The Art of Self Defense (2019) - Jesse Eisenberg, Alessandro Nivola, Imogen Poots

[AlbertV]

" After he's attacked on the street at night by a roving motorcycle gang, timid bookkeeper Casey (Jesse Eisenberg) joins a neighborhood karate studio to learn how to protect himself. Under the watchful eye of a charismatic instructor, Sensei (Alessandro Nivola), and hardcore brown belt Anna (Imogen Poots), Casey gains a newfound sense of confidence for the first time in his life. But when he attends Sensei's mysterious night classes, he discovers a sinister world of fraternity, brutality and hyper-masculinity, presenting a journey that places him squarely in the sights of his enigmatic new mentor."

The film is coming out July 19.

[DragonClaws]

11 minutes ago, AlbertV said:

" After he's attacked on the street at night by a roving motorcycle gang, timid bookkeeper Casey (Jesse Eisenberg) joins a neighborhood karate studio to learn how to protect himself.

 

Jesse Eisenberg must have picked up some screen fighting skills, while making American Ultra?.

Edited April 4, 2019 by DragonClaws

[ShaOW!linDude]

The trailer's already cracking me up. Yeah, I'm down for this.

[NoKUNGFUforYU]

This looks like the reality of many McDojo's teaching Bullshido around the USA and many other places in the world. You come in asking for one thing, they sell you belts and BS, many times the guys that are tough use Western Boxing or Wrestling that they trained in heavily to intimidate their students, but teach them stilted, ineffective martial arts techniques. The guys core reasons are why many, many people show up, but they don't get nearly what they were looking for. I'm not talking about a an exjock or military guy taking lessons, I'm talking about people who have been bullied and victimized. Many of these instructors are scam artists. And a lot of the stuff will get you hurt.

https://www.amazon.com/Meditations-Violence-Comparison-Martial-Training/dp/1594391181

 

 

[DragonClaws]

 

 

[AlbertV]

I definitely want to see this!

[NoKUNGFUforYU]

Jeez, story of my life. But I was like, 13 years old. Still, the same issues. Instructor taking advantage of students, abuse, not teaching people anything that will really help them, etc...

[DragonClaws]

 

 

[whitesnake]

Universal Pictures Home Entertainment releases The Art of Self-Defense on Blu-ray and DVD on Oct 15, 2019.  Extras are "An important message from Sensei" and cast and crew interviews.  https://cityonfire.com/jesse-eisenberg-to-star-in-karate-flick-the-art-of-self-defense/  Also - https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/The-Art-of-Self-Defense-Blu-ray/249319/

Edited August 22, 2019 by whitesnake

[Rodolphe Dux]

The most bizarre martial arts movie I have ever seen. It’s an indie movie about karate, starring Jesse Eisenberg.

I was surprised how good it was, and especially how subtle it is. All the script is about karate and masculinity,  very nicely done. It’s one of those minimalistic movies shot almost entirely in a dojo with a few characters but with awesome dialogues and characterization. The few fight scenes are very brutal but again the movie is mostly about the harsh spirit of karate and masculinity.

An awesome piece of cinema, I’m glad I stumbled upon!

 

Edited October 16, 2019 by Rodolphe Dux

[LoBo]

Yes, it looks good. I will buy it

[CT KID]

It does look intriguing, kinda like a cross between Cobra Kai and the more parody like movie Foot Fist Way. I'll have to check it out too when I get a chance. 

[Rodolphe Dux]

5 hours ago, CT KID said:

It does look intriguing, kinda like a cross between Cobra Kai and the more parody like movie Foot Fist Way. I'll have to check it out too when I get a chance. 

It’s a good description but The Art of Self defense is way darker and peculiar, really indie.

[AlbertV]

I finally watched it yesterday...OMG this is a film that goes from pretty funny to very dark, especially in the third act. I have to admit, Jesse Eisenberg was someone I thought was totally out there, but IMO he was perfect for the role of Casey, a bookkeeper who takes karate lessons after being mugged by a gang of motorcycle thieves. Alessandro Nivola was a hoot as the Sensei, probably the epitome of a teacher at a McDojo with Imogen Poots doing a great job as a female instructor who has not been getting her black belt due to a certain prejudice. I'm giving this the full review treatment later today.

[LoBo]

Yes, I think the film was ok. It was entertaining

[DrNgor]

I watched this tonight. Amusingly enough, I had been reading a number of articles about telling the fraudulent schools from the real ones (plus the usual "Is Kung Fu useful?" ones, too). With those articles fresh in my mind, it was fun to watch the film check off each and every one of the red flag boxes on the lists I had read. I found myself laughing out loud numerous times ("He punched through their skulls with his index finger. He was the greatest man who ever lived."), but yeah, it got really dark at the end. But the resolution is just perfect.

[Super Ninja]

I found this on Netflix last Sunday and decided to give it a go, any martial arts related movie is better than well, anything else. I wouldn't exactly call it a martial arts movie, rather maybe an MA themed black comedy, and a surprisingly good one at that, certainly more enjoyable than Foot Fist Way. Funny that Riley Stearns picked karate as his martial arts of choice as I read somewhere that he trains and teaches BJJ, but he does throw in a couple of moves.

While Nivola goes all McDojo on his students (rainbow belt?!), his character turns out to be a complete psycho, to the point where that's hardly even funny anymore. That's what Stearns does so well here. His movie is both hilarious and borderline disturbing, next to being weird and bizarre, but never for a moment does it feel that any of that wasn't intentional.

TAofSD has one really good fight, the one with Imogen Potts demolishing her sparring partner, if I remember correctly it was a guy who received his black belt when she thought that one her Sensei prepared was meant for her. The fight included karate as well as BJJ, and a ground and pound finish well after her opponent was out.

Funny, dark, unpleasant and seriously good, this one definitely deserves to be recommended.

[DrNgor]

41 minutes ago, Super Ninja said:

While Nivola goes all McDojo on his students (rainbow belt?!),

https://www.dynastyclothingstore.com/blogs/editorial/top-15-signs-your-martial-arts-teacher-is-fake

11. They Have A Fake Belt or They're Highly Ranked... In Their Own Style

Note: If the instructor has created a new system that is legitimate - they have combined several styles or refined their style into something new or made it more effective, then this is okay.

A martial arts teacher is most likely fake if they cannot tell you where they got their martial arts rank / lineage from.

They're also most likely fake if they have a 10th "Dan" "black belt" in "Kyoukuten Karate" (an example of a style that doesn't exist) or if they are a "Level 18 Master" of a "system" of martial arts they created for their own school.

In reality, martial arts that are the most realistic, do not have that many ranks or levels anyway (and it's better that way).

In Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, you have White, Blue, Purple, Brown, and Black belt levels, and that's it (later on they've added stripes to give students more of a progression level to work towards, but ultimately are meaningless in the grand scheme of things).

In fact, many martial arts such as Boxing or Muay Thai don't have ranks or belts at all.

The only reason fake martial arts / martial arts teachers invent so many levels of progression is because they want to force their students to train longer (but progress slower), pay more tuition fees or belt grading fees in order to achieve a perceived higher ranking in their respective martial arts discipline.

The longer they can hide things and make their students train longer with the false idea that they are progressing somewhere, the better (and more profitable) for the fake martial arts teacher.

[Super Ninja]

2 hours ago, DrNgor said:

https://www.dynastyclothingstore.com/blogs/editorial/top-15-signs-your-martial-arts-teacher-is-fake

11. They Have A Fake Belt or They're Highly Ranked... In Their Own Style

Note: If the instructor has created a new system that is legitimate - they have combined several styles or refined their style into something new or made it more effective, then this is okay.

A martial arts teacher is most likely fake if they cannot tell you where they got their martial arts rank / lineage from.

They're also most likely fake if they have a 10th "Dan" "black belt" in "Kyoukuten Karate" (an example of a style that doesn't exist) or if they are a "Level 18 Master" of a "system" of martial arts they created for their own school.

In reality, martial arts that are the most realistic, do not have that many ranks or levels anyway (and it's better that way).

In Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, you have White, Blue, Purple, Brown, and Black belt levels, and that's it (later on they've added stripes to give students more of a progression level to work towards, but ultimately are meaningless in the grand scheme of things).

In fact, many martial arts such as Boxing or Muay Thai don't have ranks or belts at all.

The only reason fake martial arts / martial arts teachers invent so many levels of progression is because they want to force their students to train longer (but progress slower), pay more tuition fees or belt grading fees in order to achieve a perceived higher ranking in their respective martial arts discipline.

The longer they can hide things and make their students train longer with the false idea that they are progressing somewhere, the better (and more profitable) for the fake martial arts teacher.

That reminded me of Filipino Grandmaster Trovador Ramos, he's a 14th degree red belt master in his own TRACMA style - Trovador Ramos Asian Consolidated Martial Arts. Ramos also claims he fought Bruce Lee in a private arena owned by Golden Harvest (and won), and was offered a role in Enter the Dragon by Bruce himself, but he turned it down because he was asked to loose the fight.