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Category: REVIEWS

Here is where you would find our film reviews on BRWC.  We look at on trailers, shorts, indies and mainstream.  We love movies!

  • Borat Subsequent Moviefilm: The BRWC Review

    Borat Subsequent Moviefilm: The BRWC Review

    Borat Subsequent Moviefilm: The BRWC Review. By Alif Majeed.

    Preconceived notions are a hard thing to get rid of when you sometimes begin to watch a movie. Especially a film which comes with as much baggage as Borat 2. Or rather, Borat Subsequent Moviefilm: The rest of the title is still quite a mouthful. Before you start watching Borat 2, you couldn’t help but think, why the hell do we need a sequel after all these years? What was the point? Yes, the first movie was a sensation when it came out and still has plenty of people quoting it after all these years. The series of films he subsequently made with diminishing returns also made the first movie lose its sheen. 

    But what we tend to forget about the first movie is that it was immensely quotable and super funny. And exactly how brave it was when it initially came out and how Sacha Baron Cohen was willing to give life and limb to provoke reactions out of people and for the sake of comedy. 

    So you can’t help but wonder if he can do the same thing again after all these years, or did lightning indeed strike just once in his case.

    The answer to that question is a resounding yes! There are times when the jokes might miss its mark, but overall this is a sequel that works surprisingly well and has its large heart in the right place.

    Borat, now set in present times (and boy does Sacha cut things as current as possible), and as a character, he has aged in real-time. He is in trouble in his home country for portraying them lousy manner despite becoming a celebrity after the first movie’s events. Banished by his countrymen and his family for shaming them, his only recourse to not get murdered is to go back to America and give present Vice President Mike Pence a gift. When his stowaway daughter eats the chosen gift, Kazakh Minister of Culture Johnny the Monkey (it gets as absurd as it sounds), he has no other option but to give his daughter away as a bride (having misinterpreted the word bribe). So begins his epic journey across America again to tutor his daughter in the ways of America while learning a few new things himself.

    The best thing about Borat 2 is the significant heart it shows. Right off the bat, he acknowledges how difficult it is to go undercover as Borat, as he has become synonymous with the role for better or worse. So he decides to hide in plain sight using several other disguises. 

    The first movie made Borat look pretty dickish, and it didn’t help matters when his lines became immensely quotable by people who often tend to miss the statement he is making. There is no doubt what statement he is making here as the movie is just as timely as any can ever be. 

    What also works is how he managed to somehow beat the odds and film this movie right under everyone’s noses, even creating a couple of incidents which did receive coverage for entirely different reasons at the time of filming. It is too good to spoil here, but you can’t help but be surprised and amazed at how he pulled it off.

    Sacha Baron Cohen has always been a person who has been pretty ballsy as an artist, which sometimes works against his favor. Like his ousting from Bohemian Rhapsody, part of which might have come about because of his persona and reputation. But it has been a good year for him with the one-two punch of Borat 2 and The Trial of Chicago 7. Both of which combine to show how much of an underrated talent he has always been. It’s easy to take for granted how easy he makes it looks despite leaving many people in the lurch baying for his blood—all for the sake of his movies.

    You initially miss Kenneth Davitian a bit, but you quickly realize the movie’s need to have Maria Bakalova as the daughter’s character as a replacement and surrogate. Being an unknown entity (both as a character and an actress), she inadvertently becomes his equal partner in crime. She is dead center in some of the movie’s best gags, which works because she was there matching Sacha Baron beat for beat.  

    The movie is as much about her as it is about Borat, and you appreciate how Sacha lets her gracefully take center stage when required. The gut splittingly shocking scene staged at a debutante ball or their meeting with a pro-life pastor is a testimony of it. They are as glorious and stunning as any among Borat’s best scenes. The heartwarming nature of their see-sawing relationship also stays with you as much as its most controversial or funny scenes.

    After the movie is over, you realize that though you came in with your preconceived notions about a sequel you believed had no reason to exist, you had the rug pulled right from underneath you, like many of Borat’s unsuspecting victims. What you get is a pretty funny movie, which was also a beautiful tale of a father and daughter’s journey across America for some sexy time.. Not!!

  • Bad Hair: Review

    Bad Hair: Review

    Premiering at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, Hulu’s Bad Hair is the latest feature from Dear White People writer/director Justin Simien. Simien’s latest endeavor observes the forceful assimilation of black culture through a distinct horror lens, marking his first foray into genre filmmaking. While there are a few missteps, Simien’s film thankfully finds a balance between thrills and substantive ruminations.

    Set in the late 1980s, Bad Hair follows Anna (Elle Lorraine), a TV executive for a freshly-developed hip-hop network. Despite her tireless work ethic, Anna never receives the promotion she deserves, leading to her acquiring a weave to fit into her corporate world. Her new hairstyle impresses her peers, but it proves to have a mind of its own when it starts to attack people.

    Similar to Dear White People, Simien mindfully works to construct equally thoughtful and relevant social dynamics. The high-concept premise works not only as an inventive horror showcase, but also as a potent avenue of deconstructing America’s degradation of the natural black image. From jump street, Anna is consistently ostracized by higher executives for her nappy appearance, forcing her to embrace a superficial reality that ultimately masks her identity. The portrayal of forced compliance is enhanced by Elle Lorraine’s assured lead performance, with the Insecure star tapping into the insecurity and muted pain that this decision brings.

    This foundation breeds promising opportunities for Simien to juxtapose the character’s inner-turmoil with visceral horror elements. As a director, he imbues some inspired craftsmanship choices that aptly harken to genre B-movies of yesteryear. Cinematographer Topher Osborn’s grainy aesthetic captures its finite late-80s period soundly, making a fitting canvas for Simien to unleash some campy, over-the-top setpieces that properly utilize the concept (his use of intense close-ups and cheeky practical effects are often quite fun). It could have been easy for this film to lose its tonal axis, but the different identities mesh with enough thought and balance to properly co-exist. Supporting performances from Jay Pharoah, Lena Waithe, and Vanessa Williams also bring the entertainment factor, with Williams shinning as a deliciously-stern villain.

    Bad Hair is always earnest, though some of the execution choices lack dramatic grace. Simien’s screenplay occasionally handles its vital conceits with clumsy heavy-handedness, implementing dialogue that lacks authenticity and nuance (similar to Dear White People, some lines read as overt ciphers for the screenwriter). I also wished the film’s second half bolstered more narrative ingenuity, rarely packing the kind of surprises that make horror films truly stand out.

    Still, Bad Hair’s imperfect form never masks its innate pleasures. Justin Simien’s latest offers a satisfying blend between thought and thrills, leaving me excited to see what the writer/director dreams up next.

  • On The Rocks: The BRWC Review

    On The Rocks: The BRWC Review

    The sins of the father so often become the sins of the son, it’s a tale that has graced the silver screen countless times, from The Godfather to The Place Beyond the Pines. Yet, something very similar to this premise is rarely touched upon; the sins of the father becoming sins of the daughter. Sofia Coppola’s latest work “On the Rocks” is a quirky, often charmingly hilarious, look at how fathers influence their daughters, and how it can be so hard, yet so essential, to let go. 

    Laura (Rashida Jones), is a published author working on her next book, which she’s already sold to her publishers. She’s married to Dean (Marlon Wayans), the father of her two daughters. Dean is the head of a nondescript start-up which is beginning to boom frequently taking him out of town with his attractive co-worker Fiona (Jessica Henwick), which serves to build tension in his marriage when Laura finds Fiona’s toiletry bag in Dean’s luggage. Suspicious and confused, Laura makes like Alice and tumbles swiftly down the rabbit hole of spying on her husband, all with the help of her sly and charismatic father Felix (Bill Murray).

    From the instant they take the screen together Jones and Murray have a connection, like in another life they shared some kind of benevolently tortured parental relationship. It all comes from this sort of resigned acceptance that Laura has for her father’s behaviour. He hits on every woman we come across, from a waitress to his granddaughter’s ballet teacher, and it is all entirely respectful, but still not something you would generally do in front of your daughter, from whose mother you’ve split. Yet Laura always greets Felix with a constant love, something like a, “I know you shouldn’t do that, but I know that’s who you are”, kind of love, borne from superficial apathy perhaps. Thematically this boils and evolves throughout the film, but early on it becomes very clear that these two are very close despite their tumultuous past. 

    It is this connection that throws Laura into a crisis of consciousness, seeing her torn between her husband and her father as the choice of the prominent male figure in her life. Possibly through a sense of betrayal or to make up for lost time with her father, who was not there for large parts of her youth, Laura begins to follow Dean around New York. Felix starts the process on behalf of his daughter and, whilst she resists, she’s always a little too eager to find the spoils of his efforts. Laura comes to realise her participation in this unwitting game of tug-of-war and ultimately confronts her father in what is a genuinely moving moment and then before you know it the film is done. 

    So fleeting and straightforward is On the Rocks that it almost goes without saying that this is Coppola’s most digestible film, and yet, it is still so far above the calibre of many other directors. If I didn’t know any better, I’d think Coppola was showing off how easily she can create a touching, hilarious and cathartic tale all within 96 minutes without a single dull moment. To top it all off, her talent for making every shot as evocative as possible remains almost unmatched as well, with nearly every frame being a poem on paternity and doubt. The brief moments of self-reflection in the chaotic life of a mother become moving pieces of art taken from the simple act of walking along a gorgeous New York street.

    Every film of Coppola’s plays in such a fashion, but the joy of this one is that you can take everything in upon one viewing and be overrun by its beauty without having to take time to contemplate its meaning. In saying this I don’t mean to insinuate I don’t adore spending time thinking about the wonders of Lost in Translation or the puzzles of The Virgin Suicides, but I do adore enjoying art for art’s sake and On the Rocks delivers that in spades. 

    On the Rocks is a wonderfully approachable film that arouses hearty laughter while garnering moving insight into the relationship between a daughter and her father.

  • A Babysitter’s Guide To Monster Hunting: Review

    A Babysitter’s Guide To Monster Hunting: Review

    A Babysitter’s Guide to Monster Hunting comes in as Netflix’s latest attempt to capitalize on the Halloween season. This YA adaptation boasts a promising premise that harkens back to family films of yesteryear, which unabashedly approached their high-concept premises with frights and creativity. Despite this conceit, Babysitter’s Guide never imbues its zany characteristics with much thought or originality.

    Based on Joe Ballarini’s novel (he also wrote the screenplay), A Babysitter’s Guide to Monster Hunting follows Kelly (Tamara Smart), an outcast who is mocked by her peers for discovering a monster as a child. While babysitting during Halloween night, the Grand Guignol (Tom Felton) appears and kidnaps the children under Kelly’s care. In order to rescue the night, Kelly teams up with a secret society of babysitters to fight off the evil monster spirits.

    Striking the colorful balance between scares and humor is a tough task, especially when approaching that sensibility for an adolescent lens. Some elements work well under these circumstances though, particularly Tom Felton’s performance as the eccentric villain. Channeling David Bowie’s charismatic energy from Labyrinth, the former Harry Potter star has a blast playing into the character’s boisterous persona with unhinged glee. Young star Tamara Smart also displays some assured ability as Kelly, infusing the character’s arc with some much-needed personability.

    While I appreciate the film’s attempts to re-capture the magic of 80s/90s family films, the execution rarely finds that finite balance. Director Rachel Talalay overwhelms the narrative with abrasive stylistic choices, drowning out scenes with pop confectionary tracks that rarely capture their intended energy. She also struggles to integrate the CGI-driven monsters with much imagination, with tacky effects work creating creatures that never scare or excite audiences. Like a lot of middling Netflix films, there’s a cheap veneer that prevents any creative exploration of the film’s high-concept premise.

    The lack of filmmaking ingenuity further highlights the script’s disposability. I have no preconceived notions about Ballarini’s novel, but his script doesn’t highlight what might have worked within the source material. From the “secret teen organization” to the trite messages about believing in yourself, the film recycles a lot of common YA tropes without putting a thoughtful spin on them. Audiences can seemingly set their watch predicting when each plot beat will occur, with one-dimensional character dynamics doing little to mask the general banality.

    It may be loud enough to satisfy younger audiences, but A Babysitter’s Guide to Monster Hunting’s trite delivery never exceeds its YA framework. If families are looking for a good Halloween-themed Netflix film, check out the brainer Vampires vs. The Bronx instead.

  • Creepshow: Animated Special – Review

    Creepshow: Animated Special – Review

    Creepshow is back one last time (before season 2) and is just in time to be broadcast on Shudder for Halloween. An anthology horror series based on the 1982 movie of the same name, Creepshow brings back that style of horror that hasn’t been seen for years, inspired by the horror comics of the 1950’s to put a bit of gruesome glee back into your life.

    This time around an animated special is coming to make your nightmares come true, bringing the art style of the comics to life and burst through your screen, just before it scares you to death.

    The first in the animated special is based on a Stephen King short story entitled Survivor Type. A questionable doctor willing to do anything to survive when his plane crashes, leaving him stranded in the middle of nowhere. He’s left with nothing but a corpse, a medical kit and a few seagulls ready for the picking to satisfy our ‘hero’s’ hunger.

    As expected, things get more desperate for the doctor as the audience starts to realise the extent of the doctor’s ethics. Resulting in a story that would make Bear Gryll’s stomach churn. Voiced by Kiefer Sutherland who gives a spectacularly grizzled and menacing performance, Survivor Type is a terrifically horrifying story which will delight fans of Sutherland as he chews the animated scenery and… other things.

    Next is Twittering from The Circus of The Dead, a darkly comic story from Joe Hill (aww a family affair) about a teenager played by Joey King who goes on a family road trip – an adolescent girl’s worst nightmare.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_98sMgN0LXQ

    She passes the time by tweeting to her small handful of followers and what with family trips becoming so tense, an unscheduled stop is soon in order as the family are enticed by the titular Circus of The Dead.

    A different tone from Survivor Guilt, Twittering from The Circus of The Dead is a very funny and terrifying tale and wouldn’t be quite so funny if it weren’t for King’s performance. Hill’s story cleverly talks about the nature of social media, comparing it to a circus as it exposes our human nature for laughing at the absurd, but also manages to give the audience the right amount of scares alongside the social satire.