[Our thanks to Ben Umstead for the following review.]
Sold out show. Standby line. Director Sion Sono in person. A crowd from 18-80: men, women, White, Asian, Black, Latino, everybody, anybody with a taste for the real, weird, wacky. I don’t want to over hype the fest screening nor the film itself (which won the Fipresci prize at this year’s Berlinale and played to sold out shows in Japan for three months) but when one feels the energy popping like I did on Friday night, one can’t help but know exactly why cinema does the wonderful things it does. And Love Exposure contains many wonderful things – Catholicism, cults, up-skirt photography, kung fu, cross-dressing – and over its epic (lean) 4 hour running time it explores all this and more like no other film. Yet when it gets down to it, Love Exposure translates to three
words: susceptibility, devotion and yes, love (in all its quaint and twisted forms). So yeah, get ready, I’m going to ask the question, some of you have been wanting to know… is it Sono’s masterpiece? You bet. I’ll take it one further now… best film of the year? So far… And one more… Will people be expressing their joy for this with physical feats such as reenacting its bonkers street fighting scenes, while others do their geek dances, exclaiming it to be an instant classic? Why yes, how could they not?
Continue Reading "NYAFF 09 Review: LOVE EXPOSURE"...
Joshua Grannell (aka Peaches Christ) and I met up at the Duboce Park Café the Monday after Pride Weekend. As Peaches, Joshua had survived his Pilsner pork pull; an event he agreed to in support of his beloved BLT community. “Every year,” Joshua admitted, “Peaches seems to do less and less [at Pride] in an attempt to reserve energy for the next eight weeks [of Midnight Mass].” Being that it’s now official that this is the last year of Midnight Mass at the Bridge Theatre (“Peaches Christ: R.I.P.”), I felt it compulsory to find out what’s up. Although our conversation was primarily to serve my upcoming Fangoria article on Joshua’s recently completed first feature All About Evil (I’ll let you know when that hits the newsstands), I took time to probe about the summer swan song of the 12th season of Midnight Mass.
Continue Reading "MIDNIGHT MASS 2009—Interview With Joshua Grannell (aka “Peaches Christ”)"...
Once again, Michael Hawley helps the Twitch readership keep abreast of one film festival after the other in the San Francisco / Bay Area. Thanks, Michael!
The San Francisco Jewish Film Festival (SFJFF) turns a ripe young age of 29 this year, continuing its reign as the oldest and largest festival of its kind in the world. Over the course of 18 days (July 23 to August 10) SFJFF will present 71 films from 18 countries—showcasing the best Israeli and Jewish Diasporan cinema to emerge in the past year. Although I missed last week’s press conference announcing the line-up, I’ve poured over the catalog and compiled this list of ten programs I don’t want to miss.
Continue Reading "SFJFF09—Michael Hawley Anticipates the Line-Up"...
The San Francisco Film Society’s longstanding working relationship with Film Movement ensures the theatrical exhibition of several festival-lauded films on the Sundance Kabuki’s SFFS Screen. For this, Bay Area audiences should be especially grateful. Recently, Film Movement’s collaboration with SFFS provided Munyurangabo; this week they’re providing Eldorado (July 3-9); and in future weeks they’ll be providing encore screenings of both La Ventana (July 17-23) and Lake Tahoe (July 24-30), which were featured at the 52nd edition of the San Francisco International Film Festival.
This week’s entry, Belgian director Bouli Lanners’ Eldorado—a “small but damn-near perfectly formed serio-comedy” (Leslie Felperin, Variety)—was selected for the 40th anniversary of the Quinzaine des Réalisateurs (Directors’ Fortnight) at the 2008 61st Cannes Film Festival where it won Best European Film. Eldorado was likewise the official entry from Belgium for the 81st Annual Academy Awards (Oscars®), received a special mention at Italy’s Pesaro Film Festival, and was nominated for a César for Best Foreign Feature.
Continue Reading "REVIEW of ELDORADO"...
[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 ...
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.
If you went to watch Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs at the theaters, chances are you might have caught the second trailer for Ilion Studios’ Planet 51. Its a sci-fi animated comedy that has been on my radar for so long. With animation that looks just as good as any other heavyweight studios, Ilion from Spain may prove to be a major contender.
Planet 51 is a galactic sized animated alien adventure comedy revolving around American astronaut Captain Charles “Chuck” Baker, who lands on Planet 51 thinking he’s the first person to step foot on it. To his surprise, he finds that this planet is inhabited by little green people who are happily living in a white picket fence world reminiscent of a cheerfully innocent 1950s America, and whose only fear is that it will be overrun by alien invaders…like Chuck! With the help of his robot companion “Rover” and his new friend Lem, Chuck must navigate his way through the dazzling, but bewildering, landscape of Planet 51 in order to escape becoming a permanent part of the Planet 51 Alien Invaders Space Museum.
The release date is on November 20th. You’ll find both the trailers below after the break
Continue Reading "Second Trailer for Ilion Studios’ PLANET 51"...
So, Ricky’s first feature film as director, writer and lead actor is on its way. I’ll make no bones about it, I am a fan, and although Ghost Town was a slightly underwhelming first foray into leading man territory it was affable enough with charm and sarcastic wit to spare. Taking more creative control this time round, The Invention Of Lying should see him hit his stride with more of the edgy humour from his stand-up routines and The Office, though at first glance the trailer has a whiff of 12A muting. An eclectic if not entirely undesirable supporting cast includes Patrick Stewart, Rob Lowe and an ever expanding Jonah Hill. I’m hopeful.
The Invention of Lying takes place in an alternate reality in which lying - even the concept of a lie - does not even exist. Everyone from politicians to advertisers, to the man and woman on the street speaks the truth and nothing but the truth with no thought of the consequences. But when a down-on-his-luck loser named Mark (Ricky Gervais) suddenly develops the ability to lie, he finds that dishonesty has its rewards. In a world where every word is assumed to be the absolute truth, Mark easily lies his way to fame and fortune. But lies have a way of spreading, and Mark begins to realise that things are getting a little out of control when some of his tallest tales are being taken as, well, gospel. With the entire world now hanging on his every word, there is only one thing Mark has not been able to lie his way into: the heart of the woman he loves.
You can check out the trailer below the break. It’s due an October 2009 theatrical release in UK.
Continue Reading "Ricky Gervais in a trailer for THE INVENTION OF LYING"...
Seventy years later and 1939 is still hailed as a benchmark year for Hollywood cinema. Celebrating that fact, this evening The Castro Theatre launches its 18-film tribute to 1939, including such classics as Son of Frankenstein and The Man They Could Not Hang, At the Circus and You Can’t Cheat An Honest Man, They Made Me A Criminal and Each Dawn I Die, The Women and Ninotchka, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington and Destry Rides Again, Wuthering Heights and Goodbye, Mr. Chips, Tarzan Finds A Son and Another Thin Man, Gunga Din and The Hunchback of Notre Dame, wrapping up with Golden Boy and Only Angels Have Wings.
If you prefer your home entertainment system to a movie palace, at least 10 of those titles are likewise included in Turner Classic Movies’ 39-film tribute “1939—70th Anniversary of Hollywood’s Greatest Year.” Each Thursday night through the month of July, TCM will shoot off 1939’s most celebrated fireworks, including all 10 Best Picture Oscar® Nominees (reminding—in the light of recent events—that everything old is new again). Robert Osborne offers a preview of the festival at Now Playing: The Show and the full schedule can be found at TCM’s website. TCM’s “39 From 1939” Film Festival also features the premiere of the new Warner Home Video documentary 1939 (2009), which recounts the astonishing accomplishments of Hollywood during this historic film year.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has, of course, been screening all 10 Best Picture Oscar® Nominees throughout the Summer, with only four screenings left to go.
Of related interest, at One Way Street Alan Rode angles in on 1939 by way of a sterling portrait of “the incredible twelve month run of film roles by the great character actor, Thomas Mitchell.”
And, of course, no survey of any given year in cinema history would be complete without a tip of the hat to Thom Ryan’s Film of the Year. He chose Confessions of a Nazi Spy as his focus on 1939.
So, out of sheer curiosity, what is your favorite film from 1939?
Cross-published on The Evening Class.
Oh Hong Kong you’re so wacky. While a gweilo like me could never fully understand this brand of nonsense comedy there is a certain delirious joy when watching them. They’re just so out there that even without understanding them and all their cultural nuances fully they are no less entertaining. For example we have the trailer for Wong Jing’s upcoming nonsense comedy On His Majesty’s Secret Service. Though quite unlike the James Bond film of the same name from 1969 a quick search couldn’t pick up a lot of details about this film. Thus, I first found what I hoped was a description of the film to the more qualified and sanitary skills of Google Translate and this is what it came up with…
The film story takes place in ancient times, the emperor has to have a direction to 12 named after zodiac ... personal protection. Louis Koo as one of nine days, the representative of the high sign of the Zodiac “dog”, also known as the “灵灵dog,” he indulged in technology will certainly insist that the technology will be better than kung fu, but his inventions are in action on many occasions was busy in doing so out of tune with the other agent, and only his brother, “灵灵Tiger” and fiancee, “Mei hope that” duty-bound to support him. But the face of an infatuated Mei hope, wonder dog灵灵style was unmoved. At this point, the major opponent just Tso ambitious, desire to kill the emperor replaced, but he must first get rid of the dog led to灵灵大内密探. What is unexpected is the father-in-law of conspiracy Cao is only the tip of the iceberg,灵灵dog will have to face more and more powerful enemy, the palace seems to calm potentially dangerous, murderous hidden.
Then a little more digging found this much more coherent synopsis over at Far East Films...
The secret service has been responsible for protecting the Emperor for generations and 12 agents are always assigned to bodyguard duty. Amongst the current group, Zero Zero Dog (Louis Koo) is considered to be the weakest as he shows no interest in the martial arts and spends his time studying technology and creating inventions. When Dog stumbles upon an evil plot to kill the Emperor by the chief eunuch, Cao Yan Chui (Fan Siu Wong), he decides to prove everyone wrong and vanquish the enemy himself.
The film stars stars Louis Koo, Big S Barbie Hsu, Fan Siu Wong, Leung Kar Yan, Liu Yi Wei, Sandra Ng, Law Kar Ying, Chen Jia Jia, and Sang Wei Lin. The trailer is loaded up after the break and I am a tad disappointed that the sound is out of sync but you definitely get the gist of the film. Martial arts, crazy characters and zany comedy are after the break!
Continue Reading "Trailer for zany Chinese comedy ‘On His Majesty’s Secret Service’!"...
Ning Hao’s Crazy Stone showed the world China could manage Ocean’s 11 on a shoestring budget, but he was neither the first nor the last to try a caper movie on the mainland. Liu Jiang’s 2008 debut Set Off was another crime comedy also helped to release by a venture capital program specifically designed to help up-and-coming directors – was it less successful for good reason or do genre fans have another reason to celebrate? Find out after the break.
Continue Reading "SET OFF review"...
[Our thanks to Pat Dahn for the following review.]
QUICK GUN MURUGAN is a blast. Based on a series of shorts made for MTV India in the early 90s, it successfully expands that colorful ‘attitude’ into a feature-length movie. Now, I never watched MTV India and my recollection of the US version is fuzzy at best, but I do remember those strange little animations and station spots were always the most interesting things they programmed.
Quick Gun Murugan is a vegetarian cowboy - a sweet, gentle man of values who shoots many people in the head. An outlandish figure, colorful beyond convention, he seems as out of place in 1982 as he does in modern Mumbai.
Continue Reading "NYAFF 09 Review: QUICK GUN MURUGAN"...
Though he’s been brewing his particular brand of madness for a good long while now it wasn’t until the arrival of Machine Girl that writer-director Noboru Iguchi really made an impression here in North America. But when he did, it was a big one - his fetishized story of a high school girl whose arm is replaced by a giant machine gun becoming a genuine viral phenomenon as it raced through the web. And how has Iguchi followed up the success of Machine Girl? With robotic geishas. Lots of them.
RoboGeisha is the latest collaboration between Iguchi and special effects man Yoshihiro Nishimura - himself the director of Tokyo Gore Police - and it bears all of the now-classic hallmarks of the duo: outrageous special effects, grotesquely hilarious gore and weapons where weapons just should not go. Machine Girl had the mechanized arm. Iguchi’s earlier Sukeban Boy had leg and breast cannons. Nishimura’s Tokyo Gore Police has the infamous penis cannon. RoboGeisha? This one boasts what the trailer graciously describes as hip-katanas, though the swords are actually placed considerably lower and more to the rear. Yes, Iguchi’s latest has ass-swords and women who aren’t afraid to use them. And that’s not even mentioning the giant robot-building, the transforming geisha-tank or the fried shrimp rammed into eye sockets.
The trailer for RoboGeisha is a virtual compendium of the bizarre and hilarious world of Iguchi, all of it narrated in bizarrely dry style. We’re very proud to have been given the world exclusive of the trailer here at Twitch, passed to us directly from production company TO Entertainment, and you can find it below the break!
Continue Reading "Noboru Iguchi Says ‘Geisha Is Beautiful! Geisha is Robot!’ It’s the ROBOGEISHA Trailer!"...
