Category: Narrative

By Joe Bendel. It sounds like a reality show, but it will be much more serious than that. For astronauts, isolation is a much greater concern than G-forces or anything physical. Therefore, the potential crew of an upcoming privately funded interstellar mission are auditioning by spending four hundred days in an underground simulator. They expect Kepler Industries will have plenty of planned challenges in store for them. However, the real surprise might be unleased on the Earth above them in Matt Osterman’s 400 Days, which opens this Friday in New York.

Cole Dvorak is the hard charging blowhard who will be making the crew’s regular broadcasts to the outside world. “Bug” Kieslowski is the squirrely one, but somehow he is also the crew’s only married parent. Dr. Emily McTier will be tracking everyone’s mental and physical health, so she is going to be really darn busy. Theo Cooper is their loose cannon captain, slightly in the Kirk-ish tradition. Unfortunately, he started the mission with a nasty hangover, but he had a good excuse. He had just been dumped by McTier.

Everything went swimmingly well during launch, but the crew lost radio contact with mission control shortly thereafter. Assuming it is all part of the plan, they carry on, notching their mission objectives as the four hundred days count down. However, as the near the day of their simulated re-entry, strange things start happening. Stress has clearly taken a toll on everyone, but when a half-starved wretch of a man breaks into their simulator, they realize something well outside the simulation’s parameters is underfoot. When they venture outside, they find the world has changed. It is now a very dark, predatory place—perhaps even post-apocalyptic, but the vibe is more Kafka and Sartre than Mad Max.

Executive Producer Dane Cook reportedly takes a lot of flak from other comedians, but he really gives 400 Days a tremendous boost of energy as the boorish, ego-inflated Dvorak. He gets over some of the film’s best lines as Dvorak becomes increasingly unhinged. Brandon Routh is more than a little bland on-screen, but one could argue he is appropriately taciturn as the glumly competent Cooper. Despite her growing cult following, Caity Lotz glams down for McTier, projecting her intelligence and sensitivity. Ben Feldman’s Kieslowski over relies on twitchy mannerisms, but Grant Bowler brings plenty of oily charisma as Kepler Industries’ CEO, Walter Anderson. It also seems fitting to have a Lost alumnus on board in some capacity.

In many ways, 400 Days shares a kinship with the original Twilight Zone pilot, “Where is Everybody?,” but it delves deeper into the dark side of humanity. Somewhat frustratingly, Osterman guards the film’s unsettling ambiguity and never gives us a grand unified explanation of anything. That is both good and bad, because that means the film will keep bugging you well after the initial viewing. Yet, for those who were raised on Rod Serling, it is sort of refreshing.

Regardless, Osterman maintains an air of mystery and slowly but surely keeps the tension mounting as soon as the crew loses communications with the outside world. 400 Days is the first release of SyFy’s new theatrical arm, which probably creates a certain level of expectations, based on SyFy originals like Lake Placid vs. Anaconda and Mega Shark vs. Crocosaurus, but this is in a whole different league. It is decidedly small in scale, which might leave many sf fans unsatisfied, but its paranoid tautness is rather impressive. Recommended to a surprising extent for fans of the weird, 400 Days opens this Friday (1/15) in New York, at the Cinema Village.

LFM GRADE: B+

Posted on January 13th, 2016 at 12:42pm.

By Joe Bendel. There has always been a macabre side to the art of puppetry, going back to the commedia dell’arte roots of Punch and Judy. We sort of lost sight of it because of the Muppets, but it would occasionally manifest itself in ambitious Henson projects like The Dark Crystal. However, Kevin McTurk raises old school rod puppetry to new gothic heights in his visually arresting short film The Mill at Calder’s End, which screens during the 2016 Philip K. Dick Film Festival in New York.

After a long absence, Nicholas Grimshaw is returning to Calder’s End to claim his inheritance. It is a lonely drive, but his destination is even drearier. His family estate is a shunned place in the Lovecraftian sense. He would gladly relinquish all his claims to it, but an ancient Faustian bargain binds his family to the evil force centered in the ominous looking mill.

Of course, everything in Calder’s End looks ominous, even including Grimshaw’s late but still accursed father, who bears an unmistakable resemblance to the great Peter Cushing, which has to be one of the coolest cinematic hat tips ever. It is altogether fitting too, since the influence of Hammer Horror and the Corman Poe films is evident in the wonderfully rich and atmospheric production and art design. As if that were not enough fan service, Barbara Steele, the Giallo legend and a semi-regular Corman repertory player gives voice to the malevolent Apparition of the Mill.

The story of Calder’s End would still be a satisfying little gothic hair-raiser had it been a conventional live action drama, but as a piece of puppet theater, it is kind of stunning. McTurk (whose technical credits include films like Iron Man, Hugo, and Pacific Rim) and his accomplished team have done some of the best special effects, set construction, and costuming you will see in a film of any length, with any sort of cast.

Calder’s End doesn’t seem very Philip K. Dick-like, but who cares? Fans of Cushing, Hammer, and gothic British horror in general will absolutely flip for it. So far, McTurk has been honing his macabre puppetry in shorts (this being only his second), but when he applies this concept to a feature, it will be a major event for genre fans. Very highly recommended, The Mill at Calder’s End screens as part of a short film block this Friday (1/15) at the Cinema Village, during this year’s Philip K. Dick Film Festival.

LFM GRADE: A+

Posted on January 13th, 2016 at 12:38pm.

By Joe Bendel. That copy of Philip K. Dick’s Time Out of Joint could come in handy for Carlos. While his situation is somewhat different, it could help him think about reality in more outside-the-box terms (it also made his film a perfect selection for this year’s Philip K. Dick Film Festival). At the very least, it will help pass the time. Rather than a box or a Potemkin world, Carlos is stuck in an infinite staircase. He is not the only one facing such a predicament in Isaac Ezban’s The Incident, which screens during the 2016 Philip K. Dick Film Festival in New York.

The corrupt cop was leading Carlos and his brother Oliver out through his building’s staircase when they heard the bang. At that point, the stairs became an endless Escher loop. They walk down nine flights and find themselves right back at the ninth floor landing. Needless to say, the doors are sealed, but the vending machine mysteriously keeps replenishing itself. The situation would be dire enough, but the copper, acting on a perverse impulse, shot Oliver in the leg right before the happening. Soon the festering wound becomes life-threatening.

Meanwhile or something, Daniel is on a road trip with his mother, her trying-too-hard boyfriend, and his little sister, but that highway never seems to end—because it won’t. There is an empty service station that never runs out of supplies, but they do not carry asthma inhalers. Unfortunately, Daniel’s sister will be needing one after hers is damaged. These two cosmically closed loops do not appear to be related, except for the occasional hint suggesting they really are.

There are no significant visual effects to speak of in The Incident, but it is a wildly ambitious, decade-spanning, mind-reeling genre film. It starts out merely unsettling in a Sartre kind of way, but it turns into a deeper, metaphysical horror show. Reportedly, some fans of the show Lost find various hat-tips throughout the film. Whether they are intentional or not, The Incident is certainly in keeping with the show’s spirit (whereas it is wholly dissimilar from M. Night Shyamalan’s The Happening).

Considering the circumstances, The Incident boasts a surprisingly large cast. Nobody really stands out per se, because the entire ensemble is convincingly freaked out and then bitterly resigned to their fate. Essentially, they look like real people in some kind of Hell (but it isn’t really, or is it?).

Ezban tries to connect too many dots in the third act, but that is a rather valiant mistake. Regardless, he announces himself as a major new talent with The Incident, while also providing a heck of a calling card for his design team. This is a painstakingly crafted film that masterfully controls what the audience sees and the temporary assumptions they form. Pretty impressive stuff, recommended for fans of Lost and David Lynch’s better mind-trips, The Incident screens this Friday (1/15) at the Cinema Village, as part of this year’s Philip K. Dick Film Festival.

LFM GRADE: A-

Posted on January 13th, 2015 at 12:39pm.

By Joe Bendel. At twenty-seven, Taeko Okajima ought to be too young for a midlife crisis, but she carries a lot of baggage from her difficult childhood. However, she might finally start to work through her issues when she lugs her “fifth grade self” along on her vacation to the countryside. Although it was a Japanese box office hit in 1991, Isao Takahata’s animated memory play remained the one Studio Ghibli film that was never theatrically distributed in North America. Fortunately, GKIDS has rectified this frustrating situation with a proper release of Takahata’s straight-up masterpiece Only Yesterday which continues it special two-week, twenty-fifth anniversary release in New York, at the IFC Center.

Okajima’s desire to vacation in the country can be immediately attributed to the frustrations of her childhood. As she boards the train taking her out of Tokyo, she remembers with bitterness being the only member of her fifth grade class who did not have a country getaway lined-up for summer break. Her parents seemed to have two specialties, berating her for her low marks in mathematics and dashing her dreams. However, young Okajima is not the perfect picture of innocence either. In fact, the memories that will be most difficult to work through involve her guilt for mistreating less popular classmates.

In contrast, her time spent with her bother-in-law’s rugged country relations is quite pleasant for Okajima. She genuinely enjoys harvesting the safflowers, a blooming thistle whose pigments are used for cosmetics and dyes. She and Toshio (the second cousin of her sister’s husband) hit it off particularly well. There could even be something more than friendship between them, but it is not clear Okajima’s head is ready for it.

You do not see very many films, live action or animated, that are as emotionally complex as Only Yesterday. While the 1966 flashbacks were based on a successful manga, Takahata developed the original 1980s wrap-arounds, which really take on a life of their own. In fact, seeing the psychological ripple effects years later make the childhood sequences far richer. Consequently, when Takahata delivers the massive payoff, it happens in the eighties.

Of course, Only Yesterday looks absolutely gorgeous. Studio Ghibli’s affinity for safflower fields hardly needs explaining for their fans. The figures are also rendered with unusual sensitivity, particularly 1980s Taeko and Toshio. If you do not quickly take a shine to them, you must be one grumpy old goat. Yet, what really stands out in the film is Takahata’s confident patience to let dialogue fully play out. Early in the film, Toshio and Okajima have a long conversation while he drives her to the farm from the station. It deceptively sounds like small talk, but it really establishes both their characters, as well as the film’s major themes. Frankly, they are just worth listening to.

For the English dub, GKIDS scored a bit of a coup with the casting of Daisy Ridley, currently seen in something called The Force Awakes, as the voice of twenty-seven year old Okajima. However, Japanese pop singer Miki Imai is so perfect in the role, it is still worth opting for the subtitled original version (which the IFC Center is also running for the film’s screenings after 8:00 pm).

Some animation fans consider Only Yesterday a watershed for its mature and realistic portrayal of a woman in adulthood. That may well be so, but it is such a human and humane film, just about everyone ought to be able to relate to it. A wonderful example of studio Ghibli’s artistry, Only Yesterday continues its special, worth-the-wait engagement at the IFC Center, with a national release later scheduled for February 26th.

LFM GRADE: A+

Posted on January 8th, 2016 at 7:07pm.

By Joe Bendel. As part of his 2009 fiscal reform package, Ahmadinejad offered a subsidy of roughly fifteen dollars to all Iranians, but somehow supporters of his political party seemed to be the only one who got it. It doesn’t mean anything to Arineh and Nobahar, since their relatives will be claiming theirs. However, it will make it impossible to withdraw money on the night of the mass deposit. That will be dashed inconvenient when their night on the town takes a surreal turn in Ali Ahmadzadeh’s indescribably weird Atomic Heart, which screens during the 2016 Palm Springs International Film Festival.

Arineh and Nobahar much prefer western style toilets—and who can blame them. They will wax poetic about them, claiming they were in fact an Iranian invention. However, their riffing often sounds like it holds a doth-protest-too-much sarcasm. Regardless, they probably wouldn’t be in a film that wears its Pink Floyd references on its sleeve, if they were not somewhat progressively inclined. They certainly aren’t getting anything from Ahmadinejad and they understand only too well why their friend Kami is immigrating to Australia. Unfortunately, shortly after picking him up from the side of the road, Arineh has a minor fender-bender.

Typically, these matters are resolved on the streets of Tehran with a quick cash payment. Of course, that is not an option tonight, thanks to the big “welfare” payout, as Arineh mockingly calls it. However, a stranger comes along, who eventually pays off the other driver, after snarkily observing for a while. As strangers go, he is particularly strange—and intense. He has no car of his own, but wherever the two women go, he mysteriously appears. They are in his debt and he is not about to let them forget it, but he will beat the long way around the bush before explaining how he intends to collect. First, he will introduce them to his old friend Saddam Hussein, who is supposedly still alive, living in hiding in his favorite city in the world: Tehran.

Whether demonic, extraterrestrial, psychotic, or some combination of the three, the stranger is one of the smoothest, slickest, creepiest characters you will ever want to meet on film. Mohammad Reza Golzar (former guitarist for the Persian pop band Arian) calls and raises every Tarantino movie ever with his sinisterly charismatic, pop-culture reference-dropping monologues. He is absolutely electric. Atomic Heart will leave most viewers reeling – and he is a major reason why.

On the flip side, Mehrdad Sedighiyan is almost impossibly laid back as the laconic Kami, but quite memorably so. In between, Taraneh Alidoosti and Pegah Ahangarani bicker and banter together in perfect synch. It is obvious they are smart, but frustrated by life, choosing aimless mediocrity, because why not?

The irony in Atomic Heart is massive, perhaps even cosmic. Ahmadzadeh gives us reasons to believe and doubt the stranger really is some kind of being from beyond and the world is on the brink of an apocalypse. Then again, it probably often feels that way in Tehran. One of the oddest, most wonderfully unsettling films to come out of Iran in recent years, Atomic Heart screens this Saturday (1/9) and Sunday (1/10), as part of this year’s PSIFF.

LFM GRADE: A

Posted on January 8th, 2016 at 7:07pm.

By Joe Bendel. A mystery in Paris sounds romantic, but this one is anything but. Sang-ho could desperately use the help of an Inspector Maigret, but he is very much on his own in the cold, foreign city. He will guide us through the gutters and prostitutes’ working corners in Jeon Soo-il’s A Korean in Paris, which screens during the 2016 Palm Springs International Film Festival.

Sang-ho originally came to Paris on his honeymoon with Yeon-hwa, but when he stepped away to buy cigarettes, she was abducted, presumably by some sort of sex trafficking racket. Just how the affluent Sang-ho was reduced to sleeping in the street is never explained in blow-by-blow terms, but here he is nonetheless. Sang-ho regularly haunts areas where Asian prostitutes congregate, solely in the hopes someone will recognize a laminated picture of Yeon-hwa.

Apparently, it has “just” been a few year’s since Yeon-hwa’s disappearance, but today’s Sang-ho looks like a completely different person than the man seen in flashbacks with her. The time on the street and his extreme alienation from French society have caused his social skills to deteriorate along with his body. As a result, he is rather confused when Chang, a French Korean prostitute, reaches out with an offer of platonic friendship. Despite his lingering doubts, Sang-ho keeps plugging away, falling deeper into the abyss.

Actually, it is even more depressing than that. A Korean in Paris is no An American in Paris. It makes The Lower Depths look like The Sound of Music. However, it is quite a fine film. There is something quite remarkable about Cho Jae-hyeon’s minimalist performance as Sang-ho. He is almost completely closed-off and soul-dead, yet something about him feels primed to explode. At times, Mi-kwan Lock’s Chang is even more frightfully vulnerable and exposed, but the frustrated humanity she conveys is just devastating. Based on her turn, the French-born, Madagascar-raised Lock should be a rising international star to contend with.

Jeon and cinematographer Kim Sung-tai capture some fantastic images, proving that the back alleys of Paris are nearly as cinematic as its landmarks. The film can be painfully deliberate and revealing, but the work of Cho and Lock is absolutely riveting. While not exactly optimistic by any stretch, Jeon incorporates enough Good Samaritan characters to leave the audience some remaining shreds of faith in human nature. Recommended for those who appreciate a bit of mystery and a truckload of uncompromising naturalism, A Korean in Paris screens this Saturday (1/9) and Sunday (1/10), as part of this year’s PSIFF.

LFM GRADE: A-

Posted on January 8th, 2016 at 7:06pm.