Someone in the UK please record this for me when it airs.  Pretty please. 

Using notes left behind by author Douglas Adams and discovered after his death the producers of an audio series based on Adams’ Dirk Gently novels are preparing a sort of Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy prequel story set in the Gently universe.  It seems Adams himself was considering a crossover between his two most famous creations and left some sort of notes to that effect along with the unfinished manuscript of the third Gently novel.  According to the producers they’re planning on following that plan through and have found a way to bring a Hitchhikers character into the plot line of the third Gently novel when they prepare it to air on BBC Radio.  Word is they’ve even found a way of doing it as a set up for a plot point in one of Adams completed Hitchhikers books, which would make it some sort of prequel, or mid series, story.  I’ve got my ideas about where you could do it both in terms of plot and in terms of having it make sense within the Gently world and can’t wait to see if I’m right ...

So, someone out there ... please record this for me when it airs ...

After the link bump we have Italian filmmaker Francesco Barilli introducing his film, The Perfume of the Lady at NIFFF tonight. The occasion was so rare I couldn’t pass up the chance to film it for Twitch audiences that otherwise wouldn’t be able to experience this.

Continue Reading "NIFFF 2008 - Perfume of the Lady in Black Intro"...

Damnit! Damnit! Damnit! Very rarely will I gripe that I live in the wrong country or city or province but holy hell do I want to be at one of these dates! Edgar Wright announced yesterday the SPACED: INVASION USA Tour. In conjunction with the July 22nd release of his landmark television series SPACED on our side of the pond for the first time, Edgar, along with creator-stars Simon Pegg and Jessica Hynes (nee Stevenson), will be coming to New York, Los Angeles, Comic-Con and Austin for special screenings, a marathon, panel sessions and signings for fans. Details about all the dates after the break.

And for us Canucks Edgar will be at the JUST FOR LAUGHS festival in Montreal musing about comedy with Jason Reitman [Juno] on Friday, July the 18th
2:30-3:30 ‘Wright and Reitman Unplugged’ Grand Salon, Hyatt Regency, Montreal. Jason, please don’t be upset if no one asks you to sign their copy of Juno. 

Continue Reading "I need new pants. SPACED: INVASION USA tour announced!"...

Update: The upgrades have been finished. Let us know if you see anything screwy by posting in the comments, or via our contact form.

Sorry for the short notice, but we’ll be performing some routine maintenance and upgrades to Twitch tomorrow (Saturday) evening. The entire process should only take about 20-30 minutes, but during that time both the site and the forums will be inaccessible. Twitch’s video player, however, will still be up and running.

We apologize in advance for any inconvenience.

PiFan as previously noted, is back bigger and better than ever before with not only a film festival, but also the new market it has with NAFF. Dates this year are July 18th-27th. The opening film this year is Waltz with Bashir and it closes with Cyborg She. Notable films include Twitch favorites: Timecrimes, Mirageman, Stuck and more. PiFan this year has even more sections than many festivals even have films! This year their sections include: Puchon Choice Feature, tons of shorts programs, 100 Years of Nikkatsu: Inventions and Challenges (from the 30’s and up), Open Cine Parade, Korean Hwalgeuk in Tri-Asia Retrospective, World Fantastic Cinema, The Rebellious: Asian Action Cinema, Grindhouse Revisited, Chills from the Cold Land: Russian Contemporary Genre Films, Fanta Masters - Gregg Araki, Forbidden Zone, Off the Fantastic, Strange Hommage, Ani Fanta, Family Fanta and Q-Rious. Read on for the full lineup.

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I’ve said in these pages before that the word ‘legend’ is one that gets thrown about far too easily when dealing with film and celebrity culture but when it comes to Shaw Brothers star Gordon Liu, calling him anything other than a living legend would be a gross understatement.  The man is a true icon of Hong Kong cinema and he’s coming to the 2008 Fantasia Festival to host a screening of the freshly restored Disciples of the 36th Chamber on July 5th.  IF there’s any way you can be there you’d be a fool to let the chance to meet the man pass you by ...

I heard about this on Thursday night at the Cinemacabre screening put on by those dandy folks at Rue Morgue and news of it has been picked up around the web.

If you’re in the Toronto and Ottawa areas on July 17th and July 18th you can catch Jack Brooks Monster Slayer and horror icon Robert Englund, Jack Brooks himself Trevor Mathews, and director Jon Knautz will be attending both screenings. The Toronto date will be hosted by Rue Morgue at the infamous Bloor Cinema. The screening in Ottawa will happen at the AMC 24 Kanata.

Yep, like the title says, today is the last day to get your film submitted to the 2008 edition of the Toronto After Dark festival.  So if you want to get in there then you need to, you know, get in there ...

I already have the Enzo G. Castellari interview that covers High Crime and now here is Lars from the film series, The Alamo Drafthouse Weird Wednesday, introducing the film at a recent screening. Highlights among many include Lars discussing man slapping in cinema and Franco Nero seeming to take coffee before every single take in the film. High Crime is a pivotal film in Italian crime films as it exploded it into a complete industry onto itself in the 1970’s. Click on to see the video.

Continue Reading "High Crime - Lars Weird Wednesday Intro"...

Many of you out there probably lament that you cannot attend Weird Wednesday which happens at the Alamo Drafthouse Ritz in Austin, Texas. Have no fear for this week, as I have the introduction the host Lars did for Jess Franco’s women in prison classic, 99 Women. Click ahead for a full video of his introduction and get a small taste of why this film series is so legendary and addictive.

99 Women is a really loving ode to women prisons and Rosalba Neri in thigh highs, that Franco helmed in a year he made around only 9 other films. The film is capped by one of the most eccentric and outright oddly brilliant prison ward performances in the history of cinema in the form of Mercedes McCambridge as Thelma Diaz.

Continue Reading "99 Women - Lars Weird Wednesday Intro"...

There are many, many viral videos in support of advertising just about anything these days.  Few stand out from the pack.  This is one of them.  A faux-documentary in support of an X-Box game that delivers its marketing message in the most esoteric of ways.  Or it doesn’t; in the same what that the famed BMW Shorts don’t either.  When things looks this gorgeous and eccentric (think Errol Morris meets John Carpenter), one thanks the almighty that these types of things get made at all, and on ad dollars to boot.

Rob Niosi, a self-proclaimed ‘Goblin Man enthusiast’ whose fascination with the mechanical being has lead to an interesting collection of artifacts and memorabilia. Also, Professor Alistair Mclean discusses a controversial mysterious stone found near the site of the discovery and its subsequent separation from the ‘Goblin Man’ artifact.

This might be a little late but I’ve been herding a shit load of horses over the hight country for the last four days. But the Alamo is having a screening of the cult classic Rolling Thunder next month in Austin and The Print Mafia have whipped up a 70’s style poster for the occasion. Now I haven’t seen this particular film myself but it’s been on my “to see” list for years. To purchase this 26″ x 38″ hook hand goodness go to mondotess.com as always to put down those 30 clams. 

Big news for anime fans in New York City!  The Film Society of Lincoln Center will be hosting a Satoshi Kon weekend at the end of June with the director on hand to talk about his work.  What have you got?  Paprika on June 27th, Tokyo Godfathers on June 28th and Paranoia Agent on June 29th with the director attending all three screenings to introduce the films and do Q&A afterwards.

I live in the wrong country.

Yes, yes ... i should have posted this a few days ago but the Worldwide Short Film Festival is on here in Toronto and I’ve been busy introducing screenings and taking care of film makers and the like and, well, I just sort of missed it, really.  Anyway:  the first tiles for the annual Fantasia Festival in Montreal have just been announced and there are some dandies among them.  A sampling?  Repo: The Genetic Opera, The Echo, 4Bia, Let the Right One In, [REC], Bad Biology, Tokyo Gore Police and more, more, more!  Plan on making the trip, it’s a good time ...

Well this is a strange one. The Alamo Drafthouse is having a screening of Terminator and of course they are doing a poster for it. When you think of Terminator you immediately think of Arnold but artist Yann Legendre decided to go another way by showing Linda Hamilton’s face with a laser dot between her eyes. Creepy.
You can order the 24″ x 36″ poster from mondotees.com as usual and this bad boy goes for 30 bucks.

Other news from the Rolling Road Show front is that sadly the Monroeville Mall screening of Dawn of the Dead has been canceled due to unforeseen circumstances. Maybe that’s why the posters suddenly disappeared from the site, or they simply sold out. This sucks for fans of the film as it would have been utterly fantastic to watch the movie in its birthplace.

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