The Garrels’ Jealousy

We expect the French to be very insouciant about trifles like infidelity and divorce, but the Garrels know better. The reigning first family of French cinema has long plumbed their very personal history for artistic inspiration. After thoroughly examining his tempestuous relationship with 1960s icon Nico, Philippe Garrel puts his late actor father Maurice Garrel on the cinematic pop-psychology couch, casting his son Louis as his grandfather. It is definitely a family affair. In fact, some of the father-and-son’s best work together coalesced in the senior Garrel’s Jealousy (trailer here), which opens this Friday in New York.

Known simply as “Louis,” Louis Garrel’s protagonist is leaving his wife and daughter for his sultry lover Claudia, much as his real life grandfather did. The former cad will try to turn over a new leaf, striving to be a faithful lover and attentive father to his young daughter, Charlotte. Indeed, one should not impose slavish one-for-one symbolism on Jealousy, lest Charlotte be taken for an analog of the filmmaker himself.

In terms of narrative, Jealousy is a simple story of a relationship that starts out full of passion and hope, but eventually turns sour. The differences between Louis and Claudia are not immediately apparent, but they prove too profound to withstand the test of time. Although they are both stage actors, she has not worked in years, whereas he constantly takes low-to-no paying gigs. Despite the occasional flirtation, he takes his commitment to Claudia seriously, whereas she adopts an attitude of what-he-doesn’t-know-can’t-hurt-him.

Jealousy is an intimate film, in the Cassavetes sense, but it is stylish and accessible. It might also represent Louis Garrel’s finest screen turn to date. Frankly, in past outings, he has perhaps tried too hard, projecting a cloyingly boyish persona (as in Love Songs and Making Plans for Lena). However, there is nothing twee or affected about his work in Jealousy—no sheepish invitation to ruffle his locks. It is a more mature, Zen-like performance that pulls us into the character’s life, engendering understanding and even sympathy. Although he did not try to play his grandfather outright, he presumably had more to draw upon from personal experience than had he portrayed some distant literary or historical figure.

Anna Mouglalis (the better of the competing Chanels in Coco Channel & Igor Stravinsky) also fleshes out some surprisingly deep dimensions in the impulsive Claudia. It is a bold, earthy turn that impresses. Yet nobody can match young Olga Milshtein as the precociously wise and winning Charlotte. Completing the Garrel family quota, Louis’s sister Esther Garrel brings some verve and energy as his on-screen namesake sibling.

Willy Kurant’s black-and-white cinematography arrestingly heightens the on-screen emotional conflict. It is a lovely picture that evokes the filmmaker’s earlier pictures, like Emergency Kisses, but it feels considerably less self-conscious. Philippe Garrel’s films may still be an acquired taste, but Jealousy is the right thin edge of the wedge to start with. Recommended for those who appreciate French post-Wave auteurs and chamber drama in general, Jealousy opens this Friday (8/15) in New York at the Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center.

The Trip to Italy: Pasta on the Menu

D.H. Lawrence and E.M. Forster found inspiration in Italy. So did Byron and Shelley—a fact Rob Brydon will hardly let Steve Coogan forget. He will quote both poets at length when the celebrity impersonating duo embark on another road-trip in Michael Winterbottom’s The Trip to Italy (trailer here), which opens this Friday in New York.

Italy might just be the only Winterbottom film that resembles any of his previous work. Clearly sticking with the game plan that proved so winning in The Trip, he turns Coogan and Brydon loose to eat and riff with abandon. Playing somewhat fictionalized and exaggerated versions of themselves (or so we can only hope), the comedians obsess over their careers and complicated personal lives, while touring through Italy for a series of magazine articles.

Just about everyone who saw the original Trip know it as the Michael Caine impression movie (or television show, as it was presented in the UK). There is not the same pitched impersonation battle this time around, but Brydon gives his Al Pacino and Tom Hardy good workouts. Arguably, the Italian Trip is not quite as funny as their tour through the north of England, but the food is considerably more tempting. The second time around will also resonate more with cineastes, who should enjoy their visits to the famous locations seen in John Huston’s Beat the Devil, Jean-Luc Godard’s Contempt, and William Wyler’s Roman Holiday.

Admittedly, both Trips are rather light when it comes to narrative, but it is rather fascinating to watch Coogan and Brydon portray their own somewhat unsympathetic meta-analogs. While Coogan played a rather soulsick Coogan the last go round, he makes a good faith attempt to redeem himself and reconnect with his fictional son in the new outing. In contrast, Brydon goes from being the more likable one to a bit of a cad this time.

If you do not feel like visiting Italy after watching the latest Trip, you were not watching with your eyes open. Winterbottom and cinematographer James Clarke make it look spectacularly beautiful. Brydon and Coogan also land an impressive number of laughs, which Winterbottom wraps up in a surprisingly effective bittersweet bow. Recommended for fans of British comedies and foodie films, The Trip to Italy opens this Friday (8/15) in New York at the IFC Center.

SF Global Movie Fest ’14: Jazz in Turkey

Arguably, Dave Brubeck’s second greatest hit is “Blue Rondo à la Turk.” It therefore ranks rather highly on the all time jazz hit parade, considering he also recorded the definitive version of Paul Desmond’s “Take Five.” Brubeck was serious about the “Turk” reference, crediting its genesis to his experience visiting Turkey and exploring the local rhythms. Inspiration would also flow back to Turkish jazz musicians from the American jazz masters. Batu Akyol surveys the history and music of the scene that developed in Jazz in Turkey (trailer here), which screens during the 2014 San Francisco Global Movie Fest (in San Jose).

Viewers might expect it to be treated like a dirty secret, but pretty much everyone admits the pioneers of Turkish jazz were largely Armenians and Jewish Turks. After all, they were more receptive to western music and culture in general—and could maybe better identify with its blues roots. Of course, they were aware of the music’s African American heritage. In fact, one of the early popularizers of jazz in Turkey was an expatriate African American ensemble called Seven Palm Beach.

There will be more familiar names in Akyol’s documentary than casual viewers will expect, like Ahmet and Nesuhi Artegun, who discovered jazz when in America as the children of the Turkish Ambassador and would later become the leading independent producers in America through their label, Atlantic Records. Super-producer Arif Mardin also grew up as a jazz-loving teen in Turkey, before studying at Berklee (which proved to be the start of the school’s long association with Turkish students and faculty).

Essentially, Akyol identifies two primary approaches taken by Turkish jazz artists. Many follow western swing models, utilizing classical jazz instrumentations and arrangements. Erol Pekcan, whom Akyol identifies as the great statesman of Turkish jazz (he even worked as a translator for the U.S. embassy) largely fits in this camp—and man, that cat could play. On the other hand, fusions of jazz and traditional Turkish music also found an audience (particularly amongst tourists, not so ironically). Özdemir Erdoğan emerges as one of the early leaders of this movement—and man, could that cat play.

It hardly seems possible, but perhaps the history of Turkish jazz will not immediately intrigue broad-based mainstream audiences. However, the musical clips Akyol selects should seal the deal. They swing hard and are played with evident passion, yet many are still madly catchy. It would be cool to have a companion CD for this film, because nearly everything sounds great.

Indeed, that is the most important thing for any music doc. Akyol will definitely leave the audience wanting more Turkish jazz. Fans will also appreciate the occasional commentary from musicians like Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, and Terence Blanchard. Those who enjoy hearing something new will find it very entertaining. Highly recommended, Jazz in Turkey screens this Friday (8/15) at the Towne3 Cinemas in San Jose, as part of the SF Global Movie Fest.

Rural Route ’14: Celestial Wives of the Meadow Mari

One might say the women of the Mari El autonomous republic are in touch with their inner Earth Mothers. They are comfortable with nature and their sexuality, but the local men folk can be vexing. A parade of Mari women will experience the rituals of life in their village on the Volga in Alexsei Fedorchenko’s Celestial Wives of the Meadow Mari (trailer here), which screens during the 2014 Rural Route Film Festival in New York.

Screenwriter Denis Osokin clearly has an affinity for “O” names, since every name of the women featured in Celestial start with that letter. It turns out there are a lot of Mari names like that. In fact, there are more names than stories. Not just episodic, many of the women’s collected stories are mere fragments or jotted sketches, with little development of any kind.

Nor is there any sort of through-line, Our Town style narrator, or callbacks to previous incidents to provide connective tissue. Instead, Fedorchenko and Osokin are purely concerned with ambiance and local color. Inconsistent by its nature, the better arcs (that could credibly stand alone as short films) are those that carry a pronounced folkloric air, such as the standout tale of Onalcha, a purported sorceress and “Daughter of the Wind.” Twelve year old Ormarche’s encounter with three werewolves is also quite memorable, but the sexualized imagery imposed the older women in her party might be problematic for some viewers.

Cinematographer Shandor Berkeshi nicely captures the verdant ruggedness of the Uralic region and composer Andrei Karasyov’s traditionally-inspired music is surprisingly catchy. Fedorchenko and Osokin really do give the audience a vivid sense of Mari life (even though they reportedly take considerable liberties with the details). However, it is nearly impossible to form an attachment to any of the assorted characters or to get caught up in the plethora of narrative fragments.

Fedorchenko has already made something of a festival name for himself with the powerfully meditative Silent Souls and his nicely turned contribution to the anthology film The Fourth Dimension. He certainly has a strong affinity for the pagan legends and hardscrabble living conditions of Russia’s far flung ethnic conclaves, but Celestial’s ADD-like lack of focus undermine attempts to submerge viewers in the Mari milieu.

He is still a filmmaker to watch, but Celestial will probably be remembered as a minor oddball entry in his filmography. More interesting on paper, Celestial Wives of the Meadow Mari screens tomorrow (8/10) at the Museum of the Moving Image, as part of this year’s Slavic-focused Rural Route Film Festival in New York.

Diamond in the Dunes: Baseball in China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Region

You will never find a collegiate sports program less tainted by agents and money than the Xinjiang University baseball team. It is the only area of the highly segregated campus where Uyghurs and ethnic Han Chinese freely mix. They could not field a team without each other. Christopher Rufo documents the passion for the game that keeps the underdog team together in Diamond in the Dunes (trailer here), which airs this Sunday on PBS World as part of the current season of Global Voices.

Parhat Arblat might be the best baseball player in the entire Xinjiang province. He is also a member of the Uyghur minority. Despite his soon-to-be-completed university education, his future remains uncertain. He is far more likely to return to shepherding than field an offer from the Yankees, or even our beloved Mets. Although he might be a comparatively okay player, he unfortunately appears to be getting played by his childhood sweetheart.

Nevertheless, he emerges as a leader on the field, teaching the younger players how to play the game and conduct themselves in life, as they train for their one big annual game with a Tibetan University. Yes, Arblat and his Xinjiang teammates are the boys of one single summer day. They practice all year to face their nearest rivals, one thousand miles away—a thirty hour train journey. That is commitment.

The irony of an American game bringing together Xinjiang’s fractious ethnic groups is not entirely lost on the players. Frankly, the broadcast cut of Diamond could have played up the unifying power of sportsmanship more, because it is quite compelling. Rufo also seems to deliberately de-emphasize the Uyghurs’ Muslim faith, portraying the regions’ differences in largely racial and cultural terms.

Still, the extent and severity of Xinjiang segregation exposed in the film is truly mind-boggling. The fact that Communist China gets a pass from professional protestors and NGOs constitutes sheer hypocrisy. Indeed, the film serves as an indirect indictment of the western media’s coverage of China. Remember all the coverage of the 2009 Ürümqi riots? Exactly.

Arblat is an enormously sympathetic POV figure, so it is nice that Rufo can balance some hopefulness with the hardscrabble realities of his provincial Xinjiang life. While the broadcast edit feels noticeably abbreviated, it still makes rewarding viewing. Recommended for baseball fans and China watchers, Diamond in the Dunes airs on PBS World this Sunday (8/10).

Fantasia ’14: The Fives

Life is cheap, organs are expense. That is the principle driving a woman with a rare blood type and her quest for payback. She is willing to pay quite dearly to avenge her husband and daughter, offering her organs as a reward in Jeong Yeon-shik’s The Fives (trailer here), which screened during the 2014 Fantasia International Film Festival.

Go Eun-a was once a strict mother and somewhat scoldish wife. Tragically, her life turned upside-down when her pre-teen daughter Ga-yeong recognized an older fellow music student with her so-called “Uncle,” serial killer Oh Jae-uk. After dispensing with his intended victim, Oh tracks down the family, brutally murdering Ga-yeong and her father. However, the mother survives, destined to spend the rest of her days confined to a wheelchair.

Knowing her doctor coveted her heart for his ailing daughter, she strikes a dire bargain: find four other patients or family members with specialized skills to help her track, capture, and execute her family’s murderer in exchange for what they need. It will be deeply-indebted police technician Park Jeong-ha’s job to ferret him out online, engineer-thief Nam-cheol to shadow and verify, former gangster Jang Dae-ho to be the muscle, and the shifty doc will perform their promised transplants. Of course, their undertaking gets considerably more complicated when Oh starts hunting his hunters.

The Fives represents a bit of Korean cinema history as the first film adaptation of a web comic directed by its original creator. Nevertheless, the dark tale of revenge and moral angst follows in a long tradition of Korean thrillers, including recently Lee Jung-ho’s Broken and Kim Kwang-sik’s Tabloid Truth. While The Five is not as emotionally resonant as Broken, it is tough to match its pitch black heart.

Yet, in its way, Fives is more sympathetic in its treatment of Evangelicals, particularly Hye-jin the volunteer trying to minister to Go, than most recent Korean imports. Oh, the metrosexual hipster artist, is also the sort of serial killer you are not likely to see in a Hollywood thriller anytime soon. It is sort of like watching the evil twin of quirky indie comedy—exceptionally evil.

Kim Sun-a is all kinds of intense as Go, while Park Hyo-joo is truly heartbreaking as Hye-jin. Ma Dong-seok, Shin Jung-keun, Lee Chung-ah nicely flesh out Jang, Na-cheol, and Park, giving them an identity beyond their plot function. However, Jung In-gi’s craven sawbones is a bit cringy. Oddly, On Joo-wan is so spectral-like as Oh, it is hard to render a full judgment on his work.

Even though Go has a highly cinematic talent for lethal Rube Goldberg constructions, The Fives is pretty down to earth by the standards of the genre. Jeong clearly prefers to keep the action up-close-and-personal rather than mount extravagant spectacles. He keeps viewers looked in, even though its bleak portrayal of human nature is exhausting. Recommended for fans of vigilante and serial killer movies, The Fives is likely to develop legs following its Canadian premiere at this year’s Fantasia, which wraps up today (8/7) with screenings of the ridiculously entertaining Zombeavers and the devastating Han Gong-ju.

The Maid’s Room: Welcome to the Hamptons

She does the kind of work Americans “just won’t do,” like cleaning up Master Crawford’s vomit. The Crawfords are most definitely one percenters—and writer-director Michael Walker will never let us forget it in the dark morality play-borderline-thriller The Maid’s Room (trailer here), which opens this Friday in New York.

Drina seems pretty, hard working, and illegal enough not to complain. That is good enough for the Crawfords to hire her as the live-in maid at their Hamptons house. They will only be there over the weekends, but their entitled son Brandon will spend the entire summer there. Of course, he notices Drina, but he is mostly too busy drinking like a fish to do anything horrifically inappropriate. Unfortunately, one drunken mistake will kill his buzz and put Drina in an increasingly awkward position.

Just in case you did not get it, the Crawfords think the rules do not apply to them because of their wealth, whereas the naïve Drina believes everyone is accountable in the eyes of God and the law. Subtle Maid’s Room is not. Still, the first major dark turn is a bit of a surprise, because the film seemed to be conditioning the audience to go in a different direction.

Perhaps Maid’s Room’s greatest inequity is the disparity between characters. Frankly, Drina is sweet but boring. Granted, Brandon Crawford, the sort of Raskolnikov, does not have much more going on either. However, Mr. Crawford is a forceful, surprisingly complicated character, who dominates the film in every sense. Even with the deck completely stacked against him, Bill Camp elevates his performance to classically tragic dimensions.

In contrast, Paula Garcés is unflaggingly earnest as Drina, but mostly she just bites her lip and furrows her brow as she wrestles with her employer’s moral bankruptcy. Annabella Sciorra is also fairly potent as Mrs. Crawford, but the uptight mom routine feels pretty familiar by now.

The Crawford home certainly looks exclusive, but some of the film’s details are a little ridiculous, like the Erin Brockovich movie poster Drina hangs in her titular quarters. Seriously, a Colombian immigrant in her early twenties would choose the 2000 Soderbergh film to brighten her walls? It is almost laughable when Walker uses it as a device to strengthen her resolve, as if asking WWEBD, what would Erin Brockovich do?

There are several nicely staged sequences in the second act that demonstrate how one mistake inevitably begets another. Unfortunately, the film is overly-preoccupied with its intended take-aways at the expense of narrative. As a result, the promising moments are smothered by its class consciousness. A misfire despite Camp’s highlight reel work, The Maid’s House opens this Friday (8/8) in New York at the Cinema Village.

Fantasia ’14: Bold & Brash

Simon Boisvert might be the world’s most misunderstood unknown filmmaker. Through sheer gumption, he produced six independent features, but he is keenly aware of their various flaws. Viewers might be unfamiliar with his films, but they will come to fully understand them all when the Quebecois filmmaker turns the camera on himself in Bold & Brash: Filmmaking Boisvert Style, which screened during the 2014 Fantasia International Film Festival.

Boisvert may have been tragically influenced by Neil LaBute’s In the Company of Men. For some reason the Aaron Eckhart character struck such a chord, he inspired the protagonist of Boisvert’s debut, Stephanie, Nathalie, Caroline & Vincent. To save money, Boisvert played Vincent himself, but he readily acknowledges the limitations of his acting chops. Nonetheless, the film garnered a bit of notice, even though it released on VHS on September 11, 2001.

For at least one commentator, Boisvert is a French Canadian Ed Wood, but the comparison is rather unfair. He sort of has his critical champions, who can find worthiness in some, if not all of his films. Arguably, his talky, relationship-driven films are not so very different aesthetically from the work of Henry Jaglom (is that a heresy to suggest?). However, Boisvert has had more than his share of bad luck, including uncooperative crews and sound mixing disasters.

While Boisvert’s candidness is often surprising, his tenacity is equally impressive. Despite his frustrations, he has gotten his films distributed in some form, except for Barmaids, which he was forced to shelve for purely technical reasons. Aspiring filmmakers should draw some real business lessons from his experiences.

Ironically, Bold & Brash looks considerably more polished than many of the films it surveys. Were it not for the raggedness of many of the illustrating film clips, it could pass for a more conventional documentary on indie filmmaking. At times, Boisvert argues sometimes budget constraints really are too severe, as when he produced the concert scenes in the rock & roll melodrama Venus de Milo with less than twenty extras. Still, his resiliency is impressive.

Oddly enough, Bold & Brash might find his widest audience yet. Consistently entertaining and rather insightful, it ought to be programmed somewhere like Anthology as part of a full Boisvert retrospective. It was one of the pleasant surprises at this year’s Fantasia.

The Dog: He Had His Day

It was late in the Lindsay administration. New York really was becoming the grungy crime-ridden vice pit largely sustained by attitude people remember with such strange fondness. John Wojtowicz helped paint that picture. True, there is more to his story than the ill-fated bank robbery immortalized in Sidney Lumet’s Dog Day Afternoon, but there is no getting around that notorious incident in Brooklyn. Wojtowicz speaks for posterity (and he is not shy about it) in Allison Berg & Frank Keraudren’s The Dog (trailer here), which opens this Friday in New York.

For the record, Wojtowicz did his time in Lewistown, not Attica. Arguably, he was a something of a gay marriage pioneer, wedding his lover Ernest Aron (subsequently known as Liz Debbie Eden) in a Catholic-aping ceremony. It was a troubled union, mostly because of Aron’s discomfort living as a man. Initially, Wojtowicz opposed the gender re-assignment surgery, but he eventually relented. Of course, that would cost money. Recruiting two accomplices from the scene, Wojtowicz hatched a very half-baked plan.

The late Wojtowicz (adopting the moniker of “The Dog”) sounds every bit the tough talking, unapologetic New Yorker viewers would expect. His interviews dominate Berg & Keraudren’s film, for obvious reasons. They also evoke plenty of the era’s seedy atmosphere, while documenting the early years of New York gay activism. It definitely has value as a time capsule, but it does little to burnish Lindsay’s reputation.

In addition to Wojtowicz, Berg & Keraudren talk to nearly all of the surviving principles, including his first “legal” wife, Carmen Bifulco, and George Heath, the third wife Wojtowicz met in prison. Clearly, the man was not shy or commitment phobic. Unfortunately, Eden and Lindsay have long since passed.

Berg & Keraudren keep the pacing brisk, never getting overly fixated on any particular tribulation. While the film holds unmistakable GLBT interest, it should also appeal to true crime audiences. Recommended for old school New York nostalgics, The Dog opens this Friday (8/8) in New York at the Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center uptown and the IFC Center downtown.

Fantasia ’14: House at the End of Time

Like many Venezuelans, Dulce has spent long years in prison for crimes she did not commit. However, she is not a political prisoner. She was simply blamed for the supernatural tragedy that unfolded in her house. Considered the first Venezuelan horror movie, Alejandro Hidalgo’s The House at the End of Time (trailer here) had fans sit up and take notice during the 2014 Fantasia International Film Festival.

The audience will get numerous added perspectives on what exactly happened that night, but one thing is certain. Dulce’s husband Juan José was stabbed to death. There were not a lot of other suspects to be found, especially not their eldest son Leopoldo, who seemingly vanished without a trace. Convicted of both their presumptive murders, Dulce eventually is granted a supposedly humanitarian release. However, the terms of her parole require her confinement in the very house where she endured those horrors.

As Hidalgo flashes back in time, we witness an earlier night of terror that thoroughly destabilizes Dulce’s family. Clearly, some strange agency is at work, but Juan José and the cops are quick to dismiss Dulce. Frankly, the only person who ever believes her is the sympathetic parish priest, who tries to counsel the older Dulce her during her house arrest. Researching the evil looking domicile, he discovers it was specially constructed by a mysterious English Mason. Over time, the state took possession of the house, offering it to low income families, but never revealing its macabre history.

House starts out as a decidedly atmospheric horror movie, but it evolves into a genre-defying, reality-bender. It is a far more complex narrative than viewers will initially suspect, but Hidalgo marshals the assorted strands quite adroitly. It is also rather refreshing to see an uplifting portrayal of a Catholic priest, with the ultra-subtle implication of government bureaucratic disregard for public welfare being a nice added bonus.

Former Miss Venezuela Ruddy Rodríguez glams down rather boldly to play Dulce. Far from a heroic mother figure, it is a full-fledged, emotionally complicated performance. Guillermo García also raises the good Father above a mere symbol of decency. However, the younger cast-members can be a bit awkward on-camera.

Of course, one of the biggest stars is that creepy old house, which art director Evadne Mullings decks out in lovingly dark detail. There must be more keys in House than any other film playing at Fantasia (all those locked doors seem like a fire hazard, but they well serve Hidalgo’s tense narrative). Cinematographer Cezry Jawkorski’s gives it all a moody, morose look that heightens the foreboding. It all works surprising well, raising the stakes for the old dark house movie. Recommended for genre fans, The House at the End of Time was one of the pleasant surprises at this year’s Fantasia.

Cameron’s Deepsea Challenge 3D

The Deepsea challenger submersible is a marvel of engineering. It can withstand the pressure diving to the lower depths of the Mariana Trench, while still containing James Cameron’s ego. The Oscar winning filmmaker follows his passion to the remotest corner of the ocean floor in John Bruno, Ray Quint, and the late Andrew Wight’s Deepsea Challenge 3D (trailer here), which opens this Friday nationwide.

To avoid confusion, the film is title Deepsea Challenge 3D, the expedition is the “Deepsea Challenge” and the craft is named “Deepsea Challenger.” Clearly, all the inventiveness was saved for the engineering. To a large extent, all three were made possible by Titanic and Avatar. Cameron was no mere figurehead attached to the project. He cut checks and pilots the Deepsea Challenger during its historic dive, which is not so crazy given his short stature and long enthusiasm. However, he comes across as quite the demanding taskmaster during the extensive development process. Tragically, the entire project is temporarily called into question when Wight and underwater cameraman Mike duGray perish in a helicopter accident.

You cannot say Cameron never put his money or the rest of his body where his mouth is. In fact, one gets the sense his wife, former model and actress Suzy Amis would just as soon see him collect vintage cars, like Leno. Still, Cameron’s evangelical zeal for deep sea exploration is admirable. In fact, the best sequences in Challenge 3D revolve around the research vessel Trieste’s previous voyage to the depths of the Mariana in 1953. Subsequently overshadowed by the Moon landing and Jacques Cousteau, the Trieste fired young Cameron’s imagination, directly inspiring The Abyss.

Strictly speaking, the 3D adds very little to the viewing experience, even when the mission is underway. On the other hand, it is so unlikely most viewers will ever find themselves exploring the Mariana Trench, it makes sense to replicate the experience as fully as possible, much like the Chauvet Cave in Werner Herzog’s Cave of Forgotten Dreams. Of course, it also necessarily comes with 3D pricing, which many audience members may not believe is warranted for a film produced very much in the style of a National Geographic television special.

Regardless, Challenge 3D should be considerably informative for most layperson viewers and they way it captures the team’s spirit of innovation and derring-do is certainly appealing. It just lacks the “wow” moments Cameron fans might expect. Recommended for aquatic-fascinated audiences of all ages, Deepsea Challenge 3D opens this Friday (8/8) nationwide.

Celluloid Dreams (short): Preserving Memory on Film

Christopher Nolan and his colleagues saved film production, at least as long as their films stay popular. Much to the relief of Rochester, New York (home of the last surviving Kodak film factory), the practice of threading film stock will not completely disappear from everyday life. It is an act that takes on significant meaning in Jonathan Dillon’s short film Celluloid Dreams (trailer here), which screens for three Academy-qualifying days this week in Los Angeles.

For decades, Robert Thompson has lived alone with his memories and regrets. He was once an avid A-V hobbyist happily married to his wife Deanna, but their wedded bliss was short lived. One day, he impulsively fixes his long broken projector, allowing him to visit their early good times together, as well as the events leading up to tragedy. As Thompson watches the flickering black-and-white home movies, he seems to be physically transported back into the past.

Celluloid immediately brings to mind films like Somewhere in Time and Peggy Sue Got Married, but it maintains a sense of ambiguity regarding its nature, whether it is an excursion into magical realism-time travel or a simple memory play. Either way, it is an effective calling card for Dillon, who nicely manages the two separate timelines taking place simultaneously within the same location.

Although the dialogue is masked by a highly sentimental soundtrack, Greg Lucey’s powerful performance as the contemporary Thompson is still eloquent without words. Cinematographer Hanuman Brown-Eagle’s black-and-white sequences look spot and perfect, while his color work has an appropriately nostalgic sheen.

Indeed, Celluloid Dreams is a great looking film and its romantic portrayal of moving pictures ought to appeal to the Academy’s sensibilities. Recommended for short film fans, it screens this Tuesday through Thursday (8/5-8/7) at the Laemmle NoHo 7.

Web Junkie: China Wishes the Internet Would Go Away

Evidently, you can still get addicted to the internet, even when it is heavily censored. China has become the first nation to official classify internet addiction as a psychological disorder. To combat the menace of World of Warcraft dependant teenagers, the government has instituted a network of boot camp style clinics to “cure” the anti-social gamers. Gaining unprecedented access to the Daxing Boot Camp outside of Beijing, Israeli filmmakers Shosh Shlam and Hilla Medalia document their patients’ response to treatment in Web Junkie (trailer here), which opens this Wednesday at Film Forum.

They are mostly boys, aged thirteen to eighteen or so. From what viewers see, each and every one of them are gamers, suggesting the government is censoring the wrong websites, if they are really concerned about the social development of younger generations. Since most patient/inmates are either tricked into entering Daxing or in some cases drugged, the initial adjustment is often a rough process. However, once resigned to their situation, they typically try to say and do what they think the staff wants to hear.

Despite the admittedly excessive hours the patients had spent gaming (several uninterrupted days straight in many cases), none of the featured teens ever expresses any love or passion for their games. Yet, when a recent arrival stages a successful escape, they all head directly for an internet café.

Indeed, most of the kids in treatment seem rather dead inside. Frankly, they might benefit from access to Ai Weiwei’s blog and information on the real Dalai Lama. Clearly, they do not relate to either the Party ideology represented by the camp director or the go-go capitalism practiced by their parents, but they have nothing to fill that void accept first-person shooters.

Shlam and Medalia capture some very real drama, but their strictly observational approach apparently precluded them from asking any tough questions of the staff. It would be especially interesting to know how many of their charges are the sons of Party members, compared to those who come from religious families. The Chinese Communist Party’s legacy of “re-education” also distractingly hangs over the film, like an unacknowledged ghost.

Web Junkie is an eye-opening look at Chinese spiritual malaise, but it never really attempts to determine if the internet addiction diagnoses are genuine and whether the Daxing regimen is really necessary. Frankly, the evidence Shlam and Medalia collect looks rather ambiguous from a layperson’s standpoint. However, there is clearly a profound generational gap at play. Recommended for those who closely watch Chinese sociological developments, Web Junkie opens this Wednesday (8/6) at New York’s Film Forum. We also wish the best for the Israeli crew and their families as they bravely confront yet another round of craven terrorist attacks from Hamas.

Fantasia ’14: Flesh Computer (short)

Even if singularity is not yet nigh, our understanding of consciousness is significantly evolving. The demarcation between humanity and computers will likely become increasingly porous. In fact, a handyman has apparently created a breakthrough AI utilizing organic matter. Unfortunately, he happens to be the super of a building right smack in the middle of the worst urban pathologies imaginable in Ethan Shaftel’s short film Flesh Computer (trailer here), which screened during the 2014 Fantasia International Film Festival.

Like Mike Cahill’s Another Earth, Flesh directly uses the words of an expert commentator to explain its underlying concepts. On paper, this sounds rather dry (or perhaps something of a cheat), but in practice it works surprisingly well. After all, the power of ideas is always compelling. In the case of Flesh, it is NYU’s David Chalmers who is heard via a neighbor’s television explaining our evolving conception of consciousness.

Frankly, Chalmers is the best part of Flesh (although production designer Nathalie Ruiz and art director Alec Joler earn credit for the giving the film a highly distinctive look). It is very cool how Shaftel’s screenplay addresses such heady concepts, but the narrative follows a pretty standard arc. You also really have to wonder why the Handyman would build such an advanced construct in such a beleaguered environment. There are also suggestions of greater integration between the human and the machine that frustratingly remain unexplained.

In many ways, Flesh feels like a proof of concept short. It would definitely be rewarding to see Shaftel (and Chalmers) expand on these themes of sentiency and intelligence in a longer film. Considering Flesh leaves viewers wanting more, it can probably therefore be deemed a success. Flesh Computer should likely have considerable festival life ahead of it, following its recent Fantasia and Dances with Films screenings.

Fantasia ’14: Wolfcop

Usually, it is the police who expect the crazies to come out during a full moon. Now it is the criminals turn to worry. Lou Garou was never much of a cop, but he has been changing lately. He still drinks like a fish, but he lays down a lot of law during the night shift. However, there might be more nefarious reasons for his lycanthropic state in Lowell Dean’s Wolfcop (trailer here), which screened during the 2014 Fantasia International Film Festival.

Garou is a drunk, who apparently only holds his job on a small Saskatchewan town’s police force out of respect for his late father. The captain hates his guts and his hard-charging colleague Tina thinks he is a loser, but Jessica, the hot barkeep, values him as a regular customer. After responding to a report of teenagers engaging in some sort ritual in the woods, Garou wakes up in bed with a pentagram carved into his chest. He also just cannot shave his persistent stumble anymore.

Yes, he is a werewolf, but he exercises a fair degree of control. He actually starts busting the meth gang that needed busting. Of course, he still swills whiskey and binges on donuts. He ought to be more concerned about the forces that caused his metamorphosis, but anticipating the long-term is not his forte.

How can you dislike a town that is home to the Liquor Donuts store and holds an annual “Drink & Shoot?” It all sounds very over the top, but Wolfcop is actually more of a movie-movie than the collection of gags it might look like. This sounds ridiculous, but Garou the Wolfcop has a fairly satisfying character development arc and it nicely brings a lot of the town’s history full circle.

Most importantly for werewolf fans raised on Rick Baker’s American Werewolf in London, Emerson Ziffle’s Wolfcop makeup is terrific. His transformations are satisfyingly gross, but the full wolf still has all kinds of personality to latch onto. It is not hard to see a franchise developing around him.

A game lead, Leo Fafard absolutely feasts on Garou’s degeneracy and revels in the Wolfcop’s fierceness. Clearly, he was also a good sport enduring Z’s make-up. Sarah Lind vamps it up quite entertainingly as Jessica, while Amy Matysio brings unexpected verve and attitude to the straight-laced Tina. Considering all the madness going on, the whole ensemble plays it rather impressively straight, scrupulously refraining from winking at the camera.

Never fear, there is still plenty of outrageous gore, plus the sex scene Universal never gave Lon Chaney Jr. Wolfcop is a tough titular concept to live up to, but Dean pulls it off. Good, gruesome, goofy fun, Wolfcop is likely to take on considerable legs following its screening at this year’s Fantasia.

Fantasia ’14: The Drownsman

It is not just a horror film, it is also a PSA for water conservation. When Sebastian Donner was a mortal serial killer, drowning was his M.O. Once he moved into the supernatural realm, he now stalks his victims through water. That leaky faucet is not just wasteful. It could be downright deadly in Chad Archibald’s The Drownsman (trailer here), which screened during the 2014 Fantasia International Film Festival.

Madison always lived for her time with her three close girl friends, until her freak near drowning accident. Since then, she has been plagued by visions of a shadowy figure dispatching victims in his custom made aquariums. To make matters worse, he seems to be equally aware of Madison. The fear has become so debilitating Madison cannot even fulfill her maid of honor duties during her best friend Hannah’s wedding. Exasperated by her behavior, the three women stage an intervention, at which point Cathryn the psychic is supposed to make a show of exorcising the spirit tormenting her. Of course, Cathryn quickly realizes something very real and scary is afoot, but the other women do not want to hear it.

Right, the bogus exorcism is always a super plan. Considering all this bother was kicked up by Madison’s absence at Hannah’s wedding, you also might think her husband would factor in the story somehow, but he is nowhere to be found. Still, Drownsman is strangely effective in a throwback kind of way—sort of like Wes Craven’s Shocker, but with water instead of electricity. There are some genuinely scary scenes and Archibald nicely maintains an atmosphere of escalating dread. However, the lack of a strong personality for the Drownsman is a real drawback. He is no Freddy Kruger, or even a Horace Pinker (the Shocker stalker played by a pre-X-Files Mitch Pileggi).

Michelle Mylett is pretty good as the distraught and disturbed Madison, while Caroline Korycki is memorably type-A as Hannah. However, the rest of the doomed women do not make much of an impression. Likewise, Ry Barrett never gets the face time to create any sort of hooky characteristics or catch phrases that so help in establishing horror franchises.

Drownsman often feels very late 1980s-early 1990s, which is not a bad thing. It delivers enough for horror fans looking for a fix, but it unlikely to breakout to wider audiences. Recommended for loyal local audiences with modest expectations, The Drownsman represented Fantasia’s continuing commitment to Canadian filmmakers when it screened during the festival.

Fantasia ’14: The Search for Weng Weng

It might be hard to imagine Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos rolling out the red carpet for a two foot-nine inch martial arts film star, but it makes sense when you consider how much money Weng Weng’s films made. In the early 1980s he was the Philippines’ top cinematic export—and there really wasn’t a number two behind him. Cult film connoisseur Andrew Leavold set out to discover the unvarnished truth about the ironic icon, while grappling with the obvious issues of exploitation as best he could in The Search for Weng Weng (trailer here), which screens during the 2014 Fantasia International Film Festival.

The man born Ernesto de la Cruz will always be best known as Agent 00 in For Y’ur Height Only. As seen in Mark Hartley’s Machete Maidens Unleashed, it has become a word of mouth favorite amongst midnight movie patrons. While investigating Weng Weng’s whereabouts, Leavold confirmed a number of earlier featured appearances by his subject, including a film starring future president Joseph Estrada.

Many of the Philippines’ established film scholars and critics are uncomfortable talking about Weng Weng, because they consider his films the cinematic equivalent of a carnival sideshow. However, Leavold found some people who were happy to talk about the Guinness record holding actor, such as his former co-stars and director, as well as fans Imelda Marcos and her daughter, Governor Imee Marcos.

Of course, Search is all about weird cinema, but Leavold’s considerable time spent with Imelda reveals much about the current state of Filipino society and politics. Clearly, she still considers herself the nation’s First Lady-in-spirit, but you cannot call her delusional because there seem to be an awful lot of people who agree with her. It is a heavy thing to say, but Leavold’s footage of her might just be stranger than the Weng Weng movies that brought him to the Philippines in the first place. Yet, nobody can say she is not a gracious hostess.

On the other hand, there is one person conspicuously missing from Search: Cora Caballes, who produced Weng Weng’s films with her late husband. It is his relationship with the Caballeses that most directly raises questions of exploitation, including issues of fair compensation, or lack thereof.

Through interviews with old school movie business veterans, Leavold conveys a vivid sense of the Philippines heyday as an unregulated haven for low movie production. He also achieves closure in his quest to determine whatever became of Weng Weng, but his fate holds few real surprises. It will sound like a bit of cliché, but the journey is what is important in Search, rather than the ultimate destination.

Along the way, Leavold tantalizes viewers with truly bizarre film clips, while treating his subject with scrupulous sensitivity. It is a tricky balance to maintain, but he pulls it off. The result is a big, entertaining valentine to B- movies that opens a strangely insightful window into the contemporary Philippines. Highly recommended for anyone who appreciates the ragged glory of offbeat cinema, The Search for Weng Weng screens again on Monday (8/4), as part of this year’s Fantasia.

Fantasia ’14: Time Lapse

It is too bad the late, great James Garner never got to take this Polaroid camera out for a spin. It has been specially modified. The big bulky mainframe spits out a picture of whatever is in its field of vision, twenty-four hours into the future. Unfortunately, its inventor no longer has a future, which allows his underachieving neighbors to put it to dubious employment in Bradley King’s Time Lapse (trailer here), which screens during the 2014 Fantasia International Film Festival.

Finn fancies himself a painter, but he is really the super of a suburban condo complex. He is the guy who has to check up on the eccentric Mr. Bezzeredes when the retiree’s papers start piling up. His girlfriend Callie is a writer who works as a waitress and their housemate Jasper is basically a degenerate gambler.

It turns out the former scientist was compulsively snapping photos through their front window before he met with death through some mysterious form of misadventure. From Bezzeredes’ journal and the evidence of the photos, the trio quickly deduces the nature of his breakthrough and concludes he was burned (literally) because he tried to pull a fast one on time. Therefore they resolve they must always conform to whatever future comes spitting out of the machine. Of course, it always seems to provide Jasper the daily winners at the racetrack. It also shows Finn the paintings he had been struggling to produce.

We do not need a crystal ball to predict Jasper’s bookie will get suspicious when he keeps picking race after race. However, that is just the start of the complications for the trio. For one thing, they essentially lose all free will once they commit to conforming to the nightly 8:00 photo. It becomes a compelling dramatic constraint King and co-writer B.P. Cooper wriggle in and out of quite cleverly.

In fact, Time Lapse represents a continuation of the renaissance for low budget, high concept indie science fiction, successfully following the example of James Ward Byrkit’s Coherence, Hugh Sullivan’s Infinite Man (a fellow Fantasia selection), and Darren Paul Fisher’s Frequencies. Like those films, Time Lapse is not about special effects. Instead, they start with a fantastical Macguffin and trace its effects on realistic, everyday people. Arguably, Time Lapse is the most character-driven of the lot, presenting the dark side of a Three’s Company-like situation.

Danielle Panabaker is terrific as Callie, pulling off some nifty pivots that really make the film. George Finn also relishes Jasper’s increasingly erratic behavior, chewing scenery like a genre pro. Matt O’Leary sort of draws the short straw as the painfully reserved Finn (the painter character), but he holds up his end, keeping the action moving forward.

One of the cool things about Time Lapse is it is the sort of science fiction film you could adapt as a stage production without it suffering from a lack of SFX mumbo jumbo. Tightly executed by King, it is a worthy addition to the growing time travel canon. Recommended with a good deal of enthusiasm, Time Lapse screens again tomorrow (8/2) as part of this year’s Fantasia.

Cabin Fever: Patient Rudy

It is a horror franchise that already has quite a checkered history. Eli Roth made his name with the original Cabin Fever, but Ti West (then an up-and-coming young horror auteur) unsuccessfully lobbied to have his name taken off Cabin Fever 2: Spring Fever. A comic-book artist like Kaare Andrews might sound like a promising candidate to breathe new life into the prequel, but it is still pretty much the same skin-sloughing viral business as usual in his Cabin Fever: Patient Zero (trailer here), which opens today in New York.

Not to be hopelessly pedantic, but there is no cabin in Zero. Instead, our young and dumb partiers are out for some fun in the Caribbean sun. For his last minute bachelor night, Marcus’s hopelessly irresponsible brother Josh, his business partner Dobbs, and Josh’s girlfriend Penny have whisked him off for a night of hedonism on an uncharted island. Of course, there are no phones or radios to interrupt the good times. After all, what could go wrong, even if the numbskulls somehow managed to pick the one deserted island with an apparently abandoned research facility on the opposite end of the coast?

For a while, Andrews lets the camera ogle Penny’s bikini body (she is played by Jillian Murray, the co-star of the straight-to-DVD sequel Wild Things: Foursome, if that means anything to you). Although Penny is hooking up with Josh, she has some steamy history with Marcus as well. As awkward as that is for all involved, their problems are about to get a whole magnitude worse. After swimming in the viral infected water, Penny and Josh start developing some nasty rashes. It progresses rapidly. Seeking help in the not-so abandoned laboratory, Josh and Dobbs encounter some rabid victims of the virus, the sociopathic Dr. Edwards, and Porter, the naturally immune Patient Zero.

Basically, Zero is all about its gross-out, face-dripping, bloody projectile-vomiting effects, but the lighting is often so low, it is hard to get a clear picture of the gore. The acting is not exactly any great shakes here, even from Sean Astin, a.k.a. Rudy, as the increasingly resentful Porter. Mitch Ryan is ridiculously bland as Marcus, but he is easier to take than the annoying mugging indulged by Brando Eaton’s Josh. At least, Murray delivers what is expected of her, falling to pieces (literally) rather well, all things considered.

Zero maintains the tradition of spectacularly grisly make-up concoctions established by the previous films, but it largely drops the irony and social commentary. The results feel very disposable. If you want to hoot and holler at some on-screen gruesomeness, it has its moments, but it will still outlast its welcome. Bound to disappoint franchise fans, Cabin Fever: Patient Zero opens today (8/1) in New York at the AMC Empire.