Directors Notes (Free subscription) | 10/25/2009
As a fan of many years and with a couple near misses in the past, today’s LFF interview is probably the highlight of the festival for me. It was my pleasure to spend some time (however brief) with director Harmony Korine, to discuss his latest offering Trash Humpers, along with the chances of us ever [...]
Film Experience Blog (Free subscription) | 10/20/2009
If you thought Dave 'd finally dropped dead from exhaustion, then, quite apart from that being rather insulting (I can last more than a week, thanks), you were wrong. I merely took a weekend breather, but I'm back headlong into the LONDON FILM FESTIVAL for its remaining two weeks. This week's hot tickets include Julianne Moore in Atom Egoyan's Chloe , Michael Haneke's The White Ribbon and one of my...
MSNBC.com (Free subscription) | 10/18/2009
Lars von Trier's new film “Antichrist” is but the latest in a long line of shock-tactic art films that date back to 1929. But in the age of “Saw IV,” Internet pornography, and unending real-life reports of torture and terrorism, aren't these bad-boy outrages looking a little tired?
24 FRAMES PER SECOND (Free subscription) | 10/17/2009
Most of the films in LFF have not yet been through BBFC, and so I won't be indicating an official certificate. However, both of these films will get an 18. Enter the Void Dir: Gaspar Noe Cast: Nathaniel Brown, Paz De La Huerta, Cyril Roy, Olly Alexander Gaspar Noe’s last feature film, IRREVERSIBLE , was a shock to the system; a caustic masterpiece that was, despite its brilliance, impossible...
GreenCine Daily (Free subscription) | 10/15/2009
by Steve Dollar Like swallows to Capistrano, the zombies return to the Catalonian seaside resort of Sitges every October—at least they have since 1967—and their number keeps growing. The 42nd edition of the Festival Internacional de Cinema Fant� stic was a breeding pool for all things undead or otherwise beyond mortal kin or consciousness. Yet, Hollywood entertainments like Zombieland...
24 FRAMES PER SECOND (Free subscription) | 10/15/2009
My London Film Festival starts tomorrow, so here's my final programme of screenings, along with dates that reviews will be posted. With 9 films this will be far and away the busiest year I've had at LFF. Hope you enjoy the coverage. 16/10 ENTER THE VOID (Gaspar Noe) DOGTOOTH (Yorgos Lanthimos) Reviews: 17/10 19/10 LIFE DURING WARTIME (Todd Solondz) Review: 21/10 20/10 MORPHIA (Alexei Balabanov) Review:...
Londonist (Free subscription) | 10/15/2009
A most fantastic start to the BFI London Film Festival yesterday, as stars and fans packed out Leicester Square in what promises to be the biggest, glitziest film festival yet. If some are lamenting the state of the British film industry it was not apparent last night, as Ben Kingsley, Jason Schwartzman, Bill Murray, Jarvis Cocker and George Clooney attended the opening gala, the world premiere of...
The Life and Times of a Problem Child (Free subscription) | 10/15/2009
The humidity levels aren't as severe these past few days but heavy precipitation gets me down. I particularly hate precipitation mixed with strong winds or continuous rain showers as the asphalt on the roads here become swept away and driving...
Variety.com (Free subscription) | 10/12/2009
International News: Jones' pic wins film, actor, screenplay awards -- Duncan Jones' sci-fi tale "Moon" swept the 42nd Sitges Film Festival of Catalonia, nabbing among top kudos best picture, actor (Sam Rockwell) and screenplay (Nathan Parker).
Twitch (Free subscription) | 10/12/2009
The awards ceremony for the 42nd edition of the Sitges Festival ran last night and the big winner was, without a doubt, Duncan Jones' UK scifi picture Moon . The film took home three major awards, including Best Script, Best Actor for Sam Rockwell and Best Film. Other winners included Zombieland taking home the Audience Award, and personal favorites Deliver Us From Evil and Amer taking the Noves Visions...
Twitch (Free subscription) | 10/09/2009
[With two very positive reviews of Gaspar Noe's Enter the Void already published here at Twitch you may consider my own take on the film to be a dissenting view. Find the others in the archive.] Unfocused, poorly thought out, and largely pointless, Gaspar Noe's Enter the Void is the cinematic equivalent to masturbation, a film with seemingly nothing to say beyond "Hi, I'm Gaspar and I've got...
Sunset Gun (Free subscription) | 09/28/2009
I haved missed Gaspar Noé. The French enfant terrible who helmed one of the greatest pictures of the 1990’s, I Stand Alone, and who, with Irreversible, placed Monica Bellucci in a situation that angered even those OK with Susan George’s episode in Straw Dogs, had been absent from the screen far too long. Yes, he made a short for the sexually explicit Destricted project, and...
FirstShowing.net (Free subscription) | 09/27/2009
Continuing our new Indie Trailer Sunday tradition, today's new trailer is for a Polish thriller called Zero . It's the latest film from Polish filmmaker Pawel Borowski (of the short I Love You previously). Zero is 24 hours in the lives of a few people in a city and is a complete loop. I don't fully understand the concept, but I have a feeling it might be like an extension of Gaspar Noé's Irreversible...
Popdose (Free subscription) | 09/25/2009
The 47th annual edition of the New York Film Festival kicks off tonight at Lincoln Center. Except for last year’s paternity leave I’ve attended every one since 1994. Back before I acquired grown-up responsibilities I’d see (and pay for) upwards of half of the annual selections, spending weeknights and entire weekends at Alice Tully Hall [...]
The Busybody (Free subscription) | 09/23/2009
I've been dreading reviewing The Last House on the Left . It's a remake of what many consider to be a great cult classic of the '70s, but which I have always despised for being repulsive while not in the least bit scary. With lousy production values, terrible acting, and a silly banjo score playing over cheap comic interludes, it's way overrated for its transgressiveness. I know Wes Craven admitted...
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