Girls vs Gangsters: Bachelorette Party with Mike Tyson

This bachelorette party movie might not be funnier than Bridesmaids or Rough Night (although for all we know it is), but it can certainly kick those other movies’ butts. Largely, that is thanks to two co-stars with not insignificant screen time: the leather-clad henchwoman played by Elly Nguyen and Iron Mike Tyson. The bride-to-be and her two bickering besties are pretty clueless, but Tyson obviously had fun shooting his scenes with them in Barbara Wong Chun-chun’s Girls vs Gangsters (a.k.a. Girls 2, trailer here), which opens tomorrow in New York.

Xiwen was the sob sister of the quartet of friends introduced in the original Taipei-set Girls, so her engagement is a really big deal. Obviously, her friends have to celebrate with a destination bachelorette party in Vietnam, where Xiaomei will wangle them invites to swanky parties, but never actually spend time with them, because she is supposedly too busy shooting a movie, Of course, nobody gossips about her in her absence, because bridesmaids never do that sort of thing, right?

In this case, rivals Kimmy and Jialan are too busy clawing at each other. Initially, they both compete for the attentions of the mobbed-up funder of Xiaomei’s movie, but Jialan will be okay with losing that one. Long story short, Kimmy loses his heirloom ruby ring and beats a hasty retreat with Xiwen and Jialan. However, when they wake up the next morning, they find themselves naked on the beach, handcuffed to a mysterious briefcase—and Xiwen has a strange man’s face tattooed on the back of her neck.

Speaking of tattoos, the next person they meet is Dragon, a former boxing champ who now runs a beachfront lounge. Guess who plays him? He will help cloth the ladies and facilitate their getaway from the gangsters’ goons. From there, things really become random, as the film starts borrowing plot points from Brewster’s Millions: they must spend a briefcase full of gold bars in twenty-four hours, or else. At least, there are some comical moments involving the difficult disposal of unwieldy precious metal.

It is all pretty shticky, but the sight of Tyson bogeying down with his cute co-stars during the surreal end-credit montages, it is almost worth the price of admission. Believe it or not, he has okay chemistry with Janine Chang Chun-ning’s Jialan. Seriously, Tyson is around considerably longer than a mere cameo, but viewers will still wish the film gave him and Chang more time together. Ivy Chen pouts like nobody’s business, but she still manages to keep Xiwen relatively endearing, while Fiona Sit plays the tough-talking Kimmy to the hilt. Alas, Nguyen is an impressive presence, but she should have been given more action responsibilities.

Basically, Wong pitches the comedy at a level roughly equivalent to Xu Zheng’s Lost buddy movies, falling somewhat closer to the slapsticky Lost in Thailand than the more heartfelt Lost in Hong Kong. The female buddy film might still hold novelty on the Mainland, but the screechiness and cattiness will likely feel dated to Western audiences. Best left to expat bachelorette parties and self-conscious Mike Tyson fans, Girls vs Gangsters opens tomorrow (3/9) in New York, at the AMC Empire.

Thoroughbreds: Featuring the Late Anton Yelchin

Most of us would consider a drug dealer to be bad news all around, especially one who pushes product in school yards. However, to Lily and her bestie Amanda, shaggy-haired Tim is still merely one of the help. He just happens to carry a gun, making him more useful to them. They expect to get what they want, because they are young, entitled, and sociopathic, so they don’t see why the murder of Lily’s step-father should be any different in Cory Finley’s Thoroughbreds (trailer here), which opens tomorrow in New York.

Lily and Amanda were once close, grew apart, and have been forced back together recently. Socially, Amanda has become persona non-grata ever she one-upped Equus with her prized horse. Although Amanda claims she no longer feels emotions (basically bragging she is a full-stop sociopath), her mother is sufficiently concerned, she has actually hired her old BFF Lily to tutor her, as a means of providing some socialization. Unfortunately, bringing these two together could potentially be very dangerous, like the Key-Master and the Gate-Keeper.

Indeed, before long, Amanda has adopted Lily’s despised step-father Mark as her nemesis as well. Instead of passive aggressive tantrums, Amanda suggests more proactive steps—specifically murder. They will not do it themselves, of course. They will frame-up poor Tim and then extort him into murdering Tim for them. At least, that is the plan, but plans usually go awry in the film noir classics they constantly watch together.

It is a terrible shame this is one of the final screen appearances from the late Anton Yelchin, but Tim the reluctant killer was a perfect role for him. He has to be the most nebbish drug dealer ever seen on film, but there is still something dangerously unpredictable about him. There is nothing awkward about Thoroughbreds as a capstone to Yelchin’s career, but it leaves us wondering what could have been.

The film also advances Anya Taylor-Joy’s steady build to superstardom. Most encouragingly, genre roles seem to be her thing. She conveyed a profound sense of inner torment in The Witch and now she gives us frost-burn as Lily, a spectacularly icy femme fatale, if ever there was one. For most of the film, Olivia Cooke more or less hits the same note as the conscience-less Amanda, but it is quite a chilling note. Yet, she nicely sets us up for some surprises down the stretch. Paul Sparks also makes a perfect noir antagonist for them as the contemptuous step-father. We basically agree with his disdainful opinion of Lily, but viewers still will root to see him get his own comeuppance for his arrogance.

Thoroughbreds is relatively narrow in scope, but it is lethally effective. Finley, a playwright turned filmmaker, is definitely working in the tradition of classic stage thrillers: limited settings, a small cast of characters, and some deeply rooted resentments. It is the little film with a cold, cold heart. Recommended for fans of film noir and the late Yelchin, Thoroughbreds opens tomorrow (3/9) in New York at multiple theaters, including the Regal E-Walk.

NYICFF ’18: Big Fish & Begonia

To most of us, A Dog’s Purpose is a dog movie (and previously a dog book), but it also suggests there is more in store for us than one single go-round on Earth. When it became a surprise hit in China, it joined the success of the Ten Miles of Peach Blossoms book, film, and television franchise. Maybe crony-commie-capitalism and the fuerdai party scene just are not enough for a lot of Chinese yuppies as they get older. By taking inspiration from the Zhuangzi and other ancient compendiums of legend, filmmakers Liang Xuan and Zhang Chun further bolster the mini-trend. There is indeed another world beyond our own in Zhang & Liang’s Big Fish & Begonia (trailer here), which screens during this year’s New York International Children’s Film Festival.

Compared to us mortals, Chun is a veritable demigod, but she is not immortal. Living in a magical realm, she must journey to Earth to observe mankind in the guise of a dolphin, as part of the requisite coming-of-age ritual. If she does not return after seven days, the portal will be forever closed to her. That appears to be her fate when Chun is ensnared in fishing nets, but the noble mortal Kun cuts her free, tragically drowning in the process.

Feeling responsible for his death, Chun cuts a deal with the keeper of the underworld to reincarnate Kun’s soul immediately. However, she must watch over the baby dolphin he now inhabits, until he can make the return journey. Much to anguish of the torch-carrying, friend-zoned Qiu, Chun’s affinity for Kun quickly develops into love. However, his unnatural presence in her world threatens to upset the cosmic balance.

So maybe it is a little like Shape of Water, but it predates the Oscar winner by at least a year. Of course, it does not predate Miyazaki’s Spirited Away, or the Orpheus myth for that matter, but it has a weird New Age vibe that is all its own. Regardless, the big news is Big Fish can totally hang with mid-level Studio Ghibli in terms of animation quality. There is no question this finest Chinese feature animation of the current era, probably going all the way back to Wan Laiming’s The Monkey King—Uproar in Heaven, thanks to the steady stream of genuinely arresting visuals Zhang and Liang serve up.

This really is an eye-popping world, but the narrative might be too woo-woo for its own good. Frankly, they never really establish how and why Chun and Kun fall in love, beyond his obvious sacrifice, nor do the levels of apocalyptic doom track smoothly from the tragic set-up. Arguably, it would all click better if they dialed down the cosmic elements and made it a simpler story of Chun trying to do right by Kun for reasons of guilt, compassion, and ecumenical humanist love.

On the other hand, the otherworldliness of BF&B makes it fascinating to unpack, especially since it was produced in a country whose government still equates religion with superstition. Just imagine how unamused the Gang of Four would be. Viewers will truly feel like they were immersed in a fantasy world, which is very cool.

The film’s ambition and the extent to which Liang and Zhang successful realize it on screen is also hugely impressive. This really raises the reputation of Chinese animation, as well as the stakes. You really have to see it to appreciate its scope, but it will be worth it for older animation fans. (Parents should be warned, it was hugely “divisive” among youngsters at its last NYICFF screening.) Recommended for sophisticated animation connoisseurs and audiences for reincarnation films, such as Along with the Gods and What Dreams May Come, Big Fish & Begonia screens again this Sunday (3/11) and the following Sunday (3/18), as part of the 2018 New York International Children’s Film Festival.

The Princess and the Matchmaker

Astrology is totally bogus, so a faked or faulty astrology chart should be a contradiction in terms. Yet, a bad reading could consign a Joseon princess to a marriage of misery. Court official Seo Do-yoon is beyond such mistakes and corruption, but some nefarious schemes are afoot in Hong Chang-pyo’s The Princess and the Matchmaker (trailer here), which opens this Friday in Los Angeles.

Princess Songhwa has always had bad luck, but that is not her fault. In fact, we come to learn she had “help” being so unlucky. However, the king is still rather attached to her, even though he has never really done much to make her happy. With a severe drought plaguing Joseon, the court astrologer decrees the Princess should marry to bring balance to the kingdom. Basically, it will be an open casting call, American Idol-style, but court official Seo Do-yoon will chart the compatibility of the top eligible bachelors. Frankly, we do not need astrological “pillars” to know they are a pack of jackals.

The princess is not inclined to sit idly while her fate is determined, so she sneaks out of the palace hoping to visit the ten candidates incognito. Seo is onto her immediately, but he contrives ways to accompany her as she makes her visits unconvincingly disguised as a man, sort of in the tradition of Shakespearean comedies. Of course, she will become attracted to him instead. However, as the conspiracy to marry Songhwa off to the ambitious nobleman Yoon Shi-kyung tightens around them, the film evolves into more of a romantic tragedy.

P&M is billed as a historical romantic comedy, but the second half of the film is played largely straight—and most viewers will be deeply invested in it by that point. Shim Eun-kyung (the original Miss Granny) is absolutely luminous and altogether winning as Princess Songhwa. She also benefits from the achingly poignant scenes featuring her younger self. Yet, her relationship with the king, played with dignified reserve by Kim Sang-kyung is surprisingly nuanced and thoughtfully developed.

Frankly, Lee Seung-gi is a bit bland as Seo, but Yeon Woo-jin and Choi Woo-sik are quite sinister as the deceitful Yoon and the even more problematic suitor, Nam Chi-ho. It should also be conceded Jo Bok-rae will eventually grow on viewers as Gae-shi, the con man Seo busts, who evolves into his unlikely sidekick.

This is the kind of bittersweet love story that will make Korean movie lovers feel warm and happy inside. Despite a bit of shtick in the first act, its charm is indomitable, perhaps even irrepressible. Recommended with a great deal of affection, The Princess and the Matchmaker opens this Friday (3/9) at the CGV Cinemas in LA and Buena Park, as well as the Edgewater Multiplex in Jersey.

 (Photo: CJ Entertainment)

Legend of the American Sniper

There is probably no position in the U.S. military that is more misunderstood than that of scout sniper. The media like to portray them as kill-happy hot doggers, but arguably the classic archetypal military sniper is none other than Sergeant Alvin York. Yet, it was not until the Vietnam era that sniper training was formally established. The duties, responsibilities, training and gear of military and police snipers are fully explained in writer-director Ron Meyer’s Legend of the American Sniper (trailer here), which releases today on DVD.

Legend is not the fanciest documentary you will ever see, but it is stuffed with solid information and more than its fair share of insights. A number of military and police snipers, as well as a handful off talking head experts duly explain the role snipers play in securing our national security and public safety. They dispel many misconceptions, such as the sniper as a lone wolf or an operative on a fishing expedition. Anti-social behavior is deliberately weeded out, in favor of team-player abilities. In nearly every case, snipers operate as part of four or five-man teams, dispatched with very specific mission objectives. Ultimately, snipers’ primary duty is to support troops in the field.

The military snipers are the first to suggest in Legend their police counterparts probably have a harder job. If they fire an errant shot it is unfortunate, but these things happen in combat. In contrast, a police sniper would likely face disciplinary hearings and possible prosecution.

Meyer and his battery of experts just might change the way many people think about snipers, if they watch it with an open mind. For instance, we learn the primary task of police snipers is to observe and report, rather than fire off shots. For military snipers, it is their secondary task—war still being war.

The interview subjects are all on-point and totally credible, especially Master Sergeant Russ Clagett, the senior U.S. Army sniper in Afghanistan. He has some telling stories from the field, but he also looks like he could have a second career in action movies if he chose to pursue it. The film further benefits from the participation of Derrick D. Bartlett, a civilian trainer at Snipercraft, Inc, which exclusively provides training for military and police clientele—and he really means exclusively. Plus, you have to give Meyer credit for making an entire film about service snipers without once mentioning Chris Kyle, Bradley Cooper, or Clint Eastwood by name. The real life servicemen and peace officers are sufficiently interesting on their own, without invoking movies and celebrities.

In many ways, this is a fortuitously timed release. The snipers interviewed duly remind us those who are best trained in deadly force, including martial arts and marksmanship, are the least likely to abuse their skills. Snipers never really kill to kill for its own sake—they kill to protect their brothers in arms. Meyer’s film looks like it was produced on a tight budget, but he assembled some undeniably impressive veterans, active duty snipers, and law enforcement personnel. Recommended surprisingly highly, Legend of the American Sniper is now available on DVD and BluRay from Mill Creek Entertainment.

The Knights of the Damned: Those Damn Knights

Across feudal cultures, the peasantry had one safeguard hard-wired into the collective unconscious: the notion that famine and disasters were a sign the monarch had lost their divine sanction to rule. You could be a horrible dictator, but you had to keep the serfs fed. It is therefore hard to believe a usurping prince would ever risk unleashing both a dragon rampage and a zombie apocalypse, simultaneously. Yet, that is exactly what the rightful king’s good-for-nothing son does in Simon Wells’ Knights of the Damned (trailer here), which releases today on DVD.

They were once part of a large war party, but now only four of the king’s knights still pursue the dragon as it wreaks destruction across the realm. Make that three knights. Killing dragons is onerous work, but it is generally expected of knights. Facing zombie hordes is something else entirely. They are going to need some stronger mead.

At first, they are skeptical of reports of the so-called “furies.” They really just what recharge at an inn before chasing after that blasted dragon again. It is there they meet a band of warrior women from the Katori Kingdom on a mission of vengeance, which they respect. The knights are not about to mess with them, unless they’re also interested in messing around a little. As a result, they will have a few battle-tested allies to fight the dragon, the zombies, and the usurper (but alas, Kunjue Li’s Kateya dies way too soon).

Knights might sound like sheer lunacy, but it is probably the cheapest looking, most meatheaded genre film that still manages to be fractionally watchable since Indo-porn star Priya Rai played a mummy in Isis Rising. Prince Favian’s evil scheming does not make an iota of sense, even if he is a member of a satanic death cult, as the epilogue suggests. Nor does it remotely believable the good Princess Elizabeth would openly take a gritty knight like Sir George as her lover, especially when her father had anointed her his rightful successor. Plus, it boggles the mind the knights who survive go through the entire film without figuring out they should maybe aim for the furies’ heads.

Nevertheless, you have to give Ben Loyd-Holmes (the bald one) and Ross O’Hennessy (the bearded one) credit, because they both totally look like fierce medieval warriors. They also have some screen presence as well as hack-and-slash cred. You could cast either of them in an Expendables movie with confidence.

The idea of the Katori warriors and the more-or-less equal time they get kicking fury-butt is also pretty cool. That is definitely our kind of progressive filmmaking. Unfortunately, the movie itself looks like it was produced with sets and props discarded by A Knight’s Tale and discovered in a local landfill. Yet, in all honesty, we would be tempted to cover the sequel as well, which is explicitly promised in that same nutty epilogue. Only recommended for micro-budget B-movie connoisseurs, Knights of the Damned releases today on DVD and BluRay.

The Sandman: From the Executive Producer of Black Panther

Stan Lee is the king of executive producers. Just look at his imdb credits. He is listed as an executive producer on every Marvel production, plus several other superhero franchises he has helped shepherd along. Awkwardly, he has also lent his name to a few Syfy original movies. Remember Harpies, with Stephen Baldwin? You also probably missed this TV horror flick that coincidentally happens to share a title with one of rival DC’s cult favorites. Try not to fall asleep during Peter Sullivan’s The Sandman (trailer here), which releases today on DVD.

As a burlesque photographer, Claire Blake is not great parent material, but she is all her niece Madison has left when her brother Colton dies under mysterious circumstances. It turns out the late Blake was the prime suspect in a string of murders, but we know from the prologue it was really the Sandman. Apparently, it has some sort of connection to Madison, but the cops and social workers just assume she is the traumatized child of a serial killer, even though the murders continue after Colton’s death, but whatever.

Eventually, Claire will start to figure out Madison is connected to something very dangerous. The shadowy government operative Valentine might be way ahead of her. In contrast, Wyatt, her formerly cool boyfriend-turned-jerkweed lags way behind the beat. Yet, there might be hope if Claire can get Madison to child psychologist Kellyanne Conway for some emergency head-shrinking.

It is always frustrating when a horror movie is too lazy to abide by its own rules. Does Madison have to be asleep for the Sandman to manifest itself or not. Decide yes or no—and then stick with it. Wyatt’s complete personality one-eighty is also problematic. Of course, the boring central characters do not help either. Probably the most interesting figure in the entire film is Amanda Wyss as the good doctor. Frankly, Tobin Bell from the Saw franchise is criminally wasted as Valentine. Still, it should be conceded, Richard Gleason came to play as the arrogant Dr. Cushing (a hat tip to Peter?).

Ironically, the one area where Sandman exceeds expectations are the monster effects, but that is where we are most inclined to be forgiving. Nevertheless, the sandy bogeyman is surprisingly impressive. It looks ominous, but there is no personality to go with it. The people do not have much personality either. Haylie Duff gives a semi-functional performance as Claire, but she definitely wasn’t straining herself for this part.

Somehow Sandman manages to be both predictable and illogical. The tech team should feel confident putting it on their resume, but most of the cast and Stan Lee (who has probably never seen it) would prefer to forget it. Not recommended, The Sandman is now available on DVD.

NYICFF ’18: Horus, Prince of the Sun

He is a young man of destiny, who will reclaim his legacy with the help of a sword that he dislodged from stone. These might sound like familiar fantasy tropes, but the Norse/Slavic flavor and Ainu inspiration would still make it rather distinctive. However, the adventure of Hols takes on enormous historical significance, because it represents the first feature length work of revered animator Hayao Miyazaki and his legendary collaborator Isao Takahata. It is a forerunner to so many beloved Studio Ghibli masterworks, but there is also plenty of ripping good adventure to enjoy in Takahata’s Horus, Prince of the Sun, which celebrates its fiftieth anniversary with screenings during the 2018 New York International Children’s Film Festival.

Hols (or Horus or whatever) is young, but he has a bold spirit that impresses Rockoar, the unfortunately named stone giant (say it to yourself a couple times), especially after the lad manages to pull the legendary Sword of the Sun out of the giant’s shoulder. In fact, the giant prophesies greatness for the boy, but first he must re-forge the sword. He will also have to endure trials and tribulations, starting with the death of his father.

With his dying breathe, the old man urges him to find and rebuild their ancestral village up north that was destroyed by Grunwald, a wintery demonic figure. Recognizing a fantasy hero when he sees one, Grunwald first tries to coopt Hols and then leaves him for dead. He is unsuccessful at both. Soon thereafter, Hols saves a communal fishing village from a number of beastly threats. However, Grunwald will have more success when his siren-voiced little sister infiltrates the village, with Hols’ oblivious help, to insidiously undermine his position.

As a work of cinema analyzed from a strictly formalistic perspective, Horus is a well-paced fantasy, whose primary characters, Hols and Hilda, are quite psychologically sophisticated. There is plenty of action, including the motion-comic effect (panning and scanning over panoramic still tableaux) Takahata effectively uses to render the big battle scenes. Although it is not as visually rich as the work Miyazaki would do at Ghibli, there are still plenty cool images, most definitely including Rockoar.

However, to fully appreciate Horus, imagine seeing it when it was originally released in 1968. As a genre, fantasy was basically Tolkien novels and Hercules movies. Sword of Shannara had not been published yet. The first edition of Dungeons & Dragons had not yet been released. No Wheel of Time, no Game of Thrones, no Stormlight Archive. Nor had anime made much penetration into the western market yet, with the syndication of thin-edges-of-the-wedge Star Blazers and Battle of the Planets years away. It terms of what it was and what it led to, Horus is arguably an under-heralded milestone.

By the way, it is also fun. It zips along, but there are also some real emotional stakes. If you really want to go there, there are even parallels that could be drawn between Hols, Hilda, and Grunwald, with Luke, Leia, and Anakin Skywalker, but to really do it justice requires spoilery analysis of various lines, in various translations. (Nevertheless, it is exactly the sort of film Lucas would have inhaled in his film student days, so who knows?) The important thing is it holds up heroically. Highly recommended for any anime fan, Horus, Prince of the Sun screens again this Saturday (3/10) and Sunday (3/11) as part of the New York International Children’s Film Festival.

Rendez-Vous ’18: The Lion Sleeps Tonight

Jean-Pierre Léaud is probably the most recognizable French actor—maybe ever—thanks to his performances in classic Truffaut and Goddard films, as well as The Last Tango in Paris, which people keep watching assuming it will be something it isn’t. This time around, he follows in John Malkovich’s footsteps playing a meta version of himself, who plays a meta version of himself in an amateur film produced by a group of school children on vacation. They do not recognize old “Jean,” but the creaky house he is staying in certainly looks haunted to them, because it really is haunted by his former lover in Nobuhiro Suwa’s The Lion Sleeps Tonight (trailer here), which screens during the 2018 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema.

Léaud was supposed to be reuniting with a celebrated co-star, but her diva behavior put the production on hold. Frankly, that is fine by him. He had been struggling with an upcoming scene would have forced him to confront his mortality. However, he will do exactly that, in a more oblique way when he takes advantage of the hiatus to visit the mothballed home of a deceased lover, Juliette de Garron. It is not clear whether it was an accident or suicide, but either way, the net result was her premature death in the early 1970s. Yet Jean finds that she has been waiting for him in that house, all that time.

In a twist of fate, a group of local children had been drawn to the house as the setting for their scrappy haunted house film. At first, Jean scares them away, but he welcomes them in soon thereafter. They rather amuse him and their youth is a healthy influence for someone regularly conversing with the dead.

If Olivier Assayas’s Personal Shopper had been reconceived as a children’s film halfway through production, it might have a vibe similar to Lion Sleeps Tonight. There really are not any scary moments in the film, but the scenes in which Jean faces de Garron’s ghost have a breathlessness that is quite arresting.

Frankly, Suwa struggles to marry up the evocative stillness of the haunted passages with the spirited interactions with the Goonie-style children. It is a bit frustrating, because they both have their merits. The one constant is a world-weary but still rather game Léaud. He is definitely a good sport and he has moments that would do his old mentor Truffaut proud. Many of those come opposite the ethereal-looking and altogether extraordinary Pauline Etinene, as the ghostly de Garron.

Lion Sleeps Tonight is an uneven film, particularly in terms of tonal shifts, but it is just too interesting to miss. It will be impossible to survey his storied career without substantially analyzing this film. Cinematographer Tom Harari makes it one of the sunniest ghost movies ever, but he nicely differentiates the twilight meetings shared by Jean and de Garron. Recommended for patrons of French cinema, who will appreciate Léaud’s legacy, The Lion Sleeps Tonight screens this Friday (3/9) and the following Thursday (3/15), as part of French Rendez-Vous ’18, at the Walter Reade.

Hong Sang-soo’s Claire’s Camera

It is a film about random café encounters in Cannes, partly made possible by a random café encounter in Cannes. Architect Shahira Fahmy happened to tell Hong Sang-soo about her acting ambitions when they struck up a conversation in a café during the Cannes Film Festival. A few hours later, she was shooting a scene with Isabelle Huppert. It wasn’t a hugely consequential scene, but it is still a good start. It is also very Hong Sang-soo. Indeed, a chance encounter of that nature would not be out of place in the film in question, Hong’s Claire’s Camera (trailer here), which opens this Friday in New York.

Camera could be considered the third film in the awkward trilogy of films helmed by Hong and starring Kim Min-hee, addressing unfaithfulness and released after news of their affair went public. This is the best of the three. The explicit reference to Eric Rohmer (director of Claire’s Knee) is no accident. Camera is very Rohmeresque. His characters wander incessantly, but this is a Hong film, so they also drink, especially, So Hansoo, the Hong-esque director.

Jeon Manhee is about to be fired by her boss, producer-sales agent Nam Yanghye, soon after their arrival in Cannes, because she ill-advisedly let So sleep with her. So isn’t just talent they are handling. He is also Nam’s lover—or at least he was. He intends to break it off once their French guest at lunch takes her leave. That would be Claire, a charming music teacher, who also writes poetry and compulsively takes pictures. She came down from Paris for the premiere of her friend’s film (played by Fahmy), but while strolling through town, she makes the chance acquaintances of both Jeon and So, who are quite struck by the coincidence when they see the photographic evidence of Claire’s encounters.

At a mere sixty-nine minutes, Camera feels light and brief, but there are some heady themes lurking under the surface and some heavy emotions bubbling over. While there is little of Hong’s previous narrative gamesmanship, he rather subtly and slyly proves Claire’s vaguely postmodern contention that the act of taking someone’s picture changes them. This is definitely true in the case of Jeon and So.

Claire is a nice change of pace for Huppert (reuniting with Hong after In Another Country), but she still commands the screen utterly and completely. After watching Camera, everyone should be convinced it would be great fun to café-hop your way across Cannes with her. Kim’s work as Jeon is just as sensitively rendered as her award-winning performance in On the Beach at Night Alone, but she also shows a bit of goofy humor that is wonderfully sweet and endearing. Jung Jin-young’s So is basically an amalgamation of every unpleasant Hong Sang-soo cliché, but Chang Mi-hee is surprisingly human and vulnerable as the ragingly insecure Nam. Plus, there is a big gray dog who steals several scenes, even though he literally sleeps through them.

Claire’s Camera is vintage Hong and a lovely showcase for Huppert and Kim. It just captures that indescribable late-night vibe. Surely, Rohmer would have approved. Very highly recommended, Claire’s Camera opens this Friday (3/9) in New York, at the Film Society of Lincoln Center.

NYICFF ’18: Liyana

Freedom House unequivocally designates Swaziland as politically “Not Free.” Similarly, it ranks “Mostly Unfree” on the Heritage Foundation’s Index of Economic Liberty. Not coincidentally, the nation also boasts the world’s highest rate of AIDS contraction. Obviously, the leaders (mostly appointed by the last reigning absolute monarch in Africa) do not care about the citizenry, but individuals can still make a difference, like the hands-on proprietor/social worker/surrogate family members of the Likhaya Lemphilo Lensha orphanage, whose residents will tell a partly fantastically and partly heartbreakingly realistic story in Aaron & Amanda Kopp’s Liyana, which screens during the 2018 New York International Children’s Film Festival.

The orphanage clearly follows in the progressive tradition of Hull House. It provides a safe haven for children, but it also offers cultural programming, such as South African storyteller Gcina Mhlophe’s workshop, whose young participants will tell the tale, with her prompting.

They are mostly boys, but their protag will be a girl, Liyana. Like them, she dealt with an abusive home life, before her despicable father succumbed to AIDS. After the subsequent death of her long-suffering mother, Liyana and her younger twin brothers are sent to live with their grandmother. Inevitably, the tragedies continue when the twins are kidnapped by human traffickers. However, the resilient Liyana sets out to rescue them, with only the family bull for company and back-up.

Indeed, trafficking and slavery is a very real threat to children throughout “developing” nations—Swaziland happens to rank 17 out of 167 on the Global Slavery Index. The Kopps and co-editor-producer Davis Coombe largely downplay the dangers that entails (mostly likely forced labor, but sexual slavery is not impossible), presumably anticipating a good deal of their audience would be young children. However, there are some distressingly vivid descriptions of domestic abuse, both within the story and from the storytellers.

In many ways, Liyana follows the template of the traditional quest fantasy. It also has a somewhat fantastical beast, but the real monsters are allegedly human. Of course, Liyana’s bull is much more expressive and cooperative than what you will typically find in a stock show. In fact, he is so cinematic, he will make many young viewers wish his scenes had been fully animated. Instead, the Kopps and artist Shofela Coker take an approach not unlike motion comics, but presumably the intent is to approximate the story-time experience of hearing the tale and then being shown the next picture. It works well enough, but some of the more dramatic passages would probably be better served with full animation (sure, that would cost more, but Abigail Disney is on board as co-executive producer).

It is nice to see these kids controlling their own story for a change. They deserve a freer, more transparent democratic capitalistic system rather than the corrupt authoritarian monarchy they now live under. The film is mostly nonpolitical, but it definitely raises questions why things are as they are. Recommended for families and NGOs, Liyana screens again next Sunday (3/11) at the New York International Children’s Film Festival and also screens Saturday (3/10) and the following Wednesday (3/14) at the AFI’s New Africa Film Festival.

NYICFF ’18: Zoo

The Republic of Ireland was neutral during WWII, but since it is part of the United Kingdom, Northern Ireland very definitely fought and sacrificed in the struggle against Axis tyranny. In fct, they paid a fearsome price during the Belfast Blitz. Compounding the tragedy, the civil defense authorities determined the Belfast Zoo’s predatory animals had to be euthanized, lest they be released into the streets by errant bombs. However, the son of a conscripted zoo veterinarian hatches a scheme to save its prized elephant in Colin McIvor’s Zoo (trailer here), which screens during the 2018 New York International Children’s Film Festival.

In many ways, the based (pretty faithfully) on a true story Zoo shames us for our hip, postmodern cynicism, starting right from the beginning, when Buster the pachyderm’s arrival procession through the streets of Belfast captures the city’s imagination (in a marvelously directed sequence). Alas, their enthusiasm will be quickly dampened by the Blitz. When his father is called up, Tom Hall loses his free access to the zoo, but he is still willing to pay. Unfortunately, there will be little left to see, when the staff starts putting the animals down.

Although Buster has a temporary reprieve, it is only a matter of time before his number comes up. Refusing to accept fate, Hall forges an alliance with Jane Berry, a quirky girl he sort of has a crush for, and Pete. the lunky but not so bad mate of the school bully. He definitely has a crush on Berry. They actually manage to pull off the elephant heist (thanks to the grouchy guard Charlie looking the other way), but they will need the help of widowed Denise Austin to shelter Buster.

Everyone considered Austin the neighborhood’s crazy cat lady, but there is more to her than that. Yet, McIvor is never heavy-handed when it comes to teaching moments. That said, there is a moment of heart-breaking tragedy that comes as a complete shock in a film with this many kids and animals. Nevertheless, you have to give him credit depicting the true nature of war—it’s absolutely no fun whatsoever.

Penelope Wilton (Cousin Matthew’s mother in Downton Abbey) is tremendous as Ms. Austin, taking small telling moments and just destroying us with them. Toby Jones is probably the biggest name attached to the film, but he also overachieves, wringing all kinds of poignant dignity out of the potentially cliched role of Charlie the zoo guard. The primary trio of youngsters, Art Parkinson, Emily Flain, and Ian O’Reilly are all impressively expressive and disciplined (frankly, Hall can be a bit of a doormat at times, but that is more of a problem with the script than Parkinson’s portrayal). Yet, it is Amy Huberman who quietly lowers the boom on viewers, as Hall’s mother Emily, an understandably overworked nurse.

There is a lot of honest, hard-earned emotion in Zoo. It probably skews younger due to the youthful main characters and their mostly innocent points-of-view, but it is as well-crafted as any Anglo-Irish period drama from the last ten years or so. This is a great year for live action films at NYICFF that adults can engage with just as much as kids, because Emelie Lindblom’s shockingly scary but wholly satisfying Room 213 is also on the slate. Very highly recommended, Zoo screens tomorrow (3/4) and Saturday (3/17) as part of NYICFF ’18.

NYICFF ’18: Musical Shorts—Jazzoo, Tintico’s Afternoons, Flip the Record

Ears of all ages can appreciate good jazz. In fact, there is an under-the-radar tradition of jazz children’s music going back decades. The late, great Phil Woods released a CD inspired by A.A. Milne in 2009. More awkwardly, Horace Silver released his Guide to Growing Up, with voice-overs by Bill Cosby back in the early 1980s. Of course, the classic examples would be Raymond Scott’s repurposed cartoon soundtracks. The Swedish jazz combo Oddjob followed in this tradition with their EP Jazzoo, which they have now adapted as an animated short film with director Adam Marko Nord. Jazzoo is one of three tremendously entertaining music-themed short films screening at the 2018 New York International Children’s Film Festival.

Jazzoo screens as part of the Shorts for Tots program, but any adult who doesn’t start tapping their toes to Oddjob's groovy, up-tempo tunes is a total weirdo as far as we’re concerned. They will introduce us to a heaving, hot hippo who seeks some cooling relief with the help of one hardy little birdy. After that, a resourceful orange fish successfully plays a game of cat-and-mouse with a shark. A little koala cub figures out how he can bounce along with a kanga’s roo and then a gaggle of elephants party and get-down, to the annoyance of the wet blanket monkeys. It all goes zipping along, thanks to the colorful animation and Oddjob’s propulsive music, especially the crisply swinging muted trumpet of Goran Kajfes.

Similarly. there is no dialogue in Alejandro García Caballero’s Tintico’s Afternoons, but the music says plenty. A retired rumba-mambo bandleader still has the trumpet chops to accompany his old 78s, much to the delight of a mosquito combo, who play right along with him. However, when his old Victrola conks out, his spirit goes with it. Somehow, the ‘squitoes will have to find away to restart the music, which sounds fabulous. Old masters like Machito and Tito Rodriguez would surely approve of Daniel Hidalgo’s soundtrack. As an added bonus, the animation is also quite elegant and sophisticated.

In contrast, there is plenty of talking in Marie Jamora’s Flip the Record (trailer here), but the real communication will be done with turntables. Hip hop and turntablism was new and fresh in the 1980s and Vanessa is an early adopter. The music hits her on a deep level, but her DJing older brother just sees her as his annoying kid sister, whereas she sees herself as DJ Vandal.

Courtney Bandeko already has a number of credits on her resume—and it is easy to tell why from her performance as Vanessa/Vandal. She just radiates charisma and star power, but she looks believable behind the turntables, as well. Bandeko is terrific, but Jamora also includes some appealing eighties nostalgia (remember when watching Love Boat and Fantasy Island was the thing to do on a Friday night? Vaguely?), while incorporating colorful but loving scenes of life of in a conservative Catholic Filipino-American family. The passion for vinyl will do your heart good if you’ve ever done any crate-digging, but parents should be cautioned, there are one or two swear words, because this is hip hop after all.

Jazzoo, Tintico’s Afternoons, and Flip the Record would flow really well if they were programed together, but NYICFF has them split up in different (but logical) thematic blocks. All very highly recommended, Jazzo screens as part of Shorts for Tots on 3/3, 3/4, 3/10, and twice on 3/11; Tintico’s Afternoons screens as part of Friends & Neighbors: Mexico on 3/10 and 3/18; and Flip the Record screens as part of Girls’ POV on 3/4, 3/10, 3/11, and 3/17.

Maiku Hama at Spectacle: The Most Terrible Time in My Life

Stacy Keach probably has the most screen-time playing Mickey Spillane’s Mike Hammer (with several TV movies and two or three TV Series to his credit, depending on how you count the long hiatus resulting from his drug conviction), but Masatoshi Nagase was a close second. Technically, he portrayed Maiku Hama, but it is basically the same difference. He starred as Hama/Hammer in an original hard-boiled trilogy, as well as a later sequel and subsequent 12-episode television series. Nagase’s Hammer-time started in Kaizo Hayashi’s The Most Terrible Time in My Life, which screens as part of the Maiku Hama retrospective, now underway at the Spectacle Theater.

Hama is such a noir guy, his office is in the projection room of fleabag revival cinema. In addition to his daily fee and expenses, prospective clients have to pay 1,000 yen just to get past the velvet rope. He is not as violent and swaggering as Spillane’s gumshoe, but he is extraordinarily hard-headed. When he takes a case, he will see it through. Unfortunately, when he agrees to find the long-lost brother of a Taiwanese migrant worker, Hama finds himself on a good-intention-paved path to Hell.

It turns out the missing brother is mobbed up with the Yakuza. That means his search draws the unwelcome attention of the cops, whom the Japanese Hama does not get on with nearly as well as his American counterpart. He will take many beatings during this case and even have a finger severed early in the first act. Don’t worry, they will be able to re-attach it, more or less.

Frankly, we can guess most of the revelations Hayashi and co-screenwriter Daisuke Tengan have in store for us, but the whole point of Terrible is to go along with the noir ride. Nagase is a physically less imposing Hama/Hammer, bit he is a livewire of nervous energy—and quite the stylish dresser. Yang Hai-ping and Hou Te-chien are impressively intense as the Yang brothers, but Kaho Minami is a true marvel as the tragically dignified sister-in-law, Byakuran. Plus, for added notoriety, cult actor-director Shinya Tsukamoto pops up as a Yakuza psychopath.

Hayashi openly invokes classic film noir and classic film noir homages (Godard and Truffaut definitely seem to be touchstones, along with Bogart and Spillane, himself). The black-and-white cinematography is pleasing to the eye, especially for genre fans. The crime jazz and rockabilly soundtrack also proudly proclaim its American sources of inspiration, while the conflicts between Japanese and Taiwanese/HK gangsters connects it to the Yakuza movie tradition. Highly recommended for fans of Mike Hammer and Yakuza films, The Most Terrible Time in My Life screens again March 8^th, 15th, 23^rd, and 26^th, at the Spectacle Theater in Brooklyn.

Personal Space: Featuring Commander Richard Hatch

We were optimistic during the Reagan years—even about space exploration. That is when the Overture generation ship launched. We’re not so optimistic about anything anymore, especially not the space program. These are the reality television years, so it is fitting a reality media company has acquired the mission. They will broadcast crew members sessions with the mandatory therapy computer back to Earth and reveal little snippets to their colleagues to foment dissension in the web series Personal Space (awesome trailer here), which launches today.

As the Overture goes where no man has gone before, most of the crew dozes in suspended animation. They will wake in shifts to manage the mission and perform experiments. However, Robert King, the commander of the first shift, has already extended his waking time well past customary protocol. Frankly, he lacks confidence in Gail Gartner, the commander of the second shift, but he is trying not to say so, in so many words. Meanwhile, the abrasively annoying second shift doctor, Stanley “Blasto” Blaszkiewicz is a perfect match for reality TV, whereas the caustic botanist Deborah Li is decidedly not. They are already clashing.

Personal Space has the distinction of being one of the final projects starring the late Richard Hatch, from both Battlestar Galactica series. He is perfectly cast as Commander King—and also a little poignant in retrospect. He mostly plays the role straight (at least judging from the first five webisodes), whereas the rest of the cast specializes in dysfunctional neuroses and goofball antics. Sean Persaud’s Dr. Blasto is definitely not afraid of a little shtickiness, but the biggest laughs so far come from Vivi Thai as the acerbic-tongued Li.

Even though the generation ship is a staple of science fiction literature, it does not turn up in media that often (there was Passengers, but let’s try to forget that one). In this case, the transitional changing-of-the-guard period is an interesting point pick up the journey. The humor is a little hit or miss, but at four to six minutes a pop (depending on whether there is a “post-episode recap” with the studio hosts on Earth), Personal Space does not ask much in terms of time commitment. For a lot of us, it will be worth checking in with it, just to see new work from Hatch, in a science fiction context. Recommended for fans of BSG and classic sf novels, such as Heinlein’s Orphans of the Sky, Personal Space launches today on Amazon, YouTube, and ShareTV.

The Ravenous, a.k.a. Les Affames: The Undead in Quebec

The walking dead still eat flesh, but these French Canadian zombies also have a weird form of OCD that manifests itself in compulsive stacking of like objects. It actually makes them creepier. The zombie apocalypse is a grimly existential business in Robin Aubert’s The Ravenous, a.k.a. Les Affames, which premieres tomorrow on Netflix.

Nobody seems to know how it happened, but when Ravenous opens, the survivors have already moved past denial into acceptance of their situation. Those who are still alive are necessarily good at killing zombies. Nevertheless, the human death toll keeps climbing at a constant clip throughout the film. Bonin is about to lose his best friend, but he will pick up a woman and shortly thereafter a young girl, who will become a surrogate family. He is headed towards his mother’s country home, but survivors often change their plans and direction on a dime.

Bonin’s new companion Tania is “lucky” to be alive. She happened to be bitten by a dog during the zombie uprising, so everyone she meets is instantly suspicious of her. Along with little Zoé, they will head towards Bonin’s mother’s place, where he would receive a frosty reception at the best of times. Nevertheless, they will all join forces with a grimly efficient zombie killing pre-teen and a suspiciously injured old man, because you just have to forge ad-hoc alliances during the zombie apocalypse.

You have to give Aubert loads of credit. He has made a film that is thoughtful and moody as all get-out, while still embracing the conventions of the zombie movie. Unlike Rod Blakehurst’s bitterly unsatisfying Here Alone, Ravenous never comes off like it thinks it is too good to be a zombie movie. Faces get chomped here and shufflers are hacked with machetes. Seriously, Aubert accumulates a massive body-count. Yet, he is keenly attuned to the characters’ grief and mounting sense of hopelessness. In some ways, it could be dubbed the zombie equivalent of Lars Von Triers’ Melancholia.

Probably the last zombie film that had this much genuine acting going on was Train to Busan. Marc-André Grondin is probably best known as Xavier LaFlamme in the Goon movies, but he is totally unrecognizable and intensely tightly wound as Bonin. Yet, Brigitte Poupart ups the ante even further as Céline, a business woman turned zombie killing machine, who is likely to inspire a cult following and a host of mimes. Young Charlotte St-Martin is also quite impressive as little Zoé. Frankly, there really is no weak link in the multi-character ensemble.

Weirdly, Ravenous or Les Affames or whatever, brings to mind the best quote from the aughts, from Jed Babbin: “going to war without France is like going deer hunting without an accordion. All you do is leave behind a lot of noisy baggage.” In this case, the French Canadians bring an accordion to the zombie uprising. Presumably, it represents Tania’s last link to normalcy, but it still has a randomness that fits the film’s world view. Arguably, it is both gorier and more thoughtful than the first season of The Walking Dead—its like Aubert can have his brains and eat them too. Highly recommended for zombie fans, The Ravenous starts streaming tomorrow (3/2) on Netflix.

Oh Lucy!: The Independent Spirit Award Nominee

American English is different from the Queen’s English. That’s what Setsuko Kawashima’s Yankee English teacher teaches, so it makes sense he has a pedagogy you won’t find in British public schools. John hugs a lot and deep down, she rather digs that. She is profoundly sad, so she might as well start taking risks, even when they are wildly ill-conceived. Free-spiritedness is harder to master than it looks in Atsuko Hirayanagi’s Oh Lucy! (trailer here), which opens tomorrow in New York.

Kawashima is a quietly desperate office lady, whose only consolation is that most of her co-workers’ jokes are directed behind the back of her senior colleague. Her relationship with her drama queen sister is strained at best, because Kawashima still blames Ayako for stealing and marrying her former boyfriend. Generally, Kawashima is okay with her flighty niece Mika, but she is still cautious when asked for a favor. Mika is hoping she will buy out her spot in John’s prepaid English lessons.

John’s “school” is a room in a Yakuza owned love hotel, where he gives his students English names and ridiculous wigs to wear. Yet, somehow, being the blonde Lucy is liberating for Setsuko. Takeshi Komori, or “Tom,” a widowed ex-cop, also enjoys the informality and hugging. Frankly, he could be perfect for Setsuko, but when John and Mika abscond with her lesson fees back to America, she perversely decides to chase after him. To make things even more awkward, Ayako invites herself along to give her daughter a piece of her mind. However, when the arrive at their last known address, they find John has been dumped and abandoned by Mika. Now he is just a pathetic stoner on the verge of eviction, but Setsuko/Lucy is still interested.

Oh Lucy is a fix-up of Hirayanagi’s award-winning short. Basically, she took the crowd-pleasing English lesson gags and added a bunch of tragic reality. The result is a sad and wise character study that shares a distant but legit kinship with Kumiko the Treasure Hunter.

Shinobu Terajima totally deserves her Independent Spirit nomination for her portrayal of Kawashima. She has a tricky tight-rope to walk. She is achingly vulnerable, yet also a little off, but not in a conspicuous way that prompts viewers to keep their guard up. In a way, the role of John represents Josh Harnett’s career arc. At first, he looks hip and handsome, but then he becomes rather sad—yet there are still flashes of the old charm that shine through. Regardless how well he relates to the part, this is some of his best work in years.

Hirayanagi has two more aces up her sleeve. Kaho Minami (currently married to Ken Watanabe) is wonderfully tart as Ayako, but she also plays her smart and self-aware. Of course, Kôji Yakusho is money in the bank as “Tom” Komori, whom he plays with sensitivity and goofiness without compromising his manly screen persona one whit. Megan Mullally kills a brief cameo, but Reiko Aylesworth (Michelle Dessler in 24) is frustratingly under-employed as John’s ex.

Traditionally, it is the salarymen whose angst has been grist for cinema, so it is nice to see the frustrations of office ladies get some equal time. Even with its eccentricities, this is a messily realistic film that deliberately zigs when we want it to zag. That’s life folks. Hirayanagi and Terajima show that it can be both ugly and beautiful. Very highly recommended, Oh Lucy! opens tomorrow (3/2) in New York, at the Landmark 57 West and the Village East.