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20 articles
Lu Chuan Goes Three Kingdoms with 鸿门宴 (The Hongmen Banquet)
2 hours ago
With only three films in the can, and three quite varied and eclectic ones at that (a black comedy, a Tibet-themed quasi-documentary, and a gritty and poignant portrait of the Nanjing Massacre), Lu Chuan has quickly become one of the most important voices in current Mainland Cinema. Right as his latest, masterful 南京! 南京! (City of Life and Death) is still garnering praise around the world, the son of renowned novelist Lu Tianming has already announced his next project, and we're dealing with an interesting concept, not to mention his first venture into bonafide historical drama.
Starlight International and China Film are in fact set to produce 鸿门宴 (The Hongmen Banquet) - title is just a direct translation - which will tell the story of one of the Three Kingdoms' most famous nights, when general Xiang Yu and future Han Dynasty founder Liu Bang met on a fateful night, filled with intrigue, »
Korea Invades New York! Free Movies For All!
2 hours ago
The mighty Grady Hendrix wrote the press release for this, which means it is far more entertaining than anything I am likely to come up. So take it away Grady!
The American people are under attack. Held hostage by a totalitarian regime based in Hollywood that insists on torturing them with terrible movies based on lame toys and old TV shows in clear violation of their human rights, America¹s citizens cry out to the international community for assistance.
And Korea responds.
The Korean Cultural Service, the most battle-tested and technologically advanced arm of the Korean government, is staging an invasion of Manhattan to liberate Americans from their current system of entertainment.
Coordinated by the director of the Kcs, Soo Keun Song, every other Tuesday night, from January 12, 2010 until December 14, 2010, the Korean Cultural Service will be screening new Korean movies at the Tribeca Cinemas (54 Varick Street) for free.
That¹s right, »
Ridley Done Butched Up His Robin Hood
2 hours ago
Does the world really need another Robin Hood film? No, probably not. And do all of Ridley Scott's period films look pretty much exactly like one another? Why, yes, yes they do. But that said ... Scott's period stuff, though flawed, actually tends to be a pretty fun time and as much of a prat as Russell Crowe may be in real life I actually quite like his casting in this particular role as that sort of against-type move is pretty much exactly what was needed if this was to have any chance of working.
All this to say that the first trailer has just arrived and this particular version of the Hood story clearly aint intended for the kiddies.
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Golden Globe Nominations Announced
2 hours ago
Can it be? A year of Golden Globe nominations without any flagrantly bizarre selections? Sure, there are some I disagree with - no way Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs deserves a nomination - but on the whole this list actually makes a fair bit of sense. Kathryn Bigelow's The Hurt Locker - fresh off awards from the New York and La critics - is up for the bigs and while I'm disappointed Jeremy Renner didn't get nominated for his performance in the film I can't really argue with the ones who did.
The happy surprise of the list? Sebastian Silva's La Nana getting a nod for best foreign language. My response is two fold: First, congratulations Seb, you totally deserve the recognition! Second, all of you sales agents who wouldn't even look at Silva's La Vida Me Mata when I brought it to you because it was in black and white ... well, »
Review: Matthew Vaughn's Kick-ass
6 hours ago
Footage from Matthew Vaughn's independently produced adaptation of Mark Millar's Kick-Ass comic created a strong buzz at Comic-Con in 2009. Lionsgate to pick up the film a few months ago, but little information has emerged beyond a lackluster trailer and some posters. The studio decided to test the waters by showing a rough cut, which was not color-corrected, at the 11th annual Butt-Numb-a-Thon in Austin, Texas. The screening was interrupted by sound problems, but that did nothing to alter the fact that Kick-Ass is an ultra-violent superhero homage that lives up to its name.
Dave Lizewski (Aaron Johnson) is a typical high school nerd who loves comic books and has no luck with girls. After getting robbed one too many times by thugs, Dave decides to carry through with an idea of becoming a superhero. After pulling together a costume from a crappy green wet suit and work boots, »
The Warrior and the Wolf Review
9 hours ago
When Tian makes a new film, I take notice. Without a doubt my favorite Chinese arthouse director, though his somewhat modest productivity makes it difficult to built a solid view of his style and strengths. The Warrior and The Wolf is his latest, and even though he's seemingly pursuing a more commercial route, it won't take long to realize it's all just a façade.
Ang Lee (Crouching Tiger) and Yimou Zhang (Hero) started an ongoing trend in Chinese cinema, leading arthouse directors to direct big, epic and action-filled period pieces. And while the world is still waiting for Hsiao-hsien Hou's The Assassin, Tian is filling the current void. Though it must be said, Tian's The Warrior and The Wolf doesn't really compare well to Zhang and Lee's efforts, but lies closer to grittier films like The Warlords or Battle Of Wits.
Those expecting another straight-forward genre piece, be warned. »
Fredrik Hana Invites You All Aboard The Transsexual Express
16 hours ago
In their dream of becoming real women Montana and Trixxx, two transsexuals, kidnap a pregnant woman. Their plan is to perform a Satanic ritual, and with the help of a magical relic, beam their spiritual essence into her twin female fetuses. Meanwhile an alcoholic priest means to stop the rituals, but his love for whiskey won't let him. Transsexual Express, the latest short from Norway's Fredrik Hana, is a film we tracked through production in these pages and with its festival run now complete, Hana has posted the entire piece online. It's fantastic stuff, loaded with compelling characters and absolutely stellar cinematography. Check it out below.
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DVD Review: 20th Century Boys 1 - The Beginning
18 hours ago
The third and final installment of the 20th Century Boys films based on Naoki Urasawa's popular manga was theatrically released in Japan this year. However, the first installment, 20th Century Boys 1: The Beginning, only recently washed up on North American shores courtesy of Viz. The Beginning is an ambitious but messy film whose faithfulness to its source material will please fans and leave most others befuddled.
The film begins when a grade school kid named Kenji and his friends write a fictional text called The Book of Prophecy. This book of childhood fantasy details a future in which the kids fight an evil cult that tries to bring about the end of the world. Once the kids grow up, the games are forgotten until the events detailed in the Book of Prophecy begin to come true. Suspiciously, the countdown to disaster occurs in tandem with the emergence of »
"She Said You Could Get Rid Of It ..."
19 hours ago
Back in late October I received an email from a young film maker by the name of David James Fernandes. "Check out my website", he said, "I've got a bunch of stills on there from a film I'm finishing up." I get this basic email thirty or forty times a week, on average, but the stills I found on Fernandes' site were miles above most of what people send. So I wrote him back and commented on the fact that he lives right around the corner from me and asked how close things were to be done. Really close. So close, in fact, that I chose not to run the stills at all, explaining that "A trailer will get the job done a whole lot better."
Good choice.
The film is Re-Wire, the trailer is done and it's fantastic. Starring Brandon McGibbon - soon to be quite well known thanks »
A Beastly Teaser Trailer
21 hours ago
Teen fantasy horror isn't exactly light on the ground at the moment, and thanks to a certain sharp-of-tooth franchise cinemas will no doubt be overflowing with angst-ridden emo kids for some time to come. Dawson's Creek isn't over, they just got some make-up and came back as 'vamps'.
So, a teaser for Beastly turns up...
Cynical cash-in on a current trend or witty modernisation of Beauty And The Beast? The story has potential but that ropey CGI is hardly inspiring...
It's out in the UK on 8th October 2010, but you lucky folks in the Us can see it in July.
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Phantomschmerz (Phantom Pain, 2009): Interview With Matthias Emcke & Til Schweiger
22 hours ago
San Francisco's Berlin & Beyond Film Festival would have been the venue where I imagine San Franciscans might have had the opportunity to catch Matthias Emcke's debut feature Phantomschmerz (Phantom pain, 2009); but as that film festival is still reeling from internal upset and has shifted from its January timeslot to (God forbid!) an October one, chances are that Phantom Pain will be one of those movies that will slip through the cracks and recede into memory faster than you can say, "das Naeschsten!" Such are the hazards of international film distribution in a cautious American landscape. (Hopefully, the same will not be said about the Berlin and Beyond Film Festival.) »
The Iffr shows the whole world for free that Love Conquers All !
23 hours ago
Yes.
It's an award-winning film which can now be watched, for free, over the Internet.
Each January brings us a new International Film Festival Rotterdam, and 2010 will not be an exception. The festival is best known for its mix of indie and foreign films (especially Asia is always well represented), but the Iffr also experiments with mixing different types of media. This includes looking for ways to use the Internet as an opportunity instead of a threat for cinema.
For this year's edition some cool web-related content is planned like online sponsoring of film projects (more on that in a later article), but for now I'd like to point to the Iffr's YouTube site.
Ok, having a page on YouTube is maybe not too innovative but what the Iffr is providing as free content is quite spectacular: besides the usual trailers and announcements you can find full shorts and even some feature-length films. »
Who Knew Hockey Could Be Sexy? A Clip From Cam Christiansen's 5 Hole: Tales Of Hockey Erotica
23 hours ago
Recently named to the Toronto International Film Festival's Canada's Top Ten list, we have been vocal admirers of independent animator Cam Christiansen since we first came across his fantastic short I Have Seen The Future back in 2007. Christiansen's style is a unique blend of motion capture, rotoscoping and digital paint - something that may sound familiar when you see it written down like this but which is incredibly striking and distinctly Christiansen's own when you see it in action. And what has he applied his signature style to to earn that Top Ten nod? That'd be 5 Hole: Tales Of Hockey Erotica.
Be warned, Guy Maddin, you are no longer Canada's sole source of absurd self mythologizing. No, there's a new kid on that particular block. An extension of a book and musical project from The Rheostatics' Dave Bidini, 5 Hole casts Canada's love affair with hockey in a decidedly different light than usual. »
Teaser Arrives For Christoffer Boe's Everything Will Be Fine
14 December 2009 9:48 AM, PST
We've said enough about Christoffer Boe's upcoming thriller Everything Will Be Fine in recent days that I don't feel the need for a full recap here. Suffice it to say that the just-released trailer once again showcases Boe's trademark fusion of high style and absolute naturalism and his entire high-profile cast - Jens Albinus, Paprika Steen, Nicholas Bro - look to be in fine form.
A film director flees from a car accident in which he was at fault -- out of fear of the consequences for his coming film and the adoption of his future son. The day after the accident, he discovers that the man he ran over is in fact hiding a dangerous secret capable of toppling the government. He decides to risk everything in an attempt to expose the man's story to the public -- but as it turns out, nothing is actually what it seems. »
Teaser For Indie Thriller Saturnalia
14 December 2009 9:10 AM, PST
How is this for a slice of real life strangeness? In 2008 a story emerged about a homeless woman who had found her way into a recently widowed man's house. Unnoticed, she lived there for roughly a year, sleeping hidden in a closet and coming out only during the day, when the home owner was out, to shower and eat. She was only discovered when her 'host' installed security cameras in the house.
Taking that story as its launching point is Gustavo Mercado's Saturnalia.
After losing his lifelong job as a metal workshop foreman and the sudden death of his wife, Richard, a man in his late sixties, is hell-bent on continuing to live life under his own terms. His estranged slacker son, Neil, sees things differently, since putting his father in a home would let him get his hands in his house; he soon concocts a plan to have »
Rocket Crossbows and Badass Tattoos, it's the New 錦衣衛 (14 Blades) Trailer!
14 December 2009 9:04 AM, PST
Not much in the way of new footage, but at least Kate Tsui has managed to escape from being labeled as the "villain with the menacing cleavage," with some action of her own - and since we're there, Tsui plays Tuo, a mortal enemy of the Jinyiwei (the brocade-clad army of the title), the Ming's own rendition of a secret service. According to the official website, she "lure[s] her target into an hallucinogenic state with her movements," which sounds about right.
Daniel Lee's 錦衣衛 (14 Blades) looks to feature the same lavish sets and top notch production values of recent Mainland historical epics, but with a more old school approach to action, as the emphasis on wirefu shows. But while there should be no worries in the action department, and Donnie Yen, Zhao Wei and a few other supporting characters should deliver the goods in terms of acting, the big »
Who Is Tony?
14 December 2009 5:00 AM, PST
It's a more difficult question to answer than it may appear on the surface, but one possibility is simply to say that Tony is the subject of Gerard Johnson's film of the same name. A serial killer picture more about the killer than about the crimes - think Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer - Tony premiered strongly in Edinburgh and will be getting a UK theatrical release in early 2010. No trailer yet, but we do have an exclusive clip embedded below. Here is how Edinburgh described it:
Tony is a loner, but that doesn't stop him trying to make friends - with, for instance, the drug dealers who hang out near his home, and the ladies who advertise their services in call boxes. But when a local child goes missing, his odd lifestyle begins to attract attention - and his secrets must surely be exposed... Bold, affecting and darkly funny, »
Crab Trap (2009): Interview With Oscar "Papeto" Ruiz Navia, Rodrigo Vélez & Arnobio Salazar Rivas
13 December 2009 11:44 PM, PST
There is an intimate scene in Oscar Ruiz Navia's debut feature Crab Trap (El Vuelco del Cangrejo, 2009) that reveals the true translation of the film's title. Daniel, a "white" stranger, has drifted into the Afro-Colombian coastal village of La Barra in hopes of securing a boat to escape Colombia. While waylaid in the village, he befriends a local girl Lucia who entertains him one afternoon by showing him how she traps crabs by flipping them over onto their backs. The crabs are helpless in this position until a wave sets them right side up. Is Daniel in the same position? And what kind of wave will be required to free him from being trapped? »
Sundance 2010: First Teaser Arrives For David Michôd's Animal Kingdom
13 December 2009 5:50 PM, PST
Welcome to the jungle known as the Melbourne underworld. Animal Kingdom uses this edgy locale to unspool a gripping tale of survival and revenge.
Pope Cody, an armed robber on the run from a gang of renegade detectives, is in hiding, surrounded by his roughneck friends and family. Soon, Pope's nephew, Joshua "J" Cody, arrives and moves in with his hitherto estranged relatives. When tensions between the family and the police reach a bloody peak, "J" finds himself at the center of a cold-blooded revenge plot that turns the family upside down.
To those who have been tracking the current wave of Australian genre film David Michôd needs no introduction. The prolific writer has screenwriting credits on most of the major titles to come out of the Blue Tongue group, including one on Hesher - the debut feature from Spencer Susser - which give Michôd credit on two films playing »
Poster Alert: Limited run of 'Phasma Ex Machina' posters, just in time for the holidays!
13 December 2009 5:28 PM, PST
With a couple weeks to go before Christmas unique gifts are a gem. Why not buy 1 of 100 hand printed posters from the upcoming supernatural thriller Phasma Ex Machina? Posters are signed and numbered and proceeds will be split between the artist and the film. They're dandy. It is a great way to support the film and when this film drops it could be another sleeper independent hit and you'll have a highly collectible piece of art work.
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20 articles
