Funky Forest acquired

Kaiju Shakedown: Variety's Asian film blog

Sep 21 2007

For years the movie FUNKY FOREST: THE FIRST CONTACT has been an elusive dream. It played at several film festivals and audiences had their senses destroyed. Why? Because of this. And this. And this, and this, and this! It looks ultra-bizarro, but I've seen this movie work its magic in a crowded theater and seen the audience go bonkers for it time and again. It's one of the few films that you can genuinely say is like nothing you've ever seen before.

Distributors have sniffed after it for a long time but no one would ever take a chance on it until now. It's been acquired for North American distribution by...Viz? I love that someone has acquired it, and Viz has been picking up really great titles for about a year now, but their release strategy usually involves sending one (maybe two) prints from play date to play date with very little spent on advertising, and so the movies never get seen by as many people as they deserve to be. Let's hope this changes for FUNKY FOREST - it deserves to show its dance to everyone in America.

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Dylan: HUZZAH!

Wow! It's about time. This movie has been floating free as the breeze in the US for over a year now. I tried my best to acquire it for months, but go back and look at those clips and then imagine showing them to your boss and saying "no seriously! People will LOVE this stuff!". It's a losing battle, and I wholeheartedly salute VIZ for taking it up.

I'm sad I don't get to see the look on the faces of critics as they stumble out of the first press screening, but at least I'll be to finally explain to my friends why I've been freaking out about this.

September 22, 2007

logboy: ... http://www.twitchfilm.net

don't know which is your companie, dylan, but i can imagine many looking at 'funky forest' (considering the reactions, in relation to 'taste of tea' and how that workd) and thinking 'WTF?'. but, it is absolutely 100% intentionally a 'WTF Movie', and a stunning one at that, cos it intend to have no structure and ultimately make sense by just washing over you. mind you, for all the numerous reasons i can see people struggling to see why this film would go down so well, there's a multitude of arguments which show, sadly, this is the kind of film less likely to go down well if you're not able to promote it well - the most likely reaction to this kind of film is unfortunately likely to be "it. not. horror. it. not. sell. ugh!".

it's the kind of film that should sell well, because if anyone's making films which match a broader sense of what japan is like to the mind of the masses weened on a selection of clips from odd TV shows, it katsuhito ishii, and it's certainly in 'funky forest' in spades. in comparison, those who are aware of asia as an "extreme territory" probably number comparatively few.

September 22, 2007

John D. Moore: Hooray http://whatnot.bombdotcom.net/

Excellent. Though this comes right after I ordered the Japanese disc. Oh well. I may kick in support for this over here just to vote with my wallet. THE TASTE OF TEA was phenomenal, easily one of my favorite films of the decade thus far, and everyone says FUNKY FOREST is even more amazing. Major props to Viz for picking it up. It's a pity they probably won't get more than a couple prints out there. I could imagine with the right trailer and other publicity, this could pack people into the independent theaters.

Is any distrib ever going to pick up the Studio 4°C picture MIND GAME? I just saw it recently and it's irresponsible of the powers-that-be that they're not trying to get everyone in the world to see this film.

September 22, 2007

Michael Wells: HUZZAH x10!

This news is making me so happy I'm considering just curling up in a ball on the floor and humming contentedly to myself for a while while hugging my own torso tightly and smiling. Although I'm sure no subsequent viewings will match the exhilaration of the first time I saw it with a packed crowd at the NY Asian Film Festival a couple years ago. It's really energized by audience reaction - it's almost a sort of surreal cinematic vaudeville.

September 26, 2007

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