Funny Incredibly Strange Film Festival Press Release

Head Incredibly Strange Film Festival programmer Ant Timpson issued a hilarious press release today, bestowing the films in his section with tongue-in-cheek awards categories. "I already know these films are very special," he says. "I don't need a jury to tell me what I already know. I'm giving these films awards in advance because 99% of the public don't care what films win awards AFTER they've screened, they want to know BEFORE they screen. Call me a ground-breaking loose canon if you must but maybe, just maybe, the public would prefer to know what films win awards before a festival has finished!" (Click on the film titles to watch the trailer)

BEST FILM ABOUT VIRAL PHENOMENA & WHY SUSAN BOYLE WAS AN ACCIDENT WAITING TO HAPPEN
And the Winner is Winnebago Man.

BEST FILM TO REMIND PEOPLE THAT YOU CAN NEVER HIDE FROM YOUR PAST
And the Winner is Best Worst Movie.

BEST FILM TO PUT YOUR PARTNER OFF EVER WANTING CHILDREN
And the Winner is Grace.

BEST FILM FOR PAIRING TWO WORDS THAT SHOULD BE PAIRED MORE OFTEN : NAZIS & ZOMBIES
And the Winner is Dead Snow.

BEST FILM FOR SAM RAIMI FANS WHO WANTED HIM TO RETURN TO HORROR
And the Winner is Drag Me To Hell.

BEST FILM TO SHOW THOSE ANNOYING FRIENDS WHO SAY THEY'VE SEEN IT ALL
And the Winner is Embodiment of Evil.

BEST FILM TO SHOW FILMMAKERS THAT LOW-BUDGET DOESN'T MEAN TWENTY SOMETHINGS SITTING IN CAFES TALKING ABOUT THEIR BORING RELATIONSHIPS
And the Winner is The Horseman.

BEST FILM TO REVEAL THAT SEX, BLOOD & RELIGION WILL ALWAYS MAKE GREAT ART
And the Winner is Thirst.

BEST FILM THAT PROVES THAT THE BEST WORST MOVIES ARE BETTER THAN THE WORST BEST MOVIES.
And the Winner is Troll 2.

BEST FILM TO PROVE THAT FOUR HOURS FLIES BY WHEN SAID FILM CONTAINS MASS MURDER AND UPSKIRT PHOTOGRAPHY
And the Winner is Love Exposure.

You can also check out an interview with Timpson here on the 3News website.

The New Zealand International Film Festival opens this Thursday in Auckland!

Trailer: Inglourious Basterds

The new international trailer for Quentin Tarantino's defiantly mispelled WWII flick Inglourious Basterds has hit the web, and it looks fab, though it may be a misleading representation of the film itself. This trailer reveals much more varied footage than previously seen - including some neat cinema scenes (which apparently play a huge part) - and makes it look like a rollicking good ol' men-on-a-mish adventure in the vein of The Dirty Dozen. But online chatter since its lukewarm Cannes debut indicates the film's actually more dialogue than action (not that surprising really, since dialogue's always been QT's thing). Anne Thompson of Variety noted on her blog that Basterds is "an art film, not a calculatedly mainstream entertainment", while the Guardian's Peter Bradshaw said in his one-star review that "everything is just so boring". My love affair with Tarantino ended a while back, but I must admit that this trailer got me a little excited:

The Mighty Bay

Michael Bay cannot be stopped. And he knows this. Industry watchers are now observing that his box office-demolishing Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen maybe the worst-reviewed $400 million hit ever. ROTF is packing theatres like nobody's business, and while box office results and critical consensus have rarely been on the same page, the disconnect in this case is larger than ever before. I love this L.A. Times interview with Bay where he addresses the negative reception his film's been getting. Favourite quote: "I am convinced that they are born with the anti-fun gene." Yes, Michael, that's the one...

48HOURS Competition Winner Charlotte Gets Picked Up

I missed most of the 48Hours action this year and only just caught up with the Grand Winner Charlotte, but I totally concur with the judges' decision: this is a truly fantastic and beautiful short that's easily among the best that's ever been made in the competition's history. And it's so good it's now attracted the attention of the New Zealand Film Commission's Short Film Team, whose Juliette Veber says it "deserves to be seen by an international audience". According to the press release, they'll be working together with its creator Parry Jones and 48Hours to get the film out there to a wider audience. Check it out:

Cameron Screens Avatar Footage

After months and months of keeping us in the dark, some concrete evidence of what James Cameron's sci-fi spectacle Avatar will look like has finally surfaced at Amsterdam's Cinema Expo. In a 24-minute presentation, Cameron screened a number of scenes from the film which has left several minds blown, if this report from comingsoon.net is anything to go by. Words like "jaw-dropping" and "amazing" are being used to describe the effects, which is said to combine CGI, motion capture technology and live action. The film, starring Sam Worthington and Sigourney Weaver, is set to be released on December 18. Here's a stunning-looking still that's doing the rounds:

Hyped? Hell yes.

Lost: The Sitcom!

So what's a Lost fan supposed to do in the (excruciating) downtime until Season 6 starts next Feb? If all the suffocatingly obsessive forum discussions are getting a bit too much, there's always the abundance of fan-created material on youtube to tide you over. The latest I've stumbled across is a great mix of Lost's Season 1 opening credits with Full House's theme song (there's a few more at TV Squad). It's kind of interesting how easily Lost lends itself to the late '80s/early '90s sitcoms, though it probably speaks to how cheesy the show can be at times (and no doubt the editorial wit of the clips' makers). But I dunno, maybe it's the hair or something. Either way it's pretty funny stuff. Love how they got the Full House typeface in there.

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):