By: Kerry Liethen

At one point, in grad school, one of my peers turned to me and said, “what exactly is an independent film?”  He was not from the States, so I imagine he was looking for some sort of insight into what an Indie film is considered in the U.S. and since I’m slightly opinionated and have a relatively good sense of humor he felt comfortable enough to ask my thoughts on the matter.  As it just so happens at that time I was reading Christine Vachon’s book, Shooting to Kill (Christine Vachon is a producer who runs Killer Films along with her partner, Pamela Koffler), and my immediate gut reaction was the budget.  If the film can be made for under X amount of dollars then it is an independent film, but then I stopped myself, because at one point an Indie film came down to the dollar amount and, often, the subject material, so I looked at him and said, “damned if I know anymore.”  And now with studios, such as, FOX, and Paramount having their own boutiques I have to say, “damned if I know what the hell an independent film is anymore.”

When I would watch films in the 1990’s Indie films were made by maverick’s who were outsiders, as far as I was concerned, to the studio system.  They were the nonconformists  I related to and whose films I enjoyed time and again on VHS – Rodriguez’s El Mariachi, McCall’s Lewis & Clark & George, Ander’s Gas, Food, Lodging, Solondz’s Welcome to the Dollhouse, Tarantino’s Reservoir Dogs.  These films looked like gritty Indie films and their budgets were low ($800,000 (estimated) Welcome to the Dollhouse, $220,000 (after post-production) (estimated)/$7,000 (original) (estimated) El Mariachi, $1.2M (estimated) Reservoir Dogs), which reinforced my idea that Indie films had a budget under $5M.

In today’s film market, I’m still rather perplexed as to what is considered an Indie film.  Little Miss Sunshine, Juno, and Babel have often been referred to as Indie films, but are they really?  If you take a look at the budgets and dig a bit further into the company information these films are all somehow related to the studio system, which is not a bad thing, but then I begin to wonder does Indie film really exist anymore even if the subject material in these films might be considered Indie.  And if the picture is shot on digital, can you even call it an Indie film?

In retrospect, I guess what I long for most is when Indie film was still independent, but with the changes in the studios this is becoming much more difficult to come by and the world of Indie film is becoming extinct as the industry continues to shift.

-K.L.

By: Kerry Liethen

Normally, I’m not a huge fan of sequels (okay, sure, I have my exceptions, well, a small handful of films) and if I do decide to indulge my curiosity it is normally a few months later and on DVD, so when I was cajoled by a couple of friends into a showing of Toy Story 3 at a cheap theater in the valley I had low expectations, really low expectations.  In fact, the bar was set so low that it was rolling around on the floor.  Needless to say, I was elated when the bar flipped up and smacked me in the head to prove how wrong I was regarding the sequel, Toy Story 3.

But I had good reasons to keep my expectations low, because I was not a big fan of Toy Story 2.  Granted, it was cute, but the script was not as finely tuned as Toy Story and it felt as though it had lost its oomph.  But with Toy Story 3 the franchise has been rejuvenated and, in my opinion, is the perfect finale for the characters of Toy Story.

The film begins when Buzz, Woody, and the gang are accidently dumped off at a day care center during Andy’s departure for college.

Toy Story 3 was directed by Lee Unkrich (co-director on Finding Nemo, Monsters Inc., and Toy Story 2) with screenplay credits going to: Michael Arndt, John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton, and Lee Unkrich.  And the returning talent of Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Joan Cusack, Wallace Shawn, and John Ratzenberger was like a welcoming hug from an old friend.  The additional vocal talent of Michael Keaton and Ned Beatty provided a couple unexpected antagonists that I became invested in as much as the protagonists.

Also, one last note, expect to see a wonderful Pixar short before the film begins, Day & Night, which was a combination of 2D and 3D animation directed by Teddy Newton (came to Pixar in 2000).  Day & Night was the perfect compliment to Toy Story 3.  Honestly, I cannot say enough about this short it was fun, at times tender, and the message resonated with audience (the packed theatre was very vocal) and with this viewer.

Toy Story 3 was a fantastic surprise and I highly suggest checking this out in the theater.

9 out of 10 – K.L.

Michael Caine as the titular character in Daniel Barber's "Harry Brown" (2009)

“Harry Brown“ (2009), directed by Daniel Barber, written by Gary Young

Cast: Michael Caine, Emily Mortimer, Charlie Creed-Miles, David Bradley, Iain Glen, Sean Harris, Ben Drew, Jack O’Connell, Joseph Gilgun,…

“Harry Brown” centers on the protagonist of the same name, played by Michael Caine, who is a weary elderly citizen living in a troubled neighborhood of South London. A recent widower, who also lost his only daughter at a young age, Brown has not much to left to look forward to. When a local gang of young criminals murders his only friend, and the police is showing little interest in the case, Brown decides to take matters into his own hand. The former Royal Marine embarks onto a killing spree to clean up the neighborhood and avenge his friend’s death…

“Harry Brown” is in many ways a rather typical revenge/vigilante film, with the exception that it features a pensioner as the central character, as opposed to the more common middle-aged protagonist. Michael Caine’s portrayal of Brown is engaging and convincing, both as the pitiful and lonely old man, as well as the enraged vigilante. His performance easily carries the viewer through the entire film, even though other parts of the film are less convincing.

Emily Mortimer and Michael Caine in Daniel Barber's "Harry Brown" (2009)

Most of the flaws can be found in the screenplay, which utilizes way too many of the typical clichés that have been well established by the films of this kind – these stretches of the story felt far too predictable and worn. For example [spoilers ahead], the sporadic references to Harry’s past in the service in order to establish him as the potential killing machine that he turns out to be, which were half cleverly-done, and half clumsily inserted into otherwise believable dialog. Then there is the side-story about the sole police inspector with a hunch on who might really be doing all the killings, as well as the indifferent and condescending police superior who doesn’t listen and instead reassigns her to another case and branch, then her decision to press on on her own nonetheless, and finally her teaming up with Brown in the end. Also, to render the gang more devilish, they are beefed up from ‘merely’ being a bullying and murdering lot, to also having a hand in drugs-, weapons-, and human-trafficking. In the end it is even uncovered that the murder of Harry’s friend had not been a spontaneous act, but rather a planned murder, with the mastermind linking to Harry’s past as a serviceman with the Royal Marines in Ireland.

All this seemed somewhat contrived and uncreative to me, however, one might also argue that these elements are an integral part to a revenge-driven story, and therefore can’t be avoided. Maybe I have just seen one too many of these and as a consequence am too easily disappointed by the recurring themes, but I would assume that less-clichéd alternatives could probably have been found.

Michael Caine as the titular character in Daniel Barber's "Harry Brown" (2009)

Despite all this the film works surprisingly well, I believe mostly due to the depiction and interplay of the two very convincing opposing forces – not only is Caine’s Harry Brown an engaging and sympathetic character, but also the various gang-members and their surroundings are believable and seemingly based in reality, as opposed to many of the more stylized fictional antagonists you often see in other films. The film’s director Daniel Barber managed to create a harrowing on-screen version of troubled and violent youths in street-gangs, which will most likely stay with you for a while even after the credits have rolled.

Stylistically the film shines as well – the gritty look and feel of the picture, with its low-key lighting and bleak colours compliment the dark-themed story very well.  The depiction of violence, drug-abuse and sex is raw and blunt, creating a sense of realism that effectively draws you into the uncomfortable underworld that is Brown’s neighborhood.

Even though “Harry Brown” doesn’t bring much that is new to the table, it is still a revenge film that pays off and manages to entertain, due to the convincing performances of Michael Caine as the titular character, as well as his various antagonists, as long as you are willing to forgive some of the recycled plot-twists and a couple of other screenplay blunders.

Michael Caine as the titular character in Daniel Barber's "Harry Brown" (2009)

By: Kerry Liethen

Since we’re smack dab in the middle of film festival season I thought I would attend a much lesser known festival.  Okay, truth be told, I attended the event because a friend of mine had a film screened in the shorts collection, so it was kind of a two for one kind of deal.

The first annual Awareness Festival was held from May 20th through the 23rd and was split between three venues: the Regent Showcase and Heaven On Earth (both in Los Angeles) and at the Polo Loft in Santa Monica.  There were over 40 short films at the festival over a span of four days and three venues.  This festival promotes films with meaning and combines art with activism.  The purpose of the festival is printed on the postcards and reads: The mission of the Awareness Film & Arts Festival is bringing awareness and opening eyes to some of our world’s pressing issues; Ecological, Political, Health/Well Being and The Spirit: Heart & Soul.

The schedule for the shorts collection was a bit unorganized, which made it hectic to figure out where we were going and at what time the screening would commence, but after standing around and inquiring with every passerby we soon learned that the shorts collection would be shown at Heaven On Earth at 6 p.m.  We managed to pass the time by checking out the Regent Showcase, which was down the street on La Brea.  As luck would have it, we missed Rusty Armstrong’s  The Shark Con by a good half hour, so we did the next best thing and headed over to The Grove to catch MacGruber (Yup, you didn’t see that coming, did you?) as we knew we didn’t have time to buzz over to the other location and investigate.

Upon our arrival, back at Heaven On Earth, we shuffled into the room with one other director and a few other supporters.  It was far from a glitzy Hollywood or Cannes affair, with metal folding chairs, and half the room dedicated to the health fair, and then the technical difficulties with the projection – the screening began a bit later than expected, but that is exactly why these smaller festivals are important especially for budding filmmakers.  It allows for interaction with other artists minus the intimidation and gives us all a lesson in patience.

At the shorts collection, which was a free event, we viewed five films (in no particular order):

Evita, a documentary, is about a woman who overcomes ovarian cancer by changing her toxic diet and relationships.   The film had a dreamy look, so much so that even with the moving message was pared down and  lulled the viewer to sleep rather than prompting any rousing action to change ones lifestyle.  The editing was bogged down with photos and redundant B roll of Evita exercising.  The one saving grace was Evita herself, an inspiring young woman who was subtle, soft spoken, and  still had a good sense of humor after all she had endured.

Namaste, a documentary about a young filmmaker who visits Nepal and upon returning to her Southern California home changes her outlook on her community and generation.  A particular issue I found with this documentary was its inability to really delve into the story.  There was a voyeuristic quality to the film and I felt like the filmmaker was too hesitant to delve into this story.  The cinematography during the Nepal segments was a welcomed surprise and aided in elevating the quality of the film.

Sexually Transmitted Disease (Dir. Daniel Hale), a Public Service Announcement, a couple are about to have sex when HIV, herpes, and gonorrhea show up on their doorstep.  The editing on this PSA could have been a bit tighter to really heighten the comic moments.  But the unexpected humor on this subject was refreshing.

Bob Seger Rocks (Dir. Timothy Tamisiea) a documentary about a 12-year old boy who has had 23 brain surgeries and what he has overcome in school and society and how he, along with his family, deal with his condition.  A heartwarming film that wins you over and what it lacks in technical skill it more than makes up for with its charm.

Par Surprise, a narrative film, on epilepsy awareness.  This film, though beautifully shot, was a convoluted story.  And technically, this was my favorite film, visually, but it does not make up for the troubled narrative.  At one point I thought the film was about flowers – the leading couple spends ten minutes discussing a bed of posies.  But then we get a shot with the leading lady with a huge bowl of fruit (in countless frames…in my mind I was apply the Hitchcock rule of thumb, silly me) while they’re in an atrium and then my thoughts turned to organic foods.  And then war is mentioned and my thoughts turn to, “oh, this film is about war?”  Nope, not about war.  Turns out the guy is epileptic and suffers a fit post-coital.  Evidently, this film is about epilepsy awareness, but from this narrative it becomes a tangled mess and the message is lost.  Actually, what becomes a greater mystery is why the couple go para-gliding with Russian polka music playing underneath in the end.

A drawback to the screening was we did not receive any information on the shorts or the creators.  I managed to scrounge up a couple names of the directors whose films we had an opportunity to screen.

Overall the Awareness Festival is a great opportunity for showcasing films revolving around pressing issues of our times and I encourage filmmakers to give the festival a look next year.  - K.L.

I am a huge fan of European films, be it the German Expressionism, Italian neorealism, French New Wave, Polish Film School, Dogme 95, or Romanian New Wave to name a few. ‘The Girl with A Dragon Tattoo’ combined a mixture of Portuguese Cinema Novo for its visual looks and with a touch of Czechoslovak New Wave for its storyline. This film: a guy who is under attacked after entangling himself into the investigation on the missing niece, that leads to the unsolved murder-case – reminded me a lot of an Argentinian film, ‘El Aura’(2005) directed by Fabián Bielinsky, in terms of the story pacing, the looks and as well as the protagonist characterization.

The story is paced using the non-classical narrative form giving it a sense of realism to the setups- which is less predictable. The setups divide the back-story of the protagonist from the mentor (although this mentor is not a typical old character): she is very wise as a computer hacker herself that she can be count as one. The pacing that it takes to discover the connections of these two characters takes a lot longer than the commercial-3-Point- Structure Model. Some audience might reject this notion, but for those who enjoy subtlety and the passion to discover might love this setups.

As much European this movie could be, it still projects the commercial style in it. The scene that I am referring to is when Mikael Blomkvist ( the imprisoned journalist) is gathering information about the case through his laptop- we can see the fast-cutting images overdrawn on the screen on top of the typography merging in, forcing bundle of information. And if that is not enough, the visuals do come with the audio commentary in explaining the family tree. Yet, I wonder why I have to rewind the scene 3 times in order to digest these information during my first viewing. My take in this- it digested away my film experience.

But who can forget the tormenting, torturing sexual scenes done by the villain to the victim and later revenged by the victim back to the villain. The combination of the tether, the hidden camera, chained-smoking and the improvised taser: the electro- shocked- weapon might give you the idea of how jarring the scenes turned up.

Directed by: Niels Arden Oplev
based on Stieg Larsson’s novel
Starring: Michael Nyqvist, Noomi Rapace, Lena Endre, Peter Haber, Sven-Bertil Taube

My Vote: 7.5/10

Won a few Awards: HKFCS Award and Asian Film Awards to name a few, this film might not be everybody’s cup of tea. The perturbing opening shot as a metaphor that offers a hint of something deadly and emotionally disturbed ending might not be picked up by large. Nevertheless, the images through out the film are very engaging that help the viewer to dwell into the story further.

‘Sham Moh’ in Mandarin or ’At the End of Daybreak’ in English, portrays a drama of a young guy with no ambition or vision in life is brought into a dilemma when he had to choose his family or his girlfriend. It sounds like any usual dilemma in our real life that makes it less a sensational story to be told but Ho Yuhang, the director plays with the semiotics through the visual  storytelling, heightens the emotions and suspense.  It pushes the audience to feel and see through the protagonist’s eyes, and we are forced to feel stuck and lost. The protagonist who is living under poverty with her single mother, is pushed to pay a big amount of money to the girlfriend’s family when the family found out that he is having a sexual relationship with their underage daughter. Even after the payment is being made, the family threatens to go to court (we just love this type of setups, as there might be such evil families out there who might do the same thing). Nevertheless, our anticipation has drawn in, in thinking that this family does exist, we are rooting further with the protagonist’s turmoil.

The ending? Well you have to wait till the end of daybreak to find out

Venue: Locarno International Film Festival
Production: Paperheart
Cast: Chui Tien You, Wai Ying-Hong, Ng Meng Hui
Director-screeenwriter: Ho Yuhang
Producer: Lorna Tee
Director of photography: Teih Gay Hian
Production designer: Gan Siong King
Music: Pete Teo
Editor: Mindy Wong Vern Yee
No rating, 94 minutes
My Rate: 7.5

“Paradise Now” (2005) directed by Hany Abu-Assad, written by Hany Abu-Assad and Bero Beyer

Kais Nashif and Ali Suliman as Said and Khaled in Hany Abu-Assad's "Paradise Now" (2005)

“Paradise Now” is a film that I have heard about a lot. Newspaper articles, Festival booklets, Reviews, References, Awards – throughout the past couple of years, the title just kept coming up. I decided to finally find out what buzz was surrounding that film and now rented it on DVD.

“Paradise Now” is a very engaging and moving picture that will make you think. The story revolves around Said and Khaled, two young Palestinian men living in the occupied West Bank, who have been recruited by a radical group to carry out a suicide mission against the Israeli occupiers.

Said and Khaled are ordinary men embedded in their culture. They are young, idealistic, and feel responsible for their people – they are not sure how, but they are determined to help bring change to the Near-East, hoping for a peaceful and better life for future generations, and a free and peaceful Palestine. Through extremist propaganda they are led to believe that by carrying out suicide missions against the Israeli occupiers they will help the Palestinian cause. But as they get closer to their mission they begin to doubt their motives and fear that the holy and noble martyrdom is actually nothing other than civilian murder, which will not bring any improvement to the region whatsoever.

Kais Nashif and Ali Suliman as Said and Khaled in Hany Abu-Assad's "Paradise Now" (2005)

The biggest strength of the film is the balanced and fair treatment of both sides – even though the story is set exclusively on the Palestinian side, the film always approaches the Arab-Israeli conflict in an unbiased way, carefully examining the different positions while throwing in arguments from alternating points of view. It centers on questioning the logic of one-sided blame and revenge, that is continuously used by both sides to legitimize the harsh and cruel actions towards their respective enemy as a necessary means.

Even though the central question of how to bring lasting peace to the Near-East remains unanswered, the film takes a clear stand in exposing the endless cycle of violence and counter-violence, of action and reaction, of murder and retaliation, as what it really is: a dead-end political position, that has proven for several decades to incite nothing but further ignorance and escalation, rather than encouraging a coexistence, with peace and respect between the two cultures.

“Paradise Now” is a gripping human drama in front of the explosive political background of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict. Well worth seeing.

Kais Nashif and Ali Suliman as Said and Khaled in Hany Abu-Assad's "Paradise Now" (2005)

As luck would have it I was fortunate enough to snatch up a ticket to the premiere of Kick-Ass Tuesday evening at the ArcLight in Hollywood.  Director, Matthew Vaughn (Stardust, Layer Cake), introduced Chloe Moretz (Mindy Macready/Hit Girl), Christopher Mintz-Plasse (Chris D’Amico/Red Mist), and Aaron Johnson (Dave Lizewski/Kick Ass) prior to the screening.  Nicolas Cage (Damon Macready/Big Daddy), per Mr. Vaughn, was running to catch a plane and was unable to participate.

The film is based on the comic book series of the same name, written by Mark Millar and illustrated by John Romita, Jr. and unfolds from the point of view of one invisible high school student, Dave Lizewski, who up and decides one day to become a super-hero.  Granted this out of the blue revelation is rather weak motivation for a protagonist, but Lizewski is a comic book fanatic and a kid who gets the crap beat out of him by bullies, so it is not too far a leap for him to begin pondering jumping into a scuba suit, nay, super-hero suit and fighting crime.  The screenplay written by Vaughn and Jane Goldman (The Debt, Stardust) was a tad slow in the first act, but picks up so quickly by the second act that clutching the seat arm, or the stranger next to you, until the stuffing comes out of it is required to get through the turbulent ride.

The real scene-stealer in the film comes in the form of the smallest, but most violent character, Mindy/Hit Girl, played by the delightful Chloe Moretz.  Ms. Moretz delivered Mindy/Hit Girl’s caustic sense of humor with such bite that it was hard to believe that she was a little girl under the disguise of the purple wig, mask, and kilt.  But with Damon/Big Daddy’s endgame and their arsenal of weapons it was plain to see that Mindy never experienced childhood like a regular kid and, thus, she did not speak like one either.  Mr. Cage, as Damon/Big Daddy was the anchor in the daughter and father chemistry, whose performance was, at times, uncompromising, but gained the empathy of this viewer during the scenes with his ex-partner.  Mr. Cage has taken a few hits in the past years, so it was great to see him on screen and knocking the hell out of this performance.  Over all, Mr. Cage and Ms. Moretz’s performances with the Macready’s plot provided a nice reprieve from Lizewski’s “relationship woes” subplot, which often felt tired and played out.

If there is one thing that can be said about the action in the film it is this, it’s a steroid induced pace that keeps hitting, shooting, and fighting with a dizzying effect.  In the action genre quick editing cuts are what action films are now all about, because we all seem to suffer from short attention spans, but most of the time I like to see the hits, the contact, the ooze.  I like to absorb it.  But the editing made the action in Kick-Ass a lot more like a comic book, which served the film well especially since the crowd in the theater went nuts every time Hit Girl stabbed, maimed, or shot a bad guy.  (And, yes, I was one of them.)

Kick-Ass was a violent and, yet, quite satisfying ride.  It’s definitely in my top five for comic book adaptations – K.L.

8 out of 10

Blood Done Sign My Name, which details the events surrounding the racially charged murder of an African-American Vietnam veteran in North Carolina in 1970, writer-director Jeb Stuart seems to have sought the most banal and commonplace elements, rather than focusing on the details that might illuminate the past and the present. Stuart, whose writing credits include Die Hard and The Fugitive, splits the movie’s perspective, albeit not evenly, between budding activist Ben Chavis (Nate Parker), later an organizer of the Million Man March and currently Russell Simmons’ business partner, and Tyson’s father, Vernon (Rick Schroder), a white Methodist minister whose progressive views run him afoul of his congregation’s more conservative members.

via: The AV Club

I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again.  Racism isn’t dead, it has just gone underground.  In a world where it currently just isn’t cool to be a racist, such things as films, books, and views of our President serve as constant reminders that people still judge on the basis of Color, Creed, Nationality, and yes Sexual Orientation regardless that we are in an “Advanced Modern Society”.  I am fully confident that this film will not serve as a modern day Roots but will hopefully reach an untouched audience, the younger generation, who simply cannot fathom, and sometimes forgetful that such things as a person being told they couldn’t drink from the same water fountain as another person, and like the Holocaust, did in fact happen.

The LA Times Blog ran an interesting piece about master of horror Wes Craven, discussing his humble beginnings as a filmmaker through his near four decades as a director on such films as Last House On The Left, The Hills Have Eyes, The Serpent And The Rainbow and A Nightmare On Elm Street.

Oh note however is the following little tid-bit from the end of the article. Shooting begins this May on Scream 4 with Craven once again jumping back behind the camera. (His latest My Soul To Take is due out later this year.)

Kevin Williamson is scripted the Scream 4, the first in an intended new trilogy. Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox and David Arquette are all returning.

Craven also humorously talks about the way he’d like to go out in the article. “My goal is to die in my 90s on the set, say, ‘That’s a wrap,’ after the last shot, fall over dead and have the grips go out and raise a beer to me.”

via: Shock