Review: Brigsby Bear

There are plenty of films that come out of Sundance Film Festival that I would never usually go out and see. This particular film must be the very definition of a festival film.

This passion project by director Dave McCary and leading actor Kyle Mooney, have moved on from their adventures on Saturday Night Live, and have made something that is getting nothing but high praise throughout the festival circuit this year.

The beginning of the movie is hard to work out what is going on and is almost surreal. I was seeing comparisons to Room or 10 Cloverfield Lane early on, and was fearing this would be too strange and quirky for its own good.
But when events started unfolding and you start to work out the situation, you managed to be embraced with the story at the same time. Once that is settled, you are along for such a memorable ride and one highly enjoyable viewing experience.

The cast all contribute beautifully to the cause, but it is the lead Kyle Mooney that is dominating the screen. It is easy to forget that a lot of comedic actors can play drama really well. The best example has always been Jim Carrey, whose best work for me is in two dramas 'Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind' and 'The Truman Show' despite being associated more with this comedies such as 'Dumb & Dumber', 'Ace Venture: Pet Detective', 'Liar Liar' and many more.
Mooney's performances was so genuine that you almost that what we're seeing is a real-world situation unfolding right in front of us. I hope this gives him the breakthrough into many more film roles.
While I think everyone in their supporting and minor roles were great, I wouldn't say there were any particular stand-outs. The strongest and most memorable one probably came from Greg Kinnear. He's given enough content and conjure up scene-stealing moments.
It was also great seeing Mark Hamill in something outside of Star Wars. If people know about Hamill's amazing voice-work in various animations, then you'll be please to know that they make clever use of those skills that he possesses.

The films strengths are definitely in its originality, which is enhanced by its strong writing. It instantly reminded me of how important your upbringing and influences define you as a person.

I don't even have negatives to mention. So it's all about the strength of the story and how much it affected me.

So while the story is so strange, it ends up being so sweet, charming and utterly wonderful. It is film that wonderfully portrays the art of film-making, story-telling, imagination, creativity and that is well-written, and told at such a gentle and jolly pace. Mooney is just brilliant and gives us one of the most delightful and sincere performances I have seen for years. There are plenty of laughs to be head. They might not be clever on like an Edgar Wright level, but it works every time.
If you think there is a lack of refreshing new stories, this will bring back your love of cinema.

I strongly recommend you go out of your way and check this out, as its films like this that deserve a strong box-office. Plus, I think maybe the less you know about it, the better. You won't instantly get into the story, but when you do, just can't help but smile and laugh along with these wonderful character. You see this phrase on umpteen posters, but I truly think this could be the feel-good film of the year.

Rating: 9/10

Review: Justice League

Despite the success of Wonder Woman, a new DC film string brings a whole heap of nerves from me, the audience and its hardcore fans.
It's safe to say that the road to getting to this point has been pretty bumpy.

A lot of studio executive power has forced changes into the majority of their films, that it has completed ruined the viewing experience.
We started with Man Of Steel, and while it was not exceptional, it was still good enough I felt.

Then came 'Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice'. Some nice action, but a story that was incredibly messy and went off down strange tangents that virtually made no sense. 'Suicide Squad' was a big let down. I saw so much potential in this, and yet it managed to inflict itself and become a disappointment. 'Wonder Woman' came out earlier this year, and it is universally seen as DC's best film. It is well told story with many interesting and well-written characters, and it became a pretty action-packed and fun viewing experience.

Now we come to the franchises first team-up feature that is supposed to be a culmination of the studios first phase. Fellow superhero franchise studio Marvel did a great job in 2012 with 'Avengers Assemble'. I'm afraid, the the errors of 'BvS' and 'SS' have returned.

It's a great big rush at the start trying to fit everything in. Thankfully, the fun value keeps this moving despite the obvious problems this has with its telling of the story and its editing.
The action set-pieces were fun to watch, especially one halfway through. The team comradery was working enough for me and despite many forced jokes that on the whole fell flat, it ended up being passable entertainment.

The ratio of good performances from bad from the cast, managed to get a positive out of me. Gal Gadot and Ben Affleck remain to be the great choices as Wonder Woman and Batman.
Gadot shows great leadership in this, and it will take quite an effort to topple her performances in any future DC films.
Affleck is doing some solid work in this and his chemistry with Jeremy Irons as Alfred is still fun to watch.

I was pleasantly surprised by what they did Ray Fisher's character Cyborg. Going into this, he was easily the least known superhero and therefore the one we cared the least. Plus the CGI on him looked awful in the clips building up to this. But not only did the design of him looked better, the character was given some good development and came off as fairly interesting and pretty integral to the team.
I was not impressed by Jason Mamoa's efforts with Aquaman. We got very little about the reasoning for him being there, his history and the character came off as a bit of a dick. An under developed dick may I add.
Ezra Miller as The Flash was incredibly annoying by the end. His introduction gave some promise. But every gag fell so flat and his general creepy presence might it either comfortably or annoying when another forced comedic moment was cringe worthy. Dare I say it was almost on a JarJar Binks annoyance level?
The villain voiced by Ciaran Hinds was very forgettable, non-threatening and even more disposable then most of Marvels antagonists.
Amy Adams and Diane Lane were pretty irrelevant, and while it was nice to see J.K. Simmons in this as Commissioner Gordon, he was also given very little to do.

There is an appearance of one character that I won't mention to avoid spoilers. But all I'll say this, their entrance and opening exchanges were extremely odd and creepy. But on the whole, it was ok at best. There is been a fair amount of discussion on CGI on this particular character. It certainly looked noticeable for the most, and it did look great. It reminded me of the mouth movement of youn-Jeff Bridges in 'Tron: Legacy'.

I noticed in the credits that Danny Elfman did the score for this. You can certainly hear hints of the his 1989 Batman theme, which was cool to notice. I also heard bits of John Williams' Superman theme done differently. As for the score on the whole, it was romping, pretty enjoyable and it might be the films strongest aspect.

I wasn't too impressed however by the visual effects. There is a high amount of CGI infested scenes, and too much of it looked cartoony in its look and sub-standard.
I always go back to Jurassic Park. That came out in 1993, and that will forever looks as real as practical effects. How can some studios show that we're going backwards with this technology?

So while it is clearly as messy in its attempt to make a coherent story as 'Batman v Superman: Dawn Of Justice' and 'Suicide Squad', the fun value and memorable enough characters makes this a better viewing then those two.
I just want the studios to stop messing with every directors vision and quit rushing everything to get us into the landmark team-up features. I know this one had some changes that were highly unfortunate and out of their hands. But it still had too many high-powered people poking their opinions in to add or remove certain things that just ruined the flow of the story. It might not matter to the people that have read the comics and are aware of the graphic novel. But how are you supposed to introduce these characters to the general audience and make us care for them?
If I see more and more the same mistakes, then I can see this franchise die sooner than you think. Don't be surprised if we see an 'X-Men: Days Of Future Past' type of movie where everything is erased and we begin a re-boot.

As expected, DC have given in and basically copied Marvel's way of post credit scenes. There is one early on in the credits that supposed to be funny, but isn't. However, I was intrigued by the one at the very end of the credits. I'll be intrigued to see where that goes.

Rating: 7/10

Review: Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

Since debuting at the Venice Film Festival, the amount of buzz and praise for this has made this the Oscar front-runner.
From the last few years, the first film labelled as the favourite to win Best Picture usually does not win as the level of hype surrounding eventually wears off.

That being said, I was still hugely excited to see Martin McDonagh's newest feature.

Ever since seeing the brilliant dark comedy 'In Bruges', I have been highly impressed by his tone and style of entertainment. The next film he did was 'Seven Psycopaths' and while it didn't match my love for his previous work, it was still a brilliantly written and entertaining film.

His newest feature is a wonderful piece of work. While understanding early on that the story is sad and depressing, you just can't help yourself laugh at the dark gags that are taking place.
You get instantly invested with the characters and they all have a such a strong presence. The gags keep working, the story is developing so well, and there are even some of the most shocking imagery you will see in any film this year as well.

The acting across the board is phenomenal. Give Frances McDormand and Sam Rockwell the Oscar for Best Leading Actress and Best Supporting Actor respectively. McDormand is an absolute bad-ass in her role. It is no-nonsense, gets straight to the point and is right up there with the strongest female characters of all-time. As for Sam Rockwell, he has always been seen as one of the best supporting actors of our generation, and I think this could very well be his crowning achievement. The development that his character has in this film to wonderful to see and the end product is the films shining star.
Woody Harrelson is having quite a surge in bringing his A-game in the last few years, and this is another memorable outing for his Hollywood legend. There are plenty of other memorable performances in the minor roles. One huge stand-out was Peter Dinklage. Every thing he did stole the show in whatever scene he was in.
It was great to see Caleb Landry Jones in another big project. Since his breakthrough in X-Men: First Class, he has been appearing in big projects on a more consistent basis this year.
Other notable performances came from Lucas Hedges, John Hawkes, Samara Weaving and McDonagh regular Zeljko Ivanek.

Despite the film concentrating more on the performances and writing, a fair amount of the technical side is noticeably strong. The cinematography by Ben Davis is really well done, especially at the time when there is some long-tracking shots.
I was really surprised by the score by Carter Burwell. It almost plays out like a western in certain scenes and felt like a welcomed addition to enhancing certain scenes.

I don't have any major negatives. However, I wasn't too hot about the ending. I have warmed to it eventually and understood what the director was going for. But in the moment of watching it, it kind of disappointed me.

But as I have come to terms with it, I feel that it is wonderfully crazy. McDonagh is a master of balancing the tones of hilarious comedy with lots of clever uses of swearing as well as dark and shocking drama. He pulls off the timing of the transition between those emotions perfectly. It's mad to think how much and enjoyment you can get out of a story that is actually rather dark and depressing.

I can definitely see winning a healthy amount of major awards, and this could be the film I'll be supporting during awards season.

Rating: 8/10

Review: Wonderstruck

Since I saw 'Carol', I have always been keeping an eye on any of director Todd Haynes' future projects.

His style of directing really appealed to me and I would happily check out what projects he wants to explore next.

This particular one I noticed was based on a novel from the same author that wrote 'The Invention Of Hugo Cabret', which was made into a film by Martin Scorsese called 'Hugo', which is one of my favourites of this current decade.

While it is sadly massively inferior to Hugo, I felt pretty entertained by it. When you look at Scorsese's 'Hugo', you can see if directed the wrong way, it could have been far too melodramatic and over-sentimental. Sadly, the director seems to concentrate more on the schmaltz when it comes to the story.
But from a technical side, it is very impressive. The film splits off it two completely different genres to fit into its respective time period. I makes great use of silent cinema story-telling in one half of the story. There were some strangely powerful scenes in that portion of the tale.
There is also a funky and yet dirty look in the other, and it felt far too accurate to be true.
The story does move along pretty well and it kept me interested throughout, despite it almost touching the same amount over-sentimentality of something like August Rush towards the end.

I thought the performances by the kids especially were really good. Millicent Simmonds was the stand-out. She perfectly fitted into the period her character was in and was a delightful screen presence. Simmonds could be a land-mark breakthrough in the acting profession. Once you see the film, you'll know why.
Oakes Fegley gave a strong and heart-felt contribution in his role and was impressive for his age. His chemistry with fellow youngster Jaden Michael was enjoyable to see develop.

Despite Julianne Moore being the biggest name in the cast list, she did not have much to do and was perfectly fine and yet unremarkable at the same time in her role.
There's not many other performances to speak of, apart from that I noticed Cory Michael Smith have a small role in this. You may know him from playing Edward Nygma in the Gotham TV series.

Haynes designs technically brilliant films, and this one is no different. The level of detail, the mechanics and delicate style of editing of his films are fantastic to watch.
There is a use of models in certain scenes towards the end, and it looks impressive in its creation.

Sadly, it's weakest department is its story, and that brings my rating for it down as that usually a films most integral aspect. As I said before, Haynes and his team do go for a more schmaltzy approach. It's not totally sugar-coated. It's not at the end, where its at its most melodramatic.
It's also a bit on-the-nose at times, which is why it was obvious how it was going to end early on.

Even though you I could see where it was going, the adventure and journey getting there is fairly enjoyable, sweet and heart-warming for the most part.
It's a film where its craft and technical achievements are superior to the story. So there is a lot to like. But sadly, the story is nothing exceptional. But the other things happening around are really good to watch.
One thing I noticed is that I think kids can get really into this. It's definitely suitable for family viewing, and this would be a great way to open their eyes into other ways of telling stories in films rather than being a loud and bright feature with simple messages.

Rating: 7/10

Review: You Were Never Really Here

Outside of the hype this was getting from other film festivals, I was also intrigued by this feature as it stars Joaquin Phoenix.

The 3-time Oscar nominee is definitely one of the most talented actors around right now.
I like it that he seems to pick and choose his projects and seeing him feels like a treat.

I think that's enough of a briefing. I'm just going to go straight into the film, and I think this is what we call in the industry, a 'hot mess'.

It took a while for me to fully get what was going on. By the time I could tell how this story was being told, I was beginning to appreciate it a lot more. But it's slow-pacing and minimalist style in telling its story frustrated me and made this annoying to watch.

Joaquin Phoenix is doing his damnedest to makes this an interesting watch. He is clearly playing a much troubled character with a dark past and seeing his mental breakdowns was certainly presented in unique way. While I think it was as good as it could have been, it was not captivating enough to soften the blow.
That's really all I can say about the performances, as the rest of the cast had very little contribution. I did like the small moments involving Ekaterina Samsonov and Judith Roberts. But this film is all about Phoenix.

There were some good action scenes that varied in its approach in regards to the camerawork. That included one stand-out scene in a motel room that certainly gripped me.
It is also well shot throughout, and I liked the general shock value at various times.

I'm glad I found some good aspects, otherwise this would have been a disaster. I'm afraid I felt it was dull for the most part despite only being 1hr 25mins long.
The story has potential to be interesting. But it's as if it was trying to confuse itself and it felt like I was a watching a badly executed Nicolas Winding Refn feature or a self indulgent version of Taxi Driver.
The director has gone for a minimalist approach to the dialogue as well as telling what's going on. When this type of story-telling works, it's great to watch. But for me, the atmospheric tone did not work for me. Not even the unnecessarily over-emphasizing score could help improve my opinion of this.

Despite this strong negativity, there is just enough good content to barely give this a pass rating and Phoenix's performance is pretty good.

But this also felt like a big disappointment. It had lots of content that could have been gripping and exciting. Instead, whilst I did appreciate what they were trying to do, it frustrated me.

There is definitely an audience for this. But I'm most certainly not one of them.

Rating: 7/10

Review: Blade Of The Immortal

This is being billed as the 100th film by legendary Japanese director Takashi Miike. I technically see it as his 91st, as the marketing department seem to have included his TV work, and anything where he has only directed a segment in a film.

Either way, this has been getting quite some buzz just from the action-packed trailer alone.

I have only seen two of Miike's back catalogue, but both have been great. My first experience of his works was the disturbing slow-paced horror Audition, followed by the enjoyable 13 Assassins.

Now that I have made this a third Miike viewing, this could very well be my favourite of the three. In a nutshell, this is the directors vision of True Grit but in the style of those samurai films from back in the day such as 'The One Armed Swordsman' and 'The 8 Diagram Pole-Fighter'.
While I did a see lot of True Grit in here, it was originally a manga comic.

If you are aware of the classic western story of True Grit, then you will be aware of the set-up. If not, then I would recommend checking out the John Wayne version before seeing this to understand the influences this film and the manga comics had.

Despite the story being a familiar one, it still felt refreshing as the fun and exciting action and characters with a cartoon sensibility gave the story a great samurai edge to it.
The set-pieces kept growing and the body count kept climbing, and the epic showdown had me thoroughly entertained.

While there was no real depth to any characters, they certainly looked as if they had jumped out of a comic. So I assume they are keeping to the source material rather well.
Takuya Kimura did a great job as the central male character. His bad-ass no-nonsense style his character gave him freedom to just own his scenes, and his multiple comedic one-liners would have made Arnold Schwarzenegger proud.
Hana Sugisaki did a good job as the leading female. However, her character seem develop in reverse. We see her at first being a strong-willed female doing things that normal Japanese girls shouldn't do. Then as the story moves along, she seems to be unsure of herself. I can sort of see a reason as to why the character seemed to back-track her determination. But I think maybe going in a positive direction would have better enhanced her character.
As for their chemistry, it was great. It felt like a big brother, little sister relationship.

All of the other performances, are pretty much physical based. So in terms of the execution of their action choreography, Sota Fukushi, Hayato Ichihara, Erika Toda, Kazuki Kitamura and the many extras did everything that was expected of them.
I also noticed Chiaki Kuriyama have a minor role in this. Some people may know her from Battle Royale, and most notably as Gogo Yubari from 'Kill Bill Vol. 1'.

It's biggest positive is most definitely the action. When samurai set-pieces work, they are cinematic magic. From the choreography to the cinematography, the execution of these scenes were spot on. While it is over-the-top, it was supposed to be, and with the amount of extras in this, Miike and his team gave this film a great amount of scale that gave the film such realism.
With lots of action comes a high body count and it never got boring or tiring.

A couple of minor problems I noticed. The first was the sound timing issues and continuity it had in its action scenes. But with everything going at break-necked speed, you can sort of let this go.
Also, there were are a lot of condensed sub-plots that were quickly introduced as well as ended.
It is always going to fit everything from something that was originally a novel of any kind. So I think maybe making this a 3-hour film might have enhanced this story developments and made them feel more important and necessary.

Despite those setbacks, I had a great watching this. It sets you up perfectly in a dramatic opening scene for what type of film you are going to get.
The action is strong, the characters are fun and the script is similar to a mindless action blockbuster. That just gave it a nice fun element and I felt it never de-graded this story filled with bloody samurai violence.

Rating: 8/10

Review: Fixed: The Science/Fiction Of Human Enhancement

Despite being released in 2013, this film documentary could only be seen at three festivals since its release, as it has never had a distributed release.
The high praise and synopsis made me want to make the most of this rare screening.

Sadly, while it did cover some interesting topics, most of it was something I was already aware of. To be honest, it was content that I think most of society is already aware of.

They do expand there initial discussion by asking some well thought out questions. But they were never fully explored, and only touched upon.

There were some recurring characters that had a story to tell and were pretty engaging. On the surface I was willing for it to develop. But it never really did.

For something to be an hour long, you would expect it to get it's point across, hard and thorough. But the only thing that blew me away was the opening and ending image of a child in a wheelchair scuba-diving by themselves. The image of someone in a wheelchair basically swimming in this coral full of various species was quite captivating.

Apart from that, it just felt like a mildly interesting video that would be better suited to being shown to a high school or college class.

Rating: 7/10