Strange Color of Your Body's Tears (2013) New Directors New Films 2014

The Strange Color of Your Body's Tears will exhaust you.

I’m being serious here watching the film there will come a point where the film will simply overwhelm you and leave you by the wayside unable to keep up. This film is a case of too much of a good thing being way too much, and you’ll feel like you’ve just eaten the entire Godiva chocolate factory and you’re moving on to Hershey’s with Dove following right after that.

Half way into the film I was broken and done. I wanted to throw up my hands and ask for the film to be paused so that I could pick it up later. There was simply too much going on, too much to take in and process and my brain exploded.

I say all of that in the best possible way.

The plot of the film has a man returning home from a business trip to find his door locked and chained and his wife missing. After calling the police and finding that they won’t help him, he begins to search the building for her, and thus running into the various residents some of whom have strange stories to tell.

Taking all of the tropes of the 1970’s giallo films, even to the point of lifting bits of the scores from several of them, the film takes the notions of amped up visuals, manipulated soundtracks, and dream like logic to the nth degree to play out a film that is disorienting, overwhelming and amazing in equal parts. There are psychological impressions, digressions, split screen, a killer who isn’t seen except for his or her hands, and a lots of equating sex with death.

Most of it doesn’t make a lick of sense except in the moment- but so long as you’re in that moment with the film it’s a glorious magical moment.

I feel I should mention something that I ran across after I saw the film and that is a kind of negative feeling toward the film in some quarters. People don’t like the fact that the film is very much form over substance. There is a feeling that the story doesn’t make enough sense and people feel disappointed at the end. To be honest I completely understand the feeling, but at the same time that’s what many films in the genre are, they are form over substance- just less so than this homage.

I really did love this film. It’s a funny scary thriller that just pulls you along. I also freely admit that I was largely done by the half-way point. As I said its too much of a good thing. I found I started to close my eyes simply to end the sense of drowning.

If you like giallo films. If you like films that do wondrous things that only film can do and if you don’t mind things being more about the form, I highly recommend this film.

Put it on my lists of finds of the year

Mouton (2013) New Directors New Films 2014

Mouton or Sheep is the nick name of a 17 year old who as the film opens is given his independence from his parents. He then goes off to a seaside town where he gets a job as a chef's assistant. All is good until an event occurs which changes the lives of everyone.

For much of the film's running time it is a wonderful slice of Mouton's life. We watch as he works, plays and generally goes about his life. Its been described as a almost a cinema verite study, and in many ways it is. If you didn't know that it was fiction you would swear that much of the film is a documentary.

The trouble is that just past the half way point the film changes. Mouton who had been the center of the film effectively disappears when a man randomly cuts off his arm with a chainsaw. Its an odd random act that alters things and changes the film's focus to everyone Mouton left behind in his circle of friends. How you react to the change in the film will determine how you react to the film as a whole.

The point of it all is to illustrate the randomness of life, but for me the shift is too radical, too extreme. Life is random yes but a chainsaw attack is just freaking strange especially in the circumstances here. Had Mouton been stabbed or beaten I would have accepted it more readily. The bits that follow also seem a tad too random as well.

For me its a matter of the first half being great, but the second half just being okay.

The film  plays March 20 and 22

IIt maybe a SPELL TO WARD OFF THE DARKNESS (2014) but who's going to ward off this film? New Directors New Films 2014

This is one of  three films at New Directors that will reappear on my worst of the year list. In a lot of ways this maybe the worst.

I have no idea what to say.... I wanted to see this film. I bought into what the write up said:

...one of the most bewitching cinematic experiences to come along in a great while. In A Spell to Ward Off the Darkness, Robert A.A. Lowe, the celebrated musician behind Lichens and Om, gives a strangely affecting, perhaps even trance-inducing performance as the film’s Parsifal figure, a quixotic man who embarks on a quest for utopia—the holy grail of infinite truth, self-knowledge, and spiritual connectedness. ... for us, it is purely magical

But that isn't made clear or even suggested in the film.

What is in the film are long, I mean freaking long takes, sequences that begin and end nowhere, and no clue as to what the point of it all is.

If you walk into the film blind, you'll find the film's first section, is set in some sort of commune or country house. People come and go, sauna, eat and hang out. Who are these people? we don't know. What are they doing? no clue. It looks like you're watching someone's home video. The effect is to leave you to ask what the fuck is going on?

The second part of the film follows one of the people in the first part as he rows a boat, wanders the wilderness, fishes and generally takes the center of the frame in long long, I mean really freaking long shots/takes where nothing happens. One interminable shot has the man sitting in a boat fishing- holding a fishing pole. As the shot goes on it begins to rain. He never moves. More shots of him in the wilderness follow before the image fades to black.

The third part of the film is what appears to be a single half hour minute take of a black metal concert. The camera moves round the band. (The jump from dead silence to loud music made the few remaining critics in the screening laugh at the directors audacity at waking up their sleeping audience). After about 25 minutes of music (which genuinely isn't bad if you like metal) the man we've been "following" all along, and had been playing with the band, wander out of the club into the night.

The end.

What's it all mean? No clue.

And to be perfectly honest without the guide of the write up it's all random bits.

Yes the bits look lovely.

Yes the music is pretty good

Yes some of the talk is interesting.

But none of it hangs together. To be perfectly honest until Robert A A Lowe takes center stage in the second part of the film he's a non-entity. He's also a non- entity is the third so the chatter it being about him is a crock of BS.

Yes I will argue this is pointless. I'll even argue with the directors because quite frankly what they are saying outside of the film is NOT whats going on inside it. They've made a film that's all in their heads and not on the screen.

I know you're asking- why does the film suck?

A couple of reasons.

First none of it hangs together. Even allowing this is an experimental film, nothing hangs together. There is no reason for all of these things to be together in anyway.

Secondly  its pretentious. This is the work of a bunch of guys who are way too inside their heads for their own good. Its supposed to be about something. Yea and if I had wings I'd be able to fly.

Thirdly it drones on and on and on and on with no indication of the point. There are just long sequences that go on for no discernible reason. If it's about Lowe finding a place it's hard to tell if he does since his expression almost never changes.

You'll forgive me if that wasn't entertaining, but frankly the truly snarky comments were bled out of me when I trashed this after the press screening. Now all that remain is rage at the thought that people are being asked to pay to see this.

Unless you need an hour of sleep (the music will wake you up) skip this.

MINUSCULE: VALLEY OF THE LOST ANTS (2013), and wondering why aren't more critics in the trenches at NYICFF

The second  of  two NYICFF films this weekend screened at SVA. It was Minuscule: Valley of the Lost Ants which is an animated French film about a lady bug who befriends some black ants  who are transporting a tin of sugar to their nest. The black ants end up being hunted by a bunch of red ants who eventually assault the black nest in force. Think cowboys being chased by Indians only smaller.

You have to see this...no, you have to see this in 3D.  No things don't pop out at you but damn...er darn the sense of depth adds a great deal to the film. Saying that is a big deal since I hate the extra cost of 3D films and find the process annoying. However you have to keep in mind that this is a great looking (its animated characters in real backgrounds) grand adventure that sucks you in and carries you away. And while this film has echoes and out right steals things from some of the greatest films of all time-it does so in such away that its not showy or over powering. Its like oh look a reference to Raiders of the Lost Ark, that's cool, but whats going to happen next? You'll care less about the riff then you will about how the characters are going to get out of the danger they are in.

This is a great great film that had the kids cheering and everyone roaring with laughter. Trust me on this, this is a film that will grab you and drag you along-ll without one word of human dialog. Yea the insects buzz, tweet and whatever, but no one says a word.

I need to see this again soon because it had me awestruck.

The best thing I can say is I hope this is getting a US release because I need to bring lots of people to it.

And seeing the film I'm left to ponder am I and the two or three other writers I've seen, the only people who seem to be really getting down and dirty and really covering the festival? I ask this because other than myself I don't think there was another writer in the house today, or for that matter at many of the other screenings I've attended. Why aren't more people there?

Come on, what is it that no one likes good films? What are writers scared of kids? Writing up films from screeners is not really covering a festival . Yea it's giving coverage of the films and what a fest shows, but lets be real that's not reporting on what the festival really is. A festival is whats happening in the seats with the paying people. You have to go to public screenings if you really want to know what a festival is.

What the New York International Children's Film Festival is is a blast. Its the most fun you can have at the movies regardless of your age.

I mean what's not to love?

-You have great movies pretty much across the board handed to you on a silver platter
-You have a great staff like Nicola, Alexa and Rebecca, not to mention the rest of the staff and volunteers smiling and being helpful and friendly- and will gladly talk to you, even if you're a big bear of a writer.
-You have intros from festival founder Eric Beckman which are frequently fall down funny (he some how called himself Woowho today and then had to take it back lest it stick) and always informative about what we're going to see.
-You have Q&As
-And you have the t-shirt toss- And trust me you haven't lived until you've watched an audience full of kids during a t-shirt toss. Its one of the most fun things any human being can witness/be apart of- heck Chocko even got into it at Ernest and Celestine catching a shirt and then passing it on to the kids behind us.

Its all more fun than you can imagine, but there doesn't seem to be much on the ground reporting.

Where's the coverage? Where's the big outlets coming in and doing big stories? Why aren't TV cameras doing big pieces?

This festival is just so special more people need to be there...heck this is one of the best film festivals in New York every year and most people don't realize it exists or worse they actually think it's just for kids. Come on this isn't for kids, this is for everyone...this is a cinematic party for anyone who comes.

Why am I, and a few others, the only one shouting to the heavens and saying what a great festival this is?

The frustration isn't aimed at the festival people, all of which I love, rather it's aimed at  my fellow writers who refuse to see that so many great films like Ernest and Celestine, like the Book of Kells, like Cat in Paris were gift wrapped and handed to them almost a year before they went on their radar at the Oscars thanks to NYICFF, but they ignored them. How many glorious magical films have they missed because they didn't know what anyone who's ever gone to the festival knows that NYICFF has the highest success rate of  picking winning films of any festival I've ever seen. (Yes,The New York Asian Film Festival comes close, but they've had several films that have made me wonder why they programmed them and NYICFF had that only once in all their years in existence)

I am part of a group that constantly bemoans the lack of good films, and yet they freaking ignore the festival every damn year. Any writer, heck, any film lover, who wants to see a hundred or so of the best films possible should have a seat to every film at NYICFF.

I know some writers will complain that they won't cover a festival screening unless something special is happening, but I would argue, every screening at the festival is special.

If you aren't going to NYICFF you don't know what you're missing.

Which maybe a good thing since it allows me to get tickets to the festival without fear of being sold out. It also allows me to talk to the filmmakers and festival organizers and find out things before anyone else.

Maybe I shouldn't force the writers to go, perhaps I should just suggest that if you have a love a great films (full stop) you should try to get tickets to something in the remaining two weeks of the festival.

GO SEE SOMETHING and have a blast. Details can be found here.

To Kill a Man (2014) New Directors New Films 2014

Word to all filmmakers- just because you've got a script that can be touted as based on a true story, it doesn't mean that you should take the time to make the movie. I say this because To Kill a Man closes with the statement that this is based on a true story, and all I wanted to know was why we were being told this story this way.

The film follows tells the story of a man whose family is tormented by a big mountain of a man who is also a bully. Stealing the man's insulin and cellphone one night , the man's son goes to buy it back and is shot for his trouble. The father witnesses the shooting and is horrified. The bully then shoots himself so he can claim self defense. A year and a half later the bully is out of jail and tormenting the family. Unfortunately the police and prosecutors don't do anything to help them. When his daughter in molested our hero can no longer stand by and let things go.

A simple story blandly handled. There is nothing really wrong with the film other than its all a foregone conclusion, the title tells us what happened. Yea the last 20 minutes play out notquite as we expect, the rest of it does with the good people good, the bad people bad and the officials useless. I get that. I get what it's getting at, hell I work in the criminal justice system so I see how things can play out, but did everything have to be so clear cut? I mean things are so clear cut that I walked out of the film for about ten minutes to go to the bathroom and the refreshment stand and when I came back I hadn't missed a thing.

Its not bad film, nor is it a story that doesn't need to be told, rather its an okay film with a story that needs to be  told better.

(And one thing that really bothered me is that our hero is supposed to be a woodsman and yet the way he handles an ax and moves through the forest says its not a natural thing for him to be doing)

Nightcap 3/16/14: New Directors New FIlms starts Wednesday, A Raid 2 comment and links

This year’s New Directors New Films starts Wednesday at the Museum of Modern Art and Lincoln Center. In honor of that the next twelve days are going to be reviews of a good chunk of the films showing. The series has is one of highlights of any film year with tons of interesting films showing before they appear anywhere else. Last year for example the kick ass The Act of Killing screened in both the regular theatrical cut but also the preferred directors cut and  The Raid who's sequel I reviewed last night and .

As I write this we’ve seen 14 films, I’ve a ticket for one more and I’m trying to see a couple of more. So far the films run the gamut from among the best of the year to the very worst of the year with most falling inbetween. I’ll have reviews going up over the next two weeks but if you like thrilling cinematic experiences and don’t mind a bit of form over content see The Strange Color of Your Body’s Tears a mediation on the Giallo genre. It’s a film that is in love with the cinema and pushes the limits of what it can do, and the genre can do to the limits. It will exhaust you in a good way. Another one to see is the taut thriller Youth. I’d take a pass on The Story of my Death which had me almost destroying my laptop when it fell off my lap when I fell asleep, and A Spell to Ward off Darkness which looks like a dull home movie with a black metal concert grafted on to the end (it had one of the highest percentages of walkout I’ve seen at a screening).

If you want to start reading on films in the series begin with Mondocurry’s piece on Of Horses and Men which ran back in December when the film played acouple of dates since it was Iceland's entry for the Oscars. The piece can be found here. Related to that look for an interview with the director to appear sometime soon since Mondo is scheduled to have sit down with him when he appears at the festival.

As I said above reviews will be running every day for most of the next two weeks so keep checking back.
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This past Monday night I saw The Raid 2. Despite what some of my colleagues may think of the film I’m not a huge fan of it. I have issues some of which I laid out in the review which ran last night. However Tuesday after tweeting my disappointment with the film I got an anonymous comment on a random post on the website taking me to task for not loving the film. How could I not love the film? Raid 2 is a great film. One of the best films ever, topping the first film…this person told me and  they added that once they actually saw the film they would be back to explain why the film was so great.

I was amused.

And apparently my review got picked up on an Indonesian message board leading to a large number of hits, with some people questioning my motivation for writing a bad review. Let me set the record straight I was expressing my feeling for the film.

I’ll be curious what everyone’s reaction will be once the film hits theaters on the 28th. Expect reactions from the other members of Unseen who saw the film last night at the Museum of the Moving Image.

I should say that I’m considering do a second piece on the film once I get to see it again. I freely admit being incredibly disappointed in the film and I want to shake the specter that some have saddled me with of being negative because I expected too much. I’m not sure that’s going to happen since my first review ran about three times the length of what I posted and largely dismantled all the problems I had with the story. That many story problems don’t usually go away with a second viewing.

I do like the action, but I’m not a fan of the movie as a whole (as I’ve said like Jay Chou’s Virtual Factor bad story, great action)

I’m also toying with doing a piece on sequences in other films that are echoed in this film (Old Boy, Gantz, ect), but with Tribeca press screenings starting in a week I don’t think it’s going to happen.

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And now Randi's Links

Special subway cars
Kevin Bacon explains the 80's
Honest Trailers-Frozen
Proving people are loopy The Frozen conspiracy
Greatest movie never made?
Blockbusters with hidden agendas

RAID 2: BERANDAL Q&A at Museum Of The Moving Image NYC on March 15, 2014

Chocko, Mondocurry and MrC went to the Museum of the Moving Image to see The Raid 2. Here's the's the Q&A that followed the screening with with Director Gareth Evans and stars Julie Estelle and Iko Uwais

Brief word on Mother I Love You (2013) New York International Children's Film Festival 2014

Raimonds is 12 year old living with his doctor mother. An incident with a girl at school causes him to cover up things with his mom. Things ripple out from there and Raimonds is set on the road to making more bad choices, going out late, breaking into apartments, that spiral more and more out of control.

Solid drama, with a kick ass score, this is a film that gets what it feels like to be a kid right. Or  as right as I can remember back all those years ago.  I like that there are no easy answers, that things don't play out as if they were cliche. I like that we see how a good kid's bad choices can make him seem bad.

Thank you to the festival for showing it because if they hadn't done so I never would have seen it.

Playing next weekend and the following weekend at sold out shows but keep an eye on the website in case more tickets are released or if you're daring check the theater on either the 22nd or 29th to see if tickets were turned in. Definitely worth your time.

James Franco at the IFC Center on March 8th 2014

Chocko posted the Q&A from last Saturday night's appearance by James Franco at the IFC Center during Franco Fest

Raid 2 (2014)

This is my second go round at reviewing this.

The first time I tried to write up The Raid 2 it became this very very long dismantling of the film where I took it to task for every plot hole, every misstep, every run on scene. I absolutely and completely took the film to task for not living up to the first film. And when I was done I looked at it and decided that the film didn’t need to be dismantled quite that completely, so I took a break and a deep breath and started again.

The Raid 2 was THE film I wanted to see in 2014. I was an early adopter of the first film which I still consider, despite the flaws in the set up, one of the best action films ever made. I beat the drum for it so much that the thought of a second film filled me with absolute glee. Now I’ve seen the second film and I wish that they had left well enough alone.

The plot of the film has something to do with Rama going undercover to root out the source of police corruption, but in fact the film really focuses on the strife in a crime family as a son wants to take over from his father and makes deals with the devil (a bad guy who hides his identity with glasses). There’s lots of violence and a gang war where Rama has to fight to stay alive-all the while not encountering any corrupt cops until the very end.

Let me be honest- this film makes no sense. Not in the real world, not in its own world, not in any universe anywhere. This is a film where there are plot holes the size of Idaho and the logic changes as needed. It’s a film where things happen because it will bring on the next great action scene. Plot threads come and go depending on the moment, where murder and violence are justifiable for anything (Rama goes into prison for crippling an innocent guy), where time frames are malleable (this starts not long after the first film and Rama’s brother is dragged out and shot by bad guys for being ambitious- but things had just happened) and things happen that make no damn sense (-- didn’t notice the bug the size of Buick in his wallet for several days?) I frequently wanted to scream at the screen.

The pacing of the film is wildly off. Yes the film has roughly eight action sequences (depending how you count them) but until the second half of the film they are few and far between. The bathroom fight, which is the first, comes I think about 15 minutes in (though it's foreshadowed), there’s more time until the fight in the prison yard, and then the fights come at random intervals after that. In between there is lots of talk, mostly by every character other than Rama who is on the outside of most of it. Actually Rama gets lost frequently and only seems to be brought in when it’s time to break heads.

I’d love to say cut the over long film down, its an ungodly two and a half hours, but the film makes no sense now so chopping it further would just result in total incoherence.

The early fights disappointed and many of the others suffered from a sameness which is the result of almost every other one being largely one guy on an army. It grew tiring since it was pretty much just lots of guys in big spaces crashing into each other. I suppose that it would have been better if all of the people could fight but seeing this on a huge screen it was clear that a good number of the guys can’t fight on screen (Seriously watch some of the guys that attack Rama in the bathroom stall, they are looking more to where they are going to fall rather than how they are going to throw a punch). Even in the car chase the flashy overhead looks into the car look staged instead of vicious fights for life that the rest of the sequence is. They also suffer because everyone is staged on huge rooms or seemingly over wide hallways as if the stunt guys wanted to show off instead of be real.(All the fights are staged to look cool – and they do- but they aren’t gripping just flashy)

I blame the weakness of the fights to the constant and over use of shakicam. In every fight sequence the camera moves. Why must we have the camera vibrating as if in an earthquake? I could see some but every god damned fight?

Yes the last half hour of the film is great-from the car chase to almost the end (I hate the Rama walking out sequence) because the film gets rid of the nonsense plot and puts Rama in real danger for the first time. Here at last is a real reason for violence and for Rama to act.

If you’re looking for a reason why the film doesn’t work look no further than director Gareth Evans. There is no arguing about his ability to direct action sequences. He is one of the best action directors working in the world today. And while I will argue that within the context of the story the action sequences are not what they should be, taken on their own they are a small gems of violent ballet.

On the other hand Evans can’t tell a story worth a damn.

No really Evans is a shit story teller. His Merantu is poorly handled soap opera enlivened by periodic violence. It’s a really really bad movie (Its is I've suffered through it enough times I won't be convinced otherwise). Also the set up for The Raid is crap. Until just before the the first shot is fired it’s a mess. Even the plot of the crime lord running the building is stupid-which works because we don't have enough information to poke holes in the logic. On the other hand the action and the desperate nature of the battle makes it work. The Raid 2 will make your head hurt with its illogic, cartoon characters (yes Hammergirl is cool, but she’s a cartoon) and stupid moves. I talked about it above, so I’m not going into it again, other than to say, please someone stop Evans from ever writing his own script ever again- he can’t do it. He can direct but he can’t come up with a plot to save his life.

I’ve heard this film called one of the greatest action films ever.

No.

No way in hell.

There is no way that the film, as a whole can stand up to the first film or to Takashi Miike’s 13 Assassins or any others on a long list I could come up with. If you want to argue bits and pieces, I’ll listen, but as a whole no way. (I like to think of this as similar to Jay Chou's Viral Factor which had incredible action that was wrapped in a WTF story)

Is this a great film? No. Anyone saying so should probably get off the ledge and stop drinking the Kool-Aid. It’s an okay film with some great bits in it. Of course if plot doesn’t matter to you expect to have your socks knocked off, but if you want a plot, that actually makes sense, and characters that are more than just action figures that are moved around, you’ll be disappointed- I was, big time.

(The Raid 2 opens in theaters March 28th in limited release and then goes wide. I would have held off reviewing the film except there are a series of preview screenings occurring, including one at the Museum of the Moving Image that is happening as this posts)

The complete Museum of the Moving Image Q&A can be found here

NYICFF 2014: Shorts 2

The band-Unlocking the Truth

Mixed quality collection has two of the best films I've seen in 2014 so far.

Tome of the Unknown
From, Patrick McHale, who does Adventure Time comes the story of two kids and a bird looking for the titled book. Looking like an old Warner Brother cartoon mixed with Adventure Time this neat little film leaves you wanting more. Where is the rest of this?

Carpark
Hysterically funny story of what happens when a guy decides to get cute with the dog in the car parked next to his. Short sweet and the sort of thing I wanted to see again instantly-and repeatedly.

Rabbit and Deer
Rabbit and Deer's lives are complicated when Deer discovers the third dimension. Similar to the Simpsons episode where homer crosses over, this is a good little film that makes use of a certain Marshall Tucker Band song. What it has to do with anything is beyond me, but its use somehow makes the film truly magical,

Live Bait
A small fish uses philosophy to talk his way out of being eaten. I loved it from the instant the big fish politely asked the small fish if he could eat him. A great film.

Wind
People adapt to living in a world where the wind always blows. The complications are amusing, as are what happens when the wind stops. I have to cheer the NYICFF for the use of one image on their t-shirts, especially since at one point the image resulted in something that made the audience go "Ooo."

Mr. Hublot
Oscar winner is great looking but left me cold. Forgive me but what a dumb film.

The Dam Keeper
One of the best films of 2014 has a small pig running a wind mill that keeps the town safe. Unfortunately he's looked down upon and abused at school. Things change when a new student arrives. A deeply moving story about loneliness, bullying and friendship had me sobbing by the end. I was deeply deeply moved by this film on every level. One of the truly great animated shorts I've seen in a long long time. This was rightly the last film in the collection because you can't follow this masterpiece- you simply have to go off and deal with the emotions it kicks up. Brilliant and well beyond my words to describe it.

The Big House
A  boy living in poverty finds the key to the abandoned house of rich man and checks it out. I get the allegory about haves and have nots, but beyond that it's nothing special.

The Sun
The Sun decides to play.. er torment some animals and one human in particular. Amusing 2 minute short.

Unlocking the Truth
One of the best films of the festival and year is a look at two kids who have a metal band (the film's title).  A great film simply because we are introduced to two kids who are not only great musicians, but damn fine people too. I love these guys and wish them well. I want to hunt the kids down and shake their hands- and I want to see a feature film on them.

Leaving
Animated short that takes place on city walls. An amusing trifle

NYICFF 2014- The English dub of Ernest and Celestine makes its NYC debut and it rocks the house.

As most of you know I've been crazy about Ernest and Celestine since I saw it last year at NYICFF. It is the best animated film from last year despite what the Oscars say.  The day after the screening last year I had a long talk with Eric Beckman the head of the festival about the film and the trouble of dubbing it into English. (you can read my original review and a report on the quest to get a voice cast here)

Tonight I went with Chocko to see the premiere of the English dub in New York and all I can say is they knocked it out of the park. Trust me on this it's so good that it doesn't matter which version you see the film works gloriously in either French of English. Seriously both are wonderful.

Talking to Eric after the film, and after I finished gushing to him about how right they got the dub, he told me about the struggles to get the script and voices right. The script was a battle to keep the rhythms of the original intact. It involved lots of tweaking to keep things right  where they should be.

Eric also talked about how Forrest Whitaker came in and ignored the original performance and simply tore down the house and over the course of four days made the role completely his own. Of course the real problem was finding the right Celestine and despite trying several different actresses no one worked until Mackenzie Foy took a crack at it. I think she nailed it and from her first word I knew she had made the role her own. She's so on target that I wanted to scream "You got it! You crazy wonderful people you got it!" but I would have been thrown out.

To be honest, there are slight difference, slight turns of phrase or inflection, but it's all minor stuff.  They got it right and made an equally valid version of the film. Actually it makes sense to think of it as if you saw the same play on two different nights, there are slight differences but it's still the same.

After the film there was a Q&A with director Benjamin Renner that answered most of my questions. If you click on the You Tube link above you'll see it for yourself. If you go to our Tumblr page you can see some pictures from the evening including some outside the theater where Renner was signing autographs and drawing pictures for everyone. The page can be found here.

Ultimately all you need to know is that the film is still a masterpiece and for me seeing it again  it was like revisiting old friends.

GO SEE IT.

Triptych (2013) Treefort Film Festival 2014

Wholly cinematic film is based on some of co-director Robert  Lepage's nine hour stage piece Lipsynch, Tritych is a film that will amaze visually even as it challenges you to consider the nature of language, memory and expression.

The film is told in three parts, each focusing on one of the characters. However the entire film tells one story.

Part 1 Michelle
Michelle gets out of a hospital-doctors feel too early. She runs a book shop and loves words, however the drugs she takes to stifle the voices make her unable to write.

Part 2 Thomas
Thomas a brain surgeon and friend of Michelle's operates on a Marie,, her sister but due to to his  unsteady hand made worse by drinking she loses her ability to speak words (aphasia).

Part 3 Marie
After her operation Marie's ability to speak returns but chunks of her memory is gone. She gets work doing voice over

Robert Lepage and Pedro Pires have made a film that will either thrill you with its cinematic delights and over abundance of ideas or the film will bore you with it's over stuffed pretentiousness. If the film clicks with you you will forgive the pretensions, if you don't its going to be a long haul.

I was thrilled.

I liked the images, the wonderful transitions and magical moments such as Thomas describing God on the Sistine Chapel as being in the shape of a brain. I like that in an age where most films have nothing on their mind this film has too much. I love that a film about the importance of words plays out in such a visual and frequently nonverbal way.

I love that several hours after seeing the film I'm still mulling it over. I love that I''m still trying to find words to express what it made me feel and think. I love that I'm battling it, its ideas and its imperfections to try and come to terms with why the film affected me so as to bring a tear to my eye.

It would be foolish to say that this is a film for all tastes. Its not. But it is one for those who are adventurous, who will hang in there to the end, who are willing to let a film and a filmmaker do what it has to then you will be richly rewarded with a film that will make you think about it long after the final credits roll.

Definitely worth seeing, especially on a big screen where the images can wash over you.

The film plays next Saturday the 22 at 430 PM. Details can be found here.

NYICFF 2014: Shorts One

The best collection of shorts I've seen at the festival so far is highly recommended.

A Town Called Panic: The Christmas Log
Half hour long sequel to A Town Called Panic is just damn funny. The plot has Cowboy and Indian waiting for Santa and then blowing the being good thing on Christmas Eve. I have no idea what drugs the filmmakers are on but we have to keep giving it to them since they come up with such great things like this.

The Centipede and the Toad
Weakest film in the collection is still really good. Its about the meeting of the two titled characters and how thinking too much can be bad.

Dingi
Wonderfully funny film about the revenge gotten by a bunch of boys told not to swim in the river by ferrymen. Its a small scale delight which only is flawed by the non-actors being uneven.

Borrowed Light
Absolute charmer about a boy who steals all the light bulbs in the city. The pay off will make you smile from ear to ear. One of the best in the collection and the festival. (I posted the Vimeo link yesterday to this film)

Sea Legs
Sailor returns to dry land and has a hard time getting to a girl in a building. A good film up until the denouncement which is a huge WTF. Still its great fun up till then.

The Mole at Sea
Mole goes to the seaside. Funny film that makes you wonder why we go to the beach with everyone else.

The New Species
One of the best of the fest. Three kids find a bone and wonder what it is...I dare not say more lest I spoil it and it's charms. I will say that the real end comes during the end credits which makes the slight deflation before that worth it. A real joy.

Pohpyer
Technical marvel is really cool mix of live action and animation will have you wondering how it was done as everything is used as material for animation. How some of it was done eludes me since the shadows never move. That means nothing to you but if you see this film watch the background details and be amazed. On top of the technical slight of hand it's just really good.

Big Block Sing-Song: Hair
Two minute song by a block about hair. It's running before some of the features and gets funnier each time I see it. A small gem.

Great NYICFF shorts- Love Fencing, Borrowed Light and Unlocking the Truth

Love Sport: Love Fencing (in  Flicker Alley)

LOVE SPORT: LOVE FENCING from STUDIO AKA on Vimeo.

Borrowed Light (in Shorts 1)

Borrowed Light from Olivia Huynh on Vimeo.

Unlocking the Truth (In Shorts 2)

Unlocking The Truth - Malcolm Brickhouse & Jarad Dawkins from The Avant/Garde Diaries on Vimeo.

Heebie Jeebies at NYICFF 2014

This years Heebie Jeebies collection was a mixed bag. The highs were high, but a couple of the shorts had me scratching my head. Here's word  on the films.

The audience waves to director Jonathan Campo before the movies

The Duke
Jonathan Campo's very short film about the encounter between two people and a chicken parm sandwich is really disturbing. Its a perfect representation between an encounter between you and the skeevy guy who is trying to get your food in the lunch room.  Its a two minute slice of emotion that is hard to describe unless you see it. It's also a film that will have you asking questions, and had I not had to go to SVA I would have found Campo and asked them. A perfect example of the difficulty of writing on short films-I can't say more than see it lest I ruin it. And since the film is on line why not watch it?


The Duke from jonathan campo on Vimeo.

Director Jonathan Campo was in the house and the audience waved HI! (see the picture) Sorry if it isn't all that clear in the photo I was shooting from the hip. I spoke with him before the film and he was accommodating to a guy who thought he was someone else. I kind of wish I had met him after the screening so I could have asked him lots of questions.

Spellbreaker
Weakest film in the collection has two friends/brothers fighting over a gift. It just never amounts to anything despite having great visuals.

Collectors
The need to collect is taken to extremes in a short little confection about collecting everything. It turns very surreal. Its amusing but little more than a trifle.

The Big Beast
A town lives in fear of a beast that will attack if you don't think of it so the inhabitants go through strange twists to make sure everyone always is thinking of the beast..Funny film that mirrors our need to think about bad things so they don't happen.

Cornea
 Stéphane Blanquet's nightmare freaked the audience out- I mean it freaked them out with many kids noticeably shaken by the film. I think it has something to do with what someone sees after an eye transplant- but I don't know. I just know it's really f-ed up in a good way-hell several kids said they thought they were going to have nightmares as a result of seeing it.

On the Other Side
A hunter in a wood crosses over to an alternate world. Its visually gorgeous and kind of goes somewhere until it crashes with a WTF ending that makes me wonder what the directors were thinking.

Feral
Oscar nominee about a wild child taken in by a hunter. Outside of the look we've been here and done that from François Truffaut's Wild Child to Werner Herzog's Kasper Hauser. A big nothing.

Sleight Of Hand
Michael Cusack's stop motion film about a man who builds a life size model and animates it is a heady trip down the whats it all about and who is really in control road. Its a mini masterpiece that gets awell worn idea dead nuts perfect.

Jamón
The piggish son of a family is unhappy with his lot in life until he sees what happens to the guy living next to him. Messed up film that is disturbing and a kick in the ass. Its gory turns are well placed and one could hear the audience groan. Ghoulish fun.

Rootless Heart
Something in an abandoned house is stealing hearts. Dark nightmare from Japan is messed up. A wonderful little horror film this is the sort of thing that makes me want to see more Japanese animation that isn't typical anime.

The Fat Cat
Minute long film is the most pointless of any film at the festival. Its a minute I'll never get back

Bird Food
A man with his lunch and a park full of hungry pigeons. A pure joy with a nice double twist at the end. One of my favorites of the collection.

The Deep End
 Jake Fried's minute long  film needs to be expanded to about 4 hours and be married to really trippy music. On the other hand it's so complex in execution that I know why its only a minute. A visual joy

House of Magic (2013) New York Children's Film Festival 2014 (Updated)

An abandoned cat finds his way in to the supposedly haunted house of a kindly magician. When the magician is injured in an accident the cat and the other residents of the house must defend the house from the magicians nephew who wants to sell the house for a quick payday.

A MUST SEE IN 3D, this film is certainly a fine family film and will be wonderful on TV but on the big screen in 3D its a blast. This is what 3D films should be- planned for the process so things make you go oh wow, not the sort of thing where its used just for extra cash for tickets (Amazonia anyone?).

Trust me the flying birds, mad chases, things shooting out at you will make you reacting ways that 99% of 3D films never do.

And the story is really good. Once again we have great characters, great voice casting, funny lines, and a genuine sense of danger- maybe it won't be okay, because frankly bad things happen.

An absolute joy- I was hooked once I heard the Cure playing over the opening titles. When it ended I wanted to see it again, preferably in the company of the niece.

ADDENDUM: They've addes a screening on March 29th run out and see it in 3D- you'll thank me.

Pre-film slide from inside SVA

17th Annual Sephardic Jewish Film Festival starts Thursday

17th Annual Sephardic Jewish Film Festival starts Thursday. Unfortunately we at Unseen are not (as of this writing) going to be able to cover the fest since we will be at the NYICFF second week and some events at the Museum of the Moving Image.

However just because we're otherwise engaged doesn't mean you shouldn't make the effort to go.  I say this because the festival is running some good films, including some we've reviewed previously Joann Sfar Draws From Memory,  Sfar's The Rabbi's Cat which is in seen in the process of being made in Draws from Memory and Rita Jahan Farouz which I saw at this years New York Jewish Film Festival.

For details on all the films go to their website here.

(And keep reading because we may be able to sneak in some screenings next week...)

Boy and the World (2013) New York International Children's Film Festival 2014

I admire the audacity of NYICFF for showing this film at the festival. I say this because this is one of the most thematically complex films that I think they've run. I know that how it plays for kids is going to be different than for the adults.

This is nominally the story of a little kid who leaves home to find his father and learns about the world. As he learns more the more complex the drawings and music become. The film actually has lots of layers to it, many of which are not readily apparent until you get to the end of the film- who the adults the boy meets are actually revealed to be someone that changes what exactly the film is. I know most kids, and even some adults aren't going to get what the real story is, which is fine. However I think whoever catches on to what the film is will be moved.

On a technical level the film is a delight. The way the film looks,and how it changes is masterfully done. Each individual shot and sequence is glorious. The soundtrack is equally wonderful and frankly were it not the flim wouldn't work. I say this because the film has no translatable dialog and so the music has to move things.

Intellectually this is one of the best films I've seen in 2014.

The trouble is that emotionally the film doesn't completely work. The individual pieces never come together to be fully an emotional whole. Yes the end moved me because of the ideas, not because of it touched my heart. To be honest I fell asleep two or three times.

I love that this is playing at NYICFF but at the same time I know its going to get lost here since this is the wrong audience. This should have played at Lincoln Center or MoMA at Film Comment Selects or New Directors New Films where the complexity of the tale could rightly challenge an audience willing to meet it head on.

See this on the 29th if you want  heady challenge.

A Wolf at the Door (2013) SXSW 2014

A mother turns up to her daughter's school to find out the school released the girl to her neighbor some time earlier. When asked why they tell her because she called to say that she was sick and was sending the neighbor to pick the girl up. Since she didn't call, the police begin to look for the girl. After talking to the husband they turn up his lover....and then things get weird

Based on a true story tale starts off like gang busters only to screech to a halt about 20 minutes in. What starts as a thriller becomes a series of long winded flashbacks that reveal the course of the affair and (in the closing minutes) what happened to the little girl.  The trouble with the film is that once the flashbacks start the film begins to stall as shifts gear into a domestic drama. What moved like the wind suddenly seems to take forever to get to the conclusion.  Its a choice that kills the film. I kept wanting to fast forward the film. Why do we need to see so much back story? I'm not sure. Yea the conclusion is suitably shocking, but at the same time it's power is lessened by the long slog.

I'm disappointed, this film should have had laid me low instead of bored be to tears.

I should mention that everything except the story structure is great, the performances, the craft of the film, the music, its all great....the flashbacks aren't.

I'd skip it.