Saturday, August 28, 2004
HERO
Just saw HERO on the big screen yesterday. For those who haven't heard of it, it's a big martial arts epic starring Jet Li. It's directed by Zhang Yimou, who previously made art-house classics like Ju Dou, Raise the Red Lantern and my favorite To Live. His early movies also introduced the world to Gong Li, one of the most beautiful actresses of all time. A big action blockbuster like Hero may seem like a departure for Yimou (so much so that some fans have accused him of selling out) but it an artistic triumph in its own right.
When Hero begins, China is still a collection of feuding kingdoms rather than a unified country. The king of Qin wants to unite them all. Jet Li stars as "Nameless," a master swordsman who has slain the three greatest assassins in China - who were the main threat to the unification plan - and who now comes before his king to relate the stories of how he dispatched them. We are then treated to flashbacks where Li's character fights the three greatest killers of the time - Sky (Donny Yen - from Newton, MA!), Broken Sword (Tony Leung), and Flying Snow (Maggie Cheung)- in some amazingly choreographed fight scenes. But it's not just the fights that are beautiful here - the entire film is a feast for the eyes, thanks for the cinematography of Christopher Doyle (Wong Kar Wai's regular cinematographer). There's an amazing use of color and locations. This film is an epic in every sense of the word.
I haven't seen tons of Jet Li films, but I dug his Hong Kong film Black Mask, which was released here as an introduction to Li - just before he began his action star career in America. I haven't been too impressed with the films he's made for Hollywood. Like previous Hong Kong greats before him (John Woo, Chow Yun-Fat, and even Jackie Chan) Hollywood has a way of removing everything cool and unique about these talented people and using a shadow of their former glory instead. Hero is interesting because it's a Chinese film, but is getting a big Hollywood release. Of course, Miramax took their sweet time doing this. Despite being a huge hit in Asia in 2002, it's been languishing on the shelves at Miramax for two years before they finally decided to release it here. And since Quentin Tarantino's name is above the marquee, I'm assuming he used his considerable pull to finally get it released.
But Jet Li is very good in this film. In fact, the whole cast is great. Especially Tony Leung as Broken Sword, who is as much a master calligraphy artist as he is a master assassin, and the always breath-taking Maggie Cheung who steals the movie as Flying Snow. In fact, one scene where her Snow fights Broken Sword's student Moon (the beautiful Ziyi Zhang), using waves of brightly colored leaves as a weapon, is one of the most powerful and poetic scenes in Hero.
I know that this film is on DVD, and has been out in bootleg versions for awhile - in fact everyone I know who knew about this film before its release has already seen it - but I was holding out for the big screen version because I knew it would add to the spectacle, and it does. This is one of those films that will astound you with its imagery and beauty. It's often been compared with Ang Lee's Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (in fact, Ziyi Zhang is in both films), and while the films are similar in scope, I think Hero has a little bit of an edge. First off, I think Yimou is a better director than Lee. And I liked Hero's storyline a little better. One funny fact: when I was getting tickets for Hero, there was a sign up that read "This movie is in Chinese with subtitles, if you want your money refunded we will only do so in the first 15 minutes of the film." Imagine that some people are still so phobic of subtitles that they'd ask for their money back! It's only reading, folks!
I hear that Yimou's follow-up film, another martial arts extravaganza entitled House of Flying Daggers is even better. It comes out this December. And based on how much I enjoyed Hero, I plan to see that one as soon as it's released.
Otherwise it's been a weird week. One of my closest friends (who I've known since grammar school) found out this week that his father-in-law had died suddenly due to complications following a stroke. And another close friend's dog died of cancer yesterday (it had been like part of the family). Too much death for one week.
Oh well, more next time. Until then, live life as full as you can, while you've got it.
Infernally yours,
LLS
Monday, August 16, 2004
MOVIE ROUND-UP
First off, a very happy BUK DAY to you all! For those who don't know, today is the birthday of Charles Bukowski, poet, novelist and one of the greatest writers who ever walked the earth. Have a drink or three and celebrate his memory!!
Saw a bunch of movies over the weekend and thought I'd do a quick round-up:
OPEN WATER: This one has been getting a ton of buzz as the latest low-budget horror phenomenon a la' Blair Witch. In fact, it's been often referred to as "Blair Witch meets Jaws." Thing is, while it does ratchet up the tension, it's a very flimsy movie. Flimsy plot. Flimsy character development. You probably know the plot already: a vacationing couple goes out in the middle of the ocean for some diving and then gets left behind by the idiots who run the tour boat. Adrift in the middle of the nowhere, their predicament gets more and more dire as time goes on. Starvation and lack of drinkable water are the least of their problems...Here come the sharks! That's it. Really hard to write a long review about this one. So I figure I'd do a shark-bite-size review. Despite the flaws, I did find myself getting sucked into the suspense that the movie builds. But this isn't the kind of film that you go around saying "I loved that movie!" about. At least I can't. Fun way to waste an hour and a half - but beyond that, pretty forgettable. Don't believe the hype on this one. It's not the "next big horror flick" it claims to be.
GOZU: the new insane yakuza movie by Takashi Miike, who has made more than his share of strange movies, including the horror masterpiece AUDITION (a personal fave of mine). This time around the story involves a crazy yakuza (Japanese gangster, for the unitiated) Ozaki (Sho Aikawa), whose behavior gets more and more bizarre (including thinking that a little papillion is a "yakuza-killing dog" which he then proceeds to stomp to death). Younger guy Minami (Hideki Sone) is given the job of taking him out to the middle of nowhere and killing him. The thing is, the crazy guy is the younger guy's mentor. When Ozaki is accidentally killed along the way, Minami is thrust into a surreal world he doesn't understand when the body suddenly disappears. The rest of the movie involves Minami's search to find the body, a search which leads him into the paths of transvestite noodle shop owners, a lactating inkeeper and her retarded brother, and a demon with a cow's head who almost licks him to death! While pretty slow going at times - this movie has some great payoffs, including an ending which is like an amped-up version of Udo Kier's big scene at the end of THE KINGDOM II (the von Trier film, not the disappointing Stephen King series). Proof that David Lynch isn't the only director carrying on the surrealist's torch left behind by Luis Bunel. Not as good as AUDITON by any stretch, but pretty damn cool on its own, especially ol' "Cow-Head" (what "Gozu" means).
ZATOICHI: One of my favorite directors is Takeshi Kitano (also known as "Beat" Takeshi), the filmmaker who has made such great films as Violent Cop, Sonatine and my personal favorite, Fireworks (Hanna Bi). His new film is a remake of the classic Zatoichi the Blind Swordsman films (most of which were made in the 60's and early 70's). Here, with his hair dyed blonde and a hidden sword in his cane, Takeshi plays the titular Zatoichi, a blind masseuse who wanders from town to town plying his craft and righting wrongs as an unlikely master swordsman. The film also features a brother and sister team who pose as geishas to get revenge on the men who killed their family, and masterless ronin Hattori (Tadanobu Asano, also known as "the Johnny Depp of Japan" and who is a star in his own right) who desperately looks for work as an assasin/bodyguard in a Japan that he no longer feels has a place for him. When Hattori gets a job working for the descpicable gang leader Ginzu, you know a showdown is coming. Despite some interesting liberties (a transvestite geisha, bizarre dance sequences where farmers tap-dance in clogs, and controversial use of CGI blood-spurting, which isn't as distracting as it sounds), the film moves rather slow at first until all the stories finally come together and the battles begin. Despite the fact that I liked the film, I did feel a big flaw, aside from the pacing, was that THERE WASN'T ENOUGH ZATOICHI. Zatoichi stays in the background way too long, letting the other storylines unfurl, and by the time he cuts loose as the blind killing machine he is, it's almost too late (this is especially annoying since the film starts off with a great fight sequence between Zatoichi and a group of bandits which you assume will set the tone for the rest of the film). I could have also done without the big "dance festival" at the end, which really seemed like a waste of time. While worth checking out, Zatoichi is not up there with Takeshi's best work, although it's a big improvement on his last one, the "Yakuza-comes-to-America" film, Brother. Let's hope next time ol' Beat returns to the poignance and emotional resonance of films like Hanna Bi.
That's all for this round-up folks. Now I'll be riding off into the sunset til' the next time we meet...
Monday, August 09, 2004
GARDEN STATE
Saw a little gem of an indie movie this weekend called GARDEN STATE. It's the directorial debut of Zach Braff, who you might know as J.D. on the sitcom SCRUBS , the only sitcom, aside from HBO's Curb Your Enthusiasm, that I watch anymore these days. Braff is good on the show so I thought I'd give his movie a chance, and I really liked it. He also wrote the script, and it's about a struggling actor in L.A. who goes home to New Jersey for his mother's funeral. He hasn't been home in nine years, and he reconnects with some of his old friends, meets a new one (Natalie Portman) and avoids his psychiatrist dad (Ian Holme) as much as possible. He's also been on a lot of medication for most of his life (antidepressants and the like) and decides during this trip to just get off everything and see what life is really like.
It's a quirky little film, the kind of thing you'd expect from a first-time independent director, but at the same time Braff brings a freshness to the material that is kinda cool. The movie has an almost dreamlike quality, which parallels the drug-induced stupor Braff's character has been floating in most of his life and which he is now coming out of. And his use of music, especially stuff by bands like the Shins and Iron & Wine, is dead on. Instead of distracting you from the film, like a lot of big blockbuster movies tend to do, this film uses music to help create the overall mood.
I just really dug the movie, and totally recommend it to anyone who wants to see a small, off-beat, personal kind of movie with a real heart.
Otherwise, even though it's summer there's still some good stuff on TV. But it's mostly on cable. The new season of DEAD LIKE ME has started on Showtime, and I'm psyched. I loved the first season of this show about dead people who become "grim reapers" and this season looks like it's going to be just as good so far. SIX FEET UNDER has been pretty good this season, too, including an especially brutal episode a couple of weeks ago when David got carjacked.
But my favorite show these days is the second season of DA ALI G SHOW on HBO. It's easily the funniest thing on the air right now, and if you haven't seen it, you just gotta. It's amazing.
Oh well, that's all for now. Til next time.
Infernally Yours,
LLS
Sunday, August 01, 2004
WHAT I'VE BEEN UP TO
Haven't been too good about updating the ol' blog lately. Not even sure if anyone is reading this thing anymore, but just in case, thought I'd do a quick update.
Went to Necon a couple of weeks ago, which is an annual horror writer's convention in Rhode Island. Very laid back and a nice escape from normal life. This year they'd changed the location to Newport, RI, for various reasons. We had it on the campus of Salve Regina, which I guess is a Catholic girls college. Kind of funny place for a bunch of horror writers. Saw tons of friends and had a helluva time just hanging out, drinking beer and laughing. Special shout outs to the New England Gang: Dan Keohane, Steve Dorato, Michael Arruda, Pete Dudar, John Harvey, Paul McNally, Jon Merz, Jason Harris, Barry, and "honorary" member of the gang, Kelly Laymon. Also it was good to see my friend John Dixon again, at his first Necon.
Luckily, Laura and I had paid for Necon months in advance, otherwise we wouldn't have been able to make it this year. Money's really tight these days. As it is, this will be our last convention for the 2004, unfortunately. Too bad, I'd really hoped to make it to Horrorfind this year. But we plan to make up for it next year, by hitting all the conventions we can, and World Horror will be in New York next year, which means it should actually be accessible for once.
Otherwise, just taking it one day at a time. Saw a few movies recently, including:
THE VILLAGE - the new M. Night Shymalan movie. I'd review it here, but it looks like it's going to be the subject of the next CINEMA KNIFE FIGHT column, by me and Michael Arruda (appearing every third week in the HELLNOTES newsletter). So you'll have to wait for that one.
SOME KIND OF MONSTER - the new documentary about Metallica. While recording their last album, St. Anger, the band had a lot of issues, which prompted them to hire a psychiatrist to lead them in a bunch of group therapy sessions. Some interesting stuff, especially the antagonism between singer James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich. And we get to meet Lars's father, who looks like a guy from ZZ Top. And lots of good music. My only gripe is the movie is way too long - at almost 3 hours running time. They really needed the edit it down a little.
BIG FISH - heard a lot of mixed reviews about this one. Some people have said it's Tim Burton's best movie, while others have said it's a bunch of sentimental crap. I was pleasantly surprised by it, since I'm not a die-hard Burton fan (while I love Ed Wood and really enjoyed stuff like Sleepy Hollow and Edward Scissorhands, I hated Planet of the Apes and Mars Attacks, and I think the Batman movies are overrated). I still think Burton is very uneven, but Big Fish is definitely one of his best movies to date. Albert Finney, Ewan McGregor and Billy Crudup all do a fine job here, as does the rest of the cast. The story of an old man who is dying, who has been a storyteller his whole life, and the son who resents him for it, thinking that everything his father has said has been a bunch of lies. As the movie goes along, we learn that maybe there was more truth in the old man's stories than the son originally thought. A little sentimental in places, but overall I thought it was a really solid movie. Worth checking out.
DREAMCATCHER - Well, I'd heard it was pretty bad. Seeing it, I actually thought that maybe people were exaggerating a little bit. It was watachable and some of it was fun. But in the long run, it's not one of the better Stephen King movies. And some of the characters are pretty annoying.
Otherwise, the Democratic Convention invaded Boston. I hear that certain areas and trains were pretty fucked up, but on the whole it really didn't affect my commute to and from work at all, thankfully. Unless you actually went into the city, you would barely notice. Luckily I had no reason to go into the city this week.
That's all for now. Just wanted to write about what I've been doing the last few weeks. Til' next time.
Infernally Yours,
LLS
