New Cinema Wallpaper of the Day
Wednesday, October 8, 2008

At NIFFF, Merde played the strongest of the three segments in Tokyo! with audiences. At the recent Fantastic Fest 2008, Merde played the weakest of the three… go figure. Most people seemed to have a problem with it being a farce… which ironically enough is what Merde completely is! Regardless it was good to see audiences warm up to Interior Design and Shaking Tokyo! I like every part of this film and overall rate it as one of my favorites of 2008.

Related Coverage:
::: Previous Movie Wallpaper (Cinema is Dope)

Image Source:
Official Japanese poster artwork that was used in the original Japanese release of the film.

Related Links:
::: Fantastic Fest
::: Sitges Film Festival
::: IMDb Profile

 

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New Cinema Wallpaper of the Day
Friday, September 12, 2008

Tokyo! finally hits Austin next Friday at Fantastic Fest 2008 (3:45 PM; Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar). I highly recommend anyone attending the film festival to check it out. You can read my write up on this anthology film on the Fantastic Fest listing for it (read here).

Related Coverage:
::: Previous Movie Wallpaper (Cinema is Dope)

Image Source:
Official French poster artwork that was used in the original French release of the film.

Related Links:
::: Fantastic Fest
::: Sitges Film Festival
::: IMDb Profile

 

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Wave 2 for announced Fantastic Fest titles hit today (full press release here). Of the announced titles there are many that I’ve already seen. Of those I rate Chocolate (read my brief thoughts here) and Tokyo! as the two I can’t wait to see again. I’ve yet to see JCVD, ACOLYTES or DEADGIRL, but hear amazing things about all three. I’ll write a longer post tomorrow covering this latest wave of announcements of both features and shorts.

Anthology films by default seem to mostly suck. This is not the case though with the latest anthology film, Tokyo!, that boasts the filmmaking talents of – Leos Carax, Michel Gondry and Bong Joon-ho. I predict this will easily be a highlight for most that attend Fantastic Fest this year. The segment by French art house director Leos Carax titled, Merde, in particular seems destined for cult status among Fantastic Fest and Austin audiences! The less you know about this segment the better (small synopsis below)! I can’t wait to experience this segment and this film at Fantastic Fest!

Related Coverage:
::: Watch a clip from Merde over at Twitch!

MERDE SYNOPSIS

In MERDE by Leos Carax, a mysterious, sewer-dwelling man spreads confusion on the streets of Tokyo through a succession of irrational and provocative acts. Who is he? Why is he here? What does he want? The city’s population becomes obsessed by this strange phenomenon.

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

Related Links:
::: Fantastic Fest
::: IMDb Profile