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Review: George Sluizer's Unfinished River Phoenix Film, DARK BLOOD

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Review: George Sluizer's Unfinished River Phoenix Film, DARK BLOOD

Review: George Sluizer's Unfinished River Phoenix Film, DARK BLOOD

Posted: 03 Oct 2012 04:00 AM PDT

Last night, Twitch was present at the first public screening of Dutch director George Sluizer's unfinished film starring River Phoenix, Dark Blood. Previously, on Thursday, there was a screening for the crew and press, which was followed by a long standing ovation. And indeed, after this screening the same thing happened. It happened again when George Sluizer, who was present throughout both screenings, finished the Q&A afterward. So is Dark Blood a masterpiece that merits such a strong response? Well... not exactly. Most of it looks beautiful, and parts of it are very good, but it is very apparent that the film is unfinished, a work that was in progress. The applause is likely more a testament to the film's incredible history. I will elaborate....

Fantastic Fest 2012 Review: TWO RABBITS Looks Good But Makes Little Sense

Posted: 02 Oct 2012 08:15 PM PDT

The first thing you'll notice in Afonso Poyart's light-hearted Brazilian crime actioner is the impressive bright yellow subtitles. I couldn't help but think for the first ten minutes about how remarkably legible those subtitles were. Why don't all movies have such clear subtitles? The irony is, I was so transfixed by how cool the subtitles looked, I wasn't really paying attention to what those subtitles were saying. This little issue is emblematic of all of Two Rabbits (aka Dois Coelhos); a very slick movie with all kinds of cool things to look at. The film is filled with graphical overlays and polished visual effects. It even turns into a video game for a bit (the second at Fantastic Fest to borrow heavily from Grand Theft...

Blu-ray Review: KLOWN Will Have You Crying With Laughter

Posted: 02 Oct 2012 07:25 PM PDT

I first encountered Klown at Fantastic Fest 2011, which is where I pulled this review from, now having rewatched it, it remains insanely funny. As such, I'm republishing my old review with added comments at the bottom of the article for those interested in the A/V and bonus material on the new home video edition out now.The penis is nothing if not a vastly underutilized vessel for comedy. The makers of Klown: The Movie understand this, and have set about to rectify this problem.  The film jauntily breaks down the barriers of good taste and propriety all in the name of a laugh.  Is it successful?  Absolutely!  Klown is one of the funniest films I've seen in a long time.  The key is that the...

Trailer For Nagarjuna's DAMARUKAM Looks Like Amazingly Bizarre & Crazy Fun!

Posted: 02 Oct 2012 06:28 PM PDT

Even though I'm still stinging a bit from the disappointment of 2010's promised Telugu socio-fantasy blockbuster, Shakti, my faith in South Indian fantasy remains steadfast. The latest film to catch my eye is the upcoming Damarukam, starring Nagarjuna and Anushka Shetty. The trailer looks completely bonkers and not only does it include angry deities, but also the amazingly elaborate south Indian weaponry that Tollywood does so well.The socio-fantasy is a film genre that is very specific to south Indian film, and Tollywood in particular. Most of these films involve earthbound humans interacting, and often attempting to outsmart or outfight, Hindu deities or other spiritual beings. The major south Indian film industries all have some form of devotional cinema, but Tollywood does them up big, often...

Fantastic Fest 2012 Dispatch: House of Psychotic Women

Posted: 02 Oct 2012 05:00 PM PDT

"Crazy people never look their age," says a character in Joseph Losey's Secret Ceremony, which screened at Fantastic Fest as part of the "House of Psychotic Women" retrospective sidebar. The same could be said for the older films playing in the festival, that is, 'Crazy films never look their age.' From Wake in Fright to Miami Connection to The Shining (played forwards and backwards, simultaneously), none of the "crazy" older films looked out of place among the new offerings. Hosted by Kier-La Janisse, author of a beautiful new book of the same name, published by Fab Press, the "House of Psychotic Women" series shone a spotlight on three films featuring strong female protagonists who, in Janisse's words, share a propensity for "a lot of shouting."...

Fantastic Fest 2012 Review: DANGER 5 is YACHT ROCK-level Hilarious, but with Nazis!

Posted: 02 Oct 2012 04:31 PM PDT

All right, let's get straight to the biscuits: World War Two. The Nazis are making their mark on Europe. Adolf Hitler wants to take the world. And keep it. All for himself. Hitler's days are numbered because Danger 5 are on the case, scouring the furthest corners of the globe to unravel Hitler's most sinister plans... Danger 5 is an Australian television series that premiered on the SBS One network in February, 2012. It's a weirdly hilarious, uchronic pastiche that seamlessly blends the stylized pulp of 1960s action serials (Star Trek, The Thunderbirds) with the kind of alternate-reality, absurd yet historically-inflected humor put forward to great effect in the web series Yacht Rock (except instead of the tyrannical John Oates, Danger 5 employs Adolf Hitler)....

Blu-ray Review: BATMAN: THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS PT. 1 Avoids Some of the Traps of Adaptation

Posted: 02 Oct 2012 04:00 PM PDT

Among the comic-reading faithful who come to director Jay Oliva's animated adaptation of Frank Miller's character-defining miniseries The Dark Knight Returns, there will, I suspect, be two camps. There will be those who dig it as a more or less faithful retelling of Batman getting back in the saddle in his later years, and those who can't get past the fact that the narration is out. The latter, I suspect, are fans who are still cheesed off that we didn't get the squid in Watchmen, but what can you do? Working from the 1986 four issue comic from DC, TDKR is ultimately the last Batman story, the one that at the time synthesized the bright, blue and grey vision of the character with the increasingly...

Boston, Minneapolis, St. Louis - Get Your Free Tix To See SEVEN PSYCHOPATHS + New Behind the Scenes Clip

Posted: 02 Oct 2012 03:30 PM PDT

Do you live in Boston, Minneapolis, or St. Louis? If so, we have a treat for you. Twitch has five pairs of tickets to preview screenings of Martin McDonagh's (In Bruges) new comedy Seven Psychopaths that we are giving away for free. All you have to do is email 7PsychopathsRSVP@gmail.com with the corresponding subject line. If you are one of the first five in each city, the tix are yours! October 10, 2012 - Boston - 7pm AMC Boston Common - Subject: "Twitchfilm-Boston" October 10, 2012 - Minneapolis - 7:30pm AMC Southdale - Subject: "Twitchfilm-Minneapolis" October 10, 2012 - St. Louis - 7pm AMC Esquire - Subject: "Twitchfilm-St. Louis" Written and Directed by Oscar®-winner Martin McDonagh , the comedy Seven Psychopaths follows a struggling screenwriter...

Thoroughly Charming Trailer For ERNEST AND CELESTINE

Posted: 02 Oct 2012 03:00 PM PDT

Much of the attention paid to upcoming animated feature Ernest And Celestine thus far has gone to the fact that two thirds of the directing team behind this film were also responsible for the cult hit A Town Called Panic (Panique Au Village). And, yes, it's a bit of a surprising transition to go from that bit of madness to a gentle adaptation of a beloved children's book.Well, after a run on the festival circuit the full trailer for Ernest And Celestine has arrived, giving us the ability to talk about something else. Namely that the story of an unlikely friendship between a mouse and a bear looks to be an absolute charmer. The artwork is simply gorgeous and - as much as I may...

Russia's NIGHTINGALE THE ROBBER Makes Guy Ritchie Appear Sedate

Posted: 02 Oct 2012 02:00 PM PDT

Rapid cuts? Stylized villains? Bright colors and crazy set pieces? Yep, it certainly appears as though upcoming Russian action comedy Nightingale The Robber is taking a page from the Guy Ritchie playbook but director Yegor Baranov makes Ritchie appear positively sedate by comparison.Though wildly over the top, Baranov appears to have the technical skills needed to pull this off and his cast all seem generally likeable. And the breasts don't hurt which, yes, is your work safe warning.Check the trailer below....

Mass Destruction In New 009 RE: CYBORG Trailer

Posted: 02 Oct 2012 01:00 PM PDT

If there is a director in the world today who consistently turns out smart, yet populist, action scifi of higher quality than Kamiyama Kenji then I do not know who that is. Kamiyama first rose to prominence as the director of the Ghost In The Shell: Stand Alone Complex television series and it did not take long at all for the talented director to shake off the spectre of original Ghost In The Shell director Oshii Mamoru and establish his own voice.Up next for Kamiyama is 009 Re: Cyborg, a big screen adaptation of a popular manga and anime about a group of cyborgs created to dominate humanity who instead turn on their creator and fight for good. Earlier teasers have promised plenty of what...

Celebrity Is A Crime In Korean Thriller CONFESSION OF MURDER

Posted: 02 Oct 2012 12:00 PM PDT

Action Boys director Jung Byung-gil moves into the world of narrative features with Confession Of Murder, a slick new Korean thriller with a premise that is disturbingly plausible.You start with murder. Lots of murders, in fact, the police unable to stop a serial killer who ultimately leaves the bodies of ten women behind him. The crimes seemingly stop on their own, the killer never discovered. But then, years later, after the statute of limitations has passed a book appears on the market claiming responsibility for the killings and backing those claims up with details never released to the public. Family members of the slain are traumatized. The police are infuriated. But the author is legally out of reach and catapulted to instant fame.Is there more...

Blu-ray Review: On Not Loving Joss Whedon's Very Likeable THE AVENGERS

Posted: 02 Oct 2012 11:00 AM PDT

With The Avengers, Marvel succeeded in assembling top-flight talent in front of and behind the camera to give viewers one big slobberknocker of a fight involving gods (or at least advanced aliens in the cosmology that Jack Kirby created), intergalactic invaders, super-soldiers, giant green men, spies, regular soldiers, and the most restrained Sam Jackson performance we've seen in years. Everyone involved hits their marks, lands their jokes, and generally makes the whole enterprise move along at a brisk, funny clip thanks to a collection of likeable performances and a script that manages to juggle what should be an unwieldy cast. Still, for reasons mostly owing to a longtime comic fan's sense of what "is" or "isn't" the right way to portray a group of fictional...

GF*BF and MYSTERY Top Taiwan's Golden Horse Awards Nominations

Posted: 02 Oct 2012 10:30 AM PDT

Awards season has begun in Asia, with the nominees for the 49th Golden Horse Awards announced in Taipei this evening. Leading the pack is Yang Ya Che's period coming-of-age tale, Gf * Bf, and Lou Ye's Mystery, which both garnered seven nominations, and Doze Niu's Love with five. There was also a strong showing of Hong Kong talent, with Johnnie To's Life Without Principle being named in six categories and Pang Ho Cheung's Vulgaria bagging three noms. Also, kudos to Chapman To, who is nominated in both the Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor categories, for Vulgaria and Heiward Mak's Diva respectively. The 49th Golden Horse Awards will be presented on Saturday, 24 November 2012.Here's the full list of nominees:Best Feature Film Beijing Blues Mystery...

Fantastic Fest 2012 Review: LA MEMORIA DEL MUERTO Is A Delirious Genre Mashup

Posted: 02 Oct 2012 10:00 AM PDT

Influenced by everything from Dario Argento's Suspiria (1977) to Sam Raimi's Evil Dead II (1987) this bit of occult horror from director Valentín Javier Diment pops like a Tex Avery cartoon off the screen, offering solid laughs and genuinely shocking gross out gore. But it's also helped out by a good screenplay offering weirder than weird plot twists taking viewers who wish to go deeper beyond those surface reactions into some genuine poignancy. What emerges is a disturbing, somewhat disjointed but ultra fun genre flick with a bit of an edge. While mourning the unexpected death of her beloved husband Jorge (Gabriel Goity), Alicia (Lola Berthet) calls his closest friends and companions together. Upon everyone's arrival in the deserted country home Alicia reads a moving...

NYC Happenings: The Apocalypse Comes To BAM (In 35mm!)

Posted: 02 Oct 2012 09:37 AM PDT

During these past days in the hallowed palaces of culture on the Upper West Side the 50th New York Film Festival has barreled forward with many a sold-out screening, transmedia panel and glitzy gala gathering. Meanwhile in Brooklyn... workers and shoppers stream in and out of the Atlantic Terminal, oblivious to their neighbors at the Brooklyn Academy of Music who have seen the signs, heard the warnings and are taking precautions for the coming Apocalypse... ...And what better way to prepare then throw an Apocalypse themed film series? Running from October 4th - 7th, Apocalypse Soon hopes to save your life with 5 how-to-survive scenarios played out on film. "Post Apocalypse Road Tripping 101" is the first lesson, and your instructors are Jim McBride's own...

VIFF 2012 Review: A FISH Is A Complex Riddle

Posted: 02 Oct 2012 09:00 AM PDT

Park Hong-min's debut feature, modest as it might seem on the edges, boasts a striking visual presence right from the first frame. We see a stationary shot of a road with cars buzzing by as if we are standing on one side looking at the other; but no, the frame is from a car, revealed by the police officers hand that juts into the picture from one side to knock on the window; and it's not overcast, but a sunny day exposed once the window is rolled down. We discover that a man was speeding because he had a 'burning thirst' and that he has been pulled over when the film cuts dramatically to a title card and an image of an island. Take note:...

New Poster Art, Cast Details And Release Date For Tony Jaa's TOM YUM GOONG 2

Posted: 02 Oct 2012 08:23 AM PDT

Heads up fans of Tony Jaa: There are rumblings on several fronts from the upcoming Tom Yum Goong 2.Up first is the new artwork, which you see to the left. It may seem a minor note but it's worth pointing out that Jaa is the only one featured on the new poster, which is a change from the earlier art which also featured co-star Jija Yanin prominently. I take this as a sign that the footage is turning out well and Yanin - along with Born To Fight star Dan Chupong, who is also in here - is no longer considered necessary to market and sell the film. This is a good ting for fans hoping for a Jaa rebound.Second? Due to production delays the...

Fantastic Fest 2012 Review: PUSHER Remakes With Respect

Posted: 02 Oct 2012 08:00 AM PDT

The easy way to approach an English-language remake of a (relatively) recent film is with ample doses of frustration and disdain. "How dare they remake a great film like [REC] / Let the Right One In / The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo just so they can do it with English dialogue!" is the sort of thing that movie buffs like to wonder, but the flip-side to that argument is a simple one: a remake is a very big compliment, most of the time, and those who try to produce a remake of a well-admired movie better have a few good reasons when all is said and done. Our instantly compelling anti-hero is a drug dealer called Frank, who seems to be a pretty amiable...

Amphibian Mafia: THE CARTEL OF THE SNITCHES Trailer Arrives

Posted: 02 Oct 2012 07:20 AM PDT

Colombia has picked Carlos Moreno's drug crime thriller El Cartel de los sapos (The Cartel of Snitches) as it's entry in the Foreign Film Academy Award category. The film is based on the life story of former drug trafficker Andres Lopez, a high ranking lieutenant in the Cali drug cartels who would later turn informant for the DEA. The life of Lopez was already adapted once into a mini-series for Colombia's Caracol TV before this latest feature version. Take a look at the trailer below....

Watch An Exclusive Clip From Ted Kotcheff's WAKE IN FRIGHT

Posted: 02 Oct 2012 07:00 AM PDT

Ted Kotcheff's neglected classic Wake In Fright begins its limited US theatrical release October 5 and Twitch is proud to present an exclusive clip from the picture that Nick Cave has described as "the best and most terrifying film about Australia in existence". This is, of course, rather high praise from a man like Cave, who is himself responsible for quite a number of fabulous and fabulously disturbing things hailing from Australia. What will you be getting yourself into? Check the clip below.Alongside Mad Max and Walkabout, Wake In Fright is widely acknowledged as one of the seminal films in the development of modern Australian cinema. Combining the backwoods horror of Deliverance and the gritty nihilism of Straw Dogs, the film tells the story of...

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