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movies BY DON MORTON featured movie THE IMITATION GAME While no one person can be credited with the invention of the computer, Alan Turing comes pretty close. The room-sized machine he built succeeded in breaking the Nazis’ Enigma code, thereby shortening WWII by as much as two years and saving thousands of lives. But this unsung triumph on an unseen battlefront was leavened with an underlying tragedy brought about by his breaking of a different code: the petty, antediluvian social code of 1940s Britain. Arrested in 1952 for “gross indecency” (homosexuality), he committed suicide rather than continue with his debilitating court-ordered hormone therapy. Benedict Cumberbatch, who it seems can do no wrong these days, puts in another Oscar-worthy performance, expressing, warts and all, the man’s genius and arrogance as well as his social clumsiness and loneliness. This biopic by Norway’s Morten Tyldum (Headhunters) is straightforward, unfussy, and smartly entertaining. And kudos to first-time screenwriter Graham Moore for wisely not trying to explain the math, and distilling and streamlining events into a cinematically accessible whole without dumbing it down. An oft-quoted line from the movie is, “Sometimes it is the people no one imagines anything of who do the things that no one can imagine.” Japanese title: Imitation Game: Enigma to Tensai Sugakusha no Himitsu. (114 min) NEW GOOD PEOPLE How about moronic people? A law-abiding but cash-strapped American couple in London finds a bag of money in the basement flat they had rented to a lowlife of questionable career goals who just died of a heroin overdose. They decide to keep the money. What could go wrong? Don’t these people ever go to the movies? James Franco and Kate Hudson play it so generic, they nearly disappear (though in Franco’s case this is a plus), and Tom Wilkinson seems to be channeling Columbo as the investigating copper. Final “thrilling” scene in a house being refurbished plays like Home Alone. Japanese title: Perfect Plan. (90 min) NEW DRIVE HARD In this colossally unfunny Aussie buddy comedy, a washed-up racecar driver (Thomas Jane), now giving driving lessons in Gold Coast, is abducted by a criminal (John Cusack) and forced to be the getaway driver in a bank heist. They banter insipidly. Jeez, what happened to Cusack? He used to be an A-lister, watchable whatever he was in. And I’m not sure what Jane’s talents were, but I’m now sure that comedy wasn’t one of them. Tasteless, amateurish, repetitive, poorly filmed, lame acting throughout and the slowest chase scenes—essentially the whole movie—ever filmed. Not even trashy fun. (92 min) NEW PREDESTINATION A high-concept, lowbudget existential puzzle that will reward thinking moviegoers. A complex, paradoxical, time-travel mind-messer that mixes elements of Looper, Memento and Back to the Future. Ethan Hawke is a sort of time cop who, in another time, happens upon a fellow whose backstory is a real mind- (not to mention gender-) bender. Sarah Snook shows in one movie more range than most actors do in an entire career. I can’t really tell you much more for fear of spoiling some of the surprises, of which there are many. But this one will play with your brain while it touches your heart. (97 min) NEW ANNABELLE Hey, a movie about a creepy antique doll! Well, that’s new. This cheapo spin-off prequel from The Conjuring focuses on the backstory of the titular doll that appeared late in that vastly better movie. This cash-grab offers nothing remotely original, the music’s oppressive, the acting’s anemic, the scares are surface-level and instantly forgettable, the dialogue’s labored and it plagiarizes from several other movies. (It’s such a blatant rip-off of Rosemary’s Baby that the main characters are even named Mia and John.) At least the doll is not animated. Chucky, this ain’t; skippable, this is. Japanese title: Annabelle: Shiryōkan no Ningyo. (98 min) NEW NURSE 3-D It seems to me that a movie about a slutty psycho nurse who lethally punishes misbehaving males in a variety of gruesomely imaginative ways should be a lot funnier—or funny at all. Paz de la Huerta (Enter the Void), my new least-favorite actress since Sharon Stone retired, does the title honors in this witless, self-satisfied, wink-wink, cult-movie-wannabe. (Note to filmmakers: You cannot prefab a cult movie; they happen on their own and no one knows why.) Her constant mugging negates any titillation that may be derived from her apparent disdain for clothing. I have no idea why it’s in 3-D. Japanese title: Mad Nurse. (84 min) NEW CHEF If you know anything about writer/director/ actor Jon Favreau’s career (starting with personal films such as Swingers and Made, then on to blockbusters like Iron Man and Cowboys and Aliens), this can be seen as a veiled autobiography. It’s the heartwarming tale of a talented chef quitting his job in a prestigious but unadventurous restaurant to get back to his creative culinary roots in a beat-up Cuban sandwich truck. Selling back in. Not a lot of drama here, but it’s knowledgeable and continually amusing; more a relaxed, slow-food cinematic meal, set to great salsa, R&B and funk music. Super cast. Japanese title: Chef: Mitsuboshi Food Truck Hajimemashita. (115 min) The Imitation Game: © 2014 BBP IMITATION, LLC; Good People: © 2013 GOOD PRODUCTIONS.INC; Drive Hard: © 2013 ODYSSEY FILM STUDIOS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD.; Predestination: © 2013 Predestination Holdings Pty Ltd, Screen Australia, Screen Queensland Pty Ltd and Cutting Edge Post Pty Ltd; Annabelle: © 2014 WARNER BROS. ENTERTAINMENT INC. AND RATPAC-DUNE ENTERTAINMENT LLC; Nurse 3-D: © 2014 Lions gate Entertainment inc. All Rights Reserved.; Chef: © Merrick Morton; American Sniper: © 2014 VILLAGE ROADSHOW FILMS (BVI) LIMITED, WARNER BROS. ENTERTAINMENT INC. AND RATPAC-DUNE ENTERTAINMENT LLC; The Fault in Our Stars: © 2014 TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX; Rudderless: © 2014 Rudderless Productions LLC. All Rights Reserved.; Foxcatcher: Photo by Scott Garfield © MMXIV FAIR HILL LLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.; The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Him/Her: © 2013 Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby, LLC. All Rights Reserved; Begin Again: © 2013 KILLIFISH PRODUCTIONS, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. 18
More reviews: <strong>metropolis</strong>japan.com/movies AMERICAN SNIPER Like all the best war movies, the big political questions are left outside the frame. This is about the men in the trenches and the moral choices they face. The taut battle scenes are some of the best ever shot, cohesive and legible—even in a dust storm. Chris Kyle served four tours in Iraq and, as in The Hurt Locker, the most telling sequences occur back at home, between tours, when normal life seemed the aberration and the war real. Bradley Cooper’s performance is a deep and austere personal best, and Eastwood’s crisp, unfussy direction shows that he remains a master at 84. (134 min) THE FAULT IN OUR STARS Stay with me here, and don’t dismiss this spirited YA romance on its downer topic. Hazel and Gus—Shailene Woodley and Ansel Elgort, great chemistry—meet in a teens-with-cancer support group. They live in the present, because, well ... they don’t have a future. Reluctantly, they fall in love. The film is never maudlin or overtly manipulative (okay, a little in the last scenes), it earns the tears and offers honesty along with, yes, humor. The acting is superb, the characters are fully realized and the dialogue is sharp. Willem Dafoe shines in a subplot. This is what Nicholas Sparks keeps trying to do. Japanese title: Kitto, Hoshi no Sei Ja Nai. (125 min) RUDDERLESS William H. Macy’s directorial debut. When an ad exec’s (Billy Crudup) songwriter son is killed in a school shooting, the man goes into a two-year downward spiral until he comes across some of the talented boy’s demo CDs. He picks up a guitar and plays one at an openmic night, attracting the attention of sideman Anton Yelchin. A montage leads to the formation of the titular bar band. But some things are a bit puzzling, like why does he take credit for the songs rather than just tell the truth? A huge, jarring reveal an hour in knocks the film off course, and it never really recovers. Japanese title: Kimi ga Ikita Akashi. (105 min) FOXCATCHER Almost all comedic actors stray into drama at some point, but rarely do they so completely disappear into their characters (or earn Best Actor noms). In this warped character study, Steve Carell plays the hugely wealthy John E. Dupont, a socially inept man-child heir with mommy problems. A wrestling buff, he entices Olympic goldmedalists Mark and Dave Schultz (Channing Tatum and Mark Ruffalo) to train at his titular facility in the hope of catching some reflected glory. Things soon get seriously strange. (True story, but don’t Google it until later if you don’t know.) Gripping, chilling and deeply sad. (134 min) THE DISAPPEARANCE OF ELEANOR RIGBY: HIM/HER Two films examine the breakup and attempts to get back together of a married couple from the characters’ respective viewpoints. They want to know if they still have a future in the wake of some not-immediately-explained personal tragedy. The films’ success is due in part to the sure hand of firsttime director Ned Benson, a good script, and the skill of the actors. James McAvoy, sporting a flawless American accent, is the “him,” and the astounding Jessica Chastain the “her.” I’d nudge you toward seeing “him” first, because “her” serves to fill out the whole. Watch for the discrepancies. Japanese title: Love Stories: Conor no Namida and Eleanor no Aijō. (Him: 89 min, Her: 100 min) BEGIN AGAIN Director John Carney transplants the theme of his lovely 2006 Once to NYC with name actors. Keira Knightley plays a freshly dumped songwriter coerced into doing one personal, acoustic song in a noisy New York club. The only one listening is a drunken, washed-up music producer (a great Mark Ruffalo). In the film’s most memorable scene, her performance is replayed through his eyes, as his imagination adds sidemen only he can hear. The two begin a professional courtship that could save both their lives. Good music, appealing characters and a story just offbeat enough to keep you interested. Japanese title: Hajimari no Uta. (103 min) eiga © 花とアリス殺人事件製作委員会 movie news © IMAGE.NET cinematic underground HANA TO ARISU SATSUJIN JIKEN By Rob Schwartz Japanese filmmakers seem intent on breaking down the barriers between live action and animation genres. Last issue’s Present for You, for example, mixed live action and claymation. This time, we have an animated prequel to the live action film Hana & Alice (2004) which uses rotoscoping to give a sense of realism. Directed by Shunji Iwai, the original Hana & Alice was a lovely coming-of-age drama which focused attention on actresses Yu Aoi (Alice) and Anne Suzuki (Hana), with Aoi going on to become a huge star. Iwai was actually tipped to become the next great Japanese director when he got five Japanese Academy Award nominations on his second film, Love Letter (1995). His major follow-up, Swallowtail Butterfly (1996), then nabbed eight noms and won Most Popular Film. But his star seemed to fade a bit (despite the challenging and heavy All About Lily Chou-Chou, 2001) and the original Hana & Alice was a return to form of sorts. The current piece, set in high school, shows how the young women developed their friendship and experienced first love. When a boy is murdered they set out to solve it. With this sweet and expressive film, Iwai has brilliantly jumped modes of expression, while retaining the essence of the original. Wonderful stuff. English title: The Case of Hana & Alice. (100 min) Makeup artists don’t always get the recognition they deserve in Hollywood. After all, if they’ve done their job properly, their handiwork should not be noticeable. They didn’t get their own regular Oscar award until the ’80s, and even today only three films are nominated rather than five as in other categories. One exception to this makeup reality is Rick Baker, who honed his skills on the set of The Exorcist and took home his first Oscar in 1982 for creating the groundbreaking transformations in John Landis’ An American Werewolf in London. Since then, he’s picked up half a dozen more and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. His latest honor was a lifetime achievement award bestowed by Landis at the recent Make-up Artists and Hair Stylists Guild Awards. “I was just a kid who wanted to be a makeup artist, and that is still how I see myself. And I am just so pleased it happened,” Baker modestly said at the ceremony. As more directors turn to CGI to get their creatures, Baker’s realism remains in demand. He says one of his proudest accomplishments was the Bigfoot he created for Harry and the Hendersons. “That was nearly 30 years ago,” he recalls “but if you go back and watch it today, many people still buy it.” Kevin Mcgue The French Institute (15 Ichigaya, Funagawaracho, Shinjuku-ku; www.institut.jp) presents recently restored prints of three films by Polish-born French director Jean Epstein, March 7-8. A film theorist and literary critic, Epstein applied avant-garde ideas to silent films, including an adaptation of Edgar Allan Poe’s The Fall of the House of Usher (1928; pictured). Film scholar Emilie Cauquy will lecture, in French, after the screenings … In sad news for cinema fans, Cinemart Roppongi (3-8-15 Roppongi, Minato-ku; www.cinemart.co.jp/theater/roppongi) will close its doors in June. The four-screen theater opened in 2006 with the mission of bringing Asian films to Tokyo. Although it branched out over the years, it’s going back to its roots for its curtain call, starting March 7. Hits from the nine-year run being brought back include films starring Korean actors Kim Nam-gil, Jung Woo-sung, Kang Ji-hwan, Jang Keun-suk and Hyun Bin … Cinema Vera (1-5 Maruyamacho, Shibuya-ku; www. cinemavera.com) welcomes you to the world of “roman porno” director Tatsumi Kumashiro, March 7-April 3. Despite health problems, the prolific filmmaker churned out dozens of hits in the 1970s, satisfying the studio’s requirements for erotic content while developing his own manic style. Many of his most popular films will be shown from new 35mm prints. KM 19
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