Gentlemen Broncos (2009) Movie Review

GENTLEMEN BRONCOS (2009) MOVIE, REVIEWS — BY TODD ON MARCH 1, 2010

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If I told you how many times I’ve watched Jared Hess’ 2004 nerd comedy classic “Napoleon Dynamite” over the past few years, you’d immediately stop reading this review. No joke. The movie is an off-beat slice of cinematic genius, a masterpiece of deadpan humor and awkward teen angst. Hess’ highly-anticipated follow-up, the 2006 Jack Black wrestling farce “Nacho Libre”, was something of a letdown, though it too receives much more attention from me than I’m willing to openly acknowledge. These admittedly strange films strike a weird, poorly-tuned chord with me, and though I’ve taken quite the critical lashing for singing their praises whenever possible, I’ll continue to spread the gospel.

After witnessing the ruthless reviews associated with Hess’ latest endeavor, the 2009 comedy “Gentlemen Broncos”, I began to worry. Had the director lost his edge? Was “Napoleon Dynamite” to be his magnum opus, his only true masterwork? Apprehension and doubt were threatening to overwhelm me, so I smartly stashed the film’s existence out of my unfaithful mind until it’s inevitable DVD release. Besides, the picture wasn’t playing anywhere near my home, and I wasn’t really inclined to drive hundreds of miles to watch a movie that, according to almost every reputable critic on the planet, qualified as one of the worst efforts of the year.

My taste in cinema must rank as one of history’s absolute worst, as I’m of the belief that “Gentlemen Broncos” is, in a word, fantastic. Maybe Hess’ sense of humor is directly aligned with my own, or maybe his portrayal of the prototypical white suburban loser hits extremely close to home — whatever the case may be, I’m infatuated with his work, and “Broncos” is certainly no exception. However, I can thoroughly understand why most people were immune to its charms: the picture is loaded with PG-13-friendly dick and fart jokes, extremely peculiar characters, and an array of nods and references to the sort of fantasy and sci-fi novels my grandmother used to collect. In other words, the movie’s appeal is anything but broad.

Michael Angarano (“Sky High”, “The Forbidden Kingdom”) stars as Benjamin, a socially-awkward home-schooler with a flare for penning outlandishly esoteric fantasy stories that tend to frighten his slightly misguided mother (Jennifer Coolidge). While attending a writing conference hosted by his favorite author Ronald Chevalier (“Flight of the Conchords” co-star Jemaine Clement), Benjamin decides to enter his latest literary outing, the oddly titled “Yeast Lords – The Bronco Years”, into a writing competition, a contest that will net the winner numerous accolades and the professional publication of his or her story in paperback. Needless to say, Benjamin is excited about the opportunity to share his yarns with the world.

However, while Chevalier is reading through the submissions in his hotelroom, he receives a most distressing phone call: The writer’s forthcoming novel has been rejected by his publisher, and if he doesn’t deliver a marketable piece of work post-haste, Chevalier can kiss his contract goodbye. In an act of complete desperation, Ronald takes “Yeast Lords”, rearranges a few elements, changes a few names, and hands in the manuscript as his own. Unbeknownst to Benjamin and his friends, his story is an instant best-seller, and has single-handedly reinvigorated his plagiaristic idol’s floundering career.

Whenever material from “Yeast Lords” is referenced directly, “Gentlemen Broncos” suddenly mutates into a low-budget psychedelic sci-fi flick reminiscent of the generic fodder produced during the 70’s and early 80’s. Sam Rockwell portrays the heroic Bronco (or, in Chevalier’s version, Brutus), a man who wishes to destroy the dastardly villain responsible for stealing one of his sacred gonads. The sequences are admittedly sophomoric, but once you realize they were conceived by a geeky teenager who spends his free time reading silly paperback novels, it all makes perfect sense.

The script, written by brothers Jared and Jerusha Hess, balances both absurdity and sweetness with expert precision. Benjamin, while wholly pathetic, is an easy character to sympathize with; try as he might, all of his undertakings become outrageous failures. However, despite this fact, the poor kid continues to sally forth. The moment Benjamin, having reached his threshold for humiliation, decides to confront the opportunistic pervert who propositions his mom is both hilarious and heartwarming, especially since his wonky attempt at macho bravado is cut short by a hail of gunshots. Even the devious Ronald Chevalier is hard to hate, though I think this has more to do with Jemaine Clement’s clever performance than anything else. Mike White and Hector Jimenez aren’t too shabby, either.

“Gentlemen Broncos” is one of the few movies that can truly be labeled as misunderstood. Unless you’re a loser, a misfit, or a social outcast, you may have a hard time finding your foothold. I’ve a feeling that the film is a strangely personal effort for Jared Hess, and I’m willing to bet there’s more autobiographical material here than in any of his previous joints. As someone who spent a large portion of his childhood reading sci-fi novels and playing text-based adventure games on his dad’s Wang computer, I can totally relate to Benjamin and his unusual obsession with strange characters and fantastical alien worlds. Be that as it may, I don’t expect you to feel the same way. “Gentlemen Broncos” isn’t for everyone, and that’s perfectly okay.

Jared Hess (director) / Jared Hess and Jerusha Hess (screenplay)

CAST: Michael Angarano … Benjamin

Jemaine Clement … Ronald Chevalier

Sam Rockwell … Bronco / Brutus

Jennifer Coolidge … Judith

Hector Jimenez … Lonnie Donaho

Mike White … Dusty

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Dante’s Inferno (2010) Movie Review

GAME NEWS, REVIEWS — BY DEDPOOL ON MARCH 1, 2010

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WARNING!-IF YOU HAVE OR ARE PLANNING ON PURCHASING THE GAME AND DON’T WANT PLOT POINT RUINED, DON’T WATCH THIS FILM!! Now…let’s go to HELL!

Don’t let the title fool you. “Dante’s Inferno: An Animated Epic,” (to be referred to as “DI” from here on) is a fast paced animated flick based on the game of the same name that does pretty well for adapting 8-10 hours of gameplay. Just like “Deadspace: Downfall” before it, Visceral/EA games has crafted an animated film to accompany their game. Using StarzEntertainment and Film Roman again, this time they took a different approach and instead of a prequel that leads to the game, we get an actual adaptation of the story presented. Albeit with some changes due to time constraints, it is very faithful to the game. This time around however the developers decided to go the anthology type route. It’s still one story, but it’s broken up into different art styles and has different directors a la “The Animatrix,” and “Batman: Gotham Knights.” Boasting talent from such revered Asian animation studios as DongWoo (Justice League/JLU, Ultimate Avengers), JM Animation (Avatar: The Last Airbender, The Boondocks), Production I.G. (Kill Bill Vol.1, Ghost in the Shell), and Manglobe (Samurai Champloo). Film Roman did the opening segment, and it’s just as good as the rest.

Both the game and animation are loosely based on the first part of Dante Aligheri’s “Divine Comedy,” and to its credit it’s not a bad interpretation. The original poem follows the poet Dante with his guide Virgil, author of the Aenid, through the nine circles or levels of Hell; Limbo, Lust Gluttony, Greed, Anger Heresy, Violence, Fraud and Treachery. Throughout the journey Dante encounters famous people and acquaintances that are in hell, some of which are there because of him. In the game and film, Dante is now a templar knight returning from the crusades to his beloved Beatrice, only to find her dying. With her last breath her soul leaves her body and begins its ascension to Heaven. Lucifer however, has other plans, and steals her soul and takes it to hell (Inferno as it’s often referred to).

What follows is the prerequisite chase and battles to free the soul of his lady love. What isn’t so straight forward is how dark the story gets and how not so heroic our “hero” is shown to truly be. Much like Kratos of “God of War” fame (which incidentally the game takes a lot of inspiration from that franchise), Dante is a very flawed character, and we are treated to seeing all of these flaws throughout “DI.” For a film based on a video game, loosely based on a classic poem, this story has some pretty deep moments for the character. If you’ve seen the film “Kingdom of Heaven” then you know just how over the top crusaders and especially the Knights Templar were. That will give you some idea of what you’re in store for.

The game and the film both do very good jobs at illustrating the torturous and terrifying nature of the different levels of Inferno. I’m sure it’s much more detailed in the game where each level takes almost the amount of time as the entire film, but for the glimpses we get in the film, it’s truly rather disturbing in some parts, Lust, Greed, and Gluttony especially. Some of the scenery is just as described in the poem. Speaking of the poem, they lifted lines directly form it as well. Sure some of them are in the wrong places, but it still works. This is a period piece and anyone that can’t deal with thick British accents and Shakespearean speech should probably skip this, but it really works and helps sets the atmosphere. Also much of the religious connotations of the poem have been kept, with talk about the sins, damnation and absolution. It’s all handled really well, and though it can seem heavy handed at sometimes it’s not done ‘just because’ but usually has something to do with the story.

The different art styles are just amazing, and though I liked some more than others, they all worked pretty well and also help set the tone of the segment. Animation is really crisp, and though I’ve read reviews saying Film Roman’s segment wasn’t up to par, I wonder if they were watching a different film as I was actually floored by it. I’m a big animation fan (as you’ve probably already guessed) and I’ve always preferred Asian animation over American animation. I mean look at the opening for “Thundercats” and then look at the series. Two different art styles. Can you imagine what the show would’ve been like had they used that animation instead of the American crap that came out? But over the last decade and with “DI” especially we’ve crafted some very nice looking animation of our own, and Film Roman’s segment is proof. Also there was some complaint about the different styles making it hard to keep up with who’s who. Uh no, Dante has the cross sewn on his chest no matter what the style is. So you definitely know who you’re looking at. Sure his hair grows, gets shorter, and his helmet changes but other than that he’s unmistakable, like the different iterations of Batman in “Gotham Knights.”

The film looks good, sounds good too. Aside from some dubbing issues with bad lip flap in segments it’s got good audio, and a great score. “DI” is a much better effort than “Deadspace: Downfall” and it’s pretty good as a standalone piece. I wish it had been a little longer but hey that’s just because what they put out was a lot of fun to watch. Is it great? No. Is it fun? Yes. Will it make you want to play the game? Hell Yeah! If the film is any indication the game will be a blast, “God of War” knockoff or not. So if you enjoy action, violence, gore, a lil nudity, and can take a fair amount of religious topics, “Dante’s Inferno: An Animated Epic,” will not disappoint. Unfortunately for extras all we get are some “animatics, ” (animated story boards to map out scenes for those who don’t know), and a trailer for the game that shows some pretty cool scenes from the game, and after watching the film scenes you may recognize. I had a blast watching this, and though it’s entirely too short, it definitely does what it set out to do; get any people on the fence about buying the game, off and to the store.

Jonathan Knight (director) / Jonathan Knight (screenplay)

CAST: Graham McTavish … Dante Alighieri (voice)

Vanessa Branch … Beatrice Portinari (voice)

Pollyanna McIntosh … Bella (voice)

JB Blanc … Alighiero (voice)

Alison Lees-Taylor … Cleopatra (voice)

Jay Beyers … The Damned (voice)

Tom Tate … Francesco / Marc Antony (voice)

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Black Dynamite (2009) Movie Review

BLACK DYNAMITE (2009) MOVIE, REVIEWS — BY TODD ON FEBRUARY 15, 2010

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Conceptually speaking, spoof movies are easy. Poking fun at specific genres — be it horror, action, or otherwise — is relatively simple, especially if the subject matter in question is ripe for the ribbing. Executing these tricky endeavors properly, however, is a bit more difficult. The cinematic gutter is littered with films that, for one reason or another, failed to grasp the concept adequately; the “Scary Movie” franchise, for example, never had a clue, though it did come closer to attaining its lofty goals than the countless offshoots it has woefully inspired. If parody flicks were communicable diseases, they’d probably be herpes. Big, red, throbbing herpes that never seem to stay away for very long.

With his 2009 action spoof/blaxploitation homage “Black Dynamite”, director Scott Sanders implements the obvious comedic trappings of a parody film with a surprising amount of style, wit, and intelligence. The picture brilliantly, and effortlessly, transcends the material, becoming the exact thing it strives so hard to lampoon. There are literally dozens of moments whenSanders and star/co-writer Michael Jai White ensnare the look, the feel, and the energy of those gleefully campy low-budget actioners from the mid-to-late 70’s. Unlike Robert Rodriguez’s “Planet Terror” and Quentin Tarantino’s “Death Proof”, two films that desperately want to be as cool as their inspirations, “Black Dynamite” always feels like the real deal.

White stars as badass brother Black Dynamite, a former CIA agent who spends the majority of his free time policing inner-city streets, protecting grateful prostitutes from their abusive pimps, and, of course, making sweetlove to countless ladies from every corner of the charted universe. When his estranged brother is savagely gunned down by a ruthless, cold-blooded killer, Dynamite begins investigating the case on his own terms, which, of course, involves a fair amount of wonky gunplay and an abundance of unbridled martial arts mayhem.

Naturally, it doesn’t take long for our hero to figure out that his brother was, in fact, working undercover for the CIA, having been inspired by his older sibling’s legendary adventures. As Black Dynamite digs deeper into this insanely campy mystery, he quickly discovers a myriad of greed, lies, and corruption running through the bruised veins of his beloved city: crack-addicted orphans begging for a fix; a government conspiracy to flood narcotics into the ghetto; a web of deceit that threatens to destroy the entire African-American race. With the help of several colorful characters and a limitless supply of panache, Dynamite sets out to avenge his brother’s death, infiltrate the Honky House, and, if he has time, fall madly in love with the only sister who truly understands him.

As someone who has seen more than his fair share of blaxploitation movies over the past two decades, picking out the countless winks and nods to the genre is half the fun of watching amovie like “Black Dynamite”. The silly characters, the goofy plot devices, the catchy theme song, the borrowed footage from other movies — it’s all in keeping with the cornball aesthetic and reckless spirit of the genre. The only aspect of the picture that feels slightly out-of-place is Michael Jai White’s multiple fight scenes. The sequences are expertly executed and tightly choreographed, a sharp contract to the brawls found in such low-budget efforts as “Dolemite” or “Super Soul Brother”. This isn’t really a complaint so much as an observation. White’s ability to kick ass is definitely a plus.

On the performance end of the spectrum, “Black Dynamite” is in a league of its own. Sanders has assembled a collection of actors who thoroughly understand and, more importantly, appreciate the material. Stand-outs include an almost unrecognizable Arsenio Hall, “In Living Color” alumni Tommy Davidson, Mykelti Williamson, former “Reno 911” cast member, Cedric Yarbrough, and the always-entertaining Obba Babatunde as a wise pimp named Osirus. And while everyone in the picture does a fine job bringing this bizarre world to life, it’s Michael Jai White that steals every scene he’s in. It’s the role the underrated actor was born to play, and he seems to thoroughly understand this. Every line is an instant classic worthy of quotation.

“Black Dynamite” is a hilarious, whip-smart tribute to a bygone era, a time when young, inexperienced filmmakers were just beginning to dip their tender toes into edgier waters. Director Scott Sanders, along with co-writers Michael Jai White and Byron Minns, have set the bar very high for future parodies, especially those that wish to have a little fun with genres that are, generally speaking, easy targets for lazy comedians. The picture begs for repeat viewings, and you should prepare your family and friends for all of the goofy quotes you’re fated to assault them with for weeks to come. Simply put, it’s an immediate cult classic that will surely become a midnight movie staple in college towns across the nation. As long as nobody interrupts Dynamite’s kung fu, that is.

Scott Sanders (director) / Scott Sanders, Michael Jai White, Byron Minns (screenplay)

CAST: Michael Jai White … Black Dynamite

Tommy Davidson … Cream Corn

Kevin Chapman … O’Leary

Mykelti Williamson … Chicago Wind

Arsenio Hall … Tasty Freeze

Cedric Yarbrough … Chocolate Giddy-Up

Salli Richardson-Whitfield … Gloria

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Searching for the Elephant (2008) Movie Review

ASIAN MOVIE NEWS, ASIAN MOVIE REVIEWS, REVIEWS, SOUTH KOREAN MOVIE REVIEWS — BY JAMES MUDGE ON FEBRUARY 13, 2010

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“Searching for the Elephant” is a film every bit as odd as its bizarre title may suggest. Whilst on the surface it may sound like a fairly straightforward, controversy baiting exploration of the sex lives and generally immoral behaviour of well to do Korean thirty-somethings, writer producer director Jung Seung Goo actually turns in something surprisingly subversive and unpredictable. Of course, though the film’s many graphic scenes of sex, drugs and other excesses are still to an extent its raison d’être, it also has a more tragic reason for being noteworthy, in that it features actress Jang Ja Yeon (“Boys over Flowers”) in her last role before she took her own life.

The plot revolves around three men who were childhood friends, a neurotic photographer (played by Jang Hyuk, “Rabbit and Lizard”), a top plastic surgeon (Cho Dong Hyuk, “I Hate You, but It’s Fine”) and a shady financial consultant (Lee Sang Woo, “The Road Home”). Each of them are embroiled in their own personal problems, most of which involve the many women in their lives, money troubles, addiction in its various forms, and other assorted flavours of existential angst. Things inevitably start getting worse, and their friendships are put to the test when they become involved with each others’ affairs and women, leading to tragic and strangely ironic consequences.

To get the most obvious question out of the way first, yes, there is a great deal of sex in “Searching for the Elephant”, most of it graphic. Director Jung throws in plenty of nudity, both male and female, and things do get pretty kinky in places, with some fetish scenes and racy costumes. Although this is all played very casually, its made clear early on that sex is simply an integral part of these characters’ lives and indeed identities, and as such none of this ever really comes across as gratuitous – not least due to the that the cast are good looking to a fault, whether clothed or unclothed. The film is certainly a very adult affair indeed, with a lot of drug use, in particular marihuana smoking, and even some bloody violence towards the end. Although she does not play a major role, the presence of the unfortunate Jang Ja Yeon does give some of this a tragic, unsettling air, especially with her being involved in a gruesome suicide scene.

Thankfully, the film is more than a mere piece of glossy titillation, with Jung clearly having something to say about the empty, hedonistic lives of Korea’s rich and lusty urbanites. This having been noted, it is a little hard to figure out exactly what his message is, as the film is long, meandering and not really about anything other than the characters’ lives and half assed self destruction. This is not helped by the three protagonists being interesting rather than likeable or believable, with the script often heading off into obscure, drug fuelled soliloquies. Given that the film does show a certain sense of humour throughout, it is frequently hard to tell whether it is supposed to be laughing at its characters in mean-spirited fashion or if it is simply unintentionally amusing – not that it matters, as its quirkiness certainly serves it well.

Indeed, the film is determinedly void of any driving drama or tension right through until the final act, when things do finally come together. The film runs a lengthy two hours and twenty minutes, and this might seem to indicate that some judicious editing were needed – however, it remains weirdly compelling throughout, mainly due to Jung’s use of bizarre flights of fantasy and surrealism. The film is packed with wacky, often meaningless moments, including a gory sniper shoot out, a character hacking his fingers off to prevent him from using the phone, and a hilariously literal depiction of sex on the brain.

Adding to the air of lunacy is Jung’s hyper-stylised direction, which combines CGI effects, fast editing and some creatively insane digital zooms, with the camera flying around unrestrained and getting into all sorts of places that it probably shouldn’t. Although this is a bit over the top at times, it does make for some imaginative scenes, and this helps to keep the viewer distracted from some of the film’s less successful aspects. As might be expected, the proceedings do have a rich and expensive look, and the film is visually opulent and fittingly decadent, giving it the feel of a particularly sleazy piece of guilty pleasure eye candy.

“Searching for the Elephant” does make for delightfully immoral fun, and should be enjoyed by open minded viewers. Filled with excesses both in terms of its male leads’ sexual antics and director Jung’s cinematic techniques, it stands as a bold and quite unique outing, with a distinctive, if often inexplicable character of its own.

Jeong Seung-goo (director) / Jeong Seung-goo (screenplay)

CAST: Jang Hyeok, Jo Dong-hyeok, Lee Sang-woo, Lee Min-jeong, Jang Ja-yeon, Hwang Woo-seul-hye

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From Paris with Love (2009) Movie Review

FROM PARIS WITH LOVE (2009) MOVIE, REVIEWS — BY NIX ON FEBRUARY 5, 2010

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Luc Besson action movies are pretty predictable: loud, gratuitous violence punctuated by an out of left field attempt at a sappy message. “From Paris with Love”, the latest product from the Luc Besson School of Action Moviemaking™ is no exception. You’re not going to find a whole lot of substance here, and plot logic, well, you can pretty much forget about that, too. Luc Besson-written films have never really made much sense, and “Paris” doesn’t even pretend like it’s trying to buck the trend.

Directed by Pierre Morel, who found success last year with the surprise hit “Taken”, “From Paris with Love” stars Jonathan Rhys Meyers as James Reece, a low-level spook working at the U.S. Embassy in Paris. Reece has a beautiful girlfriend name Caroline (pronounced “Caro-leen”), played by French beauty Kasia Smutniak, who he willy nilly tells all his secrets to. And while he has a pretty good life in the city of lights, Reece pines for more from his job. He gets his chance when the agency sends over super badass spy Charlie Wax (John Travolta) to deal with a matter of extreme urgency. In the course of one night, Wax takes the by-the-books Reece through one gunfight after another, racking up the bodies like he’s trying to start his own cemetery. And then day two rolls around…

The main bad guys of “From Paris with Love” are Middle Eastern terrorist types, but honestly, you’d be hard pressed to know anything about them or their cause because the second we are introduced to them, Wax kills them. Wax kills a lot of people. It’s all very silly and cartoony, and Wax simply waltzes through the movie shooting, stabbing, and blowing people up at will. If Liam Neeson in Morel’s “Taken” killed half of Paris to get his daughter back, Travolta’s character in “Paris” has taken care of the remaining half, and then some. The sheer number of dead bodies that Morel and screenwriter Adi Hasak (from a story by Luc Besson) throws at the screen is astounding. After a while, the sheer volume of dead bad guys becomes almost obscene.

There’s nothing original about “From Paris with Love”, from the characters to the situations to the little stabs at comedy that the film occasionally indulges in. Reece is your clichéd by-the-book cop (a spook in this case), and Wax is your typical loose cannon who gets the job done. Plot logic has no place in a movie like this, and last-second revelations come out of nowhere with little to no sense. Fortunately I had expected all of this, and truthfully, wasn’t too disappointed when the film failed to prove me wrong. The name “Luc Besson” in the credits have come to mean something completely different from his days on films like “La Femme Nikita” and “The Fifth Element”, which is, admittedly, kind of sad if you think about it too much, so try not to.

The film’s main draw is of course John Travolta, who makes the best of a measly script. Charlie Wax is funny, brutally violent, and if this was the real world, you would label him something of a sociopath. But since this is a movie, Charlie Wax is the hero we’d want watching our back. Meyers’ Reece eventually proves his mettle as a sidekick to Wax, but for much of the film he’s relegated to playing Jimmy Olsen to Wax’s Superman. Probably the most disappointing part of “From Paris with Love” is Pierre Morel, who seems to have forgotten how to choreograph exciting action scenes post-“Taken”. There were a couple of nifty fight scenes in “Taken”, but the gunfights in “Paris” are pretty much of the (literally, in some cases) point-and-shoot variety. I get the feeling Morel might have directed “Paris” purely as a favor to Besson before making his move to Hollywood, and really didn’t have much enthusiasm for the project. If that’s the case, it shows.

In so many ways, “From Paris with Love” met all of my expectations. Unfortunately, the threshold was pretty low, so I’m not sure if that’s a compliment or not. To its credit, the film is rarely boring, though the repetitive nature of Wax walking into a scene and killing everybody, and repeat, did start to get a bit tedious after a while. But with its short running time and no-frills screenwriting, “From Paris with Love” works as a breezy, convoluted mess of an action movie. In short, it’s another successful product from the Luc Besson School of Action Moviemaking™. I’ll leave that up to you to decide if that’s a good thing.

Pierre Morel (director) / Adi Hasak (screenplay), Luc Besson (story)

CAST: John Travolta … Charlie Wax

Jonathan Rhys Meyers … James Reece

Kasia Smutniak … Caroline

Richard Durden … Ambassador Bennington

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