Category: REVIEWS

A Better You is a very Philip K. Dick like tale set in a future that could very well come true. In this world, where apparently social awkwardness has skyrocketed, people are replacing themselves with androids, known as Better You. It’s what it says on the tin – they are you, but without those things letting you down, they are more charming, can dance unlike you and never let anything get to them.

Basically, they are not socially awkward. In this world, we simply follow a man wanting to date a woman and take her to the big dance – he decides to use one of these Better You’s to make the date as perfect as he can make it…until it goes wrong.

A Better You is a charming little chimera of genres. Its part sci-fi, part comedy, part romance and all with an alternate period aesthetic. I don’t say that as a negative because of how charming it is. Usually a film that tries to balance so many different elements finds itself crushed under the weight. That isn’t the case here for two simple but effective reasons. The first is the likable characters, who the film wisely focuses on over the plot. The second is the consistent visual style.

Visually we are looking at what I believe to be a punk style called Atom Punk, not dissimilar from what you may find in Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow or, more recently, the videogame Bioshock Infinite. Everything feels like it comes from the 1950’s or earlier. People dress as they would back then, the TV is a big box featuring a grainy black and white image and even the architecture is reminiscent of the time. There is the odd blimp floating in the sky in most shots.

But there is also computers, social chatrooms and other such advanced technology, such as androids. I think the last time I saw a style like this was in Guillermo Del Toro’s The Shape of Water. I don’t say that lightly because the visuals are worthy of a director of such talent.

The characters are charming and likable, if not all that relatable. The actors do a great job, especially our lead, who is playing two roles for most of the film. It’s fun to see this awkward character interact with something that is meant to be an improvement on him and see him learn lessons about himself.

That being said, while we sympathize with their struggle and the basic level of them being socially awkward, there was something ironically robotic about them. They felt like caricatures more than they did actual characters. It made them feel a little hard to properly relate to.

It’s certainly a film I appreciate on a technical level more than I do a story level. It’s nice and pleasant. It’s just a lovely film to watch. In times like this, it is nice to watch something that makes you feel warm inside. It is very predictable and not exactly the deepest film, with the messages being a little too on the nose. But that isn’t always a bad thing.

If you have fifteen minutes and need something wholesome, this film fits that bill perfectly.

Trolls World Tour – The BRWC Review – Poppy (voice of Anna Kendrick) and Branch (voice of Justin Timberlake) discover that there are six different troll tribes scattered over six different lands. Each tribe is also devoted to six different kinds of music — funk, country, techno, classical, pop and rock. When rockers Queen Barb (voice of Rachel Bloom) and King Thrash (voice of Ozzy Osbourne) set out to destroy the other music, Poppy and Branch embark on a daring mission to unite the trolls and save the diverse melodies from becoming extinct.

The fact that Walt Dohrn’s Trolls World Tour released straight to video on demand is kind of a blessing in disguise. Had this movie been released in theatres like it was originally going to, I would have had to sit in a crowded theatre filled to the brim with dozens of loud, cheery children as they sing along to the cover songs sung by the ensemble cast of singers.

If you liked the cover songs from the previous installment, you’ll probably like them here too. I won’t lie – they’re not bad. I wasn’t miserable while watching them play out in front of me, but they’re not necessarily good though. But what’s even worse is that its basically the entire movie. There are so many songs throughout the film to the point where you could honestly classify this as a musical of sorts.

Is there a story here? Yes, there is. But the problem is that it gets so lost along the way thanks largely in part to the overabundance of music throughout. The only reasons why there are so many songs in the film, in my opinion, is because the studio wanted to make some money and also, they knew that they didn’t have an interesting enough story so they wanted to create as many Troll-centered covers as possible in hopes to entertain its target audience.

And that’s the thing. This is going to entertain children. Adults on the other hand? Not so much. There is next to nothing for older audiences to enjoy here besides a couple of jokes that are actually not too bad, and the animation is obviously incredible as per usual for DreamWorks.

The story is extremely predictable and boring to follow. There isn’t much to care about here, and the majority of the characters make ridiculously dumb decisions that make it hard for you to root for them. What’s funny though, is the fact that this movie’s plot is basically just the plot of Marvel’s Avengers: Infinity War. Yes, you heard me right.

How so? Well, let me explain. In Infinity War, we follow the evil Thanos as he goes on a journey to obtain all six infinity stones – space, reality, power, soul, mind, and time. With these stones, Thanos can then put them in his Infinity Gauntlet, and, once they are all in the gauntlet, he can snap his fingers which will allow him to wipe out half of all life in the universe.

In Trolls World Tour, we follow the evil Queen Barb as she goes on a journey to obtain all six music strings – pop, country, funk, techno, classical, and rock. With these strings, Barb can then play the ultimate power chord which will give her the ability to turn every troll into a rock troll. It’s blatantly obvious how much this movie borrows off of Infinity War and it’s kind of hilarious to think about.

So at the end of the day, this movie doesn’t really have a whole lot to offer. If you want to put on a movie that will entertain your kids, this is more than likely going to do the trick. They’ll probably be singing the songs for weeks on end. But if you’re not in the target audience, the problems with the film are way too prevalent to ignore. It’s a film that has a boring, recycled, and dumbed down story and is filled with way too many songs for there to be any sort of character development along the way. In other words, it’s essentially an hour and a half long music video with some admittedly great animation and fun colors.

It may have some fun music and great animation, but Trolls World Tour‘s bland and recycled story accompanied with the weak characters make this adventure a bore.

Robert Atkinson (Mike Beckingham) works in a bank in the heart of London. He’s just been dumped by his girlfriend and after and argument with his brother, Steve (Dougie Poynter) and a bag load of the bank’s money, Robert decides to indulge in his favourite pastime – gambling.

However, after some bad luck at the tables, Robert is made an offer that he can’t refuse by a local Triad gang leader Lau Hoi Ho (Togo Igawa). All Robert has to do is to deliver a package to Amsterdam and all his debt will be cleared. However, after a couple of chance encounters Robert finds himself in deeper trouble than he could ever imagine, putting his life in serious danger.

The Host is a movie that starts off as a stylish albeit slightly predictable British crime thriller, but as the story goes on it takes an unusual and unexpected turn that may throw its audience off their guard, or may put them off entirely.

Everything about The Host sets the movie firmly in place, so whereas the audience may think they know where they story is going, they still expect to be entertained by the comfortable and familiar plot.

Unfortunately, this is where The Host subverts the audience’s expectations and without giving too much away, the twist forces the audience to reassess what kind of movie they thought they were watching. It also forces them to get acquainted with some characters that they had only briefly met before.

It’s unfortunate in some ways, because if the movie ended how it began then it may have been more enjoyable, giving the audience a more suspenseful story. What the audience end up getting though is a twist about halfway through that is completely unnecessary, unsettling those who realise they are not getting what they paid for and boring some fans of the genre that know all the clichés that are about to come.

It doesn’t help that the true villain of the piece isn’t believable, nor is there any clear motive to the villain’s actions which dilutes any real sense of danger.

Therefore, The Host leaves the audience waiting for the film to be over and reach its inevitable end. It also doesn’t help that a final twist leaves the audience groaning as it is as pointless as the first.

A Thread Of Deceit: The Hart Family Tragedy – Review. By Heidi Sharpley.

I’ve really struggled to watch this true crime movie-length documentary and write an objective review.  I’m a parent and the content is just so upsetting. Anything to do with kids being harmed really disturbs and distresses me. I can’t seem to put a constructive review together as this movie doesn’t help solve any of the issues it raises. 

There have been countless retelling of ‘true crime’ stories with the purpose of hoping this never happens to any other family again.  But these tragedies keep occurring. What’s the point in watching?

In short, Jennifer and Sarah Hart plotted to drive their six children off a cliff in to the Pacific Ocean in a murder suicide pact.  They succeeded.   This documentary claims to peel back the layers to show why they did it but the only reason seems to be they were about to be investigated for (and perhaps finally found guilty of) child abuse.

Pull at the thread of deceit and you’ll discover the broken communication between child support systems in each state of America.  While researching the Hart family, I discovered Jennifer and Sarah Hart had been reported to child welfare official in three different states.  Conveniently, they moved on from each place of residence for a fresh start.  No further action could be taken within those jurisdictions.

I’m also discovering I can’t be objective about this movie as I’m judging the family friends who have been interviewed.  I keep questioning how feeble they are.  Were they all chasing the dream life of love and harmony so deeply that they couldn’t see through the facade the Hart parents projected through highly curated images and videos on social media and when out in public with these kids?  

Who am I to judge them?  Would I be able to spot the difference between a genuinely loving family or a child so desperate to please their abusive parent that they smile in public and clung tight for a much needed hug when one was available.

The courts entrusted Jennifer and Sarah Hart to provide a refuge for six children from the drug addicted households of neglect they were born into. You would have thought two women who had studied eduction at university would make perfect parents.  Were they just evil?  

Markis (19), Hannah (16), Devonte (15), Jeremiah (14), Abigail (14), and Sierra (12) deserved so much more than what the broken system delivered.

Pin-Jui (Hong-Chi Lee) is a free-spirited yet impoverished young Taiwanese factory worker, who makes the difficult decision to leave his homeland — and the woman he loves — behind in order to seek better opportunities in America. But years of monotonous work and an arranged marriage devoid of love or compassion leave an older Pin-Jui (Tzi Ma) a shadow of his former self. Unable to sympathize with his daughter Angela (Christine Ko) and at risk of living out his retirement in solitude, Pin-Jui must reconnect with his past in order to finally build the life he once dreamed of having.

Quiet, emotional, and slow-burning are perhaps the best words to describe Alan Yang’s Tigertail. His feature film directorial debut is filled to the brim with passion, regret, and love and explores these themes in a beautiful yet heartbreaking way that is sure to leave you teary-eyed come the final act.

The screenplay that Yang wrote is one of the most simplistic yet realistic scripts in a while. While watching the film, it genuinely felt as if I was peering at the life of a man, Grover (Tzi Ma) and the people around him and how he handles his dream to live and work in America. He may have to leave behind the people he loves the most, but he is willing to take that risk if it means that he may have a better future.

Speaking of Grover, the lead performance here from Tzi Ma is truly terrific. He never once felt like he was acting. Every single frame with his character is extremely poignant and interesting. You never feel tired of seeing how his story unfolds. In fact, by the time the movie ended, it truly felt as if I had just watched somebody’s entire life story presented in front of my eyes.

But, as carefully quiet and slow-burning as the movie is, I must admit, for the first twenty to thirty minutes or so, it was quite unclear as to where the film was going storywise. Not too much happens in that time frame, and while it’s not boring, it was just a little bit confusing as to where things were heading.

Once you see where the story is going and what it was all building towards, it ends up becoming a terrific cinematic experience that is sure to encapsulate the hearts of viewers all around the world.

It’s a beautiful film to look at thanks to the excellent cinematography by Nigel Bluck and the direction of Yang. There is not a single shot that is wasted here. Each frame has something interesting and profound to say. The images that were presented to me will be in my head for a long while. The same can really be said about the film as a whole.

It does take a while for things to get going, for sure. But as soon as the second act kicks in, Yang’s picture becomes something incredibly unique and definitely welcomed in these times.

Alan Yang’s Tigertail is a beautifully poignant and staggeringly realistic look at the life of a hopeful man and the loved ones around him.