Movies
Cold Fish (limited)
“To give away anymore plot points would be criminal as Sono takes the audience on a weaving road filled with bumps, sharp turns and plenty of gasps.”
Pegged as a true story serial killer thriller (a man who killed over 100 individuals), Shion Sono’s Japanese Cold Fish is actually a insanely gory black comedy that takes on shades of classic Takashi Miike, and delivers quite a few punches in its retarded 144 minute running time.
The pic tells the story of Shamoto (Mitsuru Fukikoshi), a display fish storeowner who is having troubles with his daughter, Mitsuko, and second wife. The daughter hates the stepmother and is acting out, while his wife won’t have sex with him so long as the daughter is around. It’s a messy situation. When his daughter is caught stealing from the local mart, a crazy rich businessman named Murata (Denden) convinces the owner to let her off with a slap on the hand. He schmooze’s with the family learning that they share something in common: he also owns a fish store, the biggest in the country. He’s a fun, generous man that would like to hire the daughter and go into business with his new friend (and sell a special tropical fish called the “Amazon Gold”). It appears to be a match made in heaven, until his abusive dark side is revealed.
The second act is a complete descent into madness that oddly reminds me of Miike’s Visitor Q, among many J-horror titles. It’s way to fantastical to be a true story, but Sono takes the film in such an entertaining direction that the running time feels like a mere hour and a half.
To give away anymore plot points would be criminal as Sono takes the audience on a weaving road filled with bumps, sharp turns and plenty of gasps. Denden’s portrayal as Murata is masterful as he even gains the audience’s trust before he eventually abuses them as well. He’s charming, funny and gracious, but that’s all to rope the lot in for a thriller that borderlines something out of the world of Tobe Hooper’s The Texas Chain Saw Massacre.
As f*cked up as Cold Fish is, it’s even bloodier. Sono understands that in order to pack a punch, he needed to take it all the way (there’s some brutal and shocking imagery). And even as he has the audience covering their eyes and grimacing, he somehow finds a way to sprinkle in laughs (a bizarre, yet familiar experience with horror films). It’s an unordinary movie that taps into nearly every human emotion (yelling at a dismembered penis is one way to raise eyebrows) and dares the viewer to have a good time, before realizing they might feel like taking a shower immediately after.
Films like Cold Fish never receive the love they deserve here in the States, but hopefully some daring distributor will find the balls to release Sono’s genre masterpiece in its full form and keep it from becoming “invisible” like all of Murata’s victims.
Movies
‘Boorman and the Devil’ Documentary Trailer Chronicles Complicated Relationship with ‘Exorcist II’
Critically acclaimed documentary Boorman and the Devil chronicles how one of the world’s greatest filmmakers made one of the most hated movies ever: Exorcist II: The Heretic. A new trailer highlighting some of the troubled production woes has arrived.
Boorman and the Devil opens at The Quad in NYC on August 28 before opening wider in various cities on September 4, including: Los Angeles, Columbus, Houston, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Seattle and more.
After the success of Point Blank and Deliverance, Warner Brothers offered John Boorman the opportunity of a lifetime: the chance to direct a sequel to their smash hit, The Exorcist. The result was one of the biggest disasters in movie history. A critical and financial failure that not only changed how Hollywood did business, but nearly ended Boorman’s filmmaking career… but to be an artist is to be a risk-taker.
Now, John Boorman, Linda Blair, Louise Fletcher, Karyn Kusama, Joe Dante, Mike Flanagan, and more reflect back on the ambition of the film, the artistry and craft, and the value of big creative swings.
“I am beyond thrilled that Yellow Veil has come on board to help us share this story with a larger audience,” said director David Kittredge. “Like myself and the rest of our team, they’re huge cinema-lovers. It’s so exciting that a film which is not only a love letter to John Boorman, but also to ambitious filmmaking, will be handled by people who share the same passions that our team shares.”
“I first saw the film at an early festival screening and the post-screening buzz was just electric. Everyone was loving Boorman and the Devil,” added Yellow Veil co-founder Justin Timms. “To be able to team up with David and the filmmaking team on this release is incredibly exciting, and we can’t wait to spread that post-screening electricity with audiences across the country.”
Boorman and the Devil is produced by Kittredge’s Triple Fire Productions, Travis Stevens (Jodorowsky’s Dune, Starry Eyes) of Snowfort Pictures, and Jim Fall (The Lizzie McGuire Movie), with Alan Koenigsberg of Milton Ventures Media serving as co-producer.
Daniel Kurland wrote in his review, “Boorman and the Devil goes above and beyond to be the definitive text on Exorcist II. This documentary will delight horror and Exorcist fans alike, but it also provides incredible insight for anyone who is just marginally interested in film production.”