May, I love it when these show up. So much fun stuff every single time, and Todd's just tireless in hunting these titles down. Let's jump right in... you're gonna love GUILALA...
International Eye Candy
June 11, 2008
Yes, kids, it’s Todd from Twitch here again with yet another installment of the finest cinematic gems from around the globe. It’s time to get happy, International Eye Candy has arrived once again! And it’s a good one this time out! Old school kaiju? Nasty French horror? Scantily clad Japanese crime fighters? The latest trailer from John Woo’s big period epic? We got it all and more, more, more! Here we go!
What the hell, let’s make Harry happy and start things off with some old school man-in-suit giant monster action. Kaiju monster Guilala made only one big screen appearance back in the day, that coming as the main baddy in THE X FROM OUTER SPACE but minor player in the kaiju world or not, Guilala is back in GUILALA’S COUNTER ATTACK: THE TOUYAKU SUMMIT ONE-SHOT CRISIS. The director on this is Minoru Kawasaki of CALAMARI WRESTLER fame and he’s going purely old school with it, nary a CG effect to be found. It’s cheap, it’s lo-fi, it features the iconic Takeshi Kitano in a key role and it’s got a full theatrical trailer loaded with model-stomping goodness.
You’ll find the trailer here
What the hell, let’s stick with the Japanese weirdness just a little bit longer. The film this time is DETROIT METAL CITY, a manga adaptation about a geeky kid who becomes the front man of a costumed and heavily made up glam metal band, a la KISS. And, wouldn’t you know it, KISS’ Gene Simmons has got a cameo in the thing and appears in the brand new theatrical trailer. This just looks stupid-fun.
Find the trailer here
We leave Japan now – not to worry, we’ll be back there a LOT over the course of the column – to head to Thailand and the official trailer for big budget Thai fantasy QUEENS OF LANGKASUKA. This one’s been in production seemingly forever as they polish up the special effects but it’s finally done and preparing for its Thai release. What have we got? Well, SHUTTER star Ananda Everingham is in there as a fisherman training in magical arts that will let him control an army of sting rays. And BORN TO FIGHT’s Dan Chupong has a major role as a royal bodyguard with half of his face burned off. And beyond that it’s basically a magically charged arms race as a southern kingdom struggles to fend off the attacks of hostile forces. It’s big and pretty and features whales attacking pirate ships. It’s kind of hard to argue with that.
You’ll find the trailer here
A quick foray into the ol’ US of A here for a peek at JL Vara’s SOUTH OF HEAVEN. Why include this one here? Because it’s one weird movie that deserves an audience but is probably just odd enough that the regular American press won’t know what the hell to do with it. Heavily inspired by DICK TRACY the film is a technicolored fusion of film noir, giallo, and the spaghetti western punctuated by burst of black, black humor and sudden violence. And it’s real pretty to look at. SOUTH OF HEAVEN premieres at the Cinevegas fest on the 14th but we’ve got a teaser and some stills to check out in advance.
Check out the images and teaser here
Back to Japan now, where someone’s been tinkering with a classic. You may have heard of a little film called GHOST IN THE SHELL. You know, the one that the Wachowski’s ripped off shamelessly for THE MATRIX and that Spielberg is currently prepping a live action adaptation of. It’s a legitimate classic, one that has stood the test of time, spawned sequels and TV shows and gotten out of the anime ghetto and into the mainstream consciousness. And now the creators of the original film adaptation of Masamune Shirow’s manga are going back to the first film and tweaking it up with fresh animation and sound design and releasing it as GHOST IN THE SHELL 2.0. The new work looks to be more in line with the style shown in the STAND ALONE COMPLEX series and there is now a teaser and a series of comparison shots so you can check out the changes yourself.
Find it all here
It’s time to put on your silly 80s clothes and get nostalgic! German pop singer Falco has been commemorated with a bio picture in Austria and it’ll have you rocking Amadeus all day long. Or at least until the part of the movie when Falco dies. I imagine there will be less rocking at that point. 80s pop music was weird. 80s Euro-pop music even more so. Watch for Grace Jones in the full trailer.
You’ll find it all here
Okay, time for some nasty French horror. Pascal Laugier’s MARTYRS just got hit with a hugely restrictive 18+ rating in France – a rating that will likely kill any commercial prospects the film may have had – and if the buzz out of the Cannes market was to be believed it absolutely deserves it. This film is one nasty piece of work and now it’s got one nasty trailer – a trailer that even includes English subtitles for the non-French speakers out there.
You’ll find the trailer here
Tragedy hit the set of John Woo’s BATTLE OF RED CLIFF this week, with a stunt man dying in an on-set fire following a boat collision, which makes it a bit tough to work up a lot of enthusiasm for the film’s latest trailer. But when the picture is the biggest budget even in Chinese film history and hopefully marks a return to form of a truly legendary director you certainly can’t let a new trailer pass you by, now can you? The latest to hit from Woo’s picture is a new Chinese trailer, loaded up with fresh footage.
You’ll find all of the trailers here
There are a number of pictures I’m greatly anticipating out of Russia right now and on the strength of its latest trailer I do believe Russian hitman flick DOMOVOY has just added itself to the a-list. This thing’s a compelling blend of polish and grit, very kinetic, very well shot and featuring what looks to be a very solid lead performance. If the film lives up to the trailer you’ll be hearing a lot more about this one.
You’ll find the trailer and an earlier teaser here
What’s that? You want more Russian action? Okey-dokey. How about the trailer for ANTIKILLER 3, the latest installment in the hugely popular action series. The films star the omnipresent Yuri Kutsenko who seems to be in just about everything coming out of Russia these days because he likes to work a lot and is so damn good that everybody wants to hire him. It’s the same production team that was behind ZHEST and PARAGRAPH 78 so you know this thing is going to include a lot of big action scenes and the trailer does not disappoint. A healthy portion of this film’s budget must have gone to cars …
You’ll find the trailer here
Do we really need to say more about Noboru Iguchi’s MACHINE GIRL at this point? Heck, you can go and buy a copy of your own at the local WalMart already but what you can’t do there is check out the new Japanese trailer for the film. Mmmm, splattery.
You can check the new trailer here
I do believe I need mention only one thing about this one: the title is SECRET UNDERCOVER AGENT: WILDCATS IN STRIP ROYALE. Only in Japan, people. Only in Japan.
You’ll find the trailer here
And we close out the column with BLACK DYNAMITE, an absolutely note perfect recreation of the 1970s blaxploitation film starring Michael Jai White in the lead role. Grainy film stock? Sex and violence? Big car chases, vigilante justice and sweet, sweet loving? You betcha, it’s all in there. This is absolutely flawless …
Check the trailer here
