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):

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...

"So um, why do you have Spooks - Season 6 and not Season 5?"

Very good question. One of the reasons why a lot of films aren't available in New Zealand simply comes down to this: it's too bloody expensive to rate them. The basic gist of how the NZ Films, Videos, and Publications Classification Act works at the moment is that material rated G, PG and M in Britain and Australia can be cross-rated here relatively cheaply, but if something is RESTRICTED, distributors have to fork out thousands of dollars to get it rated. Hence you have ridiculous cases like the missing Season 5 of Spooks, or the absence of the rest of the L Word series because suppliers can't justify spending that much to get them released.

However, one hopes things will change soon with the start of a new campaign to review the current legislation so that more films can be made available. Click here to read about it and register your support for the cause - it's a really interesting read if you've ever wondered how that side of business works, and how it affects you as a DVD consumer. Or if you don't like reading, watch this Nightline piece on the topic.