Movie Magazine International Blog

Abe Hiroshi in Termae Romae By Moira Sullivan  The Korean drama Sunny was featured on the opening day of the Udine Far East Film Festival  in Italy, which runs from April 20-28. A renowned and excellent extravaganza of popular films from Asia, this festival is now in its 14th edition. The title of the film comes from the hit single "Sunny" (performed by Bonie M, and written by songwriter Bobby Hebb - 1966). The story is about a seven-member girl gang who meet years later when one from the group is hospitalized with a grave illness. The film revisits the first day of school for Na-Mi who hails from a small town in the Jeolla province and moves to the capital city Seoul .  Na-Mi quickly makes friends with six other young women who come to her rescue from classmates who otherwise would have bullied her for her dialect.  Na-Mi  quickly fits in with the gang comprised of the excellent fighter  Choon-Hwa, heavyset   Jang-Mi,...

By Monica Sullivan When we watch old movies on the late show, one of the questions that comes to mind is, “Are any of these actors still alive?”  For fans of films made in the 1930’s and 1940’s, the answer to that question is usually no, with a few exceptions among the youngest members of the cast.  One of the busiest actors of that era was Warren William who specialized in playing smartly-tailored rogues.  John Strangeland has written an absorbing biography “Warren William Magnificent Scoundrel of Pre-Code Hollywood” for McFarland Publishing Company, revealing a wealth of fascinating details about this sensitive, thoughtful actor.  “The Mouthpiece” made Warren William a star in 1932.  Vincent Day was a part that demanded both flamboyance and restraint.  Edward G. Robinson and other Warner Brothers actors had turned down the role, which only made it all the more appealing to Warren William.  Interestingly, Robinson did appear in a 1955 remake, “Ille...

By Monica Sullivan Fans of Charlie Chan (and there are more of them than you may think) are a fairly discrete group.  Whenever there is even a whisper of a rumor to reactivate the series, focus groups pounce on the prospect as if it were the worst idea ever.  Why didn’t a Chinese actor play Charlie Chan?  He did in Chinese language Chan films.  Doesn’t the series reinforce racial stereotypes?  Read the books or watch the movies.  Charlie Chan is a clever, patient investigator.  Whenever he senses resistance to his polite, persistent methods, he tells the resisters to cut it out with quiet, firm courtesy.  Charlie Chan doesn’t cut corners, brawl or rely on car chases to catch killers.  He disarms them with tried and true techniques so unobtrusive, they’re barely noticed.  Earl Der Bigger’s novels are precise, colorful and entertaining.  The 20th Century Fox films tried to capture their flavor and usually succeeded, thanks to sharp...

By Monica Sullivan “Film Noir.”  The words, meaning “black pictures”, come from French movie critics, enraptured by low budget black and white American productions of the 1940’s and 1950’s.  In the late 20th and early 21st centuries, film noir festivals became brisk money makers for archives, repertory theatres, video and DVD distributors plus countless late night broadcasters and cable programmers. Unsurprisingly other copyright holders of vintage European titles wanted to get in on this profitable phenomenon.  Michael Keaney’s “British Film Noir Guide” from McFarland Publishers provides noir buffs with an illustrated guide to noir efforts across the pond.  One of Keaney’s favorites (and mine) is “Black Narcissus” which shows the struggle of 5 nuns to keep their faith in Calcutta.  The film is not a pro or con argument about nuns.  It shows how women cope with their emotions in a different environment with a very different climate.  The leader o...

By Monica Sullivan I can think of few movie gangsters I admired as much as Charles McGraw.  He was the real deal.  Larger than life, riddled with conflict, blessed with a sandpaper voice and a face to match, McGraw was born to play film noir. “Charles McGraw: Biography Of A Film Noir Tough Guy” by Alan K Rode reveals the difficult personal life of McGraw as a backdrop to his long successful career.  McGraw’s vulnerability was alcohol.  It led to his accidental death in 1980 after 77 movies during a 35 year film career.  Marie Windsor told me in an interview conducted during the 1990’s: “I loved working with Charlie McGraw on ‘The Narrow Margin’ and no, he wasn’t drinking.  I want you to know that.”  Anyone who watches Charles McGraw’s carefully shaded performance as Walter Brown will see a character bursting with resentment at his job and grief over the violent death of his partner. Being a hard-drinking tough guy on screen was one thing, playing...

By Moira Sullivan Paprika Steen as "Thea" in Applause . The subject of the 2009 Danish film Applause seems like a western luxury about problems of people's own making.  The cinematography has a "Dogme" feel to it—the outdated Danish cinematographic conception created by Thomas Vinterberg and Lars Von Trier, which involves making films in the here and now -  no props, natural lighting, and no guns. The Danish actress  Paprika Steen plays Thea, a middle aged alcoholic actress, along with many of the people in her city in Copenhagen: problem drinkers, heavy drinkers, alike. She is trying to quit and regain the love of her two sons from her failed marriage a year and a half ago. The film is shot around the stage performance of Applause with Paprika Steen. Martin Pieter Zandvliet makes his directorial debut in this film, and although it was made three years ago it seems enmeshed with the virtues of "Dogme"- 'naked' reality in...

By Moira Sullivan Michelle Yeoh as Aung San Suu Kyi Luc Besson admits he couldn’t let the story about Aung San Suu Kyi go - and so he made a biopic of the woman who recently won a landslide victory for her party in Burma. The story begins in 1947 when Aung was a young girl and rebel soldiers assassinated her father, the leader of Burma. The film then jumps to many years later where there is a scene with her British husband Michael who hasn’t seen Aung for three years. He has just been diagnosed with cancer. Three years before, Aung left England to take care of her mother in Burma. Michelle Yeoh plays Aung Saan Suu Kyi and David Thewlis , her husband Michael Aris , a man whose hair is dreadfully uncombed through the entire film. This is not your typical Luc Besson film ; the story is straightforward and dominated by dialogue and sentimental background music. The rising and falling action documents how Aung San Suu Kyi became the beloved leader of her people.  Burma ...

By Moira Sullivan  Jiro: Dreams of Sushi is a 2011 documentary that is making the rounds and will be opening this week at Landmark Theatres. If you thought you knew all there was to know about sushi, this film will prove you don’t.  Jiro Ono Jiro Ono is a Japanese sushi master with 10 seats in his subway restaurant in Tokyo and he serves up the most exquisite handcrafted sushi. Few sushi restaurants have such quality. I can think of one on Clement St in San Francisco that seems to live up to the reputation of Jiro— Murusaki’s.  It is the kind of restaurant with three courses, as is explained in this documentary, with different kinds of sushi. The San Francisco chef has a diploma for using the deadly blowfish, and that is difficult to come by. Jiro takes us through the male dominion of sushi making in Tokyo, from the fish markets where brokers bid on fish like the stock market in New York to the restaurants. It takes a while to become a sushi master and Jiro, w...

By Moira Sullivan Joan Chen in The White Frog The San Francisco Asian American Film Festival has acquired an excellent reputation as a showcase of new films by directors of Asian heritage who grew up in America. This year’s  festival runs from March 8-18 with 100 films from 20 countries. The special spotlight this year is on the Shanghai born actress Joan Chen whose Chinese name is Chen Chong. Joan Chen has lived in San Francisco for the past twenty years and although the designation Asian American didn’t quite fit for her before, it does now, especially with her two children who grew up in the city and her husband Peter Hui, who is a cardiologist in San Francisco.  Chen was discovered on the rifle range by Mao Zedong’s wife and was selected for the Actor’s Training Studio in 1976. She won best actress in 1980 for her role in Little Flower . Shortly after, she moved to the US and studied acting at Cal State Northridge. Her international film debut was in Bern...

By Moira Sullivan John C Reilly, Lynne Ramsey, Tilda Swinton and Ezra Miller at Cannes In   Lynne Ramsey "We Need to Talk about Kevin",   Eva ( Tilda Swinton)  and Franklin ( John C Reilly)   play the parents of a young boy that grows up to be a psychopathic killer. There are many, many warning signs during his upbringing, although it is clear that he was born with mental deficiencies. Kevin ( Ezra Miller ) is problematic from the beginning, either by putting too much salt on his food, or by being cold and cruel to both his parents and later his sister. Eva's reactions are scrutinized more than her husband's. Franklin is away most of the time and just seems to come home and pat his son on the head like a dog and disappear - most likely to work given the expanse and expense of their home. It’s important to point out that the film is fragmented as far as narrative order so that we are seeing the prequel, and sequel to an attack by bow and arrow of ...