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Criterion Review: LE CERCLE ROUGE [4K-UHD]
![Criterion Review: LE CERCLE ROUGE [4K-UHD]](https://i0.wp.com/cinapse.co/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/0mQx4lSOfh0QH8F_9.jpeg?resize=800%2C427&ssl=1)
A gritty and gripping French crime thriller from Jean-Pierre Melville
Synopsis:
Alain Delon plays a master thief, fresh out of prison, who crosses paths with a notorious escapee (Gian Maria Volontè) and an alcoholic ex-cop (Yves Montand). The unlikely trio plot a heist, against impossible odds, until a relentless inspector and their own pasts seal their fates. With its honorable antiheroes, coolly atmospheric cinematography, and breathtaking set pieces, Le cercle rouge is the quintessential film by Jean-Pierre Melville — the master of ambiguous, introspective crime cinema.
There’s a palpable gravitas to Le Cercle Rouge. A feeling that you’re observing not just a collective of legendary actors on screen, but a directorial heavyweight at the helm. A gripping and gritty, heist thriller, that pulls off its action sequences with aplomb, but never loses focus on the main characters, played by French icons Alain Delon, Yves Montand, and Gian Maria Volonte, and their existential angst. Corey (Delon), an upper-class thief freshly released from prison. He leaves armed with a tip off from a prison guard, knowledge of a big payday awaiting him at a jewelry shop in Paris. A big heist, and moving the loot, calls for some help and Corey brings on board Jansen (Montand), an ex-cop (and ace marksman) with a drinking problem, and Vogel (Volonte), a prisoner undergoing transfer, his timely escape crucial to Corey’s scheme. Their plan is carefully calibrated, the risk matching the reward, as dangers from their past, and their own inner demons, threaten their success.
Melville builds a film embedded in a gritty realism. Not just in this criminal enterprise, but in highlighting the skills and mindset of these men, put to the test to pull off this job. The meticulousness of their planning is heightened by the precision of Melville’s direction, while his sense of style. Tightly paced, with short takes, and swift movements, combining for a series of taut and stylish sequences, most notably the big, and largely dialogue free heist itself. The quieter moments, where things are inferred or subtly revealed for a later payoff, are impeccably woven into the film, adding to it’s compelling nature. The darker, grittier tone is underscored by an ominous feeling that permeates the film. You always suspect these men are on a collision course with fate, not just as they embark on this scheme, but as a result of the path their lives have taken. Each of these men on a mission, while also being pursued, by the mob, the law, or personal demons. A fascinating shift between hunter and hunted that adds to the psychological weigh these men are under. In a sense the heist takes a bit of a backseat at times, tilting from a thrilling exploration of crime, to a darker plunge into the ensuing punishment. Critiquing the state, the strong arm and surveillance efforts of the law, as well as the lingering effects of incarceration.
The Package
Criterion’s release features a new 4K scan from an original 35mm negative. It presents a fine range of colors in a palette that tends to the warmer side (which seems a counter to the previous, blue leaning presentation). Detail is superb, as is contrast, in both light and dark sequences. Detail is the standout quality here, with facial textures, clothing, background details and more, all notably clear. The included Blu-ray version of the film also offers a stirling presentation (albeit less defined than the 4K), along with all the extra features:
- Archival Footage — Segments from a 1971 episode of Cinéastes de notre temps featuring director Jean-Pierre Melville: From a French TV show, where the director delves into the inspirations behind some of his productions (notably American gangster films), how he approaches filming, and more
- Archival Footage — Pour le cinema: A short segment with Melville, Alain Delon, Andre Bourvil, Yves Montand discussing Le Cercle Rouge
- Archival Footage — Midi magazine: Another short segment, with Melville answering a few questions in anticipation of the release of Le Cercle Rouge
- Archival Footage — Vingt-quatre heures sur la deux: Melville and Delon respond to some smart questions about the film, with answers that are even more interesting. Shamefully only 4 minutes in length.
- Archival Footage — Morceaux de bravoure: Perhaps the biggest dive into the more technical side of Melville’s approach, as he spends 10 min talking about the approach, atmosphere, and inspirations that go into his movies
- Interviews with assistant director Bernard Stora: Stora — Mr. Stora, who has worked primarily as an assistant director for Jean Eustache, Henri Verneuil, John Frankenheimer and Jean-Pierre Melville, and script-writer for Claude Miller and Georges Lautner amongst others, recalls his first encounter and consequent collaborations with Jean-Pierre Melville. In French, with optional English subtitles. In French, with optional English subtitles. (31 min, 1080p)
- Interview Rui Nogueira, author of Melville on Melville: A quality dive into the director’s career and output
- On-set and archival footage, featuring interviews with Melville and actors Alain Delon, Yves Montand, and André Bourvil:
- Trailer: The original French trailer
- PLUS: Essays by film critics Michael Sragow and Chris Fujiwara, excerpts from Melville on Melville, a 2000 interview with composer Eric Demarsan, and an appreciation by filmmaker John Woo: Contained within the liner notes, that also contain info on the restoration/transfer of the film
- New cover by Art Chantry Design Co.
The Bottom Line
Le Cercle Rouge is undoubtedly one of the cornerstones of the heist genre. Inspiring many that followed in its wake, but it remains fresh and thrilling. Cool, collected, with impeccable style, palpable tension, and a gripping philosophical streak. Melville’s mastery is evident, as are the talents of Delon, Montand, and Volonte. Criterion’s release highlights the immense craft on display, through a stunning transfer and notable extra features, that deepen appreciation for the film.
Le Cercle Rouge is available via Criterion now
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Spinema Issue 63: Heavenly Trip to Hell Open Up About ROAD DOGS Doc, Horror Film, and More
Hollywood hard rock veterans, Heavenly Trip to Hell, once starred in a rock doc, but there’s way more than just that to talk about…
Lend an ear to SPINEMA: a column exploring all movie music, music related to movies, and movies related to music. Be they film scores on vinyl, documentaries on legendary musicians, or albums of original songs by horror directors, all shall be reviewed here. Batten down your headphones, because shit’s about to sound cinematic.
Recently, I was checking out the latest release from long time Sunset Strip and Long Beach mainstays Heavenly Trip to Hell and discovered they were the subjects of a documentary in 2011 called Road Dogs. Naturally, I wanted to talk to they about the experience, while also using it as an excuse to talk music, movies, and all of the interesting tales that surround being a band who has played together over the course of multiple decades.
There was a slight delay on getting this up because I didn’t realize the recording cut off members sitting on the sides of the screen and was working to try to get that fixed. Sadly, the Skype recording wouldn’t let me do that. As someone relatively new to the video interview format, I promise I’ll get better with that! So apologies to band members whose faces are cut off, but their words and thoughts here are still more than worthy of your time.
Thanks for checking out Spinema, Cinapse, and my interview… and thanks to the great folks from the great Heavenly Trip to Hell for taking the time to talk to a lowly little music and film fan like me.
Follow the band on Facebook, Instagram, and their website.
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SINGIN’ IN THE RAIN Celebrates Its 70th Anniversary in Spectacular Fashion (4K/Blu-Ray)
Classic Hollywood musical gets a much-needed refresh on 4K/Blu-Ray
Not just singing, but also dancing in the rain. Sometime in the later half of the previous century, an attendee of a Roman Catholic elementary school started his typical day with a mix of prayers, allegiances to the American flag, and Broadway/musical show tunes. It was certainly unusual, a one-time, one-year occurrence dictated by a show tunes-obsessed elementary school teacher who deeply felt that singing in the morning, rain or shine, would have healthy effects on preteen constitutions, included the increased concentration and sharpened focus necessary to tackle a full day’s instructions in English, math, and history (among other topics). She wasn’t wrong, though it took a decade or two before a certain preteen connected one of those songs, “Singin’ in the Rain,” to a transformative viewing of the award-winning 1952 musical, Singin’ in the Rain. Shockingly, his (my) mind was understandably blown, in turn creating a life-long love for a film considered the Platonic ideal of the American musical (Technicolor Edition).
There was so much more to Singin’ in the Rain, of course, than a collection of hummable, catchy songs or ear-worms. It began, not with a story, character, or even premise, but with MGM producer, Arthur Freed, who looking through MGM’s back catalog (intellectual property by today’s verbiage), decided then and there to exploit that catalog into the equivalent of a jukebox musical, tasking the writing team of Adolph Green and Betty Comden, to develop a screenplay around a handful of MGM-owned tunes, including the title song. That a purely commercial decision would or even could result in an all-timer, a classic of a distinctly American form and a shining example of the best the Hollywood studio system could produce. Almost as importantly, Singin in the Rain continues to be loved by generations of movie lovers stretching back (and probably forward) decades.
More singing, more dancing, endless rain. The answer, however, lies in collaboration, beginning with the Green-Comden team, the involvement of Stanley Donen (Two For the Road, Charade, Funny Face) as director, a top-level cast including Debbie Reynolds, Donald O’Conner, Cyd Charisse, and Rita Moreno, and ending with co-director/head choreographer Gene Kelly. Riding a decade-long creative and commercial high that begin with Cover Girl and Anchors Aweigh in 1944 and 1945, respectively, Kelly became the quintessential American movie star. His oeuvre, including The Three Musketeers in 1948 and On the Town a year later, smartly leaned into his strengths as a performer: a physical, muscular dynamism converted into energetic dance performances, comic timing to match, and a singing voice perfectly suited to the American vernacular at the time.
While wrapping up production on An American in Paris, the soon-to-be Oscar winner for Best Picture directed by Vincent Minnelli, Kelly agreed to participate in Singin’ in the Rain, bringing Stanley Donen, his On The Town collaborator, as co-director. Once the screenplay was in order, Kelly moved onto choreographing the dance sequences to the that back catalog of then familiar or not so familiar tunes. The perfectionist Kelly famously worked his cast, including the non-dance-trained Reynolds, to the point of exhaustion, yet there’s no denying that the result, while certainly problematic by contemporary standards, remains one of the most joyous celebrations of movement, music, and yes, cinema.
If only real-world romance involved soundstages, colored lights, and wind machines. Those elaborately choreographed and impeccably performed dance sequences, while all but perfect on their own, wouldn’t be as memorable, however, without Green-Comden’s often brilliant narrative. Drawing on their own, multi-decade experience in Hollywood, Green and Comden developed a comical, behind-the-scenes story set around Hollywood’s transition from the silent to sound eras, centering Singin’ in the Rain on Kelly’s Don Lockwood, a swashbuckling silent film star teetering on the edge of failure and irrelevance as the first successful talkie, The Jazz Singer, all but guarantees the end of silent films. Seeing changing audience interest as an opportunity, Lockwood attempts to salvage his latest effort, The Dueling Cavalier, into a potentially crowd-pleasing talkie and box-office hit.
Along the long and winding road toward the premiere of the retooled film, The Dancing Cavalier, Lockwood meets and romances Kathy Selden (Debbie Reynolds), a new-to-the-business performer, hangs with his best friend, Cosmo Brown (Donald O’Connor), and tries to navigate the massive ego of his longtime co-star, Lina Lamont (Jean Hagen). With the advent of sound, Lamont’s high-pitched voice places her in a precarious position, leading her to convince the head of the studio, R.F. Simpson (Millard Mitchell), into manipulating the unwitting, unwilling Kathy to become her “voice,” thus complicating Lockwood’s professional and personal lives. [Spoiler for a 70-year-old film: Lockwood reconciles them just fine.]
Again and again, though, Singin’ in the Rain circles back to a musical interlude. While the title song, filmed across several days on a Hollywood backlot, receives deserved praise for its combination of lyrics, music, and Kelly’s indefatigable Lockwood singing and dancing in the rain, it’s only the first among equals. O’Conner gets a spotlight of his own in “Make ’Em Laugh,” while the trio of Kelly, O’Conner, and Reynolds deliver the mood-elevating “Good Morning” (one of the aforementioned teacher’s favorite songs) before Kelly, joined by dancer extraordinaire Cyd Charise in a hallucinatory sequence, “Broadway Melody,” brings the proverbial house down, functionally serving as Singin’ in the Rain’s high-water mark before a not entirely unwelcome return to in-film reality resolves the various story threads and character conflicts into an emotionally and dramatically rewarding resolution.
Specifications/Special Feature:
– Previously restored 4K by Warner Bros.
– HDR presentation of the film
– Restored original mono track
– Commentary (archival) by Debbie Reynold, Donald O’Connor, Cyd Charisse, Kathleen Freeman, Stanley Donen, Betty Camden, Adolph Green, Bad Lurhmann, and Rudy BehlmerAdditional Special Features (Blu-ray disc)
– Singin’ in the Rain: Raining on a New Generation
– Jump to Song Feature
– Theatrical Trailer
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SHAWSCOPE VOL. 1: CRIPPLED AVENGERS Cinapse Roundtable Reviews
The team & guests cover Shaw Brothers classics from Arrow Video’s Blu-ray box set!
Cinapse has always been, and will always be, about cinematic discovery and discussion. Our Shawscope Volume One: Round Table Reviews column is, therefore, a watch project allowing our team, and guests, to work our way through this phenomenal 12 film Blu-ray box set from Arrow Video. These capsule reviews from a variety of writers are designed to give quick glimpses of our thoughts on all of these films as we discover them for ourselves. Some of us are experts and some of us are new to the world of Shaw Brothers studio and kung fu cinema in general. All of us are excited for the adventure.
The Hong Kong-based Shaw Brothers Studio cranked out a staggering number of feature films over its lifetime. With worldwide influence continuing to this very day, their contributions to cinema are myriad and undeniable. But with the vast output they generated, it can be hard for modern audiences to wade into their catalogue and find the diamonds in the rough. Fortunately, Arrow Video has curated their first Volume of 12 titles; a phenomenal way to wade into the deep waters of the Shaw Brothers. Beyond just capsule reviews, our team will also offer thoughts on the curation of the set and bonus features found within. Watch along with us, join us in the comments, or reach out to us on social media (linked below) if you’d like to submit your own contributions!
Featured & Honored Guest: Samm Deighan:
Chang Cheh’s Crippled Avengers is only the third of his many films to feature the Venom Mob, but it remains one of the best. With a grimier edge than the average historical-set Shaw Brothers movie, this was seemingly made for the 42nd Street grindhouse audience. Various revenge plots unfold as a wronged man transforms his son — whose arms have been chopped off — into a lethal kung fu machine. Their quest for vengeance unexpectedly turns into a supercharged power trip, resulting in the crippling and maiming of several other men — who want revenge of their own. In this nihilistic universe, getting your legs cut off or your brains scrambled can become an excuse to train to become a martial arts superhero.
With its incredible choreography, wild plot devices, and colorful moments of gore, Crippled Avengers is the film that made me an avowed fan of kung fu movies. The Venoms’ graceful athleticism and weapons mastery is breathtaking, as is the film’s often intense mean-spiritedness. While this recurs in various ways through the Shaw canon, here no one is safe. The standard plot trope of an innocent martial artist forced to train past a physical limitation to defeat a nefarious villain (or entire group of adversaries) was popularized by films like The One-Armed Swordsman and the various one-armed warrior films to follow, but the trope is carried to a tasteless, yet gleeful conclusion here. It’s an absolutely necessary inclusion in Arrow’s Shaw Brothers box set. — Samm Deighan
Ed Travis:
The Crippled Avengers is a highly dated and insensitive kung fu film that is also very satisfying to watch. I don’t know entirely what to do with that but I can most definitely say that I personally had a blast with the film and simultaneously do not wish for anyone to be hurt by that. The basic premise of this Chang Cheh venom mob installment is that several young men are permanently injured or handicapped in some way, and they’re ultimately trained in the martial arts to overcome their disabilities (all inflicted by a cruel martial arts master and his son, whose arms were severed in his youth and were replaced by futuristic metal hands of death, the technology of which we still haven’t achieved even today) and avenge themselves. Barring the dated and offensive depictions of amputees and people with mental handicaps, the basic premise is incredibly similar to countless Shaw Brothers titles. A villain knocks our heroes down, they train relentlessly, and they get their comeuppance through the glory of discipline and the martial arts (and a little teamwork).
It’s worth digging a little deeper into this concept of a hero with some kind of disadvantage in one area becoming a master in another area. Zatoichi the Blind Swordsman, for instance, is one of my favorite characters in all of cinema and starred in some 20+ films. Zatoichi is much like our blinded hero here in Crippled Avengers. He develops his other senses and becomes almost a superior physical force because of his heightened other senses. This trope has of course continued in popularity with Marvel’s Daredevil, among other examples. Cinema is often obsessed with not only physical and mental differences in characters, but also such ideas as cyborgs and altering the human body to “improve” upon it. Heroes and villains found in Crippled Avengers lose limbs and replace them with more high tech and deadly ones. None of it is sensitive or given a moments thought in terms of how a person with differing abilities might perceive these things, but Crippled Avengers bears more resemblance to a modern superhero sci-fi film than anything with an ounce of nuance. Where the Five Deadly Venoms all obtained super powers through secretive mystical training, our Crippled Avengers overcome adversity and become stronger than their enemies through teamwork and reliance upon family. And honestly, this is why Crippled Avengers is easily my favorite venom mob title I’ve yet explored. — Ed Travis
Justin Harlan
As entertaining as it is offensive, the basic premise of 1978’s Venom Mob follow up to the classic Five Venoms – Crippled Avengers – is something that could never be made today. While not made with any malicious intent, to call it politically incorrect and ableist would be one of the greatest understatements in cinematic history. The character of Yuan Yi – aka “The Fool” – alone is reason enough to make this film worthy of the label “problematic”… but it’s hard to deny how entertaining this one is from start to finish.
The fight choreography and storytelling are top notch, something those of us in the know have come to expect of Chang Cheh’s films. In fact, one could argue that there are multiple fight sequences that outshine anything in Venoms and that the film is about as strong and compelling a narrative take as you’ll find in the Shaw collection.
Putting aside the problematic nature of the characters with disabilities and the portrayals of these characters, the film is a standard tale of vengeance and heroes overcoming the big bad. The fact that they must overcome their specific disabilities and work as a team strengthens the film’s themes of teamwork, overcoming the odds, and never giving up. While the portrayal of the aforementioned fool/idiot character is notably inappropriate for today’s age and clearly is an example of 70s/80s art that hasn’t aged well, the other characters feel less egregiously offensive and could probably translate in some form to the present.
Nonetheless, if we can look past some of the film’s poorly aged parts, we’re treated to an extremely entertaining and well crafted Kung-Fu film. It’s not Venoms good in my opinion, but it’s certainly on that next tier… a truly excellent film that looks and sounds amazing on this disc. — Justin Harlan
Brendan Agnew:
Crippled Avengers finds Chang Cheh leaning hard into the same fantastical vein of Kung fu pictures that defined his own The Five Venoms and Five Elements Ninjas, and in that respect, it’s as slickly-paced, well-structured, and kinetically satisfying as either of those. However, Avengers also showcases the inescapable ableism of “stuff that was made 50 years ago.” The principal heroes are all struggling with a physical or cognitive disability inflicted by Chu Twin, the “Black Tiger” (played with obvious and delightful relish by The Boxer From Shantung‘s Chen Kuan-tai), and the means by which they overcome these barriers to their revenge is both visually creative and dramatically satisfying.
Unfortunately, the rather erratic tone also means that a lot of these disabilities are played for laughs, especially Wang Yi’s tragic brain damage that turns him almost into a cartoon. Chiang Sheng deserves all the credit for his physical performance (as does everyone, really), but…”it was a different time*” and all that. If that’s not a deal-breaker, Crippled Avengers features some of the most creative and physically impressive (and demanding – holy SHIT, that’s a lot of flips) action sequences and deliciously nasty villains of this entire boxed set.
(*Not an excuse, obviously.) — Brendan Agnew
Dan Tabor:
Crippled Avengers (1978), not to be confused with the pure exploitation insanity that is 1979’s Crippled Masters, has Chang Cheh making a pulpy beat’em up/body horror hybrid that would never be greenlit today due to its completely unpolitically correct views on disabilities and those who have them. The film is the story of the once great and good kung-fu master Chu Twin, who after a rival clan kills his wife and “cripples” his son, by chopping off his arms — is “mentally crippled” and becomes a warlord obsessed with disfiguring those who cross him. Of course because this is a Shaw Brothers film, a group of men that have all been his victims over the years band together, becoming kung-fu experts taking on the man who disfigured them in cruel and grotesque ways. Strangely the film has a very inspirational subtext of overcoming your disability as each fighter must learn to compensate and overcome their particular handicap to get their vengeance.
Given the surreal concept, this film leans more into the fantastic than previous films on the set. The fights definitely latch into this aesthetic as well. The choreography is awe inspiring with lots of long takes that highlight feats of acrobatics over the brutality. These matches are ambitiously complex and feel like they were rehearsed to perfection as each fighter has their own specialized flavor of kung-fu given their injury and is put in various disadvantages to up the stakes; because bad guys always play dirty. While Crippled Avengers is a rock solid entry and worth a watch for some of the two fisted tussles alone, it’s not quite on the same level of some of the other entries here. — Dan Tabor
Austin Vashaw:
Despite owning the DVD, this is a first time watch for me — I know it’s critical Shaw Bros but have always been a bit apprehensive to check it out.
And yet, of all the films I’ve caught in this cycle so far, this may actually be my favorite first time watch. It’s less offensive than I’d feared (though there’s certainly some “incorrectness” at play, most wincingly with the member of the crew whose disability is mental rather than physical). But the core revenge tale of a group of individuals maimed and harmed by a common enemy is definitely compelling, and the villains have some meaningful motivation, initially coming from a place of victimization and even righteousness.
The pros definitely outweigh the cons here. Charming protagonists, awesome baddies, outrageous (and honestly kind of hilarious) violence, cool gimmick weapons (iron fists and legs), amazing fight and training sequences, including some playful Jackie Chan-esque bits, and a drum-battle concept cribbed from Zatoichi. It’s great!
And We’re Out.
Shawscope Volume 1 is now available on Blu-ray from Arrow Video
Further Reading:
https://cinapse.co/shawscope-vol-1-the-boxer-from-shantung-cinapse-roundtable-reviews-f236ec2170echttps://cinapse.co/shawscope-vol-1-the-boxer-from-shantung-cinapse-roundtable-reviews-f236ec2170echttps://cinapse.co/shawscope-vol-1-the-boxer-from-shantung-cinapse-roundtable-reviews-f236ec2170ec
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VIRUS-32 Delivers Over Familiar Horror Thrills, Chills, and Spills
Rager survival horror delivers surface-level diversions
Only the fittest of the fit will survive a zombie apocalypse. We can thank the back-to-back releases of 28 Days Later and the Dawn of the Dead remake (2002/3 and 2004, respectively) for revivifying the long-dormant zombie/undead sub-genre, including the long-running/never-ending AMC series, The Walking Dead (an incredibly lucrative, semi-nostalgic return to George A. Romero’s shambling, cannibalistic ghouls and a post-apocalyptic world that’s long overstayed its welcome). Countless, mostly forgettable, derivative imitators followed over the next two decades, up to and including Virus :32, an Argentinian-Uruguayan co-production co-written and directed by genre specialist Gustavo Hernández (You Shall Not Sleep [No dormirás], The Silent House [La casa muda]) centered on a mother-daughter duo attempting to survive a deadly viral outbreak in Montevideo.
When we first meet Virus :32’s protagonist, Iris (Paula Silva), a night security guard at a block-sized athletic club, she’s trying to evade responsibility for her preteen daughter, Tata (Pilar Garcia). Thirty-going-on-twenty, Iris has made a deliberate choice to postpone adulthood for as long as possible, preferring the company of her thirty-something roommate, drinking, smoking, and getting high (she fails to hide her bong from a curios Tata). Her daughter’s presence, however, argues otherwise, compelling a hesitant Iris to sneak Tata into her workplace without her outgoing co-worker or another security guard noticing.
The skateboard plays a significantly smaller role than it should have. Taking his cues from the Dawn of the Dead remake and Shaun of the Dead, Hernández follows the oblivious Iris and Tata as they walk, jog, and run to Iris’s nearby workplace while the world noticeably unravels around them. Where Hernández shot the entirety of The Silent House more than a decade ago in a (simulated) single shot, he does something similar in the early scenes here, keeping a floating, sinuous camera locked onto Iris and Tata, relying on unseen cuts and now standard drone shots to give viewers an impressive God’s eye view of Montevideo’s streets around Iris’s apartments right up until they enter the empty athletic club and Hernández embraces more conventional camerawork and cutting.
Once inside, though, it’s obvious the athletic club contains multitudes. As vast as a city block, the underlit athletic club presents Hernández with the perfect location in which to stage a series of increasingly tense, suspenseful attacks from virus-stricken, homicidal ragers. Hernández and his co-writer, Juma Fodde, add one wrinkle to the usual viral zombie/rager trope: His ragers pause for exactly 32 seconds after an attack, presumably to “recharge” themselves. It’s a clever conceit no doubt, though Virus :32 follows fairly predictable beats as Iris, after discovering the 32-second pause via surveillance footage, exploits said 32-second pause to get around one or more napping ragers she encounters as she (a) tries to find Tata after they’re separated early on and (b) tries to escape with Tata relatively unscathed.
She’s not in there with the zombies. They’re in there with her. Over-familiar and semi-sporadically thrilling, Virus :32 certainly won’t make viewers forget 28 Days Later, the Dawn of the Dead remake, or higher profile imitators, including the recent Army of the Dead, but at minimum, it delivers a brief, modestly ambitious, slightly imaginative addition to a sub-genre badly in need of reinvention and reinvigoration. Add to that a game cast delivering fully committed, non-ironic performances and a secondary plot involving a pregnant infected woman (possible zombie baby alert), and Virus :32 hits just enough horror-related sweet spots to be worth their time.
Virus :32 is available to stream via Shudder.
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WE’RE ALL GOING TO THE WORLD’S FAIR… or Are We?
Festival circuit darling releases wide and explores the world of Internet “challenges” in the face of mental health and the changing world
Horrifying imagery, real life mental health concerns, and phenomenon of Internet social media “challenges” collide in Jane Schoenbrun’s narrative feature debut as a director, We’re All Going to the World’s Fair. Having previously worked in narrative shorts and feature length documentary film, Schoenbrun was known to me primarily for her involvement with The Eyeslicer, an ongoing collection of short films presented as an anthological series that I’ve had the pleasure to experience due to my involvement with Atlanta’s Buried Alive Film Festival. As a feature programmer and publicity director of the festival, I always loved the curation and production that went into The Eyeslicer’s programs and was very excited to be introduced to them through the festival’s directors and founders who worked closely with Schoenbrun and the rest of the Eyeslicer team.
Thus, I was very excited to see Schoenbrun’s directorial feature debut making festival rounds and was lucky enough to catch it as part of Chattanooga’s 2021 Virtual lineup. Sadly, I watched it towards the end of the screening window and fell asleep (not a reflection on the film, just on me being an old dude who falls asleep when he starts movies late at night) so I missed some of the end and hadn’t gotten to rewatch it in time. Naturally, as soon as the film was available via wide release, I dove back in.
Out now on all major streaming platforms, We’re All Going to the World’s Fair is inspired by Creepypasta and the trend of Internet “challenges” —such as ice bucket challenges, TikTok dance challenges, and the infamous Tide Pod challenge. As the Internet and technology have always been a big part of Schoenbrun’s work, it is easy to recognize that she was clearly interested in exploring on screen what its like for a teen obsessed with horror growing up in this particular day and age. This, of course, is exactly what she is doing with this film.
The particular Internet challenge that the film’s lead, Casey (Anna Cobb), is taking is called the World’s Fair Challenge. After taking the plunge and doing the challenge’s initiation, she begins to document her journey via videos she shares on the Internet. What exactly is real, what she’s making up, and what is perhaps just in her head is not exactly clear… which makes the journey more intense and all the more effective. She begins to be followed online by a man who goes by the screenname JLB (Michael J Rogers). JLB’s intent isn’t clear from the start, but we begin to understand as time goes on that he’s genuinely concerned for Casey’s well-being and not just “playing along”. While strangers can be very dangerous, this film also causes us to think on the “kindness of strangers” and the nature of “friendship” in the Internet age.
While there are genuinely scary images in this film and scares both in concept and execution, Schoenbrun never takes the easy route to simply create jump scares or try to shock the viewer. Instead, we’re subjected to truly introspective and thought-provoking decisions in where the film goes. In fact, many hardcore horror fans may even be disappointed by the non-horror types of decisions made in moments of this film. However, these filmmaking decisions made by Schoenbrun — both as the director and as the writer — are what set this film apart as being a truly engaging and mature coming-of-age genre picture rather than a forgettable horror flick.
Using the “screen life” modality that is used in much modern “found footage” film, combined with more traditional narrative film camera work, the film really finds a unique voice that tells the story in the best possible way, rather than being married to a single format. This decision is another example of Schoenbrun’s maturity as a modern filmmaker.
In short, this is a film worth a watch for many reasons. As a parent, it provides insight into what it may be like for adolescents growing up in this particular social media age and the unique challenges it brings for kids and their mental health. As a fellow teenage, it provides a realistic look into some of the troubles and issues facing peers, also showing that you’re not alone. As a genre film fan, it is a unique and mature work that is both an entrancing watch and a promising start for a young filmmaking voice who is sure to cause some real waves in the not-so-distant future.
In other words, We’re All Going to the World’s Fair is one of 2022’s latest offerings that deserves to be on the radar of genre film fans all over the globe. It’s a strong and worthwhile watch and is available now on your favorite streaming platforms.
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THE PIZZAGATE MASSACRE Embeds You in an American Horror Show
A down and dirty indie feature
Not so much alluding to far right conspiracy theories or referencing them via metaphor, John Valley’s indie feature The Pizzagate Massacre plunges the viewer right into the fray of this modern and chaotic stew of militias, murder, and mania. Our avatar character whose journey embeds us into this bizarre world is amateur reporter/aspiring documentarian Karen Black (Alexandria Payne), who after being fired on her first day on the job at an Infowars-esque show featuring conspiratorial host Terri Lee (Lee Eddy), meets Duncan Plump (Tinus Seaux) while he is pulling a gun and threatening protestors outside Terri Lee’s studio. On Lee’s show that day she was peddling a narrative about a variation on the real life “Pizzagate” shooting, riling up her viewers regarding a child pedophelia ring taking place in the basement of a pizza shop in Austin, TX that is coordinated by a cabal of literal lizard people. Karen, who either believes the lizard/pizza/pedophile narrative or simply sees her opportunity to make her name, soon recruits the volatile Duncan and they’re on the road from Waco to Austin to save the children and capture it all on video.
Living up to its name, The Pizzagate Massacre descends quite fully into a horrific misanthropic road trip. There’s very clearly humor to the film, some baked into the performances and some actual written jokes. But I don’t believe it’s intended to be an outright comedy, and I very much ended up viewing it through the lens of horror, with a bit of cultural critique built in that is played extremely straight. While Karen is our entree into this world, and her motives are intriguingly played close to the chest, Tinus Seaux’s Duncan Plump is the star of the show and the semi-unwitting subject of Karen’s documentary. Seaux’s performance as Duncan is the most nuanced of the cast and he’s the real central figure of the film. Unquestionably traumatized and out of control, Duncan has prepped for the worst, and sought every opportunity to swoop into a situation guns blazing. This is his moment. It’s time to save the children.
What I found most interesting about Pizzagate Massacre isn’t that it’s an outright screed against far right conspiracies and the consequences of this race to the bottom of the barrel in rage bating, but rather it explores the varying degrees of rabbit hole which someone can go down. Duncan is a part of a militia that is in the midst of a power struggle between an older leader whose wife bakes all the militia guys a mean casserole and a younger, angrier potential leader, Philip aka SideThorn (played by writer/director Valley himself). So between Karen, Duncan, Terri Lee, Philip, and the older leader, you’ve got this spectrum of characters who all have their own complicated, messy, and potentially mentally ill motives and belief sets that represent an infinite number of possible outcomes to this bloody and extreme situation. Who actually believes in lizard people to their core, and who merely profits from selling that narrative? Who’s willing to draw blood for what they believe and who is merely “doing their own research”?
Valley manages to tread a fine line of depicting extreme and absolutely ridiculous conspiracy far removed from any kind of reality, while also grounding it in the human sides of all of these characters. How does Duncan’s past connection to the Branch Davidians in Waco inform his current decisions? What about his relationship with media figure Terri Lee (an analog for Austin’s own Alex Jones) is driving his actions? Duncan is depicted with some nuance, and his character seems to be genuinely trying to find some kind of righteous path from within an extremely broken vessel. But we’ll see him commit acts that won’t really allow us to forgive him or let him off the hook. Ultimately all of our lead characters do things that condemn them and their actions are inexcusable, but Valley’s story shows how they might have gotten to the point where their actions seem to make sense in their own internal logic. It also shows how the varying degrees of extremism that these characters embrace leads to conflicts within their own ranks and half of the massacre of the film isn’t just what goes down in a pizza shop amidst innocents, but what breaks among the militia as the power struggle goes from democratic election to coup. Few live to the end of The Pizzagate Massacre, aptly. And the desperate acts of violence and white-knightery and fear mongering depicted in the film are all the more frightening for how close to reality they really are. Writer/Director/Actor John Valley goes directly into the belly of the beast with his fictionalized variation on a real life conspiracy gone wrong. He succeeds most when fleshing out the complexities of his characters and the personal dreams and aspirations that send them careening towards violence or the coveted spotlight of punditry.
And I’m Out.
The Pizzagate Massacre is independently distributed and can be digitally rented or purchased.
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SHAWSCOPE VOL. 1: THE FIVE VENOMS Cinapse Roundtable Reviews
The team & guests cover Shaw Brothers classics from Arrow Video’s Blu-ray box set!
Cinapse has always been, and will always be, about cinematic discovery and discussion. Our Shawscope Volume One: Round Table Reviews column is, therefore, a watch project allowing our team, and guests, to work our way through this phenomenal 12 film Blu-ray box set from Arrow Video. These capsule reviews from a variety of writers are designed to give quick glimpses of our thoughts on all of these films as we discover them for ourselves. Some of us are experts and some of us are new to the world of Shaw Brothers studio and kung fu cinema in general. All of us are excited for the adventure.
The Hong Kong-based Shaw Brothers Studio cranked out a staggering number of feature films over its lifetime. With worldwide influence continuing to this very day, their contributions to cinema are myriad and undeniable. But with the vast output they generated, it can be hard for modern audiences to wade into their catalogue and find the diamonds in the rough. Fortunately, Arrow Video has curated their first Volume of 12 titles; a phenomenal way to wade into the deep waters of the Shaw Brothers. Beyond just capsule reviews, our team will also offer thoughts on the curation of the set and bonus features found within. Watch along with us, join us in the comments, or reach out to us on social media (linked below) if you’d like to submit your own contributions!
Ed Travis:
The Venom Mob is a corner of the Shaw Brothers filmography that I remain largely uneducated on, but I look forward to learning so much more as I continue to work my way through this Shawscope set and beyond. Our friend and fellow staffer Justin Harlan is a massive fan of the Shaw films featuring these guys. I’m still wrapping my brain around them. It turns out I had seen The Five Venoms before. I suspected as much, but I remembered very little. I think my approach to seeing kung fu films in years past was simply to watch the most famous ones, and I rarely dug in and did the research to understand the context around them. So while I’d seen this film, the actors and filmmakers didn’t hold much weight for me at the time. Now that I know this is part of the body of work of the great Chang Cheh, and that these actors together form The Venom Mob of much renown, I’ll be paying much closer attention.
That said, The Five Venoms was mostly just rock solid for me, and not necessarily some kind of all-timer. Don’t get me wrong, I really enjoyed the sort of “Agatha Christie meets kung fu” vibe, with a central mystery keeping us guessing as to who all the masked Venoms really are, and who will end up with the secret treasure, and who will find redemption, etc. That stuff felt like a nice departure or variance from so many of these Shaw films. I do think some of the preposterousness of this particular plot got under my skin just a little. It seems like these Venoms really just kind of… chose the wrong master to dedicate their lives to?! Within the lore of this film all these guys were taught these unique styles but seemingly taught no morals, they’re all totally unable to even reveal themselves to the world, and then in the end their master just kind of… changes his mind and sets them all loose to destroy each other? The set up strains credulity for me, but the fun results of the final film overpower the silliness of the plot.
I look forward to learning more and diving deeper into the films of the Venom Mob, even if I generally click more with stories focusing on fewer characters. — Ed Travis
Justin Harlan
Chang Cheh is a hero among men. I’ve been gushing whenever his films come up in this set and for good reason. He’s easily my favorite Kung Fu filmmaker, but over the past year or so, I’ve been totally willing to put him in my top 5-10 all-time directors as well, alongside a wide array of folks ranging from all time maestros like John Carpenter and Wes Craven to modern genre auteurs like Jordan Peele and James Gunn to the great Steven Spielberg. Cheh is right there with them for me.
His Venom Mob movies are the ones that really made me fall in love with him. I have an amazing poster of Venoms in my living room and an equally incredible one of next week’s film in my office. I am a huge fan of this film and it ranks right at or near the top of both this set and my favorite Kung Fu films of all time.
I’d only seen this for the first time around the start of the pandemic. It felt vaguely familiar as maybe I’d seen it on a random Saturday afternoon on NY’s WPIX or WWOR growing up, but I’d definitely not seen it in my adult life. It took nearly no time at all to fall in love with it and launched an obsessive habit where my wife and I watched as much Kung Fu as we could during that lockdown period where we barely left the house.
Since that time, I’ve shown numerous friends and family the film, gotten my poster for my birthday, purchased my wife a badass T-shirt, and thrown it on in the background over and over. It never loses its initial luster. So, when I got this set in the mail, it was the first disc I popped in and I never regretted it.
With great special features, an amazing print of this amazing film, and more, this disc is the crown jewel of this set for me! Now, it’s time for me to get buff like Lo Mang and learn the style of the Toad, so I need to go get back to my training… but not until I watch this disc another time. — Justin Harlan
Brendan Agnew:
One of my favorite things about exploring cult classic (or any classic) cinema is finding a movie that’s slightly outside the box of what you’re expecting. Yes, The Five Venoms is a dope martial arts movie with plenty of showcases for the Venom Mob to demonstrate their considerable prowess, but it’s also a kung fu procedural. Not unlike Donnie Yen’s Kung Fu Killer, Venoms follows the cat and mouse shenanigans of dueling disciples chasing ill-gotten cash while also keeping up with the investigation into the resulting murders by local authorities. It’s a lot of spinning plates to keep track of, but the film never leaves you feeling lost.
Add to that the dynamic way Chang Cheh visualizes the Venoms’ signature fighting styles and the shifting allegiances as various members of the Poison Clan are unmasked, and you have a movie that’s as refreshing as it is reliably thrilling. I hate to sound like a broken record, but I’ll stop singing praises for Cheh’s directorial work if we ever get to a dud – and this is a bona fide gem. — Brendan Agnew
Austin Vashaw:
When it comes to martial arts cinema, you just gotta love something that’s super-stylized. If you mix in some kind of rad gimmick like ridiculous weapons, outrageous comedy, disabled heroes, phantasmagorical horror, or fantastical superpowers? I eat it up. Five Deadly Venoms is a key example of that last category, dreaming up a brand of kung fu that’s not only based on animal styles (not unlike the classic standbys of Crane, Snake, Monkey, Eagle, etc), but attributing these “venoms” with amazing special abilities like invulnerability (Toad), clambering up walls (Lizard), or super-speed (Centipede), or hurling deadly projectiles – but also certain key weaknesses that can be exploited by a knowledgeable opponent.
One thing I enjoyed about this film that differentiates it from most of the others in our series so far is that the conflict is internal. All of the Venoms, whether fighting for good or evil, are from the same Poison Clan and it’s up to the most junior member, the least skilled among them, to honor their master and clean house. — Austin Vashaw
And We’re Out.
Shawscope Volume 1 is now available on Blu-ray from Arrow Video
Further Reading:
https://cinapse.co/shawscope-vol-1-the-boxer-from-shantung-cinapse-roundtable-reviews-f236ec2170echttps://cinapse.co/shawscope-vol-1-the-boxer-from-shantung-cinapse-roundtable-reviews-f236ec2170echttps://cinapse.co/shawscope-vol-1-the-boxer-from-shantung-cinapse-roundtable-reviews-f236ec2170ec
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Criterion Review: THE GIRL CAN’T HELP IT
Frank Tashlin’s Landmark Rock’n’Roll Comedy Arrives on Blu-ray
Whatever his other qualities or deficiencies as a filmmaker, you gotta give this to Frank Tashlin: The man knew funny.
If you don’t know Tashlin by name, you probably know his work. Tashlin was an innovative voice in animation in the 1930s, eventually ending up as a director for many Termite Terrace shorts, better known as Looney Tunes.
After he moved on from animation, Tashlin worked as a gag writer for everyone from the Marx Brothers to Lucille Ball, and then eventually made the jump to live action direction, including a number of collaborations with Jerry Lewis, the fantastic Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?—a movie that beats Mad Men to its every satirical punch forty years in advance—and the film we are here to discuss today: the rock’n’roll classic The Girl Can’t Help It, courtesy of the pristine new disc released by Criterion.
Tashlin’s career in toons is quite evident even when he’s dealing with flesh and blood performers and more than two dimensions. There’s a manic energy to his features that allow these venerable comedies to feel, well, modern. Many is the classic comedy movie that has its origins on the stage, whether because the film is a direct adaptation of a theatrical piece, or because that’s where all the creative leads cut their teeth.
Which isn’t a bad thing, to be clear. Especially when the dialogue is diamond-cut and the performers are volleying off each other at the peak of their talents and their interrelated charismas. When you watch, say, His Girl Friday, it’s so fun listening to those character unleash overlapping torrents of words that you might miss that the film takes place almost exclusively in two rooms and that most of the runtime is devoted to nothing more than people talking on and on and on.
Tashlin wasn’t afraid of verbally dexterous bantering and tongue-twisting insults, not at all. But decades before the likes of Airplane! would make an art form out of bombarding the audience with jokes packed into every corner of every frame, Tashlin was exploring every possible way that the camera itself could be used as part of the joke. Not content with offering America a funhouse mirror distortion of its own ridiculous culture, Tashlin builds gags out of everything from the aspect ratio to the color correction, no margin too tiny to escape his doodling jokes within them.
The titular girl who just cannot help it is none other than Jayne Mansfield, swaggering into her first starring role like she already knows she’s an icon. Jayne plays Jerri, a bombshell so to-die-for that milk bottles pop like champagne when she saunters on by.
So, obviously, hapless agent Tom (Tom Ewell) doesn’t stand a chance with her. As the film starts, Tom is a washed-up drunk who can barely cover his tabs at the various nightclubs and concert venues he used to command. That makes him easy pickings for down-and-out gangster Fats Murdock (Edmond O’Brien), who’s still rattled by the loss of his headline-grabbing notoriety. But Fats has a plan: He’ll turn his kept woman Jerri into a major singing sensation, and then marry the newly minted bigshot. Tom’s available, he’s actually pretty competent when he’s sober, and, best in Fats’ mind, Tom is famous for never trifling with any of the women he represents.
So, obviously, Tom and Jerri (ha) hit it off and things start getting complicated, fast.
Only one year before this film, Ewell played almost the exact same character in The Seven Year Itch. If you needed a chinless schmuck to go cross-eyed and fall over himself on account of a stacked blonde, he was your man, I suppose. Blatant as the retread is, Ewell is excellent at this brand of schtick, and he has enough genuine chemistry with Mansfield that you buy their budding connection.
For her part, Mansfield comes out of the gate locked into how Tashlin’s animator brain wants to play off her physicality. To loop back around to The Seven Year Itch, in that film and many of her other iconic roles, Marilyn Monroe was asked to play dreamgirls who were utterly guileless as to how people (and/or men) viewed them (that wasn’t always the case, of course. My favorite Monroe performance is Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, in which her character cheerily manipulates every single slobbering stooge she encounters out of every penny they got on ‘em).
But Tashlin is using Mansfield as a parody of male fantasies even as he’s projecting that fantasy onto the biggest canvas imaginable. Credit to Mansfield: she seems to be having a ball demolishing her screen presence when her career was still very much in its infancy. She’s better served in Rock Hunter in a role that gave her greater latitude to drive the plot and wield her outsized screen presence like a bat, but she still feels perfectly attuned to the live-action cartoon energy Tashlin brought to The Girl Can’t Help It. It’s a collaboration that really sings.
Also really singing: A lot of the cast members in the film! The Girl Can’t Help It is a benchmark not only for portraying a pivotal moment in rock’n’roll and legitimizing the genre by parodying it, but for the many cameos and musical numbers from canonically important figures in the evolution of the genre. Most noticeably, The Girl Can’t Help It has a theme song performed by Little Richard and his band. Take that, every other movie ever made.
Other luminaries who show up to quake the ceiling beams include a haunting Julie London, a scorching solo by Abbey Lincoln, and musical numbers by The Treniers, Fats Domino, Eddie Fontaine, Eddie Cochran, probably a couple other Eddies, The Platters, and more.
The Girl Can’t Help It ends up being a living tribute to rock’n’roll, even as Tashlin and his cast are merciless in their all-purpose skewering of the artificiality and calculation that go into selling revolution to mass audiences.
The new Criterion disc brings every eye-popping color to luminous life, really emphasizing how much Tashlin’s live-action work still brought his background in animation to bear.
Even if Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter? is a slightly more perfectly assembled comedy, The Girl Can’t Help It remains a jam-packed bullet of a good time. Between all the great music and all the jokes crammed into every spare corner, it’s nigh on impossible to go unentertained.
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THE FLAG OF IRON: Unboxing & Review of the 88 Films Blu-ray
Venom Mob visual flair and palace intrigue combine for explosive results
On the one hand, my personal timing for reviewing this film is perfect in that Shaw Brothers Studio films are being released in great abundance right now in the United States by both 88 Films and Arrow Films, and I’m choosing to take a pretty deep dive into many of them right here on Cinapse. On the other hand, however, this treasure trove of kung fu classics I’ve been taking in in recent weeks and months does make the films a little hard to distinguish from one another. I greatly enjoyed The Flag Of Iron while watching it a few weeks back, however, even if it begins to meld into the broader Shaw-verse.
The Flag Of Iron is a 1980 Venom Mob film, meaning that it features the handful of stars known affectionately as the venom mob, a group of talented stars and choreographers who mega-star director Chang Cheh “discovered” and featured in many of his later career films for Shaw. Cheh is really the major breakout director from Shaw Studios and was involved with dozens upon dozens of their releases, including many of the all-time greats.
This title features many of the same antics and much of the same plotting as many other kung fu films: Rival martial arts schools, in this case the Iron Flag Clan and the Eagles, are duking it out for supremacy on the streets. When the Eagles pull a duplicitous fast one on the more nobly intentioned Iron Flags, their master is killed and a power vacuum emerges. Somewhere in the midst of all of this a mysterious assassin, known as the Spearman, who will play a major role in how this conflict turns out. Phillip Kwok (Hard Boiled’s Mad Dog) stars in this one as “Iron Panther” Lo, who takes the fall for his fellow Iron Flag brothers and undergoes a voluntary banishment after their master is murdered. Unfortunately, his fellow brother “Iron Tiger” Chow Feng (Fend Lu), has less than noble intentions in mind and has set Lo up for this fall. When Lo returns home, a confrontation is inevitable, and alliances will shift, but will Lo prevail?
The costuming and props teams on The Flag Of Iron, along with the action choreography (which I understand the Venom Mob actors themselves coordinated), really deserve all the praise in helping The Flag Of Iron stand out from the pack. The villainous Eagles clan have VERY distinctive feathered ensembles that don’t remind me of any other martial arts film I’ve seen. And the red and black uniforms and flag-spears of our Iron Flag heroes also really make a visual impact. In the finale there’s a ton of great slow motion action choreography featuring these beautiful and visually engaging massive flags and there’s no doubt that imagery will be what sticks with me years from now when nothing else does.
The Package
Like Disciples Of Shaolin and The Chinese Boxer before this title, 88 Films has really done an incredible job bringing this to the US Blu-ray market. Stuffed to the gills with physical and digital features, all supplementing a kick-ass film and including brand new original art for the title, kung fu fans and Shaw Brothers fanatics simply need to jump on this release.
Special Features (Adapted From 88 Films’ Site)
- LIMITED EDITION Slipcase with brand-new artwork from R.P. “Kung Fu Bob” O’Brien + Reversible sleeve artwork with original Hong Kong poster art
- Double-Sided A3 Foldout Poster
- Extensive Booklet Notes “Red and Black Attack Unfurling the Fury of Cheh Chang’s Gloriously Inventive Martial Arts Masterwork, The Flag of Iron (1980)” by Andrew Graves
- Restored HD Master in 2.35:1 Aspect Ratio
- English LPCM Mono, Mandarin LPCM Mono 2.0, Newly Translated English Subtitles
- TECHNICAL SPECS: Region Code: AB, Audio: DTS-HD MA Dual Mono, Picture: HD 1080p 2.35:1, Runtime: 113 mins approx, Language: English / Chinese, Subtitles: English,
And I’m Out
The Flag Of Iron released on Blu-ray in the USA February 8th, 2022 from 88 Films
