THE MIAMI CONNECTION (Y. K. Kim & Park Woo-sung, 1987)
Film Society of Lincoln Center, Walter Reade Theater
165 West 65th St. at Amsterdam Ave.
Saturday, July 7, 11:15 pm
212-875-5601
www.filmlinc.com
www.subwaycinema.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. The movie is screening Saturday night at 11:15 as part of the New York Asian Film Festival at Lincoln Center, with Grandmaster Kim on hand to talk about the movie — but beware, as today he is a very successful motivational speaker.
When they were junior high school students in South Central Los Angeles in 1979, Angelo Moore and Norwood Fisher formed the core of Fishbone, what would soon become one of the most exciting live bands on the planet. Chris Metzler and Lev Anderson document the band’s rise and fall — and rise and fall, and rise and fall, etc. — in the stirring Everyday Sunshine: The Story of Fishbone. Using archival footage, old and new interviews, and playful animation, Metzler and Anderson follow the group — Moore and Fisher along with fellow founding members Chris Dowd, Walter “Dirty Walt” Kibby II, and Kendall Jones — through its many personal and financial struggles as it tries to deal with such socioeconomic issues as racism, violence, and the anti-liberal bias taking hold of the nation in Ronald Reagan’s 1980s. Fishbone held nothing back on such albums as In Your Face (1986), Truth and Soul (1988), The Reality of My Surroundings (1991), Give a Monkey a Brain and He’ll Swear He’s the Center of the Universe (1993), and Chim Chim’s Badass Revenge (1996), mixing in pop, punk, funk, ska, reggae, R&B, soul, jazz, and hardcore, prancing about the stage without shirts, diving into the crowd, and always speaking their mind, and they hold nothing back in Everyday Sunshine as well. Narrated by Laurence Fishburne, the film really picks up speed when it delves into the Rodney King beating and the mysterious circumstances involving Jones’s religious transformation and the band’s attempt at an intervention. The decidedly unusual tale also features an impressive lineup of talking heads offering their views on the history of Fishbone, including Flea from the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Perry Farrell from Jane’s Addiction, fIREHOSE’s Mike Watt, No Doubt’s Gwen Stefani and Tony Kanal, the Roots’ ?uestlove, Gogol Bordello’s Eugene Hutz, Parliament-Funkadelic’s George Clinton, Primus’s Les Clayool, Living Colour’s Vernon Reid, Circle Jerk Keith Morris, Ice-T, and, perhaps most informatively, Columbia Records executive David Kahne, who lends fascinating insight into what made Fishbone great — and what kept them from greater success. While you definitely don’t have to know a thing about Fishbone to enjoy this very intimate documentary, longtime fans should eat it up. Everyday Sunshine is screening July 6 at 5:45 at Anthology Film Archives as part of the inaugural CBGB Festival and will be followed by a Q&A with Metzler. The festival runs July 5-8 at venues in Manhattan and Brooklyn and includes a bevy of concerts, film screenings, panel discussions, and other special events being held in honor of the classic Bowery club that hosted cutting-edge, alternative, punk, and indie bands from 1973 to 2006. Among the other films being shown are Michael Winterbottom’s 24 Hour Party People, Keirda Bahruth’s Bob and the Monster, Sara Sugarman’s Vinyl, and Gorman Bechard’s Color Me Obsessed.
Andrew Lau and Alan Mak’s second Infernal Affairs film is reminiscent of The Godfather Part II, as the story moves back and forth through several pasts as we learn more about Ming (Edison Chen), Yan (Shawn Yue), Wong (Anthony Wong), and Sam (Eric Tsang). Some roles are played by the same actors as in the first film, and some are not, so pay close attention. As Hong Kong approaches the hand-over to Chinese rule, the Triad war is threatening to explode, with Ming and Yan caught in the middle. Infernal Affairs 2 is an unforgettable film, gorgeously shot by Lau (who cut his teeth as cinematographer on such films as Wong Kar-wai’s Chungking Express and Ringo Lam’s City on Fire) and Ng Man Ching (Once Upon a Time in China). Much like the second Godfather film, even though you know what becomes of many of these characters, finding out about what got them there is absolutely thrilling. We love every glorious second of this movie. Don’t miss it.
A must-see for fans of loud, fast, angry music circa 1980-86, American Hardcore looks at one of the smaller but nonetheless influential movements in American music. A basic doc in the classic do-it-yourself sensibility that informed so much of the music scene it chronicles, American Hardcore features interviews with Henry Rollins, lead singer of Black Flag; H.R., the mercurial, difficult, but brilliant lead singer for the Bad Brains; Mike Watt of the Minutemen; and various personnel from the Circle Jerks, Minor Threat, and 7 Seconds. Tommy Stinson of the Replacements and Flea of the Red Hot Chili Peppers weigh in as well. The abundance of old concert footage is fabulous, but director Paul Rachman and writer Steve Blush discovered much of it in shoeboxes in basements during their low-budget cross-country trip while making the movie, so the overall production quality is not high ― which in some ways works better overall. The film does a good job of lovingly showing just how home-grown and amateurish the scene was and debating the importance of the scenes in Houston, Minneapolis, DC, Boston, and Southern California. The finale with a graphic artist and cover designer calling for the next generation of hardcore is a riot. American Hardcore is screening July 5 at 4:00 at Landmark Sunshine Cinema as part of the inaugural CBGB Festival and will be followed by a Q&A with Rachman and Blush. The festival runs July 5-8 at venues in Manhattan and Brooklyn and includes a bevy of concerts, film screenings, panel discussions, and other special events being held in honor of the classic Bowery club that hosted cutting-edge, alternative, punk, and indie bands from 1973 to 2006. Among the groups participating in the festival are the Dirty Pearls, Agnostic Front, Richard Llloyd, Tuff Darts, David Johansen, Glen Matlock, Tommy Ramone, Sic F*cks, Eric Ambel, Xylos, Popa Chubby, Dayna Kurtz, and Mike Peters of the Alarm, and that’s just on Thursday.
