Movie Reviews – LFM: Libertas Film Magazine

LFM’s Jason Apuzzo @ The Huffington Post: When Aliens Arrived On Oscar Weekend: UFO Diary Recreates the Battle of Los Angeles

[The post below was featured today at The Huffington Post.]

By Jason Apuzzo. For Los Angeles, there’ll never been an Oscar weekend like the one that took place in 1942 – the year a flying saucer nearly crashed the party.

This week marks the anniversary of The Battle of Los Angeles, also known as The Great LA Air Raid, one of the most mysterious incidents of World War II – and one of America’s biggest UFO sightings, taking place a full five years before Roswell.

It’s a story I couldn’t resist turning into a new sci-fi short film called UFO Diary, which debuted this week on Vimeo to mark today’s anniversary of The Battle of Los Angeles.

So what makes the Battle of LA so famous?

In the early morning hours of February 25th, 1942, wartime Los Angeles flew into a panic as an ominous, saucer-like object flew over the city, touching off a massive anti-aircraft barrage. Despite the intense barrage, however, no aircraft wreckage was ever recovered – sparking one of America’s first major UFO controversies.

Indeed, once the smoke had cleared, no one really knew what had been seen in the sky or on radar. Conflicting accounts of the incident from the War and Navy Departments didn’t help matters – leading to accusations of a cover-up.

As if to confirm public fears of extraterrestrial attack, a notorious LA Times photograph (see below) emerged from the incident showing a saucer-like object hovering over the city. It’s one of the eeriest images in UFO history.

An LA Times photograph of the Great LA Air Raid.

Over 100,000 Angelenos witnessed the incident, yet reports on what people saw that night varied – from Japanese aircraft, to a blimp, to stray American fighter planes, to a “lighted kite.” One eyewitness even described seeing an enormous flying “lozenge,” while an LA Times reporter claimed to have seen slow-moving “objects in the sky … caught in the center of the lights like the hub of a bicycle wheel surrounded by gleaming spokes.”

We still don’t really know what people were seeing that night, because the government has never provided us with an adequate explanation for the incident. Probably because they themselves still don’t know.

Since making UFO Diary, I’ve been asked by UFO enthusiasts what I think was really hovering in LA’s skies that night. The answer is that I don’t know – although I doubt it was a lozenge. Nor do I suspect that Orson Welles or Howard Hughes were involved. There have been a variety of competing explanations of what happened – most centering around weather balloons and barrage balloons – but none of them makes complete sense. The truth is that we may never know.

That’s why, with the help of VFX veterans from ILM and Weta Digital, we decided in UFO Diary to depict the incident as an encounter with the unknown. Continue reading LFM’s Jason Apuzzo @ The Huffington Post: When Aliens Arrived On Oscar Weekend: UFO Diary Recreates the Battle of Los Angeles

LFM Reviews The Eagle Huntress @ Sundance 2016

By Joe Bendel. Aisholpan is a thirteen year-old ethnic Kazakh nomad in Northwest Mongolia, but she became the sort of internet sensation every hipster aspires to be when a picture of her with her father’s golden eagle went viral. As her eagle-handling skills developed, she became the first girl to ever compete in the ancient Golden Eagle Festival. By the way, she is also a straight-A student. Otto Bell managed to arrive in the Altai Mountains (the most remote, least populated region in the world) in time to document her hunting milestones in The Eagle Huntress, which screens during the 2016 Sundance Film Festival.

Young Aisholpan always had more affinity for her father Nurgaiv’s hunting and herding than traditional women’s roles. Although he is a devout Muslim, Nurgaiv is progressive enough to teach his daughter traditional hunting techniques. She could not ask for a better teacher, considering he twice won the Golden Eagle Festival and placed highly on several other occasions. Recognizing Aisholpan’s abilities, Nurgaiv decides it is time to corral a wild eaglet of her own in the first of the film’s three centerpiece sequences.

Eventually, Nurgaiv allows the increasingly proficient Aisholpan to enter the annual contest, despite his understandable fatherly concerns. She is barely a teenager—and many of the competitors will not welcome her trailblazing participation. However, the real test of Aisholpan’s rapport with her eagle will come during their first hunt.

Words like “inspirational” often inspire kneejerk snark in response, but anyone who watches Eagle Huntress is pretty much guaranteed to feel great by the time the closing credits roll. Aisholpan is a terrific kid, whose charisma absolutely radiates off the screen. Nurgaiv is also totally cool, giving his daughter exactly the sort of encouragement she deserves. Even her grandfather is surprisingly hip, offering his blessing for her eagle hunting training.

From "The Eagle Huntress." — From “The Eagle Huntress.”

The soaring eagles and the Altai vistas are as stunning as you could imagine. Yet, the really exciting thing about the film is the groundbreaking significance of Aisholpan’s eagle hunting aspirations. It represents open-minded social change that respects and even strengthens cultural traditions. After all, the estimated ranks of eagle hunters have dwindled to something in the neighborhood of 250. Frankly, Aisholpan is exactly what they need.

Since Eagle Huntress screened in Sundance’s kids section, a lot of press and programmers might have overlooked it, but they will have to chase it later, because this doc is going to catch-on in a huge way. It is just the sort of film that leaves you with a big dopey grin on your face, so word-of-mouth will be rapturous. For what its worth, it is also tremendously accomplished on a technical level, as well as a wonderful trip to one of the furthest flung corners of the world. Enthusiastically recommended for mainstream audiences of all ages, The Eagle Huntress screens again this Saturday (1/30) in Park City, as part of this year’s Sundance Film Festival.

LFM GRADE: A

Posted on January 29th, 2016 at 6:00am.

LFM Reviews Sleight @ Sundance 2016

By Joe Bendel. Misdirection is the stock-and-trade of a street magician like Bo, but he has really just misdirected his life. He only intended to deal drugs for a limited time, but that was obviously wishful thinking. Fortunately, he has some skills to fall back on in JD Dillard’s Sleight, which screens during the 2016 Sundance Film Festival.

Bo had a scholarship lined up, but after his mother’s untimely death, he had to forgo college to take care of his young sister Tina. In addition to dealing Angelo’s coke to hipsters and yuppies, Bo earns decent tips performing magic on the main tourist strips. One day, he passes the hat and collects Holly’s phone number. She really seems into him, even when Bo is called away from his first date to help Angelo with his turf battle.

Apparently, an upstart supplier has moved into Angelo’s territory, so lessons must be taught. Much to his shock, Angelo has a game-changingly violent role for him to play. Of course, from the drug boss’s perspective, it represents an opportunity for advancement, but Bo recognizes a point of no return when he reaches one. However, his plan to extricate himself from the drug scene backfires quite dramatically.

Sleight is sort-of, kind-of a superhero film, but it devotes ninety percent of its time to Bo’s origin story. That is perfectly fine, but there are conspicuous credibility holes pockmarking the narrative. We know Bo is a skilled pickpocket who has flexible scruples when it comes to stealing, yet he finds himself bereft of fundraising ideas when Angelo calls in his debt. Seriously, he can’t think of anything?

There might be plenty of grist for pedantry in Sleight, but the young, wildly charismatic cast still sells it through sheer talent. Both Jacob Latimore and Seychelle Gabriel are major breakout discoveries, who forge terrific chemistry together as Bo and Holly. Dulé Hill also demonstrates hitherto unseen ferocity as Angelo.

Sleight shows all kinds of promise in every which way, but Dillard and co-screenwriter Alex Theurer really ought to have gone through a few more drafts. Regardless, Bo and Holly’s mature-beyond-their-years romantic relationship really saves it. It is nice, but not quite the triumph some are suggesting. Recommended somewhat circumspectly for fans of magic and drug-related urban crime dramas, Sleight screens again today (1/28) in Park City, as part of this year’s Sundance Film Festival.

LFM GRADE: B

Posted on January 28th, 2016 at 6:00am.

LFM Reviews Under the Shadow @ Sundance 2016

By Joe Bendel. The Iran-Iraq War is raging and evil Djinn spirits might just be real, but at least Iran’s Basij morality police is there to protect society from uppity women who aren’t wearing their chadors. The repressive and misogynistic nature of the Islamist state compounds and in some ways facilitates the supernatural horrors that plague a young mother and her daughter in Iranian-born screenwriter-director Babak Anvari’s Under the Shadow, which screens during the 2016 Sundance Film Festival.

According to legend, Djinn are malevolent entities that travel on “the Winds.” Those would be the psychic residuals generated by humanity’s wrath, fear, and hatred—basically the dark side of the Force. With Tehran facing regular Iraqi bombings and missile attacks, the Winds are definitely swirling.

Shideh was studying to be a doctor like her husband Iraj, but she was expelled for political reasons. Of course, just being a woman did not help much either. While Iraj serves his annual medical duty at the front, their daughter Dorsa consoles herself with Kimia, the beloved doll he gave her. Unfortunately, when Kimia mysteriously disappears, Dorsa becomes very difficult to handle.

Simultaneously, Shideh starts having disturbingly realistic nightmares and even sees strange shadows out of the corner of her eye. According to the creepy orphaned kid staying with his aunt and uncle on the floor below, Djinn mark their victims forever by stealing their most prized possessions. Shideh does not believe in superstition, but eventually she has to face the uncanny facts.

Under the Shadow is the sort of horror film that really raises the bar and throws down the gauntlet for the genre. It is indeed massively creepy, so it more than fulfills its immediate requirements. However, Anvari also bakes in a considerable amount of social commentary, but he does so in a way that reinforces and amplifies the mounting dread rather than detracting from it. Between the nefarious Djinn, the suspicious Islamists Shideh must keep at bay, and the shells literally falling on her building, Anvari has no end of means to make us jumpy.

From "Under the Shadow." — From “Under the Shadow.”

The Iranian-German Narges Rashidi might just give the best portrayal of a horror movie mom, maybe ever. Shideh is not just trying to save her daughter. She is brimming with pent-up anger and resentment for the injustice of her situation as well as the general narrowing of opportunities for women in Islamist Iran. Avin Manshadi also shows unusual range for a young thesp as Dorsa. Their difficult relationship brings to mind Jennifer Kent’s The Babadook, but it is considerably more complex and believable.

As if that were not enough, Anvari and production designer Nasser Zoubi’s team vividly recreate the look and feel of 1980s Iran, down to Shideh’s bootleg Jane Fonda workout tape and the forbidden top-loading VCR. Kit Fraser’s cinematography is eerie and evocative, perfectly matching Anvari’s instinctive sense of how much (and how little) the film should show to maintain its sense of dark mystery. Very highly recommended, Under the Shadow screens again this Thursday (1/28) in Park City, as part of this year’s Sundance Film Festival.

LFM GRADE: A+

Posted on January 27th, 2016 at 6:00am.

LFM Reviews Million Dollar Duck @ Slamdance 2016

By Joe Bendel. It has been called the Federal government’s most successful program ever. It is also maybe the most aesthetically pleasing. Frankly, the Federal Duck Stamp does not have much competition on either score, but it still deserves all due credit. For nature artists, the annual stamp art contest represents the brass ring as well. Brian Golden Davis follows several participating artists in Million Dollar Duck, which screens at the 2016 Slamdance Film Festival.

Every waterfowl hunter has been required to buy a Duck Stamp for their license since 1934. Ninety-eight cents out of every dollar go to fund wetland preservation. Rather than resent the cost, hunters have embraced the conservation goal and the classical, Audubon-style art. The Feds do not actually cut the winners a million dollar check. In fact, there is no prize money involved, but the winning artist retains all licensing rights to their paintings, which can be considerable.

Winning the contest helped establish artist Adam Grimm early in his career, but now that he is married with three young children, he could really use another Duck Stamp boost. Yet, he and fellow artist Tim Taylor still work collaboratively to scout and photograph ducks in the early development stage. Like many wildlife artists, their friendship was forged during their time spent at the annual contest. Frankly, it can be a harsh process, incorporating elements not unlike the withering early rounds of American Idol. Yet, there is something to be said for making it so public and above-board.

Davis introduces us to several other contest regulars, including the Hautman Brothers, whose collective wins earn them comparison to the New York Yankees. There is also a decent blood feud running between the likable Taylor and the hipster-provocateur Rob McBroom. You can always recognize his submission. It will be the one with the glitter. Along the way, we also meet artist Dee Dee Murry and her blind painting dachshund Hallie (who sadly passed away before the film’s premiere), so MDD definitely covers its feel-good animal bases.

From "Million Dollar Duck." — From “Million Dollar Duck.”

Believe it or not, the Duck Stamp competition, as documented by Davis, is enormously tense and shockingly cinematic. By the same token, seeing the artists’ passion for nature and the extended community they have built around the contest will give the audience all kinds of good vibes. There was a brief throwaway line about the Duck Stamp contest in the original Fargo film but Davis and screenwriter Martin J. Smith (partially adapting his book The Wild Duck Chase) give it the full treatment it deserves.

In recent years, the war on hunters has cut into Duck Stamp sales, ironically hurting their waterfowl prey, so it is worth noting you do not have to be a hunter to buy a Duck Stamp. They are available to any and all collectors. Million Dollar Duck could drive some business their way. It is highly informative, but also rather warm and fuzzy. Recommended conservationists and those who appreciate a handsome duck portrait, Million Dollar Duck screens again tomorrow (1/26), as part of this year’s Slamdance.

LFM GRADE: B+

Posted on January 25th, 2016 at 6:00am.

LFM Reviews The Lovers and the Despot @ Sundance 2016

From "The Lovers and the Despot." — From “The Lovers and the Despot.”

By Joe Bendel. Shin Sang-ok produced the 3 Ninjas franchise in Hollywood and some of Kim Jong-il’s most ambitious propaganda films. Like his ex-wife, actress Choi Eun-hee, Shin had to live with many decisions that were outside his control. Kidnapped by the North Korean Communist regime, Shin and Choi renewed their romance as they bided their time, waiting for an opportunity to escape. Their absolutely incredible story is chronicled in Rob Cannan & Ross Adam’s documentary, The Lovers and the Despot, which screens during the 2016 Sundance Film Festival.

In the late 1950s and 1960s, Shin and Choi were the power couple of South Korean prestige cinema. They were the toast of the international festival circuit and popular at home. Unfortunately, Shin was a poor businessman and a flawed husband. At a time when his production company was drowning in red ink, Shin started an affair with a younger actress. After giving him the boot, Choi left for Hong Kong to explore a lucrative movie offer. Unfortunately, it was a set-up to facilitate her abduction, on Kim Jong-il’s orders. Hoping to find his alarmed son and daughter’s missing mother, Shin followed her trail in Hong Kong, exactly as the North Koreans hoped.

Kim hoped to “convince” Choi and Shin to elevate clunky DPRK movie-making into the equal of the vastly superior South Korean film industry they knew so well. Bizarrely, it took Kim five years to implement his plan. In the interim, Shin was held in a prison camp, while Kim essentially kept Choi on display, like an orchid in his private greenhouse. Of course, when he finally asked, they duly agreed, because what choice did they have.

Yet, Shin and Choi were always reluctant participants in Kim’s productions. Hoping to escape one day, they secretly recorded exculpatory conversations with the exalted royal dictator. Rather incredibly, their micro-cassettes represent some of the only recordings of Kim II’s voice. Eventually, they would be vindicated, but for years, South Koreans assumed they had sold out to the North.

This is one of the most remarkable stranger-than-fiction episodes of the Twentieth Century. It has more suspense and intrigue than the collected George Smiley series, but it is also an incredible love story. Cannan & Adam have a particular affinity for the romantic aspect of the tale, as does Choi herself, whose frequent presence enriches the film tremendously.

Lovers also happens to be a super-well put together documentary, shoehorning in plenty of historical context and conveying a colorful sense of the titular lovers’ films, without slowing the pace or interrupting the narrative flow. Just when you think it can’t get any weirder, Choi reveals another twist. It is a truly fascinating story that will leave viewers eager for a comprehensive retrospective of their work (including Shin’s Pulgasari, North Korea’s first kaiju movie). Very highly recommended, The Lovers and the Despot screens again this Tuesday (1/26) in Salt Lake, and Thursday (1/28) and Friday (1/29) in Park City, as part of this year’s Sundance Film Festival.

LFM GRADE: A

Posted on January 24h, 2016 at 6:01am.