Category: REVIEWS

QT8: The First Eight is a documentary about the works of acclaimed director Quentin Tarantino. As stated, it details the production, making and themes and releases of Tarantino’s first eight films – from Reservoir Dogs to The Hateful Eight. It is all told to us by the cast, crew and associates of Tarantino and is an interesting look into the man who immediately became a cinematic living legend.

I feel that anybody could go on about Tarantino for hours on end. To sum up my thought on the man’s work without making this an article purely about him, I have had a love hate relationship with the works of Tarantino. By which I pretty much mean I love Kill Bill and everything before it, and I have kind of hated the ones that I saw after it. Although the only ones I have seen after Kill Bill are Django Unchained and The Hateful Eight.

That is not a knock on their quality – they are all masterpiece in one way or another – but something about them either offended me or failed to hold my interest. I do, however, credit him as one of the last true filmmakers. When you think of a director who only makes what he wants, casts who he wants, works with who he wants, has a tremendous talent and whose name alone brings in the crowd, these days it appears to be only Tarantino with that kind of power. For that he has my respect.

QT8 truly acts as a window into his work. The film is almost entirely interview based. Nine out of ten of the big actors who have worked under Tarantino are present here, telling us what it is like to work for him – both the good and the bad. It is remarkable that, despite how strict he is and the pressure that had been put on these actors, that they have little but good to say about him.

These are people like Samuel L Jackson, Kurt Russel, Christophe Waltz, Jamie Fox and Tim Roth – huge, respected and prestigious, and all taking the time to talk about what an experience it was to work with him. It was also nice to see the late Robert Forster again. 

The only break we get from these interviews are clips from the films themselves and some nice animated sequences to display what is being said. These two elements make the documentary itself feel very much like a homage to Tarantino – taking just a little bit of his style to show us more of him, as opposed to just telling us about him. As such it carries across the most poignant, thought-provoking moments as effectively as the black comedy. Just like with Tarantino’s films, it’s fun, hilarious, thought-provoking, and at times scary – especially the brief segment looking at Harvey Weinstein.

It’s good and slick. It honestly doesn’t feel as long as it is, and I could’ve watched it all day long. It’s less a look at the man and more of his work and just how important that work is to film. It’s honestly hard to disagree. It told me things that I didn’t know myself – such as most of the production of Reservoir Dogs, which is already my favorite Tarantino film – that made me respect the work and the man himself just that little more.

He’s a lover of film and that’s what got him to where he is – cinema could honestly use more of that. QT8 was refreshing, fun and had me hooked from beginning to end. Comparing that to the man it is talking about, I can’t think of any higher praise than that.

By Matt Keay.

Back in the halcyon early days of DVD special features, the 1999 ‘Ghostbusters’ home video release was one of the benchmarks for supplementary material (the Lord Of The Rings appendices notwithstanding), covering most technical bases; the making of the film, the special effects, deleted scenes, workprint comparisons, trailers, and even a trivia track, among other delights.

With the exception of boutique labels such as Criterion, Masters Of Cinema, and Arrow, et al, the presentation of such features have fallen by the wayside somewhat; the majority of tentpole releases in the 21st century relying on studio-produced EPKs, ‘featurettes’, and if you’re really, really lucky, interactive menus. The release for ‘Ghostbusters’ and a handful of other releases from the 80s and 90s, showed us all how it was done.

‘Cleanin’ Up The Town: Remembering Ghostbusters’ is a lovingly created, feature-length exploration of the making of the film, which would sit perfectly alongside the pantheon of great film-related documentaries such as ‘Dangerous Days’, ‘Hearts Of Darkness’, and ‘Lost In La Mancha’, and reminds this cinephile of the worth of the special feature as a integral part of home video as a ‘film school in a box’ endeavour. 

‘Cleanin’ Up The Town’ has gathered a wealth of interviews with the cast and crew of ‘Ghostbusters’, (Bill Murray, however, is noticeably absent, but no surprise there), discussing all aspects of the production of the film. The documentary clearly comes from a place of love, and director/writer siblings Anthony and Claire Bueno’s passion for the film shines through, especially when considering their careful, meticulous, and heartfelt handling of the integrity of the source material, its legacy, and the lively stories the production staff can recall.

Interviews, set photos, and clips from the film are cleverly sandwiched between computer-generated mockups of important documents such as letters and scripts, and initially jarring but gradually charming animations of the interviewees’ comments. These flourishes set ‘Cleanin’ Up The Town’ apart from its run-of-the-mill contemporaries.

The film focuses heavily on the special effects involved, which is a fascinating part of the filmmaking process in the first instance, and none more so than in ‘Ghostbusters’ case. The sheer talent of men and women from around the world involved in the design, building, and realisation of said effects on screen is fully explored in ‘Cleanin’ Up The Town’, and the unsung work in the production of say, Slimer, or the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man, is enlightening, to say the least.

What is most enjoyable about ‘Cleanin’ Up The Town’, in fact, is the looks on the primary players in the film (Dan Aykroyd, Harold Ramis, Sigourney Weaver, and Ivan Reitman) as they recount the genesis of the production, all the way through to the first test screening. It is genuine and truthful. What is clear is that the team are immensely proud of the cultural impact the film has had on the cinematic landscape.

The siblings Bueno have crafted an excellent and entertaining love letter to a movie that they clearly adore. The blood, sweat, and tears involved in making as in depth and informative a film as this is admirable in the extreme. For fans, it is indispensable, and the most special of features.

Short films often showcase the technical mastery of their directors. There is never enough time for performers or screenwriters to make an impact, but as a director, you can lay claim to everything. “Ida” takes a drastically different approach; this is an avenue for both its performers and screenwriting while technically being simple. 

What writer-director Parminder Singh lacks in technical flair he more than makes up for with a blunt yet moving script.

We follow title character Ida (Kerstin Jannerup Gjesing) a 10-year-old girl who opens the film by repeating the line “the monster isn’t real”. She is quickly comforted by her mother, Leonora (Molly Blixt Egelind), who reminds her monsters aren’t real. Everything appears normal until Ida displays strange behaviour at school.

She is struggling to spell the words presented to her in class. She gets stuck on one and begins to obsess about getting it right, erasing her wrong answers over and over. Once her teacher notices he inquires if everything okay, and all Ida has to say for herself is “I made a mistake”.

From here it’s clear something isn’t right about the seemingly normal household presented to us at the beginning. However, once again, Leonora arrives, as we cut to the end of the school day, to make everything okay again. The music becomes calming and she promises they’ll bake together when they get home. Soon after though Leonora gets distressed after Ida doesn’t like a present she bought her. She rapidly begins to pour glass after glass of wine and morphs into the monster of Ida’s nightmares.

When I was first confronted with this revelation, I was unimpressed with how literal the representation of the monster was. Egelind appears on screen as a veiny purple creature who stars hungrily at Ida demanding affection and laying blame; I thought it was far too blunt. It was the performance of Gjesing that changed my mind.

She seems so frightened and ridged as the monster comes out, she runs as far as she can, to her bedroom, and just lies there hoping for the monster to go away and tragically accepting the vile statement her mother throws at her, “It’s your fault I drink”.

In her mind, it’s her “mistakes” that bring the monster out, not the alcohol. Ida stares at the roof lying on her bed sharing her thoughts with us as the film ends, she proclaims she will become an angle, so the monster need never come out again because angles don’t make mistakes. The sequence is so moving the film as a whole becomes a success.

The downbeat ending serves to highlight the sobering fact that children will always struggle to get out of abusive situations with their parents, because they don’t even know they are being abused.

Elsa the Snow Queen (voice of Idina Menzel) and her sister Anna (voice of Kristen Bell) embark on an adventure far away from the kingdom of Arendelle with the assistance of friends Kristoff (voice of Jonathan Groff), Olaf (voice of Josh Gad), and Sven.

When the original 2013 Frozen film was released, it was one of the biggest and most surprising Disney successes of all time. The film, made on a budget of $150 million, managed to rake in $1.276 billion at the box office, making it one of the most profitable Disney animated features ever released.

Many people all around the world fell in love with the characters of Elsa, Anna, Olaf, Kristoff, Sven and company, and of course, one of the biggest praises for Frozen was its songs. In particular, the now infamous “Let It Go”, sung by Idina Menzel, which every parent has probably heard countless times over. The songs in that film were a smash hit with a lot of them being some of the most famous Disney songs to date.

But at the centre of the film was a big heart and a terrific story to tell with an incredibly touching moral of the story – family is important. It was a message that a lot of young kids could take note of and that is one of the many reasons why I genuinely adore Frozen. It has the heart, the surprisingly emotional moments, it has the greatly funny moments, and of course, the amazing music.

Topping a film like that in a sequel is no easy task, but I can happily say that Chris Buck and Jennifer Lee’s Frozen II comes quite close. As they directed the original film, they definitely know what they are doing with the film and story. This is a highly satisfying sequel that was certainly worth the six year wait.

In the original film, it took me about twenty minutes or so to get invested in the story, but once I did, I thought it was extremely exciting. With Frozen II, however, I was invested right from the beginning. The film starts off with a bang with “Some Things Never Change”, which is sure to be yet another hit song. Even though this picture’s story is greatly interesting, as this one delves into Elsa’s origins, where she comes from and how she got her powers and what they mean, the stakes this time did not feel as high.

The first time around, Elsa managed to freeze all of Arendelle and almost caused an everlasting winter to freeze everybody and the story felt like a big race against the clock which made for some riveting and tense moments. While Frozen II has a more thought-provoking and character driven story, which I appreciate, it just did not feel as gripping as the original.

Now let’s talk about those songs – they are, yet again, amazing. Although I personally don’t think that any song on this soundtrack is going to reach “Let It Go” levels of fame, there are absolutely a few songs that are going to be quite big indeed, and listening to them as the story progresses makes them even more enjoyable to listen to. Some of my personal favorites include the aforementioned “Some Things Never Change”, “Into the Unknown”, and “Show Yourself”.

The animation team most certainly deserves a pat on the back as well. There were a few shots in particular in the film that looked like it used real scenery instead of animation. It was that gorgeous to look at. The scenery and animation that you saw in the trailers is just scratching the surface.

Similar to the first, this movie gratefully has its fair share of comedic elements as well. However, I did not find myself laughing as much as I wish I did. There were some times where the jokes landed completely, but some of the jokes fell completely flat for me, and some even came off a bit too strong.

Also, I couldn’t help but feel like some of the character choices that were made in the final act felt a bit out of character. One character in particular makes a decision that just felt like it came completely out of left field and almost as if the filmmakers did not know how to resolve the conflict without doing what they ended up doing.

But all in all, Frozen II is not only a great sequel, but a great film that will entertain families across the world. It is such a wholesome movie that you can feel good while watching, and movies like that do not come too often these days.

Frozen II is a sequel well worth the wait, as it contains an interesting and emotional story, has breathtaking animation, and even more catchy and fun songs.

The Irishman Review. In the 1950s, truck driver Frank Sheeran (Robert De Niro) gets involved with Russell Bufalino (Joe Pesci) and his Pennsylvania crime family. As Sheeran climbs the ranks to become a top hit man, he also goes to work for Jimmy Hoffa (Al Pacino) — a powerful Teamster tied to organized crime.

To say that Martin Scorsese is a legendary and inspirational filmmaker would be an incredibly massive understatement to say the absolute least. He has helmed some of the most iconic drama pictures of all time including 1976’s Taxi Driver, 1980’s Raging Bull and 1990’s Goodfellas to name just a few.

His movies have always been highly influential to a whole plethora of filmmakers all around the world and his films have even inspired me. There is always something important he wants to say in each and every single one of his movies and he almost always does this in a brilliant and profound way.

The hype surrounding his newest feature film The Irishman, his follow-up to Silence, was incredible. I had heard so many people on social media hail this picture as one of the greatest of the decade and a film that will inspire a whole new generation of filmmakers to come. Now that I have seen it, I can gleefully report that The Irishman is indeed an incredible, expertly written and directed film that tells a character driven story.

That is one thing viewers need to know right off the bat when it comes to The Irishman – this is absolutely, one hundred percent, a character study. Please, do not go into this film expecting it to be an action-filled extravaganza, because if you do, you will be immensely disappointed and you will miss what the movie actually is. This is a movie that wants to tell the story of these three men Frank Sheeran, Russell Bufalino and Jimmy Hoffa. It does that excellently.

Something that struck me after my viewing was how depressing this movie is. As soon as the end credits appeared, it was as if I was hit with a wave of sadness. Not because I had just watched a movie I did not like, because I did like this movie. No, it was because I had just watched a movie that was told so beautifully with so much skill and contained characters so real and well-written, that, when certain plot points occur, they hit you hard and they feel real.

Any picture starring Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci, and Al Pacino sounds like an amazing ride, and it sure was. These three deliver some of their all-time best performances in The Irishman believe it or not. These are actors that I have been familiar with for my whole life, yet, while I was watching this film, I never once saw De Niro, Pesci, or Pacino. I saw their characters. Their acting is so raw and powerful in this movie that they honestly deserve awards recognition.

Let’s talk about the thing that almost everybody is talking about when it comes to this picture – the running time. The Irishman has a total running time of two hundred and nine minutes. That is essentially a three and a half hour long movie. Watching anything that long can be a daunting task, and to be fair with you, I genuinely think that The Irishman‘s running time was quite unnecessary.

There could have been big portions taken out of the final cut, and I honestly think that the movie would have told the same story. The first two acts of this movie were so interesting and brilliant, but when it came down to the third act, my interest was slowly but surely starting to dwindle, and I think that the running time could have been trimmed down significantly.

The Irishman is yet another jaw-droppingly intense and profoundly exhilarating picture from Martin Scorsese that is boosted by its three lead performances.