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Transfer

The new world of bio-medical life extension is explored in director Damir Lukaecevic’s new film, Transfer. Here, customers with the financial means can extend their lives by transferring their mind into the bodies of fit young people. An idea that would seem radical is brought to life by a creative and unique screenplay that is smart and sensible.

Never Let Me Go
Kathy H.’s life isn’t completely unlike yours. She’s a young woman with a career in health care, a car, a flat and friends she’s known her whole life. Generally speaking though, her life isn’t a common one in the dystopian England where she lives. Kathy (Carey Mulligan) is one of a trio of friends, including Tommy (Andrew Garfield) and Ruth (Kiera Knightley), all of which were raised at Hailsham Boarding School in the English countryside.
Sound of Noise
The musical mayhem -makers in the Sound of Noise use anything and everything as instruments to wreak havoc on their city – roadways, power lines, unconscious men, bank notes and bulldozers. Their drive-by drumming and beguiling beats are the centerpiece of a story about a hypersensitive police detective engaged in his own battle with music and musicians.
Bunraku
After premiering at the Toronto International Film Festival, Guy Moshe’s super stylistic Bunraku made it to Austin’s Fantastic Fest. Expecting something of a typical slasher flick, I was not looking forward to this film about a dystopian world where swords are used in place of guns. However, I left the theater a Guy Moshe fan interested in the style he brought to life over years of imagination. Between the narrator and the illustrations, Bunraku calls to mind the likes of Sin City and other graphic novel-to-movie translations, but the genius here is that Moshe wrote his own story and titled it after a style of Japanese puppet theater.
Red vs. Blue: Revelation
To be quite honest, I really didn’t know what to expect from this film. Yes, I am a fan and avid player of Halo, the video game on which this film is based, but we all know what can happen when something is translated across media lines. Unfortunately, when it was all said and done, Red vs. Blue: Revelation was the latest adaptation casualty, rocking me slowly to sleep as it drug its feet and cautiously made its way to the end.
A Somewhat Gentle Man
A Somewhat Gentle Man is a great black comedy that supplies ample wit as it tells the story of Ulrik (Skarsgärd), a man rebooting his life after a 12-year prison term. An old friend and low-rent crime boss Jensen assists Ulrik along his new found path by providing a room, a job and a score to settle – whacking the guy who ratted him out a dozen years before. Along the way Ulrik navigates a course that keeps him in contact with his ex-wife, a son who would rather forget him, his new boss and his dirty, dirty landlady.
Red Hill
Red Hill is not your dad’s western. Well, maybe it is if your dad is into dark drama and lot’s of action. Hughes’ debut film isn’t exactly earth-shatteringly new but because it’s tight and well shot it is impressive. The film is centered around Shane Cooper (Kwanten), a young, insecure cop with an eight-months pregnant wife who’s starting his first day on the job as a constable in a dying, remote Australian town
Sharktopus
Because I understood from the onset that this film was meant to be humorous I enjoyed it more than if had I not known. Sharktopus, produced by Roger Corman, is a nod to the genre of exploitation films. Still, funny as it was, it wasn’t without its flaws. Sharktopus had everything: girls in skimpy swimsuits, a blood-thirsty monster, a villain, a hero and a romantic subplot. It all goes wrong when a genetic mutant, Sharktopus, becomes uncontrollable. Originally meant to hunt terrorists, the creature can’t help but destroy everything in sight.
The Man From Nowhere
If you are looking for some drop kicking action, The Man From Nowhere is the movie for you. Starring Bin Won, Korea’s equivalent to America’s Leonardo DiCaprio and directed by Lee Jung-beom, this film is full of action, adrenaline and non-stop fun. I expected little and can honestly say that I was blown away with what I saw. In the film Won goes on a one-man vendetta slicing, stabbing, shooting, and blowing up an entire camp of pimps, pushers, and organ harvesters; all to save a young girl from captivity. While Won steals the show, the overall acting is hardly something to turn your nose up at. The fight scenes are intense, the drama entertaining and the plotline acceptable. But the real attraction here is the camera work. Jung-beom emphasizes the action, working to capture unique shots that help make the movie more appealing as the story develops.
Hatchet II
Three years ago I sat in a theater and witnessed a unique horror film with a bold cult flare. That movie, Adam Green's Hatchet, paid respect to the 80s genre that we all know and love. I never imagined that there would be a second dose, but here I sit prepared to rave about Hatchet II, Green's solid follow up. In the film, which is hits theaters in a rare uncut and unrated form, we get to follow along with Marybeth as she escapes the grasps of deformed, swamp-dwelling maniac Victor Crowley and attempts to piece together the events of the night before. Unlike many current horror franchises, Hatchet II picks up right where the original left off. As a result, viewers are given the second half of one larger-than-expected story where questions are answered and even more are raised.
I Spit On Your Grave
I will be the first to admit that I don't always have the stomach to watch the things that got me so excited about the horror genre only a few years ago. I feel that the Saw series, while smart and fascinating, has gone overboard as of late, and I have never been a fan of the rape/torture porn films like Hostel. But for some reason the same rules don't apply for I Spit On Your Grave, a unique remake of the 1978 cult hit Day of the Woman which tells the story of a rape victim seeking out revenge on her assessors.
Stone
Two men sit awkwardly across from one another; you know their faces well. One is a Hollywood icon—a man who has starred in some of the greatest movies ever made, now reaching the age where most men would retire. Yet this individual is still a powerful figure, and despite his age he is still very clearly in control of every situation. He is Jack Mabry, a parole officer who has spent his life judging men for what they’ve done. Opposite him is one of the great talents of the 1990s, an actor who has been everything from a neo-Nazi to a superhero. He is not in control; rather, he is vulnerable, dejected, and searching for purpose in his life. Despite this emptiness, his calculated mannerisms and subtle exploitations make him very dangerous. He has seen and done things that would break most people down, but he handles his burden with ease. His name is Stone Creeson, he is up for parole after eight years in federal prison, and he will do anything to get out.
Let Me In
Vampires. Ten years ago if somebody said that word, it would conjure up terrifying images of undead Transylvanians or disfigured night dwellers. However, these days the first thing that pops into most people’s minds is Robert Pattinson’s high cheekbones, pale skin, and meticulously tussled pompadour. It’s a shame really; young vampires used to be a terrifying force to be reckoned with (a la The Lost Boys.) Now, they’re somehow sex symbols that women swoon over. Thankfully, Let Me In has decided to do something to solve this problem. Pubescent thirteen year-olds will certainly go weak in the knees when they see this film, but it won’t be because some smarmy Abercrombie model is on-screen. Rather, they’ll be trying to contain their terror… and trying not to pee themselves.
Machete Maidens Unleashed
As a lover of film, I really appreciated Machete Maidens Unleashed. You can take a film course, or read a book, but it’s the stories and the specific detail that made this film fascinating to watch.
Buried
Paul Conroy is an American citizen serving as a U.S. contractor in Iraq. Painfully aware of his dangerous duties overseas, Conroy has lived a stressful life, transporting goods to civilians since the start of the War on Terrorism. But now, on this fateful night, Conroy wakes to find himself buried six feet underground inside a wooden coffin. With only a lighter and a cell phone to his benefit, he must adapt to his surroundings and think of a way out. With only so much air, it is literally a race against the clock.