A couple months ago I wrote a review for "From Beijing with Love". Only after I realized that I've actually seen years ago some other movies by Stephen Chow = "Kung Fu Hustle" (good one) and "God of Cookery" (way too silly). Both in the same range of slapstick comedy, but a bit... let's say different from the same genre made in US. So, actually, as I was comparing in that posting, I (re-)discovered an Asian version of Zucker/Abrahams/Mel Brooks. Unfortunately, after a quick look on IMDb, a bit beyond his glory days. However, it seems there still are some titles that sensei Chow directed, which I didn't see. But since I'm not really into this kind of movies I said let's skip it. Just to return now, again looking a sleeping pills alternative, and giving a chance to "Shaolin Soccer" for that. Well, I didn't sleep...
The story in one phrase: A former soccer glory, left with a limping foot after an incident set up by a former rival, 20 years after that, manages to set up a team of shaolin kung-fu adepts, to get his revenge in the biggest Asian tournament. Otherwise said: we have a parody between soccer vs kung fu movies. Lots of parody on kung fu movies :) (below there's some example of flying monks & Bruce Lee returns).
I'll make this short: I don't think I've seen much better comedies in this niche of absurd slapstick humor. I'd say it tops "From Beijing with Love", and it's making me think on re-watching "Kung Fu Hustle", which I don't remember much more beyond what's written above = good one. Besides that, it's a lesson of what comic effect you can get out just from some filming angles + some VFX that sometimes seem low budget, but that's actually helpful in the context. Anyway, watching this is better than reading... ;) I recommend the original version - the US dubbed one is shorter and misses some important content from what I've read.
Rating: 4 out of 5 (trying to be objective... :) still not really into slapstick comedy)
"Divided We Fall" was the Czech option for the foreign movie Oscar in 2001. Where it didn't get much chance against the other nominees, like "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" or "Amores Perros". I've watched it now, main reason being that when I need to travel in some country where I don't know at all the language I try to see a movie made there, maybe there's some chance to catch a couple words. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. Most probably the second here. Anyway, it did worth the time.
In brief, we have a family risking their life by sheltering a young jew, during the German occupation in WW2's Czechoslovakia. To detail a bit, David Wiener is the son of a local business owner, who gets deported to a concentration camp with all the family, David managing to escape somehow and to return home. Which home, however, is about to be given for accommodation to a German official. Therefore, finally David gets to hide in the storage room of a former employee, Josef, who decides together with his wife, Maria, to offer shelter. And like that, Josef, to guarantee more protection, finally accepts also an offer to work for the German army together with Horst, a friend and former co-worker, who now is a collaborating with the SS troops stationed in the area. All this story takes place in the middle of some other family issues = the failed tries of Josef and Marie to have a child + the also failed tries of Horst to hook-up with the wife of his best buddy. And somehow these problems get to complicate a lot also the situation of the hidden fugitive.
The action's baseline is not that original in the area of the WW2 movies ("Zookeper's Wife", "The Book Thief", etc.). The approach this film has, is, however, done with more comic effect than other cases, without disregarding the gravity of the context. I would rather say that the cheerful contrast actually amplifies the tragic side, although (spoiler) the end is not as sad as "La Vita e Bella". Actually, the final part somehow cuts off the permanent tension during the movie, and the way this happens :) we have some sort of "twists", maybe a bit hard to believe, but clearly deserving a bonus for imagination.. no spoilers, check the movie ;)
I had the opportunity to see 3 movies at NIFFF this year during a short 2 days "vacation", which actually, if I think now on it, was more like a one day, but... unimportant :) ... More important is to deviate a bit from the main topic, which is the movie, but I feel that I must do it: what is NIFFF? A festival of "fantastic" film, organized yearly in Neuchatel, Switzerland, since 2001, where by chance I lived for around 4 years. My first contact with NIFFF was in 2011, when I didn't get at first how a small city with around 20000 people got to host an international film festival. And not any festival, but as far as I know one of the few events that brings together a unique niche combination of fantasy & sci-fi & horror & weird indie movies + a section dedicated to Asian Cinema. Actually, at a first sight, being there, NIFFF doesn't really look like a very big event at least in respect to the public numbers (comparing with other festivals). However, despite I'm less and less intersecting with NIFFF, mostly when I have the chance to merge it with a work trip in the area, just to give a hint of its amplitude: in 9 days it has around 60-70 movies grouped on various themed sessions, and this doesn't count documentaries, shorts, open air classics like "Alien" or "Pulp Fiction", seminars, workshops and other associated events. Over time NIFFF had guests like George R.R. Martin, Kevin Smith, and even John Carpenter in a concert. Now, given the genre of the typical NIFFF movie, you're never guaranteed you'll see a masterpiece. Probably the indie sci-fi & horrors is the niche with the most junk produced, so it's somehow expected to stumble on that here and there. On the other hand, there are also very good movies. You have something for every taste, and compiling such a diverse schedule in an otherwise relatively narrow niche is one of the festival's organization strengths. NIFFF gave me the opportunity to have a first watch of "Cabin in the Woods", "Dead Snow 2", "iNumber Number", "Jeeg Robot", or now "First Love". Which takes us back to our movie ;)
"Hatsukoi", the original title, is something of a Japanese action-thriller (we don't have only sci-fi & horror at NIFFF), directed by Takashi Miike. Probably known especially for some of the most hard to watch Asian movies, such as "Audition" or "Ichi, the Killer" (didn't see any of these), he is quite a prolific director having more than 100 movies since '91. I didn't see many of these, and some I found pretty bad ("13 Assassins", "Sukiyaki Western Django"). Still, recently, on an intercontinental flight, not having better options I got to see "Blade of the Immortal", which was quite ok. So I decided to give it a shot, although lately I'm not really that fond of excess violence on screen. The semi-ironic intro that the actual director did on the NIFFF stage, when presenting his film as a very light one made people smile. Not that surprising, we have a beheading in the first minute or so. Overall, however, the movie is watchable. There's nothing extreme in it. Let's call it: "Tarantino level" for blood & gore :)
Leo is a young boxer diagnosed with a brain tumor and not much left to live after a knock-down. In parallel with that, Kase, a lower ranked member of a yakuza clan, sets up a plan together with a corrupt cop, for hijacking a narcotics delivery. The guilt is supposed to be brought upon the rival Chinese triad and on Monica, a prostitute on drugs who has periodic visions of her abusive father's ghost. And such a vision messes up the whole plan, the girl literally running at a moment of karmic synchrony in the arms of Leo. Who just got a reading by a fortune teller predicting him excellent health + thinking on other people's wellness for success in life. Not being convinced at all by the first part, and the second not really in line with his boxing job, the guy ends up as a sort of bodyguard for the rest of the movie. The nice part is that the story unfolds on multiple threads, and the part that you might thing to be a classic version of a "damsel in distress & her knight in shining armor" doesn't get the complete focus. We have an excellent dark humor, most of it resulting from Kase's attempts to move over with his plan, where nothing works according to agenda.
It's the type of movie where spoiling too much of the action ruins it, and I think I wrote enough :) What's left to say is that behind all the bullets, swords, blood, and maybe sometimes a bit of an acid humor, with the romance not getting that much screen time (but being there though), there's still some sort of warmth in the movie, which you can feel from the beginning to the end. And that gives it a big plus, at least compared with what I've seen from Miike. Since I was mentioning Tarantino above, maybe it looks a bit like a "True Romance" in Japanese version. Just a bit. That would be all. Unfortunately we don't have yet a trailer per se, and for now the movie is still in limited release moving through festivals, but I guess it will get out also mainstream towards the end of the year. For now, long live NIFFF! ;)
I didn't enjoy any "Toy Story". Well, the first - at the age I had when I saw it - was indeed something new, as a 3D rendered animation, and probably at that time seemed ok, although I think that "Anastasia" left me a more solid impression (out of the '90s releases around the same time). I don't remember anything from "Toy Story 2", and from "Toy Story 3" only that it did hit a new record for the tear jerking coefficient. So I (hardly) decided to see "Toy Story 4", more due to lack of novelty on my blog, and having lower expectations than the depths of the ocean from where the last "Godzilla" came out (which I didn't actually have the "guts to meet"). Given the context, what I can say after is that the choice wasn't that bad. Except the AC in the cinema running on extreme mode for almost 2h... which made me dream on a wool sweater in the middle of the summer.
"Toy Story 4" could be also named "The Search for Forky" - where Forky is the latest toy joining the group, manufactured out of a single use thrown away fork, by Bonnie, the current owner of Woody & co. The problem is that Forky is not at all at peace with his new Frankestein-ian condition of a living toy, and wants back into the garbage bin. Any garbage bin. And since Forky seems essential to help Bonnie to get through the kindergarten purgatory, Woody takes the job of a suicidal forks savior. The problem is, however, made worse by Bonnie's parents who decide for a road trip, where Forky has even more opportunities to escape into some trash can. And so the story goes for a while... But slowly the focus is moved more onto an older friendship of Woody. But let's not spoil the whole narrative line.
I didn't manage to escape completely the need for an eye-roll, but I guess this was in much more reasonable limits than when watching the previous part. Besides that, the length of the movie is decent enough to not drag you into boredom. The efforts to make you laugh are ok, and overall I think it's clearly better on this part than the latest "How to Train Your Dragon" (but also quite far from top funny stuff like "Emperor's New Groove" or "Wallace & Gromit"). In brief, it's fine... especially if your expectations are low enough :)
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