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The Austin Film Critics Association Announce their 2023 Award Winners
Including Jon’s Top 10 Films of 2023!
With Cinapse being founded in Austin, we keep a keen eye on local film happenings. At this time of year we’ve been keenly awaiting the film award announcements from the Austin Film Critics Association (AFCA). An organization that has several Cinapsians within its ranks, myself included. After announcing their film award nominees a few days ago, they have now followed up with their list winners.
Unsurprisingly, Oppenheimer dominates, but the Best Picture prize seemed out of reach, with Killers of the Flower Moon taking the win. It’s great to see Celine Song making such a mark with her outstanding debut feature Past Lives, and Godzilla Minus One as Best International feature is an inspired pick.
I always like to pair the AFCA with my own personal top 10, which is as follows.
- Oppenheimer
- Asteroid City
- The Holdovers
- Killers of the Flower Moon
- Godzilla Minus One
- Past Lives
- Poor Things
- Barbie
- May December
- All of Us Strangers
Honorable Mentions: Anatomy of a Fall, Are You There God? It’s Me Margaret. John Wick Chapter 4, How to Blow Up a Pipeline, Infinity Pool,
Best Film I saw this year that you probably haven’t seen yet: River
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ERNEST & CELESTINE Return in “A TRIP TO GIBBERITIA”, Coming to Blu-ray
Charming animated sequel celebrates friendship, music, and individuality while continuing the first film’s anti-authoritarian attitude
Ernest and Célestine: A Trip to Gibberitia hits Blu-ray January 16 from GKIDS & Shout! Studios.
It’s taken about a decade, but a sequel has arrived to continue the charming tale of the animated film Ernest & Célestine. In truth, a French-language television show has occupied some of the meantime, but as that series hasn’t made its way stateside, this is for most American viewers our first return to the series.
The first film chronicled the clash of worlds and unlikely friendship between an brave, cheery mouse and a grumpy, perpetually hungry bear who works as a street musician. The film was animated in a painterly, watercolor style that was impressively similar to a story book (which is the source material for this series), and a joy to watch.
A tragedy strikes when Ernest’s prized violin (a “Stradibearius”, natch) is broken. The only person (bear) who can fix it, Ernest laments, is Octavius, the old violin master who crafted it – and who lives in the home country Ernest left behind: Gibbertia.
Eager to fix his beloved instrument, Célestine urges that they make the trip, but Ernest is adamant in his refusal and uncharacteristically tight-lipped about his reasons for not wanting to go home. It’s only when Célestine sets out on the arduous trek by herself that Ernest goes after her, and the pair end up in his own hometown – where things are even worse than he remembers.
On the surface, Gibberitia (which is vaguely Russian; its name seems to be a portmaneau of “gibberish” and “Russia”), seems a beautiful and quaint place. But it’s a strange country where nothing makes sense – unnecessary and absurd laws dictate and frustrate its people, dismissively explained by the national motto: “That’s just how it is”. Even stop lights and traffic signs arbitrarily confuse and overdirect. Sons and daughters may only carry on with the same occupations as their parents. Worst of all, Ernest’s father is the country’s top judge, and arguably one of the main authors of this brave new world.
It’s quickly evident why Ernest left and never wanted to return, and things are even worse now – it’s a police state all music consisting of more than a single note has been outlawed (by the “Ernestov Law”, we learn). If the old violin-master is still around, he’s in hiding, wanted for his “crimes”.
But there’s a silver lining, and not all is lost. Ernest’s young sister Mila is a precocious young thing who’s glad of his return, and there are rumblings of a “musical resistance” led by a masked revolutionary known only as “Mifasol” (as in Do, Re, Mifasol). Ernest and Célestine’s best hope of finding Octavius and is to find and join the rebellion.
Thematically, the tale continues with the first film’s mild but very present anti-authoritarian streak (again with plenty of running from the police, a rather subversive hallmark for a kids’ franchise), now focusing on an anti-fascist fable. Contrasting the fascism, the importance of music – both as art and as a tool of revolution – is also a prominent theme.
But the film also grapples with other ideas – it’s now evident that Ernest is an immigrant. From a western European context, he’s an Eastern European who panhandles – it’s not a stretch to realize he represents a group that has historically experienced enmity and racism. And in his return home, Ernest is not only facing his past that he ran away from, but grappling with his difficult feelings of resentment to his homeland and his divorced parents, especially his father.
One thing that viewers may notice right away when watching the English-language version of the film is that the cast has changed. While Lambert Wilson and Pauline Brunner return in the French audio, the English language cast is handled much differently. The first film had an incredible (and probably expensive) all-star cast of celebrity talent not only led by Forest Whitaker and Mackenzie Foy as Ernest and Célestine, but packed with many familiar stars like Lauren Bacall, Paul Giamatti, Nick Offerman, Jeffrey Wright, and William H. Macy. Trip to Gibbertia does feature a terrific voice cast, but in a complete reversal of the prior film, it’s all traditional and relatively unknown voice actors.
The Package
Ernest and Célestine: A Trip to Gibberitia hits Blu-ray January 16 from GKIDS & Shout! Studios. The Blu-ray follows GKIDS’ usual design motif. My copy came with a glossy slipcover.
Special Features and Extras
All extras are in French with English subtitles unless otherwise noted.
- Making Of – Naturally focused on the film’s genesis and animation but also covers the French voice work, music, and conceptual development of Gibberitia.
- Interview with the Directors (12:16) – Jean-Christophe Roger and Julien Chheng
- Interview with the Cast (11:16) – Lambert Wilson and Pauline Brunner
- Interview with Producer Didier Brunner (10:45)
- How to Draw Ernest and Célestine (1:48) – Jean Cristophe hosts in English, drawing up a quick sketch of the characters and sharing his thoughts on their personalities.
- Trailers – Original French Trailer (1:41) and English Dub Trailer (1:41)
A/V Out.
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Ernest and Celstine: A Trip to Gibberitia – GKIDS 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 online imaging.
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SHOWGIRLS: Paul Verhoeven Retrospective [Two Cents]
![SHOWGIRLS: Paul Verhoeven Retrospective [Two Cents]](https://i0.wp.com/cinapse.co/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/F0OpoXJWwAAcDoX.jpg-large.jpeg?resize=1140%2C630&ssl=1)
Two Cents is a Cinapse original column akin to a book club for films. The Cinapse team curates the series and contribute their “two cents” using a maximum of 200-400 words. Guest contributors and comments are encouraged, as are suggestions for future picks. Join us as we share our two cents on films we love, films we are curious about, and films we believe merit some discussion. Would you like to be a guest contributor or programmer for an upcoming Two Cents entry? Simply watch along with us and/or send your pitches or 200-400 word reviews to [email protected].
The Pick: Showgirls (Paul Verhoeven Retrospective)
Cinapse is relaunching Two Cents for 2024 with a focus on cinematic discovery and discussion. This column is intended to generate points of connection as cinephiles revisit beloved classics or explore new territory together. We’ll kick things off with a curated month of Paul Verhoeven titles that our team was eager to either revisit or experience for the first time. Ed kicked this whole retrospective off with Robocop and next up is Dan with Showgirls. Dan’s first viewing of the film took place in 1995 thanks to a bootleg VHS tape he rented from a Russian rental store, and it stuck with him ever since. When Ed brought up the idea of a Verhoeven retrospective, Dan was the first to volunteer to dig into this title that haunts him to this day.
The Team
Dan Tabor
Continuing our deep dive into the filmography of the Dutch auteur Paul Verhoeven brings us to a film that perfectly encapsulates the excesses of the 90s blockbuster – 1995’s Showgirls. With the film’s bombastic heapings of nudity, violence and misogyny – it feels like its operating as almost a parody of the then current mainstays of the multiplexes; probably/allegedly fueled by a metric fuckton of cocaine. The film is also a terrifying example of how you can’t really judge an actor by a single performance. Fresh-faced Elizabeth Berkley had proven she had some decent acting bonafides on TV, before taking on the bad girl extraordinaire Nomi Malone, a prostitute who hopes to go legit as a Vegas showgirl; who is completely without any and all subtlety. Every sentence is a profanity filled declaration, and every movement is a garish spasm. Nothing is low key about Nomi and that larger than life caricature is completely intentional by its director.
Keep in mind there was also a period in the 90s where audiences believed Natalie Portman was a terrible actor, simply because of her terrible performance in the prequels thanks to Lucas’ direction.
I first became fascinated with Showgirls because the film that came before it, Basic Instinct, was so damn good, and still hits today mainly thanks to Stone’s devil may care performance. In the beginning I was compelled to try to solve it like a puzzle. Showgirls was even written by the same writer as Basic, Joe Eszterhas, which means their next foray into the erotic thriller sub genre had to be good, right? The thing about the erotic thriller is they’re a rather precarious balancing act, since they have to work by appealing to both men, women and couples. With the inception of Showgirls, I basically imagine that scene from Scarface, where Tony Montana pulls his face from a mountain of blow, but instead it’s Joe Eszterhas – allegedly – doing something similar as he then sits down at his Apple Powerbook to knock out the script over a long weekend for a 3.75 million dollar payday.
Again, allegedly.
The other thing about Showgirls that drew me in later in life is – rather than embrace that madness that forged it. As some creators have, and attempt to contextualize and deconstruct the dark drug fueled alchemy that turned the failed blockbuster into a cult sensation, Verhoeven instead now says he was trying to make a comedy the whole time, and we as an audience just figured it out. This changing the narrative around a film, to capitalize on a newfound cult status isn’t something new, and feels completely disingenuous to those that you can tell took the material seriously, especially the film’s lead. Berkeley thought Verhoeven was forging her into the next Sharon Stone, through his over direction and instead annihilated her career and then simply cast her aside. I mean this whole ‘I meant it to be a comedy’ might also fly, if he didn’t also publish a book of essays Showgirls: Portrait of a Film when the movie was released documenting how it was supposed to be this transgressive masterwork.
So, I personally enjoy the hell out of Showgirls as both a bizarre oddity by a great director, and because it features a singular performance in Berkley’s Nomi, that just feels like it’s going so big you simply have to respect it or get out of its way, and as the kids would say ‘its definitely a vibe’. Showgirls as it stands is one of the greatest cinematic car wrecks IMO, because not only did the premise have so much potential on paper, but the carnage was so damn entertaining.
(@danthefan on X)Ed Travis
Showgirls has flummoxed me. This viewing for Two Cents was the first time I’d seen the film, and let me tell you, it was a wild way to ring in 2024 as I was literally watching it late on New Year’s Eve. I’ve been a film critic for upwards of 20 years so I’m fairly used to formulating opinions that are hopefully vaguely intelligent or at least backed up by sound reason. But for the life of me I can’t decide if Showgirls is a good movie or not. In favor of Showgirls, the film is certainly daring and pulls no punches in terms of its depictions of sex and the seedy world of Las Vegas strip clubs. Director Paul Verhoeven does what he does in pushing boundaries and flirting with taboos and it’s an “extra” or “maximalist” type of story that likely was wildly ahead of its time when it bombed upon initial release.
On the flipside, I don’t believe the narrative was particularly compelling and lead character Nomi does not feel like an actual human being. Late in the game, and I mean late, we learn exactly where our heroine came from and some of what has motivated her as she rises and bounces through the Las Vegas strip club scene. Perhaps knowing some of her background earlier might have made her more compelling? I got a lot of Staying Alive vibes from Showgirls. In the Saturday Night Fever sequel much of the original pathos of the first film is stripped out and we just kind of follow Travolta’s Tony Manero character as he tries to make it as a dancer. Much of Showgirls’ run time is dedicated to whether or not Nomi will “make it” but I didn’t care much for Nomi and wasn’t compelled to root for her.
Star Elizabeth Berkley does put it all out there for Verhoeven and she’s surrounded by a delicious cast like Kyle McLachlan and Gina Gershon. She’s not actually terrible in the film but as much as she goes hard on the screen, Nomi isn’t much of a character so it feels somewhat vapid. It’s sounding like I’m coming down pretty negatively on the film, but I have to say I was never bored, I appreciated the chaotic energy that Verhoeven likely brought to the project, and its dedication to seediness is admirable if not highly personally appealing.
(@Ed_Travis on X)Justin Harlan
I could go on and on about this film, but I’ll keep it brief. I genuinely love it. In fact, it may be my favorite film by Verhoeven – which is saying a lot because I also genuinely love Starship Troopers and Total Recall. The overacting, melodrama, and excessive sleaze… it all is exactly what I want in a film like this.
While at its core, its essentially a reinterpretation of All About Eve, it’s utter insanity is what sucks me in. I do enjoy the story, don’t get me wrong. Yet, even where the plot points fall apart (and, trust me, they surely do), I never lose interest and find this film among the most entertaining things ever put to film. Some films are saying something and some are just about entertaining people… it seems like this one is far more in the latter category than the former. Sometimes, that’s all I want from a film, pure unfiltered entertainment.
(@thepaintedman on X)Our Guests
Michael:
There are some excellent films whose greatness nevertheless escapes their creators. Both Marky Mark and Burt Reynolds don’t think much of Boogie Nights. Michael Cimino, failing to realise what he had on his hands with Heaven’s Gate, cut the film to ribbons and assured it was DOA when released. And everyone but Paul Verhoeven seemed to disown Showgirls the minute the bad reviews started rolling in.
Showgirls, as has been well-reported, has been re-evaluated in recent years, mostly as a kitschy, camp cult-classic, a so-bad-it’s-good treat. But I would argue that even this misses the mark – Showgirls is great because it’s great. That’s not to say, of course, that Showgirls should be taken at face value as the story of a young woman trying to make it as a dancer. From the moment Elizabeth Berkley responds to a question about where she is from with a bellowed “DIFFERENT PLACES!”, it’s clear to me at least that we’re in the realms of satire, where every performance and plot point is overheated, heightened, lacking in subtlety. Witness Nomi (Berkley) and her meteoric rise to the top of the Vegas showgirl tree, with everyone tripping over themselves to say how talented a dancer she is, see the parade of transparently sleazy men lining up to mess with our protagonist, behold the plethora of well-trodden story beats and one-dimensional characters.
Of course “it was supposed to be funny” is the refuge of the scoundrel and Tommy Wiseau. But by the
same token, it seemed to take most of the free world about a decade to realise that Starship Troopers
was a condemnation of fascism, not a glorification of it (or indeed just a sci-fi action fun time, although Verhoeven’s genius is that it works on that level too). So perhaps with distance, we can give Verhoeven and the entire Showgirls crew the benefit of the doubt? Perhaps Showgirls really is the satirical gem I think it is. Or maybe I completely wrong and it’s just a bit rubbish. I can tell you this, however – if you watch this film you will almost certainly be entertained and you will almost certainly laugh. After nearly 30 years, is why it’s funny so important any more?
Showgirls Related Writing on Cinapse
By Frank Cavillo By VN Pryor
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New on Blu: THE BLUE JEAN MONSTER
The Blue Jean Monster is new on Blu-ray from 88 Films.
A thought that never even occurred to me as being possible was watching a film and thinking to myself ‘Gee, this kind of reminds me of Dead Heat. But sure enough, the packaging for Ivan Lai’s Blue Jean Monster, as well as an interview with the assistant director do in fact confirm that the existence of their film was indeed inspired by the viewing of a film that, let’s not mince words here, isn’t even popular enough to rate cult status.
For those who aren’t aware of Dead Heat, here’s a trailer.
(I cannot believe after nearly 40 years, this is the first time I’m realizing the title was a pun on the recently released Red Heat. A genuinely humiliating moment for yours truly…)
There’s something kind of beautiful about this, honestly… I don’t know that there has ever been a surer piece of evidence that creative inspiration can come from absolutely anywhere.
The film itself concerns the misadventures of Inspector Joe, who is killed in the line of duty, murdered while trying to take down a vicious gang of jewel thieves. Through a method that is either culturally specific or just regular old needlessly baffling, he is temporarily revived, a walking corpse on a countdown to zero. Joe accepts his fate, but makes two vows: the first is that he will survive long enough to see the birth of his child; and the second, which one might think is in a bit of conflict with the first, is to take down the criminals who ended him in the first place.
Sounds like the setup to an intense, driving barn burner, doesn’t it? A revenge picture with a savage supernatural twist, right?
Not so fast.
I came to Blue Jean Monster with an interest accrued from a memory of it being downright disreputable, in the best Hong Kong way; a clearing house for sicko sight gags. So the first surprise ultimately turned out to be how… non-offensive it was.
To be clear, there’s a sliding scale at play here: there’s a homophobic runner where Joe’s massively pregnant wife (Pauline Wong; not sure if she actually gets a name in the film proper, and if she does it’s not like it matters) becomes convinced that her husband and their obnoxious houseguest Power Steering (Wai-Kit Tse) are secretly hooking up, reacting with era-appropriate horror and AIDS rhetoric, to say nothing of and how loose they are with ableist slurs and the dropping of the ‘r’ word… but if we’re being honest, very little of the humor here would have raised an eyebrow at the time in the states; sad to say with the benefit of hindsight, but… we were just kind of like this back then.
Which, perhaps, brings us to the larger point: this is far more of a comedy than it is an action film. But no, even that’s not quite the full picture: one legendarily outrageous gag involving a cameo by Amy Yip aside (this, more than anything, being the source of the films infamy), it’s far more of a sitcom than an action film. The majority of the film is given over not to the chase of the villains but to Joe’s attempts to hide his condition from his wife and his constant need to recharge his ailing body by way of electrocution. To that end, there’s a bit of a precursor to Crank on top of the Dead Heat of it all. But suffering from blunt force trauma brought on by a solid thrashing with the goofus stick.
All this would be more of an issue than it turns out to be, I suspect, if not for the choice to cast the inimitable Shing Fui-On in the only leading role he ever played. There’s a certain novelty to Fui-On, with his distinctive face perfectly carved out of stone to play intimidating henchmen, acting the henpecked husband. To be sure, his singular presence had been used to both comic and sinister effect before, and he was a welcome presence every time he popped up, but to hold the center of a full-length movie is, it goes without saying, another matter entirely. And he does… fine. He’s not the most dynamic lead, but his commitment to the bit and the curiosity factor of it all never gets old. To say nothing of the absolutely tubular Fido Dido board shorts Fui-On rocks for a significant portion of the film, which is a nostalgia rush all its own.
Gucci, as can happen with a first draft screenplay, is coincidentally a key figure in the robbery that cost Joe his life, tying her back to what one would assume to be the main plot, though that often feels more in theory than practice; indeed there is an extent to which the bad guys themselves feel like an afterthought: to the point where the main bad guy (Jun Kunimura, projecting a lot of menace with very little help from the script) doesn’t even get a name either.
I mean, the wife is one thing, but come on now…
That there are two credits for action director– or rather, one credit for Action Director (Wong Kwan) and one credit for Second Action Director (Philip Kwok) as well as credits for bot car and motorbike stunts (credited to Bruce Law Stunts Unlimited and Bruce Law respectively)– would seem to indicate that the action was the focus. But it seems to be more a function of the chaotic way the film itself came together. The action, when it arrives, is quite good, especially the wildly over-the-top finale. But those looking for a truly hardcore experience might want to temper their expectations. Whatever else it might be, it’s absolutely a Hong Kong movie of its era… with everything that entails.
SPECIAL FEATURES
- Interview with assistant director Sam Leong
A brief yet fun and enlightening interview, Leong remembers the messy production with even-handed fondness fondness and, delightfully, throws a little bit of shade in Sammo Hung’s direction - Trailer
- Stills gallery
- A very cool poster
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The Blue Jean Monster – 88 Films Blu-ray - Interview with assistant director Sam Leong
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NORYANG: DEADLY SEA Caps Off South Korea’s Epic Naval Warfare Trilogy
Noryang: Deadly Sea is the final installment of the epic The Admiral naval warfare series, directed by Kim Han-min and based on Admiral Yi Sun-sin and set in the 1590s.
The first film, The Admiral: Roaring Currents (2014), was a roaring success, setting Korean box office and viewing records. More importantly – and this is a word we avoid around these parts – it was a masterpiece, translating naval strategy to the screen in a way that was understandable and extremely thrilling to watch, demonstrating how the execution of brilliant maneuvers won the day.
Noryang: Deadly Sea now closes the book on this epic saga, with Kim Yoon-seok in the role of Yi Sun-sin.
With its incredibly thrilling (and lengthy) depictions of naval battles, there’s little doubt that this trilogy is the standard for naval warfare movies, spotlighting a historic hero with great brilliance and courage.
The period covered in the films features one of the most famous and unique marvels of Korean history: the famous Turtle Ships of the Joseon Navy. The huge, armored ships, so-called for their appearance of a shell-like hardtop and dragon’s-head figurehead, were extremely effective in battle. Cinematically, they’re a blast to watch, smashing their way through enemy ships like waterborne battering rams.
While all three films are great, neither sequel quite reaches the lofty heights of the first film, which more effectively demonstrated naval strategy in a way that was incredibly riveting and satisfying. Furthermore, it was shot in more of a tactile in-camera reality, whereas its sequels use more CG and digital worldcraft and compositing.
By contrast, while Noryang features plenty of discussion of fluid strategies in shifting scenarios, its overall structure is less of a brilliantly executed campaign and more of a sustained clash of sheer tenacity and perseverance.
It’s a little hard to shake the disappointment that each of the films has a different actor playing Yi Sun-sin, slightly fracturing the illusion of continuity. I understand that choice for last year’s prequel Hansan: Rising Dragon, featuring a younger version of the character, but for the last outing it would have been great to see the great Choi Min-Sik make his return. Alas.
At 2.5 hours, Noryang is slightly longer than its precedessors, and has a somewhat laborious setup that can at times be hard to follow. I found it a struggle to keep track of the different Korean, Japanese, and Chinese characters and their place in the narrative (and I say that as someone who has a pretty good ear for differentiating these languages aurally).
But once the battle begins, almost exactly at the film’s halfway mark, you’ve put in the work and from there it’s the good stuff: sustained naval combat with dueling strategies, long distance and close-quarters fighting, epic heroics, and the unpredictability of a shaky alliance.
Noryang: Deadly Sea opened in Los Angeles on December 22 and expands to additional North American markets January 5.
— A/V Out
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HE WENT THAT WAY Quickly Loses Direction
“Some endings are written before they begin.”
Jacob Elordi should feel on top of the world right now. The actor has entered the season with two awards-ready performances; as the privileged pretty boy in Saltburn and the King himself, Elvis Presley, in Priscilla. It caps off a banner year in which Elordi has proven to the acting world that he’s more than just an actor coasting off the popularity of the TV series which garnered him attention early on. With so much hype and buzz currently surrounding the actor, Elordi’s next step, a starring role in an indie that he co-produced, feels logical. But while He Went That Way seems to offer something for the actor to add to his resume in the form of a watchable performance as a cool, slick killer, he should instead petition to get this whole film taken off of his IMDb page.
Inspired by the true case of serial killer Larry Lee Ranes, He Went That Way tells the story of animal trainer Jim (Zachary Quinto), who is traveling on the road with celebrity chimpanzee Spanky (Phoenix Notary). On the way to his destination, Jim decides to pick up handsome hitchhiker Bobby (Elordi), who soon reveals himself to be a vicious killer.
Things certainly start off promising enough in He Went That Way. There’s a rapid-fire energy that the movie opens with that propels it forward and makes the audience instantly sit up. This is fueled by a collection of noir aspects that add to the film’s initial pleasures, such as the desert road landscape, mysterious characters with something to hide, and a minimalist production design that also does its part to help pull the audience in. All of this is quickly tossed aside, however, in favor of a heightened staginess that threatens to take things to camp before trying its hand at some very poor surrealism and fantasy. The filmmakers even manage a brief fashion makeover moment that feels more at home in a fish-out-of-water comedy than a dark tale about a serial killer. Eventually, the whole film goes off the rails as nothing the characters do or react to makes much sense. At one point Bobby kills an innocent bystander and rather than dwell on it, he and Jim bond over the murderer’s shyness and loneliness. Meanwhile, a later scene that sees Bobby stabbing a cook is followed by a weirdly tender moment featuring Jim teaching Bobby how to properly feed Spanky. When the movie isn’t concerned with bloodshed, it struggles to find its characters something to do. The film’s desperation is at its peak whenever it shows the two leads interacting with Spanky, who is given so much screen time, that he inevitably ends up with the richest character arc.
At its center, He Went That Way is trying to position itself as a character piece even as it repeatedly lets its characters down. The film doesn’t know how to handle the ambiguity of its two central figures and never fully leans into the mystery or the desperation that’s plaguing both Bobby and Jim. There’s never enough room to fully get to know either individual even in the simplest of genre terms. Not even the suggested homoerotic subtext is handled well enough to delve into. Like everything else in the film, it’s explored at such an elementary level there was no need to bother in the first place. All we have are their actions to go by, which never seem to have any other purpose than to bide time. Jim’s actions, especially, just don’t make sense. In one instance, the pair, with Spanky in tow, go and try to find Bobby someone to genuinely connect with on an emotional level. Is it self-preservation, or does Jim really start to form a bond with Bobby, causing him to feel sympathy for this dangerous man he has plenty of opportunities to get away from but doesn’t? When Jim does shake Bobby loose, he actually goes back to track him down. It’s here where the bond between the two is meant to show itself, but instead just becomes the most embarrassing moment in a wholly embarrassing film.
Both actors are trying their best throughout He Went That Way, and their efforts carry the film further than it deserves. Even though the script repeatedly lets them down, the chemistry between Elordi and Quinto proves almost enough to keep watching. The pair fully dive into their characters and give dynamic performances in their own right. Elordi continues to impress with another varied characterization, while the film serves as a great reminder of reminding us just how undervalued Quinto continues to be.
The film’s “inspired by a true story” element intrigued me, so much so that after the screener was over, I went and read the Wikipedia article detailing Ranes and his crimes, which proved far more diverting and poetic than anything this film was trying to impart. Even a postscript interview with the real-life Quinto counterpart and vintage footage of the actual Spanky says more than anything this film does in its entire 90-plus minutes. It’s sad to have to start the movie year off with a largely melancholic buddy road movie featuring a psychopath and a celebrity chimp. But He Went That Way can’t help the film it is, especially when you realize it’s genuinely buying what it’s trying to sell. That’s hands down the saddest part of all.
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NIGHT SWIM Brings Aquatic Horror To Your Friendly Neighborhood Swimming Pool
While certainly common, childhood fears aren’t universal. Those fears can depend on any number of factors, circumstances, and/or particulars. For Florida-born-and-raised filmmaker Bryce McGuire, swimming pools, over-represented in a perpetually hot-and-humid state like Florida, became one of – if not the – central fears of his childhood. McGuire spun that obsessive fear, of a bottomless, haunted pool, into a 2014 short, Night Swim, shot in a friend’s swimming pool. While doubling as personal therapy, it also served as a proof-of-concept McGuire could shop around to potential film producers and production companies. Eventually, Jason Blum and James Wan, along with their production companies (Blumhouse Productions and Atomic Monster, respectively), stepped up to help McGuire convert his imaginative short into a full-length feature film.
Night Swim centers on Ray Waller (Wyatt Russell), an ex-major league baseball player grappling with a life-altering medical diagnosis (multiple sclerosis). His post-baseball life isn’t entirely bleak, however, as the end of his career means not just a more settled life, but more all-around family time with his wife, Eve (Kerry Condon), and his two children, Izzy (Amélie Hoeferle) and Elliot (Gavin Warren). While Izzy seems to have inherited her father’s natural athletic ability, Elliot seemingly hasn’t. Like most kids his age, though, Elliot longs for his father’s approval, joining the local Little League team.
Not without their frictions and conflicts, the family dynamic plays perfectly into the presumably haunted pool of their new home. For Ray, the pool isn’t just a pool. It’s where he can continue his recovery and – when he allows himself to daydream – indulge his fantasy of returning to the major leagues. It seems to work too. Within days or weeks, Ray’s not only feeling significantly better mentally, but physically too. Almost immediately, Ray becomes more self-confident, and happier even, though given the parameters of the horror genre, it’ll be just as obvious to audiences that the positive turn in Ray’s health will come at a cost.
To McGuire’s modest credit, the nature of that “cost” and the rationale for the pool’s seemingly miraculous healing powers don’t become clear until late in the film. It’s a bonus and a plus that McGuire didn’t rely on the usual haunted house cliches typical of The Amityville Horror and its countless imitators (i.e., lingering ghosts, unfinished business, intra-family murder). To be just as fair, though, keen-eyed moviegoers will see a symbolic and thematic connection between the pool, its corrosive, corrupting influence on Ray, and the Overlook Hotel at the center of Stephen King’s bestselling horror novel, The Shining, and Stanley Kubrick’s classic 1980 adaptation.
Performance-wise, McGuire elicits just the right amount of emotional realism and naturalism to give Night Swim the grounded verisimilitude it needs to keep moviegoers engaged. In their early scenes together, Russell and Condon look, sound, and feel like a long-married couple handling all manner of life decisions, from where to live and their respective futures (murky for him, an advanced degree for her). As Izzy and Elliot, Hoeferle and Warren never cross over into cloying or annoying, an issue not uncommon for first-time feature directors working with children. There’s friction in their interactions typical of siblings on- and off-screen, but “real” affection too. Their note-perfect modulated performances help to elevate their characters from over-familiar, one-dimensional horror stereotypes.
Influences and performances aside, Night Swim unsurprisingly sinks or swims on the quantity and the quality of its set pieces and its scares. While Night Swim contains its fair share of goosebump-inducing scenes (one each involving the two Waller children, one involving Eve), McGuire’s unfortunate overuse of CGI lessens their impact, sometimes to a noticeable fault. And once the shape and direction of the narrative become clear, Night Swim wades into wait-and-see mode, with the audience, all caught up on the lore behind the pool and its healing properties, waiting for – and eventually seeing – a predictable ending that takes an unnecessary number of additional beats to arrive.
Night Swim opens in movie theaters on Friday, January 5th, via Universal Pictures.
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NIGHT SWIM Aims Deep, Hits Shallow
A series of promising poolside terrors that ultimately end up all wet
Based on the short film by Rod Blackhurst and Bryce McGuire, Night Swim follows the tight-knit Waller family as they get settled into their poolside Michigan home. Dad Ray (Wyatt Russell) is a former baseball player sidelined by a progressing MS diagnosis. At the same time, mom Eve (Kerry Condon) looks forward to putting down roots after Ray’s unpredictable career, along with giving Ray the freedom he needs to focus on recovery. Their kids, Elliot (Gavin Warren) and Izzy (Amélie Hoeferle), are thrilled about making a fresh start. But the pool in the Wallers’ backyard has a history of its own–and a hunger that turns its attention towards the unsuspecting family.
Night Swim begins with the same giddy tension that showed promise in Blackhurst and McGuire’s original short film (McGuire returns to direct solo), with underwater light-bathed sequences that tease the dangers that lurk in the darkness of the deep end. Unfortunately, development into a feature film has forced these deliciously ambiguous elements into the light–cornering this film into an over-explained backstory and rushed resolution that reveals how shallow its ideas truly are.
Giving credit to the ingenuity of its low-budget, high-concept champions in Blumhouse and Atomic Monster, Night Swim manages to find new aspects of its central location to turn into spine-tinglingly unique horror sequences. From the specters that lurk in the flickering shadows beyond the pool light to how the pool itself plays fast and loose with its own dimensions, no element of Night Swim’s pool feels truly safe once a set piece kicks off. While some new “rules” may be gleaned as to how the pool devours its victims, most of the thrill here comes from the same puzzling ambiguity as its shock-and-run original short–the tease that something isn’t quite right, whether it’s supernatural, elemental, or even cosmic, with its true intentions sunken far beyond our depth.
However, fleshing out the source material to feature length does many of these ambiguities a major disservice, as McGuire attempts to tie in the expanded history of the pool in expository scenes that feel as half-hearted as they are half-baked. There remains a visual flair to these moments–as characters who’ve escaped the waters’ grasp remain controlled by them with tell-tale inky smudges from tears, among other gruesome sights. However, some clumsy special effects choices and ill-delivered dialogue land with the same deflating demeanor as switching on a light to reveal a lumpy coatrack rather than a looming demon in the dark.
The cast, the majority new to horror, feels relatively game throughout; however, their overall delivery makes a dramatically uneven splash. Recent Oscar-nominee Condon brings a relatable warmth and gravitas to her suburban mom trope, juggling the tensions of being a primary breadwinner and mother even before the supernatural floods into her life. Wyatt Russell’s turn starts well, as a patriarch whose pool takes on an Overlook Hotel-style draw as it proffers a potential cure to his disease; however, this promising character development requires an eventual menace that Russell can’t quite successfully deliver, as lines meant to strike terror or a well-timed jump retain a mismatched, mellow, and ultimately detached vibe.
Throughout, the creeping tension elevates this aquatic horror film beyond its puzzling premise–but the disappointing payoffs reveal just why Night Swim was released at the start of a new year rather than in the thick of the Horror season months before.
Night Swim debuts in theaters on January 5th from Universal Pictures.
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Blu Review: 88 Films’ LONG ARM OF THE LAW PARTS I & II Collection
New on Blu-ray, 88 Films’ new Long Arm of the Law box set collects the first two (of four) films of the loosely connected crime saga of stories collectively directed by brothers Johnny Mak and Michael Mak. Thematically, the films are centered on stories that are colored by the sociopolitical landscape between mainland China and Hong Kong.
Note; for those who already know the films and just want to get a good look at the new set, we previously posted a detailed unboxing pictorial.
The Long Arm of the Law (1984)
Dir. Johnny Mak
Encouraged by stories of easy money to be made in Hong Kong, a group of poor friends in mainland China decides to sneak in and go on a “get rich quick” crime spree to make as much money as possible in just a few days. It’s a great setup, and the film’s first act was actually my favorite part, showing the geographical and social divide between China and Hong Kong and featuring a suspenseful sequence showing the gang dodging guards, dogs, and bullets to sneak into Hong Kong. (I’ve recently also watched the North Korea documentary Beyond Utopia, and this sequence immediately recalled similar scenes of refugees fleeing through the jungle).
While I was digging the setup, the film kind of lost me as it becomes clear that these guys aren’t just poor schlubs trying to find a better life or catch a break, but rather legitimately awful people. They’re completely unscrupulous in their quest, not just stealing but killing cops and innocents alike – readily, indiscriminately, and without hesitation.
Of course that’s kind of the point, but the timing’s all off and we miss the what should be a descent or journey into depravity – this switch is flipped so early and so easily on that instead of being tragically corrupted by their experience, these dudes were just awful pretty much from the start. By the time one of them sexually assaults a prostitute by making her perform fellatio at gunpoint, I had already long been actively rooting for them to get thrashed.
Seriously though, fuck this guy. The film’s finale takes us to one of the world’s most unique visual geographies, the cramped alleyways of Kowloon. The gang holes up as they try to make their escape, resulting in a final showdown with the law. It’s a terrifically claustrophobic and harrowing sequence, making the most of the oppressive architecture of the Walled City as the location for a blistering action sequence. It’s an incredible segment, even though I’m completely out of step with characters and narrative.
The Long Arm of the Law Saga II (1987)
Dir. Michael Mak
I’m apparently a contrarian on these two films. It seems the general consensus is that the first is a masterpiece and the sequel a step down, but I couldn’t disagree more. While I wasn’t particularly taken with the first film, Saga II was right up my alley, with more developed characters and an evocative heroic bloodshed theme.
A loose sequel that takes place in the same world but tells a mostly unconnected story, Saga II also focuses on a group of mainlanders who are caught illegally residing in Hong Kong. This time it’s a trio of police officers who have defected, and they’re presented with a unique opportunity: spend the next couple years working undercover to infiltrate the HK underworld, with the promise of their freedom and permanent residency afterward.
These characters are far more interesting and empathetic than Part 1‘s crew, facing arduous situations and conflict, stemming from their relationships. For their leader, it’s navigating to find the right balance in staying undercover while also not losing their way and betraying their principles, and managing their partnership with another undercover cop who’s been around longer – providing both opportunities and dangers. Another friendship is tested as the second member of the crew learns that an old war buddy – a former brother-in-arms to whom he owes his life – is one of the criminals they’re tasked with taking down. Yet another entanglement is borne out of a love affair as the third member must decide whether to follow his mind or his heart, to risk entrusting his girlfriend with his secret.
The film is similar in many ways to the Infernal Affairs series which came some years later, making me wonder if it served as as direct influence (it certainly feels like one). All of these story threads are meaningful and riveting, and it actually seems kind of insane to me that anyone would consider this incredible film a step down from the first – even if they really loved the first one. The action’s just as thrilling and suspenseful as the first film, but also imbued with a great narrative, far more compelling with real stakes and grievances.
The Package
Long Arm of the Law Parts 1 & 2 are now available as a handsome Blu-ray box set from 88 Films, featuring a rigid slipcase, double-sided artwork for both movies, piano-black Blu-ray cases, a booklet, and a double-sided poster. We’ve previously unboxed the set to show off the physical package and extras.
Special Features and Extras – Long Arm of the Law
- Brand New 2K Remaster from the Original Camera Negative
- High Definition (1080p) Blu-ray™ presentation in 1.85:1 Aspect Ratio
- Hong Kong Version feat. Cantonese Mono Audio and newly translated English Subtitles (106:03)
- English Version feat. English Mono dub (105:07)
- Audio Commentary by Hong Kong Film Expert Frank Djeng (HK Version)
- Family Business – An Interview with Michael Mak (16:32)
- From Hong Kong Police to Big Circle Gangs – An Interview with Scriptwriter Philip Chan (28:51)
- A Conversation with Action Director Billy Chan and Scriptwriter Philip Chan
- An Interview with Director Johnny Mak (9:47)
- Hong Kong Trailer (4:54)
- Reversible cover with new art by Sean Longmore
Special Features and Extras – Long Arm of the Law Saga II
- Brand New 2K Remaster from the Original Camera Negative
- High Definition (1080p) Blu-ray™ presentation in 1.85:1 Aspect Ratio
- Hong Kong Version feat. Cantonese Mono Audio and newly translated English Subtitles (90:20)
- English Version feat. English Mono dub (87:23)
- Audio Commentary by Hong Kong Film Expert Frank Djeng (HK Version)
- Bringing the Action – An Interview with Director Michael Mak (25:14)
- Man of Action – An Interview with Co-Star Ben Lam (16:09)
- An Offer You Can’t Refuse – An Interview with Scriptwriter Philip Chan (8:07)
- The Iron Fist of Crime – An Interview with Stuntman Stephen Chan (24:13)
- Hong Kong Trailer (3:33)
- English Trailer (1:40)
- Reversible cover with new art by Sean Longmore
– A/V Out
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ROBOCOP: Paul Verhoeven Retrospective [Two Cents]
![ROBOCOP: Paul Verhoeven Retrospective [Two Cents]](https://i0.wp.com/cinapse.co/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Screenshot-2023-12-31-at-11.39.42-AM-1.png?resize=1140%2C675&ssl=1)
Arrow Video Two Cents is a Cinapse original column akin to a book club for films. The Cinapse team curates the series and contribute their “two cents” using a maximum of 200-400 words. Guest contributors and comments are encouraged, as are suggestions for future picks. Join us as we share our two cents on films we love, films we are curious about, and films we believe merit some discussion. Would you like to be a guest contributor or programmer for an upcoming Two Cents entry? Simply watch along with us and/or send your pitches or 200-400 word reviews to [email protected].
The Pick: RoboCop (Paul Verhoeven Retrospective)
Cinapse is relaunching Two Cents for 2024 with a focus on cinematic discovery and discussion. This column is intended to generate points of connection as cinephiles revisit beloved classics or explore new territory together. We’ll kick things off with a curated month of Paul Verhoeven titles that our team was eager to either revisit or experience for the first time. Ed kicked this whole retrospective off because he’s recently gone down the RoboCop franchise revisit rabbit hole. This was partly inspired by the new 4 hour deep dive documentary RoboDoc: The Creation Of RoboCop, which Ed highly recommends and caught via a free trial to ScreamBox on Prime Video.
The Team
Ed Travis
RoboCop is a full-on five star masterpiece and all-timer for a diverse array of reasons that span almost every department of filmmaking. Director Paul Verhoeven can’t be ignored as the cornerstone and madman creative driver behind the entire project, and without him this perfect product of 1980s sci-fi entertainment and social skewering absolutely would not be what it is. But I’m not sure Verhoeven’s vision alone could bolster this film to the singular iconic level that it reaches. The cast is impeccable, with Peter Weller’s Alex Murphy/RoboCop dual performance breathing a profound humanity into a tale of a corporation stealing the soul of a man and placing it in a machine. And once he’s fully revealed as a cyborg, Weller’s mime-esque physical performance is absolutely spectacular. Nancy Allen’s Lewis isn’t just a sidekick, but a beacon of sanity and hope in a doomed and corporatized world; as well as a constant reminder of who Murphy truly is. Every single villain here delivers performances for the ages, from OCP CEO Dan O’Herlihy on down the org chart with Ronnie Cox’s Dick Jones, Miguel Ferrar’s Bob Morton, and Kurtwood Smith’s gangster overlord Clarence Boddicker and his street gang. Then there’s the design elements. Absolute legend Rob Botin designed the RoboCop look, which is just eternally iconic and timeless. The equally legendary Phil Tippitt oversaw the stop motion sequences around the ED-209, RoboCop’s all-robot nemesis that somehow matches Robo’s iconic look to create a duo of unbelievably designed characters that will forever live in cinema history. (And are unrivaled by anything produced in the series sequels or remake). Of course none of these visuals or performances would pop without the political and societal bite of the screenplay by Ed Numeier and Michael Miner, which manages to have as many kickass action sequences and memorable set pieces as it does incisive critiques of corporatization, capitalism, and dehumanization. At this point we’ve more than established masterful bona fides, but haven’t yet layered on the phenomenal Basil Poledouris score, the design of Robo’s signature firearm, the unforgettable leg holster, the life-changing toxic waste mutant death sequence… it’s an endless list of department by department victories creating something unforgettable and timeless at every turn to generate a film that has stood the test of time and still thrills today in a way few contemporary films can.
(@Ed_Travis on X)Justin Harlan
I’ll be honest, I’ve never completely understood the hype around Robocop. It’s a pretty solid movie from a pretty stellar director, but – to me – it’s never been one I consider among Verhoeven’s best. Total Recall does the fun sci-fi thing far better. Starship Troopers does the satire on militarism better. And, many other films of this era seem to nail the type of tone Robocop is going for better than it does. Yet, I must admit that with each watch of this film, I grow a bit more fond of it.
At the end of the day, I can’t deny that starting a month of Verhoeven’s films with Robocop makes sense, though. It’s likely his most iconic film – especially among genre heads, such as many of our team and much of our community. And, in a modern era where militarism in the police force is as much or more a problem than ever before, it certainly hits home.
While I’m more excited to dive into Showgirls and Starship Troopers this month, I appreciate this film more with each watch and am thankful that I had a good excuse to pop it on this week.
(@thepaintedman on X)Jay Tyler
For a Top Ten article I wrote for Cinapse, I ranked Robocop as my #2 film of all time. There is just something unquestionably great about it, but one unique aspect of the magic is the voice of its diverse creators. Screenwriters Edward Neumeier and Michael Miner’s acidic action-satire of a Reagan-inspired dystopia would likely have been good in the hands of many directors who would have given it the cynical spin it needed. What makes it sing is that the same script run through the Paul Verhoeven lens becomes something else entirely. Verhoeven intentionally weaves his obsession with Christology throughout the movie, finding in the character of Murphy/Robocop a vehicle for his idea an “American Jesus”: a figure that is defined by a cycle of rebirth, but instead of soul-salvation provides atonement through acts of cold, heartless violence. Through Weller’s deadpan delivery, the perfect alchemy between these disparate elements creates something that isn’t even good or great, but singular. It is a dystopian satire that is equally interested in being absurd but also sincere, a reflection but also a warning. And that depth reveal itself in layers. It can be appreciated as a simple bad-ass piece of extremist 1980s action trash. The name even invites you into that interpretation, suggesting something that is unabashed violence porn copaganda. But scratching barely beneath the surface provides such a rich text about a world that is exiting a Cold War, where capitalist systems turn good people into unwilling machines for its ongoing profit motive. By balancing being both a scathing social commentary as well as a damn good time, RoboCop solidifies itself amongst the very best genre film can offer. The fact the magic has never been duplicated with its various sequels and reboots only makes clearer that the original is a one-of-a-kind work that will stand the test of time.
(@jaythecakethief on X)Austin Vashaw
Robocop is a personal favorite that I’ve seen countless times, usually in the squibbalicious Director’s Cut form which has become its home video standard. For this viewing I decided to go back to the beginning and watched the television cut, which is included in Arrow’s recent releases. In part I wanted to revisit how I originally saw this – after begging my parents to record it when it made its TV debut, but mostly I just wanted to let my kids watch it with me. Even in this heavily diluted form, this thing is a firecracker.
The Christ-allegory hero, subversive tone and satire, slightly futuristic vision of an apocalyptic Detroit, and the wonderful cast of corporate villains made for one of the most singular action/sci-fi movies of the 80s, a smartass concoction of demented humor and giddy violence (well, not so much in the TV cut but still). I’m especially enamored with the stop-motion animation by Phil Tippett, which has that lovely otherworldly feel that I miss seeing in movies. ED-209 rules.
I’m in the relative minority that loves the second film just as much, maybe even more; to me it’s an even more amped-up distillation of what I love about this character and his world.
(@VforVashaw on X)RoboCop Writing on Cinapse
By Dan Tabor By Jon Partridge By Austin Vashaw By Ed Travis By VN Pryor
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And We’re Out.
