Fests and events, 6/27.

By David Hudson on 06/27/2009

"[T]he question of what becomes an LGBT icon most was very much at the forefront of the [Frameline33's] first week," writes Matt Sussman at SF360. "Frameline's closing night happens to fall on the 40th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots, and a special subset of programming highlights films related to the heady years of Gay Liberation and the early queer outbursts to emerge from underground cinema in the 60s and 70s. And while it was thrilling to get to rub shoulders with the likes of former Warhol and Paul Morrissey pin-up Joe Dallesandro (who quipped during the post 'Little Joe' Q&A that all he wanted to do nowadays was eat ice cream and get fat), and see local legends such as George and Mike Kuchar and Vickie Marlene have their fascinating lives and storied careers paid tribute to onscreen, this week has also had its share of unsung heroes and icons-in-the-making." The festival's on through tomorrow.

"Norwegian Black Metal, Graphic Sexual Horror and a Headless Woman. Jeez, is it Halloween already? No, it's just this summer's insouciant film/video line-up at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts." And so begins another big overview from Michael Hawley.

"Erased James Franco," a "65-minute exercise in conceptual cine-karaoke directed by the artist known as Carter, in which Franco sits alone in a room revisiting snatches of dialogue and gestures from his own earlier roles," screens at the Tate Modern in London tonight. Ben Walters has a preview in the Guardian.

"'Voices of El-Sayed' is a film that suggests a great deal," writes Leo Goldsmith in Not Coming to a Theater Near You, "about sound and deafness, about listening and watching movies, about hearing, watching, and interpreting images of Israel - and though it is often silent, it speaks loudly in many other ways." Screens tonight as part of Rooftop Films' Summer Series.

The new issue of Offscreen "puts the spotlight on one of the most exciting film and new media events of the year, the Festival du Nouveau Cinéma," announces editor Donato Totaro.

"From June 30 to July 5, the 19th 'Rencontres Internationales Paris/Berlin/Madrid' will create a space of discovery and reflection between new cinema and contemporary art in Berlin at the Haus der Kulturen der Welt."

"Brace yourself kids," warns Todd Brown:

"Tokyo Gore Police" director Yoshihiro Nishimura, along with "Stacy" and "Zombie Defense Force" helmer Naoyuki Tomomatsu have just done a number on the teenage romantic comedy.

"Vampire Girl Versus Frankenstein Girl" is both exactly what you would expect from gore-meister Nishimura and also something entirely different. The blood flows hot and fast throughout and the film is laced with the hyper-violent, lo-fi physical effects that have become his trademark. On that level, you get exactly what you expect when you see Nishimura's name on the marquee. But at the same time, "Vampire Girl" is something else entirely, a surprisingly light-spirited riff on the teen dramas and romances that clutter Japanese movie screens and television sets - and a pointedly accurate one, at that. Where "Tokyo Gore Police" functioned dominantly as dark satire "Vampire Girl" never loses sight of its comic intentions, which makes for an entirely different viewing experience.

More from Twitch and the New York Asian Film Festival: "Nearly a full year after it was fairly savaged at the 2008 Venice Film Festival, Yu Lik Wai's Brazil-set existential crime drama finally sees the light of day," writes James Marsh. "Heavily criticised for its lack of real narrative, nearly half an hour has been excised from the original version, which now clocks in at a modest 96 minutes. However, I can only imagine what an ordeal the original version must have been as even in this truncated cut 'Plastic City' quickly descends into incoherence."

And Renzo Adler: "'Lalapipo' is vibrant, full of humor, and is generally light hearted for the most part; yet still manages to sneak in some heavy scenes and deals with themes like alienation, sexual de-sensitization, violence, and then some."

And then there's Michael Atkinson for the L on "Fish Story": Director Yoshihiro Nakamura "is no artiste, and the surfaces of his adeptly titled movie are often redundant and chintzy. But the tale, from a novel by famed whatzit creator Kotaro Isaka, not a manga, is a vivid, ultra-extrapolated hoot."

The Secret Policeman's Film Festival is on at the Film Society of Lincoln Center from today through Wednesday. "The true can't-miss movie here is 'Pleasure at Her Majesty's,' which features some fascinating behind-the-scenes footage of, among many geniuses, the Monty Python troupe (sans Eric Idle) rethinking the Courtroom Sketch," writes Ed Champion. Related online listening: Martin Lewis, series co-creator and co-producer, and Terry Jones are guests on the Leonard Lopate Show.

Dustin Hoffman and Jon Voight were on hand for a screening of "Midnight Cowboy" at the Los Angeles Film Festival and Jason Sanders was there to take extensive notes for Filmmaker: "Exceedingly generous with their time and thoughtful responses, Voight and Hoffman entertained the audience with recollections of the film's shooting, the director John Schlesinger and his working style, American filmmaking in the early 70s, and, above all, their collaboration together."

Also from the LAFF, wrapping tomorrow, Karina Longworth on "Passenger Side": "the nostalgia it evokes - for music, for the experience of having to physically look for something rather than virtually search for it, for the concept of conversation unmitigated by technological distraction - is palpable and powerful. But there's nowhere to go from this high other than down, and in one of its last scenes, 'Passenger Side' sinks its slice-of-life-looseness in a 'gotcha!' plot twist. Like the nostalgia tour pop culture seems to have taken over the past 24 hours, I wish 'Passenger Side' had ended while still ahead, but I appreciate having taken the ride."

[Photo: "Little Joe," Little Joe Productions, 2009]

Tags: Dustin Hoffman, Frameline 2009, James Franco, Joe Dallesandro, Jon Voight, LAFF 2009, NYAFF 2009