Month: October 2012

By Joe Bendel. The Singularity has become a frequent theme of science fiction novels in recent years, but it has not factored into many films or television shows. Finally, a bold Korean end-of-the-world anthology feature tackles the Singularity from a wholly original angle. There will also be Mad Cow infected zombies and a giant interstellar billiard ball on a collision course with Earth in Yim Pil-sung & Kim Jee-woon’s Doomsday Book, which screens during the 2012 Hawaii International Film Festival.

Yim’s lead-off Brave New World is a zombie flick Oprah could get behind. Military research scientist Yoon Seok-woo finally meets an attractive woman who seems interested in him. Unfortunately, she indulges his taste for barbeque. He should have humored her vegan inclinations. Yoon will be among the first turned into violent, vomiting zombies by widespread contaminated beef.

Frankly, Brave largely plays like an epidemic movie, such as Park Jung-woo’s recent Deranged, except with liberal helpings of gross-out humor. It hardly blazes any genre trails, but Koh Joon-hee’s sensitive work somewhat humanizes the bedlam as Yoon’s potential love interest.

Kim’s middle story, Heavenly Creature, is something else entirely. In-myung, a robot owned by a Buddhist monastery, has reportedly attained not just consciousness, but also enlightenment. A technician has been summoned in hopes that he can tell whether RU-4 unit (a nod to Čapek’s R.U.R., perhaps?) is actually the Buddha. This request confuses him to the point of peevishness. Yet, he is still reluctant to immediately implement the UR Company’s harsh protocols regarding newly sentient robots.

Gorgeously shot by cinematographer Kim Yi-yong, Heavenly is an unusually thoughtful genre outing that quietly packs a powerful punch. While dealing with some heady subject matter, including the meaning of life and the Singularity, he also coaxes some deeply affecting performances from his cast, particularly from the Kim Gyu-ri as the Bodhisattva Hye-joo, who desperately tries to save the enlightened robot. This is truly an award caliber film.

The concluding Happy Birthday fits somewhere between the prior two films in terms of intelligence and quality, which makes a certain amount of intuitive sense, considering it was co-directed by Yim and Kim. A giant eight-ball is hurtling towards Earth and young Park Min-seo might have inadvertently summoned it, but only her goofy uncle takes her seriously.

Unlike the first two constituent short films, Birthday really delivers on its doomsday promise, rendered with some reasonably presentable sci-fi special effects. Yet it is also strangely upbeat, positively portraying the resiliency of the family unit – albeit a rather eccentric one in the case of the Parks. It also savagely skewers the Korean media’s talking heads. Led by the impressive young Jin Ji-hee, Birthday’s small ensemble nicely darts back and forth between comedy to drama, without skipping a beat.

Ranging in quality from okay to outstanding to quite good, the films constituting Doomsday Book probably average out to very-good-plus. Regardless of the pseudo-math, Kim’s Heavenly Creature is so strong, it single-handedly earns the film a very high recommendation. Fit for SF geeks and the philosophically inclined, Doomsday Book screens tomorrow (10/17) and this Sunday (10/21) as part of the 2012 HIFF. The centerpiece selection of this year’s NYAFF, it should have plenty of action ahead of it on the festival circuit.

LFM GRADE: A

Posted on October 17th, 2012 at 10:36am.

By Joe Bendel. Technically he is a god, not a monster. Regardless, it is a very bad idea to provoke him. Every kid ought to be dressing up as the giant (majin) deity this Halloween. He also makes a perfect stocking stuffer now that all three Daimajin features have been released together as the Bow Down to Daimajin collection, now available on Blu-Ray at online retailers everywhere.

Combining the Jidaigeki historical genre with the big lumbering Kaiju monster movie, the storied Daiei Japanese studio released three Daimajin films in 1966. The concept essentially adapted ancient archetypes of the Waste Land suffering from despotic rule for the Godzilla age. Indeed, the serious tenor is established right from the start of Kimiyoshi Yasuda’s series launching Daimajin.

Lord Hanabusa’s serfs live secure in the knowledge that they are protected from a fierce majin by the idol of their god, holding him trapped under the mountain. He is about to get really hacked off, though. The humane Hanabusa has been overthrown by his ruthless chamberlain Samanosuke, who orders the murder of the entire Hanabusa clan. However, loyal family retainer Kogenta spirits Hanabusa’s young son and daughter off to the monster’s mountain, where they live in relative peace under the shadow of the Daimajin statue. Eventually, Kogenta and the Hanabusa heir are captured. Intending to permanently demoralize the restive villagers, Samanosuke’s men then set out to destroy the mountain idol. Okay, good luck with that plan.

In Kenji Misumi’s Return of Daimajin, the second and perhaps best of the series, Daimajin now resides on a quite picturesque island in Lake Yakumo, where the neighboring Chigusa and Nagoshi clans pay proper reverence. Coveting the fruits of their industry, the tyrannical Lord Danjo Mikoshiba launches a sneak attack during a joint Chigusa-Nagoshi festival, occupying the land around Yakumo. Lord Nagoshi is murdered, but his son Katsushige escapes, taking refuge on the majin’s island. It is here that Sayuri, his Chingusa fiancée, prays for their salvation.

Of course, Mikoshiba tries to show everyone by blowing up the island idol. Soon thereafter, the skies darken and lightning flashes, prompting some rather nervous comments about how abruptly the weather around these parts can change. Featuring well crafted sets, appealing backdrops, and a shockingly strong cast (led by Shiho Fujimura as Lady Sayuri), Return would probably be nearly as satisfying as a straight historical drama without the monster bits.

With each clocking in under the eighty minute mark, the Daimajin films are formulaic and addictive as popcorn. The third departs the most from the template, which might be why it became the franchise finale (sadly there would be no I Told You Not to Mock Daimajin, but everyone’s favorite angry majin was rebooted on Japanese television in 2010). For his third go-round in Kazuo Mori’s Daimajin Strikes Again (a.k.a. Wrath of Daimajin), Daimajin has returned to the mountains and he now has a winged familiar. Through the hawk’s eyes, Daimjin follows four poor youngsters as they make the arduous journey over his mountain in hopes of rescuing their logger fathers and brothers from an evil warlord. While the boys give the first half of the film a distinctly adolescent character, it proceeds on a rather bittersweet course that might be too emotionally challenging for similarly aged viewers.

Of the consistencies between all three films, the most important is the late third act coming of the guest of honor, Daimajin. Building viewer anticipation, the usurpers and warlords he crushes have truly been asking for it when he finally shows himself. Unlike other Japanese monster movies, we can enjoy his rampages with a clear conscience, because they are all about retribution. It is a sight to behold when the stone giant rouses itself to action. Although Daimajin seems to have some undefined telekinetic powers, his weapon of choice is the slow, bone-crushing stomp.

Certainly the special effects rendering Daimajin’s destructive force were the product of their time, but they hold up pretty well, all things considered. Daiei definitely assigned some of their better period designers to the franchise, because the trappings are first rate. It all looks great on Blu-ray, thanks to a nice transfer.

More than a cut above standard issue creature features, the Daimajin films earnestly and rather compellingly address themes of faith and sacrifice. Bad guys also get flattened, which is kind of awesome. Enormous fun for connoisseurs of both Jidaigeki and Kaiju films, the Daimajin Triple Feature is enthusiastically recommended to skeptical viewers beyond the cult fan base. Just in time for Christmas, it is now available on Blu-ray from Mill Creek Entertainment.

LFM GRADE: A

Posted on October 15th, 2012 at 10:07am.

By Joe Bendel. It was a time of poorly planned military adventurism, punitive taxation, and talentless heads of state demanding unquestioned obedience. Fortunately, our times are nothing like England circa 1327, except for those last three points. The Builders have erected the cathedral at Kingsbridge, but their descendants have fallen on hard times in the sequel to Ken Follett’s Pillars of the Earth. The priory runs the town—badly—and the cruel French queen sitting on the British throne nurses a mysterious grudge against Kingsbridge residents in the four-part World Without End, which premieres on the Reelz Channel this Wednesday.

The fictional Kingsbridge has both a priory and a convent. The former controls the city charter but the latter was entrusted with the purse strings. The nuns are progressive, supporting modern medicine and dignified conditions for the common people. The brothers are backward fear-mongers, who insist on smothering sick patients with dung. People assume Brother Godwyn is a progressive, by virtue of his youth, but when he is elected prior, he proves to be an exceptionally ruthless Luddite.

As one might expect, Kingsbridge also has a bridge. Unfortunately, it has become too narrow to facilitate traffic to the Fleece Fair, the town’s most important commercial event of the year. The priory naturally looks to the knuckle-dragging Elfric to build a similarly inadequate replacement, but the commercial guild hires his innovative apprentice, Merthin, the disgraced son of the former Earl – who was violently purged by the Queen’s new tax collector, Roland.

Those taxes will be high too, even by the standards 2012 America. Queen Isabella holds Kingsbridge in particularly low regard, partly because Sir Thomas Langley found sanctuary there, becoming a monk well regarded by both his brothers and the guildsmen. Circumstantial evidence suggests that he also murdered King Edward II in prison, on Isabella’s orders. He is not talking about his past, but his presence remains embarrassing to certain people in power.

Langley’s arrival ignites all the scandals that will follow in Kingsbridge. Merthin will pursue his star-crossed love of Caris, while her devious kinsman Petranilla schemes to protect her sociopathic son Godwyn. Meanwhile, the Black Death and the Hundred Years War are wreaking a grim toll on the British, particularly in Kingsbridge.

A prestigious period piece co-executive produced by Ridley and the late Tony Scott, World is a throwback to the 1980’s style cast-of-dozens miniseries. Sometimes it works on that level, but it is a maddeningly slow starter. The production works best when focusing on the mystery surrounding the murder of Edward II and Isabella’s subsequent Machiavellian machinations.

Indeed, amongst the sprawling ensemble, Ben Chaplin fares better than most as the intense Langley. He just looks like a man with a history. Similarly, longtime MI-5 veteran Peter Firth knows how to chew the scenery as Roland, the somewhat reluctant Nottingham of Kingsbridge. Indeed, his character has one of the richest development arcs of the series. Also, look for 24 regular Carlo Rota (a.k.a. Morris O’Brien) as Caris’s not-so-fast-on-the-uptake father, Edmund – who is pretty convincing when facing the rough justice of the royal court.

Unfortunately, as the on-again-off-again lovers, Tom Weston-Jones (so appealingly hardnosed in BBC America’s Copper) and Charlotte Riley are rather colorless. Cynthia Nixon is instantly unlikable as Petranilla. Nonetheless, her vampy character is so anachronistic and blatantly on the make, it is hard to buy into her intellectually and Nixon never sells her on an emotional level. Miranda Richardson tries to give it all a high tone when appearing as Mother Cecilia, a sort of a Fourteenth Century Iron Lady, but World’s melodramatic inclinations are insurmountable.

If there is one thing that comes out loud and clear throughout End, it is Follett’s antipathy for the Church. Aside from Langley and his closest cronies, the brothers are uniformly depicted as superstitious misogynists. Yes, there are plenty of documented excesses in its history, but this was also a time when the Church was single-handedly preserving the wisdom of ancient western civilization. Frankly, World’s anti-clerical bent gets intrusively heavy-handed.

There is something engaging about a big juicy costume drama epic, especially when it has enough time to sufficiently unfold every intrigue and double-cross. Director Michael Caton-Jones (whose credits include Scandal and Rob Roy) clearly understands that appeal. However, the inconsistent cast and didactic point-scoring quickly become distracting. Not really recommended for audiences beyond Follett’s diehard readers, World Without End airs on Reelz Channel, beginning this Wednesday (10/17).

Posted on October 15th, 2012 at 10:06am.

By Joe Bendel. It was a time of malaise. In 1979, the iconic Hollywood sign had fallen into a state of disrepair, but there was still a patriotic old guard willing to invest their time and reputations in a film that would never be made, for the sake of their country. Recruited by CIA “exfiltration” specialist Tony Mendez, two movie industry veterans provided the cover for a long classified rescue operation. During the Iranian hostage crisis, the Canadian ambassador furtively sheltered six U.S. embassy employees, at considerable personal risk – so Mendez devised a plan to fly them out in broad daylight, posing as crew members of a Star Wars knock-off. Their stranger-than-fiction mission has become Ben Affleck’s Oscar contending Argo, which opens today in New York.

In its opening voiceover narration, Argo helpfully explains that everything that happened in Iran was the fault of America and Great Britain, because we supported the Shah. After we’re properly chastised, Argo then admits that the early days of the Islamic Revolutionary regime were little more than a reign of terror, culminating with the seizure of the American embassy, in gross violation of international law. Carefully modeled on actual news footage, these occupation sequences are a harrowing depiction of mass fanaticism at its most savage – and are also highly cinematic.

Caught flat-footed, the Carter Administration (which had pressured the Shah to abdicate, assuming the Ayatollah would mellow once entrusted with power) is at a total loss. The Canadian Ambassador simply cannot shelter his “house guests” indefinitely and it is only a matter of time before the hostage takers realize they are short six Foreign Service Officers. Most of the proposed action plans bear little or no relation to the on-the-ground realities. Of course, Mendez does not have any better ideas, until he thinks of make-up artist John Chambers, the man who created Spock’s ears, who secretly volunteers his “transformative” services to the CIA.

The plan is daring in its conception: Mendez will enter Iran via Canada on the pretext that he is scouting locations for a sci-fi epic set on a rather Persian looking alien world. A few days later, he simply flies out again with six of his crew members. Of course, it is rather more complicated than that. To be credible, Argo, as the non-film within the film is titled, must have legit names attached to it and generate some trade press. Old school producer Lester Siegel can take care of that.

Argo really packs a punch when conveying the overwhelming oppressiveness and paranoia of Revolutionary Iran. The atmosphere is truly overpowering and profoundly scary. Yet Affleck effectively breaks up the mood with the Sorkinesque absurdities of the Carter Administration and the outright comic relief provided by Siegel and Chambers. However, their “kvetching for freedom” never feels overly silly or forced. Instead, viewers clearly understand these old cats are used to dealing with serious situations through humor.

As Mendez, Ben Affleck broods and bluffs convincingly enough, but his work on the other side of the camera is far more distinctive. John Goodman and Alan Arkin are absolutely perfect as the real life Chambers and the composite-figure Siegel. They both deliver zingers like the old pros they are, while still projecting an unabashed love of country that is quite endearing. Yet Bryan Cranston gets some of the film’s sharpest lines as Jack O’Donnell, Mendez’s superior at the Agency.

Aside from the audio from a ridiculously self-serving interview with Jimmy Carter heard during the closing credits, the sure-footed Affleck avoids politicizing his tight narrative. He keeps the tension cranked up, but has the good sense to unleash his colorful supporting cast. Given the presumed field of Oscar candidates, it probably deserves to be in the mix. Recommended for those fascinated with the history of espionage, Argo opens today (10/12) in theaters throughout the City, including the AMC Loews Lincoln Square.

LFM GRADE: B

Posted on October 12th, 2012 at 12:57pm.