Review: Mothering Sunday

With a title like 'Mothering Sunday' and a stellar cast involved, I was preparing for something cheery. Boy was I wrong.

This was a lot sadder than I imagined. With themes such as the effects of grief during wartime in the background, it was hard to see what rout this was film going.

Despite the almost depressing tone, there was a lot to be moved by. The writing is strong by Alice Birch who makes great use of Graham Swift's source material. Plus the good performances, high-quality production and choice of location makes the imagery very pleasing.

Odessa Young gave a top notch breakthrough performance and carried the film well as the lead. Josh O'Connor gave great support and used his experience well. Also showing good support was Colin firth. That comforting presence he has in this was pleasing to see as was the always amazing Olivia Colman who made good use of her small amount of screen time.

The time period is on point and the country estate and village setting makes it look like a great place to live. The costumes fitted in perfectly with the backdrop both in the working class attire, to the elegant dresses and smart suits for the scenes involving the owners of the various estates.

There were the moments and scenes that I felt overstayed their welcome. But I think the well executed camerawork somewhat made up for that by still giving us something nice to look at.

Also, as mentioned the themes is was going for I felt didn't go into enough depth for me.

But in the end, I felt this was a moving piece of work. It's great to look at, the acting and writing work together really well and I got something I was not expecting.

I will be so pleased if this film launches Odessa Young into becoming a regular lead in her future projects as she deserves it after what I saw.

Rating: 7/10

Review: Sing A Bit Of Harmony

A lot of you will know that I am always trying to expand my knowledge of different genre's.

One in particular that I've been enjoying expanding my knowledge of, is anime. The Japanese style of animation brings out so much creativity in the imagery and emotion in the characters and writing.

Now, I enter the world of director Yasuhiro Yoshiura. Only their third feature film. But a solid rating on their back catalogue was enough for me to check out their latest project and hopefully find another anime director to keep an eye on.

Everything I got in the end was vintage anime. From the pleasing imagery, to the bonkers story and engaging characters.

It is definitely a story and tone you would only see in anime. No matter how outlandish or flawed the plot is, the commitment of the story and heartfelt emotion that is given makes it all work.

There was not much I can fault. The mix of hand drawn and CGI animation worked for the type of story we got, it's consistently funny, the score is solid and the characters are well developed. My only gripe was the flawed logic that some minor characters made.

But that was not enough to downgrade my enjoyment. I had a lot of fun with this and this will go down well with fans of this genre. I look forward to check out the rest of Yoshiura's previous works.

Rating: 8/10

Review: Flee

I'm not sure if I have ever seen a documentary that is predominantly animated.

So I wanted to see why these choices were made to present this story in this way.

With the accompanying archive footage, this looked to be a rewarding choice of style.

This impactful painted quite the picture and the animation style I felt matched the chaotic and crazy situation these people were involved in.

The story is something we're aware of. But the detail given gave us a lot to be invested with. Expanding beyond the people and giving an idea of the state of various countries gave it the depth it needed.

This was very well made and if it has enough momentum going into awards season, this could claim a unique achievement of being a contender for best animation feature, documentary and international film.

Rating: 8/10

Review: Fabian: Going To The Dogs

When you go into see a film that is close to three hours long, the film is already fighting an uphill challenge.

It took me a while to get used the narrative and editing style as it felt a bit chaotic and almost nonsensical.

But once it quietened down, I was finding a narrative that I could get invested with.

There is a number of subplots to get involved with as well. Most of them were fine. But some felt unnecessary. But I guess it was to give an idea of the time period.

Also, the high frame rate was off-putting for the most part. So with a long film having that many distractions didn't help.

I can see some enjoying the strangeness and unpredictable style. But for me, it was a all a bit much for a story that should be straight forward.

The main reason I wanted to check this out, was the main cast involved. I've liked what Tom Schilling and Albrecht Schuch has done in the past and I'm a big fan of Saskia Rosendahl.

While Schilling carried the film well and Such was solid, it was Rosendahl that for me stole the show.

As soon as she appeared on screen, all was well, and that's when the film started for me. I really hope she goes beyond German productions and gets casted in something more mainstream as she deserves to be discovered by a wider audience.

I felt that despite my issues with it, I still thought it was a decent watch. Schilling and Rosendahl kept my interest and their believable chemistry carried the film. The poor choice of ending did leave a bitter taste. But I thought the story was done well enough and I warmed to its unique style enough to give it a pass. Did it need to be close to three hours? No. But if it means more screen time for Schilling and Rosenthal, fair enough.

Rating: 7/10

Review: Eternals

We not only return to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but get introduced to more characters. This time with a more cosmic background, which I feel is where Marvel are looking more towards in regards to expanding its franchise.

I was intrigued to see how this would go. Not just because of the material being used, but also the cast and production team involved.

I loved how real life history comes from certain characters involvement and how they are seen within that world. I also liked at how each member of this group has a particular skill to enhance human development.

Like for example, there's a storyteller, inventor, warrior and many others.

I felt I got enough introduction and depth to each character to be invested with and care for.

The dialogue was solid and a good amount of vintage Marvel comedic style to make this a consistently funny film, with also enough seriousness involved to deal with the stakes.

By the time the credits rolled, I felt pretty satisfied.

The ensemble cast I feel all did a good job. Richard Madden was a solid lead and shows how well he can act in both film and TV. I believed in his characters leadership qualities and had good chemistry with his colleagues.

Much like Madden, I liked what Gemma Chan gave to this film and I look forward to see how her character develop in future installments.

Angelina Jolie looked so assured as a bad-ass and was a big highlight. Her character's story arch reminded me a lot of when I first encountered Storm in the X-Men animated series.

Kamil Nanjiani was solid comedic relief and Lia McHugh gave us a character that I had fun watching. Have to mention Barry Keoghan, who I am a big fan of and did a good job in this.

Lastly, I have to mention the quick appearance of Syrian child actor Zain Al Rafeea who I saw in the brilliant 'Capernaim'. Great to see be part of a major blockbuster.

As usual, the visual effects are great and the cinematography from Ben Davis gave us such pleasing imagery.

Some of the film did feel mechanical and fitted into that generic MCU style. But despite me feeling it will turn off some cinema-goers, it never felt boring to me.

In the end, I rather enjoyed it. It was probably a bit too long. But I thought it moved a long and developed nicely and just made me more intrigued as to the end goal of the next era of Marvel films.

Seeing this gives me hope for the involvement of the X-Men within this franchise. The amount of screen-time I felt was enough for it work and I feel this is how they'll approach the introduction of that group.

I know some audiences will be expecting more Endgame quality features. But I feel the heads of Marve are forced to make phase four feel like phase one and build up those foundations once again. I liked what I saw and I remain excited for where they are going next.

There is a mid and post credits scene. The mid scene felt more on the cheesy side given what was involved. However, as I mentioned that Marvel look to be going more towards the cosmic side, I'm happy to embrace the strangeness and cheesiness.

As for the post-credits scene, the way they hinted this character felt forced by the studio executives rather than the director. So I'll only blame the studio than the film-maker for this. But it still has me excited for how this will work.

Rating: 7/10

Review: Last Night In Soho

The name Edgar Wright and nothing else is enough for me to check out his films.

Then when I heard some the cast involved, I was really excited to see what was in store.

I love Wright's style. The sharp editing, the style of comedy with running gags and the soundtrack being a character in itself. Ever since Shaun Of The Dead, he has given us some modern classics. However, after 'Baby Driver' for me being one of the most directed films I've ever seen, I was unsure where he would go next.

In a nutshell, I had an absolute blast watching this. The more it developed, the more it sucked me in and I was totally engrossed by it. The pacing never gives you time to take a breather and I was impressed how Wright and his team makes the audience both love and be scared of the time period used in its flashback sequences. It's nightmarish style made me feel stuck and that I could not get out of my chair.

The performances were great across the board. I'm a huge fan of Thomasin McKenzie and she was a brilliant lead in this. Great innocence and sympathy made her feel very relatable and her situation reminded me of my first year of University. Anya Taylor-Joy looked the part and was a perfect casting choice. That stone face style and stare she was giving made her feel almost robotic and haunting.

It was great seeing Matt Smith be given a lot of screen time. For someone who is more known for his TV work, I hope this performance will give him more big screen opportunities.

There were a couple of old faces that I had no idea were part of this. The first being 60's acting British icon Rita Tushingham.

I was not prepared to see her, and it got being smile out of me.

Also seeing the now late Diana Rigg was nice to see. Realising afterwards that this was her last ever role, it was a wonderful send off as she played a great supporting role.

Other notable appearances that I have to mention was the always great Terence Stamp, an almost recognisable Pauline McLynn (aka, Mrs Doyle from Father Ted) and the Phelps brothers from Harry Potter fame.

As expected, the production is of the highest order. The editing is as slick as ever and given the use of 60's Britain, the costumes are fantastic. The way Wright and his team made that particular time period look brilliant yet also terrifying the deeper the film goes perfectly enhanced the films themes of shattered dreams and how tough reality is.

This is another wonderful addition to Wright's back catalogue. It's thrilling, haunting, Thomasin McKenzie remains an acting goddess of her generation, and it pays great homage to the 60's, including British cinema at that time. This has something for everyone and has great re-watchability. I look forward to watching this again.

Rating: 8/10

Review: The Power Of The Dog

A new Benedict Cumberbatch feature is more than enough for me to check this out.

With the addition of this being a Western, I was up for this, as it feels more like a treat seeing a Western on the big screen these days.

Whilst getting used to the chosen accent by Cumberbatch, I was also taking far too long to work out the situation our characters were in. It had a bit of a 'stop-start' quality to it in the editing, which was a bit frustrating.

Once it settled itself down, I got too appreciate the vast New Zealand landscapes (portraying as Montana) as well as solid performances.

As we headed towards the end, I did feel something was missing as the story was moving at a pedestrian pace whilst having an underlying layer of that something bad was going to happen.

I was right in the end with an effective twist. But it also felt rushed, and you're not paying attention you could miss it.

Cumberbatch is as intense as ever and changes the mood of the scene every time he appears.

Supporting well was a wholesome Jesse Plemons, Kirsten Dunst rolling back the years and Kodi Smit-McPhee who showed great innocence.

As mentioned, the locations are a character in itself. You can feel the seasons change in the characters behaviour. The costumes are on point and the score by Jonny Greenwood fitted the time whilst giving his signature stumbling style to hint at the unstable mood in the air.

In the end, I thought this was an effective slow-burn thanks helped by that final scene twist.

It's not quite as impactful as I hoped it would be. So I can see others being disappointed or impatient by it. But I still enjoyed it up to a point.

Rating: 7/10