Dream Horse: A Questionable Welsh Accent

3/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Many have taken issue with Toni Collette’s Welsh accent in this film, but after hearing it, it’s not as bad as I was expecting though I can’t really speak to the matter as I am not Welsh but have lived in the area in the past.

This followed a similar film to a lot of other feel good animal films, it certainly wins no points for originality, they raise the horse, it brings the community together, it proves to be a winner, oh no the horse is injured, its okay in the end: beat for beat you can see where it is going.

The film for the most part is functional as a feel good film, that is to say it made me feel good, however, I would say it has pacing problems that make it less pleasing and more irritating as it belabours the point in a few sections.

Overall, this film is very much what is says on the tin, your early guesses for what the film will be like based on the trailers and other promo materials will be pretty much right- this film is not surprising. However, the question is does it need to be? As though predictable there is also something comforting about this film.

Pros.

It is feel good

It is nice to see some Welsh representation within wider British Cinema, even if most of the actors cast are not actually Welsh

You become attached to the horse

Cons.

It is bloated

It is deeply obvious and predictable

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Death In Texas: Perhaps The Dumbest Protagonist Ever

2.5/5

Written by Luke Barnes

I put this film on for one simple reason, Stephen Lang. I greatly misunderstood what the film was going to be about and what Lang’s role within it was going to be.

So firstly, this presents itself as an action film, maybe even a thriller, it is not. The majority of the screen time is the lead having conversations with his dying mother and him drinking in a bar; exciting I know. When we do get some action it is usually just the protagonist walking into a room shooting someone and leaving, it is not very exciting.

Lang, who is only really a minor character, is surprising playing more of a sweet, damaged character than the fighter/badass I was expecting. The film is definitely better for having him in it, yet the film doesn’t really do much with his character.

The ending makes less and less sense the more you think about it, but it is really just par for the course.

Pros.

Lang

A few tense scenes

Cons.

The ending

The amount of needless scenes

The lack of good solid action

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Under The Silver Lake: Paranoia Incarnate

4.5/5

Written by Luke Barnes

David Robert Mitchell is quickly becoming one of my favourite directors, It Follows is in my top 5 films of all time and though, like I you may have heard mixed things about Under The Silver Lake it is almost as good- that is a very high compliment indeed.

I found the bizarre and often sinister world of this film to be akin to a confused nightmare, but one that is also pleasant to experience. I thought the world of this film is so vast and so well set up that it is in desperate need of a sequel. I thought it was very clever to leave a lot of the mysteries open ended, as to give them an ending and tie them off would almost be a disservice, this way the idea of what could be will endure in the viewers minds.

Moreover, Andrew Garfield is quickly becoming one of my favourite performers he is so versatile and plays strange and odd characters better than anyone else, with the exception of Nicolas Cage.

Overall, though you may have heard mixed things this film is very much worth checking out.

Pros.

The world

The ending

Garfield

The deeper meanings

Cons.

It does have bloat and could do with being shorter

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Drag Me To Hell: Watch Out For Vomiting Corpses At Your Next Wake

3/5

Written by Luke Barnes

I remember watching this years ago and at the time thinking it to be quite frightening, however, upon watching it again now it really isn’t, and if anything the more overt comedy elements go out of their way to take away any genuine fear from the proceedings.

Likewise the use of practical effects and gross out scenes become a double edged sword within the film, as they both add an element of realness and grimness to the film which does enhance it to a degree, but also often look quite bad by modern standards almost to a humorous degree. Scenes such as when the lead goes to the wake and has the corpse leak fluid into her mouth a few times are funny, however this takes away from the threat and fear of the film.

I have written about this several times, the key to creating a good comedy horror film is to allow the film to be both scary and funny throughout the film without favouring one over the other. The issue here is that clearly Raimi has favoured the comedy over the horror.

I think the premise of the film is strong, if a little reliant on outdated cliches, and the idea of being dragged to hell in a number of days is a terrifying concept. I found it evoking of films like The Ring wherein our protagonist has to desperately hunt down a mystery way to free themselves from the situation often for it not to work out the way they hoped, highlighting the futility of the struggle: the ending of this film is very reflective of this concept.

Overall, Raimi has an interesting premise here but loses any real scares to indulge in a juvenile sense of humour.

Pros.

The concept

The ending

The performances

Cons.

The practical effects are horribly dated

The comedy

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Bad Batch: Battle Scars

3.5/5

Written by Luke Barnes

So this episode gets straight into tying up the mysteries of the previous cliff-hanger, and we now know that the sisters were talking to our old friend Captain Rex- who comes in an immediately makes things better. These last two episodes have been the best in the Bad Batch so far, though that is not saying much.

I enjoyed the further exploration of Wrecker’s mind as he loses control to the inhibitor chip and its programming and becomes evil, for a few minutes. I think its interesting to see this evil side of a character that is often the most loveable. Furthermore, I liked that the show is continuing to explore the effects of the inhibitor chips on the clones. However, I think the greatest short coming in this department is the continued lack of and almost deliberate ignoring of Crosshair; you would think that now the Bad Batch know about the chips they would plan to remove Crosshair’s and save their friend- evidently they don’t care that much.

I think something needs to happen with Omega soon as she is quickly becoming the worst part of the show, she is not likeable and is often annoying: the gimmick of her being naïve is starting to wear thin. Moreover, the relationship between Hunter and Omega just isn’t coming along and more often than not feels forced in, it is a million miles away from the relationship between Din and Grogu.

Overall, this series is getting better, but it still has quite a few issues to overcome.

Pros.

The continuing of the inhibitor chip storyline

Wreckers turn to the dark side

Everything to do with Rex

Cons.

Omega

Ignoring Crosshair

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iCarly: iStart Over

4/5

Written by Luke Barnes

I don’t know if I’ll be covering this series regularly, but I wanted to review the first episode for old times sake. iCarly and Drake and Josh were a huge part of my childhood growing up, I watched the hell out of each time and time again, so when I heard that iCarly was coming back for a revival series I knew I had to check it out.

I truly do think that the adult orientated approach to this series is a stroke of genius, the audience has grown up with Carly and we like her have very different trails and tribulations then we did when we first watched the series. Though the series has a bit more adult humour I would still say it was child friendly as there is nothing that unsuitable there.

Moreover, I think the knowing self-aware aspects to the series really help to enhance it and add to that link between those on screen and us watching. There were no actual forth wall breaks, at least not in this first episode, but there were a number of winks to the camera so to speak and each time it made me smile.

Miranda Cosgrove anchors the series masterfully, and it is nice to see her back centre stage again. Likewise Jerry Trainor as Spencer is also still excellent and has a nice back and forth with Cosgrove and the rest of the cast. Though Jennette McCurdy’s absence is felt, Cosgrove and the rest of the cast do such a good job that it makes up for it.

Overall, so far a good and well done revival series.

Pros.

Cosgrove

Trainor

The self-awareness

The adult tone

Cons.

The studio audience canned laughter is distracting

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The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard: Ryan Reynolds Needs To Move On From Deadpool, This Is An Intervention

1.5/5

Written by Luke Barnes

I think the world’s love affair with Ryan Reynolds might be coming to and end. There was a time, when Reynolds was popping up in every film with his Deadpool esque zany comedy- that got old quick. Nowhere is that more true than in this film.

The Hitman’s Bodyguard is a perfectly fine film, not spectacular in anyway, really quite forgettable: it did not need a sequel. Yet for some reason the same jokes and cliches are forced back out of the woodwork again for this film. We get it Reynold’s character doesn’t like confrontation and is very into safety and Samuel Jackson’s character is the opposite, we get it. Yet the film feels like it needs to repeat this over and over again, to make matters worse it thinks this is funny.

Where this film differs from its predecessor is its focus on the wife, hence the name. Salma Hayek’s Sonya is the very loud wife of Samuel L Jackson’s Hitman, and though in the first film she had a few breakthrough moments here she is quickly rendered nothing more than a one note caricature. Sonya is probably the least annoying of the main three characters though she only has a few moments where she is anywhere near likeable. This is by no means a fault on Hayek’s acting, but rather a script that thinks yelling loudly in Spanish is both badass and hilarious at the same time; sidenote it is neither.

To return back to my earlier points about Reynolds, he really needs to come up with something fresh as he can’t keep riding the snarky Deadpool coat tails forever, this film is proof of that.

Overall, definitely not worth going back to the cinema for this film is made for the bargain bin.

Pros.

Salma Hayek has a few moments of good acting that connect

The cringe humour made me laugh a good few times, though I don’t think it was deliberate on the film’s part.

Cons.

It is loud in the worst sense of the word

It is not funny at all

It is incredibly poorly written

It is repetitive

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Loki: The Variant

3.5/5

Written by Luke Barnes

So, the second episode of Loki is good, there is no doubting that, however it does slump a bit when compared to last weeks mostly stellar opener. Mainly this is due to what I would argue is a rushed story decision on the part of the episode’s ending, but I can see why with a limited six episode run they chose to do it this way.

I am of course talking about Loki’s decision to chase after his evil variant and effectively leave the TVA. Like I said plot wise it makes sense, but I would have liked more time with the Loki and Mobius buddy cop dynamic, Owen Wilson and Tom Hiddleston have great chemistry together- hopefully they will still get to share a lot of scenes together.

As for the who the internet have dubbed prematurely Lady Loki, who is more likely Enchantress, it is far to early to cast any kind of judgement on her: though I will say it was a neat development to have it be her that truly begins the destruction of the Sacred Timeline it makes her vital to the narrative going forward.

Overall, a solid episode though one that is slightly in the shadow of its better predecessor.

Pros.

Loki and Mobius

A few very funny scenes

The destruction of the timeline

The things it sets up

Cons.

The plot feels a little rushed

It underwhelms after a strong first episode

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The Brothers Bloom: Just Like Wes Anderson Without Any Of The Charm.

2/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Rian Johnson is such a hit or miss filmmaker, for every Last Jedi you have a Looper, the quality of his films is unpredictable: sadly this was not one of his stronger efforts.

Firstly I did not like the humour of the film it seemed dumb and annoying to me, trying far too hard to be kitschy and oddball. The best way I can describe this is to take the stylings, writing and wit of Wes Anderson and gut the emotional heart of it, take out any real meaning and mash it back together again. This film felt like a poor rip off of both the previously mentioned Anderson as well as the Coen Brothers.

The one thing I did enjoy about the film, and that I saw as the saving grace was Adrien Brody. Brody brought his usual outsider charm to the role and managed to deliver and memorable performance, whilst also having great on-screen chemistry with Rachel Weisz; the two should definitely do more films together. Sadly, the other of the titular brothers played by Mark Ruffalo was far less likeable and was instead annoying for most of the film, this is most likely due to the fact he was often instigating the bad comedy.

Overall, I am glad that Johnson has moved away from this kind of film.

Pros.

Brody

Weisz

Cons

Ruffalo

The comedy

It feels like a rip off of better films

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Interview With Director Alexander Jeremy: Crowning

Hey Everyone. I recently got the chance to talk to Alexander Jeremy for the second time, my first ever follow up interview, about his new film Crowning, which sees a young pregnant women adapt to her changing life. In our interview we talk about silent cinema, corner shops and hiding in bushes.

Q: How would you describe this film in a word?

A: Weird.

Q: What do you feel this film says about pregnancy and the idea of it?

A: I guess it kind of challenges our presumptions, you think she’s one thing and then she’s not. We see pregnant women as sacred and in need of care, but we thought we’d play with this.

Q: A few of your films have heavily featured a corner shop is there a deep meaning or wider connection there?

A: It doesn’t have a deeper meaning other than its the corner shop closest to my house! I know the guy who runs it, and he lets me film in there!

Q: How did you find filming this film in lockdown compared to the experiences of Milkrun earlier?

A: I’d learnt a lot from Milkrun, mainly that i can’t do everything by myself! I still wanted it to be no-budget (about £500 budget all in!) but I wanted it to have more polish than Milkrun did. So I got in some great people to help me out.

Q: When the character enters her home and says something to the effect of ‘I’m home’ who is she talking to?

A: She’s talking to her imagined husband. She creates a dreamworld for herself, the perfect pregnant woman with the perfect house, home, jewellery etc. She’s a bit mad – but I guess it’s a comment that the writer Hannah was trying to make about desperately trying to live or aspire to a certain life, even if it causes you much pain and makes you delusional.

Q: Do you have any funny on set stories?

A: I mean, there were so many shots in the rushes where I was just in the background, using my phone as a wireless monitor. I just stand there in the background like a freak. We’d have to cut a lot because I just kept popping up. What a fool!

Q: Sparse dialogue is used with deliberate intent here, what were you trying to convey with it?

A: It’s a style I’m playing with at the moment, sort of a development of silent cinema, but then combining that with modern equipment, cameras – ambient sound etc. It also helps us with budget, so there is no need for sound recording! How does the Crowning make you personally feel? I don’t know. Again, I like playing with style, trying things – I often don’t really know what it means but it definitely makes me feel something. I just try to follow that (whilst maintaining a somewhat coherent narrative.)

Q: Sequel plans, what’s next for you?

A: No sequel plans, but I’m potentially thinking of developing this kid of style into a feature film! An almost silent feature. I think it could be cool, using the low-budget approaches I’ve been developing, trying new things etc. I also have a more conventional bigger budget short I am in post with at the moment called The Spaceman, which stars Amanda Abbington, Woody Norman and someone else I can’t mention yet! Stay tuned.

You can check out Crowning on Youtube now, and as always my review is also up on the site now.

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