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NYAFF 2014 Review: HOPE, Devastatingly Sad Yet Beautifully Uplifting

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NYAFF 2014 Review: HOPE, Devastatingly Sad Yet Beautifully Uplifting

NYAFF 2014 Review: HOPE, Devastatingly Sad Yet Beautifully Uplifting

Posted: 08 Jul 2014 01:00 AM PDT

One of the drawbacks of being a working critic is that the volume of film viewing this necessitates, trying to keep up with new releases, festival and retrospective screenings and such, can tend to flatten out your emotional responses to films. At a certain point, you've seen endless permutations of the ways filmmakers try to get you to feel something while watching: shock, sadness, anger, laughter, eroticism, the whole gamut of human emotion. Sometimes they succeed, sometimes they don't. And even when it does work, you can sometimes be aware of the manipulative methods used to elicit certain emotional reactions, which can often leave one feeling conned, believing that these emotions weren't truly earned by the film.But every now and then - and this is...

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Anurag Kashyap's Epic GANGS OF WASSEYPUR Finally Gets North American Distribution By Cinelicious

Posted: 07 Jul 2014 07:05 PM PDT

Hell has apparently frozen over because Anurag Kashyap's epic crime story, Gangs of Wasseypur, finally has North American distribution. Gangs of Wasseypur, a five and a half hour cinematic experience that is gripping like few films I've ever seen, debuted in the Director's Fortnight section of the Cannes Film Festival back in May of 2012, where it received rave reviews. The film was immediately split in half and released in two parts in India and parts of the Middle East in June and August of that same year, while concurrently enjoying a successful festival run around the world.  Wasseypur has had a rocky path to distribution in the US. While the film played, both in its long and split forms at TIFF 2012, as well as...

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Hey Australia! Don't Miss Madman's Massive July Giveaway!

Posted: 07 Jul 2014 04:00 PM PDT

It's time for another of Madman's massive giveaway competitions, and this month we have three prize packs for you to get your hands on! They are:1) Berserk Prize Pack: Berserk trilogy on DVD or Blu-ray (pictured above)2) Andy Lau Prize Pack: Firestorm and Infernal Affairs trilogy on DVD (pictured below)3) Sci-fi/Fantasy Prize Pack: Enemy, Angel-A, Real and 009-1: The End of the Beginning on DVD (pictured below)For each of the prize packs, all you have to do is follow these two steps:1) Tell me in 25 words or less, which of the movies in the prize pack you want to see the most and why, and 2) Email to me at: hugo[at]twitchfilm.net- Your answer- Your name- Your postal address- And your choice of DVD or Blu-ray...

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THE MAN IN THE ORANGE JACKET: Trailer For Latvia's First Horror Film Has Arrived!

Posted: 07 Jul 2014 02:30 PM PDT

The first horror film from Latvia, The Man In The Orange Jacket, is about to have its world premiere at Fantasia Festival in Montreal and its new trailer here to tease us. There are not so many genre films coming out of the three Baltic countries, mostly due their legacy of  becoming independent from the Soviet Union only 20 years ago. And re-establishing economy and culture (along that their cinematic language) has taken its time. The film that turned eyes to the Baltic region, in hope for more fresh genre films, was Vanishing Waves, the Lithuanian festival hit in 2012. Now Latvia has arrived to the scene with their first horror film.Aik Karapetian, born in 1983, received his MA degree in film directing from the...

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Hey, Canada! Win THE RAID 2 On Blu-Ray!

Posted: 07 Jul 2014 01:00 PM PDT

Hey, Canada! Indonesian martial arts flick The Raid 2 hits Blu-Ray from eOne Films tomorrow - July 8th - and they've offered up five free copies to you, the faithful Twitch readers.He thought it was over. After fighting his way out of a building filled with gangsters and madmen - a fight that left the bodies of police and gangsters alike piled in the halls - rookie Jakarta cop Rama thought it was done and he could resume a normal life. He couldn't have been more wrong.Following directly on from where the first left off this thing punches many faces and breaks many bones in the name of your entertainment. Want one? It's simple enough ... just email me here and name the first film...

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Hey, Toronto! Win Tickets To See GHOST IN THE SHELL Director Oshii Mamoru In Person!

Posted: 07 Jul 2014 12:30 PM PDT

Hey, Toronto! The Twitch-presented mini-retrospective of the film of anime icon Oshii Mamoru gets under way this weekend with the director himself in town for an on stage In Conversation With interview and to introduce his landmark film Ghost In The Shell - both events on Saturday, July 12 - and we've got tickets for both events to give away!We've got only one pair of tickets for each of these events to give away so act quickly! For your chance to win, just email me here and tell me the name of the author hired by Miramax to re-write the English script for Oshii's live action feature film Avalon before release in America. Winners will be drawn at random. Good luck and click here for...

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Mathis Landwehr Is A HARD BOILED COP

Posted: 07 Jul 2014 12:00 PM PDT

Regular readers of Twitch should be well familiar with Mathis Landwehr at this point, the German actor and screen fighter having popped up in these pages a number of times over the years. And he crosses our path once again now as the leading man in Ulrik Bruchholz's short film Hard Boiled Cop. Very much an intentional nod back to the straight-to-VHS titles of the 1980s this is over the top, lo fi fun, filled with dodgy special effects and very strong stunt work. Take a look at the trailer below!...

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Hey, NYC! Wanna Win Tix To Japan Cuts?

Posted: 07 Jul 2014 11:30 AM PDT

Good afternoon, residents and readers from the five boroughs and adjacent areas, we're teaming up with our good friends at Japan Society to giveaway passes to select screenings of films playing during their generally excellent Japan Cuts, the New York festival of contemporary Japanese film, happening July 10-20.Four winners will get a pair of tickets to one of these four screenings:1) The Passion -- Friday, July 18, 6:30pm2) Love's Whirlpool -- Friday, July 18, 8:30pm3) Greatful Dead -- Friday, July 18, 10:45pm4) Killers -- Saturday, July 19, 11pmThe good news is that you don't have to do much to have a chance to win. First up, you must be available and able to commit to at least two of the above showtimes. If that's not...

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Blu-ray Review: The POSSESSION Release By Mondo Vision Owns All Others

Posted: 07 Jul 2014 11:00 AM PDT

(It's a psychological art-house drama, but with rather more gore, explosions and tentacle-sex than is usual in this genre...) Ever since Criterion coined the term "Special Edition" for some of their laserdiscs, over two decades ago, the concept has caught the imagination of fans. Everyone will have one movie in their heart, one which they would want to get "special treatment". But it's rare to see it actually done, at least in such a way that all your wishes for that film are granted. Well, if you are a fan of Andrzej Zulawski's film Possession, I have some great news for you: Mondo Vision has released an edition of the film which is so special, extensive, and thorough, that I cannot imagine fans of...

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Meet The Hashtronaut 6000 In The First Images From Stoner Comedy AMSTARDAM

Posted: 07 Jul 2014 10:30 AM PDT

UK based commercial and music video directors The Lennox Brothers make the jump to features with their upcoming stoner comedy AmStarDam and while mileage on these sorts of things generally varies wildly based largely on whether audiences have consumed substances on a scale comparable to the characters on screen one thing's very clear on this one: The visuals are going to be fantastic.Rolling papers at the ready for the Lennox Brothers' debut feature, an Amsterdam adventure with a fairytale twist. Jack comes to Amsterdam to find his father and, through a momentary magical encounter, finds the secret weapon that could turn around his father's ailing marijuana coffee shop. Combining classic fairytales with the wild world of Amsterdam, this riotous fantasy comedy is a coming of...

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Kevin Smith Planning TUSK Spin Off YOGA HOSERS

Posted: 07 Jul 2014 10:00 AM PDT

It would appear that Kevin Smith and Steven Soderbergh are locked into a duel to the death to see which of them can direct the most stuff after announcing a retirement from directing. Not, of course, that we're complaining about this.With Smith's horror film Tusk awaiting release from A24 and his holiday horror anthology Anti-Clause already announced and pre-sold for distribution in major territories around the globe Smith has spilled word to Screen International that he'll also be shooting a spin off to Tusk titled Yoga Hosers before the end of the year. Says the writer-director: "There are two characters in a convenience store in Tusk that you see for five minutes, very much Ronsencrantz and Guildenstern. I've built a whole movie around them and...

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Love Is HARD TO GET In Slick South African Crime Romance

Posted: 07 Jul 2014 09:30 AM PDT

The opening slot at the 2014 Durban International Film Festival belongs to Hard To Get, the debut feature from Zee Ntuli. And while the title promises that the lead actress may be hard to get this one certainly doesn't look hard to love, with the trailer promising a blend of the sort of gritty action that made last year's actioner iNumber Number such a hit in these parts with an underworld romance.Here's how the festival describes it:This luminous debut from South African writer-director Zee Ntuli tells of TK (Pallance Dladla), a handsome young womanizer with trust issues who is thrust into Joburg's underworld when he falls for Skiets (Thishiwe Ziqubu), a beautiful, reckless young woman who earns her living as a petty criminal. But If...

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Intriguing South African Documentary SHIELD AND SPEAR Examines Integration Through Art

Posted: 07 Jul 2014 09:00 AM PDT

We somehow overlooked Petter Ringbom's Shield And Spear when it screened at HotDocs here in Toronto but it returns to our attention now thanks to its selection at South Africa's Durban International Film Festival. And good thing, too, because this looks like fascinating stuff.An artist paints a caricature of Jacob Zuma, provoking a lawsuit, death threats and a massive street protest. An Afrikaans musician bases a stage character on an archetypal African dictator in order to comment on his context. A photographer documents the LGBT community, exposing hate crimes that go unnoticed. Shield and Spear explores a constellation of stories about art, music, identity, race, and freedom of expression in contemporary South Africa, looking at what comes after the jubilation and celebration of a newly...

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Cheerily Lo-Fi Ghanaian Crime Musical COZ OV MONI 2: FOKN REVENGE Trailer Charms

Posted: 07 Jul 2014 08:30 AM PDT

A rap musical from Ghana? A crime comedy told entirely in pidgin English? Ghanaian rap duo Fokn Bois broke new ground with their first offering - the original Coz Ov Moni was reportedly the first ever pidgin musical ever made - and they're doing it again with Coz Ov Moni 2: Fokn Revenge. And while I've never had the chance to see the first one I really wish I had because the trailer for this sequel is an utter charmer.Ghanaian rap duo, the FOKN Bois, are back - after the success of Coz Ov Moni, billed as the first pidgin musical in the world - with the sequel Coz Ov Moni 2: FOKN Revenge, 'the world's second first pidgin musical'. While the first installment detailed...

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PiFan 2014: Preview Part 1 - Opening/Closing + Puchon Choice

Posted: 07 Jul 2014 08:00 AM PDT

It's only ten days until PiFan kicks off this year and three of us at Twitch are getting very excited for another feast of genre gems, hidden surprises and general fun and mayhem. As with previous years we like to go through the program and share our top picks, so over the next few days, James Marsh, Christopher O'Keeffe and I will preview the fest's sections in 2014.First up is a look at the opening and closing slots and a few of the most intriguing Puchon Choice (Main Competition) titles, though to be honest they're all very enticing.This year's 18th PiFan kicks off July 17th, and runs until the 27th....

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Banned South African Action Film JOE BULLET Storms Back To Screens With Restored Release

Posted: 07 Jul 2014 07:30 AM PDT

Produced in 1971, Louis de Witt's South African crime film Joe Bullet was one of the first films from that nation to feature an all black cast. Of course, in 1971 South Africa was also in the grips of the apartheid government and so after just two public screenings the film was banned by the government and not seen again for over forty years.But no more! Joe Bullet has returned in a newly restored version soon to screen in selection at the Durban International Film Festival! Here's how they describe it:Joe Bullet tells the story of a mysterious gangster who starts sabotaging soccer team The Eagles' chance at winning the upcoming championship final. In the criminal underworld of soccer, only Joe Bullet can save the...

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FIDOCS 2014 Review: THE WALTZ OF THE USELESS Is An Accurate Chronicle That Lacks Focus

Posted: 07 Jul 2014 07:00 AM PDT

Personally, I think that the sign of a good documentary is when it sets out to "document" something and lays out the facts in the ground in a clear and proper fashion, either it be through interviews, narrations, or whatever media available. It makes it available to everyone, it tries to make it clear to anyone in the world what the subject is. The better documentary comes when those facts, or whatever the subject that the film is portraying, is laid out in a creative fashion, thus having a way of distancing itself from the television way of making documentaries, and thus the ways and creative implements available for this are practically infinite.Now, the Great Documentary is the one that manages to have all that...

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Learning From The Masters Of Cinema: Lindsay Anderson's IF....

Posted: 07 Jul 2014 06:05 AM PDT

Before becoming a cinematic icon as Alex DeLarge in Stanley Kubrick's blistering adaptation of A Clockwork Orange, a cocky Yorkshire lad by the name of Malcolm McDowell made his screen debut as the equally rebellious Mick Travis in Lindsay Anderson's seminal If.....A savage attack on outdated tradition and authoritarian regimes, If.... takes place in an archaic English public school, where the growing insubordination of a small group of rebellious students, led by Travis, ultimately explodes in a violent assault on the institution and its pompous leadership. That is not to say that the film in any way condones violence in schools, or should be reprimanded for depicting such scenes of celebratory mayhem. Anderson's film speaks to a larger notion of rebellion and anti-establishment sentiment that...

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