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"Cube meets The Apprentice" in trailer for Brit thriller Exam
26 November 2009 3:02 PM, PST
Man, it's been forever since we brought you the first stills for Stuart Hazeldine's claustrophobic debut thriller, Exam, and now, just as I was about to pack it up for the day, I get an email from Marina telling me that Empire's just posted the first trailer. Nice one.
Synopsis:
Eight talented candidates have reached the final stage of selection to join the ranks of a mysterious and powerful corporation. Entering a windowless room, an Invigilator gives them eighty minutes to answer one simple question. He outlines three rules they must obey or be disqualified: don't talk to him or the armed guard by the door, don't spoil their papers and don't leave the room. He starts the clock and leaves.
The candidates turn over their question papers, only to find they're completely blank...
So how's the trailer? It's great. It's no secret that I love how the Saw »
Peter Mullan returns from eight year hiatus with 70s gang drama Neds
26 November 2009 1:53 PM, PST
It's been eight years since we've heard from Peter Mullan, the Scottish actor-turned-director who picked up a Golden Lion for his startling second film, The Magdalen Sisters. His new film? A gritty look at gang culture in 1970s Glasgow called Neds.
Many people are wondering whether Neds is an autobiographical page out of the Scottish native's own life, but while the film does follow "a bright, sensitive youngster drawn towards the violence of the local gang culture," Mullan says that "10% of it actually happened and the other 90% is fiction; little anecdotes I’ve heard over the years, stories I’ve been told and things I’ve just made up."
The most interesting aspect of Mullan's vision for Neds though, comes from his strict adherence to kitchen-sink realism, so loved by UK filmmakers. He says "there will be no glaring period props, no wallowing in false nostalgia and no indulgence of music tracks from the era. »
Trailer for Antonio Nuic’s gorgeous family drama Donkey (Kenjac)
26 November 2009 10:00 AM, PST
We know this type of film, the type that delves into family dynamics and relationships and observes men and women and their interactions but I doubt anyone’s seen it done quite this way.
Antonio Nuic's second film titled Donkey ("Kenjac") takes place in August of 1995, the summer that Operation Storm goes into action. It follows Boro, his wife and their son who are returning to the small town where Boro grew up to re-unite with his family, particularly his brother who managed to escape Sarajevo and to possibly solve a decades old dispute with his father; all this in the shadow of war which looms nearby.
It sounds like a simple enough story and I’m sure you're wondering what donkeys have to do with anything. That’s all explained in the trailer, a trailer which also manages to cement the gorgeous look of the film that is suggested by the stills. »
What if winter never ended? A truly Canadian apocalypse in Time Out (Temps Mort)
26 November 2009 5:45 AM, PST
For the past 180 days, Joel has been living alone. He ran away from the city after a massive cataclysm rocked civilization and has now found shelter in a lodge where he tries to eke out a life of basic survival. 180 days of harsh Canadian winter? Sounds like my life for six months of the year. Now this is an apocalyptic vision I can relate to.
Time Out (or "Temps Mort" in its native land) is a French Canadian web-series that I'm sort of surprised slipped by us this summer. Ten episodes have already gone live and while I haven't watched them all, so far I'm really liking the quiet drama and the icy cinematography.
Synopsis:
In 2013, a cataclysm takes places. Electricity fails and suddenly snow begins to fall. Joel leaves Montreal and finds refuge in the countryside. Having only a notebook to draw, he tries to hold on to his »
NYC Horror Ff 09: Review of Maidenhead
25 November 2009 9:35 PM, PST
Year: 2009
Directors: James Spanos
Writers: James Spanos
IMDb: link
Trailer: link
Review by: Bob Doto
Rating: 5 out of 10
I had high hopes for Jim Spanos’ Maidenhead. The trailer was great. The poster was eerily quaint. The lead, Martin, (played by Aj Bowen) was in The Signal, a film that gets a lot of good press around here. I thought this was going to be a done deal, since, to me everything about Maidenhead is amazing, wonderful, and engaging. Everything, that is, except for the film itself.
Maidenhead is a mopey lounge music backed tale of a sorry daddy’s boy who drains pints of blood from conked out virgins in order to satiate the cravings of his bed-ridden vampiric father. Sound’s crazy, right? Sure, but in the end this wacky wild zany storyline isn’t enough to keep the film from being straight up boring. I mean, like, I-was-falling-asleep boring. »
Full promo for King Of Fighters has flaming fists and Darth Maul
25 November 2009 3:35 PM, PST
The full Cannes promo (sans behind-the-scenes talking heads) for Gordon Chan's (Painted Skin, The Medallion) adaptation of the popular King of Fighters video game just fell into our laps so we thought we'd share it with y'all.
The film looks pretty fun, but about as good an adaptation as Corey Yuen's D.O.A.: Dead or Alive, which is to say there's not much more than a constant flow of well choreographed fight scenes going on. Some things I like about this trailer are flaming fisticuffs, multiple dimensions and that guy who played Darth Maul, Ray Park.
Synopsis:
The last surviving descendants of three legendary clans are continuously transported to other dimensions to test their martial arts skills against an evil force that seeks to invade and infect the real world.
King of Fighters also stars Maggie Q and Sean Faris and is due sometime in 2010.
Watch »
Multiple Personality Disorder report
25 November 2009 2:47 PM, PST
#1 New poster for Daniel Calparsoro's "Circus"
We'd previous brought you a detailed description of Daniel Calparsoro's film which essentially sees an American family stranded in the middle of the desert with a circus of crazies. The good folks at Bd have uncovered a new poster for the film. It's pretty spiffy!
#2 Richard Matheson's "Real Steel" coming to the big screen
Not sure how I feel about news that Night at the Museum director Shawn Levy is at the helm of this project but the story of a "father and son action drama set in the near future, surrounding the sport of robot boxing" sounds promising, as does the tidbit that Hugh Jackman is in talks to star in the production. At the very least we know the special effects will look good. [via Sci-Fi Wire]
#3 First look at Frank Beddor's "The Looking Glass Wars" concept art
DVD releases for Tuesday November 24, 2009
25 November 2009 12:42 PM, PST
The second part to Halo-8's post-nuke, punk rock animation series, Godkiller: Walk Among (amazon) streets today. This time we get a 45 minute episode which is a bit more satisfying than the first 25 minute part. This series based on the comic book by Matt Pizzolo and illustrator Anna Muckcracker is truly groundbreaking stuff so check it out if possible.
Also out this week is the Criterion Collection edition of Matteo Garrone's documentary-like, gangster film, Gomorrah (amazon). I've heard nothing but good things about this one and I can't wait to finally catch it on DVD.
Another heavy hitter out this week comes to us from Troma's new "Tromasterpeice Collection" which brought us the impressive 25th Anniversary Edition of Combat Shock. This time they're outdoing themselves by releasing a 3-disc DVD set of Philippe Mora's 1976 film, Mad Dog Morgan (amazon), starring Denis Hopper at his absolute craziest. If »
First teaser for vixen vampire drama We Are The Night (Wir Sind Die Nacht)
25 November 2009 11:00 AM, PST
If you want to excite me, here’s the easy way in: give me a promising vampire film. If it includes some sort of supernatural romance angle: bonus!
Enter Dennis Gansel who caught a little love from us a few years ago when he arrived at Sundance with The Wave ("Die Welle") (trailer). The young director has been busy at work on a new film, a female vampire drama titled We Are the Night ("Wir Sind Die Nacht").
The new project stars a number of vixens including Karoline Herfurth of Perfume: The Story of a Murderer fame, Nina Hoss, Jennifer Ulrich and Anna Fischer and tells the story of Lena, a woman bitten by the leader of a female vampire trio. At first she joins the group and partakes in the nightlife but the blood lust is too much for her taste and she turns away from the girls and »
Finally! It's a bootleg, but it's a trailer for Kids In The Hall: Death Comes To Town
24 November 2009 3:43 PM, PST
It's kinda crappy, but here it is! The first hilarious trailer for the new Kids in the Hall: Death Comes!
Someone got a better version?
Synopsis:
The story revolves around a murder mystery where Death (Mark McKinney) gets off a greyhound bus in a small town named Shuckton and starts wreaking havoc. The whole town is shocked when one of its most distinguished citizens is discovered murdered. As a suspect is arrested and the trial begins, dark secrets begin to tumble out.
Trailer after the break.
Embedded video stripped, see full HTML version. »
First look at Adrien Brody as a drug dealer in John Stalberg's High School
24 November 2009 3:03 PM, PST
Imagine for a second that you're back in high school (crazy, I know). You're the valedictorian, the guy (or gal) everyone looks up to and who never messes up - or so masses think. On the one day you shouldn't have, you get stoned only to find out you're going to be subjected to a drug test. What do you do? How do you save face? Easy: get the entire school high.
I’m not sure how that plan of attack solves the problem at hand but that's the story behind John Stalberg's High School. Don’t be thinking this ludicrous story is some forgettable, direct to DVD affair. My guess is that considering the film stars Colin Hanks, Michael Chiklis and Adrien Brody (bonus! Booger's in here too!), it's a near guaranteed theatrical release. If that’s not enough, how about the fact that we have Brody as a tattooed, »
Concept art and more posters for nazi zombie sequel Outpost II: Black Sun
24 November 2009 2:00 PM, PST
Outpost II: Black Sun (which we initially reported on here and here) is being billed as a "bigger and bloodier sequel" to Barker's original zombie flick. While I wasn't impressed with the first, it did have some great ideas and I'm hoping they're going to be fully realized in this continuation.
The year is 1945, the closing stages of WW2, and a German scientist by the name of Klausener is working on a frightening new technology the power to create an immortal Nazi army.
Flash forward to present day, and a Nato task force is hurriedly deployed to Eastern Europe, where a sinister enemy appears to be mercilessly killing everything in its path. But this is no ordinary foe.
Only Helena, a gutsy investigator on the trail of notorious war-criminal Klausener, accepts the reality of what they are facing a battalion of Nazi Storm-Troopers, a veritable zombie army on the march. »
Mystery shrowds suicide in Igor Šterk's 9:06 trailer
24 November 2009 1:04 PM, PST
Slovenian director Igor Šterk's newest film is a tale of obsession but not of the type we're used to seeing. There's no woman, no film, no book that he obsesses over but rather suicide.
9:06 stars Igor Samobor as Dusan, a police investigator charged with the job of uncovering the mystery behind an unusual case. A man has turned up dead, apparently by his own hand, but the events surrounding the suicide are mysterious. The man was shaved clean, found naked and only wearing a watch which stopped at 9:06. As he delves deeper into the investigation, Dusan finds himself taking on the identity of the dead man.
The trailer suggests much more than the suicide as Dusan is also working though tragedies in his life including the death of his daughter and the slow death-by-alcohol of his best friend but is a new relationship enough to rescue him from »
Ninja Assassin review
24 November 2009 11:56 AM, PST
Year: 2009
Directors: James McTeigue
Writers: J. Michael Straczynski / Matthew Sand
IMDb: link
Trailer: link
Review by: rochefort
Rating: 5 out of 10
[Editor's note: Marina's Ninja Assassin review from Viff isn't much brighter]
Directed by James McTeigue, "Ninja Assassin" stars pop idol Rain as Raizo, a modern-day ninja. Kidnapped while still a child and trained in the ninja arts by Ozunu (Sho Kosugi), lord of the Ozunu Clan, Raizo, now grown up, rogue, and out for revenge against his old master, shows up in Western Europe soon after Mika (Naomie Harris), a Europol bookkeeper, starts uncovering the connections between supposedly mythological ninja clans and political assassinations throughout the ages. Against the wishes of her skeptical superior Maslow (Ben Miles), Mika follows the clue trail far enough to become a target. Soon after the clan sends a group of ninjas, led by Raizo's old rival Takeshi (Rick Yune), to kill her, and Raizo becomes her only chance for survival.
Ninjas, man. There was a »
The apocalypse goes "1970s pop sci-fi" in The Arcadian
24 November 2009 11:38 AM, PST
The Arcadian is an upcoming post-apocalyptic adventure that follows actor J. Larose (of Saw III, Saw IV, and Repo! The Genetic Opera fame) as an enigmatic warrior called "The Lighthouse Keeper" who goes on a quest for "revenge and redemption in a strange future world" we're told is "reminiscent of wild 1970s pop sci-fi."
Inspired in equal parts by samurai movies, rock operas, and underground comics, we're told that the visual world of The Arcadian will be an homage to the work of underground illustrators and be something quite unique due to the fact that it was shot entirely on a Canon 5D Mark II camera - chosen for its unparalleled low-light sensitivity.
The Arcadian has just wrapped principle photography and is heading into an intense round of post. It is due Q2, 2010.
To make up for the fact that we have no detailed plot synopsis yet, we've included a »
Franz Kafka's unfinished short story The Burrow (Der Bau) getting film treatment
24 November 2009 11:36 AM, PST
Kafka's unfinished short story The Burrow, about a mole-like being who burrows through an elaborate system of tunnels it has built over its life will be getting a film adaptation courtesy of Germany.
Currently accruing funding, this short was said to have an ending but Kafka's lover destroyed it upon his death. While the amount of Kafka adaptations is quite large, there has been talk in the last year or two of updated versions of Metamorphasis and Amerika, they've unfortunately gone nowhere so I'm hoping this will give them a little push.
I haven't read the story, so if you have, sound off! »
Liff 09: Review of 199 Tips To Be Happy (199 recetas para ser feliz)
23 November 2009 5:36 PM, PST
Year: 2009
Directors: Andrés Waissbluth
Writers: Andrés Waissbluth & Nona Fernández & Cristián Jiménez & Marcelo Leonart
IMDb: link
Trailer: link
Review by: projectcyclops
Rating: 7.5 out of 10
Andrés Waissbluth's film centers on a group of depressed middle-class intellectuals living in Barcelona. Tomas works in publishing and his wife, Helena, is suffering after the recent death of her little brother Milo, who was swimming on holiday with his girlfriend Sandra when he drowned. After a posthumous postcard arrives from Milo, it throws Helena deeper into her funk, and it's only when Sandra arrives unannounced at their doorstep, that the couple begin to take stock of their lives, and look at what's making them so unhappy. A plethora of European art-house erotica follows, as a love triangle forms between these strange characters.
Jordi is one of Tomas' clients, an author whose book '199 Tips to Be Happy' is due to be published, although his preferred »
Liff 09: Review of Janek Romero's robin hood documentary Superhelden (Superheroes)
23 November 2009 5:30 PM, PST
Year: 2009
Directors: Janek Romero
IMDb: link
Trailer: link
Review by: projectcyclops
Rating: 8 out of 10
Beginning with a colourful montage of news clips and hand-held footage, Janek Romero's documentary follows a group of German activists who dress as superheroes and rob expensive markets and delicatessens, only to redistribute their bounty to more deserving people on the streets of Hamburg. While the film follows the rapidly growing army of masked and anonymous crusaders as they organise a protest at the G8 in Heiligendamm, it also tells the story of a young student called Kathy, who works three jobs, has two young children, is studying for a PhD. and lives on around 150 Euros a month from the state.
As Kathy struggles to pay the bills and is forced to deny her children ticket price for the latest Harry Potter, we get interviews with the various activists (in costume of course) as they »
India becomes 35% more awesome because of Battle Field (Porkkalam)
23 November 2009 4:11 PM, PST
I'll admit that I'm pretty green when it comes to Indian cinema. All I know is that there's usually a lot of singing and women giggling behind covered faces. However what I do know is awesome. And this teaser for the upcoming Indian film, Battle Field (or Porkkalam in its native land), is just that.
The film is written and directed by twenty four year old writer / director, Bandi Saroj Kumar, who claims on the film's official website that the high-voltage action "is going to create a revolution in the history of Indian Cinema." And, while the trailer never actually gets around to showing us any of this revolutionary action, the shots of muddy warriors holding giant mallets, swords and maces do a good job at building up suspense.
About Porkkalam ("Battle Field"):
Porkkalam is an adventurous action flick with a high voltage emotion running under current. The action »
The Future is Here! It’s “Freejack” Day - 23rd November 2009
23 November 2009 1:11 PM, PST
Finally we can all relax; we’re officially living in the future – at least according to the 1992 dystopian sci-fi thriller Freejack, directed by Geoff Murphy (The Quiet Earth) and starring Emilio Estevez, Rene Russo, Anthony Hopkins and… Mick Jagger!
Set on the 23rd November 2009, it envisions a desperate future where men are hunted through time to house the minds of the rich and influential, who wait after death on the Spiritual Switchboard until a host body is drafted from the past. Estevez is one such host, or Freejack, as he’s zipped from a car crash in 1993 all the way to… now… where he’s chased around by Mick Jagger, playing a bounty hunter (‘Bonejacker’) called Vacendak, working for Hopkins. Estevez escapes and tries to find his former girlfriend (Russo), who’s become an executive at a huge corporation. The film is based on Immortality Inc. by author Robert Sheckley, »
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