REAGAN Preaches To The Converted

REAGAN (Blu-ray)

2024 / 135 min

FROM LIONSGATE

Review by Stinky the Destroyer😾

Reagan practically depicts its subject like he’s a messiah, where everything he touches turns to FREEDOM. Basically a love letter to the 40th president and those who continue to deify him, the movie is a pandering hybrid of propaganda and gushing adulation. If nothing else, the movie knows its audience.

For 135 minutes, Reagan (Dennis Quaid) can do no wrong, particularly when dealing this those pesky Russians. Even as president of the Screen Actors Guild, his testimony for the FBI, fingering peers as communists, is considered a heroic act. Anti-communism continues to be an ongoing theme throughout the film, driving Reagan’s presidency. He’s shown singlehandedly saving the free world from Russia’s insidious plans of world domination and rescuing the U.S. economy by virtue of his iron will. 

Conversely, the more questionable aspects of Reagan’s presidency are simply summed up with a brief music montage consisting of stock footage and newspaper headlines. The lone exception is the Iran-Contra scandal. But even then, his address to the nation - clarifying his involvement - is depicted as yet-another triumph. Throughout the entire film, the conflicts and complexities of his presidency are presented in simplistic us-versus-them terms. And at no point is Reagan himself portrayed as anything less than a republication Superman...stoic, noble and righteous.

"My fellow Americans...in the interest of transparency, I hereby announce I'm not wearing pants."

But Reagan’s blatant nationalism and one-sided history aren’t the real problem. Politics aside, this is a shockingly bad movie and a poor excuse for a biography. Its subject is never explored in any depth and we learn little beyond his ambition and patriotism. Hell, even legendary liberal Oliver Stone instilled Nixon & George W with some complexity. You’d think any movie idolizing Ronald Reagan would try to do the same. As for Quaid… I suppose if you squint real hard he sorta resembles Reagan, but his performance comes across like a comedian’s impersonation. 

The supporting characters are even more broadly drawn, essentially one-note caricatures (some played by a who’s-who of notable right-wingers, including Jon Voight, Pat Boone, Kevin Sorbo, Robert Davi, not to mention Quaid himself). Still, I have to grudgingly admit Voight is actually quite good in his role as former Soviet spy Viktor Petrovich, who also narrates the film.

Elsewhere, Reagan looks cheap and small, with terrible make-up work and some clumsy CGI in an attempt to make everything seem more epic. John Cada’s score is filled with overbearing emotive crescendos every time Reagan says or does something inspiring. And speaking of inspiring, the film frequently evokes the tone and aesthetic of the recent spate of Christian films that have made waves among the church crowd. Like many of those movies, Reagan may be filled with good intentions, but its message and themes are handled with the subtlety of a mallet.

But the biggest crime? At no point is Reagan emotionally engaging. It’s just an interminable checklist of events with a ton of exposition provided by characters who are difficult invest in. Even Reagan’s detractors bent on rage-watching the film will likely end-up more bored than incensed. As for its intended audience, Reagan will confirm their unconditional admiration for the man, but I suspect even some of them might feel he deserved better than this.

MERCHANT IVORY: THE DOCUMENTARY : The Story Behind the Movies

MERCHANT IVORY: THE DOCUMENTARY (Blu-ray)

2023 / 111 min

FROM COHEN MEDIA GROUP

Review by Princess Pepper😺

The filmmaking team of James Ivory and Ismail Merchant need no introduction to certain moviegoers. The company they founded - Merchant Ivory Productions - have been longtime purveyors of what’s often referred to as “arthouse” cinema, including a slew of period pieces. A few of them, such as Howard’s End and Remains of the Day, transcended such a label to become big hits.

Though I’ve seen some of their films and acknowledge they are immaculately written, directed and performed - to say nothing of beautiful to look at - this kind of stuff ain’t really in my wheelhouse. On the other hand, some of the best music bios I’ve ever seen were about artists I knew nothing about and whose music I’d never throw on my turntable. As such, I found Merchant Ivory: The Documentary very interesting.

This isn’t so much the story of their films as the filmmakers themselves, and in that sense, it’s kind of revelatory. Despite Merchant Ivory’s prestigious reputation, the studio operated on surprisingly small budgets, often procuring funding for a particular film on-the-fly, with the cast and crew not always certain when they’d get paid. James Ivory generally handled the creative end of things, while the more exuberant Ismail Merchant kept the productions moving forward…sometimes through sheer tenacity. 

James Ivory in time-out.

We also learn much about the duo personally, mostly through recollections of Ivory (Merchant passed away in 2005). Not just a business relationship, they more-or-less remained life partners since founding the company in the early 1960s, which Ivory is enjoyably candid about (I wasn’t even aware they were a couple). But they aren’t the whole story. Significant segments also focus on screenwriter Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, who wrote a majority of their films, and composer Richard Robbins, who scored them.

Several of the company’s most noteworthy and acclaimed films are discussed, as well as 1987’s Maurice, a gay-themed romance that was pretty bold for its time. There are also plenty of interviews with actors who worked with Merchant and Ivory (often more than once), including Emma Thompson, Hugh Grant, Helena Bonham Carter, Vanessa Redgrave (cantankerous as ever) and Rupert Graves, just to name a few. Most offer interesting - generally affectionate - views on their experiences.

Merchant Ivory: The Documentary didn’t compel this writer to revisit films I was ‘meh’ on in the first place, or seek out any of their other work. However, the guys behind them have an interesting story and I have a newfound appreciation for what they were able to accomplish…mostly on their own terms.

EXTRA KIBBLES

INTERVIEWS - Additional interviews with Emma Thompson, Helena Bonham Carter, Hugh Grant, Vanessa Redgrave and Hiroyuki Sanada.

SHORT FILM - Rich Atmosphere: The Music of Merchant Ivory Films

JAMES IVORY & STEPHEN SOUCY INTRODUCTION - From the NY Indian Film Festival.

JAMES IVORY & STEPHEN SOUCY CONVERSATION - From the NYSWI Film Festival.

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1992 Tries To Be Two Movies

1992 (Blu-ray)

2024 / 97 min

FROM LIONSGATE

Review by Stinky the Destroyer😽

1992 tries to be two movies at once. As a thriller, there’s plenty of action and suspense, anchored by a commanding performance from Tyrese Gibson. But as social commentary on historic events…well, nice try.

The historic event in question is the violent, destructive citywide protest following the verdict of the Rodney King trial, where four cops were found not guilty of severely beating King, even though it was caught on video. That verdict severely exacerbated racial tensions, not just in Los Angeles, but society as well. For the most part, our reactions and opinions of the video, trial and ensuing riot were based on what the TV showed us.

Despite taking place during the riots themselves, 1992 doesn’t offer much beyond what we saw on TV three decades ago, save for a few brief scenes where Gibson’s character has the foresight to know what the verdict means to the African-American community. Those moments are fleeting, though, and the unrest itself becomes just a superfluous backdrop for a heist thriller. In fact, the setting could just as easily be any social upheaval, real or imagined. 

Still, 1992 tells a pretty decent story. Mercer (Gibson) is a parolee who puts his past behind him for the sake of estranged teenage son Antoine (Christopher Ammanuel). As rioting begins to consume their neighborhood, Mercer decides taking Antoine to his place of work, a metal factory, will keep them safe from the melee. Meanwhile, Riggin Bigby (Scott Eastwood) and his crew plan to break-in to the same place and steal platinum used to make catalytic converters (which is worth millions). He reluctantly includes his unhinged father, Lowell (Ray Liotta, in his last performance), for the job.

"Damn machine kept my change."

With the city in turmoil and police preoccupied, Riggin figures things should go without a hitch…at least until one of Lowell’s overzealous thugs shoots a security guard, who then triggers an alarm that makes breaking into the vault more difficult. When Mercer and Antoine eventually show up, the latter ends up being grabbed by Lowell, while Mercer captures Riggin, resulting in a tense stand-off. There is also a little Die Hard thrown into the narrative as Mercer clashes with some of the other crew.

While nothing groundbreaking, the action-thriller aspects of the story are pretty well conceived, with a couple of intense sequences and bursts of gritty violence. The supporting performances are generally pretty solid, with usually-bland Eastwood being a pleasant surprise. Conversely, Liotta isn’t required to do much with his one-note character but demonstrate how vicious he can be, making it kind of a shame this is how career ends.

It’s ultimately the heist elements of 1992 that make it worth checking out. The backdrop of the L.A. riots seems almost redundant and is largely an inconsequential part of the narrative. That’s not to say every movie set during a tumultuous period should address relevant societal issues, but this one initially has us expecting it’ll be more than just another crime thriller.

EXTRA KIBBLES

FEATURETTES - A South Central Story mostly features actor Tyrese Gibson and director/co-writer Ariel Vromen; Two Families, Two Worlds: Making 1992 is a pretty decent 25-minutes making-of doc.

AUDIO COMMENTARY - By director/co-writer Ariel Vromen and co-producer T’Shaun Barrett.

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DVD & DIGITAL COPIES

Litter Box Treasures: FIRESTORM (2013)

In Litter Box Treasures, we focus on a variety of older films which aren’t necessarily classics, but are well-worth discovering.

FIRESTORM (2013)

Starring Andy Lao, Yao Chen, Gordon Lam, Hu Jun, Ray Lui. Directed by Alan Yuen. (110 min)

BY D.M. ANDERSON💀

Imagine if Michael Mann’s Heat were directed instead by the late Tony Scott, and you'll have a good idea what to expect from Firestorm. Subtlety and restraint were never part of Scott’s vocabulary and you won’t find either of those qualities here, either. This violent Hong Kong action epic, directed by Alan Yuen, is unabashedly bombastic, in-your-face and over-the-top. But hey, if you are going to draw your primary inspiration from one of the most revered films of the 90s, you might as well go whole-hog and crank everything up to 11.

Firestorm has a gang of thieves who commit daring armored car robberies in broad daylight in the middle of Hong Kong. The main characters are two men on opposite ends of the law. Lui (the great Andy Lau) is a police inspector, so desperate to nail this gang that he resorts to ethically-questionable tactics. Bong (Gordon Lam), just released from prison, is torn between returning to his old ways and trying to change for the sake of his pregnant girlfriend, Law (Yao Chen), but ultimately falls in with this vicious group of thieves.

Lui and Bong have known each other since their school days. This familiar plot device serves a similar function to the DeNiro/Pacino pairing in Heat…to establish our protagonist isn’t exactly a saint, nor is our antagonist a total demon. The same can’t be said for the rest of Bong’s gang, who are as extraordinarily ruthless, shooting hostages in the head, tossing children from second-story windows and unconcerned with collateral damage when blasting their way out of stand-offs with police.

A tender moment in Firestorm.

Despite nicely creating flawed-yet-sympathetic characters, mayhem is the main message here, which isn’t meant as a criticism. This tightly-wound film features several well-edited action set-pieces, each bigger and more violent than the last, culminating in a climactic showdown on the streets of downtown Hong Kong. This final confrontation, at least a half-hour long, must be seen to be believed. Sure, a lot suspension of disbelief is required, but the nearly-orgasmic level of gunplay, explosions and carnage makes the similar firefight in Heat look like Nerf Gun battle.

On a side note, the film’s synopsis touts a typhoon-level storm approaching Hong Kong, indicating it’s a major part of the story. However, this storm is only fleetingly mentioned in background newscasts and briefly discussed among the gang of thieves (who essentially blow it off…no pun intended). Disaster movie fans should take note: at no point does this storm factor into anything that happens. But don’t worry, kids, your thirst for urban destruction will be sated through other means.

2024 HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE

‘Tis the season, when we present our annual Holiday Gift Guide, chock full of delicious crunchy kibbles for that special cinephile in your life. CLICK HERE!

ALL THE HAUNTS BE OURS, VOLUME TWO Is A Folk Horror Feast

ALL THE HAUNTS BE OURS: A COMPENDIUM OF FOLK HORROR, VOLUME TWO

(Blu-ray)

1952-2024 / 2113 min (24 movies)

FROM SEVERIN FILMS

Review by Mr. Paws😻

When this set arrived, my wife asked me what folk horror was, and I couldn’t really provide a concrete definition. I mean, I generally know it when I see it, but like film noir, what constitutes folk horror is fairly open ended. So instead, I offered the recent Midsommar as an example, which was enough convince the missus that she would not be joining me for this particular review. 

Too bad, really, because some of the titles included in this set, such as The Ninth Heart and the gorgeously grotesque November, could just as easily be considered dark fantasy, which she has enjoyed on occasion (okay, probably not November, which is really, really “out there”). 

In cinematic terms, when & where folk horror actually started is equally murky. Because of this, you’re likely to find conflicting views on what films were among the first in the genre. However, All the Haunts Be Ours Volume Two, Severin Films’ follow-up to their first massive boxed set, serves up the memorably haunting Finnish film, The White Reindeer, which was first released in 1952. 

Whether or not it actually was the first folk horror film doesn’t matter. What does matter is that it reflects another exhaustive effort by Severin to not-only acquire and remaster a variety of films from around the world, a couple of ‘em are so obscure that they’re scanned from a single known print (such as Argentina’s Nazareno Cruz and the Wolf and USA’s Who Fears the Devil).

Not having seen or reviewed Volume One, I cannot draw comparisons regarding the film selection, but will say that Volume Two includes what’s easily the best bonus feature of any release this year: All the Haunts Be Ours: A Folk Horror Storybook is a beautifully bound & illustrated 252-page hardcover collection of 12 original folk horror stories by various notable authors, including Kim Newman, Ramsey Campbell, Eden Royce and Sarah Gailey, among others. 

A Little Severin Book!

That’s not the only thing new, either. Volume II kicks-off with To Fire You Come At Last, a 45-minute horror film produced by Severin Films itself (and not half bad!). Additionally, Suzzanna: The Queen of Black Magic is a morbidly fascinating new documentary chronicling the career (and strange life) of Indonesian scream queen Suzzanna Martha Frederika van Osch. Sharing that disc is one of her biggest, best-known films, Sundelbolong, a ghostly and violent rape-revenge tale.

Altogether, there are 24 films spread out over 13 discs. Like any collection, they vary in quality and one may question whether or not a few of them constitute folk horror (if you subscribe to a concrete definition). Still, this is a huge collection of titles…some that viewers might be familiar with, others I’m willing to wager few have ever seen, much less heard of. The City of the Dead and Psychomania are probably the best-known English language titles, the former being an atmospheric little gem featuring Christopher Lee. Conversely, Edge of the Knife is an unusual and earthy Haida-language film (which is hardly spoken anywhere save for a small part of Canada).

And in between, the films vary in tone, pace, aesthetic and general interest. For example, the Polish film, Demon, is an often surprisingly-funny tale of possession filled with odd, shitfaced characters. Britain’s Born of Fire is surreal and apocalyptic, while the USA’s Blood Tea and Red String is a strange stop-motion animated fantasy. Czechoslovakian director Juraj Herz is represented twice, the aforementioned November and Beauty and the Beast, which offers a dark & grimy take (but still somewhat romantic) on the oft-told story. Hailing from Wales, From the Old Earth may be short (and a little clumsy), but that ancient Celtic head a character digs out of his garden is creepy as hell. 

Other titles include Spain’s Akelarre, Japan’s kitty-fied classic, Bakeneko, USA’s The Enchanted, Korea’s Io Island, France’s Litan, Thailand’s Nang Nak, The Phillipines’ The Rites of May and Saudi Arabia’s Scales (this writer’s first Saudi film!). Not all of them are particularly good, and more-than-a-few might be an acquired taste, but for folk horror fans, there’s a ton to discover. The films also feature pretty excellent transfers, most mastered in either 2K or 4K. 

The features are only part of the journey. There are also 21 short films spread throughout the set, generally paired with titles that either feature the same director, similar subject matter or hail from the same countries. In the case of Blood on the Stars, it’s actually longer than the main feature, From the Old Earth. Additionally, there are plenty of bonus features for every film, from audio commentaries to featurettes to interviews, both new and archival (outlined below). 

It’s all packaged in a sturdy box with terrific artwork inside and out (though I’m not crazy about the disc sleeves). Like Volume One, All the Haunts Be Ours Volume Two isn’t for everyone, but for folk horror lovers who've always defined the genre by the likes of The Wicker Man and Midsommar, it's a treasure trove of obscurities. In terms of quantity, comprehensiveness and presentation, this is the best boxed set of the year.

EXTRA KIBBLES 

ALL THE HAUNTS BE OURS: A FOLK HORROR STORYBOOK - “A Little Severin Book!”

SUPPLEMENTAL BOOKLET - Detailed summaries, bonus features info/listings and technical specs for all 24 films, as well as stills and vintage promotional artwork.

DISC FEATURES (Listed in the order they appear over 13 discs)

TO FIRE YOU COME AT LAST: Audio Commentary by director Sean Hogan, producers Paul Goodwin & Nicholas Harwood; Featurette - On the Lych Way; Trailer; Short Films - We Always Find Ourselves at Sea (with optional commentary) and Our Selves Unknown.

PSYCHOMANIA: Introduction by Chris Alexander; Audio Commentary by Maries J. Perez Cuervo; Return of the Living Dead -  Interviews with some of the actors; The Sound of Psychomania - Interview with composer John Cameron; Riding Free - Interview with singer Harvey Andrews; Trailer.

THE ENCHANTED: 2 Audio Commentaries - 1) By director Carter Lord & camera assistant Richard Grange; 2) By authors Chesya Burke & Sheree Renee Thomas; A Magical Place - Interview with composer Phil Sawyer; Hole in the Wall - character notes by screenwriter Charme Porter; Trailer; Short Film - Swimmer.

WHO FEARS THE DEVIL: Audio Commentary by historian Amanda Reyes; Crumble Will the Feet of Clay - Interview with producer Barney Rosenzweig; Silver Strings - Interview with actor/musician Hedges Capers; Featurettes - Manly of the Mountains with author David Drake, Occult Appalachia with historian Mitch Horowitz; Alternate Opening - With alternate title, The Legend of Hillbilly John (intro by actor Severn Darden; Trailer.

THE WHITE REINDEER: The Projection Booth - Episode from the program focusing of The White Reindeer; Short Films - A Witch Drum, The Nightside of the Sky and With the Reindeer.

EDGE OF THE KNIFE: Audio Commentary by directors Gwaai Edenshaw and Helen Haig-Brown; Featurette - Retake: Making the First Haida-Language Feature Film; Short Films - Haida Carver and Nalujuk Night.

BORN OF FIRE: Igniting the Fire - Interview with director Jamil Dehlavi; The Silent One Speaks - Interview with actor Nabil Shaban; Between the Sacred and the Profane - Lecture by Dr. Ali Nobil Ahmad; The Djinn Revisited - The djinn legend in film is discussed by director Dalia Al Kury; Trailer; Short Films - Towers of Silence and QÃF.

IO ISLAND: Audio Commentary by historian Arie Schudson; Shaman’s Eyes - Featurette on shamanism in Korean films; Short Film - The Present (animated).

SCALES: Telling Our Stories - A discussion with director Shahad Ameen and producer Rula Nasser; Trailer; Short Film - Kindil.

BAKENEKO: A VENGEFUL SPIRIT: Audio Commentary by author Jasper Sharp; Featurette - Scratched: A History of the Japanese Ghost Cat; The Vampire Cat - A story read by Tomoko Komura; Trailer; Short Film: Man-Eater Mountain.

NANG NAK: Audio Commentary by Mattie Do (a director) and scholar Katarzyna Ancuta; Love and Impermanence - Interview with director Nonzee Nimibutr; Trailer.

SUNDELBOLONG: Hantu Retribution: Female Ghosts of the Malay Archipelago - Interviews with filmmaker Katrina Irawati Graham and author Dr. Rosiland Galt; Short film - White Song.

SUZZANNA: THE QUEEN OF BLACK MAGIC: A Conversation with Director/Co-Producer David Gregory and Co-Producer Ekky Imanjaya; Trailer.

BEAUTY AND THE BEAST: Audio Commentary by historian Michael Brooke; Archival Interviews - With director Juraj Herz, actors Vlastimil Harapes & Zdena Studenkova; Short Film - Frantisek Hrubin.

THE NINTH HEART: Audio Commentary by author Kat Ellinger; Featurettes - The Uncanny Valley of the Dolls: The History and Liminality of Dolls, Puppets and Mannequins; The Curious Case of Juraj Herz and the Svankmajers.

DEMON: Introduction by Agnieszka Jezyk; Audio Commentary by historian Daniel Bird & critic Manuala Lazic; Video Essay - In the Shadow of the Dybbuk; Trailer; Short Film - Dybbuk.

NOVEMBER: Video Essay - The Supernatural Lore of November; Featurette - Kratt Test Footage; Trailer; Short Films - Boundary (WTF???), Journey Through Setomaa (from 1913, it's the oldest film in the entire collection); Midvinterblot.

LITAN: Audio Commentary by historian Frank Lafund; Featurette - Un Tournage Litn; TV Episode of Temps X - Jean-Pierre Mocky, Un Drole D’Oisseau.

BLOOD TEA AND RED STRING: Introduction by director Christiane Cegavske; 2021 Indie Scream Online Film Festival Q&A - Featuring director Christiane Cegavske; Stills & Illustrations; 2 Trailers (including one for the director’s current work-in-progress).

NAZARENO CRUZ AND THE WOLF: Audio Commentary by filmmakers Garcia Bogliano and Nicanor Loreti; Short Film - Love from Mother Only (with optional commentary).

AKELARRE: Individual Interviews with director Pedro Olea, actors Silvia Munt and Inaki Miramon; Featurette - Invoking The Akelarre.

FROM THE OLD EARTH: Introduction by musician Gruff Rhys; Featurettes - Getting A Head in North Wales; From the Old Earth By the Book; A Sword in the Battle of Language; Short Films - Blood on the Stars, which is actually longer than the main feature (includes introduction by Gruff Rhys), and The Wyrm of Bwlch Pen Barras.

THE CITY OF THE DEAD: Introduction by author Kay Lynch; 4 Audio Commentaries - 1) By historians Kim Newman & Barry Forshaw, 2) By historian Jonathan Rigby, 3) By the late, great Christopher Lee, 4) By director John Llewellyn Moxey; Featurette - Sir Christopher Lee Remebers The City of the Dead; Individual Archival Interviews with director John Llewellyn Moxey and actress Venetia Stevenson; Video Essay - Burn, Witch, Burn!: A Tribute to John Llewellyn Moxey; Trailer.

THE RITES OF MAY: Audio Commentary by historian Andrew Leavold; Featurette - Portrayal of Guilt, featuring film scholar Frances N. Sangil; Short Film - Itim: An Exploration of Cinema, which is actually a Rites of May documentary.