Noah: Riding The Wave

Noah is an epic biblical drama film directed by Darren Aronofsky. The plot serves as a retelling of the Bible story of Noah, but this time there are Earth Elementals and Noah (Russell Crowe), is kind of a dick.

This was a pleasant surprise, when I put this on I was expecting it to be a stuffy bible epic; Aronofsky’s name being attached was the only thing that got me to check it out. However, it is actually the furtherst thing from a stuffy bible film and goes out of its way to deviate itself from previous versions of the Noah story.

I enjoyed the harsh world of this film, the crime, the clans, the random miracles and what can only be described as magic. Honestly I would love to see a prequel centring around Anthony Hopkins Methuselah and his fire sword and the wars he fought to protect then Angles/ Elementals.

I think the performances were all strong, though some were stronger than others. Russell Crowe, the previously mentioned Hopkins, and Ray Winstone were all top tier, and each had multiple moments to standout. The rest of the cast were fine, but they were out-shined.

I also enjoyed the horror elements in this film, I think that the visions of water and fire and the one where Noah sees that demon are all very well shot, and although they are compact they leave quite an impact and actually feel scary and tense.

Overall, one of the best Bible epics I have ever seen by virtue of it really not being one.

Pros.

Deviating from all other Noah Stories

Hopkins, Crowe and Winstone

The horror

The family tension on the ark

Cons.

It is a bit too long; it could have been better paced

4/5

Reviewed by Luke

The Intern: Recasting Mary Poppins As Robert De Niro

The Intern is a buddy comedy film directed by Nancy Myers. The film sees widower Ben (Robert De Niro), decide to take up an internship for an online retailor after growing bored with his retirement. The rather obvious joke being, he’s an old man intern.

Believe me, I am thinking the same thing as you, I went into this one with incredibly low expectations; to be blunt I just wanted something mindless that I could passively watch whilst doing other things. However, this film soon captured my attention and was genuinely, surprisingly good.

I enjoyed how basically this film takes the idea of Mary Poppins and is like you know what I’d rather see that role played by Robert De Niro, and by God it works. This film is basically Nanny McPhee or Mary Poppins, De Niro’s character fixes the lives of everyone around him, sometimes in laughably implausible ways, whilst also being a font for sagely wisdom.

This film actually made me laugh out loud quite a few times, I really needed it so it was much appreciated, as I often say comedy is subjective so what worked for me might not work for you, but the sheer wholesome appeal of this film is tough to rival. De Niro and Anne Hathaway (who plays the co-lead), are both excellent and bounce off each other with fantastic vigour and chemistry.

Overall, a surprisingly great film.

Pros.

The jokes

The wholesomeness

De Niro

Hathaway

The idea of replacing Mary Poppins with an old man

Cons.

None

5/5

Reviewed by Luke     

Interview With James Watts (Death Trip)

Hey guys, just a bit of a lead in before the main event. This is my first interview and my first foray into that side of being a film reviewer! I recently had the chance to ask the director of Death Trip James Watts a few questions, about filmmaking, horror, and what it means to make a slasher film in the 2020s. Here is the interview verbatim.

Q: Who is your biggest inspiration?

 A: The films I am the biggest fan of have all managed to incorporate comedy (in one way or another) into their respective genres. Mary Harron’s American Psycho is a perfect example of this. There is nothing funnier to me than the scene in that movie where Patrick Bateman has peak-level stress over Paul Allen’s business cards. 

Alfred Hitchcock is obviously the best at this but so are the Coen Brothers, Robert Altman and Lina Wertmüller. 

And of course, the argument I always get into with friends is whether or not all of Stanley Kubrick’s movies are secretly comedies (I think that they are).

Q: What is your earliest memory of the horror genre?

A: Like a lot of people my age, my first experience with the horror genre was seeing excerpts from The Shining in the background during a memorable scene in the “Helen Hunt banger” Twister.

Bill Paxton is hightailing it to the weather van, the tornado is in full effect, but all I could focus on was the psycho with the axe being projected on the drive-in screen in the background. 

I was scared to watch The Shining for years because of that movie.

Q: How would you define the modern slasher film?

A: I feel like the slasher genre will always be modern. As far as I’m concerned, as long as there are a group of victims, a mysterious stalker and violence – anything goes. It’s really all about what the filmmakers do with those elements. 

Vera Dika has a good book about 70s and 80s slashers called Games of Terror and in it, she describes the appeal of the slasher movie: “catharsis”, “recreation” and “displacement”. That statement was about the 80s specifically, but modern slasher films are still appealing to audiences for these same reasons…and critics still hate them.

Q: Do you have any funny on-set stories?

A: Garrett jumped in the lake.

A freezing cold lake. 

We drilled a hole in it and he got in. In the movie, there’s never a clear angle of this actually happening, but I want it to be on record that Garrett Johnson went into a frozen lake, of his own volition, for the sake of this dumb movie.

Q: What was the message behind this film? And What does that message mean to you?

A: I’m going to repeat verbatim what my co-writer, Kelly Kay Hurcomb says (and she’s the real genius behind this movie): Over the course of the last decade, it has become more and more evident that women’s worst enemies are often hiding right under their noses.

Without giving too much away, the movie’s really about the rising trend of performative ‘feminist allyship’ amongst male millennials and how that has spawned a new brand of ‘wolves in sheep’s clothing’. 

It’s also about how class informs our fears. It’s like if you went to the country and there was an old man living in a cabin next door and you just kind of saw a glimpse or two of him, then later you went to a party with a bunch of “sensitive seeming dudes”…who do you really think is going to kill you? Who’s the actual threat? The old guy is probably just stressing about his retirement fund or how the city’s new zoning laws are going to take away his business.

Q: If you had to describe the production in a word what would it be?

A: Cold!

Q: What is your favourite horror film?

This is, like, the hardest question I’ve ever been asked, so I’ll give some qualifiers:

Christmas Evil is my favourite Holiday horror

The Brood is my favourite Canadian Horror

The Blair Witch Project is my favourite found footage horror

Nosferatu the Vampyre is my favourite horror remake

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 is my favourite horror sequel

Possession has my favourite scene in a horror film

The Mist has my favourite ending

The Descent scared me the most

Ms. 45 has my favourite premise

Angst has my favourite structure 

But if I’m being really honest with myself, I’ve seen The Shining more times than I can count so, by that metric, it wins.

You can watch Death Trip On-Demand right now!

I hope you enjoyed this interview

Luke

Death Trip: Why Can’t We All Just Love Our Neighbor

Death Trip is a horror film directed by James Watts. The plot sees a group of friends go and stay at their parents cottage, whilst staying there they start to learn troubling secrets about the neighbours, and after a while one of the number is found mutilated. The friends now find themselves trapped in a hostile environment.

The mystery of what is going on here, which I won’t ruin as this is fairly new, is one of the best I have seen in years: it really had me going, I thought I figured out what was going on early into the film, but boy was I wrong.

I found this film quite scary, which is surprising considering that the home invasion/ evil neighbours sub-genre has been done to death several times over at this point. I ended up liking and becoming attached to the characters, so when they faced annihilation it felt all the more weighty and made me very tense. The threat is very real and present throughout, even in scenes that seem happy and light there is always a little bit there.

My one issue with this film, only a slight one, is that there are a few pacing issues mainly in the beginning of the film that make it a bit of a slog, luckily the film picks up after the first twenty minutes, so it isn’t that bad.

Overall, an interesting take on the sub-genre.

Pros.

The story doesn’t go where you are expecting it to

The characters are feel real and relatable

A palpable sense of threat

Doing interesting things with the genre

Cons.

Pacing issues mainly in the first twenty minutes.

4/5

Reviewed by Luke

Flora and Ulysses: Saving The World One Donut At A Time

Flora and Ulysses is a family comedy film directed by Lena Khan. The plot focuses on young comic book fan and life cynic Flora (Matilda Lawler), who one day saves the life of a squirrel after it has an unfortunate accident with a robot hoover. Said squirrel (later called Ulysses), and Flora form a tight bond and, oh yeah and since its rebirth the squirrel now has super powers- that’s kind of important.

In describing this film on twitter the other day, I called it “the Paddington of 2021”, or something to that extent, and truly that is the biggest compliment I can bestow on this film. It is such a happy, enjoyable good time that you can’t help but fall in love with it.

Firstly, the narration and the dialogue are fantastic, not only are they often punchy they also make a few salient points about society- it is surprisingly sharp. Moreover, if you’re a comic book fan, such as I, then you will get extra enjoyment from this film and there are so many references and shout outs to very comics specific things that serve as loving easter eggs for long time fans of the medium.

As far as child actors go Lawler is actually terrific, she sells everything just as she should and does not overact/ or as child actors often do, underact. She fits the role perfectly. Moreover, her friendship with Ulysses might be one of the cutest things you have ever seen, it is so adorable and heart warningly wholesome that it made me want to own a pet squirrel.

Ben Schwartz play’s Floras dad and carries on this recent strong streak of films, seriously check out some of his recent offerings outside of this and Sonic he is really proving himself to be a talent to watch out for.

Overall, maybe the best Disney + original outside of Marvel and Star Wars- yes, even better than Soul.

Pros.

Flora and Ulysses

Ben Schwartz

The script

The comic book references

The ending

Cons.

None

5/5

It is pure wholesome goodness

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

The Reckoning: A New Action Hero Is Born

The Reckoning is a adventure horror film directed by Neil Marshall. The plot sees Grace (Charlotte Kirk) be accused of witchcraft after she turns down the sexual advances of her landlord, following her husband’s death. Needless to say she is horribly and violently tortured by the local Witch Finder General (Sean Pertwee), but Grace stays strong and refuses to confess.

I think the story is well done and fits nicely into the genre. It won’t win any prizes for writing though, as the Me Too metaphor is a little too on the nose and has about as much subtly as a Michael Bay explosion. I understand that Marshall and Kirk wanted to use this film to take aim at some of their Hollywood enemies, and that is far enough, but don’t claim that is has nothing to do with that when it very clearly does.  

The costume design is strongly done and the scenes with the Devil in them, yes that’s right whilst on the inside Grace is tormented every night by the Devil demanding her soul, are easily the strongest from a design perspective of the film. Looking at the Devil character here reminds me that Marshal has always handled creature design well: with some of the best examples of my point being Baba Yaga (Hellboy), and the werewolves in Dog Soldiers.

Kirk is a strong lead, and a believable ass kicker. I thought from an empowerment perspective, that she was yet another sorely needed female action hero, with the final scene of this film begging for the sequel treatment. We need to see Grace reunited with her kid after all, or maybe just hunting down some more evil doers- I’d happily watch either.

Overall, top tier Marshal even if the metaphor is a little too on the nose. Marshal really is one of the most underrated directors working today.

Pros.

Kirk

The creature design

The ending and the sequel set up

Sean Pertwee

It is more of Marshal doing what he does best

Cons.

The Me-Too Stuff is way too on the nose, and obviously inspired.

4.5/5

Reviewed by Luke

A Glitch In The Matrix: You Will Never See The Matrix The Same Way Again

A Glitch In The Matrix is a documentary film directed by Rodney Ascher. The film servers to analysis the simulation debate, looking at first hand accounts as well as ‘scientific evidence’ for whether we are indeed living in a simulation.

There is no way to watch this without getting a strong feeling of existential dread, the very idea makes a chill creep up the spin. Much like Bliss the Owen Wilson film that I watched recently, which shares a very similar topic of analysis, there is something about simulation theory that sticks in the mind long after being exposed to it.

It has to be said that this documentary is in no way scientific, they don’t really have evidence more first-hand observed experiences and unproven ideas, more over they don’t have any one voicing opposition to the ideas laid out, so can be seen as leading.

I enjoyed watching it though and I found the topic fascinating, there is a lot of things to ponder once the film ends that’s for sure, and it made me second guess a few things, but mainly it made me want to read a Phillip K. Dick novel.

Overall, an interesting watch even if it did not mange to change my mind.

Pros.

An interesting subject

A lot to think about

It has given my a renewed interested in Phillip K. Dick

Cons.

It is not scientific

It is depressing

3/5

Reviewed by Luke

The Flight Attendant: Life After The Big Bang

The Flight Attendant is a comedy drama series based on the book of the same name by Chris Bohjalian. The series revolves around Cassie (Kaley Cuoco), a dysfunctional alcoholic flight attendant, who get caught up in a murder after her one-night stand ends up dead, Cassie ends up at the top of list of police suspects and she must set out to find who really killed this person and clear her name.

So when I put this series on I was not expecting much, I thought it would just be like every other crime thriller tv series- generic. However, I was surprised to find out how much I enjoyed this show to a point where I was actively looking forward to the next episode and thinking about it when I wasn’t watching it.

This is Cuoco’s first big series after The Big Bang Theory yes she is in Harley Quinn, but that is a preestablished franchise and IP and also animated so less on her performance, as such all eyes were on her here. I have to say I was not always convinced by her acting in the BBT, but she really knocked it out of the park here, she fully sold the mania and the downward mental decline her character was going through allowing for me to completely see her as the character with any ideas of Penny disappearing.

The ultimate mystery of the series is handled well, it is not who you originally think it is, and the series goes in a few ways that surprise you. I also enjoyed how, whilst trying to solve the central narrative mystery the series also sets up lots of smaller little mysteries that will pay off when the show comes back for season two.

The wider supporting cast were also excellent Michiel Huisman, Zosia Mamet and Rosie Perez all have strong sense and interesting arcs.

Overall, one of the best series of last year defiantly not one to sleep on, make it your next binge.

Pros.

You can’t stop watching it

It is compelling

Cuoco

Huisman

The mystery and those yet to be revealed

Cons.

None

5/5

Reviewed by Luke  

Seberg: Leading To Tragedy

Seberg is a political thriller film directed by Benedict Andrews. The plot serves to tell the real-life story of Jean Seberg (Kristen Stewart), an actor who got a bit too close to black civil rights movements and so became the target of vicious harassment from American law enforcement, which lead to tragedy.

Kristen Stewart is one of those actors who can either be really good or really bad and struggles to find a middle ground, however here she is dazzling. Her portrayal of Seberg is both empowering and heart breaking, Stewart manages to capture her so perfectly that it gives me hope for her upcoming Princess Diana film.

Stewart and Anthony Mackie (who plays Civil Right leader Hakim Jamal), have such amazing chemistry that you can’t look away for a second they are on screen together.

Vince Vaughn is also in this film as sadistic FBI agent Carl Kowalski, and once again he shines in the dramatic role proving her far more than just a funny man; if you are not already aware of the Vince Vaughn renaissance going on, you are now.

The message of this film is poignant and as timely now as it was then.

Overall a tragically beautiful film and one of Stewart’s best.

Pros.

Stewart

Mackie

Vaughn

The message

The heart-breaking ending and its emotional weight

Cons.

None

5/5

Reviewed by Luke