Month: June 2013

By Joe Bendel. Is it the end of the world, or is it just Ohio?  Sarah White might be the last girl on Earth and the last man might have found his way to her doorstep. Yet, that does not necessarily mean what you probably think in J.C. Schroder’s Forever’s End, which screened yesterday as part of Dances With Films.

White apparently survived a violent attack when the apocalypse broke out. For the last six years, she has lived completely isolated in her family’s farmhouse, convinced she is Armageddon’s sole survivor. When several stragglers mysteriously arrive in rapid succession, she is confused, frightened, and perhaps a little hopeful. However, deciding who she should trust is difficult for the traumatized young woman.

Serious cult cinema connoisseurs will have a general idea where Forever is heading, but Schroder still keeps viewers wondering just how exactly the pieces will finally fit together. The writer-director-editor-cinematographer establishes an eerie vibe that keeps viewers off-balance, getting a key assist from his Ohio and Kentucky locations, where the apocalypse could happen tomorrow and you’d never notice. (FYI, I joke because I attended a Lutheran liberal arts college not far from where the film was shot.)

Charity Farrell’s Sarah White is convincingly vulnerable and emotionally troubled, but in an engaging rather than showy kind of way. Lili Reinhart has the perfect look for her sisterly protector, projecting all kinds of menace and resentment. Conversely, Warren Bryson’s understatement helps sell his character’s revelations.

A strange hybrid of apocalyptic cinema and the psychological thriller, Forever’s End is a fine example of how an evocative mood and rich mise-en-scène can fortify an inconsistent narrative. Despite its challenging budget constraints, Forever’s End is an impressive looking production. A promising first feature, it is worth checking out when it screens as part of the “Sweet Sixteen” Dances With Films, in Hollywood, California.

LFM GRADE: B

Posted on June 8th, 2013 at 9:50am.

By Joe Bendel. Ray Shekar is no idealist. He is a lawyer. He defends guilty monsters all the time, as long as they pay the piper. His new client can afford his services, but he has trouble reading the Widow Daugherty. The attorney-client relationship will be pushed and pulled all out of shape in Tamas Harangi’s The Advocate, which screens as part of the 2013 edition of Dances with Films in Hollywood, USA.

Considering Shekar’s one hundred percent acquittal rate and the unsavory nature of his customers, he is not likely to be popular with the police. Nursing a particularly personal grudge, Det. Perkins senses an opportunity for payback when the mouthpiece’s most recent client disappears under mysterious circumstances. A similar fate seems to have befallen Daugherty’s husband. When she woke up on their yacht, all that was left of him was a massive pool of blood.

Shekar will pounce on the missing body issue, but the constant dribble of embarrassing revelations will complicate his case. Motivation will not be a problem, though. He is dangerously attracted the Daugherty. However, he cannot determine to his own satisfaction whether she is guilty or not.

Boy, The Advocate sure loves its flashback sequences – but in fairness, there is a method to their madness. Granted, the reverse Jagged Edge concept is well worn territory, but at least Harangi revisits it with conviction. Essentially, Advocate is a lot like the sort of scandal-driven thrillers that often turn up on late night pay cable, except it is surprisingly demur. Even without a lot of naughty bits, the film still pulls viewers in, almost in spite of our better judgment.

In truth, it is rather good fun to watch Harangi drop one shoe after another. Nevertheless, there are head-scratchers strewn throughout, starting with the obvious fact Shekar’s Della Street is considerably more attractive than his femme fatale. Man, that’s just weird. Also, the whole working-out-of-his-house-while-the-office-is-remodeled thing would not inspire a lot of confidence in the real world. Of course, it is probably easier to get a presentable but not palatial pad with a view on the cheap, rather than an L.A Law office suite.

While not wildly charismatic, Sachin Mehta’s Shekar is convincingly smart and driven, which is certainly a good start. As his associate and on-the-wagon investigator, Steffinnie Phromanny and Marc Cardiff, respectively, flesh out the film nicely, adding character and credibility. Unfortunately, the uninspired and uninspiring Kristina Klebe is a conspicuously weak link as Daugherty.

Harangi deserves credit for scrupulously establishing each twist and turn he throws at viewers. Individually, none is especially shocking, but collectively they are rather impressive. The multi-ethnic composition of the cast is also aesthetically appealing, as is the lack of fuss the film makes over it. Oddly entertaining in a B-movie kind of way, The Advocate screens this Saturday (6/8) during Dances with Films ’13 at the Chinese 6 on storied Hollywood Boulevard.

LFM GRADE: B

Posted on June 8th, 2013 at 9:49am.

By Joe Bendel. Tibet is not merely a destination, it is an experience. Still, cycling across the country is taking matters to the extreme. Taiwanese Zhang Shuhao is not the man to do it. Yet, he has very personal reasons for biking from Lijiang to Lhasa in Du Jiayi’s 1 Mile Above, which opened yesterday in New York.

Zhang’s elder brother was the cyclist. Zhang himself is an amateur. However, he resolves to make the trek his recently deceased brother had been training for. Originally conceived as a tribute, it becomes a purification ritual and a struggle to survive. Although some of the local guides try to take advantage of the fish out of water, he has the good fortune to fall in with Chuan. The gruff mainlander is an experienced cyclist, who has made the grueling journey twice before. He also has a keen appreciation of Tibetan culture, especially the cuisine.

Indeed, Mile is at its best when it celebrates the Tibetan people and culture, most definitely including Tibetan Buddhism. As a narrative, Zhang Jialu & Cheng Hsiao-tse’s adaptation of Xie Wanglin’s memoir is fairly standard wilderness survival fare, even when circumstances force Zhang to carry on by himself. Yet, there are a number a genuinely beautiful moments to be found along the way. The scenes with a young Tibetan widow (sensitively portrayed by Li Tao) and her son are so honest and pure, they are guaranteed to choke viewers up. Likewise, an encounter with a silent pilgrim on the road to Lhasa is unusually moving, because it expresses so much without words.

Du and cinematographer Du Jie find all the rough hewn beauty in the faces of hardscrabble Tibetans, while also duly basking in the grandeur of the Himalayas. While the film glosses over many of the contemporary political and cultural challenges Tibetans face, it is still rather forthright regarding the region’s poverty. Frankly, Mile would be a good candidate for the Rubin Museum’s first rate film program.

As Zhang, Bryan Chang is convincing enough in his physical scenes of exhaustion, dehydration, and desperation. However, it is Li Xiaochaun who limns out the most fully developed character, with specific (but not excessively quirky) foibles. Yet it is Li Tao and several of her fellow Tibetan actors who will truly haunt audiences in a bittersweet kind of way.

1 Mile Above runs far deeper than its arresting scenery (which is spectacular, nonetheless). This film will make viewers want to visit Tibet (unfortunately a rather tricky proposition)—and not to simply stare at mountain peaks. Recommended quite highly for those who appreciate spiritually in-the-moment cinema, 1 Mile Above opened yesterday (6/7) in New York, courtesy of Asia Releasing.

LFM GRADE: A-

Posted on June 8th, 2013 at 9:48am.

By Joe Bendel. Franck Adrien is not exactly a touchy feely kind of guy, but he’s still a better father than Will Smith in After Earth, even if he is behind bars. However, he must break out of prison to protect his family from the serial killer who recently shared his cell in Eric Valette’s The Prey, which opens this Friday in New York.

Adrien took the fall for his last heist, but not before he squirreled away the loot. He will not say where, not even when his wife Anna asks. His accomplices ask too, but not so nicely. Of course, Adrien can handle a prison beatdown. Unfortunately, he is incapable of walking away from a fight. When the guards allow a gang of toughs to administer some frontier justice to Adrien’s cellmate, he intercedes in spite of himself. This leads to a mistaken bonding moment. Unfortunately, Adrien realizes just how bad Jean-Louis Maurel truly is soon after he is released on a technicality.

Even though his sentence is nearly up, Adrien must escape for his family’s sake. Already a fugitive, Maurel raises the stakes for his Adrien by framing him for some of his past murders. The detective charged with apprehending him, the ambitious Claire Linné, has a sense that something is wrong with the picture, but all her colleagues are idiots. Adrien finds only one ally, Carrega, the obsessive ex-cop who could never make a case stick against Maurel.

As Adrien, Albert Dupontel gives one of the most hard-nosed, unabashedly masculine performances of the decade. His work has a visceral physicality that allows almost no room for verbalizing. Indeed, his character cannot even seem to growl “I didn’t do it, flic” at Linné. It’s actually quite impressive to behold. This film could never be remade with Robert Pattinson or Leonardo DiCaprio, though Heaven help him, Martin Scorsese might try anyway.

Alice Taglioni’s Linné looks pretty credible in her action sequences too, which is a cool bit of fair play. She also invests her character with refreshing intelligence and professionalism. You want her on the case, but not so much Zinedine Soualem as her dumb copper boss. Sergi López adds some nicely rumpled world weariness as Carrega. As a bonus, there is also Zen’s Caterina Murino in the rather thankless role of Anna Adrien.

Valette stages some nifty fight scenes (Adrien’s prison escape is a particular doozy) and capitalizes on some picturesque backdrops. Tightly paced, The Prey delivers gritty action with an art house luster and a distinctly French sensibility. It should well please genre fans and Francophiles alike when it opens this Friday (6/7) in New York at the AMC Empire.

LFM GRADE: B+

Posted on June 5th, 2013 at 9:49am.