Language Lessons: A Friend When You Need One The Most

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

Adam, played by Mark Duplass, begins taking Spanish lessons after his husband Will, played by Desean Terry, gets them for him as a gift. Little does he know they will become a vital part of his life.

I went into this thinking it was going to be a quirky off beat comedy, as that is Duplass’s usual fare, however whilst that is a true assessment in part there is also a lot more going on beneath the surface with this film and it almost morphs into a character drama as it continues.

The film focuses on the relationship between Adam and Carino, played by Natalie Morales, his Spanish teacher. After the death of Adam’s Husband early in the film things shift dramatically, and though there are still comedic moments it becomes far more serious. However, I enjoyed that the film did not become dower at this point, and that there was still fun to be had.

Both Morales and Duplass give it there all here and though most of the film is just them talking into the camera, as the film is set over a series of online calls, each give powerhouse performances. The film really makes us the audience question our preconceived notions, and is not afraid to head into dark and possibly uncomfortable territory. There is a lot in this film that is implied but not shown, mentioned but not dwelled on, and in that aspect I find this film captures life.

I found the ending to be incredibly heart-warming even if the larger implications might not be so good. It was nice to watch this friendship grow over the course of the film and in many ways it felt natural and real, as though the film was actually a reflection of the two actors friendship in real life.

Overall, this is one of the sweetest and most true films you may see this year.

Pros.

Morales

Duplass

The genuine feeling of friendship

The emotion

The ending

Cons.

It can be hard to watch at times

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The French Dispatch: Too Much Wes Anderson?

2.5/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

A series of stories making up the final issue of a well respected fictional news publication.

I have been a fan of Wes Anderson for some time, and for the most part I enjoy his style and his noticeable eccentricities, however, here I find he has gone too far into himself. This film embraces Anderson’s filmmaking philosophy to the Nth degree, serving as a series of barely connected skits with constant movement and a loose connective whole, this is not a good thing as it makes the whole piece very hard to follow.

Each tale and indeed each scene within seemed to jump from one thing to another with such speed as to make it impossible to know what was going on.

Worse yet, of the four pieces the only one that is enjoyable, the first featuring Owen Wilson, is incredibly short and then that’s it we don’t see Wilson again until the end of the film. The other three features suffer from the opposite problem, which is to say they drag on, and on- to the point of boredom.

That is not to say this film is bad there are moments of enjoyment to be found whether that is a chuckle, or a delightfully off beat Anderson character. The best amongst these is Timothee Chalamet’s Zeffirelli. Other than in The King Chalamet has never impressed me in the way he has other people and I have long viewed him as overrated. This film counters that as Chalamet fits in perfectly and easily captures the essence of a Wes Anderson character easily becoming the best character in the whole film, as such I am hoping that Chalamet becomes Anderson’s new muse and the two keep making films together for a long time.

Overall, though there are good elements to the film, it suffers from terrible pacing and a feeling of indulgence on the directors part, it could be said this film is too Wes Anderson for most Wes Anderson fans,

Pros.

Chalamet

A few funny moments

Owen Wilson’s segment

Cons.

Three of the four segments are only okay

The pace is awful

The lack of a coherent larger narrative

Most of the actors are wasted

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Interview With Writer Director Robbie Walsh: The Letters

Written by Luke Barnes

I recently had the chance to interview writer/director Robbie Walsh about his new film The Letters which shows three women from different walks of life be given incorrect cancer diagnosis. We discuss issues of medical failure, injustice

Q: What inspired you to make this film?

A: The film is inspired by actual events happening in Ireland today

Q: What was the message?

A: This happened and continues to.

Q: How do you think this film reflects on society, health care and the experiences of women?

A: I hope we gave a fair and thoughtful representation, and hopefully people who watch will think about change going forward.

Q: Who were your influences?

A: In this film it was, Shane Meadows, Ken Loach, Fredrico Felini, Jean-luc Goddard, Ben Wheatley.

Q: How did you manage to balance the tone of the film? Bleakness to happier moments and beauty?

A: There aren’t too many happy moments in the film and it is a very tough watch, some of the more delicate shots are based on famous paintings I admire.

Q: Any thoughts for filmmakers looking to get into the industry?

A: Just start! but know the art form and be passionate about it, always remember your love for cinema.

Q: Future projects?

A: Just working on this for the time being, self-distribution takes up a lot of time.

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The Letters: The Power Of Words

4.5/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

This film sees a trio of women receive misdiagnosis of cancer. It explores the aftermath and impacts of this event.

This film hits like a ton of bricks and doesn’t let up. There is something so poignant and beautiful to this film as it really highlights the human experience and our collective pain. Furthermore, it illustrates the importance of information as one word can make or break a life.

Honestly I think this film is a triumph. The directing is superb, the acting is strong and never dips, and the themes and emotions are incredibly powerful. I won’t lie this film had me in tears at quite a few separate moments. I felt a strong connection to the characters and their respective journeys over the course of the film finding myself really caring about what they were going through.

I think this film speaks a lot of very important truths about the world and our society that need to be heard.

Overall, an incredibly emotional film that will take you through the wringer.

Pros.

The emotion

The acting

The directing

The message

It moved me

Cons.

A few slight pacing issues

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The Last Duel: The Horrors Of The Female Experience

3/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

Two medieval feudal lords come to blows over a series of injustices.

This film is incredibly hard to watch. It is deeply hard to get through as it features a number of rape scenes which are increasingly graphic. Though I don’t know the need to be as graphic as the film chooses to be with them, I do think that using them in the narrative this film creates is a good thing as it sets up an important conversation about accountability and the mistrust of female victims when they come forward.

In many ways the film is incredibly powerful as it makes us reflect on the female experience and at how throughout time men have abused their positions and powers within society. There are some lines in this film particularly during the third chapter which is the truth of events from Marguerite’s, played by Jodie Cormer, point of view which are incredibly harrowing and show just how deep the injustice goes.

I thought Jodie Cormer was terrific here and her performance carried serious weight. Sadly, however she was let down by her co-stars, who ranged from underused to miscast. Yes, I am referring to Matt Damon who is by far the worst performer in this film. To make matters worse this film is set in France yet everyone has an American or British accent which is not only distracting but irritating and feels done because an executive thought ‘oh American audiences can’t understand a French accent or won’t read subtitles. With the idea that the actors also didn’t want to have to either learn French or try and do an accent also a likely possibility.

Overall, a powerful film in many ways but one that you would never want to watch twice.

Pros.

The conversation it starts

Addressing male abuses of power

The female perspective

Cons.

Matt Damon

The American accents

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I’m Your Man: A Human Robot Love Affair Is The Next Stage Of Human Evolution

4.5/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

Scientist Alma, Maren Eggert, is tasked with completing a three week trial with a humanoid robot, played by Dan Stevens, who is designed to be the man of her dreams. When the three weeks are up she is to write either in favour, or not, of giving these robotic beings rights based on her experiences.

I enjoyed this film quite a lot. I thought it had such a huge heart that it was almost impossible not to like it. The film tries to further the questions of what does it mean to be human and can love transcend all bounds, in this case can a human woman love a robot man, is the robot man even capable of feeling love? I feel it does an admiral job of this and gives us a response to these questions that is deep and multi-layered, the response the question deserves.

I also found this film to be quite funny, there was a lot of humour situated around how Steven’s robot character responded to Alma’s initial rejection and also his day to day life, which is odd by human standards. Most of this humour landed for me and made me chuckle, it was not a laugh out loud sort of film, but there were plenty of chuckle worthy moments.

Overall, a sweet film that has a lot to say about life, love and robotics.

Pros.

Eggert

Stevens

The sweet love story

Trying to answer the big questions

A number of funny moments

Cons.

The beginning is initially confusing as the film doesn’t do a good job explaining early on what is happening.

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Mayday: Really Has It Come To This

0.5/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

A hotel worker, Grace Van Pattern, escapes her hellish life and travels to a different realm where she joins up with a band of other woman who live on a submarine during war time.

This film was poorly done, honestly it made me angry. In many ways this film is like Zack Snyder’s Sucker Punch, as in a character escaping into possible fantasy to deal with trauma, in many ways this film owes Snyder a debt.

What I disliked about this film is its morality. To not put too fine a point on it Van Pattern’s Ana is targeted and abused by men in her hotel work, this then translates to when she joins the band she has no issue killing men indiscriminately. Yes, the group of women that Ana joins up with lure in and kill men for the sake of it, not because they have done anything to them, in most cases, but just to prove that they shouldn’t be messed with. The film does show Ana eventually realise that what these women are doing is wrong, but it spends a long time before that justifying and also hero worshipping them.

Riddle me this dear reader, would a film that saw a group of men randomly killing women that for parts in its early run paints them as righteous in what they were doing even be allowed to be made? No, and for good reason. Yet here it is fine? That doesn’t make sense to me. I understand the need for strong feminist films that have powerful upfront themes and ideas, but I don’t think this is the way.

Honestly the bleakness and then the iffy justification makes this film unwatchable as far as I am concerned.

Overall, despite an interesting concept this film feels morally dubious and harmful.

Pros.

An initially interesting concept

Cons.

The mortality

Justifying the killers behaviour

It is bleak and hard to watch

It feels harmful to the discourse

The ending

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The Many Saints Of Newark: Did You Really Save The Theme Song Till The End

3.5/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

This film serves as a prequel to the beloved gangster TV series The Sopranos showing Tony’s, here played by Michael Gandolfini, younger years.

I enjoyed this film, but it was not perfect. Firstly do not watch this film if you have not seen the series beforehand. It is not easily understandable if you haven’t seen the series, you won’t understand various elements of the plot. However, if you are a fan of the show you will find a lot to enjoy here from Christopher’s, Michael Imperioli, ghostly narration of things to come to the show’s opening credits music playing as the film ends. One thing I will note is though I enjoyed how this film paid off the series there were a number of inconsistencies that soured my enjoyment somewhat.

The trailers for this film have lied to you, for rather obvious reasons, as this film is not really about Tony Soprano and rather instead about Dickie Moltisanti, Alessandro Nivola. We see Tony and his family appear but they are side characters at best. I thought the focus on Dickie helped keep the film feeling fresh and I enjoyed his story for the most part. The race war aspects I thought were needless as they do not pay off in the show in any way and feel instead like an unnecessary attempt to be political. I think it would have made more sense to focus on in fighting amongst the family with Dickie having to try and fight off assassination attempts from various members after his early in the film secret is slowly revealed.

Overall, it is a pleasant return to that world, was it needed? No not really but it could have been worse. More good than bad.

Pros.

Further exploring the world

Good tension

Solid drama and action

The theme song playing at the end

Cons.

It is not really about Tony

The race war storyline doesn’t feel needed

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Intrusion: Are Netflix Even Trying Anymore

2/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

The film follows a couple in the aftermath of a home invasion, focusing on how it affected each personally.

My, my we are back to the boring era of Netflix thrillers. This film was so dull and hard to get through. Indeed many times I almost turned it off. I found there to be nothing new about this film during its runtime and everything it said or was trying to say had been said better elsewhere.

The emotional impact it was trying to put across again feel puddle deep. The film seems to think it is a lot deeper and more intelligent in its observations than it actually is, try as it might it can’t seem to come up with anything interesting or fresh to say.

Furthermore, the acting was also very mediocre. Normally I find Logan Marshall-Green can do no wrong, but he was just given nothing to work with here and it really shows in his performance, in truth his character is little more than a cliché. Freida Pinto’s lead is likewise uninspired, her character reads as a discount version of various other better written characters over the years which is a shame as Pinto is a very good performer normally.

Overall, uninspired.

Pros.

It is watchable

It is short

Cons.

It is dull

It is predictable

The performances are weak

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The Obscure Life Of The Grand Duke Of Corsica: Madness Made Manifest

3.5/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

An off kilter architect, Timothy Spall, begins working for an eccentric rich man, Peter Stormare, who calls himself The Grand Duke of Corsica.

I enjoyed this film far more than I thought I was going to. Yes, there are moments of abstractness that are so seemingly random and out of place that they don’t fit into the sequence, which becomes jarring, but on the whole the strangeness of the film really works and helps it to become something truly unique.

Both Spall and Stormare bring their A game thought I would say Stormare slightly pips it. Both men bring a lot of depth and nuance to their characters and explore them in interesting ways that makes you question your preconceived notions.

The flashback subplot, or was it a film, didn’t really work for me. I understand the parallel they were trying to create but there was not enough connective tissue there to really bring it together into a meaningful whole.

Overall, an interesting strange film that for the most part gets it right, though it does cross the line a few times.

Pros.
Spall

Stormare

The strangeness

The ending

Cons.

The flashback subplot

Occasionally the film felt like it was being strange for the sake of it

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