JCVD Tagged Articles at Cinematical

Bride Wars
One minute, she's struggling with addiction and family drama in the winning Rachel Got Married. The next, Anne Hathaway was skyrocketing to the dredge, terrible marriage stereotyping, and wedding wars with Kate Hudson. Jeffrey M. Anderson said there's one worthy minute in the film, but the "rest of the time, for 88 out of its 89 minutes, it's a movie totally devoid of life." Also on Blu-ray. Skip it.

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The Uninvited
One would think that a film with David Strathairn and Elizabeth Banks would be worth a moment or two, especially since they're not running to the horror/thriller genre every day, but as Jette Kernion said in her review in February: the story is weak, Banks' lines are "stilted and almost laughable," and Strathairn's performance "made me want to go home and put on one of his better movies to forget about his nearly wooden character in this one." That's enough reason to Skip it. Also on Blu-ray.

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Martyrs
Movies that make Saw look like Sesame Street aren't the type I usually have in my queue, so I'll leave this entirely up to Scott Weinberg: "It may be one of the most ferocious horror films ever made -- but Martyrs is also quite effectively chilling and consistently disturbing ... frankly I think it's one of the most fascinating pieces of 'hardcore' horror cinema you'd ever want to see." Buy it ... if you have the guts.

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Nothing But the Truth
Another political drama in Rod Lurie's stable, Truth boasts the likes of Kate Beckinsale, Alan Alda, Vera Farmiga, Matt Dillon, taking the Valerie Plame case and morphing into an amped up drama with intrique based around missile strikes on Venezuela. Eric Snider said from TIFF: "Still, for all its strengths, Nothing But the Truth falls under the umbrella of good but not great." Rent it.

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Also out: Frost/Nixon: Complete Interviews, What Doesn't Kill You (also on Blu-ray), While She Was Out

Subtitles. Some people love them, some people hate them. As I see it, the hate often turns into love once movie-liking turns into movie-loving. It's quite hard to be an insatiable movie lover and be a fan of the dub -- not being bothered by lips that don't synch with voices, and the voiceovers that fail to offer the same powerful inflections as the original.

Unfortunately, while I love cinema, I'm really growing tired of the subtitles -- to the point that I sometimes avoid films if I'm not geared up to read them. But wait -- I'm not suggesting that I'd rather hear it dubbed, but rather the whole world of subtitling needs to change. There are two reasons:

1. Lazy Subtitles

While the words that run along the bottom of the screen are usually saved for foreign languages, they are sometimes pulled out when heavy accents come into play, or tricky dialects. This is fine, and often handy. But it has to be accurate. While it's okay to adjust words to flow when translating, it's not okay to change them when people understand the language.

There is nothing more annoying or distracting than following the subtitles and hearing entirely different words. I don't know how many times my mind de-railed from the plot of Red Road because I'd hear something like "excellent," but the subtitles would say "great."

The same goes for certain words in foreign languages. You can change adjectives and what-have-you, but it's quite distracting when the subtitle powers that be get tired of writing down the same title/name and decide to switch it up. In Indigenes (Days of Glory), soldier's titles would often get switched. I might not speak French, but it's pretty easy to understand titles like "Staff Sergeant."

This weekend's success stories:
1. The Boy in the Striped Pajamas (Miramax)
2. JCVD (Peace Arch)
3. I've Loved You So Long (Sony Classics)

The critical consensus on Mark Herman's concentration camp children's tale The Boy in the Striped Pajamas dropped a bit over the weekend (from 71% positive to 62% at Rotten Tomatoes), which didn't keep it from scoring a big win at the box office. Opening at 17 theaters, Striped Pajamas earned an estimated $15,000 per screen, according to Box Office Mojo. If you saw Striped Pajamas this weekend, are you recommending it to your friends? Is the holiday season the right time for a sober drama with (reportedly) a devastating climax?

Gotham moviegoers ignored minority sniping from several major publications and gave the reinvigorated Jean-Claude Van Damme a chance, rewarding Mabrouk El Mechri's action / comedy / drama JCVD with $23,300 in total estimated returns at the two theaters where it opened. JCVD is too self-satisfied and drenched in style for my taste, but Van Damme is great fun to watch and the film itself overcomes its limitations to deliver an entertaining experience. Are you planning to see it when it opens near you, or will you wait for the DVD?

Kristen Scott Thomas reportedly gives an award-worthy performance in Philippe Claudel's French-language family drama I've Loved You So Long. In its third week of release, the film saw an increase of 54.6% in earnings, despite adding just two theaters (still not in my area). That indicates very positive word-of-mouth recommendations. If you've seen it and encouraged others to see it, what in particular moved you or touched you? Was it because Thomas is good in it? Or is it just a strong movie overall?

By James Rocchi (reprinted from 09/07/2008 -- Toronto Film Festival)

All the world's a stage, Shakespeare tells us, but just imagine what kind of nightmare it would be if that were actually true. Jean-Claude Van Damme, played by Jean-Claude Van Damme in Mabrouk El-Mechri's JCVD, doesn't have to imagine if it were true, because for him it is; worse, he doesn't even get to pick the kind of stage he's on or the part he's playing. ... JCVD fakes you out from the jump and doesn't stop, opening with a one-cut action sequence set to the pulse and pound of Baby Huey's 8-track soul-funk version of Curtis Mayfield's "Hard Times: "So I play the part I feel they want of me/ And I'II pull the shades so I won't see them seein' me ..."

And during the opening, Van Damme, older and slower but still possessed of the skills to pay the bills, kicks and punches and shoots his way through a legion of stuntmen until everything goes wrong. And it's been going wrong for a while, and it's a good thing Van Damme still has the skills to pay the bills because Van Damme has bills to pay: IRS arrears, child support, court costs. On-set, he's getting no support from his director, a truculent young Hong Kong hotshot who doesn't want to hear Van Damme's complaints, insulting him in untranslated rants: "Just because he brought John Woo to America, he thinks he can rub my dick with sandpaper?" Van Damme needs this job; he needs every job. And so, the weary and aching Muscles from Brussels endures, bearing the heavy load of life like a '80s Atlas on unsteady ground in the new millennium.

When you think of independent cinema, the first name you think of is undoubtedly Jean-Claude Van Damme. Thank goodness the Indie Spotlight is here to tell you where you can see Mr. V.D. at an arthouse new you! Along with JCVD, this week's new indie releases are The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, Pray the Devil Back to Hell, House, Repo! The Genetic Opera, The Guitar, Otto; or, Up with Dead People, and Gardens of the Night.

Here's the rundown on each of them.

JCVD
What it is: Jean-Claude Van Damme plays himself, a washed-up B-movie actor, getting caught in a real-life hostage situation.
What they're saying: Cinematical's James Rocchi, who reviewed it at Toronto, called it a "smart, nicely pitched action-comedy." Eight of the 10 reviews at Rotten Tomatoes are positive, too. (I've seen it, and I concur: it's an entertaining meta-comedy with surprisingly poignant drama.)
Where it's playing: New York City (Angelika Film Center, AMC Empire 25).
More info: The official site has the release dates for other cities, including quite a few next week.

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas
What it is: A World War II drama about two little boys who become friends from opposite sides of the fence. Those "striped pajamas"? They're what concentration camp prisoners wear.
What they're saying: It has a 71% Fresh rating at Rotten Tomatoes, with most critics calling it touching and haunting.
Where it's playing: New York City (CC Cinemas), Los Angeles (The Landmark), Chicago (AMC River East), Dallas (Angelika), Seattle (Landmark Harvard), Denver (Landmark Chez Artiste), San Francisco (Century S.F. Centre), Atlanta (UA Tara), Philadelphia (Ritz 5).
More info: Official site.

This week I'm taking a look at trailers chosen purely on the basis of how much they caught my eye.

Marley and Me
What caught my attention here was the idea that Owen Wilson is yet again playing a man wrestling with his inability to grow up, kind of like he did in Wedding Crashers and You Me and Dupree. Is this a groove or a rut? This time out Wilson is playing a married man who is unsure about whether or not he's ready to be a father, so he and his wife (played by Jennifer Aniston) test the parental waters by getting a dog. There's lots of cute doggie hijinx on display here, but between the Beethoven flashbacks and the fact that I've yet to see a really good Jennifer Aniston movie, I think I'll be passing on this one.

Sunshine Cleaning
In this indie comedy, two down on their luck sisters launch a business in which they clean up after crime scenes and untimely deaths. It's no one's dream job, but I can see there being a market for it. This is being touted as coming from the producers of Little Miss Sunshine, and one of that film's stars (Alan Arkin) appears here as the sisters' father. We've got some laughs and endearing characters here and there's a scene with Amy Adams lounging fetchingly in her underwear. I'll be watching for this one. Check out Kim's review of the film.

(from left to right) Fantastic Fest programmer Zack Carlson, Fantastic Feud co-hosts Devin Steuerwald and Scott Weinberg, and Not Quite Hollywood director Mark Hartley

With the weekend came no sure rest for Fantastic Fest attendees. Saturday kicked off with, among other things: a screening of Conquest of the Planet of the Apes shown from an HD master of a cut unseen in over thirty-five years; initial screenings of the very popular Tiffany stalker doc I Think We're Alone Now and the very anticipated Swedish vampire drama Let the Right One In (which can now fall firmly in the former category); and a boat party held in honor of Donkey Punch, in which several youthful types face some serious consequences after their high behavior on the high seas. Did life end up imitating art on that front...?

It was perhaps indicative of the demographic of tonight's Midnight Madness premiere screening of hotly buzzed JCVD that before the show, the line for the men's' room outnumbered the line for the ladies' considerably. But you didn't have to be a guy to enjoy the film, and especially the vibe of the screening.

Before the show we attended the Pre-screening party for JCVD at Century Club; the party, like most of the parties at big film festivals, was packed with folks vying for the free booze, but unlike a lot of fest parties I've attended, many of the people tonight were enthusiastically pumped up for the screening of a film that most of us knew little about, other than it played the market at Cannes, and garnered considerable buzz at that prestigious fest off its screening there.

Cinematical is very excited to bring you this exclusive clip from the new flick JCVD, which, surprisingly, has watched a tremendous amount of buzz build around it since it first screened at this past Cannes Film Festival. Now, as part of the 2008 Toronto International Film Festival midnight slate (it premieres tonight!), JCVD will receive a more proper introduction (or should I say, re-introduction) to the world. JCVD, of course, stands for our good friend Jean-Claude Van Damme, star of such action flicks as Kickboxer, Timecop, Universal Solider (first bootleg I ever watched), Double Impact, Death Warrant ... shall I go on?

From what I understand, JCVD follows Van Damme (who stars as himself) as he travels back to his home country in an attempt to find peace and tranquility after whatever was left of his career seemed to vanish. We'll have a review coming up very soon, but in the meantime check out this very funny clip below as it should give you an idea of the vibe this flick is going for. Dare I say this might be one of my most anticipated films of the fall season? JCVD will also play Fantastic Fest before arriving in theaters (in limited release) on November 7.

CINEMATICAL'S 2008 TORONTO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL PREVIEW

TIFF 2008 is coming up fast; now that the full schedule's been announced, we thought we'd give you a preview of the films we're most excited about catching at this year's fest. With over 300 films to choose from, TIFF has something for everyone, but there's so much to choose from, it can be hard to decide what you want to see.

Cinematical will be at Toronto from start to finish, and you'll be able to read all our coverage on our TIFF hub. Meanwhile, to aid you in your own TIFF planning, here are the ten films we're looking forward to most. To get started, just click on any of the images below to find out more about that film ...

Special thanks to the stellar folks who run the unofficial TIFF guide, TOFilmFest.ca, who once again bring you the best-organized guide to this massive festival ...