film reviews, interviews, features | BRWC

Author: Joel Fisher

  • Women Is Losers: SXSW Review

    Women Is Losers: SXSW Review

    Women Is Losers: SXSW Review – Celina (Lorenza Izzo) is a schoolgirl living in a Hispanic community in the Sixties. She’s like every other girl her age and spends her time with family and friends, living a simple and quiet life among the people she loves. Then Celina meets Mateo (Bryan Craig) and they fall in love and soon Celina finds out that she’s pregnant.

    As the issues surrounding abortion were so much different than they are today then Celina is forced to keep her baby, and her story plays out through love, loss. Although this eventually leads to success as she navigates a man’s world in the Sixties.

    Inspired by many other stories of women who have gone through the same experiences and the Janice Joplin song of the same name, Women is Losers talks about one such woman who defied the odds and fought for her independence.

    A feel-good comedy drama written and directed by Lissette Feliciano, the story follows Celina from her teenage years right up to the point where she feels safe and secure in her future.

    Right from the start, Women is Losers lays it all out on the table and sets the tone for the rest of the film. Breaking the fourth wall and identifying the cliches that often happen in films such as this, Women is Losers tells its audience just what to expect and it does it all with a knowing wink to the audience.

    However, this fourth wall breaking is a little inconsistent and whereas there are times where it’s very funny, there are times that showing rather than telling would have helped. This is also the source of much of the comedy and it can take the audience by surprise a little, there are times where the audience may come to expect it – even in the more dramatic scenes.

    Izzo gives a great performance and despite the budget as mentioned at the beginning of the film, she sells her character’s progression as time passes. However, for all its self-referential knowledge, the script for Women is Losers isn’t as self-aware as it likes to this it is.

  • The Parish: Review

    The Parish: Review

    Liz Charles (Angela DiMarco) is having trouble dealing with her grief after losing her husband, Jason (Ray Tagavilla) when he was killed on his tour of duty. Deciding to make a fresh start of things, Liz decides to pack up with her daughter, Audrey (Sanae Loutsis) and move to a new town where Audrey can attend a new school.

    Both still reeling from the sudden and unexpected death, mother and daughter try to make the best of things and Audrey even starts to mention a boy she met at school. However, when Liz tries to find Audrey’s friend one day, she’s met with the sinister figure of the school janitor and from there things go from bad to worse.

    Not only that, but Liz is starting to dream about her husband and her dreams are turning into nightmares.

    The Parish is a predictable and cliché horror movie in the same vein as the movies in The Conjuring franchise. It gives its audience little surprises and throws almost every religion-based horror trope at them as it slowly moves along.

    A slow burn horror movie, perhaps because of there being little to the plot, The Parish is a horror movie that many would have seen before and will see the plot and the inevitable ending coming from a mile away.

    Everything is there from the troubled child to the slightly creepy but friendly priest, Father Felix (Bill Oberst Jr.) and there’s even a ghostly nun thrown in for good measure. Once the audience has got a grasp on the story then they will surely know where it all is going, so by the time Liz is told everything during an exposition heavy scene, the audience will wonder why she didn’t figure it out sooner.

    The Parish certainly doesn’t offer up any surprises, but it does give its audience exactly what it thinks they may want. So, if you want to see a supernatural horror that reminds you of better supernatural horrors then go ahead. Otherwise give The Parish a miss and try to find something else more inventive than the bare bones it offers.

  • The Yellow Wallpaper: Review

    The Yellow Wallpaper: Review

    Jane (Alexandra Loreth) and her husband John (Joe Mullins) are going away to a house where everything is peaceful and John thinks the change in location can help Jane’s condition. Jane suffers from something they used to call a ‘social disease’ and what with it being the 19th century, very little is known about mental health.

    However, John is assured that in his position as a doctor he knows what’s best for his wife, so while he’s away at work he leaves her to wander around the house and garden. At first Jane seems to be at ease with the world and enjoys the tranquillity of it all. Unfortunately, after her frustration starts to gain momentum once again, she becomes transfixed, almost obsessed with the yellow wallpaper in her bedroom.

    John and the housemaid, Mary (Clara Harte) seem totally unaware of this new diversion in Jane’s life, but as the hold of the yellow wallpaper slowly takes over, Jane’s mind starts to slip away.

    The Yellow Wallpaper is an adaptation of Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s classic short story, directed and adapted for the screen by Kevin Pontuti. Considered to be a story way ahead of its time, The Yellow Wallpaper tells the story of a woman overwhelmed by mental health problems and the slow decline of her mind as those around her don’t understand.

    Beautifully shot, Pontuti’s adaptation stays faithful to the original story and with its increasingly intrusive score and its claustrophobic framing, The Yellow Wallpaper helps the audience to feel what Jane is really feeling.

    Alexandra Loreth gives a great performance of a woman who may very well be one of the best written women in American literature. Her changing moods throughout show a range which fully encapsulates the role and keeps the audience captivated by her.

    For those who haven’t read or even heard of the original short story, then they may not fully understand the influence and the way that it resonates with people even today. So, perhaps a little more could have been done in order to show its audience how closely it resembles what many are going through today. However, hopefully this adaptation will encourage others to seek out Gilman’s short story and appreciate a well told story in an era which misunderstood the difficulties of mental health.  

  • Know Fear: Review

    Know Fear: Review

    Wendy (Amy Carlson) and Donald (David Alan Basche) have just moved into their new house and are looking forward to starting a new beginning. They live close to their niece, Jami (Mallory Bechtel) who investigates supernatural phenomenon and is fascinated with anything that may come close to a bump in the night.

    However, after Wendy finds a book seemingly full with demonic incantations and starts having visions, feeling that her body may be out of her control, it’s up to Jami, Donald and Wendy’s best friend, Nancy (Meeya Davis) to expel the demon from Wendy’s body.

    Know Fear is a supernatural horror movie directed by Jamison M. LoCascio and co-written by Adam Ambrosio. Starting with what may be a limited premise considering the obviously low budget of the film, Know Fear relies almost solely on its script and that’s where the movie would live or die. Luckily, the idea of supernatural possession is a staple for the horror genre, so it’s surprisingly easy how the movie lets the audience into its simple idea.

    It’s all down to the script and the direction though which helps to set the scene, so whereas you may think you’ve seen it all before, Know Fear does indeed know what it is and it knows how to deliver.

    A slow burn horror, Know Fear is without jump scares or grisly special effects which thankfully leaves a lot up to the imagination of its audience. Nobody knows quite what they’re facing right up until the finale and even then, Know Fear only reveals enough so that the audience may find themselves wanting more.

    The cast all do a great job and although the movie does go into familiar territory, it still feels like something good was done with its premise that will delight horror fans. Fans of horror that slowly builds up, wanting a good atmosphere rather than lazy scares may be pleasantly surprised by Know Fear.

    The kind of horror that may seem familiar, but is well executed and may even leave its audience wondering how it was all so well done seemingly so easily.

  • Sex, Drugs & Bicycles: Review

    Sex, Drugs & Bicycles: Review

    After doing his original documentary; Sex, Drugs & Democracy, Jonathan Blank has returned to The Netherlands, a country with which he feels a great affinity and his follow up Sex, Drugs & Bicycles attempts to paint a picture of modern Holland and put to rest the many stereotypes surrounding its people. However, whereas there are some things that are true and some things that are false, there are some things that are more complicated than first impressions allow.

    Using interviews with many experts, local celebrities and even some of those that the viewers may want to see their point of view, Sex, Drugs & Bicycles presents a mostly light hearted look at how the world sees the Dutch and how things really are.

    Blank is interviewer and presenter as well as director and writer of the article and feels very proud of his connection to the country, so taking his knowledge from the US and its various systems, Sex, Drugs & Bicycles attempts to compare the two countries from education, healthcare and even the workplace.

    Showing what seems to be a mostly idyllic place, Blank’s documentary shows the different sides to The Netherlands and at first shows an astonishment as to how different things are there compared to The United States. However, Sex, Drugs & Bicycles is not afraid to cover the more troubling aspects of the country such as institutional racism, sexism and the rise of the far right in politics.

    These are minor points though and it seems that Blank’s documentary is far more interested in showing how much better things are over there and of course satisfying the curiosity of its viewers with the more unusual aspects. Things such as government funded TV shows that cover sex and drugs, naked bike rides and the legality of drug taking are all covered, because after all that’s what the audience wants.

    Blank certainly has his own style though and it does certainly keep the pace going and makes it feel jollier than a serious insight into The Netherlands. If you can go along with the Monty Python style animations cut between the interviews and the non-stop music that plays over the documentary, then you may even learn something new from Sex, Drugs & Bicycles.