Capsule reviews for Sept. 30

Bunraku

An innovative technique for mixing live action and animation provides the highlight in writer-director Guy Moshe’s ultraviolent tale of gangster revenge, in which a drifter (Josh Hartnett) and a young samurai (androgynous Japanese musician Gackt) face off with a series of ruthless assassins. The title refers to a centuries-old style of Japanese puppetry, and the film certainly is visually dazzling. But while it’s never boring, Moshe goes overboard with his self-indulgent gimmicks (including pretentious narration and music), and the thinly sketched comic-book story doesn’t hold enough interest to sustain the film. The cast includes Woody Harrelson, Ron Perlman and Demi Moore. (Rated R, 124 minutes).

My Joy

Bleak but provocative Ukrainian drama marks the feature debut of documentary director Sergei Loznitsa, as it tracks a truck driver (Viktor Nemets) trying to escape a nightmarish war-torn world in which he encounters corrupt military officials, oddball hitchhikers and potentially murderous strangers while taking a rural road. Loznitsa strays from traditional narrative structure, instead connecting no-frills vignettes involving various characters in a way that’s naturally uneven and even confusing. However, although it isn’t set in a particular time frame, the film builds toward a provocative and cynical perspective on life in the former Soviet Union. It’s an ambitious idea, but not for all tastes. (Not rated, 127 minutes).

Tucker and Dale vs. Evil

This good-natured lampoon of slasher flicks stars Alan Tudyk and Tyler Labine as a pair of lovable but bumbling best friends who spend the weekend fishing and repairing their cabin in the woods, where their clumsy slapstick antics allow them to be mistaken for redneck murderers by some camping college students. The low-budget spoof element provides some solid laughs, although there might be more potency to the film’s message about knee-jerk stereotypes. While the two lead performances are amusing, however, there’s really not enough material here for a feature-length film, and the result runs out of gas too early. (Rated R, 89 minutes).