Posted by Jon Pais at 11:27pm.
An outstanding Russian war film that deserves to be seen by the widest possible audience, Fyodor Bondarchuk’s 9th Company will soon be released in the UK as a 2-disc set. Distributed by Contender Home Entertainment, the DVD features optional English subtitles, Dolby Digital DTS and Dolby Digital 5.1 audio and an anamorphic widescreen transfer. Extras include a “making-of” documentary and a “20 years later” documentary. Bondarchuk is currently at work on an adaptation of the Strugatsky Brothers’ novel “Inhabited Island”.
Twitch Review
Pre-order DVD (Release date June 11, 2007)
FOR TRAILERS & DIAPORAMA VIDEOS, SEE THE BOTTOM OF THIS ARTICLE
The official website for Alexandre Bustillo and Julien Maury’s Inside (À l’intérieur) has just gone online today, and on that site are a theatrical trailer and second teaser trailer for the movie.
Inside is scheduled to have its world première at the 46th International Critics’ Week (46e Semaine Internationale de la Critique - “SIC” for short) in Cannes, which runs from May 17th to 25th. (Like the Directors’ Fortnight (Quinzaine des Réalisateurs), SIC is a parallel section of the Cannes Film Festival (Festival de Cannes).) Distribution rights for the movie are to be offered for sale by Dreamachine (Celluloid Dreams and HanWay Films) at this year’s Marché du Film in Cannes, which runs from May 16th to 26th. Distribution rights for it for all English-speaking territories have been acquired by The Weinstein Company. La Fabrique de Films is scheduled to release it theatrically in France on June 13th.
Continue Reading "Alexandre Bustillo & Julien Maury’s INSIDE (À L’INTÉRIEUR): Theatrical trailer & 2nd tease"...
FOR CLIPS, SEE THE BOTTOM OF THIS ARTICLE
Twitch, in association with GOMORRAHY.com, is now providing a third downloadable English-subtitled clip from Naoyuki Tomomatsu‘s Zombie Self-Defense Force (Zonbi jieitai) - a.k.a. “Zombie Jieitai”.
Zombie Self-Defense Force had what appears to have been its world première at Dead by Dawn in Edinburgh, Scotland on April 23rd of last year. It had its North American première at the Fantasia Festival in Montréal, Canada on July 24th of last year. GP Museum Soft K.K. (K.K. GP Myûjiamu Sofuto) released it on sale DVD (DMSM-6652; NTSC, region 2, no subtitles) in Japan on April 25th of last year. Gold View Co. Ltd. (Y.K. Gôrudo Byû) is the international sales agent for it.
Continue Reading "3rd clip from Naoyuki Tomomatsu’s ZOMBIE SELF-DEFENSE FORCE (ZONBI JIEITAI)"...
FOR TRAILERS, ‘MAKING OF’ VIDEOS, & STILLS, SEE THE BOTTOM OF THIS ARTICLE
Twitch, in association with GOMORRAHY.com, is now providing a downloadable version of the first trailer for Jorge Algora‘s Spanish-Argentine psychological thriller The Mudboy (El niño de barro) - a.k.a. “The Mud Boy” (alternative spelling) - that’s much larger (320 x 239 vs. 196 x 110) than the one on the official website for the movie. Filmax (Sociedad General de Derechos Audiovisuales S.A.) is scheduled to release the movie theatrically in Spain on May 18th.
As was previously reported here on Twitch, the screenplay for The Mudboy was written by Algora, Christian Busquier, and Héctor Carré. The movie stars Maribel Verdú as Estela, Daniel Freire as Petrie, Chete Lera as Dr. Soria, Juan Ciancio as Mateo, César Bordón as Octavio, Abel Ayala as Cayetano, Rolly Serrano as Blas, Oscar Alegre as Valentín, and Sergio Boris as Palacios.
Continue Reading "Update on Jorge Algora’s THE MUDBOY (EL NIÑO DE BARRO) - a.k.a. “The Mud Boy”"...
A news item which has popped up all over the web over the weekend (and has a Weinstein Company Press Release to back that up) is that Quentin Tarantino is going to remake King Hu’s wuxia classic “Come Drink With Me” (aka Big Drunk Hero, aka the film that will make you fall in love with Pei Pei Cheng). Ten minutes into the original and you will see just how much of a wellspring of ideas (many of which have turned into cliches over the past 40 years) were started right here. As a bonus the film has held up remarkably well. This begs the oft cited question of “Why?” when remaking a classic. Well I’m inclined to give Quentin Tarantino the benefit of the doubt, as he takes hundreds of pieces from many sources, mixes things up, and turns out something original feeling in the end anyway.
Come Drink With Me purists (and there are enough fans out there to allow for a big screen showing of both this film and the balls-to-the-wall sequel Chang Cheh’s Golden Swallow at the Ontario Cinematheque and Fantasia a few years ago) may want to beware a bit, because something tells me that there will be several major tweaks in the final film. Expect a cameo from Pei-Pei Cheng (who does this sort of thing both large and small even before Ang Lee came along and offered her the meaty Jade Fox role in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.) Of course at the rate that Quentin Tarantino mentions upcoming projects (even if this one was mentioned by his $$ Patrons, TWC) this has a 1 in 10 chance of getting made anyway.
FOR TRAILERS, SEE THE BOTTOM OF THIS ARTICLE
Media Blasters Inc. is scheduled to release Hiroshi Takahashi’s camp-horror movie Sodom the Killer (Sodomu no Ichi) - a.k.a. “Ichi of Sodom” - on DVD (TSDVD-0726) in the U.S. on July 3rd; the DVD is available for pre-order from Twitch affiliate Amazon.com Inc.. On the left is the front cover art for the DVD.
SAV-DeAPlaneta Home Entertainment (Sociedad Anonima del Video S.A.) released Sodom the Killer on DVD in Spain on March 21st, under the title “Sodom el asesino”. AtEntertainment Co. Ltd. (Atto Entateinmento K.K.) and Culture Publishers Inc. (Karuchua Paburisshâzu K.K.) released it on sale DVD in Japan on April 2, 2005; the DVD was distributed by Geneon Entertainment Inc. (Jeneon Entateinmento K.K.).
Sodom the Killer was one of the four movies in Euro Space Y.K. (Y.K. Yûro Supêsu) et al.’s Horror Bancho (Horâ banchô) series - the other three being Hiroyuki Minato’s The Cat, the Moon, and the Gangster (Tsukineko ni mitsu no tama), Yôichi Nishiyama’s Fateful (Unmei ningen), and Takashi Shimizu‘s The Stranger from Afar (Marebito). Sodom the Killer and Fateful premièred at Euro Space (in Tokyo) on October 16, 2004; The Cat, the Moon, and the Gangster and The Stranger from Afar premièred there on October 23, 2004.
Continue Reading "DVD update: Hiroshi Takahashi’s SODOM THE KILLER (SODOMU NO ICHI)"...
Posted by Ardvark at 9:38am.
Translating is an artform in itself, and lord knows how many errors I make in these reviews as English is not my native language. However, when titles are translated all bets are off apparently. For whoever thought up the inane “Days of Glory” to represent the French movie “Indigènes” ought to be sh… severely punished!
Then again, if it nets you an Oscar nomination for Best Foreign Picture, who am I to criticize?
“Indigènes” tells the story of a group of French soldiers during the second world war. They fight for the liberation of France, at that point occupied by Nazi Germany, and the film follows a very basic schematic.
It could almost be called “Generic War Movie” because of this. You get introduced to some soldiers, they survive a couple of battles together and share some free time until you can tell them apart, and then you get the suicide mission at the end which decimates them. Even the visit to a war memorial is not missing.
So far, so “Battle Cry”.
What sets this movie apart from countless others is that these soldiers are all from countries that were occupied themselves, only this time by France which controlled a lot of North Africa.
These guys are among the 130.000 so-called “indigenous soldiers” (now THERE is a title) who were coerced to fight with the French in Europe against the Germans, and this movie focuses on the utter lack of respect these people had to endure from the French, even when they were fighting alongside of them.
Continue Reading "DAYS OF GLORY DVD-Review (INDIGÈNES)"...
Posted by Todd Brown at 12:20am.
Writer-Producer-Director Erik Novak is a busy man. We first came across the Hungarian film maker in his role as producer on Aron Gauder’s stellar animation Nyocker when it played at the Toronto International Film Festival a couple years back. Novak is currently producing Gauder’s second feature film Egill and has also been dabbling some in live action since then and makes his own directorial debut with Hungarian crime drama ZUHANÓREPÜLÉS, the story of a young convict trying - and failing pretty spectacularly - to go straight, working as a bartender following his release from prison. Sex, drugs, guns and crime ... the teaser’s only thirty seconds long but it’s got them all. And yes, this is your not-work-safe warning.
ZUHANÓREPÜLÉS Teaser (embedded Flash)
Posted by Todd Brown at 7:00pm.
Oh, sweet mother ... it’s an intentional cult film from director Corrado Guzzanti, it’s screening as part of the market in Cannes, and it looks positively glorious.
Fascists on Mars Teaser (Flash)
Fascists on Mars Trailer (Flash)
Posted by Ardvark at 6:30pm.
This year I wasn’t able to go to the Amsterdam Fantastic Film Festival, and by the looks of it I really missed out. Loved to have seen “The Fountain” in a theatre!
Who did make it however was loyal reader and sometimes contributor Peter Cornelissen aka Petcor80 aka Beavis, and he was kind enough to provide us with one of his splendid recaps.
So here it is:
Recap of the 2007 Amsterdam Fantastic Film Festival by Peter Cornelissen
Saying that this year’s festival was fantástic is always an easy pun, but this time the selection was nothing less than exactly that. The festival opener Pan’s Labyrinth, an Oscar winning film that reached a lot of people’s best of 2006 list, reflected this. Then there was a very strong Scandinavian programme including another heavy hitter, Adam’s Apples, that won the ‘silver scream’ audience award (I feel stupid that I didn’t get a ticket for it) and the Bothersome Man which is absolutely amazing and won the ‘black tulip’ award at the festival. Paprika, one of my favourites of this year’s IFFR was screened again for the dedicated AFFF audience, just like Korean box-office monster the Host. And let’s not forget a relatively big Hollywood production like the Fountain. It had been a while since the festival showed such an amount of high quality stuff.
Continue Reading "AFFF 2007 Wrap Up"...
Posted by Todd Brown at 6:25pm.
One of these things is not like the others: family oriented animated feature My Beautifuil Girl, Mari, family oriented feature Cobby the Fox, explicitly sexual and supernaturally charged live action feature The Texture of Skin. As strange as it may seem all three were - or currently are being, in the case of Cobby - helmed by Korean director Lee Sung-Gang who, with Texture, has proven himself every bit as capable of creating challenging material for adults as he is rewarding work for children. Though the film has been stalled out as far as a mainstream theatrical release in Korea - likely thanks to the sexual content - I had the chance to see Texture when it played at the Philadelphia International Film Festival last year and it’s a quality piece of work. The film is finally getting a theatrical release in Korea and a trailer has hit online. Very nice.
My review here.
Texture of Skin Trailer (streaming Windows Media)
Texture of Skin Trailer (downloadable Windows Media, freakin’ huge)
Via Hitman at KFC.
Posted by Todd Brown at 6:00pm.
Perhaps one of our resident Turks can chip in with some more details on this one but I’ve just come across the - sadly, Turkish only - website and trailer for Cagan Irmak’s Ulak and it’s too good not to share despite knowing virtually nothing about it. Slated for a release later this year all that is available so far is a teaser to whet the appetite but this thing is beautifully shot with meticulous attention to detail. Consider my appetite whetted.
Ulak Website (trailer flash embedded within)
*** UPDATE ***
Thanks to Umit for the following translation of the teaser:
ULAK-The Messenger
They were 6
One betrayed
5 were left
5 were killed
And became nothing
And one day
A messenger came from the old times
They were in deep than the deepest well.
Darker than the darkest heart.
There was no hope
And one day he came from far with secrets in his bag.
Told them the story of love, belief and courage.
The believers waited as there was one more (messenger) to come.
Posted by Todd Brown at 2:48pm.
Now here’s a fun event: the good folk at the Alamo Drafthouse in Austin are taking a series of films on a cross country tour of the good ol’ USA. But not just any films in any towns. Nope. The Rolling Road Show is a series of film screenings that shows films in locations of special importance to the film itself. Fer instance: you get Lost Boys in Santa Cruz, North by Northwest at Mt. Rushmore, Goldfinger at Fort Knox and more, more, more. The only question I’ve got is why they aren’t showing Resident Evil 2 here in Toronto. Oh, wait a second ... I think I know the answer ...
Check the official Roadshow website for all the details.
FOR TRAILER, POSTERS, & STILLS, SEE THE BOTTOM OF THIS ARTICLE
Juan Antonio Bayona’s The Orphanage (El orfanato) is scheduled to have its world première at the 46th International Critics’ Week (46e Semaine Internationale de la Critique - “SIC” for short) in Cannes, which runs from May 17th to 25th. (Like the Directors’ Fortnight (Quinzaine des Réalisateurs), SIC is a parallel section of the Cannes Film Festival (Festival de Cannes).) Distribution rights for the movie are to be offered for sale by Wild Bunch (Exception Wild Bunch S.A.) at this year’s Marché du Film in Cannes, which runs from May 16th to 26th. U.S. distribution rights for it have been acquired by Picturehouse Inc.. Warner Bros. Entertainment España S.L. is scheduled to release it theatrically in Spain on October 11th.
The screenplay for The Orphanage was written by Sergio G. Sánchez. The movie stars Belén Rueda, Fernando Cayo, Mabel Rivera, Roger Príncep, Geraldine Chaplin, Montserrat Carulla, and Andrés Gertrúdix. Guillermo del Toro was one of its producers.
Continue Reading "SIC: World première of Juan Antonio Bayona’s THE ORPHANAGE (EL ORFANATO)"...
Alexandre Bustillo and Julien Maury’s Inside (À l’intérieur) is scheduled to have its world première at the 46th International Critics’ Week (46e Semaine Internationale de la Critique - “SIC” for short) in Cannes, which runs from May 17th to 25th. (Like the Directors’ Fortnight (Quinzaine des Réalisateurs), SIC is a parallel section of the Cannes Film Festival (Festival de Cannes).) Distribution rights for the movie are to be offered for sale by Dreamachine (Celluloid Dreams and HanWay Films) at this year’s Marché du Film in Cannes, which runs from May 16th to 26th. Distribution rights for it for all English-speaking territories have been acquired by The Weinstein Company. La Fabrique de Films is scheduled to release it theatrically in France on June 13th.
The screenplay for Inside was written by Bustillo. The movie stars Béatrice Dalle, Alysson Paradis, Nathalie Roussel, François-Régis Marchasson, Jean-Baptiste Tabourin, Dominique Frot, Claude Lulé, and Nicolas Duvauchelle.
Here’s a synopsis for Inside from the production: “Most pregnant women have particular wishes. But Sarah wants only one thing: to save her baby from the clutches of a mysterious woman hellbent on taking him...”
For more information on Inside, see Twitch’s fourth, third, second, and first articles on it.
Those who are interested in Inside may also wish to read the Twitch articles on Pascal Laugier‘s Martyrs and Xavier Gens‘ Frontier(s) (Frontières).
Inside teaser trailer (downloadable 1.9 MB MOV file)
Inside diaporama video #1 (downloadable 2.2 MB MOV file)
Inside diaporama video #2 (downloadable 2 MB MOV file)
Inside official website (not online yet)
Inside official blog
