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AICN/TWITCH! INTERNATIONAL EYE CANDY COLUMN! Todd Brown On GUILALA, MARTYRS, SOUTH OF HEAVEN, GHOST IN THE SHELL & More!

Published at:  Jun 12, 2008 4:19:12 AM CDT

Hey, everyone. ”Moriarty” here.

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


GITS-crouch.jpg

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


    + Expand All

    Readers Talkback

  • Jun 12, 2008 4:22:53 AM CDT

    first

    by redfist

  • Jun 12, 2008 4:59:16 AM CDT

    yay! machine girl

    by chipps

  • Jun 12, 2008 5:14:47 AM CDT

    machine girl...

    by bobaswart

    ...is like wolf nipple chips. get 'em while they're hot!

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jun 12, 2008 5:45:34 AM CDT

    Black Dynamite

    by palewook

    looks like it came from 1973. Should be fun.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jun 12, 2008 6:54:01 AM CDT

    More french horror

    by series7

    Yes, that means today is going to be a good day. Because now that I finally watched the signal i have another movie that'll probably take 2 years for me to be in alignment with the stars again to see it.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jun 12, 2008 7:33:28 AM CDT

    about Martyrs

    by marsellus

    Director Pascal Laugier met the French "Ministre de la Culture" 2 days ago, now Martyrs's going to be "reviewed" again by the Commission, hopefully it'll get only a 16yo rating.
    Haven't seen the flick yet, but I hear it's awesome.
    By the way, the trailer for the latest Alexandre Aja's movie, Mirrors, is out now. Vive la France...

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jun 12, 2008 8:09:42 AM CDT

    nipples on the Major...

    by gatsbys west egg omlet

    anything else different about that Ghost in the Shell?

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jun 12, 2008 8:17:57 AM CDT

    Oh French

    by series7

    You created cinema and haven't let us down since.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jun 12, 2008 10:03:29 AM CDT

    Antikiller?

    by knuckleduster

    So he... doesn't kill?

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jun 12, 2008 10:27:11 AM CDT

    Alternate link for Martyrs Trailer

    by videoguru

    http://www.vimeo.com/1153839?pg=embed&sec=1153839 (remove spaces) I work for Total Casting and we did the casting for this last year. The production team worked really hard on this and they faced their share of set backs (including one of the lead actresses suffering a major injury that stopped the shooting for a little while). I really hope that it gets the distribution it deserves. This film is a hell of a lot more interesting that your typical torture porn that passes as horror nowadays.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jun 12, 2008 11:55:32 AM CDT

    18 certificate= NOT COMMERCIAL SUICIDE

    by lost jarv

    Ignorant gits. Loads of Films get 18 in the UK and Europe. I think an 18 is actually a good thing as it stops parents from bringing their godawful spawn into the cinema when I'm watching something.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jun 12, 2008 11:57:03 AM CDT

    Why is he trying to recut it?

    by lost jarv

    fucking pointless. It'll still be 18 when we get it. Mind you, I won't watch it because I think with a title and reputation like the one it has, then it is bound to be Torture Porn and I hate torture Porn.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Teaser one official
    http://tinyurl.com/4m6mq4

    Teaser two official
    http://tinyurl.com/4f2ezv

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jun 12, 2008 12:07:31 PM CDT

    THE MARTYRS TRAILER IS NOT OFFICIAL !

    by theplant

    It's a bootleg made during the shooting, leaked, do not represent the movie in anyway ! Get the two teasers above, they are much better.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jun 12, 2008 2:27:18 PM CDT

    That Trailer for South of Heaven...

    by dogstardude

    Is easily one of the greatest things I've ever seen.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jun 12, 2008 2:42:29 PM CDT

    PULP FICTION FAN

    by rolloverformoreandmore

    Yes, the film is STELLAN DOWN AND OUT. Harry mentioned it in May in his DVD review. He made it sound more like a feature, its actually a short, less than 30 minutes or so. A buddy of mine has a copy of it through Gaumant World Distribution (no not Luc Besson's company) its a Swedish film. And yes, the rumors are true. It is fucked up beyond all reason. It is XXX, but it is shot in an avante garde experimental style using some weird Russian film. If you have the chance check it out. There are excerpts of clips all over the net.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jun 12, 2008 2:49:51 PM CDT

    Black Dynamite Best Thing Ever Made?

    by pr1c3y

    Tarantino might be in tears me thinks.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jun 12, 2008 3:30:37 PM CDT

    PULP FICTION FAN?

    by fuck seth rogen dickblood

    Nice name. Very 2008 of you.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jun 12, 2008 3:59:35 PM CDT

    stellan down and out

    by skittles123

    This is what I came up with for STELLAN DOWN AND OUT. Anyone speak Swedish? LOL I have heard of this one. It features the oh so infamous CHICKEN FUCKING scene where they smash the poor creature like a pancake between two fat chicks. GOOD LUCK ON YOUR QUEST!!


    http://www.filmtipset.se/film/stellan-down-and-out.html

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jun 12, 2008 4:00:33 PM CDT

    rolloverFORMOREANDMORE

    by skittles123

    Might you have a link to the film?

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jun 12, 2008 4:03:36 PM CDT

    skittles123

    by rolloverformoreandmore

    No can do pal. That shit is illegal in 18 countries!! No joke, it is like FACES OF DEATH for porn....and chickens....and Swedish people. Stellan Down And Out, a true gem!! hehehe

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jun 13, 2008 11:06:00 AM CDT

    Good to see Eye Candy back in Action!

    by psychedelic

    It feels like it's been gone way too long. I can breath a sigh of relief. (sigh) Keep it rolling.

    Reply to Talkback

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