International Eye Candy
June 1, 2011
It has been a little while since we last made an appearance in these parts but the International Eye Candy is back from our wee spring hiatus and we’re better than ever. Really we just weren’t here for a little while because people weren’t making all that much stuff that looked interesting for a little while, but now? Now we’ve got Udo Kier commanding a Nazi moon force. Now we’ve got acclaimed cinematographer Christopher Doyle shooting Japanese soft porn. We’ve got the latest from Jackie Chan. We’ve got a Swiss 3D slasher. We’ve got a French documentary about the Hong Kong influence on Quentin Tarantino. We’ve got a tentacle creature tearing the hell out of a Korean oil rig. We’ve got a Danish animated barbarian in a thong. This could only mean one thing: I’m Todd from Twitch and this is International Eye Candy.
We kick things of in Korea, where local producers apparently felt the need to tap into some of that FAST AND FURIOUS action without being quite so obvious about it. And so they went with two wheels instead of four and broke out the thesaurus to present QUICK. But here’s the thing, it looks pretty damn good. Very slick, great action, and a whole lot of men going far faster than their mothers would be comfortable with on motorcycles. Yes, please. Find the first trailer for QUICK here
Sometimes all it takes is a really well designed poster to sell a concept and the artwork for Swiss slasher ONE WAY TRIP does exactly that. You look at it and you know what you getting: A group of pretty young things high on mushrooms who have a hard time keeping their blood on the inside of their bodies, where it belongs. So that’s the concept, does the film deliver in the execution? It would appear so, yes. Find the first ONE WAY TRIP trailer here
On paper THE ARTIST sounds like the sort of film destined to never, ever grace an American movie screen. For one thing, the star is French. So is the director. For another, it’s black and white. And, finally, it’s silent. Well, not truly silent in that it has a score, but it’s presented in the style of the original silent films. Which should be the kiss of death. But here’s the thing. The film was snatched up by The Weinstein Company before it even had the chance to premiere in Cannes, where it played to a fantastic response. The creative team are the folks behind the OSS 117 movies and what they’ve done here is really pretty remarkable. The trailer gives a pretty good taste, so dive in. Find the trailer for THE ARTIST here
The Man In Suit came from beneath the ice! That’s the basic pitch on James Felix McKenney’s HYPOTHERMIA, the latest title to come from the fruitful relationship between Dark Sky Films and Glass Eye Pix – a collaboration already responsible for STAKE LAND, THE HOUSE OF THE DEVIL and THE INNKEEPERS. This one is an old school creature feature, one pulled off with nothing but latex effects and a bunch of ice fishermen. Watch the HYPOTHERMIA teaser here
And now we bounce back to Korea, where director Kim Ki-Duk has been mentoring a small cadre of young protégés over the past few years. One of those is Jeon Jae-hong, who last worked with Kim on BEAUTIFUL and the duo are back in action with what looks to be a gritty crime drama titled POONGSAN. Kim’s work exists right out on the poles with the stuff that works working very well indeed and the stuff that doesn’t generally being pretty awful. But the good stuff far outweighs the bad and this looks to be another of the good ones. Watch the POONGSAN trailer here
We stick in Korea a little while longer for big budget war picture MY WAY. Don’t let the blasé title put you off, this is the latest from director Kang Je-gyu, the journeyman helmer who turned heads in a big way with his previous war effort TAE GUK GI, released in many territories as BROTHERHOOD OF WAR. TAE GUK GI was a fantastic bit of work, one that did an incredible job of capturing the raw energy of combat on screen without forgetting the importance of getting the characters right. Kang is in that same territory with this one, though the scope is even broader with the film built around an international cast that includes Jang Dong-Gun (Korea), Jo Odagiri (Japan) and Fan Bing Bing (China). Watch the first MY WAY trailer here
Got a thing about spiders? Then watching short film LOOM might kind of freak you out. You’ll still think it looks absolutely incredible but there will definitely be a bit of crawling skin. Everybody else? You’ll just think “Oh my god, I need to watch that again.” Watch LOOM here
A great many Hong Kong movie fans have said a great many derogatory things about Quentin Tarantino and his use of Hong Kong source materials in his own films. Which makes it surprising, then, that nobody’s ever really given a serious look to that topic until now. A production outfit in France is doing just that, though, and are about to launch TARANTINO: THE DISCIPLE OF HONG KONG, a documentary exploring the Hong Kong films that have influenced Tarantino’s work. How seriously did the producers take this? Well, they talked Ringo Lam – director of CITY ON FIRE, the film cited as the most obvious inspiration for RESERVOIR DOGS – into doing the first on camera interview he has done in better than a decade. Gordon Liu’s in there, too, as well as a host of other key figures from within the industry. Watch the DISCIPLE OF HONG KONG trailer here
We can only hope that Marco Mak’s NAKED SOLDIER lives up to the title. It almost certainly won’t but even if you don’t see much skin, what you will see in the conclusion to a trilogy started by NAKED KILLER and NAKED WEAPON is an old school style Hong Kong action flick with fight choreography by Cory Yuen that manages to find an acting role for Sammo Hung. And here’s hoping that if anybody does get naked it aint Sammo. Watch the NAKED SOLDIER teaser here
The last time I saw Vincent Cassel on screen he sprayed whiskey on a woman’s naked breasts and lit them on fire. The next time I see Vincent Cassel on screen he’ll be wearing monastic robes in Dominik Moll’s THE MONK. There looks to be a bit of a thriller edge to this one, which would be nice to see as there really hasn’t been a great film of the type since THE NAME OF THE ROSE. And if it chooses to go in a slightly different direction? Well, Cassel is one of the most magnetic performers in the world and I’ll happily watch him in just about anything. Watch the MONK teaser here
Bollywood is getting heroic. In an industry that prides itself on every movie being bigger and splashier than the last this year’s biggest is – without a doubt – the Shah Rukh Khan starring superhero picture RA ONE. Releasing in the Diwali holiday season this fall there’s a lot riding on this one and it looks like it’ll deliver. Khan is a huge, huge star and the special effects work looks surprisingly strong for an Indian effort. The trailers thus far have been little more than teases but the latest effort shows a little more. Find the RA ONE trailer here
Jackie Chan says 1911 is his 100th film. The IMDB says otherwise – there are actually more than that – but if that’s the card Jackie wants to play, then who am I to argue. And for his big centenary Chan is playing the patriotism card, his film revolving around the establishment of the Republic Of China in 1911. With the 100th anniversary of those events now upon us this has been fertile ground for hit after hit in recent days, most of which have been so overwhelmed with the sort of ultra-nationalist rah-rah that you normally only see from Michael Bay that they don’t work at all for overseas audiences. But, hey, Jackie’s Jackie so you’ve certainly got to hope for something more. Find the first 1911 teaser here
Yes, that is a barbarian wearing assless chaps. And yes, RONAL THE BARBARIAN appears to be every bit as funny as that poster implies. I’m not even going to try and pitch it beyond that. If the poster hasn’t convinced you, nothing will. Just do yourself a favour and turn the volume way, way up when watching the trailer. Watch the RONAL THE BARBARIAN trailer here
Japanese softporn musical shot by regular Wong Kar Wai collaborator Christopher Doyle. Ready? Go. Find the UNDERWATER LOVE trailer here
And, finally, we leave you with Udo Kier. Udo Kier as the leader of a Nazi invasion of earth, an invasion launched from their secret Moon Base, the Fourth Reich creeping across the vastness of space in their Space Zeppelins to bring about the arrival of the master race once and for all. Yes, after a couple years of preparation and hard work the first proper teaser for space comedy IRON SKY has arrived to remind us that Udo is a god. Find the IRON SKY teaser here
