Podcasting Them Softly

More than a few fanboy eyebrows were raised when the ascendant Marvel Studios announced they were turning something of a second tier comic book property, Guardians of the Galaxy, into a major motion picture with a summer release and attendant lofty expectations.  Stranger still, they chose the auteur behind Humanzee and PG Porn (Google it), the rebellious and decidedly underground James Gunn.  This filmmaker was coming off a no budget postmodern R rated take on caped crusaders, and probably wouldn’t have gotten a sniff of this assignment were it not for the influence of MCU Phase 2 associate mastermind Joss Whedon, a friend of Gunn’s who saw a devilishly perfect fit with the misfit supersquad that featured such diverse heroes as a talking raccoon and a friendly, vocab-challenged tree. Fast forward past the first film’s incredible box office performance and top tier consideration in the Marvel canon, and one can barely imagine Star Lord, Gamora, Drax, Rocket and Groot being handled by anyone else.  Gunn’s sympathy for cheeky misfits and deep connection to the source material were evident the first time around, but does he have what it takes to continue the story and improve on the original with an inevitable Volume 2?

No spoilers: Absolutely.  This is a quintessential sequel; it keeps and improves upon everything fans of the original liked, expanding on themes, scenes and character arcs that crafted a surprise hit the first time around.  The comedy may be more plentiful too, with Drax continuing his evolution as a connoisseur of laughs, Baby Groot predictably adorable, Rocket holding the universe at bay with constant one liners and Star Lord’s semi-false bravado.  Gamora has plenty of moments too, most of which involve corralling her stable of unruly boys and getting them to focus on the task at hand—said tasks usually involve huge dollops of intergalactic mayhem, of course.  An early job for hire goes south in any number of ways, and things get even more complicated when Star Lord’s father, having discovered his son’s whereabouts thanks to the explosive events of the first film, arrives and takes a few Guardians back to his impressively crafted planet.  In typical dramatic fashion, things aren’t quite what they seem and we’re propelled into a raucous third act that has all the action and heart you’d expect from the franchise.

Gunn successfully mines the complicated concepts around family that he used to bring the team together in the first place as Star Lord sorts out his parentage and the other Guardians solidify their bonds; turns out the family you choose may have more to do with your success in life than the one you’re born to.  His love for the entire ensemble shines through with strong character work for some secondary players as well.  One mild but notable step backwards might be found in the soundtrack department; Tyler Bates’ score only stands out when he’s revisiting the strong themes of the original installment, and the much anticipated Awesome Mix Volume 2 plays more like a sunny but indistinct melodic wash instead of the punchy, unpredictable collection of hooks in Volume 1.  That said, the film delivers in all other departments, not the least of which is the glorious visuals, for the most part improving on the first.  This is the rare film I’d recommend seeing in 3D, as almost every digitally rendered frame takes full advantage of the technology as few other blockbusters do.  The entire cast appears to be having a grand time, including newcomers like Kurt Russell as the aptly titled Ego and Pom Klementieff as the empath Mantis.  No surprise here, Marvel has crafted another charming, exciting winner.

Fearless is an exceptional film. I was blown away by this shattering piece of work as a 13 year old theatergoer, and over the years, I’ve easily seen this remarkable study of the human condition at least a dozen times. I probably saw this more than a dozen times, actually, as it was on HBO seemingly every day for a few years. Peter Weir’s career is a unique one; I can think of few other filmmakers who have made as many great films as he has to then just become forgotten about by the studios. Granted, he’s not likely interested in the CGI-driven idiocy that has come to dominate the mass movie market, but it’s sad to think that he’s not getting gigs because his intelligence and compassion were always massive strengths to his work. And while Fearless explores a story that many might find hard to enjoy (survivor’s guilt after a traffic plane crash), lead actor Jeff Bridges was wholly stunning, meeting the emotionally harrowing material head on, and delivering a tour de force performance of cinematic dramatics which was spawned from the pages of Rafael Yglesias’s novel of the same name (he handled the screenplay adaptation).

Rosie Perez breaks your heart in this film; I love her and it’s a crime that she’s basically disappeared in recent years except for her small but pivotal turn in Ridley Scott’s diamond-cut gem The Counselor. In Fearless, she delivers an atomic bomb of on-screen emotion; only the most jaded person wouldn’t be touched by her character. Isabella Rossellini did her usual scene stealing, Tom Hulce and John Turturro, and John de Lancie were all very strong, and you also get to see a very young Benicio del Toro. Maurice Jarre’s reflective musical score hits both high and low notes of personal introspection, and Allen Daviau’s gleaming cinematography casts a visual spell over the viewer. The film contains one of the most surreal and expressive plane crash sequences that I can think of, and the scene with the strawberries is something I’ve never forgotten. Despite excellent reviews, an October release date, and Oscar buzz (Perez was nominated for Best Supporting Actress), Fearless died a quick commercial death, before becoming an audience favorite in the home video market. This is the sort of film I could watch any day of the week. Warner Archive released the Blu-ray in 2013.

The Palestinian film Omar, which was released in 2013, is an incredibly lean and disciplined political thriller that ticks like a fine-tuned clock on a narrative level, and offers up riveting thrills when it comes to its action bits. Director Hany Abu-Assad packs a serious punch into his film, which mixes romance and sociopolitical observations into a potent mix. From the startling opening moments all the way to the film’s absolutely ferocious final shot, Abu-Assad engrosses the viewer in a dangerous and authentic-feeling landscape filled with betrayal and ultimate tests of friendship. The plot centers on a baker who braves the West Bank barrier in order to spend time with the woman he loves; after a fight breaks out with Israeli troops, he’s forced into working as a double agent with consequences that appear to be deadly.

The Bride With White Hair (1993) dir. Ronny Yu

Once when I was in high school I picked up a cult Asian movie magazine from Barnes N’ Noble. This was before a lot of this stuff was available on video and the DVD cult revolution was still years away. Many of these films were only available through underground catalogues. They were expensive and the quality was often dubious. This magazine in particular covered mainly sexploitation roughies. However, a section of it covered more mainstream Asian fare and included was a review of Ronny Yu’s ‘The Bride With White Hair’ that was over the rainbow in its praise of the film. I never forgot the film and years later when I got a DVD player it was one of the first DVDs I bought. While not a masterpiece rivaling ‘Citizen Kane’ as the review had claimed, it is certainly a classic of Chinese cinema and in my opinion, one of the best fantasy films ever made.

An evil cult has been terrorizing the land and a famed warrior falls in love with the cult’s chief enforcer. This is a dark fantasy ‘Romeo & Juliet’ story. Brigitte Lin and Leslie Cheung are perfectly cast and their chemistry is uncanny. They hold the tragedy of their characters’ destinies in the palms of their hands with the weight it deserves. This is forbidden love at its most fierce.

Director Ronny Yu has razor sharp instincts. He knows you can’t confuse action with soul when it comes to these types of films. The action sequences can only be as good as their emotional content. The way he blends the two here is nothing short of remarkable. Many of the images her are iconic as well. No way around it. You won’t be able to shake some of these shots. Peter Pau sealed his reputation as a cinematographer with this one. The work of a master.

This film is mounted on an epic scale though it is only 92 minutes long. Not many films that go for that scope with such a short running time can pull it off. Usually, something feels missing or seems off. But not here. It all feels deserved and earned. Though the same can’t be said for the cheesy song that plays over the end credits sequence. Woof! No offense to all you early 90s Asian synth pop fans out there but…

Ronny Yu would later have to flee China for political reasons and washed up on Hollywood’s gold encrusted shores to make movies like ‘Bride Of Chucky’ and ‘Freddy Vs. Jason’. He would not come close to making another film of this caliber until ‘Fearless’ starring Jet Li in 2006.

A Monster Calls is easily one of the more upsetting films I’ve seen in a long while. I knew what the narrative entailed before viewing it, but I wasn’t prepared for how much this movie would explore death and its consequences and how children cope with staggering loss. I’m typically wary of CGI-dominated storytelling, but here, the absolutely striking visual effects were in COMPLETE service to the emotionally harrowing material; the sound and fury on display means something, and therefore, as a viewer, my eyes didn’t gloss over when the aesthetic got rambunctious. Director J.A. Bayona, who previously helmed the immensely underrated tsunami drama The Impossible, has crafted a thrillingly artistic film that is both dark in theme and in palette; this is a nearly unrelentingly grim and sad piece of work that never softens any of its rough edges, with dark hued, edgy handheld cinematography employed by ace shooter Oscar Faura that feeds into Fernando Velázquez’s robust musical score.

Set in the U.K. and based on the novel by Patrick Ness and Siobhan Dowd, A Monster Calls revolves around 12 year old Conor O’Malley, brilliantly portrayed by the young actor Lewis MacDougall, whose mother (Felicity Jones) is losing her battle with terminal cancer. Conor isn’t interested in living with his grandmother (Sigourney Weaver) and he’s got a father (Toby Kebbell) living in America who has various reasons for not stepping up. And he also must contend with some rather cruel school yard bullying; this film really hits some mature notes that will need to be smartly processed by younger viewers. Conor then starts to imagine a humongous tree monster (wonderfully voiced by Liam Neeson) living outside of his house who aims to tell him three stories, and demands one final story in return. The baroque visual design of the tree and his surroundings is startling and unique, with the surreal images meshing beautifully with Eugenio Caballero’s vivid production design.

I’m not exactly sure who this film was geared towards, as it’s a piece designed way more for adults, and yet is told through the POV of a child, and the material is way too intense and layered for tykes to find involving (if they’re not scared shitless by the tree monster). It’s got a Joe Dante/Amblin feel at times, but it’s never playful or ironic or wink-wink. But in today’s Pixar-happy marketplace, a film like this seemed destined to get lost, which is exactly what happened. Produced for a reported $50 million, this film grossed less than $5 million in America, with international ticket sales preforming only modestly despite very favorable critical notices. Films like this are too smart for the room, and too challenging for mass audience attachment. A Monster Calls is definitely one of the more distinctive “family” offerings in quite some time, and a film I’m not likely to forget anytime soon for a variety of reasons.

The horror genre is my least traveled and I’m certainly no big fan of zombie narratives (my favorite is easily Zack Snyder’s Dawn of the Dead) but WOW and WOW, the South Korean film Train to Busan is completely insane and amazing and unrelenting in its awesomeness. What’s also excellent about the film is that I cared about the characters and became immediately invested in them, so by the time the harrowing finale was taking center stage, I had a lump in my throat and sweaty palms of nervous excitement. Certainly inspired by Marc Forster’s visually stunning but super silly World War Z, director Yeon Sang-ho most notably borrowed the zombie-topple visual motif from the Brad Pitt blockbuster, but because this film cost roughly what the craft services bill was on WWZ, the filmmakers were able to go all out with the gore (something WWZ painfully lacked) and as a result fashioned a far more effective piece of nightmarish horror. Part of my enthusiasm for Train to Busan stems from not knowing much about it, never seeing a trailer beforehand, and having a generally low opinion and set of expectations for these sorts of items. This was a fabulous surprise. After premiering in the Midnight Screenings section of the 2016 Cannes Film Festival, Train to Busan became one of the biggest films in the history of the South Korean box office. It’s now available to stream on Netflix and well worth your time if you’re looking for a riveting and bloody piece of cinema that goes for the jugular while still respecting your brain and playing with your emotions.