Stand By for Tape Backup

This is somewhat special as a film.  For this screening only, the writer/director performed this work as an 80-minute monologue, set against the backdrop of a constantly rewound '80s home videocassette.

Ostensibly the story is about the synchronicity of life.  Practically though it's an autobiography through the medium of found footage, a copied over VHS tape from the writer's youth.

Too bad the theater wasn't full - I think it will get a great audience score.  The repeat will be all pre-recorded, so today's version felt like a one-time opportunity to see the creator's passion for his work in first hand.

Stand By for Tape Backup

2015, 65 minutes, directed by Ross Sutherland

autobiography

April and the Twisted World

I(This film is billed in English as April and the Extraordinary World but Twisted is used in subtitle.)

I don't watch many family-friendly animated adventure films.  I had too look back to 2007's The Girl Who Leapt Through Time to find one that was worthy of the genre.  And now this.  Scientists have disappeard, leaving the world stuck in the steampunk era.  Endless war is waged for trees to fuel the charcoal machines.

I wish they had used a crisper animated style so as to better illustrate the technology of the steampunk world, but the story and characters were superb.  Mild violence would yield a PG rating but otherwise family friendly.

April and the Twisted a World

2015, 90 minutes, directed by Christian Desmares and Franck Ekinci

animated, French, subtitled, sci fi

Crimson Peak

We were asked not to share any details of last night's secret screening Crimson Peak, Guillermo del Toro's latest gothic masterpiece.  In appreciation of being in the audience of the premiere screening of the finished cut, then, I'll just say what del Toro himself said when introducing the film.  Hollywood might market this as horror, but this is gothic romance through and through.

Crimson Peak

2015, directed by Guillermo del Toro

ghost, mystery, world premiere

The Tale of Tales

Three kingdoms, three rulers.  A father, obsessed with minutia, who must find a husband for his princess daughter.  A queen, desperate for a child, who cannot let go.  And a king who cannot cease bedding his way across his subjects.  Three tales are woven together to tell one, a tale of tales.

This story is based on three Italian fairy tales by Gianbattista Basile.  Unfortunately all the plot twists and turns are distinctly Fairy Tale: unpredictable if you don't know the story, yes, but obvious in retrospect.  It was an okay experience to watch, but left an u satisfying taste in my mouth.

The Tale of Tales

2015, 125 minutes, directed Matteo Garrone

fairy tale, fantasy

Anomalisa

Michael is tired, tired of the monotony of people, monotony of life.  Who can stand out as special, unique, distinct?  Michael has found her, his Anomalisa.

This distinct stop-motion animated film relies on the amazing performance of Tom Noonen as every character besides Michael and Lisa, together with detailed animation down to the characters' breaths and hair, yet distinctly "real" somehow through the choice not to cover the joints between the puppets' facial plates.  They are simultaneously alive and not, and the effect works.

Anomalisa

2015, 90 minutes, directed by Duke Johnson and Charlie Kaufman

animated, uncomfortable

Yakuza Apocalypse

Ok, this is straight forward enough.  The yakuza are led by a nice boss, who takes care of his area's civilians and happens to be a vampire.  The story is told in the voice of a young henchman, hoping to rise in his boss's footsteps, but who must instead seek revenge when his boss is betrayed by his top lieutenants and murdered by the goblin and his crew.

But then the civilians start getting bitten, instantly turning them into yakuza vampires, and the lady has snot shooting out of her ears, and there's the frog ninja, and I know it was late and I was tired but the plot just stopped making sense.  I'm usually down with Japanese crazy but this time I was expecting more blood and less weird.

Yakuza Appcalypse

2015, 115 minutes, directed by Takashi Miike

Japanese, subtitled, action, gangster, vampire, weird

Lazer Team

Alien invaders approach.  Life on Earth hangs in the balance.  But humanity has been given a gift - advance notice to train a champion, and power suit: helmet, boots, shield, sword, that the champion can wear in battle.  Except, instead of the champion selected from birth, the suit falls into the separate hands (and feet, and head) of four local yokels, who now must work together to save the planet.

This Indiegogo-funded film from Austin locals Rooster Teeth (best known for their Halo machinima Red vs Blue) raised $2.5 million dollars, which the production crew wisely spent on a quality cast, crew, and special effects.  It's obvious it's an indie film, but it feels polished, well-edited, by an experienced team.

Lazer Team

2015, 110 minutes, directed by Matt Hullim

world premier, alien, invasion