All posts by maddwolf

New In Theaters

Michael Cera Says No to Dirty Hippies, Yes to Drugs

1 Comment

Crystal Fairy & The Magic Cactus

by Hope Madden

One of this summer’s brightest surprises comes by way of Michael Cera’s drug-fueled road trip picture Crystal Fairy & The Magical Cactus.  Loosely scripted and casually filmed, the flick follows the journey of a group of youngsters in search of some mind expansion in Chile. What evolves is a quietly, subversively brilliant character study.

Cera plays Jamie, a displaced American anxious for the experiences available in drug use. He’s insecure, adopts a handful of pseudo-hippie-isms, and looks to really experience life through mind alteration. He meets his match in Crystal Fairy – a modern day freak Jamie invites on the trip.

Crystal Fairy is played by a positively fearless Gaby Hoffman. “Fearless” being the film critic vernacular for “willing to do full frontal.” There is a true fearlessness in that act, particularly if the shocking display of vulnerability it is used properly, as it so definitely is in this work.

Road trips offer such undiluted community experiences that we all want to mock, smack, maybe even abandon one or two co-travelers every now and then. At least that’s the memory I have of Madden family trips.

A little mescaline might have helped, actually.

Regardless, writer/director Sebastian Silva plumbs the situation for touching, comic, and strangely familiar moments. Those who saw his magnificently naturalistic The Maid will recognize the filmmaker’s contagious fascination with common moments. Silva’s screenplay – handled with grace and humanity by the ensemble – never stoops to easy jokes, although the entire picture beams with humor. Characters develop multiple dimensions, and the mostly improvised conversations take charmingly human paths.

The portrayal is deceptively well structured, though. It may feel for all the world like one profoundly uncomfortable journey meandering for a couple of hours, showcasing two pushy Americans who embarrass themselves in front of three lovely Chilean brothers. But Silva has a more satisfying and definite aim than that.

You should give it a try.

I mean the movie, not the mescaline.

Verdict-3-5-Stars

Outtakes

Asia Extreme! Ju-on

Leave a comment

Ju-on (2002)

by Hope Madden

Before cashing in on Hollywood’s J-horror remake madness, Japanese writer/director Takashi Shimizu captured his own nation’s imagination with this low-budget tale of one tough to rent house. Its previous tenants don’t just scare you away, they follow you home. Ghosts never die, you see, but apparently interlopers do. Just visiting the house once is enough to saddle you with tag along spirits who will kill you and then stack you up in the attic.

Shimizu’s first effort in the series that spawned the American remake The Grudge and sequels on both sides of the Pacific is basically just a story about some nice people trying to do the right thing. Idiots!

The picture does not rely on sustained suspense, or even the hope of escape or salvation. The narrative is simply a non-sequential look at a handful of lives irreversibly damaged by contact with the house. There may be a total of half a dozen scenes in the entire film without a specific shock or scare. And most of the scares are pretty creepy.

The bigger budget of the Hollywood counterpart helped Shimizu create a richer, more atmospheric nightmare, but the limited funds of the original effort required more strategizing. With his unique pacing, inventive sound editing and use of shadow he creates a sense of something always on the periphery.

 

Ju-On: The Grudge screens at 4:30 PM on Saturday (8/10). You can also see:

1:30 PM: Ringu

7:30 PM: Horror Stories

10:30 PM: IP Man: The Final Fight

12:0 AM: The Slit Mouthed Woman

Outtakes

Asia Extreme! A Tale of Two Sisters

Leave a comment

A Tale of Two Sisters (2003)

by Hope Madden

A lurid Korean fairy tale of sorts – replete with dreamy cottage and evil stepmother – Kim Jee-Woon‘s A Tale of Two Sisters is saturated with bold colors and family troubles.

Kim would go on to direct the also outstanding, although entirely different, I Saw the Devil, but where Devil breathes masculinity, Tale of Two Sisters is a deep, murky, and intensely female horror.

A tight-lipped father returns home with his daughter after her prolonged hospital stay. Her sister has missed her; her stepmother has not. Or so it all would seem, although jealousy, dream sequences, ghosts, a nonlinear timeframe, and confused identity keep you from ever fully articulating what is going on. The film takes on an unreliable point of view, subverting expectations and keeping the audience off balance. But that’s just one of the reasons it works.

The director’s use of space, the composition of his frame, the set decoration, and the disturbing and constant anxiety he creates about what’s just beyond the edge of the frame wrings tensions and heightens chills. The composite effect disturbs more then it horrifies, but it stays with you either way.

Tale masters the slow reveal in large and small ways. Whether you’ve begun to unravel the big mystery or not, Tale always has something else up its sleeve. Or, under its table.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nQV7ejqpbPc

 

A Tale of Two Sisters screens Friday, (8/9) at 10:30 PM. You can also see:

1:30 PM: Mother

4:30 PM: I Saw the Devil

7:30 PM Doomsday Book

12:00 AM: The Host

Outtakes

Asia Extreme! The Host

Leave a comment

The Host (2006)

by Hope Madden

Japan may have left its monster movie past behind it, preferring circuitous tales where ghosts and technology intertwine, but in 2006, Korea took its own shot at the Godzilla fable. The sci-fi import The Host, which tells the tale of a giant mutant monster terrorizing Seoul, has all the thumbprints of the old Godzilla movies: military blunder, resultant angry monster, terrorized metropolis. Writer/director Joon-ho Bong updates the idea, though, and not solely with CGI.

The film opens in a military lab hospital in 2000. A clearly insane American doctor, repulsed by the dust coating formaldehyde bottles, orders a Korean subordinate to empty it all into the sink. Soon the contents of hundreds of bottles of formaldehyde find its way through the Korean sewer system and into the Han River. This event – allegedly based on fact – eventually leads, not surprisingly, to some pretty gamey drinking water.  And also a 25 foot cross between Alien and a giant squid.

Said monster – let’s call him Paul – exits the river one bright afternoon in 2006 to run amuck in a very impressive outdoor-chaos-and-bloodshed scene. A dimwitted foodstand clerk witnesses his daughter’s abduction by the beast, and the stage is set.

What follows, rather than a military attack on a marauding Paul, is actually one small, unhappy, bickering family’s quest to find and save the little girl. Their journey takes them to poorly organized quarantines, botched security check points, misguided military/Red Cross posts, and through Seoul’s sewer system, all leading to a climactic battle even more impressive than the earlier scene of afternoon chaos.

The film’s decidedly comedic tone gives the film a quirky charm, but seriously diminishes its ability to frighten. Host does generate real, claustrophobic dread when it focuses on the missing child, though. Along with its endearing characters, well-paced plot, and excellent climax, it makes for a film that may be no Alien, but it’s a hell of a lot better than Godzilla.

 

 

The Host screens midnight Friday (8/9). You can also see:

1:30 PM: Mother

4:30 PM: I Saw the Devil

7:30 PM: Doomsday Book

10:30 PM: A Tale of two Sisters

New In Theaters, Slider

2 Cool

Leave a comment

 

by George Wolf

 

Last year, director Baltasar Kormakur and star Mark Wahlberg managed to make the heist thriller Contraband a good bit better than it probably should have been.

This year they up the ante, utilizing a snappy script, one Mr. Denzel Washington and a solid ensemble cast to make 2 Guns one of the most entertaining films of the summer.

Granted, it may be forgotten by fall, but right now, as a weak film season winds down, this type of stylish fun is welcome. And it’s all rooted in the undeniable chemistry of the two leads.

Wahlberg is “Stig,” an undercover naval intelligence officer, and Denzel is Bobby, an undercover DEA agent. Though they’re working together to infiltrate a drug cartel, neither knows the other is one of the good guys.

A few double crosses later, and they’ve got a ruthless drug lord (Edward James Olmos), a sleazy CIA boss (Bill Paxton, gleefully over the top) and a crooked navy officer (James Marsden)  threatening to kill them both unless they can hand over a massive load of stolen cash.

Kormakur sets the hook with a taut, mysterious opening, then maintains a crisp pace full of flashbacks, callbacks, and impressively staged action. Based on a series of graphic novels, the script from Blake Masters is witty but not overly comedic, and elaborate but not convoluted, while also managing to land a few jabs on U.S.- Mexican relations.  Nicely done.

Wahlberg’s performances always seem to reflect the level of talent around him, and he is very effective here, relishing the chance to be the comic relief side of a badass duo. Washington seems equally engaged, letting you feel the wheels turning as Bobby coolly  figures out what’s what. Their fun is contagious, to the audience as well as their fellow actors.

An engaging mix of buddy cop caper, spy thriller and Wild West shoot em up, 2 Guns is just the kick in the pants this movie summer needs.

 

Verdict-3-5-Stars

 

 

Outtakes

It’s Asia – to the Extreme!

Leave a comment

It’s coming!!

What’s coming? The coolest thing ever – a film festival Hope got to help program. And it is too nutty!

Asia Extreme opens at the Gateway Film Center next Thursday, August 8 and runs through the following Tuesday (8/13). Expect showers of blood, technology ghosts, regular ghosts, ass kicking, face kicking, face sliting, demonic cats, and vengeance. Oh, so much vengeance.

Some highlights include the Park Chan-wook’s full Vengeance Trilogy, in one location for one low price. See Oldboy as it was meant to be seen before the American version potentially ruins it. Truth be told, Spike Lee’s trailer looks pretty good. Still, the original’s a surefire weirdfest that may kill your soul just a little.

Another insane set of three: Kim Jee-Woon’s I Saw the Devil, Doomsday Book (in its Midwest premier) and A Tale of Two Sisters. A punishing director with tremendous visual flair and subversive humor, Jee-Woon work is meant to be enjoyed on a big screen.

Another two from Joon-ho Bong – the riveting drama of Mother (voted Best Foreign Language Film by the Central Ohio Film Critics Association in 2011), and the spectacular creature feature The Host – will keep you wildly entertained.

There’s more, including the Asian originals of Hollywood flicks you know and may love: Ringu, Shutter, Ju-On: The Grudge, and Pulse. Plus action and Sci-Fi to rip your flesh off, like the infamous Battle Royale, Election, BKO: Bangkok Knockout, and the fascinatingly titled This Girl Is Bad-Ass (in its Ohio premier, no less).

And more! Seriously, there are like another dozen movies I haven’t even mentioned! Who’s geeked?!

So, obviously, go. Do it! How could you not?!!

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nQV7ejqpbPc

 

Thursday, August 8

7:30 PM             BLOOD C: THE LAST DARK (2012) – US Theatrical Premiere!

10:30 PM          BATTLE ROYALE (2000)

12:00 AM          HOUSE (1977)

Friday, August 9       

1:30 PM             MOTHER (2009)

Three films from legendary director Kim Jee-Woon:

4:30 PM             I SAW THE DEVIL (2010)

7:30 PM             DOOMSDAY BOOK (2012) – Midwest Premiere!

10:30 PM          A TALE OF TWO SISTERS (2003) – First Ohio Theatrical Screening!

12:00 AM          THE HOST (2006)

Saturday, August 10             

1:30 PM             RINGU (1998)

4:30 PM             JU-ON: THE GRUDGE (2002)

7:30 PM             HORROR STORIES (2013) – US Theatrical Premiere!

10:30 PM          IP MAN: THE FINAL FIGHT (2013)

12:00 AM          THE SLIT MOUTHED WOMAN (2006)

Sunday, August 11  

The Vengeance Trilogy – First combined theatrical screening in Columbus! Patrons can see SYMPATHY FOR MR. VENGEANCE, OLDBOY, and LADY VENGEANCE at normal prices or all three for $15!

1:30 PM             SYMPATHY FOR MR. VENGEANCE (2002)

4:30 PM             OLDBOY (2003)

7:30 PM             LADY VENGEANCE (2006)

10:30 PM          THE RED SHOES (2006) – Columbus Premiere Screening!

Monday, August 12 

1:30 PM             PULSE (2001)

4:30 PM             SHUTTER (2004)

7:30 PM             BKO: BANGKOK KNOCKOUT (2010) – Ohio Premiere!

10:30 PM          THIS GIRL IS BAD-ASS!! (2012) – Ohio Premiere!

Tuesday, August 13              

1:30 PM             ELECTION (2005)

The Ghost School Trilogy – First combined screening in the Midwest! Patrons can see WHISPERING CORRIDORS, MEMENTO MORI, and WISHING STAIRS at normal prices or all three for $15!

4:30 PM             WHISPERING CORRIDORS (1998)

7:30 PM             MEMENTO MORI (1999)

10:30 PM          WISHING STAIRS (2003) – Closing Night Screening!

 

So that happened...

So That Happened… Chirpers, Episode 3

Leave a comment

 

I realize that I have neglected to keep you up to date on the breathlessly fascinating world of the young telephone sales folk in the pod outside my office door, affectionately known by me as The Chirpers. The negligence! So, rather than work five full days last week, I spent most of one day eavesdropping. Before you  judge remember– they sit right outside my door and talk incessant inanities. I’m not made of stone.

Anyway, here’s the blow by blow.

 

9:40 am:

Chirper #1: I’m really trying to lose three pounds.

Three pounds. A conversation about three pounds. Hey, I know! Maybe walk away from my office to burn off those lbs!

Chirper #2: No you don’t!

Chirper #1: I’m really super stoked about it. Look! It’s a power hot yoga.

Chirper #2: Let me have that website!

This looks to be a productive day all around.

 

10:20 am:

Chirper #2: I got home last night and everything was gone. Every cup, every bowl. I mean, the china bowls, but even the plastic. I mean, it was hers, but she just got married and she got all this free stuff. She doesn’t need it. I was such a good friend to her. I did so much for her. And now she does this.

Oh my God, the tragedy! After getting all that free stuff for getting married, she pulls something as heinous as packing her own belongings and leaving the chirper without plasticware! Honestly, how did she even manage to face the day? The courage…

 

11:00 am:

Chirper #3: The stuff is so cute. Aqua, purple…

C#1: My gosh, look at this…

C#3: The dresses are so darling!

C#1: Uch, an hour and a half of shopping. I just don’t really get anything done before noon

I’d insert a snide comment, but I have also gotten nothing done. Damn their fascinating idiocy! 

 

11:15 am:

C#1: Wait, do you have nuts over here?

C#2: Yep. In those clear drawers there’s walnuts and almonds.

C#1: Thanks, babe.

Forgot those three pounds already? Oh, well, hot power yoga and all, babe.

 

1:10 pm:

C#1: Three of her kids’ birthdays are today.

C#2: How many does she have?

C#1: Five

C#2: And wait, three have the same birthday? I didn’t know that.

C#1: Yep.

Wait, I hear something in that “yep.” This is going somewhere.

C#2: So, what is nine months before that that they always do it?

C#1: Let’s look. So it would be nine months to the day, right?

Mischievous AND biologically unaware. These two are hot today.

C#2: Ha ha ha ha. The guarantee day.

Those imps!

 

2:40 pm:

C#3: What is it you say, it’s like pushing a watermelon through something? It’s a saying. People say it. It’s like pushing a watermelon through something. It’s like an analogy or something. I can’t think of it. I’m bored.

You tell me, how am I expected to concentrate with monologues like this one unraveling outside my door?

 

3:30 pm:

C#2: No. They’re doing it wrong. Your leg should be level. You’re doing it the right way. I have to say, this is very cheerleaderesque.

C#1: I cannot even deal with you. You are the skinniest little….

C#3: I know. You are.

The three of them were looking at images online and physically mimicking whatever it was they were seeing, striking poses (hot yoga?) and congratulating each other for looking better than the image. During the work day. Within eyeshot of everyone in the office. You have to almost admire them. 

 

4:20 pm:

C#1: Oh my God, I have been literally on the phone all day!

C#2: I know!

I’m sorry – what? Do you mean that you were sitting on top of the phone itself? Because that is actually possible, given the amount of work you’ve accomplished, but it is not what you mean, given that you do not understand the definition of the word “literally”. 

 

Outtakes

Weekend Countdown: Bruuuuuuuce!

Leave a comment

Maybe you just can’t wait until Tuesday’s screening of Springsteen and I, or maybe the E Street doc is not showing near you. Well, if you are suffering from a Springsteen movie jones, we have the cure.

The Boss has lent his talents – and in one case, his actual person – to bunches of films. Most of them are even worth seeing.

6) Light of Day (1987)

In concert, Springsteen has recalled the tale that led him to pen the song Light of Day, which Joan Jett sings for the film of the same name. Filmmaker Paul Schrader had sent him a screenplay entitled Born in the USA – a title Bruce stole outright for this other little song he’d been working on. In return, Springsteen wrote the rocking number that may be the only non-ridiculous thing about Schrader’s film.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MISxcKlvMsg

5) Limbo (1999)

John Sayles’s weird romance turned noir turned adventure/thriller will keep you guessing. I suppose it’s only fair, then, that you may not immediately link the film’s song Lift Me Up to Springsteen. Singing in an unusual (for that time in his career, anyway) falsetto, Springsteen’s lyrics underscore the characters’ beleaguered search for redemption.

4) The Wrestler (2008)

Mickey Rourke’s succinct and frighteningly honest characterization of a performer with a shelf life found a lovely, lyrical mirror in Springsteen’s song of the same name.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L1LnUCQ7dDg

3) Dead Man Walking (1995)

Springsteen garnered an Oscar nomination for his positively devastating song to accompany this positively devastating film. Beautiful, brutal and tragic – like the film – Springsteen’s lyrics put you in the conscience of a man on death row.

2) Philadelphia (1993)

Springsteen’s spare, haunting tune describes a conscience wrestling with  shame, abandonment, redemption, and resignation. Underscoring the humanity in Jonathan Demme’s flawed but powerful film, Streets of Philadelphia won Springsteen an Oscar.

1) High Fidelity (2000)

Springsteen’s The River joins a slew of kick ass songs on the soundtrack, but High Fidelity boasts something the rest of these flicks do not. Bruce himself shows up, guitar in hand, to offer advice to the romantically misguided Rob Gordon (John Cusack).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q8DIm_47xPU

New In Theaters, Uncategorized

These People Love Their Boss

1 Comment

 

by George Wolf

 

Look, I admit it. Asking me to review a Bruce Springsteen documentary sounds about as fair and balanced as Sean Hannity giving his thoughts on The Sarah Palin Story. I’m a Springsteen devotee, no doubt about it, but Springsteen and I will not only thrill fans such as myself, but also give the uninitiated a glimpse into what drives the Cult of the Boss.

From Executive Producer Ridley Scott, the film doesn’t focus as much on Bruuuuuce as it does his legendary fan base. Utilizing the same approach that drove Scott’s Life in a Day (2011), and Japan in a Day (2012), Springsteen and I is a story told by everyday people.

Bruce fans all over the world were encouraged to submit their own videos, describing how his music has affected them, the place it holds in their lives and, well, anything else they felt moved to share.

Director Baillie Walsh assembles the best of the bunch, mixing in Springsteen performances from the archives, and in many cases, video evidence from moments when the lucky ones rubbed elbows with The Boss.

You can’t help but smile when you hear stories of the man who went to a Bruce show dressed in full-on Elvis, or the women who made an “I’ll be your Courtney Cox” sign, and then watch as Bruce invites them to share his stage.

It’s an entertaining approach, and one that also allows for more heartfelt submissions, such as the man who suddenly bursts into tears when describing how the music has changed him, or the couple who, despite never having been to a Springsteen show, feel part of the fan community simply by dancing to Bruce music at home.

Of course, Springsteen isn’t everyone’s favorite(?), and one women’s fandom is hilariously described by her husband. After years of tagging along to Bruce’s marathon performances, the man pleads for Bruce to “make his concerts shorter!”

Springsteen and I is a thoroughly enjoyable take on the power of music, and much like a Springsteen show, offers a lengthy encore.  Stay put after the credits roll for some great concert footage and a backstage peek at a special Bruce meet and greet session.

Lucky bastards.

 

Springsteen and I will show again in Columbus, and all over the world, July 30th at 7:30pm. The local showing will again be at Lennox. Outside Columbus, check here for a showing at the same time.

 

Verdict-4-0-Stars

 

 

New In Theaters, Slider

Sideburns and Samurai

Leave a comment

The Wolverine

by Hope Madden

The Wolverine seems invulnerable, but on the inside, he’s a heartbroken, wounded mess. Doesn’t that make him dreamy?

Ever since he had to go and kill Jean – the psychotic, clairvoyant killing machine and love of his life – he hasn’t been the same. He just exists, just goes on, pointlessly … kind of like this movie.

The latest in the X-Men franchise is certainly a let down from 2011’s exceptionally fun and clever X-Men: First Class. This episode finds Logan/Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) holed up in a cave, living the life of a semi-boozy hermit, befriended, or at least tolerated, by a neighboring grizzly. But he’s lured out of hermitage by some dangerously incompetent hunters and a sword-wielding young woman with a request from Logan’s past.

Come to Tokyo, she says. I’ll have you home tomorrow, she says.

Wolverine is quickly sucked into yakuza/ninja/samurai/mutant/romantic intrigue.

In Japan we’re treated to too  much sentiment, not enough action, and not nearly enough opportunity for Jackman to break out of Logan’s morose romanticism and crack a few jokes. Director James Mangold’s preoccupied with honor, courage and love – solid enough staples for a samurai-tinged action film, but a humorless Wolverine is just no fun at all.

The film takes a comic book hero, casts him as a routine vampire cliché (the tragic-romantic immortal who wishes to be human), then paints everything with a mixture of several eras of Japanese crime cinema. But vampires and samurai tales require blood, and lots of it. Comic book movies – even when the hero slashes through everything with metal claws – are bloodless. The combination just doesn’t work.

Mangold continues to take the X-Men path less traveled by supplying so very few mutants. One common weakness of late-franchise superhero flicks is that they throw dozens of villains at you in the hopes of drawing your attention away from script weaknesses. Mangold has the bravery to avoid this gimmick, supplying only on mutant villain, Viper (Svetlana Khodchenkova – whose name is exponentially more interesting than her character).

The result? We can see how weak his script is.

The Wolverine does boast some cool action sequences – especially that bit on top of the train – and Jackman has more than enough talent and brawn to keep the movie interesting. But mostly the film dives into Logan’s internal scarring and seeks to help him appreciate his immortality and his purpose. Maybe next he can rediscover his sense of humor.

Verdict-2-5-Stars