January 18, 2014 – LFM: Libertas Film Magazine

LFM Reviews Locke @ The 2014 Sundance Film Festival

By Joe Bendel. This film would not have been possible twenty-five years ago. Without the advent of cell phones, a long dark night of the soul spent on England’s motorways would not offer much drama. Fortunately, Ivan Locke is a plugged-in guy, but he will suffer through a series of uncomfortable calls in Steven Knight’s Locke, which screens during this year’s Sundance Film Festival.

Locke is a construction supervisor who takes pride in doing things the right way. However, he has made a mistake that will be hard to put right. Acknowledging his responsibility, Locke is driving to London, where a woman who is not his wife will soon enter into labor. This is a really bad time for it. In addition to fielding tough questions from his wife and their two sons, Locke is expected to oversee the pouring of the concrete foundation for a major new high rise. Having gone AWOL, Locke is pretty much fired, but he is determined to guide his loyal subordinate Donal through the process, for the sake of the project. Of course, complications arise, at the work site, the hospital, and the home front.

If nothing else, Locke should go down in history as the definitive film on the intricacies of concrete construction techniques. It really is educational. Happily, it also has Tom Hardy, putting on an acting clinic behind the wheel of Locke’s BMW. He goes through a full spectrum of emotions, but he never indulgences in cheap Streepian histrionics. This is a performance that pulls viewers into the man’s psyche, rather than obsessing over ticks and twitches.

Even though Locke is essentially a one man show, Hardy gets some nice assists from a talented voice cast literally phoning in their supporting turn. Andrew Scott (Moriarty in the BBC-PBS Sherlock) is a particular stand out as Donal, often delivering some welcome and effective comic relief.

Best known as the Oscar nominated screenwriter of Dirty Pretty Things, Knight deserved considerably more attention for his directorial debut, Redemption, starring a misty-eyed Jason Statham. Clearly he has an affinity for noirish tales of nocturnal angst and desperation. Indeed, Knight’s execution is surprisingly stylish, never feeling stagey or contrived. In fact, there is something rather hypnotic about the constant play of head lights and reflections captured by cinematographer Haris Zambarloukos’s three mounted digital cameras. Deceptively simple, Locke is a film of considerable depth and integrity of character. Recommended for general audiences, it screens again tomorrow (1/19), Friday (1/24), and Saturday (1/25) in Park City, as well as Thursday (1/23) in Salt Lake, as part of the 2014 Sundance Film Festival.

LFM GRADE: B+

Posted on January 18th, 2014 at 5:48pm.

LFM Reviews Dinosaur 13 @ The 2014 Sundance Film Festival

By Joe Bendel. Practice paleontology, go directly to jail. That is the Federal government’s idea of justice. Frankly, it should hardly surprise us anymore, but viewers will still be shocked and appalled at a multi-agency smack-down that targeted a beleaguered independent fossil hunter. It all started with a T-Rex named Sue. Todd Douglas Miller chronicles the thrill of discover and the agony of government persecution in Dinosaur 13, which screens during the 2014 Sundance Film Festival.

Until 1990, the few collected tyrannosaur skeletons were only 40% intact, at best. Sue was about 80% intact, including the s-word, “skull.” She was named in honor of the woman who found her, Susan Hendrickson, a friend volunteering on a private dig organized by Peter and Neal Larson, paleontologist brothers who operated a for-profit fossil collection agency. They painstakingly excavated Sue and successfully began the early preservation process. Their idea was to keep Sue the T-Rex in economically depressed Hill City, South Dakota, using her to anchor their planned natural history museum. Then one fateful day, the FBI swept in with search warrant and the state National Guard confiscated the fragile fossil.

What follows is an absolute horror story of abuse of power, malicious prosecution, and state sponsored plunder. Unfortunately, the Larsons had been prospecting on the land of the thoroughly shady Maurice Williams, with his full permission. They had duly purchased Sue from Williams, but as a member of the local tribe, Williams’ land was held in trust by the Federal government, which led to rather murky circumstances when Williams decided to reclaim Sue. Naturally, the Federal government fell in line behind Williams, with the IRS quickly ganging up on the Larsons. As the legal battle dragged out, the Feds and the presiding judge grew increasingly vindictive.

Miller’s film raises a number of issues beyond the obvious injustice of an innocent paleontologist sentenced to the same maximum security Federal pen incarcerating Timothy McVeigh. Anyone involved in natural resource industries in the west understands how the vast extent of Federal holdings creates bureaucratic nightmare. However, one of the most fascinating aspects of Dino 13 (deserving more time) is the way university academics joined forces with the government in their contempt for scrappy private sector fossil hunters like the Larsons.

By documentary standards, Dino 13 boasts a rather classy package, incorporating cinematographer Thomas Petersen’s striking Black Hills vistas and composer Matt Morton’s distinctive score. Yet, the film has a muckraking heart. Miller completely convinces viewers a crime was committed in South Dakota and the Larsons were the victims.

Indeed, it is hard to mistake the nature of the persecution that was started by an interim Bush I U.S. Attorney and intensified under his Clinton-appointed successor, given the conspicuous absence of government players willing to sit for an interview. Only one former IRS agent has the guts to try to defend their actions, failing miserably. As a result, you do not have to be a diehard Objectivist to view the Sue T-Rex battle as an attack on free enterprise, driven by greed and vanity. Thoughtfully constructed and dramatically potent, Dinosaur 13 is recommended for all doc watchers when it screens again today (1/18) in Salt Lake, as well as this Tuesday (1/21) and Friday (1/24) in Park City during the 2014 Sundance Film Festival.

LFM GRADE: A-

Posted on January 18th, 2014 at 5:55pm.

LFM Reviews Elliot @ The 2014 Slamdance Film Festival

By Joe Bendel. Did the recent death of Tom Laughlin leave a vacancy for Elliot “White Lightning” Scott to become the next white, working class martial arts star? No, absolutely not. Although he aspires to be the Nova Scotian Chuck Norris, Scott’s barely-there career is only headed in one direction—due south. Viewers will understand why after watching Jaret Belliveau & Matthew Bauckman’s documentary Elliot, which premiered yesterday at the 2014 Slamdance Film Festival.

With two scruffy DIY martial arts flicks under his belt, Scott is trying to complete his most ambitious project to date, a beatdown entitled Blood Fight. Unfortunately, the production has been plagued by problems that initially do seem to be entirely his fault. Nevertheless, Linda Lum, his increasingly impatient girlfriend-slash-producer is clearly starting to have doubts about his action movie dreams and pretty much every other aspect of their relationship.

Frankly, Barney Fife had better moves than Scott, but for a while viewers will try to see him as noble dreamer, like an Ed Wood or Mark Borchardt, whose ambitions exceed their talents. However, this is not American Movie. While in China with his acupuncture class, Scott lets his yellow fever run rampant. Aspects of his not so carefully constructed backstory then start to unravel. In fact, by the time the documentary enters the third act, Belliveau and Bauckman have pretty clearly turned against their subject, which becomes quite a sight to behold.

Things get so in-your-face uncomfortable, you have to wonder if it is all an extended meta-joke in the tradition of I’m Still Here. Either way, it is dramatic stuff and a not inconsiderable feat of filmmaking, shot on location in both Nova Scotia and China. There is also a lot of humor in the film, mostly derived from Scott’s sheer brazenness and lack of self awareness.

Scott’s martial arts might be laughably amateurish (an underwhelmed Shaolin monk is obviously tempted to beat him like a drum and we sort of wish he would), but Belliveau & Bauckman practice a decidedly nimble form of cinematic jujitsu. Not exactly a film for martial art purists, Elliot is sort of like Kung Fu reality programming. Right now, the late legendary Sir Run Run Shaw is probably looking down on Scott and thinking “kid, you stink.” Yet, it is all undeniably compelling. Although it screens as part of Slamdance’s Doc Features section, it could be comfortably programmed elsewhere as a midnight movie. Recommended for anyone open to a bit of Canadian bizarreness, Elliot screens again this Monday (1/20) as part of this year’s Slamdance in Park City.

LFM GRADE: B+

Posted on January 18th, 2014 at 5:41pm.

LFM Reviews Ernest and Celestine @ The 2014 Sundance Film Festival

By Joe Bendel. Yesterday was a happy morning for a Belgian bear and mouse. Based on Gabrielle Vincent’s children’s books, it was always considered another serious animated Oscar contender from GKIDS – and on top of its Academy nomination, Benjamin Renner, Stéphane Aubier & Vincent Patar’s Ernest and Celestine now also holds the distinction of being one of the first two films selected for the inaugural Sundance Kids section at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival, which kicked off Thursday night in Park City.

Bears live above ground, in a human-like state of middle class respectability. The mice live below, toiling away in a Dickensian subterranean city. Neither Ernest the busking bear nor Celestine the artistic mouse fit comfortably within their respective communities. Like most mice, Celestine is expected to scavenge coveted bear’s teeth from the surface world for the mice dentists, who sit atop the social order down below. Naturally, she is terrible at it. However, a chance encounter with Ernest leads to some rare cross-species collaboration—teeth for Celestine and food for Ernest.

Alas, word of their scandalous association leads to pariah status for them both. Yet, for a while they live happily together as outlaws in Ernest’s remote forest bungalow. Of course, neither the world of mice nor bears will be content until they are apprehended. Still, that will be the best opportunity for E&C to teach them a lesson in tolerance.

ErnestCelestine2 — From "Ernest and Celestine."

E&C’s hand-drawn animation has an elegant, old European feel that is refreshingly nostalgic. While sometimes the message is laid on with a heavy hand, the vibe is usually quite gentle and sweet. Frankly, one would never expect such a graceful and well intentioned film from Aubier and Patar, the team behind the anarchic bedlam of the Town Called Panic franchise, but here it is—and it is indeed a fine work of animation. Their figures are expressive and endearing, but not cloyingly cute. Jazz cellist Vincent Courtois’s lightly buoyant score also reinforces the sophisticated atmosphere.

While only the celebrity English version of C&E will play at Sundance (featuring Forest Whitaker as Ernest), its announced March release will also include select subtitled screenings of the original French (with Lambert Wilson gruffly giving voice to Ernest). Visually it is an absolute charmer and the characterization is strong enough to overcome the not so subtle teaching moments. Recommended for all children and fans of animation, Ernest and Celestine screens this Saturday (1/18) and next Saturday (1/25) in Park City, as well as this Sunday (1/19) in Salt Lake, as part of this year’s Sundance Film Festival.

LFM GRADE: B

Posted on January 18th, 2014 4:17pm.

LFM Reviews Whiplash @ The 2014 Sundance Film Festival

By Joe Bendel. The late lamented IAJE’s annual conference-jazz gathering used to be such a breath of fresh air, because you could see the enthusiasm young high school kids have for America’s great original musical art form. In the case of Andrew Neiman, there is a dark side to that passion—personified by a ruthlessly manipulative band director. There will literally be blood on the drum kit in Damien Chazelle’s Whiplash, an opening night selection of the 2014 Sundance Film Festival.

If the nebbish Neiman and the Mephistophelean Terence Fletcher sound familiar, it is because they first appeared in Chazelle’s proof-of-concept short, which won the short film jury award at last year’s Sundance and went on to screen at NYFF. Concept proved. That harrowing trial-by-fire is replayed in the feature length Whiplash with a new Neiman, but the irreplaceable J.K. Simmons returns as Fletcher.

Forget Simmons’ character in Oz—Fletcher is far scarier. He out Buddy Riches Buddy Rich. Unfortunately, as the director of a Juliard-like music college’s concert jazz big band, he holds tremendous power to help or hinder aspiring musicians. Needless to say, when Neiman gets his first supposed shot playing with Fletcher’s Studio Band, it is a disaster. Of course, the kid is set-up to fail when he is thrown head first into Hank Levy’s “Whiplash,” a chart that looks like differential equations translated into Sanskrit. However, Neiman craves Fletcher’s approval so badly, he will work his fingers to the bone practicing the twisty flag-waver.

Whiplash the short was a nifty piece of jazz-informed filmmaking, but it exceeds all expectations as a feature. Once again, Simmons is the engine making it all run. His Fletcher is a natural cinematic successor to R. Lee Ermy’s drill sergeant in Full Metal Jacket and Jack Nicholson’s Col. Jessup in A Few Good Men—for real. Yet, there is a reason for his abusive-borderline sociopathic behavior. Even more than in the predecessor short, Chazelle’s full length script and Simmons’ performance make it clear Fletcher is always true to the music in his fashion.

While some might be troubled by Fletcher’s homophobic taunts (actually, you’re sort of supposed to be), this is the one area jazz has not historically been a trailblazer for tolerance. Indeed, many have compared big band outfits to military units and viewers can understand how so from many scenes in Whiplash.

To his credit, Miles Teller also really digs in as Neiman. There is nothing cute or quirky about his work. In fact, it is downright painful watching him cower and cringe. He also looks convincing with the sticks. Chazelle, the former jazz drummer, probably gave him a few pointers. After all, Whiplash is based on his own experiences with a martinet bandleader (loosely so, we can only hope).

Frankly, Chazelle has done the near impossible, getting Sony to care about jazz. It is sort of a coming of age story, but it does not exactly wrap things up in a neat little bow. Regardless, it is a major statement from Chazelle. He really opens it up as a director, staging an unusually dynamic and dramatic climatic concert. By the same token, his script rings with truth and attitude, particularly for those who are in anyway familiar with jazz education. The result is a smart, stylish film that swings like mad. Highly recommended, Whiplash screens again today (1/17), Wednesday (1/22), and Thursday (1/23) in Park City and Saturday (1/18) in Salt Lake as part of the 2014 Sundance Film Festival.

LFM GRADE: A

Posted on January 18th, 2014 at 4:13pm.

LFM Reviews R100 @ The 2014 Sundance Film Festival

By Joe Bendel. Even though filming is not even wrapped on the questionable movie adaptation of Shades of Grey, Hitoshi Matsumoto has already mashed-up the S&M melodrama genre beyond human recognition. From Japan, we have a cautionary, surreal meta-meta postmodern bondage conspiracy tale, while Hollywood is banking on a dude who wears grey ties. How quaint. In the mean time, Matsumoto subverts perversion throughout R100, which screens during the 2014 Sundance Film Festival.

Takafumi Katayama is a drab and depressed working drone who needs to unwind a little. He thinks he has found just the ticket when he joins a mysterious club for submissive men. At first, he gets the release he is seeking when the black-clad women meet him at their scheduled rendezvouses to beat him about and smash his sushi rolls (that’s not a euphemism). However, when they start showing up at his home and work, matters turn a distinctly charcoal shade of grey.

As each dominatrix escalates their encounters, Katayama starts to fear for his life and the safety of his young son and father-in-law. Then things get really weird, but not do bother complaining about logical inconsistencies. The film will provide that commentary itself.

Strictly speaking, there is no nudity or sex in R100, but it is absolutely, positively not for kids. The title is a play on the Japanese motion picture rating system that could be roughly translated as NC-100 for American audiences—and not for nothing. Yet, the film definitely seems to suggest you are begging for trouble if you go out looking for something on the deviant side of life.

Regardless, R100 careens so defiantly over the top, parsing its symbolic layers and potential take-away teachings becomes a head-spinning endeavor. If any of this film sounds problematic, then you should probably avoid R100 because there is way more of whatever it is that troubles you than we’ve covered so far. On the other hand, cult cinema connoisseurs looking for a new and distinctive head trip will find it here. Imagine Eyes Wide Shut transported to the world of Quentin Dupieux’s Rubber and you will start to get the idea.

Nao Omori perfectly anchors the film as the existentially put-upon Katayama. Just looking at him sort of makes you want to smack him alongside the head. However, he handles the character’s strange evolution with understated power. As his son Arashi, Haruki Nishimoto distinguishes himself as an unusually engaging young actor. Fortunately, his classmates will not be able to see R100 for a while and hopefully he will not have to take much taunting over it in later years.

R100 pushes the envelope, but it never skitters into irredeemably disturbing territory. Indeed, at some point the macro insanity trumps all of the dominant/submissive game-playing. Although decidedly one-sided, there is also some decent fight choreography in the first act for action fans. Recommended for exclusively adventurous viewers (but rather forcefully for them), R100 screens Sunday (1/19) and Tuesday (1/21) in Park City as well as this Monday (1/20) in Sundance Resort as part of this year’s Sundance Film Festival.

LFM GRADE: B+

Posted on January 18th, 2014 at 4:05pm.