The city of Marfa, Texas, is always the kid in the back of class that wildly raises its hand when anyone states Texas is one long flat state. Sitting at an elevation of 4,685 feet, its picturesque mountain ranges and sparse signs of modern human fixtures make it an oasis and retreat from everyday life. Where else can you revel in such land that would make any Spaghetti Western fan drool with awe at the surrounding landscapes that encompass them from all sides as if they had just stepped back into time. Years ago when Paul Thomas Anderson was at his wits end trying to find a place in California to film There Will Be Blood, his location scouts came across the nearly 60,000 acre plus McGuire Ranch that sits several miles south of Marfa. It not only provided a perfect backdrop with its horizon-to-horizon views void of any modern signs of life, but it also had an unused railroad track that ran through its property. It wasn’t California yet it certainly could evoke the Bakersfield, California circa the early 1910’s that Paul Thomas Anderson envisioned for his film (view Twitch exclusive pictures from the set and day one of the Marfa Film Festival here).
Production Designer Jack Frisk and Paul Thomas Anderson scoured the McGuire Ranch dreaming up ideas for where to plant Little Boston, only to return to a location close by an old water tank that ran by the railroad track. It was at this location that Little Boston sprang to life. The current set while still standing is looking like it’s feeling the effects of the very dusty and cross heavy winds that rake across the plains. Electrical wires you would expect to see dotting around the set are nowhere to be found. When it came to building the set they found ropes looked much better onscreen.
Continued after the link bump >
Continue Reading "Marfa Film Festival 2008 – There Will Be Blood on the set of Little Boston"...
I think it goes without saying we have a wicked bag of tricks ready for Fantastic Fest 2008. The first announced details for this year include announcing its retrospective sections of Japanese Pinku and Australian Exploitation films. Other highlights this year will include: a boat ton of badass Danish genre cinema and a amped-up, recreation of the classic William Castle Tingler gimmick! And yes there will be karaoke mayhem and Fantastic Feud craziness will once again spread throughout the festival. Todd alone has so much up his sleeve to delight, dazzle and thrill at this years fest that some will think he is a long lost relative of Merlin. Fantastic Fest 2008 will be pulling out all the stops to top 2007. Also be on the look out for a special June screening of Iguchi’s Machine Girl in Austin. More details after the link bump.
Continue Reading "First Details Emerge for Fantastic Fest 2008 - Japanese Pinku & Aussie Exploitation Retrospectives!!"...
Many of Enzo G. Castellari’s classic movies were made over thirty years ago and I’ve seen them over and over again, with each passing viewing feeling just as fresh and powerful. Mr. Castellari exploded the Italian crime film movement in the early 70’s with High Crime and knocked out a film cannon that is still dazzling and exciting audiences to this day. From Keoma to The Big Racket to Street Law and on, his movies keep enduring and gaining new fans. The power of great cinema is that it works regardless of the person, time or place. Like the best of Sam Peckinpah or Don Siegel (which were huge influences on him), he found a great cinematic voice for men overcoming huge obstacles and journeys through hell and back.
If the rising tide of popularity in 70’s crime cinema has gotten you to see many of these films, yet have never seen High Crime I whole heartedly suggest seeing this film as soon as possible. It’s the one that exploded it all. Seeing it would be like seeing every Spaghetti Western, but not seeing Fistful of Dollars and that just isn’t right. The jury is still out if and when Blue Underground will ever release it on DVD or Blu-ray.
Onto the Interview...
Continue Reading "A BRIEF INTERVIEW WITH A LEGEND OF CINEMA – ENZO G. CASTELLARI"...
As far as festivals go, it gets no better for Japanese film lovers than the annual Nippon Connection held each year in Frankfurt, Germany. It’s a 5 day festival of Japanese cinema that offers an incredibly immersive cultural experience - robot dancing, sushi bar, karaoke lounge, sake lounge, filmmaker panel discussions, lectures from renowned Japanese cinema scholars around the world and just a whole rich set of activities outside of just showing films. There are no red ropes or VIP areas. At Nippon Connection everyone gets to mingle with each other and the filmmakers themselves. It was one of my favorite film festivals and experiences attending one. Highly recommended!
For 2008, the dates are April 2-6, 2008. 150+ films will be screened including the German premiere of APPLESEED: EX MACHINA! New activities include a live performance of Japanese Shibari (Bondage)-Art and a return of all the other great activities that have set this great festival apart. Continue reading for the full press release or hit the link below for their website.
Nippon Connection Website
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A special presentation of Enzo G. Castellari’s 1990: The Bronx Warriors just wrapped here at the 40th Sitges Film Festival. The film screened at the three story balcony movie theater the Cinema Prado. Mr. Castellari himself was on hand to both introduce the film and for a lively Q&A. I have no idea what was said but I can tell you Mr. Castellari bounces with more life and gusto than a 4 year old. He’s a walking Red Bull can full of charm and apparently funny stories (everything was in Spanish so I have no idea what was said). Bronx Warriors is a pretty fun and outrageous Escape from New York-ish cult film. I mean with a film with characters named Leech, Hot Dog and Trash you expect it to be a good time. Not to mention Fred Williamson plays the character The Ogre in the film who is the ruler of the Bronx and The Riders. He also has a private make shift abandoned building palace complete with zebra skins all over the walls, a private piano player and a intruder alert alarm that sounds like a dying bird. Mr. Castellari holds a special place in my cinema heart for starting off the boom of Italian crime films in the 70’s with his ripping and rocking Franco Nero film, ”High Crime!”
As a side note to this on the way back to post this I ran into Timecrimes director and the Fantastic Fest big winner Nacho Vigalondo sporting an Alamo Drafthouse t-shirt. If your at Sitges and reading this definitely be sure to check out Timecrimes with screenings on the 11th, 12th and 13th.
Pictures of the Castellari screening and Nacho follow after this link bump.
Full interview coming soon with Alex Proyas but in the meantime here are his thoughts on this special year at Sitges where it’s celebrating its 40th run. I can officially confirm he is not doing the Silver Surfer movie and that Dracula Year Zero will be his next film. He doesn’t know when the Dark City Directors Cut DVD will be coming out but everything has been completed for it (more details on all this in the forthcoming interview).
“I think it’s quite an impressive showing really. For me the interesting thing is the evolution of the fantasy genre in that time period – science fiction, horror and everything. I’m not quite that old but it’s roughly the 30 years I’ve been watching fantasy films. When I was a kid there were very few films [like this] being made. Now there is an explosion of genre films. It’s amazing to have a fest like this that really is like going right back to the origins. I don’t what it would have been like 40 years ago and where they would have gotten the materials. I guess it would have been like Metropolis and getting back to the history of genre movies. Now with the amount of programming [that is available] they can’t keep up with the veracious production and appetite that people have for these sorts of movies which is great.”
~ Filmmaker Alex Proyas (Dark City, Crow) on the 40th Sitges Film Festival
Minutes ago I got a brief chance before running off to interview Alex Proyas (on Dark City directors cut and more) to sit down and briefly chat with super producer and director Matthew Vaughn at the 40th Sitges Film Festival. I count myself as a huge fan of Layercake and have near endlessly re watched the opening sequence (fake drug store, sweeping helicopter shot with the kick ass song blasting). It’s such a perfectly realized set up and introduction into the world and characters the film is about to explore. So it was a huge honor to sit down and chat on his latest film Stardust, his upcoming film Thor and even on Jackie Brown of all things. His latest film Stardust is a highly charming adult kids movie (if that makes sense) that to me worked. I do wish Claire Danes had showed more passion in her performance. Perhaps I just don’t get her at all. She seems too cold to me as if she has a jealous boyfriend who is standing offset. Everything else in the film rolled along. Though I did have to adjust my perception afterwards. Regardless of the very small gripe of Miss Danes I do think this film will go onto a great cult following. (Now onto the brief interview.)
Continue Reading "40th Sitges - Matthew Vaughn Talks Thor, Jackie Brown and of course Stardust"...
Awhile back at Nippon Connection 2007, I had the chance to chat with Shinya Tsukamoto on ”Nightmare Detective.” It’s not everyday one gets to sit down and chat with one of the most unique and powerful voices cinema has ever experienced. He really warmed up when I mentioned ”Crazy Thunder Road” in the interview (it happens to be one of my all time favorite films and is also screening at Fantastic Fest - more info here). His coining of the term ”cult entertainment” is something that really stuck with me and I thought brilliant. Enjoy the brief interview and I think we can all say that whether its 100 or 200 years from now his films are still going to be talked about and dissected. In an age where many directors just sit back and direct only, Tsukamoto nearly does every encompassing aspect of making a film himself outside of doing craft and services (providing the cast and crew food). I would also like to note that for fans of Japanese cinema, The Nippon Connection film festival has it all - diverse programming, friendly staff, sushi bar, robot dances, saki lounge, karaoke lounge (where people butchered Depeche Mode songs) and more! If you like Japanese cinema mark your calendar now to be in Frankfurt, Germany next year for Nippon Connection 2008.
A huge thanks to Chiho Mori at the Asian Film Festival of Dallas for helping me transcribe this interview. She really has one of the most diverse and charming film festivals I’ve ever attended and it keeps getting better every year. I would also like to thank Tom Mes for his book ”Iron Man: The Cinema of Shinya Tsukamoto” which was an invaluable resource as I prepared for my interview.
A brief interview and a gallery for the film and a behind the scenes look at this interview and the one for Outcast Cinema’s ”Horror of Malformed Men” DVD follows.
Continue Reading "Brief Interview with Shinya Tsukamoto on Nightmare Detective"...
Last year was a landmark for Malaysian independent cinema and the film industry in general, with Tan Chui Mui’s win at the Pusan International Film Festival for her digital drama, Love Conquers All. This year seems to be getting more interesting.
Apart from the news today, that Liew Seng Tat’s feature debut, Flower In The Pocket, will be competing in Pusan’s New Currents section, there’s also a special focus on what is now termed New Malaysian Cinema, the independent movement that started with Amir Muhammad’s Lips To Lips in 2000. The special program, called Three Colours Of New Malaysian Cinema, will feature six feature films and three short films. Among them, James Lee’s third film in his Betrayal Trilogy, Waiting For Love, is also in the Official Selection (the first two in the trilogy are Before We Fall In Love Again and Things We Do When We Fall In Love).
Continue Reading "Malaysian Films in Pusan"...
The 6th Annual Asian Film Festival of Dallas winners have just been announced. My personal pick so far for the film I have loved (by) far the most is the documentary, The Great Happiness Space: Tale of an Osaka Love Thief from director Jake Clennell. Its look at the male host club Cafe Rakkyo in Minami district of Osaka provides not only a behind the curtains look at the often despied male host Peter Pan scene of selling faux courtship dreams but also a universally resonating look at finding true love in a modern world of hyper progressing urban landscapes. The best and most affecting documentary I’ve seen so far this year and expect a review in the days ahead.
AFFD 2007 Winners:
Grand Jury Award - Owl and the Sparrow
Best Narrative Feature - Owl and the Sparrow
Best Documentary Feature (TIE!) - The Great Happiness Space: Tale of an Osaka Love Thief; Cats of Mirikitani
Best Hort Film - Monsoon
Best Short Narrative - Monsoon
Best Short Experimental/Animation - Bystanding: The Beginning of an American Lifetime
Best Short Documentary - Pilgrimage
Audience Award - Yet to be announced.
Note for the centerpiece film ”Hula Girls” on Sunday (co-presented by AFI Dallas) that there is going to be some sushi love for its reception beforehand by Tom Tom.
While Dallas bad boy number one was declaring the Internet dead, the other two bad boys of Dallas (me and Peter Martin; we are both internationally known to rock a house party or chase away monkeys) were out at opening night of the 6th Annual Asian Film Festival of Dallas (www.affd.org). The 6th Annual Film Festival of Dallas runs from now until next Thursday and Dallas movie lovers can soak in a rare treat of current Asian cinema on the big screen. Outside of the year they screened ”Tell Me Something” I personally think this is the strongest programming lineup they have ever had. I want to note for audiences seeing ”Dorm” at midnight tonight to please keep in mind going into it that it’s more of a coming of age drama with some horror elements than a straight up Fangoria friendly horror film. Just don’t go in expecting to see people swirling in hot tubs like ”Madman Marz” or ”Evil Dead” type horror frights.
After the link bump a quick AFFD report on ”Finishing the Game”, ”Dorm”, ”Battle of Wits” and ”Heavenly Kings.”
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Wave 4 of this years Fantastic Fest have just been announced. Other than Twitch’s very own Todd Brown now confirmed to show up as a guest (he also programs for the fest and if you ask him nicely he will also sign autographs with his forum signature) the big news is the 1960s NIKKATSU ACTION CINEMA Retrospective with Mark Schilling on hand to introduce each one!!! Films in this retrospective according to Marc at Outcast Cinema (who also put this together and note the DVD he has worked meticulously on, Horrors of Malformed Men is out later this month) have never been shown before in the states. Fantastic Fest audiences are in for a real treat this year with Japanese cinema! Newly announced Japanese titiles include - both Death Note films, Maiko Haaaan! and Rug Cop (expect an interview I did with Minoru Kawasaki to appear here in September). Previously mentioned Japanese titles include - Uncle’s Paradise, Exte, Crazy Thunder Road, The Girl Who Leapt Through Time and Retribution. Other new titles announced in wave 4 include - ”Inside” (more from Matt Dentler), Never Belong To Me (the ending has to be seen to be believed), Weirdsville, The Girl Next Door, The Devil’s Chair and Dog Bite Dog. Of the newly announced shorts I hear Gary’s Touch is not advisable to viewing if one has eaten a twelve course Las Vegas buffet style meal beforehand.
Full press release after the link jump or click the link for the website.
Fantastic Fest Website
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