Author: Joel Fisher

Abel’s (Louis Garrel) girlfriend, Marianne (Laetitia Casta) has something to tell him. She’s pregnant and the father is one of their good friends, Paul. On top of that because of Paul’s parents and their values on pregnancy out of wedlock, they must get married as soon as possible. In fact, they’re getting married very soon… in ten days.

Some years later, Abel and Marianne reunite, for Paul’s funeral, and it isn’t long before their feelings for each other start to reignite, despite Marianne’s son, Joseph (Joseph Engel) and his wild imagination nearly pulling their relationship apart.

Then there’s Eve (Lilly-Rose Depp), Paul’s younger sister who has always had a crush on Abel since she was a child, but now that she’s a grown woman and despite her slight awkwardness whenever she sees him, she decides that now is the right time to make her move.

A Faithful Man is a quirky French romantic comedy that at first seems like something of a vanity project. After all, Louis Garrel is not only the lead, but is also the co-writer and director, so the whole thing starts to feel like a male fantasy gone out of control. However, behind this romantic comedy’s unusual set up is a morality tale of sorts that tells the audience that having is not always as pleasing as wanting.

As the story goes on, the love triangle does start to get a little convoluted and when Paul has to make a big decision it may divide the audience. However, this is the point where the movie saves itself at the very last minute as it pulls back, showing the reality of everybody getting what they always wanted.

At the heart of the story is a tale of grief, regret and loss, with every character longing in some way for something they have lost and wishing that things had turned out differently.

However, despite some unusual behaviour from some of its characters, the part of the story that the audience may have forgotten is the part that ties it all together. A Faithful Man gives its audience pause for thought as it comes to its final moments and feels more substantial than its short running time, but its mixture of dark comedy and underlying drama manages to keep a steady balance.

When fisherman, Gisigu (Stonehorse Lone Goeman) uncovers an outbreak on the isolated Mi’gMaq reserve of Red Crow he brings his community together so that they can be prepared for the repercussions. Six months later and there are differing opinions on how to deal with things as it seems that the people in the Mi’gMaq reserve are the only ones that are immune from the disease.

Traylor (Michael Greyeyes) and his wife, Joss (Elle Maija Tailfeathers) are doing the best to keep order in a time of chaos, but when Lysol (Kiowa Gordon) becomes restless, the draw of the outside world gets ever closer, becoming even more dangerous.

Blood Quantum is a slow burn zombie horror movie and Shudder exclusive from writer/director Jeff Barnaby. However, Blood Quantum is not just another exciting name given to a zombie movie. It refers to a colonial blood measurement used to determine an individual’s Indigenous status which has sadly been so often used as a tool to erase Indigenous people. So, bearing all that in mind Blood Quantum is not just another flashy, violent and seriously broody zombie horror, as it has a unique point to make at the heart of its story.

The way that the movie progresses is more thoughtfully paced and meaningful than the average zombie movie, so it may not be for people who are just looking for a blood and gore fest. It also may not be for people who may not be coping with the current situation either, because at the time of writing some of the dialogue may touch a nerve.

However, Blood Quantum does indeed deliver on its pints of blood while bringing a realism and human story that not many would have considered. It does so with great cinematography, a nuanced and well thought out cast of characters and a metaphor less on the nose than is brought up in movies such as Dawn of The Dead.

Having something more in common with World War Z (the book, not the movie) rather than Zombieland, Blood Quantum gathers together a cast of characters which the audience will care about.

The occasional cliché can be forgiven as they are staples of the genre, but Blood Quantum shows that with the right voices behind the camera, there may still be some weight left in a genre that many think may have run out of ideas.

Robert the Bruce is one of Scotland’s most famous icons in their entire history. Ruling as king for 26 years, Robert the Bruce led the battle that fought off the English and had Scotland’s independence truly recognised by all. In 1995, Mel Gibson directed and starred in Braveheart, the story of William Wallace, Scotland’s first hero and in which Angus Macfayden played Robert the Bruce. Twenty-five years later and Macfayden reprises the role in the story of what brought Robert the Bruce to lead his country and claim victory and freedom in the name of independence.

Picking up not long after the events of Braveheart, Scotland is in turmoil and with no rightful heir to Scotland’s throne, the fight against the English becomes more desperate than ever. After a confrontation with John Comyn (Jarred Harris), Robert flees and is instantly decried as an outlaw, so with both the English and the Scottish all eager to claim the bounty on his head, Robert the Bruce goes into hiding until a kind family takes him in.

Robert the Bruce is clearly a passion project for Angus Macfayden who not only stars, but co-wrote the screenplay and after the huge success of Braveheart it is indeed good to see a true Scot play one of Scotland’s finest heroes. However, for those who are expecting the story to pick up and show exactly what made Robert the Bruce such a great man and what made the Scottish people stand by him to reclaim the independence in the face of the English – they may be waiting a while.

While the movie is indeed about Robert the Bruce, it feels like there has been an attempt at showing what his presence means to his people. This means that the audience are introduced to a family as Robert the Bruce hides in huts and bushes to evade capture. Unfortunately, the attempt at trying to ingratiate the audience with this family is not all that successful as most of them would have wanted to see more of the titular character.

Therefore, when he is found by the family and the majority of them proudly take them in to tend to his wounds, for those unfamiliar with his story they may be wondering why the family’s reaction is so strong and yet so divided.

This leads to the second half of the movie where the family gets to know Robert and vice versa, but yet it still seems that an opportunity has been wasted in the script to show exactly why they would so happily follow the great man into battle.

Robert the Bruce is beautifully shot though, with another location standing in suitably for Scottish landscape, although even then it would have been good to see more variety as even though it snows a lot in Scotland, I wouldn’t imagine there would be so much settled for such a long time.

Robert the Bruce misses so many opportunities and it seems that a lot of that lies in the restraints of the budget. The costumes look wonderful, the Scottish accents are mostly ok and when it comes down to showing what would be the climax, the budget really can’t handle it so it leaves the audience feeling like they were left out of the bigger picture.

Dr. Mia Jansen (Maya Stojan) is a psychologist and UFO sceptic. With a small team, Dr. Jansen starts making a documentary about alien abductions and paranormal phenomenon which she believes to be the result of mass hysteria.

Travelling to Phoenix, Arizona, the fated location of Area 51 Dr. Jansen and her team attempt to uncover the truth behind alien abductions once and for all, but when someone comes knocking on their door it leads the documentary down a path that uncovers more of the truth than Dr. Jansen was ready to hear.

Case 347 starts in a very typical way that most found footage movies start. Some text on screen tells the audience that there have been many case files opened due to the Freedom of Information Act and what follows is footage put together to tell the story of case 347.

Any fans of the genre or even those with a passing knowledge of the genre would recognise this cliché straight away. Those that know exactly what to expect will accept this little moment of dramatic licence, and those who balk at such heavy exposition so early on will turn off straight away. The movie itself is up to the expectations of the audience.

Unfortunately, what follows for the most part is a realistic look at a documentary team trying to get to the bottom of an alien abduction case. So realistic in fact that a lot of the time the movie feels boring because there has been so much time and attention put into making the film look and feel authentic, that there has been little thought into making the movie entertaining.

There are a few clichés thrown in to wake up the audience, but they come few and far between because as soon as something paranormal does happen there is a long wait for anything else to happen on the same level. By the end there isn’t any real story here as there is never a clear reason as to why any of it is happening, paranormal or otherwise.

It’s all well and good to have characters in a found footage movie talk to each other without having to explain everything to the audience, but by substituting exposition for cliché, jump scares and a melodramatic finale, all it does is leave the audience in the dark.

Nashville is the epicentre of the song writing world. People from all over come to Nashville to write their songs and to pour their hearts into their work – and some of them even make it. It All Begins with a Song is a documentary about those people who wake up with a chorus in their heads, who hear a word and have to write it down, and the people who stop an argument to write down something clever.

Chances are that you’ve never even heard of these people unless you know everything there is to know about music, but you’ve definitely heard their songs.

It All Begins with a Song takes the time to talk to those unsung songwriters, going through the song writing process and giving a unique look at the different ways in which they create their art. There are some who know their limitations, giving credit to those who help them.

There are those who find a moment in their everyday lives that inspires them, and then there are those who have a few words and phrases and compose a song in less time than it takes to make breakfast. There are all kinds of passionate music lovers in Nashville and It All Begins with a Song shows that some of them are even song writers.

Whether or not you’ve heard of the songs or the artists that have sung their songs, there’s no denying that there is an abundance of talent in such a small space. These people could probably do things that most of us could only dream of doing and what It All Begins with a Song does is put the audience right in front of the songwriters for artists such as Pink, Aerosmith and Elvis Presley and gives them a chance to say ‘thank you’.

With only a couple of stars the audience may recognise, It All Begins with a Song is as modest as the people on which it draws its focus. However, it leaves the audience in awe at the talent and drive that these inspirational songwriters have that inspire the audience they’ll never even meet.

It’s hard to believe that it all it begins with a song, three chords and the truth.