While we’re still waiting for the first teasers to release for Irreversible director Gaspar Noe’s latest film, Enter the Void, a brand new still has just become available along with a more detailed synopsis.
Oscar, (20), and his sister Linda (18), are recent arrivals in Tokyo. Oscar sells drugs for a living, and Linda works as a nightclub stripper. One night, Oscar goes to a bar to make a deal. But the cops are waiting, and in the panic that ensues he is accidentally shot.
As Oscar lies dying, his perception grows distorted. Swept along a limitless tunnel of memories, he witnesses again the death of his parents in a car crash when he was five years old, and the promise he made to his little sister – that he would never abandon her. A dazzling light tears him from these memories but Oscar cannot abandon the world of the living. Like a disembodied spirit, his vision flies through the city and around those close to him. But despite all his efforts, he cannot communicate with them. Not even with Linda. Magnificent coloured lights appear again, and try to pull him away from the world, but he rejects them, true to his promise and a prisoner to his desires and his fears … Oscar’s perceptions grow evermore distorted, his visions evermore chaotic and nightmarish. Past, present and future merge in a hallucinatory maelstrom.
Shot from start to finish from the subjective point of view or mental perspective of its leading character, ENTER THE VOID is a hallucinatory film, a melodrama of altered states of consciousness.
Hit the link below to check the new still!
Gadzooks! The Twitch Video Player Top Ten is making a rare Wednesday appearance - Wednesday’s being the day it is supposed to appear on but seldom actually does - which means I must be, bizarrely, more organized than usual this week. Cue scoffing from anyone who has set foot inside my house. New on the list this week? European viral apocalypse! German terrorists! Madonna proving she’s just as bad a director as actress! Onwards!
1. Tokyo Gore Police Trailer Two (13719)
2. Babylon AD Viral Ad (12561)
3. Ong Bak 2 Promo Reel (6326)
4. Able Trailer (1627)
5. Bronson Teaser (1374)
6. Tokyo Gore Police Trailer (1193)
7. Filth and Wisdom Trailer (1192)
8. Painted Skin Chinese Trailer (644)
9. Synechdoche, New York Clip One (622)
10. Der Baader Meinhof Komplex Theatrical Trailer (482)
Big thanks here go out to regular Twitch reader Vladimir for this one.
I am a big, big fan of Philip Yankovsky’s Sword Bearer, an arty super power film that to my mind still stands as the best of the recent wave of Russian genre film. Yankovsky is one of the brightest lights of current Russian film, a smart writer who shorts gorgeous film and we’ve been anxiously tracking his upcoming Rock Head for months now, ever since the day we first heard of it. A psychological crime thriller that stars real life heavyweight boxer Nikolay Valuev - a truly fearsome looking man - in the lead role as an amnesiac boxer reconstructing his own past while on a quest for revenge.
We’ve run a series of impressive production stills and some behind the scenes footage in the past and Vladimir has just pointed the way to the brand new, just released first trailer for the picture. Though it appears that this was cut with footage before it was fully through the post production process - the sound is a dead giveaway and the color correction seems slightly off - it is still looking very, very good. Check it out below the break in the Twitch Player.
Continue Reading "First Trailer For Philip Yankovsky’s ROCK HEAD!"...
Put this one in the ‘it’s about bloody time’ file. I am an absolutely huge fan of Gonzalo López-Gallego’s King of the Hill (El Rey de la Montana), a film I fell in love with at last year’s Toronto International Film Festival and have been singing the praises of ever since. Thing is there hasn’t been a trailer for it so I haven’t been able to actually show anybody any of what I’ve been talking about. I’ve written sales agents, I’ve written rights holders in four different countries, I’ve asked the director and tried to track down producers but no luck. A trailer simply didn’t exist. But now one does. It actually arrived online last month but snuck out so quietly that I missed it until now. You can find it below the break in the Twitch Player.
Continue Reading "Finally! A Trailer For Gonzalo López-Gallego’s KING OF THE HILL!"...
Beware boys and girls ... the INTERGALACTIC TRAILER FORCE 9000 is spreading its creeping tendrils across the universe and sucking in everything in its path. Okay, that’s not exactly true but it is adding a good number of trailers. For those unaware what we’re doing here is gathering up trailers for films screening as part of Fantastic Fest 2008 so if you want to know what you’ll be seeing - or missing, as the case may be - then this is the place to come. A healthy update to the TRAILER FORCE today, so check it out.
One of the things we often lament about up here in the Canadian chapter of Twitch is that there isn’t enough genre film being made by Canadians or we simply don’t know anything about what is going on in our own backyard. Honestly we know we can do better than that and it helps when filmmakers contact you directly and let you know what they’re up to.
Enter local filmmaker Justin McConnell and the production company Unstable Ground. They have three films on their slate right now. The first picture is the follow-up to a short film he did, Ending The Eternal. Here is the synopsis for the feature length…The Eternal.
Samuel Gradius has lived too long. In his 500 years on earth he has seen empires rise and fall, changed the course of history with his bare hands and experienced countless revolutions first hand. Samuel Gradius is a vampire, perhaps the only vampire, and he’s had enough. He wants to die.
No longer content with the idea of simple suicide, he makes the decision to go out in the ways of old. He wants a warrior’s death. THE ETERNAL follows Samuel on the pursuit of his own personal oblivion, he hopes, at the hands of someone worthy.
I believe Vampire films are on their way back. So we’ll keep an eye on this project as it develops. Justin and his team are currently searching out principle cast for The Eternal. Unstable Ground also has two other projects in the scripting stages; Deliver Us and New Generation. Details on those two pictures are mum since they are currently in development.
My thanks goes to “Innocent_Eyes” from the Astro Boy Online forum for uncovering some images from Imagi’s upcoming CG animated feature film Astro Boy. In the forum is a snapshot of the character model of Astro and some concept art which were perhaps photograph from either Comic-con or Siggraph 2008. I have taken the liberty of enhancing and rescaling the character model snapshot with Photoshop for a clearer view. There is a few slight difference I notice from this one and the work-in-progress screenshot from a year ago but nothing too drastic. Other than that, the CG design looks quite faithful to the original design by Osamu Tezuka. So what do you think of this interpretation of Astro?
Oh you lucky, lucky people. The first wave of titles for this year’s edition of the Toronto After Dark Festival was announced today and you are in for a treat this year! Festival director Adam Lopez and his team, including our lord and master Todd, have put together another fine selection of films for your viewing pleasure and horror and wonder. These titles will already be familiar to Twitch viewers and if you haven’t had the chance to catch yet you can do so in October.
In its first wave of film titles revealed for 2008, Toronto After Dark Film Festival is proud to announce a selection of eight outstanding new horror, sci-fi, action and cult feature films that will have their Toronto Theatrical Premieres at the festival this October 17-24. The initial lineup includes a number of critically acclaimed and award-winning films from around the world including the much-anticipated new sci-fi horror musical REPO! THE GENETIC OPERA, Sundance selection revenge thriller RED based on Jack Ketchum’s novel, cult horror action movie TOKYO GORE POLICE, celebrated vampire feature LET THE RIGHT ONE IN which won Best Picture at the Tribeca Film Festival, and Oscar-nominated animator Bill Plympton’s dark and twisted modern fairytale, IDIOTS & ANGELS.
For more information on the complete lineup of films at this year’s Toronto After Dark Film Festival, to watch trailers, or to buy advance festival passes which are now on sale, visit the festival website.
All eight title descriptions after the jump. We’ll see you in the dark!
Continue Reading "Toronto After Dark 2008: First wave of titles announced!!!"...
The first trailer for Rick Jacobson’s Bitch Slap has been tearing up the internet since it first appeared, and why not? As he puts it himself, what’s not to like about a trio of beautiful, well endowed women loaded up with assault weaponry? A deliberate cult flick in the vein of the the old b-flicks of the sixties and seventies, Bitch Slap is working it’s way through post right now and director Jacobson agreed to take some time out of his schedule for a chat earlier this week. Covered within? His days on Baywatch, Hercules, Xena, the casting process, working with Death Proof‘s Zoe Bell and shooting the self-proclaimed Greatest Chick Fight In Cinema History. Read on!
Continue Reading "Director Rick Jacobson Talks BITCH SLAP!"...
One of the key aspects of Pascal Laguier’s film Martyrs is the soundtrack. The music ranges from creepy ambient to acoustic balladry, all of which adds an extra emotional depth to the film. The main theme is particularly effective as the soft melodies and contextual lyrics are a stark contrast to the film’s hard imagery.
The persons responsible for this great work are Alex and Willie Cortez, who operate under the moniker of Seppuku Paradigm. Many are probably not familiar with the work of this duo but that is likely to change soon. The pair also created the soundtrack for Eden Log, which is screening along with Martyrs as part of the Midnight Madness section at the 2008 Toronto International Film Festival. Given the important role of music in Martyrs, it seemed appropriate to pose an inquiry to the Cortez Brothers about their experience working on the film. Their first person account is featured below.
Continue Reading "Seppuku Paradigm on Creating the MARTYRS Soundtrack"...
The kindest thing critic Park Pyeong-Shik could say about it was “going to a deserted island to crack the random number table would be more fun,” and just about every name critic in Korea trashed it beyond belief. Yet, Director Chang’s slasher flick 고死 (Gosa - Bloody Midterms) is without a doubt the surprise hit of the summer. Setting aside its critical trashing, one of the reasons the film is doing well is because it represents the sole horror film of the season—although 외톨이 (Outcast) is coming soon—and, perhaps even more important, that its stars have been going around the country and all over TV to promote it. What Nam Gyu-Ri is doing on TV is close to noise marketing, as she’s just about everywhere, and has been giving what seems to be like one interview per day [I even spotted her a few days ago on the 에덴의 동쪽 (East of Eden) special. Her reason for being there? her group SeeYa sang for the drama’s music video, she’s friends with Kim Beom, and, yeah.... to promote the film]. But, hey, it’s working.
The film, a rather low-budget affair which already broke even after about a dozen days on release, already sold 1.5 million tickets, a particularly tough task as it was going head to head with things like The Dark Knight, 좋은 놈, 나쁜 놈, 이상한 놈 (The Good, The Bad, and the Weird) and that thing down in Beijing. What’s more, the film seems to be doing well overseas as well, which is kind of a novelty these days in Chungmuro. Mirovision, which handles international sales, commented that contract offers are coming from Mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Germany, the Uk and more. Particularly interesting is Japan’s situation, as five companies came to Korea to see the film and taste the waters. Mirovision’s strategy seems to point at the TIFF, where they’ll start promotion en masse. Quality aside, this kind of small scale genre project targeting niches (in this case the “highteen” crowd) is likely to grow exponentially, in an industry which is facing increasingly serious funding problems.
[Daum News]
It’s both romantic and even a little mysterious how masters tend to simplify their steps, make them more concise and effective as they head for their career’s closure. Of course that “closure” really means nothing, as Im Kwon-Taek could very well become the Manoel de Oliveira of Korea. Yet, watching something like 천년학 (Beyond the Years) was like seeing a master calligrapher use his brush as if he was drawing characters on the water. Beyond the years indeed, showing a control and finesse only one who made (great, many of them anyway) films for most of his life can show. Some critics really loved it, some hated it, even with rather nasty strings attached (a la “do we really need the nature’s peace and quiet in these times?"); and moviegoers more or less ignored it, which is quite sad, not only considering it was his 100th film, but also a very troubled production from the start.
Well, now Im turns the page, and his next film already smells great on paper. Yes, paper. If you ever touched or smelled hanji, the traditional Korean paper his next film will be based on, then you’ll know it has a distinctive texture (or, better, textures, as there’s countless types of hanji), it’s much more durable than regular paper, and has its own charms, when coupled with a fine hand holding the brush. Im’s yet untitled film is still in its script writing and pre-production stages, but considering one of hanji’s “capitals” is Jangseong in Northern Jeolla Province, his hometown, you can probably guess where things are going. There are rumors the film will be unveiled at the next Jeonju International Film Festival, but Im has denied they ever discussed that, as he’s waiting for the full script before going forward with casting and everything else. We can only wish things will go smoothly, unlike his past film. Although that, of course, is only on paper…
[Naver News] [Naver News]
Earlier this year, Todd Brown highlighted Ekachai Uekrongtham’s new supernatural horror film The Coffin. The film, which is inspired by a Thai ritual to ward off bad luck and prolong life, stars some people who should be familiar to Twitch readers, including Karen Mok, Ananda Everingham, and Andrew Lin. The anticipation over The Coffin is now over, at least for some audiences. The film opened this past weekend in Thailand and grabbed the top spot at the box office. Those outside of Thailand will have to wait to see The Coffin but a clearer picture is beginning to emerge about what has audiences headed to the theaters. An English-language trailer has surfaced, along with a swath of new, and rather stunning, still images. Special thanks goes to Anthony Timpson for the initial tip, and to TIFA Company Limited, who kindly provided the still images and permission to use the trailer.
Continue Reading "THE COFFIN Opens to Reveal New Images and a Trailer"...
Ask me what is high on my list of anticipated films for 2009 and if I don’t say Crows Zero II kick the guy standing beside me in the nuts and yell out, ‘See! See what happens when you forget?!’ Don’t matter who they are, if I forget, they pay.
Filming has already started on the sequel to Takashi Miike’s awesome adaptation of the Japanese manga. If I’m to believe anything that Google Translate and Babel Fish tell me from the report on the official site the conditions are hot but the cast has plenty of willpower and filming is progressing at a nice clip [ie. the shout potato sufficient of the cast]. Damnit, I really need to learn Japanese. But, what does translate well is the fact that the final battle in the sequel will involve 500 gang members. Oh, bliss!
Haruma Miura [Negative Happy Chainsaw Edge] has been cast as the rival gang leader. Miura plays Tatusya Mito, the leader of Housen Gakuen, the rival school of Genji’s Suzuran. RIZE drummer Nobuaki Kaneko is also appearing in the film playing the third-year Housen student Narumi, an original character for the film. Shame, he’s gonna get that pretty face of his all messed up by Genji.
Back in July it was announced that Tadanobu Asano would be the lead in the adaptation of the stage-play Donju written by Kankuro Kudo [Go, Ping Pong, Zebraman, Mayonaka no Yaji-san Kita-san and Maiko Haaaan!!! We can go on, you know]. The story is the mystery behind a young writer named Dekogawa (Asano), who has been “killed” multiple times, but somehow keeps reappearing.
We can now add more names to the bill. Asano’s supporting cast includes Yoko Maki [Udon and The Grudge], Kazuki Kitamura [Maiko Haaaan!!! and Azumi], Yusuke Santamaria [Udon and the Bayside Shakedown movies], Yoko Minamino, and Aimi Satsukawa.
Filming began at the beginning of this month and we can expect a release in 2009.
One thing that Snatch and Lock Stock director Guy Ritchie has always understood better than just about anyone else out there is the value of a good opening sequence. His are consistently smart, stylish, brash and manage to quickly set the tone of his films while also introducing his large casts. And he’s at it again. For his latest - Rock N Rolla, about to take a bow at the upcoming Toronto International Film Festival - he’s taking the animated route for his intro and it’s looking fun, fun, fun. And it’s online now. Check it out along with both theatrical trailers below the break.
Continue Reading "Full Animated Opening For Guy Ritchie’s ROCK N ROLLA!"...
The French make some of the most beautiful DVD-packaging in Europe, and my home would be full of them if I wasn’t so terrible at speaking or understanding French. For they hardly ever deign to put English subtitles on their movies. I always hope they’ll use Dutch ones so you can cover the whole Belgian market but alas, that business model has apparently no merit.
It’s not just the French either: many European distributors just don’t believe in an international market.
Because of this, I often check the far East to score decent versions of European movies on DVD. Want the Scandinavian puppet epic “Strings” English-friendly, in widescreen and with decent sound? Go to China!
So even though I was delighted to see Michel Ocelot’s recent stunningly beautiful movie “Azur et Asmar” get a UK release, old habits die hard and I checked our friendly Asian affiliate as well.
“Azur & Asmar” was championed and distributed in Japan by Studio Ghibli, and the Ghibli Museum even held an exhibition of Ocelot’s art for the movie! This made him pretty well-known in Asia amongst animation fans, so lo and behold: the Koreans had copied one of the French special editions, adding English friendliness to a killer French packaging!
I just couldn’t resist buying it and after watching it several times I couldn’t resist writing a review either.
We like us some Ocelot here at Twitch: Todd already gave his pretty spot-on review last week, and GhibliWorld.com’s Peter van der Lugt had a very extensive interview with the man himself.
But if you’re curious what (else) I thought about “Azur & Asmar”, or are interested in this specific edition, then read on after the break!
Continue Reading "AZUR & ASMAR KOREAN Limited Edition R3 DVD Review"...
“How have you been?”
“Give me my money back.”
Wow, looks like Lee Yoon-Gi is seriously going to make the closest thing to a comedy. Or, well, something a little breezier than his past efforts. If 여자, 정혜 (This Charming Girl) was the sound of silence, 러브 토크 (Love Talk) should have talked a little less (of love, and other assorted amenities in not-broken-enough English), and 아주 특별한 손님 (Ad Lib Night) was quite the special guest, as the Korean title suggest. So, what can we expect from his fourth film? Very likely, something completely different.
They broke up because of 3.5 Million won (about 4 grands), but now she’s back. She being Jeon Do-Yeon (expecting a baby right around February. And… yes, that’s how she looks now, four months pregnant), super grumpy and doing all she can to get her money back. He is the unemployed and Peterpan Complex-friendly Ha Jung-Woo, who will reluctantly help her to win everything back. Sounds like the incipit of some silly star vehicle, but with Lee at the helm, it should be fun. Then again, it could be just another case of insane marketing spoiling a film. We’ll see. Film had its press screening today, while release is set for September 25. Teaser is below the break.
Continue Reading "First Look at Lee Yoon-Gi’s 멋진 하루 (My Dear Enemy)"...
So, other than producing films—the fascinating 아름답다 (Beautiful) and the upcoming actioner 영화는 영화다 (Rough Cut)—sometimes Kim Ki-Duk even makes them.
Kim’s last effort 숨 (Breath) barely registered a blip in Korea (and that’s no surprise), but things might be a little different when his 비몽 (Dream) releases this October. The film, whose Korean title means “sad dream,” will star Odagiri Jo, who has quite a decent fanbase in Korea, and Lee Na-Young. Seeing as her last film 우리들의 행복한 시간 (Our Happy Times) was a huge success, Kim might actually break from tradition and try a slightly larger distribution set up, although I’ll believe that when I see it.
The story actually sounds quite interesting, with Lee playing Ran, a woman suffering from somnambulism, and Jin (Odagiri), a man who can’t forget his lost love, and tries to meet her in his dreams. So the two meet each other, and he actually finds out she’s acting in accordance with his dreams, in that valley of sadness and happiness that vanishes whenever you wake up. Sounds like Kim will pound on with the symbolism once again. The film was recently screened at the San Sebastian Film Festival.
[Naver News]
So ... back in late July news surfaced of a potential big budget France-Korea co-production of Yoo Gwang-Soo’s acclaimed novel The Qin Shi Huang Project, a time hopping mystery / action / conspiracy theory sort of film revolving around the quest for the fountain of youth. Korea’s Odyssey Pictures hold the rights and, at the time, they were telling people that a number of French companies were on board, prime among them Luc Besson’s Europa Corp. Only problem? Seems they forgot to actually, you know, mention it to Besson, who has just disavowed any knowledge of the project whatsoever. Whoopsie. So all those reports and rumors floating around about how Besson vets Natalie Portman and Milla Jovovich had been cast in the film? Yeah, those are totally false. My thanks to Grozilla, who passed along the French press release that Europa have sent around on the matter. You’ll find it below the break.
Continue Reading "Besson on QIN SHI HUANG: What The Hell’s That?"...
It’s been a long time coming but Chilean super hero comedy Santos is finally complete and ready to have its world premiere at the upcoming Fantastic Fest next month. And what better way to celebrate than with the full, theatrical trailer! Glee! Or, at least it would be glee if I weren’t currently stranded at the paying job where streaming video is blocked. So you can see it, but I can’t. Sigh. Oh well, glee for you ...
