Author: Callum Forbes

Batsh*t Bride…a title like that is enough to make anyone – or people like me at least – feel like they have to see this film. I also feel that the title, being as much a selling point as it was with Snakes on a Plane, it is also something of a detriment to the film itself. The story to this romcom is that a bridezilla wants the perfect wedding.

Heather’s mother had the perfect wedding, and that is exactly what she wants, no matter what. You think of any part of a wedding, she is cherry picking it to perfection. She needs to loosen up, as her friends tell her – only for it to completely backfire when she does.

The reason that I say that the title is a detriment to the film is that when you hear the title Batsh*t Bride you think of a film that is, well, Batsh*t! Something either hyper stylized or artful, or even something that is just raunchy or running at a breakneck pace. That was that mindset that I had when going in. So I was very surprised to find that it felt like a romcom that Reese Witherspoon would have starred in back in the early 2000’s.

Well, maybe that is a bit harsh as I did find the film to be funny. It is well written with some very well crafted jokes. A lot of it is situational humour, with every character reacting very poorly to the situation’s that they are in. The actors, in particular lead actress Meghan Falcone, all have excellent comedic timing as well as charming personalities.

Even when they are meant to be hair-pullingly frustrating, they are so much fun to watch. It really adds to the film’s likability. Romcoms, like any other genre of film, can fall into the meanspirited camp – where everyone and everything, no matter how lighthearted, can feel detestable. But, with Batsh*t Bride, it’s hard not to find the actors likeable.

The film does have a nice message at heart, even if the reveal of this message is both a little heavy handed and sloppy. Outside of this, the film works very well from a story standpoint. While the characters definitely do questionable things, it does all work to a better goal. They grow and learn from their mistakes and the film doesn’t feel malicious like such films as Bride Wars.

An unfortunate letdown is from the films direction. Low budget films can look great. Along the same lines Juno was low budget and that film, for all its faults, looks like it was more expensive. But Batsh*t Bride looks and feel pretty cheap. When the same locations are shot so flatly, it does become evident that they only had a limited amount of sets to shoot on. It is a good thing that we had this script and this cast as the directing was done with little flair, feeling very workman like and uninspired.

I do recommend Batsh*t Bride. It isn’t the kind of film that I usually go for, for I enjoyed it. It was funny and charming, overcoming its faults and making for an engaging watch.

It is something that those who like romcoms will find a lot to enjoy. Still, I will give credit to a film that engaged someone outside of its target audience. Maybe it isn’t as stylish as it should be, but it is more than worth your time.

A Better You is a very Philip K. Dick like tale set in a future that could very well come true. In this world, where apparently social awkwardness has skyrocketed, people are replacing themselves with androids, known as Better You. It’s what it says on the tin – they are you, but without those things letting you down, they are more charming, can dance unlike you and never let anything get to them.

Basically, they are not socially awkward. In this world, we simply follow a man wanting to date a woman and take her to the big dance – he decides to use one of these Better You’s to make the date as perfect as he can make it…until it goes wrong.

A Better You is a charming little chimera of genres. Its part sci-fi, part comedy, part romance and all with an alternate period aesthetic. I don’t say that as a negative because of how charming it is. Usually a film that tries to balance so many different elements finds itself crushed under the weight. That isn’t the case here for two simple but effective reasons. The first is the likable characters, who the film wisely focuses on over the plot. The second is the consistent visual style.

Visually we are looking at what I believe to be a punk style called Atom Punk, not dissimilar from what you may find in Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow or, more recently, the videogame Bioshock Infinite. Everything feels like it comes from the 1950’s or earlier. People dress as they would back then, the TV is a big box featuring a grainy black and white image and even the architecture is reminiscent of the time. There is the odd blimp floating in the sky in most shots.

But there is also computers, social chatrooms and other such advanced technology, such as androids. I think the last time I saw a style like this was in Guillermo Del Toro’s The Shape of Water. I don’t say that lightly because the visuals are worthy of a director of such talent.

The characters are charming and likable, if not all that relatable. The actors do a great job, especially our lead, who is playing two roles for most of the film. It’s fun to see this awkward character interact with something that is meant to be an improvement on him and see him learn lessons about himself.

That being said, while we sympathize with their struggle and the basic level of them being socially awkward, there was something ironically robotic about them. They felt like caricatures more than they did actual characters. It made them feel a little hard to properly relate to.

It’s certainly a film I appreciate on a technical level more than I do a story level. It’s nice and pleasant. It’s just a lovely film to watch. In times like this, it is nice to watch something that makes you feel warm inside. It is very predictable and not exactly the deepest film, with the messages being a little too on the nose. But that isn’t always a bad thing.

If you have fifteen minutes and need something wholesome, this film fits that bill perfectly.

What an irony it is that when a lockdown is in process, I watch a film about a man travelling to a famous city. The story to It Must Be Heaven follows our protagonist, played by Elia Suleiman (who’s character is credited as ES), as he travels to a number of different city locations to escape his home in Palestine. Only to find that no matter where he goes, something will always remind him of Palestine.

I don’t know what it is – I don’t know if it’s because the artist was influenced or maybe it’s because it’s an off beat comedy with Paris as a major setting and I am projecting a little – but this film gave off vibes of Jean-Pierre Jeunet. More Amelie than The City of Lost Children.

It Must Be Heaven felt like it emulated Jeunet’s more quirky cinematography and some of the editing. It isn’t copy and paste, you could play the two films together and notice a difference, but I couldn’t escape it when I noticed it.

I found It Must Be Heaven to be equal parts charming and frustrating. I found the acting to be excellent, completely natural and yet somewhat theatrical – the best example I can use is Alan Bennett’s Talking Heads. I thought that the plot and the delivery of it was realistic and grounded with just a little quirk in it to make things interesting. I wouldn’t say it was arresting but it did keep the attention.

Although there was a strange moment when someone moved to the beat of a pop song that came out of nowhere and was gone just as quickly – little strange that part.

But what was frustrating about it was that it committed one of cinemas most unfortunate crimes to me. It Must Be Heaven is a comedy that isn’t funny. I didn’t laugh once. Not a single joke landed. No quirk made me smile. This meant for me that the film, despite its positives, even the interesting plot and acting, fell flat and was just boring overall. I know, comedy is subjective.

I love Monty Python, Rick and Morty and JoJo Rabbit, I hate American Pie, The Big Bang Theory and anything produced by Seth McFarlane – but I know many who are the opposite, and I respect their opinions. So, this will not be the take of everyone for this film. 

To many, it will tickle the funny bone and will move them with its simple charm. But sadly, it didn’t for me. There were other issues I had. I wasn’t a fan of the music in the film, which didn’t reliably match the tone they were going for. There was a point when I turned from the screen for five seconds to have my drink and I genuinely thought I had changed the channel – it sounded like a horror film. There were other little nitpicks, but none of them were deal breakers.

I just couldn’t get into It Must Be Heaven myself. It is a shame as I do like to watch something nice and quaint every now and then. If you feel that you could do with a little joy, it’s worth a look. I have a feeling we could do with it at this time.

Toni Morrison the Pieces I Am is a documentary film exploring the extraordinary life of highly acclaimed author Toni Morrison, who had sadly passed away during August of 2019. Morrison was famous for her novels, such as Sula, The Bluest Eyes and, arguably most famous of all, Song of Solomon – not to mention winning the Nobel Prize for Literature with her novel, Beloved.

They are famous not only for the quality of Morrison’s writing but for their cultural and historical relevance. They were published at a very important time of course, but they have retained their relevance to this very day. Her way of writing people as people and stories as stories may not sound that profound a thing – but she was a huge help getting black literature on the shelves in every store.

The documentary plays out with Toni Morrison herself discussing herself. From her work, to her themes, to her life in general. We are presented with video clips, interview footage and still images of what she is talking about, highlighting the importance of events and her work. Between footage of Morrison, the film boasts a cast of famous people, such as writer Russell Banks, politician Angela Banks, and Oprah Winfrey – who also starred in the Johnathan Damme directed 1998 adaptation of Beloved. All of whom are telling us how Toni Morrison had touched them and how it had affected their lives.

The film starts with a blank piece of paper, on which someone constructs the photo of a young Toni Morrison, on top of which comes another piece of paper and another constructed photo of an older Morrison. And on it goes until we have Toni Morrison as she was towards the end. It is an excellent metaphor for the film ahead and does play quite literally to the film’s title. But it also gives you an immediate sense of awe and whimsey.

The film uses an excellent visual to successfully hook you, and then relies on Morrison to help carry the rest of it. That’s not to say that the visuals go downhill from there – although they aren’t as powerful as that opening moment. They are nice. The footage and images chosen are perfectly picked and edited. It’s a very good-looking film at the end of it.

But the focus is on Morrison. And she is as captivating to listen to as her books are to read. She has a soft voice that is at one welcoming and full of wisdom. I feel like she could captivate by simply reading a menu. And it’s not just how she speaks, every word she says is interesting.

It feels like a window into her life, and there aren’t too many who can say they had as interesting a life as she had. Director Timothy Greenfield-Sanders knew exactly what he wanted for his film and, more importantly, how to ask it. In other hands, we may not have had something that felt so special.

For those of you who think that it may not be an accessible film due to not having read any of her works – I assure you that isn’t a problem. I haven’t read a single one of Morrison’s work (being more of a sci-fi, horror, fantasy kind of reader myself). I recommend it to anyone. If you feel that it can inspire you or touch you, it will. If you just want a pleasant watch, it works well for that too. All of this hammers in what a loss it was to lose her last year, and how lucky we are that her work will live on.