Melania: The Final Verdict

Summary: Jeff over at Amazon did this to gain some favour with Donny Boy.

So, before we get into the film that has triggered so much outrage as believe me it will happen soon. I just wanted to say that this isn’t the first time a media company has made a film about a president or president’s family, there were many similar projects about the Obama’s so let’s not go down that road.

That said was this film needed? Did I waste my time? The answer is a hard no and maybe. In many ways this just feels like low rent reality TV, the sort you would expect of Trump and his family. Again is it awful not really it’s just brain-rot. There isn’t much ranting and raving about political matters, if anything it is trying to steer away from that altogether.

As you watch it you realise the film thinks it has a lot to say or that it has some deeper meaning but really it’s just a bored housewife trying to fill her days and in many senses that’s a universal concept.

It is neither shockingly bad nor shockingly good, it just kills an amount of time in your day and if that’s something you want then I guess you can watch it but otherwise maybe give it a miss

Overall, a waste of time.

2/5

Pros.

It is passive viewing

It is short

Cons.

It is boring

It isn’t deep

It didn’t need to be made

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Moonies Married To The Cult: A Documentary That Teaches You Nothing

Summary

A documentary about the secretive Moonies organization.

This felt like a very surface level documentary, in terms of the fact it covered a lot of things in not much depth. Not only did it assume at the start of the documentary that you already had a working knowledge of who the Moonies are, but it then presented a scatter shot approach to its topic, jumping back and forth between a lot of different points not spending much time with any of them.

It also doesn’t spend much time with more high profile things related to the Moonies such as the death of the former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, and brushes over a number of these sort of things. It makes one question whether they may have had more material they were forced to drop, or maybe they originally planned it to be a series but then it got turned into a film. It is hard to say but one thing is for sure, it does not give you much of an in-depth look or understanding into the group.

It also has what I like to call Netflix witness/expert syndrome, wherein a documentary has a lot of talking heads who are just regular people, who had experiences with the Moonies, but doesn’t balance that out by including experts to contextualise things. When a documentary leans more heavily on ‘I was there’ testimony rather than having expert opinions it immediately loses credibility and is also far less engaging.

This feels like it was made for the short attention span having youths who want a mass market somewhat true crime documentary.

Overall, weak and fairly boring.

2/5

Pros.

I’ve seen worse, at least it had decent production values

It has some really interesting threads that it just doesn’t explore.

Cons.

It wastes one or two great witnesses

It is far too surface level

It jumps between too many things

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The Last Sacrifice: Rural England Is Really Pretty Wild

Summary

A documentary about a murder in rural England and its connections to the folk horror boom of the Seventies.

I had been interested in this documentary for some time, so to my delight when I looked and saw it had come out on digital I immediately gave it a watch.

I have to say I was disappointed with it, there are some interesting insights presented, and the final story about how the Teletubbies was connected to it is funny, but the documentary just doesn’t go deep enough for me.

In that I mean that a lot of the observations and comments made, strike you in the ‘yes obviously’ sort of range, these are all things that many people who know a lick about horror films and history already know. Whilst I can understand that this is made for a mass audience not someone who watches probably close to one hundred horror films a year, if you include rewatches, and who reads books on the genre space, I did find that it felt pedestrian.

Moreover, the film clearly cut a lot out, but what it leaves in raises ground for pause, as there are throw away segments and lines of inquiry that seem to go nowhere, and it makes you think the film should have been edited down even more to remove these loose ends, but as it stands it wasn’t.

Overall, if you are looking for something more casual or don’t know much about horror you will likely enjoy it, if you want a more thorough look I would recommend the folk horror documentary on Shudder.

3/5

Pros.

It has some interesting points

It feels like a love letter to folk horror

It sets up other better documentaries

Cons.

It does not go far enough

It has multiple dead ends

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2000 Meters to Andriivka: The Fight Against Evil

Summary

A documentary about a platoon of Ukrainian soldiers and their attempt to liberate Andriivika.

So as some of you know I have a day job as a film festival programmer/promoter etc, that I do under a different name to keep my lives separate before you try to meet me, and normally I don’t cover films from the festivals I have worked at, either at all or a long while after, but for this I made an exception.

As you can imagine this is a harrowing film, the bloodied history of the imperial war to subjugate Ukraine is already well documented by world news, but seeing it on the ground, and getting to meet some of the brave fighters trying to save their country for the invaders makes it far more personal. As the film progresses there is a real palpable sense of wanting to escape from this situation and to get out, what makes this so distressing is knowing that you can escape from the situation shown in the film, but that the Ukrainian service men and women can’t.

I would challenge anyone with a heart to watch this film and not feel moved, and not leave feeling like they need to do more to support the Ukrainians even if it is just little things like looking after a refugee in your neighbourhood and making sure they have what they need or donating to platoons and army groupings themselves for much needed supplies.

Overall, an incredibly powerful peace of cinema that will give you a reaction.

5/5

Pros.

It is incredibly powerful

It is effecting

It feels informative and more real than what you see on the news

It does not shy away from anything

It is very much needed

Cons.

None

[A slight aside, it can be an incredibly distressing film as a film about an active hot war would be, but you knew that going in so I won’t list it here]

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The Life And Many Deaths Of Christopher Lee: A Tribute To An Icon

Summary

A film about the life and times of a British cinema legend Christopher Lee.

So I have been having some what of a Christopher Lee kick recently as you might have been able to tell if you keep up with my reviews and as such when I saw this film existed I knew I needed to watch it.

I fully believe that this film can make anyone into a fan of Lee, not only is it informative but also funny and very personable. Whether it is finding out that Lee fronted a metal band later in life, or his exasperation at being called a horror icon by a BBC journalist and the following strop, it is impossible to end the film not liking him.

The documentary also has insight from some key industry figures particularly if you like horror, Joe Dante and John Landis both give insights into a man they knew well, as well as his family. I think your enjoyment of this film will be enhanced if you are a fan of Lee or horror generally, but I would argue you could still enjoy it regardless.

I would argue that they could have got a talking head from his later career maybe someone from his Burton or Star Wars era, but they did counter this by getting Peter Jackson to talk about his role in the Lord of the Rings.

Overall, a wonderful loving film about an icon of Cinema.’

4.5/5

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Children Of The Wickerman: The Hit Of Frightfest

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

A documentary about the making of the Wickerman and the effect it had on the sons of the director.

This film really serves a duel role firstly as a making of the Wickerman featurette and then also as reflection over the life and times of its director Robin Hardy, the father of the documentarian.

I found the making of side of things to be quite interesting it is fascinating to learn about the history of the film and how it both came to be but then also died and rose again. As a fan of horror I always love a good making of documentary.

Where things slipped a little for me was in the more personal side of it, I thought that whilst it was interesting to learn about the man behind the camera and the lives he ruined, at times it almost had a hit piece like quality to it, and that then went after the film as well. Whilst I can understand the son, the documentarian, being angry at his dad as he did some heinous things to him, I think aiming that negativity in part at the film is misplaced and hurts it as the main people watching the documentary are fans of the film. It is complicated as that raw emotion is also a selling point of the film and adds to its uniqueness.

Overall, a good documentary that other than a few missteps into being a hit piece tells a fascinating story of a film that changed the lives of a lot of people.

4/5

Pros.

It is informative

It is entertaining

It shows the effect the film has had on people

Cons.

The hit piece like moments

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Everybody Dance

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

Children with different disabilities find joy in the art off ballet.

This film is incredibly important as it highlights the power art and dance has to enrich people’s lives. The subjects of this documentary are never presented as victims rather as people with a passion. It’s incredibly important within the narrative of this film that the people featured are never defined by their disabilities but rather their drive to and determination to be great at ballet.

I found this feature to be charming in many ways, it is a very affable tale and it is easy to like the subjects as their enthusiasm for the art of ballet is very palpable. Before watching this I had never been very into ballet but after watching it I am certainly more interested than I was before.

I think what I like most about this film is that it shows off how film as a medium can be used to show the happiness and joy that exists all around us everyday in the world, but that we might not see as we are too busy living our lives and doom scrolling.

Overall, a must see.

5/5

Pros.

It is lovely

It is uplifting

It makes you passionate for ballet

It is the feel good sort of thing you need to see to be reminded of the good in humanity

It never treats its subjects as victim but rather as people

Cons.

None

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Living With Chucky: A Love Letter

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

A documentary about the people who have brought the Child’s Play franchise to life over the years and what the films mean to them.

I thought this was a sweet film, especially in the later stages when the documentarian reveals herself and what her connection is to the franchise.

What I liked the most about this film is that you can tell it was a labour of love, and more than that you can tell how much the series means to all of the people being interviewed and as a fan of the series, I don’t understand why you would be watching if you weren’t, that spoke to and connected with me.

I liked the deeper insights the documentary gave into the behind the scenes production of the films and the fact it gave a voice to some of the lesser known people who have been involved with the series and allowed them to talk about their experiences as well. It was fascinating.

My one complaint and this is a very nit picky one if I do say so myself is that this film felt incomplete. Whilst I understand it was probably shot a few years ago and only being released now, it feels incredibly remiss to not talk about the Chucky tv series that is currently airing within it. All of the films get a mention but the series isn’t name checked once which feels like a noticeable admission at least on my part. I would like the thoroughness of having the documentary go through everything to do with the franchise but again I see that is hard when it is on-going perhaps they will do a follow up down the line.

Overall, a lovely documentary and if you are a fan of the franchise one that you simply must check out.

4/5

Pros.

The real sense of love

The look behind the scenes

It brings back a lot of happy nostalgic memories

The sweet connection of the documentarian to the franchise

Cons.

They don’t mention the show

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Sideworld: Damnation Village

3/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

A horrifying look under the skin of a number of British village.

With the previous two entries into the Sideworld series I was a big fan I enjoyed their creepy blend of folklore and wider mythology and how they feel so specific to different aspects of the British experience. As such I was expecting big things when I saw this film, and I have to say I was a little disappointed. Now I am not saying this film was bad, far from it, but I am saying it felt a little stunted when compared to the two previous films. I don’t know whether it is because this film decided to focus more on a modern and man made area but it just felt limited and frankly a little stretched thin.

That aside all the technical aspects of this film were on point and the film for the most part generated a creepy atmosphere that sucked you in and didn’t let go, leaving you chilled to the bone. I thought the horror elements were perhaps at the strongest here with regard to the whole series. Certainly I was left unsettled.

Overall, Still a fun scary experience but a bit more threadbare than I was expecting it to be.

Pros.

The scares

The atmosphere

It is interesting, but it doesn’t go far or deep enough

Cons.

It is too short

It should have gone into greater depth and really explored the area

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Sideworld,Terrors Of The Sea: What Waits For Us At The Bottom Of The Ocean

4/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

This film explores the dark and sinister side to our oceans.

I have long thought that there is something quite gothic and mysterious about the sea and I know I am not alone in that belief. I often say to people how crazy it is that we have barely scratched the surface with ocean exploration and cannot fully comprehend what may be waiting for us at the very bottom of the sea, in the areas where there is no light.

In that vein this film really captures in essence the foreboding nature of the sea, coming off often as more curious and mysterious than outrightly scary. I think it is in that regard that this Sideworld film differs from the last, it is less scary. I don’t know if this is by design, but certainly I found this to be different in tone and intent than the last film.

In terms of the sea stories, it was a good smattering of different things from ghost ships to sea monsters. None of it will be things you have never heard before, but thanks to the narrators fantastic delivery it still manages to feel captivating and intriguing until the final frame. I think the sea monster section was probably my favourite.

Overall, if spooks and creepy stories to listen to as the nights slowly darken again are your kind of thing then you will be doing yourself a disservice not to check this out.

Pros.

It truly captures the mystery of the sea

It is intriguing

It has a good mixture of tales

The sound work is incredibly strong and really does both set the sense and create a fantastic atmosphere.

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