Film Festival Picks

The 2012 New Zealand International Film Festival starts today in Auckland, and if you've been too busy to keep up with what's playing and what might be good, here's a quick list of picks from each section of the programme to help you out:

ANIMATION
From Up on Poppy Hill - This wistful-looking new feature from Studio Ghibli master Hayao Miyazaki's son Goro looks about 100% better than this first film (Tales from Earthsea, ughh). Always a treat to catch Japanese animation on the big screen.

AOTEAROA NEW ZEALAND
How To Meet Girls from a Distance - I can imagine a future when there's a bigger budget, star-studded remake of this but for now let's just see how the winner of last year's Make My Movie competition turned out.

ARMED AND DANGEROUS
Killer Joe - see here.

BIG NIGHTS & SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS
The Shining / Holy Motors - If you're a horror fan and you're not even going to entertain the thought of catching The Shining at the Civic...I can't even. And Holy Motors? Leos Carax's mind-bender seems to be the festival's hot ticket to WTF City.

CHAMPIONS
Undefeated - This year's Oscar winner for Best Documentary feature. Inspirational sports doc.

FRAMING REALITY
The Imposter - Totally can't wait for this "mesmerizing psychological thriller bulging with twists, turns, nasty insinuations and shocking revelations" (Hollywood Reporter). PS. It's a doco.

GO SLOW
In the Fog - The most challenging section of the festival but sometimes the most rewarding. Any film you pick here will not be like any other film in the festival. I spun the wheel and landed on In the Fog, which looks perfectly ponderous.

INCREDIBLY STRANGE
The Cabin in the Woods - see here.

MUSICIANS! DANCERS!
Searching for Sugar Man - Crowd-pleasing music doco about the search for long lost Mexican/American singer-songwriter who did this catchy little number. Early word has been very positive.

NEW DIRECTIONS
Compliance - This one is going to turn heads. Best to go in cold apparently and be completely horrified by what happens.

PORTRAIT OF THE ARTIST
Marina Abramović: The Artist Is Present - Doco on amazing performance artist whose most famous piece involves sitting silently for 3 months in a gallery and allowing the public to encounter her.

WORLDS OF DIFFERENCE
The Sun Beaten Path - I love a good otherworldy ethnographic flick and this Tibetan movie ticks all the boxes. Landscapes, spirituality, completely foreign place and people, etc.

Happy film festivalling!

Classic Trailer: Blow Out

Brian De Palma's 1981 thriller Blow Out is one of his finest movies, and it's finally coming to DVD and Blu-ray from Vendetta on August 22nd. Quentin Tarantino has called John Travolta's performance in the film as his favourite from the actor. Have a peek at the trailer here:

VHS Art

Got lots of old VHS tapes sitting around at home?
Here is a great creative idea that uses the internal tape in a hugely inspiring way.

 From the 2009 Venice Biennale.

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.

Trailer: Taken 2

When Taken came out in 2008, it kinda took everyone by surprise: we watched in jaw-dropping awe as Liam Neeson, pushing 60, was kicking ass like nobody's business. Meanwhile the film destroyed the box office, reaping over $200 mill worldwide. Now 60, Neeson's going to be doing it all over the again, punching throats and taking down more Albanian baddies in the Olivier Megaton-directed, Istanbul-set Taken 2. Sure, the attempts to stretch the franchise strains credibility (now it's ex-wifey Famke Janssen who gets 'napped!), but the action looks solid and Neeson game for another round of don't-mess-with-the-retired-CIA-op.

New Fatso Ads

We have some fancy new TV ads. One is 30 seconds, the other is 1 min and goes into a bit more detail of how fatso works. Check 'em out!

Movie Simpsons

Here's a tumblr with a simple but neat, perfectly geeky idea: side-by-side gif comparisons of shots from The Simpsons with the original shot from the movie they are parodying. Hope to see more soon!