Brian DePalma is my favorite director. There, I've said it. Please don't laugh. But have you seen "Scarface," "The Untouchables," "Carlito's Way," "Casualties Of War," and my fav DePalma flick: "Blow Out?"

Salon.com's review of DePalma's latest, "Femme Fatale," makes me want to see it. I was very skeptical at first. I heard DePalma had trouble finding a U.S. distributor, and that it was already released in Europe to mild acclaim (and you know what that means).

While DePalma being my favorite director doesn't mean praise for everything he does ("The Bonfire Of The Vanities," "Mission To Mars" and "The Fury" were not cinema's most enlightened moments), Fatale looks to be a decent DePalma thriller. And that's worth more than any of the junky stuff out there now. 

11:16:36 AM    Say Something []

HIFF Day 5

Sometimes it's easier for people to write about the things they hate, rather than what they like. That's why I haven't finished my mini-reviews of the past three days. I'm still finding the words that'll do those films justice. And that's why today I'm doing a write up of the movie I saw last night: "Wasabi."

Simply put, Wasabi is a no-brain movie, where nothing makes sense, characters act with no motivation, and things happen for no apparent reason. It tries to be a hard-boiled detective thriller, a buddy movie, a coming-of-age teen angst flick, and a flat-out slapstick farce. It wants to be all things to all people: mainly what the French and Japanese will probably dig.

French and Japanese? Because: 1) its star and filmmakers are from France, and 2) its co-star is Japanese and 3) the bulk of the movie takes place in Tokyo.

So why did my friends and I want to see Wasabi? Because Jean Reno ("Leon, aka The Professional," "Mission: Impossible" ) stars in it. Because Luc Besson (writer/director of "Le Femme Nikita" and the aforementioned Leon) wrote and produced it.

After leaving the theater my friends and I all made a pact, on parchment made of human skin and signed in blood: no more Reno and/or Besson movies at the film festival ... ever ... again.

"Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc" was director Besson's last bomb (and had Dustin Hoffman in the role of "The Conscience!"). I guess he's lying low by either writing and/or producing tons of french flicks. According to his profile on imdb.com, I've counted more than thirteen films currently in production (or pre-production) with his name attached. Is the director saving the good stuff for himself?

I don't know. But if he keeps pumping out crap like Wasabi, he'll soon realize that his fans won't be sticking around to find out. 

9:48:08 AM    Say Something []