MOVIE-BLAST SAMURAI!: "THE HAUNTED SWORDSMAN" CUTS TO THE GENRE QUICK - by CEJ

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VAULTED TREASURES: MOVIES YOU NEVER KNEW ABOUT, YOU FORGOT, 

... OR YOU FORGOT TO LOVE MORE THE FIRST TIME AROUND!

THE HAUNTED SWORDSMAN 

Directed by - 
Kevin McTurk 

Produced by - 
Sultan Saeed Al Darmaki,
Heather Henson, 
Lisa Henson, 
Elias Savada, 
Jason Speer
Written by - 
Tab Murphy
Story by - 
Tab Murphy 
& Kevin McTurk

Dir. of Photography - 
Bennett Cerf

Editor - 
Michael Fallavollita 

Music - Will Thomas

Run Time: 16 mins. / Release: Sept. 2019 (Portugal / France) Fall / Winter 2019 - 2020 (Festival Circuit) / Production Company - The Spirit Cabinet

GullCottage rating

(***** on a scale of 1-5)

__________ “I have seen horrors no mortal ever should” __________

     In medieval Japan a lone ronin (masterless samurai) swordsman forces the cursed severed head of an undead warrior to lead him to the mountaintop lair of “The Black Monk” - a supernatural oracle whom the swordsman believes possesses information which will allow him to hunt down and destroy the powerful soul-eating demon who slaughtered his shogun master as part of a plan to raise an army of the dead to conquer the world. Before reaching the Monk, however, the swordsman must hack his way through a gauntlet of bloodthirsty monstrosities including a cadaverous witch with mind-bending abilities, a colossus-like gatekeeper who seems to feel no pain, and - most terrifyingly - his own sense of guilt, remorse and failure. Oh yeah, this epic tale is told in 16 minutes, … and with puppets! 

     I was fortunate enough to catch the bunraku-style puppet-animated short THE HAUNTED SWORDSMAN, and … . Nah, that’s not entirely accurate. I was fortunate enough to be efffin' blown away! by THE HAUNTED SWORDSMAN. Yeah, that's more-like-it right. Scripted with old-school brio by Tab Murphy (of GORILLAS IN THE MIST, LAST OF THE DOGMEN and Disney’s HUNCHBACK, ATLANTIS and TARZAN), and directed with the stylish grimoire gloom of a kaidan ghost story (by way of a jidaigeki actioner) by Stan Winston Studios alum Kevin McTurk, the crowdsourced HAUNTED SWORDSMAN proves that less is more as it elicits more grins, chills and grindhouse-style viewer shouts (at least from me!) during it’s brief running time than many studio tentpole blockbusters dole out in a self-importantly stretched out three hours. 

     What are some famous quotes about brevity? “The more you say, the less people remember”. “If I’m to speak ten minutes I need a week to prepare; but if for an hour I can speak right now” (hold onto that one, we’ll come back to it). There’s Shakespeare’s “Brevity is the soul of wit”. And of course that chestnut from junior high English.  Remember, when you had to get up in front of the class to deliver a book report? - and your teacher reminded you “If it can’t be said in five minutes, it can’t be said”. BOOM! Well, one can argue (or at least I will) that the filmic equivalent of brevity is even more important than it‘s printed prose counterpart because when reading, one’s more subjective “personal mental movie screen” will subconsciously speed up or slow down things as it sees fit. But when committed to the more objective medium of film, where every audience member is forced to experience everything at the same exact pace, what may be “leisurely” and “involving” to one audience member can be downright boring to another. 

     And for this reason, sorry, but as much as we all want our money’s worth when shelling out jacked-up dollars for IMAX-type screens, most films - especially lighter genre fare - just don’t need to clock in at near 3 hours. Okay, we’ll let ENDGAME slide because it was the summation to what essentially was a ten year Republic cliffhanger serial. And THE LORD OF THE RINGS … . Well, they’re the THE LORD OF THE RINGS - taken from three sprawling literary tomes. THE HOBBIT films though? Nah, you definitely felt the padding there. And this is why the narrative short film is an artform unto itself.  

Director Kevin McTurk (left) and Screenwriter Tab Murphy (right)

     Far too many filmmakers make the mistake of (and, yeah, actually win awards) following the erroneous “creative” edict that the narrative short is simply the READER’S DIGEST CONDENSED BOOKS version of a feature length film. And as such many tend to just “lop off” the time consuming ends of a story by easy-peasy front-loading too much info via voiceover narration, falling back on excessive STAR WARS-like backstory text, or the all-too-obvious “Hail Mary” trope of too damned many flashbacks at the most narratively inopportune moments with the result of grinding things to a halt like a series of stop signs every half-mile on the autobahn. With THE HAUNTED SWORDSMAN, however, the film version of “If I’m to speak ten minutes I need a week to prepare ...” (oh, and that was Woodrow Wilson who said that, by the way) is in full evidence as Tab Murphy’s “reveal one narrative and character layer of the onion every few minutes” script obviously took more than a little time to craft. 

 __________ “Come closer, Samurai” __________ 

     THE HAUNTED SWORDSMAN opens with a bang - visually and viscerally blasting us into an entirely “other” dreamscape setting via a widescreen, multi-plane animated zoom through a high peak mountain range underscored by poundingly bad-assed taiko drums thundering across the soundtrack. Within seconds we find ourselves accompanying The Swordsman (voiced by DRAGON: THE BRUCE LEE STORY’s Jason Scott Lee) as he does a Tom Cruise MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE 2-like free climb ascent towards the cavernous lair of The Black Monk - all the while the caged and constantly chattering cursed head of The Navigator (voice of the irrepressible James Hong of BLADE RUNNER and BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA) swings back and forth in a basket slung over his shoulder. Speaking of voice work … . 

(The cast, clockwise from top) Jason Scott Lee - The Swordsman, James Hong - The Navigator,
Christopher Lloyd - The Black Monk, Franka Potente - The Onibaba Witch

     Any director worth his or her salt knows the perfect cast can work narrative miracles with and for an audience. John Huston’s casting of Sean Connery & Michael Caine in THE MAN WHO WOULD BE KING (1975), DePalma’s selection of Costner, Connery, Garcia and Martin-Smith for THE UNTOUCHABLES (1987), and Walter Hill’s bringing together Nick Nolte & Eddie Murphy in 48HRS. (1982) made the audience forget how information-heavy the plots of those films actually were as the performers made the viewer feel more like they were eavesdropping in on random and naturalistic conversation, and less like they were (in reality) being spoon-fed narratively necessarily plot “breadcrumbs“ which lead them from one scene to the next and the next. 

     Director McTurk carries off a similar act of subtle “plot compression” with a dynamite cast of voice talents smoothing over even more the already sleek and streamline script. This they accomplish by tossing themselves headlong (without any of that cloying “wink wink” / “nod nod” crap to the audience) into their characterizations. And in this regard, in addition to the aforementioned Lee and Hong, sit back and dig RUN NOLA RUN and THE BOURNE IDENTITY’s Franka Potente as “The Onibaba Witch”, and BACK TO FUTURE and TAXI’s Christopher Lloyd as “The Black Monk”. Fun is contagious. It infects the viewer. And it’s obvious here that Lee, Hong, Potente and Lloyd are having a grand 'ol time with these characters. The same can be said for THE HAUNTED SWORDSMAN’s creative crew. 

     __________ “We have work to do” __________ 

"The Witch" preproduction concept designs

     From a technical standpoint the puppetry, similar in it’s bunraku style execution to McTurk’s previous short, the Lovecraftian / Hammer-style THE MILL AT CALDER’S END (2015), is so smooth and “non puppet”-like it actually takes a couple of minutes at the beginning of the film for the eye to determine exactly how the characters are being realized. Look closely enough and you’ll find the physical craftsmanship of McTurk’s mini-epic so minutely detailed that the Swordsman’s face has fine skin blemishes, the background foliage wafts in an apparently random breeze, and the campfire light actually flickers across the faces of our hero and his severed head companion. While most likely achieved via a “color wheel” - not unlike what Ray Harryhausen and associates used during the “Pegasus escape” and “Medusa” sequences of 1981’s CLASH OF THE TITANS - the intervening years of advanced technology, digital cameras and more have here made the classic animation lighting technique practically indistinguishable from that of live action. 

       Kudos to McTurk’s HAUNTED SWORDSMAN creative team which includes Production Designer Guy Davis (of CRIMSON PEAK, THE SHAPE OF WATER and Dark Horse Comics’ THE MARQUIS), Puppet Sculptors Arjen Tuiten (PAN’S LABYRINTH), Paul Komodo (a former associate of the legendary H.R. Giger) and Mitch Devane (who worked on BRAM’S STOKER’S DRACULA and THE RING); Puppeteers Ron Binion (CRANK YANKERS, DISNEY'S THE BOOK OF POOH) and Eli Presser (THE MILL AT CALDER’S END); Animatronic Designer Peter Abrahamson (MEN IN BLACK 2, HELLBOY), Designer Luke Khanlian (STARSHIP TROOPERS, THE GREEN MILE), Painters Jim Gore (THE LOST WORLD: JURASSIC PARK, LADY IN THE WATER) and Miyo Nakamura (X-MEN: FIRST CLASS, THE THING); and Mike Elizalde’s Spectral Motion crew - the gang responsible for many of the visual wonders of PACIFIC RIM and STRANGER THINGS. 

     A huge shout-out too to composer (and former Roger Eno collaborator) Will Thomas, whose bellicose score conjures musical memories of past epics like Jarre’s SHOGUN and TAI PAN, Zimmer’s THE LAST SAMURAI, and Hayasaka’s Akira Kurosawa classics. And the entire filmic endeavor is tightly threaded together by the producing team of Elias Savada, Sultan Saeed Al Darmaki, and Heather Henson & Lisa Henson. Yes, of that Henson family of legendary puppeteers. 

     Grand in thematic scope and visual splendor, yet intimate in characterization, THE HAUNTED SWORDSMAN has been wowing audiences the last few months on the festival circuit - where it recently stopped off in Austin to snag honors at Alamo Drafthouse / Ain’t it Cool News’ FANTASTIC FEST 2019. Keep an eye peeled for when it swings it’s way into your neck ’o the woods. And be sure to make a bee-line, and Bogart yourself a fifth row center seat in front of the biggest damned screen you can find.  Kinda / sorta feeling like the fourth chapter of an ongoing weekly adventure serial, when THE HAUNTED SWORDSMAN ends … as all good things must … there’s a 12 year old part of you just a'Jonesin’ for the next installment so we can learn what the hell happens next. 

    If successful enough McTurk and Murphy promise us more. Please, oh, please, let it be so! 

     Hai! 

                                                                                                   

                                                                                          CEJ    

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Vaulted Treasures is part of The GullCottage / Sandlot - a film blog, 

cinema magazine, growing reference library and online network 

"Celebrating The Art of Cinema, ... And Cinema As Art"

Explore The GullCottage / Sandlot @

 http://www.gullcottageonline.com

  

"ALWAYS BE MY MAYBE" (2019): WHEN (DELIBERATELY) LESS BECOMES (CALCULATIVEY) INFINITELY MORE - by CEJ

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VAULTED TREASURES: MOVIES YOU NEVER KNEW ABOUT, YOU FORGOT, 

... OR YOU FORGOT TO LOVE MORE THE FIRST TIME AROUND!

ALWAYS BE MY MAYBE 

Dir. by - Nahnatchka Khan 

Prod. by - Nathan Kahane, 
Erin Westerman, Randall Park, Ali Wong
Written by - Ali Wong, 
Randall Park, 
Michael Golamco

Director of Photography - 

Tim Suhrstedt

Edited by - Lee Haxall 

Production Design -
Richard Toyon

Music by - 
Michael Andrews Greyboy

Run Time: 102 mins.

Release: 
5/29/19 (select theatrical) 

5/31/19 (Netflix)

Distrubuted by - Netflix

GullCottage rating

(**** on a scale of 1-5)

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     There's a scene in Douglas Trumball's 1983 experiential sci fi film BRAINSTORM where project head Cliff Robertson says to his tech development leaders Christopher Walken and Natalie Wood (they in charge of creating a headset which can transfer both first person memories and emotions from one person to another as simply as you'd make a phone call), "I want you to knock my socks off!". And to this day that line always comes to mind when I see a film, hear a piece of music, watch a stand-up concert or whatever which I didn't expect to floor me as much as it did.

     That rare phrase came clearly to mind earlier tonight (well, technically yesterday as it's past midnight now) while finally getting around to watching the Netflix feature rom-com ALWAYS BE MY MAYBE. Now, before you make that face, ...yeah, yeah, I know! Most friends and acquaintances I know who've seen the film have made mention of the fact that it's a charming - and even darned good -rom-com, but in the grand scheme of things really no great shakes, and certainly no WHEN HARRY MET SALLY or other such film. But I disagree. It actually is, and for reasons I think many have overlooked. Here me out to the end of this and I think you just may (gulp! ... dare I say) find yourself agreeing with me. At any rate ...

     I believe that, not unlike with comic book adaptations, audiences (and certainly high minded cineaestes) are conditioned to not expect any kind of noteworthy socio-political layerings within certain genres. And because they don't expect it as they might with for example a Terence Malick or Oliver Stone or other sort of film, ... well, they don't find it. But take a look say at two comic book films which opened within less than a month of each other in 2016 - CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR and BATMAN VS. SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE. Both are perhaps two of the most trenchant post 9/11 films ever made, be they "comic book adaptation", "serious" or otherwise. Both deal with a societal / national security response after a terrorist-like attack of mass destruction. And both are about how a group of individuals who normally should be on the same page suddenly find themselves divided by a blurred line where "prudent response" and "xenophobic paranoia" (and the possible suspension of civil rights because of it) places them in violent ideological conflict with one another. I've always said that if one fails (or refuses) to see that blatant socio-political warning within those films then you should just hand in your official movie fan card. But that's another posting.

     Let's face it - the average social "message" (if you wanna go that route) is more often than not much more effectively carried and injected into society's bloodstream via the less overtly self-aware cloaking which a standard (even played out and cliched') genre film can offer than by it's more "serious" (if you will) cinematic kin. Think back on the original PLANET OF THE APES (1968) and how it subtly and subverisvely carried many of the same socio-political discussion points into mainstream America which at the time caused similarly themed - but more obvious - films like THE DEFIANT ONES and GUESS WHO'S COMING TO DINNER to be protested and even banned in some southern American states. Now, don't get me wrong, ALWAYS BE MY MAYBE isn't a "cloaked socio-political manifesto" of any kind. Certainly not like the original APES and other films from ROLLERBALL to ALIEN NATION to CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR were. It's a charming and amusing rom-com. But precisely because it's so damned normal is exactly why it so impressively (cue Cliff) "knocked my socks off".

Social relevance through pop genre: Franklin Schaffner's PLANET OF THE APES (1968) / 
The Russo's CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR (2016)

     Think about it - the comedy series WILL AND GRACE arguably did more to advance among the general Joe & Jane Middle America populace the simple concept that gay folks are as normal as anyone else than did decades of damn good / critically acclaimed serious films like THAT CERTAIN SUMMER, LONGTIME COMPANION and PHILADELPHIA. And as for ethnic representation and racially themed subject matter, observe how similarly more typical / normal (and perhaps even cliched') sitcoms like SANFORD & SON, BLACK-ISH, JANE THE VIRGIN and UGLY BETTY did more on a regular basis to drive home the fact that African-Americans and Latin-Americans are as (surprise, surprise) normal and as all American as anyone else than did twenty years of more overtly dramatic Oscar and Emmy bait films and series which trafficked in said similar subject matter.

     This those series did by a) ... and super importantly! ... simply being funny, and b) by simply being accurate to the unique experiences of certain folks to such a degree that (via that wonderful experiential mechanism of emotional transference we call cinema) other folks ironically found those experiences to be not unique at all but similar to their own. That is why ALWAYS BE MY MAYBE "blew my socks off" in the best BRAINSTORM-like way. WHEW! See, it all came full circle didn't it, even while you were thinking the whole time "Where the hell is he going with all of this?". Haha!

Director Nahnatchka Khan (center) on set 

     The premise of ALWAYS BE MY MAYBE is simple, ... perhaps in the extreme. But it's this (so-called) "simplicity" which - for me anyway - works as such an effective hook into the audience's "sense of personal familiarity". The film opens by covering the childhood-to-young-adult lives of San Francisco latchkey kid Sasha Tran (whose parents are always involved elsewhere) and next door neighbor Marcus Kim - whose family kinda / sorta comes to adopt Sasha as their surrogate own. Needless to say, spending so much time together as BFF's, Sasha and Marcus come to fall in love over the years, though neither of them realize it, ... or at least aren't willing to admit it. That is until one clumsy evening when both lose their virginity to one another and, unable to get around the initial discomfort, they go their separate ways. Years later as adults Sasha is a successful celebrity chef engaged to a famous corporate restaurateur, and Marcus runs a local business with his father (character actor fave James Saito) while performing in a talented-but-really-going-nowhere local band called "Hello Peril". The two meet, reconnect, and realize - through a series of genuinely funny and perceptive episodic ups and downs - that they're indeed soul mates destined to be together ... if each can only get out of their own way and let their hearts do the deciding rather than their uber-careful and too protective and practical minds.  Anyway, ...

Girls night out with Veronica (Michelle Buteau) and Sasha (Ali Wong)

     To a degree it's the standard "Boy meets girl; boy loses girl; boy gets girl back" paradigm we've seen in a thousand other rom-coms. But (once again for me at least) the greatness or lame-ness / success or failure in using a tried-and-true (or, hell, even played out) genre to unique effectiveness is in how you use that "tried and true"-ness to new effect. And director Nahnatchka Khan's (not only narratively, but fimically / technically profecient-as-all-hell) film tosses in a few subtle and relatively "subversive" ideas during it's clever "rom-com retread" trip.

     FIRST OF ALL it deliberately steers away from the standard and cliched' "The woman is emotionally open while the guy is emotionally closed off" bullsh*t. The best romantic films over the years have been those which have similarly veered from that stale yawner trope as well. Pull from your memory files both THE WAY WE WERE and PRETTY WOMAN as examples - where both the female and male characters suffer from a degree of narrow-mind-ed-ness, ideological extremeism and "I'm always right"-ed-ness born of a hurtful past. And how in both films the characters becoming involved with one another causes them both to reach a more realistic and life productive "middle ground". Gary Marshall's PRETTY WOMAN (1990) even goes so far as to have it's characters (one a prostitute and one a heartless corporate raider) acknowledge that " ... We both f**k people for money". Damn, Skippy!

     SECONDLY Khan's rom-com is perceptive (and funny) as all get-out in observing and making comment upon how so many relationships are built upon, ... no, not those staples we all claim to cherish - y'know, like honesty, communication and such. But how so many are more often built upon a foundation of what is not said or acknowledged: upon assumptions of that which we presume (or at least hope) the other person is obviously aware. ALWAYS BE MY MAYBE hits this particular relationship phenomena / conundrum right on the head as few films I've seen have ever done. And THIRDLY ... . And yes I know "thirdly"'s not really a word. But anyway, THIRDLY ...

And, yup! Keanu shows up too ... in perhaps his most hilarious performance since 1989's PARENTHOOD

     Khan's film does one of the best jobs I've seen in recent years of (and, yeah, it does sound like contemporary PC "inclusion" cliche') celebrating a culture. But it does so without hitting you over the head with it as if we're sitting down to fourth period junior high school Social Studies class. Sasha and Marcus are Asian-Americans (both the children of immigrants) who - while totally American-ized - also second-naturedly practice family / traditional customs in the same way in which we all do even though we really seldom realize it. At the very beginning of the film, when grammer school latchkey kid Sasha arrives home to an empty rowhouse and lets herself in, the first thing she does is remove her shoes. But it's just in the natural flow of things. No big deal is made of it. And later while helping Marcus' mother prepare dinner (a major part of the impetus which drives her to be a successful chef later in life) she's shown how Koreans often use scissors to cut ingrediants. But again this and more are almost done in a peripheral / throwaway manner as to not draw attention to itself.

     And by not making a big deal of it, the fact that these Americanized kids still hold onto certain old country ethnic traditions does become a (subtle) big deal. It reminds me of how a beloved high school teacher of mine once said she preferred thinking of America not as a "melting pot" - where all of the elements merged into one single homgenously bland new element, but more a "salad bowl" - where each ingredient maintained it's own uniqueness, and because of this the whole had a much more interestingly / multi-layered flavor than it would possess otherwise. Khan's film nicely does the same.

     So, how's that for knocking one's socks off!? 

Vivian Bang steals the show as delightfully ditzy, wanna-be "Earth Mother", Jenny

     Many such cultural traditions and more are casually sprinkled throughout the narrative and character design of the film. And they, like a properly seasoned dish or perfectly fermented and aged spirit (forgive the analogy, but I spent half my life working in restaurants!) give the film a uniqueness - an ironic normalcy - in having them there but not drawing a distractingly self-aware "Look Ma, I'm directing and making an empowering cultural point" kind of attention to themselves. For my money this is the best and most effective manner of cinematic cultural inclusion rather than turning a culture, any culture!, into an iconic untouchable "something" which borders on the mythic rather than the everyday normal.

     And, oh yeah, along those lines there are also a nifty handful of good-natured (while simultaneously acerbic) digs at cultural appropriation, assimilation and ethnic profiling too. One of the funniest and most "ouch"-like occurs during a discussion between Sasha and her "Girl Friday" assistant Veronica (portrayed by stand-up comedian / podcast host Michelle Buteau) where they're discussing the stationary on which her new Asian themed restaurant will print it's menu, and Sasha / Wong says "Nah, use the rice paper, white people eat that sh*t up!".

     Those familiar with history will also grin at how the name of Marcus / Park's Bay Area band in the film, "Hello Peril", is a twist on the xenophobic phrase "Yellow Peril" used years ago by those who feared an "Asian invasion" of the West. So, yeah, some of the humor here is surprisigly / refreshingly of the non-politically correct and polite sort. But if you know anything of the stand-up of Ali Wong, and the writing, acting and music history of Randall Park, none of this will come as any shocking surprise. More than anything, however ...

     ALWAYS BE MY MAYBE is romantic as all hell. But whether or not one sees it as such (as do I) of course depends upon one's personal definition of "romantic". For me there's nothing in the world more romantic than an extended conversation. I can count on one hand the number of times in life I've gone on dates - usually dinner - then afterwards me and the woman just walked and talked, or we'd drive to some riverside area and talk and talk and talk into the wee hours. Those times when you're so unaware that you're so in synch with each other's personalities and mindsets that not only do the hours disappear as minutes, but you don't even notice you're finishing each other's sentences, and that you're getting all of the other person's (what you both thought were) obscure references. And, hey, how your often twisted senses of humor bounce off of one another in perfect rhythm.

Character actor fave James Saito (L) and Randall Park (R) as Harry Kim and son Marcus

     The best relationships (be they longer ones or regrettably shorter ones) begin this way. And to this day I remember those kinds as being most important to my formation as a well rounded adult. Because of this I've always found the most romantic films to be those which are able to somehow bottle that lightning of "there's nothing more romantic and sexy than an extended conversation". And as such to this day "dialog rhythm heavy" romantic films like ROMAN HOLIDAY, AN AFFAIR TO REMEMBER, THE GHOST AND MRS. MUIR, THE WAY WE WERE, WHEN HARRY MET SALLY, SLEEPLESS IN SEATTLE, the underrated OSCAR AND LUCINDA, WHILE YOU WERE SLEEPING, BEFORE SUNRISE and more are the ones which have always stolen my heart. There's a real life magic in that "dialog rhythm" thing, and Khan's film captures it to great effect. So much so that I just might have to rate this one as one of my ten all time fave rom-coms ever. Yup, it's that good.

     I'll wrap things up by tossing out quick "kudos!" to a fantastic (and a most naturalistic) cast which wonderfully brings it all to life. And particular shout-outs along those lines to actress Vivian Bang - who steals every scene she's in as the charmingly "new agey" Jenny, and Keanu Reeves - who has a grand 'ol time spoofing a ficticious version of himself ... as well as self-indulgent, uber sensitive and hyper self-aware Hollywood stereotypes.

     And, oh, if you're as old as I am you'll be thrilled to see characer actor fave James Saito - who's been a fixture in everything over the last 30+ years from voicing "The Shredder" in TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES to DIE HARD WITH A VENGEANCE, THE DEVIL'S ADVOCATE, LIFE OF PI, PEARL HARBOR, and TV movies and shows such as FAREWELL TO MANZANAR, M*A*S*H, T.J. HOOKER, MIAMI VICE, IRON FIST and more. Here he plays Marcus' father. And as such it's awesomely refreshing to see him finally get to play a normal guy. His performance here makes me truly hope he gets more roles along this line. Anyway ...

     In case you couldn't tell by now, I really REALLY dig this one! Sweet where it should be, and a little sour where needed (the end title rap song "I Punched Keanu Reeves" is the damned funniest thing you'll hear all year - haha!), Nahnatchka Khan's ALWAYS BE MY MAYBE is the perfect confection for those who want a little substance, intelligence ... and a bit 'a attitude ... to go along with satisfying that cinematic sugar craving.

     CEJ

________________________________________________

Vaulted Treasures is part of The GullCottage / Sandlot - a film blog, 

cinema magazine, growing reference library and online network 

"Celebrating The Art of Cinema, ... And Cinema As Art"

Explore The GullCottage / Sandlot @

 http://www.gullcottageonline.com

"SHAFT" (2019): MAYBE NOT A "BAAAD MUTHA ...", BUT (SHUT 'YO MOUTH!) SURPRISINGLY GOOD! - by CEJ

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SHAFT
Dir. by - Tim Story

Written by - Kenya Barish 
& Alex Barnow

Based Upon the character John Shaft from the novel by Ernest Tidyman  

Prod. by - Jon Davis 

Director of Photography - 

Larry Blanford

Edited by - Peter S. Elliot 

Art Direction - 

Brittany Hites, 
Jeremy Woolsey
Music by - 
Christopher Lennertz

Running Time: 111 mins.

Released: 6/14/19 (US) 

Distributed by -

Warner Bros. (US)

Netflix (International)

GullCottage rating

(*** on a scale of 1-5)

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    Hmmm? I guess you can call Tim Story's SHAFT "The MOONRAKER of SHAFT films" in that ... . Well, MOONRAKER is a helluva fast and furiously fun action / adventure film. It's just not a really good "Bond film", is it? In fact forget "good", it's really not a Bond film at all. And if you can get around that, and maybe not count it / think of it as a "Bond film", it's really a damn enjoyable ride. Kinda the same here. But only "kinda" as there surprisingly are, believe it or not, more than a few nuggets here which do feel like vintage SHAFT - both the John Singleton 2000 film (which I really love big time as it exercised the perfect balance in bringing the Ernest Tidyman / Gordon Parks sensibility into the new millennium with style, social relevance and supreme bad-ass-ed-ness) and the original trio of 70s era mystery / actioners.

John Shaft (Samuel L. Jackson) imparts fatherly and street wisdom to
MIT / FBI analyst son JJ "John Jr." (Jessie T. Usher) 

     As such when I personally heard another SHAFT film was in the works with Sam Jackson reprising his role (and with Richard Roundtree joining the cast again) I was thrilled. When I saw the first trailer, however, which for all the world seemed to turn the character into comedy fodder, I was heartbroken ... and pissed as hell! But you can't keep a good SHAFTer down (yes, I made up that word - we'll see if it catches on, haha!), and one couldn't not see it as curiosity is the mutha of all bitches to endure. Anyway, like I said, director Tim Story's new SHAFT is a heck of a lot better (and a lot less the 48HRS. / BEVERLY HILLS COP-style comedy / actioner) than expected. And there's one thing which saves it from "lame reboot hell".

In an unintended version of THE PARENT TRAP, Maya (Regina Hall) and John (Jackson) are brought together
again when their son JJ launches a personal investigation into the suspicious death of a childhood friend. 

     It isn't that the the story is very original (because it ain't - you can see every "surprise" a mile away) or that the action is eye-dazzling (because there's really nothing new here), or that some of the humor isn't forced (because there are more than one or two scenes where it feels like the writers are trying waaay too damn hard). No, what makes this SHAFT work as a crowd pleaser is the fact that you (and yeah, I know it sounds clichéd and corny) genuinely come to love this family - three generations of Shafts (Jackson, Roundtree and Jessie Usher) with estranged mom Regina Hall trying to shield her son from her ex's "bad influence" and dangerous lifestyle.

     The official plot has Hall back in the 1990s moving herself and infant son away from baby-daddy Shaft / Jackson's dangerous world when a reprisal against him from New York drug kingpin "Gordito" Carrera (portrayed by Jim Jarmusch stalwart Isaach de Bankole') strikes too close to home. Years later 20 something year old "JJ" (John Jr. - played by Usher) - now an MIT grad genius and FBI analyst who mistakenly believes his father abandoned him and his mother - comes calling. Or more accurately he comes attempting to guilt trip dad into helping him get to the bottom of why a childhood friend - a former soldier with a connection to a veterans' drug treatment center - himself died of a highly suspicious overdose.

Isaach de Bankole' as "Gordito" Carerra

     Needless to say (and like I said, you see it coming a mile away) father and son step into a LETHAL WEAPON / FRENCH CONNECTION-like quagmire of international drug smugglers and assassins hiding behind a government shield. And (surprise, surprise!, ... well, not really) "Gordito" is the mastermind behind much of it.

     So, yeah, that's the superficial plot - and one which is very Ernest Tidyman-like. But any man, regardless of age, race, social upbringing or whatever, will recognize this story's creative raison d'état as actually being the father & son, love & hate, dialog / banter between Jackson and Usher, which is, notwithstanding the laughs, on-the money and emotionally accurate as all hell. You recognize the (I hate this damn word, but) truthiness of the back-and-forth whether you've actually had such conversations with your own father or son, or you only wish you had.  It rings as alternately heartbreakingly bitter, sweet and very often hilariously genuine in the final wash. And as such it (not unlike the dialog badminton between Robert DeNiro and Charles Grodin in Martin Brest's MIDNIGHT RUN) puts this film over and makes us give a damn about what ultimately becomes of this trio. Well, ...  what becomes of this quartet.

X-MEN's Alexandria Shipp as Sasha - childhood friend and
unadmitted / unacknowledged lifelong love of JJ's life

     It's also very much reminiscent in some ways of the multi-generational ying & yang between Matthew Broderick, Sean Connery and Dustin Hoffman in Sidney Lumet's FAMILY BUSINESS - from which I honestly believe the script here co-written by Kenya Barish (creator of TV's BLACK-ISH) deliberately borrows more from than anything in Ernest Tidyman's original novels or Gordon Parks 1971 film. But it works - as stated earlier - "even though it's not really 'SHAFT'".

     There's another awesome effin' thing this film does rather subtly and intelligently (... and hilariously too!)? It's something few of the more negative reviews making the rounds have managed to notice ... or at least acknowledge ... in their narrow minded screeds as to why if the new film fails to ape the earlier ones, it's not a success.

A history of SHAFT (in film): SHAFT (1971), SHAFT'S BIG SCORE ('72),
SHAFT IN AFRICA ('73), SHAFT (2000)

     There's a wonderful recurring "undercurrent" debate as to whether Jackson's (and ultimately Roundtree's) Shafts are now embarrassing uber-macho anachronisms lost in the modern world, ... or among the last real men (of not only action, but of conscience, decisiveness and transparency) left in America after waves of sensitivity has turned most U.S. males into beings too fearful to do or say anything which may cause them to be "media shamed" ... even if what they may say or do is the right thing. In a clever way the film (at least as far as I read it) seems to come down on both sides, leaving it up to the audience to think about it but ultimately make up their own minds. I very much like that.

A history of SHAFT (in books) - among the seven SHAFT novels by Ernest Tidyman:
SHAFT HAS A BALL (1973), GOOD-BYE, MR. SHAFT ('73),
SHAFT'S CARNIVAL OF KILLERS ('74), THE LAST SHAFT ('75)

     And (of course!) there's the music ...

     We get the expected contemporary R&B and Hip Hop songs (and updated and remixed versions of classics) along with a score by BAD MOMS, RIDE ALONG, HORRIBLE BOSSES composer Christopher Lennertz which integrates Issac Hayes' iconic "Theme From SHAFT". I mean, how can we not, right? It would be musical sacrilege to leave it out. But (for me at least) Lennertz's score ends up being more functional than creatively memorable, in contrast to say ID4, CASINO ROYALE, BABY BOY composer David Arnold's score to John Singleton's 2000 SHAFT.

     It almost feels as though Lennertz was given the edict to "give us a score which does this and this and this, and nothing more or less", and he gave it to the producers / film makers, whereas (again, as it seems to me at least) Arnold's score didn't just obligatorily infuse the "SHAFT rift" whenever Jackson kicked someone's ass up and down the street. In fact Arnold's musical take felt less like a "SHAFT score" in particular, and more like an Issac Hayes, Johnny Pate, Dave Grusin, Herbie Hancock 70s era score in general done up with contemporary orchestra and production techniques. And in so doing it brought SHAFT perfectly into the high tech 2000s, but ironically did so while remaining faithful to the same smooth retro groove of the original films.

     Arnold's score holds more of a creatively loving "neo 70s" vibe (sounding like SHAFT, THREE TOUGH GUYS, TRUCK TURNER and David Arnold all at once - and film music aficionados will recall he did a similar "groove type thang" with Singleton's FOUR BROTHERS as well!), while Lennertz's feels a little more like "a good modern impersonation of a SHAFT score". Not bad at all, mind you. But just as with a Bond score, "not bad" isn't usually good enough as the music is such an integral part of what makes a genre-unto-itself like SHAFT,  Bond, STAR TREK, STAR WARS or ROCKY work.

A history of SHAFT (in comic books) by David F. Walker & Bilquis Evely - debuted Dec. 2014.

     All in all ...

     While I'm not a fan of the more forced comedic elements in this installment (though the ones which do work are priceless! - and Samuel L. Jackson has never in his career been more simultaneously cool and hilarious in verbally dishing them out), it is director Tim Story's primary strength as a "family film" maker which brings this chapter across the finish line with it's franchise honor intact. Now, that's not "family film" as in a "for all ages" one. Hardly here! SHAFT is deservedly "R" rated. But in some respects even that at times seems forced - with characters slinging "F" bombs around when they're really not necessary. And don't get me wrong, I'm no prude. I love a good expletive-laden cop flick. But as that's not really what this film has on it's mind, the at times over-the-top verbiage does occasionally start to border on needlessly insecure overkill. Uh, uh ...

Director Tim Story (L) on set with Jessie T. Usher

     Take a look at many of director Story's other films and you'll see what I mean about how their primary strengths (as well as his as a film maker) are when he puts under the microscope the various dynamics of family - functional and dysfunctional, blood-related or surrogate. And take another look at BARBERSHOP and those two underrated FANTASIC FOUR films of his - the ones with a pre-CAPTAIN AMERICA Chris Evans as Johnny Storm / The Human Torch - for proof.

     In that regard there's a quote I've always found accurate as all get-out - "There's no such thing as 'dysfunctional' family; for better and for worse there's just 'family'". And it is this sneaky / sly and (dare I say in regards to a SHAFT film?!) old-fashioned sensibility running quietly through it's central nervous system which in the end makes this, ehhh ... reboot? ... sequel? ... rift? ... on the original(s) surprisingly enjoyable.

     "Shut 'yo mouth!" We can dig it! ;)

                                                                                                                     CEJ

________________________________________________

Vaulted Treasures is part of The GullCottage / Sandlot - a film blog, 

cinema magazine, growing reference library and online network 

"Celebrating The Art of Cinema, ... And Cinema As Art"

Explore The GullCottage / Sandlot @

 http://www.gullcottageonline.com

THE ADVENTURES OF TOM FOOLHARDY: VOL 1 -THE $1 STORE LITERARY SOCIETY - by CEJ

"One glance at a book and you hear the voice of another person, perhaps dead for
1,000 years. To read is to voyage through time" - Carl Sagan

________________________________________________

VAULTED TREASURES: MOVIES (and this time books) YOU NEVER KNEW ABOUT,
YOU FORGOT, ... OR YOU FORGOT TO LOVE MORE THE FIRST TIME AROUND!

     No secret, and sure as hell "no shame in our game", as to how I feel about the Best Buy / Wal-Mart / Rite Aid movie cheapie bin. It's a vaulted freakin' treasure trove which in a recent MOVIE SNEAK PODCAST episode we also referred to as a "cinematic well of the souls". One of the few remaining places where, since the local video store went the way of the Dodo, for less than the price of a hot dog at the movies a dyed-in-the-wool film fan can not only expose themselves to an "off the beaten track" film (or two) you won't even find on Netflix, Epix or Amazon Prime, but you can just own the damn thing too, and not ever have to worry again about it being deleted next month from a streamer's queue because they've reached the summit of their bandwidth or their contract with a particular studio goes kaput!

     Sadly for many of us the old-school book shop has in recent years faced a similar E.L.E.-like cultural demise. But if there's a "Cheapie Bin" version of a treasure trove of "off the beaten track" books one can delve into these days on a budget it's surely your local lowly Dollar Store.

"Books are a uniquely portable magic" - Stephen King /
THE NEVERENDING STORY by Michael Ende
(book 1983 / film 1984)

     Don't laugh! Over the years while picking up a few extra wine glasses for a party, gift wrap, glowing eyes for a Halloween display, pen lights or any of a dozen other things, I've come across more than a few damn good novels - hard covers, trades and paperbacks - for one slim buck which I later saw selling online or on a Barnes & Noble clearance table for $5 - $10.

     I grew up in libraries, book stores, flea markets and Friends Of The Free Library annexes. And to me there's nothing like "taking a flyer" on something you've maybe never heard of ... but it just sounds so damned fascinating. I'm all for streaming and eBooks and what have you. But there's nothing like browsing. And, uh, uh, sorry, "browsing" online isn't the same as taking the time to physically thumb through pages and volumes.

     There's a chill Zen magic in just sitting there, unbeholden to the clock (and that's what a damn good book blurb will do for 'ya), reading flaps or rear covers and deciding that "Ah, what the hell!" for a dollar you can afford to take the risk. In fact you'd be stupid not to. Think of it as a more mircocosmic (and much safer) version of skydiving, bungee jumping or leaping off a cliff into the waves.

"You don't have to burn books to destroy a culture; just get people to stop reading them" - Ray Bradbury /
THE BOOK THIEF by Markus Zusak (book 2005 / film 2013)

     Reminds me too of working in a video store back in the 80s / 90s and doing "Bad Movie Night" - where we'd try to find what had to be the worst film ever made. But, no b.s., I swear 7 times outta 10 instead of MYSTERY SCIENCE THEATER 3000-ing the evening's choice to dusty death, I and others ended up discovering something we'd love for the rest of our lives.

     The Paperback Exchange at the Willingboro Public Library, and the book shop at the no-longer-in-existence Pennsauken Mart were manna from lit heaven while growing up. Both where in South Jersey, though I'm sure you had your version of each as well. For example at the Mart you could pick up four or five paperbacks for a buck because they tore the covers off of  'em. Remember that? Anyway, nowadays at least once every month (and usually more often during the summer, go figure) I'll pick up a handful of books from the 'ol Dollar Store. I did so the other day, and the most recent haul consisted of ...


* THE JANUS AFFAIR - Never heard of this one before, but it seemed like a blast so I snagged it. Later looked it up and discovered it's the first entry in a series of cyberpunk-ish novels called THE MINISTRY OF PECULIAR OCCURENCES by New Zealand author Phiippa Ballantine. Sort of a Victorian era X-FILES it reminds me of Gavin Scott's early 1990s gem of a TV series THE SECRET ADVENTURES OF JULES VERNE. Sounds like a good time.

* THE PRINCE OF VENICE BEACH (never heard of it before either) is a 2014 "Y.A." novel by Blake Nelson. From what I understand it features sort of a male Nancy Drew type - a So Cal teen beach bum who becomes a local sleuth and ends up smack dab in the middle of the most Rubik's Cube-like of Raymond Chandler mysteries. Coolness!

* THE DEVIL'S TRAIL (2002) by Robert J. Conley. Another new title and author never before on my radar. But there's nothing like a good pulpy western fast read. And this 'un (sorry, couldn't help it!) at 250 pages looks like such a fun ride. It's about the "world's scrawniest gunslinger" who became an outlaw at 13 when he shot the man who shot his beloved dog, "Farty". Then after adventures on both sides of the law he ends up part of a posse out to collect the bounty on a legendary criminal. In the process he becomes a legend himself and, from what I gather, goes on to star in a few more novels.

* LAST PLANE TO HEAVEN (2014) is a collection of short stories by sci fi author Jay Lake. And what more can you add to that. In the words of the late great Stan Lee ... "'Nuff said!".

* ALL THE TIME IN THE WORLD (2011) is a collection of shorts by E.L. Doctorow.  And I'm seriously looking forward to this as I grew up a big time fan of Doctorow. Yeah, I'm old enough to have been around when both BILLY BATHGATE and even RAGTIME were first published. Check out their publication dates and do the math, and that's how old I am. Yeah, man, pass the AARP card and that container of Icy Hot; take it easy on the salt, ... and oh, you kids get off my damn lawn too while you're at it. Haha! Nah, seriously me and Doctorow go waaay back.

* THE NICE GUYS (2016). I love a good novelization as, if you get the perfect writer with their own literary history and voice, they'll bring a damned great vibe and / or spin to a screenplay-to-book-adaptation distinct from that of the film. Great examples include Orson Scott Card's novelization of James Cameron's THE ABYSS and pretty much anything by Alan Dean Foster (ALIEN, STARMAN, OUTLAND, CLASH OF THE TITANS).

     While I enjoy the early Shane Black scripted films such as LETHAL WEAPON and THE LAST BOY SCOUT, I absolutely love his seriously pulp inspired later day ones - which he also directed - like KISS KISS BANG BANG and THE NICE GUYS. They've got that patented Black attitude, but also a "dark maturity" which only comes with age. You can't fake that. While the earlier ones had say a smart-assed sense of humor woven into the characters, narrative and dialog, the more recent ones have a sly and cynical wit burned into their DNA which I find infinitely more interesting. Think the younger bad-asses of Tarantino's RESERVOIR DOGS and PULP FICTION as opposed to the more autumnal nature of JACKIE BROWN's older, more jaded, cynical (and yes, more human and humane) main characters. Anyway, ...

     Charles Ardai's a fascinating fellow in and of himself. And some might know / remember his name from various stories published in both the ELLERY QUEEN and ALFRED HITCHCOCK mystery magazines. But he's also the guy behind the "Hard Case Crime" imprint. Begun in 2004 it's a line of old-school 1930s / 40s era pulp-style novels - some of them reprints of classics and others new material by known authors imitatively writing in the old-school idiom. To date the hands-down most popular "Hard Cases" have been Stephen King's JOYLAND (2013) and THE COLORADO KID (2005) - the later of which was loosely adapted into the SyFy series HAVEN.

     As Shane Black is sooo in love with old-school Southern California-style pulp fiction, I'm looking forward to what Ardai brings to his THE NICE GUYS script while adapting it into straight hard boiled detective prose.

"We are of the opinion that instead of letting books grow moldy behind an iron grating, far from
the vulgar gaze, it is better to let them wear out by being read" - Jules Verne

* BONUS * And oh, yeah, to date my two most prized "Dollar Store" Holy Grails ...

* ZORRO AND THE DRAGON RIDERS (1999 / by David Bergantino) Ultra bad-ass-ed-ness here as a wealthy landowner with political ambitions gets fed up with Zorro fighting for the people and giving the peasants hope. So, he hires from Japan four Ronin samurai warriors to track down and kill the masked avenger. They set a trap for Zorro (who is actually wealthy Bruce Wayne-like Don Diego de la Vega behind the mask) by burning and looting various poor villages - knowing that he'll show up to defend the citizenry. That aforementioned bad-ass-ed-ness (swordplay and all) then ensues.

* THE DIARY OF JACK THE RIPPER (1993 / Shirley Harrison - editor) Up until stumbling across this one about ten years ago, the scariest / creepiest books I'd ever read in my entire life were Vincent Bugliosi & Curt Gentry's HELTER SKELTER, William Peter Blatty's THE EXORCIST, and Whitley Strieber's COMMUNION. Hey, say what you will about Strieber and whether or not you think his story of alien abduction is horse pucky or not. His book is terrifyingly well written. And if it doesn't give you nightmares then you just ain't human. Anyway ...

     As said those three were the scariest books I'd ever read until THE DIARY OF JACK THE RIPPER. History considers "Jack" the first modern serial killer in that he frequently contacted the local press about his crimes. And years later a diary by him was found and "authenticated". "Authenticated" is in parentheses because the genuineness of the manuscript - purportedly by James Maybrick, a London textile merchant - remains debatable.

     One third of the book is the diary itself. One third is a provenance by various experts / historians proving the validity of the journal. And one third is a debunking by just as many experts and historians who feel the journal is magnificently realized bullsh*t. Whether it's genuine or not, it's a damn fascinating and genuinely unnerving read. Pissed off that I loaned out my Dollar Store copy to a friend and never got it back. So, I had to re-purchase it via Amazon for a bit more. Oh, well. What're you gonna do, right?
¯\_(ツ)_/¯

     At any rate considering I've run out of shelf space because of volumes by Clive Cussler, Amy Tan, Nicholas Sparks, Tom Wolfe and others, as well as a truckload of authors you've probably never heard of  ... And, oh, did you know that along those lines, in addition to a TITAN A.E. novelization there was a series of three prequel novels - each centered around the three main characters from Don Bluth's animated film? How awesome is that!? But that's something I never knew until finding one of them at a Dollar Store a few years back. Anyway, with all of that in mind ...

     I've no qualms in calling the local lowly Dollar Store a buried "Well Of The Souls" treasure for great (often underappreciated) literature.

     Set aside a few preconceived notions and dive in for yourself. You may be surprised at what awaits at the bottom of that chamber. As 'ol Sallah once said to Indy ...

     "You go first". 

"Reading is a discount ticket to everywhere" - Mary Schmich

                                                                                                                   CEJ

________________________________________________

Vaulted Treasures is part of The GullCottage / Sandlot - a film blog, 

cinema magazine, growing reference library and online network 

"Celebrating The Art of Cinema, ... And Cinema As Art"

Explore The GullCottage / Sandlot @

 http://www.gullcottageonline.com