The LOOP Screen Emailer 05-04-01

With World Cinema Showcase in full swing in Wellington, here are a couple of flicks worth catching in the festival environment:

Christopher Nolan's debut feature Memento, which stars Guy Pearce, is a cinematic speeding bullet about a vigilante with no short-term memory that simultaneously plays backwards from the final scene and forwards from the beginning; a truly unique experience, with a formula never to be repeated.

Meanwhile, gore-hounds and more demanding audiences alike will get a kick out of Ginger Snaps, already available on video but best seen in a crowded theatre. Dark, grisly and exceedingly witty, this is the blackest movie about teenage angst since Heathers.

Also, hope you like the new approach of sending more than one reviewer to check out the same movie - be sure to check out both points-of-view as Emma and Noel judge Best In Show and Simon and Ian take on Dancer in the Dark.

Want something included in this e-mailer? Let me know at matt@loop.co.nz.

Enjoy!

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THIS WEEK

DUNGEONS & DRAGONS (BIG SCREEN): If you've seen the trailer, you'll know what to expect - all the signs point to an orgy of bad special effects, dismal dialogue, hokey characters and sword-swinging action. Not quite the D&D I remember.

SAVE THE LAST DANCE (BIG SCREEN): Runaway teen hit danced away with the U.S. Box Office for several weeks straight; could make less of an impact here. Stars Julia Stiles of 10 Things I Hate About You 'fame'. Official site: http://www.savethelastdance.com

SEE SPOT RUN (BIG SCREEN): Big hit in the U.S. (most probably due to the off-season dearth of alternatives), this canine caper movie starring David Arquette and a dog with an unfeasibly large tongue promises an endless supply of below-the-belt humour aimed at younger audiences - think Farrelleys Lite. Official site: http://www.see-spot-run.com

WORLD CINEMA SHOWCASE (BIG SCREEN): Second week of the year's first big festival features more screenings of Christopher Nolan's sensational Memento (Friday and Saturday), atmospheric Jean Reno-starrer The Crimson Rivers (Friday and Saturday), low-budget horror outing Ginger Snaps (Sunday, Tuesday and Wednesday) and Joel Schumacher's pared-back Tigerland (Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday). Get the run-down at http://loop.co.nz/?m=355

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NOW PLAYING

REQUIEM FOR A DREAM (BIG SCREEN): Noel endured Darren Aronfsky's intense and disturbing movie about New York junkies: http://loop.co.nz/?m=617

THE EXORCIST - DIRECTOR'S CUT (BIG SCREEN, DVD (R1)): Simon Sweetman reviews William Friedkin's vomit-drenched midnight classic at: http://loop.co.nz/?m=582

THE EYES OF TAMMY FAYE (WORLD CINEMA SHOWCASE): Tammy Faye Bakker comes under the spotlight and Simon Sweetman saw it all: http://loop.co.nz/?m=633

COMEDIAN HARMONISTS (WORLD CINEMA SHOWCASE): Noel checked out a German flick guaranteed to leave not an eye in the house dry: http://loop.co.nz/?m=603

BEST IN SHOW (WORLD CINEMA SHOWCASE): From the team what brought you the vastly under-rated Waiting For Guffman. Emma and Noel sound off at: http://loop.co.nz/?m=596 and http://loop.co.nz/?m=598

DANCER IN THE DARK (BIG SCREEN, DVD (R1)): Simon Sweetman and Ian Pryor took a look at Danish filmmaker and eccentric Lars Von Trier's moody musical: http://loop.co.nz/?m=619 and http://loop.co.nz/?m=597

THE TERMINATOR (DVD (R4)): Arnie's back - the original Terminator comes to DVD: http://loop.co.nz/?m=604

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FESTIVALS HEADS-UP

BRESSON RETROSPECTIVE (The Lido 8-17/06, Te Papa 15-24/06), New Zealand Film Festival Trust and the French Embassy are bringing a retrospective by one of the 20th century's greatest filmmakers and directors, who died in 1999, to Auckland and Wellington. For details, check out:

http://loop.co.nz/?m=546

BECK'S INCREDIBLE FILM FESTIVAL (Civic 13/04 - 05/05, Paramount 07/06 - 08/07): No longer strange but even more incredible, the eighth year of this celebration of cinematic eccentricity includes such delights as Tsui Hark's martial arts epic Green Snake, Danish oddity In China They Eat Dogs, Star Wars doco Starwoids and German horror thriller Anatomie, starring Franka Potente of Run Lola Run fame. Full preview coming soon to loop.co.nz.

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AROUND THE WEB

MEOW!: Rumours of a Catwoman movie emerged in the wake of 1992's Batman Returns (for my money the best Batflick of the lot). A decade later, it looks like becoming a reality: http://www.aint-it-cool-news.com/display.cgi?id=8578 and http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20010402/en/film-judd_1.html

SH-WINGING INTO ACTION: Playstation's Tomb Raider hits the big screen this summer with Angelina Jolie in the title role - full trailer now up at: http://www.tombraidermovie.com

APRIL FOOLS: A bevy of April Fools gags hit the web's move sites on Sunday... here's a couple of my favourites (and for the record, yes, The One Ring had me going there): http://www.corona.bc.ca/films/details/grinchstoleeaster.html http://www.theonering.net/perl/newsview/8/986062289

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STUFF YOU NEED TO KNOW

For Hoyts session times, check out:

http://www.hoyts.co.nz/whatson.html

For Region 1 DVDs with free worldwide shipping, we think Canadian site DVD Box Office kicks arse. They have free worldwide shipping, and they even display prices in NZ$. Did I mention free worldwide shipping?

http://www.dvdboxoffice.com

For new and Second-hand Region 1 and 4 DVDs, the Overlords of upper Cuba and Queen Streets, Real Groovy, are just that.

For the rental of Region 1 and 4 DVDs, Amalgamated Video on Taranaki St is your friend. Repeat after me: Amalgamated Video on Taranaki St is your friend.

To buy second-hand Region 1 and 4 DVDs on-line from other New Zealanders, you can do worse than the DVDs For Sale section at:

http://www.nzht.co.nz

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