One of the things that I always love about Stephen Chow’s movies is that he never forgets that he is making a movie. What I mean by that is that rather than trying to fit into some kind of “realistic” mode which seems to be all the rage now, Chow is willing to recognize and accept his films for the fantasies that they are, and to do whatever seems appropriate to tell the story that he wants to. This has been true throughout his career, and is just as evident in his newest release, The Mermaid.
The Mermaid is actually many films (and styles of film) brought together in a way that on paper might seem as though they would irredeemably clash, but in the course of the movie, they never actually do. It is, at heart, a fantasy retelling of The Little Mermaid – along with a splash of Romeo and Juliet style rom-com thrown in for good measure. It is also an industrial espionage movie. It’s a bit of a Jackie-Chan style kung fu movie. And it’s an ecological horror/message film.
Mostly, though, it’s simply an at times laugh-out-loud comedy.
And a Stephen Chow film.
What all of this means, and what any potential viewer needs to know going in is that you’re going to see a style of mostly-fantasy film that – if you’re unfamiliar with Chow’s previous work – especially, say, Kung Fu Hustle (though The Mermaid is not as egregiously indulgent as that one) – that requires the viewer to buy into over the top effects, including both obvious wire work and at times extremely obvious and purposefully so CGI effects. If you’re not willing to do that, then you’re likely going to come away hating this movie.
If, on the other hand you’re willing to make that buy-in and simply let Chow take you where he wants to however he feels is necessary to get the job done, then you’re in for a true treat.
The actual basics of the story line are pretty simple: a wealthy playboy-type businessman has set up a series of extreme sonar like devices around an island that he has managed to acquire in order to drive off the dolphins in the surrounding waters so that he can get a development permit without having to worry about environmentalists protesting his development of the area.
Unfortunately, unbeknownst to him – or to anyone else – the area is also the home to a clan of mermaids (and, for some reason an especially war hungry half-human octopus), and the sonar are having a devastating effect on them, killing them slowly, much as if the water had been poisoned.
In order to put an end to this, the mermaids have come up with a plan – they will send one of their own to the surface to seduce the businessman Mata Hari style and then lure them back to their home where they will subsequently kill him.
It’s a good plan, and one that seems to be working, until the mermaid seductress and the businessman actually fall immediately in love with each other and it seems that she may not be able to carry out her part of the assassination plot after all.
Also, just for good measure, you need to throw in a group of renegade scientists who seem to be hell-bent on both capturing and killing off the mermaids, some inept policemen who are at first unable to even understand the concept of a mermaid and then find the businessman’s story of having been kidnapped by them truly laughable, and one truly incredible mer-fu wielding Big-Mama mermaid.
So what you really have here is what in America will probably be a little seen quirky import comedy that will quickly for the most part make the rounds of the usual art-house type cinemas and than disappear largely unknown.
In China however…
In China The Mermaid was released on February 8, 2016. Upon release, it broke numerous box office records such as the biggest opening day and the biggest single day gross through its seventh day of release and had the biggest opening week of all time. On February 19 it became the country’s highest-grossing film.
Here are some numbers for you courtesy of Wikipedia:
The Mermaid recorded an opening day record of US$40.9 million, which is the biggest opening day for a Chinese film and the second biggest of all time there only behind the opening day of Furious 7. US$1 million came from midnight screenings. It set a new record for the fastest film to earn CN¥1 billion (US$152.4 million), doing so in just 4 days of release, and also recorded the largest 5-days gross (US$187.3 million). Through its seven day opening week, it grossed a total of $275.1 million, breaking records for the biggest seven day gross and the biggest-opening week of all time in China (breaking Furious 7) and the third biggest of all time, behind Hollywood films Star Wars: The Force Awakens (US$390.8 million) and Jurassic orld (US$296.2 million). It grossed US$120.4 million alone for the three-day opening weekend (Friday to Sunday), which is the biggest of all time in China and the second biggest three-day gross behind Furious 7‘s Saturday to Monday gross. This along with From Vegas to Macau III (US$119 million) and The Monkey King 2 (US$116 million) helped Chinese box office break the Guinness World Record for the biggest box office week with $548 million from February 8 – 14, 2016. The previous record was set during the week of December 26, 2015 – January 1, 2016 when Star Wars: The Force Awakens led the box office with US$261 million and the box office that week totaled US$529.6 million. And the previous biggest Chinese box office week was set in July 2015 when Monster Hunt, Pancake Man, and Monkey King: Hero is Back, combined for a then total US$253 million during their first week. On February 19 – 12 days after release – the film became the highest-grossing film in China with CN¥2.45 billion, overtaking the previous record holder, Monster Hunt.
Yeah, you could say it’s big. And in my opinion, it deserves to be much bigger than it will surely turn out to be in the US, too.
Oh, and a couple of other quick notes: with a running time of only 94 minutes. The Mermaid also breaks with much modern blockbuster fare in that it does an excellent job of getting in, telling its story, and getting out. There is no bloat about this movie.
Also, I do feel that I should warn you that there are a couple of quite violent scenes that – while definitely in keeping with both the tone and the message of what is going on in the film at the time may disturb some more sensitive viewers and really may keep this from being, in some viewers’ eyes, truly family friendly – especially for the youngest of viewers.
And last, but definitely not least, I want to take a moment to praise the work of newcomer actress Lin Yun who plays Shan, the somewhat reluctant mermaid seductress/assassin. Yun was selected by Chow and his casting team from over 120,000 participants due to her demure personality in a talent contest held in Shenzhen, China, and throughout what was reportedly a grueling shoot which saw her repeatedly bruised and injured, she never loses the sense of charm and innocence that is necessary to pull off the role.
So, if you’re in the mood for a fantasy film that truly embraces the fantastical, yet is also much more than that, I highly recommend going to see The Mermaid if you happen to see it pop up anywhere near you. I promise you won’t be disappointed.
Here’s a trailer:
So if you take two of the most popular and terrifying horror franchises ever produced and have the main characters come into conflict with each other what do you get? Well, if you’re talking about what’s come to be known as J-Horror, and those franchises are Ringu and Ju-On – or as they became known in the U.S., The Ring and The Grudge – you get Sadako vs Kayako, due for a release in Japan in June.
Okay, let’s take a look at 2014’s The Judge and see what we’ve got here:
Roger Michell’s 2006 film Venus could very easily have been your typical May-December romance/coming of age story, but fortunately it isn’t, largely thanks not only to an inspired performance by the always fascinating Peter O’Toole, but a much surprising turn by Jodie Whittaker as the young object of his affection – actually, that affection is accompanied by a healthy dose of lust – Jessie.
It’s not long before Jessie is actually spending more time with Maurice than with Ian, and during one of their outings, he takes her to see his favorite painting, Diego Velázquez’s Rokeby Venus. Ian also encourages Jessie, who has stated that she wants to be a model to pose nude for an arts class, though one suspects – since he is a participant in the class – that his real motive in doing so is to be able to study the young girl’s body which he eventually admits that he has been fantasizing about.
Unfortunately, things eventually come to a head when Jessie brings her new young lover to Maurice’s flat, seeking a place where they can make love together. Though he initially complies and begins to take a walk to give the two time to be together, he soon decides that he cannot abide it, and returns to confront the two. This leads to a physical confrontation which leaves Maurice gravely injured.
The person who really deserves more credit here though is Jodie Whittaker who truly steals not just Maurice’s heart, but the entire film. Whittaker brings to the role of Josie just the right blend of brokenness and brashness that takes her character far beyond the cardboard cutout that one might expect. Obviously, simply having to share the screen with a legend like O’Toole brings an inherent challenge for any actor in that they are likely to simply be overshadowed by the mere presence of the actor, but that never happens. Instead her portrayal is strong enough that there is no question at all why Maurice is drawn to her and is willing to go to the lengths he does just to spend more time with her.
There have been so many different adaptations, interpretations and reiterations of the stories of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s great detective that it is often quite nearly impossible to keep up with them. Wikipedia lists the first filmed Holmes story as 1900’s Sherlock Holmes Baffled, and since that time there must have been hundreds of different actors portraying the famed investigator right up to last year’s entry starring Robert Downey Jr. Some of these interpretations, of course, have been more faithful (and some more successful) than others. 
Of course, a large part of the credit for this must go to the screenwriters who have hewn fairly closely to the original source material, in this case, Doyle’s fourth Holmes novel, The Valley of Fear. One of the trickier aspects of any Holmes story is that since he is truly smarter than anyone else in the room (unless, of course, his brother Mycroft also happens to be present), he has often already figured out the main puzzle of the story before the explanation of the situation is finished. That is why he works better in a short story format than in a longer work such as a novel or film, and why, so often, those longer works feel padded with action scenes or obstacles that do not really belong. In this particular instance, Doyle figured out a unique way to lengthen the story. Almost one third of the book is taken up by an extended flashback to Holmes’s client’s past as a miner in the U.S. The movie makers have kept this flashback, and though it does cause the film to drag a bit in the middle, it also gives the film a feeling of having more substance than other efforts at padding. On the flip side, the producers also felt the need to include Holmes’ arch-nemesis Professor Moriarty in the film, when he does not appear in the original story, but that change does not distract too much from the overall quality of the film.
There are times when eating is simply about fueling up the body for whatever is to come next.
In other words, we’re talking about a dish that not only fulfills the body’s need for energy, but one which, if made and approached correctly, can be a delight for all the senses.
But that’s just the main plot. Interspersed within that are small vignettes which bring the true sensuality of eating to the forefront. For instance, the is one subplot which involves a gangster and his lover who are all about exploring the sexual nature and possibilities of different foods in a way that is somewhat reminiscent of the refrigerator scene from 9 1/2 Weeks. There’s even a scene involving a raw egg that… well, let’s just say that it may give you something different to think about the next time you’re making breakfast.
One of the beauties of Itami’s work here is how seamlessly he integrates these vignettes into the larger work, making them feel not so much like intrusions in the ongoing main plot, but explicative and evocative examples of the mood and atmosphere and themes that he is exploring. He is very ably assisted in this by the camera work of cinematographer Masaki Tamura who finds the perfect way to shoot each of these scenes in a way that makes them feel individualized, but none the less part of the whole.
Also of note is the cast, each of whom seems perfectly chosen for their role. Yamazaki brings just the right combination of gruffness, world-weariness, and sensitivity to the role of itinerant driver/samurai, and Nobuko Miyamoto is utterly charming as the vibrant Tampopo (we’re told that her name means “Dandelion”) who transforms from somewhat dowdy and run down to become as shining and bright as her new restaurant once it. too, receives a near-complete makeover. The supporting cast, which includes many Japanese film stalwarts such as Kōji Yakusho, Yoshi Katō
For those of you who are unfamiliar with the “variant cover” concept, the basic idea is that certain comics are published with different covers than the standard ones that will be on newsstands and other places that sell comics, and that retailers can purchase these variants (which are generally printed in much smaller quantities) at a ratio based upon the number of “standard cover” copies of the issue that they buy. So for instance if a variant cover is made available at a 10:1 ratio, then for every ten standard cover issues a retailer buys from the distributor, they have the option to buy one of the variant cover issues, which they can then sell at a much inflated rate, since these variants are considered rarities.
After the recent surprise announcement of the follow-up film 10 Cloverfield Lane and the accompanying trailer which immediately turned me on if for no other reason than the presence of John Goodman who is almost always a selling point for me, I decided maybe it was time to go ahead and watch the original Cloverfield in preparation for the new one, and…
Or maybe it’s simply the movie itself. I have no idea how much of the dialogue was scripted and how much was improvised, nor how much leeway the actors were given when it came to the interpretation of their characters, but – and I freely admit that it could be an age thing where I’m just too old to relate to the 20 somethings that populate the film – I just found myself feeling no real connection to any of them.
Whatever the reason, I found myself not connecting with Cloverfield at all.
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