Comedian of the Week

Kumail Nanjiani

Movie Haiku #5 - 'Assault on Precinct 13' Directed by John Carpenter

My favourite part:
When the girl asked for ice cream
And was shot point blank.

Movie haiku #4: 'Apt Pupil' Directed by Bryan Singer

Punk ass high school kid
seeks out old nazi for fun
and fucks him over.

Movie Haiku #3: 'Sweeney Todd the Demon Barber of Fleet Street' Directed by Tim Burton

Predictable Tim,
trades the play's comedy for
less songs and more gore.

Movie Haiku #2: 'Little Shop of Horrors' Directed by Frank Oz

The music is great
but I like the play's ending
it has dancing plants.

Movie Haiku #1: 'Zombie' Directed by Lucio Fulci

All I remember:
Woman gets speared in her eye
and zombie shark fight!

Reel Asian Film Festival

I met these folks at a Asian-American conference at Concordia a while back and in the unlikely event that you make films, here you go.

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CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS
THE 13TH ANNUAL TORONTO REEL ASIAN INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL
NOVEMBER 11 to 15, 2009

Reel Asian is Canada’s largest and longest-running showcase dedicated to contemporary Asian cinema and media arts from Asia, North America and all over the world. Annually, the festival attracts thousands of attendees to five frenetic days of screenings, industry events and galas. We invite you to submit new independent films and videos by and/or about East and Southeast Asians of all genres.

See SUBMISSIONS GUIDELINES and ONLINE SUBMISSIONS at http://www.reelasian.com

EARLY DEADLINE: FRIDAY MAY 15, 2009 (NO SUBMISSION FEE)
FINAL DEADLINE: MONDAY JUNE 15­, 2009 (SUBMISSION FEE $20 CAD)
Email questions to Artistic Director, Heather Keung at programming@reelasian.com with subject ‘submission 2009’ or contact the festival office at 416.703.9333

The Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival gratefully acknowledges the financial support of the Canada Council for the Arts, the Ontario Trillium Foundation, Ontario Arts Council, Toronto Arts Council, Telefilm and the Department of Canadian Heritage.

I'm on Twitter! (read: I am a weak, pathetic trend hopper)

Okay so I buckled and have decided to reactivate my Twitter account. In all honesty it just seems like a glorified Facebook status update, but after reading Aziz Ansari's hilarious movie commentary during 'Crank 2' I've decided to use my Twitter account as my movie rant platform as if you've ever seen a movie with me (especially with me and Al) you'll knows I can't keep my mouth shut during a film.

You can find me under 'rparungao.'

Asian Mainstays Come to Hollywood

Man, this physically pains me. Like Michael Bay level hurt. But sadly, I understand that Hollywood is almost always about the money, and almost never about preserving credibility or talent. Evidence? At least five huge mainstays in popular Korean cinema and Japanese anime are being converted to the Western big screen and the outlook is pretty murky. I'm tempted to just out-and-out call them terrible but I don't like to judge until I see the final product...but really, lets go through these one by one.



Dragonball

Yeah its kinda old news that one of the biggest the Japanese anime series of all time is being converted to a live action film but it seemed to flow with the theme of this post. Now I'm not a huge Dragonball Z fan, although I watched a ton of it back when I was young. I'm predict this
is going to be another 'Transformers' where the acting is stale, the film will lean far too heavily on graphics, the fanboys will be pissed that the movie didn't follow the original storyline,
the film will be overly stylized with no sense of irony...oh yeah, and it'll make a ton a money. Mind you, since I'm not a huge fan, I'm not particularly pained by this, I mean really, how would they make it true to the original text? Have them stand around staring at each other sizing each other up for 45 minutes?



Oldboy

One of my favorite movies of all time. And who do they turn the reins over to? Steven Spielberg and Will Smith. Sigh. They do a good marketing twist though. When asked if the movie will be the same as the Korean version Will Smith responds, "we're going farther than that, we're going to adapt it from the original comic." How do we read this? Ah, we can't have a storyline as controversial as the Korean Oldboy but we don't want to upset the fanboys so we give a wishy-washy answer. Hmmm maybe Spielberg can include some aliens a la the recent Indiana Jones movie or A.I. Or maybe Will Smith can write a pop-rap song about being stuck in a room for a decade.



JSA (Joint Security Area in Korea...Joint Security America in the U.S.)

Yes, I agree. The social-political context between the US-Mexico border parallels the North/South Korean border. Man. And while I might not be a scholar in US history, I don't think that at any point being friends with Mexican border guards could potentially cause a full-scale war. How exactly do you pull off this film? Oh I see, get the guy who wrote 'King Arthur' to do it. That'll be good.



Cowboy Bebop

My favorite anime series is becoming a live action film, and I'm actually quite calm about it. I'm actually kind of interested in what they'll do. So far Keanu Reeves has been pulled in for Spike which, I guess is kind of fitting (in all honesty you don't need crazy acting chops to play Spike, just lean on the wall a lot and smoke). I tell you what. Keep the gritty atmosphere and I'll watch. Moreover, you've got the Matrix team behind it which makes me much more optimistic. Please, please, please...keep 'Tank' on the project. Their music is out of this world.



Akira

In a good case scenario this movie will be good, and surprisingly I'm optimistic as its being described as 'Blade Runner' meets 'City of God.' Wow, nice name dropping there Warner Brothers. You even made a bitter skeptic like me re-think the entire project. Moreover the exec bringing this to the table is the same person who spearheaded the new Batman franchise and 300 which have a similar dark atmospheres - so the chances of them candy-coating Akira are a bit less than if, oh, Spielberg took on this project. However, if they do re-vamp the ending to be more kid-friendly the movie is done-for, but in all fairness, how do you pull off a giant disgusting mutating blob that kills everyone in Tokyo and make it work for an American audience? Time will tell.

2009 can't come sooner!

Looking forward, there are a few amazing things on the horizon that I just can't wait for. As a matter of fact, if I had a choice I'd miss Christmas and New Years altogether just to get my grubby hands on these things even a week earlier.

Flight of the Conchords: Season 2



Battlestar Galactica: Season 4.5




The Watchmen (Movie)



The Boondocks: Season 3

Supposedly coming in January 2009. I couldn't find a video but if this is true, oh man I'm stoked.

Barack Obama's Inauguration

Which I'm going to in DC come hell or high water.

Movie Review: Dance of the Dead

Dance of the Dead

Man its been a long time since Fantasia but I dug up this old review from my hard drive just in time for Halloween. Moreover, its just been released as a direct-to-DVD film which is a shame because the movie was phenomenal and really a suprise hit just at the tail end of the festival. I'm actually really shocked that it didn't come out in theatres as it seemed to do really well on the festival circuit, but I guess its low-budget nature was just too iffy for the executives - which really is a pity because not only is this film great as horror comedy goes (quite possibly my favorite genre), but even in the overarching realm of zombie movies this film stands firmly on its own two feet. Anyway, back to the review which I should have posted months ago.

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Oh Fantasia did you ever screw up. I mean tacking 'Dance of the Dead' at the tail end of the festival? What were you thinking? Not only did you not give it a chance at 'audience pick' (which I think it had a stab) but you the sold out shows at SXSW should have been a pretty good indicator that this would have been a great movie to screen twice or more...if only for the selfish reason of making more money for the fest.

While not without its criticisms, 'Dance of the Dead' (DotD) is a amazing addition to the zombie and horror comedy genre. Falling in the ranks of 'Slither' or even 'Dusk 'Till Dawn', Dance of the Dead makes sure that it doesn't take itself too seriously. Certainly this is a formula we've seen in the past (such as 'Planet Terror') but what makes DotD stand out even more is its blending of genres and adding a John Hughes-esque teen comedy romance to a zombie film. This is 'Sixteen Candles' meets 'Night of the Living Dead' - and boy is it amazing.

The premise of the film is horribly simple. Teenagers are getting ready for prom and zombies attack. Boom, that's it. We spend the first quarter of the movie being introduced to the various characters and cliques and we see the standard teen movie fare - the geeks, the jocks, the punk, and of course, the misunderstood main character who has to go through a series of trials (often involving a girl interest) to emerge into post-high school manhood. Yawn, we've seen this before.

But as easy as the plot is, the pleasure of this movie is not in its plot, but in its storytelling. Of course we know that he's going to get the girl. Of course we know (generally) who is and isn't going to survive. But storyline here is secondary to the entertaining pleasure we see unfold on screen, ranging from basic slapstick humor, to over-the-top violence. In fact, there's a great scene where the heroes take on a group of zombies with wrestling movies a la WWE. Elbow from the sky! Absolutly ridiculous. Absolutely hilarious.

Its the wry tongue-in-cheek attitude that DotD embraces that really makes the film. Yes, like other horror comedy films it plays readily into formula, but its the formula we all know and love. Moreover, it understands where its coming from and simultaneously pays homage and pokes fun to its predecessors. Moreover, it balances well the angst of growing up borrowed from teen comedies like 'American Pie' (but thankfully nowhere near as vulgar), with its horror elements and while we stand up and cheer when they chop up a zombie with a hacksaw, we just as readily stand up and cheer when the hero gets the girl. Ultimately, DotT is a great film not only for its ability to provide constant violent eye-candy, and keep us laughing, but also in its ability to simultaneously be a 'feel good' teen movie.

Finally, as a side note, I think its hard not to compare this film with the popular horror comedy film 'Shaun of the Dead' released a few years earlier as both films as fall into the stupidly-named category of 'rom-zom-com' (romantic zombie comedy). I didn't coin that. The difference between the two is their cultural approach to comedy. While both poke fun at the zombie genre, 'Shaun of the Dead' plays up its very British blend of dry wit while 'Dance of the Dead' plays more to an American comedic sensibility with over-the-top action and slapstick physical comedy.

Movie Review: Who is KK Downey?

Who is KK Downey?

Hipsters watching hipsters hate on hipsters. That’s more or less the movie in a nutshell, but I say that in the best way possible, especially since I probably fall into that first category (save for the fact that I don’t dress well, have never done drugs, and I try as much as possible not to be condescending). Having passed over ‘KK Downey’ at Fantasia I immediately regretted my decision when I asked Cedric how the film was and his simple response was, ‘hilarious.’ Damn, after days and days of watching horror and thriller films I really could have used a good comedy. While I can admit my mistakes, I’m not necessarily one to repeat them so when I saw that there was going to be some special screenings of ‘KK’ at the AMC Forum I immediately took the chance to rectify my mistake.

Now, despite the fact that I got a glowing response from Cedric, going into the movie I still had very little knowledge about what the film was about, other than the fact that it was funny. Briefly, the story is about two childhood friends (Theo and Terrence) who are scenesters that want to make it big. Theo has just competed his three-year project, a book entitled ‘Truck Stop Hustler’ and Terrence tries as hard as possible to get his punk band off the ground. Both find themselves at a dead end, as Theo’s book won’t get picked up as publishers claim, ‘nobody wants to read a book about a tortured male prostitute written by some fat suburban white kid.’ And Terrence? Well he’s just not very good at anything, and worse, his ex-girlfriend is dating an arrogant music reviewer with as ego as big as his own. At their wits end, Terrence comes up with the perfect plan to make it in the world; he will pretend to be the character of Theo’s book, KK Downey, mimicking the infamous hoax by J.T. Leroy. Immediately the book becomes a bestseller, critiquing the image over substance nature of popular culture. As the story progresses their plan digs them deeper and deeper in trouble as secrets are revealed not only about their plan, but also about each other.

Overall the movie was fantastic. The scriptwriting was tight, the jokes were well-timed and the moral of the story was well executed without being preachy. Even more impressive though was that for the team that put the film together, Montreal locals Kidnapper Films, this was their first feature length movie, and all necessary kudos go to them for such a successful project. Indeed they’ve already begun winning awards at Cinequest and Boston’s Underground Film festival, and for a film that was literally edited in the producer’s mother’s basement, this is some achievement.

A special word should be said about the fantastic score to the film. With 18 songs from local independent artists (the film starts out blazing with a song by ‘Duchess Says’) I found myself scrambling for a pen and paper during the credits to scribble down the names of all the artists. Not only was the music fitting to the film, it easily elevated it, grabbing the audience face and dragging them through the storyline.

All compliments aside, there certainly were several areas where the film could have improved. While most of the time the acting was spot on, at others it was unconvincing and broke the spell that the otherwise tight dialogue had over me. The storyline too had a few plot holes that I struggled with. The first is, when Terrence is dressed as KK Downey and tries to woo back his girlfriend its impossible to laugh out when she doesn’t recognize him. It’s kind of like a Clark Kent syndrome where all it takes is a pair of glasses for nobody to recognize you through your disguise. As well, when the hoax is finally exposed, nobody seems to mind and everyone gets on with their day as if nothing had happened. I don’t’ know about you, but if I had found out Kurt Kobain was really a rich kid faking the whole ‘grunge-thing’ to make a quick buck, I’d be pretty pissed off. And hell, I don’t even like Kurt Kobain!

Perhaps the most regrettable part of the movie though, is that in the first half of the film, they introduce so many interesting characters. There’s the sleazy publisher played by ‘Fubar’s Paul Spence. There’s Terrence’s waspy parents who give him everything he asks for, and his snotty sarcastic brother. And there’s a crazy groupie for their punk band who is lovingly referred to as ‘the cum depository.’ All characters are hilarious in their own right but once the plot picks up, they are all dropped and left at the wayside, only having cameo appearance every now and then. This is unfortunate not only because they wasted so much time building up such interesting characters, but also because of the potential each of them could have had in making the movie funnier and even more entertaining.

Looking past the criticisms though, this movie is an indie gem. At its core is a heartfelt story about friendships and relationships and the corruptibility of stardom, fame and power. As a social critique of popularity, it does a pretty good job and ironically, unlike the characters in their film, these twenty-something year old filmmakers deserve to make it big and have worked hard on a piece of work that they should certainly be proud of.

Upcoming Event: The Public Defender (1931)

I'm helping my friend Phillip flyer for an event he's running and I figure it wouldn't hurt to throw something up online as well. Phil runs 'Cine Club' which screens films from his private collection. He's an avid collector of film reels and movies that haven't been released on video or DVD (he tells me they start at $200! My god that's an expensive hobby). As well Phil is a movie director and directed the film The Descendant.

Anyway the film he's screening this Friday (September 12th) is 1931's 'The Public Defender.'

"'The Public Defender' stars Richard Dix and Boris Karloff (Frankenstein). A millionaire playboy takes it upon himself to clandestinely punish criminals while leaving behind a mysterious calling card with a distinct symbol, signed 'The Reckoner.' The mystery avenger also has an older assistant named 'the Professor' (Karloff) who lives with him in his large mansion and performs criminal research for him."

Its also kinda cool to to note that Bob Kane released the first Batman comic in 1939, nearly a decade later. Anyway, I'll probably write a review, but considering this movie hasn't been released anywhere so far, I really suggest checking it out if you're in the Montreal area (and tell me if you are so we can go together!). Here's a link to the details, but for simplicity:

The Public Defender
September 12th, 2008
9:30 @ Cinema du Parc

Movie Review - Home Movie

Home Movie


Found footage horror movies are becoming ever more popular, with underground hits like 'The Blair Witch Project' kicking off their popularity in the 90s to the recent big budget 'Cloverfield.' Its tough not to compare Denham's 'Home Movie' to [Rec] not only because they both screened at Fantasia but also because they operate in very similar ways. Both come from a 'hand cam' perspective, and both slowly bubble and brew with tension leading up to a gruesome climax at the end of the film. Despite these similarities however, I'll refrain from comparing the two as it would detract from all of the nuanced details that 'Home Movie' had to offer. That, and if this was a contest, [Rec] would simply ruin it.


'Home Movie' begins with a very interesting concept, the Poe family, which consists of David (a pastor), his wife Claire (a psychologist), and their twins Jack and Emily move to a cottage where David proudly films his children during their holiday moments. The problem is, his children are by-the-book psychopaths and the movie is filled with haunting scenes of frogs crushed in vice clamps, and crucified household pets. To keep the movie realistic these shocking scenes last for less than a second on screen as David quickly turns the camera away and begins to scold his children. While this works well to ensure that the movie seems authentic (who would actually film a crucified cat?), it works very poorly in terms of a scary movie experience. The horror scenes of the film are so short that if you blink for a second, you'll have missed all the juicy bits.

Ironically, while the filmmakers try to maintain a degree of realism in the film in terms of the character's reaction to the children, they relax on other elements. For example, the twins move so perfectly silently that they can be in one room in one shot and appear right behind their father the next second. While this works well for the horror element of the movie, it leaves the audience saying 'how the hell did that just happened?' and while movie tries to balance 'realism' and shock horror together, it falls apart as it laxly meanders between the two.


The film isn't terrible though, and the premise is still pretty clever as the parents who slowly come to realize their kids are actually devil children (and not just snottly little brats) each go about curing them in their own way. David turns to religion as he attempts to exorcise the two while his wife turns to science and prescribes them heavy duty drugs. Near the end of the movie Jack and Emily actually even seem cured are we are asked to wonder which of the two 'saved' the children.


But in the end, neither worked and the kids prove to be not only more devious than their parents realized, but much much more malicious. While the overall idea of the film is good, the inattention to detail and lack of any real 'scare' make it a mediocre watching. Chatting with people at Fantasia over the next few weeks, it seems I'm not the only person who came out of the theatre with a lackluster sense of satisfaction or entertainment.

Movie Reivews - What We Do is Secret

What we do is Secret

August 8th, 2008 (08/08/08) is a pretty significant day, not only does it mark the beginning of the Beijing Olympics but also because its the New York opening day for 'What we do is Secret.' While true, its already screened quite a few times (myself having seen it at Fantasia) the whole coordinating the imagery of the date and the symbolic circle is pretty cool. The circle, not only represents the Olympic rings, but is also the logo for a little known punk band know as 'The Germs.'

'What we do is Secret' is a biography pic of the generally overlooked late-seventies punk band 'The Germs' focusing specifically on the lead singer Darby Crash. To be fair, I'm not a particular fan of The Germs, not because I don't like their music, but primarily because I don't listen to a lot of 'old school' punk that often (Minor Threat and The Ramones excluded). In all fairness, it wasn't my scene (I wasn't even born yet) and the fact that I can't see a band perform live is really a downer for me. Anyway, enough about me, this is a movie review.

Off the bat, Shane West did a great job representing the late Darby Crash. While his acting is kinda wavering at the beginning of the film and during his interviews, this is made up by the fact that his on-stage representation of Crash is spot on. More than that, West is perhaps a bit too perfect and after watching the movie I took the time to watch some YouTube videos of old Germs performances. Not only were the two similar, the film practically took the old footage and make the movie shot for shot and Crash is copied in both costume and hairstyle, and moreover, is re-created move for move and snarl for snarl. Literally.

The story presented to us though, transcends the standard punk film filled with sex drugs and rock and roll. Certainly there is plenty of that, but the movie is more centered around Crash as a charismatic leader as he takes his newly found band of friends on a joyride across the L.A. cityscape. Their concerts soon become something of legend because of their insane stage performance which normally left any venue smashed to pieces. As a result, bars begin to refuse them and a mythos created.

This isn't to say though that the aura old school punks speak of that surrounded The Germs is unfounded. The film does a fantastic job in really recreating the sound and performance of late70s punk and we even get a bit of Black Flag on the side. That was nice, and even better as I could see Joan lipsyncing the words sitting next to me. At the Q & A someone even mentioned to the director (Rodger Grossman) how great the music was done and he went into detail about the painstaking work he and his team put into making it sound 'authentic.' That being said, I loved the music scenes because of my background in the genre, and my sense was that most of the people in the audience were punkers too. Often though, the music scenes went on for minutes, and while I enjoyed it, for a non-Germs/non-punk fan these scenes would be draggingly long. However, you don't go to a movie about a punk band and not expect to see some stage shows.

Moreover, the music was amazing not only in how well it was recorded for the film, and its accuracy to the source material, but also because the original Germs members, including Foo Fighter's Pat Smear, worked very closely with the actors to ensure their stage performance was spot on, and they also produced much of the music tracks. You can't get any more 'authentic' than that! In fact, West did such a good job as frontman of the band that he was signed on to tour with The Germs on their revival tour. While I did take a few steps back when I saw The Germs playing on a Warped Tour stage on YouTube, the ironly that a film depicting the lives of The Germs led to a 'real life' revival of them makes someone who does his M.A. research on 'authenticity' just plain giddy.

While I've written at length about the music (and lets face it, for a movie about punk the music should be first and foremost) the story and script is just as well put together. While certainly sacrifices had to be made in terms of who was and wasn't represented (while the Germs had several managers, the manager in the movie was a mix of them) a tightly knit story ultimately unfolds as we see the rise and ultimate fall of Darby Crash. Moreover, Grossman does not make The Germs into out-and-out heroes, but instead shows the tensions that developed in the band, and Crash's willingness to take advantage of those who idolized him. At the forefront of this is his relationship between Crash, his boyfriend, and Germs' drummer Rob Henley (Ashton Holmes) and through this we see the jockeying for power ever present in the band and the emergence of Crash's God complex (although everyone he surrounds himself with is always more than willing to follow).

Amazingly, Grossman reminded the crowd how this was a 15 year old labor of love, not only from himself but also his crew and even the Germs themselves. The project was done on such a shoestring budget that every shot had to be used and continuity errors doe to the filming schedule just had to go into the movie. In the end, as a punk bio-pic there is very little one can say against the film, and after listening to the director it is even harder to criticize once we heard about the amount of work he put into it. Ultimately though, it remains just a punk rock film, which isn't necessarily bad thing (as its what you expect to see) but a tighter script and storyline could have easily made this into both a movie about a little known band and an exploration of megalomania. Finally, even among punks, The Germs are not a band you rattle off when you think of early punk, and my fear is that this film may in the end fall into the category of niche market viewing even though it has much more to offer to a wider audience.

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.

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?