Once again it’s that time – time to make silly lists of the best and most notable films of the passing year.  And once again, I’ve been so busy working on actual movie sets, that I haven’t been able to see and review as many films as I’d like to.  So while I say hooray for semi-steady employment, I have to shed a small tear at the missed press screenings for films such as “Juno”, Sweeney Todd”, “There Will Be Blood”, and plenty of others.  (And those are just some of the December oversights.) In 2007, I was fortunate enough to see twenty-four new movies, and one re-release, “Blade Runner” (which I’m not including on my main list).  So, for what it’s worth, (not much, I know,) of those precious few films screened, here are a few thoughts and recollections…

1. No Country for Old Men

Perhaps not the most original pick for best of the year, but the Coen brothers really came back in top form, and delivered a solid gut-punch of a film, chock full of unforgettable performances and moments that are somehow simultaneously visually supercharged yet understated.  Without a doubt, the best work of all parties involved in quite some time.  (Although Tommy Lee Jones’ 2005 film “The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada” does pose righteous competition… These two films would make one heck of a double bill.)

Continue Reading "An American Film Geek’s Top 3 for 2007"...

It’s often said that a hero is only as heroic as his villain is evil.  By that logic, then perhaps the films on my Top 3 list are only as great as the entrees on this are crappy.  Or not.  In any case, here’s the bottom of my admittedly shallow barrel of 2007 movies…

1. Stardust

While not dismally bad like some of my year-end worst movie picks of the past, “Stardust” does have the distinction of being the weakest entry on my twenty-four-film list.  The sour streak of lousy Neil Gaiman screen adaptations culminated most prominently with “Stardust”.  It would not be until “Beowulf” a few months later that the prestigious fantasy writer would begin to clear his cinematic name.  But most at fault is director Matthew Vaughn, who has made a horribly uneven film, complete with bad special effects and an otherwise talented starlet (Claire Daines) playing a literal fallen star that looks more like a tired, sequined asteroid on screen.

Continue Reading "An American Film Geek’s Bottom 3 for 2007"...

Appearing with virtually no advance notice - as often happens with Hong Kong releases - Sion Sono’s Japanese cult hit EXTE, starring Chiaki Kuriyama of Battle Royale and Kill Bill fame is about to hit DVD in Hong Kong.  I’ve actually managed to miss this one at a handful of festivals over the past year and so haven’t seen it yet but it is absolutely adored by a good number of folk around these parts and won a rave review in these pages when it played Fantasia.  The DVD hits January 4th and includes English subtitles.  You’ll find the trailer and music video embedded in the Twitch Video Player below the break.

Continue Reading "Sion Sono’s EXTE Hits DVD January 4th!"...

Very fun news for Takashi Miike fans in Los Angeles.  The Silent Movie Theatre on Fairfax will be holding a Takashi Miike retrospective through January and February, playing a series of the prolific cult auteur’s films on Sunday nights.  Announced titles?  Jan 6th Audition, Jan 13th One Missed Call, Jan 20th Big Bang Love, Jan 27th Gozu, Feb 3rd Happiness of the Katakuris & Visitor Q, Feb 10th Ichi the Killer & Fudoh, Feb 17th Great Yokai War & Zebraman.

Nice.

Francisco Varga’s multi-award winning Mexican drama, The Violin, opens January 11, 2008, in Bay Area theatres (including the Roxie Film Center in San Francisco and the Shattuck Cinema in Berkeley). The Violin, a Film Movement release, runs 98 minutes, is in Spanish with English subtitles and is not yet MPAA rated.

Film Synopsis: Shot in glorious black & white, The Violin tells of Don Plutarco, his son Genaro, and his grandson Lucio who live a double life: on one hand they are musicians and humble farmers, on the other they support the campesino guerilla movement’s armed efforts against their oppressive government. When the military seizes the village, the rebels flee to the sierra hills, forced to leave behind their stock of ammunition. While the guerillas organize a counter-attack, old Plutarco executes his own plan. He plays up his appearance as a harmless violin player, and makes it back into the military-occupied village to try to recover the ammunition hidden in his cornfield. His violin playing charms the army captain, who orders Plutarco to come back daily, consequently developing a relationship in which arms and music play a tenuous game of cat-and-mouse.

After studying theatre, at the National Institute of the Arts, Francisco Vargas studied Communications at the Universidad Autonoma Metropolitana, as well as Dramatic Arts at the Hugo Argüelles workshop. In 1995, he began his studies in directing and cinematography at the University Center of Cinematography Studies. Conejo, his first short film, obtained a solid reputation while touring the international film festival circuit. For five years, he produced radio shows that helped preserve and promote traditional Mexican music. Since 1997, he has worked as a director or director of photography on several commercials, documentaries and short films. In 2004, he made a documentary, Tierra Caliente, se mueren los que la mueven, which was an acclaimed hit in Mexico and the rest of the world. In 2006, The Violin was chosen by the Cannes Film Festival as an Official Selection—Un Certain Regard—and won Ángel Tavira the best actor award. It is Francisco Vargas’ feature length directorial debut. Recently surpassing Amores Perros, The Violin has become the most internationally awarded Mexican film in history with 46 awards from festivals around the world.

The following interview (which is not for the spoiler-wary) is cobbled from personal conversation and a Q&A session while Francisco Vargas was accompanying The Violin at the 50th San Francisco International Film Festival, supplemented by a follow-up email exchange with Vargas, negotiated through Film Movement. My profound thanks to Rebeca Conget for her facilitative translations.

Continue Reading "THE VIOLIN—Interview With Francisco Vargas"...

Japanese auteur Seijun Suzuki was very nearly consigned to the scrap heap of history thanks to the sheer, unwavering strength of his own vision.  Hugely prolific throughout the fifties and sixties Suzuki turned out strictly controlled product for the tightly wound Japanese studio system - a system that didn’t exactly encourage experimentation - fast and cheap for over a decade before gradually settling into a unique style built around shocking use of color and staging techniques more at home in experimental theater than on the big screen.  Suzuki ramped up his experimentation slowly, trying out techniques unnoticed at first, but his stylistic excesses soon began hurting his box office take and he was finally, famously, fired from the studio essentially for being too damn strange and saddled with a reputation for being difficult that restricted him to making only six feature films in the seventies and eighties combined as opposed to the forty one he produced in the fifties, sixties and seventies.

Now in his eighties and in failing health Suzuki has experienced a late life revival that has seen his body of work embraced by international festivals and art house DVD labels around the globe.  We collect a number of Suzuki trailers below, ranging from his latest - and likely final - effort, the musical Tanuki Goten, to his better known classic titles such as Branded to Kill and Tokyo Drifter plus some less known work below but when dealing with someone as prolific as Suzuki, much of whose work has still never been seen outside of Japan, there are some major gaps.  Any help tracking down trailers from more of his films would be greatly appreciated.

Continue Reading "Seijun Suzuki Goes to the Movies!"...

[Many thanks to our new Turkish correspondent Zeren for bringing news on new Turkish crime film Munferit]

Crime cinema, has long been one of the shunned genres of Turkish cinema. Fortunately, in the last few years, there are signs indicating this may no longer be the case. Following the two movies released in 2007, Polis and Sis ve Gece (Fog and Night), a new crime movie, Münferit (Murky Waters), Dersu Yavuz Altun’s feature debut is announced to be released nationwide in Turkey, this coming year.

It competed in the 44th Golden Orange Film Festival last October and was screened in the Agora section of the Thessaloníki Film Festival in November. Münferit is being promoted as a film noir in its official website. Shot in Heybeliada, one of the few inhabited islands near Istanbul, on a shoestring budget, Münferit‘s production qualities looks pretty impressive from the trailer. Its complex story is based on the real facts from three different news articles. Being asked about the plot, director describes it as “the individual’s historical strandedness who has long lost his chance to decide upon his own life and future”.

The synopsis follows below the break, as does the trailer embedded in the Twitch Video Player.

Continue Reading "Turkey Goes Noir With MUNFERIT (MURKY WATERS)"...

Last year we brought news about startup UK martial arts festival Dragon’s Den and now the folks behind that have gone and started themselves a martial arts DVD label to call their own.  It’s called Green Fan and they’ve got themselves a gem of a first release.  The film is titled Ninja In Ancient China, a 1989 production from legendary Shaw Brothers director Chang Cheh.  Never before available on DVD anywhere it has now released on region free disc and we’ve got a good, high res trailer embedded in the Twitch Video Player below the break.  Tasty.

Continue Reading "Chang Cheh Rarity Hits DVD For The First Time!"...

Yup, starting in April of 2008 Rio de Janeiro will play host to the first annual RIOFAN fantastic film festival.  It’ll be a two week affair and while they are still accepting entires - and thus haven’t announced any participating films yet - they have announced that the first year will feature a major tribute to José Mojica Marins AKA Coffin Joe, and considering that Marins has a new film ready to go in 2008 it doesn’t take a genius to guess what they’ll be anchoring their lineup with.  Here’s the official announcement:

In May 2008 Rio de Janeiro will become the meeting place for fantasy film fans and enthusiasts from all over the world. For two weeks, the I Rio de Janeiro International Fantastic Film Festival – RioFan will showcase the best in horror, sci-fi and genre cinema.

We’re very excited to announce that our call for entries is now open. We encourage filmmakers everywhere and from all backgrounds to submit their work. Feature films are eligible to participate in the festival’s international competition section, while short films can be selected for one of our informative sections. There is no entry fee. The entry form and regulations can be downloaded from our website: http://www.riofan.com.br.

RioFan will also pay a tribute to legendary Brazilian master José Mojica Marins, who will receive our very first Special Award for Career Achievement. In 2008, Mojica will bring his monumental creation back to life in his new film Embodiment of Evil (Encarnação do Demônio), the last entry on his internationally acclaimed series featuring the terrible Zé do Caixão / Coffin Joe.

The festival takes place April 29th – May 11th 2008 . For further information please contact us at

This Week..........Title.........................................................................Weekend Attendance.................Total Attendance
1........................The Golden Compass.(USA)........................................332,053...................................... 2,167,087
2,.......................National Treasure 2 (USA)...........................................237,722......................................1,105,853
3........................Sex is Zero 2 (Korean)................................................158,320......................................1,658,665
4........................I am Legend (USA).....................................................145,944.......................................2,274,330
5........................American Gangster (USA)...........................................137,895.......................................165,587
6. ......................Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium (USA).....................133,782.......................................446,776
7........................My Love (Korean).......................................................133,508 ......................................749,388
8........................Hansel and Gretel (Korean).........................................117,121......................................140,455
9........................Rainbow Eyes (Korean)..............................................113,846......................................142,701
10.....................August Rush (USA)......................................................98,266.......................................1,894,308

Continue Reading "Korea Weekend Box Office - December 2007/12/28 ~ 2007/12/30"...

Following on the success of Paris, Je T’Aime the powers that be have opted to repeat their formula of love stories set in famous cities, this time anthologizing stories set in New York in a collection titled, surprisingly enough, New York, I Love You.  Where things get interesting is in the collection of directors attached.  OldBoy‘s Park Chan-Wook is handling one segment, as are the Hughes Brothers, making their first big screen appearance since From Hell.  Mira Nair, Fatih Akin, Jason Reitman, Andrei Zvyagintsev, Anthony Minghella, Joshua Marsten, Jiang Wen, Yvan Attal and Brett Ratner (one of these things is not like the others ...) round out the directorial crew.

Turko-German director Fatih Akin is a big fan in these parts, his Head On an absolutely searing piece of work, punishing to both its characters and viewers.  He followed that up this past year with the greatly acclaimed The Edge of Heaven but in between these two narrative features Akin made his first foray into the documentary world with Crossing The Bridge, a look at the musical culture of Istanbul.  And he proved every bit as good working in documentary as he is in narrative.  So this comes as very welcome news. 

Akin’s next film will be, once again, a documentary.  Titled Garbage In The Garden of Eden it tells the story of a garbage dump in the hills above the seaside town of Camburnu and the townspeople’s fight against it.  Knowing Akin, this will prove to be one compelling piece of work.  If nothing else you should visit the official web site just to let the music play ...

Strap in for a strange one here, kids.  You’d expect from looking at that poster that The Sword of Alexander (Taitei No Ken) to be a sort of Power Rangers on acid, a very goofy, lo fi sort of martial arts fantasy cranked out on the cheap.  And it is, really, only this one was made by an impressive collection of A-list talent, all of whom are still on top of their game.  Director Tsutsumi Yukihiko just directed Ken Watanabe (Batman Begins, The Last Samurai) in hit Japanese drama Memories of Tomorrow and leading man Hiroshi Abe is one of the nation’s more in demand actors, instantly recognizable to any fan of current Japanese film.  Also spotted in the supporting cast are cult icon Riki Takeuchi and Kankuro Kudo, the latter best known in these parts as the writer of Zebraman and Ping Pong.  So, believe me when I say that when this movie gets goofy it’s because it wants to and not because it doesn’t know how to do anything else.

Abe plays a wandering swordsman whose weapon is crafted from a mystical material that grants him supernatural powers.  Only three objects made of this material exist in the world and whoever holds all three will rule the earth and so he is roaming in search of the other two and also someone worthy of holding all three.  Of course, there are other forces at play who want them for themselves.  It’s very goofy, deliberately lo-fi stuff and looks hysterically fun.  It’s also freshly out on Hong Kong DVD with English subtitles included and you can find the trailer embedded in the Twitch Video Player after the break.

Continue Reading "Japanese Cult Fantasy THE SWORD OF ALEXANDER Hits DVD!"...

And we’re back! Again, apologies for any inconvenience—we know how you all get if you miss your Twitch fix. Please let us know if you encounter any glitches or errors, or see something that looks a little screwy.

We’ll be performing some routine maintenance and upgrades to Twitch this Saturday evening. The entire process should only take about 20-30 minutes, but during that time both the site and the forums will be inaccessible. Twitch’s video player, however, will still be up and running.

We apologize in advance for any inconvenience.

Andrew Bailey’s Cinema Now, handsomely published by Taschen, wields considerable heft. Not only because its heavy paper stock will earn you a bicep or two; but, because intellectually it’s a rich overview of contemporary filmmaking. If the logical depth of a film is the invested meaning harbored within it, then Cinema Now reflects a logical—indeed necessary—breadth to any focus on film culture. Andrew Bailey takes us on a guided, visually-articulated tour through today’s world cinema. Along with his directorial profiles and capsule reviews of their respective films, the volume includes a DVD with such extras as trailers, music videos and short films by Alexander Payne and Carlos Reygadas. His research is supplemented by working indices of film festivals, awards and websites (including Twitch).

Continue Reading "CINEMA NOW—Interview With Andrew Bailey"...