moviesBY DON MORTONfeatured movieTHEHUNDRED-FOOTJOURNEYAn Indian restaurateur (Om Puri) and his family openMaison Mumbai in a quaint town in southern France—as it happens, directly across the picturesque lane fromthe Michelin-starred, classical French eatery Le SaulePleureur, overseen by the haughty Madame Mallory(Helen Mirren). Culinary culture clashes ensue. Fine sofar. But about halfway through the film’s two-hour runningtime, they all realize that, well golly, they’re not sodifferent after all, and after that it’s all postcard-prettysweetness and light, and it veers off into irrelevant tangents.Don’t get me wrong; at a time when too manymovies are geared toward the questionable tastes ofpreteen boys, there’s certainly room for sweetness andlight and movies made for grownups. And no moviefeaturing Helen Mirren and Om Puri can ever be bad.It’s just that for a movie about food, especially spicyIndian fare, this innocuous crowd-pleaser is prettybland. Directed by Lasse Hallström, who hasn’t madea really good movie since 1999’s The Cider HouseRules, and has even sunk so low as to direct a coupleof films adapted from Nicholas Sparks drivel. Not great,but diverting. Call it the cinematic equivalent of comfortfood. Japanese title: Madame Mallory to Mahō noSpice. (122 min)NEWSON OF A GUNA young man (an unbelievablybland BrentonThwaites) is providedprotection during hisbrief stint in prison bya notorious criminal (a just plain unbelievable EwanMcGregor) in return for helping the older man escapewhen he gets out, after which they steal some gold orsomething. I’m not sure what the makers of this littleAussie flick were trying to do. If it was to stuff everypossible prison-life/break, heist, car-chase and gangstercliché into one overlong movie, it works fine. It’srelatively coherent for all that. It’s just that it’s all beendone before, often and better. Facile ending. Japanesetitle: Guns & Gold. (108 min)NEWNYMPHOMANIACVOL. IIAlas, Lars von Trierseems to have run outof narrative in this secondhalf of Joe the selfdescribednymphomaniac’s autobiography, and fallsback on graphic S&M and a kind of homage to himself,goofing on his own oeuvre. Hardcore unpleasantnessand heavier provocations replace (mostly) the uncharacteristichumor of the first film, and while Vol. I couldstand alone, this unfocused, over-plotted and more sinistersecond half could not. Hated the ending. Still, whilevon Trier goes to great lengths to provoke, he is neverless than compulsively watchable. See Nymphomaniac:Vol. I review in issue 1073. (122 min)NEWTHE EXPENDABLES 3Let me see if I’ve gotthis straight, Sylvester.Joining your own Ramboyou’ve got Indiana Jones,the Terminator, Blade,Hercules, the Transporter, Zorro and Mad Max. Andthis cartoonish piece of brainless crap is the best youcan come up with? News flash, Sly: self-parody is onlyfunny if it’s not the only thing you have left. Please.Retire. You’re not getting any prettier. At least stop tryingto write screenplays. Bright points: A show-stealingAntonio Banderas as a motormouthed mercenary andMel Gibson who, despite his despicable off-screenissues, makes for an enormously entertaining evildoer.Japanese title: Expendables 3 World Mission. (126 min)NEWTHE EQUALIZERDenzel Washington’sa retired CIA wet opsguy who just can’t helpbut rescue a teenagehooker from her cartoonishlyevil Russian pimps. This pulpy vigilante fantasy isdirected by Anton Fuqua, who has, since 2001, beendining out on Training Day (which earned Denzel anOscar) but has produced mostly dreck since then.It would have helped if anything in it were remotelybelievable. It works well as a kick-ass, sadistic righteous-revengeflick if that’s what you’re looking for, butI found the protagonist to be so superhero invinciblethat any hope of suspense is sabotaged. Should havebeen more fun. (133 min)NEWCUBAN FURYPrompted by the arrivalat his company of a prettynew boss (Rashida Jones)who’s into salsa dancing,Bruce (Nick Frost),a now-overweight child salsa prodigy who 25 yearsago was bullied into quitting, seeks out his childhooddance teacher (Ian McShane) to get his groove back.A training montage occurs. A big dance contest looms.Chris O’Dowd’s a smarmy ladies-man coworker. Yes, thisBrit-com date movie is pretty formulaic, but hard to dislike.And while there’s not a lot of fury or other strongemotion in evidence, it remains an amiable if somewhatflat-footed, forgettable entertainment. Japanese title:Comeback! (98 min)NEWHERCULESIn last month’s review ofThe Legend of Hercules,I said wait for this one.But while this mythicmuddle is marginallybetter, it’s a major misfire. First, all those cool stunts inthe trailer are cheats and happen during the openingcredits. Second, its intriguing revisionist premise—that Hercules is not a demigod at all but a commonmercenary who trades on and feeds the mythologyas a way to get work for his gang of head-busters—istotally squandered in favor of repeated, unremarkableCG battle sequences and jarring pop culture jokesaimed at 12-year-old boys. Well, it’s Brett Ratner, isn’tit? (98 min)Hercules: © 2014 Paramount Pictures and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures. All Rights Reserved.; Son of a Gun: © 2013 S O A G H oldings P ty Ltd, S creen A ustralia, S creenW est Inc. and S creen N S W; Nymphomaniac Vol. II: © 2013 ZENTROPAENTERTAINMENTS31 APS, ZENTROPA INTERNATIONAL KÖLN, SLOT MACHINE, ZENTROPA INTERNATIONAL FRANCE, CAVIAR, ZENBELGIE, ARTE FRANCE CINÉMA; The Expendables 3: © EX3 Productions, Inc. All Rights Reserved.; CubanFury: © STUDIOCANAL LIMITED / THE BRITISH FILM INSTITUTE / CHANNEL FOUR TELEVISION CORPORATION 2013. All Rights Reserved.; The Hundred-Foot Journey: © 2014 DreamWorks ll. Distribution Co. All Rights Reserved.; A Most WantedMan: © A Most Wanted Man Limited / Amusement Park Film GmbH; Epic: © 2013 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation. All Rights Reserved.; Grace of Monaco: ©2014 STONE ANGELS SAS; Scum: © Kendon Films Ltd. MCMLXXIX All RightsReserved.; A Million Ways to Die in the West: © Universal Pictures; If I Stay: © 2014 Warner Bros. Ent. and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures Inc. All rights Reserved.12
More reviews: metropolisjapan.com/moviesA MOST WANTED MANWhen a severely abusedRussian-Chechen immigrant(Grigoriy Dobrygin)surfaces in Hamburgseeking asylum, competingintelligence agencies begin to circle, suspectinghe’s there to do mischief. Going against this mindsetis a German spymaster who thinks the man is innocentand can be better used to bag a wealthy Islamic philanthropisthe suspects of financing terrorists. Dramaticallyunderstated but visually striking and intellectually suspenseful.This may be minor John le Carré, but it’s majorPhilip Seymour Hoffman (his last movie), and well worthseeing for the actor’s intensity and nuance. Japanesetitle: Dare Yori Mo Nerawareta Otoko. (121 min)EPICBoy, talk about a misleadingtitle. Howabout “Middling”? I like“Underwhelming.” I tseems there’s a battleraging in our forests between two races of tiny people,one of which causes things to grow and another thatseeks only decay. Stumbling into this world is a disaffectedteen embarrassed by her geeky scientist dad’sobsession with said fairy war. This one looks great, butthe story’s so repetitive and filled with over-familiartropes that it probably plays better with the sound off.Lots of celebrity voice talent; little momentum or imagination.From the people who did Ice Age and Rio. ‘Nuffsaid. Japanese title: Mary to Himitsu no Okoku. (102 min)GRACE OF MONACOHere we have a “fictionalizedstory, based on trueevents.” (Don’t you justlove all the ways the makersof bad movies have ofrewording this caveat?) In 1962, Alfred Hitchcock offeredPrincess Grace Kelly of Monaco (Nicole Kidman) the leadin Marnie. Cornball story tells of how she is tempted butbravely refuses and pluckily buckles down to become atrue royal, and in the process, through pure charm, savesthe royal family from a palace coup and Monaco froma French invasion (over taxes), and delivers a rousingspeech at—wait for it—a lavish charity ball. Jeez. Whocares? Dramatically inert middlebrow mush. Japanesetitle: Grace of Monaco: Kohi no Kirifuda. (102 min)SCUMEver wonder wheretough-guy British actorRay Winstone startedout? With tough-kid Britgritroles, of course. This1977 docudrama, shot when Ray was 20, exposed thebrutality of the country’s “borstal” system of juveniledetention centers (since improved). It’s hard to watchin some places, with violent and graphic scenes ofbullying and rape, but never less than compelling. Itwas originally commissioned for the BBC as a critiqueof this kind of institutional dehumanization. When theBeeb deemed it too violent for broadcast, director AlanClarke reshot it as a feature film. Still powerful today.(98 min)IF I STAYA teenage girl’s family iswiped out in a car crashand she’s left in a coma,but through a mysticalnarrative device she’ssplit between her comatose self and a “spirit” self whowanders around the hospital wondering if she shouldsuccumb or awake as an orphan (albeit with a hunkyboyfriend). I’m not familiar with the YA novels of GayleForman, but I’m pretty sure she reads Nicholas Sparks.Manipulative, banal and relentlessly drippy. But the acting’sgood, especially Chloë Grace Moretz, who at 17 isshowing signs that she just might survive the transitionfrom child sensation to grown-up actor. Japanese title:If I Stay: Ai ga Kaeru Basho. (106 min)A MILLION WAYS TODIE IN THE WESTAt first I thought thischarmless oater send-upmight be more watchablehad writer/director/producerSeth MacFarlane cast a real comedic actor in thelead instead of himself. You know, someone funny. Butalmost two padded hours later, I realized that no cast, nomatter how all-star, could make this flaccid collection offart, poop, come and piss jokes palatable to anyone butits target audience of preteen boys. MacFarlane clearlythinks he’s remaking Mel Brooks’s Blazing Saddles. Thisis insulting in itself. I used to think the man was merelyannoying. Now I hate him. Japanese title: Koya waTsuraiyo: Arizona yori Ai wo Komete. (116 min)eiga© 2014『 小 野 寺 の 弟 ・ 小 野 寺 の 姉 』 製 作 委 員 会movie news© IMAGE.NET© 2014 ESKWAD - PATHE PRODUCTION - TF1 FILMS PRODUCTION ACHTE /NEUNTE / ZWOLFTE / ACHTZEHNTE BABELSBERG FILM GMBH - 120 FILMScinematic undergroundONODERANO OTŌTOONODERANO ANEBy Rob SchwartzMasafumi Nishida is well knownas a scriptwriter and novelist.He’s penned successful TVseries like Jikken Keiji Totori andAfuro Tanaka, and in 2012 hepublished the eponymous novelon which this flick is based. Healso converted it into a stageplay starring the same two leads last year. Nishida nowmakes his directorial debut with a story about an awkwardand endearing pair of siblings who’ve lived togetherand relied on each other since their parents passed awaywhen they were young. Reminiscent both in theme andatmosphere to the wonderful Yoshimitsu Morita filmThe Mamiya Brothers (2006), Susumu Onodera (OsamuMukai) is now 33, and his older sister Yoriko (HairiKatagiri) has hit 40. They’re totally comfortable aroundeach other—perhaps too much so—and show little signof any desire to have romantic relationships in their lives.When a letter is misdelivered, it sets off a chain of eventsthat changes their lives and opens them up. Sweet, funnyand charming, this yarn unspools in a delightful way.English title: Oh Brother, Oh Sister. (114 min)Tim Burton’s Batman opened 25 summers ago and, forbetter or worse, launched a new wave of superhero moviesthat’s still going strong today. “It was groundbreaking,frankly,” Michael Keaton said at the recent VeniceFilm Festival. “Tim changed a lot, and I was part of that—proudly so.” Keaton, now 63, was recently in Italy to promoteBirdman, in which he plays a fading actor who onceenjoyed the fame of an iconic superhero role but is strugglingto make a comeback on Broadway. The film hasalready won a great deal of acclaim for director AlejandroGonzález Iñárritu, who choreographed the cameraand actors (including fellow superhero alums EdwardNorton and Emma Stone) to make the drama unfold inan apparent single take. Keaton’s performance has alsogiven rise to speculation that he may win his first Oscarmore than 30 years into his career. Keaton admitted thatplaying Batman had a huge effect on his career by makinghim internationally famous, but that the role has not“followed him around” throughout his career. Not so forhis own screen character, though: “Birdman is not goinganywhere,” Keaton said. “And you all got a Birdman. Heis your negative ego who wants control. And you eitherhave to make peace with him or kick his ass.” Kevin McgueThe 18th-century French novel Beauty and the Beasthas been adapted for film several times, with theDisneyfied version being the most widely seen. Nowthe French have reclaimed the tale with a live actiontake starring Léa Seydoux and Vincent Cassel thatsticks closely to the 1756 source material by Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont. Playing from November1 at Shinjuku Piccadilly (3-15-15 Shinjuku, Shinjuku-ku;www.shinjukupiccadilly.com) ... Of Horses and Men,the Icelandic film that won the Tokyo InternationalFilm Festival in 2012, returns for a run from November1 at Image Forum in Shibuya (2-10-2 Shibuya, Shibuyaku;www.imageforum.co.jp). Shot in a scenic, rural partof the country with sparse dialogue, it portrays theclose relationship the people have with their horses...The French-Canadian film Tom at the Farm startsas a drama with a gay man traveling to a small townto attend his lover’s funeral, but soon turns into a psychologicalthriller when the family forces him into agame of survival. Shortlisted for Best Picture at the2nd Canadian Screen Awards in March, it’s playingnow at Human Trust Cinema Yurakucho (2-7-1Yurakucho, Chiyoda-ku; www.ht-cinema.com). KM13
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