Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Review: "Oldboy" is an Incredible Movie from South Korea

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 214 (of 2006) by Leroy Douresseaux

Oldboy (2003)
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: South Korea
Running time: 120 minutes (2 hours)
MPAA – R for strong violence including scenes of torture, sexuality, and pervasive language
DIRECTOR: Chan-wook Park
WRITERS: Chan-wook Park, Jo-yun Hwang, Chun-hyeong Lim, and Joon-hyung Lim; from a story by Garon Tsuchiya (based upon the comic book by Nobuaki Minegishi)
PRODUCER: Seung-yong Lim
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Jeong-hun Jeong
EDITOR: Sang-Beom Kim

MYSTERY/DRAMA/THRILLER with elements of action

Starring: Min-sik Choi, Ji-tae Yu, Hye-jeong Kang, Dae-han Ji, Dal-su Oh, Byeong-ok Kim, Seung-Shin Lee, and Jin-seo Yun

Oh Dae-su (Min-sik Choi) was imprisoned, drugged, and tortured for 15 years, before his captor(s) mysteriously released him. Dae-su has no idea how or why it happened, and he doesn’t know whom he should hold accountable for his suffering. Seeking revenge on his captor(s), Dae-su gets help from a kindly waitress, Mi-do (Hye-jeong Kang), and an old friend, No Joo-hwan (Dae-han Ji). Dae-su also comes upon a valuable clue when a suave young businessman, Lee Woo-jin (Ji-tae Yu), starts butting into Dae-su’s life. Who is Woo-jin? Did he play a part in Dae-su’s imprisonment? And how does Dae-su’s past tie into everything? Dae-su only has five days to discover all the answers.

Showing the influence of both Alfred Hitchcock and David Lynch, director Chan-wook Park created in his film, Oldboy, a story of revenge that is Shakespearean in its scope and has the flavor of pure, L.A. hardboiled noir, even though the story takes place in South Korea. Although the performances are excellent, in particularly the trio of Min-ski Choi, Hye-jeong Kang, and Ja-tae Yu who are all superb, Oldboy is an exercise in plot over character. Slick and brutally violent, it recalls Martin Scorcese’s Mean Streets with a splash of the Wachowski’s Brothers and Quentin Tarantino pulp crime work.

Park welcomes the viewer to engage his own mind in untangling this labyrinth of an insane and monumentally petty revenge. In that, Oldboy is the ultimate revenge flick, proving that more often than we’d like to believe, the object of a revenge plot really doesn’t know why his tormentor hates him. The victim may not even remember his alleged offense. Movie lovers with nimble minds and appetites for cinematic brilliance will like this complex and brutal mystery. Once again, a filmmaker from the Far East shows us that eye candy need not be just entertainment filler. It can also be a work of movie art.

9 of 10
A

Tuesday, October 17, 2006

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VIZ Cinema Does War, Peace, and Revenge in August


VIZ CINEMA OFFERS TALES OF VENGENCE, CONFLICT, REDEMPTION AND RECONCILIATION IN NEW AUGUST FILM PRESENTATIONS

The Japanese American Experience In World War II Is Explored In Poignant Documentaries; Action Fans Can Sample Akira Kurosawa Samurai Classics And Gritty Tales Of Betrayal And Vengeance From Korean Director Park Chan-Wook

VIZ Cinema, the nation’s only movie theatre dedicated to Japanese film, opens August with a theme of “The Winding Road to Peace” in a month that marks the 55th Anniversary of both the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the end of World War II.

Throughout August, VIZ Cinema will be a place to ponder humanity’s path from conflict to reconciliation. From films like White Light/Black Rain, which presents a unblinking look at the first time nuclear weapons were used in war from Academy Award-winning filmmaker Steven Okazaki, to 442: Live with Honor, Die with Dignity, a heartfelt new documentary that traces the battle that patriotic Japanese Americans faced both at home and abroad in World War II to become one of the most decorated infantry units of the entire war. The Japanese experience in World War II is also explored in films by Kon Ichikawa and Nagisa Oshima including, The Burmese Harp, Fires on the Plain, and Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence, which stars David Bowie and Ryuichi Sakamoto.

Also not to be missed will be Samurai Saga Vol. 2, a special series presenting some of famed director Akira Kurosawa’s best known samurai films, including Seven Samurai, Rashamon and The Hidden Fortress. August also kicks off with four action packed films from South Korean director Park Chan-Wook, who first gained international attention with his gritty vengeance yarn, Oldboy, which will be among the titles screened at VIZ Cinema this month.

Advance tickets, screening times and more details are available at: www.vizcinema.com.

Park Chan-Wook Special
Witness the unforgettable imagery and kinetic action of the award-winning “Vengeance Trilogy” with truly stunning colors presented in High Definition! One of the most acclaimed and popular filmmakers in his native South Korea, Park Chan-Wook’s films are noted for their immaculate framing and often brutal subject matter. General Admission Tickets: $10:00; No discounts apply.

Thirst, July 30th One Day Only!
(Directed by Park Chan-Wook, 2009, 133 minute, Digital, Korean with English Subtitles)

A beloved and devoted priest from a small town volunteers for a medical experiment which fails and turns him into a vampire. Physical and psychological changes eventually lead to his affair with the wife of his childhood friend who is repressed and tired of her mundane life. As the one-time priest falls deeper into despair and depravity and things turn for the worse, he struggles to maintain what’s left of his humanity. R-rated with Explicit content.

Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance, July 31st – August 2nd and also August 5th
(Directed by Park Chan-Wook, 2002, 129 minute, Digital, Korean with English Subtitles)

The first film of Park’s “Vengeance Trilogy,” unable to afford proper care for his sister dying from kidney failure, Ryu turns to the black market to sell his own organs only to end up cheated of his life savings. His girlfriend urges Ryu to kidnap the daughter of wealthy industrialist who recently laid him off. He agrees, but unforeseen tragedies turn an innocent con into a merciless quest for revenge as the men are thrust into a desperate spiral of destruction. R-rated for Explicit content.

Oldboy, July 31st – August 4th
(Directed by Park Chan-Wook, 2003, 120 minute, Digital, Korean with English Subtitles)

Winner of the 2004 Cannes Film Festival Grand Prix, the second of the “Vengeance Trilogy” unfolds the life of Oh Dae-su, an ordinary Seoul businessman with a wife and little daughter, who is abducted and locked up in a strange, private prison. No one will tell him why he’s there or who his jailer is and his fury steadily builds to a single-minded focus of revenge. Suddenly, 15 years later, he is unexpectedly freed and given only 5 days to discover the mysterious enemy who had him imprisoned. Oldboy is based on a Japanese manga series by Garon Tsuchiya and illustrated by Nobuaki Minegishi. R-rated for Explicit content.

Lady Vengeance, July 31st – August 5th
(Directed by Park Chan-Wook, 2005, 112 minute, Digital, Korean with English Subtitles)

In the final chapter of the “Vengeance trilogy,” after being blackmailed and wrongly imprisoned for 13 years, a beautiful woman is finally set free. Now her brutally elaborate plan for vengeance against the true criminal can begin to unfold R-rated for Explicit content.

White Light/Black Rain, August 6th – 7th
"Compelling and compassionate… a stirring and heart-wrenching statement of the horrible powers that mankind holds in its fist." - The Hollywood Reporter

Academy Award-winning filmmaker Steven Okazaki presents an unblinking look at the first time nuclear weapons were used in war. After 60 years, the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on August 6th and 9th, 1945, continue to inspire argument, denial and myth. Featuring interviews with fourteen atomic bomb survivors (known as hibakusha), many who have never spoken publicly before, and four Americans intimately involved in the bombings, White Light/Black Rain provides a detailed examination of the bombings and their aftermath.

Part of ticket sales will be directly donated to the Friends of Hibakusha in Japantown.

The U.S. does not currently offer any free medical treatment programs for atomic bomb-affected individuals.

A special S.F. Theatrical Premiere Event with reception and Q&A with the Friends of Hibakusha takes place on August 6th. General admission tickets are $15.00.

Saturday, August 7th General Admission $10:00; No discounts apply.

Winding Road to Peace: Three War Films by Kon Ichikawa & Nagisa Oshima

The Burmese Harp, August 7th – 10th and also August 12th
Directed by Kon Ichikawa, 1956, 116min, Digital, Japanese with English Subtitles)

An Imperial Japanese Army regiment surrenders to British forces in Burma at the close of World War II and finds harmony through song. A private, thought to be dead, disguises himself as a Buddhist monk and stumbles upon spiritual enlightenment. Magnificently shot in hushed black and white, Kon Ichikawa’s The Burmese Harp is an eloquent meditation on beauty coexisting with death and remains one of Japanese cinema’s most overwhelming antiwar statements, both tender and brutal in its grappling with Japan’s wartime legacy.

Fires on the Plain, August 7th – 11th
(Directed by Kon Ichikawa, 1959, 104min, 35mm, Japanese with English Subtitles)

An agonizing portrait of desperate Japanese soldiers stranded in a strange land during World War II, Kon Ichikawa’s Fires on the Plain is a compelling descent into psychological and physical oblivion. Denied hospital treatment for tuberculosis and cast off into the unknown, Private Tamura treks across an unfamiliar Philippine landscape, encountering an increasingly debased cross section of Imperial Army soldiers, who eventually give in to the most terrifying craving of all – cannibalism. Grisly yet poetic, Fires on the Plain is one of the most powerful works from one of Japanese cinema’s most versatile filmmakers.

Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence, August 7th – 8th and also August 11th – 12th
(Directed by Nagisa Oshima, 1983, 123min, 35mm, Japanese with English Subtitles)

In this captivating, exhilaratingly skewed World War II drama from Nagisa Oshima, David Bowie regally embodies a high-ranking British officer interned by the Japanese as a POW. Music star Ryuichi Sakamoto (who also composed this film’s hypnotic score) plays the camp commander, who becomes obsessed with the mysterious blond major, while Tom Conti is British lieutenant colonel Mr. Lawrence, who tries to bridge the emotional and language divides between his captors and fellow prisoners. Also featuring actor-director Takeshi Kitano in his first dramatic role, Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence is a multilayered, brutal, at times erotic tale of culture clash that was one of director Oshima’s greatest successes.

Bay Area Filmmakers Series Vol. 2: Junichi Suzuki War Documentaries
As part of the second installment of VIZ Cinema’s Bay Area Filmmakers Series, the theatre presents director Junichi Suzuki’s documentaries highlighting the Japanese American experience during World War II. Early Bird Ticket Special: Advance Online Tickets $10.00 (Prior to August 13th); After August 13th General Admission will be $13.00; No further discounts apply

442: Live with Honor, Die with Dignity, August 13th – 19th
(Directed by Junichi Suzuki, 2010, 100min, HD, English Language)

The 442nd Regimental Combat Team in World War II was composed of Japanese Americans who initially were looked at as a problem because of their race, but were later admired because of their heroism on the battlefields of Europe. They had to fight for not only enemy abroad but also prejudice at home. This is the story of 442nd and their veterans now and then.

Toyo’s Camera, August 13th – 19th
(Directed by Junichi Suzuki, 2008, 100min, HD, English Language)

Filmmaker Junichi Suzuki directs this documentary portrait of photographer Toyo Miyatake, a Japanese-American who smuggled his camera into an internment camp during World War II and captured images that showed the plight of his people.

Kurosawa On Sword Battles - Samurai Saga Volume 2
VIZ Cinema continues a celebration marking the centennial birth of Japan’s most beloved film director – Akira Kurosawa – with SAMURAI SAGA Vol. 2, marking nearly 50 years of big screen samurai action and drama. General Admission Tickets: $10:00; No discounts apply.

Seven Samurai, August 20th – 22nd
(Directed by Akira Kurosawa, 1954, 207min, 35mm, Japanese with English Subtitles)

One of the most beloved films of all time, Akira Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai tells the story of a sixteenth-century village whose desperate inhabitants hire the eponymous warriors to protect them from invading bandits. This three-hour ride, featuring legendary actors Toshiro Mifune and Takashi Shimura, seamlessly weaves philosophy, entertainment, delicate human emotions and relentless action into a rich, evocative, and unforgettable tale of courage and hope.

Rashamon, August 21st – 25th
(Directed by Akira Kurosawa, 1950, 88min, 35mm, Japanese with English Subtitles)

Brimming with action while incisively examining the nature of truth, Rashomon is perhaps the finest film ever to investigate the philosophy of justice. Through an ingenious use of camera and flashbacks, Kurosawa reveals the complexities of human nature as four people recount different versions of the story of a man’s murder and the rape of his wife. Toshiro Mifune gives another commanding performance in the eloquent masterwork that revolutionized film language and introduced Japanese cinema to the world.

Yojimbo, August 23rd – August 28th and also August 31st
(Directed by Akira Kurosawa, 1961, 110min, 35mm, Japanese with English Subtitles)

The incomparable Toshiro Mifune stars in Akira Kurosawa’s visually stunning and darkly comic Yojimbo. To rid a terror-stricken village of corruption, wily masterless samurai Sanjuro turns a range war between two evil clans to his own advantage. Remade twice, by Sergio Leone and Walter Hill, this exhilarating genre-twister remains one of the most influential and entertaining films of all time.

Sanjuro, August 25th – August 30th
(Directed by Akira Kurosawa, 1962, 96min, 35mm, Japanese with English Subtitles)

Toshiro Mifune swaggers and snarls to brilliant comic effect in Akira Kurosawa’s tightly paced, beautifully composed drama. In this companion piece to Yojimbo, jaded samurai Sanjuro helps an idealistic group of young warriors weed out their clan’s betrayer, and in the process turns their image of a “proper” samurai on its ear. Less brazen in tone than its predecessor but equally entertaining, this classic character’s return is a masterpiece in its own right.

Throne of Blood, August 28h – September 2nd
(Directed by Akira Kurosawa, 1957, 109min, 35mm, Japanese with English Subtitles)

One of the most celebrated screen adaptations of Shakespeare into film, Akira Kurosawa’s Throne of Blood reimagines Macbeth in feudal Japan. Starring Kurosawa’s longtime collaborator Toshiro Mifune and the legendary Isuzu Yamada as his ruthless wife, the film tells of a valiant warrior’s savage rise to power and his ignominious fall. With Throne of Blood, Kurosawa fused one of Shakespeare’s greatest tragedies with the formal elements of Japanese Noh theater to make a Macbeth that is all his own – a classic tale of ambition and duplicity set against a ghostly landscape of fog and inescapable doom.

The Hidden Fortress, August 28h – September 2nd
(Directed by Akira Kurosawa, 1958, 139min, 35mm, Japanese with English Subtitles)

A general and a princess must dodge enemy clans while smuggling the royal treasure out of hostile territory with two bumbling, conniving peasants at their sides; it’s a spirited adventure that only Akira Kurosawa could create. Acknowledged as a primary influence on George Lucas’sStar Wars, The Hidden Fortress delivers Kurosawa’s inimitably deft blend of wry humor, breathtaking action and humanist compassion on an epic scale. The Criterion Collection is proud to present this landmark motion picture in a stunning, newly restored Tohoscope edition.


VIZ Cinema is the nation’s only movie theatre devoted exclusively to Japanese film and anime. The 143-seat subterranean theatre is located in the basement of the NEW PEOPLE building and features plush seating, digital as well as 35mm projection, and a THX®-certified sound system.

About NEW PEOPLE
NEW PEOPLE offers the latest films, art, fashion and retail brands from Japan and is the creative vision of the J-Pop Center Project and VIZ Pictures, a distributor and producer of Japanese live action film. Located at 1746 Post Street, the 20,000 square foot structure features a striking 3-floor transparent glass façade that frames a fun and exotic new environment to engage the imagination into the 21st Century. A dedicated web site is also now available at: www.NewPeopleWorld.com.

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Not Enough of "the crazies" in "The Crazies"

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 58 (of 2010) by Leroy Douresseaux

The Crazies (2010)
Running time: 101 minutes (1 hour, 41 minutes)
MPAA – R for bloody violence and language
DIRECTOR: Breck Eisner
WRITERS: Scott Kosar and Ray Wright (based upon the 1973 film by George A. Romero)
PRODUCERS: Michael Aguilar, Rob Cowan, and Dean Georgaris
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Maxime Alexandre (director of photography)
EDITOR: Billy Fox
COMPOSER: Mark Isham

ACTION/HORROR/THRILLER

Starring: Timothy Olyphant, Radha Mitchell, Joe Anderson, and Danielle Panabaker

Released this past February, The Crazies is a remake of a 1973 film by famed horror movie director, George A. Romero (Dawn of the Dead). Romero’s film was both a thriller and also a satire of military and governmental bureaucracies. The Crazies 2010 is a standard horror movie thriller with the proper horror movie mood. However, the film doesn’t focus on a single, solid adversary or villain, someone or something that would be a steady menacing presence against the heroes.

The story takes place in fictional Ogden Marsh, a picture-perfect, rural American, small town of happy, law-abiding citizens who are farmers and small business owners. Late one afternoon, Pierce County Sheriff David Dutten (Timothy Olyphant) and his deputy, Russell Clank (Joe Anderson), are enjoying a local high school baseball game when one of those happy citizens shows up on the baseball field with a loaded shotgun. David is forced to kill him. Not long afterwards, another man sets his house on fire, burning to death his wife and young son in the process.

David suspects that something is turning the citizens of Ogden Marsh into depraved, blood-thirsty killers who can and will use any instrument to brutally murder their neighbors. The nonsensical violence is escalating and Ogden Marsh is falling apart when a mysterious military force storms into town. As heavily armed soldiers wearing gas masks round up the people of Ogden Marsh, David and Russell gather David’s wife, Judy Dutten (Radha Mitchell), and a young woman named Becca Darling (Danielle Panabaker). The quartet is trying to escape certain death, either caused by the military or at the hands of “the crazies,” the people infected by the mysterious virus, “Trixie.”

The Crazies is a perfectly competent film, but it wants to be two films – a horror movie and an action thriller. The original movie was also like two films – a military drama and an escape movie. The Crazies 2010 is an escape movie focusing on Sheriff Dutton and his three companions as they try to avoid the military (primarily). It is also a kind of zombie movie (secondary) with the crazies as the zombie-like killers. The problem is that the film never gives us enough of either the military or the crazies, with the crazies being the better of the two.

There are some chilling moments involving the military (which is largely faceless), especially early on when the soldiers roundup the citizens. The truly frightening moments, however, are with the crazies, who are like the infected in 28 Days Later, except the crazies aren’t mindless. They’re homicidal and so damn scary, and when they show up, the film delivers some brilliant moments of screen horror. It is fine that this new film is faithful to the 1973 one, but this film does not do what the advertisements for it promised – give us a movie about a small band of survivors fighting to escape the crazies.

And the characters aren’t that interesting. They’re largely stock characters, and the script really doesn’t give any depth even to the ones with potential – David, Judy, Russell, and Becca. The Crazies has the right mood and scary sequences, but as a horror movie, it largely misses the potential of its best assets – the crazies.

5 of 10
C+

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

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Monday, July 26, 2010

Family Guy "Return of the Jedi" Parody Due for Christmas

Feel the Farce as “Family Guy” Skewers Star Wars™ with Its Third Uncensored Satire on Blu-ray and DVD December 21

SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Return to the Grffins’ version of that galaxy far, far away as their freakin’ sweet saga continues with “Family Guy: It’s A Trap!” - arriving exclusively on Blu-ray and DVD December 21 from Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment. In the third installment of the hilarious Star Wars satire - following 2005’s Family Guy: Blue Harvest and last year’s Family Guy: Something, Something, Something Dark Side - the Griffins reprise their intergalactic roles in an outrageous retelling of Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi.

Fans received an early peak of the epic farce at San Diego Comic-Con as Seth MacFarlane previewed 10 minutes of “Family Guy: It’s A Trap!” during the “Family Guy” panel Saturday at 11:00 AM in Ballroom 20. Additionally, San Diego Comic-Con attendees were able to pre-order the Blu-ray and DVD at Fox booth #4313, and pick up past titles in the “Family Guy” Star Wars Saga.

In this spectacular and offensively uproarious final chapter, Luke Skywalker (Chris) and Princess Leia (Lois) must travel to Tatooine to free Han Solo (Peter) by infiltrating the wretched stronghold of Jabba the Hutt (Joe), the galaxy’s most loathsome and dreadful gangster. Once reunited, the Rebels team up with a tribe of Ewoks to combat the Imperial forces on the forest moon of Endor. Meanwhile the Emperor (Carter Pewterschmidt) and Darth Vader (Stewie) conspire to turn Luke to the dark side, and young Skywalker is determined to rekindle the spirit of the Jedi within his father. The Galactic Civil War has never been more outrageous, as the Rebel forces gather to attack the seemingly defenseless and incomplete second Death Star in the battle that will determine the fate of the galaxy. Adding to the fun, “Family Guy: It’s A Trap!” is loaded with hysterical cameo voice spots - including Patrick Stewart and Michael Dorn reprising their roles from “Star Trek: The Next Generation,” Adam West (“Batman”), Carrie Fisher (Star Wars Trilogy) and conservative talk radio juggernaut Rush Limbaugh as the voice of the large carnivorous reptomammal, the Rancor.

“The fan base for “Family Guy” and Star Wars, both enthusiastic, have embraced the first two hilarious spoofs,” said Mike Dunn, President, Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment. “Bringing the distinctive storylines together for the trilogy of parodies has been enormously successful and lends itself to create unique home entertainment releases.”

As an added bonus, “Family Guy: It’s A Trap!” will also be available in Blu-ray and DVD triple-packs featuring all the “Family Guy” Star Wars spoofs…the perfect gift for the holiday season.


About TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX HOME ENTERTAINMENT
Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment, LLC (TCFHE) is a recognized global industry leader and a subsidiary of Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation, a News Corporation company. Representing 75 years of innovative and award-winning filmmaking from Twentieth Century Fox, TCFHE is the worldwide marketing, sales and distribution company for all Fox film and television programming, acquisitions and original productions on DVD, Blu-ray Disc Digital Copy, Video On Demand and Digital Download. The company also releases all products globally for MGM Home Entertainment. Each year TCFHE introduces hundreds of new and newly enhanced products, which it services to retail outlets from mass merchants and warehouse clubs to specialty stores and e-commerce throughout the world.

STAR WARS™ and related properties are trademarks and/or copyrights, in the United States and other countries, of Lucasfilm Ltd. and/or its affiliates. TM & © Lucasfilm Ltd. All rights reserved. All other trademarks and trade names are properties of their respective owners.


Review: George Romero's "The Crazies" Mocks Bureaucracy

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 57 (of 2010) by Leroy Douresseaux

The Crazies (1973)
Running time: 103 minutes (1 hour, 43 minutes)
DIRECTOR/EDITOR: George A. Romero
WRITERS: Paul McCollough and George A. Romero
PRODUCER: A.C. Croft
CINEMATOGRAPHER: S. William Hinzman (director of photography)

ACTION/MILITARY/THRILLER

Starring: Lane Carroll, W.G. McMillan, Harold Wayne Jones, Lloyd Hollar, Lynn Lowry, Richard Liberty, Richard France, Harry Spillman, and Will Disney

The Crazies is a 1973 satirical drama and military thriller from director George A. Romero (Night of the Living Dead). The film, which has some elements from the horror genre, takes place in a small Pennsylvania town. There, the military is trying to contain an outbreak of a manmade virus that causes death or permanent insanity in those it infects.

The Crazies has two major storylines. One focuses on how politicians and the military try to contain the outbreak, and the other focuses on the civilians who try to stay alive during the chaos, in particular a quartet led by two former serviceman. The action takes place in and around the small town of Evans City, Pennsylvania. Apparently, a few weeks before the story begins, an army plane crash-landed in the hills near the town. The plane was carrying a biological weapon – a top-secret virus codenamed Trixie.

Heavily-armed U.S. troops (clad in white NBC suits) arrive in Evans City and declare martial law. In an attempt to contain Trixie and see which citizens are infected, the military begins to gather the citizens in a central location, but as the military sets up a quarantine perimeter outside of town to stop the virus from spreading, chaos ensues. Two Vietnam veterans who are now firemen, former Green Beret, David (W.G. McMillan), and infantryman, Clank (Harold Wayne Jones), hatch a plan to leave town. With them are David’s pregnant girlfriend, a nurse named Judy (Lane Carroll); Kathie Fulton (Lynn Lowry), a teenager; and her father, Artie (Richard Liberty). Their escape attempt may be too late for some, as the madness caused by Trixie begins to set in.

Many viewers probably consider The Crazies to be a horror movie, especially because it is directed by George Romero. Much of the film, however, is a pointed satire of military and political bureaucracies, focusing on the intractability of the decision and policy makers and also the general disorganization of institutions that are supposed to be quite organized. This satire is certainly interesting, but it slows the narrative, sometimes to a crawl. Still, Romero’s sly wit and blunt commentary occasionally give birth to some good scenes (like the standoff between the military and the local law).

The best parts of the film involve the quintet trying to escape the madness. These five people exemplify the character traits, personalities, and actions that are typical of characters in Romero films that are trapped in some kind of doomsday scenario. The actors’ good performances bring freshness to these familiar Romero types. W.G. McMillan as David and Lane Carroll as Judy have excellent screen chemistry and seem like a real couple. The Crazies reflected the chaotic times in which it first appeared, but McMillan and Carroll are still the heart of this film. Their characters’ trials and tribulations add drama to this film and make it seem like more than just pointed satire.

6 of 10
B

Monday, July 26, 2010

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Sunday, July 25, 2010

Detroit Metal City Live Action Movie Coming to America



VIZ PICTURES LICENSES DETROIT METAL CITY - THE WILDEST, SHOCKINGLY FUNNY JAPANESE ROCK FILM FOR THE NOT SO FAINT OF HEART

Inventive Comedy Is Based On A Popular Manga Series That Has Taken North America By Storm

VIZ Pictures, an affiliate of VIZ Media, LLC that focuses on Japanese live-action film distribution, has announced that it has licensed from Toho Company, Ltd the North American theatrical and DVD distribution rights to the heavy metal live-action comedy, Detroit Metal City. The DVD is scheduled for release later in the fall of this year.

Detroit Metal City takes the zany rock antics inspired by films like Spinal Tap to hilarious new extremes in this film directed by Toshio Lee and based on the popular manga comic created by Kiminori Wakasugi. It features notable appearances by Gene Simmons from the legendary band, KISS, and Marty Friedman of Megadeth, and stars Kenichi Matsuyama, one of the most adored actors in Japan today and known widely for his role as 'L' in the Death Note films (also available from VIZ Pictures).

“We’re extremely excited to announce the license for Detroit Metal City and know it will strike a chord with rock and metal fans as well as followers of the acclaimed manga series,” says Seiji Horibuchi, President and CEO of VIZ Pictures. “Prepare to have your mortal soul devoured by the demonic Johannes Krauser II, front man for Detroit Metal City, the most outrageous death metal band on the Japanese indie rock scene!”

In the film, Soichi Negishi (played by Kenichi Matsuyama) is a sweet and shy young man who dreams of becoming a trendy singer songwriter. But for some reason, he is forced into joining the devil worshiping death metal band “Detroit Metal City” (DMC). In full stage make-up and costume, he transforms into Johannes Krauser II the vulgar-mouthed lead vocalist of the band. But he must keep this a secret from his crush, Yuri Aikawa, who despises death metal. What would she think if she found out? But against Negishi’s will, DMC rises to stardom. Things get even more complicated when the legendary king of death metal, Jack ill Dark (played by Gene Simmons), challenges DMC to a duel in the film’s climatic finale. What will be the fate of innocent Negishi as he climbs to the top of the death metal world?

First appearing in the pages of Japan’s Young Animal manga magazine, Detroit Metal City quickly became a national sensation. The series has sold more than 4.5 million copies in Japan and is also published in North America by VIZ Media (rated ‘M’ for Mature Audiences).

For more information on Detroit Metal City or other VIZ Pictures titles, please visit www.viz-pictures.com.


About VIZ Pictures, Inc.:
Based in San Francisco, California, VIZ Pictures, Inc. licenses and distributes selective Japanese live-action films and DVDs, with focus on Japanese "kawaii (cute) and cool" pop culture. VIZ Pictures strives to offer the most entertaining motion pictures straight from the "Kingdom of Pop" for audiences of all ages, especially the manga and anime generation, in North America. Some titles include DEATH NOTE, 20TH CENTURY BOYS, and TRAIN MAN: DENSHA OTOKO. VIZ Pictures is also the producer of NEW PEOPLE, a part of the J-Pop Center Project, a unique entertainment destination bringing Japanese pop culture through film, art, fashion, and retail products. For more information please visit www.viz-pictures.com or www.newpeopleworld.com. © 2009 VIZ Pictures, Inc.


Green Zone Juggles Politics and Action

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 56 (of 2010) by Leroy Douresseaux

Green Zone (2010)
Running time: 115 minutes (1 hour, 55 minutes)
MPAA – R for violence and language
DIRECTOR: Paul Greengrass
WRITER: Brian Helgeland (based on the book Imperial Life in the Emerald City: Inside Iraq's Green Zone by Rajiv Chandrasekaran)
PRODUCERS: Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Paul Greengrass, and Lloyd Levin
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Barry Ackroyd
EDITOR: Christopher Rouse

WAR/ACTION/THRILLER

Starring: Matt Damon, Greg Kinnear, Brendan Gleeson, Amy Ryan, Khalid Abdalla, Jason Isaacs, and Yigal Naor

Director Paul Greengrass and actor/movie star Matt Damon came together to produce two of the three Jason Bourne movies (The Bourne Supremacy and The Bourne Ultimatum). They reunited for the film Green Zone, which is not a Jason Bourne movie or anything like that. Green Zone is a movie set at the beginning of the Iraq War. Green Zone is part military action movie, but it also has something to say about the reasons for the Iraq War.

The story focuses on Chief Warrant Officer Roy Miller (Matt Damon) and begins early in the U.S.-led occupation of Baghdad in the spring of 2003. Miller leads a team of U.S. Army inspectors searching for weapons of mass destruction (WMDs) believed to be stockpiled in and around Baghdad. After investigating a series of sites and finding nothing, Miller begins to suspect that the intelligence about Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction is faulty, at best.

Miller’s military superiors and other high-ranking officials dismiss his theories about flawed intelligence, and he comes into conflict with U.S. Defense Intelligence Agent Clark Poundstone (Greg Kinnear) who seems to be guiding much of the American occupation of Iraq. After meeting, Martin Brown (Brendan Gleeson), a Middle East-based CIA officer, Miller stumbles upon an elaborate cover-up of the reasons behind the Iraq War. Now, Miller must navigate the intersecting agendas spun by competing operatives, as he hunts for answers that may clear Iraq’s fallen regime of war crimes or even stop an insurgency from being born.

Green Zone is a politically engaged film. Using Matt Damon’s Roy Miller as a vehicle, Paul Greengrass and screen writer Brian Helgeland addresses Greengrass’ contentions about the decision to invade Iraq (the country’s alleged possession of WMDs) and subsequent decisions made during the U.S.-led Coalition occupation (in particularly the decision to disband the Iraqi army).

Greengrass’ problems with the Iraq War have also been the subject of many television and theatrical films (both fiction and non-fiction). Making these arguments about Iraq within the framework of a military action thriller actually can result in a movie with an identity crisis, which is the case with Green Zone. Greengrass attempts to make his points about the war, unveiling them during the course of Roy Miller’s investigation, which involves talking to and shooting at people.

The first 55 minutes of the movie mostly sets up the story, and it follows Miller as he gradually makes a series of startling discoveries about the run-up to the Iraq War. This is more dry and dull than interesting. The first half of the film is so slow and awkward that it is almost a disaster. Honestly, Greengrass’ contentions about the Iraq War are only interesting in the context of the movie’s second half. That’s the action/thriller half which has Roy Miller trying to find Iraqi General Mohammed Al-Rawi (Yigal Naor) before a Special Forces unit does. This second half will remind audiences of those breathless action scenes Greengrass and Damon pulled off in their two Jason Bourne movies.

It is cool that a Hollywood movie would confront the controversies of the Iraq War, but the best thing about Green Zone is the tense pacing and smartly constructed action sequences. Unfortunately, the politics are, at best, distracting and, at worst, debilitating to the movie.

5 of 10
B-

Sunday, July 25, 2010

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