Day: March 5, 2013

LFM Reviews Don’t Stop Believin’: Everyman’s Journey

By Joe Bendel. What is the ratio of jobs lost to positions gained from tweets or any other internet postings? It must be astronomically negative. Arnel Pineda is the exception. Based on performance clips uploaded to YouTube, he would find himself trying out for the biggest prospective gig of his career: filling Steve Perry’s shoes as the lead singer of Journey. Ramona S. Diaz documents a true rock & roll Horatio Alger story in Don’t Stop Believin’: Everyman’s Journey, which opens this Friday in New York.

Pineda was a Filipino bar singer, barely eking out a subsistence living. He had one super-fan posting videos to YouTube. Scouring the internet for a new vocalist, Journey lead guitarist Neal Schon stumbled across Pineda’s covers and fell out of his chair. The other band members could hear what he was talking about, but were a little skeptical of going so far out of the box. Nonetheless, they arranged to bring a flabbergasted Pineda over for an audition.

Presumably, a documentary about how a scuffling singer from the streets of Manila failed his audition for the big time would not get much distribution or festival play, so it is safe to assume Pineda overcomes his initial jitters and earns his shot in the band. Diaz follows the newly reconstructed Journey as they spend their first year on the road together. She had “rockstar” access right from the start, capturing the entire audition process, Pineda’s debut concert, and the wear and tear of a punishing tour schedule.

While Believin’ is all about Pineda’s rags-to-riches story, it is a pretty effective infomercial for Journey, as well. Evidently they started out as an early jam-band, but became more radio friendly to placate their label. It worked. Viewers who are not diehard fans of the stadium-rockers will be surprised by how many recognizable songs are heard throughout their sets. It is more than just the title song, which Diaz shrewdly holds in reserve for the big climatic payoff.

Naturally, the focus is on Pineda and his family, but founding-member Schon also gets his due and considerable camera time as Pineda’s biggest booster and a rock & roll survivor in his own right. And audiences can tell they have real chemistry on-stage.If their band-mates do not get as much attention in the doc, they are still reaping the rewards of a rejuvenated Journey, at least according to Billboard’s figures, ranking them at #12 on the 2012 moneymaking chart, right ahead of Elton John and Katy Perry. The way they have also embraced their legions of new Filipino fans is also a cool subplot.

It is impossible to resist Pineda’s feel-good story, especially when you see the impoverished neighborhoods where he once lived. It might be predictable, but is immensely satisfying. A rare happy look “Behind the Music,” recommended both for the band’s Baby-Boomer fan base and the Facebook generation that will more likely identify with Pineda, Don’t Stop Believin’ opens this Friday (3/8) in New York at the Quad Cinema.

LFM GRADE: B

Posted on March 5th, 2013 at 12:13pm.

LFM Reviews Day of the Crows @ The 2013 New York International Children’s Film Festival

By Joe Bendel. He is a real wild child. His mother is an animal spirit and his father is a mountain man, bordering on a Neanderthal. His socialization has been lacking, but his world is about to expand in Jean-Christophe Dessaint’s animated feature Day of the Crows, which screens during the 2013 New York International Children’s Film Festival.

“Son” is the only name the Gollum-ish looking boy has ever known, but his gruff father does not use it particularly lovingly. At least his dearly departed mother often consoles him, appearing as a mute deer incarnate. When disaster strikes, the other woodland spirits encourage the boy to drag his comatose father into the forbidden village for medical assistance.

It seems many in town remember his father, surname Pumpkin (first name Rupert, perhaps?), and none too fondly. Fortunately, the kindly doctor will not let gossips stand in his way of treating a patient. His young daughter Manon also makes quite the impression on Pumpkin, fils. Naturally, when old man Pumpkin finally wakes up, he is not happy to be back in civilization. As soon as he is back on his feet, he drags the boy back to the forest. Things are back as they were, except Pumpkin, père is even worse than before.

Crows holds the distinction of being the final screen credit of the great Hitchcockian director Claude Chabrol, who gives voice to the good doctor’s warmth and humanity. Refreshingly old school, the film has an endearing hand-drawn look and a beautiful orchestral score composed by Simon Leclerc. Is it also wildly sentimental and slightly New Agey? But, of course. Still, Amandine Taffin’s screenplay (adapted from the novel by Jean-François Beauchemin) clearly suggests the forest might be all very pleasant to visit, but probably is not the best environment to raise an impressionable child. In fact, Crows portrays nature as both a force of beauty and danger in equal measure.

With its striking backdrops and the charming work of Chabrol (astute ears will also recognize Jean Reno grunting and bellowing as old Pumpkin), Crows has enough to satisfy most animation fans. Its themes of forgiveness and compassion are rather touching, as well. At times it appears poised to lambaste the local military garrison (who certainly look French, even if Crows avoids national specifics), but to its credit, the film veers off before getting too didactic.

There really are crows too, but in case viewers start to wonder, they really do not arrive in force until the third act. Recommended for viewers young enough to identify with the junior Pumpkin, but old enough to handle intense scenes of natural ferociousness and problematic parenting, Day of the Crows screens this Sunday (3/10) at the Alliance Française as part of this year’s NYICFF.

LFM GRADE: B+

Posted on March 5th, 2013 at 12:11pm.

LFM Reviews Muay Thai Warrior, Now on Blu-ray/DVD

By Joe Bendel. For displaced ronin, Ayothaya-era Thailand was not such a bad place to relocate. There was a considerable Japanese colony, steady work as mercenaries, and good diplomatic ties with the homeland. Unfortunately, a secret cabal is out to overturn the existing order, but they will have to contend with the legendary hero Yamada Nagamasa in Nopporn Watin’s Muay Thai Warrior (a.k.a. Yamada: the Samurai of Ayothaya), which releases today on DVD and Blu-ray from Well Go USA.

Attached to the Japanese Volunteer Army, Yamada and his comrades are tasked with apprehending roving gangs of Hongsawadee raiders, Ayothaya’s sworn enemies defeated but not vanquished by King Naresuan in the recent Elephant War. However, when Yamada and his men get their hands on a few (dead, of course) they are disturbed to find that they are Japanese. This is dangerous information that nearly costs Yamada his life. Fortunately, Kham and his fellow imperial bodyguards interrupt the ambush just in the nick of time.

Badly beaten, Yamada is taken to Kham’s village to recuperate. It is the first time Yamada finds himself at peace, aside for the occasional assassin sent to rub him out. Kham’s sister Champa certainly makes an impression on him, but he also forges a deep friendship with the fierce Muay Thai fighter. With the help of the Buddhist monk and trusted advisor royal advisor Phra Khru, Yamada learns Muay Thai in hopes of joining the King’s elite bodyguards. He also has some unfinished business with his renegade countrymen.

As an exercise in comparing and contrasting various forms of martial arts, Muay Thai definitely has the advantage in MTW. Whereas it utilizes knees and elbows to devastating effect, the styles of their rivals largely seem to involve impaling one’s self on your opponent’s sword. At least that is how it looks during the massive Hongsawadee beatdown. It is certainly cinematic though, as are the torch-lit showdowns between Yamada and the evil Japanese mastermind.

Seigi Ozeki is an engaging action figure, even if he does not quite have the skills of the real life mustachioed Muay Thai boxers cast around him. Likewise, Kanokkorn Jaicheun is a charismatic presence as Yamada’s chaste love interest. Most notably for Thai film patrons, Sorapong Chatree brings stately gravitas as Phra Khru, more or less reprising his role in HSH Prince Chatrichalerm Yukol’s epic Kingdom of War.

Lushly lensed by cinematographer Chuchart Nantittanyathada, MTW features stunning locales and rich period settings. Oddly enough, it is the fight choreography that is rather inconsistent. Still, it is a rather stirring depiction of honor and loyalty by choice rather than accident of birth. Conceived to mark 124 years of Thai-Japanese diplomatic relations (and just how did you observe the anniversary?), Muay Thai Warrior will certainly entertain fans of historicals loaded with action and intrigue. It is now available for home viewing from Well Go USA.

LFM GRADE: B-

Posted on March 5th, 2013 at 11:34am.