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China Beat: Box Office Blooper over Johnson's LOOPER

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China Beat: Box Office Blooper over Johnson's LOOPER

China Beat: Box Office Blooper over Johnson's LOOPER

Posted: 06 Oct 2012 12:00 AM PDT

The Chinese Box Office was the subject of much discussion and scrutiny by Hollywood industry observers this past week, only for all their speculations and prognostications to prove premature. The incident in question revolved around the release of Rian Johnson's time-travel thriller, Looper, which hit theatres in China day-and-date with the US, the UK, and a number of other markets on Friday 28 September. This was helped in part by the film being co-funded by mainland media giant DMG Entertainment (the same company helping to bankroll Marvel's Iron Man 3). As early as Saturday evening, Nikki Finke over at Deadline was reporting that her sources indicated Looper was enjoying a huge opening weekend in China, with box office estimates of somewhere between US$23-25 million. Not...

BIFF 2012 Review: MAI RATIMA Marks an Impressive Debut from Yoo Ji-tae

Posted: 05 Oct 2012 11:23 PM PDT

Directorial debuts arrive with a weight of expectation, but especially when they come from a major thespian making his first foray behind the camera. Yoo Ji-tae is one of Korea's most well-known actors, he is a celebrity whose marriage last December was one of 2011's top entertainment stories. To western audiences he will forever be known as the ageless and dapper antagonist from Oldboy (2003) but he has also impressed in dozens of other features throughout his 15-year career. A handsome and very tall performer, Yoo is perhaps a surprising directorial candidate, especially as few Korean performers transition into that role (the boundaries between Korean film industry professions are starker than Hollywood's more fluid models). However, Yoo has steadily been earning credibility for himself with...

Watch A New SKYFALL Teaser Featuring Adele's Theme Song

Posted: 05 Oct 2012 06:35 PM PDT

It's no less good for being predictable.The theme song for upcoming James Bond picture Skyfall - sung by Adele - appeared online late last night / early this morning, depending on your relative time zone, and now later in the same day we have a new teaser for the film featuring that same music.It's a quieter, almost mournful affair compared to previous efforts but the juxtaposition of the action imagery over the music is pretty effective stuff. Check it out below.Daniel Craig, Helen McCrory, Ralph Fiennes, Javier Bardem, Judi Dench, Ben Whishaw, Albert Finney and Berenice Marlohe star. Skyfall releases November 9th....

5 Questions with LOOPER's Summer Qing

Posted: 05 Oct 2012 04:31 PM PDT

Rian Johnson's time travelling actioner Looper has been tearing up critics' charts and box offices from Boston to Beijing since its release last week. While Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Bruce Willis are winning plenty of much-due praise, the whole cast deserves a nod for an outstanding job. Twitch had a chance to chat with one of the film's lesser known stars, at least on this side of the Pacific, Chinese actress Summer Qing. Best known in China for her roles in Chen Kaige's Life on a String, Lin Zifeng's Kuang (Crazy), and the popular TV show "Close to Forbidden City," Qing has been relatively unknown in Hollywood. Turns out she'd like to change that.  Twitch: What did you first think when you read the script for LOOPER?...

Rian Johnson Releases LOOPER Commentary Track

Posted: 05 Oct 2012 03:30 PM PDT

What's that? A commentary track for a movie just freshly released in theaters? You bet. It's a concept Looper director Rian Johnson first messed with for The Brothers Bloom, the idea being that after seeing the film once you could put the commentary on to an iPod and go back to the theater and watch the film a second time on the big screen while listening to the commentary on headphones. It's a clever idea and Johnson had enough people asking him whether he intended to do it again that, well, he did it again.Says the director:I recorded a commentary track to be downloaded, put on an ipod and listened to in the theater as you're watching Looper.  This is an odd thing I tried...

David Chase's NOT FADE AWAY Trailer Rocks the '60s

Posted: 05 Oct 2012 03:00 PM PDT

Taking its cue from the Rolling Stones, David Chase's Not Fade Away follows a trio of friends from New Jersey who embark on a musical career after watching Mick Jagger and company on television. The milieu is familiar for Chase, who grew up in New Jersey and eventually created The Sopranos. Some of that show's best episodes were ones that revisited the 1960s, and the new trailer for Not Fade Away captures the spirit of rebellion simmering in young men growing up under oppressive fathers during that era. James Gandolfini is the most familiar face, playing the dour-faced father of one of the young men. The film's official world premiere will be on Saturday, October 6, as the centerpiece of the New York Film Festival....

FRANKENWEENIE: Tim Burton, Martin Landau, and Winona Ryder Talk Old Friends and Even Older Monsters

Posted: 05 Oct 2012 02:01 PM PDT

Some 27 years ago, a wild-haired, no-named animator/filmmaker made a short at Disney about a boy that brings his dead dog back to life a la Frankenstein's monster. The 30-minute film was deemed too dark for Disney's young audience and the mad scientist was fired from the Mouse House. Kind of ironic when you consider that no name went on to be Tim Burton, who has now turned his short -- Frankenweenie -- into a full length, black & white, stop motion 3D animated feature at ... yep, you guessed it ... Walt Disney Pictures! The film is very much a callback to that period in Burton's career, re-teaming him with Winona Ryder (Edward Scissorhands, Beetlejuice), Martin Landau (Ed Wood, Sleepy Hollow), and Catherine O'Hara...

Enter The Bizarre World Of HELLFJORD With First Stills

Posted: 05 Oct 2012 01:00 PM PDT

Though we must continue to await some sort of video evidence of upcoming Norwegian miniseries Hellfjord - which should surely be online soon as the series launches in Norway October 9 and broadcaster NRK is apparently already airing promos across the network - there is no need to keep you waiting entirely for a taste of the latest from the team behind Dead Snow. No, while video is in short supply, stills we have.Here's the back story for those who may have missed previous articles. Hellfjord is the joint creation of Tommy Wirkola and Stig Frode Henriksen - the principal creative minds behind Nazi zombie comedy Dead Snow, with Wirkola also at the helm of the upcoming Hansel And Gretel: Witch Hunters -  and star...

SPLICE Director Vincenzo Natali Educates The Zombie Horde In THE UNDEADING

Posted: 05 Oct 2012 12:15 PM PDT

What's that, Vincenzo Natali? The zombie apocalypse is what you like to consider a 'teachable moment'? Right, then.The director of Splice and Cube has had a very full dance card in recent days, what with wrapping up his new feature film Haunter while putting the final pieces together for the upcoming Neuromancer. But that hasn't stopped him from sneaking a little something else out there ...Titled The Undeading, Natali's latest is a short set in the midst of the zombie apocalypse. It is also, by the way, a PSA sponsored by The Heart And Stroke Foundation. You can see where this is going, can't you? It's a pretty clever inversion of standard genre tropes for a good cause and also pretty damn entertaining. Watch it...

VIFF 2012 Review PEOPLE'S PARK Is A Single Take Marvel

Posted: 05 Oct 2012 12:00 PM PDT

As if making a contradictory study to the more politically motivated documentaries made in and about China, J.P. Sniadecki and Libbie Dina Cohn turn an observational eye on the more prosaic aspects of the country. The duo stakes out a spot in one of the many green spaces of China's paved dusty metropolises--in this case People's Park in Chengdu--and offers a distinctive slice of life in the land of 1.3 billion. In one long, floating 75-minute shot, People's Park captures all the vibrancy, cacophony, and tranquility that the park has to offer.  Despite the construction boom in China's cities, public parks--both large and small--dot the urban landscapes, offering a respite from the concrete jungles. This is the place where the common people escape to dance,...

Grimmfest 2012 Review: COMEDOWN - The Slasher Movie, Once More, With Feeling

Posted: 05 Oct 2012 11:00 AM PDT

Menhaj Huda's Comedown isn't so much the morning after the night before as the moment that night when you realise the booze has run out, the pills are all gone and you're desperately trying to eke out the last of your buzz to stave off the realisation you're going to pay for it a lot sooner than you thought. This gritty little UK slasher flick is relatively predictable, with some frustratingly transparent twists and an ending that's obviously rushed, but it's a lot more than watching stupid people die. Huda's direction, a simple yet effective script and some strong performances from the young cast turn what could have been a tired parade of torture porn and music video showboating into something surprisingly memorable. The...

PTA Comes To Australia With THE MASTER!

Posted: 05 Oct 2012 10:36 AM PDT

Get very excited Australia! NSW in particular will be graced with the auteur's presence as he introduces The Master as part of the Cockatoo Island Film Festival, before heading to Melbourne to spread the love there! More below...The Academy-Award-nominated director of There Will be Blood, Boogie Nights and Magnolia will conduct media interviews and walk the red carpet at the inaugural event on October 24 before travelling to Melbourne in support of the film.Described by the LA Times as "bristling with vivid moments and unbeatable acting", The Master took home awards for best director and actor at the recent Venice International Film Festival and is already garnering early Oscar buzz.With performances by Joaquin Phoenix and Phillip Seymour Hoffman, it's no surprise The Master is the most anticipated film...

Watch Joko Anwar's GRAVE TORTURE

Posted: 05 Oct 2012 10:00 AM PDT

A favorite in these parts from his very first feature - the comedy Joni's Promise - Indonesia's Joko Anwar has been building a global cult for his work with harder edged material ever since. Anwar's cerebral horror film Modus Anomali pemiered at SXSW earlier this year and now the director is part of the YOMYOMF network's Silent Terror series of short horror films.Rolling out one per week on Thursday in October, Silent Terror brings together four of Asia's top horror directors with original new short films that share one comment element: No dialogue. Anwar kicks things off with Grave Torture:Mourning the death of his serial killer father, a boy enters his dad's casket and soon finds himself buried alive.Watch the complete short below....

New Distributor, Artsploitation Films, Hits The Ground Running With GANDU Dec. 11!

Posted: 05 Oct 2012 09:30 AM PDT

There's a new kid on the indie distribution playground, and Philadelphia's Artsploitation Films is wasting no time in setting up a formidable stable of fantastic films. First up is the Earth-shaking debut narrative feature from Bengali enfant terrible, Q (Kaushik Mukherjee). Gandu is a film that we've been passionately supporting since the very first trailer appeared in advance of the South Asian International Film Festival in 2010, and Artsploitation's December 11th DVD release marks the first commercial release of the film with English subs anywhere in the world. The film was previously released via BIldstorung in Germany, but they were contractually forbidden from including English content presumably because this deal was in the works. I've only ever seen it via sketchy festival screener to prepare...

Review: The Perks of THE PERKS OF BEING A WALLFLOWER

Posted: 05 Oct 2012 09:01 AM PDT

Emma Watson, appearing and sounding distinctly Pittsburgh-ian "damaged goods," yet as radiant and irresistible as ever, stands arms outstretched, head back, hair billowing in the 50 mile-per-hour night wind. She is moving, even as she is clearly moved, in that certain piercing melodramatic way that one only experiences during teenage life. That's when everything is so life and death, every emotion so much more deeply felt, and there are still enough new discoveries waiting in the world to justify living one's life in a state of such ionic hyperbole. Roaring through a long and spacious highway tunnel (as luminous-yellow and concrete as could be), Watson soaks up "Heroes" by David Bowie -- a mystery song to her, but she knows a classic when she hears...

Bond Versus Train In New SKYFALL Clip

Posted: 05 Oct 2012 08:56 AM PDT

Train, meet Bond. James Bond. The British super spy has a backhoe and he's not afraid to use it in this new clip from Sam Mendes' upcoming Skyfall. Snippets from this clip have appeared in previous trailers for the film but there's a certain something about watching the whole thing play out in real time. Daniel Craig, Helen McCrory, Ralph Fiennes, Javier Bardem, Judi Dench, Ben Whishaw, Albert Finney and Berenice Marlohe star. Skyfall releases November 9th....

Lo-Def Chiller V/H/S Hits Theaters Today

Posted: 05 Oct 2012 08:30 AM PDT

It always feels like it's been a long wait when awards season rolls around and the hits from Sundance finally find their way into theaters. One of the most talked about films in Park City this year drops into cinemas today, though this October release is more counter-programming than Oscar-bait. Having already found a cult following during its month on VOD, that lo-def chiller is a little movie called V/H/S. With segments from Adam Wingard, Ti West, Glenn McQuaid, Joe Swanberg, Radio Silence, and David Bruckner, V/H/S is a real who's who of American indie horror. Here's what we had to say in our Sundance review: The lo-def format plays up the nostalgia elements to great effect. Some scares hit harder than others and like...

NYFF 2012 Review: THE PAPERBOY Delivers A Lurid, Loopy Southern Gothic Thriller

Posted: 05 Oct 2012 08:00 AM PDT

This year's New York Film Festival is, as always, full of films by new and established auteurs, well-crafted, earnest and artistic endeavors, the kind that audiences and critics pack screenings for, leavened with the occasional nod toward more populist fare. But into their 50th edition, like a raving drunkard invading a genteel cocktail party, stumbles Lee Daniels' astonishing, unabashedly sleazy The Paperboy. Daniels' follow-up to the Oscar-winning Precious is a gleefully lurid, disreputable steaming slice of Southern Gothic that turns racial strife, murder, homosexuality, and many other hot-button topics into an eye-melting psychosexual extravaganza. Whether you love or hate it, there's no denying that you'll see no film this year, or any other year for that matter, anything like it. The Paperboy is far too...

Hey, Chicago! A Free SINISTER Screening Happens Early Next Week

Posted: 05 Oct 2012 07:38 AM PDT

We've got 50 admit-two passes available for download. It's on Tuesday October 9 at a location disclosed on the ticket if you get one. If you are a horror fan, you want to do this. I just interviewed director Scott Derrickson and co-writer C. Robert Cargill and was super impressed with how articulate they were. I'm bound by embargo on a review but I can tell you that the film is 100% on Rotten Tomatoes. In a solid year for horror films I think that says something.  I also think I'm going to be there to see the film again and hope to see plenty of my fellow Twitchers out there.  Look for the interview on Twitch soon. It's a conversation full of insight on...

Opening: TAKEN 2 Stands Ready to Take Your Money

Posted: 05 Oct 2012 07:30 AM PDT

Cool, efficient, and completely generic, Taken 2 opens in theaters around the world today, an action vehicle that's ready to take as many paying customers as possible on a ride no one will remember in the morning. "The plot follows the exact same structure as the first film," observed our own Brian Clark in his review. "It starts with Liam Neeson's character Bryan trying hard but blowing it as a dad, it moves to an exotic location where some bad guys go after Bryan and his family, and concludes with (spoiler) Bryan killing all of them, followed by a schmatlzy denoument. In this case, the location is Istanbul and the bad guy is the father of the human trafficker that Bryan electrocuted back in Paris."...

Sixty Years On, DIAL M FOR MURDER in 3D Continues to Stand Out

Posted: 05 Oct 2012 07:00 AM PDT

Dial M For Murder is one of the "footnote" films in Alfred Hitchcock's canon, often remembered far more vividly for its technical elements than as a standalone piece. Like Lifeboat it essentially takes place in one location, and like Rope (besides also being one location) Dial M is noted for its particular cinematic quirk. For Rope, it was the fact that the film is shot in what appears on first blush to be a single continuous take, and with Dial M, it's that the images were captured for 3D presentation. There are a number of other firsts (and lasts!) associated with this film, including the appearance of a certain iconic actress. While her role in what's arguably Hitch's masterpiece, Rear Window, is even more celebrated,...
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