‘Ashes’: beautifully told but wrenching

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

If anyone thinks the last two U.S. presidential elections were contentious, they were schoolyard scuffles compared to Mexico’s explosive 2006 presidential race. Mexican-born filmmaker Luis Mandoki (“Gaby: A True Story,” “White Palace”) has assembled an extraordinary amount of archival and TV news footage along with average citizen-shot video to chronicle this ugly battle in the provocative documentary “Fraude: Mexico 2006.”

After a glimpse at Mexico’s democracy-challenged history, the film dives into how the country’s last presidential election turned so apparently corrupt, as neck-and-neck candidates Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (from the left-leaning Democratic Revolution Party) and Felipe Calderon (of the conservative National Action Party) became embroiled in a nasty showdown after Calderon was suspiciously declared the winner. Widespread cries of fraud from the populist Lopez Obrador camp against its more shadowy opponent divided the nation and inspired an emotionally charged recount that proved as dubious as the voting process itself (Calderon remained the victor).

Mandoki’s guerrilla style, post-election-day protest footage is also featured here as well as reflective interview clips with the seemingly benevolent Lopez Obrador. Unfortunately, no other key figures from this election would talk with Mandoki on-camera, which makes this occasionally dense film seem a bit one-sided, but no less persuasive.

-- Gary Goldstein

“Fraude: Mexico 2006.” MPAA rating: Unrated. Running time: 1 hour, 42 minutes. In Spanish with English subtitles. At Laemmle’s Music Hall, 9036 Wilshire Blvd., Beverly Hills, (310) 274-6869.

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Hey kids, let’s put on our own show

Parents eager to venture outside the animation or talking-Chihuahua boxes for family entertainment should check out Rob Whitehair’s documentary “The Little Red Truck,” an inspiring look at a diverse array of youngsters introduced to the joys of stage performing.

The invaluable notion that artistic endeavor can boost a child’s self-esteem forms the heart of the film as it follows 250 kids spread among five varied communities -- from Hollywood to Rankin Inlet, Canada -- who stage one-hour musicals in six swift days when the venerable Missoula Children’s Theatre comes to town in its little red truck (hence the title).

Whitehair deftly condenses the breakneck audition, rehearsal and performance processes into enjoyable bites, rotating among each local group of tykes and tweens, their visiting actor-directors and such kid-friendly productions as “The Frog Prince” and “The Little Mermaid.”

Unfortunately, covering so much so quickly limits our intimacy with the individual children or the super-dedicated, amusingly “theatrical” Missoulans who guide their efforts. The movie also lacks the tension of more contest-based youth documentaries such as “Spellbound” and “Mad Hot Ballroom.” No matter, “The Little Red Truck” is a cheerful diversion that, if it motivates even a handful of budding thespians, will have done its job.

-- Gary Goldstein

“The Little Red Truck.” MPAA rating: PG for some thematic elements. Running time: 1 hour, 38 minutes. At Laemmle’s Music Hall, 9036 Wilshire Blvd., Beverly Hills, (310) 274-6869; Edwards’ Westpark 8, 3755 Alton Parkway, Irvine, (949) 622-8609.

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A cry to end human trafficking

Concerts for causes aren’t necessarily surprising anymore, but as far as concert documentaries for causes go, “Call + Response” deserves attention, if only for adding another call-to-action voice against a worsening global scourge: human trafficking. Musician and first-time filmmaker Justin Dillon energetically combines studio performances -- including Hasidic reggae rapper Matisyahu, pop star Natasha Bedingfield and bluegrass performers from Nickel Creek -- and interviews with activists, and, of course, activist actors. But Julia Ormond and Ashley Judd are articulate town criers and their reporting of victims’ accounts heard firsthand are some of the most vivid and affecting. At times the movie seems like the most schizophrenic, depressing-then-toe-tapping combo of message and music, and there are missteps: Editing in undercover footage of scantily clad, trafficked females during Talib Kweli’s rap seems tonally wrong, and while Cornel West talking about music’s importance in the history of slavery is dramatically on target, his cheery riff on funkiness feels out of place amid other interviewees’ straight-ahead grimness. But all in all, “Call + Response” makes alarmingly clear how ugly, pervasive and out-in-the-open the trade in humans for sex or labor often is, from the expected places -- Eastern Europe, Southeast Asia -- to our own backyard.

-- Robert Abele

“Call + Response.” MPAA rating: PG-13 for mature thematic material involving crimes against humanity, including sexual enslavement, and for disturbing content and drug references. Running time: 1 hour, 24 minutes. At Laemmle’s Sunset 5, 8000 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, (323) 848-3500; Edwards Westpark 8, 3755 Alton Parkway, Irvine, (949) 622-8609.