Category: Movie Reviews

By Joe Bendel. International relief workers finally get the M*A*S*H treatment. These Aid Across Borders volunteers hook-up and joke around, but they truly want to help the civilian population that has been so traumatized by the Balkan War. However, a relatively simple task will escalate into a life-and-death crisis in Fernando León de Aranoa’s English language debut, A Perfect Day, which opens this Friday in New York.

A rotund corpse has been dumped in a Balkan village’s only potable drinking well. Mambrú, a veteran Spanish field worker and his local fixer Damir were on the case, but their rope broke. Their gonzo colleague B and the naïve rookie Sophie were nearby, but they are fresh out of rope. Unfortunately, the nearest general store has plenty of rope, but it happens to be in a different ethnic conclave. It is pretty clear the locals were either responsible for the body in the first place or are protecting those who put it there.

Thus begins an increasingly absurd and dangerous quest for rope. Frankly, it is probably the first time B has been so determined to find hemp in this form. Of course, the UN (the Blue Helmets) are not much help. Unfortunately, the Aid Across Borders bureaucracy does not understand the boots-on-the-ground realities either. Believing the truce renders their services unnecessary, they have dispatched Mambrú’s former mistress Katya to write a report that confirms their judgement. Whether she likes it or not, she is about to join the mismatched quartet in their mad dash for rope—and it is rather pressing. If they can remove it within twenty-four hours, the purification process will be relatively non-invasive, but if the well is befouled any longer than that, it will have to be closed.

Maybe they would have a better chance of finding rope if they could actually identify which country they were in. All we are told is that it takes place somewhere in the Balkans circa 1995. It sure looks like Bosnia and the sinister folks who refuse to share their rope definitely bring to mind the Bosnian Serbs, but the mealy-mouth nature of León de Aranoa’s screenplay (based on a novel by Paula Farias, former head of the Spanish operational section of Doctors Without Borders) is rather annoying on that score. That is a shame, because the film has real bite when it conveys a sense of war’s random cruelty and the cluelessness of the UN forces.

The NGO’s international constituency allows León de Aranoa to assemble an interesting cast that probably would not otherwise have a chance to work together. Tim Robbins arguably does his funniest work since The Player as the defiantly rude B. Mélanie Thierry’s guileless Sophie serves as an effective audience proxy when confronting the disillusioning realities of war. Naturally, Bernicio Del Toro plays Mambrú the ladies’ man, because what woman could resist a piece of man candy like him, right? Of course, Olga Kurylenko’s sex appeal is better established, but she plays Katya as a refreshingly smart and assertive professional. However, the real discovery is the Bosnian Fedja Stukan, who basically steals the show as the salt-of-the-earth but decidedly vulnerable Danir.

There are some wickedly clever scenes and some depressingly bitter ironies in APD. If León de Aranoa had not decided to bend over backwards to avoid offending anyone, it could have been a definitive film on the Balkan War. Instead, it is a good film rather than a great one, primarily for the way it captures the very real dangers (including landmines and dubious paramilitary checkpoints) faced by international relief workers. Recommended for those who already have a solid grounding on the 1990s conflict, A Perfect Day opens this Friday (1/15) in New York, at the IFC Center.

LFM GRADE: B

Posted on January 13th, 2016 at 12:42pm.

By Joe Bendel. It sounds like a reality show, but it will be much more serious than that. For astronauts, isolation is a much greater concern than G-forces or anything physical. Therefore, the potential crew of an upcoming privately funded interstellar mission are auditioning by spending four hundred days in an underground simulator. They expect Kepler Industries will have plenty of planned challenges in store for them. However, the real surprise might be unleased on the Earth above them in Matt Osterman’s 400 Days, which opens this Friday in New York.

Cole Dvorak is the hard charging blowhard who will be making the crew’s regular broadcasts to the outside world. “Bug” Kieslowski is the squirrely one, but somehow he is also the crew’s only married parent. Dr. Emily McTier will be tracking everyone’s mental and physical health, so she is going to be really darn busy. Theo Cooper is their loose cannon captain, slightly in the Kirk-ish tradition. Unfortunately, he started the mission with a nasty hangover, but he had a good excuse. He had just been dumped by McTier.

Everything went swimmingly well during launch, but the crew lost radio contact with mission control shortly thereafter. Assuming it is all part of the plan, they carry on, notching their mission objectives as the four hundred days count down. However, as the near the day of their simulated re-entry, strange things start happening. Stress has clearly taken a toll on everyone, but when a half-starved wretch of a man breaks into their simulator, they realize something well outside the simulation’s parameters is underfoot. When they venture outside, they find the world has changed. It is now a very dark, predatory place—perhaps even post-apocalyptic, but the vibe is more Kafka and Sartre than Mad Max.

Executive Producer Dane Cook reportedly takes a lot of flak from other comedians, but he really gives 400 Days a tremendous boost of energy as the boorish, ego-inflated Dvorak. He gets over some of the film’s best lines as Dvorak becomes increasingly unhinged. Brandon Routh is more than a little bland on-screen, but one could argue he is appropriately taciturn as the glumly competent Cooper. Despite her growing cult following, Caity Lotz glams down for McTier, projecting her intelligence and sensitivity. Ben Feldman’s Kieslowski over relies on twitchy mannerisms, but Grant Bowler brings plenty of oily charisma as Kepler Industries’ CEO, Walter Anderson. It also seems fitting to have a Lost alumnus on board in some capacity.

In many ways, 400 Days shares a kinship with the original Twilight Zone pilot, “Where is Everybody?,” but it delves deeper into the dark side of humanity. Somewhat frustratingly, Osterman guards the film’s unsettling ambiguity and never gives us a grand unified explanation of anything. That is both good and bad, because that means the film will keep bugging you well after the initial viewing. Yet, for those who were raised on Rod Serling, it is sort of refreshing.

Regardless, Osterman maintains an air of mystery and slowly but surely keeps the tension mounting as soon as the crew loses communications with the outside world. 400 Days is the first release of SyFy’s new theatrical arm, which probably creates a certain level of expectations, based on SyFy originals like Lake Placid vs. Anaconda and Mega Shark vs. Crocosaurus, but this is in a whole different league. It is decidedly small in scale, which might leave many sf fans unsatisfied, but its paranoid tautness is rather impressive. Recommended to a surprising extent for fans of the weird, 400 Days opens this Friday (1/15) in New York, at the Cinema Village.

LFM GRADE: B+

Posted on January 13th, 2016 at 12:42pm.

By Joe Bendel. There has always been a macabre side to the art of puppetry, going back to the commedia dell’arte roots of Punch and Judy. We sort of lost sight of it because of the Muppets, but it would occasionally manifest itself in ambitious Henson projects like The Dark Crystal. However, Kevin McTurk raises old school rod puppetry to new gothic heights in his visually arresting short film The Mill at Calder’s End, which screens during the 2016 Philip K. Dick Film Festival in New York.

After a long absence, Nicholas Grimshaw is returning to Calder’s End to claim his inheritance. It is a lonely drive, but his destination is even drearier. His family estate is a shunned place in the Lovecraftian sense. He would gladly relinquish all his claims to it, but an ancient Faustian bargain binds his family to the evil force centered in the ominous looking mill.

Of course, everything in Calder’s End looks ominous, even including Grimshaw’s late but still accursed father, who bears an unmistakable resemblance to the great Peter Cushing, which has to be one of the coolest cinematic hat tips ever. It is altogether fitting too, since the influence of Hammer Horror and the Corman Poe films is evident in the wonderfully rich and atmospheric production and art design. As if that were not enough fan service, Barbara Steele, the Giallo legend and a semi-regular Corman repertory player gives voice to the malevolent Apparition of the Mill.

The story of Calder’s End would still be a satisfying little gothic hair-raiser had it been a conventional live action drama, but as a piece of puppet theater, it is kind of stunning. McTurk (whose technical credits include films like Iron Man, Hugo, and Pacific Rim) and his accomplished team have done some of the best special effects, set construction, and costuming you will see in a film of any length, with any sort of cast.

Calder’s End doesn’t seem very Philip K. Dick-like, but who cares? Fans of Cushing, Hammer, and gothic British horror in general will absolutely flip for it. So far, McTurk has been honing his macabre puppetry in shorts (this being only his second), but when he applies this concept to a feature, it will be a major event for genre fans. Very highly recommended, The Mill at Calder’s End screens as part of a short film block this Friday (1/15) at the Cinema Village, during this year’s Philip K. Dick Film Festival.

LFM GRADE: A+

Posted on January 13th, 2016 at 12:38pm.

By Joe Bendel. That copy of Philip K. Dick’s Time Out of Joint could come in handy for Carlos. While his situation is somewhat different, it could help him think about reality in more outside-the-box terms (it also made his film a perfect selection for this year’s Philip K. Dick Film Festival). At the very least, it will help pass the time. Rather than a box or a Potemkin world, Carlos is stuck in an infinite staircase. He is not the only one facing such a predicament in Isaac Ezban’s The Incident, which screens during the 2016 Philip K. Dick Film Festival in New York.

The corrupt cop was leading Carlos and his brother Oliver out through his building’s staircase when they heard the bang. At that point, the stairs became an endless Escher loop. They walk down nine flights and find themselves right back at the ninth floor landing. Needless to say, the doors are sealed, but the vending machine mysteriously keeps replenishing itself. The situation would be dire enough, but the copper, acting on a perverse impulse, shot Oliver in the leg right before the happening. Soon the festering wound becomes life-threatening.

Meanwhile or something, Daniel is on a road trip with his mother, her trying-too-hard boyfriend, and his little sister, but that highway never seems to end—because it won’t. There is an empty service station that never runs out of supplies, but they do not carry asthma inhalers. Unfortunately, Daniel’s sister will be needing one after hers is damaged. These two cosmically closed loops do not appear to be related, except for the occasional hint suggesting they really are.

There are no significant visual effects to speak of in The Incident, but it is a wildly ambitious, decade-spanning, mind-reeling genre film. It starts out merely unsettling in a Sartre kind of way, but it turns into a deeper, metaphysical horror show. Reportedly, some fans of the show Lost find various hat-tips throughout the film. Whether they are intentional or not, The Incident is certainly in keeping with the show’s spirit (whereas it is wholly dissimilar from M. Night Shyamalan’s The Happening).

Considering the circumstances, The Incident boasts a surprisingly large cast. Nobody really stands out per se, because the entire ensemble is convincingly freaked out and then bitterly resigned to their fate. Essentially, they look like real people in some kind of Hell (but it isn’t really, or is it?).

Ezban tries to connect too many dots in the third act, but that is a rather valiant mistake. Regardless, he announces himself as a major new talent with The Incident, while also providing a heck of a calling card for his design team. This is a painstakingly crafted film that masterfully controls what the audience sees and the temporary assumptions they form. Pretty impressive stuff, recommended for fans of Lost and David Lynch’s better mind-trips, The Incident screens this Friday (1/15) at the Cinema Village, as part of this year’s Philip K. Dick Film Festival.

LFM GRADE: A-

Posted on January 13th, 2015 at 12:39pm.