A first time director, but one who’s a long-time veteran from behind the scenes of Hong Kong cinema’s golden age. An up-and-coming star cherry-picked by a living legend. A plot looking back to some of the all-time classic martial arts movies – so why exactly is Xin Xin Xiong’s Coweb still yet to see a release outside mainland China? Read on after the break.

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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”)"...

It has been fourteen years since writer-director Philip Ridley last made a film.  Fourteen very long years.  It’s not that he hasn’t been busy in the intervening time, it’s just that he’s been doing his work in live theater but as rewarding as that may be it is no help at all for fans of his work, such as myself, with the misfortune of having an ocean between ourselves and the theaters where these works are actually performed. 

Ridley first burst into the public eye in 1990 with arty horror film The Reflecting Skin - which he wrote and directed - and gangster thriller The Krays - which he wrote - films he would follow up with the very Lynchian tale of religious hysteria, The Passion of Darkly Noon, in 1995.  But since then?  One piece of writing appearing on television and absolutely nothing else, a situation that seems a crime for a director of Ridley’s skills.  But he’s back now with Heartless, a new supernatural thriller starring Jim Sturgess about to have its world premiere at the Film4 Frightfest.  Here’s how the festival describes it:

From the director of THE REFLECTING SKIN comes HEARTLESS, a menacing and magical tale of Jamie (Jim Sturgess) born with a heart-shaped birthmark on his face. Shunned by those who find him repulsive, the photographer’s son lives in a part of London’s East End notorious for gang violence. When his mother is viciously murdered, Jamie realizes the thugs aren’t wearing disguises at all; they really are demons and hell on earth is beginning to plague the capital city. Yet all is not what it seems in enfant terrible Ridley’s unique horror fantasy landscape ingeniously informed by the current climate of fear running through every strata of modern society.

If Ridley’s past is any indication then expect something truly striking and unusual here and also take the casting of Jim Sturgess (21, 50 Dead Men Walking) as a sign that Sturgess’ star is continuing to rise as Ridley has an unerring eye for casting talent on the rise - his previous features starred Viggo Mortensen, Brendan Fraser and Ashley Judd before any of them had really broken.  As for how striking this is going to be?  Take a peek at the collection of stills linked below!

Soon to make its world premiere at the Film4 Frightfest in London, the producer of Wolf Creek will be making waves again with Coffin Rock - the feature debut from writer-director Rupert Glasson.  Here’s how the festival describes it:

In the small coastal town of Coffin Rock, Rob and Jess live an almost idyllic life, their relationship marred only by their inability to have children. In a weak moment Jess sleeps with a stranger and later learns she’s pregnant. But the shocking truth is Evan targeted her the moment she walked into the fertility clinic where he worked. Now Jess’ guilt turns to full-blown horror as Evan begins a petrifying transformation from menacing stalker to unhinged psychopath….

But don’t take their word for it, we’ve got the trailer below the break and it’s truly unsettling stuff!

Continue Reading "Obsession Turns Ugly In Australian Thriller COFFIN ROCK"...

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.

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 Joshua Chaplinsky for the following review.]

I’m a sucker for anything Lynchian, that special brand of weirdness encompassing the dark and bizarre. Invariably, the eponymous term is slapped on as a selling point, and anything described as such is doomed to disappoint. Fortunately for The Forbidden Door, Lynch isn’t its sole influence (despite some obvious nods.) The film is a tasty amalgamation of Lynch, Hitchcock, Hostel, Videodrome, Takashi Miike, The Usual Suspects
and Shakespeare.  That’s right, The Bard himself.

Continue Reading "NYAFF 09 Review: THE FORBIDDEN DOOR"...

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!!!"...

[UPDATE: More artwork from a year ago at Catsuka.com. Thanks to Tsuka for the tip!]

As an animation buff, I try to keep a lookout for little known gems from around the world and perhaps I have hit the jackpot on a potentially cool thriller from France.  Its called The Prodigies (aka in french: La Nuit des enfants rois), a motion-capture animated film by director Antoine Charreyron and Aton Soumache, the producer of the CG sci-fi noir film Renaissance.  Based on Bernard Lenteric’s bestselling French novel, the budget is estimated at E40 million ($54 million).  Character designer Humberto Ramos has offer the first glimpse of the production art at his blog site. 

NYC, Central Park, 2010. Five young teenagers are violently assaulted. But they’re not your average teenagers… they’re prodigies. The trauma of the assault incites them to lash out against the world in a cold and calculating way. The five chillingly brilliant minds come together to concoct a perfect revenge. The only person aware of the pending doom is Jimbo Farrar, a sixth prodigy, who has gathered them. As long as he fights against his five counterparts with all his might, there’s hope for the world. But should he turn over to their side, it’s only a matter of time before a disaster of apocalyptic proportions ensues…

The theatrical release in France is slated for next year.  More details as we get it. 

We’ve been a little caught up with the World Premiere of Vampire Girl vs. Frankenstein Girl down at NYAFF this weekend. So much so that we’ve been oblivious to the fact that there was a new international trailer for the film released recently. There is a lot of familiar footage and a lot of new footage so I won’t keep you. Follow the break for copious amounts of blood and gore. Do we need mention that these trailers are completely NSFW? Well they are and rather than tag this posting as NSFW so just the sickos see it we’re giving you the choice. Be responsible. Don’t drag us down with you!

Continue Reading "Vampires, frankensteins, blood and gore! New trailer for ‘Vampire Girl vs. Frankenstein Girl’!"...

Well, well. It seems Mads isn’t the only acting Mikkelsen.  Though Lars Mikkelsen has yet to develop the same sort of international profile as has his brother Mads the word is that home in Denmark Lars has long been known as one of the nation’s finest character actors.  It’s just that those of us outside of Denmark haven’t had the chance to see him in action.  But now we can.  Mikkelsen takes a rare lead in Headhunter, a new thriller from director Rumle Hammerich.

A thriller set in the upper echelons of the business world. Martin Vinge, a former hardcore reporter, now a successful headhunter with a complicated personal life, lands a confidential assignment to locate a new heir to Denmark’s biggest shipping and oil empire. As Martin starts searching for potential candidates, he soon realises that he is becoming entangled in a far-reaching, impenetrable power game for the corporation’s future, a brutal ploy that brings excruciating pressure to bear on Martin and the people he loves.

The trailer for this one has just arrived online and it looks like yet another entry in the long and growing list of stellar noir-oriented thrillers to come out of Denmark.  Check it out below the break!

Continue Reading "Apparently It Runs In The Family.  Lars Mikkelsen Stars In HEADHUNTER"...

The man behind Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex takes a break from cyberpunk with a freewheeling, playful new animated series featuring conspiracy theories, social commentary, action, intrigue, a desperate attempt to save Japan and a streaker flashing the White House. Find out more after the break.

Continue Reading "EDEN OF THE EAST review"...

Way back in November 2008, we mentioned that Richard Kelly‘s follow up film to Southland Tales (I film I quite like thank you very much - yet I’ll acknowledge I am in the minority), a science fiction thriller titled The Box was done shooting, but would not be released until November 2009.  It seems that things are on schedule towards that date, with the release of the first trailer for the film.  And from watching the trailer, Kelly has reigned in the excesses seen in Southland Tales, but still, down under the multiplex genre-surface is the pop-literary kernels displayed in his films to date:  Faust’s bargain with a twist.  I wonder if this will capture the humanity and fragility and confusion on display in Donnie Darko, or if it will be a little easier to digest.  Either way, I remain interested, as Richard Matheson adaptations go, chances of improving on the recent blockbuster I Am Legend are damn near certainty; and this despite the severe liability of Cameron Diaz as the leading lady.  The supporting cast is pretty fab though: James Marsden, Frank Langella, Holmes “Daddy Darko” Osborne and James Rebhorn. 

Norma and Arthur Lewis, a suburban couple with a young child, receive a simple wooden box as a gift, which bears fatal and irrevocable consequences. A mysterious stranger, delivers the message that the box promises to bestow upon its owner $1 million with the press of a button. But, pressing this button will simultaneously cause the death of another human being somewhere in the world; someone they don’t know. With just 24 hours to have the box in their possession, Norma and Arthur find themselves in the cross-hairs of a startling moral dilemma and must face the true nature of their humanity.

To the folks at Warners:  TIFF Playdate, please.

Continue Reading "Trailer for Richard Kelly’s THE BOX"...

The Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films has announced the winners for the 35th Annual Saturn Awards held yesterday evening.  Not surprisingly, Christopher Nolan’s highly praised The Dark Knight was the toast of the ceremony, garnering five awards including Best Action/Adventure/Thriller Film, Best Writing: Christopher Nolan & Jonathan Nolan, Best Supporting Actor: Heath Ledger, Best Music: Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard and Best Special Effects.  Another superhero film that came out on top is Iron Man with three awards for Best Science Fiction Film, Best Actor: Robert Downey, Jr. and Best Director: Jon Favreau while Guillermo del Toro’s Hellboy II: The Golden Army wins only Best Horror Film.  Let the Right One In and Pixar’s Wall-E, two films we wholeheartedly endorse around these parts, takes a well-deserved Best International Film and Best Animated Film respectively. 

The full list of the winners after the jump.

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Who would have thought there was a Belgian comic book hero out there to rival Tintin? I will come clean on this one right away and admit that I had never heard of Largo Winch before watching this film. However, a quick trip to Wikipedia exposes him as having a legacy spanning several decades, including numerous chronicled adventures, in both novel and comic book form, as well as a previous film incarnation and even a TV series to his name.

Continue Reading "LARGO WINCH Review"...