Boy meets girl. Boy befriends girl. Boy and girl have sex. Then boy and girl have issues. Sounds boring, right? Like something you’ve seen a million times before. Well, believe it or not it can still be interesting. FRIENDS WITH BENEFITS is a shining example of that. Starring THAT 70’s SHOW actress Mila Kunis and all around superstar Justin Timberlake, director Will Gluck, from EASY A fame, has made a wonderfully fresh and hilarious romantic comedy.

The story revolves around two people who have had consistent bad luck in the dating game. The main reason for this is their deep seated fears of commitment. Timberlake’s character is still struggling with being abandoned by his mother while Kunis is battling with the life long absence of her father. Kunis works as a headhunter who convinces Timberlake to make a cross country move from LA to New York to work for GQ magazine. After the relocation the two become close friends and convince themselves that they can easily have a sexual relationship without feelings getting in the way. However, they soon discover that sex and feelings are impossible to separate.

This film was not only funny but also heartwarming. Timberlake and Kunis played wonderfully off of each other and, despite the expected cliches, the story still felt grounded in reality. Their personalities and experiences made them relatable and therefore likable. You can clearly see why they make the decisions they do and also why their friendship is so important to them. The additions of talented actors Patricia Clarkson, as Kunis’ free spirited mother, and Woody Harrelson, as Timberlake’s outspoken gay employee, made the whole experience that much more enjoyable. You may not like romantic comedies but if you like to laugh and feel good I suggest seeing FRIENDS WITH BENEFITS.

Sci-Fi films aren’t a complex entity.  All you need is the right mixture of science & fiction and your film will not fail.  I wish this recipe for success were true for IN TIME, the new sci-fi thriller starring Justin Timberlake.

In a future where no one grows old, humanity is genetically engineered to stop aging after the age of 25. However, no one is immortal because at the age of 25 a thirteen digit “time-piece” appears on your left arm.  At that moment your time starts.  If that clock ever gets to zero, you timeout…you die.  Imagine a world where the rich can live for hundreds, even thousands of years because they come from time, the same way our silver spoons come from money.  This is a world where the poor literally live day to day earning time like minimum wage because time is money, literally.  Today a cup of coffee will cost you 3 minutes; tomorrow it could cost you 4.  When you live in a society where time is of the essence then a 1 minute increase in the cost of living could be your life.

IN TIME lacked the grandeur and momentum in screenplay ability that any great film has to keep its audience’s attention unraveled and undivided.  In layman’s terms, I was bored out of my mind. Timberlake plays Will Salas, a factory worker who’s just living minute to minute like everyone else in his time zone.  Then enters Henry Hamilton, played by Mathew Bomer, who ever so timelessly gives Will over 100 years, a reward he felt Will deserved for trying to save his life from the local gangsters.  That’s when the adventure was supposed to begin.  However, what happened was a Bonnie and Clyde symmetry, with the help of the beautiful Amanda Seyfried, that left me wondering how films like these ever get the time of day. This movie is the prime example of how a phenomenally original idea can become mediocre if executed poorly.  I felt that the movie dragged along, trying its best to intrigue the audience with its unique concept but lost originality shortly after the opening credits.

One thing is certain, Timberlake has arrived.  With previous works that have done well and being paired up strategically with the sensational Seyfried, Timberlake proved that his acting prowess and rugged bad-boy-look comes across well for the former N’SYNC singer.  So, this I promise you, Timberlake is here to stay.

Nonetheless, the only thing worse than a bad film is a film that was just above par, a film that has the potential to be great but arrives late or not all.  Director Andrew Niccol did such an amazing job on THE TRUMAN SHOW and GATTACA, and though IN TIME  had the same originality, it ran out of time on impact and impression.

Have you ever underestimated a film?  You saw the trailer and thought; “GOD, That film is going to suck!”  Well that’s exactly what happened when I saw the trailer for REAL STEEL, starring Hugh Jackman.  But I figured, why not?  I’m bored, there’s nothing else to watch, and I don’t have to teach tomorrow. My priorities are in order.

REAL STEEL is a not too distant future when boxing, karate, and mixed martial arts are a thing of the past.  In this story, men can grow up to live their fantasy of being a video game professional that control fighting robots. Jackman plays Charlie Kenton, a former boxer turned robot-controller who can’t keep a robot to save his pocket. He has gotten himself into a load of debt, and like any gambler keeps putting himself further in the red.  Enter Max Kenton, played by Dakota Goya, Charlie’s son, whom Charlie hasn’t been a father to and who throws a wrench into Charlie’s master plan of wanting to make money. How you’re asking? While breaking-in to a junk yard, there’s the father-son bonding every kid longs for: Max finds a first generation sparring robot that he wants his dad to “train” as fighter.

As I began to engage in this futuristic story of how the world of competitive fighting has went to scraps, no pun intended, something surprising happened…a decent storyline!  Wait for it…good acting! A father-son dichotomy was unique and well directed!

This underdog story has compelling characters, particularly Charlie, who realizes that in the ring of life there is no bell. It only takes a few years to become a great boxer, but it takes a lifetime to become a great man.  (And no better motivator to excel a man to achieve his manhood than the beautiful Evangeline Lilly, who brings the motherly grease-monkey love interest to the film.)  There’s also Max, who has to learn about forgiveness, patience, and the overwhelming desire to push his way into his father’s heart.  Max shows the audience that childlike faith conquers all. This film made me feel like I was watching the banter that Sly Stallone and Burgess Meredith gave us back in the 80’s. Jackman and Goya bring camaraderie to the screen that few actors have accomplished since the first Rocky.  REAL STEEL pulls at your emotional will to want the little guy to win, but opens your awareness to the real victory in and out of the ring.

Paul W.S. Anderson is continuing his action movie trend with his new feature film THE THREE MUSKETEERS.  Shifting gears from video game adaptations to books, Anderson’s take on Alexander Dumas’ swashbuckling novel has everything you’d expect in a big budget action flick.  Dirty plots, love, betrayal and elaborate fight scenes are all present and it’s the standard formula for a song and dance that Hollywood has done to death.  The finished product is quite predictable, but that being said, Anderson has still managed to make an entertaining film.

The story centers around the three down on their luck Musketeers who rally to keep France from going to war with England.  Athos, played by PRIDE AND PREJUDICE actor Matthew Macfayden, has been betrayed by the beautiful and cunning double agent Milady DeWinter, RESIDENT EVIL’s Milla Jovovich, and is coping by consuming copious amounts of alcohol.  Aramis, portrayed by up and coming actor Luke Evans, has chosen to join the clergy and pray his sorrows away while Porthos, THOR’s Ray Stevenson, has picked the route of a gigolo.  Through convenient coincidence the three friends come across hot headed youth D’Artagnan, PERCY JACKSON AND THE LIGHTNING THIEF actor Logan Lerman, and begin their quest to save France.  Their foes along the way are the sly Duke of Buckingham, LORD OF THE RINGS actor Orlando Bloom, and clever Cardinal Richelieu, INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS Academy Award winner, Christoph Waltz.

Honestly, I had low expectations going into this film and I was pleasantly surprised to find that, most of the time, I was fully engaged in the story.  The fight scenes were well placed, well choreographed and the dialogue had clever flashes of wit. The actor’s performances were decent, although it would be nice to see Christoph Waltz deviate from the personable villain persona that made him famous.  Certain parts of the story seemed to lack development, such as the love affair between D’Artagnan and the queen’s lady in waiting, but on the other hand it is an action film and the action did take precedence over some of the weaker points of the storyline.  Overall, Anderson has made a fun and solid film.  If you’re unsure of what to see this Fall and don’t mind a bit of frivolity I would recommend THE THREE MUSKETEERS.

The 2011 Busan International Film Festival (now known as BIFF) began last Thursday and continues until this Friday. I was able to attend 12 films over the course of the weekend, catching many of the movies I most wanted to see. Overall the quality was quite strong, with a number of great films that will certainly be among my favorites in what has already been a very good year in world cinema. Unlike at most festivals, I confined myself this year to all new releases, both because of their quality and because I didn’t find any of the retrospectives particularly intriguing. It was a great opportunity to see films by many acclaimed directors as well as a place to see smaller films that may not be seen or heard from again. Below is my complete list of films, in order of preference, as well as some other, smaller films I missed but of which I heard some positive notices. (more…)

Starting on October 12th and playing for just over a month at the Seoul Cinematheque is a 22-film program of Classic French Cinema. Sixteen of the films are playing with English subtitles, and include almost all of the major French directors of the time period:

Jean Renoir: BOUDU SAVED FROM DROWNING (1932), TONI (1934), LA BETE HUMAINE (1938), FRENCH CANCAN (1954)

Jean Vigo: L’ATALANTE (1934)

Sacha Guitry: FAISONS UN REVE (1936)

Jean Gremillon: L’ETRANGE MONSIEUR VICTOR (1938), LUMIERE D’ETE (1943)

Julien Duvivier: PEPE LE MOKO (1937)

Marcel Carne: HOTEL DU NORD (1938), CHILDREN OF PARADISE (1945)

Abel Gance: PARADIS PERDU (1940)

Robert Bresson: LADIES OF THE BOIS DU BOULOGNE (1945)

Jean-Pierre Melville: SILENCE OF THE SEA (1949)

Jacques Tati: JOUR DE FETE (1949)

Max Ophuls: LE PLAISIR (1952)

The complete schedule is available at their website.

Although released many months ago in the US and now out on home video, Terrence Malick’s THE TREE OF LIFE has been slow arriving to Korea. That will change next month, when the film will play the Busan film festival, and then apparently begin a theatrical run later in the month. Despite being available on video, it is a film that should be experienced theatrically. I was lucky to see it this summer in Prague, and think it may be the best film Malick has made since his masterful debut, BADLANDS, in 1973. It is a film that has been widely debated by North American critics already, and it certainly will not appeal to everyone. In fact, if you disliked his other movies from the past decade, such as THE THIN RED LINE and THE NEW WORLD, this one probably won’t change your mind. However, I feel it is a stronger film than either, with a stunning combination of grand ambition and deeply personal, emotional image-making. It has been described as religious or at least spiritual, which is true to an extent, but I think it is more accurate to see it as mythic. The following thoughts on the film are fairly personal and tangential because I find it rather impossible to appreciate this film in any other way. (MINOR SPOILERS AHEAD) (more…)

This year’s Busan International Film Festival (now BIFF, not PIFF) begins in less than three weeks on October 6th, and runs for eight full days of screenings until October 14th. A strong line-up of films again this year, a fine mix of international auteurs combined with a full slate of Korean works. Also debuting this year is a new cultural complex, the Busan Cinema Center, which will include: Cine Mountain (9 stories, ‘Haneulyeon Theater’, Midsize Theater, 2 Small Theaters, Office); Double Cone (4 stories, cafe, and restaurant); Big Roof (BIFF Public Square Roof); BIFF Hill (4 Stories, BIFF Office, Busan Cinematheque, Busan Asian Film Archive); and Small Roof (Covers the 4000 seat Outdoor Venue). The venue is widely regarded as a major architectural achievement as well. The following is a preview of my most anticipated screenings at this year’s festival. I should note that I have seen a few of the films already that otherwise would have made my list, most notably Terrence Malick’s  THE TREE OF LIFE (which I saw in Prague but has not opened in Korea yet) and Hong Sang-soo’s THE DAY HE ARRIVES. I recommend both, especially Malick’s. I’ve also included some honorable mentions. The dates and times of screenings are being released tomorrow (Wednesday, September 21st) at 5 pm local time. Tickets go on sale on-line at 9:00 am on September 28th. (more…)