Watching ‘Oldboy Anew, And The Best Movies To See In L.A. This Week

To welcome! My name is Mark Olsen. Welcome to another installment of your usual guide to the world of Just Good film.

You may have noticed that over the last few weeks we've shifted our (independent) focus here a bit and focused on highlighting what's going on in the Los Angeles local rep scene. But don't worry, that doesn't mean we ignore what's new. On the contrary: for me, mixing the old with the new, between art and current, is part of the true happiness of a life engaged in cinema. We are not giving up anytime soon.

One of the new releases this week is The Adults, the latest opus from writer-director Dustin Jay Diva. I've been a fan of his since his debut in Bad Fever in 2012, and his interesting 2017 film Person-to-Person recently debuted on HBO. (The feature and short series Defa will air on Criterion.) The new film stars Michael Cera, Hannah Gross and Sophia Lillis, three siblings who are reluctant to get back together. Nicolas Rapold recently spoke to Diva on our behalf.

As I noted in my review of the film in The Times, "With directors like Greta Gerwig, Chloe Zhao and Barry Jenkins moving from fringe industry to mainstream success, we can only hope there's a place for someone like Diva." wider audience." And so will audiences. He's long been a filmmaker in the making—Criterion is currently streaming two of his feature debuts and several of his short films—and his quiet, sensitive storytelling , the clean visual sense and polished cast continue In Deva's exploration of family with adults, it seems a troubled soul has finally found a home.

Here's the best of what's happening in Los Angeles next week.

20 year old boy

"Oldboy," directed by Park Chan-wook, was originally released in Korea in 2003 and won the Grand Prix at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival (by a jury chaired by Quentin Tarantino). To celebrate its 20th anniversary, Neon is now releasing a remastered version of the film nationwide.

"Big Boy" has been a major title in introducing Korean cinema to global audiences. It's no exaggeration to say that this movie set off a chain of events that eventually led to Bong Joon-ho's Parasite winning the 2020 Best Picture Oscar.

No one expected such a result with "Oldboy" at that time. This violent psychosexual fantasy revolves around a man (Choi Min-sik) locked against his will in a strange hotel room for 15 years. After being released, he must find a new path in this world and seek revenge for what happened to him for unknown reasons.

Carlos Aguilar wrote an excellent overview of the film and its legacy, addressing not only Park, but also Hamish McAlpine, who first distributed the film in the United States, as well as Korean film expert Sangjun Lee and American based in Seoul. journalist Darcy Paquet.

Park explained to us why the film appealed to an international audience: “Although the story is shocking, the grammar is clearly that of any film. It's not much different for Western audiences. Moreover, themes such as revenge and incest are common." Both in the East and in the West, in ancient classical works such as the Bible or Greek mythology.

Writing for The Times in 2005, Karina Chocano called the film "a surreal and violent exploration of morality, causation and the unfortunate nature of revenge".

In an interview with Chocano, Park said, "If I had to choose one phrase that appears frequently in my films, it would be a moral dilemma. We are meant to make many choices every day of our lives. And always you have to consider the ethical implications. I find it very difficult, so that's something I want to address in my film."

In many ways, Oldboy remains the defining film of Park's career. Even when I spoke to the director of the 2016 drama The Handmaiden, he still used the word "Oldboy" as a reference. As he said, "If you look at all my films, including Oldboy, the idea of ​​romance and love is at the heart. But because violence is such a bright element, it overshadows everything else."

Cormac McCarthy and "The Consultants"

As part of American cinema's permanent tribute to the late writer Cormac McCarthy, who died in June at the age of 89, "The Counselor" will be released tonight in 35mm. Directed by Ridley Scott, the film is the famous author's first original screenplay. It was also a notable failure, despite a cast that included Michael Fassbender, Cameron Diaz, Penelope Cruz, Javier Bardem and Brad Pitt.

Fassbender plays a crooked Texas lawyer who goes overboard trying to cash in on a drug deal. Everyone he meets tries to talk him out of it, but he thinks he knows better, and the consequences are devastating in ways he could never have imagined. The film has a bold visual style, hints of angst and wild flair, such as the unforgettable scene where Diaz seduces Bardem while writhing on the windshield of a Ferrari. (It's also the movie Diaz had to re-record all of her lines because she looked like Rihanna.)

In his review at the time, Kenneth Turan described the film vividly when he wrote, "Although The Counselor is as cold, subtle, and heartless as a diamond that appears briefly in its plot, it is deeply shameful. You can say, "Three beheadings and no burial," but even that doesn't give an accurate picture of your intentions.

Thanks in part to the Director's Cut's longer but quieter home video release, public opinion of the film has shifted over time, and its bleakness is now something to celebrate, perhaps pure McCarthy worldview. .

The Kinemathèque will present its slightly less sophisticated theatrical version, but that's not a bad thing since one of the strengths of the films of both versions is that they are unsustainable for audiences, which puts them in catastrophic situation. to be.

Although the film has its ups and downs, as Ridley Scott says in the DVD commentary, "It's nice to think that someone might have liked it after all the trouble."

Also on the 25th, the Kinemathèque will present No Country for Old Men, Joel and Ethan Coen's Oscar-winning adaptation of McCarthy's novel of the same name, also starring wild-haired Bardem.

Another interesting point

Musk at the University of California. The UCLA Film and Television Archive, curated by author, archivist, and filmmaker Jenny Olson and critic Mark Gardner, has launched a new series titled Masc: Trans Men, Butch Dykes, and Gender-Incompatible Heroes. In cinema. As the program notes, "six decades of film history can be expected to demand authentic and complex representations of male identity that exist outside the realm of normative cyctronic masculinity."

The series begins with two documentaries: No Ordinary Man, about jazz musician Billy Tipton; and "Chavela," about Mexican lesbian singer Chavela Vargas. Other titles in the program include the documentaries Southern Comfort, Maggots and Men by Cary Cronnowit and Pariah by Dee Reese. A screening of the rare 2001 documentary Lifetime Warranty: Frank's Adventures in Plastic, about the time musician Frank was selling Tupperware, will include a live performance by the singer-songwriter.

The series will be aired from August 19 to 25.

Superstar in Zebulon Zebulon will host a free screening of Todd Haynes' acclaimed 1988 short Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story on Friday night. This film tells the story of musician Karen Carpenter, who died in 1983 at the age of 32, but who cleverly uses a Barbie doll. (Tonight it was billed as "a real Barbie movie.") Although many people have seen the film pirated over the years due to legal complications surrounding the Carpenters' music rights, it's possible to see it in any film resolution . . big screen. Really great canvas. It's fun because the puppet production design and storytelling really pays off. The show is the first in an ongoing series to be programmed by local musician Taylor E. Porsche.

As part of their ongoing tribute to the Rialto Pictures brand, New Beverly presents on Wednesday and Thursday an impressive double cast of two films directed by Jean-Luc Godard and starring Anna Karina, who come together to capture the moments of the highs and lows of a relationship. The 1961 film A Woman Is a Woman is one of the most compelling films ever made: an adaptation of an American musical with an unmistakable romantic energy that radiates from Karina on camera to Godard when it was released the same year. and its projection in cinemas. . where he got married. Made in USA, a 1966 neo-noir thriller based on a novel by Richard Westlake, was completed around the time of the couple's divorce and captures a sense of despair and fallen emotions. (Karina died in 2019 at age 79; Godard died last year at age 91.)

I had the distinct honor of interviewing Karina when she was in Los Angeles for a series of public appearances in 2016. many years,” she said. "For the enduring appeal of working with Godard. A little bit every year and the audience is new again. Which means it's still very fresh after all these years."

"Prey " and "Predator" Because of how it turned out, "Prey" was nominated for six Emmy Awards, but we'll still claim it in the movie department. The film will be shown on Sunday at the American cinema Aero Theater. (The free event is already sold out, but there will be queues.) Directed by Dan Trachtenberg and written by Patrick Ison, Prey is an engaging addition to the Predator series, starring Amber Midthunder as a Comanche woman who starred in the Great Plains. In the early 17th century, you hunt beings from another world.

Speaking to Michael Ordonia, Midthunder said he was "delighted to see an indigenous heroine come to life at one point, who is a character in her own right and is real".

There will be a Q&A with Trachtenberg's production team, producer Jhane Myers, editor Angela Catanzaro and supervising audio editors William Files and Chris Terhune. The event also includes a screening of John McTiernan's original 1987 film Predator, with a cast that includes Arnold Schwarzenegger, Carl Weathers, Jesse Venora, Bill Duke and Shane Black.

Music video Beso! Sung by The Fun Band (Imagine Dragons cover)