Reviews

THE/Xi RICAL

THE BIG KAHUNA

(1 5) 90min

(Odyssey Video DVD retail) .0.

Based on Roger Rueff's 1999 stage play Hospitality Suite. this fascinating filmic oddity from the same year is finally available for UK audiences to see. Having stifled on its US theatrical release. The Big Kahuna was all but shelved until now. Detailing one day in the life of two veteran salesmen Larry Mann (Kevin Spacey) and Phil Cooper (Danny DeVito) as they dissect their

release. Mute Hee-Jin (Suh Jung) works as a clerk at the lake where she sells bait and offers prostitution services for the tourists. Her mundane routine is interrupted when she forms a violent relationship with Hyun- Shik (Kim Yoo-suk). a Suicidal fugitive.

he won awards for his work in Ray and Collateral and. not to be outdone. the TV circuit threw accolades at Mr Foxx for his turn as Stan ‘Tookie’ Williams. founder of the notorious Crips LA street gang who began writing bestselling children's books in prison. Foxx seems to have modelled his Tookie on Suge Knight's appearance in Nick Broomfield's Biggie and Tupac. Despite all the great source material Redemption is let down by a flat narrative conceit that has Williams telling his life story in flashbacks to a journalist (Lynn

This bitter and twisted Whifield) in a prison

“we” love story is definitely meeting room. The W not for the squeamish. re8ult is too DEVI") Ki-duk uses natural conversational and 4 . . . \ ' sound. delicately static. The extras. INTERVIEW i ,’.,.".‘f. composed wide-angle especially the -- I .. . . CELEBRATING THE USER GEEK Shots Of serene mlsty dO_CL"nemary on the Doug Johnstone enjoys some Moog chat with filmmaker HANS l landscapes and Crips presented by FJELLESTAQ : humour to lure the Goldie. are -‘- ~ -- v - audience into a false disappointing and What do Rick Wakeman, Nine Inch Nails and part-time Beastie Boy ! ~ sense of security. The strangely go against Money Mark have in common? Not a great deal, you might think, but ! "5 performances are the grain of the movie they’re all massive fans of the same man and his revolutionary gawk excellent. especially by sensationalising invention. Step forward Bob Moog (pictured) and his truly l . Suh Jung in a role that street gangs. (Kaleem groundbreaking analogue synth, imaginatively called the Moog. I defies clarification Aftab) Bob Moog is probably the most influential man in electronic music sales pitch for a through its utter ever, yet the avuncular old geezer has an amazingly low profile,

potential Mr Big while blankness. Although MQRETIAL ARTS something which film director and musician Hans Fjellestad wanted to persecuting new boy the film flows at STREETFIGHTER rectify with his current full-length documentary film, Moog. » Bob (Peter Facinelli). meandering pace it is (18) 89min - ‘I couldn’t believe there hadn’t already been a film made about him,’ I this covers much the ultimately a rewarding (Opmnum Home says Fjellestad. ‘I’m a keyboard player and his instruments have been a l same ground as experience. Extras Entertainment DVD part of my life since I was eight or nine. His work is special and has i Miller's Death of a include some retail) O... 2 been a massive influence on everyone from Kraftwerk to Sun Ra.’ Salesman and Mamet's exceptional Fjellestad first met Moog when making his previous film, Frontier i Glengarry Glen Ross. documentaries and Life, a documentary about the underground electronic music scene of

which is no bad thing. trailers. (Paul Logan) Tijuana in Mexico. It was clear to Fjellestad straight away that Moog’s Competently directed 50-year career story was one worth telling. : by first timer John a?82mg%|ofl ‘I got to hear him talk and tell stories, and it became obvious to me :

Swanbeck and (15) 89min he would be a great subject,’ he says. ‘I wanted to get inside this guy’s

head. He’s quite mystical. He’s got this very special sense of the current of electricity as it runs through a board to create sound and how you can interact with that as a musician.’ ;

beautifully performed (Amchor Bay/ High Fliers by DeVito and Spacey. DVD rem”) .g. this in its time was an

oddly corrosive Last year was the year Moog certainly is a charismatic figure, and Fjellestad’s film lets the

counterpoint to the of the Foxx. Jamie man tell his story in his own words mostly, with glowing testimonies

dotcom explosion and Foxx. The actor picked thrown in from everyone imaginable in the electronic music world. It is

eventual demise. Well up awards like they Moog’s personality that holds the film together though, Fjellestad’s

worth searching out. were curse words in a subtle direction letting the man reveal himself.

Minimal extras. gangsta rap song. In ‘He’s the quintessential fiber-geek, and I think that’s great, but there’s

(Paul Dale) the cinema gong test This is the highlight of I something cool about him as well,’ he says. ‘There’s also something the Sonny Chiba DVD 3 grandfatherly about him; he’s like the crazy uncle in the basement

AR H {OUSF collection released , blowing things up. He’s definitely got that mad scientist thing going on.’

THE 'SLE earlier this year. A long ' I Moog (Plexifi/m/Vital) is Out now on DVD. Reviewed next issue.

(18) 88mm time hero of Tarantino's

(Tartan Asia DVD

_ (who eulogised him in Retail) .00.

True Romance before kidnap and honour With martial arts eyes are gouged. 5 casting him as Hattori i suffers from many of being used in almost necks are snapped Kim Kl duk's original Hanzo in Kill Bill) Sonny the weaknesses of all every action film going and haemorrhages are and disturbing 2000 Chiba is undoubtedly 3 Chiba's 703 films: the in some sanitised form induced. Despite the film, set in a tranquil the godfather of the l dialogue is terrible. the or another. this is a absence of extras. this Korean Wilderness kung fu flick. as The film quality is poor and perfect opportunity to is must have Whore men fish from Streetlighter more than the lead is an amoral revisit how they should compulsive and brutal floating shacks. finally underlines. thug. Yet somehow it and used to be done entertainment. g gets a UK DVD . i This simple tale of l w0rks. as arms are broken. (Gordon Eldrett) l

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23 Jun—7 Jul 2005 THE LIST 49