Month: May 2012

By Joe Bendel. Technically, there is only one bat monster in Francis Gordon’s latest B-movie, but it would hardly be the first time the zero-budget mogul delivered slightly less than promised. It will certainly attack though, rest assured. By hook or by crook, his cast and crew will pound out his next drive-in programmer in Attack of the Bat Monsters!, Graham Kelly Greene’s affectionate love letter to campy late 1950’s and early 1960’s monster movie-making, an alumni selection returning to officially open the 2012 Dances with Films this Thursday.

Attack is not about Roger Corman per se, but it would not have been made without his example. Gordon is definitely a grindhouse showman in the Corman mold. He is convinced he can fix anything in the editing room as long as they follow his cardinal rule: “when the monster’s dead, the movie is over.” Paralleling the genesis of Corman’s Little Shop of Horrors, Gordon wrapped production on his latest film early, but he still has three paid-up days in the southern California rock quarry he does not intend to waste.

Suddenly, AD Chuck Grayson is rushing about lining up a screenwriter (the least important part), a pseudo-star, and a new monster (that would be the biggie). The beatnik poet Bobby Barnstone and his Barnstone method of Benzedrine-fueled stream-of-consciousness screenwriting looks like the best bet for generating fast pages. They don’t have to be good, after all. Larry “The Cat Creature” Meeker, Jr. seems to have fallen on hard enough times that he would consider a Francis Gordon movie; plus, a former creature-making colleague has just been fired by a major studio. However, he still harbors bad feelings over The Snake Woman, a Gordon production so notorious, the mere mention of the title sucks the air out of rooms.

All the Corman motifs are present and accounted for, including spaced-out beatniks, a jazzy soundtrack, and a ridiculously cheesy monster. What sets Attack apart from thematically similar B-movie pastiches is Greene’s confidence in the behind-the-scenes story. There will be no real life monsters or aliens invading their set, just the union goon extras from a studio gladiator movie sent to run the crew out of the quarry ahead of schedule.

Attack had its world premiere at DWF back in 2000. Frankly, the fact that the film has yet to develop its own cult following is downright mystifying, because it really delivers the goods. Greene knows the Corman lore inside-out and his cast of not exactly household names is way funnier than you would expect. There is also a real edge to his dialogue, as when Gordon indignantly defends his honor by declaring he always pays his taxes and pays-off his unions. Indeed, what more could one ask of a good Hollywood citizen?

There are some hilarious supporting assists here, particularly Robert Bassetti as Barnstone and Douglas Taylor as Meeker, Jr. Fred Ballard is also pitch-perfect as the prickly Gordon, while Michael Dalmon gamely holds the madness together as the put-upon Grayson.

Without question, Attack is generously stocked with goofy humor, but it can also be quite sly. Yet there is a real heart beneath the bedlam that cares about its characters, precisely because on some level they also care about the B-movies they are churning out, despite being fully aware of their schlockiness. A completely satisfying, all-around good show, Attack of the Bat Monsters is ripe for re/discovery when it opens this year’s Dances with Films this coming Thursday night (5/31) in Hollywood, USA.

LFM GRADE: A

Posted on May 29th, 2012 at 2:02pm.

By Joe Bendel. Two twelve year-old runaways would like to remake the generic sounding Mile 3.25 Tidal Inlet into a New England version of the Blue Lagoon, but they aim to maintain the cultural trappings of 1965 middle class America, as they relate to it, in the process. Unfortunately, the adult world keeps intruding on their private moments in Wes Anderson’s Moonrise Kingdom, the opening night film of this year’s Cannes Film Festival, which bows theatrically in New York tomorrow (Friday, 5/25).

Sam Shakusky is a terrible Khaki Scout. Actually, his skills are not that bad, but he does not fit in socially with Scout Master Ward’s troupe. Unbeknownst to Ward, Shakusky is an orphan, about to get the heave-ho from his foster family. However, the sensitive scout has successfully wooed Suzy Bishop, the eldest child of two self-absorbed yet profoundly unhappy attorneys.

When Shakusky fails to appear at revile one fateful morning, it sets off a manhunt throughout New Penzance Island, taxing the meager resources of Captain Sharp, Mrs. Bishop’s recently dumped lover. Chastely dedicated to each other, the two fugitives would like to permanently retreat from reality at the prosaically named inlet they duly redub “Moonrise Kingdom.” Instead, they will repeat a cycle of chase, apprehension, and escape, as a historic storm approaches New Penzance, as it always happens in an island-bound story.

It takes about ten seconds for Moonrise Kingdom to announce itself as a Wes Anderson film, through his constantly panning camera and the richly detailed vintage sets. Indeed, the attention to detail extends down to the covers of the chapter-books Bishop reads aloud to Shakusky. Yet, rather than detracting from his fable-like story, Anderson’s signature style is perfectly suited to the innocence of young love. Focusing on young POV characters is actually quite a shrewd strategy on his part, giving him the license to incorporate all kinds of nostalgic eccentricity (nod to Norman Rockwell? Check.) while staying faithful to their precocious worldview. Frankly, this is the sort of film a visual stylist like Tim Burton ought to be making, instead of aimless tent-poles like Dark Shadows.

As Mr. Bishop, Anderson mainstay Bill Murray once again plays a middle-aged depressive with deep-seated relationship woes. Fellow alumnus Jason Schwartzman is also back for more, getting some of Moonrise’s best comedy scenes as Cousin Ben, a slick operating senior Khaki Scout. Indeed, the film boasts several notably colorful supporting turns, including by Bruce Willis, acting his age and playing against his action hero persona as the put-upon Captain Sharp. Tilda Swinton also absolutely plays to the hilt the personification of bureaucracy known simply as “Social Services,” while the mere sight of Bob Balban’s “Narrator” in his bright crimson wardrobe generates laughter. Still, the dramatic load largely falls on the young newcomers, Jared Gilman and Kara Hayward, who are quite emotionally engaging leads, playing their scenes together scrupulously straight.

Essentially, Moonrise is a children’s movie for adults. Robert Yeoman’s cinematography gives it all a sensitive period sheen, while the soundtrack (dominated by the unlikely combination of Benjamin Britten and Hank Williams recordings, more than Alexandre Desplat’s original themes) effectively underscores the wistful vibe. Altogether, it is very Wes Anderson – but its gentle, humane spirit is quite winning. Recommended surprisingly highly (well beyond Anderson’s established circle of admirers), Moonrise opens tomorrow (5/25) in New York at the AMC Lincoln Square and Regal Union Square.

LFM GRADE: B+

Posted on May 24th, 2012 at 1:08pm.