film reviews, interviews, features | BRWC

Author: Callum Forbes

  • Hard Paint: Review

    Hard Paint: Review

    In Hard Paint we follow Pedro, a shy and socially awkward young man. Pedro has no friends and, with his sister recently moving out to another part of the city, he has no family nearby either. To top this off, he now has to pay the rent on his home entirely alone and must pay the fine that was given due to the noise made at his sister’s moving party.

    However, he finds himself an escape from this life by uploading erotic videos onto a gay website. Here, under the name of Neonboy, he strips down and covers himself in neon body paint.

    Made in and set in Brazil, what we have is a film that will appeal to a good deal of people. Especially those in the LGBTQ community. Before I go further into the film, I will say that I am glad that we are getting more films for the LGBTQ. Respect for this community has come a long way in my lifetime and I am happy with how far we have come.

    That being said, a lot of these LGBTQ films I find to be unfortunately boring. And sadly, Hard Paint was not one to break this trend.

    While I have no complaints to the acting, which is handled very well. Everyone feels natural. Like the sets they are in, the characters feel real and lived in. Like there’s a past to it all, even if we are not told it. I also think that some of the uses of body paint is very well used. It’s a fantastic mix of beautiful and sleezy, and on top of that it is essential to the plot. But as good as these are the film still fell flat.

    My main issue is the camera work, which was just flat. Every shot felt very basic. There are moments that felt like the quieter moments in the Star Wars Prequels – it’s just showing us what we need to see without much style to it. I was fine looking at the scenes with the body paint because otherwise it’s one of the greyest films I’ve seen in a while.

    I have a feeling that the filmmakers were relying on the provocative nature of the film to affect the audience more. I am sure that this will do the trick for many. For me, it wasn’t as provocative as it thought it was. The homosexuality wasn’t as sweet or taboo as other films before it – or done in the ways of such films as Love Simon or Spetters. And the exotic videos aren’t as provocative as such films as Basic Instinct.

    I couldn’t get into Hard Paint. For me it was too dull and just didn’t break any new ground. The online and body paint aspects to it were intriguing and visually nice to look at. But beyond that, it is nothing special. I’ve certainly seen worse and it’s nicer to see something like this over something that was clearly made by a committee.

    If you feel like this film may connect to you, then it will be worth the watch as it’s subject is touchy and will hit home with a lot of people in the end.

  • Zombie Bro: Review

    Zombie Bro: Review

    Zombie Bro follows young girl Francene, Franc for short. Her and her family are a typical family living in Australia. Her father, who is tough on her and who Frank fears hates her is a cop. Her mother, who always takes her father’s side in an argument is a nurse. And finally there’s her brother Teddie, who seems to get all of her parent’s affection and she is jealous of.

    Oh, and Teddie’s a zombie!

    After seeing Teddie attack others it’s up to Franc to tell her delusional parents that Teddie has killed and will kill again, and that they are most likely next on the menu. In the meantime, Franc learns how to defend herself, make friends and even comes to meet and know her hero – her father.

    This year I have seen a number of big films. Avengers, Godzilla, Captain Marvel, Hellboy, Pet Semetary and the like. All big and technically impressive and structurally sound and soulless. Just soulless.

    Not without entertaining moments or aspects to them, but you can feel the corporate hands and the chill of money in the air. So I feel that when I see a film like Zombie Bro – small, simple and full of passion, letting me know that this was a film someone needed to make – I find it nice. It reminds me why I love film.

    Zombie Bro has a very ‘let’s meet up after work and get filming’ feel to it. I mean that as a compliment. I felt the same way with New Zealand black comedies, Taika Waititi’s What We Do in the Shadows and, to a greater extent, Peter Jackson’s Bad Taste. It impresses you with how much can be done on such a small budget. The Zombie make-up in this isn’t great, looking like Halloween face-paint than anything.

    This may also be because Teddie is a child and they didn’t want to use more than that just in case. We are restricted to only a few locations, with the house taking the chunk of the film. The kills scenes are also very lacking, and even a little clumsy at times, especially the attack on the kid in the gym.

    What works about the film is the performances and humour. Everybody, even the kids, are able to sell this ridiculous concept. They are given quirky dialogue and silly scenarios – again, the brother is a zombie and nobody is any the wiser to it – but they play it with a straight face and the right amount of seriousness and self-awareness that it has the comedy hit home where it needs to. The moment that got me the most was when homework was given out by the teacher to write a poem on anything they’d like, saying “this could be on cows, or trees, or on the Mexican drug cartels”. The script is littered with examples like that.

    But at the centre of it all, Zombie Bro has a good heart. It cares about the story that it’s telling and the bonding of the daughter and father is very sweet. Take out this zombie plot and you are left with a quirky little drama about a daughter who thinks her dad hates her and a dad who can’t find any common ground with his child. It all comes together very effectively.

    The passion for the film shows itself with every frame and it’s definitely something I will remember. It’s a nice little reminder that not everything has to be big. I wouldn’t call it the best film that I have seen all year, but it’s easily one of the sweetest and most sincere. 

  • Chasing Shadows: Review

    Chasing Shadows: Review

    It feels like you can’t move for murder mysteries. This has been the case for decades. Numerous films, TV shows and, more recently streaming programmes follow this story. The detective who is down on his and/or in a slump – extra points for drinking or smoking habit or drug addiction – preferably in a trench coat with thick stubble. In a world of this over saturation, it’s easy to understand that it’s hard to find a way to tell this story in a different way. 

    Examples of this done well are Columbo, where we see the murder and motivation in its full and then see how the case was solved. Dexter where a series killer is killing over serial killers, using the guise of a murder mystery. And The Silence of the Lambs, which used the relationship between a killer and a cop, and played around with tone and legitimate disturbing content and imagery that it felt more like a horror film than a mystery.

    I bring this up because Chasing Shadows – for all its good intentions – does not break out and give a new voice to the murder mystery formula. Henry is a private investor, who is hired by the police to help them solve the extremely grizzly murder of a woman. However, the longer Henry spends on the case the more of a tole it takes on his marriage and mental health. Then more and more women are killed in equally brutal ways – there is officially a serial killer on the loose. All of this coincides with Henry’s new neighbour, the scar-faced Max, moving in…

    As a plot it does the job. As a look at these characters, and the themes of what you see affecting you are well done. I have no issues with these points, as they did work for the film. But they did just that – do their job, nothing more. There are also points in the plot and character development that were more than a little familiar. It felt like Luther, with moments of Kill List, Zodiac and Dirty Harry – before it all goes full blown Se7en at the end. I know, there is that theory of there only being seven or so original stories and that everything is inspired by one thing or another. But the best of them manage to either bring something new to the table or manage to feel different. That is where Chasing Shadows falls short.

    In terms of acting and film making, Chasing Shadows is a mixed bag. Some of the early visuals and the attack scenes are very well constructed and visually nice, despite what is clearly a restrictive budget. The opening alone felt like Panic Room’s opening, and I mean that in a good way. It was good, haunting stuff. But then we get very flat looking talking scenes (partly to do with budget restrictions and the filmmakers not really finding the best way around it) and some horrible editing. Sometimes the editing is smooth and blends the film, carefully knitting one scene to the next. Other times it’s a straight jump, sometimes leaving the feeling that the previous scene was unfinished as we jumped.

    The acting has a strange paradox and perfectly demonstrates what how important the tone of a scene can be. The actors, all fine and doing well, do feel a bit like they are line reading throughout the film. Now, in the investigation scenes or when Henry is talking to the cops or the chief or even with Max, this weirdly works. It feels like funeral talk. Like when you mingle with people at the wake of a close one. For a film about death I found that fairly interesting. Other times though, it just felt like people reading the lines as they got them. The scenes between Henry and his wife, or Max and Henry’s wife, or the two cops together really suffered for this.

    Chasing Shadows is at the end a watchable and fine little murder mystery. Focus is placed more on the killer than you’d be expecting, but his motivation isn’t as deep as the film seems to think it is. It has a good story and its tone is certainly in the right place. I think, unfortunately, the film lacks ambition. It feels like it’s constrained by its genre as opposed to embracing it. If you like this sort of film, or have a passing interesting in films like those of Shane Meadows or Ben Wheatley (though admittedly not as strong) then I think it’s worth a watch. It’s certainly not boring. I just feel like it needed a little more to help it stand out.

  • Review: Peggy

    Review: Peggy

    Peggy is what society would call a typical, stay at home wife. She is a mother to five children yet doesn’t show any signs of it at all. She owns a lovely, tidy house with a pristine garden. She has an attractive and successful husband, who is a wonderful and loving father to their children. She cooks purely organic and vegan food and is completely prim and proper.

    For this, everybody hates her. Everyone. Her husband, and presumably her kids included. So, everyone on the street is invited to attend her son’s big birthday – and decide to stick it to her with buying presents they know she will not approve of. But beneath her gorgeous exterior, something dark and psychotic lurks within…

    Peggy was a very creative and very funny short to me. The film does a great job of making Peggy detestable with having her do literally nothing throughout the whole film. The way she talks, the way she acts, the way she moves, the way she simply exists is intolerable. I loved hating her. The second the dog is introduced, Peggy becomes something more sinister. But even then, she doesn’t do anything. I’m not saying that to complain. I thought that she was great – the character and the actress playing her.

    There was a clever idea on the filmmaker’s part to have Peggy and her lifestyle feel like something from the 1950’s – from the way she dresses to the way she acts socially – almost like she’s a Stepford Wife, but then having everything and everyone around her feel more modern. This is clearly in the 2010’s. It helps to create this separation between Peggy and the world around her. It feels like everyone at the party is against her.

    This isn’t like Carrie, where it feels meanspirited and like bullying – you get where they are coming from. We all know those people – we don’t agree with them or are simply envious of them. It leads to some very funny internal monologues. One particular internal monologue about how Peggy looks after five children made me laugh harder than it probably should have.

    Peggy Teaser from Justin Miller on Vimeo.

    At first, I was a bit torn about how it was shot. It’s light and whimsically shot – feeling a little like a 90’s – 2000’s kid’s films. The colours are bright and the cinematography feels fluid. A part of me wanted the films to feel like one shot in the ‘50’s, with the static camerawork and maybe a grainy feel. But as it went on, I found that the filming done was perfect for the product. It keeps us on the side of the guests, not Peggy, and makes the ending feel parodical.

    Without wishing to spoil, I loved the ending. The scene involving the owl had me in stitches. It’s a good show of how important tone is in your film. What happens is, by itself, horrific. It could easily be something in a horror or thriller film, and could be very disturbing. But, executed in this light-hearted and whimsical way, it was hilarious. It’s like the bit from Robocop when ED-209 shoots up that office worker – despite the horror it is simply hilarious, and sticks with you for how much it makes you laugh.

    Peggy is certainly worth a watch. If you like your dark comedies then it’s simply a must. I can’t find any fault with it. I am one of those people who laughs at anything in the real world, but can watch a comedy without breaking a smile. So, to say that this film had me laughing as much as it did is a huge compliment from me. Just put it on and enjoy watching a woman that we’ll all love to hate.

  • Ranked: Guillermo Del Toro Films

    Ranked: Guillermo Del Toro Films

    Neil Marshall’s Hellboy is the latest in this long line of Superhero films out there. It also happens to be one of the worst ones to date if Rotten Tomatoes is to be believed. So I’d say that, if skipping Hollywood’s latest bowl movement is not an option for you, then now would be a good time to watch not one but two charming, modern monster movie classics. What helps these original two films stand out in a world oversaturated with well made but safe and samey superheroes is none other than their director – Guillermo Del Toro.

    Throughout his career, Del Toro has proven himself to be among the greatest directors of our age. He’s certainly my personal favourite. From movies to TV, even books and videogames, Del Toro is a man with a great deal of stories under his belt. With a love of monsters, insects and fairy tales, as well as a distinct style, a focus on practical and make-up effects and an eye for the gothic, all of his films are as unique as they are entertaining.

    With ten films in his filmography, it’s probably a good time to look at them – from weakest to best – and praise the unique and weird, before we all go and see the new standard and bland.

    10 – MIMIC

    Del Toro’s second film is known for it’s troubled production and Del Toro’s displeasure in it. Honestly, while Mimic isn’t that bad – in fact, it’s still a pretty solid and enjoyable monster movie – it is easy to understand why. The story of genetically modified termites, created to kill cockroaches that are carrying a disease that is killing numerous children, only for the creatures to grow and hide amongst us, does sound like it lends itself well to Del Toro’s style. But of all of Del Toro’s films, this feels the least like a Del Toro film.

    A huge part of that is thanks to producer and now defamed and shamed Harvey Weinstein. If one half of what I have read really happened during this films production, then it sounds like filming Mimic was a living hell. The most pressing issue that comes of this is the fact that this feels like Somebody wanted to make a gothic horror film, almost like a vampire film, and someone else wanted to make an Alien spin-off. It’s an unfortunate mess of tones and the pacing is surprisingly slow too.

    That being said, we still have some great moments of chilling atmosphere towards the start and thrilling action towards the end. Our characters, while not great are perfectly likable. The performances are good across the board and it is visually nice. And despite the tonal and pacing issues, the story itself does work well enough. It just feels like a missed opportunity. There is a director’s cut of the film out there, but it still feels like entire scenes need to be re-shot before it can truly be called a director’s cut. At the end of the day, Mimic is still worth a watch, despite what Del Toro says. But I think that we can all agree that this is as low as they come.

    Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6