Cannes Film Festival 2010 – Review

18 05 2010

So i didnt have a chance to do a day by day post on it all like I thought I would, you can check out my DAY 1 post here. But I am back now and can say that Cannes was one hell of a fucking experience. I went to the Australian welcome drinks which was awesome, I met a lot of directors and producers and made a lot of contacts. I ended up talking a lot to one who had entered a short film into Cannes called TRIGGER which I was then invited to the premier of and it was a really really incredible short film for its shoe string budget.

I watched a whole bunch of other really shitty films, and i ended up going to see THE HUMAN CENTIPEDE. It was amazing to see the premier of this movie that had been pushed aside to this crummy 36 seat cinema (possibly the smallest i had been in) for a film that I thought had so much hype. The turn out was huge and a little unexpected, luckily I had got their early and managed to get a prime spot but the buyers had priority and the film had 9 of these potential buyers seeing the movie, this was the only film i had seen a buyer even enter and their was 9 of them on this one! The 36 seats were all full and their was plenty of people waiting outside for someone to leave so they could take the spot. and yes.. a few did leave, not because they thought it was bad.. but because I think it is the most fucked up movie i have ever seen. The basic synopsis is that this mad scientist wants to make  a 3 person symese twin like a centipede. So that when the person at the front of the centipede eats it is excreeted out of the ass of the last person in line. This is done by some really messed up stuff of sewing the ass and mouth of some of the people together.. takes the genre to a whole new level, but I really enjoyed it, it was extremely tense and reminded me a lot of WOLF CREEK as the killer is the real star of the show and in some ways kind of funny in a fucked up way.

Its like the TWO GIRLS ONE CUP of horror movies!

I also ended up doing one of the red carpet, main cinema premiers for the Greg Araki film KABOOM, It was honestly nuts walking up the red carpet for this screening at 12:45 at night. It was late but it didn’t stop it from getting a hell of a lot of attention. The paparazzi were everywhere awaiting the director and casts arrival. At first I wasn’t sure if I would get in wearing my shirt (which was the most formal dress I had) as all of the other premiers required wearing suites. But in the end they were a lot more lenient on the midnight events. The energy in the cinema was incredible when Greg Araki showed up with his cast, the audience applauded his arrival for about ten minuets before sitting. The atmosphere in their made it a really amazing experience, however this blinded me  from being able to tell if I actually liked this movie or not, I think I would have to watch it in a “normal” setting to give my true opinion. But you can check out my full review of the flick HERE!

Me on the red carpet at Kaboom

I also went to the South African party which was pretty wiled from 9pm to 2 am and met this guy with a south african film being made called MAD COW which reminded me a lot  of a film i did when I was a kid of the same name also about a dual weilding chainsaw crazed cow, check out my film here. and see the similarity below:

This is the South Afircan one

And this is the one I made in 2005

Kind of funny really, I was shocked at how similar they were, but Im all for it really. Just kind of annoyed that I left on the day of its premier so had to miss it.

The short film corner is also a really awsome part of Cannes fest with the network booths where you can easily watch thousands of shorts. A highlight for me was the short by Bobby Miller – TUB about a guy who jerks off in the shower and his spoof goes down the plug hole, inpregnating his bath… you can guess the rest.

Cannes 2010 was an incredible experience that I will most definantly do again, next time for the whole 2 weeks because their is just too much to do! Hopefully with a film to enter into the short film corner.

Now my scoring for Cannes 2010 on the whole

SCORE:


People –
9/10

if your interested in film then the people dont get any better then this, directors, producers, writers, editors everywhere and so much networking to be done! If your not into film ect. It might not be your cup of tea.

Party’s - 7/10

The partys are one of the best part of this festival, if you can manage to get invited, I was lucky as my mum provided a gateway for this, however was still denied for a couple :(

Celeb Factor - 7/10

To be honest I was expecting to be coming across a lot more celebrities due to lots of people providing false expectations, I wouldnt say its likely for anyone to bump into Quinten Tarintino or Tim Burton at Cannes. I did come across Andy Serkis due to a talk he did at the British Pavilion but thats as far as it went really other then walking amongst Gregg Araki and cast at the KABOOM screening.

Prices – 5/10

This is expected I guess, but Cannes is super expensive during this time (up to $13 AUD for a beer). I guess its because theirs no tourism at any other time of the year so they have to be extreme jews then.

TOTAL – 9.5/10*

*If your interested in film






Review: KABOOM by Gregg Arkai

17 05 2010

I saw this film on saturday night at its midnight premier for the Cannes Film Festival and it is one hell of a wild ride.The movie is basicly about this gay guy (above) as he explores his sexuality, along  with his best friend who is a lesbian. After countless scenes of fucking and numerous satirical gags the film starts to get interesting as the lesbians girlfriend turns out to be a witch with supernatural powers that has a motive to make her life hell and the gay guy (above again) walks home from a “orgasm session” (with a girl this time) comes across a lady running from masked killers that stab her in the face and knock her out. The rest follows on his uncovery of the conspiracy that is occuring as quirky twists and turns are constantly deployed.

If you have seen some of Arakai’s previous films then you know that he has a very very unique style that makes everything very fresh and unexpected, especially the ending but I wont ruine that for you :)

The direction of the film is steller with some really well done cuts and a soundtrack that keeps you jumping about the place from its sharp cuts in crescendo’s. The acting is also very good… but (and this is probably the only critiscism I have about it) towards the end when everything comes to gether and the past is put on steroids the acting for some of the cast  falls apart a bit in all of the excitment, however this is forgivable because of the pace of the final climax shadowing this issue.

This movie is seriously awsome, with a crazy start and insane finish. A must see.

SCORE

Direction: 9/10

Script: 8/10

Acting: 8/10

Originality: 8.5/10

Effects: 8.5/10

Gore: N/A

Music: 9.5/10

TOTAL: 8.5/10






Cannes Film Festival – Day 1

13 05 2010

So day one of the festival has passed and its been pretty crazy so far.

It starts off where you register yourself and they make an electronic phot0 ID for you with your photo on so that when you go to watch films and stuff they scan it and it takes points off you (more on that in a second). After you get your pass you are given a party bag with a list of all the films and a directory about every single business in the industry with a photograph of each person from the business that attended the festival. It was insane when I found my picture in this book (i will scan and upload when i get home).

So when you finish all of that you can go to the different Pavilions (american, south african, britsh ect.) featuring different cinemas and sales agents. However I was unable to go to the amercian pavilion as it annoyingly costs $100 just for a ticket their! I was told this is because in the past it had been a very “trendy” hang out, so they thought that they would make money out of it… and now no one hangs their.. (dumbasses).

So when you enter the Palais (which is one of the Pavilions) big security gaurds check your id then scan you for any weapons with a metal detector. After this you are free to wonder around the pavilion running into whatever flick you want (other then the high profile ones, more on that in a second) and checking out all the booths where indie filmmakers attempt to sell their film to distributors.

I only managed to see one film today – HYENAS, the most terrible movie about wearwolf hyenas… i dont even want to talk about it, i was the last to walk out haha.

any way when you start you get 100 points on your id, different (high profile) films cost different amounts and for different times, for example the Robin Hood premier cost 70 points and was extremely popular. I even saw people wondering the streets for hours with signs for it trying to buy tickets off people. With the system you spend your points online at the website then collect them at a ticket booth for long lines. You earn 2 points an hour so if you dont spend any you would have 300 by the end of it all. I havent spent any yet as I am not particularly interested in Wall Street 2 or Robin Hood but as soon as tickets for Kaboom and Black Heaven are available im getting tickets for those midnight screenings.

Their are several films I want to see for walking into including the premier of the Human Centipede which i was suprised to be in a small 36 seat cinema for its premier.. I thought it was kind of big. Also im going to see some crappy films like Alien vs Ninja (ofcourse) so I look forward to that.

Tomorow night I have the Australian Film Commision “Welcome Drinks” party so that should be fun.
Laters..





Weekly Overview: Cannes + Zazzle.co.uk

20 04 2010

Not much to report on this week other then my slow gear up to the Cannes film festival and my discovery of the hidden gem (not really hidden, i just didnt really know bout it and you myt not either) zazzle.com.

So on May 12 to 16 I am attending this years Cannes film festival for the first time which is pretty fuckn awsome! i cant wait to head to where i will hopefully end up some day proffesionally. I am attending this year as a “representative” of the film accounting business i work for, which basicly means i do what ever i want!

The Cannes official selection has been announced, some really lame and some alright. The lack of “big” films premiering this year may dissapoint some, as this usually isn’t the case for Cannes, however when I am their I wont even be interested in the likes of Ripleys “Robin Hood” or Olivers“Wall Street 2″.One of the films Im really keen on seeing is one of the more indy selections called Kaboom, a film by Gregg Araki who directed a awsome stoner flick “Smiley Face” which has that chick from Scary Movie on a crazy drug trip. The synopsis for this one is weird but has me interested – “A sci-fi story centered around the sexual awakening of a group of college kids”. Kaboom is a midnight screening so that should be fun! haha, their are a few other that interest me which i will go into more detail late…

Zazzle.com (or “.co.uk” or “.com.au” depending where you are in the world) is a awsome website i stumbled accross which allows you to make your own merchandise and sell it online or buy merch with other peoples designs (which their are some sick ones). There is a huge variety of different stuff you can get a design printed on: from tshirts, to jumpers, to bags, to mugs, to skateboards, to businesss cards and even desiging your own shoes!

I have recently bought a really funky dubstep shirt off them which is suprisingly good quality (so far) and I will be providing a full review of the service after i give it a couple of washes to see how it holds up and everything.

Laterz..








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