David Fincher might never have actually entertained the thought of casting Yo-Landi Vi$$er of South African zef rap duo Die Antwoord as his Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (at most, she seems to have been a rabid pixie style icon for Rooney Mara's Oscar-nommed take on Lisbeth Salander), but how much more twisted and subversive might the diminutive Visser have been in the role, tasering old pervs and getting dirty in the "Feel-Bad Movie of the Year?" Watch the video for Die Antwoord's latest grime jam, "I Fink U Freeky," and let's brainstorm ways to make Yo-Landi's movie career happen, already.
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When Harmony Korine's short film Umshini Wam screened alongside the latest from Korean filmmaker Park Chan-Wook (Oldboy, Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance, Thirst) at SXSW, both efforts had an unproven element to unveil. For Korine, the wild cards were his stars, the South African hip-hop act Die Antwoord. But for Park, it was something even more groundbreaking: he filmed the mystical, spiritual ghost story Night Fishing entirely using the iPhone 4.
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"We need to keep it gangsta and take our sh*t to the next level," pleads Die Antwoord rapper Yo-Landi to Ninja, her partner in crime in the Harmony Korine-directed short Umshini Wam. And just how do the South African zef hip-hoppers do just that? By pimping out their wheelchair rides, shooting guns in empty suburban parking lots, smoking comically large joints, and dreaming of life as "Gang$ta number one." Watch the entirety of Umshini Wam (translation: 'Bring me my machine gun') after the jump.
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Brian Taylor took a break from Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance duties to trek down to SXSW in support of SXFantastic entry The FP -- a film he describes as "a Jerry Bruckheimer action movie from the '80s" where said action is Dance Dance Revolution. His ties to the indie action-comedy trace back to his close circle of filmmaking friends: Director Brandon Trost is a frequent DP and collaborator to Taylor and partner Mark Neveldine, while actors from Neveldine + Taylor's Crank films also show up in The FP. Taylor rung up Movieline to share his love for The FP gang via phone along with details on Ghost Rider 2's new origin story, Crank 3, and how one might go about filming a 3D movie... on the iPhone.
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The great thing about the massive program at the SXSW Film Festival, which starts this week, is that it runs so deep and it takes so many chances, whether on up-and-coming directors, megastars in need of PR miracles (looking at you, Mel), or random collaborations between artists so awesome, the mere idea of them working together blows your mind (four words: Die Antwoord + Harmony Korine). But many of these folks have a lot riding on their SXSW debuts. Movieline names 10 films and filmmakers with something big prove this week in Austin.
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