Author: Callum Forbes

For those who have never seen or heard of The Room, from director, writer, star, producer and executive producer Tommy Wiseau, boy have you been denied an experience. The film, with the basic story of a love triangle where a mans ‘future wife’ (that’s literally what they say instead of fiancée) cheats on him with his best friend (they remind you enough of that fact), was bombarded from day one. The film bombed big time at the box-office, but worse was the critical slaughtering it received – immediately earning the film the label of being the worst film ever made. That is probably where it should have stayed – but something miraculous happened. The film, thanks mainly due to YouTube, gained a cult following for being so bad, so fundamentally flawed beyond repair that it entertained on an unintentionally comedic level.

The Room is quite the sight to behold, but just as interesting was its development and aftermath. Friend of Tommy Wiseau and co-star Greg Sistero, with co-writer Tom Bissell, wrote a book based on the experiences he’d had with Wiseau and the films production. It is from this book that James Franco dedicated himself to bringing this unique and completely absurd yet true story to the big screen.

Greg Sistero was a struggling actor – he was shy and afraid of what people would think when they saw him. Tommy was the exact opposite, putting himself out there to an almost psychotic degree. The two of them bond and after years of unsuccessful struggling to become movie stars – and with help from Wiseau’s seemingly endless supply of money – decide to make a film all of their own. It is then that Sistero sees how controlling and insane Wiseau is, but also realises how much the two of them need each other. It all builds up to the fateful premier, where a mass audience will finally see what talent they have – or lack thereof.

While stylistically different, The Disaster Artist reminded me a lot of Tim Burton’s Ed Wood. The subject matter isn’t massively different, and the theme of a man achieving a cinematic dream only to produce something awful in the end. But what really linked the two together for me was that, while both were comedies and hilarious ones at that, they did not make fun of their respective directors. In fact, they kind of celebrated them, and it’s easy to see why with the passion and drive they have. But, I will admit that The Disaster Artist is the far better film.

James Franco stars as Wiseau and even directs the film. Directing-wise, Franco delivers a very grounded and down to earth film. You really feel like you could be there, like the fly on the wall – which is exactly what we wanted with a film about the making of The Room. This also helps the humour hit with that dry-wit humour it has. It also allows the emotional moments, of which there are a few, hit home. It is an oddly impressive directorial effort from Franco. Made even more impressive when he and the cast recreate scenes from The Room. There is a moment just before the end credits when they play clips from The Room and scenes recreated in The Disaster Artist and it is near uncanny.

James Franco plays Wiseau so convincingly well that I didn’t recognise him once in the film. As Greg Sistero, who is the films main character although Wiseau does have a regular presence, is Franco’s brother Dave Franco. Not only was he played just as well, but the chemistry the two of them share is flawless. I never saw them as brothers, I saw them as friends. It was what had me worried the most, but great writing and performances brought them over that hurdle. Other members of the cast, including Seth Rogan, Josh Hutcherson, Alison Brie and Ari Graynor, all do just as superbly. No performance failed to make me laugh or engage me in the more serious moments.

It’s almost fitting really that The Room, one of the worst films ever made, should lead to the production of a film this good. I have no issues with it outside of some strange uses of shaky-cam here and there – but even these aren’t that noticeable most of the time. This film does ultimately beg the question though, is The Room the worst film ever made? If it has brought so much joy to so many people how could it be? It feels very honest and sincere that way, making it pleasant as well as funny, involving and just plain great.

If you haven’t seen The Room then you can still watch and furrily enjoy The Disaster Artist. I hope that this film, and the story of Wiseau, will inspire and motivate others to bring life to their own stories, no matter how great or terrible the result will be. It may not be as funny as, say, The Death of Stalin, but it feels more sincere and pleasant. This is one that you should not miss. The Disaster Artist is easily one of the strongest, and strangest, films released this year and it deserves all of its ‘Hai Mark’s.

You’d be hard pressed to find someone who at least didn’t know Paddington by name. We all have heard of the marmalade loved bear in the blue coat and red hat. The books have touched many people over a number of generations, with the cartoon being just as charming and successful. Despite this, I was rather surprised when the first live-action Paddington film was released in 2014. But not as surprised as I was when, in a world of cynical cash-grabs that miss the point of their source material entirely – ala Garfield, The Smurfs and that upcoming Peter Rabbit film – we got a film that was charming, visually interesting and almost completely unique while always being respectful. It’s not a film I put on regularly, but I found very little to dislike about it. When I heard a sequel was on the way, I was very interested to see what could be done with it.

Paddington has found the perfect present for his Aunt Lucy – a pop-up book of London. Wanting to please her but unable to afford the gift. He tries to earn it honestly, but when he notices a mysterious figure sealing the book Paddington get framed and arrested for the crime. Paddington aims to get out, while befriending numerous inmates in the process. Meanwhile, the Browns try to prove Paddington’s innocence, and end up finding the real perpetrator in the most amusing of ways.

As you can probably gather, it’s not exactly the deepest story and is very much aimed at families with young children. But, as a film aimed at families, Paddington 2 does a fantastic job. Not only is it fun for children and adults alike, the film still has all the charm, style and respect of the first film. There is an amazing scene where Paddington first sees the book and imagines that being his way of taking Aunt Lucy through the city. In it we see the two of them walking through a paper city with paper people. It’s a great show of visual storytelling, and from it we immediately understand why, to Paddington, this book is so important. It’s moments like this that make the film moving and oddly powerful.

This is of course helped out by the actors. There is no better voice for Paddington than Ben Whishaw. He captures everything about the character, from his innocence, his naiveté and his drive to do good by others. Whether he is acting along big named actors, reacting to the series slapstick or featuring in sweet but hilariously dubbed adverts before the film starts, he is lovable in every sense of the word. Returning as the members of the Brown family are Sally Hawkins, Hugh Bonneville, Julie Walters, Madeleine Harris and Samuel Joslin. All are just as perfectly cast as Whishaw, and deliver their performances with great dedication – made more admirable due to all the silliness they all get involved in.

Besides them are such familiar faces as Peter Capaldi, Jim Broadbent and Ben Miller in numerous minor roles throughout the film. The two new cast members who stood out, by name and performance were Brendon Gleeson as inmate Knuckles and Hugh Grant as our villain. I don’t think either was in a scene that didn’t crack me up, they have both got a grasp on their comedy style, Gleeson as the deadpan straight man and Grant as the absurdist. Casting, and writing wise there are no issues whatsoever.

Even from a directing standpoint, Paul King handles everything near flawlessly. It’s visually nice, sounds great, it’s very funny and sweet. It also has a nice message about how your family will never forget you, and how trivial things like finding ‘the perfect present’ are ultimately not as important as the relationship you share with the person. It’s not really one I see too often, so I appreciated that that was the message King and the crew went for. There is just nothing of fault outside of nit-picking here.

It’s not every day that we can say Paddington 2 has earned a startling 100% on Rotten Tomatoes, but truthfully it has earned it. The only word I can use to describe it is nice. It’s a nice film. And it’s ultimately hard to find fault in such a pleasant and innocent little film. I am glad I saw it. I won’t be rushing to see it again, which I suppose could be seen as a flaw, but the fact that I really liked it in the first place should be praise enough. If you’re struggling to find something to watch as a family this Christmas season, then give this little film a go. I am sure it’ll tide you and your kids over nicely until Star Wars is finally released.

The Unseen is one of those peculiar films. I watched this psychological thriller without any idea as to what is was and allowed myself to be carried along its twists and turns as the story was played out. From the beginning I was given an emotional and thrilling ride and was left satisfied with what I had seen. But once we had reached the end I started to get ahead of the story and I couldn’t help but feel like I had seen all of this before. Not long after it had finished, The Unseen sadly left me wishing for more.

Gemma, a radio and audiobook voice artist, and husband Will, who’s profession we don’t learn, are as happy as can be – then tragedy hits. Their infant son dies in a tragic accident and the grief starts to tear their life’s apart. Things only get worse when Gemma starts suffering from bouts of temporary blindness and Will is driven to the brink of sanity, hearing his son’s voice in the empty bedroom at night. Seemingly by miracle the kind, but down on his luck Paul invites them to stay at the cottage he has in the Lake District. Unfortunately, what sounds like the best plan for them turns into something far worse.

From the get-go this was a very well-acted film. It stars unheard of actors in Jasmine Hyde, Richard Flood and Simon Cotton. From the first act Hyde and Flood completely sold me as the grieving parents. You don’t just feel sorry for them, you feel sorry with them. There are scenes completely dedicated to an action both do out of grief, and big or small they always hit their mark. This includes Gemma telling some kids to ‘be careful’ when climbing on something in the street. Will’s torture is demonstrated perfectly with a scene that involves a goldfish. The writing does help of course, with some excellent material for the actors to work with – but I feel that these actors completely made the roles their own.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QsuL-WximNM

As a story, The Unseen works very well. While the film is probably a little longer than it needed to be – some moments towards the end felt a little redundant to me – it most certainly works as a slow burn, building up the atmosphere as it goes along. There is a scene in the middle of the film where Gemma hears her son’s voice while in the bath and goes blind again. We get this completely through a POV with her and it was genuinely intense. So much so that I felt like I needed a break afterwards. That is a good sign for the film. For the most part, the story is refreshingly different and necessarily upsetting. As the film goes on, though, we start to deviate from the grief drama and the film eventually becomes a pretty generic thriller, but I was still invested with it.

Unsurprisingly, there are twists towards the end. While some of them had me worried about how melodramatic or just plain silly they would be – like a painful twist where a certain character was behind the tragedy, which thankfully never happened – they mostly came off as smart and worked within the tone of the film. At least until you think about them, but the same can be said with most twists.

For the most part, director Gary Sinyor manages to hold the film together very well. It was obviously shot on a tiny budget, most of which was certainly put into the locations and sets. This does lead to moments that you know where done the way they were because they couldn’t afford to shoot it any other way. There is also a pretty dodgy edit here and there – for example, a man is knocked out when he is thrown against a wall, and the edit makes it painfully obvious that the stumble and the impact were shot at different times. But, Sinyor does manage to craft a decent style with the film. The budget does give off a decent sense of realism and the film has a style not dissimilar to an Adrian Lyne film.

But what is it that made me feel hollow about this film. There was a glaring issue with it and it wasn’t the budget or the generic finish. It took me a little bit to work it out. It’s that we never see the child. Not only that, but we only hear him once when he is alive. The film starts with the parents looking for their child, then dread as they look over the now covered family pool – and then it’s over and we get all of their grief afterwards. This is effective for what it is, but we never saw the kid before the accident so there was no connection felt between the audience and the characters. I give credit to the actors and the writing for salvaging what came next – but this was too quickly done to get me even close to invested in the story, both emotionally and as an audience member. The lack of connection this gave me did sadly haunt the film afterwards. I assume that there was a message being made in the absence of the child, or maybe they just couldn’t afford another actor, but either way the decision hurt the film.

Over all, while the film did struggle to invest me emotionally at first, I would say that The Unseen is still worth the watch. It’s actually a film I wouldn’t mind seeing remade with a larger budget. While it’s certainly no award winner, The Unseen’s tight writing, capable directing style and strong cast make it an entertaining and sometimes upsetting film. Handling its subject matter well and never delving into melodrama, The Unseen is definitely a memorable film. Will I watch it again soon, probably not, but I am glad I saw it.

Let’s be honest, who was actually looking forward to this one? Justice League has finally been released – only five years after Avengers Assemble! Justice League is so late to its own party I’m actually amazed that it’s finally happened. The ship has sailed, yet still this passenger turned up to port. But there is still a lot riding on this one, for DC at any rate. Man of Steel was a dull, soulless and overall poor Superman film – not to mention, on a more personal note, I’m not sure I’ve been more bored by a film before or since. But it was at least coherent. More than you could say for Batman Vs Superman: Dawn of Justice, a colossal mess that had its moments – like the warehouse scene – but otherwise was a painful watch. Suicide Squad was a horrible film on almost every conceivable level. Not without it’s joyful moments, but all around just very poor. But with the release of Wonder Woman – a fun and pretty decent woman-empowering action film – and the film it’s all been building to, maybe we have finally hit our turn around.

A new threat has arrived to destroy the world – because taking over it is too much hassle I guess – in the from of Steppenwolf. This new villain is enough to make Batman and Wonder Woman find other powered beings; namely The Flash, Cyborg and Aquaman. They discover the villain’s plan and know what they must do to stop him. The problem is, for their plan and team to work they need someone with more strength, both physically and mentally. They need Superman, but he is dead…

For more on the plot I advise you to put on a copy of either of the Avengers films because it’s the exact same thing. This does mean that we get some interesting (if overblown) action scenes and some nice banter between characters in-between. Honestly, it’s mostly the cast that works in this films favour. Yes, Henry Cavil and Amy Adams are back; and yes when they are together they are both horrible written, badly performed and have the same chemistry as Christenson and Portman did in Star Wars: Attack of the Clones. When separate though, they were passable. I also felt that Ciaran Hinds was a pretty poor choice for our villain, but more on him later. Everyone else, though, were actually really good. Ben Affleck, Jeremy Irons and Gal Gadot return, and while not giving their best performances, did a good job of keeping these characters alive. Our newcomers are Ezra Miller, Ray Fisher and Jason Mamoa. Fisher did well as Cyborg, although he felt rather sidelined. More so was Mamoa as Aquaman – but the charisma he oozed made this a fun character. Miller took the role of Flash and was easily the films highlight. He perfectly played the character, to my understanding anyway, and never failed to be fun and charming all at once.

As for the rest of the film, it’s pretty tough to say. There’s no way of continuing without addressing the elephant in the room. Zach Snyder is credited as the film’s director; but he stepped down when his daughter committed suicide. With this understandable decision made, Avengers director Joss Whedon took over and finished the film with reshoots. I mention this because, to this film’s credit, you can’t tell that two people directed it. Both styles complement each over very well. What does show, however, is that the film was extensively reshot and that over fifty minutes of film had been cut. With production starting just after the release of BVS, I can safely say that this film was rushed. Tonally speaking, Justice League has a very unbalanced structure. It’s dark and full of slaughter at times, but then light-hearted at others. It also feels like it starts about six times. It’s a bad sign when my first reaction to a film is “what’s going on?”

It’s also weirdly pretentious. This film feels like an apology for the previous franchise films and like a celebration of them all at once. The visual style and dialogue all feel like there is something important to say. Like this is the big film that brings these fallen heroes together and fighting evil again. It’s a nice message and I appreciate the effort, but maybe things should be attempted with such seriousness when your film features a fish-man fighting a bad guy called Steppenwolf! Let’s talk about him, shall we? Weird and hilarious name aside, Steppenwolf really stood out to me in this film…as possibly the worst movie villain I have seen in years. He’s boring. He’s ugly to look at. He’s not well acted. He’s not well written. He feels like a henchman to a greater villain who has been given full reigns of the film. I never felt threatened by him. Because of this, my immersion was halted. I could not get into the film at all because I had no feeling that anything was at stake.

It’s not just him. Aquaman has near zero character given to him. The Flash is better off, but it’s mostly from the performance. Cyborg I still know nothing about. The same goes for Batman and Wonder Woman too; but they have had their stand-alones already. These three have not. I have read very few comics, only one of which was a DC comic (Watchmen), so I have no idea who or what these characters are. That’s why I feel I can only recommend this film to fans of DC. If you liked the other films in the DCCU, then this will be perfect for you. If you wish to see your favourite comic heroes on the big-screen, then this will also be perfect for you. But for the majority of audiences, this film will be completely lost on them.

Justice League is fun I suppose, but it’s the worst superhero film of the year. It’s just a mess. However, it is a stumble in the right direction. It’s pretty sad to see that the bold, dark and brooding DC has been forced to copy Marvel after one too many blunders. But, if that means that I get to see less of the films like BVS and Suicide Squad then I’m happy with this little course correction. Despite myself I am glad I saw it, and I can only hope for better down the line.