2005 Indie Preview
By Dan Krovich and Chris Hyde
January 11, 2005
BoxOfficeProphets.com
Brief recap from last year:
Engaging in an annual preview every year is an exercise fraught with risk, as beholden as it is to the vagaries of the film industry. A quick look back at the picks from last year reveals that two films listed last January appear here yet again — Inside Deep Throat and Haute Tension — and that a couple of others also failed to make it to theaters at all. Here's hoping that those few actually do come to screens in 2005. In the main, though, most of the other picks from this side at least got limited runs on domestic screens, and though there was a slight disappointment or two (Michael Haneke's Time of the Wolf failed to measure up to his best and Kaena: The Prophecy turned out to be bland eco-animation) at least one speculative pick — Pen-ek Ratanaruang's Last Life in the Universe — will end up atop my 2004 Best Of list. Others, such as Kim Ki-duk's Spring, Summer, Winter, Fall…and Spring, Takashi Miike's Gozu, Hou Hsiao-hsien's Millennium Mambo and Guy Maddin's The Saddest Music in the World made their debut and satisfied completely. Lastly, though this one still has yet to show up in any real sense on North American shores, one long awaited project — Wong Kar-wai's 2046 — was finally screened at Cannes and elsewhere so that domestic fans of the director's work can be reasonably sure that celluloid prints of this cinematic holy grail do actually exist. So maybe you'll even get to see it sometime this year. (Chris Hyde/BOP)
The problem with really looking forward to films is that it is easy to be let down, so let's get the disappointments from my 2004 list out of the way right off the bat so I can put them behind me. Love Me If You Dare seemed to have all the ingredients to be a delicious dark comedy, but the tale of dueling lovers never delivered on its promise. Dylan Kidd suffered from sophomore slump with P.S. when even appealing performances by Laura Linney and Topher Grace couldn't rescue the film, which seemed to lack energy and focus. Of the political leaning documentaries, The Yes Men came across as surprisingly dull. But happily, my list contained more hits than misses. Stage Beauty, Dogville, Good Bye Lenin, and The Motorcycle Diaries were four of my favorite films of the year. Garden State and Open Water became modest box office hits above and beyond being entertaining, and Super Size Me and Touching the Void are in the running for the Best Documentary Oscar. And fortunately, most of the films were able to get at least some kind of release. Trauma became a second consecutive Marc Evans film to not get a U.S. release and Remember Me never made it to my neck of the woods. One film, The Dying Gaul, was not released, but reappears on my list this year as it looks to open some time in 2005. (Dan Krovich)
On to the 2005 list...
3-Iron
Korean director Ki-duk Kim is the director of the brutal and visceral 2000 film, The Isle. He had a significant breakthrough in the United States in 2004 with the more gentle Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter,…and Spring. He returns with 3-Iron, the story of a menu delivery man who breaks into people's homes, but instead of stealing valuables, he simply lives in their worlds for a while. His pattern is interrupted when he comes across an ex-model who is being abused by her husband. Kim's films are nothing if not visually luscious so it will definitely at least be pretty to look at. Even moreso, it may be his latest evidence that he deserves a place among the current masters of contemporary Asian cinema. (Dan Krovich/BOP)
9 Songs
Prolific filmmaker Michael Winterbottom is seemingly making his way through every genre of film with his output, as his last few films have covered ground such as musical biopic, science fiction and road movie docudrama (not to mention that his next will be an adaptation of Laurence Sterne's Tristam Shandy). This current project caused a bit of a stir at the 2004 Cannes film festival with its graphic depiction of hardcore sex — a bit of a surprise as one would have thought that the 1975 screenings of Lasse Braun's Sensations would have long ago broken any such taboo. Still, there's nothing like a little kerfluffle to increase interest and so consequently this year domestic audiences will get their chance to take in a little arthouse porn. (Chris Hyde/BOP)
The Best of Youth
There are epics, and then there are Epics. If length is your main factor in determining whether a film fits a certain designation, then this movie is certainly an epic with a capital E. The Best of Youth is a six-hour film from Italian director Marco Tullio Giordana. No breaking it into Volume 1 and Volume 2 here. Admittedly, part of the appeal is simply the challenge of sitting still for six hours in a movie theater, but indications are that the film earns its considerable length. The movie follows two Roman brothers from 1966 to 2000 and how historical events shape them and their relationship in addition to shaping the course of the country. Some times if you're going to tell a story that covers 34 years, you need six hours to do it justice. (Dan Krovich/BOP)
Casshern
While by most accounts the story of this computer animated television series adaptation is a pretty standard good versus evil morality play trope, news of Casshern's prosaic plot is unlikely to kill the interest of anyone who has already seen the film's trailer. That's because the technical skill on display in the preview is utterly jaw dropping, with its dense imagery and retroesque digital look making it look as if sitting through the movie will be a visual delight at least. First time director Kazuaki Kiriya is best known for his hip music videos, though it remains to be seen if he can maintain an audience's interest for an entire feature. But at least Dreamworks has decided that there's enough worthwhile here to let domestic patrons get a chance to see this without having to import the brutally expensive Japanese DVD — which is nice, since it's a lot easier to take a $10 chance on something than it is to drop a cool fifty. (Chris Hyde/BOP)
Clean
There are few female actresses in the world who have the range and presence of Maggie Cheung, and the stunning dramatic work she has turned in over the course of her amazing career make her one of the top working women in film today. North Americans should next see her in this one as a woman named Emily, an ex-drug user who is trying to cope with the stresses of a singing career and the responsibilities of motherhood. The film follows her character as she jetsets around a polyglot world, and as the hand behind the camera is the perceptive Olivier Assayas it's very likely that the subtext will be insightful and multilayered. Assayas has a great touch with actresses in general, but with Cheung he really seems to know who she is and how to use her — a happenstance that seemingly allows the actress to turn in some of her best work, as evidenced by the Best Actress Award she won at last year's Cannes festival for her work in Clean. (Chris Hyde/BOP)
The Dying Gaul
This is a repeat from last year's list because it didn't receive a 2004 release. It's also a complete no-brainer to me based simply on its cast. Once I know that Campbell Scott, Peter Sarsgaard, and Patricia Clarkson are starring in a film together, you can stop right there – I want to see that movie. It doesn't matter what the movie is about. In this case it's based on Craig Lucas's play of the same name. (Lucas wrote the screenplay and makes his directorial debut with this film as well.) The film revolves around a three way relationship among a young screenwriter, a Hollywood producer, and his wife. Lucas most recently scored with his screenplay for The Secret Lives of Dentists, so it's a good bet that he has provided his strong cast with great material to work with here. (Dan Krovich/BOP)
The Edukators
The Edukators examines the conflict between today's younger generation who are trying to find an outlet for their natural inclination to rebel and the older generation of radicals who are now living a comfortable, bourgeois life. Three young friends spend their evenings performing generally harmless pranks to promote their brand of activism. When one of their pranks goes awry, it turns into a kidnapping and they are stuck with the dilemma of whether they are ready to make a real statement. The cast features the very appealing rising European star Daniel Bruhl, who made a mark in Good Bye, Lenin! and here returns in a film centered on radicalism and socialism. (Dan Krovich/BOP)
The Emperor's Journey
Bound to be positioned as the next Winged Migration, the emperor of the title is the emperor penguin. Director Luc Jacquet and his crew spent 13 months in Antarctica to capture a year in the life of the penguin. From migration to mating (no word yet on if there are any gay penguins in this bunch), The Emperor's Journey is sure to be an intimate look at our flightless feathered friends. Nature documentaries have been some of the most entertaining documentaries of recent years, including the aforementioned Winged Migration and last year's The Story of the Weeping Camel, so this is definitely set up to be the next natural wonder. (Dan Krovich/BOP)
The Girl from Monday
Hal Hartley hasn't released a feature film since 2001, and that was the lacking No Such Thing. You have to go back to 1997's Henry Fool to find a great Hal Hartley film, so it wouldn't be a complete stretch to write him off as the genius filmmaker who made three of the best films of the early 1990s (The Unbelievable Truth, Trust, Simple Men), but has lost it. But I'm more of an optimist than that, so I will still anticipate a new Hal Hartley film like it's a dry, sardonic Christmas. This "sci-fi" film concerns a future world where citizens are public offerings, and the way to increase their value is by having sex while remaining romantically unattached. Until proven otherwise, I intend to assume that this is Hal Hartley's return to form. (Dan Krovich/BOP)
Grizzly Man
Legendary director Werner Herzog's involvement guarantees that this isn't simply an episode of When Animals Attack. The film documents the life of Timothy Treadwell, who along with his partner Amie Huguenard lived among bears in the Alaskan wilderness before being killed and devoured by the animals they worked to protect. Treadwell had lived for years among the bears, writing books and appearing as a guest on talk shows such as Letterman talking about his experiences before the tragic encounter. The mystery only deepened after his death as it turned out that Treadwell had invented many details of his life. (Dan Krovich/BOP)
Happy Endings
One of my favorite genres (I guess you'd call it a genre) of film is the ensemble drama with a large cast and multiple narrative story lines. When done well, they can be some of the richest, most exhilarating films. Don Roos, writer/director of The Opposite of Sex and the underrated Bounce returns with a film that fits into that genre, Happy Endings. Of course, when you have a large ensemble, the cast is particularly important, and this one includes Maggie Gyllenhaal, Laura Dern, Ray Liotta, and Tom Arnold. (How did a Tom Arnold film make the list?) (Dan Krovich/BOP)
Haute Tension
Director Alexandre Aja likes to introduce this terrifying effort as a story of love and obsession, but don't let that fool you into thinking that it's another In the Mood For Love. Chock full of enough blood and guts to get the film an NC-17 rating (and you can thank Lions Gate for being brave enough not to edit it), Haute Tension tells the story of two young Frenchwomen who visit the countryside home of one of their parents only to encounter a vicious killer. Though this brief synopsis makes the movie sound like many others in the slasher genre, most reports indicate that the artistic manner in which the components are handled here make this film a cut above the rest. Winner in 2003 of the prestigious Melies Award that is given by a consortium of European fantastic film festivals, finally this year audiences on the left side of the Atlantic will get their chance to take in this new Gallic gorefest. (Chris Hyde/BOP)
A Hole in My Heart
Disturbing. Unsettling. Difficult to watch. When a film is described with terms such as those, I must admit I am intrigued. It's a tricky situation when a director sets out to assault his audience as it's in the eye of the beholder as to whether he is shocking just for the sake of shock or whether he really has something to say. When the film comes from the director of Lilya 4-ever and Together I tend to think that the answer will be the latter. The film takes place in the apartment where a teenage boy lives with his amateur pornographer father as he shoots his latest opus. Lukas Moodysson mixes a hyper-real style with experimental techniques to further keep his audience off balance. I confess that I take a perverse joy to watch a filmmaker pull off a well executed fuck-you to his audience, and in this case I'm ready and willing to be fucked with. (Dan Krovich/BOP)
Inside Deep Throat
The early 1970s were nothing if not a time of unleashed libido, and for the film world this meant a lessening of old mores and a progression (or regression, depending on your perspective) towards the depiction of real sex on screen. Though you have to go quite a ways further back than 30 years to find the origins of modern pornography, there's no doubt that the X-rated film Deep Throat was a landmark event in the history of a business that today stands as a multibillion dollar industry. Now, documentary filmmakers Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato (the same team that made the excellent The Eyes of Tammy Faye) have taken it upon themselves to examine the film's legacy as cultural artifact, a documentary study that's sure to reveal much about the film — as well as us. (Chris Hyde/BOP)
Keane
Lodge Kerrigan does not make easy films. His modus operandi is the character study where he shines a laser beam on an outcast who wouldn't normally be the subject of a movie. In Claire Dolan, it was a prostitute looking to have a baby, and in his debut Clean, Shaven, his subject was a schizophrenic man trying to regain custody of his daughter. He returns to similar territory in Keane, about a schizophrenic man searching for his kidnapped daughter. Kerrigan's films demand a strong central performance, and this time that responsibility falls on the shoulders of Damian Lewis (a standout in Band of Brothers). It's a film that may not be a comfortable experience, but it's certain to be a stimulating one. (Dan Krovich/BOP)
Kontroll
Here's one that seems a bit of a surprise to get a distribution deal, so let's first thank the folks at Thinkfilm for taking a chance on it. Since not too many Hungarian films appear on North American screens (even when they're the country's submission for the Academy Award), this should be a unique opportunity to take in new work from the land that gave us Miklos Jancsó and Bela Tarr. This movie is the first full-length effort from director Nimrod Antal, and since it won a Prix de la Jeunesse at Cannes 2004, it's fair to call the debut an auspicious one. The film itself is a trip into a strange Eastern European underworld, set in the subterranean landscape of Hungary's transit network — an unearthly place wherein scruffy train police battle antagonistic freeloaders and a pushy serial killer. (Chris Hyde/BOP)
Kung Fu Hustle
After the booting around that Miramax gave his comedy Shaolin Soccer, Hong Kong legend Stephen Chow switched distributors to the far more reliable Sony Pictures for the North American release of his new fight and laugh fest. Meant as a lighthearted tribute to the glorious Shaw Brothers productions that dominated the heyday of HK film, Kung Fu Hustle has already done spectacularly in Asia since its recent release across the region. While Chow himself would be a big enough name to carry any production, he's enlisted some true greats to help out here — from the action choreography done by legends Yuen Woo Ping and Sammo Hung to the casting of Yuen Wah (once Bruce Lee's stunt double) as the unassuming landlord-cum-martial arts master, the historic touchstones are all around. If you thought Kill Bill had some nice bits of obeisance to Hong Kong's most historic studio, just imagine what a native son who is one of the former territory's brightest stars can do with a similar idea. (Chris Hyde/BOP)
Land of the Dead
Since the world has apparently caught up with horror filmmaker George Romero enough to garner a fairly wide release for the fourth installment in his zombie movie series, perhaps this listing is a bit too mainstream for this preview. Still, though there may be a few thousand screens in the offing for Land of the Dead, it's hard for those who remember the marginal treatment that Night, Dawn and Day of the Dead got on their initial runs to assign an entry in this series anything but maverick status. So we'll let it shamble on in here, hopeful that the director's arch eye will deliver to audiences another gory but aware piece of undead carnivorous bliss. (Chris Hyde/BOP)
Mail Order Wife
Director Huck Botko's revenge "documentaries" in which he makes completely disgusting baked goods that he then feeds to his unsuspecting family members are an experience to say the least. In Mail Order Wife, he and longtime partner in crime Andrew Gurland make a mockumentary about a slovenly New York doorman who takes in an Asian mail order bride. Gurland plays himself as the documentary filmmaker who donates the money to the doorman for the bride in return for the right to film the experience. Knowing these two, that experience is bound to be disturbing, cringe-inducing and gut-bustingly funny. (Dan Krovich/BOP)
Millions
After the rousing success that was the modern zombie update 28 Days Later, filmmaker Danny Boyle has turned his attention to a film with a timeless central premise — the acquisition of treasure and the moral implications for the people who find it. Here the filthy lucre is a bag of British pounds that are found by a pair of young brothers just one week before they will become worthless due to the country's conversion to the Euro. With just a little time to spend the cash, the siblings embark on an adventure that may just determine the future course of their lives. (Chris Hyde/BOP)
Mondovino
Along with the aforementioned Kontroll, independent distributors Thinkfilm have also picked up Jonathan Rossiter's nonfiction film on the world of wine for 2005 release. Though domestic audiences unfortunately won't get the director's entire 166 minute cut of the movie (some 20-30 minutes will be trimmed), hopefully that won't too badly impact what looks to be an insightful examination of both the drink itself as well as the impact of today's rapid globalization on the industry that produces it. While the film's militant stance against the forces of change may rankle free traders and big producers of the storied liquid, it would seem that the director's desire to make an entertaining and provocative movie should make it a worthwhile production for documentary lovers of all political stripes to take in. (Chris Hyde/BOP)
Nobody Knows
The sympathetic style of director Hirokazu Kore-eda gets applied in this case to a story of four Japanese children forced to get by in the world all alone. Left adrift when their irresponsible mother abandons them in their Tokyo apartment, these youngsters struggle to keep their odd family unit together though faced with a challenging outside world. Filmmaker Kore-eda previously had some critical success with his 1998 Afterlife, a fanciful imagining of what may happen to people after they die, so here's hoping that an arthouse run for this one introduces more North Americans to the work of a unique and interesting director. (Chris Hyde/BOP)
Oldboy
The Korean film industry has gotten lots of international attention in recent years, and few filmmakers from that Asian nation have garnered the sort of acclaim that director Park Chan-wook has received. Much of the critical clamor came over his 2002 Sympathy For Mr Vengeance, but this followup was well liked enough to have received the Best Picture Award at December's Korean Film Awards, as well as a Grand Jury Prix at Cannes this past spring. An adaptation of a Japanese manga by Tsuchiya Garon and Minegishi Nobuaki, Oldboy is a seemingly stylish telling of a man held prisoner for 15 years who upon his release begins to track down those responsible for his incarceration. Now slated for a March release, with any luck this won't be the only project associated with the director to hit domestic shores this year — but if we're going to see his segment of the Asian horror anthology Three…Extremes, we're going to need a distributor to step up to the plate. (Chris Hyde/BOP)
Palindromes
Todd Solondz is particularly known for button pushing, so it shouldn't be any surprise that his newest movie concerns a 13-year-old girl who wants to have a baby and touches on issues such as abortion and statutory rape. As usual Solondz treats characters who would normally be simply dismissed as monsters with sympathy and an attempt to understand them. Of course, opponents will claim that he is trying to justify their behavior. The added feature here is that the main character is played by several different actresses of varying age, race, and body type throughout the film. Determining which side of the thin line between ridiculous gimmick and interesting cinematic device this falls may be worth the price of admission alone. (Dan Krovich/BOP)
Reefer Madness
In 1938, an anti marijuana propaganda film called Tell Your Children was made to warn of the dangers what the film termed "public enemy number one." The over-the-top depictions of the effects of the drug were so unintentionally funny that the film was re-issued as a cult comedy classic under the title of Reefer Madness. So, of course, the next logical step is to remake it as a musical. The film stars Alan Cumming, Steven Weber, and the Campbell siblings, Neve and Christian. You've got to have a musical on the list and this looks like campy fun. (Dan Krovich/BOP)
Seven Swords
This is a bit of a speculative pick for 2005, as Tsui Hark's newest is still in production and as such has yet to find a distributor for a North American release. But unfortunately, the one Hark film that does have such status — Zu Warriors, a CGI-laden remake of one of his earlier classics — is simply not all that good (as well as being an absurd four years old) and given that this newest one has already been sold in 13 countries across the globe, we can hope that perhaps someone will see fit to bring it to North America this year. Reportedly the first installment in a planned seven picture series, Seven Swords is based on a wuxia novel by writer Liang Yusheng which tells the story of a group of swordsmen who take up arms against the Qing regime. With stars like Donnie Yen, Leon Lai and Charlie Yeung aboard and with the action choreography helmed by the legendary Liu Chia-Liang, this one looks like a can't miss prospect. (Chris Hyde/BOP)
Steamboy
Fans of Japanese animation have been waiting a decade for Steamboy, Katsuhiro Ôtomo's follow-up to his late '80s animation classic Akira. And as the production costs of this film eventually escalated so far that it became the most expensive anime ever produced, one imagines that his production company has been impatient about this one getting finished as well. But it's in the can now, and through the good graces of Sony Classics, domestic audiences will get a chance to take it in this spring. Given the immense numbers of drawings made to produce the final product, the animation for Steamboy should be first rate — but it will ultimately be the story which makes Steamboy sink or swim. (Chris Hyde/BOP)
Tell Them Who You Are
Take a legendary leftist cinematographer and his rebelliously right wing son and let them turn cameras on each other and what do you have? A documentary film that's sure to pique the interest of many aficionados of film, regardless of political affiliation. Whether you find yourself more sympathetic to the mores of the father or the son, there's likely to be enough of substance here for you — as both a simple portrait of the man who shot Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? and Medium Cool and the real life tale of a son coming to grips with his famous father are stories worth telling. (Chris Hyde/BOP)
Thru the Moebius Strip
Now here's an interesting bit of globalization, as a big Hong Kong CGI effects studio meets up with a famous French comic art figure and the end result is a full-length animated film. This one's genesis goes back quite a ways, however, as it has its origins back in the 1980s when co-producer Arnie Wong and artist Moebius met while working on Disney's early digital effort Tron. Whether or not the story can keep pace with the pictures has always been an issue with the Euro-comics giant upon whose work this movie is based, and one suspects that's going to be the issue here as well. Still, there's no denying the breathtaking beauty of his colorful work and as the digital work of Raymond Neoh's GDC Entertainment is well respected in Asia the film should be a visual treat even if the story lags a bit. (Chris Hyde/BOP)
Undead
Zombies are the new vampires. While a few years ago the bloodsuckers seemed to be the fashionable movie and television villain (or sometimes hero), in recent years the walking dead have supplanted them as the monster of choice. This low-budget splatter film from Australia looks to fit nicely in with the current spate of films of the zombie oeuvre. The Spierig brothers make their feature film debut, and while there are no guarantees about future success, you can't help but remember that a certain filmmaker famous for making three hobbit movies started out by making splatter and zombie films in that part of the world as well. (Dan Krovich/BOP)
Wolf Creek
This Australian thriller is based on the real life exploits of a serial killer named Ivan Milat, who preyed on unsuspecting backpackers in the outback during the 1990s. Eventually charged and convicted for the murder of seven people, during the investigation of these crimes it became apparent that there were also a couple of people who had previously been picked up by Milat but who had managed to escape from him — a situation that lends the retelling of this story in film form an open endedness that should help preserve tension. In Wolf Creek, the plot follows three travelers who accept help from an apparently friendly local when their car breaks down in the wilderness. Unfortunately for the trio, however, their Samaritan turns out to be not nearly as good as they'd hoped. Soon to make its US debut at the Sundance Film Festival, this new Australian tale of terror has already been picked up by Dimension Films for distribution so with any luck it won't be long before we all go into the woods with Ivan Milat. (Chris Hyde/BOP)