As the Sundance Film Festival begins today, so does the search of every Hollywood executive for this year’s Martha Marcy May Marlene, which was the breakout hit of last year’s event, winning Sean Durkin the award for Best Director. Most industry analysts expect that this year will be one of the busiest ever at Sundance, as movies will be gobbled up like crazy by studio executives, which is good news for Vince’s debut entry, Perfect Stranger: That Time I Sat on Both Hands.

Unfortunately, I can’t offer much insight into the hype of this year’s Sundance because I haven’t done my homework. I have, however, watched one video about an 8-year old Australian girl’s struggle to succeed in the music industry. After the jump, I implore you to watch Juliet’s “My First Hardcore Song”, which I am openly endorsing to be made into a documentary film for next year’s Sundance Film Festival, because it is truly an epic work of art that crosses over multiple genres.

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Friday Free for All is the time of the week I reserve for all the things I really wanted to post that might not be strictly movie-related.  So please, do not ask me “Dude, how is this movie related?” Or I will punch you. Send your tips to lance@filmdrunk.com, but only if they don’t suck.

If you don’t know who Bangs is, you need to drop everything right now (EVEN IF YOU ARE HOLDING A BABY) and watch this video .  In a subculture that’s often accused of misogyny, criminality, homophobia, and unchecked materialism, Sudanese-born rapper Bangs is an oasis of politeness and wanting to buy you popcorn.

Bangs recently parlayed his level of awesome internet fame into a Honda commercial in his adopted homeland of Australia (he’s lived in Melbourne since 2004) — hence the multi-colored Monopoly money and steering wheel on the right side.  The theme of the commercial (“How much rap can you fit into a Jazz?”) also exemplifies the charming, characteristic Australian awkwardness with black culture.  It doesn’t make a whole lot of sense (chicks and gold chains equals… rap?).  But the central conceit of the plot is forgiven when we get to hear Bangs sing a rap song about the Honda Jazz.  It’s hard to choose, but I think my favorite line was:

“10 cups holders in this car
so your drink be by your side
never far.”

If you don’t like Bangs, you have no soul.

[via Bossip]

A film has been banned from Australia’s biggest film festival (they project the films on the back wall of Big Kev’s emu bahn whilst the blokes skull tinnies and play footy, helluva time) for the first time in seven years.  It seems gay zombie sex is considered offensive over there or some crap.

“L.A. Zombie”, which also features homosexual sex and full-frontal male nudity, is the first film in seven years to be banned from screening at the Melbourne International Film Festival, which starts on July 22.
Festival director Richard Moore told The Age newspaper he had received a letter from censors rejecting the film by Canadian director Bruce LaBruce.
Described by Moore as a “video art zombie film”, “L.A. Zombie” stars French porn actor Francois Sagat as a man convinced he is an alien zombie sent to Earth to roam the streets of Los Angeles in search of dead bodies and gay sex.

Well la-di-da professor art guy, but isn’t this sort of a rip-off of Gay N**gers from Outer Space?  We connoisseurs of gay space porno will accept no substitutes.  And in case you were worried that the US was the only place with a needlessly complex rating system governed by a corrupt, quasi-governmental organization (the MPAA), check out this next part:

Australia’s film classification board said the movie had been denied an exemption from classification, not banned as Moore had claimed. An exemption would have allowed the film to be shown at the festival, but board director Donald McDonald said he had concluded, from the film’s synopsis and the director’s previous classification history, that “L.A Zombie” was not suitable for screening.
“In the opinion of the director, the film, if classified, would be classified X18+ or RC (refused classification) and, in this circumstance, the law requires the director to refuse an exemption,” McDonald said in a statement to AFP.
Films may not be screened publicly unless they are classified, while classifications of X18+ or RC prevent a film from being shown in most public cinemas. [Breitbart]

Uh, okay.  Jeez, what is this world coming to if a guy named “Bruce LaBruce” can’t get along with Donald McDonald?  The saddest part of this whole kerflaffle is that after this, who knows how long it’ll be before we get to see another Colin Hanks biopic.

Braaaaaaains

As this clip of Nic Cage shooting a little girl can attest, Matthew Vaughn’s Kick-Ass looks awesome, so of course the No-Fun Patrol is angry about it.  Surprisingly, the first volley of whining comes from Australia, where I assumed the film wouldn’t be released for another 15 years. (They just got shoes last May).

In the movie, Hit Girl shoots a man in the face with a gun and at one stage in the movie tells her opponents: “OK you c. . . . let’s see what you can do now.”
The rating has outraged Australian family groups who are reluctant to discredit it openly, fearing it would publicise the movie further. Australian Family Association spokesman John Morrissey said:
“The language is offensive and the values inappropriate – without the saving grace of the bloodless victory of traditional superheroes.” [DailyTelegraph via CinemaBlend]

Read that last part carefully: none of them have actually seen the movie yet, it’s the rating that outraged them.  They don’t even like the idea of an R-rated movie.  Is there a way to make that argument without effectively shouting “I don’t believe in free speech!”? Answer: No, there isn’t.    Also: they’re angry about the word “c*nt” in Australia?  Australians practically invented the word c*nt. At the very least, they were the first to use it as every part of speech: noun, verb, adjective, adverb, and child’s name.  Don’t you people sleep on beds of snakes and wear jewelry made from crocodiles?  As a wise man once said, HAHDEN THE F*CK UP, AUSTRALIA.

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A lot of mainstream films are shot in Australia (Where the Wild Things Are, Knowing, Wolverine, just to name a few from 2009) because of the favorable exchange rate.  But the Australian dollar, which was worth about 55 cents when I lived there in 2003, closed at 95 cents on Friday, and some say could hit $1.10 by next year. And all because of a secret coalition of Jew bankers.  WB had planned to shoot The Green Lantern in Sydney, but now they’re pulling out after the dollar dropped 30% just in the six months since the production was planned.

The NSW government announced in April it had secured the “Green Lantern” shoot at Fox Studios and production was to have started in November. Martin Campbell (“Casino Royale”) is set to direct Ryan Reynolds (“The Proposal”) in the big screen comic book adaptation, which is set for a summer 2011 release.  Industry sources here suggest “Green Lantern” will move to Mexico or Canada. [THR]

So what does this mean for you the moviegoer?  Nothing, really.  I just thought you guys should know.  I didn’t want you to hear it from someone else.  Reached for comment, Paul Hogan pointed to Mexico on a map and said, “That’s not a movie studio, THAT’s a movie studio,” pointing at Australia.  When I pointed out that both were just places on a map and not movie studios at all, he just cut off a slice of the salami he was holding and put it in his mouth and started chewing, staring right at me.  It was as if he hadn’t heard me at all.