Posts Tagged ‘mystery’

  • Trailer: Resurrect Dead – The Mystery of the Toynbee Tiles

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    It is Zodiac meets Exit Through The Gift Shop filtered with an X-Files sensibility in one of the most pleasant surprises on the documentary front this year, Jon Foy’s Resurrect Dead (Kurt’s Review.) Structured like a mystery-thriller the doc offers a primer on the baffling 20+ year old history of the Toynbee Tile mystery: A series of linoleum tiles embedded in asphalt across the eastern seaboard, all the way down to a few cities in South America with a rather esoteric text message carved into each one. Resurrect Dead is well worth a look, whether or not you are a fan of documentaries or street art, mainly due to the plethora of interesting personalities and surprises along the way.

    Screenings in your area? Check here.

    The trailer is tucked under the seat.

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  • HotDocs 2011: Resurrect Dead – The Toynbee Tiles Mystery Review

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    Here is why the current trend in documentary filmmaking, the re-purposing of a ‘standard talking heads doc’ with a more structured genre-framework (eg. Man on Wire, The Cove, King of Kong), has yet to find its quality ceiling or go stale. Who would have thought a quirky street art mystery (following on the heels of the wildly successful Exit Through The Gift Shop) would ultimately be about respect, community, passion and human dignity? Prepare to have your mind expanded.

    What do Stanley Kubrick, Street Art, a renown meta-history professor, short-wave radio, David Mamet, the construction of a mammoth telescope in Chile, bringing the dead back to life and pigeon husbandry have in common? In Resurrect Dead: The Mystery of the Toynbee Tiles, Jon Foy and Justin Duerr tackle the vexing mystery of message-laden linoleum tiles that have been fused into the asphalt of various North American city streets since the early 1980s. All feature the cryptic near-haiku:

    Toynbee Idea
    In Movie 2001
    Resurrect Dead
    On Planet Jupiter

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  • Trailer: Julia’s Eyes

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    I managed to catch this Guillermo Del Toro produced Spanish ghost story in Toronto (even briefly running into the big man himself, which was pretty cool.) Directed by Guillem Morales, Julia’s Eyes went on to be the opening night film for the 2010 edition of Sitges, where leading lady Belén Rueda (The Orphanage) turned quite a few heads in a red dress. But enough about these little festival details. The film is being released commercially in the UK by Optimum (May 20th, 2011) releasing and they have issued the first English friendly trailer for the film (no word on this side of the pond yet.) High on atmosphere and virtuoso camera work, maybe a bit low on originality, it is a workman film that yields a good time at the movies considering what often passes for horror or scares out of Hollywoodland. Jandy liked it a bit more than I did.

    Julia, a woman suffering from degenerative sight disease, finds her twin sister Sara, who has already gone blind as a result of the same disease, hanged in the basement of her house. In spite of the fact that everything points to suicide, Julia decides to investigate what she intuitively feels is a murder case, entering a dark world that seems to hide a mysterious presence.

    The trailer (thanks QE!) is tucked under the seat.

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  • Hot Docs Review: Life With Murder

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    Anyone who is a parent will walk a fine line between empathy and judgment for the Jenkins family of Chatham, Ontario (Canada) while watching this documentary whodunit. When their 18-year-old Jennifer is brutally murdered in 1998 and their 20 year old son is the prime suspect, well, there are certainly some difficult loyalties to be sorted out. Especially when she was shot multiple times and dragged around the house a bit before passing on. Despite the lurid nature of the crime, the fact that it appears to be done within a family, and in a small town that probably has only a few murders a decade, director John Kastner (Rage Against the Darkness) manages to lay out the facts of the narrative with a look a the small details, both during the case, and of course, the difficult aftermath. This does indeed generate quite a bit of empathy for the parents, Brian and Leslie, although there is not much left in the tank for their incarcerated son, Mason, who is clearly an idiot. But nevertheless is still their son.

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  • Review: Shutter Island

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    A character, late into the game of Martin Scorsese’s wonderful Shutter Island, comments on insanity, “It was like an insect in my brain, pulling my strings” And there, ladies in gentlemen is how a well seasoned and versatile master-filmmaker can take a simple genre movie and elevate it to one of the premiere film events of 2010. The trailer suggests all kinds of horror (and mental asylum) cliches and pretty much gives away the twist ending right there. But no matter, the pleasure here is in the journey, not the destination, and the director (and his long-time collaborating editor) have no problem stepping off the path of the main story to give loads of detail on the denizens, workings and locations of the titular island-asylum-prison. Those who complain that 138 minutes is way too long for such a basic plot have completely missed the point (and the myriad pleasures) that Shutter Island has on offer.
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  • Fincher Takes on Reincarnation

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    DavidFicherRemakes. Remakes. Remakes. Here’s another one to add to the ever growing list of remakes though lucky for us, this one may be better than the average.

    According to the good folks at THR, what makes this particular project stand out above the rest is the fact that it’s being produced by the crew that brought us Seven. The Reincarnation of Peter Proud was originally a novel from Max Ehrlich before seeing life on the big screen at the hands of J. Lee Thompson (best known for directing the original Cape Fear). It’s the story of Peter Proud, a college professor who has a series of frightening nightmares which, with some help, he discovers to be images from a past life; a life which ended with his murder.

    It sounds like an interesting enough story but do we really need a remake? The story doesn’t exactly sound like something that needs to be adapted again, especially by Fincher and writer Andrew Kevin Walker but regardless of how bland it sounds, I can’t help but get a little excited at seeing Fincher take this on. If all goes well, it’ll be dark, gruesome and very morbid (and considering the story has a side plot of incest, we could be in for some eyebrow-raising drama). Apparently the new production will be adapted directly from the novel and updated for today’s audience.

    Now that we know it’s coming, the big question is when. Fincher has a slate of films in development that nearly rivals Guillermo del Toro’s; I’m going to guess this thing is a few years away.

  • VIFF 09 Review: Mother

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    A few years ago, South Korean director Joon-ho Bong was essentially mobbed by adoring fans after a screening of The Host. At the time, many of us knew nothing about the director other than the fact that he’d made a monster movie that was more than a monster movie but since then, he’s become a recognizable name (at least among film fans) and the announcement of a new project brought much joy to my heart.

    As expected, Mother is more than a mystery. It’s a story of love, devotion and ultimately, sacrifice. Hye-ja Kim provides a tour-de-force performance as a slightly offbeat herbalist/rogue acupuncturist. She lives a meagre life with her son who appears to be a little slow on the uptake. When a girl turns up dead and her son is charged with the murder, Kim takes it upon herself to track down the true killer. Using her considerable skills and a knack for getting people to talk, she beings to pull back the layers of the mystery surrounding the girl’s death but what she finds at the end of the tunnel isn’t exactly what she expected.

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  • VIFF 09 Review: Will Not Stop There

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    War films are a dime a dozen but I’ve never seen anything quite like Vinko Bresan’s Will Not Stop There. Granted, Bresan’s film isn’t exactly a war film per say since the bulk of the story unfolds after the war but the story starts during the war.

    It would be unfair to divulge the plot of the story since one of the film’s major strengths is the way in which it unfolds. The opening twenty minutes of the film are a series of events that seem to lead nowhere and when we finally get there, it’s still not quite clear what Martin, the film’s lead, is up to. With the help of a porn star/nose player (yes, Djuro plays his nose like most people would play a clarinet), Martin goes in search of Desa, a woman he finally finds at a brothel. Why he wants her and what his plan is won’t be clear for some time and film does an excellent job of slowly unfolding the mystery; kudos to Bresan and co-writers Mate Matisic and Franjo Mogus for creating a film which successfully builds the suspense.

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  • TIFF 09 Review: An Education

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    A beautifully told, classic coming of age tale through the eyes of a mature, cultured 16 year old growing up in suburban London in the 1960’s, Jenny (Carey Mulligan). Attending an all-girls school, she is by far the most inspired of her peers, the biggest dreamer. Though the dreams of her stern parents have their little girl studying at Oxford next year (and Jenny has the credentials and talent to see it through) her greatest joys come from listening to her Juliette Greco albums, as oppose to playing her cello, and speaking French instead of her dry school-book Latin. With Jenny’s cross into womanhood playing out for the duration of the film, this familiar struggle is an on going battle between her institutional obligations, and the new world she is carefully escorted into as she seeks her path in life.

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  • Riley, Mirren and Postlethwaite Visit Brighton

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    Sam RileySince his brilliant performance in 2007’s Control, Sam Riley has been keeping himself busy but his film selection has not really panned out. Franklyn sounds like a bit of a mess, and though I’m looking forward to seeing his turn in Géla Babluani’s remake of his own film, 13 could go either way. Thankfully, it sounds like Riley may have picked a winner with his next role.

    Based on Graham Greene’s 1938 novel, Rowan Joffe’s directorial debut Brighton Rock sounds promising. Riley stars as Pinkie Brown, a wannabe gangster whose crimes roll from one to the next as he tries to cover up his tracks. In the long trail of crime, he manages to involve Fred and Ida (a nice couple who catch him in the act) and Rose, a young woman who Pinkie marries out of convenience.

    It was previously announced that Riley would star as Pinkie and Andrea Riseborough would play Rose and as if Riley’s involvement wasn’t already enough, a recent announcement also adds Helen Mirren and Pete Postlethwaite to the cast in the roles of Ida and Fred.

    Brighton Rock starts filing in October and if all goes well, we may have a chance to see it make the festival rounds next year. I sure hope so. I can’t wait to see Riley in action!

  • Mother On A Mission in Joon-ho Bong’s Mother Trailer

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    Mother Movie StillIt surprises me to find that although the Row Three crew is anxiously anticipating Joon-ho Bong’s follow up Mother, we’ve yet to post a trailer for the film.

    Changing paces, Bong leaves behind the monster film for something a little more subdued, a mystery/thriller about a mother trying to find a brutal murderer who has framed her son for the crime.

    The film premiered at Cannes earlier this year and is playing at TIFF in a few weeks’ time which means Kurt should be checking in shortly with a review but until then, an English subtitled trailer has made its way online.

    If the news of a trailer isn’t enough, Collider is also reporting that the film has been picked up for North American distribution by Magnolia who are planning on an early 2010 release. That is great news indeed!

    Trailer is tucked under the seat!

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  • Trailer for Haneke’s Palme D’Or Winner

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    This feels a little like cheating. I say this because the trailer I’m about to share is not in English and though it looks beautiful, I can’t quite follow what’s going on.

    Though no one will dispute Michael Haneke’s position as a world class auteur, he’s not particularly well liked. Critics may love him as do many film lovers but his often condescending way of speaking to the audience, not to mention the continuous mindfuck his movies tend to bring, can be alienating. One may not love him but he is good at what he does: making films that make you think. I expect that his most recent, the Palme D’Or winning The White Ribbon, is no exception.

    Set in small town Germany between 1913 and 1914, it focuses on a group of children, teens and their families, and follows their actions when a series of strange accidents begin to occur. It sounds like a bit of a mystery mixed in with family drama and small town life but to make things even more interesting, Haneke also sets this on the eve of WWI which will likely throw politics into the already messy mix.

    This German trailer suggests the film looks beautiful and the Cannes win, though not always an indication, certainly suggests something great and considering the Cannes Juries have does well in their selections over the last few years, I expect this will be great.

    The White Ribbon opens in Austria on August 24th and will open throughout various European markets in the following moths. It is scheduled for limited North American release on December 25th.

    Trailer is tucked under the seat!

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