film reviews, interviews, features | BRWC

Author: Rosalynn Try-Hane

  • Pop Up Screens’ Summer Outdoor Cinema Lineup

    Pop Up Screens’ Summer Outdoor Cinema Lineup

    Dare we say it, ok we will, summer is finally here. It has to be because here at BRWC we are seriously excited about getting outside and watching films under the sun and then the stars.  This summer, Pop Up Screens has teamed up with Benadryl to bring Londoners critically acclaimed new releases in even more of the Capital’s most treasured parks. The screenings will run from 20th July to 23rd September.

    An absolute essential for the city dweller’s social calendar in the season of romance and warm evenings, Pop Up Screens guarantees a “relaxed atmosphere and friendly vibe”, (TimeOut, 2018) that caters for all ages and tastes. Box office hits new to Pop Up this summer include critically acclaimed superhero flicks Thor: Ragnorok and Wonder Woman, Academy Award winners The Shape of Water, 3 Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri and Get Out alongside new family favourite The Greatest Showman. Those of you who couldn’t possibly last the summer without getting your fix of the classics such as Notting Hill, The Notebook, Dirty Dancing and Grease will not be disappointed.

    Pop Up Screens will work its magic in a host of new locations including the beautiful Ruskin Park in Denmark Hill, iconic Guildhall in heart of London, picturesque Canbury Gardens in Kingston and the award-winning, Priory Park in Crouch End.  Pop Up Screens founder Dave Leydon said “Pop Up Screens has been popping up around London for 6 years now and every year we try and find some new locations to pop up in and this year isn’t any different as we’re on our way to Kingston, Maida Vale, Denmark Hill and Crouch End for the first time.  Outdoor cinema is still something that’s got a certain romance to it that gets lost in the multiplexes, that magic of being outside with a movie you love is pretty hard to beat.”

    Pop Up Screens
    Pop Up Screens

    Tickets will be priced from £7 for a child and adults starting from £12.50.

    You’re welcome to bring your own blankets, beanbags and cushions or you can hire a deckchair for £4. So what are you waiting for?

    If you feel like styling up your cinema experience, this year Pop Up Screens are introducing VIP seats, for £20 each that will include a chair in a prime location plus a free drink!

    Food will be coming direct from Brighton with the Seaside Pizza Co. providing lovely sourdough wood fired pizzas all night long.

    Tickets can be booked from www.popupscreens.co.uk

  • Review: Skid Row Marathon

    Review: Skid Row Marathon

    57,000 people currently call the streets of Skid Row Los Angeles home. Yes, 57,000 are homeless. Frankly, if the state can’t or won’t do anything, how can you or I as an individual make a difference. Well, Judge Craig Mitchell does – as a one man marathon running machine he has managed to make a world of difference. You will be inspired and humbled when you hear the stories of Ben, Mody, Raphael and others. People are what they do and Judge Mitchell shows that by giving a little of yourself, you end up giving those less fortunate or battling their own issues some dignity. As he says at the end of the documentary – give a little of yourself – an encouraging word or a little time may make a huge difference. What would happen if you gave a little of yourself?

    As a judge – his day job consists of sentencing people to whole life terms, but in his private life helps those who society has rejected by teaching them discipline through running marathons. The opening scene of this documentary sets the tone – even in sentencing someone to 75 years to life you can see how much it weighs on his mind. Then we get to discover how by being a little bit open to the world around him, the judge was invited by a former criminal he sentenced to come and visit the Midnight Mission on Skid Row, which people off the streets of skid row. He combined his love of running by giving those who had given up on life something to work towards; training for a marathon in Ghana and then Rome.

    The individuals followed have had difficult lives some of their own making through being part of a gang, self destruction through drug use and the list goes on. Some of the individuals’ stories that we follow in the film are not particularly likeable and that is what makes the documentary so attractive. What the documentary does is not shy away from showing the reality but also what can happen when one person stands up and says I am willing to help you. In this fast paced world it is often easy to forget your humanity. Everyone deserves dignity and sometimes it takes a stranger to show them how to achieve that. Mark Hayes’s investigative and informative direction manages to convey life on skid row – the highs and the lows. It is hard to watch this and now become fully invested, you will cry with joy and frustration and most of all with joy that there are people with Judge Mitchell who says to another – you matter.

    Skid Row Marathon is a must see. Make the sacrifice for one night and get inspired to see how giving a little bit of your time can change and improve the lives of those around you.

    Skid Row Marathon will be in UK cinemas on 9 May – FOR ONE NIGHT ONLY. Tickets can be bought here: www.skidrowmarathontickets.co.uk. Judge Craig Mitchell completed his 74th marathon at the first London Marathon of his career on behalf of The Skid Row Running Club, The Big Issue and The Running Charity. Donations can be made here: https://www.gofundme.com/skidrowmarathon

    This is one of the best documentaries I’ve seen in recent years. Inspiring, empowering and hopeful.

  • Tully: The BRWC Review

    Tully: The BRWC Review

    Tully is slightly laboured, and after a long and intense one only gives birth to a conversation starter rather than a game changer. In Tully motherhood meets postnatal depression (‘PND’) and whilst the dialogue and acting is consistently good, it feels hard to engage until the final twenty minutes.

    Marlo (Charlize Theron) is pregnant with her third child, currently on maternity leave with two children one of whom has special needs. Actually, you could say she’s mother to three children as her man child husband works and then comes home and plays video games. Things are compounded when she visits his brother and his perfect size 10 wife with her dog called prosecco who works out and has three children and a night nanny. Her brother, as a baby gift, pays for the service of a night nanny to help through this period. That’s when we meet Tully. However, as Marlo’s nights get easier and she starts feeling more like her old self, things then take an unexpected turn

    Now, Tully is ambitious in tackling this taboo subject of PND on screen. This is the third film from director Jason Reitman and writer Diablo Cody. However, with Juno, there was a magic that didn’t feel laboured. In this film it had too many cliches – depression means you eat not it doesn’t necessarily. The father character is shown as the typical not interested, self centred oblivious creature, and maybe that is true in many cases,but this was supposed to be a different take. Also, there is a massive twist in this film but to get there you have to labour through the cliches, of which there are many. The dialogue is pitch perfect and one would expect nothing less from Diablo Cody. On a lighter note, there was one point in the film when I thought I need me a night nanny like Tully – bakes cakes and cleans the house while I sleep- yes, please. A star is born in the form of MacKenzie Davis as Tully she is mesmerising on screen and brings much needed blast of fresh air to the film.

    Tully is a valiant attempt to discuss this taboo subject. There are some scenes especially the nappy changing scene that is interspersed with claps that many mothers will innately understand- the banality and monotony of motherhood.

    However, it just feels a little too Hollywood especially at the end that cheats the viewer of a film that could have been altogether darker and grittier had it held its nerve.

    Tully is released in cinemas across the UK on Friday 4 May.

  • The BRWC Review: I Feel Pretty

    The BRWC Review: I Feel Pretty

    I feel pretty sounds appealing but in this fickle world, looks do count. Unfortunately for I Feel Pretty it’s all a bit deja vu, same jokes with a more muted style trying to appeal to the everywoman. The central message of the film is that who you are is all in your head – forget the shoes, with the right mindset you can rule the world.  Alas, the film isn’t sure what it is and so that leads to a confusing message.

    I Feel Pretty tells the story of Renee Bennett (Amy Schumer) who works in the back office with Mason (the perennially funny Adrian Martinez) of Avery LeClair cosmetics. She lacks confidence and is riddled with insecurity about her body and looks. The opening scene is of her going to a soul cycle class and feeling out of place. She gets to deliver an important document and sees her boss and idol in the flesh Avery LeClair (Michelle Williams) and then gets told her ideal job – that of the receptionist at Avery LeClair headquarters – is going to be advertised. She is elated and applies and whilst watching the film Big, she runs out into the rain and tosses a coin in the fountain in the hope that her wish, to be confident, will come true. Her wish does come true and everything is perfect until she hits her head and her world goes into a tailspin.

    This film has good intentions and a positive message about self image. It is definitely right on trend trying to promote self worth and beauty from in. The issue is that it takes a rather simplistic view of a rather complex issue. What we want and need are films with more complexity that are also feel good. I Feel Pretty feels like one big mouthful of candy floss. 

    The feel good message feels like a long, hard slog to finally appear It is co-written and directed by Abby Kohn and Marc Silverstein. A lot of the jokes in the film have been done before – the big girl going to work out in a sea of supermodel sized women and the list goes on.

    Another issue is Amy Schumer playing it seriously in this role. It is not supposed to be slapstick comedy and the problem is she is just not very convincing and she looks ill at ease most of the time on screen.  The moment where she becomes body confident and loses all her insecurity falls flat. The whole point of the transformation is that it takes place solely in her head so that everyone around her is confused by her sudden surge of confidence. The simple truth is that in order for this to have worked, another actress should have been cast in the central role. The only saving grace of this film is Michelle Williams. As her character, Avery LeClair, she steals every scene as the slightly nutty, socially awkward, baby voiced CEO.

    The only reason to watch I Feel Pretty is for Michelle Williams’ character – comedy gold.

    I Feel Pretty is released in cinemas across the UK on Friday 4 May.

  • Winners Announced For The 4th BBC Arabic Festival

    Winners Announced For The 4th BBC Arabic Festival

    Filmmakers from across the Arab world scoop awards at the BBC Arabic Festival 2018. Six award winners were announced tonight at 4th BBC Arabic Festival at the BBC Radio Theatre in London. The winning directors are from Syria, Lebanon, Egypt, Jordan and Iran and include first-time filmmakers; in total there were 20 films in competition this year.

    The BBC Arabic Festival’s commitment to giving a platform to emerging and established filmmakers continues, particularly through the BBC Arabic Young Journalist Award, which endorses the training, mentoring and equipment of one winning recipient per year.

    The winning films focus on two refugees’ stories told for the first time, glimpses of everyday life during war and the scars left in the aftermath of war, untold gendered stories and stories of corruption and politics.

    The winners are:

    Young Journalist Award – One Day In Aleppo by Ali Alibrahim
    A snapshot of a city under siege, Sheyma Buali, Festival Director, said of the documentary: “This short film, without dialogue, responded to the most basic questions: What is life like during war? And it did so showing cinematic understanding, journalist bravery and human sensitivity.”

    Alibrahim will receive bespoke support to make his next film. This will include equipment, training and mentoring. There is also the possibility of being invited to present his new film at the next BBC Arabic Festival, and even for the film to be screened on BBC Arabic TV. Last year’s winner, Mohamed Jabaly (Ambulance), presented a sneak preview of his work-in-progress, Stateless, at this year’s opening event. Stateless is a feature documentary about a group of young, Arab men seeking asylum in Norway, which will be completed by summer 2019.

    BBC Arabic Award for Best in Journalism – Whose Country by Siam – This documentary tells stories of corruption and abuse within security forces in Egypt’s past.

    Sam Farah, Head of BBC Arabic said of Siam: “His timing and access are impeccable. He was able to make secretive men comfortable, capturing them in a moment when the national mood allowed him to. Regardless of where you stand from the politics of it all, we commend his journalistic ability to grasp that moment.”

    Best Feature Documentary – Those Who Remain by Eliane Raheb
    The new documentary by acclaimed filmmaker Eliane Raheb focuses on one man’s struggle to defend coexistence on the land he loves. It’s been called “Moving… A melancholic assessment of Lebanon’s future” by Variety.

    Best Short Documentary – The Town the Men Left by Hanan Youssef Abdulla – This documentary takes us to the homes of women who are living strong despite their stigma as divorcees.

    Best in Reportage – Why by Ayyoub AlQasem, Ahmed AlThiabet and Marwan AlBayani – Why considers a young Syrian refugee’s opportunities in his new home of Jordan.

    Best in Short Film – The Silence by Farnoosh Samadi and Ali Asgari – This film tells the story of a mother and daughter who are Kurdish refugees’ in Italy, and their inability to communicate during a dire medical situation.