The Crazies

Yes, they are remaking The Crazies. Say what you will, I'm sure it will be just like the original with slightly better cameras, although I'm not saying that's a good thing. I'm riding the fence on this YARM, which follows a little town that has to deal with a descent into murder and madness when their water supply is contaminated with an unknown virus/bioweapon. Timothy Olyphant is starring in the remake, and he's never really bothered me too much apart overdoing the loony-eyes here and there. Here's one of the first stills. Crazy, no?


The Mercury Men
Pretty new pulp-pop webseries The Mercury Men certainly has grabbed my attention:

Edward Borman, a lowly government office drone, finds himself trapped, when the deadly Mercury Men seize his office building as a staging ground for their nefarious plot. Aided by a daring aerospace engineer from a mysterious organization known as "The League," Edward must stop the invaders and their doomsday device, the Gravity Engine.

The black and white look is quite crisp, and it's good to see some interesting new things popping up on the web. I especially like the outlined baddies and our hero's retro cap. I'm even willing to overlook the slightly clunky acting just for the feel alone. The first episode is not yet released, but here's a trailer. Thanks to Twitch for pointing this out.

In other very exciting cult news, the New York Asian Film Festival has just released their line-up of films and special appearances. Besides the stellar round-up of movies from 20th Century Boys to The Forbidden Door, there's going to be a Tokyo Gore Night. Unbelievable! Check out the description of the Gore festivities:

TOKYO GORE NIGHT
One of the most insane new voices in cinema is the screaming howl of Yoshihiro Nishimura, director of TOKYO GORE POLICE, and special effects genius (who also did the effects for LOVE EXPOSURE and SAMURAI PRINCESS, screening in this year's festival). He couldn't join us for the premiere of TOKYO GORE POLICE last year so for one weekend only we'll be hosting him at the New York Asian Film Festival and holding a special TOKYO GORE NIGHT event. First up will be screenings of several completely nuts short films from Nishimura and his cabal of lunatics all set in the TOKYO GORE POLICE and MACHINE GIRL universe. Then there will be a special onstage presentation by these madmen followed by a screening of TOKYO GORE POLICE during which we'll record a live audio commentary for the movie's upcoming special edition DVD. Accompanying Nishimura will be Noboru Iguchi, the director of MACHINE GIRL and the maniac responsible for the short film SHYNESS MACHINE GIRL which we'll also be screening that night. Also coming will be Tsuyoshi Kazuno, a visual effects supervisor on SAMURAI PRINCESS, MACHINE GIRL and many others. More surprises are in store, so make sure you wear something that you don't mind getting soaked with blood.

It sounds so delightful that wild snail norks and venus flytrap ladies couldn't keep me away from this. The festival runs from June 19 - July 5, and I've rounded up some of the stand-out entries from this year, with trailers included:

Pintu Terlarang (The Forbidden Door)
I'm hearing this film is ultra creepy, and here's the official synopsis form The Forbidden Door's site:

"A successful sculptor whose life run by domineering wife and mother discovers a secret organization in which members can watch the lives of most dysfunctional, depraved families in the town which are fed from hidden cameras. When he stumbles upon a channel showing a little boy whos being viciously abused by his parents, he tries to find the kid to save him. But his quest leads him back to a secret door in his own house that could be the answer to many puzzles."

20th Century Boys
A group of kids create their own little post-apocalyptic sci-fi, writing about how the world will end at the hands of a robot. Fast forward to years later, and the kids are miserable and working crap jobs until the stories they dreamed up in their youth start to come true. Now it's up to them to save the world.

The Clone Returns Home
We've been following this sad little clone drama since Sundance. An astronaut loses his life on the job and the government replaces the original worker with a memory-imprinted clone. Unfortunately for the clone, he gets stuck on a memory from the original astronaut's past involving the death of his twin, and runs away to his childhood home.

K-20
In this alternate history, WW2 never happened. Takeshi Kaneshiro is a masked thief just trying to make it through the steampunky world.

Cold Souls:
Paul Giamatti plays himself — a famous actor, but struggling with an internal crisis. Looking for sweet relief, Giamatti checks out a New York soul extraction facility. But after he has his ever loving soul removed, angsty calamity ensues.

Cinematical on Cold Souls:

Here, though, he [Giamatti] gives what may be his best performance, stretching to play several variations of himself, and manages several seemingly incompatible things — investing real heart into what's essentially a character defined by a science-fiction device, finding real emotion in surreal inventions and yet giving his everyday moments a deft, askew energy.... Cold Souls looks and feels like a Charlie Kaufman film, but it's somehow slipperier and yet simpler, more complex and yet more direct. Part of the pleasure of Cold Souls is that as we watch Paul Giamatti struggle to understand his soul, we can't help but cast a glance towards our own.

Variety on Cold Souls:

An amusing slice of existential whimsy with an Eastern European bent, Cold Souls posits a world in which humans can have their souls extracted and implanted in each others' bodies. It's the sort of idea one can imagine Charlie Kaufman running wild with, but Sophie Barthes' writing-helming debut is too well-behaved and conventional, stylistically and metaphysically, to achieve the desired levels of creative lunacy. Marketing will need to emphasize the pic's goofy premise and Paul Giamatti's enjoyable performance to overcome cool but respectful critical response.

Moon: Lonely and anger management-challenged space miner Sam Bell (Sam Rockwell) lives by himself on a far-away moon, harvesting resources. Comforted only by Kevin Spacey's voice as the home robot, the miner awaits the end of his contract, until space madness and the company's ulterior motives force Sam to come face to face with a scary reality. But what did the critics think?

Film School Rejects On Moon:

While not perfect by any means, Moon is yet another impressive work of independent science fiction. In which we have a young director with an ambitious vision, a perfectly cast lead and the creativity to bring it to life without having to work on a Michael Bay-sized budget... if there is any reason to see this movie, it is that you should once again behold the brilliance that is Sam Rockwell. The man gives a remarkable performance, taking the film from a well-executed indie to a potentially very memorable entry into the sci-fi genre

Slashfilm on Moon:

Produced on a low budget by first time filmmaker Duncan Jones, Moon makes great use of realitic sets, a remote control robot, old school miniature work, and even some CG. Like last year’s Sleep Dealer, I’m convinced that Moon is at the beginning of a new renaissance of indie sci-fi feature films which will challenge Hollywood’s big budget
computer generated spectacles.

Grace: A young pregnant woman loses her baby while still in her womb. She insists on carrying the stillborn child to term. After the birth, little Grace comes back to life — but with a taste for blood. Paul Solet's deeply disturbing film is already making waves when audience members passed out at the Egyptian screening.

Dread Central On Grace:

Grace is very much the antidote to what plagues most of the horror genre today. For those who are tired of the endless remakes and reincarnations of overseas films, Grace very well could be the movie you need to see to restore your faith in the idea that there is still an artistic vision within the horror genre. I know it has restored mine.

Bloody Disgusting On Grace:

At the Sundance screening I attended, the audience whooped, hollered, and screamed, and two men reportedly fainted during the show. It’s true that Solet takes the audience on a twisted ride down a very dark birth canal, but is it dark and twisted enough? Sundance audiences may scream and faint at the likes of Grace, but the die-hard horror fan will be merely amused by Solet’s bloodthirsty baby shenanigans. Without much of a plot driving the action, the film’s success depends solely on mood and tone, and Grace, although diverting, isn’t quite haunting enough to make a lasting impact.

Dead Snow: Bring on the undead Nazi zombies! This Norwegian flick follows a group of vacationing snow bunnies to the mountains, where their crazy partying awakens a pack of undead Nazis. Blood, blood and more blood. And snow.
Fearnet on Dead Snow:

Although not exactly all that scary, Dead Snow earns big points for enthusiasm, creativity, and a powerful devotion to all things ultra-splattery...Dead Snow is little more than a 90-minute excuse for some wintry wildness and subzero slaughter, but most of the highlights are spot-on amusing, and the finest moments of gore 'n' gristle go down surprisingly well.

Movieblog on Dead Snow:

The filmmakers used over 450 litres of blood to create a horror film that harkens back to the feel of those created in the 1980s: little substance and a lot of slashing. The film is spiced with a number of great moments of homage to other horror films.

The Clone Returns Home: An astronaut dies on a mission, but never fear — he's got a clone, who can be imprinted with his memories. Unfortunately his clone replacement malfunctions, and is stuck on a tragic memory from the dead astronaut's youth. The clone escapes to find answers and solace from his burdened memories, much to the dismay of the ailing widow and the clone company.

Variety on Clone:

Bewitchingly intense low-budgeter has few special effects but achieves a glossy sheen, thanks to excellent lensing and well-chosen architectural backdrops. Attachment of Wim Wenders as exec producer will act as pic's passport to fests. Deliberate pace may deter those not already discouraged by the bland title, but careful handling may reap commercial prospects, especially from Asia buffs.

Additional reporting from Julia Carusillo

If character actor-extraordinaire Paul Giamatti playing himself in Cold Souls didn't convince you to check out this film, these pictures certainly will. This incredibly interesting indie film features Giamatti struggling with a crisis and seeking solace in a New York soul extraction facility, where he's encouraged to lay down the burden of his soul. These pictures are stunning and I can not wait to hear more about the obvious buzz this flick will generate over at Sundance.

Meanwhile, a haunting still showing a clone standing over the body of its original astronaut body is from The Clone Returns Home, a new Japanese movie whose trailer we posted a while back. The story starts with the death of an astronaut, which leads to the activation of his clone. But faulty memory programming startles the clone and his memories immediately revert back to childhood, when the original's brother died. The clone panics and escapes on a journey back to his childhood home (or at least the original astronaut's home).

For more information about the festival explore the Sundance site.