Month: July 2015

By Joe Bendel. Cloven hoof tracks are traditionally a bad sign, at least when they were made by a two-legged creature. That was no deer striding through Sheriff Paul Shields’ logging hamlet. Something sinister is definitely lurking in those woods and it is getting increasingly aggressive in Jack Heller’s Dark was the Night, which opens this Friday in New York.

Lately, horses and dogs have mysteriously disappeared, but Shields really doesn’t care. He is too busy blaming himself for the death of his youngest son. Although he has separated from his wife Susan, he still tries to be a proactive father to their remaining son Adam. However, he has to start sheriffing in earnest when the town wakes up to find unusually large and apparently upright cloven hoof prints snaking their way from one end of town to the other. Having absorbed scores of Native American legends about vengeful natural spirits, everyone basically freaks—and they’re not wrong.

Unfortunately, the awkward and pretentious syntax of Dark’s title evokes the cheesy, overwrought horror novels of the early 1980s. However, for a film about a big evil thing making dodo in the woods, it is remarkably restrained. Probably more time is allotted to seriously addressing Shields’ grief and guilt than monster attacks. While that might not sit well with genre fans, it is actually not a bad thing, thanks largely due to the strength of Kevin Durand’s performance. He is a big guy, but as Sheriff Shields, he looks drawn and haggard, like he hasn’t had a good night’s sleep since Johnny Carson retired. Even in a non-genre film, the honesty and commitment of his work would be impressive.

Dark is indeed an unusually character-driven horror film, offering up a tortured sidekick to its angst ridden protagonist. Lukas Haas (yes, that Witness Haas) is also quite down-to-earth and flinty as Donny Saunders, a former NYPD officer wounded in the line of duty, now serving as Shields’ deputy. They play off each other nicely, navigating the territory just in-between friends and colleagues. Budding cult superstar Nick Damici also gets to chew some scenery as the spooky trash-talking saloon-keeper.

Frankly, Dark is one of the few films that is better at interpersonal relationships than at going about its horror business. Still, Heller and screenwriter Tyler Hisel give the standard “gotcha” monster movie ending a bit of a half twist. Far better than you would expect, especially given the eye-rolling title, Dark was the Night (it sounds like something Yoda might say) is recommended for fans of small town supernatural fare when it opens today (7/24) in New York, at the AMC Empire.

LFM GRADE: B-

Posted on July 24th, 2015 at 12:43pm.

By Joe Bendel. Whether you live in Pittsburgh or Shanghai, Italy still represents the land of romance. Evidently, in 1994, Venice was the place to be, but now Milan is the in romantic getaway. There are other differences, but this Chinese remake of the Norman Jewison romantic comedy is pretty faithful to its inspiration. Once again, a smitten man will fight against fate and his own name to win the woman he falls for in Zhang Hao’s Only You, which opens this Friday in New York.

On two separate occasions, fortune tellers predicted Fang Yuan would marry a man named Song Kunming. Such a specific prophecy would be great if she knew anyone named Song Kunming, but she doesn’t. After years of waiting for him to show up, she finally decides to settle for Xie  Wei, a boring dentist. However, tens days before their wedding, she happens to take a phone message from Xei Wei’s old school chum, Song Kunming, who is en route to Milan.

With her BFF in tow, Fang Yuan impulsively rushes off to Italy (conveniently having a couple soon-to-expire visas burning a hole in her pocket), to track down her man of destiny. On their first night, they follow the trail from their hotel to a man claiming to be Song Kunming. He is perfect her in every way, except he eventually admits he is not really Song Kunming. Attempting a Hail Mary, he offers to help her find the real Song, in hopes of besting him for her affections.

You hardly need to have seen the original Marisa Tomei-Robert Downey, Jr. vehicle to know how it will all end. Admittedly, Only You seems like a rather odd remake candidate, but it is apparently the sort of film that has grown in popular affection during its video and DVD life, following its ho-hum initial box-office. Of course, there are also probably a lot of us out there who can come to China Lion’s Only You unburdened with indelible images of Downey, Jr. in a gondola.

There is no question the scenery is just as lovely this time around and the cast is even more attractive. There is a little bit of shtick, but it is decidedly mild compared to rom-com norms. Granted, nobody does a lot of heavy lifting here, but Tang Wei pouts quite effectively as Fang Yuan (if you want to see her in a deeper, darker romantic drama, check out the elegant Late Autumn). Liao Fan tries to keep his cool as best he can as someone not named Song Kunming, but Su Yan kind of steals the show as the tough but sensitive (and sultry) best friend.

Fully capitalizing on Milan’s picturesque public squares and the verdant surrounding countryside, the new Only You definitely makes you want to visit Italy—with Tang Wei—or Su Yan—or if you prefer, Liao Fan. Obviously the end is predetermined (unless you think both Liao and Downey, Jr. might come up empty romantically), but it is a pleasant, low stress trip. Recommended as a date movie, Only You opens this Friday (7/24) in New York, at the AMC Empire.

LFM GRADE: B-/C+

Posted on July 24th, 2015 at 12:42pm.

By Joe Bendel. Fantasy relic quests are a rotten way to choose husbands. They favor the ruthless, like the tyrant, or the deceitful, like the thief. At least, they rule out the stupid, like the dithering royal twit. Still, those three suitors represent some pretty slim pickings for a soon-to-be-betrothed Chinese princess. Nevertheless, she will find a way to pick a white guy in Son of the Dragon, a two-part mini-series that releases today on DVD from Mill Creek Entertainment.

The governor of our fair city is not a bad sort and his daughter, Princess Li Wei is both beautiful and dutiful. Unfortunately, his appointed regent Lord Shing is cruel and corrupt. To alleviate the people’s suffering, D.B. (or “Devil Boy”) frequently commits acts of Robin Hood-ish daring. Discovered as a foundling, D.B. learned his thievery craft from Bird, a former mercenary who now raises cast aside orphans in his picturesque sewer retreat to alleviate his guilt.

When the governor announces an ancient reality show-style competition for nobles hoping to win his daughter’s hand in marriage, the thief styles himself “Prince D.B. of the Seven Seas” (I mean seriously, give us a break), in order to gain access to the palace—and its jewels. Much to the disgust of Bird, Devil Boy is rather taken with the Princess, deciding to play for her heart in earnest. This does not sit well with his foster sister Ting Ting, either. She now works as the Princess’s maid and carries an inexplicable torch for D.B. She knows the big dummy is in over his head, especially when he starts antagonizing the brutal Prince of the North.

Directed and edited by the Hong Kong-born, Canadian-naturalized David Wu (known for the Bride with White Hair franchise), Dragon has some impressively large-scale sets (befitting a Halmi production) and a rip-roaring concluding battle. However, despite its riffs on the Thief of Baghdad (there will be the odd flying carpet here and there), the teleplay is burdened with consistently clunky dialogue and an excess of slapsticky shtick.

Of course, there is something fundamentally problematic about an adventure set entirely within ancient China that features three white dudes on its cover. We can grandfather in David Carradine. After all, he was Caine. He walked the earth. Not surprisingly, he fares the best, smirking his way through the mini as the wiser-than-you Bird, until it is time to get busy in his big fight scene with Bird’s old nemesis.

The less said about John Reardon as D.B., the better. However, the casting of the ordinarily quite fine actor Rupert Graves (Lestrade in the Cumberbatch Sherlock) as the Prince of the North (which certainly implies Mongolia through simple geography, as well as by costuming) is pretty darn baffling, especially when Emma Stone would have been so perfectly suited for the role. Still, he glowers rather menacingly. At least Desiree Ann Siahaan looks the part of the Princess and flirts quite coyly. However, only Theresa Lee deserved breakout recognition for the vulnerability and action chops she demonstrates as Ting Ting.

Despite its flaws, you can definitely see plenty of Carradine’s roguishness shine through. It would have been much better if Dragon had tacked a darker course, like Netflix’s Marco Polo, but that probably would not have worked for the Hallmark Channel, where it premiered. Enjoyable at times for some nicely choreographed fights and its goofy mysticism, Son of the Dragon is an old fashioned, light-weight, inconsequential, occasionally groan-inducing time-filler, now available on DVD from Mill Creek Entertainment.

LFM GRADE: C-

Posted on July 22nd, 2015 at 7:37pm.

By Joe Bendel. This is no David & Lisa story of high school understanding and healing. Ai is definitely a disturbed student, but her art teacher seems to be part of her problem, rather than a solution. Granted, the school nurse is sympathetic, but there is definitely some weird hidden dynamic at work in Mamoru Oshii’s Nowhere Girl, which screens today during the 2015 Fantasia International Film Festival in Montreal, following its recent NYAFF North American premiere.

Ai was once the prized pupil of a boarding school for the arts, whose distinguished presence helped drive enrollment. However, something happened causing Ai to severely draw inward. Now she sleepwalks through the school like an entitled zombie, facing no consequences for her irresponsibility. Her classmates resent her privileged status, but they find she is tougher to bully than she looks. On the other hand, the art teacher’s efforts to snap her out of it, or just punish her, ought to be grounds for his dismissal. Regardless, there are dramatic reasons for her compulsive behavior that will be revealed during the third act.

Not to be spoilery, but when Ai wrestles with the Macguffin, or whatever, it is pretty spectacular. Frankly, the big twist is not entirely unprecedented, but Oshii still pulls it off rather adroitly. In fact, Nowhere is the sort of film worth revisiting to catch all the sign posts we might have missed the first time around.

Again, it is almost spoilery to note how forceful and physical Nana Seino is during Ai’s action sequences, but her chops deserve props. It often seems like a very “closed-off” sort of performance, but she conveys a clear sense that something tumultuous is going on beneath the surface. Lily (as she is simply billed) is also terrific as the nurse.

You might think you have seen a lot of twisted Japanese school girl films, but Nowhere is something else entirely (yet still a little warped). Anime legend Oshii (director of the original Ghost in the Shell) basically directs in two speeds, eerily dreamlike or blazingly fast, but they are equally effective. The use of Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 23 in A Minor is also quite haunting, while art director Michitoshi Kurokawa’s sets provide the real X-factor edge. Cool and chilling, Nowhere Girl is recommended for fans of mind-benders and school girl genre films at this year’s Fantasia.

LFM GRADE: A-

Posted on July 22nd, 2015 at 7:37pm.

By Joe Bendel. German Lieder music has taken on a broader meaning through common usage than its strict text book definition. Many now think of it as anything Lotte Lenya might have performed, including jazz standards, rather than just Romantic-style classical music for voice and Spartan piano accompaniment. Nelly Lenz was definitely part of that tradition when she was a popular chanteuse on the Weimar scene. That alone would have caused her plenty of trouble with the National Socialists, but Lenz is also Jewish. After months of hiding, Lenz was discovered and condemned to a concentration camp, perhaps due to her beloved husband’s betrayal. Having somehow survived, Lenz will seek the truth, no matter how painful it will be, in Christian Petzold’s Phoenix, which opens this Friday in New York, at the IFC Center.

Frankly, it is something of a miracle Lenz is still alive. During the war’s waning days, a point-bullet intended to execute her only tore up her face. Miraculously, Lene Winter, an old Weimar friend working for the Jewish Hall of Records, finds the wretch-like Lenz and nurses her back to life. At an exclusive plastic surgery clinic, Lenz is given the choice of any face she wishes, but insists on keeping her formerly famous features. Obviously, the surgery is a rousing success, but due to the extensive damage, she now bears only a vague shadow of her old self.

Despite Winter’s suspicions, Lenz seeks out her former husband and accompanist, Johannes “Johnny” Lenz, currently working as the janitor of the Phoenix jazz club. Having no idea of her true identity, but struck by her superficial resemblance to his presumed late wife, the domineering Johnny starts grooming Lenz to impersonate herself, so he can claim her inheritance. Initially, Lenz plays along hoping to discover whether or not he was the one who tipped off the Gestapo. Yet, against her better judgement and Winter’s protests, Lenz finds herself falling for her husband all over again.

There is no need to mince words here—Phoenix is an absolutely terrific film. Nina Hoss is superb as usual, following up her incomparable work in Petzold’s Barbara with another Oscar worthy performance. She owns the film, but the brutal honesty of Nina Kunzendorf’s work as Winter leaves an indelible impression as well. Again, Petzold shows an exquisitely sensitive touch, while maintaining a taut noir tension. Frankly, genre labels seem inappropriate for Phoenix given its heavy ethical and historical themes, yet it still succeeds quite smashingly on that level.

The way Petzold uses music throughout Phoenix is also nothing less than extraordinary. Kurt Weill’s “Speak Low” might be the sort of torch song you never really gave much thought to, but Stefan Wills’ builds an entire soundtrack around it, prominently featuring pizzicato bass. It is an elegantly and eloquently wistful motif that perfectly underscores the dramatic developments, yet it cannot fully prepare us for the power of Hoss’s rendition.

Be warned, Hoss will leave you devastated in the final scene. Lesser films would have tacked on some superfluous talking just to make sure we got its significance, but Petzold recognizes when there is nothing left to say. Brilliant. Guaranteed to be one of the best films of the year, Phoenix is very highly recommended when it opens this Friday (7/24) in New York, at the IFC Center downtown and the Lincoln Plaza uptown.

LFM GRADE: A+

Posted on July 21st, 2015 at 9:15pm.