Trailer: Under the Skin

The first trailer for Scarlett Johanssen's new film Under the Skin has hit the web and (AV quality issues aside) it looks intriguing and positively mind-blowing, though I'm hard-pressed to tell what the heck is going on. This arty, ambitious sci-fi flick, directed by Jonathan Glazer (his first film since 2004's Birth), has already generated a lot of talk and divided critics since its screenings at Telluride and Venice Film Festivals. The Guardian calls it an "extraordinary malarial dream"; The Telegraph says "astonishing"; Variety didn't show as much love, describe it as an "ultimately torpid and silly tale of an alien on the prowl". Me? I'm sold.

The NZFF: Preliminary Ramble

By now all of Auckland's self-respecting film geeks will probably have in their hands the programme for the 2012 New Zealand International Film Festival and be keenly scrutinising it with a mix of awe and excitement at the cinematic treats that await them from July 19 - August 5. A few notes:

• The launch last night at Rialto was maybe the most packed one I've ever attended. A choice of two films were screened: Searching for Sugar Man, Monsieur Lazhar. Couldn't stay for them, but have heard some positive words about Sugar Man.
• Nearly all films at this year's festival will screen in the DCP format (RIP 35mm). In his speech NZFF director Bill Gosden mentioned this year is a turning point for the fest.
• Nice to see a good selection of Cannes hits playing: Beasts of the Southern Wild, Holy Motors, Reality, Amour, Moonrise Kingdom.
• If the Incredibly Strange section feels a bit slight, it's 'cos several films were yanked, beyond programmer Ant Timpson's control, at the last minute. Still... The Cabin in the Woods at the CIVIC!
• Peter Jackson will be attending the West of Memphis screening, along with Damien Echols! There's only 1 screening for this so get your tickets early to avoid missing out.
• Auckland Art Gallery has come on board as a venue, but where art thou Academy Cinemas?
• No Cosmopolis?
• Film most excited about: The Imposter. I've deliberately tried to read as little about it as possible. Gonna go into this one blind. Have not even seen the trailer.
• Most gutted about missing: West of Memphis, Holy Motors, The Shining, Killer Joe.
• So far on my schedule: a meagre 12 films. Not a reflection on the festival itself, but just me having to fit around more commitments than usual this year.

The Fest From Hong Kong

Good news for fellow fans of Asian Cinema as the 2010 Hong Kong Film Festival explodes into Auckland this week. With a fist full of HK's best and brightest, it looks like we are in for a real treat this year. Healthy doses of Romance, Action and Drama abound - including the Pang Ho-Cheung double header, Love In A Puff and Dream Home, fresh from a roaring success at this year's International Film Festival.

Here's a few trailers to whet your appetite:

Final NZFF Round-Up

Here's the last batch of films I saw last week...

Paper Soldier - Anyone expecting cool retro space travel stuff from this look at the Soviet's role in the '60s Space Race would've been disappointed, possibly like I was. I wanted geekier stuff, maybe training sequences or something, or at least some sense of wonder in watching astronauts prepare for a trip to the moon. But instead it left me cold (possibly intentionally so?). Plodding, dramatically uninvolving viewing, but some nice widescreen lensing of the dreary Kazakhstan locations kept me watching.

Dogtooth - Greek flick caused many to flee from the cinema with its creepy, morbidly comic story of children who've grown up completely shut away from society by their parents. Goes to places that few films would dare. Brilliantly shot, edited and acted. Utterly demented. The real surprise of the fest, the kind of movie you walk in expecting nothing and walk out totally blown away.

Spies - I wished I was more awake* through Fritz Lang's 1928 silent classic (it's often considered "the granddaddy of all spy films") because what I saw of it was thoroughly enjoyable and entertaining. Neil Brand was on hand to provide the live piano soundtrack and he was amazing; as great as the film was, I found myself veering away from the screen just to watch this virtuoso play (which he did non-stop for nearly 3 hours). There was also another guy on the side of the stage doing a voice-over translation of all the intertitles, a bit of a clumsy move I think - the monotone heavily-Kiwi-accented reading made things seem hokier than it ought to be. Ideally, they should have got someone with a European (German!) accent to do it!

[*I should add that I've been nodding off through a lot of these films mainly due to exhaustion]

Love Exposure - Totally wild Japanese film was FOUR HOURS LONG, but not a dull moment. Somehow combines Catholic guilt and upskirt pornography into a funny, moving, original, just simply entertaining movie unlike any other. Hopefully Madman or someone will pick this up for a DVD release. Surprise of the fest #2. Here's the trailer:



Antichrist - Ok, this was the one I - hell, most of everyone I know - was waiting for all fest long. Lars von Trier's arthouse shocker probably equally spooked and amused a lot of people (apparently a woman ran out, visibly disturbed, from the SkyCity Theatre screening I attended, while at the Civic screening the following night, a man let out an angry rant outside the theatre lobby). I'm still not quite sure to make of it except that I admire the hell out of him for making it even though it didn't always work for me. Charlotte Gainsbourg was incredible in a psycho-batshit grieving-mother performance that forces her do some pretty heinous things - both to herself and hubbie Willem Dafoe - which I shall not divulge here. The end shot has really stayed with me.

Unmade Beds - Gahhh. Boring, undistinguished New Wavey indie navel-gazing was a bit of a snoozer to the end the fest on. Director Alexis Santos did a Q&A after, and his reedy, nervous/jittery, disheveled appearance was quite hilarious.

Anyway, that's it for another year. Click here to see some Top 5 picks!

Melbourne International Film Festival Gets Loach-ed!

Fiercely political Brit filmmaker Ken Loach has withdrawn his film Looking for Eric from this year's Melbourne International Film Festival in protest over Israeli funding. The Wind That Shakes the Barley director has long been an outspoken opponent against Israel's occupation of Palestinian land and its actions in Gaza, and back in May, had already pressured the Edinburgh International Film Festival to return a 300-pound grant from the Israeli Embassy - a demand which the festival bowed to. However, MIFF's executive director Richard Moore said in a statement that he would not bow to "blackmail", and added "MIFF understands that that this issue is a particularly emotional one for people, but we will not participate in a boycott against the state of Israel, just as we would not contemplate boycotting films from China or other nations involved in difficult long-standing historical disputes" (read more here).

I generally like Loach's work, even if he tends towards the didactic side on occasion, and this situation is rather unfortunate - but I admire Moore's steadfast stance in maintaining his festival's integrity. Here's a trailer for Looking for Eric, which I missed at NZFF (it'll no doubt find its way to the Rialto in the next few months):

NZFF: 5-Day Round-Up

Sorry for the lack of film fest udpates, haven't had the time to blog about them in detail, so here's a brief round-up of what I've seen in the last week or so (though if you're following fatso on twitter you might have been enlightened by the occasional NZFF-related tweet):

Winnebago Man - Funny, very touching documentary, truly one of the highlights of the festival so far. Almost left me in tears. Director Ben Steinbauer and producer Joel Heller were in attendance and did a great Q&A after the screening where they called Jack Rebney! Amazing.

Goodbye Solo - Ramin Bahrani's intimate, bracing two-character drama contains some of the finely nuanced writing and acting in a film this year. Kind of like Happy-Go-Lucky by way of Taste of Cherry. Depressing subject matter, but not depressing at all. And it doesn't cop out.

Embodiment of Evil - Brailizian horror maestro Jose Mojica Marins returns to the character that made him famous, Coffin Joe. Third film in the series which began in the '60s; lots of midnight movie yucks in this one, including skin-munching and meat hook-hanging and rats crawling into vaginas, but I fell asleep through most of it (mainly due to the late hour/fatigue).

Birdsong - Still not sure what to make of this piece of IMMENSELY slow cinema from Albert Serra, a minimalist re-telling of the nativity story, but there's something about its mix of the absurd and the spiritual I found quite hypnotic and beautiful. I counted two or three walkouts.

Mother - Bong Joon-Ho's new darkly comic mystery-drama isn't as great as The Host and Memories of Murder, but it's still pretty solid work from a master storyteller whose films I'll always look forward to. Awesome main character and lead performance. Opening and final shots are killer.

The Horseman - Low-budget, DV-lensed Aussie revenge thriller might be the most violent and brutal thing I've seen this year. Father goes on a rampage to knock off porn-peddlin' baddies who killed his daughter. I love a good B-movie revenge flick, but the violence here gets numbing and repetitive after a while.

Blind Loves -A wonderful Slovakian film which follows the lives of four blind people and their relationships. Droll, moving doco with fictionalised elements, another festival winner.

Yes, Madam Sir - Megan Doneman spent 6 years documenting India's first policewoman Kiran Bedi and the result is this stunning, inspiring, illuminating portrait of one woman's resilience and determination to forge ahead in a bureaucratic system that wishes nothing more than to crush her. Must-see.



In the last week of the festival now, and only 5 films to go!

Festival Anticipation

The New Zealand International Film Festival is beginning as I type this, with the New Zealand Premiere of Jane Campion's new romantic period drama Bright Star. Opening night is always a high-class affair, and it's always great to get the red carpet out for the first screening of a picture by one of our leading cinematic lights.

The blogging team are all warmed up and ready for two-and-a-half weeks of the best new cinema from around the globe. We'll report back here with mini-reviews and reports of mental states & retina damage we sustain in the line of duty.

The Top Five Films We're Looking Forward To This Year Are*:
5. Moon
4. Winnebago Man
3. Best Worst Movie
2. Troll 2

And the film we're most anticipating at this year's Film Festival is:


(*decided by "democratic process")

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):

Shock News: Worst Movie Ever Made to Play NZFF

Could NZFF be the only "prestigious" international film festival in the world to screen Troll 2, one of the most notoriously, lovably awful movies ever made? If so, I have to say I'm proud to be living in a country where we have film fest programmers who can make such a wonderful thing happen. At the Civic, there'll be showing the latest lovely period art-pic by Jane Campion, then down the road there'll be a bunch of vege-munchin' goblins turning humans into green goo.

We actually have Troll 2 (paired with unrelated Troll 1) on our site but if you've never seen the movie, I totally recommend buying a ticket to the ONE-OFF screening at SkyCity Queen St. on July 10 at 10:00pm. The film goes down like a riot with a packed audience, and it'll be a special experience you won't forget anytime soon - plus its star, former child actor Michael Stephenson will be there to introduce the film and probably do a Q&A after and sign your Troll 2 mousepad or whatever.

Stephenson also made the FANTASTIC documentary Best Worst Movie, which is also playing at the fest, about the rabid Troll 2 cult phenomenon that's grown exponentially over the last decade or so - something best appreciated after you've seen the movie. Best Worst Movie might also be the best feelgood movie of the year - it's that good! Check out this sneak peak...

Winnebago Man Confirmed for Film Fest!

"WINNEBAGO who?" you say... If you've never heard of him, he's the star of one of the most side-splittingly funny viral videos ever: Jack Rebney, a 40-something Gerald McRaney-lookalike who's trying to remember his lines for an RV promo video but keeps screwing up, leading to a torrent of expletives hilariously edited into a blooper reel by the crew he hired to shoot the vid. I originally became aware of Rebney through the Found Footage Festival DVD, and since then the clip has become an internet phenomenon, so much so that filmmaker Ben Steinbauer was compelled to track down Rebney and make a documentary on him! The doco has played to some very good press in the US, and word has it that it is now confirmed to play at this year's Auckland International Film Festival as part of the Incredibly Strange Film programme. Anywho, here's the original clip (WARNING: contains offensive language):