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Busan 2014 Review: END OF WINTER Boasts Strong Cast And Subtle Mise-en-scene

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Busan 2014 Review: END OF WINTER Boasts Strong Cast And Subtle Mise-en-scene

Busan 2014 Review: END OF WINTER Boasts Strong Cast And Subtle Mise-en-scene

Posted: 04 Oct 2014 03:00 AM PDT

Dankook University scores a New Currents competition slot at the Busan International Film Festival for the second year running with End of Winter, a controlled family drama taking place in the dead of winter. Eschewing histrionics in favour of a slowburning and sustained narrative, this latest student feature boasts a strong cast and an unobtrusive yet elegant mise-en-scene. A professor retires, prompting a modest ceremony which is attended by his immediate family. During the event, he announces that he intends to divorce his wife, which comes as a surprise to his brood, not to mention their shellshocked mother. When heavy snowfall grinds transportation to a halt in the area, they must all stay together and deal with these revelations in a cramped apartment as they...

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Busan 2014 Review: HAN RIVER Ponders Urban Malaise in Contemporary Korea

Posted: 03 Oct 2014 11:30 PM PDT

With black and white lensing, cheerful yet destitute protagonists and the absence of a clear narrative, the philosophical vagabond film Han River, benefits from a style and focus that sets it apart from the bulk of recent Korean indie fare, yet its offbeat musings and muddled pacing will leave some viewers wanting something a little more concrete. A young priest, upon learning of the suicide of a woman he once loved, perches himself on the railing of a bridge over the Han River. Just as he is about the jump to his death, a vagrant comes up to him, informing him of a bet going on concerning his imminent fate. The priest jumps anyway but his dragged back to the shore by the homeless man...

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Busan 2014 Review: DAUGHTER Explores The Ills Of Modern Korean Parenting

Posted: 03 Oct 2014 10:01 PM PDT

Following a pair of indulgent films that awkwardly straddled the balance between fantasy and reality, the multi-hyphenate Ku Hye-sun, a well known actress, singer and artist as well as director, returns with Daughter, her most mature work to date. An only child lives with her overbearing mother in a small apartment in Incheon, a major satellite city on the outskirts of Seoul. Forced to study hard and endure a torrent of verbal and even physical abuse from her religious parent, the girl leads a difficult life. Things go on in this fashion until she meets her next-door neighbor, a kind piano teacher who takes pity on her. Years later, as an adult and now far from removed from her family, she discovers that her mother...

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Busan 2014 Review: WE WILL BE OK Hits Its Stride Too Late In The Game

Posted: 03 Oct 2014 09:00 PM PDT

Writers are told to write about what they know, so it stands to reason that the same rule should apply to filmmakers. As a result, many films take place within the film world and in the Korean industry this proves no exception. Indie debut We Will Be OK highlights the divide between the amateur and professional worlds in Korean film, placing emphasis on the inner anxieties that plague aspiring filmmakers. Sang-seok is a young actor who teaches acting classes while he loiters around, hoping to land his big break in the industry. His friends Tae-hee and Jae-ho are in a similar predicament, and when Jae-ho proposes that they shoot a script he wrote, they slowly warm to the idea and find some people to help...

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Busan 2014 Review: A MIDSUMMER'S FANTASIA Effortlessly Draws You Into Its Subtle Tale

Posted: 03 Oct 2014 08:00 PM PDT

Taking place in the quiet town of Gojo in Japan, an ageing community tinged with a lingering sadness and marked by stillness, A Midsummer's Fantasia is a wistful, hopeful and nostalgic third feature by rising Korean indie auteur Jang Kunjae. Split into two chapters, Jang's film begins in black and white, as a Korean director visits Gojo to do research for his latest film. With the help of a city council member and an interpreter, he tours the area and meets the elderly locals. Switching to color, the film's second half presents a tale hatched in the filmmaker's mind of a burgeoning romance between a local man and a young Korean woman, on her last stop in Japan before returning home. A commissioned work of...

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Hey Australia! Win Tickets To See Wong Jing's FLIRTING IN THE AIR In Cinemas!

Posted: 03 Oct 2014 07:00 PM PDT

From producer Wong Jing comes Flirting In The Air, a time-travelling comedy that stars Vulgaria leads Chapman To and Dada Chan. The title suggests a cross between Triumph In The Skies (a television series about a group of pilots) and Stephen Chow's 1993 comedy Flirting Scholar. Flirting In The Air is due to be released in Australian cinemas on October 9, 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 October 7. -- Good luck!You can find out more about this and other...

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That Gum You Like Is Going To Come Back In Style: A Return For TWIN PEAKS?

Posted: 03 Oct 2014 06:04 PM PDT

On June 10th 1991, Special Agent Dale Cooper entered the Black Lodge while his evil doppelganger exited. And we know from events in Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me that Cooper would stay there for the next 25 years. And now it would appear that he's preparing to emerge with Twin Peaks creators David Lynch and Mark Frost tweeting simultaneously at 11:30am this morning that "That gum you like is going to come back in style. #damnfinecoffee"We don't know what they're planning. We know that it's arrival is likely a year or two away (unless of course the intent is to return to the town and deal with the doppelganger for a bit before the actual Cooper returns) but whatever it is I'm strapping in...

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Watch The New Trailer For Onur Tukel's SUMMER OF BLOOD

Posted: 03 Oct 2014 05:00 PM PDT

Imiagine, if you will, a hipster vampire comedy as directed by Woody Allen. What you're imagining right now is likely not particularly unlike what writer-director Onur Tukel has created with his Tribeca hit Summer Of Blood.Writer/director Onur Tukel turns in a hilarious performance as the monumentally lazy, socially oblivious and commitment-shy Erik Sparrow, who is dumped by his career-woman girlfriend (Anna Margaret Hollyman, White Reindeer) when he rejects her rather charitable marriage proposal. Feeling lost, he turns to a disastrous string of online dates that successively eat away at his already-deteriorating confidence until a lanky vampire turns him into an undead ladykiller. Soon, Eric is prowling the streets of Brooklyn in search of anything to satisfy both his maniacal sex drive and his hunger for...

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GANGSTER PAYDAY Gets A Trailer And A Nice Picture Gallery

Posted: 03 Oct 2014 04:30 PM PDT

In Lee Po-Cheung's comedy action drama Gangster Payday, an aging hoodlum decides to go straight and invest his time and money in a teahouse. When the teahouse stands in the way of a development project, and a rival gang is used to strongarm everyone off the premises, a war threatens to break out. Premiering in China this November but already viewable at the Busan festival this week, Gangster Payday stars Anthony Wong as the old gangster, with Charlene Choi and Wong You-nam in supporting roles. We have a trailer and a gallery, and it looks to be a classy and polished affair indeed. The gallery and trailer below show Anthony Wong laughing, crying, worrying and fighting, and frankly that is enough to make me very...

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Review: FISHING WITHOUT NETS Expertly Expands the Somali Pirate Story

Posted: 03 Oct 2014 04:00 PM PDT

You'd be excused for a slight case of déjà vu when reading the description of Cutter Hodierne's feature debut Fishing Without Nets. Somali pirates have been a hot topic lately with both Danish film A Hijacking and Paul Greengrass's Tom Hanks vehicle Captain Phillips earning critical praise in the last couple of years. Add to that the fact that Hodierne's own short version of this film (with the same title) took home the top shorts prize at Sundance 2012. But don't let the abundance of Somali pirate stories scare you away. Fishing Without Nets is a powerful film, deliberate and absolutely beautiful, with plenty still to add to the topic. Set in a starkly realistic, trash-covered Somali village, Fishing Without Nets focuses on Abdi (Abdikani...

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Arrow Video To Expand Stateside, Launches IndieGoGo Campaign To Help

Posted: 03 Oct 2014 03:30 PM PDT

In what was a surprising move to pretty much everyone, the UK's finest boutique cult home video distributor, Arrow Video (an arm of longstanding distributor, Arrow Films), has announced their intentions to expand to North America in 2015. This could be huge news, but there is a lot that goes into making this a reality, and as such, the company has launched an IndieGoGo campaign to help fund the expansion across the pond. Is this a good idea? It's not entirely clear at this point, but I have some thoughts.Arrow Video has gone far beyond that initial focus on Video Nasties, Italian horror and exploitation and now releases films from all over the world in editions that, quite frankly, no one can beat. In the...

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Sitges 2014: Fabrice du Welz's ALLELUIA Wins 2014 Méliès d'Or Award

Posted: 03 Oct 2014 03:00 PM PDT

As the 47th Sitges International Fantastic Film Festival gets underway the award for the Best European fantastic feature film, the Méliès d'OR Award, was announced today. Fabrice du Welz`s thriller Alleluia takes home the grand prize! Welz`s film recently took home Best Director, Best Film, Best Actor and Actress awards at Fantastic Fest last month. It just walked away with the Lund d'Argent Award at Lund International Fantastic Film Festival in Sweden. This was the award that got it into the competition at Sitges, so it is on a bit of a roll! Our own Shelagh Rowen-Legg caught the film at London FrightFest and had this to say in here review, which you can find a link for below,Taking on the infamous tale of the Honeymoon Killers (an American...

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GIVEAWAY: Win A Signed Poster From THE SCRIBBLER!

Posted: 03 Oct 2014 02:30 PM PDT

We have two signed posters from the movie The Scribbler to give away this weekend. The film began a theatrical run and was available on VOD and iTunes since September 19th. The posters are signed by director John Suits, actress Ashlynn Yennie & producer Gabriel Cowan.If you would like a shot at one drop me an e-mail here. In the subject field write Scribbler Contest so I don't miss it. Now. here is where I am going to make it interesting. Attach to your e-mail an image of the following phrase "I want to win a signed poster" but like the character Suki from the film I want you to write it backwards. Like my quick example below. Took me a couple tries but I think I got...

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13 BELOVED Director Returns To Horror With THE EYES DIARY. Watch The Trailer!

Posted: 03 Oct 2014 02:00 PM PDT

There was a period of time back in the early 2000s when it appeared that Thailand could do no wrong int he film arena. International audiences were treated to wave after wave of young talent across a broad range of genres to the point where it seemed every time you turned around you were tripping over yet another new, exciting project. And in that wave one of the brightest was Chookiat Sakweerakul, the writer-director (at a ridiculously young age) of international horror hit 13 Beloved.Sakweerakul appeared poised to be the next big thing following 13 Beloved - there was a sequel announced that has never gone anywhere, sadly - and while he has gone on to major success since, that success has been entirely within...

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BFI And Aardman Animations Join Forces To Develop Animation Talent

Posted: 03 Oct 2014 01:30 PM PDT

The British Film Institute and Aardman Animations are pulling a 'Wonder Twins Unite' and establishing a development lab to support new animation features and the creative talent behind them. The BFI will provide funding for three filmmakers or filmmaker teams up to two years to develop family friendly projects. According to the report in Screen Daily they are looking for "stories that "engage, inspire and entertain audiences, explore universal themes, work for family audiences in entertaining both adults and children, and which demonstrate the filmmaker's ambition to dramatise stories on a bigger canvas". "From the official Development Lab site:The BFI Aardman Development Lab is designed to give professional hands-on experience to storytellers who have a passion for animated family films and wish to work in this...

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ANTBOY Returns In The REVENGE OF THE RED FURY Trailer!

Posted: 03 Oct 2014 01:00 PM PDT

Family friendly Danish superhero Antboy returns to the big screen with Antboy 2: Revenge Of The Red Fury and, true to sequel form, everything is bigger. Big action, bigger scale, more villains. But the most dangerous threat of all may be ... hormones.Director Ask Hasselbalch returns with the sequel to his international hit and the first trailer for this second effort promises more of everything that made the first so popular. Check out the pint sized hero below....

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It's Time To Stop Blaming The Studios And Start Blaming Exhibitors For Hollywood's Failure To Adapt

Posted: 03 Oct 2014 12:30 PM PDT

Ladies and gentlemen, allow me to suggest that perhaps we've been beating on the wrong whipping boy and that perhaps it's time to cast eyes elsewhere when it comes to assigning blame for Hollywood's remarkable failure to adapt to changing times. When discussions of such nature come up, when people are discussing why we can't watch what we want, when we want and how we want the conversation inevitably circles around to the major Hollywood studios and, "Why can't they understand that they're costing themselves business?" What is becoming increasingly clear is that they do understand and would like nothing more than to change the way they do business but that they are hamstrung by the major exhibition chains when it comes to actually doing...

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TV Review: SCROTAL RECALL S1E1, ABIGAIL Delivers A Hysterical And Surprisingly Earnest Take On Modern Relationships

Posted: 03 Oct 2014 12:00 PM PDT

Dylan has a problem. Young and earnest, a believer in true love and all of those things, Dylan is the sort of young man that you'd love to bring home to mom. But if you did you'd also be bringing home his chlamydia. Freshly diagnosed and with no idea how long he has been carrying the disease for, Dylan has no choice but to go back to every sexual partner he's ever had and break the news so they can be tested as well. Or, as his doctor points out, he could just go back to the ones he likes. And so, pen in hand, Dylan drafts out an alphabetical list and sets off to make his way through in order with -presumably - each...

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Mikkelsen Rubs One Out In The First Teaser For Anders Thomas Jensen's MEN AND CHICKEN

Posted: 03 Oct 2014 11:00 AM PDT

Sometimes a man could use a little bit of privacy and Mads Mikkelsen just isn't getting any in the first teaser for Anders Thomas Jensen's upcoming Men And Chicken. The film marks the return of Jensen to the director's chair after a lengthy stint spent writing for others and he's bringing back his regular cast of players from earlier efforts The Green Butchers and Adam's Apples with Mikkelsen joined by Nikolaj Lie Kaas, Nicolas Bro and a host of other familiar faces in the cast. Also returning is Jensen's trademark dark wit.The film revolves around two special-natured brothers, Elias and Gabriel. Upon their father's passing, the two brothers, who are not very fond of each other, find out through the father's will, that they are...

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Busan 2014 Review: SECOND LIFE OF THIEVES Is Mundanely Melancholic

Posted: 03 Oct 2014 10:01 AM PDT

A melancholic malaise permeates the incredibly subdued and softly told Second Life of Thieves, the latest feature from Malaysian director Woo Ming Jin. Set in the sweltered confines of a seaside village, the film transgresses past and present confidently. Initially confusing, later scenes inform previous ones. The premise of the film itself is one of general taboo, exploring forbidden (homosexual) love and lust, but it can also be read as a powerful love story about coping with losing a significant other.Tan discovers that his wife and childhood friend, Lai have fled the village together. Betrayed and heartbroken he is left with Lai's wistful daughter Sandy. The film explores the complex relationships between all four of these characters and the massive change that has taken place...

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That "Other" Somali Pirate Movie: An Interview With FISHING WITHOUT NETS Director Cutter Hodierne

Posted: 03 Oct 2014 09:00 AM PDT

Film audiences are, by now, more than familiar with the concept of Somali piracy, either through the reporting of international news agencies, or through a certain hit movie starring Tom Hanks that came out last year.However, one year prior, Cutter Hodierne made an independent short called Fishing Without Nets that told the story of Somali Piracy from a different, and more humanized point of view. The feature version of Hodierne's film, released in a partnership with Vice Media (the first feature film outing for the organization) made waves at Sundance, and is just beginning its theatrical run.I sat down with Cutter here in New York to discuss his first feature narrative, and shed some light on a film that tells a somewhat familiar story from a...

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The Many Faces Of Rosamund Pike

Posted: 03 Oct 2014 08:00 AM PDT

A new movie by David Fincher is always worth rejoicing, especially when the word of mouth is as good as with Gone Girl. That the titular girl is being played by Rosamund Pike doesn't hurt either, and gives us a valid reason to make her the star of this week's quiz. For most people, the introduction to Rosamund Pike was her being a Bond-girl, which is probably the highest-exposure lowest-expectation start you can get in the acting business. But the ladies in the Brosnan-Bond era were generally cut from different wood (Famke Jansen, Michelle Yeoh, Halle Berry), and, likewise, Rosamund has proven to be more than just a pretty face with perpetually raised eyebrows. So once again I'm going to use eleven close-ups of one...

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New York 2014 Review: EDEN, An Ambitious Yet Personal Look at 90s Electronic Dance Music Scene

Posted: 03 Oct 2014 07:00 AM PDT

The other day, I saw a college kid wearing a T- shirt that said, "In school now just to be a wage slave later." I seriously considered giving the kid a hug. And I could've easily regarded it as some ironic hipster shit. But after watching the talented Mia Hansen-Løve's new film Eden, it hit me as extremely poignant. Co-written by her brother Sven, the film is a sprawling and epic look back at the 90s' French electronic dance music scene. And they do an amazing job capturing the look and feel of that decade. But more so, the film is about life. Eden charts about 20 years in the life of Paul (Félix de Givry), starting in 1992. He is a big raver and...

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