MM picks from twitchfilm.net's Todd Brown

0 Comments POSTED: August 15, 2007 13:50 | By: Colin Geddes

Todd Brown, the founder and editor of the fabulous film resource twitchfilm.net and a programmer for Fantasia, Toronto After Dark and The Austin Fantastic Fest, has sent us his top three picks from this year's Midnight Madness line-up. Both Todd and I were in Cannes where we got to view many of the contenders for our respective fests, so Todd is weighing in on the ones that he "hasn't" seen (I have linked to the reviews of the ones he has seen).

I really should preface this by saying that Colin?s asked me to list the three films that I?m most anticipating from this year?s lineup and that since I?ve already seen three of these ? Vexille, The Devil?s Chair and DAINIPPONJIN ? that those titles are scrubbed from my list. Can?t anticipate something I?ve already seen, you see, though all three are amazing in very different ways and had I not already seen them Vexille and The Devil?s Chair likely would have both made the list since I?d been lusting after both for a while. This is not a slight against DAINIPPONJIN, it?s just that that one completely blindsided me. Had no idea what was coming until after the fact. But enough rambling.

Frontier(s)
Director Xavier Gens is hot shit in Hollywood right now and this film is the reason why. I know a few people who have seen it and all have been blown away. The guy?s got technical skills, knows and loves genre film and made this one with a young start up in France that?s specifically looking to be that country?s prime exporter of horror films. They?re behind À L'INTÉRIEUR as well, so they?ve obviously got something going on over there.

Flash Point
Yeah, Donnie Yen?s got a well deserved reputation for being cocky but he?s totally got the goods to back it up. His first collaboration with Wilson Yip (SPL) left people scraping jaws off the floor when it screened at the Madness and this looks to be more of the same with Yen adding to his already-remarkable blend of martial arts.

Sukiyaki Western Django
Honestly, I?m hoping that this is coming with a subtitled print because it was shot entirely with actors that speak Japanese-only delivering their lines in phonetic English and I think having to struggle through an entire film of that with no text in support will make me more than a little crazy. But it?s Miike doing a full on spaghetti western in which the cowboys whip out katanas once they run out of bullets. How can you not love that?