Review: Wendell & Wild

A new Henry Selick film is surely an instant must-watch event. Especially when the last one was 13 years ago.

Not only because he is a highly talented director. But it also means some stop-motion animation action which is an art of animated film-making that you have to respect.

The amount of time given to making these films is insane, the levels of imagination and creativity used and sequences that you have no idea how they made that possible already gives you enough aspects to appreciate before even getting to the story and character development.

If you are not aware of Selick's achievements, he is the director of classics 'The Nightmare Before Christmas' and 'Coraline' as well as the always entertaining 'James And The Giant Peach'. So with a catalogue like that, it is natural to be very excited to see what Selick has made for us this time.

I have to firstly say that there is a lot going on in this story. A lot of it is accompanied by wonderful character and production design and that vintage creativity that only this genre could achieve.

Also from a narrative perspective, there is plenty of sub-plots being covered here. While I am up for a lot of world and story building, it can sometimes be too much, and it ends up forgetting to actually tell a fully-fledged story. This is kind of one of them.

Don't get me wrong, I was constantly engaged. There is a lot of energy to it and the whole thing had a sense of wonder to it. But I don't think it concentrated on a central idea. It's like they were trying to tell two or three different stories and cram it all into this. That can work up to a point as you don't know where it's going next. But you just almost feel exhausted by the end of it rather than being entertained and enjoying the ride.

The voice work was perfectly fine. It was nice hearing Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele go back and forth with their characters and Ving Rhames and James Hong gave memorable voices that helped their respective characters be more memorable.

Lastly like with all Selick films, it doesn't sugar-coat the darker or more mature aspects of the story. It's a family horror adventure and while I wouldn't call it scary, it does contain a gothic design in its characters and has tragic topics which would explain the 12A certificate. I have always found a sense of respect when Selick tells his stories.

So if you have children and are unsure whether this will be suitable for them. I feel that if they can cope with other Selick films, then they'll be fine.

Even with its issues, I think it's a good enough watch. The animation style is instantly eye-catching and maintains that amazement throughout with its creative style and design. There's plenty of interesting characters and ideas being covered. But I think there's just too much trying to be said for it be truly exceptional. I just hope I don't have to wait another 13 years for another Selick installment.

Rating: 7/10

Review: The Good Nurse

As we head towards the end of the year, we are starting to see more and more films coming out with ambition of being involved in the major awards season.

Some end up being a genuine contender and some get overlooked Whatever happens, pretty much all of them will get labelled as 'Oscar bait'. For those of you who don't know what this is, those are films that are basically are made for the sole intention to gain nominations by awards voters. They usually consist of particular characteristics such as a lavish production, profound story that is usually based on a true person or event and actors that are awards nominees, winners or are usually part of Oscar winning ensemble casts like Timothee Chalamet or Lucas Hedges.

Being labelled as 'Oscar bait' is not always a bad thing. But the way it is used usually means audiences are going into it with a possibly unfair high expectations.

For this new release, there were a few signs that this film is aiming for awards success. It contains two lead actors that are both Oscar winners, an Oscar nominated writer and a BAFTA nominated director.

All of said achievements did intrigue me to check this out. But it was more the people behind those achievements. Plus, having a Netflix release had me wanting to see if the film could provide me the answers of the distributors going for a streaming release rather than a cinematic one.

This film pretty much depends on our leads Jessica Chastain and Eddie Redmayne and they carry this film well. Chastain might not have given a performance that is up there with Molly's Game or Zero Dark Thirty. But it did exactly what was required. It was a character that was very relatable and easy to root for. As for Redmayne's performance it was subtle but necessary for it to be that way. There is one scene where his character does eventually boil over which was cool to see. But on the whole, it was a quiet performance that fitted the character and situation perfectly for me.

I really liked their chemistry together on-screen and how it developed and changed when new information is introduced. It's probably the films biggest strength.

There's not too much to speak of outside of the performances. The production is fairly satisfactory. It's nice to see a hospital setting as we usually see this environment on TV series rather than films.

The pacing is a fairly slow and quiet one, which might explain the Netflix release.

In other hands, this film could easily be a big awards contender. There are elements that I feel could have been better utilised or parts they could have shot instead of just being put on a title card to help with the story. It might still get a bit of buzz. However, I think it will get lost in the mix.

But the strength in the shock factor of the true story and plot development still makes for a perfectly memorable viewing experience. It's not going to push your emotions to the limit. But it should still leave you captivated by the events and wanting to know more about the true story and have you on the edge particularly in the final act.

Rating: 7/10

Review: The Banshees Of Inisherin

While we sadly don't get enough films from British director Martin McDonagh, they have all been an absolute treat.

From the amazing debut with the incredible 'In Bruges', to the fun 'Seven Psycopaths' and most recently with the brilliant 'Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri', McDonagh is quite possibly the premier director at the moment for black comedies.

When I heard Colin Farrel and Brendan Gleeson were back collaborating with McDonagh, this was one of my most highly anticipated films for this year.

It began with having unexpected fillings. With the film containing strong Irish accents and it being set on an Ireland, I couldn't help but just think of the 90's sitcom classic 'Father Ted'. I'm sure I won't be alone on that. At first, it does genuinely feel like that.

But as the film goes on, there is more to it than that. There are fairy tale elements to the plot.

I like how much subtext is happening around the main story. The parallels with the Irish civil war, how we as a species confront with our own mortality and become aware of death, being remembered, loneliness, despair, forgiveness and many other universal themes.

The cast do a great job with many notable performances. It was great seeing Farrell and Gleeson together once again. The bickering between their characters might not be as strong as 'In Bruges' for me. But it remained very effective that helped enhance the films themes.

Kerry Condon was a scene-stealing support for Farrell's character particularly. With her character bringing some sense to the situation, her contribution was both vital and memorable.

The real star of the show for me was Barry Keoghan. The past several years has seen this talented young actor show the world what he can do. With many highlights already in his past catalogue, this is up there with his performance in the great 'Calm With Horses'. Despite the stupidity his character has on the surface, there are great moments of innocence and heart that felt very profound.

There is a lot to like from the technical side as well. The Irish setting is gorgeous to look at and make for some great opportunities for future tourist attractions. Carter Burwell's atmospheric score had that ominous vibe that something big was on the horizon in the story.

While I did like it a lot, I don't think it's quite as dynamic as 'In Bruges' or 'Three Billboards' was. But I will not be surprised if this gets a push in the major awards season.

It is a story with lots to cover when watching when discuss when the credits roll. But with a lot of it having emotional depth and tragedy, McDonagh's comedic style still comes through at regular intervals and I was laughing pretty consistently.

This is made with a lot of heart and passion, and I hope this does well with the masses as it has been given a wide release. I can see myself liking this more and more. But for now, this is a strong piece of work that balances out the comedy and drama perfectly.

Rating: 7/10

Review: Decision To Leave

While I don't think Park Chan-Wook is quite the masterful film-maker people set him out to be. I can certainly agree his craftmanship is of a very high quality.

I think like many I got introduced to his works when I saw 2003's Oldboy. Since then, I have certainly enjoyed the majority of his work. His purposeful style of camerawork, recurring themes of revenge and confidence to take risks has made him quite a favourite with fans of independent cinema. However, I am still waiting for his masterpiece. The craft is most definitely there. But I think the right story and strong performances are still missing to be the complete package for me.

It was clear to see early on this it wasn't going to be as innovative. But instead, we were getting some homages to classic film story-telling with modern edge's.

It's got a noir style tone with a non-linear narrative. So already it's going to be complex viewing as is with most of Park's films. I got some similarities with Vertigo as throughout the film you never knew who to trust and there's complicated romance involved. It gave those similarities a modern twist which I liked it as it made great use of modern technology.

I like how it develops the aspect of the story you don't expect, and it gives us a memorable and tragic. finale.

But while I can most definitely appreciate it's style, tone, camerawork and use of tension, it just never felt as gripping or remarkable compared to the directors other works or similar films of this genre. I also felt the plot felt stretched and they were adding strands that felt there just to fill the duration.

The performances are understated and fitted the tone perfectly. There weren't any real standouts. But they all worked the style that Park was going for.

This might be one of those you appreciate on a second viewing. But for now, I see this as a solid crime noir that is well directed and shot with some cool symbolic moments and tense sequences. It has those vintage Park moments and covers themes such as desire over morals fairly well. But I think the execution is a bit more muted and the colour palette is grimmer than his other works. So that might be why I wasn't going nuts for this. But there was still plenty to appreciate and like about it to recommend this.

Rating: 7/10

Review: Black Adam

With the amount of superhero content being released this year, it's easy to forget that the DC Extended Universe is still trying to be a thing.

While there are thankfully some exceptions, most of their installments have shown the potential of this franchise. But it ends up feeling like they're playing catch-up and not giving its material time to breath, flourish and make us care what is happening from a narrative perspective.

I honestly thought this latest release was as abandoned as Marvel's Gambit film. For what seems like a very long time, this project has been in the works in various ways. We thought it was going to be part of a bigger project. Then it became its own thing.

It begins with a lot of backstory exposition that makes me feel that this was forced to be cut to not make it feel like the almost 4hrs Zack Snyder's Justice League.

With so much information being given, it did take a while for me to slow down and enjoy things at a gentler pace. But once things got moving, we could actually start to somewhat enjoy this action filled adventure.

I was still seeing the common issue most people have with DC films, as that is a messy and/or rushed narrative. Lots of characters and elements get introduced to us and we are expected to care for something that has been given little development. It reminded me a lot of the first Suicide Squad where I was highly intrigued with each character and wanted to know more. But any sort of backstory is given a brief summary and then we return the main story.

It still shows that the studio wants to get all of its content out there as soon as possible to show the audience what they have rather than giving us time to invest in it. Fans of the source material will only know about these characters, and the general audience who will want to play catch-up will most likely feel alienated.

But thankfully the thrilling action and solid performances by the cast gave me enough intrigue to keep my interest and enjoy the concept to make me entertained rather than annoyed at another missed opportunity. Unlike most of DC's previous films, there is some lighter moments to mix up the tone and give us decent comedic moment which helped the viewing experience.

The cast were pretty serviceable on the whole. Dwayne Johnson is the one that sells this film. While I still feel Johnson is an odd casting choice for this character. We instead get his deadpan humour on screen rather than this insane amount of charisma. You could feel the threat his character posed as well as his 'fish out of water' moments that gave most of the films comedic relief.

Aldis Hodge did a good job in one of the many characters that were given a rushed introduction that we're meant to care for. But I could Hodge put in the work and certainly made me want to see his character be in a standalone adventure.

Same goes for Pierce Brosnan. It was a nice supporting role for him and his supposed relationship with Hodge's character is one that I would have liked more screen-time.

From the technical side, the visual effects do a good job with the heavy amount of CGI required for certain characters and landscapes. It never felt overly digital, and it blended into the practical surroundings really well. I would have liked more variety in Lorne Balfe's score. While I liked the romp and energy, it felt too constant for me that almost felt exhausted to listen to.

I really liked the eye-pleasing character designs as well. It's just a shame we don't really get any development on most of the characters origins.

While it wasn't a big issue for me, I would have liked the camerawork to be a little less hectic to give us a bit more perspective on the action sequences.

I'm still going to give it a pass despite its issues. The franchise still has its usual narrative problems that doesn't make us as an audience care enough for what is happening. But the action and intrigue of various characters made it enjoyable to somewhat forget about the negatives.

I do remain hopeful that DC can blossom into something special with its universe. But for now, there is still plenty of room for improvement.

There is a mid-credits scene to stay for and while it is bad to say that it was the best part of the film, you will understand once you see it.

Rating: 7/10

Review: Emily

My knowledge of the Bronte sisters is small. But I feel it is enough to get me by in general conversation.

However, Emily Bronte is not fully well known for even the most expert historian. So when I saw the people involved in this, it had my curiosity.

This is the directorial debut for Frances O'Connor. Most people from my generation will know for her roles in Gosford Park, Bedazzled, A.I. Artificial Intelligence and most recently The Conjuring 2.

Now O'Connor has turned her attention to being behind the camera and the solid buzz surrounding it had me intrigued me to see her vision of this celebrated figure where little is truly known about her. 

It has all the usual looks of what you expect with a period drama. But O'Connor gave it something different which I think is worth seeing and it felt refreshing to see.

There are some scenes that purposely give the feeling of a horror film. I think due to the little we really know about the titular character, there is room to go into more of a genre piece. There is realms of horror and fairy tale involved in this plot. There is one particular scene with a horror tone that is truly terrifying and is one of the best scenes I've seen this year.

There are obvious additions to the story to give a fully-fledged plot that they feel would have happened in her life to give us the work we know she created. All of these choices I felt worked really well or were functional at worst to give us a pretty effective and satisfying story.

The cast was pretty good on the whole. Emma Mackey is an absolute star in the leading role. A striking screen presence with authority beyond her years and painted a picture that clearly shows what the director was going for. A troubled soul with a lot of pressure on their shoulders and a mindset that society wasn't ready for that was eventually celebrated over time.

It was great seeing Fionn Whitehead continue to be part of projects and he did a great job in this and had solid chemistry with Mackey.

While I didn't think Oliver Jackson-Cohen was exceptional, he was good enough as support for Mackey. But I think for the amount of screen-time his character had, I would have expected a better casting choice.

The Yorkshire landscape is used with great effect both in the imagery and the sound design. It gave us a backdrop that was both beautiful and spooky in small doses. The score by Abel Korzeniowski enhanced the thoughts of Emily Bronte well and obviously the costumes fit the period perfectly and looked great on screen.

I thought this was a well put together piece of work with a lot of passion, vision and imagination. I can't quite give a great rating as most of the elements no more than good which is perfectly fine. The story is solid, there is a strong leading performance, and the overall tone and look is pretty evocative.

For a directorial debut, this is an impressive first outing for O'Connor. You can see a confident approach that is not afraid to experiment and flirt with other genres. It's not often actors transcend to behind the camera activities. But O'Connor could have found a second career in the industry.

Rating: 7/10

Review: Halloween Ends

This current guise of the Halloween franchise has been ok on the whole. The first chapter from 2018 was probably the best Halloween film since the original. Then it's 2021 sequel had some interesting ideas. But the execution did not match that.

For this supposed final FINAL chapter, I was hoping for some sort of satisfaction for a film series that has seen 13 films be made of it in total.

It's opening prologue actually caught my interest. It has an effective first scene with dramatically effective results.

The majority of the story goes down some unexpected routes that had me interested in the themes it was going for like how monsters are made and generally trying to give meaning and layers to the mythology of sadistic criminals that are of a Michael Myers level.

But I didn't think the strength in the writing and its imagery made it ideas fully fledged. However, I would still praise for concentrating on characters that would naturally expect them to be supporting ones.

Then in the final act, it was as if the filmmakers were given a reminder that we need to finish this and then suddenly the main characters are suddenly involved to give the finale we were all waiting for. It does give us some honestly memorable sequences that are truly gruesome, and one that became genuinely funny.

The performances weren't outstanding. But were perfectly functional on the whole. Jamie Lee Curtis was as good as you would expect. Curtis knows this character off by heart and gave it a solid final showing. I think Rohan Campbell was a solid standout. He made great use of his screen-time and I hope this is his big breakthrough for bigger projects to come. Andi Matichak gave solid chemistry with Campbell. It is always nice to see Will Patton as it always makes me want to see Remember The Titans.

The general look of the film was solid and the gory make-up in certain scenes was very effective and the films biggest strength.

Whilst I did admire its ideas and ambitions and concentrating on other characters. The quality we ended up with just didn't feel good enough. Even though it did keep my interest, it remained half-hearted in its final product. Then it was almost an insult that they just totally side-lined all of that to give the audience what we've actually been expecting.

I feel the plot we had for most of the film should have been done in Halloween Kills. Doing that I feel would have seen the filmmakers give full commitment to this storyline and we could see develop and conclude in a way that could have even branched the franchise into a new era rather then "ending" it.

So in the end, I cannot quite give it a pass. It's got some interesting things happening. But the end result is not good enough to recommend. But films like this don't really need recommendations as we pretty much know what we're going to get.

I hope this really is the end as horror is a genre that can branch out many new ideas. But in reality, we know that's not going to happen and there's going to be some sort of rebranding or requel.

Director David Gordon Green gave us a decent trilogy even with issues. It was certainly more held together than most horror franchises. It seems that he has not going away from horror anytime soon as he is making a requel to The Exorcist and is looking to make a trilogy from that as well.  Expecting more of the same. But like with everything, I'll be going in with an open mind.

Rating: 6/10