Universal Language (2024) opens Friday

 

I started laughing almost from the first frame and continued doing so until the end credits. I laughed more at this film than almost any American comedy of the last two decades.

At the outset the plot of UNIVERSAL LANGUAGE seems to be several different stories. The truth is it’s all one big interconnected tale, you just have to stick with it until all the pieces line up.  Don't worry that isn’t going to be a problem because the film is going to be making you laugh out loud for most of its running time.

The humor is very much absurdist of the best sort. Think of it as something akin to the manic madness of a Marx Brothers comedy but with a more modern and less devil may care attitude.  Referencing the Marx’s may make you wonder how that is possible, but something happens in the first few minutes that makes you realize that is the absurdist territory we are operating in. (I will not spoil it)

What I love about the film is that the humor isn’t dry or forced.  Too many absurdist comedies don’t feel real and feel like they are trying to make a point. Eugène Ionesco’s plays which are excellent absurdist pieces, can, when done badly feel forced. Here there is things feel silly absurd but they also feel grounded. We can see the things that happen actually happen.  I can see myself trying to figure out how to get stuck money, deal with stolen glasses or pretty much anything else that happens here including dealing with turkeys.

I laughed out loud from start to finish, and when I wasn’t laughing I was smiling.

And I know there is more to this film beyond the laughs, but the laughs and smiles are what I took away from the film, so that is what I am reporting on.

I love this film.

Highly recommended.

The Death of Stalin (2017)

I finally caught up with THE DEATH OF STALIN and I was very entertained.

This is a graphic novel based black comedy about what happened when Stalin unexpectedly died and the ruling party members scrambled in order to remain in power and remain alive.

As my friend Joe Bendel said this is the rare comedy that can make political terror and mass murder something to laugh about. Of course it isn't really funny, but seeing how the men who did terrible things try to use past misdeeds as leverage to remain alive is funny. People, especially those in power, are really monsters and in places like the former Soviet Union (and Russia today) that was the case ten fold.

I laughed from start to finish at the grand farce of it all. AT the same time I marveled at how straight things were historically. Yes, somethings were altered, but mostly this is a straight on telling just with a farcical tone.

The film is an off beat delight and recommended.

MISERICORDIA (2024) NYFF 2024

Alain Guiraudie's MISERICORDIA starts off as if wants to be a Hitchcockian thriller,  but it not so quickly descends into bedroom farce where it should have been from the start.

The film begins when a former employee man comes to the home of his former employer for his funeral and he ends up committing murder. Things become complicated as he tries to not let anyone know what happened.

Never getting the tone right MISERICORDIA flounders for much of it's running time. Not much happens. And up to a certain point you will be asking if it is this a comedy or a thriller? It isn't clear until almost the very end. 

Complicating everything is the fact that Guiraudie doesn't tell us anything about any of the characters. Lots of details are not in the film, such as the lead character being a former employee. Everyone has a back story they clearly know but at the same time we are not let in to any of it. What exactly is everyone's relationship? I have no clue because it isn't in the film (it is all revealed the press notes). The characters aren't cipher's they are voids.

It isn't until the murder happens that the questions as toi what is happening stop because we get a sort of narrative thrust. And it isn't until the film falls fully into farce that the film finds it's tone. But by that time the film is a complete mess even if we are laughing at it. (And don't bring the kids since erections are used as punchlines twice)

Yea I kind of liked it but this really should have been better.

Worth a shot

The Crime Is Mine (2023) opens Christmas Day

THE CRIME IS MINE is based on a 1934 play by  Georges Berr and Louis Verneuil and it’s an absolute delight. The plot of the film has a desperate actress claiming to have killed a lecherous producer for the publicity. As she rides the notoriety to fortune complications, not the least of which is someone else steps forward to say that they were really the one who did it.

I had an absolute blast with this film. Yea I know that’s wearing my heart on my sleeve, but after weeks of serious year end films  seeing a really well done French farce with Isabelle Huppert in scene chewing supporting role just warmed the cockles of my heart and made me smile.

What an absolute joy.

While the film is mining the same sort of territory as CHICAGO, albeit in a gentler less cynical form, it still is a biting attack on the rich, the patriarchy, and the entertainment industry. You can feel the barbs as you laugh.

Yes there is a creakiness to bits of this, but that’s okay since it’s just part of the films period charm.

If you want something light to make you smile I can’t recommend this film enough

18½ hits theaters nationwide Friday

In 1974 Washington a stenographer assigned to transcribe a meeting discovers that at the end of the tape is a recording of Nixon listening to to the legendary tape with the missing 18 minutes. She contacts a reporter she admires and they end up going to listen to a motel to hear the tape. The trouble is the tape recorder is broken. This sets in motion a chase to get a new recorder and to stay out of the way of the people who maybe tracking them.

This dark comedic thriller feels like it fell through a time warp and landed here. While the film doesn't seem like a film from the 1970's, it feels like it is a document of the 1970's. I was  watching the film and a lot of little things seem like they were ripped from my memories. Watching the film it feels like I was ten again. Actually the only thing that I can see that the film got wrong is no one is smoking.

Another thing that is 1970's about the film is it's political thriller spine. The tale at the center is some thing from the family of thrillers like THE PARALAXVIEW, TWLIGHTS LAST GLEAMING and even ALL THE PRESIDENTS MEN.  It should be stated that outside of the 18½ minute gap and the political figures at the center of the tale, none of this is true. Not that it matters, you'll be hooked early. 18½ mixes fiction with history.to create a compelling tale that keeps you watching.

In going throwback writer director Dan Mirvish has fashioned something fresh. No one is making films like this. It feels old school but it has a modern edge. Its a difficult path to walk but Mirvish does it near perfectly. The blending makes the film something we warm to instantly. Its so nice to fall into a film this quickly and feel utterly at home. This is something special.

If there is any bump in the film, it's some of the farcical elements. Some of the turns are a little too silly. Some of the hippie bits and bits with the older couple didn't have to be played as "broadly". The film would have been just fine playing it all completely straight.

Bumps or no 18½ is recommended. Its a wonderful little gem that tells one hell of a story. More importantly its a film that is unlike anything else out there. Its a singular film that is the perfect cure for anyone who is tired of your typical Hollywood fodder.

18½(2021) Tallgrass Film Festival 2021

In 1974 Washington a stenographer assigned to transcribe a meeting discovers that at the end of the tape is a recording of Nixon listening to to the legendary tape with the missing 18 minutes. She contacts a reporter she admires and they end up going to listen to a motel to hear the tape. The trouble is the tape recorder is broken. This sets in motion a chase to get a new recorder and to stay out of the way of the people who maybe tracking them.

This dark comedic thriller feels like it fell through a time warp and landed here. While the film doesn't seem like a film from the 1970's, it feels like it is a document of the 1970's. I was  watching the film and a lot of little things seem like they were ripped from my memories. Watching the film it feels like I was ten again. Actually the only thing that I can see that the film got wrong is no one is smoking.

Another thing that is 1970's about the film is it's political thriller spine. The tale at the center is some thing from the family of thrillers like THE PARALAXVIEW, TWLIGHTS LAST GLEAMING and even ALL THE PRESIDENTS MEN.  It should be stated that outside of the 18½ minute gap and the political figures at the center of the tale, none of this is true. Not that it matters, you'll be hooked early. 18½ mixes fiction with history.to create a compelling tale that keeps you watching.

In going throwback writer director Dan Mirvish has fashioned something fresh. No one is making films like this. It feels old school but it has a modern edge. Its a difficult path to walk but Mirvish does it near perfectly. The blending makes the film something we warm to instantly. Its so nice to fall into a film this quickly and feel utterly at home. This is something special.

If there is any bump in the film, it's some of the farcical elements. Some of the turns are a little too silly. Some of the hippie bits and bits with the older couple didn't have to be played as "broadly". The film would have been just fine playing it all completely straight.

Bumps or no 18½ is recommended. Its a wonderful little gem that tells one hell of a story. More importantly its a film that is unlike anything else out there. Its a singular film that is the perfect cure for anyone who is tired of your typical Hollywood fodder.

Mandible (2021) Hits theaters July 23

Two brain dead buddies are sent on a mission to deliver a suitcase for a friend they find their car vandalized so they steal a new one. Along the way they open the trunk and find a giant fly inside. Deciding not to deliver the suitcase they instead decide to train the fly...but things happen.

Quentin Dupieux's latest film MANDIBLES is almost a normal film. Almost entirely free of surreal touches, the film actually runs closer to a Farrelly Brothers film than his typical insanity such as a sentient tire out to kill people. Admittedly the film is centered around a giant fly found in the trunk of a car, but at the same time the fly falls away from things for long sections of the film and you'll almost forget about it.

I'm not certain what I think of MANDIBLES. In some ways this film is tighter than some of Dupieux's other films but at the same time without the madness of the out there situations he creates the film kind of falls flat. I think the problem for me is that without a loopy though line, even something as simple as gaslighting cops  in KEEP AN EYE OUT,  Dupieux's humor is unremarkable. To be certain I don't like all of his films but I will always try them because he is at least reaching for something. Here is a been there and done that lowbrow comedy that we've kind of seen before. Its not that Dupieux is repeating himself, he is repeating other people which is something he has never done before.

To be fair MANDIBLES is funny. It has laughs, many in very poor taste, and if that's all you want that's great but if you are a fan of Dupieux's madness you might find yourself slightly disappointed

Ariela sings about Rock and Roll (2017) Tribeca 2017

Wow. That is what I said when Rock’n’Roll ended.

Rock’n’Roll stars Guillaume Canet and Marion Cotillard who are a couple in real life. They play themselves in the film. Canet is on the set of a film in which he plays a father. His co-star, is a young attractive girl who plays his daughter. She mentions that hes not "rock ‘n’ roll", that she and her friends don't fantasize about him, that he's not cool. When he hear this, his ego is bruised and he soon becomes obsessed with wanting to be younger. He wants to be cool, he wants to be "rock n roll", he doesn't want to play fathers in movies, he wants young actor roles. He goes through a mid-life crisis of sorts..he starts dressing younger (leather jacket, tight jeans, wallet chain) and going out to clubs, getting drunk and doing drugs. He really wants to fit in and be the cool guy. This doesn't go over well. Some of the parts were hilarious, but others I wasn't sure whether I should laugh or cry! You definitely feel bad for him(or at least I did).

I loved the dialogues between Canet and Cotillard. Cotillard had many hilarious lines and even her facial expressions often made the audience laugh. She's so cute and just overall great.

I don't want to ruin the film, because I definitely think it's one to see. I liked the first part more than the second. The second was almost a bit too ridiculous and over the top(especially the end). However, after talking to a friend about it, I thought maybe it wasn't all that extreme or ridiculous. I am sure many people in the spotlight feel the same way he does and do many of the things he did. I definitely think the film explores the vanity that people have in Hollywood.

This film was a combination of wacky, funny, sad, and weird.

Free and Easy (2016) Sundance 2016

A gangster with soap that knocks people out so he can rob them, a fake monk looking for solidarity through common pursuit, a forest ranger looking for a stolen tree, cops trying to solve a crime without clues and a few other odd ball people wander through Jun Geng's very funny farce FREE AND EASY.

One might be tempted to compare it to some of the off kilter work of Jim Jarmusch or similar directors but at the same time there is something truly unique and quite wonderful, not to mention frequently funny about Geng's film. Sure everything seems to be odd or off  with all of the characters and situations in the film, but at the same time Geng has rooted the film largely in a reality that makes us accept what we are seeing. Sure the soap bit is out there, but all of the rest really isn't that far from reality or people we know- we're just seeing them through a slightly farcical lens.

There is a flavor to FREE AND EASY unique and wonderfully it's own. Its a film that looks like other films set in the wilds of China, much like how can see several versions of the same dish from different restaurants  but there is always something slightly different to the taste the result of the chef's slighting differing ways of mixing the ingredients. Geng has this wonderful way of mixing the humor/fantasy with reality to make something that in its way really hits home.

Early in the film there is a scene where a young man who was robbed via the soap goes to report the incident to the police. The sequence goes sideways as the police begin to quiz him about his martial arts skills and then ask for a demonstration. It's an odd moment  but watching a young man  do a few reluctant kung fu moves  the uncertainty, excuses creates this wonderful connection to reality.. It nails that awkward moment we've all experienced where someone has asked us to be on. Its a throw away moment that moves us closer to believing what we are seeing. There are several moments through out the film which ring with a clarity and understanding of reality that most dramas never get.

This a farce that isn't really a farce even though things play that way. This is a film that is ultimately something much more.

I really love this film a great deal. Its one of those movies where I can't stop thinking about. Its also a film where I have been struggling to do a review where I can fully  express the feeling and the flavor of the wonders that are contained inside. Its a film that sneaks up on you and makes you fall in love with it.

If you want to cut to the chase and get to the pull quote simply know that this is one of the best films I've seen from Sundance this year. Its one of the gems of the early film year and a film I can't wait to for friends to see it so that we can discuss it.

Go see this film.

The film's remaining Sundance screening schedule:

Public Screening #4: Thursday, January 26, 2:30PM (Prospector Square Theatre)
Public Screening #5: Friday, January 27, 1:00PM (Holiday Village Cinema 4)

Face of Another (2012) Open Roads New Italian Cinema 2013

After a truly bizarre opening sequence with bandaged men and women staggering zombie like through the forest this farcial satire settles down into a look at celebrity, good looks and the all mighty dollar as Belle, the host of a TV show on plastic surgery is injured by a flying toilet. Taken back to her husband's clinic (he's the surgeon of the show) a media frenzy erupts as the public waits to see what will become of Belle's face.

When the film works, which it does frequently, it is a funny comedy of vain-ity as everyone tries to get their own. The performances are spot on. The look of the film is something akin to Fellini meets Busby Berkley meets art deco is a wonder to behold.

Unfortunately this brings me to the script which doesn't match cast or the design. Not only are its points obvious, but it also is a bit too scatological with a line about laxatives repeated every couple of minutes and a grand shower of shit a climax of the film. (I have nothing wrong against either, I simply wish they were funnier)

Ultimately this is an enjoyable but very minor farce that would play better if it wasn't trying so hard to actually be about something. They say satire is the thing that dies on Saturday night, but for my money it's only when its poorly done, and here it's just adequetely done. Satire shouldn't bash you over the head and here the film does just that as it hits the easy targets of fame, greed and instant stardom. The points being driven home here aren't anything new. However there are times when the film is quite funny. If you can get past the desire to say "no duh" you'll have a good time.

Peking Opera Blues (1986) Celebrating Chinese New Year!

For the next 9 days, we at Unseen Films are going to celebrate Chinese New Year by shining a spotlight on some films that we feel should be given the red carpet - lunar new year treatment! Lookout for some wild & epic wuxia pieces including the latest from Jet Li and a period piece from Taiwan filmed with puppets! It will blow your mind-guaranteed! Some other can’t misses include a Tsui Hark classic, a Stephen Chow comedy, a Wong Kar Wai parody, an Andy Lau romance, a beautiful & romantic work of art by Zhang Yimou, & some more surprises from the overlord wizard of Unseen Films! Thanks to DB for allowing me to maestro this movie theme and by all means, tell us what some of your favorite movies are to celebrate 2012: the Year of the Dragon! The chinese lunar new year actually starts on January 23rd -- but we figured we’d start a few days earlier to get you all punch drunk before the dragon whips its tail! Enjoy!
-mr c


One of the best films from director Tsui Hark, and one of my favorite films that he's directed.

For me Tsui Hark has always been a better producer than a director. Sure he's directed some wonderful films (Butterfly Murders, Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame, All About Women) and when he's on he's one of the best directors out there but he's also directed some real stinkers (You can't seriously tell me that Seven Swords isn't one of the dullest most long winded films around)

With Peking Opera Blues Hark manages to make a film that really works on it's own terms even when those terms are utter nonsense.

The film concerns three women, a box of jewels, a warlord and a theater where Peking Opera is performed by men. It is by turns a grand adventure, farce and the story concerning the empowerment of women.

The plot, very roughly explained, has a General needing money to stay in power. His mistress is actually working with the revolutionaries and is conspiring to steal his money. When a box of jewels goes missing, it ends up in a theater where Peking Opera is performed. The owner's daughter wishes to perform but law forbids it. As everyone tries to find out where the jewels are people are also forced to try and work out who is really a man and who is a woman.

Its grand farce expertly done.

I'm not going to lie and say that it all makes sense, it doesn't. The point of the film is to make you smile and feel good and that's something this film manges to in spades. Every time I watch this film I smile from ear to ear from start to finish. Not only that I'm constantly say "oh Wow!!" out loud. Never mind that I've seen this film at least a dozen or so times over the years, I still am impressed by the action.

I know several women who love this film. They love that this film has three kick ass women in the lead. They are woman who manage to both fight better than most of the men on screen, but also manage to have a deeply feminine side. The women who love the film love that it allows the heroines to have it both ways. They don't need to choose one way or another, indeed they only seem to come out on top when they manage to be both things.

Not to put too fine a point on it this is one of the best films to come out of China in the 1980's and it's probably one of the top wu xia films ever made.

If you love action films, hell if you love movies you really need to see this film. It's some of the best work by one of the best directors working today.