Gotta See! Korean Film in Focus Series

As any movie lover can tell you, some really interesting fare has been coming out of Korea for the last decade. Oldboy got remade by Spike Lee, A Bittersweet Life's Jee-woon Kim was enlisted to helm Arnold's awesome comeback flick The Last Stand and star Byung-hun Lee has kept busy in G.I. Joe, Red 2, Terminator Genisys and is featured in the upcoming The Magnificent Seven remake. The films I've seen coming from Korea are well crafted with hints of melancholy, weirdness and humor with a very visual and technical panache. One of my favorite movies to come out of the region is Seung-wan Ryoo's high school reunion meets murder mystery mashed with martial arts mayhem good time The City of Violence. South Korea is also one of the fastest growing markets in global cinema with many a studio looking to break in the local market which is loyal to homegrown titles.

This week, The Korean Film Council his hosting two nights of double features showcasing some of Korea's most exciting artists turned recent Academy Members. Starting tonight in Beverly Hills you can catch Im Kwon-taek's drama Revivre (Cremation) and Han Jae-rim's award winning, mega hit period piece The Face Reader. Then on Friday it's Yoon Jong-bin's 80's and 90's mob film Nameless Gangster: Rules of the Time and Bong Joon-ho's awesomely crazy post-apocalyptic thriller Snowpiercer which stars Chris Evans, Kang-ho Song and Ed Harris. All of the screenings are free with introductions and Q&A's being teased.  Pick up tickets on Eventbrite. I'll see you at Snowpiercer because babies taste best!

Van Dammage: Arnold Belt

"He makes sense when he talks.  He doesn't talk with complicated words, he's direct.  You look into his eyes, they are good.  He will never try to hurt you or take advantage of you.  He's too busy and too rich, he has his own focus, his own mission.  He's not looking at how your arms are so big and the way you dress.  He's above all that.  I like him a lot."

Jean-Claude Van Damme on Arnold Schwarzenegger

When Jean-Claude Van Damme's movie career first started picking up steam, he was immediately compared to the established Austrian Oak.  It was easy to see why of course as Arnold was king of the action film along with Sylvester Stallone.  But with a European heritage and background in bodybuilding, surface comparisons were easy to make between The Muscles From Brussels and The Schwarz.  I'm not sure if the two interacted much on the 1986 Mexico set of Predator when JCVD was playing the original creature before dropping out.  Jesse Ventura gives Van Damme a shout out in one of his books, saying he was impressed with the young martial artist and thought he had a promising career ahead.  After JC left Predator and the suit was redesigned, the two would meet again on the set of Red Heat where Van Damme was unknowingly sitting in star Schwarzenegger's chair.  Cut to the Hoover Dam location of Universal Soldier in 1991 where by now Van Damme was a million dollar leading man opposite Dolph Lundgren in his first big budget studio effort and Arnie showed up with former bodybuilding champion/best friend Franco Columbu to wish co-star Ralf Moeller a happy birthday.  Apple juice and cigars flowing, the duo continued to build their rapport and when producers of Arnold's big budget summer release The Last Action Hero were looking for stars to cameo, Jean-Claude Van Damme answered the call and received a quick, speaking part while Chevy Chase, Damon Wayons, Sharon Stone and Robert Patrick among others were silently seen.

While the two stars might share vague similarities in the sense they're both European white guys who lift weights and do action movies, the likenesses more or less stop there.  Van Damme was always flattered to receive the comparison but knew he was his own man with his own plan.  Besides, it's better to be compared to a king than a pauper, right?  Whereas Arnold broke into the mainstream with his mix of hyper masculine physique, looming presence and boisterous sense of humor, Van Damme always played it a bit quieter and a bit more sensitive.  Arnold's first signature roles showcased him as unstoppable barbarians and cybernetic killing machines in Conan and The Terminator while Van Damme burst into the scene playing a mentor honoring karate fighter and revenge seeking kickboxer in Bloodsport and well, Kickboxer.  As Arnold was usually meting out violence with a sword or sub-machine gun in hand, JCVD was busy kicking people in the face and doing the splits.  Whereas Arnold had a square, muscular jaw and a physique that was difficult to hide, Van Damme's smaller stature and baby face made him less menacing and more apt to aspire to be a romantic, dramatic and comedic leading man.  As Van Damme's profile grew, his films became more action oriented than martial arts driven and put him into the same cinematic turf as Arnold and Sly.  While we never saw Van Damme mow down a field of baddies with a machine gun or win a war, hybrid action/martial arts flicks like Timecop, Hard Target and the pure action, Die Hard style Sudden Death attempted to bring him into the full mainstream to unfortunate diminishing results.  As the era of the 80's and 90's action movie came to a close, Arnold was the last man standing who never went Direct to Video and after a few under performers, left the business on a high note with Terminator 3's $433 million dollar worldwide gross.

Today, Arnold's return to film has produced solid flicks like The Last Stand, The Tomb and Sabotage but he's only struck box office gold in small cameos in The Expendables franchise.  Since his last starring role wide release in 1999's Universal Soldier: The Return, Van Damme has kept his filmic output to a minimum compared to DTV factory Steven Seagal and for the most part has challenged himself as an actor in dark and serious efforts like In Hell, Wake of Death and Until Death before playing himself in 2008's meta-mockumentary breakthrough JCVD which earned the Belgian his highest praise to date.  Subsequent branching out included a voiceover role in Kung Fu Panda 2, a return to the big screen as the villain in The Expendables 2, playing dumb in ensemble comedy Welcome to the Jungle and finishing up his directorial effort Full Love/Soldiers/The Eagle Path.

I like Conan:

Summer Cinema: The Purge: Anarchy

Are you much of a horror film fan?  I'm not.  Everybody always seems so dumb and going places they shouldn't be or the horror is a big cop out because it's just people scaring themselves in the dark.  So I was aware of The Purge's existence, it's one of those low budget horror movies from factory Blum House that starred Ethan Hawke and Lena Headley in a home invasion horror story set in a future where all crime is legal for 12 hours to help keep society balanced.  The scenario sounded contrite to me and these $3 million cheapies with former low watt movie stars just seemed like filler that turned a profit without actually being entertaining.  I knew a sequel was being produced and was intrigued by the casting of the up and coming Frank Grillo, an actor that's caught my attention since his small role in Mel Gibson's Edge of Darkness then full on in Warrior and The Grey as an MMA coach and roughneck oil worker asshole.  Quick bits in End of Watch and Zero Dark Thirty seemed to signify he was getting seen by the right people then a role as a villain in this years smash Captain America: The Winter Soldier seemed to possibly foretell a future of playing henchmen.

With no interest in seeing The Purge: Anarchy, I caught a blurb review about someone likening it to a John Carpenter infused action movie from the 80's.  That immediately piqued my interest because if there's one thing Hollywood needs, it's more lost John Carpenter movies.  I'm not talking remakes of Halloween, The Fog or Assault On Precinct 13 (which wasn't bad), I'm talking about Robert Rodriguez's Planet Terror which plays like a lost Carpenter flick with it's mix of action, horror, humor and gruesome f/x set to a killer synth score.  That said, The Purge: Anarchy is totally a riff on Assault On Precinct 13 and They Live mixed with Van Damme's Hard Target or basically a surprisingly satisfying action movie disguised as a horror flick in the marketing materials.  Incidentally, writer/director James DeMonaco wrote the 2005 remake of Carpenter's Assault on Precinct 13.  Set in a future where new government has installed the annual Purge, a 12 hour window where all crime like murder, looting and rape are legal.  It's a little far fetched a concept to get around at first as our story centers on some peeps who get stuck outside after it starts.  If you knew this was coming, wouldn't you just take a day off and fortify your house?  But once you get past that, there's unrelated characters coming together, a rebellion questioning the underlying intentions of the Purge, rich VS poor societal lines and a possible military style government conspiracy at play, all themes very familiar to Carpenter fans.

We meet our core characters a couple hours before The Purge starts: there's hard working waitress and her daughter Eva and Cali (Carmen Ejogo and Zoe Soul) then struggling couple Shane and Liz (Zac Gilford from The Last Stand and Kiele Sanchez), then you have heavily armed and despondent looking Frank Grillo driving around in his souped up crime mobile.  I'm not even sure if they say his name in the flick but I think it's Sergeant Leo.  The 3 unrelated parties all run into each other and stick together to survive while uncovering much more at play than just thugs going on a spree.  While watching the film, I couldn't help but think that Grillo would make a pitch perfect The Punisher on the new Daredevil series on Netflix or anywhere.   He's spot on here as a man on the revenge trail, armed to the teeth, muscular yet lithe with dark features and a commanding presence that gives a sense of both safety and fright.  Make no mistake, Anarchy is an action flick with only a handful of scares, one of them that made me jump in my seat.  It's mostly gunplay with a few bursts of foot chases and fisticuffs.  I thought it was kind of a missed opportunity that we see Grillo's character driving around the city in his souped up, Mad Max style battle car but there's no chase scene that destroys it.  Guess they only had the one.  It's an interesting change of pace since part one was a home invasion flick, this one is action oriented so the next could be a disaster movie with an earthquake occurring during the ritual to change things up or take on the form of any genre.

After opening up #2 this weekend with nearly $30 million in box office receipts on a $9 million dollar budget, we can be sure to see more Purge flicks in the near future.  Especially after Universal and producer Jason Blum just signed a 10-year first look deal.  Now somebody make a flick as wild, zany, quotable and downright wonderful as Big Trouble In Little China or The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension.

End of Watch(ing): 2013

Another year, another 80 movies in a theater.  First run, revival, special events, anniversaries, midnights and outdoor screenings add up in the city of lights and angels.  Looking back, I got to see some of my favorite movies of all time on the big screen like The Great Escape (2nd time), The Terminator (3rd time), Robocop (2nd time) and Escape From New York (3rd time) as well as see some of my favorite actors in person like Jean-Claude Van Damme, Kurt Russell and Peter Weller.

On the new movie front, three flicks hit cinemas that became instant favorites:

Pain & Gain

Hands down my favorite movie of the year.  Why?  Because it's a movie about DOING.  Not talking about it, being about it!  Just because it's about the dark side of the human condition doesn't take away from the fact that P&G was the most hilarious and fucked up good time I had in a theater.  Of course I'm partial to the flick as well due to it's 90's bodybuilding backdrop which I find hysterical.  Mark Wahlberg is great as the determined, positive, yoked out, manipulative and demented ring leader following a three finger plan to rid the world of a douche bag while getting rich in the process.  Dwayne Johnson's freakish physique and boyish charm are put to good use as the dim witted weak link of the group and Wings' Tony Shalhoub is fantastic as the self made, total asshole, non-salad eating mark.  Michael Bay brings his usual vibrant, over the top and kinetic style to a low budget classic that shows he knows what he's doing even if people try to give him crap about it.

Pacific Rim

The most fun I had at the movies this summer.  Maybe it was the low expectations, maybe it was the horrid trailers, maybe it was the new yet familiar concept of Transformers fighting Godzilla but I was not looking forward to it.  Imagine my surprise when I found myself grinning ear to ear from the very start.  The soundtrack is catchy and rocking while the giant robot destruction was near heart stopping and exciting.  Rim almost spoils you for other movies because it makes you feel and yearn for a higher purpose.  We all go to movies to be entertained and sometimes educated but Rim is truly cinematic magic as it makes reality seem oh so boring compared to the world created.  Guillermo Del Toro brings out your inner 12 year old while making your 31 year old self wish he had a higher calling as singular and important as defending the world from massive, angry alien invaders.

The Last Stand

Arnold's would be comeback vehicle might not have set the box office on fire but that doesn't take away from the fact that it's an age appropriate and rollicking fun time showing the King still has the goods.  A modern western realized by easterner Kim Jee-Woon, Stand is a violent and quirky thriller that pits Arnie's small town rag-tag Sheriff's Department against the merciless army of an escaped cartel leader.  For me, Stand ranks among The Oak's best flicks, especially trumping anything he's done since True Lies in 1994.

Other flicks I enjoyed or at least made me pay attention:

Star Trek Into Darkness
Ender's Game
World War Z
Thor:  The Dark World
Only God Forgives
Rush
Don Jon
Prisoners
2 Guns

I haven't gotten around to seeing most of the award fodder yet, that's what January is for.

(NOT) Love Actually: The Last Stand

Award season is in full swing for movies with serious, adult themed dramas and tragedies filling up Cineplex's for hours at a time.  We'll start seeing best of lists from people who have never made a movie and then we'll get that bullshit meat market, campaign trail, old white guy mecca known as The Oscars.  Hundreds of films are released a year but the big, noteworthy ones find themselves in a glut around holiday time to fight for voter attention and critical prestige.  A movie with no award prospects but one I thoroughly enjoyed upon release and have revisited since is Arnold's failed comeback vehicle, The Last Stand.  The flick tanked back in January, grossing a meager $12 million on a reported $40 million budget.

I'm not here to talk about what went wrong, I'm here to rap about what went kick ass about the flick.  The pedigree behind The Last Stand is quite impressive; producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura has enjoyable credits like Four Brothers, Red and Transformers to his name while Korean director Kim Jee-Woon makes his US debut after the lyrical action drama A Bittersweet Life and gonzo western The Good, The Bad and The Weird.  A low watt yet recognizable cast including Forest Whitaker, Harry Dean Stanton, Luis Guzman, Peter Stormare, Johnny Knoxville, Jaimie Alexander and Rodrigo Santoro show up to support the aging Arnold.

The Last Stand shows Arnold's intelligence as an actor coming back to the game after a long layoff.  Instead of beating the drum of his own one man band a la Stallone, Arnold again aligns himself with a strong director and talented crew.  The flick is about the best example of a past era movie star trying to compete in the current cinema landscape.  Arnold's portrayal of sheriff Ray Owens is a little stiff but he's still strong, charismatic, funny and able to handle himself in the action.  As Clint Eastwood continued to convincingly play tough guy roles into his retirement years, Arnold carries the tradition if not quite as successfully.

The flick concerns an egomaniacal Mexican cartel leader escaping the feds and making a run for the border in a stolen, souped up Corvette.  Said villain pulls a fast one and avoids the major entry point, opting to have his lackies build a bridge over a narrow canyon in the town of Summerton; sheriff'd by none other than our "worked in LA, saw too much blood and came back to the quiet town" guy Arnold.  With a ragtag crew of rookies and outcasts, Arnold takes on the cartel's goons and makes, The Last Stand.

From beginning to end, The Last Stand is a fun flick.  A flick audiences can feed off each other's laughing and cheering.  It's funny, fast, violent and exciting.  Shootouts, car chases, car flipping, foot chases, cornfields, brawling, falling and grannies with guns provide cathartic mayhem.  I saw it at a preview screening and couldn't believe how much fun it was.  The crowd was so into it and walking out there was a general buzz of good feeling.  Unlike Stallone's Bullet to the Head where audience members didn't know whether to applaud or be appalled at the hyper violent and racist goings on to the point that goers shushed and made fun of each other.

Nods are made to Arnold's age and history as a badass but the film never makes him out to be Superman or tries to recreate his image as the stoic and pumped up hero of Predator or Conan.  That's what I like about the flick, it's doing its best to take Arnold's baggage into a new direction.  He's not the guy from Commando or Terminator anymore so let's not try to hide it.  Whereas Stallone struck higher financial success with The Expendables, the clunky ass action series that highlights his plastic surgery and supplement regimen while showcasing the fact he can't let go and always has to be top dog.  But Arnold then and now, is always concerned with "the movie" and making it the best it can be.  With The Last Stand, he proves again why he'll always be The King of Kings.

Arnold needs to do more of these things: