Author: BRWC

The Falling World: Review. By Jake Peffer.

In The Falling World we follow Lark (Ayumi Patterson) as she joins a group of classmates from her law school at a remote home. What Lark doesn’t know, but finds out once she’s there, is just two years ago the group was at the same house and one of their friends went missing and was never found. Once she finds out she starts to get suspicious about some members of the group as none of them supposedly know what happen to their missing friend. Relationships build and secrets get revealed as Lark finds her way to discovering what happened.

Director/writer Jaclyn Bethany puts a solid character study here as we follow this group of characters and try to figure out who is deceiving who. One of the problems, however, is we follow all these characters and almost all of them are essentially uninteresting and forgettable. Outside of Lark and another character named Baxter (Joshua David Robinson) the rest just don’t make much of an impact and that’s a shame for a decent sized cast. The performances here are all fine. Nobody really stands out over one another, but everybody is doing their part to the best of their abilities.

Despite the shortcomings of the characters the story is at least interesting enough to keep you invested. The mystery behind the missing friend does take the entire run time to be revealed but it does have a nice twist as to what happens. This movie goes by very quickly as it has a rather short run time. That does help things move along at a better pace and doesn’t spend a lot of time with any unnecessary scenes. 

Overall, The Falling World is worth a watch. It’s got some decent performances and does have an interesting storyline to keep you wanting to know where it’s going to go. Had the characters been more engaging this could have been a step above similar movies but ends up being just an average drama.

Cherry: Review. By Jake Peffer.

Cherry tells the story of a young girl of the same name who must make one of the biggest decisions of her life within the next 24 hours. She just found out that she’s pregnant and must decide whether she plans on keeping the baby. We follow her as she interacts with friends, family and her boyfriend as she struggles to make this difficult decision.

This is a straightforward story that is a great character study of a woman making the biggest decision of her life up to this point. Writer/Director Sophie Galibert does a good job telling this story and makes you invested in what Cherry’s final choice will be. For this to fully come to fruition it takes a good performance from the main actress and Alexandria Trewhitt does a stellar job in the role. Trewhitt is what runs this movie, she is in every scene, and it is entirely about her. Everyone else helps push the story along but nobody adds as much as Trewhitt.

With a very short run time Cherry is paced well and it gets in and gets out. There is no filler here which is a breath of fresh air as a lot of movies like this will have a lot going on that doesn’t push the story forward. All the other actors here outside of Trewhitt are fine but they do feel as if they aren’t actors and just people that were local and fit the need of the role. This movie won’t exactly be for everyone, as it touches on abortion, but the story is well done, and it plays out in a way that doesn’t promote abortion but just makes it known that it’s a possible option.

All in all, Cherry is a short and to the point movie. This won’t shock you or blow your socks off, but it is a well-made movie. There’s a good performance from Alexandria Trewhitt and it is a well told story that does get you invested.

Elvis: Another Review. By Nick Boyd.

“Elvis” is an energetically directed biopic starring Austin Butler in a star-making performance in the title role, but told through the eyes of Elvis’ manager Colonel Tom Parker, played by Tom Hanks (unrecognizable at first), veering from his usual nice guy roles in a performance that takes getting used to but ultimately works.  The film spans many years, taking us from Presley’s early days to his later drug-fueled period.  It is always visually stimulating in an extravagant way and a true visceral experience.  

As a young boy, Presley was drawn to revivalism and gospel music as he felt it gave him a transcendent emotional feeling.  His first real opportunity in front of an audience took place at a Louisiana Hayride where he performed live. What was evident was his never-seen-before appeal to the young women and teen girls in the audience who seemed more drawn to his boyish charm and dance gyrations than his singing.  This being the conservative 1950’s in the Deep South, though, there was backlash, many deeming it overly sexual in nature. 

At the Hayride is where Colonel Tom Parker first lays eyes on Presley.  Looking for the next big sensation, Parker believes he has found it in Presley and in a scene at a carnival tries to sell him on the idea of becoming his manager and promoter.  Presley is lured by the riches that could come his way with Parker assuring him that not only he, but his parents as well, would be well taken care of financially.  Parker sees to it that Presley is marketable in the best way possible, trying to refine his image so that he can get as many appearances and bookings as possible.  Over time, Presley comes to see Parker as a father figure and to depend and care about him.  Their relationship is effectively portrayed as we see the behind-the-scenes power that Parker has over Presley even as he ostensibly conveys he wants the best for him. 

Another turning point for Presley comes when he is stationed overseas in Germany while he is in the military.  There, he meets an American young teen named Priscilla who he becomes smitten with.  Despite the age difference, when Presley’s military service is up, the two move back to the states, marry, and have a child.  This relationship eventually becomes a rocky one as Priscilla believes that Elvis cares more about his addictive behaviors and his career over her and their daughter.  One thing viewers were deprived of was the relationship and subsequent marriage, which was never fully explored.

The latter part of the movie shows Presley beginning a singing residency at Las Vegas, one of the first such performers to do so.  It is at this point he is able to revive his career and seems to be having his glory days back and enjoying himself.  

Several aspects of the picture did bring it down a bit.  I thought when the movie showed split-screens it was distracting and frenetic.  Also, opening the movie in 1997 with Colonel Parker narrating from his hospital room was disorienting and would have been better had it begun with Elvis as a youth.

That being said, we really get a glimpse into what made Presley such a popular figure, with Butler effectively exuding showmanship yet vulnerability.  Also, the influence he had on the culture and what influenced him is made evident. The film makes it a point to show how Presley was influenced by Gospel and Blues and enjoyed hanging out in Black nightclubs and lounges on Beale Street.  He was particularly enthralled by the singers B.B. King and Little Richard, who he seemed to model his look and musical style after.  Insights like these as well as the pure entertainment of the musical numbers make the film an eye-opening and fascinating watch.

Thor: Love And Thunder – The BRWC Review. By Jake Peffer.

Everyone’s favorite God of Thunder is back for his newest solo adventure. This time around Thor (Chris Hemsworth) has a lot on his plate with the threat of a new villain in the form of Gorr the God Butcher (Christian Bale). Gorr has been deceived by a God that he was a disciple for in the past and is now seeking revenge on all Gods after losing his daughter. After New Asgard is attacked Thor enlists the help of Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson), his friend Korg (Director Taika Waititi) and his ex-girlfriend Jane Foster (Natalie Portman), who now has the power of Thor and can wield his former hammer Mjolnir.

Thor: Love and Thunder is the fourth movie in Thor’s solo outings and continues with the same style and direction as Ragnarok. Director Taika Waititi returns to helm Love and Thunder and brings he unique vision to the character once again. Waititi was a large reason as to why Ragnarok was able to let the character of Thor really flourish and shine on his own. The first two movies relied too heavily on trying to be Shakespearean and for the most part they didn’t work. Waititi’s style of direction blends well with the world of Thor and shifting to his brand of comedy has been a highlight of Ragnarok and now Love and Thunder.

With the recent outings from the Marvel Cinematic Universe there has been a lot of focus on connecting universes and showcasing new and old characters in the form of cameos. Respectfully, those movies were fine on their own, but we don’t get any of that in Love and Thunder and honestly, it’s a nice breath of fresh air. This is the first time in a while we’ve gotten a rather straightforward story that wasn’t mostly relying on nostalgia or shocking the audience with what characters may or may not show up. Thor has an issue; he recruits his team and they set out to fulfill their mission. Couldn’t be any simpler than that.

Ragnarok took a lot of chances at being weird and zany and we get no shortage of that here as well. It works for the best though as allowing these characters to be weird and outlandish is when we see them at their best. Thankfully, Waititi is able to balance the zaniness with a lot of heart that I was expecting to see. There are some great character arcs that take place here and where they end up, I did not see coming. The relationships between our main characters are a strong aspect of the movie. It’s nice to see Thor and Jane back together and we get to see how their relationship originally ended which we only knew about before because of a couple lines in the last movie. Adding in Valkyrie and Korg as a part of their team makes for one of the better oddball groups to come out of the MCU.

The cast is all top notch. Chris Hemsworth continues playing Thor with so much charisma and charm that it’s impossible not to love him. Natalie Portman gets a lot of heavy lifting, no pun intended, as Jane has arguably the best character arc and she plays it with a lot of heart. Tessa Thompson as Valkyrie is good once again although it would have been nice to have her character get a little more to do. We do get a small dose of the Guardians of the Galaxy, but it is very short lived and almost feels like they could have been left out altogether. Most surprising is Russell Crowe as Zeus. He gives a performance we have never seen from him before. I’m still trying to decide if he’s good in the movie or not as his character is so bizarre that is completely catches you off guard. Finally, there’s Christian Bale. Bale is without a doubt in the top tier of MCU villains. While not quite the best he certainly makes his presence known and is very menacing as Gorr the God Butcher.

Overall, Thor: Love and Thunder may go down as the best solo Thor movie. With an engaging story, the right amount of heart and a worthwhile villain it hits all the right beats. It really is amazing to see Taika Waititi completely turn around this character and the franchise and give it new life. If you’re a fan of Thor and the Marvel Cinematic Universe this is one, you’re going to want to see.

Four Samosas: Review. By Jake Peffer.

Four Samosas follows Vinny (Venk Potula), a rather lazy South Asian American wannabe rapper. When he finds out that his ex-girlfriend Rina is getting married, he hatches a plan to sabotage the wedding. He recruits three of his friends to help him break into Rina’s Father’s grocery store to steal her wedding diamonds thus disrupting her engagement. Vinny hopes that this will persuade her to call off the wedding and possibly come by to him.

It’s nice to see when a movie can come out and be different and add a touch of its own unique style. The best thing Four Samosas has going for it is the way that it’s filmed. The entire movie is present in a 4:3 format and surprisingly that does add a little something unique when watching. There’s a nice presence on screen of South Asian culture that is a welcome addition to a comedy, which is a genre you don’t typically see a lot from that community. Unfortunately, outside of that there isn’t much else going for Four Samosas.

I’m all for quirky comedies and having strange characters who get into zany situations but the problem here is it feels like they are constantly trying too hard. Everything is turned up to an eleven and it’s all so over exaggerated that it gets tiresome halfway through. The movie is only an hour and twenty minutes so the fact that it doesn’t take long for the one note jokes to get old really says a lot. It would be one thing if some of the characters were redeemable or even the slightest bit likeable but that’s not the case here. All these characters just don’t really add anything to make you care about what they’re doing, and they are all trying way too hard for a laugh that it just gets brutal at times to watch.

I wish there was more positives I could say about Four Samosas but there just isn’t enough here to really enjoy. Director Ravi Kapoor does have an interesting style in filming the movie but other than that there’s nothing to grab onto to get you invested for the short run time. If you happen to be fans of anyone involved it might be worth a watch but I would say to skip it because there really isn’t anything here to justify checking it out.