blood the last vampire Tagged Articles at Cinematical

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
Shia LaBeouf and Megan Fox run for their lives as Michael Bay's giant robots trample onto the home video scene on DVD (single-disc or two-disc special edition) and Blu-ray (two-disc special edition). The special editions includes audio commentary by Bay and writers Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman, deleted / alternate scenes, a music video, and additional features, such as "A Day With Bay: Tokyo," "Giant Effing Movie," and "The Matrix of Marketing." To approximate the theatrical experience, play really, really loud, and sit as far back from the screen as you possibly can. Resistance is futile. Rent it.

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Blood: The Last Vampire
Chris Nahon's live-action adaptation of an anime series features a half-human, half-vampire samurai battling an infestation of demons. "the result is so laughably awful that it easily qualifies for so-bad-it's-good status," wrote Jeffrey M. Anderson. "As you may expect, the English-language dialogue is ultra-serious and absurd, the action is inept and shaky, and the visual effects look like they might have been generated on an old Atari video game." Also on Blu-ray. Skip it.

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Chéri
Michelle Pfeiffer's reunites with her Dangerous Liaisons director (Stephen Frears) and scripter (Christopher Hampton) for a movie based on a novel by French writer Colette about a passionate affair. "For some reason," Jeffrey M. Anderson wrote, "Chéri is dead on arrival, a cold fish. It just lies there, too lethargic to be funny and too timid to be sexy, but not deep enough for any real drama." Skip it.

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After the jump: Indies on DVD, Blu-ray Picks, and Collector's Corner!

Indie Roundup reviews the past week of news from the independent film community and provides a peek at what's coming soon.

Opening. Three indie flicks open on Friday: Jeffrey Levy-Hinte's terrific music doc Soul Power, Chris Nahon's live-action adaptation of anime horror thriller Blood: The Last Vampire, and a reissue of Francois Truffaut's 1969 crime romance Mississippi Mermaid, with Jean-Paul Belmondo and Catherine Deneuve. After a good start in New York and Los Angeles (see below), action thriller The Hurt Locker expands into 50 selected markets.

Deals / Articles of Interest. Our friends at indieWIRE reported on three recent acquisitions with upcoming theatrical releases planned: Chris Fuller's critically-acclaimed teen drama Loren Cass (Kino; July 24); Rebecca Miller's The Private Lives of Pippa Lee, with Robin Wright Penn and Alan Arkin (Screen Media, October); and Dror Zahavi's thriller For My Father (Film Movement, Winter 2010). Eugene Hernandez considers Chris Anderson's new book Free: The Future of a Radical Price and suggests that Anderson's "ideas and examples" are applicable to the "evolving marketplace for movies."

On-Demand Viewing. Anne Thompson posted a clip at Variety for Michael Almereyda's post-Karina drama New Orleans Mon Amour, with Elisabeth Moss and Christopher Eccleston. I saw it at SXSW last year and couldn't get into its very deliberate pacing; its virtues might be better appreciated on a smaller screen. It debuts on cable VOD on July 15. Blogging at The Huffington Post, filmmaker Adam Hootnick compares recent events in Iran with the situation in Gaza after Israel's withdrawal from its settlements in 2005. That's the subject of his film Unsettled, which is now available on iTunes and Amazon VOD.

After the jump: Indie box office results -- and a year-to-date report.

Indonesian Insanity. A young man from a small rural village goes to a big bad city, rescues a girl, and engages in serious butt-kicking. Ring any bells? The upcoming Merantau may sound like an Indonesian Ong Bak, but the success of any martial arts film depends entirely upon the execution. Judging from the official trailer, which arrived this weekend courtesy of Todd Brown at Twitch, I'd say that Merantau is an excellent contender for this year's action crown. Written and directed by Gareth Evans, the film stars Iko Uwais and showcases the silat discipline of martial arts. You can watch the gorgeous, high-def trailer and find much more information at Twitch.

Translated Japanese. Sony Pictures has acquired the rights to Blood: The Last Vampire, Chris Nahon's live-action adaptation of an anime series that I remember as pretty darn good. "Demons have infested the earth," says the official synopsis. "And only one warrior stands between the dark and the light: Saya (Gianna Jun), a half-human, half-vampire samurai." Nippon Cinema has the new trailer for the film, which is reportedly due in theaters this summer. The effects-heavy flick looks like it could be a cheesy disaster -- complete with the lead actress speaking English phonetically -- though I hope it meets the minimum standards of entertainment.

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
There's a new full length trailer out for the Transformers sequel and it's chock full of... well, pretty much the same stuff we got the first time around: a whiny lead actor, the superhumanly hot Megan Fox and giant mechanoids beating the 10W-40 out of each other. In a film where cars turn into giant alien robots credibility is further strained when Shia LaBeouf's character tells Bumblebee he won't be taking him to college. What college freshman doesn't want a car? I guess we find out on June 24.

G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra
Speaking of movies based on cartoons that were based on toys, there's a new trailer out for G.I. Joe. This one can go either way; the cast is decent and the explosions are plentiful. Watch for the Real American Heroes on August 7, and check out the trailer below.




Adam
A young man with asperger's syndrome falls in love with the new woman who has moved into his building. Nothing about this one really grabs me and it feels like so many other quirky romantic comedies. It goes into limited release on July 29.