Review: "Guess Who" Laughs to Get Along (Missing Bernie Mac)

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 147 (of 2005) by Leroy Douresseaux

Guess Who (2005)
Running time: 106 minutes (1 hour, 46 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for sex-related humor
DIRECTOR: Kevin Rodney Sullivan
WRITERS: David Ronn and Jay Scherick and Peter Tolan, from a story by David Ronn and Jay Scherick (based loosely on the screenplay, Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner by William Rose)
PRODUCERS: Jason Goldberg, Erwin Stoff, and Jenno Topping
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Karl Walter Lindenlaub
EDITOR: Paul Seydor

COMEDY with elements of drama and romance

Starring: Bernie Mac, Ashton Kutcher, Zoë Saldaña, Judith Scott, Hal Williams, Kellee Stewart, Robert Curtis-Brown, RonReaco Lee, Niecy Nash, Kimberly Scott, Denise Dowse, and Mike Epps

In the famous 1967 film, Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner, a young white woman (played by Katharine Houghton) brings her black fiancé (famously played by Sidney Poitier) home to meet her parents, the mother played by Katherine Hepburn and the disapproving father played by Spencer Tracy.

Director Kevin Rodney Sullivan (Barbershop 2: Back in Business) updates this classic of interracial (a tired, archaic term) dating in Guess Who. This time, Theresa Jones (Zoë Saldaña), a young black woman, brings her fiancé, Simon Green (Ashton Kutcher), a young white man, home to meet her parents, Percy (Bernie Mac) and Marilyn Jones (Judith Scott). Percy has already had a credit check done on Simon and knows that he has a high-powered job at an investment firm, but Percy doesn’t know two things about Simon: (1) he quits his job the day he’s supposed to meet Theresa’s parents who may end up being his in-laws and (2) Simon is white. Complicating matters is that Simon and Theresa plan on announcing their engagement on the very weekend that Percy and Marilyn are holding a big and expensive ceremony to renew their vows after 25 years of marriage. Percy is upfront and blunt with his disappoint in Theresa’s choice of Simon, and Simon tries his best to make friends with Percy. Will Percy ever learn to like… or at least tolerate Simon?

Guess Who is more funny than smart, and it’s actually very funny when it deals with tense issues of interracial dating and race relations in an off-handed way. Several times the films seems as if it wants to deal with America’s proverbial elephant in the room (race), but most of the time it has to awkwardly limp away from that after fumbling the ball at the 20-yard line and getting injured. Guess Who is a film about race relations that never uses the word “nigger,” but feels safe using the ineffective racial slur, “honky.” That is the best Guess Who could do as far as walking the tightrope between what is acceptable and offensive. It avoids discussing what people have in common (humanity) and what divides us (skin color, ethnicity, religion, etc.), so it certainly isn’t a daring film. In the end it’s also about as glib as Meet the Parents and, to a lesser extent, its sequel, Meet the Fockers, in terms of dealing with the conflicts that result when an outsider marries into the family and when two really different groups of people come together because of a marriage.

On the other hand, the film is funny, very funny. Mac and Kutcher have excellent screen chemistry; in fact the script gets that right, so much to the point that it could be a text book example of how to make interpersonal dynamics in screen narratives in which a screen duo or couple are of different skin colors work. The drama does seem a little leaden and forced, but if a viewer goes in expecting a typical comedy of errors and misunderstandings, he’ll get one that has a lot of laughs. There is deep fun in watching Mac’s Percy Jones and Kutcher’s Simon Green dance awkwardly around each other for a long time, each graceless meeting helping each to learn about (if not understand) the other.

That makes the inevitable hug of real friendship seem so… well, real, and rewards us with a happy moment to top of a truly funny film. You see, every movie about us (all of us) learning to get along shouldn’t involve cursing, screaming, tears, and finally a tragic incident that brings us together to appreciate life. Sometimes, we can all laugh our way to getting along, or so says Guess Who.

7 of 10
B+

NOTES:
2006 Black Reel: 1 nomination: “Best Actress” (Zoe Saldana)

2006 Image Awards: 1 nomination: “Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture” (Zoe Saldana)

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Review: "Mr. 3000" Gets Save from Mac and Bassett (Happy B'day, Bernie!)

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 192 (of 2004) by Leroy Douresseaux

Mr. 3000 (2004)
Running time: 104 minutes (1 hour, 44 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for sexual content and language
DIRECTOR: Charles Stone III
WRITERS: Eric Champnella and Keith Mitchell and Howard Michael Gould; from a story by Eric Champnella and Keith Mitchell
PRODUCERS: Gary Barber, Roger Birnbaum, and Maggie Wilde
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Shane Hurlbut
EDITOR: Bill Pankow

COMEDY/DRAMA/ROMANCE/SPORTS

Starring: Bernie Mac, Angela Bassett, Michael Rispoli, Brian J. White, Ian Anthony Dale, Evan Jones, Amaury Nolasco, Dondre Whitfield, Paul Sorvino, Earl Billings, Chris Noth, and John McConnell

In 1995, Stan Woods (Bernie Mac) got his 3000th hit as a Major League baseball player, thereby (according to him) assuring him of his place among the immortals of baseball and guaranteeing him a spot in the Baseball Hall of Fame. Vain and jaded, Stan, however, retired in the middle of the same season and on the same day he got his 3000th hit. Nine years later, his reputation as selfish has kept him out of the Hall because the baseball writers (who vote on admission into the Hall) still don’t like him. If that weren’t enough, baseball officials suddenly disqualify three of the hits, for which he was apparently credited due to a clerical error. Woods now officially has 2997 hits, but he has been living it up as his business alter ego, Mr. 3000, merchandising himself and using the moniker for his business ventures.

Now, Stan wants back into the Major Leagues, and because his old team, the Milwaukee Brewers, is losing, Brewer ownership is glad to have him back. Mr. 3000 was and still is a fan favorite, but he’s returning as a 47-year old man who is way out of shape. His old manager, Gus Panas (Paul Sorvino), isn’t welcoming him back with open arms, because he and Woods didn’t get along back in the day. The current Brewers roster is filled with young players who don’t fully focus their attentions on the game. Also, an old flame, Mo (Angela Bassett), is now a reporter with ESPN, and she is very skeptical of Woods’ motives for returning, as is the rest of the press. Can Mr. 3000 get back in shape, earn Mo’s trust, relearn his childhood love of the game, and pass it on to a new generation of teammates?

Mr. 3000 is very similar to the baseball romantic comedy Bull Durham, except that the romance between Bernie Mac and Angela Bassett’s characters has more edge to it than the Kevin Costner-Susan Sarandon love fest of Bull Durham. Durham also had a great script; Mr. 3000 doesn’t. This film’s screenplay has all the markings of being something special, but it ultimately falls apart; I don’t know if this is because of studio interference or because the film was ultimately edited for time, but the writing fumbles at the one-foot line.

Good characters are introduced and dropped. Other characters hang around and aren’t properly utilized. However, the film’s most egregious error is trying to fit an adult comedy/drama/romance into the mold of being a light-hearted family baseball film. Mac’s character is a hardass, even more so than many people believe baseball superstar Barry Bonds to be. Mac, for that matter, is an R-rated personality who seems out of place in PG or PG-13 rated productions. Trying to make Mr. 3000 a family film is like trying to put Richard Pryor’s edgy act into a kids’ animated feature.

As badly as the romantic angle of this film is handled, the baseball part of this film is also betrayed. The filmmakers get the technical aspects of filming a baseball movie correct, but the spirit, flavor, and atmosphere of the game doesn’t come through as well as it should. And the story choice of having the team fighting to move from fifth place to third just doesn’t have the heat that having the Brewers chase a title would.

Mac and Ms. Bassett are great together and have excellent screen chemistry. They ably sell their screen couple’s troubled relationship – that the duo can love each other a lot but so irritate each other. To see a black actor and actress together in such a unique romantic entanglement is a treat. We already know that Ms. Bassett is a fine actress, but Bernie Mac also shows his acting chops. Hopefully, both will get better material in the future, but Mr. 3000, warts and all, is still worth seeing.

6 of 10
B

NOTES:
2005 Black Reel Awards: 1 win: “Best Actor, Musical or Comedy” (Bernie Mac); 2 nominations: “Best Actress, Musical or Comedy” (Angela Bassett) and “Best Director” (Charles Stone III)

2005 Image Awards: 1 nomination: “Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture” (Angela Bassett)

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Web Series "The Resistance" Now Available

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Starz Digital Media revolutionary new project, “The Resistance” came to life on Monday, October 4.

 

“The Resistance,” a science fiction action thriller, premieres on the SyFy October 4th 11:00pm ET/PT. In partnership with Starz Digital Media, series creator Adrian Picardi was able to take what was originally envisioned as a web-series and transformed it into a multi-platform launch. The Resistance was discovered by Aaron Lam of Sam Raimi’s Ghost House Pictures in 2008 when he found trailers of the then unproduced show on YouTube. Starz Media saw potential in the series and cleared the funding for the then 21-year-old Picardi to make 35 minutes, or the first installment.

Along with an hour-long premiere on the SyFy channel, “The Resistance” will be released on October 5th as a multi-episode web series for EST purchase on iTunes, XBOX Live, Amazon Video and The PlayStation Network.

The unique series is based in the fantastical world of Aurordeca. Syrus Primoris, a powerful chemist, has taken over the remaining population by keeping them alive with his miracle suppressant in exchange for total power. Lana (Spartacus’ Katrina Law) powerful leader of the Aurordecan Resistance Movement (ARM) is determined to find a new cure and free the people from Syrus’ suppression.

Check out the “The Resistance” trailer here and more background information at http://www.theresistanceseries.com/.

Review: "Tom and Jerry Meet Sherlock Holmes" and a Good Time is Had

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 82 (of 2010) by Leroy Douresseaux

Tom and Jerry Meet Sherlock Holmes (2010) – Video
Running time: 50 minutes
DIRECTORS: Spike Brandt and Jeff Siergey
ANIMATION DIRECTOR: Kirk Tingblad
WRITER: Earl Kress (based upon the characters created by Joseph Barbera and William Hanna)
PRODUCER: Bobbie Page
EDITOR: Robert S. Birchard

ANIMATION/COMEDY/ACTION/MYSTERY

Starring: (voices) Jeff Bergman, Grey DeLisle, Greg Ellis, Jess Harnell, Phil LaMarr, Malcolm McDowell, John Rhys-Davies, Kath Soucie, and Michael York

Tom, a house cat, and Jerry, the brown house mouse he chases, have been cartoon stars for 70 years. In addition to appearing in over a hundred cartoon shorts and numerous television shows, Tom and Jerry have also starred in a series of straight-to-video movies, beginning with Tom and Jerry: The Magic Ring in 2001. Tom and Jerry Meet Sherlock Holmes is the sixth in the series, and like the others, is a traditional, hand-drawn (or 2D) animated film. Tom and Jerry Meet Sherlock Holmes finds Tom as the assistant or companion to a beautiful dancer and Jerry as an assistant to literature’s most famous detective.

In London, a trio of bat-winged cats is stealing the city’s most precious and famous jewels. Sherlock Holmes (Michael York) and Dr. Watson (John Rhys-Davies) are on the case, with a little help from Holmes’ mouse, Jerry. Meanwhile, a beautiful club singer named Red (Grey DeLisle) and her cat, Tom, seek Holmes’ help. Red believes that she will be framed for the jewel thefts, and she needs the famous detective to prove that she is innocent. How is Red involved? Is Professor Moriarty (Malcolm McDowell), Holmes’ nemesis, involved, and if he is, how? Classic MGM cartoon characters Droopy, Butch, and Spike and his son, Tyke, join the fun.

Once again, Warner Bros. Animation delivers a high-quality, straight-to-video movie, and frankly, I was shocked by how much I liked Tom and Jerry Meet Sherlock Holmes. The character animation is good, and the characters move pretty well, well enough to make the action scenes, some of which are high-flying or fast-moving, look good. The character designs are also surprisingly good, and the drawing style is reminiscent of late 1980s and early 1990s Disney television animation like Duck Tales.

Here, the people who worked on this movie certainly acted as if they were working on something just as important as a big budget, theatrical animated feature. The background art: the exteriors of building, cityscapes, a graveyard, the countryside and the interiors of houses, a church, and various businesses are not only good-looking, but also convincingly visualize this movie’s idealized Victorian era, London setting.

The most important thing, however, is whether Tom and Jerry Meet Sherlock Holmes is any good, and I’m happy to say that it is indeed good in terms of quality and fun to watch. The story deftly combines Tom and Jerry’s usual antics of beating the crap out of each other with a cartoon, mystery caper full of chases and narrow escapes. These aren’t the best versions of Holmes, Watson, and Moriarty, but they will do. The appearance of classic MGM cartoon characters looking fresh, new, and lively is a bonus. Tom and Jerry Meet Sherlock Holmes will please both old Tom and Jerry fans and young viewers who enjoy animated films.

7 of 10
B+

Monday, October 04, 2010

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Sherlock Holmes Was Fresh for the Twenty-Oh-Nine

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 1 (of 2010) by Leroy Douresseaux

Sherlock Holmes (2009)
Running time: 128 minutes (2 hours, 8 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for intense sequences of violence and action, some startling images, and a scene of suggestive material
DIRECTOR: Guy Ritchie
WRITERS: Michael Robert Johnson, Anthony Peckham, and Simon Kinberg; from a screen story by Lionel Wigram and Michael Robert Johnson (based on the characters created by Arthur Conan Doyle)
PRODUCERS: Susan Downey, Dan Lin, Joel Silver, and Lionel Wigram
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Philippe Rousselot
EDITOR: James Herbert
COMPOSER: Hans Zimmer
Academy Award nominee

ACTION/MYSTERY

Starring: Robert Downey, Jr., Jude Law, Rachel McAdams, Mark Strong, Eddie Marsan, Robert Maillet, Geraldine James, Kelly Reilly, William Houston, Hans Matheson, James Fox, and William Hope

At Christmas 2010, the film Sherlock Holmes brought Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s famous detective back to the big screen. This new film features a Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson that are different from the most famous screen Holmes and Watson, actors Basil Rathbone (as Holmes) and Nigel Bruce (as Watson). Directed by Guy Ritchie, this Christmas 2009 Sherlock Holmes is something of an in-your-face buddy movie that is more event movie entertainment than it is detective film, but what fun it certainly is.

Sherlock Holmes (Robert Downey, Jr.), the renowned "consulting detective,” has made his reputation finding the truth at the heart of the most complex mysteries. That includes a recent case in which Holmes rescued a kidnapped young woman from the clutches of the murderous occultist, Lord Blackwood (Mark Strong). Without a new case, Holmes is bored and also fretting over the impending marriage of his trusted ally and physician, Dr. John Watson (Jude Law) to Mary Morstan (Kelly Reilly).

Then, a new storm gathers over London, one bringing a threat unlike anything that Holmes has ever confronted. Although hung from the gallows for a string of brutal, ritualistic murders, Lord Blackwood has reportedly returned from the dead. Seemingly connected to dark and powerful forces, Blackwood launches a plot to change the British Empire forever, and his apparent resurrection has sent London into a panic. Somehow, Irene Adler (Rachel McAdams), a woman from America with whom Holmes has a tempestuous relationship, is also involved in this madness. Holmes may have found just the challenge he has been looking for.

Dynamic would be a good way to describe Guy Ritchie’s Sherlock Holmes. Everything well-mannered and traditional about Sherlock Holmes has been redone as rowdy and fast-paced. This primordial classical mystery has become the classic, loud, Hollywood blockbuster, event motion picture, and there’s nothing wrong with that. Sherlock Holmes satisfies, going down like a Big Mac when you’re especially hungry (and you don’t remember them tasting so good). Writer Lionel Wigram, who received a “screen story” credit for this film, is actually the writer who fashioned this reinvention of Sherlock Holmes. Wigram merely emphasized Holmes’ less social tendencies and his martial arts prowess (both part of the original Holmes stories). Is there a better way to re-imagine a Victorian era character for modern movie audiences than as a smart ass outsider who kicks ass?

Robert Downey, Jr. and Jude Law make this movie. Of course, Downey plays the venerable sleuth as a master of deduction who sees what is invisible to everyone else. Downey’s Holmes also engages in heart-stopping, bare-knuckle brawls, dodges explosions that would kill most, and leaps from buildings like a mad acrobat. This is Holmes as Indiana Jones, a crowd pleaser and man of the people. With a wink and a nudge, this Holmes is scruffy and frumpy, and you will not see him in a coat and tie – and forget about the deerstalker hat.

Jude Law’s genial Dr. John Watson is smart, has an eye for detail, and banters with Holmes as if the duo were an old couple. Law’s Watson, however, hides a thug beneath the whimsical, at-ease nature, and he looks as if his nice suit really hides a pair of brass knuckles and a blackjack.

Sherlock Holmes is not without its problems. One of them is that the director and the writers are so in love with their nouveau take on Holmes and Watson that they lose Lord Blackwood, an intriguing adversary whose potential is wasted. Ultimately, this film is like National Treasure with a Victorian James Bond, but is still Sherlock Holmes. Like many holiday crowd-pleasers, it is indeed forgettable. You will, however, remember that it was fun to watch, enough to want to see this Sherlock Holmes movie again – perhaps even enjoy repeated viewings on its eventual home, cable television.

7 of 10
B+

Friday, January 15, 2010

NOTES:
2010 Academy Awards: 2 nominations: “Best Achievement in Art Direction” (Sarah Greenwood-art director and Katie Spencer-set decorator) and “Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Score” (Hans Zimmer)

2010 Golden Globes: 1 win: “Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy” (Robert Downey Jr.)

VIZ Cinema Schedule in October

MUSE MY MUSE AND THE POWER OF INSPIRATION DRIVES OCTOBER’S THEME AT VIZ CINEMA

New Anime Racing Feature Redline, Virtual Pop Idol ‘Concert’ By Hatsune Miku, Romantic Drama Sayonara Itsuka, Taiwan Film Fest, And Two Film Retrospectives Of Classic Japanese Directors Are Announced

VIZ Cinema, the nation’s only movie theatre dedicated to Japanese film, makes October a month full of premieres, special events and mini film festivals with a compelling new roster of just-announced screenings.

The month begins with an encore screening of the acclaimed World War II documentary 442: Live With Dignity, Die With Honor, to be followed by a presentation of director John H. Lee’s (A Moment to Remember) newest romantic drama Sayonara Itsuka – Goodbye, Someday.

Anime and pop culture fans shouldn’t miss the new animated racing action of Redline, premiering at VIZ Cinema the same week of its release in Japan, as well as a one-day-only rare encore screening of Hatsune Miku U.S. Live, which presents a live film ‘concert’ by Japan’s most popular virtual idol. This event will also feature a rare personal appearance by Hatsune Miku creator Hiroyuki Ito.

Branching out to include other aspects of Asian film, VIZ Cinema is also proud to partner with the San Francisco Film Society to present Taiwan Film Days, which offers six films that includes the U.S. premiere of Let’s Fall In Love, Seven Days In Heaven and Tears. Finally, the theatre has also scheduled a pair of retrospectives celebrating the works of two of Japan’s most legendary film directors: Yasujiro Ozu and Kenji Mizoguchi.

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

442: Live With Honor, Die With Dignity, October 1st – October 7th
(Directed by Junichi Suzuki, 2010, 100min, HD, English Language)

VIZ Cinema is pleased to announce encore screenings of 442: Live for Honor, Die with Dignity by popular demand!

In World War II, the 442nd was an infantry regiment composed mostly of Japanese Americans that fought not only the Nazis in Europe, but also battled domestic prejudice, facing severe racial discrimination at home. The film features what are likely the final interviews with surviving 442nd veterans, many of whom are now in their mid 80’s and 90’s. The soldiers were in an ironic predicament, fighting for a country that initially branded them as enemies but went on to became one of the most decorated regiments in the history of the United States military. General admission tickets for the film screening are $13.00.

Sayonara Itsuka – Goodbye Someday, October 1st – October 7th
(Directed by John H. Lee, 2010, 133min, Digital, English Subtitles)

Regarded as an ‘Asian collaborated masterpiece,’ Sayonara Itsuka - Goodbye, Someday is based on a novel by Tsuji Hitonari and directed by John H. Lee (A Moment to Remember). Known as the “good guy,” Yutaka is engaged to marry the daughter of the founder of an airline that he works for. While he is transferred abroad to the Bangkok branch, he meets Toko, a mysterious woman. They quickly develop a lustful relationship spending days in passion. For Yutaka’s wedding they choose to separate, but 25 years later they meet again and realize their love for each other remains, but reality continues to pull them apart.

General admission tickets are $10.00.

Redline, October 8th – October 14th
(Directed by Takeshi Koike, 2010, 100min, Digital, with English Subtitles)

More than 5 years in the making, Redline is a pedal to the floor anime racing film created by studio Madhouse (Paprika, The Girl Who Leapt Through Time) and was written by Katsuhito Ishii (Director of The Taste of Tea, Funky Forest, Shark Skin Man & Peach Hip Girl) and directed by Takeshi Koike, (“World Record” segment of Animatrix).

The toughest and the most destructive underground car race in the universe, REDLINE, has just begun! JP is a reckless driver oblivious to speed limits, and Sonoshee, one of his competitors with whom JP is secretly in love with, is a hot girl determined to do whatever it takes to stand on the winner’s podium. In order to win the finals, they’re up against the craziest drivers with their heavily armed and awesome road-tearing vehicles. While cars crash and burn into flames, the race course becomes a merciless hell and JP whips his ride into a dead heat. Who will survive to win in this mass-destruction race? General admission tickets are $10.00.

Hatsune Miku U.S. Live, October 11th One Night Only!!!
(Directed by Takeshi Koike, 2010, 100min, Digital, with English Subtitles)

Following a sold-out performance at NEW PEOPLE at the J-Pop Summit Festival 2010, Hatsune Miku returns to VIZ Cinema for one night only! By extremely popular demand, the virtual idol comes back, this time with a special guest, Hiroyuki Ito, the man behind the creation of Hatsune Miku! Don't miss this rare chance to see this virtual phenomenon on the big screen and purchase one of a very limited supply of Japanese First Edition Blu-ray disc sets in the New People Store!

Miku Hatsune is a virtual pop idol that has taken Japan by storm. She was born as the premiere product in the Vocaloid2 Character Vocal Series developed by Crypton Future Media. Originally designed for musicians, Vocaloid enables users to synthesize singing by inputting lyrics and a melody. In Japan, Vocaloid singers have become the hottest new trend in the pop culture landscape The filmed concert features Miku Hatsune backed by a “live” band called the 39S Members. For the concert performance, she sang 39 songs while being projected on a transparent screen set up on the stage, making her look like a living-sized hologram playing with a live band. General admission tickets for the film screening are $20.00.

OZU AND HIS MUSE: SETSUKO HARA October 15th – October 21st

Yasujiro Ozu is one of the most influential film directors of the 20th Century and his classic film, Tokyo Story, is consistently is ranked among the Top 10 films of all time. Now catch an opportunity to screen four more of the director’s groundbreaking works in a special series. General admission tickets for each film screening are $10.00.

Late Spring
(1949, 108min, 35mm, Japanese with English Subtitles)

One of the most powerful of Ozu’s family portraits, Late Spring tells the story of a widowed father who feels compelled to marry off his beloved only daughter. Ozu's muse, actress Setsuko Hara, commands this poignant tale of love and loss in postwar Japan

Tokyo Twilight
(1947, 141min, 35mm, Japanese with English Subtitles)

One of Ozu’s most piercing portraits of family strife, Tokyo Twilight follows the parallel paths of two sisters contending with an absent mother, unwanted pregnancy, and marital discord.

Late Autumn
(1960, 128min, 35mm, Japanese with English Subtitles)

Setsuko Hara plays a mother gently trying to persuade her daughter to marry in this glowing portrait of family love and conflict – a re-working of Ozu’s 1949 masterpiece Late Spring.

Early Summer
(1954, 125min, 35mm, Japanese with English Subtitles)

The Mamiya family is seeking a husband for their daughter, Noriko (played by Setsuko Hara), but she impulsively chooses her childhood friend, at once fulfilling her family’s desires while also tearing them apart.

TAIWAN FILM DAYS October 22nd – October 24th

Celebrate Opening Night for Taiwan Film Days, a new film series at NEW PEOPLE! A limited number of tickets are also available for an exclusive reception directly after the first screening of Monga on October 22nd, with sponsored drinks and delicious hors d’oeuvres.

Tickets are only available at www.sffs.org and are $15.00 per screening for SFFS members and $20.00 per screening for non-members.

Monga, Friday, October 22nd at 6:15pm & 9:40 pm
(Directed by Niu Doze, 2010,141min, Digital, Chinese with English Subtitles)
Niu Doze’s uncompromising gangster epic fictionalizes the real-life ascension of organized crime in Taipei’s rough-and-tumble Wanhua district during the 1980s.

Let's Fall in Love, North American Premiere
Saturday, October 23rd at 1:30 pm; Sunday, October 24th at 4:10 pm

(Directed by Wuna Wu, 2009, 90 min, Digital, Chinese with English Subtitles)

Welcome to the tragicomic world of matchmaking in modern Taipei, where one documentarian chronicles her frustrating search for Mr. Right.

Seven Days In Heaven, North American Premiere
Saturday, October 23rd at 4:00 pm; Sunday October 24th at 9:10 pm
(Directed by Essay Liu, Wang Yu-lin, 2009, 93min, Digital, Chinese with English Subtitles)

In the wake of her father's death, a resolutely urban woman returns to her backward hometown where she confronts the turbulent spectrum of emotions associated with the passing of a loved one.

Hear Me, Saturday, October 23rd at 6:40 pm
(Directed by Cheng Fen-fen, 2009, 109min, Digital, Chinese with English Subtitles)

Director Cheng Fen-fen has crafted a winning tale of budding romance among the hearing impaired that became Taiwan’s most popular movie of 2009.

Tears North American Premiere
Saturday, October 23rd at 9:30 pm; Sunday, October 24th at 6:40 pm
(Directed by Chen Wen-tang, 2009, 111min, Digital, Chinese with English Subtitles)

A powerful drama about a policeman with a troubled past, Tears represents Director Cheng Wen-tang’s complex and passionate commitment to unearthing Taiwan’s repressive history.

No Puedo Vivir sin Ti, Sunday, October 24th at 2:00 pm
(Directed by Leon Dai, 2009, 92min, Digital, Chinese with English Subtitles)

A widower struggles to reclaim his only daughter in this sharp, emotional feature which casts a magnifying glass on the gray areas of Taiwanese society.

MIZOGUCHI AND HIS MUSE: KINUYO TANAKA October 25th – November 2nd

Director Kenji Mizoguchi’s signature is the expression of strength, sorrow, and fragility of women, and his mastery of the long take and mise-en-scène are legendary. General admission tickets for each screening are $10.00.

Life Of Oharu
(1952, 124min, 35mm, Japanese with English Subtitles)

A 1952 historical fiction starring Kinuyo Tanaka as Oharu, a one-time concubine of a daimyō lord who struggles to escape the stigma of having been sold into prostitution by her father.

Women Of The Night
(1948, 74min, Digital, Japanese with English Subtitles)

Two sisters – Fusako, a war widow, and Natsuko, who is having an affair with a narcotics smuggler – along with their friend Kumiko, descend into moral chaos amid the postwar devastation.

Sansho The Bailiff
(1954, 124min, 35mm, Japanese with English Subtitles)

When an idealistic governor disobeys the reigning feudal lord, he is cast into exile, his wife and children left to fend for themselves and eventually are wrenched apart by vicious slave traders.

Miss Oyu
(1951, 94min, 35mm, Japanese with English Subtitles)

The story concerns a young man who falls in love with the beloved older sister of his intended bride, Miss Oyu played by Kinuyo Tanaka. The three-way relationship takes some tragic turns.

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: http://www.newpeopleworld.com/.

Zodiac Refuses to Be Ordinary Serial Killer Flick

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 110 (of 2007) by Leroy Douresseaux

Zodiac (2007)
Running time: 158 minutes (2 hours, 38 minutes)
MPAA - R for some strong killings, language, drug material, and brief sexual images
DIRECTOR: David Fincher
WRITER: James Vanderbilt (based upon the book by Robert Graysmith)
PRODUCERS: Mike Medavoy, Arnold W. Messer, Bradley J. Fischer, James Vanderbilt, and Ceán Chaffin
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Harris Savides, A.S.C.
EDITOR: Angus Wall

DRAMA/CRIME/MYSTERY/THRILLER

Starring: Jake Gyllenhaal, Mark Ruffalo, Robert Downey, Jr., Anthony Edwards, Brian Cox, Elias Koteas, Donal Logue, John Carroll Lynch, and Dermot Mulroney, Chloe Sevigny, Philip Baker Hall, Charles Fleischer, and Clea DuVall

In the 1960’s and 70’s, a serial killer terrified the San Francisco Bay Area and taunted police with his ciphers and letters. As the cryptic killer, sometimes clad in an executioner’s hood, stalked the streets and the countryside, investigators from four jurisdictions search for the murderer. Zodiac, the recent film from director David Fincher (Se7en), is a chilling recount of the murders. The film is based on the actual case files of one of the most infamous unsolved killing sprees in U.S. history, and its characters are also based on real people.

Shy editorial cartoonist Robert Graysmith (Jake Gyllenhaal) has taken an interest in the new case his cynical colleague, the San Francisco Chronicle's star crime reporter, Paul Avery (Robert Downey, Jr.) is investigating. A murderer who calls himself, Zodiac, is hunting humans, and he sends letters to the press, including the Chronicle, and the police investigating the homicides. Homicide Inspector Dave Toschi (Mark Ruffalo) and his partner Inspector William Armstrong (Anthony Edwards) are feeling the pressure to discover who Zodiac is, especially with Avery often getting in the way of their investigation.

The case becomes an obsession for these four men as an endless trail of clues builds some careers and destroys others. As the years pass and they haven’t solved the case, Toschi finds himself dealing with too much department politics and too many false leads, and Armstrong grows weary of being away from his young family. Avery is drinking and drugging his career away. Meanwhile, Graysmith has quietly amassed piles of information on the Zodiac case. He thinks he may be able to solve the case, but will it cost him his family and his life?

Zodiac is a character drama dressed as a Film-Noir mystery/thriller. Although both director and writer (James Vanderbilt) are fascinated by the mystery of Zodiac’s identity, they seem more fascinated that the case would so alter the lives of the men who became obsessed with unscrambling the case’s codes and secrets. To that end, David Fincher gets some high quality performances from his cast, especially Jake Gyllenhaal, Mark Ruffalo, and Robert Downey, Jr.

Although seemingly relegated to the background early in the story, Gyllenhaal’s Robert Graysmith (The real Graysmith wrote two books on the Zodiac killer, including the one upon which this film is based.) gradually comes to the forefront. Quietly and subtly, Graysmith is the one who maneuvers the film’s central theme – that obsession can take over a man’s life and then redefine him, which is to say make him something else and thereby destroy him. It’s a soft performance by Gyllenhaal that nevertheless drives Zodiac, and Fincher has the good sense to accept that, especially as his films tend to feature intense and charismatic characters. Gyllenhaal’s Graysmith is much more approachable than the other characters, and the one to which the audience will attach itself to in order to navigate the story.

With so many high expectations for Zodiac, it is no surprise that Fincher didn’t meet some of them, but few directors could make so beautiful a neo-noir crime film that is as equally beautiful as a character drama. From Mark Ruffalo’s frustrated cop who refuses to let frustration beat him to Downey’s slick reporter – the charming rogue who burns so brightly that he burns out too soon – Fincher uses nuanced performances to build Zodiac. The performances remind us that sometimes the murder victim isn’t the only victim of the crime.

8 of 10
A

Monday, July 30, 2007

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