I love when I get to see two movies in theaters on the same day. I love it more when they are at the same theater. Even more so when that theater is the Downer, a great East Side Milwaukee gem that was built in 1915. On Saturday I got to see the interesting documentary Red Army and the hilarious mockumentary vampire comedy What We Do in the Shadowsfrom the New Zealand filmmakers who made the HBO series Flight of the Conchords. I had a really great time and both films are deserving of the high praise they’re receiving from critics.
When any documentary film has Werner Herzog’s name involved as producer or ‘presented by’ I’m signed up for the ride. He’s one of my absolute favorite filmmakers of all time, narrative or documentary, and in his docs he always inserts himself into the story he’s presenting. The director of Red Army, Gabe Polsky, inserts himself to a lesser degree, but it’s still there and it does add an interesting layer to the unveiling of who these former Soviet hockey stars are today and how they were formed by their experiences in the training camps in Moscow or in overseas international competitions. This story has been told before and is a favorite subject for sports films. ESPN just did aired one, Of Miracles and Men, which covers much of the same territory but with less style. Red Army has a great mix of archival footage, animated explainers, and current interviews. You leave with what feels like a complete understanding of the Soviet hockey system and the torture the players endured for the game and country they loved. You will enjoy this a lot more if you’ve already seen documentaries or narrative films on the subject or the 1980 Miracle on Ice in Lake Placid. You’ll also benefit if you have a decent understanding of Soviet history and of the current political realities in Russia. This is as much a political documentary as it is a sports one.
The film features the above five pictured men, The Russian Five. Now I’m no expert on hockey and only a casual Blackhawks fan since they started being good. But what is shown in the film easily depicts these five men as the best to ever play the game with no close competitors. They may not be the individual best at their positions, but together they were unstoppable. The type of game they played was far more cerebral and well-rounded than anything I’ve seen watching the NHL. The film follows one or many of them through their trials and tribulations from the late 70’s trying to make the national team to the late 90’s as they achieved success at the tail end of their careers in the NHL. It also shows where they are present day, most of them still involved in the sport, and their entanglements with the new Putin system instead of the old Soviet one. You won’t be disappointed with this, even if you aren’t a big hockey fan. It’s not in many theaters, but seek this one out as I’m sure it’ll be available to rent soon.
This was a great counterpoint to the revolution in the Vampire genre to the recently seen A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night. And while I ultimately enjoyed that film more this one was still really good and had several laugh out loud moments, but was more of a thinking comedy than is typically preferred at the multiplexes. This is done in the vein of The Office and Parks and Recreation, and I’ll say that if you enjoyed those two TV shows you’ll almost certainly enjoy this. The mockumentary of five vampires of differing ages living in one house together in modern day Wellington, New Zealand is as ridiculous and silly as it sounds. There are running jokes throughout the entire film that have their set up in the opening scenes only to paid off in post credit ones. You need patience to enjoy this and that’s not always a trait someone has when they prepare for watching a comedy. All of the vampires have their own quirks and abilities and histories. It’s setting up this world where vampires are normal but rare, and where their experiences drive the comedy more than quickly set up pratfalls makes this very enjoying for fans of the mockumentary style of comedy that has emerged in the last decade.
The New Zealand setting adds a unique twist and makes for a few added jokes at its expense. Plus it’s technically a foreign film so it’ll add to your moviegoing street cred. It’s impressive how clever and fresh a movie about Vampires can be given the current climate and backlash against such films. It’s probably because of this climate that something a little subversive like this can be made. It’s all very silly and seems like something you could cook up with your friends after a night of drinking. It’s energetic and takes what could be a simple joke and makes it deep enough to stretch the feature length running time with great pacing and good payoffs for the jokes. If you are a fan of deadpan comedy then you’ll find nothing better available right now. This is Spinal Tap comes to mind for a movie with a similar tone in terms of style and comedy. These dumb vampires will charm the pants off of you. And if you’re in the mood for more subversive vampire movies you can’t go wrong with A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night, Only Lovers Left Alive, Thirst and Let The Right One In which are my recent favorites in the genre. One of these weekends do yourself a favor and sit down to binge on all of them.
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