Concordia University is a small small place...

Rob enters the Hall building elevator with a young couple.

Boy in elevator (to girl): So what are you doing on campus?

Girl in elevator: I'm taking an online course, Sociology 282.

Rob's ears perk up as he's a TA for that very same class.

Boy in elevator: Really how's that going?

Girl in elevator: It's a lot of writing. I haven't even done the readings that much but I'm getting by by looking stuff up on Wikipedia.

Boy in elevator: Awesome, you outsmarted them.

Robert tries as hard as humanly possible to hold in his laughter as they get off the elevator.


Now how bad would it be to enter the admin system and try to figure out who that girl is? Man, she is so lucky I hold myself a somewhat strict code of ethics. I am however, cross referencing every paper I mark now through Wikipedia. Foolish undergrads, thinking TAs have never cheated before. Just wait and see how hardass I am at the final exam dearie. I know all the tricks.

Robby on the Radio

Well the CBC roundtable I was a part of has been posted online. On the panel was me, Cedric and an artist named Amy Wong from Toronto.

The link is here. We're on the 2nd hour of the show, starting around the 22 minute mark or so.

Check it out!

Mortal Kombat vs DC Universe

Okay I'm not one to get hyped up over video games before they come out (mainly because I've been burned so many times in the past - 'Deus Ex 2' anyone?) but I'll make an exception when my favorite comic book universe strangely converges with one of my favorite fighting games. In all fairness when I heard about this game initially I thought it was a stupid idea. While granted Marvel and Capcom did a great game in the Marvel vs. Capcom series (which me and Paul still play to this day) there was at least a bit of precedence. Marvel had a string of fighting games that were put out by Capcom back in the day (which we rocked out hard at the local 7-11 by Deer Lake, does anyone even play arcade games at gas stations anymore?). Moreover, mix ups were pretty common for Capcom with games like 'Capcom vs. SNK.' Moreover, practically all of the games that had a DC logo attached to it sucked bad. So I think its kind of fair that on initial glance I thought the Mortal Kombat/DC thing was a bit far fetched. But then again, if there's going to be a book about being caught with your foot in your mouth, I'd be the author.

So as we come off the wake of the behemoth that is the San Diego ComicCon we get to find tons of videos like the one above that prepare us with geeky joy for the coming consumerfest that is quarter 4. I'll withhold from throwing up tons and tons of videos of cool shit I plan to be playing come this winter, but man, am I excited about this, I mean the Flash looks fucking crazy. And if anything else, we're getting yet another Mortal Kombat game which is always fun and entertaining for the Parungao boys. Moreover, I don't really see what the big deal is with peopel arguing that Superman would just wipe everyone out, I mean they had Thanos in MvsC2 didn't they? Yeesh, comic geeks are such nitpickers to sticking to lore. Oh and on the topic of nitpicking nerds, do Batman and Scorpion both have the same low throw? That's kind if lazy...

Anyway I don't like to judge anything based on a trailer so I'll leave off on a high note with this vid which details why me and Paul have played MK games since they came out (does anyone else remember that Bonsor Rec Centre had MK1 in the basement next to the gym?).

CD Review - Teenage Bottlerocket - Warning Device

Teenage Bottlerocket

I'm kinda tired of writing movie reviews, so I figured I'd detour a bit and start a second phase of what I hope to make this blog into (stay tuned to see what else I have planned!). Moreover, I'm so damn stoked for the upcoming Teenage Bottlerocket tour that I figure I ought to start with them. In fact, I'm actually planning my vacation to New York a day early just to catch them in Toronto.


If you approach this CD hoping to get straightforward pop-punk, you get exactly what you wished for. No musical experimenting or exploration here folks, just the same old formula we've seen so many times in the past (The Ramones, Screeching Weasel and Mr. T Experience come to mind off hand). Except this time its done expertly well, filled with 3-chord buzzsaw guitars, 'whoa-oh' filled choruses, and snotty and snarky lyrics. Without any worry of over hyping them, this band easily summarizes all things that pop-punk is, and should be. And that's just on my first listen through!

Anyway, right off the bat you can hear the influence from singer Kody Templeman's previous band and (in all honesty) the songs in which he sings could pass as singles off a 'The Lillingtons' CD. However, the shared vocal responsibilities between him and bassist Ray Carlisle give the listener a nice change in pace. Right off the bat we are exposed to their difference in style with the first two songs on the CD (Bottlerocket and In the Basement) showing us just what this band is made of. With hooks as catchy as the flu a lot of these songs will burn themselves into your head, and even without the CD on my iPod I found myself humming songs like 'Anna's Song' on the way to the office overtop of whatever it was I was listening to. Certainly we're not embarking on MENSA territory here in terms of lyrics. Songs like 'Totally Stupid' and 'In the Nuthouse' talk about boredom and wasting time. In fact, the song 'She's not the One' is able to repeat the exact same line for three-quarters of the song. Amazingly however, songs like these are a testament to their skill and what they lack in lyrical originality, as they make up with tight songwriting and raw head-bopping catchiness. Most band's aren't able to make songs even half as good as these guys, and heck, Bottlerocket can do it with just four words. And without question the chorus for 'Pacemaker' is possibly the best of the year (yes I'm already calling it).

The pacing of the CD flows well and I can easily listen to it top to bottom without skipping a track, but it clocks in a bit short. Often when I leave it on while I'm working I'll go grab a drink and come back to find it already finished, but overall its just what I needed for the summer - an uplifting, easy to digest CD that sucks you in and keeps you listening and smiling for weeks. And in all honesty, who comes to pop-punk CD looking for anything more than that?

And with that in mind, if you live on the east coast be sure to check them out on their upcoming tour. You won't be wasting your money.

Movie Reviews - Sparrow // Triangle

Triangle (Tie Saam Gok) and Sparrow (Man Jeuk)

I'm going to try something new and compare two movies I saw at Fantasia, Jonny To's 'Sparrow' and 'Triangle' directed by To, Tsui Hark and Ringo Lam. To summarize, 'Sparrow' follows a group of four pickpockets in Hong Kong while 'Triangle' is an 'exquisite corpse' where each of the three directors write and direct a section of the movie.

Off the bat, 'Triangle' was the superior movie. Arguably one could argue that this this is somewhat obvious, and that such comparisons are unfair because 'Triangle' has the weight and credit of 3 different well-known directors behind it. While I understand these criticisms, I believe that 'Triangle' is better primarily because 'Sparrow' was such a mediocre (at best) film.

To's 'Sparrow' was an experience of style over content. We are introduced to the four pickpockets as they meet at their usual meeting spot (a small restaurant) and quickly watch them 'accidentally' bump into pedestrians, taking their wallet, watches, and other valuables. Each in turn meets Kelly Lin's Chung Chun Lei, who woos each in turn. However, the four soon find out she has gang connections (in a humorous scene where they all show up to the restaurant with broken limbs) and (in true To fashion) decide to band together and aid her.

At its peak moments, 'Sparrow' is fun to watch as we see the tricks of the pickpocket's trade. Indeed, several of the scenes parallel the excitement of a heist movies, and in one scene, in a game of one-upmanship between the pickpockets, we watch as two of the main characters steal the handcuffs from a roaming police officer. Perhaps the best the movie has to offer though, its its final scene, a stylish blend of back-and-forth stealing as the two rival gangs cross one another at a busy intersection. While it is predictably (perhaps stereotypically) shot in slow motion and in the rain, it a fun scene nonetheless and nobody can accuse this movie of not knowing what its doing in terms of cinematography. Writing on the other hand is a different story.

Outside of several key gems, the film is painfully straightforward, emotionally unmoving, and suffers from mediocre dialogue that borders camp. Like the previously reviewed 'Pye Dog' the movie failed to stand on its own two feet and relies heavily on only several good scenes while the rest of the film is a total drag. Like a box of children's cereal, it may look amazing and even give you a few treats, but in the end 'Sparrow' gives you next to nothing in terms of nutritional content or gratification.

'Triangle' on the other hand was an interesting ride. To start off the film, the first director (Tsui) opens as many doors possible so that the later two directors can take the movie in their own direction, but also lays the groundwork for the 'core' storyline. In its second act, Lam grabs the story and runs with the previous themes established, but also throws in a few ideas of his own, and finally To has the not so simple job of tying it all together.

The problem with this interesting filmmaking experiment is the scattered nature of the plot and direction. While certainly I didn't expect it to flow perfectly together the viewer is ultimately exposed to both the best and worst that each director brings to the table and as each tries to puts his own spin on the storyline, the emotional range of the same character swings from incredibly dark to just plain wacky. Moreover, loose plotlines are picked up and dropped like a bad prom date.

That being said, watching the film is still an entertaining experience and the pros outweigh the cons and I find myself redeeming To for the blah-fest that was 'Sparrow' as he expertly crafts the ending of 'Triangle' working out just about all of the kinks his fellow directors threw into the plot, while tossing in a few of his own. The final scene was a well-directed, clever, and rewarding Mexican stand-off that made the entire experience worthwhile. That's not to say that the premise of the film wasn't interesting in its own right, but a good idea is just that, a good idea...not a good film and To's addition really helped make 'Triangle' into a pretty good film.

CBC Radio tomorrow

Tomorrow at 2:30 I'll be part of a panel discussion on 'Chinese Canadians who have gone back to China to explore their roots'. If you're in Montreal tune in. I'll try to see if I can get a recording to post.


EDIT: Turns out the show airs on Friday. My apologies to anyone who might have tried to tune in. I'm told that it will be podcasted, so I'll try to find a way to post it.

Movie Review - Second Skin

Second Skin

Here's a movie that touches on an issue I can claim to know about. Not only do I play MMORPGs pretty regularly (read: daily) but I've even done a bit of academic readings, researched, wrote and even presented papers on gamers. Heck, my honors thesis on race and games got quite an international media splash (search my name in Google and check out all the trash talk I got, don't you just love how 'brave' the Internet makes people?).

But I digress, in essence, 'Second Skin' is a documentary film that takes a close look at the lives of online gamers, centering specifically around 'World of Warcraft' players (but also a few other games too) and are introduced to a variety of gamers who deal with a wide spread of issues. We meet the Fort Wayne boys, a group of friends who live and play together for over 40 hours a week, following their lives as they prepare for the upcoming expansion pack of 'The Burning Crusade.' The undercurrent of their narrative though, is a coming of age story as they struggle to deal with their online responsibilities vis-a-vis emerging 'real life' issues, particularly marriage and ultimately parenthood.

We are introduced to Kevin, an 'Everquest' player who has already had several stormy online relationships and his love interest Heather who is about to meet him for the first time. We are encouraged to think about how online relationships are mediated not only through virtual space (in-game) but also in the material world as they try to establish a life together despite the fact that they live hundreds of kilometers away from each other.

Then there's Dan, a WoW player who's life was ruined as his addiction escalated out of control. He ends up checking himself into On-Line Gamers' Anonymous, who's founder and owner ends up having just as much baggage as he does. His story ultimately becomes one of self-control and his ability to champion his demons on his own accord.

All of these stories are heartfelt, well-documented and very thorough in exploring the nuances of MMO gameplay. Moreover, on top of these main 'players' in the film's storyline there are also some side themes that are explored. We meet the WoW guild 'The Syndicate' to explore issues of community, we meet Andy a man who is confined to his wheelchair and the sense of empowerment he feels from interacting with people online without prejudice, and we visit a 'Chinese gold farm' in Hainan to see the globalizing role video game economics are having across the globe.

With so much to cover in the confines of a feature length documentary, there is only so much time the director (Juan Carlos Puneiro Escoriaza) can commit to each and the film bounces from one person to the other at breakneck speeds and far too much emphasis is placed on dealing with love and personal relationships than anything else, and as a reuslt the film drags on quite a bit.

The causalities? Interesting and previously unexplored issues of video gameplay are tossed in as filler throughout the film. For example, the section of Chinese gold farmers was amazingly interesting and raised plenty of questions not only about the nature of global capitalism through virutal markets, but also in-game racism. The time spent on these issues? Roughly 2 minutes. And then we never see them again. As well, it would have been great to hear more from Andy, confined to a wheelchair and unable to talk, as he is able to transcend his disabilities through friendships and interactions in-game. Again, he has probably less than a minute of facetime in the entire film. In the end, the film explores a few issues in great detail and tosses tons of others in for flavor, but significantly less rigor.

This is not to say however that Escoriaza hasn't done his homework. The viewer is provided with plenty of statistics about the demographics of MMO players and even consults several experts in the field. The movie certainly works well as a documentary and will interest gamers and non-gamers alike. Moreover, it refrains from placing a moral standpoint on gaming, but instead explores it for what it is, both the good and the bad. Certainly it isn't the first documentary done on video game players, and at this moment its probably the best. However, there's still a lot that could have been done to improve it. The film spends a lot of time following the lives of several gamers, trying to get us to understand and relate to their lives, but end up unconvincing and bland. The exception to this is Dan who's ability to overcome his addiction was probably the most emotional part of the movie. Other than that, its a pretty run of the mill documentary that tries to tackle too much and harps too heavily on a far too easy storyline (that of love, relationships and growing up) on a much more complicated issue. While I'd suggest you see it if you get the chance, lets hope this isn't the final say on video game docs.

Movie Review - A Colt Is My Passport

A Colt is my Passport

'A Colt is my Passport' along with 'Gangster VIP' and 'Velvet Hustler' are part of the Nikkatsu akushon (action) series at Fantasia. Nikkatsu was a prominent Japanese studio who reached their prime in the 1950s and 60s with action films that borrowed from film noir and spaghetti westerns. Coming out of the second world war when Western movies were banned, the inclusion of such techniques was brand new for the Japanese viewing audience and was quickly consumed en masse. Now I certainly don't claim to be an expert on the topic, or even familiar with the genre, my knowledge of this small pocket of film history comes from conversations I had with Mark Schilling, the programmer of this section of the festival and author of 'No Limits No Borders: Nikkatsu Action Cinema' who is currently touring these three films and several more across North America. Heads up Vancouver! He's coming your way!

After finding out about this movie, and its influence on Japanese (and even American cinema) I figured it'd be worth checking it out. So far, all I knew of this genre was the popular 'Branded to Kill' so I figured I'd supplement my knowledge a bit by watching 'A Colt is my Passport.' Moreover, this film, as well as several others being toured, are not yet translated in English (and may never be released in North America) so they are being screened concurrently with a powerpoint presentation with Schilling tabbing forward every subtitle. Now that's dedication.


Anyway, to the review. In brief, Jo Shishido plays a hitman contracted to kill a rival gang's leader. He does so but his exit out of the country is complicated by the rival gang's intervention. He and his brother (sidekick?) hide out in a cheap hotel as they try to find a way out of the country. Like 'Branded to Kill' the film is full of hard boiled gangsters out to catch the protagonist who proves to be even more stern and level-headed than all his rival combined, and like 'Branded' it culminates in a serious showdown that drips with style, edge, and cool.

'Colt' though, progresses in a much more linear fashion than its more famous counterpart, in such a way that you see everything coming from miles away. I admittedly fell asleep for 5-10 minutes during the show (sue me, I'm working hard at the fest) and knew exactly what had happened in my time away. Granted, understood in the context of when the film came out 'Colt' was a breath of fresh air to those who had never seen this type of action before. Moreover, modern filmmakers could learn a thing or two from the tension build up to the final gunfight, and its good cinematography and a damn smart fight scene (not CGI explosions) that get the audience riled up and excited for the final showdown.

Finally, it is impossible (impossible!) to watch this movie without appreciating the music. The influence of cowboy Westerns are overt and the soundtrack could very well have been written by Ennio Morricone, and I say this as glowing praise, not as an accusation to plagiarism. Indeed in some scenes you can't help but notice the homage paid as Shishido squares off against his foes with the wind slowly blowing the sand across the plains. For fans of Japanese cinema this is a history lesson, and in fact Schiller told me that even Quentin Tarrintino hadn't heard of the film up until recently and was very excited to see it. For others (and I probably fall more into this category) its something we know we should pay homage to, but isn't as gripping as we might like. However, like 'Branded' the final action sequence is payoff alone to see this film.

Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog

Okay my buddy Colin clued me into Joss Whedon's new project entitled 'Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog.' Since I've been currently playing a lot of City of Heroes/Villains the hokey hero versus villain shtick plays very well with me.

In summary, the short (clocking in at about an hour) is a made-for-the-Internet film that follows the life of Dr. Horrible (played by Neil Patrick Harris) as he plots to take over the world, combats his arch nemesis Captain Hammer (Nathan Fillion), and woo the girl of his dreams from the local laundromat (Felicia Day). As a corny superhero flick, it easily stands on its own two feet, but where it really shines is the fact that it doubles as a musical...and a catchy one at that. The pacing moves along perfectly, all the characters are lovable in their own way, and boy, can these kids sing.

In terms of web buzz, the show is doing amazingly well and it debuted at the number 1 spot for iTunes. Moreover, its worth your time to check this out ASAP as after July 20th, its being pulled of the web and repackaged as a DVD chock-full of bonus material. Having seen the behind the scenes antics Fillion brought to 'Slither' the DVD will most certainly be worth it, but if you just want to see what all the hype is about, watch it now before it isn't free anymore.

Fantasia - [Rec]

[Rec]

There's something very arrogant about a film trailer that says nothing about the film and simply has night vision camera pointed at a theatre of people watching the film biting their nails, screaming and covering their eyes. But then again, [Rec] has every reason to be as arrogant as it damn well pleases, and even has the badges and nods of approval to back it up from film fests all over the world. I'll accept my folly for passing this film as another over-hyped point-of-view horror and missing the first showing. However, as I helped usher people out of the festival I noticed grown men twice my size (in all honesty that isn't that tough) clutching their chest as they walked out of the theatre I knew I had missed something good.

And wow. Just, wow. If you click on the link above you'll read the most over-hyped summary on the Fantasia website, but again, with street and festival cred coming out the wazoo, hyping this movie doesn't do it justice. You'd have to drag people by the throat and sit them down in the theatre and pry their eyes open to do this movie justice.

Enough gushing. In essence [Rec] treds on the most familiar of familiar territories. Taking a camera point-of-view perspective we join Angela, a local reporter who is following some firefighters for a TV segment. They are called in for a routine call at an apartment for an old woman who has been screaming. As the firemen barge in she attacks a fireman and bites his throat out and is shot to death. The building is soon quarantined and the TV crew, firemen, and apartment tenants are all stuck inside the building as zombie-like trouble bubbles and brews.

The pacing for the film is very well done. Unlike other zombie movies which jump into the action as quickly as possible, the beginning half of the movie is tense but very slow moving. The zombies don't just jump at you, they lay dormant, giving the TV crew enough time to interview and talk to all the characters in the film as it slowly builds up its tension. We all know its a zombie movie coming into the film, but are forced to sit back and wait for the splatter fest. Indeed its only in the last 20 minutes of the movie do we really get to the meat and potatoes of the gore, but that's all secondary anyways. The white-knuckled build up is what makes this movie great, and when the time finally comes for all hell to break loose, boy do we get a shit storm.

Unlike the 'Blair Witch Project' though (and perhaps more like 'Cloverfield') we are show in full glory what we came to see, a zombie flick with crazy zombies. And it scares the living bejezzus out of you. The movie is in such demand in fact, that an American remake has already been finished and is set to come out in October 2008, well before the original evens a chance to establish a firm footing internationally (the original only came out in late November 2007 in Spain, and April 2008 in the UK. In fact it hasn't even officially come out in North America yet!). On a more local scale, the overwhelming popularity of [Rec] at the festival has warranted a third encore screening. Will it get the critic or people's choice award for Fantasia? Lets just say I'm voting for it. Probably multiple times. Not that it needs any more pats on the back.

The only qualm I could make for the film is if put under the microscope the story doesn't hold. Who the hell keeps filming in the middle of a zombie attack? Local TV stations in Spain my prepare their camera people and reporters for all possibilities. Moreover, the storyline has a very sloppy and ambiguous explanation for the zombie infection. While the majority of the film it is treated like a disease spread by saliva, we are given conflicting interpretations later on when its seen as a demonic force stemming somewhere from the Vatican. Which one is it? Is this a strange mix of zombie film lore?

In all honesty who cares? These quibbles are minor at best. You see this movie to get scared and it does the job well. What more could you want?

Fantasia - The Detective

The Detective

I have an unhealthy obsession with detectives. I mean in a two-month period I rented and watched every single episode of 'Columbo' (because Peter Falk is the fucking man). So when I saw that 'The Detective' (or 'The C+ Detective' in HK) was playing at Fantasia I was giddy.

Right from the get-go the movie played to all the perfect stereotypes of a film noir detective flicks of 1960s. Tam is a down on his luck private detective who is asked to follow up on a job from 'Fatty' Lung who believes Sum, a beautiful woman, is stalking him and plotting his murder. Seeing it as easy money he takes the case and follows a handful of leads with the help from Chak, his childhood friend in the police force. What seems like a simple case is soon riddled with suicide, murder and falling refrigerators as Tam delves deeper and deeper into a dark web as he tries to find the elusive Sum.

On the surface, the film works perfectly as detective noir. However, the overall atmosphere is heightened by director Oxide Pang's experience with supernatural and horror films (having worked on 'The Eye') and a thick layer of suspense hangs over the entire film, broken sporadically with spots of light humor. Indeed, the relationship between Tam and Chak plays something to the tune of a buddy film making the overall mix of the film (2 parts detective noir, 1 part suspense/horror, 1 part buddy film) a delicious concoction.

As well, the script (written by Pang and his brother) is clever and the storyline is filled with twists and turns to the point where the number of names of people you need to keep track of is somewhat overwhelming, but the Pang brothers provide enough description and monologue to keep the viewer up to speed, but not repetitive.

However, the weakness of the film comes from the filmmakers' desire to somehow connect the case to Tam's personal life and in a stupidly unlikely (and painfully overdrawn) coincidence, the entire mystery ties perfectly together with the death of Tam's parents over thirty years earlier. Moreover, this storyline is tacked on midway into the film and draws the ending of the movie some fifteen minutes longer than it should have. Why they would want to over complicate an already solid plot by sticking in a melodramatic tangent is beyond me and ultimately it does hurt the film. Taken without it though, 'The Detective' is a ton of fun regardless if you're a detective nerd like myself.

Fantasia - Let the Right One In

Someone (specifically Cedric at http://commeleschinois.ca/) mentioned to me while I was volunteering at Fantasia that I wasn't updating my blog. This surprised me simply because, I didn't think anyone actually read this thing.





Let the Right One In

"Let the Right One In" has been getting tons of buzz at the fest ever since is glowing review in the free English-language newspaper 'The Mirror.' A Sweedish film about a 12 year old vampire girl (Eli) who moves in next to oft-bullied Oskar in the Sweedish suburbs. The film revolves around their developing relationship as he slowly finds out her dark secret. Her 'father' provides her with blood by killing local civilians in the park and bringing back buckets of blood to their apartment, but even at this, her thirst gets the better of her and she begins attacking innocent bystanders.

While violent, this by no means is a vampire movie in the traditional sense. Rather its a coming of age story for Oskar as Eli teaches him to stand up against his bullies. The film speaks more to childhood angst than bloodsucking and gore and herein lies its strength. Moreover, its portrayal of the fine line between 'puirity' and 'sexuality' captivates the audience and pulls us deeper into their relationship while challenging preconceived notions of childhood innocence and iin one memorable scene the two lay naked in bed together talking but never having sex.

The pacing however, is a bit slow and constantly flip-flops between characters (including several storylines that include the local neighbours). As well, the storyline forces us to by sympathetic to a girl who is verbally, emotionally and physically abusive to her 'father' and rather than paint her as a victim of her thirst, I would have loved to have seen her portrayed as a much more flawed character where her obvious abusive nature is slowly projected onto Oskar. Finally, I felt a glaring error on the part of the film was the lack of police investigation in the film. Having grown up in a suburb, I know that even one death would cause a public outcry, especially if they were strung up on a tree and bled dry. Where the hell are the cops when Eli's father hunts people in the park? How about when a 12 year old girls attacks three grown adults and beats them to a pulp? Turns out in Sweden, nobody really minds a bit of homicide.

While the buzz at the festival is overwhelmingly enthusiastic about the film, I always feel so awkward when someone asks me what I thought as I have so many mixed opinions on it. While I think it tried a bit too hard to be art house, and while I really liked it, I'm certainly not as into it as the festival goers are. Perhaps that makes me a bad judge of quality films, but maybe I'm just not into the hype. Watch the film and tell me what you think.


Upcoming Reviews:

What We Do Is Secret
Sparrow
A Colt Is My Passport
The Detective
Trailer Park of Terror
The Assembly

Fantasia - The Pye-Dog

The Pye-Dog

"Watch a Hong Kong movie, get a Hong Kong movie."

These words of wisdom were bestowed upon me from Al after I called him to discuss Pye-Dog, Derek Kwong's mix of gangsters and father-son bonding. The film begins with an amazing intro of paper airplanes fluttering around a cityscape as we are introduced to Lam Chi Wang, a young boy living with his grandmother after his father disappears and mother commits suicide. Visually stunning, the movie start with a bang. Just as quickly we are introduced to a young Dui, a boy who has also lost his parents, as he is picked on by schoolmates and spends his time inventing objects to fight back against his schoolyard bullies. This get him noticed by a local triad member who becomes his father figure and brings him into the gang as a weapon repairman and driver for hits. Fast-forward to the future, and we see a grown up Dui receiving orders from his father figure, Hong Kong film veteran Eric Tsang, to kidnap a rival gang leader's son from a local school. Not knowing who the boy he has to kidnap is, he is forced to pose as the school janitor.

While at the school Dui develops a close relationship with Wang, and it is this "father"-son relationship where the movie truly shines. The acting and script is convincing and I found myself falling in love with their off-beat relationship. Indeed, Dui is a crude but loveable slob and the two bond over their similarities (the loss of their parents), inside jokes, and playful games. Moreover, the first half of the movie is narrated through the eyes and voice of Wang as his voice over talks us through his experiences and we are visually treated with imagines of the young boy's imagination as he pictures himself being defended from tree monsters by his new found hero/father-figure. Indeed, the whole setup of the film works very very well.

This however, is where the film peaks and after their relationship is established, the movie collapses as we are quickly introduced to Dui's love interest, Miss Cheung. While their relationship isn't as convincing as his relationship with Wang, its passable. As the movie progresses, the melodrama begins to creep up and the crowd is 'treated' to a corny montage of the three of them running in the field, and staring into the night sky. As expected, we discover that Wang is the child Dui is supposed to kidnap, and he goes through an existential crisis as he contemplates to whom his loyalties lie. Compounding all this is that Wang's 'real' father returns to claim his son.

The music (if not the rest of the film) from this point on is forced, pathetic, and hokey (thing slow playing piano, guitar, or violin...all the god damn time). The unfolding storyline is unconvincing as we discover Miss Chung is a hired gun for Wang's real father and Dui turns on his mob brothers to defend Wang's real father. Its at this point that I realized that Wang's voice over narration has altogether disappeared. What the hell, how did we just switch storytelling methods?

The movie reaches its height of eye-rolling greatness as Wang stands onstage at his school singing in English, which transforms into an over dramatic three-minute montage of 'flashback' scenes we saw only twenty minutes earlier. Moreover, Wang's voice is drowned out by a female singer, and soon the entire cast is singing along. Scoffs, snickers, and bored sighs filled the theatre for the last twenty minutes of the movie. While the movie has its strong points (the development of the relationship between Dui and Wang was intensely genuine), like so
many Hong Kong films it ultimately degrades into a terribly pathetic and over dramatic soap opera that dragged on and on. Ultimately. the film was forced and poorly constructed. If you miss this film, you'd be doing yourself a favor.

Movie Review - Batman: Gotham Knight

Welcome to my new blog site. A long time ago I used to maintain one at Xanga, but I don't even know if people use it anymore. Anyway, I'll be christening my new site with a daily recap of the many films I plan to watch at the Fantasia Film Festival here in Montreal. Let's get started.




Batman:Gotham Knight

While the festival begins tomorrow, I was pleasantly surprised to find that there was a free-pre-pre-screening of Batman: Gotham Knights, a direct to DVD release from Warner Premier which is supposed to serve as an animated bridge between 'Batman Begins' and 'The Dark Knight'. Basically, its 6 animated shorts done by different directors showcasing their different artistic and storytelling style through the medium of Batman stories, those familiar with the Animatrix are familiar with this process. The DVD goes on sale on July 8th, and screens at Fantasia officially on June 5th, so I guess this is a pre-release review, spoilers abound!

Now, I'm not going to even try to hide the fact that I'm a Batman fan. I read the comics, I've collected a few toys which are on display in my apartment, and I own all of the DVD of Batman: the Animated Series which I voraciously consumed as a kid and, to round out my biases, I haven't really liked any of the Batman live-action movies (an exception here is made for Michelle Pfeiffer and Lee Merriweather as catwoman). Tim Burton's penguin funeral made me spurt milk out of my nose, and Christian Bale sounds like the cookie monster.

First up (before the actual feature) was 'Mercorisidia' an artistic short directed by Nicholas Cantin that looked at the relationship between nurse and patient set to the backdrop of Explosions in the Sky. At times it felt like a music video as the slow moving music followed the elderly nurse home and back to the hospital again. The camera work was intentionally choppy which made me kind of queasy, but the music was fitting and the overall audio and visual experience was appropriately haunting. While I enjoyed it, it didn't seem to be something that the crowd (made up mostly of heavy-set men wearing Batman t-shirts) were expecting or looking forward to.

Now the feature. The first of the shorts, 'Have I Got a Story for You' was a cute little piece where four youth talk about their sightings of the Batman. The animation was clean and smart but the story (written by 'A History of Violence' screenwriter Josh Olson) was predictable. Moreover, its reminiscent of an episode of Batman:TAS entitled 'Legends of the Dark Knight.' Ultimately however, the TV show episode was vastly superior in its tongue-in-cheek comedy, experimentation with style, and playfulness while 'Have I Got a Story for You' was lackluster. Its subtle dig at Iron Man was worth a good laugh though.

Next up 'Crossfire'. Another 'meh-fest' from author Greg Rucka which introduces us to a pair of police officer's who theorize the legitimacy of vigilantism. While it had the potential to be clever and thought-provoking it kinda fell flat and I began wondering if I should even bother with the rest of the shorts. The animation, again was amazing, done by Futoshi Higashide and Prodiction I.G. who brought is the Ghost in the Shell T.V. series.

Next, 'Field Test' a story that flushes out the relationship between Bruce Wayne and Lucious Fox as Batman experiments with some new technological gizmos. The dialogue was cleverly written and had the crowd laughing up a storm at times but had a somewhat preachy ,wagging-your-finger ending that I find so common in anime. While better than the precious two, it wasn't great.

Halfway through and I'm checking my watch, which was a very stupid thing to do. The next story, the action-packed 'In Darkness Dwells' we get a juicy piece of eye candy as we are re-introduced to the villain 'the Scarecrow' and introduced to a re-imagining of 'Killer Croc.' Oh man the fanboys (myself included) were wetting ourselves and by the end of the episode there were whoops and cheers coming from all over the theatre. A definite crowd pleaser. While I found it a bit too heavy on action and very little on plot, I really didn't care at this point. Vis-a-vis the last three this was a godsend.

Next up, 'Working Through the Pain' which looks at how Bruce Wayne deals with all the physical beat-downs he takes. Through flashbacks we see him visit South Asia (presumably India) where he learns techniques to control his pain. A very cleverly written script and while it again ends a bit preachy, it was subtle, smart and poigniant. I really should expect as much coming from the author of 100 Bullets.

Finally, rounding it all off was 'Deadshot.' Well, saving the best for last definitely worked on me. Here we are introduced to 'Deadshot' a villain from the comics who, well, has really good aim. Again, fanboys get up and cheer. Pushing my glasses up further, I recognized the voice actor of Deadshot as being the same from the Justice League TV show, and his character was pretty much a carry-over from the DC Animated Universe. That kind of shit gets major props from me. What else can I say? The story was very tight. The animation was amazing, and the script a lot, lot of fun. The silent Batman is juxtaposed with the mouthy and arrogant Deadshot which ironically sets the stage for the upcoming 'Iron Man' and 'The Dark Knight' battle over box office winnings next month.

Okay, so that's a lot of writing. What can I say overall. Well the shorts are of varying quality, ranging from yawns-ville to all-action blowouts. You won't go wrong coming at this film for its animation, fight sequences, or voice acting (Kevin Conroy reprises his role as Batman which made me want to get up and cheer the first time I heard him speak). For Batman geeks this is a must see. For non-Batman fans/Fantasia attendees, this is mixed bag of nuts. Ironically I probably would have liked this film a lot more had I not been a Batman geek as I wouldn't put it under such a heavy microscope and just sit back and enjoy the pretty pictures. And they certainly are pretty pictures.