Happy Halloween!

Midnight has passed and I wish all my friends - specially my American friends - a lot of Treats. HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Asia Filmfest - Flash Point

A few hours ago we watched the best movie of the Asian Filmfest so far: Flash Point. A great movie with mind-blowing action! One of the best action movies I have seen (though I have to admit that I haven´t seen too many of them).

About the movie:
"Flash Point" belongs in the new crop of Hong Kong films that have begun to take shape over the last few years and found a major following in International markets tired of the same stuff. It’s a genre with hardcore fighting that isn’t predicated on styles or even signature moves, where violence looms, threatens, and finally develops in a heated "debate" of fists and kicks. You probably wouldn’t have seen anything like "Flash Point" or "Sha Po Lang" ten or even five years ago, and it seems Yen has helped to usher in this new genre of Hong Kong action-crime films that combines grit, martial arts, and crime that has never been seen before." (via Asia Filmfest 2007 via BeyondHollywood.com)

"Flash Point" is an awesome action movie when the time came for it to deliver the goods, highlighting that Hong Kong action films still have what it takes to innovate within the genre. The back half of the film is packed to the gills with fight and action sequences and they stand as the most diverse and punishing sequences of Yen’s career." (via Asia Filmfest 2007 via Twitchfilm.net)

Asia Filmfest - Glory To The Filmmaker!

Kitano has described this film as part of the ongoing "creative destruction" of his career, which began in 2005 with Takeshis'. The movie is pretty crazy and I had to laugh a lot. There are different parts of the film, which were all good. But somehow I didn´t like the last part (mainly science fiction). Actually I can´t really describe the movie. All I can say is that you should only watch the movie if you are a Kitano fan.

About the movie:
In his search for the perfect movie – one that will satisfy the urge to entertain and to explore the limits of film – cinematic mastermind Takeshi Kitano has produced a phantasmagorical allegory of the craft. Rooted in his personal catalogue of films, Glory to the Filmmaker! a corrosive yet light-hearted reflection on recent Japanese cinema, defying genre definition and radiating freedom and originality.
Playing himself in the film, Kitano is confronted with the difficult task of producing a box-office hit after publicly announcing his decision to stop making gangster movies. He ventures first toward the well-mined field of formulaic genres. From neo-realist dramas to martial-arts period flicks, and from tear-jerking love stories to science-fiction and horror films made to anticipate their instant Hollywood remakes, he tries hard to create a commercial masterpiece. But his bizarre visions and their even stranger execution ultimately result in the producers’ refusal to finance any of his pitches. (via TIFF `07)

Halloween Countdown 1 - The Death Clock

"Since the day of my birth, my death began its walk. It is walking toward me, without hurrying." Jean Cocteau

©2007 ~Backseat-Instigator

According to the Death Clock my personal Day of Death is Thursday, January 21, 2055. That gives me almost 50 more years to live. Not bad!

"Death Clock: The Internet's friendly reminder that life is slipping away..."

Halloween Countdown 2 - Dieter Frangenberg

Some interesting pictures by Dieter Frangenberg.

Frau mit "Bock" © 2007 by Dieter Frangenberg

Power of Love © 2007 by Dieter Frangenberg

hier ist der Wurm drin © 2007 by Dieter Frangenberg

Frischlinge © 2007 by Dieter Frangenberg

Kaffee im Garten © 2007 by Dieter Frangenberg

Asia Filmfest - My Blueberry Nights

Today my brother showed up surprisingly. So he had to take care of the kids and we had the chance to go and see another Asia Filmfest movie. Today they showed the "surpise movie". We were lucky. They showed "My Blueberry Nights" directed by Wong Kar Wai.

"My Blueberry Nights is a film starring Norah Jones and Jude Law. It also features Rachel Weisz, Natalie Portman and David Strathairn. Wong Kar Wai describes it as "a story of a woman who takes the long route instead of the short one to meet up with the man she loves."

Plot
A young woman takes a journey across the United States to resolve her questions about love. She encounters a series of offbeat characters along the way.


The movie was the opening film for the 2007 Cannes Film Festival. It is Kar Wai Wong's first feature length English-language film.
Norah Jones was the only choice for the leading role, despite her lack of prior acting experience actually it was her film debut.

Staring Girl - Part 2

Halloween Countdown 3 - Tim Burton (Staring Girl)

I once knew a girl
who would just stand there and stare.
At anyone or anything,
she seemed not to care

She'd stare at the ground,

She'd stare at the sky.

She'd stare at you for hours,
and you'd never know why.

But after winning the local staring contest,

she finally gave her eyes
a well-deserved rest.

This poem as well as others from Tim Burton's "The Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy" can be found here.

Halloween Countdown 4 - Rasputina

1816 The Year Without A Summer by Rasputina



This is a most delightfully dark and frilly Rasputina video for "1816 The Year Without a Summer." It was created by the one and only Dame Darcy. (via Phantasmaphile)

Asia Filmfest - Vexille

Just a short post on this one. We saw the movie "Vexille" Thursday evening and did enjoy it. It was the opening film of the Asia Filmfest 2007 in Munich. It´s a good movie!
The movie theater had an asian buffet in the entrance room, you could buy some Asian dvds, there was a promotional stand of Diamond Prosecco and of course some promotional material from the movies.

The entrance ticket to the movie was also the entrance ticket to the after-show party in the club 2rooms. I even managed to get Benjamin there for about half an hour. Interesting club, futuristic interior and they had japanese porn running on two or three screens. The famous DJ Hito from Japan appeared and I enjoyed my vodka. Unfortunately we missed Drag Queen Masu with her J-Pop-Playback-Midnight-Show.

About the movie:
"One of the most – if not the most – hotly anticipated anime titles of the year, "Vexille" is nothing short of a visual feast. The production team behind the hugely successful "Appleseed" film reunite here for a high concept, high action sci-fi thriller that asks difficult questions about the nature of humanity and is remarkably willing to criticize the current state of Japan, particularly for a big, mainstream Japanese blockbuster.
"Vexillex" is a film that blows stuff up in spectacular fashion and that’s the level that most will judge it on. So, how does it look? The short answer: spectacular. The animation technique used in "Appleseed" has been pushed forward greatly here, the characters being made far more physically expressive with a vast improvement shown particularly in the facial expressions. Those who simply dislike the use of motion capture technology in animation will likely remain unconvinced but for those such as me who appreciate the technology, this is a major step forward. In the final analysis "Vexille" is a film that does an awful lot of things very, very well. It is an action spectacle that is, indeed, spectacular; a film that underpins its entertainment with high minded concepts and serious concerns that will ensure it remains engaging and challenging for quite some time. Eye candy it may be but these are no empty calories." (via Asia Filmfest 2007 via Twitchfilm.net)