And my stupid ass hasn't bought the Peeping Tom record for what reason? No idea. This video is one of the most coolest things ever. Mike Patton on vocals, Rahzel on beatbox, Rob Swift on turntables, and Dan the Automator mixing....great stuff.

So I am so excited. My local indie theatre, the Cedar Lee, is getting Paris, Je, T'aime next week (actually originally scheduled for this weekend, go figure). I have been dying to see this for a while now. I even cheated a bit and watch some of the shorts on YouTube. If you haven't heard about the film it is a collection of 18 shorts running just about 5 minutes a piece from a wide range of world renowned directors. Tom Tywker, Coen Brothers, Christopher Doyle, Alfonso Cuaron, Olivier Assayas, Gus Van Sant, Walter Salles, Nobuhiro Sawa just to name a few. To be honest it hasn't gotten the greatest reviews (some love it, others loathe it), but I have been waiting none the less. It has been out on Hong Kong dvd for a little while now but I really wanted to wait til I was able to catch it on the big screen. Typically the international trailers tend to do films justice, but I must say the US trailer is breathtakingly beautiful. Check it out at the official website by click the poster above.

To all you Hostel haters out there, take a few minutes to read the nice review over at Twitch of its follow-up. It seems the sequel is very much influenced by the classic Italian giallo films with several cameos from some the the Italian genre actors (above director Eli Roth rehearses with former giallo scream queen Edwige Fenech of The Case of the Bloody Iris fame) . Please give this Hostel 2 review a read.

Unfortunately when most Americans think musical they immediately think Sound of Music, Grease, South Pacific, Singing in the Rain, West Side Story and such. Sure they are popular and trademarks of the genre, but to be totally honest, the great don't come from the land of the free. Instead, the truly best come from the "language of love." That's right, kids, France. The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (starring the lovely Catherine Deneuve), Young Girls of Rochefort, and Jean-Luc Godard's brilliant Woman is a Woman just to name a few. Which brings me to Les Chansons d'amour. What hopes to be the reemergence of the French musical. Feast your eyes on the trailer below and let me know what you think. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that the film was a sensation at Cannes this year.

So I am a few days late on posting this but the Cannes Film Festival is over. I was wrong. the Coen Brothers flick didn't win anything but received nothing but raved reviews. A film from Romania one the Palme d'Or, which can sometimes be a kiss of death (did anyone see The Wind That Shakes the Barley?!?) or box office gold (I am sure you have all heard of a little film called Pulp Fiction). A Japanese film entitled The Mourning Forest one the runner-up prize, the Grand Prix, along with Gus Van Sant's Paranoid Park taking home a special award and the lead actress of the Korean film Secret Sunshine (which was directed by the man behind the fascinating film Oasis) taking home Best Actress.

There was also some cool film sales. IFC picked up the new film from Hou Hsiao-Hsien (Millennium Mambo, Three Times) called Looking for the Red Balloon, a remake of the French classic. The also picked up Paranoid Park. The Weinstien Company bought the Joy Division film Control while a yet to be officially announced company purchased the Asia Argento starrer Boarding Gate (I promise to tell you all when everything is said and done....I feel honored to know and not anyone else....).

Well that is all for now I will be back in a day along with a post a few days after that with my reaction to the new Tsai Ming-Liang film I Don't Want to Sleep Alone (which I will catch on Friday).

Alas Aaron has sat down to watch Diggers, so here it goes...

Going into the movie there was really only one things I had on my mind. I know that Ken Marino can write comedy, but can he equal his success from one genre to another, especially something as difficult as drama. Well, the man nails it, with great results. Matter of fact, Marino shines as Frankie, one of the most powerful performances in the film.

Diggers takes place in the mid-to-late 70s in a small New York town right of the shores (near or in Long Island). The only way for a man to live is two fish for clams to pay rent each month. For friends stuggle to stay afloat buddy always seem to be there for each other through the thick and thin. After the sudden death of Hunt's father him and his sister, Gina, must cope with the sudden absense of a father figure. His friend Frankie, on the other hand, is just trying to pull things together in an attempt to keep his marriage and his 5 children alive and well. Their buddy Jack attempts to make his rounds from one girl to the next, while Cons continues to make a living as the town's most prosperous "weed" dealer.

Many reviews including the Variety blurb on the front cover have compared the film to the obvious Diner but a few other films come to mind too. The strongest part of the film is the performance of the four friends which I can't help thinking of such classics as The Big Chill and more recently Beautiful Girls and Good Will Hunting to draw comparison. Ken Marino in a role slightly modeled after his father really shows that he has the chops to tackle more than just comedy. While he often times has some of the best laughs in the film he does an equal job at bringing some of the memorable emotion out of the picture. Paul Rudd, in the lead as Hunt, is equally as impressive as the character destined for much better life than he seems to be living. Ron Eldard and Josh Hamilton are right behind them both with solid performances. Sarah Paulson as Frankie's wife, Julie, and Maura Tierney as, Gina, play some of the most well written female characters I have seen in film for quite some time. Six Feet Under's Lauren Ambrose shows up in a effective supporting role as a big city girl who has an eye for Hunt.

The directing by Katherine Dieckmann, responsible for a handful of R.E.M. videos, does an amazing job at setting up some truly beautiful shots and drawing out some simply great performance from all involved.

I can honestly say I fell in love with this film and was actually really sad when it came to an end after a short 89 minutes. Luckily for me (and hopefully you) Magnolia Pictures has packed the disc full with some great special features. Not only is there an informative commentary track with Dieckmann and Marino (which reveals that David Wain was set to direct the film until Stella was picked up by Comedy Central), but also a 25 minute minute making of/interview, some entertaining and funny deleted scenes, and even a hour long doc on clam diggers entitled Baymen.

So as always get your ass to the local Best Buy or Borders and pick this baby up. It comes with a high recommendation from yours truly and will appeal to any film fan willing to see a honest to god well-written character study of what life is like in a small town. What are you waiting for, get your ass out there an buy it. Now, feast your eyes on the trailer below.

Okay so I am a day late and a dollar short but I promise I will have a Diggers review sometime in the next 24 hours. Until then, I would like to make a comment or two about a novel I just read. Yeah that's right I said "novel I just read." I used to read like a fiend when I was younger especially around the time of my discovery of Chuck Palahniuk which was as far back as the summer of '99. However over time film and music completely began to overpower the literature, which now I find a bit sad. I forgot how great it was to finish a engrossing novel. Which leads me to this...

Man is this a killer book. Ryu Murakami (not to be confused with the more popular Hikaru Murakami) is a underrated and quite unknown Japanese writer here in the states. His most popular novels released and translated in English are Almost Transparent Blue (a brilliant book which reminds you very much of the writings of J.G. Ballard) and Coin Locker Babies (a novel I have owned forever but never have really sat down to read...oddly enough I recently bought it as a birthday gift for one of my best buddies, Nate). People may or may not know him also as the madman behind the book Audition which was turned into a very successful horror film by the almighty Takashi Miike.

Piercing, which I just found out was originally released in Japan over 13 years ago, is one hell of a page turner. It follows a man with a sudden urge to stab his newborn baby night after night and instead plans a trip to the city to hatch a murder to get his mind off things. Enter Chiaki (yes, the same name as my wife), who seems to be the wrong victim for his plans. From there on all hell breaks loose and you won't want to put the novel down.

Yeah, you can say the book is a bit disturbing, but man is it a great read. Go run to Borders and pick it up now, please! Me I am off to find my Coin Locker Babies novel and dig write in. Speaking of dig, I will be back with my Diggers review shortly....promise!

Back for a second with the just discovered Sicko trailer, the latest doc from Michael Moore. This time he goes after Health Care. Looks great.

So what do you think about when you think of the name Downloading Nancy? Stupid freakin' name, right.

Then you here the synopsis:

"The film follows the fate of an unhappy housewife who instead of committing suicide, meets a man over the Internet and hires him to kill her. Things become more complicated when the two unexpectedly fall in love."

The film begins to sounds a whole lot cooler. Then you hear that the cast includes Jason Patric (who many may crack on, but the man was brilliant in Your Friends and Neighbors) and Maria Bello. Next you hear that it is the directorial debut from music video director Johan Renck (whether you love or hate video director, you must admit they all have inventive ideas) who has shot videos for such artists as Madonna and Robbie Williams, Kylie Minogue, and New Order. Finally and what has honestly sealed the fate for me is that the film will be shot by the world's most amazing cinematographer, Christopher Doyle. Color me excited!

Speaking of Christopher Doyle the man and his latest shot film has been getting major props in Cannes right now. Doyle was the DP on the latest film from Gus Van Sant, Paranoid Park, which has been named one of the front runners for the major prizes come Sunday. It would be pretty killer if My man, Chris, was award for his camera work, just like he was back in '97 for Happy Together and in 2000 for In the Mood For Love. Lets cross our fingers.

Doyle is not the only one it seems that is at Cannes on a yearly basis with a film up their sleeve. If anyone can top him it would have to be the lovely Asia Argento.


Not only does it seem like she is there year after year but this year she reigns supreme with count 'em, three films :Go-Go Tales, Boarding Gate, and Une Vieille Maîtresse. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention her father, the great Dario Argento, brought a showreel of his latest film, Mother of Tears, which also stars Asia. I really which I was there this year. One of theses days, I hope.

I willl be back tonight, more than likely, with a review of the Magnolia Pictures film, Diggers.

One last thing before I sleep toinght. There is a great book out their that I constantly pick up from time to time to sharp my knowledge of film. If you know me well, you know that hands down my favorite era of cinema was the 60s. Possibly the best book on the era (others than picking up one of the thousands of Godard books) is Revolution! The Explosion of World Cinema in the Sixties. I literally pick the book up every few days to read a page or two or look up a director or film to see if the book discuss them (which it always does). But something I forgot about until just today, after scoping some random website, was how damn cool the UK cover was in relation to the one available her in the states. I am sure you can guess which one is which.









Come on people, which one, in your opinion, carely represents 60s cinema?

Okay so I know this is an old trailer but it has to be one of the funniest teasers I have ever seen. So to get everyone excited for the release of Knocked Up on June 1st, I bring you the hilarious international teaser:

So its only three days in but I will call it right here and now. The Coen Brothers' latest, No Country for Old Men is going to leave France with one of the biggies, possibly the Palme d'Or. Trust me the reviews for this sucker are pretty astounding. Most call it their possible masterpiece and hands down their best flick since The Big Lebowski. All this talk has made me pretty damn pumped for this now and I am dying waiting for it.

Check out a Cannes promo reel of the film now at Solace in Cinema.

So check out the Cannes poster for the new Olivier Assayas film, Boarding Gate, starring Asia Argento.

Um, yeah....I doubt this will be the US poster, but it's, uh, interesting nonetheless.

If you are really in need of a laugh and find humor in things like The State, Wet Hot American Summer, Stella, Reno 911, and anything remotely attached to Michael Showalter you honestly need to check this out. I bring you the Micheal Showalter Showalter:

With guest Paul Rudd
With guest Michael Ian Black
With guest Zach Galifianakis
With David Cross

If you do not find humor in this, I truly feel sorry for you. Great Stuff.

We have booked one hell of a schedule for May & June at the Canton Palace Theatre:

May 27
Iraq in Fragments Not Rated 1 hour and 34 minutes
This film illuminates post-war Iraq in three acts.

May 31 - June 1
Avenue Montaigne Rated PG-13 1 hour and 45 minutes
Jessica becomes a waitress at a bistro in Paris, but she does now know
famous her customers really are.

June 17
Black Book Rated R 2 hours and 25 minutes
Set in 1944, Rachel Stein is seeking revenge for the murder of her family,
but falls in love with a Gestapo officer.

June 21
After the Wedding Rated R 1 hour and 55 minutes
Jacob attends the wedding of a Denmark family to receive a donation and
save his orphanage, but ends up in the dilemma of his life.

June 28
The Wind That Shakes the Barley Not Rated 2 hours and 4 minutes
Ireland 1920: Two brothers fight in a guerrilla army against the British,
but when victory seems near, civil war breaks out in the country. Winner of Cannes Film Festival 2006's prestigious Palme d'Or, the festival's best film award also known as the Golden Palm.

Five critically acclaimed films for 4 bucks apiece. Come on what are you waiting for. All films start at 7:30pm. Personally, can't wait to check out After the Wedding, which I have heard nothing but great things about!

I had to post this cause the cover is just so damn cool. Hope no one is offended.

That may possibly be one of the best damn sexploitation covers I have ever seen. It stars Christina Lindberg, of Thriller: They Call Her One Eye and Sex & Fury fame, and is the acting debut of Good Will Hunting's Stellan Skarsgard. Looks like some good stuff, if that's your thing of course. The disc streets on July 24th. The folks over at the wonderful Synapse Films have chosen to help out a foreign company (Impulse Pictures) get distro stateside. Expect more great exploitation on the horizon, including another Lindberg classic, Exposed, coming in November.

Simple Question...why?

Yes thats the caveman from the GEICO commerical and yes they have spawned their own show on ABC. Once again, I ask...why?

At least, NBC has decided to add onto its superhero success of Heroes with the following:

To top it off, it actually looks pretty damn cool.

On one last note, it looks like Lucy Liu is coming back to television and Parker Posey is also hoping for success on the small screen.

Alittle change of plans this week. Looks like are trip to Pittsburgh has been changed. We figure we may as well save some money and stay home tonight and hit up Columbus tomorrow. Which means a nice little bento from the new place in the mini Japanese plaza. The name slips my mind right now but man is it super tasty. I would also like to swing over to see one of my best friends, Jason, along with his wonderful wife and their newborn baby.

As much as I wanted to see I Don't Want to Sleep Alone this weekend, I know I can catch it in two weeks at the good ol' Cleveland Cinematheque. One of my other best friends, JD, will be in town and I really want to drag him along for the ride. It will be my second viewing of a Tsai Ming Liang film in the theater which is honestly the best way to see his flicks.

So Cannes has started and the feedback on the opening film My Blueberry Nights (my most anticipated film of the year) has been relatively positive. While it doesn't seem to blow anyone out of the park it has been getting some decent buzz, which is a good thing.

Check out this little teaser trailer for your viewing pleasure:

I absolutely love it. Many people have been comparing it to Wong Kar Wai's breakout film Chungking Express but I thought it reminded me alot of his BMW short film (The Follow), which we can feast your eyes on here. While your at it check out Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu's powerful and brilliant BMW short Powder Keg, clearly the best of the bunch. In my humble opinion, these two directors are some of the best ever to work in the business. Amazing careers that seems to get more and more intrigue as the years go by.

I am off for now but will be back tonight or tomorrow with my usual fare...

Mucho goodies arrived today. Fay Grim and Diggers from the fine folks at Magnolia Pictures and Black Test Car from the wondrous Fantoma Films. Look for reviews of Fay Grim and Diggers to pop up here very soon while a Black Test Car will be up at KFC Cinema in the coming weeks.

Also bought a new mid-lined receiver and surround sound speakers today along with The Departed, Once Upon a Time in America, and Whisper in the Dark (I had to reach 300 bucks to get "6 months- no interest"...you know I am a sucker for that).

I think Chiaki and I are on for next week to attend the Silk Screen Film Festival in Pittsburgh. Like I mention before I think we will catch I Don't Want to Sleep Alone and Summer Palace.

I Don't Want to Sleep Alone is the latest from one of my favorite directors, Tsai Ming-Liang. I have been dying to see this for a while now and am really excited to catch it. It is playing at the Cleveland Cinematheque at the beginning of June too, so it looks like I may have two chances to see it. Summer Palace I have also been anxious to see since all the fuzz at Cannes last year. The Chinese censors did not allow it to screen at the '06 Cannes Film Festival which resulted in, not only them yanking it from the prestigious festival, but also banning the filmmaker Lou Ye from making anything in the next 5 years. Pretty crazy! I really enjoyed his last flick the 2003 release Purple Butterfly so I am really looking forward to this one too.

So I know you all do it. As much as we all hate myspace we manage to scan the site randomly out of pure boredom. Whether you are checking out songs from your favorite bands are reading the blogs of friends to still some how past the time at a rapid pace. Something I often times finding myself do is reading friend's pages, then reading their friends, and then their friends and so on. So here I am looking at a friend of a friends page (who also is a friend of mine...confused?), a really swell person by the name of Emily, and what comes blaring on my speakers but The Faint's Worked Up So Sexual.

Man, it has been a while since I heard these guys (it's been three years since their last record) let alone one of their greatest songs of their repertoire. If you have not heard this their modern new wave sound you really should check them out. Great Stuff.

Sorry for the lack of posts as of late. I have been rather busy. I promise to be back in a few with a review or two. Chiaki has a week or two off before summer school starts so we might take a trek to Pittsburgh next week for the Silk Screen Film Festival, an Asian film fest out of Pennsylvania. More than likely we will be catching Summer Palace from China and the latest from my man Tsai Ming-Liang, I Don't Want to Sleep Alone. As usual I will be back in a flash with some more nonsense.

So I guess I am part of the minority by saying this but....I really enjoyed Spiderman 3. Honestly, I understand some peoples dislikes. I can play devil's advocate and comprehend what bothers them about it but come on people, its an entertaining flick. Maybe its because I never read a Spidey comic book in my life. I don't know. Some peoples complaints have been about the somewhat cheese factor of certain seems. I guess these people never saw the first film (Green Goblin was "king cheese" in my opinion). Also I must say that Sandman was a badass. Not unlike my friend Joe states on his Spidey 3 rant, I enjoyed the character alot more than I thought I would. Thomas Haden Church was perfect for the role. At least everyone seems to like Bruce Campbell's cameo. I mean how couldn't you. The man is genius in this. It is also his longest scene in the series. Congrats my friend...now go and make Bubba Nosferatu. Pretty please!

I am off to sleep I will post tomorrow, as always, with more film madness.

That my friends is a photo from Wong Kar Wai's English language debut (unless you count his killer BMW short from a while back) My Blueberry Nights (and yep thats the lovely Natalie Portman). It is opening at Cannes and I can not wait for more stuff to pop up at their website as the festival gets rolling. I am sure there will be a clip online a day or two after the festival starts and I can't hardly wait.

Below is the poster art:

Awesome as well, I might add. More on this as the info floods in.

So I finally sat down to watch the James Fox/Mick Jagger pic Performance that I picked up a month or so back (if you know me, you know that I sometimes take alittle while to watch movies I buy). Man, do I love this film. It is a perfect film to represent the 70s. It is one hell of a head trip film which had a similar effect on its viewers as did Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. Plain and simple it makes you feel like you are literally high on drugs. The film just absorbs you and doesn't let go. James Fox is sensational in the film as are the small cast around him which includes Mick Jagger and Anita Pellenberg. Highly Recommended in my book and is truly one of those films that really deserves its cult status.

Also picked up the Alejandro Jodorowsky boxset and man is the thing a beauty. Go out and buy this now. Your local Best Buy should have it for 45 bucks which it is worthy of every penny. Three films, a 35min short, and two soundtracks. Come on seriously what are you waiting for. Pick up Performance at Borders while your at it to complete your head trip movie purchase.

I guess that is all for now. I will be back in a day or so with a little more rant including my plans for the Silk Screen Film Festival and a possible trip to Columbus to see the one and only Chuck Palahniuk. Speaking of Chuck Palahniuk apparently a film adaptation of his novel Choke is a go with Sam Rockwell in the lead role. I honestly couldn't picture a better choice. More on this later.

Also in the next week or so expect a dvd reviews of the wonderful Fay Grim and the Ken "I'm going to dip my balls in it" Marino written film Diggers, both courtesy of the fine folks at Magnolia Pictures.