djores Reviews

Running Scared (2006)

Once upon a gun

[8/10 · 24 February 2006]

Opening shot: Red light hanging above the streets of NJ. Pan down to street level and jump into the back seat of a Mustang convertible hysterically zigzagging its way towards a bicyclist. "12 hours earlier"

Viewer's reaction: 'You gotta be kidding me.' This reaction is methodically sustained and amplified throughout the 122 minutes of shootings, beatings, pedophilia, shootings, beatings, full-frontal nudity, shootings, stabbings, shootings. The movie's 'child=gun' drive is filtered through the hip existentialist denim blues of indie productions circa year 2000 and the cliché (like all others in the story) becomes an exaggeration of itself in a torture-hockey scene under black light where ice, skin and blood all look "ultra-violet"?

Not-quite family entertainment, this seems like a fairy tale without a moral and for a good reason - stay for the filigreed credits sequence that sums up the entire movie.

I pray instead of a sequel the makers release a series of cartoons with the same title.

Izo (2004)

Noh, Play Station, MTV

[24 February 2006]

Izo is a vector-movie: it has a point of origin (Izo is put to death in the opening sequence), direction and speed (arbitrary revenge as determined by the edge of Izo's sword), but no destination. It must be stressed that unlike "traditional" narratives, it consciously avoids the end-point/solution/destination. The movie lets the aesthetics of its form shape the meaning of the story. The aesthetics in question being: hyper-loaded symbolism as conjured in Noh theater; PS2 architecture of the action - labyrinthine violence for its own sake leading up to the next level, which is more of the same with a different CGI background; MTV approach to video editing - Izo's bounces between layers of reality with the approximate speed of a cable channel surfer are spliced with archival footage and several "unplugged" Kazuki Tomokawa performances where the ancient Greek chorus would provide emotional emphasis.

The experience is not exactly rewarding but definitely unparalleled.

Apart from some questionable world-conspiracy and misogyny moments, an overall entertaining, extreme, and cryptically new take on film storytelling. Miike in his radical element.

The Secret Lives of Dentists (2002)

Dental work & Enlightenment

[10/10 · 8 December 2005]

The look: wallpapered, mortgaged, wife, 3-daughter, and a mustache domestic reality show.

The conflict: marital infidelity evolving in a cadence slower than the geological impact of a glacier.

The extra: Denis Leary doing his own trumpet rendition of Tyler Durden (aka Bradd Pitt).

Total: XXX - exquisite, excruciating, exemplary;

Bonus: The 'Last Scene' - seismically intense tableau vivant of a classicist dentist office pastoralia (Vermeerian light diffused in Leonardo's hyper-perfect composition/perspective of Adam and Eve sharing an oral procedure)

Our Lady of the Assassins (2000)

Unconvincing, disappointing, dull

[1/10 · 7 December 2005]

This movie is about aging, loving, losing, and coming to terms with the world as a place of change and violence. However, it is only "about" these things and no more.

Being a "message" movie with no message, it fails to convince on every level. The protagonist's single dimension is his revisiting the city of his childhood only to be shocked by how different it is (who knew that Columbia is a violent place?) His pseudo-existentialist musings fall all over the map (humanist, misanthropic, rebellious, disillusioned) and convince his young lover even less than the audience. The young lover in question is spared the luxury of being even one-dimensional: he's a scripted appendix to the gun in his belt and the stereo blasting "rock" music (standing in for America's cultural hegemony?) The homosexual relationship between the two characters is completely unnecessary and artificial; it seems thrown in to raise the controversy factor but lacks in chemistry and credibility (why are they together - if it's only for the sex, where is the sex?) It only serves the purpose of bringing about the solitary plot twist in the narrative (namely, the second lover), which seems like a desperate attempt to save the movie out of nowhere.

The book, upon which the movie is based, has some Socratic undercurrent; the movie "cleverly" translates it into dogmatism (with a hammer over your head) rather than irony (if any questions are raised by Fernando, they just hover in the vacuum of the director's confused efforts to figure out where his movie is going.) See instead 'Amores perros' or 'Ratas, ratones, rateros' or read Fernando Vallejo's book.

Rainy Dog (1997)

Miike goes noir

[8/10 · 7 December 2005]

Miike strays off the beaten path to do his own take on 'film-noir' (a tribute to Melville?): limited dialog, moody settings, and deliberately slow development all make for a unique movie in Miike's immense filmography.

As surprising for its subtlety, pace, and precision as for its lack of the standard Miike moments, it is definitely not the director's best (for that see "The Bird People of China", "Ichi the Killer" or "Gozu"), but a great movie for a rainy Sunday afternoon, naturally if you don't mind the occasional yakuza violence.

Could be read as the director's attempt at a character study (usually absent from his work) or an exercise in cinematic economy - in either case it is a movie well-above mediocrity, yet not quite reaching the level of masterpiece.

Andromedia (1998)

Not quite your average Miike movie

[3/10 · 7 December 2005]

More than any other Miike movie, suspended disbelief is an absolute prerequisite for watching this Sci-Fi soap opera / J-Pop video. Cuteness, chrome, and special FX ooze from the screen on every stage of the bubble-gum tale of "love conquers all" with the over-the-top melodramatic absurdity of a sakura tree blossoming in the middle of a beach. In the words of one of the characters in his ultimate Jesus/Oedipus moment of surrender to his own fate: "This is ironic. At the very last moment I finally learn of that man's true motives." Ironically Miike's viewers can't say the same, which most likely, is his true motive.

Recommended only to fans of both Miike AND J-Pop.

Chûgoku no chôjin (1998)

Miike's best, hands down (no pun)

[10/10 · 7 December 2005]

If you are going to see one Miike movie (just to see what the hell all the fuss is about), make it this one.

"Heart of Darkness" (aka 'Apocalypse Now') fades as a Euro-centric teen angst tale in comparison to this delicate gem, which has it all: mystery, search, innocence, innocence lost, passion, crime, sacrifice, sacrilege, comedy, drama, tragedy, and best of all - everything is carried by myths and dreams.

In the words of Miike himself (from an interview in the 'extras' section of the DVD): "...cinema not just for entertainment" However, if you feel like venturing further into Miike territory, be cautioned, it's a treacherous zone and takes some stunt-level adaptation.

Dead or Alive 2: Birds (2000)

Can he do that?

[9/10 · 7 December 2005]

Miike's fans are usually disappointed by this movie for it certainly lacks in violence and entertainment value. However it more than makes up in subtlety - it's nuanced to the point of lyricism. Who would expect that Miike can spin a tale of a quest for the lost innocence of childhood (soccer games in the rain, sharing bowls of noodles on the ferry, full turtle/lion costumes for a kindergarten play) and still sell it as a sequel to the yakuza audience? Yes, you could read it as cheesy and boring, but then again you could say the same about that other "angel" movie - 'Wings of Desire'. The two characters follow the 'given a second chance at life' path, blazing a trail of "benevolent" executions that add up to nothing. If 'DOA' is the incessant present (with its avalanche of impressions updated at a rate high above the processing limit), and 'DOA Final' is the ironic future of Malthusian power politics, then 'DOA2' is the trip in the past at an impossibly high cost.

Dead or Alive: Final (2002)

Spectacular finale of the trilogy

[9/10 · 7 December 2005]

OK, this doesn't compare to the explosive tempo of the first part's opening sequence; nor to its visual shock value; nor, for that matter, to the melancholic suspense of the second installment. No, it's surprisingly and refreshingly different (apart, of course, from the two main actors). The tongue-in-cheek futuristic scenario drives the characters towards each other across genres and languages with an almost gravitational force. The moment of impact-conclusion is your choice of: a)Shakespearean metaphor of life and humanity in a cartoon costume; b)sublimation of violence into homo-erotics; c)humorous detonation of an impossible buildup. Everything up to then is even less unequivocal.

Highly recommended to indiscriminate movie buffs who don't mind following foie gras with a hot dog; caution to those with more refined palates.

Salaryman Kintaro (1999)

Pleasantly entertaining

[5/10 · 7 December 2005]

This movie is based on a cartoon and reads like one: its shopping list of clichés runs longer than the movie itself, backed by an impossibly cheesy soundtrack (possibly a tribute to David Hasselhoff?), and a lead who's larger than life in all aspects - looks, morals, fighting skills etc. One cannot say it fails to convince, because it never attempts to, yet neither can one say that it shines in its genre, whatever that may be (anime office drama, or Kafkaesque superhero soap opera?)

Still,apart from some problems with rhythm and structure, its pleasantly entertaining. In a signature gesture, Miike had more fun making it than most people will have when they watch it.

Gozu (2003)

an insane ride

[9/10 · 7 December 2005]

Miike is probably one of only a dozen directors to make 6-8 movies a year. Yet he is the only one to keep not only a consistent quality at this rate, but also to keep surprising his fans. "Gozu" is a case in point.

A yakuza meeting turns ugly when Ozaki, in a paranoid moment, paints a window red with a chihuahua. The boss puts Ozaki's understudy Minami in charge of taking care of him and sends both of them away.

The tongue in cheek yakuza plot provides only the starting point. From there on, it's a cast of characters that would put to shame any freak show and/or dada event. Just as "Ichi the Killer" is a movie about gangster violence taken to its extreme (yakuza are ultimately masochist), so is this one about gangster loyalty taken to its latent homosexual conclusion. However, one could just as easily read it as a study of a character, lost in the effort of coping with the absurd situations that stand in for the jumble of his own emotions and motivations. Minami spends a lot of time riding around Nagoya in his Mustang convertible. As I watched him, I felt in a somewhat similar situation: sometimes riding along Miike, sometimes being taken for a ride, but ultimately just following the trip for the sheer fun of turning, stopping, accelerating, passing, reversing, having a flat tire...

Miike proves not only that he's one of the most innovative and productive directors of all time, but also that unlike critics everywhere, he can take himself not seriously - watch out for quotes and references to some of his earlier classics (Visitor Q, Dead or Alive.) And don't worry, the ending is sure to surprise you, even if you are a seasoned fan. If this is your first Miike movie, watch any other one mentioned in this review first, then come back to this one.

Æon Flux (2005)

Things are only what they seem

[3/10 · 7 December 2005]

The audience for this movie should be divided in two.

Those who don't know the original series - they should not see the movie for it will appear unimaginative, derivative, and pointless; and those who do know the MTV series - they should not see the movie for the same reasons. Society of clones apparently imagined by a clone, it is a singular story lacking any serious duplicity - a unilateral construction of a futuristic knowledge/power apparatus petrified in its own monumentality.

Single moment of grace: splendid architectural shots.

Worse deviation: Aeon does not move along the vibration charts of insectile swarms, Trevor does know what he wants, and things are crystal clear as if presented by the director's voice-over.

Imagined/suggested quote: 'Seems like confusion should not always be avoided.'