Category: Articles

LFM Reviews East Side Sushi

By Joe Bendel. It’s tough working a fruit cart in Oakland. Juana would know. She is about to be held-up and roughed-up by the thugs targeting cart workers. Frankly, it is hard to make a go of anything in the economically distressed city, but its sushi restaurants seem to be uncharacteristically healthy. Juana will still have to create her own opportunities to become a sushi chef in Anthony Lucero’s East Side Sushi, which opens today in Los Angeles.

Even before the robbery, Juana wanted a better way of life. She thinks she might have found it in one of the Japanese restaurants owned by Mr. Yoshida. You could say he is reasonably progressive in that all kitchen employees receive health benefits, but he has very definite ideas about who can prepare sushi up front. They have to be male and Asian, preferably Japanese, or at least trained in Japan. She is neither, but as she learns from Aki, the talented but timid sushi chef, she starts to harbor ambitions. She also makes her new found passion for sushi relatively palatable for her daughter and father by incorporating poblanos and jalapenos. Maybe she’s onto something there.

East Side is a hard film to take critical stock of, because it takes absolutely no risks, but there is no denying its earnestness and the charisma of its principles. If enough people see it, East Side could be a word of mouth smash, precisely because its predictable arc is like comfort food. Still, there are moments that stay with you. Lead Diana Elizabeth Torres truly brings tears to viewers’ eyes when she desperately declares “I deserve an opportunity.” You can just hear centuries of the American dream welling up under her.

Likewise, Yutaka Takeuchi is terrifically understated as Aki. Roji Oyama also brings unexpected nuance to Mr. Yoshida. However, old Pops is an annoying combination of bluster and soft cultural prejudice. In general, the restaurant ensemble is much better than the home ensemble, but Torres is terrific working with both.

Maybe the big sushi roll-off does not completely follow the standard issue template, but it does not deviate too far. Yet, there is no denying the film takes you to a satisfying place. All kinds of nice, East Side Sushi is recommended for people who do not go to the movies very often and want to see something a lot like the last thing they really enjoyed when it opens tomorrow (9/18) in Los Angeles at the NoHo 7.

LFM GRADE: B-

Posted on September 18th, 2015 at 2:32pm.

LFM Reviews Some Kind of Hate

By Joe Bendel. Horror movies were way ahead of the mainstream media when it came to addressing the issue of bullying. Perhaps only overbearing mothers created more serial killers than bullies. Ever hear of a chick named Carrie? She and Moira would be kindred spirits. Spirit really is the right term for the latter. She was bullied to death, but now she is back to take care of business in Adam Egypt Mortimer’s Some Kind of Hate, which opens today in New York.

One day, the high school bullies pushed Lincoln Taggert too far—and now he has to serve time in Mind’s Eye Academy, a Kumbaya reform camp. Naturally, the hippy dippy administrators do not realize the exact same bullying is happening right under their noses. When his new tormentors try to pick up where the high school bullies left off, Taggert’s rage summons the spirit of Moira.

She too was unjustly remanded to the camp and mercilessly targeted by the sadistic popular clique. One day their harassment turned deadly, but they closed ranks and covered it up. Conveniently, it seems like the worst offenders are still around as counselors. Moira can’t wait to reconnect. She was once a cutter and now she can do unto others by doing unto herself. It all rather alarms Taggert, but Kaitlin the disgraced cheerleader will help facilitate her killing spree out of a sense of guilt from her own fatal bullying. They also happen to be fellow cutters.

Some Kind of Hate, echoing the old John Hughes title, pulls off some tricky balancing acts. It reflects an up-to-the-minute sensibility regarding bullying without feeling overly didactic or After School Special-ish. The characters seem quite contemporary, but the look and vibe evokes early Wes Craven. Moira’s killing technique is also pretty original and deeply unsettling in a way genre fans will appreciate.

From "Some Kind of Hate."

However, Ronen Rubinstein just does not seem to fit the part of Taggert. It is not that he is bad in the part, per se. In fact, he actually shows some skills. He just does not look like a prime bullying target. Every time someone decides to mess with him, you have to wonder why they picked the dude who looks like Danny Zuko. On the other hand, Disney-starlet Grace Phipps brings the right Kevin Williamson attitude as Kaitlin. It is also sort ironic to see Twin Falls Idaho and Big Sur director Michael Polish appear as one of the administrators just as his evangelical-themed film 90 Minutes in Heaven releases. He’s had an interesting career.

Hardcore horror fans will be happy to know SKOH was edited Josh Ethier (Digging Up the Marrow, We Are Still Here). It is cut together well and cinematographer Benji Bakshi makes it all look quite eerie, in a sweaty, humid kind of way. By slasher standards, it is quite well made, but it might be too dark in terms of mood and morale for casual genre viewers. Recommended for those like their horror straight, with no chaser, Some Kind of Hate opens today (9/18) in New York, at the Village East.

LFM GRADE: B

Posted on September 18th, 2015 at 2:32pm.

LFM Reviews Office

By Joe Bendel. It is the corporate headquarters of Jones & Sunn, a large Mainland financial services conglomerate, but it looks like it exists in the world of Chaplin’s Modern Times. Never has the white collar workplace been so surreal, yet so uncomfortably credible in a Bloomberg bullpen kind of way. The impending IPO represents a heck of a payday for everyone, if by everyone you mean the charismatic chairman and his not so secret lover, the CEO -but Lehman Brothers complicates everything in Johnnie To’s musical adaptation of Sylvia Chang’s zeitgeisty play, Office, which opens this Friday in New York, after premiering at this year’s TIFF.

Yes, Johnnie To has made a movie musical—and why not? It is one more cinematic peak he summited. The music is not bad, but the design is simply extraordinary. Note there is no article before this Office. It is a strictly serious, high stakes environment. Ambitious junior managers like Sophie understand they have to move up or out, but there is not a lot of room above her. She has the ambiguous “support” of VP David Wang, who in turn is the “favorite” of CEO Winnie Chang. She is a somewhat scandalous figure for openly carrying on with the chairman, Ho Chung-ping while his wife remains in a persistent coma.

Into this thorny nest of office politics come two fresh-faced management trainees. Li Xiang is a guileless go-getter, who somewhat charms Chang in spite of herself. Yet, the mysterious Kat probably has the inside track being the chairman’s daughter, working under an assumed name to avoid improper appearances. Frankly though, nepotism will be the least of everyone’s worries.

At the risk of excessive repetition, it should be emphasized just how incredible designer William Chang’s sets look. They brilliantly blend the austerity of postmodernism with the expressionism of Fritz Lang’s Metropolis. Sylvia’s Chang’s narrative is unusually complex, but it is nice to see a film refrain from dumbing down the content. Of course, some themes are universal, like the corporate equivalent of the aging diva and naïve ingénue struggling to hold onto their piece of the pie. However, her source play resonated with Chinese audiences newly coming to terms with the salaryman blues in ways that will feel familiar to American viewers. Welcome to the party, its spectacular, isn’t it?

From "Office."

In all honesty, the tunes are just okay, but Eason Chan demonstrates major vocal chops as David Wang. On the other hand, Tang Wei looks like she just wants to get through her numbers as quickly as possible, but in all other respects, her work as Sophie is sensitively rendered and deeply affecting. Still, Sylvia Chang clearly saved the prime cuts for herself, digging into Winnie Chang’s Joan Crawfordness with relish we can all share. She also develops some charmingly undefinable chemistry with Wang Ziyi’s Li Xiang. It is also cool to watch Chow Yun-fat strut his stuff as the chairman of the board, because that is basically what he is to Hong Kong cinema.

When Johnnie To does a musical, you have to see it. It sounds fine, but Tang, Sylvia Chang, and William Chang’s eye-popping corporate HQ give the audience plenty to watch. Recommended for To faithful ready for his next departure and fans of the all-star cast, Office opens this Friday (9/18) in New York, at the AMC Empire.

LFM GRADE: B+

Posted on September 18th, 2015 at 2:31pm.

LFM Reviews Montana

By Joe Bendel. It’s good for a lad to aspire to a career. Young Montana thought he was apprenticing to be a drug dealer, but when his bosses double-cross him, the adolescent learns the assassin’s trade instead. Revenge will be had by mentor and protégé alike in Mo Ali’s Montana, which opens this Friday in limited release.

Dimitrije was a Serbian assassin during the Balkan Wars, but there were things even he wouldn’t do. He tried to escape with his wife and son, but they were captured by an especially vicious militia leader. Dimitrije escaped, but not before his family was killed by the man now known as the London drug kingpin Lazarus. Bent on revenge, Dimitrije has tracked Lazarus’s operations, taking out pawns at strategic moments. Thus far he has spared Montana.

Montana wants to rise through the ranks of the gang, like the henchmen he looks up to. He no longer attends school, but he still has one straight friend, Jess, a prospective girlfriend. Yet, unbeknownst to him, it was Lazarus’s men who killed his father. Therefore, they consider it only a matter of time before they have to rub him out as well. That day will come sooner rather than later. Needless to say, he survives long enough to hook up with Dimitrije, who will become his personal Miyagi for assassination and urban warfare.

From "Montana."

So maybe Montana is not blazingly original, following in the tradition of Leon, the Professional and scores of deadly apprentice films, but the execution is impressively crisp. There are some nifty action sequences and the payback is duly cathartic. It might be a B-movie, but Lars Mikkelsen deserves credit for bringing his A-game. As Dimitrije, he gives the film tragic gravitas, as well as borderline psychotic tendencies. Young McKell David also shows tremendous promise in the title role. Even when Montana is acting out, he is relatively easy to take. He also develops some appealing ambiguous chemistry Sinead Michael’s Jess.

Looking distinctly Mem Ferba-ish, Darrell D’Silva appropriately chews all kinds of scenery as Lazarus. However, British TV star Ashley Walters and Game of Thrones fan favorite Michelle Fairley are strangely underutilized as Lazarus’s duplicitous lieutenant and the DCI incredibly oblivious of her massively corrupt Detective Constables.

Granted, Ali and screenwriters Jeremy Sheldon and Peter Lowe are following an established formula, but they clearly recognize the elements that make it work. Thanks to an engaged cast it clicks together quite competently and satisfyingly. Recommended for fans of gritty, action driven revenge dramas, Montana opens this Friday (9/18) in Los Angeles, at the Arena Cinema.

LFM GRADE: B+

Posted on September 18th, 2015 at 2:31pm.

LFM Reviews Horizon @ The 2015 Toronto International Film Festival

By Joe Bendel. Georg Guðni Hauksson did something rather remarkable. The Icelandic artistic came up with an original approach to traditional landscape painting. His work was internationally hailed, but he tragically died at the peak of his productivity. Fridrik Thór Fridriksson & co-director Bergur Bernburg survey Guðni’s work and try to evoke its spirit in Horizon, which screens during the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival.

In some ways, Guðni’s timing was perfect. He attended Icelandic art school in the 1980s, at a time when that was suddenly the thing to do. He duly experimented with loud, fast, punk-inspired styles, but it was his secret landscape work that would eventually make his reputation.

Although perfectly representational, his landscapes look otherworldly and almost avant-garde. Rather than outlining shapes and then filling in colors, Guðni’s laborious method involved the meticulous layering of horizontal lines, one atop another, sort of like a weaver’s loom. The resulting work was often stark, but undeniably Nordic. There are no online records of his art being used on ECM record jackets, but his work would certainly be compatible with Manfred Eicher’s aesthetic.

Fridriksson & Bernburg incorporate long excerpts from archival interviews with Guðni, but they are not as revealing as one might hope. However, they get some helpful context from Icelandic art critics and Guðni’s contemporaries, as well as actor Viggo Mortensen, who published a book with Guðni at his specialty imprint, Percival Press. They also punctuate the talking heads and close-ups of paintings with impressionistic scenes of the Icelandic fields and valleys that so inspired him.

Guðni’s paintings are quite striking once you acclimate yourself to his distinctive look and the nature scenes are perfectly pleasant, but what really makes the film is the haunting minimalist soundtrack composed by Sigur Rós sideman Kjartan Hólm. Frankly, it really sounds like something that could be released on ECM, which is high praise indeed.

Horizon is an earnest and thorough examination of Guðni’s oeuvre that should give any open-minded viewer a keen appreciation of vision. However, even with Mortensen’s participation and support, it is hard to envision it getting a wide American distribution, so if you are in Toronto and are intrigued to any extent, you should see it now. Recommended for contemporary art connoisseurs, Horizon screens again tomorrow (9/15) and Saturday (9/19) as part of this year’s TIFF.

LFM GRADE: B+

Posted on September 15th, 2015 at 10:31pm.

LFM Reviews Born to Dance @ The 2015 Toronto International Film Festival

By Joe Bendel. It is not just kiwis and hobbits in New Zealand. They also have hip hop. It speaks to working class Maori kids like Tu and his friends, who are looking for their place in society. They have all kinds of moves, but the national hip hop dance competition has long been dominated by Kane’s well-funded, widely-sponsored K-Crew. A grudge match is brewing between them in Tammy Davis’s Born to Dance, which screens during the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival.

If Tu does not figure his post-high school life out fast, his Sergeant father will enlist him in the army. He thinks he sees his opportunity when K-Crew, the reigning dance champions, invite him to audition. This is no mere cattle call. For weeks, Tu will travel to Auckland to participate in the long term process-of-elimination tryout. Naturally, he keeps it secret from his own crew, led by his lifelong platonic pal, Vonnie. Only his semi-delinquent buddy Benjy knows the truth.

Of course, Tu has the right stuff, but all the special attention he gets from Kane’s girlfriend Sasha could be a problem. Frankly, she knows he is pretty scummy, but her snobby, absentee parents only let her stay in New Zealand to dance as she wishes as long as she is still part of a winning squad. She therefore needs Kane.

BTD features a ridiculously charismatic cast in a total Arthur Murray dance-by-numbers screenplay. It is a lead pipe cinch Tu and Kane will eventually face each other. Yet, that hardly matters as long as Davis and choreographer Parris Goebel keeps the energy cranked up. There are some cool dance sequences distributed throughout BTD, but nothing tops the wildly inventive moves Tu’s crew uncorks during the first round of the nationals. On the other hand, it is hard to take K-Crew seriously, because most of their routines bring to mind Mike Myers doing Dieter on Sprockets.

From "Born to Dance."

Former So You Think You Can Dance contestant Kherington Payne shows more presence than you would expect from Sasha. In contrast, Tia-Taharoa Maipi is likably enough, but a bit of a dramatic lightweight as Tu. However, Stan Walker is the real breakout discovery, demonstrating considerable range and all kinds of dance floor cred as the sensitive bad boy Benjy.

Yes, there are some real moments, but Goebels’ choreography is still not as distinctive as Yako Miyamoto’s taiko drumming and dancing that so distinguished Make Your Move. Nevertheless, BTD has more fire and grit than an army of Step Up clones. The fact that Tu, Benjy, and Vonnie are Maori is very important to the narrative, but it is not belabored to the point of distraction. This is a dance film not a social issue drama. In fact, it is a rather enjoyable one, in an underdog-Horatio Alger-kids from Fame kind of way. Recommended for dance movie fans, Born to Dance screens again this Friday (9/18) as part of this year’s TIFF.

LFM GRADE: B

Posted on September 15th, 2015 10:31pm.