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  • Nightbitch, TENET, Sinkhole: Weekly Round Up

    Nightbitch, TENET, Sinkhole: Weekly Round Up

    Nightbitch, TENET, Sinkhole: Weekly Round Up – As COVID-19 continues to alter the way we all live our lives, so the movie industry is trying desperately to figure out how to deal with the ongoing uncertainty around movie theatres, returning to physical production, and generally just getting films out there. We saw one interesting way to tackle the problem this week from British director Rob Savage, best known for his short film Dawn of the Deaf, who released his shot in lockdown movie HOST on the “Netflix for horror” streaming service Shudder to mostly positive reviews.

    While the indie-film scene seems to be doing everything it can to get its act together, bigger studios seems to be having a harder time dealing with the pandemic, and that has been none more clearer than when it comes to the many release dates of The Dark Knight director Christopher Nolan’s hotly anticipated sci-fi actioner, TENET.

    After several push backs on an official release date from the studio, Warner Brothers have now officially confirmed that TENET will be released internationally across 70 countries on August 26th before getting a domestic US release a week later on Labor Day weekend. However, the US release will on be in “selected cities”.

    No doubt this news will disappoint US audiences eager to finally see the new movie as it remains unclear what Warner’s full strategy actually is here. Will the film be getting a VOD release alongside this? Will the Labor Day opening leader to a wider release across the States? At this point we don’t know, but either way it appears here in the UK we’ll finally get to see just what the hell TENET is later this month.

    It seems that we may be seeing the start of a kind of werewolf revival, what with the news a few weeks back that Ryan Gosling will be starring in the Blumhouse produced, Leigh Whannell directed update of Univeral’s classic monster movie The Wolf Man, and now this week’s news that Amy Adams is set to star in a new movie tantalizingly titled Nightbitch.

    Admittedly, the movie isn’t technically a werewolf film, with Adams’ reportedly set to star as a “former artist who is thrust into stay-at-home domesticity after the birth of her son, who becomes increasingly worried that she may be turning into a dog”.

    It’s an odd premise, I’ll give it that, but it has something of a werewolf feel about it, even if it doesn’t technically involve werewolves. I’m all for this renewed interest in the sub-genre, as it’s one I have often thought is somewhat under-represented. The issue with werewolf movies is usually to do with finding a new angle in which to approach the story, and Nightbitch certainly seems to have got that covered.

    The film, based on a novel of the same name by author Rachel Yoder which is scheduled for release at some point next year, is being produced through Annapurna, a production company that Nightbitch Adams herself has worked with on more than one occasion in the past, including on films such as Paul Thomas Anderson’s not-quite-scientology fable The Master, David O’Russell’s true life crime caper American Hustle, and Spike Jonez’s science-fiction romance Her.

    We’ll stay on the horror train here as we also got some interesting news this week about a new project from Get Out writer/director Jordan Peele.

    Since Get Out’s release Peele has done a lot of work within the genre, including taking up hosting duties of CBS All Access’ updated reboot of the cult classic television series The Twilight Zone. He has also worked as a producer on a number of projects, Nia DaCosta’s Candyman remake, which is scheduled for release later this year, being one of the more prolific ones, and he will continue in that role on the newly announced sci-fi horror Sinkhole.

    Sinkhole will reportedly star Issa Rae and is about a strange pit that appears in the back garden of an otherwise seemingly perfect home. Perhaps most interestingly, the film began life as a short story born in a writer’s room and based on the theme “I married a monster”. Quite how that fits into the synopsis is unknown, but it sure does sound interesting.

    They say horror thrives in times of social and political unrest, which no doubt explains the wealth of news surrounding horror movies this week, and our final update continues on that trend.

    A few weeks back now we learned that the folks behind the excellent 2019 horror comedy Ready or Not would be helming a Scream reboot, based on the Wes Craven classic. However, news since then has shifted the project closer to what most would consider straight sequel territory as opposed to an entirely new thing.

    Last month we learned that Neve Campbell was in talks to return to the franchise as Sydney Prescott and not long after we learned that David Arquette, who played Deputy Dewey Riley in all four of the previous outings, had signed on to return. Well, this week we’ve got news that Gail Weathers herself, Courtney Cox, has also agreed to head back to Woodsboro and face off against Ghost Face one more time.

    The revelation that this reboot is, in fact, more like Scream 5 has been somewhat disappointing for some fans who didn’t enjoy the last two entries into the series, but for myself, who doesn’t mind Scream 3 and absolutely loved Scream 4, this is all looking pretty positive. – TENET, Nightbitch, Sinkhole: Weekly Round Up

  • Waiting For The Barbarians: The BRWC Review

    Waiting For The Barbarians: The BRWC Review

    By Beth Widdicombe

    Waiting for the Barbarians, an adaptation of the novel by J. M. Coetzee, is the English language directorial debut by Ciro Guerra. The narrative focuses on the decline of an undisclosed Empire, beautifully shot in the desert. Starring Mark Rylance as the retiring Colonial Magistrate, Johnny Depp as the tyrannical Colonel Joll, and Robert Pattinson as the overly sadistic second in command Mendal.

    The film is split into four chapters over the duration of a year, symbolizing the passing seasons, the yearly cycle of birth, maturation, decline and ending representative of the recurrent patterns in nature… also a mirroring of time in our world, never more omnipresent than the current period we live in now. Although the location and time remain anonymous throughout, we as the audience get a sense of era and location from the interior, and landscape shots. Many reminiscent of Lawrence of Arabia 1962, and ‘The English Patient’ 1996.

    Waiting for the Barbarians’ story starts with the Colonial Magistrate (Mark Rylance) cast as the sensitive, steady lead. He plays it softly spoken and his emotions are expressed via small gestures. Only someone with his talent and experience could deliver this delicate role. Located in a far-away outpost of the Empire, he combines managing the daily aspects of the town, with studying local antiquities and artifacts. His life is slow and measured, with little disruption, until the arrival of state security officers. His prior concerns are honoring and understanding the land and indigenous people, so the sudden change in dynamic with the new ominous stark regime is an unwelcome presence.

    Colonel Joll, is the head of the police, a cold character with a penchant for torturing the enemy. Depp plays this down, compared to his other roles over the past years, which seems to have him playing mainly caricatures, rather than characters. He arrives with all the pomp and ceremony of the colonial times, the sinister, arrogance and vanity of the personage of that era. His attire does all the talking here, an indicator of his presence – dark Navy uniform with a rather unique pair of glasses. Their black lenses and cross-section symbolize this character’s blindness, his taste for torturous cross-examinations of the innocent people, prove these Colonial officials to be the Fascist barbaric ones.

    They are focused on the apparent arrival of the Barbarians, a group of ‘uncivilized’ dangerous invaders.  As Colonel Joll and his officers terrorize and imprison more of the locals, the Magistrate moves away from his duties and makes it his mission to question the motives of the officer’s treatment of wrongfully captured prisoners. Amongst these are a nameless indigenous Girl (played by Gana Bayarsaikhan), a tortured vagrant who he brings into his household, much to the concern of his cook, considerately played by Greta Scacchi. More eye symbolism comes into play here as we unfold the story of her blinding under questioning. He soon becomes infatuated with her, washing her feet in a Mary Magdalene/Jesus role reversal, in which, overcome with emotion he passes out in her presence.

    Determined to join her people, the ‘Magistrate’ embarks on a journey through the desert to unite her with her people. On his return, he is arrested, his possessions and privileges seized by Mendal. Robert Pattinson seems awkward, aloof and not within the film. Usually, I rate his abilities, (his performance in the Lighthouse, is one of my favorites this year), but he wastes one of the best lines in the film with his withdrawn delivery. Maybe he intended it that way. He is a sadistic and cold officer, hellbent on forcing the new regime. Classed as a deserter and traitor to the Empire, the ‘Magistrate’ is left filthy and homeless, and used as a visual form of deterrent via a humiliating scene in which he is hung in female clothing by a tree. 

    As time passes, the officers grow bored, still awaiting the arrival…climaxing with a horrific token of symbolism from the Barbarians, that they will not be threatened by their presence. 

    With this, the officers depart, leaving the ‘Magistrate’ holding the bag, to what we can only assume as the impending arrival of the Barbarians…or not.

    The slow unfolding of the story, the expansive wide shots, and Rylance’s sensitive character portrayal are the strongest element of this film. All enhance that we are small insignificant beings in this huge world… yet we cause so much destruction through fear and our obsessive need for ownership. Waiting for the Barbarians is a well thought out retelling of a not so distant past, and sadly current world we still occupy.

  • Possessor: The BRWC Review

    Possessor: The BRWC Review

    Tasya Vos (Andrea Riseborough) is an agent for a secretive organization that uses brain-implant technology to inhabit other people’s bodies, driving them to commit assassinations for the benefit of high-paying clients. But something goes wrong on a routine job, and she soon finds herself trapped in the mind of a man whose appetite for violence rivals her own.

    Brandon Cronenberg’s Possessor is a movie that I had heard a lot about in my circle of film friends. Various people kept telling me how great the film truly is and said that it would be right up my alley. I don’t know why I put off watching the movie until now because now that I have seen it, I can confirm that this is very much up my alley. As a matter of fact, Possessor is one of the best films of the year so far and is an extremely impressive sci-fi horror, unlike anything we’ve seen before.

    Right from the beginning, Cronenberg reels you in with the zaniness of the world that he created here. The first scene is filled to the brim with immense tension and makes you wonder what is going on and makes you want answers. Along the way, we definitely get some answers but we are also left with even more questions, but not in a bad way. Just when you think you may have figured something out, the film makes you think again and changes the way you saw the previous scenes. The script that Cronenberg wrote is marvelous and has plenty of twists and turns that will shock you.

    But about that world that I mentioned earlier – it is grimy and extremely gross. One of the more intriguing aspects of Possessor is that there are essentially no characters that we are supposed to be rooting for. They are all bad people living in a money-hungry world run by crime and hopelessness. Seeing this world come to life was tragic and oftentimes gut-wrenchingly brutal.

    Not only is the world that these characters inhabit brutal, but so is the movie as a whole. Possessor is a massively violent film with tons of blood to satisfy lots of horror fans, but it is thankfully never done in a distasteful way, nor is it the only thing the film has to offer. We get little bits and pieces of violence sprinkled throughout and instead of being impressed by the blood, I winced every time somebody got hurt on screen. It looked visceral and disgusting in all the best ways.

    Aside from all of the stellar aspects to the film’s world and its handling of violence, it’s also just an incredible display of the actors’ talents. Andrea Riseborough is terrific in the scenes that she is physically seen in since she is the main character that possesses other’s bodies. But even better than Riseborough is Christopher Abbott. Every single second he is on screen was remarkably terrifying and thrilling. Here, Abbott delivers an extremely nuanced performance; one that is filled with a sense of raw intensity and quite simply one of the best performances of the year.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VkQn7W_Qio0

    As great as the movie is though, there are some moments where the story becomes a bit too confusing and I often found myself wondering what was going on during certain scenes, particularly in the third act. Gratefully though, the film isn’t too confusing or messy for the long run and is ultimately one of the most intense horror thrillers I’ve seen in a long time. Here’s hoping that Cronenberg makes a new film in the new future because if it’s anything like this, it’s sure to be yet another gem.

    Possessor is an incredibly visceral and chilling horror-thriller with an eerie sense of dread looming throughout, further boosted by the excellent performances and haunting atmosphere.

  • Normal People: The BRWC Review

    Normal People: The BRWC Review

    Sally Rooney’s “Normal People” is one of those tales of two people who always find their way back to each other no matter where life takes them. The best way to describe it would be to compare it to another bestseller, David Nicholls’ “One Day”. One Day is another time-travelling story, and it and Normal People are so alike that Rooney’s novel could act as a prequel with the events of One Day acting like everything that happens after Normal People ends. Of course, the contexts are very different, and the diverse casts of characters are not so clearly paralleled, but the passion is still there; the evocative nature of the central couples pours from every moment of both narratives, and therein lies their correlation.

    I would go so far as to say that the major difference between the two is their respective screen adaptations. The One Day adaptation made its way to the silver screen in 2011, resulting in an effort that, in my eyes, can only be considered a tragic failure. The book details intense emotional damage and repression of deep longing between the leads, none of which made it to the screen, leaving only a shell of what was a genuinely special literary experience. Normal People, on the other hand, received a much better treatment which released earlier this year courtesy of the BBC and Hulu. 

    The titular Normal People are Marianne and Connell (Daisey Edgar-Jones & Paul Mescal), whom we meet going to highschool together in Sligo where they lead drastically different lives. Marianne is a loner, one ostracised and bullied because of her coldness and affluent background. Connell is a sports star; popular but quiet and firmly working class, so much so that his mother works as a cleaner for Marianne’s family. They are both smart, and despite Connell not appearing so, they are both dreadfully lonely. Slowly but surely they find each other and begin a passionate, but misguided love affair— one hampered by fatuous school ground politics, yet also one that changes them forever.

    They go on to weave through each other’s lives like water through a riverbed, with a constant flow that cannot escape the finality of ending in something larger. Time changes them, wearing them down and sparking them up as it sees fit, the only constant throughout being that they clearly feel so much for one another; they just never say it. More than anything else the pair form themselves over our years with them, they learn to express themselves, even if only to the other. It is a beautiful expression of growth so eloquently brought to life on the screen, a fact realised by the unbelievable talents who lead the show. 

    Edgar-Jones and Mescal embody their characters with such intimacy and zeal that they often become utterly absorbing. The only other on-screen couple capable of generating this much pure chemistry that I could not move my eyes off them are James McAvoy and Jessica Chastain in “The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby”, another tale of fate intertwining people. Both sets of performances face the constant turbulence and weight of life taring them apart, and it is in the moments between, when they struggle to pick up the pieces, that their performances become works of devastating genius. Those moments of silent passion or silent despair, moments of inescapable lonely reflection, where the only acting to do is located entirely within the face, in those moments these performances are immortal. 

    The enormous talent behind the camera deserves praise too. Lenny Abrahamson and Hettie Macdonald split the series down the middle and direct six episodes each, both do an excellent job. The show knows the exact pace it needs to go at every episode, which is usually rather slow, but never methodical. All 12 episodes are perfect concoctions of what it is like to be a young adult, with all the awkwardness, excitement, sentimentality, love, and despair that period of life has to offer. There is so much poured into the show that your just as likely to catch yourself smiling are you are to cringe or cry, it is one big loveable rollercoaster. 

    And yet for every bit of youthful lust and love the show has something to say, and at times it can be quite confronting. Fitting in is never easy, and it is not easy for Marianne or Connell, causing them great distress. There is a certain inexplicable agony Normal People touches on detailing how people can surround you and yet you can still be alone, whether it be at home with family or away studying. It makes your very soul decay, and both our leads go through that on their journeys, as even with friends coming and going they remain emotionally crippled and often despondent.

    Ultimately Marianne and Connell come to find life’s cruellest blow is that as time heals old wounds, new ones emerge, and the inevitability of that often smothers Normal People, but it manages to become the shows greatest asset because when you follow people through the depths of despair, you earn the reward of seeing how they make it out the other side.

    I think if Normal People teaches anything, it is that going through life alone will break you, and if you are lucky enough to find someone, hold on for as long and tightly as you can. Just remember to let go when it comes to the end of the line. Who knows, maybe you will meet again, life is funny that way.

  • Melancholic: Review

    Melancholic: Review

    By Alex Purnell. In a tiny flat with his mother and father, twenty-something Kazuhiko (Yoji Minagawa) is somewhat of a drifter.  Our first introduction of Kazuhiko is around a tiny dining table with his family, the trios conversational topics don’t span further than that of food and Kazuhiko’s job hunting. Overqualified yet horrifically unconfident, Kazuhiko gravitates towards highschool friend Yuri (Mebuki Yoshida), seemingly the only person interested in the reserved young man. After a brief encounter at a local bathhouse, Yuri suggests that he should get a job there, so he can see more of her. 

    Painfully shy yet hard to wrap your head around, the character of Kazuhiko is what makes this film unique. His reserved demeanour and severe lack of social skills are initially awkward and difficult to understand. It’s his relationship with Yuri that slowly draws him out of his shell. A Tokyo University graduate, he is always pestered or almost mocked at his position in the bathhouse, although he doesn’t seem to mind, and instead flourishes in his place of work. 

    As the romantic duo grow to like each other, you could fool yourself into believing this was a quirky romance.

    Yet underneath the humble premise of a public bathhouse, grizzly assassinations take place for the Yakuza, and young Kazuhiko just happens to stumble in on it. Next things next, our young protagonist just trying to live day to day gets hurled into the world of gory murders and is enlisted to clean up the bloody mess left behind. The strange thing about Melancholic is that the characters make this feel comfortably normal. Kazuhiko initially jumps at this opportunity due to its financial benefits, but when co-worker Akira (Yoshitomo Isozaki) gets involved, Kazuhiko becomes almost jealous of his involvement, putting his own wealth above his morality.

    Its steady pace feels flatlined, apart from a couple of out-of-place feeling action sequences, the film feels strangely uneventful in a day-to-day, normal life kind of way. The normality of Kazuhiko’s life despite his new chaotic career feels secure. It’s also strange to have a well-educated character life Kazuhiko not care about his career in Japan’s insanely competitive and pressurised culture, his reserved attitude almost definitely attributes to his odd career choice, with his family playing a surprisingly passive role within the young man’s life.

    Even towards the end of the feature with its dramatical peak, there’s a strange calmness which gives the film an almost eerie edge but can drag on and feel more empty than anything. It doesn’t feel like there’s a consistent main narrative as it juggles Kazuhiko’s work and love-life with little to no discourse except a forgettable Yakuza mob-boss whom our protagonist has no interaction with. 

    Although Melancholic had a lot of potential, it does flounder and feels bloated with its strange outlook. For the most part, it is an enjoyable drama piece with a gruesome underbelly, but it doesn’t feel very exciting, and with a nearly 2 hour run time it does seem to drag like a corpse.