Soon to make its world premiere at the Film4 Frightfest in London, the producer of Wolf Creek will be making waves again with Coffin Rock - the feature debut from writer-director Rupert Glasson. Here’s how the festival describes it:
In the small coastal town of Coffin Rock, Rob and Jess live an almost idyllic life, their relationship marred only by their inability to have children. In a weak moment Jess sleeps with a stranger and later learns she’s pregnant. But the shocking truth is Evan targeted her the moment she walked into the fertility clinic where he worked. Now Jess’ guilt turns to full-blown horror as Evan begins a petrifying transformation from menacing stalker to unhinged psychopath….
But don’t take their word for it, we’ve got the trailer below the break and it’s truly unsettling stuff!
Continue Reading "Obsession Turns Ugly In Australian Thriller COFFIN ROCK"...
Oh, my ... this year marks the 10th anniversary of the London’s Film4 Frightfest and with the jam-packed lineup just announced I think it’s safe to say that they’ve outdone themselves. Examples? Take a deep breath: Indonesia’s Macabre, France’s La Horde, Norway’s Dead Snow, Japan’s Vampire Girl Versus Frankenstein Girl, Spain’s Hierro, Canada’s Smash Cut, the UK’s Triangle and a screening of the brand new, fully restored version of John Landis’ classic An American Werewolf in London! And, frankly, that’s just the tip of the proverbial iceberg ...
The festival runs from August 27th - 31st, check the full announcement below the break!
Continue Reading "Film4 Frightfest Is Packed With Goodness!"...
Yes, it’s still a couple of months until Fantastic Fest 2009 rolls around but a limited run of the official festival t-shirt - limited, as in fifty - have just been released early. They’re tentacle-y goodness and will not last long, so if you want to claim uber-geek bragging rights you’ll need to act fast. And speaking of rampant geekiness, you can expect official Twitch gear to be coming down the line within the next couple weeks ...
[Our thanks to Christopher Bourne for the following review.]
Koki Mitani’s latest film The Magic Hour is an entertaining and beautifully designed tribute to movies and movie-making that revels in its artificiality. Early in the film, Natsuko (Haruka Ayase), a nightclub waitress, remarks that the elements of the story – gangsters, guns, cement overshoes, a boss’ moll – all make the town seem like a movie set. At the film’s outset, nightclub manager Bingo (Satoshi Tsumbuki) has run afoul of yakuza boss Teshio (Toshiyuki Nishida) by having an affair with the boss’ girlfriend Mari (Eri Fukatsu). Bingo saves them both from being the proverbial feed for the fishes by claiming to be an acquaintance of Della Togashi, a famous hit man known as the “Phantom Assassin,” whom Teshio would like to meet. Not actually knowing the assassin at all, and unable to find the real deal, he comes up with the idea of asking Murata (Koichi Sato), a stuntman, bit part actor, and aspiring star player, to stand in for the assassin. Bingo must keep up a double ruse, convincing Teshio that the actor is the hit man, and also making Murata believe he is in a film. The film’s scenario echoes other films such as Bowfinger and, more recently, Tropic Thunder, in which much humor is mined from the idea of tossing actors unknowingly into dangerous real-life situations. All the complications that one would expect, and then some, ensue. All the visual elements of this film – its cinematography, production design, and canny recreations of old movies – are top notch, as are the spirited performances of its cast, especially Koichi Sato, Eri Fukatsu, and Haruka Ayase.
Continue Reading "NYAFF 09 Review: THE MAGIC HOUR"...
Bunny And The Bull is a comedy road movie set entirely in a flat. Stephen Turnbull hasn’t been outside in months and when he finds his mind hurtling back to the disastrous trek he took around Europe with his friend Bunny, a catalogue of adventures unfold. Starring Edward Hogg (Brothers Of The Head ) and Simon Farnaby (‘The Mighty Boosh’, ‘Jam & Jerusalem’), Bunny And The Bull promises to be a touching journey to the end of the room.
I am disappointed in you, Britain. Very disappointed, indeed. The promo reel for Paul King’sBunny and the Bull remains the favorite thing that I saw during my time in Cannes this year and I have been anxiously awaiting the chance to share King’s lo-fi Gonry-esque fantasy with the likes of all you Twitch readers. But, alas, despite an upcoming autumn release date in the UK there is no trailer yet released officially anywhere online and apparently, there’s not a soul alive who managed to capture the trailer when it aired on the UKs Channel Four a couple weeks back. Foresight, people! Foresight!
But all is not lost as the good people at Channel 4 have, at least, seen fit to release a new block of stills from the picture online and they’re looking fantastic. With its cardboard and duct tape approach to special effects and the imaginary road trip that propels the story, this is one that fans of Michel Gondry and Spike Jonez are going to die for ...
While in New York a week or so back I had a friend ask if I’d seen the new French trailer for Tony Jaa’s Ong Bak 2. As with the original Ong Bak Luc Besson’s Europa Corp have gotten their hands on this one and while the rumor is that there has been a mild re-cut of the film to tighten things up a bit - I’m hearing six minutes have been removed - and some changes to the score - though nothing as drastic as the hip hop version done for the original - the new French trailer, I was told, makes Ong Bak 2 look like “the greatest action film ever made”. I hadn’t seen it at the time, but now I have and I have to say I pretty much agree.
What do you say? Was it the argument between Tony Jaa the director and Tony Jaa the actor over whether he really needed to get into that pit of water with a live crocodile that drove Tony to go hide in the jungle for two months? Check the French trailer out below the break along with the extended Thai promo reel!
Continue Reading "It’s Tony Jaa Versus Crocodile In the French Trailer For ONG BAK 2!"...
With the announcement that [REC]2 will be opening Sitges 2009 the PR train is getting rolling with the first in a planned series of behind the scenes videos. It’s in SPanish only but it does provide a good look on set of the sequel to the hit Spanish horror picture and directors Jaume Balaguero and Paco Plaza hard at work.
Oh, I should have seen this coming. I really should have. A new Jean-Pierre Jeunet film is a big, big deal in France and I should have known that the folks behind the scenes would not have been content with just the one brief teaser for the film that appeared a few days ago. No, that would not nearly be enough. And so now there are more. Lots more. As in seven brand new teasers, each of them dedicated to a different character for the film. And all of them look like gold.
Is it better to live with a bullet lodged in your brain, even if it means you might drop dead any time? Or would you rather have the bullet taken out and live the rest of your life as a vegetable? Are zebras white with black stripes or black with white stripes? Is scrap metal worth more than landmines? Can you get drunk from eating waffles? Can a woman fit inside a refrigerator? What’s the human cannonball world record? Find out answers to these questions and more. A comedy in the vein of Delicatessen and Amélie.
You’ll find all eight teasers below the break! And, for fans, the Dominique Pinon one is number seven.
Continue Reading "More Of Jeunet’s MICMACS! Lots More!"...
It’s kind of funny how easily the reptile part of the brain can take over. It makes us do odd things, makes us fixate on the things that make our nether regions tingle, to the exclusion of all else. Makes us so focused - for example - on a certain Oscar-winning director casting a porn star in one feature that we cmpletely miss the fact that he’s working on another one as well, this one starring an actor with more than a little bit of awards hardware on his shelf at home. A well ... I guess I just don’t find Matt Damon as attractive as Sasha Grey. Such is life.
The director, of course, is Steven Soderbergh, and the film - the new one - is The Informant!, a based- on-a-true-story tale of quite possible the least competent corporate whistle-blower in the history of ever. i can’t help but feel that the Coen Brothers stole a little bit of the stylistic thunder on this one with Burn After Reading but Damon looks fantastic in it - as, bizarrely enough, does Scott Bakula - and I got more than one good laugh out of it when I caught it screening before Public Enemies. And, yep, it’s online now so I rather suggest checking it out.
[Udated with fresh trailers]
It aint just America making throwbacks to the blaxploitation era right now, a point well made by French effort Black, a more modern spin on the genre that we’ve been covering here for quite some time. Starring French musician MC Jean Gab’1 - also featured prominently in Banlieue 13 Ultimatum - as a Senegalese-French thief travelling to Africa for a heist where he’ll not only have to deal with local law enforcement but also Russian mercenaries and a flamboyant arms dealer who seems to be slowly turning into a snake, Black had its premiere at SXSW earlier this year. And with the French release right around the corner - July 15th in France for those keeping track, August for Canada - the PR train is rolling full speed. The first proper French teaser was released in mid-June and has since been followed by a second teaser and - just now - a full theatrical trailer.. You’ll find them all along with the earlier sales trailer - English subtitled, no less - below the break.
Continue Reading "No Dynamite, Just BLACK *UPDATE*"...
[Our thanks to Christopher Bourne for the following review.]
Hajime Kadoi’s contemplative second feature Vacation explores the relationship between Toru (Kaoru Kobayashi), a prison guard at a high-security facility, and Kaneda (Hidetoshi Nishijima), a condemned prisoner soon to be executed for murder, who has spent most of his years in prison appealing to the authorities for clemency. The “vacation” of the title is granted to Toru for volunteering for the traumatic task of assisting in Kaneda’s execution by leading him to the death chamber and holding his legs as he is hanged. Making this much harder for Toru is the fact that he has developed an unexpressed fondness for this quiet prisoner, who spends his days in his immaculately furnished cell drawing in his sketchbook. For his efforts, Toru is given a week off to have a brief honeymoon with his new bride, divorced single mother Mika (Nene Otsuka), accompanied by her young son Tatsuya (Shusei Ito).
Continue Reading "NYAFF 09 Review: VACATION"...
[Our thanks to Dustin Chang for conducting the following interview.]
Actor So So Ji-Sub plays a gangster with movie star aspirations in Rough Cut, a metaphysical contemplation on acting and real life, directed by newcomer Jang Hoon and written by Kim Ki-Duk. It was a surprise hit in Korea last fall. I was quite intimidated by the thought of meeting him, having just seen the movie where he plays a ruthless criminal. He was tall, humble and soft-spoken, not unlike his character Gangpae (“gangster” in Korean) - sans the violence, of course. His thoughtful responses and unassuming nature soon won me over. Introduced by the ever enthusiastic and personable Grady Hendrix, director of Subway Cinema, we shook hands and sat down in a café in Midtown. I indicated to Mr. Woo, the interpreter from Korean Society, that I’d conduct the interview in Korean. I realized that my Korean was a little rusty during the interview, and was glad Mr. Woo stuck around to help for our brief session. Thank you Mr. Woo.
Continue Reading "NYAFF 09 Interview: ROUGH CUT’s So Ji-Sub"...
To the surprise of pretty much nobody [REC]2 - the sequel to the Spanish zombie hit that spawned Quarantine as an English language remake - has just been announced as the opening night film for the 2009 edition of Sitges. Sitges was the launching site for the original so expectations have always been that the sequel would take its bow there as well but just because a piece of news is expected doesn’t mean it’s not good.
Check the trailer and clips from [REC]2 below the break!
Continue Reading "[REC]2 To Open Sitges 2009!"...
Because Fantasia program director Mitch Davis is incredibly proud of and excited by this event and will positively explode if somebody doesn’t show it some love soon, I present the following:
HELL ON EARTH: THE FILMS OF BUDDY GIOVINAZZO
A special tribute to one of the USA’s most unsettling independent voices, known for his haunting depictions of everyday horrors: poverty, addiction, violence and abandonment. Enormously powerful, honest and raw, the shattering work of filmmaker and novelist Buddy Giovinazzo has rarely been shown in this country. To right this wrong, we’ll be paying special tribute to the man with the International Premiere of his new feature, LIFE IS HOT IN CRACKTOWN, and a special screening of the filmmaker’s own 16mm answer print of his seldom-seen director’s cut of COMBAT SHOCK. Giovinazzo will be in town to host both screenings. CRACKTOWN, which stars Kerry Washington, Illeana Douglas, Brandon Routh, RZA and Lara Flynn Boyle, opened this past Friday (July 26) in the United States, to critical acclaim, albeit in a version that needed to be toned down before it could get into theatres. We will be screening Giovinazzo’s original cut, the first time the complete version will have been seen anywhere in the world.
[Our thanks to Christopher Bourne for the following review.]
A very lengthy feature (three hours and fifteen minutes) which, like Ryosuke Hashiguchi’s film All Around Us (also screening as part of Japan Cuts), deals with the criminal justice system in Japan, and that is as deliciously engrossing as it is disturbing, Gen Takahashi’s Confessions of a Dog is perhaps the most devastating indictment of Japan’s police ever committed to film. Following in the great tradition of, and likely inspired by, Sidney Lumet’s stories of police corruption such as Serpico and Prince of the City (which this film is most analogous to), Confessions of a Dog maps out with surgical precision the anatomy of police crimes, and the system which supports and enables them.
Continue Reading "Japan Cuts Review: CONFESSIONS OF A DOG"...
