Review Category: DVD/Blu Ray

The story of Neil Armstrong has never been told in a way such as that presented to us by Oscar-winning director Damien Chazelle in the incredibly touching and emotional First Man.

Centering more on Armstrong the man, rather than the mission itself, Chazelle along with screenwriter Josh Singer have brought his sublime and humane life to light. Everybody knows the Apollo 11 mission, and most people you ask could recite the words spoken by Armstrong as he set foot on the moon (becoming not only an American hero but a hero for humanity and an ambassador of the dreams of many), but very few know what went on inside his head or behind closed doors in his personal life. That, and much more, is revealed in devastatingly visceral fashion in this meticulously crafted film.

In front of the cameras, Neil was always smiling, brimming with confidence and charisma, but that was all for show as his story is so much more tragic. Armstrong (played by the brilliant Ryan Gosling) was a reserved man who never wanted the fame all to himself. After going through the heartbreaking loss of his daughter, Neil and wife Janet (portrayed by the ever amazing Claire Foy) wanted a quiet life but never quite achieved that once the 1969 moon landing was successful. Gosling was the perfect choice to play such a private, self-contained individual as he depicts these traits down to the smallest detail – just looking at his eyes, they ooze pain and anguish while the rest of his face tells an entirely different story. Armstrong never saw himself as a hero, he was just a man doing his job and was grateful for the opportunity and everyone who helped him along the way.

First Man manages to never overstay its welcome during its 140 minutes. Each scene is flawlessly executed and plays an important part in conveying Neil’s story. The majority of the film occurs in one of two places – the cockpit of a plane or spacecraft, or the Armstrong’s kitchen – which was entirely the plan that Chazelle had in order to show the two ends of the radically different spectrum of Neil’s day to day life. Adapted from James R. Hansen’s novel, each detail is as close as possible to fact. Chazelle’s choice in having a first person perspective throughout the film allows the audience to really get into Neil’s headspace connecting them on an unprecedented emotional level.

A vast majority of the film was filmed on location using real technology (some of which came from NASA directly, who spent a lot of time helping the authenticity of the film) which again adds realism and grounds (for want of a better term) what the audience is experiencing. Filming techniques such as LED screens rather than CGI help to immerse the cast in the world, and in turn elevate the storytelling to uncharted heights. Justin Hurwitz’s subtle yet powerful score adds a whole extra contextual level, proving that Hurwitz and Chazelle collaborations continue to be out of this world.

One breathtaking scene in particular (which you can probably guess) was filmed entirely using IMAX cameras, enhancing the pure scope and magnitude of that pivotal scene. Even with its debatable historical accuracy, this particular moment is truly unforgettable.

From the very first second, Neil’s story is brought to life in such a way that not only inspire you to be your best self, but will also educate you in a way you have perhaps never experienced before. Pitch perfect performances, stellar effects (both practical and CGI), and with riveting storytelling – First Man is a story that you don’t want to miss and will never forget.

A perfect package for a perfect film. Breathtaking in every sense of the word. Add it to your collection, you will not be disappointed!

Special Features:

Shooting for the Moon – interview with Damien Chazelle, Preparing to Launch – cast interviews, Giant Leap in One Small Step – a behind the scenes look at the life of Neil Armstrong, Mission Gone Wrong – a look at the stunts performed in the Lunar Landing Craft test scene, Putting You in the Seat – a technology-based behind the scenes, Recreating the Moon Landing, Shooting at NASA,

Astronaut Training, Feature length commentary with director Damien Chazelle, screenwriter Josh Singer and editor Tom Cross, Deleted scenes

FIRST MAN / CERT: 12 / DIRECTOR: DAMIEN CHAZELLE / SCREENPLAY: JOSH SINGER / STARRING: RYAN GOSLING, CLAIRE FOY, JASON CLARKE / RELEASE DATE: 18TH FEBRUARY

Drew Goddard is no stranger to turning genre convention on its head. He’s worked on Buffy and Lost, he wrote Cloverfield, and delighted many a horror fan with his directing debut, The Cabin in the Woods. For only his second feature as writer / director, he takes on film noir, cold war paranoia and American social history in a film with the kind of twists that keep you screaming at the screen in surprise.

It’s 1969, ten years after a prologue robbery gone wrong. The El Royale, a Lake Tahoe hotel split right down the middle between Utah and California, has seen its glory days come and go and, where once were glamorous film stars, there are now just four strangers, four American archetypes, each looking for a room. But the night will reveal secrets about these people, secrets as big as the ones the hotel itself is hiding.

One of the many pleasures in checking into the El Royale is how perfectly the rugs beneath your feet get pulled, and how often. With one big reveal happening early on, the surprises to follow continue to work and, thanks to a clever structure where we often see events happening again but from a different character’s perspective, revelations bring real depth to the characters.

No film hotel has looked this good since The Overlook. The attention to every detail is a masterclass in production design and lighting – the California half of the hotel reflecting light and optimism, the Utah side something a little darker.

The cast is great, but both Cynthia Erivo (singing live on the set) and hotel concierge Lewis Pullman steal the show. Jon Ham and Dakota Johnson are superb also, with only Chris Hemsworth providing a slightly off-note performance due partly to a final act turn which is less satisfying than its build up. But when a film is this much fun, that’s a minor gripe.

The Blu-ray is a beauty to behold. Goddard’s decision to use film instead of digital to shoot pays off wonderfully with sumptuous rich colour and texture. There are a few extras – trailers and a stills gallery, plus a so-so ‘making of’ with cast and crew interviews, the most interesting part of which is an examination of the set, revealing how they built the El Royale as a single unit you could walk right through. And of course, Jeff Bridges comes across once again as the nicest man ever.

BAD TIMES AT THE EL ROYALE / CERT: 15 / DIRECTOR & SCREENPLAY: DREW GODDARD / STARRING: JEFF BRIDGES, CYNTHIA ERIVO, DAKOTA JOHNSON, JON HAMM / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

After the town-destroying events of the first film, you would think that the real life horrors of R.L. Stine’s work were locked away for good. But when Sonny (Jeremy Ray Taylor) and his buddy Sam (Caleel Harris) discover one of Stine’s unfinished manuscripts in an abandoned house, Slappy is once again unleashed to wreak havoc and bring Halloween to life – right down to the gummy bears – in Ari Sandel’s sequel to 2015’s Goosebumps.

As with the first film, it’s always a pleasure seeing these iconic creatures and monsters come to life, and putting them all together in a unique story set in a universe where Stine himself exists is a really enjoyable and interesting concept. Following on from the events of 2015’s Goosebumps, Stine is nowhere to be found and the story takes place in Wardenclyffe, New York, with a whole new set of characters including Sonny, his sister Sarah (Madison Iseman), his best friend Sam and their wacky neighbour Mr Chu (the ever extravagant Ken Jeong). Sonny and Sam unwillingly release a different version of Slappy who just wants a family but, when he is rejected, decides to create his own – and it just happens to be Halloween night…

What stands out about this sequel is that it accurately captures the tone and pacing of the original film, although it lacks that special edge that the original possessed. Director Ari Sandel had big shoes to fill (Rob Letterman was unable to helm the sequel due to his involvement in Detective Pikachu), but still manages to create an entertaining film. The cast of young actors have great chemistry with each other, and it’s clear to see that everyone had great fun making the movie. Although it never captures the terrifying nature that the 90s TV show did, its sole purpose of introducing a new generation to the work of Stine has been successfully achieved.

The writing is fairly clever too. Over the course of the two films, and in real life, Stine is compared to legendary horror novelist Stephen King, and that doesn’t slow down in this instalment. At one point, a red balloon is seen and Stine (Jack Black briefly reprising his role from the first film, although uncredited) bellows “I knew that was my idea!” obviously referring to IT – and it doesn’t stop there as eagle-eyed viewers will recognise Jeremy Ray Taylor who played Ben in 2017’s IT.

Special features include a short selection of deleted scenes that didn’t really add much to the film and were removed to keep the runtime digestible but are still nice to see here, and a Gag Reel that proves everyone involved had a really fun time making the film.

Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween follows a lot of the same story beats as the first film but still displays some clever writing and provides audiences with an entertaining, family-friendly 90-minute horror romp.

GOOSEBUMPS 2: HAUNTED HALLOWEEN / CERT: PG / DIRECTOR: ARI SANDEL / SCREENPLAY: ROB LIEBER / STARRING: MADISON ISEMAN, KEN JEONG, MICK WINGERT / RELEASE DATE: 18TH FEBRUARY

Writer-director Kristian A. Söderström’s Videoman looks at first like it’s going to be a thriller which plays upon the nostalgia inherent in VHS collecting and ’80s fetishisation and, to be fair, it does go to that well a few times. Fans of obscure cult cinema and old-school clamshell tape cases are going to find a lot to like in this Swedish film. However, the tale of Ennio (Stefan Sauk) and his search for a lost videocassette which will save him from being evicted in three weeks is really secondary to the relationship which develops between him and Simone (Lena Nilsson).

Ennio was once the owner of the best video store in the country, but now lives in a basement and drinks too much J&B while making money buying and trading rare VHS titles. Simone works in an office and loves the ’80s, but has a terrible relationship with her daughter and drinks too much wine. Thankfully, in light of that down storyline, the thriller aspect is actually played more for laughs, with Ennio visiting all of the possible suspects in the sad circle of acquaintances he considers friends and searching their homes. In the case of his buddy Oskar (Victor von Schirach), Ennio even goes so far as to drug his drink in order to dig through the man’s shelves of tapes for the copy of Zombie – better known as Lucio Fulci’s City of the Living Dead – which he bought from Simone. It’s silly, but sad, as Ennio’s best friend, Bosse (Morgan Alling), has got married and is out of the VHS game, and to make matters worse, his wife despises Ennio.

Watching Videoman, one gets the sense that Ennio and Simone want to desperately hold onto a time where the two of them mattered in a greater sense, and that’s what brings them together. However, they’re both terribly broken people, and the stress of what they both need really comes through on screen. As the film progresses, the comedy begins to turn to sadness and the thriller begins bleeding through into everything, until one’s not sure as to whether things are really going askew, or whether it’s just Ennio finally burning out. While Videoman‘s appeal initially lies with its obsessive collector aspects and nerd appeal, the lasting value of Söderström’s film rests with the tale of grown-up romance between two broken souls.

VIDEOMAN / CERT: 18 / DIRECTOR & SCREENPLAY: KRISTIAN A. SODERSTROM / STARRING: MARTIN WALLSTROM, LENA NILSSON, AMANDA OOMS, MORGAN ALLING, STEFAN SAUK / RELEASE DATE: 18TH FEBRUARY

Cardcaptor Sakura was a long-running manga and anime that told the story of Sakura Kinomoto, an elementary school girl who discovers she has magic powers after finding (and losing) a set of enchanted cards. By the end of the first series, Sakura has collected all of the cards once more, and confessed her love to her boyfriend, Syaoran, who returns to Hong Kong, which is just plain rude.

Cardcaptor Sakura: Clear Card takes place two years after the original series, and finds Sakura in junior high school, where she is soon joined by Syaoran who has returned to Japan after taking care of whatever business he had back in China. Sakura begins to have bizarre dreams about transparent cards and a hooded figure, and awakes one day to find all the cards in her magic deck have also turned transparent! Later that day, on the way home from school, she is assaulted by strange winds, and is forced to use her abilities to subdue the breezy threat. This grants her the card “Gale”, and the quest is on the capture the clear cards!

Based on an ongoing manga by CLAMP, CS:CC contains the first eleven episodes of the anime series that aired in the first half of 2018. Sharing many themes with other popular “collection” anime like Pokemon and Yu-Gi-Oh!, it’s very obviously aimed at a younger audience, perhaps even younger than its PG certificate and thirteen-year old main character might suggest.

Sakura is an endearing protagonist, and the supporting cast made up of her school friends and overseas magic advisors add varying amounts to the show, from the strong, determined best friend to the actually-quite-annoying boyfriend. Particularly interesting – and unusually handled in a very welcome, casual manner – is Sakura’s brother’s romantic relationship with his male best friend (who also happens to secretly and unknowingly be the guardian of the cards).

The animation services the story well, and the story skips along, adopting a Card of the Week format, while slowly rolling out the overarching plot of the mysterious hooded figure from Sakura’s dreams. Although this is just part one, the manga is still ongoing, and there is plenty of story to be told even after the inevitable release of part two later this year. Included, as always, are dual soundtracks, with the original Japanese dub featuring the experienced Sakura Tange reprising her role from the original show. The English dub, provided by Funimation, casts the prolific Monica Rial in the title role, and she brings bounce to Sakura’s character.

Cardcaptor Sakura: Clear Card is a typical but decent shoujo anime, which should delight the tween crowd. The older viewer may still find enjoyment in the show, but if your time and money are limited there are far better options to spend both on. Still, those cards won’t catch themselves, so maybe we best get to it…

Extras: Sakura and the Two Bears prologue, textless opening and closing songs, trailers

CARDCAPTOR SAKURA: CLEAR CARD – PART 1 / CERT: PG / DIRECTOR: MORIO ASAKA / SCREENPLAY: NANASE OHKAWA / STARRING: JUNKO IWAO, AYA HISAKAWA, MONICA RIAL, JASON LIEBRECHT / RELEASE DATE: 11TH FEBRUARY

When Screen Junkies released their Honest Trailer for Avengers: Infinity War a few months back, they described Spider-Man’s role in the film as essentially being “the boy who’d rather hitch a ride into space and die than stay home and be in Venom”, and to be honest, they weren’t far off the truth. Spidey dodged a massive bullet when it comes to this particular film, since despite having a new lease of life thanks to his inclusion in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the recent Into the Spider-Verse animated flick, Sony still acts like the desperate studio that wants to launch their own Cinematic Universe, even though they fell flat on their faces last time they attempted this trick with the terrible Amazing Spider-Man duology.

Their pitch this time is having a universe that involves Spider-Man-centric characters but is completely removed and disconnected from Spider-Man and his world. What we have with Venom is an origin story that bears no resemblance to his comic book history and mythology that’s hugely connected to Spider-Man – already there you’re losing his motivations and why he’s called Venom in the first place! Instead, Venom goes for a completely different origin that involves generic evil corporations and secret experiments that go wrong, along with plenty of forced conveniences and plot contrivances along the way.

To be fair, a solo Venom movie could’ve worked (at least a good one!), but the last thing anybody wanted was a Venom movie made by Avi Arad, Matt Tolmach and Amy Pascal, a Venom movie that takes place in a universe where Spidey doesn’t exist and, most of all, a Venom movie that was essentially made in order to screw over both Marvel and their MCU. Yet that is what we got and, sadly, this schizophrenic misfire makes Spider-Man 3 look like Citizen Kane.

Venom is a cobbled-together trainwreck that Sony constructed as a means to try to catch up with Disney/Marvel’s MCU without putting any real time or effort into making it functional or coherent in any way, shape or form. There is a clashing of tones in this film from one scene to the next, with the first 40 minutes or so being this very bland, drawn-out prologue with long exposition scenes (the dearth of drama) and dull character moments that don’t make that much impact – in the end, you don’t even care whether or not Eddie Brock is going to get his job and girlfriend back. In fact, Eddie has no character development in this film at all, since he starts the movie as an arsehole and ends as an arsehole, making his character completely flat.

Each minute of the prologue feels long and ponderous – with some really bad editing – and once Eddie bonds with the alien symbiote and transforms into Venom, all of a sudden the film becomes this incredibly goofy, awkward, ridiculous black comedy. It goes from being an increasingly boring movie to being a very bizarre and stupid one, where we have a wet and sweaty Tom Hardy puking his guts out, making weird sounds, eating live lobsters in water tanks at a public restaurant, and making out with his symbiote. It’s such a bizarre mixture of tones that Venom feels like the perfect successor to The Amazing Spider-Man films, almost to the point where you begin to wonder whether or not this was originally intended to be a spinoff to those films.

Apart from Tom Hardy and his awkward performance, Michelle Williams is sorely underused in a thankless role, while Riz Ahmed is very miscast as the cold CEO businessman that acts like a cardboard cutout baddie with clichéd, generic motivations. Even though the translation of Venom in both voice and design on screen is brilliant (but it’s still annoying that he has no white spider symbol!), the rest of the CGI is very rushed and corny to look at (especially during the motorcycle chase sequence). It’s quite hard to see at times, particularly during the climactic battle between Venom and Riot, which appears to be nothing more than a CGI sploosh-fest.

The action sequences are also a real let down, since they are choppily edited and completely bloodless despite the fact there are people getting their heads chewed off and spat out, which makes you wonder if the filmmakers involved were trying to make an R-rated flick but were constricted to a PG-13 by Sony.

It’s a real shame since director Ruben Fleischer has made notable movies in the past, like the amazing Zombieland, the middle-of-the-road 30 Minutes or Less and the mediocre Gangster Squad, but this is easily his worst film to date as it’s everything a movie shouldn’t be: boring. This feels more like a Sony cash-grab than a true Ruben Fleischer film, and it’s pretty shocking that acclaimed screenwriter Kelly Marcel was involved with rewriting Scott Rosenberg and Jeff Pinker’s screenplay.

Sure, some of the interactions between Eddie and Venom are nicely played, but does that matter when the rest of the film is so lacklustre? If you want a great recent Spider-Man related film from Sony, then just check out Into the Spider-Verse. It’ll give you more happiness and joy than this will!

VENOM / CERT: 15 / DIRECTOR: RUBEN FLEISCHER / SCREENPLAY: JEFF PINKNER, SCOTT ROSENBERG / STARRING: TOM HARDY, MICHELLE WILLIAMS, RIZ AHMED / RELEASE DATE: 4TH FEBRUARY

Director Lynne Ramsay may not be prolific but, since her stunning 1999 debut, Ratcatcher, her handful of feature films have highlighted her commitment to the telling of unusual and difficult stories about characters you may not wish to spend too much time with. That she does so with her singular style is wondrous but the fact that she makes you care about these people is remarkable and, with You Were Never Really Here, she’s perfected her craft.

Joaquin Phoenix plays Joe, a man with a traumatic past. His army and police background have made him tough enough to make him an effective hitman, desensitised enough not to care, yet moral enough to know when he’s doing the right thing. As such, he specialises in rescuing the young girls of wealthy, influential parents from child sex traffic rings. When the rescue of a politician’s daughter goes wrong, a conspiracy opens up and Joe’s descent into an ever more corrupt world brings some deadly consequences.

In the hands of other filmmakers, this could have become just another violent, conspiracy-driven, twists and turns thriller, and those elements are certainly there, but Ramsay’s interest lies with Joe – all else is background. We’re often on the edge of plot, just outside incident. We see the film pretty much through Joe’s perspective, one which is fuelled by anti-depressants, trauma, grief and repression but with bursts of compassion.

In the lead role, Phoenix has rarely been better; his great hulking frame of muscle and fat often dominating the screen. There’s a world of pain going on behind those eyes and yet, in scenes such as those featuring his sick and ageing mother or the girl he rescues, we know Joe cares. Similarly, one extraordinary scene sees him lie with a man he’s just shot and fatally injured, holding his hand, gently singing along with the radio until he dies. It’s bizarre, compelling and almost beautiful.

You Were Never Really Here is a brutal film. You’ll certainly flinch more than once, sometimes at what you think you might see rather than what you do. But then, there are some very disturbing images, as well as some of astonishing beauty. Beautiful and disturbing also describes Johnny Greenwood’s incredible score, one which includes electronic beats and the sounds of the city to create surreal soundscapes which, with Ramsay’s visual flair, creates a dreamlike, hallucinatory feel.

Sadly, whilst the quality of the film on Blu-ray is spectacular, the virtual lack of extras is far from tremendous, something laughingly called From Book to Film turning out to be about a minute long snatch of red carpet interviews.

YOU WERE NEVER REALLY HERE / DIRECTOR: LYNNE RAMSAY / SCREENPLAY: LYNNE RAMSAY / STARRING: JOAQUIN PHOENIX, JUDITH ROBERTS, EKATERINA SAMSONOV, JOHN DOMAN / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW