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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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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Crowning: A Spoiled Sandwich

4/5

Written by Luke Barnes

This film is quietly unnerving, there is something about it that lingers. The sheer randomness of the events, how nothing is quite like it seems and when you think you finally understand what is going on you are left with more questions- it is maddening.

I think part of the genius of this film is that it is able to communicate a lot, about its themes, ideas and sense of self without the need for large amounts of dialogue. The opening scene of the lead eating a prawn and crisp sandwich, minus the prawns, speaks volumes and does a lot organically for character development.

I enjoyed the ending twist, though I needed to watch it a few times and even pause it to make sense of it. I applaud the film for trying something different and for not being afraid to leave you with more questions than answers.

Overall, an interesting film that strives to do something new, but that can also be confusing at times.

Pros.

The minimal use of dialogue

The ending twist

The unnerving building sense of tension

The central performance

Cons.

Won’t be to everyone’s taste

It is confusing and requires multiple viewings

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Profile: Never Trust Someone Who Takes Selfies With Kittens

4.5/5

Written by Luke Barnes

After watching the trailer for this film a while back I have been quietly excited for it, after now watching it I can say that was entirely founded- this film is superb.

The idea of a journalist pretending to be a radicalised teen online to try and secure and connection and series of interviews with an ISIS recruiter is a terrifying premise, made more so because this film is based on true events. However, the film builds on that premise perfectly and delivers one of the tensest thrillers of the year.

The performances are very well done, and you truly believe the fall from pretend radicalisation to real romantic involvement. You believe it so much it becomes a little frightening. It becomes clear why so many young women are brainwashed into leaving their country for a life that often turns out to be sexual slavery.

The ending is perhaps the best part as it magnificently raises the stakes and ramps everything up to max.

Overall, this film deserves all the attention it is getting as not only does it draw light to a frightening trend happening online which is largely going ignored by big social media companies, it also provides us with a thrilling viewing experience.

Pros.

The tension

The ending

The acting

The message

Cons.

Slightly bloated around the second act

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In The Heights: A Rare World Where People Cannot Converse Unless In Song

2/5

Written by Luke Barnes

I am not a fan of Hamilton……….. I’ll leave that to sink in.

When trailers for this film came out and a lot of people started to get very excited for it, I remained cool. After watching I am decidedly more so.

Firstly this is not a film that needs to be seen in cinemas; I am still waiting for a film that will make me say ‘wow this is better than watching it at home’ whilst in the cinema. The sound mixing much like Nolan’s Tenet serve to undermine the film some what and the loudness of the music itself makes the sung dialogue within it almost hard to hear.

Moreover, I don’t like that everything in this film is sung rather than said. Yes, I know it is a musical, but plenty of musicals have scenes of dialogue in between songs- it doesn’t all need to be sung. Almost every conversation in this film is done to music and in a song-like way, which honestly lessens any sort of dramatic impact.

Perhaps most damning of all the songs themselves are not even that good. The first song, the one that has been in all the trailers is passably okay, but after that they take a steep nosedive in quality to a point where it feels like they have given up trying.

Overall, maybe Hamilton fans or diehard musical lovers will be able to get something out of this, I for one just got my time wasted.

Pros.

It is a loud and colourful and easy to turn your mind off to

It doesn’t really require you to pay attention

Cons.

Too many songs

Most of these songs are of an average or poor quality

It is on for far, far too long

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Another Round/ Druk: Mads Mikkelsen Can Dance

5/5

Written by Luke Barnes

As I said recently in a tweet Mads Mikkelsen is a treasure. If you were not on the Mikkelsen train before, now you are.

There is something so fun and emotionally impactful about this film, yes dark things happen, but there is such an underlying sense of optimism to it that you can’t leave feeling anything other than happy. Honestly, this film made me feel better than any film has in a long time whilst watching it, and it has inspired me to watch more of Vinterberg’s work.

I thought the concept was fascinating, the idea of improving your life by keeping your blood alcohol content above a certain limit throughout the day is genius and is also executed incredibly well. Moreover, this is a beautiful film to look at, this can been seen especially with the final dance sequence that is by far the highlight of the film.

Though I wouldn’t call it a comedy, I thought this film had a number of funny moments scattered in throughout, and it made me smile consistently; it is probably more of a dramady.

Overall, one of the best films I have seen in a long time.

Pros.

The hopefulness

The final dance sequence

Mads Mikkelsen

The premise

The cinematography

Cons.

None

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Ribbon: Fighting In The Corporate Machine

4.5/5

Written by Luke Barnes

This film holds a mirror up to the ugly twisted face of corporate America, whilst also asking us if we weren’t already familiar with it. This film manages to do social commentary in such a special way, where it feels entirely organic to the story and the world of the film, yet it is also cutting, to the point and often times shocking as well; even when done in a comedic way.

Socio-political points aside, this film is at heart a comedy and in that regard it also succeeds. As I write in many of my reviews judging comedy films can be hard as what I find funny you may not: it is hard to find an objective good when it comes to this type of film. That said I found this film to be hilarious, it made me laugh multiple times throughout and when I wasn’t I was smiling.

This was in no small part due to the characters, who you do become deeply emotionally invested in by the end of the film. All of the characters in this film are written in such a way that they feel deeply human and personable: this is so much the case that it is very hard to not end up caring about them. They are incredibly well written.

Overall, this film is a triumph, a few scenes had a bit of bloat to them but that aside- near perfect.

Pros.

The social commentary

The humour

The characters and how they come across

The ending

The style of the film

Cons.

A little bloated in places

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The Waterman: As Dry As The Deseret

1.5/5

Written by Luke Barnes

I feel like this film views itself as whimsical, and as using the fantasy nature of its story to actually tackle hard hitting issues but in a wonderous way; however, to me it just seems hollow. I find a good comparison for this film would be to A Monster Calls, they are similar in many ways with the key different here being that The Water Man has no soul.

This is a shame as the film desperately tries to create one, playing up the emotional impact of a lot of scenes to try and further the effect of fairly weak writing. In the end the film feels overly sentimental rather than impactful, with it entirely not understanding how to connect with audiences.

The one thing I will give this film props for however is the acting. I thought Rosario Dawson, and David Oyelowo were both strong and the child lead was bearable, which is saying a lot for a child actor.

Overall, you can see what this film was trying to do, but it just doesn’t seem to understand how to play with an audience’s heart strings creating in the end a film that feels both soulless and hollow, whilst also feeling overly sentimental.

Pros.

The acting

The fantasy elements are interesting

Cons.

The emotions are all wrong

A lot of the fantasy stuff is underdeveloped

The pacing

If you enjoyed this review, then please head over to my Patreon to support me. I offer personalized shoutouts, one on one Q and As, the ability for you to pick what I review next and full access to my Patreon exclusive game reviews. Check it out!

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My Salinger Year: White Privilege Is Alive And Well

1/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Everything about this film screams pretentious. The very idea of a struggling writer trying to make their way in New York City whilst also being given a fabulous job opportunity that they don’t value and continue to seek out more to satiate their own ego is a cliché- and sadly it makes up the entire plot of this film.

The problems of our lead, who just wants to write but can’t seem to get anywhere, not only very pedestrian but they also feel hollow. The whole film reeks of the sort of privilege that comes around when you don’t have to worry about the day to day problems and can instead just focus all your time into complaining about not having your dream life- unrelatable.

The reason this film gets the score given, is because of Sigourney Weaver: make no mistake without Weaver I would have given this film less. Whenever Weaver is on screen the film momentarily comes alive, and you are reminded of how great she is and how you miss her not being in more things; what it would be to go back to the mid to late Eighties to Weaver’s peak.

Overall, if this film can’t see how the average viewer would struggle to relate to it, then it is even more pretentious then I thought.

Pros.

Weaver

Cons.

The rest of the cast

The clear privilege

It is a cliché

It is boring and uninspired

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Four Good Days: A Frank And Uncompromising Look At Addiction

3/5

Written by Luke Barnes

This is a harrowing film, but one that I think is an important watch: the film does not shy away from showing you the horrors of addiction and the impact it has not just on yourself, but those around you. As I was watching this film I often found myself being moved to emotion by the events on screen whether that was sadness, joy or frustration- crucially it made me feel.

I think both Glenn Close and Mila Kunis are terrific here, with the latter really showcasing her skills as a dramatic actor. I think the bond between these two characters feels so real that you easily believe they are mother and daughter. Furthermore, you can see the scars and hurt in their relationship and how despite both doing things they regret, they also to be there for and support each other.

This film is obviously a very bleak watch, yet one that I found inspiring. Though the struggles and issues raised in the film are deeply upsetting, I found the ending of the film helped to not send you into a pit of despair: whilst also managing to show that addiction is a struggle you fight for your whole life even after you get clean.

Overall, a very strong and effecting dramatic piece.

Pros.

Kunis

The ending

The bond/ emotions

Cons.

A few light pacing issues.

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