The Courier: Been Here Before

The Courier

2/5

Written by Luke Barnes

I had heard good things about this film, prior to seeing it, and was looking forward to my chance to see it on VOD. However, when it arrived I was left perplexed, whilst it is by no means bad, it is in fact very serviceable for what it is in terms of setting and genre. Yet there is something of a formula to it, it is very predictable and samey and that raises wider questions about historical dramas as a whole- namely is the genre played out?

In historical drama films set during the Cold War the narrative tends to go one of two ways, either the character, with an assumed western perspective as most of these films focus on western characters, defects to the Soviet Union after growing disillusioned with their own government, or the character tries to break into/ commit some sort of mission behind Soviet lines and ends up getting captured- this film is the latter.

I understand that the film was based on real people and events so there is only so much they can do with it, but honestly we have seen this story before and as such know where it is going. Viewing the genre for what it is, I question if this film even needed to be made, yes the actual person this film is based on deserves to have their story told, but on the other hand this film has nothing new to say so what does it contribute to the medium?

Cumberbatch is as strong as ever and manages to anchor the film, quickly becoming the only reason to continue on. Jessie Buckley is strong too, but sadly she is only given a few thin scenes and is mostly wasted.

Overall, nothing you haven’t seen before.

Pros.

Cumberbatch

Buckley

Cons.

Wasting Buckley

The generic nature of the plot

It is ease to lose interest in

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Pride: Fight For The Change You Want To See In The World

Pride

3/5

Written by Luke Barnes

This film made me both happy and sad, as paradoxical as that might be. On the one hand it was hopeful to see the miners embrace the LGBTQ+ activists, but on the other, seeing the horrible homophobia made me sad. I left the film feeling conflicted towards humanity.

This film can beautifully play with your emotions, as it did to me, and that is a testament to the writing, but also the real events that inspired the film. The film feels empowering to watch, inspiring you to make a change for the betterment of society.

The acting talent on display here is undeniable, Joe Gilgun, Dominic West, Andrew Scott and an always reliable Paddy Considine all perform well and leave an impression long after the film ends. George McKay is a little less strong and does drag down some of the scenes he is in, but thankfully he is not given much of the heavy lifting to do.

Furthermore, Pride does struggle with pacing and ends up feeling overly long and a little indulgent, by the time we reach the end the film is already starting to outstay its welcome.

A final note before concluding, Faye Marsay is terrific and should be cast in more films- a staggering young talent.

Overall, a good film that suffers with pace.

Pros.

The acting, bare McKay

The message

The empowering tone

Cons.

The Pace

George McKay

Bernie: Jack Black Proves He Can Nail Drama As Well

Written by Luke Barnes

Bernie is a dark comedy film directed by Richard Linklater. The plot follows the events surrounding the death of Marjorie Nugent at the hands of Bernie Tiede.

Jack Black plays the titular Bernie and I think he does it perfectly. This killer in real life was adored by a large majority of people in the Texan town of Carthage, and with the way Black plays him you can see why. Black sells the likeability of his character, but also eludes to a hidden darkness, he plays the character mostly straight, though he does manage a few laughs in some darkly comedic scenes.

I think it says a lot of Black’s performance that he can comfortably go toe to toe with Matthew McConaughey, who plays the lawyer who sent Bernie away for life, who is known for his dramatic prowess; I think in terms of dramatic acting this is a career best for Black.

I also thought the film had a lot of great eccentric moments to it, such as having one of the opening scenes be Bernie giving a lecture on how to prepare a dead body for burial as well as a number of interviews with real towns people who would have known both the victim and the murderer in real life: these touches add character to the film.

Overall, a lot of fun and a great performance from Jack Black

Pros.

Black

McConaughey

The quirks

It was fun to watch

Cons.

The pacing could have been tighter

4.5/5

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Operation Varsity Blues: Matthew Modine Rocking The Bowl Cut

Written by Luke Barnes

Operation Varsity Blues: The College Admissions Scandal is a drama documentary film based on real events, told using dramatic recreations and talking head interviews with those involved. The film explores the issues surrounding the college admissions scandal that saw a number of rich and in some cases famous people face jail time after bribing college officials to allow their children entry into the most prestigious universities in the United States.

Much like Netflix’s Fyre documentary this film will see you laughing and taking a small amount of joy out of seeing these privileged people be reminded that the rules do apply to them, and that they can’t just do what they want.

Also much like Fyre this documentary is fairly trashy and salacious, making sure to cram in and shame as many famous faces as it possibly can during its runtime, which is not inherently a bad thing more so it places this film firmly in the category of junk food documentary.

Something that bothered me about this film is the way they structure the ending sequence. As is fairly common practice the ending of a documentary usually features some text about ongoing events or updates that have happened since filming. This film decides to list the legal sentences that each culprit got instead, which is a novel idea, however, where it goes wrong is that in some cases certain people hadn’t been convicted or tried by the time of filming, and as such when the film shows them in the end credits it just says how they pled and not the conviction, which becomes jarring and confusing quickly.

Another thing that is quite confusing about this film is the use of recreations and talking head interviews, as we will be shown the real perpetrators on screen in an image but then for the purpose of the film be shown an actor standing in for the person, as they clearly didn’t want anything to do with the documentary, this again becomes confusing. More so when the film starts to blend the lines of based on true events drama and a standard documentary.

Overall, Matthew Modine sinks into his role as the mastermind of the scheme, Rick Singer and there is a lot of interesting and infuriating fun to be had here, however, several artistic choices hurt the film and I think the concept as a whole should have been better refined and adapted, the talking heads and the recreations together don’t work.

Pros.

Modine

Trashy fun

A few interesting points raised

Cons.

An incomplete ending

The format doesn’t work as the recreations frequently clash with the talking heads

2.5/5

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Framing Britney Spears: Justin Timberlake Is A Bad Dude

Framing Britney Spears is a documentary film directed by Samantha Stark. The film explores the ideas around the #freeBritneyMovement and the fact that despite being only 39, Britney Spears has been under a conservatorship since 2008, with her father managing her estate and finances: this film aims to understand why that is.

This will make you angry, there is no other response you can have. It highlights flaws within the American legal system that are rife for abuse, it shows how the public’s obsession with celebrities can lead to destroying said celebrities life, and finally it show us just how sleazy Justin Timberlake is; in case you didn’t already know.

I think in terms of professionalism this is a solid documentary, as they speak to knowledgeable people on the matter and stick to the facts. Unlike other recent documentaries such as Netflix’s one about Elisa Lam, this documentary only gives a limited amount of time to online sleuths and activists, which makes for a more believable watch as you are not being bombarded with conspiracy theories.

I think the documentary is very needed, it deals with issues surrounding how women are treated in our society and the additional spot lights they are placed under, it is a very saddening watch especially when considering the impacts of self-reflection on how we the viewer see celebrities, though it does end with a message of hope, which personally I needed.

Overall, a well-done documentary.

Pros

Limiting the amount of online sleuths featured in the documentary

Using knowledgeable sources that had close ties to Spears

Causing inward reflection on celebrity

Pointing out holes in the legal system

Cons.

It is too short.

4/5

Reviewed by Luke

Son Of The South: Anyone Can Be A Hero

Son Of The South is a biographical drama film directed by Barry Alexander Brown. The plot retells the early life of civil rights activists Bob Zellner (here played by Lucas Till), showing his early struggles and triumphs.

There have been many films where Till has been good, but he never stood out enough with a film to deserve awards and to break through into wider Hollywood, this however is that film. Till deserves awards for this one, this is his breakout film or should be at least.

This film was near perfect in every way, there was only one slight issues with it, can you guess what it is? Anyone who has been following my reviews for a while know damn well how I feel about Lucy Hale, (she can’t act and ruins any film that features her prominently, with Fantasy Island being the one film that made me question that statement), and the same could have been true here: thankfully after the first half an hour this film ditches here. Her half an hour performance isn’t good, but that almost goes without saying.

This film is important as it shows that no matter where you come from in life, you can help to better the world. Zellner’s own grandfather was in the Klan and threatened to kill him for helping the civil rights struggle, but despite his family Zellner went on to help change history. We truly can all be heroes.

There were a number of powerful scenes here, including the lynching scene and the riot at the bus station, that hit hard and leave an impact; this was not long ago in our history and have we come all that much further since? Really? So a mixture of despair for the monster that is the human race, but also a hope that the good can beat the bad in our world to a point where words like the Klan and White Supremacy lose their meaning and can be forgotten about permanently.

Overall, I can’t recommend this film enough, please watch it.

Pros

Lucas Till

The powerful message

The emotional impact

It leaves you thinking after watching

Cons.

Lucy Hale

4.5/5

Reviewed by Luke

Silk Road: Nick Robinson, You Can Do Better!

The Silk Road is a thriller film directed by Tiller Russell. The film serves to tell the real-life story of Ross Ulbricht (Nick Robinson), the founder of Silk Road: a website that functioned as Amazon for hardcore drugs.

I have been excited for this film for a while,

, there is a lot of interesting things about it, little details and such, and I was eagerly waiting to see how this film would show the story. Sadly, it chose to be generic and just like every other drug kingpin take down film out there. To say the films take on events lacked nuance would be a vast, vast understatement- it is morally simplistic.

The main thing I will give this film prompts for is finally giving me a Jason Clarke performance that I enjoyed. Clarke excels as the shady, but ‘doing it for the right reasons’ DEA agent tasked with bringing Ulbricht down, and his performance is easily the best thing about the film, Robinson was great in The Kings Of Summer and Love, Simon but was deeply milk toast here.

The ending also felt quite anticlimactic, they were building it up and building it up and then when it finally gave us an ending it was underwhelming, and I was left going ‘is that it’? I understand that is based on a true story so they are limited with what they can do with it, but in a writing and set up capacity there were issues with building and execution that really hampered the ending.

Overall, sadly, yet another generic crime film.

Pros.

Clarke

A few interesting moments

Cons.

The ending

Simplifying the issue

Robinson

2/5

Reviewed by Luke

Judas And The Black Messiah: Power To The People

Judas and the Black Messiah is a historical drama film directed by Shaka King. The plot follows the real life rise and assassination of prominent Black Panther Fred Hampton (Daniel Kaluuya), and his betrayal at the hands of FBI informant Bill O’ Neil (Lakeith Stanfield).

I have been looking forward to watching this film for a long time, and it did not disappoint.

I think this is an important film that needs to be seen and understood, moreover it should be a stepping stone to a larger conversation around race and struggle, not just in The States but worldwide. It’s message is furthered by events that have happened in the recent past, showing that police violence and institutional racism is still a festering part of our society that needs to be dealt with.

Both leading men give terrific performances, as I knew they would, however, I think this is Kaluuya’s film; what’s more I think this film should net Kaluuya some Oscar gold. His performance of Hampton is so effective and impactful, it reaches you on a deep emotional level and opens your eyes to the evils of the world, we see through Kaluuya that Hampton truly wanted to better the position of the oppressed in society and wanted to be a force for positive change, and what did he get for that? They shot him while he slept.

Pacing wise this is a model for other films. Usually I knock off points for pacing issues or drag, but I have to say that every second of this film felt needed and important and for that I tip my hat.

Overall, this is not an easy watch it is infuriating and depressing, but at the end of day that’s reflective of life. Moreover, the film highlights the need for further change within our worldwide community and inspires the viewer to go out there and make that happen.

Pros.

It opens your eyes

Kaluuya

Stanfield

The ending

It makes you mad and then channels your energy into a force for good
Cons.

None
5/5

Reviewed by Luke

Crime Scene, Vanishing At The Cecil Hotel: Everything Wrong With Modern Documentary

Crime Scene: The Vanishing At The Cecil Hotel is a Netflix true crime documentary. The plot retells the events surrounding the disappearance of Elisa Lam, a mystery that took the internet by storm.

I have been very interested in this case for a while, so when I heard there was a true crime documentary coming to Netflix about it I was all for it, however, once I put it on things quickly changed and now all I can say is please this documentary as it is exploitative.

First and foremost this film in the talking head section gives a lot of time to Youtubers, people who don’t have all the information or any kind of detective training: this is a red flag as for the first few episodes it gives them and there idiotic conspiracy theories a platform, said theories are not only entirely fictious but also disrespectful to Lam herself. Yes, this is somewhat addressed in the final episode when the youtubers admit they were wrong, but they have still had multiple episodes to spout there nonsense, moreover, the documentary shows how the web sleuths ruined someone’s life by accusing him without any evidence of murder, why? Well because he is slightly different from their rigid norms of course.

When a documentary features Youtube talking heads, over police and those involved in the case you know something is amiss: that is not to say there is no police officers and others in the know who contribute to the documentary, there are simply they get less screen time than the web sleuths and other overly keen amateurs.

Finally and perhaps worst of all, this documentary if it can even be called that, features a lot of half truths and misinformation. During one of the episodes the documentary tries to make a case for serial killer Richard Ramirez, having frequently stayed at the Hotel Cecil, despite there being little evidence of this and is more likely an urban legend made up to go along with the Cecil’s bad reputation. I understand that Netflix wants to capitalise on the popularity of their Night Stalker documentary but come on do some basic fact checking.

Overall, this and the Night Stalker documentaries are two different sides of how to do documentary, on the one hand you have a documentary that is well made, researched and has comprehensive police involvement on the other hand you have an exploitative documentary that is more primed to tap into people’s nostalgia about a creepy video they saw online: there does not seem to be any real regard for Lam as a person beyond ‘oh remember that creepy lift video’, and a bunch of failed youtubers trying to make a name for themselves.

Pros.

There is some premise in the beginning

Cons.

Featuring youtubers more than the actual police investigating the crime

Pushing conspiracies that have no evidence

Giving these web sleuths who ruined someone life to the point of having him try to take his own life a platform

Spreading lore and urban legend as fact

1/5

Reviewed by Luke

The Highwaymen: Old Men Can’t Climb Fences

The Highwaymen is a period crime drama film directed by John Lee Hancock. The plot details the man hunt for the infamous bank robbing duo Bonny and Clyde from the point of view of the two Texas Rangers who were tasked with brining them down.

If you like crime drama films, as I do, then you will find some enjoyment here. The story of the final days of Bonny and Clyde is not one that has been overexposed in films before and there is something to explore there.

However, yes there was a but coming to that praise, these moments only take up maybe 30% of the film. The film seems to think that the narrative as a whole and its take on it, are both far deeper then they actually are. There are many lines peppered in throughout the film that are clearly supposed to make you think ‘hey this is a deep film, with some things to say about the world’, though instead they just come across as obvious and trite.

Moreover, there is no reason this film is on for over 2 hours, it comes across as unnecessarily arduous, with the slow pace only serving to ruin the film in the long run.

Overall, though the acting from Harrelson and Costner is okay and the shootouts are more than just basic set pieces, this film is not an easy watch as the pace and self-importance force you to lose interest quicky.

Pros.

The acting

The ending

Having the set pieces matter in narrative rather than just being things that happen.

Cons.

It is painfully shallow

It is incredibly slow

It is poorly paced, and that is what kills it.

2/5

Reviewed by Luke