Fabrice Du Welz's Calvaire

Calvaire is a mix of comedy and horror that falls flat on both accounts. Its nearly impossible to make a horror comedy be successful on both fronts(you have to pick one and focus) and this film is another example of that.

The film tells the story of Marc Stevens(Laurent Lucas) a young singer who tours around to old folks homes and other venues of that sort. As he is driving along to a Christmas eve concert his car breaks down in the middle of nowhere. He ends up staying at a rundown Inn that has a strange old operator. In the morning he wakes up to see his car being worked on by the old man. A horror movie ensues.

There was only one thing I liked about this film and that was the stylish manner the film was captured in. The film has a unique visual look and an interesting use of color(not exactly what the poster looks like but kinda like that). There is one particular shot at the climax of the film that was so impressive I actually had to stop and rewind and enjoy it again. Unfortunately there were not enough moments like this to save this film for me.

The main issue with this film is that its trying to be funny(albeit in a ridiculously offbeat way) as well as being scary at the same time. There is a scene in the middle of the film where a bunch of zombie looking country people start dancing in a bar. They dance like they have rigormortis while one of them bangs on a piano. I was dumbfounded by this scene because I had no idea why it was in the film. It definitely was not scary, and if it was supposed to be funny I could not really tell. The confusion that it left me with made me feel that it was just bad.

This film has a typical horror film setup done slightly above average which I'll give them credit for. But the interesting atmosphere slowly deteriorates as we have scene after scene not used to full potential. I kept waiting for something thrilling to happen in this film but every time something happened I was left underwhelmed. Save for a few very cool shots, this film is a dud.

2/5 "A bad mix of offbeat comedy and old school horror"

Shohei Imamura double feature, The Pornographers and Dr Akagi.

I have recently gotten into Imamura's stuff and I'm really falling in love with this guys movies. Describing accurately would be tough, but I'm starting to think of him as a less wacky(but still pretty crazy) and more introspective Jean Pierre Jeunet. I watched two of his films recently that are both great. The Pornographers(1966) is new wave era Imamura while Dr Akagi(1998) shows a much more restrained, but still deliciously offbeat Imamura.

I'll start with the Pornographers since it came first. It tells the story of Mr Ogata, and he is as you would guess a Pornographer. He takes special orders from rich clients and shoots films specifically to their requirements, he sells aphrodisiacs and he even does a little pimping on the side. But beyond all this he is a surprisingly nice guy and what does he use his money for? To support the family of a plump widow he has rented a room from(and fallen in love with). Obviously pornography and family life aren't going to work well together and thats what this film is all about.

This is not for those who can't handle heavy sexuality in films. While the scenes are not explicitly captured by todays standards the content would still shock audiences no problem, one scene in particular with a blank faced school girl and an old man will not fail to make you cringe I promise.

This film moves at a slow deliberate pace as we follow Mr Ogata in his family and business life. The film banks of the fact that you will care about Ogata. I'll venture to say that most people will. He is a man who thinks he serves a useful if even benevolent purpose in society. Whether on that point he is right or not doesn't really matter because this guy is obviously not out to hurt anyone though he may be confused. He is the kind of pimp and pornographer who inquires to how one of his girls baby is doing. He isn't some street criminal he's a pretty swell dude. Deftly Imamura uses Ogata's story to raise questions of sexual morality, and gender relations. At one point Ogata says the relationship is "Complex yet Vague". Yeah its that kind of movie.

Another good thing about the film is the pure style it is shot with. It has that playful new wave Japaneses style where the angle of the camera is not from some textbook. Shots are framed down from the ceiling as we watch our characters in beds and barber chairs. One shot is framed fully horizontally as we watch Ogata peep on a young girl changing clothes. Its interesting to see Imamura shoot like this because he became so minimalistic in his later films(e.g. Eel).

There is much to like about this but it has one major problem. The narrative plays with time quite often and it becomes very confusing. We jump to flashbacks several times and they are not always clear to be flashbacks. There were a few scenes were I was left scratching my head wondering exactly which characters I was watching.

Overall its a film that is stylish and hip. Its content is so far ahead of its time that I believe its still relevant and quite shocking today. Its style is hard to not enjoy and it looks to have made an impression on Kubrick when he made Eyes Wide Shut.

4/5 "A little Confusing But still great!"

With Dr Akagi I'd say its not as good of a film as the Pornographers but it is a more enjoyable one. It tells the story of Akagi Fuu(Akira Emoto) a local doctor in a small town in WW2 Japan. He is known as Dr Liver to all the residents as he almost constantly diagnosis's his patients with hepatitis. Everyone in the town seems to like him, but all describe him as a Quack because of his obsession with hepatitis. The plot thickens when Akagi takes a young prostitute Sonoko into his service(Kumiko Aso) in effort to stop her from selling herself. A Drunk local Buddhist priest, a old surgeon friend of Akagi who happens to be addicted to morphine, and the kind proprietor of a local brothel round out the cast.

In typical Imamura style this film is a character study of Dr Akagi and his obsession with finding a cure for hepatitis. This film has such an odd sense of humor it really is quite interesting. There is a memorable part where each other characters actually go temporarily insane. Sometimes the scenes are funny other times its tragic. The main question in this film is whether or not Dr Akagi is a nut or not, and that makes the film quite interesting. He seems like the quack everyone calls him as he sprints all around town in his white suit, but bits start showing up here and their that leads us to the truth.

The best thing to talk about in this film is the fantastic performance of Akira Emoto who plays Dr Akagi. The guy is just so dorky and lovable sprinting around in his bright white suit with a goofy expression on his face. But when it gets serious Akagi always gets to business and does everything he can for his patients. Its an endearing character and a great portrayal of obsession.

I would have given this film 5 stars I enjoyed it so much but its got a few lame problems. The opening scene features some atrocious and forced sounding English language dialogue which gave me a very bad first impression. Also the film features some horrendously crappy special effects, very rarely do they actually work. Thank god they make up only a small portion of the film.

Dr Akagi is a film filled with odd and endearing characters and some quite bizarre humor. Save for some bad effects its a joy to watch. For lovers of black comedy it shouldnt be missed.

4/5 "Imamura is hip what can i say"

Alfonso Cuaron's Children of Men

I finally saw Cuaron's Children of Men last night and wow is it good. Its arguably the best dystopia film ever made. It might be a struggle for many people to find, but seriously this Is a film not to be missed.

Based on the Novel by author P.D. James(Which supposedly Cuaron had not read when making the film) tells the story of a world destroyed because women have suddenly become infertile. Theo(Clive Owen) a downtrodden ex-activist agrees to help a group of terrorists escort a young girl Kee(Claire-Hope Ashitey) to the fabled saviors of mankind the human project.

The first and most striking of this films qualities is its incredible cinematography. Cuaron has always had great visuals(Y tu mama tambien) , but seriously in this film its just off the charts. This film has the best use of the long shot I have seen since Scorsese's Goodfellas. Plenty of directors use the long shot and its almost always cool, but this time it also gives an added layer of tension as we watch dramatic and sometimes shocking events unfold in real time.

Beyond the visuals(which many people will latch on too) the film is made with such a beautifully restrained manner. The vision of the future is definitive and descriptive but never even thinks of approaching something that would feel like fantasy. Bad CG effects never rear there ugly head and nothing is ever so elaborate to detract from the story at hand but it is also true to the Sci Fi genre. The characterizations which could have come off cliche never reach that plateau. The best example is the clearly going to be redemptive character of Clive Owen. As he drinks and smokes and generally looks like a bum you can feel the epiphanic 'there is something worth fighting' for scene coming. But it never does, instead this film lets lets the change come about naturally, and never becomes cliche.

Cuaron is fighting to be a modern day Kubrick with all of his genre hopping, and with Children of Men he takes another step in that direction. This is the kind of film that everyone is going to want to get Oscars but won't. This film is a masterpiece of stylish and poignant direction that should not be missed by anyone.

5/5 "A new watermark for dystopia films"

Zhang Yimou's Curse ot the Golden Flower

Zhang Yimou's is back yet again with another extravagant martial arts film. Hero was the idealistic film, House of Flying daggers was the romance film, and Curse of the Golden Flower is the tragedy. It moves slowly at first which will turn off many viewers, but if you can handle it the thrilling climax will not let you down.

This is a hard film to just quickly summarize as the narrative is told in such labyrinthine fashion. This film is mainly a tale of doomed lovers and betrayal surrounding a sickly empress(Gong Li) and a wise, ruthless emperor emperor(Chow Yun Fat).

The first thing to really talk about in the film is the great acting. Yimou finally reunites with his best leading lady for the first time since Shanghai Triad over 10 years ago. As usual when these two work together the results are stunning. Gong Li is always great so I was actually more impressed by the performance of Chow Yun Fat as the emperor. He plays it with such a calm demeanor that when his emotions run high they are impossible to ignore.

The film is made in that cast of thousands epic style of old Hollywood and its quite impressive. There is basically nothing in the film that is not gorgeous to look at, from the elaborate costumes to the rainbow colored wall decor. The number of extras in a some scenes have to rank at least around 500(I tend to exaggerate everything so im aiming low this time).

My main issue with the film is its use of violence and action. The film has some very large epic troop confrontations that the scale is so large it just is really to much. Not to mention the fact that much of the cg in these giant battles is just crap. This film tells a story that is very character specific and intricate but with these gigantic Lord of the Rings like battles it pulls the focus away from the personal struggles within the film.

While I think the battle scenes were too much this is still a very good film. It has fantastic acting and a powerful complicated plot. It fits in nicely in Yimou's body of work as a interesting mix of his old works and his new.

4/5 "Tragic, and Beautiful" trailer here

Sylverster Stallone's Rocky Balboa

This sort of film experience is definitely a rare one. Everyone loves Rocky so much that the excitement level in the theater was off the charts. When the closing credits rolled a guy a few rows down from me actually put his fists up in the air and started bouncing down the steps out the theater just like Rocky. It's easy to infer from that last statement that Rocky Balboa is a crowd pleaser and a great movie.

In this installment Rocky has grown old, he now spends his days running a restaurant in his hometown where he reminisces about his boxing days for the pleasure of his guests. Adrian has passed away sometime before the events of the film and Rock is still having a hard time getting over it. His son can't get out of his father's shadow and its causing him to resent his father's success. Oh yeah and Pauly is still around being his grouchy self. I'll leave some for you to see, but eventually on television ESPN does a 'what if' bout between Rocky and the current young buck champ Mason 'the line' Dixon. Well guess what Rocky wins and this gets people a talking, and lucky for us it eventually gets Rock back in the ring.

On the level, I loved this film. It is by no means a perfect film as it has some heavy flaws. The whole first acted is held back by a sort of mopey melodramatic undercurrent. Its never bad to a cringe worthy level but it does seem to get real close to crossing the line a few times. In particular this film is basically filled with didactic speeches that sometimes come off a little to forceful and not quite genuine to the story. When we get to big fight its a great scene, but it has this over the top montage effect for about 8 rounds that really seems to glaze over the fight instead of highlight the big moments.

Now that I've gotten those gripes out of my system its time for some unadulterated gushing. First off this film is really quite funny. It uses the humor to keep the pace of the film up and never let it get boring, but it never feels like humor for humor's sake, its just the characters being their likable selves. It's almost like we get to start the whole Rocky story over again. The film feels like a new beginning we are watching Rocky back in that underdog situation which made us all love him. Stallone is great in the movie. He plays the film with all the charisma that made him famous in the first place.

I'm glad that Rocky went out with this film and not the horrid Rocky V. Even with my qualms its still a film I loved and would recommend to anyone with a beating heart.When Rocky gets into the gym with Duke and we hear his goose bump inducing pep talk, when that training montage with the classic music starts a rolling you know what this film is all about. I have a theory when it comes to Rocky films(and a few other types). There are people who love Rocky films, and there are people who haven't seen enough Rocky films yet. If your in the first category get your ass to the theater, if your in the second get your ass to the video store, and then get your ass to the theater.

5/5 "A great last fight for a great film franchise."

Trailer here

Zhang Yimou's Ju Dou

Zhang Yimou's Jou Dou is a powerful drama of forbidden love and heartbreaking tragedy. Par for the course for Zhang Yimou whose credits also includes other powerful films like Raise the Red Lantern and To Live.

The story centers around a young woman named Ju Dou played by the Beautiful and tragic Gong Li. She is sold into a marriage with an impotent and brutal Dye mill owner much her senior. He takes his impotency out on her by beating her every night leaving her with cuts and bruises. When she seems to lose heart she finds herself in a romance with the brutal dyers younger much kinder nephew.

First thing to focus on is the great acting from Gong Li. When Gong Li is in a romantic roll she seems to always make each scene so believable. Every little nuzzle and gesture adds to a level of endearment and involvement that is rare in film. She portrays enough passion on screen for both herself and her counterpart.

Everything in this film is brought to a slow boil before finally it spills over. Every thread of the plot is brought about from beginning to end in a complete arc. Nothing is ever rushed or thrown in which helps the film avoid cheap melodrama cliches. The romance builds slowly but genuinely which leads to a more emotive experience. By the time tragedy strikes I loved the love our main characters so much that it really hits hard.

My issue with this film is an odd one as it is not with the film itself but the only DVD you can watch it on. You can tell its a gorgeous film filled with soft hues and generally great cinematography. Unfortunately the only DVD release you can get in the US is of terrible quality. Colors which on the screen should have been vibrant and powerful seem washed out and dull. To give you a good comparison go buy a 1$ DVD of some old horror movie like Dementia 13 and see how crappy that film looks, then you'll have an idea. Where is the Criterion collection when you need them?

Zhang Yimou is arguably the world's great living director of tragedy. Ju Dou is just another point in that direction for me.

5/5 "Great Film, Find another way to see it than this horrid DVD"

Robert Bresson's PickPocket

Bresson's Pickpocket is the kind of film that sinks into your subconscious and gives you a strange love for the characters. Bresson never lets us know the characters on anything but the most intimate level. We only see characters as they see themselves, there are no false fronts or outward persona's everyone is acting as if they are alone all the time. This technique at first seems to repulse you from the characters but as it progresses you become thoroughly endeared.

Pickpocket tells the story of Michel(Martin La Salle) a young Raskolnikov like character and his forays into the world of pick pocketing. Right away Michel steals money from an Rich woman at the horse races and is caught by the police. Michel ignores the help of his mother, his friend Jacques and the beautiful Jeanne in favor of continuing to pickpocket.

Pickpockets plot is not what stands it apart from other films. You could expect this sort of story to be handled in a typical crime film style but all genre conventions are completely subverted in this film. No action is ever exaggerated for dramatic effect, when Michel is arrested in the beginning he is simply grabbed by two men and we fade into the police station where he is promptly released. There is no struggle all of which would regularly be thrilling is just skipped. Now despite this I still think the film is very entertaining. Watching Michel lift the pocket of a man on a subway as he narrates "My heart is pounding" you will be likely to find yourself in a similar situation. The minimalistic approach to shooting the films makes the pickpocket scenes that much more thrilling and real.

The acting functions on an almost disturbing level in this film. I'm not positive but I think a single person never cracks the beginnings of a smile. All the actors were untrained, unknowns that Bresson hand picked. Each character seems always to be staring off into space deep in thought and then they come back to reality to deliver some short line of dialogue. Even the common narration is used so sparingly that it has the feeling of actually character thoughts as opposed to exposition for the viewer.

Bresson uses every usual cinema go-to like a trump card in this film. If it is known to evoke feelings in the viewer he deliberately leaves it out. Bresson does this not to torture the viewer in any way, but so that when he does use them they highlight the screen in a most piercing way.

5/5 "A Minimalistic Masterpiece"

Stefen Fangmeier's Eragon

This movie is a steaming heap of crap. Well more accurately its an ice cold heap of crap. Its a soulless retelling of Star Wars filled with all the things that makes Star Wars lame and none of what makes it cool. It features a nice assortment of bad lines and terrible acting to keep all mst3k fans happy.

If you want to know the plot to this film please use the following steps.

1. Remember Star Wars.
2. Replace Jedi with Dragon Riders.
3. Rinse, Repeat.

It really is that bad. The empire kills Uncle Owen, Eragon goes off with Obi Wan Kenobi to learn to be a Jedi. He meets up with the resistance and so on.

The main issue with this film beyond all the plot issues is that the director along with the cast seemed like the only put enough effort into the film to get a paycheck. Its obvious to make comparisons to Lord of the Rings with this film but these films aren't in the same league. Lord of the Rings was made with such passion and love for the material it nearly bleed right off the screen. This film is just about the opposite of it. The directing is non-existent, its as if the entire film was made by a computer. Any good scene is made with just enough life to get it on the screen but never to make it shine in any sort of way.

Another big issue with the film is its atrocious dialogue. An easy comparison is to the later Star Wars films. Yeah it sucks on a level like that. Robert Carlyle as Darth Vader is the stand out crap performance of the film. The incredibly stupid dialogue doesn't help him out much, but seriously I didn't think he had a performance this hammy in him. Jeremy Irons makes the best of his part and I actually liked his character(The wise old teacher will always be cool). Which went on to make the film more depressing cause it really did not have to be this bad.

Seriously watch Lord of the Rings or Conan the Barbarian(a guilty pleasure of mine) or anything before you waste your time on this piece of crap. It wont sate your hunger for good fantasy(if you have one) it will just simply make it that much worse.

1/5 "Lifeless Garbage"

Fred Barzyk and David R. Loxton's Lathe of Heaven.

Its hard to adapt a good book faithfully. They did a decent job on this one. . Unfortunately the bad outweighs the good on this heavily dated version of a sci-fi classic.

Lathe of Heaven tells the tale of the unfortunate George Orr(Bruce Davidson). George has a unique ability, when he dreams the dream becomes reality. Scared of what his dreams might do George takes illegal amounts of drugs and has an overdose. In order to avoid any serious punishment he goes to 'voluntary therapy' with Dr. Haber(Kevin Conway). Dr. Haber eventually catches on to George's abilities and tries to use them to better mankind. It doesn't work out very well.

The film preserves the novels pondering nature. We see the comparisons to the nearly apathetic George Orr and the overwhelmingly benevolent Dr. Haber. George just tries to go with the flow, while Dr. Haber attempts to control everything. It's a film about the consequences of trying to fix complex problems with simple solutions.

The bad with this particular film lies simply in its production. It has some laughably bad aliens and spaceships and the like. Its shot in the style of films like Alphaville or Code 46 in that they dont really do much to make things look like the future. It works in this film too but not to the level of the aforementioned titles. It does feel like the future but I cant help but say it feels like a cheap future. Not to mention a space invasion scene(that should have just been cut) comprised entirely of stock footage of planes taking off and missiles being launched.

Don't get me wrong. I think you can make something great with no money at all. Its been done(Versus, Texas Chainsaw Massacre). The problem with this film is that it was trying to do things above its means. Unfortunately these shortcoming eventually outweigh what the film has going for it.

2/5 "To much bad, not enough good."

Mel Gibson's Apocalypto

Think The Running Man crossed with a dose of Mayan History, and thats Apocalypto. It is simply a well developed action film that happens to features elaborate sets and costumes. It makes it for a unique add to the canon of historical epics.

The plot is very basic. Jaguar Paw(Rudy Youngblood) is a hunter in a peaceful rural village. He has a young son named Turtles Run and his beautiful wife has another baby in the oven. Life is idyllic for Jaguar Paw until a group of soldiers from the city choose his village for sacrifice. What follows is a violent tale of survival that also functions as a spectacle of sorts.

The film has its main action captured in that trademark Mel Gibson style. Slow motion is as always his weapon of choice, and in this film is used extremely well. When we watch Jaguar Paw sprinting away from a gigantic jaguar(the animal) the slow motion enhances the thrills considerably. I wont go into to much detail, but slow motion comes into play in one of the most memorable showdown scenes I've seen in a long while.

The best part of this film is simply the elongated scene in the Mayan City. The sheer amount of visual information thrown at you is amazing. When I left the theater I talked it with my moviemates and there were things that they saw that I missed and vice versa. The scene has so many elaborate costumes and constructions it is nearly impossible not to be struck with the grandeur of it all.

While I liked this film immensely, I feel that it is not quite a masterpiece. It in parts has some schlocky cg effects and for the simple nature of the story it seems to just run a little to long. All and all it is a unique film experience that for action fans shouldn't be missed.

4/5 "A violent and emotional action yarn."

Guy Maddin's The Saddest Music in the World

Fyodor: Are you an American?
Narcissa: No, I'm not an American. I'm a nymphomaniac.

Thats the sort of thing your getting into when you watch The Saddest Music in the World. Its a vibrant and unique watch that can be a little bit of a head scratcher at times.

The film is set deep in the great depression in the saddest town in the world Winnipeg Canada. Its the story of a legless beer baroness(Isabella Rossellinni), an American/Canadian Broadway Spectacle Producer(Mark Mckinney) and a contest for 25,000$ depression dollars for the country who can make the saddest music in the world.

It's impossible to talk about this film without going into the wild style it portrays on screen. The film is mainly in black and white and some parts are in colorized black and white. All the sets look like something from The Cabinet of Dr Caligari. The sound of the film is even unmatched with the on screen action just enough so you notice it. If that wasn't enough its edited at a frantic pace that is nearly overwhelming at times. Basically take all the style(albeit on crack) from the silent era and expressionist european films and apply a more risque content and dialogue and you'll have an idea of this film.

I have one major issue with this film and that is that towards the end it becomes confusing as hell. In the third act the film seems to go into overdrive pace. The line between dream sequences and actuality gets so blurred you really cant tell whats going on. Its as if Guy Maddin tamed this wild animal and kept it under control until the third act when it got loose and ran all over the place. It comes together again in a sensible way at the very end, but you are left puzzeld how exactly you got there.

This film flawed as it is is still a quite awesome viewing experience. It has a unique vision and a funny oddball story that feels something like Rocky Horror. You'll know whether your going to like this film immediately as it has a love or hate style from the get go.

3/5 "A Visually unique film, but a confusing one too."

Edward Zwick's Blood Diamond

Edward Zwick directed Glory and The Last Samurai, and when you watch Blood Diamond you can tell its by the same guy. It has all of those films charms and all of their mediocrity. This film moves along with more of a moral conscience than his previous films but less cinematic grandeur(which is a good thing in this case), but just enough to water down any emotions the film may have.

Danny Archer(Leonardo DiCaprio) is a mercenary/smuggler who is on the lookout or his big ticket out of Africa. It comes along when a guerrilla captured fisherman Solomon(Djimon Honsou) finds a rare pink diamond. Archer uses his shady connections to get Solomon free and slowly convinces him to lead him to the diamond. Along the way Archer meets the Maddy Bowen(Jennifer Connelly) a journalist looking to connect big jewelry companies to conflict diamonds. Guns and explosions lead the way to predictable ending.

I'll start with what I think is good about this picture. It has a great central cast. DiCaprio seems like he can have a bad performance lately and Djimon Honsou has a staggering intensity(as usual).This film is not boring and holds its 138 minute run time quite well. The production is quite good as we go through giant action set pieces with helicopters and street shoot outs and the like.

Which brings me to my main problem with the film. Its a film about child soldiers murdering innocent people and villages being massacred all in the name of a shiny rock. With every giant action set piece it becomes less of a dramatic expose and more of a giant Hollywood action picture. Bands of guerrillas attack towns killing the young and old, men and women alike and we never really have the chance to feel the power of it all. The film is more focused on using atrocity to thrill than using it to make a statement.

I'm not saying this film completely skips over all the atrocities in Africa, It does cover them, just not to the dramatic necessity that the events really require.Maybe I went in with the wrong expectations. I guess it never occurred to me to make an action picture out of the suffering of millions of people in Africa.


2/5 "Melodrama in all the wrong places"

Fred Zinnemann's High Noon

Some classic films you watch them and you think something along the lines of "wow that must have been great in 1954". This film is not in that category, it's a timeless classic that has not lost a bit of its sheen in 52 years.

High Noon is the story of sheriff Will Kane, played with style by Gary Cooper, and his struggle against the cold blooded Frank Miller. We enter upon his marriage a lovely young quaker girl Amy(Grace Kelly). Sheriff Kane is giving up his old life of violence to go open a store with his blushing bride. Just after sheriff Kane ceremoniously turns in his gun an badge a telegram arrives. Frank Miller, someone Sheriff Kane busted in the past is coming back to town on the noon train. Yikes trouble is a foot.

Its such an Archetype story you would expect this film to be generic and a little dim witted. But that is just the beginning. When the first act is over the film really takes off. It feels so unique and original, its rare in a western to see a story quite so hopeless as this one. Most older films you go in the confidence that the hero will win the day and everyone will be fine. But in this film all bets are off because it hasn't been playing by the rules for the last 40 minutes. I guess thats why John Wayne hated it so much.

Well he also hated it because he was a die hard conservative. This film functions as a brilliant parable about the era of McCarthyism(which John Wayne supported). Its writer Carl Foreman was blacklisted and never allowed back into Hollywood again. Here are two interesting facts; This is the favorite film of ex president Bill Clinton, and its the one film that has been screened the most times at the white house. This film has great technical execution, great characters, and a great message to boot! What more can you ask for?

This film can be summarized in one brilliant scene. Sheriff Kane walks out of his office with a pained, alone look on his face. He looks around at the empty streets as the camera rises up behind him to show just how alone in this battle he really is.

5/5 "A powerful classic with a message"

Michael Kang's The Motel

The Motel is a coming of age film about a young Asian boy being raised in a sleazy motel. At first the film feels standard. It is in no way bad but does not seem to be unique or excel in any particular way. As we become more familiar with awkward Ernest and the Motel itself we get that feeling of involvement that great story's all share. Its not perfect, but its funny, insightful and dramatic in a very sound and whole way.

The motel revolves around a young Chinese boy Ernest stuck right in the drama of puberty. Ernest lives with his overbearing old world mother, his annoying little sister and his zombie like grandfather. A twenty something man named Sam eventually comes to the motel and tries to fill that missing father figure spot in Ernest's life. Ernest is a complex character who stops being funny to laugh at and starts being someone you sympathize with.

This film has two main thematic threads that intertwine really well. First its the story of a young boy going through puberty and trying to find his place in the world. Second its the story of a young Asian American and how he fits into American Society. This added depth really sets the film apart moving it from good to great.

The comedy in this film functions really well. It serves to keep you entertained but also to make the dramatic scenes more piercing and heartfelt .When Sam warns Ernest about how a Chinese girl will never date him because they are only trying to get away from people like us, and it hurts because Sam is usually so funny.

Acting for me is all about the disappearance of the actor. When i watch a film I don't want to think that this is a person reading lines but is a person actually going through whatever situation is at hand. Almost all of the performances in The Motel are good save for a few forced lines here and there. The stand out performance is by Sung Kang as Sam the prostitute loving father figure. His character functions as both comedic and insightful, whimsical and depressing and it takes talent to pull off such a detailed character.

The motel really has things going for it. It is funny, layered, and genuinely dramatic. If it weren't for a few scenes of forced acting this one would have got a five from me.

4/5 "A great first film of adolescent confusion. A director to watch."

Caveh Zahedi's I Am a Sex Addict

This is a commendably honest film. Caveh Zahedi almost seems to use film as a method of confessional. It could have been pretentious but due to the taboo nature of the subject it feels almost benevolent. I mean half way through the film I hated this guy. A lot. We watch as Caveh's addiction destroys relationship after relationship, and hits new highs of perversity and misogyny . The issue at hand is the fact that this film really could have been about 45 minutes and not the 98 minutes.

The film functions as almost a visual memoir to a portion of the life of director Caveh Zahedi. It feels somewhat like a documentary that relies completely on reenactment and narration. We are told about Caveh's first love, and the first time he meets a prostitute all the way up to him impending third marriage.

The film Is really quite funny. It has some of the most deadpan humor you will ever see. Its filled with little asides like asking us to pretend San Francisco is Paris or clandestinely informing us an actress in the film is actual a pornography star. Comparisons to Woody Allen will happen basically immediately as both actors share that same nebbish quality. The acting by Caveh is really quite good but nothing to brag about since he is just playing himself. The problem is that many other characters feel like they are only one step up from a powerful episode of Hard Copy.

This film was an interesting watch for me. It started out funny and shockingly honest. As the film progressed I was so sick of seeing the same problems come up over and over again. The jokes get old as Caveh becomes less of someone you could really feel for. We watch him go through the depths of his addiction and keep wondering when the hell is gonna get some damn help. When the end finally comes you'll be happier the film is over than that Caveh has curbed his addiction.

3/5 "Good for a while but outstays its welcome."

Hideo Nakata's Ringu 2

Ringu 2 continues the ring series in a manner not insulting to first outing. But unfortunately it never reaches the original watermark. Nakata's uses alot of the tricks we see fancier versions of in the first america remakes. Strange flickers on tv's and weird little effects while watching video tapes. The first films non reliance on special effects made it more base and scary which this film moves away from.

The story this time centers around Mai the girlfriend of the ex-husband of the main character of the first film(whew) and her investigations into his mysterious death. Mai goes to the first film's main character Reiko's place of work trying to find her. She finds out that she has gone missing and at the same time learns about they mysterious video tape that kills. From this point on the flim plays out similar to the original with Mai and a male companion from the tv station going around investigating the tape and the missing Reiko.

The film does not betray the feeling of the original though it attempts to use more special effects to cause scares in the audience. Ringu 2 continues that slow build technique masterfully used in the first film though it fails to be quite so successful in this film. Echoes of the the 1960 film Jigoku (which predates Bloodfeast and has hardcore gore) continue in this film and actor Yoichi Numata from Jigoku stars in a small role.

I think this film boils down to one scene that if your fan of the first film is so good that you really just cant miss this one. It gives us a little peek at a scene from the videotape and its real life counterpart. Its a really cool scene in a decent film. For Asian horror fans I would reccommend this film it wont destroy you, but I think you'll enjoy it.

3/5 "Not as good. But still worth it for fans"

Fernando Meirelles's City of God

Rarely will a film like this come along. City of God is made with such fervor and love that is basically impossible not to adore the film. From its hip editing and cinematography to the hard hitting and sometimes shocking drama it never leaves you wanting.

The story centers around a young boy named Rocket(Alexandre Rodrigues) who lives in the impoverished slum known as the city of god. Rocket is a kid who doesnt want to be a "hood" and wants to live the straight and narrow. Rocket takes us on a wild tour of the city of god across three decades and introduces us to characters like the benevolent Benny known as the coolest hood in the city and the maniacal murderer Lil Ze.

The film is blessed with gorgeous stylish and thrilling cinematography by Cesar Charlone. The colors of the film are warm and help give off the sweltering feeling it must be to live in a Rio De Janeiro slum. The camera chases after the characters at break neck speed in many scenes increasing the frenetic feeling of the entire film. The use of shaky camera never seems overdone or annoying and only works to highlight as opposed to artificially enhance a scenes intensity.The film flows with all the style and strut of a classic Godard film using a plethora of stylish techniques from freeze frames and slick titles card reveals to 3rd wall teasing narration.

The thing that really sets this film apart are its deep and likeable characters and the great actors that portray them onscreen. Rocket is played with a certian wide eyed nobility that makes him a great hero to root for(especially when it comes to his virginity). Benny has all the charm of that kid that everyone knew in highschool and wanted to be boys with. The wild Lil Ze has an intensity on the level of De Niro or Pacino but also has a somewhat childish vibe in the film that makes him on a basic level identifiable with even though he is a mass murderer.

Fernado Meirelles is a director to watch in the future and City of God is not a film to be missed.



5/5 "You owe it yourself to see this film"

The Pang Brothers The Eye 2

Oh boy what a stinker this one is. I saw and enjoyed the first Eye film and enjoyed the Pang brothers Bangkok Dangerous immensely. What happened to those Pang Brothers because there is no way they could have made this heap of crap.

The Eye 2 tells the story of a young woman Joey who attempts to commit suicide while on a shopping spree in Thailand and gains the ability to see dead people. Yeah... The whole opening of the film is confusing because we are just thrown into this suicidal situation with no clear idea of what is going. This is eventually remedied afterwards but feels like a footnote more than any sort of twist or development. Basically for the rest of the film we have a half baked maternity drama with the interjection of a few ghost scenes here and there which are also bogged down by laughable melodrama.

We don't go to see these films for a good drama though sometimes we can be pleasantly(Dark Water) surprised. We are here for ghosts and general scenes of creepiness. Will still need a minimum of character development which this film forgets, it attempts to skip straight into powerful drama without putting in any time. While this film has a nice of helping of ghosty scenes most of which amount to nothing special. There is a pair of decent scenes: one in an elevator echoing the first film, and another strange scene at a bus stop involving a strange mother son relationship. If your looking for a good asian horror experience see 3-extremes, Ringu, Ju-on, pretty much anything else. Skip this stinker

2/5 "Pretty much garbage save for a scene or two"

Kim Ki Duk's 3-Iron

Kim Ki Duk's 3-Iron is a simple film In every possibly way. The sound is simple the cinematography is in no way flashy but never boring. Its a basic tale of forbidden love told in a completely original way.

The film tells the story of an unnamed loner character who breaks into different homes and then proceeds to clean the place and do the laundry. He never steals anything in fact he repairs broken appliances and electronics and only leaves the place with few pictures on his handy dandy digital camera . This character never speaks a single line of dialogue throughout the entire film. The character is played by Hyun-Kyoon Lee with all the charm of a classic silent film star. Eventually he enters the home of a abused young housewife who joins him in his little illegal vacations. Thus begins one of cinema's most unique screen romances.

That's all I'll say about the plot of the film because I don't like to give away much of anything past act I. This is in no way a film for average cinema goers, it does not follow any standard movie conventions.. It's the kind of film your co-workers would refer to as weird and ask you why you watch that sort of thing. But hey that doesn't mean you shouldn't love every second of it.

I think this film is cinema in the purest sense of the word. Kim Ki Duk lets imagery take over as the dialogue of this film and builds character and romance without a sound. There is dialogue in the film spoken by other characters including the housewives lecherous jealous husband. This dialogue functions as exposition and gives us the background and history for the main wife character. I think that this film deserves comparison to Stanley Kubrick's Space Odyssey 2001. Not that film's have a surface similarities, but that they are two films that are completely unique, hard to review, and give a you a special feeling when the credits start to roll.

5/5 "I loved it"

Trailer

Reviews Reviews Reviews

In the coming weeks I will review pretty much anything I deem worthwhile. Mostly films coming out in the cinemas and my constant netflix watchings. I'm sure ill post a few links to interesting stuff as well and maybe a comment on a book or two.

Enjoy,

Brown