Author: Rudie Obias

Saltburn: The BRWC Review. By Rudie Obias

With the critical and commercial success of Promising Young Woman, filmmaker Emerald Fennell follows up her debut feature film with something that’s broader in scope and vision, but doesn’t quite have the punch as her Academy Award-winning first movie. However, Saltburn is a clear example that Promising Young Woman wasn’t just a one-trick-pony or fluke, while Fennell has the chops to gain interest from general audiences and cinephiles, alike.

Written and directed by Emerald Fennell, Saltburn follows Oliver Quick, played by Barry Keoghan (Dunkirk, The Killing of a Sacred Deer), a new student at Oxford University in 2006. He’s lonely and awkward, but finds himself in the middle of the cool crowd after a chance encounter with Felix Catton, played by Jacob Elordi (Priscilla, Deep Water), who is the big man on campus. Catton takes to Quick instantly, as he invites him to his family’s big and luxurious estate in Saltburn, England. After a long summer of drunken debauchery, Quick may have asked for more than he bargained for.

Meanwhile, there’s a subplot involving the privilege of Felix’s cousin Farleigh, played by Archie Madekwe (Heart of Stone, Gran Turismo: Based on a True Story), and his sister Venetia, played by Alison Oliver in her feature film debut. Both reflect Quick’s desires, financially and sexually, respectively. Farleigh doesn’t work, but lives a life of luxury, while Venetia is sexually active, but doesn’t know where to place that energy or how to use it for her advantage. Moreover, through the course of the film, the two get intertwined, as Quick jumps in-and-out of bed to get what he wants from whomever he wants. He starts off repressed, but later becomes pure, unadulterated id. 

Saltburn is, ultimately, a film about desire and doing whatever you can to get what you want, even if you have to get your hands dirty. While Keoghan’s Oliver Quick is mysterious and slight, he’s also unclear why Fennell decided to make his motivations ambiguous throughout a majority of the film. Once it’s revealed, it doesn’t really add up to much, while taking a direct approach might have made the movie a bit more juicy and fun. Meanwhile, Elordi’s Felix Catton is the biggest takeaway of the film. He’s a revelation balancing sensitivity with a bit of darkness and selfishness.

Although the movie is expertly filmed and sharp witted, Saltburn is a mixed bag with moments of brilliance paired with bewildering decisions, like character motivations and choice of aspect ratio (the whole film is present in boxy 1.33:1 aspect ratio). It doesn’t hit as hard as Fennell’s first film, but it shows her ambition to make something bigger and different. However, it just doesn’t land with its final hour just spinning its wheels to the film’s climax. It’s a really humpy movie!

Canvas: Review. By Rudie Obias.

Deep in the chaos and sprawl of manic horror, there’s a film that tells an in-depth story with memorable characters and visuals, but without breaking the bank or the budget of big Hollywood blockbusters from Marvel Studios. The lo-fi movie Canvas fits in that realm of genre storytelling, but with a psychedelic and ethereal twist that’s shockingly engrossing and detailed.

Written and directed by Ryan Guiterman (Loud & Longing), Canvas follows the arrival of a mysterious demon known as “The Painter” arriving to Earth, while FBI agent George Rohan, played by Steve Key (Mercury Rising, Public Enemies), is tasked with covering up the demon’s violent murders, so not to cause a deeper panic in society — as part of the shadow Painter Defense Agency. However, a journalist named Reila, played by Isabel Ellison (Loud & Longing), uncovers Rohan’s work. It’s a weird one, for sure.

The arthouse horror/science fiction hybrid movie shows that genre filmmaking doesn’t have to look cheap, low rent, or limited — even if your budget isn’t super high. Canvas is mostly told in rotoscope animation, where animators trace over live-action footage, frame by frame, to create something that looks realistic, but also exaggerated and trippy. Think of films like Waking Life, A Scanner Darkly, or American Pop. These films have the quality of live-action, but the creativity of animation. This gives Canvas a bigness and avant-garde aesthetic to it that’s unlikely to have come without it being rotoscoped. 

Canvas is the very definition of a midnight movie, something akin to a fevered dream wrapped in the everyday chaos of the world burning of the 24-hour news cycle. Its unique approach to world politics and storytelling is something that’s not for everyone. But if you’re on the same wavelength, like this writer’s predilections, then you might come away with a filmmaker’s vision of the world and society at large — and what looms ahead.

While most documentaries feature talking head-style interviews that give viewers insight on past events, there are others that just let the camera roll and let the editing do all the talking — films like Koyaanisqatsi and Baraka. In Grasshopper Republic, filmmakers just let the events of an annual grasshopper harvest unfold with no narration, no talking heads, and nearly no narrative.

Directed by Daniel McCabe (This is Congo), Grasshopper Republic follows the mating patterns of grasshoppers in Uganda, while people in the small village of Bundibugyo build clever contraptions to harvest the millions upon millions of these insects to sell to open-air markets in the big city of Kampala — more than six hours away.

Although the premise is simple enough, McCabe takes a “fly on the wall” approach to capturing day-to-day life in the lead up to the massive harvest. Since there’s no narration or talking heads describing what’s going on, you, as a member of the audience, have to piece things together yourself, as if you’re one of the villagers piecing together scraps from a junkyard to create a makeshift streetlight to attract grasshoppers.

Nearly every piece of this film, we witness the villagers creating one set of tools to create a bigger set of tools and so on and so on until we, as the audience, understand what’s going on. The villagers have to repair a generator to power repurposed light bulbs to attract grasshoppers into metal chutes, so they can slide into empty metal drums. The contractions are, literally, put together with shoestring and wire, but the end result is remarkably efficient and quick.

However, Grasshopper Republic may not be for everyone. The film has a slow, but deliberate pace that makes understanding the people of Bundibugyo worthwhile and more relatable — especially for Western audiences. While some people might see poverty and malaise, others will see ingenuity and persistence. Bundibugyo has a valuable resource that Kampala will pay handsomely to acquire. It’s a clear example of using your smarts to make some money for the people you take care of and love. What can be more Western than that?

Starting off your movie with people kneeling side-by-side in line, as they get beheaded one after another is one of the best and boldest ways to instantly grab an audience’s attention. You’re already left questioning so much about the scene, such as who are these people? Why are they getting beheaded? And why does the photography look so good?

The religion as horror movie Deliver Us has more on its mind than beheadings, namely the origins of good and evil, justified murder, taking your faith in God too far, and hot people getting it on. Let’s talk about it.

Written by Lee Roy Kunz and Kane Kunz (A Beer Tale), and directed by Cru Ennis (in his directorial debut) and Lee Roy Kunz (A Beer Tale, Delirium), Deliver Us follows Sister Yulia, played by Maria Vera Ratti (Miss Marx), a Catholic nun who becomes pregnant with twin boys through immaculate conception in a Russian convent.

Meanwhile, Cardinal Russo, played by Alexander Siddig (Skylines, 21 Bridges), the head of the diocese, accompanies Father Fox, played by Lee Roy Kunz (Boys of Abu Ghraib, Mr. Sadman), a priest who’s on the verge of leaving the priesthood after he falls in love and impregnates a businesswoman named Laura, played by Jaune Kimmel (Kids of the Night), to investigate her claims.

However, the pair discover a secret order of priests (the one doing all the beheadings) who believe an ancient prophecy that one of Sister Yulia’s children is the Messiah and the other is Anti-Christ. They are tasked with killing one of her babies, but which one?

Although it takes place in the snowy landscapes of Russia and Estonia, Deliver Us is a hot movie. It’s just sexy! Set aside the religious iconography, all of the actors are hot and they have steamy dreams about having sex with each other. Plus, there’s something naughty about priests and nuns going at it that intensifies the eroticism.

In addition, the filmmaking craft is on point and very impressive with stunning imagery and thoughtful framing from scene-to-scene. There’s a pair of keen eyes behind the camera, while the editing is sharp and meaningful. While the film is over-the-top with blood, gore, and sex, Deliver Us is smart, as it’s oozing with atmosphere, intensity, and suspense. It’s a very visceral movie.

It’s a film with a lot on its mind when it comes to Christianity, faith, and starting an unconventional family. Since Father Fox is about to leave the priesthood because he wants to start a family in Edmonton, Canada with his lover, there’s an idea of what it means to be a good Christian instead of being a bad priest that is poignant and well-considered.

All in all, Deliver Us is not for the squeamish or the faint of heart — especially with its subject matter and manner of brutal filmmaking — but if you’re on board with the religious horror sub-genre, then they’re a lot to enjoy and takeaway. It will stay with you long after the movie ends.

Time travel movies are tricky. It’s fun and fantastic when this sub-genre hits the mark like Palm Springs, Hot Tub Time Machine, Looper, and others. But some of the time (no pun intended), these types of movies are complete misses, such as Project Almanac, Idaho Transfer, and more. Add in a high concept and a low budget, then you’re just asking for failure — unless you’re a filmmaker who has the chops to bring it all together in a clear story.

In Relax, I’m From The Future, writer/director Luke Higginson — in his feature film debut — showcases a hyper-visual, super hilarious, and utterly absurd time travel movie that has something to say about kindness, the value of one life, and our future as a society.

The science fiction film follows Casper, played by the very funny Rhys Darby (Flight of the Conchords, The Boat That Rocked), a time traveler from the future who gets stuck in the past — also known as present-day Toronto, Canada. However, when he meets Holly, played by Gabrielle Graham (Possessor, On The Basis of Sex), a punk rock anarchist, he has to convince her that he is from the future and has a plan to make the world a better place. 

Meanwhile, Doris, played by Janine Theriault (Pompeii, Upside Down), another time traveler trapped in the past, has to protect the timeline from anyone trying to alter the future, while a sad sack coffee shop server named Percy, played by Julian Richings (Man of Steel, X-Men: The Last Stand), might be the key to saving the world. 

The movie is a sharp and clever film that uses today’s political and global climate to paint a bleak picture of the future that’s virtually impossible to change. But, the filmmakers provide a dark and twisted look at how things could be different in an elaborate and detailed plan to make things better. Although the film takes a number of shifts and loops — it’s a time travel movie after all — it’s edited with precision and wit that reflects its overall comedic tone.

Relax, I’m From The Future is a breath of fresh air. The movie feels like the best of Back To The Future and Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure meets Scott Pilgrim vs. The World. It’s one of those movies that feels very familiar, but original all at once. It’s well-worth your time and attention for its unique storytelling and Rhys Darby’s hysterically funny standout performance.