Mad Detective Tagged Articles at Cinematical

In a perfect cinematic world, you'd be able to watch every movie you wanted to watch as soon as it was released on a big screen with good sound and projection and an appreciative audience. In the real world, we're always making compromises: my friends don't want to see what I want to see tonight, that new indie movie is only playing in New York and may never play in my town, the woman sitting next to me in the theater keeps talking to her friends.

Mad Detective opened on Friday, but as noted by Eric D. Snider in his latest Indie Spotlight, only in New York. I have no idea if it will ever play in Dallas, where I live, but based on recent history, chances are, it won't. I'm a huge fan of Hong Kong filmmakers Johnny To and Wai Ka Fai, who co-directed, and Lau Ching Wan, a great, underappreciated actor (Beyond Hypothermia, Big Bullet, A Hero Never Dies), but I've been reluctant to spring for the import DVD, which would set me back nearly 20 bucks. (The trailer's available to watch at Moviefone.)

So I compromised and spent $5.99 to watch Mad Detective via the "IFC in Theaters" video on demand (VOD) service on my cable system. That's comparable to a matinee showing at a local arthouse -- I paid $6.75 to see The Wackness on Saturday afternoon -- but the experience is, obviously, not the same. For one thing, "IFC in Theaters" is only available in standard definition, so the picture looks only so-so, even on my 26-inch high-def monitor.

I concede that it's possible you might already have a film in mind to see this weekend. I understand that there's a highly anticipated major release hitting theaters today that's expected to draw huge crowds. But enough about Space Chimps. This is the Indie Spotlight, a weekly round-up of films opening in limited release that you can see now (if you live in the right city) or put on your list of Movies to Watch Out For.

So what's opening beyond the multiplexes today? These nine films: Before I Forget, The Doorman, Felon, Lou Reed's Berlin, Mad Detective, A Man Named Pearl, Take, Transsiberian, and A Very British Gangster. Here's the lowdown:

Transsiberian
What it is: A thriller about an American couple (Woody Harrelson and Emily Mortimer) who gets tangled up in murder, drugs, and intrigue while on a train from China to Moscow. Directed and co-writer by Brad Anderson (The Machinist).
What they're saying: Cinematical's Jeffrey M. Anderson raves about it here, and also interviewed the director and Mortimer. The consensus is pretty positive at Rotten Tomatoes, too. Looks like Brad Anderson has another winner.
Where it's playing: New York City's Angelika Film Center and Paris Theatre.
Official site: None.

Lou Reed's Berlin
What it is: A concert film, directed by Julian Schnabel (The Diving Bell and the Butterfly), in which Lou Reed re-performs his 1973 album Berlin. Shot over five nights in 2006.
What they're saying: Cinematical's Christopher Campbell liked it overall, which just a few qualms about Schnabel's methods. At Rotten Tomatoes, about two-thirds of the reviews are positive. One suspects that, as usual with concert films, those with no interest in the music itself probably won't be converted by the movie.
Where it's playing: NYC's Film Forum; L.A.'s Nuart Theatre.
Official site: Berlin the Film.

Recently we passed on the news that Japanese master Hayao Miyazaki had completed the storyboards for his upcoming animated film Ponyo on a Cliff, and now it appears that a release date has been set.

Nausicaa.net says we can expect the film to be released in the middle of July, very likely on Saturday, July 19. Their source is Variety Japan. According to a publicist for Studio Ghibli, Miyazaki's animation studio, more information on the film will be made available after the Tokyo International Anime Fair, which will be held March 27-30.

When can we expect to see the film in the US? I haven't seen a hint so far, but Miyazaki's previous production, Howl's Moving Castle, was released in Japan in November 2004 and in the US in June 2005, while the one before that, Spirited Away, took more than a year to reach US theaters. I'd love to see this one by the end of the year.

Ponyo revolves around a boy and goldfish who wants to become a girl. A family story of a very different sort has won favor with Hong Kong critics. The Postmodern Life of My Aunt features Chow Yun-Fat as an amateur Chinese opera singer who lures the 60-something heroine into a bogus scheme involving cemetery plots. David Rooney's Variety review says that's only one of the film's narrative strains.

The Associated Press reports that he Hong Kong Film Critics Society rewarded the picture this week with three prizes: Best Film, Best Director (Ann Hui) and Best Actress (Siqin Gaowa, who plays the heroine). Other awards went to Tony Leung Ka-Fai (Best Actor, Eye in the Sky) and Wai Kai-Fai and Au Kin-Yee (Best Script, Mad Detective).

Last year, there was a little show called Raines. It starred Jeff Goldblum as a detective who solved crimes by talking to himself. However, instead of just muttering inwards, he'd hallucinate and see the slain people he was investigating. When he saved them, so to speak, by finding their killers, the hallucinations would go away until the next murder was discovered.The show might not have made it to its second season on TV this year, but we're about to see some similar cinematic treatment.

The Hollywood Reporter has posted that IFC Entertainment is about to score the distribution rights to Hong Kong directors Johnnie To and Wai Ka-fai's Mad Detective, which they call an "offbeat cop thriller." The film stars Lau Ching-wan as "a loopy police inspector who solves cases by seeing a suspect's inner 'ghosts.' After a long absence from the force for mental-health reasons, he is brought back to track down a missing officer." So it isn't quite murdered people, but the same general idea. The film has screened in Venice and Toronto, and Variety described one scene as such: "Lau Ching-wan plays Inspector Bun, who, in a witty intro, solves a murder by getting his sidekick, Ho Ka-on (Andy On), to zip him up inside a suitcase -- like the victim -- and chuck it downstairs. 'It was the ice cream seller,' he proudly announces as he's pulled out." If this sounds like your cup of cop tea, IFC is releasing it in theaters and VOD, if they seal the deal.