-
Two Cents Film Club: THE VELOCIPASTOR
Sometimes we just pick something because of the title.
Two Cents is an original column akin to a book club for films. The Cinapse team will program films and contribute our best, most insightful, or most creative thoughts on each film using a maximum of 200 words each. Guest writers and fan comments are encouraged, as are suggestions for future entries to the column. Join us as we share our two cents on films we love, films we are curious about, and films we believe merit some discussion.
The Pick
Velocipastor. Half pastor, half veloci. Sometimes we just dive into a pick without really knowing just what it is we’re diving into, and this was one of those times. The Velocipastor is a real, actual, 90 minute movie about — a preaching dinosaur? Chapter 40 of the Book of Job? Wait, are those ninjas on the poster?
Brendan told me I could either do The Velocipastor or The Fanatic but not both, so here we are. Did I make the right choice? Let’s find out…
Did you get a chance to watch along with us this week? Want to recommend a great (or not so great) film for the whole gang to cover? Comment below or post on our Facebook or hit us up on Twitter!
Next Week’s Pick:
It’s with great sadness that we say goodbye to a horror icon. Stuart Gordon has made an indelible impact on horror films since hitting the scene with 1985’s Re-Animator, and we want to honor him by sharing one of his best — and yet lesser known — films. Dagon is Gordon’s ultimate Lovecraft adaptation, a deeply atmospheric descent into the nightmarish world of the Chtulhu mythos.
Would you like to be a guest in next week’s Two Cents column? Simply watch and send your under-200-word review to twocents(at)cinapse.co!
The Team
Never fear, The Velocipastor is here. I was waiting for this one for months and months before it finally dropped. Much to my dismay, I was unable to attend my Philly screening. As the film was screened in the basement of a United Methodist church that I used to use for punk concerts in my pre-kids mid-20s, I’m sure it was the most incredible atmosphere to see such an irreverent and bizarre low budget film.
With this said, I was able to get my hands on the film not too long after and it didn’t disappoint. Complete with a “missing reel” and over the top concepts and action, this is a film that’s hard not to have fun with. Those who don’t appreciate it likely have no soul… which is a shame because the Velocipastor is here to save all of our souls.
From beginning to end, this is a fantastic low budget blast. The acting is (intentionally) not great and the effects are a mixed bag, but this film is exactly what fans of low budget and microbudget film should be looking for. If you haven’t watched yet, check out the trailer and you should be completely sold. (@thepaintedman)
So I had pretty much no real idea of what to expect with this one except that it’s called The Velocipastor and released by Wild Eye which is known for bottom-budget yet interesting horror movies.
The Velocipastor hangs a 90-minute movie on a wordplay, and not even a particularly good or accurate one one at that (“raptor” and “pastor” only half-rhyme, and technically the character isn’t really either).
On the surface there’s certainly a perception that the mashup title hews close to a “Sharknado” — that school of filmmaking that says let’s get two weird unrelated concepts and jam ’em together and see what happens. Setting out to make an intentionally bad movie is a difficult thing to pull off with any level of success, but I’ll say this for Velocipastor: it avoids the worst-case scenario, which would be to simply feel like a lame cash grab.
It’s definitely throwing a lot of weird stuff at the screen — a world populated by Christian ninjas, a cartoonish pimp, and a priest who gains the ability to transform into a dinosaur — but it doesn’t ever feel cynical about it. It’s a fun, self-aware, and low-key murder-and-mayhem adventure with a few chuckle-worthy gags and a laughably chonky dinosaur costume, and gives the sensation that the folks involved were having fun making something silly to share with the world. (@VforVashaw)
Brendan Foley (via DM):
Sorry Justin, guess I have no soul.
This is honestly the kind of movie that I just cannot stand, the intentionally bad bad movie that is constantly winking at you about how dumb and silly it is. Truly great bad movies are the result of artistic vision and drive as pure as that behind any masterpiece, whereas movies like this that keep pausing to remind you that they know how stupid they are just come across as smug and airless to me.
I’m sorry to say that I lost patience with this one very quickly. I love low budget genre cinema and the spirit of invention and creativity that go into pulling off magic on a shoestring budget. But movies like The Velocipastor that go out of their way to make the least amount of effort possible just bum me out. Glad the other guys seemed to like it, though. (@TheTrueBrendanF)
Next week’s pick:
-
KNIVES OUT: You Can’t Resist Rian Johnson’s Delightfully Deadly Murder-Mystery on Blu-ray
One of 2019’s best reaps rewards in home video revisits
My favorite big-screen viewings are the ones that become a communal experience for the audience, ones where each viewer becomes locked into the same exciting emotional rhythm the film provides. Over the course of his career, Rian Johnson has deftly honed this particular skill. From Brick to The Last Jedi, Johnson burrows deep into the tropes of his chosen genres and mines them for as many subversive twists and turns as possible. While this unpredictability would sate other directors, Johnson consistently has gone a step further, never losing sight of creating well-drawn, empathy-driven characters to set on these wild narrative paths. Whether on the big screen or now on home video, Knives Out sees Johnson at his absolute best. He turns the whodunnit into a why-dunnit and back again, creating a fast-paced, gripping tale rich with hilarious characters and a hell of a lot of heart.
The film follows an investigation into the murder of acclaimed mystery author Harlan Thrombey (Christopher Plummer) after his 85th birthday party — and in the eyes of gentleman sleuth Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig), every member of Harlan’s family is a potential suspect in the man’s demise. Was it headstrong real estate magnate Linda (Jamie Lee Curtis)? Her womanizing, baby-boomer husband Richard (Don Johnson)? Maybe the blame’s on Harlan’s son and publisher, Walt (Michael Shannon), or Harlan’s influencer daughter-in-law Joni (Toni Collette). There’s also the missing Ransom (Chris Evans), whose conspicuous absence leads to its own share of family secrets. To get to the bottom of this, Blanc relies on Harlan’s aide, Marta (Ana De Armas); but Marta’s holding some deadly secrets of her own, ones that threaten to upend everything we know about the night of Harlan’s death.
One of Knives Out’s strengths is that it’s as surprising as ever, whether you’re a newly-initiated viewer or putting the Blu in for the umpteenth time. The reason for this longevity, surprisingly, is that while Johnson and his cast know that these reversals and reveals are part of the lifeblood of the murder-mystery, they must serve the overall story rather than the other way round. The twists of Knives Out play into a far larger tapestry, fueled by a ridiculously-stacked cast of memorable characters with compelling, unpredictable motivations. The result is that every twist means that much more to us as it does for the characters onscreen. Knives Out is an endlessly enjoyable roller coaster of empathy, delivered with sheer confidence in each line and cut both in front of and behind the camera.
VIDEO/AUDIO:
Lionsgate presents Knives Out in 1080p 1.85:1 HD, with an English Dolby Atmos track, 2.0 English descriptive audio, and 5.1 French and Spanish dub tracks. English SDH, French, and Spanish subtitles are provided for the main feature.
Steve Yedlin’s rich, labored-over cinematography is well preserved here. Of particular note is the healthy amount of artificial grain that grants Knives Out a filmic look that transcends its Arri Alexa origins. The intricate details of the Thrombey mansion transfer well here, too; I’m definitely going to have a blast pausing and reading the various ridiculous titles in Harlan’s library. The surround audio track showcases the delightful strings of Nathan Johnson’s soundtrack as much as it does the film’s crackling dialogue. Overall, it’s a high-quality presentation of a stellar flick.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
- 2 Audio Commentaries: The disc features Rian Johnson’s self-released solo commentary during the film’s theatrical run, as well as an ensemble commentary with Johnson, cinematographer Steve Yedlin, and Trooper Wagner himself, Noah Segan.
- Deleted Scenes: 2 brief excised subplots, one delving into Walt’s gambling debts and the mystery of his broken leg, the other revealing the unfortunate side effects of Joni’s Flam products. Both add to the characters’ already duplicitous motivations (and thankfully give Riki Lindholme more to do), but are easily removed strands of story from an already chock-full plot.
- Making a Murder: A feature-length documentary covering every facet of Knives Out’s production, from the excitement of pre-production, the fast-paced shooting schedule, to the film’s eventual premiere at Toronto, Fantastic Fest, and Los Angeles. I know it’s old hat to say that a film’s cast and crew definitely had fun during production, but come on, the Knives Out set looks like it was the best summer camp ever.
- Rian Johnson–Planning the Perfect Murder: An interview with the writer-director on conceptualizing the world of Knives Out and the intricacies of bringing the various threads of the story together in the script stage.
- Q&A: A 45-minute post-screening session featuring the film’s cast and crew.
- Marketing Gallery: Featuring three theatrical trailers, a Hitchcockian introduction to the film by Rian Johnson, and three viral ads from the world of the film: Thrombey Real Estate, Blood Like Wine Publishing, and Flam.
From its endlessly rewatchable main feature to its surprising king’s ransom of supplements, Knives Out is easily a staple of anyone’s Blu collection. Now to make room for the future Blu of Untitled Knives Out Sequel alongside it.
Knives Out is now available on 4K UHD, Blu-ray, DVD, and Digital courtesy of Lionsgate.
-
Two Cents Dons THE MASK OF ZORRO
Two Cents is an original column akin to a book club for films. The Cinapse team will program films and contribute our best, most insightful, or most creative thoughts on each film using a maximum of 200 words each. Guest writers and fan comments are encouraged, as are suggestions for future entries to the column. Join us as we share our two cents on films we love, films we are curious about, and films we believe merit some discussion.
The Pick
One of Hollywood’s favorite pastimes for the past few decades has been pouring lots and lots of money into flashy updates of classic pulp heroes, or new characters explicitly drawn from the example of classic pulp heroes.
Alas, it never quite seems to work out.
The Phantom. The Shadow. The Rocketeer. Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow. The Spirit. John Carter. And of course, the kill-shot that may have finally finished this trend for good, The Lone Ranger.
Surely everyone involved in these enterprises has nothing but the best and most noble of intentions. And pretty much every one of the films listed above has some degree of cult following (maybe not The Spirit) attuned to the specific frequency the filmmakers sought.
But the movies never quite work right, and the audiences never show up.
Well. Except for one time.
1998’s The Mask of Zorro was a long-gestating project that went through a number of hands. At one point producer Steven Spielberg was going to direct himself, before opting instead to hire young up-and-comer Robert Rodriguez. Rodriguez cast his Desperado leading man, Antonio Banderas, to be the new Zorro, only to depart himself when producers would not agree to his budget requests (the final cost ended up being over twice what Rodriguez asked for). Instead, directorial duties were handed by Martin Campbell on the heels of his reviving the dormant James Bond franchise with Goldeneye (and right before he would revive the dormant James Bond franchise with Casino Royale).
The Mask of Zorro opens at the end of the career of the classic Zorro, as heroic nobleman Don Diego de la Vega (Sir Anthony Hopkins) has decided to end his nightly Batmanning and devote himself entirely to his wife and child. But his life is destroyed when the vengeful Don Rafael Montero (Stuart “Dr. Hatcher, nooooo.” Wilson) murders his wife and steals his daughter. Twenty years later, de la Vega escapes imprisonment and decides a new Zorro is needed to save his now-grown daughter Elena (Catherine Zeta-Jones) and free California from tyranny. His choice: Banderas’ Alejandro, a good-hearted, bumbling bandit who cleans up awfully nice.
Antonio is the one with brown eyes Together, de la Vega and Alejandro must work together to save Elena and protect California from Montero’s evil schemes, and avenge the death of Alejandro’s brother at the hands of the sadistic Captain Love (Matt Letscher).
Buckles are swashed, derrings are do’ed, with no less than Olympian swordmaster Bob Anderson (who worked on *checks notes* all of your favorite movies) making sure that the swordfights are some of the best that have ever been.
The Mask of Zorro was a massive hit when it was released, and remains a beloved high-water mark for fans of ’90s action cinema. While much of the cast and crew went on to long and accomplished careers, this particular formula was never quite replicated, not even when the whole gang got together again years later for The Legend of Zorro.
So strap on your best sword and make sure your hat is on tight. It’s time to put on The Mask of Zorro.
Next Week’s Pick:
Oh hey, we’re doin’ The Velocipastor.
Available on Amazon Prime and Free (ad-supported) on Vudu.
Would you like to be a guest in next week’s Two Cents column? Simply watch and send your under-200-word review to twocents(at)cinapse.co anytime before midnight on Thursday!
Our Guests
Austin Wilden:
The Mask of Zorro’s alchemical mixture of all the right elements in just the right places makes for one of the grandest feeling blockbusters I’ve ever watched. Set design, costumes, stunts, score and the performances of the assembled cast compliment each other in a way that makes the over two-hour runtime race by and leaves you longing for more.
It’s similar to the mix that made the other swashbuckler with a screenplay by Ted Elliot and Terry Rossio, Curse of the Black Pearl, work years later. Namely that it’s committed to not overcomplicating itself and focusing in on the central characters’ arcs above all else. The three main characters, Alejandro, Elena and de la Vega, all have easy to understand motives, relationships and connections with the antagonistic duo of Rafael Montero and Harrison Love. When the sword fighting, rope-swinging and horse-riding action kicks in, you understand what brought all the participants to that point and their goals. All that action and character work happens in a way that makes it look so effortless you wonder what happened to Martin Campbell by the time he was making Green Lantern.
Of course, the biggest highlight is the sword fight/flirt in the stable between Alejandro and Elena, where Banderas and Zeta-Jones’ chemistry burns hotter than the goldmine explosion that caps off the movie’s climax. (@WC_Wit)
Brendan Agnew (The Norman Nerd):
What do Batman Begins, Casino Royale, and The Force Awakens have in common?
They’re all damn good movies who’s big central “hooks” were done better, earlier, and all in a one movie, by The Mask of Zorro.
You’ve got the masked vigilante with the double life, an “origin” that reboots a beloved action/adventure hero with his recognizable gear *and* a continuation of a pop mythology icon that passes the sword to the next generation AND *ALSO* they do the “truck sequence from Raiders of the Lost Ark” of horse chases. This movie it’s so good — and makes being as good as it is look so easy — that it makes me embarrassed for other movies. Like, this was the same level of “everything coming together just right to make the platonic ideal of a swashbuckler” as the first Pirates of the Caribbean, except all those secret ingredients in Pirates feel accidental but confidently purposeful in Zorro.
And did I mention it’s a movie that takes the subtext of “sword fights are basically sex scenes” and decides that subtext is for fucking cowards?
Every one of the actors shows up to work but is also eager to play, the fight and chase scenes are impeccably shot and communicate clear narratives of action, James Horner’s score rips the entire roof off (the dude was coming off of both Braveheart and Titanic so he *knew* he was hot shit and came to show off), and things blow up so gotdamn awesome that the film uses lion and tiger roars in its explosion sound effects. Also, one time Zorro dual-wields swords to duel two guys simultaneously and it’s some of the raddest weapon shit outside martial arts cinema.
There’s still a few things that our current blockbusters could learn from The Mask of Zorro. Namely, more swords. (@BLCAgnew)
The Team
The Mask of Zorro does so much right that it’s hard to understand why so many other movies get it wrong. Why can’t all action movies have action this clean and well-choreographed? Why can’t all ensembles be this well-assembled and be having this much palpable fun? Why can’t all adventure movies have this clear a narrative structure, while also having the patience to take time to give each piece time enough to breathe?
Why can’t there be more GODDAMN swordfights in Hollywood blockbuster?
The Mask of Zorro is just one of those very special movies where all the elements aligned in just the right way. It’s no wonder that it has proven nigh-on impossible to replicate, even by different combinations of the same creative team. I do hope that someday someone gives Banderas the opportunity to pass the mantle to another Zorro in a big, splashy blockbuster, but we should never stop being grateful that the great Fox got one Hollywood outing this outstanding. (@TheTrueBrendanF)
“The hero’s mortal enemy steals his child to raise as his own” may be a familiar story beat (you’ve seen it elsewhere — The Count of Monte Cristo, Nickelodeon’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, to cite new and old examples), but that’s because it’s so compelling. The Mask of Zorro is a phenomenal work of action-adventure sword fights and setpieces, but this heartbreaking familial dynamic is what powers its passion.
With two generations of Zorros both loving the same woman — one as her father, the other as her suitor — the swordplay and heroics serve a purpose. Villains are vanquished, wrongs righted, and swashes buckled. So perfectly did the film capture its adventurous tone and boisterous, acrobatic action that other films of a similar vein — even its own sequel — struggle to prove its equal. (@Austin Vashaw)
Further reading:
Next week’s pick: The Velocipastor
Watch on Amazon Prime
Free (ad-supported) on Vudu -
ESCAPE FROM PRETORIA: A Prison Break Film Isolated From a Deeper Context
The dramatization of the 1979 jailbreak is an entertaining watch–but fails to fully reckon with the deeper struggles of South Africa’s Apartheid past
One of the best books I read as a kid was a little book fair tome called “Usborne’s Tales of Real Adventure.” It was a gripping read for a preteen, with crazy survival stories and escape attempts, from the Hindenberg to Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s crash-landing in the Libyan desert to my favorite story of the bunch: Tim Jenkin and Stephen Lee’s escape from Pretoria Prison in South Africa. Jenkin and Lee, imprisoned for their roles in the fight against Apartheid, managed to escape what was touted as South Africa’s Alcatraz, and their bravery and determination helped expose yet another chink in the crumbling armor of the racist South African government. I didn’t appreciate the magnanimity of this escape in the context of the Apartheid regime, but these men’s ingenious prison break in the name of their ideals stuck with me for years.
Naturally, as soon as I heard 20-odd years later that Jenkin and Lee’s escape had received the film treatment, I was on board. On paper, Escape From Pretoria’s got everything — a timely story about ideological and moral resistance against institutional corruption, Daniel Radcliffe and Ian Hart reuniting, and suspense-driven intricate escape processes. In execution, the film’s pretty decent; though one can’t help but feel like its dedication to the minutiae of Jenkin and Lee’s escape comes at the cost of a more thorough and needed exploration of its own ideals.
Escape From Pretoria follows the months-long construction of an escape plan formulated by South African apartheid activists Tim Jenkin, Stephen Lee, and French national Leonard Fontaine (substituted for Egyptian-Australian activist Alex Moumbaris). Jenkin and Lee are imprisoned for year-length prison sentences for a non-lethal ANC leaflet bombing of a public street; Fontaine is another political prisoner serving years inside and away from his son, whom Fontaine is only allowed to see for a half-hour each year. From the moment Jenkin and Lee step inside Pretoria, an escape plan is forming — but they face opposition not just from the extremely racist guards, but from their fellow prisoners. Denis Goldberg, an ANC Veteran imprisoned at the same time as Nelson Mandela, views their imprisonment as a monastic symbol of their struggle; and while he is happy to advise the jailbreakers on the dangers of their quest, he believes that their success only predicates future harsh punishment by the government. Unswayed by the dangers around them, Jenkin, Lee, and Fontaine use everything from broomstick crank handles, wooden keys, and gum-and-string pulley systems to inch closer to freedom.
Escape from Pretoria boasts a solid ensemble cast anchored by Daniel Radcliffe, Daniel Webber, and Mark Leonard Winter. Jenkin is easily one of Radcliffe’s best roles, an unwavering idealist who approaches his hardships with an equally unflappable degree of pragmatism. Webber does act as more of a sounding board to Radcliffe’s ideas, but manages to inject light humor in contrast to his co-star’s gravitas. Leonard provides more pathos to the group with his material, but his over-the-top performance feels sometimes out-of-place, drawing further attention to his character’s position as a substitute for another real-life person. Ian Hart gives a decent supporting turn as well as an almost anti-mentor in Goldberg, illustrating another shade of the cast’s shared ideals to somewhat self-destructive ends.
Like other prison break procedurals, Pretoria crafts much of its narrative on the minute process of escape, and the many methods that the trio used to escape are mined for effective suspense throughout. Jenkin, Lee, and Leonard only have so many materials to work with, requiring just as much trial-and-error for each step of their process. Writer-director Francis Annan and co-writer L.H. Adams milk each moment for what its got, especially in a sequence where Jenkin must fish a stray wooden key out of a closely-patrolled hallway using nothing but gum at the end of a string.
As entertaining as the process-driven story may be, Annan and Adams’ laser-focus on it does come at the expense of the greater context of the escapees’ imprisonment. There is tension between Jenkin’s group and Goldberg’s when it comes to the rationale of escaping a political prison. Namely, whether it’s more noble to endure imprisonment for one’s ideals with dignity to morally humiliate your aggressors, or to escape in order to undermine their power and hopefully incite meaningful change. However, viewers aren’t given much — if any — of the climate of the outside world to go on, aside from a brief beginning sequence illustrating the circumstances that led Jenkin and Lee to be arrested. Radcliffe’s Jenkin is given much of the expository legwork of Pretoria in lengthy voiceovers, which set up the anti-Apartheid dynamic well, but Jenkin’s voiceover and his brief tensions with Goldberg do little to illustrate exactly why this struggle means so much to them personally, and what effect their suffering may have on the outside world.
That’s not to say that prison break films can’t be as straightforward as this one. The equally detail-obsessed A Man Escaped by Robert Bresson is a clear influence on Escape from Pretoria, from its structure to its soundtrack choices. But Bresson’s film still reckoned with serious issues of its time, from whether to collaborate with one’s oppressors to the limits of faith in the wake of dispassionate human suffering. There’s clearly room for Pretoria to greater reckon with the legacy of Apartheid, especially since Annan and Adams are turning their gaze to the past in a time of hostility towards immigrants and other heightening ethnocentric policymaking. However, these aspects go unexplored in favor of repetitious tension, no matter how entertaining that tension may be. As someone excited to explore this story beyond what I learned as a kid, I can’t say my knowledge of Jenkin and Lee’s escape deepened by a considerable margin. That said, Escape from Pretoria is still a solidly-made film by everyone involved. If anything, it may inspire people to check out Jenkin’s published memoir about the escape and motivate viewers to engage in serious conversation about the nature of political imprisonment.
Escape from Pretoria is now in theaters and on demand and digital from Momentum Pictures.
-
THE FAN (1996) & THE CONTRACTOR (2007): A Wesley Snipes Double Feature
Any night with Wesley Snipes is a good night
Mill Creek Entertainment does a fair amount of these types of double feature home video releases, with a couple titles featuring the same star on one disc with a bare bones menu and zero double features. That’s exactly what you’re getting here with this latest Mill Creek release featuring a couple of Wesley Snipes titles that have virtually nothing in common with one another at all besides Mr. Snipes. Neither film is a homerun, if you will, but I’d never seen either title before and as an active Wesley Snipes fan, this felt like an ideal opportunity to double feature these titles whilst on a nationwide COVID-19 voluntary quarantine. You’re going to get a couple of Wesley Snipes movies here, both on Blu-ray and on DVD. That’s it. Each film has its moments, so read on!
The Fan (1996)
Many will remember this one as it played to a wide theatrical release and came out between Demolition Man and Blade… so it’s pretty much peak Wesley Snipes era. What I didn’t personally remember at all until the film was playing before my eyeballs is that none other than Tony Scott directed this. And those are all the ingredients you need to know to make it worth checking out The Fan. You’ve got peak Wesley Snipes and the ever aesthetically pleasing Tony Scott behind the camera, so therefore you can sit back and enjoy the ride.
The set up here is very much a kind of Cape Fear lite with Robert De Niro playing a genuine, fleshed out character who is going to eventually devolve into a frothing mad stalker of Wesley Snipes’ pro baseball star Bobby Rayburn. It’s not as though the beat by beat plot points are the same as Cape Fear, but it feels like extremely similar territory for De Niro. Of course, De Niro is great and brings his A game to the role. But The Fan is kind of underwritten and never really rises to any kind of greatness as a stalker thriller. There’s a lot here to pique your interest and keep you watching, but it never soars into the bleachers.
Tony Scott’s energetic direction is the outstanding element of The Fan. The guy just makes this otherwise standard fare really pop. And as with much of his oeuvre, he visually grabs you right from the start and never lets go. The movie just looks and feels propulsive and menacing and Mill Creek’s Blu-ray does a solid job of conveying that vibe to your tv screen. It’s a San Francisco movie, with The Giants being the team Rayburn has recently signed to with an outrageous (for 1996) $40 million contract. So you do get some classic San Francisco visuals delivered right to you from Mr. Scott.
The cast would be the other big standout making The Fan worth a watch. Snipes is not playing a jacked action hero here. He’s a dramatic lead, with a son to care for and a career stalling out even as he reaches the heights of superstardom. De Niro’s Gil Renard is actually the main character, however. You split a lot of time between Gil and Bobby, with a fair amount of tension building and character development going on. When things finally do escalate to violence and tragedy, it actually feels a little bit heightened and detached from the human drama that had been playing out previously.
Perhaps the biggest disappointment of The Fan is that, while it should feel fresh and relevant today with social media allowing for a culture of toxic fandom to have taken over pop culture, it really doesn’t offer much in the way of insight. Gil is just a tragic figure. A man pushed to the breaking point who let his obsessive tendencies win the day and veer him down a tragic path of violence. Meanwhile Snipes’ Bobby Rayburn spends most of the movie not even knowing Gil exists and repeatedly asking “what do you even want from me?” once they become locked in a third act battle. You can certainly feel echoes of relevance to today’s rampant fan entitlement problem, but nothing ever really incisive ends up being divined from The Fan’s fairly weak screenplay.
Beyond just Snipes and De Niro you’ve also got nice turns from Ellen Barkin and John Leguizamo, but while they do a lot with their limited screen time, neither character amounts to much and Barkin’s shock jock radio sports reporter gets totally sidelined by the end as just an observer, which is unfortunate.
The Fan has a lot going for it with a great cast and even better director. It goes down smooth and easy and offers few surprises. You’ve seen this movie before, and you’ll see it again, too. But never with quite this mixture of talent in the dugout, which earns it a mild recommendation.
The Contractor (2007)
I’m going to be honest. I popped this one in and watched it first, because this is exactly my kind of movie. I adore direct to video action cinema for some reason, and I’m not daunted at all when a project like this happens, later in a star’s career perhaps, at a fraction of the budget of the projects they did in their career peaks. I’ve seen dozens and dozens of films just like The Contractor.
It’s a pretty solid direct to video title on the spectrum of these types of things. It’s competently directed and written, tells a story with a beginning, middle, and end… and it lets Wesley Snipes be the badass leading man he is. The basics of filmmaking are all pretty much there. And trust me, this isn’t a given with DTV films of The Contractor’s ilk.
The problem with The Contractor is that it commits the cardinal sin of DTV action cinema: It’s boring.
Snipes stars as James Dial who is, oddly, not really a contractor at all. Rather, he’s a retired CIA operative who is given “one last chance” to kill the terrorist who had eluded him in a botched job that ended his career. Awesomely, Dial lives on a ranch in Montana, training horses. This kind of trope will never grow old, and Dial’s aloof badass vibe is perhaps the movie’s best character beat. Of course, the job goes south, Dial ends up on the run, and that’s when The Contractor commits its second unforgivable sin: It saddles Dial with a precocious kid sidekick. Fortunately actress Eliza Bennet actually fleshes out Emily quite well and that actress has gone on to work regularly, it appears. It’s just that this is an action movie trope that does get old with a quickness and didn’t help this film be any more thrilling. There’s never a moment where the action sequences surprise or stand out in any way. There’s no doubt whatsoever that Dial will turn the tables on those who are setting him up. Perhaps the film benefits from not making Dial some kind of super soldier, and focusing more on the human drama of an assassin on the run teaming up with a struggling teenaged girl. But it’s less fun with that approach.
Frequently DTV films like this one feature ONLY the star above the title in terms of recognizable actors, but The Contractor managed to roll the dice in 2007 and cast a remarkable pre-Game Of Thrones duo with Charles Dance playing an aging British investigator and Lena Headey playing his daughter (and also an investigator). That’s right, The Contractor brings us a pre-Game Of Thrones father/daughter Lannister reunion. It’s the most remarkable thing about the film here in 2020, and sadly neither character really has much to do as written, though those two actors obviously shine with their sub-optimal parts.
The Contractor is never remarkable, though it never dips into incompetence either. As Snipes is an innocent man on the run, you get a very “poor man’s U.S. Marshals” vibe while watching The Contractor. Which is unfortunate as U.S. Marshals was already a poor man’s The Fugitive. There’s little to recommend here beyond Snipes always being an enjoyable watch and the accidental casting coup of future Game Of Thrones stars in supporting rolls. I may have to revisit U.S. Marshals now, though, so The Contractor definitely inspired something within me.
And I’m Out.
The Fan / The Contractor double feature disc is now available as a Blu-ray/DVD combo pack from Mill Creek Entertainment.
-
FORCE 10 FROM NAVARONE Screen Comparisons: Kino 2K Restoration vs. 2009 Blu-ray
On March 17, Kino Lorber Studio Classics brings the war-action film Force 10 From Navarone (1978) back to Blu-ray in a new edition (previously released by MGM in 2009).
The sequel to the 1961 classic The Guns of Navarone features an all-star cast including Harrison Ford, Carl Weathers, Franco Nero, and a who’s who of the James Bond franchise: Robert Shaw, Richard Kiel, Barbara Bach, Michael Byrne, and Edward Fox, not to mention director Guy Hamilton.
Kino’s new disc boasts a brand new 2K scan, and the difference in overall sharpness and visual fidelity is clear. Additionally, the new scan has done a much better job of capturing more of the full frame. (The movie’s file size also weighs in at 80% larger, though a small factor of that is attributable to a newly added commentary).
Superior detail:
Top: Old MGM // Bottom: New Kino 
Top: Old MGM // Bottom: New Kino 
Top: Old MGM // Bottom: New Kino 
Top: Old MGM // Bottom: New Kino 
Top: Old MGM // Bottom: New Kino Coverage of frame:
Kino’s scan is consistently less tightly cropped, allowing more of the image to appear on the screen on all four sides. Here are a few shots where this difference is a bit easier to spot, based on the objects or tangents around the periphery.
Top: Old MGM // Bottom: New Kino 
Top: Old MGM // Bottom: New Kino 
Top: Old MGM // Bottom: New Kino Color Correction:
Extensive color correction has been applied to the film. A “rosy” blush apparent in many outdoor scenes has been mitigated, and ightly vivid green foliage has been scaled back to more natural tones.
Top: Old MGM // Bottom: New Kino 
Top: Old MGM // Bottom: New Kino 
Top: Old MGM // Bottom: New Kino 
Top: Old MGM // Bottom: New Kino 
Top: Old MGM // Bottom: New Kino 
Top: Old MGM // Bottom: New Kino 
Top: Old MGM // Bottom: New Kino 
Top: Old MGM // Bottom: New Kino High Desaturation & Contrast
Overall, Kino’s colors look quite great as the prior screens demonstrate — but at time the changes are overzealous. This is more readily apparent in lower light scenes, where some of the colors lose their lustre in favor of a more desaturated, high contrast appearance.
Top: Old MGM // Bottom: New Kino 
Top: Old MGM // Bottom: New Kino As harsh as that last example appears, it’s worth noting that this choice does make the nocturnal scenes easier to “read” and less murky, and especially in motion— for example:
Throughout the film there are also a few times where the old disc’s palette has simply has a more natural appearance, though these are in the minority:
Top: Old MGM // Bottom: New Kino Notes on Revised Titles
I don’t have a frame of reference for what the film’s titles originally looked like in 1978, but both Blu-ray editions appear to have recreated or retouched versions of the opening credits sequence.
The 2009 disc features some especially garish, ultra-sharp bright yellow text which looks computer-created and is obviously not from the film’s era. Kino’s new disc has a much more subtle/natural appearance, though they opted to replace the setting test of “Somewhere in England” (left alone in 2009) to the same aesthetic.
Top: Old MGM // Bottom: New Kino 
Top: Old MGM // Bottom: New Kino Additional comparisons:
Top: Old MGM // Bottom: New Kino 
Top: Old MGM // Bottom: New Kino 
Top: Old MGM // Bottom: New Kino 
Top: Old MGM // Bottom: New Kino 
Top: Old MGM // Bottom: New Kino 
Top: Old MGM // Bottom: New Kino 
Top: Old MGM // Bottom: New Kino 
Top: Old MGM // Bottom: New Kino 
Top: Old MGM // Bottom: New Kino 
Top: Old MGM // Bottom: New Kino 
Top: Old MGM // Bottom: New Kino
In addition to a new 2K scan, Kino’s disc also have some new bonus features:
- Audio commentary by filmmaker Steve Mitchell and Author Jay Rubin (Combat Films: American Realism)
- Theatrical Trailer (1:44)
- Additional trailers: Ambush Bay (2:44), The Devil’s Brigade (3:46), Hornet’s Nest (2:39), The Secret Invasion (3:11), The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3 (2:32), Tobruk (2:48)
A/V Out.
Get it at Amazon:
If you enjoy reading Cinapse, purchasing items through our affiliate links can tip us with a small commission at no additional cost to you.Force 10 From Navarone — Kino Lorber Studio Classics Blu-ray
Except where noted, all 16:9 screen images in this review are direct captures from the disc(s) in question with no editing applied, but may have compression or resizing inherent to file formats and Medium’s image system. All package photography was taken by the reviewer.
-
The Still Wonder of FIRST COW
Kelly Reichardt made a western about friendship and it’s beautiful
Courtesy of A24. After a mysterious open with a hiker and her dog making a discovery in a more recent time, First Cow moves back into the early 19th Century Oregon territory. Cookie (John Magaro, The Big Short) is near the end of his journey as a cook for a crew of fur trappers when he finds King-Lu (Orion Lee) hiding in bushes. Cookie takes care of King-Lu, and the two men, who both feel like outsiders in this wild northwest region, become fast friends. Meanwhile, a lone milk cow is making its way to the wilderness.
Kelly Reichardt (Meek’s Cutoff, Certain Women) creates a vision of the west rarely seen in film. Inclusive casting provides a more realistic view of the trading post as it may have been. Indigenous women watch from shore as the cow is ferried across the water, and different accents are spoken by the men in the watering hole. King-Lu tells Cookie he loves the region because “history isn’t here yet.”
Courtesy of A24. The wilderness is lush, with greens that pop off the screen. Reichardt and crew make this world appear one full of wonder and possibility, wherein a couple of friends could dream of opening a hotel together on funds they raise from Cookie’s baking talents. With no women around to place in a typical domestic role, Cookie and King-Lu are shown sewing, sweeping, and baking (such a unique sight in westerns that I found it noteworthy).
Courtesy of A24. First Cow is based on a novel from Jonathan Raymond, who co-wrote the screenplay with Reichardt; they’ve collaborated on other films in the past. There’s humor to this story, which made our audience laugh out loud a number of times. Sure, the title celebrates the cow, but the film celebrates this friendship between two men of differing backgrounds. First Cow is a kind and gentle film, a sweet — but not saccharine — work that leaves the viewer smiling. Such a film is a balm in these uncertain times.
First Cow is scheduled to open March 20 in Austin theaters.
-
LITTLE JOE: An Unsettling if Uneven Modern Body-Snatchers Tale
Jessica Hausner’s psychological eco-thriller works best when creepy, subtle chaos finally takes root in this Cannes-fêted film
Little Joe follows experimental botanist Alice (Cannes Best Actress winner Emily Beecham) as she puts the finishing touches on a flower species that’s genetically designed to boost the happiness of its caretakers. When she’s not diving headfirst into her work, Alice struggles to take care of her increasingly distant teenage son, Joe; Alice also reckons with her feelings of guilt and inadequacy as a mother with a psychiatrist (Lindsay Duncan). Determined to repair her relationship with her son, Alice brings one of the experimental plants home, which she dubs “Little Joe.” But when the plant’s super-effective pollen reveals a more sinister, Body Snatchers side to these new plants, Alice descends into a world where people’s outward emotions and appearances are not as they seem.
There’s much to admire about Little Joe: the update of a Triffids or Body Snatchers storyline to today’s world of genetic engineering is a novel and timely one, and Hausner imbues her material with a deliberate, creeptastic unease. Little Joe also places much more of an emotional premium on the psychology of its characters, in particular Emily Beecham’s nuanced performance of a mother in crisis. Alice is a driven yet vulnerable lead, whose emotions are kept closely guarded lest any sign of weakness or workplace unprofessionalism slip out. She’s well-counterpointed by her coworkers Chris (Ben Whishaw) and Bella (Kerry Fox), both of whom struggle to contain their inner thoughts as Little Joe’s effect takes hold.
Little Joe is at its best when exploiting this widening rift between emotion and personality. As the plant takes over their minds, the characters exist in this state of bliss, dispensing pleasantries in an increasingly frustrating jovial way. At the same time, all of their cares and worries shift solely onto caring for and propagating Little Joe, and it’s truly unnerving how “normal” this shift feels over the course of Hausner’s film. Another director would more than happily point a neon sign over this obsession over Little Joe to mark it as a stand-in for some other prescient societal ill, but Hausner’s skill is in her restraint in this regard. It’s far more fascinating to track this infectious obsession, as if Little Joe wasn’t taking people over completely, but instead exploiting what already lies dormant in its victims.
At the same time, Little Joe’s restraint can work against in just as much as it does in its favor. The impenetrability of some of its characters can fairly be seen as vague inscrutability, and some of the later leaps of the film don’t feel as earned as the delicious dread that precede them. On the whole, Little Joe is an intriguing tale of rapid depersonalization, though its overall effect may vary depending on how much viewers are willing to imprint onto it.
Video/Audio
Magnolia presents Little Joe in a DVD-only release. The film is presented in 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen with a 5.1 English surround audio track. English closed-captions are presented for the main feature. Image and sound quality are high for the format–especially as the film ventures into its more experimental visual and soundscapes. The film’s color palate remains rich and distinct without fading into lower-resolution crush, especially during the neon-red sequences in the Little Joe greenhouses.
Special Features
- Q&A: A half-hour post-screening Q&A with writer/director Hausner and actress Emily Beecham at the Film Society of Lincoln Center. Hausner and Beecham go into greater detail at nailing the uneasy tone of the film, Hausner’s ideas of a “happier” ending to Invasion of the Body Snatchers, and the use of color throughout the film.
Little Joe is now available on DVD courtesy of Magnolia Pictures.
Get it at Amazon:
If you enjoy reading Cinapse, purchasing items through our affiliate links can tip us with a small commission at no additional cost to you.
Little Joe — [DVD] -
THE WITCH: SUBVERSION: A Solid South Korean Action Mystery
No, not that The Witch
Ko Ja Yoon (Da-mi Kim) has erased the memories of her traumatic childhood. She’s grown and lives a somewhat idyllic life on a farm with her adoptive parents who found her unconscious and bloody after escaping a mysterious facility. But despite the loving home environment, pressures are mounting around the farm as Ko Ja Yoon’s mother begins succumbing to dementia and falling cattle prices threaten the viability of the farm. So, she does a very “normal teenager” thing and takes a shot at a big televised talent competition in order to win a big prize and save her family. But that tv appearance triggers unwanted visitors from her childhood, and it’s going to get explosive.
The Witch: Subversion benefits from its very South Korean approach to its subject matter. There’s deep, dark violence lurking beneath frequently calm and collected faces. There’s K-Pop. There’s slick, fluid action sequences and seemingly a fair amount of depravity just beneath the pristine surface. And while the mystery does play out in effective ways, a lot of The Witch: Subversion feels familiar. Ko Ja Yoon very clearly has “powers” of some kind, as do those who are pursuing her. As such, the film falls pretty squarely into the superhero subgenre, feeling like a horror-infused X-Men story complete with a coming-of-age element. There’s also traces of the YA phenomenon here as a strong young female protagonist fights against a dark system of power. You even get a Superman (and Stranger Things?) vibe as Ko Ja is taken in by kind farmers and raised in isolation to protect her (and her powers) from the suspicious outside world. Lastly, in a page taken right out of serialized comics, it seems clear that this film is just the beginning of a much bigger story. This is made clear both by the original Korean title of the film, which included “Part 1” in there, and also by the ending of the film itself, which teases a sequel.
I’m actually great with the concept of South Korean takes on the superhero genre. South Korean cinema is some of my very favorite from around the globe. And this film largely got its hooks into me. It does feel, however, that this story takes just a few too many cues from the unending wave of superhero cinema coming out of North America and perhaps suffers some from feeling too familiar.
The biggest strengths in The Witch: Subversion’s corner are its action, its cast, and its writer/director. There’s frankly not enough action, but what’s there is incredible. You get these smooth, explosive moments where powers are used to break bones and guns become psychokinetic playthings. Then there are Matrix-like hints of super-powered and gravity-defying martial arts battles that kick all kinds of ass while never quite feeling totally unleashed. In terms of the cast, you can’t help but be excited about the villainous turn of Parasite’s Woo-sik Choi. He’s nameless, mysterious, playful, and cruel. Da-mi Kim in the lead role anchors things quite nicely especially as the mystery unfolds and our lead gains more and more dimensions to her personality. The cast is uniformly strong and sells the magical world existing beneath the cover of our own. Writer/Director Hoon-jung Park isn’t at his first rodeo, here, either. Having written modern Korean classic I Saw The Devil, this is a man who can bring the titillating depravity. Also responsible for writing/directing New World, V.I.P., and The Tiger over the past several years. He’s kept busy and he builds just enough of an intriguing world here to convince me that I need to check out future installments in this pulpy franchise to see just how buckwild this universe is going to get. If the action hinted at here is any indication, The Witch: Subversion could be just a taste of what is to come.
And I’m Out.
The Witch: Subversion hits Blu-ray, DVD, & Digital March 10th, 2020 from Well Go USA.
-
ROMA: Criterion and Netflix Bring About an Exciting Turning Point for Home Video
The first partnership between streaming and home video giants is a celebration of past and future in this stunning deluxe release
First things first: it feels like a minor miracle that this release of Roma has happened at all.
By releasing films by important new auteurs like Mati Diop and Sandi Tan and established legends like Martin Scorsese and Bong Joon-Ho (and, yeah, Michael Bay, too), Netflix has crafted a new image for itself as a dynamic distribution method for art-house and independent films that would once struggle to fill theater seats. The opposite side of the coin, naturally, is that Netflix’s rise as a distributor and its parallel scaling-back of its disc rental service has been heralded as a sign of the impending death of both physical media and the theatrical experience.
But, like many others, I’m ride-or-die for Blu-ray and DVD. To me, Criterion has often been Netflix’s antithesis, a carefully curated selection of films that prize the film-school-in-a-box approach to home video, dedicating themselves to consistently quality A/V presentation and a substantial amount of supplements. And that’s the approach I treasure most. Anything that preserves movies as living documents, results of intense collaboration between creatives that deserve rewatch and further discussion. Anything that keeps them from being just consumable objects that live and die by the whims of limited-engagement licensing agreements or the strength of my internet connection.
Roma, though, is the first of a surprising new partnership between the streaming giant and legendary Blu-ray label The Criterion Collection. What thrills me the most about this new agreement is the sense of stability and accessibility such a collaboration can offer. Netflix does provide an unprecedented amount of accessibility and funding for new independent work — but now there’s an outlet for these films to be championed untethered from the Internet, to be wholly owned again rather than be reliant on a monthly subscription. Most importantly, it’s an opportunity for films like Roma, The Irishman, Marriage Story, and hopefully many more to come to be seen wholly as their director intended: without buffering, notifications, or anything else getting in the way.
So holding Roma in my hands with Criterion branding doesn’t feel like physical media is dying at all, nor does it seem like just a smart business decision by either company. It sincerely feels like a media staple has been wholly augmented and revitalized.
In the context of both its story and the production behind it, it feels more than fitting that Roma is the first film to result from this new collaborative partnership. Alfonso Cuarón’s Roma exists at a nexus between past and future. Cuarón breathes new life into his childhood memories of 1970s Mexico City at the height of social and political crisis. His tools are the latest in digital filmmaking tech, as well as a veritable blank check from a company that nowadays feels like it can print money. There’s an unabated compassionate joy towards what wonders the world has in store — the thrill of racing through bustling city streets; the painful loss of a family member, be it physical or romantic; the fear and anxiety of being caught up in the waves of change; the intimacy in between climactic moments of change. Despite having lived them in some fashion once before, Cuarón feels like he’s exploring these moments as earnestly as his audience — and in so doing unearths how uniting those moments of chaotic change can be.
This potent awe remains vibrant throughout Roma, no matter if viewed on the big screen or the small; and with Criterion’s new release of Cuarón’s film, it feels like past, future, and all the media formats in between have come together in such a satisfactory, gorgeous package.
Video/Audio
Criterion has sourced Roma from its original 4K digital master, and accompanies it with a 7.1 Dolby Atmos audio track.
Cuarón and team’s decision to shoot Roma in Arri65 6.5K Digital has reaped rewards for this Criterion disc — the visual quality on this disc is absolutely stunning, and with a level of consistency that remains solid throughout. Without film grain to act as a filter between subject and audience, Cuarón’s lens feels like a pane-less window into a bygone era. Cuarón’s meticulously-crafted black and white visual palette is just as meticulously preserved here, as well as the intricately-detailed production design by Eugenio Caballero.
Roma is the third Criterion addition to feature a 7.1 sound mix (next to re-mixes of Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me and Pan’s Labyrinth) and the only release to have a native Dolby Atmos sound mix. As illustrated in the supplements, as much care went into Roma’s sound design as its impressive visuals. The film’s soundscape is breathtaking, granting its audience perpetually heightened sensitivity to sound — the electric thrum of busy crowds, the terrifying roar of the ocean, the soothing scratch of broom bristles on tile. It’s a continuously immersive experience, one that will use any viewer’s sound system to its advantage.
In a rarity for the label, English, Spanish SDH, and French subtitles are included with the film, as well as a 2.0 Spanish-language descriptive audio track for the Blind and Visually Impaired. It’s exciting to see such a variety of languages offered for Criterion’s first collaboration with Netflix, and a step I hope is the first of many future releases in broadening the accessibility of the brand.
The one drawback, though, is that Roma’s English-language subtitles fail to caption the brief snippets of English-language dialogue that appear in one of the film’s sections, however brief they may be. This isn’t a new issue for Criterion; and given that English SDH subtitles are available on Roma’s Netflix stream and that Spanish SDH subtitles are included here, it feels like a strange oversight on Criterion’s part in the midst of this accessibility.
Special Features
Roma is presented in a sleek, matte digipak, with its supplemental book of essays presented inside the folding disc clamshell.
- Booklet: A 108-page collection of essays by novelist Valeria Luiselli, historian Enrique Krauze, and author Aurelio Asiain; fold-out stills from the film; production design notes from design head Eugenio Caballero, accompanied by comparison shots of pre-production pre-visualizations and their equivalents in the final film.
- Road to Roma: Newly created for this release by Netflix, this feature-length documentary intercuts color behind-the-scenes footage of Roma’s production and interviews with Cuarón and his creative team. It’s truly staggering how intensive the film’s production truly was, creating a photorealistic reproduction of Mexico City through a combination of practical effects and well-accented CGI. Throughout, it’s fascinating to hear Cuarón’s philosophical and personal motivations for developing and shooting this film, especially in seeking out the deeper universality in bringing his childhood memories to life.
- Snapshots from the Set: A half-hour documentary featuring interviews with Roma’s cast and crew discussing their experiences in bringing Cuarón’s vision to the big screen. This documentary covers many of the same points as its longer BTS counterpart, but this supplement provides a welcome outside perspective from Cuarón’s creative counterparts.
- The Look of Roma: Alfonso Cuarón, post-production supervisor Carlos Morales, editor Adam Gough, and finishing artist Steven J. Scott discuss the many nuances of Roma’s cinematography. Initially intended to be shot on film by frequent collaborator Emmanuel Lubezki, Roma was persuaded to shift to a 6.5K digital production. This supplement illustrates how this decision provided greater range in capturing and manipulating the images captured.
- The Sound of Roma: The film’s sound design team, Skip Lievsay, Craig Henighan, and Sergio Diaz–join Cuarón and editor Gough, in an examination of how Roma utilized the immersive and intense Dolby Atmos system. The visualizations of Roma’s soundscape are jaw-dropping to see–and further illustrates just how much control Cuarón and his team had in creating this film.
- Roma Brings Us Together: A look at Roma’s innovative theatrical tour through Mexico using the Cinemovil mobile cinema, which provided a way to screen Roma in areas of the country that couldn’t access Netflix or traditional theaters.
- Teaser and Theatrical Trailers
Roma is now available on DVD and Blu-ray courtesy of The Criterion Collection. The film, as well as its main supplement, Road to Roma, are also available to stream on Netflix.
Get it at Amazon:
If you enjoy reading Cinapse, purchasing items through our affiliate links can tip us with a small commission at no additional cost to you.
Roma — [Blu-ray] | [DVD]
