News

Trailer for Hola Mexico Film Festival! Proof Moustaches Can Be Awesome!

Wed, 16 May 2012 15:29:32 -0500

I've run it by the rest of the guys that we should participate in 'Movember' next Fall. I think this trailer for the Hola Mexico Film Festival may just be the motivating tool I need to convince them that growing a moustache is a great idea.

Nicolas Cage's Photoshopped Abs Star In Ryuhei Kitamura's MARBLE CITY

Wed, 16 May 2012 14:50:38 -0500

Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you what may be the greatest, most ridiculous poster ever made for a movie which does not yet exist. Freshly arrived in Cannes I made my first foray into the Marche du Film - the market area separate from the main festival where films are bought and sold for international distribution - and the first thing I discovered was this: The sales art for a proposed new film by Versus and Midnight Meat Train director Ryuhei Kitamura titled Marble City, featuring a wildly photoshopped Nicolas Cage in the lead.

Rune enters Marble City after serving ten years for armed robbery; with an eye patch covering his scarred and mangled eye, he's full of hate and vengeance.

Even though on parole, Rune immediately steals a car, picks up two nickel-plated .45's and goes on a violent search for the man that wronged him. His investigation brings him into encounters with strippers, mob enforcers and the very worst that the underworld has to offer.

But Rune is also seeking personal redemption, praying for forgiveness from his sinful ways. His journey into darkness culminates in an epic gun battle with those who wronged him.

Also listed in the cast - and remember that these things can and frequently do change at this stage - are Mickey Rourke, Melissa George, Tom Waits and Bill Pullman.

The 2012 New York Indian Film Festival Preview: Anurag Kashyap, Manoj Bajpayee, & Nawazuddin Siddiqui On A Roll!

Wed, 16 May 2012 14:05:37 -0500

The 12th annual New York Indian Film Festival is nearly here, and they've got some great events and films to share. The festival begins on Wednesday, May 23rd and runs through May 27th. During that time, attendees will be treated not only to some of the finest and freshest Indian films available, but also industry panels, cast and crew Q & A's, and some red carpet shenanigans as well. Since I'm mostly interested in the movie-going aspect, here's a little preview of the big titles showing at this year's NYIFF!

Opening Night Film

Chittagong
Director Bedabrata Pain makes his feature debut with Chittagong. The film follows the story of the Chittagong revolt in Bangladesh when a group of dissatisfied locals took on the local British government in an attempt to regain autonomy over their own affairs. This is the first film of the festival to feature performances from current hot actors Manoj Bajpayee and Nawazuddin Siddiqui, who've been burning up indie screens as of late. Bajpayee appears as Surya Sen, the leader of the revolt, and Siddiqui as Nirmal-da, one of his closest confidantes and lieutenants. Chittagong is one to look out for, watch for my review on these pages soon.

Centerpiece Film

Chitrangada
The 150th anniversary of Bengali poet/playwright Rabindranath Tagore is an occasion worth celebrating. Tagore has created some of the most lasting literature in India's canon, and has been adapted to the screen numerous times, including a few by Chitrangada director, Rituparno Ghosh, as well as counting a couple of Satyajit Ray works among those adaptations. The state of Bengal has a long history of creating some of the most challenging art from India, and Ghosh's film promises to be a treat. Chitrangada will have its world premiere at NYIFF on May 25th.

Closing Night Film

Gangs of Wasseypur
Hot off the red carpet at the Festival du Cannes' Director's Fortnight, NYIFF will hold the US premiere of Anurag Kashyap's Gangs of Wasseypur. Kashyap's latest film is both a love letter for Indian film tradition and a step in the direction of realism in Indian filmmaking. Kashyap is the leading voice in Indian independent cinema, and many of the best indies made in India have his stamp on them, either as director, producer (as in the case of Chittagong), or as a strong influence. Gangs of Wasseypur brings the festival full circle by bringing back Manoj Bajpayee and Nawazuddin Siddiqui in important roles in his film. Kashyap will be in attendance for a post-screening discussion, don't miss this one!

Twitch Recommends

In addition to these highlights, there are several other great films playing at NYIFF, and we wanted to give you a brief rundown of those which deserve your attention.

Shagird
This is another film featuring a massive confluence of the best talent in India. Directed by Tigmanshu Dhulia, who recently released the well-received Paan Singh Tomar and has a co-starring role in Gangs of Wasseypur, Shagird has a cast to die for. Starting with the venerable Nana Patekar, who has serious potential to move outside of India with the amount of talent behind those eyes, the cast is fantastic. This is yet another crime story, a genre which has a healthy and productive home in Indian cinema, and I can't wait to check it out.

Dekh Indian Circus
I'm not terribly familiar with this film, though we do see Nawazuddin Siddiqui appear here for the third time at NYIFF. I'll let the synopsis do the talking:

After a small seed begins to grow in the heart of a young girl who is enchanted by the notion of a circus character, a sweet and profound struggle for the simple act of watching the circus ensues. How far will a poor family go to take their two little children to the circus? With drama and pit stops at every turn, we are taken on a comedy of errors and triumphs.

Retrospective of the work of Shyam Benegal and Khalid Mohammed
This pair have delivered some of the most memorable films of the last twenty years, and NYIFF has landed a trio of films to show off the collaboration. Mammo, Sardari Begum, and Zubeidaa are well worth checking out, and wouldn't you know it, the last of the three features Manoj Bajpayee in his third film of the festival. Director Benegal will be available for Q & A's following each of the screenings.

Gangor
This one sounds particularly interesting. Based on a short story called "Choli Ke Peeche" (Behind the Blouse), the film deals with a photographer who becomes obsessed with the breasts of a migrant laborer named Gangor. When he snaps some photos of her nursing that appear in a newspaper article, the story takes on a life of its own.

Aadukalam & 3
This year NYIFF features a pair of films starring one of Tamil mainstream cinema's most respected performers, Dhanush. Aadukalam is another story of crime and corruption, which performed extremely well at the box office and swept the Indian National Film Awards. 3 is the most recent Dhanush film, directed by his wife, Aishwariya Rajnikanth Dhanush (daughter of Superstar Rajnikanth) and co-starring Shruti Hassan (7aam Arivu, Anaganaga O Dheerudu). 3 is best known in the west for spawning the most popular music video in Youtube history, Why This Kolaveri Di? (Why This Murderous Rage?)

Hum Dono Rangeen (Hum Dono in Color)
NYIFF celebrates the life of the recently departed Dev Anand, one of the finest performers in Bollywood history, with a special presentation of his classic Hum Dono, colorized. The film was processed using Legend Films proprietary colorization process, which is surprisingly good! I wish I were in New York to see it!

NYIFF Documentaries

This year's NYIFF features several great looking documentaries, including 2012 Academy Award winning short doc, Saving Face. Also gracing the documentary line-up is Transgenders: Pakistan's Open Secret, and Big In Bollywood. The latter is a feature on the meteoric rise of Omi Vaidya, an American born Indian (Desi) who became famous beyond his wildest dreams when he landed the villain role in Aamir Khan's 3 Idiots, the highest grossing Bollywood film in history.

There are many more films to check out, and I highly recommend that we show distributors and exhibitors that Indian films have an audience. It has been too long that Indian independent cinema has been ignored in the international film community!

PROMETHEUS Viral Video sees Dr. Shaw Pitching her Philosophy

Wed, 16 May 2012 10:53:24 -0500

Running one of the best lead-up campaigns to a big blockbuster in years, a combination of advertising, teasing, and otherwise setting the mood, team-Prometheus now gives you a real good look at who is most likely to be the lead character in the film: Noomi Rapace's Dr. Elizabeth Shaw. In the 'exists in that universe' nature of these videos (see also the TED Talk and Meet David from earlier) this video doubles as a pitch for a job and a glimpse into the mind/philosophy of a key character, but visually, it has an ominous overlay of the Weyland corporation's computers processing the visual and audio information of the call in every way imaginable. Note the foreboding name of the video, "Quiet Eye."

THE CAPTURED BIRD to premiere at World Wide Short Festival

Wed, 16 May 2012 09:40:58 -0500

Written and directed by former Rue Morgue editor-in-chief Jovanka Vuckovic and produced by Jason Lapeyre (I Declare War) with Guillermo del Toro tying a ribbon on top as executive producer, The Captured Bird is has an astounding pool of talent in the genre world involved including cinematographer Karim Hussain (Antiviral, Hobo With A Shotgun), editor Douglas Buck (Family Portraits, The Theatre Bizarre's best segment "The Accident").

A little girl drawing chalk figures on a sidewalk is drawn to a decrepit industrial building. Inside, she witnesses the birth of five horrifying apparitions. They creep towards her, determined to get outside the building and into the world.

"The Captured Bird is inspired in part by a childhood nightmare, the writings of H. P. Lovecraft, the fables of the Brothers Grimm and the paranormal phenomenon referred to as The Shadow People," explains writer-director Vuckovic. "It's sort of a dark fable that I hope people will find haunting, poetic and beautiful."

Set to premiere at Worldwide Short Film Festival (WSFF) which runs in Toronto from June 5 - 10th, the film will also sreen for press and industry in the Cannes short film corner.

John Woo to Remake Seijun Suzuki's YOUTH OF THE BEAST

Wed, 16 May 2012 09:35:07 -0500

John Woo will direct an English-language remake of Seijun Suzuki's Youth of the Beast, to be entitled Day of the Beast.

Woo and his longtime partner Terence Chang will produce; the film will be a co-production of Woo and Chang's Lion Rocks Productions and the Nikkatsu Corporation. Rob Frisbee, who does not appear to have any previous credits, wrote the script.

In Suzuki's original, Jo Sushido starred as a disgraced former policeman who infiltrates two Yakuka gangs in order to clear his name and that of his boss (borrowing the plot description from Mark Schilling's excellent book No Borders No Limits). It's a variation on the plot idea first established in Dashiell Hammett's Red Harvest, one that has been adapted, officially or otherwise, by Akira Kurosawa (Yojimbo), Sergio Leone (A Fistful of Dollars), and Walter Hill (Last Man Standing).

The 1963 film came at or near the beginning of Suzuki's wildly experimental, cool-cat-crazy high-style phase, which would eventually get him fired by Nikkatsu. Woo has never been as stylistically daring as Suzuki, but Youth of the Beast is a product of its era, so it might be a very apt project for him to tackle; we'll have to wait to see who gets cast to have a better idea of what's in store.

Contest: Win a Blu-Ray/DVD Combo of Joe Carnahan's THE GREY

Wed, 16 May 2012 09:24:53 -0500

Although Joe Carnahan's latest doesn't live up to the marketing hype of Liam Neeson in wild-man action mode, The Grey is a surprisingly effective drama wrapped inside of a tense survival thriller.

Here's the official synopsis:

Liam Neeson (Schindler's List, Taken) stars as the unlikely hero Ottway in this undeniably suspenseful and powerful survival adventure. After their plane crashes into the remote Alaskan wilderness, a roughneck group of oil drillers is forced to find a way back to civilization. As Ottway leads the injured survivors through the brutal snow and ice, they are relentlessly tracked by a vicious pack of rogue wolves that will do anything to defend their territory. Adrenaline-fueled, action-packed and loaded with some of the most intense and brutally realistic attack scenes ever filmed...

And we've got five, count 'em, five copies to give away this week courtesy of Universal Pictures. To win, head over to the Facebook post for this article (handy link here, and while you're at it, go ahead and "like" this Twitch), and tell us the name of your favorite wilderness movie in any genre. The contest is open through Friday, May 18th at 11:59 PM PST and is open to all readers in the U.S. and Canada. Winners will be contacted via DM.

The Grey is available now on DVD and Blu-ray from Universal Pictures.

You Are What You Eat in Hilarious FUGU & TAKO Trailer

Tue, 15 May 2012 21:39:12 -0500

The latest film from director Ben West and Australian special effects guru, Robot, comes FUGU & TAKO, the story of two Japanese salarymen who get more than they bargain for when one of them demands ultra fresh "fugu" (pufferfish) at a sushi bar.

I'm getting a strong Hitoshi Matsumoto vibe from the mock-documentary style of this, reminiscent of his classic BIG MAN JAPAN, together with something like Minoru Kawasaki's EXECUTIVE KOALA. The effects work looks absolutely sensational - the expressiveness of the "puffer face" is incredibly emotive - and quite frankly I cannot wait to see the full film.

Check out the trailer below and there's also a link to Robot's website so you can check out their back catalogue of excellent videos.

Soi Cheang's MOTORWAY finally enters the home straight!

Tue, 15 May 2012 21:13:54 -0500

It seems like forever since director Soi Cheang and producer Johnnie To began work on their underground racing thriller, MOTORWAY, with the first proper trailer surfacing almost exactly a year ago to the day. Well, now the chequered flag seems to be in sight as Media Asia has released a new trailer and announced that the film, which stars a host of familiar faces, including Shawn Yue, Anthony Wong, Barbie Hsu, Michelle Ye, Gordon Lam and Guo Xiaodong, will make its debut in China this coming June.

The story focuses on Sean (Yue), a cocky police officer who goes undercover in a special tactical unit designed to take down secret underground racing gangs, and by the looks of the trailer, the production shot in some of Hong Kong's most built up and familiar areas. The score too helps give the film a similar vibe to Nicolas Winding Refn's DRIVE, and if Cheang can recapture half of that film's sense of cool we should be in for a treat!

Kathryn Bigelow's 'Bin Laden' Movie Gets International Distribution

Tue, 15 May 2012 18:56:00 -0500

The movie known as Zero Dark Thirty -- and, originally, as Kill Bin Laden -- has been acquired for distribution outside the United States by Universal Pictures International (UPI), according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Sony will release the film in the U.S. on December 19. UPI acquired rights to the U.K., France, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, Scandinavia, South Africa and Spain.

Zero Dark Thirty has been the working title of the project since at least March, but it was only a provisional name and a final title is yet to be determined. Bigelow and screenwriter Mark Boal (The Hurt Locker) came aboard the project before Bin Laden was actually killed, requiring some re-tooling of the story.

As we reported previously, Chris Pratt, Joel Edgerton and Nash Edgerton have been added to a strong cast that includes Jessica Chastain, Jason Clarke, Mark Strong, Edgar Ramirez, Kyle Chandler, Jennifer Ehle, and Harold Perrineau Jr. Might we hope to see the film at the fall festivals -- beginning with Venice, where The Hurt Locker premiered?

Remember Kids, YOU CAN'T KILL STEPHEN KING

Tue, 15 May 2012 14:30:47 -0500

I have no idea if the filmmakers responsible for upcoming horror comedy You Can't Kill Stephen King were aware that they were making a bad movie. I really don't. But the guys who cut the trailer? Oh, they knew exactly what they had on their hands and they've had a whole lot of fun with it.

A group of friends make a clueless and ill-fated decision to visit the lake where horror author Stephen King lives. Upon arrival, they are greeted by unfriendly townspeople who hate noise and tom-foolery almost as much as they hate uninvited guests and questions about their most famous resident. As dead bodies begin to mount, one thing becomes clear: all the killings are straight out of Stephen King novels. Facing imminent death, the remaining friends must piece together the clues and save themselves before their own Stephen King nightmare is written.

Stephen would be proud, I'm sure. Check the trailer below.

Shark Attack In Aisle Five. Full Trailer For Aussie Horror BAIT 3D

Tue, 15 May 2012 13:31:20 -0500

Some ideas just demand to be made into films. And one of those ideas involves a great white shark swept into a grocery store by a massive tsunami. Thank you Bait 3D, thank you.

Story's set in a sleepy beach community where shoppers at an underground supermarket are terrorized by a crazed bandit when a tsunami swallows the town. Now trapped, with rushing water threatening to entomb them, the survivors discover the tsunami has brought unwanted visitors from the depths -- hungry great white sharks.

Xavier Samuel (The Loved Ones, Twilight: Eclipse), Sharni Vinson (You're Next) and Julian McMahon (Nip/Tuck) star. Also, there's a shark. Check the trailer below!

Fresh Clip From Sean Byrne's THE LOVED ONES

Tue, 15 May 2012 12:30:41 -0500

About a zillion years after it wowed audiences on the festival circuit - it's actually been three - Sean Byrne's stellar Australian horror flick The Loved Ones is finally receiving a US theatrical release this summer. And do not let the behind the scenes wrangling make you think that the delay has anything to do with the quality of the film ... this one deserves every ounce of praise that has been heaped upon it.

Lola Stone asked Brent Mitchell to the prom, but Brent said no, and now he's screwed. What happens when Lola doesn't get what she wants? She enlists Daddy's help to throw a prom of her own where she is queen and Brent is king, whether he likes it or not. THE LOVED ONES is what happens when puppy love goes horribly, violently wrong. Brent should have said yes.

With the release now approaching a new clip from the film has arrived online ... the fateful moment when Brent tells Lola no lies below.

Cannes 2012 Preview: Un Certain Regard, Midnight, Directors Fortnight and More

Tue, 15 May 2012 12:20:56 -0500

Cannes kicks off tomorrow and Twitch will be on the scene for the very latest on what films are not to be missed and who is calling who a Nazi this year (even odds on Vinterberg). Yesterday we brought you our Palme d'Or Competition Preview and today we take you on a quick tour of the other sections. This just begins to scratch the surface of what will be playing around the Croissette, but here are some titles that caught our eyes.

Un Certain Regard

ANTIVIRAL
Papa Cronenberg ain't the only family member strutting his stuff on the Palais this year. Son Brandon makes his feature debut with this celebrity culture satire starring Caleb Landry Jones, Sarah Gadon, and Malcolm McDowell.

MYSTERY
Chinese troublemaker Lou Ye (Summer Palace, Purple Butterfly) returns with this contemporary murder mystery with an apt title.

11.25 THE DAY HE CHOSE HIS OWN FATE
The last days of brilliant author and outspoken right wing nut Yukio Mishima are explored in this drama from veteran director Koji Wakamatsu.

LA PLAYA
Juan Andres Arango tells a story of Urban racism on the mean streets of Bogota in his directorial debut.

Other notable titles in the section include Benh Zeitlin's Sundance tour de force BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD, Adam Leon's SXSW graffiti writer romance GIMME THE LOOT, and the latest from Québécois director Xavier Dolan, LAURENCE ANYWAYS.

Midnight

THE LEGEND OF LOVE AND SINCERITY (Ai to Makoto)
What's a film festival without a new film from Takashi Miike? Frickin lame, that's what it is. Luckily the fine folks at Cannes were kind enough to program this high school brawler manga adaptation into their midnight lineup. Merci!

DARIO ARGENTO'S DRACULA 3D
If you thought Rutger Hauer kicked ass as a shotgun wielding hobo, just wait til you see him take on the Prince of freakin Darkness... in 3D!!

MANIAC
Elijah Wood stars in Franck Khalfoun's (P2) remake of William Lustig's 1980 horror classic. Yeah you heard that right, Elijah frackin Wood.

THE SAPPHIRES
I don't know much about Australian Wayne Blair's story of four Aboriginal girls who travel to Vietnam to entertain the troops in 1968, but as one of only four Midnight movies at the fest, you can bet it's pretty friggin good.

Out of Competition & Special Screenings

ME & YOU (Io e Te)
Bernardo Bertolucci brings his pic about an awkward teen who likes to hang in his basement to this year's fest, out of competition.

THERESE D
Audrey Tatou stars as an unhappy woman, sweltering under social pressures in Claude Miller's closing night film.

GARBAGE IN THE GARDEN OF EDEN
German-Turkish auteur Fatih Akin lends his filmmaking sensibility to the documentary format with this exploration of a Black Sea community whose town is forcefully turned into a garbage dump.

Thai auteur Apichatpong Weerasethakul (Uncle Boonmee) has a 60 minute docu in this section called MEEKONG HOTEL alongside a docu exploring a famous rape case from Ken Burns (with Sarah Burns and David McMahon) called THE CENTRAL PARK 5 and a somewhat similarly themed Dreamworks animated feature MADAGASCAR 3: EUROPE'S MOST WANTED.

Director's Fortnight

SIGHTSEERS
Ben Wheatley follows up his ultra-popular Kill List with this story of a couple who go on holiday across the English countryside. Knowing Wheatley's track record, all cannot go as planned.

NO
Gael Garcia Bernal stars as an unlikely campaign manager for Augusto Pinochet's opposition during Chile's 1988 presidential election in Pablo Larrain's drama.

THE WE AND THE I
This all new and rather experimental sounding film from Michel Gondry follows a group of high school seniors as they ride the bus home one last time.

Other films to catch in the fortnight include the 620 minute intergenerational Indian warfare epic by Anurag Kashyap< b>GANGS OF WASSEYPUR, an interesting sounding Chinese adaptation of DANGEROUS LIAISONS starring Zhang Ziyi and directed by Korean Jin-ho Hur, and Rodney Ascher's incredibly interesting The Shining conspiracy docu, ROOM 237.

Critic's Week

BROKEN
Rufus Norris's big-cast British comedy stars Tim Roth and Cillian Murphy

PEDDLERS
Vasan Bala takes us deep into the streets of Mumbai with this tale of intersecting lives in one of the world's most fascinating cities.

We'll be back tomorrow with live news from the fest!

Utterly Abysmal New Trailer For Dario Argento's DRACULA 3D

Tue, 15 May 2012 11:30:10 -0500

When a sales trailer for Dario Argento's Dracula leaked out a while back there were some poised to forgive it its abundant flaws because it was, after all, still in progress. But polishing a turd makes it no less a turd and the official trailer that arrived today is utterly horrid. Bluntly, judging from this it's hard to believe that Argento ever made a single competent film in his career - never mind a string of classics - and I cannot even begin to imagine what the Cannes Film Festival was thinking when they selected this atrocity. Argento's career has gone beyond decline now to the point where the Italian auteur is simply feeding off the corpse of his legacy. The man needs to stop.

I spotted this one over at Bloody Disgusting and you can indulge your baser instincts below.

Post-Apocalypse Envisioned by Abrams & Favreau in Trailer for REVOLUTION

Tue, 15 May 2012 11:00:48 -0500

A friend of mine in Spain has a plan for the apocalypse that involves learning how to ride a horse and living off the land in the Galician countryside. Well, a particular kind of apocalypse, in which a solar flare knocks out all the electricity in the world, plunging us into a pre-19th century civilization. Certainly, it's a good kind of plan to have, given how much we rely upon electricity for, well, everything. And this is the premise behind J.J. Abrams and Jon Favreau's new television show, Revolution. The show is co-produced by Abrams, with Eric Kripke serving as co-producer and writer, and Favreau directed the pilot.

The premise of the show pushes the 'no electricity' to the limit: everything, including batteries and generators, suddenly stop working for no apparent reason. Cars stop in the middle of the road, planes fall from the sky, and all communication that relies on electricity is impossible. Of course, today we also rely on electricity for agriculture, so society reverts back to a pre-indistrial state, with smaller communities, human (and presumably animal) powered farming, and arguably a simpler way of life. Of course, this being television, it can't be that simple, so there are militias and factions. One such militia, headed by appropriately-mean-looking Captain Neville, comes to one such village and kills Ben, who may have had something to do with the lights going out. His son is taken by the Captain, and his daughter and friend head to Chicago in search of him.

The trailer and clips from the pilot are pretty solid, and the team have made great efforts to create a convincing vision of just what such a world would look like and how day-to-day life would play out. The minds behind this made their names in television shows and films such as Alias, Lost, Supernatural and Ironman, so chances are there will be attention to the fantastic, dark forces both human and maybe otherwise, and a few ass-kicking women. Given that this is American television, it's understandable, if a little annoying, that everyone looks just a little too clean and well-kept, but it might be different in further episodes. I love a good post-apocalypse story, and while the reversion-to-the-agrarian is not new, hopefully NBC will give it a chance to develop. Below are the trailer and a few clips. The show will air in the fall.

Stephen Fry And Hugh Laurie Together Again?

Tue, 15 May 2012 10:30:03 -0500

Now that House is wrapping up leading man Hugh Laurie is free to stop pretending both that he is American and serious. He is now free to go back to being British and very, very funny. He is, in short, free to continue with one of the longest running and most consistently high quality comedy duos of our age. Yes, Hugh Laurie and Stephen Fry are getting back together.

Fry tweeted yesterday that "Hugh Laurie and I are cooking up a project together. We will be working again soon. Sorry to be mysterious but more news when I can." He followed that up with notice that the duo were contributing voice work to an animated version of Oscar Wilde's The Canterville Ghost but my gut feeling is that this is a separate project as both being hired to work on someone else's project is hardly the same thing as "cooking up a project together." Especially when you consider that Fry's very next tweet was "Off I go now to a secret hideaway to catch up on 5 days of writing. Forgive general twitter silence. Just 6 days."

For the uninitiated, Fry and Laurie are one of the top comedy duos in British history. Their work on A Bit Of Fry And Laurie is golden stuff but it is Jeeves And Wooster - with Laurie as a dim witted but very wealthy young man and Fry as his long suffering butler - that will go down as their key work. Their overlap on Blackadder was also pretty damn good. Whatever they are cooking it will be a welcome return.

EURO BEAT: France's Razzie Awards, Wong Kar-Wai at Cannes, Plus News on New Roman Polanski Film

Tue, 15 May 2012 09:40:57 -0500

Now that the Razzie Awards for the worst films of the year have devolved into cheap shots at easy targets, perhaps it's time for their foreign equivalents to carry on the torch. Consider France's Gérard Awards, which, at the very least, have a lot more fun with the titles of their prizes.

They also manage to put a few awards-darlings in their place. For example, The Artist's Jean Dujardin can now add a Gérard trophy to his shelf for "Actor who we hope you like a lot because you're about to see his face everywhere for the next thirty years." Other highlights include Jean-Pierre Bacri's (Subway) win for "cult actor who played in good movies and then one day, apparently got bored." Also, Hollywoo (not a typo), a safe comedy about voice-over actors, took home the prize for "tro golri :))) ROTFLOL !!!!!! XDDDD !!!!!!!!!! fo tro k jaille le voir av les soss, pk jkiff tro c jore de film c tro bi1 !!! MDRRRRR ma louloutte jte kiff kissoukissou !!!"

Worst film was a tie between The War of Buttons and The New War of Buttons, two remakes of the original French classic which came out within a week of each other. Congratulations to all.

Meanwhile, the Cannes Film Festival begins tomorrow! And while there's plenty in the line up to make cinephiles drool, one notable omission was Wong Kar-Wai's probably-still-not-completed rendition of the legend of Ip Man, The Grandmasters. But it turns out Kar-Wai will still be showing a movie at Cannes! However, that movie is a whiskey commercial.

Chivas Regal commissioned a promotional from Kar-Wai film which will be unveiled Friday May 18 at the festival. Shot at Umaid Bhawan Palance, the film is titled Deja Vu and chronicles a romance between supermodel Du Juan and Chang Chen. We'll keep you updated as to when this one lands online.

In other news, Roman Polanski has announced a new project simply titled D, in which he will re-team with The Ghost Writer screenwriter Robert Harris to examine The Dreyfus Affair, a notorious political scandal from 1894. The specifics here involve a Military officer, Captain Alfred Dreyfus, who was wrongfully imprisoned for having leaked French military information to the Germans. Once evidence came to light clearing Dreyfus, the army naturally tried to suppress it and even forge documents to use against the officer. The whole affair, which was fueled in part by Antisemitism, inspired Émile Zola's famous public letter, J'accuse!

Polanski said he wants to treat the film as a spy movie which shows the scandal's "absolute relevance to what is happening in today's world -- the age-old spectacle of the witch hunt on a minority group, security paranoia, secret military tribunals, out-of-control intelligence agencies, governmental cover-ups and a rabid press."

On that note, Polanski will be in the spotlight again at Cannes with the screening of Laurent Bouzereau's new documentary Roman Polanski: A Film Memoir, which is essentially a long conversation with the 78-year-old director about his life. It apparently includes a public apology from Polanski to Samantha Greimer, the woman he sexually assaulted 33 years ago, which will of course, not change anybody's opinion about anything.

And while we're on the subject of master directors: If you're in film school right now, you might want to consider dropping out and trying to get into Bela Tarr's (Damnation, The Turin Horse) new film program at the University of Split in Zagreb. As of now, his list of lecturers includes Jim Jarmusch, Gus Van Sant, Aki Kaurismäki, Carlos Reygadas, Atom Egoyan, Fridrik Tor Fridriksson, Tilda Swinton, and also Tarr's regular cinematographer Fred Kelemen. Beat that, NYU.

As for box office, well... Throw a dart at a map of Europe. Even if you somehow missed Europe completely, that dart still probably landed in a country where The Avengers was number one. That is, unless your dart hit Belgium, Italy, Poland or Israel!

Belgium and Italy both went to American Reunion, which opened one week after the Avengers and took in $0.8 million and $3.1 million respectively. Meanwhile, Poland has just discovered the charm of The Intouchables, though a number one spot in Poland means a gross of around $0 .3 million. And in Israel, Battleship opened at the top spot with a $0.2 million dollar gross. And here I should note that The Avengers hasn't opened in Poland or Israel yet.

Finally, Cannes has completed its jury for the Un Certain Regard program. Headed by Tim Roth, the jury will also include Leïla Bekhti, French director and producer Tonie Marshall, Buenos Aires-based film critic Luciano Monteagudo and Sylvie Pras, who serves as both head of Cinemas at Centre Pompidou in Paris and artistic director of La Rochelle Film Festival. For more on Cannes, check out our first preview piece, and keep checking back for dispatches from the Croissette.

Contest: Win one of Two DVD Copies of McG's THIS MEANS WAR

Mon, 14 May 2012 19:22:23 -0500

We've got two DVD copies of McG's action romantic comedy This Means War to give away to a couple of our loyal Facebook followers. Details about the giveaway at the bottom of this post.

First up, here's the official synopsis of the disc which streets next week:

They are the CIA's best, trained for any situation...except one. Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment plays the ultimate spy game as two best friends fight for the right of one woman's hand in THIS MEANS WAR, coming to Blu-ray, DVD and Digital Download May 22. Starring Academy Award® winner Reese Witherspoon* (Walk the Line), Chris Pine (Star Trek) and Tom Hardy (The Dark Knight Rises), the laugh-out-loud comedy gets even better on Blu-ray with three alternate endings that answer the question - what if she chose the other guy?
The world's deadliest CIA operatives, FDR Foster (Pine) and Tuck (Hardy), are inseparable partners and best friends until they fall for the same woman (Witherspoon). Having once helped bring down entire enemy nations, they are now employing their incomparable skills and an endless array of high-tech gadgetry against their greatest nemesis - each other.

Fox, who are providing the discs, has suggested that if you like This Means War, you might want to check out more of these cinematic bromances:

KIRK & SPOCK Star Trek

Before he was FDR in This Means War, Chris Pine was one-half of TV and film's most dynamic duo - Kirk and Spock of Star Trek. The two leaders of the USS enterprise started off bumpy but their friendship evolved as they always had each other's back as they try to save the universe. Though one may never have predicted it, there's no denying the bond of brotherhood between the farm boy from Iowa and the Vulcan half breed.

SETH & EVAN
Superbad

Bullied by the popular kids, Seth and Evan found solace in each other's friendship as of the nerdiest kids in their high school. Unlike Kirk and Spock, Seth and Evan of Superbad aren't bound by their common fight to save the universe. Instead, it's the need to get laid before they graduate high school that pushes the bromance between these two and the friendship between Seth and Evan gets cemented when the pair makes a declaration of their man-love to each other at the end of the film.

RIGGS & MURTAUGH Lethal Weapon
The Lethal Weapon series could have easily been another buddy-cop set of films but the chemistry between Mel Gibson and Danny Glover made audiences love the bromance between these two troubled cops. Starting off as reluctant partners in the first film, these two developed into life-long friends who protected each other as they solved murders and crimes and saw each other began their own set of families amidst their own personal problems.
BUZZ & WOODY Toy Story

So they may not be real people but Buzz and Woody emulate bromance in the toy and animated world. When they first meet each other, Woody feels threatened by Buzz as feels replaced as Andy's favorite toy, not to mention that Buzz's optimistic and gung-ho attitude annoys Woody's careful ways. However as the films progress, so does their friendship, especially after they realize that they both just want to make Andy happy.

To win, make sure to "like" the Twitch Facebook page (if you don't already), and in the comments for this post on Facebook, simply put down your answer to the question below (this is incredibly, embarrassingly easy, people!):

Which intelligence agency do both FDR and Tuck work for?

A. FBI
B. CIA
C. SIS
D. DIA

All answers are due by Wednesday, May 16th at 11:59 PM PST. Winners will be notified by DM.

This Means War hits DVD and Blu-ray May 22nd from Twentieth Century Fox.

KIDNAPPED Director Declares I WILL DIE TONIGHT

Mon, 14 May 2012 17:30:32 -0500

Spanish director Miguel Angel Vivas created quite a stir with his debut feature Kidnapped, the success of that film resulting in a number of potential project competing for his attention. And it looks as though the one that may go first is the Filmax backed thriller I Will Die Tonight.

Marcos and his family have found themselves the victims of a cruel fate. He is currently the only suspect in a murder case, his trial is about to begin and the only witness who could save him has disappeared without trace. Marcos discovers something much more sinister is behind all this. Someone has been plotting this revenge for a long time and is planning to see it out until the bitter end...

Though there is no release date announced yet the project is being presented to buyers in Cannes, a good sign that things are moving along.

RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD Comes to London This Saturday! THE INNKEEPERS Sneaks on May 24th

Mon, 14 May 2012 17:26:59 -0500

Need I say more? Well, not much, as we have our pals at Cigarette Burns Cinema delivering the gory good details. Read on!

One legendary cult favourite and one future classic...Join CIGARETTE BURNS CINEMA for RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD and THE INNKEEPERS in May

Salutations from Cigarette Burns!

May promises to be one of the most exciting months in Cigarette Burns cinema history, with not one but two incredible screenings that any fan of the fearful and fantastic would be foolish to forgo.

RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD - Saturday 19th May, 23.30pm

First up, on Saturday 19^th May, we're bringing a spanking new print of Dan O'Bannon's (Alien, Dark Star, Dead and Buried) erstwhile zombie classic RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD to the Rio Cinema, Dalston.

When a couple of bumbling hicks accidentally release toxic gas from an unsuccessful army experiment into the atmosphere, the unthinkable happens and an army of malevolent dead begin to rise...you know, like in that movie NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD?

But these zombies turn out to be even more obstinate than Romero's flesh-chompers - removing the head and destroying the bran won't cut it this time. If they're to survive, the two men, their boss, and a group of spiky teenagers will have to put aside their differences and put their brains together...before they get eaten.

Watch the trailer here.

One of the most best and most enduring cult horror films ever made, RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD is presented in a brand new, hi-def transfer, along with the original classic 80s punk soundtrack.

What's more, original poster artist Graham Humpherys has been kind enough to rework his original poster art for a brand new Cigarette Burns quad specifically for this screening!

Also Psychotronic will be on hand with loads of DVDs and related goodies for your perusal and purchase, and we'll have DJ's spinning tunes before and after the movie in the Rio bar.

A bar stock full of £2.50 Tenafly Viper made with Kraken Rum will remain open throughout the film and after. Tickets are £8.

The film starts around 23.30pm, with the bar staying open throughout the film until 2.30AM. The Rio Cinema has great transport links and is easy to get to:

BUS

67, 76/N76, 149 (24-hr), 243 (24-hr), & 488 stop right outside the Rio

RAIL

The Rio is 5 minutes from both Dalston Junction and Dalston Kingsland stations (both London Overground)

AND THAT'S NOT ALL...

THE INNKEEPERS - Thursday 24th May, 8.45pm

On the 24^th May, we'll be heading over to out friends at the Prince Charles Cinema for an exclusive screening of Ti West's (THE HOUSE OF THE DEVIL) THE INNKEEPERS, one of the most buzzed-about new horror films in years.

After over one hundred years of service, The Yankee Pedlar Inn is shutting its doors for good. The last remaining employees - Claire (Sara Paxton) and Luke (Pat Healy)- are determined to uncover proof of what many believe to be one of New England's most haunted hotels.

As the Inn's final days draw near, odd guests check in as the pair of minimum wage "ghost hunters" begin to experience strange and alarming events that may ultimately cause them to be mere footnotes in the hotel's long unexplained history.

Watch the trailer here.

Ti West proved himself a master of the slow-burn in the fantastic HOUSE OF THE DEVIL, and he's on fine form again with THE INNKEEPERS, a heady blend of humour and shocks that will chill you to your very core.

THE INNKEEPERS won't see a full UK release until the 8^th June, but you can catch it before anyone else by joining us at the Prince Charles Cinema on Thursday 24^th May, 8.45pm.

Tickets are £7.50 for members and £10 for non-members.

Buy your tickets here.

Over the past year Cigarette Burns has enjoyed highly successful screenings of Pieces, Lizard in A Woman's Skin, Gothic, Profondo Rosso, Robocop, Street Trash, Daughters of Darkness, MS. 45, Who can Kill a Child?, the Female Convict Scorpion trilogy, Videodrome, The Beyond, House by the Cemetery, Dead and Buried, My Bloody Valentine, The Prowler, and many more. Look for more announcements from us very soon...

Graham Humphery's 2012 edition of Return of the Living Dead is our headline image. Here's a comparison with his original:

Get A Good Look At PROMETHEUS Herself In New Clip

Mon, 14 May 2012 17:03:13 -0500

Lest anyone forget, Ridley Scott's Prometheus takes its title from the space ship which carts its all star cast around and to drive that point home a one minute clip from the film has just been released which features the ship front and center.

It's the landing sequence, with Idris Elba guiding the craft to the surface of the planet where the action will take place, so no need to fear spoilers here. Check it below.

Hey LA! Win A Pair Of Tickets To See Patrick Horvath And Dallas Hallam's ENTRANCE!

Mon, 14 May 2012 16:34:53 -0500

Okay, LA folk, here's one for you. IFC Midnight are presenting a screening of Patrick Horvath and Dallas Hallam's acclaimed indie thriller Entrance on Friday May 18th - when it will also be available nationwide on VOD - with House of the Devil and The Innkeepers director Ti West moderating a Q&A with the film's creators and you could be there for free.

ENTRANCE is a riveting new psychological thriller from newcomers Dallas Hallam and Patrick Horvath, exploring the thin line between anxiety and naked horror in the life of Suzy (SUZIEY BLOCK), a young woman in Los Angeles who can't get comfortable in her own skin. A loner who wallows in nostalgia and finds herself wandering aimlessly through life in the city, she can't shake the gnawing suspicion that a true menace grows just outside her field of vision. As she scrambles to take control of her life, her anxiety rises to a fever pitch that boils over into a waking nightmare.

An official selection of the Los Angeles Film Festival, ENTRANCE is an intimate character study directed with a formalist restraint. Suziey Block's fearless performance injects both terror and poise as this uniquely-styled thriller climbs from spark to inferno.

The screening takes place May 18 at 8pm at The Downtown Independent (251 South Main St) and we've got one pair of tickets to give away. You want 'em? Just email me here and let me know you want in on the Entrance giveaway. The winner will be drawn Thursday.

Cannes 2012 Preview: The Palme d'Or Competition

Mon, 14 May 2012 15:42:02 -0500

It's that most exciting time of the year, on the eve Europe's most extravagant celebration of cinema, when some of those incredible films we've been hearing whispers about for months and months will finally be unveiled! It's time for the 2012 edition of the Festival de Cannes and Twitch will be there, sipping champagne on the beach so you don't have to! Oh, and there are movies too. Lots and lots of fantastic sounding movies from every corner of the globe, just waiting to be torn apart/gushed over for months in anticipation of their fall awards season releases.

We've got a series of previews ahead of Wednesday's opening gala and we start things here by taking you on a tour through each and every film that is in competition at this year's fest. Let us know what you are most excited about.
MOONRISE KINGDOM
Wes Anderson opens the fest with his much anticipated summer camp romance. The film, co-written by Roman Coppola, stars Bruce Willis, Ed Norton, Bill Murray, Frances McDormand, Tilda Swinton, Jason Schwartzman, Harvey Keitel, Kara Hayward, and Jared Gilman. Focus releases the film stateside on May 25th.

REALITY
Gomorrah director Matteo Garrone returns to take a stab at besting his 2008 Grand Prix win with this Italian reality TV inspired dramedy.

ON THE ROAD
There has been all kinds of buzz about Walter Salles latest road tripper (he directed The Motorcycle Diaries), an adaptation of the revered Keruac novel. Produced by Francis Ford Coppola and with a cast that includes Kristen Stewart, Kirsten Dunst, Amy Adams, Viggo Mortensen, Garrett Hedlund, Terrence Howard, Elisabeth Moss, Sam Riley, Steve Buscemi and a whole lot more, it's anyone's guess as to how faithful to the book this one is going to be. IFC apparently likes the film (or at least K.Stew) as they've teamed with Sundance Selects to release the film to US audiences.

HOLY MOTORS
Eva Mendes stars along with Kylie Minogue, Denis Lavant, and Michel Piccoli in Leos Carax's enigmatic body jumping sci-fi-sounding tale.

KILLING THEM SOFTLY
Andrew Dominik much anticipated follow-up to 2007's The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford reteams the New Zealand-born Australian director with Brad Pitt in this mob enforcer crime drama based on George V. Higgins's 1974 novel Cogan's Trade. Scoot McNairy, James Gandolfini, Richard Jenkins, Ben Mendelsohn, and Ray Liota co-star. The Weinstein Co. currently plans to drop the flick on US audiences September 21st.

THE TASTE OF MONEY
South Korean director Im Sang-soo follows up 2010 competition film The Housemaid with this Korean high society erotic suspense drama.

COSMOPOLIS
Robert Pattinson stars as a young Wall Street billionaire in this Don DeLillo adaptation directed by David Cronenberg. Has Cronie gone back to his hard hitting ways or is this another talkie drama a la A Dangerous Method? Jay Baruchel, Paul Giamatti, Samantha Morton, Juliette Binoche, and Mathieu Amalric co-star.

AFTER THE BATTLE (Baad el Mawkeaa)
Egyptian filmmaker Yousry Nasrallah brings a contemporary urban story of his country in turmoil through the eyes of a young man coerced into attacking protesters during the 2011 uprising.

LOVE
The odds-on favorite (4/1) for this year's Palme d'Or is Michael Haneke's Isabelle Huppert, Jean-Louis Trintignant, and Emmanuelle Riva starring film. He won in 2009 for The White Ribbon and his latest is a French language relationship drama focusing on elderly musicians dealing with love towards life's latter end.

THE ANGELS' SHARE
Another year at Cannes, another Ken Loach film. Some filmmakers just sing Cannes (read: Abbas Kiarostami) and Loach is currently England's song bird. He won the Palme d'Or for 2006's The Wind that Shakes the Barley and is back this year with a bit more lighthearted looking film about a Scottish trouble/whiskey maker.

THE PAPERBOY
Lee Daniels burst onto the scene with his 2009 drama Precious and immediately became one most coveted directors in Hollywood. His follow-up is this adaptation of Pete Dexter's 1995 novel about a death row inmate's plight for justice. With an interesting cast that includes Zac Efron, John Cusack, Matthew McConaughey, and Nicole Kidman, Daniels film could be one of the more talked about American films at this year's fest.

LIKE SOMEONE IN LOVE
Iranian master and Palme d'Or winner in 1997 for Taste of Cherry, Abbas Kiarostami's latest is this Japanese set relationship drama.

MUD
Jeff Nichols follows-up his hugely acclaimed Take Shleter with this Mississippi escaped fugitive drama starring Matthew McConaughey, Reese Witherspoon, Michael Shannon, Ray McKinnon, and Tye Sheridan.

PARADISE: LOVE (Paradies: Liebe)
Austrian director Ulrich Siedl's first part of his Paradise trilogy is this tale of divergent stories following an overweight mother and daughter. The mother travels to Kenya for sex tourism while her daughter deals with her own issues at home.

RUST AND BONE
One of the most anticipated films of the fest (and oddsmakers' second overall pick at 9/2) is Jacques Audiard's follow-up to prison masterpiece A Prophet. Bullhead lead Matthias Schoenaerts stars alongside Marion Cotillard in this love story between a man and a whale trainer that looks to be set in a darker version of the present. Can't. Wait.

IN ANOTHER COUNTRY
Isabelle Huppert does triple duty as three different women named Anne visiting the beach in the latest from South Korean director Hong Sang-soo, whose 2010 film Hahaha took home top prize in that year's Un Certain Regard section.

THE HUNT
The always amazing Mads Mikkelsen stars in Thomas Vinterberg's hysteria-filled rural Danish family drama.

POST TENEBRAS LUX
Mexican director Carlos Reygadas returns to the fest where he won a Jury Prize in 2007 for his film Silent Night with this semi-autobiographical countryside drama set in Mexico, England, Spain, and Belgium.

LAWLESS
Whoo-whee it's a good year for crime dramas at Cannes and John Hillcoat's (The Proposition, The Road) long awaited depression era bootlegger flick is at the top of the heap. Written by Nick Cave, this film based on Matt Bundrant's The Wettest County in the World stars Shia LaBeouf, Tom Hardy, Gary Oldman, Jessica Chastain, Mia Wasikowska and Guy Pearce.

IN THE FOG
This WW2 drama set in Belorussia is Ukranian director Sergei Loznitsa's follow-up to his 2010 competition film My Joy.

BEYOND THE HILLS
Christian Mungiu's feature follow-up to his 2007 Palme d'Or winning 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days is another Romanian drama, this one set in a rural orthodox community. Drink some coffee.

YOU HAVEN'T SEEN ANYTHING YET (Vous n'avez encore rien vu)
89 year-old French master Alain Resnais has somehow managed to never win a Palme d'Or (he won a Grand Prix in 1980 for Mon oncle d'Amérique and a lifetime achievement award in 2009). He looks to have that error corrected with his latest about a group of actors gathering in the home of dead playwright for the reading of his will.

Check back tomorrow when we take a look at some of the notable films not in competition.

Raven Banner Takes On International Rights To Joko Anwar's MODUS ANOMALI

Mon, 14 May 2012 15:30:14 -0500

Headline says it all, really. On the eve of the Cannes Marche du Film, international sales company Raven Banner Entertainment have taken on sales rights for Joko Anwar's SXSW selection Modus Anomali.

Toronto based genre specialist, Raven Banner Entertainment has landed international rights to SXSW Midnighter, Modus Anomali.

Directed by Joko Anwar, Modus Anomali is an Indonesian, English-language thriller that gives viewers an exciting puzzle to solve as they witness a man desperately search his surroundings in an attempt to piece together what just happened to him and his missing family.

Managing partners, Michael Paszt and James Fler negotiated the deal with Nate Bolotin and Todd Brown of XYZ Films on behalf of the producers.

"Joko is a visionary filmmaker who has the unique ability to take token genre conventions and turn them completely inside out" stated Paszt. "It's a real honor to be working with him and his team."

"Raven Banner is a unique and exclusive agency with an eclectic taste. Having the chance to work with them on Modus Anomali will be a great ride" said the film's producer, Sheila Timothy.

XYZ Films is handling domestic rights.

Sales Poster For Van Damme Starring Comedy WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE

Mon, 14 May 2012 15:15:24 -0500

Jean Claude Van Damme makes a foray into comedy in the Rob Meltzer directed Welcome To The Jungle, in which the Muscles From Brussels stars as a wilderness survival / workplace team building trainer opposite Adam Brody, Rob Huebel, Kristen Schaal, Megan Boone, and Dennis Haysbert.

CHRIS (Adam Brody) is a workplace weakling who doesn't have the balls to stand up to the slick office bully, PHIL (Rob Huebel), who steals all his ideas, and he has yet to muster the courage to ask out cute HR manager, LISA (Megan Boone). Even Chris' only friend, JARED, a sarcastic slacker IT guy who secretly monitors everyone's porn intake, slams Chris for being a pussy.

But when a team-building "wilderness seminar" goes horribly wrong, and unhinged ex-marine teambuilding coach STORM ROTHCHILD (Jean-Claude Van Damme) gets mauled by a cougar - Chris and his co-workers find themselves stranded on a deserted tropical island with no rescue in sight... and someone's going to have to step up and take charge.

Phil quickly proclaims himself "God" of the island - but Chris has Boy Scout skills and would be far better suited to lead the group if he could overcome his fear - of everything. Can Chris finally man-up to Phil, release his inner-beast, get them rescued and win the girl? Or will Phil triumph, as usual, while Chris cowers like a bitch-boy?

With the Cannes Marche du Film around the corner international sales agents The Salt Company have revealed the first sales art and we're pleased to have the first look. Shots from the set featured Van Damme sporting a handlebar mustache and massive sideburns so he may very well look a touch different on screen than on the poster.

Two Fantastic Clips From Aubier And Patar's ERNEST AND CELESTINE

Mon, 14 May 2012 14:30:13 -0500

Belgian animation duo Stéphane Aubier and Vincent Patar earned themselves an international cult following with their debut feature A Town Called Panic. Based on the television shorts of the same name - Panique au Village in French, actually - the intentionally primitive stop motion followed the adventures of Horse, Cowboy and Indian with hilarious results. They are, of course, doing something completely different with their sophomore feature.

The friendship between a little mouse who didn't want to become a dentist and a big bear who didn't want to become a notary.

Ernest, a big marginal bear, with a cold and starving, is looking through garbage to find something to eat. Just when he's ready to put the first thing he finds into his mouth, a piercing cry rings out! "Stooooppp!". The little mouse he was going to swallow pleads: "if you don't eat me, I will give you whatever you want most in the world! And it will be better for your health than all this crap." And this is how Célestine, while trying to save her own life, turns that of Ernest upside down. From these unfortunate circumstances a friendship grows, fought by the world of mice (the upper world) and the world of bears (the underworld) but in vain: Ernest and Célestine will conquer all prejudices.

An adaptation of the popular children's book by Gabrielle Vincent, the first two clips from the Ernest And Celestine movie have arrived online and they are absolutely beautiful to behold, and absolute proof that anything primitive in their earlier work was entirely deliberate where the directors are concerned.

EXCLUSIVE: SORORAL Teaser Art Injects With Giallo Style

Mon, 14 May 2012 09:10:47 -0500

The upcoming thriller Sororal will be the first Australian film to pay homage to giallo, according to the creative team at Nakatomi Pictures. Giallo is of course the Italian sexy crime suspense / horror subgenre that features lurid colors, lots of blood as well as interesting musical arrangements, and was made popular by directors like Mario Bava, Dario Argento and Sergio Martino in the 1960s and 70s.

"I am absolutely in love with the unmistakable, pop art-infused look of giallo. Sororal owes a huge debt to Suspiria and Blood and Black Lace", says director Sam Barrett. "We were really drawn to giallo's striking colour palette - bold reds and yellows, vivid greens and purples. The heightened colour palette really transports you to a different world; a dangerous and psychedelic realm where anything is possible. Rabid giallo fans will not be disappointed. This film is a celebration of this wonderfully imaginative and under-appreciated genre."

Synopsis: A heady whirlwind of genetic experimentation, mind control, telekinetic power struggles and twisted art revolve around Sororal's heroine, Cassie, a troubled artist who tries to make sense of her vivid, violent dreams by committing her visions to canvas.

Sororal features a cast of mostly local talents, including Amanda Woodhams (as the lead) and Nicola Bartlett (Little Sparrows). It is currently in the final stages of post-production.

Embedded below is a snippet of an electronic section of the film's score.

Comets And Tentacle Monsters In The Full Trailer For David Cholewa's DEAD SHADOWS

Sun, 13 May 2012 21:00:11 -0500

You don't want to know where the tentacle goes.

We've been keeping a close eye on the progress of David Cholewa's scifi-horror hybrid Dead Shadows here at Twitch and today the full theatrical trailer for the film arrived online.

Dead Shadows tells the terrifying story about a young man, Chris, whose parents were brutally killed 11 years ago, on the same day that tHaley's Comet could be seen from earth. Tonight, a new comet is going to appear and everyone in his building are getting ready for a party to celebrate the event. There's even an apocalypse theory going around. As the night falls, Chris starts to discover that people are acting strange - and it seems to somehow be connected to the comet. People are becoming disoriented and violent and it doesn't take long before they start mutating into something from beyond this world. In a fight for survival, Chris has to try to escape from his building with the help from some other tenants - but will they make it out alive?

Dead Shadows is looking to be one of the happy surprises of 2012, a film that has consistently looked better with every new piece of material that has been released. This one is going to screen at the Cannes Marche du Film, expect it to turn up on the festival circuit shortly thereafter.

15 Can't Miss Films from Seattle Int'l Film Fest 2012

Sun, 13 May 2012 20:23:36 -0500

The world's biggest film festival (okay maybe not, but it sure seems that way) kicks off May 17th and runs through June 10th in and around the greater Seattle area. Check out the fest specs:

This year the Seattle International Film Festival will screen 273 features and 187 shorts representing 75 countries, from more than 5,676 submissions worldwide, compared to 5,213 in 2011, with the final selections representing 24 World, 25 North American, 16 U.S. premieres and 56 short film premieres. There will be 180 features at this year's Festival arriving without U.S. distribution and 85 films by female filmmakers, up from 62 last year.

We've poured through the extensive catalog and whittled it down to a few hits from the festival circuit worth checking out. There are wayyy too many films to detail here but check out the SIFF site for more details.

YOUR SISTER'S SISTER
The fest opens with Lynn Shelton's NW set romantic laugher. Mark Duplass stars alongside Emily Blunt and Rosemarie DeWitt in this smart Humpday follow-up.
Christopher Bourne's Review

BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD
Seattle audiences have a real treat in store with the opportunity to see Benh Zeitlin's uber-powerful Sundance winning drama before most of the country. The film opens in theaters June 27th.
Ryland Aldrich's Review

OSLO, AUGUST 31ST
Joachim Trier has made one of the most beautiful odes to addiction ever created with his follow-up to his incredible premiere Reprise. The performance by Anders Danielsen Lie is one of the best of the year.
Ryland Aldrich's Review

DRAGON (WU XIA)
Donnie Yen, Takeshi Kaneshiro, and Wei Tang star in Peter Ho-Sun Chan's flying kick costumer that was scooped up by the Weinstein's last summer.
Todd Brown's Review

KLOWN
If you've spent any time hanging around Twitch, then you probably know how big of fans we are of this outlandish Danish camping trip laugher. Our friends at Drafthouse Films are bringing the film to theaters and VOD July 27th.
Charlie Hobbs's Review

V/H/S
This ultra fun found footage horror anthology has found nothing but fans around these parts. With shorts by David Bruckner, Ti West, Joe Swanberg, Adam Wingard, Glenn McQuaid, and the boys of Radio Silence, this brain child of Brad Miska, Simon Barrett, Roxanne Benjamin, and many others is sure to be a good time for a rowdy Seattle audience.
Ryland Aldrich's Review

THE IMPOSTER
Bart Layton's stylish docu is one of those stories that is far better to just experience than to read about. None the less, here's...
Peter Martin's Review

BADLANDS
Any opportunity to see Terrence Malick's classic on the big screen is not to be sneezed at. Check out the other archival screenings taking place at SIFF.

SAFETY NOT GUARANTEED
Colin Trevorrow's little sci-fi-lite love story with Northwest connections is just the kind of wacky fun that SIFF audiences should eat up. FilmDistrict will release the Mark Duplass, Aubrey Plaza, and Jake Johnson starring comedy later this summer.
Alex Koehne's Review

EDEN
Jamie Chung stars as a sex slave in Seattle filmmaker Megan Griffiths's SXSW hit follow up to The Off Hours. Matt O'Leary puts in a particularly great performance as her drug addicted Stockholm syndrome captor.
Peter Martin's Review

AS LUCK WOULD HAVE IT
Salma Hayek stars in Álex De La Iglesia's much anticipated follow-up to The Last Circus.
Brian Clark's Review

RED ROAD
Andrea Arnold will be featured as one of SIFF's "Emerging Masters" this year, giving audiences the opportunity to see her 2006 paranoia-filled drama Red Road on the big screen. It may not be quite the masterpiece that is Fish Tank, but it's well worth a check out. More Emerging Masters here.

THE INVADER
Nicolas Provost's Belgian immigrant drama is a beautiful reflection on modern society with an incredible performance by Isaka Sawadogo. This little movie may not make many moviegoers' radars, but it certainly worth seeking out.
Todd Brown's Review

HELLO I MUST BE GOING
Melanie Lynskey turns in a scary good performance in one of the most charming of Sundance's charmer-heavy lineup. Christopher Abbot (now of Girls) and Blythe Danner co-star in Todd Louiso's third feature, set for release from Oscilloscope in September.

EXTRATERRESTRIAL
What international celebration of cinema would be complete without a wacky sci-fi romp by Spanish director extraordinaire Nacho Vigalondo.
Swarez's Review | Nacho's Own Review

This really only begins to scratch the surface of what is on offer at SIFF. Check out SIFF's website for much more, including hits like Don Coscarelli's drugged out midnighter JOHN DIES AT THE END, Josh Radnor's Sundance charmer LIBERAL ARTS , and the delightful Frank Langella-as-aging-cat-burgular dramedy ROBOT & FRANK . Enjoy the fest!

Bong Joon-ho's SNOW PIERCER Rumbles To Life

Sun, 13 May 2012 20:17:30 -0500

After literally years of preparation The Host director Bong Joon-ho has finally begun principal photography on his English language debut, Snow Piercer.

An adaptation of the popular French graphic novel Le Transperceneige, Snow Piercer boasts an impressive international cast - Song Kang-ho, Ewan Bremner, John Hurt, Chris Evans, Tilda Swinton, Jamie Bell and more - and the presence of Oldboy director Park Chan-wook as a producer.

Principal photography began last week in the Czech Republic and will continue until we're all frozen under a thick layer of ice.

Full Trailer For Mika Ninagawa's HELTER SKELTER

Sun, 13 May 2012 20:00:57 -0500

Photographer turned director Mika Ninagawa turned heads around the world with her 2006 debut feature, the ultra colorful Sakuran. Ninagawa's debut immediately established her as one of Japan's brightest visual talents and fans were excited to see what she would do next. They've had to wait over five years to find out.

Ninagawa returns in 2012 with Helter Skelter, a film adapted from a popular manga about a young starlet who turns to ever increasing levels of plastic surgery to maintain her impossible image. To star Ninagawa has turned to Erika Sawajiri, a young woman whose dramatic rise and fall from grace - her career crashed dramatically in 2007 - is a mirror of the her character in the film.

The first full trailer for the film has just arrived - following a previous teaser - and, yes, it is clearly Ninagawa in full effect - the art direction and colorful palette that made Sakuran stand out so dramatically very much present here as well. Check it out below.

First Poster Art For Rodriguez And Miller's SIN CITY: A DAME TO KILL FOR

Sun, 13 May 2012 19:33:44 -0500

With the Cannes Marche Du Film - the largest international film market, where titles are bought and sold for international distribution - just around the corner the first sales art has arrived for the long talked about / finally moving forward Robert Rodriguez / Frank Miller co-directed Sin City sequel, Sin City: A Dame To Kill For.

The Departed screenwriter William Monahan has chipped in on the script for this one while Mickey Rourke and Rosario Dawson have already signed on to reprise their roles.

Did the first clip from Ben Wheatley's SIGHTSEERS touch you?

Sun, 13 May 2012 14:16:39 -0500

We love Brighton-based filmmaker Ben Wheatley. From his brilliant armchair gangster flick DOWN TERRACE to the international hitman sensation that was the chilling KILL LIST, he is doing everything he can to wipe that stuttering, self-depracating Hugh Grant/Richard Curtis image of England from your minds once and for all. His latest, SIGHTSEERS, is due to have its debut at Cannes this coming week, and as he packs his bags and heads for the sunny South of France, Wheatley has just released the first clip from the film on his website. If I am not mistaken this "place of cultural interest" is Avebury, a mythical pagan site of ley lines and randomly erected stones, not too far from the famous Stonehenge. A site of such reverence to some, as this clip reveals, that even dog poo is not welcome, despite its fertile properties. But will intrepid campers Chris (Steve Oram) and Tina (Alice Lowe) stand for such nonsense? Viddy well...

Beware Of The Cave! SKULL WORLD Red Band Trailer.

Sun, 13 May 2012 13:45:00 -0500

Just in time for the Cannes Film Market comes a red band trailer for Justin McConnell's documentary Skull World. The film will be represented by RAVEN BANNER ENTERTAINMENT at the upcoming Cannes Film Market (Marché Du Film). Festival programmers and distributors can obtain screeners from Raven Banner at 'Riviera G31'.

Skull World Follows two years in the life of Greg Sommer, aka Skull Man, as he builds the Canadian chapter of Box Wars, an international underground movement of cardboard‐based combat.

Meet The Lizard In New AMAZING SPIDER-MAN Video

Sun, 13 May 2012 12:12:20 -0500

With this summer shaping up to be the summer of super heroes the folks at Sony are eager to make sure their own entry in the sweepstakes - the Marc Webb directed The Amazing Spider-Man - isn't overlooked in all of the Avengers and Dark Knight Rises hoopla. And so they've rolled out a new video focusing on the villain of their new piece: The Lizard.

A blend of interview footage with star Rhys Ifans and footage from the film this latest clip gives a brief look into the mind of the character along with some fresh imagery. Check it out below.

Action Packed, Adrenaline Fuelled Trailer For Roar Uthaug's ESCAPE (FLUKT)

Sun, 13 May 2012 11:27:59 -0500

Director Roar Uthaug caused quite an international stir a few years back with the release of his Norwegian slasher Cold Prey, a film that was not just a hit at home but arguably the trigger point for the current wave of Nordic genre film. Cold Prey was a game changer and fans have been waiting for Uthaug to turn up again. With his sophomore feature he made the surprising choice to co-direct a children's fantasy film with his wife but now he's back in genre territory with his third effort, Escape (Flukt).

Ten years after the Black Death ravaged the country, a poor family is on a journey to find better living conditions. On a deserted mountain pass, they are attacked by a gang of ruthless outlaws. They only spare the life of the nineteen year old Signe. She is taken captive and the gang takes her back to their camp. Here she learns that she is intended a fate worse than death. Signe understands that the only solution is to escape.

Given that this is a period set action / chase picture the obvious point of comparison would be Neil Marshall's Centurion but if this just-released first teaser is to be believed not only does the film have its own personality but may best Marshall's excellent offering in terms of quality as well. Check it below.

NYC Happenings: Korean American Film Fest Hits Anthology June 5th

Sat, 12 May 2012 16:24:57 -0500

In it's sixth year, the Korean American Film Festival New York (KAFFNY) offers quite the unique program of shorts and features, and this year they may have found the perfect venue to match their curious content: The Anthology Film Archives -- one of the East Coast's last bastions of true film preservation and honest-to-goodness 35mm and 16mm projection of alternative and underground works. Not that KAFFNY will be projecting rare celluloid, but still, if anyone's ever entered the double green doors of Anthology's East Village complex, it means there usually in for something special. Yeah, that's what I'm getting at! At any rate, KAFFNY makes its home at AFA from June 5th - 10th. Read on to hear about this year's offerings!

KOREAN AMERICAN FILM FESTIVAL NEW YORK (KAFFNY): JUNE 5-10 at Anthology Film Archives

Now in its sixth year, the annual Korean American Film Festival New York (KAFFNY) is the first and only film festival in New York City showcasing the diversity of Korean American and Korean diasporic perspectives in film. Since its first annual festival in 2007, KAFFNY has continued to broaden its focus on emerging filmmakers to include international films by Korean and as well as non-Korean filmmakers.

This year, the program reflects the strong offerings in new Korean American filmmaking as well as cross-cultural Asian independent cinema. "We're very proud to have so many premiere screenings of homegrown New York and American talent, and feel our filmmakers are now truly coming-of-age along with our festival," says founder Dave Kim.

Hosted at Anthology Film Archives this year, KAFFNY presents New York audiences with a challenging and innovative mix of narrative features and documentaries with a strong focus on auteur-driven stories, and complex character studies, exploring such themes as loss and dislocation through journeys of discovery. KAFFNY also marks the 20^th anniversary of the Los Angeles riots with a special free program of films, to also screen online for the duration of the festival.

Venue: Anthology Film Archives: 32 Second Avenue New York, NY 10003

Please visit www.kaffny.com for program updates and final schedule

PROGRAM:

KAFFNY's opening night presentation is the International Premiere of SHOULD'VE KISSED, the debut feature of NYU's Tisch School of the Arts alumnus Jinoh Park who sets a new standard for independent auteurist Korean American filmmaking. Park directs and stars in this offbeat story of a lonely soul adrift in Manhattan's dive-bar scene with another forlorn actor, having hallucinatory conversations with Robert De Niro on a movie poster of "Taxi Driver" by another NYU alumnus, Martin Scorsese.

Highlights include the world premiere of NYU alumns Jae-Ho Chang and Tara Autovino's ULTIMATE CHRISTIAN WRESTLING in which skeptical New York filmmakers venture to rural Georgia to document the culture of a pro-wrestling Christian ministry, and return having learned some surprising and moving ways Americans use faith to guide them through dire personal and family circumstance.

The Japan Society co-presents MAGIC AND LOSS, an impressive international Asian co-production (Japan/Korea/Malaysia/Hong Kong/France/USA/China) starring breakthrough Zainichi Korean indie actress/rising producer Kiki Sugino (Hospitalité), Korean indie writer/director/actor Yang-Ik June (Breathless), award-winning Korean actress Kim Kkobbi (Breathless) and directed by Malaysian-Chinese filmmaker Lim Kah-Wai

The program includes a special interactive presentation of Jacob Krupnick's GIRL WALK // ALL DAY, produced by Youngna Park, a cutting-edge, feature-length dance music video set to the iconic modern party album All Day by innovative mashup DJ Girl Talk, exploring the border between documentary and reality, pitting remix culture and creative spirit versus the modern digital copyright scheme and unflappable New Yorkers.

In remembrance of the 1992 Los Angeles Riots, and building on last year's "LA Riots: 19 Years Later" panel with veteran directors Dai Sil Kim-Gibson and Charles Burnett, KAFFNY presents a special program marking the 20th anniversary, to also screen online for free during the festival week. The riots or "429" ("Sa-I-gu") a Korean nomenclature denominated for the date of the riots, is the single most devastating event for the Korean American community, and is widely considered a re-awakening of Korean American identity and leadership. KAFFNY will present films by new voices from the Korean American community, the second generation, including those whose parents' businesses were burned in the riots. The program includes Alex Ko's POKDONG, and Kathy Choi, Dae Hoon Kim and Hosik Kim's LAR20.

FEATURE-LENGTH FILMS:

International Premiere/Opening Night: SHOULD'VE KISSED (2010): Auteur debut film from NYU's Tisch School of the Arts alumnus Jinoh Park with great performances and deft long takes. Two aspiring actors and lonely souls navigate New York City, one, played by Park himself, a dive-bar singer who converses with Robert De Niro on a movie poster of "Taxi Driver" by another NYU alumn, Martin Scorsese. Directed by Jinoh Park. (Tuesday, June 5 at 7:30pm & Saturday, June 9 at 10:00pm, Anthology Film Archives)

World Premiere: ULTIMATE CHRISTIAN WRESTLING (2011): Two filmmakers fly to rural Georgia to capture a traveling pro-wrestling Christian ministry with the intention of coming back to New York with a documentary about the ridiculousness of American religious expression. What they find instead are three men within the ministry using their faith as a way to guide them through the most dire of circumstances, a faith that clashes not only with the conservative religious views of the Bible Belt, but also with the people who have chosen to reject Christianity as a direct result of its overbearing presence in the South. Directed by Jae Ho Chang and Tara Autovino. (Saturday, June 9 at 5:00pm & Sunday, June 10 at 7:30pm, Anthology Film Archives)

US Premiere: MAGIC AND LOSS (2010): Co-presented by Japan Society. A Korean/Japanese/Malaysian/Chinese collaboration with Korean Japanese indie actress/producer Kiki Sugino (L'Hospitalite), Yang-Ik June and Kim KKhobi from Korean indie juggernaut Breathless. Malaysian director Lim Kah Wai's distinctively captures the unfolding relationships between the 3 actors' in this fresh new Asian mystery. Two young women, Kiki and Kkobbi, whose purpose and background are unknown, and nationalities are unclear, win a lottery ticket for a free vacation at an island resort called Mui Wo in Hong Kong. In a completely isolated and unknown place, they start to experience an extraordinary adventure. Directed by Lim Kah Wai. (Thursday, June 7 at 7:30pm & Saturday, June 9 at 2:30pm, Anthology Film Archives)
New York Festival Interactive Premiere: GIRL WALK // ALL DAY (2012): A cutting-edge, feature-length dance music video set to Girl Talk's standard-setting All Day mashup album exploring the border between documentary and reality, re-pushing the envelope of remix culture and challenging Wim Wender's Pina with true indie and youthful spirit. An urban exploration that follows three dancers across New York City, turning the sidewalks, parks and architecture into an evolving stage as they spread their joy of movement. Directed by Jacob Krupnick. (Wednesday, June 6 at 7:30pm, Venue To Be Announced).

PERHAPS, SOMEWHERE (2009): Auteur debut film from Arts Institute of Chicago alumn demonstrates impressive mise-en-scene sensibility. Two lonely souls navigate through their isolated past and present in uncharacteristic landscapes of the Midwest, searching for a sense of home. In meeting, they forge a brief and close bond, learning to understand themselves and one another, wondering where they will go next. Directed by Brian Oh. (Saturday, June 9 at 7:30pm, Anthology Film Archives)

LOS ANGELES RIOTS 20^TH ANNIVERSARY PROGRAM:

POKDONG (2006): For over a decade, Korean filmmaker, ALEX KO has lived in a family silenced by the devastating loss of their store during the 1992 L.A. Riots. In POK DONG, the Ko family shares their dramatic story for the first time, confronting painful memories as a means of finally moving on. Directed by Alex Ko. (Screening date, time and venue to be announced)

LAR20 (2012): An examination of the racial state of mind of America, now 20 years after the LA riots of 1992, focusing primarily on young culture makers who were voiceless 20 years ago. Directed by Kathy Choi, Dae Hoon Kim and Hosik Kim.(Screening date, time and venue to be announced)

More films to be announced.

SHORTS 1 (COMPETITION):
(Thursday, June 7 at 10:00pm & Sunday, June 10 at 2:30pm, Anthology Film Archives)
* = New York-based filmmakers

Dol (First Birthday) by Andrew Ahn
Reunion by Choi Jai Young
*Home by Seimi Kim
The Recorder Exam by Bora Kim
Ghost by Dachi Ma
City by Kim Ye-Young
*I am John Wayne by Christina Choe
Blue by Stephen Kang

SHORTS 2:
(Friday, June 8 at 10:00pm & Sunday, June 10 at 5:00pm, Anthology Film Archives)
* = New York-based filmmakers

* Toast by Henry Jean
* Saeing Il (Birthday) by Jennifer Suhr
* The Problem of Gravity by Trevor Zhou
Mountain of June by Do-Yeon Kim
* Tree by Pyeung Hun Baik
* The Kook by Greg Mitnick
* Like Sugar on the Tip of My LipS by Minji Kang
* Fractured by Terry Sasaki
* Silence Your Waiting by Jake Jeon
* Now You See Me by Zooey Park
Korean School Rejects by Peter Yun
* Play Things by Mike Cook

CHINA BEAT: Tsui Hark & Bona Exploring 3D Together

Sat, 12 May 2012 15:32:50 -0500

This week Chinese film giant Bona Film Group announced that it plans to shoot two new films in 3D this year. Tsui Hark will direct a remake of the 1960 film Tracks In The Snowy Forest, while Jacob Cheung is on board to helm White Hair Witch, a retelling of The Bride With White Hair. This news comes after the phenomenal success of Bona's previous foray into the technology, Tsui Hark's Flying Swords of Dragon Gate, which not only amassed over US$100 million at the Chinese box office, but also displayed Tsui's keen understanding of how to get the most from the added depth of field.

Like many, my views on 3D are that it is basically an unnecessary gimmick we can all do without. At a time when cinema attendances were frighteningly low, the championing of 3D as a new filmgoing experience that could not be matched in the home drew filmgoers back to the multiplexes. The push from the major studios also forced cinema chains around the world to go digital, which will drastically cut distribution costs in the future. The aesthetic benefits of 3D, however, have been made obvious all too slowly. 3D only ever seems to bring anything positive to our movie experience when the film was shot that way in the first place and the director in question actually understands how to use it to his or her benefit.

With Flying Swords, Tsui proved that he did understand how to utilise this extra dimension to his cinematic frame, and the news that he will be further exploring the technology has me interested. Bona also revealed that they will be investing in a new digital film technology centre, situated in Tianjin. Both films will apparently be shot at the facility, making full use of 3D equipment, but also the invaluable knowledge Tsui has gleaned from his previous production. However, before he gets started on Snowy Forest, Tsui is to direct the sequel to Detective Dee - surely a project that is screaming out to be shot in 3D!

Incidentally, Flying Swords Of Dragon Gate will be opening across North America in IMAX 3D, courtesy of Indomina Releasing, in September and ranks as one of China's very best films of 2011. Do not miss out on the chance to see it on the big screen!

At the domestic box office last weekend, Joss Whedon's superhero spectacular The Avengers made a predictably strong opening, finally knocking Titanic 3D off the top spot, taking US$20 million in its first two days. James Cameron's resurrected behemoth has now taken US$150 million in China after four weeks, and is likely to be around for some time to come. Peter Berg's Battleship is also doing healthy business and had taken close to US$50 million as of last weekend, while the strongest Chinese language performer remains Ning Hao's Guns And Roses.

If you have read my review, you will know that I am not overly enamoured by Ning's latest effort and felt it marked a noticeable shift away from his usual brand of edgy, anarchic underworld antics towards something with a more mainstream feel to it. This sentiment seems to have been echoed by the film's respectable box office performance. Guns And Roses (surely a title it will have to drop when it ventures overseas) made $US20 million in its first two weeks, more than four times as much as any of its May holiday rivals. No doubt there will be a number of interested parties heading out to Cannes for the film market next week, who will be gunning to pick up distribution rights for this one. However, it feels too much like Let The Bullets Fly lite to me.

The other holiday openers, Yang Shupeng's An Inaccurate Memoir and Hu Guan's Design of Death have only managed to accrue less than US$7 million between them, while Eng Dayyan's oddball superhero comedy Inseparable, starring Kevin Spacey and Daniel Wu, appears to have fallen on its face. In its first three days on release it hasn't even managed to make US$1 million, and will most likely disappear without a trace this weekend. This will no doubt prove a big disappointment for its backers, although not much of a surprise. Word from Pusan, where the film debuted last October, was tepid to say the least.

That said, it will be interesting to see what the future holds for potential cultural crossover projects such as this. China has plenty of money to throw around and putting Hollywood A-list talent in their films is a great way of raising their profile overseas. Just look at Zhang Yimou's The Flowers Of War. It didn't need any help domestically, but having Christian Bale in a pivotal role certainly attracted more attention to the film internationally. Working in China might become the new equivalent to doing TV commercials in Japan - something big name stars do for some quick pocket money, but don't like to talk about back home. Or perhaps, with the number of China-Hollywood co-productions on the horizon, working in China may become increasingly commonplace.

First Official Images From Jen And Sylvia Soska's AMERICAN MARY

Sat, 12 May 2012 15:25:21 -0500

[And hot on the heels of the first still we have just received a second, this one featuring leading man Antonio Cupo as Billy Barker. Check the gallery below for both.]

Dead Hooker In A Trunk directors Jen and Sylvia Soska - aka the Twisted Twins - will debut their sophomore feature, American Mary, in the Marche du Film in Cannes and prior to those screenings they have released the first official still, one that features Ginger Snaps star Katharine Isabelle in the lead role.

The story of a medical student named Mary who is growing increasingly broke and disenchanted with medical school and the established doctors she once idolized. The allure of easy money sends a desperate Mary through the messy world of underground surgeries which leaves more marks on her than the so-called freakish clientele.

Now, given the content matter of the film and the fact that the Soskas recruited heavily from the body-mod community in and around Vancouver there's a better than fighting chance that what you see on the backs of the woman Isabelle is consulting is legitimate body-mod work rather than make up. Time will tell.

Luke Wilson, Zach Quinto And Topher Grace Answer THE INVITATION From Karyn Kusama

Fri, 11 May 2012 18:00:32 -0500

Girlfight and Jennifer's Body director Karyn Kusama has issued an invitation - one that Luke Wilson, Topher Grace, Zachary Quinto and Johnny Galecki have answered.

On a dark night, Will (Luke Wilson) is invited to his estranged ex-wife's dinner party. Over the course of the evening, he is gripped by mounting evidence that something insidious has taken hold of his ex-wife, and that she and her new friends have a mysterious and horrifying agenda. By the end of the night, the ramifications of what happens in this house will spread far beyond its doors.

The Kusama directed thriller will begin production this summer, working from a script by Phil Hay and Matt Manfredi (Clash of the Titans, R.I.P.D.). XYZ Films, Martha Griffin (Girlfight), Hay and Manfredi will produce.

First Teaser For Sion Sono's THE LAND OF HOPE

Fri, 11 May 2012 17:31:52 -0500

Surely one of the most prolific and diverse directors in the world today, Japan's Sion Sono is now deep into post production on his latest feature, The Land Of Hope.

While Sono is best known amongst fans of cult film for his more extreme work - Love Exposure, Guilty Of Romance, etc - the director has also been known to turn out some surprisingly heartfelt dramas and this one appears to be much more along those lines, a sort of soothing counterpoint to the raw wound of Himizu which was shot in the midst of - and directly incorporated - last year's massive earthquake disaster.

Once again Sono will address a community struck by an earthquake here but in this case he's choosing to give a more positive message - one of endurance and hope. The first teaser for the film has arrived online, check it below.

Studio Ghibli Producing Live Action Tokusatsu Short For Hideaki Anno Curated Exhibition (UPDATED WITH TEASER)

Fri, 11 May 2012 13:40:49 -0500

Many years ago - a virtual lifetime by anime standards - a young animator by the name of Hideaki Anno served as a key animator on Hayao Miyazaki's Nausicaa Of The Valley Of The Wind. The film established Miyazaki as the animation auteur that he is today while also firmly rooting his Studio Ghibli. And Anno? He would go on to international fame of his own as the director of Neon Genesis Evangelion. And now they're getting back together.

Anno is curating a summer museum exhibition titled Hideaki Anno's Special Effects Museum and he has enlisted Studio Ghibli to help him create a live action, special effects driven short for the event.

Titled Kyōshinhei Tokyo ni Arawaru - literally Giant God Warrior Appears In Tokyo - the concept for the short was created by Anno with Miyazaki chipping in the design for the titular God Warrior, which is presumably a reference to the duo's earlier work together on Nausicaa. Shinji Higuchi - a storyboard artist for Anno's Evangelion work - directs.

Given how difficult it is to see the short films Ghibli has created for their own Studio Ghibli Museum there is a fighting chance this won't be popping up online any time soon but, still, it's a fantastic collision of talent.

Live Action Trailer For Kenji Kamiyama's 009 RE:CYBORG

Fri, 11 May 2012 13:20:18 -0500

In an unusual marketing quirk, Japan's Production IG have released a live action trailer for Ghost In The Shell: Stand Alone Complex director Kenji Kamiyama's upcoming adaptation of Shotara Ishinomori's 009 Re:Cyborg. And what's so odd about that? Well, it's a (mostly) live action trailer for an animated feature.

009 Re:Cyborg follows a group of nine cyborgs, each of them created by a shadowy organization for use as weapons against humanity. The group turns on their creators to protect the population instead, using the powers given them to fight their creators. I had a chance to see a lengthy 3D promo from the film earlier this year and it looks absolutely stellar. Check the new trailer below.

TTTT: Greetings from the Road/What to Expect...

Fri, 11 May 2012 12:33:02 -0500

(Welcome to my premiere Twitch column, where personal reflection and observation collide with film and fun. I hope you enjoy it...)

Seems like we spent a lot of time in the car. As a kid, we rarely flew anywhere. When we traveled, we drove. WHEN we traveled - which truth be told wasn't that often, but was probably average for a white suburban American middle class family of four such as us. On special occasions, we would venture beyond our state line, my brother and I sharing the back of the vehicle for days in our carefully designated sections. ("Mom!! He put his arm onto my side of the line!!!") We'd get baked by the sun and wish for any reason to stop the car and stretch our legs. I'd hope we'd stumble upon a comic book store. Once we did, and my parents spent the rest of the trip lamenting that I was missing out on the beautiful Colorado scenery in favor of The Silver Surfer. They were right, of course, but for a kid self-weaned on pop culture, how could meandering through mountains compare with action-packed tales of soaring through cosmic spaceways?

Growing up, the car was how I got to see the world. If my dad had ten days of vacation time, he thought nothing of devoting half of it to driving to the destination. To this day, he understands better than I do that it's not just the destination, but also the journey. But at the same time, there was no life-lesson philosophical bent to any of this - the man just liked to drive. He still does. No airplanes. Driving. And if there's a scenic route to be taken, all the better.

Watch THE RAID In Three Minutes, With Claymation Cats

Fri, 11 May 2012 10:28:19 -0500

Gareth Huw Evans' The Raid is freshly released in the UK and to celebrate cult animation hero Lee Hardcastle - he of T Is For Toilet fame - has created his very own three minute version. In claymation. With cats. Check it out below.

NYC Happenings: Aliens, Gadgets and Guns: Designing the World of MIB3 at MoMI

Thu, 10 May 2012 20:00:00 -0500

Museum of the Moving Image is hosting the exhibition of creatures and props for upcoming Men in Black 3 by the legendary special effects and makeup artist Rick Baker (American Werewolf in London, Thriller, Videodrome, Ed Wood, Hellboy). The exhibition runs May 9 through September 23.

Rick Baker, the master special effects makeup artist who has won seven Academy Awards, created the alien creatures for the Men in Black movies. Baker's extraterrestrials are among the most memorable visual elements in the comical action adventure series about a pair of agents who monitor a population of unruly space aliens posing as ordinary citizens. Futuristic firearms and ingenious gadgets are also integral to the vividly imaginative world of the Men in Black. Aliens, Gadgets, and Guns: Designing the World of Men in Black 3 presents over 25 objects from the forthcoming third installment of the series, and includes Baker's alien creatures, memory-erasing neuralyzers, alien weapons, a monocycle, and the iconic black shades worn by Agents J and K. Exclusive behind-the-scenes footage of Baker creating alien creature makeup is also featured in the exhibit.

There will be a special preview screening of MiB3 in Dolby Digital 3-D on Thursday May 24, at 8 p.m., followed by conversation with Rick Baker who will discuss his work on the Men in Black movies. The first Men in Black film will be shown on Wednesday, May 23, at 3:30 p.m. The film opens nationwide in theaters on May 25, 2012.

For exhibit information please visit:
Aliens, Gadgets and Guns: Designing the World of Men in Black 3

Tickets for Preview Screening with Rick Baker in person, please visit:
Preview Screening + Live Event

First Clip From Andrew Dominik's KILLING THEM SOFTLY

Thu, 10 May 2012 16:25:42 -0500

The first clip from Andrew Dominik's Killing Them Softly - the film formerly known as Cogan's Trade - has arrived online prior to the Cannes premiere. And while the big guns - the biggest being Brad Pitt - is absent from this first peek we do get Sam Shepherd and his very large sidekick paying a violent visit to the trailer-home of Ray Liotta.

Dominik has never been one to take the straightest line between two points and this clip seems to indicate that this trait is, once again, in full effect. And that's exactly as it should be. Take a look below.

Ultra Slick Full Trailer For Im Sang-soo's Cannes Selected Thriller THE TASTE OF MONEY

Thu, 10 May 2012 16:04:40 -0500

Director Im Sang-soo is shaping up to be one of the world's premiere directors when it comes to slick, stylish thrillers laced with sex and corruption. He did it with his remake of The Housemaid and he's back in Cannes doing it again with The Taste Of Money.

Young-jak , who is a private secretary of madam PAIK, the center power of Korean conglomerate, witnesses immoral private issues of her wealthy family. Meanwhile, he finds out that madam PAIK's husband, Mr. YOON is having affair with their Filipino housemaid, Eva. He reports what he witnessed to madam PAIK, and now despaired madam PAIK is greedily seducing Young-jak in order to keep him on her side . Young-jak is deeper into madam PAIK's family issues when he finds out the brutally killed Eva. Lost between his morality and shortcut to successful life, he has to make the biggest decision he's ever made, to choose whom he will hang on to, in order to survive in this harsh world, where he wasn't born with a silver spoon in his mouth.

We ran the first teaser for this a while back and were much impressed at the time but the full trailer has now followed and is even better. Check it below.

Dolph Lundgren Versus A Dragon

Thu, 10 May 2012 15:54:58 -0500

Well, okay, Dolph doesn't actually fight the dragon but the headline sounds much better as is than "Dolph Lundgren turns and runs from a dragon like a little girl" would.

What are you getting here? It's two clips from Uwe Boll's In The Name Of The King 2 and, well, that should tell you all you really need to know.

A tale of knights and kings, great courage and noble causes, magic and adventure.
The sequel to IN THE NAME OF THE KING.

A cloaked female wizard runs through a forest, being chased by assassins who are dressed in medieval clothing and who wear dark war face paint. She manages to expertly kill them all with her fighting knives and explosive alchemy. We follow her as she desperately makes her way through the woods, which are part of a large, modern-day park. A city sits in the background. This is Vancouver of today. The wizard, Elianna the Powerful, has come to our world to save the life of one man.

In this, the second world of In The Name of The King: Two Worlds. Our hero, Granger, is a modern, ex-military operative who finds himself thrust into a war that has crossed the fabric of time. Pulled back into Elianna's medieval era by her ancient magic, Granger discovers the first world's denizens revere him as the prophetic saviour of their world - the one who will lead them into salvation and save them from a deadly civil war that threatens their existence...