Luz: Romance Behind Walls

Written by Luke Barnes

Luz (directed by Jon Garcia), is a romantic drama film about the friendship and romance between two men, which blossoms within the walls of a prison.

This is a heart wrenching film for so many reasons. It is both beautiful and soul crushing.

I think in terms of representation this film is very needed, as LGBTQ+ love stories are often sorely over looked in the romantic drama genre, and yes to a degree that is being rectified in recent years, but there is still a noticeable gap, and films like this are filling that- and I for one think that is commendable. Hopefully, soon the romance genre will be more reflective of all kinds of relationships.

The love story was very powerful and effecting, I thought the writing was just right as it managed to walk that line between expertly playing with your emotions, but also never feeling overly sentimental.

The leads have a great deal of chemistry, and you do believe that they are genuinely in love, which adds to the emotional impact of the film. I thought both performances, commanded my attention and impressed me.

Overall, a fantastic and powerful romance film, with a real heart and soul.

Pros.

The chemistry

The representation

The emotional weight

The performances

Cons.

The side characters are a little underdeveloped

4.5/5

Enchanted: In The Real World Disney Princesses Are Surprisingly Boring

Written by Luke Barnes

Enchanted is a family fantasy film directed by Kevin Lima. The plot sees fairy-tale princess Giselle (Amy Adams), become trapped in our world, after suffering a deadly trick from the Evil Queen (Susan Sarandon).

Amy Adams really does prove her range here, we already know that she can do heavy dramatic fare well, but this proves she can also pull of family friendly comedy too; she really is a multi-talented performer.

Adams definitely is the acting highlight of this film, as the rest of the cast range from serviceable, Patrick Dempsey, to underused, James Marsden, to confusingly handled, Susan Sarandon. Adams and Dempsey have good chemistry and it is nice to see a wholesome romance, that doesn’t actually have any toxic elements, from a Disney film.

Marsden is underused, but it more than that- there is no need for his whole character. Marsden plays the Prince Charming character and quests after Giselle into our world, falsely believing she is his soul mate; though this film doesn’t call it soulmates, instead something weird and vaguely annoying. Anyway, his whole character serves no real purpose beside a slight threat to the central romance and even then not really. Everything around his character and those parts of the plot are weak.

Sarandon seems woefully miscast and takes the role way to over the top in terms of camp.

The premise itself, the idea of an animated princess coming into our world is in itself strong and ripe for exploring, and the film does use it for several good jokes and moments, though I would say the ultimate execution of ideas does leave something to be desired.

Overall, a strong idea and performance from Adams, sadly the rest of the cast drag the film down.

Pros.

Adams

The premise

Cons.

The cast are either underused or miscast

The villain is awful

It is repetitive

2/5

Spontaneous: Exploding Into Red Goo

Written by Luke Barnes

Spontaneous is a science fiction romantic black comedy film directed by Brian Duffield. The plot sees two teens (Katherine Langford & Charlie Plummer), fall in love as a mysterious virus is spreading between themselves and their peers that causes one to spontaneously explode.

Much like Love and Monsters this film has a huge heart. The emotional stakes for this film are damn near perfect, you become really quite invested in their relationship, and my my how you are played with thereafter.

Langford and Plummer have strong chemistry, and make for a believable on screen couple, also where other films fail to capture the snarky teen well, or make it incredibly cringe worthy, this film manages actually do it justice. I think the, lets call it teen dialogue, of this film was quite on point and made me laugh several times with its wit.

I am careful to say too much about the film for fear of spoiling it, but I will say this: be prepared for a ride on an emotional roller-coaster

Finally, I just want to spotlight the premise itself which is surprisingly hilarious in a dark macabre sort of way- it makes you laugh and then feel very bad for laughing

Overall, a wonderfully original film and a touching romance.

Pros.

The leads have good chemistry

It is funny

The premise is novel

Good emotional stakes that make you invest

Cons.

It really does an number on your emotions

4.5/5

Chocolat: Chocolate’s To Boost Your Sex Drive

Chocolat is a romantic comedy drama film directed by Lasse Hallstrom, based on the book of the same name by Joanne Harris. The plot sees chocolatier Vianne (Juliette Binoche), move to a small religious French town in the middle of Lent, as she begins to sell her devilish wares whilst most of the residents of the small town are fasting she quickly makes herself a number of enemies. Can a good heart and a lot of chocolates change the locals minds about her?

Finally! After all this time, after countless numbers of films that demonise them, finally I have found a film that has positive Traveller representation: honestly it is nice to finally find a film that treats this group of people as humans, as not as some sort of easy scape goat for whatever ills are going on at the time, however, it is also sad as it makes me think of few other films share this film’s progressive outlook.

I enjoyed this film for the wholesome good time that it is. There are some sad things that happen in it, but in the end everything works out and everyone has a nice party- and in the times we are currently living in sometimes that is all you need to stop the nihilism for finally settling in.

There are a number of strong actors giving great performances here. Firstly, you have Binoche who creates a character that is perhaps one of the most likeable characters in all of cinema, and who you immediately want to see succeed, but also one that clearly has a dark past and is somewhat empty. Secondly you have Doctor Octopus himself Alfred Molina, as the films villain who is equally as sublime as the lead. Molina plays the leader of the town who takes an immediate dislike to Vianne and who goes to war with her, the two have an interesting relationship and Molina adds a lot of layers and depth to the character. Finally, you have the always marvellous but often overlooked Peter Stormare, as the real villain of the film an angry drunk/ wife beater shopkeeper who also forms a dislike of Vianne after she has a negative impact on his life. Stormare brings us a character that is easy to hate, but who also has more to him than simple villainy: moreover, he also brings some of his trademark weirdness to the role and gives us a few scenes that are unintentionally hilarious.

Johnny Depp is also in this film, at the height of his heart stealing good looks and he is a perfectly fine romantic lead. Shame they didn’t cast an actual traveller in the role but ah well it is Hollywood after all.

Overall, a lovely heart-warming film.

Pros.

The wholesomeness

A nice happy ending

The romance

Positive Traveller representation

Cons.

A few slow moments

4.5/5

Reviewed by Luke

The Map Of Tiny Perfect Things: My 1000th Post!

The Map Of Tiny Perfect Thing is a romantic comedy film directed by Ian Samuels. The plot sees two people stuck in a time loop together, though they don’t realise this until a little bit into the film, who decide to make a map of all the perfect things that happen in their loop in hopes of better understanding it.

I have said before the time loop concept is quickly becoming dried up and samey, however, this film narrowly avoids feeling repetitive, and instead manages to still feel real, genuine and dare I say it fresh.

The romance between Mark (Kyle Allen) and Margaret (Katheryn Newton), feels heart warming and rootable, there are no troublesome elements as there often are in romantic comedies, I am pleased to report. I thought of the two performances Newton vastly outperforms Allen, and it was her character and her journey that made the film.

For the time loop to end, Margaret needs to do something, as she has effectively caused the loop itself: when she finally takes action and crosses that line it really adds to the strengths of the film in a dramatic sense and helps to elevate it in my opinion.

My only issue with the film is that it can be a little too mushy and over sentimental at times and has a very teen feeling to it, which is not a knock against the film as no doubt they are the target audience, but it does put me off a little bit.

Overall, a nice couple watch that though not perfect is entertaining.

Pros.

Using the time loop concept in a way that didn’t feel played out

Newton

The central relationship

The ending

Cons.

Overly sentimental

4/5

Reviewed by Luke

Eagle Vs Shark: Which Came First?

Eagle Vs Shark is a New Zealand set romantic comedy directed by Taika Waititi. The plot follows the romance of Lilly (Loren Horsley) and Jarrod (Jermaine Clement), with a subplot about Jarrod’s quest to track down his high school bully and beat him up.

As far as Waititi’s film goes this is oddly off beat and almost sad, the wackiness of something like What We Do In The Shadows is a million miles away from this film instead it shares more in common with the darker more upsetting moments in JoJo Rabbit or Hunt For The Wilderpeople. I left this film feeling depressed.

The central romance has quite a few troublesome elements, in that Jarrod treats Lily like trash for most of the film, even dumping her abruptly to run of with his dead brothers girlfriend: the apology for his bad behaviour at the end of the film does not make up for it, and really they shouldn’t be together. However, as far as toxic messages within romantic comedies go, this film is on the better side of the scale and isn’t as offensive.

There are odd stop motion sequences peppered in throughout the film that I am not quite sure how I feel about. On the one had they fit in with Waitit’s quirky sensibilities, however they also feel quite unsettling and troubling for reasons that I cant quite put my finger on, there is just something about them.

The one positive I can find for this film is that the humour worked for me and I found myself laughing quite a bit.

Overall, this film really didn’t jive with me at all which is surprising considering that for the most part Waititi and Clement can do no wrong.

Pros

It has a few laugh out loud funny moments

Cons.

It is a bit too melancholic

The animation is weirdly unsettling

You don’t want the characters to be together in the end

It leaves you bummed out.

1/5

Reviewed by Luke

Barb And Star Go To Vista Del Mar: Cutting Lose At Forty

Barb And Star Go To Vista Del Mar is a comedy film directed by Josh Greenbaum. The plot sees recently unemployed middle-aged friends Star (Kristen Wiig) and Barb (Annie Mumolo), decide to visit Vista Del Mar on holiday, very much like the title suggests.

This is a very odd film, it is not quite romantic comedy, not quite a musical and not quite a comedy either- it is something else. Upon watching the first act, I was expecting to be writing a bad review, however, as the film went on it grew on me more and more.

I am mixed on this one, I did not think the film was funny at all, like nearly every time it is trying to be funny it fails, the only time it is funny successfully on purpose is during its songs (which are actually quite good and easily the highlight of the film), the few laughs to be had during this film were found there. Ultimately, it depends what you find funny, as I often say humour is subjective, if you have found yourself laughing and Kristen Wiig’s style of comedy before then you will laugh at this- as it is the same old same old.

The romance elements are likewise as odd as the rest of the film, seemingly trying to be as absurd as possible though I will say in this respect Jamie Dornan exceeds. Truly this might be the film that finally lets Doran move past his overly serious Mr Grey, and his failed leading man career and reminds audiences that he can still be fun. I enjoyed the romance between Dornan’s character and Wiig’s and I though it was easily one of the strong points of the film.

Overall, a very specific, very niche kind of film that will split audiences.

Pros.

It grows on you

Jamie Dornan

The songs

Cons.

It is not funny

It is very niche and very specific

It feels familiar

It would have worked better as a short film or a sketch

2.5/5

Reviewed by Luke

Bridget Jones, The Edge of Reason: The Horrors Of A Thai Prison

Bridget Jones, The Edge Of Reason is a British romantic comedy film directed by Beeban Kidron, serving as a sequel to The Bridget Jones Diaries. The plot this time around see Bridget (Renee Zellweger), in a happy relationship. Though for one reason or another she suspects her boyfriend Mark (Colin Firth), is cheating on her and they break up and then through a series of comedic misunderstanding and lapses in judgment they end up back together again.

This is by far a lesser film than the first. It is still funny and charming, but not nearly as much as the first film. Also the humour here seems far more intent on laughing at Bridget rather than with her, I noticed quite a mean streak to the humour that I found to be quite off putting.

Moreover, the plot of this film is basically just a rehash of the first. It spends almost 99% of its runtime covering old ground and repeating plot points from the first film; it is almost as though there didn’t need to be a sequel. Right from the off you know where the plot is going and can guess the resolution because you have seen it before, in the previous film.

Also the film was made infinitely worse by bringing back Hugh Grant’s character rather than introducing a new character.

Overall, though there is still some fun moments and enjoyment to be had this is a lesser sequel in almost everyway and pales in the light of the first film.

Pros.

A few funny moments

Zellweger is still very charming in the role

It is cheering

Cons.

It brings nothing new to the table

Hugh Grant should not have come back

The humour seems more mean spirited

It is entirely predictable

2.5/5

Reviewed by Luke

Bridget Jones’s Baby: 2 Different Baby Daddies

Bridget Jones’s Baby is a romantic comedy film directed by Sharon Maguire. The plot follows on from the events of the previous films and shows an older version of Bridget (Renee Zellweger), who is still unlucky in love and is seemingly repeating the same mistakes as she was in the events of the first film only now older.

I would say of the three Bridget Jones films this is probably second best, behind the original but ahead of the sequel. This film regains more of the originals charm and loses the more mean-spirited humour of the second film, both of which help it immensely.

The one negatively I will say of this film is that it feels needless. The character arcs and progressions are nothing new in the series, it very much does repeat arcs from the previous films to form a narrative here, you can predict what will happen and when because it has already. The will they won’t they stuff between Mark Darcy (Colin Firth), and Bridget makes less and less sense as at the end of each subsequent film they end up together and say how much they love each other, only to have that undone by the start of the next film. It makes the whole thing feel futile.

Patrick Dempsey has a very moments to shine throughout the film as the new love interest for Bridget and one of the suspected fathers of the baby, however he is very much living in the shadow of Hugh Grant and can’t hope to compete.

The other new characters such as Miranda (Sarah Solemani), Bridget’s younger friend and work college fare far better and add to the film. I would dare say Solemani stole most of the scenes she was in and I would watch a spin off dedicated entirely to her character.

Overall, a nice final note that returns to form even if it struggles to explain why it exists.

Pros.

Sarah Solemani

It is charming

It is funny

Renee Zellweger

Cons.

It has no need to exist and does not justify it.

4/5

Notting Hill: Unexpected Romance

Notting Hill is a British romantic comedy film directed by Roger Michell. The plot follows the unlikely romance of an English book seller (Hugh Grant), and an American actor (Julia Roberts).

This may be one of the defining films of the romantic comedy genre, may be even of British cinema in general. It is a classic and for a good reason, it is one of the warmest most charming films I have ever seen.

The film feels so sleek and stylish, and every scene feels polished to a tee. The writing is impeccable and that really is a testament to Richard Curtis, the characters feel like real people and as such you instantly form a bond with them and want to see their romance flourish. Both Grant and Roberts give great performances that make the film, they are also supported by a number of talented performances from the wider cast that are almost equally as memorable.

Much like a good Pixar film this film knows just how to work your emotions to bring you through all the highs and lows of a new relationship and bring you out the otherside cheering and feeling good: that would be the best way to describe this film, feel good.

Overall, a sweet happy romantic comedy that reminds us that the world does still have a few good things in it.

Pros.

The charm

The style

The supporting cast

Roberts

Grant

Cons.

None

5/5

Reviewed by Luke