film reviews, interviews, features | BRWC

Blog

  • Therapy And Movies: Some Examples

    Therapy And Movies: Some Examples

    Therapy And Movies: Some Examples

    If you haven’t seen it, Disney/Pixar’s Inside Out is a wonderful film.  Funny, innovative and intelligent in bringing to life those voices in your head: joy, sadness, fear, anger, disgust.

    In the face-to-face and online therapy world it is believed that pathos and humour in movies about mental illness can be an encouraging thing, because they help us laugh and/or cry while also learning something about a mental disorder or relevant issues, even if that lesson is a simple as supporting someone through their treatment.

    Watching movies encourages emotional release. Even those who often have trouble expressing their emotions might find themselves laughing or crying during a film. This release of emotions can have a cathartic effect and also make it easier for a person to become more comfortable in expressing their emotions.

    Here are some films with a focus on therapy:

    What About Bob (1991)

    Before going on vacation, self-involved psychiatrist Dr. Leo Marvin (Richard Dreyfuss) has the misfortune of taking on a new patient: Bob Wiley (Bill Murray). An exemplar of neediness and a compendium of phobias, Bob follows Marvin to his family’s country house.

    One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest (1975)

    In order to escape the prison labour, McMurphy, a prisoner, fakes insanity and is shifted to the special ward for the mentally unstable. In this ward, he must rise up against a cruel nurse, Ratched.

    The Fisher King (1991)

    A former radio DJ, suicidal and despondent because of a terrible mistake he made, finds redemption in helping a deranged homeless man who was an unwitting victim of that mistake.  A masterclass from Robin Williams.

    Good Will Hunting (1997)

    Will Hunting, a genius in mathematics, solves all the difficult mathematical problems. When he faces an emotional crisis, he takes help from psychiatrist Dr Sean Maguireto, who helps him recover.

    A Beautiful Mind (2001)

    The American biographical drama film based on the life of the American mathematician John Nash, a Nobel Laureate in Economics and Abel Prize winner. The film was directed by Ron Howard, from a screenplay written by Akiva Goldsman.

    Ordinary People (1980)

    Tormented by guilt following the death of his older brother, Buck, in a sailing accident, alienated teenager Conrad Jarrett (Timothy Hutton) attempts suicide. Returning home following an extended stay in a psychiatric hospital, Conrad tries to deal with his mental anguish and also reconnect with his mother, Beth (Mary Tyler Moore), who has grown cold and angry, and his emotionally wounded father, Calvin (Donald Sutherland), with the help of his psychiatrist, Dr. Berger (Judd Hirsch).

    50 / 50 (2011)

    Inspired by a true story, a comedy centred on a 27-year-old guy who learns of his cancer diagnosis, and his subsequent struggle to beat the disease.

    Girl Interrupted (1999)

    Set in the changing world of the late 1960s, “Girl, Interrupted” is the searing true story of Susanna Kaysen (Winona Ryder), a young woman who finds herself at a renowned mental institution for troubled young women, where she must choose between the world of people who belong on the inside — like the seductive and dangerous Lisa (Angelina Jolie) — or the often difficult world of reality on the outside. 

    Antwone Fisher (2002)

    After a brutal flare-up with a sailor, Antwone Fisher, a Navy officer, is sent to psychiatrist Dr Jerome Davenport. Eventually, he finds new hope in life after coming to terms with his painful past.

    The Prince of Tides (1991)

    A New York psychiatrist treating an emotionally scarred woman finds it helpful to discuss her South Carolina family’s troubled history with the woman’s twin brother. He and the psychiatrist find themselves drawn together by their equally turbulent pasts, and they form an alliance which ultimately leads to romance.

    Inside Out (2015)

    Eleven-year-old Riley moves to San Francisco, leaving behind her life in Minnesota. She and her five core emotions, Fear, Anger, Joy, Disgust and Sadness, struggle to cope with her new life.

    Therapy And Movies: Some Examples

  • Happy Face: Review

    Happy Face: Review

    Stan (Robin L’Houmeau) still lives with his mother, Augustine (Noémi Kuchler) a former model and Stan has inherited her good looks. His favourite past time besides picking up women and using them for sex is playing Dungeons and Dragons and so whereas those two hobbies don’t seem to mix, he’s living the easy life and still dotes on his mother for everything.

    Stan also spends time with a support group for people with facial disfigurements, he bandages and tapes his face so that he looks like one of them and listens to them as they talk about their lives. However, as Stan’s influence on the group grows deeper, he realises that for better or worse, they’re all complex and unique individuals, just as they want the world to see them.

    Happy Face is a drama directed by Alexandre Franchi and co-written by Joelle Bourjolly and it goes against a lot of what people usually see when they see disabled people being portrayed in cinema. For one, the support group comprises of real people with real facial differences and not just non-disabled people in make-up.

    Vanessa (Debbie Lynch-White) runs the support group and because of being teased about her size for her entire life, she feels like she’s one of them because of the way people treat her despite having no facial difference. However, Stan starts to see that her CBT (cognitive behavioural therapy) approach isn’t working and decides to show them a different way of thinking and a more Cyrano de Bergerac approach to life.

    Whereas other films would use this as an able saviour trope, seen in such films as One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest and The Intouchables, Happy Face subtly plays with these kinds of tropes, even in a scene where Stan is playfully called out for doing it.

    Instead, Happy Face is a film that subverts the expectations of the audience, but doesn’t do it in a way to show how good and progressive it is. It shows that there are still people behind the disability and that even Stan has his own problems and insecurities about growing up.

    Happy Face is not another movie just to make non-disabled people feel good and be glad that it’s not them. It shows the difficulties of living in a world where if you don’t fit in then you have to adapt to make yourself comfortable. Although the question is whether the world should really adjust for them.

  • Matt’s New Release Breakdown: Holiday Edition

    Matt’s New Release Breakdown: Holiday Edition

    Matt’s New Release Breakdown: Holiday Edition – 2020 is (finally) almost over. While the traditional theatrical calendar has been thrown out the window given our COVID-19 landscape, there are still some marquee titles for audiences to enjoy over the holiday weekend. Matt’s lazy ass is still too stuffed from Christmas dinner to write elongated reviews, so it’s time for another new release breakdown!

    WE CAN BE HEROES – Directed by Robert Rodriguez

    Synopsis: When alien invaders kidnap Earth’s superheroes, their children must team up and learn to work together if they want to save their parents and the world. 

    Robert Rodriguez’s auteur verve has dwindled in the eyes of mainstream audiences. After the success of spirited low-budget offerings like Desperados, Rodriguez made a surprisingly effective transition into family fare with Spy Kids. That film’s success spawned a franchise with diminishing results per entry, including a fourth film All the Time in the World that was rejected for its bizarrely-integrated smell-o-vision.

    Whether it was his absence from his familial aesthetics or the blah normalization of 3D animation, Rodriguez’s latest We Can Be Heroes feels like a refreshing change of pace. Fans of his old efforts will be delighted to see Rodriguez’s low-budget, yet creatively-drawn imagery still intact. The sets are packed to the gills with alluringly bizarre creations. It feels like he’s a kid in the sandbox, concocting a level of wistful dreaminess that’s often entertaining to witness.

    Where most family films present heroes for younger kids to aspire to become, We Can Be Heroes acts as an endearing roll-call for its target audience. Rodriguez’s script imbues power and agency into its adolescent characters, with the inclusive cast representing well-meaning parables about perseverance and teamwork. When the film finds its comfort zone, there’s an affable positivity that radiates throughout.

    Not all of We Can Be Heroes lands as intended, as the kids’ limited acting abilities are made more apparent by Rodriguez’s ham-fisted dialogue (some messages are spelled out with a lack of dramatic grace). Even with some misgivings, I was delighted to see Rodriguez rediscover his spark as a family film visionary. I hope this is the start of a promising new franchise for Netflix and the company.

    We Can Be Heroes is now available on Netflix.

    Matt’s New Release Breakdown: Holiday Edition

    SOUL – Directed by Pete Docter and Kemp Powers

    Synopsis: Joe Gardner is a middle school teacher with a love for jazz music. After a successful gig at the Half Note Club, he suddenly gets into an accident that separates his soul from his body and is transported to the You Seminar, where Joe must learn the true meaning of life to regain his livelihood.

    Pixar’s recent track record has been relatively hit (Incredibles 2) or miss (Brave) of late. Soul thankfully marks a return to form for the animated giant, tapping into the finite motifs and imaginative imagery that morphed Pixar into a household staple.

    I am not exaggerating when crowning Soul as one of the best crafted animated films to date. Doctor utilizes the high-concept premise to envision a vibrantly drawn vision of the spectral reality. He intelligently taps into our natural curiosity and fears regarding the great beyond, navigating a potentially dour premise with sparks of humor and life. One Night in Miami scribe Kemp Powers also deserves recognition as co-director, ensuring the earth frames register with a rare sense of authenticity. The lively frames are well-acompanied by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross’ boisterous score, with the duo tapping into Joe’s music-driven world with an infectious playfulness.

    Like many of Pixar’s best efforts, Soul‘s busy frames aren’t without purpose. Joe’s journey connects to deeply human sentiments, meaningfully exploring the ways we let our lives be consumed aspirations. This obsession often drives people to miss the simple wonderments of the world around them, as Joe’s journey devolves a simple drive for connection and purpose. While delivered with some narrative handholding (I wish Doctor and company let the immersive imagery speak for itself), these are well-defined ideas that will speak to younger and older viewers alike.

    After years of mixed results, it’s a joy to see Soul reconnect with Pixar’s apex form.

    Matt’s New Release Breakdown: Holiday Edition

    WONDER WOMAN 1984 – Directed by Patty Jenkins

    Synopsis: Diana Prince lives quietly among mortals in the vibrant, sleek 1980s — an era of excess driven by the pursuit of having it all. Though she’s come into her full powers, she maintains a low profile by curating ancient artifacts and only performing heroic acts incognito. But soon, Diana will have to muster all of her strength as she finds herself squaring off against Maxwell Lord and the Cheetah.

    I adored Wonder Woman, a vibrant superhero endeavor with more emotional impact and enriched character dynamics than its formidable peers. Gal Gadot and Chris Pine’s romantic chemistry imbued refreshingly human steaks into the genre’s bombast-driven formula, with Patty Jenkins keen eye morphing big-budget setpieces into truly heroic moments (the no man’s land scene is still an iconic superhero moment).

    Everything that propelled Jenkins’ previous effort feels notably absent from the long-awaited sequel Wonder Woman 1984. The down-to-earth humanistic frames are subbed out for a bloated narrative, one that stuffs itself full of tired superhero contrivances ripped from a bygone era. In its place, Jenkins presents several action setpieces with noisily disintersted results. Their mere competence isn’t enough to generate much excitement, with the pervasive emptiness permeating throughout most frames.

    Like a lot of doomed superhero follow-ups, 1984 gives far too much attention to its one-note antagonists. Kristen Wiig and Pedro Pascal infuse energy into their personas, but the character’s predictable journey rarely presents dimension. Their empathetic backgrounds lack humanity as the script spoon-feeds flat developments for audiences to attach to. Jenkins and company’s attempts to connect to the glutenous trends of the 1980s are too inert to carry much weight, as the film constantly fumbles attempts to say anything of note (Wiig’s character could have been a pronounced reflection of women’s unfair societal expectations, but those frames are desperately lacking agency or nuance).

    There are glimmers where Wonder Woman 1984 resembles its accomplished predecessor, particularly with the Gadot/Pine connection that worked so well in the first one. This sequel though feels more driven by studio mandates than any personal purpose, with the talented Patty Jenkins operating in auto pilot through most of the big-budget frame. I hope the third film can redeem this effort’s misgivings.

    Wonder Woman 1984 is now in theaters and available on HBO Max.

    You can also check out Matt’s reviews for other holiday releases like The Midnight Sky and Fatale.

    Matt’s New Release Breakdown: Holiday Edition

  • Soul: Disney+ Talk

    Soul: Disney+ Talk

    Soul: Disney+ Talk

    It seems that Pixar has given a mind to everything in existence: toys, cars, robots and even emotions. But they’re not done yet and are giving human souls a mind of their own with their new film ‘Soul’. This was another film that was due for a cinema release but unfortunately missed out due to the pandemic. Therefore, it has landed a place on Disney’s streaming service.

    ‘Soul’ stars Jamie Foxx as Joe Gardner, a New York resident who is given the chance of a lifetime to play in a famous jazz band. But, after he suddenly dies, he must find a way back into his body before the concert starts and avoid going to the Great Beyond. Along the way, he befriends a mischievous soul, 22 (voiced by Tina Fey) who refuses to transfer to Earth. 

    Pixar once again shine through with their latest entry, and I hope this gets re-released once the cinemas reopen. It’s a delightful and heart-warming film. 

    Jamie Foxx delivers a fantastic voice performance as the teacher who is continuously turned down by various jazz bands that he desperately wants to play in, to only meet his untimely end once his big break arrives. He’s immediately likable and his motives are completely understandable. 22 is also likable, but for a different reason: she is cheeky and carries most of the humour by her recounting her previous mentors, which include Abraham Lincoln and Mother Teresa. Later in the film, a lot of the jokes are slapstick, and this works too because of the opposite personalities. Joe is so desperate to get back to Earth while 22 has no interest. However, the duo work together perfectly.

    Something I rarely bring up when talking about a film is diversity. However, this needs to be mentioned. The majority of the cast are black or Spanish-speaking, which is something I admire. It shows that Pixar are wanting to be more diverse with each film they make; their last film being the Mexican led ‘Coco’ which is still my favourite Pixar film. And, just like ‘Coco’, the soundtrack is important to the story too; it’s what drives Joe Gardner in life. Therefore, it needs to be not only good, but also meaningful. ‘Soul’ definitely has the most interesting soundtrack, with a mixture of smooth jazz and electronic music. These genres are used to separate the real world and the spirit world, giving the already dream-like world a sense of wonder compared to the more grounded real world. 

    Like mentioned at the start, I hope ‘Soul’ is re-released in cinemas for one reason only: the visuals. The divide between Earth and the spirit world is clear, not only through its music but through the visuals too: The Great Before looks dream-like and soft to match the nature of the souls that are yet to be born, while the stairway to the Great Beyond is wonderous and sparse, giving it a mysterious aura. This scene in particular was my favourite, as well as the black and white sketch lines of the drop between the two Great areas. The mixture of the impressive animation styles is wonderful to see and makes this a visually unique film. The character animation is also interesting and unique; whereas Pixar started out by cloning Andy various times as a way to animate his friends in ‘Toy Story’, this film really displays how far the company has come since then in terms of animating people. No one looks the same here, and everyone has their own unique appearance and quirks. And the souls look otherworldly but still identifiable; you can tell who they were when they lived on Earth. 

    Overall, Pixar has made another animated classic with ‘Soul’. It was a film that I was originally uninterested in, but I’m glad I watched. The music and animation make this a very unique Pixar film and I really hope it gets its chance at the cinema when the times comes, because this is a film that deserves to be seen on the big screen. Not only that, but it’s clear Pixar are becoming culturally diverse with their recent entries and that’s something that I really admire and hope they continue to do in the future. 

    If you have Disney+, then I would highly recommend this. 

  • Once Upon A Time In Iraq: Review

    Once Upon A Time In Iraq: Review

    Once Upon A Time In Iraq: Review. By Ray Lobo.

    Does Iraq occupy any mental space in the American mind anymore? Covid, Trump’s antics, and our daily whirlwind of concerns and stressors have pushed Iraq out of our minds. The past; however, is never too far behind, its traces usually return. This week revived Iraq back into our consciousness. Trump pardoned four Blackwater guards who were serving jail sentences for the killing of 14 Iraqi civilians including two children. The tragedy of the invasion of Iraq is still there; it is a stain that cannot be washed away.

    The majority of documentaries on Iraq present the typical talking heads — politicians, foreign policy experts, etc. — American soldiers on the front lines, and the perspective of a few Iraqis. Once Upon a Time in Iraq does not simply pepper a few Iraqi voices as contrast against American voices. Once Upon a Time in Iraq is one of the rare documentaries on Iraq made up entirely of Iraqi voices.

    The colorful spectrum of interviewees — male, female, young, old, pro- Saddam Hussein, anti-Saddam Hussein, ISIS member — is a testament to British documentarian James Bluemel’s commitment to allowing Iraqis to tell their story (I should also mention the choice of Andy Serkis — whose father was Armenian-Iraqi — as the English narrator being yet another attempt at grounding the documentary in Iraqi soil).

    The Iraqi tragedy is magnified as interviewees stress the many missed opportunities by the US in the early days of the invasion. A large segment of Iraq’s youth was infatuated with American pop culture. Waleed Nesyif, a huge Metallica fan, learned English from American songs and movies. He felt stifled under Saddam’s regime. Another interviewee, Um Qusay, tells of the crushing poverty in her village in which she had no choice but to eat chicken feed in order to survive. Many Iraqis were tired of Saddam’s thugs killing and torturing their family members. They were also fed up with Saddam’s network of informants — a system reminiscent of the East German Stasi. In short, many Iraqis saw the invasion as a reset. They were willing to work with the invaders.

    Once Upon A Time In Iraq. Image from thetimes.co.uk
    Once Upon A Time In Iraq. Image from thetimes.co.uk

    US bungling in rebuilding Iraq became evident to Iraqis a few months after the first US bombs dropped. Months passed without electricity or water in Baghdad. Baghdad became known as the “city of garbage.” Setting the groundwork for the West’s extraction of natural resources from Iraq, and using Iraq as a geopolitical chess piece, became evident motives for all Iraqis.

    On top of all this, alternating backings of Sunni and Shiite forces by the US, based on the changing fortunes of the campaign, led to a sectarian bloodbath. US support for prime minister Nouri al- Maliki, along with tolerance of his anti-Sunnism and corruption, led to the creation of ISIS. In the ultimate example of what post-invasion Iraq became, Waleed Nesyif tells the story of his difficulty in arranging a get together with high school friends due to sectarian intermingling.

    The invasion’s blowback is something that continuously attempts to shake America out of its amnesia — the region is still unstable, and some have argued that American right-wing domestic militias are heavily composed of soldiers who served in Iraq.

    The past cannot be rewound and remade. Given the clockwork with which the US is involved in the affair of other countries, and the innocent lives in peril in those countries, documentaries like Once Upon a Time in Iraq remind us how dangerous it is to forget.