Change Your Image
liftedface
Reviews
House of Temptation (2014)
Great Indie Norcal film!
I saw this film twice actually. Once at the San Francisco movie premiere and a second time at the 13th Annual Another Hole In The Head film festival. Both times were great but he second time I was able to appreciate the finer qualities of the film. It is set in Bodega Bay where Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds was shot and it gave a nice backdrop to the story. Rarely do we get to see this type of scenery even in indie films. I also noticed the second time how complete the story was for an indie film and how the story efficiently moved forward. Complimented by good acting the story is made more believable than many other indie films of its caliber. A very refreshing Norcal horror film. :)
Vampariah (2016)
Vampire film with a message
This is a film set in contemporary times with a deep connection to Filipino culture and folklore of the older times. Add in themes of politics, religion, colonialism, sexuality, and gender and you have this film. This is going to be a film that people will study in Asian American Film Studies classes in the future and talk endlessly about the Asian American existence in the modern American Western world. INSTANT CLASSIC. For all others who just want to be entertained this movie moves fast with lots of monsters and mythical characters challenging the journey of the main characters and their opponents of progress towards a better world of acceptance by mainstream thought.
Unleashed (2005)
Jet Li Still In Chains
Ever since making his transition to Hollywood style film-making Jet Li has found many ways to flex both his muscles as well as kick the formula of martial arts film-making to different and exciting levels. Ever since his immigration with "Lethal Weapon 4" in 1998, playing the cool villain henchman, he was cool as ice in that movie, light like a butterfly
Some of his movies have been really strong attempts to do something new. "Romeo Must Die" was not only a reworking of Romeo and Juliet, it was an attempt at besting the same right guy on the wrong side that his monumental "Fist of Legend" was. Even though it was a flop I really felt there was some untapped quality in "Kiss of the Dragon." It seemed to have an everyman's quality struggle that I really appreciated. He didn't wear a black mask and he wasn't sidekicking it with DMX. He was a guy in a foreign land trying to get out of the wrong place at the right time. I think "Unleashed" also has tried to do the something noble, but somehow I feel Hollywood has betrayed him much in the same way Hong Kong trapped him.
I find "Unleashed" full of weak underdeveloped characters that trap the bottomless potential this movie could have possessed in the hands of people working outside the Hollywood machine. The result of this movie is not just a poorly developed movie, but a wrong depiction of subservient Chinese in a white dominant society. Before I get into film theory or racial profiling, let me just point out some things I don't agree with that are painfully obvious. Firstly, this film was directed by Louis Leterrier, who is venturing out for the first time ever directing a film by himself (I choose not to count the "Transporter" as he co-directed this film alongside Corey Yuen who has over a quarter century clocked in Hong Kong film-making). If I were Jet Li, I sure as celluloid would have done a background check on this guy before I let go $45 million to make me look like somebody's monkey. Secondly, Luc Besson penned the screenplay. I really can't figure out this guy
In his career he's gone from schlock sci-fi ("The Fifth Element") to ridiculous chase films ("Taxi", "Taxi 2", "Taxi 3") to the passion of the special affected Arc ("Joan of Arc"). One might consider him a man of many genres but I tend to think he is building a scattered library which doesn't round up a donut hole. What ever happened to movies like "The Professional" and "La Femme Nikita" where characters undergo deep catharsis? I honestly don't feel this film hearkens to those days in any small trace. Thirdly, this film is being marketed in Europe under the title of "Danny the Dog". It's a good thing they didn't decide to call it "Danny Boy" or else Malcom X and Michael Collins would be turning in their graves. Call me insensitive, but I can't find any more of an insensitive unpolitically correct title for a movie. I could swear they hired Matt Stone and Trey Parker to market this movie. Now, on to the part where we carefully dissect the stinky corpse. I don't want to give away any twists in what many critics call a "great movie." so I propose we look carefully with a microstethascope at a certain element called "mom." The story goes only so far and it's really difficult to tell what's going on cuz it's all in a dreamlike flashback: Danny (Jet Li) and his mother are in Enlgand as "mom" is studying music at a prestigious university. Enter Bart (Bob Hoskins) home invasion style, who for some mysterious reason has something he wants from mom. It's never really explained the relationship these two adults share
why would a refined and educated woman like her be mixed up with a thug like him? All we get in the flashbacks are an imperialist bitchslap that doesn't really tell us anything. And so Bart kills "mom" and takes baby Danny away and raises him to be an attack dog. I know I am being deliberately vague here because this reflects the vagueness that the film suggests. All I can say to analyze is that given Bart's character, the mom must have been involved with Bart in some sexual, maybe prostitute relationship (I could be wrong and they just met at the local discoteque or they were members of the same book club). This reiterates the sexualized Asian prostitute stereotype we are all very familiar with in Hollywood film. Secondly, the fact that she is Asian then enables us to believe the "mom's" got a son of a martial arts deadly typecast that we see Jet Li exploiting time and time again. Another Hollywood stereotype. I have a hard time with any film that relies on stereotypes to tell a film as real life is much more richly complicated than this. So to conclude I want to reiterate something I read where Jet Li said this film is a big step for him because it is his chance to do more for martial arts and acting where he can actually express himself as an actor rather than a martial artist on film. Jet, quit going half assed and cut down the fight time and use it towards some character development instead. And don't make me get into the token blind black man "Jazz Singer Stereotype" cuz Morgan Freeman wouldn't approve (unless he needed the cash). In final words, if you're gonna break free and do it different, do it right Jet.
Yajû no seishun (1963)
Overstylized Cult Pop Hard Boiled And Tons of Fun
If hard boiled kitsch is your thing this movie is right up your alley baby. However, don't be fooled. This movie is full of guts and grit without the bad aftertaste. Seijun Suzuki built this movie on one of his early runs on his own and it shows. Free from the restraints of corporate influence, this movie is full of smart technical tricks from a somber black and white opening which blooms into vivid color to lovers kissing in the golden sands in tribute to "From Here To Eternity." These vivid colors are a perfect compliment to the overstylized characters and their desire for sadism and violence.
The story starts out with a mysterious character Jo, played by the larger than life Jo Shishido, who blows into the lives of two rival gangs like a modern day gunslinger. He plays both sides of the fence and incites a war in order to find the whathappins of his former partner who was mysteriously killed amidst gang activity. Many have said that this plot construct is in the same vein as "Yojimbo" and "Fistful of Dollars" and it is interesting to note that respectively the films were released in 1961 and 1964, putting "Youth of the Beast smartly in between.
What sets apart this film from the rest is its look and style, basically an overstylized pop gangster film with jazz interludes and objectified women. Among these colorful characters even lies a gay character portrayed as the crime boss's younger brother. This younger brother turns out to be the most dangerous (and most memorable) character of the film, and adds another sexual dimension in which Jo has to navigate in order to find his truth. It is also interesting to note that the female characters have a tendency to appear as victims caught in the mob world, but in actuality end up being the undoing of their male counterparts.
This was the first of many films Jo Shishido and Seijun Suzuki collaborated on and led to many more successful films such as "Branded to Kill." In an interesting side note Joe Shishido before hooking up with Suzuki underwent plastic surgery in order to improve his facial appearance. This led to his typecasting of the tough guy character Jo is most famous for. Incidentally this film with all the important players, was one of the forerunners of a prolific decade of famous "Nikkatsu action films." This era promptly ended with "Branded to Kill" in 1967, as it is said that Suzuki was promptly fired on the spot by Nikkatsu President Kyusaku Hori fired for "making films that didn't make any sense and didn't make any money." It could very well be said that this film started Seijun Suzuki's style as the art house director we know as today and the undoing of the studio director in which he began his career.
Jingi naki tatakai (1973)
Like Toy Soldiers
The art of film welcomes its viewers into worlds unknown filled with interesting characters and settings unfamiliar to the everyday person. Some of these worlds may be completely imagined, full of monsters and witchcraft, while others set in the real world but with people and places with whom we may never meet in our lifetime. Sometimes, after watching these films, we are left with such a profound imprint that we cannot help but empathize with the world which we have just witnessed. All of the above represent the feelings one is able to experience after watching the five episodes known in America as "The Yakuza Papers." The first of the series is story of the beginnings of a post World War II yakuza empire centering around a main character Shozo Hirono, played by Bunta Sugawara, and his devotion to a disjointed backstabbing mobster family. A former soldier without a plan, Shozo easily slips into the yakuza plan as he volunteers to enact revenge on a friend until his fate is sealed when he is forced to chop off his finger for insulting another family member. The film has a lively pace, to say the least, as there are a huge cast which are killed off as soon as they are introduced, and they don't necessarily die boring deaths. This humble critic suggests using a Polaroid camera or a pen and paper while watching this movie as it can get extremely confusing at times. It took this humble critic three views to realize that the character of Toru Ueda was the one who had his arm chopped off in the beginning and throughout the rest of the movie walked around without a left hand in his sleeve.
This film and its sequels released between 1973 and 1974 was a gigantic hit in Japan. One can recognize the theme song arise in daily Japan in various places like the occasional comedy skit or variety show. Incidentally, the piece composed by Toshiaki Tsushima and said to be based on Ennio Morricone's titlepiece for the 1969 movie The Sicilian Clan, resurfaced in a remix of sorts by guitar legend Tomoyasu Hotei for the the movie Kill Bill Vol.1. It also became Hideki Matsui's new theme song and played at Yankees Stadium on his turns at bat. Not only is the music memorable but this movie set a huge precedence for being one of the first yakuza movies to depict the yakuza life as one of tragic animals rather than glorifying it. This plays very well into its setting of postwar pessimism and adds to the movie's credibility. Technical tricks such as hand-held camera and fast cut editing lets the viewers feel right there in the middle of the fight and adds a huge documentary feel. Director William Friedkin professed to lifting this style when he made his own "French Connection." Similarly, if you liked the recent 2002 film "City of God," refer to this film as the classic blueprint.
Already well known by this time, Kinji Fukusaku had his name drawn in the Japanese film-making books forever after this series was released and then again for a younger generation when his teenage bloodpic "Battle Royale" was released in 2000. Kinji Fukusaku died in 2003 while filming "Battle Royale 2."
Kyojin to gangu (1958)
The most truthful telling of Japanese business gone wrong
A genius movie made during turbulent times where the Japanese economic monster had just given way to its hunger. In the 1950's Japanese corporations, after initial American patrimony, had begun to gain its foothold with an ambition that outrivaled its military initiatives of the previous decades. This movie tells a fictional story of corporate wars in the confections and sweets industry where people from all walks of life become sucked into the trappings of the corporate machine while all having the same dreams, not realizing they are different people with separate contributions. The story follows two main characters, Godo and his fresh out of college apprentice Nishi have just taken over the World Caramel ad campaign with aspirations to crush rival companies Giant and Apollo. Godo is a career strategist having acquired his head position by marrying the supervisor's daughter and next eyes the aging father in law's seat. The young Nishi is although hungry, young and principled in his ways and has difficulty losing his dignity to the company as Godo has. Along the way they wrangle a country bumpkin with tadpoles for pets and less common sense than a penny to be their poster girl. Also highly impressionable, Kyoko develops an unfulfilled crush on Nishi and then becomes too rich and famous to reconcile with her conscious. Apprentice Nishi meanwhile is in love with a rival worker and mixes business with pleasure as he falls for the girl and tries to extract corporate strategies from the enemy only to have his heart broken. This film is so sublime in its storytelling it it's surreal. This movie is a harsh criticism but completely stripped of all the hokey tongue in cheek one might find in "Office Space" or "Dr. Strangelove." In doing so it allows layers of credibility in its story and the characters that inhabit it. While we may be able to laugh at gangster rap Xerox angst or Brigadeer General Jack D. Ripper, viewers are not allowed the room to laugh at these overworked, half baked, ants caught up in the great race for domination. It is no surprise that director Masumura Yasuzo spent time in Italy studying film as no indiginant could ever make a film so critical of its own trappings. Quite possibly the best prediction of the direction of Japanese society, this film still stands as a timeless story of ambition and dignity in a world that demands too much from its inhabitants.
Petulia (1968)
Interestingly 60's
This film screams the 60's up and down from the very first scene with Janis Joplin and Big Brother and The Holding Company performing before we even get a chance to understand what is even going on in the movie. In addition the flashbacks cut disjointedly like a many films of the same era. I find it no surprise that Nick Roeg shot this film as its cuts remind me very strongly of "The Man Who Fell To Earth." I found the whole theme of people struggling to define themselves a bit weak, but felt more like it was just a story of very unique people trapped in the more unlikely of positions. George C. Scott is bored... so what, I'm bored with my life too. And a girl seeking worth outside of entanglements of an abusive husband is not so strange in any day and age. The acting is however, above par and expect exceptional performances from a very young Richard Chamberlin and a very seasoned Joseph Cotton.