Author: Joel Fisher

Holly (Sienna Guillory) is going through the grieving process after losing her husband to chronic illness. She has two daughters; Isabelle (Ruby Stokes) and Betsey (Jessica Alexander) who is the oldest and more outgoing than her sister.

Then one day Betsey starts to complain of stomach aches, so Holly takes her to see the doctor, however he can see nothing physically wrong and suggests it may be more psychological. Unable to handle this news, Holly isn’t very sympathetic to her daughter and when Betsey starts believing that her body has been possessed, in preparation for use by a higher power, then she starts to think that Betsey is losing her mind.

A Banquet is the feature debut of director Ruth Paxton which deals candidly with mental health and eating disorder issues, all in the guise of a horror movie. A difficult subject to tackle, the script manages to guide the audience through what the family are experiencing and it seem to be done as realistically as possible. However, there’s still the matter of the horror and again it proves to be a difficult genre to frame around such a grounded subject.

On the one hand, depicting eating disorders and mental health issues as horror risks offending those who have experienced these issues themselves. On the other hand, having such a subject and calling it a horror movie risks putting off horror fans because of the subject matter and that they may not be getting what they want.

After all, it seems that if it weren’t for the moody cinematography and ominous score, A Banquet could easily have been a drama about a family dealing with teenage eating disorders.

For those listening to the dialogue and understanding that the scenes have not (mostly) been exaggerated for dramatic effect, then A Banquet is a no holds barred drama about a difficult time in a family’s life. However, for those who watching, expecting something more sinister and supernatural, then they’re going to be disappointed.

A Banquet is a movie trying to do something different with a genre that may have never been done before. Where it does show that the subject is never that black and white and never hyperbolises mental health, it doesn’t offer much of a satisfying conclusion either.

We all like to believe in certain things, fantasies and dreams that take us away from our realities for a couple of hours or so. That’s part of the reason why we go to the cinema or spend hours binging a TV show at home. However, there are some shows which present themselves equally as fact and fiction and it’s up to the viewer to decide what’s real and what’s not.

There are many shows which are presented on channels like The History and Discovery Channel which also cross this border between fact and fiction. They present the evidence, talk to experts and sometimes even show footage to back up their claims. Although those who are unaware as to what they are doing, may be duped into believing that what they say is true.

Science Friction is a documentary that exposes these kind of science shows for what they really are and the tricks they use in order to present a fantasy as reality. Using some of the same techniques as these shows, they talk to experts such as Michael Shermer and Richard Dawkins as well as comedians interested in science like Matt Kirshen and Brian Malow. All of whom share their experiences with these kinds of shows.

Pseudo-scientific shows with crazy titles, to serious documentaries that have cut corners to spread lies are all explored. All proving the astonishing levels that these shows go to in the name of entertainment.

There may be a certain kind of audience who likes watching the ‘science’ shows that pretend to have found Atlantis or have evidence of UFOs. Mostly it would be nice to assume that these people like watching these in the same ways as they watch action-packed, mind-numbing movies.

However, there are other people and other kinds of shows that seem to genuinely believe that what they’re presenting is true. Shows that present ‘evidence’ that the MMR vaccine causes autism and shows made by the BBC which show evidence of the miraculous effects of acupuncture. That’s when the documentary becomes really eye opening. Especially whilst they discuss how misinformation was so easily manipulated to discredit the science behind the pandemic.

Science Friction may start out as a few scientists complaining about how they were misled, but the truth is there for people who want to understand more. It may not show anything new to people who don’t believe these shows from the start. However, it may wake somebody up just as they were going to watch something like Mysterious Aliens from Below the Earth.

Carlos (Juan Manuel Azcona) and Santiago (Ahcitz Azcona) are father and son who live a comfortable life in Mexico. They have a nice house and a loving family, so they don’t really expect anything bad to happen to them any time soon.

Then one day, Carlos picks up the phone and is threatened by the man on the other side. However, Carlos thinks that it’s a prank call so he hangs up and goes about his day.

A while later, Carlos picks up the phone again and it’s the same man demanding money in return for protection from the cartel that have targeted his house. Carlos tells his son about the phone call and reassures him that there’s nothing to worry about as it’s just a scam. However, when Santiago picks up the phone, he takes the threats a little more seriously and an overwhelming paranoia sets in.

The Inevitable Death of The Crab (or La Inevitable Muerte del Cangrejo in the original Spanish) is a suspenseful crime drama written, directed by and co-starring Ahcitz Azcona. Set in Mexico, it turns the stories of evil Mexican crime lords around in order to talk about the victims.

Fully aware of the stereotypes portrayed by the media, Ahcitz Azcona’s script attempts to do things in a more realistic and less glamorised way which often shows the bravado of men in power. However, it does not shy away from the fact that as with the rest of the world, crime does still exist in Mexico and it could happen to anyone.

What starts out at first as something that could be brushed off as a fake call soon turns into a drama that will keep the audience on the edge of their seats. Although not even making the 90-minute mark, Azcona manages to squeeze in everything that needs to be told in the script which make it feel like a full-length feature.

That’s not to say the pacing is slow, but it may surprise some audience members as to how little an amount of time has passed as they’ve been leaning in to watch what happens. The Inevitable Death of The Crab has something to say about how Mexico is depicted on screen and does it in an engaging way which slowly unfolds its story, keeping its audience guessing right up until the very last minute.

Amy Chen (Amy Chang) is a strong, fiercely independent woman who has just realised that her break up has had a serious effect on her mental health. Pressured by family to find a man, have children and settle down, Amy starts to panic and to appease her mother, she gets into a relationship. Unfortunately, he seems to be far more interested in her than she is with him and it’s not going well.

Angel Li (Yi Liu) is an aspiring actress on the verge of her big break. However, she’s unhappy in her marriage and has turned to another man to make her feel good again. Although as her life changes and her career appears to be taking off, the new man in her life is not what she was expecting.

Nina Wong (Celia Au) is a young woman with the world at her feet. She has an adoring boyfriend, but she’s unappreciated by her family and to make ends meet she decides to become an escort. Although a series of events makes her question her future.

In a New York Minute is a melodrama about three Chinese women living in New York, directed by Ximan Li and co-written by Yilei Zhou. Taking the stories of three women with very different lives, Li’s story takes these women with interconnected lives and shows the struggles that they have with the pressures of family, work and being a woman.

However, despite it being a story directed by, written and starring Chinese women, its story has its roots firmly placed in New York. This means that despite the cultural connection between the leads, there is very little of that shown in the script. This means that something that has such strong connections to its Chinese heritage, could have benefitted from connecting less to an American audience.

In a New York Minute is a movie that likes to take its time in telling its story as well. Being around 100 minutes in length then this may frustrate some viewers as the individual stories feel stretched out, without any satisfying conclusions.

Also, the connection between the three women is not as strong as the filmmakers may have liked it to have been either. Overall, this makes In a New York Minute feel more like an anthology rather than a cleverly woven drama and one which doesn’t make much of an impact.

Stu’s Show: Review

Stuart Shostak is probably the biggest Lucille Ball fan you’re ever likely to meet – besides his wife that is. As a young man he was obsessed with the golden age of American television and would spend hours going through clips that he would painstakingly put together, in order to create a documentary about his favourite era.

Then one day whilst working on Life with Lucy, Stu plucked up the courage to give Lucille Ball his work and show her what he had done, and from that moment on Lucille Ball changed his life forever. Now working to keep her work and others alive including people such as Dick van Dyke, Ed Asner and Betty White, Stu decided to start his own internet television show. A show where he interviewed all the brightest and the best of television.

Stu’s Show is a documentary all about the life and career of Stu Shostak which picks up right where he met Lucille Ball and goes even further than he’d ever imagine. Starting out as a friend of Ball’s, Stu would make her life’s work his own and carry on her legacy long after her death which he still does today. However, for those who may be unfamiliar with Shostak and his work, they may start to wonder if he’s just a loving fan or an obsessive opportunist.

After all, once Lucille Ball died then Stu’s life and career with her could have been over if he hadn’t started conventions in her name and married the biggest fan on the circuit. However, there is another side to Stu’s story and it’s one that’s very personal. Because of course this is Stu’s Show and this is his life. So, the documentary then turns to the relationship he has with his then girlfriend and the issues she had whilst recovering from a coma.

What started out as a light hearted brush with fame becomes a damning indictment of the American medical system. With stories about inadequate care and the rising costs of insurance which meant that his love’s life hung in the balance, it’s enough to make anybody’s blood boil.

That’s also where it shows Stu Shostak at his most passionate. Because as the documentary shows Stu retelling those stories, it’s clear that nobody should get in between him and the love of his life.

You could either see Stu Shostak as a man obsessed with celebrity so much that he wanted to be one, or you could see a man whose life led him to new and wonderful places. However, nobody can deny that it’s Stu’s Show and he told it in his own way.