Day: July 22, 2013

An Animated Fable That Shines: LFM Reviews Moon Man; Now Available on Tribeca VOD

By Joe Bendel. This has to be the most endearing dystopia you will ever see. One can understand why the Man in the Moon came down for a visit, but he will need a little getting home in Stephan Schesch’s animated feature, Moon Man, which launches Tuesday on Tribeca Films’ VOD platform.

The President (presumably for life) has finally conquered the last little island on Earth free of his control. Yet, it hardly seems to matter to one little girl and her father. They are following their regular routine—a drive-in movie, followed by burgers from a 1950’s style drive-through. Then her father cruises home with the top down while she curls up in the back seat with a blanket and the loyal family pooch.

Tonight, though, something is amiss. The Moon Man is not looking down at her as he should be. Like other children around the world, she is usually reassured by the sight of him up there. (However, grown-ups somehow grow oblivious to him.) Getting a bit bored, the Moon Man hitched a ride on a comet, but it was a one-way ticket. To get back, he seeks the help of Bunsen van der Dunkel, a Rip Van Winkle scientist who has slept through the President’s rise to glory. As it happens, the President also seeks the legendary inventor’s help in developing a rocket to facilitate his conquest of the moon. You get the idea.

First of all, Moon Man is basically right in line with what would be my approach to parenting, if only there were more drive-in movie theaters. Based on Tomi Ungerer’s children’s book, Schesch’s adaptation is unflaggingly sweet and gentle, but one can pick up on the author’s sly sensibilities. Indeed, the constant lampooning of the pompous President definitely follows in the tradition of Chaplin’s Great Dictator and subsequent satires.

From "Moon Man."

Happily, he has not really gotten down to oppressive business yet. This is a bright, vibrant world, filled with flowers and vintage convertibles. In fact, the hand-drawn animation is like a breath of fresh air compared to the computer-generated-focus-grouped tent-poles released by the studios. It looks great and it perfectly suits the secondary theme of adults learning to see the world as kids again.

Frankly, the weakest link in Moon Man is the Moon Man. The innocent, Ziggy-looking fellow does not have much personality, but the world around him compensates for him. There are some clever bits involving the President and van der Dunkel and the soundtrack is inspired, including Louis Armstrong’s rendition of “Moon River.”

Moon Man has a healthy supply of idealism with the right subversive garnish. Schesch keeps the mood light and airy, even when the chips are down, maintaining a pleasant medium-up-tempo pace. Good fun recommended for eyes and ears of all ages, Moon Man is now available on VOD from Tribeca Films.

LFM GRADE: B+

Posted on July 22nd, 2013 at 11:30pm.

Christian Slater Maintains Protocol: LFM Reviews Stranded

By Joe Bendel. In space, no one can hear you getting chewed out. Frankly, this crew has it coming. You might think scientists would be careful about contagions, but evidently not. Perhaps the semi-competency of their military commander will keep some of them alive in Roger Christian’s Stranded, which opens this Friday in New York.

A small four-person moon-base is a terrible place to be surprised by a meteor shower. That much we can buy. Suffering damage to their power generators and life support systems, Col. Gerard Brauchman’s crew hastens to make repairs. While outside the station, Eva Cameron notices strange glowing spores covering the meteors, so naturally she carries one back inside, in gross violation of station protocol and basic common sense. While she and Dr. Lance Krause analyze it, one of the test tubes breaks in their centrifuge, so naturally she starts digging around in there with her finger. Before you know it, she is spectacularly pregnant with the alien demon spawn—and then just as suddenly she is not.

Cameron and Bruce Johns, the station engineer and resident drunk, know her alien offspring is out there, wreaking havoc. Yet Brauchman and Krause dismiss their warnings, assuming they are just suffering from CO² induced hallucinations. Indeed, Stranded repeatedly explains the symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning with impressive thoroughness, so at least it fulfills its public service mandate. Despite all the flak Brauchman takes for sticking by the book, the film also suggests that breaking protocol is a really bad idea.

If Stranded sounds like an Alien wannabe, take into consideration the fact that Christian was nominated for an Academy Award for his art direction on Ridley Scott’s beloved sci-fi horror classic, so maybe he has the right to rip himself off. Christian had previously won an Oscar as an art director on Star Wars (before it was known as A New Hope). His short film The Dollar Bottom also won an Oscar and his previous fantasy short Black Angel screened before The Empire Strikes Back during its initial run in the UK and Australia. To temper your growing optimism, bear in mind Christian also directed the notorious Battlefield Earth.

That is some career, but with Stranded, he lights out into clear-cut b-movie territory. Christian makes a virtue of necessity, emphasizing the claustrophobia of his limited set and the mounting tension within his small ensemble. To an extent, the quartet’s constant bickering and back-biting gives the film a bit of character. Still, there is no getting around the conspicuous carelessness of their actions and the cardboard dimensions of their characterizations.

Frankly, Christian Slater is not bad as Col. Brauchman, largely avoiding his typical tics and shtick. Brendan Fehr comes across reasonably credibly as Dr. Krause. However, it is hard to believe a basket case like Michael Therriault’s Johns could ever pass muster for a mission like this. As Cameron, Amy Matysio is similarly stuck with a problematic character, solely distinguished by head-scratching acts of stupidity.

If Stranded were playing at an old school drive-in, it would be easy to recommend. On some level, dumb mayhem is always diverting, but Manhattan movie ticket prices demand considerably more than that. Those who might be interested solely because of Christian’s past work should note his long presumably lost Black Angel has been found and some sort of online distribution is expected in the near future. That is probably the film to wait for. Basically a time killer for woozy weekend viewing, Stranded opens this Friday (7/26) in New York at the AMC Empire and will also be available on iTunes.

LFM GRADE: C-

Posted on July 22nd, 2013 at 11:29pm.

Working Class Caper: LFM Reviews Wasteland

By Joe Bendel. These scruffy lads are nothing like Raffles the gentleman thief, but their intended target is a real knuckle-dragger. A recently released ex-con and his mates put a working class spin on the movie caper in Rowan Athale’s crackerjack Wasteland (trailer here), which opens this Friday in New York.

Given that the film starts in media res with our protagonist in a police interrogation room, it would seem that the caper wasn’t very successful. However, there will be several twists to the tale the black-and-blue Harvey tells Detective Inspector West. Six weeks ago, he was released on parole. Framed on drug charges by Steve Roper, poor Harvey was a bone the local gang lord threw to the coppers to distract them from his own narcotics business. None too happy about it, Harvey plans to use information he overheard in prison to get some payback and seed money for a new life abroad.

Ostensibly, Roper has no connections to the neighborhood social club, making the basement office safe the ideal place to stash his illicit cash. Of course, Harvey cannot take it alone. He will recruit three friends: Dempsey the fast talker, Dodd the hard drinking goon, and Charlie the momma’s-boy welder. He makes a point of not involving his ex-girl friend Nicola, but he still rekindles their relationship in spite of his better judgment.

Although Timothy Spall only appears as DI West in the wrap-around narrative device, his rumpled gravitas lends the film instant credibility right from the start. In fact, Athale has assembled quite an accomplished cast of recognizable but not necessarily famous faces. Despite his unprepossessing screen presence, Luke Treadaway is suitably world weary as Harvey, whereas Iwan Rheon’s Dempsey is a slyly roguish standout (even if some of his dialogue is hard for American viewers to catch without subtitles). Again projecting a sense of banal menace, Kill List’s Neil Maskell makes another beefy but intense villain as Roper, looking quite at home in this gritty milieu.

As caper movies go, Wasteland is decidedly moody, but it is never slack. For a first time helmer, Athale ushers in each reversal and revelation with an assured touch. Frankly, it turns into an out-and-out crowd-pleaser, while staying true to its working class roots. Thoroughly satisfying, Wasteland is highly recommended for caper fans and viewers of Ken Loach’s more accessible films (like Angels’ Share). It opens this Friday (7/26) in New York at the Cinema Village.

LFM GRADE: A-

Posted on July 22nd, 2013 at 11:27pm.

LFM Reviews Keye Luke, More Than a Face in the Crowd @ The Asian American International Film Festival

By Joe Bendel. Joe Dante’s Gremlins has a strange significance at this year’s Asian American International Film Festival. Two docu-shorts profile actors who worked on the film. In a way, Keye Luke and Jane Chung represent opposite sides of the same coin. Both did their best to navigate the studio system at a time when Hollywood was not particularly hospitable to Asian American talent. While Chung worked steadily but anonymously in small roles, Luke became famous as Kato and Charlie Chan’s Number One Son. Timothy Tau allows Luke to speak for himself in his short docudrama, Keye Luke, which screens as part of the Into the Penumbra short film program at this year’s Asian American International Film Festival (AAIFF).

Reflecting on his life, Luke addresses the audience in a manner akin to a stage play. As he reminisces, we see episodes of his life, starting with his early home life, progressing through the double-edged Charlie Chan films, his continuing sidekick-gigging as Kato to the Green Hornet, finally reaching his first starring role in the final Mr. Wong film. Mixing irony and realism, distinctly Anglo actors portray Warner Oland and Sidney Toler, the Swede and the Scot who portrayed Charlie Chan. However, Tau does not hate on the Honolulu detective, acknowledging the franchise represented an opportunity for Asian actors like Luke and his older brother Edwin, albeit a flawed one.

Essentially, Tau argues that Luke did what he could with what the system would give him, eventually becoming a widely respected and recognized character actor, whose credits include quality films like Woody Allen’s Alice. It is quite a reasonable, pragmatic perspective, under-pinning a film that revels in the goofy idiosyncrasies of 1940’s b-movies and serials (the Secret Agent X-9 scene is particularly inspired). Keye Luke also boasts a surprisingly big name cast by short film standards, including ER’s Archie Kao and Bang Bang’s Jessika Van, who all clearly enjoy the retro tribute to the late great Luke.

Fame always eluded filmmaker Sami Chan’s great aunt Jane Chung, but she still enjoyed the business according to those who speak fondly of her in More Than a Face in the Crowd, also screening as part of the Penumbra block. Chung had walk-on or small speaking parts on probably more films and television shows than Michael Caine, but finding her in the frame is usually a challenge. Supposedly, she had a shouting match with Ricky Ricardo, but her family can never find it during their I Love Lucy marathons.

Again, Chan describes how Chung made lemonade out of lemons, finding extra work much more entertaining and rewarding than the sort of part time jobs available to most homemakers in the 1960’s. With credits that include Chinatown, Funny Girl, Flower Drum Song, and When Harry Met Sally, she was a small part of many cinematic milestones.

Although still alive during the production of Crowd, the circumstances of old age prevented her from participating. It is too bad she could not enjoy a taste of wider recognition during her lifetime, but Chan’s short doc is a fitting tribute that also covers some under-examined cinema history with economy and authority. Clocking in just under half an hour, Crowd would be an appropriate programming choice for PBS sometime down the road. For now, it is quite a shrewd selection for AAIFF, especially considering the way it speaks in dialogue with Tau’s Keye Luke. Recommended for movie lovers, More Than a Face in the Crowd and Keye Luke screen this Thursday (7/25) at the Anthology Film Archives during the 2013 AAIFF.

LFM GRADES: B+, B+

Posted on July 22nd, 2013 at 11:26pm.

LFM Reviews The Burning Buddha Man @ The 2013 Fantasia Festival

By Joe Bendel. Where was the Seaddattha when the Bamiyan valley Buddhas were destroyed Afghanistan? Instead, the secret society is plundering Kyoto’s Buddha statues, supposedly for their own protection. However, a young girl quickly learns things are not as they seem in Ujicha’s mind-bending animated feature, The Burning Buddha Man, which screens today as an official selection of the 2013 Fantasia Festival.

Young Beniko is suddenly alone in the world. Her parents, or at least their torsos, disappeared while protecting their temple’s Buddha statue from an uncanny intruder, while the grandmother she never really knew remains in a mystical catatonic state. Enju, a monk who claims to be a friend of the family, welcomes her into his retreat. He explains to the baffled girl how the Seaddattha have perfected matter transference to enable their crime spree. He also introduces her to his son Enji, a carver of Buddha statues, whose techniques might just prevent the sort of fusion tragedies that befell her parents. Then things get really, really weird.

Rendered through a mix of the “gekimation” style of paper cut-out animation and live action (largely reserved for spurting vomit and blood), Burning has an absolutely bizarre look and vibe. Think of it as equal parts H.R. Giger, René Laloux, and South Park. You have never seen a film like this, particularly considering how seriously it treats its Buddhist subject matter, notwithstanding the scatological bits. As Beniko raises her consciousness to battle her powerful nemesis, she seeks not to kill but to reform his corrupted soul. That is a noble sentiment, so good luck with that.

In Burning, the themes and visuals trump bourgeois characterization and narrative cohesion, and it is a massively archetypal head-trip. You would not consider it traditional anime by any stretch, yet one can see hints of shared old school elements when the forces of good and evil fuse themselves into Golem like creatures for the final cosmic battle.

Even though Burning features a resilient young heroine and a respect for both religion and the sanctity of life, it is not exactly appropriate for family viewing. Sure, an occasional head explodes, but the film’s motifs and implications would just be too challenging for mortal parents to explain. Recommended for fans of animation and cult cinema with a taste for the profound and the eccentric, The Burning Buddha Man screens this Monday (7/22) at the J.A. De Seve Theatre as part of this year’s Fantasia Festival. Anyone remotely near Montreal who is in any way intrigued should see it when they can. Those attending the fest should definitely also check out Big Bad Wolves, Black Out, Confession of Murder, Drug War, Ip Man: the Final Fight, It’s Me It’s Me, The Last Tycoon, The Rooftop, Thermae Romae, and When a Wolf Falls in Love with a Sheep. More to come.

LFM GRADE: B+

Posted on July 22nd, 2013 at 3:05pm.

LFM Reviews The Samurai that Night @ The 2013 Japan Cuts

From "The Samurai That Night."

By Joe Bendel. Japan gave the world one of the greatest revenge stories of all time. Sadly, Hollywood is reportedly returning the favor by butchering Keanu’s 47 Ronin into some kind of cheesy Frankenstein’s Monster. It turns out vengeance-taking is a trickier proposition than people realize. A grieving husband understands this only too well in Masaaki Akahori’s The Samurai that Night (trailer here), which screened last night as part of the 2013 Japan Cuts: The New York Festival of Contemporary Japanese Cinema.

Kenichi Nakamura was always socially awkward, but the hit-and-run death of his wife Hisako reduces him to a scant shell of a man. Nearly five years later, Hiroshi Kijima, the violent petty thug responsible for her death, has been released from jail. He is neither reformed nor remorseful, but he is a little unnerved by the daily death threats he receives from Nakamura promising to kill him on the fast approaching anniversary of Hisako’s death. Yet, he still has the presence of mind to use the poison pen letters to extort money from Nakamura’s earnest brother-in-law.

A moodier, slower burner than even the original, misunderstood Death Wish, Samurai hardly gives viewers any consolation whatsoever. Nakamura is a profoundly damaged soul, Kijima is absolutely rotten to the core, and neither is likely to change. Still, agonizingly touching moments spring up in the most surprising places, such as when the rough hewn employees of Nakamura’s metal works express affection for their disintegrating boss.

From "The Samurai that Night."

Far from a genre crowd-pleaser, Samurai vividly depicts the ugly, awkward, and messy realities of violence. Viewers are not likely to forget the climatic showdown, precisely because of the ways it undercuts expectations and payback genre conventions.

As the sweat-drenched, tighty-whitey wearing Nakamura, Masato Sakai fearlessly put himself out there. At times, he is absolutely painful to watch, like a huge open sore picking itself apart on-screen. In contrast, Takayuki Yamada’s Kijima is a study in fiercely controlled aggression. Mercifully, Kinuwo Yamada and Tsutomu Takahashi add a deeply humane dimension to the film as bystanders sympathetic to Nakamura.

You have to admire the integrity of writer-director Akahori’s vision. His unforgiving depiction of human nature never gives his characters anyplace to hide. It is a world of drab colors and humdrum homes that loses nothing in the translation. This is a writer’s film much more than a director’s film, matter-of-factly presenting the angst and cruelty of his characters. Powerfully brought to life by an accomplished cast, The Samurai that Night is highly recommended for those not intimidated by everyday tragedy, as this year’s Japan Cuts concludes at the Japan Society.

LFM GRADE: B

Posted on July 22nd, 2013 at 3:04pm.