kinda like being there: Cheap Thrills @ Cinema Village w/ Pat Healy q & a, March 29, 2014

Cheap Thrills was screened at Cinema Village in Manhattan this weekend with introductions and q & a’s with Pat Healy. At this screening, he rushed into the theater to make a few quick remarks just as the theater lights had dimmed. Appropriate, perhaps, as Healy had previously left an indelible mark of unease on viewers in a nearly 80% off screen performance as the discomfiting caller in Compliance.

The movie was something akin to punk rock with its no frills budget, efficient story telling, and agitating themes. It is also rather adrenalizing; a story that builds in intensity right up to its conclusion.

Healy returned to the moderately attended theater (I was heartened to see a rather larger crowd lined up for its second screening of the night) for a q & a conducted by actor Kevin Corrigan who’s been in numerous productions: Superbad, Pineapple Express, Buffalo 66 as the unforgettable ‘Rocky’ (thanks, imdb!) and most notably (if you’re me) Tom Scharpling’s video for The New Pornographers’ ‘The Moves.’

Highlights included talk of the virtues of watching the movie in a theater as opposed to at home and the film's ultra low budget shooting conditions; it was shot over the course of just 2 weeks. Healy also discussed a cathartic experience in which performance of one of the film’s more harrowing scenes released an untapped reservoir of emotional expression.

It can all be seen below. Photos courtesy of Mondocurry and Chocko. Video courtesy of Chocko.

CHEAP THRILLS continues its run at Cinema Village in Manhattan and begins its run at Alamo Drafthouse in Yonkers on Friday, April 4.

The Midnight (movie) Express @ Tribeca 2013

The opening weekend of the Tribeca 2013 Film Festival was host to many glamorous world premieres and celebrity strolls along the red carpet. The fringe horror scene, represented in the festival's 'Midnight' lineup, was not left out of the picture.

Below are some shots from Friday April 19, capturing the red carpet event for part found footage, part fake-umentary, and part psychedelic trip horror film MR. JONES, as well as the Q & A with director Karl Mueller and some of the cast following its world premiere screening. Also included are a few shots from the introduction preceding the midnight screening of Midnight film FRANKENSTEIN'S ARMY, a mashup of found footage, alternative history, and steampunk monster horror.

The cast and director of MR. JONES enjoyed a red carpet reception, following up the exciting news that the film was picked up by Anchor Bay. Later on Mueller engaged in a q & a session, inviting lead actor and actress John Foster and Sarah Jones to join him. He discussed his interest in making a less predictably structured film and the details of his search for a real life artist whose work would be used for that of the fictional Mr. Jones.

Pictured from Top to Bottom: Director and cast of MR. JONES on the red carpet; Director Karl Mueller on the red carpet; Sarah Jones (Penny) on the red carpet; The director, Mueller, with the 'director' Jon Foster (Scott) at the q & a.











FRANKENSTEIN'S ARMY received its second festival screening the same night. Before it began, director Richard Raaphorst explained the doubt that was expressed about his decision to make the film, to which he responded by happily pointing out his arrival here at Tribeca. He was joined by script and story collaborator Miguel Tejas-Flores who discussed the genius of Raaphort's advertising work and express that he had no doubt in Raaphosrt's vision becoming a huge success.

Pictured from Top to Bottom: Raaphorst introducing the film, Miguel Tejas-Flores speaks highly of Raaphorst.





Check the Tribeca Festival website for event and screening details.

Me on twitter = @mondocurry

the hum of Holy Motors part 2: New York Film Festival 2012 screening plus Q & A

Recently I wrote about Holy Motors and, because it was part of this year’s 50th Anniversary New York Film Festival, I’d hoped to write about the movie and the surrounding happenings, namely the q & a with director Leos Carax. But, due to the enormous intrigue around the film itself, a work I felt I could go on and on about while still only touching the surface,I found it more manageable to write about the film and the exchange that followed separately.

What had stood out to me as the most salient idea is that of an individual whose life is intertwined with the world of the screen coming to grips with a disappearing cinema. Interestingly enough, one of the only two other New York Film Festival entries I watched, Berberian Sound Studio deals with the same theme. Both that film and Holy Motors offer a lament,yet the approach is very different. Berberian Sound Studio seeks to bring us back to the days of larger than life filmmaking by reconstructing a particular atmosphere along with the equipment of the time. Devices are large and intimidating, yet even as the images on screen aim to horrify, they are presented with a noticeably endearing awe. Holy Motor’s perspective is one of looking back, as Oscar, the unrelenting actor played by Denis Lavant, recalls earlier days while occupying the present one. It can be viewed as the near future, or perhaps a magic realism laced alternate present. In it cameras are all around, yet have been reduced from the grandiose machines of Berberian Sound Studio to actual invisibility.

The post-screening q & a with Carax helped me to form some of my understandings of the film. Regarding the above, the director’s words pointed to an interesting overlapping of Oscar and Carax’s standpoint. We have the film’s protagonist longing for the older conditions, yet toiling endlessly for the now diminished cameras. Then later, Carax would speak dourly on digital technology (he described it as a cure to a disease nobody is afflicted with, which nobody asked for) all the while explaining its wide use throughout shooting Holy Motors as an economical  necessity. Like Oscar, cinema’s change has not reduced Carax’s passion. He is still right there in it.

Not all of Carax’s responses were as equally enlightening. At first Carax proved to be as elusive an interview subject as word of mouth has suggested. Some attempts at pinning Carax down to political or topical agendas led to amusing retorts. When asked if a scene involving a supermodel being veiled with a makeshift Burka (by Carax’s pet idiot savage, Merd) was a kind of statement on Muslim relations in France, Carax shrugged, “how should I know?” He equated explaining the thinking behind his filmmaking decisions to having a discussion after sex with one’s partner about the choice of positions and movements. Demystifying. Uncomfortable.  After another audience member explicated at length the similarities between Holy Motors and David Cronenberg’s recent Cosmopolis (namely that both films show their protagonists riding in a limousine throughout most of their duration) and asked if Carax had read the novel that movie was based on, he answered with a succinct, unapologetic, “no.”

At times, though, the director seemed a bit less guarded and more revealing on the nature of his much-discussed spectacle.One idea that was put forth about the appointments that comprise the film (a series of scenes involving the main character altering his persona and engaging in situations ranging from breathtaking abstraction to eye-moistening melodrama) is that these are supposed to represent the spectrum of genres that appear before us in films . It is most likely an interpretation that many viewers will grasp at. While Carax did not dismiss the notion entirely, he insisted the collection of scenes were more intended to show the range of human experiences a man goes through in a lifetime.

Considering how well versed the director is in the language of film (Holy Motors alone providing plenty of evidence that), it seems entirely plausible that there are aspects of truth in both interpretations at the same time.  

Holy Motors is still playing in theaters.

Me on twitter = @mondocurry

Bloody...Attorney...Zone: New York Asian Film Festival day 7

Today was my last day of seeing movies at this year’s New York Asian Film Festival.  In a way it makes me sad, when  I consider the many great screenings in the coming week that I won’t be able to be at.  There is a less gloomy side, too.  If it’s true that it’s good to end things on a positive note, today’s slate would most definitely fit that description.  I talked to some great people and saw three eye popping movies, in the theater -- the way they are meant to be seen, back to back with no long breaks in between.  In fact, today’s proceedings were almost like a perfect microcosm of the festival on a whole: It started with something new (Bloody Fight In Iron-Rock Valley), low key enough to probably go largely overlooked but accomplished enough to really excite me.  I’d venture to put forth it marks the beginning of a new director’s very promising path.  Then, there was a cross cultural anomaly in the form of Miike Takashi’s video game adaptation Ace Attorney.  It’s the kind of mainstream treat that would probably never be made here, yet rabid fans of Japanese culture exports and video games alike gave it a frenzied reception that it would probably not see the likes of in its country of origin.  And then there was an underappreciated classic Killzone (Shao Po Lan), an ultraviolent ode to rage that had not been known to me before, and therefore knocked me flat on the ground.  And this of course was followed by one of the festival’s stellar guests, action expert Donnie Yen, talking about the film and meeting fans.  The only thing missing was perhaps a midnight movie, but after the previous night’s screening of Miami Connection, it’s hard to imagine anything that could go any higher...or should I say, lower....in the holy crap that’s crazy department.

Bloody Fight in Iron-Rock Valley (Korea, 2011) is an exciting entry into the action revenge genre giving exposure to several future talents (especially director Ji Ha-Jean.  It is noteworthy for capturing numerous beautifully composed scenes in a barren wasteland of a remote town, and with a minimum of attention to wardrobe.  The story is set in a vacuum, not making any references to a particular time or place, although the clothing and setting suggest something contemporary.  The movie also scores points for very efficiently establishing a background, in fact spending very little time on it.  Rather there is much attention devoted to building up a mood of suspense.  Expect a more detailed follow up look at the film over at the Violent Eye (because damn, this movie is violent!), and in the meantime DB’s most recent report from the festival looks more closely at the Bloody Fight’s Western genre roots.

Ace Attorney struck me as a fascinating cultural phenomenon.  As an adaptation, I’ve heard it’s spot on. As I was unaware of the particulars of the video game, the movie has got me coming around to appreciating the gaming world as having far more potential for producing exciting and innovative narratives.  The world of Ace Attorney is set in a dystopian future that suggests plenty of criticism of our current society.  It poses the possibilities of accelerated crime rates leading to a backlog of court cases -- the solution being speed up the trial process.  And at the same time, the cases become a spectator sport with the the prosecution and defense shouting out cries of objection with martial arts gusto, and projecting giant digital displays to introduce evidence.  You are dead on you are guessing these cases are presented as spectacles for the masses, complete with confetti and flashing lights adorning the party with the winning verdict.  It bears a striking similarity to the notion of people’s real life fates becoming the entertainment of the day that is explored so prominently in The Hunger Games.

And to make things further interesting, instead of just presenting a few isolated juicy cases, all of them build together into a story about influential figures and corruption.  It is long and has many convoluted details, many of which left me more confused than anything else.  But the bells and whistles that Miike adds into the courtroom scenes along with his knack for making every character the perfect living embodiment of cartoonish exaggerated expression make it a visual wonder.  I found the wardrobes, effects, and performances outshined even his joyful tribute to Yatterman from a few years back.  Possibly best viewed when accompanied with crib notes, or at least the game’s instruction manual, but definitely worth the visual treat you would be giving your eyes.

SPL: Shao Po Lan was a 90’s shot at bringing back Hong Kong grit and no nonsense action from the decade prior.  It did so along with an injection of rocket fueled action choreography brought on by an on the verge of becoming huge Donnie Yen.  Interestingly, just the night before, fellow Unseen contributor Mr. C and I were talking about the big guests that NYAFF has been landing after moving to Lincoln Center; among them, pillars of Hong Kong cinema Sammo Hung and Simon Yam.  And in SPL, the two of them along with Donnie created a tour de force of raw anger and physical aggression.  There is a frantic alleyway fight scene between Donnie Yen and Wu Jing that involves an unbelievable intensity of steel crashing against steel.  Donnie also has an extremely physical fight with a very King Pin-esque Sammo Hung involving wrestling and MMA moves that do not seem humanly possible, and that is before bodies are dropped onto tables or a towering glass wet bar.  

For the second night in a row, Donnie Yen would greet fans enthusiastically and with a relaxed sense of humor.  He discussed the budget constraints he had to contend with to bring about the unforgettable fight scene with Wu Jing.  He spoke highly of his working relationship with Ip Man director Wilson Yip, comparing Yip’s calm with his own boisterousness, and their interest in developing a third installment of the Ip Man movies.  He also gave an endorsement to Cung Le when asked which MMA fighter he would be most excited about working with and expressed general and genuine interest in working with the many talented individuals in the realm of action cinema today.


All in all it's been another great year, full of surprises, and far more than I have yet been able to digest. After a temporary resituating, I will return with a look back at some of the highlights and some extras from the q & a's and interviews that happened. But don't let my forlorn note of farewell distract you. You have much to go out and see: Wu Xia screened before Donnie Yen is awarded the Star Asia Award, the South Korean science fiction 3-ring circus that is The Doomsday Book, the onslaught of Japanese films when things move over to the Japan Society for co-presentations with the Japan Cuts festival and more, more, more!

LINKS


Subway Cinema New York Asian Film Festival Page


Japan Cuts

Me on Twitter = @mondocurry

Impoverished Pigs, Spinning Spears, and New Wave Ninjas: New York Asian Film Festival day 6

New York Asian Film Festival, you push my sanity to the outer limits.  And I do mean ‘limits’ plural.  Starting the day, I had an interesting conversation with Yeun Sang-Ho, director of animated feature and heated conversation starter of this year’s fest, The King of Pigs, before watching the emotionally exhausting film’s NY theater premiere.  The day ended with Grandmaster Y K Kim kicking apples into the audience before watching the insanely out of tune 80s hit The Miami Connection with a raucous audience.  Somewhere in between I felt the radiant star power of Donnie Yen as he pleased a packed crowd of enthusiastic fans waiting for their first chance to see the action star in person as he presented new film The Lost Bladesman. Suffice it to say, my frame of mind is suffering serious whiplash.

The King of Pigs takes a very hard look at an incident prone span of time in a jr. high school, seen through the memories of two individuals in the midst very difficult times that meet up in their adult lives.  Through this deliberately constructed account, we see layer upon layer of a system in which the poor and downtrodden are beaten down by the more well off and powerful.  While much of it takes place within the school, the dire situations beheld here extend into the home, and have just as much to do with economic disparity as it does adolescent cruelty.  

It may seem like a strange move to tell a realistic story like this through animation, but it works incredibly well.  First, there is Yeun’s drawing style which renders the characters in far from ideal, tired and worn looking fashion, with features that transform into creature-like rage they face violence.  There is also the myth-like structure of the story, that relates the strong and in control to dogs while the weak and powerless are related to pigs.  The animation makes for a smooth transition from human to animal. Then there are the surreal situations in which monstrous visions of cats and deceased relatives taunt the suffering kids, and one very intense sequence where the troubled boy, Chul, under the influence of a drug subsitute, transforms into a shaking, growling pitch black semi-human form.  These fantastical images heighten the intensity of an already challenging story filled with harsh realities like planned suicides, out of work parents, and other hardships that depict a hopelessness that surrounds the young protagonists.  More details on the interview I did with Yeun, plus the q & a he did after the film screening will follow soon.

Donnie Yen appeared to delight a sold out audience in what would be his first visit to the Walter Reade Stage.  He welcomed and joked with the audience before setting up the film being shown, The Lost Bladesman, also getting its New York premiere.  Everyone got a folder with Donnie’s images emblazoned on the front and back.  Everyone got an item autographed, making him another extremely gracious guest of this year’s festival.  The movie was an elaborate historic tale, based around Jiang Weng’s shifty lord and Yen’s begrudging yet fierce warrior role.  There are startling action sequences involving the wielding of a giant spear and a chase down a narrow alley with chipped tiles raining down on those in pursuit.

After the film Donnie was once again very engaging in his interaction with the crowd.  He spoke of his preference for modern action roles and named his favorite onscreen sparring partner to be Jet Li.  He spoke of the fateful way in which he landed the Ip Man role, after a strange alternate universe possibility had presented itself years earlier that would have him play the part opposite Stephen Chow portraying Bruce Lee.  I’m very much looking forward to Db’s report on interviewing Donnie earlier in the day.

The night ended in B-movie glory with The Miami Connection.  The insanely bad dialogue and strange flow, coupled with new wave band that sings about tae-kwon do and fighting ninjas, plus a lot of street fighting and a message of intense earnestness about using tae-kwon do to bring about peace and understanding.  The movie is being released on high definition blu ray dvd by Alamo Drafthouse’s imprint.  It is a spectacle that needs to be experienced if you like uncompromising visions that spit in the face of good sense or quality.  Before the movie, star and co-writer Grandmaster Y K Kim himself came out, did a quick demonstration involving a cartoonish beatdown of some of his students, and some kicks that launched apples into the crowd. The author/director/motivational speaker hung around the theater afterwards to meet and greet fans.

With excitement mixed with a bit of sadness, I await my last day of watching movies live at the festival.  On the docket: Korean genre workout Bloody Fight in Iron Rock Valley, Miike’s Ace Attorney, and Donnie Yen classic Killzone aka SPL.

Choi Min-Sik Talks: New York Asian Film Festival 2012 Day 3, Part 2

After the initial explosion of exuberance at the chance to finally see actor Choi Min-Sik in person on Saturday (something that I had not considered a possibility before Subway Cinema’s announcement that he would be one of the major guests being brought to this year’s New York Asian Film Festival), Monday was a chance to take in his appearance feeling a bit more calm and composed, but no less mesmerized.  As he introduced each film being shown, he proved himself to be highly spirited and thoughtful.  He spoke about these films made several years ago and his characters in them with the kind of insight one might only expect from a director.  Had he been officially tasked with speaking before us as an ambassador of good will from South Korea’s arts community, I am not sure he could have represented himself any better.      

Min-Sik introduced FAILAN as a film where he is not playing up dark aspects of his character’s personality.  After the film, recent NYAFF mc Bastard Keith spoke to the actor, beginning by discussing his personal experience discovering his films.  Regarding FAILAN, Min-Sik discussed the extreme cold of the setting, something that he was transported back to while rewatching the film (that’s right, far from a detached celebrity, Min-Sik watched the film right along with the audience), and the challenges it posed to costar Cecilia Cheung.  He also described how he lived the life of the character, Kang-jae, to prepare for the heart wrenching role.  In fact, before and during work on a movie, he forces himself to embody the character he is portraying, something he likened to putting himself in a trance. He described the problems this has caused in his life, like when unsavory aspects of some of these personalities, particularly the serial killer in I SAW THE DEVIL, have caused him to lash out against unsuspecting bystanders.  Min-Sik spoke more about that more recent role’s damaging effects.  So strong was its hold on him that he said he sensed the smell of actual blood, leading to extreme bouts of nausea, as buckets of the fake stuff were splattered around him.


Choi was also asked about his inactivity from around 2005 - 2010, during which time he actively spoke out against pressures to abandon a national screen quota system.  The quota system would limit screenings of movies from the United States. while in turn Allows domestic films to be shown in theaters for a minimum amount of time. He explained the importance of this issue to himself, as the quota system would make sure artists such as Kim Ki-Duk and Sang-soo Hong had a chance to have their work shown in theaters that would otherwise be running their operations like a profit-seeking business.  As the government would reject his views and end up caving in to pressures to reduce its quota system, Min-Sik eventually returned to the dearly missed craft of acting.

Hours later Min-Sik would return to greet a warm audience and introduce the final film in the series on his work, CRYING FIST.  He spoke about the film being based on the struggles of real life individuals, adapted to the screen with some fictional elements added.  His character was based on a former Japanese boxer, Hareruya Akira, whose story earning money in central Shinjuku to pay off a large debt fascinated Min-Sik.  During both the introduction and Q & A, Min-Sik described putting himself through a few weeks of rigorous training with an actual high school boxing team in Seoul, and how taxing this exercise was on him physically and mentally.  When asked about methods employed to play such intensely emotional and often physically violent characters, Min-Sik discounted the embrace of any one particular method, as long as he inhabited his characters’ lives in order to prepare for a film.


The evening’s mc, Samuel Jamier (programmer of Japan Cuts and this year’s New York Asian Film Festival) also asked Choi Min-Sik about his time spent away from acting in protest of pressure to stop the Korean film quota system.  He answered from a different perspective than before giving a totally different and equally enlightening insight into the situation.  This time, he explained that while he was not technically working during the time of protesting against the Korean government, he was expressing his point of view and feeling without holding back.  He described his feelings, views, and experiences as his most important instrument in being an actor, and his decision to embrace all of these feelings and experiences -- happy or negative -- help him to focus his craft.  He expressed no regrets in using his status to fight against what he considered an unjust policy, and feels the experience gave him a chance to reflect on himself and come back to acting with an even stronger passion than before.  (This period of protest came before his roles in I SAW THE DEVIL and NAMELESS GANGSTER, so indeed he has returned with as much intensity as ever.)
    
There is little doubt that those unfamiliar with Choi Min-Sik before the screenings became fans, and those who already knew his films left with an even stronger appreciation of his work.  With so much to discuss about his existing body of work, there was little attention directed at his future activity.  It is a future to keep our eyes locked on the path of this very special figure in the world of film.











Me on twitter = @mondocurry