Hi, everyone. "Moriarty" here with some Rumblings From The Lab...
Looks like the FanTasia audience is positively ripe with AICN spies this year, which is just the way I like it. I love the festival, and if I can’t be there, then reading a lot of reports about it (and watching my movies here on DVD in many cases) will have to make do. For example, I think I’ll pop in SHUTTER as soon as I finish posting this report...
Thought you might be interested in some movies I caught at this year's Fantasia Fest in Montreal. So far: Shutter, 2001 Maniacs and The Birthday.
Shutter (aka The Ring meets Ju-On/The Grudge but with a Camera and in Thai) is my vote for Most Likely to be Remade in the U.S. A young photographer and his girlfriend hit a girl on a dark road, only to flee the scene. But the girl turns up in the photographer's pics, sometimes as a white streak (yeah, if that's proof of the supernatural, call the FBI 'cause my photos are full of “ghosts”), sometimes as a more traditional ghostly figure, peering over someone's shoulder. She also comes out of the sink in the guy's darkroom, but this turns out to be a dream. A scary-ass dream, but a dream nonetheless, and that sort of “fooled you” shit can get a little tired the third or fourth time around. Speaking of rehashing things, the villain in question might look a little familiar. She's thin, pale, Asian and has long black hair. [spoilers start here] It turns out, in the first of many twists, that the photographer knew the girl they hit while in school, that they secretly dated. His old school chums all commit suicide, mostly off-screen, and this isn't really explained unitl the end (though it is pretty obvious they had something to do with her demise). [/spoilers]. There are some great scares, though their timing is pretty predictable (a major one occurred right on cue before each reel change). They're followed by lame humour that most of the audience laughed at just to show how un-scared they were. Not half as scary as The Ring or its remake, but way better than Ju-On/The Grudge. I see Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Zooey Deschanel in the remake. Hey, if Jennifer Connolly's doing Asian horror...
2001 Maniacs is one of the funniest, goriest, most offensive movies I've seen in a long time. I predict now that the remixed version of “The South Will Rise Again” will be playing at Nascar races a year from now. Or writer/director Tim Sullivan will be lynched. It could go other way. The movie begins with a really interesting and almost beautiful montage of real photos from the Civil War. That's where the focus on cinematography ends. The story follows what may as well be the cast of Saved by the Bell into what looks like a Civil War re-enactment town, only along with all the traditionally-dressed townspeople it's got a skank in jean shorts named Peaches. The Southerners set to killing off the Yanks one by one for pleasure and to eat, because that's what Southerners do, mostly seducing them then disposing of them in brutal and innovative ways (full-body impaling on a barbecue rod, drawing and quartering, crushing under a large bell).
Whether you love or hate Eli Roth, you'll like the very brief cameo he makes as his character from Cabin Fever (along with trusty pal Mambo). And Cabin Fever's Sheriff (Giuseppe Andrews) is hilarious and quite endearing as a Rhett Butler-on-crack character. If anything, he's too funny. The movie made me jump once or twice and wince a few times, but it didn't contain a single genuine scare. Tim Sullivan assured us that it was made “With tongue planted firmly in cheek,” but I don't know if all the laughs were intentional or not. The movie's supposed to get limited release this fall, then go out on DVD. Sullivan said he's more interested in what Southerners will think than the MPAA. Neither group's gonna like it. Not the nudity, not the gay sex, not the random pig-chasing hick traversing the screen, and definitely not the “traditional” slave character offering up watermelon to the black Yankee. But that's the beauty- it's offensive to everyone. Men, women, black, white, Asian (“That's ChinaWOMAN!”), red states and blue. But that didn't keep the real Civil War reenactment soldiers from putting the “curse of the Confederacy” on the film after they finally got around to reading the script.
Purely a cult movie, but probably one with relatively wide appeal. Expect it to get a lot of press, if not for the political stuff then at least for Robert “Freddy Krueger” Englund's starring role (he's actually really good in the part, and I could actually see him in a dramatic or mainstream comedic role if he could throw of the shackles of that damn striped sweater and fedora).
The less said about The Birthday the better. It stars everyones favourite Goonie and Surreal Life resident, Corey Feldman. I'd scanned a review beforehand that said he gave a feature-length Jerry Lewis impersonation. I assumed the reviewer was exaggerating. No such luck. He talks in a weird, tight-mouthed lisp (except when he breaks character and swears) and is constantly veering towards (failed) slapstick, dropping things, tugging at his collar in a “Gee, folks, is thing in on?” way. Feldman's- oh, who am I kidding? Corey's character is a sheepish guy with an overbearing girlfriend whom he plans to propose to while attending her father's birthday, held at a hotel. Then about _ of the way in an Exposition Fairy shows up and explains, barely taking a breath, that there's a cult on the premises that is waiting for someone there to give birth to their god. Or something. To paraphrase Brian the Dog, “Nothing's happening… Nothing's happening… the camera's getting shaky Star Trek-style and there's a lot of whining reverb… it's over and everyone looks pissed.” I felt a bit bad for director Eugenio Mira- most people fled before the lights came up, missing the Q&A. But although some of the shots were great, this was meant to be a short film. And putting Corey- any Corey- in the lead only proves the old saying about casting and directing.
Oddly, both this movie and 2001 Maniacs had a frat boy character doing the “Face!!” thing to someone. Is that what the kids are doing these days?
If you use anything, just call me Cat Fight, like they do on the streets.
Here’s Dr. Mambo, who reported in a few days ago, with his take on THE BIRTHDAY...
Hey Harry!
It's Dr. Mambo again. I just caught "The Birthday" or as some have labelled it, The Feldog's (Corey Feldman) return. Although I wouldn't agree with that statement, I found the movie to be a lot of fun and it was also freaky as hell.
The movie starts off innocently enough with socially inept Norman Forrester(feldman) going up elevator to meet his too gorgeous to be with this guy girlfriend. It just so happens that her parents are throwing her this massive birthday party in the lobby of this hotel that her father owns, her parents have never met Norman and he's really nervous about that, he also has a gift he wants to give to his girlfriend but he fumbles around like a baffoon and can't seem to deliver the goods. The first half of the movie has them going to the party and Feldman playing the odd man out, trying to fit in at this upper class party. It feels as if the entire beggining of this movie was headed to be a modernized remake of Peter Seller's "The Party" the movie centers on the lead and how awkward he is socially and having silly and uncomfortable situations arise that he deals with in a funny sort of way. Just when it seems the movie has found its stride, all of a sudden it becomes a weird conspiracy theorists dream, with sects, demon worship and a group of vigilantes trying to stop the incarnation of some evil god, with the main man getting stuck in the middle of the whole thing.
I'd say this movie is totally worth checking out as long as your willing to disregard intense genre changes throughout the movie. Definetly not my favorite movie so far at the festival but it was definetly worth checking out, even if it's just to laugh at an 80s child actors attempt to get back into the game through spanish horror flicks.
Dr. Mambo.
And finally, here’s SmokeyMonkey with a few reviews of his own:
Hi Harry… SmokeyMonkey here from Montreal at the Fantasia Film Festival.
Sent you a few review last year so I thought I should do it again. What a program at the fest this year with premiere of movies like Devil’s Reject, Thharryree … Extremes, Night Watch to name a few and two special events with Ray Harryhausen and Lloyd Kaufman’s How to make your own damn movie. So Thursday was the first day of the fest, which means a lot of people, chaos and fun. In the heat of Montreal summer, I got to wait an hour just to get my tickets. Enough with the babbling lets talk movies.
Ashura, Japan, 2005
Dir: Yojiro Takita
What a perfect film to start off the festival. A fun action, romance and fantastic tale of demons coming back to earth to destroy everything. The movie start off with a women dressed as a nurse who in fact is a demon and come to earth through a bridge guarded by demon wardens. She tells the guardians that the demon Ashura will come back soon to destroy all humans and that demons will rule earth. The wardens then go and kill a bunch of demons in human form and one of them, Izumo is led to what seems like a temple were he finds a little girl that ask him to kill her. After doing so, he wakes up in the arms of a geisha and we realize that he is no longer a demon warden but a popular kabuki actor and that we are five years later. We are then introduced to Tsubaki, a beautiful young thief who Izumo instantly falls for. Izumo tries to seduce the girl and a weird mark appears on her shoulder. I won’t say anything more so I don’t spoil the rest of the story.
The movie is adapted from a kabuki theatre play and it shows. There is a lot of humor and not so much sets but the visual of the film is tremendous. The actors are over the top, the action is pretty well directed and the special effects serve the story well. The art direction by Yuji Hayashida (Casshern) is tremendous especially in the end, with the upside-down castle. Of course the love story is a bit cheesy but it’s handle with not too much serious. The actors seem to have had a lot of fun, especially the ones playing Izumo and Jaku. As I said in the beginning, perfect movie to start Fantasia and get into the mood.
Crying Fist, Korea, 2005
Dir : Ryoo Seung-Wan
Winner of Director’s Fortnight, Cannes 2005
After the fun packed Ashura, back to a more serious kind of film. A Korean boxing film, a genre we are not used to. But what a movie !!!! It’s still very early in the festival but this one is gonna be hard to beat. Staring Choi Min-sik of Oldboy fame, this is a punch in the guts. The story is about two losers who want to redeem themselves through an ultimate boxing match.
First we have Tae-shik (Choi Min-sik) as a once silver medalist at the Asian game. After losing everything, even is self respect, he is forced to go in the streets were he offer himself as a human punching-bag for the frustrated people that pay to hit him. After hitting the bottom, is wife ask for divorce thus losing sight of his son, he tries to regain the little pride he can by fighting in an amateur boxing competition.
Second, we have Sang-hwan, a troubled teen that gets into trouble by beating a rich neighbor for a little money. He gets caught and sent to jail where he gets into trouble with a gang of tugs. After a fight, a guard suggests that he direct is violence trough boxing. For the first time of is life he finds a little hope, but during his sentence, his father dies leaving his grandmother alone with is little brother. After his grandmother has a stroke, Sang-hwan enters an amateur boxing competition.
You now see where this is heading right? The final confrontation between Tae-shik, the old boxer with nothing left to loose, and the young Sang-hwan with everything to prove.
Ok this is not Rocky. Far from it. The boxing sequences are astonishing. There is one match between Sang-hwan and his nemesis, a young tug in the prison, that is shot in one take. Wow. No stunts, no choreography, just boxing. Intense. The cinematography is beautiful, using the grainy look of the digital camera. During the boxing match it gives a realistic look that I’ve never seen before in a boxing movie. The actors give very good performance with Min-sik proving is no shooting star. After Oldboy and this, he proves to be a powerful actor in the veins of De Niro. He can be funny, touching, scary and intense. To be watched closely. The young Ryoo Seung-bum, who is actually the brother of the director, is very talented too. We see the transition between the young tough to the emotional and sensible young man he will become. Very promising.
There was a Q&A after the movie with the director and the producer of the movie. It was very insightful. We learned that the actors were trained for four month at boxing and that no stunt men were used for the fighting sequences. It gives the actors even more credits knowing the fought for real. There were a few injuries during the shoot and I can understand why. The producer hopes that the film will get a distribution soon, and frankly I hope so, too, so I can show it to my friends. If you get the chance to see it, go… it’s no Cinderella Man.
That’s it for today. I have two other movies tonight, Shaolin Temple and Karaoke Terror. If you are interested, I will send you more stuff as the festival goes by.
SmokeyMonkey.
Okay, forget SHUTTER. I’m watching CRYING FIST tonight. Sounds amazing. Thanks, guys, and keep those reviews coming in!
"Moriarty" out.
