[The Udine Far East Film Festival celebrates its tenth edition this year. The lady friend and I rolled in to town last night and while we missed yesterday’s screenings one of the late pictures was Muay Thai Chaiya, a film I’ve seen and greatly enjoyed previously, so I’m pulling my previous review forward here.]
Kongkiat Khomsiri’s debut as a solo director after being part of the gang behind ultra-gorey Art of the Devil 2 will strike many as familiar on more than one level. Drawing on the tried and true story of three poor friends from the country drawn to the big city by the promise of fame and fortune only to be forced apart by forces outside their control, Muay Thai Chaiya follows one of the most popular structures in Asian action films - one drawn on earlier this year in Alexi Tan’s Blood Brothers and prominent in kung fu and action films from the golden age onwards. Now, if Khmosiri has failed to do the story justice you could reasonably criticize the man for simply repeating what had come before but there’s a very good reason why this particular structure keeps coming back - in good hands it produces remarkable results and Khomsiri’s hands are sure enough and his story laced with just enough novel elements to keep things feeling fresh and vital throughout.
Continue Reading "FANTASIA: MUAY THAI CHAIYA Review"...
While it makes the unfortunate mis-step of ending weaker than it begins it is hard to fault French animated omnibus Fear[s] of the Dark too much for that. When you have a project as unique and compelling as this one, one driven by the distinct personalities of a diverse collection of artists, there are sure to be certain segments that connect with certain members of the audience more than others, that’s just the way of things. And when your project hits the audience with something as flat out stunning as the Charles Burns entry to the anthology in the early going it is simply well nigh impossible not to slip back a little bit over time.
Continue Reading "FANTASIA: FEAR[S] OF THE DARK Review"...
[Another review pulled forward from the archive to coincide with the film’s screening at this year’s Udine Far East Film Festival, this one my review of Takashi Miike’s Crows 0, originall reviewed when it screened at the American Film Market.]
As the final credits rolled up the screen at the end of Takashi Miike’s Crows 0 Fantasia programming honcho Mitch Davis, clearly riding an adrenaline high from what we’d just witnessed, turned to me and commented that this was arguably the most commercially minded film that Takashi Miike has ever done. Obviously, yes, this is true on at least one very important level - the film having just opened in the number one spot at the Japanese box office - but on another it is still very much a Takashi Miike film though and through.
Put Ichi the Killer, Audition, Gozu and the like out of your mind for a moment and think instead about the fistful of films Miike has done about growing up young and poor in Osaka, films he has repeatedly said are his most personal and the most important to him among his extensive filmography, particularly the Young Thugs pictures. Placed in that context it is immediately obvious why Miike was offered the chance to adapt this popular and hugely successful manga, just as it’s immediately obvious why he jumped at the chance: Crows 0 is essentially a third Young Thugs film, albeit it one played out on a larger scale and with higher production values than earlier efforts. The end result? You’ll come for the fights, but you’ll stay for the characters. Brash, playfully violent, full of an over riding love of life, and absolutely filled with little character flourishes that bring the world to life Crows 0 is an effective, engaging, touching and hugely entertaining reminder that Miike has plenty of substance to back up his style and that the man has absolutely never gotten the respect he deserves for his ability to work with young actors.
Continue Reading "Udine Report: CROWS 0 Review"...
Over the course of the AFM we were given a first peek at clips from Aussie doc Not Quite Hollywood, a hugely entertaining piece of work detailing the rise of Australian genre film throughout the seventies. We’re still hoping to get our hands on some stills or footage to share but in the mean time here’s the appropriately goofy poster image.
While doing our initial scan of AFM titles, Japanese cult picture Negative Happy, Chainsaw Edge took the prize for best title - a prize it easily maintained throughout the course of the market. Now I’m told that despite the large, chainsaw wielding man this is primarily a relationship drama which makes it far stranger, and even better, in my book and we’re pleased to show off the lovely English language poster for the picture from the market floor. Nummy.
While we’re still hoping to share the trailer for Noboru Igushi’s Machine Girl with you all sometime in the near future a quick scan of the booths at AFM turned up a very fun poster for the film and now that I’m back at home the scanner is purring away and I present it to you now. Check the archives for more news on this one ...
Oh, lordy ... this is going to be good.
New on the slate of HD Net Films is upcoming Aussie doc Not Quite Hollywood, which spills the largely unknown history of Australian cult films from the 70s and 80s. The Australia of the period was cranking out low budget exploitation films with the best of them and there are some truly fantastic little gems from the era that have since slipped into obscurity. There’s no trailer for this one yet but I did get a look at a promo reel that included the title sequence - which is absolutely giddy - and complete sequences detailing cult classics Patrick - about a catatonic telekinetic man - and The Man From Hong Kong - a 70’s chop socky film starring an incredibly belligerent Jimmy Wang Yu and George Lazenby with Sammo Hung in a support role. Not only is this thing incredibly informative thanks to the heavy involvement of the original directors, producers and stars - not to mention the ubiquitous Quentin Tarantino - but it’s also just way, way, way too much fun thanks to some snappy editing and the simple fact that everybody involved clearly knows they were making pulp and love it as such. Watch for more on this one soon ...
We’ve just received word from the folks at Cinema Epoch that they plan on launching an as-yet untitled - or, at least, if they have titled it they haven’t told me the name - new series of Asian Arthouse DVDs and they have just acquired their first block of titles for the series. And if this is any indication of what is to come then we’re in for a major treat. First up is much acclaimed omnibus feature Ten Nights of Dreams - which features contributions from Yudai Yamaguchi, Kon Ichikawa, and Takashi Shimizu among others - with Shinji Aoyama’s Desert Moon, Royston Tan’s 4:30, Office Kitano production Ikinai and Lee Kwang-Mo’s Spring In My Hometown following close behind. Yes, please.
Good news for fans of Stuart Gordon: his long rumored return to the world of H.P. Lovecraft is a rumor no more. The Thing At The Doorstep is apparently scripted, funded, and will go before cameras in 2008 thanks to producers Moonstone Entertainment. For those unfamiliar, here’s a synopsis:
Psychiatrist Edward Derby’s life is fairly ordinary until the seductive and troubled Asenath Waite enters his office. Obviously suffering from severe psychological problems, she claims her debilitated grandfather Ephraim is trying to take over her body ... literally.
Edward is unable to resist the intense sexual chemistry between them. When Edward and Asenath make passionate love, Edward feel that he has switched places with her ... and he has! While staring back into his own eyes, he realizes this woman’s diagnosis won’t be found in any medical textbook.
After taking over Asenath’s body and destroying her soul, Ephraim sets his sights on Edward as his next host.
Edward must destroy Ephraim before he loses his own body and soul.
Moonstone also have Tobe Hooper’s adaptation of Stephen King’s From a Buick 8 on their slate.
Prior to packing up for today’s departure from the American Film Market I opted to make one last spin through the market offices to see what I may have missed one earlier treks and was greatly rewarded when I wandered in to the realm of Essential Entertainment, home to producer Samuel Hadida. Essential have two huge projects on the go that are of great interest in these parts ...
First is Christophe Gans’ adaptation of Onimusha, the high octane supernatural martial arts video game. There have been rumors about this film seemingly forever and it is now well underway and deep into the preproduction process with an eye to shooting in early 2008. Cast and finance are in place, the entire thing is storyboarded and I was treated to a look at animatic treatments of two major action sequences - the opening battle and the final one on one duel that closes the picture. This thing is going to be simply huge and, if the opening survives as currently envisioned, very bloody. Takeshi Kaneshiro will play the role of Samanosuke - a role he also filled in the original game - with Tsuyoshi Ihara and Emilie de Ravin rounding out the headline cast. While the people manning the office weren’t sure who would be filling the secondary fighters roles Tony Ching is handling the choreography so you know it’s going to be good.
The second big essential title is Solomon Kane which marks the arrival of yet another character from Conan creator Robert E Howard to the big screen. Michael Bassett of Wilderness is directing from his own script, which marks a huge step up from the scale of his previous work. There were fewer materials from this to look at but the pre-production art is gorgeous, the script and storyboards are all complete and, again, filming is due to start in 2008.
While there has been no official word on this as of yet word has begun to circulate that the Weinstein Company have acquired rights to Marc Caro’s Dante 01 and Pascal Laugier’s Martyrs, both of which have been covered extensively here at Twitch. With Magnolia picking up Eden Log and the recent acquisitions of both Frontier(s) and Inside this basically leaves Julien Leclerq’s Chrysalis as the lonely orphan of current French genre film - the only one without a US home so far. No word yet on whether the new Weinstein pickups will be getting theatrical releases or going straight to video.
Once the wunderkind of French film, his star shooting to the top thanks to Dobermann, director Jan Kounen has spent the past several years seemingly wandering in the universe, waylaid by a fixation with shamanistic spirituality that may well be good for his soul but led directly to his making the financially disastrous psychedelic western Blueberry. Career detoured or not, however, it was simply a matter of time before Kounen re-emerged on the scene in some form - the man is simply too obvious and significant a visual talent to be left out of the game forever - and he has done so with the striking, ambitious and hyper kinetic 99 Francs, an adaptation of the same novel of the same name by Frederic Beigbeder. The story of an ad executive in the midst of an existential crisis the material seemed at first blush an odd match for the technicolored spirituality of Kounen but in the final analysis I sincerely doubt this film could have been made by anyone else. A stunning technical tour de force the film is a viciously pointed satire of consumer culture, one that delights in pulling down the curtain between perception and reality and yet never forgets that this is still a film and as such it needs to be entertaining. Which it is. Hugely. Never having read the novel I cannot comment on the accuracy of the adaptation but 99 Francs is, without a doubt, the high point of Kounen’s career thus far and will very likely go down as his master work. It is the film that he was seemingly born to make.
Continue Reading "AFM: 99 FRANCS Review"...
So. Walking by the offices of Summit Entertainment yesterday my eye was caught by a poster proclaiming a new film for director Darren Aronofsky, an enormous personal favorite. So, hurray! Aronofsky is making a new one and it starts shooting in January. That’s the good news. The bad news? It’s not Flicker or his lone Wolf and Cub film or any of the other possibilities that have been bandied about. What it is is something titled The Wrestler, starring Nicholas Cage as a washed out WWF wrestler named Randy the Ram trying to fight his way back into the ring following a heart attack brought on by steroid use and the collapse of his personal life.
This seems, to put it mildly, unlikely source material for an Aronofsky film. And, frankly, the idea of Cage playing a wrestler fills me with immense dread of the existential, I think I’m about to begin a slow transformation into a cockroach variety. I’m tempted to say this is purely Aronofsky playing up to Hollywood and trying to do a mainstream money maker to balance out the financial failure of The Fountain but considering that his own Protozoa Pictures is on board as principle production company this is not a for-hire job put on him from outside but something developed internally so here’s hoping there’s more to it than meets the eye ...
We’ve been following the progress of Dark Floors - the upcoming English language horror film starring Finnish monster rock band Lordi - for some time now and the very first footage from the film has been unveiled at the American Film Market, a promo reel for the film playing in front of all the other titles sales agent Nordisk Film are presenting in the market. Yeah, the whole concept is one of the most fantastically ridiculous vanity projects ever conceived - the band star as demonic monsters invading this dimension - but word from the beginning has been that they’re going to play it straight. And having just viewed the promo I can confirm that they’ve done just that. Dark Floors is no tongue in cheek gag played for the band’s legion of fans, this thing is a serious, straight ahead creature based horror film. And it looks shockingly good. Production values are excellent, camera work is sharp, the cast is engaging, the premise surprisingly believable and - most importantly if this is going to work - the band members look pretty damn impressive on screen. Hopefully we’ll be able to share a trailer soon but definitely be on the lookout for this one to hit the festival circuit soon.
Perhaps because it’s coming from a relatively new company rather than one of the usual suspects upcoming martial arts epic An Empress And The Warriors has remained largely under the radar until now, surprising considering it stars Donnie Yen, Leon Lai and Kelly Chen and is directed by legendary martial arts choreographer Tony Ching. I’d say it’s safely on people’s radar screens now. Currently in post production an extended promo reel from the film is screening here at the AFM and it is fantastic stuff. The scope of the film is truly enormous, the production design rich and detailed but the presence of Tony Ching in the director’s chair is enough to guarantee that the film plays far more like a throwback to Hong Kong’s old school classics than it does the new wave of arthouse wuxia. The fights are plentiful and complex, Yen is in fine form - and it’s fun to see him working under someone else’s guidance to give a different spin to his talents - and the rest of the cast is similarly strong. Look for a trailer to appear online soon.
