LFM: Libertas Film Magazine

By Joe Bendel. Toramaru is like the Anthony Bourdain of martial arts. Before challenging a rival, he first eats what they eat. There is some wisdom to that approach, but there is considerably more mayhem to be found in Takanori Tsujimoto’s Bushido Man, which screens tomorrow during the 2013 Fantasia International Film Festival.

Gensai, the sensei of the Cosmic Way school of holistic martial arts, has sent his number one student forth into the world to challenge seven specialized masters and hopefully claim their ancient scrolls of secret wisdom. Things must have gone relatively well, since Toramaru has returned to tell his tales to his appreciative teacher. Based on the details of his prep meal, Gensai is able to guess the identity of the master to be challenged.

While Bushido probably cost less to produce than dinner for one at Nobu, action director Kensuke Sonomura stages some epic mano-a-mano showdowns. Sonomura himself starts things off briskly as Yuan Jian, the Chinese kung fu master and Kazuki Tsujimoto makes quite a memorable Zatōichi surrogate as the blind swordsman Muso. Yet the honor-stoked adrenaline reaches its purest, highest point when Masanori Mimoto appears as Eiji Mimoto, the Yakuza dagger master. To his credit, Tsujimoto also has a good sense of fair play, allowing Miki Mizuno to rack up an impressive body count as the pragmatic arms-dealing femme fatale, M.

Bushido is all about fighting, periodically taking timeout for some goofball humor. If you’re looking for narrative logic here, just don’t. In one scene, Toramaru strolls through the sunny streets of contemporary Tokyo, yet the next moment he is trudging through the scarred wasteland of a post-apocalyptic Yokohama. It does really matter, though. Everything in Bushido is there to facilitate the food and fighting.

Held together by Mitsuki Koga’s action cred and straight man persona, Bushido Man delivers the goods for martial arts-samurai-yakuza movie fans. It nicely demonstrates how a scrappy low budget action production can overcome its budget constraints with energy and a clever concept. Recommended for established genre fans, it screens tomorrow (7/27) at the Imperial Theatre as part of this year’s Fantasia Festival in Montreal.

LFM GRADE: B

Posted on July 26th, 2013 at 12:41pm.

By Joe Bendel. James Park ought to know [in]famous undercover detectives never just retire, especially when their biggest case holds some decidedly ugly secrets. The cop-turned-professor will have to revert to his old ways when his young son is kidnapped by a mystery man with revenge on his unhinged mind in DJ Holloway & Sun W. Kim’s Innocent Blood, which screens this Saturday during the 2013 Asian American International Film Festival in New York.

Park knows crime, but with his limited academic credentials he can only land a community college teaching gig. He plans to go back for the right degrees, once his wife Susan finishes law school. It has been hard on their son Cody, who does not see his mother nearly as much as they both would like. As a result, when her husband’s nemesis abducts the young boy, she suffers from an acute attack of guilt.

Prohibited from contacting the authorities, Park will have to figure out just what the kidnapper wants on his own. It all seems to revolve around Brad Lee, a human trafficker framed for a crime he technically did not exactly commit. Park’s first clue will be the trail of dead bodies he cannot explain to Carl Grierr and Jim Collins, the odd couple detectives doggedly tailing him.

While the harsh realities of human trafficking remain off-camera throughout Blood, it is an issue the filmmakers feel strongly about. Like the T.O.M. Film Festival co-founded by screenwriter-co-director Kim, Blood was envisioned as a vehicle to raise funds and awareness. It is well intentioned, but the on-screen business does not always withstand the common sense test. (Park really drops his son off on the very urban looking street around the corner from his school, without watching to see if he makes it inside okay?)

Still, Jun-seong Kim’s not-quite-retired James Kim is a genuinely compellingly angst-ridden everyman. Alexandra Chun is also entirely believable and sympathetic as the distraught mother. Although still a relatively young thesp, Lance Lim makes a strong return appearance at AAIFF, following up his solid turn in Il Cho’s accomplished short Jin with his engaging work as Cody Park.

However, for most genre fans, the main attraction in Blood will be Doug Jones (the Silver Surfer, etc), somewhat playing against type as Grierr, the acerbic but honest copper. He earns a fair number of sarcastic chuckles, which are truly appreciated, considering the film’s grim and gritty tone. In contrast, C.S. Lee’s villain is rather problematically bland.

Blood tackles some big themes, like sacrifice and redemption, while exhibiting a wider social conscience. However, Sun W. Kim’s screenplay is not good about sharing information, while keeping its cast of characters severely blinkered. Yet the film it effectively taps into some very real emotions that will keep most viewers fully vested in the outcome. Recommended for fans of Jones and dark crime dramas, Innocent Blood screens Saturday afternoon (7/26) at the Anthology Film Archives, as part of this year’s AAIFF.

LFM GRADE: B-

Posted on July 25th, 2013 at 1:06pm.

By Joe Bendel. This has to be the most endearing dystopia you will ever see. One can understand why the Man in the Moon came down for a visit, but he will need a little getting home in Stephan Schesch’s animated feature, Moon Man, which launches Tuesday on Tribeca Films’ VOD platform.

The President (presumably for life) has finally conquered the last little island on Earth free of his control. Yet, it hardly seems to matter to one little girl and her father. They are following their regular routine—a drive-in movie, followed by burgers from a 1950’s style drive-through. Then her father cruises home with the top down while she curls up in the back seat with a blanket and the loyal family pooch.

Tonight, though, something is amiss. The Moon Man is not looking down at her as he should be. Like other children around the world, she is usually reassured by the sight of him up there. (However, grown-ups somehow grow oblivious to him.) Getting a bit bored, the Moon Man hitched a ride on a comet, but it was a one-way ticket. To get back, he seeks the help of Bunsen van der Dunkel, a Rip Van Winkle scientist who has slept through the President’s rise to glory. As it happens, the President also seeks the legendary inventor’s help in developing a rocket to facilitate his conquest of the moon. You get the idea.

First of all, Moon Man is basically right in line with what would be my approach to parenting, if only there were more drive-in movie theaters. Based on Tomi Ungerer’s children’s book, Schesch’s adaptation is unflaggingly sweet and gentle, but one can pick up on the author’s sly sensibilities. Indeed, the constant lampooning of the pompous President definitely follows in the tradition of Chaplin’s Great Dictator and subsequent satires.

Happily, he has not really gotten down to oppressive business yet. This is a bright, vibrant world, filled with flowers and vintage convertibles. In fact, the hand-drawn animation is like a breath of fresh air compared to the computer-generated-focus-grouped tent-poles released by the studios. It looks great and it perfectly suits the secondary theme of adults learning to see the world as kids again.

Frankly, the weakest link in Moon Man is the Moon Man. The innocent, Ziggy-looking fellow does not have much personality, but the world around him compensates for him. There are some clever bits involving the President and van der Dunkel and the soundtrack is inspired, including Louis Armstrong’s rendition of “Moon River.”

Moon Man has a healthy supply of idealism with the right subversive garnish. Schesch keeps the mood light and airy, even when the chips are down, maintaining a pleasant medium-up-tempo pace. Good fun recommended for eyes and ears of all ages, Moon Man is now available on VOD from Tribeca Films.

LFM GRADE: B+

Posted on July 22nd, 2013 at 11:30pm.

By Joe Bendel. In space, no one can hear you getting chewed out. Frankly, this crew has it coming. You might think scientists would be careful about contagions, but evidently not. Perhaps the semi-competency of their military commander will keep some of them alive in Roger Christian’s Stranded, which opens this Friday in New York.

A small four-person moon-base is a terrible place to be surprised by a meteor shower. That much we can buy. Suffering damage to their power generators and life support systems, Col. Gerard Brauchman’s crew hastens to make repairs. While outside the station, Eva Cameron notices strange glowing spores covering the meteors, so naturally she carries one back inside, in gross violation of station protocol and basic common sense. While she and Dr. Lance Krause analyze it, one of the test tubes breaks in their centrifuge, so naturally she starts digging around in there with her finger. Before you know it, she is spectacularly pregnant with the alien demon spawn—and then just as suddenly she is not.

Cameron and Bruce Johns, the station engineer and resident drunk, know her alien offspring is out there, wreaking havoc. Yet Brauchman and Krause dismiss their warnings, assuming they are just suffering from CO² induced hallucinations. Indeed, Stranded repeatedly explains the symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning with impressive thoroughness, so at least it fulfills its public service mandate. Despite all the flak Brauchman takes for sticking by the book, the film also suggests that breaking protocol is a really bad idea.

If Stranded sounds like an Alien wannabe, take into consideration the fact that Christian was nominated for an Academy Award for his art direction on Ridley Scott’s beloved sci-fi horror classic, so maybe he has the right to rip himself off. Christian had previously won an Oscar as an art director on Star Wars (before it was known as A New Hope). His short film The Dollar Bottom also won an Oscar and his previous fantasy short Black Angel screened before The Empire Strikes Back during its initial run in the UK and Australia. To temper your growing optimism, bear in mind Christian also directed the notorious Battlefield Earth.

That is some career, but with Stranded, he lights out into clear-cut b-movie territory. Christian makes a virtue of necessity, emphasizing the claustrophobia of his limited set and the mounting tension within his small ensemble. To an extent, the quartet’s constant bickering and back-biting gives the film a bit of character. Still, there is no getting around the conspicuous carelessness of their actions and the cardboard dimensions of their characterizations.

Frankly, Christian Slater is not bad as Col. Brauchman, largely avoiding his typical tics and shtick. Brendan Fehr comes across reasonably credibly as Dr. Krause. However, it is hard to believe a basket case like Michael Therriault’s Johns could ever pass muster for a mission like this. As Cameron, Amy Matysio is similarly stuck with a problematic character, solely distinguished by head-scratching acts of stupidity.

If Stranded were playing at an old school drive-in, it would be easy to recommend. On some level, dumb mayhem is always diverting, but Manhattan movie ticket prices demand considerably more than that. Those who might be interested solely because of Christian’s past work should note his long presumably lost Black Angel has been found and some sort of online distribution is expected in the near future. That is probably the film to wait for. Basically a time killer for woozy weekend viewing, Stranded opens this Friday (7/26) in New York at the AMC Empire and will also be available on iTunes.

LFM GRADE: C-

Posted on July 22nd, 2013 at 11:29pm.