Movie Log: Time Masters, Crossing Delancey, and EEGA

I beg forgiveness for the occasional unfinished sentence or typo in these weekly columns. If I don't get them out fast, I'll worry over them until they're a monthly column again. And that would be a waste. Just look at this grab bag of fun movies:

Time Masters

1982, France, d. René Laloux, 1h18m, **1/2
File Under: Psychedelic Sci-Fi

René Laloux was a French animator whose first feature-length film is the cult classic of psychedelic science fiction Fantastic Planet. While that film has become more widely available in the US in the last decade, his two subsequent features have been harder to find.

For his 2nd movie, Laloux joined forces with the renowned comic book artist Mœbius for the designs, which are striking and are the main appeal of Les Maîtres du temps. The story is derived from a French novel called "The Orphan of Perdide", but major changes were included in order to incorporate Mœbius' trademark imagination; humans are the only intelligent life in the novel, but here there are lots of other species including a pair of telepathic proto-Minions who tag along to provide comic relief and exposition.

The story feels like a collection of random ideas with little holding it together. Plot wasn't the strong suit of Fantastic Planet either, but that film is so high-concept and alien that it works simply as a head trip. Because Time Masters has a conventional space rescue plot with a Star Wars-style rag-tag crew, the randomness feels like a movie in search of a plot. It has a strong ending - derived but altered from the book - which frankly feels ripe for a remake that could build to it thematically.

Kneecap

2024, The North of Ireland, d. Rich Peppiatt, 1h45m, ***
Who's In It: Michael Fassbender, Kneecap

In Northern Ireland (or "the north of Ireland" for Irish republicans), British loyalist politicians once made the claim (falsely) that there were more people in the territory who spoke Polish than Irish. With English so dominant, why should they continue to fund Irish language instruction in public schools? It is largely ineffective for students who don't speak the difficult language outside of the classroom.

Enter Kneecap, a hip-hop trio that raps largely in the Irish language, and with lyrics designed to offend the cops, the UK authorities, Protestants, and anyone who is still dealing with PTSD from "the Troubles". Although the kids of Kneecap come from Irish Republican families, they are not old enough to have experienced the violence that existed as recently as the '90s (such as "kneecapping", the brutal Irish Republican punishment). But Irish-speaking youth are singled out as "low-life scum" by the loyalist cops and - disaffected by the poverty of being on the wrong side of the "peace walls" - they have embraced that identity.

Kneecap is a highly fictionalized version of the Belfast band's origin, starring the band members themselves. One thing that is true is that DJ Próvaí originally wore his trademark Irish flag balaclava to protect his day job as a public school teacher. The movie is formulaic but has a lot of style and rebellious spirit; if you enjoy rap music, Kneecap's music is foul-mouthed but distinctly catchy.

In 2022, the UK was forced to pass an act protecting the status of the Irish Language in Northern Ireland, and the number of users of Duolingo Irish has skyrocketed. Kneecap gave Irish youth a new reason to connect to their Irish identity: a non-violent revolution to call their own.

Crossing Delancey

1988, USA, d. Joan Micklin Silver, 1h37m, ***1/2
File Under: Lost in NYC

Delancey Street in Manhattan was once the demarcating line between the "old world" tenement-filled neighborhoods of mostly Jewish immigrants, and everything "uptown." Izzy has her dream job in Uptown Manhattan: schmoozing with top literary figures every evening at the last independent bookstore in the city of publishing. She may have even caught the eye of one of her favorite authors...

But her bubbie has other plans:

She has set Izzy up with a marriage broker and a date with a nice Jewish boy. By trade, he is a kosher pickle maker. Her disdain to be with someone of such a "blue collar" trade is very apparent when she talks to him. But she has judged the book by its cover, as Sam is a very intelligent, imaginative, and sensitive man.

Crossing Delancey is a bit predictable, but its cultural specificity makes it a winner. It started life as a play, which is only apparent in how dialogue-driven the movie is, but it is good dialogue, and it feels like a smart change-of-pace compared to other rom-coms. It's a great NYC movie, immortalizing Gray's Papaya and Schapiro's Kosher Wines ("wine you can almost cut with a knife".) This is a very cute movie and Amy Irving and Peter Riegert are both very good in it. But Izzy's bubbie steals the show, as played by beloved stage actress Reizl Bozyk in her only movie role.

Murari

2001, India (Telugu-language), d. Krishna Vamsi, 3h, ***
Who's In It: Mahesh Babu, Sonali Bendre

Apparently in Tollywood, the Best Picture Award includes a 🥇, 🥈, and 🥉 medal. Murari was the 2nd Best Picture of 2001. That sounds about right. It has high production values and just about everything you want. Laughs, fist fights, rack-zooms, sizzling romance, family drama, dazzling colors and some good musical numbers. 

It's extremely formulaic, but it has its memorable moments. Like when the young lovers keep seeing visions of each other and Vasu materializes out of paint with a CG morph effect like a rainbow-colored T-1000.

Or the bit when everyone keeps assuming no one's going to bless their marriage, and even the most hard-nosed patriarch is like "They'll make a lovely couple. What's the big deal?" Family not consenting to your marriage is the cliche source of drama in Indian rom-coms. But this movie has something different up its sleeve: one of Murari's ancestors stole from the local shrine to Krishna, and the family now has a generational Final Destination curse, and every 48 years someone must die. It's a fun premise, but the movie does not quite know how to make the most of it.

The early CGI is nifty and possibly a milestone in the Telugu-language movie industry, but this movie is mainly notable for being the breakthrough starring role for Mahesh Babu. A one-night-only theatrical rerelease included a special fanfare celebrating his "25 YEARS OF SUPERSTARDOM", to which the local Desi audience hooted and cheered.

I didn't quite get the appeal of him at first, because he's a bit of a baby-faced rich kid; his character here is more smarm than charm: his method of flirting is to tease like a boy on the playground. He also didn't look like someone who can fight off eight goons at once, like he does here (it's required of South Indian heroes). But at the end of the movie, his wounded character has to complete a ritual through the temple while suffering, like a Hare Krishna passion play, and Mahesh Babu convinced me.

Personally, if I was to introduce someone to Telugu cinema, or Indian cinema as a whole, there's one movie that would absolutely top my list. If you know me at all, you probably already know that it's one of my favorites of all time:

Eega

2012, India (Telugu-language), d. S.S. Rajamouli, 2h25m, ****1/2
Who's In It: Nani, Sudeep, Samantha Ruth Prabhu

The set-up for Eega is so simplistic, that if you watch a lot of Bollywood-style movies, you may find the beginning sophomoric. It is this simplicity that helped make the film a breakthrough Indian hit in the United States. The purpose here is to set things up as simply as possible and get you invested in the core romantic triangle: there is a good guy, a bad guy, and a girl. And 15 minutes into the movie, the good guy dies!

But thankfully Hindus believe in reincarnation, and Nani comes back to life... as a common fly... and must do everything in his power to keep the bad guy away from the innocent Bindhu.

I know what you're thinking: this sounds incredibly goofy, with high potential for dodgy special effects and diminishing returns on the story. But S.S. Rajamouli is an insanely talented & creative visual storyteller, and he brings you into the world of a fly in a way that will draw you in when the CGI is not always at Hollywood blockbuster level.

There are very few movies that are as entertaining to watch as this one.