The Chaser Tagged Articles at Cinematical
Northern Exposures: FanTasia Report #1
Filed under: Comedy », Documentary », Horror », Independent », Sci-Fi & Fantasy », Thrillers », SXSW », Mystery & Suspense », IFC », Festival Reports », Shorts », Fantastic Fest », Other Festivals »
After a long flight on my part and a far longer drive for both of us, Scott Weinberg and I have finally arrived in Montréal for the FanTasia International Film Festival (their thirteenth, our first). The genre-heavy festival lasts for nearly three weeks; alas, we've but one to spare, so without much further ado, here's a look at what I've seen already and what I hope to see before Scott tips his own hand with a title or two to recommend.
Of the features playing, I can highly recommend Michael Paul Stephenson's Troll 2 doc, Best Worst Movie; the Aussie revenge thriller, The Horseman (not to be confused with the barely-seen Dennis Quaid vehicle, Horsemen); and Paul Solet's beautifully bloody baby horror, Grace. Those looking for something a bit stranger might end up being a bit more fond of Black and The Immaculate Conception of Little Dizzle than I was, though I also seemed more easily pleased by the Nazi zombies of Dead Snow than most, so I guess it all balances out. My enthusiasm for the ultra-kitschy likes of Alien Trespass and Lesbian Vampire Killers, not to mention the admittedly boundary-pushing Deadgirl, is all a bit less than what's already been mentioned, so let's just leave those at that.
Read the rest at HorrorSquad!
IFC's Next Batch of On-Demand Horrors: Canadian Radio & Zombie Nazis
Filed under: Action », Comedy », Drama », Foreign Language », Horror », Independent », IFC », Festival Reports », Distribution », Home Entertainment »
If you're anything like me, then you like fiddling around with the buttons on your cable remote. It used to be that you KNEW of all the options your remote could provide, but nowadays I have cable channels and VOD options I never knew existed. So a little while ago I clicked on a button that said IFC Festival Direct, which delivered unto me a pair of options: IFC Showcase and IFC Midnight. Yeah, try and guess where I started.I saw a few familiar titles: Left Bank and Sauna, both of which I saw (and liked) at Fantastic Fest '08, as well as well-reviewed genre fare like The Chaser, Zift, and a Brit import called Hush that I may watch this very afternoon. Also on the docket for IFC Midnight: the indie thriller Dark Mirror, a gory South Korean offering called Cadaver, and a Dutch psycho story called Fear Me Not. Oh, and two I can definitely vouch for: the strange Canadian horror known as Pontypool and a Norwegian nazi-zombie fest called Dead Snow.
If you're looking for recent festival fare that's not horrific in nature, then you can sift through Joe Swanberg's Alexander the Last, the steamy erotica of L A'ventura, Sam Neill in Angel, or worthwhile options like Paper Covers Rock, Rain, or Three Blind Mice. Apparently this "VOD" thing is the wave of the future, and I find it very satisfying to know that the flick YOU just saw at the Florida Film Festival is also available from my own cable box for about six bucks. For a whole lot more on IFC's home-demand offerings, I suggest you click right here and flick around a bit. (They also offer some rather fine programming that's free with the IFC service, don't forget.)
Cannes Deal: IFC Strikes Again with Korean Thriller 'Chaser'
Filed under: Foreign Language », Thrillers », Deals », Cannes », IFC », Distribution », Cinematical Indie »
Chalk up another deal for IFC Films at Cannes. In addition to their acquisition of distribution rights for Josh Safdie's indie comedy The Pleasure of Being Robbed, Arnaud Desplechin's acclaimed drama A Christmas Tale (Un conte de Noël), Olivier Assayas' family drama Summer Hours and Russian dramatic fairy tale Mermaid (which I wrote about here and here), they have picked up all North American rights to an Asian serial-killer thriller that screened as one of the Cannes Midnight selections this past Saturday night.According to indieWIRE, Na Hong-jin's The Chaser (Chugyeogja) "tells the story of a detective turned pimp who finds himself in trouble when several of his girls disappear without paying him." The film was released in its native South Korea in February and was a good-sized hit. IFC Films has not yet announced whether The Chaser will get a theatrical release or head directly to the company's video on demand service. More information is available at the Korean-language official site, including a trailer.
David Hudson at GreenCine Daily gathered links to the first few reviews out of Cannes, which give away the basic structure of the film, so beware if you want to enter cold. The reviewers basically agreed that The Chaser shows a lot of promise for a first-time director, but whether it fully delivers is a different matter. Several noted the extreme, grisly violence. Remake rights have already been snapped up by Warner Brothers, which Monika Bartyzel wrote about in March.
Leo DiCaprio -- Codename: 'The Chaser'
Filed under: Drama », Thrillers », Casting », Deals », RumorMonger », Remakes and Sequels »
No, Leonardo DiCaprio isn't joining a sequel of that crappy Codename flick. He is, however, looking to star in a Korean thriller remake -- but it won't be in the vein of those many supernatural thriller re-dos. The Hollywood Reporter has posted that right after Warner Brothers picked up the remake rights to The Chaser for mid-six figures, Leo started looking at the lead, presumably because The Departed helmer William Monahan is in talks to direct.Should he sign on, Leo will play an "ex-cop who goes on the warpath trying to find a missing girl. The girl, who may or may not be alive, is being used by a serial killer to taunt the police." That whole "may or may not" thing, mixed with taunting, is filling my head with visions of kid digits and horror, but hopefully the taunting is just with some carefully-lettered ransoms or "nyah nyah" taunts.
Not surprisingly, the original is a hit in Korea, which sparked the attention of many, including Vertigo Entertainment's Roy Lee and Doug Davison, who, I quote: "specialize in bringing Asian fare to American audiences." Just as I imagine Michael Clayton gets sick of clean-ups, you gotta wonder how tiring it is to have your whole job revolve around redoing films. They must hate rants about remakes.
Indie Roundup: 'Sweetgrass,' 'Clarkworld,' 'Broken Embraces'
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Watch: Famous 'Matrix' Scene Re-Created with LEGOs
Peter Jackson Says Spielberg's 'Tintin' is Done Filming, but...
Interracial Harmony: 'Ninja Assassin' vs. 'Blind Side'
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