[  Mood: Happy ]
I decided that tonight I would watch a movie that I did not have to review… something for my very own enjoyment. I rarely have time to read a book or watch a DVD that I’m not planning on reviewing.

Having not seen this film in probably 20 some odd years, I checked out the Criterion version of Akira Kurosawa’s legendary The Hidden Fortress from my neighborhood library. I settled in on the couch, hoping it was as good as I remembered.

It was even better. The interplay between the gold-seeking peasants Tahei and Matashichi left me in stitches, often laughing out loud. Misa Uehara sparkled as the proud Princess Yuki. Do they get much cooler and more engaging than Toshirô Mifune as the famous General Rokurota Makabe? War.. strife.. honor.. this one has it all.

Kurosawa’s use of imagery tragically related the beauty and savagery of 16th century Japan. His masterful blending of action and comedy created an exciting 139 minutes.

On top of all that, the origins of R2-D2 and C-3PO lay within the relationship of Tahei and Matashichi. There is no doubt that this film profoundly influenced George Lucas.

The method of ranking the movies by using both Rotten Tomatoes and IMDB ratings created an interesting and fairly thorough list. While I have some quibbles with some of the rankings, overall it’s fascinating reading. (Minority Report should NOT be on any best of lists and of course Planet of the Apes should be in the top ten.)

(Thanks to Bill Crider and his amazing Pop Culture Magazine)

Chris Mautner in his Everyone’s A Critic blog issued this challenge:

He goes on to say that he will "link to any and all who decide to rise to the challenge." There are no prizes. Just "the satisfaction that comes with providing the Internet with some intelligent critical discourse." Though Mautner does hint at the possibility of some sort of small prize.

His whole impetus:

What a great idea. So everyone start thinking…

Expect my entry sometime this month.

The Fantastic Fest Award winners were announced. Not surprisingly, Nacho Vigalondo’s Timecrimes (Cronoscrimines) took top honors, winning the “Best Feature” award in the AMD Next Wave Competition. Vigalondo was awarded a $3500 editing system from AMD/Dell and a $1000 cash prize. The best part is that by winning this award, Timecrimes might actually get US distribution and a DVD release, meaning that everyone can see this amazing film.

In other awards, the Chilean martial arts picture Mirageman won the Audience Award. The creepy Offscreen won the Fantastic Film Award. Exte: The Hair Extensions won the Horror Feature Award. Several short film competitions were awarded as well. Go here for full details about all the awards.

Congratulations to all the winners.

Like many Gen X’rs, I watched the new Bionic Woman. Things looked promising for the premiere since the same folk who brought us the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica were the brains behind this incarnation.

In an attempt to remove as much of the nostalgic factor as possible, Jaime Summers (Michelle Ryan) looks nothing like Lindsay Wagner, the original Bionic Woman, and further more works as a bartender in a large ritzy nightspot (in the original Jaime was a tennis player). Her mother dead and her father missing, Jaime takes care of her younger sister Becca (Lucy Kate Hale), who apparently is some kind of computer whiz having been court-ordered to not use a computer.

A truck crashes into Jaime and her boyfriend Will Anthros (Chris Bowers) severely injuring Jaime, destroying both legs, right arm, and right eye. Luckily Will, an expert on nanotechnology, works for a top secret government project. Using cutting technology, Will successfully grows new limbs and eye, though dramatically enhanced.

The popular Katee Sackoff plays the mysterious Sara Corvus with ties to the original Bionic Woman project and Will’s father. Corvus quickly establishes herself as Jaime’s arch-villain and the duo engage in a typical super-hero confrontation on a building roof in the pouring rain.

Ryan lacks the screen presence to compete with Sackoff, who as Battlestar Galactica‘s Starbuck showed she can hold her own with veteran actors the likes of James Edward Olmos and Mary McDonnell. While on screen Sackoff commands all the attention and when off, I kept wondering when we’d see more of her.

Perhaps a little campy in places, The Bionic Woman‘s more interesting bits left me curious and for now wanting more. If the camp and stereotypical superhero crap escalates or continues, I’ll find something else to fill my Wednesday nights.

[  Mood: Very Sad ]
Sadly due to health issues, this will be my last report from Fantastic Fest 3. I’ve throughly enjoyed the Festival, and am saddened by my inability to attend the remainder.

On to my Day 6 thoughts.

Any similarities between Larry Fessenden’s The Last Winter and John Carpenter’s The Thing ends with the Arctic setting. No monster. Little action. The Last Winter at its heart is a taut, well scripted, superiorly directed eco-thriller, perhaps the best of the recent spate of global warming frightfests.

The North Oil Company sends an advance team of technicians doing prep work for the first oil drilling within the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. As the permafrost melts and temperatures rise due to the environmental changes brought on by global warming, eerie and unexplainable events happen at the encampment: mechanical malfunctions, crew disappearances and reappearances, unusual weather phenomena, and odd smelling vapors emerging from the melting ice.

Stocked with workmanlike actors including Ron Perlman, James LeGros and Connie Britton, The Last Winter entertains and thrills. Larry Fessenden proves once again that he is among some of the finest and most exciting low budget horror artists working today.

Moebius Redux: A Life in Pictures, my second documentary of the Festival, beautifully recounts the career of the legendary Jean Giraud. Director Hasko Baumann, who was in attendance, introduced the film, but only after an Alamo Draft House employee informed the audience that Baumann sang the best karaoke version ever of "Werewolves of London" at a party the previous night.

The soaring Karl Bartos (of the famed Kraftwerk) soundtrack and the gratuitous use of Moebius images help Baumann establish from the start the proper tone and tenor to this excellent film. Through the extensive use of interviews with Moebius, H. R. Giger, Mike Mignola, Jim Lee, Philippe Druillet, Enki Bilal, Stan Lee, Dan O’Bannon, and especially Alejandro Jodorowsky, the film recounts the career of Jean Giraud from his Blueberry to Metal Hurlant to Incal and his film work from the failed Dune experience to Alien to Tron. The movie successfully touches on most aspects of his long career. Perhaps the most startling piece is the lengthy admittance by Moebius of his not widely known time with the Jean-Paul Appel-Guery cultists in Tahiti.

Upon the movie conclusion, Baumann answered questions.

When asked what inspired the project, Baumann said a German-French company commissioned the piece. "I’ve always been a big American comic fan and I didn’t know anything about [Moebius] when the project began."

Baumann encountered problems with interviewing the moody Moebius who would often change his stories. Also, as it is with most artists, Moebius’ wife was very protective and they often had to work out the interviews around her.

Keep an eye on this space because starting on Friday, this blog metamorphoses into my home for general observations from around the geek world. While waiting, be sure to check out my Dark Forces Book Group blog for other interesting oddities.

A surprisingly tense psychological game of cat-and-mouse, Death Note, a huge hit in Japan, centers around a powerful notebook that grants the ability to kill with the stroke of pen. Any person written within the Death note will die soon. Ryuk. a god of death, grants the notebook to Light, who uses the strange powers as a vigilante executioner. A fascinating confrontation develops between Light and the mysterious "L", a cybernetic Sherlock Holmes.

Beautifully shot, the representation of Ryuk, especially his non-stop conversation with Light (no one beyond those that have touched the Death Note can see the god) and the god’s love of apples, is particularly well handled. Based on the popular manga, Death Note successfully explored several moral and sociological issues while remaining entertaining and accessible.

I was so taken with the first Death Note that I opted for the continuation and skipped the second Ain’t It Cool News secret screening.

Death Note: The Last Name starts immediately at the ending of the previous film with the introduction of a new Death Note and Rem, another god of death. While not quite as good as its predecessor, the second film continues the exploration of morality while introducing new characters and background to the books. Similar to The Mask (both in film and comics) storyline, anyone who acquires the Death Note may use the powers over death in any matter they choose. And like the Mask, the consequences are not always immediate and obvious.

The Death Note duology is part of an entire cottage industry in Japan with an anime show, a line of toys, manga, and a forthcoming "L" movie. Be sure to check these films out out before it’s destroyed by Hollywood.

Documentaries of not well known but influential individuals fascinate me. Blood, Boobs and Beast, the story of cult exploitation filmmaker Don Doehler, explores the history and world of this little known filmmaker. Best remembered as the director, writer, and/or producer of eleven films including underground hits The Alien Factor, Fiend, Night Beast, and Vampire Sisters, the mild-mannered Doehler founded the influential magazine Cinemagic and the pioneering underground comix Wild which featured the early works of Jay Lynch, Skip Williamson, and Art Spiegelman as well as Doehlman’s own legendary creation Pro Junior.

Director John Paul Kinhart skillfully weaves the divergent histories and interests of Doehler’s lengthy creative career throughout the fascinating tapestry of Doehler’s complex and at times tragic family life. Interviews with Doehler protégés (including J.J. Abrahams, whose first professional job was writing the music for Night Beast, and special effects guru Tom Savini), co-workers (There is enough of director and business partner Joe Ripple to almost give him his own documentary), and family (including his second wife, his brother and two children), helped Kinhart create a sympathetic and quite probably realistic view of Doehler. Sadly, Don Doehler died during the film of Blood, Boobs and Beast. Kinhart crafted a fitting tribute and lasting memorial.

Director Kinhart was in attendance and answered questions following the feature. To the obvious question he informed the audience that Doehler did see a cut of the film two weeks before he died and seemed happy with it. The same cannot be said of his partner Ripple who was displeased with the trailer and although he was sent a final copy of the film, Kinhart has no idea if he’s seen it.

Kinart shared that his dream project is an animated version of Pro Junior.

When asked about the super Doehler fans– a pair of obnoxious guys, who insisted on being interviewed together and on wearing different funny hats throughout– and on their hats, the director wrestled with the decision to include them and their goofy hats in the movie. At one point even thinking "Aw shit! This is gonna look stupid." Obviously, the hats stayed. As for if it looks stupid… the jury is still out.

A fairly standard gangster film, the Korean A Dirty Carnival while well made and expertly acted adds nothing to the mob genre. Kim Byung-Doo, a low level mobster, works his way up through the gang rank with intimidation and death. Predictably, his fall occurs in a similar manner. While not a bad film, A Dirty Carnival lacks any real staying power and is ultimately just another gangster film. (Hope I don’t get whacked for writing that.)

Due to some personal matters, I will not be attending Day 5 (Monday) of the Festival. I plan on being there on Day 6.

The line for the first Ain’t It Cool News secret screening extended around the building with some 300 people. So instead, I opted for the Hong Kong crime film, Flash Point. From what I heard, this turned out to be the wise move. AICN screened the forthcoming Southland Tales, the latest from Richard Kelly, the director of Donnie Darko. Feedback was decidedly mixed, ranging from horrible to disinterest. Everything pointed toward mediocrity.

I knew I made the right choice when the 1970s public service anti-vandalism short Destruction: Is It Fun or Just Dumb? began. Following that bit of seventies propaganda were trailers for John Milius‘ Dillinger, 1978’s Stunt Rock, the 1955 western Shotgun, Vanishing Point(1971), and the legendary Sonny Chiba’s The Streetfighter’s Last Revenge. Mixed within all this fun was Nick Frost‘s educational and humorous film on how to defend yourself from someone wielding a baseball bat, and a clip from a 70’s crime film with Jack Palance. The perfect preamble to Flash Point concluded with with AC/DC’s "Jailbreak" video.

Starring renowned Hong Kong actor and director Donnie Yen as a no nonsense Dirty Harry-type cop in pre-Chinese takeover Hong Kong, Flash Point offers the perfect combination of cop drama and martial art combat. As the film begins, Inspector Jun Ma (Yen), known for his violent treatment of suspects, is demoted to being charge of the police music division. When Ma’s undercover partner encounters problems with the Viet mob, Ma doesn’t let a little thing like a demotion stand in his way. At a slim 88 minutes, Flash Point thrives on character development and well placed action scenes. The climatic battle between Yen and the collection of bad guys is mind boggling.

Offscreen scrambled my neurons, leaving me stunned as if hit by a blunt object. Some ten hours later and I’m still not sure how to codify this movie.

Highly respected Danish actor Nicolas Bro decided to film his life for one year in hopes of uncovering a feature film. Shortly after beginning the shoot, he decides to make the film about the love between him and his wife Lene. Less than 1/4 of the way into the movie, she leaves him. Bro continues, recording the degeneration of a man who had almost everything but loses everything in his quest for the one thing he cannot have.

Shortly after the film begins, I forget this story was fiction and was lost in the intense reality of the story. Bro films everything using a handheld camera, only enhancing the intensity. The camera becomes an obsession with Bro as he falls deeper into the depths of voyeurism and exhibitionism. By the end of the film, you hate Bro and the man he has become and you pity the man he once was.

One of the more disturbing and excellent films I have ever seen. I was amazed just how far Bro was able to fall into the depths of depravity.

After the two excellent Thursday movies, the Russian action film Sword Bearer disappointed on many levels. Born with a blade that emerges from his right hand, Sasha spends most of the movies as a defective Wolverine, slashing his way through people, guns, and trees. Due to his power and a wicked temper, Sasha spends his life as an outcast until after a chance meeting he falls in love with Katya, portrayed by the beautiful Chulpan Khamatova. Thanks to Sasha’s predilection for getting into fights and slicing people up, both the mob and police are looking for him.

The pacing, plot, and acting (except for the excellent Leonid Gromov, who plays the cop in charge of finding Sasha) are atrocious. Either there is too much exposition and story detail in scenes that are abundantly clear or the inverse in parts that are murky. The ludicrous romance between the leads plays like something out of a softcore Cinemax film. Sasha and Katya meet on the stairwell outside of her apartment where he is hiding. They flirt for a few moments then start kissing. After three different sexual encounters, they finally learn each others name. Overally melodramatic, Sword Bearer even ends with a sunset!

I learned three things about Russia from watching this movie:

1) Russian girls are easy.
2) There are random piles of money everywhere.
3) Gangsters are the same the world over.

Thankfully, my second movie excelled or I might not have come back to the Festival. The Backwoods, a joint Spain, English, and French production, follows two English couples as they vacation in rural Spain. While there, they uncover a young girl locked within a closet in a seemingly abandoned house. Several of the locals come looking for the girl that the couples are hiding. As you might imagine, trouble ensues.

Well paced, plotted, and acted, Koldo Serra directs a top notch thriller, very much in the vein of Straw Dogs. While all the actors were good, as expected Gary Oldman stole the show as the understated Paul, the English leader. The Backwoods, set in 1979, takes advantage of the era to create a true feeling of isolation as the townspeople close in on the tourists.

Serra was in attendance and introduced in broken English the movie.

The director/screenwriter stayed around after the film and answered audience questions.

When asked, "Why 1979?", he replied, "I hate movies with cellphones."

On how he convinced Oldman to star in his film: "[When I first met Gary I told him], Hi Gary. I like Dracula."

Serra revealed that Oldman speaks NO Spanish, yet in the film he sounds fluent. He learned his lines phonetically. (Oldman had both English and Spanish lines)

Also, in regards to Oldman, Serra revealed that the film’s budget was four million dollars with two million of that going to Oldman.

After someone commented that next time he comes to Fantastic Fest, Serra should bring the two sexy, gorgeous leading ladies (Aitana Sánchez-Gijón, Virginie Ledoyen), who both appear nude in the film, the screenwriter admitted that the "first scene I wrote was the naked scene and wrote the rest of the movie around it."

Days before the Festival began, Lions Gate picked up the film for US distribution.

NEXT: Scrambled neurons

Video game slacker Miroku accidentally stumbles upon a strange new game, one with deadly implications. Wicked Flowers, a Lewis Carollian mixture of David Fincher’s The Game and the cult film Cube wrapped within a non-linear video game structure, offers some powerful imagery in a very transparent commentary on contemporary Japanese society. Unlike The Cube, The movie ends far too neatly, feeling the need to offer unnecessary explanations to nearly event. Overall, Wicked Flowers is neat little package with some occasionally interesting puzzles and dazzling set pieces.

Not seeing The Last Winter was a blunder of my own doing since I left my schedule at home, relying on my memory. I knew I wanted to see both Winter and Timecrimes, but got the times wrong. No worry, I can see Winter later in the Festival.

A well-crafted, ingeniously plotted time travel thriller, Timecrimes made its WORLD premiere at the Festival last night. Not only that, director Nacho Vigalondo had literally just finished the final cut one week before. Previously nominated for an Oscar for the 2003 short film "7:35 de la mañana", Vigalondo beautifully shot his first feature on a tiny budget. Like all great time travel stories, Timecrimes lures you with red herrings and misdirection. The film lags a bit in the second act as it falls into stereotypical plotting, but is redeemed with a fantastic third act and superior acting throughout.

The conversation with Vigalondo after the film– he was in attendance- was entertaining. Vigalondo, whose English is self-admittingly not that good, provided several purposefully humorous and insightful moments.

Someone in the audience asked a complex time travel question which Vigalondo could not understand in English. Another patron translated it into Spanish. The director shook his head. "I don’t even understand the question in my native tongue. Next."

When discussing the overall morality theme of the movie: "[When a cheating man is caught with his mistress by his wife], the only way to save the marriage is to kill the girlfriend."

On how he raised the funds for his first feature: "I’m the only one in the world to use an Oscar [nomination] to make a time travel movie."

Due to Yom Kippur, there may not be another entry until Sunday morning, when I should have four films to review.