Author: BRWC

#BRWC10: The 10 Best Netflix Original Films (So Far)

By Orla Smith.

Reposted from last year, to help celebrate #BRWC10.

It’s hard to believe that it’s been less than two years since Netflix got in the original film game. Since the autumn of 2015, they’ve gone from the cautious release of Beasts of No Nation to a schedule that’s practically film-a-week.

At first, pretty much every one of them should have been avoided like the plague: trust me, you don’t need to see The Do-Over. I did it for you. It’s not worth it.

But the second half of 2016 heralded the release of a number of indie gems, and just this year they’ve moved on from a solely distribution focused model, and begun releasing their own productions.

The Discovery wasn’t a great start, but the appearance of Okja and The Meyerowitz Stories at Cannes – however controversial – marked a step up in esteem and an interest in auteurship on Netflix’s part.

There’s much to come: Duncan Jones’ Moon sequel-ish Mute, Martin Scorsese’s The Irishman, Noah Baumbach’s previously mentioned The Meyorowitz Stories, Dee Rees’ hotly anticipated Sundance title Mudbound and many more. We’re on the precipice of a shift in how their original films are perceived (especially with Mudbound‘s upcoming Oscar campaign), so at this early milestone it’s interesting to look back at their best features so far – all excellent films, many small and in danger of being buried even more than they already have been. In honour of today’s release of The Incredible Jessica James, here are ten films that demand to be added to the top of your Netflix queue.

10. 13th

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=V66F3WU2CKk

From a responsible point of view: if you have to watch just one Netflix original film, make it 13th. Ava DuVernay’s rousing and sharp documentary centres on racial discrimination in America’s prison system. It’s essentially a talking heads doc, but within those limits it works out a structure that has astounding clarity. DuVernay makes her argument with urgency, reason and undeniable conviction. It’s impossible to watch 13th without feeling angry and motivated.

9. Casting JonBenet

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=-KMEOaMCJss

Kitty Green’s experimental documentary asks the question: should a film like Casting JonBenet even exist? It’s a bold move, to question your own existence. I’m still not sure whether the legitimacy of that query is a reason to like or dislike the film. Green deconstructs the murder of six year old beauty pageant queen JonBenet Ramsay by interviewing actors to play the suspects in a fake movie about the case. Right or wrong, it’s an experience to be had – if only so you can make up your own mind.

8. The Incredible Jessica James

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=zEkYAzSpHnA

There’s one thing you need to know about The Incredible Jessica James: Jessica Williams if effervescent. The film’s opening credits play over the image of her running around her New York apartment, earphones in, dancing at full energy capacity. She, and the film, are a ball of energy, impossible to dislike. The Incredible Jessica James doesn’t aim too high, but it squarely hits its mark, lightly skating on the edge of something more profound. More than anything, it’s immensely enjoyable.

7. Sand Storm

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=k4vQugCOIY4

Elite Zexer’s directorial debut Sand Storm beat more high profile candidate’s to Sundance’s top prize for world cinema in 2016. It took nearly a year for Netflix to release the film, and it did so with an incremental amount of fanfare. Set amongst a community of Bedouin women in Israel, Layla (compelling newcomer Lamis Ammar) fights against patriarchal values that stop her from marrying for love. Her clashes with mother Jalila are the film’s conflict and heart. Sand Storm is a sensitive and deeply considered take on an oft ignored community, and an oft ignored perspective within that community.

6. To the Bone

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=705yRfs6Dbs

Just like Casting JonBenet, the very existence of To the Bone remains in question. Many sufferers or ex-sufferers of eating disorders have argued that it’s impossible to depict an illness such as anorexia in a way that isn’t a glorification – but at the same time, people in a similar situation have claimed that it was therapeutic to watch a film that truthfully depicts anorexia (made by a writer/director and actress who have gone through a similar experience). As a film, it’s immensely moving, and clearly authentic. Lily Collins is the lead, entering into in-patient care and meeting a cast of characters who kick start a story that’s surprising in its carefully considered nuance.

5. Barry

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=i6qlPeS1kGY

It takes a tremendous amount of writing skill to capture the small details and foibles of everyday conversation. In Barry, Vikram Gandhi’s sharply intelligent and often hilarious account of Barack Obama’s college years, almost every conversation is laced with casual racial tensions, teetering on the tipping point of paranoia. Barry isn’t sure how he fits into the world yet, and so how he is perceived by others plays a large part in adding to the growing sense of anxiety in the film. He’s just a young man, treated with none of the historical reverence of your usual biopic. It’s all sealed off by a truly incredible performance from Devon Terrell, who’ll be a huge star any minute now if there’s any justice in the world.

4. I Don’t Feel at Home in This World Anymore

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=a891D5_bGY4

Macon Blair is known as Jeremy Saulnier’s OG leading man, and while Blair’s directorial debut I Don’t Feel at Home in This World Anymore shows hints of Saulnier’s influence, it has a whole lot more heart. It’s also funny – a word that never comes to mind when you think of Blue Ruin or Green Room. I Don’t Feel at Home in This World Anymore won the Sundance Grand Jury prize earlier this year, and it’s not hard to see why people were so won over by this entertaining, painfully relatable, intricately plotted suburban crime saga – starring Melanie Lynskey and Elijah Wood as the ultimate odd couple.

3. Divines

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=VT4YtWdK01M

For her directorial debut Divines, the winner of the Cannes Camera d’Or, director Houda Benyamina cast her younger sister Oulaya Amamra in the lead role. It paid off tenfold. Amamra isn’t the only reason Divines is amazing, but without the unstoppable, fiery power of her performance it wouldn’t work nearly as well as it does. Still, Benyamina is an equally fierce talent to watch. She directs with passion and expansive imagination. Set in the French banlieue, the grim poverty of the characters’ lives are contrasted against sequences of disarming beauty. You may not have heard of Divines, but once you’ve seen it you won’t shut up about it.

2. Tallulah

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=8WSz2s-Gemc

At Sundance 2016, nobody seemed to care about Tallulah. It came and went and was forgotten, which is why it was such a surprise to press play on Netflix a few months later and be greeted by a film worthy of so much more hype than it was afforded. Tallulah‘s narrative slots together satisfyingly, but its real pull is its portrayal of female friendship – in this case between a young homeless woman (Ellen Page) and her ex-boyfriend’s mother (Allison Janney). Page impulsively steals a baby from its neglectful mother, then stays in Janney’s home under the pretence that the child is her son’s. The slow melting of tension between the two of them is a wonder to behold. Where less thoughtful films would slip into convention, Tallulah asks the question: what if people were just nice to each other?

1. Okja

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=AjCebKn4iic

By far Netflix’s largest scale film production is also its best – because there’s nobody that can orchestrate high-tech, big-budget madness like Bong Joon-ho. Okja is a wild ride full of dangerously diverging tones, insane characters and soulful emotion. While beloved actors such as Tilda Swinton and Jake Gyllenhaal embody colourful characterisations of corporate greed, your heart remains with pre-teen Mija and her best friend Okja, a super-pig. The two grew up in the mountains together, and when Okja is carted off to America, Mija won’t rest until they are re-united. The whirpool of laughter and exhilarating chases only coalesces because you believe body and soul in this deep connection between human and animal – and you want more than anything for it all to work out in the end.

16th August 2018
#BRWC10: The First Ever Post Was A TDK Review

This is the latest post on BRWC, which is a repost from the first ever post ten years ago…

The voice certainly threatened to derail the film. The best way I could reconcile it was by looking at Bale’s performance as one of a man who is constantly acting, whether it is as Batman, or Bruce Wayne: International Playboy, or Chairman of the Board. The Young Master Bruce persona he had around Alfred seemed to be the closest to the “real” Bruce Wayne, but the wild shifts in tone, and the implausibility of his Batvoice (like a Coors Beer commercial) pointed to a very insincere character, especially when surrounded by astonishingly sincere characters like Rachel, Harvey Dent, Commissioner Gordon and the Joker.

And I say the Joker was sincere because of the astonishing conviction that the tragically late Heath Ledger put into the performance and I took at face value his speech to Harvey in the hospital (Chaos is Fair). The Joker arrives in (is created by ?) a Gotham where the vigilante morality of the Batman is butting heads with the organised criminality of the mob in a nice old fashioned good vs. evil and the Joker’s “plan” as such is call bullshit on all of it. He doesn’t help and then take over the mob for their money or power, he wants to solve all their problems (get back the money and the star witness) then burn it all in a big pile in front of them to show up the pointlessness of their greedy dreams. He doesn’t want to kill the Batman, he just wants to let him in on the joke (see Alan Moore and Brian Bolland’s graphic novel The Killing Joke). It’s no surprise that the pivotal scene between the two takes place in the mirrored interrogation cell (which I understand was the first day of shooting for the two actors).

And when the Joker describes himself as an agent of Chaos you have to take him at (two) face value and acknowledge that the Joker is not an “evil genius” who schemes and plans everything in advance, but as a true agent of chaos is the master of improvisation (not least in his constant reinvention of his origin story). His command of the mob merely facilitates this (planting bombs, making hits, etc at short notice). Foiled in his attempt to kill Dent, (which in itself is only part of his plan to unmask the Batman/take over the mob), he adapts and invents a grander scheme to force The Batman and Gordon to make a Sophie’s Choice(of which there are a few) between saving Dent and Rachel (which is another cover for busting the accountant out of jail), then uses the chaotic result (Dent’s transformation into Two-Face) to lecture Batman on the corruptibility of man. Even then this is part of a two pronged argument with the bombs in the boat. One of my favourite choices the script makes is to avoid a simple Batman knockdown defeat the Joker and let the prisoners (brilliant Tommy ‘Tiny’ Lister cameo) and passengers decisions to toss away the triggers provide the coup de grace to his argument.

So in terms of “at which point” I think the point is its impossible to judge. In fact the multiplicity of schemes (and their constant adaptability and flux) is what gives the film its core. How does one, practically and morally, combat the forces of chaos ? Pretend to your wife that you’re dead ? Use surveillance so sophisticated that everyone’s privacy is at risk ? Toss a coin ? I liked the little bit of forensics with the bullet fingerprint, not least because I didn’t get what the f**k this had to do with catching the Joker, until I accepted it as a sly dig at CSITV shows, their moral vacuity and lack of real drama.

I was taken aback by the opening sequence, completely not what I was expecting but on reflection rich with loaded imagery and a perfect signpost for what’s in store. A seemingly mundane aerial sweep through a very naturalistically shot Detroit, then the sudden shattering of the mirrored window and the dizzying IMAX overhead glide to the bank rooftop. Those clown masks conjure up a gazillion films, not least the Burton Batman(was it the second one with the clowns on motorcycles ?), but the one that leapt out for me was Stanley Kubrick’s 1956 heist classic The Killing. In fact the brutally neat domino of executions seemed like a ruthlessly modern update of the fate of the characters in the earlier film, which must have been a massive influence on Christopher Nolan’s career with its out of chronological order narrative. It also points to what I didn’t expect: this is a proper thriller, an examination of character through extreme events, told stylishly and performed with conviction. And then you get to the bank and who’s that in the bank ? William bloody Fichtner! And I could write another three paragraphs on the influence of Micheal Mann’s Heat, but I won’t bother. And when the bank job is done, just show your face to point up the pointlessness of secrecy and killings of the previous 5 minutes and join a queue of school buses, indistinguishable from the innocent.

A couple of niggles: the Two Face CGI, while faithful to the comics and a vast improvement on the Tommy Lee Jones makeup, was so disgusting it distracted a little from Aaron Eckhart’s performance (which was otherwise brilliant – charismatic, noble, heroic) and didn’t allow the actor to properly sell Harvey’s fall from grace. And why the half burned suit ? A uncharacteristically premeditated pantomime gesture from a character driver by rage and loss, particularly in relation to the added symbolism given to the scarred half of the coin, which I thought was genius.

Second niggle: Rachel’s death. There’s a comics term currently in use, I don’t know if you’re familiar with it: “Girlfriend in the Refrigerator”, which comes from the particularly gruesome fate of a girlfriend of Green Lantern in his comic series a few years ago. The phrase became synonymous with the blatant offing a supporting cast member (invariably female) in order to generate some emotional turmoil for the (invariably male) protagonist. Now, the female in peril shtick is as old as the hills, and I don’t mind the script decision to take that further (not least to play with audience expectation at a pivotal moment), but I did feel all the wonderful work Maggie Gyllenhaal put in (missing Katie Holmes anyone ?) was wasted in the service of yet more male angst. Here’s hoping Detective Montoya and Catwoman put an appearance in the next film (vs. the Riddler filtered through the Saw movies perhaps ?) to redress the balance a bit.

16th August 2018
The Conjuring Universe

“Even in silence… there is some noise… you just have to listen” – Lorraine Warren.

With the Conjuring movies, director James Wan did not leave any stone unturned in delivering fear and horror to the screen. In fact, the series has been considered one of the best horror movie series with all movies being high-grossing movies of their respective year. But the Conjuring is no mere movie. They are part of a universe that fans commonly know as the Conjuring Universe. Here, demons are loose, evil look innocent, the devil is here and there. With the upcoming, newest addition to the series, The Nun, the Conjuring Universe is brought back to the limelight and more is known about the universe. New to it? Well, how about having a little glimpse of the movies and check out how they are connected? The accounts will include Annabelle, Annabelle: Creation, The Conjuring 1 and 2 plus a little extra sneak preview of The Nun. Watch out though… spoiler alert!

Annabelle: Creation

It all starts in 1943 when doll maker Samuel Mullins along with his wife and little girl Annabelle seems to be the ideal happy family until… Annabelle dies in a car accident. Devasted by the events, the Mullins decide to resort to any power than will allow them to reunite with their daughter. The force that will answer will prove to be from their worst nightmares! As the Mullins starts to receive signs that their daughter is back, they give the power permission to inhabit a porcelain doll. It won’t be long until Mrs Mullins discovers that the spirit in the doll is not their daughter but something with sinister plans. In an attempt to combat it, they lock the doll in Annabelle’s closet along with bible pages to keep the evil at bay. Years later, the Mullins will allow children from an orphanage to live in their home. Janice, a youngster crippled by polio starts to be haunted by the evil precence after bringing the doll out of the closet. The demon inside the doll soon leaves the doll and possesses Janice and kills the Mullins. As the kids try to combat the demon, they successfully lock possessed Janice in the purified closet only to discover she managed to run away. She will find her way back in an orphanage where she will be adopted by the Higgins and name herself… Annabelle.

Annabelle

Years later, Mia Form and her husband are expecting their first child. Mia, fond of dolls receives a rare gift, the same porcelain doll of the Mullins from her husband. During the night, their neighbour, the Higgins are murdered by their adoptive daughter, Annabelle. Alerted, Mia tries to call the police while her husband gets next door. She is attacked by Annabelle and on time, the police intervene. Annabelle holds the porcelain doll, slashes her throat, leaving her blood drip over it. The demon that once possessed Annabelle had moved to the doll once again. Soon, Mia will be haunted by the demon, despite numerous attempt of destroying the doll which is in vain. After her delivery, the demon tries to get to her baby. Mia discovers that Annabelle was part of a cult named the Disciples of the Ram, a satanic cult that tries to summon demons into the world. As she saves her baby from the grasp of evil each time, the malicious demon in the daughter will not leave their back. He demanded a soul. Mia’s new friend, Evelyn, would quickly realise that and sacrifices herself by holding the doll and throwing herself from the balcony, freeing the family from the demon. After a while, the doll will find its way to an antique shop where Debbie is choosing a gift for her nurse daughters.

Conjuring

The Annabelle doll is taken by the Lorraine and Ed Warrens, a group of investigators that deal with supernatural events after three nurse girls report having experienced paranormal events since they were gifted the dolls. The Warrens will soon be contacted by Carolyn Perron and family who believe they are haunted by an evil force. As the Warrens intervene to help, they soon realise the hauntings are in fact warnings from deceased women of the house. They intend on preventing Bathsheba, a witch that killed herself and cursed the house after she was caught sacrificing her new-born to the devil. Bathsheba possesses Carolyn and tries to fulfil the prophecy by trying to kill her daughter, but the Warrens successfully exorcise Bathsheba, ending her reign of evil forever.

Conjuring 2

The Warrens are now investigating the fabled story of Amityville where Lorraine Warrens experiences a vision of a demonic nun. Believing that an unclean spirit took the form of a nun to attack her faith and would try to kill Ed, she resorts never to use her psychic abilities to help others. They are soon contacted by the Hodgson family who claims that their daughter Janet is experiencing a series of hauntings. They pay a visit and successfully interact with the spirit who names itself as Billy Wilkins, the former house owner. Thinking that the spirit wants to scare them out of the house, the Hodgson moves next door but the hauntings wouldn’t end. The Warrens come across a video of Janet purposefully creating a scene and believe that it was all a hoax. As they prepare to return back, Lorraine experiences another vision where Billy reveals he is just a pawn and that the devil wants Janet before being startled by the demonic nun, who reveals itself as Valak. The demon possesses Janet and prepares to kill itself by throwing off the window, but Ed manages to stop her. Lorraine, realising that the name of the demon is the way to banish her, dares to face the demonic nun and would banish her to hell, freeing the family.

“Your name grants me dominion over you demon, and I do know your name! You are Valak, the defiler, the profane, the marquis of snakes!” – Lorraine during the confrontation.

The Nun

A young novice nun is sent to a cloistered abbey, St Carta Monastery in Romania by the Vatican to investigate the death of a nun. She soon realises that the abbey has a long history not so good. She will have to face the evil that Lorraine defeated in Conjuring 2, Valak.

Awesome isn’t it? Well, you can always start watching each of these movies since the true fun lies within a visual display. Talking about horror and visuals, why not combine that with some slot sensations? If you are too scared of watching horror movies, you can play A Nightmare On Elm street at Ted Bingo. Not only is this slot based on a popular horror movie but it will also bring you some unparalleled entertainment! So… got your tickets for upcoming The Nun? Quickly! It’s out on the 6th of September!

16th August 2018
#BRWC10: Top 10 Gruesome And Iconic Deaths In Film

Reposted from the archives, to help celebrate #BRWC10.

We have scoured the murky world of cinematic deaths to bring you a top 10 list of the most memorable deaths in film; be they gruesome, iconic, or downright ridiculous…

10) Ashley and Ashlyn – Final Destination 3

We all know the risks of sun bedding; leathery skin and terminal illness, but when Death has a score to settle neither of these should be of great concern. In the wake of a catastrophic rollercoaster accident and lucky to be alive, Ashley and Ashlyn of Final Destination 3 take an ill-advised trip to the tanning salon. Inevitable incineration ensues; Death 1 – Tanorexics 0.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_2Wsw97Ornk

9) Wicked Witch of the West – Wizard of Oz

Begging the question “how far will a woman go to get her hands on a new pair of shoes?”, the Wicked Witch of the West defies all expectations in her quest for Dorothy’s rosy red duds. Thwarted at the last by a well-placed pale of water, the dying screams of “I’m melting!” are the roots of many a childhood nightmare.

15th August 2018
#BRWC10: 2013 In Film – Her

By Anthony Reyes.

There are years of your life that stand out during the course of your life. The reasons vary from person to person, good or bad, with cause or without. As a person who has grown up with the love of film in my heart, such years exist. For example, 1994 was my birth year. Some of the films that has had the most influence in my life was released in this year as well such as the Shawshank Redemption, Pulp Fiction, the Lion King, and Forrest Gump. These were films that fostered my love of cinema. But 2013 was a year in cinema that showed me a path to discover the power of this medium.

I’ve discovered through the years that the films that stick to me the most are the ones that comment on or portray unique perspectives about what it means to be alive, to be living in this moment in whatever particular place you’re in. Additionally, the theme of love in all of its many forms and motivations is something I always look forward to exploring in film. There have been many films that fit this description, that have etched themselves into my heart and caused me to smile, ache, and cry like nothing else. Many of those films were also released in 2013, a year that reminded why I watch films and the kinds of answers I’m looking for when I do. While 2013 saw the passing of Roger Ebert, one of the most renown film critics of all time, it was filled with films that he would have been proud to see. My favorites include Steve McQueen’s 12 Years a Slave, Alfonso Cuaron’s Gravity, Alexander Payne’s Nebraska, Richard Linklater’s Before Midnight, the Coen brothers’ Inside Llewyn Davis, Denis Villeneuve’s Prisoners, and James Pansoldt’s The Spectacular Now. Each one of these films have given me moments of clarity, horror, beauty, and genuine empathy. They were films I still rewatch to this day to remind myself that films have a purpose. They are not just experiences to pass the time or to turn your brain off and forget about the world for two hours. They can be portraits that help us understand this strange life that has been given to us. They can be a sobering, transformative experience that will make you a different person that you were before you saw the film. All the films listed above give me this experience. But there was one specific film that came out in 2013 that stands out from the rest of them, to my pleasant surprise.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WzV6mXIOVl4

In this piece celebrating 2013 as part of BRWC’s 10th birthday, #BRWC10, my purpose is to list all the reasons why Spike Jonze’s Her is one of my favorite films of all time, and the film that sealed 2013 as a great year for film. As I’ve said already, my most beloved films are the ones that talk about being alive and more importantly love. From being an incredibly sensitive and empathetic to an adult who is constantly in conflict with his growing cynicism and doubt in humanity, my ideas of love are always changing. Now, who would have thought that that quirky, futuristic film about a man who falls in love with his artificially intelligent operating system would have such an effect on me and how I think about love? But after watching Spike Jonze’s science fictiony drama, I realized that I had no idea what love was. Sure I have had my own relationships and all the other manifestations of love in my life, but I never thought about fleshing out my own clear-cut definition of love. Her is a great film to explore this topic because it goes beyond the idea that being in love is only a human trait. To me, it tells me that love is part of being alive, a consistent truth in all living things. Anyone who has ever experienced loneliness or insecurity can relate deeply with this film, but the lesson in Her is that love transcends any possible definition that humans come up with. As Scarlett Johansson’s Samantha, the operating system, falls in love with Joaquin Phoenix’s Theodore, you can tell that she doesn’t really know what she is feeling. It’s possible that she thought she was in love because Theodore opened a door for her that introduced her to a whole new dimension of feeling, and that’s why towards the end she explains that she has outgrown any expectations or feeling that Theodore can give her. It’s a mind-boggling film, one that will keep you thinking about what human beings are made of, and if we can ever fully understand love?

I could go all day about this film and believe me when I say that I have before. Love is a difficult thing to capture within the boundaries of a single photo, not to mention in an entire film. But Her is a special film. It reminds me that love is fluid. Love fills in the empty spaces in our hearts. It is what makes us alive. In the final moments of Her when Theodore is writing a letter to his ex, he takes every ounce of resentment and pain out of his heart. He understands that just the fact that he once had someone to love and that loved him back was one of the best gifts he could have ever received, or that any of us could ever receive. 2013 remains a special year for film and to me personally because it taught me how to examine my own definition of love, and therefore changed me as a person forever.

15th August 2018