Category: REVIEWS

“Immortal Hero” is a Japanese film based on Ryuho Okawa, the founder of Happy Science, a religious movement that evidently claims to have over 11 million followers worldwide. Okawa, unsurprisingly, executive produced this film and his daughter, Sayaka, wrote the screenplay.

Immortal Hero follows Makoto Mioya, aka the movie version of Okawa, a best selling self-help author and founder of a publishing company. When we meet Makoto in the beginning of the film we see him struggling to breathe and dramatically clutching his chest.

He’s having a Japanese soap opera version of a heart attack, and is subsequently rushed to a hospital where he is told he will not live to see another day. What will he do? How will he survive? Well, lucky for Makoto, he can see dead people. One I think was Jesus, the other maybe Buddha, I’m not sure about the rest of his visions, the visual effects looked like they were made on an IBM computer circa 1987.

Anyway, the random spirits tell him that he is in fact the chosen one, he will unite all of the people of the world and all of the religions of the world in one fell swoop. He will save humanity when he thinks himself well, and he does just that!

He thinks himself well! In true messiah like fashion, he repairs his own heart with his mind, all those spirits were right! Alas, the mission is not complete, Makoto will now attempt to inspire the world as the chosen and lead them into the light. 

I know to some of you reading this may think, is she joking? No. This is actually the plot of this film; though I am being cheeky. The direction is poor, the music, oh, the music. Probably some of the weirdest, most vain, cheesy songs I’ve ever heard in my entire life. Let’s see, what else? We’ve discussed the visual effects; oh! The acting. I don’t know if it qualifies as acting?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uz1pkRATOlc

Over the top, laughable in places. Even the pop in characters seemed confused. I count my favorite as a former business associate of Makoto, a Londoner named Robert, who was so inspired by Makoto that he travelled all the way from London to Tokyo to let him know live and in person that he was able to heal his cancer with his mind after he read his book!

In a scene with bar none the worst editing I have ever seen Robert goes from jovial to sad and crying when there is a cut from wide angle to close up, I guess they forgot that wide angle of him crying. Ah, those pesky minor details.

I really don’t know what else to say about this. I legitimately am at a loss for words, and I have nothing positive to say. I can sum up my feelings about this film with a famous quote from “Billy Madison,” (1995) “I award you no points, and may God have mercy on your soul.”

Jay Jackson (Bart Edwards) is a workaholic who lives with his wife and two daughters and despite his need to get out of the house to provide for his family, he seemingly lives the perfect life. That is until one night when his house gets invaded by a serial killer who drags him away.

Jay wakes up in an empty room that with no clue of where he is and he soon realises that he shares it with three other people who are all in different states of anguish. However, as soon as the group all realise why they are there and what connects them, they think that the key to their escape may be in their grasp.

The Dare is directed by Giles Alderson who co-wrote the script with Jonny Grant and for those horror fans who took notice of a particular horror film that turned into a franchise in the early 2000’s then they may know exactly what to expect.

Taking its inspiration quite clearly from Saw, The Dare attempts to recreate that sense of terror and mix it with an (un)healthy dose of torture porn. As soon as Jay wakes up in an abandoned building with his leg chained to the wall, the audience can see what’s coming even if the story does try to be a little bit different.

As the story goes on, there are flashbacks to a little boy’s past and his relationship with his abusive father which is difficult to watch, but for those paying attention (even a little) then the identity of the little boy may become clear.

It’s unfortunate then that once the identity of the killer is revealed and therefore so is the connection between his victims, the audience may stop caring about their survival entirely.

One of the guilty pleasures of watching a movie such as this is that the audience gets to indulge in watching people getting brutally tortured.

The audience know it isn’t real, but if the effect of what is done on screen is done well and seems realistic it can make the audience squirm and has the desired effect.

This can be said for The Dare, but with so little characterisation and no story arc for any of the characters (including the killer), all is left is the gruesome knifing and gouging.

Following the antics of a young woman, Emma Woodhouse (Anya Taylor-Joy), who lives in Georgian- and Regency-era England and occupies herself with matchmaking – in sometimes misguided, often meddlesome fashion- in the lives of her friends and family.

In case you haven’t been reading the news and have been avoiding the internet and all electronic devices for weeks now, you may not have heard that several upcoming feature films have been delayed in the wake of the coronavirus. Just this past week, John Krasinski’s horror sequel A Quiet Place Part II was set to hit theatres but was ultimately postponed with no new release date.

The same was the case for blockbusters such as Mulan and Black Widow, in addition to the twenty-fifth James Bond picture No Time to Die, as well as a plethora of others. As a result of the coronavirus rapidly spreading, most movie theatres across the world have closed temporarily, meaning that movies that have recently been released have little to no chance at making their budget back.

So, Universal Pictures have taken it upon themselves to do something absolutely unprecedented and unheard of in the industry – release their new theatrical films on video-on-demand already. Among their new VOD releases are The Hunt, The Invisible Man, and the film I will be discussing today, Emma – a movie that I wanted to see back when it was released in February but wasn’t able to catch a showing of it. But now thanks to the on-demand release, I was able to.

Being that I am a big fan of Anya Taylor-Joy’s work in the past, I was greatly looking forward to seeing her in Emma, a period-piece with a comedic spin. Throughout the film, nothing is ever taken deathly seriously, which was a delight. Director Autumn de Wilde manages to find a near-perfect blend of comedy and drama, but one never outweighs the other.

The screenplay by Eleanor Catton is incredibly smooth and smartly written. By far one of the best scripts of the year so far, she injects a sense of love and heart into this Jane Austen story and does a terrific job at doing so.

Where Emma truly shines is in its depiction of the life of the titular character and the relationships she has with the individuals around her, namely Harriet Smith (Mia Goth). Taylor-Joy and Goth have amazing chemistry, and none of their scenes ever feel forced. Throughout the duration of the film, the two women learn a lot about each other and also learn important life lessons that will change them forever.

Seeing the way these two characters interacted with one another and witnessing the way their lives are drastically different created for a beautifully powerful contrast and great entertainment. However, Emma is definitely one of those movies that takes a while to get going. With a running time of one hundred and twenty-four minutes, there are certainly some scenes that feel inconsequential to the grand scheme of things, and there are a handful of sequences that drag.

If you were to watch this movie and tell me that you thought not much happened with this story, I would not blame you or be surprised. This is what I like to call a “talking movie“. If you are somebody that likes a movie with a ton of exciting things happening every other scene, you’re probably going to loathe this film, because there aren’t any crazy sequences like that here. Instead, what we get is a slow-moving but ultimately rewarding character study.

Aside from the story elements being mostly great, the standout element of Emma is without a doubt, its performances. Particularly from Anya Taylor-Joy, Mia Goth and Johnny Flynn, each actor delivers an immensely quiet yet riveting performance that I will not soon forget.

It also contains some stellar, top-of-the-line costume design that absolutely needs to get recognition come the upcoming awards season. Every single costume looks gorgeous and intricately put together. This accompanied by the truly astounding colors that pop thanks to the immaculate cinematography by Christopher Blauvelt make Emma truly shine. It’s a film that is not without its missteps, but when it gets going, it’s greatly entertaining. Handsome, clever, and rich, indeed.

Quiet, impressively funny and dramatic, Emma is a period-piece done right, even if its story takes a little bit to get going.

Sarah Dekker (Courtney McKeon) lives with her parents. She has a wonderful boyfriend, Shane (Fiach Kunz) who she adores and despite her religious mother’s disapproval, she indulges in frequent and passionate sex.

Then one day Sarah feels sick, she goes to the doctor and her worst fear is confirmed – she’s pregnant. Scared for her future and after her mother (Noelle Clarke) finds out and her boyfriend dumps her, Sarah turns to her best friend, Davet (Paul Fitzgerald) so they can go to England and she can have an abortion.

However, while recovering and dealing with the trauma of the abortion, Sarah starts having hallucinations that make her realise that the loss of a baby is not the only thing that’s haunting her.

The Perished is a slow burn horror movie inspired by real life events, written and directed by Paddy Murphy. An opening passage informs the audience of a time in Ireland where pregnant women were denied the right to choose what they did with their bodies, and that many turned to extreme measures, which led to a mass grave of unborn children uncovered outside a refuge for pregnant women.

The Perished attempts to tell the story of one such woman who is forced to make a decision that will affect the rest of her life.

Guiding the audience through the film slowly, it soon becomes apparent that Sarah is experiencing things that may just be a figment of her imagination. However, the audience may think they are experiencing it too as there are small, scary noises and fleeting glances at what lies in the corner of Sarah’s mind to tell the audience that something’s coming.

It’s only until about halfway through when the full horror of her nightmare comes to light and the audience may suspect something far more supernatural is happening.

The script is very well written and the cast do a great job of connecting with the audience and with each other as they talk about their experiences, with the script even managing to put an even-handed discussion about abortion and its consequences amongst the scenes of horror.

However, by the finale, when the true villain is revealed, The Perished goes full on horror undermining the previous discussions.

Perhaps early on there should have been a decision to either make the movie a kitchen sink drama or a horror, because by the end the horror inflected drama doesn’t work as well as the filmmakers may have liked.

Leo Borlock (Graham Verchere) is an average student at Mica High School. He gets decent grades, is a member of the school’s marching band and has always been content flying under the radar. But all that changes when he meets Stargirl Caraway (Grace VanderWaal), a confident and colorful new student with a penchant for the ukulele, who stands out in a crowd. She is kind, finds magic in the mundane and touches the lives of others with the simplest of gestures. Her eccentricities and infectious personality charm Leo and the student body, and she quickly goes from being ignored and ridiculed to accepted and praised, then back again, sending Leo on a rollercoaster ride of emotions.

Maybe it’s just because I am a sucker for syrupy sweet coming-of-age tales or maybe it’s because I love powerful and uplifting stories of troubled teens finding their way in the world. Either way, Stargirl is a remarkably impressive, feel-good breezy watch that is infectiously happy. It’s an exceptionally told story of a mysterious girl and a teen boy that find their place in the world and their school, even if it does have some issues along the way.

Throughout the course of my life, I have seen dozens of coming-of-age films. While I greatly enjoy and appreciate some of the classics such as Sixteen Candles or Stand By Me, my personal favorite has to be Kelly Fremon Craig’s masterful The Edge of Seventeen; a raw and emotionally rich character study with tons of heart and laughs.

Julia Hart’s Stargirl is similarly chalked full with a lot of heart and laughs to be had along the way, even if it isn’t the most reinvigorating or fresh addition to the genre. The filmmakers set up the world of this story and even Stargirl herself to be something of a mystery. Throughout the course of the film, we are never really sure as to who Stargirl is. Along the way, we do find out more about her and it is incredibly interesting and fun to follow her storyline. Unfortunately, it does at times falter from following some of the genre tropes and clichés that we have come to expect at this point.

But what makes this movie stand out significantly is the way it progresses its story. For the first thirty minutes, it does feel disappointingly familiar and it felt as if Hart was unclear as to where she wanted to take this story. Gratefully, by the second act came around, the grand picture became a little more clear and therefore, the rest of the film was much more entertaining to follow.

So even though the story can oftentimes be familiar and predictable, it can also be exciting and interesting. But without a doubt, the biggest praise I can give Stargirl is its performances by Grace VanderWaal and Graham Verchere, who help boost the film’s infectiously sweet style and presentation.

Up until this point, VanderWaal has not necessarily been known for acting. In fact, this is the debut feature film role for the young star. Best known for winning the popular reality competition series America’s Got Talent‘s eleventh season, she has garnered quite the reputation in the music community ever since her victory in 2016.

Ever since then, she has released one studio album and two extended plays. I have always been a massive fan of her music career and I even own some of her music on my phone, but I just was not too sure as to how I felt about her being an actress. Sometimes, musicians try to be actors and it simply does not work out.

However, I can gladly report that the opposite is the case with VanderWaal. In the role of Stargirl Caraway, she delivers a gleefully cheery and shockingly emotional performance. One scene in particular in which she has to deliver a speech left me with my mouth open, staring at my screen in complete silence.

In addition to this, the chemistry that she has with Verchere is a delight to watch. The two feel like they have known each other in real life for many years and the relationship they share in the movie never once felt fake or forced. Getting to witness the journey of Stargirl and Leo was not only a blast to watch, but rewarding as well.

The dynamic they have is extremely uplifting to watch and is sure to put a smile on anybody’s face. They always do things together such as taking long walks and sing songs. However, their journey ultimately leads to an ending that, while I can definitely appreciate and respect it for being incredibly bold and surprising, felt like a cop-out.

For the longest time, the movie feels like it is definitely going to go one way. The way that it was originally heading would have been a great and sweet ending, but towards the final thirty minutes, it takes an abrupt and jarring turn for the worse.

Even if the ending was less than satisfying and out of the blue, this was still a highly fun and cute watch. It definitely won’t be for everybody, and that’s okay. But if you are looking for a breezy watch that will be sure to put a smile on your face and feel good inside, this film will do exactly that.

Although its story can oftentimes feel predictable and familiar, Stargirl‘s cheery and uplifting style mixed with its terrific performances from Grace VanderWaal and Graham Verchere make it a delight to watch.