Day: July 19, 2015

LFM Reviews The Case of Hana & Alice @ Fantasia Fest 2015

By Joe Bendel. Ever wondered how Cher and Dionne first met, before the events of Clueless (marking its 20 year anniversary this year)? If Amy Heckerling made an animated prequel, she could still use the voices of Stacey Dash and Alicia Silverstone. She would be following the example of Shunji Iwai, who revisited the characters of his more impressionistic indie Hana and Alice (going on eleven years) in anime form. Junior high is a strange place, but when the two girls join forces they just might make some sense of it all in Iwai’s The Case of Hana & Alice, which screens today during the 2015 Fantasia International Film Festival in Montreal.

Thanks to divorce and family drama, Tetsuko “Alice” Arisugawa has a new home, a new name, and a new school. She now attends Ishinomori Middle School, but the strange hikikomorish girl across the street does not, even though they are roughly the same age. Of course, that would be Hana Arai.

Initially, Arisugawa faces some attempted bullying, but she puts a stop to that pretty quick. Bizarrely, some of it comes from where she sits in class. According to the school legend, a senior named Judas sat there the previous year, but he was murdered by his four “wives.” It makes little sense to her. Nevertheless, her classmates shun her desk like the Amityville Horror house. Eventually, Arisugawa learns she is also living in the previous home of Yuda (a.k.a. Judas). Creeped out by her proximity to so much presumed tragedy, she confronts Arai for information.

From "The Case of Hana & Alice."

For a coming of age drama, Case has considerably more genre elements than you would ever expect, but that is a good thing for Fantasia audiences. The explanation behind the Judas legend is quite clever and darned satisfying. Along the way, Iwai creates some wonderfully compassionate moments, especially Arisugawa’s scenes with the elderly man she mistakes for Yuda’s father. There is indeed a good deal of heart in the film.

The downside is the CGI and roto-scoped animated is just okay, but it never distracts from the elegantly mysterious narrative. Fans of the original Hana and Alice will be delighted to hear Yu Aoi and Anne Suzuki giving voice to their beloved characters. Aoi is particularly expressive and energizing as Arisugawa, while the introverted Arai mostly requires husky mumbling from Suzuki.

Case is thoroughly enjoyable, even for viewers who have not seen the first live action film. In terms of pacing and tone, they are apples and oranges, but both remind you of what it was like to be a kid in school. Great fun throughout, with a sly sense of irony, The Case of Hana and Alice is highly recommended for animation fans and anyone who enjoys a good student drama when it screens today (7/19) as part of this year’s Fantasia.

LFM GRADE: A

Posted on July 19th, 2015 at 6:25pm.

LFM Reviews Possessed @ Fantasia Fest 2015

By Joe Bendel. When Franco was around there wasn’t any demonic possession in Spain. The Generalissimo simply wouldn’t stand for it. Things are different now. Everyone soul is vulnerable to infernal forces during these godless times, even the son of the country’s favorite matador and flamenco dancer. His name is Damien, by the way. You can watch his head spin around and projectile-vomit in Claymation courtesy of Sam [Samuel Ortí Martí]’s Possessed, which screens tonight during the 2015 Fantasia International Film Festival in Montreal.

Trini was once the greatest dancer Spain had ever seen, but she retired from public performance after her husband’s untimely death. While grief-stricken, she also believed her son Damien needed more attention. He is a bit of a strange kid, who is prone to disruptive behavior at school. She has had him examined by child psychologists, but they are never around long enough to do much good. Her mother-in-law is convinced the boy is possessed, but her obtuse manager remains skeptical.

Eventually, Trini accepts the wild supernatural bedlam going on around them and seeks the Church’s assistance. Unfortunately, the corrupt Bishop will not be much help in a fight of good against evil. She needs the righteous, but disillusioned Father Lenin, the black sheep son of 1930s Communists.

If ever there was a Claymation movie unsuitable for kids it would be Possessed. In addition to the demonic horror, there is what you might call graphic cartoon violence. Plenty of mature subject matter is also referenced, but that is small potatoes compared to the faces that get lopped off. Call it a double standard, but if Possessed were a live action film it would be rather disturbing, yet it is all pretty funny in an animated film. Think of it as Wallace & Gromit torturing Mr. Bill in Hell.

Yes, “Sam” and co-screenwriter Rubén Ontiveros’s anti-Catholic attitudes get tiresome, but they are stuck with the fundamental High Church world view inherent in the demonic horror genre. They also dig their flamenco, which counts for something. Ultimately, you just can’t nitpick such gory and scatological humor.

Trust me, you have never seen clay like this. While the craftsmanship is not quite at the level of the Aardman Studios, it is certainly impressive in its own way. Recommended for fans of The Exorcist films and Team America: World Police, Possessed screens today (7/19) and Friday (7/24) as part of this year’s Fantasia.

LFM GRADE: B

Posted on July 19th, 2015 at 6:25pm.

LFM Reviews Director’s Commentary: Terror of Frankenstein @ Fantasia Fest 2015

By Joe Bendel. It is past time the Library of Congress added Plan 9 from Outer Space to the National Film Registry—not due to artistic merit, but because it is culturally significant. Arguably, no film is more responsible for the Midnight Movie phenomenon. Indirectly, the Rifftrax/MST3K guys probably owe their careers to Ed Wood. While they probably remain the gold standard of sarcastic talking back to the screen, Tim Kirk raises the stakes for ironic genre commentary by creating a wild meta-fictional backstory for a very real film. Director Gavin Merrill and his estranged screenwriter will reveal the whole sordid truth behind the production of their ill-fated Mary Shelley adaptation in Director’s Commentary: Terror of Frankenstein, which screens tonight during the 2015 Fantasia International Film Festival in Montreal.

Merrill’s Swedish-Irish co-production Terror of Frankenstein is an actual film—and its not terrible. For years, it had a bit of cache as the Frankenstein film most faithful to the original Shelley, but according to Merrill’s newly recorded DVD commentary track we will be listening to, it has recently become quite infamous due to a related criminal case. After years of legal wrangling, a prominent cast-member has finally been executed, so Merrill is scrambling to cash-in.

If that sounds somewhat crass, screenwriter David Falks agrees. In case you are looking at its imdb page, Merrill and Falks supposedly used their “Calvin & Yvonne Floyd” pseudonym, dating back to their experimental theater days. In any event, Falks is only participating in order to correct certain misconceptions propagated by the tabloid media.

The way Kirk constructs a strangely disturbing narrative out of their bickering and bitter reminiscences is quite a feat of storytelling. He doles out revelations slowly, sometimes almost casually, but we quickly get a sense that there was a higher body count behind-the-scenes than on the screen.

Frankly, it is almost shocking that Commentary has not generated any angry protests, because in several instances it creates less than flattering alternate histories for prominent cast-members, most notably including Nicholas Clay (Patrick Redfern in Evil Under the Sun) and Per Oscarsson (seen in the Swedish Lisbeth Salander trilogy). However, Leon Vitali (best known as a Kubrick crony and co-star of Barry Lyndon) is quite the good sport playing himself.

Sometimes Commentary is blackly comical, but it is aiming more for uncomfortable insights into human nature than big belly laughs. In some ways, it is an experience not unlike listening to Orson Welles lose his cool while recording that notorious frozen peas radio commercial. Having produced Rodney Ascher’s Room 237 and The Nightmare, Kirk has keen handle on directing faceless voices for the big screen. (In a bit of a role reversal, Ascher takes on the producing and editing duties this time around.) They also get some first class voice acting from Clu Gulager (no stranger to genre fans) and Zack Norman (Danny Devito’s cousin in Romancing the Stone), as Merrill and Falks, respectively.

Believe it or not, Commentary makes you want to watch Terror of Frankenstein again, straight, sans voice-overs. Yet, it will never be the same innocent film once you have seen Kirk’s hyper-meta fabulization. (FYI, its on Fandor.) Wonderfully subversive yet chocked full of cultist genre love, Director’s Commentary: Terror of Frankenstein is very highly recommended when it screens tonight (7/19) as part of this year’s Fantasia.

LFM GRADE: A-

Posted on July 19th, 2015 at 6:24pm.