LFM Reviews Houston @ The 2013 Sundance Film Festival

By Joe Bendel. H-Town is way different from the Ewings’ Dallas, but there is still a lot of energy money there. That is indirectly why German corporate headhunter Clemens Trunschka is visiting. He is supposed to make a confidential offer on behalf of a client to a prominent Texas petroleum CEO without alerting his current firm. This turns out to be easier said than done in Bastian Günther’s Houston (clip here), which screened as part of the World Dramatic Competition at this year’s Sundance Film Festival.

Trunschka drinks too much, straining his relationship with his wife Christine. Perhaps sensing trouble at home, his son has been acting out at school. It is a problem his father is not inclined to face. In a way, the assignment to recruit Steve Ringer comes at an opportune time, getting Trunschka out of the house for a while. After missing Ringer at an exclusive European energy conference, Trunschka must follow him to H-Town. However, the combination of jet lag, liquor, and the blinding Texas sun seem to have a disorienting effect on the headhunter.

Since Ringer’s gatekeepers keep him locked up tighter than Rapunzel, Trunschka will have to get creative to reach him. The pressure is mounting, which has a further destabilizing effect on the German. However, a fellow guest in his hotel seems eager to help. Robert Wagner, the actor’s namesake as he is quick to point out, seems to be the perfect caricature of the loud backslapping American. In fact, he is clearly supposed to make viewers suspicious—about Trunschka.

From "Houston."

While there is plenty to make viewers wonder about the firmness of the German protagonist’s grip on things, Günther’s approach is tightly restrained, dry even. Trunschka’s dark night of the soul is all about brooding rather than knock-down drag-out binge drama. Ulrich Tukur, best known for The Lives of Others and John Rabe is perfectly suited for the tightly wound, quietly cracking-up Trunschka. He can do a slow burn better than just about anyone. Likewise, Garret Dillahunt nicely hints at an unsettling undercurrent beneath Wagner’s aggressively good humor.

Cinematographer Michael Kotschi makes the most of Houston’s dazzling sunlight and the reflections off its glass and steel towers, creating a real sense of an urban wonderland. While strikingly composed, the entire film is too fixated on shiny surfaces, never really getting to the characters root cores. Nonetheless, some commentators will surely embrace the film as another critique of the capitalist system, even though it depicts a rather singular crisis—a self-destructive alcoholic’s inability to convey a lucrative job offer to a highly successful executive.

Houston looks great, but mostly offers empty calories, despite the quality of Tukur’s work. Still, it might be interesting to some East and West Coasters as a window into Europe’s perspective on the Texas state of reality. As a result, Houston is likely to get further festival play, particularly given the two well known German and American principle cast-members, following its world premiere at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival.

LFM GRADE: C+

Posted on February 4th, 2012 at 9:58am.

Don’t Let It Get You Down: LFM Reviews John Dies at the End

By Joe Bendel. It starts with a wickedly macabre riddle. Where it finishes is not so clear. One would assume the title offers an obvious clue, but not necessarily. Those who require a rigorously logical approach to the space-time continuum might be out to sea, but genre fans looking for a wild trip will find it in Don Coscarelli’s John Dies at the End (trailer here), which opens today in New York.

Based on the novel by Jason Pargin published under the pen-name David Wong, JDATE (as it is cheekily abbreviated) follows the story character David Wong has to tell reporter Arnie Blondestone, in a series of rapid-fire flashbacks. He really does not look like a Wong, but looks are frequently deceiving in this reality.

“Wong” and his partner John are amateur exorcists approaching professional status. Two years ago, they were exposed to a drug known as Soy Sauce. This stuff really opens up the doors of perception. Now they can see beings from other dimensions and tell you what you dreamed last night. Unfortunately, just as Wong adjusts to the sauce, he learns his best friend has died. Shortly thereafter, John starts calling him, first to apologize for all the drama and then to guide him through a series of predicaments. Eventually, they reunite to confront an imminent threat from another universe, on what appears to be the Eyes Wide Shut world, with the help of their powerful ally, Dr. Albert Marconi, who masquerades as a television psychic. Or something like that. Then it becomes a bit complicated.

What Bill & Ted were to stoner science fiction, JDATE is to psychotropic genre fare.

Like the original source novel, the film is episodic in structure, madly hop-scotching back and forth across time and planes of existence. The audience just has to live in the moment of each segment, which are almost always outrageously clever. Frankly, viewers really do not care if the lads save the universe. They will just want to see what comes next.

From "John Dies at the End."

As Wong and John, Chase Williamson and Rob Mayes are likable lugs, who treat the bedlam with admirable seriousness, never winking at the camera. However, it is the supporting characters that really enrich JDATE. Executive producer Paul Giamatti is kind of awesome as Blondestone—a rather more complex role than it first appears. Likewise, Clancy Brown delivers pure genre gold as Dr. Marconi. There’s also a dog, Bark Lee, as himself, who deserves consideration for next year’s Golden Collar Award, if they can keep it going that long. There is even a brief appearance from Angus Scrimm, the cult favorite from Coscarelli’s Phantasm.

JDATE’s energy and inventiveness are impressive. As eccentric as things get, the film never feels forced or self-consciously hip. That is the real trick. As a result, the rough edges, apparently the result of budgetary limitations, can easily be forgiven. In fact, they become part of the charm. Highly recommended for fans of over-the-top sci-fi-horror hybrids, John Dies at the End opens today (2/1) in New York at the Landmark Sunshine, with Coscarelli attending the evening screenings tonight and Saturday.

LFM GRADE: A-

Posted on February 1st, 2012 at 11:44am.

Chick Flick: LFM Reviews Girls Against Boys

By Joe Bendel. Thirty-some years ago, a film like this might have generated all kinds of controversy, regardless of its merits. It could be considered a sign of social progress that it now only inspires shrugs. Nonetheless, gender-oriented vigilantism should never be such a hum drum affair. Indeed, that is about the size of Austin Chick’s Girls Against Boys (trailer here), which opens today in New York.

Shae thought she was going to have a lovely romantic weekend with her technically married boyfriend. Instead, he dumps her, having resolved to make his marriage work for the sake of his young daughter. His timing is lousy, but frankly this is sort of the right thing to do. He will pay for it, though. First, the depressed Shae turns to her co-worker Lu for support. At Lu’s prompting, they embark on an all night bender, culminating in the loft of a group of hipsters everyone in the audience can tell are blindingly bad news. Unfortunately, Shae is so disoriented she leaves with Simon, the worst of the lot, who does exactly what we suspect he will.

The next morning, she reports the crime to the police, who are ridiculously disinterested. One would think any red-blooded NYPD cop would relish the opportunity to roust a pretentious Greenpoint “artist,” but evidently not. However, Lu is perfectly willing to lead her into a Thelma & Louise-style revenge killing spree.

From "Girls Against Boys."

There are two paths a film like this can take. Either it becomes a dark psychological study in which viewers are supposed be horrified by the acts the two “girls” commit against the “boys,” or it should be a cathartic exercise in frontier justice-by proxy. Yet Chick tries to steer a middle course, suggesting that maybe on the one hand, the guys deserve some form of cosmic retribution – but then again, there seems to be something a little off or overboard about Lu’s plunge into binge murder. The resulting lukewarm tone leaves little lasting impression. Even when the women get medieval on Simon, GAB’s only halfway memorable scene, Chick chickens out, wrapping it up just as it starts illicit an emotional response.

Danielle Panabaker is actually pretty good covering Shae’s considerable range of extreme emotions and Nicole LaLiberte can flash some seriously crazy eyes as Lu. The rest of the cast just isn’t bad enough to stand out in any way. One wonders if the word generic was used in the casting notices.

Clearly, GAB thinks it is edgy and challenging, but in reality it is gutlessly noncommittal. Completely lackluster, Girls Against Boys will profoundly disappoint the grindhouse audience it is targeting when it opens today (2/1) in New York at the Quad Cinema.

LFM GRADE: D

Posted on February 1st, 2012 at 11:43am.

The Man, The Mayor, The Maverick: LFM Reviews Koch

By Joe Bendel. In 1981, the New York Republican Party supported lifelong Democrat Ed Koch’s re-election bid. He has since returned the favor, periodically endorsing Republicans like Pres. George W. Bush, Sen. Al D’Amato, Gov. George Pataki, and Andrew Eristoff. Throughout his public life, Mayor Koch has been something of a maverick and he is always good for a lively quote. Neil Barsky documents the triumphs and controversies of the iconic mayor in the simply but aptly titled Koch, which opens this Friday in New York.

If one thing comes through loud and clear in Koch it is the animosity between him and Mario Cuomo. It all harks back to 1977, when the Cuomo mayoral campaign allegedly gave winking approval to the guerrilla campaign urging New Yorkers: “Vote for Cuomo, Not the Homo.” Shrewdly capturing the center and the right of the electorate, Koch ultimately vanquished Cuomo running as the Liberal Party candidate. However, questions about Koch’s private life would persist. In fact, Barsky’s only real misstep is the inordinate about of time spent on this is-he-or-isn’t-he question.

For those New York transplants arriving during the Giuliani or Bloomberg eras, Koch is a briskly entertaining primer on the City’s 1970’s and 1980’s history. Recognizable names like Bess Myerson and Donald Manes, the late Queens Borough President, whose corruption scandal also tarnished the Koch administration, are put into full context. There are also plenty of his “how’m I doing?” greatest hits and the frequent media appearances that established a new template for New York mayors.

Barsky scored top-shelf access to Hizzoner, but the Koch of today comes across a bit sad, clearly uncomfortable with his status as a New York political graybeard-gadfly. Viewers can tell he misses the action.

While Barsky examines his legacy warts-and-all, his documentary will easily convince viewers Koch was the right no-nonsense man for the job, like a pre-Giuliani Giuliani. Koch is funnier, though. Shrewdly, Barsky emphasizes his humor whenever possible. The results, gently prodded along by Mark Degli Antoni’s peppy underscore, are compulsively watchable. One of the most entertaining documentaries of the young year so far, for both political and pop culture junkies, Koch the movie opens this Friday (2/1) in New York at the Lincoln Plaza uptown and the Angelika Film Center downtown.

LFM GRADE: A

Posted on January 31st, 2012 at 12:18pm.

LFM Reviews Space Shuttle Columbia: Mission of Hope; Airs on PBS Tonight (1/31)

By Joe Bendel. Ilan Ramon was the Yoni Netanyahu of his generation. A charismatic military officer, he planned and led the daring 1981 bombing raid on Iraq’s nearly complete nuclear reactor. The son of Holocaust survivors, when chosen to be the first Israeli astronaut, he hoped to use the mission to bring a remarkable true story to the world’s attention. Unfortunately, though, he was assigned to Columbia’s tragic, final 2003 flight. Daniel Cohen documents the man and the history that inspired him in Space Shuttle Columbia: Mission of Hope (promo here), which airs tonight on PBS stations nationwide.

Ramon was an ace F-16 pilot. He half expected not to survive the then-controversial Operation Opera. Yet all planes came back unscathed in what quickly came to be considered the most successful Israeli military operation ever. At the time, it was duly, if reluctantly, condemned by the U.S. government. Twenty-two years later, he became the only non-American citizen to win the Congressional Space Medal of Honor.

As if the Columbia disaster was not heavy enough, Mission of Hope is also profoundly concerned with the Holocaust. While Ramon was just one generation removed, Joachim “Yoja” Joseph, the senior scientist supervising Israel’s Columbia experiments, had survived Bergen-Belsen as young boy. Thanks to a courageous Rabbi, Joseph had his bar mitzvah in the camp with the aid of a tiny Torah. Knowing his time was short, the Rabbi gave the boy that Torah for safe keeping. Decades later Ramon carried it into space, along with several other surviving concentration camp artifacts.

Astronaut Ilan Ramon.

Although Ramon’s story would seem to be one of bitter irony, Cohen wisely emphasizes the inspirational aspects of his life and mission. Featuring interviews with his widow and commanding officers, as well as candid video footage shot by his Columbia mission comrade Dave Brown, Hope conveys a strong personal sense of Ramon as an individual. To his credit, Cohen is not afraid of idealism or patriotism. Hope reminds viewers of the pride and optimism inspired by the early days of the space program. Appropriately, Cohen does not delve into the causes of the disaster. There are better venues to explore such issues. Instead, he focuses on Ramon and his crewmates.

It is hard to imagine anyone watching Hope without getting a catch in their throats. Frankly, it is rather baffling the film has not screened extensively on the festival circuit before its PBS debut, especially considering Hollywood space booster Tom Hanks’ role as executive producer. Educational and unexpectedly uplifting, Mission of Hope is enthusiastically recommended for general audiences when its screens tonight (1/31) on most PBS outlets, with a rebroadcast of Nova’s Space Shuttle Disaster scheduled to follow.

LFM GRADE: B+

Posted on January 31st, 2012 at 12:17pm.

LFM Reviews Stoker @ The 2013 Sundance Film Festival

By Joe Bendel. India Stoker is sort of a female Hamlet. After her father died under mysterious circumstances, her mother is all eyes for her uncle. However, Uncle Charlie is more interested in replacing his brother as a pseudo-father-figure for India in Park Chan-wook’s first English language film, Stoker, which screened during the 2013 Sundance Film Festival.

India Stoker and her father were always very close, having bonded during their regular hunting trips. Yes, she is a gothic protagonist who can handle a firearm. Her relationship with her mother is another matter. Evelyn “Evie” Stoker is a woman so chilly and severe, by law she has to be played by Nicole Kidman. When Uncle Charlie shows up after the funeral, the widow turns to him for “comfort.” India is not impressed, rebuffing all her Uncle’s overtures of friendship. Kindly Aunt Gin appears quite alarmed by Charlie Stoker’s presence, but she disappears before she can explain why. People seem to do that around the Stoker family.

Stoker is exactly the sort of film Tim Burton’s Dark Shadows should have been, but totally wasn’t. Park’s mastery of mood is reflected in every scene, particularly in some visually arresting transitions. While the lurid nature of the material often approaches camp, Park emphasizes the repressed, brooding and eerie atmospherics. It also helps that Wentworth Miller’s screenplay tells a fully fledged story that mostly comes together down the stretch (rather than stringing together a series of gags).

It would be spoilery to explain why, but it is safe to say audiences have never seen Mia Wasikowska like this before. Yet in a way, India Stoker is something of a psychologically troubled cousin to Jane Eyre. Matthew Goode holds up his end, bringing all kinds of creepiness as Uncle Charlie. Although Kidman is often relegated to the sidelines, she perfectly delivers some scathing Mommie Dearest lines in the pivotal third act confrontation that audience members were quoting immediately after the screening.

Park’s accomplished hands have transformed a V.C. Andrews-ish yarn into an unusually stylish, dark fable. The Oldboy auteur’s admirers should be well pleased with his English debut and it also ought to earn Wasikowska a whole new level of fanboy appreciation. Elegantly sinister, Stoker is recommended for sophisticated genre patrons. It screened as a Premiere selection of this year’s Sundance Film Festival.

LFM GRADE: B+

Posted on January 30th, 2012 at 11:10am.