Velvet Buzzsaw: An Exercise In Pretension

‘Velvet Buzzsaw’ is a satirical supernatural horror film written and directed by Dan Gilroy. The plot of the film revolves around a collection of painting that is both captivating and deadly; there is something alive within the paintings that either kills people or makes them kill themselves. The film also serves to lambast and spoof the art world.

Before I get into this review, I want to say that ‘Nightcrawler’ Gilroy’s other work with Jake Gyllenhaal is a masterpiece, being able to really show off its dark sensibilities and mustering a fantastic performance from Gyllenhaal. There is something about ‘Nightcrawler’ that makes it alarming every time you see it, even though by that point you know how it ends.

The same can’t be said for ‘Velvet Buzzsaw’. My main issue with this film is how up its own arse it is, it seems to think it is the best film that you will see all year; which it isn’t. The satirical elements of the film fail so much so, that I wasn’t even aware it was supposed to be that way until I sat down to research this review. The only thing that might clue you into the fact that this is supposed to be satirical is the fact that all the characters are deeply unlikeable; though I thought that was just bad writing.

Rene Russo and Gyllenhaal try their best and give good performances, which serve as a saving grace for this film, but only barely. The rest of the cast are terrible, Toni Collette’s performance has zero energy and feels like she is trying to give a bad performance for whatever reason. Zawe Ashton has one facial expression for the whole film and to call her wooden would be generous and ‘Stranger Things’ own Natalia Dyer feels like she is only in the film on Netflix’s behest to try and get more people to be like, “oh she was in Stranger Things I should probably rewatch that”.

The horror concepts of this film are interesting and there are a few good scares peppered throughout. However, they just aren’t enough, this film is 20 per cent inspired horror and then 80 per cent lost up its own arse as to how good it is; which is a terrible shame as I was excited to watch a film from the writer-director behind Nightcrawler and his strange, but always excellent muse Jake Gyllenhaal.

Overall this is an exercise in pretension that falls flat whilst also being incredibly hollow.

Pros.

Jake Gyllenhaal Is Always Fantastic.

Some Good Horror Moments.

An Interesting Concept.

Cons.

The Terrible Cast.

The Smug Sense Of Self This Film Has.

2.5/5

Reviewed by Luke

Eden Lake: Broken, Boring and Blatant

‘Eden Lake’ is a British horror film written and directed by James Watkins. The plot sees a couple going on holiday to a quarry, in some unnamed part of England, whilst there they are stalked by a group of young people, who want to torture and eventually kill them.

I find this film offensively bad. My main issue with it, and if you don’t like politics sorry skip to the next paragraph, is that it demonises the working class in Britain. ‘Eden Lake’ was one of those films that explored the idea of ‘Broken Britain’ much like it’s contemporary ‘Harry Brown’. The issue with these sorts of films is that it often portrays the narrative often from a very middle-class viewpoint, this film especially. We are supposed to be scared of the dangerous ‘chav’ kids, rather than think of the sort of life they have had that has led them to this point. This whole narrative to me feels cheap and exploitative. Furthermore, it perpetuates this false idea that if people of means leave a big city or their home, they will be immediately forced into danger.

Not only that, but the writing feels like a collection of horror clichés with the protagonists Steve (Michael Fassbender), and Jenny (Kelly Reilly), being written to be the dumbest possible characters. You know when you watch a horror film and you are saying to yourself, “Switch The Lights on” or “Don’t Go Up There”, but they do it anyway, as they seem programmed to do the dumbest possible people and they do things that nobody would do in that situation: well that’s how the characters are here. I like horror films like ‘You’re Next’ where the characters are actually written with some intelligence, rather than deliberately doing stupid things that put them in danger and then just sitting around to face the consequences. Yes, I know a lot of the time characters are written like this to advance the plot or to set certain scenes up, but once again it feels very lazy.

Overall for a cheap low budget British horror film, it could have been a lot worse, but even still it doesn’t excuse the weak class baiting sort of writing and the paper-thin characters. I am glad that Fassbender and Reilly went on to bigger and better things and this film can be thrown in the bin of history and left to be forgotten.

Pros.

It’s Not The Worst Film I Have Ever Seen.

Cons.

It Feels Cheap.

It’s Manipulatively Written.

It Doesn’t Belong In Modern Times & It Has A Bad Message.

The Characters Aren’t Even Paper Thin, They’re Somehow Lesser Than That.

1/5

Reviewed by Luke

Creep 2: Netflix, Give Mark Duplass All Your Money Please

‘Creep 2’ is a found footage psychological horror film directed by Patrick Brice. The plot this time sees online personality Sara (Desiree Akhavan), answer serial killer Josef (Mark Duplass), here called Aaron’s online ad, to film him for the day. He has lost his drive as a serial killer and is stuck in a rout: as such he wants Sara to make a documentary about him to try and relight the spark, he once had for killing.

This film does something very few other films can do, it manages to one-up its fantastic predecessor. ‘Creep 2’ plays up the more comedic elements of the film this time around and it makes for a hilarious experience that also has some great chilling moments: managing to not only do justice to these two elements but do them fantastically well.

Duplass is terrific once again, proving that comedians do horror really well, he manages to make this evil serial killer likeable and to an extent sympathetic. It turns out midway through the film that Aaron plans to kill himself at the end of the day and have Sara carry on his work, this is genuinely shocking and you don’t see it coming. The relationship between the two is simply fantastic it has shades of mentor-mentee, but also shades of a serial killer couple. The ending of the film is highly suggestive that there will be more for these two in the future.

From a dark comedy perspective, this film is a masterclass it compares being a serial killer to being a director who is on a downward spiral and to me that is incredibly funny. The humour works really well and meshes with the tone perfectly, both Akhavan and Duplass have moments of comic genius.

Akhavan is amazing, she has a fantastic repour with Duplass and the two do great things, I would like to see her come back in the future and maybe become a serial killer herself. She meets Duplass’s crazy and raises it.

Overall this film is a triumph and manages to one up a magnificent first entry, the relationship between Sara and Aaron is great and something I want to see explored more in a third film. If you like ‘What We Do In The Shadows’ you will like this, I guarantee it. By playing up the more comedic aspects ‘Creep 2’ is elevated to a whole new level.

Pros.

Akhavan Is Amazing.

So Is Duplass.

Serial Killer Couple?

The Ending.

Cons.

I Want More.

4.5/5

Reviewed By Luke

Bird Box: You Have To Be Blind To Enjoy This

‘Bird Box’ is a post-apocalyptic thriller film directed by Susanne Bier. The plot follows Malorie (Sandra Bullock), as she tires, to protect her children from strange supernatural entities that have taken over the world, said creatures drive people to madness if they see them. The film is based on the novel of the same name by Josh Malerman.

I remember when this film came out a lot of people were talking about it and it had more than a few moments in the sun. However, upon seeing it now I really don’t see what is so impressive about it, I know the novel came out years ago, but a lot of the film’s elements had been done before and better in other films like ‘A Quiet Place’ and ‘Children Of Men’. These elements are things like creatures that prey on a certain sense in this case sight as well as a family having to survive in this new world.

There is nothing new about this film at all. It is a collection of end of the world clichés and character stereotypes. Not only that, but the film puts a lot of it’s focus on the humans that have not been driven to suicide by the creatures: because they were already mad, they take up the role of the antagonists in the film and the creatures themselves almost become a secondary villain. I think this is an annoying trend that a lot of these type of films do and is also a huge missed opportunity. There are hundreds of films about humans doing horrific things to each other most of them better than this, so why does this film not choose to focus on the one thing that makes it unique it’s monsters.

What’s more, the human characters are boring, really really boring. They are really hard to care about as they just seem like a collection of characters that you have seen before, this film even wastes John Malkovich. The one character that is interesting and feels like you want to get to know her is Sarah Paulson’s Jessica, but she is killed off within the first 10 minutes of the film.

Overall this is an incredibly generic film and in this the year 2020 that just isn’t passable anymore, as we have so much choice that things like this should fail to send a message that we want better, we want characters that actually feel like characters, we want a story that hasn’t been done so many times before, and we want to see the monsters in a form other than wind!

Pros.

Sarah Paulson For The 10 Minutes We Get Her.

Cons.

It’s Been Done Better Before.

It’s Generic.

The Story Is Boring.

We Don’t See The Monsters We Are Just Told About Them.

1/5

Reviewed by Luke

The Favourite: Gaining The Queen’s Favor

‘The Favourite’ is a period black comedy film directed by Yorgos Lanthimos. It revolves around two cousins Sarah (Rachel Weisz), and Abigail (Emma Stone), who are both vying to be the court favourite of Queen Anne (Olivia Colman), there is no extreme these cousins/ rivals will not go to in their quest to oust the other.

This is a pitch-black comedy film and it knows it, if you have that sort of comedy sensibilities then you will think that this film is hilarious. Both Weisz and Stone are hilarious proving that they both have great comedy chops. The film takes how bleak and depressing life was in this period and makes a joke out of it at every turn. Everything in this film is played up to an almost manic degree, an example of this would be the two rival factions that run the government that both want the Queen’s attention. One of these factions is lead by Harley (Nicholas Hoult), who is a delightfully over the top hammy sub-antagonist.

There are some moments in this film where the comedy ends and there are some moments that really tug on the heartstrings, an example of this would be when Queen Anne tells Abigail about all the children she has lost. This shows how ‘The Favourite’ can shoot on both fronts and do well, both in comedy as well as in drama. A lot of this drama is done to perfection by Colman, but more on here later.

My one issue with this film is that the ending isn’t very strong. The ending is quite introspective and almost trippy in a way which doesn’t quite fit with the rest of the film, but this didn’t really affect my overall enjoyment of the film.

Finally, I just want to say about the phenomenal job that Olivia Colman does, this is after all the film that won her an Oscar. Colman plays Anne as a broken soul, a person that has lost a lot and just wants to be loved, she has almost has a childlike innocence to her performance that makes it so tragic.

Overall, this film is a masterclass in dark comedy and if you like things like ‘The Death Of Stalin’ or ‘The Thick Of It’ you will find something to like here, the film is let down by it’s ending, but is fantastic in every other respect.

Pros.

Genuinely Funny.

Also Has Great Emotional Stakes.

Weisz And Stone Are Both Fantastic.

So Is Colman.

Cons.

The Ending Is Disappointing.

3.5/5

Reviewed By Luke

The Nightingale: The Heart Of Darkness

‘The Nightingale’ is a period drama film directed by Jennifer Kent, her second film after the critically acclaimed ‘The Babadook’. The plot of the film revolves around Irish convict Clare (Aisling Franciosi), who suffers a horrific tragedy that result in her losing everything, the events that follow show her as she treks across the Tasmania bush in search of the men that wronged her; So she can enact a brutal act of retribution upon them.

Before I get into this review, I just want to say this is a grueling film to watch, deeply uncomfortable and unpleasant at times, but that seems to be by design. There are disturbing acts of violence and sexual violence depicted in this film that set up Claire’s character motivation and show the horrific place that the Tasmanian Bush was at this point in time.

If that doesn’t put you off there is a lot to appreciate about this film. Firstly, is the attention to detail payed in the setting and how the events of the story play out, the 1825 Van Diemen’s Land that Kent brings to life is unlike anything I had previously seen. The world this film presents is harsh and incredibly unforgiving and it makes you aware of horrors of history that you might not have been aware of.

The performances are excellent as well. Franciosi is a marvel to behold the emotions that her character conveys are both striking and affecting. She is entirely believable as a woman who has lost everything and is now a ghost of the person she was before, driven only by revenge. Furthermore, the gradual friendship she forms with Aboriginal tracker Billy (Baykail Ganambarr), she sweet and brings a bit of levity to an otherwise deeply oppressive, depressing film.

Ganambarr is excellent especially when you consider that this is this first feature film performance. His character of Billy not only brings some humour to the film, but also provides a door into the Aboriginal world which we don’t often see represented in cinema. Billy does at times outshine Claire, but both are fantastic.

Sam Claflin is also in this film he plays the sadistic antagonist Hawkins. Claflin is quickly making a name for himself as a skilled actor especially for playing villains, he plays a loathsome bastard better than anyone else. He completely loses himself in the role and delivers yet another magnificent performance.

Overall, this film can be hard to watch at times, you will feel the urge to turn it off, but if you can stick with it there is something special here. ‘The Nightingale’ is far more of a nuanced take on the Rape-Revenge subgenre and has a lot to say and has some great performances to back it up.

Pros.

Powerful.

Excellent Performances.

A Great Follow Up.

Bringing Attention To Issues.

Cons.

Very Very Very Hard To Watch At Times.

4/5

Reviewed by Luke

The Raid: An Action Movie Masterpiece

‘The Raid’ is an Indonesian Action Film, written edited and directed by Gareth Evans. The plot follows a highly trained group of police officers who try and infiltrate a tower block owned and controlled by a ruthless drug lord. Amongst these officers we have Rama (Iko Uwais), who is our main character, Rama has gone to the tower block to try and convince his brother Andi (Donny Alamsyah), to come home.

‘The Raid’ is a beautiful film for a lot of reasons, but for me the main one would be the fight choreography. The fight choreography on display here is some of the best I have ever seen. The fights look brutal and real, you can feel the pain and exhaustion coursing through the performances. There is a hallway fight sequence that is better than anything I have ever seen before, said sequence sees Rama take on a large group of gangsters and with sheer force of will takes them all out; this isn’t like fake looking action movies like ‘the Transporter’ where the enemies attack one at a time, no here it is much more hardcore and realistic.

It makes sense now after seeing this why the ‘John Wick’ series hired the actors from ‘The Raid’ for the third film in that series, because they are incredibly impressive. The Wick series is the only other current Western action film that I would say is on par with this film in terms of its fight sequences.

The plot of ‘The Raid’ is also wonderfully complex as nothing is how it appears to be. Other than main character Rama, who is our moral compass throughout the film, the other characters flirt between the side of good and the side of bad, giving the film an excellent sense of moral ambiguity. This is shown through Rama’s brother Andi who saves Rama’s life, but decides to stay behind at the end and take over the tower block and be the next gang leader.

Overall, I think this is a must watch for everyone not just die-hard action fans, it is so beautifully done that is marvellous to behold. ‘The Raid’ has become prolific within action cinema and has gone on to influence a lot of films in the genre and I believe for a good reason: this film is fantastic and deserves to be seen!

Pros.

The Acting.

The Fight Choreography.

Maintaining The Balance Between Brutal But Not Overly So.

The Moral Ambiguity.

Making Character You Care About.

Cons.

None

5/5

Reviewed by Luke

Bombshell: Modern Times Need Modern Heroes

‘Bombshell’ is an autobiographical drama film directed by Jay Roach. The film is based upon several women who set out to expose the CEO of Fox News for sexual harassment after he behaved inappropriately towards them.

When I was looking this film up to write my review, I was 100% sure that this film was an Adam McKay film, the director of Vice, as it has a very similar style to it; with similar hallmarks such as fourth-wall-breaking. If this film had been an Adam McKay feature it would have been one of his weaker films, there are bits of ‘Bombshell’ that are phenomenal but there are also bits that are lacking and underdeveloped.

One such phenomenal bit is the makeup on Charlize Theron. Theron plays Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly, who serves as the main character of the film, but you wouldn’t know it was Theron the makeup and facial prosthetics she is wearing make her virtually unrecognisable making her look almost identical to the character she is playing. The performance Theron delivers is also fantastic she gives off power and courage and makes for a wise if unlikely hero.

Nicole Kidman plays Gretchen Carlson, the woman who starts it all, and though she is only on screen for a limited amount of time she is fantastic. There is a scene where it looks like Carlson is going to lose the case as no one is coming forward and she breaks down in tears and then immediately pulls herself together when her kids come in the door, there is something powerful about this scene that can’t help but elicit an emotional response from the audience.

Margot Robbie is also in this film and unlike Theron does not deserve the Oscar nomination she has received for it. Robbie is terribly underused she makes do with the little she is given, but she deserves a meatier role: this isn’t her fault and it is more of a script-writing issue, but it did bug me. Moreover, Robbie is completely upstaged by the most unlikely of sources Kate McKinnon. Usually, I find McKinnon annoying as she overdoes her performances, but I liked her here playing a more serious role. I think the fear her character has for being a lesbian at Fox News is heart-breaking and I really emoted with her in this film; I would love to see her take on more dramatic roles in the future.

Overall this is a very important film that should be seen, it shows the lows we can reach as a society, but that as long as we have brave people who are willing to stand up and speak out, we can always escape these and reach a better society. I wish Robbie was given more to work with, but that is my only issue here.

Pros.

A Much-Needed Story.

Timely.

Great Make Up And Performances.

Cons.

Weak In Parts.

Robbie’s Talents Are Wasted.

3.5/5

Reviewed by Luke

Creep: Another Comedian To Horror Maestro Success Story

‘Creep’ is an independent found footage psychological horror film directed by Patrick Brice. The narrative follows Aaron (Played by Brice), as a camera man who answers an online ad, to go and film Josef (Mark Duplass) for the day. As the day plays out Aaron quickly realises that Josef is not who he claims to be, and things take a turn for the worse.

I had heard praise for this film for quite some time, but for one reason or another I hadn’t got around to seeing it and now that I have, I can tell you it is terrific. Found footage as a genre as been done to death, no argument can be made that will convince me otherwise, with the likes of the Blair Witch revival and the continued Paranormal Activity franchise, I believed there was nothing left in this genre that could shock or perhaps scare me, I was wrong.

The reason why ‘Creep’ is scary is all down to the writing and the characterisation of Josef. When we are introduced to him, we are told he is a sick man with only a few weeks to live, this get us to feel sorry for him, as the film progress we see that he is a little odd, but crucially we still like him. Even in the films third act when everything has become very manic Josef is still treated like a sympathetic character that’s why Aaron goes to see him one last time.

The complete shifts in mood that Duplass so perfectly brings to the screen wherein we see Josef go from Sad to Manic to Evil are chilling. With the final reveal showing us that Aaron is not the first victim, but instead one of many, making you as an individual, question how you could be so wrong about a character as for the most part of the film you thought he was a likeable sympathetic character.

As I have said before in other reviews, I find mental illness and the threat humans poses to each other and man-made evil, much more frightening than a demon or a ghost. I believe 100% that it is this focus on a threat that is very real, something that could realistically happen to any of us at any time, that makes this film so scary.

A genuinely shocking horror film that showed me there was still some life in the found footage genre.

Pros.

The Novel Approach To Found Footage.

Duplass.

The Excellent Tension And Scares.

Making You Question Which Characters You Trust In Future.

Cons.

It’s A Little Bit Goofy At Times When It Shouldn’t Be.

Uncut Gems: Sandler’s Standout

‘Uncut Gems’ is a crime thriller film directed by the Safdie brothers. The plot revolves around a jeweler called Howard Ratner (Adam Sandler) who due to his gambling addiction get in debt over his head to a loan shark and has to rely on a precious gemstone to pay off his debts.

This film has more in common with a tragedy than anything else, things always seem to go from bad to worse for Howard and though he is a despicable character in a lot of ways you still want to see him win- even if it is just once. As the film progress, Howard becomes a pathetically sympathetic character and you can’t help but root for him; this makes the abrupt and depressing ending both heart-breaking and unexpected.

‘Uncut Gems’ is a testament to Sandler as an actor. Yes, he is often the butt of the joke, but this film proves that when he is trying and has something good to work with, he can deliver a magnificent performance. Sandler loses himself in the role and other than one moment with a brief crass joke, that didn’t fit the tone, I viewed him as the character rather than Adam Sandler the actor playing a character.

Some sequences in this film possess a hypnotic dreamlike quality to them, which feels like something from a Nicolas Winding Refn film, whenever we get a sequence like this we are in for a treat. These sequences add a sense of very light fantasy to what is otherwise a deeply gritty film; they hint at a higher mythology.

The greatest asset of this film is its ability to create tension which it uses often and to great effect. There are some scenes where you will be on the edge of your seat, to use that rather trite bit of hyperbole. You will feel yourself tighten up as you know something bad is about to happen it is just a matter of what and when.

Overall, this film is a triumph of filmmaking, it is a damn shame it wasn’t nominated for anything at the Oscars as this film is truly deserving. Hopefully, this film will convince Adam Sandler to dedicate more of his time to serious film project rather than films where he talks about poo; admittedly these can be good look at ‘Big Daddy’, but they are also typecasting him as an actor. I think this film should be seen as it is a joy to watch- prepare to cry at the end though.

Pros.

The Direction.

The More Dreamlike Sequences.

Sandler.

The Great Sense Of Tension.

The Heart-Breaking Ending.

Cons.

None

5/5

Reviewed by Luke