Category: Foreign

“The Red Baron” looks to blow you away

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Hey, here’s a novel idea: Make a movie about a German during WWI, but the German is a good guy, or something like that…

I’m referring to “Der Rote Baron,† the WWI-era action film that is also Germany’s most expensive film to date at an estimated $22.6 million. The film boasts over 430 visual effects; many of them bringing to life the aerial dogfights that took place over Europe.  Ã‚  

The FX company responsible is  Pixomondo, and their work is  nothing short of incredible.  

The film features familiar faces like Lena Headey and Joseph Fiennes, and some faces not so familiar, such as Matthias Schweighofer and Til Schweiger.  

It has been written and directed by Nikolai Mullerschon and will be released in Germany on April 10, 2008.  Expect a US release, especially since a great majority of the film has been shot in English.

And for those of you who do not know the fellow for whom this film is based…Â  

John Woo finds his Mojo with ‘Battle of Red Cliff’

John Woo’s ‘Battle of Red Cliff’

With all due respect, John Woo has really ostracised many of his fans with what might be called an overly Hollywood string of films lately. From Broken Arrow (1996) to Face/Off (1997) to Mission: Impossible II (2000). For those of us who remember being introduced to John Woo at the height of his glory, with The Killer (1989) and Hard-Boiled (1992), we’ve wondered what happened to him. Paycheck (2003) was actually pretty neat, despite Ben Affleck, but he also had a Philip K. Dick story as his source material.

Battle of Red Cliff (2008) is Woo’s newest film. The movie is currently stated as being in post-production, but we may not see it in the states until 2009. No US release date has been set and the Japanese release date isn’t until the end of 2008. Red Cliff is a historical epic about the wars that took place during the Three Kingdoms era of ancient China. The scale of this movie looks incredible and when you do a little research about the events the movie will interpret, its tough not to get excited. There are a few photos out on the Internet to be seen, but we’ll likely need to wait awhile to truly experience what may be John Woo’s return to greatness.

By the way, here’s the Japanese  trailer: Battle of Red Cliff

IFC tackles their ‘Fear(s) of the Dark’

‘Fear(s) of the Dark’

IFC has purchased the rights of distribution in North America for the really cool looking  French animated film Fear(s) of the Dark. The film is an anthology directed by eight different film-makers, including: Blutch, Marie Caillou, Pierre Di Sciullo, Jerry Kramski, Lorenzo Mattotti, Richard McGuire, Michel Pirus, and Romaine Slocombe. The stylish black-and-white animated segments are nightmare created by cartoonists and graphic artists. I haven’t seen any release dates for the US, but I’m sure they’ll be limited. You can check out the website here.

[Source material courtesy of HollywoodReporter.com]

Dear Magnolia Pictures … I love you. “Let The Right One In” is coming our way.

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Recently, I’ve been trying to push the Swedish vampire film ‘Let The Right One In.’ It had  no set release date in the US of A, but I hoped and prayed … and Magnolia Pictures saw fit to deliver.

This  amazing looking film  is being given theatrical distribution through Magnolia’s genre arm, Magnet Releasing.

I have to give props to the fine folks at  Twitch  for breaking this story.

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A promising vampire movie? “Let the Right One in”

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‘Let the Right One in’, or ‘Là ¥t den rà ¤tte komma in’ to Swedish readers, is a film you should know about.  

In the film, young Oskar falls in love with his neighbor, Eli, a strange little girl that needs blood to survive. It’s based on the best selling novel by John Ajvide Lindqvist.

No set release date for the US, but the film is getting positive reviews overseas, so expect a DVD release at the very least.  

Check out the trailer:

“The Cottage” gets a US release

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Awhile back I posted some early news on a Brit horror-comedy, ‘The Cottage.’ Well, the film is set for theatrical release in the UK, and now it looks like the US is getting the film, too.  

Fangoria  reports that Sony Pictures Home Entertainment will release the film on DVD April 29th.  

Check out the trailer:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q1DIFtBcozI

Kon Ichikawa dies, 1915-2008

Kon Ichikawa

Many of you may be asking “who?” Well, i enjoy movie and film-makers of all types and all eras and Ichikawa was one of the best Japanese film-makers to date. Ichikawa had a long, productive and successful career in Japanese cinema, but has come to a close as he has died from a battle with pneumonia at the age of 92. Ichikawa was probably most well-known for his film The Burmese Harp (1985) which was nominated for an Academy award. Ichikawa made over eighty films including Fires on the Plain (1959) and Tokyo Olympiad (1965), a fascinating documentary that follows the 1964 Summer Olympics from open to close and is available on DVD from the Criterion Collection.

In case you missed it … ‘Night Watch’ & ‘Day Watch’

Konstantin Khabensky in ‘Night Watch’

Nochnoy dozor, also known as Night Watch (2004) in the English-speaking world, was directed by Timur Bekmambetov. [Timur Bekmambetov last directed the forth coming action film Wanted.] When I first heard of Night Watch, I eagerly awaited its release. I remember reading about it online, that it was to be the first of an epic horror trilogy from Russia. Well, this just simply had my curiosity peaked and tweaked. After a fairly lengthy wait, I rushed out to my local art-house theatre (the only one showing the film at the time) and purchased my ticket. I entered the theatre with much anticipation, awaiting the dancing hot dog and popcorn on the screen, casually enjoyed a few trailers and then it happened… Night Watch began.

At the end of the movie, I wasn’t sure how I felt. I mean it was good and all, but it wasn’t what I thought it would be. Then again, what did I think I was going to get? Part of the reason I was so excited to see it was because I’d never seen a horror film from Russia before, and forget an epic trilogy. So, like any self-respecting movie geek would do, I went and saw the movie again… after about a week or so of digestion. Surprise! I found a whole new appreciation for the film. In an attempt to dilute a rather complex story down to a sentence or two, the movie follows Anton through his experience of learning he is an “Other,” a type of human with supernatural powers. Anton is recruited into an organization which is charged with governing during the day against the forces of dark. In turn, the forces of dark govern the night against the forced of light. The two sides have been in a truce for centuries, but a series of events combined with a prophecy are threatening to bring that truce to a bloody end. Psychics, mystics, vampires, mages … all sorts of nifty beings inhabit this Russian world of the supernatural.

The story continues with Day Watch (2006), bringing us deeper into the story and closer to the ultimate fate of the world. One of the coolest ideas from the movie is that these Others are able to shift between our reality and a separate supernatural reality coexisting with ours called The Gloom. This inter-spatial realm allows the Others to see more clearly but like a drug, time inside the realm must be limited. Bekmambetov has developed a style of dark moody atmosphere and some interesting cinematography that perfectly compliments this creepy saga. I have grown to really enjoy the first two films, appreciating them for the complex fantasy horror films they are, offering a new twist on the genre combining elements of classic monsters and the supernatural with that of the more American superhero genre.

I am eagerly awaiting the third and final installment, Twilight Watch, currently in production and tentatively due out in theatres sometime in 2009. And no, I do not own either of the first two movies. Like the fiscally responsible movie geek I am, I am awaiting to buy the trilogy box set… hopefully on Blu-Ray.