I suppose with Singaporean films like Royston Tan’s 15 and Kelvin Tong’s Eating Air, you’d probably know by now we’re not all that squeaky clean. Of course at this point in time I’m speculating that it’s Young and Dangerous-ish, but from the key poster art, stills and the likes, this is one upcoming Singapore movie on my radar that I can’t wait to watch when it makes its screening here in the later half of this year.

Here’s the synopsis:

Based on a true story – “THE DAYS” tells a cautionary tale between two brothers, set between 1989 and 1990. In a misguided effort to teach BABY (IVAN LIM) independence, and to make him feel protected, ZI LONG (JUSTIN CHAN) brings him into his own gang of delinquents. Unknowingly, his decision has thrown them both into a tumultuous and violent world that will, in different ways, imprison them both.

The Days will be at this year’s Marché du Film, Festival de Cannes, so to lucky folks heading there, let us know what you think. The rest of us mortals can hit those links below to learn more about the film!

The characters of debuting writer/director Thomas Callaway’s rustic noir Broke Sky exist in a world perched somewhere between everyday reality and a slightly heightened, off-kilter pastiche of rural Americana.  They booze it up at the local saloon, obsess over talent pageants, and dream of movin’ on up from a single- to a double-wide trailer; they also find themselves caught up in murder and near-operatic levels of personal disaster.  Against the odds Callaway’s script (co-written with four other writers) melds its incongruent elements into a subversive, satisfying whole.  Broke Sky assembles a unique world through cleverly deconstructing overworked genres, resulting in an original and highly rewarding low-key thriller.

Continue Reading "BROKE SKY review"...

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"...

Imagine driving hundreds of miles to a tiny town in West Texas, USA, for a film festival.

Marfa, Texas, population 2121, may be known best to some film fans as the town where George Stevens’ Giant was filmed in 1955 (the one with James Dean, Elizabeth Taylor, and Rock Hudson). More recently, it’s the town where Paul Thomas Anderson’s There Will Be Blood and the Coen Brothers’ No Country for Old Men were filmed.

Filming did not take place in the town itself on the latter two pictures, but in the dusty desert mountain country that surrounds Marfa. Located 200 miles from El Paso, 400 miles from Austin (from where fellow Twitch writer Blake drove) and 500 miles from Dallas (from where I drove), Marfa seems an odd spot for a film festival. When you take into account modern-day Marfa, as well as other festivals taking place in small towns, it’s not so odd after all.

Continue Reading "Marfa Film Fest Dispatch: Starting Under the Stars"...

It’s the Twitch Grindhouse double bill action! First up is this exclusive interview with Death Proof star Sydney Tamiia Poitier aka Jungle Julia. Followed up by Ardvark’s review of the mega spectacular Japanese DVD boxset (read here).

Now-a-days you can find Mrs. Poitier on the new Knight Rider TV show as Carrie. Previous to this she became an instant cult icon in Quentin Tarantino’s Death Proof where she played the kickass and most badass of recent movie characters - Jungle Julia! Mrs. Poitier is a sparkling actress of the Classic Hollywood mold with the badass chops of a Linda Hamilton. She inhabits roles with a deeply immersive acting style that she parlays into smooth performances marked by her hard to miss ever present charm.

Read on for the Twitch Jungle Julia Interview...Miike’s Django, Death Proof, Alamo Drafthouse stories, exclusive Twitch image gallery and more after the link jump!

Continue Reading "THE TWITCH INTERVIEW - JUNGLE JULIA"...

Has James Lee sold out to commercialism?!

I suppose the Singapore International Film Festival (SIFF) is Malaysian director James Lee’s festival of choice. Just last year alone, the first two of his Love Trilogy movies, Before We Fall In Love Again and Things We Do When We Fall In Love, were screened to a full house. And this year, we got the last of the Love Trilogy movie Waiting for Love, his new movie Breathing in Mud in competition for the Silver Screen Awards, we see James in front of the camera in Liew Seng Tat’s Flower in the Pocket, and SIFF becomes the first venue for the International Premiere of his first movie shot in 35mm, the horror flick Histeria.

Continue Reading "Review of James Lee’s HISTERIA"...

Singapore’s Eric Khoo will have his new film, My Magic, premiere at Cannes 2008, but as for which category and whether it will be in competition, remains to be seen until Thierry Fremaux announces the line-up in five days. Khoo is no stranger to Cannes, as his Be With Me premiered in Cannes 2005 in the Director’s Fortnight section.

My Magic is somewhat of a curious item. It will be 80% in the Tamil language, with a bit of Hokkien and English. The story is inspired by real-life fire-eater Francis Bosco, who will play a downtrodden alcoholic magician who tries to reconnect with his 14-year-old son. Khoo, who speaks not a word of Tamil himself, shot the film in 8 days in December last year, on a shoe-string budget.

Variety reports that there will be less Asian films at this year’s fest. Also set for screenings at Cannes this year are Tran Anh Hung’s I Come WIth The Rain, Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s Tokyo Sonata, and the three-story anthology Tokyo!, featuring Bong Joon-ho, Michel Gondry and Leos Carax.

For his next film, Chrysalis director Julien Leclercq will tackle the real terrorist story of Air France Flight 8969 (Wiki). This promises to be an even harder hitting film than Chrysalis, which is really saying something given its many bone crunching and thrilling sequences. I know me and Todd around these parts are huge fans of Mr. Leclercq and you can bet in the coming days ahead we will be all over covering this film for you. I had the chance of catching up with him at 2008 AFI Dallas the day after I had the privilege of introducing the film and doing a Q&A afterwards.

Now here is Julien Leclercq himself to tell the Twitch readership about his next film! And note when I asked him if Alain Figlarz would be a part of it, he said, ”Yes, absolutely! He will be stunt coordinator for the choreography of the fights and as an actor because it’s a SWAT Team!” Mr. Figlarz for those not familiar worked on the action in Brotherhood of the Wolf and lately has grown quite the cult action status having established the action/fighting style that was used in the first Bourne movie and has now been copied around quite a bit. Alain Figlarz and Julien Leclercq‘s collaboration on Chrysalis seemed to be a perfect harmony of cinematic vision, blending in as one voice. That they are buckling up now to make an even more intense ride… I can only say this film can’t get here soon enough!

Julien Leclercq: My next film will be shooting at the end of this year in October, November and December. It’s about a famous terrorist attack and will be told from the point of view of the GIGN (Wiki), which is like a French SWAT Team.

In France we don’t have the mentality to make a film like Batman or Superman. We won’t make a French actor like Vincent Cassel or any famous French actor be in a superhero role with a superhero costume on the tower in Paris. It’s a joke for us and we don’t make that. We really don’t have comic books in Europe or Paris.

For me I want to make a war film with a heroic point of view. I think the guys of GIGN, a French SWAT Team, would be a real hero for the French audiences. It’s cool, famous and it’s an amazing story about 200 Argentinean with 4 terrorists in their flight on the airport of Marseille, which is on the French Riviera. Two days of real terrorist attacks!

We have about 25 action scenes at the end of the movie. It’s going to be very technical and tactical. I think it’s going to be fresh for the French audiences. It’s a French movie because it will be like Chrysalis.

More from Julien Leclercq after the link bump.

Continue Reading "Exclusive: Chrysalis Director Julien Leclercq Talks About His Next Film!"...

This year’s Singapore International Film Festival (SIFF), into its 21st edition, runs from 4th to 14th April, and features an unprecedented 13 local feature films and documentaries in a Singapore Panorama section.

I had the privilege of catching the World Premiere of Harman Hussin’s Road to Mecca recently at the Singapore International Film Festival, and had the opportunity to discuss some of the issues that were touched upon during his road trip. Slight spoilers ahead in the interview as we discuss some key moments, so tread with caution if you please!

Stefan: As you noted in the movie, Singapore to Mecca takes about 9 hours by plane. What made you decide to embark on the road less travelled, especially since with limited funds, and on a tight budget. Were you at any time persuaded or discouraged not to go the unconventional way?

Harman Hussin: Like I said during the first screening, “it is my dream - when you see it you’ll believe it”. It’s a dream to pass through this land with an open heart.

I would say there were plenty of indirect discouragements and also of course there were encouragements as well – some of these discouraging and encouraging words are there in the documentary. However, I was never discouraged by those words, but I got to admit it really took a lot of my energies – though in fact it kept me going.

Continue Reading "SIFF 2008 - An Interview with Harman HUSSIN, Director of Road to Mecca"...

This year’s Singapore International Film Festival (SIFF), into its 21st edition, runs from 4th to 14th April, and features an unprecedented 13 local feature films and documentaries in a Singapore Panorama section.

So far we’ve gone through a series of interviews with directors. Now we have someone taking on the producer’s role in a feature film shot in Cambodia. Lionel Chok’s name will be familiar to some who’s been following the prolific director’s works both on film and on the stage, and I’ve got the privilege of interrupting his busy schedule for this short interview session.

Stefan: Hi Lionel, you have quite a list of accomplishments and have been involved in various film related projects, ranging from short films to conducting workshops for aspiring filmmakers, and even organizing festivals. What made you decide to take on a producer’s role for To Speak?

Lionel Chok: Thank you Stefan… Actually I like to challenge myself and take on many hats. To actually only write/direct/produce in anyone medium - to me - would only mean that I’m limiting myself. There are so many stories requiring different mediums, and there’s so much one can do in various capacities: why not teach someone, who has a good story to tell, how to make films, or why not organize a different sort of a festival for others to open their minds and possibilities?

As such, I was open to taking on various things in different capacities, and as a result, find myself growing diversely and immensely. The producer’s role for To Speak happened by chance.

Continue Reading "SIFF 2008 - An Interview with Lionel CHOK, Producer of To Speak"...

One of the most immersive and Japanese cinema rich film festivals in the world, the Nippon Connection has just wrapped once again in Frankfurt, Germany. Winning top honors this year was Yosuke Fujita’s Zenzen Daijobu (Fine, Totally Fine). This offbeat film certainly seems to be getting a lot of good buzz. Mark Schilling proclaimed it, ”totemo, totemo subarashii!” Certainly it’s now more than ever on everyone’s radar to check out. Full press release on this years top winner and conclusion report of the 2008 Nippon Connection follows after the link bump.

Continue Reading "Zenzen Daijobu (Fine, Totally Fine) Wins Top Honors at the 2008 Nippon Connection"...

The 2008 AFI Dallas International Film Festival wraps tonight with Nacho’s brilliant Time Crimes. The Russian film Mermaid has just taken top honors for this years Best Narrative Feature Award. It certainly is a beautifully shot and perversely goofy film that is so awkwardly cute you can’t help but to some degree just relax and go with it as it bobs and weaves from moon women to beer costume sad moments. The rest of this years winners below and full press release after the link bump. I’ll be chiming in more this week with interviews from Sori on Vexille and Ichi and Julien Leclercq on Chrysalis and his exciting next film.

Right now as the film Forgetting Sarah Marshall plays to a packed crowd I have walked out of a standing ovation for Jonathan Levine’s dope feel good drug movie of the year, The Wackness. This type of positive audience response is indicative of how this two year old festival has quickly revitalized and brought film loving Dallas audiences back to the theater in masses. Just the other night for its second screening here the film Chrysalis had nearly two hundred people turned away. I don’t know if anyone would have predicted a French sci-fi/noir with English subtitles would play so well and yet it brought down the house both times it played. Subtitles or no subtitles the audiences were eating up everything the festival was throwing its way this year. A new film community that only cares about great cinema has sprung up that is absent of gallon sized cowboy hats and Cadillacs. Doesn’t get any sweeter when films like Chrysalis and The Wackness get such enthusiastic audiences and ovations. It also marks perhaps the only festival that has ever thrown a Charlize Theron/Dolph Lundgren closing night party with the band The Polyphonic Spree to bring the house down (while playing covers such as Nirvana’s Lithium).

Now onto the full list of this years award winners...

Continue Reading "2008 AFI Dallas Awards Announced - Russian Fantasy Film Mermaid Takes Top Honors"...

This year’s Singapore International Film Festival (SIFF), into its 21st edition, runs from 4th to 14th April, and features an unprecedented 13 local feature films and documentaries in a Singapore Panorama section.

I came to experience James and Lynn’s documentaries back in 2006 at a festival screening of Passabe, which explored the themes of justice, reconciliation and forgiveness through the eyes of ordinary villages in remote East Timor. My very first impression was that it was very courageous of them to venture into the road less travelled, and was obviously out of their comfort zone in Singapore. Then their next feature documentary, Aki Ra’s Boys, brought them out to the mine fields of Cambodia, and to see them document Aki Ra up close as he goes about defusing live mines was nothing short of mind-boggling!

The directing duo has definitely earned my respect and admiration. And I got pretty much excited about their Homeless FC project, which makes its local premiere in this year’s SIFF. Despite being overseas at this point in time, they managed to spare me a few moments for this online interview:

Stefan: Hi James and Lynn, I’m pretty excited to be able to finally catch Homeless FC when it makes its Singapore debut, after missing out on its World Premiere at the Hong Kong International Film Festival last year. I believe the film has travelled the world for close to a year now. Would you like to share with us how the reception toward it had been so far?

James and Lynn: The reception’s been good so far. We recently won an award in Hong Kong, which was very unexpected.

It’s nice to be able to connect with your audience, to have people from all over the world write to you after that, asking after the main characters in your film.

Continue Reading "SIFF 2008 - An Interview with James LEONG and Lynn LEE, Directors of Homeless FC"...

This year’s Singapore International Film Festival (SIFF), into its 21st edition, runs from 4th to 14th April, and features an unprecedented 13 local feature films and documentaries in a Singapore Panorama section.

Award-winning photographer and filmmaker Sherman Ong will present his latest movie Hashi in an International Premiere in this year’s SIFF. Shot during his residency with the Fukuoka Asian Art Museum in Japan, his debut feature in the Japanese language, going by the stills and behind the scenes snapshots, look incredibly gorgeous, in a story that ”weaves around issues of love, relationships, insecurity, death and the blurring between dreams and reality”. I got acquainted with Sherman last month during a retrospective of Yasmin Ahmad’s films here in Singapore, and recently caught up with him again to talk about Hashi.

Continue Reading "SIFF 2008 - An Interview with Sherman ONG, Screenwriter-Director of Hashi"...

This year’s Singapore International Film Festival (SIFF), into its 21st edition, runs from 4th to 14th April, and features an unprecedented 13 local feature films and documentaries in a Singapore Panorama section.

ENG Yee Peng had made a documentary about her village hometown, Lim Chu Kang, that had to make way for progress and development in the area. Her first documentary, Diminishing Memories, charts a lifestyle in Singapore no more, and collates fond memories of a life bygone. The follow up to that documentary will now make its World Premiere at the SIFF, and I take the opportunity to talk to Yee Peng about her new film.

Continue Reading "SIFF 2008 - An Interview with ENG Yee Peng, Director of Diminishing Memories II"...