film reviews, interviews, features | BRWC

Blog

  • Visual Acoustics: The Modernism Of Julius Shulman – Review

    Visual Acoustics: The Modernism Of Julius Shulman – Review

    Visual Acoustics: The Modernism Of Julius Shulman – Review. By Hugues Porquier.

    Total discovery for some, vibrant tribute for others, “Visual Acoustics, The Modernism of Julius Shulman” (2008) directed By Eric Bricker, retraces the history and career of Julius Shulman.  Specialized in the modernism of the south of California and more precisely of Los Angeles, Julius Shulman, born in 1910 and who died in 2009, is still today the most influential architectural photographer who ever lived on this planet.

    He was mainly known for his photographs of mansions built by renowned architects and containing elements of nature such as mountains, trees or water.  In this documentary, narrated by Dustin Hoffman, we discover the work of Julius Shulman, but also the man he was. 

    Through the various testimonies of his family and friends, but also through Julius Shulman himself. Shulman seems to be a smiling man, who laughs easily. He is a real enthusiast and a nature lover. The trigger for his career came from his meeting, in 1936, with Richard Neutra, an architect who was looking for a photographer to document his work and with whom he worked until his death in 1970.  This meeting allowed him to work with many other very influential architects such as Frank Lloyd Wright, John Lautner or Albert Frey.

    Through the life of a man of that influence, who lived almost a century, the documentary also linger on modernism in architecture thanks to Shulman’s photographic archives. The documentary looks back on historical aspects such as the emergence of modernism, which is the idea that says that form follows function, the form of a building should be related to the function it’s supposed to have. 

    The film also offers an exploration of his iconic Case Study House photos, and some of the photographs for which he is famous. It allows us to look at stunning photographs of Los Angeles or Palms Springs. In the end of the 1950s, thanks to the architectural press, such as “House and garden” or “Modern Home”, he will be able to develop his influence on the American public and to present an innovative lifestyle to the world. 

    Shulman’s work may seem complex to fully understand. This is why there is interventions from professionals such as Tom Ford, Ed Ruscha, Dante Spinotti or Frank Gehry who help us to have a better comprehension of Julius’ talent.  They allow us to grasp the aestheticism and the vision of the world that Shulman presents to the world through his work. 

    Julius Shulman defines the way we look at modernism. His whole life has been devoted to documenting and illustrating the evolution of build environment in architectural form. 

    This entertaining and educational documentary allows us to discover an architectural movement but also a genius of photography. 

  • Amy Adams Edition: Bits & Pieces

    Amy Adams Edition: Bits & Pieces

    Amy Adams Edition: Bits & Pieces – From filmmakers Jesse Moss and Amanda McBaine, the sensational winner of the Grand Jury Prize for documentary at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, Boys State is a wildly entertaining and continually revealing immersion into a week-long annual program in which over a thousand Texas high school seniors gather for an elaborate mock exercise: building their own state government.

    From Shondaland and Creator Chris Van Dusen, Bridgerton follows Daphne Bridgerton (Phoebe Dynevor), the eldest daughter of the powerful Bridgerton family as she makes her debut onto Regency London’s competitive marriage market. Hoping to follow in her parent’s footsteps and find a match sparked by true love, Daphne’s prospects initially seem to be unrivaled. But as her older brother begins to rule out her potential suitors, the high society scandal sheet written by the mysterious Lady Whistledown (voiced by Julie Andrews) casts aspersions on Daphne. Enter the highly desirable and rebellious Duke of Hastings (Regé-Jean Page), committed bachelor and the catch of the season for the debutantes’ mamas. Despite proclaiming that they want nothing the other has to offer, their attraction is undeniable and sparks fly as they find themselves engaged in an increasing battle of wits while navigating society’s expectations for their future.

    Dogwoof has launched a UK exclusive trailer for Alexander Nanau’s critically acclaimed documentary COLLECTIVE. The film, recently confirmed as the official Romanian Oscar entry for Best International Feature, will be available on digital platforms from 20th November.

    BFI Distribution announces that, following the closure of cinemas in England for four weeks from today, new release MOGUL MOWGLI will be available to film fans all over the UK as it moves from cinemas to digital as a PVOD release. From Friday 6th November MOGUL MOWGLI will be available to stream on BFI Player for £10 and Curzon Home Cinema for £9.99.

    From co-creator of the cult classic Moon and debut director Gavin Rothery comes a slick sci-fi thriller that looks at the future of artificial intelligence and its impact on the universal human experience. With an all-star British cast including Theo James (Divergent Series, Sandition, Downton Abbey, Stacy Martin (Nymphomaniac, Vox Lux, High Rise) and Toby Jones (Detectorists, The Hunger Games, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy), ARCHIVE is in cinemas on 15 January and on digital download from 18 January, 2021.

    Song Without a Name (Canción Sin Nombre) is set in Peru in 1988. The country is in the grip of a devastating political crisis. Georgina, a young woman from the Andes, has her newborn daughter stolen, after giving birth at a fake health clinic. The desperate search for her baby leads her to Pedro, a young and tenacious investigative journalist who will stop at nothing to get to the truth.

    Inspired by true events, COUNTY LINES is the highly acclaimed and hugely topical feature from writer and director Henry Blake. The film is a vivid and moving coming-of-age film about a struggling mum (Ashley Madekwe) and her 14-year-old son Tyler (Conrad Khan) who is groomed and recruited by Simon (Harris Dickinson) into a lethal drug-selling network – a ‘county line’ that exploits vulnerable children and puts them to work nationwide.

    Awarded the Special Jury Prize at the 1996 Cannes Film Festival for originality, daring and audacity, Crash remains an incredibly subversive and confrontational piece of cinema – Cronenberg himself describes it as “a dangerous film”.

    An epic love story with soaring lyricism, WILD MOUNTAIN THYME is set against the breath-taking landscapes of rural Ireland, where everyone is half mad with loneliness or love, and the weather is terrible.

    https://vimeo.com/442981924
  • Luxo Jr. – Disney+ Talk

    Luxo Jr. – Disney+ Talk

    Pixar is one of the leading companies in the CGI animation industry and have created numerous beloved and award-winning films that I not only love but are loved around the world. So, it may come as a surprise that I have never seen their very first short film ‘Luxo Jr.’.

    ‘Luxo Jr.’ is a 2-minute short, following two desk lamps. In the film the smallest lamp, Luxo Jr., excitedly finds a small bouncy ball. However, in its excitement, breaks it. Feeling guilty, it then hops offscreen and manages to find another, bigger, ball.

    The short is essentially a comedy skit as well as a demonstration of what the company could create so they could earn financial backing to get Pixar off the ground. And, for a first animated short, it’s extremely impressive. Even 30 years later, the models still look incredible and life-like. Even the lighting still looks fantastic.

    Overall, this was a window into what was to be expected of Pixar, in terms of quality. Furthermore, it was a window into how they’d animate inanimate objects to have feelings (a technique that was used for their first feature-length film ‘Toy Story’). The lamps don’t talk, so only communicate through whistling and body language. Again, the latter was important to get right and was later incorporated into 2008’s ‘Wall-E’.

    The short is also important because it gave way to two Pixar staples. The first one to note is Luxo Jr. itself, which would become the company’s mascot; the logo in this short is a grey square with a small circle in it. Even the act of the lamp jumping onto the ball and deflating it would be used for Pixar’s opening logo sequence, replacing the ball with the letter ‘I’ in the company name.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D4NPQ8mfKU0

    Even the whistling sounds as it bounces have stayed throughout the decades. Another aspect to note is the small ball that is deflated (now known as the ‘Luxo Ball’). While it doesn’t appear in every Pixar film, the yellow and blue ball has made numerous appearances, most recently in 2020’s ‘Onward’.

    If you have 2 minutes to spare, and want to see some Pixar history, then I would recommend ‘Luxo Jr.’. For a demonstration of the animator’s skills, it said a lot to what they could achieve, and opened a window into what they would be capable of doing.

  • Echo Boomers: Review

    Echo Boomers: Review

    Heist films rank among my personal favorite subgenres, with great filmmakers often juxtaposing the methodical initial planning stages with an equally unhinged and ferocious final climax (Den of Thieves and American Animals are some recent favorites). First-time writer/director Seth Savoy looks to strike a similar blend with his debut feature Echo Boomers, a film that combines its heist machinations with the often-maligned milieu of discontented millennials. While intriguing in its conception, Savoy’s film fails to impress on a technical or thematic level.

    Based on a (loosely) true story, Echo Boomers follows Lance Zutterland (Patrick Schwarzenegger), a recent college graduate who leaves school in debt, realizing everything he had worked towards was built on a lie. When he is pulled into a criminal underground operation, he finds his peers fighting the system by stealing from the rich and giving to themselves. With nothing to lose, they leave behind a trail of destruction, but with the cops closing in, tensions mount and Lance soon discovers he is in over his head with no way out.

    To Savoy’s credit, enhancing his heist film formula with personal ruminations on a disenfranchised generation has potential on paper. His script makes an earnest effort to dissect millennial’s mindsets, an age group that feels failed by a society that preached a formula of success that rarely comes to fruition. The issues arise from Savoy’s inability to present this conceit with dramatic grace. Monotone voiceover often serves the purpose of displaying these concepts, spelling out their core meaning with a forward clumsiness. Echo Boomers’ throughline reads with a cheesy rah-rah attitude, never matching its fast-and-furious narrative with nuanced ideas.

    After stripping away the intriguing thematic flavoring, Echo Boomers stands as your typical run-of-the-mill actioner. Savoy never engages with his alluring rise-and-fall material in visceral ways, often relying upon chaotic edits to provide a semblance of style. The flat camera work is rarely spiced up with peppy execution choices, making the apparent budgetary restrictions all the more obvious in the process. I am extremely partisan to low-budget filmmakers who utilize their limited assets to the fullest, but there’s nothing present on-screen that capably displays much filmmaking vigor.

    Perhaps what derails Echo Boomers is the weightlessness that permeates each frame. Savoy’s script provides no characters to truly attach to, as they often range between blandly earnest do-gooders (Schwarzenegger and Hayley Law’s roles) to flavorless villains that lack real weight (Alex Pettyfer and Michael Shannon, with Shannon deserving so much more than the thinly-conceived role he’s given). The acting isn’t up to snuff to elevate the contrivances either, with Schwarzenegger having similarly flawed acting chops as his father. Where Arnold was able to mask his weaknesses with movie star charisma, Patrick doesn’t yet have the gravity to grab audiences’ interest. The narrative also lacks any genuine surprises, traversing through well-traveled territory without employing inventive wrinkles (audiences can seemingly set their watch to when each plot beat will appear).

    Floating through its 94 minutes run time while barely registering an impression, Echo Boomers’ mere competence can’t deliver a thrilling experience.

  • Fly Like A Girl: Review

    Fly Like A Girl: Review

    Documentary “Fly Like a Girl” from filmmaker Katie McEntire Wiatt follows women who went against the patriarchy and pursued a career in aviation, a field where women were long considered taboo or just an anomaly. The film frames itself around an 11-year-old girl, Afton Kincade, whose dream is to have a career in aviation. The innocent hopes and dreams of this girl were made possible by the brave women who came before her; paving the way for her and every other little girl who dreams of spending their lives near and in an aircraft. 

    The film then explores the stories of these women. Each story is unique and from different historical eras, showing all levels of advancement towards and for women in the field.

    Some familiar faces include US senator and veteran Tammy Duckworth from my own personal home state of Illinois, Patty Wagstaff, the first woman to become a US national aerobatic champion, Nicole Stott, a flight engineer and NASA astronaut, Shaesta Waiz, a woman who immigrated to the US as a refugee from Afghanistan and the youngest woman to fly solo around the world, Captain Venice Armour, the first black female naval aviator in the Marine Corps, and Bernice Falk Haydu, a female airfare service pilot who broke down huge barriers for women during World War II. Haydu had to wait 60 years for the government to finally award her with her wings and recognize her for the service she provided to our nation; the multi decade wait was all because she was, of course, a woman. All of these stories are edited back to back and intercut before we loop back around to Afton Kincade’s story.

    If it seems like there’s a lot of fragments of stories that are being told here that are intermixed into an hour and a half long film, it’s because there are, and this is really my main criticism. Although I loved learning about each woman individually, particularly Tammy Duckworth who I have always admired for her bravery, I almost wish they had zoned in on less women so that we could delve more in depth into their lives. It’s like we only got to see a snapshot or the edges of their interesting stories and didn’t quite have the time to fully capture their achievements, struggles, and rich emotional lives they developed as they battled into a field dominated by men. Moreover, although an interesting idea, there wasn’t really a clear tie in to Afton Kincade. I feel like she could have just been a clip, and the film really should have focused more on the women. There were just too many things going on and that part didn’t really make much sense editorially.

    This is where the film’s edit could use a polish. It is almost like the audience is being bombarded with so much information that we miss the truly inspirational feel we are supposed to get out of the film because we are too busy trying to keep track of which woman achieved what. This should not be interpreted as a slam on the film, which I do think was very inspirational, rather what I believe was an oversight in the direction. Where the film went wrong was that it shot off into too many storylines, it really could have benefitted much more from something much more linear.

    That being said, aviation, like many other careers, that were once incredibly sexist towards women, have improved considerably, and yet still seem to have a long way to go. There was absolutely no reason, for instance, that a woman could not compete in the national aerobatic championship, because, as Patty Wagstaff said, the aircraft doesn’t know your gender. This quote really stuck with me, and made me think of the struggles women face everyday, in every field, and in daily life. 

    Even in today’s progressive world, women who work in any sort of male dominated field are still seen as a fluke or an accident with their talents and achievements being downplayed. Everything a woman does is scrutinised; but when we can look to the strength of women like the ones seen in this film, it shines a light on hope. I was encouraged that we as women can fight to be everything we want and are created to be without feeling like we have to dumb ourselves down or not pursue our dreams just because someone else is uncomfortable with them. We must fight another day, support each other, and keep marching forward.