Author: Joel Fisher

During the Nineties, a young filmmaker named Kevin Smith was making waves in his career, from his breakout debut Clerks, to the controversial Dogma which dealt with themes surrounding religion. It seemed like Kevin Smith was the kind of director who was setting out to shock people, but also to make them think.

Cut to nearly 25 years later and Chasing Amy, one of Smith’s more mainstream hits was starting to have a reappraisal. A film which was released under Kevin Smith’s brand of humour and irreverence, it looked like it was set out to provoke another outcry.

However, among the queer community, Chasing Amy meant something to some people which perhaps wasn’t intended. In particular, to Sav Rodgers it became a life long obsession as he began to understand how he could express his identity and realise who he really was.

Chasing Chasing Amy is a documentary by Sav Rodgers about the film that changed his perspective of himself whilst growing up and how it shaped the person he became. So, with this obsession in mind (especially with Ben Affleck), Rodgers decides to see how far he can get with finding out as much as he can about his favourite film.

Rodgers’ journey takes him from the filming locations of the film to even meeting Kevin Smith himself, who reached out to offer his own insight and to perhaps better understand how much it meant to other people. Also including interviews with Joey Lauren Adams as well as other cast and crew involved with Chasing Amy, Rodgers’ documentary shines a light, offering an insightful critical view of the quirky Nineties romcom.

Also speaking to others like Rodgers who had discovered Chasing Amy, it of course doesn’t get away with being criticised from a queer perspective as well, which only helps to fully round out a deeply introspective view of a movie that perhaps most people had not thought of in that way.

It also becomes very emotional and personal to Rodgers himself as his own transition almost mirrors that of Chasing Amy’s reception itself. Chasing Chasing Amy starts out as a nerdy nostalgia trip and surprisingly ends as the feel-good documentary of the year as Rodgers starts to realise that he can’t always be Chasing Amy.

Peter (Sam Everingham) and Verity (Alyla Browne) are brother and sister and they couldn’t be more different. Being the younger of the two, Verity is care free and happy, although it could be said that age has brought about the heavy weight of responsibility as Peter feels anxious all the time.

Moving to a new house doesn’t help either and with Peter being left alone with his thoughts, it’s starting to feel a bit too much. Then one day Peter finds a crack in the floorboards and an object which thrusts the siblings into another world where pangolins live in a secret kingdom and they believe Peter and Verity are their monarchs.

Not only that, but Peter is given a task as their king to gather a group of puzzle pieces from all over their land so that they can finally defeat an evil only known as The Shroud.

The Secret Kingdom is a children’s adventure written and directed by Matt Drummond which serves as a love letter to childhood. Mixing together many different elements, Drummond has created a world, thanks to his background in visual effects, which may very well embody the childhood experience.

Whilst taking inspiration from things such as The Wizard of Oz and Labyrinth, The Secret Kingdom feels very familiar and yet manages to keep its own identity. Along the way Peter and Verity meet many different creatures as you may imagine in a film such as this and each one of them is a fantastic creation.

One of those is a couple called Ego and Ergo who children and parents are sure to warm to because of their relationship and the comic relief that they bring is charming.

Without setting itself in the modern day, The Secret Kingdom gives its audience a timeless feel with an ending that may bring about discussion from younger audience members, but is dealt with in a way that feels palatable to them. There’s one character to which their intentions are questioned and that’s never followed up satisfactorily, but otherwise The Secret Kingdom is an instant classic that children may revisit into adulthood with their own offspring.

Reed Harkness grew up with his half-brother Sam and despite them having different mothers, they got along as close as any other brothers. Something that perhaps brought them closer together was when Sam’s mother disappeared.

Searches were made and a missing person’s report was filed, but eventually the family came to an answer that they weren’t expecting. Sam’s mother had simply gone away, wanting to have her own life where she could be more independent, leaving her son and her family behind to seek out the things that she wanted in life and it was left at that. A hard decision to make for any mother, but a decision that still affects Sam to this day.

Sam Now is a documentary from budding filmmaker Reed Harkness and it covers a situation very close to home. Showing how they both grew up, Reed films everything and the films that he made with Sam serve as a reflection of their close relationship.

However, now that they’re all grown up, Reed and Sam have a life to look back on and their journey together reveals more about Sam’s mother and how it affected everyone.

Using footage from those childhood movies, it shows how Reed Harkness is a very talented filmmaker. It also shows how close Sam and Reed were as children and how they could talk about anything. However, this doesn’t seem to be the same for the rest of their family as Sam’s mother is an unspoken subject, but this doesn’t stop Sam from wanting to find out more.

Following their lives from childhood to adulthood, Sam Now carefully goes through the discovery of what happened to Sam’s mother as well as telling both sides of their story with a remarkable objectiveness. Whereas at times it feels like Reed is forwarding the story for his own interest, he admits it himself, but still manages to show a balanced portrayal of all involved.

Everybody will have a strong opinion on what they feel about how Sam’s mother disappeared. Although, in the end Sam Now is a documentary that although filled with warmth and love, still feels distant enough to not guide its audience’s feelings.

Hannah (Stacey Weckstein) has a somewhat troubled relationship with her daughter, Esme (Audrey Grace Marshall) and upon realising her daughter may have a terminal illness, she seizes the opportunity to bond before it’s too late. Realising that they may not have much time together, Hannah organises a trip away into the woods so they can spend some time together and bond.

However, once they’re there then Hannah’s behaviour changes and despite them being closer than they’ve ever been before, something is different. With Hannah hearing things and experiencing visions, the audience may start to wonder what’s driving her motives, but when all is revealed a far darker story is unravelled.

Esme, My Love is a supernatural drama directed by Cory Choy in his feature debut and co-written by Laura Allen. Something of a slow burn, the film puts Hannah and Esme out in the wild forest and yet makes them feel isolated despite the wide, open space.

The relationship between mother and daughter feels tense as well. Esme is perhaps like any other girl her age and feels distant from her mother, yet there are mixed emotions from Hannah as to where the boundaries in their relationship lies.

Both Weckstein and Marshall play their respective roles with a convincing authenticity and the audience can feel their relationship being somewhat contentious, but also a little understandable. However, it’s the slow reveal of what’s happening to Hannah and what could be out there in the woods could draw in audiences. Steeped in metaphor, Esme, My Love may not be for everybody, but for those with patience, it may give them a satisfying experience.

Whilst perhaps not the whole focus, the supernatural element may be the most interesting. That’s because as far as the audience are concerned, that’s probably what they came for. However, director Choy hides the intentions with ambiguity whilst delivering some memorable visuals which may have the audience constantly change their minds.

At a time where cinema is perhaps trying to deliver films to audiences that they think they want and maybe not what they need, Esme, My Love is a good reminder that striking and original cinema still exists.

The Haunting Of Hell Hole Mine: Review

Centuries ago, at the beginning of the conflict between Native Americans and the colonising forces, a family laid claim to a valuable mine. However, there was a curse placed on the mine by a Native American tribe so that escape from the mine would be impossible. In the present day, Poni (May Myat Noe) is with her uncle Luke (Paul Collett) and aunt Dawn (Tori Lane Ross) and completely unaware of her family’s curse.

However, Poni keeps experiencing auditory and visual hallucinations, hallucinations that affect her so badly that she ends up in hospital. Realising that the medical bills may mount up, Luke decides to go back into the mine which is still there after all this time to find the treasures hidden inside.

The only issues are that Luke’s brother Roscoe (Tom Sizemore) wants a share of what he finds and the family curse comes into effect while they are searching.

The Haunting of Hell Hole Mine is a supernatural horror directed by Paul Collett and Tammy Massa and co written by Robbie Trujillo. The kind of story which often appears in horror, luckily The Haunting of Hell Hole Mine tries to subvert these expectations.

Unfortunately, there doesn’t seem to be a lot of direction in terms of the story and not a lot to make the audience feel fear in the villains nor care for the people in danger. Everything about how The Haunting of Hell Hole Mine suggests that the audience may know where it’s going. However, it feels like it brushes aside good opportunities and waters down others.

The supernatural threat also doesn’t seem to be all that interesting either as despite a couple of times when Luke and Dawn go to consult somebody about the legend, not a lot happens which may make the audience think that they’re in danger. Neither does it add anything with Roscoe coming in and out made to look threatening.

With their being little to no motive for Roscoe’s behaviour or any set rules for the curse, this may feel confusing to the audience. In the end Hell Hole Mine feels lacklustre and with a better editor and a few more drafts it could have been made into something more coherent.