Fear and Loathing in Gonzovision

THE HAPPY HOUSE

A New Film from D.W. Young

Opens May 3 at Cinema Village in New York

Director D.W. Young and select cast members will be in person
for the Friday and Saturday 7pm shows on opening weekend
and are available for interviews. Additional Q&As TBA.

It’s the B&B you always dreaded, and that’s on a normal day

In D.W. Young’s new horror comedy THE HAPPY HOUSE, a young Brooklyn couple with relationship problems (Khan Baykal and Aya Cash) head upstate to a remote bed & breakfast to work things out. From the moment they arrive at The Happy House it's one disaster after another, and they soon begin to suspect they've wandered into a real life horror movie. Events escalate from weird to terrifying as they contend with the house's batty owner, her imposing son, a moody Swedish lepidopterist, a pedantic English professor, an extraordinarily rare butterfly, the world's best blueberry muffins, a .44 Magnum, a demented serial killer, and one very strict rulebook..

A low-budget absurdist horror romp, THE HAPPY HOUSE is both a celebration and subversion of genre convention. Featuring a talented ensemble of New York actors playing an assortment of zany characters all confined to a B&B full of cuckoo clocks, the film revels in the uneasy potential of hybrid forms. Playfully defying narrative expectation, often by blatantly embracing the most conventional of scenarios only to subtly undermine them, THE HAPPY HOUSE is part drawing room comedy gone wrong and part surreal nightmare. Much like in Young's 2010 short NOT INTERESTED, a festival circuit favorite that The Hollywood Reporter called "tension filled" andWe Are Movie Geeks described as "a subtle venture into the comedy of the absurd," suspense and humor converge in memorably unexpected ways.

THE HAPPY HOUSE stars Khan Baykal (DUPLICITY, NOT INTERESTED) and Aya Cash(SLEEPWALK WITH ME, THE WOLF OF WALL STREET), and also features veteran actressMarceline Hugot (ALICE, UNITED 93, FUR, TO WONG FOO THANKS FOR EVERYTHING JULIE NEWMAR), best known for her role as the eccentric Kathy Geiss on NBC’s “30 Rock”.

About the Director

D.W. Young’s previous film, the short NOT INTERESTED, premiered at SXSW in 2010 before screening at such festivals as Sarasota, Provincetown, Vancouver, LA Shorts, Cleveland, and Maryland. NOT INTERESTED was also nominated for a 2010 Casting Society of America Artios Award. His documentary short AMI UNDERGROUND (2009) was selected as the opening night short for the ever popular Movies With a View in Brooklyn Bridge Park and also screened in Paris as part of Festival Cinérail. Young also recently served as a producer on Peter Bolte's upcoming feature ALL ROADS LEAD. He made his directorial debut with the award-winning documentary A HOLE IN A FENCE (First Run Features, 2008), which chronicles the changing landscape of a small corner of Red Hook, Brooklyn.

The Revisionaries on DVD

Kino Lorber Releases The Revisionaries,  a documentary by Scott Thurman about the Texas State Board of Education, on DVD Street date: April 30, 2013  DVD SRP: $29.95

New York, NY - April 26, 2013 - Kino Lorber is proud to announce the DVD release ofThe Revisionaries, a documentary by Scott Thurman that examines the controversy surrounding the Texas State Board of Education and the decisions involved in the rewriting of teaching and textbook standards for its students. The film, which Kino Lorber released theatrically last year, comes to DVD on April 30th with a SRP of $29.95.  With unprecedented access to the 15 people elected as members of the Texas State Board of Education, The Revisionaries offers a behind-the-scenes look at how a small group of local officials decide what should be taught to the next generation of high school students across America.  Once every decade, the highly politicized Texas State Board of Education rewrites the teaching and textbook standards for its nearly 5 million schoolchildren. And when it comes to textbooks, what happens in Texas affects the nation as a whole. Don McLeroy, a dentist, Sunday school teacher, and avowed young-earth creationist, leads the Religious Right charge. After briefly serving on his local school board, McLeroy was elected to the Texas State Board of Education and later appointed chairman. During his time on the board, McLeroy has overseen the adoption of new science and history curriculum standards, drawing national attention and placing Texas on the front line of the so-called "culture wars." In his last term, McLeroy, aided by Cynthia Dunbar, an attorney from Houston and professor of Law at Jerry Falwell's Liberty University, finds himself not only fighting to change what Americans are taught, but also fighting to retain his seat on the board. Challenged by Kathy Miller, president of the Texas Freedom Network, and Ron Wetherington, an anthropology professor from Southern Methodist University in Texas, McLeroy faces his toughest term yet. The Revisionaries follows the rise and fall of some of the most controversial figures in American education through some of their most tumultuous intellectual battles. 16x9, 1.85:1 / 83 minutes / English / Not Rated / Stereo / Color The Revisionaries Director: Scott Thurman Genre: Documentary Street date: April 30, 2013 DVD SRP: $29.95

About Kino Lorber  With a library of 700 titles, Kino Lorber Inc. has been a leader in independent art house distribution for over 30 years, releasing over 20 films per year theatrically under its Kino Lorber, Kino Classics, and Alive Mind Cinema banners, including four Academy Award® nominated films in the last six years. In addition, the company brings over 60 titles each year to the home entertainment market with DVD and Blu-ray releases as well as digital distribution on all platforms.

Mink Deville - Spanish Stroll

THIS IS THE END — RED BAND TRAILER

Interior. Leather Bar. Trailer - James Franco

CANNES LINEUP 2013

The films competing for the 2013 Palme d'Or are:

• A Chateau in Italy by Valeria Bruni-Tedeschi

• Inside Llewyn Davis by Ethan and Joel Coen

• Michael Kohlhaas by Arnaud Despallieres

• Jimmy P. (Psychotherapy of a Plains Indian) by Arnaud Desplechin

• Heli by Amat Escalante

• The Past by Asghar Farhadi

• The Immigrant by James Gray

• Grigris by Mahamat-Saleh Haroun

• A Touch of Sin by Jia Zhangke

• Like Father, Like Son by Kore-Eda Hirokazu

• The Life of Adele by Abdellatif Kechiche

• Shield of Straw by Takashi Miike

• Young and Pretty by Francois Ozon

• Nebraska by Alexander Payne

• Venus in Fur by Roman Polanski

• Behind the Candelabra by Steven Soderbergh

• The Great Beauty by Paolo Sorrentino

• Borgman by Alex van Warmerdam

• Only God Forgives by Nicolas Winding Refn

EPISODE #267

VIDEO ESSAYS: 42 — DISCONNECT — CLASSIC: THE TIN DRUM

Click Here to Visit the FilmBlog for Artwork, Movies, Music, News, Photos, Politics, Posters, Reviews, Trailers, Videos, and More

THE GREAT GATSBY — TRAILER

WOLVERINE — POSTER

STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS — POSTER

DECEPTIVE PRACTICE — POSTER

EPISODE #266

VIDEO ESSAYS: THE COMPANY YOU KEEP — EDDIE: THE SLEEPWALKING CANNIBAL — CLASSIC: MONSIEUR VERDOUX

THE HANGOVER PART III — TRAILER

FILTH - RED BAND TRAILER

THE GREAT GATSBY — POSTER

SOME VELVET MORNING — POSTER

CBGB — POSTER

SALINGER — POSTER

CBGB — POSTER

OLD SCHOOL KUNG FU FEST

THE OLD SCHOOL KUNG FU FEST RETURNS TO NYC!

April 19 - 21 at Anthology Film Archives (at 32 Second Avenue)

NYC MEDIA!

Please add The Old School Kung Fu Fest to your calendars!
Full program schedule is noted below.

The New York Asian Film Festival and Anthology Film Archives are proud to host The Return of the Old School Kung Fu Fest: screening the rarest, wildest, and most incredible kung-fu cinema from the 70s and 80s - all from stunning 35mm prints!

Going head-to-head with the gargantuan opening weekend of Tribeca Film Festival, NYAFF's Old School Kung Fu Fest guarantees an unbelievable cavalcade of martial arts, jaw dropping Far East violence, and unfettered insanity... all introduced by the city's most enthusiastic master of cinematic ceremonies, Grady Hendrix!

PROGRAM SCHEDULE

Lau Kar-wing
THE ODD COUPLE
1979, 97 min, 35mm
There are 18 different weapons in Chinese martial arts, and in this flick someone’s gonna get stabbed with every single one of them. Sammo Hung and Lau Kar-wing play elderly martial arts masters who duel each year to decide whose technique is better, but they always end in a draw. Now they’ve each taken a student (also played by Sammo Hung and Lau Kar-wing) leaving it to the younger generation to duke it out. Problem: their students get kidnapped by an old enemy (played by the inimitable martial arts mimic, “Beardy” Leung Kar-yan). Solution: both masters team up to kick maximum butt with maximum weaponry. A face bomb of comedy kung fu as well as serious, old school action, it’s the opening and closing movie of the Old School Kung Fu Fest because it is, quite simply, the alpha and omega of martial arts movies. Truly unbeatable.
–Fri, April 19 at 6:15 and Sun, April 21 at 9:15.
 
Gordon Liu
SHAOLIN AND WU-TANG
1983, 89 min, 35mm
The movie that inspired the Wu-Tang Clan’s first album is a blast of hardcore, old school mayhem. Gordon Liu (bald-headed brother of Lau Kar-leung) was ticked off that the sequel to his landmark 36TH CHAMBER OF SHAOLIN was played for laughs, so he headed to Taiwan where he directed, choreographed, and starred in this ‘real’ sequel. A brutally authentic ode to Shaolin Fist and Wu-Tang Sword, Liu plays a student of Shaolin, and his buddy, the charming Adam Cheng, is a student of Wu-Tang. Their masters refuse to teach the Manchu prince their moves, so the prince manipulates the two schools into combat, counting on killing the winner. Then: everybody fights! Shot with the scale and scope of a Shaw Brothers production, this movie is an avalanche of action with its stars unleashing the beast in scene after scene of blistering combat.
–Fri, April 19 at 8:30 and Sat, April 20 at 2:00.
 
Law Kei
THE DRAGON LIVES AGAIN
1977, 95 min, 35mm
WARNING: Watching This Movie Will Destroy Your Brain!!!!! Four years after Bruce Lee died, everyone was cashing in on his legend with look-a-like films, but this is the most notorious Brucesploitation movie of them all. Bruce Lee is dead, but his adventures aren’t over. He arrives in Hell where he must fight Dracula, Clint Eastwood, and the Godfather in order to come back to life. Fortunately, Popeye is there to lend a hand. Bruce Lee is played by Bruce Leung (KUNG FU HUSTLE) but even his genuine skills can’t stop the madness. Beginning with the corpse of Bruce Lee getting an erection (Don’t worry – it’s just his nunchakus!) and ending with him flying away as the cast waves “Goodbye!”, you cannot unsee this movie. You will laugh! You will cry! And you will scream as the spirit of Bruce Lee kicks his way out of your stupid skull!
–Fri, April 19 at 10:30 and Sun, April 21 at 1:00.
 
Cheung Gin-gat
SHAOLIN TEMPLE AGAINST LAMA
1980, 85 min, 16mm. Print provided by the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office New York.
Taiwan’s indie kung fu films eschewed slick sets and smooth camera movements to shoot on location with urgent handheld cameras wielded by operators who were constantly freaking out. In this flick, Tibet’s evil Black Lamas (you know they’re evil by the skulls in their hair) decide to wage war on Shaolin Temple while wearing costumes that would put Bootsy Collins to shame. The Lamas manipulate a righteous Tibetan prince to be their proxy face-breaker in a war with the hard-hitting Shaolin monks, and what ensues is a whirlwind of non-stop mayhem spiced with a whiff of funky incense. Never content to show two men fighting when it could show 20, this film is a psychedelic throwback to a time when kung fu movies were allowed to pull out all the stops and do absolutely anything as long as they kept your eyes glued to the screen.
–Sat, April 20 at 4:00 and Sun, April 21 at 7:15.
 
Wai Lit
ANGEL TERMINATORS
1990, 91 min, 35mm
B-movies always have to try harder, and this girls-with-guns flick gets an A++ for (intense) effort. Shot in 1990 but not released until two years later, it’s an undiscovered grindhouse joyride full of bare-knuckled stars: Lau Kar-leung acolyte, Kara Hui; the “lady Jackie Chan” Sharon Yeung, whose career never caught fire; Japanese back-breaker, Michiko Nishiwaki; the sultry Carrie Ng; angry white boy, Mark Houghton; and everyone’s favorite bad guy, Dick Wei. They all turn in blistering action work in this mile-a-minute rampage through exploitation heaven. Two lady cops and one gangster’s ex-girlfriend endure drug addiction, theme park shoot-outs, having their heads shoved in toilets, kicks to the face, terrifying high impact falls, and major concussions to prove that women are 10 times better than men. No subtitled prints of this movie exist, so we’re subtitling this one live in a twice-in-a-lifetime celebration of high caliber girl power.
–Sat, April 20 at 6:00 and Sun, April 21 at 5:15.
 
SECRET SCREENING – ONE SHOW ONLY!!!!
We can’t tell you the title of this rarely-seen martial arts movie, but trust us: you want to see it on the big screen. In the early 80s, big studios were trying anything to attract audiences, so this flick mixes three genres and then adds plenty of crack: you’ve got your wandering swordsman movie, your gore film, and a sexploitation shocker. The result is a whacked-out, hyper-gothic version of “The Monkey’s Paw”, full of occult dungeons, human face frisbees, wild plot twists, swinging swordplay, and naked demon ladies having kung fu freak-outs.
–Sat, April 20 at 8:00.
 
Titus Ho
RED SPELL SPELLS RED
1983, 93 min, 35mm
Career-minded Hong Kongers with no respect for tradition go to Borneo to shoot a TV segment and wind up violating the tomb of the Red Dwarf Sorcerer, who returns the favor by violating their bodies from beyond the grave with scorpions, killer trees, and even more scorpions. Scorpions attack! Scorpions get smashed! Scorpions crawl out of pustulent blisters! Never released on DVD, this unhinged rarity makes BOXER’S OMEN look like Walt Disney as it flings shovelfuls of objectionable content in your face, from busty women in see-through t-shirts, to the slaughter of a LOT of real pigs, to a slew of outrageously nasty deaths. Technically it’s not an action film, but there’s no way we could not show this gore-soaked hayride! Truly dangerous movies make you doubt the sanity of the people who made them. In RED SPELL SPELLS RED there is no doubt: these filmmakers are insane.
–Sat, April 20 at 10:00 and Sun, April 21 at 3:15.

Arena BBC Who Is Poly Styrene? 1979

PLANES — POSTER

Kino Lorber Artsploitation Films

Kino Lorber Signs Multi-Year Deal with Artsploitation Films as Exclusive Home Entertainment Distributor for U.S. and Canada

New York, NY - April 4, 2013 - Kino Lorber is proud to announce that it has signed a multi-year agreement with Artsploitation Films as exclusive home entertainment distributor of Artsploitation's label in the U.S. and Canada. Kino Lorber will handle distribution of Artsploitation's catalog and new releases in packaged media (Blu-ray and DVD) and to all major digital platforms. Artsploitation Films, which specializes in unsettling and provocative films from around the world, plans to release between 12-18 new titles per year, all of which will play the North American festival circuit, and at least half of which are expected to be released theatrically nationwide. Twitch Film has said of Artsploitation: "With so much more on their plate, Artsploitation is doing distribution right....they are acquiring good films and releasing them with care."  Some of Artsploitation's upcoming festival hits include Clip (Rotterdam Film Festival [winner, Tiger Award: Best Film], Toronto International Film Festival, AFI Fest),Vanishing Waves (Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, Fantastic Film Festival [Winner: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Actress],  2012 Sitges Film Festival), Combat Girls (Sao Paulo International Film Festival, Fantastic Fest, Dubai International Film Festival), Animals (San Sebastián International Film Festival, Sitges Film Festival, London Gay and Lesbian Film Festival), and Memory of the Dead(Fantasia International Film Festival, Sitges Film Festival). The deal was initiated by CEO Richard Lorber and Home Entertainment Vice President Eric D. Wilkinson on behalf of Kino Lorber and negotiated with Ray Murray and Brian Sokel, CEO and Managing Director of Artsploitation. Ray Murray, former president to TLA Releasing and founder of Artsploitation Films says, "our movies - an unpredictable mix of genre films and cutting edge international dramas - require a knowledgeable and specialized sales company and I know we found it with Kino Lorber, a seasoned expert with such films." Richard Lorber, President and CEO of Kino Lorber, added, "Artsploitation's line up is an ideal fit with Kino Lorber's distribution focus and cinematic taste. We're delighted to be working with savvy professionals who understand the passion of North American audiences for envelope-pushing world cinema."

About Artsploitation Films:  More than just a genre label, ARTSPLOITATION FILMS seeks intriguing, unsettling, unpredictable and provocative films from around the world. Artsploitation's eclectic tastes knows no boundaries whether it be an Indian hip hop musical, a Serbian coming-of-age-drama or a blood-soaked Swedish horror film. About Kino Lorber:  With a library of 700 titles, Kino Lorber Inc. has been a leader in independent art house distribution for over 30 years, releasing over 20 films per year theatrically under its Kino Lorber, Kino Classics, and Alive Mind Cinema banners, including four Academy Award nominated films in the last six years. In addition, the company brings over 60 titles each year to the home entertainment market with DVD and Blu-ray releases as well as digital distribution on all platforms. Kino Lorber recently signed an agreement with leading Italian home video company Raro Video to handle physical and digital home entertainment distribution of that company's entire catalog in the US.

LE JOLI MAI

Icarus Films acquires new restored version of Chris Marker & Pierre Lhomme's LE JOLI MAI (1963) for North American distribution April 4, 2013, New York: Today, Icarus Films announced its acquisition of all North American distribution rights to Chris Marker and Pierre Lhomme’s landmark 1963 film LE JOLI MAI. Long unavailable, and now newly restored, LE JOLI MAI will play at several major film festivals before opening theatrically in New York at Film Forum on Friday, September 13, 2013. This engagement will be followed by a theatrical rollout across the U.S. and Canada. In November 2013, the film will be released by Icarus Films Home Video in a deluxe 2-disc DVD edition, and online.   The restoration work on LE JOLI MAI, done according to the wishes of Chris Marker (1921-2012), was supervised by the film’s cinematographer and co-director, Pierre Lhomme. It will be presented on DCP, made from a new 2K scan. The film’s music is by the Academy Award-winning composer Michel Legrand, and the English-language commentary is by Academy Award-winning actress Simone Signoret.   “A far-reaching meditation on the relationship between individual and society” (Film Comment), LE JOLI MAI probes the mood in the streets of Paris in May of 1962. “The first springtime of peace” that followed the March ceasefire between France and Algeria after seven years of war.   Working from 55 hours of material filmed with ordinary citizens—made possible by then-new, lightweight, synch-sound cameras—Marker and Lhomme craft a “sincere, brilliant, clever and highly idiosyncratic essay.” (Paris-Presse)   One of Marker’s major works, LE JOLI MAI was awarded the International Critics Prize at the 1963 Cannes Film Festival, and the “First Work” Prize at the 1963 Venice Film Festival. It premiered in North America in September, 1963, at the first New York Film Festival.     The North American distribution deal for LE JOLI MAI was negotiated by Jonathan Miller, president of Icarus Films, with producers La Sofra, and ARTE France.   “Many people had to cooperate and work together to make it possible for LE JOLI MAI to be restored and released in a form corresponding to the vision of Chris Marker,” said Miller. “We owe all of them, particularly Marker’s friend and colleague Pierre Lhomme, a debt of gratitude. And we are honored to be able to play our part in bringing this beautiful film, on “the lovely month of May,” and a touchstone of Chris Marker’s legacy, to North American audiences.”

Meet the Fokkens

Kino Lorber Releases Meet the Fokkens,  a film by Rob Schröder and Gabriëlle Provaas,  on DVD        Street date: April 2, 2013 DVD SRP: $29.95

New York, NY - March 27, 2013 - Kino Lorber is proud to announce the DVD release of Meet the Fokkens, a film by Rob Schröder and Gabriëlle Provaas, which was an Official Selection at Hot Docs, SilverDocs, and IDFA. The film, which Kino Lorber released theatrically last year, was praised as "Thoroughly entertaining and charming! A good-natured delve into Amsterdam's famous - and infamous - red light district" (Mark Adams, Screen Daily) and "A delightful portrait of good-natured extroverts" (Elizabeth Weitzman, New York Daily News).   Now, Meet the Fokkens comes to DVD, with a street date of April 2, 2013, and a SRP of $29.95.         Meet Louise and Martine Fokkens: 69-year-old identical twins who have worked as prostitutes in Amsterdam's red light district for over 50 years. Louise is newly retired due to arthritis ("I couldn't get one leg over the other"), but Martine carried on, unable to support herself on a state pension.   Between explicit scenes of her daily grind, she and Louise stroll the city in matching outfits, recounting hilariously ribald stories from a lifetime of sex work (discussing a client who was a chaplain, one recalls: "Don't you remember, we even had a little confessional!").   An immensely affectionate portrait of two women who have seen and done everything (and everyone), Meet the Fokkens is a rollicking and revealing look at the world's oldest profession in the 21st century.        16x9, 1.85:1 / 80 minutes / Dutch w/English subtitles / Not Rated / Dolby Digital 5.1 / Color   Meet the Fokkens Directors: Rob Schröder and Gabriëlle Provaas Genre: Documentary Street date: April 2, 2013 DVD SRP: $29.95

About Kino Lorber  Kino Lorber curates high quality, critically-acclaimed films for discerning audiences - delivering the classics of yesterday and tomorrow.