Trailer: Twixt (Francis Ford Coppola, 2011)

I have been trying to resist trailers recently, but when I saw that footage of Francis Ford Coppola's new film (which is playing amongst the Special Presentations at TIFF) was available, I had to have a look. With Val Kilmer starring as a character resembling Stephen King, it looks...interesting. Check it out below, but be aware, it does reveal quite a lot. 

Releases 04/08

There are four new releases hitting cinemas today. They are Rise of the Planet of the Apes, The Beaver, Love Crime and Red Dog. I have already seen The Beaver, but my enthusiasm to see the other three is non-existent. Luckily there are some great films to see in Melbourne this weekend!


Rise of the Planet of the Apes - A single act of both compassion and arrogance leads to a war unlike any other - and to the Rise of the Planet of the Apes. The Oscar-winning visual effects team that brought to life the worlds of Avatar and Lord of the Rings is breaking new ground, creating a CGI ape that delivers a dramatic performance of unprecedented emotion and intelligence, and epic battles on which rest the upended destinies of man and primate. So, we discover the origins of the world first portrayed back in Planet of the Apes (1968), a science-fiction classic with one of the greatest twist endings in cinema history. Amongst the cast of Rise are James Franco, Freida Pinto, John Lithgow and Andy Serkis. Early reviews have been strong.

Classic Throwback: Trois Couleurs: Rouge (Krzysztof Kieslowski, 1994)

As the third and final film in the Trois Couleurs Trilogy by Polish filmmaker Krzysztof Kieslowski, Rouge is a magnificent achievement and is arguably the most moving and inspiring of the trilogy. Shortly after making this film, the 53 year-old Kieslowski announced it would be his last. His sudden death in 1996 made this extraordinary film even more significant. Rouge, like Blue and Blanc preceding it, examines one of the French revolutionary ideals. It is about ‘fraternity’, exploring the way that lives can become randomly connected through ‘coincidence’ and ‘chance’ and the unlikely bond between two people who seem to have little in common. 

It may be influenced by my love for Irene Jacob (The Double Life of Veronique), but Rouge has always been my personal favourite of the trilogy. The conclusion always leaves me with chills, and following my most recent viewing (I have seen it on five occasions now), it remains one of my favourite films ever. Rouge’s plot, while intricate, detailed and rich with philosophical meaning, is actually quite concise and easy to follow. To delve into each of the meanings Keislowski deftly squeezes into scenes will likely spoil the delight of the experience, so I will try and keep this analysis relatively brief.

New Release Review: Tucker and Dale Vs. Evil (Eli Craig, 2011)

It’s always great going into a film knowing very little. After hearing some buzz about Tucker and Dale Vs. Evil around Sydney Film Festival time, and having been recommended it on a couple of occasions, I felt I couldn’t waste a limited release opportunity. I was not disappointed. As bloody good fun, this frequently hilarious, self-aware subversion of typical horror tropes and conventions marks the debut of writer/director Eli Craig.

The film opens on a bunch of rowdy college kids from West Virginia embarking on a camping road trip into the backwoods of the Deep South. At a roadside convenience store, they stumble across a pair of bumbling, but well-meaning rednecks, Tucker and Dale (Alan Tudyk and Tyler Labine), who are headed to their newly purchased lake-front vacation cabin with the intentions of making it over and doing a little fishing. The college kids, who choose the same area of the forest to camp, soon disrupt their peace.

Monday Links (01/08)

Wow, it's Monday already? It's August already? Time flies, huh? I covered a lot on yesterday's Monthly Round-up so I'll keep this brief. Plus I want to catch a screening of Tucker and Dale vs. Evil later. I don't know about everyone else, but I really enjoyed Captain America this week. Hanna too. That was quite a duo last Friday.

Should I be kicking myself for deciding not to see Tarkovsky's Stalker at the cinema this evening, and for letting a Q+A session with Beginners director Mike Mills on Wednesday sell out? Probably! Oh well, before heading to Melbourne on Friday, I'll have the time to check out L'illusioniste. Actually, we also have Rise of the Planet of the Apes released on Thursday. Talk about an underwhelming sneak-up!

On to the links. Here are ten great articles from this week (after the jump):

Monthly Round-Up: The Best Films I Saw in July

Well July is over, and I am now only days away from my short excursion to Melbourne for the last three days of the Melbourne International Film Festival, which has been running since July 21. Several bloggers have been covering the Festival extensively since day one, and it sounds like everyone is surviving the fatigue and catching some great films. Be sure to check out Movie Reviews by Tom Clift, Cinema Autopsy, The Reel Bits, Quickflix DVD and Movie Blog and Stale Popcorn for great coverage.

I watched a heap of films this month that I had never seen before. Highlights certainly included All About Eve, The Wages of Fear, The Double Life of Veronique, The Player and Talk to Her. Some of these films are by Henri-Georges Clouzot and Krzysztof Kieslowski, the two directors I decided to focus on this month. While it has been slow going, I have caught up with Kieslowski in the last week or so, watching Veronique, and the Troi Couleurs Trilogy: Bleu/Blanc/Rouge. As for Clouzot, in addition to The Wages of Fear, I watched the only film I could find readily available, Les Diaboliques.

On the 'new releases' front, it was a quiet couple of weeks in between the viewings of Transformers: Dark of the Moon and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2. I managed only to catch the unspectacular Oranges and Sunshine during that time. But, more recently I caught six films, starting with the mediocre Beautiful Lies and 5 Days of War and ending stronger with Meek's Cutoff and Hanna. I hope to see L'illusionniste and Tucker and Dale vs. Evil this week before going to MIFF.

My next Director of the Month, I have decided, will be Robert Altman. After watching The Player the other day, and having only seen Gosford Park prior, I feel I need to see more of his films. Throughout August I intend to watch M*A*S*H, McCabe and Mrs. Miller, Nashville and Short Cuts.

Last week I also surpassed 100,000 page views, which I thought was quite a feat. I would like to thank a bunch of fellow bloggers who frequently visit my blog and comment on my posts:

Sam Fragoso from Duke and the Movies
Castor from Anomalous Material
James Blake Ewing from Cinema Sights 
Steven Flores from Surrender to the Void 
Toby from Blah Blah Blah Gay - A Movie Review Blog 
Ruth from Lets Be Splendid About This 
Nikhat from Being Norma Jean 
Stevee Taylor from Cinematic Paradox
Custard from Front Room Cinema
Bonjour Tristesse from Bonjour Tristesse
Jack from Jack L Film Reviews
Movie Guy Steve from 1001Plus
Tom Clift from Movie Reviews by Tom Clift
Nicholas Prigge from Cinematic Romantico
Anna from Split Reel
Mad Hatter from Dark of the Matinee
Simon Columb from Screen Insight
Courtney Small from Big Thoughts from a Small Mind
Cherokee from Feminising Film
D.R from The Lennox Files


I watched a total of 33 Films in July. Find out my 'Essential Viewing' selections after the jump...

Go, See, Talk's "Double Feature Theatre" Blog-a Thon

This was hastily published as part of Go, See Talk's most recent blog-a-thon, in which we were challenged to come up with a week's worth of double features (with a triple-feature on the Sunday). Check out what the rest of the participants came up with here. 

Monday

 

The Wicker Man / Shutter Island

Two top-notch horror/thrillers that strikingly resemble one another.

Quick Film Reviews (July)

There were a couple of films I have seen recently that I couldn't muster up the energy to write about. Here are my slightly-longer-than-140-character reviews.

The Player (5/5) - A masterpiece. A dark, cynical look at show business, masterfully directed by Robert Altman. The infamous opening sequence is truly a marvel, and Tim Robbins has never been better as a slick studio executive whose life becomes tumultuous when he accidentally kills a disgruntled screenwriter. Also features a seemingly endless stream of recognisable cameos. 

Valhalla Rising (3/5) - Set in 1000A.D, this surreal and haunting nightmare of a film from Danish director Nicholas Winding Refn (Bronson and the upcoming Drive), suffers from an all-too-strong first half, before becoming steadily more tedious and laborious. But, the astounding images of this film have remained seared in my brain. With almost no dialogue it's left to the mesmerising colour-drained and hyper-stylized visuals to tell this mysterious tale. You feel like the characters have been dropped into another world. A Godless world, if you like. A world you would never want to find yourself.