MICHAEL MACLEOD

Something about this film still from Wrong is just a little off.

It is rare to have high-quality alternatives to mainstream movies, but Dark Bridges is quickly making these alternatives commonplace.

Dark Bridges, the organization that brings independent and foreign films to Saskatoon with its annual film festival, showcases alternative movies year-round in anticipation of the festival — and to keep its audience satisfied through the winter.

This year’s festival is not scheduled until September, but the organization’s latest event, a Feb. 22 triple bill featuring the films Wrong, Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning and Miami Connection, exemplified what Dark Bridges is about.

Wrong, by Quentin Dupieux — also known as electronic musician and synth master Mr. Oizo — is about a man named Dolph searching for his lost dog.

Everything about the movie and Dolph’s world feels wrong. The entire film is incredibly bright but the world it depicts lacks substance and vitality. The people Dolph meets speak with awkward cadence, long pauses and a general lack of inflection. The closer the film gets to our reality, the less real it feels.

The movie’s setting is reminiscent of the purgatory showcased in the 2006 black comedy Wristcutters: A Love Story — over-lit, grey and very open. The film operates on dream logic, where everything is possible and strange events go unremarked by everyone.

Supporting Wrong’s well-crafted environment is the cast. Filled with interesting and strong supporting characters, the film transcends its light plot by focusing on how humans interact under very strange circumstances.

Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning is a revenge thriller that promises gory thrills.

Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning, which was the second film of the night, is the new direct-to-video entry in the Jean-Claude Van Damme franchise. This latest entry has Van Damme reprise his role with a new twist — he’s the antagonist.

Universal Soldier follows a new super soldier played by Scott Adkins (Expendables 2, Zero Dark Thirty) as he searches for the man who killed him and his family. The movie is dark, much darker than one would expect from a Van Damme film. Its tone, and to a lesser extent plot, are similar to Apocalypse Now.

By following a Heart of Darkness-style journey into a cult of super-soldiers lead by Van Damme doing his best Kurtz impersonation, the protagonist explores the philosophical ramifications of being an undead super-soldier created by the government — all while spin-kicking said super-soldiers in the face.

Despite being a direct-to-video release, the production value is high. The camera work is unusually competent and the fight scenes are all well executed. The film takes itself seriously and tells an interesting story that defies the expectations for the genre.

Recently re-cut, Miami Connection is an ’80s B movie about rock band fighting biker ninja’s.

The third movie of the night was Miami Connection, which was easily the lightest film of the night in terms of tone and was a blast to watch with an audience.

Originally made in 1986, the film was lost for some time but was recently released after being restored and re-cut. Miami Connection follows the exploits of taekwondo-kicking ’80s synth pop band Dragon Sound as they fight rival bands and their organized crime connections. These connections consist of cocaine-dealing biker ninjas. Yes, you read that right. An ’80s B movie about a rock band fighting biker ninjas.

Part Karate Kid, part Buckaroo Banzai, Miami Connection is a mouthpiece for the writer and main actor, Grandmaster Kim. Kim espouses the philosophy behind taekwondo and tries hard to sell himself as an action star — he spends the runtime mentoring the group and breaking ninja’s faces.

While the film is objectively bad, its entertainment value and ambition allow Miami Connection to thrive in the midnight-showing cult hit environment. Just don’t take it too seriously.

While the movies showcased by Dark Bridges all have their own merits, it is the environment in which they are shown that really makes them click. Dark Bridges, which predominantly screens films at the Broadway Theatre, provides a great venue and fun audience to experience these movies with.

Not only do they provide good genre films that would go unnoticed otherwise, they also present them innovatively.

More information about Dark Bridges can be found on their Facebook page or their website.

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Images: Supplied