2016 Films: #35. Lights Out

December 28th, an OnDemand rental. This film is just one of many low budget, minimalist (I have no idea if I am using that phrase properly) horror/suspense films that come out every year. There are usually some very good ones but the ratio of crap to gems is probably around 4 to 1 (that's a wild ass guess, no data to back it up). This is one of the good ones. The problem with these types of films is actually having to wade through the garbage to get to them. Sometimes you get lucky but most times not so much.

Director/Writer David F. Sandberg made this film as a short film in 2013 that went viral on Youtube and Vimeo. The full length version premiered at the Los Angeles Film Festival in June and went nationwide on July 22nd. With a budget around $5 million, the film has grossed nearly $150 million worldwide and $68 million domestically (with that type of return on investment, it's a given that the market will get saturated with these types of films). The film received a 76% Rotten Tomatoes rating.

Sanberg's film is quite simple, an evil entity has been stalking woman Sophie (Maria Bello) and her family. The entity only shows up in the dark and does evil things when she shows up. The exposition is that Sophie suffered from mental illness as a kid and she befriended Diana at the institution. Diana had a skin condition that made her more or less allergic to light. While attempting to treat Diana's condition, she dies. Sophie's son Martin, sees Diana, hears his mother talking to her, he freaks out and enlists the aid of his sister Rebecca (Teresa Palmer). Diana attacks Martin and Rebecca at her apartment and that leads to a showdown at Sophie's house.

The film opens with Sophie's (2nd) husband being killed at his warehouse. Sandberg doesn't waste anytime and gets right into it. The film has an under 90 minute run time and I like that. Just start offing people. Go to it. The film is very suspenseful and has a few standard jump scares. There are a few plot issues (everyone running upstairs for example) but they're minor. I also like the fact that Sanberg adhere's to the old adage of "hide the monster." Diana is a shadow, when she's onscreen, she's blacked out and you can only see her form.

That's creepy enough for me.

However there's a scene where she's seen in black light and she looks similar to other films' evil entities of similar nature...

Diana from Lights Out (2016).

This young lady from Insidious (2010).

Even the sinister guy from the Sinister franchise (2012 & 2015).

But I can't kill a guy for that. These are all low budget films and some things are going to fall short to maintain that budget (Maria Bello is the biggest name of the entire cast and if she got paid upwards towards $1 million, that's a 5th of the budget, that's an example though). Sandberg keeps the pace flowing smoothly and the acting is adequate. If you are into the horror/suspense genre, this is a nice film to watch.

2016 Films: #34. Sour Grapes

Netflix night, December 26th. When my wife first suggested this, I wasn't interested. What do I care about wine? Then she pointed out that it was more of a true crime documentary, that changed things. The film follows the exploits of Rudy Kurniawan, an Indonesian national who burst on to the wine auction scene in the early 2000s by selling vintage wines. Rich people lost their shit.

Due to his access to vintage wine, Rudy became a hot commodity with the wealthy, snobby wine crowd. They bought his wines at auction, they partied with him and fawned all over him. They didn't seem to know much about him or how he could even get his hands on these rare vintages, they only cared that he supplied the rare vintages. This went on for a few years, until two things happened: 1) a sales of some rare vintages from the Ponsot Winery in Burgundy, France caught the eye of the owner, Domaine Ponsot. Ponsot was curious as to how Rudy got his hands on these vintages. 2) Bill Koch purchased some vintages that Thomas Jefferson from Rudy through an auction and it turned out they were counterfeit. In case the name Koch sounds familiar, Bill Koch is one half of of the Koch Brothers...

Oh, those Koch Brothers.

If there's one thing really extremely wealthy people like Mr. Koch hate more than paying taxes, it's being swindled. Mr. Koch used his considerable influence to get an investigation started on Rudy. That and Mr. Ponsot's own work started to tighten the noose around Rudy's neck. Eventually, it all came to an end in 2012 when the FBI raided Rudy's home in LA and found an orgy of evidence. All the materials you would need to counterfeit vintage wine, they seized. Rudy would be convicted in Federal Court and sentenced to 10 years in federal prison.

On of the few things I took away from this was the old proverb, "a fool and his money are soon parted." It seemed clear the Rudy was a con-artist. Keeping only a few steps ahead of creditors and receiving advances from auction houses on future sales. Rudy's victims were pretty much repulsive wealthy snobs. Some were in denial that they had been swindled. Apparently, none of them ever saw The Grifters or Matchstick Men. It's called a "long con." One of the questions the movie raises is how a did all this happen and no one found out? The main reason was that the auction house (in this case, Acker, Merral & Condit) received a high commission. Giving them no incentive to truly authenticate any of the vintages (eery parallel to the housing bubble bursting in 2007, the mortgage rating companies that gave handed out "A" credit ratings to toxic mortgages. The film The Big Short explains it much better than I ever could). Why mess with the golden goose. Screw integrity when there's too much money and prestige at stake. The last thing I realized was that you can swindle people but when you swindle the wrong person, then you're screwed. In this case it was Bill Koch. Bernie Madoff was scamming people for years until he screwed over the wrong wealthy person. Someone with influence.

2016 Films: #33. The Autopsy of Jane Doe

This was an iTunes rental that was viewed on December 23rd. My wife saw this trailer while I was traveling for work and she seemed really excited so when I got back, we planned an evening around the picture.

The film is directed by André Øvredal (if you've never seen Trollhunter, watch it, it's available on Netflix!) and it stars Brian Cox and Emile Hirsch as Tommy and Austin Tilden, father/son coroners in a small Virginia town who are tasked with discovering the cause of death of a body found at a grisly crime scene (the film opens at the crime scene and it is particularly bloody, very bloody). As the Tilden's progress through the examination, they find clues about her death that lead to more head scratching questions. As they continue to examine the body and discover the clues, things start to get weirder and weirder until things ultimately end in tragedy.

Most of the film takes place in the examination room of the mortuary that the Tilden's run and that sense of confinement adds to the tension. It's just the Tildens and the body. The film probably has a modest budget and some of the VFX reflect that but Øvredal does a really nice job with what he has. The runtime is on 86 minutes so the film is very no-nonsense and you get a lot out of it. This film is worth watching, it's got an interesting story, solid acting and a good pace.

2016 Films: #32. Hush

Part of the Netflix binge on December 17th. Hush was co-written by Kate Siegel (also the protagonist of the film) and her husband Mike Flanagan (also the director). The picture premiered at SXSW in the Spring and Netflix purchased the distribution rights.

The premise of the film is very simple. Maddie (Siegel) is a deaf writer who is currently staying in an isolated house in the woods (when will people in film learn that isolation is an invitation to a gruesome death, ugh!). Maddie is in the kitchen when her friend Sarah is attacked outside her house. Sarah pleads for help but Maddie begin deaf, can't hear her and things go south for Sarah. The killer realizes that Maddie is deaf and decides that he has found a second victim. What unfolds is a very nice cat & mouse thriller where Maddie has to fight off a killer who is pretty confident that he can murder a deaf woman.

A very minimalist film that is pretty riveting. I wouldn't say it kept me on the edge of my seat but my wife & I were hollering at the tv trying to warn Maddie of impending danger. It reminded me a lot of 1967's Wait Until Dark, where a blind Audrey Hepburn must outwit some serious dudes or die. Maddie tries to turn the tables on her assailant as she knows that once in the house, she's done for. There are some standard slasher tropes as to be expected but this is a nice little film that is worth a view (it got a very high critic rating on Rotten Tomatoes) and with a run time of under 90 minutes, you can still get to bed early, like me.

2016 Films: #31. Spectral

This Netflix film was viewed on Saturday December 17th. I decided to watch this on a Saturday when my wife was away and I should've been cleaning the bathroom. It kept showing up in every genre when I was looking for films to watch so I took a chance. The picture was originally to be released over the Summer but Universal decided against it and Netflix purchased the distribution rights.

The film is set in war torn Moldova. American troops encounter something very deadly that they can't wrap their heads around. Enter DARPA scientist Dr. Mark Clyne, a weapon specialist who might be able to identify this new "weapon." The "weapon" appears to be just mist moving independently but it's invulnerable to bullets and quite efficient at killing U.S. troops. On his first "ride along" with the Delta Force unit, Clyne eventually figures out how to spot the previously invisible force and rigs up a device so they can be seen. What they see is a mist in humanoid form. The mist pretty much makes mincemeat out the elite unit and the command is looking for Clyne to come up with something to fight the problem.

After suffering brutal defeats, eventually Clyne deduces (the clues were in front of him and he has to critically think to come up with the solution) what the creatures are and comes up with a plan to stop them. Things get a bit A-Team(y) as Clyne and the troops create weapons to track and kill the creatures that leads to a final showdown. During the battle Clyne and Fran (the CIA operative that is running the Delta Force ops) find the lab where the creatures are created (it's very sciencey but the people were once human but are now made up of a Bose-Einstein Condensate). Sure enough, the good guys win.

This wasn't a bad film. Lots of action that's well edited and the VFX are nicely done. A solid cast of actors you've seen before but may not be able to remember where you've seen them. The film clocks in at 107 minutes and it never really slows down. A good solid pace. This is writer/director Nic Mathieu's first feature film this got an 80% Rotten Tomatoes rating. Mathieu has filmed commercials prior to taking the helm of this feature and he does a really nice job. Fast paced action with a nice science fiction twist. It's worth the time to watch on a Friday or Saturday night.

2016 Films: #30. Rogue One

December 16th in Chicago. So we've been waiting on this latest installment of the Star Wars franchise for awhile and I took the day off from work to catch that 8 am showing at the nearest cineplex. The basic premise of the film is the actual theft of the Death Star schematics that lead to the events in Episode IV: A New Hope. 

Here are the main characters:

• Jyn Erso (Felicity Jones): Main protagonist and daughter of Galen Erso. Saw her mom killed by Krennic and his goons. 
• Galen Erso (Mads Mikkelsen): Jyn's dad. He's the Imperial engineer who made the Death Star work.
• Cassian Andor (Diego Luna): Rebel intelligence officer who leads the mission to get the Death Star plans.
• Orson Krennic (Ben Mendelsohn): Evil Imperial engineer who is the father of the Death Star. It's his baby and he's very proud of it. He also travels with a badass group of guards known as "death troopers."

Also known as the goons who killed Jyn's mom.

• Chirrut Îmwe (Donnie Yen): Blind warrior who's not a Jedi but has a got a good relationship with the Force. 
• Baze Malbus: (Wen Jiang): Chirrut's pal who has a pretty kick ass arsenal.
• K-2SO: (voiced by Alan Tudyk): Imperial droid that is reprogrammed by Cassian Andor. Think C3PO but less wimpy with the knowledge of how to use a weapon.
• Bodhi Rook (Riz Ahmed): Imperial freighter pilot who defects with a message from Galen about the Death Star.
• Saw Gerrera (Forest Whitaker): Surrogate father to Jyn after her mother is killed and father is forced back into service by Krennic. He is anti-empire and fights them on his own because the Alliance think he's a bit too extreme.
• Grand Moff Tarkin: Physically played Guy Henry but was digitally enhanced to look like Peter Cushing, with the permission from the estate. I honestly thought that they  somehow were able to re-animate Cushing's corpse for the film. For a short time at least.
• Also back are Bail Organa of Alderaan and Mon Mothma (leader of the Rebel Alliance).

The film opens up with Krennic and his goons finding the Erso family on a distant planet. Erso isn't too keen on building a weapon of mass destruction so Krennic kills his wife in an attempt to persuade him. Jyn escapes but her dad is going back to work for the Empire. Jyn is rescued by Saw Gerrera and eventually is arrested and imprisoned by the Empire, she uses different aliases to hide her identity so she can't be used as leverage against her father. While on a prisoner transfer shuttle, she's rescued by Candor and brought to the Alliance High Council to assist on a mission, find Saw Gerrera. So Jyn agrees and goes off with Candor and K2SO to Jedha where it's reported that an Imperial freighter pilot has defected with information about a new weapon of the Empire. Jedha apparently was the site of an old Jedi temple that is now in ruin since Order 66.

In case you didn't make the connection between Jedha and Jedi, here's a ruin for you.

After taking part in an attack on Imperial forces, Cassian and Jyn are captured by Gerrera's faction along with Chirrut and Baze. Jyn and Saw exchange pleasantries and Saw shows her the message from her father where he tells her about the Death Star's weakness and where she can steal the plans. While in a holding cell Cassian, Chirrut and Baze meet Bodhi Rook, the defector, and spring him from his cell. Meanwhile on the Death Star, Tarkin give Krennic and chiding and wants a show of force. The Death Star's weapons are operational and Tarkin decides that destroying the city of Jedha is good enough. Cassian, Jyn and K2SO are joined by Rook, Baze and Chirrut as they escape Jedha and head to Eadu to find Galen. On Eadu, Jyn goes to get her father but he's confronted by Krennic about the security breach. Krennic executes Galen's team and out of nowhere a rebel squadron destroys the base. Jyn has a brief meeting with her dad but is forced to leave him behind.

Back on Yavin, Jyn tries to convince the council to go after the data plans and gives some speach about hope while rebel leaders discuss the merits of just quitting. Jyn says "screw it" and decides to steal the plans herself. Of course Cassian and the crew go with her. They even manage to pick up a group of volunteers to give them a hand (the amount varies depending on the scene, there were only about a dozen or so that volunteered on Yavin but there seemed like a lot more in the fight scenes). In a stolen Imperial transport (that sounds familiar doesn't it?) the team arrives at Scarif (the home of the Imperial data files and a potentially nice resort location.

Filmed in Maldives, in very nice vacation spot in real life.

In order to get down to the base the ship must submit a clearance code and go through the shield entrance (again, really familiar) to the planet's surface. Once they land, the rebels split up into groups to set up diversions to draw out Imperial forces so Jyn and Cassian can steal the plans from the data tower. Krennic arrives as things start to heat up and the rebels give a valiant effort but out of nowhere the rebel fleet arrives (more people that said "screw it" and went out there to help) and things are in full swing (again, very familiar premises). It turns out that the plans can only be transmitted when the shield is down. As the battle rages on the Death Star shows up, the shield is down and the plans are transmitted. As the rebels getting ready to make the jump to hyperspace, Vader shows up in a Star Destroyer. This leads to a seamless transition into Episode IV: A New Hope.

This film was good but not great. It was a lot of fun. There are a lot of easter eggs, some good and some unnecessary. Director Gareth Edwards does a real nice job here. Much like Abrams did in Episode VIII, Edwards sticks with the great aspects from the original trilogy. Jyn is pretty similar to Rey from Episode VIII, both female, who have a mysterious background and are quick on their feet (who knew that a major motion picture with a strong female lead would make for a good film, very weird). Solid acting all around here as if the cast and crew know that this is Star Wars and you have to be at your best. Now that we have had 2 films post prequels (both solid), those films are now viewed about as well as the plague. Let's face it, there was a lot of talent in the prequels but they were bad. Viewers were not emotionally connected to any of the main characters. That hasn't been the case in this film or in Episode VIII. The only real problem I had with any of the characters is the decision to have Whitaker play Gerrera like Frank Booth.

Remember this guy? 

Whitaker is a great actor that would have a mantle full of awards if the world was a perfect place. I don't know if it was his choice or Edwards'. It seemed a little strange to me. That's all. The other minor issue I had was Vader's first appearance. In a scene with Krennic, he just didn't seem menacing enough (Vader's final scene in the film more than makes up it, believe me). Maybe it's because James Earl Jones is well into his 80's and his voice is different than it was over 30 years ago. There was a nice scene where different rebel characters make mention that they've done some morally questionable things while fighting against the Empire. These scenes are quick and may go unnoticed but I thought it was an interesting touch. Morality can get lost very quickly in war even when it's a war against tyranny. Good writing, good dialogue. Characters meshing well (something that never happened in the prequels). Well done. Good but not great. It's a little derivative but this is the new Star Wars formula and it's working. Why mess with it. This was a fun film to watch. If you are a fan of the franchise then it is a must see. If you have cursory knowledge of the franchise, then see the film. It's a good time.

2016 Films: #29. The Good Neighbor

Saturday December 10th in Chicago. This was the first half of a Netflix double feature. This film premiered at the 2016 SXSW Festival and got a limited release in September. My wife and I were under the impression that this was a horror film but it turned out to be more of a psychological thriller considering no one got chopped up.

The film focuses on two teenagers; Ethan (Logan Miller) and Sean (Keir Gilchrist) and their "experiment" to drive their neighbor Mr. Grainey (James Caan) to the brink of insanity by making him think his house is haunted. Ethan comes up with the plan and Sean supplies the surveillance equipment. Their plan seems to be gong along nicely. They agitate Grainey at one point with a screen door that he uses an axe to destroy the door. The thing that bothers Ethan and Sean is that Grainey spends a lot of time in the locked basement, up to several hours a day. This leads Ethan and Sean to the "natural" conclusion that Grainey's got someone held prisoner down there. Ethan is always the one pushing to hassle Grainey more. Sean finds out that Ethan believes that Grainey had a hand in sending his father to jail after a domestic incident. When Sean wants to pull out of the "experiment," Ethan reminds him that he purchased the surveillance equipment and his fingerprints are all over them.

The time comes for the boys to break into Grainey's home (again) to see what exactly is in the basement after they arranged for a cop to search it but they didn't believe the cop "looked hard enough." Ethan breaks into the house, this time with a gun, and gets into the basement. When he gets down there, he's surprised to find keepsakes. He takes a bell and places upstairs on a table. Grainey sees the bell and reacts. The police show up.

This was a really good picture. Director Kasra Farahani put together a real nice film here by intercutting flashbacks, court room scenes that occurred after the 2nd break in and the original narrative itself. Each piece keeps the viewer a little off balance until the film's climax. The flashback scenes contain bits of Grainey's exposition where maybe he is the jerk that Ethan makes him out to be but other flashbacks paint a different picture. Solid acting, especially by Caan. The only real problems I had were the fact that all of the surveillance took place in the Fall when Sean and Ethan were supposed to be at school. Ethan's mom (Anne Dudek) worked nights but I doubt Ethan could've gotten away with some of his antics. Sean's parents, who we never really see, don't seem to mind that their son spends a huge chunk of time at Ethan's place either. The film has a 98 minute run time and sometimes drags a bit.

This was a really interesting and good film. An interesting ending and a bit of a message at the end. 

2016 Films: #30. Intruder

December 10th in Chicago. This was the 2nd half of a Netflix double feature night. This was my choice in hopes that it would be some sort of stalk and slash film that I enjoyed in my youth. It wasn't. In fact it was disappointing. The film has a 95 minute run time but could've used another turn in the editing room. Written and directed by Travis Zariwny (credited in the film as Travis Z), the film has some promising moments but never really hits a full stride.

This minimalist picture takes place over a rainy weekend at the apartment of the film's protagonist, Elizabeth (Louise Linton), a cellist for the Portland Philharmonic who received an admission into the London Symphony. This puts a little tension on her relationship with her boyfriend Justin. Elizabeth is being stalked rather aggressively by any one of three potential creeps.  The stalker spends a lot of time in the bedroom closet and when Elizabeth sleeps he just creeps around the apartment. He ends up doing away with Justin (whom he stabs one in the back but the body apparently didn't bleed when placed on the floor or the stalker managed to stealthily clean up the mess while Elizabeth is in the shower) and stashes the body under the bed (I'm not sure how she didn't manage to look under the bed at all, I do it at least once day looking for slippers). Eventually the stalker grabs Elizabeth and she wakes up in a basement across the street from her apartment building (I'm guessing that he drugs her, carries her body out of the apartment building, across the street and into another building without anyone noticing).

Some of the stalker scenes are ok but he never really torments her. He just creeps around until he has to kill Justin and it's time to make his move. There's also not a lot of tension in the film either which would seem crucial in a stalker film (check out 2006's Alone With Her to see a stalker film that ratchets up the tension). Maybe Elizabeth wasn't that bright. Plus the stalker identity reveal wasn't very exciting either. Zariwny presents us with 3 potential suspects but only one seemed plausible about halfway into the film. This just wasn't a very good film. It could have been better. 

2016 Films: #28. Mercy

Part of the post-Thanksgiving double feature of November 25th. This film was screened at the LA Film Festival in June 2016 and Netflix picked up the distribution rights. The picture is written and directed by Chris Sparling and the plot deals with the grown sons coming back to the family home to be with their dying mother.

Brad (James Wolk) and Travis (Tom Lipinski) are Grace's boys from her first husband. Then there's Grace's and her current husband George's (Dan Ziskie) sons Ronnie (Michael Godere) and TJ (Michael Vincent Donovan). George has been taking care of Grace ( as well as taking care of the will which are lead to believe is substantial)and he's also has more of a liking towards his own kids and doesn't think much of Brad and Travis. So there's that family dynamic. There's an early scene where George is visited by a doctor who has medication to help (?) Grace but George doesn't want any part of it. Soon all the sons are there and it's pretty uncomfortable for everyone. Once everyone turns in for the night, the sh*t starts to go down.

Masked intruders invade the home and its not clear what their after but eventually people start dying on both sides. The intruders reaffirm their fortitude (no one is going to get out alive) and press their attack. There's a bit of a twist that has to do with the death of Grace's first husband.

This is a minimalist film, no visual effects, no big names and a pretty simple story. It's not a bad film per se but there's nothing really special about it except for the ending (it came as a surprise but not Usual Suspects level) but you have to sit through 85 minutes to get to the ending. For a short film, it seem longer and the story seems to drag at times. That kind of thing is not good for a 90 minute film. Sparling also fails to shed any type of light on the death of Grace's first husband. There's video that one of the sons finds (in unrealistic fashion) but it doesn't add anything to story (it's a strange video that makes no sense at all). This a low budget film that goes for the slow burn but it fails to ignite the fuse. Take a pass unless you find yourself unable to sleep. 

2016 Films: #27. Trash Fire

This was an iTunes rental on November 25th at the house in Chicago. My wife and I had finished watching 13TH and we needed a change of pace and this is what we came up with after going through different trailers. We ended up on this because the other trailers pretty much told you the plot of the movie. With Trash Fire, we weren't quite sure what we would get, so we went down the rabbit hole.

This picture, written and directed by Richard Bates, Jr., centers around Owen (the pretty boy from Entourage) the drunken, bulimic, epileptic slacker who has no means of income yet somehow has been dating Isabel (Angela Trimbur) for a few years despite the fact that they pretty much hate each other. The two are on the verge of breaking up when Isabel reveals that she's pregnant. Owen eventually has a change of heart and the two are going to move forward and become parents. Since Owen had a weird upbringing and has been estranged from his grandmother and sister (his folks were killed and sister horribly disfigured in a fire that was allegedly caused by Owen's negligence), Isabel decides that Owen should reconcile with the only family that he has in order to become a good parent(?). So the two drive out to Owen's grandmother's secluded home (never a good idea to isolate one's self) to make amends.

Turns out the Owens grandmother Violet (Fionnula Flanagan), is a religious nut job who disapproves of Owen, his relationship with Isabel and treats her granddaughter Pearl (AnnaLynne McCord) rather terribly. After the fire, Owen took off and left Pearl in the hands of Violet. Pearl is conscious of her looks and pretty much lives as a shut in with limited social skills. The more time Owen and Isabel stay there, more is revealed about the fire and Violet's big scheme. Pearl doesn't like Owen and Violet fighting and expresses her frustration about it. When we hit the denouement, the secret of the fire is revealed, Violet and Owen clash and Pearl violently punishes Owen and Violet for fighting (they were warned). Isabel's fate is left to Pearl (good thing she was nice to her in a previous scene) and it's probably not good.

I'll be honest, this was actually a pretty good film. The dynamic between was Owen and Isabel was almost on a romcom level and sometimes unbelievable (I get that Owen is good looking and all but is he really capable of of holding onto a fox like Isabel being so emotionally distant? Plus he's a jerk to her too considering what she puts up with) but it was interesting narrative to the film. There wasn't much onscreen interaction between Pearl and Violet to show how much they disliked each other until a scene where Violet sneaks into Pearl's room with a gun and as Violet points the pistol at her, Pearl, feigning sleep, whips around and levels a shot gun at Violet. Violet smiles and leaves the room. I got the feeling that this probably happens a lot. On a stay at home Friday night, this was an fun film to watch.

2016 Films: #25. The Handmaiden

November 23rd in Chicago, IL. I happen to be a fan of director Chan-wook Park. His Vengeance Trilogy is brutal and dark (really f*cked up stuff). He did a real nice job with Stoker (although it moved a little slowly at times). Park has proven to be a solid director and I for one go out to see his films despite the fact that they may be hard to find. Since I am a Park fan, I didn't bother with viewing the trailer, I saw that it was playing nearby and went to see the picture.

Set in Japanese occupied Korea, there are four main characters: "Count Fujiwara (Jung-woo Ha)," Sook-Hee (Tae-ri Kim), Uncle Kouzuki (Jin-woong Jo) and Lady Hideko (Min-hee Kim). "Fujiwara" is no count, hes a conman who's trying to swindle Lady Hideko's trust fund. He enlists the aid of Sook-Hee, a thief, to help him get in the lady's good graces and help gaslight her into a mental asylum then split the inheritance. Hideko is the kept woman of her uncle, the very wealthy Kouzuki, a collector and dealer of antique Japanese erotica (Hideko performs readings of the works, it's an interesting scene). Lady Hideko and Sook-Hee grow closer and soon Sook-Hee begins to show jealousy towards "Fujiwara." Sook-Hee ends up confessing to Lady Hideko of "Fujiwara's" plan and talk about running away together. The time comes for Lady Hideko to be committed and suffice to say that Sook-Hee is in for a surprise. However it turns out that Hideko is playing everyone. She has a special plan for "Fujiwara" and flees with Sook-Hee (who orchestrated an escape from the asylum) with the help of her criminal family.

This is a real interesting film. Park ratchets up the tension very well. The film as a running time of 144 minutes but it never drags along. Park draws you in and takes you through several plot twists that kept me off balance. Excellent acting. Excellent cinematography and a real interesting story. The picture received a 94% Rotten Tomatoes rating and deservedly so. However, the only real issue I had was that things between Hideko and Sook-Hee got a little too graphic (to the point where I had to apologize to my wife because I didn't realize that the film went there). As a 46 year-old dude, I just felt that Park went a little too far on the sex scenes. It took a little bit away for me. The relationship between Hideko and Sook-Hee raised a few points with me: was Sook-Hee recruited because she was a lesbian (something probably frowned upon in 1930's Korea and she kind of had to have been because she seems to know what she's doing)? This is a film worth watching but be warned, it does get graphic.

2016 Films: #26. 13TH

My wife and I have been wanting to see this since it came out over a month ago but due to the fact that the subject matter was unsettling, we were looking for the right time. November 25th was the day. I thought I was prepared for the subject matter. I wasn't. This Netflix documentary is directed by Ava DuVernay and shows the inequality of the prison system stemming from a "throw away" line from the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution that outlawed slavery except as punishment for a crime. With that the prison industry boomed by imprisoning freed slaves for the slightest indistrection. The full 13th Amendment goes a little like this: "Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction."

I don't know what else to say that this film should be required viewing in our school system (like that would ever happen, why teach the truth, no matter how ugly it may be). In addition to giving a history of prison inequality, the film also touches on how special interests draft the the bills that our lawmakers submit. Democracy for sale. Nice work 'Murica!

Just take the time to see this film. That's all that can be said.

2016 Films: #24. Doctor Strange

November 22nd in St. Charles, MO. To be honest, I was never into Doctor Strange comics when I was a kid. Strange has been around since 1963 and he never seemed all that interesting to me. Well that's all changed because this picture has been very successful grossing over $200 million domestically in about 4 weeks against a $165 million budget and it's got Benedict Cumberbatch. The international market will most certainly add to its haul. Marvel has hit another home run with, in my opinion, a 2nd rate character (Guardians of the Galaxy being the other, in fact I could argue that Guardians were not just 2nd rate but obscure).

The film pretty much is a remake of Iron Man. Dr. Stephen Strange is a successful and talented surgeon who's also a bit of an arrogant dickhead (a la Tony Stark). Strange survives an unsurvivable car crash (it was worse than the Bond crash in Casino Royale) and his hands are so badly injured that he can no longer operate (like most surgeons, if they can't cut, they can't heal). Strange spends all his money looking for a cure that can mend the damaged nerves in his hands. Strange's physical therapist turns him onto a guy named Pangborn (Benjamin Bratt), a paraplegic who was able to walk. Pangborn turns Strange onto Kamar-Taj, the place where Pangborn went to learn to walk again. Strange heads to Nepal (probably the same spot where Eddie Murphy went in The Golden Child) to find the the place that can restore the use of his hands.

Strange is accepted into Kamar-Taj by the Ancient One (Tilda Swinton) and his training begins. His training is pretty much a series of whimsical moments (much like Stark developing his armor) where learns from his failures and gets better at his craft. He basically gets really good really fast. He learns about the evil Kaecilius (Mads Mikkelsen), a former star pupil of the ancient one who turned to evil (sounds familiar doesn't it?) and recently stole some pages from an ancient manuscript that will bring about the destruction of the world. Kaecilius then starts targeting the sanctums that make up the mystic security net and the greenhorn Strange squares off against him and holds his own. During the battle Kaecilius gets in Strange's head and he begins to question the Ancient One.

This all leads to the inevitable final battle at the Hong Kong sanctum. Strange, Mordo (Chiwetel Ejiofor) and Wong (Benedict Wong) arrive too late but Strange uses cunning guile to strike a deal with Dormammu (the evil mystic overlord that Kaecilius is into and who bears a striking resemblance to Galactus) and save the world. Strange takes the mantle of Sorcerer Supreme. Mordo however, already disillusioned by the Ancient One using dark magic, is not happy with Strange's solution and will eventually become a villain in the next installment.

This film has been well received by the critics and has a 91% Rotten Tomatoes rating. My feelings are this, I enjoyed the film. It seemed to stay close to the source material (although there was some controversy). Good easter eggs and mid/post credit scenes. Solid acting (I don't think that Rachel McAdams was all that great but her character wasn't much other than be a love interest for Strange, much like Stark and Potts from Iron Man). Solid pace and great visual effects. However, there was a lot that was borrowed from other films. I mean a lot (the already mentioned Iron Man, The Matrix and Inception are all too obvious connections). At the end, when Hong Kong is about to get engulfed in mystical destruction, the visual effect is very similar to the near apocalypse effect from  Suicide Squad, both Avengers films and so on. I get that most of these stories follow the archetype of the romance hero that dates back to ancient Greece for crying out loud. I understand that Marvel has a winning formula and they will jam it down our throats until we as a viewing public stop watching.

This is a flawed but enjoyable film. The MCU has a plan for their franchises and I am invested in their films. As long as they're entertaining, I will continue to watch the films.