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Special Mention: C’est arrivé près de chez vous (Man Bites Dog)

Written by André Bonzel, Benoît Poelvoorde, Rémy Belvaux and Vincent Tavier

Directed by André Bonzel and Benoît Poelvoorde

France, 1992

Rémy Belvaux, André Bonzel, and Benoît Poelvoorde set out to make their first feature film with little resources and little money. In the tradition of filmmakers who can’t afford much film stock, the trio settled for a faux-documentary-style approach – the result is a high-concept satire of media violence that would spoof documentaries by following around a fictitious sociopath named Ben as he exercises his lethal craft. While the cinematic tradition of presenting villains as suave, charming, attractive, and intelligent individuals is nothing new, Man Bites Dog was still ahead of its time. Much like the great Hitchcockian villains such as Joseph Cotten in Shadow of a Doubt, Ben is a man of action and ideas. He expounds on art,...

Fandor, the premiere streaming service for independent, classic and critically-acclaimed films, shorts and documentaries, in a partnership with the Criterion Collection and Hulu Plus, is currently home to a rotation of uniquely curated bundles of Criterion films available to watch instantly via desktop, set top and mobile devices.

Every Tuesday, Fandor rolls out a new collection of films that share a common theme, genre, time period, film style, etc. These films are available on the site for 12 days before being replaced by a fresh new batch of featured Criterion masterpieces.

Fandor’S Criterion Picks For March

March 17-28: The Sixteenth Century

Carnival in Flanders(1935, Director Jacques Feyder): A small village in Flanders puts on a carnival to avoid the brutal consequences of the Spanish occupation. Ivan the Terrible(1944, DirectorSergei Eisenstein): As Ivan ascends to lead Russia, the Boyars are determined to disrupt his rule. Ivan’s relationship...

Every year, we here at Sound On Sight celebrate the month of October with 31 Days of Horror; and every year, I update the list of my favourite horror films ever made. Last year, I released a list that included 150 picks. This year, I’ll be upgrading the list, making minor alterations, changing the rankings, adding new entries, and possibly removing a few titles. I’ve also decided to publish each post backwards this time for one reason: the new additions appear lower on my list, whereas my top 50 haven’t changed much, except for maybe in ranking. I am including documentaries, short films and mini series, only as special mentions – along with a few features that can qualify as horror, but barely do.

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Special Mention:

Häxan

Directed by Benjamin Christensen

Denmark / Sweden, 1922

Häxan (a.k.a The Witches or Witchcraft Through The Ages) is a 1922 silent documentary about the history of witchcraft,...

Tiff’s Midnight Madness program turned 25 this year, and for two and half decades, the hardworking programers have gathered some of the strangest, most terrifying, wild, intriguing and downright entertaining films from around the world. From dark comedies to Japanese gore-fests and indie horror gems, the Midnight Madness program hasn’t lost its edge as one the leading showcases of genre cinema. In its 25-year history, Midnight Madness has introduced adventurous late-night moviegoers to such cult faves as Richard Linklater’s Dazed and Confused and Quentin Tarantino’s Reservoir Dogs. But what separates Midnight Madness from, say, Montreal’s three and half week long genre festival Fantasia, is that Tiff selects only ten films to make the cut. In other words, these programmers don’t mess around. Last week I decided that I would post reviews of my personal favourite films that screened in past years. And just like the Tiff programmers,...

C’est arrivé près de chez vous (Man Bites Dog)

Directed by André Bonzel and Benoît Poelvoorde

Written by André Bonzel, Benoît Poelvoorde, Rémy Belvaux and Vincent Tavier

1992, France

Rémy Belvaux, André Bonzel and Benoît Poelvoorde set out to make their first feature film with little resources and little money. In the tradition of filmmakers who can’t afford much film stock, the trio settled for a faux-documentary-style approach – the result is a high-concept satire of media violence which would spoof documentaries by following around a fictitious sociopath named Ben as he exercises his lethal craft. While the cinematic tradition of presenting villains as suave, charming, attractive, and intelligent individuals is nothing new, Man Bites Dog was still in many way, ahead of its time. Much like the great Hitchcockian villains such as Joseph Cotten in Shadow of a Doubt or Anthony Perkins in Psycho, Ben is a man of...

Throughout the month of October, Editor-in-Chief and resident Horror expert Ricky D, will be posting a list of his favorite Horror films of all time. The list will be posted in six parts. Click here to see every entry.

As with all lists, this is personal and nobody will agree with every choice – and if you do, that would be incredibly disturbing. It was almost impossible for me to rank them in order, but I tried and eventually gave up.

****

124: (Tie) Inside (À l’intérieur)

Directed by Alexandre Bustillo and Julien Maury

Written by Alexandre Bustillo

2007, France

Four months after the death of her husband, a pregnant woman is tormented by a strange woman who invades her home with the intent on killing her and taking her unborn baby. This movie is not recommended for women on the brink of motherhood. Inside is one of the most vicious and...

The Sarasota Film Festival, wrapping today, has announced this year's round of awards and SarasotaPatch has the full list. We especially want to congratulate Dan Sallitt, whose The Unspeakable Act has won Best Film in the Independent Visions competition. As Dan tells the Ditmas Park Corner, the film centers on a girl who "has her own vision, which is totally at odds with society's vision of what she's supposed to do with her romantic and sexual urges." And, as we noted last month, The Unspeakable Act will screen in June at New York's BAMcinemaFest.

The Nashville Film Festival is on through Thursday and Sam Smith's designed not only the poster but also the cover of the current Nashville Scene, wherein you'll find a robust collection of capsule reviews.

Nadav Lapid's Policeman won Best Film and Best Director at the Buenos Aires Festival Internacional de Cine Independiente yesterday. Diego...

There are various ways in which the found footage genre uses the camera to tell the story. Some let the camera do all the work while others provide interviews, commentary, and other narrative features. The former consists of films like Blair Witch Project and the latter includes Cannibal Holocaust. Judging by box office numbers, those who follow the Blair Witch path turn into money making machines while the others find trouble ensuring a theatrical release. The sub-genre continues to grow with both critically acclaimed and box office hits. Usually, but not always, found-footage films are a sub-section of the horror genre, and so last October I posted a list of my favourite found footage horror films. But with the release of Chronicle this weekend, I’ve decided to put together a list of some of my other personal favourites. These films range from Sci-Fi monster movies to French art-house crime flicks,...

Ricky is having a tough day, the bullet with his name on it is quite literally staring him in the face.  Structured as a flashback of his life right at the second of final judgment, for (ostensibly) our entertainment, the writer of cult festival hit Sexykiller, Paco Cabezas, blows up his award winning short into a lengthy feature of the same name:  Neon Flesh.  In the world of Carne de Neón you are either climbing the rungs of the sex business (It's hard out there for a wannabe pimp) or being gobbled up by it.  There are cops and John's to make life difficult or lucrative, but it is the spectacularly screwed-up street folks that are on display here either for a stab at gangster coolness or goofy sight gags.  Let us get this out of the way, I will probably not see a worse or more disappointing film in 2010 than Carne de Neón.

The mockumentary format has crept into most areas by now and instigated a hyper realism that has taken cinema to some very dark or very funny places. It has provided exquisite observational comedies, dramas and some hardcore horror films.

With the release next week of Beyond The Pole; a mockumentary (available to own on DVD and Blu-ray from 5th July) that follows the story of two inexperienced adventurers (Stephen Mangan and Rhys Thomas) as they attempt to become the first carbon-neutral, vegetarian and organic expedition to reach the North Pole, we decided to celebrate this fine aesthetic and put together a list of its greatest examples.

The War of the Worlds

Although not a film, it had a great impact upon what would one day become the mockumentary in cinema form. Mr. Orson Welles’ fictitious public service announcement regarding imminent alien invasion sent 1950s America in to something of a tither.

If you're going to ask me (once again) who I considered to be one of the most controversial filmmakers today, then I would name Michael Haneke (right after Lars von Trier, of course). While von Trier's movies can be overwhelming at times, Haneke's can be very daunting and just like subjecting one self to torture. If von Trier loves to portray America without touching American soil, Haneke loves to teach his viewers a dose of their own medicine - patronizing American escapist movies is like committing a crime, there will be punishment sooner or later.

- - -

- - - But how to begin? Perhaps a look at The White Ribbon, his latest would be a good way to start. Instead of a chronological set of events, we start from the most recent.

More about The White Ribbon, Haneke's previous movie Funny Games and some insights into the Austrian filmmaker after the jump!

If you're going to ask me (once again) who I considered to be one of the most controversial filmmakers today, then I would name Michael Haneke (right after Lars von Trier, of course). While von Trier's movies can be overwhelming at times, Haneke's can be very daunting and just like subjecting one self to torture. If von Trier loves to portray America without touching American soil, Haneke loves to teach his viewers a dose of their own medicine - patronizing American escapist movies is like committing a crime, there will be punishment sooner or later.

- - -

- - - But how to begin? Perhaps a look at The White Ribbon, his latest would be a good way to start. Instead of a chronological set of events, we start from the most recent.

More about The White Ribbon, Haneke's previous movie Funny Games and some insights into the Austrian filmmaker after the jump!

If you're going to ask me (once again) who I considered to be one of the most controversial filmmakers today, then I would name Michael Haneke (right after Lars von Trier, of course). While von Trier's movies can be overwhelming at times, Haneke's can be very daunting and just like subjecting one self to torture. If von Trier loves to portray America without touching American soil, Haneke loves to teach his viewers a dose of their own medicine - patronizing American escapist movies is like committing a crime, there will be punishment sooner or later.

- - -

- - - But how to begin? Perhaps a look at The White Ribbon, his latest would be a good way to start. Instead of a chronological set of events, we start from the most recent.

More about The White Ribbon, Haneke's previous movie Funny Games and some insights into the Austrian filmmaker after the jump!

If you're going to ask me (once again) who I considered to be one of the most controversial filmmakers today, then I would name Michael Haneke (right after Lars von Trier, of course). While von Trier's movies can be overwhelming at times, Haneke's can be very daunting and just like subjecting one self to torture. If von Trier loves to portray America without touching American soil, Haneke loves to teach his viewers a dose of their own medicine - patronizing American escapist movies is like committing a crime, there will be punishment sooner or later.

- - -

- - - But how to begin? Perhaps a look at The White Ribbon, his latest would be a good way to start. Instead of a chronological set of events, we start from the most recent.

More about The White Ribbon, Haneke's previous movie Funny Games and some insights into the Austrian filmmaker after the jump!

If you're going to ask me (once again) who I considered to be one of the most controversial filmmakers today, then I would name Michael Haneke (right after Lars von Trier, of course). While von Trier's movies can be overwhelming at times, Haneke's can be very daunting and just like subjecting one self to torture. If von Trier loves to portray America without touching American soil, Haneke loves to teach his viewers a dose of their own medicine - patronizing American escapist movies is like committing a crime, there will be punishment sooner or later.

- - -

- - - But how to begin? Perhaps a look at The White Ribbon, his latest would be a good way to start. Instead of a chronological set of events, we start from the most recent.

More about The White Ribbon, Haneke's previous movie Funny Games and some insights into the Austrian filmmaker after the jump!

The Next Wave Spotlight!

Amd has a long history of working with young creative filmmakers such as Robert Rodriguez to provide tools and equipment that make the creative process easier. With the Amd "Next Wave" spotlight, we have chosen 8 films by young, up-and-coming filmmakers. These are filmmakers who are beginning their careers and may well become the next wave of talent shaping the industry in the decades to come. These eight films will be judged by the Next Wave jury, the winning film will be awarded a $1000 cash prize as well as Dell/Amd editing hardware. All eight of the "Next Wave" films will be have filmmakers and/or performers in attendance at Fantastic Fest.

Next Wave films/filmmakers:

Gadi Harel & Marcel Sarmiento (Directors), USA, Deadgirl

Javier Albarran (Actor/ Miscellaneous Crew), Spain, Doctor Infierno

Norihiro Koizumi (Director), Japan, Gachi Boy: Wrestling with a Memory

Reynald Bertrand (Director), France, La Crème (Creme)

Eric Shapiro (Director), USA,...

We'll have lots of guests at Fantastic Fest this year, more than ever before. Here are just a few of the many interesting people who'll be joining us this year, in no particular order. We'll continually update our roster so keep an eye on this page.

Filmmakers and Actors

Norihiro Koizumi (Gachi Boy: Wrestling With A Memory)

A young, talented director who is quickly making his mark in the Japanese filmmaking scene. At the tender age of 25, he directed his first major feature-length film, “Midnight Sun.” “Midnight Sun” was not only critically-acclaimed, but became a commercial hit, grossing over 1 billion yen at the Japanese boxoffice. His latest film, “Gachi Boy Wrestling with a Memory,” won the grand prix at the Udine Far East Film Festival.

Nacho Vigalondo (Shorts Program)

Last year at Fantastic Fest noted Spanish director Nacho Vigalondo won the Next Wave competition, later securing domestic distribution for Timecrimes...

DEAUVILLE, France -- Belgian director, screenwriter and actor Remy Belvaux, whose debut film Man Bites Dog became a cult hit, has died, his family announced Wednesday. He was 38. A family statement said he died Monday night in Orry-la-Ville, north of Paris, but no cause of death was given. Shot on a micro budget, Man Bites Dog purported to be a fly-on-the-wall TV documentary about the life of a cynically jovial serial killer. The movie walks a dangerous line between black humor and abject horror as the TV crew gradually becomes more implicated in the killer's gruesome crimes.

DEAUVILLE, France -- Belgian director, screenwriter and actor Remy Belvaux, whose debut film Man Bites Dog became a cult hit, has died, his family announced Wednesday. He was 38. A family statement said he died Monday night in Orry-la-Ville, north of Paris, but no cause of death was given. Shot on a micro budget, Man Bites Dog purported to be a fly-on-the-wall TV documentary about the life of a cynically jovial serial killer. The movie walks a dangerous line between black humor and abject horror as the TV crew gradually becomes more implicated in the killer's gruesome crimes.