Month: September 2013

By Joe Bendel. Nobody opens a comic shop to make their fortune or impress women. The co-owner of Deadhead Comics in Edinburgh is doing particularly poorly on both scores, but his knowledge of early superheroes will help him navigate a caper involving an ultra-rare comic in David Barras’s Electric Man, which releases today on DVD, with a VOD launch to follow this Friday.

Jason “Jazz” Archer is the responsible one. His partner Wolf is the unlikely goofball ladies man. They were kind of sort of making a go of it with their comic shop, but now find themselves on the hook for 5,000 pounds worth of repairs. That sum is simply beyond their means, but they carry on hoping lightning will strike out of the blue, which it does.

Electric Man (a.k.a. Edison Bolt) predated the Man of Steel by one year. A gritty depression era hero (whose origin story is related in the cool motion comic opening credit sequence), his premiere issue regularly fetches 100,000 pounds at auctions. At their latest comic show, someone stashed a stolen copy of Electric Man #1 in their boxes. Hoping for a business-saving finder’s fee, Archer attempts to track down the rightful owner. The trail leads him to Lauren McCall, the mysterious daughter of a wealthy collector, her thuggish uncle, and a slightly cracked American Electric Man fanatic.

Electric is an affectionately knowing valentine to geeky cult culture, choked full of clever references and a generous helping of local Edinburgh color. Shot for pocket change, its cast is a bit of a mixed bag, but Toby Manley is engagingly earnest as Archer. Likewise, Jennifer Ewing (online host of Crazy Sexy Geeks) has the right look and presence of a comic convention femme fatale. As the scheming Uncle Jimmy, Derek Dick (a.k.a. Fish) looks and sounds like he could have stepped out of a Ken Loach movie, which is a good thing in this context. Unfortunately, Mark McKirdy is rather annoyingly shticky as Wolf, never convincingly realizing his supposed scruffy charms on-screen.

Despite the occasional limitations of cast and resources, Electric is a light hearted romp that consistently inspires gentle chuckles rather than gut-busting laughs. A refreshing respite from special effects, gross out humor, and grimy social realism, Electric Man should amply please its target ComicCon demographic. Recommended for comic readers and fans of understated indie comedies, Electric Man is now available on DVD and hits VOD this Friday (9/13), via FilmBuff’s platforms.

LFM GRADE: B

Posted on September 10th, 2013 12:30pm.

By Joe Bendel. In a country where women are forbidden to drive cars and movie theaters are prohibited, this is obviously a significant two-fer. Not only is it considered the first feature film produced entirely in Saudi Arabia, it was also directed by a woman. (It should be noted that the film was partly backed one of the prince’s companies, lest you suspect that the Zionist conspiracy was working overtime.) It might not drag Saudi Arabia into the modern world, but at least Haifaa Al Mansour’s Wadjda is a good film well worth seeing when it opens this Friday in New York.

Ten year old Wadjda’s attends a hardline Islamist girls’ school that has little to teach beyond the Koran. Bless her heart, she is a terrible student, but obviously much more interesting than her docile classmates. Everyone is rather surprised when she enrolls in the school’s Koran reciting competition, but she has plans for the prize money. She is determined to buy the sparkling new green bicycle that caught her eye.

Of course, biking is strictly not allowed for girls. After all, those narrow seats might rob them of their virtue. Seriously, that is the justification. Nevertheless, Wadjda convinced her neighborhood friend Abdullah to secretly teach her how to ride his bike. Thanks to the circumstances of her family life, she will have plenty of time to spend with him. Her loving mother works on the other side of town, forced to rely on her surly driver to shuttle her back and forth. In contrast, Wadjda’s father is an infrequent presence in her life. He lives with his mother, who seems to be plotting a second marriage for her son. Wadjda’s mother lives in fear of this nuclear option.

Wadjda is a gentle coming of age story, but it is bursting with telling moments. Perhaps the greatest eye-opener is the extent to which women, such as Wadjda’s shrewish head mistress Ms. Hussa, enable and promote their society’s institutionalized misogyny. Time and again, Wadjda’s mother faces major dramas over what would be mere day-to-day chores for women in the west, because of her gender restrictions. It is also hard to see what use Wadjda’s Islamist education will ever be, but that is obviously the whole point.

Nonetheless, both Wadjda and Abdullah (played by Waad Mohammed and Abdullrahmin Algohani, respectively) represent the promise of youth. Given her extensive screen time, Mohammed is particularly impressive, largely carrying the film with aplomb, but they are both immensely likable, blessed with natural screen charisma. Watching their chemistry develop gives viewers hope, but they are only two kids.

While Wadjda the film is understandably small in scope, there are considerable stakes involved for mother and daughter alike. Monsour tells a timely and compelling story with a sure directorial hand and a sensitive touch.Indeed, the indomitable Wadjda is a remarkably engaging character who ought to win over art house audiences. Highly recommended, particularly for those interested in global women’s rights issues, Wadjda opens this Friday (9/13) in New York at the Lincoln Plaza Cinema.

LFM GRADE: A-

Posted on September 9th, 2013 at 3:44pm.

By Joe Bendel. In North Korea, loyalty is only for the little people. In contrast, the state owes them nothing for their faithful service and sacrifice. A trio of DPRK sleeper spies learns this lesson the hardest way possible in Jang Cheol-soo’s Secretly Greatly, which the Korean Cultural Service will screen for free this Tuesday in New York.

Won Ryu-hwan is one of the most lethal commandos ever forged by the North Korean military. Folks in a sleepy South Korean town know him as Bang Dong-gu, the village idiot. To maintain his deep cover, Won follows a strict regimen, such as regularly being seen in public doing both number one and number two. It is a real bummer for Won when the lovely Yu Yu-ran sees him doing his duty (if you will), but at least he will have some comrades to commiserate with when two new sleepers arrive in town.

Lee Hae-rang is supposed to be a hipster-rocker, but he cannot play the simplest of chords. However, he is well connected as the illegitimate son of a high ranking general. On the other hand, Ri Hae-jin makes a convincing high school student, because he is still a teenager. Of the three, only Ri has seen any action, carrying out the assassinations of several defectors.

With the change at the top of the regime, the sleeper agents suddenly look like a potential liability, resulting in a general self-termination order. Of course, Won will do anything his government demands, but first he has the gall to ask for some assurance the Party will take care of the beloved mother he has not seen for years. Right, do you want the bad news first or the really bad news. Regardless, his old commander Kim Tae-won has been dispatched to personally handle the three newly dubbed “traitors.”

Based on a web-comic, Secretly is unusually forthright about the nature of the Communist North. Characters often refer to work camps as a punishing fact of life. Yet, it also portrays the soul crushing impact of the lifetime of propaganda Won has absorbed and still desperately clings to. Nevertheless, the first half of the film mostly hits comedic notes, often approaching outright slapstick.

Of course, when the DPRK turns on its former heroes, the film pivots into much darker territory. When it is finally go time, action coordinator Park Jeong-ryul delivers some spectacularly cinematic but seriously down-and-dirty fight scenes. Bear in mind, Secretly was a blowout hit at the Korean box office, so you can also expect some tragedy down the stretch, but that is also rather realistic. Pyongyang does not do happily-ever-afters.

Kim Soo-hyun fully commits himself to Dong-gu’s cringy humiliations, perhaps even overdoing it a tad. Still, he is a credible action figure when Won gets down to business. Park Ki-woong is a bit more restrained as would be rocker Lee, while Son Hyun-joo is all kinds of badness as the conspicuously scarred military heavy. Although is a small supporting role, Lee Chae-young also has some fine moments as the town tramp, nicely bringing out Dong-gu’s inner tensions.

Secretly has no illusions about the dehumanizing nature of the DPRK, but it is not so crazy about the ROK government, either. Arguably, the most sympathetic figure of officialdom is Kim Soo-hyuk, the unreconstructed but fundamentally decent cold warrior charged with capturing the sleeper spies. Altogether it is a strange mix of broad comedy, gritty action, and cynical intrigue that works far better than it might sound. Recommended for fans of spy vs. spy beatdowns, Secretly Greatly screens tomorrow (9/10) at the Tribeca Cinemas, free of charge, courtesy of the Korean Cultural Service in New York.

LFM GRADE: B+

Posted on September 9th, 2013 at 3:35pm.

By Joe Bendel. It was a simpler, analog time when assistants were called secretaries. They were always women, but they were considered “modern” women. Régis Roinsard pays tribute to the women in the late 1950’s workforce and the romantic comedies of their era with Populaire, which opens today in New York.

Rose Pamphyle longs to leave her sleepy provincial village for a big city job as a sophisticated secretary. She makes it as far as Lisieux, the nearest sizable city, for an interview with Louis Échard’s small but respectable insurance company. Frankly, she lacks most of the skills required for the position, except typing—sort of. Even with two fingers she is a speed demon.

Recognizing Pamphyle’s raw talent, Échard decides to forgo her dubious clerical assistance so he can train her full time as a competitive speed typist. Échard is considerably more intense as a coach than Pamphyle is as his protégée. She has other concerns, inevitably developing strong feelings of attraction for the suave former resistance fighter. Of course, he seems to have a hard time recognizing his perfect rom-com match.

Fully stocked with stylish circa-1959 trappings, Populaire is bound to be compared to Mad Men, but it largely replaces the zeitgeisty angst with old fashioned romance. Still, it also provides a mostly affectionate time capsule look at a time when Pamphyle was considered rather bold for pursuing an office career and smoking in the office was no big deal. Just seeing the cross-the-body manual return is a vivid reminder how much has changed in the last fifty-some years. Frankly, for some younger viewers, Pamphyle might as well be chiseling in stone.

While Populaire is a bright and colorful period piece (thanks to first rate contributions from cinematographer Guilaume Schiffman, production designer Sylvie Olivé, and costume designer Charlotte David), but it has some real heart beneath the froth. Déborah François brings an acute sensitivity to Pamphye. Her romantic chemistry with Romain Duris’s Échard is believably awkward but still smolders. Yet, perhaps the most emotionally resonate moments involve his scenes with The Artist’s Bérénice Béjo as Marie Taylor, the lover he pushed away during the war for reasons of self denial. She is an unexpectedly deep character, fully brought to life by Béjo in her comparatively limited screen time.

Populaire is pleasing to the eye and the ear, including some charming cha-cha-chas about typing, as well as timeless standards from the likes of Ella Fitzgerald. It is not a big picture in any sense, but it goes down smooth and leaves audiences satisfied. Recommended for a fans of French cinema and retro romantic comedies, Populaire opens today (9/6) in New York at the Village East.

LFM GRADE: B

Posted on September 6th, 2013 at 1:34pm.