Hong Sang-soo’s In Our Day

Even though Hong Sang-soo is a film director, he seems to believe actors are the dullest people in the world. Once again, he apparently sets out to prove it with his latest film. Supposedly, this is a film about coincidence, but the not so ironic happenstances are weak and tangential in Hong’s In Our Day, which is now playing in New York.

Sang-won is an actress, who is crashing with her friend Jung-soo and Jung-soo’s cat Us, now that she has returned to Korea after a long absence. Hong Uiju is a poet who lives alone, since the death of his cat. That is really a shame for the poet and the audience, because Us is probably the most interesting character in the film.

Today, both will be visited by aspiring thesps, who supposedly want to ask them big meaningful questions. However, when Ji-soo and Jae-won try to get out the words, they sound pretentious and inarticulate. Sang-won and Uiju also eat ramen with red chili paste. Yes, that is a big deal in this film. Perhaps you can understand why Us eventually runs away from home.

Maybe Hong was trying to recapture the inspiration of his best films, Hill of Freedom, Yourself and Yours, and Right Now, Wrong Then, which slyly riffed on doubling motifs, while employing hip bifurcated structures. If so, he was really forcing it. Unfortunately, his shallow and annoying characters need even more work than the skeletal narrative.

Frankly, In Our Day feels more like an improv workshop than a proper film. Perhaps the only memorable dialogue comes when Sang-won explains to her cousin Ji-soo how she never felt she ever gave an honest performance, because she knew her directors always wanted a predictably safe canned response. Kim Min-hee (often referred to as Hong’s “muse”) delivers this pseudo-monologue with such earnestness, perhaps it should tell the director something.

Argylle: Cats and Spies

You would think an espionage novelist like Elly Conway would be a dog person, rather than a cat lady. She leads a shier, quieter life than Joan Wilder in Romancing the Stone, even though she is so tuned into geopolitical realities, her novels have been described as prophetic, much like the techno-thrillers of Tom Clancy and David Hagberg. In fact, she her books have become a little too predictive for a shadowy SPECTRE-like organization in Matthew Vaughn’s Argylle, which opens Friday in theaters nationwide.

Conway does not get out much, but when she leaves home for a meeting (like this fateful day), she always brings her fat cat Alfie. She has a tailor-made argyle-print carrier for him, probably because Petco doesn’t have anything big enough for his plump rump. She will cling to his case for dear life while the mysterious Aidan rescues her from a train full of assassins. The shaggy stranger is nothing like suave fictional Agent Argylle, whom we see in action during fantasy segments and book-readings, as well as when he reassures the neurotic Conway, in her mind’s eye.

At least Aidan claims to be a fan—and a real spy. According to him, an international spy outfit (much like Citadel) just turned to the dark side, exactly like the plot twist of her latest novel. Unfortunately, she ended it with a cliffhanger, which nobody likes, especially not KAOS or THRUSH. He needs her to come up with a real ending to foil the bad guys, but it will not be that simple.

Weirdly, there are a lot of similarities between Argylle and Citadel, but it would be spoilery for both to explain how. Regardless, they are worlds apart in terms of tone. Argylle always goes for laughs and it is not afraid to lean in slapstick. To their credit, some of Aidan’s early fight scenes are impressively choreographed, but they grow increasingly outlandish and silly.

Screenwriter Jason Fuchs throws one crazy plot twist after another at the audience, but the head-spinning revelations are all part of the winking fun. This movie can be a lot, but it knows and appreciates the genre it is spoofing. Plus, it has Alfie, who gets a lot of laughs, even though Chip (the cat who plays him) gives the film’s most deadpan performance.

One of the film’s pleasant surprises is the facility for broad, physical comedy Sam Rockwell shows as Aidan. Fans know he can be sarcastic, but here he gets to act loopy and rubber-boned—and it largely suits him. Bryce Dallas Howard cannot really match his energy as Conway. However, the film as a wealth colorful supporting players, like Bryan Cranston and Catherine O’Hara, who chew the scenery like a Five Guys Burger, as the villainous Ritter and Conway’s overbearing mother.

The Amazing Maurice, Terry Pratchett Animated

In some ways, Terry Pratchett was a more up-scale Piers Anthony, who created a funny fantasy world that satirized genre tropes (he had a solid fandom here, but nothing like his popularity in the UK). Technically, this big orange cat is part of his Diskworld universe, but you do not have to be familiar with any of those books to appreciate his fairy tale misadventures. The Pied Piper legend gets mashed-up and riffed on, but the rats themselves are his friends, at least the talking ones are, in Toby Genkel’s animated The Amazing Maurice (with Florian Westermann also credited as “co-director”), which opens tomorrow in New York.

Maurice acts as the advance-pitch-man for the Pied Piper scam he worked up with Keith, the naïve human piccolo player, and their talking rat friends. Needless to say, his piping always manages to lead the rats out of town—for a fee. The rodents became conscious and gained the ability to talk after munching the trash thrown out by the Unseen University, a school of wizardry that will mean something to Pratchett fans. How Maurice gained that ability too is an awkward subject he tries to avoid.

After their latest Piper-scam, Maurice and Keith enter a town that mysteriously has no rats. It is also depressingly low on food. Somehow, the shadowy Rat Catchers League seems to be involved. The mayor’s daughter is Malicia is determined to get to the bottom of things. She is an avid reader with a thirst for adventurer, so she takes her discovery of Keith’s talking animal friends in stride. However, her fairy tale binging may have built-up unreasonable expectations for heroics that Keith will have difficulty fulfilling.

The Amazing Maurice is definitely Shrek-like. It was even adapted by Shrek franchise screenwriter Terry Rossio. Indeed, Genkel’s animation is colorful and unflaggingly energetic, while the humor is mischievously droll. Yet, it is hard to overstate how much Hugh Laurie’s roguish voice performance enriches the film. Thanks to him, there’s no mistaking Maurice for Garfield.

Luck, on Apple TV+

They say luck favors the prepared mind, but not in Sam Greenfield’s case. She learns bad luck is supposed to be random. Yet, bad luck attracts more bad luck, so once she had it, she couldn’t shake it. She gets this first-hand lesson in luck when she plays Dorothy or Alice (your preference) after falling into the land it comes from in Peggy Holmes’ Luck, produced by Skydance Animation, which premieres tomorrow on Apple TV+.

Greenfield is finally getting her own place, because she aged-out of the orphanage. The young woman just always had bad luck with her family visits. She accepts her lot, but does not want the same unlucky fate to befall Hazel, the young fellow orphan she took under her klutzy wing. After splitting a panini with a black cat, Greenfield discovers a lucky penny that seems to turn her fortunes around. She is sure it will do the same for Hazel, but true to form, she accidentally flushes it down the toilet. That rather distresses Bob the cat, who comes back looking for it.

It turns out, he was issued that penny in the Land of Luck, where Greenfield ends up too, after following him through the portal. Reluctantly, Bob agrees to help her locate another penny for Hazel to use on her next family visit, before he uses it to replace the one he lost. Of course, the grown-up sized Greenfield stands out in the land of leprechauns, rabbits, and unicorns. It should be noted Bob claims black cats are lucky in Scotland, which a quick googling seems to bear out. Unfortunately, Bob’s bossy boss, The Captain soon discovers somebody passed off a button as a lucky penny—and she would be delighted to blame him.

Luck has a good deal of charm and the colorful Land of Good Luck is quite snazzy looking. It is sort of like a fantastical Rube Goldberg-esque Metropolis. Like in Fritz Lang’s dystopia, the privileged lucky live in the skies above, while the proletarian Goblins and Roots live below in the Land of Bad Luck. There is definitely an Oz-like aspect to the story, but the hard luck blue collar monsters turn out to be more fun.

Eva Noblezada brings a lot of energy and warmth to Greenfield’s voice, but the character is so virtuous, she gets a little dull. However, Bob is entertainingly roguish character, with a smartly conceived backstory and appropriately cat-like foibles. Simon Pegg is the perfect vocal match for him, crisply landing all his snarky lines.

TIFF ’18: Legend of the Demon Cat

Kûkai was like the Japanese Xuanzang (of Journey to the West immortality). He really did travel to China in search of Buddhist teachings. As amateur sleuths go, he inspires a good deal of confidence. That is not necessarily true of the great Tang poet Bai Juyi, but Kûkai needs somebody familiar with all of the capitol city’s brothels. Together, they will solve a mystery with supernatural implications in Chen Kaige’s Legend of the Demon Cat (trailer here), which screens during the 2018 Toronto International Film Festival.

Technically, it is not really a whodunit. The demonic cat did it—and he will do it a lot more. The question is why. Kûkai first finds traces of its nefarious activity when he is summoned to exorcise the emperor. Unfortunately, he arrives too late, but immediately suspects the furry demon. He also meets Bai Juyi, who is about to resign his post as the court recorder. It is from Bai that Kûkai hears gossip of a strange cat tormenting the household of the captain of the imperial guard. From there, they are off like Holmes and Watson on the trail of Captain Chen, which naturally runs through an elegant brothel.

In fact, it is fortunate they are there, so Kûkai can treat Chen’s former favorite, who is mysteriously afflicted with paranormal parasites. However, they really catch a break when they discover the diary of Nakamaro Abe, a Japanese expat, who watched the Emperor’s favorite concubine, Yang Guifei, meet her sad end. In an almost Shakespearean paradox, everybody at court loved her, especially including Abe, but she was doomed to die as a Marie Antoinette scapegoat. Of course, the cat is still rather ticked off about what happened, but to be fair, it did go down rather badly.

Frankly, it is hard to believe this is a Chen Kaige film, because it is relatively short on melodrama, but long on spectacle. It looks more like a Tsui Hark remake of Ghost Cat of Otama Pond. The fact that it is a Chinese-Japanese co-production is also a minor miracle. See, we can all get along after all. Regardless, it is a big film, with big sets, and big effects, and a weirdly idiosyncratic narrative based on Baki Yumemakura’s Japanese novel.

There are a lot of entertaining aspects to Demon Cat, starting with the laidback, unforced buddy chemistry that develops between Kûkai and Bai. Instead of bickering and bantering, they gently tease each other and eventually really start to open up and talk honestly. Shota Sometani is truly terrific as Kûkai, in a sly, understated kind of way. Huang Xuan plays off him nicely as Bai, but the character does not have the same heft and dimension.  Sad-eyed Hiroshi Abe radiates heartsickness as his morose namesake, while Sandrine Pinna is radiantly regal yet acutely tragic as Lady Yang.

Perhaps most importantly, Demon Cat vividly demonstrates how cool Buddhist monks can be. This is a messy, sprawling film, so it might be that sum of its parts is greater than its whole, but it would be a crying shame to miss those parts. There are at least half a dozen scenes viewers are sure to be talking about afterward. Highly recommended as a visually lavish jaunt into Tang-era intrigue and supernatural hijinks, Legend of the Demon Cat screens tonight (9/13) and Saturday (9/15) as part of this year’s TIFF.

Japan Cuts ’17: Neko Atsume House

If Colson Whitehead can write a zombie novel, why not Masaru Sakumoto? Perhaps because he is written out. The once promising new novelist hasn’t written anything readable in years, so his publisher demands he introduce zombies into his low-rated serial. Hoping to spark his stalled creative process, Sakumoto retreats to a sleepy provincial town, but he finds a whole bunch of cats instead in Masatoshi Kurakata’s Neko Atsume House (trailer here), which screens during the 2017 Japan Cuts Festival of New Japanese Film in New York.

Apparently, NA House is based on a smart-phone game. Considering the number of cats slinking through it, the game must be a first-person shooter, but the film is nothing like that. After his brief initial grouchiness, Sakumoto is actually happy to have all those flea and rabies carrying strays around. In fact, he even tries to attract more.

Remarkably, Sakumoto’s dedicated editor Michiru Towada has not given up on him yet. She keeps schlepping out to beat his latest installment out of him. Despite her shy demeanor and her sentimental attachment to his prize-winning debut, she is honest about the quality of his current work. He basically knows it too, which is why he would rather be the neighborhood’s crazy cat lady. At least, trips to the local cat specialty store provide a little bit of social interaction with Yoko, the owner.

Frankly, NA House must be the best film based on a video game ever, but we’ll still accept Mortal Kombat as an answer for nostalgic reasons. Regardless, NA House has sensitive and complex characters as well as an unhurried but purposeful narrative, which certainly set it well apart from the field. Although the film eschews traditional romance there is something quite endearing and ultimately poignant about Sakumoto’s relationships with Towada and the intimidatingly alluring cat store proprietor. You rarely see these sorts of smart, platonic interactions in movies to any real extent. That’s another reason why NA House is so refreshing.

Atsushi Ito is quietly understated as Sakumoto, which is indeed a virtue. As Towada, Shiori Kutsuna sneaks up on viewers with the power of her performance. However, Tae Kimura’s Yoko outshines everyone, even including the cats.

In fact, there is one green-eyed feline who looks pretty darned evil. No matter what cat apologists say, you’d be freaked if you woke up with him standing over you. Nevertheless, the process of a writer rediscovering his voice is rendered with intelligence and subtlety. This is a good film, even with all those cats. Recommended with surprising enthusiasm, Neko Atsume House screens this Sunday (7/16) at the Japan Society as part of the current edition of Japan Cuts, but if you don’t already have a ticket, you’re going to have to ride the stand-by line.

BUFF ’17: She’s Allergic to Cats

There is a point on the cinematic spectrum where cheapo grade-Z schlock starts to approach the style and texture of low-fi “expression for expression’s sake” experimental film. This movie understands that place because it lives there. Obsession and humiliation are just part of ordinary life for a video artist working on the fringes of Hollywood in Michael Reich’s She Allergic to Cats (trailer here), which screens tonight during the 2017 Boston Underground Film Festival.

Mike Pinkney plays Mike Pinkney, an aspiring filmmaker who came to Hollywood to become a filmmaker, but found the town had not awaited his arrival with great anticipation. Currently, he works as a dog-groomer, a job he hates and is terrible at doing, as we can see from his Mekas-esque video diaries, dressed up with retro-1980s off-the-shelf computer effects. However, it is through his work at Tail-Waggers that he meets the alluring Cora.

Oddly enough, Pinkney will have more luck pursuing Cora than anything else he tries. He still dreams of making his version of Stephen King’s Carrie with talking cats, but he has no support from his bullying German agent Sebastian. He also can’t get his club rocker landlord Honey Davis, played by Honey Davis from Honey Davis and the Bees to do anything about his rat infestation problem. So, do you see where this might be going?

Reich and cinematographer Zach Driscoll deserve tremendous credit for nailing the look of either terrible exploitation films or ambitious avant-garde cinema. Someone should be embarrassed how aesthetically compatible Allergic to Cats is with Joan Jonas’s Double Lunar Dogs—and it isn’t Reich. However, that does not change the fact all Allergic’s cheesy graphics and VHS tracking effects are likely to give you a stress migraine.

It is actually sort of fun to watch Sonja Kinski (daughter of Nastassja) and Pinkney play off each as Cora and his meta-self, at least in their early scenes together. Flula Borg is also a contemptuous riot as the arrogant Sebastian. However, the cold hard truth is a little of Allergic goes a long, long way.

Still, just about everyone will agree this is the film The Truth About Cats and Dogs should have been in a more interesting world. The more you relate to Pinkney’s circumstances, the more you will likely appreciate its deliberately off-putting vibe. Basically, you should already know with absolute certainty whether She’s Allergic to Cats is for you, so plan accordingly when it screens today (3/25) at this year’s Boston Underground Film Festival.

Fantasia ’16: Bad Cat

Shero makes Grumpy Cat look like a pretentious poser. He is an animated feline in the tradition of Fritz the Cat and Bill the Cat. The Turkish tabby is a foul-mouthed lecher, but the most subversive thing about him might be his resemblance to Garfield. Shero will duly provide plenty of swearing and cartoon violence in Mehmet Kurtulus & Ayse Ünal’s Bad Cat (trailer here), which screened during the 2016 Fantasia International Film Festival.

Frankly, it really is all Shero’s fault. He tried to put the moves on a hot little Siamese while her cartoonist owner was out, but inadvertently killed both the cat and the returning human. However, the cartoonist just won’t stay dead. Each time he is resuscitated, the increasingly zombie-like human returns more determined to have his revenge on Shero.

Of course, the orange tabby hardly gives the incident a second thought. His attention has shifted to Misscat, the seductive new Turkish Angora in the neighborhood. When not berating Riza the rat and Rifki the seagull for not purloining any booze, Shero is also busy getting his ostensible owner evicted from their shabby flat and avoiding Taco, the son he never knew he had. Various such episodes are essentially strung together into a loose, mangy plot.

Bad Cat could have been amazing, but instead it is just amusing. As it is, it would probably be a “soft” R-rated film if picked up for American distribution, but that hardly registers in a post-South Park world. The film feels like it is stopping short of the gleeful subversion it calls out for—and it over-promises and under-delivers when it comes to the naughty bits.

On the other hand, Kurtulus & Ünal maintain the energy and attitude with admirable consistency. In fact, some of the action sequences are rendered with cinematic boldness. Frankly, the 3D computer animation is way better than viewers will expect. They could have easily gotten away with far less. The characters are expressive and the backgrounds are reasonably well detailed. The film just never fully gets its claws into the workaday narrative.

Still, it is minor miracle an animated film as edgy as this could be released in Turkey. You have to wonder how much the newly emboldened Erdogan will allow going forward. After all, Shero’s values are definitely not consistent with Islamist principles, starting with the defiant binge-drinking. That’s right, lets blame the cat for the coup attempt. Regardless, it is entertaining but never remotely scandalous. Recommended for animation fans who enjoy moderately off-color humor, Bad Cat helped get the party started at this year’s Fantasia in Montreal.

NYAFF ’16: If Cats Disappeared from the World

Would tennis rackets disappear too? Probably yes. According to the rules established by the Devil, when things mysteriously disappear from the world, all the memories and consequences of their existence also vanish. However, the protagonist will have more profoundly personal associations with cats to worry about than mere sporting goods in Akira Nagai’s beautifully tragic If Cats Disappeared from the World (trailer here), which screens during the 2016 New York Asian Film Festival.

When a thirty-year-old postman is diagnosed with a hopelessly advanced brain tumor, he is rather surprised to find his Mephistophelean doppelganger waiting for him at home. Purporting to me the Devil, his double offers him a deal. Every item he completely sacrifices from the world will extend his life one day. The emphasis should definitely be on completely. The first supposedly pedestrian item to vanish will be phones. Yet, the Postman belatedly realizes it was phone calls that brought him together with the great lost love of his life.

While he reconnects with ex for a final day, the Postman is flooded with memories of their relationship—and then they disappear from each other’s lives. The next to go will be movies, which will also usher his film snob best friend from his life. Clocks will follow, affecting his relationship to his slightly estranged watchmaker father, but cats will really hurt, because of his current feline’s heartrending backstory.

If you want to hear big burly men choking back sobs, ICDFTW is the film for you. Think of it as a cross between Yojira Taika’s Oscar-winning Departures and Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s Journey to the Shore, but this film really goes for the heartstrings early and often. There is no question Nagai is nakedly manipulative, but viewers will not notice while they are under his spell.

As the Postman, Takeru Satoh revisits the fantastical romantic terrain of Kurosawa’s REAL, but this time he takes his performance several levels deeper. He is also suitably sinister as the infernal doppelganger. He does a lot of brooding and staring out to sea, but his scenes with Aoi Miyazaki as his true love are just devastating. Their achingly sensitive chemistry is a small wonder to behold. Yet, the audience really needs to gird themselves for when Mieko Harada (the fierce Lady Kaede in the other Kurosawa’s Ran) really lowers the boom as the Postman’s mother.

At first, Takeshi Kobayashi’s sentimental score sounds too on the nose, but then it starts to get inside your head. Frankly, that is sort of true for the entire film. Likewise, a few of Nagai’s flashbacks (especially including an extended sequence in Buenos Aires) are initially confusing, but they always payoff in the end. Recommended for those who enjoy tearjerkers that work, If Cats Disappeared from the World screens again this Monday (9/27) at the Walter Reade, as part of this year’s NYAFF.

Japan Cuts ’12: Rent-a-Cat

It is not much of a business, but at least the inventory is cheap.  In fact, Sayoko attracts stray cats like a magnet.  Profits really are not the point anyway.  She is out to fill the holes in people’s hearts, perhaps even including her own in Naoko Ogigami’s Rent-a-Cat (trailer here), which screens as part of the 2012 edition of Japan Cuts: the New York Festival of Japanese Cinema.

In a sleepy corner of Tokyo, Sayoko lives in the picturesque Minka-esque house she once shared with her beloved late grandmother, along with a dozen or so cats.  The woman has become a crazy cat lady at a young age, but there is a method to her madness.  Most days, she pulls her cart through the neighborhood, hawking cats for rent.  Of course, she will not rent to just anyone.  A home inspection is required.

Intentionally episodic, we watch Sayoko repeat the cat rental ritual with several customers, each with a hole to fill in their lives.  For an elderly widow reluctant to buy a new cat knowing her time is short, Sayoko’s service is a godsend.  However, some clients take a bit of convincing, like the desperately unfulfilled car rental agency manager.  Yet, the most intriguing potential client-story arc involves Yoshizawa, the former delinquent middle school classmate Sayoko initially wants nothing to do with.

Rent-a-Cat is a quiet film, chocked full of feline adorableness.  It wears its sentimental heart on its sleeve, deriving gentle laughs from its characters quirks (to use a loaded word).  However, it is more bittersweet than compulsively cute, particularly during Sayoko’s smartly ambiguous encounter with Yoshizawa.

As Sayoko, Mikako Ichikawa blends goofy awkwardness and sincere sensitivity quite touchingly.  Indeed, it is a very humane performance, displaying real on-screen chemistry with her animal co-stars and Kei Tanaka’s Yoshizawa.

There might not be a lot of surprises in the unhurried Rent-a-Cat, but Ogigami infuses the proceedings with a wistful atmosphere that is quite beguiling.  Essentially, it is an animal lovers’ indie that well reflects traditional Japanese aesthetics of elegant simplicity.  An effective mood piece featuring several nice turns from its small human ensemble, Rent-a-Cat is recommended surprisingly highly for those who suspect they might appreciate its discreet charms.  It screens this coming Wednesday (7/25) at the Japan Society, as this year’s Japan Cuts continues.

NYICFF ’11: A Cat in Paris

Paris is a playground for an adventurous cat like Dino. By day, he is the loyal tabby of the police superintendent’s daughter. By night, he joins the nocturnal adventures of an actual cat burglar, climbing the city’s ornate masonry and gothic gargoyles. The City of Lights rarely looked as beautiful on the big screen as it does in Alain Gagnol and Jean-Loup Feliciolli’s animated feature A Cat in Paris (trailer here), which has its American premiere at the 2011 New York International Film Festival.

Young Zoe has not spoken a word since her father was murdered by gangster Victor Costa. Her copper mother is too busy working the case to help her adequately work through her grief. She spends most her time with Dino, who enjoys bringing her little presents, like small dead animals and the occasional diamond bracelet. One night Zoe follows on Dino as he slinks off to join the Rafflesesque Nico, only to stumble across the Costa gang. The chase is on, across the stylishly rendered Parisian cityscape.

The hand-drawn Cat is a wonderful antidote for the mass-produced computer animation constantly dumped into multiplexes. These figures have an idiosyncratic look that deliberately evokes a sophisticated Parisian sensibility. If Toulouse Lautrec was resurrected to craft an animated film, he would probably look up Gagnol and Feliciolli.

Indeed, the city is an integral part of film, right down to its fitting conclusion at Notre Dame. Though clearly produced with young viewers in mind, the romantic urban backdrops, the hat-tips to film noir, and the jazz-influenced soundtrack (including a vintage Billie Holiday rendition of “I Wished on the Moon”) will keep parents and other ostensive adults quite engaged. A well constructed feature, Gagnol and Feliciolli maintain a brisk pace, while showing the action from dramatic angles that further heightens the noir appeal.

Cat is a thoroughly charming film with genuine heart and just enough attitude to avoid cloyingness. Though admittedly brief at sixty-five minutes, it packs a lot into that time, including some very cool closing credits. NYICFF and gKids have a good eye for animated features, having previously selected intelligent and artfully crafted features like Sita Sings the Blues and In the Attic for previous festivals. The tradition continues this year with Cat and some first-rate anime imports. Highly recommended, Cat screens at NYICFF on March 5th, 6th, 12th, 13, and 19th, but it appears tickets are only still available for Saturday the 12th, so act fast.