It’s been a little over a year when we last posted the first concept art for Imagi’s CG animated film Gatchaman.  Since that time, TMNT director Kevin Monroe has dropped out and the release date has been push back to 2009 according to the press release.  Many rabid Gatchaman fans has been asking when the studio will throw them a bone and so Felix Ip, the creative director of Imagi has answer their call and got the go ahead from the higher-up to reveal some new concept art.  At his blog site, there is three beautifully render artwork to show the “look” of the animated film and a new logo design with more to come later.  Very cool “look”.  Hopefully, we will get to see these artwork translated into animated form sometime in the near future.  As of now, the film is still in development.

“Magic Mirror, on the wall, who is the fairest one of all?”

Let’s say it’s a particularly rainy day, and you’re in the mood for existential silliness. What if Snow White had a beauty complex, tried to eat junk food to escape from the mental jowls of her predicament, and all the seven dwarfs were closet sociopaths waiting for the right moment to rape her? And telling they love her right after in passionate rage, of course. “Ha! It’s your beauty that raped me into oblivion, I shouldn’t be blamed!” They’re just horny fools after all, right? Eun-Young (Cha Su-Yeon) would be ecstatic if beauty really was in the eye of the beholder, but she’s denied such pleasure on a daily basis. Annoying schoolgirls stop her by the day, asking her if she’s some celebrity, maybe Jeon Ji-Hyun with acting skills and without silly Hollywood prospects, or something. The moment she gets home, she needs to face the mountain of flowers and letters coming her way, as if she was the second coming. Hell, even her best friend’s boyfriend feels like a wanderer in the desert every time he looks at her and compares, as if sipping the last few drops of water from his bottle while a truck full of Evian passes by. Life calls her beautiful, but when she closes that door she’s just alone, with the pressure that comes from not being considered a person, just a pretty toy, a pair of designer clothes with a few hundreds bones attached to it. And, admittedly, some flesh as well.

Continue Reading "[K-FILM REVIEWS] 아름답다 (Beautiful)"...

Over the past seventy-odd years there have been countless Batman stories told. So many in fact that it’s a flat-out miracle we’re still not fed up with Bruce Wayne and his mental situation.

But strangely enough there are still several comic book series released each month, the television series was and is very successful, and, well…
...need I mention the movies?

With his two films “Batman Begins” and “The Dark Knight”, Christopher Nolan proved that there is still value in flogging this particular horse. Apparently we can’t get enough of being told the same story over and over again, provided somebody manages to put an interesting spin on the details, the designs or the viewpoint.

With this in mind Warner Brothers greenlit the “Batman: Gotham Knight” project. An anthology in six parts, it tells a story loosely taking place in the space between the two Nolan movies, and each part is made by a major Japanese animation studio. Just like five years ago when “The Animatrix” was made to whip the Matrix-fans into a frenzy prior to the cinema premiere of “The Matrix Reloaded”.

The end result has now been released on DVD, and as usual with an anthology it’s a bit of a mixed bag. There is no denying that some parts of it are brilliant, others… less so. The whole concept has some strikes against it from the start (for reasons I will explain), but If you’re a rabid Batman fan you’d be crazy to skip this.

A longer review (with many pictures) follows after the break.

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“It’s surprising that pulp writer David Goodis never named a novel Cul-de-Sac,” ponders Pacific Film Archives curator Steve Seid, “His stories conjure a dead end, littered with the wreckage of lonely losers and lowlifes. An ill fate befalls the typical Goodis fall guy, who often glimpses the high life, however fleetingly, but then through some irascible compulsion or sinister defect must stumble back to the seamy streets. Goodis’s own life follows the same pattern: at age thirty, he saw his novel Dark Passage adapted for the screen and parlayed that into a contract at Warner Bros., but his questionable proclivities made him an outcast even in Hollywood. Back in his hometown of Philadelphia, he churned out paperback originals while prowling the seedy saloons with unguarded desire. At age forty-nine, he was dead of cirrhosis. Though Goodis persisted in relative obscurity, his works falling in and out of print, filmmakers mined his shady novels for their criminal content. Jacques Tourneur’s Nightfall and Paul Wendkos’s The Burglar were grim highlights of the American mid-fifties, while across the pond, cinema’s continental ops found his soiled vision most suitable for their noir knockoffs. Truffaut’s fanciful but faithful Shoot the Piano Player was the first in a lineup of a half-dozen suspects, all with a French accent. Goodis’s pulp is not about plot; it’s about the struggles of his beautiful losers to free themselves from sordid obsession and inbred failure. It’s also about Goodis’s smothering fixation with the fall—from grace, perhaps, or just from the curb to the gutter.”

Whereas Steve Seid’s curatorial involvement with the Gabriel Figueroa series might have been more administrative than creative, there’s no question that the PFA program “Streets of No Return: The Dark Cinema of David Goodis” is Seid’s bawling baby, as he revealed when he spoke briefly with me about the upcoming series. For general information on Goodis, check out his IMdb and Wikpedia profiles. Kelly Vance gets on the horn with Elliot Lavine who helps her assess the PFA series for The East Bay Express.

Continue Reading "Streets of No Return: The Dark Cinema of David Goodis—Interview With Curator Steve Seid"...

Introducing Emilio Fernández‘s Enamorada, PFA curator Steve Seid admitted that the film’s English translation “Woman In Love” isn’t entirely accurate.  Quoting Judy Bloch’s PFA capsule, Enamorada speaks more interestingly “about a man in love.” Enamorada—which translates more correctly as “Beloved”, in the sense of a man’s love for his beloved—expresses the love General José Juan Reyes (Pedro Armendáriz) feels for Beatriz Peñafiel (María Félix).  But then again, it’s not only his love for her as a woman but for the civilizing power of the Catholic faith that she represents.  “[W]hat captivates, even mesmerizes, is the film’s portrayal of revolution and religion as conjoined elements of the Mexican character,” Bloch writes.  “The general,” she adds, “confuses Beatriz with Jesus.”

Continue Reading "Hecho Por México: The Films of Gabriel Figueroa—Enamorada (1946)"...

“Figueroa skies.” The image conjures the big sky country of the Mexican desert, embraced in high contrast by billowing cumulus clouds enhanced by infrared filters, and limned by the persevering thorn of the impoverished agave and the heartfelt offerings of ubiquitous cala lilies. Beneath these immense skies, Mexicanidad toils the soil, tolls cathedral bells to call the common soul to mass, and tells fiery stories of evolving revolutions.

In his introduction to the PFA series celebrating the artistry of Gabriel Figueroa—Hecho Por México—curator Steve Seid writes: “Gabriel Figueroa was more than a cinematographer. A consummate artist, he captured with grandeur a sense of Mexico that would—as the poet Carlos Fuentes affectionately observed—bring us to ‘see Figueroa’s Mexico and not the one that really existed.’ Beginning in the Golden Age of Mexican cinema, Figueroa’s rich chiaroscuro embodied Mexico’s entrenched contrasts—the monumental faces weathered like the arid land, the expressively lit cathedrals dark against turbulent skies, the timeless agave, stark and prickly. The painters Rivera, Siqueiros, and Orozco were Figueroa’s intimates, and their influence can be detected in what Siqueiros called ‘murals that travel.’ Figueroa was the man who made manifest Luis Buñuel’s sardonic surrealism by underscoring mundane but unexpected details. And he will forever be associated with director Emilio ‘El Indio’ Fernández, who said with remarkable swagger, ‘There only exists one Mexico: the one I invented’—but it was Figueroa’s highly dramatic feel for the land that engendered this invention. In the mid-thirties, Figueroa apprenticed to Hollywood cinematographer Gregg Toland, and was much admired by American directors such as John Ford and John Huston, who used his signature style to great effect. He cut a dashing figure across the film industry, but his social conscience always preceded him: Gabriel Figueroa’s aim was to give back to Mexican culture a dignified image of itself, and this he did, al lo grande.”

Though hosting duties during the San Francisco Silent Film Festival precluded my attending the opening doublebill of PFA’s Figueroa series—Let’s Go With Pancho Villa! (1935) and The Pearl (1943)—I’ve committed myself to the remainder of the selection. To prepare for the experience, I met up with Steve Seid for a few words on the series. 

Continue Reading "Hecho Por México: The Films of Gabriel Figueroa—Interview With Curator Steve Seid"...

Want to know what was said at the San Diego Comic Con panels for Red Sonja, The Watchmen and Repo: The Genetic Opera?  Well, luckily for you we had Joseph Perez there with his camera crew and you can find all three panel discussion below the break!

Continue Reading "Comic Con Panel’s O’Plenty!  RED SONJA!  WATCHMEN!  REPO!"...

It’s not horrible but it aint great, either.  The weakest entry in The Mummy franchise is the subject of my column over at Showcase this week.  I don’t like the film nearly enough to write a second review of it so I’ll send you over there for my detailed thoughts ...

The Video Player Top Ten arrives a day late this week, but still chock full of goodness. The full trailer for Pascal Laugier’s Martyrs makes a big splash, entering the chart at number two, while Korean pop star Rain comes in high as well.  And the end of the Japanese splatter era is well and truly upon us ... last week marked the first chart without The Machine Girl and this week Tokyo Gore Police drops off as well. Here’s the list!

1.  Ong Bak 2 Promo Reel (12 091)
2.  Martyrs Trailer (5126)
3.  Yatterman Teaser (2242)
4.  Ninja Assassin Behind the Scenes (2180)
5.  My Name Is Bruce Trailer (1349)
6.  Beyond the Grave Trailer (1039)
7.  Rock N Rolla Trailer Two (934)
8.  Genius Party Beyond Trailer Two (855)
9.  Krabat Trailer (834)
10. Robot Taekwon V Concept Test (810)

The new UK horror film from writer director Steven Sheil pretty much speaks for itself, really:

Mum and Dad, and their ‘adopted’ children, Birdie & Elbie, work at the airport. The family live off whatever they scavenge from cargo holds, offices and hotels - including a steady stream of transient workers who populate the airport’s soulless hub. When Lena, a young Polish office cleaner, is befriended by Birdie, she gets drawn into a nightmarish world of torture, murder and perversity. Imprisoned in a suburban House of Horrors and designated a ‘Mummy’s Girl’, Lena’s only options appear to be to become part of the family - and join them in their insanity - or die.

We’ve just been passed the trailer for this one and it’s grim, compelling stuff ... You’ll find it below the break.

Continue Reading "And You Thought Your Family Was Messed Up.  First Trailer For UK Horror MUM AND DAD."...

It is one of the most polarizing films in the career of Hong Kong auteur Wong Kar Wai, and one of the most sought after thanks to the lack of a presentable DVD release anywhere in the world up until very recently.  And so news that the notoriously revisionist director was returning to his sole martial arts picture, Ashes of Time, to re-edit and shape it into the form he says was his original intention was generally met with excitement and anticipation.  With the film now rolling out on the festival circuit - it’s coming here to Toronto as part of the Toronto International Film Festival in September - those who were hoping for something more linear than the original cut are generally leaving disappointed while others are leaving enthused by the chance to finally see a master’s work properly presented.  Regardless of which camp you’re in you’ll still most likely be rather pleased to check out the official trailer, which has finally appeared on the scene.  The international sales promo for this leaked a while back in low quality but this trailer is much higher resolution and much more focused and to the point.  You can check it out below the break.

Continue Reading "The Official Trailer For Wong Kar Wai’s ASHES OF TIME REDUX Arrives!"...

Big, big news here courtesy of Jason Gray.  Though he is still guiding his dark thriller I Come With The Rain - check the archive for the stunning promo reel - through the post-production process, French-Vietnamese director Tran Anh Hung is already planning his next project, and what a project it will be.  The director of Cyclo and A Vertical Ray of the Sun will next be traveling to Japan to direct a Japanese language adaptation of Haruki Murakami’s Norwegian Wood.

Now, Murakami is pretty much a living legend in the literary world, and deservedly so.  His work has a drifting, otherworldly quality to it that often make it read like cinema but Murakami has been very protective of his words up until now, having allowed only one of his works to ever be adapted for the screen - a short story titled Tony Takitani - despite multiple offers.  This romantic drama will be the just the second Murakami based project so far and the first based on one of his novels.  And, honestly, it’s hard to imagine a director better suited to adapt Murakami’s work than Hung.  No word yet on cast or start dates, though with Asmik Ace and Fuji TV backing the film financially I’d expect a fairly high profile group to be involved.

It started it all on 1977, October 18, for what would become a 16 year run (with a pause in between), and a total of 652 episodes. Some of the biggest stars, the most important writers and producers of today made their debut there, or established themselves through the franchise. 전설의 고향 (Hometown of Legends) was more than a simple way to cool off the summer heat with the usual dose of horror, it was a bonafide cultural phenomenon. After the late 1990s version ended with (deserved) complaints of silly CG and corny storytelling, horror almost disappeared from Korean TV for close to a decade, until now. The new version of Hometown of Legends continues KBS’ experiments with sageuk, which saw the elegant, low-key political struggles of 대왕세종 (Sejong the Great) open the dances, and the “Zorro in Joseon” b-movie extravaganza that is 최강칠우 (Strongest Chil Woo) give some energy to a dying genre.

But Hometown of Legends didn’t just bank on its traditional appeal, or the constantly changing sageuk landscape, as its cast and crew proves. Not only promising youngsters like Park Min-Young (photo), Park Ha-Seon or Kim Ha-Eun, but also established stars like Lee Min-Woo, Ahn Jae-Mo and Jae Hee, and sageuk veterans like Choi Su-Jong and Lee Deok-Hwa. Directed by Kwak Jung-Hwan of 한성별곡 正 (Conspiracy in the Court), trailer for the first installment to air on August 6 on KBS2, 구미호 (Fox with Nine Tails), is finally out. You can find it below the break.

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After trying the comedy trade in the NTV comedy series Enka no joō last year young actress Riko Narumi will get her first lead role in a comedic feature film titled Tsumi Toka Batsu Toka. Filming for the feature film has already wrapped up and we should expect to see this film in Spring of 2009. I only mention this because Riko Narumi also has a role in Naoto Takenaka’s zom-com Yamagata Scream, a film we’ve spoken about here before. His film is also due out in 2009.

The premise for Tsumi Toka Batsu Toka; Narumi is an unsuccessful idol who takes on the role of “police chief for a day,” a common PR opportunity for budding talents. But when a robbery takes place at a local convenience store, she actually attempts to resolve the incident.

Keralino Sandorovich will be directing the film. His page on Eigapedia cites that he is best known for his nonsense comedies, having been inspired by the British comedy troupe Monty Python. His hair alone in that profile picture is enough to keep me interested. Wacky. 

You know, as much as I love the first two Matrix films I’ve been paying very little attention to the upcoming Ninja Assassin.  Which is odd.  It’s not like the Wachowski’s have produced a series of dogs, James McTiegue is a solid director, I’m actually a fan of Korean pop megastar Rain on screen and - his foolish comments about just how quickly he wrote the script notwithstanding - I’m a big fan of writer J. Michael Straczynski.  But somehow the project - in which Rain stars as a young ninja who turns on his own clan - just didn’t catch my attention until that very bloody photo to the left hit the web.

And now there’s something new to pique the interest.  With the film currently shooting in Germany, German TV has recently run a reel of behind the scenes footage showing the crew hard at work, including shots of Rain doing some fight and stunt work.  And I gotta say the guy looks pretty good with a sword in his hand.  Check it out below the break!

Continue Reading "Get Behind the Scenes of the Wachowski’s NINJA ASSASSIN In Berlin!"...