Author: BRWC

The Bob’s Burgers Movie: The BRWC Review. By Jake Peffer.

Bob’s Burgers is the latest adult animated TV series to get a movie treatment. We’ve seen shows like South Park, The Simpsons and even Aqua Teen Hunger Force get their shot at the big screen. The question for any series that gets the chance for a movie is how do they make it feel like a movie and not just a long episode of the show? Thankfully, The Bob’s Burgers Movie is able to take all the best aspects of the show and turn them into a feature length movie with plenty of success.

If you’ve been watching the most recent season of the show, they have been slowly building up to this movie. Everyone’s favorite restaurant family, The Belchers, have a big situation on their hands. A sinkhole has formed right in front of their building, causing customers to not have easy access to their restaurant. To add fuel to the fire they are close to losing the restaurant if they can’t make loan payment to the bank. With no customers coming in and their payment deadline inching closer each day the kids try to solve a mystery that may very well help save the restaurant.

Jumping right into it, this movie is a lot of fun. If you are a fan of the show, there’s no doubt that you will enjoy the movie. The filmmakers do everything right in turning a 22 minute per episode show into a 102-minute feature film. There is plenty of fan service here, but the movie still works well even if you aren’t too familiar with the show. One of the biggest problems with turning a series into a movie is running the risk of alienating yourself to just fans of the show but The Bob’s Burgers Movie does plenty to make any newcomers welcome and might even draw in some new fans.

The cast of the show has always been one of the highlights. Every voice actor is always giving it their all and here is no different. However, it’s Kristen Schaal as Louise who is really getting the bulk things to do and she knocks it out of the park. All your favorite characters from the show make appearances here and there, including a lot of recurring characters who may have only been in a few episodes. For those who are fans of the musical numbers on the show will be happy to know that there are plenty of songs here and none of them disappoint.

Like I mentioned before, fans of the show are going to really enjoy this movie. If you aren’t familiar with the show or watched it a few times and it wasn’t your cup of tea, I would tell you to give this a shot because it might just surprise you. The jokes are nonstop and the majority of them land, the animation gets a nice upgrade and most importantly the movie is entertaining from start to finish.

Murina: Review. By Alif Majeed.

Coming of age movies set in an idyllic location during a vacation almost always have a sense of doom. Even a comedy can be portrayed with a touch of sadness, and things may not always work out in the end. Murina does not tinker much with that formula but has enough in it to work as an effective drama.

At least in its initial portions, the movie feels formulaic because of the portrayal of the protagonist Julija. She is a precarious teenager, who is shaken by the arrival of Javier, a friend of her overbearing and bullheaded father. She often fantasizes about replacing her dad with this man, even trying to get him together with her long-suffering mother, thinking it is the right thing to do with disastrous results.

In her mind, Javier is everything his father is not. Sensitive, suave, with a dash of adventure, and in complete control of himself. In Julija’s mind, Javier is the perfect addition to their family when you take out her father. An in-form Cliff Curtis plays Javier, who sympathizes with Julija and her mom and often even ambiguously encourages her fantasies. It is the complete opposite of the character that put him on the cinematic map. When he played Uncle Bully in Once were Warriors, where when he was put in a similar position because of the hospitality of the patriarch, cruelly ended up raping the daughter and triggered the violent climax of that movie. Here, he goes the other direction, playing the understanding friend who, despite experiencing the cruel nature of his friend, more or less is a mute spectator because it is not his family to protect.

Cruelty and abuse of power are major themes of the movie. Leon Lucev is terrifying as the family patriarch who holds down his family by his brutal force of will. It manifests in different ways, from his obvious treatment of his family to subtle ones. In a scene where Javier proclaims proudly that he forgives Leon for a past digression, the subtle way in which he takes out his anger on his daughter at his friend’s large-heartedness is way more shocking than acting out his anger on his family.

Your heart also goes out to Danica Curcic as Nela, his long-suffering wife who has resigned to her fate but still stays dignified while doing it. A fact that Julija holds against her for being cowardly than talking charge.

That appealed to me about Julija. Despite never leaving the island like almost never, she had to grow up pretty fast. Even though she barely speaks, she has been through a lot. She also reminded me of Cecile from Bonjour Tristesse in her childishness. Sometimes, though a person might seem to be wiser beyond her age, you take it for granted that she is still a child who is bound to make childish decisions. That is sometimes that Gracija Filipović brings out brilliantly in Murina.

It might not be the most memorable coming-of-age drama you have come across, but it is a stark reminder of what a family has to endure in the face of fragile male egos.

Mind-Set: Review. By Andrew Prosser.

Mike Murray’s Mind-Set is going to make me just a little bit sad the next time I see a discarded tennis racquet somewhere, I just know it.

There isn’t much Mind-Set throws at viewers that we haven’t seen before. There’s many a trope at play here, and much like the dwindling flame of domestic romance the film depicts, it too suffers from being a bit too familiar. It would be impossible to watch Eilis Cahill’s Lucy roll her eyes through the endlessly repeated argument with her boyfriend Paul (Steve Oram) over who should go the store for groceries without recalling the infinite identical disputes we already know all too well, be that from years of film and television, or perhaps with our actual past-and-present significant others (Togetherness and the later seasons of Peep Show come to mind for me personally).

But familiarity isn’t, in and of itself, all bad. The voyeuristic experience of leaning over the slovenly Paul’s shoulder as we watch him failing his partner again and again, he completely unaware of how badly he’s pooching it, us frustratingly powerless to stop him – it all feels a bit like a definitional example of dramatic irony out of a theatre arts textbook, but it’s also effective. So too is watching with a sense of slowly impending doom as the slighted Lucy of course, inevitably succumbs to her most (self) destructive tendencies. The wheel is very far from being reinvented here, but if it all feels a little formulaic, that’s because the formula works.

The one small and impressive wrinkle Murray has added to his script to move past the tired conventions we know (and love?) comes in the third act. Up until then we as an audience had bonded with both Paul and with Lucy primarily as we watched them endure the other’s worst behaviours, but eventually Murray turns a corner and lays bare the spectres that haunt both characters’ psyches, which colours those behaviours if it still does not excuse them.

Still, the rare moments where the characters understand the struggles the other is under and are supportive rather than combative, give the film a lot of heart, and were it not for the bizarre abruptness of its ending, these scenes might propel the film past the land of Obscure Cultural Footnotes, but sadly the last thirty seconds so thoroughly undermine the preceding hour and a half, that if this film is remembered by anyone, undoubtedly, that will be why.

Luzzu: Review. By Jake Peffer.

Luzzu follows Jesmark, a fisherman who tries to sell what he catches around town to local restaurants. He has a wife, Denise, and they have a newborn baby together name Aiden. Aiden is currently not developing the way that he should be so Jesmark and Denise must try some new things with him that will hit their funds a little harder. Along with trying to sell fish Jesmark attempts to try and come up with other ideas to make more money. Eventually, he ends up working in the black-market fishing industry as he tries to do whatever he can to take care of his wife and son.

There’s plenty to like in Luzzu. From the great scenery that takes place all around the ocean to some very good performances by everyone involved. Director Alex Camilleri is able to embrace this town that Jesmark lives in and give the audience a feel for the community. The story here works for the most part however, it feels like there is something missing that could have made this better.

As Jesmark continues to try and provide for his family we see him get involved in circumstances that feel like they should have more of a risk for him. It never really feels like he could lose everything if a mistake were to be made or when he gets involved with the wrong people. With all this going on he still has time to work on his boat, which is where the title of the movie comes from. His boat is the only thing that ever feels like something he could lose. You never really get that feeling from his wife and son that something could happen to them and that feels like a missed opportunity.

For an hour and a half movie this does feel very slowly paced. It felt closer to two hours despite not coming close to it. Despite everything negative this is still overall a decent movie. The performances certainly help lift it up but story wise it would have been nice to get a little more conflict than what is given.