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  • Claudia Bouza: Interview

    Claudia Bouza: Interview

    Claudia Bouza: Interview. By Eleanor Klein.

    Claudia Bouza is a Spanish actress trained at The Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute. Her short film ‘Faces’ won best film at the London Film Festival and also at the Couch film festival in Toronto. With many acting credits under her belt, today we had the opportunity to chat with her. 

    The first thing I do in the morning is… Drink a bottle of Water

    The best beauty advice I ever received was… Workout helps with everything!

    When I’m stressed… I clean everything meticulously

    Favorite time of the day… Breakfast time… I like my morning coffee and to think about my day plans  

    My guilty pleasure is… Late night snacks 

    Sweet or Savoury… Savoury 

    The best advice for looking great in a photo is… Feel confident and it’ll show… 

    One thing I wish people knew about me is… I appreciate when people are honest from the beginning 

    If you looked at my desktop, you’d see… A bunch of photoshoots!

    https://vimeo.com/483978864

    Who Is Fashion Model & Actress Claudia Bouza?

    Claudia Bouza Macia is a professional model and actress, currently based in New York City, NY. She is originally from the colorful and incredibly artistic city of Barcelona, Spain. Her style channels that unique vibrancy and warmth that makes her hometown so special, but she has a look and a creative identity that’s all her own. Quite focused on acting,

    Claudia went to The Lee Strasberg Theatre Film Institute in Manhattan, where she attended the conservatory program and earned her degree after a 2-years program. Her time at the school was incredibly influential for her development as an artist and as an individual in general, and she continues to stay active in the NYC theater community.

    She is currently planning on putting up a production of Jean Genet’s play MAIDS, along with a few school alumni.

  • In The Land Of Lost Angels: Review

    In The Land Of Lost Angels: Review

    In the Land of Lost Angels immediately throws the viewer into its tense world.  We get a backseat POV shot of two criminal conspirators in the driver and passenger seats of a car.  They worry that the vehicle behind them is a cop’s.  We sense a crime has been committed.  The visual language is the standard crime thriller one of shadows and dark city streets; however, the language spoken by the conspirators is unexpected.  It is Mongolian. 

    Director Bishrel Mashbat’s use of black and white gives In the Land of Lost Angels a beautiful but desolate sheen.  That sheen comes through best in the frequent shots of the backs of the conspirators’ heads and in the lighting of a desolate Los Angeles gas station. 

    The tension in the early stages is built quite effectively by the step-by-step preparations for a crime, a crime we later find out involves the kidnapping of a wealthy man’s son.  Ankhaa (Erdenemunkh Tumursukh) mixes chemicals, steals a license plate from a car, buys a burner phone, buys a gun, and figures out with his partner Orgil (Iveel Mashbat) the best getaway route through Los Angeles’ serpentine tangle of highways.

    Certain elements work well.  The interactions between Ankhaa and Orgil are fraught with tension.  Both characters effectively convey the precariousness of their kidnapping pact; a nagging distrust between the two gives the impression that the entire caper may crumble at any minute.  Bishrel Mashbat effectively captures the toxic masculinity running through Ankhaa and Orgil.

    One senses the director is documenting, and not so much celebrating, the limitations set on the characters’ personalities by their masculine facades.  Their interactions are infused with a tough guise in the form of their clipped dialogue, their commentary on the sexuality of K-pop stars, and even in their arguments: “Let’s not bicker like b – – ches.”  

    Mashbat weaves in themes revolving around the immigrant experience.  Ankhaa’s phone conversations with his family in Mongolia capture both the displacement felt when one is separated from loved ones and the obligation one feels to send money as quickly as possible to desperate family members back home.  A scene in which Mongolian throat singing can be heard in the background indicates that the mother country is never far away from the characters’ psyches, even when they are engaging in criminal behavior. 

    Ankhaa’s character faces a series of challenges involving the delivery of a suitcase and obtaining a passport for a quick visit to Mongolia.  His dependence on other Mongolian expats for help is emblematic of the fragile support system for immigrants in the United States.  Many times, the only dependable support system that can be found is within one’s own expat community.  

    The redeeming elements and themes of In the Land of Lost Angels do not make up for the lack of original storyline.  The storyline is not significantly bold enough to set itself apart in a memorable way when compared to other films in the crime thriller genre.  Perhaps Mashbat’s aim was to show how the pressures involved in the execution of a crime bring forth in a heightened way topics such as immigrant struggles and toxic masculinity. 

    One wonders; however, if these topics could have been better explored outside the parameters of the crime thriller genre.       

  • Moxie: The BRWC Review

    Moxie: The BRWC Review

    Moxie Synopsis: Inspired by her mom’s (Amy Poehler) rebellious past and a confident new friend, a shy 16-year-old (Hadley Robinson) publishes an anonymous zine calling out sexism at her school. Based on a novel by Jennifer Mathieu.

    Tackling toxic masculinity and the uneasy conformity that accepts these troubling behaviors, Moxie admirably highlights vital issues from a clever adolescent perspective. While it’s a joy to see director/co-star Amy Poehler stretch her comedic wings, her well-intended efforts can’t reach her sincere goals.

    Poehler’s heart is certainly in the right place with Moxie. The decision to craft a feminist project speaking to younger viewers offers something truly essential in the Hollywood marketplace. So many films of this ilk construct themselves in the image of what filmmakers think adolescents want to see, which often leads to a certain noisy emptiness.

    Here, Poehler unabashedly confronts pervasive societal issues within her critical perspective, with screenwriters Dylan Meyer and Tamara Chestna teaming up to give provide a supportive voice for a subsection that’s often ignored by Hollywood norms. The young cast also ably elevates their archetype roles. Hadley Robinson, Lauren Tsaim and Alycia Pascual-Pena add infectious vitriol that ably captures the character’s youthful spirits.

    Good intentions can only take Moxie’s material so far, however. Meyer and Chestna’s script tries to encompass the full spectrum of high school life alongside their thematic throughline (they jam-pack friendship drama, dating, mother-daughter dynamics, and bullies alongside the feminist bend). Amidst a slight runtime, few of these dynamics have room to breathe on screen. Most of the character developments seem borrowed from superior coming-of-age efforts, as the screenwriter duo consistently relies upon played-out devices to advance the narrative. I wish Moxie felt more like a grounded narrative and less like a greatest hits amalgamation of other high school films.

    When it comes to tackling the potent thematic dynamics, Moxie winds up feeling too toothless for its own good. Discussions geared towards sexual harassment, abuse, and society’s placating of men’s problematic behavior offer vital glimpses into the internal/external pressures facing women coming-of-age. These moments wind up feeling too far and few between, with many of the more complex dynamics being relegated to window dressing developments (a shocking confession comes in the final minutes but barely receives time to breathe). It’s just not enough to merely present issues to audiences. I was left wishing the script employed more bite and thought when it comes to these critical concepts.

    A bit more focus and nuance would’ve allowed Moxie to become a new young adult staple, but Amy Poehler’s film gets tripped up on its balance of hard-hitting subject matter intermixed with crowd-pleasing allures.

  • Dreams On Fire: Review

    Dreams On Fire: Review

    Dreams on Fire is the story of Yume, a girl living in Tokyo who attempts to escape her life to become a dancer. Along the way she finds herself facing harsh realities and the seedy life of Japan’s red-light district. But her passion for the art and skills to learn keep her pushing forward. And the rest plays out fairly similarly to the likes of Coyote Ugly and those Step Up films.

    Well, comparing it to those films may be a little insincere, as it is a step-up (no pun intended) from those films. Especially in it’s visuals. Dreams on Fire has some spectacular dance sequences. The opening alone was an assault on the senses, with a cirque-du-soleil-esc dance of vibrant reds and glittered make-up.

    The lead character being played by professional dancer Bambi Naka, in what is her first leading role in a film, it is expected that the dance scenes will stand out. There is fantastic choreography, all perfectly timed to the music. It is strange that acting is judged by how actors can speak their lines and how they can loose weight or gain muscle for a role, when dancing, stunts and fight choreography is harder to do, is more demanding and still requires them to read their lines.

    In this regard, Bambi Naka does a great job. She proves herself to be a good character actress, while also doing impressive dance moves that most can only dream of doing. 

    Story wise, Dreams on Fire is well told. As the title suggests, it is a bittersweet film. At times uplifting, while other times it is hard hitting. It never goes too far with either, for better and worse, but on the whole it does feel very satisfying. While it should surprise nobody that it has very heavy moments, it is all handled effectively and realistically. We get a character with a dream, and we follow that dream as realistically as any film could present it. None of this straight line to fame.

    None of this waiting for the right moment. Not even finding someone who proves to be more important than the dream. The kind of thing you would see from Disney. This is a character who has to balance a job, or multiple jobs, with her homelife and ambitions. An sometimes, work simply had to win out to afford the necessities of life. We have all been down this road, likely many are still on this road.

    Praise must be given to director Philippe McKie, for who Dreams on Fire is the feature debut of. He has a keen eye for visuals and an ear for sound. The film is fitted together brilliantly and demonstrates a focused and distinct vision. Both McKie and Naka are what makes Dreams on Fire work. A surprisingly hard hitting coming of age drama is given more life thanks to them. It is most certainly worth the watch. It could be considered a little long at just over two-hours, but what is there is certainly worth it.

  • Justine: Review

    Justine: Review

    Justine is a loosely spun tale of addiction and self-sabotage. It is written by Jeff Murphy (Hidden; Hinterland) and directed by Jamie Patterson, a dynamic director who spans genres from rom-coms to sci-fi-horrors at an average of two productions per year.

    Justine (Tallulah Haddon), is petulant and abrasive, spending her time drinking vodka and shoplifting (and shoplifting vodka). She roams around the sparsely populated and less trendy corners of Patterson’s hometown, Brighton, suggesting that this could be anywhere really.

    Justine picks up Rachel (Sophie Reid) with relative ease, perhaps representing a spontaneity that is lacking in her own life. Here there are similarities with My Summer of Love (2004), and Me Without You (2001), which delve into obsession and toxicity between young women, but are both far more compelling than Justine.

    The small cast includes a comedy-free appearance from Steve Oram (Sightseers; The End of the Fxxxing World), and Sian Reese-Williams, with the face for gritty British drama (Hidden; Silent Witnesses; Line of Duty). Reese-Williams is almost too convincing as Justine’s case worker. Delivering a message of support with the hard demeanour of someone who has seen it all before, and is fed up with your bullshit.

    Justine does not meet the expectations set by 2018’s Tucked, though the combination of sexuality, self-destruction, and addiction is a well that won’t run dry any time soon.

    Justine has a UK release date of 5th March 2021Jamie Patterson’s upcoming projects include The Kindred and God’s Petting You.