film reviews, interviews, features | BRWC

Author: Caillou Pettis

  • National Lampoon’s Vacation: Review

    National Lampoon’s Vacation: Review

    National Lampoon’s Vacation: Review – Clark Griswold (Chevy Chase) decides to embark on a cross-country expedition from Chicago to an LA amusement park with his family. Their vacation turns into a nightmare when they encounter several hurdles.

    It may be hard to believe, but this week, Harold Ramis’ National Lampoon’s Vacation celebrates its 37th anniversary. Even though I wasn’t alive when the movie was released in theatres, it’s still hard to believe and it makes me incredibly nostalgic too. I basically grew up watching Vacation. Seriously. I can’t remember an exact age, but the first time I saw this movie was when I was extremely young. Maybe seven or eight years old. Is it the most appropriate film for a young child to watch? Not really. But I watched it anyway and loved every single second of it.

    Since I loved it so much on my initial viewing, I watched it numerous times over throughout the years. The Vacation movies are somewhat of a tradition in my family. Every summer we watch this film at some point, and about two weeks before Christmas Day, we all gather around to watch Christmas Vacation, which is our personal favorite in the long-running series. That being said though, Vacation is without a doubt my favorite road trip film of all time. There are plenty of great ones, and I’ll admit, Planes, Trains and Automobiles does come quite close, but there is just something so oddly endearing about watching Clark Griswold and his family embark on the most mishap-filled vacation of their lives.

    Rewatching this film today made me feel as if I were a kid again. What made this rewatch all the more special is that I watched it together with my mom and dad, just like how I grew up watching it countless times over growing up. Despite the fact that we have probably seen the movie about fifty times (no exaggeration), we still laughed so hard our stomachs hurt.

    We all know that John Hughes was one of the most legendary and influential filmmakers of the eighties, but I sometimes feel as though he doesn’t get enough credit for his absolutely hilarious screenplay here. Mostly everybody adores The Breakfast Club and the aforementioned Planes, Trains and Automobiles, but I think that his script for Vacation is without a doubt his most impressive and most comedic as well. This film has a total running time of ninety-eight minutes which is fairly standard for comedies. Sometimes though, a comedy can feel as if it outstays its welcome and there becomes a point in which the jokes just aren’t landing anymore. But not with Vacation. Every little mishap that happens on the Griswold’s adventure is sure to make you laugh and will keep you entertained all the way up to the closing credits.

    Vacation holds some of the most outrageously funny moments in cinematic history. As I said, I have seen this movie probably fifty times or more. I knew every single thing that was going to happen in the movie, yet I still laughed as though I had just seen it for the very first time. That’s because the script is so timeless and the jokes are still just as funny as they were more than thirty years ago.

    One of the greatest moments in the film is when Clark sees a woman he finds to be attractive and wants to impress her so he starts dancing while he is holding a sandwich that he’s about to eat. He takes a big bite only to be told by his wife Ellen that the family dog had peed all over the sandwiches which makes Clark spit the whole thing on the ground. There’s also the moment where Clark punches the Wally World moose mascot right in the nose or the scene in which the Wagon Queen Family Truckster goes airborne fifty miles in the desert.

    But one scene that I have always found to be hilarious seems to be one that not a lot of people take notice of. In one of the earliest scenes in the film, Clark and Ellen are discussing their exciting trip to Walley World while they are doing dishes. A hilarious little tidbit that can be hard to spot is that Clark never actually cleans the dishes before putting them back in the cupboard. Ellen hands Clark dishes to wash, but instead of washing them, he simply takes a rag and rubs it on the cutlery and plates for a few seconds and just puts them away. It’s a small moment but it’s so funny. Once you notice it, you’ll be sure to appreciate the scene and the film as a whole even more.

    This is just one of the most feel-good comedies ever made. It’s the definition of a perfect summer road-trip movie that will always stand the test of time. I honestly can’t see this film being boring or outdated in the future. This Griswold family adventure will forever remain a staple in the comedy genre, even thirty more years from now.

    National Lampoon’s Vacation is an outrageously hilarious road-trip comedy filled with tons of heart and goofy moments that still stand the test of time.

  • Possessor: The BRWC Review

    Possessor: The BRWC Review

    Tasya Vos (Andrea Riseborough) is an agent for a secretive organization that uses brain-implant technology to inhabit other people’s bodies, driving them to commit assassinations for the benefit of high-paying clients. But something goes wrong on a routine job, and she soon finds herself trapped in the mind of a man whose appetite for violence rivals her own.

    Brandon Cronenberg’s Possessor is a movie that I had heard a lot about in my circle of film friends. Various people kept telling me how great the film truly is and said that it would be right up my alley. I don’t know why I put off watching the movie until now because now that I have seen it, I can confirm that this is very much up my alley. As a matter of fact, Possessor is one of the best films of the year so far and is an extremely impressive sci-fi horror, unlike anything we’ve seen before.

    Right from the beginning, Cronenberg reels you in with the zaniness of the world that he created here. The first scene is filled to the brim with immense tension and makes you wonder what is going on and makes you want answers. Along the way, we definitely get some answers but we are also left with even more questions, but not in a bad way. Just when you think you may have figured something out, the film makes you think again and changes the way you saw the previous scenes. The script that Cronenberg wrote is marvelous and has plenty of twists and turns that will shock you.

    But about that world that I mentioned earlier – it is grimy and extremely gross. One of the more intriguing aspects of Possessor is that there are essentially no characters that we are supposed to be rooting for. They are all bad people living in a money-hungry world run by crime and hopelessness. Seeing this world come to life was tragic and oftentimes gut-wrenchingly brutal.

    Not only is the world that these characters inhabit brutal, but so is the movie as a whole. Possessor is a massively violent film with tons of blood to satisfy lots of horror fans, but it is thankfully never done in a distasteful way, nor is it the only thing the film has to offer. We get little bits and pieces of violence sprinkled throughout and instead of being impressed by the blood, I winced every time somebody got hurt on screen. It looked visceral and disgusting in all the best ways.

    Aside from all of the stellar aspects to the film’s world and its handling of violence, it’s also just an incredible display of the actors’ talents. Andrea Riseborough is terrific in the scenes that she is physically seen in since she is the main character that possesses other’s bodies. But even better than Riseborough is Christopher Abbott. Every single second he is on screen was remarkably terrifying and thrilling. Here, Abbott delivers an extremely nuanced performance; one that is filled with a sense of raw intensity and quite simply one of the best performances of the year.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VkQn7W_Qio0

    As great as the movie is though, there are some moments where the story becomes a bit too confusing and I often found myself wondering what was going on during certain scenes, particularly in the third act. Gratefully though, the film isn’t too confusing or messy for the long run and is ultimately one of the most intense horror thrillers I’ve seen in a long time. Here’s hoping that Cronenberg makes a new film in the new future because if it’s anything like this, it’s sure to be yet another gem.

    Possessor is an incredibly visceral and chilling horror-thriller with an eerie sense of dread looming throughout, further boosted by the excellent performances and haunting atmosphere.

  • Black Is King: The BRWC Review

    Black Is King: The BRWC Review

    A young African king is cast out from his family into an unforgiving world. He subsequently undergoes a journey “through betrayal, love and self-identity” to reclaim his throne, utilizing the guidance of his ancestors and childhood love. The story is told through the voices of present-day Black people.

    It should go without saying at this point that Beyoncé Knowles-Carter is one of the most influential people in the world right now. Not just in the entertainment industry. Virtually everything the iconic singer-songwriter puts out gets widespread acclaim and for good reason. She is an expert at crafting music that feels real, raw, and powerful at every chance she gets. Lemonade didn’t get all of those GRAMMY nominations for no reason.

    Although the 2019 Lion King remake was a film that I overall greatly disliked, her soundtrack songs for the film were an absolute delight to listen to. Her songs were one of the only things that were keeping me from being bored out of my mind when watching that movie.

    What I am trying to get at is this – I am a Beyoncé fan. She makes some incredible music and is an inspiration to millions of people all around the world. That is why I was very surprised when I heard about the release of Black Is King, a musical/visual album of sorts released in the style of a traditional film on Disney+. Just like I had hoped, this is an amazing film and perhaps the most relaxing film of the year so far. It may feel extremely short due to its eighty-five minute running time, but it is nevertheless a visual and musical feast for the eyes and ears.

    Right from the opening scene alone, the movie reels you in with its sense of intense power and visual storytelling that only a few people would be able to pull off as well as Beyoncé does here. Every single shot in Black Is King feels important and is put to good use. There was never a moment anywhere in this film where I felt as though a certain scene felt out of place or wasn’t long enough. They all feel like they tell important pieces of the story and they all felt like they belonged.

    Something else that surprised me here was how amazing the music was. I don’t know why I was so surprised by that considering that I love Beyoncé’s music. Maybe my mindset was that since this was a film for Disney+, the music wouldn’t be as great as the rest of her discography, but thankfully, that is not the case here. I found myself getting heavily into every last song in the film, with plenty of them actually causing me to tap my feet while watching and listening. I don’t do that often, either. Only when I find a song I really, really like, and this movie has lots of songs just like that.

    When it comes to issues with the film, it does suffer from not having a traditional narrative. The film is told entirely from the perspective of music and visual shots with only a few lines of actual dialogue in the form of narration by Beyoncé sprinkled throughout. It can feel like it is a little bit style over substance every once in a while, but gratefully, that is not the case for the majority of the movie.

    If you are a massive fan of Beyoncé, this film is more than likely going to give you everything you wanted and so much more. It’s filled with catchy, meaningful songs that will not only stick in your head for days after hearing them but will leave you pondering about the meaning of life, the world, and our universe.

    Black Is King is an immensely powerful and massively entertaining film from Beyoncé filled with catchy and remarkably moving music.

  • Yummy: Review

    Yummy: Review

    A young couple travel to a shabby Eastern European hospital for plastic surgery. The young woman wants a breast reduction. Her mother comes along for yet another face-lift. Wandering through an abandoned ward the boyfriend stumbles upon a young woman, gagged and strapped to an operating table; she is the result of an experimental rejuvenation treatment. He frees her, but does not realize he just caused the outbreak of a virus that will change doctors, patients and his mother-in-law into bloodthirsty zombies.

    The only thing that Lars Damoiseaux’s Yummy has in common with the Justin Bieber song of the same name is that they share the exact same title. Well, that, and they are both extremely weird and leave a bitter taste in the mouth. Not yummy at all.

    This film starts out fairly simple with not a whole lot of gory sequences coming at us for a little while. That being said though, the film does have some extremely questionable moments in the first ten minutes alone. Moments that are going to make a ton of viewers feel quite uncomfortable but not in the way the filmmaker’s intended. There are odd sexual references and cringe-inducing lines of dialogue right off the bat, making it hard to get invested in anything at first.

    Thankfully, as the movie progresses, it does become more entertaining to watch with plenty of bloody goodness to behold. Of course, this comes with a price though. It’s a blast to watch zombies getting killed and buckets of blood and gore being dumped all throughout the running time, but after a while, it outstays its welcome. There was a point while watching the film, about forty minutes in, where I realized that this movie doesn’t really have a story. It’s just mindless blood and guts with no substance at all.

    Those that are looking for a film with deep themes and messages about plastic surgery and the dangers of it are not going to be too pleased with this one. If you are looking for a genuinely scary and unsettling movie about plastic surgery, I highly recommend you check out Doyeon Noh’s short Human Form. It may only be twelve minutes long, but I am not exaggerating when I say it’s one of the most disturbing movies I have ever seen. That includes feature-length ones too.

    I was hoping that Yummy was going to be a similarly interesting look at plastic surgery and the horrors of it, just with a bunch of blood added into the mix. Sadly, it’s just blood. Everywhere. After a while, it is definitely not yummy, but rather, disgusting to have to finish. It has its moments of fun and amusement, but its terrible sense of humor and virtually non-existent story make this film yucky.

    Yummy offers some over-the-top bloody goodness but it doesn’t have a compelling story, nor does it delve into its interesting themes nearly enough as it should.

  • The Kissing Booth 2: Review

    The Kissing Booth 2: Review

    Elle Evans (Joey King) just had the most romantic summer of her life with her reformed bad-boy boyfriend Noah Flynn (Jacob Elordi). But now Noah is off to Harvard, and Elle heads back to high school for her senior year. She’ll have to juggle a long-distance relationship, getting into her dream college with her best friend Lee (Joel Courtney), and the complications brought on by a close friendship with a handsome, charismatic new classmate named Marco (Taylor Perez). When Noah grows close to a seemingly-perfect college girl (Maisie Richardson-Sellers), Elle will have to decide how much she trusts him and to whom her heart truly belongs.

    Alita: Battle Angel, District 9, World War Z, and Zootopia – all of those are movies that people have been wanting to get sequels to for many years. Vince Marcello’s The Kissing Booth was definitely not one of them, yet, here we are in 2020 with a sequel to that film. A film that was so painfully bad, corny, and trope-filled that it was hard to sit through. Not only that, but it was a film that featured a toxic relationship and passed it off as okay. It seems as if a lot of people truly like the character of Noah, and I will never understand why. After being smacked on her behind at school, Noah tells our lead protagonist Elle that she was “asking for it” due to the way she dressed.

    Yet at the end of that first film, spoiler alert, the two of them get together and I couldn’t help but feel completely put off by that. The way the screenplay handled its lead character Elle was extremely bad. There were so many things to complain about with that first film. The romance, the attempts at humor, the love drama. Thankfully, though, the running time wasn’t one of them. Even though the first film was only one-hundred and ten minutes, it felt much longer than that.

    But The Kissing Booth 2‘s running time is one-hundred and thirty-one minutes and you can definitely feel it dragging along. In this film, we pick up right where we left off the first time around. Keeping in tradition with the previous installment, this movie also begins with our lead character Elle blandly narrating points of her life ever since the end of the first film. It’s frustrating because this opening is supposed to let us have a peek at what has happened in the life of our main character, but instead, it just comes across as a massive exposition dump scene and that’s exactly what it is. It feels like the screenwriters Vince Marcello and Jay Arnold had no idea how to visually tell this, so instead, they just threw a bunch of information at the audience in the first couple of minutes and hoped they liked it. I, for one, didn’t.

    This sequel is so much similar to its predecessor that it’s not even funny. It plays out virtually the exact same which was equal parts confusing and annoying. There never comes a scene anywhere in the film where we get justification for this sequel even existing. They could have ended it all with the last one, but they decided to make another because they knew that a lot of teenagers were going to watch it and they would make money.

    The formula for both movies feels the exact same and they each have no surprises up their sleeves. The story on display not only comes across as sappy and predictable, but tired and slow-paced. In the first thirty to forty minutes of the film, we just watch scenes of Elle playing Dance Dance Revolution at the arcade with her best friend Lee, Elle talking to Lee about how much she misses Noah, and scenes of her accidentally embarrassing herself at school. All of those things also happen in the first film too, by the way. I just don’t understand why the film needed to be as long as it is. It wouldn’t be a problem had the film used up every precious second of its running time and put it to good use. Using it to excellent flesh out its characters, give them reasons to care for their plight, and actually make the love triangle here entertaining enough to watch. But, instead, they spend nearly half of the film showing our characters just goofing around and making the love triangle extremely boring and cringe-inducing.

    If I had to scrounge around my mind and come up with one thing about the film that genuinely didn’t bother me it would have to be Joey King. I want to make it crystal clear that I think she is a terrific actress. She has proven this in the past with the television series The Act, and her performance there garnered a ton of attention during awards season. It’s one of the reasons why I’m so surprised that she is still taking on roles like this.

    To put it bluntly, this film just doesn’t deserve an actress of her caliber. It’s obvious to tell when watching the movie that she is an extremely talented actress. While trying my best to power through this cinematic bore, I couldn’t help but wish I was watching something else with her in it. Something a lot better.

    Joey King and Joel Courtney actually have good chemistry with one another and they honestly feel like they are best friends in real life. I don’t know if they truly are, but if you told me that they were, I would believe you one-hundred percent. But at the end of the day, just because your two lead actors feel like they are having fun in a film doesn’t make the film as a whole good. All of these actors deserve to be working on better projects in the future, and one can only hope that’s what happens sometime soon. This movie fails on all accounts. It fails at being a sweet romance film, it fails at developing an interesting and memorable lead character, and it fails at doing the most important thing – telling a good story.

    The Kissing Booth 2 is a tremendously predictable, cringe-inducing sequel with an incredibly slow pace, bland characters, and a central romance that feels tired.