A film like this sells itself, really.  Hot girls, big guns, gratuitous cleavage shots and the self proclaimed “Greatest Chick Fight In Cinema History”.  This is what makes up Rick Jacobson’s Bitch Slap, a film we’ve covered extensively in these pages, and a film that now features a brand new trailer.  The first trailer was purely an exercise in style, a chance to show off the look of the film - and its leading ladies - while this trailer runs longer and delves a little deeper into the actual storyline by including little things such as dialogue.  So strap in and get ready, both trailers are below the break in the Twitch Player.

Continue Reading "More Breasts. More Guns. More Slapping.  A Second Trailer For Rick Jacobson’s BITCH SLAP!"...

Well, well, here’s a lovely surprise.  When I first caught wind of a new DVD anthology of early work by animator Michel Ocelot I promptly scooped it up mostly just to get a look at how the master’s visual style had developed over the years but also hoping that my limited French would be enough to give me at least a rough idea of what was going on as far as narrative and story.  But, happy day, when the disc turned up in the mail it turned out that despite it not being advertised or listed as such this is a fully English friendly release with subtitles offered not only on the animations but also on the extensive selection of making-of interviews in which Ocelot describes the creation of each and every one of the films included.  So dust off those credit cards, animation fans, this one’s a must.  So, what do you get?  Nine selections, one of which is actually composed of thirteen five minute episodes prepared for French television. 

Continue Reading "LES TRESORS CACHES DE MICHEL OCELOT Review"...

Twitch readers in the United Kingdom should be pleased (hopefully) about the following news. Jasper Sharp, author of Behind the Pink Curtain and co-founder of Midnight Eye web site, will present a special lecture entitled The History and Development of Japanese Pink Film at the Japan Foundation in London. The lecture will occur on December 3, 2008 at 6:30 pm. The event is a part of the British Film Institute’s Wild Japan film series, which commences on December 1st. The program of 35mm ultra-rare screenings includes such titles as In the Realm of the Senses, Blue Film Woman, Gushing Prayer (represented by the still image at the left), Watcher in the Attic and Woods are Wet. Interested viewers should note that Blue Film Woman and Gushing Prayer are being screened from newly struck 35mm English-subtitled prints. Until the September 2008 screenings at Fantastic Fest, neither film had screened outside of Japan since they were released in the late 60s-early 70s. 

Okey dokey. Got ourselves a new trailer for the biopic Ip Man from Hong Kong’s dynamic duo, Wilson Yip and Donnie Yen. Any and all footage continues to impress. The new trailer showed up online and you can find it embedded after the break, along with other trailers and clips. I having troubles grabbing it and loading it up on the Twitch Video Player. For now just enjoy. 

Yes, the punching to the floor is in it!

Continue Reading "New Trailer for biopic ‘Ip Man’!"...

Sure, everybody in the SF world is going to be talking Trek for the next little while but just because the big boys are out playing doesn’t mean the little guys aren’t having a good time, too.

Our thanks go out to Captain Awesome for living up to his name tonight and sending along a link to the first stills from Hunter Prey, along with an interview with its creator, Sandy Collora.  Think that name sounds familiar?  That’d be because Collora is the man behind Batman: Dead End, arguably the best fan film ever made, with Hunter Prey standing as his first foray into the fiction world.  You’d be forgiven for thinking Boba Fett from those armor designs but, no, this is an original story and original concept cooked up by Collora and hsi writing collaborator Nick Damon.

Anybody remember the last time people got excited for a Star Trek movie?  Neither do I, so well done JJ Abrams, you’ve brought a once proud franchise back from the brink.  But what have you done with it?  The first chance to see comes tonight with the trailer now online ... Alas, I’m behind a firewall that won’t let me actually see the stupid thing, so I’ll have to rely on you lot to tell me what I’m missing.

Notoriety can be a boon, and the best example of that is the movie “Faces of Death”. To say the video version of it was famous in the eighties is a major understatement!
My classroom could be divided into two groups: the people who had seen “Faces of Death” and were bragging about it, and the people who didn’t want to see it and thought it was disgusting.

Even now, thirty years after its original release, few people I’ve mentioned this title to have seen it but everyone seems to have heard of it. Even when they’re not sure of the title, you’ll surely get a reaction when you mention “people clubbing a monkey to death and eating its brains”. Ah, THAT movie!

I was always in group number two. I thought watching real-life footage of people dying just to satisfy your morbid curiosity was disgusting and in poor taste at best, and criminally vile at worst. So I wasn’t exactly jumping for the chance to review this disc, until I heard about (of all things) the commentary track.

For this edition’s greatest virtue over previous versions is that director Conan LeCilaire finally tackles all controversies concerning the footage in this film, and candidly divulges which parts are real and which are fake.
Indeed, this is a prime example of the extras being better than the film, and I go as far as to say that in this case they actually warrant the purchase of this movie if you have any interest whatsoever in exploitation cinema, documentaries, mockumentaries or just plain horror.

More after the break!

Continue Reading "FACES OF DEATH 30TH ANNIVERSARY DVD Review"...

Jonás Cuarón’s début is an exciting, charming and genuinely touching coming-of-age movie that defies conventional generic boundaries. The son of Alfonso, Cuarón Jr. draws on many notions from his father’s work and indeed the broader context of recent Mexican cinema; a cross generational relationship, the trials of puberty and the fleeting moments that shape young lives, so intense and affecting at the time yet painfully short-lived.  But here they are shaped into an experimental and fresh piece of work that resembles the exotic child from a union between La Jetée and Y Tu Mamá También. A documentary spliced with coming-of-age drama composed entirely of still photographs edited into a narrative that spans a year in the lives of Molly (Eireann Harper), a 21 year old American travelling through Mexico, and Diego (Diego Cataño), a typically and perpetually horny 14 year old – naïve, romantic and troubled by a persistent ingrowing toenail.

Continue Reading "Año Uña (Year of the Nail) Review"...

I know, I know ... I shouldn’t make fun of those who don’t speak English as a first language but it’s hard sometimes and the tag lines on the English poster for upcoming Thai action flick Fireball made me giggle.  But, trust me, if all this film had going for it was a goofy tagline there’s no way I’d be posting about it.

The new film by the director of Opapatika - a flawed but fascinating bit of work - Fireball is the stuff of instant cult hits:  a full contact combat sports movie fusing all out muay thai action with - of all things - basketball.  Yes, it’s a goofy premise but they’re going for it and while there is not yet a trailer that they’re willing to show in public for this yet there is a sales reel that I’ve managed to see and it looks like a crazy good time, a bone crunching blood sport that pushes its premise as far as it possibly can.

So, no trailer but I do have the brand new posters - both Thai and English versions - and a quintet of stills to share.  Hit the link below for those.

We’ve been tracking the progress of Cashback director Sean Ellis’ forway into the horror world for quite some time now and actually ran an early version of the French trailer for his latest effort, The Broken, a while back.  But that version of the trailer featured some unfinished post production work and so we subsequently removed it from the site and have since only been able to show the very different Japanese trailer.  Well, apparently the post is done, the official French website for the film has been launched and front and center is the now-official version of the trailer.

On a busy street in London, Gina thinks she sees herself drive past in her own car. Stunned by this strange event, Gina follows the mystery woman up to her apartment. From here, events take an eerie turn for the worse until Gina’s awareness slides from solid reality into a world that will haunt more than just her nightmares.

Find both trailers below the break in the Twitch Player.

Continue Reading "Once Again, The French Trailer For Sean Ellis’ THE BROKEN With Lena Headey"...

Carl Theodor Dreyer’s 1928 silent film classic The Passion of Joan of Arc is a renowned masterpiece whose rescue from obscurity is the stuff of legend. Long thought to have been lost to fire, the original version was miraculously found in perfect condition in 1981—in a Norwegian mental institution. I first heard of the film through the diaries of Anaïs Nin in her compassionate written portrait of Antonin Artaud, who portrayed the monk Massieu. Long interested in Artaud, I welcomed the opportunity to view the film when it achieved a digital restoration for its Criterion DVD release.

The film details the last hours of Joan of Arc after she has been captured by the English. Her trial, imprisonment, torture and final execution are rendered similarly to a passion play, particularly through Dreyer’s facial close-ups, effected through the use of recently-developed panchromatic film. Renée Jeanne Falconetti (aka “Maria” Falconetti) was commended for her multifaceted performance as Joan, which was her second and last movie role. New Yorker film critic Pauline Kael enthused Falconetti’s turn as Joan of Arc “may be the finest performance ever recorded on film.”

Lack of funds prevented Dreyer from employing the new technology of sound for his film so he elected to shoot it silent, intending it to be watched that way with no musical accompaniment. However, in 1994 composer Richard Einhorn wrote an oratorio based on the movie, entitled “Voices of Light”, which was offered as optional accompaniment on the Criterion DVD release. Einhorn’s oratorio combined with screenings of Dreyer’s The Passion of Joan of Arc proved to be a stunning evening of music theatre. The critically-acclaimed event brought sold-out houses to their feet at the Brooklyn Academy of Music Next Wave Festival; at Avery Fisher Hall in Lincoln Center; at the Kennedy Center and Wolf Trap with the National Symphony; and in dozens of major concert halls across the country. It has now made its way to San Francisco where it will be performed live at the Castro Theatre on Monday evening, November 17, 7:30PM in a co-presentation with Pacific Film Archive. There will also be an encore performance on Sunday, November 23, 7:30PM at Hertz Hall on the UC Berkeley Campus.

The concert features the University of California Alumni Chorus, UC Men’s and Women’s Chorales, Perfect Fifth, The Women of UC Berkeley’s Perfect Fifth as the Voice of Joan of Arc, and orchestra. Soloists are David Maier, tenor, and Martin Bell, bass-baritone. Tickets will be available at the door; General Admission $15, Seniors $12. For more information, call (510) 643-9645 or visit the UC Alumni Chorus website.

This spectacular concert will be conducted by Dr. Mark Sumner, director of the UC Choral Ensembles. I had the opportunity to touch base with Dr. Sumner in anticipation of this event shortly before his running out the door to fetch the 35mm print at FedEx. My thanks to Katie Woodruff for facilitating an introduction.

Continue Reading "VOICES OF LIGHT / THE PASSION OF JOAN OF ARC—Interview With Mark Sumner"...

You know, we’ve been writing about Brian Cox-starring revenge thriller Red for so long now that I had just kind of assumed that we had run the trailer before now but no, a quick glance through the video archives says that’s not the case.  And so with the trailer circulating prior to the film’s Norwegian release I remedy that oversight now.

Set in small-town America, Red derives its title from a 14-year-old dog that is the sole companion of Avery (Brian Cox), an older gentleman who lives alone with his memories in a simple existence posing no threat to anyone. One day while he is fishing, three troublesome teens terrorize him and kill the only thing he has left to love in the world—his dog. He sets out on a quest for an apology, but the situation soon escalates into much more.

Why is a film with an almost entirely American cast - and a good one at that, Cox is joined by Tom Sizemore, Amanda Plummer, Robert Englund and the kid who plays Cal in The Riches - getting a theatrical release in Norway after coming and going quietly in North America?  Good question, that.  Red is a Norwegian co-production and though May‘s Lucky McKee was the original director - and is still credited as a co-director - he was replaced during production by Norway’s Trygve Allister Diesen for reasons that are not entirely clear.  North American rights are held by Magnolia, who put it out on DVD last month.

Check the trailer in the Twitch Player below the break.

Continue Reading "A Trailer For Brian Cox In RED"...

My thanks got out to long time regular Twitch reader Glenn for pointing out that Chinese website Crienglish is reporting that Hong Kong star Maggie Cheung - best known in these parts for her frequent collaborations with Wong Kar Wai - will have a minor role in Quentin Tarantino’s Inglorious Bastards.  Now, while I’ve generally been trying to stay clear of Bastards rumors and things - yes, there are a few set pictures of Brad Pitt and Daniel Bruehl out there if you go looking for them, no I’m not posting them - this is a pretty intriguing story.

Cheung is one of Hong Kong’s most respected actresses and has been out of the limelight for a good while.  I’m not sure where you would put her in to this sort of film but I’m sure if Tarantino thought he could get her - he’s an outspoken fan, having released some wkw titles on his Rolling Thunder label back in the day and used his clout to get the Weisteins to release Hero, which she has a major role in - that he would create a spot for her.  Why label it a rumor, then?  Well, Crienglish is arguably even less reliable than a trashy UK tabloid when it comes to fact checking and will run absolutely anything so I wouldn’t consider this one money in the bank until confirmed by more reliable sources.

It was in 2005 that the Asian Film Archive issued the first DVD collection from its archives entitled Singapore Shorts Volume 1, and given its title, you’d come to expect more from this particular anthology series to emerge. It’s been a long three year anticipation for Volume 2 to materialize, which was recently launched last week, but as the adage goes, all good things come to those who wait.

Continue Reading "DVD Review of Asian Film Archive’s SINGAPORE SHORTS VOL 2"...

Last night the annual Edda Awards, our version of the Golden Globes, were held here in Iceland in the midst of the biggest economic disaster we have ever faced. It didn’t come as much of a surprise that Baltasar Kormakur and his production company Blueeyes would rule the ceremony both in nominations and awards. Baltasar’s film White Night Wedding gathered 14 nominations for the hit dramedy and won seven of them, including Best Picture. Reykjavik Rotterdam, a film that Baltasar starred in and produced ended up with five awards, including Best Script and Best Director. Best Short went to Runar Runarsson’s 2 Birds, a film that has been raking up awards at festivals all over the world. Runar was nominated for an Oscar in 2006 for his short The Last Farm and the guy still hasn’t finished film school. I think it’s safe to say that people should be on the look out for this guy when he makes his first feature.
This has been a good year for Icelandic film, with record number of premieres and attendance has been up which is promising and next year there are reported 8 films slated to be released. How the current economic situation will affect those films remains to be seen. Probably some more than others.