Author: BRWC

The Lady Assassin is a Vietnamese martial arts movie about a bunch of assassin prostitutes, who rob travellers who wander too close to their ‘tavern’, their latest haul holds a strange new treasure though in the form of a girl hidden in a coffin. The band of assassins decide to train the girl and help her take revenge on a corrupt druglord.

Honestly the plot’s pretty thin and this is mainly an excuse to show attractive woman in alluring outfits fly around on wires doing martial arts.  The movie is actually really well shot and it all looks very good, well that is until they get carried away with the 3D tech and things start hurling themselves at the camera in the hopes that it will make naive 3D newbies duck.

Aside from the over use of 3D and wires though this movie is very well put together and it’s easy to see why it was such a big hit with Vietnamese audiences. The characters are strong and the acting’s good, which helps save the movie from overly ambitious set pieces and choreography isn’t the best.  If you’re a bit of a fan of sexy women floating around in colourful dresses kicking ass and a nice sprinkling of revenge, this is the movie for you.

3/5

Larry Cohen’s schlock-horror The Stuff really has to be seen to be believed. It starts with the very definition of a cold opening – a man in what appears to be an Arctic drilling station notices a creamy ooze bubbling up from the ground, and, just like any sensible person his first reaction is to taste it. As it turns out, ‘The Stuff’ is tasty and extremely addictive, and it doesn’t take long for corporate America to take notice. But is there something sinister about it?

Of course there is. The Stuff becomes a huge brand on a Coca-Cola-esque level, and it can be found in every fridge in America. Naturally, Ice Cream companies are none to pleased about this, and they hire industrial spy David ‘Mo’ Rutherford (played by human Thunderbirds puppet Michael Moriarty). Mo’s lazy Southern drawl is at times unfathomable, but we soon understand that while at first he’s in it for the cash – “The name’s Mo Rutherford. They call me that ’cause when people give me money, I always want mo” – his priorities change when he starts to uncover the creepy truth about The Stuff. It turns out The Stuff is alive – a parasitic delicious goo which turns those who eat it zombie-like, before eating them from the inside leaving just a shell of the original person. With the help of some others – Jason (Scott Bloom), a young boy who’s family have been consumed by The Stuff, and Charlie (2 Broke Girls’ Garett Morris) a Cookie magnate who claims his fists are registered weapons, Mo tracks down the where the The Stuff is mined, in order to stop it taking over the world.

The rules for how The Stuff works seem pretty elastic: sometimes it will control its victim and sometimes it will literally leap out of them and attack, expanding to fill rooms at will. Cohen’s film uses gleefully shonky effects, but rather than horrifying they mainly illicit derisive laughter. The Stuff has always been considered a comedy-horror, and while its satirical nods towards consumerism still have the ring of truth, it just isn’t that funny or scary. The performances range from respectable to downright bizarre, with Moriarty’s work as Mo particularly perplexing. The Stuff’s Blu Ray transfer will surely please some cult horror fans, but for those who aren’t already familiar, there’s not a lot to miss here.

Peccadillo Pictures have been doing wonderful things for LBGT cinema. They champion films such as Otto; or, Up With Dead People, an interesting zombie concept, by distributing them to a wider audience instead of remaining underground. Their latest offering of note is Reaching for the Moon, a film that has been scooping up awards at lesbian and gay film festivals.

Reaching for the Moon shows the relationship of American poet Elizabeth Bishop (Miranda Otto) and Brazilian architect Lota de Macedo Soares (Gloria Pires) from the discover of love to it’s inevitable conclusion.

When dealing with the 50’s and 60’s, there is an expectation from some of a certain fashion flair and style, and there is definitely a glamour to it’s costume and settings. Along with this, there are some flashes of wonderful cinematography and framing, though for the most part it remains functional.

Some have used the term love affair, but for me it sounds too fleeting. Though the film was just under 2 hours, they lived and loved together for over 15 years. It isn’t filled with unnecessary eroticism and it isn’t a perfect relationship. This is about two people in love, their own personal demons and both the good and the bad they bring out in each other.

The real strength of a dramatic love story like this is the chemistry of performances, and Otto and Pires are mesmerising. They perfectly capture the two women’s flaws and the madness of love; all of the petty jealousies, neuroses and fear instead of just the sweetness and idealised romance.

Despite all that is good with Reaching for the Moon, and while not having anything particularly bad to say about it, there isn’t anything exceptional either. It plateaus at good, but that is enough. This isn’t going to blow anyone’s minds or shatter any pre-conceptions, but why should it have to? It tells Bishop and Soares’ tragically romantic story, if not truthfully, honestly and that is exactly what a film based on truth needs to do.

Serial killers have been and remain a public fascination. As a species and a society, we seem to revel in these macabre individuals acts, if only to condemn them. Be it Ted Bundy or Jack the Ripper, it is always the killer that comes first and the victims after. Bayou Blue is a film that seems to be trying to reset this.

Between 1996 and 2006, Ronald Dominique murdered and raped 23 men throughout South Louisiana. Bayou Blue is a film that explores the fear that gripped the area, the impact of the crimes on the relatives and the lack of National attention or care.

Bayou Blue manages to not be about the killer and instead focuses on the killer’s effect on the community. It avoids turning into a biography of the killer and remains an examination on the victims instead of the criminal. It manages to go deeper into the crimes, looking at the effect on the whole of the community which is emphasised with some beautiful shots of the Bayou’s and sugar cane fields.

Thankfully there are no crime scene photographs of the victims, but there is chilling use of the confession tape to connect the audience to the reality of these crimes. Used from the outset it hangs over every inch of the film, clinging to and violating the most innocent image and sets the tone beautifully while not exploiting the victims.

Strangely and unfortunately, these great things about the film are exactly what cause the problems. The fact that they have decided to keep away from the killer’s story or exploiting the crimes themselves means that they have sacrificed a linear story to tell. If this were cinéma vérité this would not be an issue, but as this is reliant on interviews, we float from talking head to talking head. As a result, Bayou Blue feels as though it lacks something driving it.

I was reminded of Errol Morris’ films which in a post Michael Moore documentary landscape is always welcome. It lets the interviewees be themselves and say what they truly feel which leads to some moments that may make some feel uncomfortable, particularly in some of the attitudes towards homosexuality. However, this is necessary to be an honest portrayal of how these people feel and to show the society surrounding these crimes.

Despite not fully working, Bayou Blue is a thought provoking, shocking and most importantly honest look at the mess left behind and not the one who left it.

Locke starring Tom Hardy and directed by Steven Knight tells the story of a building foreman Ivan Locke on his journey from Birmingham to Croydon late at night. The film stars Tom Hardy… and Tom Hardy. Yes get ready for a feature length one man cast in a small confined space. Sound familiar? Of course it does but this film has Tom Hardy sporting a rather fine (coming from someone who has lived there for 5 years) South Wales accent.

Hardy is of course incredible as one would expect, the film is well shot and directed and how you can intersperse someones life falling apart against conversations about concrete for more then an hour let alone a whole film baffles me, however they did, and it works.

I did get immersed into the story, and did enjoy the film, in particular Hardy’s (well he is the only actor visible in the whole film) performance, however if you compare it against other one man films such as Phone Booth or even Buried, it doesn’t quite capture you in the same way, and at times can suffer from pacing issues.

Regardless the film is well worth a watch, and presents another solid performance from Tom Hardy.

3/5