Any good movies out there?

I’ve been checking the L.A Weekly, IMDB, and I’ve even been stopping by the local movie theatres every couple weeks to check what’s out there…..

But is it me or do all of the movies this year (for the lack of a better word) suck balls???

With the exception of Shutter Island and The Joneses,every movie I’ve heard that came out this year sounded awful. They’re all either lame book-turned-movies, re-makes of older movies, or movie versions of a 80s franchise!

Although, after reading this article from i09, I’m thinking of giving “Sex & the City 2” a chance….!

The award for Biggest Disappointment is a tie between Nightmare on Elm Street (2010) and Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland (because honestly, what was the reason behind that stupid dance?)

This got me really looking forward to the L.A. Film Festival this year, but even the selection there doesn’t look too promising. (but maybe that’s just me)

From what I was able to scan from the line-up – these are some of the highlights of the Festival:













CANE TOADS: THE CONQUEST
Summer Showcase
(Australia, US, 2010, 85 mins, 3D DCP)
Directed By: Mark Lewis
Executive Producers: Jeff Skoll, Diane Weyermann, Clark Bunting
Producer: Mark Lewis
Cinematographers: Toby Oliver, Kathryn Milliss, Paul Nichola
Editor: Robert Demaio

In a legendary environmental blunder, Australians imported the cane toad in the 1930s to save their sugar crop from beetles. The experiment was a total flop. But seven decades later, the ugly critter had multiplied from a hundred to 1.5 billion, over-running most of northern Australia in its unstoppable migration, wreaking havoc wherever it hopped. Mischievous maverick Mark Lewis first told this story in his classic 1988 movie. Now he updates the horror in his inimitable tongue-in-cheek style, combining interviews, documentary footage, hilarious recreations, and eye-popping 3D effects.













GOLDEN SLUMBER
Gôruden suranbâ
International Showcase
(Japan, 2009, 139 mins, 35mm)
In Japanese with English subtitles
North American Premiere
Directed By: Yoshihiro Nakamura
Producers: Yosushi Uta Gawa, Hitoshi Endo, Hisashi Usui
Screenwriters: Yoshihiro Nakamura, Tamio Hayashi, Kenichi Suzuki
Cinematographer: Takashi Komatsu
Editor: Hirohide Abe
Cast: Masato Sakai, Yuko Takeuchi, Hidetaka Yoshioka, Gekidan Hitori, Teruyuki Kagawa

Trailer
In Yoshihiro Nakamura’s serio-comic thriller, when easy-going Aoyagi meets an old friend for a fishing trip he ends up drugged, framed for the Prime Minister's assassination, and on the run from corrupt cops. But he'll get by with a little help from his friends, who include a famous pop diva, a rockabilly deliveryman, a crippled old gangster, and the world's most cheerful serial killer. For all of us who've ever wondered what a cross between Pee Wee's Big Adventure and The Fugitive might look like, search no further than this hugely satisfying pop concoction, already a major hit in its native Japan.













DOWN TERRACE
International Showcase
(United Kingdom, 2009, 89 mins, HDCAM 23.98)
Directed By: Ben Wheatley
Producer: Andy Starke
Screenwriters: Ben Wheatley, Robin Hill
Cinematographer: Laurie Rose
Editor: Robin Hill
Cast: Robert Hill, Robin Hill, Julia Deakin, Kerry Peacock, Tony Way, David Schaal, Michael Smiley, Gareth Tunley

Trailer
Crime stays all in the family in Ben Wheatley's tart, deadpan English black comedy about a clan of bickering, low-rent crooks. Having recently been sprung from jail, father Bill and son Karl—played by father and son team of Robert and Robin Hall—are determined to sniff out the snitch who ratted them out. Was it one of the family? Down Terrace is a slow-burning fuse: what seems at first like an odd slice of kitchen sink realism morphs into absurdist realms of mayhem and murder with the laughs and gasps coming when you least expect them.

There were a few more that looked pretty great, but those were all short films and don’t really seem worth the trouble of paying for.

As such – this leads me to the last resort of the movie-goer: RENTING.

Fortunately, my new roommate showed me Oldboy – 2nd movie of Chan-wook Park’s “Revenge Trilogy;” and hand-picked as the Grand Jury prize Winner at Cannes by Quentin Tarantino!

The plot goes something like this:

Based on a Manga by the same name, tan every-day “Salary man” is suddenly released after being kidnapped and imprisoned for fifteen years without knowing why or who was responsible. He’s got nothing but revenge on his mind, but so does his mysterious captor…..!

I can’t really tell you anymore without spoiling it, but if you know anything about Korean movies, then you know that they tend to stray towards darker side of life’s themes and this one does not disappoint.

Can’t wait to watch Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance & Lady Vengeance (the other two movies in the Revenge Trilogy)