Twilight Zone: The Movie (June 23 at the Cleveland Cinematheque)

[TWILIGHT ZONE: THE MOVIE screens Friday June 23rd at 7:30 pm at the Cleveland Cinematheque.]

Review by Charles Cassady, Jr.

Rod Serling’s revered TV half-hour anthology The Twilight Zone, aired originally from 1959 to 1965, told different sci-fi and fantasy-tinged morality plays each week. It’s long shadow inspired this Warner Brothers big-budget movie anthology that made its theatrical debut in 1983 – an era when the blockbuster box-office returns of George Lucas and Steven Spielberg fantasias led the entertainment rackets to lavishly remake, relaunch and reboot all the way-out properties they owned the rights to. Whether the studios “got it” or not.

Three parts of the four installments in TWILIGHT ZONE – THE MOVIE remake favorite TZ episodes, but the first, directed by John Landis (hot after AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON) is an original. It's about a bigoted businessman (Vic Morrow), ranting about losing a job promotion to a Jew, who instantly finds himself cruelly knocked about the whole 20th century, suffering the same persecutions as blacks in the Jim Crow South, Jews in the Holocaust, and Indochinese during the Vietnam War. This was the featurette in which actor Morrow (and two child actors) died in an on-camera accident, perishing beneath a crashing helicopter while filming the Vietnam section. The horrific waste made even more disappointing by the segment itself, a one-note bashing of a nasty guy that feels like something whipped up by slumming liberal Hollywood film-school students.

31 Days of Halloween 2016: Holidays (now on video and streaming on Netflix)

[31 Days of Halloween 2016: HOLIDAYS is now available on home video, VOD, and streaming on Netflix.]

Review by Bob Ignizio

Horror has never been content to constrain itself merely to Halloween. We've had numerous Christmas horror films (including the infamous SILENT NIGHT, DEADLY NIGHT), FRIDAY THE 13TH, APRIL FOOL'S DAY, MOTHER'S DAY, and the whole LEPRECHAUN series for St. Patrick's Day. And as a reader of Mad Magazine back in the eighties, I still remember their slasher film parody "Arbor Day". That's by no means all, but you get the idea. So it seems only fitting that the current boom in horror anthology films started by the cult success of V/H/S and THE ABC'S OF DEATH would eventually produce a holiday themed film, the aptly named HOLIDAYS.

As per usual with these affairs, it's a mixed bag in terms of quality. That said, on the whole most of the segments are well made and fun, flavored with a macabre streak of humor. Kevin Smith reinforces my dislike for him as a filmmaker with his Halloween themed segment, and a few others fall flat, but overall I was entertained more than not.

31 Days of Halloween 2016: Southbound (now on home video)

[31 Days of Halloween 2016: SOUTHBOUND is now available on home video and VOD.]

Review by Eric Sever

*Note: As with last year’s 31 Days of Halloween marathon of horror movie reviews, we’ll be diving deep into the new release section looking for modern horror fare. We'll be hoping for the best, but frankly expecting the worst. *
  

A horror anthology that doesn't feel like one, SOUTHBOUND is a well-produced string of tales all set on a dusty dessert highway.

The five stories are loosely connected, some more than others. Two blood-soaked men stop at a gas station to clean up and refuel, while something eerie pursues them. An indie band heads to their next gig after the death of one of their bandmates. A man tries to save the life of a girl he has hit with his car. Customers in a small town bar get a surprise when a man bursts in with a rifle. Finally, a family vacation is interrupted by a very unwelcome, late-night knock at the door.

31 Days of Halloween 2015: Tales of Halloween (opens in Cleveland October 23rd exclusively at the Cedar Lee Theatre)

[31 Days of Halloween 2015: TALES OF HALLOWEEN opens in Cleveland on Friday October 23rd exclusively at the Cedar Lee Theatre.]

Review by Bob Ignizio

*Note: As with last year’s 31 Days of Halloween marathon of horror movie reviews, we’ll be diving deep into the new release section looking for modern horror fare, hoping for the best, but frankly expecting the worst.*

In recent years, the horror anthology has experienced a bit of a revival. First there was GRINDHOUSE, a double feature from Quentin Tarrantino and Robert Rodriguez that also included fake trailers from a selection of filmmakers. Michael Dougherty’s TRICK R TREAT was ready for release the same year, but wound up sitting on a shelf until 2009.  When it was finally released on home video in 2009, it become a cult classic and seasonal favorite for horror fans. The more comedically inclined CHILLERAMA followed in 2011 boasting a quartet of directors including Adams Rifkin and Green. Then in 2012 there was V/H/S and THE ABCs OF DEATH, both of which featured multiple directors and shorter segments (especially in the case of ABCs), and both of which did well enough to spawn sequels.

Repost: Wild Tales (opens in Akron March 27th at the Nightlight CInema)

[WILD TALES opens in Akron on Friday March 27th at the Nightlight Cinema.]



Review by Milan Paurich

Webster’s Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary defines wild (adj.) as “uncivilized,” “barbaric,” “indicative of strong passion, desire or emotion,” “escaped from normal restraints of control” and “characteristic of, or appropriate to, or expressive of wilderness, wildlife or a simple or uncivilized society.” Damien Szifron’s Oscar-nominated Argentinean omnibus film WILD TALES pretty much lives up to every one of those descriptions. Co-produced by Pedro Almodovar, it shares many of the strengths (an uncanny ability to orchestrate pitch-black comedy for starters) of that Spanish auteur’s best movies.

Wild Tales (opening in Cleveland March 20th at the Cedar Lee Theatre and Capitol Theatre)

[WILD TALES opens in Cleveland on Friday March 20th at the Cedar Lee Theatre and the Capitol Theatre.]



Review by Milan Paurich

Webster’s Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary defines wild (adj.) as “uncivilized,” “barbaric,” “indicative of strong passion, desire or emotion,” “escaped from normal restraints of control” and “characteristic of, or appropriate to, or expressive of wilderness, wildlife or a simple or uncivilized society.” Damien Szifron’s Oscar-nominated Argentinean omnibus film WILD TALES pretty much lives up to every one of those descriptions. Co-produced by Pedro Almodovar, it shares many of the strengths (an uncanny ability to orchestrate pitch-black comedy for starters) of that Spanish auteur’s best movies.

Repost: A Touch of Sin (February 27th and 28th at the Cleveland Cinematheque)

[A TOUCH OF SIN screens Thursday February 27th at 8:50 pm and Friday February 28th at 7:00 pm at the Cleveland ICinematheque.]

Review by Milan Paurich

Jia Zhang-ke, the foremost chronicler of modern Chinese life, makes remarkable movies that are less daunting--and far more entertaining--than casual observers might think. Certainly Jia’s A TOUCH OF SIN is the director’s most accessible, audience-friendly film to date. The omnibus, everything-is-connected structure seems indebted to Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu (BABEL, AMORES PERROS), yet SIN is actually closer to the fiction of American novelist/short story writer Joyce Carol Oates.

Split into four chapters, A TOUCH OF SIN may seem a tad less subtle than previous Jia films like PLATFORM and UNKNOWN PLEASURES. Of course, there’s nothing particularly subtle about violence, and SIN is riddled with terrifying scenes of extreme brutality. It’s the closest Jia has ever come to making a pure “genre” film (The influence of Martin Scorsese is strongly suggested in the movie’s first two segments). As usual, Jia’s camera remains largely impassive throughout, taking it all in like it was breathing air. 

Centro Historico (February 6th and 9th at the Cleveland Cinematheque)

[CENTRO HISTORICO screens Thursday February 6th at 6:45 pm and Sunday February 9th at 8:00 pm at the Cleveland Cinematheque.]

Review by Charles Cassady, Jr.

Now on Blu-ray and DVD: a homegrown anthology movie shooting around town entitled MADE IN CLEVELAND. Inspired, no doubt by PARIS, JE T'AIME and NEW YORK, I LOVE YOU, it has several different locally oriented directors paying, er, homage to Cleveland, with short-film installments. 

I would not be surprised if MADE IN CLEVELAND still gets booked as part of the bill of fare at the upcoming Cleveland International Film Festival...And yet I would not be surprised if the Cleveland International Film Festival rejected MADE IN CLEVELAND as an entry, for that matter. Probably to free up a time slot for SAN FRANCISCO, I LOVE YOU, or AUSTIN, I LOVE YOU, or BALTIMORE, I LOVE YOU (GO RAVENS!), or the umpteenth teen-gay coming-out drama from Sundance. Such is Cleveland, a town that trades in rejection. Our only growth industry left.

Movie 43 (now on video)

**Note: we're doing our best to catch up on some of the films that slipped through the cracks here at the Cleveland Movie Blog. I believe MOVIE 43 did have a screening, but at the time no one was available to cover it. It's on Netflix instant at the moment, so I figured what the Hell, I'll check it out.

Review by Bob Ignizio

Some people like to slow down and look at automobile accidents. I have a morbid curiosity about bad movies. That's why, against all better judgment, I've watched things like GIGLI, GLITTER, and many more universally panned turkeys. Sometimes one finds campy entertainment value, as in SHOWGIRLS. On occasion, I even wind up liking movies that everyone else seems to hate, as was the case with HANSEL AND GRETL: WITCH HUNTERS. So with virtually every critic on earth declaring MOVIE 43 the year's worst film, I had to get around to it eventually. Well, it may not be my pick for the worst of the year (I'm leaning towards PLANES at the moment), but it sure isn't very good.

A Touch of Sin (December 7th and 8th at the Cleveland Cinematheque)

[A TOUCH OF SIN screens Saturday December 7th at 7:00 pm and Sunday December 8th at 4:00 pm at the Cleveland ICinematheque.]

Review by Milan Paurich

Jia Zhang-ke, the foremost chronicler of modern Chinese life, makes remarkable movies that are less daunting--and far more entertaining--than casual observers might think. Certainly Jia’s A TOUCH OF SIN is the director’s most accessible, audience-friendly film to date. The omnibus, everything-is-connected structure seems indebted to Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu (BABEL, AMORES PERROS), yet SIN is actually closer to the fiction of American novelist/short story writer Joyce Carol Oates.

Split into four chapters, A TOUCH OF SIN may seem a tad less subtle than previous Jia films like PLATFORM and UNKNOWN PLEASURES. Of course, there’s nothing particularly subtle about violence, and SIN is riddled with terrifying scenes of extreme brutality. It’s the closest Jia has ever come to making a pure “genre” film (The influence of Martin Scorsese is strongly suggested in the movie’s first two segments). As usual, Jia’s camera remains largely impassive throughout, taking it all in like it was breathing air. 

Tatsumi (now on video)

[TATSUMI is now available on home video.]

Review by Charles Cassady, Jr.

For a sister site of this blog I was doing Blu-Ray reviews of Japanese "anime," but they haven't been running my material lately. I think it's because the webmaster moved to Austin to take a job-of-the-kind-they-don't-have-in-Cleveland (in other words...a job). And being an Austinite, he's now too cool to deal with the likes of me now.

(Hey, I understand, no problem. If our positions were reversed I'd do the same. Yes, call me `Tex' Cassady; I helped co-found the SXSW Festival. I've lived in this beautiful state capital for ages; remember my funny cameo in SLACKER? No, never heard of Cleveland. Isn't it that awful town in Iowa that some ballplayer named Jim LeBron left behind?)

Doomsday Book (April 4th, 5th, and 8th at the Cleveland International Film Festival)

[DOOMSDAY BOOK screens Thursday April 4th at 4:50 pm, Friday April 5th at 11:15 pm and Monday April 8th at 4:00 pm at the Cleveland International Film Festival.]


Review by Matt Finley

Anthology films: I love everything about them, from their attention deficit-conscientious portioning to their dependable inconsistency. The short-form nature of the genre gives writers, directors and actors an opportunity to throw caution to the wind and get a bit more madcap or edgy or over-the-top than they might in a pricier, more time consuming standalone feature. With DOOMSDAY BOOK, South Korean filmmakers Kim Ji-woon (A TALE OF TWO SISTERS) and Yim Pil-Sung (HANSEL & GRETEL) deliver a trio of apocalyptic scenarios that dally in three distinct types of science fiction, all the while sharing a single conceit: when the third rock goes pear-shaped, humanity will only have itself to blame.

V/H/S (opens in Cleveland October 19th exclusively at the Capitol Theatre)

[V/H/S opens in Cleveland on Friday October 19th exclusively at the Capitol Theatre.]

Review by Bob Ignizio

The anthology film V/H/S utilizes all of the most annoying techniques of the “found footage” genre in the service of 6 pointless and unimaginative horror... premises? That seems the best term to use, since none of them are sketched out beyond the absolute basics. Evidently the thinking here was that if all the segments were supposed to be random bits of home movies that someone had collected, there was no need to craft complete stories with actual characters. The gimmick would do all the work, with the “shocks” given impact by the appearance of realism.

Sadly for the filmmakers involved, audiences have already seen THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT, THE LAST EXORCISM, and multiple installments of PARANORMAL ACTIVITY. Those films certainly have their detractors, but like them or not, at their core each of them had a story to tell and made good use of the found footage technique to tell those stories. V/H/S, despite having 6 shots at it, fails to come up with even one story that would have passed muster in a more traditional anthology film, and further compounds the problem by being just about the ugliest, most unwatchable piece of cinema ever to get a theatrical release.

Chillerama (now on home video)

[CHILLERAMA is now available on home video.]

Review by Bob Ignizio

This four part anthology film seeks to pay homage to the drive-in movie experience in much the same way as Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez tried to pay homage to flea pit indoor theaters with their GRINDHOUSE. Only in CHILLERAMA, there are no big name directors, big name stars, or big budgets. Which, frankly, is as it should be. The kind of films both anthologies aim to recreate were made on the cheap, so anyone trying to emulate them should have to work under similar constraints. CHILLERAMA still doesn't come close to the kind of shoddiness seen in the films that inspired it, but it feels more in the true spirit of low budget exploitation films than GRINDHOUSE. None of which makes this the better film, sadly.

Tales From the Golden Age (November 26th and 27th at the Cleveland Cinematheque)

[TALES FROM THE GOLDEN AGE screens Saturday November 26th at 9:05 p.m. and Sunday November 27th at 3:30 p.m. at the Cleveland Cinematheque.]

Review by Charles Cassady, Jr.

When Communism fell in Eastern Europe I told everyone (well...I told my imaginary friends, at least; nobody else listens) that we over here could soon expect a plethora of untold tales and revelations from behind the collapsed Iron Curtain. The 2009 omnibus feature from Romania TALES FROM THE GOLDEN AGE is one such bundle. It purports to be dramatizations of urban legends and tall-tale anecdotes of a generally subversive nature, circulated during the notorious regime of Nicolae Ceaucescu. That's the sales pitch, anyway (a remotely similar idea was done some years ago, a delight called VASKA EASEOFF, purportedly antics of a Russian trickster-figure borne of defiant folklore among prisoners in the gulags and labor camps).