Smash Cut

Oh yeah! It’s got police (satirized in a kind of Starship Troopers-esque way), it takes place in Tokyo, and, well, it’s got gore. Buckets and gallons of it!

Eihi Shiina — who became a bit of a cult sensation in the States after starring in prolific madman Takashi Miike’s nerve-wracking Audition — plays the sword-wielding Ruka, a high-strung policewoman on a mission to rid a near-future cityscape of homicidal mutants while seeking revenge for her father’s murder.

Made by the same creative team responsible for the over-the-top Machine Girl (another movie that mirrors the promise of its title), Tokyo Gore Police delivers the psychotronic goods. Totally transgressive in almost every way (you won’t see equivalents for its effects and set-pieces coming out of Hollywood anytime soon, let me tell you), and with loopy action sequences choreographed by Tak Sakaguchi of the zombie action smash Versus, the film’s a guaranteed night of sanguine insanity if you can stomach it. There are, to be sure, some slow bits (you know, when some perfunctory plotting gets in the way of the outlandish visuals…the script is not its strongest point), but in the end it’s safe to say that anyone who makes it to the end of this blood-splattered freakout will have found at least one scene that lives up to the statement, “I never saw something like that before!”

The movie will have a limited release in the U.S. (no dates/locations specified yet by distributor Tokyo Shock, although New York’s ImaginAsian Theater hints at a booking soon-ish on their website’s “Coming Soon” section). In the meantime, you can check out the (probably not-so-safe-for-work) trailer over here.

Opening in New York this weekend is a dark little thriller that’s basically slipping in under the radar, but if you like tales of vegeance mixed with a bit of moral inquiry, then this could be a movie for you.

The film’s called Red, and its title refers not only to the blood that eventually must flow, but also to the name of an aging dog owned by one Avery Ludlow (a magnificent Brian Cox). Ludlow’s an elderly gent, a reclusive small-town man with a heavy past (one that goes hand-in-hand with his pet, wouldn’t you know) and he merely wants to live a normal, peaceful life: fishing at the lake, selling goods to the locals at his general store, and just growing old with the one love he has left.

Fate, however, has other plans for Ludlow, and tosses him a cruel change in circumstances when a sunny afternoon of casting for trout is interrupted by three hot-headed teens. In a shocking instant Red is gone — swiftly, and without reason — and after that we follow Ludlow as he tries to find some form of justice for his loss. But the boys’ protective-to-a-fault parents (including a snarling Tom Sizemore and a scuzzy Robert Englund), an unconcerned legal system, and a heartless media status quo all stand in his way.

Red, which is based on a novel by horror writer Jack Ketchum and directed by Trygve Allister Diesen and Lucky McKee, could’ve merely been a grindhouse/exploitation version of Death Wish with Fido. Entertaining, maybe, but trashy nonetheless.

However what elevates this movie into something more moving, aside from a typically amazing performance by Cox (who played Hannibal Lecter before Anthony Hopkins in 1986’s Manhunter), is the sure, steady manner in which the tale is told. There is blood, yes, but in my opinion not a drop is spilled without justification, nor without consequence. There are some moments that seem to play like statistics lists regarding the lack of proper persecution of animal cruelty cases in this country, but for the most part the film doesn’t seem to shamelessly milk such travesties. Such tasteful restraint, in a way, makes the movie that much more powerful. It’s not easy going, but it is rewarding.

Magnolia Pictures is distributing the film, and as I said, right now it’s in New York at the Cinema Village theater. Showtimes can be found here. But check here to find out if any other playdates and locations might get added.

The trailer for Red can be seen here, but I kind of recommend against watching it because it reveals quite a bit. The film’s impact is much stronger if you just go into it knowing a minimal amount of detail, and let the solid performances and taut filmmaking draw you in. You won’t be disappointed.

Looking back at Hollywood movies from the ’70s, I’m often left wondering if half of the actors who became big names at the time — Dustin Hoffman, Meryl Streep, and Faye Dunaway, for example — would’ve ever made it had they started out in today’s market. Sure, they’re talented, but do any of today’s Megawatt Stars look like those folks? Everyone now is uniformly pretty/handsome, and very few of our contemporary top-billed performers have the unique looks or personalities of the aforementioned talents.

Another name to add to that list of truly unique actors is Elliott Gould. Robert Altman’s original war satire hit M*A*S*H made him a household name, but his nuanced, sometimes neurotic, performances in a slew of ’70s classics canonized him as a thespian who could personify and reflect the confusion and insecurities that were fueling that tumultuous decade.

The wonderful programmers at Brooklyn’s BAMcinématek repertory house/theater are currently paying tribute to the Gould’s amazing talents with a series entitled “Elliot Gould: Star for an Uptight Age”. It began on August 1, but continues through August 21. And it’s okay if you’re just hearing/reading about the series now because the only film that’s played so far is M*A*S*H, a movie that’s not hard to find or see. The rest of the list is filled with some underseen gems (like the terrific Alan Arkin-directed black comedy Little Murders, which will feature a post-screening Q&A with Mr. Gould on Friday, August 8 at 6:30pm) and a lot of treasures that aren’t readily available on DVD, such as Peter Hyams’s gritty 1974 cop flick Busting (showing on Sunday, August 10).

I wish that the intense white-knuckle thriller The Silent Partner, which was brilliantly scripted by L.A. Confidential writer-director Curtis Hanson, were part of the series. It’s one of the best heist movies I’ve ever seen, with Gould and a psychotic Christopher Plummer trying to outwit each other at every twist of the plot. You’ve seen movies with cat-and-mouse type narratives, but this one’s more like “cat and cat”; the two leads take turns pursuing and trapping each other with nail-biting results. I figure a viable print for the film just wasn’t available. Alas, alas….

Regardless of my missing fave, you should do yourself a favor and check out some of these films if you’re in the area. We’re lucky to have works like these in American cinema, and we’re equally lucky to have a true actor like Elliot Gould.

The full schedule of films is here, including details of screenings which will be followed by a Q&A with the performer. A feature article about Gould from The New York Times can be read here.