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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 Synchronicity

By Joe Bendel. Klaus Meisner has an unusual business plan. His company supplies delicate designer flowers, the rare radioactive energy source MRD, and possibly time travel. Presumably, the mark-up on the first two is extremely profitable. The latter is under-development. Unfortunately, the socially awkward scientist who devised the wormhole opening technology is getting a little erratic. That sort of happens when your future self comes back in time. Complications arise in Jacob Gentry’s Synchronicity, which opens this Friday in Los Angeles.

Meisner has a stranglehold on the world’s MRD supply, but it is the only thing powerful enough to drive Jim Beale’s Frankenstein-looking apparatus—thus, his overtures to the stone cold venture capitalist. Initially, his command test drive looks like a disaster, but when the smoke clears, Beale discovers the duly transmitted sample dahlia—or something. Don’t get hung up on any technical details. Gentry knows they make no sense so he blasts them by the audience at warp speed. Just accept some serious time traveling is about to happen—unless its actually a wormhole to a parallel dimension.

Just don’t get hung up period. The important thing is Beale figures out Meisner and his femme fatale kept woman Abby have been playing him—unless Meisner has been playing them both. Maybe she seduced him or maybe they just fell for each other. Beale will try to determine which is true and also save his breakthrough technology from Meisner’s grubby clutches by jumping through the wormhole. Of course, he can’t meet himself in the same time period, so his Mutt & Jeff assistants, Chuck and Matt, will contrive ways to keep them apart. That will get increasingly difficult.

The world of Synchronicity is rather pleasantly neo-retro-futuristic, looking like half Bladerunner and half New York Marriott Marquis, which is pretty cool. There are a lot of concrete stairs for Beale and Beale Prime to scamper up and down. This is a wonderfully choreographed time travel film, much like Timecrimes and The Infinite Man, but it lacks a similarly airtight internal system of logic. Rational causality goes out the window pretty early, but Gentry replaces that pedantic hobgoblin with a healthy dose of hardboiled noir. He even throw in a dash of the unreliable narrator down the stretch.

Chad McKnight is solid enough as the theory-smart, life-dumb Beale and Briane Davis generates plenty of sparks as Abby. However, the real genre glee comes from Michael Ironside doing his villainous thing as Meisner and A.J. Bowen’s Chuck, serving as the slightly smart-alecky audience surrogate and increasingly exasperated voice of reason. Good things happen when those two are on the screen.

There are some nicely rendered effects in Synchronicity, but it is the look, vibe, and locations that you will remember. Gentry keeps the chaos churning and the pace at a breakneck gallop. Frankly, the way he throws caution to the wind and keeps going all-in will wear down the objections of any regular genre film patron. Recommended for time travel and noir fans, Synchronicity opens this Friday (1/22) in LA at the Sundance Sunset Cinemas, and also releases on VOD platforms.

LFM GRADE: B+

Posted on January 19th, 2016 at 8:36pm.

LFM Reviews JeruZalem

By Joe Bendel. There is an evil horde of mindless killers bearing down on the Old City of Jerusalem, hell-bent on destruction. That could be any old Tuesday, except in this case, the rage-fueled monsters are supernatural. It turns out everyone who succumbed to Jerusalem Syndrome was right all along. The city has a connection to an ancient malevolent force that will manifest itself in apocalyptic fashion during the course of the Paz Brothers’ JeruZalem, which opens this Friday in Los Angeles.

Sarah and her rather less reserved bestie Rachel have come to Tel Aviv for some clubbing and a bit of fun in the sun. Sarah could use the break. She and her sad-eyed father are still mourning the death of her older brother. Before leaving, he gives her a set of internet connected eyeglasses that we should not automatically assume to be Google Glass. Inconveniently, her purse with her regular specs is swiped shortly after their arrival, thereby forcing her to wear her geek lens (credibly explaining why so much of the film will be duly recorded).

Instead of immediately hitting the beach, Kevin, the young hipster archaeologist on their flight convinces the women to take a detour to Jerusalem with him. At first, everything seems cool at their impossibly Bohemian hostile. Most conveniently, the Arab Israeli owner’s hard partying son knows where to score the best dope and hear the best music. Yet, there are signs here and there of something sinister stirring.

Suddenly, Kevin seems to contract a particular potent case of Jerusalem Syndrome. However, shortly after he is trundled off to the nearby asylum, throngs of winged demons attack the Old City. They are the spitting image of the creature seen in the exorcism prologue (a tape supposedly recovered from the Vatican archive). To make matters worse, their bite is apparently contagious, just like that of zombies.

There have been a lot of found footage horror films, but what really distinguishes JeruZalem is its heavy backstory and the eerily evocative use of Old City backdrops (shot guerilla-style by the Pazes). We are told in the opening preamble there are three doors to Hell, one in the ocean, one in the desert, and one in Jerusalem, which sounds unsettlingly plausible. The ostensive Vatican footage is also wickedly creepy.

Frankly, the first ten minutes are so scary, the Pazes really slow down for the rest of the first act to fully establish their three main characters. It is a strategy that ultimately pays off. Despite their conspicuous flaws, the audience actually emotionally invests in Kevin, Rachel, Sarah, and her skyping father far more than usual when it comes to the found footage sub-genre.

While the rarely seen Danielle Jadelyn and the American accent-challenged Yon Tumarkin are hit-and-miss as Sarah and Kevin, Yael Grobglas (also memorable in Rabies) absolutely shines as Rachel. Flirty and funny without descending into shtick, she demonstrates real megawatt star power.

The Brothers Paz prove the mere sight of some Old City back alleyways at night is plenty creepy, even without monsters. Together with cinematographer Rotem Yaron, they really capture the city’s ominous nocturnal atmosphere. Highly recommended for fans of found footage and demonic horror, JeruZalem opens this Friday (1/22) in LA at Laemmle’s Ahrya Fine Arts and next Friday (1/29) in New York at Cinema Village.

LFM GRADE: A-

Posted on January 19th, 2016 at 8:34pm.

LFM Reviews Cinema: a Public Affair @ The 2016 New York Jewish Film Festival

By Joe Bendel. The Moscow State Central Cinema Museum was not just a vitally important Russian cultural institution. It was also the canary in the coal mine. During late Perestroika and the early Yeltsin years, the Museum’s cinematheque became a catalyst for open debate and the free exchange of ideas. Those days ended with Putin’s rise to power. Evicted from their stately building, the Museum’s legendary director Naum Kleiman valiantly held the Museum’s staff and programming together until he was pushed out by the cultural ministry. Kleiman takes stock of his losing battles and the grim outlook for Russian civil society in Tatiana Brandrup’s Cinema: a Public Affair, which screens during the 2016 New York Jewish Film Festival.

Kleiman really gets to the nub of the issue in the film’s opening seconds, arguing Russia has always lacked social institutions strong enough to counterbalance the perennially domineering state. In its own small way, the Moscow Film Museum was instituted to address this imbalance. Initially, Kleiman only reluctantly accepted the directorship, hoping to return soon to his position with the Sergei Eisenstein archive.

You can’t get much more Soviet than “Eysen,” as they call him, but for Kleiman and several museum staffers, the notoriously banned Ivan the Terrible Part 2 is his true touchstone film. Frankly, it is a minor miracle Putin’s flunkies have not renewed Stalin’s prohibition. After all, they have forbidden the public exhibition of films with cursing.

From "Cinema: a Public Affair." — From “Cinema: a Public Affair.”

Clearly, nobody understands the erosion of Russian freedoms of thought and expression as keenly as Kleiman, yet he remains a reasonably happy warrior. His enthusiasm for cinema remains infectious and undiminished. For obvious reasons, he is the focal point of Brandrup’s documentary, but he never gets dull. He often relates to films under discussion on multiple levels, simultaneously. The precise details of how the Museum was dispossessed remain murky, apparently as the parties involved intended. However, Brandrup and the Museum partisans openly identify one particularly duplicitous figure, besides Putin. That would be Nikita Mikhalkov, the chairman of the directors’ union.

Somehow Public Affair manages to be rapturously heady when addressing the transformational virtues of cinema and bracingly candid (if not downright depressing) when illuminating the state of Russian personal liberties (or the lack thereof). Arguably, Kleiman is lucky to be alive. If you doubt it, just ask Boris Nemtsov or Anna Politkovskaya. By turns charming, compelling, and deeply galling, Cinema: a Public Affair is the can’t-miss high point of this year’s NYJFF. Very highly recommended, it screens this coming Tuesday night (1/19) and Wednesday afternoon (1/20), at the Walter Reade Theater.

LFM GRADE: A-

Posted on January 15th, 2016 at 8:52am.

LFM Reviews Remember You

By Joe Bendel. Amnesiac attorney Yeon Suk-won has lost the last ten years of his memory. Actually, it is more like thirty years according to the record of his billable hours. Pain and suffering have been his stock and trade, but his own trauma caused a deep psychological fissure. Yeon will try to fit together stray puzzle pieces of his memory in Lee Yoon-jung’s Remember You, which opens today in Los Angeles.

The immediate cause of Yeon’s memory loss was an auto accident, but something else happened in his past that nobody around him wants to talk about. Frankly, there are not a lot of potential volunteers. Nobody comes looking for Yeon as he re-enters society after extensive in-patient therapy, except his law partner Oh Kwon-ho. He is eager for him to resume work on Kim Yeong-hee’s murder trial, but Yeon is no longer the legal shark she retained. There is something a little fishy about her—and she thinks Yeon ought to know why, but he is clueless.

In addition to the generally disorienting effects of his localized amnesia, Yeon is also distracted by the mysterious Kim Jin-yeong, whom he constantly crosses paths with. Obviously, she also has her issues and the resulting meds, but Kim seems to know more about him than she lets on. Regardless, they quickly commence a passionate, slightly dysfunctional affair. Yet, just when things start getting good, flashes from Yeon’s past threaten to destabilize their relationship.

Lee plays intriguingly odd tonal games throughout Remember You in a mostly distinctive kind of way. Several times it flirts with Hitchcockian suspense, only to revert back to melodrama in each case. Still, it is very much a mystery and often rather atmospheric. Lee’s screenplay (a fix-up of her 2010 short film) also manages to end on a note that should satisfy romance fans, but is not the least bit sentimental or overly pat, which is a neat trick to pull off.

From "Remember You." — From “Remember You.”

Korean superstars Jung Woo-sung and Kim Ha-nel develop some wonderfully potent yet thorny chemistry as the romantic leads. Kim is particularly poignant as Kim Jin-yeong. Rather than let loose with cheap theatrics, we very directly see and feel how desperately she is trying to contain herself. As Oh, Bae Sung-woo (so effective in Hong Won-chan’s Office) memorably takes the clichéd best friend role and takes it in sleazier direction. However, Jang Young-nam basically upstages everyone as the potential black widow femme fatale.

Even though it is not a thriller per se, Lee Yoon-jung keeps the audience guessing right up to the third act revelation (perhaps a little too much, since the many flashback sequences are not always clearly delineated). The attractive co-leads and the small but accomplished cast of supporting players are also key to maintaining our intrigued focus. Frankly, it is one of the better psychological dramas you will see that opts more for tragedy than suspense. Recommended pretty enthusiastically, Remember Me opens today (1/15) in Los Angeles at the CGV Cinemas and next Friday (1/22) in Dallas at the Cine Oasis.

LFM GRADE: B+

Posted on January 15th, 2016 at 8:51am.