Gaia: Keep Those Mushrooms Away From Me

3.5/5

Written by Luke Barnes

It is nice to see the horror genre become more diverse with us now seeing films like this wherein we get to see more of an African influence. This film’s horror is eco centric, and its messages are clear and chilling.

We are never really clear what is going on, or what sort of state the world outside this jungle is in, but the implications we hear throughout dialogue over the course of the film doesn’t paint a pretty picture. Moreover, this film imagines the battle for climate survival, that we are currently fighting, as more of a literally war between two sides: the Old Gods of nature and the industrially demanding modern human.

The monsters of this film will be familiar to anyone who has ever played The Last Of Us before. The film manages to have its monsters feel and look very real which adds to their menace, moreover, the virus we know they spread makes every confrontation with them even more tense and thrilling.

However, where the film starts to let itself down is with the human characters, who never truly feel realised and there are a lot of odd or missing details about these characters that makes their story hard to understand. I understand the desire for ambiguity, but I also refuse to believe that the rangers would not have been aware that there was something going on in the woods prior to going on the survey. In short the plot holes and contrivances hold this films narrative back.

Adding to the description of this films horror as eco centric, I would say it does not feel scary rather disgusting and skin crawling. This film taps into the fear of eggs under your skin or worms burrowing inside you that words fail to describe but it does elicit a physical response.

Overall, though not entirely scary it does make you feel uncomfortable and the acting across the board is quite strong.

Pros.

The African influence on the horror

Tapping into a skin-crawling sense of fear

The acting

The design of the creatures

Cons.

Pacing issues

Plot holes and narratives fumbles

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Tuca And Bertie: Nighttime Friend

2.5/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

Bertie deals with her TV induced narcolepsy and Tuca tries to find something to do at night as she can’t sleep.

Man, I watched this back to back with the recent Rick and Morty episode and that was a bad choice. Both episodes are incredibly sad, and I came away from the viewing wanting a cry.

Considering this series is a comedy I was expecting a few laughs, however there is nothing even remotely funny about this episode. The show doesn’t have to be silly or cracking out a joke a minute, but it also shouldn’t be depressing.

I enjoyed finally getting to see Tuca have the spotlight for the episode. Often Bertie gets the focus, so it is nice to see Tuca have the limelight for once. I thought exploring the idea of Tuca and responsibility was interesting, usually the character tries to remain breezy and actively avoids intense situations, but you can’t always escape them and sometimes you have to do the grown up thing. Moreover, I thought the relationship between Tuca, and her user Aunt was heart-breaking. Seeing her Aunt use her and then turn on her when she refuses to bring her anymore alcohol is powerful and shows the uncomfortable positions of being trapped in a toxic familial relationship.

I thought Bertie’s B storyline was fine, clearly it was set up as comedic relief, but I didn’t really find it funny: though I did appreciate the break.

Overall, I don’t think this series is a comedy anymore, and that is both a good and a bad thing.

Pros.

Seeing Tuca have to deal with adult responsibility

Bertie’s B story provided a nice break

Cons.

It is sad

It is not funny

It is hard to get through

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Rick And Morty: A Rickconvenient Mort

2.5/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

Morty falls in love with an elemental being, and Rick and Summer go on an end of the world sex binge.

Man this episode bummed me out. This might be the most depressing episode of Rick and Morty yet, forget the ending of season four, or when Rick gets arrested, this episode is heart breaking. Both the A and B plots are just sad, I hope you have something happy lined up after this.

I enjoy the episodes of Rick and Morty that explore the duo as people and as individuals, and this does that but proves that I need to be careful what I wish for. The character work is strong but honestly it is hard to watch. Morty seems to be all over the place in this episode, murdering people like they are nothing maybe he has been spending too much time with Rick. I thought his relationship with Plaentina was icky and twisted as it implies the two sleep together and he is below the age of consent. It was nice having Alison Brie provide her voice to the episode, she certainly brings a memorable performance and hopefully the character will return in the future.

The Rick and Summer storyline is odd, and the emotion of it doesn’t land in the way they would like it to. Straight off the bat it is a little strange how cool Rick is with going on a sex rampage with his granddaughter. Secondly the jealously angle with Summer preventing an apocalypse to prove that Rick’s happy relationship is false also feels somewhat jarring and maybe even a bit creepy. Widely this storyline is forgettable.

The stuff with Beth was probably the highpoint of the episode and it was nice to see her as a concerned and nurturing parent even if the episode takes its sweet time getting to it.

Overall, a depressing and maybe even upsetting episode of Rick and Morty and one I might skip on my next rewatch.

Pros.

Summer has a few funny lines

Alison Brie is a good guest star, and her character is interesting

Cons.

It is depressing

The Rick and Summer storyline has no point

Morty just flips out and kills a bunch of people and other than one throw away line it is never mentioned or reacted to

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America The Motion Picture: Free Bird

2/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

A mash up origin story for The United States Of America.

I want to preface this review by saying I am a big fan of Archer the animated series. Though many who are involved in that series clearly lent their hand to this project, the charm, wit and nuance of that show is woefully abandoned to produce one of the dumbest films I have ever seen.

Netflix animation is clearly betting on some of the big name talent involved with this film to sell it, as their animation studio is far behind the likes of Pixar and DreamWorks. The animation itself is good, that is not the problem, the issue is the non-sensical, lets throw ideas at the wall and see what sticks approach to storytelling that makes this film feel like a fever dream.

The voice cast is made up of some talented people, sadly not one of them is given anything memorable or interesting to work with and instead they just spout garbage that almost makes being poorly informed and unintelligent seem like the preferred way to be, almost as if it is trying to bash people who will be smart enough to see this film is bad.

The one moment of the film that I enjoyed that I gave the film one whole bonus point from what I was going to give it was having Free Bird by Lynyrd Skynyrd be America’s nation anthem: that scene was very enjoyable.

Overall, this film proves once again why Netflix shouldn’t let a machine green light its projects.

Pros.

Free Bird

I liked Benedict Arnold being a werewolf

Cons.

It is so dumb

None of it makes sense

The characters are unlikeable

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The Boss Baby 2: My My Dreamworks Is On The Decline

1.5/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

The brothers from the first film are now grown up and now there are new talking babies.

This film is only slightly better than the first. The only reason I have given it a half mark improvement is because they don’t go into the secret world of babies in as much tedious detail as the first film did. We are not subjected to exposition scene after exposition scene this time around.

However, what we do get here is not much better.

The film goes out of its way to show how after the first film, even though they were friends at the end of it, that the two boys have now grown apart as adults and have nothing to do with each other. As such the film spends a lot of it’s time showing them bonding, for some odd sense of sentimentality that never really comes together.

Moreover, the film never really justifies it’s own existence. That is probably because there is no reason for this film to exist. The new threat is laughably dull, and surely the secret baby organisation could have had any number of their agents deal with it, there is no reason why it has to be the boys from the first film.

Furthermore, the new female boss baby, voiced by Amy Sedaris, is totally needless as she adds nothing to the film and is really just there to be the new talking baby for the film. It is just gimmicky.

Overall, this film is entirely needless and is only very minorly better than the first film.

Pros.

Less exposition

Two funny jokes

Cons.

It is needless and doesn’t need to exist

It forces sentimentality for the sake of it

The new boss baby has nothing to do and no reason to be there

It is boring

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Fear Street Part One: Nothing Is More Of A Turn On Then Being Hunted Down By Undead Serial Killers

4/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

A long dead witches’ curse turns mild mannered residents of the quiet town of Shadyside into vicious killers.

I remember loving the books of R.L Stein when I was a kid, I must have read them all hundreds of times over. This film not only manages to capture the spirit, but also does a much better job of being a ‘Goosebumps’ esque film that the one staring Jack Black that came out a few years ago.

I found the film to not only be scary, but also surprisingly well done. The scares were built through atmosphere and tension rather than through forced jump scares. I found the wider mystery of all these small town serial killers to be quite unnerving, and I think the film does a good job exploring that: with the answer given feeling satisfying and making sense.

Though usually I find teen characters, especially in a Netflix film, to be grating, vapid and deeply unlikeable I didn’t mind the line up here and almost warmed to them by the end of the film. The one thing I would comment on though is the asinine and cringe story choice to have the kids hook up whilst having the killers chasing them, there is a time and a place guys. I understand that the higher ups at Netflix clearly wanted some form of titillation put into the film, but this just feels forced in.

Moreover, the dialogue is cringe as hell and often there are lines where you’re baffled that someone actually got paid to write that.

Overall, a good film that suffers from a lot of familiar Netflix teen cliches and draw backs, but manages to overcome them in the long run.

Pros.

The mystery

The scares

The ending

The world and the characters therein

Cons.

The forced-in needless teen romance scenes

The dialogue

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Tuca And Bertie: Kyle

3.5/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

Bertie manifests Kyle her inner bro in order to help her combat obnoxious men at work.

This episode certainly feels the most angry of the Tuca and Bertie series so far, and that is a great thing. Red on its surface this episode takes on toxic bro culture and also treads into MeToo and sexual harassment culture as well. I thought this was a powerful episode and one that was needed to address what Bertie went through with Pastry Pete.

I think this episode has a lot to say about society and our approach to powerful people who abuse those around them. It is right to point out how often all these figures need to do is say they are sorry or say they have changed, and then certain parts of the population will forgive them leaving the victims out in the cold. It is wrong, and I am glad this show has the balls to say it.

We get more emotional development for Tuca as well here, considering she was fairly side-lined in the last episode. We further the idea of loneliness and aimlessness that has come to encapsulate her character, as she drifts around trying to make a connection and achieve something, but even when she does she still isn’t happy.

I think this show is communicating a lot of hard and often uncomfortable topics through the means of animation, these things need talking about and that is why this show is so important as no one else is.

Overall, a strong episode and one that furthers the emotional growth of our leads.

Pros

Talking about difficult subjects

Bertie’s inner bro

Strong character development

Bringing back the Pastry Pete storyline

Cons.

It is not funny

It is quite saddening

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The Tomorrow War: More Emotions Less Bland CGI Shootouts

3/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

A high school science teacher is conscripted to fight a war against aliens in our near future that could spell the extinction of the human race.

Chris Pratt usually brings a certain level of charm and likeability to his roles: his role here however was devoid of this. Indeed, any number of actors could have played Pratt’s part, some to a far better result as honestly Pratt seems bored for most of the film.

For the most part this film is a deeply average science fiction film. There is nothing here that you haven’t seen before and the premise feels a little overly familiar. Even the aliens look like a retread.

Although the occasional moment of pure and very real feeling emotion in this film helps to elevate it beyond mediocrity. The moments between Pratt’s character and his daughter feel very impactful, they effect you and if you are anything like me they make you well up a bit as well. Moreover, there are also moments between Pratt’s character and his estranged father played by J.K Simmons that also bring a tear to your eye. For an action film this is surprisingly emotional.

The cast, with the exception of Pratt excel here. Yvonne Strahovski, Simmons and Betty Gilpin all have scene stealing moments that really help to make the film and to standout against all the CGI shootouts.

Overall, a rare misfire for Pratt, but one that is slightly elevated beyond mediocrity by a strong heart.

Pros.

The emotion

Strahovski

The ending

Cons.

It is overly familiar

Too much of the film is just generic CGI shootouts

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Censor: The Fight Against Video Nasties

3.5/5

Written by Luke Barnes

This feels like a very British horror film. There is something about this feature that so perfectly taps into the moral panic and the second guessing of Britain’s war with gory films. In times gone by this film itself would have probably ended up on the banned ‘video nasties’ list, as it truly replicates the gore and psychological torment that made those films controversial, and it revels in it.

The film is made by its lead performance. Niamh Alger deserves awards recognition, though she will never get it as horror films are always excluded from serious awards contention. Alger plays troubled very well and her descent into madness is a thing to behold. Alger’s performance during the final ten minutes were everything reaches a peak and Alger’s character reaches the apex of her snap into fantasy is nothing short of terrifying.

Though I would not say this film is scary in a traditional way, I would say it was unsettling. Very much like Under The Silver Lake that I reviewed recently the fear comes from the mass hysteria and paranoid aspects that pollenate the film and make you question what you see, and the reality presented to you.

My one criticism would be that some of the horror elements here are a little vague, the film itself is not always clear as to what is going on and you have to piece a lot of it together yourself: this does make the film’s story a little harder to enjoy.

Overall, a strong original horror film that taps into a time and place in British horror history better than anything I have seen in a while, sadly it is a bit too cerebral at times to be wholly enjoyable.

Pros.

Alger

The mania

Tapping into a very real part of British history

The ending

Cons.

The ending/ a little too abstract

Pacing issues

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False Positive: Questionable Taste

1/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

Lucy, Broad City’s Ilana Glazer, becomes convinced that the doctor involved with her artificial insemination has malicious intent.

A lot of the criticism of this film is misguided, I personally applaud the film for its upfront portrayal of the horror’s of motherhood: showing how the male fantasy of child birth and what it entails couldn’t be further from the truth.

That is wear my praise ends.

This film reminds me in many ways of Antebellum. That is not a compliment. Both are more focused on making a social and political point then they are with delivering an entertaining movie. This film feels like preaching, to the point of having a to the audience PSA about the patriarchy and it’s control of pregnancy. I have no issue with the arguments being presented, but I do have an issue with how it is being presented. Many films communicate similar social points in a more tasteful and crucially intelligent way where they blend in with the narrative and don’t threaten to overshadow it; this film goes drastically in the other direction.

Moreover, the films pushes the ideas of good taste in the service of making its points, most of the times it does this strays into incredibly bad taste. For an example of my point, there is a scene towards the end of the film where the lead tries to kill both of her babies by throwing them out the window, but doesn’t in the end, and then lets the dead foetus of the baby she wanted to have suckle on her breast. It made me uncomfortable viewing it. Maybe that was the point.

Also for anyone who has seen the film Rosemary’s Baby there are more than a few similarities here, and that is putting it mildly; though that point of criticism has been done to death here.

Overall, more of a political statement than a film, with questionable taste that will almost certainly make some viewers feel uncomfortable.

Pros.

It is bold, upfront and shocking in its approach to telling a female first horror film

Cons.

The social commentary lacks any subtly

The dead baby scenes

It is too familiar

It thinks it is deeper than it is

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