Kidulthood: Boys To Men

Kidulthood is a British crime drama film directed by Menhaj Huda. The plot focus on the lives of a group of high school students in Ladbroke Grove, London who lives seem to be shaped around crime, violence and chronic drug use.

There is something of a morbid charm to these films, yes on the surface they are horribly bleak and if you are easily upset or offended by films you probably shouldn’t watch this, however despite being disgusted by what you see on screen you also can’t look away. This is true to such an extent that when I finished the first film, I immediately put on the next one (review coming soon).

This film does not sugar coat its views on life and youth behaviour, it shows it all and doesn’t apologies if we don’t like what we see; it makes Boyle’s Trainspotting look at happy by comparison. The creatives went out of their way to show us a version of lived reality closer to our own then what we normally see in these sort of crime films, to show us how bad, desperate and sad this sort of life style is, and I think they resoundingly succeeded.

The performances in the film are all serviceable, with one exception, they are neither good nor bad, not memorable in any real way. The one exception of course is Noel Clarke as Sam, Clarke was heavily involved in the series and would go on to direct the later instalments, but it is his scene stealing performance that cements him as a star. Clarke conveys emotion with such intensity that you forget that you are even watching a film and you believe this character to be a real person.

Overall, despite this being an incredibly hard watch for a number of reasons, if you do watch it there is something of merit here.

Pros.

Clarke

The message of the film

Showing us a closer reality then that which we would normally see

A morbid fascination that is hard to describe

Cons.
It is very, very, very bleak and upsetting at times

4/5

Reviewed by Luke

Red Dot: Taking The Originality Out Of The Netflix Original

Red Dot is a Swedish horror thriller film directed by Alain Darborg. The plot sees a struggling young couple head up to the mountains for a hiking retreat to fix their issues before their child is born, however, once they head up the mountain they become the prey of a killer, a hunt for survival ensues. Real original I know.

Don’t waste your time with this please. I am a big defender of Netflix in a lot of ways, I think they are often given an unfairly hard time, however, when they release trash like this one can understand the hate. The film is deeply, and I do mean deeply unoriginal: this feels like the 4^th or 5^th time I’ve seen this premise done and it does not feel any fresher.

Moreover, the main couple, who I have no idea what they were called and don’t care to look it up, are two of the most bland and unlikeable characters ever put to film. The opening ten minutes is just them having argument after argument, yay? That’s interesting. To be frank with you by the time they made it up the mountain I already disliked them so much that I was hoping the killer would hurry up so I could lose less of my free time.

Everything about this film progresses as you would expect it to and there are no surprises.

Overall, the weakest Netflix original of 2021 so far.

Pros.

There are some pretty shots

Cons.

The main couple are awful, and you don’t care about them

It is not tense or scary

It is predictable

It is sorely unoriginal

0.5/5

Reviewed by Luke

Breaking News In Yuba County: Anyone Can Make It Onto The News These Days

Breaking News In Yuba County is a comedy drama film directed by Tate Taylor. We follow Sue (Alison Janney), as she discovers her husband’s infidelity: which leads to his death through a heart attack. How does Sue deal with this? She buries him privately and tells everyone else he has gone missing so she can get media attention.

This was bad, just plain bad.

Firstly, it was in no way funny. Not only did I not laugh once, but the film failed to even make me smile, I did not have fun watching it and quite frankly it was a slog to get through. The characters are all such awful people, and the film does nothing to make you care about any of them, so you just feel indifferent to them regardless of what happens.

The film tries to distract you by having a number of famous faces in supporting roles, but this quickly wears out and instead serves to remind you, who is hard up and in need of a quick pay day role; most likely agreeing to star in anything as long as it pays off the credit card.

The central crime, the cover up of the husband’s heart attack, is so idiotic. It makes no sense as to why she would do it, we are lead to believe that Sue is just a regular person, not someone who can just flip a switch and become a criminal at the drop of a hat, but hey she does it constantly. The fact that the crime does not immediately get figured out is an insult to everyone’s intelligence, and in real life those investigating it would be fired for incompetence.

Overall, a very bad poorly thought-out comedy film that will be showing up in worst of 2021 lists soon enough.

Pros.

It is not offensive

Cons.

It is lame

It is not funny

The characters are not likeable

It feels done for the money

0.5/5

Reviewed by Luke

Malcolm and Marie: Overly Indulgent In The Worst Way

Malcolm and Marie is a drama film directed Sam Levinson. The plot follows Malcom (John David Washington), and Marie (Zendaya), as there relationship is tested over the course of one particularly bad night.

I think there are good elements to this film, and I will get to them in time, but there are also a lot of issues, it is by no means perfect as it is deeply flawed in a number of ways. Firstly, it is very, very smug and up its own arse as an art film, and that is clear and is quite off-putting. Secondly, this film is made for people who know a fair bit about film in general, there are five to ten-minute scenes where Malcolm rants on and on about certain things to do with the industry and if you don’t have a keen amount of know how in that regard you will be lost.

The issue with these sort of films, and it is the same fate that befell, Pieces Of A Woman is that when films centre around these intimate struggles, the delivery has to be spot on and feel reflective of reality. Now I am not knocking either of the performances, as I thought they were the only good part of the film, however, neither of these characters behave in a natural way (going on long winded rants about the finer points of film criticism, while your partner stairs blankly at the celling), and it reads as overacted and also like a film writer’s fantasy version of reality. Nothing against the performances, everything against the highschool play esque script.

Zendaya and John David Washington make the most out of what they have and try and give it some personality and life- dying nobly on that hill. It is a shame as they are both talented.

Overall, nearly all the art house cliches rolled into one. Poor, but well-acted.

Pros.

Washington

Zendaya

Cons.

It is smug

It feels overacted and fake

It seems like the writer has never had a real human conversation before

It is not as deep as it thinks it is

1/5

Reviewed by Luke

Silk Road: Nick Robinson, You Can Do Better!

The Silk Road is a thriller film directed by Tiller Russell. The film serves to tell the real-life story of Ross Ulbricht (Nick Robinson), the founder of Silk Road: a website that functioned as Amazon for hardcore drugs.

I have been excited for this film for a while,

, there is a lot of interesting things about it, little details and such, and I was eagerly waiting to see how this film would show the story. Sadly, it chose to be generic and just like every other drug kingpin take down film out there. To say the films take on events lacked nuance would be a vast, vast understatement- it is morally simplistic.

The main thing I will give this film prompts for is finally giving me a Jason Clarke performance that I enjoyed. Clarke excels as the shady, but ‘doing it for the right reasons’ DEA agent tasked with bringing Ulbricht down, and his performance is easily the best thing about the film, Robinson was great in The Kings Of Summer and Love, Simon but was deeply milk toast here.

The ending also felt quite anticlimactic, they were building it up and building it up and then when it finally gave us an ending it was underwhelming, and I was left going ‘is that it’? I understand that is based on a true story so they are limited with what they can do with it, but in a writing and set up capacity there were issues with building and execution that really hampered the ending.

Overall, sadly, yet another generic crime film.

Pros.

Clarke

A few interesting moments

Cons.

The ending

Simplifying the issue

Robinson

2/5

Reviewed by Luke

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