Category: REVIEWS

Once a ruthless businessman and bootlegger who ruled Chicago with an iron fist, Alfonse “Al” Capone (Tom Hardy) was the most infamous and feared gangster of American lore. At the age of 47, following nearly a decade of imprisonment, dementia rots Alfonse’s mind and his past becomes present. Harrowing memories of his violent and brutal origins melt into his waking life. As he spends his final year surrounded by family with the FBI lying in wait, this ailing patriarch struggles to place the memory of the location of millions of dollars he hid away on his property.

I genuinely feel bad for Josh Trank, who serves as the director, screenwriter, and editor on the film Capone, an unconventional and slow-moving biopic focusing on the infamous gangster in the last year of his life. Why do I feel bad for him? Well, it’s because his previous directorial effort was none other than the widely hated Fantastic Four film released back in 2015.

It’s a shame that the movie was as bad as it was. Even before that film came out, he proved himself to be a greatly talented filmmaker with 2012’s Chronicle, in which a group of high-schoolers obtain special powers, but soon have to face the deadly consequences of their actions.

He just seemed like a wholly unique filmmaker and many people were quite curious to see what he would do next after that film. Everything seemed to be going so well, and then… Fantastic Four was released. Apparently, there was a bunch of studio interference with that film and so I, and many others, were willing to give him the benefit of the doubt.

Going into Capone, my excitement levels were decently high. I didn’t go in expecting an absolute masterpiece, but I was hoping it would be a lot better than Fantastic Four. And although it most certainly is, I have to admit that Capone is still not a good movie.

The main reason as to why is, unfortunately, due to Trank’s screenplay. This is genuinely surprising when you consider that in addition to directing Chronicle, he co-wrote the script with Max Landis, which was a suspense-filled thrill-ride. Sadly, Capone isn’t any of those things. I understand that the first act is usually there to set up characters, but who said it had to be this boring?

For the first thirty to forty minutes, all we see happen is a few things. To list just a few, Capone accidentally pooping his pants in bed, trying to shoot a fish he didn’t get catch out on a boat, yelling at various people, and smoking a cigar while grumbling.

Admittedly, Tom Hardy delivers a truly fantastic performance as the titular character. This is definitely one of those performances that is going to be sadly overlooked during the upcoming awards season, and it’s a shame. Here, Hardy feels remarkably cold and intimidating. Even though he may be an old man and can’t move around as well as he used to, you still get the feeling that if you cross him, you’re going to be in serious, serious, trouble. It’s brilliant.

I just wish that Hardy had more things to do here. He gets saddled into a story that doesn’t know what it wants to be. One minute it wants to be a slow-moving, fairly simple biopic about Al Capone, and the next it tries to be an over-the-top crime movie with no thrills. It almost feels like a day in the life movie.

This is so strange to me, considering that this is a movie based on one of the most notorious gangsters in human history. I get it. He is old here, and Trank wanted to tell that side of him, but just seeing a man’s day-to-day life simply can’t be entertaining, no matter who it is based upon.

Tom Hardy is remarkably cold and intimidating in Capone, an otherwise painstakingly dull and uninteresting story of a notorious gangster in the final year of his life.

‘An Allegory of America’, Kill the Monsters is the tale of three men struggling to keep their polyamorous relationship together whilst travelling across the US.

This epic journey is all in search of a doctor to save the most naive of their three way relationship, Frankie (Jake Ball). Frankie is sick, but ‘it’s not cancer’, he is suffering from a ‘general feeling of malaise’ that leaves him regularly hospitalised and unwell.

Announcing itself as an allegory in its opening credits, the relationship in Kill the Monsters is not the only plot within the film. Their entire adventure is a nod to American history. We start with Frankie’s break from an oppressive British employer to a round table with German and Russian lesbian couples as they fight over the rights to an apartment block and disagree about how romantic relationships should be managed.

The entire relationship between Frankie, Patrick (Ryan Lonergan) and Sutton (Garrett Mckechnie) seems to a representation of political powers (Patrick & Sutton) vying for the affections of The American People (Frankie) as they make decisions about their money and relationship.

This includes the partners’ interactions with a menagerie of lesbian couples from different nations with Frankie always having the deciding vote following arguments from either side (which he doesn’t really listen to).

Most of it is clever and subtle. The French doctor who convinces them to break west, the British Banker who employs Frankie are not overt and don’t directly mention their connection to American history. As Kill The Monsters develops it becomes more in your face as we reach modern history. The German characters directly out our American throuple for thinking ‘their relationship’ is equally as oppressive as theirs.

Later it becomes so obvious Sutton is a republican allegory and Patrick a Democrat it loses itself a little as it becomes easier to decipher the allegory’s meaning.

None of this makes it any less enjoyable though. I actually loved watching American history through the eyes of director Ryan Lonergan and I was incredibly impressed how this film changed my mind minute by minute.  As a lifelong cynic, whenever I see a film which appears needlessly in black and white I roll my eyes and guffaw at the silliness. Jim Jarmusch must have been watched numerous times before making this film, and whilst I still don’t see what it added other than an aesthetic to fit the old timey font with which they introduce each chapter.

Luckily Kill the Monsters had a very obvious comedic and satiric element that made it bearable. Though I won’t admit it if you ask me face to face, I ended up not caring it was in black and white at all, or even noticing.

With snappy cuts, fast paced excited dialogue, some intense moments of fantastic acting, Kill the Monsters is a genuinely GOOD film. It may not streak the awards ceremony but anyone interested in American History, or ANY history should definitely watch this film.

It may not be a choice for fans of Donald Trump though as he’s hilariously alluded to towards the end of the film. Kill the Monsters surprised me with how it kept me engaged and I didn’t actually want it to end. I thoroughly recommend giving it a watch.

The first things that would probably come to mind when people think of Panama would be hats, the canal, a disastrous World Cup appearance and the Panama Papers scandal. Now it seems the country is looking to branch into new territory and establish itself as a player in one of the most productive genres of cinema. This is marked by The Horror Collective’s release of Diablo Rojo (PTY), billed as Panama’s first horror film.

It may not be the most sophisticated film out there, but coming from a place with no horror tradition to call on, the film is well-made. Directing duo Sol Moreno and J. Oskura Najera, who also wrote the script, have delivered a final product that is well crafted and made with proficiency and enthusiasm.

It is without some tension thanks to a reliance on the usual horror tropes (Characters are picked off one by one), but it does enough by itself to rise above its flaws. Namely, it subverts one of horror’s biggest clichés, here having a group of men who are on the run, lost in the rainforest and trying to escape a coven of witches.

Much of the action is centred around the bus of Miguel (Carlos Carrasco) and Junito (Julian Urriola), who after the former has a brief encounter with one of these witches, end up far from familiar ground, where they and the other passengers they pick up end up targets of these wild women.

Diablo Rojo (PTY) seems well-versed in its subject matter, with inspiration seemingly taken from the works of John Carpenter, such as The Fog and Assault on Precinct 13, in addition to little nods to other genre classics such as The Evil Dead, The Shining and the many, many films that made up the cannibal boom of the 1980s. The film’s influence in American horror is visibly worn on its sleeve and the filmmakers are able to do them justice.   

That said, this is a production determined to remain true to its roots, evidenced by Panamanian folk tale La Tulivieja playing a major part in the plot. This is one thing that makes Diablo Rojo (PTY) more interesting than most, that it is not just a series of jumpscares and kills shots (though there are plenty of them), it has a fairly intriguing story that it sets out to resolve. Najera’s script does well to recall and tie together all the film’s elements to make into an unexpectedly sophisticated plot.

But has it done enough to gain the attention of its intended audience? Those who like more intense horror, or gore, may have to look elsewhere, but the rest  – those who are able to see the film for its ambition, influence and invention, such as a full view of a character being sliced in half – will be more at home here. Especially if they like their horror efficient, the film’s run time being only seventy-six minutes.

There’s more to applaud Diablo Rojo (PTY) for than just being a first for Panama. It is a slick, tongue-in-cheek and well-made product of its genre that may not be to everyone’s tastes but will be brisk and amusing to those who are in the mood for something off the beaten track or are feeling quite squeamish.

Nineteen-year-old Vera Kall cycles home through the night. She arrives at a farm, leaves her bike and sneaks quietly in through the door. She enters the kitchen and doesn’t even have time to notice that she’s not alone. The sudden blow is heavy and knocks Vera headlong onto the kitchen floor where she is left lying. Henry is a successful copywriter in Antwerp. One day he is approached by Paula, a documentary filmmaker. Ten years earlier, she was Vera’s classmate.

Now she plans to make a film about Vera and wants Henry to become involved as he was their teacher back then in the city of Münster. Despite his plea of innocence Jakob Kall sits imprisoned for the murder of his daughter. This tragic and brutal story brings Paula and Henry together as they search for the truth behind what really happened, and why Vera’s body was never found. Both Henry and Paula carry well-hidden secrets which are slowly and inexorably forced out into the open. But the big question remains; is the man incarcerated in the maximum-security section of Bittinger prison really Vera’s killer?

Hearing that, you would probably be quite excited to delve deeper into Intrigo: Samaria and I don’t blame you. Its concept is quite interesting and sounds like a story that is ripe with clever twists and brilliant mystery/thriller storytelling. The previous Intrigo film in this loose-knit trilogy, Death of an Author, was similar in that regard. It has a greatly clever and genuinely intriguing plot synopsis, but unfortunately, they have something else in common as well. Both of them end up being quite disappointing.

Luckily though, Samaria is nowhere near as bland and unexciting as its predecessor. It doesn’t have a ton of sequences that make you scratch your head in a bad way. However, it does suffer from a relatively slow pace. However, after about thirty minutes, the overall story became a lot more gripping than it was earlier on. There were genuinely some moments where I was on edge.

But it still manages to be unrewarding in a lot of ways and its character development isn’t too strong for the most part either. The most fleshed-out character here is without a doubt Millie Brady’s Vera, who gives a truly terrific performance as an emotionally scarred woman and sells every single scene. In addition to her, Phoebe Fox as Paula and Jeff Fahey as Jacob also do wondrous jobs in their roles. The dynamic between the three was truly a delight to watch.

Altogether though, this easily could have been better with a better screenwriter. It is co-written by one of the writers of Death of an Author, and in certain scenes, it shows. It is nowhere near as frustrating, bland, and interesting as the predecessor, though.

It just takes a while for things to get interesting and doesn’t have a big enough emotional payoff. All of the performances are good, its a fairly beautiful movie to look at and is directed decently, but still has a lot of problems.

Intrigo: Samaria is a step up from the predecessor, but not by enough. Its story isn’t emotionally rewarding enough and is slowly paced, even if its performances are remarkable.

After Olivia (Amanda Crew) loses her job, she decides that it’s time to get away from it all to clear her mind. She finds a place to stay online and after contacting the owner, Harvey (Robert Patrick) they arrange to meet to do business. Harvey tells Olivia that he’s a widower, the place where Olivia is set to stay is the house that Harvey and his wife, Agnes (Nancy Linehan Charles) have lived many happy years.

So, with bittersweet feelings after learning about Harvey’s loss, Olivia and Harvey exchange pleasantries and she settles in for the night. Little does she know that Harvey has acquired a taste for killing after being bored with the rest of his life and Olivia is lined up to be his next victim.

Killer Instinct is a horror comedy written and directed by Richard Bates Jr. that has neither a decent grasp on horror or comedy. Through a series of scenes, Bates Jr. manages to put together a movie that seems like it has something to say about the current media war between Millennials and Boomers, but doesn’t have a clear enough direction.

There’s certainly a horror movie in there, but with so many different elements such as Harvey’s fourth wall breaking monologues about Millennials, surreal dream sequences and very little characterisation it becomes very easy not to care about anyone.

Although admittedly very well shot, with the right script Robert Patrick could be even more menacing than he comes across. However, neither the comedic side of his character nor the menacing side comes over effectively. The meaningless background characters add no humour and aren’t fleshed out enough either, so when it comes to making a more coherent horror movie, their actions make it seem like they’re just following a script.

The surreal dream sequences and hallucinations that Harvey experiences are well done, but unfortunately, they’re gone all too soon and mostly serve as jump scares. Perhaps with a little more time and thought behind them, maybe Bates Jr. could have said something more profound with his story. However, much like the feud between the Millennials and the Boomers, it all seems rather pointless.