[Twitch is undergoing some behind the scenes tire kicking and bolt-tightening over the next few days, work that may slow down the regular flow of new information a little bit. So, while that's going on we'll be presenting a series of retro-reposts, pulling forward the all time top ten videos since we moved to our current video system. This post originally appeared June 30.]

Though he's been brewing his particular brand of madness for a good long while now it wasn't until the arrival of Machine Girl that writer-director Noboru Iguchi really made an impression here in North America. But when he did, it was a big one - his fetishized story of a high school girl whose arm is replaced by a giant machine gun becoming a genuine viral phenomenon as it raced through the web. And how has Iguchi followed up the success of Machine Girl? With robotic geishas. Lots of them.

RoboGeisha is the latest collaboration between Iguchi and special effects man Yoshihiro Nishimura - himself the director of Tokyo Gore Police - and it bears all of the now-classic hallmarks of the duo: outrageous special effects, grotesquely hilarious gore and weapons where weapons just should not go. Machine Girl had the mechanized arm. Iguchi's earlier Sukeban Boy had leg and breast cannons. Nishimura's Tokyo Gore Police has the infamous penis cannon. RoboGeisha? This one boasts what the trailer graciously describes as hip-katanas, though the swords are actually placed considerably lower and more to the rear. Yes, Iguchi's latest has ass-swords and women who aren't afraid to use them. And that's not even mentioning the giant robot-building, the transforming geisha-tank or the fried shrimp rammed into eye sockets.

The trailer for RoboGeisha is a virtual compendium of the bizarre and hilarious world of Iguchi, all of it narrated in bizarrely dry style. We're very proud to have been given the world exclusive of the trailer here at Twitch, passed to us directly from production company TO Entertainment, and you can find it below the break!

[Twitch is undergoing some behind the scenes tire kicking and bolt-tightening over the next few days, work that may slow down the regular flow of new information a little bit. So, while that's going on we'll be presenting a series of retro-reposts, pulling forward the all time top ten videos since we moved to our current video system. This post originally appeared July 13.]

Canada's Jason Eisener burst into the public eye a few years back with Hobo With a Shotgun - a fake trailer that won a Grindhouse contest sponsored by Robert Rodriguez and was subsequently added to North American prints of the double-bill feature. Hobo became an online sensation and fans began clamoring for whatever Eisener and crew would come up with next.

And what they came up with was Treevenge. An arborist's nightmare, the coniferous revenge film turned the tables on everyone's favorite holiday season by re-casting the humble Christmas Tree as the angry victim of an annual genocide with the time arriving to take revenge on the wielders of the axe. Treevenge is a blood soaked, splattery affair that provoked enormous reactions on the festival circuit, racking up awards by the armful as it screened at Sundance, Fantastic Fest, Fantasia, Toronto After Dark and too many others to name. The only problem was that there was no way for audiences to actually see the damn thing outside of those festival appearances, with only a short clip available online.

Until now. Twitch is beyond proud to finally give Eisner's evergreen opus a permanent online home. You'll find it embedded below the break. It's a big file - and looks rather good full screen - so give it a moment or two to buffer.

[Twitch is undergoing some behind the scenes tire kicking and bolt-tightening over the next few days, work that may slow down the regular flow of new information a little bit. So, while that's going on we'll be presenting a series of retro-reposts, pulling forward the all time top ten videos since we moved to our current video system. This post originally appeared July 3.]

While in New York a week or so back I had a friend ask if I'd seen the new French trailer for Tony Jaa's Ong Bak 2. As with the original Ong Bak Luc Besson's Europa Corp have gotten their hands on this one and while the rumor is that there has been a mild re-cut of the film to tighten things up a bit - I'm hearing six minutes have been removed - and some changes to the score - though nothing as drastic as the hip hop version done for the original - the new French trailer, I was told, makes Ong Bak 2 look like "the greatest action film ever made". I hadn't seen it at the time, but now I have and I have to say I pretty much agree.

What do you say? Was it the argument between Tony Jaa the director and Tony Jaa the actor over whether he really needed to get into that pit of water with a live crocodile that drove Tony to go hide in the jungle for two months? Check the French trailer out below the break along with the extended Thai promo reel!

[Twitch is undergoing some behind the scenes tire kicking and bolt-tightening over the next few days, work that may slow down the regular flow of new information a little bit. So, while that's going on we'll be presenting a series of retro-reposts, pulling forward the all time top ten videos since we moved to our current video system. This post originally appeared July 17.]

A military veteran and former mercenary, Frenchy (Van Damme) works as a taxi driver, hiding somewhere in East Asia, haunted by his past. After his driving shifts he often frequents the Eagle's Nest, a seedy bar that houses a caged eagle. In the midst of the chaotic Asian traffic Frenchy picks up a beautiful female passenger who will change him forever.

Driven by dark memories of his childhood, he becomes determined to improve her life and, without her approval, he embarks on a journey which proves to be more dangerous and complicated then he expected. After encountering a series of harrowing obstacles he calls in favors from his special ops friends who immediately join him. His military team engages in the biggest fight of their lives. War is hell, but nothing they've done could have prepared them for this.

It's an adrenaline-fueled, full-on, maximum firepower thriller, filled with the intense psychological conflict that Van Damme fans love the world over.

Much encouraged by the stellar JCVD, we've been tracking Jean Claude Van Damme's The Eagle Path for months now, with the first promo reel for the film appearing back in May. Appearing to be very much rooted in 1980's style meat-and-potatoes action tropes that early promo was still quite raw but it has just been joined by a second, much more polished spot. Those hoping Van Damme would continue down the JCVD road are clearly going to need to adjust their expectations as all the meta-content of that picture is absent here but classic 80's action fans are going to find a lot to love. I'm still very curious to see a finalized, fully polished trailer, but you can find the new promo and the original spot below the break.

[Twitch is undergoing some behind the scenes tire kicking and bolt-tightening over the next few days, work that may slow down the regular flow of new information a little bit. So, while that's going on we'll be presenting a series of retro-reposts, pulling forward the all time top ten videos since we moved to our current video system. This post originally appeared June 10.]

Nature may be beautiful but it can also be very very harsh and once you take us humans out of our carefully controlled environments we're awfully fragile things. This is the potent ground explored in Richard Harrah's The Canyon, soon to have it's world premiere at the Fantasia Festival in Montreal. I normally hold on to my program guide notes a little longer than this but, hey ... there's no time like the present. Here's what I wrote about the film for the Fantasia program guide:

Young and in love, Nick and Lori have taken the plunge, eloped to Las Vegas and gotten themselves hitched. Lori's parents will probably be furious when they return but that's a week away yet and there's still a honeymoon to be had, a week spent surrounded by the natural beauty of the Grand Canyon. Nick's had a long standing fixation with the history of the region, you see, and Lori is more than willing to indulge her new husband with a guided mule tour down into the Canyon floor. Of course, the problem is that there are very limited numbers of passes granted for these sorts of tours, passes that require months of advance planning and their marriage was not exactly a long-planned event.

Enter Will Patton as Henry, the drunken old coot who seems to be as much a part of the land as a resident on it, a local character filled with fascinating stories and a disregard for the way things are meant to be done who swears that he can guide them into the Canyon if they want. He's even got all of the gear required. The pair agree and life is good until - well off of the approved trail through the Canyon - Henry is bitten by a poisonous snake, the pack animals panic and scatter and Nick and Lori are stranded - completely without resources to help the dying Henry and completely helpless to find their way out of the Canyon without his guidance. All there is in their future is hunger, thirst and wolves.

An intimate survival thriller from director Richard Harrah, The Canyon takes great advantage of both the stunning natural settings and the skills of lead actors Yvonne Strahovski and Eion Bailey as Lori and Nick. The newlyweds feature in every scene of the picture, the success of the film lying in their slow fade into panic and despair as plans fail and supplies dwindle, pushing the pair to ever more desperate plans. As their technology fails, meager supplies dwindle and it becomes increasingly evident that they are hopelessly lost with no help coming, Lori and Nick slip into a world of increasingly murky moral decisions. Even worse than the prospect of neither of them surviving is the very real possibility that only one of them can and that they will have to make the decision as to who it will be.

We've just gotten an exclusive first look at the film's trailer and it's a good one! You'll find it below the break!

The Serbian film industry, while growing in stature around the world by producing more and more films of higher and higher quality, is also notably trending towards violence on screen, a trend that would be denounced in most nations but one that the director of the Film Center Serbia has actually gone on record defending as a valid expression of his country's history and ongoing troubles. And nowhere is that trend towards violence - in this case violence fused with explicit sex - more pronounced than in the upcoming Serbian Film.

Milos, a retired ex-porn star, now leads a normal family life with his beautiful wife, Maria and five year old son Stefan in tumultuous Serbia inn a modern era of transition, trying to make ends meet. A sudden call from his former colleague, still hot porn actress Layla, will change everything. Aware of his financial problems, Layla introduces Milos to Vukmir - a shady, mysterious, menacing and politically powerful figure in the porn business who makes Milos an offer he can't refuse. A leading role in Vukmir's new production will provide financial support to Milos and his family for the rest of their lives. Milos is hesitant at first, because a contract insists on his absolute unawareness of the script they will shoot or the dramatic situations that Vukmir is going to put him through during filming. Finally, he agrees, driven by the urge of security for his family, protecting it from the impending poverty so dominant in Serbia today. From then on, Milos is drawn into a maelstrom of unbelievable cruelty an mayhem devised by his employer, "The Director", of his Destiny, Vukmir. Relentless in his attempt to make an ultimate artistic "snuff-porn", the one that has never been seen, using poor people as his acting cannon fodder, and unleash it upon the hungry eyes of the world. Vukmir and his cohorts will stop at nothing to complete his "vision", and will go to unspeakable lengths to achieve it, using even innocent children as props. In order to escape the living cinematic hell he's put into and save his family's life. Milos will have to sacrifice everything: his pride, his morality, his sanity, and maybe even his own life. In a Serbian "Heart of Darkness" where life is cheaper then a candy bar, in a struggle with enemies powerful beyond belief and just as violent and pathologically evil, the chances of surviving are abnormally thin.

The trailer for this lies below the break, looks impeccably well made and is wildly inappropriate for work environments. Be warned.

[Twitch is undergoing some behind the scenes tire kicking and bolt-tightening over the next few days, work that may slow down the regular flow of new information a little bit. So, while that's going on we'll be presenting a series of retro-reposts, pulling forward the all time top ten videos since we moved to our current video system. This post originally appeared June 5.]

Ever find yourself wondering whatever happened to one-time golden child Edward Furlong? Wonder no more - he's starring in Uwe Boll's real-life prison drama Stoic.

In the claustrophobic confines of a jail cell, an inmate is discovered hanged. In the back-and-forth between the interrogation of his cellmates and the dehumanizing events that led to his death, the horrific truth about what really transpired reveals the duplicitous side of human nature.

Trailer below the break.

[Twitch is undergoing some behind the scenes tire kicking and bolt-tightening over the next few days, work that may slow down the regular flow of new information a little bit. So, while that's going on we'll be presenting a series of retro-reposts, pulling forward the all time top ten videos since we moved to our current video system. This post originally appeared June 8.]

What is the strangest thing about hugely acclaimed Japanese director Hirokazu Kore-Eda making a film about a sex doll come to life and on a quest for meaning and love? Very likely the fact that if not for the sexual nature of the doll's origins this would play as a straightforward, very sweet romantic fantasy. It'd be Mannequin, basically, only with much better everything. Here's how it was summarized when it screened in Cannes:

Hideo, who lives alone, owns a life-size "air doll", which suddenly finds herself with a heart. Everything is new to her in the world outside Hideo's house. She meets all kinds of people. The world is filled with so many beautiful things, but everyone seems to have some kind of hollowness, just as she has. In the morning, she pumps herself up, and takes a walk.

One afternoon, she meets Junichi who works at a rental video store, and instantly falls in love with him. A first date. New words she learns from him. She starts working with him at the store, enjoys talking and being with him. Everything seems to be going perfect, until something unexpected happens to the doll.

A sad yet happy fantasy. This is a story about a new form of love.

Bae Doo Na, ARATA, Itao Itsuji and Joe Odagiri star. The trailer has just arrived and you can find it below the break!

Okay fans of Japanese cult film here's a little collection of talent to taunt you with. Noboru Iguchi (The Machine Girl), Takashi Shimizu (Juon) and Yoshihiro Nishimura (Tokyo Gore Police) are among the talents behind upcoming project The Ancient Dogoo Girl, the story of a ten thousand year old girl revived to fight evil in modern society. Kind of like Ultraman, really, but with the hero in a clay bikini instead of a full body suit and with a lot more cleavage shots. And why is this a taunt? Because Dogoo is a television series - not a film - due to start airing in October and given that I can count the number of Japanese television series to receive releases here on one hand, the chances of this one ever crossing over are pretty much nil. You can, however, check the trailer below the break.

Alejandro Amenabar's Egyptian epic Agora drew somewhat mixed reviews when it premiered in Cannes but whatever people may think of the commercial prospects of the film there's no denying the sheer scope and attention to detail with this thing. Agora could very well be the definition of 'sumptuous' on screen. The original trailer for this one came out a good long time ago and we haven't heard a peep since but with the film about to arrive on North American shores at the Toronto International Film Festival a new trailer has arrived. Check it out below the break!

Here's how the festival describes it:

From the director of the Academy Award-winning biopic The Sea Inside comes a rousing historical epic recreating the early religious conflicts of fourth-century Alexandria, Egypt. The film boasts a smouldering turn by Rachel Weisz, who has evinced greater and greater depth with each new role. Playing the legendary philosopher and mathematician Hypatia, she delivers a commanding performance of intelligence and strength of will.

Beginning in AD 369, tensions between pagans and Christians in Egypt reach a new high, setting the stage for an inevitable clash of loyalties. Initially, in the famed Alexandria library compound where pupils of all faiths gather to learn under the guidance of Hypatia, these pressures are set aside. While she conducts lessons in mathematics and astronomy, Hypatia privately tackles the riddle of Ptolemy's theory of the solar system and its planetary orbits.

Soon, however, conflict erupts as the pagans attack the Christians. Though the massacre leaves many Christians dead, the pagans nonetheless find themselves outnumbered and barricade themselves inside the library for safety. Hypatia is among those trapped, and her protection becomes the primary concern of her pupil Orestes (Oscar Isaac) and her slave Davus (Max Minghella), both of whom are deeply in love with her. This love triangle is put to test under the weight of the city's violent social upheaval. In the whirlwind of chaos and bloodshed, the three are inevitability separated.

Working on a grand scale with great confidence, Amenábar follows his characters through epochal changes. Christianity sweeps across Alexandria not just as a force of enlightenment but also simply as force. As Davus falls under the sway of extremism and Orestes struggles with his new faith, Agora takes up big themes of religion and allegiance, and how violence can enforce both. Driven by a questing intelligence, this film dramatizes ideas that are as relevant today as they were in Hypatia's lifetime.

For years, One-Eye, a mute warrior of supernatural strength, has been held prisoner by the chieftain Barde. Aided by a boy, Are, he kills his captor and together they escape, beginning a journey into the heart of darkness. On their flight from bounty hunters, One-Eye and Are board a Viking vessel, but the ship is soon engulfed by an endless fog that first disintegrates as they sight an unknown land. As the new land reveals its secrets and the Vikings meet a ghastly fate, One-Eye discovers his true self.

Just on time for the upcoming world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival, a new - and much improved - trailer for Nicolas Winding Refn's Valhalla Rising has appeared on the scene. Tighter, better resolution, and just generally leaner and meaner this trailer is reason to get awfully excited about the latest from the director of Pusher and Bronson. Check it out below the break!