film reviews, interviews, features | BRWC

Author: Joel Fisher

  • Starting At Zero: Reimagining Education In America – Review

    Starting At Zero: Reimagining Education In America – Review

    Everyone in the world knows that education is important. A good education that is engaging and thought provoking can enable children to reach their full potential, giving them the best future possible.

    Education is not only about studies though, as many other skills can be learned from just being in a school environment. The interactions made and the friendships formed can influence a child at a very young age and stay with them for the rest of their lives.

    Starting at Zero: Reimagining Education in America is a documentary that aims to discuss how beneficial life can be even before children enter the classroom – this stage is what they call Pre-K (pre-Kindergarten). Through interviews with many educators, politicians and education experts, Starting at Zero takes a politically unbiased look at the different ways that children can benefit from a Pre-K environment.

    Split up into 5 episodes, each section looks in detail at every single aspect of life and how parents, teachers and even the friends they make can raise them up, giving their lives the proper start. Starting at Zero even talks to some of the children themselves, because who knows better what they want than the kids?

    Focussing largely on the Alabama Pre-K program, Starting at Zero shows what goes on behind the scenes and how Alabama soon became the gold standard in pre-school education. There’s real passion in the voices of all involved, from the current Governor of Virginia, to the enthusiastic pre-K teachers ready to teach the new generation themselves. However, this means that the documentary can get a little sentimental at times, but this is the future of children that they’re talking about, so a little hope is understandable.

    However, the documentary doesn’t really address the issues surrounding children with learning disabilities such as dyslexia which can be identified at a young age. Hopefully though this means that the program intends to treat them equally rather than ignore them entirely.

    Starting at Zero: Reimagining Education in America may be preaching to the choir because it’s doubtful anybody would disagree with their sentiments, but it’s good to know that the next generation is still being considered so thoroughly.

  • Lake Michigan Monster: Director Ryland Brickson Cole Tews

    Lake Michigan Monster: Director Ryland Brickson Cole Tews

    Lake Michigan Monster is a strange beast. Not the beast itself (sightings unconfirmed), but the film from writer, director and star Ryland Brickson Cole Tews. Lake Michigan Monster is a combination of black and white monster movie pastiche, George Méliès fever dream and a Monty Python sketch that just keeps going and going. I was lucky enough to get a chance to interview the man behind the madness of Lake Michigan Monster and this is what happened.

    So, how did you come up with the idea for Lake Michigan Monster?

    I was sitting on Wine Rock along the shores of Lake Michigan listening to pirate metal with Erick West (Sean Shaughnessy). It was raining and we were smoking Djarum Black Clove Cigarettes and drinking $3 sweet red wine. I turned to my companion and said, “What if a mermaid washed up on shore and we were the only ones around to see it?”

    Did you always intend to direct the film? How did that opportunity come about?

    Of course. No one else would be foolish enough to attempt such an inexplicable act.

    Who or what are your influences when it comes to film and comedy?

    Well for this picture, Guy Maddin, Monty Python, The ‘Burbs, early Sam Raimi, The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, Yentl.

    What made you decide on the visual style for Lake Michigan Monster?

    Necessity. All we had was an old barnacle-ridden camera and our wits. And then of course once Magic Mike Cheslik got involved, we really wanted to make this thing look like it was dug up out of the Earth. The reason was simply to stand out from the other 6 billion movies made every year.

    How would you describe your sense of humour?

    Hit and miss.

    What are your favourite monster movies?

    Hellboy II: The Golden Army. The Troll Market scene had a profound impact on me. And by profound, I mean, you know, it was tight.

    What directors or writers inspire you to make films?

    Japanese filmmakers inspire with their tireless work ethic. Guillermo del Toro with his imagination. Sam Raimi and Bruce Campbell because they grew up in Michigan and also made crazy small budget movies. And of course, Sylvester Stallone and Jackie Chan — writers, directors, actors, ATHLETES.

    What’s your favourite urban monster myth?

    If D.B. Cooper was a werewolf. But since he probably wasn’t, I’ll go with Mothman.

    What’s your great white whale? What’s the one thing that seems out of reach that you want to achieve in your life?

    Actually, I hope to one day slay a whale myself. Preferably an endangered one. (Edit – he’s kidding, definitely kidding)

    What are you doing next? It’s an uncertain time right now, but if you can tell me anything you’ve got lined up then please do.

    The new picture is a supernatural, no dialogue, physical comedy set during the height of America’s fur trade. The name of the movie is HUNDREDS OF BEAVERS.

  • Pearl: Review

    Pearl: Review

    Pearl (Larsen Thompson) lives with her mother, Eve (Sarah Carter) and step-father, Anthony (Nestor Carbonell). Then out of the blue one day, Anthony takes a rifle and shoots her mother, Helen and then himself. Now an orphan, Pearl only has her grandmother, Eve (Barbara Williams) to turn to, but Eve has problems with alcohol which leaves Pearl without many options.

    Pearl’s only hope is to turn to family friends, but through a little digging the family lawyer finds one of Helen’s ex-boyfriends, Jack Wolf (Anthony LaPaglia) who may also be her real father.

    Jack is a suicidal artist with a possible drinking problem, but with very little options, Pearl moves in with the man who may be her real father. Pearl’s exclusive private school has also turned their back on her. Considering the trauma that she has gone through it’s decided that Pearl will have to go to a regular high school.

    Luckily that’s where Pearl meets Sylvia (Melissa Macedo) and they soon hit it off and form an unlikely bond despite Sylvia knowing the extent of Pearl’s privilege. Sylvia also meets a dashing young man named Zack (Nighttrain Schickele) and as their romance blossoms, life starts to get better and she finds that a new life may not be all that bad.

    Pearl is a movie with a ‘made for TV’ quality that was lucky enough to get a digital and Laemmle Virtual Cinema release. Directed and written by Bobby Roth who’s best known for directing episodes of television’s best-known shows, it seems that on this occasion Roth is out of touch with his chosen subject.

    There’s no character development whatsoever, no connection or chemistry among its cast and characters have massive mood swings which make no sense within the relationships they’ve already established, seemingly only done to move the plot along. Even if that means leaving plot threads open.

    There are so many things shoved into the plot that they have little time to breathe, whereas the movie could have been served better concentrating on one or two things (Pearl’s real parentage and the trauma of losing her mother for example). However, Pearl makes no attempt at what could have been an emotional, albeit predictable drama leaving it feeling uninspired.

  • Lake Michigan Monster: Review

    Lake Michigan Monster: Review

    Captain Seafield (Ryland Brickson Cole Tews) is an embittered sea captain on a mission to avenge his father’s death after a terrible sea monster dragged him down to the watery depths after being merely one fathom from the shore as they set off on their seafaring adventure on Lake Michigan. Assembling a ragtag crew, each with a different set of skills, Captain Seafield and Sean Shaugnessy (Erick West), Nedge Pepsi (Beulah Peters) and Dick Flynn (Daniel Long) set out to capture and kill the vile beast so that Seafield’s father can rest in peace.

    However, after many failed attempts, Seafield’s crew starts to lose their faith in their captain, so Seafield sees no other option than to go after the monster himself.

    Lake Michigan Monster is a surreal and hilarious film written, directed by and starring Ryland Brickson Cole Tews that shows what a specific visual style, a low budget and a great script can really do. Coming across at first like a pastiche of typical monster movies made in the Fifties or Sixties, the movie shows much more than just being a parody as Tews’ surreal comedy and eye for cinematic techniques that go as far back as cinema itself make the movie a unique viewing experience.

    While the audience will be laughing at the often silly and sometimes juvenile humour (think somewhere between The Mighty Boosh and Spongebob Squarepants) they may find themselves caught of guard. That’s because despite the obviously low budget, there are times where what the audience sees on screen may remind more seasoned film lovers of the days of silent cinema and the pioneers such as George Méliès.

    At times the movie certainly shows its lack of budget, but that only adds to the charm as it only emphasises the surreal nature and sometimes almost improvised moments that make the audience wonder how the script managed to get to that point.

    Lake Michigan Monster is sharply directed, with a witty script which may make people either chuckle or groan at the confidence of putting such silly jokes into a movie.

    However, audiences will certainly come away surprised and impressed by exactly what could be achieved.

  • Impetigore: Review

    Impetigore: Review

    Maya (Tara Basro) and Dini (Marissa Anita) are best friends who work at toll booths. It’s a boring job, but one night after a mysterious and creepy man gets out of his car and attacks Maya, they realise that they need a change in their lives and need to get away.

    Maya finds out that she’s inherited a house from a relative on the island of Java, and although unsure as to what they will find there, Maya and Dini set out to find out exactly what Maya has been given. However, when they get there, the two women soon find out that they may not be all that welcome and that there is a curse on the town and when the best friends get separated, Maya starts to realise the extent of her inheritance.

    Impetigore is an Indonesian horror movie written and directed by Joko Anwar, famous for directing and writing Indonesian’s biggest horror hit, Satan’s Slaves, and is coming to Shudder exclusively.

    The movie starts off in quite a light hearted way, the relationship between the two women is quite funny and warm and you can tell how close they are from the start and that keeps going for the rest of the movie. However, even before the title card appears the audience will be aware that this is a movie that will play with their expectations and keep them on edge for the duration.

    Basro and Anita play very well off each other and are a believable pair with a close relationship and that closeness feels real, especially when they’re making fun of each other and each of the characters that they meet only add to the creeping horror which is ramped up just when they least expect it.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2RfEwT2LI2M

    For fans of slow burn horror movies that create an eerie atmosphere and delivers a story that’s steeped in lore that will make them wonder if there may be some truth behind the fiction, Imeptigore gives them exactly what they need.

    Impetigore will give audiences a suspenseful, blood by the bucket load kind of horror that will scare, repulse and unsettle its audience right until the final frightening frame.