Just don’t ask; all you need to know is that the one and only MIAMI CONNECTION is playing at midnight this weekend at the Landmark Sunshine
THE MIAMI CONNECTION (Y. K. Kim & Park Woo-sung, 1987)
Landmark Sunshine Cinema
143 East Houston St. between First & Second Aves.
Friday, November 2, and Saturday, November 3, 12 midnight
212-330-8182
www.landmarktheatres.com
www.drafthousefilms.com
Ever since Bruce Lee became a superstar in America in such action flicks as Fist of Fury, Enter the Dragon, and Game of Death, there has been an unending search for the next martial arts master to become a cinematic superhero in the United States. Over the years, there have been hits and misses with Jackie Chan, Sonny Chiba, Jet Li, Tony Jaa, Stephen Chow, and others, each one showing off his remarkable adeptness at karate, judo, jiu-jitsu, Muay Thai, or other disciplines in movies both good and not-so-good. It has also led to such good and not-so-good Hollywood films as The Karate Kid and the unforgettable Gymkata. One of the lesser-known attempts involved Korean taekwondo grandmaster Y. K. Kim and a little 1987 film that is being resurrected from the near-dead, looking to become a cult classic in a new HD version. Directed by Kim with Park Woo-sung, The Miami Connection stars Kim as a high school student and taekwondo teacher who is also the guitarist in the band Dragon Sound, which gets into a heated, violent battle against a group of men led by a tough-talking dude who looks like G.I. Joe with Kung Fu Grip and is dangerously overprotective of his sister, who sings in the band. With its 1980s hairstyles, insipidly bad music, ridiculous story lines, and absurd taekwondo scenes, The Miami Connection has plenty of potential to become an underground cult classic as it turns twenty-five. [Ed. note: Because of Hurricane Sandy, the November 2-3 screenings of THE MIAMI CONNECTION have been postponed, but it will be back in action for midnight screenings on November 9-10.]
Culinary documentarian Paul Lacoste details the handing over of a world-renowned restaurant business from father to son in the appetizing if not wholly satiating Step Up to the Plate. In 1999, Lacoste kicked off his “Inventing Cuisine” series with an inside look at gourmet chef Michel Bras, followed by episodes focusing on Pierre Gagnaire, Gérald Passédat, Michel Troisgros, Olivier Roellinger, Michel Guérard, Pascal Barbot, Alain Passard, and Nadia Santini. Ten years later, when he learned that Michel was retiring and his son, Sébastien, would be taking over, Lacoste asked if he could document the transition, resulting in the Bras family welcoming the director into their restaurants and homes, although the results are sometimes surprisingly distant and empty rather than intimate and revealing. Over the course of four seasons, Lacoste follows Michel and his wife, Ginette, and Sébastien and his wife, Véronique, and their two kids from their franchise three-Michelin-star restaurant in the Aubrac region in the south of France to the glorious, stunning Michel Bras Toya Japon situated atop a mountain in Japan. Much of the film focuses on Sébastien creating a new dish, a special request from the director; the deeply intent chef stares at the plate, knowing something is missing but not sure what it is, the camera lingering, a bit too long, on his consternation. When he ultimately brings the dish to his demanding father, Sébastien declares, “Stop looking, taste it! Food is for eating,” to which Michel responds, “But you look at it first, you know.” It is fascinating to watch just how central a role food as both reality and concept plays in this close family’s life, especially as they entertain thoughts of a fourth generation someday grabbing the reins. But while Step Up to the Plate will leave you hungry to eat at their restaurants, it will also leave you hungry for more from the film itself. Step Up to the Plate is screening on October 30 at 12:30, 4:00, and 7:00, concluding FIAF’s “Films for Foodies!” series; the 7:00 show will be presented by chef Jean-Louis Gerin, curator John Mariani, and film producer Jaime Mateus-Tique. [Ed. note: Because of Hurricane Sandy, this presentation has been canceled.]
“Are we not men?” declares the Sayer of the Law (Bela Lugosi) in Erle C. Kenton’s 1932 horror classic, Island of Lost Souls. (Yes, the phrase was eventually coopted by Devo.) After surviving a shipwreck, Edward Parker (Richard Arlen) soon finds himself on a very strange island where it appears that a madman named Dr. Moreau (Charles Laughton) is experimenting on living beings in rather inhumane ways. While his fiancée, Ruth Thomas (Leila Hyams), is trying to find him, Parker starts hanging around with Lota (Kathleen Burke), but there’s more to her than meets the eye. As Parker continues to poke around, he learns a little too much about what’s going on, meaning it just might be the House of Pain for him if he doesn’t watch out. Island of Lost Souls is a creepy pre-Code horror flick that holds up surprisingly well, with odd twists and turns that include more than just hints of torture, S&M, and bestiality. Laughton seems to be having a blast, pulling out his whip to tame his creations, enjoying it all way too much. It was quite a year for the British-born American actor, who also played Nero in Cecil B. DeMille’s The Sign of the Cross and the title character (winning an Oscar) in Alexander Korda’s The Private Life of Henry VIII in 1932. Island of Lost Souls is based on the H. G. Wells novel The Island of Dr. Moreau, which was also filmed in 1977 by Don Taylor, with Burt Lancaster as the doctor, Michael York as the curious wayward traveler, and Richard Basehart as the Sayer of the Law, and more famously by John Frankenheimer in 1997, with Marlon Brando as Moreau, David Thewliss as the shipwreck survivor, and Ron Perlman as the Sayer of the Law, often considered one of the worst films ever made.
“They won’t be happy you’re missing school like this,” a man tells fourteen-year-old Jean-Pierre Léaud as he’s auditioning for the part of Antoine Doinel in François Truffaut’s The 400 Blows. “It doesn’t matter, as long as I’m happy,” Léaud responds. Screening on October 26 as part of the Rubin Museum Cabaret Cinema series “Happiness Is . . . ,” where it will be introduced by Columbia professor and Truffaut expert Annette Insdorf, The 400 Blows marked the first of five films, including one short, in which Léaud played the iconic character, as audiences around the world followed his search for happiness. In The 400 Blows, Doinel is a twelve-year-old kid who loves Balzac, has never seen the ocean, and is always getting into trouble with his parents, who treat him more like a problem than a son. He is clearly very smart, but he does poorly in school, where he is harassed by his teacher (Guy Decomble). One day when he decides to play hooky, he catches his mother (Claire Maurier) kissing another man, and instead of telling his father (Albert Rémy), he runs away from home, moving in with his friend René (Patrick Auffay), setting off a series of events that lead to a whole lot more trouble and an unforgettable final shot. The 400 Blows is one of the most intelligent films ever made about adolescence, a tender, honest portrayal of a mischievous kid who just wants to be understood. Léaud gives a wonderfully nuanced performance that makes Antoine a uniquely believable and sympathetic character even when he is making some very bad choices. The film is also about escape of all kinds, beginning and ending with the camera racing away alongside Jean Constantin’s glorious score. The Adventures of Antoine Doinel series continues with 1962’s Antoine and Colette, 1968’s Stolen Kisses, 1970’s Bed and Board, and 1979’s Love on the Run, while “Happiness is . . .” continues through December 28 with such films as Ingmar Bergman’s Cries and Whispers, Michael Curtiz’s Casablanca, and George Cukor’s Camille, held in conjunction with the larger Rubin Museum program “