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Cannes 2014 Review: Action Thriller THE TARGET Misses the Mark

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Cannes 2014 Review: Action Thriller THE TARGET Misses the Mark

Cannes 2014 Review: Action Thriller THE TARGET Misses the Mark

Posted: 23 May 2014 12:00 AM PDT

Normally we read about which new Korean thriller has had its remake rights snatched up by a Hollywood studio (news which invariably leads to a fervent chorus of opposition among Korean film fans) but these days we're starting to see an increasing amount of major Korean releases based on overseas properties. If we discount Japan, recent Korean films based upon foreign films include the 2012 romcom All About My Wife (based on the 2008 Argentine film Un novio para mi mujer) and last summer's surveillance thriller Cold Eyes (based on the Johnny To-producer HK feature Eye in the Sky from 2007). Following in their footsteps is the action-thriller The Target, this time based on 2010's Point Blank from France. Closely following the French original, The...

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Review: KOCHADAIIYAAN Is An Undercooked Epic Whose Reach Exceeds Its Grasp

Posted: 22 May 2014 09:30 PM PDT

Rajnikanth is a transcendent figure. He's more than a mere movie star; he's an idol, an ideal, an icon. He is the Superstar. So, when the makers of Kochadaiiyaan took that man and appropriated his image and voice and funneled it into digital bits and pieces to be fed through a billion filters before hitting the eyeballs of millions of rabid fans worldwide, there must have been some trepidation. Would a digital Rajnikanth command the scene as well as the real thing? Can you recreate the swagger of a man so self-possessed that his enemies fall at his feet rather than face him? Well, it turns out that you kind of can, but not for the reasons they'd probably hoped.Kochadaiiyaan is a film that was...

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The Many Faces Of Fan Bingbing

Posted: 22 May 2014 09:00 PM PDT

The biggest new film in theaters this week in most of the world is X-Men: Days of Future Past, and you can read Peter Martin's review here. It is a crowded film though, providing us here at Twitch with an unusually large group of people to pick from for this week's quiz. After a short discussion we chose not to go for the most obvious actors, but rather zoom in on a surprising newcomer in this group: Fan Bingbing. The seriously beautiful Fan Bingbing has successfully played a wide variety of roles in China, and no doubt many of our readers love her already, but recently she has been planning to break into the Western market as well. In her earlier entry in the Marvel...

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Review: CHINESE PUZZLE, Love And Life, Still So Complicated

Posted: 22 May 2014 07:00 PM PDT

The path to true happiness is strewn with thorns, and hedged in by emotions and personalities that often spiral out of control. That appears to be the overriding theme of the three films that Cédric Klapisch has made revolving around Xavier Rousseau, a ladies' man who has evolved into a family man without quite realizing it. The latest, Chinese Puzzle, is the strongest of them all. We first met Xavier (Romain Duris), Martine (Audrey Tautou), Isabelle (Cécile De France), and Wendy (Kelly Reilly) way back in L'Auburge Espagnole (aka The Spanish Apartment, 2002). Xavier and Martine were a couple; he was an economics student who moved to Barcelona for a year, where he met the others, part of a mélange of Europeans from different countries...

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THE SALVATION: IFC Films Acquires North American Rights

Posted: 22 May 2014 06:30 PM PDT

THR is reporting that IFC Films have acquired the rights for Kristian Levring's Western The Salvation, starring Mads Mikkelsen and Eva Green. "Kristian Levring has assembled an incredible cast and created a classic Western that keeps you on the edge of your seat," Sundance Selects/IFC Films president Jonathan Sehring said. "We are ecstatic to have the opportunity to work again with Kristian and our friends at TrustNordisk on this stunning and stirring film."Added TrustNordisk CEO Rikke Ennis: "We are so happy to be working with IFC Films again and feel their enthusiasm and ambition for this great film. We can't wait to see the reactions from the American audiences."Our own Jason Gorber caught the film at Cannes and in his eloquent way said this about it in...

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New Poster For Michel Gondry's MOOD INDIGO

Posted: 22 May 2014 06:00 PM PDT

Our friends at Drafthouse Films are getting ready for the limited theatrical release of Michel Gondry's Mood Indigo on July 18. There is a new poster and trailer to share with you. They give you a glimpse into that wondrous creativity that Gondry has been known for. After taking a look at the poster, you can head on over to the Apple Trailers page for Mood Indigo and watch the trailer there. Set in a charmingly surreal Paris, Romain Duris plays wealthy bachelor Colin, whose hobbies include developing his pianocktail (a cocktail-making piano) and devouring otherworldly dishes prepared by his trusty chef Nicolas (Omar Sy, The Untouchables). When Colin learns that his best friend Chick (Gad Elmaleh, The Valet), a fellow acolyte of the philosopher Jean-Sol Partre, has a new...

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GODZILLA's Gareth Edwards Attached To STAR WARS Spin-off Movie

Posted: 22 May 2014 05:35 PM PDT

It certainly looks like Gareth Edwards' career is well on its way. THR is reporting that the director of Monsters and Godzilla is now attached to one of the three Star Wars spin-off movies. "Ever since I saw Star Wars I knew exactly what I wanted to do for the rest of my life - join the Rebel Alliance! I could not be more excited & honored to go on this mission with Lucasfilm," said Edwards in a statement released after THR broke the news.Though Edwards is attached to direct the second and third Godzilla (third?!?) movies, they are still very much in the planning stages. No script exists for the second one yet. So this allows Edwards to take on other projects, and what project is more coveted right...

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Hey Australia! Win Tickets To See OVERHEARD 3 In Cinemas!

Posted: 22 May 2014 05:00 PM PDT

Overheard 3 is the latest thriller from Alan Mak and Felix Chong, the directing duo that brought us the first two Overheard films and (together with Andrew Lau) the Infernal Affairs trilogy. Like the previous two films in the franchise, Overheard 3 again stars Lau Ching Wan, Louis Koo and Daniel Wu. It is due to be released in Australian cinemas on May 29, and thanks to its distributor Magnum Films, we have FIVE double passes to give away. For a chance to win, all you have to do is to follow these two steps:1) Like the Magnum Film Facebook page, and2) Email your name and postal address to me at: hugo[at]twitchfilm.netThe competition will close at 3pm on May 27. -- Good luck!You can find out more...

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SKIPTRACE: Harlin, Chan, And A Little Bingbing Come Together In Action Comedy

Posted: 22 May 2014 04:30 PM PDT

I was just thinking the other day, "Man. It has been some time since I saw Jackie Chan get paired up with a wise-cracking Gweilo". And then it got me to thinking, "Man. It has been a while since I saw Seann William Scott get paired up with an action star who could whip his ass six ways from Sunday for being such a wise-cracker". And lo and behold the universe must have been listening, because the following announcement came to the world (i.e. our email account) yesterday via press release:RENNY HARLIN TO DIRECT ACTION COMEDY "SKIPTRACE" STARRING JACKIE CHAN AND SEANN WILLIAM SCOTTTo which I said to myself, "Okay. That could be a lot of fun. But if there is anything that previous Jackie Chan/Gweilo...

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Cannes 2014 Review: SELF MADE, Funny, Savage, And Smart

Posted: 22 May 2014 04:00 PM PDT

Shira Geffen made a splash in 2007 with her debut Jellyfish, a film she co-directed with her husband, writer Etgar Keret. This time Geffen is going solo, and though she may not have many credits on her resume, her confidence behind the camera is already remarkably assured. Self Made is darkly funny, stylishly provocative work.That style is used here to tell the story of two women, one Israeli, one Palestinian, divided by class, privilege and a military checkpoint, and brought together by a single screw (the Hebrew title is just that, The Screw). The Israeli is Michal, a thirtyish performance artist of international fame. The Palestinian is Nadine, a woman ten years her junior working at an Ikea-like warehouse. Both are women on the move....

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Review: X-MEN: DAYS OF FUTURE PAST, Grim Yet Satisfactory

Posted: 22 May 2014 03:00 PM PDT

The makers of the latest installment of a superhero franchise based on comic book characters set themselves a tall order: a prequel that is also a sequel to more than one movie, as well as the middle installment of a projected trilogy. Grim yet satisfactory, X-Men: Days of Future Past occasionally groans under the weight of its own expectations. Like an upside-down pyramid, it's built upon the very narrow foundation of an exceedingly familiar trope, namely, 'Let's go back in time and kill Hitler.' As it happens, director Bryan Singer has already made that movie, albeit without the time-travel angle (2008's Valkyrie), and also established this particular superhero franchise in the first place, with X-Men and X-2. With those experiences under his belt, he steers...

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Chick Tracts Come To Life In Anti-RPG Flick DARK DUNGEONS

Posted: 22 May 2014 02:30 PM PDT

If you have spent enough time in the Christian church, then you have comes across Chick Tracts. They are small, booklet-sized comics written and illustrated by Jack Chick. They are about as fundamentalist, right wing and white pinko as the Church can get, the Westboro of comic book literature. And they are unintentionally hilarious, too. I had a roommate in college who collected them, and during timeouts studying real Theology, we would marvel at their brashness. And if you were coming of age in the 80s, you also came across scare media events; dragged to our churches to watch videos about the evils of heavy metal and Dungeons & Dragons. They were, after all, gateways to Hell. In that heyday, Jack Chick made one of his...

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Fantaspoa 2014: Frank Henenlotter And Gabe Bartalos Recall BRAIN DAMAGE

Posted: 22 May 2014 02:00 PM PDT

Fantaspoa programmed Frank Henenlotter's entire filmography in order to pay homage to this cult American director. Henenlotter himself was in Porto Alegre for a couple of days, presenting both Bad Biology and Brain Damage. I attended the screening of the latter, which happened just hours before Henenlotter took a plane back home. "Just to have people coming to see an old film is meaningful", said the director. "But to see that people still like my films is just unbelievable", added Henenlotter while introducing Brain Damage to an always-cheerful Brazilian audience. For someone like me who had never seen before Brain Damage, this introduction indicated we were in for a really fun time. "I see a lot of technical mistakes in the film but I think it really...

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Exclusive: Check Out The One Sheet For NOTHING BAD CAN HAPPEN

Posted: 22 May 2014 01:29 PM PDT

Drafthouse Films will drop their first trailer for the German horror/drama Nothing Bad Can Happen on iTunes tomorrow. We have been given an exclusive first look at their new one sheet for the film and it is pretty snappy. It was designed by Brandon Schaefer of Seek and Speak and it just screams punk! And the splash of blood gets the point across too. There is a larger version below!Inspired by atrocious true events, Nothing Bad Can Happen follows Tore, a young lost soul involved with an underground Christian punk movement who falls in with a dysfunctional family curious to test his seemingly unwavering faith. After a chance encounter helping Benno, a stranded driver and managing to help start his car again in what appears...

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Review: THE DANCE OF REALITY, Jodorowsky Finds Magic In Reality

Posted: 22 May 2014 01:00 PM PDT

When we first meet the young-boy version of Alejandro Jodorowsky in his new "imaginary autobiography" The Dance with Reality (aka La Danza de la Realidad), he is wearing a long blond wig and watching in terror as his dad brawls with two effeminate clowns under a colorful big top. So yes, anyone who worried that the Chilean master of surrealism might be dealing with "reality" in the objective sense of the word this time needn't have. Instead, Jodorowsky delivers a sprawling account of his formative years growing up in Chile that is weird, funny, brutal and ultimately, quite touching. It's The 400 Blows filtered through Voltaire and Fellini, with Jodorowsky's singularly bizarre sensibility keeping it anchored in a world removed any we've entered before (save...

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Review: EDGE OF TOMORROW Is High Concept Sci-Fi At Its Most Fun

Posted: 22 May 2014 11:42 AM PDT

Tom Cruise is on fine form in the high concept sci-fi thriller Edge of Tomorrow, playing a military spin doctor in a war torn near-future, who is caught in a time loop, re-living the same day of mass carnage over and over until the invading alien horde can be defeated.Cruise plays Major Bill Cage, a military PR man helping sell the notion that a five-year campaign against an invading alien force is finally turning in our favour. After an altercation with his superior, Cage is stripped of his rank and sent to the front line, and with no combat training, is almost immediately killed.But when Cage awakens back at the base the previous morning, and is forced to live out the invasion and his own...

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WWE And Lionsgate Will Make Six More Action Movies With Big, Sweaty Wrestlers

Posted: 22 May 2014 10:30 AM PDT

Lionsgate and WWE Studios have agreed to co-produce six new films together, according to Deadline. The deal will begin with Vendetta, an original story to be directed by the Soska sisters and set to star Paul White, aka WWE wrestler The Big Show. The companies are continuing a partnership that began back in 2006 with horror outing See No Evil. A sequel, See No Evil 2, has already been completed with Jen and Sylvia Soska, makers of cult indie horror Dead Hooker in a Trunk and American Mary, taking over from Gregory Dark in the director's chair. Due for release later this year, the sequel will see WWE's Kane returning to his role as murderous psychopath Jacob Goodnight as he hunts down a group of...

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Review: COLD IN JULY, Dank And Sweaty And Fabulous

Posted: 22 May 2014 10:00 AM PDT

Stake Land and We Are What We Are director Jim Mickle exits his customary horror territory and heads for something altogether darker with grimy crime thriller Cold In July. Adapted from the novel by Joe R Lansdale, Cold In July has been Mickle's end game for years now, a true passion project developed and honed while working on other projects with Mickle biding his time and waiting for the day he would finally have the chance to put it before cameras. That day has come and it was absolutely worth the wait. We begin with a domestic nightmare, meek businessman and father Richard Dane (Michael C Hall) - a picture framer by trade - awoken in the middle of the night by the sound of...

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Melbourne 2014 Announces World Premiere Of KILL ME THREE TIMES, Starring Simon Pegg

Posted: 22 May 2014 09:30 AM PDT

The Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF) has announced their Premier Film Fund films - a selection of new Australian features that make their world premiere at MIFF. Included in this diverse and fantastic line-up is the Simon Pegg vehicle Kill Me Three Times, which will makes its world premiere as the MIFF Centrepiece Gala.Following the mammoth success of Red Dog (MIFF 2011), director Kriv Stenders' new film pivots around a charismatic hit-man (Shaun of the Dead's Simon Pegg), who acts as the spark that ignites a chain of murder, blackmail and revenge in a small surfing town. Hired by a wealthy gentleman to 'take care' of his wife, the assassin gets down to business only to discover there's more than one person after his target.Kill...

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Cannes 2014 Review: Xavier Dolan's MOMMY Delights

Posted: 22 May 2014 09:00 AM PDT

With Mommy, Xavier Dolan, at the age of 25, solidifies himself in the pantheon of great directors. It may sound hyperbolic, but the film features an explosive freshness, a delicate balance between humour and tragedy that's simply intoxicating. Mommy is a beautifully realized piece that speaks to both mainstream audiences and the festival crowd. It included numerous visual quirks, including the decision to frame it using the vertical aspect used by those who don't know how to hold their camera phones when shooting video. This 9:16 framed within the widescreen frame could be an obnoxious gimmick, but thanks to some clever positioning by Dolan and his cinematographer André Turpin (shooter of the glorious Incendies by Denis Villeneuve), the narrow field literally opens a window into the fractious world...

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Review: FREQUENCIES, A Mighty Brain, But A Heart Three Sizes Too Small

Posted: 22 May 2014 08:00 AM PDT

There are two mantras at play in the offbeat philosophy lesson traveling in the guise of a film with the original gangly moniker of OXV: The Manual. The first one is that "knowledge determines destiny," and the second is that "all you need is heart, soul and a little imagination." Now retitled Frequencies, the film is chock-a-block full of knowledge, destiny and imagination, but suffers a bit from a lack of heart and soul. Whatever qualities bring you to the cinema will likely determine how you feel about this science fiction curio, but for me, personally, the failure to land the love story left me wanting a better film attached to this story that is constantly spewing out ideas like a fountain at the unfortunate...

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Review: WORDS AND PICTURES, A Rivalry In Search Of A Romance

Posted: 22 May 2014 07:00 AM PDT

In my youth, a cigarette company advertised their product with the tagline, "What do you want, good grammar or good taste?" It was a false analogy, of course -- the correct answer is, "Why can't I have both?" -- yet those long-ago words kept echoing through my head while I was watching Fred Schepisi's Words and Pictures, which features excellent, affecting performances by Clive Owen and Juliette Binoche in service of a premise that is as contrived and phony as that decades-old advertisement. Gerald Di Pego's original screenplay sets up the two actors as opposing forces of nature, teachers at a private high school who become rivals mainly because the story demands it. Jack Marcus (Owen), an alcoholic teacher of an English honors class, earned...

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