Island of Lost Girls (2022) Fantasia 2022

 Three little girls drift off to a deserted island and have encounters with seals and sea elephants.

A beautiful nature documentary is interrupted by a home movie of a non-thrilling family thriller. This is one of the few Fantasia films I've ever seen where I can’t understand why it was programmed at the festival. While not a “bad” film it is completely uninvolving. Yes the cinematography and nature images are stunning. They are the sort  of images you want to see huge. They are impressive and if this was a documentary they would make this a must see.

The problem with the film is the sections of the films focusing on the little girls. Shot as a sort of cinema verité, the little girl stuff is so artificial that we never fall into it. Yes it feels like its based on real life, but its shot in a way that lets us instantly know this is a “movie”.  It feels contrived. Worse once the film gets going and the trouble starts,  and the film tries  to make us  feel like the girls were in some sort of danger, but you never feet it. There was no suspense, you always felt like they were going to be okay because at no point did we see there was any real danger. Nothing “bad” happens anywhere and the girls skate by, such as when one sister catches her sibling when she falls off the counter. The film simply signals all along that everything will be alright.

 I never cared.

Worse I felt like I was being forced to watch the directors children be cute.

For my money this is a very expensive home movie.

Leo Da Vinci: Mission Mona Lisa (2019)

Leo Da Vinci: Mission Mona Lisa is an animated adventure aimed at young kids that isn’t half bad for adults.

The plot of the film has teenage inventor Leo Da Vinci and his friends Lorenzo and Lisa trying to get the money to pay the rent/taxes for Mona’s family after the crops are destroyed. If they can’t get the money Lisa will be forced to marry the young lord who owns the property and she despises. Hearing the story of a lost treasure the trio set off to find it using Leo’s inventions to help them. Of course nothing goes smoothly, the end up with two kids (Niccolo and Agnes) in tow and they run into various dangers including a band of pirates.

For the most part Mission Mona Lisa is a pretty good adventure tale. Moving at a good clip we are carried along from start to finish thanks to some good characters and some nice unexpected moments. As an adult, I knew how this was going to go, but at the same time I never let that bother me simply because the film was never meant for me. This is the sort of film that’s aimed at the smaller set and as a kids film this is something they are going to eat up.

Actually the one thing that bothers me about the film is that it has a good enough story at its center that if they hadn’t felt the need to aim for the under 10 set this actually would have made for a solid adventure film with no reservations.(Hell it gloriously tends to stay away from all the typical Disney/Pixar tropes and sweetness)  While the two small waifs Leo, Lisa and Lorenzo pick up  along the way are funny and entertaining, they really aren’t needed for the story, which shifts from time to time to bring them front and center. Yea, the kids work and provide laughs but their inclusion is kind of out of place and I kept thinking if they weren’t such an obvious effort to give the little kids someone to identify with this would have been better.

Don’t get me wrong Mission Mona Lisa isn’t a bad film, and my comments aren’t supposed to make you thing that. Rather I’m trying to point out that if the filmmakers had just told the story of three friends and didn’t play down to the little folk this would have been a great film instead of just a good one.

Regardless of my quibbles this is an unexpected find of a  film. And I think that if you have kids this is definitely worth a look if for no other reason than it isn't stereotypical sweetness.

Leo Da Vinci: Mission Mona Lisa is playing in select theaters across America.

Ace The Case: Manhattan Mystery (2016)

While her mom is out of town 10 year old Olivia and her almost 18 year old brother are left home alone. While Olivia is taking the dog out for a walk one night she witnesses some one being kidnapped. Her brother thinks she's nuts. However a nice cop (played by Susan Sarandon) does, but with no evidence there is nothing she can do. Olivia then takes the case in her own hands and tries to solve the case.

Innocuous kids film is going to delight young girls of a certain age. This NYC set riff on Nancy Drew is harmless fun for some of the family...

The problem with the film is that despite coming from writer/director Kevin Kaufman and Executive Producer, Rick Tirelli who worked on "NYPD Blue", “Watching the Detectives,” “I Married a Mobster” and “The Perfect Murder" the film is very much a kids film.  Seriously outside of the death of Olivia's dad in the opening minutes there is nothing tough or offensive in the whole film. Its so sweet and saccharine that I'm guessing tooth decay will result if the film is seen too many times.

Its not a bad film, rather it's simply too much of a kids film. The result is that unless you are in a narrow spectrum this is a film you're going to like but not love and short of having some one of the right age for the film you're going to wonder why you are watching it.

I do like chunks of the film, I think Sarandon is a hoot and a half, and the mystery is pretty cool. The trouble is that  they aimed to please kids and unless you're a kid around ten you're not going to care for it much.

Worth a look for families who've seen the major kids films too many times or fans of Susan Sarandon- all others can steer clear.

Turbo Kid hits DVD and Bluray Tuesday

When TURBO KID played Sundance last year it was hailed as a great throw back to 1980’s or 1990’s kids films. The film was the talk of every festival I attended last year as everyone wanted to know if I had seen it yet. The word on the film was so high that I felt bad for having missed the film at every turn. When the film finally got a release in late August the film still remained outside of my view because the release was so small it came and went much too fast for me to get to it.

Of course good things come to those who wait and the film is getting released this week on home video including in a super special collectors set. More on that in a minute.

Those who were describing it as a throwback to 1980’s kids films are right one except that they left out the film is very bloody in an a wild over the top manner to the point a pin prick results in a geyser of blood. And the film is full of f-bombs, which while probably in keeping with the way people talk, is going to keep the family audience away. I say this because as I was watching this I was thinking how much my niece was going to love the film until the blood started and then I realized her mom was not going to let her anywhere near the film.

The plot of the film has a comic fan kid called the Kid who lives in a post-apocalyptic 1997 finding a power suit finding a power suit like the one worn by his favorite comic character, Turbo Man. Using the suit he battles the evil Zeus and his horde in order to keep the wastelands, and his girlfriend Apple, safe. It’s all low budget fun where everyone rides bicycles and makes interesting use of discard. As someone said it’s a no budget version of MAD MAX.

The film is also a blast.

Seriously the film works on so many different levels that it’s a truly great film. First the film manages to perfectly mirror the kids films of the 1980’s that I’m guessing the writer/directors grew up with on cable. Films like EXPLORERS, KENNY & CO, GOONIES, LABYRINTH and THE LAST STAR FIGHTER all seem to have crept into the film in one way or another. I used to catch all of the films when channel surfing back in the day and I was reminded of so many of them.

What I love about the film is this is the sort of film that a 10 or 12 year old would have come up with. It really seems that if a kid could have made a film back in say 1988,  this would have been it. Having made films when I was a kid the twists and turns and ways of coping with short comings are exactly the sort of thing that I used to do- for example since we couldn’t drive we came up with a reason to use bikes. We loved comics so we’d have a super suit. We loved horror movies so we’d have blood soak everything. And when we wanted to act older so we’d curse. It’s everything that I would have done back when I was 12.

For me everything about the film just feels right, most importantly the world absolutely makes perfect sense unto itself. So what if a couple of post 1997 things drifted into the film, it still feels right for the world the film creates.

Of course none of that would matter if the story wasn’t compelling and it is. The story is constructed in such a manner that we want to know what happens next. What is great is the film is in no way cliché. I doubt very much if you could guess most if not all of the twists. I had no clue where it as going other than the good guys were going to win, but even then I couldn’t be sure who’d survive or in what condition because people die and limbs are lost.

I love this film and my 12 year old self absolutely freaking loves the this film.

You have to see this film.

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And now it’s coming to home video in a super 3 disc special edition. I've ordered mine- you should order one too.

Here's the details on the super special edition pictured above:

In addition to the main feature on both Blu-ray and DVD, the Ultra Turbo Charged Special Collector's Edition will include Bloody Wasteland: The Making of Turbo Kid, a making of the movie featurette, T is for Turbo, the original short that preceded that film, several mini documentaries, Fantasia, Gore, Stunt, Funny, The Kid, Apple, Zeus, film festival introductions from BIFFF (Brussels), Edinburgh (UK), Sitges (Spain) and 2 still Galleries including Design/On Set, Fan Art, and 'The Ride' booklet. The suggested retail price for the collection is $29.99; and is currently available for pre-order at http://turbo-kid.com at $19.99. The collection will be available exclusively on Amazon.com and directly from the filmmakers’ site: http://turbo-kid.com/store

The content included in the “Ultra Turbo Charged Collector's Edition” is:

Disc 1 - Turbo Kid - DVD - Main Feature + Commentaries

Audio Options: English 5.1 Dolby Digital, English 2.0 Dolby Stereo, French 5.1 Dolby Digital
Subtitles English (SDH), Spanish, French
Commentaries English, French
Disc 2 - Turbo Kid - DVD - Bonus Features

Bloody Wasteland: The Making of Turbo Kid (24 min.)
T Is For Turbo (original short) (6 min.)
Mini Docs: Fantasia, Gore, Stunt, Funny, The Kid, Apple, Zeus
Festival Introductions: BIFFF (Brussels)*, Edinburgh (UK), Sitges (Spain)*
Still Galleries (3): Design/On Set, Fan Art, 'The Ride' booklet
Official Trailer
Trailers from Epic Pictures Releasing
Disc 3 - Turbo Kid - BluRay - Main Feature + Commentaries

Audio Options: English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio, English 5.1 Dolby Digital, English 2.0 Dolby Stereo, French 5.1 Dolby Digital
Subtitles: English (SDH), Spanish, French
Commentaries: English, French
Website: http://turbo-kid.com/
Facebook: www.fb.me/TurboKidMovie
Twitter: www.twitter.com/@TurboKidFilm , #TURBOKID
Instagram: www.instagram.com/TurboKid1997

JAPAN CUTS 2014: The Not-So-Secret Lives of Third Graders in HELLO! JUNICHI

Say ‘Hello!’ to a viewing object that is an enigma in itself.  What you behold on screen will seem for the most part straightforward and entirely logical. But think about it for a moment and its existence is a marvel. What could bring this uncharacteristically ecstatic work into being? It’s hard to imagine it being possible anywhere except perhaps another galaxy, and then of course Japan.

HELLO! JUNICHI drops in on the lives of a band of third graders: their love interests, their hang-ups, their dreams and the hardships they bear. Although wrapped in some good-natured zaniness and baring the hyperactivity that comes with such an age, it’s an uncondescending, thoughtful portrayal, continuing a tradition of taking kids seriously that we often see in the films of Kore-eda.

Imagine if you will who would take on such an endeavor in the West? It’s not so much of a stretch to see realistic on-screen enactments of adolescents. It’s a time period close enough and relevant to adults’ experiences for them to be willing to return to.  And adolescents themselves are forming tastes and have a vested interest in seeking out stories about characters they can closely relate to. But children right in the middle of their elementary school days? I’m trying to imagine a scene of 8 and 9 year old mumblecore fans getting walked to or dropped off at an arthouse cinema in Shimo Kitazawa or perhaps Koenji. I can’t quite picture it. Nevertheless, JUNICHI exists, thanks to eccentric visionary director Katsuhito Ishii (FUNKY FOREST, THE TASTE OF TEA) for third graders, should they come across the opportunity to see it, and grown up fans of unadulterated merriment alike.

The scenarios the kids face arise with the subtlety of a week’s worth of afterschool sitcoms crammed into the length of a movie. They range from central character Junichi’s inability to muster the confidence to return an eraser to a girl he likes to another boy, whose family faces financial hardships, considering shoplifting in order to get birthday present for his overworked mother, to a child actor’s desire to woo a young woman working as a shop clerk who also models and has been in commercials with him. The kids have a range of economic situations and personality types, and the fact that this does not affect their friendships is evidence of a wonderfully idealistic sentiment at work. So too is the ambition and sense of achievement we get among the kids, particularly Tanaka, a tough girl who won’t take guff from anyone including the older neighborhood bullies, determined to be a successful pop singer. When she sings her heart out over the requisite musical number, it’s both a charming and profoundly uplifting moment.

Meanwhile the acting is remarkably genuine. At the outset and several times throughout, they appear to have been given a scenario and asked to improvise. It’s conceivable that they did sometimes and not others since two people are credited as co-directors along with Ishii.

 

Adding quite a bit of flair is Hikari Mitsushima’s (similarly electrifying in ‘mean girl’ roles in LOVE EXPOSURE and VILLAIN) performance as a student teacher whose garishness and straight from the hip talk is far opposed to the expected nurturing teacher role. Is she employing clever psychological techniques to help the kids find their way or just being 100 percent true to her audacious self?

HELLO! JUNICHI is absolutely peppered with instances of singular strangeness too: impromptu pro wrestling matches break out between classes,  refereed by lucha libre mask wearing individual who suddenly appears; a duo of an African gentleman and free spirited Japanese woman rides a bicycle past Junichi on his way to school, greeting him with a hearty ‘hello!’ in English. Perhaps the latter is a symbol of boldness and embracing a friendly spirit toward all? Then there is the infectiously silly and simple dance shown repeatedly over the closing credits that will have audiences dancing in the aisles…or at least wishing they could return to a time of youthful innocence when they could actually do so.

HELLO! JUNICHI plays at the 2014 JAPAN CUTS festival of contemporary cinema at 3 pm on Sunday, July 20 at Japan Society. Click here for more information or to buy tickets.

Me on twitter = @mondocurry