Author: Ben Gummery

Having previously reviewed several shorts from UK-based production company Chocolate Bear Films I was keen to check out their latest offering ‘Excursion To The Mountains‘ from writer/director Dermot Daly (Coda, Quality Time, Motherland’s Call), co-director/producer Ivan Mack and starring Emma Leah Golding & Ahmed Sher Zaman

“How can we hold on to the memory of someone without holding ourselves back?
This is a film about being brave enough to capture new memories without denying the pain of loss.”

For me, this short is an interesting (if brief) exploration into the fleeting nature of our memories and relationships as shown through the visual metaphor of fading photographs.

It is beautifully shot, acted and preserves a wonderful sense of melancholy throughout. Deliberately devoid of any dialogue there is a mix of ambient noise and scoring – the scoring is abrasive at one point when it comes in full pelt but I feel this is done for a dramatic and emotional effect. The film-makers intentions may not be clear at the start of the piece but they become clear by the end.

‘Chocolate Bear, in its present guise, exists to make short films. Short films that avoid cliches in exploring the human condition.

Financially, we aim to make good quality on a shoestring. If a story is written well it can be made for less as it’s the narrative that holds sway.

A good original story is priceless.

We’re always open to collaboration at a production level but will remain defiantly independent. In the long term we aim to make longer films which continue to explore ‘this mortal flesh’; but that’s then, and this is now.

As filmmaking is a balance between mimesis and diagesis let’s write no more and simply do.’

Disclaimer; as a long time fan and supporter of the project, this may not be the most unbiased review but i still wanted to share my thoughts.

‘Shooting Clerks‘ is a biopic of writer/director Kevin Smith which focuses on the production of his 1994 debut hit film Clerks as well as looking into the events that preceded and followed it. From writer/director Christopher Downie and producers Brett Murray & Ryan James the film stars Mark Frost, Chris Bain, Jay Booton, Tom Sullivan, Stephanie Price, Brett Murray and features cameos from several original Clerks cast members including Brian O’Hallaran, Scott Schiaffo, Marilyn Ghigliotti, Ernie O’Donnell & Kevin Smith. 

After several preview screenings and festival appearances in the USA & UK the film had its UK Premiere at The Prince Charles Cinema on Tuesday 16th January 2018 followed by a Q&A with cast & crew.

The film follows Kevin Smith’s journey from leaving high-school through his brief stint at film school and the production of his hit debut film Clerks. This approach gives us an intimate insight into how he came to make his own independent film and how family and friends helped shaped his journey along the way. That is the core of the story; however the film-makers also managed to latch on to one of the best aspects of the original film – the comedy! This film is an an un-ashamed laugh riot with constant perfectly delivered one-liners and visual gags that make it a very enjoyable audience experience; it even creates it’s own cut-away gags which are used as a framing device to great effect. I would go as far as to say that the comic skill shown here is on a par with the original film. That being said, the film pulls it punches and does provide a few more moving and intimate moments that contrast well with the comedy.

It was always going to be a tall order to create a biopic of a living director and getting a cast to play living actors & actresses as well telling a story that has already been well told in various podcasts, books & live shows through the years. Add to this that the principle setting for the story is New Jersey and the film was mostly shot in Scotland with Scottish and English actors and what the film-makers have managed to pull off here is nothing short of remarkable. However the film delivers from early on and you soon forget the actors and focus on the story; that being said some of the portrayals and accents are chillingly accurate and all managed to capture the essence of the characters. Mark Frost as the lead plays Smith in a very human and straightforward way and manages to lead the whole film. Chris Bain’s performance as Jason Mewes is a sensational embodiment of the character that gets a great reaction from the audience from his first scene on screen to the last. There were also some great performances through-out the cast, I was blown away by Nick Cornwall‘s performance as Bob Hawk (no small feat – as Bob Hawk himself cameo’s in the Film).

Visually we stay some-what true to the original and the film switches from Black/White & Colour as best fits the story. There are some graphical and effect elements that are used sparingly to add some flavour and separate different chapters of the films. The film was actually shot digitally but some grainy VHS style effects have been added in post for that nostalgic feel. There is even a re-creation of the Quick Stop set as well as re-created scenes from the original film which shows the level of attention to detail and love for the subject matter that is presented on screen.

In the pantheon of film-based bio-pics this is a worthy addition. It would be easy to draw parallels to the recent The Disaster Artist (which, co-incidentally was screening at the same cinema) and I think this stands up very well (and made for a much lower budget).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_AV1aSmVjG4

It is a fitting tribute to creative mind of Kevin Smith that spawned Clerks but more than that it credits all the people that played a part in that story while being highly enjoyable, hilarious and offering plenty for both Kevin’s fans the un-initiated alike. – Highly Recommended! 

NB: This was not the final cut of the film and further editions and edits are likely before release

Details of further screenings and release of Shooting Clerks can be found below!

Keep up-to-date with Shooting Clerks:
www.ShootingClerks.com
Facebook.com/ShootingClerks
Twitter.com/UppieDownie

I AM HEATH LEDGER is a feature length documentary celebrating the life of Heath Ledger from Directors Adrian Buitenhuis & Derik Murray.

You might be expecting a straight-up documentary about Heath’s life/death featuring some of his famous friends and/or an array of medical experts; this is not that. Instead the film-makers give us an incredibly personal look at Heath’s life. This is achieved through letting us into the amazing home movie and photo archive of Heath; where he has essentially captured his whole journey on camera; interspersed with a number of ‘talking head’ interviews with close friends, colleagues and collaborators that gives us an incredibly intimate view of his personal and professional life.

The whole of Heath’s journey is shown here in short-form covering his childhood, career highlights and relationships. My only criticism here is the film-makers shy away from the darker notes and his eventual death is barely covered however this is perhaps a deliberate choice to celebrate his life and work. Heath’s raw footage provides us with a great visual to his story and I noticed the score mostly includes tracks that form part of the story and in many cases are covered specifically which is another nice touch.

Overall this is an incredibly intimate of portrait of an artist and his human journey – Recommended!

I Am Heath Ledger will be released on DVD/BluRay and VOD on January 22nd 2018 in UK (May 23rd for USA)

Lost in Paris is a comedy from writing/directing duo Dominique Abel and Fiona Gordon; the pair also star in the film.

“Fiona (Fiona Gordon) visits Paris for the first time to assist her myopic Aunt Martha (the late Emmanuelle Riva). Catastrophes ensue, mainly involving Dom (Dominique Abel), a homeless man who has yet to have an emotion or thought he was afraid of expressing.”

This film follows in the great tradition of quirky European comedies such as Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s ‘Amélie‘ but also is strongly influenced by ‘fish-out-of-water’ comedies with the most obvious being ‘Lost In Translation‘. The film uses a mix of French and English with subtitles; which is entirely appropriate as language barriers are part of the comedy here.

Gordon’s performance as ‘Fiona’ plays innocence, naivety and idiocy perfectly while never taking the character too far towards comedy. It’s a credit to the writing and her performance that you are engaged from early on in the film and want to follow her story. Abel on the other hand plays our more straight-forward french buffoon ‘Dom’ in a performance that is delightfully foppish if perhaps lacking in depth.

Paris as a setting does not disappoint and we get to see all those landmarks you would hope to see. If you were hoping for physical gags then this film does not disappoint but they are perhaps a crutch for what is at times an engaging and sometimes sad meandering tale.

I found myself at times wishing the film would chose to be either all out slapstick ‘comedy of errors’ or a more straightforward comedy but instead it walks the line of both sub-genres in a delicate balance that is both delightful and irritating at the same time. For example the title sequence features a very clever shot of a snowy town that is built up gradually with roads houses and cars added but is followed by very obvious wind machine comedy gag in the opening scene. All in all this a great effort especially considering the writers & directors also star in the film.

4/5