Aussie horror

Over the next couple of weeks I'll be talking to the makers of a couple of low budget horror films. Tonight I'll be chatting to Daniel Armstrong; the director and producer of The Disturbed, a zombie film being shot in Melbourne by Strongman Pictures. Set in an aslyum the film promises to be an apocalyptic vision of violence, terror and insanity. They have just completed a five minute promo and are presently finalizing finance for the full feature. For all you make up artists out there check out issue three of Smoke and Mirrors for a competition to play a member of the undead in the film.

Then next week I'll be meeting up with Doug Turner, the director and driving force behind I Know How Many Runs You Scored Last Summer. A gore filled comedy in the tradition of Shaun of the Dead, a killer is on the loose with a razor sharp cricket glove and sharpened stumps for weapons with revenge on his mind! The film was shot in Sydney bv Media 42. Its refreshing to see filmmakers just going out and making movies despite the lack of funding possibilites for genre films in Australia. After the success of Wolf Creek and the forthcoming The Ferryman and Black Sheep here's hoping we're on the brink of a resurgance in the antipodean horror film.

Cinemascape

This Friday I’ll once again be appearing on Eastside 89.7 FM’s Cinemascape show. I’ll be reviewing Rian Johnson’s Brick so for all you Sydneysiders please tune in at 17:30. For those who have been listening I recently also reviewed the new Australian sporting comedy Footy Legends on the show.

How Twisted is Bryan Brown?

Well last week started off well when I got to chat with the legendary Aussie actor Bryan Brown; the star of Cocktail, Gorillas in the Mist and FX - Murder by Illusion to name a few. We talked about his new TV show Two Twisted, a return to the sinister and disturbing worlds of The Twilight Zone and Alfred Hitchcock Present's. He has gathered together a fine array of talent both infront and behind the camera including Sam Neil, Melissa George, Paul Middleditch and Jacqueline McKenzie. Lets hope it kick starts a deluge of home grown television drama production down under. Keep posted for when the interview will be published. For Australian readers Two Twisted is now showing on Mondays on Channel Nine.

In some brief news my report from the set of Stephen King's Nightmares and Dreamscapes appears in the Shivers supplement of Starburst Special #76 and my talk with ILM's Grady Cofer will be appearing in the third issue of Smoke and Mirrors, on shelves very soon.

For anyone reading in London I'm very jealous indeed as this year's Frightfest Festival starts in a couple of weekends time on August 24th with a charity screening of Chris Smith's Severance. The line-up over the long weekend is sensational so if you live in London and don't have tickets, shame on you. Those days squashed behind The Cinema Store's table with Theo and Neil flogging zombie DVDs in The Prince Charles cinema's basement seem so far away! Have a great one Paul, Alan and Ian and everyone who is attending.

Latest news

While travelling I was lucky to catch up with a couple of filmmakers to discuss their latest endeavours. In London I caught up with Matthew Metcalf and Alan Harris, the producers of the forthcoming New Zealand horror film, The Ferryman. Starring John Rhys Davies; the duo promise that the film will be a gory return to the 80s glory days of The Evil Dead, The Thing and Braindead. I can hardly wait! My interview will appear in Shivers near the time of the films release.

The always-entertaining Lloyd Kaufman welcomed me into Troma’s NYC office with open arms and excitedly discussed his latest horror masterpiece Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead. It tells the story of a fast food establishment that is built over an Indian burial ground with disastrous results. My chat with Lloyd will appear in a future issue of Filmink.

As always, it was a pleasure to catch up with the guys at Visual Imagination. I’m very happy to report that the July issue of Film Review features my all-new set report from Superman Returns plus highlights from my interviews from the pages of Starburst; that’s twenty pages of Superman Returns fun by yours truly.

To round things off the second issue of Smoke and Mirrors is on the shelves now and features my interview with Wil Cohen, the man who handles the special effects on the new series of Dr Who. Talk of werewolves and Cyberman bodes well for the new series.

Sydney Film Festival report - week 2

Better late than never, having returned from a month overseas, it’s about time I wrapped up the second week of the Sydney Film Festival.

C.R.A.Z.Y, a French Canadian production, follows the life of a young boy, obsessed with David Bowie and confused about his sexuality, the film perfectly portrays the inner turmoil’s raging through the body and mind of a teenager in the Seventies. Directed with panache by Jean-Marc Vallée and perfectly played by Marc André and Michael Cóté as the boys Patsy Cline loving father; C.R.A.Z.Y is highly recommended for film and rock music fans alike.

Edmond, starring William. H. Macy and directed by Stuart Gordon, the man who gave us The Re-Animator took David Mamet’s source play and gave us an unsettling account of a man unhinged by the tortures of modern day life. Using the streets of New York to claustrophobic affect, Macy’s central performance is an excellent portrayal of frustration and desperation but the rest of the talented cast is underused. A good effort but the film lacks the ferocity and unease of watching the story unfold on stage.

Much has been said about Rian Johnson’s Brick, a film noir detective story set in an American High School and for the most part the exultations bestowed upon the film are spot on. Beautifully shot and brimming with visual flourishes Brick maintains its dark foreboding mood whilst never releasing the tension as it unwinds its complex plot. Joseph Gordon Levitt shows that the promise he showed in Greg Araki’s Mysterious Skin was no fluke.

Andrew Denton’s God On My Side was an interesting, if flawed, look at religion in the United States. Often going for the easy laugh, Denton made for an affable host but the film showed none of the rapier wit and fascinating mind that he displayed at the Q&A that followed the screening. A valiant attempt that belied its television origins.

My favourite films of the festival, however were Nicolas Winding Refn’s extraordinary Pusher trilogy. Exciting, shocking and hilarious; all three films show a director completely at home in the genre displaying a virtuosity and style completely at odds with the films low budget. Pusher followed the lives of Frank and Tonny, two low life dealers, played by Kim Bodnia and Mads Mikkelsen, as they try and make good a drug deal that has gone disastrously wrong. The sequels With Blood on my Hands: Pusher II and I’m The Angel of Death: Pusher III tell the stories of Tonny and drug overlord Milo respectively. Milo, played by Zlatko Buril is a work of comedic genius, his vain attempts to separate his daughters birthday party and a particularly gory and harrowing drug deal are the work of genius and its no surprise that Mikkelsen has taken the role bad guy in the next Bond film. I cannot recommend these films more.

Sydney Film Festival report - week 1

Things kicked off well with the festival opener, Rolf De Heer’s Ten Canoes. A fantastic little film; beautifully shot in colour and black and white made with the help of the people of Ramingining; Ten Canoes is a million miles from grubby nightmares of Bad Boy Bubby. Starring Jamie Gulpilil and narrated by his father, the legendary David Gulpilil, the actors speak in their native indigenous tongue. The cinematography by Ian Jones is breathtaking and the humour the aboriginal stars bring to their roles is thoroughly engaging. How kidnapping, sorcery, revenge and canoe building fit onto the story you’ll have to wait and see but this is delightfully entertaining cinema that treats its subject matter with the utmost of respect.

Hard Candy, the directorial debut by David Slade was amazing. Uncompromising, unflinching and unrelenting in its vision of revenge and mental torture, the film grabs the audience from its opening seconds and never lets go. What’s truly special about the film is how little Slade actually shows, the audiences imagination is left to run wild. The performances are excellent, in particular Ellen Page, an actress whose young years belie an amazing talent, definitely a face to watch in the future. Highly recommended.

Starfish Hotel was a bit of a disappointment, with talk of David Lynch and Donnie Darko influences I had high hopes but all we got was a man walking around in a bunny suit. Probably a bit harsh but this beautifully put together film had some serious pacing issues. Unlike Nicholas Winding Refn’s Pusher and With Blood on My Hands – Pusher II; two excellent thrillers that formed part of the festivals Danish spotlight. Can’t wait for the third instalment next week. I also hear from good authority that Adam’s Apples delivered the goods.

The two screenings of Michael Frank's Ra Choi proved very popular so thanks to everyone who attended. We had people in tears at the box office at the sold out Sunday screening. Those lucky enough to get into the Dendy Opera Quays also saw two excellent Q&A sessions when Frank was joined by associate producer Milli Howson and cast members Nammi Le Benson, Nina Karen Fernandez and Paul He.

A huge surprise was Little Miss Sunshine; a fabulous little comedy about a family struggling to get their daughter to the Little Miss Sunshine beauty pageant. Toni Collette, Greg Kennear and Steve Carell all give delightfully performances in this hilarious and moving look at a dysfunctional family with an even more dysfunctional Volkswagen van. The feel good movie of the Festival!

Cinemascape

This Friday at 5:30pm I'll be reviewing Colour Me Kubrick on Eastside 89.7FM's Cinemascape show. Please tune in if you are in the Sydney area.

Superman Returns

As the release of Superman Returns grows ever closer I thought I'd round up my articles on the film published so far; Starburst Special #74 features my first set report, Starburst #336 features my interview with Kevin Spacey, Starburst #337 includes my chat with the films writers Dan Harris and Michael Dougherty, Starburst Special #75 features my interviews with Brandon Routh, Kate Bosworth and producer Gil Adler and finally onto Starburst #338 and my chats with director Bryan Singer and Parker Posey make an appearance. Articles on the film will also be appearing in Film Review, Ultimate DVD and The Works so watch this space.

Cinemascape

This Thursday I'll be live on air on Eastside 89.7 FM's Cinemascape show. This week I'll be reviewing James Gunn's hommage to the Eighties gore film Slither. The show goes out at 5:30am so if you are in the Sydney area please tune in.

Sydney Film Festival 2006 preview

The line up for this year’s Sydney Film Festival has been announced and as always, there is a fantastic variety of films on display. Rolf de Heer’s Ten Canoe’s opens festivities and after hearing about the film from David Lightfoot, producer of Greg McClean’s Rogue, it sounds amazing. Paul Greengrass’s already infamous United 93, David Slade’s Hard Candy and Menhaj Huda’s Kidulthood all sound like they will be stirring up a bit of controversy and this years retrospective on Jean-Pierre Melville will give us a welcome opportunity to see Le Samouraí on the big screen. The Hong Kong Express programme brings us Ronny Yu's Fearless starring Jet Li, anyone who knows me will know how much I love Yu's The Bride With the White Hair so I'm very much looking forward to his return to Hong Kong cinema and the festival also brings back that perrenial action favourite Jackie Chan in The Myth. It will be interesting to see what William. H. Macy makes of the title role of Edmond in Stuart Gordon’s adaptation of the David Mamet play. I saw Kenneth Brannagh play the role in London and it was one of the most astounding and disturbing experiences I have ever had at the theatre. There is, as always, also a fabulous amount of documentaries and world cinema to indulge in. In particular; Metal: A Headbanger's Journey and Starfish Hotel from Japan.

On a personal note, Jack Smith and the Destruction of Atlantis will help with the research on my book on Paul Morrissey and last, but by no means least, Ra Choi will be making it’s Australian premiere at the Dendy Opera Quays at 1.15pm Saturday June 10th and 6.00pm Sunday June 11th.

For ticket details and availability check out www.sydneyfilmfestival.org

Inside Deep Throat review

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Cinemascape

Once again for any Sydneysiders out there I'll be on Eastside 89.7 FM's Cinemascape show at 17:30 on Thursday April 20th. This time around I'll be reviewing The World's Fastest Indian starring Sir Anthony Hopkins and written and directed by Roger Donaldson.

Supervixens DVD review

Russ Meyer had his fingers burnt with the major studios. The success of Vixen had led to a fractious relationship with Twentieth Century Fox, which produced Beyond the Valley of the Dolls and the little seen The Seven Minutes. Both films had been financial failures and drove Meyer back into independent filmmaking with Supervixens.

Supervixens plays like a Russ Meyer best of. All of his quirks are visible on screen; nazi’s, square jawed heroes, rapid fire editing, ribald dialogue, sex in the desert and girls with unfeasibly large breasts. The film is full of familiar faces for Meyer afficiandos; Haji from Good Morning and Goodbye!, John Lazarr from Beyond the Valley of the Dolls, Stuart Lancaster from Faster Pussycat Kill Kill! and the legendary Uschi Digard from Cherry, Harry and Raquel.

The film received a lot of criticism for its violence. The scene where Harry Sledge murders Super Angel in the bathtub is very graphic and jars with the rest of the film. Saying that, Charles Napier is fantastic as Sledge, an impotent cop seething with macho rage. The women, all of whom have Super in their name, are all extraordinary and Shari Eubank excels in her dual role of Super Angel and Supervixen. Her venomous dialogue is spat out with searing rage as she taunts Sledges advances. The film comes alive when the duo is on screen; their verbal sparring is a high point that the film never quite matches. The film does meander along at times and some segments could have been easily excised, Ramsey’s desert go-carting escapade for example. Supervixens is Meyer’s road movie and Road Runner cartoon rolled into one; even down to the “Meep Meep” sound effects. It’s a bit too episodic in its storytelling and outstays it welcome but when it works it shows the director at the height of his powers.

Since he passed away Meyer’s films have, at last, been given the special edition treatment on DVD they deserve, its great to see Madman have included Meyer in their Director’s Suite series.

Check out www.cinephilia.net.au for full review

Latest News

As the release date of Superman Returns draws ever closer Starburst has begun to publish reports from my visit to the set last year. Starburst Special #74 features a set report and Starburst #336 will feature my interview with Kevin Spacey who plays Lex Luther. The more I hear about the film the better it sounds, can't wait until June 29th. Starburst will feature much more from my set visit in future issues so keep your eyes on the shelves over the next few of months.

The first issue of Smoke and Mirrors has hit the shelves and looks great. The issue features my Rogue set report and a profile of UK company Framestore CFC.

Issue 5 of Cinema Retro is due out soon and will include my look at the exhibition Stanley Kubrick: Into the Mind of a Visionary Filmmaker including excerpts of my interview with Malcom McDowell and Christianne Kubrick.

Cinemascape - Eastside 89.7FM

This Thursday marks my first day as part of the Eastside 89.7FM Cinemascape team. Each week we will review three new release movies and this week I'll be looking at the film version of Alan Moore's graphic novel V For Vendetta starring Natalie Portman and Hugo Weaving. The show goes out every Thursday between 5:30 and 6:00pm.

Interview wirh Roger Donaldson, director of The World's Fastest Indian

Last week I had the pleasure of interviewing director Roger Donaldson. A passing glance at his résumé shows an eclectic and varied array of films that show a man not afraid to try out every genre. From Cocktail to Species, The Getaway to Thirteen Days, there’s something for everyone. We met up to discuss his new film, the fabulous The World’s Fastest Indian starring Sir Anthony Hopkins. It tells the true story of Burt Monroe, an obsessive biker who spends his whole life building an “Indian” motorbike with one aim, to break the land speed record. Thanks to Charlotte Greig for arranging the chat.

How was it returning to New Zealand to make The World’s Fastest Indian after years working in Hollywood?

That’s one of the reasons I made the film, I was looking for an excuse to go back and do something that was relevant to own history really. Because this movie started out as one of the very first films I ever made as a documentary on Burt Monroe. I was at the very beginning of my film-making career, I was in my early twenties so it just had a lot of personal stuff in it for me. In fact one of my daughters saw the film and said, “oh my God Dad, you’ve made a film about myself!” which probably I have in a funny way.

I saw the film last night and apart from trying to break the land speed record it was my Dad, the garage, the motorbikes.

You know, I think that’s what it was for me to. It was really, in its own funny way, a homage to my own father, who’s still alive. But I think everyone has that kind of relationship with his or her Dad. You know the little kid in the film in a way is me. I used him as a vehicle to ask those questions that I was asking as a young twenty year old. I remember being impressed with this guy. I can still remember what he had to say and what he did; he’s attitude to life and all that. When I look at the documentary I realise there’s a lot I actually took verbatim from the documentary and reworked for the movie.

Anthony Hopkins is fabulous in the film, how close is he to the real Burt Munroe?

Tony (Hopkins) took his body language, his speech patterns, his accent and he’s done an amazing job. But then also a lot of the movie is fictitious as well, even though it’s very true to the spirit of the sort of character he was. I was never there when he first turned up at the Salt Lakes, or what he though or what he said. I took things that he talked about and tried to put them into the context of a road movie.

How did you discover Burt Monroe?

I not quite sure how I discovered him other than me and my filmmaking partner Mike Smith, who lives up in Brisbane now, we both had motorbikes. I guess through our interest in bikes we heard about this guy on the grapevine because he wasn’t that well known really. Maybe if you were into racing motorbikes you would have heard about him more than we had. We were just casual motorbike enthusiasts. Anyway, I remember we wrote to Burt and he invited us to go down and see him. We lived up in Auckland at the time and he lived in the most southern city in New Zealand on the South Island. Anyway, I remember we got there at 10 o’clock at night and we had this address. We arrived in the suburban street, then we got to Burt’s property and there’s nothing there. It was just waist high grass and this shed. I was like “oh, we must have got the address wrong,” we checked and it was the right place. We knocked on the door of the shed and this crusty old guy emerges from the shed and he’s really fired up with enthusiasm. He had a sparkle in his eye and said “let me show you my bike.” He wheels it out and cranks it up and it screamed. I mean our bike (in the film) made a lot of noise but his was a 200mph monster. Ours was just a replica that was meant to go all day and everyday so it was a much more detuned version but his bike screamed! He was revving the guts out of her, the lights were coming on in neighbours houses and people were hurling abuse over the back fence and Burt was as deaf as a post as he is in the movie. He couldn’t hear a darned thing. We were just killing ourselves laughing and excited that we had really discovered a treasure here.”

A full version of the interview will be published soon, keep posted for details.

Ra Choi news update

I am happy to report that the sold out world premiere of Ra Choi at the London Australian Film Festival went down a storm and paves the way for a busy next few months on the festival circuit. The film will now also be playing at the prestigious Rome Independent Film Festival (April 7-13) http://www.riff.tv and the Worldfest Houston Film Festival (April 21-30) www.worldfest.org

For any Australian readers we are pleased to announce that director Michael Frank will be appearing on The Movie Show on SBS, he will be interviewed by the shows host Megan Spencer. The interview will be screened on Wednesday 22nd March at 8pm.

After being named best film at the Australian Writers Guild awards, Ra Choi has been awarded ‘Commended’ at the Australian National Literary Awards.

“The National Literary Awards attract hundreds of entries from every state of Australia and success in this award is a reflection of both the quality of the entry and strength as a writer” – Gail Blundell, Co-ordinator, National Literary Awards.

Between the Covers

Once again, for any Sydneysiders reading I'll be on the "Between the Covers" book review show on Eastside 89.7FM. This time I'll be looking at Scorcese: A Journey Through the American Psyche published by Plexus and edited by Paul. A. Woods. I'll be on air at 11:30 am on Tuesday 14th March.

Revolver DVD review

Any film starring the late great Oliver Reed is a winner in this humble reviewers opinion and Revolver is no exception. Reed, the charismatic drunkard was known for attacking difficult roles with relish. From his early days with Hammer Films in The Curse of the Werewolf to his long-standing association with Ken Russell in the likes of Women in Love and The Devils, Reed exuded a rugged charm that won him many fans. In fact Russell was the only director who truly let the actor run riot on set

He brings his tough guy persona to the fore in Revolver as the cop who will stop at nothing to find his kidnapped wife. Joined by Italian heartthrob Fabio Testi, star of Four Gunmen of the Apocalypse and The Big Racket, the duo make an unlikely alliance that makes for a winning cinematic combination. Both actors seem to enjoy the challenge and director Sollimo keeps Reed’s tendency to over act to a minimum. Revolver joins a series of tough cop thrillers that proved to be box office gold in the 70s and 80s in Italy.

Every Italian director worth his salt tried his hand at the genre. Lucio Fulci inevitably hit the screens with the ultra gory Contraband and the genres stalwart Enzo. G. Casterelli gave us The Heroine Busters. Sollimo became an expert of the harsh city streets with such thrillers as Run Man Run and Violent City. The interesting thing about the Italian approach to the cop thriller was that the good guys were often as corrupt as the criminals they hunted. Revolver draws a very fine line as the Warden engulfs himself into the criminal underground and that’s what makes the film so interesting. The Warden is just as corrupt as the prisoners he spends his life incarcerating. The pounding soundtrack by maestro Ennio Morricone is the icing on the cake on this highly recommended thriller.

For full review please check out www.cinephilia.net.au

Bowie bonus

As anyone who knows me will attest I'm a huge David Bowie fan so I just couldn't resist in sharing this wonderfully camp clip from The Cher Show originally broadcast in 1975. They perform Young Americans which segues into a delerious medley of classics from Motown and The Beatles. It takes a while to load up and the picture isn't too great but its quality entertainment!