Cool News
AICN-Downunder: RazorEaters; JapaneseStory; The Getting of Wisdom; Punisher2; Lost Things; GhostRider; Devour; KingKong
Father Geek out in the rolling hills of Central Texas with the latest word from...
If I can survive this movie, I can survive anything.
AICN-DOWNUNDER
AICN-DOWNUNDER
There's no further development on the inevitable battle that will rage when
the Office of Film and Literature Classification announces the rating for
Michael Winterbottom's NINE SONGS, due for release early next year.
Don't forget that your voice can be as loud as those with an opposing view
and itchier pen fingers. The more articulate and passionate you are, the
more impact you will have.
Let the powers-that-be know how you feel: oflcswitch@oflc.gov.au
NEWS
* LITTLE FISH, the dramatic Australian-set prequel to the Tim Burton fantasy,
has started its eight week shoot. Lensing in Sydney from now until
Christmas, the film stars Cate Blanchett, Martin Henderson, Sam Neill, and
Hugo Weaving, is written by Jacqueline Perske ("The Secret Life Of Us") and
directed by Rowan Woods (THE BOYS).
* Ex-pat John D. Robinson is over in the States, and has begun pre-production
on his film DEVOUR. The film follows the exploits of the three most popular
girls in high school as they eat their competition. Yes, it's a cannibalism
high school comedy, and who isn't even a little turned on by that? Learn
more by going to www.roadramblerfilms.com
* Local horror is the order of the month, with LOST THINGS getting its first
release this coming week. Written by Stephen Sewell (THE BOYS) and directed
by Martin Murphy, the film follows a group of teens who go away to the beach
for a weekend of surf and sex, only to find that they're not the only ones
there... (dramatic sting!) The film comes out in New South Wales and the ACT
on November 11th and Victoria, South Australia, Western Australia and
Queensland on December 9th.
* If you're after some KING KONG news, you should really bookmark
www.kongisking.net. Xoanan has been putting up regular video diaries from
the production (including Jack Black attempting to lip-read Peter Jackson's
directions). If you don't think you'll be too freaked-out by a
de-spectacled, slimmed-down PJ, it should keep you satiated for KONG news.
* Tasmanian-based filmmakers, pay attention: Screen Tasmania is asking
Launceston filmmakers to make appointments with project manager Andrew Ross,
who'll be in town on November 5. Invitations like this don't come along
every day, so all of you down in Hobart? Time to forge some Launceston
addressed ID.
And, finally, a bunch of super-hero news from a super source...
* Clayton Watson (The Kid in the second two MATRIX flicks) looks like he will
be appearing in GHOST RIDER, which films in Melbourne early next year.
* THE PUNISHER 2 looks like it, too, will be filming in Australia. Who's the
bad guy? Rumours point to Michael Keaton as Jigsaw.
* Bryan Singer's love of the original Donner Superman films may be echoed in his
production schedule. There's talk of the sequel shooting directly after the
original.
AWARDS AND FESTIVALS
12TH BIENNIAL CONFERENCE OF THE FILM AND HISTORY ASSOCIATION OF AUSTRALIA
AND NEW ZEALAND
If you want to see a brand spanking new print of Bruce Beresford's 1977 film
THE GETTING OF WISDOM, you'll want to be a part of the 12th Biennial
Conference of the Film and History Association of Australia and New Zealand
(or BCFHAANZ when they're at home) in Canberra this December 2 through 5.
2004 APRA-AGSC SCREEN MUSIC AWARDS
Elizabeth Drake picked up the Best Feature Score for her work on JAPANESE
STORY in Sydney on November 1st. Pick it up on DVD if you haven't seen it
yet, it's a superb piece of work.
BOX OFFICE
The top five remained fairly unchanged since the previous week, with newbies
EXORCIST: THE BEGINNING coming in at number seven, and limited-release
SAVED! debuting at number ten.
And this weeks winners are:
- 1. SHALL WE DANCE?
- 2. COLLATERAL
- 4. THE NOTEBOOK
- 5. RESIDENT EVIL: APOCALYPSE
RELEASED THIS WEEK
Cole De-Porter is played by Kevin De-Kline, HERO's fortieth anniversary is
celebrated by a first-run release, a comedy manages to combine the two
funniest things in the world (period films and Sweden), another comedy
manages to combine two things we see far too often in combination (Australia
and no-jokes-whatsoever), Gina Gershon cheats on Jennifer Tilly, the first
rule of Razor Eaters is I do not talk about Razor Eaters, and the leader of
North Korea is the bad guy for not the first time this year.
Soooo the ones are:
- DE-LOVELY
- HERO
- KITCHEN STORIES
- A MAN'S GOTTA DO
- PREY FOR ROCK AND ROLL
- RAZOR EATERS
- SILMIDO
REVIEWS
RAZOR EATERS
RAZOR EATERS
I initially wasn't going to review this film. See, I have a policy (note:
I'm pretty sure I ripped it off someone else, but can't remember who). I get
sent a lot of low budget Australian films (is there any other kind?). If I
like the film, I sing its praises and do what I can to help it. If I don't,
I keep my mouth shut. It's hard enough to get a film made in Australia
without some jerk on the internet ripping it to shreds before anyone's had
the chance to see it.
So, after watching RAZOR EATERS, I'd decided not to review it. I was
impressed by the work put it, and there was a tremendous amount of skill
involved, but it made me uncomfortable and there were many parts I just
didn't like.
Then I realised that was the point.
RAZOR EATERS is about a detective tracking a group of men who have become
fed-up with corruption, hypocrisy and everything they consider bad in life.
Tailgaters are punished, ad executives are kidnapped, parking officers are
tied up. They videotape their exploits and send the tapes to the police.
So why would I first choose to not review it, only to change my mind? The
film is uncomfortable, but not in the
oh-my-god-I-can't-believe-how-bad-this-is. It's uncomfortable in that you
start off agreeing with many of the things the Razor Eaters do. You feel a
sense of personal justice; this is, after all, ROBIN HOOD meets FIGHT CLUB.
But then they go too far. There's an element of corruption as the characters
begin to completely buy into their own hype, and get bolder and bolder.
The more I've thought about this film, the more the varying elements have
lodged themselves into my brain. Its shock impact is effective, but it's
also a slow-burn film that stays with you. How you feel about the film as
the credits run is very different to how you'll feel about it a day or a
week later. This film's been with me for a week now, and it's only in the
past day or two that I've realised how impactful it's been.
At very least, this film deserves to spark up some heated arguments. You're
not going to know exactly who to root for going in, and the filmmakers don't
make it easy on you. There's no completely good character, there's no
completely bad character. There's actual complexity and nuance to the
characters, and a decent amount of surprises and twists in the plot. See
this film with someone you disagree with.
NOTE:(This film is on a limited release at the Sun Theatre in Melbourne.)NEXT WEEK
- Renny Harlin brought in to perform reshoots on UNTITLED WOODY ALLEN
PROJECT
- If successful, MARY QUEEN OF SCOTS may spin-off into MARY VS ELIZABETH,
with Bryce Dallas Howard and Cate Blanchett starring in the Akiva Goldsman
script for director Wolfgang Peterson
- Australian comedy to contain jokes
Peace out,
Latauro
AICNDownunder@hotmail.com
AICNDownunder@hotmail.com
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+ Expand All
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Saw it on the weekend. Couldn't believe how bad it was.
-
Nov 07, 2004 7:42:21 PM CST
A prequel to BIG FISH?? 9/10s of the movie was a prequel about i
by george newman
I went into PUNISHER with very negative expectations, so in the end i received mediocre satisfaction. I was able to take in the good and ignore/laugh at the bad because it was a given. My favorite part: the hilarious (i don't know if it was on purpose or not) Desperado-like bad guy and his song. I think it was shot too seriously for it to be a joke on the director's part, which makes the moment all the funnier because it was lmfao bad.
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Australian comedy has jokes. See Graham and the Colonel. They had 'big prop' jokes. The ties made from the Opera House decorations for the olympic games, the big cheque, etc.
-
sound pretty interesting. hopefully like falling down without the cop out ending. I think time is ripe for these types of film-rage flicks again.
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Hey maybe its actually going to be Punisher vs Batman!
-
I meant Australian comedy *films*. I've seen most of A MAN'S GOTTA DO, and yikes... Pretty bad. We haven't had anything of quality since BAD EGGS; look at UNDER THE RADAR. Everyone in the Australian film industry seems to enjoy pouring shit on Hollywood, but the truth is that Hollywood puts out far better product than we have in recent times (odd exceptions notwithstanding).
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I never saw or will ever see the new Punisher. Why you ask? Because it has Vinnie Barbarino in it. I will never forgive Quentin Tarantino for giving this hack's career a jump start. --- Anyway wasn't P1 a bomb?
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Hey, where did Michael Keaton as Jigsaw come from?! I mean, it's cool and all, and I can't wait to see it, but seriously!
Also, I hate all those old Superman movies. ALL of them. I think Bryan Singer needs to wake up, and re-imagine Superman like he did with the X-Men, because those old movie SUCKED. They were as campy as the old Batman t.v. shows. Joel Schumacher thought everyone wanted campy t.v. Batman, and look what he gave us. PURE CRAP. I'm not looking forward to these new Superman flicks, for the very reason that he wants them to be based on the old Donner lore. Bruce Timm and Paul Dini did the best reincarnation of Superman, and Bryan Singer is not going to be able to beat that. -
Nov 08, 2004 3:56:29 AM CST
A Punisher movie will never be as good as the Garth Ennis Comics
by spacker dave
Why? Because movie executives get very nervous about making comic book films staring complete psychopaths, which is exactly what Frank Castle is.If Jonathan Hensleigh makes the sequal it will again have the totally wrong tone and execution, complete with ridiculous heroic score and bad villain acting.
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The property has great potential. The first film could have been much better. They need a new director without all the western nods and lose the Garth Ennis bullshit. Thomas Jane should come back but needs to go darker the next time around. I thought Singer getting Supes was going to be good thing but it appears that he is just rehashing the old movies which I don't see the point in doing. Unless you're going to do something different there is no point. If you like the originals, just watch them over.
-
Nov 08, 2004 10:50:46 AM CST
looking forward to a Punisher 2... I mean, it can't be WORSE tha
by tv casualty
...right? Maybe in this one there will actually be the Punisher, um, you know... PUNISHING people. Instead of throwing money out a window and eating pasta with a bunch of misfits. AND BRING IN MICROCHIP, DAMMIT!!
-
Nov 08, 2004 1:21:34 PM CST
Trik, go see Punihser somehow. But don't pay for it--you'll just
by george newman
I would recommend it similarly to how (but definitely not why) everyone recommended Fahrenheit 9/11: You must see this film. It does not matter what you movie persuasion is. This is Marvel, and this is the Punisher they gave us, for better or for worse. We're going to have to live with it whether we like it or not............But like I said, don't pay for the rental, or you will most likely be mad at me for telling you to waste your money. To pay to see this will be to raise your hopes too high. So go into it mad that they screwed up the tone and his character, and the other characters, expecting garbage, and you will likely come out if it okay.
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But who on this hasn't said the same thing about any movie... i think it was a victim of really bad timing too, i mean it opened against two other revenge movies that had 100 times more hype and star power than it did ,Kill Bill 2 and Man on Fire.Good news is maybe now that the back story is out of the way he can get alot darker.
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actually written and directed by a friend of mine... but it is a bloody good film made on very little cash by a fellow film geek... if you have a chance to see it, you definately should, not your average film.
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He looks in good shape (for an portly hippy director). Losing weight is hard. Ok Harry, get his diet, get the treadmill and do it. Maybe PJ'S new found energy and style will reflect in the Kong flick...?
-
Screening of Robert Sexton's,
"LEGION: The Word Made Flesh"
Dark days lie ahead.
Faith will falter.
Hope will crumble.
Innocence will end...
But evil will never die.
This Friday, June 3, @ 11:30 on COMCAST Cable
Channel 24 on Los Angeles Cable TV.
See the LEGION trailer at:
http://www.hollywoodasylum.com/legion.html -
B.U.F.F Screens Robert Sexton's, "LEGION"
Friday, March 24, 12:00 Midnight Showing
Saturday, March 25, 5:00 P.M.
The Brattle Theatre
40 Brattle Street,
Cambridge, MA 02446
PRESS RELEASE:
Screening of Robert Sexton's, "Legion: The Word Made Flesh" at
The Boston Underground Film Festival, March 24, 25.
BUFF:
http://www.bostonundergroundfilmfestival.com
Director's reel at:
http://www.hollywoodasylum.com/sexton2
View the LEGION trailer at:
http://www.hollywoodasylum.com/legion.html
Review of movie:
http://www.rumourmachine.com/Reviews/Legion.htm
IMDB:
http://imdb.com/title/tt0458411/combined
The Boston Underground Film Festival (B.U.F.F.) is an annual festival committed to the celebration of alternative vision and cultivation of independent, provocative and experimental filmmaking. By featuring work that pushes the envelope in form, style and content, B.U.F.F. seeks to be a platform for the screening of new work and a forum for the exchange of ideas amongst filmmakers, curators and audiences.
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