Day: March 13, 2014

Trying to Avoid a Big Fat Iranian Wedding: LFM Reviews Shirin in Love

By Joe Bendel. The affluent members of southern California’s Iranian-American community like to drink, dance, and party. They are way more fun than an army of Brooklyn hipsters, but parents still have very specific ideas about who their grown children should marry. One disorganized writer develops very different notions of her own in Ramin Niami’s Shirin in Love, which opens this Friday in New York.

To be honest, Shirin is more of an aspiring writer, but at least she cranks out book reviews for her overbearing mother Maryam’s lifestyle glossy. She also has trouble holding her liquor—something the sensitive brooder William soon learns first hand, by sheer chance. Having seen her at her sloppiest, he is rather surprised when she turns up in Northern California to interview Rachel Harson, his novelist mom. Both mother and son take a shine to the scatterbrained bombshell, but he is reluctant to admit it. As a further complication, she also happens to have a mother-approved fiancé and he has a mousy long-term girlfriend.

Shirin and William are so obviously head-over-heels, they will do all kinds of negligent things to sabotage their budding relationship. Of course, Shirin’s Mother Dearest is not about to stand by and watch her toss away her engagement to a plastic surgeon. Still, the colorful cast of supporting characters will help keep SIL on a standard rom-com trajectory.

Aside from a benign reference to the old country back-when, writer-director Niami never troubles viewers with dire circumstances of post-Revolutionary Iran, which is fair enough. People have to get on with their lives and Shirin’s family is about as far removed from the Islamist state as you can get. However, lead actress Nazanin Boniadi has evidently seen real life hardships of a different sort. According to Vanity Fair allegations supported by Paul Haggis, she was poorly treated by the Scientology machine when they auditioned her to be a certain actor’s sanctioned squeeze.

From "Shirin in Love."

Frankly, you can’t question his taste. SIL is pretty conventional stuff, but Boniadi just lights up the screen. On paper, her character’s persistent ditziness would look potentially tiresome, but she plays her with real warmth and charisma. She also has some nice scenes with Marshall Manesh as her hen-pecked father, Nader. Letterman’s old stand-up crony George Wallace similarly makes his shtick work as Officer Washington, the gruff old softie with literary ambitions. Amy Madigan is relentlessly earthy and likable as the mothering Harson, but not to an irredeemably annoying extent. However, Riley Smith’s William is so dour and lifeless it is hard to fathom the attraction, even if characters keep telling each other how good looking he supposedly is.

SIL is sort of like a Beverly Hills reality show or sitcom, with some heart and a promising star turn from Boniadi. It is all very bright and frothy, but never delves too deeply into the human condition. Recommended mostly for those looking for an inclusive, non-taxing date movie, Shirin in Love opens this Friday (3/14) in New York at the AMC Empire.

LFM GRADE: C+

Posted on March 13th, 2014 at 8:05pm.

LFM Reviews Patrick: Evil Awakens

By Joe Bendel. He might not be on the tip of every tongue, but Australia’s favorite telekinetic coma patient is one of the few horror movie villains known affectionately by their first names, like Freddy and Jason. He might look easy to outrun, but he has a long paranormal arm. Mark Hartley gives him a dark and stormy rebooting in Patrick: Evil Awakens, which opens this Friday in select theaters.

When brain trauma nurse Kathy Jacquard arrives at the Roget Clinic (a remote sanatorium for persistent vegetative patients that looks like it was designed by the same architect responsible for Norman Bates’ house), Patrick Thompson apparently just lies about, creeping everybody out. Occasionally, he spits too, but that is one of those involuntary reflexes. Soon though, he begins communicating with the empathetic Jacquard via his powers and the nearby computer terminal. Initially, Jacquard is determined to save Patrick from Dr. Roget’s dubious shock treatments, but she soon starts to suspect her patient is behind all the mysterious mayhem happening around her.

Yes, Patrick is definitely the clingy type. However, Dr. Roget is no saint either, but he is a wizard at coming up with synonyms. His daughter, Matron Cassidy, is not exactly warm and friendly, either. This will be a tough gig for Jacquard, but it will be worse for the men looking to worm their way into her life.

Remaking a cult favorite is always a risky proposition, but probably no filmmaker could tackle Patrick with as much credibility as Hartley, a certifiable expert in Australian (and Filipino) exploitation films as the director of the wildly entertaining Not Quite Hollywood and Machete Maidens Unleashed documentaries. Hartley cranks up the gothic elements, drawing nearly as much from the Hammer Frankenstein franchise as the original source film. It all looks great and gives Charles Dance OBE plenty to chew on as Dr. Roget. While there is an over-reliance on cheap jump scares in the early going, Hartley cuts loose in the second half with some deliriously over the top sequences.

From "Patrick: Evil Awakens."

If not exactly a feminist triumph, the figure of Jacquard is comparatively proactive and You’re Next’s Sharni Vinson’s performance is reasonably assertive. At least she is not sitting around waiting to be a victim. Likewise, former Oscar nominee Rachel Griffiths (for Hilary and Jackie, remember?) pulls off a few well turned character development surprises as the severe Matron Cassidy. As for Jackson Gallagher, you could say he is rather stiff as the title character.

By genre standards, the new Patrick is pretty impressive, featuring a massively moody score composed by Pino Donaggio (probably best known for his work with Brian De Palma and Nicolas Roeg’s Don’t Look Now). Hartley also finds a wickedly funny way to drop in Brian May’s original Patrick theme. It is certainly preposterous at times, but it still works quite well, all things considered. Recommended for horror movie fans and Ozploitation junkies, Patrick: Evil Awakens opens this Friday (3/14) in select theaters.

LFM GRADE: B

Posted on March 13th, 2014 at 7:58pm.

Kids Like to Chat: LFM Reviews uwantme2killhim

By Joe Bendel. In 2003, a sixteen year-old kid from Manchester should have been on Friendster. Instead, Mark is getting touchy feely in an anonymous chat-room. That always leads to bad things in the movies and this based-on-a-true-story teen angst-thriller is no exception. Once again, the internet apparently turns a clean-cut popular kid into a killer in Andrew Douglas’s awkwardly titled uwantme2killhim?, produced by Bryan “X-Men” Singer, which opens this Friday in Los Angeles.

Mark, the shaggy-haired jock, pretty much has his pick of the girls at school, while John basically serves as the campus punching bag. However, Mark agrees to take John under his wing when he discovers he is the younger brother of Rachel, his online girlfriend. He has never met her face to face because she and her abusive boyfriend, Kevin McNeil, are in the witness protection program, which makes perfect sense to Mark.

Since webcams were not such a common accessory at the time, Mark falls for her solely on the basis of her photo and her sub-literate chat dialogue. Unfortunately, when the thuggish McNeil kills Rachel out of jealousy, it thoroughly destabilizes Mark, leaving him susceptible to the ominous offers of the MI-5 agent supposedly monitoring McNeil.

Right, you are probably already smelling a rat and you will not be not far wrong if you can think of a tasty fish they like to fry up in Louisiana. The only real questions are who is playing Mark and why? Mike Walden’s dramatic adaptation of Judy Bachrach’s Vanity Fair article does its best to pepper red herrings throughout, but the in medias res structure does not help to build any real suspense.

From "uwantme2killhim."

It is rather compelling to watch Jamie Blackley transform Mark from a big man on campus to an anti-social head case. However, Douglas (best known for helming the Amityville Horror remake) is not able to convincingly convey the sort of slow frogs-boiling-water process necessary to undermine his previously well-adjusted psyche Uwantetc also boasts an intriguing supporting cast, including Downton Abbey’s Joanne Froggart (Lady Mary’s maid, Anna) as DI Sarah Clayton and Jaime Winstone as Rachel, but it never gives them much to do.

When was the last time the internet served as an agent of progress on film? Clearly, the movie business is still holding a grudge for all the business presumably lost to file-sharers. Despite the not so shocking plot twists, the character’s psychological dynamics are still provocative and ultimately rather sad and disturbing. Unfortunately, Douglas and Walden were apparently determined to maximize the film’s timeliness with their compulsive attention to British surveillance practices. Yet the events of the film could ironically support even more extensive and pervasive online monitoring policies. An earnest misfire, uwantme2killhim? opens this Friday (3/14) in Los Angeles at the Laemmle NoHo 7.

LFM GRADE: C

Posted on March 13th, 2014 at 7:53pm.

LFM Reviews Monster

From "Monster."

By Joe Bendel. There are enough fractured families here to keep an American sitcom fully stocked. There is also a serial killer stalking them, so their limited numbers will only get smaller. However, the stone cold murderer in question may have finally crossed paths with the wrong vegetable hawker in Hwang In-ho’s dark thriller, Monster, which opens tomorrow in Los Angeles.

Bok-soon is known in her neighborhood as a somewhat slow street vendor with anger management issues. Nevertheless, she works hard to provide for her somewhat younger sister Eun-jeong, who is a gifted student with a presumably bright future ahead of her. Young Na-ri also lived with her older sister, until she was killed by Tae-soo. Enjoying the chase, Tae-soo gives Na-ri an opportunity to run, just so he can hunt her down again. Eventually, Bok-soon and her sister take in the petrified girl. Unfortunately, Eun-jeong soon becomes his next victim.

Even though Bok-soon has an imperfect understanding of the situation, she is not one to take her sister’s murder lying down. In fact, she will go out looking for the killer’s lair, while doing her best to protect Na-ri. Meanwhile, Tae-soo continues to thoroughly creep out his adopted mother and loser step-brother, who originally unleashed the maniac on Na-ri’s sister, at the behest of his shady contacts. After all, what is the good of having a serial killer brother if you don’t use him as a free enforcer In retrospect, he might come to regret seeing Tae-soo’s murderous proficiency up-close-and-personal once again.

From "Monster."

The potentially exploitative perils of focusing on a mentally challenged focal character almost go without saying, especially when Hwang often has her creating various public spectacles. Nevertheless, Kim Go-eun helps rehabilitate Bok-soon with a fearlessly intense and vulnerable performance. We come to understand her own frustrations with herself and her fierce sense of loyalty, as well as the obvious fear and rage. Clearly intended as a dramatic change of pace from her breakout performance in Eungyo (A Muse), Kim looks considerably older than the Lolita-like character that ignited her career. Young Ahn Seo-hyun is also a tad older than when she stole nearly all of her scenes as the privileged daughter of Im Sang-soo’s The Housemaid, but she is still an unusually expressive and disciplined child actor.

In contrast, Lee Min-ki’s icy ruthlessness is adequate to the film’s needs, but it is nothing we have not seen before in dozens of previous psycho killer films. On the other hand, Kim Roi-ha and Kim Boo-seon give the film its darkly comic edge as his craven half-brother and his massively in-denial Mother Dearest. Their scenes together take family dysfunction to a whole new level.

Whatever objections audiences might have to Monster’s thematic excesses Hwang overcomes through the brute force of his thriller mechanics. Tense and violent, the film is a gripping (and exhausting) viewing experience. Recommended for fans of the serial killer genre and Kim Go-eun, Monster opens tomorrow (3/14) in Los Angeles at the CGV Cinemas.

LFM GRADE: B+

Posted on March 13th, 2014 at 7:47pm.

LFM Reviews A Town Called Panic: The Christmas Log @ The 2014 New York International Children’s Film Festival

By Joe Bendel. Santa is coming, so Indian and Cowboy are minding their behavior, but even their Christmas best is completely unruly and impulsive. The holidays only come once a year, but chaos reigns 365 days a year in this provincial village of plastic toys. Stéphane Aubier & Vincent Patar give viewers one of the rowdiest Christmas specials ever with A Town Called Panic: The Christmas Log, which screens as part of Short Film Program One at the 2014 New York International Children’s Film Festival.

The bickering Cowboy and Indian (they are Belgian, so they use politically incorrect terms) have not matured one whit since the Panic feature film. They still live with the infinitely more responsible Horse, trying his patience daily. When their fooling around accidentally ruins the Christmas log for Horse’s dinner party, they finally push him too far. Exasperated, Horse calls up Santa and cancels their gift delivery. Naturally, Cowboy and Indian try to fix the situation, but only make matters worse.

Right, so Merry Christmas one and all. Do not look for any cheap sentiment here. Linus will not explain the true meaning of Christmas, nor will the Grinch be joining the citizenry of Whoville for a Christmas roast. Instead, Town Called Panic delivers a feast of increasingly reckless lunacy that only molded plastic figurines could survive. In short, it is all good stuff.

At twenty-six minutes, Christmas Log is the longest film in Program One and a reasonably substantial fix for fans of the feature. However, Panic die-hards will miss hearing Cowboy and Indian calling each other “bastards,” presumably in accordance with the holiday spirit. It also makes Log somewhat more appropriate for the boundary-pushing NYICFF. Even still, the same ruckus vibe shines through.

From "A Town Called Panic."

In contrast to Cowboy and Indian’s bad behavior, the other standout of program one kindles the fires of youthful idealism and the spirit of discovery. Three classmates think they have unearthed a previously unseen fossil in Katerina Karhánková’s The New Species, but the adults just do not get it. It might be a simple story, but somehow Karhánková executes it with a tone that is both ironic and inspiring.

For animation connoisseurs, A Town Called Panic will be the main event, but the entire block is consistently entertaining. Jazz listeners will be particularly interested in Anna Kadykova’s The Mole at Sea, which features the stylish swinging of the Chizhik-Jazz-Quartet. Frankly, “In the Still of the Night” seems like a strange thematic choice to accompany the titular burrower on a Mr. Hulot-esque beach excursion, but so be it. On the other hand, Shakti-era John McLaughlin’s “Luki” is perfectly appropriate for Anna Khmeleskaya’s “The Centipede and the Toad,” a visually distinctive fable set amid India’s primordial rain forest. Recommended pretty highly for animation fans, especially those who appreciate a little stop motion slapstick comedy, the NYICFF’s Short Film Program One screens again Saturday (3/15), Sunday (3/23), Saturday (3/29), and Sunday (3/30) at various venues throughout the City.

LFM GRADE: B+

Posted on March 13th, 2014 at 7:42pm.