Judas And The Black Messiah: Power To The People

Judas and the Black Messiah is a historical drama film directed by Shaka King. The plot follows the real life rise and assassination of prominent Black Panther Fred Hampton (Daniel Kaluuya), and his betrayal at the hands of FBI informant Bill O’ Neil (Lakeith Stanfield).

I have been looking forward to watching this film for a long time, and it did not disappoint.

I think this is an important film that needs to be seen and understood, moreover it should be a stepping stone to a larger conversation around race and struggle, not just in The States but worldwide. It’s message is furthered by events that have happened in the recent past, showing that police violence and institutional racism is still a festering part of our society that needs to be dealt with.

Both leading men give terrific performances, as I knew they would, however, I think this is Kaluuya’s film; what’s more I think this film should net Kaluuya some Oscar gold. His performance of Hampton is so effective and impactful, it reaches you on a deep emotional level and opens your eyes to the evils of the world, we see through Kaluuya that Hampton truly wanted to better the position of the oppressed in society and wanted to be a force for positive change, and what did he get for that? They shot him while he slept.

Pacing wise this is a model for other films. Usually I knock off points for pacing issues or drag, but I have to say that every second of this film felt needed and important and for that I tip my hat.

Overall, this is not an easy watch it is infuriating and depressing, but at the end of day that’s reflective of life. Moreover, the film highlights the need for further change within our worldwide community and inspires the viewer to go out there and make that happen.

Pros.

It opens your eyes

Kaluuya

Stanfield

The ending

It makes you mad and then channels your energy into a force for good
Cons.

None
5/5

Reviewed by Luke

Willy’s Wonderland: Perhaps The Best Nicolas Cage Film Ever Made

Willy’s Wonderland is an action, horror, comedy film directed by Kevin Lewis. The plot sees a man known only as the Janitor (Nicolas Cage) have to work off the debt of repairing his car, by cleaning an alleged haunted pizzeria, where the animatronics come to life and murder people. Basically Five Nights At Freddie’s, but not for legal reasons.

This is easily my favourite film of 2021 so far; it is one of the few films I have enjoyed so much that I preordered it on DVD immediately after watching. There is something so wonderfully weird about this film that makes it what it is.

I saw a review call this this something to the extent of the most ‘Nicolas Cage weirdness ever put into a film’ and it truly is that: this film was made without a doubt based on the internet’s love affair with the odd performances and behaviour of Nicolas Cage, and no one else could have pulled it off.

Nicolas Cage is majestic here, he truly sells the weirdness of a man who has to drink a can of soft drink every hour or so or face dire consequences. There are so many great weird Nicolas Cage moments here, such as him doing a fabulous dance after finally besting the arcades pinball machine, or just scene after scene of watching him rip apart animatronic machines.

Moreover, Cage does not say a single word in the whole of the film, yet he conveys so much emotion and character just from facial expressions that he doesn’t need to: it is a gutsy stylistic choice but one that works out for the film.

Overall, one of the best films of the last few years and maybe my favourite Nicolas Cage film ever, check it out!

Pros.

It is hilarious

It is cool

The action and the horror elements are both solid

Nicolas Cage

The ending

Cons.

None

5/5

Reviewed by Luke

Coming To America: Before There Was The Undercover Boss There Was The Undercover Prince

Coming To America is a comedy film directed by John Landis. The plot sees disaffect African Prince Akeem Joffer, (Eddie Murphy), leave his kingdom and travel to America to try and escape his arranged marriage.

I had never seen this film before, I had heard of it, but never watched it so with the sequel coming soon to Amazon Prime I decided to catch up. Honestly I was disappointed.

Firstly, there are some vaguely problematic elements in the film, like white face and some of the more icky and tasteless nudity that do spoil the film a little as they are hard to ignore.

Secondly, and once again I want to stress that comedy is subjective, I did not find this film funny. It was okay and it made me smile a few times, but I didn’t find myself laughing even once. Most of the attempts at humour feel immediately flat and left me cold.

Murphy is fine in the lead, but this is far from his best role. He plays the well-meaning nice guy well, but he loses a lot of his trademark wit and sass as a result. The character of Akeem feels boring and played out, maybe at the time of release this wasn’t the case but watching it now I can think of multiple other examples of when this same plot thread (rich/privileged character trying to escape the gilded cage), has been done better before.

Overall, usually I am a big fan of Eddie Murphy, but this did nothing for me and was not funny.

Pros.

It is watchable

It made me smile a few times

Cons.

A few troublesome moments

It wasn’t funny

It felt cliched and predictable

2/5

Reviewed by Luke

Half Brothers: Stealing Goats

Half Brothers is a comedy film directed by Luke Greenfield. The plot sees two half-brothers Renato (Luis Gerado Mendez) and Asher (Connor Del Rio),come into contact for the first time after the death of their father (Juan Pablo Espinosa).

This film brought a tear to my eye and broke my heart, as a comedy film I don’t know if it was aiming to do this or if this was a mistake, but there is some powerful emotions in this film. The father journey is beautifully told over the course of the film, starting with him leaving Mexico to go to the States and then never being able to come back and the impact that has on Renato. How he never gave up trying to come back and has thought about seeing his first son again all his life, it is touching and deeply sad.

I enjoyed seeing the two-brother bond over the course of the film, yes the storyline was nothing new, but the leads had enough chemistry that they pulled it off and made it enjoyable. Both characters were more than they first appeared and had nuanced moments and arcs of their own, usually the writing in comedy films is quite weak but I have to hand it to this film it really managed to buck that trend.

My one issue with this film would be that though it is well written and has strong emotional resonances, it is not funny and at the end of the day it is supposed to be a comedy film. Now as I often say comedy is subjective, but for I didn’t really find myself laughing at all, smiling a few times but no laughs.

Overall, as a comedy film it is a let-down, but as a drama and a character piece this is incredibly strong. If you change what you are looking for and your initial expectations there is a rough diamond here.

Pros.

It is touching

The emotional arc

Salient points about society

The performances

Cons.

It is not funny

4/5

Reviewed by Luke

Crime Scene, Vanishing At The Cecil Hotel: Everything Wrong With Modern Documentary

Crime Scene: The Vanishing At The Cecil Hotel is a Netflix true crime documentary. The plot retells the events surrounding the disappearance of Elisa Lam, a mystery that took the internet by storm.

I have been very interested in this case for a while, so when I heard there was a true crime documentary coming to Netflix about it I was all for it, however, once I put it on things quickly changed and now all I can say is please this documentary as it is exploitative.

First and foremost this film in the talking head section gives a lot of time to Youtubers, people who don’t have all the information or any kind of detective training: this is a red flag as for the first few episodes it gives them and there idiotic conspiracy theories a platform, said theories are not only entirely fictious but also disrespectful to Lam herself. Yes, this is somewhat addressed in the final episode when the youtubers admit they were wrong, but they have still had multiple episodes to spout there nonsense, moreover, the documentary shows how the web sleuths ruined someone’s life by accusing him without any evidence of murder, why? Well because he is slightly different from their rigid norms of course.

When a documentary features Youtube talking heads, over police and those involved in the case you know something is amiss: that is not to say there is no police officers and others in the know who contribute to the documentary, there are simply they get less screen time than the web sleuths and other overly keen amateurs.

Finally and perhaps worst of all, this documentary if it can even be called that, features a lot of half truths and misinformation. During one of the episodes the documentary tries to make a case for serial killer Richard Ramirez, having frequently stayed at the Hotel Cecil, despite there being little evidence of this and is more likely an urban legend made up to go along with the Cecil’s bad reputation. I understand that Netflix wants to capitalise on the popularity of their Night Stalker documentary but come on do some basic fact checking.

Overall, this and the Night Stalker documentaries are two different sides of how to do documentary, on the one hand you have a documentary that is well made, researched and has comprehensive police involvement on the other hand you have an exploitative documentary that is more primed to tap into people’s nostalgia about a creepy video they saw online: there does not seem to be any real regard for Lam as a person beyond ‘oh remember that creepy lift video’, and a bunch of failed youtubers trying to make a name for themselves.

Pros.

There is some premise in the beginning

Cons.

Featuring youtubers more than the actual police investigating the crime

Pushing conspiracies that have no evidence

Giving these web sleuths who ruined someone life to the point of having him try to take his own life a platform

Spreading lore and urban legend as fact

1/5

Reviewed by Luke

Paradise Cove: Pull Up Your Floor Boards

Paradise Cove is a thriller film directed by Martin Guigui. The plot sees a builder (Todd Grinnell), and his wife (Mena Suvari), move into a new beach house in Malibu, however, once they settle in they start noticing strange occurrences which are all a result of the crazy homeless lady who lives under their house: who seems none to keen on the new tenants.

So, when I put this on I thought I knew exactly where it was going, but boy was I wrong. This film serves to rewrite a lot of the home invasion sub-genre cliches and attempts to make the sub-genre great again. In that vein the writing is quite smart, and I appreciated that, the usual dumb horror movie mistakes don’t happen and the characters and the situation as a whole play out in a terrifyingly realistic way.

I found the horror of this film to be quite chilling as it could so easily happen in reality. The idea of someone living in your house with you, unbeknownst to you, has happened multiple times over the years and been covered in the news: in that vein it is hard to separate the threat in this film and view it as not real in the same way you would watching something like Halloween (the later ones when Michael gets Superpowers). I don’t know if I would say this film is scary, but it certainly is unsettling.

Overall, this film did what a good thriller/ horror should do and left me feeling unsettled and a little uncomfortable after watching it.

Pros.
It is unsettling

The premise is menacing

It keeps you on edge

The writing is strong and erases cliches

Cons.

The acting by the main couple is very so so

A few pacing issues

3.5/5

Reviewed by Luke

Shithead: Getting High By Any Means Necessary

Shithead is a comedy film directed by Mike Morelli. The plot follows Jordan Cantwell (Johnny Smith), a man with a quest: to get as high as humanly possible and meet his favourite face paint rapper. Issue, he can’t get the goods, what’s a guy to do? Well Johnathan sees his girlfriends baby as a good source of drug money, a plan hatches.

I want to open this review by saying, what should be my catchphrase at this point, comedy is subjective it is one of the hardest genres to review and what works for me wont necessarily work for you. That said this film made me laugh.

I was quite lucky to have the chance to see this, and when it came into my inbox I checked it out almost straight away, I am always on the lookout for comedies, but like with horror I seem to have seen all of the good ones at this point.

The premise alone is hilarious, but it really is all in the execution: there are multiple laugh out loud moments in this film that had me in stiches, thinking about them now writing this is making me laugh. When I wasn’t laughing I was smiling, as though the characters are bad people there is still a likeability there.

Smith makes for a good protagonist who has tones of relatability, despite wanting to sell a baby, we have all had a day when we just want to cut loose and go and see our favourite band or artists and have set out on a quest to make that happen.

Overall, one of the funniest films I’ve seen so far in 2021.

Pros.

The premise

It is relatable

The characters are likeable and fun to watch

It is very funny

The ending

Cons.

A few slow moments

4.5/5

Reviewed by Luke

Bliss: Is This The Real World Or Is This Just Fantasy

Bliss is a science fiction drama film directed by Mike Cahill. The plot follows Greg Whittle (Owen Wilson), a man who finds out he is living in a simulation, or is he? Is this the real world? Or is the world beyond ours the real one? Or is it all the by-product of drugs.

This is Owen Wilson’s big come back film, he’s been absent from our screens for far too long and I for one am glad to see him back. He plays the everyman well and is heart-breaking as a father who slips into another world and is forced to question whether everything he knows is real, he doesn’t even know whether his own daughter is real.

This film is confusing, clearly by design, and it never does state which world is the real one, or if there is even two worlds at all, even the final scene of the film is ambiguous. You will only have any decisive opinion of what is actually happening if you read what the creatives say in interviews, as they spell it out.

My one issue with this film is the writing. Now, for the most part the writing is solid and works well, but here and there you see little things that ruin it slightly, this can be seen with character irregularities mainly with Selma Hayek’s character, which make things a bit too obvious and don’t fit with the rest of the film.

Overall, this film will fill you with a sense of existential dread, and stay with you long after it ends, welcome back Mr Wilson.

Pros.

The premise

The ambiguity

Owen Wilson’s comeback

The ending

Cons.

The writing is slightly weak and inconsistent in parts

Reviewed by Luke

4/5

Batman Soul Of The Dragon: Batman Outstays His Welcome

Batman Soul Of The Dragon is an animated superhero film directed by Simon Liu. The plot looks back to Bruce Wayne’s (David Giuntoli), days in training, when he was learning all of his martial arts prowess that would serve him well as the Dark Knight. We see that the mystic institution that Wayne was training at holds a terrible secret, a portal to hell (and or an evil other dimension), that a cult wants to opening.

This didn’t really feel like a Batman film, it felt like an animated martial arts movie and that is a good or bad statement depending on which of those you would rather watch. Personally, I went into it hoping for some top tier Batman content and was disappointed, this was not what I was expecting, and Batman was not really the main focus, rather it was Richard Dragon (Mark Dacascos), a figure from Wayne’s past.

However that is not to say it was bad either. I enjoyed the martial arts elements and the supernatural mysticism, I thought both were done well and really added to the project as a whole. The fight scenes were particularly impressive, and I am glad they did not censor the violence in anyway, it added a nice visceral edge to it.
I also thought the ending, which I won’t spoil here, was quite gutsy as it ended on a cliff hanger rather than neatly wrapping everything up.

Overall, I think there is a lot of good here, I think that it should have been its own standalone animated film that didn’t include Batman, it was strong enough to stand on its own. By having the Batman name front and centre it takes away from what the film is, as you go in with certain expectations that aren’t met, which is a shame as it is good otherwise.

Pros.

The ending

The fight scenes

Nice gory violence

The mysticism

Cons.

Batman should not be involved

4/5

Reviewed by Luke

The Chilling Adventures Of Sabrina: Falling To Earth, A Series Retrospective

This will serve as a retrospective over the entire run of the Chilling Adventures Of Sabrina, serving not necessarily to give an ultimately score of the series but more to talk about it in generally, the highs and the lows and what became of it in the end. I will be referring to each part as a season, because let’s face it that’s what they are, Netflix you aren’t fooling anyone.

So, when the CAOS was first announced I was excited, the idea seemed interesting, Riverdale was still good (yes such a time existed, the first season and the first half of the second season), it had not yet lived long enough to become the villain it is today, everything seemed to be in its favour.

When the first season came around everything went well, Kiernan Shipka and the rest of the cast perfectly fitted the shows sense of style, the tone maintained a good balance between scares and teen antics. All was well with the world, of the show that is.

Then came the second season, and things were still good: we got to see more of the world, Hell became a more regular player in the show and that allowed it to open up in a number of interesting ways. However, the cracks had begun to show many of the characters would go on cringey and forced rants about trendy political talking points, in perhaps some of the most token ways possible the show was trying to be woke. The subject matter itself was not the problem it was the way it was handled in the writing that becomes an issue, with the ideal of subtly being well and truly dead. However, I still enjoyed the show and skipped most of the needlessly political speeches, and I binged the second season in a handful of days.

Then came season three and the shows fall from grace. There was so many things wrong with season three I don’t know where to begin, go and read my review of that season for my comprehensive thoughts on it. Making Sabrina a cheerleader? The forced musical numbers and scenes that were widely mocked and condemned online, making the series into Riverdale, really forcing politics into every part of the show, I could go on. This was by far the worst season of the show, and the first I struggled to sit through, and the show seemed to realise that itself.

With the final season the series tried to fix some of its past mistakes, it tried to get the tone and soul of the series back to what it used to be. It had some good scary moments, was it back to the heights of season one? No, not by a long shot, again why do we need musical interludes every few scenes? Although it was better than season three and that was the crucial point this season needed to land.

The ending was very fitting of the show, I wont spoil it as it is still fairly new, but it ended in a way that felt correct that felt right by the characters with enough room there to come back in some way if Netflix has a change of heart.

Overall, in the beginning CAOS was something special and thanks to a very talented cast it never became truly bad though it did lose its way, it tried to return to its roots in the end with mixed results.