film reviews, interviews, features | BRWC

Author: Alton Williams

  • Two Minutes Silence

    © BRWC 2010.

  • Outrage Trailer

    Rejoice for he has risen! No not Mr. Christ, Takeshi Kitano!

    To be fair he never was really gone. The last few releases from the lord of Yakuza films have seen Mr. Kitano take introspective looks at his own persona –Takeshis‘, Glory To The Filmmaker! and Achilles & The Tortoise.
    But now a decade after his last crime film we have Outrage to look forward to. Lots of men in suits shouting and then shooting at each other. No official release date yet but I will be keeping a close eye out for this one. In the mean time here’s a trailer (sans subtitles I’m afraid) to get us all excited. Glory to the Filmmaker indeed.

    © BRWC 2010.

  • Film Review with Robert Mann – Due Date

    Due Date *** 

    Last year’s The Hangover was the perfect example of a sleeper hit, a film that came out of nowhere and with just one hilarious trailer and stellar word of mouth became one of the most eagerly anticipated movies of the year, hype that promptly turned it into both one of the best reviewed films and one of the biggest box office successes of 2009, even outgrossing some of the year’s biggest blockbuster movies.

    Hardly surprising then, that a sequel has been greenlit for release next year. Whether or not that is a good idea remains to be seen but in the meantime The Hangover director Todd Phillips has turned his attention to another comedy and one that on paper seems like it might have what it takes to repeat the humungous success of his last film – Due Date, an American road trip movie in the grand tradition of films like Planes, Trains and Automobiles which unites one of the Hollywood’s hottest movie stars in the form of Robert Downey Jr. (for whom this film is also a reunion with Michelle Monaghan who previously appeared alongside him in 2005’s Kiss Kiss Bang Bang) with one of America’s hottest comedy talents in the form of Zach Galifianakis. It must also be remembered, however, that Phillips made plenty of other comedies prior to doing ‘The Hangover’ and that his past films such as Road Trip, Old School, Starsky & Hutch and School For Scoundrels rarely received the stellar critical reception of his last movie nor the massive box office success. And with Due Date turning out to be a tad underwhelming when compared to The Hangover it does appear that his past films are the rule rather than the exceptions.

    Father-to-be Peter Highman (Robert Downey Jr.) is hurrying to catch his flight home from Atlanta so he can be with his pregnant wife Sarah (Michelle Monaghan), but his best intentions go awry when he encounters an eccentric aspiring actor named Ethan Tremblay (Zach Galifianakis) at the drop off point outside the airport terminal. A simple accident which sees their bags getting switched gets Peter’s journey off to a horrifying start and things only get worse when he encounters Ethan on the plane and a simple argument gets them both removed and placed on the no fly list. With his money and id still on the plane the increasingly highly-strung Peter is forced to catch a ride with exasperating Ethan and his small dog. But Peter and Ethan don’t make the best travelling companions, and with only five days to get home, will Peter make it? What starts out as a misfortune soon turns into a disaster, resulting in the destruction of numerous cars and quite a few friendships. Keeping on the move with the help of Peter’s long time Darryl (Jamie Foxx) who seems far too close to Peter’s wife for comfort, the mismatched companions fight and bicker along the road on what turns out to be a life-changing journey for everyone…

    If you go into Due Date expecting a repeat of The Hangover you may well find yourself in for a pretty big disappointment. This film is not The Hangover – that much you probably expect already but it also proves immensely underwhelming even as a film in its own right. For starters, anything resembling actual plot is virtually non-existent, what plot there is seemingly only existing to link together a series of highly improbably and at the same time rather predictable situations involving the principal characters, situations that often feel shoehorned in without any real relevance to anything that is going on This could be easily forgivable if the film at least proved to be a laugh riot but sadly the humour fails to make you laugh as much as it should. Much of the humour is of the ‘uncomfortable’ variety – Robert Downey Jr. punching a young girl; Robert Downey Jr. spitting on a dog; Robert Downey Jr. getting beaten up by a man in a wheelchair (played by Danny McBride); Zach Galifianakis failing asleep while driving and causing the car to crash; Zach Galifianakis being knocked into air while in the back of a pickup truck, Robert Downey Jr., Zach Galifianakis and Jamie Foxx drinking a dead person’s ashes thinking it is coffee; Robert Downey Jr. and Zach Galifianakis getting stoned and mistakenly heading to Mexico border; Zach Galifianakis acting like a complete idiot; Robert Downey Jr. saying the f word a lot; and more stuff in this vein are what the film delivers in the humour department. Suffice to say, the humour is often very crude and juvenile and, crucially, only occasionally delivers any belly laughs, most of which can, incidentally, be seen in the film’s trailer. What’s more, the dialogue on offer doesn’t really zing enough, the film is often quite gross and all the wit that made The Hangover work so well is entirely absent. On top of this, the film also attempts to move us at times but completely fails to convince in this regard, it never being believable that the two leading characters would ever be real friends, the development of their relationship being hard to buy into. It doesn’t help that the performers themselves prove a tad underwhelming too. While Robert Downey Jr. and Zach Galifianakis do make for amusing and even endearing double act, proving to a very entertaining combination, individually they don’t really shine that much. Downey Jr. spends most of the film angry and while he does this very well, his performance just seems like something of a letdown when compared with his other recent Hollywood roles. Galifianakis, on the other hand, seems to be getting typecast as playing the stoned out idiot and while he does the part amusingly, there is nothing here that we haven’t really seen before. These complaints, however, are really more down to the way their characters are written than anything to do with the actors themselves. As for the supporting players, both Michelle Monaghan and Jamie Foxx hardly even feature, only being on the screen for a few minutes each and when they are on screen they aren’t given much to do and certainly don’t contribute much to the laughs. And cameo appearances by Danny McBride and Juliette Lewis really add little to the film either. Unfortunately, Due Date is a film that just reeks of wasted potential. It isn’t hard to see how a great comedy could have made out of the concept that is present here but without any truly memorable laugh out loud moments and more of a story around which to frame the humour, this film proves funny but should be so much funnier.

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    Review by Robert Mann BA (Hons)

    © BRWC 2010.

  • Trailer: Rare Exports

    Oh You better watch out, You better not cry, You better not pout, I’m telling you why: 



    Cause Rare Exports is coming to Cinemas!

    Apart from looking bat-shit insane, the film by Finnish filmmaker Jalmari Helander looks wickedly stylish and cinematic, with Finland serving as the perfect backdrop to the Santa-hunting tale.  
    Check out the original short films that led to the feature below. You won’t regret it. 
    Part 1: 
    Part 2: 

    © BRWC 2010.

  • Disturbing Memories

    *Spoilers on the horizon*

    When I was young slip of boy I was pretty much scared of most horror films. I genuinely didn’t want to take a bath after seeing Jaws The Revenge as a five year old. When I see it now I laugh at what a fool I was and basically every aspect of that film. When I watched Critters I had to keep checking under all the sofas and beds in my house for creepy little fuzz balls and the first time I watched The X-Files episode ‘Squeeze’ I couldn’t go anywhere near ventilation covers or fire places.

    As time goes on and more horrific and general unnerving films I viewed I find it true that your tolerance for horror grows. When I watched RoboCop as a kid I thought it was the most disgustingly violent thing ever now I can watch something like Martyrs without flinching.

    The moment I broke my horror-bone forever came when I watched a documentary about demonic possession. This was back in 1997 when The Exorcist was still banned in the UK. Me and brother watched the doc as an excuse to see clips of this film we had heard so much about. When the first clip popped up I began to laugh (the classic defense mechanism against horror). It was the scene where Regan is finally overcome by Pazuzu, flipping up and down on her bed screaming in terror, I thought she looked like a deck-chair folding back and forth. I began to laugh and then it was smacked clean off my chubby cheeks as she threw her head back, eyes all white and growled that inhuman hissed. I instantly hid under the covers, peering out to punish my young mind some more with a head-spin, levitation and green vomit. I was scared. No, no I was fucking petrified. That was the last time a film has struck such a base level of fear and revulsion in me. I have since gone on to watch the whole film a few times, it’s brilliant but it still does things to me.

    These days I find that no horror film, be it a gore-fest or a slow burn chiller really feels me with that same primal instinct to just turn off dread. In the 6-7 years there have only been two occasions where I felt the need to turn the film off, that left me feeling dirty and unnerved after watching them… and they weren’t even horror films.

    The first was Lady Vengeance. Eager to see it after falling in love with Oldboy I found the overall film disappointing. But there was a certain scene in it that I just didn’t see coming or expect to happen (it’s been a few years since I watched so please excuse if my memory ill serves). Tracking down the man who wronged her our Lady Vengeance comes across some video tapes belonging to the man, they show children he has kidnapped and plans to kill. One video shows a child with a noose round his neck, stood on a chair and crying out for his mummy. We hear a sharp kick to the chair and although the scene cuts before we see the little boy executed the sound alone felt like a punch to my stomach. I felt shocked that not only had the film gone that far but also that I had felt such a visceral reaction. It was the only time I could remember since The Exorcist when I wanted to turn the film off. Anything to do with kids and old people really get to me, having heard so many stories of the Moors murders and the horrible reality of child murders it was disturbing to be allowed to see so much of a scene that will have sadly played out in real life.

    Day Of The Locust, a film out in the seventies but I only got around to watching a couple of years ago had a similar effect. Again I thought the film overall was okay but the ending will stay with me forever. Throughout the film we’ve seen satirical swipes at the nature of Hollywood and the deceitful ways of every character involved. The only innocent in the whole film is Homer Simpson played by Donald Sutherland. A man is consistently humiliated and downtrodden through out but remains pleasant. In the end his is pushed too far when a androgynous little boy/brat who has been throughly annoying throughout throws a rock at Homer’s face drawing blood. 

    Snapping and in an uncontrollable rage Homer chases the boy-thing down, knocks him down and stamps on him screaming in horror at his own life whilst the boy screams in terror. That scene alone surprised me a bit. What happens next really took me down. As a crowd of autograph hungry, film star loving pedestrians gather round the boys dead body they quickly descend into mob mentality, grabbing Homer and thrusting him above their heads as though they are taking him to the gallows. Homer screams with fear again as thousands of hands, like zombies begin tearing at his flesh. William Atherton’s character stands by being the only person asking for calm but he is crushed in the ensuing mob and lets out a cry of despair just as Homer’s body is torn limb from limb. Atherton looks on as the scene turns into something resembling Pink Floyd’s The Wall as fire rages and the mob suddenly appear wearing masks. It’s all pretty trippy considering that until that point the film had been a slightly off-kilter drama. But the climax descends into full blown horror with child murder, a lynching and the death of the one innocent man in the entire film.

    If you’re still here thanks for sticking with me. I know it’s a bit of an indulgent, mammoth piece but I am genuinely curious to know what are everybody else’s disturbing film moments. The moments that made you want to turn off the TV or made you feel a real gut reaction because after all… that’s what good cinema is supposed to do.

    © BRWC 2010.