Category: REVIEWS

Western style short film “The High Ridge” from filmmaker Julien Lasseur follows a husband and wife bounty hunting duo who are on a break in the mountains after their latest kill.

As they recap their recent history of kills for cash, the wife, Phoebe, wonders if they are being followed and encourages her husband to look out over the high ridge for a sniper.

A bit downtrodden and lackadaisical, he instead looks out on the low ridge insisting that no one had followed them. He then comically focuses on how he lost the bounty hunter of the year award and how greatly disappointing it was. The lead actor, (Brian Groh’s) performance was very entertaining and reminded me of Don Johnson as “Big Daddy” in “Django Unchained” a comparison I will touch on in a moment.

Although this film is flush with a gorgeous backdrop and captivating cinematography by DP Nate Stifler, I know I have seen it before. The iconic 2009 film “Django Unchained” from Quentin Tarantino basically has the same plot down to the bounty hunter storyline.

I can appreciate that the filmmaker is an admirer of Tarantino, as am I, but if this were to be an homage to his work he probably should have gone for a straight up parody of Django rather than a close copy.

I really think modifying the script to having the actors talk about being something other than bounty hunters would help, because it was hard for me to differentiate this from Tarantino.

I appreciate the potential the filmmaker has, and the direction shows promise, but it is missing the flair that would made this wholly unique and fresh, and a new storyline on the next venture would certainly help.

That being said, the cinematography, editing, score, sound design, and lead performance in this piece were a treat to watch and listen to, and I will look forward to seeing what new work Lasseur has to offer in the future, as I think he could ultimately develop into an interesting filmmaker.

By Alex Purnell. Abe is a heart-warming coming of age film about twelve-year-old Brooklynite Abraham who is born to Palestinian and Israeli parents and attempts to bring his torn family together through the magic of food, though Abraham finds himself struggling with his identity because of his differing religious heritages.

When Abe’s duo-religious parents bring him to a cooking summer camp, he instead ditches the kiddy club and goes to learn from Brazillian fusion chef Chico, who Abe meets at a street food stand. Chico almost becomes a father-figure for Abe during this turbulent time in his life, allowing him to indulge in his love of food and come up with creative solutions to solve his problems at home. 

Directed by Brazilian filmmaker Fernando Grostein Andrade and starring Stranger Things‘ Noah Schnapp as the lead, Abe tickles your tastebuds with a loveable cast, but unfortunately turns out undercooked and leaves you with a some-what undesirable taste in your mouth due to its lacklustre plot, caused by awkward pacing and muddy, overzealous editing.

Despite this, though, the underlying message is that of understanding and healing within feuding religious groups, and what Abe does beautifully displays this through the art of cooking.

It was intriguing to see the different food from the two cultures and how Abe used the cuisine to be in touch with his heritage. Though, it was also interesting to see the dilemmas caused by these differences, such as the fact that Jewish Israeli’s use chickpeas to create their Falafel, whilst the Palestinian’s use fava beans, and how this is such a hot button debate based entirely on identity. This helped create an intensity within the family arguments, and how these quarrels cemented the identity of Abe’s split family, but did nothing but distance him from his relatives.

Though one could argue that the theme of Abe trivialises the complex and longstanding conflict between Palestine and Israel, the underlying message is heartfelt and is vital to the story. 

Abraham’s character conflict is the strongest source of emotion throughout the film, being born to Palestinian and Israeli families causes him to struggle to keep either side content. 

An example of this would be his mother’s Jewish side coercing Abe into having a Bar Mitzvah, whilst he feels obliged to participate in Ramadan to keep his father’s side proud. This culminates with Abe attending a friends Bar Mitzvah, only to be bullied for being half Muslim by some of his Jewish peers, though the altercation is brief, Abe’s social life is something I wish the film went into more depth with.

The use of editing is novel, to say the least. Abe utilizes modern internet culture through the use of social media to make the character of Abraham more relatable. This is done by overlaying Abrahams Tumblr and Instagram account to show his online presence and how he is perceived by his peers. Although this is a matter of taste, for me the use of this technique provokes an out-of-touch feeling and doesn’t add to the film, rather it makes the film seem amateurish in its attempt to seem stylish.

Nevertheless, Abe is an enjoyable and endearing film only made more so by the mouth-watering food and the charming acting of Noah Schnapp, who really seems to come into his own. If you’re interested in watching a refreshing, light film, I would consider giving Abe a go, though if you’re looking for something with more depth I would consider looking elsewhere.

By Alex Purnell. Drug money, murder and cornfields, director Christian Sparkes takes us on a foreboding action ride, unfortunately, the track is plagued with a questionable plot and poorly written characters.

When a drug deal goes awry after one side of the party attempts to rob the other of their money, shots are fired, and as young Chris (Mark O’Brien) flees the scene with the money and accomplice Lori (Dayle McLeod) in tow, they find out that Lori has a fatal gunshot wound. After hiding the money and Lori bleeding out in a cornfield, Chris frantically drives off, only to be seen and followed by his father. Adams (Ben Cotton), the individual that Chris had ripped off, though, furiously attempts to get revenge on Chris, despite being wounded himself. Chris’s father, Stephen (Will Patton) agrees to help his son get out of the mess, but the two get embroiled in a bloody quest to evade Adams, grab the money and find Lori’s body, dead or alive.

Hammer is primarily about family and the traits you inherit from your parents, whether good or bad. After Chris’s family found out about his involvement within the drug trade, his mother and father distanced themselves from their son. Despite this, after Stephen agrees to help solve his son’s current affair, he himself starts to show his dark side, emanating aggressive characteristics, questioning his past, and theorising whether or not he had directly influenced his son to turn out the way he did. This consequently causes the audience to query his past and how he might have impacted his son’s upbringing.

The largest issue with Hammer is its dull characters, their flip-flop values and their horrifically questionable priorities. There’s a complete lack of consequence and little to no development of any character, apart from Stephens increasingly aggressive behaviour. Because of this, the characters aren’t particularly pleasant or agreeable, causing a rather frustrating viewing experience.

Despite this, Hammer has its moments. I did enjoy the few action sequences the film provides, and I particularly enjoyed the pawnshop scene, which felt real, raw and refreshing from the rest of the film. The scene also greatly improved the dynamic between the father and son, something that Hammer desperately needed more of. In addition to this, I am a sucker for cornfield scenes, a strange cliche I have found myself loving, from Interstellar to Children of the Corn, it adds a maze-like dimension, causing the characters to rely solely on their sense of hearing and luck to find what they are looking for. 

In short, Hammer is a relatively intriguing action film but doesn’t bring anything new to the table. Its inability to create any tension due to a lack of consequence is its biggest downfall, although it is somewhat gripping and has some well-executed action sequences that keep you watching throughout.

When Odysseus left Troy it took him ten years to get back to his home in Ithaca. Steve and Rob have only six days on their own personal odyssey in The Trip To Greece. On the way they argue about tragedy and comedy, astronomy and biology, myth, history, democracy and the meaning of life! Featuring locations such as: Temple of Apollo at Delphi, the Ancient Agora of Athens, the Ancient Theatre of Epidaurus, the unique island of Hydra, the Caves of Diros, Nestor’s Palace, Niokastro Fortress in Pylos, and Ancient Stagira, as well as a lot of shooting in restaurants and hotels in Athens, Hydra, Lesvos, Chalkidiki, Pelion, Kavala, and at the Peloponnese.

Growing up as a kid, Michael Winterbottom’s original The Trip was playing at my house on a frequent basis. My parents are quite the movie buffs themselves. They try to watch at least two movies every weekend and occasionally, they will put some on during the weekdays as well.

Ever since I was a young child, I vividly remember my parents watching The Trip several times over because they just loved it so much. They would sit there throughout the entire running time laughing so hard they could barely breathe. I never found them to be hilarious or anything, but I would be lying if I were to tell you I didn’t find these films funny, because they can be quite humorous at times.

But something else I do deeply appreciate about this series is that it is not afraid to get dramatic and emotional at just the right moments, and Winterbottom’s conclusion to the series, The Trip To Greece, does exactly that. It makes you laugh, it relaxes you, then sneaks up on you with heavy emotion that surprises you and hits you in the gut.

The movie starts off a little bit slow sadly with Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon sitting at a dinner table, as per usual, it’s just that this time around, it’s not as fast-paced or witty. At least for a while. I remember glancing over at my parents to see what their reactions were and they seemed quite bored for the first little bit too.

I was genuinely worried that I wouldn’t end up laughing at the movie since a long portion of time passed where the only thing I was admiring deeply was the truly stellar cinematography by James Clarke. Gratefully though, after about half an hour or so, the jokes began to pick up the pace and I ultimately found myself smiling quite a bit.

The Trip movies are not for everyone though. These movies incorporate an incredibly specific type of comedy that a lot of people are not going to find funny, and a lot of these jokes are going to fly over a lot of people’s heads. Me personally, the humor works quite well, although it doesn’t make me belly laugh or anything.

Although the film as a whole is quite funny and amusing, the strongest aspect to this movie is without a doubt the chemistry between Rob Brydon and Steve Coogan. It is genuinely difficult to watch them goof around with one another and not have a smile on your face. Even a slight smirk. They are electric together just like usual and their banter is such a delight to behold, even if the movie can, at times, be a little bit lesser than the two of them.

The Trip To Greece sends the series off on a high note with more fun comedic banter between Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon, even if it is slowly-paced. 

In the heart of Chinatown, New York, an ornery, chain-smoking, newly widowed 80-year-old Grandma (Tsai Chin) is eager to live life as an independent woman, despite the worry of her family. When a local fortune teller (Wai Ching Ho) predicts a most auspicious day in her future, Grandma decides to head to the casino and goes all in, only to land herself on the wrong side of luck… suddenly attracting the attention of some local gangsters. Desperate to protect herself, Grandma employs the services of a bodyguard from a rival gang (Corey Ha) and soon finds herself right in the middle of a Chinatown gang war.

The concept of Sasie Sealy’s Lucky Grandma is quite insane indeed. It sounds like a movie that would never ever work. Like something you’d see on an even stranger episode of Black Mirror or something along those lines. But as crazy and outlandish as it may be, it actually works quite well thanks to numerous elements at play.

Namely the lead performance from Tsai Chin as the titular grandma. Here, she feels completely and wholly intimidating from the very first moment you see her all the way up until the end. It is without a doubt one of the strongest performances of the entire year thus far. She is asked to do a lot here, and she manages to pull it all off.

Grandma is a character that you feel could be extremely dangerous and deadly whenever she feels like it. Don’t let her old age fool you. Just because she is elderly doesn’t mean she couldn’t harm you at any second. The cold, scary look in her eyes that stays constant throughout the running time was fascinating.

But aside from Chin pulling off a remarkable performance, the story as a whole was quite entertaining to watch unfold. It starts off a bit rocky with a little bit of setup, and it does take a while to get going and it’s hard to get invested right away. Luckily though, the story picks up greatly in the second act with plenty of gripping and intense plot beats that will keep you intrigued the rest of the way through.

In addition to all of this, it’s also an impeccably shot film with director of photography Eduardo Enrique Mayén putting a ton of focus on wide shots and extreme close-ups that look absolutely stunning. The look of Chinatown is incredibly eye-catching and is filled with tons of vibrant colors as well.

Does it have its hiccups along the way? Sure it does. But then again, what movie doesn’t? It suffers from pacing issues early on and does take a while for things to get interesting, but once things get going, it becomes a relentlessly entertaining and oftentimes gripping viewing experience.

Lucky Grandma suffers from some pacing issues but nevertheless tells a gripping and compelling story further boosted by the talent of lead star Tsai Chin.