Week Of May 22, 2006 - Mon / Wed / Fri

May 22, 2006

With all the high profile summer flicks, what's the best action film of the year so far?

Banlieue 13.

It's been sitting around for about two years now and it finally got some traction when it became the surprise smash of the Seattle International Film Festival last June. But it still took more time before Magnolia Pictures finally picked it up for release. And with due respect to Magnolia, there was only one reason it fell to a company that has sensational taste, but has never had a film gross as much as $7 million domestically. It's in French.

But why oh why didn't any of the Dependents or Lionsgate see that this was the rare foreign language film for which language simply didn't matter?

Well, Lionsgate got burnt on Haute Tension last year. But High Tension, as it was known here, had a limited niche audience with horror geeks. And for whatever reasons, it didn't catch on. B13 or District B13 (its American tags) is more like Hero or Rumble In The Bronx. But unless there is a miracle, there will be no $10 million-plus gross for this film. That is the nature of today's distribution marketplace. And that's a shame.

In the meantime, we all should thank Magnolia for putting it on the line and pushing out an action film that kicks Mission:Impossible 3's butt for about one-eighth the money. It's also better than The Transporter films because you really don't have to watch anyone try to act… it's go go go.

Director Pierre Morel is a French Steadicam operator turned camera op turned cinematographer turned director. Sitting down with him, you find yourself talking to a good looking, long-haired, regular guy. He has been on Team Besson (Luc) for most of his career and enjoys, it seems, all of it. He is willing to go Hollywood - God knows, his cell phone rings often enough - but he doesn't seem driven to do so.

Talk to him about the aesthetic of his film and the conversation is more structural than artistic… not that he isn't a skilled artist. But the way he talks about the movie, Besson gave him a script and the actors who perform the martial art known as Parkour, and he just went ahead and made the movie inside those lines. In fact, the structure is his aesthetic to a great extent. Keeping it real, which is to say having the stunts happen with the actual actors and the storytelling, albeit a fantasy world, feel realistic, was the main intent.

Turns out they shot part of the film in Romania. Why? Tax credits? No… it was just where they found sets that looked right. And hey, I believe him. Why lie about it?

Is he anxious to direct his next film? Well, he's worked as a DP on three more films since making B13, including The Transporter 2, and has no problem continuing doing the same. (He also shot The Transporter, Unleashed, and a $40 million Jason Statham film for Lionsgate called Rogue. (Wonder how Rogue Pictures will feel about that.)

So why is District B13 such a kickass movie? Because it does for action exactly what Mission:Impossible 3 and Poseidon forgot to do… it has a lot of fun. Start telling someone the story and they just look at you incredulously. But it involves a tough Good Guy who delivers a Very Bad Man to the cops and who is then imprisoned because the cops can't be bothered… they also give his sister to the Very Bad Man and he drugs her and does God knows what. But when the Very Bad Man gets a nuke and threatens to blow up part of Paris, the Good Guy is hooked up with an undercover cop who is as tough as he is and off they go to get the girl, the bomb, and everything.

Set piece after set piece is an endless run of rock-n-roll Parkour action. The stunts are amazing. But even better, they are stupid smart fun. There are lots of hairy, smelly, tattooed bad guys to beat up… most of them not professional actors. The Very Bad Man is extreme but a human character. The sister is sexy, tough, and funny. And the dialogue never seems to go more than two minutes before another great action set piece.

At under 90 minutes, it leaves you breathless and ready for more. Even better, it leaves you - assuming you really like action - smiling a happy little 12-year-old's smile.

Wheee!

(And here's some more on B13 from June 14, 2005's THB.)

READER OF THE DAY: This came in on \friday from Hollywood Saloon's JOHN JANSEN: "There is only 1 way to stop all this media madness...and it won't make several entertianment journalists happy (ie: Mr. Klady) but the answer is pretty simple:

STOP REPORTING BOX OFFICE GROSSES

In one simple swipe Hollywood changes the story. Cause nobody is talking about the movies anymore...it's only the grosses. Sure, this would be rocky for a few months, but then....BLISS. What other media product (albums, books, etc) reports the grosses on the same day it came out? Or a week later?

Sure, bragging rights and full page #1 ads are fun and important in Hollywood...but that was then. It's time to face up to NOW.

There is only the need to report the AUDIENCE ATTENDANCE figures...and let the media work out the rest. After the theatrical release is over...report ONLY THE WORLDWIDE GROSS."

E Me: Would that change things?

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