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  • Summerland: Review

    Summerland: Review

    By Alex Purnell. Summerland: Review – Award-winning playwright Jessica Swale’s directorial debut is heart-wrenching yet light, a much needed warm story for these chaotic times.

    As cinema’s nationwide slowly open their shutters and dust off their seats, Summerland is a welcome and timely treat. Looking back at one of the darkest times during the 20th century, Swale invites us into the home of the reclusive busy-body Alice (Gemma Arterton) near the white cliffs of Dover during WW2. The young-frantic academic who somewhat resembles a story-book witch with frazzled hair is shocked to find a young evacuee on her doorstep. Initially cold to her new roommate Frank (Lucas Bond), the duo end up warming to each other, creating lovable mother-son dynamic. It’s a somewhat bittersweet tale of motherhood, sexuality and grievance, and has a lot more depth than one might expect from the rather sluggish opening hour. 

    Though initially rather slow, the story finds its stride and as a result, creates a rather enduring and captivating period piece with a distinctly British charm only enhanced by stunning countryside and some impressive set pieces. From sharp, white cliffs to London engulfed in smoke and debris, it makes you comfortable with the serenity of country life before throwing you into the chaotic streets of WW2 London head first.

    The village feels alive, with characters such as Edie (Dixie Egerickx) and Mr Sullivan (Tom Courtenay) giving it that magic of ordinary life.  

    The acting talents of Gemma Arterton as Alice make for an enjoyable watch, Alice, although initially icy and unlikable, has hidden lovable qualities and a great character arc. A strong, although hot-headed woman, her past is tormented by a long lost love who could have been, if not for societal pressures at that time. Constantly hidden away, constantly typing away whilst the local school children berate her for either being a witch or a Nazi spy.

    Her relationship with Frank is largely a highlight of the flick, and with great revelations unfolded in the latter half of the film, Summerland’s ending feels satisfying, making you want to weep like a child and smile with glee as it radiates a grand sense of joy. Alice’s characters blossoms while caring for young Frank, a bubbly youngster, curious and optimistic despite his Father fighting in the war as a pilot, and his mother working in London during the Blitz.

    Summerland has come at the perfect time, feeling refreshing like a breath of summer countryside air, it’s a story of companionship and responsibilities being thrust upon you during difficult times. It’s heartwarming, a lighter Goodnight Mr Tom (1998) and is well worth heading back to the Cinema for.

  • Impetigore: Review

    Impetigore: Review

    Maya (Tara Basro) and Dini (Marissa Anita) are best friends who work at toll booths. It’s a boring job, but one night after a mysterious and creepy man gets out of his car and attacks Maya, they realise that they need a change in their lives and need to get away.

    Maya finds out that she’s inherited a house from a relative on the island of Java, and although unsure as to what they will find there, Maya and Dini set out to find out exactly what Maya has been given. However, when they get there, the two women soon find out that they may not be all that welcome and that there is a curse on the town and when the best friends get separated, Maya starts to realise the extent of her inheritance.

    Impetigore is an Indonesian horror movie written and directed by Joko Anwar, famous for directing and writing Indonesian’s biggest horror hit, Satan’s Slaves, and is coming to Shudder exclusively.

    The movie starts off in quite a light hearted way, the relationship between the two women is quite funny and warm and you can tell how close they are from the start and that keeps going for the rest of the movie. However, even before the title card appears the audience will be aware that this is a movie that will play with their expectations and keep them on edge for the duration.

    Basro and Anita play very well off each other and are a believable pair with a close relationship and that closeness feels real, especially when they’re making fun of each other and each of the characters that they meet only add to the creeping horror which is ramped up just when they least expect it.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2RfEwT2LI2M

    For fans of slow burn horror movies that create an eerie atmosphere and delivers a story that’s steeped in lore that will make them wonder if there may be some truth behind the fiction, Imeptigore gives them exactly what they need.

    Impetigore will give audiences a suspenseful, blood by the bucket load kind of horror that will scare, repulse and unsettle its audience right until the final frightening frame.

  • Comic Con, Comic Con, Comic Con: Weekly Round Up

    Comic Con, Comic Con, Comic Con: Weekly Round Up

    So, it was Comic Con this week, and while it was a slightly unusual affair given the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, as has become custom for the convention, us movie fans got a whole lot of movie news out it. So, this week I’m going to be rounding up the stories I found most exciting and interesting from Comic Con 2020.

    First up, Keanu Reeves has had a busy one. 

    Although he’s perhaps best known for his role as Neo in The Matrix trilogy, Reeves has appeared in a lot of iconic roles throughout his career, and it doesn’t get more iconic than his role as Ted Theodor Logan alongside Alex Winter’s Bill S. Preston Esq. in the comedy sci-fi film series Bill & Ted.

    Well, for fans of the franchise (of which I am one) we got ourselves a new look at the hotly anticipated threequel, Bill & Ted Face the Music, which is to be directed by Dean Parisot, of Galaxy Quest, and sees much of the original cast returning alongside several new faces, in the form of a brand spanking new trailer! And, I know I’m biased as hell since the first two movies were my childhood, but I can safely say that it looks “excellent”.

    Alongside the trailer, we also learned that the film is going to be released on video on demand as well as with a limited theatrical run on September 1st of this year. While the move might be due to COVID-19, it actually makes a lot of sense and will undoubtedly open it up to a larger audience than it perhaps would have had in a more usual period of time.

    The film’s cast had a lot of interesting things to say about the movie, including how it came to be after so many years between releases. This one remains one of my most anticipated releases of the year, and the comic-con panel only served to heighten that anticipation!

    But Bill & Ted wasn’t the only thing Reeves was there to discuss, as he also joined a special panel celebrating the 15th anniversary of comic-book adaptation Constantine.

    Despite the movie being met with poor box office takings and a pretty negative critical response upon release, the Reeves starring Constantine has grown a strong and loyal cult following over the last fifteen years.

    During the panel Reeves discussed his fears over being cast in the movie, given how much the actor differs from the original comic-book character (who is blonde and from the UK). He was also joined by the director of the film, Francis Lawrence, and producer Akiva Goldsman, and during their discussion all three expressed their interest in potentially returning for a sequel.

    If that seems unlikely then just remember that the possibility of a release for the fabled Zack Snyder cut of Justice League looked pretty unlikely a few months ago, and now that movie is currently in its own form of post-production ready for a 2021 release! Given Constantine’s growing cult popularity over the last few years, coupled with Reeves current relevance thanks to John Wick, perhaps a sequel is something that we could very well see in the not too distance future.

    And, talking of Zack Snyder’s cut of Justice League, the director dropped by the fan event Justice Con with a couple of big bits of news regarding his movie.

    He revealed that the world would be getting their first look at his vision of the film during the free online event DCFandom, which is taking place on August 22nd in the form of a teaser trailer. Snyder also confirmed that his movie will feature none of Joss Whedon’s footage. This has been seen largely as a positive by fans of the Snyder-led DCEU. Whedon was famously brought in to “lighten” Justice League, but the end result wound up being a muddled, confused mess rather than the darker, more serious epic that has been set up by Snyder’s first two entries into the franchise.

    During the even Snyder also explained that he will reveal, during the event, whether or not his movie will be a single film or chopped up into episodic installments.

    He then teased fans with a short snippet from the film showing Henry Cavill’s Superman in a black suit. The scene featured on the Justice League home release but had been cropped out of its IMAX format and Cavill’s suit was the standard red and blue.

    And finally, we got some rather tantalizing news about the up-coming Guillermo del Toro produced, Scott Cooper directed horror film Antlers.

    I’ve been rather excited about this one for a little while anyway, and so I was disappointed to learn that the film had been pushed back to April of next year. But del Toro and Cooper, both of whom appeared on the panel, had some interesting things to share with us while we wait.

    Perhaps most curiously was the revelation that rather than simply featuring another incredibly designed del Toro monster – which, truthfully, was one of the big reasons I was so excited for it anyway – the film will in fact feature a del Toro designed God!

    During the panel del Toro said, “I remember it very clearly, I was working with Scott and Guy Davis, and later with everybody at Legacy, creating the creature. I said, ‘You have to remember, we’re not creating a creature, we’re creating a God’,”. Whatever that means, you can consider me sold on this one. I eagerly await further information.

  • Papicha: Review

    Papicha: Review

    By Nasu Nguyen.

    Papicha takes place during the late 90s in Algeria, a time where the country was in a civil war against radical Islamic rebel groups in favor of an Islamic republic. We follow young student Nedjma and her journey along a very tumultuous period where she is forced to question her own dignity.

    In response to the Islamic propaganda and rhetoric that she encounters, she decides to host a fashion show with her friends, mainly using material from haik, a traditional Maghreb garment for females made out of a single piece of fabric that covers the whole body, as a way to honor her culture while finding a way to express her and her friends’ own individuality.  

    Mounia Meddour pulls no punches with her first full length feature. This is a cold and heavy film that is not afraid to embody the horrors of political extremist groups and the power they had over anybody that disregards their ideologies. From the beginning, Meddour immediately places the audience up close and personal with our main characters and remains consistent on capturing a raw and intimate atmosphere with her style of camera work.

    She captures the anxiety of certain moments with moving shots and fast paced edits. One of her biggest strengths as a director is getting the most out of their actors. There is a bold feminist energy that she cultivates with her female characters. I felt the chemistry between Nedjma and all of her friends whether it be them basking in the ocean waves of a beautiful beach or giving rap numbers while sewing fabric together. Although we do get strong development with Nedjma and her dynamic with her close friend Wassila, the other female characters could have used more fleshing out since Meddour introduced interesting aspects about them that I wanted to learn more about. 

    Lyna Khoudri is the standout performance of the entire film. She plays Nedjma with fierceness, compassion and vulnerability. I felt her commanding presence bleeds through the film with fiery intensity. Her co-star, Shirine Boutella, also gives a solid performance as Wassila, who is vibrant and perplexing in her own right. Both are magnetic on screen and they display a complex relationship together. 

    Moddour explores heavy themes about being a woman during a politically charged era in Algeria. In Papicha, we see Nedjma experience moments of oppression and subjugation as she is forced to live under strict circumstances that challenges her free will. She is a strong minded woman who strives to be liberated, yet feels the need to stay in the country because she doesn’t want to leave her friends and family.

    Her dreams of being a fashion designer are at risk because of the regulations imposed by Islamic extremists, highlighting their profound and evil power. This can lead to jarring tonal shifts that can feel too sudden and made for shock value. However, unless I have experienced it first hand, it is not in my place to criticize whether these shifts were appropriate because they could have possibly been the reality for society living in that period. This was loosely inspired by true events, so I trust that Moddour is treating the events with the utmost respect.

    The Algerian Civil War was a serious matter, and Meddour evokes the anger and hostility that our characters experience. Nonetheless, the denouement could have wrapped up tidier to provide more closure after a major event transpiring in the third act. 

    Papicha is an acrimonious look at socio-political tensions during the Algerian Civil War and how it primarily affected women and their place in society. While it’s not a perfect film, it solidly succeeds at telling a coming of age story of a young woman with passions that were considered taboo and her volition to express her creativity despite the repercussions.

    Meddour proves to be a potent storyteller with her first film feature and I’m excited to see the next project she decides to tackle. 

    As well as being released on 7th August on digital platforms and as a virtual cinema release, PAPICHA will now physically be playing in a couple of cinemas from that date too, including the Curzon Bloomsbury.

  • One Way To Denmark: Review

    One Way To Denmark: Review

    Herb (Rafe Spall) is sick of his life. He’s unemployed with no prospects, lives in a dingy flat in Wales with noisy neighbours and even his own mother thinks that he’s wasted his life. Then one day after thinking all hope is lost, as if by magic the TV turns on and he sees a show talking about Denmark, one of the most idyllic places in the world and more importantly how well they treat their prisoners.

    All people who get arrested in Denmark are housed in proper accommodation, fed well with proper heating and are made to feel like they have a purpose in life. Herb realises that there’s only one thing for it, he has to go to Denmark and get himself arrested.

    Herb starts off as a pretty unlikeable character. He hates his life, sees no future and no other way he could make anything out of his life so from the very start the audience may not warm to him so easily. However, as the film goes on and thanks to Spall’s performance, Herb becomes a character who the audience may start to like as the script slowly reveals aspects of his life that he’s taken for granted.

    When Herb does indeed make it to Denmark, he’s also shown as a character of conscience as he finds it hard to go through with his devised plan. That’s when the film turns and for the most part, One Way to Denmark becomes a feel-good, easy going film that just stops shy of being an advert funded by the Danish tourist board.

    It may be obvious where the film may be going, but often it’s the journey that’s important and not the destination and so One Way to Denmark will make even the most hardened people smile at how nice everything turns out to be.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WPYoMDwaw4s&feature=emb_title

    One Way to Denmark taps into a premise which has the potential for prime comedy gold, However despite a good cast it doesn’t quite reach the dizzy heights of laugh out loud comedy, instead opting for a gentler feeling and a pleasant smile.