Category: REVIEWS

There’s a creeping discomfort that lay over every aspect of May el-Toukhy’s 2019 drama, Queen of Hearts. It begins with a portrait of idyllic family life in Denmark, with Trine Dyrholm’s Anne seemingly having it all. She’s a lawyer, high powered and career minded, but she still makes time for her two daughters, and her Doctor husband, Peter – played by Magnus Krepper. And even when Peter’s troubled son, the young Gustav, moves in and threatens to bring difficulties to the life Anne has made herself, things are quickly dealt with and the family return to their near perfect state, Gustav now a fixture. But, despite their perfect house in the woods, and their well-maintained family dynamic, things just feel off.

The film feels cold, almost heartless. El-Touky manages to imbue every scene with a bubbling intensity, one that threatens to overflow at any moment, and as a device it makes the film incredibly gripping. You can’t look away. Where is this going? How is this all going to come crashing down.

Crashing down is most certainly does come, but the movie takes its time, content to allow things to naturally unfold rather than rush to his plot points. As Anne begins a sordid, horribly uncomfortable love affair with the seventeen-year-old Gustav, we can’t help but watch on in horror. And el-Toukhy makes us a party to everything (and I do mean everything. There is a gross, unnecessarily graphic sex scene that made my skin crawl unlike anything else I’ve seen this year).

As their affair intensifies, so too does Anne’s confidence. She’s arrogant and seems to live under the assumption that she has total control over her life. She continues to maintain her superiority over almost everyone, even when it becomes drastically clear that she has none. She refuses to acknowledge it. At its core, Queen of Hearts is the study of a single woman; and she is one of the most dislikable, hypocritical and manipulative villains I have ever seen.

When the truth of their affair finally comes to light Anne switches on the cold and a calculating side that we have long since known was there. The film, too, almost shifts, with John Eckstrand’s strange and otherworldly score only furthering the change.

It is here, in this part of the narrative, that things really begin to take shape. The performances are all well pitched, with Dyrholm being the absolute standout. And the further into the deceit she finds herself, the less certain of herself she becomes. Her slow descent, as she begins to unravel much like the thread of the plot, is so carefully led out and presented with such detail, it makes for startlingly unnerving viewing. Dyrholm manages to bring a realism to a part that could have easily been over-the-top and almost pantomime in its execution.

She is less Glenn Close in Fatal Attraction and more Bryan Cranston in Breaking Bad, through a series of poor choices finds herself in a situation where her intellect and her skill as a manipulator will afford her the opportunity to remain on top, but at the cost of her own humanity.

It’s bold, challenging filmmaking of the like we don’t tend to see from mainstream releases, but I’m glad it’s still available somewhere. And even if the film does start to lag as it goes on (coming in at just over two hours, it could have done with a couple of trims and another go around in the edit), the disturbing, almost insidious nature of the movie manages to strike through to the end.

And while the film is stylish enough, it presents its subject matter in a such an unobtrusive, matter-of-factly way, that we can’t help but shudder at the idea of this kind of dark, nasty behavior taking place in such recognizable normalcy. The final act, which is as suitably depressing and unnerving as anything preceding it, does little to comfort us. Despite Anne’s inevitable fall, we don’t get much satisfaction in it. There are no winners by the time the credits have rolled, and everyone has lost something.

While it isn’t perfect – the runtime does hold it back somewhat, and there are certain moments that could have done with a less is more approach (hello, absurdly graphic sex scene) – Queen of Hearts is genuinely one of the more engrossing movies I’ve had the pleasure of watching this year. Genuinely skin-crawling, with some terrific performances and striking visuals, it is a movie I won’t be forgetting in a hurry.

Last Christmas: The BRWC Review. Nothing seems to go right for young Kate (Emilia Clarke), a frustrated Londoner who works as an elf in a year-round Christmas shop. But things soon take a turn for the better when she meets Tom Webster (Henry Golding) — a handsome charmer who seems too good to be true. As the city transforms into the most wonderful time of the year, Tom and Kate’s growing attraction turns into the best gift of all — a Yuletide romance.

As the Christmas/holiday season is quickly approaching, many people love nothing more than to watch their favorite holiday themed movie this time of year. Some people, like myself, like to do Christmas movie marathons – binging what we consider to be the greatest holiday films in celebration of the holiday. Even when some Christmas films are not always the greatest films in the world, I think we can all agree that a lot of them are so incredibly fun to watch. They make us feel warm and fuzzy inside and get us in the joyous spirit.

That is not to say that there is no such thing as an amazing Christmas movie, though. It’s A Wonderful Life has gone down as a classic since its release and Christmas Vacation is a non-stop laugh riot. This is why I was quite thrilled to check out Paul Feig’s latest feature Last Christmas – it looked like it had all the great ingredients for a fun Christmas treat.

Feig is a director that I admire deeply. He has made such gems as last year’s A Simple Favor and Bridesmaids, and even though his 2016 Ghostbusters reboot was met with a wave of controversy by audiences and critics alike, that is a film that I greatly respect, because Feig took a giant creative risk. Whether it paid off or not is subject to the viewer, but I love it when a filmmaker is not afraid to try something new and do their best to make it work. Gratefully, Last Christmas is yet another win for Feig, as this is a gleefully fun and charming picture that will surely get viewers into the holiday spirit.

Emilia Clarke stars as Kate in this film, a young woman who is incredibly unlucky and works at a Christmas shop, and her boss goes by the name “Santa”. Her love life is awful and practically every day is a struggle for her to get through. But as the movie progresses, we start to see little glimpses of Kate trying to better herself, especially after meeting Henry Golding’s character Tom.

Clarke is without a doubt one of the greatest actresses working today and one of the best of the generation. She is able to bring such charisma to each and every one of her roles, and no matter what character she is playing, she does a great job at playing them. I have yet to see Clarke deliver a weak performance. Here, she is full of wit and energy, and is extremely likeable. We genuinely do root for her from beginning to end.

This is also an extraordinarily funny movie. The script by Emma Thompson and Bryony Kimmings is whip-smart and there is a ton of things to like about it. There is something of interest or humor happening for the majority of the picture. This is the hardest I have laughed during a movie in a long time.

However, there are definitely some scenes in Last Christmas that drag quite a bit. There are some sequences, particularly in the second act of the film, that just are not that interesting and the movie’s humor dips here as well. The pacing of this movie is really its biggest issue. There were a couple of scenes towards the end, where it felt like the movie could have ended a scene or two earlier, as well.

After watching a whole plethora of dark and depressing movies, it is extremely refreshing to watch something like Last Christmas. This is far from being a perfect movie, but it gave me everything that I wanted from it. I wanted to watch a fun Christmas comedy, and it certainly succeeded on that aspect.

Last Christmas makes up for its flaws with a deeply funny script, a sense of great fun and holiday charm, and a terrific performance from Emilia Clarke.

Harris (Gino Anthony Pesi) is a cab driver and one day while he is mindlessly scanning through radio stations to keep himself entertained, he is told by his despatcher to pick up what he thinks will be just another fare. Harris arrives at his destination and into his cab steps a beautiful woman named Penny (Brinna Kelly).

During the course of their short time in the cab together Harris and Penny get to know each other, however just as the conversation really gets going, Penny vanishes leaving Harris bewildered and confused. So, without anything else left to do Harris restarts the clock, but soon Harris realises that he’s stuck in a time loop where every destination starts and ends with Penny.

From that moment onwards, Harris and The Fare’s audience are taken on a ride of twists, revelations and what turns out to be a compelling story with a great cast and an engaging romance at its centre.

Pesi and Kelly both prove to have a great on-screen chemistry and as the story unfolds, the script makes it feel as if the couple really are meeting for the first time, hitting it off and falling in love. The characterisations feel real, well thought out and the conversations between Harris and Penny feel natural, perhaps reminding the audience of a time where they had a really good first date.

Also, personally speaking, the conversations where Penny and Harris are talking about their situation get deeply, deeply nerdy and I loved every second of it, making the couple more fleshed out and showing that there may be much more to a person than first impressions allow.

The Fare is a beautifully shot romantic time travel drama that plays out as what the audience may think is a typical sci-fi time travel drama, but it has enough surprises to make the audience realise that they are getting a lot more than they expected.

As the final act kicks in, the way the story plays out may get a little too romantic for some tastes, but for old romantics who haven’t quite lost all hope it’s a wonderful, slightly strange and thoughtful romantic drama that will stay with you long after the credits have rolled.

Doctor Sleep: The BRWC Review

Struggling with alcoholism, Danny “Dan” Torrance (Ewan McGregor) remains traumatized by the sinister events that occurred at the Overlook Hotel when he was a child. His hope for a peaceful existence soon becomes shattered when he meets Abra Stone (Kyliegh Curran), a teen who shares his extrasensory gift of the “shine.” Together, they form an unlikely alliance to battle the True Knot, a cult lead by Rose the Hat (Rebecca Ferguson), whose members try to feed off the shine of innocents to become immortal.

Let’s just get this right out of the gate – Stanley Kubrick’s 1980 horror film The Shining is one of the greatest films ever made. It is my second favorite movie of all time, and continues to be an influential masterpiece for audiences all around the world. Virtually everything about that picture was utterly flawless and will chill viewers for decades more. Whenever a film released almost fourty years ago still manages to be influential, you know something had to be done right.

As I adore The Shining, you can probably imagine how excited I was to see Mike Flanagan’s new follow-up feature Doctor Sleep, which takes place after the events of the predecessor with a grown up Danny Torrance. This was more than likely one of my most anticipated movies of all time. Besides the all-star cast that consists of the likes of Ewan McGregor, Rebecca Ferguson, and Cliff Curtis, one of the most promising aspects of the film was Flanagan not only writing the screenplay, but helming the picture as well.

He is quite simply one of the greatest horror filmmakers of this generation. With excellent films already under his belt such as Oculus, Ouija: Origin of Evil, and last year’s Netflix series The Haunting of Hill House, he is somebody that all horror afficionados should take more notice of. If anybody can do a Shining sequel right, it had to be Flanagan. Doctor Sleep is not only one of the best films of the year, but it is a terrific film in its own right. As a sequel to The Shining, this is about as good as it gets.

All of the performances here as truly brilliant and are some of the best performances of the whole year. McGregor is the perfect grown up Danny Torrance. He has been through a world of pain due to the events at the Overlook Hotel during his childhood, and growing up, became an alcoholic, just like his father Jack. Seeing him struggle with alcoholism throughout and try to better himself constantly was depressing and suspenseful simultaneously. We always root for Dan here, and he is an extraordinarily likeable protagonist for this story.

Rebecca Ferguson portrays main antagonist Rose the Hat, who leads the deadly cult the True Knot, whose primary goal is to feed off of those individuals that possess the power of the “shine”. They believe that by feeding off people that are gifted (or cursed) with “the shining” that they will live much longer lives and constantly seek out new victims to live as long as they possibly can. When they discover that Abra Stone has an incredibly strong shine, she is the True Knot’s next target, and Danny has to do his best to protect her. These moments were truly riveting and some of the things Flanagan does with this story made me thrilled.

Speaking of Abra Stone, her actress counterpart Kyliegh Curran is without a doubt of the most impressive child actors I have seen in recent years. This is a highly demanding role, especially for such a young actor, and a lot of child actors would have immense difficulty portraying a character this complex. But not Kyliegh Curran. She almost makes it look easy in Doctor Sleep. Her dynamic with Dan Torrance was one of the most powerful aspects in this film, and there are some sequences involving Abra and Dan that made me extremely excited, especially as a fan of The Shining.

This is also one of the most breathtaking features of the year, with the director of photography being Michael Fimognari, who has been a long time collaborator of Flanagan’s. But this may just be his most gorgeous looking film to date. Every shot in Doctor Sleep is carefully thought-out and planned incredibly well. The camera work here is remarkable.

In The Shining, one of the biggest reasons why the film was so creepy and unsettling, and continues to be to this day, is because of the masterful score by Wendy Carlos and Rachel Elkind. Although this new score by The Newton Brothers is not as strong or effective as the one used in The Shining, it is still effective. In fact, there were a number of times in which this score gave me chills down by entire body.

Something potential viewers should know before seeing Doctor Sleep is that this is not at all a convential horror film that many may be used to. There is not any loud jump scares or any traditional horror beats here. If anything, this is more of a character study with amazing moments of true tension and horror elements. Also, people should be aware that this movie is in no way better than Kubrick’s The Shining, but crafting a film better than that would be a nearly impossible task. Instead, this is an incredible follow-up to that film, and that is quite honestly all that it needed to be.

Doctor Sleep is an utterly bone-chilling, skillfully acted, tension filled masterpiece that serves as an incredible sequel to The Shining.

At the beginning of Martin Scorsese’s “The Irishman,” Frank Sheeran (Robert De Niro) sits down and begins recounting to the camera the events of his tumultuous life. What follows is three and a half hours of enthralling cinema depicting a man who went from truck driver to mob hitman with chilling ease and little remorse. Two men dictate Franks path in life, high up mafioso Russell Bufalino (Joe Pesci) and famed union boss Jimmy Hoffa (Al Pacino).

Along the way, these men lead Frank through the realms of violence, politics, and countless criminal acts, all leading him to the sombre ending where Frank, alone and estranged from his children, waits in a nursing home to die, reflecting, but never speaking on, the worst crime he ever committed, and the only one he may actually regret, the assassination of his friend Jimmy Hoffa.

No one in the world captures criminals as well as Scorsese, and there never will be. He approaches them with a sensitivity that sees them come across as human. They have feelings, they have families and people to care for, they profoundly respect each other and boast legitimate heartfelt friendships, and all of this serves to make them all the more terrifying. No Scorsese gangster is larger than life; they only think they are, and seeing them come back down to earth, as all of Scorsese’s gangsters do, has never been more haunting than in The Irishman.

In Goodfellas, Henry Hill loses everything, and the film ends. In The Irishman, we see throughout and come to dwell with Frank in his final years; we keep seeing him well after the credits of other Scorsese films would have rolled. Therein lies what makes this different to every other film Scorsese has ever made. Sheeran’s story is that of an entire life dedicated to crime all the way to the bitter end. He doesn’t get the cut to black or the sudden death the others get; he fades slowly and harrowingly. In what may well be his farewell to gangster movies, Scorsese delves deep into life and death and finds that evil men die bitterly, and when all is said and done, you know no one else ever could have made a film close to this in terms of storytelling.

The performances here are nothing short of a revelation, not because I didn’t believe the old legends capable, but because they managed to pull off three of the year’s best performances with digitally de-aged faces for lengthy periods of the vast runtime. All three are strong Oscar hopefuls, with Pacino being the best chance for a win. His take on Hoffa is impossible to take your eyes off. He’s vulgar, witty, insanely charismatic and dangerously prideful and Pacino nails every aspect.

And yet, he’s in a film that may well be host to Joe Pesci’s finest performance ever. He is so far removed from the psychos in Casino and Goodfellas. Russell is restrained. He never does the dirty work; he always has people to do it for him. He’s a character made for Pesci’s delicate touch. He is so brilliant at finding the right pitch for every character he plays, and he balances the entire film with how he goes about being Russel.

Finally, we come to De Niro, the most prolific of all Scorsese collaborators. He takes Sheeran and places him firmly in the list of memorable characters he has played in his lengthy, widely loved career. He is, at times, rightfully, outshined by Pacino, who has the livelier character, but in the final portion, where Sheeran is the only one left, De Niro firms The Irishman as his show. The regretful and sombre Sheeran is almost pathetic to look at. He declines to confess his crimes even to a priest, he stumbles his way to see his daughter at her work, and she ignores him and leaves.

I don’t think he knows why he did what he did, and he certainly doesn’t know why he’s the only one left when everyone else is gone, but I do know that his past forces him to try and find forgiveness wherever he can, even though he knows he’ll never find any. This is De Niro’s finest work of the millennium, as it is for most of the cast, and it’s truly unforgettable.

The de-aging is at first a tad jarring, almost comical, as it slightly warps now and then, particularly on Pesci, but by the end, there can be no doubting that no film has done it better to this point. There is a moment in The Irishman, and I couldn’t tell you when, where you simply stop noticing the de-aging technology is even being used. It’s a testament to the talent of everyone involved in the film that this concept could be successful to such an extent. Much of the praise has to go to the genius director, and rightfully so.

Still, his editor, one of the finest ever, Thelma Schoonmaker, pieces together Scorsese’s sprawling epic as only she can; speeding up and slowing down with hard-earned confidence and delivering maximum entertainment, she deserves as much praise as anyone.

In two distinctly different ways, The Irishman is the culmination of careers defined by crime, and it makes for one of the finest films of the decade.