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Ghost Protocol in the Machine: Tom Cruise (falling) shows Michael Nyqvist (demonstrating the wrong way to order at the McDonald's drive-thru) how to keep things moving in MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE - GHOST PROTOCOL.

What says Christmas Spirit more than nuclear holocaust, life-or-death chases in an automated car park, and scaling the world’s tallest building? Maybe that’s why Paramount scheduled the release of MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – GHOST PROTOCOL for this most festive of seasons. Or maybe it’s that it’s just plain fun. Stripping the IM force down to leader Tom Cruise — aided and abetted by Paula Patton, Simon Pegg and new recruit Jeremy Renner — and paring the story down to a struggle to prevent a megalomaniacal terrorist from triggering WWIII,  the film (under the direction of animation vet Brad Bird, here making his live-action debut) unpacks some of the baggage accrued in the previous installments to become a lighter, wittier exercise in epic action.

Cinefantastique Online’s Steve Biodrowski, Lawrence French, and Dan Persons discuss their reaction to all the chaos, exploring how director Bird fares in his first foray in the tangible world, considering Tom Cruise’s future in the franchise and evaluating whether the IMAX format makes the Impossible Missions seem even… uh… impossibler.

Also: Larry delivers his verdict on THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO and Steve gives his reaction to the THE DARK KNIGHT RISES prologue screened at MI’s IMAX venues.

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Dream Come True: Emily Browning enters a strange world of erotic desire in SLEEPING BEAUTY.

Award-winning novelist Julia Leigh makes a hell of a directorial debut with her quiet fantasia, SLEEPING BEAUTY, the story of a young college student (Emily Browning) who becomes immersed in a strange world of desire when she signs on as employee of a service that drugs women and allows men — frequently much older — to do whatever they wish with the inert bodies (with the strict proviso that there be no penetration or damage).

Dark, provocative, erotic, the film inspires a multitude of responses, frequently within the same second of footage. And once you get past the tale’s elegant mise en scene and sensuous atmosphere, don’t be surprised to discover Leigh has posed some intriguing questions on love, death, and all the impulses that drive our species. Sex is 99% brain, after all.

Click on the player to hear my interview with Leigh.

SLEEPING BEAUTY
Trailer

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Official Website:
www.ifcfilms.com/films/sleeping-beauty

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Kids Strike Back: The cast of ATTACK THE BLOCK faces down an alien incursion.

You gotta love an alien invasion film where the aliens make the serious mistake of trying to invade some council estates (read, “projects”) in London and discover that the street-tough kids there are not going to yield the territory without racking up a body count. That’s the idea behind ATTACK THE BLOCK, Joe Cornish’s directorial debut that was exec produced by SHAUN OF THE DEAD’s Edgar Wright. It’s neatly pulled off with a surprising bit of depth, and worth checking out when it’s released on homevid on October 25th.

So a bunch of us were gathered in a room in New York Comic Con’s press warren, and got to throw questions indiscriminately (but incisively) at Joe. I managed to capture the session for this podcast.

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Things That Go "Sallllleeee" in the Night: Bailee Madison goes demon hunting in DON'T BE AFRAID OF THE DARK.

DON’T BE AFRAID OF THE DARK, the title urges, but you know they’re lying. There are things hiding in the dark, little things, nasty things, things that want nothing better than to drag you down, down to the caverns where they dwell in order to, well, let’s just say you won’t need your library card anymore. Director Guillermo del Toro was so transfixed as child by the original telemovie that he re-wrote the tale with frequent partner Matthew Robbins, brought in comics-artist Troy Nixey to direct, and unleashed the darkness-loving creepies on estranged father Guy Pearce, conflicted girlfriend Katie Holmes, and most especially Bailee Madison as the young girl the demons most desperately covet.

Join Cinefantastique Online’s Steve Biodrowski, Lawrence French, and Dan Persons as they explore how the story survives the updating, consider whether the chills outweigh the plot holes, and discuss why, after all these years, people still don’t realize that when disembodied voices start whispering to you the dark, it’s time to GET THE HELL OUT OF THE HOUSE.

Also: Guillermo del Toro imparts some thoughts on the importance of storytelling; and what’s coming in theaters and home video.

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Continue reading »]]> Guillermo del Toro says that, as a kid, he harbored great affection for the TV-movie version of DON’T BE AFRAID OF THE DARK, enough so that he and his friends used to creep each other out merely by whispering the name, “Salllllleeeee.” The years have passed and audiences have (maybe) become more sophisticated, but the new version of the film, co-written and co-produced by del Toro and directed by comics artist Troy Nixey in his feature film debut, clearly demonstrates that there’s still room in the hearts of horror fans for a flick that worms its way into your brain with evocative atmosphere, and a story that has a young girl (Bailee Madison) ignored by her father and his girlfriend (Guy Pearce, Katie Holmes) and beset by little creatures who just plain want her.

Because of Hurrican Irene, we’re forsaking the usual production values to bring you my interview with Nixey as fast (and easily) as possible. Click on the player to hear the chat.

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The world of Marc Singer's DARK DAYS.

Before everyone larks out for the long, long weekend, I just wanted to let NY’ers know that Marc Singer’s debut documentary, DARK DAYS is having it’s re-release at the Cinema Village starting July 1.

The film will be out on homevid in a couple of weeks, but for those of us in Manhattan, seeing a community of outcasts living in the bowels of a train tunnel in the 1990′s has a certain, especial impact. Singer shot the film — in an evocative black and white — employing the residents of the underground community, and brought in turntablist DJ Shadow to do the soundtrack — the result is a revelatory exploration of survival and humanity under the most dire of circumstances.

Check out the trailer:

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Saving the Memory: A fading world is celebrated in GENERAL ORDERS NO. 9.

I tend to lose patience with people who go the “words cannot describe…” route when they’re talking about something. There are always words, if you know how to use them. I gotta admit, though, GENERAL ORDERS NO. 9, the enigmatic debut work of filmmaker Robert Persons (no relation), is something of a challenge. A meditation on small-town South — Georgia in specific — its connection to the natural world and its death at the hands of growing populations and commercial interests, the film is quiet, beautiful, and strangely moving. It’s also the kind of thing you have to sit down and experience for yourself, ideally when (like a certain film journalist who has maybe overindulged on CG-gorged, three-explosions-per-minute summer fare) you’re ready for something that repays your rapt attention with still, thoughtful grace.

Click on the player to hear my interview with Robert Persons.

Trailer
GENERAL ORDERS NO. 9

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OFFICIAL SITE
generalordersno9.com

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Perils of Ambition: Patsha Bay Mukuna in VIVA RIVA!

Sex, violence and… gasoline? Yeah, that’s the blend you get when your setting is Kinshasa and limited fuel supplies make the stuff as good as gold. Riva (Patsha Bay Mukuna) knows: He’s just snuck into the Congo with a healthy supply of the stuff and plans to leverage it into a handsome payday. The problems: He’s being pursued by the Angolan crime lord (Hoji Fortuna) he stole the gas from; and he’s fallen hard for the sexy Nora (Manie Malone), who’s already been claimed by the local crime boss.
 
VIVA RIVA! is the first film out of the Congo to get U.S. distribution, and director Djo Tunda Wa Munga has made it a hell of an intro: an electric noir with graphic violence, a compulsive soundtrack, and no shortage of startling bouts of sex (however you feel about SCARFACE, you can’t argue that there’s nothing about that film that couldn’t have been improved with a lesbian hook-up between a hooker and the local commander of the military police). It’s a gripping glimpse into a world — and its underworld — we’re still getting to know.

Click on the player to hear my interview with Munga.

Trailer
VIVA RIVA!

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vivariva.com

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Mint on the Pillow, Imminent Confrontation with the Unknown in Your Suitcase: Eric Balfour gets his glow on in DO NOT DISTURB.

Shot on the proverbial shoestring over seven quick production days, DO NOT DISTURB is a curious little anthology film with some interesting names attached. Mali Elfman — daughter of Danny — wrote and produced, as well as starring in a couple of segments; Eric Balfour (SKYLINE) directs one segment and stars in another. Other helmers include music video director Petro Papahadjopoulos and Brandon Nicholas; and daddy Danny chipped in a theme song, with other soundtrack contributions coming from Incubus’ Mike Eizinger and Thenewno2′s Oliver Hecks. The stories, all set in one hotel room, run the gamut from a conventional drama featuring some teen classmates on a school trip, to an alien encounter, to a prostitute contending with a client with esoteric tastes in role-play, to a twist on the ol’ involuntary organ-donor urban myth. Turns out some hotel rooms need a UV sweep; some just deserve to be walled-up and forgotten about.

Click on the player to hear my interview with Mali.

DO NOT DISTURB
Trailer

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dndthemovie.com

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Garrett Hedlund in TRON: LEGACY.

In the latest episode of the THE CINEFANTASTIQUE PODCAST, Steve Biodrowski, Lawrence French, and Dan Persons attempt to build their own consensual reality after a viewing of Disney’s return to the gaming grid, TRON: LEGACY. Has visual artistry overrode engaging narrative in this sequel? Who should preside over the new, cyber civilization: a young, menacing, but virile Jeff Bridges or an older, wizened, fatherly Jeff Bridges? And how long will it be before the Quorra action figure becomes the top-selling item over at Entertainment Earth?

Plus news, theatrical and home video releases, and just general, good chatter.