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Madman Smashes Out An Australian Poster For THE RAID!

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 11:20:00 -0500

With six weeks to go until the March 22 release of The Raid (yep, in Australia we get things one day early folks) Madman has released its own poster to promote Gareth Evans' rollicking action blasterpiece. A horrible pun, sure, but an awesome movie. Plus, there's a nice front-and-centre quote from Twitch....

DANGER 5 And The Infinite Sadness

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 10:30:00 -0500

Danger 5 is coming at you like an unstoppable train of awesomeness, and to truly bring it home they have released a video to show just how sad you will be if you miss this boat of mixed metaphors! Created by Adelaide fashion icons Dario & Ashby, Danger 5 airs in Australia on SBS from 27 February. Board the submarine below!...

ATTACK THE BLOC: Twitch Presents Czech SciFi Comedy I KILLED EINSTEIN, GENTLEMEN At The TIFF Bell Lightbox Tonight!

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 09:23:28 -0500

Attack The Bloc, the Twitch curated program of Cold War era science fiction films from the Eastern Bloc, has been a constant parade of curiosities thus far. It has included space ships, robots, and random bursts of dancing. It has even featured a vampire car that feeds on the blood of its driver. But what it has lacked thus far is topless, bearded, sterile women. That changes tonight, with a rare screening of 1970 scifi comedy I Killed Einstein, Gentlemen.In the distant year 1999, a group of terrorist physicists drop nuclear "G-bombs" that render all women bearded and infertile (though still buxom) -- a situation which is both scratchy and detrimental to the survival of the human race. So the world's greatest scientific minds...

Topless Soldiers Take On Zombie Terrorists In The Crazy Trailer For OSOMBIE!

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 06:35:09 -0500

I just came across this: a trailer for a film I had never heard of called OSOMBIE. The tagline, which you can see for yourself in the embedded trailer, was what caught my attention. And it turned out to be so much fun that I just have to share it with you. Synopsis: The story follows Dusty, a yoga instructor from Colorado, who is on a desperate rescue mission to save her crazy brother Derek, a conspiracy theorist who is convinced Osama Bin Laden is still alive, despite having been buried at sea. In Afghanistan, Dusty falls in with a team of NATO Special Forces on a secret assignment. Turns out Derek is not so crazy after all, and that Osama has returned from his watery...

DreamWorks is working on a new REBECCA

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 04:58:47 -0500

Variety has published an article today stating that DreamWorks is working on a new feature adapation of Daphne DuMaurier's famous classic thriller "Rebecca" together with Working Title Films. Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner are mentioned as producers. Some call it a remake of Hitchcock's 1940 version already, though the press release states that script writer Steven Knight has been hired to look at the source novel. Knight is known for "Dirty Pretty Things" and "Eastern Promises" and is currently also working on his directorial debut "Hummingbird", starring Jason Statham. The story concerns a young woman who marries a millionaire on impulse, but when she arrives at the man's huge mansion everybody seems gloomily obsessed with the memories of his previous (and deceased) wife, Rebecca. It...

Review: THE LADY fights an incredibly personal battle

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 04:56:06 -0500

French director Luc Besson has been responsible for bringing numerous dramatic adventures to the big screen centring around strong female protagoinsts battling insurmountable odds. But even for the director of NIKITA, THE MESSENGER and THE ADVENTURES OF ADELE BLANC-SEC, the true story of Burmese democratic champion Aung San Suu Kyi must have been a particularly unique challenge. For those unfamiliar with her plight, Suu Kyi was the daughter of Aung San, founder of the Burmese army, a man held in almost saintly reverence by the people after his assassination in 1947. Her mother was also a prominent political figure and became the country's ambassador to India, where Suu Kyi received her education, before attending Oxford University. By the time she returned to Burma in 1988...

PINA Review

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 04:01:00 -0500

In Pina Bausch, Wim Wenders found inspiration. In her lifetime, he was collaborating with her for a dance-based film project that promised to be magnificent. With her untimely passing, Wenders is no less inspired by her work. The shape of the planned film project shifted, as it had to. But the spirit of the brazenly unconventional modern dancer remains alive in this stereoscopic tribute. According to "Pina", Pina was passionate, abrasive, surprisingly humorous, bombastic, absurd, sexy, uninhibited, and wildly elemental in and about her work....

Blu-ray Review: THE ROOTS OF HEAVEN

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 21:35:35 -0500

John Huston was a master of the improbably optimistic protagonist in films. Many of his leading characters were people in search of some grand totem that would make their lives complete, or make the rich, or in some other way satisfy their basest urges. He did it with Humphrey Bogart in The Maltese Falcon & The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, with Gregory Peck in his adaptation of Moby Dick, and Connery and Caine in The Man Who Would be King. The Roots of Heaven may be among his lesser known films, but it's protagonist Morel, played by Trevor Howard, has taken on no less a Herculean task, and his struggle takes on mythical proportions as he battles imperial African governments for the sake of...

These Goats Really Like BULLHEAD

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 18:43:00 -0500

It's an Oscar nominee, you know?...

Texas' Thin Line Film Fest Features All Docs for 11 Days

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 16:05:01 -0500

North of Dallas, Texas, lies the college town of Denton, where more than 100,000 people go to sleep at night, wondering if Bonnie and Clyde will ever return. The 1967 film version of their lives was partially shot in Denton, where the outlaws once hid out. Nowadays, film buffs who are fascinated by real life stories gravitate toward documentaries, and Denton's own Thin Line Film Fest has a dandy, 11-day program that's filled with nothing but documentaries. It's set to start rolling out tomorrow. To quote from the press release, the fest kicks off Friday night "with the Texas premiere of Battle for Brooklyn with Director and Producer Suki Hawley in attendance. ... "On Saturday, February 11, 2012 at 12:30 pm at the Square Donut...

PARADISE LOST Indeed As Proyas' Project Shut Down.

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 15:44:37 -0500

It has been some time since it was announced that Alex Proyas would be adapting Milton's poem Paradise Lost to the big screen for Legendary Pictures. Since then a number of high profile actors have been attached to the project too. Braldey Cooper, Ben Walker, Casey Affleck, Djimon Hounsou, Rufus Sewell, Camilla Belle, Diego Boneta and Callan McAuliffe were all set to star in the pic about an epic war in heaven between archangels Michael and Lucifer. There was the promise of large, epic air battles in 3D. But Paradise is now lost forever as Legendary Pictures have pulled the plug on the pic. Insiders close to the production say, "...that while Proyas' vision of the movie was great, the technology wasn't quite there, and...

Berlin 2012 Preview: Forum and Panorama

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 15:05:53 -0500

For part two of our Berlinale 2012 Preview (here's part one - the Competition Lineup), we'll be highlighting titles in the Forum and Panorama sections. What's the difference? According to the festival, the Forum section includes the most daring and risk-taking films of the program, while the Panorama section includes films specifically targeted at buyers (who are generally not as into risks or dares). So it's art for art's sake versus art for business' sake! To the films! Forum Nuclear Nation One of three films in the program examining the consequences of the Japanese tsunami and the nuclear crisis that ensued, Funahashi Atsushi's documentary examines 1,400 inhabitants of Futaba who are housed in a suburb of Tokyo, including their desperate mayor. For different perspectives...

MELANCHOLIA Blu-ray To Collide With Store Shelves March 13th

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 14:29:24 -0500

My selection for biggest bummer of the year, Lars von Trier's Melancholia, is set to hit US Blu-ray and DVD this March, and I couldn't be more excited! The film has been quite divisive, with many people, including our fearless leader Todd Brown, coming down on the nay side, but I loved this flick. Now you can choose for yourself. I haven't seen the disc, but the film was a technical and audio/visual work of beauty, and with Magnolia's track record, I can only imagine it will look and sound terrific. Read below for the press release, disc details, and pre-order link.WINNER OF BEST ACTRESS AT THE 64th CANNESFILM FESTIVAL AND BEST PICTURE AT THE EUROPEAN FILM AWARDSMELANCHOLIA Academy Award® Nominee Lars Von Tier Mesmerizes...

SXSW Midnighter THE AGGRESSION SCALE Gets a Trailer

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 14:26:03 -0500

Steven C. Miller's (Automaton Transfusion) SXSW Midnighter The Agression Scale is shaping up to be one of the most anticipated world premieres of the fest. Written by Ben Powell, the thriller involves a group of teenagers who go after four hitmen. The film stars Fabianne Therese, Ryan Hartwig, Derek Mears, Dana Ashbrook, Jacob Reynolds, Ray Wise, and Joseph McKelheer. The good folks at Snowfort Pictures (who you might remember from A Horrible Way to Die) produced the movie. Here's the trailer:...

EFM 2012: FRANKENSTEIN'S ARMY Enlists Momentum Pictures For UK Distribution

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 14:17:07 -0500

Good news for those of you keeping score at home! Known around the world as the guy who made 'The World's Greatest Proofs of Concepts That Were Never Made Into A Full Feature Film'... gasp... Dutch filmmaker Richard Raaphorst went back to the drawing board- images of his Worst Case Scenario shorts goose-stepping in his head- and came back with Frankenstein's Army. Sticking with the Nazis are bastards idea he abandoned the zombie concept but stuck with the undead idea. It just required some needles and thread. His story is set toward the end of World War II and sees Russian soldiers, pushing into eastern Germany, stumble across a secret Nazi lab, one that has unearthed and begun experimenting with the journal of one Dr....

Review: JOURNEY 2: THE MYSTERIOUS ISLAND

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 12:44:05 -0500

Taffy. Journey 2: The Mysterious Island, the latest cinematic adaptation of an adventure first told by Jules Verne in 1874, moves as though it's picking its way delicately through a field of taffy, not wanting to leave any impression of its passage. Journey 2 is a producer-driven, family-friendly package. It's a sequel to 2008's Journey to the Center of the Earth, which made more than $240 million worldwide as one of the first movies out of the gate in the new 3D era. Headliner Brendan Fraser is gone, replaced by Dwayne Johnson as Hank Parsons, a former military man and current police detective. The character link between the two installments is Josh Hutcherson as Sean Anderson; Fraser played his uncle in the first film and...

Girls' Gym Teachers Can Kick Ass Too! Trailer For SHAKTHI Rules!!

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 11:50:17 -0500

Are you ready for some ass-kicking?On January 12th, Shakthi was unleashed on audiences in Karnataka, India. The film stars current Kannada Action Queen, Malashri, who has a long career in Kannada under her belt. This is the best synopsis I've been able to come up with, courtesy of BharatStudent.com:An action fiesta, the story begins with Shakthi (malashri) who works as a coolie and is known for her immense strength. This is noticed by Anjanappa (sayaji) and he wants to use Shakthi for his motives. On the other hand, his daughter Swathi (hema) falls in love with other caste boy (manoj) and Anjanappa entrusts Shakthi the responsibility of seeing that even a tear doesn't drop from his daughter. In this process, she goes through injuries and...

EFM 2012: MACHETE KILLS Promo Art

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 11:42:00 -0500

It's grainy. It's tilted. It was shot on an iPhone. But it's the new promo art for Robert Rodriguez's Machete Kills with Danny Trejo.Here's how Deadline described the plot:The new film finds Machete recruited by the U.S. Government for a mission which would be impossible for any mortal man. Machete must battle his way through Mexico to take down a madman cartel leader and an eccentric billionaire arms dealer who has hatched a plan to spread war across the planet with a weapon in space. Machete takes on an army in an effort to dismantle a plan for global anarchy.Yes, I did consider getting a better version of the art but, hey ... it's a grindhouse knockoff. It's appropriate....

EFM 2012: Aron Gauder's THE DISTRICT (NYOCKER) Converted To 3D

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 11:33:53 -0500

Whatever you may think of 3D post-conversion in the case of Aron Gauder's The District it may provide an opportunity for more fans to find the film.A Hungarian musical satire that riffs on Romeo And Juliet and American foreign policy, The District has been a big favorite in these parts for years now. But despite premiering at a-list festivals around the world - Toronto and Karlovy Vary - the film has achieved only very limited distribution. Gauder has spent the time since working his long gestating Egill project which should have left The District purely in the past.Except it's coming back now thanks to a new 3D conversion of the film - technology which should mesh very well with Gauder's layered cutout style.Will this...

"We're Not Going To Fuck It Up." STAKE LAND's Jim Mickle Remaking Jorge Michel Grau's WE ARE WHAT WE ARE

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 06:46:23 -0500

You want an intriguing collision of talent seemingly tailor made for us here at Twitch? Well, here one is for you.Jim Mickle has long been a favorite here at Twitch, his debut feature Mulberry Street being a surprising little overachiever of a picture while we publicly declared his 2010 reunion with writing partner and star Nick Damici the best American horror film of the year. Winning the Midnight Madness award at the Toronto International Film Festival certainly helped make that argument.The Mickle / Damici combo is one of the most vital in American genre film today, the duo tapping into a very gritty, 70's indie vibe in their work. We've been anxiously awaiting whatever the duo would do next from the moment that Stake...

Review: SNOW FLOWER AND THE SECRET FAN Is A Chick Flick That I Like

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 06:41:41 -0500

It takes a real man to admit to watching and enjoying a chick flick, and therefore I am here to declare that I watched and enjoyed the latest film by director Wayne Wang, SNOW FLOWER AND THE SECRET FAN. It is a beautiful film, and its beauty lies in both the stories it tells and the way it looks. SNOW FLOWER is a film about friendship and sisterly love between two pairs of girls, one living in 19th century China and another in modern day Shanghai. The stories are told in parallel and the frequent jumps in the narrative between the two stories, almost certainly with the aim of highlighting the similarities in the struggles faced by women and the strength in the relationships between them...

SXSW 2012: Shorts Lineup Features Edgerton, Joost & Schulman, Hertzfeldt, Zakheim, & More

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 22:35:52 -0500

We've got all the details on the SXSW Shorts Lineup to compliment our announcements of the Features Lineup and Midnighters. There are a whopping 135 shorts in no fewer than 8 programs. Man, it must be crazy to program the shorts section of this fest. 135 short films were selected from 3,306 short film submissions, and will screen as part of twelve overall shorts programs. This year SXSW moved up submission deadlines a month earlier than previous years, and still saw a saw an increase of 7% in Short film submissions over 2011. Here's the full List:NARRATIVE SHORTS A selection of original, well-crafted films that take advantage of the short form and exemplify distinctive and genuine storytelling. The winner of our Grand Jury Award...

EFM2012: It Is Always THE QUIET ONES That Cause The Most Trouble

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 20:48:28 -0500

Teachers are supposed to be one of the firm foundations in your young lives. They educate you. They prepare you for the big bad world. They open up your young impressionable minds to new ideas and worldviews. They're not supposed to use you to summon demonic spirits. Please tell me I'm not the only one who feels this way. The next film to go into production from Hammer Films will be John Pogue's paranormal thriller The Quiet Ones. The story is presumably based on true events about a professor who took his brightest students out for a little extracurricular poltergeist creating. EXCLUSIVE MEDIA TO LAUNCH INTERNATIONAL SALES ON HAMMER'S THE QUIET ONES AT BERLIN'S EUROPEAN FILM MARKETThe Quiet Ones marks Hammer's next production after 'The Woman In...

Hammer Films Will Get Ian Fried's GASLIGHT Burning

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 20:33:17 -0500

The parent company of Hammer Films, Exclusive Media, has acquired the rights to Gaslight, a Blacklist screenplay by a young burgeoning writer, Ian Fried. It was the second screenplay of Fried's to be featured on the annual list of the most like screenplays not in production.EXCLUSIVE MEDIA'S HAMMER PRODUCTION LABEL ACQUIRES RIGHTS TO BLACKLIST SCREENPLAY 'GASLIGHT'HAMMER TO DEVELOP AND PRODUCE THE HORROR FEATURE FILM Los Angeles, CA (February 8, 2012) - Iconic production company Hammer, an Exclusive Media company, has acquired the rights to GASLIGHT, an original screenplay written by newcomer Ian Fried, it was announced today by Simon Oakes, Vice-Chairman of Exclusive Media and President & CEO of Hammer, and Guy East and Nigel Sinclair, Co-Chairmen of Exclusive Media. Hammer will develop and produce GASLIGHT...

The Director And Star Of Danish Prison Drama R Return With A HIJACKING

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 18:00:12 -0500

It has been a busy couple years for Denmark's Tobias Lindholm. Though his 2010 directorial debut R - cowritten and codirected with Michael Noer - suffered some from being released in close proximity to Jacques Audiard's similarly themed A Prophet, the film's raw power still drew a great deal of attention.Lindholm has since written for a popular Danish TV show, while also penning the script for Thomas Winterberg's Mads Mikkelsen starring thriller The Hunt. But the big question, of course is when Lindholm would direct again and the answer is now.Lindholm - flying solo this time - has reunited with his R leading man Pilou Asbaek for A Hijacking. Now in post-production it's not hard to make out from the image above that the...

Magnolia acquires US rights to EMERGO

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 16:30:46 -0500

When Rodrigo Cortés looks back on the early days of 2012, he will no doubt do so with a smile. His second feature film, Red Lights, impressed audiences at Sundance and was picked up by Millennium Entertainment. And now Emergo, written by Cortés and produced by him and longtime collaborator Adrian Guerra, has been acquired for US distribution by Magnolia, via its Magnet label. It has been doing well in international sales, having already sold to major territories such as the UK, Canada, Germany, Australia and Japan.The film, performed in English by a mainly American cast, is a found-footage tale of paranormal phenomenon. A parapsychologist and his team of investigators come to the small apartment of a single father and his two children, who are...

EFM 2012: Official Synopsis For Von Trier's NYMPHOMANIAC

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 16:10:32 -0500

With Lars Von Trier gearing up to start on his provocatively titled next film - with rumblings that regular compatriots Stellan Skarsgaard and Charlotte Gainsbourgh will star - international sales agents Trust Nordisk are launching presales for Nymphomaniac at the European Film Market starting tomorrow. And that means they need to tell people what it's about.NYMPHOMANIAC is the light and poetic story of a woman's erotic journey from birth to the age of 50 as told by the main character, the self-‐diagnosed nymphomaniac, Joe.On a cold winter's evening Seligman, an old bachelor, finds Joe semi‐unconscious and beaten up in an alleyway. After bringing her to his flat he sees to her wounds while trying to understand how things could have gone so wrong for...

First Trailer for THE BOURNE LEGACY, Featuring Jeremy Renner

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 15:55:14 -0500

You just cannot keep a good franchise down. Changing Bourne appears to be even easier than changing Bonds as there can always be another super-spy in the Treadstone/Blackbriar Program. After having written the first three films in the franchise (which drifts further from the work of Robert Ludlum with each entry) Tony Gilroy will now be writing and directing this entry with some familiar faces, Joan Allen, Scott Glenn, David Strathairn and Albert Finney (but wither Julia Stiles?) and a lot of big new faces including Rachel Weisz, Oscar Isaac and Edward Norton, while Jeremy Renner is handed the keys to the kingdom after doing some solid on-screen training in films like 28 Weeks Later, The Hurt Locker and of course Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol.Here...

SXSW 2012: MODUS ANOMALI, V/H/S, & THE AGGRESSION SCALE Lead Midnight Lineup

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 15:53:47 -0500

Last week we brought you the (mostly) full features lineup. But wait! There was a major program missing from the announcement: The Midnight Films!. A key component of the SXSW Film lineup, the long-standing Midnighters section has hosted the premieres and fostered the careers of such filmmakers as Joe Cornish, Ti West, and Eli Roth. The eleven films announced in the 2012 program include a feast of titles that promise to rouse, haunt and thrill the eager SXSW late-night audiences with an eclectic mix of thrills from genre filmmakers at the top of their game. There are some pretty great films from talented filmmakers such as Don Coscarelli, Ti West, and Juan Carlos Fresnadillo. A few have screened at such festivals as TIFF and...

Berlin 2012: Full IRON SKY Trailer Delivers The Space Nazis To Earth

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 15:40:45 -0500

With the World Premiere of long awaited scifi comedy Iron Sky just around the corner a big additional helping of Space Nazi Madness has been delivered in the form of a brand new full length trailer. The ubermensch are coming! And Udo Kier leads them! In a space zeppelin! Check out the new trailer below....

Win YAMADA: WAY OF THE SAMURAI On Blu-ray From Cine Asia!

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 14:40:44 -0500

Our pals at Cine Asia have offered up three copies of Yamada: Way of the Samurai on Blu-ray for Twitch readers! All you have to do is send me an e-mail letting me know that you're interested and I'll enter you into the drawing. Find my e-mail address at the link below.Get ready for hard-hitting, hi-impact fight action from the cinematic tradition that brought you Ong-Bak and The Warrior King. Set in the ancient Kingdom of Ayothaya, this incredible true story brings to life the adventures of Yamada Nagamasa, a young Japanese Samurai warrior, who gave up his homeland to protect the sovereignty of the Thai people. Betrayed and left for dead by treacherous Japanese forces, he finds a new family in a remote village...

Blu-ray Review: X - THE UNHEARD MUSIC

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 14:09:12 -0500

Full disclosure: X is one of my favorite bands, and I've seen this film a number of times, so I will gush about their importance in the world of music and my life. This is a band, formed before I was even born, that has managed to meld all of my influences, both musically and philosophically in a way that no other group has done since. Their affection for pure rock 'n roll, 50's culture, art, literature, and the power of music continues to move me to this day. X - The Unheard Music is a documentary that takes those elements and puts them on display for the layman, and I believe it helps to explain why I hold them so dear. This is no...

Will HK Film Awards deem BULLETS mightier than SWORDS? - Nominations Announced!

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 12:23:38 -0500

Our diligent neighbours over at LoveHKFilm.com have been quick to post the first full English language list of this year's Hong Kong Film Award nominees, which were announced earlier today. The nominations seem to be pretty evenly shared amongst 6 films in particular, Tsui Hark's FLYING SWORDS OF DRAGON GATE and Jiang Wen's LET THE BULLETS FLY lead the pack with 13 nominations, Peter Chan's WU XIA has 12, Felix Chong & Alan Mak's OVERHEARD 2 is named in 9 categories, while Ann Hui's A SIMPLE LIFE and Johnnie To's LIFE WITHOUT PRINCIPLE picked up 8 nods each.Notable omissions amongst these were no acting nomination for Chow Yun Fat in LET THE BULLETS FLY, despite both his co-stars, Jiang Wen and Ge You, appearing in the Best Actor category....

ActionFest 2012 Honours Gina Carano (The Inaugural Chick Norris Award)

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 12:07:44 -0500

ActionFest returns to Asheville on April 12-15 for its 3rd Edition ("This Time It's Personal!") and continues to grow stronger (cue work-out/training montage) whilst finding its sea-legs as the only festival (that I am aware of) exclusively devoted to action flicks. the festival remains a showcase for the most exciting action films from around the globe and feature mind-blowing live stunt performances by the best in the business. The festival will also continue to pay tribute to Hollywood's stunt men and women, fight choreographers, and 2nd unit directors, whose fearlessness makes action films thrilling for audiences worldwide. But they'd added a new recognition award:The Chick Norris (if you forgive the name...) award honors the Best Female Action Star of the year, in a play off the attitude,...

The Sleeper has Awakened: New EXTRATERRESTRIAL Trailer

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 11:30:10 -0500

We here at Twitch are big fans of director & screenwriter Nacho Vigalondo. And there's a lot to be a fan of, from his plethora of short films (including the deliciously surreal 7:35 in the Morning, which was nominated for Best Short at the Oscars in 2003,) to his feature film debut Timecrimes, to the breathless anticipation of his screen adaptation of Mark Millar's graphic novel Supercrooks. (And you haven't truly experienced karaoke until you've seen it done by this guy.) Vigalondo's second feature Extraterrestrial is a brilliant mash-up of a comedy of manners and an alien invasion. Here's a synopsis:There's only one sane response when you wake up to a sky full of alien invaders - run like hell. But what do you do...

Win UK Zombie Movie THE DEAD On BluRay

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 11:00:16 -0500

Recent UK zombie picture The Dead arrives on DVD and BluRay from Anchor Bay in the US on February 14th and we've got three BluRay copies to give away.When the last flight out of war-torn Africa crashes off the coast, Lt. Brian Murphy (Rob Freeman) is the sole survivor in a land where the dead are returning to life and attacking the living. On the run in a hostile and inhospitable parched landscape, Murphy has to use his wits and ingenuity if he is to get home alive to his family. When he crosses paths with local solider Daniel Dembele (Prince David Osei), a man frantically searching for his son, they join forces. Two desperate men from two very different cultures fight side-by-side to...

Blu-ray Review: THE SUNSET LIMITED

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 11:00:00 -0500

The Sunset Limited, Cormac McCarthy's one-act novel in dramatic form, is all about the dialog. The Sunset Limited, Tommy Lee Jones' HBO adaptation of McCarthy's play, is all about the characters delivering that dialog.The plot of both is simple: White, a suicidal nihilist who believes knowledge is responsible for his malaise, attempts to end his life via oncoming subway train. Black, a religious ex-con full of hope and goodwill, prevents White from completing said task, and takes the man back to his apartment for a rousing discussion on the very meaning of existence. This is Cormac McCarthy we're talking about, so yeah, it's as heavy as it sounds. On the page, we are treated to McCarthy's robust existential musings, sans distraction. Let's be honest- the...

Blu-Ray Review: ANONYMOUS Is Both Ridiculous and Ridiculously Good

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 09:00:00 -0500

Roland Emmerich seems like an unlikely filmmaker to tackle the heady worlds of literary conspiracy, historical fiction, and the Elizabethan line of succession. In fact, I would say that the man behind Godzilla and The Day After Tomorrow would be the last person I would expect to tackle this material. In fact, the marketing for the movie almost presented it as a sort of Dan Brown-esque mess of elaborate clues and mysteries set around the writing of Shakespeare's plays (I half expected the bulk of the movie to involve characters in the present trying to decipher clues in the Tower of London leading them to Kit Marlowe). Instead, Emmerich has made a (conjectural) historical drama that uses Shakespeare's work as a mask for what the...

Review: KIKUJIRO NO NATSU (Personal Favorites #83)

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 07:23:54 -0500

So far I've been ignoring the work of Takeshi Kitano (Achilles To Kame, Kantoku Banzai), but as I'm slowly revisiting my all-time favorite films there really is no way around Kitano's impressive body of work. So let us start with what is probably Kitano's most accessible film to date, Kikujiro no Natsu. A perfect cure for winter blues and the perfect entry film for people not acquainted with the signature style of Kitano.Kikujiro no Natsu follows all the praise Kitano received for Hana-bi, a film that won him the Golden Lion in Venice (helped by the support of Tsukamoto) and immediately launched his international career. Even though Kitano dabbled in different genres prior to releasing Hana-bi (A Scene At The Sea, Getting Any), to the...

Competition: Win 1 Of 2 Double Passes For The Opening Night Of Sing-A-Long-A SOUND OF MUSIC In Sydney, Australia!

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 07:09:50 -0500

Thanks to our friends at Cardinal Spin, we have 2 double passes to give away for the Opening Night of the upcoming Sing-A-Long-A SOUND OF MUSIC event at the State Theatre in Sydney on Friday February 24. Not only will you get to experience the musical masterpiece on the big screen, you'll also get to sing along to all the beautiful songs that you know and love! That sure sounds like a heap of fun!! About the event: 'Back by popular demand, Sing-A-Long-A Sound of Music returns to its spiritual home the State Theatre for three performances ONLY (Friday 24 & Saturday 25 February, 2012 7:30pm), and due to popular demand a family friendly Matinee (Sunday 26 Feb 1.00pm). Lovers of The Sound...

POSTCARDS FROM THE ZOO director to receive Edward Yang Award

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 03:42:49 -0500

It has just been announced that Indonesian filmmaker Edwin will receive the Edward Yang New Talent Award at the 6th Asian Film Awards, to take place in Hong Kong on 19th February. The director's latest film will have its World Premiere in the coming days as it debuts in competition at this year's Berlinale. The film will then play as part of the 36th Hong Kong International Film Festival, where it will compete for the Firebird Awards for Young Cinema.The 33-year-old director is only the third recipient of the Edwin Yang New Talent Award since it was first introduced in 2008. The award was named in commemoration of the acclaimed Taiwanese filmmaker who passed away in 2007 and has to-date been awarded to Japanese director...

Kino Selznick Collection: A FAREWELL TO ARMS/NOTHING SACRED Blu-ray Review

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 22:44:03 -0500

If there is one label who has benefited from the advent of Blu-ray, it is Kino Lorber. The selection of films that Kino have released in high definition is all over the spectrum in terms of genre and era, and it helps to keep them among the most exciting labels to watch, simply because you never know what's next. From their praise-worthy Buster Keaton collection, to the recent Redemption Jean Rollin discs, to the more contemporary releases like City of Life and Death and Dogtooth, they have yet to release a stinker. When I heard that they were taking on some classic David O. Selznick films, I was very curious, and it turns out that my enthusiasm for Kino product remains well-placed, as these two...

Junji Ito's Nightmarish Manga GYO Now Set To Terrify Anime Fans

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 19:51:37 -0500

Anime studio ufotable are bringing morbid manga master Junji Ito's putrid, and surreal, story of mutant zombie fish that sprout legs and attack Okinawa, Japan, to home video systems everywhere later this month.Ok. Wrapped your head around that concept yet, readers? It's eccentric to say the least. That's right,Gyo, that bizarr-o survival horror tale of a couple vs. bio-mechanical fart propelled rotting sea-life, is now a new OVA directed by Takayuki Hirao (Futakoi Alternative), and slated for release on Feb. 15'th. Ito is probably most well-known as the creator of a couple of classic horror mangas, Tomie, and my personal favorite, Uzumaki. Both have been brought to the screen in live action incarnations, the Tomie manga spawning a long running series of films, about...

IFFR 2012 Review: L

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 18:25:14 -0500

(It's not a prequel to "Z"... I think?) Greek cinema is turning heads lately, scoring points at festivals worldwide, getting awarded left and right and ending up in people's Top-10 lists. This recent wave arguably revolves around the team which created "Dogtooth" a few years ago, from which several members have produced memorable output of their own as well. Most of these films show bizarre drama coupled with a dry, ironic sense of humor. Which brings us to "L" which is the directorial debut of Babis Makridis, the scriptwriter of "Dogtooth". Certainly no stranger to odd symbolism, he has taken some of the weird atmosphere apparent in his scripts and created an entire movie from it, reshaping the world into a few abstract ideas. Intriguing?...

First Artwork For CG Animated Film SAINT SEIYA

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 13:45:50 -0500

Toei Animation has announced that Keiichi Sato (Tiger & Bunny, Karas) will handle the directorial duties for the CG film adaptation of Masami Kurumada's mythological fantasy manga Saint Seiya (aka Knights of the Zodiac) while Satoshi Suzuki (Rokku: Wanko no shima, The Incite Mill) will write the screenplay. Along with this announcement, the first promo artwork with a shot of Pegasus Seiya has been revealed at the official site but the teaser trailer that was release back in February of last year has been removed. According to the press release, the goal is to reboot the origin story to draw up new possibilities.No specific release date has been confirmed but its "coming soon". More details as we get'em....

First Trailer For Yim Pil-sung and Kim Ji-woon's DOOMSDAY BOOK

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 13:00:57 -0500

The end of the world is coming and acclaimed Korean directors Yim Pil-sung (Antarctic Journal) and Kim Ji-woon (I Saw The Devil) think they know what it looks like. The duo have teamed up for three part anthology The Doomsday Book with each directing one segment solo while collaborating on the third.Two acclaimed Korean directors unfurl three unique stories of human self-destruction in the modern high-tech era. In a hope to restore the humane compassion in the insusceptible modern age, the film displays an alternative form of genuine humanity. And thus you are stepping into the world of future, where a series of unexpected stories awaits you. All these stories originate from the earth. From the very earth you live on.Viral outbreaks, an impending...

MACHETE Returning To The Big Screen. And This Time He KILLS!

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 12:15:00 -0500

Didn't Machete kill the first time? Isn't that the entire point of the character? Heh ...Word is out that Robert Rodriguez plans to return Danny Trejo to the big screen in the second of what is now a planned trilogy of films. First came Machete. Next comes Machete Kills. Is it too much to hope that the third will be titled Machete Kills Everyone?Working from a script by Kyle Ward the plan appears to be to make things bloodier than last time. Deadline describes the story like this:The new film finds Machete recruited by the U.S. Government for a mission which would be impossible for any mortal man. Machete must battle his way through Mexico to take down a madman cartel leader and an...

Blu-Ray Review: The Shabby, Hastily-Constructed Future and Ideas of IN TIME

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 12:00:34 -0500

This isn't precisely a review of writer/director/producer Andrew Niccol's sci-fi misfire In Time but I will be discussing my opinion of this terrible movie and how a poorly-envisioned and articulated concept of the future can completely derail any potential the material might have possessed. In the case of In Time, it's some indeterminate point in the future where time itself has been made into a commodity, which each person's lifespan acting as a currency once they reach 18 years of age, with the haves amassing decades, even centuries of time and the have not's literally living day-to-day. Also, everyone's genetic clock is set so that they are perpetually 25. As far as high concepts go it's not terrible (maybe a bit on the nose, but...

New Clips From Studio Ghibli's THE SECRET WORLD OF ARRIETTY

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 12:00:31 -0500

Studio Ghibli's The Secret World Of Arrietty - adapted from Mary Norton's novel The Borrowers - arrives on US screens February 17th and local distributors Disney have just released a handful of new clips from the film.The Clock family are four-inch-tall people who live anonymously in another family's residence, borrowing simple items to make their home. Life changes for the Clocks when their daughter, Arrietty, is discovered.Check the clips below!...

EURO BEAT: On The Passing Of Theo Angelopoulos And The Prudish French

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 11:22:54 -0500

For the second time in two years, I am frustrated and a bit sad to begin discovering the work of a great, oft-overlooked filmmaker upon reading news of their death. Such was the case last year with Jean Rollin, whose passing prompted me to dig into his filmography and in turn discover one of the most unique genre filmmakers of all time. Now I suspect I'm about to repeat this story with the late Greek filmmaker Theo Angelopoulos. Angelopoulos died last week at, 76, after being hit by a motorcycle while working on location for his new film. The New York Times described his films as "dreamy, atmospheric and enigmatic...allegories that illuminate the painful history of 20th-century Greece..." But perhaps the most compelling endorsement...