Asakusa Kid – An Incredibly Moving Biopic of Takeshi Kitano – Film Review

Posted on December 13, 2021 by ashleymanningwriter
Asakusa Kid (2021) - IMDb

Director: Gekidan Hitori

Writer: Gekidan Hitori

Starring: Yo Oizumi, Yuya Yagira, Mugi Kasowaki, Nobuyuki Tsuchiya, Ayumu Nakajima, YÅ«suke Furusawa, Honami Suzuki,

Rating: ★★★★★

Before Takeshi Kitano became an internationally acclaimed director and actor, he was, and remains, one of the most popular comedians in Japan. Outside of Japan, he is probably most well-known for Takeshi’s Castle. His autobiography, Asakusa Kid, was first published in the late 1990s, chronicling his rise to fame and success during the 1970s and the second adaptation of his book has just been released on Netflix globally.

The film is a reflective look at the beginnings of Kitano’s (Yuya Yagira) career as an elevator boy and then comedian at the strip club France-za in Asakusa. He is taken on by the owner and comedian Senzaburo Fukami (Yo Oizumi) as an apprentice, where he learns not only to tap dance, but tell jokes and take command of the stage. Not getting the audience he wants, Kitano leaves the club in search of his own success, much to the dismay of his master.

Asakusa Kid is a beautiful and moving biopic that not only shows you the beginnings of Kitano’s career, but also acts as a tribute to his teacher. This is a shared film about both of them. Fukami’s career is in decline, even before Kitano first takes the stage. People aren’t going to the club as much anymore and those that do aren’t interested in the comedy. Fukami can see the potential in Kitano and wants him to thrive, while at the same time keep the dynamic they have. It’s almost like a father/son relationship. Kitano’s actual parents are barely mentioned, instead he looks up to the older comedian.

You get really invested in their lives, very quickly. Yo Oizumi is absolutely perfect as Takeshi Kitano, he’s incredibly likable and manages to make the jokes funny when on stage. You want him to succeed and thrive. Yuyu Yagira is exceptional as Fukami, there’s a confidence that oozes from him as he teaches his apprentice how to tap dance and the fundamentals of comedy. It’s a really touching performance that is really moving throughout the story.

There are so many great scenes. There’s a scene with tap dancing in the elevator that looks magical in the way it’s presented. Director Gekidan Hitori gives certain moments a flourish of magical realism to really heighten it. There’s also bouncy and energetic music that moves throughout. As Kitano becomes more successful, he goes back to Asakusa to see his old master, and they have a touching reunion.

Even without really knowing who Takeshi Kitano is, or much about his history in comedy, Asakusa Kid, is still a touching and moving biopic. It gives you a real sense of who Kitano is and will make you want to learn more about him. It’s a truly emotional and inspiring story.

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Terror of the Killer Carnivorous Coat – Monster Mondays

Posted on December 13, 2021 by ashleymanningwriter
Terror of the Killer Carnivorous Coat (2011) - IMDb

Yes, you read that title correct. It’s a film about a killer coat. It’s pretty much exactly what you’d expect it to be, roughly half an hour of a coat killing people in elaborate ways. My wife bought this film from the Wales Comic Con last month and it took us a while but we got round to watching it. It’s ridiculous, over the top and a lot of fun.

The story is pretty much the title, there’s a killer coat on the loose. A group of friends see someone walking through the street and they’re wearing a coat, that one of them likes. The next morning he finds the coat in his room and one by one it kills and eats his friends.

The premise is silly and you know from the title alone whether you’re going to like this one or not. The coat kills people in various different ways. It lands on people, throws scissors, and even pushes someone’s batter covered hand into a deep fat fryer before eating the battered hand. It’s laugh out loud funny at points.

To be completely honest, I did start to zone out towards the end on this one. It is fun at the beginning, but even at 36 minutes, it’s a stretch to keep it up. I also spent a long time looking at the books and DVDs on their shelves to see what I could spot. They’re clearly a Farscape and Clive Barker fan.

Sadly, I don’t think this film is readily available. We got it at a convention and I’ve searched online to see if it’s available anywhere else, so I could buy it as a Christmas present, but couldn’t find it other than on YouTube. If you’re a fan of b-movies and silly horror then it’s worth checking out. It’s pretty fun.

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Mulholland Dr. – Blu Ray Review

Posted on December 12, 2021 by ashleymanningwriter
Mulholland Drive 20th Anniversary Collector's Edition (2021 Restoration) [Blu-ray]: Amazon.co.uk: Justin Theroux, Naomi Watts, Laura Elena Harring, Ann Miller, Dan Hedaya, David Lynch, Justin Theroux, Naomi Watts: DVD & Blu-ray

Director: David Lynch

Writer: David Lynch

Starring: Justin Theroux, Naomi Watts, Laura Elena Harring, Ann Miller, Robert Forster, Mark Pellegrino

Film Rating: ★★★★★

Blu Ray Rating: ★★★½ (knocked down for the unjustified £39.99 price tag)

It’s been just over twenty years since David Lynch’s Mulholland Dr. was first released. It was met with almost universal praise and a lot of confusion, since it is a film that blurs the line between dreams and reality and doesn’t explain itself. It’s still one of Lynch’s most celebrated films and has just recently received a 4K restoration from Criterion and Studio Canal that was overseen by Lynch. In the UK the set has been released by Studio Canal, in a gorgeous big box that opens up and lets you discover postcards, posters, a booklet with two interesting essays and the film itself.

After winning a dance competition, Betty (Naomi Watts) travels to Los Angeles to follow her dream of being an actor. When Betty arrives at her aunt’s house, she finds a stranger (Laura Elena Harring) inside. The night before, this strange woman was involved in a car crash, and is the sole survivor and suffering with amnesia. Betty and the stranger, who goes by Rita, try to track down Rita’s past and discover who she really is.

Like all of Lynch’s films and TV series, there is something about Mulholland Dr. that doesn’t quite feel real. There’s a sense that everything is a dream right from the opening sequence, that shows the dance competition through silhouettes and loud music. It settles you in to be completely absorbed by the world in the film. At its heart it’s a mystery about an amnesiac, while it’s also a scathing critique of the Hollywood system. There are moments of the strange and bizarre, abstract scenes that don’t seem to make sense, as well as the pulsating score from Angelo Badalamenti that perfectly punctuates Lynch’s story.  

This is something that you need to just sit back and watch, there’s a dreamlike logic to it, that when you settle into it kind of makes sense. For two decades this film has confused audiences while also being completely absorbing. Included in the booklet is ten clues to help you understand the mystery. The clues were first published shortly after the film was originally released and have been scrutinised since then to try and find a definite solution to the film. Lynch has never explained it, like with all of his films, it’s there to be interpretated by the audience and everyone picks up on different things and makes their own mind up.

Interestingly, for this director approved set, there is a featurette that explains the film. It puts forward a view and then uses the clues to back that up, before going over the film’s plot to explain it further. It’s an interesting look at Mulholland Dr., that’s open ended enough to help you develop your own opinion. The booklet presents other ideas as well, and it gives you a lot to think about.

The extras overall do feel a little lacking when compared to the recent Eraserhead and Dune re-releases. For such a seminal piece of Lynch’s filmography the featurettes feel a little bare. There’s the previously mentioned explanation featurette, plus a behind the scenes look at the making of, some interviews and another featurette that looks at the central mystery. It’s not completely exhaustive and takes around two hours to watch them all and read though the booklet. The box is also very big, for what’s inside. It looks really nice, and takes a dominant position on your shelf, but is a little disappointing to open. Over half of it is empty space.

Mulholland Dr. is a fantastic film. It’s easily one of Lynch’s best and the new release’s restoration is perfect. It looks like this could have been released today, and the sound is great. Badalamenti’s excellent score couldn’t sound better. The price tag makes this a little less desirable. It’s a lot more expensive than the other recent re-releases of Lynch’s work, but somehow contains less, even though the box is bigger. It’s more for purists. Mulholland Dr. is still something that needs to be seen. It’s one of those films that goes by so fast in a haze and you want to start it right back up again once the credits start to roll.

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Wrath of Man – Film Review

Posted on December 12, 2021 by ashleymanningwriter
Wrath of Man (2021) movie poster - Fonts In Use

Director: Guy Ritchie

Writer: Guy Ritchie, Ivan Atkinson, and Marn Davies

Starring: Jason Statham, Holt McCallany, Jeffrey Donovan, Josh Hartnett, Laz Alonso, Raúl Castillo, DeObia Oparei, Eddie Marsan and Scott Eastwood

Rating: ★★★½

It’s been over fifteen years since Guy Ritchie and Jason Statham both worked together on the divisive Revolver. In the years since they’ve both been involved in massive blockbusters, including Guy Ritchie’s Aladdin and Sherlock Holmes, Statham has starred in the Fast & Furious franchise, among countless others. Bringing them back together is Wrath of Man a part revenge thriller and part heist film, based on the French thriller Cash Truck.

A cash truck is stopped and robbed halfway through delivery, with both guards and a civilian being killed in the process. Patrick Hill (Jason Statham), nicknamed H, joins the security firm, barely making it through the tests. He’s a quiet and focused man and gets good results when further robberies are attempted. The rest of the crew start to look up to him as hero, but they also suspect there’s more to him than he lets on.

The action sequences are great. It’s Ritchie doing what he does best, creating manic and brutal sequences that are entertaining and energetic to watch. The opening moments, which shows the entire robbery from a still camera position inside the truck is intense. You get a few moments to get attached to the two guards before they are brutally murdered, and it’s not clear exactly what’s going on as you can only see it through the window of the truck and hear the criminals on their radios. Similarly, the final shoot out that everything is building towards is excellent. The killings are quick and ruthless. It’s really well shot and intense.

Jason Statham is great throughout, being an almost Terminator like character. He barely speaks for most of the film, usually just being his snarky self when he does speak. He’s funny, but it’s more restrained than in a lot of Ritchie’s films. The story is split into four chapters, with most of the comedy in the first chapter as H gets to know his new colleagues, especially at a pool game after their first shift. After that it’s pretty much just action until the end.

There are some definite pacing issues with the film, which is something that plagues a lot of Ritchie’s films. While it’s pretty much non-stop from start to finish, you do feel the length. The third chapter, showing the criminal’s motives and the heist from the beginning for a third time feels really unneeded. It could be skipped or cut completely without missing anything. The reveals happen in the fourth chapter, the set up is in the first two. It really feels bloated.

Wrath of Man is a great reunion between Statham and Ritchie. It’s pretty much what you’d expect from them both at this point. It’s well made and entertaining, but just feels too long.

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Tiger King: The Doc Antle Story – Documentary Review

Posted on December 11, 2021 by ashleymanningwriter
Tiger King: The Doc Antle Story - Rotten Tomatoes

Rating: ★★

Netflix is trying really hard to recapture the insanity of the original Tiger King show from early last year. The lacklustre second season from around a month ago has been followed up very quickly by an even smaller limited series, this time focusing on Doc Antle from the first season. It’s a story full of abuse of all forms. Doc Antle is presented in the documentary as a monster with no redeeming qualities, and it’ll leave you wondering why he’s not behind bars already.

Doc Antle and his cult-like zoo was one of the main areas the first season of Tiger King investigated, and what was shown was shocking and horrific for the people involved. This mini-series goes even further, with allegations on how he sought out potentially vulnerable underage teenager girls, and essentially brainwashed them with physical abuse and a limited diet. The damage he has caused to the people around him is horrible, especially to his ex-wives.

This is a lot darker than the other two seasons of Tiger King. Gone are the wild and larger than life characters, and the ridiculous singing. The bizarre and fun tone of the original series isn’t here and it’s not as entertaining without it. It does feel like it’s still trying to recapture the past though, there are cameos featuring Joe Exotic and Carole Baskin.

It’s important to note that Doc Antle has denied the allegations presented and has expressed regret to being involved with Tiger King. Apart from a few snippets at the beginning of this one showing Antle’s interviews since the airing of Tiger King, there really isn’t any defence of him. It’s accusation after accusation with no objectivity and it’s a lot to take in and that makes it a chore to sit through. It’s not an excuse for any of his behaviour, it just makes the same point over and over. If it’s this clear cut why isn’t he in prison?

The first two seasons of Tiger King gave a lot of time to present Joe Exotic from all angles. There are people who defended him throughout, and his past is told in detail so you get a real sense of who he is and how he ended up the way he did. They tried really hard to make him sympathetic. None of that is shown with Doc Antle, you don’t really get a good idea of who he is by the end of it, beyond being a mastermind abuser. It’s just sensationalism to sell subscriptions at this point.

The worst thing about this mini-series, is the third episode that goes into detail about one of Antle’s apprentices, Mark Topping, who died after falling from a cliff in 1989. There’s a lot of claims that Antle was involved in Topping’s death, but absolutely no evidence is presented. It’s just a string of people saying that it always seemed odd to them, but it’s not even clear if Antle was on the hiking trail with Mark when he died. The way it’s presented in the documentary is completely baseless, and that makes it pointless. The way it spends an entire episode on a tragic event, is at best a tribute to Topping who seems like a nice guy, and at worse exploiting his death to make another Tiger King episode.

At this point it feels like Netflix should let Tiger King disappear. It was lightning in a bottle at the start of lockdown that seemed to match the strange and bizarre times we were living in. Neither the second season nor this spin-off mini-series matches the original and that’ll hopefully be the end of it.

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