film reviews, interviews, features | BRWC

Author: BRWC

  • FORTITUDE: A Chat With Parminder Nagra

    FORTITUDE: A Chat With Parminder Nagra

    FORTITUDE: THE COMPLETE SECOND SEASON AND THE COMPLETE FIRST AND SECOND SEASON IS AVAILABLE ON DIGITAL HD FROM 31ST MARCH AND ON BLU-RAY™ AND DVD FROM 1ST MAY 2017

    Parminder Nagra plays Dr Sarinda Khatri.

    Who is Dr Khatri?

    She’s a very passionate, determined brilliant person in terms of science. I think that probably sways her more than what might be going on emotionally. She’s very focused on what she needs to do and achieve and she comes from having solved something like an Ebola crisis to wanting to help with what’s going on in this small town.

    What did you see in your role that appealed to you?

    I only saw the first three scripts of this season before coming out to shoot and what actually spoke to me was the fact that I couldn’t tell exactly where she was going and I liked the prospect of playing somebody I didn’t know too much about before joining the series. I was just totally inspired by speaking to Simon Donald and wanted to come on board for the ride and see where he would take her.

     

    What did you make of the world of Fortitude?

    Mad. I thought the world was just a little bit off the wall, which I loved for some reason. I don’t know if that says more about me – it just appealed to me.

    Does Khatri walk a fine line in the way that she does things?

    I think for everybody else in Fortitude it might be a fine line, but I think for Khatri it’s just trying to get to the heart of what’s going on. I think she sees the bigger picture and for her everybody else really isn’t seeing the bigger picture.

    And what are your reflections on being a part of the series?

    I’ve honestly loved being a part of this world and more than anything just playing with the different actors that have been involved. I’ve enjoyed really being able to dig my teeth into something as an actor and I think it’s everything I thought it would be.

    FORTITUDE: THE COMPLETE SECOND SEASON AND THE COMPLETE FIRST AND SECOND SEASON IS AVAILABLE ON DIGITAL HD FROM 31ST MARCH AND ON BLU-RAY™ AND DVD FROM 1ST MAY 2017.

  • FORTITUDE: Ken Stott Q&A

    FORTITUDE: Ken Stott Q&A

    FORTITUDE: THE COMPLETE SECOND SEASON AND THE COMPLETE FIRST AND SECOND SEASON IS AVAILABLE ON DIGITAL HD FROM 31ST MARCH AND ON BLU-RAY™ AND DVD FROM 1ST MAY 2017.

    So here’s a Q&A with Ken Stott, who plays Erling Munk.

    Who is Munk?

    He’s a government official. I think he’s probably got delusions of grandeur, or he’s certainly a man who had ambition, but he’s here in Fortitude and I think he’s in danger of letting his ambition run ahead of him.

    What was it about the character that really chimed for you?

    I’m always attracted to the story of a character that is conflicting; when he is not what he seems. When a character is powerful and angry, I look for the opposite in order to give it a balance, because we’re all capable of anything. The girl or boy in the office all year round spends their time being very mild mannered and only at the office party at the end of the year, suddenly, she’s dancing on the table, he’s picking a fight with the rest of the office, but these are the things you don’t see for 364 days of the year. It’s that sort of thing that interests me in characters and Erling Munk has strange little foibles.

    Where do you draw inspiration for Munk?

    We always draw on what we know. A writer writes what they know, if they don’t they really are in danger of showing themselves up to be not particularly good at what they do, and the same applies to acting. Over years you collect glimpses, stories that you can go back to. I used to live in the City of London and you can see characters who are like Erling Munk, who think they’re really successful, who are very ugly, they have a very ugly personality. They are only out for themselves, a very unattractive quality, and that suits me because I think an actor should never be afraid. If you’re going to be a good actor, you should never be afraid of appearing ugly – even if you’re as handsome as I am… that’s a joke.

    Have you enjoyed being part of the series?

    Yes, I’ve had a great time doing this, I really have. It would be perfectly possible to lie and say it’s been great, absolutely marvellous, but it’s been really enjoyable because there’s a very earnest approach, which I adhere to, and I like frivolity.

    FORTITUDE: THE COMPLETE SECOND SEASON AND THE COMPLETE FIRST AND SECOND SEASON IS AVAILABLE ON DIGITAL HD FROM 31ST MARCH AND ON BLU-RAY™ AND DVD FROM 1ST MAY 2017.

  • Review: Antibirth

    Review: Antibirth

    By Patrick King.

    Written and directed by Danny Perez and starring Natasha Lyonne (American Pie, Orange is the New Black) and Chloë Sevigny (Kids, Boys Don’t Cry), Antibirth is a strange, more or less experimental, very gory horror flick. It’s as if a Cronenberg body horror film and one of David Lynch’s more subtly weird flicks had a baby and viola! Let the arthouse weirdness commence!

    Party girls Lou (Lyonne) and Sadie (Sevigny) find themselves in the middle of a strange adventure when Lou, who hasn’t had sex in months, suddenly finds out she’s pregnant. But how? Yeah, something is definitely wrong here, especially when her stomach doubles and then triples in size over the course of a few days. Whatever’s inside her definitely isn’t human, but what the hell is it?

    Lou and Sadie are in their late thirties to early forties. They’re getting a little long in the tooth for the drug scene they’re still involved in. Their conversations are empty and their lives are vacuous. The only things that matter to them are drugs and parties, something they probably should have moved on from by now. All this in a small middle-of-nowhere town in Michigan that’s as desolate as their souls. It’s a cold town for cold people, a boring place where there’s not a lot to do except party in abandoned warehouses and hang out at the bowling alley. No wonder these women pushing forty are stuck in arrested development. Oh yeah, and there’s an Army base nearby that might or might not be conducting secret experiments involving extraterrestrials.

    Solid acting all around in this one. I’ve never seen Sevigny do anything less than a good job, so, yeah, she was awesome.  Lyonne really inhabits the role of a spaced-out and wholly ambivalent burnout with a (sort of) heart. Also, a tip of the hat to Meg Tilly, who plays a woman who might or might not have been experimented on. She plays a very cool wide-eyed paranoid type which perfectly pairs with her signature soft voice.

    The effects are over the top and gory, but they’re almost all practical, and they’re quite convincing. We get a taste of things to come early in the movie, when we see a woman whose upper lip has rotted almost completely off. It looks as though it has been eaten away by acid. A lot of work went into that effect, and it’s pretty convincing. As Lou’s pregnancy progresses, her stomach protrudes unnaturally, and it becomes doughy and veiny. Six people are credited with the prosthetic work, so a lot of care went into giving the viewer a very visceral experience. The movie lulls us into a feeling of security and then smashes us in the face with some quick, graphic violent imagery. And, well, mission accomplished. A lot of work was put into making these things look as detailed and realistic as possible, providing maximum shock value. We see a sugary sort of puss flow from a foot, an almost too real-looking miscarried fetus in a toilet, and when we finally see Lou give birth to the creature she’s been impregnated with…well, save the best for last, I suppose.

    Antibirth
    Antibirth

    The only point where the effects aren’t that great are when CGI is used. There’s a few scenes where things blow up and the computer-generated smoke that results is a bit too cartoonish and is apt to take a viewer out of the movie. However, there’s some demonic-looking red smoke that looks a bit better.

    As interesting as the concept is, there’s something inherently reactionary about it, as if it’s either a comment on or throwback to the conservative morality of 80’s horror flicks. There’s a scene in the film where it’s explained that Lou’s constant drinking and drug use made her a perfect vessel for the creature she has inside her. There’s definitely a sense that Lou is being punished for her sinful lifestyle.

    It’s hard to tell, though. The ending is a bit silly in a lot of ways, but that’s not a huge deal. Antibirth will satisfy gorehounds and fans of weird flicks alike.

  • An Adult’s Guide To Animation

    An Adult’s Guide To Animation

    Seoul Station is a thrilling tale of a zombie outbreak in South Korea – isn’t your typical animated fare – it features gut-munching zombies, brutal violence and white knuckle tension. Definitely not one for the kids, but why should kids have all the fun? Putting the Disneys, Pixars and Ghiblis of the world to one side for a moment, here are a selection of animated films that run the gamut from outrageous and erotic to surreal and irreverent; you should perhaps watch when the little ones are tucked in bed!

    To support the release of Seoul Station (StudioCanal) which is out now on Digital Download and on DVD and Blu-ray from Monday 3rd April, we look at other animations for adults.

  • Get The Girl: BRWC Talks To Eric England

    Get The Girl: BRWC Talks To Eric England

    By Angie Sinclair.

    29 year old American Director Eric England chats with me from Los Angeles about how he followed his heart and got into writing and directing films at 19 after being inspired by watching Steven Speilberg’s movies growing up in Arkansas.

    His latest release ‘Get The Girl’ sees a wealthy young man conned into staging a fake kidnapping, allowing him to be seen as a hero and win the affection of a girl he’s madly in love with. But when one of the hired kidnappers is accidentally killed during the charade, he’s forced to save her life while not revealing that it’s been a ruse all along.’

    Eric describes his latest project as a “dark comedy” more than horror – for which he is best known. His next project he says, “will probably be a horror movie, but while I had the opportunity I kinda wanted to step outside of that.”

    Shooting ‘Get The Girl’ was challenging in “every way” Eric explained. Shot in Los Angeles “without a ton of money” and with many stunts involved on such a fast shoot made it “chaotic and challenging like a “logistical dance.”

    Get The Girl will be available on DVD/VOD from the 22nd of March.