Review Category: Movie

A few years back writing and directing team Jesse Holland and Andy Mitton made the somewhat promising YellowBrickRoad, a moderately well received horror about an expedition that set out to discover the secrets of a town’s vanished population. Now they’re back with supernatural chiller We Go On.

 

Miles is a young man who is afraid of pretty much everything, with an impressively dense list of phobias. It all comes back to one thing for him – a fear of death. He has a recurring dream of his demise in a car accident, and fear in general is blighting his life. Miles places an ad with a fee for anyone who can show him proof of an afterlife, and preferably a welcoming one. Dismissing the cranks and crackpots Miles settles on three candidates.

 

One is revealed as a fake and doesn’t even make the first meeting, one is almost certainly just crazy and the other is a doctor (Glover) who tries to tap into Miles’ fears to win the prize, but with little success. It’s actually someone else entirely, Nelson (Dunn), who helps Miles get what he wishes for. And like the saying goes, Miles should have been more careful because once he has proof, that proof won’t leave him alone. Blighted now by hauntings Miles must consider desperate measures to try and shut the door he has opened.

 

It’s an intriguing premise and something many people would be interested to know, one way or the other. A ponderous start doesn’t help things but arguably this is Holland and Mitton trying to establish a verisimilitude and ground the later events in a sense of reality, allowing us first to relate with Miles. Once Miles’ connection with the other side begins, there’s plenty of ghostly happenings. It’s a kind of sunnier Sixth Sense condensed that aims for atmosphere and while it doesn’t quite make it, there’s plenty to recommend.

 

Dialling up the action marks a shift from the more sombre opening, and although none of the spooks are scary on their own, We Go On works up a cumulative effect that’s actually quite enjoyable. As Miles, Freeman is a bit of a momma’s boy, but for an audience this helps as we get the estimable Annette O’Toole as Charlotte, a sceptical counterpoint to her boy’s desire to believe.

 

We Go On goes exactly where you think it will in terms of plot, and at the same time manages attempts at something different, including an interesting ethical quandary. It never quite pulls together, never quite chills as it could do, but overall is a decent film that has ambition and is an agreeable enough way to spend an hour and a half.

 

WE GO ON / CERT: TBA / DIRECTOR & SCREENPLAY: JESSE HOLLAND, ANDY MITTON / STARRING:  CLARK FREEMAN, ANNETTE O’TOOLE, JOHN GLOVER / RELEASE DATE: UK RELEASE DATE TBA

 

Blind Sun opens in a plausible near-future Greece. Bleached by an unrelenting sun, water is sparse, especially drinking water which is slowly being privatised, and the heat and wind are fierce. Ashraf (Bakri) is on his way to a new job but is delayed by a suspicious, unfriendly cop. The cop drives off with Ashraf’s residency papers before he can be stopped. Ashraf heads on to take up his gig house sitting for a French family whilst they’re away.

 

The family were dealt a fine for filling up their pool and took some local resentment as a result, and Ashraf initially doesn’t follow orders from his new boss, choosing not to drain the pool but to instead enjoy it himself. Meanwhile he seeks to discover what happened to his papers and retrieve them. Trapped in a nightmare where the only people he meets are generally wilting in the heat, singularly unhelpful or view him as an immigrant, Ashraf starts to suspect that the villa, and the water supply, is being sabotaged. Of course there’s just as much likelihood that Ashraf himself is losing the plot and is responsible for the damage around the home.

 

In many ways Blind Sun harks back to the psychological thrillers and horrors of the 1960s and 70s. In its almost total focus on mainly one character and their slowly dissolving relationship with any reality other than their own, there are elements of films like Repulsion. It’s given a gender flip so that instead of a woman-gone-mad it’s the tormented Ashraf that the camera lingers over. There’s some obvious surface comparisons that could be made with the sun-blasted Who Can Kill a Child? With numerous other influences and a heavy developing dystopia vibe, it’s something you could pick over for some time.

 

It’s beautifully shot and there’s a good use of oppressive sound effects and music that amplify the alien-ness of Ashraf’s experience as well as the increasing isolation. Writer and director Joyce A. Nashawati isn’t constructing a horror film here but rather a bleak character study of one man’s unravelling stability and mounting paranoia that serves just as substantially as allegory. For much of the running time Ashraf is the only one on screen and Bakri proves a compelling anchor.

 

And it’s good that Blind Sun has these positives, with plot being minimal, as well as action. There’s an arthouse influence that’s just as heavy as any horror or thriller elements and it’s this that threatens to undermine the sense of slow build panic that Ashraf experiences. Fortunately, that cinematography, control of pace and central performance pulls it back from too much tedious noodling. It’s a promising feature debut from Nashawati.

 

BLIND SUN / CERT: TBC / DIRECTOR & SCREENPLAY: JOYCE A. NASHAWATI / STARRING: ZIAD BAKRI, MIMI DENISSI, LOUIS-DO DE LENCQUESAING / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

 

Mel Gibson hurtles out of the darkness of some of his more recent well-publicised career and personal faux pas, dragging Sony’s botched reboot Spider-Man Andrew Garfield with him, in a tough, brutal, take-no-prisoners story of real-life Second War heroism which has already pointed both star and director in the direction of this year’s Oscar ceremony. Whether Hacksaw Ridge is really worthy of such high acclaim is debatable for now; if nothing else though it serves (alongside his turn in Scorcese’s lumbering Silence) to salvage Garfield’s career and is almost certain to wipe Gibson’s smeared slate clean. For now.

 

But in truth Hacksaw Ridge actually is a terrific film, albeit nothing we’ve not seen before in a  handful of more measured and thoughtful war movies across the last decade or so. War is Hell, Gibson seems determined to remind us; and remind us he does in a second-half which pitches us right into the middle of a bloody, ferocious and apparently interminable battle between the US Army and the Japanese at Okinawaka, a conflict from which the audience will emerge as shell-shocked and psychologically battle-scarred as any of its luckless participants.

 

Hacksaw Ridge is based on the true life story of Desmond Doss (Garfield), a devoutly-Christian pacifist who is determined to do his ‘bit’ for the US War effort by enlisting, despite the fact he’s an avowed conscientious objector. He’s not scared of war, he just won’t pick up and fire a rifle. But he’s happy to be pitched into the field of battle as a medic. The US Army aren’t quite so convinced and spend an age trying to crack his resolve by intimidating him, allowing him to be beaten up by his fellow recruits and, finally, by court martialing him. This first half of Hacksaw Ridge is actually rather quaint and comfortable, the old story of the soft-spoken outsider trying to hang on to his beliefs and his humanity in a Man’s World of uniforms, guns and barely-repressed violence. Garfield sails through it with gusto, the good ol’ boy who just wants to marry his sweetheart and live a quiet life and would rather not run around firing guns at strangers, even in the field of combat. Eventually – because this is Hollywood – Desmond wins his own personal battle and finds himself right there in the frontline when his company is pitched into combat, climbing a vertiginous cliff colloquially known as Hacksaw Ridge atop which, often hidden in the mists or in dug-outs, are an apparently-endless tide of kamikaze Japanese soldiers. The carnage is awful, breathless, bloody and exhausting; through it all weaves Desmond, trying to give solace to the injured as their bodies are almost blown apart and managing to somehow stay alive as all around him turns into a very vivid vision of Hell itself. When the battle ends, Desmond chooses not to escape the battlefield with his fellow-survivors, but rather he wanders around the wastelands, constantly under sniper fire, and saves seventy-five bloodied, bullet-ridden, half-destroyed men – including his once-gnarly Sergeant (a career best turn from the usually-boorish Vince Vaughn) – and manages to get them back down the escarpment to the safety of their own camp. This is the act of magnificent heroism which, in real life, earned Doss a Medal of Honour.

 

The extraordinarily vivid Apocalypto showed how comfortable Gibson is in depicting gruesome relentless violence and Hacksaw Ridge, whilst never quite as excruciating, pulls off much the same trick and the last half of the film is its real strength. Gibson seems restless during the more meandering, soap opera mechanics of the first half-hour and it’s likely that the audience will be waiting for the good stuff to kick in too. Needless to say that when it does, it’s worth waiting for. Sitting right up there with Saving Private Ryan for bringing the true, cold horror of warfare and life in the front line to the screen, Hacksaw Ridge is worth the price of admission for its second hour or so alone. In truth its human drama isn’t really that much of a chore, it’s merely that the story is ticking boxes we’ve seen ticked before in action/war films and the combat sequences are so painfully well-executed and powerful that it can sometimes seem as if two entirely different films have been bolted together. But there’s no doubt that this is confident, striking, film-making and if it merely serves as the final step in Gibson’s rehabilitation and allows him to forge ahead with his new career as a director of true vision and power, then we can forgive Hacksaw Ridge its occasionally drift into mawkishness and sentimentality and we’ll most likely quickly forget them when the terrible, blood-chilling massacre begins. If Hacksaw Ridge is a flawed masterpiece, its flaws are really very minor indeed.

 

HACKSAW RIDGE / CERT: 15 / DIRECTOR: MEL GIBSON / SCREENPLAY: ANDREW KNIGHT, ROBERT SCHENKKAN / STARRING: ANDREW GARFIELD, SAM WORTHINGTON, LUKE BRACEY, TERESA PALMER, VINCE VAUGHN, HUGO WEAVING, RACHEL GRIFFITHS / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

Expected rating: 7/10

 

Starburst rating:

A few years back writing and directing team Jesse Holland and Andy Mitton made the somewhat promising YellowBrickRoad, a moderately well received horror about an expedition that set out to discover the secrets of a town’s vanished population. Now they’re back with supernatural chiller We Go On.

 

Miles is a young man who is afraid of pretty much everything, with an impressively dense list of phobias. It all comes back to one thing for him – a fear of death. He has a recurring dream of his demise in a car accident, and fear in general is blighting his life. Miles places an ad with a fee for anyone who can show him proof of an afterlife, and preferably a welcoming one. Dismissing the cranks and crackpots Miles settles on three candidates.

 

One is revealed as a fake and doesn’t even make the first meeting, one is almost certainly just crazy and the other is a doctor (Glover) who tries to tap into Miles’ fears to win the prize, but with little success. It’s actually someone else entirely, Nelson (Dunn), who helps Miles get what he wishes for. And like the saying goes, Miles should have been more careful because once he has proof, that proof won’t leave him alone. Blighted now by hauntings Miles must consider desperate measures to try and shut the door he has opened.

 

It’s an intriguing premise and something many people would be interested to know, one way or the other. A ponderous start doesn’t help things but arguably this is Holland and Mitton trying to establish a verisimilitude and ground the later events in a sense of reality, allowing us first to relate with Miles. Once Miles’ connection with the other side begins, there’s plenty of ghostly happenings. It’s a kind of sunnier Sixth Sense condensed that aims for atmosphere and while it doesn’t quite make it, there’s plenty to recommend.

 

Dialling up the action marks a shift from the more sombre opening, and although none of the spooks are scary on their own, We Go On works up a cumulative effect that’s actually quite enjoyable. As Miles, Freeman is a bit of a momma’s boy, but for an audience this helps as we get the estimable Annette O’Toole as Charlotte, a sceptical counterpoint to her boy’s desire to believe.

 

We Go On goes exactly where you think it will in terms of plot, and at the same time manages attempts at something different, including an interesting ethical quandary. It never quite pulls together, never quite chills as it could do, but overall is a decent film that has ambition and is an agreeable enough way to spend an hour and a half.

 

WE GO ON / CERT: TBA / DIRECTOR & SCREENPLAY: JESSE HOLLAND, ANDY MITTON / STARRING:  CLARK FREEMAN, ANNETTE O’TOOLE, JOHN GLOVER / RELEASE DATE: UK RELEASE DATE TBA

 

Emily buys a rundown house near to the hospital where her brother Zach, afflicted with cerebral palsy, will soon begin treatment. With her boyfriend and two friends in tow, the five of them arrive at her new home. Unfortunately, nobody thought to mention what happened to the previous occupants, and now their arrival has awakened a dormant and malevolent power.

 

At first glance, Bornless Ones seems to have little to distinguish itself, appearing to be yet another by-the-numbers cabin in the woods flick destined to become lost amidst the miasma of countless similar low-budget genre efforts. However, at the very least it’s a far better Evil Dead than that film’s own recent remake, and acquits itself admirably with a talented execution.

 

It’s not as widely understood as it should be that horror movies are made compelling by interesting characters rather than innovative premises, and it’s in this regard that Bornless Ones rises far beyond the average. Although the central quintet are an assortment of familiar archetypes, each is infused with a recognisable personality that makes them compelling enough to become invested in their fate, for good or ill. In particular, Zach’s cerebral palsy is a welcome human touch to the film’s setup that could easily have just been five twentysomethings heading off for a weekend of partying, and the specifics of the condition become significant to how events develop.

 

Before long, they each become tormented by whispering voices taunting them with their personal fears and forcing out their hidden shames. With each new revelation, your perception of the character alters, forcing you to re-evaluate how much sympathy they actually deserve. Things get progressively worse and decidedly more gruesome from there, as blood and guts both begin to be spilt along with everyone’s dark secrets.

 

The film largely eschews CGI in favour of practical effects, and is all the more effective as a result, bringing a raw physicality and brutal lack of restraint to the demonic chaos. The already sinister atmosphere is augmented by some high contrast of light and shadow, so even during moments that the malicious entities are absent, the unease of their oppressive presence is still felt.

 

A little more exploration into the story’s background mythology to better understand what’s going on wouldn’t have gone amiss, and since the film is relatively short as it is, some deviation into what drives the demons wouldn’t have made the plot drag. Although that said, at one point the sibilant seething of one of them is rather amusingly cut off just as it’s about to launch into an expository monologue.

 

An engaging tale of manipulations and mutilations that transcends most similar contemporary efforts, Bornless Ones possesses enough of a distinct identity to be of interest even to those who feel they’ve seen it all before.

 

BORNLESS ONES / CERT: TBC / DIRECTOR & SCREENPLAY: ALEXANDER BABAEV / STARRING: MARGARET JUDSON, DEVIN GOODSELL, MICHAEL JOHNSTON, MARK FURZE, BOBBY T / RELEASE DATE: 10TH FEBRUARY (US); UK RELEASE TBA

 

Directed by Brad Watson, 108 Hours Missing is about Ariana (Anna Abrami), who is an illegal immigrant that is seemingly involved with a human trafficking ring, and is out to find her missing daughter. Along her way, she is captured and interrogated by US Detective Olivia Fox (Samantha Schnitzler), but it’s during this process, the threads begin to unravel and all is not what it appears to be. At the centre of this short film is the topic of human trafficking and how far one person would go to protect the ones they love, and that is shown on both sides of the fence here as the story nears its end.

 

Writer Emily Fairweather does a fairly solid job at taking that subject matter and turn it into this almost psychological mind game between Ariana and Olivia so when you think the interrogation is going one way, it ends up going the other way, and the short pulls the rug out from under you. This is complemented by the film’s look, which is very atmospheric and foreboding, plus Watson also contributes to the musical score and it helps produce some unnerving tension. Both Anna Abrami and Samantha Schnitzler give incredibly solid performances, nailing the emotional nuances, and the fact that both actresses produced the film together with Watson goes to show how committed they are to the film and their characters, which totally shows.

 

Overall, 108 Hours Missing is a film that is solidly well-structured, intriguingly suspenseful, perfectly acted by its minimalist cast, and delivers on its big twist. This is a story where the tables get turned and you don’t even know where things end up even after the story has finished. Its ambiguous nature might leave some frustrated, but the end result is nevertheless a remarkable one. It may not be the greatest short film ever made, but it’s still worth the watch when you are able to.

 

108 HOURS MISSING / CERT: TBC / DIRECTOR: BRAD WATSON / SCREENPLAY: EMILY FAIRWEATHER / STARRING: ANNA ABRAMI, SAMANTHA SCHNITZLER, TOMMY ROCA, ANTHONY SOMERS / RELEASE DATE: TBC

As Kubo and The Two Strings twanged our heartstrings and lit up our soul and while Zootropolis inspired us to aim high and break down prejudicial barriers, it is easy to overlook films that look a like pretty standard animated fare. As animation in cinema keeps advancing we should never allow ourselves to become cine-snobs who look down on anything that seems to be “just fun” because in doing so we can often miss something of value or something rather unexpectedly sweet and enjoyable. Such is the case for the new film from Illumination Entertainment (of Despicable Me series fame), which is certainly not the film you expect it to be…it’s better.

 

The film sees ambitious but struggling old school theatre owner (and Koala) Buster (Matthew McConaughey), who aims to dig himself out of various troubles and give his theatre the prestige it deserves by hosting a singing contest show. However when a typo adds a couple of 0’s to the modest cash prize he’s offering and when the contestants gain attention (some for the wrong reasons), the pressure is on, and this may be one gamble too many for the aspirational Buster. Promoted by the adverts as an ‘X-Factor with animals’ kids film, this knee-jerk synopsis does an injustice to a family film that offers a great deal more than a reality show inspired family flick.

 

Sing is a thoroughly enjoyable animated movie that uses its concept to far greater effect than Illumination Entertainment’s The Secret Life Of Pets did last year, as it zips along with giddy energy and crowd pleasing warmth throughout. The plot itself is hardly original and does certainly go the expected route towards the end but as opposed to being a reality show concept, Sing is instead a film far more comparable to James Bobin’s The Muppets (2011). The story is indeed about a singing competition initially -but like The Muppets– unfolds into a film about saving tradition and ensuring the survival of the old school by marrying it with new trends – as Buster’s theatre is indicative of the many real-life playhouses, cinemas and galleries in this world that are forced into closure. As well as these ideas, Sing discusses notions of how money is important but not as important as doing what you love because you love it.

 

It is a nice core, wrapped inside a visually pleasant (if not quite as polished as the likes of Pixar) and passionately voiced film that is full of songs (most that are actually pretty darn good – again, unlike most “talent” shows) and goodwill. McConaughey leads an all star cast and is probably the best performer as Buster but also standing out are Reese Witherspoon as devoted wife/mother Pig Rosita, Seth MacFarlane as the cocky/streetsmart Sinatra-esque mouse Mike, Tori Kelly as nervy but talented elephant Meena and Taron Egerton as Gorilla Johnny (and Egerton’s rendition of Elton John’s “I’m Still Standing” alone shows up the supposed Cowell pop “prodigies” manufactured on these tuneless shows). Though, for this writer, the scene stealer was Buster’s aged but loyal glass-eyed lizard secretary Ms. Crawley (voiced by director Garth Jennings himself).

 

Musically, narratively, vocally and visually, Sing is entertaining for the whole family and while some aspects of the script don’t click as brilliantly as others, this is still far superior to the low expectations this writer went in with. It may not be a game changer but it is memorably fun and something you can quite easily and happily re-visit. Sometimes all we need is a sweet film, with nice characters and lots of fun and that is what we get here, a film all about enjoying yourself. As well as one that teaches kids about the vitality that comes with doing what they love and cherishing the dazzling atmosphere that can still be offered by the old school. Underestimate it at your peril, Sing is a heck of a lot of fun for cinemagoers of all ages.

 

SING / CERT: U / DIRECTOR & SCREENPLAY: GARTH JENNINGS / STARRING: MATTHEW MCCONAUGHEY, REESE WITHERSPOON, SETH MCFARLANE, TORI KELLY, SCARLETT JOHANSSON, TARON EGERTON, NICK KROLL / RELEASE DATE: 27TH JANUARY

Expected Rating: 4/10

Actual Rating:

What do you do when you want to make films but have no money? Be inventive, and make them anyway, that’s what. Lack of cash isn’t always a sign of lack of quality. Sure, a few corners may be cut, some non-actors used, and locations found via stolen moments, but if you have a solid idea and determination, it can be done.

This is just what the makers of Preternatural have managed. It’s a story that is so ‘meta’ it almost defies description. If you think the timey-wimey ‘cleverness’ of Doctor Who of late is bold, wait until you get a load of this!

What we have is presented almost as a home movie, with the leads (playing versions of themselves) setting out to make a spoof Blair Witch pseudo-documentary film. Through the auditions to the filming of the movie itself, we follow the hapless filmmakers as they attempt to make their work of art. However, as filming progresses, people and things may not be as innocuous as they seem.

It’s a hard film to explain without giving away too much of the fun of watching it all unfold. When one begins viewing Preternatural, you might find yourself groaning at the lameness of some of the gags or even at how forced some of it is; but stick with it, because as things progress, it becomes as clever and bafflingly brilliant as anything made for many thousands more than its £150 budget.

At one point Gav and Dixon (the characters) say ‘What we do if this was a movie?’ and it’s that knowing stance that drives the narrative for a large part of the film, and it’s refreshing to see that premise handled in such a matter of fact manner. It allows in-jokes and self-referential gags to flow thick and fast.

There’s a point in the film where things shift and the action is underpinned by an ominous and imposing score (also by director Steel). Elements like those that raise Preternatural above the standard no-budget vanity flick, and make a re-watch almost essential.

Steel’s first feature, The Shadow of Death was a fun homage to the slasher film that was perhaps bogged down by the humour that would occasionally feel too forced, but the very real, natural and engrossing nature of this film highlights the fun while also providing a genuine sense of fear and dread. What could have been too clever for its own good becomes a totally unpretentious and wild ride.
Well worth tracking down if it hits your local festival.

PRETERNATURAL / CERT: TBC / DIRECTOR: GAV CHUCKIE STEEL / SCREENPLAY: DIXON BARKER / STARRING: DAN BONE, GAV CHUCKIE STEEL, BEN SHOCKLEY, JANE WEST / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

Boy, they really don’t make movies like this anymore, do they? A love letter to Hollywood, romance and ambitious dreams, Damien Chazelle’s La La Land is nothing short of an absolute triumph in every way possible. If you go into the film expecting an all-singin’, all-dancin’ tribute to those classic Hollywood musicals from the golden age then that’s only just part of the film’s charm. This is a film that can be enjoyed by all audiences universally, being daringly structured, intricately detailed, gorgeously shot, beautifully performed and substantially well-written. Building upon the promise of Whiplash, which in itself was a music-driven movie about artistry, Chazelle demonstrates with this film that he is a special filmmaking talent, as well as one of the brightest talents currently working in American cinema.

What this film is about is the struggles of conforming and not conforming, and all the possibilities and gains that can be found in between. For years, Hollywood has forever been marketed as the land of dreams, yet it’s evidenced by this film that those dreams are crushed down by a pile of bigger dreams that can never find fruition, and even if they do, there can be costs to yourself, your personal life and the relationships that have been formed because of them. Both of our main protagonists in Mia and Sebastian are struggling artists trying to conform to the new age of modern art in cinema and music, while also desperately trying to love, plot, hope, dream and fight for their ‘big break’, even if life’s realities intervene.

With music composed by Justin Hurwitz and Justin Paul, the songs in this film are vivid and alive; whether it’s ‘City of Stars’, ‘Audition’ or ‘Dreamers’, each of these songs tribute the musicals of yesteryear without ever feeling like copycat pastiches. Likewise, Chazelle compliments the songs by filming his sequences in a way that feels blissfully romantic and elegant, while also having its own particular style and class, and Linus Sandgren’s cinematography is beautiful to behold. You can take almost any frame in the movie, and it could be painting that can be found in a modern art gallery. The sequence in particular where our romantic duo visits LA’s Griffith Observatory is simply an unashamedly starry-eyed experience.

Reuniting for a third outing together after Crazy, Stupid, Love and Gangster Squad, Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling both deliver career-best performances, and their chemistry together is at the centre of this film and the emotions are on show without restriction. Emma Stone is the one who stands out the most, displaying a wonderful array of raw emotions that range from ecstatic highs of love and joy to the painful and tearful lows. Ryan Gosling too has never been better, nailing the emotional intensity, while also maintaining a sardonic wit throughout. Also, his piano playing is quite remarkable with no slight hands and cheat cutaways to be found. 

During the last year, we were treated to many movies that were special and unique in their own way, particularly from the likes of Arrival, Captain America: Civil War and The Edge of Seventeen. However, La La Land is, not just a bona fide masterpiece, but also the best film of the year bar none, capturing the true nature of Hollywood and Los Angeles in a way that’s both unconventional and surprising. In an age of relaunches, remakes, and reboots, this reignites a long-lost fire in cinema that almost feels like being awake in a wondrous dream like no other.

LA LA LAND / CERT: 12A / DIRECTOR & SCREENPLAY: DAMIEN CHAZELLE / STARRING: RYAN GOSLING, EMMA STONE, J. K. SIMMONS, ROSEMARIE DEWITT / RELEASE DATE: JANUARY 12TH

Expected rating: 9 out of 10
Actual Rating: