29.2.08

Simone's Labyrinth



SPAIN/GERMANY - 2003
An eerie, atmospheric film which explores the obscure inner world of the introverted and mysterious Simone.
Simone is woken up for her father and, after kissing her sleeping mother goodbye, is taken to school in time for the coach trip to Austria. On the bus, the kids swap stories, but when Simone declares that they are all in her dream, and an accident is imminent, events become somewhat peculiar.

CAST
Laura Sonntag
Catherine H. Flemming
Hilmar Henjes
Andrea Losleben
Nola Nicole Oehming
Jan Kollarik
Fabian von Klitzing
Franziska Birnkammer

Directed by Iván Sáinz-Pardo




17.2.08

The Glitch


USA - 2007
Having commitment issues? Then check out "The Glitch," a hilarious, smartly-conceived comedy short starring American Pie's Jason Biggs, which mixes the inevitable question, "Where do you see us going?" with Groundhog Day-like insanity. Having achieved "immortal" status at FunnyorDie.com since it was posted last week, "The Glitch" has been seen more 13,000 times. While director Mike Samonek always figured the movie would find a home on the web, "it was never my intention to see this become a 'viral' video," he says.

Shot over two days, the film took five months to complete from conception to final cut. Directly inspired by Groundhog Day, Samonek says, "I've always liked the idea of a guy who thinks he can dodge an uncomfortable question only to see it come back and bite him in the ass again and again until he's forced to confront it." Samonek, a self-described "comedy junky" who appreciates the "absurdist comedy of Mel Brooks and Monty Python," and the "character driven, reality based" laughs of Alexander Payne and Judd Apatow, says he's using "The Glitch" as a calling card to put together a feature comedy to star Biggs, whom he met after selling his first screenplay in 2003. "Jason has a very smart, dark sensibility and I think that is a huge part of why this film works," he says, regarding "The Glitch." "Truth is, he's a jerk and the more roles he gets that allow him to be his true self, the better.
CAST
Jason Biggs
Melinda Sward
Ed Ackerman
Directed by Mike Samonek


14.2.08

Terminus



CANADA - 2001
Terminus (Latin for “boundary stone”) is a dark comedy about the self-destructive nature of the human mind and the dangers of urban isolation. In this film, a colossus made of concrete pilings follows a lonely man throughout the city tormenting him as he goes about his daily life on the subway, at the doctor’s office, and elsewhere. All the while, a strong, foreboding sense of mental anxiety builds as the man is ultimately driven to extreme ends.
CAST
Rob Carpenter
Tristam Gieni
Les Quinn
Trent Opaloch
Directed by Trevor Cawood




13.2.08

Der Schwarzfahrer (The Black Rider)


GERMANY - 1993
A young black man rides on a German bus while an older racist woman starts laying in the bigot commentary so harshly that the passengers have no choice but to sit around and listen to her silently. Eventually the black rider (Schwartzfahrer) exacts his deft revenge in a small and clever way.
The short itself could use some paring down, though. It's roughly 12 minutes long and could easily be about 7 or even 5. It introduces at great length one character that doesn't matter, and seems to spend unnecessary time introducing other characters as well. Having multiple characters unable to stand up against the woman's racism is fine, but they don't all have to have some history. For the most part, the film's timing is off enough that it works against its comedic timing. I think it could have used a little reworking.
However,more people care about the story than they do the craftmanship, and it is a good story. Ultimately it's a satisfying movie for what it is.
CAST
Senta Moira ... Old Woman
Paul Outlaw ... Black Man
Stefan Merki ... Biker
Klaus Tilsner ... Controller
Andrea Katzenberger ... Mother
Mark Tiedemann ... Child
Andreas Schmid ... 'Walkman'
Directed by Pepe Danquart


I Love Sarah Jane





AUSTRALIA - 2007
Jimbo is 13. All he can think about is one girl, Sarah Jane. And no matter what stands in his way - bullies, violence, chaos, zombies - nothing is going to stop him from finding a way into her world.
The zombie movie has thrived in recent years, with re-imaginings from 28 Days Later and Shaun of the Dead, and is still being successfully tweaked—as this Australian import shows. Shot digitally using the Thomson HD Viper Camera, I Love Sarah Jane is set in a parent-free neighborhood where the adults are either dead or undead. Without anyone to tell the kids to clean up the house, it just isn’t going to happen.
What makes Susser’s film so effective is the matter-of-fact way that the kids deal with their bleak situation. It’s nothing special to anyone to be carrying a bow with a quiver of arrows on your back like 13-year old Jimbo does. That’s just survival. Dark clouds loom—literally—overhead as he rides his bike around a trash-strewn, smoldering street. Amidst this awful backdrop blooms a chance for love—at least in Jimbo’s head. As a bored Sarah Jane watches a newscaster on TV describe the proper way to handle undead body disposal (incineration, of course), Jimbo sits down to make his move.
Any movie, even a short one, is reliant on a strong ending to make a good lasting impression. Without giving anything away, let’s just say that I Love Sarah Jane, written by Susser and David Michod, has a very satisfying one.
CAST
Brad Ashby ... Jimbo
Mia Wasikowska ... Sarah Jane
Vladimir Matovic ... Joey
Beau South ... Rory
Peter Yacoub ... Gram
Richard Mueck ... Zombie
Anton Enus ... Newsreader
Directed by Spencer Susser


12.2.08

Jungle Jail



FRANCE - 2007
A prisoner arrives in a wacky prison . Smaller than others,he is becoming fast the new scapegoat of the prison until the day while rocking ...
A movie created by french students of ESMA (Ecole Supérieur des métiers artistiques / School of Artistic Trades).
Directed by Mathieu Arnoux-Hugo Cierzniak-Bruce Nguyen Van Lan -Aymeric Palermo

Alive In Joburg



SOUTH AFRICA - 2005
In 1990, Johannesburg is home to a number of Extraterrestrial refugees, whose large spaceships (estimated to be nearly one kilometer in length) can be seen hovering above the city. When the visitors arrived, the human population was enamored with, among other aspects, the aliens' advanced "bio-suits", and supposedly welcomed them with open arms. However, later on, the aliens began moving into other areas of the city, committing crimes in order to survive, and frequently clashing with the police. The film goes on, playing as a documentary, complete with interviews and footage taken from handheld cameras, highlights the growing tension between the civilian population and the visitors, especially once the ships began to steal electricity and other natural resources from the city.
According to individuals "interviewed" in the film, the aliens were captive labor, forced to live in "conditions that were not good" and had escaped to Earth. As the film takes place in 1990, while Apartheid was still effect in South Africa, the aliens were forced to live amongst the already-oppressed black population, causing conflict with them as well as the non-white population.

The alien species in Alive in Joburg are never named, and are frequently referred to simply as "them" or "the aliens." One black citizen referred to them as "the poleepkwa." In their biosuits, they resembled bipedal, humanoid robots. Outside of their suits, their most obvious non-human features are a lack of hair and ears, and protruding tentacles where a human's mouth would be, features very reminiscent of H.P Lovecraft's fictional monster Cthulhu. In the film, the area where one would expect eyes to be is pixelated.The aliens' language is not clearly defined, and seems to be made up of gurgles and animal noises, not unlike Wookies in the Star Wars films.One scene in early in the film, shown as television news footage, shows an alien fending off an attack by two police officers by telekinetically, while wearing one of their biosuits, throwing large vehicles towards them. Whether or not they themselves have this ability or whether it is done through the use of the suit is never explained.

CAST
Dawie Ackermann ... Afrikaans Professor
Jason Cope ... UN Official / Alien
Sharlto Copley ... Sniper
Braam Greyling ... Cop 1
Godfrey Seome ... Cop 2

Directed by Neill Blomkamp

4.2.08

Asparagus



USA - 2007
Guy Camilleri (Danika, Rx) and Charles O’Hair (Secret Agent, Shamelove) star as brothers in this dramatic story of a seemingly perfect family, and the forbidden desire between two cousins that threatens to put an end to the family’s Christmas dinner.
During this reunion of both brothers’ families, Daniel’s existence is immediately threatened by Uncle Guy’s free spirit. When Daniel’s daughter Brie refuses to eat her asparagus, Daniel feels the need to teach his brother a lesson in parenting...
While their parents are arguing in the dining room, cousins Jacob and Gwen are sent to Jacob’s room to play with a jigsaw puzzle..
CAST
Guy Camilleri
Ho-Jung
Charles O' Hair
Caroline Bielskis
Renata Su Obal
Michael Jolly
Natalie Vigil
Directed by Roman Wyden


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