Midi Z at the Freer: 14 Apples

It almost sounds like the premise of a Michael J. Fox movie, circa Doc Hollywood. A fortune-teller told Wang Shin-hong’s mother that he should travel to an isolated monastery in central Burma, where he will live as a brother for fourteen days. He was also instructed to eat one apple each day to cure his insomnia, revive his sluggish business, and generally keep the doctor away. However, Wang will not find love in that hardscrabble community, as a rom-com character surely would. Instead, he gets an eye-opening lesson in what both the monks and villagers must do to survive in Midi Z’s 14 Apples (trailer here), which screens at the Freer as part of the mini-retrospective Borderlands: A Weekend with Midi Z.

Why this monastery you or Wang might ask? Good question. It is never clear why the fortune teller was directed here specifically. Since it was a remote stretch of the country the Taiwan-based, Burma-born Midi Z had never visited, he decided to grab his camera and film his friend on his pseudo-pilgrimage.

Arguably, this might have been the worst site for Wang’s retreat. Instead of training him in meditation and mindfulness, they put him to work collecting the considerable offerings freely given by the desperately poor villagers. He even starts serving as a community mediator.

At this point, it is important to remember many, many Buddhist monks have endured beatings and even sacrificed their lives for the cause of democracy in Burma. On the other hand, it is not uncommon for the slacker children of middle class families in Southeast Asia to gravitate towards monastic life—a phenomenon depicted in the Thai mystery, Mindfulness and Murder. There seems to be a bit of the latter going on here. Indeed, the already quite worldly Wang shows signs of further disillusionment during his stay, but he also clearly understands the monks must do what they need to do to survive.

14 Apples is a straight-up doc, but it shares obvious stylistic and thematic commonalities with Midi Z’s previous films, in which the border between documentary and narrative fiction has always been rather porous. It also reflects his interests in migration and statelessness, especially when we learn how many villagers are living and working illegally in China, Singapore, and other more economically vibrant Asian nations.

There are some telling moments in 14 Apples, but there are also times when the long-takes feel like padding. Frankly, it might have worked better as a thirty or forty-minute short film rather than a full feature, even though the pacing and aesthetics are exactly what the filmmaker’s admirers will expect. Regardless, those fascinated by monasticism should appreciate the very different perspective the film provides (this comes from a whole different universe than Into Great Silence).

On a positive note, it is also encouraging that Z could film rather openly in Burma and not have to take extraordinary measures to smuggle out the footage (in contrast to his experience making Return to Burma). Recommended for cineastes with a personal interest in Burmese cinema and Buddhist monasticism, 14 Apples screens tomorrow (6/10) at the Smithsonian’s Freer Gallery, as part of their Midi Z film series.

SIFF ’18: Wrath of Silence

Life is cheap in China’s northern coal mines, especially Zhang Baomin’s miserable hardscrabble existence, but good luck trying to cash him in. The mute miner has a titanium skull and a quicksilver temper. When his young son mysteriously disappears, Zhang return home to search for him, one brawl at a time, in Xin Yukun’s Wrath of Silence (trailer here), which screens during the 2018 Seattle International Film Festival.

Zhang has been mute since he accidentally bit his own tongue off during a youthful melee. Lately, he has been working in a mine in a neighboring district, to avoid awkward encounters with the mutton-house proprietor, whose left eye was blinded during a violent tussle with the miner. There is not a lot of love for Zhang among the villagers, but they still have a good deal of sympathy for him when Lei mysteriously vanishes while tending his sheep.

The dour Zhang hits the pavement, showing Lei’s picture around. That is how he finds himself at another mine, just when goons from Chang Wannian’s mining empire come to break up the joint. They weren’t counting on a hothead like Zhang being there. Zhang’s subsequent meeting with Chang is supposed to intimate him into passivity, but instead, it leads the brawling father to suspect the mogul is responsible for his son’s disappearance. He will definitely follow up on that, but not in a very subtle manner. To add further complications, Chang’s witness-tampering attorney Xu Wenjie is under investigation, which turns up the pressure on him.

Wrath could very well be the most violent socially-aware class-conscious film possibly ever produced in the history of cinema. Compared to Zhang, Wolverine is a hand-wringing doormat. There are times when Xin is clearly riffing on the hallway fight in the original Oldboy, but he tries his best to top its brutality. Yet, the corrupt and arbitrary nature of the contemporary Chinese legal system and social structures is always readily apparent. In fact, Wrath is closely akin to Chang Zheng’s Explosion, both stylistically and ideologically, but it is more action-driven, by at least a factor of five.

Even though he never speaks a peep, Song Yang is absolutely riveting as Zhang. You can practically see the black smoke coming out of his ears, in what could very well be his best performance to date. As Chang, Jiang Wu manages to chew even more scenery than he did in Shock Wave, which is definitely saying something. Yuan Wenkang’s Xu is quite a cold fish, but that is what the film requires—and he delivers accordingly.

Xin’s previous film A Coffin in the Mountain was more of a twisty noir in the spirit of early Coen Brothers, but Wrath has a similarly keen sense of place. He hails from Baotao, Inner Mongolia, so he clearly has a deep understanding of the people and the hardships they face. Yet, there is so much hard-charging mayhem, it is easy to forget you are watching an incisive critique of Chinese inequities.

Given the combination of amusement park violence and unvarnished social realism, it is not hard to fathom why a Party apparatchik decided Wrath was bad for business and had it spiked from domestic distribution. Of course, that is also a sure sign of quality. Very highly recommended, Wrath of Silence screens tonight (6/8) and Sunday (6/10), as part of this year’s SIFF.

DWF ’18: Stay (short)

They are like the characters from Sex and the City, but with a slightly deeper craving for supernatural power. This satanic cult of women is determined to enter into a Faustian bargain with their favorite demon, but they still have relationship issues in David Mikalson’s short film Stay (trailer here), which screens during this year’s Dances With Films, in Hollywood, USA.

They are an evil sisterhood, determined to achieve power through infernal means. One of the order will even willingly offer herself up as a sacrifice to seal the deal. Unfortunately, Carol does not keep her eyes on the prize. In fact, she even makes eye-contact with the unholy entity. That means they will have to repeat the whole damned (literally) ceremony. Yet, there might be a mutual thing going on between it and Carol. Then things get dark—really, really dark.

Wow, it is impressive just morbid Mikalson is willing to get. This is guaranteed to be a divisive film, but real horror fans will find it funny as you-know-where. Anna Seregina is perfectly deadpan as Carol, while Davey Johnson goes the full Doug Jones as the demon and also gets to deliver the nonchalant punchline as a surprise third act character.

Stay really is rather disturbing, precisely because it is so savagely amusing. Yet, it has more genuine closure than most satanic panic horror movies. In fact, that note of finality is precisely why it works so well. Conclusive endings—more filmmakers ought to try them. Recommended for viewers who like their comedy on the wicked side, Stay screens tonight, as part of Midnight Shorts 1, at the 21st Dances With Films.

DWF ’18: Chasing Bullitt

The remake of The Thomas Crown Affair was pretty good and the unnecessary redo of The Magnificent Seven did not ruin any careers, but they are really pushing it with the new Papillon. Le Mans is the one Steve McQueen film that probably will never get rebooted. Even before it was released, bad word of mouth dogged McQueen’s passion project. It was an awkward juncture for his career, but rather than restoring his mojo, McQueen is obsessively searching for the classic Mustang GT 390 from his 1968 mega-hit in Joe Eddy’s Chasing Bullitt, which premieres during this year’s Dances with Films.

Le Mans is considered dead in the water, but Steve McQueen is still Steve McQueen. He is attached to Junior Bonner, Papillon, and The Getaway. The one he says yes to gets made. However, he is not eager to get back to work. He is still bitter over losing control of Le Mans and his marriage is hanging by a thread. McQueen will not make a decision until his agent tracks down the Mustang that got away from him after the filming of Bullitt (celebrating its 50^th anniversary this October).

Of course, he really wants that car, because he is Steve McQueen, but it is also a convenient stalling tactic. As he tracks down a lead, he will ruminate on his bitter possible break-up with his first wife, Neile Adams, as well as the counseling sessions that he so clearly resented. Essentially, Chasing Bullitt is a memory play that you could almost mount on-stage if cars did not play such a significant role.

Andre Brooks really is a spooky dead-ringer for McQueen and he quite successfully approximates of sense of his potent presence, without descending into shticky mimicry. In fact, Brooks humanizes the icon of cool rather compellingly, conveying all his insecurities and bringing out his dark side. Yet, Brooks or Eddy never tarnish or belittle McQueen as a man or an actor.

Augie Duke is also terrific as Adams McQueen. Frankly, her scenes with Brooks could be difficult for some fans to watch, but both thesps connect with the tragic element of their marital strife. The film explicitly suggests they were the loves of each other’s lives, but their marriage was still undermined by Hollywood pressures and his personal issues. There are lighter moments too, including a spot-on Jason Slavkin channeling a nebbish Dustin Hoffman as he clumsily feels out McQueen for the potential Papillon film.

Eddy also channels The Thomas Crown Affair through his use of split screens and retro visual design elements, which is totally cool. Most importantly, he does right by his subject. There are light fictional elements, like a pretty hitchhiker, but the broad strokes stay true to the historical record. Despite the personal problems McQueen struggles with (or runs away from), the film is still quite a bit of fun. In some ways, it also serves as a meditation on his own enduring star-power. (Seriously, nobody will ever top a filmography that includes Bullitt, The Great Escape, The Magnificent Seven, The Thomas Crown Affair, and The Towering Inferno.) Affectionately recommended for Steve McQueen fans and anyone fascinated by the psychology of fame, Chasing Bullitt screens tomorrow night (6/8), during the 2018 Dances with Films.

SIFF ’18: Girls Always Happy

Wu is her mother’s daughter. She never forgets a slight and has a flair for the dramatic. However, we cannot say whether she is her father’s daughter, because he hasn’t been around for a long time. That partially explains their precarious financial situation. General Chinese cultural attitudes on gender and class do not help much either, but they share plenty of culpability for their own bad choices. They are almost like an anti-Ozu movie, but mother and daughter still come together when they need to in Yang Mingming’s Girls Always Happy (trailer here), which screens during the 2018 Seattle International Film Festival.

Wu and her mother live together, rather uncomfortably, in one of the last remaining hutongs, because they squandered an opportunity for relocation money. However, they still tip-toe around and flirt with the landlord, because rent is always an iffy proposition. They fall into a recurring pattern, fighting like cats and dogs, after which Wu sulks, while her mother leaves her passive-aggressive, guilt-tripping voice messages. Yet, they also come together as a team when visiting Wu’s grandfather, in hopes of securing an inheritance.

Girls Always Happy is not exactly a comedy, but it has a fair amount of humor that translates much more readily than the broad, silly farces the Chinese film industry is so determined to export. Just about everyone will understand the relationship between Wu and her mother. Half the time, the subtitles probably aren’t even necessary, because we can get the gist from their sour facial expressions and tense body language.

The film also has the distinction of co-starring two well-regarded independent Chinese film producers: Nai An (producer of Lou Ye’s Spring Fever, Mystery, and Blind Massage) and Zhang Xianmin (Old Dog and Fujian Blue). The former has previously also played several memorable emotionally-distressed mothers in When Night Falls and What Tears Us Apart. That probably explains the posters for the Beijing Independent Film Festival (which has been harassed into limbo by the Communist government) on the walls of Wu’s film professor lover, Zhang.

Both Nai An and Yang are completely believable and absolutely remarkable as the culture-clashing mother and daughter. Sometimes, it is uncomfortable to watch them go at each other, yet in the next scene they can share a beautiful quiet moment together.

In many ways, Girls Always Happy tells a universal story, but it still has a strong sense of place and time. The traditional hutong setting is just as critically important as Wu’s ultra-now sensibilities. Yang sneaks in some sly commentary as well, such as the cynical way Wu and her lover discuss screenwriting for the “anti-Japanese” genre. Yet, despite all their disappointments and resentments, Wu and her mother remain indomitable. It is a smart, biting film that pays off nicely. Recommended for fans of domestic dramas (but maybe not for mothers and daughters to watch together), Girls Always Happy screens tomorrow (6/8) and Saturday (6/9), as part of this year’s SIFF.

Toronto True Crime ’18: Hostages

It was a story Eduard Shevardnadze did not want re-visited. However, a play based on the controversial 1983 attempted Aeroflot hijacking became an underground hit in 2001, despite apparent attempts to censor it. Decades later, questions remain regarding the precipitous use of force and just who was really responsible for most of the casualties. However, there is no question the resulting trial was little more than an old school Communist show trial. The notorious crime and its punishment are coolly and dispassionately dramatized in Rezo Gigineishvili’s Hostages (trailer here), which screens as the closing film of the 2018 Toronto True Crime Film Festival.

Most of the twentysomething hijackers were either artists or physicians, who enjoyed some privileges as children of what we might ironically call Soviet Georgia’s middle class. In fact, Gega Kobakhidze, the real-life hijacker on whom the character of Nino is based, had just been cast in Tengiz Abuladze’s Repentance, which was banned for three years until it was finally granted a release as part off the Glasnost liberalization. Obviously, his part was recast.

The idea was not well thought out. The seven friends hoped to hijack an Aeroflot puddle-jumper bound from Tblisi to the nearby resort city of Batumi, so they could divert it to Turkey (imagine a time when Turkey was considered an environment of freedom). Using Nico and his fiancée Anna’s wedding party as cover, the co-conspirators were not closely screened before boarding. However, after that point, everything that could go wrong would go wrong.

Rather surprisingly, Gigineishvili & Lasha Bugadze’s screenplay downplays many of the contested issues swirling around the incident. Most of the casualties are depicted as inadvertent collateral damage occurring during the actual hijacking attempt, but many Georgians still have questions. However, there is a white-haired, very Shevardnadze-looking figure who cuts off all attempts at communication before they even start, sending in the Soviet stormtroopers instead. In any event, the faithful representation of the show trial is unambiguously damning.

Yet, nobody can accuse Gigineishvili of waving a bloody shirt. His film is clearly intended to appeal to the head with its rational dissection of this compounded national tragedy rather than the heart. Frankly, this is an unusually aloof and emotionally detached film that offers up practically no insights into the characters’ inner thoughts and driving ambitions. Still, Tinatin Dalakishvili manages to express Anna’s foreboding and remorse with quiet but devastating effectiveness. Iliko Sukhishvili is also quite memorable as Father Daniil (based on Father Theodore Chikhladze), the Orthodox priest who was conveniently associated with the hijackers, which conveniently allowed the Soviets to sweep him up as well.

Given the Soviets’ subsequent legal railroading and judicial homicides, Hostages takes a lot of chances by re-opening old, unhealed wounds in such a legalistic manner. Arguably, the Socialist regime gets the most even-handed treatment it could hope for, but its oppressive nature and downright petty nastiness still come through loud and clear. It is an imperfect film, but also a fascinating viewing experience. It also represents a rather adventurous selection for the Toronto True Crime fest, expanding their scope well beyond serial killers and stalkers. Recommended as an intriguing period production and a portrait of injustice, Hostages screens this Saturday (6/9), during the Toronto True Crime Film Festival.

211: Nic Cage Under Fire

It is based on the 1997 North Hollywood shootout, possibly the most notorious bank robbery in American history not perpetrated by John Dillinger or John Wojtowicz, the Dog Day Afternoon dude. Or so we are told. In addition to changing the names of the guilty and innocent alike, this heist movie almost completely alters the surrounding circumstances. Of course, it hardly matters, because this is a Nic Cage movie. In between flying bullets, viewers can enjoy a lecture on bullying in York Alec Shackleton’s 211 (trailer here), which opens this Friday in Los Angles.

Over in Iraq, a group of mercs are about to whack a scumbag development executive, who plundered reconstruction funds and then stiffed the hired help. They arrive seconds too late, because his finance guru is able to disperse all the funds into anonymous small dollar accounts, tucked away in modest, unassuming provincial banks. Feeling rather put-out, they induce their former employer to name one of the banks before capping him. They then set off from the war zone to Somewhere, Pennsyltucky to rob it blind.

Of course, this plan makes no sense. The bank was not party to any of these nefarious deeds and according to the film’s own set-up, there is only a fraction of the take squirreled away there. It is like the entire film is based around a rash temper tantrum.

Mike Chandler, ominously due to retire, just so happens to be cruising around the 1^st National Bank of Squaresville, with his partner and son-in-law, Steve MacAvoy. Poor Chandler is on the outs with his daughter, because he did not properly emote during his late wife’s demise. For extra added manipulativeness, Chandler has a ride-along, Kenny the pre-teen, who was nearly expelled for decking his bully. Things are about to get bloody when the bank robber detonate a bomb at a diner to distract the cops, but Chandler is too intuitive for that kind of ploy. Unfortunately, he is still drastically out-gunned.

Shackleton’s screenplay simply makes no sense whatsoever. Even more problematically, the villains are about as bland and colorless as they can possibly be, without completely evaporating into the atmosphere. These two considerable drawbacks are actually quite a shame, because Shackleton’s execution as a director isn’t bad at all. There are some pretty tense shootouts in this film, but the extraneous stuff surrounding them is all very ridiculous.

It definitely feels strange to describe Cage as a stabilizing presence, but that is about the size of this film. It is also fun to watch Albanian pop star Bleona make deductive leaps out of nothing as Christine, the Interpol agent. Granted, Interpol does not function that way. It is more of a clearing house for information, but whatever. The rest of the cast is either immediately forgettable or gratingly annoying.

Although it was probably always destined to be a B-movie, 211 still should have been better than it is. Shackleton’s pacing is tight, but his plotting and characterization are weak. This is the sort of film that proves the advantages of the division of labor. Only for diehard fans of Nic Cage and explosive mayhem, 211 opens this Friday (6/8) in Los Angeles, at the Arena Cinelounge and also releases day-and-date on iTunes.

Monochrome: This is the British FBI

The National Crime Agency (NCA) was immediately dubbed the “British FBI” when it was founded in 2013. Given the media firestorm it finds itself in this film, the comparison seems particularly apt. A plundered pension mega-fund threatens to undermine the entire financial system and nobody at the NCA has a clue where the missing 700 million pounds might be, except maybe their newest, most unlikely recruit in director-screenwriter-editor-cinematographer-score composer Thomas Lawes’ overachieving Monochrome (trailer here), which releases today on VOD.

Gabriel Lenard thinks differently. He has synesthesia, which gives him a savant-like ability to perceive patterns and remember numbers. For a while, he had a regular job, but his shyness and OCD-ish behavior forced him to return to his mum’s flat. NCA’s chief head-shrinker Dr. Randall Grey believes in him, so he will be his direct supervising agent.

Currently, the pension fund case is the agency’s primary concern. They arrested an obviously guilty City embezzler, but his girlfriend Emma Rose slipped through the dragnet. Despite her affair with the accused, Rose has always has a hippy contempt for money, so she has no problem going off the grid. However, only Lenard picks up on evidence that she has also turned into a serial killer, preying on the wealthy home owners, whom she offers herself up to as exploitable house-help.

For the most part, Monochrome is a rather crafty procedural, featuring some interesting characters. It is particularly inventive when it presents a stylized rendering of the colorful way Lenard perceives the world, so it is rather odd Lawes does not do so more frequently. Even more importantly, the collegial relationship that develops between Lenard and Grey gives the film a strong core. Unfortunately, the resolution falls somewhat flat, but that happens all the time.

Cosmo Jarvis is quite compelling as Lenard, conveying all his awkwardness, without ever relying on easy shtick. Accomplished stage actor Patrice Naiambana also makes quite an impression as Dr. Grey. He speaks with commanding authority, while projecting compassion and empathy. Lee Boardman is suitably slimy as Lenard’s NCA nemesis and James Cosmo gorges on the scenery playing Rose’s first victim, past-his-prime celebrity artist Roger Daniels. Unfortunately, Jo Woodcock’s vanilla Rose rather fades into the background, which is a serious drawback.

There are multiple speaking-in-retrospect voice-overs throughout Monochrome, but believe it or not, they all sort of work. It is not the be-all-end-all, but we would be happy to see this NCA team tackle another case—and that’s saying something. Recommended for fans of British procedurals, Monochrome is now available on VOD platforms, including iTunes.

The Debt Collector: Scott Adkins Collects

Sure, people like to think debt collecting is all about breaking kneecaps, but it also involves paperwork and cash management. The former is especially important. Whenever Big Tommy’s collectors go to work, they have a vig list with number rankings that tell them what level of resistance to expect and what degree of pain the client wants meted out. Unfortunately, his rating system has been low-balling the former. Scott Adkins will take nearly as much as he dishes out during his first day on the job in Jesse V. Johnson’s The Debt Collector (trailer here), which releases today on DVD.

French is a British expat, so he will get a lot of jokes about driving on the wrong side of the road. He is a skilled black belt, but his real deal MMA dojo is struggling. To pay the rent, he lands a gig collecting debts for Big Tommy through Mad Alex, one of his few students, who also happens to be connected. To learn the ropes, French goes out on rounds with the cynical, hard-drinking Sue (as in the Boy Named). Quite inconveniently, the tens that are supposed to be the easiest calls turn into fives and the fives turn into two’s or one’s.

It is a heck of a first day, but none of it will trouble French’s conscience. Unlike what we’ve seen in previous movies, most of the people who borrowed from Big Tommy’s clients are low life grifters, who deserve a good beatdown. They also have plenty of hired muscle to take on French and Sue. Alas, French’s second day on the job will be something else entirely.

Although it gets strictly serious during the third act, the first two-thirds of Debt Collector qualify as a breezy, if bruising, action comedy, very much in the style of Johnson’s previous Adkins vehicle, Accident Man. Frankly, Adkins has never complained so much during a movie, but his character is sort of entitled to, all things considered. Adkins also forges some terrific bickering buddy chemistry with Louis Mandylor’s impossibly grizzled Sue. Vladimir Kulich is even steelier as Big Tommy, plus there are extended cameos for Tony Todd and Michael Paré.

In terms of tone, Debt Collector is somewhat akin to an Elmore Leonard movie, but with less banter and more fighting. The screenplay co-written by Johnson and Stu Small will not exactly remind anyone of Noël Coward or Preston Sturges, but it clicks along nicely. First and foremost, it is a terrific showcase for Adkins’ chops. This is the film Once Upon a Time in Venice should have been. Recommended for fans of gritty, old school action throw-downs, The Debt Collector releases today on DVD.

The Midnight Man: Robert Englund and Lin Shaye, Together Again

Can someone please explain where’s the fun in summoning a boogeyman, when you know it will be an ordeal to survive, if it ever shows up? Yet, kids seem to try it all the time, especially in horror movies. This sinister nocturnal visitor the latest in the dubious tradition of Candyman and the Bye Bye Man, but he seems to have a strange connection to Anna Luster and her family. Her granddaughter Alex is in for a heck of a long night in Travis Zariwny’s The Midnight Man (trailer here), which releases today on DVD.

According to the so-called “Midnight Game” Anna and her soon-to-be late brother played during the 1953 prologue, once you summon the Midnight Man, at 12:00, you must keep your personal candle burner or step inside a protective circle of salt until 3:33 AM, or the evil entity can get you. He doesn’t merely kill. The Midnight Man torments his victims to death, using visions of their greatest fears. He also cheats.

So yeah, super-fun game—yet for some reason Anna Luster kept playing it over the years. She is now rather infirm and mentally erratic. Frankly, she is lucky her granddaughter Alex took time off to care for her, but alas, that also means the twentysomething and her ambiguous guy pal Miles will inevitable stumble across the game (basically some candles and a vial of salt) in the attic. Of course, once they find the creepy rules, they inevitably start playing, for no conceivably rational reason.

The Lusters are also lucky her personal GP (and childhood friend), Dr. Harding and his physician’s assistant make house-calls during the dark of night—both of them. Of course, his spider sense tells him something is not right. Alex and Miles’ pal Kelly also joins the game, because she her goth lifestyle will give her special survival insights. Right, good luck with that.

Apparently, Midnight Man is a fairly faithful remake of an Irish film that was never released in America, so who knows, maybe it is a hidden horror gem. The main appeal of Zariwny’s film is the presence of horror legends Lin Shaye and Robert Englund. Unfortunately, Anna Luster is not such a flattering role for Shaye that really isn’t that much different from her character in the deliriously unhinged The Black Room.

On the other hand, Englund is wonderfully sly as Dr. Harding. His fame rests on his work playing iconic monsters like Freddy Krueger, but in recent years he has transitioned into something like a contemporary Peter Cushing in films like Nightworld and The Funhouse Massacre, which totally works for us. His scenes in Midnight Man at least ten times more entertaining than the rest of the film.

Gabrielle Haugh (as Alex) and the rest of the poor man’s Scooby-Doo Mystery Team are serviceable but never all that memorable. At least the spooky grand old house is all kinds of atmospheric. It is not great, but it reconfirms our well-placed confidence in Englund. Strictly for his hardcore fans, The Midnight Man releases today on DVD and BluRay.

The Fabulous Allan Carr: A True Hollywood Legend

In retrospect, it is hard to believe the 1989 Oscar ceremony produced by Allan Carr was so poorly received at the time, but we live in a post-Uma-meet-Oprah, Anne Hathaway-awkwardly-co-hosting-with-James Franco world. So, there was a Snow White musical number that didn’t land? So what? However, there is nothing that can mitigate the train-wreck that was Can’t Stop the Music. Yes, he produced that too, but he also had a few successes. Jeffrey Schwarz chronicles his career ups and downs in The Fabulous Allan Carr (trailer here), which releases today on VOD.

Although he didn’t come out and say it, Carr was pretty open about his sexuality, especially for the 1970s. After college, he soon found his way to Hollywood, because he had a fondness for old school Golden Age glamor. He initially worked as a manager, doing quite well for his clients, including legends like Bette Davis and previously under-represented talents, such as Ann-Margaret. Eventually, he hooked up with powerful British producer-impresario Robert Stigwood, who backed him when he decided to take the Broadway musical Grease to the big screen—and the rest was history—rocky tumultuous history.

Schwartz covers the full scope of his life, using Sean Nadeau’s sly animation to liven up the early years, but he primarily focuses on four projects: Grease, Can’t Stop the Music, the original Broadway production of La Cage aux Folles, and the disastrous Oscar telecast. There is also some discussion of his work producing revues for Ann-Margaret, the much-maligned Grease 2 (sort of a Can’t Stop the Music-lite), and the teen sex comedy remake of Where the Boys Are—’84, but Cloak and Dagger, which so many kids watched on HBO back in the day, is sadly overlooked.

Still, the material on Can’t Stop the Music, the Village People bio-musical the world didn’t know it wanted, because it didn’t, is worth the price of admission on its own. It is the kind of stranger-than-fiction show business lore that makes you shake your head in disbelief. Cheers to Steve Guttenberg for discussing his not-so prestigious star-turn (but jeers to John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John for their absence).

At this point, Schwarz ranks as one of the best documentarians of Hollywood history, having previously helmed Spine Tingler!: The William Castle Story (the folks at Shudder really ought to consider picking that one up) and Tab Hunter Confidential. In many ways, Fabulous shares elements of both prior docs, as well as the brisk up-tempo pacing to all three.

Sadly, Carr passed away in 1999, but unlike his producer brethren, he was not shy about promoting himself on talk shows, so Schwarz had quite a wealth of archival footage to cull from. As a result, the film will also be a real nostalgia trip for anyone with hazy memories of Merv Griffin, Mike Douglas, and late-1970s-early-1980s pop culture in general. Sometimes raucously funny and sometimes quite poignant, The Fabulous Allan Carr is very highly recommended for a wide gamut of movie buffs. It releases today on VOD platforms, including iTunes.

Astro: Gary Daniels Fights Aliens . . . Eventually, Maybe

Jack Adams is a fifty-year-old Special Forces vet who can still kick plenty of butt, but he is nobody’s idea of an astronaut. That’s okay, his old comrade Alexander Biggs isn’t exactly Elon Musk, but somehow, he is the founder of a billion-dollar aerospace company. There is a shadowy cosmic cabal pulling their strings throughout Asif Akbar’s Astro (trailer here), which releases today on DVD.

We know from the super-confusing in media res opening this tale will eventually end up in space. Unfortunately, it still does not make much sense after the five-day rewind, so consider this fair warning. The widowed Adams was going to celebrate his big Five-O with his daughter until Biggs dispatches a mutual service buddy to lure him to his Texas-sized estate. Apparently, Biggs must recruit Adams for his alien-directed project, because he is a perfect DNA match for an Avatar-looking being from another dimension.

Of course, Biggs keeps his job offer vague, declining to mention the various aliens involved, most definitely including the Boris-and-Natasha duo of Viktor Khol and his glitter-face-painted assistant Vivian, who order him around like the lackey he is. This film is stuffed to the rafters with name characters who enter, pace around the stage a few times, and then promise to return later, presumably because it was conceived as the launch of a multi-platform franchise. Good luck with that.

Frankly, the special effects in Astro are laughably cheesy, but not in a nostalgic, throwback way (the harshly unforgiving lensing does not help either). Without doubt, the best scenes involve Gary Daniels showing off his undiminished chops. There is no question if you want somebody in his 50s, who can throw down convincingly while looking somewhat his age than Daniels is your guy. He still works constantly, but he really should have broken out bigger during his 1990s prime. Yet, you can argue as a British martial arts star, he paved the way for Scott Adkins.

Daniels is also believably protective and dad-like with Courtney Akbar’s Laura Lee Adams, who looks like she worships the ground he walks on (and maybe she should). Despite all the ridiculous things he has to do, Marshal Hilton is entertainingly villainous as Biggs. Indeed, he is emerging as a character actor worth keeping an eye out for, based on his working livening up Astro and Primal Rage. Most likely Louis Mandylor, Max Wasa, Dominique Swain, Michael Paré, and Spice Williams would like to leave their work in this one behind in the rearview mirror, but their presence assures the film will have some level of cult interest.

There is no resolution in Astro, nor is there much narrative cohesion. We’re always willing to give a Gary Daniels star-vehicle a fair hearing, because he can still carry a picture, but this one just collapses around him. Regrettably, we just can’t recommend Astro when it releases today on DVD.

Won’t You Be My Neighbor?: The Wisdom of Mister Rogers

He was an ordained Presbyterian minister with a degree in music composition. Fred Rogers was an unlikely television star, but he became a beloved icon for generations of Americans. The mere mention of his name might prompt nostalgic reverie for many viewers, but in retrospect, it is quite remarkable how compatible his teachings were with the current mindfulness movement. Mister Rogers emerges as a figure both very much of and ahead of his time in Morgan Neville’s fond portrait Won’t You Be My Neighbor? (trailer here), which opens this Friday in New York.

The sweaters, the tennis shoes, the puppets, the piano, and the troubled children he consoled are all here. After a few years of supposedly adult life, Mister Rogers seems almost impossibly soft-spoken in the vintage clips Neville liberally incorporates into the film. Yet, it is the same Fred Rogers we also hear testifying before Congress, joking with his crew behind-the-scenes, and in his occasional specials for adults. Indeed, Neville and Rogers’ family and surviving colleagues quickly establish that he was truly the real deal.

Neville, who rediscovered Rogers through his work documenting Yo-Yo Ma (a frequent guest on Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood) in The Music of Strangers, managed to score rare interviews with his widow and two grown sons, as well as several regular cast-members, including David Newell (Mr. McFeely of “Speedy Delivery” fame), “Officer” François Clemmons, and “Handyman” Joe Negri.

Alas, Neville does not establish the latter’s credentials as one of Pittsburgh top jazz guitarists, nor does he discuss Johnny Costa’s longtime role scoring the show, which is frustrating for jazz fans, but his film is not intended as a definitive history of Rogers or his treasured show. Still, Mister Rogers’ musical hipness deserves its due (here’s a clip of the great tenor saxophonist Eric Kloss making a guest appearance).

Regardless, Neville is more concerned with Rogers’ ideas and message—and that’s fair enough. Throughout the film, we hear Mister Rogers explicitly encourage children to appreciate moments of silence and to engage in reflection. Fred Rogers was Presbyterian and Thich Nhat Hanh is a Zen Buddhist, but you can certainly here a kinship between them in these classic excerpts (here and here). There are plenty of such moments in the film as well, like when Rogers invited young viewers to silently observe the passing of an entire minute (in real-time air-time). Honestly, PBS and the Fred Rogers Company could sell hundreds of thousands of units and reach millions of adults if they released a Mister Rogers’ Mindfulness compilation DVD. Why spend money on dubious seminars when you can turn to one of the most trusted names from your youth?

Even if you prefer life loud and unexamined, Won’t You Be My Neighbor will rekindle old affection and inspire new respect for the children’s programming pioneer. Clearly, Neville was inspired by his subject, especially when he deftly employs Rogers’ own listening and interviewing techniques to elevate his talking head segments into beautifully poignant moments. It just shows we can all still learn a thing or two from Mister Rogers. Enthusiastically recommended, Won’t You Be My Neighbor opens this Friday (6/8) in New York, at the Angelika Film Center.

BFF ’18: Asian Girls (short)

Chan is a shy Chinese seamstress who probably does not have the time or money to enjoy horror movies. Weirdly, she starts to suspect Yamada, her gothy Japanese supermodel neighbor is bringing the j-horror to her. However, perceptions and preconceptions cannot always be trusted in Hyun Lee’s short film Asian Girls (trailer here), which screens during the 2018 Brooklyn International Film Festival.

Many nights, Chan wakes from a dream in which Yamada is knelling over her in bed. She considers it a nightmare, but maybe some viewers would not. In this unidentified megalopolis, space is at such a premium, the classes are forced to live in close proximity, but that does not breed familiarity or understanding—quite the contrary in fact.

During the dialogue-free film, we see both women going about their daily existences. While their lifestyles are radically different, they are equally solitary. They also happen to represent two very different media archetypes of Asian women: the worker prole and the sexualized vamp. Lee cleverly uses the visual vocabulary of horror movies, especially Japanese horror conventions, to address such stereotyping. She also rather cleverly pulls off the twist at the end.

Frankly, Lee and cinematographer Grégoire Lière give the film such a sleek, stylish look, we rather wish it were longer, with a plottier narrative. On the other hand, it would be hard to sustain the wordlessness, which really works well in the context of the seven-minute film. Indeed, it makes the sinister sound design even joltier.

Rainbow Chan and Stella Leung are both wonderfully expressive, yet still craftily mysterious as Chan and Yamada respectively. It quite a cinematic piece of weirdness that should please Asian horror fans. Highly recommended, Asian Girls screens again this Sunday (6/10), as part of this year’s Brooklyn Film Festival.

SIFF ’18: Susu

Kunqu Opera has had its ups and downs in popularity, reaching its lowest point when it was forbidden during the Cultural Revolution. It is currently enjoying a revival, but sadly the great Kunqu performer Susu did not live to see it happen. However, she still remains a constant presence in the lives of her British family, but in a dysfunctional, unhealthy, Daphne Du Maurier kind of way. Two Chinese students will come to the family mansion for a weekend translation gig, but they will find it is suspiciously hard to leave in Yixi Sun’s Susu (trailer here), which screens during the 2018 Seattle International Film Festival.

Qi’an and Aimo are friends and roommates, but there are key differences between them. Qi’an is a good student from a good family, neither of which is true of Aimo. They share a few secrets as well that will be divulged during the course of the film. Despite her family’s status, Qi’an works hard to pay her own way, so she jumps at the chance to do some temp work cataloguing the Stuart estate, starting with rare films of Susu’s performances, while Aimo is happy to come along for a weekend holiday in the country.

Their host will be wheelchair-bound Shirley, whose sexual identity, family position, and sanity status are all rather ambiguous. Initially, both women feel better when Susu’s Anglo son Benjamin Stuart arrives. In fact, Aimo rather intends to challenge the largely disinterested Qi’an for his affections. However, she will have a hard time overcoming Qi’an’s resemblance to Susu and its creepy V.C. Andrews effect on him. Eventually, Qi’an is ready to bolt, but strange events conspire to prevent her leaving or force her return.

Susu is not a perfect film by any stretch of the imagination, but it is quite enjoyable for the ways it synthesizes various gothic and related influences, including Du Maurier, Andrews, Henry James, Don’t Look Now, Hammer Films, and Giallos. There is also some integration of Chinese cultural elements—Susu happens to be a character name in The Legends of the White Snake (the demon who married a human) while Qi’an arguably represent contemporary archetypes of Chinese expats—but we wish there had been even more Kunqu references.

Regardless, Zitong Wu and Zhu Lin are terrific as Qi’an and Aimo, respectively. Frankly, it is a little shocking to see Zhu, who was so touchingly sweet and endearing in 33 Postcards playing the worldly Aimo, but she still lights up the screen. This time (nearly six years later), she exudes sexuality rather than innocent pluckiness. Wu is more reserved, but she conveys a sense of wheels turning in her head. She also does indeed bear a strong resemblance to Junjie Mao, who hams it up Hammer-style as Susu in the flashback sequences. Similarly, Steve Edwin gorges on scenery as the sinister “Shirley,” but it is hard to even discuss such a role in the current climate Social Justice Warrior-contempt for free speech and honest criticism.

The London-based, Chinese born-and-raised Sun credits British horror director Norman J. Warren as a mentor, which is cool, but Susu is a much lusher and atmospheric film. Although there are too many flashbacks that do not feature Mao, she clearly has a thorough understanding of the British horror tradition. It is just a lot of fun, like watching a stately Jane Eyre adaptation turn into a Giallo. Highly recommended for genre fans, Susu screens Tuesday (6/5) and Friday (6/8), as part of this year’s SIFF.

Open Roads ’18: Equilibrium

What is the proper role for a priest? Should he fight for justice or maintain the balance of power, like a 1970s State Department bureaucrat, who read too much Bismarck? It seems like a no-brainer in theory, but would you be tempted to opt for stability, if you had to chose in the real world? Don Giuseppe will make his choice and his parishioners will make theirs when he is transferred to his native Campania in Vincenzo Marra’s Equilibrium (trailer here), which screens during Open Roads: New Italian Cinema 2018.

Don Giuseppe has always been actively engaged in the world. He did life-altering missionary work in Africa and he has steadfastly ministered to the illegal aliens congregated at a migrant shelter in Rome. Frankly, he is concerned he could become a little too engaged when a social worker admits her romantic feelings for him. To preserve his calling, Don Giuseppe requests and is granted a transfer to a blighted district just north of Naples.

When the good father first meets Don Antonio, whom he will succeed, the veteran cleric seems to be quite the crusader himself through his campaign against the illegal noxious waste dumping in the hills above town. However, it soon becomes clear this is cheap activism, since nobody claims responsibility for the dumping and everyone generally agrees it is a less than ideal practice. However, when it comes to standing up for the vulnerable in the community, Don Antonio is much more circumspect.

Frankly, Don Antonio has done his best to intimidate the isolated Assunta into accepting her boyfriend’s sexual abuse of her daughter. Unfortunately, she happens to live in the housing project that is the center of the local drug dealers’ transactions. Having the cops pay a visit would be bad for business. For the sake of peace in the valley, Don Antonio is willing to sacrifice Assunta and her daughter—and the cops and dealers are right there with him. However, Don Giuseppe will not play that game.

Equilibrium is a deeply moving film that challenges what faith really means and how it should be manifested in the real world. Marra filmed docu-style, employing many street level long-takes. He recruited many non-professional actors from the region, scoring a double jackpot with Mimmo Borrelli and Roberto del Gaudio, who are both tremendous as Don Giuseppe and Don Antonio, respectively. Borrelli is a quiet marvel, expressing so much questioned faith and Christian love through subtle and restrained looks and gestures. In contrast, del Gaudio is flamboyantly charismatic and chillingly Machiavellian. Astrid Meloni, one of the few professional ringers, adds further layers of compelling human messiness as Veronica, Don Giuseppe’s source of temptation.

It is impossible to watch Equilibrium without hearing echoes of the Catholic Church’s sex abuse scandals. It is easy to damn in retrospect, but the film clearly challenges viewers to ask what they would have done if they were cops, social workers, or lay leaders trying to hold their communities together. Throughout the film, Marra shows in concrete terms why ostensibly responsible people often opt for stability over moral principle, while never endorsing or excusing their expediency. It is a tough, powerful film. Very highly recommended, Equilibrium screens tomorrow (6/3) and Wednesday (6/6) at the Walter Reade as part of this year’s Open Roads.

Open Roads ’18: Boys Cry

It is pretty depressing when getting initiated into an organized crime clan is the highest ambition two meatheads can aspire to. Unfortunately, it is all too attainable. The only price is whatever might be left of their souls. There will be money and hedonistic pleasures in the short term, but don’t count on much of a long run for Mirko and Manolo in the D’Innocenzo Brothers’ Boys Cry (trailer here), which screens during Open Roads: New Italian Cinema 2018.

Even though they are enrolled in some kind of community college hotel-restaurant management program, Mirko and Manolo are not very serious about it. Their corner of Rome’s suburbs does not encourage optimism or long-term planning. They demonstrate why well enough on their own when they kill a stealthy pedestrian in a hit-and-run. Initially, they are panicked about potential repercussions, until Manolo’s wannabe-gangster father realizes this is a good thing.

It turns out their victim was a snitch wanted by one of the local clans. Manolo’s father brokers his son’s apprenticeship with the clan, claiming he deliberately mowed the so-called “grass” down. Suddenly, Mirko is bent out of shape hearing Manolo taking credit for his negligent homicide. However, his friend quickly brings him into the fold, recruiting him to assist on what will be their first official hit.

You can guess the general trajectory of their grubby lives from there, but it is especially harrowing to watch Mirko seeming lose all remaining vestiges of human decency. He will drive away his girlfriend Ambra (who was frankly out of his league) and his ailing mother. This is a gritty, grimy film, but its takeaway comes through loud and clear: even when there is substantial monetary renumeration, crime still doesn’t pay.

It is a grim milieu, but Matteo Olivetti lights up the screen with his hostile intensity and barely contained energy. As Mirko, he steals the picture outright from Andrea Carpenzano’s more snide and reserved Manolo. Olivetti also has the benefit of playing scenes opposite Milena Mancini, who is quite a supportive co-star, while still being exquisitely tragic as his mother Alessia. It would be interesting to see them play mother and son again, but in a completely different context.

This is a riveting movie, in a horrifying train-wreck kind of way. Shallow, kneejerk critics will probably be put off by the misogynistic and homophobic attitudes expressed by the two gangsters-in-training, but they are thugs. Everything they say and do is awful, almost by definition. The D’Innocenzos (Damiano & Fabio) water nothing down. This sure isn’t Bugsy Malone, but Mirko and Manolo really aren’t a heck of a lot older than that. Recommended for fans of the new wave of naturalistic gangster films (like Gomorrah and Salvo), Boys Cry screens Sunday (6/3) and Tuesday (6/5) at the Walter Reade as part of this year’s Open Roads.