Author: Alex Cole

Adapted from the Destroyer series of novels by Warren Murphy and Richard Sapir, Guy Hamilton’s Remo Williams is true 80’s action. With poor acting, poor fight scenes and synth on repeat it is a triumph in cringe and therefore a MUST SEE!

Remo Williams (Fred Ward) is a New York Cop whose death was faked by secret organisation CURE to be trained as the greatest weapon against corruption. Reluctantly trained by the near-mystical and proud Korean master Chiun (Joel Grey) and now armed with the ability to dodge bullets and walk on water Remo is on the trail of a corrupt arms manufacturer with deep connections in the U.S. military. Aided by the only woman of integrity in the U.S. military Major Raynor Fleming (Kate Mulgrew) the adventure begins as we follow Remo through his transformation, his training and the jocular action that ensues.

Whilst being about as far away as you can be from Oscar success, Remo Williams is a fun and entertaining piece of film-making. Though stretched at times and maybe 20 or so minutes too long there is great character interaction, humour and for those amongst us who love a good backstory (of which I am one) there is enough in this film to get you going, but with enough left over to leave you wanting more.  Its real flaws are the poor execution of fight scenes, some very wooden acting and dialogue that can make anyone’s cringe glands swell. I found it hard to understand why a man who can walk on water (or at least wet cement) found a fight with three average builders paid 30 dollars so darned difficult; but this level of insanity is also what makes this film watchable!

A strong transfer to the blu-ray format, with only a couple of low quality moments, Remo Williams has some good extras and so long as you don’t take it seriously this is a film you can watch a million times on the late night where you just want to shut off and watch some nonsense.

Known best for Deer Hunter and Heaven’s Gate, we often forget about Michael Cimino’s directorial debut; Thunderbolt and Lightfoot is a progressively dark take of friendship and crime set in the perpetual beauty of America’s ‘land of the shining mountains’. Trusted with the reigns by the interminable Clint Eastwood who’d planned to direct, I expected a lot from this film and I wasn’t disappointed.

The film surrounds two characters thrown together by unusual circumstance who plot to repeat Thunderbolt’s (Clint Eastwood) former triumph by recreating play by play his gang’s robbery of an unbreakable bank vault.  Thunderbolt and Lightfoot is filled with faultless characters, crazy adventures, violence and crime but as the film builds it’s obvious this tale is less about the money and more about friendship, loyalty and love. Lightfoot, played by Oscar nominated Geoff Bridges, who steals almost every scene, is a young excitable drifter searching for meaning and purpose; whilst Clint Eastwood, who believed he should also have been Oscar nominated (though I remain unconvinced), plays a shell-shocked, quiet and reserved bank robber trying to hide from those who wish to kill him. Lightfoot seems to bring Thunderbolt out from his shell and the joy of this film is the bittersweet symphony these two create. As the two characters plunge into a life of sex, crime and risk of death their trust grows as the both search for the meaning they’re looking for. The power of their friendship is eclipsed only by the tragedy of the films conclusion in what I have to say is one of the most emotional scenes in film to not have a single line of dialogue.

My only criticism of this film is that the tempo is slow, and at a length of nearly 2 hours; I must say it feels stretched. There is little real action until the end and there are several scenes which could be considered superfluous. In particular  there is a scene in which they hitch-hike with a crazed redneck who tries to suffocate them with carbon monoxide before he crashes his car only to open to boot and begin shooting unsuccessfully at the many white rabbits which emerge. Whilst I cannot see the need for this scene I wonder if without this staggered and slow approach I would feel as attached to our two protagonists.

Bringing Geoff Bridges to the forefront of everybody’s minds; Thunderbolt and Lightfoot is more than deserving of its high praise and is a clear influence on all future ‘buddy tales’. A heist with a heart, this is one of Bridges’ best performances and a must watch for all Eastwood fans.

When does a musician have to accept their career is over? Inside Llewyn Davis tackles this question head on by giving us a snapshot into the life of a battle hardened folk singer from Greenwich New York in the 1960’s. Llewyn Davis’s career is in freefall; fighting for a position only held by a select few, he fights with himself and those who love him as he struggles to carve himself a solo career.

An exquisite representation of the deeply melancholic music he represents, Llewyn Davis is a difficult character to understand. His own worst enemy and seemingly in a constant battle with himself over the direction of his career Llewyn is at times caring and giving and at others selfish and cruel. Animal lovers will despise him for what he does, but the conflict in his mind is obvious. This makes him a difficult character to rout for or to hate, which usually kills a film but in this case it is the source of its magic.

The title is the biggest indicator of what The Coen Bros. have given us. This is a glimpse inside the Llewyn Davis and nothing more. It is not his life story; it has no beginning and no end. The conflict in fact is what I think we are meant to see, conflict resides in Llewyn Davis and indeed throughout all the characters. Jim is conflicted about his friend who despises the songs he writes and is sadly naïve. Gene, Jim’s wife who slept with llewyn only to discover she is pregnant appears to both love our downtrodden hero and to hate him. In the same way Llewyn Davis is filled with bags of talent but struggles to connect with the audience. Inside Llewyn Davis as all about the unknown strewn together in a tale of disappointment and supported by a list of unique characters and flawless performances.

The soundtrack to this film is unbelievable for folk fans, and I believe for all fans of music. The magical way in with the Coen Bros. weaved beautiful songs into the story and combined them with the high class directing and the unique and innovative style we’ve come to expect from Coen Bros. films left my spine tingling and filled me with thousands of doubts and what ifs. Oscar Isaac is tremendous as llewyn Davis; Jon Goodman is spectacular as usual and Justin Timberlake who for me is growing as an actor gives a faultless performance as the spineless Jim.

Albeit an independent low budget film to its core, the list of A-list stars as well as the overwhelming brilliance of this film Inside llewyn Davis is a must see not only for folk fans but for fans of great cinema.

A chance meeting on a bus leads to the lives of Freddy (Steve Strait) and Ana (Karolina Wydra), residents of a quiet American town becoming forever intertwined; after waking up suddenly following a devastating crash in a sequence more than a little reminiscent of 28 days, the two survivors awaken to find their town deserted. Forced to work together and demonstrating some real chemistry Ana and Freddy try to piece together what is happening.

The first half an hour of this film builds a strong and inviting thriller, but as the film progresses After’s fantasy aspect begins to take hold. They discover the town is slowly being engulfed by an unexplainable black cloud and our chance pairing, now hunted by a flesh eating monster, are faced with vivid recreations of childhood memories which reveal that their lives have shared a dark connection following a chance meeting a long time ago.

My initial impression was that the film’s plot seems a little bit farfetched, and yes this is a fantasy thriller but at first it had the air of two scripts flung together. Yet as it goes on and as we move toward its big reveal this is significantly softened and although portions of the film seem ill-fitting – as a whole – After has a charming nature and surprised me in how well it worked, but also how strongly I felt for the characters.

Steve Srait and Karolina Wydra give good, albeit not outstanding performances with Strait’s feeling a touch more authentic. They begin a little bland, but as they are forced to occupy this otherwise deserted setting we see the growth of an honest connection and I think you’ll find it hard not to root for them to win. The characters are also real; they could be any one of us. Neither are outstandingly heroic or pitifully weak, they have flaws and limits and above all, their fairly average people.

The only strong criticism I have with this film is the imbalance in the sound levels. Director, Ryan Smith certainly intended to create a quiet brooding atmosphere broken by shock and awe moments of intense action and his choice of moment is perfection; but the film is plagued by an imbalance of muffled mumbling speech followed by the infrequent but intense noise of action sequences which are simply too contrasting in their volume levels.

After is one you have to keep watching. It builds slowly but bear with it and After is a unique and enthralling thriller with a truly inventive script. Though it takes an unexpected fantastical turn, about half-way through, this only improves the film and adds that individual touch more independent films are renowned for. This is film I would definitely recommend as a mid-week watch and although it’ll never enter the realm of a classic, or perhaps even cult status it is more than worth watching.

Filmed in 8 hours in a local library in Owensboro; Lucky bouts demonic possession against psychotic murderer in an 8 minute short that it a triumph of indie filmmaking. Directed by Jakob Bilinski and written by Todd Martin this film was part of Unscripted: An Indie film Xperience Film School’s short film competition bringing together local filmmakers and scriptwriters to produce a collaborative project. Writers are given the chance to pitch their scripts; with the resulting winners assigned a film crew and an 8 hour block to bring their passion to life. This is an innovative and fun way to bring together aspiring filmmakers to produce a really interesting and thought provoking short film.

Starring Louisa Torres and Dillon Schueller Lucky tells the tale of Staci, the unfortunate survivor of an incident with a ougi board on to be possessed by a demonic spirit which can take charge of her at any given moment. It is a curse that ironically could once again save her life. Narrated by Staci herself, the films focus is not only the ensuing battle between demon and killer, but on unpicking the true meaning of the word ‘lucky’.

The short is entertaining, the camera work has edge and although the acting is nothing to write home about, it is sufficient to pull this piece together and credit has to go to Lisa Duvall who did the make-up and effects. The effects are convincing enough to bring the story through, and with the help of clever camera positioning they build on a strong and unpredictable script which makes for some entertaining visuals.

Together these filmmakers show the viewer  that with the right talent behind you low budget filmmaking, and shorts at that, can be just as interesting as feature film if not even more so!