Cinema is Dope » Film Festivals: Midnight Madness

Martyrs Wins 2009 Melies d’Or for Best European Fantastic Film

blake — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 01:55:21 +0000

NOTE: Higher res version can be downloaded/viewed here in Quicktime format

For fans of Martyrs and Pascal here is video I took of him winning the 2009 Melies d’Or for Best European Fantastic Film at 42 Sitges Film Festival. I’m glad to be able to post this online for the fans of his and the film that didn’t get to be there.

It came full circle for me at the 42 Sitges Film Festival in getting to see filmmaker Pascal Laugier win and accept the 2009 Melies d’Or for Best European Fantastic Film (www.melies.org) for Martyrs (previous CID movie wallpaper). The film bowed first at the legendary Midnight Madness screening in Toronto and then played as the closing night film at Fantastic Fest here in Austin in 2008. Getting the film in Austin was by no means an easy task and may people went to great lengths, Tim League especially, in getting it here. Seeing it on the big screen here in Austin was a brutal and great experience all wrapped up in one. To see the film we fought to get here come full circle and win the prestigious Melies award at the grand Sitges Film Festival was unbelievable. These awards seem to revolve at where they get announced at every year and just for me to be at the spot after all these years of missing them where they were and for it to be the year Martyrs won… just felt for circle for me. Not to mention a wild night of partying with him and the Melies crew into the wee hours of the morning and getting to chat about the Austin reaction to his film and its post-free screening! Pascal Laugier’s next film gets rolling into production next year with a probable earliest bow looking to be in Fall 2011 (this can of course change). His next film is a thriller.

Sitges Film Festival 2009:
::: Official Site
::: Sitges Official Facebook Fan Page
::: Variety on Sitges ‘09
::: ‘Visage’, by Tsai Ming-liang, opens the Noves Visions category
::: Malcolm McDowell to receive the Grand Honorary Award at the opening, which will moved up to October 1st
::: [REC]2 to open Sitges 09
::: Alien is the inspiration for Sitges 09
::: The latest and most eagerly awaited genre films at Official Fantàstic Section
::: Animation, international variants of horror and 3D film
::: Sitges 09 will be recalling certain flashes from the 80’s

Symbol (2009) – Daily Movie Wallpaper – Latest from Hitoshi Matsumoto set to rock Midnight Madness

blake — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 10:00:20 +0000

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The Daily Movie Wallpaper
Wednesday, September 9, 2009

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Big Man Japan aka Dai-Nihonjin was one of the more brazen and outlandish comedies I’ve seen this decade and with Symbol, Hitoshi Matsumoto finally returns with more absurdity. Move aside Antichrist and Enter the Void as for those lucky enough to see it, Symbol will be the biggest “what the…” unpredictable head scratcher of 2009. This is my hunch at least. I do recommend not reading a single thing about this film and going into it as fresh as possible.

Be sure to catch it at Midnight Madness at TIFF (details).

INTRODUCTION:

“SYMBOL” is the second film by Japan’s best-known comic virtuoso, Hitoshi Matsumoto. It follows on the success of his first film “DAINIPPONJIN”, which was invited to the Directors Week of the 60th Cannes International Film Festival in 2007 and was lauded as the Festival’s “most individualistic work.” As was the case for “DAINIPPONJIN”, Matsumoto developed, directed and played the leading role in “SYMBOL” and co-wrote the script.

In “DAINIPPONJIN”, Matsumoto bypassed convention and applied an inventive approach of his own, resulting in an unfamiliar entertainment genre derived from the hero’s real and public image. The film succeeded through the exploration of the figure of the hero through Matsumoto’s worldview, utilizing a documentary film approach complete with reporting and interviews.

In his new film “SYMBOL”, Matsumoto builds further upon the tradition of comedy in an ambitious work that seeks to carry his sense of humor beyond cultural boundaries. He does this by not only constructing “SYMBOL” with the words of the story, but also by utilizing the “language” of imagery. As was the case for “DAINIPPONJIN”, “SYMBOL” covers deep philosophical ground, which under Matsumoto’s hand results in a unique film of tremendous impact.

Japanese Cinema Sites I Highly Recommend:
::: Jason Gray
::: Mark Schilling’s Tokyo Ramen
::: Midnight Eye
::: Nippon Cinema
::: Outcast Cinema
::: Ryuganji
::: Toronto J-Film Pow-Wow

Image Source:
Official stills that were used in the original international release of the film.

Related Links:
::: Official Site
::: IMDb Profile

REC 2 at the 66th Venice Film Festival – Jaume Balaguero, Paco Plaza & Manuela Velasco

blake — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 11:00:19 +0000

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I have been showing glimpses of them in my ongoing 42 Sitges Film Festival preview and now here they are days ago at the 66th Venice Film Festival.

It’s not every horror film that gets to walk the famous Venice Film Festival red carpet but such is the life for the REC franchise and its creators Jaume Balaguero and Paco Plaza and lead actress Manuela Velasco. This horror sequel from Spain is set to explode the film festival circuit this month and next from Midnight Madness to the 42 Sitges Film Festival (and possibly others…).

There has been a Screen Daily review (here) and a Variety review (here) with an overall buzz very enthusiastic from what I’ve heard. By all accounts it played very well at the 66th Venice Film Festival.

Image Source:
Official publicity stills from the 66th Venice Film Festilal. la Biennale di Venezia © 2009

Related Links:
::: IMDb Profile

REC 2 (2009) – Daily Movie Wallpaper – The Horror Film of 2009

blake — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 04:00:43 +0000

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The Daily Movie Wallpaper
Friday, August 28, 2009

[REC] 2 is Aliens to Alien, a sequel that ramps up the action but does not defile the spirit of its predecessor. Balaguero and Plaza have proved themselves exciting additions to the gory canon of Euro-horror masters, and they can’t wait to drag the Midnight Madness audience into the darkness, screaming at the top of their lungs.

- Colin Geddes (Midnight Madness TIFF Write Up)

Ok if Colin’s write up for this sequel doesn’t get you ramped up and excited then nothing will! REC 2 is storming both Midnight Madness and Venice (info) and kicking off the Sitges Film Festival (info) this year! Believe me, I’ll never forget the day I first saw the original at the Melia in Sitges and I’m sure when I see the sequel it will equally leave an imprint in my brain. The footage I saw at Cannes which has yet to be released was hands down the most exciting film footage I’ve seen this year.

Image Source:
Official stills that were used in the original international release of the film.

Related Links:
::: IMDb Profile

INSIDE (2007) – Movie Wallpaper – Beatrice Dalle & Alysson Paradis

blake — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 16:00:58 +0000

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Xavier Gens has me greatly anticipating Alexandre Bustillo and Julien Maury’s follow up to Inside called Snow aka Neige (as shown here in an interview I did with him at NIFFF last year). I haven’t heard a whole lot of news of late on this project so please leave a comment or contact me if you have any news.

Image Source:
Official stills used in the original international release for the film.

Related Links:
::: IMDb Profile