Oct 28: The City of Lost Children

"A scientist in a surrealist society kidnaps children to steal their dreams, hoping that they slow his aging process."

Directed by: Marc Caro & Jean-Pierre Jeunet, Rated: PG-13, 112 minutes

The City of Lost Children is a dark fairy tale from the mind of Jean-Pierre Jeunet, the man behind Amelie and Delicatessen. Starring Ron Perlman, Lost Children tells the story of a brute named One and his journey through a dystopian junk-filled city in search of his little brother. On the streets of the city, One encounters a bunch of orphans, all working under the evil Octopus, a Siamese-twin duo that send the urchins out to find all sorts of treasures. However, it's not as simple as pick-pocketing or taking something when someone's not looking and many of the children are kidnapped by Krank (Daniel Emilfork), a scientist who steals their dreams in order to feel emotion. One of the orphan girls, Miette (Judith Vittet) teams up with One and together they agree to help save the kids that were kidnapped and stop the scientist.

Daniel Emilfork plays Krank as both a desperate and tyrannical individual... and it's all sorts of fun. 

The City of Lost Children is a very creative film. Set in a world that looks well past it's prime, a beauty can be found in the effects and sets. Jean-Pierre Jeunet and co-director Marc Caro have an incredible imagination and take a rather "cheap" looking movie to great heights. With practical effects and all sorts of gadgets, the city and its characters come to life in a twisted yet charming way. Ron Perlman is a massive man in his own right by the duo-directors use all sorts of angles and tricks to accentuate his stature and make him appear to be a giant ape of a man in a crowd of children. The Octopus is played by two different actresses but their limbs weave in and out giving the illusion that the person is actually one being with four arms and three legs. The scientist's lab is full of all sorts of gadgets and machines, and the quasi-steampunk style brings each object to life. As for the visual effects, Krank also has clones that work for him (played wonderfully by Dominque Pinon) and their bumbling and bumping into each other look flawless. As opposed to the usual effect you get when you have one man playing multiple roles, these clones appear to be played by six different individuals. Towards the end of the movie there is a quick aging process that happens in a dream and how well it is done leaves you baffled. It looks flawless and you're wondering how it was done. 

More Pinon is a great, great thing. 

As for the story, the first thirty minutes or so feel like forever as the buildup to the heart of it all is rather tedious. Many subplots and characters are involved and you are left a little confused as to where it is all going. However, once the story finds its focus and you realize that it's more about One and Miette's relationship. A giant man who speaks very little and a girl that's more adventurous than anything else prove to be a great combination and as the two grow closer, your heart gets all fuzzy. They share a handful of scenes that focus on their connection and as it grows deeper, you fear they will be torn apart, or something worse. Recognition must be given to the two actors, as without Perlman or Vittet, The City of Lost Children would be much more forgetable. Perlman went into production knowing absolutely no French and yet his lines (although few) are delivered perfectly. As he's limited to what he can express with words, so much of what he says is with his eyes and facial expressions. The film reminds us that Perlman is indeed an exceptional actor and is much more than a brute with a smile. The young Vittet is adorable as Miette and her ability to connect with Perlman is heart-warming. She's much braver than her age allows and proves to be the perfect accomplice to such a large, quiet man.

Perfect.

The City of Lost Children is worth every bit of your time. Jean-Pierre Jeunet and Marc Caro continue their relationship that started with Delicatessen and create a worthy successor. If you are familiar with either of the men's work, you'll find much more to appreciate in the film and if you're a newcomer to either of them, you'll discover a magical imagination that spills out across multiple movies. The City of Lost Children proves that with a bit of creativity, a decent budget, and great direction, you can go to all sorts of places that you never thought possible. The film is something that can be watched multiple times with new discoveries found each viewing. There's plenty to love and plenty to enjoy and I would highly recommend it. 

The Good:

seeing what two talented men can do with a stretched budget and witnessing the power of great imaginations

The Better:

a film that never feels as cheap as you first assume, with terrific special effects that only heighten the magic

The Best:

a duo of core performances that give the movie a hell of a lot of heart and so much to root for

8.5/10

Discussion Question:

Should filmmakers continue to reuse the same style and techniques throughout their filmographies or is it better when someone experiments and branches out away from the familiar?

Trailer:

Jan 25: Season of the Witch

"14th-century knights transport a suspected witch to a monastery, where monks deduce her powers could be the source of the Black Plague."

   I kind of have this love-hate relationship with movies that are set in Medieval times. Put me in front of a movie with knights and swords and even dragons, and I am hooked for 90 minutes. Even the worst of these films are absolutely entertaining. With that, Season of the Witch proves to be another one of those awful films that I watched with too large of a smile on my face. The opening, featuring special effects out of a direct to DVD The Mummy sequel, and the great Nicolas Cage (with gorgeous blonde locks) fighting in a Crusade next to Ron Perlman, completely shows you what kind of movie this is going to be. 

Nic Cage has to have the world's largest collection of awesome wigs by now. 

   Nic Cage plays Behmon, a knight sent in charge of transporting a supposed witch to a random monastery forever away in order to possibly cure the Black Plague. Him, along side his faithful friend Felson (Ron Perlman), realize that this "holy" task may bring them a hell of a lot closer to God. It's kind of ironic that the guy who plays Ghost Rider and the mass of muscle who plays Hellboy are both sent on a mission for God. That's like if Jesus was on the Vegas Strip handing out pamphlets showing you the best "goods" the City of Sin has to offer...it's just wrong. 

Turning water into wine for all the wrong reasons. 

   The dialogue in Season of the Witch has some of the worst lines I have ever heard. Nic Cage and Ron Perlman talk their way through the piles of shit with God-awful accents that are not quite British, but something completely new. It's almost as these two badasses created their own country of origin and came up with their own dialect. Hell, they could have just gotten drunk together and watched BBC until they got it "just right". The supporting cast is equally awful. There is a priest whose sole purpose is to look scared and a thief who sounds like he's from the Bronx, which is kind of funny because he's one of the only actors in this movie who is actually from the U.K.

The Bronx: Birthplace of Medieval thieves since 800 A.D.

   Season of the Witch is the kind of movie that is so bad that it makes you want to drink yourself into a hazy stupor until you think you are actually fighting witches yourself. The movie would make for a surprisingly terrifying video game but, as a full length film, it fails in nearly every aspect. The special effects are cheesy, but not the good kind of cheese (see Evil Dead) and the actors should be burned at the stake (har har) for how bad of a job they did. But, I guess that's the best they could do when the dialogue sounds like it was written by a 12-year old boy obsessed with King Arthur.

Sight: A movie that gets a theatrical release should be held to certain standards when it comes to special effects and visuals. If so, The Season of the Witch would have gone straight to DVD... in Asia.

Sound: The score sounds as though it was "borrowed" from every other film in the genre and at times you can tell that certain lines of dialogue were dubbed in later on, as they fade in and out and all over the place. 

Skill: Even the great Nicolas Cage can't save a turd that smells this bad. 

Script: Me believe script bad. Writing terrible job done. I write good and better than them. It awful.

Overall: 3.3/10

Best Quote:

Behmen: [preparing for battle] "Whomever slays the most men drinks for free." 
Felson: "I'll take the 300 on the left, you take the 300 on the right." 
Behmen: "But if we divide them evenly, who will buy tonight's drinks?"
Felson: "Oh, you're buying, my friend."

At least the "witch" is kind of hot. 

Jan 2: Bunraku

"The story of a a young man who has spent his life searching for revenge only to find himself up against a bigger challenge than he originally bargained for."


   Bunraku is one hell of a mess, but still very entertaining. This movie is what would happen if Sin City, West Side Story, and Kung Fu Panda had a three-way and popped out a baby, with the romantic lighting of Legends of the Hidden Temple.
   The film follows the over-used idea where two strangers wander into town and team up to fight a common evil. This time, it's a "cowboy without a gun, and a samurai without a sword". 
   The fight scenes in Bunraku are very interesting, and at times well done, and at others, completely lackluster and boring. It's almost as though the fight choreographer had certain days off, and the rest of the crew put the scenes together. I do however have to give Josh Hartnett some credit for kicking quite the handful of ass. He almost channels Jack Sparrow with his  creepy and comical permanent drunkenness. 
   The samurai in the story is played by Gackt, a former Japanese boy band singer. His imdb page picture however, tells me he is some militant, punk-rock lesbian.

Why..

   One scene that stands out is where Hartnett fights through dozens of guards into a prison, all filmed in one take and using a set with multiple levels. It is very well done and if the rest of the film was shot just the same, the whole movie would be much better. Throw in Woody Harrleson, Demi Moore (who looks awful as some crime lord's "trophy wife") and the massive Ron Perlman (with dreads, or long dirty hair, or something) and you get a grab bag of a movie. I do not recommend watching this alone, at least not sober. 


Sight: The film has insanely elaborate sets with a style like that of old school musicals (but with blood!).
Sound: It has an underwhelming score, with hilarious, yet, very cheesy sound effects.
Skill: Not much acting is needed, just fists and feet do the talking. 
Script: There is an interesting voice-over narration but the script is severely lacking and the story is unoriginal and cliche.

Score: 5.5/10

Best Quote:
The Drifter: "That's pretty optimistic of you; worrying about your mustache when you should be worried about your head"