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"...
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"...
Shortly before the hordes began chanting, “The Daily is dead; long live The Daily”, David Hudson gathered reviews of Francis Ford Coppola’s Tetro, first from its Cannes debut, and then later mid-June when it opened stateside. Here in San Francisco, Coppola met with his audience at the film’s first screening at the Sundance Kabuki.
Outlining how The Godfather created a “tsunami of success” that irrevocably changed his life and filmmaking, Coppola has gleaned from the passing of years a restoration of creative spirit leaning into what he admits is his “second career.” Tetro is, in fact, the second film of his second career; Youth Without Youth being the first. Lustrously shot in digital and projected in 35mm, the film is a rapture to watch, even as its rich visuals disguise an anemic narrative that doesn’t quite ring true. One is grateful for what one has seen; but, not completely satisfied. I’m not a huge Vincent Gallo fan so I place the blame there—for me, he just couldn’t carry the movie—but, Coppola’s “discovery” Alden Ehrenreich has charisma to spare in his debut role and is a talent to watch in future years.
* * *
Michael Guillén: One of the images I’m going to carry away with me from Tetro is that of the staged dance sequence near the edge of the sea. It reminded me of One From the Heart for being thrillingly artificial; the kind of artifice that lends itself in some odd way to emotional authenticity. Can you speak to your use of theatrical artifice to create emotion in your films?
Francis Ford Coppola: Of course. Just as the story implies, when Bennie [Alden Ehrenreich] was a little kid, his older brother Tetro [Vincent Gallo] used to take him to movies that were a little bit advanced for a seven-year-old kid and gave him some books to read and what have you and that’s why the boy idolized his brother so much. It’s true, in my own life I have an older brother who took me to see the Korda films, The Red Shoes—of which there’s an excerpt in Tetro—and also Tales of Hoffmann, which is much stranger for a young kid. Just as the character Bennie says, whenever he thought of his brother he always thought of Tales of Hoffmann.
My idea was that—when Bennie is reading [Tetro’s] cryptic notes and writings—that he imagines the story as though it’s scenes from a Michael Powell / Emeric Pressburger dance film. The version of the story that the boy understands is as though it’s told in dance. It’s great that film is one of those mediums that can use different art forms to do different things. It was also fun for me—as someone who has admired The Red Shoes and Black Narcissus and all those beautiful Technicolor films—to get to fool with telling this little story in those images. The image you mentioned of the dancers on the stage with the sea coming in is very much inspired by the dance in The Red Shoes, as you can imagine.
Cross-published on The Evening Class.
Once again, Michael Hawley privileges the Twitch readership with his preview of YBCA’s upcoming calendar. Thanks, Michael!
Norwegian Black Metal, Graphic Sexual Horror and a Headless Woman. Jeez, is it Halloween already? No, it’s just this summer’s insouciant film/video line-up at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts. But before we dig into what curator Joel Shepard has in store through September, here’s exciting news for YBCA filmgoers. Starting July 6, ticket holders will be allowed FREE admittance into YBCA’s exhibition galleries, whose days and hours of operation have been adjusted to align with evening film and video screenings.
Continue Reading "Michael Hawley Previews YBCA’s Summer 2009 Lineup"...
You can do little wrong when you decide to go to Montreal for the Fantasia International Film Festival and this year’s lineup proves to be no exception. Want a taste? David Morley’s MUTANTS, Adam Mason’s BLOOD RIVER, José Mojica Marins’ EMBODIMENT OF EVIL, Tom Shankland’s THE CHILDREN, Park Chan-wook’s THIRST and Satoshi Miki’s INSTANT SWAMP are just some of the titles at this year’s festival.
There is a lengthy announcement after the break. Take your time and we are sure you’ll find some must-sees. Then we’ll see you in Montreal between July 9th and 27th.
Continue Reading "FANTASIA 2009 announces lineup. She be a doozy!!!"...
I have just a few minutes before running off to catch the world premiere of Yoshihiro Nishimura’s Vampire Girl Versus Frankenstein Girl so I must be brief but this is far too good to hold off on any longer than absolutely necessary,
If there is one thing that global martial arts fans have been practically gagging for over the past several years it is a film built around Brazilian martial art capoeira. We’ve seen the acrobatic discipline featured in a few recent titles - Tom Yum Goong and Mirage Man both feature fights against capoeira trained opponents - but there has yet to be a high profile film dedicated to the art. Until now. It’s titled Besouro, it hits Brazilian screens in October, and the trailer looks absolutely spectacular. You’ll find it below the break.
Continue Reading "Capoeira Hits The Screen In Brazil’s BESOURO (BEETLE)!"...
Back once more today with another WSFF program preview and it is the second program that our lord and master has created for the festival. Creepy will have a little something for everyone: blood, nudity, violence, shotguns, chainsaws, babies, ghosts and a whole lot of scares. It is going to be a good night. Buy your tickets now for Midnight: Creepy happening on June 19th at the ROM here in Toronto. Now, if you’ll excuse me I need to go outside and pet a puppy or something just to get these images out of my head. Find my blood soaked thoughts after the break…
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Ah, sponsor-supported film making. It’s a form of embedded advertising and if not for the fact that these projects keep coming out so well I think I’d have to hate them on matter of principal. But I just can’t. The trend got kicked off in a big way when BMW commissioned a series of short films a few years back - films from the likes of Wong Kar Wai, Guy Ritchie, Alejandro Innaritu and others - films that proved a huge hit online and, eventually, in DVD sales. The formula has been copied a few times since then with decidedly more mixed results but now here comes ONEDREAMRUSH.
Sponsored by vodka company 42 Below - though their products don’t appear in any of the shorts I have seen so far - ONEDREAMRUSH is a series of short films from forty two directors, each of them forty two seconds long and based on dreams the director has had. The big names haven’t turned anything in yet - the project is just getting started - but once everyone is accounted for there will be films by David Lynch, Gaspar Noe, Asia Argento, Mike Figgis, Sean Lennon, Harmony Korine, Chan Marshall, Lou Ye, Leos Carax, Abel Ferrerra, Sergei Bodrov, Larry Clark, Grant Morrison, Carlos Reygadas and many, many more. And if the quality is anything like what’s included in the trailer this is going to be something pretty special.
Check the trailer below the break!
Continue Reading "Trailer For Surreal Multi-Director Project ONEDREAMRUSH"...
As Queers prepare to celebrate Stonewall’s 40th anniversary next month, it’s fitting that films spotlighting LGBT elders be at the center of this year’s Frameline festival. That was the summational spin placed on this year’s event by new Executive Director K.C. Price and longtime Festival Director Jennifer Morris, as they walked us through the 2009 line-up at last week’s press conference. The festival turns 33 this year, and here’s an acknowledged fact that always bears repeating—Frameline is the oldest and largest LGBT film exhibition event in the world. Appropriately, 2009’s rousing theme—“The Power of Film”—is emblazoned upon a purple, fist-pumping Socialist-Realism inspired logo, and the festival’s trailer features THE original Super-8 projector used at the very first festival in 1977.
At a time when many arts organizations are struggling to retain funding, Frameline has emerged relatively unscathed. Price explained that while many of the festival’s corporate sponsors have slashed all arts bankrolling, when it came to Frameline, “they just couldn’t do it.” Happily, this enabled a hold on ticket prices which are already among the lowest of all Bay Area film festivals. There’s more good news for the wallet. For those with weekday afternoons free (whether because of a job layoff or otherwise), the festival is introducing a $35.00 Weekday Matinee Pass good for all 15 Castro Theater screenings, Monday through Friday before 5:00PM. This breaks down to roughly $2.35 per show. Also new in 2009, audience members can eschew paper ballots in favor of voting for films by text-messaging. I’m mighty ambivalent about this one and hereby issue a warning: anyone seen texting their vote (and emitting that horribly distracting light) before a film is finished, will be smacked upside the head with a rolled-up Frameline catalogue by one very annoyed LGBT elder.
Continue Reading "FRAMELINE33—Michael Hawley Anticipates the Lineup"...
On suspense, Alfred Hitchcock famously said something to the effect of, imagine there is a bomb underneath a table of two people having a conversation. Explode the bomb and you have fifteen seconds of surprise, let the audience know the bomb is there and NOT explode the bomb, and you can have 15 minutes of suspense. Enter Greek masochist (this title will become clear later) Spiros Stathoulopoulos who attempts to one-up the master of suspense not only at the ‘bomb not going off’ gag, but also in the single take film. The premise of PVC-1 is dead simple. Terrorist thieves break into a remote family farm in the jungle of Colombia looking for suspected gobs of cash, when they do not find the money readily available they affix a homemade bomb around the mothers neck, encased in the titular plastic piping, and give the family a day to find 15 million pesos. If they take too long or go to the police, there is the promise to remote detonation. Judging from the gingerly way the thieves handle the bomb, (clearly articulated in the opening moments) the bomb is not too stable on its own. So, before you can say Wages of Fear, the family is off to locate the local bomb squad and have the thing removed; and without a vehicle (the local car owner says no bloody way!), it is through the jungle on foot.
Continue Reading "Over The Top Fest: PVC-1"...
It is giveaway time again kiddies. We’ve got 5 double passes for the Twitch presented film PVC-1 on behalf of the generous organizers of Over The Top Fest. No skill testing question. No pranks or stunts or gags during some morning show live broadcast. Just enter and if luck is on your side you’ll have a double pass waiting for you at the door the night of May 23rd here in Toronto at 7:00 at National Film Board of Canada, John Spotton Theatre (150 John St.).
In 2000, a group of masked men invaded a family’s home in Colombia. They fastened a bomb encased in pvc-1 piping around the neck of the mother, and told the family that they wanted 15 million pesos from them. That they’d be instructed later by phone, when and where to bring the money. No matter how much the family protested that they were not wealthy, they were told to get the money, and that If they didn’t, the homemade collar bomb would be detonated.
First time director Spiros Stathoulopoulos has taken this shocking real-life event and turned it into a drama more intense than most horror films. PVC-1 unfolds in one uninterrupted 82 minute take, which forces the audience to experience in real time, the stress and anguish of its characters. For its entire runtime, there are very few chances to catch your breath.
As much an experience as it is a film, PVC-1 is absolutely not to be missed. When it’s over, you’ll have no choice but to watch all of the credits because you’ll need to slow down your heart before getting up to leave.
To enter .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) Trailer after the break…
Continue Reading "Win 1 of 5 double passes for ‘PVC-1’ at Over The Top Fest"...
At long last a North American DVD release for the Diego Luna ( Y Tu Mama Tambien , Dirty Dancing - Havana Nights ) staring Mexican Crime flick Nicotina looks like its on its way. Nicotina was the biggest Mexican movie of 2003 and its very much a Guy Ritchie style film shot in Mexico. The DVD was originally due out Dec 2007 so its a little strange why it’s been delayed this long, for those who havent seen Nicotina its well worth a viewing. Just to note theres already English friendly releases of Nicotina already out in Australia and Spain. The DVD from Lionsgate Films is due to drop in the US June 9, 2009
From the producers of Amores Perros comes the humor-laced action thriller Nicotina. Lolo (Diego Luna) is a computer hacker who teams up with two amateur criminals in a deal with a Russian mobster. Diamonds will be exchanged for computer access to certain Swiss bank accounts. Although dangerous, the job is fairly simple for tech-savvy Lolo. What nobody plans on is Lolo’s distractive obsession with a woman…at a most inconvenient time
Check below the break for the embedded English trailer
Continue Reading "Mexican Crime Film ‘Nicotina’ finally recieving English Friendly DVD release in North America"...
This one slipped passed us somehow when it released in Mexico in February but we’ve got it now, and good thing. The selling point for Carlos Carrera’s El Trapatio in North America will probably be the presence of Jimmy Smits in the cast but south of the border there’s no need for Smits’ star power. Carreras himself is a big deal - he directed arthouse hit The Crime of Father Amaro - and this story is based on a real life serial killer case. And, honestly, all of that doesn’t matter so much either because this film is also blessed with one mighty effective trailer, beautifully shot and filled with the sort of gritty realism that makes the best of the current Mexican wave really sing. Check it below the break.
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The World Premiere of Carlos Sorín‘s La Ventana (The Window) at the 2008 Toronto International Film Festival came and went as quietly as the film’s narrative about the last day in the life of Antonio, an 80-year-old writer awaiting the visit of his estranged son on his hacienda in northern Patagonia. As he takes stock and reminisces, he looks out the window at his fields, the sun, the buzzing life that beckons him even as it fades before his eyes. Distinguished Argentine filmmaker Carlos Sorín once again trains his camera on the small stories written by life, on the humanity behind human beings. By casting the great Uruguayan writer and scriptwriter Antonio Larreta in the lead role, Sorín establishes a link between fiction and reality that makes the protagonist’s fears, hopes and wishes even more palpable. Larreta won the Premio Planeta (the second most valuable literary award in the world after the Nobel Prize) for his 1980 novel Volavérunt.
Favorably reviewed by John Anderson at Variety who affirmed that “Sorín has constructed a reflective poem, one that’s never solemn, always insightful and sometimes hilarious”, Anderson also wrote that so much of the film’s charm and art lies between the lines. “It’s a film that needs to be actively watched, not passively experienced,” he advised sagely. Sorín’s “elegant” tale “mines a rich, deep vein of melancholy and humor.”
La Ventana went on to win the FIPRESCI prize at the 2008 Valladolid International Film Festival, where Sorín was likewise nominated for the Golden Spike Award. I was delighted when Bavaria International advised that the film had been picked up for distribution by Film Movement, who gave La Ventana its North American premiere at the 2009 Palm Springs International Film Festival, with a subsequent screening at the San Diego Latino Film Festival. Of related interest, La Ventana will screen in the World Cinema section of the 2009 San Francisco International Film Festival, where Jeremy Quist writes: “Sorín tells one of his ‘minimal’ stories here, as he did with his earlier masterpiece, Historias Mínimas, in which a series of seemingly inconsequential moments and details ultimately come together in a synthesis of life-affirming beauty.”
My thanks to Stephen Lan and Bavaria International for making Sorín available for a brief interview while attending the Toronto International.
Continue Reading "LA VENTANA (THE WINDOW)—Interview With Carlos Sorín"...
Critical Overview: Featured in TIFF08’s Discovery Program and again recently at this Spring’s SXSW, The Paranoids (Los Paranoicos) spotlights Daniel Hendler as Luciano, an unmotivated procrastinator, fearsome hypochondriac and unenthused children’s party entertainer on a fast track to nowhere. When his successful friend arrives from Spain, he is forced to face his own uninspired existence. At Variety, Robert Koehler kindly granted that “Daniel Hendler’s dry and underplayed perf as paranoid numero uno keeps pic afloat and helps its international profile” but ultimately dismissed the film as slack.
Hold Review Capsule: You’re heard the saying: “Just because you’re paranoid, doesn’t mean they’re not trying to bore you”? Or something like that? Argentine director Gabriel Medina’s The Paranoids is a clear instance of where the 75-word limit of a hold review is a blessing in disguise. Failing to energize even the most spare of narratives resulted in my disgusted irritation by film’s end. Miguel Pendas and I clearly did not watch the same movie.
Cross-published on The Evening Class.
