Blood: The Last Vampire

I'd seen the anime movie this was based on a year or two ago via Amazon's Unbox.com service. At the time I'd found it utterly confusing, in part because portions of the Japanese language film weren't subtitled. This movie makes a good deal more sense - perhaps because it was simplified/dumbed down but I do appreciate (usually) having some idea what's going on. It's not a terrible film but feels a bit anemic at times. The main character is
- a centuries old half vampire dedicated to killing the full vampires
- a member (or at least a hired gun) of a shadowy organization that "fights" the vampires. I put fights in quotes only because they usually just point her at things to kill rather than getting involved themselves. Though they do helpfully clean up for her after a vampire is dismembered.
- dresses in a Japanese sailor schoolgirl outfit while killing anything that needs killing with a big shiny sword.

I sort of suspect the last part was the main reason for the character's popularity.

When the story opens she's just killing every vamp she can find hoping to draw out the super female vamp that killed her father. Some pretty nicely choreographed fight scenes ensue, mixed in with some less well designed ones. Part of it takes place on a military base (most of the action takes places in 1970) which allows the incorporation of the slightly dumb but occasionally helpful (maybe the word I'm looking for is hapless) teen daughter of the base's general who gets involved briefly in the action. There's some computer generated blood splattering going on throughout the film that's either cool or goofy depending on which review you read. I thought it looked good at first but a little tired of it part way through.

Overall a few cool action scenes, some weak b-movie acting, some cheesy action scenes and a sword wielding chick in a schoolgirl outfit. Depending on your taste that may be compelling enough for you. Fell short for me, but I'm not completely miserable with having made the choice. Last thing to mention is that if your going as a fan of the vampire genre just be aware it's more an action/swordplay film than what you'd recognize as most of the recent bloodsucking flicks.

Julie & Julia

Based on the book of the same name this follows Julie's (Amy Adams) qwest to recharge her life by cooking every recipe in Julia Child's (Meryl Streep) famous French cookbook over the course of a year. That's roughly 524 recipes in 365 days including the much dreaded boning of a full duck. By day Julie works in a government agency fielding calls from 9/11 victims and by night she works her way through the cookbook while blogging about it (on Salon.com no less to ensure the full flashback experience is complete). She's a bit dissatisfied with her life, turning 30 and not yet the published author she'd hoped to be.

I've never read the book (which I assume is based on the blog) though it's been sitting on my shelf for quite a few years. I'm not sure how the book is setup, but the movie splits its time between Julie working on the blog and Julia during her time in Paris (and beyond) as she began work on the famous cookbook. Both Adams and Streep do a fine job with their segments (as they did the last time they appeared together as nuns) though I probably enjoyed the Julia years a bit more. Streep brings the character alive nicely showing the zest for life and infectious laugh she was famous for. It also covers her love life and other aspects of those years I'd known nothing about before. Julie's marriage suffers some ups and downs as the cooking/blog begin to consume all of her time.

Admittedly this is a bit of a stereotypical chick flick and probably doesn't break any new cinematic ground. But as entertainment it delivers and I thoroughly enjoyed the film. So I do recommend it. But I suggest you eat something first - probably not something you want to see hungry.

Welcome Hachi Fans from Japan

I noticed a funny thing last night reviewing site visitors. A huge uptick coming via Japan. Seems that in an article titled "Will Hachiko be Accepted by Americans" I hit the (not quite so) big time in Japan (linked above and image to the left). Perhaps more importantly it's probably the first (and last) time my name will appear in the same paragraph with that of Richard Gere.

From what I've been told it's an article at the Yahoo movie website exploring if the new Hachiko related movie will translate to American audiences. For those not familiar, it's the true story of a dog in Japan that waited for it's owner at the train station for many years after his death (wikipedia treatment here). Hollywood has remade the story with Richard Gere. Two bloggers are quoted in the article - both of us I believe shared some similar "fame" a few months ago when fans of skater Johnny Weir cited our two reviews of the documentary about him during SIFF.

My original writeup of the Richard Gere him is here. Not really especially newsworthy as far as things go - but the incident has amused me more than some recent films so it seemed worthy of posting. And did I mention the same paragraph with the star of An Officer and a Gentleman?

Last Batch of Palm Springs Shortsfest 2009 Shorts

Phew - finally through the list. Pretty impressed with myself that I only had to look up 2-3 of the shorts to remind myself which one they were. All in all I'm glad I went to Shortfest for a couple of days. Still think I prefer the more sedate schedule of feature fests.

• Andheri (India) - Indian maid choosing between the real world and a rather bad employment situation.
  
• Civil Servant P327JUM (Sweden) - eh, life of a civil servant. I may have been a little too tired to "get" it. Or not.
  
• The Funk (Australia) - punchy story about a guy who wakes up on the wrong side of something and has a very bad day. Creative production and editing pulled me in.
  
• In Between (Canada) - I liked this film about a sister left alone to watch the convenience store while the brother heads out to help someone stuck in a broken down car. Shorts work best for me when they have a hook - and this one about confounding expectations got me with a big awwwwww at the end.
  
• Maid to Oust (Switzerland) - Maid wants a different life. As does the woman whose house she cleans. Both get it in unexpected ways.
  
• Sell it to the Hedge Funds (USA) - If you want to watch a guy cold calling people while you suspect he's a douchebag then this is your film. I preferred the more entertaining 20 second rule on the topic of telephone sales.
  
• Alma (Spain) - this is the one with the dolls stealing souls
• Apple of My Eye (Mexico) - Second movie with the theme of a partner way too small (small enough to fit in a pocket). Liked this one slightly better than 4 Inch Precious.
  
• Cages (Mexico) - A big animated fave of the judges, this one didn't do quite as much for me. Sort of the creepy Tim Burton look which isn't really my thing.
  
• Eyelash (Switzerland) - So weird. I think if I saw it a few more times I'd be sure if I understood it. Too many animals relieving themselves involved somehow for my taste.
  
• Juiced and Jazzed (USA) - retro animation and jazz tell the story of a woman whose brief adventures into alcohol send her literally to hell. Entertaining.
  
• Trickster (Germany) - Seemingly a demonstration of every CGI technique the filmmaker knows. I was incredibly impressed technically, but completely uninterested by the end (it also seemed very long).

And then there's the short I didn't see but wish I did - Mendel's Tree (trailer below). If anyone has a tip on where I might watch it online it'd be appreciated.

More Palm Springs Shorts...

I was totally planning to write something insightful and perhaps pithy about each of the short films I watched in Palm Springs. Then I looked at the list again. And again. And again. Now I am quite daunted. So I'm just going to take a quick pass through and see what I end up with. At the very least I want to keep a record of the list so when one of the ones below wins the Oscar I can recall how I didn't think enough of it this week to actually say anything significant about it. Well, at the very least I'll tell myself I was lazy and it was a long list...

Ok - here it goes. let's see for how many I can remember something at all about them 1 week+ later.

• French Roast (France) - Cute animated feature about mistaken identity and how that can almost get you arrested for bank robbery in France if and when you don't pay your bill at the local bistro. Life lesson - if you forget your wallet just fess up, don't keep ordering more and more coffee. Even if it seemed like a good idea in Fast Times at Ridgemont High.
• The Incident at Tower 37 (USA) - Cute animated story about being tolerant of aliens who are sabotaging your plan to drain their planet of water.
  
• The Incredible Story of My Grandmother Olive (UK) - Cute animated story (that I can totally see being a feature film) about a wheelchair bound grandmother who falls for a wheelchair bound alien. His wheelchair is way cooler.
  
• Blossom (Netherlands) - Woman who can't leave the house deals with issues in life and love.
  
• Love and Roadkill (USA) - Something about wondering if you should get out of your car when a guy stops and offers you a ride while doing his job picking up roadkill.
  
• One of Those Days (UK) - A mistake on my part. This belongs on my favorites list from the festival. On judgement day a bureaucratic nightmare leaves a man who spent his whole life being good confused with someone named Vlad. And not Vlad the happy churchgoing guy down the street.
  
• Roadkill (US) - The first few minutes of a visually attractive but possibly morally bankrupt horror film. Other than the morally bankrupt part that's the description the director gave. It would make an interesting horror movie if nothing else.
  
• Conrad the Wise (Canada) - Cute kid, slightly dark story.
  
• The Curiosity of Penny Parker (Canada) - Some of them nursery rhymes can really hurt if taken too literally.
  
• The Fairy Princess (US) - Don't fuck with the fairy princess. Best of example of having kids in the film does not equal for kids. Sort of creepy to watch, but I sort of liked it by the end.
  
• The Macabre World of Lavender Williams (US) - Weird zombie animatronic dog with the voice of Christopher Lloyd - 'nuff said. Actually that description makes it sound more fun than it is. Just a bit weird.
  
• Playing House (South Korea) - Korean ghost story - I think. Like other Korean ghost stories I've seen (yes - I do think it's a specific genre) interesting to look at. But confusing and includes the murder of a goldfish.
  
• Chile & Cheese: A Continental Rift (Canada) - Events surrounding the mis-use of condiments at a 7/11 style store.
  
• Early Checkout (Australia) - A case study in how not to behave in a situation where you may have accidentally strangled your girlfriend while having sex (at her request - well not the to death part) while your buddy sleeps next to you. Better yet - here's a tip - skip the choking during sex part. Just a suggestion. Otherwise you might want to watch this short.
  
• Expiration (USA) - Cute idea about when does drinking expired milk truly become dangerous. Short enough to be OK.
  
• Greed (Sweden) - Animated thing about a guy and greed.
  
• The Last Supper (Australia) - Jesus's disciples having a grand old time at the last supper before he shows up.
  
• My Treat (USA) - Ladies fight over who pays the check. Literally. A bit much - but amusing ending.
  
• Stop Requested (France) - Apparently when the French do the walk of shame after an ill conceived hook up they can take it to a whole other level.
  
• Thick as Thieves (USA) - Not the greatest criminal recruits each successive victim to join in. A little hard to suspend disbelief - though at some level... Cute ending - that does make sense.
  
• Fish & Chip (USA) - One one hand I did not like this film. Mermaid violence in wrong. One the other hand I learned about the real life business mermaidrentals.com apparently run by a guy who calls himself "The Tailman" - insert your own joke here.
  
• Miracle Fish (Australia) - Parent's lame gift may have a dramatic outcome of a very dramatic day's events.
  
• My Four Inch Precious (USA) - Guy grows tiny little woman from magic flower. Falls in love. Complications ensue.
  
• Nutkin's Last Stand (USA) - Documentary I thought was a joke until halfway through about the assault by "American" gray squirrels on the peace loving "reds" of England. Interesting once I figured out it was for real. Possibly awesome if it hadn't been.
  
• Werewolf Trouble (USA) - Werewolf with overly accepting roommates has issues. Apparently him murdering people every month not a problem for his roommates. Social commentary I guess.
  
• The Casuarina Cove (Singapore) - Based on a true story of some entrapment of gay men soliciting sex with other gay men in Singapore.
  
• Diana (UK) - Didn't fully get this story of an Indian (I think) cross dresser in London around the time of Princess Diana's death.
  
• Feedback (USA) - Feedback can be hurtful when too direct. Mildly amusing. I wasn't quite the intended demographic.
  
• ADM for EVE (USA) - Had no idea what the story/point of this way. Seemed interesting - but I'm perhaps dumb. I saw it's available on IMDB so I may watch again.
  
• Bohemibot (USA) - Crazy professional grade sci-fi story. Not quite my thing but very impressive technically. Trailer is here.
  
• Light Years (USA) - multi view story of people who learn the world is ending in 8 minutes. One of the few times I think it might actually be worth it to have CNN on. Not entirely surprisingly the two French brothers who learn the news while drinking in a cafe deal with it exceedingly well.
  
• The Stars Don't Twinkle in Outer Space (UK) - Interesting take on a boy with an escapist fantasy inspired by old space travel serials in one of the worst places a young boy could be in history. Wouldn't be what I'd call "fun" - but interesting and well done.
  
• 40 Degrees in the Shade (Mexico) - Traveling through the desert? bring water and lots of it.
  
• Between Dreams (Finland) - Traveling on a train and sleeping is the theme of this short. Well it's probably something else - but that's what I took away from it. Plus I thought it was Russian for some reason.
  
• The Boarding Ticket (USA) - The life and times of a boarding ticket. Cute and fun.
  
• Hunger (UK) - Something involving women who pick you up might not be up to any good. You know nothing good is coming from the start - and you are not disappointed. OK as an exercise, but not a lot of story.
  
• Knife Point (USA) - Redefining your expectations as to who's who here - and also that of the phrase "Crazy Christians."
  
• Styx (Scotland) - Trying to cross the river Styx? Bring exact change.
  
• Transit (UK) - Boy has some kind of encounter in the men's room with a guy being escorted by toughs of some sort. Interesting reveal I guess - but not quite a favorite for me.

OK - still not done - but I'm losing interest for now. But I'm within striking distance of finishing the list - so stay tuned.

One thing I'm really wishing is that more of these shorts were available online somewhere. It's a shame - perhaps there's a market for these I'm missing but it seems that most folks would do better with broader distribution of their material online so if folks like it they could point it out to others. As usual, I probably have no idea what I'm talking about. :-)

Public Enemies

Michael Mann directs this telling of the story of John Dillinger as played by Johnny Depp. Overall I'm glad I saw the film - but would definitely put it below my initial expectations (at least those I had before reading reviews). I will say I wasn't bored even though it's fairly long. But oddly it wasn't that involving either - the New Yorker review describes it as neutered and I think that's a fairly good description if one is forced to choose a single word. Given the famously amazing gun play of Heat I figured at the very least there would be some exciting action in the mix. But I didn't really feel I was pulled into those scenes either which felt somewhat fractured and just shot in small doses pieced together. That style made definitely it harder to follow the overall sense of what was happening. Perhaps that was on purpose illustrating the chaotic nature of what was involved. Given though that these were ostensibly fairly practiced folks shooting at each other I felt as though I was missing something with the camera essentially just cutting back and forth between people shooting at each other.

Several of the performances are a step above standard action fare. Depp is enjoyable to watch, and the role Christian Bale has as the main agent in charge of catching Dillinger is one of the few I've seen where I felt his almost comically stoic onscreen personality seemed to fit in recent films. At times beautiful there are several changes in the style of cinematography I found particularly jarring, pulling me almost completely out of the film. I don't think it's a good thing if during a gun battle I find myself thinking "hey, is this part shot in a style of digital that's intended to look like a modern documentary?" I actually thought this was my imagination until I started reading a bit online and saw there were in fact changes of style. A much better use of the documentary style (at least for me) is evident in the superb film The Hurt Locker where if manages to feel natural within the narrative flow of something you know if fiction. Here, well .... it just felt off. Until those switches in style though I liked the smooth, admittedly stylized view of the film. I also read some online complaints about the sound which I also thought was me. There are a few times where I felt as though I was supposed to be able to hear the dialog but just couldn't. I saw it in a theater with pretty high quality projection all around so I'm inclined to believe that was the film and not the theater.

Other than that it gives a view of both the bank robbers, the FBI, and the somewhat in between group of organized crime figures who were worried Dillinger's exploits were hurting their progress to more lucrative lower risk pursuits. It's not purely shoot 'em up entertainment and not serious character study either. Just a summer movie I suppose...