Tiger Girl (2017) Fantasia 2017

After flunking out of the police academy Margarete studies to be a security guard. When she's in a bar one night one of the police cadets strong arms her into going home with him.  However she is rescued by Tiger, a "take no shit" kind of girl who Margarete had encountered before. Forming a friendship the pair head out to break heads and give pay back in the world.

Genre bending feminist action buddy film TIGER GIRL has much that will delight audiences, chief among them are the two lead characters who put a heavy spin on what we normally think of in buddy films. There is no deep dark reasons for their turn to violence simply a reaction to the world as it is. They are just two intriguing people who occasionally kick people's asses.

Well made and well told there wonderfully no lessons here, just the girls doing what they do...

...which can be a problem as the film comes to a close and the light weightness of some of the turns make this not as satisfying as it should be. Its not that there is anything wrong with what happens, rather it's as weightless as the rest.

I really liked TIGER GIRL a great deal but I wanted to love it even more.

The Night Watchmen (2017) Fantasia 2017

Blimpo the Clown and his fellow circus performers are all killed while on tour in Romania. Back in the States the body is sent to a newspaper building for the night before heading off to the funeral home. As the security crew breaks in a new guy, Blimpo rises from the dead and begins a bloody zombie rampage.

Blood and gore mix with off the wall humor to make a very funny and surprisingly tense horror comedy. Knowing all the rules for a film like this, THE NIGHT WATCHMEN quickly sets about breaking them with wild abandon. Rules are meant to be broken as are funny bones which get cracked by the very knowing humor.

With great practical effects adding a realness to it all the film manages to actually keep you on the edge of your seat laughing as you ponder exactly who is going to live and who is going to die (horribly).

I enjoyed the hell out of this film to the extent I sent out emails to all my horror friends telling them to keep an eye out for this wonderful little gem.

Highly recommended to gore hounds when it plays tonight at Fantasia-assuming you can score tickets.

Fantasia ’17: Lu Over the Wall

When it comes to mer-people, the Celts have their selkie, the Slavs have the rusalka, and Japan tells tales of the ningyo. Those ningyo legends have a darker tone than our Disney and Ron Howard mermaid movies, so it is not so surprising many residents of a coastal Japanese fishing village hold misconceptions regarding ningyos. One compulsively cheerful ningyo will do her best to change their prejudices, starting with a moody Tokyo transplant in Masaaki Yuasa’s Lu Over the Wall, which screens during the 2017 Fantasia International Film Festival.

Yuasa has been busy, having already released Lu and Night is Short, Walk on Girl in Japan this year. While both feature his “flat” style of character rendering, Lu is clearly intended for a much younger audience. After his parents’ divorce, Kai moves to the harbor town of Hinashi with his father. The moody aspiring electronica DJ reluctantly joins the band led by town princess Yuho and her torch-carrier Kunio, mostly because he is curious to see Mermaid Island, where they practice.

The island was once the site of an ill-fated ningyo/mermaid-themed amusement park, but deserted jutting rock formation always shielded nearby “Mermaid Harbor” from the sun they dread. This is one of the few ningyo legends that is apparently true. They also really enjoy music, especially Lu, who can’t help singing along with the band. As luck would have it, she has a better voice than Yuho, so Lu replaces her as lead vocalist. Of course, this makes things awkward when they actually get live gigs, especially considering the anti-ningyo sentiments of old-timers, like the old granny who blames the ningyo for her husband’s disappearance.

It is indeed true ningyo can turn the land-bound into ningyo with a vampire bite to the neck. However, they only use their powers for good, as when Lu liberates all the puppies in the pound, turning them into merdoggies. She pretty much has everyone in the audience won over at that point. Still, she is a bit young-looking to be hanging with Kai and Kuho. Supposedly, they are in middle school, but their animated figures look more like high school teens, whereas Lu resembles a nine or ten-year-old. Technically, Yuasa keeps things squeaky clean, but when Kai finally admits he has feelings for Lu, it should make everyone feel a little uncomfortable.

Still, Yuasa has an affinity youthful alienation and the rhythms of small town life. It is also nice to see so many presumably minor characters take on greater significance later in the film. The major plot points are all pretty predictable and the environmental messaging gets a bit tiresome, but Yuasa keeps us hooked with all his clever bits of business. Plus, there are merpuppies. Miguel Ortega & Tran Ma’s Ningyo is still more our kind of mer-creature film, but Lu should charm fans of similar films, like Ponyo and Mia and the Migoo. Recommended for young viewers, Lu Over the Wall screens tonight (7/31) and tomorrow (8/1), as part of this year’s Fantasia.

Spoor( 2017) Fantasia 2017

Environmentalist living alone in the woods ends up in the middle of a series of murders when the local bigwigs and hunters begin to die and the evidence seems to point to animals tuning against mankind.

Beautiful to look at film plays for much of it's running time as an ethereal mystery with the sense that anything can happen. While clearly an art film, it manages to get its hooks into genre lovers with a genuine sense that anything can happen.

Unfortunately there is a point somewhere along the way where the deliberate pacing and the shift to the film making a forceful point about the environment and animal rights has the film go off the road like several of the cars in the film.  While the accident isn't a total wreck the film is still off the road and it never manages to get back in time to have a satisfying finish.

Not a bad film but more a good one that disappoints. Worth a look for animal rights people and those who just want to see great images.

SPOOR plays again tomorrow at Fantasia. Tickets and more information can be had here.

S.U.M.1 (2017) Fantasia 2017

S.U.M.1 is a soldier living in an underground bunker. Humanity has been largely wiped out and has been forced to live underground by the Nonsuch an  alien race that invaded. Allowed above round during a 100 day tour in the military S.U.M. sends his time in a tall tower monitoring the sensors. But staring so much at the screens makes one wonder about things like, what happened to the guy who was here before...

Great looking Spartan film suffers from a severe sense of deja vu. We have been here before any number of time. Feeling at times like some of the live action work of Mamoru Oshii the film is largely S.U.M. wandering around alone, dealing with a couple of people before we get to the end and the revelation. It wouldn't be bad but other than looking utterly spectacular (even with an over se in some sequences of CGI)

Watchable but I hoped for more

Fantasia 17: The Night is Short, Walk on Girl

It’s easy to play up the bittersweet moments in an American Graffiti­-style end-of-an-era night of partying. However, if you can find the best parts in the hangover than you’re really onto something. Buckle up, because it is going to be a heck of a party in Masaaki Yuasa’s The Night is Short, Walk on Girl, which screens during the 2017 Fantasia International Film Festival.

It starts with a wedding, but the after-after-party is where it’s at. Than these Kyoto college students are off to enjoy the night life of the nocturnal city that apparently puts both New York and Las Vegas to shame. The Senpai (upperclassman) would like to chat up his crush, an underclassman known simply as “The Girl with Black Hair,” but he is painfully shy, He gets ribbed by his friends, but frankly they are even worse, especially Don Underwear, so-called because he pledged never to change his under-garments until he finds the mystery woman he fell in love with during a brief chance encounter. If the logic of his strategy escapes you, just backburner that thought for now.

The Senpai will follow the Girl with Black Hair as she struts through the college district nightlife like an animated Holly Golightly. It would be a bit stalkerish if he weren’t so ineffectual. They might actually be meant for each other, but first the Girl with will get a lesson in exotic cocktail history, assist the Puck-ish God of the Used Book Market restore cosmic balance to the free flow of used books, and step into the lead role of a guerilla theater troupe’s floating production.

Kyoto looks like a heck of a fun city and the Girl with is an absolutely charming companion to share it with. There is probably more alcohol consumed in Night is Short than a typically sloshed Hong Sang-soo or Thin Man movie, but there is more to it than that. In fact, the wild night catches up with them, sending nearly everyone to their sick beds to nurse colds and flus, except Girl with. As she starts tending to her old and new friends, certain aspects of the night come into sharper focus.

Night is Short is a rarity among animated films, because it maintains a light, whimsical vibe, while not including any objectionable material, but it clearly has an adult sensibility. You need to have lived through a few nights like this, albeit without the surreal flights of fantasy, to fully appreciate the film’s intoxicating vibe.

Yuasa’s style is also rather mischievously flexible. He slides up and down the scale from representationally realistic anime to dayglo candy-colored abstraction, but somehow he maintains a consistency of tone and attitude. It is just a trip to take in all the visual confections.

Like the Girl with Black Hair, Yuasa’s film is an energetic charmer. Night is Short has heart and panache married together in ways we’ve rarely seen. It will make you feel several years younger, so maybe you consider seeing it if you have the chance. Very highly recommended, Night is Short, Walk on Girl screens tonight (7/30) and tomorrow (7/31), during this year’s Fantasia.

Attraction (2017) Fantasia 2017

Fedor Bondarchuk's epic IMAX science fiction film  disappoints.

Damaged by a meteor storm and brought down by Russian fighters an alien spacecraft crashes into moscow. As the military quarantine the area a group of  young adults, including the daughter of the head of the military go into the restricted area and explore.  As the military tries to figure out what to do and contain the situation  the explorers contact he alien.

Soapy film degenerates into a romance between earthling and alien, a father daughter drama, and humans aren't so bad after all parable- all of which we've seen about a thousand times. This all might have worked had the film not tried to be so epic in scope. Filmed to fill an IMAX frame everything is shot to look expansive, even the small human moments.  Its a nice idea but the drama gets lost in the empty spaces of the screen.

While far from a bad film, it is dramatically unremarkable and there isn't enough here to sustain an over two hour film despite some visually amazing sequences.

Worth a look if you run across it on TV but I really can't recommend paying t see it on the big screen which is where the visuals will really impress.

Brief word on brief films:FANTASIA Shorts SCARECROW ISLAND,RAINBOW, NUTAG, HIGH HEELS, 500,000 YEARS and VALLEY OF THE WHITE BIRDS

500,000 YEARS
Moody film concerns a traveling film theater that sets up at a shrine in the middle of the forest. A wonderful little confection that would make a wonderful, if eerie companion to CINEMA TRAVELERS.

HIGH HEELS
In the far flung future humans live on as androids. One android makes high heel shoes and strives to make the perfect pair for a customer. More mood and image over content, this is a neat little short that is enjoyable but is a tad too long at 30 minutes for what the pay off it.

NUTAG - HOMELAND
Visually overpowering tone poem about a displaced people is a hypnotic trip. It is an indescribable experience but the bigger the image the more over whelming this will be. An absolute must see in a theater on a big screen.

RAINBOW
on the island of Rainbow Sooni's boyfriend is a superhero. Cute little film about the trouble f dating someone everyone loves

SCARECROW ISLAND
Years after the monsters created by nuclear was have forced Humans to the sea one fighter pilot thinks he's found an island where people live. Good science fiction tale that makes you think

VALLEY OF THE WHITE BIRDS
Stunningly beautiful and powerfully haunting tale of a young mage who can't shake his past wandering into the an abandon village to do battle.
Gorgeous

MATASABURO OF THE WIND (2017) Fantasia 2017

One of the best animated films of the year, Hiroki Yamada's short film is a stunning short concerns a a little girl who moves to a new town, loses a hat, gets a feather from a god and makes some new friends.

A stunning pastoral slice of life where animals go to schools with humans this is a lovely and charming a film as I've seen. It is a masterpiece of the highest order and Yamada should be given a feature film ASAP.

How good is the film? Lets just say that Ghibli should worry about what Yamada can do.

WOW.

A Day (2017) Fantasia 2017

Famous surgeon on his way home to see his daughter stops to help at the scene of a car accident only to discover his daughter is one of the victims. Waking up on a plane from a very real dream he begins to replay his dream over and over again. As it spins out he realizes he has a chance to save his daughter if he can make things go right- but what is right?

A kind of Korean Groundhog Day this film has other things on it’s mind then comedy. An often intriguing look at karma and the difficult struggle to find the right path A DAY is a film that wants to make you think while you are on the edge of your seat. The film is often a high octane thrill ride with some killer set pieces which will keep you watching. (One of the versions of the death the doctors daughter is sickeningly filmed in slow motion.)

While the film is full of moments I’m not sure it pulls it all together in the end with its message taking precedence over a fully satisfying ending. Quibble aside definitely worth seeing

Fantasia Capsules- Fritz Lang, Dark Land, LaPlaces Demons, Drib , and Expo 67:Mission Impossible

Fritz Lang
Intriguing idea of Fritz Lang becoming a kind of character in one of his movie in between Woman in the Moon and M never quite comes together the way it should. The problem with the film is too much of a hybrid. Mixing actual footage with new as well as expanding on actual events the film never quite feels real. We are constantly pulled out of one reality, either real or created, and put in the other. The blending isn’t as seamless as it should be. I think the film should have been all recreation then we would have accepted it all. I should also probably mention that having a cursory knowledge of Lang kind of prevented me from buying the dramatic premise as well. Worth a a look but nothing spectacular.

Darkland
Good thriller has a well-respected doctor putting his career on hold to chase down the bad guys who killed his brother after a heist goes wrong. Great looking with style to burn this is a film that will hold your attention despite a slightly slack pacing and some plot bumps (why would crooks continue with a robbery when a car accident happens outside and cops are descending on it). Recommended.

Drib
Part documentary part dramatic recreation follows what happens when an energy drink hires provocative comedian Amir Asgharnejad to rep their company and do advertising spots. Things do not go as expected. Odd film about a clash of cultures, provocation comedy and advertising, never quite works. So much of the film is recreation that nothing feels real. Worse unlike Orson Welles F is For Fake which most people believe the first time through Asgharnejad is such a joker that you never go with the flow. (and he’s a bit of an ass as well so you really don’t care.) Not bad but extremely disappointing in that it never achieves whatever it is it wants to do.

La Places's Demons
Scientists who discover the ability to predict the outcome of any event such as a smashing glass are invited to an isolated island to share their discovery only to have things go really weird when their host begins to act strangely. Moody black and white film is very mannered and echoes the work of Guy Maddin in an over long tale that is more intent on making a point rather than actually telling a scary story. More a series of moments or images rather than a whole movie my interest waned early and never returned.

Expo 68: Mission Impossible
Good but much too short look at the making of the Expo 67 the biggest world’s fair ever. Featuring tons of unseen films, photos & documents the film tells a story . Breezing by in a swift 68 minutes this film goes into the behind scenes story of the making of the legendary world’s fair at speed. It’s a great but at the same time after showing us the archive that had until recently never been touched we are left wanting more. I would love to have seen more of everything. And while I enjoyed the hell out of the film I kind of wish it had slowed down and shown us more. Definitely worth a look – now if they would only put out a companion book all would be right with the world.

Fantasia ’17: Oscar (short)

Legendary jazz producer Norman Granz knew what he was doing. It would be quite a challenge for just about any musician to make their American debut during a Jazz at the Philharmonic Concert at Carnegie Hall, but Oscar Peterson killed it. Not merely the greatest Canadian jazz musician thus far, Peterson probably led the best-selling, most acclaimed mainstream swing piano trio—ever. He took the place Nat King Cole vacated to become a full-time crooner, making the piano trio bigger than ever. Marie-Josée Saint-Pierre mixes animation and archival footage to pay tribute to the master in the National Film Board-supported short film, Oscar, which screens during the 2017 Fantasia International Film Festival.

O.P., as he was sometimes called, played his final bars in 2007, but he left behind a rich and extensive recorded archive. He was also interviewed on numerous occasions, so Saint-Pierre had plenty of primary sources to draw from. We do indeed hear Peterson recall his sink-or-swim debut and also listen to him self-deprecatingly tell the famous story of how he erroneously assumed an Art Tatum record was a piano duo, which is probably the second most famous event in the O.P. creation story. Fans would probably prefer to hear more about his great trios, but Saint-Pierre opts for the personal side of Peterson, in which he forthrightly admitted the demands of his profession put unfair stress on his first wife.

We hear a great deal of the Peterson touch in Oscar and it still sounds sophisticated yet infectious. The film is also attractive looking, frequently framing the archival performances and interviews in suitably urbane animated foregrounds. Saint-Pierre and animator Brigitte Archambault previously collaborated on the documentary short McLaren’s Negatives, which explored the creative process of Canadian animator Norman McLaren, whose 1949 short Begone Dull Care was scored by Mr. O.P., so presumably they shared a full understanding of Peterson’s significance as well as a strong working relationship—at least we would so assume from the stylish finished film.

It is hard to explain what a giant, transcendent figure Peterson cut in his final years. When he came to town to perform a concert, he was more like the earthly personification of jazz itself than a merely mortal musician. This is someone who recorded on equal terms with Louis Armstrong, Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, and Ella Fitzgerald. Saint-Pierre’s film gives us a taste of what made him so special. Frankly, the only problem with the film is it isn’t longer. Peterson’s life and Saint-Pierre’s approach could easily sustain a two-hour feature treatment. Recommended with affection, the fan-making Oscar screens tonight (7/28), with L’Ange et la Femme, at this year’s Fantasia.

Hound of the Baskervilles (1939) Fantasia 2017

I find it funny that the film that would alter Basil Rathbone’s career and type cast him forever is a film he is barely in and lists third in credits. A reasonably faithful adaption of the Conan Doyle story, Rathbone’s Holmes is off screen for much of the film as Watson and top billed Richard Greene wander the moors.

A griping dark and stormy night flick this is a super film that rightly spawned a series. I find it odd that after one more film(The Adventures…) Fox would let the series and its stars go where it would spin out for twelve more films before Rathbone walked away saying enough. I guess they couldn’t see what they had.

I really like this adaption a great deal. It’s perfect for curling up on a couch and just losing yourself not just in old Hollywood but Victorian London. Highly recommended

It plays with CHARLIE CHAN AT THE OPERA July 30 at Fantasia. For tickets go here

Charlie Chan at the Opera (1936) Fantasia 2017

Charlie Chan at the Opera was one of the later Fox productions of a Charlie Chan story. Made at a time when the series was worth of big budgets and big stars the film is a grand mystery of the sort they don't make any more.

The film has Chan getting involved with the murders happening in and around an opera house. It seems that a crazed composer (Boris Karloff) has escaped from the asylum and plans to kill the man who wronged him.

Its a wonderful production that is so lavish that the studio actually has a mini opera written just for the production. It looks and feels impressive and will surprise you if you've only seen the public domain ones not the ones that Fox produced.

As a Chan film, it's one of the best. There is a genuine mystery here and the characters while stock still manage to grab you.To be certain the there had been a lot of films in the series -this is the thirteenth of forty four, but the film still had a lot of life in it and it wouldn't really begin to become mechanical until later into Sidney Toler's run at Monogram. Fox cared about the films and made sure that they were quality products because they were a cash cow for the studio.

The shame of the Chan films is that they are viewed as being un-PC. While that may be true on some level it has to be remembered that Chan is always the smartest guy in the room. It is a something that the early entries in the series made clear. By now the series was set so they didn't need to emphasize it. (So as a result the portrayal when stripped of the previous film always looked questionable)

Regardless this is a great film and fun mystery

Recommended

The film plays July 30 as part of the Sherlock Holmes vs Charlie Chan screening at Fantasia. For tickets and more info go here

M.F.A. (2017) Fantasia 2017

Noelle is an introverted Fine Arts Student who keeps pretty much to herself. Invited to a party she is raped by a guy she had been infatuated in. Getting nowhere in reporting the crime, the camps officials want to play the blame game, she takes matters into her own hands and begins hunting the predators herself.

Painful unpleasant film is not for all audiences. This is a film that ends badly for everyone. That statement includes the audience who left twisting in their seats through most of the film either through it's use of violence or the way the film throws up real questions about how we treat victims of sexual assault.

And the violence will get a rise out of you. The rape of Noelle is one of the most brutal and ugly things put on screen. You will look away, and even then it will haunt you for a long time afterward. Credit director Natalia Leite and writer Leah Mckendrick for giving us an act that we can't forget. Even now hours after seeing the film that one sequence is like a bludgeon to my brain.

As an emotional scream about sexual violence this film is top notch.It is a damning indictment of a society that allows women to be abused with limited support and a system that often blames the victim.

But at the same time the film wobbles at times. The problem is that the change of tone as Noelle becomes an avenger doesn't always integrate completely with the seriousness of the other half of the film. It muddies the water and doesn't make it clear what exactly it wants us to feel.

Regardless it is film that is nigh impossible to shake.  Recommended for those who think they can handle it's assault on the audience.

MFA plays tonight and tomorrow at Fantasia. For more information and tickets go here.

The House of the Disappeared (2017) Fantasia 2017

Hearing weird noises a woman goes to the basement to find her husband dead and her young son sucked into a dark void. After going to jail for the murders she returns to her former home to try and find out what happened.

Okay supernatural mystery is nothing we haven’t seen before (even allowing the fact its a remake). While always entertaining it never truly thrills the way it should.

Blame the films technical quirks which require our heroine to wear a long gray wig that looks like a long gray wig and editing that seems to have everything happening a half step slower than the production of chills require.

While not a bad film this is more something to watch on a couch on a slow night instead of paying good money at a film festival.

Steve's take on Fabricated City (2017) New York Asian Film Festival 2017 Fantasia 2017

One of the best films at both of this year's NYAFF and Fantasia FABRICATED CITY is a rip roaring action film of the highest order.

The film is the story of a video gamer who is suddenly arrest for the rape and murder of a high school girl. Framed, convicted and thrown into jail he has to find a way to escape and then find the real person who did it and the reason for his being set up.

FABRICATED CITY is full of an unending chain of white knuckle set pieces. While normally the plot in a film like this could run the danger of being overwhelmed by the motion, that doesn't happen here thanks to a great cast who create and sell you on their characters. We believe because we not only like the action but we love the characters.

Adding a level to the film is the wicked social commentary and satire that runs through the film. Questions of violence,the government, corruption, patriarchy, and the place of women run through the film. One of the gang helping our hero is a woman who is light years a head of all the men, that is not a typical place for a woman to be. Its a heady mix of themes on display,most of which you'd mix unless you paused for a second to see them.

Mostly you'll remember the killer set pieces. From the opening, not to be topped mega assault in the video game on through the fights, chases and armed standoffs FABRICATED CITY is one of the best action films in several years. a beautiful blending of story character and motion this is one film you can't afford to miss.

Highly recommended

FABRICATED CITY has played NYAFF and will play the 29th at Fantasia. FOr tickets and more information go here

In Brief: Ron Goossens, Low-Budget Stuntman (2017) Fantasia 2017

This the story of shit faced drunk Ron Goosens who parleys a spectacular failure car stunt into a job as a stunt man.

This is 75 minutes of bad behavior with some really terrible people. While it’s a very funny film, it’s also the sort of thing that will make you want to take a bath when it’s done. Don’t get me wrong I laughed my ass off at times but I hated myself for doing it. These are some really unpleasant people.

Recommended despite my better judgement.

Fantasia ’17: Broken Sword Hero

King Taksin defeated the constant waves of Burmese invaders, unified his country as the Thonburi Kingdom, and promoted trade with the European powers. Of course, he did not do it alone. Initially, the bullied Joi does not look like he will be much help to anyone, particularly himself. However, destiny has different plans in Bin Bunluerit’s Broken Sword Hero, which screens during the 2017 Fantasia International Film Festival.

Unless you really know your Thai history, forget about the sword and focus on the hero. That will be Joi—eventually. It would seem like fate dealt him a tough break, considering the regional governor’s entitled son Cherd is his chief tormentor. When he finally fights back hard enough to draw blood, Joi resigns himself to a life of exile. Living by his wits, he becomes a talented Muay Thai fighter. Unfortunately, that will not be enough to defeat a true master. At least he learns an important early lesson: humility. From then on, Thongdee (as the white-teethed, betelnut abstainer is now known) will study any discipline, under any master with a unique specialty.

Along the way, Thongdee makes some real friends and serves his successive masters faithfully. Periodically, he will face off against his old nemesis Cherd and his corrupt uncle. Although Thongdee is still an outlaw, his good deeds and multi-disciplinary martial arts skills start to attract the attention of a mysterious mustachioed observer.

Bunluerit must be a heck of a persuasive director, because he convinced former Miss Teen Thailand Sornsin Maneewan to portray Thongdee’s potential love interest Ramyong with betelnut-stained teeth. Chutirada Junthit was doubly lucky to play Mauylek, an itinerant Chinese opera performer and marital artist, because she was spared the betelnut and had the chance to show off her own action chops in some of the action sequences.

Of course, the film is clearly intended to launch Muay Thai champion Sombat “Buakaw” Banchamek as the next Tony Jaa. There is no question he has the skills and the super-chiseled physique. Granted, his screen presence will not exactly blow you through the back wall of the theater, but he has greater emotional range than Van Damme and Schwarzenegger displayed early in their careers (or arguably even in their latest films). Still, he is not another Tony Jaa yet, but it isn’t for a lack of effort. He brings tremendous physicality to the action scenes, which should earn him good will from fans right from the start.

If you are looking for bare-chested, fist-pumping, sword-shattering action, Bunluerit and Buakaw deliver over and over again. Again, it is important to remember this is an origins story, so don’t get hung up waiting for a sword to break. Instead, just let the spectacle of flying elbows and knees wash over you. Highly recommended for martial arts fans, especially those who appreciate the Southeast Asian historical elements, Broken Sword Hero screens today (7/23) at this year’s Fantasia.

Junk Head (2017) Fantasia 2017

Takahide Hori's masterpiece JUNK HEAD is unlike anything you've ever seen before-unless you saw the short the film spring from. A futuristic post apocalyptic stop motion feast it will simply make you go wow repeatedly as you realize that this was done by hand.

Set thousands of years in the future when man has kind of become immortal and expedition is sent to the bowels of the city (earth?) where the clones and man made servants were sent to dwell after they had revolted. They want to see what is happening down there.

I really have no idea what to tell you this film is like.Echoing things like Fraggle Rock, Ralph Bakshi's WIZARDS, MAD MAX, and a dozen or more other things the film spins out in all sorts of ways. WHile I could tell you more of what its like it belies the truth which is the fact the film is truly it's own things. Hori has, like his creations, bits of other films for his own use. JUNK HEAD is not any of the films I mentioned but its own wondrous film.

I was entranced just watching the various riffs and background details whiz by.

This is pure cinema magic of the highest order.

If you love unique visions or are an animation junkie you must see this.

JUNK HEAD screens today and tomorrow at Fantasia. For more information and tickets go here