Minamata: All You Need To Fight Injustice Is A Camera

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

Johnny Depp stars as W. Eugene Smith a photo journalist who was pivotal in exposing the Japanese Minamata scandal.

There will be some out there put off by the fact that this film stars Johnny Depp, to them I will say he has not been charged with anything, though he is already cancelled and the masses online will form a pitch fork wielding mob if he stars in anything. If he is formally charged with something then of course my opinion will change, but for now the situation is murky and people are quick to cast the stone and ride the high horse.

Personally, I thought Depp was surprisingly solid here, his last few performances had begun to suggest he was losing his way and was maybe even starting to phone it in, however he is on strong form here and delivers a stirring performance.

I thought the film as a whole was haunting and brought light to a scandal many of us may not be aware of. It handles the drama and the emotion well and you become so wrapped up in the goings on that you want to go out and fight the injustice as well. I thought Ryo Kase was the scene stealer of the film and had many powerful scenes.

Overall, I think it is a shame that many will let their feelings towards Depp put them off watching this as it is a very powerful and needed film.

Pros.

Depp

The emotion

Kase

Cons.

Pacing issues

Bill Nighy seems miscast

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Red Rocket: Sleaze In The America South

4/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

A retired porn star, played by Simon Rex, must move back in with his wife’s family as he dreams of ways to get rich quickly.

I applaud this film for giving us a complex lead, in many ways Rex’s Mikey is a deeply flawed individual as he is a predator and a user of people however he also has moments of warmth and the film kind of wants you to root for him whilst also criticising him. However, unlike in film’s of the past where the dirtbag protagonist seems to get away or even be rewarded for their actions here Mikey does face the consequences. It is nice to see a protagonist that is not cut and dry morally, it will upset some online for sure.

I thought for the most part the film was very engaging and kept a good pace, though I will say the start is a little slow, however by the time it hits the start of the second act the pacing is much better. Additionally, I liked the open endedness of the ending, in some ways it can be seen as a defeat for Mikey but in other ways it is more of an easy to overcome setback. I would like to see a sequel to see where the character goes from here.

Overall, a morally complex film which examines the underbelly of society.

Pros.

The morality

Rex

The ending

The supporting cast are all doing a good job

Cons.

A few minor pacing issues

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Dickinson: Overview

2.5/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

Hailee Steinfeld stars as famed poet Emily Dickinson. However this is not wholly a period piece.

So as Dickinson draws to a close I am left divided. Torn. There were good elements here and a few episodes where the show really sung however, there was also a myriad of problems some of which only became more apparent and egregious as the series went on. As this is an overview of the show itself and all of its seasons I won’t be talking specifics about any one episode particularly instead I’ll tackle it more broadly.

I think the things Dickinson does right are two fold, firstly it taps into the immense talent of Steinfeld and gives her a lot of room to flex her acting chops and secondly it has a strong visual identity that lends itself quite nicely to the screen and leads to some very memorable moments such as when Emily takes a carriage ride with Death, played by Wiz Khalifa.

However, what Dickinson does wrong is largely down to the writing. Firstly the major issue with the show is that about a third of its episodes could be cut and it would make no real difference to the storyline of the show as there is so much filler that to chop it down would probably make it better, this show had no business being ten episodes a season. Secondly, and this one might be controversial, Dickinson is incredibly preachy, at times it gets to the point where it feels like the show is trying to shove the political agenda of it’s writers down your throat and that can of course be off putting.

Overall, I think this series is watchable but it could have been so much more if the political agenda wasn’t there and if the season were smaller perhaps five or six episodes so the writers don’t have to produce so much filler.

Pros.

Steinfeld

The visual style

It is watchable

Cons.

The preaching

The pacing

The humour never really landed for me

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The Devil Rides Out: Christopher Lee Becomes A Magical Warrior Of The Lord

4.5/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

A satanic secret society infiltrates British high society and Christopher Lee is all that stands between them and their dastardly ends.

Yes, yes I know this film has some racial undertones and is in many respect problematic, but it was from over fifty years ago so I am not hugely surprised. I have acknowledged these elements but for the purpose of my review I am going to try and look past them as little more than a product of their time.

Without further ado on with the review. Christopher Lee was a fantastic actor; he commands the screen here as Duc de Richleau. He brings such gravitas to the performance it is hard to look away, you really buy his performance consistently throughout.

Moreover, the film handles its stakes very well. Though only small in scale the film makes its stakes feel far grander and it is hard not to get caught up in this battle between good and evil. The tension coursing through the film is often palpable especially when it comes to scenes of mental sparing.

The film is beautiful to look at, even though a few of the scenes look quite poor by today’s standards, especially the car chase. However despite this there is longing towards this style of film making within me wherein whole films are not just massive dumps of CGI that underpaid visual effects people were forced to make during one long weekend wherein they couldn’t go home and were paid below minimum wage most likely.

Overall, there is a charm to this film that we don’t seem to see anymore.

Pros.

Lee

The stakes

The tension

The Angel Of Death scenes

The ending

Cons.

The rather blatant racism

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The Lost Daughter: Olivia Colman’s Unintelligible Trip To Greece

1.5/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

Another actor who has achieved moderate success, this time Maggie Gyllenhaal, turns their hand to directing. The film follows a woman, played by Olivia Colman, who is not a natural mother and whilst on holiday becomes fixated on another woman’s life and family.

Being a well respected actor does not make you a good director, I feel this needs to be underlined. The films of George Clooney come to mind as I write this, with his directing fair ranging from passable to incredibly weak and pretentious. Gyllenhaal airs on the latter side.

The main reason this film has such a low score from me is because for the most part you will be hard pressed to understand what is going on without looking up the plot online. The way the film constructs its narrative is deeply flawed using flashbacks scattered in randomly which seem to contradict each other to try and fill in the back story, but again unless you look it up you are still unlikely to understand what is going on.

Colman is as good as ever, even if her character is immensely dislikeable but hey not every lead needs to be a good person or likeable. Colman seems to be having fun and manages to deliver a few funny lines here and there which help you to get through the rest of the film.

Overall, this is one that the Oscars Crowd and certain online critics will love and say is the best thing ever, but for most everyone else you will be left scratching your head and feeling like your time was wasted. I know I was.

Pros.

Colman

I liked Ed Harris but thought his character was not developed anywhere near enough

Cons.

The flashbacks

It is hard to watch at times

It doesn’t make sense

It drags on

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The Breaker Upperers: Taking The Awkwardness Out Of Ending Your Relationship

4/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

Jen, played by Jackie Van Beek, and Mel, played by Madeleine Sami, run a business where they break up couples.

I enjoy quirky comedies and this was just the ticket for me. I thought it was frequently funny as well as quite heart-warming. The film has a nice message of remaining optimistic in life and staying open to love. It managed to balance heart and comedy well giving each both room to excel whilst also knowing how far to go with the sentimentality before it would be overly so.

I thought both of the leads were good though I would probably say Sami stole the show for me and just pipped it to be the breakout here. Sami’s Mel is easy to root for and her enthusiasm is heart not to be infected by.

Though it was only a small cameo I loved that Jemaine Clements was in this film, though it was only one scene Clements was terrific and his whole scene had me laughing continuously, my one regret for this film is that they didn’t use him more.

Overall, a comedy film that makes you laugh and feel, very sweet.

Pros.

Clements

Sami

The humour

The heart

Cons.

A slight case of pacing issues

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Wolf: Hungry Like The Wolf

2/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

George MacKay plays a boy who thinks he is a wolf and becomes committed to a cruel mental institution.

Honestly I was quite looking forward to this film, this was furthered by the trailers that made me feel this would be a very different film to the one we got. The one we got was simply depressing. The performances were good I suppose, though people pretending to be animals or in this case people who think they are animals is hardly the height of acting.

The film feels very much like art house horror, not too interested in scaring us or even giving us something to think about rather instead focusing on being pretentious and trying to deliver on a vague message which only the director really understands. It tries to subvert at the expense of any kind of logic.

Furthermore I would describe the film as quite hard to watch, it is about an hour and a half of watching disabled people being abused, I suppose that is the horror.

Overall, this film is depressing and pretentious in equal measure.

Pros.

MacKay

Lily-Rose Depp

Cons.

It is depressing

Paddy Considine has been better

It is pretentious

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Mass: An Uncomfortable Conversation

3.5/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

Two pairs of parents gather together to discuss the events of a school shooting and the impact it has had on their lives.

I thought this film did the impossible, it took a very serious issue, that is ever more in need of discussing, and treated it with respect whilst also not making the film emotionally draining, depressing or hard to watch. There certainly were uncomfortable moments as befitted the subject matter, but these did not dominate the film and the wider narrative was one of understanding, grief and the human experience.

At the centre of the film are four very good character actors delivering four very good performances. I would be very hard picked to say who was the best or who stood out the most, Ann Dowd brought a level of devastation to the role that was hard to look away from whilst Jason Isaacs leads some very powerful monologues and rants, everyone was superb.

The thing that held the film back for me was the pacing of it, for the most part the film flows well, however there are a number of scenes that drag on for too long, furthermore towards the end of the film some of the scenes start feeling like filler to pad out the films runtime. This for me really hurt the film, as if it had been about fifteen to twenty minutes shorter it would have gotten much higher.

Overall, a strong film in many respects but one that could have benefited from a tighter pace.

Pros.

The emotion

The performances

The conversation created, had and left open

Maintaining an optimistic ending

Cons.

Pacing issues

Some of the scenes come off as pretentious or worse yet one the nose

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The Book Of Boba Fett: Stranger In A Strange Land

2/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

Temuera Morrison returns as Boba Fett, with Fett now becoming a Tatooine crime lord.

For a show supposedly about the gritty underworld of the Star Wars universe this was disappointing. I understand it is a Disney property so we were never going to get anything too hardcore, but the toned down bloodless violence really hit me here and put me off. The violence does not feel real or impressive as it is so clearly forced into a family friendly lens that it is afraid to show anything.

Furthermore, as many people have commented the pacing in this episode is not good, for two very different reasons. Firstly, not a lot happens there are some flashbacks and a few minor events here and there yet this is stretched out for just over half an hour, the pace moves so slowly it feels like they are trying to kill time. Secondly, and somewhat contradictory the episode needs to be longer, though as I say nothing really happens something could have, had the flashback sequences been given proper time to explain Fett’s backstory rather than no doubt splitting it between episodes to fill time, then this episode could have been better.

Finally and perhaps worst of all the look of some of the alien races herein look like cosplayers trying there best to win a convention competition rather than makeup effects, prosthetics and design that properly reflect the budget of the show.

Overall, a deeply underwhelming start to the series.

Pros.

Morrison is trying

The western feel is well done

Cons.

The pacing

The alien design in live action

It is too short

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Last Looks: Charlie Hunnam Finally Finds His Big Screen Franchise

4/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

A retired PI, played by Charlie Hunnam, must come out of retirement to solve the mystery of a daytime TV actor’s, played by Mel Gibson, dead wife.

I thought this was a very well done film. It illuded very much to the golden age of noir films in many ways, however it had more than enough personality to it that you can ignore some of the familiarities.

I have been saying for a long time that Hunnam is a terrific actor who sadly never seems to get cast in the right roles to make him into a big star, but once again he is great here. However, I would say he is outacted by Mel Gibson, yes I know Gibson is controversial but I tried to put that to one side when watching this. Gibson’s hammy British daytime TV actor is hilarious whenever he is on-screen, add to that Gibson’s ability to bring the emotion and deliver some quite touching scenes and you have a scene stealing performance.

The mystery was fairly well done, it was familiar but not predictable I didn’t guess where it was going.

My main criticism of this film would be that it gave Morena Baccarin so little to do, it felt like a huge waste of her talents, though maybe they will develop her character out if the film gets a sequel.

Overall, a charming whodunit.

Pros.

Hunnam

Gibson

A good mystery

Laughs and heart

Cons.

It doesn’t give Baccarin anything to work with

Pacing issues

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