Trishna

Riz Ahmed and Frieda Pinto in Michael Winterbottom’s Tishna (India/UK, 2011) ***

In a year of striking literary reinterpretations (Wuthering Heights, Jane Eyre etc), Trishna may be the boldest of them all as writer/director Michael Winterbottom successfully translates the dark tragedy of Thomas Hardy’s late Victorian classic Tess Of The D’Urbervilles to the streets and mores of contemporary India. / From "Clueless" to "Cruel Intentions" to "Easy A," high school has provided directors a quick setting to approximate the conservative mores of classic novels in the modern world. With "Trishna," Michael Winterbottom happens upon an inspired alternative, relocating "Tess of the d'Urbervilles" to contempo India, where the Victorian attitudes of Thomas Hardy's romantic tragedy still echo in a meaningful way today. Starring an incandescent Freida Pinto, "Trishna" acknowledges but doesn't exactly embrace the Bollywood tradition, marrying Winterbottom's naturalistic style with terrific songs by Amit Trivedi. Exotic result should attract extensive festival and specialty play. 2011TOR, 2012SANF, 2012SEA, 2012TRI

My Neighbour Totoro

Hayao Miyazaki’s My Neighbor Totoro (Japan, 1988) *** ½

Legendary Japanese animator Hayao Miyazaki provides a stunningly realistic portrayal of life in the country. When their mother is hospitalized, two young sisters spend a summer in the Japanese countryside with their father. The strange new environment turns out to be a natural wonderland filled with exotic real-life creatures and a trio of furry woodland sprites who can only be seen by children. E500, EGM.

Jackpot (Norway)

Magnus Martens’s Jackpot (Norway, 2012) - ** 1/2

Lovers of Scandi crimers are in luck: It's the heyday of Norwegian writer Jo Nesbo. As Morten Tyldum's art-heist thriller "Headhunters," based on a Nesbo book, rolls out internationally, hot on its heels comes the droll and grungy "Jackpot," based on an original Nesbo story written with the screen in mind. Tightly scripted by helmer Magnus Martens, this blackly comic, pulpy caper unspools at a rollicking pace, with multiple homages revealing his keen knowledge of genre. "Jackpot" pays out as entertaining fare for cinephiles and the average Joe not averse to well-contextualized gore, and should appeal to savvy distributors. 2012FAN, 2012TRI.

Doomsday Book

Kim Jee Won and Yim Pil Sung’s Doomsday Book (South Korea, 2012)

2012FAN Best Film Winner. DOOMSDAY BOOK is an anthology movie, split into 3 different chapters. The first chapter, entitled HEAVEN'S CREATION, is about a robot that comes alive and follows what happens afterward. The second Chapter, entitled THE NEW GENERATION, is a story from the point of view of a boy who is now a zombie. The third Chapter, entitled HAPPY BIRTHDAY, re-interprets THE CHRISTMAS GIFT by O Henry. 2012FAN, 2012SITGES.

Dead Sushi

Noboru Iguchi’s Dead Sushi (Japan, 2012) * ½

Keiko, daughter of a famous sushi chef, leaves home to escape his overbearing training in both sushi-making and martial arts. Finding work at a rural inn, she is bullied by the staff and ridiculed by the guests, including the president of Komatsu Pharmaceuticals, who has come to the inn for a vacation with his associates. Little do they know, however, that disgruntled Komatsu researcher Yamada has followed them there with designs on revenge, using a serum he developed that can awaken the murderous instincts of fish on rice, creating…killer sushi! Bloodthirsty tuna and squid soon descend upon the humans, killing many and turning the remainder into zombie-like creatures. Keiko, joined by the inn’s former sushi chef Sawada, uses her fighting skills against the creatures in an attempt to escape with a handful of uninfected survivors. But Yamada has another deadly surprise for them…can Keiko and Sawada defeat both him and his flying killers?. 2012FAN.

Schoolgirl Apocalypse

John Cairns’s Schoolgirl Apocalypse (Japan, 2012) *

Japanese schoolgirl Sakura (Higarino) has her idyllic small-town life turned inside-out when the local males start savagely killing the females. Armed with only her kyudo bow for protection and an English textbook for comfort, Sakura journeys through an apocalyptic world of mayhem. As trauma from witnessing the violent deaths of friends and family drives her toward madness, Sakura takes refuge in an animated dreamworld where she meets Billy (Mackenzie), a character from her English text! Billy helps her survive murderous zombies, as well as an even more formidable foe in Aoi (Tsujimoto), as she races to find real-world Billy and answers to the questions: Why is all this happening? And who or what is behind it?. 2012FAN.

Premium Rush

David Koepp’s Premium Rush (US, 2012) **

The lovably ridiculous bike-messenger thriller "Premium Rush" is a welcome throwback. In a film world where genre fare is elevated to the level of serious cinema, and B-movie helmers have a penchant for self-aware irony, they just don't make dumb movies like they used to. But "Premium Rush" deftly straddles the line between stupid and clever for the entirety of its brisk running time, wearing its inessentiality on its sleeve, and though B.O. will be modest, the pic could thrive in its natural habitat as lazy Sunday cable fodder.