celluloid bacon

Monsters (2010) Making of featurette

2010-08-08T17:22:00.001+10:00

Monsters (2010), UK, sci-fi romance set after aliens have taken over parts of Mexico. The thing that makes this film an incredible discussion point is the low budget but the amazing production values that appear on screening. Check out this featurette on the making of Monsters.

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Here's the trailer of the film to get a real sense of the quality of the production values.

#MIFF Day 10: The Robber, Wild Targets, Love in Puff and Rubber

2010-08-02T23:12:00.000+10:00

The Robber (2010), Austria/Germany, the journey of Johann Rettenberger, an Austrian armed robber and long distance runner. The film starts as Rettenberger is close to being released from jail and then moves immediately to after his release where he wastes no time returning to old habits. He finds success with his running and his armed robberies, but this crimes are not driven by greed but appear to be a more adrenalin driven activity. Rettenberger starts a relationship with a Erika which does nothing to stem his activities. A brilliantly made and fantastic ride about a man who lives for survival itself.

Wild Targets (2010), UK, pure popcorn comedy which is completely absurd. Victor Maynard (Bill Nighy) is a very proper English hitman who takes a job to kill a young vamp fraudster, Rose (Emily Blunt). Rose ripped off businessman, Ferguson (Rupert Everett) who isn't the kind of fella you should scam. Victor initially is committed to the task but soon discovers that he has taken a shining to the young lady and can't go through with the contract. After much insisting by his mother to finish the job ends up protecting Rose and in the process recruits Tony (Rupert Grint), a homeless lad, to help protect her. Mad capped and silly but with a lot of laughs but don't expect too much and you'll get good value from it.

Love in Puff (2010), Hong Kong, director Pang Ho-Cheung second film at MIFF is a completely different experience from Dream Home. This film is more a romantic comedy (ROM-COM) with a group of smokers who gather at their regular smoking spot to socialize and tell stories. The film centrally revolves around two of the group, Cherie and Jimmy, who's friendship starts to blossoming into something more serious. Cherie is in a dead relationship and Jimmy has just got out of a relationship. An amusing and at times funny film that also breaks up the film with interviews with the smokers discussing their smoking habits, relationships and moments in their lives. Great to have two different style films by the same filmmaker showing a great range in his directing ability in the one festival.

Rubber (2010), USA, a serial killer tyre film sounds completely absurd, actually it sounds like interesting concept. For the first twenty five minutes of the film it is very funny and a whacky idea that works. Then the laughs dry up and the film starts to get a little unhinged. The scenes of the tyre killing people start to get boring and the novelty has well and truly worn off over the next 45 minutes. This was wonderful fresh and original idea that got stale really quickly and proves that is should have been a good short film that would have been cinema gold.

#MIFF Day 9: Collapse

2010-07-31T23:08:00.000+10:00

Collapse (2009), USA, Chris Smith (American Movie, The Yes Men) again returns with another very engaging documentary featuring simply an interviewing Michael Ruppert, an ex-cop and investigative report who has been trying to warn the world of the impending doom with the planets excess consumption of oil and the collapse of the financial markets. Ruppert is a unique character who is passionate, articulate and intelligent who clearly breaks down the issues that are facing the human race in the near future. Smith has constructed a simple, but effective documentary with one man in room talking about his thoughts on world. The tone, feel and editorial choice bring the best out in this very informative documentary.

#MIFF Day 8: Blame, Enter The Void and Dream Home

2010-07-30T01:35:00.003+10:00

Today was my first triple billing of the festival which started with the world premiere of Blame (2010), Australia, received some funding from the MIFF Premiere Fund. While the majority of the film was financed by ScreenWest (WA) and FilmVictoria. The screening was full of cast/crew, funding representatives, MIFF Board members and even a politician. Blame had very favourable audience for it's world premiere.

Blame was unfortunately quite dull and predictable as a group of vengeful youths set in motion a murder plan to seek revenge for a friend who took her own life because of relationship with her music teacher several years earlier. What unfurls is a painfully slow chain of events with a group of despicable characters who executed their ill conceived plan. The cast delivered honourable performances with this lacklustre script as it struggled to reach any great heights. Blame felt like it went on way too long, but could be characterised as a serviceable and mildly interesting film.

Enter the Void (2009), France, Gasper Noe's film has been kicking around for over 18 months and has finally landed in Melbourne to a sell out screening which was full of energy/enthusiasm as the amazing credit sequence rolled for the film. Unfortunately, the enthusiasm amongst the audience dropped as the film slugged along with audible sighs and groans coming from the audience.

It was my second viewing of Enter The Void with the last time I saw it was almost twelve months ago at TIFF. My opinion remains the same, Gasper Noe should be locked in an editing suite and made to cut the bloody film down by about an hour. Yes he does amazing camera angle/shots, transitions and visual effects but once you've seen them five or ten times they don't seem so special.

For those not interested in Gasper work but do want to see the credit sequence here it is so turn it up and enjoy.

Dream Home (2010), Hong Kong, was one of the strangest slasher films you could ever imagine straight out of left field. Cheng dreams of an apartment with harbour view for her family and herself which reveals unhappy journey that her family has taken as she tries to achieve that dream. The films plays out like a dramatic story about this unrealized dreams which turns into a nightmare. Our leading lady, does the responsible thing and goes on an outrageous killing spree like something from a splatter film which makes for some very gruesome but comically scenes. Dream Home was a real surprise but certainly very dark humour.

#MIFF Day 7: The Angel

2010-07-29T23:31:00.000+10:00

The Angel (2009), Norway/Sweden, is a one of those very tragic films that makes the audience question the idea of going to the cinema to see such a depressing film. Lea's life is a serious of tragic events that lead her to giving up her young child because of her addiction to heroin. The film cross weaves through the significant events in Lea's life that helped shape her tragic existence. The unthinkable concept of a mother willingly giving away her child is an act of compassionate towards her child's future. Lea's life is a serious of toxic relationships that destroy an sort of normality and leave her a train wreck in this life. The film finds some hope as she battles her addiction and enters rehab as we are left with a clean Lea at the crossroads of starting a new chapter in her so far unhappy life.

Margreth Olin tackles the difficult moments of incest, rape and domestic violence with tact and avoids the shock value of such events. The audience is aware of the abuse that has been inflicted on Lea and her mother. Maria Bonneive (Lea) harrowing performance should win her plenty of praise and certainly put her on the radar.

#MIFF Day 6: Four Lions and Kanikosen

2010-07-28T12:10:00.000+10:00

Four Lions (2010), UK, pokes fun at Jihad and serves up a reasonable funny film about a group of disenfranchised Islamic followers who are planning a terrorist attack in England. The film moves along at reasonable pace as these shambolic terrorist make a complete utter balls up of their attack. Partly slapstick and ridiculous humour does fall flat in parts but keeps enough of the laughs to keep most people happy. This film has had strong buzz since it's world premiere at Sundance and sold out both sessions at MIFF.

Kanikosen (2009), Japan, was by far the most disappointing film of the festival so far. The film felt like a play that has been filmed and wasn't cinematic at all. The screening was helped by starting over twenty minutes late and then the film stopped halfway through due to technical problems which gave the audience an impromptu intermission of ten minutes which certainly did enhance the film. The entire film took place on a canning ship as the workers ended up revolting against their employers. This is the first significant miss of the festival for myself and I was glad when the film got to the end.

#MIFF Day 5: The Day Will Come and Spine Tingler!

2010-07-27T23:43:00.000+10:00

The Day Will Come (2009), France/Germany, was described in the MIFF guide as psychological thriller drama which really misrepresented what is in fact to a kitchen table drama. The central plot revolves around Alice tracking down her mother who abandoned her thirty years ago after she murdered a man during a bugled armed robber. Her mother escaped Germany and started a new life were she now has two teenage children, husband and a struggling winery. The film is predictable and we catch on better quickly what is going on. As Alice confronts her mother and reveals the truth to her family of her mother's dark past. The cast delivers strong performances which holds together a fairly lacklustre film.

Spine Tingler!:The William Castle Story (2008), USA, is very enjoyable and informative documentary on the B Grade Horror Maestro William Castle who gave us such gimmicks as emergo, percepto and insurance policy taken out to cover the untimely death of audience members due to fright. Spine Tingler is a testimonial to Castle featuring interviews the likes of John Waters, Leonard Maltin, John Landis and family members. Not a bad word is uttered about Castle who is portrayed as genuine character who was passionate about entertaining cinema goers around the world.

#MIFF Day 4: Korean Double, Paju and The Housemaid (2010)

2010-07-26T23:27:00.000+10:00

On tonight's menu was back to back Korea films, Paju (2009) and The Housemaid (2010). Both films were dramas of very differing styles and tone.

Paju (2009), South Korea, was little hard to follow in parts due to the poor editing style. The story takes between over an eight year period visiting between current day, three and eight year marks in the story. In different scenes it was hard to spot the different time as the characters really didn't age over the time period which made it difficult for the audience to identify which point in the story.

The film revolves around Kim who arrives in Paju after a horrific incident in Seoul where a baby was seriously hurt. He returns to a church group and marries a village girl, Choi who's sister, Eun-mo is a student in Kim's bible class. Eun-mo is resentful about Kim and her sister's relationship. The tension builds between them until Choi is killed in a tragic accident. A few years down the track, after Kim has raised Eun-mo like a father. She decides to steal her college fund money after her relationship with Kim deteriorate.

Eun-mo arrives back in Paju after being away for three years in Indian. Kim and Eun-mo reconnected with the mystery of what actually happened to her sister still being a sore point better each other. Paju is a slow paced film that pays off in the end, even if it is a little confusing in parts.

The Housemaid (2010), South Korea, is a stylish melodrama that is opulent in style and production design. The simple story of Eun-yi getting hired as a housemaid with upper class family. She soon finds herself the object of desire by the master of the house, Hoon. Mi-hee ( Hoon's wife) is pregnant with twins and soon becomes aware of the affair. Eun-yi becomes the thorn in the side for all the players, as the old housemaid, Byung-sik, stirs the pot of this brewing disaster.

This remake of the original from 1960 is directed by Sang-soo Im who delivered a very different film. Sang-soo has made an enjoyable melodrama, but it's not without it's flaws which will make interesting discussion points for audiences. As the final scene probably reveals more details than what is initially obvious.

#MIFF Day 3: The Silent House and The Clinic

2010-07-25T23:22:00.000+10:00

I started off Day 3 by dropping into a couple of seminars at MIFF 37 Degrees South Market. First off was "Agency Development - The State of Play", followed by "Low Budget, High Future?" the common theme at both panels was there isn't enough money to go around.

The Silent House (2010), Uruguay, started off with the clever approach of telling this tale using one continuous shot, which worked well for the first forty minutes of the film. A daughter and father get a job to cleaning up a deserted house with one simple request, just don't go upstairs. They hear noises coming from upstairs and so of course they go to investigate. The tension and atmosphere develops and the audience is dragged into the suspense. Ever present in most horror's today is the fact that the character seems compelled to stay in peril and not escape, which is what any normal person would do. Letting go of this point will make the film more enjoyable.

Until you get to the hour mark of the film when big reveal occurs in the story that just doesn't work and really doesn't making any logical sense. This could have been a ground breaking horror film but is let down by the story or a lack of a believable elements in the story.

The Clinic (2010), Australia, is another addition to the ever growing resurgence in Australian genre filmmaking. James Rabitts (writer/director) delivers an interesting tale revolving around the theft of babies from expecting mothers, but not only are they stealing babies from the kidnapped mothers. They are pitting the mothers against each other in a survival game to see who has the strongest survival instincts. The story is set in rural Australia in the late 1970's to add to a level of believability of the story. The film holds its suspense with good production values and strong performances from the cast. Tabrett Bethell delivers a standout performance as Beth the main mother, which helps drag this film above straight to DVD label that would normally be attached to such genre material.

A small point of interest is that both films claimed to be inspired by actual events, which is phrase that is becoming a little tired now days. The link between the actual events and the events portrayed on screen are poles apart from each other, making such claims ridiculous.

#MIFF Day 2: Dreamland and Uninhabited

2010-07-24T23:51:00.001+10:00

The day was hijacked by my Indie Film Nation commitments. I had the opportunity to interview Daniel Roberts (actor) from Ivan Sen's film, Dreamland.

Dreamland is a captivating film that proves the simplest ideas in cinema can be sometimes be the rewarding experiences for audiences. The interview with Daniel was an amazing insight into what is a wonderful film. Stay tuned with the video interview coming out in the next day or so. The interview was shot and edited by Peter Miranda who elevates the discussion to a new level.

Back to the screenings, Uninhabited (2010) Bill Bennett's new film left me very underwhelmed. Bennett had the perfect concept for his film, a couple staying on a remote isolated for ten days, five hours away from the outside world and with a ghost inhabiting the island. All should have made added up for a ripper tension filled film.

Somehow this idea just falls apart with disappointing performances by the two lead actors, Henry James (Harry) and Geraldine Hakewill (Beth). The combination of their very wooden performance and the lack of any real suspense drags this down a very unsatisfying cinematic experience.

The couple have no chemistry together and audiences will not connect emotionally to their blight. Bennett's direction failed to get quality performances from his leads and the film lacks any tensions.

The lack of enthusiasm for the film was very obvious amongst the audience as soon as the credits started everyone made a quick exits, even with the filmmaker and key cast present. Speaks volumes when no one wants to hear about the film from the people responsible.

#MIFF Day 1: Teenage Paparazzo

2010-07-23T23:30:00.000+10:00

Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF) kicked off last night with the world premiere of the Australian film, The Wedding Party. I have made a real habit of skipping the opening night and save my money for actually festival at the bargain price of $130 for an opening night ticket you can buy a festival mini pass for that amount and get real bang for your bucks.

The first day of screenings for me started with Adrian Grenier's Teenage Paparazzo. A very interesting look at the world of the paparazzi focusing on a 13 year old boy, Austin Visschedyk who Grenier befriends and turns his camera onto the young lad who has joined the packs of paparazzi that stalk and harass Hollywood celebrities.

Adrian Grenier knows a thing or two about the paparazzi tracking his every move for the tabloid magazines. His role on Entourage has seen him become a household name around the world.

He delivers a nicely constructed documentary that peels back a few more issues then questionable parenting, celebrity harassment and the concept of fame which neatly gives us food for thought next time you are standing in supermarket check out queue as you skim through the pages of one of those trashy magazines.

Grenier delivered a slice of Hollywood for the largely female audience in attendance for the screening and he even managed to ham it up for the film's introduction wearing Popcorn's head.

I have eased my way into this year's because the opening day of screenings contained a number of films I have already seen like Air Doll, Splice and Red Hill which gave me a leave pass from a heavy day of screenigs.

Pic #02 - Dog Day Afternoon

2010-07-01T16:25:00.001+10:00

Even the dogs get excited about a stocktake sale in St Kilda!

Pic #01 - Winter In St Kilda

2010-06-28T20:00:00.000+10:00

It might be cold in Melbourne, but the lights shine brightly at the Palais Theatre for the Scared Heart Concert tonight.

Location:Jacka Blvd,St Kilda,Australia

Teaser Trailer for David Fincher's The Social Network

2010-06-26T13:03:00.000+10:00

Facebook changed the social networking world and of course it was always on the cards that a film would be made about the story behind Facebook. But no one could have predicted that it would come so quickly in the form of narrative feature film, directed by David Fincher (Fight Club, Se7en).

Here's the first teaser trailer and I mean teaser trailer that contains no actual footage, only dialogue and title cards.

#SFF Day 5: The Tree

2010-06-07T00:49:00.000+10:00

On the third day of the Sydney Film Festival my day started with the screening of The Tree (2010), Australia/France, which was the closing night film at the Cannes Film Festival a couple of weeks ago which is one of the most heralded spots in the world to have your film close the Cannes Film Festival. Unfortunately Julie Bertucelli, director, the film falls very flat and doesn't live up to the hype of such a heralded endorsement by the Cannes Film Festival. The Tree takes place in rural Australian when a family of four children suffers the loss of their father/husband. The film centrally revolves around the mother, Dawn (Charolette Gainsbourg) who really struggles with the loss of her partner and her daughter, Simone (Morgana Davies) who both seemed to have a close connection with a large tree that is located alongside their house. The other children play a smaller role in the story. The Tree tries to be mysterically kitchen table drama that such doesn't work essentially due to the performance of Gainsbourg which never really works, her accent and character just annoyed me. Her accent is an English/French background even though her character has lived in rural Australian for over 15 years which doesn't seem to work in the context of the story. Gainsbourg is amazing actress who's performance in this film just doesn't work. The Tree is held together by Morgana Davies who as child delivers a strong performance to keep this film from completely falling apart.

#SFF Day 4: Panels and disappearance of Alice Creed

2010-06-06T21:55:00.001+10:00

The second day of my Sydney Film Festival experience started with two panels at the Statement Lounge in the basement of the State Theatre.

Life During Wartime (2009), Todd Solondz's sequel to Happiness (1998) which I saw at Toronto last year was the subject of the first panel of the day which featured Christine K. Walker (Producer), Shirley Henderson (actress) and Ruth Hessey (Journalist). A very enlightened panel discussing the development of the project and the production of the film. Christine Walker is a very savvy producer who provided very insightful background about the film production and the intricate details about the film making process. Shirley Henderson is an amazing actress who's truly a unique and fascinating person who detailed the secrets behind her performance as Joy in Life During Wartime. Ruth did a great steering this panel to make it a wonderfully informative sessions for the audience. I enjoyed Life During Wartime but the film will polarising audiences but it is one of those films that must should be experienced for you decide.

The FREAK ME OUT panel discussed the return to genre films in Australian genre with the directors, Patrick Hughes (Red Hill), Sean Byrne (The Loved Ones) and Adam Blaiklock (Caught Inside) with Gary Maddox, journalist. Maddox actually did a great job getting the directors to give the crowd a great insight into their individual projects and the resurgence of genre filmmaking in Australia. The underpinning theme for the success of these films was that all the filmmakers had played with existing genre and remixed the traditional elements to build on the concepts. All three directors had graduated from film schools over 10 years ago before they successful got their first feature films made.

Cell 211 (2009), Spain, is almost the perfect prison film. You can see a Hollywood remake on the horizon for this little ripper of a film. The film doesn't stop from the moments we are introduced to Juan who drops into his future employment as a prison guard in the forthcoming days. While on a guided tour of the prison, he finds himself stuck in the middle of prison riot which leaves him stranded in the prisoner controlled area of the prison. Juan finds himself the enemy within and plays a dangerous game with the inmates as trying convince them that he is one of them. Juan situation goes from bad to good and finds himself intricately to the prisoners plans as he becomes one of the masterminds behind their tactics with dealing the authorities. The twist in turns in this game are deadly for all the players, as the politics of Spain and the prison system collided with Juan the innocent person caught on the inside. This film is brilliantly executed action/drama that we leave you on the edge of your seat while the drama plays out.

The Disappearance of Alice Creed (2009), UK, is a clever and smartly executed kidnapped film that doesn't contain any dialogue for the first ten minutes of the film. We are witness to the detail planning and preparation of their target, then rather then showing the execution of their plan, the audience rejoins after the two kidnappers have captured their target who's now tagged and bagged.

We then join them as they execute their careful planned operation and the hostage is in the dark about who know is behind her incarnation. We learn about her captors, hostages and their true motives. The majority of the film takes places in the apartment and slowly unravels the real story. This is a perfectly executed film that will keep audiences guessing to the final frame.

#SFF Day 3: Heartbeats and Red Hill

2010-06-05T21:49:00.001+10:00

I arrived in Sydney at 9.00 a.m. to check out this year's Sydney Film Festival. If there was ever the perfect day for cinema-going it was today with heavy rain all day. The rain was so intense that you got soaked just moving from venue to venue.

I managed to get from the Sydney airport to the first screening that was 10.00 a.m.

Heartbeats (2010), Canada, filmed in Montreal and French language film, directed by 21 year old Xavier Oliver (his second feature film) who delivers a dreamy and brilliantly executed romantic story with a twist.

Marie (Monia Chokri) and Francis (Xavier Oliver), two best friends who fall in love with the same guy, Nicolas (Neils Schneider). They both become good friends with Nicolas and they formed unique friendships. They send plenty time with Nicolas and neither Marie or Francis know where their relationships actually stands with Nicolas. Oliver constructs a beautiful scenes and peels back the layers of Marie and Francis lives, as both continue in unsatisfying sexual relationship with other people. While their own friendship suffers as they compete with each other for Nicolas attention. Unfortunately, Nicolas never really gives a hint about his true feelings for his friends which causes huge frustrations for his suitors. They both find different ways to confess their true feelings to Nicolas.

Heartbeats has a perfect tone and style which will immerse audiences into this enchanting film.

Red Hill (2010), Australia, is a modern day take on the western genre. Patrick Hughes, director, attempts to revitalise the western genre by transplanting the concept into a current day high country Victorian town. A new policeman, Shane Cooper (Ryan Kwanten), arrives in the decaying town with his new work colleagues showing very little hospitality toward himself. The town is presided over by the charismatic local Inspector, Old Bill (Steve Bisley), who quickly puts his new recruit into place while learning about his new work environment. The town is thrown into turmoil when news arrives that a prisoner has broken out of a jail and is a former resident, convicted of a murder in town decades ago. The law goes on high alert as they wait for the ex-resident to return seek vengeance against his enemy. The film is well acted and staged, but falls down horrible in the believability stakes as this film requires the audience to switch off every brain cell to get this plot by. As piece of action and entertainment, this film is great, but the quality of story, characters and believability stakes it's a big failure.w

Red Hill is a genre film that feels like it should have been made in the 80's, where it's weakness wouldn't have been such an issue with today's audiences who are a whole lot more savvy. Hughes also introduces an extra story element (well known urban myth in Australia) which feels out of place in this film and adds nothing to the story. A special mention for the performance by Tommy Lewis as Jimmy Conway, the escaped prisoner hell bent on revenge delivers a memorable portrayal that will potentially make Red Hill a cult classic.

Red Hill as pure popcorn entertainment is an amazing effort considering the films limited budget and forgiving the film's short comings will make it an enjoyable visit to the cinema.

New podcast Indie Film Nation #093 online now!

2010-05-28T21:57:00.000+10:00

Just uploaded a new audio podcast for Indie Film Nation featuring an interview with Clare Stewart (Festival Director) of Sydney Film Festival.

I am looking forward to checking out this year's festival to see how it compares to other film festivals like MIFF (Melbourne International Film Festival) and TIFF (Toronto International Film Festival).

I'll be in Sydney for four days which should give me enough time to get a gauge on the Sydney Film Festival.

Great Moment in Advertising #02

2010-05-26T22:03:00.002+10:00

Japanese culture has always been a little odd to westerners, but ads like this one only reinforce our fascination with what the hell is going on?

It's like the Neverending Story on acid selling potato chips!

new episode of Indie Film Nation Podcast coming soon

2010-05-25T17:20:00.003+10:00

Fantastic new episode of the indie film nation podcast arriving very soon a preview of Sydney Film Festival plus the latest news from Cannes!

celluloid bacon #04: back to the dance

2010-02-27T16:17:00.002+11:00

celluloid bacon #03: a night at the market

2010-01-08T16:28:00.003+11:00

2009-11-26T00:10:00.004+11:00

It's raining polar bears! Warning graphic but effective advertising that's makes you think!

October the month of misery!

2009-11-01T01:23:00.000+11:00

After getting back from Toronto in late September things were a little crazy trying to catch up on work, life and bills. Everything was pointed for busy and exciting month of October.

While I was in the USA, I commenced a documentary project, Inside A Savage Mind, conducting the first preliminary interviews with the subject of the documentary and had returned with quality material to get the project rolling.

After spending some quality time with my significant other in my life (Cheray). I returned to my full time job that finances my film obsessions and life.

Unfortunately on the 7th October 2009 while working on at my job, I sustained a serious lower back injury that resulted in a hospital stay and surgery, microdiscectomy to remove a large disc bulge between my L5-S1 which prior to the surgery had rendered me incapable of walking or even sitting.

The experience of spending a week in hospital was a completely foreign as I had been fortunate to avoid any medical complications in my life. My stay at the Epworth Hospital was as pleasant as a hospital stay could be and I am glad I have moved forward in the recovery.

My room for the first few days had the most incredible view overlooking the MCG (Melbourne Cricket Ground), the iconic home of sport, and view of the Melbourne CBD skyline. Things are looking positive for a full recovery considering the circumstance.

I have been at home recovering from the surgery and taking stock of the events. I have taken the time to rest and been mostly bedridden during the healing process.

Even though I have been resting for a couple of weeks, I haven’t watched any films because my television is located in the lounge room and I can’t sit any longer than 30 minutes at a time. To make matters worse the television is on the way out and the manufacturer no long makes the part to repair the problem. The television is only 15 months old.

So that is the state of play, I am healing and I haven’t been able to produce any podcast, watching any cinema, visiting any cafes or bring you any cool independent film news.

It proves how quickly a month can disappear without a whimper of creativity or productivity. Hopefully I can release some interesting stuff in the coming weeks that may either bring back to the blog or you’ll discover this blog! You might have noticed a few layout changes, going for a basic layout with just quality stuff!

NFL Sunday in San Diego

2009-09-20T23:07:00.000+10:00

I arrived in Los Angeles late on Saturday night and my good friend, Chris Folino, director of Gamers (feature film) and the one of the genius behind Catastrophic Comics collected me from the airport. Folino is fellow football fan and pursued him to take me to see another game.

We set off earlier Sunday morning driving to San Diego to see the San Diego Chargers do battle with the Baltimore Ravens. Fantastic atomsphere and enjoyable game except for the stupid plays calls from Norv Turner that cost the Chargers the game!

Check out my mobileme gallery for a sample of the days activates!

TIFF Day 10: the finale

2009-09-19T19:33:00.000+10:00

I finally reached the end of my TIFF experience and had enough time to squeeze in two films screenings:

Solitary Man (2009), USA, Michael Douglas plays a successful car salesman who goes for a health check up causing him to spiral his life out of control. He decides to live life doing everything to please himself - chasing skirt and ripping off his business partner. We move forward five years and discover that his character has really messed up his life once a respect businessman, now in disgrace and estranged from his family. His family relationships are breaking down. But just when he looks like his about to bounce back and revive his career he manages to destroy it all and slides further. Douglas delivers a brilliant performance as man on the skids and is supported by Danny DeVito as his old high school buddy who proves that true friendship will survive adversities. The is brilliantly directed by Brian Koppelman and David Levien.

The final film of the TIFF was Valhalla Rising (2009), Denmark, was one of my personal favourites of the festival and the perfect way to end an incredible time. Valhalla Rising was Nicholas Winding Refn film that takes introduces to mute super warrior who is enslaved by Scottish highlanders who use him as some sort gladiator amongst fellow tribes his only human contact is with a young boy who tends to him. He escapes his captors and hooks up with a group of crusaders and an incredible journey is undertaken. The location, performance and tone of the film is compelling. Refn has create one of the best films of 2009 and delivered two incredible films in the one year with Bronson at the start of the year. Valhalla Rising does contain an incredible performance by Mads Mikkelsen who never utters a word during the entire. Bronson and Valhalla Rising are very different styles and tones with incredible complex lead characters that will leave audiences in awe of this rising talent of cinema. The Pusher trilogy was only sample of a growing talent.

After getting out the screening I only had enough time to get back to the hostel to collect my belongings get a limousine car service to the airport to fly on to Los Angeles.

TIFF Day 09: the conclusion is soon!

2009-09-18T22:16:00.000+10:00

My Son, My Son What Have Ye Done (2009), USA, at time I felt like I was watching someone trying to impersonate a David Lynch in several scenes - jumping right off the screen from Mulholland Drive, Lost Highway or Twin Peaks. The remainder of the film has a different film. Werner Herzog has created a very straight forward film, except for those Lynch moments. The film opens with detectives arriving at a murder scene to quickly discover the person responsible is the son of the victim who is holed up across the road. The film develops into a siege with possible hostages which turns out to be a pair of flamingos. The murder’s girlfriend and acting director arrive on the scene which introduces a series of flashbacks to discovers the his current state of mind. The film is enjoyable but without being brilliant.

Whip It (2009), USA, Drew Barrymore’s directorial debut is solid film that will impress the ladies and there is a little bit there for the fellas. It’s coming of age story for Bliss (Ellen Page), small town 17 year old girl, trying to find her way in the world while still for-filling her mother wishes for her to be a beauty pageant queen. This wouldn’t be a film without a dramatic challenge for young Bliss when she discovers the game of roller derby which makes her a star with all the popularity and an attractive boy chasing after her what more can a girl want. Of course, mum finds out this go a little haywire but everything works out in the end. The film is fun if you can switch off the creditability meter in your mind as we watch Bliss tear up the Texas roller derby scene in a few short weeks smashing Juliette Lewis, Zoe Bell and Drew Barrymore along the way.

Timetrip: Curse of the Viking Witch (2009), Denmark, a fun kids film about witch craft, time travel and kids messing up! The film is quality entertainment that travels with the ages with our intrepid kids getting themselves in all sorts of trouble to help out a scientist who has a curse on him that makes him immortal, but his immortal is curse as his had enough of hanging around century after century. The only problem for him is that the curser is a witch who actually enjoys the whole lifestyle certainly doesn’t like the idea of couple of kids destroying her immortality. The only thing stopping this film from being a smash hit amongst the kids is you’ve to read subtitles because they are speaking another language, get the kids past that and you’ll have as much fun as them! Put this one on the netflix list for school holidays along with Under the Mountain.

TIFF Day 08: big day at the office!

2009-09-17T23:34:00.001+10:00

Time to get busy with the screenings, I have come all this way to see films so time to get busy! 

Kamui (2009), Japan, tells the story of fugitive ninja who is hunted by other ninja's for breaking their code. It sounds like the perfect recipe for ripper of a martial film. The story takes place in the 17th century Japan in rural fishing village. The film opens with narration bringing the audience up to date with a very young Kamui observing a battle between the ninja clan and female fugitive ninja who is killed in battle. The story fast forwards to 14 years with Kamui now in his early twenties and being chased by hordes of ninjas trying to bring him down. Obviously being a film about ninja's makes this a perfect vehicle for many complex fight sequences with our hero always coming out on top. He seems to have grasped extra powers that the ordinary ninja's hasn’t. The film tries to add some complexity and depth of the characters with the introduction of Hanebi, a crazy fisherman, who is saved by Kamui but returns the favour by trying to kill him by pushing in overboard in heavy seas. Kamui survives and washes up on shore in the fishing village were Hanebi lives. Kamui discovers Hanebi wife is actually the missing female ninja. After initially tension, they all settle into fishing life, but soon things go haywire with ship of ninja pirates arriving. They are greeted as friends but soon become foes. A long with the potential to be an epic martial arts film but falls flat and the fight choreography lacks any real brilliance.

Life During Wartime (2009), USA, Todd Solondz has been a filmmaker that has made audience uncomfortable with his characters that have inhabited his film. Palindromes failed to live up to Solondz previous efforts and this time around he delivers but without completely weirding out audiences. Life During Wartime is a quasi sequel to Happiness with some of the same characters (being played by different actors) reprise a number characters. The universe has moved on from Happiness but the welcome isn’t straight forward either with quirky unique characters that make you laugh and cringe as they simply move through their life. Family is a strong theme that under pins Solondz, you can pick your friends but not your family and you have to indulge them in your life no matter how uncomfortable or strange they are. A return to form, but will the audience of this decade embrace Solondz work this time round.

Hugh Hefner: Playboy, Activist and Rebel (2009), Canada, this celebratory documentary about Hugh chronicles his life from the beginning to present. It features interviews with celebrities and close personal friends from within the Playboy paying tribute to the man. But the film also features several of his biggest critics like Pat Boone and several prominent feminists pouring cold water on the man. Most importantly the film tries to convey Hefner achievements are more than just a dirty magazine but he has been a campaigner for women and African American rights. A lot of the screen time is devoted to clips from Playboy TV variety shows that feature Hugh holding parties with celebrity guest entertaining his party guest for the television audience which aired in the 60’s. It’s warm and fuzzy celebrating his life without tackling anything too conversational or risky.

Trash Humpers (2009), USA, this is a strange film which I simply didn’t enjoy after seeing so many strong films in the festival so far the stinker was lurking in the form of Trash Humpers. The film follows two men and female wearing prosthetic old people mask s at they wandered around have stimulated sex with bins, trees any fixed object they can find. They smash up property and socialise with a strange collection of characters. The film is shot like it was made with dirty 80’s VHS video cameras with the in camera titles. This isn’t an art house film, it’s just a collection of rubbish that will try must peoples patience. I suspect that there’ll be an audience out their that will embrace this film as a incredible piece of experimental cutting edge auteur cinema but don’t be fooled this film is rubbish - the symbolise is in the title trash. You know what they say - trash by name trash by nature. Harmony Korine has written and directed some very moving and controversial films that have been worthy of viewing but this film has no redeeming elements.

Air Doll (2009), Japan, the experience of watching Trash Humpers was quickly washed away by this amazing and beautiful film about an inflatable sex doll that suddenly comes to life. The doll (Nizomno) is in an unforfilling relationship with her owner but magic happens and she finds away to take the form of real life person with a real heart. The only person who doesn’t see her for her new form is her owner. Nizomno suddenly finds herself a child in an adult world and she possess child like inquisitive outlook for life. She lands herself a the local video store forms a close friendship with one of her co-workers. But she discovers were there is beauty there is an emptiness. Her adventures bring her into contact with a variety of people from the neighbourhood which touches her life and theirs. She returns to the factory where she was made and her meets the person that created her. This a touching and beautiful film that is wonderfully directed by Hirokazu Koreeda who pulls together a film that on reading a synopsis sounds incredibly unbelievable. Instead we experience an awaking of beautiful person who discovers that air means more to her than most.

Symbol (2009), Japan, is crazy film that effectively is just an elaborate gag film which has long been the realm of the short film, the films act as a long set up for a big funny ending. While Symbol actually does the same thing! Directed and starring Hitoshi Matsumoto delivers a sometimes funny but ultimately a long gag film. The film crosses between somewhere in Mexico - a wrestler is preparing for fight day and a man who wakes up in his pj’s in a completely white room with some strange characteristics. Hitoshi constantly screaming will grate on some viewers while others will find it amusing. The film has some very funny moments but the conclusion will be a WTF moment. Symbol probably plays best in front of midnight screening audience and if you get a chance to see it at your local film festival see with the midnight screening!

TIFF Day 07: on the down hill run!

2009-09-16T07:58:00.000+10:00

Lebanon (2009), Israel, is basically the film, that will do for tanks what Das Boat (1982) did for submarines. The entire film takes place inside a lone tank patrol during the first Lebanon war in 1982. The tank crew of four battle to keep their emotion and focus on their job, while supporting ground soliders during a mission. The camera co-exist with the crew and the only view outside we see is through the scope of the tank. The mission goes astray and they struggle to keep control of the situation. Lebanon recently won the top award at the Venice Film Festival, partly IMHO because of the fact that the whole film takes place in the inside of the tank. Enjoyable, but certainly not outstanding.

Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans (2009), USA, Werner Herzog second film at TIFF is strange film with moments of brilliance and moments of ridicioulos overacting with corny dialogue. This film is a sequel only in name with Nicholas Cage occupying the role of the Bad Lieutenant Terence McDonagh who hurts his back in the opening scene of the film saving a prisoner in his cell during Hurricane Katrina. The story skips forward six months to find a newly promoted Terence struggling with back pain which has caused an addiction to narcotics both legal and illegal. Cage performance delivers a strong performance only let down by some strange dialogue during a number of moments. The film has the hallmarks of the original film, but is tamer. It's good film, but is let down at the crucial moments by some overacting and dialogue.

Bitch Slap (2009), USA, had a buzz on it the moment people saw attractive women wearing skimpy outfits and getting all violent. This film plays like a homage to Russ Myers with whole lot guns. The camera lingered on every part of the film anatomy and hovered over the lack of clothing. The sequence in the desert while heroines search for their treasure is mechanism to tell the story of some brilliant looking flashback sequences with incredible visual style and fight scene. The film contains some amusing dialogue that will keep you giggling. As a date movie, this could be a deal breaker if you take a lady to see this one you better hope she gets just as bigger thrill out of looking at attractive woman in the skimpiest outfits fighting. The reality is I felt a little dirty watching this film as it's geared straight to males sensibility of looking at half naked woman.

TIFF Day 06: back to the movies

2009-09-15T13:34:00.000+10:00

Arrived back from Boston at around 12.00 p.m. and throw myself back into the movies and opened the days screening with The Unloved (2009), UK, is an the directorial debut by accomplished english actress Samantha Morton who gives us a quiet but dramatic film. The film is about an 11 year old girl, Lucy who finds herself in foster care due to physical abuse by her father and with her estranged mother wanting nothing to do with her. Morton has shown real care and patience with her shot selection that adds to realism that haunting elements to the story. The foster car home has a sinister side that is gently reveal but without being graphic. It depicts real sense of honesty in the story and each scene. Morton is not searching to plant the blame but to move the audience to understand the world that faces many of our most vulnerable children.

The Hole in 3D (2009), USA, the return of Joe Dante (Gremlins) to the horror comedy genre unfortunately it's not a triumphant return. The story of a troubled family on the run from their abusive father rent a house with a mystery hole in the cellar floor that has been padlocked shut. The two children of course of the hole and spooky things start happening revolving around each person fear. The action is very familiar to Joe Dante's style from the Twilight Zone: The Movie segment crossed with Dolls, Puppetmaster and Chucky. The 3D was hardily used in the film and could have add another dimension to this film but sadly it wasn't. This is one of the weakest films so far in the program will probably slip from memory quickly.

Vengeance (2009), Hong Kong, Johnnie To serves up revenge hitman film and playing in the Triad sand pit again. The film opens with the execution of a whole family. We learn the only survivor the mother is gravely ill and her mother Costello (Johnny HALLYDAY) arriving from France to seek revenge. Costello soon engages a hitman team and they track down the culprits and start an ultimate battle with the killers and their boss. Costello initially portrayed as restauranteur who once was a cop but is also suffering memory loss and takes polaroid photographs and writes notes to help him remember (Memento). To unfortunately does deliver one of his best film on this occasion and has a lot to do with HALLYDAY who just lack any rhythm in the role. On the flip-side this film does contain a very memorable shoot out sequence that is work the viewing at least.

The final screening of the day was another film in the Midnight Madness program, REC2 (2009), Spain, the highly anticipated sequel. The story continues 15 minutes after the last film and we head straight back into the apartment block with a SWAT team and government official. This film delivers more information on the mythology of the original and really adds to the story. The team behind the original has improved upon the shock value and keep those terrifying moments rolling. The crowd at TIFF were going nuts for this film and it simply works while advancing the story.

TIFF Day 05: Monday Night Football

2009-09-14T09:25:00.000+10:00

This morning I set off to Boston flying American Airlines to go to Gillette Stadium to watch the season opener of Monday Night Football. I have been a long time follower of the New England Patriots and have always wanted to see a game live and this was my chance to take a break from the film festival action.

It felt like a AFL Grand Final Day (Australian Rule Football) and the people's set up in the car parks outside the stadium had to be seen to be believed. Tailgating before the game is an American tradition with complex BBQ set ups and preparation. People were setting up plasma television outside their RV's to watch the pre game coverage.

The Patriots went into the game red hot favorites to win, but what I ended up seeing was the Patriots snatching a victory from the jaws of defeat in the dying two minutes of the match scoring two touchdowns. The crowd cheered and I was witnessed to incredible insight into Americans favorite game.

This is the view from my seat on the night, for the record Patriots 25 to Buffalo Bills 24.

TIFF Day 04: answer to questions

2009-09-13T08:00:00.001+10:00

I am right into the swing of the festival at this point and it's time to get some of those burning questions answered - What is Michael Moore new film like? Is The Road at bad as what the rumors are saying?

Capitalism: A Love Story (2009), USA, Michael Moore returns with possibly his weakness film in a longtime and one that is very insular with the whole film relating entirely to the USA financial issues. Capitalism doesn't hang its hat one particular issue of the recent financial crisis but tries to give an overview of what caused it. Moore is up to his usual tricks - grand standing outside the banks with armored truck offering to take the bail out money back to the people or the crime scene tape outside Wall Street. They are all the familiar Moore tactics which gain a laugh. Unfortunately, this subject matter is just too large to hang the smoking gun to one person or group which means Moore uses a scatter gun approach without much success. The film lacks real issues that will appeal to audiences outside the USA or a great story angle to carry the emotional context of the situation. Ultimately, this is film is an appeal to the people of the United States of America to act!

Harry Brown (2009), UK, Michael Caine (Harry Brown) as a pensioner going all Death Wish seems like an absurd idea on the surface, but what is served up is brilliant revenge thriller done. Michael Caine delivers one of his strongest performance as elderly pensioner who decides enough is enough with the local teenagers terrorize the residents of the housing commissions with their endless assaults and harassment. Harry Brown is introduced as the devoted husband with a gravely ill wife in hospital on her death bed. Harry Brown appears to be an unremarkable pensioner and we soon learn he was a highly decorated English solider. His wife dies and the violence pushes Harry Brown to action when he realize the lack of police action. Harry Brown takes action, obviously with violent conclusion.

The Road (2009), USA, has been highly anticipated film since the novel of the same name. The film has been dogging by rumors and delays in production. The rumors had been flying around that the film had lived up to expectations and plenty re-editing had been done. John Hillcoat has served up an incredible tell of humanity and strength in the face of adversity. Set in post apocalyptic landscape were we watch a father and son wander the wasteland of cities and towns while avoiding the last remaining human beings who are feeding on each other. The reasons - how and why the human race find themselves in this situation is never shown nor mentioned. The Road is human story and bond to survive their situation, by keeping their humanity. The performance of Viggo Mortenson (The Man) and Kodi Smit-McPhee (The Boy) will garner them plenty oscar nomination interest in the coming months. A very enjoyable and moving film that will certainly be heavily nominated when oscar time rolls around next year.

The end of day must be completed with some Midnight Madness and this time around my home country was the feature of tonight's program, The Loved Ones (2009), AUS, finally an Aussie horror film we can be proud of this film has been pitched as part Carrie, Pretty in Pink and Misery. Sean Byrnes, the director, has develop a horror film that delivers terror, humor and action with a huge serving of violence. But in order for Byrnes to pull this film off he need a couple of brilliant performance by John Brumpton (Eric) and Robin McLeavy (Lola) as the father and daughter killers. What is a daddy supposed to do to help her rejected daughter by the local high school classmate, Brent (Xavier Samuel). Brent life hasn't been going to well in recent times dealing with the guilt of his father's death, while he was giving Brent a driving lesson. The action is well staged and Byrnes choice to mix up the violence with the school dance activities helps building the tension. This film should leave TIFF with plenty of buzz judging the crowd reaction during the screening and the amount of internet chatter on blogs and twitter comments.

TIFF Day 03: into the swing of it!

2009-09-12T15:33:00.000+10:00

Today screenings started with Suck (2009), Canada, a comedy horror that follows the adventures of hapless rock band and their leader singer, Joey (Rob Stefaniuk), until things turn around when a freaky vampire turns up at one of their shows and turns their female bassist into a vampire. Instead of spelling doom for the band it sets them on the path of success. All the while a vampire hunter played Malcolm McDowell is lurking in the shadows ready to put things right. Before you know it the bands all be turned into vampires and they are fast becoming hugely successful. This film has number of cameo's by rock legends like Alice Cooper, Iggy Pop and Henry Rollins. The film felt like it had missed it's mark and belonged in the 80's - it reminded me so much of Fright Night (1985) and similar style films. Passable but nothing unique or overly original.

Accident (2009), Hong Kong, Johnnie To produced hitman with a difference - Hong Kong cinema is riddled with hitman stories but this one finds you ways with dispatching their targets by staging the hits as unfortunate accident - part Myth Busters/Hong Kong action film we are treated to fantastic open execution right down to falling window glass to do the job but it's chain of events to get there that is impressive. The film is nicely paced as this execution team next job doesn't go so well, several failed attempts and the final execution goes wrong. Suddenly this tight knit team is looking over their shoulders at each other and everyone suspect everyone! The leader of the team 'Brain' discovers who was set them up and goes about getting revenge.

Deliver Us From Evil (2009), Denmark, Ole Bornedal (Night watch) returns with a brilliant thriller about a small Danish and their inhabitants and how easily things can slip into anarchy. To be honest I almost crossed this film off the list after reading a review in a street press newspaper assessing this year's crop of films with one sentence review. The reviewer dismissed the film as being slow and boring with nothing happening. Either the reviewer didn't watch the same film I did or they switched it off half through because anyone seeing this film could not have passed over commenting about the last half hour of the film which is when the film descend into to complete anarchy with violent attacks being committed that would have woken anyone from their slumber. The most disturbing thing about this film is how real it felt and it made you ponder the potential of this happening anywhere. It's slow burner of thriller that develops a punch even for the most jaded viewer of cinema.

A Serious Man (2009), USA, those wacky Coen Brothers are backing with another one of those quirky comedies that we love for! The seemed to in recent times be producing a new film every year and appearing almost regular fixturing at TIFF. The Coen's are this time exploring a very ordinary jewish family who are going through some difficult times. They always seem to assemble an array of odd ball characters and blending it with great humor. Plus they never play by the rules you give an ending they more likely decide we'll leave it here!

Ending the evening with another Midnight Madness film completed another day of crazy collection of screenings and the streets of Toronto awash with zombies and that leads me to the final film, George A. Romero's Survival of the Dead (2009), Canada, Romero's seemed to have surrendered to the idea that the only film he can get the cash up for is a zombie film. Survival is partly a sequel to Diary of the Dead, but exists entirely on it's barring the one character, Nicotine Crocket (Alan Van Sprang) who had a brief appearance in Diary as the leader of a group of renegade soliders. The story revolves around Nicotine's team survival on the mainland and their chance in counter with younger teenager who encourages them to head to island off the coast of Delaware. The island is inhabitant by two rival families of Irish migrants who are hell bent on destroying each more than the zombie. This film plays out like a western but it really doesn't advance George's zombie universe any further. It's for the fans and hopefully the time has come to put the zombie's in their graves. The only problem with zombies is they don't like laying down and having a break. I suspect that Romero may keep churning them until he is in the grave. The real worry is maybe real life will actually imitate art in the future. If you like Romero's previous zombie films you'll enjoy this too - I know their was part of me that did have a good time!

TIFF Day 02: into up to my elbows!

2009-09-11T14:08:00.000+10:00

The second day of my TIFF experience was a huge day with films coming a number of different genres and I was spoilt with each possessing their own unique qualities!

The first screening of the day, The Damned United (2009), UK, was perfect way to start the day with the true story behind Brian Clough (Michael Sheen), a truly driven and unique football manager of Derby County from the late 60's and 70's who tasted success and failures along his professional journey. The story focused on his close relationship with coaching partner, Pete Taylor (Timothy Spall) and his obsession to outdo rival coach of Leeds United, Don Revie (Colmy Meaney). The Damned United ticks all the right boxes when it comes to entertainment - dramatic, funny, touching, great characters and real life stuff. The dialogue coming from Clough is incredibly funny and even for non soccer (football) fan this film is a must see for anyone who wants see a personally driven person who's hell bent on success. The film is based on novel by David Peace, who I have become very familiar with over recent months, especially the Red Riding trilogy of books and films.

Under the Mountain (2009), NZ, the director, Jonathan King, returns to TIFF after his successful horror comedy, Black Sheep (TIFF 07). King is playing in the same sand pit but this time the film is squarely aimed at a younger audience. Under the Mountain is actually playing in the Sprockets Family Zone section of the festival. It's fun film with creepy ushers, homes and creatures while using the dormant volcano's of Auckland to create some certain of fantasy mythology of what is being kept under the volcanos. Twins find themselves in the middle of a battle to save the planet with some very old gentlemen who seems to have been kicking around a couple of hundred years, Mr Jones (Sam Neil). After the untimely death of the twin teenagers mother that get shipped off to their aunty and uncle's place located on one the volcano lakes in the heart of Auckland. They soon find themselves knee deep in trouble with the creepy undertaker around the lake. Their are elements that felt like they had been inspired by Phantasm series. The film doesn't depict any violence but relies on the creepy nature of the house, creatures and location to scare audience. There are plot holes a plenty and details that just don't tie this film together, which is probably the reason to place into the kids program (they'll probably not notice those details). King is competent director and his screenplay simply needed more work. It's enjoyable film, but don't go looking to deep for answers.

Enter the Void (2009), France, Gasper Noe returns with another provocative film that will test audience on many different levels. Noe's distinctive floating camera style returns. The first 20 minutes is shot from the perspective of Oscars, his point of view (POV) of the last twenty minutes of his life - including his drug trip, wandering through Tokyo while high and then his untimely death. The film goes through a sequences of Oscar's life up to his moment of death. The story revolves his sister joining him in Tokyo. The sequence is shown with Oscar's head occupying the middle of the frame as he relives his life. Then we go into his ghost like view as it journeys through the streets of Tokyo. This film is a visual feast with the camera movements and transitions to each scene are incredible. The reality is this film doesn't have a story and when you realize the film clocks in at 155 minutes long you do go over the same territory a number of times, but the imaginary is incredible. Enter the Void is experimental in the traditional sense, but will become a cult film unfortunately mainstream audience will find the film very jarring due to it's style. The films strength are also it's weakness. The film contains graphic sex, violence and drug use but what else would be one expecting from Noe.

Solomon Kane (2009), UK, delivered a health punch of action and fantasy it felt like a cross between The Mummy, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Conan the Barbarian and fantasy film which seem to be all the rage lately. Solomon Kane is an evil character who finds himself bring summoned to hell after the reaper comes to collect his soul. Kane decides that he is not quite ready to go so he escapes and sets about reinventing himself but like a lot things in life a leopard never charges spots but this time he has a purpose. Michael J. Bassett delivers a visual feast and non stop action that makes this film a roller coaster ride that should impress that young, young at heart and everyone. The film has impressive CGI effects throughout the film and certainly stands up there with recent special effects film but the budget would be far below what Hollywood would have cost to make a comparative film. Solomon Kane has the potential to become a fantastic franchise - the only thing is timing!

The best way to finish a day of films is with Daybreakers (2009), AUS, a vampire film that not only restores class to the genre but breaths life into the genre with this futuristic epic about the vampires ruling planet earth and humans relegated to being a food source. Spierig Brothers have delivered a visual and compelling film that moves along with action and gore. Everything you want from a vampire film and more with fantastic cast Ethan Hawke and William Dafoe who both left this from B grade film to A Grade entertainment judging from the crowd reaction at the midnight screening this film is a real crowd pleaser. Spierig Brothers debut film The Undead over five years certainly made people sit up and take notice while this officially puts the brothers on the radar of people to keep an eye on! Daybreakers was shot on the Gold Coast in Australia and certainly proves that Australia can make genre films with international appeal - hopefully this makes a big splash at the box office to encourage more genre filmmaking in Australia.

TIFF Day 01: ready, set, action!

2009-09-10T07:59:00.001+10:00

I arrived in Toronto after flying over night by flights from LA to Chicago then Chicago to Toronto. I arrived around 8.30 a.m., I cleared immigration which was completely empty and entered the passenger hall to discover not a person in sight. I was pondering to myself isn't this peak hour and where had all the people gone. I immediately tried to get some cash out of a nearby ATM - with no luck, a travelers worst nightmare (the problem was resolved later in the day after anger phone call to my Australia bank), fortunately all my cards work for purchases - so found a taxi after 15 minutes and headed to downtown to the my hostel.

I soon discovered were all the people where, they are sitting in traffic in the freeway. I had escaped the city of endless traffic jams on freeways (LA) and found myself in another freeway resembling a carpark. Another hour in traffic and arrived at my hostel, Global Village Backpackers.

Dropped my bags and head the Festival HQ which is a 30 minute walk from the hostel (at least I'll be burning the calories everyday wandering). Toronto seems to be an easier enough city to navigate and picked up my accreditation and head to the first day of Press & Industry screenings at the Varsity Cinema Complex.

Jennifer's Body (2009), USA, was the perfect choice for me to start my TIFF experience, nothing to complex or dramatic and actually whole lot of fun. This film already had big wraps on it with the screenplay by Diablo Cody (Juno) and featuring an attractive teen girl (Megan Fox) getting busy with boys and then killing them, lesbian scenes and gory violence is the perfect formula for a teen horror which is accessible to most people under 50. The film has a few laughs, excellent performance by the cast and solid director by Karyn Kusama.

The best part for anyone reading this blog you don't have to wait long to find this at your local multiplex with the film getting released next week. The question many festival goers do ask from time to time is how does such a big studio film finds it's way into film festival program when it's on the verge of release, well it's bobbed up in the Midnight Madness program and is looking for hype from the run at TIFF to generate some positive publicity.

The next screening of the day was Creation (2009), UK, the opening night film for TIFF, the dramatic retelling of events that occurred during the writing of 'On the Origins of Species' by Charles Darwin. As this film is only an hour and half long and Darwin's writing of this revolutionary book took over twenty years to write,you can just imagine that this a snap shot of key events in his life. The reality is the majority of the film focuses on Darwin's depression and despair of the death of his daughter, Annie, this seemed to be the key event in the entire film. Instead of giving us an insight into his incredible life we get the briefest portrayal of the man. The film is very slow pace and moves at turtles pace through the film sequence. Creation is a well crafted and excellent attention for detail for the era with an excellent performance by Paul Bettany as Charles Darwin, but it leaves you with no better insight into Charles Darwin. I will declare that I was extremely tired from flight and the lack of sleep which may have slightly clouded my opinion.

The Wild Hunt (2009), Canada, was interesting film about a group of Live Action Role Players as then head to the hills to be vikings, knights, pixies and fairies - and do battle to escape their nine to five lives. My biggest issue with this film is the key story revolves around a relationship of two horrible characters who's relationship is on the rocks and evoked no sympathy for their plight. The journey into this world was fascinating, but the film failed due to the key relationship.

My internet availability is limited - so I am going to have to keep my comments short, but I am take a closer look at some titles during the festival.

Trailer - Boondock Saints 2

2009-09-04T16:34:00.002+10:00

Boondock Saints (1999) was one of those films that people loved or hated, but one thing for sure was that the director, Troy Duffy, earned legendary status for his bad behaviour during the wooing of Duffy by Hollywood. His reputation was well known amongst Hollywood insiders but the documentary, Overnight (2003), confirmed all the rumours and stories of Duffy's antics to the public. Troy Duffy found himself as the outsider, but for a moment in time he was the golden child.

It's time to revisit both Boondock Saints and Overnight on the news of the release of the trailer for Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day (2009) due in cinemas on the 30th October 2009. Jump online, visit your video store or pull out the DVD it's time get ready for Duffy's next film only ten years in the making.

MUFF X Awards on Video

2009-09-04T10:57:00.001+10:00

You have read about who won, but here is your chance to see what actually happened on the night with entire awards presentations on the night at the Noise Bar.

celluloid bacon #03 - MUFF X awards (Exclusive) from Mike Smith on Vimeo.

MUFF Award Winners

2009-08-31T23:29:00.003+10:00

Melbourne Underground Film Festival concluded last night (Sunday 30th August 2009) at the Noise Bar with standing room only (full house). The closing night program featured:

Herman: Am I Proud (Australia), directed by Sascha-Rene Karner, a short ten minute documentary about a Germany migrant who was a German solider during WWII. The film was a personal tale about the filmmakers grandfather who claimed to be German solider during the war. Unfortunately, Herman was a quirky character insisting on appearing in his underwear the whole film which the audience found amusing. The film was well made, but certainly didn't provide anything confronting and was on safe ground!

The Un-Australian (Australia), directed by Jon Lucas, fourteen minute comedy, the director is a close personal friend and I am not comfortable writing a comment about his film except to say the person who laughed the loudest was the director himself, Mr Jon Lucas, he wasn't the only one who enjoyed the show!

The Tumbler (Australia), directed by Marc Gracie, a thriller that never achieves the levels that should have been attained. This film had a budget the size of every film that played at MUFF and doesn't really set the world on fire. Gary Sweet held the film together for the entire 79 minutes and without his performance this film would have been simply a bad film with great ideas. The choice to close the festival with The Tumbler was an ideal choice with a film that has been floating around for a couple of years and has only recently raised it's head in 2008. The creators behind this film are great industry people who you just wish it had lived up to it's potential.

After the screenings, Richard Wolstencroft held the award ceremony for MUFF X:
Lifetime Achievement - Frank Howson & John La Monde

Best Australian Film - 'Into the Shadows' & 'Eraser Children'

Runner Up Best Australian Film - 'The Tumbler

Best Australian Director - Marc Gracie (The Tumbler)

Best Australian Male Actor - Gary Sweet (The Tumbler)

Best Australian Female Actor - Sandra Casa (Bad Habits) & Kristen Condon (The Beautiful & Damned)

Best Supporting Male Actor - Shane Nagle (Eraser Children)

Best Supporting Female Actor - Georgii Speakman (Carmilla Hyde)

Special Jury Prize - 'Seeking Wellness - Suffering in Four Movements'

Special Jury Prize (Short) - 'Herman: Am I Proud'

Best Guerrilla Film - 'Carmilla Hyde'

MUFF Producers Award - Prey - Robert Galinsky & Elizabeth Howatt-Jackman

Best Documentary - 'The Nigel Diaries' & 'Burn City'

Best Cinematography - Justin Brickle (The Tumbler)

Best Screenplay - Jack Ketchum (Offspring) & Dominic Deacon (Bad Habits)

Best Short - 'The Marina Experiment' & 'Matinee'

Runner Up Best Short - 'Higher Plane'

Best Foreign Film - 'Impolex'

Best Foreign Director - Zach Clark (Modern Love Is Automatic)

Best Foreign Male Actor - Riley O'Brien (Impolex)

Best Foreign Female Actor - Melodie Sisk (Modern Love Is Automatic)

Movie Review: Troy Star

2009-08-28T00:51:00.003+10:00

Troy Star: Fake It Till You Make It (2009), Australia, is one of those little films that achieves big things - it's entertaining and a very honest account of Troy Star (Troy Logan), the Surfers Paradise magician, who has big dreams and documents those adventures to take on the world.

Troy Star isn't a new story, the unknown trying to make it big, but it's a honest and endearing tale about Troy's adventures across the globe to make it. He visits Japan, USA and UK on his journey to fame. Instead he discovers that sometimes those big dreams are harder to achieve then you expect. Troy struggles to survive his impending financial ruin, language barriers, unprotected adventures and conflicts at every corner with his camera crew.

Troy Star delivers a refreshing and enjoyable film as he rubs shoulders with a the collection of odd ball characters, mega famous (Cuba Gooding Jr, Shaquille O'Neal) and dozens of magicians.

This is a passion project that starts out with a quest for world magic domination for Star and ends up with a happy ending but not as you expect it! It's no cinematic masterpiece but an honest and enjoyable film.

Troy is highly motivated and self promoter who is self distributing his film. He has had string of endless premieres at any location that will have his film - Troy is bring the world to his film, whether the world wants it or not, check out YouTube, DVD (from the web site) or hiring Troy for your next party.

IFN Video Podcast 27 - Jake Rademacher

2009-08-27T23:44:00.005+10:00

On this week's edition of Indie Film Nation, Bruce Himmelblau speaks to Jake Rademacher (Director) of Brothers at War (USA) documentary feature film that is powerful and moving story about Jake's two brothers who were currently serving military servicemen in Iraq.

MUFF X Opening Night - Into The Shadows

2009-08-22T23:15:00.004+10:00

Just back from the opening night of the Melbourne Underground Film Festival which was held at the Embassy Hotel (formerly QBH). This is a new venue for this year's festival. It's basically a hotel bar using a projector to show the films onto a white sheet (you don't get anymore underground then that) and the crowd was probably around the 150 number.

Richard Wolstencroft was the MC of the evening and the screening of the first two shorts didn't go to plan, the first short M.C.G.F.C screening copy contained the filmmakers other short films. The festival was changing the DVD between each film. This little drama caused the film to be promptly pulled from the screening because after switching through about five of the other filmmaker's films, our programmer (RW) had had enough.

Context (Directed by Stuart Simpson) was an interesting and effective short film with a haunting soundscape which drives the story. A current affair journalist is stalked to her home by a shadowy figure who is readying for retribution. The film is well executed and the performance of the lead actress (unfortunately I missed her name in the end credits) helps carry the film. Overall, the film was enjoyable but probably a little long.

Into The Shadows (Directed by Andrew Scarano) was great choice for this year's opening night film for MUFF. The current state of the Australian film industry has been kicked around in the arts community and wider Australian mainstream media for a number of years. This documentary took a holistic approach to the subject and gave a historical reference to the industry. Then moved through the years of Australian filmmaking to modern times. The film then took a look at the films, the exhibitors, recent events and the future.

This is difficult matter to cover effectively in an hour and half but Scarano choices and style has pulled together a very enjoyable documentary. It's informative but without being too dry. I was disappointed to hear that the a number of the major Australian film festival like (MIFF and SFF) both had chosen to overlook this documentary which is well made and provided a balanced, fair critique of the Australian film industry.

Into The Shadows certainly doesn't leave it's audience in all gloom and doom but introduces the notion that exciting times are ahead and the gate keepers of traditional exhibition/distribution can be bypassed by thinking outside the square. The internet may still be another solution. As the music industry has learned they should embrace new technology and maybe the motion picture industry should take stock. Exciting times are approaching for those that they have the heart and determination.

IFN Video Podcast #26- Richard Wolstencroft

2009-08-20T17:50:00.002+10:00

On the Indie Film Nation Podcast, I caught up with Richard Wolstencroft (aka Richard Masters), the Festival Director) of the Melbourne Underground Film Festival, obviously MUFF for short, have interviewed about the tenth year of the festival. Wolstencroft never one to hold back promoted the festival, himself and smashed the Australian film industry.

MIFF Day 13: Antichrist

2009-08-05T15:11:00.002+10:00

Antichrist (2009), Denmark, Lars Von Trier returns with controversial film that has divided audience since it's premiere at Cannes Film Festival early this year. The one about Lars Von Trier film is you always get something to different and it will inspire discussion.

Antichrist opens with a graphic sex scene between a couple with nothing spared to the imagination and scored to a beautiful piece of classical music, as the couple screw the living daylights out of each outher and a young boy is seen avoiding every piece of child proofing known to man. Unfortunately, the young boy finds his way to the desk alongside the window of their apartment. The young boy finds his way to fall out the window and plunge to his death. The opening scene is beautiful, haunting, graphic and just plain stupid. In fact the opening scene sums up the entire film perfectly, expect to be thrilled, shock, engrossed and shaking your head at those moments when want to scream at the screen, "Lars what the hell are you doing - that was stupid!"

Antichrist is a contradiction in so many ways and I truly don't know whether to like this film or hate it! I can honestly say that it is film I can not label easily. The performances of William Dafoe and Charlotte Gainsbourg are incredible and both deliver such complex and riveting range in their performance. The entire film revolves around the husband and wife's loss of their child. Both character are incredible complex and both have character flaws which drives the drama. Dafoe is cold, disconnected and condarsending towards his wife grief of the loss of their child. Gainsbourg is an emotional, devastated and vicious towards her husband.

The couple retreat to a cabin in a remote forest to deal with their grief and the film gets into mysterical themes. The atomsphere and the location are haunting with the characters undergoing a transformation. As I have mentioned, Antichrist has many moments of incredibly stylized and beautiful scenes with underlying brilliant errie moments, then out of the blue something utterly stupid and unforgivable occurs that leaves the viewer shaking your head, "Why, Why - what is Lars thinking?"

The couple's relationship unravels in graphic violent conclusion, but Lar's always manages to pull the film back from incredible brilliance and slapping it down with another stupid moment. Lar's is playing with some deeply confronting themes and concepts, but seemingly testing audience with poor decision or random moments of WTF.

Antichrist will be heralded by people has a piece of cinematic genius while others will dismiss it as rubbish. I feel I am somewhere in the middle I enjoyed Antichrist but I felt let down by some poor directorial choices by Von Trier that took me out of the film basically made me laugh out loud at those absurd moments. Antichrist is simply brilliant but flawed a little like most human beings when we are good, but when we are bad we can be down right evil.

MIFF Day 12: BREATHLESS and EDEN LOG

2009-08-04T12:17:00.006+10:00

BREATHLESS (2009), South Korea, more Korean cinema on the schedule and again this delivers in truckloads a brilliance, dark, brutal but human tale about Song-hoon, a street thug who works as debt collector who takes pleasure in beating everyone down including anyone who crosses his path. We soon learn that he has a compassionate side towards his little nephew and his sister giving them his earnings to help survive. Song world has been violence throughout his life and you get the impression that this seems to be a daily occurrence in South Korean’s life - domestic violence towards female. But the film certainly brings a human side to this cycle of violence by finding a kinder side as Song discovers a unique friendship with a teenage school student who connects with his life and they forge a strange but strong friendship that makes him rethink his chosen life. The film is heavy going but the human side in the film takes the story to the brilliant level.

EDEN LOG (2007), France, has taken a longtime to arrive on our shores and can see that this film certainly on basic principals contained the potential for incredible brilliance. Instead we get a poorly executed film that has a messy story that never explains the story completely or give the dimensions to prove the potential of this universe the story exists in. This sci-fi film reminds me of THE FOUNTAIN (2006), another film that got lost in it’s brilliant ideas but never pulls it together. The production designs and quality of the universe created far exceed the low budget production, but in parts this film is unwatchable getting lost in the darkness of this underground world. The mystery of the man with no memory as he tries to escape an underground world inhabited by many dangers draws many parallels to another low budget sci-fi film, CUBE (1997). In the end, I was disappointed but I can see why this film will split audience with many dismissing the film immediately and others heralding this as sci-fi classic to rival, BLADE RUNNER (1982). Check it out to see whether you discover a cult classic or rubbish B-grade film.

MIFF Day 11: Mother and Hansel & Gretel

2009-08-03T17:23:00.003+10:00

MOTHER (2009), South Korea, is that the type of film that you hope to discover at a film festival, original, clever, usually subtitled and from the Asian region. Mother premiered at the Cannes Film Festival this year to strong reviews and strong word of mouth from audiences, but that’s Cannes and not the real film festival circuit. The reality is Joon-ho Bong’s film is brilliant after stunning the world with THE HOST (2006) and MEMORIES OF MURDER (2003) he demonstrates his directorial skills again with competence. Mother is about the unhealthy dedication a mother can show towards her hapless son (Yoon Do-joon) who manages to get himself in trouble with the police and wounds up being the suspect in murder investigation. The performance of Hye-ja Kim as Yoon’s mother is tour de force, as she tries to exonerate her son. The film is two hours of brilliance that builds slowly to reveal the truth of the murder and depths of what a mother would do for her son.

HANSEL AND GRETEL (2007), South Korea, the idea of an re-imagination of this fairy-tale told by a Korean filmmaker brings excitement that they will apply their aesthetics to such classic fairy-tale. Unfortunately this film fell well below my expectations. Instead what was served up was a Twilight Zone or Amazing Stories television episode that drags on for two hours. The film was enjoyable but never reaches it’s full potential and leaves you with a hint of disappointment of what could have been.

MIFF Day 10: Blind Company & Awaydays

2009-08-02T16:22:00.002+10:00

My most disappointing day so far @ the Melbourne International Film Festival two films back to back and both were slow films that never reached any great heights!

BLIND COMPANY (2009), Australia, Alkinos Tsilimidos (Director) had it’s world premiere last night at MIFF. Tsilimidos is a favourite of the MIFF programmers having had TOM WHITE (2004) and EM4JAY (2006) all premiering at MIFF. Blind Company has excellent production values and incredible performance by Colin Friels and Nick Barkla, but this film is paced so slowly that it felt almost like a short film had that had been padded out to make a feature length film. The tension built from a man close too death and dealing with his life’s mistake, plays out too slowly. The revealing of his secret past is painfully slow and the shock ending comes as no surprise.

AWAYDAYS (2009), UK, set in 1979 in Liverpool telling the tale of group of soccer hooligans is fantastic story material and the actual source material as cult novel of the same by Kevin Sampson should deliver brilliant film. Instead, the film strolls along at such a slow pace that almost fell asleep. The film caught the time and look perfectly and the acting was strong, but something didn’t connect. The intensity from the story was missing. This should have been to the soccer hooligan genre what Trainspotting was to heroin genre.

MIFF Day 09: Love Exposure & The Burrowers

2009-08-01T16:09:00.007+10:00

LOVE EXPOSURE (2009), Japan, clocks in at just a couple minutes shy of four hours which is extraordinary length for feature film and unbelievable that a film could sustain one’s interest for such an incredibly long running time!

Sion Sono (Suicide Club) the director, has delivered an amazing piece of cinema that must be experience to truly appreciate, I recommend to see in a cinema just so you are not distracted by the phone ringing! The synopsis for this film doesn’t really give you any indication how interesting this film actually is, it’s wacky, fun, crazy, brilliant and should be experience just for the length.

THE BURROWERS (2008), USA, my days screening end with this film and I am just wondering how this film ended up in the MIFF night shift program. It’s an enjoyable western horror film directed by J.T. Petty that brings together some original themes but it’s straight to video fare at best. The version shown at the festival was screening off a Betacam SP which had all the color washed out of it and really detracted from the viewing experiencing, especially for the night time scenes. I was disappointed with the experience with such a poor quality screening and watching an average B grade film at such prestige international film festival. Apparently this film was an originally web series for Fearnet.com that has turned into a feature film.

MIFF Day 08: Unmade Beds, Chocolate & More

2009-07-31T16:16:00.002+10:00

Today was my most grueling day of the festival with four films back to back. Fortunately the films were great except the first film of the day.

THE HIGHER FORCE (2008), Iceland, a film that just tried way too hard to be funny. It had all the ingredients to be a funny film with the plot centering around incompetent debt collectors and wacky characters all set in the baron back drop of Iceland. Instead we get characters that seemed to be forced to odd and don’t work together plus the timing or pace of the film didn’t seem to gel. It had moments when it look liked it was going to all fall into place but then the laughs stopped and it never got started again. It reminder me a hell of lot of another film, Adventures of Power (2008) that had all the potential but just tried hard and thought that by having wacky characters that it’ll be funny!

CHOCOLATE (2008), Thailand, was a fun film that worked perfectly and the MIFF audience was clapping and cheering all their way through it. It’s no classic cinema but simply a fun film that works as a crowd pleaser. Chocolate has a simple plot, two lovers from rival gangs fall in love and told they’ll be killed if they stay together, they go their separate ways but not before conceiving a girl (Zen). Mum stays in Thailand and Dad returns to Japan. The little girl is physical challenged, but seems to have some unique skills which she develops as she grows up by watching marital arts movies and practicing her thai kickboxing. They take in a street kid who becomes Zen, best friend. Zen’s mother gets sick with cancer and before you know it she’s beating up every bad guy who owns her mother money to pay for her treatment. Amazing action sequences that will make you cheer and laugh, image Jackie Chan crossed with Bruce Lee then Rain man all in a teenager girl and you’ve got Chocolate! Just to complete the madness drop in a few ladyboys and you’ve got a very entertaining film!

UNMADE BEDS (2009), UK, was a film I missed at Sundance earlier this year and I hadn’t heard anything bad about it! I really found this to be a very freshening and enjoyable film. It like a modern and updated version of a John Hughes (Breakfast Club, Some Kind of Wonderful) 80‘s style films. It was beautiful shot and wonderful storytelling that felt so natural. The style and the music of this film worked together like a great piece of poetry to tell a lovely romantic story. This is a must see film for those wanting to experience great film that just seems to work!

ONG BAK 2: THE BEGINNING (2009), Thailand, the second thai film for the day. This time I was knowing exactly what I was getting myself into with this film it continues ONG BAK (2003) but it’s more of a prequel of sorts! Tony JAA does his thing again with wonderful fight choreography which is amazing to watch but the story set in ancient thailand is weak! But the reality for audience is their to watch epic fight scene after fight each more complex and eye catching! Fun but take it for what it is an brains action with that is just entertainment.

MIFF Day 07 - RED RIDING 1983

2009-07-30T16:00:00.002+10:00

RED RIDING 1983, the final installment in the series ended with an even stronger film then the first two films. The level of corruption weaves deeper and all the characters are tied together, along with those outstanding questions.

This episode revolves around a disinterested solicitor, John Piggott returning to town after the death of his mother. He soon finds himself knee deep in police corruption. When is asked to act as the appeal solicitor for Michael Mishkin, who was convicted of the three young girls murders in the 1974 film.

The reality was Mishkin was fitted up for the murders by the police covering a much sinister truth. Piggott turns the pressure up on Detective Jobson who finally finds some integrity or makes a stand.

The full truth is exposed and the series is wrapped up neatly, but one of the positive of the series was anyone sit down and watch one of the films and follow the story without missing out on any crucial details from the other films.

Did they belong in MIFF? It worked for me and each film raised the bar in the series and the production quality seemed to improve with each film. All the films had different directors but all the films felt they belonged together but slightly different styles.

MIFF Day 06: Fish Tank and Red Riding 1980

2009-07-29T15:56:00.003+10:00

FISH TANK, 2009, UK, is simply a brilliant film that proves that confronting stories can be told with compassion and heart even when all things seem lost. Andrea Arnold, the director has perfect timing and poise to move this story in positive way even when life is throwing you crappy cards. The script has been crafted with every scene moving the story and characters forward, no scene is wasted in this film.

The performance by Katie Jarvis as Mia, the hapless 15 year old on a collision course with disaster, delivers one of strongest performance by young actress since Ellen Page in Hard Candy. Mia lives an unhappy life with her single mother and younger sister, with conflict at every corner with the other teenager girls and at home. Mia’s angry outlook in life is contrasted by her compassion towards animals and her love of hip hop dancing.

Mia life gets turned upside down when her mother brings home a new boyfriend, Conner (Michael Fassbender), the attraction between the two of them spirals them into the inevitable sexual counter that cause a ripple effect on everyone’s lives. Arnold handles the sexual tense between the man and the teenager without moral judgement.

English filmmakers seemed to capture the troublesome lives of the housing commission estate residents in such realistic and powerful portrayals, but this film stands head and shoulders above previous. Fish Tank is confronting, compelling, memorable and finds a realistic story that speaks volumes to the audience. This is no Billy Elliot or Full Monty, this is real life with no winners or losers just people surviving their environment.

RED RIDING 1980, 2009, UK, kicked off my screenings for this day with two English films in the one day. Today was supposed to be a subtitle free day but again the print for another film in the Red Riding series has subtitles. I appreciate that this an international film festival, but I think most audience members don’t need them here in Melbourne.

Sorry for bursting with a rant for film that has further enhanced my belief that these trilogy films belong in the program. The second installment is set again in Yorkshire were the Yorkshire Ripper is being hunted by the police as the death toll is already reached 13 victims. Peter Hunter (Paddy Considine) is brought in from neighboring police force to help with the hunt for the Yorkshire Ripper.

Hunter has a history with the Yorkshire police when he conduct the investigation into the aftermath of events that occurred in Red Riding 1974. Hunter is again stonewall with police corruption and his own demons that threat to destroy his reputation and career.

James Marsh, the director delivers a compelling tale and ties the series together beautifully, but also allows each story to exist independently. Paddy Considine continues to deliver amazing performance that must soon or later get him some decent offers or awards.

MIFF Day 05 - THE CHASER and HOME

2009-07-28T15:49:00.010+10:00

THE CHASER, 2008, South Korea, is another excellent Korean film that is certainly not for the faint hearted, but if you can stomach a few minutes of extreme graphic violence this film you’ll be worth the discovery. The Chaser is a serial killer story that does not follow the usual conventions of the genre. The police are disinterested and even incompetent and The Chaser’s hero is more of an anti-hero, an ex-cop turned pimp who’s only motivation in life is money and initially his desire to find his missing girls that he believes are being stolen and sold on the black market. With this back drop in mind, the film starts at a relentless pace and continues for the whole two hours.

The major achievement of The Chaser could simply be that it doesn’t do want you except it do from a genre film. It even manages to find humanity in our anti-hero and turns him around. The strength of the film can be contributed to a brilliant script and incredible performance by Kim Yu-seok (the pimp) and Ha Jung-woo (Killer). A little healthy suspension of reality is required, but the violence in the film is very realistic and probably the only drawback from this film reaching a boarder audience.

The Chaser is a fantastic achievement for first time director, Hong-jin Na, who could be another Korean director to keep on your radar and no wonder Warner Brothers spent little time in acquiring the english remake rights at one million dollars.

The reason behind MIFF not including The Chaser in last year’s program was the one disappointment as MIFF has had a long history of championing Asian cinema long before the rest of the world unfortunately we’ve been a little slow this time around. The film was a box office hit in March in 2008 and quickly jumped onto Hollywood radar. The other surprise of the screening was how poor the attendance was for this screening with less than half filled Forum Theatre for a brilliant piece of cinema that you will not get to see in the cinema outside a film festival.

Even on YouTube you’ll find the whole movie in 13 parts but don’t rip yourself off - go buy the DVD, catch the next MIFF screening or pester your local film festival programmer to include The Chaser in their next festival.

My first screening at MIFF on day five was, HOME, a French film directed by Ursula Meier about a very dysfunctional family living alongside an abandon freeway which they had turned into their own private universe.

HOME was the first screening of the day at the Forum Theatre, to a near full house, not a bad effort for a lunch time work day screening. I suspect that many patrons had gone along to see HOME based the casting of Isabelle Huppert in the lead role. Huppert has a strong following, due to her brave and wonderful performance and choice of roles over career. Unfortunately this film, probably will not go down as one of her highlights, not due to her work but a film that just never pulls it all together.

The story revolves around couple who live in a farmhouse with their two daughters and son alongside this freeway. This doesn’t immediately scream out dysfunctional, but from the first scene you get the sense that not everything is not completely normal about this family. The oldest daughter spends her days working on her tan alongside an empty broken swimming pool while her brother and sister try to maintain normal school life. While Huppert portrayal of the mother, constantly looks as if she’s about to unravel in every scene, while the father played by Olivier Gourmet tries to keep the family functioning normally.

The film gets moving when the family discovers that their piece of paradise, the freeway out the front of their home is being opened to traffic. They lose their freedom and peaceful existence. Unfortunately, the strength of the film lies in the incredible location, the freeway and the fact that the freeway is resurface prior the film. Obviously the family unravels completely and doesn’t cope with this situation. As piece of cinema, HOME doesn’t elevated to any heights and left me with more interest in how they manage to secure the location then the actual journey the story took me on. Production Design and Location are the big winners and you know that if we are talking about that then the film has missed.

Celluloid Bacon Video Podcast #01

2009-07-28T13:49:00.003+10:00

This is the first take at the Celluloid Bacon Video Podcast series, this edition features a visit to Shou Sumiyaki Sake Bar and Grill which is located at 160 Little Bourke Street, Melbourne. Cheray Natalie and I checked it out between a press screening of The Age of Stupid (UK) and The Chaser (South Korea) at the Melbourne International Film Festival.

MIFF Day 04 - YAKUZA EIGA and BALIBO

2009-07-27T15:31:00.002+10:00

YAKUZA EIGA, (2009), France, opened my MIFF screenings for the day at ACMI which I found a little odd as this sort of documentary would play better in the late evenings trying to maximize fans of the genre. Yakuza Eiga is rather a bold effort to explore the yakuza genre since it’s inception in the 1960’s to present day.

The film features interviews from the major players like Kinji Fukasaku, Sonny Chiba, Noboru Ando, Takashi Miike, Shunichi Kajima, Takashi Kitano - just to name a few from the decades and it looks into the importance of Toei Studios role in the rise of the genre. It features clips from some of the key films from late 60 and 70’s yakuza films and the film is stylized appropriately to give it some polish.

Eiga is geared towards those that are already fans of the genre, may knowledge of the yakuza genre is very limited but I still got plenty out of it which means that my list of films to catch up after MIFF is growing rapidly.

Yakuza Eiga is celebration of the genre, but towards the end of the film got a little conversational by implying that the recent batch of yakuza films since the earlier 90’s have strayed away from the iconic traditions of the yakuza gangster image.

BALIBO, (2009), Australia, was my evening film and had already highly lauded by critics from the opening night and this second screening almost had a similar vibe with the politicians, Steve Bracks (former Victorian Premier) and Gavin Jennings (Minister for Innovation) running the introduction along with the director, Robert Connelly and key creative members.

Balibo covers the events of the five Australian journalist shot and killed in Balibo, East Timor in 1975 when Indonesian forces invade the country. The film is essentially historical account of the events leading up to their murder and the murder of another Australian journalist Roger East played by Anthony La Paglia.

Robert Connolly is proving to be competent and masterful director as his career progresses and this effort will undoubtable in result in many AFI awards for him personally and the film.

The casting deliver wonderful strong performance and the film can not be fault technically either. The choice to open the festival with Balibo was easy choice when you have such well made Australian film that was funded partly by the MIFF production fund and Film Victoria.

Balibo’s only problem will be convincing the Australian cinema public to part with their hard earned cash to check out an Australia film and a good Australian film at that!

MIFF Day 03 - RED RIDING 1974 (UK)

2009-07-26T15:09:00.009+10:00

RED RIDING 1974, is screening in the MIFF program along with other two films from the Red Riding series (1980, 1983). One of the most interesting aspects about these films is it that they are three feature length television films that screened earlier this year in the UK on Channel Four.

They are based on novels by David Peace set in Yorkshire and feature similar themes across the series but are not intended as prequel or sequels. All three films have been directed by different directors and shot on different formats.

RED RIDING 1974, revolves around a young journalist Eddie Dunford (Andrew Garfiled) returning to his home town to take up a post as the crime reporter for the Yorkshire Post but immediately finds himself on the story of child killer. Dunford finds himself knee deep in political and police corruption as he tries to solver the case of three missing children.

This may only be a feature television film, but the production values and casting is quality. It takes the audience on cinematic journey through Yorkshire in 1974 and is perfectly directed by Julian Jarrold(Brideshead Revisited).

The only query I have on this film actually should be in the MIFF program given that it is feature length television film that would happily play on the ABC or cable television. I’ll reserve my judgement until have seen the following two films (episodes) before making a final call, not that my opinion is deciding anything!

MIFF Day 02 - THIRST

2009-07-25T14:11:00.016+10:00

Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF) time again and the opening night kicked off last night with the world premiere of Australian film, ‘Balibo’. I am not one for opening night party thing, so I waited for the first official day of screenings to dive into the festival.

My first film was ‘THIRST’ by Korea’s Park Chan-wook who has become some what of an international star on the film festival circuit since his smash hit ‘Oldboy’ which won the Grand Jury Prize at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival. Since that time, Park’s next film has been highly anticipated by cinemaphiles around the world. ‘Old boy’ was the second film in a trilogy of revenge films which had been preceded by ‘Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance’ (2002) and concluded with ‘Sympathy for Lady Vengeance’ (2005). Even though ‘Old boy’ was the film to push Park’s films into the mainstream international film press his ‘JSA: Joint Security Area’ (2000) had already put his name on the radar of many film festival programmers.

Park delivered ‘I’m a Cyborg’ (2007) with little fanfare but when the rumors of Park making a vampire film it seemed to strike a cord with cinemaphiles around the globe. The film was selected to play at Cannes Film Festival which immediately justified the keen interest and when it collected the Jury Prize at Cannes Film Festival the growing interest in the film has reached fever pitch.

Park seems to work his magic with characters that have became isolated from their daily surroundings and end up committing acts of violence! THIRST follows this principal perfectly; we have disillusioned catholic priest (Hyeon) who wants to do more in life than read the last rites to dying patient at the local hospital and seeks a more spiritual assignment. He travels to mission in Africa and agrees to be injected with virus. Hyeon becomes injected with the virus that riddles his body with blisters and results in him dying on the operating table. In the fight to keep him alive he is given a blood transfusion that brings him back from the dead.

The priest vampirism doesn’t immediately manifest but it’s a slow burner as he returns home. His tale of survival has become legendary amongst the catholic faithful who camp outside his monastery hoping for the priest to heel the illness. He returns to work at the hospital and comes across a childhood friend who is gravely ill. Hyeon falls in love with his friend’s sad and mistreated wife (Tae-joo) while trying to manage his worsen health as his thirst for blood grows. Hyeon satisfy the cravings by feeding on a coma patience and a blind priest who is his mentor.

As Hyeon discovers his strengths, weakness and desire for Tae-joo they are finally satisfied - the carnage commences which results in highly enjoyable and unique take on the vampire genre. Park’s vision and style brings a timeless look to the film that doesn’t time the film to particular time. The performance of the cast who bring to life to the characters that could easily be disliked but seemed to bring a sense of sympathy and romance to the characters that elevate the story to a brilliant film!

THIRST has been dismissed by some critics as childish and comparing it to last year’s smash hit, ‘Let the Right One In’. Both films have breathed new life into the genre of vampires films and have managed to use the conventions of the genre but yet found new material within the genre without attempting to rewrite the accepted norms of the genre.