Trailer: Blackfish

Ever since its premiere at Sundance Film Festival early last year, Gabriela Cowperthwaite's controversial, anti-SeaWorld documentary Blackfish has been gathering major steam, igniting the debate over keeping orcas in captivity while prompting responses that ranged from bands pulling out from SeaWorld gigs to Pixar rewriting the ending to their Finding Nemo sequel, Finding Dory. There's been the expected backlash of course, not least of all, from SeaWorld themselves, who've been going on the damage control warpath to salvage their increasingly tarnished reputation. If you missed the screenings at the New Zealand Film Festival, Madman will be releasing Blackfish on DVD exactly a month from today; watch the trailer below:

Guy Wants Sundance Horror Movie to Be Burned

I've always wondered if indie filmmaker Lucky McKee will make another film as great as his debut May (criminally MIA on DVD around these parts) again: I haven't seen the Jack Ketchum adaptation Red which he was fired from, but his other two horror efforts, The Woods and the Masters of Horror entry Sick Girl, while not without their moments, didn't quite live up to their potential.

Here's hoping that film will be The Woman, which just premiered at Sundance and has already caused a stir, prompting walkouts and this dude to call for the film to be "burned and confiscated". The following video is possibly the best publicity the film could ever receive:

Covin' In

Louie Psihoyos' disturbing dolphin-killing doco The Cove, which opened here last week, seems to be making quite a splash about the place. Which is what it's intended to do of course. The subject matter is so sensitive that the Tokyo International Festival has refused to screen it, citing the film's highly critical stance on Japan's environmental policies as the reason for the rejection. Psihoyos said the decision was "hypocritical", since the festival's theme this year involved protecting the environment.

Another side effect has been the parting of ways between the Australian coastal town of Broome and Taiji, the Japanese village where the dolphin killings take place. Broome and Taiji have been sister cities since the late 19th century, but pressure from residents in Broome have forced the town to sever their historic ties until the slaughter stops. It's also, unfortunately, invited anti-Japanese sentiment there - which is one of the concerns Psihoyos and a Japanese audience member raised when he spoke after the film's second screening at the NZ Film Fest back in July.

Although I don't think Psihoyos has made an anti-Japanese film in any shape or form - and he does point out that the average Japanese citizen does not know about nor do they condone these killings - such extreme, racially motivated reactions seem inevitable, since it depicts strong stuff that inspires strong emotions, and strong emotions often overwhelm reason and perspective.

The Coming of Antichrist

Lars von Trier's art-horror pic Antichrist, the most controversial, critically polarising film at this year's Cannes Film Festival, has been confirmed to close the NZFF!! Terrific news, 'cos after leafing through the guide several times last week I thought that the programming really could've done with a jolt, something that would grab you by the throat and cause a bit of kerfuffle (The confirmation of this film - which stars Willem Dafoe and Charlotte Gainsbourg - might even see the return of David Lane and his moral watchdog fraternity, the so-called "Society for the Promotion of Community Standards", who've been pretty quiet in recent times).

Apparently making the film was a therapeutic process for the often-derided, often-divisive Danish arthouse titan, who was battling depression for a couple of years. I think of all the press I've read about the film, the most illuminating might be Roger Ebert's blog where he says "Lars von Trier's new film will not leave me alone". Obviously it's not a film for all tastes, but if you're a von Trier buff or a sucker for confrontational art movies, I'd say seeing Antichrist on the big screen with a crowd is something not to be missed. Here's the trailer (again, do not watch if you're squeamish or easily offended):