Edgar WallaceDouble (Mysterious Magician, Crimson Circle)

Mysterious Magician (Der Hexer)(1964)

German version of the often filmed Edgar Wallace story called the Ringer. I saw another version of this story a few months back titled The Gaunt Stranger, which was a nifty little film. Here we have the story redone as part of the cycle of Wallace films and its been updated to the 1960's. The plot has the criminal known as the Ringer returning to London to get revenge for the death of his sister. the police want the Ringer for long ago crimes and know that he is not one to be trifled with. As the Ringer zeroes in on his target, the police attempt to figure out who the ringer is, he's been too long from London and no one knows who he is, except his wife and she isn't saying. A good version of the story it pales in comparison to the Gaunt Stranger which was so good that even when you figured out what was going on you doubted that you were right. Here things are more amusing than anything else and you're only hope to know who the Ringer is was to see an earlier version. Recommended if you run across it, but not something to search out.

Crimson Circle(1960)

Another in the German Wallace cycle involving multiple murders and blackmail as the result of an execution that went wrong seven years earlier. Good but not great this film never really added up to much more than people moving around trying to figure out who the villain was and to stay far enough on his good side that they didn't end up dead. To be honest while it isn't a bad movie, its quite good, its very generic as these things go, blending so much into the mass of German Wallace films that I started to nod off towards the end. Its not the fault of the film entirely since I am under the weather, but at the same time I kind of allowed my self to drift because I sort of felt I knew where it was going. Worth a look on Late night TV or if you are in an undemanding mood.

Both can be had from Sinister Cinema

The MondoCurry Top 5 Favorites of the 2012 New York Asian Film Festival plus Rogue's Gallery

Having withdrawn from New York City’s sweltering humidity to take respite in a Pacific island hideaway, I’ve had time for my New York Asian Film Festival reflections to bake, cool off, and gel into my Top 5 favorites list. It's a highly subjective list of favorites from among the new movies shown (the amazing retro film selection assembled for this year’s fest, centered around guests Choi Min-Sik and Donnie Yen, plus the most WTF mind melters the NYAFF programmers could unearth, deserves a look all its own) .  Bear in mind there are films I did not get a chance to see and there is also the factor of my tastes leading me to be inclined to prefer certain types of films over others. At the same time, this is a year that I’ve seen more of the films than any previous, in part because of a greater willingness to partake in advance screenings and screeners -- perks of being affiliated with a legitimate online outlet, which has also allowed for a few replays of movies that demanded a repeat viewing to truly absorb.  And there was also the great camaraderie among other writers and moviegoers making it a pleasure to stick out long stints in the theater.  Anyway, here we go...

1. NAMELESS GANGSTER (South Korea)

This is a big, sprawling epic and totally based in reality gangster related drama. Making use of a historical backdrop of South Korea over the course of the ‘80s and early 90’s, during which the government decided to commit to a massive purge of organized crime, it tells a messy tale of traditional ancestral hierarchy butting heads with the code of gangsters. There are many confrontations that explore the fragile yet explosive male ego as shaped by Korean society.  Music is cleverly used to show the timeframe of the story with the ‘90s crackdown marked by a suspenseful score (think the moody beat driven sounds of movies like The Yellow Sea and The Unjust), contrasting a cover (by Chang Kiha and the Faces) of a swirling psychedelic pop tune, I Heard a Rumor signifying the ‘80s. The main attraction is of course Choi Min-Sik’s nuanced performance as a middle aged customs officer one notch above being a grunt, unwittingly brought into the folds of organized crime. At once terrified, and yet too prideful and aware of the potential rewards to walk away from the game, it’s an attention commanding performance. And when the movie does reach its conclusion, set in a distant present day, it does feel like coming to the well earned end of a hard travelled journey.

2. MONSTERS CLUB (Japan)

This film crept up from nowhere and haunted me at an advanced screening. Followed by weeks of various other features, I wondered if it would in fact hold up to my early impressions. But sure enough, all it took was the discovery of a clip of quietly brooding music from the movie to bring those strange, enchanting feelings right back.  It is a unique blend of striking images, controversial political messages, and internal struggle. Though abstract in its telling, there is a powerful story about finding one’s way amid powerful and difficult to understand influences bursting at its seams.    


3. KING OF PIGS (South Korea) 


Having watched this film quite a few times to familiarize myself with its proceedings (to prepare for an interview with its director that I am still sorting through), it almost eluded the list having become something of an academic text.  Entertaining, it is not. At least not without some serious psychic damage along with it.  A fluid animation with a muted color palette that still manages to pop, it’s a bleak tale of two down on their luck men looking back on junior high school days filled with systematic oppression and resulting tragedy. The choice of animating this tale allows for some tripped out elaborations on its dark themes: humans transform into dogs and swines to represent their status, cats and corpses taunt the living and their powerlessness in the face of more well-off bullies, and Chul, a boy for whom violence is inseparable from his everyday existence, warps into monstrous forms to show his increasingly hate-filled state of mind. This film truly challenges a way of life in a way that is both beautiful and painful to look at.

4. BLOODY FIGHT IN IRON ROCK VALLEY (South Korea)  

With a slight now you see it now you don’t presence on the festival’s schedule, I can’t help but try to draw some attention to it. That and I am a mark for some straightforward, yet very well done pulpy action.  This film manages to do a whole lot with just a little, and that sense of economy is one of the things about it that won me over. Adorning characters with little more than regular apparel and making great use of a sleepy backwoods town and seemingly abandoned spaces, it tells a tale of revenge against convincingly portrayed heartless men who do very bad things, wrought by a steely eyed loner whose blackened heart allows him to do equally bad things in turn. Along the way, the pursuit of vengeance runs across a corrupt conspiracy and a truly dazzling damsel in distress. It’s minimally packaged into a neat little nail biter of a thriller from a director I am definitely eager to see more from.

5. SCABBARD SAMURAI (Japan) 


Picking the final slot was a challenge because at least two other films vied for a position on this list. But alas, no ties allowed, a 5th place film must be named. I chose Scabbard Samurai because it is such an amazingly pure and heartfelt gesture. Watched again, the trials of its reluctant samurai, Kanjuro, work on another level, saying something about entertaining the masses while still carrying the burden of an unfulfilled soul. It speaks of the paralyzing effects of loss, as both Kanjuro and the prince who he has been charged with entertaining both mourn the deaths of those they held dearest to a plague brought into the story through mention only. Kanjuro’s grand gesture to his daughter, passed along in an impassioned performance by a half speaking half singing monk, has the sort of deep significance that could only come through sacrifice. Considering the director’s more trifling early ventures makes this film an even stronger statement.

As the 5th spot was difficult to determine, here are some honors for two other truly remarkable films:

HONEY PUPU (Taiwan) - a densely coded, brilliantly colored blast of alien logic on the impermanence of all things (including us), told about and perhaps for a generation longing for nostalgia but totally fluent in virtual technologies. Abstracted beyond any followable logic, if that bothers you, you’re not likely to enjoy it. If you can let go and enjoy the ride, then strap yourself in and prepare for take off.

VULGARIA (Hong Kong) - a whip smart, low brow assault on good taste, with both inside cultural and universal humor a plenty, that takes shots at the film industry, yet at the same time works as a sincere tribute to those that put everything on the line to make movie magic.

Thank you to everyone on the New York Asian Film Festival team for making this magic happen!

And thanks to friends, new and old, who made the festival an especially good time to be had!!

Me on twitter = @mondocurry

Admiral (2008)

Visually resplendent biography of Admiral Alexander Kolchak who went from leading his men in the First World War to leading the White Russian opposition to the communists. The film is centered on his romance with poetess Anna Timireva.

Beginning with some of the most amazing sea battle sequences of recent vintage, this film literally starts with a bang. I was blown away by the opening battle sequence which occurs as Kolchak is laying mines, only to run into a much larger and heavily armed German battleship. Unable and unwilling to surrender, the smaller ship begins to sting the larger one and then do the unthinkable, lead it into the minefield which they just laid. It made me sit up and take notice.

The battle sequences are only a small part of the story, since we follow as Kolchak meets and falls instantly head over heels with Timireva. She is smitten too, and when she gives him a love letter he says they must never meet again. She asks why and he simply says "Because I love you". Actually it leaves out the fact that they were both married to other people.

From that point on we watch as Kolchak and Timireva weather the storm of the Russian Revolution and the civil war that followed. Its not entirely happy tale and it's one that doesn't have a happy ending. Indeed the Soviet displeasure with the principals extends to the modern day framing device which has Timireva working as an extra the massive Soviet film of War and Peace. The director is battling to keep Timireva in the film, which is something the authorities don't want feeling her mere presence with corrupt audiences.

I really liked this film a great deal. Sure it can be like a soap opera at times, but most of the time it's great romance/historical film that shines a light on a period many people don't know. And as I said it's just a great romance.

Definitely worth tracking down.

Kickstarte​r Campaign: FOLLOW THE LEADER

I wouldn't normally do this but a friend of Unseen Films asked me to run a piece on a film he was connected with that was winding down on it's Kickstarter campagn. He's been a good judge of film projects so I'm happy to run something.

Since the film is still in post production I think the best thing I can do is run the information he gave me:


New York, New York July 18, 2012 – A Kickstarter campaign is entering its final week to complete post-production and launch distribution of filmmaker Jonathan Goodman Levitt’s FOLLOW THE LEADER, a real-life coming-of-age story of three traditional American boys with Presidential dreams. A journey of political and personal discovery, the film promises to spark meaningful and reflective conversations about American political realities in the months surrounding the 2012 U.S. Presidential election.

In FOLLOW THE LEADER, sixteen-years-old, high school class presidents Ben (The Loyalist from Virginia), D.J. (The Believer from Massachusetts) and Nick (The Idealist from Pennsylvania) are all conservatives who plan to continue leading their peers as President someday. Over three life-changing years, they split into Republican, Democratic and Independent camps as each reconsiders his lofty ambitions. Growing up at a critical moment for America as well, their lives also force us all to rethink our assumptions about tomorrow’s leaders, the impact of 9/11 on them, and the political views of the millennial generation – which are more complicated than most people currently believe. As shocking as “Jesus Camp,” as revealing as “American Teen,” and as funny as “Spellbound” – FOLLOW THE LEADER is the true story of what change means for three young leaders who feel destined to lead the world.

“After living abroad during 9/11 and for nearly a decade, FOLLOW THE LEADER began as a personal investigation into the politics of today’s youth, whose contradictory views confused me while teaching in the U.S. post-9/11,” said Levitt. “By sympathetically portraying its characters on their own terms, the film provokes us to reexamine both our preconceptions about youth and conservatives, as well as our own political views. But more than that, our aim is to force people to reflect on the entrenched inequalities within the American political system in a different way. The traditional methods of sparking such discussions aren't working – often because such efforts themselves are politically motivated, and because they don't even bring people of all political stripes to the table.”

Earlier in the campaign, Levitt was warmly received at high-profile gatherings of both progressive and conservative activists, a rare feat for any documentary, especially one on such political subject matter. At a sneak preview at the Roosevelt Institute's Summer Academy (a non-profit carrying forward the legacy of Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt, http://www.rooseveltinstitute.org/about), over 75 progressive student leaders discussed the future of political leadership and reconsidered how many of them unfairly demonize those on the “right.” The following week at Grover Norquist's famed “Wednesday Meeting” for conservative activists at the Americans for Tax Reform (http://www.atr.org/), Levitt's presentation with the trailer was met with laughter and the formation of several budding partnerships; the film was shown immediately after the Wednesday Meeting in the same space, and led to spirited discussion about how tomorrow's generation are redefining what “liberalism” and “conservatism” mean for the future.

A large focus of the film’s outreach starting this fall involves the linked transmedia project REALITY CHECK INTERACTIVE, a unique cross-platform social change initiative that combines interactive voting technology and an episodic presentation ofFOLLOW THE LEADER to spark a national conversation about American political realities. REALITY CHECK's lead facilitator is collective intelligence expert Chris Bui, who has led over 2,000 government and civic meetings since starting out running independently organized consensus-building meetings during the 1992 Ross Perot campaign. Levitt is saying “yes we can talk to all sides, and indeed each of us must engage with people who disagree with us in a fair-minded way for the good of our country.” As bitter political feuds seem to erupt everywhere in public, Levitt and his team – including activists across the political spectrum, and key figures in the transmedia and transpartisan spaces – are planning a unique national tour surrounding the 2012 Elections. College and community groups are being mandated by the outreach team to expressly co-sponsor screenings with ideologically different groups so that bridge building and discussions organized around such a non-judgmental film can be an antidote to what is already becoming a fiercely negative election season.

Through Kickstarter, Levitt is seeking help in funding the completion of post-production, insurance and some outstanding music clearances required to release the film, as well as the initial launch of REALITY CHECK INTERACTIVE. If FOLLOW THE LEADERsuccessfully reaches its goal pledges totaling $27,000 by July 26, backers will receive a multitude of perks. Pledge tiers start as little as $5 (Town Crier) and go up to $10,000 (Presidential Level). At this top level, backers receive an official credit, special recognition on the Partner Page of Official Website, and a NYC screening in your honor (with airfare from elsewhere in the US for you and a guest!)

Today and Thursday, private supporter screenings in New York, London and California are being announced. RH Gallery in Lower Manhattan (http://www.rhgallery.com/) will host a screening and discussion on August 15; London's exclusive Eight Club (http://www.eightclub.co.uk/) plans a VIP-treatment event for September; and Tom and Joy Campanaro, founders of The Total Gym (http://www.totalgym.com/) and new backers of the project, are hosting a private screening in their San Diego-area home on October 9. Access to supporter screenings is ONLY via becoming a backer on Kickstarter. Another featured reward is a copy of the new Bloomsbury release (just published July 15), “Give Me the Money and I'll Shoot” – a documentary professional trade book, which features an extended interview with Levitt and case study of FOLLOW THE LEADER; and author and funding expert Nicola Lees will also provide a 30-minute Skype consultation to anyone who backs the project at the $125 level.

Among the many prominent politicians making cameos in FOLLOW THE LEADER are the late Ted Kennedy (his last film); U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton; former President Bill Clinton; U.S. Senator from Arizona John McCain, who ran against Barack Obama for President in 2008; Ken Cuccinelli, the Attorney General of Virginia, and a candidate for Governor of Virginia in 2013 who was just named one of Politico's rising stars on the verge of national prominence; Deval Patrick, current Governor of Massachusetts, and the second African-American elected Governor of any U.S. state; Michael Dukakis, the longest-serving Governor in Massachusetts history, who in 1988 was the Democratic Nominee for President; Niki Tsongas, the first woman elected to Congress from Massachusetts in 25 years who now represents the state’s 5th Congressional District in the U.S. House; and Michael Bloomberg, the billionaire founder of Bloomberg L.P., and current Mayor of New York City.

To make a pledge to FOLLOW THE LEADER and REALITY CHECK INTERACTIVE on Kickstarter, visit:
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/followtheleader/follow-the-leader-and-reality-check-interactive

For more information on FOLLOW THE LEADER, visit:
http://www.followtheleaderfilm.com/ (Official Movie Site)
https://www.facebook.com/followtheleaderfilm (Facebook)
https://twitter.com/changeworxfilms (Twitter)

ABOUT THE FILMMAKER:
FOLLOW THE LEADER is Jonathan Goodman Levitt’s first film made back home in the United States, after a decade working as a filmmaker based in London. His past work as director and/or producer has been primarily funded and shown by European broadcasters including BBC, Channel 4, DR, NRK and SVT. Jonathan’s company Changeworx USA LLC is also currently in production on films with international partners in Pakistan and Chile that have received support from funders including Arte, TriBeCa Film Institute, Center for Asian American Media, Ford Foundation, IFP and Women Make Movies. His previous feature SUNNY INTERVALS AND SHOWERS (Director / Producer / Editor / Camera, 2006) screened at Film Festivals worldwide including Sheffield, Chicago and One World; aired as part of the BBC Storyville documentary strand; and was nominated for Grierson (British Documentary) and Mental Health Media Awards. Other credits include consulting on a Best Documentary Emmy-winner featuring Stephen Fry, and various roles on several successful short films and multi-screen art installations. Jonathan studied social psychology, political philosophy, and studio art at Stanford, and was a Fulbright Scholar studying at the UK’s National Film School (NFTS) in 1999. Since 2008, he has been based in Brooklyn, New York.

Hip Hop Hideout: 8,000 Miles 3 Roadside Fugitive review (Japan Cuts, 2012)

In 2009, director Yu Irie planted a strange landmark alongside the road of Japanese cinema.  It was the beginning of the 8,000 Miles series, a strange mash up of youthful, locally flavored protagonists interacting in stories that move along at a slacker’s pace, filled with long interludes of hiphop freestyling.  These offbeat rhythmic exchanges came up as conversational interactions between characters more often than they did as actual performances. Episodes meandered along towards points that were not really conclusions, but rather stops along the way for the series’ 3 constants: a trio of amateur rappers going under the collective name Shogung (MC Ikku, MC Mighty, MC Tom) dreaming of big time success.  

Its third installment, ROADSIDE FUGITIVE offers some more of same, yet not without some changes.  This time out, it’s a darker, more grown up vision than the previous films. There is a bigger budget, which allowed for an interlude that takes place in a slick, yet vilifying vision of Tokyo.  The outset takes us back to where the first film left off as Mighty bids farewell to partners MC's Ikku and Tom, deciding to head for the electric lights of Tokyo to try to make it big on his own.  We fast forward to Mighty working as a kind of roadie, but really more of an indentured slave, for a Tokyo based hiphop unit Gokuakucho (among it’s ranks is actor Akihiro Kitamura of Human Centipede victim infamy).  He does all of their bidding under the pretense of paying dues before being given a chance to show his stuff on stage.  

An opportunity to enter a freestyle MC battle presents itself (it’s the same kind of rap battle you may know from the Eminem biopic 8 Mile) and Mighty quickly rises to the top of a heap of young MC’s.  As the tournament approaches its conclusion, Mighty is suddenly given an unexpected directive to fall short of victory in the finals because his opponent to be is part of a more established crew that will share an event with Mighty’s crew.  The conflicted up and comer begrudgingly opts for loyalty to his crew and tosses away the competition.  Things only get worse. His crew disowns him in front of another group, the same one whose member he laid down for in the freestyle tournament.  On top of that, they deny him a previously promised spot on stage that night.  

At this point, it may seem like the makings of a great tale of redemption. Perhaps Mighty will persevere against stacked odds to battle the members of these crews and prove his mettle as an MC.  But the 8,000 Mile series continues to stubbornly steer clear of a linear path.  The incident leads to a violent outburst on the part of Mighty, thus sending him on the road and establishing him as the fugitive of the movie’s title.

Another flash forward, and Mighty is in more familiar territory, somewhere in the sticks far removed from glamorous Tokyo.  Although free of the bullying and disrespect he experienced in Tokyo, here he finds himself hooked up with a different brand of thug, but thugs all the same, ripping off cars to resell as scrap, amidst other seedy activity.  Mighty finds himself in one of their good graces and is charged with organizing entertainment for an outdoor festival. This becomes the playing field on which the rest of the movie’s exploits are carried out.

Reenter Tom and Ikku.  Not ones to miss out on any opportunity to achieve fame, they are among several teens and twenty-somethings trying out for a spot on stage at the festival.  It’s all good rhyming and flexing until even this local showcase proves to be more of a pocket lining scam than a genuine effort to put on a great show.  In keeping in line with the rest of the film’s flow, there is still no one major conflict or challenge to rally around.  Shogung join forces with some similarly raggedy juvenile counterparts to make a live festival appearance materialize while Mighty’s troublesome rage again surfaces as he and his girlfriend’s integrity are compromised and money pressures rear their head.  The drama in the lives of these young upstarts orbit around one another as vulture-like threats (even the tyrannical rappers from the Tokyo scene reappears) form ever tightening circles and a sweaty carnivalesque summer festival lurches into gear.                             

While the film can feel bit all over the place, the vibrant rap interludes and director Irie’s skill at capturing movement, be it in the shiny Tokyo scenes or the more crudely shot festival sequences near its conclusion.  Even without a clear direction, Irie knows how to steer things in such a way that it’s compelling to see what is going to come next.

Here a subjective conversation is due about the decidedly grim direction.  For films that explicitly set out to expose audiences to injustices of the world, it’s fine.  For this more character driven film, I’m not sure.  Its world is one where those older and more powerful lord whatever influence they have, even when it is slight, to exploit a younger, hopeful generation. The petty criminals in Roadside Fugitive rip off, bully, and goad into degrading acts like prostitution, the generations that have come after.  Resistance to these powers that be, never mind overcoming them, is sadly absent.  The protagonists play the games by the unfairly loaded rules until they crack under pressure.  This didn’t quite work for me, coming from a genre that could potentially deliver the hope and sense of uplifting that often comes from well-crafted tales of individuals that face great odds.  I’m still hung up on a minor moment during the auditions, when two girls trying out as dancers are propositioned to sign a contract to regularly sell their bodies by the festival’s leering ringmaster.  The lack of comeuppance for such a sleazy character, or at least some form of rebuke, left me cold.  Yet I am forced to question if this overbearing lack of hope is overly cynical, or in fact a much needed dose of realism?

Even if it’s not always pleasing to the senses, the commitment to presenting a less than sunny vision in this chapter is, without question, daring.  Mighty’s slips into violence were jarring, and definitely a unsettling shift from the mood of the other two films that threatens to turn some people off.  Again, it’s an aspect of the film I’m ambivalent about.  I’ve admired how these films and their American reference point 8 Mile proposed the possibility of a battle of words replacing actual violence.  It's a matter of idealism vs. life’s harsher realities. Even the final performance goes out on a ledge, portrayed in a firmly non-celebratory style, which does carry across an, until then unclear, message about loyalty and perseverance.  It all leads to a messy and conflict-ridden anti-conclusion.  While it may mark an inner urge for Irie to express a bleaker sentiment about the world around us, another possibility is that they are laying dramatic bridgework for another sequel. It would not be hard to imagine that he conceived of an even lengthier, more sprawling story that they decided to cut into two parts, as reports do indicate the series has been commercially successful in Japan.     

Despite the lack of triumph, a sense of solidarity that comes through this countrified interpretation of hiphop is still evident.  While its big city incarnation is seen as divisive, corrupt, and all about image, the freestyle exchanges between Tom and Ikku and their new allies lead to bonding together.  Even when it’s done in confrontation, it comes off as respectful one upmanship and speaks of an understood, communal sense of pride.  And a stubborn one -- it might be hard to imagine the ridiculously monikered newly introduced MC’s, especially Speak No Evil and the wildly varying in energy level DJ Sleeping Cat to defend their act from against taunts, but they do so with bravado.    

It seems important to once more point out the presence of the unique freestyle rap dialogues.  The story has grown up to the point where they are not as essential to the plot as they once were. They don’t work as well for me here as in 8,000 Miles 2: Girl Rappers, when they seemed integral to expressing the frustrations of the female rappers of that chapter. But they are there, making this part of a franchise that is truly a one of a kind moviegoing experience.  How enamored you are with this trick, and perhaps how familiar with it you already are from the series’ earlier entries, will determine how much mileage you’ll likely get out of this 3rd chapter.  


Roadside Fugitive is being shown at the Japan Cuts festival at The Japan Society on Sunday, July 22, 9:30 PM. Director Yu Irie will attend to introduce and answer questions after the screening!


Me on twitter = @mondocurry

Tuesday Beastie Boys is making its North American premiere for free as part of the Korean Cultural Service Screenings

Just a quick reminder that Tuesday is the next Korean Cultural Service screening at the Tribeca Cinemas. It’s the second of the two Yoon Jin-Seo films, Beastie Boys.

My apology about not having a review for you all but I and the rest of us at Unseen Films have been hip deep in the New York Asian Film Festival and Japan Cuts so we’ve fallen down on the job.

The press release for the screening describes the film as follows:

The once-affluent Seung-Woo (k-pop superstar Yoon Kye-Sang) is now relegated to serving female customers at a host bar - a late-night job that dangerously flirts with male prostitution. When his encounters with the lovely Ji-Won (Yoon Jin-Seo) turn into more than just a customer-host relationship, the realities of his job quickly rear their ugly head. Meanwhile, his drunk, gambling-obsessed boss Jae-Hyeon (The Chaser’s Ha Jung-Woo) is causing his own complications and, when every problem suddenly collides – Seung-Woo discovers it’s going to take more than just street smarts for him to come out this job unscathed.

As always doors at 630, movie at 7 and its free on a first come first serve basis st the Tribeca Cinemas (54 Varick Street, on the corner of Canal Street, one block from the A, C, E and 1 train Canal Street stops)

Upside of Anger (2005)

Many recent family dramas bother me. They never seem real, they seem more contrived than the natural flow of events in the lives of characters. To me many are let’s make something dramatic so people will watch instead of telling a believable story. This dislike of the dramas is one of the reason that the Upside of Anger surprised me, some how it got around my defenses.

The film begins with Joan Allen’s husband disappearing. No one knows where he went or why but everyone suspects that he’s had an affair and run off with his paramour. The family is shattered, but they begin to rebuild. As mom tries to get on with her life, helped in part by the interest in neighbor Kevin Costner, her daughters must deal with complications in their own lives.

I won’t say more about the plot since the joy of the film is simply watching how the characters crash into each other.

Actually the joy of the film is watching a group of characters who seem real. These are people you might know. What happens to them are things that we might encounter in our lives. I really appreciate that as the film unfolds nothing in the film feels forced or made to happen to keep the plot going or for an effect.

The cast is great as well with Allen and Costner giving nicely lived in performances.

I really like this film a great deal. It’s a film that I find I keep recommending to people who want a good drama. Its weird since I haven’t seen the film in a while, and yet its one of those films that I seem to keep close to me heart and at the top of the recommended list.

If you’ve never seen it, give it a try. Its one of those small gem films that some how always managed to get lost behind the bigger and flashier productions.

If you have seen it see it again, I’m going to , since its time to revisit an old friend.

Koji Yakusho retrospective at Japan Cuts 2012 (Woodsman and the Rain & Chroncle of my Mother)

As part of Japan Cuts they are looking back at the work of Koji Yakusho who is going to be there all next weekend talking about the 6 films they are running.

Yakusho is one of my favorite actors. He's someone who's name I can never keep straight, but who's presence makes me smile at every time I see him on screen. His body of work is incredible. He's the sort of guy who manages to do a wide variety of films and manages to more or less hit it out of the box every time.

This year they are running the wonderful Shall We Dance, which was remade as an okay Richard Gere film; Cure a murder mystery which is really good (and really needs a write up); and 13 Assassins which I have talked way too much about simply because I love it so much.

They are also running two of his recent films, both of which I saw in advance of the festival

The Woodsman and the Rain is the most recent film. It's screening Friday at a sold out out gala performance.

The film concerns a logger who crosses paths with a film crew (making a zombie film). The film crew needs a bit of help getting around and he provides it. He also takes an interest in a slacker amongst the bunch, who he doesn't realize is the director. The pair begin to bond as the woodsman finds joy in the filmmaking process while the director finds his backbone.

I find it hard to say more than I liked it. You'll forgive me some times a film doesn't really produce more than a comment of "it's good" you'll like it" no matter how good a film is. This is one of those times. This isn't to say that it's a bad film, rather it's a nice gentle film about life and filmmaking.

Screening Saturday is Chronicle of My Mother which is a film that shows you just how good Yakusho is. Here is a role that allows him to so completely disappear that I was waiting for him to show up, until I realized that he had been on screen the entire time.

Based on an autobiographical novel by Yasushi Inoue, Chronicle of My Mother covers the period just before the death of lead character Kosaku‘s father in 1960 until November 1973. As the film opens Kosaku played by Yakusho)is home visiting his parents.

His sisters are buzzing around him talking and preparing a meal. They are discussing the fateful day decades before when he was sent off to school. He is trying to remember details of that day.

When the meal is done he goes to see his father who recoils from his touch, there is no love loss between the men. Kosaku also speaks with his mother who wants to discuss her husband's impending funeral. A short time later as Kosaku is heading home he is stopped by his mother who wants to discuss the matter of the funeral again. Kosaku thinks its forgetfulness, it is in fact the beginning of the decline of his mother. From there we see the course of the lives of Kosaku and his family as they deal with each other, the past and the declining health of their matriarch.

Koji Yakusho is amazing. If you want to see why he is one of the best actors working today see this film. Watching him in the film I was, as I said, hard pressed to know where he was. Sure he was front and center, but it didn’t seem to be him. Sure he was made up and dressed to be Kosaku, but at the same time there was something more, his whole being seemed to be different. He moved and held himself very differently than in any other film I had ever seen before. It was as if someone else has inhabited his body and took over. I suspect that you think I’m nuts but it’s true. If you watch any, or all, of the films the Japan Society is running in the retrospective of his films you’ll understand what I mean. Sure Yakusho is good in all of them, but there is something special about his performance here, it’s a performance that takes his acting to another level, which considering how good he is I would have thought was impossible.

Compared favorably to the works of Ozu (whose work, I’m embarrassed to say I’ve never seen) this is drama operating on any number of levels. We have the examination of how we deal with our aging parents; there is the attempt to find out why things happened in the past; and we have the domestic drama as the patriarchal and somewhat tyrannical Kasuko has to deal with his daughters who are having a hard time balancing what he has told them with the collision of modern society and the the revelations that the man is not the absolute pillar they took him to be. It’s a complex mix that some how manages to all come together into something really special.

Full disclosure here, I freely admit that part of my reaction to the film is that the film connected to bits and pieces of things that I experienced with my mom before she died. Little moments here and there connected to things that had happened with my mom. At the same time the film also connected with me in other ways that made the film feel as if it was more than from a novel, autobiographical or otherwise.

I really liked this film a great deal and when it was over I found that I had been moved by it’s story.

This film is a winner and I want to thank the Japan Society and Japan Cuts for shining a spotlight on it. As good as all the film in the serious are, this is the one where you truly understand what a treasure Koji Yakusho is.

Capsule Reviews:Random (36 Hours,Unfinished Life, Boarding House Blues)

BOARDING HOUSE BLUES
Lets put on a show is a wonderful record of Black Vaudeville, but not a particularly good movie

This movie is less a film than a collection of routines from the black vaudeville circuit. The results are decidedly mixed as a movie but as a record of the routines and acts it contains its a historical document (then again many historical documents are not very entertaining) The plot has Jackie "Moms" Mabley running a boarding house for various performers. When times get tight they put on a show to help Moms out. Its threadbare and simply the excuse to hang the various routines and songs on. The bits are certainly better than the whole and while I did enjoy said bits, I was left feeling rather empty at the end. Definitely worth a look or two if you love vaudeville, or the history of comedy. Actually its worth a look see if you want some laughs and aren't particularly picky about annoying things like plot. As they say its worth a bag of popcorn.

Unfinished Life
Story of love and healing starring Robert Redford,Morgan Freeman and J-Lo. Redford hasn't forgiven J-Lo for the death of his son ten years earlier. She shows up on his door on the run from an abusive boyfriend with the grand daughter Redford never knew existed (he was too angry for j-lo ever to tell him she existed). Good and almost cliche ridden story of how everyone heals and comes together. Worth a look if you accept you know what you're getting going in. The problem is J-lo, who looks out of place with everyone else by looking so beautiful. She's been in one bad relationship after another and is living on the cheap and she looks way too perfect.(Lopez apparently wants an oscar and she's been told not until she puts her dues in with some non-glamorous roles and the high living "society" crap she gets in the paper with. I agree, if she dresses down and goes sans makeup maybe she'll get that oscar- in 20 years)

36 Hours
James Garner plays an intelligent officer who is captured in the eve of the D-Day invasion. The Germans try to trick him into think six years had passed and that the war was over in order to get him to reveal what he knows.

Off beat spy yarn is a clever idea but never quite gels. Give it points for not going in the direction you'd expect, it doesn't take long before Garner figures out its ruse and then things don't go as you'd think.

I like the film more for what it tries to do rather than for what it accomplishes. Its an interesting misfire, thats worth seeing for that reason

Green Archer (1961)

This is an adaptation of one of Edgar Wallace's most famous stories. The plot has Valerie Howett and her family moving into a mansion somewhere in England. The estate next door belongs to Abel Bellamy (Gert Frobe), an American of questionable background. Bellamy would prefer that no one live near by, especially the Howetts. In typical Edgar Wallace fashion there are multiple seemingly parallel story lines, Scotland Yard investigating Bellamy, Valerie trying to find out what happened to her long lost mother, and the mysterious and legendary Green Archer of the title, who appears to get vengeance on enemies of his family; which all converge in the final act. The while the plot is needlessly convoluted, it keeps things interesting for its 90 minute running time (it also prevents a simple explanation of the story).

Well acted by the entire cast this is one of the better Wallace adaptations to come out of the German Wallace cycle. Gert Frobe, best known as Goldfinger, is listed last in the credits, but is probably the one character on screen the most. He gives a performance that makes you wonder why we didn't see more of him in other films. The movie moves along at a good clip with some wonderful set pieces on a ship and in a flooding basement that keeps things moving along. If there are any real complaints about the film, its the attempts at humor, especially by the television reporter that acts as a sort of Greek chorus bookend to the film. Simply put its just not funny.

If you have a desire to see a good mystery this is worth a shot. Its probably the best introduction to the Edgar Wallace series that ran in Germany all through the 1960's.

(Yes this is taken from my IMDB review. NYAFF has just worn me out)

Carpet Of Horror (1962)

Badly titled film concerns a killer who rolls balls filled with poison across the carpet to kill unsuspecting victims.

Very much akin to the Bryan and Edgar Wallace films that Germany was also cranking out at the same time, the films plot is put in motion as the police and various other groups try to get to the bottom of a criminal enterprise with a mysterious leader who is keeping the group together with blackmail.

It’s a well done game of who is a good guy and who is a bad guy. If you’ve seen any of the Wallace films from the period or any of the Euro-mysteries from the period you’ll know what you’re getting.

On the negative side the film is pretty interchangeable with most of the similar films making it not particularly memorable (outside of the really bad title).

On the positive side it’s an entertaining mystery that keeps you watching, and guessing to the end. Its exactly the sort of thing that will keep you up all night if you stumbled on it at bed time(which is what happened to me) or would be the perfect way to spend a rainy Sunday afternoon.

Recommended. Currently out from Sinister Cinema.

No Keeping Them Down: Girls For Keeps (Japan Cuts, 2012)

GIRLS FOR KEEPS (whose Japanese title is the Japanese phonetic representation of 'Girl') is something a little bit out of my comfort zone.  It’s a through and through chick flick that caught my curiosity because it is adapted from a novel by Hideo Okuda (whose infamous LALA PIPO shines an unexpected beam of light out from an extremely dark and raunchy societal landscape).  Before I get into the film, I’ll preface by saying that while my eyes were initially doing barrel rolls, it won me over with its strong performances and earnest pro-female proclamations.

The film starts with a sequence that is striking in its dead-on reference to Sex and the City: a loud boisterous voice-over from one of the main characters, Yukiko, about her love of fashion (sure to set off Carrie comparisons) is set to noticeably American contempo-pop music blaring in the background.  The movie’s focus on her and 3 female friends will likely draw even more comparisons to the seminal HBO show.  Be prepared, however, for some much appreciated wrinkles in the formula.  

What the women share in common is that they are in their 30’s, or in the case of Yukiko, 29 and almost there -- an important factor in what the movie depicts to be an extremely age-conscious urban Japan.  When Yukiko joins the other women, all with their own stories, at a restaurant for a birthday celebration, they decide to tell Yukiko that it is time for her to grow up in both her appearance and manner.  And so begins her soul searching over an image she has long been comfortable with, as well as each of the other friends’ stories, filled with struggles over work, family, and yes finding love.  

Along with Yukiko, a campaign planner for an advertising agency, there is Seiko, a recently promoted executive for a city planning and developing firm. Takako is a single mom whose mind is often occupied with doing right by her son.  And last of all, Yoko is another white collar worker who is conscious of the difficulty of landing a mate in light of younger competition, a situation that is made more apparent when she is assigned to mentor a very desirable (to all of the women in the office) new male employee.        

For the women in the story, the combination of their age and gender present one sort of challenge or another.  While Yukiko and Seiko both have long term relationships, they face the hardships of holding nominal influences in their jobs.  Yukiko finds that her designs are not taken seriously by senior members of her company.  She ends up reporting to a younger superior with something of a vendetta for the way she and other 30-something women dress in frilly clothes and refer to themselves as ‘girls.’  At the same time, she grows increasingly frustrated with a longtime boyfriend whose efforts to make her feel special are humorously lacking.  An impulse to demand more is met with the nagging voice of a co-worker that at her age, she’d be better off just settling for the relationship she has. Seiko is undermined by a system that does not take women seriously as leaders, to the point where her work is sabotaged by an arrogant male subordinate, while at the same time forced to watch a new female employee be trivialized in spite of her talent.  

While they occasionally see each other, lament, and give advice over their situations, the stories are really each one’s own.  Their struggles are documented through situations that at times are humorous, and others humiliating.  Yukiko, with the help of a livelier and more self-assured colleague, stands up for her vision of a critical fashion promotion, while at the same time putting up with her longtime boyfriend’s routines, slowly growing in her demands for better treatment.  Seiko navigates her increasingly hostile work environment, steadying her resolve for an inevitable boardroom battle to prove the competence of herself and a sympathetic subordinate.  Less in the foreground are the stories of Yoko and Takako, yet their tales also have poignant moments.  In one scene that bears a great moment of awkward humor, Yoko returns home after work to find her family clandestinely celebrating her younger sister’s engagement.  “You don’t have to hide it from me. I can find a mate for myself,” she insists as she open a beer, but the cracks in her resolve are apparent.  For Takako, a simple gesture like teaching her son to flip over the monkey bars is a testament to her devotion to her son, yet at the same time the fretting she does over this shows her insecurities over being an adequate parental presence in his life.

The further along the film goes, the more it sheds away the Sex and the City comparisons -- aside from the important common ground that this about strong, independent women.  All of them are, even the more bubbly Yukiko; if they weren’t, they would not be able to face the uphill struggles society has thrown at them.  A big distinction between this movie and its American predecessor is that there is no focus on saucy exploits here.  The protagonist in Girls... are not trying to get their rocks off.  Rather, they seek to establish a positive identity, equity in a world that sends an overbearing message that they should remain complacent in a marginalized position.  I can also say with certainty that, as little familiarity as I have with the Sex and the City franchise, I know enough about the movies to say that Girls... is far more grounded in reality.  No, here there are absolutely no trips to luxurious wedding parties held in Dubai.  

As far as performances go, Kumiko Asou (who was also in one of the big features of this year’s Japan Cuts, Love Strikes!) is captivating as a headstrong, indignant businesswoman. This is fitting, as her confrontation with an overwhelmingly chauvinistic foe makes her story the most emotionally charged of the bunch.

While it espouses a cause we can get behind, the movie is not without some factors to take into consideration.  For one, this is a decidedly pop affair, with moments that some might find overly sappy.  Considering Fukuda’s other written work, it leaves me wondering if there was not in fact edgier, less tactful dialogue to begin with that was later prettied up.  On a more technical note, In moving between four stories, there are long stretches of time dedicated to two of them, with the others left out of the picture.  It is enough to sometimes take you out of the loop of the other characters’ stories and lessen their impact.  In fact the original novel was structured as a set of short stories, so combining them into one may have been a challenge.  And all the while it must be acknowledged, the cuts back and forth between the crucial events in Yukiko and Seiko’s stories near the movie’s finale was masterfully and movingly edited together.       

In fact all of the main characters’ final resolutions and realizations struck a chord with me.  I was truly won over.  The more i think about the ground covered, the more impressed i am that from within a social climate that is still marked by serious imbalance, a film like this comes along to both entertain and address those issues.

Whether or not you can relate, Girls For Keeps offers a genuine look at the challenges and complexities of womanhood, while channeling a powerful shot of positive girl power. An unapologetic chick flick, proceed accordingly.

Girls For Keeps receives its international premiere (first screening outside of Japan!) as part of the Japan Cuts festival, taking place at the Japan Society, Wednesday July 18, at 7:30 PM.

Me on twitter = @mondocurry

Final day - NYAFF 2012 - a killer rabbit, a unabomber, & some potato chips in Sendai.

Yesterday was officially the last day of the NYAFF before the baton was passed over to the Japan Cuts program. I went in to the Japan Society to catch the last trifecta of films starting with Tormented, Monsters Club, and the closing film - Potechi.

Tormented was billed as a psychedelic, trippy horror fairy tale involving a misunderstood 10 year old and his creative imagination in dealing with grief and suffering. A larger than life size rabbit will try to snap some sense in him! Tormented had me hallucinating in the theatre dreaming of the Little Mermaid as I started drifting in and out of reality.  Was it the intentions of the filmmaker to channel my psychosis to suck me into the horror’ible tale of an alternate Alice in Wonderland universe ruled by twisted rabbits?  Maybe watching this film in 3D would answer some questions in my two dimensional mind. DB had more of a granite chin as he was able to withstand the punches of the killer wabbit. His thoughts on the film here.

Monsters Club on the other hand, packed a thudding punch of social commentaries directed at our capitalistic society more interested in orchestrating a frenzied rat race full of empty souls in order to feed their shallow materialistic needs which further fueled their egos with this false sense of power because of monetary status.  The director who was on hand at the screening was inspired by reading the unabomber - Ted Kaczynski’s Manifesto and instantly thought that the writings described the current state of Japanese Society which led to the output known as Monsters Club.  The film is beautifully shot offering a poetic and peaceful outlook in life while being “free”.  Unfortunately, the flipside of the story is that the main character Ryoichi uses a destructive method in delivering his message to the money hungry CEO’s and TV Networks that are merely using the masses as puppets to appease their own greed.  In the middle of the peace and destruction in the eyes of Ryoichi - he begins to have a moment of self realization as memories from his past would conjure up in another creative form in order to begin the process of healing and to form some sense of closure with his family.  One of my colleague’s at Unseen Films - Mondocurry gives a description of the film (no spoilers) with more eloquence and passion here.

Toshiaki Toyoda - the director of the film was on hand to talk about the film after the screening. He mentioned some hardships during the filming of Monsters Club including the main actor - Eita who had lost his dad in a tragic death. Toyoda also had some fun words offered about Eita who was 17 yrs old when the director first worked with him. The young actor, a straight laced & bright fellow, has become quite popular in Japan through TV and commercials but Toyada sees him quite differently as a ‘dark’ individual who drinks a lot which is why he is banned from many bars!  The director mentioned that Eita really prepared himself for the role by buying mountain gear and living at a lodge for quite some time. The film shoot in the mountains was intense in the -15 degree weather. Another important thing to note is that the film was shot before the earthquake in Japan. The younger generation in Japan took to Monsters Club quite well as audiences were really emotional even crying at some of the screenings.  When asked by an audience member at the Japan Society, was there a particular philosophy that you wanted to convey to the viewers through MC - the director answered that it’s difficult to say what type of philosophy, but he welcomes the audience to take what you will from the film. With the context of Japan in mind, the matter of survival and thriving in Japanese society today is a huge problem.  At the end of the film, the director wanted to try to get the audience to see a glimpse of hope. Of course the hope is not entirely clear so he wanted to leave the conflict in the minds of the viewers.  Monsters Club is a heavy hitting and deep film that I’m still digesting and trying to make sense out of. Go see for yourself!

The closing movie of the festival belonged to the charming comedy POTECHI.  It left a nice taste of consomme flavored potato chips in my mouth if not a bit unbelievable plot wise but overall a fun way to end NYAFF!  There were a few intended malevolent twist and turns in the film but somehow the situation ended up with a rainbow at the end. The viewers cannot help but to cheer on the main character as he stumbled, fumbled, and tripped on the screen - all with good intentions.  I didn’t watch Yoshihiro Nakamura’s other touted movies such as A Fish Story nor the NYAFF Audience Favorite -  A Boy and his Samurai but I did manage to catch Golden Slumber from a few years back. I can see how DB from Unseen films mentions that Nakamura’s films’ plot lines dive back and forth and eventually intersecting to form some cohesiveness in the story.  It was difficult to see how a tangled web of burglars, suicide, blackmail, a professional baseball player, and a mixup of potato chip flavors all tied into the plot .  DB reaches into his bag of chips with his review of the film here.

Potechi was set in Sendai which was an area severely devastated by the Earthquake and subsequent Tsunami and nuclear disasters. The Japan Society screened part 1 of a series of short films called WE ARE ALL RADIOACTIVE before each post March 11th Cinema feature.

Thanks to all of the Unseen Film gang’s collective contribution & coverage to NYAFF. It was fun! I’m sure DB & Mondocurry are slowly reducing the pot of ragu sauce for some concentrated Top 5 or best of lists from NYAFF 2012! Stay tuned!


Japan Cuts 2012 program runs from July 12-28. Go see some films pronto!
Check out the schedule!

Army of Shadows (1969)

A while back Roger Ebert put this on his great movie list.

At the time of the article a restored version of the film was making it's visit to theaters around the country. Instead of going I checked for a DVD release. I picked up a region 2 disc for less than it would cost for me to go into the city to see it. I couldn't wait for the DVD since most reviews were about equal to Ebert's take. I opted for DVD since the city screenings were inconvenient- owing in part to a two and a half hour running time.

This is a lost "classic" from Jean-Pierre Melville a film maker of great regard. An iconoclast who made movies his way (and with his own money) and who died before he could be recognized so his films fell out of favor. His films are legends in the film community however until Army of Shadows I'd only seen the Red Circle, which has a first hour I adore and a last 80 minutes I'm disappointed in.

Army of Shadows tells the story of several members of the French Resistance during the Second World War. Its a movie about people and not about battles. This is war on the small scale as people just try to help fight the enemy and stay alive-even though they know that their days are numbered.

Brilliantly made this is a movie of people. Its all the actors, who say more in a glance than most other movies say in hours of dialog. Its a movie that begins heading in one direction and then goes in another. It defies expectations as it takes you from one moment in time and brings you to another. Its a slice of life during wartime.

I'm not sure what I think of the film. Is it a great movie? I don't know but it haunts me- years after I first saw it I still can't not think about it at least once or twice a week
Certainly it is a dense movie. A great deal happens. I was twenty minutes in and realized that I still had two hours left to go. How can it be that they've covered enough material for three movies in so short a time?

Its a long slow movie. Its almost two and a half hours long and at times I felt it. Part of this is due to the long quiet stretches that are like real life if the characters existed. This is a movie about hiding in the dark and in the silence. Of trying not to be over heard so there are silent passages. Its at times unfocused, but then so is life.

Its clearly cinematic. The opening rain storm is clearly make believe, a plane is a model. There is rear screen projection and an odd occasional cinematic touch that signals that this is make believe and yet the world is a real place. We feel the terror and the emotion.

And as I said there is the amazing acting, which is across the board touching and as real as it gets. Only perhaps Simone Signore as Mathilde seems out of place, but then again maybe no...we feel her strength, her pain and her mother's love.

It's a well researched film based on a novel by a member of the resistance. I heard an interview with the cinematographer who said that surviving resistance members helped to shape scenes and to explain how things really would have gone. Knowing that helps some of the odder bits go down (since they seem so odd - the firing range bit- that you can't be sure it could have happened.)

I really like this movie but I'm not sure if its just a very good one or a great one. My quandary is the result of final bit of text at the end of the movie. Its one of those things that changes whats gone before. Its not that its anything thats out of place, its just that I'm not sure we need it- then again its one of those things that while it moved me, I'm not sure if its a cheat of sorts. What it is is one of those what happened next sort of things. For me it colors whats gone before, its one of the times where I'm left wondering if we should see the events or if we know about them at all.(It actually has me pondering the use of such techniques in all movies)

That said its a movie to search out, On dvd if not in theaters.(Criterion has since put out an edition with extras that I repurchased) I won't say absolutely its a great film, but I will concede that it could be since the film has been kicking around in my head since I saw it the first time.

I also want to warn those who need action every minute that this is not a movie for you. Stuff happens but as I said its more often quiet tension rather than overt action. If you can't sit still and let it play out stay away.

Tormented (2011) NYAFF 2012 Japan Cuts 2012

The final film for me from this years New York Asian Film Festival was Takashi Shimizu's wildly off the mark Tormented (aka Rabbit Horror 3D). I'm so glad that the infinitely better Monster's Club and Potechi (Chips) followed it so that the festival could end on a high note because quite honestly this film is one of the very few low points. (Apologies to Stewart who came with me, I swear I didn't know!)

The plot of the film begins with a young boy killing a rabbit in misery. He's then tormented by his classmates, and his only friend appears to be the mute librarian....who just happens to be his sister. We then watch as the boy is pursued by a stuffed rabbit and a person in a rabbit suit... But wait there is a twist coming that resets the table and makes you throw up your hands...until yet more twists confuse matters so much that when the end credits rolled I said "What the hell was that?" out loud to everyone in the theater.

What is it?

Its a big hot steaming pile of rabbit poop.

Christopher Doyle's cinematography looks great(and I'm sure this was cool in 3D). The actors are fine. The script was absolute pretentious twaddle.

I don't care who Takashi Shimizu is and what he's done before (the incredibly excellent Ju-on films) this one makes no sense even internally. Logic, dream, deranged or otherwise it makes zero sense.

You can't keep changing the table to create tension when what you're doing to begin with makes no sense.

Note to Goran: You asked me what were the two or three films I couldn't believe you guys programmed over the past 11 years- This is one of them.

Why did you run this?

I know, the director.

Stop that. Just stop that. Don't do that. Run the movie because it's good not because the director has been in the past.

MrC fell asleep.

I and Stewart tried to.

This is one of the least at the film festival.

And with that the festival was done.

Japan Cuts is just starting but NYAFF is done.

As I write this MrC is at the Japan Society finishing up the festival. But for me it's all done.

A summation and all of that will follow in a day or so once Mondocurry and MrC finish taking stock.

Thanks to Goran, Rufus, Samuel and the rest for inviting us along. While they aren't looking forward to next year, I am.

(And a shout out to Alec from Flixist and Mike from Fangoria. Hopefully I'll catch up with you guys at Japan Cuts)

New York Asian FIlm Festival is Done! Long Live Japan Cuts!

Just in from my 52nd film at the New York Asian Film Festival - Tormented. I'm exhausted, having run out the screening to get on a train to go to dinner. A report will follow in the early morning. I have to decompress.

A shout out to MrC who was staying to the bitter end tonight, Alec from Flixist and Mike from Fangoria wall of whom I ran out on...many apologies.

Okay time to get into jammies and get to writing.

Capsule Mystery Reviews Half a Sinner/Crooked Circle

Half a Sinner (1940)
As school winds down Anne Gladden, a single teacher, decides to throw caution to the wind, gets her self all dolled up and heads out to the park. There she is accosted by a rude gentleman and in order to get away takes his car and drives off. She is unaware that the car is stolen and that there is a dead body in the back seat under an overcoat. The coat belongs to the boss of the gangsters and he's not happy that the evidence that could put him away for a long time is now out and about on a joy ride. Soon Anne is not only being chased by the cops and the gangsters but she's managed to pick up a nice man as well.

Suspenseful and silly this is a very enjoyable romp as the ever lovely Heather Angel tries very hard to get out of trouble and hang on to her man. Clearly a program picture this fun film manages to be considerably more especially when Constance Collier as Mrs Brenckenridge shows up and runs rough shod over everyone and everything. The woman is a pisser.

I really liked this a great deal. This is one to keep an eye out for since its an hour of your time well spent.

Crooked Circle (1932)
1930's comedy mystery about "The Crooked Circle" a band of hooded crooks who set about plotting the murder of some one who swore to oppose them. Enjoyable but really unremarkable little film, the movie works simply because the cast headed by Zazu Pitts and James Gleason (both of whom would later appear together in a couple of Hildegarde Withers films after Edna Mae Oliver dropped out of that series) and supported by a great cast of actors and actresses you know but may not know the name of (I don't hence the lack naming).

A breezy hour long romp, the movie doesn't make a great deal of sense with mistaken identity, secret passages, ghostly music and people not being who they seem. Its the perfect thing for a dark and stormy night or a late night viewing when one is nostalgic for the late late show.

Currently available from places like Alpha video and other public domain releases I recommend it as one of the reasons to pick up one of the many multi-movie sets such as Night Screams 50 movie set from Mill Creek that are floating around. (I mention that set because I have it and because its collection of mysteries in it quite good with very few clunkers)

Tokyo Playboy Club and Gyo — NYAFF 2012 / Japan Cuts 2012

Down to the final two days at the New York Asian Film Festival, which means I'm at the start of my time at Japan Cuts.

I mean this lovingly, but I think I've finally hit the point where there is too much of a good thing. I'm at the point where you should call a doctor...

...which is a state that many of the rest of you going to the festival in as well (I'm not getting into the people running the festival since they clearly need to be put away for a long rest). I spoke to a bunch of people covering the fest and just going and everyone is worn out.

Sitting waiting for Tokyo Playboy Club to start a tall blond gentleman came striding down the aisle and asked if I was DB? Yes I said. And Alec from Flixist introduced myself. We then sat talking until the film started. He is a great guy and I completely understand why Hubert hangs with him.

(For those wondering how he could know who I am if we had never met, if you've ever seen the bald big guy that I am you won't forget me, no matter how hard you try. I'm easy to spot once I'm described)

As Rufus took the stage to introduce the movie I got a slap on the back as Mr C slid into the seat in front of me.

Rufus said that Tokyo Playboy Club was a film he wanted to screen. He said it was one of the more alive films in the festival and one of his favorites. He said that some people compared to Tarantino and Miike, but he didn't think that was appropriate. It's not nor is it fair.

Playboy Club is a multi-character story centered at the run down hostess club of the title. Things are set in motion when an ex-gangster (kind of) trying to go straight needs a place to hide so he goes to an old friend, the owner of the club for a place to hide out. We also get to meet one of the employees of the club, his girlfriend and his paramour...and then there are the three gangster brothers...

There is no way to explain this film with out telling you everything so I won't. It's a really good film that is completely unlike what ever it is you maybe expecting. As Mr C said "I read on the film but it wasn't what I was expecting". No it's not. It's like Tarantino (say Pulp Fiction) and yet completely different. Its a film you stay with to the very end because you have no idea where this is going to go. I mean a whole bunch of us sat there waiting through the end credits because there could be something at the end (there wasn't)

Speaking of the end credits, when they started to roll there was an audible groan from a portion of the audience. Not to give anything away, but they, like me couldn't believe that they were leaving it there...yes they were. While it's in keeping with the anything can happen nature, I wish I knew what happened next...

As Rufus said it starts slow but once it gets going it is gangbusters. One of the better films at the NYAFF/Japan Cuts.

Between screenings Mr C left. He was heading up town for an outdoor screening on playground basketball. Based on what he said, it sounds great and I hope he reports in.

I also got a chance to talk fleetingly to Kenji from My Life at 24fps and assorted other places. He is a really good guy who seems to be in constant motion.

Inside the screening Alec and myself were joined by Hubert and (don't kill me if I get this wrong) Mike from Fangoria. I say this because anyone who was there there, and who made it to sunlight deserve a badge of honor...not because the film was bad but because while it's one of the best films at the NYAFF/ Japan Cuts, it's also the very definition of WRONG. It's a movie that will mess you up.

Gyo...

There is no way in hell that I can describe this film to you and have you understand , I mean REALLY UNDERSTAND what it's like seeing this film in a darkened theater. Think being trapped in someone Else's nightmare where your rules and logic don't work.

It's funny, I mean the initial premise that has flatulent fish on spider like legs coming out of the ocean is funny, but it just goes so horribly terribly monstrously wrong.

People in the audience were moaning and talking out loud between the nervous laughter. It's a film that crawls inside you and makes you uncomfortable even as you're laughing at it.

Walking down 47th street with Alec and Hubert there was a point during the heated discussion about Gyo (some of the most passionate I've had about any film at the festival should add) that Alec turned to Hubert and myself and said "we saw something else today, what was it?" It took a minute before we realized it was Tokyo Playboy Club.

Gyo is a kind of mind wipe.

Gyo is a movie that clears the mind of anything else you experienced before it.

Heading home I stopped into Midtown Comics to try and get the comic book by Junji Ito. They didn't have it. I then called Randi to ask her to email to find the comic on line. She could tell I was mentally bent.

"It's one of those films, isn't it?" she asked.

"Yes. How could you tell?"

"Your voice"

Gyo is one of those films.

Applause to the NYAFF/Japan Cuts crew for getting it. But GOD DAMN IT ONLY ONE SHOW? ONE? Had you ran this baby twice you would have had to beat people away once the word of mouth started.

When you can, see Gyo, just do so early in the day, you don't want to be dreaming about what's in this film.

(And a shout out to the lovely Lee who I was waiting on line for Love Strikes! and to whom I didn't get a chance to say hi to)