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KPBS Film Club reviews THE WACKNESS, MONGOL, UP THE YANGTZE, SAVAGE GRACE & MOTHER OF TEARS

June 25th, 2008 by Scott Marks

Olivia Thirlby in THE WACKNESS

Good show today, but I can’t believe how much mileage we got out of Mongol. Glad that Tom didn’t see Savage Grace (most decidedly not for him), but I wish that he would have been able to catch The Wackness. It’s got Fudge written all over it.

The Argento discussion could have been a bit livelier, by our producer warned me not to mention anything about a sword being thrust so deeply into a woman’s private parts that it pops out of her mouth. Gotta’ love Dario Argento.

Believe it or not, the clip from The Conqueror did not come from my Good Times DVD. Credit Beth with beating me to the punch. It was also nice to have someone other than myself evoke Hitler’s name. Not unlike Woody Allen, I try to sneak it into every show.

To those of you that listen in your car, drive safely.

Download the Podcast here.

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On tomorrow’s KPBS Film Club of the Air

June 24th, 2008 by Scott Marks

Tomorrow’s show will be unprecedented: we’re coming up on July and I like all five of the films we are reviewing and only two are sub-titled!!! This doesn’t happen in winter let alone summer.

Tune in tomorrow to hear Beth Accomando, Tom Fudge and your obedient servant when we review Mongol, Savage Grace, Mother of Tears, Up the Yangtze and my favorite American movie of the year, The Wackness.

For those of you in the San Diego area…how the hell do you afford to live out here? Anyway, for you hometown lads and laddies the show airs at 10 am on 89.5 FM. There will be a link posted amidst tomorrow’s madness.

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Director John Woo back in action!

May 29th, 2008 by Scott Marks

Where in hell has John Woo been hiding? It’s been five years since Paycheck and fans of the beloved Hong Kong action director are getting restless.

Hollywood began pitching Woo shortly after the international success of The Killers (1989) made him a cult favorite in the States. Woo, the first Asian filmmaker to direct a mainstream Hollywood film, was sold to Universal execs by none other than Jean-Claude Van Damme who pitched him as “the Martin Scorsese of Asia!”

With Hard Target (1993), his first American film, Woo achieved the impossible by directing a watchable Van Damme movie! Broken Arrow was a stiff, but a follow-up Travolta picture, Face/Off (1997) proved that Woo could handle a blockbuster without compromising too much of his respectability. M:I-2 was an improvement over the DePalma, but not enough that I’d ever watch this Cruise missile again.

Windtalkers, an exceptional WW II action drama , flopped and gave Hollywood its first indication that it was time once again pitch Woo, this time out the door. He had one more attempt at a blockbuster, the agreeable Ben Affleck futuristic yarn Paycheck, before disappearing from the radar.

Over the past five years, several projects were discussed with very little in the way of results. Woo directed an unsold TV series pilot for a remake of Lost in Space, a segment in a French film and — God help us — a video game.

Woo is currently at in Hong Kong work wrapping up a $75 million adaptation of Luo Guanzhong’s popular Chinese novel Red Cliff. The film stars Tony Leung, who replaced Chow Yun-Fat after he dropped out of the film the day principal photography began, and Takeshi Kaneshiro. No release date has yet been set.

The drought appears to be over. It has been announced that upon completion of Red Cliff , Woo will helm the romantic war epic 1949. Based on true events at the end of WWII and the final years of the Chinese Civil War, the film will star Chang Chen and Korea’s Song Hye-kyo. Wang Hui-ling (Lust, Caution) penned the screenplay.

Filming commences in December with a theatrical release scheduled for December 2009 to honor the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China.

As my KPBS Film Club partner said when I told her of the news, “Woo starts so many projects that never come to light that I’ve grown jaded about such announcements. I just want to see Red Cliff finished.”

If you haven’t seen a John Woo film recently, why not? The man is responsible for some of the best action films of the 80s and The Killer, his version of Melville’s Le Samourai, is a terrific place to start. You can find the rest of the Spanish Lobby card set here.

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KPBS Film Club reviews new INDIANA JONES, THE VISITOR, BEFORE THE RAINS & ROMAN DE GARE

May 21st, 2008 by Scott Marks

Indiana Jones, The Visitor, Before the Rains
This month I literally took out the film club to bash Steve and Indy’s skulls: Beth thought the film was “fun” and lucky Tom had to watch his kids when the screening took place.Before getting into it there’s a phoner with Chris Strompolos and Eric Zala. They are now in their 30s. But in 1982, when the first Raiders movie came out, they were kids. They both loved the Spielberg film, and they set out on what became be a multi-year adventure (don’t expect Killer of Sheep), doing a shot-by-shot remake of Raiders. Never saw it (never will), so I sat uncharacteristically mute. Spielberg is bad enough; imitation Spielberg untenable.

The rest of the proceedings ran smoothly. I ask that you pay particularly close attention to the phone call from listener Jessica. Best call-in ever! The woman obviously knows her stuff and speaks the truth!

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KPBS Film Club airs tomorrow - Time to bash spielberg!

May 20th, 2008 by Scott Marks

Just a reminder that the KPBS Film Club of the Air rages on tomorrow with reviews of four new films. Join Beth Accomando, Tom Fudge and the King Of All spielberg Haters when we discuss Thomas McCarthy’s The Visitor, Claude Lelouch’s Roman De Gare, Santosh Sivan’s Before the Rains and little stevie’s You’ll Need Crystal Meth to Sit Through Indiana Jones’ Skull.

The Film Club airs at 10 am (Pacific) and if you live outside the San Diego area, I’ll post the podcast here.

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Phil Donahue joins KPBS-Radio’s Film Club of the Air

April 23rd, 2008 by Scott Marks

body-of-war.jpg
Eddie Vedder, Tomas Young, Ellen Spiro, Phil Donahue

On this morning’s Film Club we were joined via telephone by Phil Donahue who is making the rounds promoting his exceptional new anti-war documentary Body of War which he co-wrote and directed with Ellen Spiro. Phil spoke with great passion and intensity about the film’s subject Tomas Young, a paralyzed veteran cut down after only five days of service. The film details the unspeakable indignities the 25-year-old vet must endure on a daily basis as well his rapidly changing feelings concerning the merit of Bush’s “war on terror.”

Sadly, more people will see Morgan Spurlock’s giggle fest than Body of War. It’s not often that I use the word important when it come to cinema. I was hipped to this after seeing the trailer for A Night at the Opera which refers to the Marx Bros. romp as one of “the most important comedies ever made!”

Generally, if a poster contains the loaded term I break out in hives. That said, this is one of the most important films I have seen in years, and even though I’m a born pacifist and a die-hard Bush-hater it has forever changed the way I look at war.

I’ve talked this film up to like-minded friends as well as strangers at the checkout stand. (I hold back by not mentioning the catheter scene or that I cried all the way through it.) Unfortunately, the reaction is almost always the same: “I don’t know if I want to see it. It sounds too depressing.” It angers me that our society is pulling a blanket over their collective eyes as I am convinced that films like this (not Redacted) will help bring about an end to the war.

Since starting this blog I have never once insisted that you see a film, not even one of Marty’s. I’m doing it now. Please, hold off on seeing Harold and Kumar and if you’re smart, skip The Life Before Her Eyes and Deception altogether. Break away from your computers and home entertainment centers and see this movie opening weekend.

Also on the show, three concise minutes on Shine a Light, reviews of My Blueberry Nights, Where in the World is Osama Bin Laden and Redbelt in addition to some closing fireworks over Zombie Strippers.

Note to San Diegans: Ellen Spiro will be making a personal appearance at this Saturday night’s 7:15 pm screening at The Ken.

Download the Film Club podcast here.

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