taxidermia Tagged Articles at Cinematical
Indie Spotlight - New Releases for Aug. 14
Filed under: New Releases », Indie Spotlight »
Here's a quick look at what's opening in limited release this weekend. If they're not playing where you live, keep an eye out as they make the rounds. And if all else fails, there's always DVD.Grace (pictured) is one seriously effed-up horror film about a woman who gives birth to an undead baby. When one of the props required for your movie is a baby bottle filled with blood, you know you've got something special on your hands. I reviewed it for Cinematical at Sundance and said, "First-time writer/director Paul Solet ... proves himself adept both as a visual storyteller and as a guy who can make you crap your pants." Reviews at Rotten Tomatoes are evenly split between positive and negative. If this is your kind of movie, you probably know who you are. In New York and L.A. for now.
Spread, another Sundance premiere, stars Ashton Kutcher as a guy who has lots of sex with lots of women, then decides to do it professionally. (It was one of a few films at Sundance that, rather notoriously, didn't have press screenings.) At Rotten Tomatoes, 8 out of the 10 reviews are negative, though a few do offer praise for Kutcher's surprisingly good performance. Opens today on about 90 screens nationwide.
Foreign-Language Oscar: Hungary Submits 'Taxidermia'
Filed under: Foreign Language », Independent », Oscar Watch », Cinematical Indie »
When you think Oscar (as in the Academy Award), do you think "absurd, ugly, disgusting, surreal, confusing, arcane, difficult, ponderous, and (intermittently) fascinating"? Those words were used by our own Scott Weinberg to describe the Hungarian film Taxidermia. Nonetheless, Taxidermia has been selected as Hungary's submission for best foreign-language Oscar, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The film played at the Cannes and Toronto film festivals, among others, last year and has received a theatrical release in much of Europe. Tartan Films holds US distribution rights. Their site describes Taxidermia as "György Pálfi's grotesque tale of three generations of men, including an obese speed eater, an embalmer of gigantic cats, and a man who shoots fire out of his penis." Near the conclusion of his review, Scott Weinberg wrote: "One is tempted to dismiss this experimental piece as a gooey bowl of pretentious arthouse weirdness, but there's no denying that, at least on a purely visual scale, the thing's got some power behind it." Eddie Cockrell of Variety concluded: "The total is much less than the sum of its, uh, parts. Rather, the pic is more like a bigscreen equivalent of children pulling wings off live flies."
The official announcement by the five-member selection committee called director György Pálfi "one of the most talented representatives of the new generation of Hungarian film directors." The film's official site has a trailer and other visuals. From all the evidence presented, I conclude that Hungary has made a very bold choice. Other countries that have announced their submissions for this year's Academy Award consideration include Norway, The Netherlands, Thailand and Austria.
Philly FF Review: Taxidermia
Filed under: Comedy », Drama », Foreign Language », Horror », Tribeca », Theatrical Reviews », Cinematical Indie », Philadelphia Film Festival »
I can think of a lot of adjectives that could adequately describe Gyorgy Palfi's Taxidermia: absurd, ugly, disgusting, surreal, confusing, arcane, difficult, ponderous, and (intermittently) fascinating. I've no problem admitting that I just didn't "get it," which doesn't mean that I'll blindly dismiss the thing and call it a rotten movie -- nor can I find much praise for the film, either. It's a truly "out there" experience, I'll give the movie that, but unless you've got a pretty strong affection for Hungarian films that deal with sexual deviance, non-stop vomiting, ridiculous obesity and "creative" taxidermy I can't imagine you'd bother with the whole film.
Entirely lacking in what you'd call a "traditional narrative structure," Taxidermia is actually sort of an anthology, and the only link between the three stories is the fact that we're dealing with three generations of the same family. (If there's any connective tissue between the miniature trilogy, feel free to let me know what it might be.) I "get" that all three sections deal with the act of expelling things from one's body -- be it fluid, food or vital organ -- but beyond that I'm stuck firmly in head-scratching country. At least Palfi knows how to frame a stylish shot when he needs one ... which is often.
The Big 2007 Releases for Tartan Films
Filed under: Action », Comedy », Drama », Foreign Language », Thrillers », New Releases », Cannes », Distribution », Toronto International Film Festival », Cinematical Indie »
As the year starts winding down, it's time to begin looking into what will come out in the New Year. Tartan Films, the company that brought us everything from Michael Winterbottom's 9 Songs to a whole lot of Rocco Siffredi in Anatomy of Hell, is bringing some of this year's quirky and notable festival offerings to the big screen in 2007. Here are five months of funky cinema slated for 2007, some of which have great Cinematical reviews for you to peruse:
February: The Page Turner follows a girl whose botched piano examination leads her to turn away from her passion for the keys, only to be faced with it later when she comes face-to-face with the person whose rudeness shattered her resolve.
March:
April: Triad Election is filmmaker Johnny To's answer to The Godfather, and the second part to his election epic.
May: Princess is the animated film about a orphan whose mother was a porn star, and the ex-priest uncle who comes to take care of her.
June: 12:08 East of
Honorable Mention: Taxidermia is worthy of mentioning, although a release date is yet to be determined. It's a tale about an overweight speed eater, a large cat embalmer and a man who shoots fire from his penis -- so what's not to love?
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