Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on June 12th, 2014
“People believe money is a tool. Money is the master; the better you serve it, the better it treats you.”
That mantra — spouted by a ruthless hedge fund manager in Capital — may not be as succinct or as elegant in its simplicity as “Greed is good,” but the message remains the same. Most people see money as a means to an end, but to the financial masters of the universe in this French financial thriller, money is the end.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Brent Lorentson on June 2nd, 2014
When Stephen Chow came out with Shaolin Soccer and Kung Fu Hustle he delivered martial arts in a way like we never had seen before. It’s not just that he blended humor with his action but it was that he was able to manage to make his characters function as you would imagine cartoon characters would in the real world. The road runneresque chase scenes from Kung Fu Hustle are the first visuals that come to mind any time I think of the name Stephen Chow. Now that he has Journey to the West making its way to Blu-ray, does he still have what it takes to make a hit or has he simply returned to the well already?
The film starts off strong as a father is attacked by some unseen monster while his daughter looks on from a dock. As panic strikes the village a “demon hunter” captures a giant sting ray that he believes is the culprit behind the fisherman’s death. Sanzang (Zhang Wen) seems to believe that there is yet another demon responsible for the death, yet to the village refuses to take Sanzangs advice and it is a mistake that will result in the loss of more lives and destruction. This opening goes on perhaps a bit long but it sure is fun and is filled with some beautifully choreographed stunt work as well as some inventive camera work.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on May 28th, 2014
On the surface, The Color of Lies resembles many other murder mysteries set in a close-knit community. The 1999 film, however, is a late-career effort from Claude Chabrol, the French New Wave director who first gained acclaim alongside contemporaries like Jean-Luc Godard and Francois Truffaut in the late 1950s. So it’s not surprising to learn The Color of Lies is really a subtle, stylish exploration of the various ways people deceive each other.
The body of a 10-year-old girl is found near the home of struggling artist Rene Sterne (Jacques Gamblin) and his wife Vivianne (Sandrine Bonnaire). Rene was the girl’s art teacher and quickly becomes the prime suspect in an investigation conducted by Inspector Lesage (Valeria Bruni Tedeschi), the town’s new police chief. Despite the fact that Inspector Lesage has zero hard evidence connecting Rene to the crime, he becomes a pariah in his small Breton village and gradually loses the rest of his art students. And if things weren’t bad enough for Rene, he also has to contend with vain local celebrity Germain-Roland Desmot (Antoine de Caunes), who is aggressively pursuing Rene’s wife. (It doesn’t help that Vivianne isn’t exactly rebuffing Desmot’s advances.)
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Brent Lorentson on April 28th, 2014
It’s movies like Big Bad Wolves that keep me excited about cinema. After all, who would guess that Israel would produce this savagely dark fairy tale revenge film that is also one of the darkest comedies I’ve seen in some time with a visual aesthetic you’d expect from a Coen brothers film, but the violence and humor you’d expect from a film by Tarantino. My first time viewing this film was via On Demand a few months ago; more and more I feel the cable companies are onto something by acquiring these little films and releasing them pay-per-view so that those not in New York and Los Angeles can experience these films before having to wait months longer for their DVD or Blu-ray release. Now I get the chance to revisit a film that upon my first viewing was a punch to the gut; does it hold its own on its second viewing? You bet it does.
The film starts up with a group of kids playing a game in the middle of the woods. While the kids search the property for one of their friends, all they discover is one lone shoe. Jumping ahead, we meet Micki (Lior Ashkenazi) with a group of fellow vigilantes dragging Dror (Rotem Keinan) into an abandoned building to beat a confession out of him. Little does anyone know, someone is in the building with them and is filming the brutal interrogation. Is Dror responsible for the missing girl? At this point who knows, and anyone could be a suspect. But when the video hits the internet, opinions are formed, and Dror becomes the focus of scrutiny by his students as well as their families. After all, this is the time of social media, and we all know it spreads faster than the time it takes for an investigation to be completed.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on April 17th, 2014
“I’d have loved to be a spy, but it’s a dangerous game and it pays s---.”
For a lot of moviegoers, the word “spy” evokes tuxedos, gadgets, and exotic accents. Möbius — a French/Russian production from French filmmaker Eric Rochant — only employs the last of those tropes while falling in line with more low-key espionage adventures like Three Days of the Condor and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. So I shouldn’t have been surprised that this film gets up to some subterfuge of its own; Möbius is a love story posing as a spy thriller.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by J C on March 20th, 2014
“So long as my enemies are alive, I will not die.”
During his lifetime, Genghis Khan reigned over one of the biggest empires the world has ever seen. There are literally dozens of action-packed epics that could be made about his various battles as head of the Mongol Empire, which included portions of China, Russia, the Middle East and Eastern Europe. But Kingdom of Conquerors curiously focuses on the one adversary Khan couldn’t vanquish: death.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Brent Lorentson on March 18th, 2014
OK, in case you didn’t know this about me, I’m a sucker for South Korean action cinema. Sure, the 90’s were ruled by Hong Kong, but for about a decade South Korea has been killing it by putting out some of the most visually stunning action films in years. For a quick crash course in how simply bad-ass and epic their cinema is, I highly recommend checking out The Chaser and A Bittersweet Life. With Commitment we get a new entry in the spy genre that hasn’t been explored stateside.
Myung-hoon (Choi Seung-Hyun, a Korean pop star also known as T.O.P) and his sister are stuck in a North Korean labor camp after their father is killed in South Korea working as a spy. Myung-hoon is offered a chance to protect his sister and stay alive, only it requires him to go into training as a spy and travel into South Korea and await word for his mission.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Brent Lorentson on March 13th, 2014
Takeshi Kitano is to yakuza films as Robert DeNiro is to American gangster films. Whether it is in front of or behind the camera, Beat (his stage name) Takeshi has had a long, fruitful career, with many of his successful films like Sonatine. Fireworks, Brother and Outrage delving into the Japanese criminal underworld. His talents don’t only fall between acting and directing; he’s also worked as editor and writer for many of his films. He’s an artist whose films have found their way onto US shores, and for those that are fans of yakuza cinema, when a new film by Beat Takeshi comes along, it’s something you simply have to check out.
Beyond Outrage is a follow up to the 2010 release Outrage (this being the only sequel Takeshi has directed). It’s five years following the events that occurred in the previous film, and the yakuza underworld is in the midst of a struggle over not just what clan is in control, but who is in power within the clans. Ishihara (Ryo Kase) is the second in command of the Sanno clan; he’s young and power-hungry and believes the clan should be moving in a more modern direction. Unfortunately the senior members of the clan are more traditional and feel the new direction things are going is not to their benefit.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on February 27th, 2014
They say you can't choose your family, but apparently that well-known phrase never made its way to France. At the very least, no one bothered to tell Paul de Marseul, the legacy-obsessed vineyard owner at the center of You Will Be My Son (Tu Seras Mon Fils.) Cohen Media Group gave this tasty 2011 French offering a theatrical release last year, and now the film — which alternates between being a picturesque delight, a tense family drama, and a thriller — arrives on Blu-ray.
Niels Arestrup stars as Paul, who has a great nose (and palette) for winemaking. His adult son Martin (Lorant Deutsch) is a hard worker, but he didn't inherit his father's natural abilities. (Much to Martin's chagrin, Paul never misses a chance to cruelly remind his son of this fact.) Since the vineyard's longtime manager Francois (Patrick Chesnais) is terminally ill, Martin is eager to become a bigger part of the family business. Enter Francois's son Philippe (Nicolas Bridet), a charismatic, successful California winemaker who returns home to be with his ailing father. After Paul enlists Philippe's help with the upcoming harvest, he realizes he'd rather hand the family business over to someone else's son rather than his own flesh and blood.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on January 24th, 2014
In the 1990s, the French action films of Luc Besson (La Femme Nikita, Leon: The Professional) and Euro-centric offerings like John Frankenheimer’s Ronin provided a sleeker, more exotic alternative to the outsize, muscle-bound exploits of Stallone, Schwarzenegger and Van Damme. Besides movies with the words “Fast” or “Furious” in their title, American action flicks have mostly moved away from lo-fi, knucklehead thrills and turned to PG-13 heroes in CGI adventures. Meanwhile, European filmmakers have stayed in their stylish, car/foot-chase-loving lane. The result is entertaining yarns like The Prey/La Proie, which stands out thanks to its thuddingly simple action movie pleasures.
“Sure, Franck. You can trust me.”
