The Concierge is Watching: LFM Reviews Sleep Tight

Marta Etura in "Sleep Tight."

By Joe Bendel. It is not a case of class warfare, per se. A sociopathic doorman is determined to make his upscale residents miserable simply because he resents their capacity for happiness. It is only fair that he spreads the misery around a little, isn’t it? He will go to truly disturbing lengths to torment one pretty young tenant in Jaume Balagueró’s Sleep Tight (trailer here), which opens this Friday in New York.

In retrospect, giving a surly loner like César Manso access to the keys was probably a mistake. Morbidly obsessed with the cheerful Clara Blás, one of the few tenants who is always friendly and polite to him, Manso knows every inch of her flat. Not content with a mere look-see, he has tampered with items, undermining her health and emotional well-being.

Oh, but it gets even more sinister. Each night he waits under her bed for his victim to drift off. Then he goes to work with his bottle of chloroform. However, the nasty little girl living across the hall has seen him sneaking out of Blás’s apartment at suspicious hours of the morning. The police are also actively investigating the poisoned-pen letters Manso has been anonymously sending his victim, but the concierge has his own plans for a really twisted endgame.

A major hit in Spain, Sleep Tight plays on viewers’ deep fears and nagging paranoia. Manso really is a secret nemesis out to destroy his victims out of pure spite. The fact that he is incapable of taking pleasure from his actions makes it even more unsettling. In a way, he is the Dostoyevskian Underground man – in his darkest, most brutish manifestation. Be that as it may, his role in Sleep is to creep about, acting the malevolent heavy in Balagueró’s psychological thriller. Best known internationally as the co-director of the first two [REC] zombie films, Balagueró eschews the found footage conceit for a moodier, suggestive approach in the Polanski-De Palma tradition.

Luis Tosar is scary intense as Manso. You can see the gears turning in his head and it is a fearsome sight indeed. Iris Almeida also has moments that nearly equal him as Manso’s young blackmailer, Ursula. In the victim role, Marta Etura falls apart quite sympathetically and convincingly, even though her character really ought to be picking up on the scheming concierge’s bad vibes.

Pablo Rosso’s stylishly noir cinematography makes the apartment building look truly menacing. Balagueró maintains the ominous vibe, keeping the audience off-balance and on-edge, even though just about everyone should be much quicker on the uptake. Though Sleep Tight falls more towards the thriller end of the genre spectrum than outright horror, it is decidedly dark, and ruthlessly effective. Recommended for fans of Spanish horror movies nonetheless, as well as those who appreciate a thriller (and undaunted by lurid subject matter), Sleep Tight opens this Friday (10/26) in New York at the Cinema Village.

LFM GRADE: B

Posted on October 25th, 2012 at 10:49am.

LFM Reviews Captain Cornelius Cartoon’s Cartoon Lagoon @ The NYTV Festival’s Independent Pilot Competition

By Joe Bendel. Those of us of roughly a certain generation fondly remember the Captains we came to know and love through kid’s programming; you know, like Captain Kangaroo, Captain America, Captain Crunch, and Captain Morgan. Captain Cornelius Cartoon follows in the tradition of them all. He and the crew of the Manta Ray salvage public domain cartoons from the watery graveyard of the Cartoon Lagoon, in order to riff on them MST3K style. The resulting blend of puppetry and retro nostalgia trips makes Captain Cornelius Cartoon’s Cartoon Lagoon the animated standout of the 2012 New York Television Festival’s Independent Pilot Competition.

The title is a little confusing, but this is indeed animated. Maybe they should have worked in the word cartoon a few more times. Regardless, the potential of creator Manny Galán’s concept is hard to miss. The biggest surprise is how cartoons from established franchises such as Popeye and Caspar the Friendly Ghost could fall into PD. There is no way you will ever see Mickey in the Lagoon. Yet, the clear highlight of the Lagoon pilot was an episode of the long forgotten mid 1970’s Undersea Adventures of Captain Nemo (another Captain) that bears absolutely no resemblance to Jules Verne.

The Me Generation Nemo is a blow-dried, jutting jawed male model who accidentally runs over a dolphin, permanently scarring his two juvenile companions for life. To nurse the dolphin back to health, Nemo puts it in a steel cage, while giving loud dramatic readings from Fifty Shades of Grey to scare away the sharks. Or something like that. Obviously, Nemo’s narrative development is a bit sketchy, making it a perfect foil for the Manta Ray crew.

The Lagoon creators readily acknowledge their debt of inspiration to MST3K, following the same format, right down to the portal door through which the cartoon goodness enters. It really works, though, because the creative team has the right pop culture sensibility. Lagoon delivers laughs from start to finish, sprinkling a number of truly memorable quips throughout the pilot. The old school miniature puppetry bringing to life the Manta Ray crew also appealingly resembles a slightly rum-soused Rankin/Bass special.

It is easy to see how a cable network could pick up Lagoon with confidence. That is not so true for the rest of the animated competition this year. Nathan Floody’s corporate head-hunting send-up Hunters is also wickedly cutting at times, but its raunchier inclinations might make it harder to place. However, the Captain pilot is never inappropriate for younger viewers, even though many jokes are aimed above their heads. Nicely executed and consistently funny, Captain Cornelius Cartoon’s Cartoon Lagoon ought to have a long life ahead of it, following its well received screenings at the 2012 NYTVF.

Posted on October 25th, 2012 at 10:48am.

A Great Symphony for a Great Nation: LFM Reviews Orchestra of Exiles

By Joe Bendel. They debuted under the baton of Arturo Toscanini and often worked with guest maestro Leonard Bernstein. Founded as the Palestine Symphony Orchestra, the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra (IPO) is one of the world’s most prestigious orchestras. Yet their founding members were very nearly caught up in the tragedy of the Holocaust. Bronisław Huberman’s tireless efforts to save Europe’s most accomplished and at-risk Jewish musicians – and the subsequent creation of Israel’s national symphony – are documented in Josh Aronson’s Orchestra of Exiles, which opens this Friday in New York.

Huberman was a child prodigy who played around the world. Yet he was also a politically aware Zionist, who had no illusions about the state of Europe in the early 1930’s. Obviously, the colonial territory the British called Palestine held great significance for him. For years, Jewish immigrants had come there, hoping to realize the Zionist dream home by home. However, the British occupiers halted Jewish immigration in response to Arab riots at a time when it was most needed.

Hoping to establish a symphony for the yet to be recognized nation, Huberman doggedly attempted to work around the various restrictions imposed by the British. Indeed, much of his heroics involved the paper-chase for this or that travel document. There was an important goal in sight: as a principled anti-Fascist, Toscanini had agreed to conduct their premiere performances.

Exiles captures the spirit of a certain group of people at a certain point of time for whom life and art were intrinsically intertwined. Indeed, the founding of the Symphony was critically important for the early émigrés, who dearly missed the refined culture of pre-war Europe. Aronson maintains an appropriately respectful tone throughout, but he stages a number of unnecessary dramatic recreations. For the most part, they are not very dramatic – aside from Alex Ansty’s agreeable appearance as the larger than life Toscanini.

With helpful context provided by an elite cast of interview subjects, including Itzhak Perlman, Indian-born IPO conductor and music director Zubin Mehta, and the Grammy Award-winning Joshua Bell (who currently performs on Huberman’s Stradivarius), Exiles is classy and authoritative. Regrettably, it comes at a time when the civilized world is becoming less civilized. Just over a year ago, an IPO performance in London was disrupted by extremists who were never prosecuted, partly due to the Royal Albert Hall’s refusal to pursue trespass charges (bad show, chaps). While conventional in its approach, Orchestra of Exiles is an elegant and informative film. Recommended for classical music connoisseurs and those who want (or need) a fuller appreciation of Israeli cultural history, it opens this Friday (10/19) in New York at the Quad Cinema.

LFM GRADE: B

Posted on October 23rd, 2012 at 10:43am.

A Space Race with China: LFM Reviews Control @ The New York Television Festival’s Independent Pilot Competition

By Joe Bendel. When we think of space, we think of lofty ideals, passed on down to us from JFK and Star Trek. However, an oppressive belligerent power will act the same up there as they do down here. Indeed, China’s saber-rattling off the coast of Taiwan will bedevil an American manned space mission in Josh Bernard & Bracey Smith’s Control, which screens as part of the 2012 New York Television Festival’s Independent Pilot Competition (IPC).

The NYTVF is the only meaningful festival of its kind showcasing independent talent looking to break into episodic television, in the same way scores of film festivals act as launching pads for indie films in search of theatrical distribution. There are real development deals to be won at this year’s festival. The dollar figures may not be much by studio standards, but they would constitute a significant step up compared to the budgets of many competing pilots. In the drama category, Smith & Bernard’s Control may well be the pilot to beat, which is not all that surprising, considering their Pioneer One (see here and here) won the drama competition two years ago.

The American and Chinese navies are engaged in a war of nerves in the South China Sea. Simultaneously, an American spacecraft is racing to beat their Chinese rivals to a resource-rich asteroid. Long in development, the American mission continued, even when China precipitously laid claim to the asteroid, in open defiance of international law. Apparently a quasi-private enterprise conducted with official government sanction, the mission obviously just became a whole lot more complicated.

The flight director isn’t helping much, either. Not only did he call the president a feckless ditherer on national television (but in more colorful terms), he is also carrying on a not so secret affair with the chief medical officer, who happens to be married to the flight captain.

Of all the genre-related pilots screening in the Drama 1 programming block, Control is by far the one that leaves audiences most eager to see more. Shrewdly, Bernard & Smith end on a monster cliffhanger that cannot possibly be as bad as it seems. Though the flight director resents the U.S. military’s secret involvement in the mission, he might be happy to have them around when it is all said and done. Based on the pilot, Control has the potential to become a cool submarine-warfare in space story, much like the classic Romulan episodes on the original Trek.

The tone of Control is sort of like a cross between Apollo 13 and Ben Bova’s geopolitical sci-fi thriller novels. To their credit, Smith & Bernard do not appear to have many naïve notions with respects to the current (and presumably near future) Chinese Communist regime. It also looks reasonably realistic, thanks to the control room full of computers bought on the cheap due to a tech firm’s bankruptcy (finally, the stimulus plan delivers).

Perhaps most importantly, despite all the intrigue and political infighting, it looks like it will still tap into the warm fuzzy feelings many viewers get when they think about the Space Program, particularly in its Apollo-era heyday. Showing loads of potential, Control is definitely worth seeing when it screens again this Friday (10/26) as part of the 2012 NYTVF’s IPC Drama 1 program at the Tribeca Cinemas.

Posted on October 23rd, 2012 at 10:42am.

Stephen Fung Brings the Lunacy: LFM Reviews Tai Chi Zero

By Joe Bendel. Mastery of the martial arts entails more than just fighting; it encompasses a spiritually balanced approach to life. Yang Lu Chan missed those lessons. An instinctive warrior and physical mimic, he was born with a small horn on his head that turns him into a freakish berserker when given a good smack. Unfortunately, his rampages have substantially drained his life force. His only hope to restore his inner equilibrium lies in learning the Chen Style Tai Chi practiced in its namesake village. However, they do not cotton much to strangers in Stephen Fung’s wildly eccentric beatdown Tai Chi Zero (trailer here), which opens this Friday in New York.

The horned Yang was a child only a mother could love. He has only ever been good at one thing, but his skills were evident enough to catch the eye of a warlord-cult leader. Yang fights like mad for his master, but it takes a toll. After waking up woozy in the makeshift infirmary once again, the doctor advises him to make haste for Chen Village before his horn turns black. Yet, once Yang arrives, he is informed in no uncertain terms Chen secrets can never be revealed to outsiders. Of course, the big lug will not take no for an answer, earning him a series of pummelings at the hands of villagers, such as the mysterious Master Chen’s daughter, Yu-niang, who definitely catches Yang’s eye while pasting him silly. He even gets man-handled by a real life five year old prodigy, who could single-handedly humble the Expendables and their proposed spin-offs.

How do we know she is an actual prodigy? Because the film identifies each significant cast member with a sample of their credits whenever their characters first appear on-screen. It might sound distracting, but there is so much madness going on, it is really just another thing to try to process. Incorporating highly stylized graphics into some of the wildest fight scenes you could ever hope to see (choreographed by action director Master Sammo Hung), Zero does not lack for energy. It even veers into steampunk territory when Yang and the citizens of Chen combine forces to fight the Troy, the Wild Wild West-esque armored steam engine commanded by Yu-niang’s vengeful ex, Fang Zijing, who lived in Chen for years, but was never allowed to learn their secrets either.

From "Tai Chi Zero."

Although actress-model Angelababy is already a huge star throughout Asia, her enormously charismatic performance as Yu-niang should earn her a considerable cult following in the West. She is nothing less than dynamite throwing Yang about like a rag doll.  It is hard to think of another action star who can be so convincingly cute, tough, and vulnerable, all at the same time.

As “the Freak,” Changquan Wushu champion Jayden Yuan has an endearing sad sack presence and is always credible in the action scenes. Tony Leung Ka Fai (a.k.a. “Big Tony” Leung) is clearly enjoying every moment of scenery chewing as the idiosyncratic Master Chen. Though only appearing briefly as Yang’s mother, Shu Qi is still ethereally striking and always worth watching. The only weak link is Eddie Peng, whose Fang Zijing is a rather underwhelming villain. Oh, but wait. Ending with what is essentially a trailer for the sequel, Zero promises heavier heavies to come.

Zero is so amped up and adrenaline charged, actor-turned-director Fung deserves major credit for maintaining his narrative clarity amid all the commotion. Indeed, he has a talent for stage-managing insanity. Visually distinctive and loads of meathead fun, Tai Chi Zero is highly recommended for genre fans when it opens this Friday (10/19) in New York at the AMC Empire.

LFM GRADE: A-

Posted on October 18th, 2012 at 10:55am.

Who Ordered Room Service? LFM Reviews Four Assassins

Mercedes Renard in "Four Assassins."

By Joe Bendel. Although it might sound glamorous, life as a contract killer can be a grind. Yes, there is a lot of travel, but you never really get to see the sights. For instance, a quartet of professionals are in Hong Kong on business, but they will spend all their time in a hotel room throughout Stanley J. Orzel’s Four Assassins (trailer here), which opens this Friday in Los Angeles.

Marcus was not expecting his old flame Cordelia to knock on the door of his hotel room. She is not just an ex, she is also a colleague. He has never previously met the muscle she brought with her, but he and Chase take an instant disliking to each other. Being blindsided by the thug from Gibraltar does not help much. They are waiting for one more mystery guest to arrive: Eli, the crafty veteran who mentored both Marcus and Cordelia.

It seems Marcus came up one body short on his last gig and the big boss wants some answers. However, the hitman is feigning innocence, if that’s the right term. As they wait for instructions from the man, the four titular assassins will verbally spar, tell sea stories, and look for weaknesses to exploit.

Aside from periodic flashbacks, 4A is almost entirely set within Marcus’s suite. At least it’s a nice hotel. In fact, the film has the feeling of a stage thriller, as conceived by Tarantino or Johnnie To. Orzel (an American expat filmmaker, whose credits include work on several Zhang Yimou epics) makes a virtue of the one set limitations, producing a caged tiger vibe. Given it starts in media res, there are not a lot of shocking plot revelations in store for viewers per se, but his dialogue is notably sharp.

Miguel Ferrer in "Four Assassins."

Those pointed exchanges definitely play to the strengths of Miguel Ferrer, best known to children of the 80’s and 90’s as pathologist Albert Rosenfield on Twin Peaks and as the slimy executive who creates Robocop in the original 1987 film. He is perfect for the role of Eli, the sardonic, world weary senior assassin. Will Yun Lee (recognizable from Witchblade and the Hawaii Five-O reboot) looks appropriately haggard yet dangerous as Marcus, the protagonist assassin. Mercedes Renard also holds her own quite nicely during the cutting exchanges, but Oliver Williams’ Chase comes across like someone doing a Cary Elwes impersonation, which could very well have been what the casting notice called for.

4A might be a B-movie-ish affair, but it has a strong noir sensibility, nicely enhanced by the richly appointed set crafted by Longman Leung’s design team. Orzel adroitly maintains the pace and tension, getting nice assists from his small ensemble, especially Ferrer. Though small in scope, it is a rather entertaining, dark little hitman thriller, recommended for genre fans who do not require a lot of high concept action sequences when it opens tomorrow (10/19) at the Laemmle NoHo 7 in North Hollywood.

LFM GRADE: B

Posted on October 18th, 2012 at 10:53am.