The 14th edition of Berlin & Beyond (B&B), the Bay Area’s annual week-long festival of new films from Germany, Austria and Switzerland, will take place at the Castro Theater from January 15 to 21, 2009. I walked into the festival’s press conference hoping to find three particular films in the line-up—Christian Petzold’s Jerichow, Götz Spielmann’s Revanche and Uli Edel’s The Baader Meinhof Complex. I’m happy to say that two of my three wishes came true.

The one that didn’t, The Baader Meinhof Complex, seemed like such an obvious choice for this year’s B&B. It’s Germany’s 2008 Oscar submission and was just nominated for a Golden Globe as Best Foreign Language Film. Festival Director Ingrid Eggers explained that B&B tried hard to secure the film, but regrettably couldn’t make it happen. The movie depicts the 1960s/1970s German terrorist group RAF (Red Army Faction), and Eggers assures us it will arrive in the Bay Area later this year.

Nonetheless, there’s a lot of great stuff in this year’s line-up. Director Christian Petzold makes his fifth B&B appearance with Jerichow, which garnered great reviews at this year’s Venice Film Festival. The film stars Petzold regulars Nina Hoss and Benno Fürmann, and shares a plot with The Postman Always Rings Twice. Revanche is Austria’s Oscar entry for this year’s Best Foreign Language Film, and tells the tale of a Ukrainian prostitute, her boyfriend and the aftermath of a bank robbery gone horribly wrong. Friends who saw it at Toronto came back raving. Speaking of Oscar submissions, Switzerland’s 2008 entry The Friend, will also screen at B&B. The film’s director Micha Lewinsky, has also won the festival’s MK Award for Best First Feature, which carries a $5,000 cash prize.

Continue Reading "BERLIN & BEYOND 2009—Michael Hawley Previews the Line-up"...

This one’s just a quickie but another music promo has turned up for Bollywood kung fu comedy Chandni Chowk To China -  the film that features the legendary Gordon Liu in the villain role!

The first-ever Bollywood kung fu comedy, “Chandni Chowk to China” follows one man’s passage from simple cook to kung fu fighter, on a thrilling, madcap journey from the by-lanes of Chandni Chowk in Delhi, India, to the grandeur of the Great Wall of China and beyond. Akshay Kumar stars as Sidhu, a simple cook from Chandni Chowk who longs to escape his dreary existence. He sees his chance when two strangers from China claim him to be the reincarnation of a war hero from the past and entreat him to come back with them to their village in China. Dreaming of the princely existence that awaits him, Sidhu blissfully sets out for China, never suspecting that he is being set up to take on the vicious smuggler Hojo (Gordon Liu) and help his new friends reclaim their village.

This one releases world wide in mid-January - and when will the rest of the world realize that India’s got this international releasing thing worked out and learn a few lessons from them? - and you’ll find all the promos below the break.

Continue Reading "Another Music Promo For Bollywood Kung Fu Comedy CHANDNI CHOWK TO CHINA"...

Good news today for fans of Japanese comedian / writer / director / musician Kankuro Kudo - he of Ping Pong and Zebraman fame!  While there is still no full trailer for his latest directorial effort, punk rock comedy Shonen Merikensack, there are a pair of brand new videos designed to introduce us to the band:  Akio, Jimmy, Young and Haruo.  Made up of a blend of actual footage from the film, behind the scenes reels and interview spots each of these new videos gives a good look at two of Kudo’s main characters.  Excited for this one?  You bet.

You’ll find the character reels and earlier teaser below the break.

Continue Reading "Meet Kankuro Kudo’s SHONEN MERIKENSACK Punk Rockers!"...

We’ve been entranced by upcoming Bollywood musical kung fu comedy Chandni Chowk To China since coming acros the first teaser some months back.  Sure, we were drawn in originally by the presence of legendary kung fu star Gordon Liu in a key support role but what really sealed the deal was the seamless fusion of Bollywood musical and clasical Shaw Brothers styles.  Basically, this thing just looks like buckets of fun.

The first-ever Bollywood kung fu comedy, “Chandni Chowk to China” follows one man’s passage from simple cook to kung fu fighter, on a thrilling, madcap journey from the by-lanes of Chandni Chowk in Delhi, India, to the grandeur of the Great Wall of China and beyond. Akshay Kumar stars as Sidhu, a simple cook from Chandni Chowk who longs to escape his dreary existence. He sees his chance when two strangers from China claim him to be the reincarnation of a war hero from the past and entreat him to come back with them to their village in China. Dreaming of the princely existence that awaits him, Sidhu blissfully sets out for China, never suspecting that he is being set up to take on the vicious smuggler Hojo (Gordon Liu) and help his new friends reclaim their village.

With the global release coming up in mid-January - click here for North American locations - we are now being hit by a string of promotional materials, the latest of which is a new music video.  Check out the new clip along with the teaser, the full trailer and the first music spot below the break.

Continue Reading "Fresh Music Promo For Bollywood Kung Fu Comedy CHANDNI CHOWK TO CHINA!"...

Warner Bros. Pictures has provided us the official poster and two photo stills for Chandni Chowk To China, a slapstick comedy film that can be best described as a Bollywood musical meets Shaw Brothers kung fu flicks.  Heres the official synopsis: 

The first-ever Bollywood kung fu comedy, “Chandni Chowk to China” follows one man’s passage from simple cook to kung fu fighter, on a thrilling, madcap journey from the by-lanes of Chandni Chowk in Delhi, India, to the grandeur of the Great Wall of China and beyond. Akshay Kumar stars as Sidhu, a simple cook from Chandni Chowk who longs to escape his dreary existence. He sees his chance when two strangers from China claim him to be the reincarnation of a war hero from the past and entreat him to come back with them to their village in China. Dreaming of the princely existence that awaits him, Sidhu blissfully sets out for China, never suspecting that he is being set up to take on the vicious smuggler Hojo (Gordon Liu) and help his new friends reclaim their village.

The film will open in select theaters across major cities in North America on January 16th.  For the full theater listing in United States and Canada, click here.  You can check a larger version of the poster and a gallery of stills at the link below as well as some trailers after the break.

Continue Reading "Poster and Stills for CHANDNI CHOWK TO CHINA"...

Now, now. Before you get yourself all flustered and excitable this is not going to be THAT kind of Japanese school girl collection of videos. There are other sites for that kind of stuff. Or so I am led to believe [wink wink nudge nudge]. Rather, this latest in Twitch Video Player salutes will pay tribute to some of the ‘safer’ examples of Japanese cinema where the Japanese school girl in all her sailor suit glory plays a key part in said film. God bless the Japanese culture for insisting that their female high school students continue to this day to dress like naval cadets and keep every Japanese businessman’s libido in check. I’d like to see a Catholic school girl handle herself like her Japanese counterpart. ‘Nuff said.

We’ve got the full range here folks: from the newest Z-grade zombie versus school girl action, class trips gone awry, girl bands and tempura forearms. Nonetheless, it will be an enjoyable selection to browse through.

Continue Reading "The Twitch Video Player salutes the Japanese school girl!"...

Gordon Liu in a Bollywood film?  It’s happened and it’s coming to screens around the world - yes, even here in North America - in January.  The film is Chandni Chowk To China and whoever realized that Shaw Brothers kung fu flicks and classic Bollywood musicals were siblings seperated at birth - seriously, it’s shocking how well the two influences merge - deserves a big ol’ hug.

The story revolves around an Indian cook who travels to China to train in kung fu, believing he is the reincarnation of an ancient Chinese warrior, but really all you need to know is that this looks like great big buckets of fun.  The brand new theatrical trailer and a new music video have just joined the earlier teaser online and all three are brilliant.  Check them out below the break.

Continue Reading "Bollywood Goes Kung Fu!  Full Trailer Arrives For CHANDNI CHOWK TO CHINA!"...

Back when Todd and I were in college he had convinced the rest of our classmates that he was of the intellectual artsy kind and got himself elected as our Creative Arts Chair. At that time no one was on par with him when it came to knowing the music scene within that faith based community. So what did Todd do? Found the nearest tour with some of the best bands around at the time and brought them to Toronto. How much did that take of his annual budget? Oh, all of it. How many people showed up? Oh, a handful.

Other than blowing an annual arts budget on a one night concert in front of a throng of a couple dozen fans the one thing that sticks with me to this day was seeing these band members chilling out in empty dorm rooms. Completely ignorant to the way of life of a musician I was expecting something… better for them. After all, these bands played in arenas in front of thousands at some shows. But here they were, lying on mattresses on rickety bed frames writing letters to their wives, and or, girlfriends. Some of these guys were, dare I say given the context, icons in that faith based music industry. Something didn’t seem right. I was witnessing first hand the glorious life of the touring musician.

Continue Reading "DVD Review: Working Class Rock Star"...

[Twitch-O-Meters will remain at the top of the page for the duration of the day they were published. Please scroll down for today’s film news]
Time flies when you’re having fun, especially if you can’t count.
I expected that shortly we’d have to do a special Twitch-O-Meter because number 100 was coming up. But when I finished counting them all, guess what: I was already too late. Last week was actually the hundredth of these that got published.
Which makes this Twitch-O-Meter number 101.
And that gave me the idea to put up a list with links to all the 100 which had come before. 
Sometimes we do get asked what the Twitch-O-Meter is supposed to be, or what its purpose is. What it is is quickly answered: it’s a weekly column, mostly (but not always) in the form of a list or a countdown.
What the purpose is takes a bit longer to explain, but it basically amounts to this: here at Twitch, most of the time we write about news. New movies, new plans from actors and directors, new DVDs…
But we didn’t become film fans because of news. We started to love films because of specific titles, specific events, specific genre highlights. The Twitch-O-Meter was invented so we had a chance to write about things we love and hate. And to share opinions and other stuff which does not necessarily constitute news.
These are our labors of love, or at least they should be. And what have we done with the freedom this column grants us? Find out after the break!

Continue Reading "What Came Before 101: A Big List Of All Twitch-O-Meters So Far"...

I should have written this up after I saw this at TADFF. That would have been the proper thing to do but this was just one of those movies that I really wanted to write up but somehow found myself stymied to come up with a review. But with the one week of screenings starting tonight here in Toronto at our beloved Bloor Cinema the time is right to chime in. Love triangles, family betrayal, secrets and lies are all en vogue as Repo! delves into sonic darkness

Repo! takes place in the near future when an epidemic of organ failures devastates the planet and the scientific community gears up for a massive organ harvest. A biotech corporation, Genco, comes up with easy organ payment plans. Need a heart? Why not put that new one on easy monthly installments? How about that spine? Spread that hefty fee over time instead of today. But, these organs are subject to legal default, failure to meet your payments could include repossession at the hands of Genco’s repo men. You thinking missing payments on your car is bad? Hardly.

Continue Reading "Repo! The Genetic Opera: One week event at The Bloor Cinema!"...

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"...

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"...

[This post bumped back to the top of the page because a) Cory McAbee is a hugely underappreciated genius, b) this new project looks ten kinds of awesome and c) the trailer is now in the Twitch Player below the break.]

There are several fans around these parts of The Billy Nayer Show frontman Cory McAbee and his delightfully offbeat film projects.  His first feature film, The American Astronaut gets a fair bit of play in the Halfyard household, and has developed tidy cult following that should welcome what looks to be this quasi-sequel of sorts.  Judging by the stills found on the official site, Stingray Sam looks to be a serialized project that is shaping up to a full feature for Sundance 2009 (echoes of Guy Maddin‘s peep-show assembled feature, Cowards Bend the Knee).  There simply are not enough space-western-musicals out there - nice to see that the BNS is looking out for us.

A dangerous mission reunites Stingray Sam with his long lost accomplice, The Quasar Kid. Follow these two space-convicts as they earn their freedom in exchange for the rescue of a young girl who is being held captive by the genetically designed figurehead of a very wealthy planet. This musical space-western miniseries is designed for small screens and perfect for screens of all sizes.

We also anxiously await any movement on Werewolf Hunters of the Midwest (Let the stars align for this, please) and Stingray Sam looks like a very pleasant surprise until that happens.

Continue Reading "American Astronaut fans Looky Here, It’s the STINGRAY SAM Trailer!"...

This is a blatant plug for a film that definitely deserves more love.  As a part of the Serbian Film Festival in Toronto (which apparently has no web presence), the ‘most expensive movie ever made in Serbia,’ Tears for Sale (aka Charleston and Vendetta) is screening one time only:  Tonight at 7pm.  Todd and I both caught this Luc Besson produced film at the 2008 edition of the Toronto International Film Festival and fell in love with Uros Stojanovic‘s brash visuals and whimsical-melancholic story telling.  Tears for Sale lives up to the work of masters Jean Pierre Jeunet and Terry Gilliam at their most experimental.  For those not in Toronto, the DVD (and hopefully Blu-Ray version where this will really shine) cannot come out soon enough.

One of the several trailers is after the jump.  Others can be found at the link below.

Continue Reading "Attention Toronto Locals!  TEARS FOR SALE at The Bloor Cinema TONITE!"...

Jaycee Chan is Sid, the son of a small Triad boss who spends his time drumming in a band and fooling around with the woman of a rival gang boss. It is only a matter of time before they are caught and Sid’s arrogance gets the better of himself and he insults the rival gang boss Ma. Desperate to save his son’s life Sid’s father sends him to Taiwan to lay low until things cool down.

One morning Sid awakens to the sound of drumming coming from the mountains. At the end of his hike he comes upon a group of Zen drummers training. Hypnotized by the rhythm of the beat he desires to join the group. He begins his journey of self discovery and growth.

Kenneth Bi’s The Drummer was tonight’s opening film at the Reel Asian Film Festival.

Continue Reading "Reel Asian 2008: The Drummer"...