Cinedelphia disturbs with VIVISECTIONS on April 14

Cinedelphia - the portal to the best cinema in the greater Philadephia area - has launched their own festival to celebrate the rich film history of the City of Brotherly Love. The Cinedelphia Film Festival takes place from April 4 - 27 featuring the best films with a Philadelphia connection.

Part of the event is a special presentation of subversive films entitled Vivisections, programmed by area filmmaker Matt Garrett. Mr. Garrett has collected some of the most challenging, brutal, and brazen films from all over the globe. Each sinister film is hand-picked to startle, disturb, or arouse. All selections are Philadelphia premieres.


Titles include Karen Lam's The Stolen (2012), a fairy tale gone horribly awry when a young girl helps out the wrong fairy princess. Sam Walker's Bite Horse (2012) is a nightmarish music video featuring the unnerving sounds of the band Mississippi Witch. Maude Michaud's RED (2012) is a stunning cinematic crossroads where erotica meets the snuff film. Greg Hanson and Casey Regan's Meat Me in Plainville (2011) blends Soylent Green with the sensibilities of a 50's sitcom. Josh MacDonald's Game (2012) is a satirical take on backwoods hillbilly survivalist fare, and Matt O'Mahoney's Adjust Tracking (2012) puts a neat VHS spin on bloody revenge flicks. These are just a sample of the horrible treats in store for Philadelphia area fans of provocative film.

Below is Cinedelphia's Official Press Release with ticketing info, dates/times, more film descriptions, and a few trailers:


CFF: VIVISECTIONS International Short Horror Films
THE CINEDELPHIA FILM FESTIVAL presents

Sunday, April 14 2013, 9:30 PM
VIVISECTIONS: International Short Horror Films Program

Voyeurism, snuff, cinema and sex collide in Red, a provocative slow-burn shocker from Montreal horror maven, Maude Michaud (Hollywood Skin).  In Rafael De Leon Jr's Birthday Boys, teenaged Riley turns to dark forces in order to bring back her lost love.  Cinematic madman Sam Walker (Tea Break) presents his short film/music video hybrid Bite Horse, the first chapter of a multi-media collaboration with the Southern Gothic band Mississippi Witch.  Next is Doll Parts and Stained director Karen Lam's The Stolen, a dark fairy tale about a young girl with a big heart who is forced to strike a bargain ur program concludes with the stop-motion animated nightmare, Crépuscule, from visionary director Éric Falardeau (Thanatomorphose).  A young woman, bound at the wrists, attempts to escape her demented redneck captors in screenwriter Josh MacDonald's (The Corridor) beautifully photographed and wickedly funny directorial debut, Game.  Aussie director Dave Wade's slick, sick and hilariously crude A Tale of Obsession follows an overweight teen goth as she attempts to curb her hunger to win the heart (and body) of the perpetually shirtless school hunk.  Matt O'Mahoney, director of the Fantastic Fest award-winning Electric Fence, returns with Adjust Tracking, a lovingly meaty homage to the Golden Age of VHS Horror.  And finally, from the delightfully twisted minds of  Greg Hanson & Casey Regan (Thy Kill Be Done) comes the definitive argument against USDA-approved cannibalism, Meat Me in Plainville.  Think Soylent Green meets I Drink Your Blood with a healthy dose of Father Knows Best thrown in for good measure.  Human Meat Is Murder!

Every film in this program is a Philadelphia Premiere, having previously played such festivals as Cannes, Fantasia, PiFan, Sydney Underground,and Fantastic Fest.

Advance tix are $10, no refunds or exchanges.

The Cinedelphia Film Festival is a Philly-centric celebration of Philly film running from April 4-27, 2013.
http://www.cinedelphiafilmfestival.com

Trailers

Game Trailer



The Stolen Trailer



Birthday Boys Trailer 



RED Trailer



Crepuscule Trailer

Park Chan-wook's STOKER: Portrait of a Fractured Family

Stoker (2013)
Director: Park Chan-wook
Writer: Wentworth Miller, Erin Cressida Wilson (contributing writer)
Cast: Mia Wasikowska, Nicole Kidman, Matthew Goode
Website: Stoker Official Site

Alfred Hitchcock's Shadow of a Doubt may be the impetus for Park Chan-wook's first English-language film Stoker, but the film moves about with a dreamy fairy-tale quality that distinguishes itself from the master of suspense's classic. It's the result of Chan-wook's unique ability to imbue poetic lyricism into his stylish thrillers. Once again working with cinematographer Chung-hoon Chung (Oldboy, Lady Vengeance), the two have crafted a stark gothic tale full of strange beauty and sudden violence.

India (Mia Wasikowska) and her mother Evelyn (Nicole Kidman) have just lost their family chieftain Richard Stoker (Dermot Mulroney) to a fiery auto accident. In the midst of coming to terms with the loss of a father and husband, they are visited by his long-lost brother Charlie (Matthew Goode), an uncle India never knew existed. India is captivated by the charming renaissance man, driving further an already existing wedge between India and her mother. India's uncle soon reveals a sinister side, but India has her own darkness brewing, cultivated by the enigmatic Charlie.

Stoker is a psychological thriller with a simple premise, but one operating with spectacular character dynamics. Wasikowska (Alice in Wonderland) portrayal of India is a revelation. She's a young woman whose life - once enriched by her father's nurturing - is now left with a huge void. Evelyn, seduced by Charlie's eccentricities and many talents, will do anything to replace the hole in her own heart with Charlie as surrogate. Charlie is obviously a sociopath, able to inflict great pain and death with as much concern as opening a bottle of fine wine. He sees a chance to adopt his brother's flailing family as his own. Each performer rises above typical melodramatic histrionics by delivering nuanced, offbeat takes on their respective characters.

Class tension factors as a small undercurrent of Stoker. India's family appears to be the only financially stable in her community. Her time spent in activities like playing the piano or target shooting seem superfluous when contrasted with fellow blue collar, underachieving students at her school. This puts a distance between her and her classmates, and bullies taunt her as being "weird" or a "bitch". This gap allows Charlie to insinuate himself in India's life in a profound way. A pivotal scene follows India on a rendezvous with a local boy after his shift at a fast food joint. Their volatile encounter ends in bloodshed at the hands of Charlie in front of Inda, both of whom think little of offing the boy after he attacks India. India's compliance in the act - whether or not deserved by the boy - reveals that she has more in common with Charlie than could be imagined.

The final act culminates in the sort of mayhem most fans have come to expect of Chan-wook. While it may not live up to the expectations of some, it shows a director dedicated to the type of growth displayed in his last feature Thirst (2009). When most revenge thrillers are focused exclusively on the brutality, Chan-wook differentiates himself with complex emotional depth. In India, we see great potential thwarted by corruption and the influence of a terrible man. As Uncle Charlie says "she's of age", and though he never reveals what he means, the viewers knows for certain it won't be good. Perhaps the real cruelty operating here is the callous opportunism that rises from taking advantage of broken, abandoned hearts.

Stoker Trailer

Support the Boston Underground Film Festival in Their 15th Year

The Boston Underground Film Festival (BUFF to their friends) has been carrying the torch for subversive, groundbreaking cinema for the past 15 years. It's an astounding feat considering most of their selections are huge artistic risks taken by some of the most innovative and provocative independent filmmakers out there. Boston audiences starving for original and daring cinema need look no further than a short trek to our very own Brattle Theatre March 27 - March 31.

It's always exciting when BUFF reveals their latest selections, and this year's offerings finds them pushing the envelope to the point of bursting. Their first round of announcements include opening film I Declare War (a favorite at TIFF and Fantastic Fest), BUFF alum Zach Clark's (Modern Love is Automatic) Christmas-themed shocker White Reindeer, and E.L. Katz's thriller Cheap Thrills. 

Other selections include Kristina Buozyte's emotionally-charged romantic sci-fi film Vanishing Waves, the documentary A Band Called Death about little-known Detroit proto-punk band Death, and Kim Ki-duk's crime-laden story of redemption Pieta. This small sample doesn't include all the wonderful short films, music videos, animations and other brazen works of cinematic art trumpeted by the hardworking folks at BUFF.

BUFF is also celebrating the 10 year anniversary of Jim VanBebber's astonishing The Manson Family (along with his new short film Gator Green). The graphic and controversial film was rarely seen during its initial run, and is getting a proper treatment for Boston filmgoers.

Your support is needed for BUFF's final push. Here are a few trailers to convince you, as if you needed it:

I Declare War Trailer



Vanishing Waves Trailer



A Band Called Death Trailer



The Manson Family Trailer

JOHN DIES AT THE END: A Not-So-Dynamic Duo Saves the World

John Dies at the End (2012)
Director: Don Coscarelli
Writer: Don Coscarelli (screenwriter), David Wong (original story)
Cast: Chase Williamson, Rob Mayes, Paul Giamattil, Clancy Brown, Fabianne Therese
Website: John Dies at the End Official Site

No genre filmmaker had a better pedigree to pull off the earnest weirdness of David Wong's John Dies at the End than Don Coscarelli.  The book reads like a hyperactive 80's monster movie mashed up with Buckaroo Banzai if written by Fear & Loathing era Hunter Thompson. Coscarelli, the madman behind Phantasm and Bubba Ho-Tep, is no stranger to bringing bold and bizarre visions to the big screen. His skill lies in keeping the chaos controlled and fluid, yet complimentary to Wong's (in real life Jason Pargin) charming metaphysical disorder.

David Wong (Chase Williamson) sits down in a Chinese joint to chat with journalist Arnie Blondestone (Paul Giamiatti) about his experience with a drug called soy sauce. The oozing black substance - a dose taken accidentally by  David - has given him and his buddy John (Rob Mayes) the phenomenal ability to read thoughts and transcend space and time, which is kind of a big deal for a couple of slacker college drop-outs. The unfortunate side effect is that it opens up doors for inter-dimensional monsters to wreak havoc in this world. David and John - together with the support of a lovely cast of misfits - become unwitting saviors destined to save the world from a monstrous entity called Korrok. That is, if they can get their shit together.

John Dies at the End is a triumph of cohesion over pandemonium. It was quite a feat to wrangle the basic concept of Wong's story while retaining all the offbeat, genre-meshing elements that made it so extraordinary. For all its multi-tentacled reaching, Coscarelli keeps everything grounded with a couple of very likable anti-heroes, and a semblance of a blueprint to keep the mania together and moving with a distinguishable purpose. Coscarelli serves up mutant worms, meat monsters, and parallel worlds as if they are minor inconveniences to John and Dave's (mostly John's) partying, rocking out, and girl-chasing. It's all strung together with an infectious reverence for the material, as well as the desire for the audience to have a shitload of fun.

Coscarelli's film is brazenly humorous and surreal but also serves as an amusing allegory for drug culture. David remarks that the immediate side effects of the soy sauce may wear off, but the effects of the drug will be with him forever. A terrifying scene of the aftermath of the mass overdose of a group of teens downplays the more playful aspects of the film. The film, however, never gets weighed down by some of the heavier elements that could be applied to the narrative. Instead, Coscarelli's work is a trippy funhouse ride punctuated with some genuine moments of dread, plenty of inventive gruesomeness, and quick-witted dialogue that honors Wong's voice from the book.

Coscarelli overcomes limitations in some arenas with genius casting of cult icons, including Clancy Brown as celebrity medium Albert Marconi, Paul Giamatti as the perplexed journalist Arnie, and a wonderful cameo by Angus Scrimm portraying a priest with therapeutic advice for David. Every member of the cast embraces the material, and delivers their roles with aplomb. Their inclusion and solid commitment is a testament to the effort put forth by Coscarelli to make John Dies work for everyone. Acclaimed Special Makeup Effects artist Robert Kurtzman populates the world(s) around them with creepy, slimy, long-limbed and toothsome beasts that would feel right at home alongside some of the 1980's most innovative creatures.

David - though his exterior is that of a skeptic - remarks that the sauce chose him because his mind was open. That's exactly how audiences should approach John Dies at the End. Not everyone will leave understanding what's transpired onscreen, and that's ok. Much like the lovable team of losers portrayed in the film, viewers should just succumb to Coscarelli's kooky apocalyptic vision. Fans trusting in his dose of  cinematic soy sauce will have them clamoring for more mind-shattering adventures with David and John.

John Dies at the End Trailer