http://blogcritics.org/ A sinister cabal of superior bloggers on music, books, film, popular culture, politics, and technology - updated continuously. en Copyright 2005-2007 by the authors Thu, 29 May 2003 18:05:22 EDT http://backend.userland.com/rss Blogcritics.org custom software http://blogcritics.org/ Phillip WinnSunday, August 26, 2007, marks the switch of all Blogcritics.org article feeds from full-content to short-content. This is the result of several converging factors, and is unfortunately a permanent decision (as permanent as any decision can be on the web, that is). We are aware of all of the reasons that this is a Bad Idea, and we are aware that some of you will be quite upset about having to click on something to read the free content, and we're sorry. Unfortunately, despite great effort, full-content feeds are not currently economically viable. Two other factors are involved: full-content feeds have resulted in an unprecedented level of content theft, with BC content appearing on many websites, usually spam sites, without attribution or permission. This duplicate content causes a cascading set of problems, not the least of which is that search engines generally aren't favorable to duplicate content, and don't always guess correctly. Finally, our RSS advertising partner is strongly in favor of short-content feeds. We hope that you'll continue to subscribe to BC via RSS, and when an article grabs your eye, it's only a click away, still free on the BC website. Thank you for your understanding. Administration0@blogcritics.org Sun, 26 Aug 2007 12:00:00 EDT http://blogcritics.org/archives/2003/05/29/180522.php Robert JonesI don't think I could conceive of any better remedy for my irate displeasure after seeing TM:R than to go see A Mighty Wind, the latest creation from Christopher Guest and his usual suspects. A Mighty Wind follows the pattern traceable back to This Is Spinal Tap, and, while it isn't exactly fresh, it is masterfully executed here. Perhaps its because this story has more of an effect on its characters, and seems more like a fleshed-out movie than a drawn-out comedy sketch, but I found Wind moving me, both in terms of laughter and real emotion, more than previous Guest movies. A Mighty Wind traces the story of a folk music producer (Jonathan Steinbloom, played by Bob Balaban) who, upon the death of his father -- who had been a big player in the folk scene at its peak -- decides to hold a tribute concert and bring together some of the label's biggest acts. Due to scheduling issues, everything must be brought together in two weeks' time.What follows is a study of three different folk groups, and the personalities in them, who almost universally seem to think that they are very normal, when in reality they are anything but. The groups themselves are a good combination of the various tropes of the genre: The New Main Street Singers are a reincarnation of the original nine-member Main Street Singers who are the most poppy and commercial of the bunch -- and looked on with scorn by The Folksmen, a trio who consider themselves to be much more true to their folk roots. Rounding out the three is the duet of Mitch and Mickey, a couple whose high point was a sickly sweet love ballad very reminiscent of "I Got You, Babe". All the groups get roughly equal time, which does mean that The New Main Street Singers, due to their sheer number, get less individual screen time; this isn't too much of a loss, though, because they are easily the least interesting group.There are several strong performances throughout, including Eugene Cohen as the Mitch in Mitch and Mickey, who does a wonderful job chewing the scenery as a washed-up, mentally unstable wasteoid who isn't quite in touch with reality, and Harry Shearer, whose Mark Shubb is the bass voice in The Folksmen and probably my favorite character from the lot, for reasons I can't quite place.The movie does end on a coda which doesn't ring very true, and includes one plot twist with The Folksmen that seems to come out of the blue without any real logic behind it. However, that one sour note does little to taint what came before -- a gentle but satirical look at folk music, and the characters in it who seem to think that they are completely normal, when, in reality, they're anything but, with some damn good music thrown in to boot. I can't wait to pick up the soundtrack.[This review also appears on my blog] Video5717@blogcritics.org Thu, 29 May 2003 18:05:22 EDT http://blogcritics.org/archives/2003/05/29/165927.php Robert JonesIt's taken me a bit longer than I'd planned to get around to writing this review, but here it is. Yay for me. So... The Matrix: Reloaded. If you need any further information to be brought up to speed, please return to your ice cave for a few minutes.My short review borrows one of Drannor's favorite phrases: Big ball of suck! I went in to the theater with intentionally lowered expectations, but even if my expectations had been stuck plumbing the depths of the sewage collection facility three sub-basements below the subterrene Zion, busily mucking out a clog of coppertop-shit rather than preparing to watch the sequel to the Matrix, they could not have been low enough.The Matrix did not succeed, for me, because of deep philosophy, existential angst, or any other tripe. It worked because, from the first few minutes, it managed to evoke a feeling of mystery and foreboding, managed to make you think that it could very possibly be true that you were naught but a wall-wart for some homo-tropic machine. Neo was an everyman, and we awakened to the wider world with him. Adding a veneer of cyberpunk grittiness, chicks in tight pleather, and bitchin' wraparound sunglasses was just icing on an already yummy cake.I should have known I was in for a let down when the now-familiar phosphorescent green Kanji started scrolling down the screen at the beginning and my pulse rate quickened in anticipation. The first few minutes seemed good enough, here we are, back in the Nebuchadnezzar, familiar faces, ok... oh goodie, we're actually returning to Zion. Wait... what the... oh no.Zion. Where to start? Take the classic rust-and-steam factory which has been the scene of the climactic fight scene of a nearly infinite number of action movies, transplant it to the claustrophic environment of a submarine, and then expand it to a scale on par with the alien mothership in Independence Day, and you'll have a good idea of Zion. Oh, yes, and stock it with an endless supply of unwashed hippies -- but I repeat myself -- wearing stained, moth-holed cardigans. There. That's Zion in a nutshell.But what the hell? How did this... thing... get here, miles under the earth? I'm hoping the humans didn't try to build it after the machines had already "taken over"... but what was it? Oh well, cranking up Suspension of Disbelief a notch or two and moving on.So here's Neo and Trinity, now obviously giving in to the sexual tension between them in the first movie, and they've just arrived at Zion and can't seem to wait to get back to their quarters to make the beast with two backs. Except, they also share a cabin on the Neb, so what's the hurry? Do the rest of the crew have video monitors in their room to record some hot Neo-on-Trinity action? Beats me. OK, whatever.And then its on to the infamous rave scene. Here we have what we must assume is the better part of the populous of Zion, in a giant cavern, complete with stalactites and stalagmites and a muddy floor. Wait, what happened to the rust-palace? Did they all go filtering through some giant airlock to get here? It just doesn't fit in. But thoughts of that are forgotten as soon as Morpheus walks out onto a ledge overlooking the crowd and gives the first of many long-winded speeches in this movie. And you have to fight to keep from smirking.What does Reloaded boil down to? It seems like the Brothers W had a couple of "wouldn't it be cool if..." ideas, drew up a couple of key scenes, then put them into a big bowl and mixed them up with random shots of dirty hippies, a geriatric Council of Elders (this is the Matrix, dammit, not Star Wars), and, whenever things got too slow, threw in yet another superfluous, overly long, and unmoving kung fu fight -- because, dammit, people loved the kung fu in the first movie! They'll love it even more when we have Neo fighting 100 copies of Agent Smith at once! -- then looked at their creation and realized they had no real plot, so, instead, threw in several episodes of Captain Exposition's Talking Head Lecture Series to explain things to the audience.I wanted to like this movie so much; I really hate it that I found myself slipping into MST3K mode at a couple points because it was almost painful to watch. It was hard not to think of Ghostbusters whenever The Keymaker was being discussed. Some of the CGI was painfully obvious -- especially during the Multi-Smith Brawl, where I almost winced at every obvious transition from live action to CGI. On the bright side, there was a character called The Merovingian, which tickled the conspiracy buff in me.It even fell pray to that cliched to the point of self-parody staple of brainless action movies, the way-too-easily-exploding car. I can accept an action movie world in which a 5mph fender bender can send a car into pyroxisms of self immolation; my suspension of disbelief goes that far. But when you have a CTS standing up to hail of literally hundreds of bullets without any significant damage (to the car or the people inside), yet allow an Escalade to explode as soon as it receives a dozen holes... well, I'm sorry. I'm not going to buy it.What a hopeless pile of dreck. It couldn't even end on a decent cliffhanger ending. I knew I was going into one, but I was still outraged when it happened; simply cutting it off five minutes earlier would have made a much better break point. Oh well... I'd hope that the Brothers W would take a lesson from this for Revolutions, but considering that it's already in the can -- and there's only so much you can do in post-prod -- I don't hold out any good hope. I'll go see Revolutions when it comes out later this year, but The Matrix will probably end up being like Highlander: There should have been only one.[This review is also posted on my blog] Video5714@blogcritics.org Thu, 29 May 2003 16:59:27 EDT http://blogcritics.org/archives/2003/03/27/165927.php Robert JonesI recently took a trip to my favorite local indie movie shop to look for a copy of Hideo Nakata's Dark Water. I found it on VCD, but in the process also stumbled across a bizarre looking movie called I.K.U., which billed itself as Japanese Sci-Fi Cyber Porn, or something along those lines. This description is apt, but not particularly invocative of the subject matter. The story line, such as it is, is that at some point in the future, the Genom Corporation is sending out sex-drones to collect ecstasy data for a product they are developing called Iku Chips. Once the chips have been finalized, they will be for sale in vending machines, where anyone can purchase one and use it to experience extreme sexual pleasure without need of a partner. Or, at least, that's as much of the plot as I could make out.The main bulk of the film consists of one of these drones traveling the future-city, and having sex (while in one of several different forms) with various eager partners. What is notable about this movie, however, isn't the plot, or lack thereof, which would just make it another lame skin flick. It is the fact that it is presented along with "futuristic" wire-frame graphics, psychedelic montages, Jap-pop musical interludes, and other random tidbits of weirdness.This flick is full of the bizarre. Some of the cut-scenes look like pointed rip-offs of graphics from the video game Rez. At one point, one couple was going at it in the background of a screen whose foreground was overlaid with the image of a school of fish swimming around in the aquarium; every now and then one of them would turn to the screen and say something in (supposedly) Japanese. There was a repeated gimmick of the sex-drone turning her arm into a giant glowing phallus, which would then be inserted into an aperture in her partner -- accompanied with trippy CGI shots of the member moving around in glowing vaginal or anal tracts. To top it all off, half of the actresses sound like they're trying to speak English without understanding a word of it. At times it almost sounds as though they're speaking some bizarre pidgin. They may well be, it beats me.Ultimately, I.K.U. fails as a porno flick. There are plenty of naked Japanese bodies, many of them at least moderately attractive, if that's your thing, and a few moments of good hardcore sex. But most of the time the psychedelic overlays, cut-scenes, and that damned glowing phallus-arm are too distracting to get any real salacious enjoyment from the movie. This is worsened by blurrings and other digital manipulations intended to, I assume, get around Japanese censorship laws.However, as a party movie, or a trip toy, or a gift for a Japanophile or collector of the bizarre, I.K.U. works a bit better. I imagine it could be very entertaining for a group of people sitting around with a large stash of alcohol or other drugs of choice. There are a few mildly amusing Blade Runner homages. And, at only slightly over 70 minutes runtime, it's kind enough to end just when the amusement is starting to wear off and the boredom kicks in. Don't buy I.K.U. for a night with your girlfriend, but it might be worth it in a psychedelic movie marathon.[This review is also posted on my blog.] Video4165@blogcritics.org Thu, 27 Mar 2003 16:59:27 EST http://blogcritics.org/archives/2003/03/11/144123.php Robert JonesLast night I was sitting at my computer reading some email, when I was suddenly overcome by a wave of unease, and found myself looking behind my back to make sure there was nothing threatening lurching across the living room floor towards me. I was very uncomfortable for the next few minutes until I managed to force my brain towards thoughts other than those of vengeful spirits appearing from nowhere to steal my life away. This, alone, is not remarkable, as I often have such thoughts. What is remarkable is that I was put into this state by a movie. Even more remarkable is that it had been several days since I had watched it, and it was still actively creeping me out. I am not a person who is easily moved to fear by horror movies. What wonderful, awful creation could do this to me? The answer, quite simply, can be expressed in one bizarre word: Ringu.If you have seen the recent American movie The Ring, you will be familiar with the basic plot of the Japanese film Ringu, the 1998 adaptation of Suzuki Koji's horror novel of the same name. Ringu, in its movie form, was a smash success in Japan, and has spawned numerous offshoots, which I have not yet had the ability to watch. Up until this month, it has been difficult to get a copy of Ringu in the states, as the English version has only been available in Europe. Recently, however, Dreamworks has released Ringu on DVD to go along with its release of The Ring. It is now possible for those of us in the US to see this wonderful movie without having to deal with Region 2 DVDs or struggling to find pirated copies of the video.Ringu, in a nutshell, follows the story of Asakawa Reiko, a divorced mother with a young son, Yoichi. As the story starts, Reiko, who works as a reporter, is working on a story focused on an urban legend concerning a video tape that kills its viewers a week after they watch it. Soon, however, Reiko's teenaged niece dies a mysterious death, and Reiko discovers that it seems to be tied to an actual case of the killer video. Her research leads her to a rental cabin on the Izu peninsula, where she manages to find and watch what appears to be the mysterious video, and realizes that she, herself, is about to become a victim. The next week goes by in an agonizing blur as she enlists the help of her ex-husband, Takayama Ryuji, to help her discover the story behind the video and save her life -- and, eventually, his life and that of their son. While Ringu and The Ring follow the same basic plot, they differ fairly dramatically in their presentation. The Ring is a relatively fast-paced affair with something always happening and a soundtrack that keeps you awake. In comparison, Ringu is alot more reserved, with events progressing seemingly very slowly at times. It is also a very quiet film, with a subdued soundtrack to match the slow-burn pace. Even the moments of drama are fairly subtly presented, with little but an increase in odd sounds and discordant notes to herald them. The pace and the tone combine to give Ringu an almost meditative feel, which suits the thoughtful, quietly eerie nature of the story well. And this is one tale that will sneak under your skin quietly, only to jump on you when you least expect it. If you go into Ringu expecting to be scared out of your wits, you will be left feeling unfulfilled -- it is not a shock horror movie, and there are only a few moments of real terror. Instead, you will watch the movie, pause afterwards to consider it, and decide that yes, that was good. It is only in the still hours afterward that the full effects of it begin to dig their fingers into your psyche, and you find yourself jumping at unexpected noises in the dark and casting sidelong glances at your television as you walk past. Images of the climactic moment will flash in front of your eyes as you are about to go to sleep, wrenching you swiftly from your comfortable rest. You will find yourself strangely compelled to make your friends sit down and watch this wonderful, terrible movie with you.And the second time around, it's even worse. You know what is coming. The mysterious creaks and whispers are terrifying in what they hint at. That eye, that horrible eye, chills you to the bone. The penultimate moment comes, and it is so long, and so slow, and so terrible that you want to hide, cry, scream, do anything other than watch what happens. And you find yourself hoping that your friends get to experience the same wonderful psychosis that the film has instilled in you. It is rare that I babble this effusively and uncritically about a movie. In this case, though, I will, for this is one horror movie that works, and works well. The acting is a little bit clunky in places. There are one or two scenes which do not ring true. At one point, I winced at what looked like a completely cheesy B-movie horror effect. But the misses are nothing compared to the successes. If you like horror movies that creep you out psychologically, rather than try to shock you by throwing endless amounts of gore in your face, and you can tolerate a slow pace that ratchets the tension up so subtly that you don't even realize until afterwards the full effect of it, then Ringu is the movie for you. The Ring, compared to standard Hollywood horror fare, was wonderfully different, and wonderfully good. Ringu, relative to The Ring, is almost as much better. Just don't watch it if you have to be alone with your television any time soon.Ringu, directed by Hideo Nakata. 100 minutes. Japanese, with English subtitles. Not rated.[This review also appears on my blog.] Video3730@blogcritics.org Tue, 11 Mar 2003 14:41:23 EST