Category: REVIEWS

It’s another chilli night in Scarborough & Whitby, as Labour Candidate Bertie Oldcross (Rodger Ringrose)and his trusted campaign manager Simon (Ryan Early) prepare for the final day of campaigning ahead of the 1997 general election.  

On their way to a celebration party, in just one moment, their lives are changed forever. What follows is an adventure into questions of conscience, morals, and what any good person can live with.  

A Night in 97 is a crime & politics thriller that seems to have been designed for the theatrical stage rather the cinema screen. Dark exteriors, monologueing galore and Shakespeareianesque speeches make it feel like I should be in a tiny theatre on the West End rather than watching it on an ipad while I devour my lunch in my small flat.

I’d argue this is both a plus and a minus point. Rodger Ringrose (The Witcher) and Ryan Early (The Crown – Radio Series) give an excellent and uncannily believable performance as a political duo doing whatever it takes to win. I particularly enjoyed the radio interview where Bertie is constantly checking with his manager that he’s said the right thing, with nodding and thumbs up-ahoy.

The interviewer meanwhile seems completely numb to the fact her guests is clearly just given well prepared answers to callers with particular questions. The negative to all of this though seems to have been the settings and direction. it didn’t bring the realism and ‘suck-me-in’ factor that film productions normally do.

I did feel like these people were in front of me, but not that I was in their world, and that’s where the theatre point comes in. It was a great performance, but it came across like one.

It’s not a unique script either. While trying not to give away the plot, it follows the usual troupe of questions of conscience cinema such as A Christmas Carol or The Machinist where something they’ve done weighs on them heavily until the secrets out, or they enter a dream to learn a lesson from it. It’s nothing new. It’s simple, it’s good, but not inventive. At around 87 minutes it’s an entertaining watch, I just felt there is more to watch out there that’s better.

Rodger’s performance is by far the standout part, and some credit for that must go to writer and director Sam Prudence who directs the monologue scenes, and the sweet sweet timing of facial expressions and statements. He’s hit politics on the head, the way they lie, the way they want to win and the fact it’s just a job interview for most, even if they believe they’re doing something more. For that, I applaud him.

If you’re interested in politics, labour & sweet little British crime films I’d recommend A Night in 97, but for most I’d say watch something a bit more developed like Prisoners or The Machinist

“Shoot to Marry” is a documentary style romantic comedy from filmmaker Steve Markle (“Camp Hollywood”) and winner of the 2020 Audience Award from the Slamdance Film Festival. The film follows Steve, who plays himself, on a journey to attain his heart’s true desire, a wife. After lamenting over a failed proposal to his girlfriend,

Steve adopts a new lease on life and decides not to give up on love, but rather search for it in an unconventional way by creating a documentary about women; but, there’s a catch! It’s not actually a documentary about women. In reality, Steve just ends up using the guise of documentarian to try and find a new way to meet single women, and, hopefully, a wife.

I appreciate the ambition from the filmmaker. It was a refreshing and somewhat odd choice to see a single man in his mid-40’s create a film, released in 2020, where his burning desire in life was to one day be a good husband. The want for marriage seems increasingly rare in cinema today when so many films portray, and in many ways normalize singleness, dating multiple people, endless swiping on apps, and divorce. That being said, the issue I hold with this is that I didn’t really like how Steve went about finding his perfect mate.

In the film he approaches different women he finds interesting for one reason or another, tells them he’s making a documentary about interesting women, then, after meeting them, tries to pull a bait and switch and see if they want to date him. That made me uncomfortable. Using a documentary as an excuse to meet women who maybe otherwise wouldn’t have agreed to meet him seemed deceptive. I know and understand that modern dating is hard, and it’s hard to even find a decent match on a dating app, but this to me really was not the way to go.

Though I guess it did work out for Steve in that he, without ruining any major plot points, got to take his journey of finding true love on camera, and make what ended up being an award winning documentary so I have to give him credit where credit is due; killing two birds with one stone I suppose. I did enjoy getting to meet the women Steve encountered in the film; a hat maker named Heidi Lee, and an artist named Kate Kelton were particularly interesting to me. I enjoyed their works of art and would like to know where I can purchase one of Heidi’s hats. I also adored Steve’s parents, they seemed like great people, a wonderful couple and a shining example of a rare and happy marriage, meeting them was very sweet.

Although the random visit Steve took to a sex club where he witnessed an orgy seemed grossly out of place and out of character for a man who desired marriage, but my guess is he wanted to give the audience a good jolt and to break up the monotony of the film.

I’m not really sure where this piece could find a place with a broader audience, I would venture to guess it would turn off feminists, and I’m not too sure how many people who are into romantic comedies would be into the whole trick date plot line, if it had have been executed in a more pure way it could have potentially resonated with them.

I get that Markle was trying to add the whole comedy element, but pseudo dating women who had no idea he was trying to actually date them really didn’t come across all that funny to me, more than anything it felt like the comedy sort of got lost in a sea of cringe.

All negatives aside, Markle is clearly talented, and this was a labor of love as it was apparent it was filmed over multiple years. I hope to see more of him in the future, and could totally see him with a mockumentary-style self-deprecating show like “Curb Your Enthusiasm.” I also thoroughly enjoyed the different city settings, Manhattan in particular was very fitting. Isn’t every good romantic comedy synonymous with Manhattan?

Corey (Elisa Lasowski) and Bald (Natasha Cashman) are space hunters who find a rather large ship piloted by Vascan (Anders Heinrichsen) and Lago (Christian Erickson), two overworked and underpaid men astonished to find two women alone on a planet and eager to get to their ship.

However, once they get to work, the space hunters unleash an artificial intelligence which takes the form of a beautiful naked women called Mima (Joëlle Berckmans). So, the ship has to chase this mysterious woman through the depths of space in order to retrieve what they believe is theirs.

Blood Machines is a new short series exclusive to Shudder that showcases the mind of director Seth Ickerman and what his visual effects team are capable of accomplishing. Inspired by 80’s science fiction, Blood Machines harks back to a time where the visuals were stunning, the plot was bizarre and nothing really made sense, but was a lot of fun.

Like those kinds of movies from the 80’s, Blood Machines has a very impressive visual style. The short series reimagines a retro aesthetic, giving it a modern twist so that the audience’s imaginations are fully realised on the screen which was stopped short by budgetary constraints at the time. The thumping synthesiser soundtrack is extremely catchy and although the plot is very thin, the visuals are certainly enough to keep audiences entertained. Even if it’s just to wonder how it was all pulled off.

However, Ickerman’s short film was never meant to be split into three parts and it shows as putting them into this format weakens the already shaky story and a jarring title sequence halfway through the second episode hints at what it should have been.

Also, not unlike most science fiction films of the 80’s, there’s more style than substance and while it may look impressive there really isn’t much that hasn’t been seen before. Whereas the idea was to lovingly and authentically recreate the 80’s throwback style of a science fiction film the audience thinks they remember, Blood Machines is probably the reason those kinds of films aren’t so well remembered.

Being able to put all the elements together is quite a task and the results are bound to please those who share the director’s interests. However, making a psychedelic Lovecraftian Bond title sequence may not be what everyone is looking for.

Whether it’s the vulgar insanity of Tim and Eric or the cringe-worthy dedication of Nathan Fielder, awkward comedic sensibilities have become an accepted new norm in the genre. Acting as the brain-child of that style mixed with a surrealist edge, Michael Reich’s directorial debut She’s Allergic to Cats goes for broke in its embrace of the uncomfortable. While it will certainly draw divisive reactions, Reich’s effort thrives as an inventive experience that pushes its form to its absolute limit. 

She’s Allergic to Cats follows Mike Pinkney (Mike Pinkney), a down-on-his luck dog groomer who spends his time day dreaming about a career in the film industry while crafting his own bizarre low-fidelity projects. He is awoken from his downbeat daily cycle when he meets Cora (Sonja Kinski), a girl who he aims to impress despite his low-status lifestyle. 

Crafting a plot description for Reich’s intentionally bizarre, semi-autobiographical project does the film a disservice, as behind its thinly-veiled narrative lies a plethora of unique pleasures. Most low-budget efforts try to hide their budgetary restrictions, but She’s Allergic to Cats wears them as a badge of honor, with Reich developing a lucid, low-fi style that allures the audience into its madcap reality.

There’s some genuine artistry to appreciate here, with Forrest Borie’s manic editing style blending Reich’s surrealist imagery into a bewildering concoction. Thankfully, this approach isn’t a vapid exercise, with the film’s stylistic identity acting as a representation of Mike’s absent-minded mental state. It’s also a suitable vehicle for the film’s boldly self-aware comedic voice, with Reich’s screenplay thankfully never winking at the camera in its portrait of its film nerd protagonist. 

Whether it’s Mike revealing an anecdote about his confusion towards the sexuality present in Howard the Duck or the character’s attempts at making Carrie with cats, the oft-kilter frequency Pinkney’s performance operates in draws a heaping of belly laughs. It’s a joy to watch a film so brazen and self-assured in its approach, throwing shocking gags at the screen with reckless abandon for audience’s reactions. 

She’s Allergic to Cats throws a lot of darts at the board, but this approach creates its fair share of blemishes. Its abrasive style is cleverly quirky when it works, but there’s also several gags that range from pointlessly crass to downright bewildering (a gag involving transvestites stealing a cat comes to mind). Reich’s project is also too narrow-minded to engage with its thematic potential, missing its opportunity to act as a rumination on male fragility and the empty pretensions of want-to-be-artists.   

Meandering to its predictable conclusion, there is a level of unevenness present through She’s Allergic to Cats’ runtime. Even with that being the case, I had a pleasant time living in Reich’s outlandishly unkempt world, with the writer/director already displaying his own idiosyncratic voice in his first feature outing. 

A couple, Jibran and Lelani, (Issa Rae & Kumail Nanjiani) experience a defining moment in their relationship when they are unintentionally embroiled in a murder mystery. As their journey to clear their names takes them from one extreme– and hilarious — circumstance to the next, they must figure out how they, and their relationship, can survive the night.

When you go into a movie such as The Lovebirds, you have to recognize what kind of movie you are in for. Those that go into a film such as this one expecting anything more than a cute and easy-breezy romantic comedy are going to let down terribly.

That’s not to say that romantic comedies are bad or anything. They’re not usually the type of film I would put on when I want to watch something that will blow me away, but that being said, every once in a while I do enjoy a fluffy, lighthearted flick if it manages to tell a sweet enough love story and has some good jokes up its sleeves.

Gratefully, Michael Showalter’s The Lovebirds is exactly that type of film. It’s not going to stick in your head for weeks, months, or even years after you watch it, but it is more than likely going to entertain you while you’re watching it thanks to its genuinely great sense of humor and charismatic performances from its two leads.

Kumail Nanjiani and Issa Rae deliver some of the best performances of their career in The Lovebirds. They are one-hundred-percent feasible as a couple that are in the midst of a hard time and a shake-up here, working together to do whatever is necessary in order to clear their names and survive. Their chemistry is absolutely wonderful and always felt extremely natural and charming.

A lot of the time, we will jump between location to location here, ensuring that there is always something of interest happening on-screen. Sure, there are some dull moments that are a little bit boring, especially one sequence taking place at a theatre in the third act that felt like it would never end, but it’s usually always moving and fast-paced.

In addition to that, the script by Aaron Abrams and Brendan Gall is full of amazing jokes that managed to make me laugh and put a smile on my face. They’re not some of the best jokes I’ve heard in a movie in a while, but they were funny enough to keep me entertained throughout the running time.

At the end of the day, this is a completely watchable, funny flick that you can put on during a Friday night and just kick back and relax. Nothing about it makes you think and it’s not going to stay in your head for a while, but those that are looking for a fun escape should be in luck with this one.

The Lovebirds may be a little bit forgettable and formulaic but its great sense of humor and wonderful performances from Kumail Nanjiani and Issa Rae make it worth watching.