International Eye Candy
August 12, 2011
You know what’s better than sexy Asians? Sexy Asians in bikinis. And sexy Asians dancing. And sexy Asians cavorting in front of a giant penis statue spraying water into a fountain. And we’ve got all three of these things for you in this new edition of International Eye Candy. Also included? The long-awaited return of an anime master, a Thai remake of RASHOMON, Russian action, the latest from Luc Besson, and a double dose of UK horror. And away we go ...
We’ll kick things off in the UK with found footage style effort HOLLOW. This one puts a slightly different spin on the found footage style, presenting the material more as a psychological thriller than a straight up horror film, the shooting perspective serving to accent and question the motivations and emotional state of one of the key characters as the plot dives in to local folklore. It’s an uncommonly well acted film that uses the style to its full effect and the first teaser gives a good taste. Find the HOLLOW teaser here
From the UK we head for Chile, where writer-director Nicolas Lopez is putting the final touches on his new rom-com FUCK MY WEDDING. The follow up to box office smash FUCK MY LIFE – the number one Chilean film last year – picks up pretty much where that one left off and it looks to hit the style that made the first effort such a success bang on. Lopez is moving on from this one to a horror picture produced by Eli Roth so expect to be hearing his name a lot in coming months ... Watch the FUCK MY WEDDING trailer here
Right, time for the first batch of sexy Asians. These ones hail from Hong Kong and they’d be the ones that bring the giant penis statue with them. Christopher Sun’s 3D SEX AND ZEN: EXTREME ECSTASY has been a massive box office success story in Hong Kong, where the picture broke the opening weekend records that had been held by AVATAR. The secret to its success is no secret, really. It all comes down to skin. Lots of it. And a surprising sense of humor. The film is now hitting US screens in limited theatrical release and some new clips are starting to trickle out. Such as this one with the giant penis. Find the SEX AND ZEN clip here
French action maestro Luc Besson is putting the testosterone on hold for his latest directorial effort, a biopic of Burmese political activist Aung San Suu Kyi. Michelle Yeoh takes the lead in THE LADY, a move which has led to her being barred entry to Myanmar, as Burma is now known. THE LADY will soon premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival and while the trailer has not formally released yet a good chunk of it was included in an interview piece Besson did with CNN. Watch THE LADY footage here
Upcoming Russian effort TO PIECES is being billed as an action-comedy, a pitch very much born out by the poster design above but not at all by the just released teaser. Action? Oh, yeah, that’s there. Car wrecks, guns, knives, general mayhem. You bet. But there’s not a joke to be found. And, frankly, I’m good with that because this looks like the sort of grim and gritty stuff we haven’t seen from that part of the world in a while now. Watch the TO PIECES teaser here
I don’t know that we’ve ever included a film from Luxemburg in the IEC before so here’s a first. Beryl Kotz’s HOT HOT HOT seems to share a certain absurd sense of humor with some of Jean Pierre Jeunet’s more mainstream work. The story of a socially awkward man sent off to work in a sauna and massage spa, where he is surrounded by naked people all day every day, is played totally deadpan and is all the better for it. Production values are top notch and leading man Rob Stanley – yes, despite the country of origin this is all in English – looks drily hilarious. Find the HOT HOT HOT trailer here
Right, Sexy Asians Round Two. This time out we head to Korea for a look at Oh Young-doo’s INVASION OF ALIEN BIKINI. A low-budget success story, Oh made his film for under five grand then went on to win the big prize at the Yubari International Fantastic Film Festival in Japan on the way to securing a theatrical release in his native South Korea. The story? Hot alien (in a bikini) needs sperm. Yup. Watch the INVASION OF ALIEN BIKINI trailer here
Roland Emmerich is destroying the world. Again. But this time the director of INDEPENDENCE DAY is sitting in the producer’s role, lending his expertise to Tim Fehlbaum's German language post-apocalyptic picture HELL. A near future effort in which the earth has been scorched by the sun this looks dry and dusty and actually quite good. Find the HELL trailer here
In production for twelve years, Ian Palmer’s KNUCKLE became one of the big buzz titles at this year’s Sundance Festival. An inside look at the underground boxing culture within the Irish traveller (gypsy) community and an ongoing feud between three rival clans, this is gritty stuff so riveting that the story is already being developed as a conventional narrative feature as well. No US release date yet but the UK theatrical is coming soon, meaning the first trailer is upon us. Find the KNUCKLE trailer here
Eleven years ago Hiroyuki Okiura emerged on to the international animation scene as the director of the Mamoru Oshii scripted JIN-ROH: THE WOLF BRIGADE. It’s a phenomenal feature, bluntly, a movie I personally think stands as one of the best animated films ever made. And then he just sort of disappeared. A bit of for-hire work here and there doing title sequences and things but no more films until now. Premiering at the Toronto International Film Festival will be Okiura’s sophomore film, the more family oriented A LETTER TO MOMO. And while I expect this to be a fair bit gentler than JIN-ROH I also expect it to be every bit as good. Watch the A LETTER TO MOMO trailer here
No offense to the Jon Stewarts and Morgan Spurlocks of the world, but American satirists and documentarians have got it way too fucking easy. When all it takes to be declared daring and controversial is eating nothing but McDonalds, well, the bar has been set a little bit too low. All Spurlock really risked making his breakout film was putting on a few pounds. But Denmark’s Mads Brugger? This guy makes films that could get him killed. In his Sundance winning debut, THE RED CHAPEL, Brugger bluffed his way in to North Korea by pretending to be a communist theatre director. And for his upcoming THE AMBASSADOR? For this one Brugger literally buys himself a diplomatic passport – a real one, his credentials are valid – to the Central African Republic where he goes off to live the high life while striking business deals with the gangsters and warlords who control the diamond trade. This is 100% real and absolutely stunning. Watch THE AMBASSADOR trailer here
Off we head now to Thailand where critically acclaimed director Pantewanop Tewakul has assembled an all star cast – ONG BAK fans will recognize Mum Jokmok in there, while SHUTTER star Ananda Everingham plays one of the leads – for THE OUTRAGE. A remake of Akira Kurosawa’s RASHOMON with the action moved into a period Thai setting this looks like absolutely gorgeous stuff. Production values are through the roof and the performances look absolutely bang on. This one pretty much came out of nowhere and if it lives up to the trailer it could be one of the most pleasant surprises of the year. Watch THE OUTRAGE trailer here
And, finally, we wrap up in Japan with our final batch of sexy Asians. These would be the singing and dancing ones. Shinji Imaoka made big waves at Tribeca with his pinku fantasy musical UNDERWATER LOVE. A softcore sex musical in which one of the lead characters is a kappa – a turtle creature from Japanese folklore – Imaoka recruited acclaimed cinematographer Christopher Doyle for this one with music provided by Stereo Total. The international teaser for this one has turned up in a previous edition of the column but with the Japanese release approaching a full theatrical trailer has now arrived as well. Watch the UNDERWATER LOVE trailer here
