film reviews, interviews, features | BRWC

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!

  • The Roads Not Taken: Review

    The Roads Not Taken: Review

    In The Roads Not Taken, seasoned filmmaker Sally Potter shows us an uneventful and often nonsensical day in the life of dementia sufferer Leo (Javier Bardem), as his daughter Molly (Elle Fanning) takes him to the dentist and the optometrist.  Leo frequently loses himself in various memories, as he relives his past with first love Dolores (Salma Hayek) and ex-wife Rita (Laura Linney), as well as some time he spent writing alone in Greece. 

    Potter’s latest work is perhaps her most personal yet, dedicated to her brother Nic, who suffered from a form of dementia himself, but the film sadly misses the mark both thematically and narratively, delivered with little panache and a confused sense of ambiguity. 

    One of the biggest issues here is in the way that those around Leo treat him; his illness is neither manageable nor his own fault, but you’d be forgiven for thinking otherwise on several occasions. Medical professionals seemingly have little patience for him, and his ex-wife and friend, Rita, seems to have made her peace with the fact that he’s no longer the man she once knew. Molly mostly seems to love and care for her father, but even she seemingly renders him a nuisance at times, and when so few characters appear to have empathy for the man, it’s hard for an audience to feel any, either. 

    Where The Roads Not Taken completely loses its focus is in the apparent hallucinogenic experiences that Leo has throughout, all of which are both cliché-driven and bizarre, wherein Potter tries to inject some ambiguity into a work that feels all too obvious. The film’s message is abundantly clear, both from within the narrative and from the title itself, so Potter’s solution for this appears to be multiple out-of-place surrealist imagery designed to do little more than impress, none of which are as clever or profound as she would like them to be. 

    It wouldn’t be fair to say that the film lacks any strengths; it’s stacked with strong performances from talented actors, all doing what they can to elevate the messy material. Bardem is more than convincing in the central role, while Fanning is a natural presence as always, and Linney and Hayek do excellent work with what little they have, but none are able to mask a work that is both empty in its compassion and lacking in its execution. It is a slow and arduous journey to a disappointing destination, devoid of any real heart or soul, both of which are imperative for a story like this to work. 

    The Roads Not Taken is a film that will undoubtedly resonate with those who have had similar experiences, but will likely fail to captivate an audience looking for anything more than personal reflection; a deeply personal work with nothing meaningful to say about its subject. 

  • Amazing Stories: AppleTV+ Review

    Amazing Stories: AppleTV+ Review

    Amazing Stories is the reboot of the Steven Spielberg series from 1985, once again executive produced by Spielberg himself. An anthology series comprising of five episodes in its first season, each episode takes a very different story with different directors and writers and is now available on AppleTV+.

    Each episode takes a light hearted and yet dramatic science fiction and fantasy inspired story. However, if the first episode entitled The Cellar is anything to go by, then Amazing Stories is pleasant enough, but not exactly must-see TV.

    Sam (Dylan O’ Brian) and his brother Jake Taylor (Micah Stock) work in construction and spend their time exploring old houses in order to renovate them for new home owners. Sam isn’t really into the work though, preferring to go out on dates than do a hard day’s work.

    Then one day while the Taylors are going through one of their houses, Sam finds an old box which holds an old sepia photograph of a beautiful woman in a wedding dress. A storm’s brewing, so Sam and Jake board up the house, but when Sam goes into the basement and sees the barometer pressure going off the scale, he’s transported back in time to 1919 where he meets, Evelyn Porter (Victoria Pedretti) the beautiful woman in the photo.

    The Cellar is the pilot episode of Amazing Stories and perhaps a good indication of the style and tone of the series, giving the audience a taste of what to expect. Unfortunately, it feels like the story hasn’t been given enough time (no pun intended) to run its story isn’t given long enough to make much of an impact.

    It also feels like the audience may have seen this story before as it feels like a cross between an episode of Quantum Leap, Back to The Future and 80’s time travel romance Somewhere in Time starring Christopher Reeve and Jane Seymour. Quite early on it’s evident as to where the story is going and the dramatic turns are done on the turn of a dime, but the ending does at least try to give it one more twist.

    However, when this ending comes the audience may wish they’d have watched something more exciting instead.

  • Oleander: Review

    Oleander: Review

    By Thomas White. 

    Oleander is the story of a precocious teenager and her rebellion against the religious principles of her Christian abstinence program. 

    Narrated by voiceover we witness her acting out, her resistance manifested by flaunting her sexual promiscuity and showing disregard for any form of authority, although it is never made clear why she does not simply stop attending these meetings. Instead she writes a popular social media blog recounting her narcissistic exploits. 

    However, angsty teenage behaviour aside, we do feel an empathy for the character. Emily Robinson plays the role with honesty and a free-spirited nature which is hard not to warm to. Presented with her outlook, seeing the other characters from her viewpoint, we naturally gravitate towards taking her side, regardless of her naïve attitude. 

    Peri Gilpin brings solemnity to her performance as the evangelistic mediator of the group meetings, her own neediness and desperation straining out behind an overly beseeching facade. 

    This is only increased by the presence of a camerawoman, played by Jennifer LaFleur, who is simultaneously filming the meetings for a promotional documentary. She, we are told via Oleander’s voiceover, does not conform to the faith but operates as a neutral party. Although we follow the story principally through Oleander’s eyes, it is this outsider to whom we can look for an unbiased viewpoint as events unfold. Professional to a fault, her ultimate service is to that of the director, carrying out the job ruthlessly and by any means necessary, whatever the emotional cost. 

    These two opposing endeavours, the holy righteous documentary and the irreverent online posts, are equally about self-promotion. Both represent the same thing, the sense of having some sort of control over life’s insecurities. 

    https://vimeo.com/381253052/7f0f5cfc8c

    Religion and media are the driving themes, incorporating with them trust, betrayal, sex, power, ego, and other complexities normally associated with them. By using two of the most powerful organisations and mediums used to influence society, director Kate Hackett has a rich emotional palette with which to tell a simple but effective, clever and unexpected story. 

    What we initially take at face value turns into a deeper, manipulative plot, a deception we allow ourselves to accept readily, much in the same way as those seeking an established construct to which to devoutly conform. 

    Without giving too much away, Hackett plays just as much with the audience’s mind as she does with Oleander’s distorted emergence by the film’s unpredicted conclusion, a fate dictated by those with the practical skills and tools to influence minds. It pulls at the emotional heartstrings, doing a cut and paste job of our preconceived ideas of formal narrative emphasis and human understanding, leading to a satisfying payoff. 

  • The New Mutants: The BRWC Review

    The New Mutants: The BRWC Review

    Fox’s run helming the X-Men franchise will always be regarded for its trailblazing origins, as the 2000 hit original opened the door for our superhero-obsessed culture. Outside of that, their tenure has been stigmatized by a rocky track record, with megahits like Logan and Deadpool being far rarer than the flops (Dark Phoenix) and poor decisions (bringing back Bryan Singer) that marred the franchise. Fox’s X-Men swan song The New Mutants, which has been delayed for over two years, is now seeing the light of day with an unceremonious release. Despite the circumstances, this genre-hybrid registers a promising, albeit slight, impression through its coming of age approach.

    The New Mutants follows Danielle Moonstar (Blu Hunt), a traumatized teen who is captured and contained in a secret facility under the suspicion of wielding mutant powers. Along with four other mutants, the brash Illyana (Anya Taylor-Joy), the religiously-repressed Rahne (Maise Williams), and the tortured duo Sam (Charlie Heaton) and Roberto (Henry Zaga), the five bond while trying to escape from their wicked captor Dr. Reyes (Alice Braga).

    In a time where most superhero films adhere to a crowd-pleasing formula, New Mutants brazenly develops its own voice in the subgenre. Writer/director Josh Boone and co-writer Knate Lee encapsulates a melody of intriguing inspirations into their final product, including shadings of Nightmare on Elm Street’s dream-like horrors, The Breakfast Club’s misfit adolescent protagonists, and Girl, Interrupted‘s confrontation of emotional traumas. That may sound like a murky concoction at first glance, but Boone and Lee deserve ample credit for weaving the tonalities together fairly seamlessly.

    Their film is at its best when it operates with a sensitive light, allowing these damaged teens to intimately explore their sense of self as they wrestle with their powers and lingering emotional pains. Most X-Men films have steeped themselves in the material’s allegorical connection to societal outcasts, but New Mutants embraces the metaphor with more panache than most of its predecessors. The script embodies a plethora of commonplace teenage growing pains in its effort to earnestly convey adolescent experiences (personal discovery and self-acceptance being key ideals), unabashedly allowing its characters to be emotive and flawed in a way that most super-powered protagonists rarely are. Some of the performances operate well under these conditions. Leads Blu Hunt and Maise Williams develop a natural bond as a romantically-entwined pair, while Anya Taylor-Joy conveys the character’s cocksure attitude with depth and movie star charisma.

    Under all the angst, Boone still delivers some technically accomplished thrills. New Mutants possesses a more significant horror sensibility than an action one, using its solid effects work to viscerally convey the character’s demons. Set against the backdrop of a sterile medical facility that operates to confuse and suppress the teens (the teens think they are training to be X-Men), Boone uses the horror beats to create a lingering sense of unease throughout. These sequences work to twist the character’s viewpoint of their powers and sense of self, placing them face to face with the untamed dangers of their abilities. It may get a little jump scare happy at times, but I appreciate Boone’s effort to connect his horror bend to the character’s internal turmoil. This choice gives the scares more of an impact while offering a fresh change-of-pace to the superhero formula.

    The New Mutants has a lot of engaging elements, yet it’s clear all these facets need more refinement. Boone takes big swings that are often hampered by a sense of clumsiness, often struggling to thread his character-building ambitions with clunky over-written dialogue that lacks naturalism (a couple of cringe-worthy jokes based on Danielle’s race leave a bad aftertaste). Some of the teens here are well-established, while others (particularly Roberto and Samuel) feel paper-thin and lack purpose. There are also some visual hiccups that derail the moody aesthetic, particularly the over-dim color grading that can make setpieces far more confusing to watch. I can’t blame people for dismissing this film, it’s certainly a mess that takes a lot of risks that don’t fully render as they should.

    The New Mutants may be a mess, but it’s an endearing one at that. Josh Boone ties enough thoughtful concepts together to compensate for the film’s unkempt qualities.

  • The Binge: Review

    The Binge: Review

    Vulgar coming of age comedies are a prominent staple in film, almost acting as a right of passage for their target generation (Superbad, Kick-Ass, and 21 Jump Street were some of my personal favorites growing up). Hulu’s latest foray in original movies The Binge attempts a similar feat with an intriguing Purge-light flavor, yet this promising venture never engages with its premise in innovative or humorous ways.

    Set in a near-future where drug and alcohol use is legal for a single day, The Binge follows Griffin (Skyler Gisondo) and Hags (Dexter Darden), two dorky high schoolers looking to make the most of their last days before college. Once re-teamed with their old acquaintance Andrew (Eduardo Franco), the trio set out to make the most of their first binge while Griffin tries to ask his crush Lena (Grace Van Dien) to prom.

    The Binge isn’t without some uproarious pleasures. The trio of young leads sturdily carry the material on their shoulders, sharing an easy-going onscreen rapport that imbues a semblance of reality to their debaucherous actions. The scene-stealer though is Vince Vaughn, who continues to take compelling risks in the second act of his career (Brawl on Cell Block 99 and Arkansas are severely overlooked). Tapping into the unfiltered comedic energy of his former heyday, Vaughn has a blast playing Lena’s father, the school principal whose paternal persona masks his partygoing past. Under different circumstances, this cast could pilot an agreeable moviegoing experience, as they often mine the most out of the wonky script.

    Screenwriter Jordan VanDina deserves credit for his conceptual ingenuity, though it’s that exact promise that makes The Binge a frustrating watch. Instead of utilizing its premise to convey an empathetic examination of adolescents’ experimentation with drugs and alcohol, VanDina’s effort basks in the glow of superficially obscene moments. It leaves audiences with a film devoid of substantive merits, as it often feels disconnected from any sense of reality (characters do mountains of coke and other substances without an ounce of irony).

    VanDina’s formulaic storytelling and paper-thin character work can’t ground the silliness, simply going through the motions while desperately lacking emotional authenticity (if you’re going to make another “last days of high school” movie, you have to bring some humanity and originality to spice up the formula). These problems would be more forgivable if The Binge could elicit some hardy laughs, but there’s not much fun to be had here. Jokes range from dated skits to downright mean-spirited barbs, leaving us with a dated relic to the early 2010s/post-Hangover comedies that tried (and failed) to push the envelope with raunchy gags.

    Burying a promising set-up under mounds of familiar ingredients, The Binge does little to leave a notable impression.