In-Flight: Spring Garden

Chang-soo’s garden is nothing like the one Frances Hodgson Burnett described. Frankly, it really is not such a big plot point anyway. There is an evil influence that permeates the entire country house andsurrounding grounds So-hee inherited from her late husband. He secretly designed it to be her dream home, right down to the titular flower patch, but something went very wrong in Ku Born’s Korean horror film, Spring Garden, which is currently available on American Airlines international flights.

Tragically and inexplicably, Chang-soo committed suicide, with no apparent explanation. Naturally, his family blames So-hee, who was just as baffled. She is even more surprised to suddenly inherit her the fabulous country home he secretly designed for her, right down to the “Spring Garden.” However, bad things happen there, as viewers know from the prologue. Of course, the teenagers suffering from the terrible misadventure were also there with nasty intentions.

Eventually, So-hee starts connecting the dots between Chang-soo and the delinquents. However, In-kyeom is still way ahead of her. He is the creepy guy who always skulks around her house. He knows a lot about bad mojo. The question is whether he is fighting it or causing it—or maybe a little of both.

Admittedly, Spring Garden is a fairly convention K-horror film, but it has yet to have significant North American screenings, beyond its in-flight distribution (seriously, you never know what treasures you might find on American international flights). It was inspired by Neulbom Garden, which is allegedly one of Korea’s three most haunted locations (along with Gonjiam Asylum), but the circumstances of Baek Yool-seo’s narrative are very different than the reported Neulbom lore.

Kung Fu Rookie, from Kazakhstan

Timuchin is a prime example of the power of positive thinking. His hard head and fleet fists do not hurt either. Usually, the big city of Almaty eats county bumpkins like him for breakfast, but he is a college grad, who finished his military service and closely studied all of Jackie Chan’s old school HK movies (the good ones). Consequently, the bad guys routinely misunderestimate him in Aman Ergaziyev’s Kung Fu Rookie (a.k.a. Timuchin), which is now available on VOD.

Good natured, lunk-headed Timuchin came to Almaty to apply for the police academy, but his uncle Samat argues he should just find a girl and settle down while he still has time to enjoy starting a family. As fate would have it, Timuchin quickly meets Alua, a civilian academy employee who accepts his paperwork (after a bit of teasing). She also happens to be the daughter of a high-ranking officer and the niece of Samat’s special customer Samal. (Obviously, they are quite compatible—just look at their names.)

Of course, Timuchin won’t back down when Arsen, the neighborhood gang leader acts all thuggish. Timuchin does not look so scary, but he has the moves to teach Arsen and his henchmen a few lessons, but they refuse to learn and keep coming back for more. Eventually, they start coming for Samar and Alua.

Anuar Turizigitov’s screenplay is not exactly brilliantly original, but Ergaziyev’s fight choreography is gleefully inventive, incorporating a host of found objects into the melees. Essentially, this film is an introduction to Timur Baktybayev, to determine whether his martial arts chops and ah-shucks screen presence can carry a film. He passes the test. In fact, he aces it.

There are no special effects tricks, so somehow, Baktybayev must have the same kind of rubber bones and cement head that made Chan so entertaining in his prime. This film has been widely compared to Rumble in the Bronx, with good reason. Indeed, you can see deliberate homages in several fight sequences.

Wonder Woman: Bloodlines

Wonder Woman has always been a particularly military-friendly superhero, thanks to her close relationship with Captain Steve Trevor. Sadly, Trevor was killed in the Wonder Woman All In comic book series. Diana Prince was busy caring for their newborn child, so the killer was brought to justice in issue #16 by Detective Chimp, who is exactly what he sounds like. (Please, please Sam Liu and DC Animated, give the world a Detective Chimp movie.) This is a different timeline, but Prince and Trevor are still immediately interested in each other when he literally drops into Themyscira in Sam Liu & Justin Copeland’s Wonder Woman: Bloodlines, which deserves a re-watch today, the day Prince was originally molded out of clay. (That must have been high quality clay.)

Some kind of kaiju attack Trevor’s air squadron, but Princess Diana (the original one, who didn’t live off UK tax revenue) saves his life. Her mother Hippolyta intends to keep him imprisoned, because she fears “Man’s World.” Yet, ironically, it will be a rogue’s gallery of female supervillains who eventually threaten the hidden Amazonian civilization of Themyscira.

This is indeed a female-dominated story, except for Trevor, but he is definitely a manly kind of guy. Recognizing his sense of duty, Diana helps Trevor escape, so she can help him fight the invading monsters. Presumably, they are successful, since that subplot mysteriously vanishes.

To prepare herself for her career as a superheroine and member of the Justice League (who are mentioned in passing but never seen) Trevor places her with archaeologist Julia Kapatelis, who will teach her about our world and to learn about her civilization. Unfortunately, Kapatelis’s teen daughter feels like Diana steadily steals her mother’s affections—to an extent that creates super-villains.

Indeed, Dr. Poison and Dr. Cyber exploit her rage, mutating her into the Silver Swan. Of course, the transformation process will eventually kill her, but they do not care. They just want to use her as a pawn to find Themyscira and plunder its advanced tech.

Adapted from the Down to Earth comic story arc, Bloodlines works best when it focuses on Princess Diana’s slow-building relationship with Trevor. They really represent one of the great comic book romances. On the other hand, it is a little off-putting to hear Trevor’s intelligence colleague Etta Candy explicitly lusting after Amazons (this is a film kids will watch, after all). In contrast, the old school William Marston-esque scene of a hog-tied super-villainess come across like a knowing wink to Wonder Woman’s history.

Regardless, Rosario Dawson and Jeffrey Donovan nicely express the personas of Wonder Woman and Trevor. It is also cool to hear Michael Dorn as the fan-favorite character, Ferdinand the Minotaur.

Ash, Co-Starring Iko Uwais

The planet dubbed “Ash” by the exploratory team is admittedly a bit of a fixer-upper. The atmosphere is only partially toxic. However, by the Earth’s current standards, that sounds like a pretty good deal. Unfortunately, something else got there first, which is always how things work in movies like Flying Lotus’s Ash, which opens today in theaters.

Dozens of teams were dispatched to prospective planets in hope of finding a suitable refuge from the Earth’s imminent eco-destruction. Ash was looking like a decent candidate, until something went wrong. Riya Ortiz is not sure what happened. She came to with a severe case of amnesia amid the dead bodies of most of her fellow crew, who clearly died violent, grisly deaths.

Eventually, Brion, from their orbiting overwatch comes down to investigate. Obviously, he is a little suspicious of Ortiz and she is a little suspicious of him. He insists she keep medicating, in the hopes that it might temper her possible psychotic eruptions. Nevertheless, she keeps having flashes of memory return, which suggest something not unlike John Carpenter’s The Thing.

It is absolutely bizarre that Flying Lotus (a.k.a. Steven Ellison) gave dramatically more screentime to both Aaron Paul and Elza Gonzalez (who play Ortiz and Brion) than martial arts superstar Iko Uwais, who portrays their commander, Adhi. However, at least he gets a showcase fight sequence that shows off his skills.

To be fair, Paul portrays Brion with convincing shiftiness, but Gonzalez is no Helen Ripley—not even close. Frankly, aside from Uwais, the only crew-member contributing any charisma or screen presence would be Beulah Koale as Kevin (who also happens to be a jazz trumpeter, which is a nice bit of character development).

Most genre fans will also anticipate every beat of Jonni Remmler’s screenplay, well in advance. However, the effects and the gory fight scenes are nicely executed (especially Uwais’s, of course). Arguably, the brutal action sequences help elevate Ash above other Alien-clones (like Life).

1989: A Statesman Opens Up, on OVID.tv

When former Hungarian Prime Minister Miklos Nemeth supported reclaiming the remains of his predecessor, Imre Nagy, from an unmarked grave, so it could have a proper burial, he genuinely risked ending up in one himself. Nagy had supported democratic reforms during the 1956 Hungarian Revolution, which resulted in his trial and execution by the Soviets. Memories of ’56 brutality weighed heavily on Gorbachev when Nemeth decided to loosen restrictions in Hungary, particularly with respect to the borders. When he opened Hungary’s border with East Germany and allowed any crosser with a valid passport to proceed to any nation that would accept them, he largely rendered the Berlin Wall obsolete. At least that is how he remembers it—and he has a valid point. Nemeth looks back on his history-making years as Hungary’s final “Communist” PM in Anders Ostergaard & Erzssebet Racz’s 1989: A Statesman Opens Up, which premieres today on OVID.tv.

Nemeth always had dramatically mixed feeling about the Party. His father did not talk to him for six months after he joined. He was only selected as PM to serve as a technocratic caretaker, who would hopefully arrange more Western loans and credits. Hungary was teetering on the brink of default, so he was shocked to learn the regime spent a large fortune annually on border security—including considerable amounts for border armaments from our ally, France.

Despite clear opposition from Hungarian Party Secretary Karoly Grosz, Nemeth started scaling back border enforcement, starting with the Austrian frontier. Naturally, that alarmed the East German Party boss, Erich Honecker. Grosz was not pleased either, but he really had a fit when Nemeth supported the posthumous rehabilitation of Nagy. Grosz was not an apparatchik to trifle with. He first made a name for himself as part of the Hungarian Workers Militia, working beside the Soviet Army to hunt and kill his fellow countrymen.

Ostergaard, Racz, and Nemeth himself make a strong case the former PM has yet to get the credit he deserves for the fall of Communism. Ironically, he steadfastly advocated for free elections, even though he fully understood he would lose his position as a result. He also played Gorbachev beautifully.

Reconstruction of Occupation, on OVID.tv

Obviously, footage of the Soviet 1968 invasion of Czechoslovakia was dangerous. That is why average Czechs and Slovaks kept it hidden. It was also a valuable historical record, which is why they never destroyed it. Fifty years after the brutal repression of the Prague Spring, filmmaker Jan Sikl shaped extensive excerpts of previously unseen professional and amateur film into the documentary, Reconstruction of Occupation, which premieres tomorrow on OVID.tv.

As a collector of vintage family home movies, Sikl happened to be the guy who often got called when someone uncovered an old reel of film. However, the cache of professionally-produced newsreel footage of the invasion and subsequent protests was something else entirely. Sikl started showing clips on news shows, hoping the demonstrators captured in the act of resistance throughout his footage might come forward. Many did. So did others who were secretly holding film of their own.

Suddenly, Sikl’s small project grew considerably in scope. Like many Czechs, the events of 1968 greatly shaped Sikl’s perspective. Yet, he made a conscious effort to interview those who chose to go along, as well as those who resisted. While Sikl strived to be non-judgmental, the most memorable stories involve those who lost loved ones to the Soviet imperialist invaders. For instance, one woman remembers how her mother responded to her brother’s shooting death, by hoisting his bloody shirt outside their window like a flag—until the Party ordered it down.

It is also fascinating to hear many of the protesters differing responses to Jan Palach’s self-immolation. Some were deeply moved, while others found his suicide deeply disturbing. Yet, in all cases, they still find it acutely painful to discuss.

Centered: Joe Lieberman

Sen. Joe Lieberman was a Democrat, with both capital and small-case “D’s.” He was also a man of deep personal faith and an ardent supporter of the American military, who could often reach out to Republicans. In the year 2000, that made him a potentially game-changing running mate for presidential candidate Al Gore. However, in 2006, those same qualities made him a pariah within his own party. Yet, he remained the same man. Jonathan Gruber chronicles his career in Centered: Joe Lieberman, which will have special nationwide theatrical screenings this today and tomorrow.

Right from the start, Gruber and Lieberman’s family emphasize how his devoutly Jewish working-class parents gave him the faith and values that guided his career. He attended Yale and interned for Abraham Ribbicoff, who remains to this day, Connecticut’s first and only Jewish governor. Subsequently, a Yale Law student named Bill Clinton interned on Lieberman’s state senate campaign.

Thus, began a long, usually close alliance that threatened to fray when Lieberman publicly censured Clinton’s judgment and behavior with respects to the infamous White House intern scandal. That independence and integrity made him an attractive running mate. It also led to a close friendship and fruitful working-relationship with Republican Senator John McCain.

Frankly, the dramatic arc of Lieberman’s career sounds like the unlikely plot of an Allen Drury political thriller. Somehow, the Democratic Party’s 2000 Vice Presidential candidate lost his 2006 senate primary, only to come back and win the general election as an independent. Two years later, he endorsed the 2008 Republican Presidential candidate, McCain, who seriously considered him as his own running mate.

Oddly, Centered misses some opportunities to further burnish Lieberman’s independent credentials. While the film briefly discusses how Lieberman criticized the incumbent Republican Lowell Weicker during his initial U.S. Senate run “from the right,” he overlooks the vocal endorsement and financial support his candidacy received from conservative titan William F. Buckley. By any measure, Weicker was considered more liberal than most Democrats and took great pleasure in antagonizing conservatives. Buckley and other national conservatives recognized Lieberman’s more moderate stances on national security issues and his measured demeanor—and never regretted backing him.

Perhaps tellingly, the only Democratic political figures participating also happen to be from Connecticut or Lieberman’s various campaigns. On the other hand, GOP Senator Lindsey Graham (of South Carolina) and Amb. Cindy McCain (wife of the late Arizona Senator), discuss at length how the Democrat and his two Republican colleagues became the so-called “Three Amigos,” constantly visiting American military posts throughout the world, especially in Iraq and Afghanistan, to get a first-hand understanding of the boots-on-the-ground reality.

Somewhat oddly (given recent events), Lieberman’s steadfast support for Israel receives little attention until late in the film. However, it serves as another illustration of Lieberman’s determination to elevate principle over party, when he passionately decries his former Senate colleague Chuck Schumer, for using the October 7^th terrorist atrocities to attack Benjamin Netanyahu’s administration in Israel.

For the record, Gruber also deserves credit for previously directing several excellent documentaries related to Israel, including Follow Me: The Yoni Netanyahu Story, profiling Bibi’s fallen war-hero brother, and Upheaval: The Journey of Menachem Begin, examining the life and times of the Prime Minister who made peace (more or less) with Egypt through the Camp David Accords.

Arvo Pärt: And Then Came the Evening and the Morning

Arvo Pärt’s compositions combine elements of minimalism, the avant-garde, and sacred music, none of which particularly pleased the old Soviet cultural ministers. Yet, he became the world’s most performed composer in the years 2011-2018 and yet again in 2022. He wasn’t there yet in 1990, but Dorian Supin was present to document Pärt just as his international renown was about to explode. Supin’s intimate profile also keenly reflects the austere aesthetics of its subject. Fittingly, Supin’s Arvo Pärt: And Then Came the Evening and the Morning screens tomorrow at Anthology Film Archives, as part of a new record release.

The film starts while Pärt and his family were still in exile in West Berlin, so obviously much has changed since then. Supin had up-close, personal access, being Pärt’s brother-in-law. He also clearly understands Pärt’s music, especially its deeply spiritual resonance. Indeed, he intuitively grasped the need to hear his music as it is intended to be heard, rather than mere snippets. For instance, playing “Pari Intervallo” over the closing credits, gives it time to sink in, so the audience can get it.

Supin follows Pärt as he rehearses with large orchestras and chorale groups throughout Europe. Ironically, he contrasts Pärt’s growing prestige with man-on-the-street segments, in which nobody recognizes the composer’s name—not even musicians. Again, much has changed.

Devils Stay: A Really Dark Heart

There is no reason for this Korean horror movie to adversely affect organ donation. Donors face no risks (since they are dead already). Unfortunately, this recipient did not reject the heart from a demon-possessed girl. It turns out the invasive demon was transferred right along with it in Hyun Moon-sub’s Devils Stay, which releases tomorrow on VOD and home video.

Poor little Cha So-mi will be a nasty case of demon possession. Father Ban ought to know. He has experienced some bad ones, including his own. That is what motivated him to become an exorcist. He thought he had successfully cast out her demon, but just as the young girl started to calm, she suddenly died.

Her traditional three-day funeral will be particularly hard, because the demon still inside her body starts tormenting the mourners, especially her father, Cha Seung-do. He is also not inclined to accept anymore of Father Ban’s help, even though he is obviously in over his head. Even he will admit as much when he discovers he was set up by a mysterious satanic cultist, when he was cutting corners to arrange So-mi’s organ donor heart.

In fact, Devils Stay turns rather zeitgeisty when the shadowy satanist turns out to be Russian (in light of South Korea’s concern regarding North Korea supplying troops and arms to Russia, for their brutal war in Ukraine). The demonic particulars are also especially sinister.

Indeed, Devils Stay is an insidiously effective demonic horror film that bends (if not breaks) the template in several places. It is tense and scary—and good gosh, do we ever feel bad for the poor beleaguered Cha family.

First Look ’25: Chronicles of the Absurd

Unfortunately, for Miguel Coyula and his collaborator-muse, Lynn Cruz, being an independent artist is illegal in Cuba. That is not my analysis. Those are the words of multiple government officials whom they secretly recorded. The apparatchiks did not just tell them. They also laid down the law for photographer Javier Caso, who happens to be the brother of Anna de Armas (whose roles they approved of). You can hear the censoring and the not so veiled threats for yourself in Coyula’s documentary, Chronicles of the Absurd, which screens today as part of First Look 2025.

Shot over the course of several years, Absurd initially documents the long, arduous production of their dystopian film, Corazon Azul. Eventually, it cost Cruz her livelihood, because she was expelled from the actors’ union, but never properly informed. She even sort of successfully challenges her expulsion, winning reinstatement along with the immediate, legally required 30-days-notice of her second, permanent ejection.

Routinely, their attempts to attend screenings of their past films are blocked by cops and secret police, who refuse to identify themselves. Accustomed to the harassment, Coyula and Cruz regularly leave home with secret cell phones hidden on their bodies recording whatever might transpire. Indeed, such recordings make up nearly the film’s entire audio track. Although they have no corresponding video, they use cleverly monstrous looking stand-in icons and slyly selected photos for bureaucrats with an online footprint, creating dramatic montages.

Frankly, Absurd would be quite amusing in a farcical and aptly absurd way, if it were also not so Orwellian. Clearly, Cruz and Coyula are not paranoid. Caso similarly employs their cell phone technique to capture the secret police trying to scare him away from his longtime friends. Fortunately for Caso, his relationship with his famous sister provides him some degree of protection.

First Look ’25: The Vanguard Tapes (short)

This film couldn’t be made in the same way today. That is because the venerable Village Vanguard jazz club no longer has a kitchen—at least not one that requires a paid dish-washer. However, from 1991 to 1995, filmmaker Bill Morrison washed dishes in the Vanguard kitchen. Evidently, even back then the kitchen-area was a hang-space for musicians between sets and their guests. Morrison quickly realized he should film some of their candid banter. Jazz fans finally get to hear some of the comradery in the short film (possibly an excerpt of a longer future project) The Vanguard Tapes, which screens today as part of First Look 2025.

Jazz fans will immediately understand the appeal of this film when they hear the two most prominent voices are alto-sax player Lou Donaldson and pianist Harold Mabern. They were both amazing musicians and wonderful showmen, who routinely cracked up both their audiences and sidemen in between numbers. Whether it is Donaldson talking about playing his numbers and betting on horses, or Mabern recapping his favorite soap opera, you can understand why Morrison felt compelled to record these slices of the behind-the-scenes jazz life.

Logically, there are also very serious discussions of music. Trumpeter Danny Moore pulls no punches with his critical appraisals of Wayne Shorter and Herbie Hancock. (It should be noted, this was the early 1990s. By the late 1990s, Shorter was enjoying a career renaissance returning to the acoustic hardbop he played before his Weather Report years.)

October 8, in The Epoch Times

OCTOBER 8 is a sober and thoroughly damning examination of the hatred directed at Jews (especially Jewish students) following the horrific 10/7 Hamas attrocities. It is hard to dismiss its urgent warnings, unless you share the violent prejudice it exposes. EPOCH TIMES review up here.

Dope Thief, on Apple TV+

In 2021, a couple of Philly ex-con lunkheads like Ray Driscoll and Manny Carvalho do not have many opportunities for gainful employment while the world slowly rouses from the COVID shutdown. Conveniently, there was one business that did not observe closure mandates: drug trafficking. Posing as DEA agents, the duo shakedown marginal drug houses not affiliated with the major cartels. However, Covid still wreaked havoc on the illicit supply chains nearly as much as it did for legal trade. Consequently, when Driscoll and Carvalho unknowingly knock over a big-time meth lab, it ignites a whole lot of trouble for the product-hungry gang and even more so for themselves in creator Peter Craig’s eight-episode Dope Thief, which premieres today on Apple TV+.

Driscoll is in denial, but Carvalho recognizes this is what they do. They are not Robin Hoods. Shadowy Son Pham put them in business with fake DEA badges and bullet proof vests. They keep the cash and he flips the drugs they “confiscate.” It usually works out well, until Carvlho’s recently released friend Ricky suggests a score way outside their usual territory.

It soon becomes evident Ricky set them up when their fake bust turns into a blood bath. Driscoll and Carvalho shoot several meth heads in self-defense, including, rather awkwardly, an undercover Fed. They thought they’d also killed Mina, another undercover agent, but somehow, she slipped away, with a bullet lodged in her throat. Unfortunately, they cannot interrogate Ricky, who also took a fatal bullet. Even worse, the sinister mastermind who keeps calling Driscoll clearly knows who they are—and who they care about.

For Driscoll, that only means Theresa Bowers, his jailbird father Bart’s tough-talking girlfriend, who has raised Ray like a son. He pretends to hate his incarcerated dad, but his feelings are clearly more conflicted than he lets on. He even agrees to work with Michelle Taylor, a pro bono lawyer trying to secure Bart’s compassionate release, at Bower’s request. He will probably need her services, as the cartels, biker gangs, and the real DEA all start circling him.

Dope Thief starts off with a bang. Perhaps not so coincidentally, the first episode also happens to be directed by executive producer Ridley Scott. Frankly, he probably should have adapted Dennis Tafoya’s source novel as a feature film. Episodes one and two are gritty and tense, but the middle installments are bloated and sometimes even a little aimless. The entire subplot focusing on Mina’s recovery and quest for not exactly revenge but something sort of like that clearly feel like padding—even though Marin Ireland is quite good in the role. These detours just take the audience too far away from Driscoll and the ominous voice (who sometimes falls silent for full episodes).

On the other hand, Dustin Nguyen is a shockingly quiet scene-stealer, who often upstages his flashier co-stars as Pham, the suburban family-man gangster, whose complicated relationship with Driscoll incorporates both loyalty and exploitation.  As Driscoll, Brian Tyree Henry develops terrific chemistry with multiple cast members, definitely including Nguyen. Yet, his work alongside the wonderful Kate Mulgrew, as Bowers, really gives the series a lot of heart. This is really some of Mulgrew’s best work yet.

First Look ’25: Zodiac Killer Project

The Zodiac Killer remains America’s deadliest uncaught serial killer, so any half-baked theory about his identity deserves a Netflix documentary. At least that is what documentary filmmaker Charlie Shackleton (probably rightly) figured. Deciding to essentially “sell out” and go true crime, Shackleton tried to buy the rights to a former California highway patrolman’s expose/memoir of his off-the-books Zodiac investigation. The negotiation went smoothly until the rights-holders suddenly backed out. Undeterred, Shackleton explains the film he would have made, using material already in the public domain in Zodiac Killer Project, a sort of docu-curio that screens during this year’s First Look.

By the time the deal unexpectedly fell through Shackleton had already done a lot of prep work, including scouting locations and pre-interviewing potential on-camera subjects. The focus of his film would have been the late Lyndon Lafferty, who had a fateful encounter at a rest stop with the man who would become his prime suspect for the Zodiac murders.

Ordinarily, Highway Patrol is not in charge of serial killer investigations, but the police took his information and started sniffing around his suspect, until higher-ups declared him off limits. Considering this a cover-up, Lafferty assembled his own team, largely consisting of retired law enforcement friends, who worked the case without official sanction.

In fact, that sounds like a very commercial premise, so it is easy to understand why Shackleton thought his unmade Zodiac Killer Project could have been a nice payday. Basically, he explains shot-by-shot, what might have been. The visuals are mostly static shots of prospective locations, like the library that would have served as the police station.

Frankly, the real revelation in Zodiac Killer Project are the ways Shackleton quite offhandedly admits he would have deceived viewers and distorted the truth, for dramatic effect. For instance, he causally admits he would have implied Lafferty had been present for his suspect’s first police interview, even though he seriously doubts that was true. It just would have made better TV.

Shackleton also skewers the very genre he hoped to join, illustrating each of his hypothetical scenes with half of dozen split screens from previous true crime productions that show nearly identical imagery. It starts with the grainy, dreamlike opening credits and precedes to the description of the suspect’s hometown as “a nice play to raise a family,” but it always “had a dark side.” Plus, every other cop is nicknamed “the Bulldog.”

The World Will Tremble, in The Epoch Times

THE WORLD WILL TREMBLE presents the inspiring true story of the two Jewish escapees who first exposed the true of National Socialist concentration camps to the world. Both the subject matter and execution are quite gripping. EPOCH TIMES review up here.

Control Freak, on Hulu

If a self-help program works, you should only need to buy one book once. If it shows you how to unlock your inner potential, why keep buying a bunch of tapes and workshop tickets? Val Nguyen (which usually sounds like “Win”) is about to learn how little her empowerment babble is worth. Her family demon does not care if she awakened her giant within. As a result, today might not be the first day of the rest of her life. Instead, it might be her last, in director-screenwriter Shal Ngo’s Control Freak, which premieres today on Hulu.

Nguyen is a self-help, motivational speaker-human branding campaign on the verge of superstardom. Her upcoming tour should push her into the promised land, but she has been distracted during the final planning by a nasty itch on the back of her head. Her compulsive scratching even draws blood.

Something is very wrong, which Ngo leads viewers to suspect might in some way involve her long buried family trauma. Her mother died under mysterious circumstances, which Nguyen partially blames on her former junkie father, Sang. Perhaps he does too, since he took vows as a Buddhist monk shortly after her death. Nguyen also discovers a lot of darkly mystical documents when she rummages around his storage locker in search of her birth certificate.

Initially, Ngo mines a vein of body horror, but after the first act, he pivots to the supernatural, but with deep psychological and folk horror overtones. The audience never really thinks it all might be in her head, unless you mean the hole he is boring into it. The film also dramatically displays a deep generational divide between Nguyen’s junky “you’re good enough, you’re strong enough” pablum and her Aunt Thuy’s old school, jaded “karma will get you every time” combination of realism and superstition.

Regardless, Ngo is surprisingly successful balancing competing sources of horror. The body horror will literally give you the itch, while the bogeyman is appropriately sinister. However, it is hard to top Nguyen’s spectacular descent into madness, which, thanks to Kelly Marie Tran’s lead performance, is an absolutely spectacular cratering.

New Looney Tunes: The Day the Earth Blew Up

How can they have a Looney Tunes alien invasion movie without Marvin the Martian? Maybe there are some things he just wouldn’t do—but what might that mean for the Earth? Regardless, Daffy Duck could possibly do anything by accident, as his best friend Porky Pig knows only too well. Nevertheless, the duo will be our last and only line of defense in Peter Browngardt’s The Day the Earth Blew Up, a brand spanking new Looney Tunes feature, which opens Friday in theaters.

Like Red Planet Mars and other classic alien invasion B-movies, this Day starts in an observatory, where the “Scientist” first gets a gander at the “Invader’s” ship. Of course, you can guess what happens when he races out to its crash site. Unfortunately, it also took out a chunk of Porky & Daffy’s roof. The officious neighborhood block association president, Mrs. Grecht, is only too eager to threaten them with eviction and demolition, if they do not fix it pronto.

Of course, neither have jobs or marketable skills. However, a chance encounter with Petunia Pig lands them assembly line jobs at the Goodie Gum Factory, where she works in flavor development. She is also a little off-kilter, but she is still quite intriguing if “Pig” is part of your name, like Porky’s. As fate would have it, she cannot stand the new flavor her company just released, which secretly carries the Invader’s mind control virus. That leaves three uninfected Goodie employees to fight back—two of them stutter and the third likes to whack things with a giant hammer.

So really, what’s not to like? Clearly, Browngardt, Kevin Costello, and the rest of the platoon of co-writers channeled a lot of classic sci-fi, including Invasion of the Body Snatchers, War of the Worlds, and Carpenter’s The Thing. Outright homage is rare, but the influences are obvious.

Perhaps more importantly, this is all-new Porky and Daffy material. There is some chatter about the film “updating” the classic characters, but fans will be relieved to hear this really isn’t readily apparent. Please—enough with the fresh new “relevancy.” However, it is cool to see the well-established but under-utilized Petunia get a major, proactive role.

Indeed, the ruckus Looney Tunes spirit is alive and well. Arguably, Browngardt and company raise it to new heights with their extended regurgitation gags, which younger viewers are sure to love. Older animation fans should also appreciate some pretty impressive astronomical animation (it is not quite Chesley Bonestell-level, but it looks great on-screen).

Like Tears in Rain, on Viaplay

Rutger Hauer’s early lifestyle could fairly be described as Bohemian and he first came to international prominence in the sexually charged film Turkish Delight. Yet, he was happily married to the love of his life for forty years. One of his best friends was his brother-in-law and his other closest friends were the parents of his god-children. Fittingly, his new biographical documentary is a family affair, directed by his goddaughter. Obviously, Bladerunner will be discussed, but Sanna Fabery de Jonge devotes more time to the doting godfather she knew in Like Tears in Rain, which premieres Thursday on Viaplay.

Hauer extensively documented his personal life and film shoots as an amateur videographer, but a freak flood destroyed the bulk of his archive, robbing Fabery de Jonge of a wealth of primary sources. However, several boxes of video footage were discovered after his death, which, seen here for the first time, supply an intimate perspective on Hauer’s early life.

Young and dashing, Hauer essentially lived in a hovel and squandered his paychecks on things like motorcycles. Yet, he was charming. After buying the motorhome Fabery de Jonge’s parent put up for sale, Hauer became lifelong friends with the couple and godfather to their daughter and son. He first made friends with Ineke ten Cate’s brother, but they soon fell for each other hard. However, there was actually a first wife, with whom he had a daughter, both of whom go conspicuously unmentioned throughout Tears.

Still, Hauer’s loyalty to the people from this period of his life is quite touching. Indeed, Fabery de Jonge and ten Cate revealingly discuss how painful the Nighthawks shoot was, due to his brother-in-law’s illness. Ten Cate’s pilgrimage to the modern-day Roosevelt Island tram (the setting for his famous face-off with Stallone) was a nice touch.

From the Dutch perspective, there was one voice from Hauer’s past whose absence would be so glaring, it might have undermined the entire documentary, but Paul Verhoeven is indeed present. In fact, he rather forthrightly admits forcing Hauer to appear as yet another villain in the poorly received Flesh+Blood unfairly set back the actor’s career. It turns out their professional relationship even predates Turkish Delight, going back to the Medieval swashbuckling TV series Floris (which looks like a ton of campy fun, so a streamer like Viaplay ought to consider picking it up).

SXSW ’25: Mola

Kunsang Wangmo turned 100 in 2015. If Tibetan Buddhist nun had not left Tibet shortly after the CCP’s occupation, she probably would not have survived to 50. However, reaching her centennial made her keenly aware of her mortality. She wished to return home for her death and reincarnation, but the Beijing regime strictly controls access to the captive Tibetan nation. Her granddaughter and Swiss son-in-law document her preparation for her final journeys. One will only be a matter of time, but they hope she can also make the arduous trek back to Lhasa before that happens in Yangzom & Martin Brauen’s Mola: A Tibetan Tale of Love and Loss, which screens during the 2025 SXSW Film Festival.

Most of her family and the Tibetan community in Switzerland simply know her as “Mola,” or grandmother. She has lived in the land of neutrality with her daughter, artist Sonam Dola Brauen and her son-in-law Martin for forty-five years. First, she and Sonam Dola fled through India, where her daughter eventually met Brauen, who was doing field work in Mussoorie.

Clearly, the mother-daughter relationship has its share of stresses and strains. That happens to most people, even if those who need not adjust to life in exile. However, her son-in-law always seems to maintain good terms with “Mola,” while granddaughter, director-thesp Yangzom, never directly appears on-camera.

Regardless, Mola appears quite spry and alert for her age and she largely maintains a healthy spirit. According to her own testimony, her faith helps sustain her. Still, it is hard to get around the significance of her approaching milestone. Switzerland’s neutrality ought to make her visa application easier, but her history obviously raises many red flags (so to speak).

SXSW ’25: Video Barn (short)

1980s video stores probably did more to spread horror stories than even the campfire. Genre fans are also nostalgic by nature, so it makes sense the old school video store is a staple of retro horror movies. After all, we all remember discovering many of our favorites through VHS rentals. This store has seen better days, so maybe the 1990s have already arrived, but the aesthetic is still very 80s in Bianca Poletti’s short film Video Barn, which screens during the 2025 SXSW Film Festival.

Like usual. Hannah is working late with her friend Jules at the Video Barn, but tonight she will sneak off early to see her boyfriend before he leaves for college. While left alone, a mysterious VHS tape seems to be calling her. She presses play.

When we next see Hannah, she is working the late shift with only her guilt for company. Jules has been missing so long, the media clearly assumes the worst. Her only customer sneaks behind the notorious old video store curtain (so you know what he came to browse).

Throughout Video Barn, Poletti displays a keen feel for the VHS era. Frankly, this is one of the better VHS-themed horror films, of any length. It is not quite as much fun as Beyond the Gates, but it is about on par with Scare Package and vastly superior to its ill-conceived sequel. (Yet, one of the best VHS horror productions was not even a movie, it was the Shudder podcast, Video Palace.)

Supergirl (Pilot), at Paley Center

It is hard to believe today, but CBS actually cancelled The Amazing Spiderman, even though it was a hit, because it did not want to be typecast as the “superhero network,” since they were already home to The Incredible Hulk and Wonder Woman. Most networks would love to have that problem today (or at least they would have a few years ago, before Disney+’s Marvel shows stunk up the joint). Yet, the same CBS let Supergirl fly off the CW after one season, because it was getting CW-level ratings. However, you can tell from the pilot episode how co-creators Ali Adler, Greg Berlanti, and Andrew Kreisberg planned to use Kara Zor-El’s relationship to her super-cousin, without Superman actually appearing. She would have preferred “Superwoman,” but the press went with Supergirl, so the pilot fittingly screens at the Paley Center as part of its “Girl Power” programming.

The biggest winner of the multiversal idiosyncrasies of Earth-38 (a.k.a. Earth-CBS) had to be Jimmy Olsen, who is now Pulitzer Prize winner James Olsen, who is also cuts quite a figure judging mild-mannered executive assistant Kara Danvers’ reaction when he transfers from the Daily Planet to her faltering paper. Danvers was set to Earth to protect her infant cousin, Kal-El, but Krypton’s explosion sent her pod careening into the Phantom Zone. By the time it came out, her little cousin was all grown-up and saving the world.

Danvers never really used her powers, preferring to grow up normal. Of course, her sister Alex and parent Eliza and Dr. Jeremiah Danvers (played by Helen Slater of the original Supergirl movie and Dean Cain from Lois and Clark) know she is different, but respect her choices. However, when Danvers hears her sister’s flight in crisis, she leaps into action to save it.  Unfortunately, that also announces her presence to a cabal of Zod-like Kryptonian criminals planning their own escape from the Phantom Zone.

It turns out flying is like riding a bike, but a lot of the other superheroing stuff can be difficult when you’re out of practice. Danvers is no Ralph Hinkley (The Greatest American Hero), but she looks credibly tentative during the pilot. However, the best parts involve the many clever Superman references and the way Kal-El offers support through his pal Jimmy Olsen, without overshadowing her turn in the solo spotlight. Obviously, his eventual appearance will be a big deal, which did not happen until Tyler Hoechlin guest-starred in season two—and later spun-off into Superman & Lois.

Soldiers of Song

Presumably, Putin and his trolls would say Ukraine’s music would be no match for Russia’s advanced weaponry. Yet, here we are, going into 1,107^th day of Putin’s 2-day war. We have also seen Ukrainian farmers carting off the wreckage of Russian tanks on their tractors. Meanwhile, Russia cannot shut up Ukraine’s defiant musicians. Ryan Smith documents the role Ukrainian musicians play both within the military and on the homefront in Soldiers of Song, a documentary supported by the Governor George Pataki Leadership Center, which releases today on VOD.

Think of it as “soft power” that turned hard as a diamond. When Putin launched his illegal invasion, Ukraine’s musicians were just as shocked as the rest of the world, but they found their talent could bolster spirits in bomb-shelter and on the streets (when not under artillery barrages). Soon, the Ukrainian military formed special musician’s units to maintain morale. Do not even consider accusing them of wokeism. The American military has many special active duty bands, many of which have histories dating back decades or even centuries. Remember the Spirit of ’76 is literally a fife and drum trio.

The Ukrainian musical morale-boosters take on many different roles. Some are enlisted, while others, like Svitlana Tarabarova perform in USO-like battlefield tours. The music also varies considerably. Tarabarova is sort of a Ukrainian Taylor Swift, who used to perform relationship-themed singer-songwriter-style pop. However, her music has recently taken a more serious turn (for obvious reasons). In contrast, Slava Vakarchuk and the band Okean Elzy rock hard, but can also go acoustic (they no longer tour Russia, where they built a substantial fanbase, again for obvious reasons).

Tragically, the war came to Vasyl Kryachok, artistic director of the Mariupol Chamber Philharmonic, when Russia dropped a bomb on the Mariupol Theater, while 1,200 fellow musicians, staff members, artists, and their families were sheltering in its basement. He is currently in-residence with the Kyiv Chamber Orchestra, yet again, for obvious reasons.

Perhaps the most personal and dramatic story is that of Sergiy Ivanchuk, an opera singer in training, happened to be evacuating a clinic when he was sprayed with five bullets, one of which was perilously near his spine. Fortunately, one of the doctors patched him up enough to save his lung. Nevertheless, his recovery, including a return to performances, is almost miraculous.

Meeting with Pol Pot (Rendez-Vous), in The Epoch Times

Rithy Panh's MEETING WITH POL POT is a withering indictment of the Khmer Rouge's collectivist madness as well as the media's willingness to obscure the truth for ideological reasons. EPOCH TIMES Rendez-Vous with French Cinema review up here.

Rendez-Vous ’25: The Second Act

Is it personal for these characters, or do the thesps playing them just hate their screenplay? Maybe it’s a little of both. Either way, it will be a rocky stop-and-start shoot in Quentin Dupieux’s The Second Act, which screens during this year’s Rendez-Vous with French Cinema.

Guillaume Tardieu does not think much of the man dating his daughter and he likes the actor playing him even less. He makes that clear whenever he breaks character, which is often. He is relatively okay with Florence Drucker, who plays his daughter, probably because she is a pretty big star. Regardless, he is much more interested in the upcoming Paul Thomas Anderson he claims he just signed onto.

Second Actis sort of meta, but much less so than many of Dupieux’s previous films. Reality and the film production are supposed to blend together as the actors break character and the fourth wall. However, it is way too easy to tell who is talking, actor or character. That means no bending of minds, let alone blowing them. It all just plays out like an extremely uncomfortable “making of” feature.

I Am Raquel Welch, on CW

Hammer Films made her a super-star, but not in a horror movie. She broke out in a big way in a silly prehistoric epic, thanks to her cave-woman bikini. She immediately became an international celebrity and pin-up poster queen. Yet, the films she made at the height of her fame were of inconsistent quality, for reasons beyond her control. Whether they were fans or not, viewers should feel fresh new respect watching Olivia Cheng’s I Am Raquel Welch, which premieres Saturday on CW.

Everyone knew Welch had a bombshell figure. Even if they hadn’t seen One Million Years B.C., they knew the posters. Unfortunately, she still had to sit through ogling interview from talk show hosts acting like horny teen boys. However, the same guest they were drooling over was already a single mother when she arrived in Hollywood.

Cheng and company do an okay job covering Welch’s most notable films, including B.C., 100 Rifles (wherein she shared an interracial kiss with James Brown), Kansas City Bomber (which she also produced, before producing was the norm for big stars), and The Three Musketeers, for which she won a Golden Globe. Unfortunately, they gloss over her early but substantial role in Fantastic Voyage, which is still a really cool sf film and Bluebeard (the closest she got to the horror genre).

Ironically, some of the best analysis focuses on a film Welch never appeared in. When MGM fired her from Cannery Row, despite her legally binding contract, she sued for breach and on age-discrimination grounds, winning a legal victory that would become an important precedent. (The truth is, all those big business villains Hollywood like to portray are really just the studios and stars projecting their own questionable ethics and practices onto more reputable industries.)

Indeed, Hollywood studios did not do Welch a lot of favors. She was one of the last big stars who was still signed to an old-fashioned studio contract when her fame initially exploded. Unfortunately, that meant she made a lot of films that were better for the studio than her long-term career.

NYICFF ’25: Living Large

Growing up can be tough, but everyone is expected to do it. Let’s be honest, some people, maybe a lot of them, never really get it right. Maybe that is why there will always be an audience for coming-of-age films. Indeed, any American can relate to this film, even though it was made by Czech animators and based on a French novel. Ben Pipetka has good friends and both musical and culinary talent, but he is a fat kid, so he gets bullied. However, he tries to take back control over his life in Kristina Dufcova’s Living Large which screens as part of the 2025 New York International Children’s Film Festival.

Luckily for Pipetka’s veterinarian mom, he is the one who does most of the cooking—using a lot of butter. He also fixes himself big breakfasts and substantial snacks throughout the day. The audience does not need the school nurse to tell us he is overweight, but in the wrong hands, her note prompts some nasty bullying. Eventually, things get so bad, Pipetka considers visiting a weight-loss doctor recommended by his divorced father Cyril and his new girlfriend Sofie.

Obviously, losing weight is difficult, given Pipetka’s sweet tooth and sophisticated palate. However, he has powerful motivation. Her name is Klara Laboutkova and she is unusually friendly for a girl. So much so, Pipetka thinks he might have a shot—even though her jerky bother is one of his biggest tormentors.

So yes, Living Large is thematically familiar—you might also say timeless. His story feels like a warm well-worn John Hughes sweater, especially when he rehearses his garage band with his friends, Erik Poupe, and his sister Sonia Poupetova.

Dufcova’s stop-motion characters have a slightly dirtier, sweatier look and vibe than other previous clay animation figures. It has a bit of a grungy look, but it rather suits its hormonally-charged angst-ridden teenagers. You could almost compare it to Welcome Back Kotter, but Dufcova and co-screenwriters Petr Jarchovsky, Barbora Drevikowska, and Anna Vasova only intermittently aim for laughs.

Douglas in Cancelled, on BritBox

Douglas Bellowes is supposed to be the one ruining lives, because he works in media. As far as the veteran TV presenter is concerned, he is the media. Wisely, the British apply the term “journalist” more sparingly, especially for television talking heads. His wife, Sheila, the editor of a bottom-feeding tabloid frankly does not deserve such a title either. However, they find the cancellation is on the other foot in writer-creator Steven Moffat’s four-part Douglas is Cancelled, which premieres tomorrow on BritBox.

The veteran’s TV host’s career is stronger than ever thanks to his on-air partnership with Madeline Crow. She happens to be a much younger woman—demographic facts that will become extremely significant. Then one day, Bellowes finds himself in the middle of a social media firestorm when a post accuses him of making misogynistic joke.

Was it really misogynistic, or was it merely sexist? Bellowes believes that is an important distinction, but he cannot judge for himself, because he was too drunk to remember what he might have said at that fateful wedding reception. Regardless, he knows he didn’t say it, whatever it might have been.

Unfortunately, Bellowes’ agent is completely useless, but his wife is intimately familiar with such scenarios, so she knows they always end badly. However, he can count on Crow’s support—or can he? Frankly, it is hard to tell, because her tweet supposedly defending him could be interpreted several ways.

Douglas is Cancelled is sort of like the Oleanna of cancel-culture. A lot of assumptions and interpretations change as Moffat alters viewers’ vantage points. Instead of choosing sides, the audience should just enjoy the carnage.

Bellowes is truly insufferable, but he is surrounded by mendacity, hypocrisy, and bile. To some extent, Moffat critiques online cancel culture, but even more so, he truly excoriates wokeness. There are no villains, per se, but Bellowes’ social justice warrior college student daughter Claudia is often pretty scary and always totally ridiculous. This brutally hilarious exchange with her father scathingly satirizes her extremism:

“Gay people are executed everywhere dad.”
“No they aren’t. Would you like a list of countries where they’re executed?”
“No”
“Why not?”
“Because its racist!”

Hugh Bonneville (a.k.a. Lord Granville) is perfectly cast as the pompous Bellowes. He does a great job both delivering punch lines and serving as the butt of jokes. Bonneville’s portrayal also makes it clear Bellowes is a twit, but not an idiot. You definitely pick up on his desperate drive to survive.

Maya, Give Me a Title (NYICFF '25), in Cinema Daily US

Michel Gondry assembled MAYA, GIVE ME A TITLE out of cut-out aniated shorts originally produced for an audiience lof one. However, many kids and animation fans will appreciate his mock epics, absurd humor, and fatherly love (not just his daughter). CINEMA DAILY US NYICFF '25 review up here.

Between Borders: Seeking Asylum from Russian Oppression

If ever there were a people who could lay claim to the title of history’s greatest victims, it just might be the Armenians. They survived the Ottoman Empire’s systemic campaign of genocide and endured oppression in the Soviet Union, Azerbaijan, Russia, and Iran. Yet, instead of wallowing in self-pity or lashing out in violence, the Petrosyan family just wants to be left alone. Nevertheless, they must prove their oppressed status during an asylum hearing in Mark Freiburger’s Between Borders, which releases today on VOD.

Ivan Petrosyan is a literal rocket science who works for the Soviet space program. His wife Violetta is a school principal. Yet, despite their advanced education, they never feel comfortable in their Azerbaijani society, outside their Armenian enclave. Even though the Soviet Union still technically exists, it is too preoccupied with its own collapse to care about reignited tensions over Nagorno-Karabakh. The Petrosyans have been through this before, expecting the evil imperial government would oncde again tamp down hostilities. However, this time is different.

First, they lose their jobs. Then their neighbors are killed in cold blood. That snaps them out of their denial, so they join Violetta’s parents in Russia. Technically, the Russian government accepts them, but Russian is openly hostile, especially the corrupt cops. However, her parents’ church, with the support of their American benefactors, offer the Petrosyans crucial material and spiritual support. In fact, they are so struck by the Chruch’s generosity, their faith slowly switches from Communism to Christianity.

Yes, this is basically a faith-based film, but it is an unusually competent one. The message is rarely in viewers faces. Yet, somewhat unexpectedly, one of the film’s greatest, most genuinely touching scene focuses on Duane, an American volunteer, who explains to Ivan how he seeks to serve as a means of honoring his late wife. Seriously, this is a no-dry-eyes scene that Stelio Savante absolutely nails.

You Must Take Part in Revolution, Graphic Novel

In the near-future, will Hong Kong even have a future? Only a grim, dystopian one, at least as it is envisioned by dissident Chinese artist Badiucao (now based in Australia) and Hong Kong-born American journalist Melissa Chan. In fact, the outlook for freedom and democracy in general is rather pessimistic in Chan’s graphic novel, You Must Take Part in Revolution, illustrated by Badiucao (a pseudonym for his own protection), which goes on-sale today wherever books and comics are sold.

Chan and Badiucao, closely collaborating on the book’s editorial direction, slightly alter the history of the 2019 Umbrella Movement, to heighten the Orwellian implications of the resulting chain of events. The student activists scrupulously avoided any form of violence, fully understanding the Chinese Communist Party would seize on such actions to justify a brutal crackdown. Unfortunately, that is exactly what they did anyway.

Andy, an American expat, whose parents immigrated to American after participating in the Tiananmen Square protests, joins the Umbrella Movement, feeling an apostolic connection to their idealistic but ill-fated activism (Tiananmen looms large throughout the graphic novel). He quickly befriends Olvia and Maggie, but their lives divert in very different directions after the clampdown. Olivia presumably disappears into Taiwan, but Maggie is arrested for planting an explosive device on a police car, which unintentionally kills a father and his young child.

Andy cannot forgive her for betraying their ideals and giving the Party an excuse. Neither can she, but the years Maggie spends laboring in slave-like condition while confined to a political prison will give her time to seek some kind of atonement. Fortunately, the Tibetan in the neighboring cell helps her navigate her journey within. Andy also evolves, undergoing American military commando training, in hopes of liberating the now divided island of Taiwan.

If you want to read something depressing, You Must Take Part in Revolution (ironically taking its title from a Mao quotation) will surely do the trick. Basically, it imagines a world in which China grows increasingly aggressive and oppressive, because America so thoroughly compromised its own democratic principles to effectively oppose it on the world stage.

It would be nice to argue they overstate the fascist potential of Pres. Schroeder, who is repeatedly identified as Trump’s spiritual heir (but she is a woman, so, yay, glass ceiling broken). Unfortunately, that is a much tougher case to make in the wake of the Ukrainian horror show in the Oval Office. Nevertheless, Chan unambiguously indicts the CCP oppression of Hong Kong, Tibet, and Xinjiang, while also depicting ominously ever-present Chinese surveillance.