Blindness [2008]

The Day The Earth Stood Still (2008)

The Day the Earth Stood Still is a 2008 science fiction film, a remake of the 1951 film of the same name. Directed by Scott Derrickson and starring Keanu Reeves as Klaatu, the film updates the Cold War themes of man against man, to the more contemporary concerns of man against nature.

Terminator Salvation (2009)

Watchmen (2009)

Can 2009 come sooner please?

Music: Smashing Punpkins - The Beginning Is The End Is The Beginning

Transsiberian - dir. Brad Anderson - 2008

TRANSSIBERIAN
OPENING: JULY 18th,(Location: Angelika Film Center, New York, NY.)



A crime drama and thriller directed by Brad Anderson, produced by Julio Fernández, written by Brad Anderson and Will Conroy with Woody Harrelson, Emily Mortimer, Kate Mara, Eduardo Noriega, Thomas Kretschmann and Sir Ben Kingsley.

An American couple, Roy (Woody Harrelson) and Jessie (Emily Mortimer), decide to take the long way home from their recent sojourn in Asia on the legendary Trans-Siberian Express train from Beijing to Moscow. On their way, they meet another couple from the West, Carlos (Eduardo Noriega) and Abby (Kate Mara), with whom they quickly form a familiar bond that often unites fellow travellers away from home. When Roy accidentally gets separated from the group at a stopover, Jessie begins to realize that their compatriots aren’t exactly who or what they seem to be. The real danger begins to surface as a deceitful Russian detective (Sir Ben Kingsley) andlocals terrorize Jessie in this unforgettable journey.

Jailbait

Heavy Metal in Baghdad

Heavy Metal in Baghdad is a feature film documentary that follows the Iraqi heavy metal band Acrassicauda from the fall of Saddam Hussein in 2003 to the present day. Playing heavy metal in a Muslim country has always been a difficult (if not impossible) proposition but after Saddam's regime was toppled, there was a brief moment for the band in which real freedom seemed possible. That hope was quickly dashed as their country fell into a bloody insurgency. From 2004-2007, Iraq disintegrated around them while Acrassicauda struggled to stay together and stay alive, always refusing to let their heavy metal dreams die. Their story echoes the unspoken hopes of an entire generation of young Iraqis.

To see more: www.http://www.heavymetalinbaghdad.com/

Tricky - Makes Me Wanna Die

dir. Floria Sigismondi

http://www.floriasigismondi.com/

The Cure - End of the world

dir. Floria Sigismondi

http://www.floriasigismondi.com/

sigur ros - untitled #1 (vaka)

dir. Floria Sigismondi

http://www.floriasigismondi.com/

White Stripes - Blue Orchid

dir. Floria Sigismondi

http://www.floriasigismondi.com/

Fiona Apple - O Sailor

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" is a 1922 short story by F. Scott Fitzgerald. It is being adapted for a 2008 film of the same name directed by David Fincher and tells the story of Benjamin Button, a man who starts aging backwards with bizarre consequences.

REC 90%: Karaoke Terror / The complete Showa Era Songbook [Shôwa kayô daizenshû - 2003]

Director: Tetsuo Shinohara (Heaven's Bookstore)

"One of a gang of karaoke loving middle aged women is murdered by a young man. Her friends track him down and kill him. His friends track them down and kill the killer ..... and it escalates!

The story comes from a novel by Ryu Nurakami, the writer of Audition, Happiness of the Katakuris, Ecstasy, Coin locker babies. Like that film, this one is a quite literal battle of the sexes that does have something to say when you strip away the black comedy, with commentary about both sides: The young men have no sense of purpose, finding profundity in pop songs because they've got no sense of it from anywhere else; indeed, murder is the first substantial thing any of them have ever done. Meanwhile, the women initially have little self-esteem, since they're treated like they should be grateful for any notice or attention given them, no matter how crude and self-serving it is. It's only when they unite to seek their revenge that they recognize that they are not failures for being divorced; they contribute to society and deserve some respect and support. When they lay in wait for the boys, only to see them emerge in lipstick, leather, heels, and sheer body stockings, a substantial part of the audience is going to be with them - these young punks don't have any conception of how good they've got it, so it's time to strike back."

Karaoke Terror in my opinion is a closer sister of Yukihiko Tsutsumi's 2LDK, as they're both in the same genre of black comedy and insane killing until there's no man standing. I don't remember laughing this much at the whole absurdity of situation not even in any comedy genre movie. The songs of the Japanese Showa and the whole karaoke theme will make you probably think of Russ Meyer's Faster, Pussycat!Kill!Kill! as much as the behavior of the not so innocent women, as I for one took the side of men the entire time of the movie (and yes, I'm a woman) as their primitive ways of dealing with the women bought pity out of me.

Besieged city [Wai sing - 2008]

Director: Lawrence Lau

Lawrence Lau (aka Lawrence Ah Mon) is without a doubt one of Hong Kong's best and most under-appreciated directors, specializing in gutter-trawling tales of down-and-out youth frittering their lives away in an endless orgy of petty crime and street hustles. GANGS, SPACKED OUT and QUEEN OF TEMPLE STREET are all essential parts of the Hong Kong canon (especially QUEEN OF TEMPLE STREET about a brothel madam dealing with her out-of-control teenage daughter; it's a movie that deserves the Criterion treatment). He still directs like a madman, with Lau Ching-wan's MY NAME IS FAME as his latest highest-profile movie, but he also recently made A CITY WITHOUT BASEBALL which was released in November, 2007.
His newest film is BESIEGED CITY about kids going berserk in the Tin Shui Wai housing development, one of the towns built out in the middle of the New Territories that wound up becoming traps for their residents as much as they provided affordable housing. Mei Ah, the film's distributor has high hopes for the film and although it's not slated to be released in Hong Kong until March, 2008 they held a one-day qualifying run so it could be nominated for the Hong Kong Film Awards. A sharp-eyed reader found out about the screening and here's their report, right from the front lines.

Shiki-Jitsu [Ritual day / Ceremonial day - 2000]

Director: Hideaki Anno [Neon Genesis Evangelion, Karekano, Love & Pop, Cutie Honey]

The film tells the story of a director who meets an odd young woman in his home town. The story takes place over a period of 33 days. The film was both written and directed by Anno.

The actor playing the director is portrayed by famous indie Japanese filmmaker Shunji Iwai. In the original story, the character wasn't a director but a shopkeeper; Anno decided to change the plot.

The woman is played by Ayako Fujitani, who also wrote the original novel Tohimu on which Anno based his screenplay. Fujitani, the daughter of actor Steven Seagal, was inspired to write the book after an emotionally difficult time spent in Los Angeles, during which she played a small role in her father's 1998 feature, The Patriot.

Shiki Jitsu is characterized by beautiful photography, strongly contrasted psychological characters, and known psychological disorders. During the film there are many instances where animation and drawings are used to show the inner thoughts of "the Woman". Some people believe this is a result of Anno having an animator's background.

The film tells the story of a young Director returning to his home town (a suburb of a big Japanese city) and a strange young girl. At first the girl seems very eccentric. For example her saying "tomorrow is my birthday" every day, and wearing very unusual clothing.

But as the days go by, it appears that the woman has little touch with reality, and is constantly escaping into a fantasy world. The Director is a former anime director who is seeking to do a "real film" and embrace reality. The two eventually fall in love. Many parallels can be drawn between the Director and Hideaki Anno, particularly in regard to his relationship between anime and live action films.