Babi (2021) NYAFF 2021

 

This is Namewee's investigation into a  riot at a Malaysian school in 2000 that left two dead and almost a hundred kids injured. The riot was a boiling over of ethnic tension between Malaysian and Chines students. It was hushed up and never reported on the media however word got out through other means.

I'm torn in my feelings for the film . The films structure of a police investigation beginning in the moments after they arrived is compelling and it sucks us in as we listen to various takes on what happened. The structure allows for a rapid telling of events that leaves us kind of beaten up. We also see the dislike that spawned the events still happening as the police abuse the frightened kids. The film is a punch.

The problem is that unless you are from Malaysia you my not have the context to really appreciate what it is showing us. Events just happen but the dislike between the groups has no context with the result that we are just watching a random event. For me the lack of context knocks this film down from a great film to a good one.

regardless of my feelings the film has a punch- though be warned the film only runs an hour.

City of Lost Things (2021) NYAFF 2021

Sixteen year old Leaf has a miserable life. His mother is drunk, his family ignores him, school annoys him and the kids on the street beat him up. One night after being beaten up he notices a bunch of plastic bags floating down the street. As he realizes that what he is seeing is abnormal one of the bags turns and tells him to run. Leaf turns and sees a giant armored garbage truck barreling down. He runs and ends up making his way to a place where all the unwanted garbage lives. He becomes part of their community and their quest to go to a mythic place where they all can live happily.

This is a great looking and amazingly animated film that has sequences that will blow the minds of animation junkies who love the technical side of the art. Watching the film I was thinking that people are going to love this for the way it looks. 

Unfortunately there isn't much beyond that, and this is ultimately a bleak unpleasant film that no one will really want to see. 

The problem is the whole tone of the film. The opening sequence of Leaf's terrible home life is full of all the life sucks tropes but amplified to the point that we kind of want to turn it off from the start. The look of the film, until the "happy" ending is dark and oppressive. What happens to many characters is not fun and the stuff of nightmare's. It seems like it's the Toy Story 3 conveyor belt to the furnace sequence extended to 90 minutes.  Watching the film I was constantly asking myself if I really needed to be in this nightmare place- which is clearly being fashioned as a. family film.

The darkness would have worked except that the narrative isn't very good. Leaf is a drip and we really don't care about this whiney kid. The garbage characters are much more interesting but they orbit Leaf and don't get enough screen time. The choice of a plastic bag as a co-star allows for some great animation but dosen't allow for enough expression for us to latch on to. Worst of all the story has long sequences where things don't "move". Yes things are happening but they play like they are their to fill time or show off the animators' skill. The narrative flow never runs, it doesn't walk or even stagger but it crawls. Yes the visuals keep us interested, but narratively we just don't care.

To be perfectly honest not long  in to the film I was wondering why this was being shown. I completely understood the visual part, but the dark tone and meh narrative would have had me turning the film off had I not been covering it for a film festival.

Only recommended for those who love the technical at of animation

I don't fire myself (2021) NYAFF2021

A young woman is sent to the boonies by her bosses at the power company as retribution for her misdeeds. Falling in with the guys in the satellite office she begins to train to work on the high voltage towers.

Inert drama has eye candy visuals but minimal dialog and action as not a whole hell of a lot happens  and it has a non-ending. This is a film that needs a new script and better pacing because there is nothing here. Frankly other than a vile portrait of the power company who insists the under ten daughter of a dead lineman to sign away her rights moments after being told her dad is dead, there isn't much to talk about.

Had I known this didn't have anything close to an ending I would have bailed an hour it. Silly me I kept thinking thi would come together.

Nope.

Frankly I don't know how this got programmed at a festival let alone got made.

JUNK HEAD (2017) NYAFF 2021 Fantasia 2021

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.

Shadows (2020) NYAFF2021

 

Psychiatrist who says she can enter people's psyches is asked to help with a case where a man killed his family and then tried to commit suicide. As she investigates something appears to be wrong and she has to contend with an unexpected darkness.

If you see this  be sure to see it with headphones or a theater with great sound since the sound design is awesome.

For most of the running time this is a nifty little thriller. To be certain it echoes other films and covers ground we been over before, but there is a skill and drive that makes this something chilling. Its good enough on its own terms for much of it's running time for me to say the film is worth trying.

The problem is that there is a point where the internal logic fails and the film keeps going. There is a point where I was staring at the screen wondering if the turn actually worked or if it cashed into a wall. Its into a wall but even so the film still remains fun even if it stops being great.

And I know that makes no sense but I'm not giving any more ay about the film than I have to.

Worth a look

Book of fish (2021) NYAFF 2021

In the waves of anti catholic feeling a noted scholar is sent to a small island.  There he begins a friendship with another aspiring scholar who is rising up in the ranks of the imperial court. As he spends more time in the village he begins to fall back in love with life and the starts work on a book detailing the various food to be had in the sea.

Small gem of a film is a lovely portrait of life of the characters. While the initially had me thinking that I was going to get some grand drama of court intrigue, I instead found myself in a small scale story of real people. It’s a tale of friendship and people that hooked me more than any big epic could with characters I will now carry around with me,

Highly recommended.

The Con-heartist (2021) NYAFF 2021

THE CON-HEARTIST is a light and frothy and totally mindless.  That isn’t a bad thing since it’s perfect for forgetting your troubles for a couple of hours.

The plot has a young woman almost swindled by a handsome man. She then asks his help in swindling her ex out of the money he stole from her.  Will romance blossom? Of course it will.

Breezy romcom caper will entertain you for a couple of hours before disappearing completely from your mind. That’s not a knock,  because the film does what it’s supposed to which is entertain. However there really isn’t much substance with the result it doesn’t stick with you. This is largely due to the fact that this pretty much hits every cliché out there and as a result it blends into all the other similar films.

My only real problem with the film is the film’s running time which is 127 minutes. It’s a bit much for something this light and to be perfectly honest in the second half I found myself looking at my watch even as I was waiting to see how it came out.

If you want to see something distracting for a couple hours with no aftertaste THE CON-HEARTIST is for you

Ninja Girl (2021) NYAFF 2021

Put upon civil servant taking care of her grandfather discover her family are ninjas. She then uses her talents to help the down trodden who are being pushed around by an evil consortium.

All over the place film about a young woman finding her way in the world is amusing for what it is but is hampered by it being largely the typical story of a put upon person finding themselves and standing up. I  laughed and smiled but kind of wish it had more to it than it just involving becoming becoming a ninja and was less forceful in its insistence at being funny.

Snowball (2021) NYAFF 2021

 

Not long after I saw SNOWBALL I was having a conversation with my brother  who was telling me about a bleak Korean horror film he saw that made him want to step in front of a bus. I countered and told him that he should see SNOWBALL a bleak drama that makes you feel worse.

The plot of the film concerns three teen girls who decide that they would be better off not living at home and instead run off to take an apartment together and make their way in the world because they know better. Of course they don’t and it all goes wrong.

Full of the Korean cinematic lust for depression SNOWBALL is just a trip in to the sad side. The girls go off on their own and as you expect things don’t go their way. Life beats them down and we get depressed.  While this whole film looks great and is beautifully acted the look and tone of it all kept me on edge as I waited for the various shoes to drop.

To be honest this isn’t my cup of tea. Its so much not my cup of tea that I did a double take pondering why I requested a screener. I still don’t know. Yes it’s good but I don’t need to be in this black place.

If you are a fan of Korean bleakness SNOWBALL is recommended.

Brief word on Sensei, Would You Sit Beside Me (2021)

Romance between manga artists makes for a sweet little film.

I'm not sure what to say about this film?  This is a really good romance that I enjoyed the hell out of . Its a film full of great characters that will win your heart. Sure the film doesn't do anything new, but it does entertain which in the case is enough.

Recommended

Last of the Wolves (2021) NYAFF 2021

This sequel to one of my favorite films of 2018 – Blood of Wolves is a homage to some of the great crime films of the 1970’s that reflected the rise of yakuza. This time out we are set in the 1990’s and  it’s more a mix of cops and gangsters mixing it up centering around a gangster just out of prison looking for revenge.

While I loved the earlier film I was not so hot on this film. This is a tale that has a really mean edge to it. From an early rape  that includes a graphic blinding when our villain jams his fingers into his victims eyes telling her not to hate him  for doing it since it was her brother’s doing (the rape is an act of revenge) the film keeps us on edge because we don’t know what ugly thing is going to happen next.  While I have nothing against violence in a story here it feels gratuitous. Also some of the humor doesn’t quite fit.

The film also feels over stuffed. Running about 140 minutes the film has almost too many characters running around in a story that just seems to spiral out endlessly. While it isn’t bad it isn’t up to the lean mean earlier film which kept us on the edge of our seats.

THE FABLE: THE KILLER WHO DOESN'T KILL (2021) NYAFF 2021

Sequel to the 2019 New York Asian hit about The Fable, an assassin who refuses to kill. This time out Fable has to take on a masked killer who is actually a well respected man who has dark plans.

This time out it's more of the same with humor mixing with crazy violence.  Making a bit more sense than the previous film the film's main selling point is the action sequences. While the characters and humor are fine, the real treat here is the action sequences.  Each sequence had me talking to the screen in the best sort of a way. I was thankful that I was watching it at home because it meant I could go back and rewatch some of the amazing things in the film. Amazing things that didn't look like they were all done with computers.

I had a grand time. 

While the film isn't perfect it is fun. As such it is recommended

Barbarian Invasion (2021) NYAFF 2021

 

The award winning Barbarian Invasion is a very weird mix of art house and grindhouse. Nominally it is the story of a retired actress and single mother who is looking back into the movies. She is offered a job on a do your own stunt action film being made by the director who was responsible for making her a star. Half way into the production she learns that the only way the film can continue is that if the production casts her ex-husband as co-star.

The section of the making of the movie plays like a serious art house film about a mother trying to put her life together. It’s a very good film that plays like a slice of life.  The film transitions into the film being made about half way in and the result is one of the better, serious, action films I’ve seen in a long while. Yes film in the film story reflects the art house stuff, but it also stands one it’s own as a killer action film. It may be the best action film at NYAFF this year.

For me the problem with the film comes when  in the final half hour or so the film shifts back to the art house portion of the film. Yes its good, but the shift from thriller to meditative drama is jarring, especially as the dialog bleeds away and there are long silent passages where not a lot happens (the woman walks to and then sits for a long time with a meditating monk). For me the shifting back into a low gear messup the momentum of the film. With the result I like the film but I don’t love it.

SAMJIN COMPANY ENGLISH CLASS (2021) NYAFF 2021

In 1995 several women in the Samjin Company decide to help their odds for promotion by takin an English class. Along the way the ladies begin to bond...and discover that their company is polluting the river near one of their plants. Its a fact that will hurt the merger with an American company.

Entertaining little film that manages to be both a funny comedy and a tense thriller. Its a perfectly modulated film that is full of wonderful characters brought to life by wonderful ladies.  Honestly this is a small gem of a film that surprised the hell out of me.

Recommended

Song For You (2021) NYAFF 2021 or the problem with NYAFF

 

Country boy goes to the city in order to compete in an indigenous song contest. Along the way he meets a woman he thinks maybe a Tibetan goddess of wisdom.

Excellent drama is full of great characters and great music. This is the sort of unexpected charmer that you used to find with regularity at the New York Asian Film Festival, but not so much of late. Its a film that I hope to be able to add to my collection.

While I understand that the New York Asian Film Festival has been trying to remain apolitical concerning China and the horrible things it has been doing in Hong Kong, I know they have been simply trying to get beyond that and highlight the films from the filmmakers under the Chinese sphere of influence. But questions remain- where do they stand on China's abuses?  

I have been trying to do something similar and highlight the films because I think many of the films need to be seen. For me voices need to be heard and I have been trying to do that despite being involved in several conversations about whether it's okay to cover any Chinese films or whether we should be covering the festival at all since they are getting money to put it on from Chinese sources.

The problem for me is that early in the film a discussion of how the music of Tibet was being changed for mass consumption and for what ever reason I had to stop the film and reconsider what I was watching. Yes, its a good film, but at the same time the film seems to be mining Tibet, a country China has been abusing for decades, for its own ends. Or rather it made me ponder if it was- however after considering it I really don't think it is. I went back and finished the film but  was left to consider where I stand about NYAFF political silence.

To be honest while I can live with the festival screening Chinese films, hell I'm covering them, I really wish they were more forward in taking a stand. I will not get into the Chinese list of human rights violations, we would be here all night. Instead I will say that from purely artistic stand point the Chinese has wrecked filmmakers ability to make the films they want. There have been all sorts of stories about how Hong Kong filmmakers have had to muzzle themselves to remain alive.

Yes, I understand this is a complicated matter. As you can see my feelings are all over the place. That said while I justify my coverage by saying the films are out there, I have my choice to cover or not. I can say what I want about China. 

I don't think NYAFF can say that. I think the money and the access depends upon them playing nice, even if it is not coming directly om the Chinese government. I suspect that they will say otherwise.  but I suspect it's true since several people I know have tried to get them to make some comment on the record but they have refused.

Frankly I have no problem with the festival showing Chinee films, but I really think they should stop taking money from them since intentionally or not it will prevent them from speaking the truth about the Chinese crimes.

SWEETIE, YOU WON'T BELIEVE IT NYAFF 2021 Fantasia 2021

 

Put upon husband with a pregnant wife skips out to go fishing with his friends and ends up running into four bad guys.  Comedy ensues as it becomes clear everyone is clueless.

Sporadically funny film is full of cringe inducing moments and unpolitically correct jokes done in an over the top style that constantly is insisting that its wild and crazy and wanting to know why you aren’t doubled over with laughter.

I was only amused occasionally, Laughing here and there and noting now and again an amusing bit (the raft made of blow up sex dolls made me smile). Mostly though I sat there wondering how would think this was funny.

While it has laughs they are few and far between to really recommend

Joint (2021) NYAFF 2021

Getting out of prison an "ex-yakuza" member is hoping to be able to set up a new tech company. Hwever in order to do so he will need to get some extra money which means he ill have to wade into the old ay of life. The danger is if he does, will he be able to get out again?

One of the best films at this year's New York Asian Film Festival is the sort of film that the festival has been sorely lacking for the last few years, namely a wonderful reinvention of well worn genre that has style and talent to burn. This is the sort of film tht I came out of gong 'WOW" and wanting t share with everyone I know.

This is a great film. Its a stylist re think f the yakuza genre. As one character calls themselves its Neo-yakuza: Where several films at this year fest look back either in time frame or in in being a sequel, JOINT looks forward. Its a flm that is wonderfully its own thing.

I loved this film. It may end up as one of my favorite films of the year.

Recommended.

Short FANTASIA Reviews HOLD ME BACK, DREAMS ON FIRE, BABY DON'T CRY and KING CAR

 KING CAR is painfully dull. The story of a kid who can communicate with cars is leadenly paced and never comes together. There are attempts at discussions about obsolescence and some other things but the film never manages to make it interesting. One of the misses of this year's Fantasia

BABY DON'T CRY  is about a Chinese immigrant who likes to photograph dead things takes up with a guy from the wrong side of the tracks. Its an unpleasant and pretentious art film where our heroine is abused... and doesn't say or change her expression much. Its well done if you like this sort of thing, but I didn't like the ugliness or the insistence that the film is about something more than bad people

The reason to see DREAMS ON FIRE is the dance and the cinematography. This is a great looking film with some great dancing in it. The rest of the film isn't anything special, certainly nothing that can sustain 125 minutes. The plot, involving a mopey young woman from the sticks running to Tokyo to be a dancer has been done before.  Frankly there isn't anything new here, especially when we have such a blah lead character.

HOLD ME BACK is playing both Fantasia and New York Asian Film Festival and I’ll be damned if I know what to make of it in either Canada or America. Based on a novel the film charts the course of a friendship and romances of two women in Tokyo. One of the women is constantly talking to a boyfriend who isn’t there.  The film is a long rambling quirky comedy/drama/romance that wanders all over the place. To be perfectly honest while I loved the look of the film and many of the exchanges the running internal commentary and quirkiness of it all turned me off all and made getting through this two and quarter hour film a chore to get through.

jigoku-no-hanazono: Office Royale (2021) NYAFF 2021 Fantasia 2021

 

Office Royale is a damn near perfect manga adaption. It’s the story of gangs of office women within an organization battling it out  for supremacy in combat. It’s an amusing candy colored  film that produces a lot of laughs… and runs out of steam by the twenty minute mark.

As good as the film is the film is the plotting is one note. Yes there are some twists and turns in there but largely this is a series of set ups that lead to a battle over one thing or another. It’s the sort of arcs that you find in many manga/anime stories. And while it is works on a page over the time you are reading it, being trapped in a theater for 100 minutes it becomes something that wears you down.  I went from loving it to just kind of sort of liking it. I also went from thinking this would have been a blast in a theater to I probably would have walked out. (As it is I stopped it a couple of times)

This probably would have worked better as five or six episodes of a series with credit sequences to break it all up.

Worth a look if it interests you but be warned you mileage may vary.

Snakehead (2021) AAIFF 2021 and NYAFF 2021

 

Sister Tse comes returns from Taiwan via a snakehead, a person who can get someone into the country illegally.  Tse isn't looking for the American dream, he is looking to find and reconnect with her daughter. Her refusal to not go along with the deal that brought her over puts her in conflict with the organization that wants its money.

Excellent drama/thriller is a tactile viewing experience. Watching the film I could feel the locations na physical way. For example rarely has New York's Chinatown ever felt right.

This is filmmaking at the highest level. This s a film that is so god it had me stopping it and rewatchng sections not just because I wanted to see the scene again, but because I wanted to see how the scene wa ut together. I am in love with the craft of this film.

I can't say enough  about this film - however I will keep it short and just say see this film.

SNAKEHEAD world premieres at AAIFF August 11 and plays NYAFF on August 22