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| Journey to the West |
Dashan Kong's Journey to the West is one of the more engaging directorial debuts of the last few years. A whimsical comedy, the film concerns a ragtag group of UFO enthusiasts who travel to the hinterlands of southwestern China in search of signs of extraterrestrials. Fans of Christopher Guest's quirky mockumentaries will find a similar vibe of gentle satire here.
Jeff Levy-Hinte's Soul Power, released in 2009 in the United States after decades of legal wrangling, is a concert film documenting the Zaire 74 music festival held near Kinshasa in September of that year. The festival, conceived by Don King, Hugh Masekela, and Stewart Levine, sought to highlight music with African roots and promote black power and economic agency. This festival was designed to be held in tandem with the fight for the heavyweight crown between George Foreman and Muhammed Ali, subsequently known as the "Rumble in the Jingle". The fight was postponed when Foremen's head was gashed while sparring, but the musical show went on and we are lucky it was so well captured cinematically and sonically. The film features a number of important artists at the near peak of their powers: including James Brown, B. B. King, The Spinners, Franco's OK Jazz, the Fania All-Stars featuring Celia Cruz, and Tabu Ley Rochereau. Some of these acts were seen in snippets in When We Were Kings, but Soul Power focuses more on the music than the boxing, though there is also plenty of the charismatic Ali. Featuring the very young and charming Sister Sledge, George Plimpton, Chip Monck, and Manu Dibango.
I enjoyed George Miller's Furiosa more than most, but do feel that the franchise is a little tired. Miller remains the best action director on the planet, but the new locales and characters here seem uninspired. Chris Hemsworth is a jovial addition to the franchise, perhaps too jovial. Tom Burke's Praetorian Jack is a cipher and Bullet City looks like a downscale monster truck venue. Anya Taylor-Joy doesn't have the strength of presence that Theron has, but is adequate. I liked it better than Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome.
Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillet's Abigail is a better than average comedy horror flick. The film is more a concoction than some deep personal masterwork, assembled using major chunks of The Ransom of Red Chief and And Then There Were None (which gets a shout out) plus bits of Knives Out and M3gan. However, the script is well structured and the character are imbued with at least two dimensions. The fine ensemble cast chew on some choice lines and give the film a kick, especially Dan Stevens, Melissa Barrera, Kathryn Newton, and Kevin Durand.
Not having been a fan of The Omen or any of its sequels, I came to Arkasha Stevenson's prequel, The First Omen, expecting to bury it, but ended up wanting to faintly praise the flick. I thought the visual doubling of the female characters was effective and that Ms. Stevenson handled her cast, which includes Nell Tiger Free, Maria Caballero, Ralph Ineson, Sônia Braga, Bill Nighy, and Charles Dance, uniformly well. The premise of the film is too idiotic for me to recommend it to the average viewer, but horror aficionados should check it out. The First Omen is certainly superior to Immaculate, the other habited female lead giving birth to a satanic monster flick released this year.
Damian McCarthy's Caveat is a promising Irish film within the sick house horror subgenre best exemplified by Poe in The Tell-Tale Heart, The Black Cat, and The Fall of the House of Usher. Past sins are buried, sometimes literally, in decaying abodes. Caveat never entertains plausibility what with its characters both in harness and brandishing crossbows, yet is a model of low budget craft. The tactile funk of the film lingers long after its ridiculous machinations. It bodes well for the director's just released feature, Oddity.
Gregg Araki's Smiley Face, from 2007, is a slightly better than average stoner comedy, damning praise I know, starring Anna Faris. Dylan Haggerty's script is more thoughtful than most in this genre, even offering the viewer a chance to see a copy of the Communist Manifesto wind up in the dustbin of history. Araki's snappy editing and eye popping colors keep this picaresque view of Los Angeles from ever getting bogged down. The talented cast includes John Krasinski, Jane Lynch, John Cho, Danny Trejo, Marion Ross, Roscoe Lee Browne, and, um, Danny Masterson.
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