Pieces Of A Woman: The Pain Parents Bare

Pieces Of A Woman is a drama film directed by Kornel Mundruczo. The plot follow the fallout of a disastrous home birth that resulted in the death of a child. The film examines grief from both the mother’s (Vanessa Kirby) and the father’s (Shia LaBeouf) points of view.

So before I get into this review, I just want to condemn LaBeouf who is an alleged sexual abuser and batterer. His involvement with this film did but me off it, but I managed to separate my feelings and watch it with an unbiased eye.

This is a film that you need to be emotionally ready for. You will need some form of emotional support to get through this film, at least I found that to be the case for me. I think this is a needed film, and I think even though it is an uncomfortable subject, it is something everyone needs to see so that we can better understand the troubles that some mothers have to go through.

The upsetting thing about this film is just how real it feels. This is a bleak film for many reasons and as a viewer you can separate yourself from that bleakness as it is just something happening on the screen; however a lot of people can’t escape it and this is life for a lot of people.

I think Kirby is terrific here and this should be the film that finally nets here both mainstream attention, as a serious actor, and also awards. Her performance is so raw and powerful that I challenge you not to feel anything from it. LaBeouf is also good and has his dramatic moments do shine but this is defiantly Kirby’s film.

The one negative I would say about the film is that it feels too neat. By that I mean the film feels a bit too rehearsed, a bit too much like a stage play. I think that some of the scenes border on overacting and seem to steam from an overly broad approach to the film as a whole. To be blunt, a lot of the scenes feel like actors acting not real life.

Overall, though the acting feels a little overdone at times and a bit removed from reality, this is still a much-needed piece of film that breaks down a taboo that should never have been there in the first place.

Pros.

The emotional impact

Breaking down taboos

Kirby

The ending

Cons.

It feels too rehearsed

4/5

Reviewed by Luke

Notting Hill: Unexpected Romance

Notting Hill is a British romantic comedy film directed by Roger Michell. The plot follows the unlikely romance of an English book seller (Hugh Grant), and an American actor (Julia Roberts).

This may be one of the defining films of the romantic comedy genre, may be even of British cinema in general. It is a classic and for a good reason, it is one of the warmest most charming films I have ever seen.

The film feels so sleek and stylish, and every scene feels polished to a tee. The writing is impeccable and that really is a testament to Richard Curtis, the characters feel like real people and as such you instantly form a bond with them and want to see their romance flourish. Both Grant and Roberts give great performances that make the film, they are also supported by a number of talented performances from the wider cast that are almost equally as memorable.

Much like a good Pixar film this film knows just how to work your emotions to bring you through all the highs and lows of a new relationship and bring you out the otherside cheering and feeling good: that would be the best way to describe this film, feel good.

Overall, a sweet happy romantic comedy that reminds us that the world does still have a few good things in it.

Pros.

The charm

The style

The supporting cast

Roberts

Grant

Cons.

None

5/5

Reviewed by Luke

Nina Of The Woods: The Most Boring Film Of 2020?

Nina Of The Woods is a thriller film directed by Charlie Griak. The plot follows the titular Nina (Megan Hensley), as she is brought into provide local flair during the shooting of a big foot documentary. Naturally as you would assume from this sort of film things quickly go wrong and become all too real.

So, I have no issue with mediative slow-burn horror films I love The Witch and The Wind, and I even have a soft spot in my heart for It Comes At Night, however I found this film pushed it too far. By that I mean to do slow burn horror right, you need to have an atmosphere that feels bleak and oppressive even if nothing actually scary is happening on screen. The issue here is that this film does not have an oppressive atmosphere of any kind, instead it is the slow brooding introspection of an art film this does not mix well with the type of film this is. Moreover, nothing happens for the first hour and I do mean nothing. Comparatively in Egger’s Witch the baby has gone missing and the family is under supernatural attack in the same amount of time. My point is that this film is just too slow to a point of becoming tedious.

The acting is fine, no one is good let alone memorable. The look of the film seems quite cheap which needn’t be the case as the Blair Witch Project, which this film so desperately wants to be, did a very similar thing with an equally small budget without looking cheap.

Overall, the filmmakers attempt to challenge the genre has deeply back fired and resulted in a film that is borderline unwatchable.

Pros

The film was not offensively bad

Cons.

It feels too long despite being short

It is a drag to watch

The approach taken by the filmmakers seems at odds with the genre

It is a bad attempt to replicate The Blair Witch

It is not as smart, or as deep, or as game changing as it thinks it is

0.5/5

Reviewed by Luke

The Bridget Jones Diary: How Non-Londoners View London

The Bridget Jones Diary is a romantic comedy film directed by Sharon Maguire. The plot sees 30 something single woman Bridget (Renee Zellweger), have to navigate the worlds of career and romantic success. It is based on the book of the same name written by Helen Fielding.

This is one of the quintessentially British rom coms, up there with Christmas classic Love Actually and Notting Hill (review coming soon). Funnily enough all 3 of these films share Richard Curtis as a writer, clearly he is the modern-day master of the British romantic comedy.

There is something effortlessly charming about this film, so much so that I would even recommend it to people who don’t like romantic comedies. It feels deeply personable and relatable, we have all been were Bridget is before in some form or another and we can all relate.

Zellweger is perfectly cast as Bridget and has great on-screen chemistry with her fellow leads Hugh Grant and Colin Firth. As far as interpretations of Austin’s Pride and Prejudice go this is probably by favourite, and I have seen quite a few at this point.

This film is also incredibly funny and has a number of lines that instantly become iconic, at least in my circles. I often found myself laughing at a joke or a punchy bit of dialogue.

Overall, one of the few romantic comedies that does not suffer from troublesome undertones, fun and very enjoyable even for people who don’t like the genre normally.

Pros.

Zellweger

Grant and Firth

It is funny

It is genuine and relatable

Cons.

Sometimes a bit too faithful of an adaption

4.5/5

Widows Point: The Type Of Film You Can Make At Home

Widows Point is a supernatural, mystery film directed by Gregory Lamberson. The plot sees an author (Craig Sheffer), become locked overnight in a haunted lighthouse as a promotional stunt for his new book. However, the longer he trapped inside the more he realises something isn’t right and soon he becomes the prey of supernatural forces.

This is a bizarre film. I am not simply referring to the end that literally comes out of nowhere, but rather the film as a whole. Midway through the film there were that many flashbacks and timelines going on I quickly became lost, there is something to be said for keeping you central narrative simplistic.
Moreover, the film as a whole looked very cheap. I don’t know quite what it was about it, yes it would have had a smaller budget but other films with small budgets don’t look like this, in many ways it looked incredibly amateurish; like the sort of thing you might see presented as a student film.

The acting is similarly as bad, and not for a single moment throughout are you convinced off what is supposedly happening on screen, acting or otherwise.

Overall, a very poor film that needed to be drastically reformed to be anything close to good.

Pros.

The wacky randomness of the monster just showing up at the end

Cons.

It makes no sense

The narrative is far too complicated and also doesn’t work

The acting is god awful

It looks cheap

1/5

Reviewed by Luke

Spree: Never Drink The Water In An Uber, Who Knows Whats In It

Spree is a black comedy horror film directed by Eugene Kotlyarenko. The plot follows a young rideshare driver called Kurt (Joe Keery), who is trying desperately to kickstart his Youtube/influencer career. However, when his efforts don’t reap any rewards he turns to murdering his rideshare passengers to gain infamy and attention.

This along with In The Shadow Of The Cloud are my two favourite films of the year so far. This is something so darkly funny about this films critique on modern influencer culture, that humour I believe comes from truth; no doubt there are people out there who do this sort of thing for dark web fame. It makes one reflect on the purpose of it all and questions around validation, does having a large following make us better than anyone else? Are follower numbers simply meaningless? These are good questions to ponder.

Keery gives a terrific performance here, managing to convey both a deeply shy and awkward person who is just trying to get famous and also a cold-blooded killer who has no issues with poisoning people or running them over. Keery manages to make both parts of Kurt’s personality feel different enough yet whole within one person at the same time, no easy feat. Fans of Steve from Stranger Things will have a lot to enjoy here.

Overall, a very interesting film that becomes more so the more you think about it afterwards, the satire our social media society needs.

Pros.

Keery

The satire

The deeper questions

The horror and mania of it all

The ending

Cons.

Some moments are a bit too cringe

4.5/5

Reviewed by Luke

Mr Holmes: The Old Man And The Bee

Mr Holmes is a mystery film directed by Bill Condon, based on Mitch Cullin’s 2005 novel A Slight Trick Of The Mind. The plot centres around an aging Sherlock Holmes (Ian McKellen), as he struggles with his memory whilst trying to remember the real outcome of an old case.

This film was bleak. I don’t watch to Holmes like this old and at the end of his life, where his inactions lead to more harm than good, multiple times in this film I felt depression creeping into my mind and by the end I was truly saddened. I think ultimately this was not what I was expecting it to be, I thought it was a mystery film as it has been categorised, but it is not, more aptly it is a drama film.

Another thing that bothered me about this film was the timeline, I understand the jumping around and the unannounced flash backs and asides were probably a deliberate choice to mimic Holmes’ decaying mind, yet I still found them off putting and confusing.

Overall, a believe this film is mismarketed and miscategorised, as such if you, like I did, go in expecting a mystery film then you will be sorely disappointed.

Pros.

McKellen is trying

It manages to nail the emotional beats and makes you feel

Cons.

It is not a mystery film by any means

It is depressing

The timeline jumping and the constant swapping between storylines is jarring and confusing

1/5

Reviewed by Luke

Milkrun: The Horrors Of The British Corner Shop

Milkrun is a dark comedy, drama film directed by Alexander Jeremy. The plot sees one brave soul brace the wilds of outside of his bubble to venture down to the shops to get milk, in the age of Covid19.

This was just what I needed. As the new lockdown was announced recently in the UK and we were all sent back into our own isolated worlds to wait out the storm. I was feeling a little blue, however this film put a smile back on my face.

It pokes fun at Covid and social distancing without feeling disrespectful or done in bad taste, looking at you Songbird. The jokes are darkly comedic and feel funny through a shared experience that everyone on the globe can relate to. I was smiling and chuckling to myself as I was watching it.

The one thing I would note was that when the character was hugging people and took off his mask and gloves I was waiting for the inevitable comedic comeuppance that he had caught the virus. I feel like the ending delivered on that, at least in how I interpreted it, but it was not hugely clear.

That is not to say I did not enjoy the ending; on the contrary, I think it was nice that the film ended on a more dramatic and personal note as it reflected the bleakness of existence under Covid.

Overall, bravo to all involved I enjoyed this, and it made my dad to watch it.

Pros.

It is funny

The power of shared experience

The powerful ending

The musical score/accompaniment

Cons.

Did the character get punished for breaking the rules? Perhaps a little too open ended

4.5/5

Reviewed by Luke

Unfinished Business: Nick Frost’s Has Got BDE

Unfinished Business is a comedy film directed by Ken Scott. The plot sees a trio of business men played by (Vince Vaughn, Tom Wilkinson, and Dave Franco), break ranks with their company and start out on their own, trying to steal the big deal right out from under their former boss.

Usually, with these sort of comedy films the message is quite hollow and there is nothing more to the film then watching people party and sort out some vague forced drama for an hour and a half. However, this film has a heart and a soul as well, the father son storyline about Vince Vaughn’s character realising that his kids need him and that at the end of the day they are more important than the big deal is touching. Yes, it has been done before and is nothing new, but Vaughn delivers it with enough warmth and feeling that you do genuinely believe it.

The comedy is fairly standard, there are a few laughs to be had but these are fairly few and far between. The thing I appreciated about this film is that the comedy is not mean-spirited, Franco’s character is clearly supposed to have special needs, but the film does not mock him for it or make him the butt of every joke; as an Adam Sandler film might.

Overall, though it might not be the funniest film it does have a good heart and a nice message.

Pros.

The father son plotline

The Nick Frost cameo

It has a few funny moments

Cons.

It has been done better before

Quite a large amount of the jokes don’t land

3/5

Reviewed by Luke

Great Asphyxiations: Always Make Sure They Are Dead

Great Asphyxiations is a dark comedy short film directed by Sammy Anderson. The plot sees two murders trying to decide how to dispose of a body, whilst also lamenting on their life choices and asking whether killing is still what they want to do.

I thought the concept of this was quite novel, as it allowed the actors to take to the camera without that being a sign of lesser filmmaking. Moreover, it allowed for greater audience emersion as it felt almost like a POV experience as if you were really in the room tied up and about to be murdered.

Dark comedy is always very tricky to get right as different people have different comedic lines as to what they find funny and what they don’t. Whilst this film did not have me laughing out loud often, it did have a few funny moments and I found myself smiling throughout.

I enjoyed seeing the condensing of the character arc, it allowed the journey to feel more manic and compact. I think this film is definitely made better by being a short, as the character journey it would lose some of its frantic luster if it was stretched out over a longer feature.

Overall, an intimate crime experience- if that sounds like something you would like then check this out.

Pros.

The use of pov

The originality

A few good laughs

The condensed character arc

Cons.

Not all the jokes land, but comedy is subjective

4/5

Reviewed by Luke