfortunately, is as lifeless as it gets, although there is one moment of real terror in its final moments.

Official website

Continue Reading "Review Of SEED OF DARKNESS"...

The number of Korean movies released this year surpassed 100 for the first time. At 108 films, this marks a steady increase from 65 produced in 2003, 74 in 2004 and 83 in 2005. According to box office data, Korean movies set a record high theater occupancy rate of 64 percent this year. More than 13 million viewed “The Host” alone. Despite the reduction in the screen quota, which grants domestic films a guaranteed share of screen time, it would seem that the Korean movie industry is reaching its peak. But there is a flip side to this seeming “golden age” for the Korean movie industry.

Continue Reading "[Korean Film News] Production Up, Profits Down In Korean Film Industry"...