Wong Kar Wai's beautiful but demanding 1994 martial arts epic "Ashes of Time" has been impeccably restored, with "Redux" added to its title, and boasts excellent subtitles that help the viewer understand that it is set in the parallel universe of its genre and unfolds in five parts according to Chinese seasons. Visually superb, its score enhanced by added music, "Ashes of Time Redux" is an elegiac, contemplative work with an elliptical narrative that is hard to follow.
Its key figure is Ouyang Feng (the late Leslie Cheung), a shrewd, reflective swordsman whose rejection by the woman (Maggie Cheung) he loves leads him to settle in a desert shack, where he hires out other swordsmen as hit men. Meanwhile, a woman (Brigitte Lin) has gone mad from being rejected by Ouyang's close friend, the handsome, romantic Huang Yaoshi (Tony Leung Ka Fai). Huang, in turn, pines for the wife (Carina Lau) of his best friend (Tony Leung Chiu Wai).
Upon the completion of the film, derived from a novel by martial arts genre master Louis Cha, Wong recognized that "Ashes" is an expression of an abiding preoccupation with -- and fear of -- rejection. It suggests that life can be beautiful, it can be an adventure, but that almost everybody seems to be unlucky in love and in life's choices.
He further implies that the workings of fate and emotion will do most of us in every time -- but that a sense of humor helps.
"Ashes" is glorious and ultimately wrenching, but it's a tough journey.
-- Kevin Thomas
"Ashes of Time Redux." Rated R for some violence. Running time: 1 hour, 33 minutes. In Cantonese and Mandarin; English subtitles. At selected theaters.
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A boy turns men's lives upside down
"Breakfast With Scot" has a sitcom format, but complex emotions and perceptions keep breaking through the surface in an engaging, thoughtful manner. Eric (Tom Cavanagh), a Toronto Maple Leaf star turned fledgling sportscaster, and Sam (Ben Shenkman), a corporate attorney, are the perfect guppie couple. Together for four years, they live in a smartly renovated Victorian home and are discreet about their relationship because of Eric's high profile in the homophobic world of sports.
So, it's the worst possible time for Eric, trying to establish himself in a new celebrity career, to take in Scot (Noah Bernett), the 11-year-old son of an ex-girlfriend of Sam's feckless brother Billy (Colin Cunningham) when she dies of a drug overdose. Eric reluctantly agrees that he and Sam should open their home to Scot until Billy can be located.
Scot is bright and feisty, sturdy and tough, an outspoken free spirit with a penchant for dressing in drag. Scot's presence forces Eric to confront himself. But as Eric gradually becomes involved in Scot's welfare, he worries about the boy's lack of a sense of self-preservation when he discovers the boy has gone to school wearing his mother's makeup.
Writer Sean Reycraft and director Laurie Lind know what they're doing here, and Cavanagh and Bernett register strongly.
-- Kevin Thomas
"Breakfast With Scot." MPAA rating: PG-13 for thematic content, some drug material and language. Running time: 1 hour, 37 minutes. At the Sunset 5, 8000 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, (323) 848-3600.
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Old message, new faces in 'Barrio'
"Talento de Barrio" could prove to be potent pop art with some audiences, for it marks a charismatic film debut for Puerto Rican reggaeton rapper Daddy Yankee. However, it's not edgy or tight enough for all its grit and vitality to overcome the familiarity of its material to satisfy more demanding viewers. Indeed, it literally illustrates its stated theme: "You can take the man out of the 'hood, but you can't take the 'hood out of the man" -- not exactly an original insight.
The 'hood in this instance is a Puerto Rican housing project in which the drug trade is controlled by bright, clean-cut Edgar Money (Yankee, born Ramon Ayala). True, there are the usual gang shootouts and rough stuff, but Edgar sticks to his own turf, is a good son -- and the apartment he shares with his mother and sister is improbably spacious. He has a yearning to be a rapper that he doesn't take seriously until a music business pal and his new upper-class girlfriend (Katiria Soto) encourage him.
The best moments in the film, which was directed by Jose Ivan Santiago and written by George Rivera and Angel M. Sanjurjo, are those when Edgar begins to see an alternative to a life of crime and struggles to gather the confidence to give music a try. The omnipresent question is whether he will let his past catch up with him. There's a punchy little 90-minute movie in here -- but it's been dragged out too long.
-- Kevin Thomas
"Talento de Barrio." MPAA rating: R for violence, pervasive language, drug content and brief sexuality. In Spanish with English subtitles. Running time: 1 hour, 47 minutes. In selected theaters.
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Election fraud in Mexico
