Actor Danny Morgan turns his hand to directing with this 10-minute short that sees a young couple try to reignite their sex life after the birth of their baby.
Esther Smith (Cuckoo) and Brett Goldstein (Doctor Who) play the couple with charm and sincerity as they navigate through a night of sex, spats and Tixylix.
Helen Simmons’ frank and funny script delights with wit, warmth, and an authenticity that will feel frighteningly familiar to anyone that’s been in a relationship for more than six months. Meanwhile, Morgan makes the most of a single set with a cinematic eye for framing and focus.
As succinct and to-the-point as its title suggests, Fuck is a confident debut short film that promises a budding career in features for both writer and director.
A young couple try to navigate their sex life after the birth of their baby.
Starring Brett Goldstein & Esther Smith.
Director: Danny Morgan Writer: Helen Simmons Producers: Stephanie Aspin, Helen Simmons
“Einstein’s Idea” Performed by Johnny Flynn
Executive Producers: Tilly Coulson, Ahmad Ahmadzadeh, Matthew James Wilkinson
Director of Photography: Laura Bellingham Editor: Myles Robey Post facilities: Cheat
Screened at: London Short Film Festival Underwire Film Festival Flickerfest International Short Film Festival Norwich Film Festival Cambridge Film Festival Two Short Nights Film Bath Festival The Shortest Nights
What superpower would you have if you had the choice? Would you fly? Would you have superhuman strength? Or would you be invisible? These fantasies are what fill the minds of most boys and girls, but one boy is going to find out exactly what it means to have great power, great responsibility and a great family.
Billy Batson (Asher Angel) is an orphan. He knows his mother is out there and he’s been searching for a long time, unfortunately Billy is close to getting on the wrong side of the law in order to find her. Taken into a foster home, Billy meets the children that live there and his new foster parents. Initially unsure about his new surroundings, he makes friends with Freddy Freeman (Jack Dylan Grazer) and slowly starts to settle into his new family life. However, little does he know but Billy has a great destiny that awaits him.
Shazam is the latest superhero movie from Warner Bros/DC Comics that pulls from the enormous well of comic book characters to bring a new hero to the big screen. After the critical and commercial failures of recent DC movies featuring the comic company’s most famous characters, taking a little-known superhero and putting a child friendly comedic spin on the superhero genre was quite a risk. Luckily that risk has paid off.
After being summoned by a great wizard (Djimon Hounsou), all Billy has to do is to say his name and the wizard’s powers will belong to him. However, a side effect is that after his transformation, Billy will change into an all-powerful, adult sized superhero named Shazam (Zachary Levi) and Billy isn’t ready to be thrust into adulthood just yet. However, he must adjust quickly, because someone is coming to take back the powers that have been bestowed upon Billy and use them for himself.
Unlike other superhero movies, Shazam takes something that hasn’t been seen in the genre for a long time and mixes it with an old-fashioned (in a good way) family movie. These days there is so much at stake when a superhero film is made. There are high expectations for a new franchise even if the majority of its audience has never heard of the titular character. There’s also the balance to think about, whether it be dark and brooding or whether it be light but filled with anticipation due to all the films that came before it. A superhero film has to delight both new audiences and hardcore fans alike and I’m happy to say that Shazam is an all-round crowd-pleaser.
The script is hilarious and it’s a refreshing change to see a superhero film that’s not bogged down by what came before so it can have a chance to be its own thing. Shazam knows this all too well and it has a lot of fun with it, not caring about whether there will be a sequel (I’m sure there will be) or whether it will make a billion dollars. Shazam is there to purely entertain and it does so in spades. The cast are all excellent and clearly having fun, from Levi’s Shazam to Mark Strong’s villainous Dr. Sivana, they all know exactly what they’re doing and revel in the freedom to be funny, over the top and give an audience exactly what it wants.
//www.youtube.com/watch?v=uilJZZ_iVwY
There is also a lot of heart in the movie and sometimes a little realism in the background which grounds Billy’s story and helps to enforce the bond with his foster family but the film doesn’t stay there long as the sharp, witty script leaves the audience smiling. When boys and girls dream of being a superhero, the thing that drives them is the hope that one day their lives will be amazing as they had always hoped.
The way that the film brings out that hope is something that is rarely seen in superhero movies these days and it is a welcome return and something more movies in the genre should be doing. So, for a funny, heart-warming and uplifting movie there is only one word I can say. SHAZAM!
Sean Gonet directs and stars in Manchester based police thriller ‘Out of Focus’.
There is a serial killer on the loose who has just claimed his latest victim, and Detective Jack Parker (played by Gonet) is determined to stop him. His superior, DCI Phil Brooks (Paul Wilson), is equally at his wits end, and bends the rules slightly in order to allow Parker to tail their most prominent suspect.
He gives him 48 hours, risking both their careers and their safety in the vain hope that it will lead to the capture of this monster.
The police drama has long been a television favourite, holding huge followings of people gripped to the screen at every unfolding episode. Out of Focus beautifully compresses all of the most tense, most nail biting moments of the genre and places it in a compact 25 minute short. Set in Manchester, it’s eerie, subtle, and menacing, and will have you riveted from start to finish, leaving you unsettled in the best possible way.
//www.youtube.com/watch?v=K-G2HS1Vop0
Cinematographer Colin Thomson brilliantly captures the streets of Manchester, especially vibrant when lit only by lamp posts and car headlights. The most palpable tension and atmospheric imagery is created in the night time scenes, and Johnson provides shadow and light in all the right places, providing a admirably authentic crime drama feel.
The script is minimal but effective, providing dialogue only when necessary but the rest of the time leaving it up to the imagery to provide its depth.
The film’s mood is perfect, and it will have audiences on the edge of their seats, with a feeling of impending doom that is difficult to create so effectively. Out of Focus is an understated, subtle and brilliant piece that show great promise for a young writer/director.
The story of a seven-year-old boy, Sam (Max Vento) who takes care of his mother, Rachel (Leanne Best) after she has survived from a stroke, with little to no help from his older sister, Jennifer (Katie Quinn).
Writer/ Director Nicholas Connor tasks himself with striking a delicate dramatic balance with Cotton Wool. In the wrong hands, the sensitive subject matter could easily falter into maudlin, misery-porn. Instead, he has woven a story of hopefulness, of new relationships formed from old, of tectonic shifts in the family dynamic and enduring love.
Leanne Best captures so much within a performance that is emotionally earthed and relatable. As someone who has seen family members suffer strokes, there is a sense of fear and hopelessness evoked in the opening scenes that is awfully palpable.
This terror is reinforced by an exceptional performance from young Max Vento. His reactions and subsequent journey are a bright spot within a film that takes the long way around to get to its familiar conclusion.
Benjamin Squires’ score is warm and filled with character. Alan C. McLaughlin’s photography is cinematic and bold. These are some very deliberate choices made to elevate a very grounded story. The family element (particularly the relationship between the mother and daughter) may initially appear somewhat overcooked and melodramatic but their arc stuck with me long after the credits rolled. The nature of crisis and its chaotic effect on people often leads to a fight or flight response, and this is something conveyed effectively by Best and Katie Quinn
What Nicholas Connor has accomplished is impressive. Cotton Wool takes a tricky subject, managing to spin new cloth from old, bolstered by strong performances in a short feature that looks and sounds gorgeous.
While Cotton Wool didn’t cause an emotional stir, it did give me pause to consider those I know who have been effected by harrowing medical conditions and those who dedicate their time and energy to support them.
Remake giants Tim Burton and Disney come together as we re-imagine arguably one of the most unique Disney tales, Dumbo. Expanding on the 1941 story, we’re introduced to a rabble of new characters as Dumbo’s skills rescue a circus from the brink until they’re acquired by an entrepreneur as cruel as his is persuasive.
The introduction of a greater backstory with the chance to
eliminate some of the more tasteless parts of it original should have combined
to create a brilliant opportunity for Disney. Unfortunately, unlike Dumbo, Tim Burton’s creation probably shouldn’t
be saved from the fire.
Despite correctly taking the decision to produce a more emotive animation for Dumbo, and rejecting the chance for a realistic portrayal, Dumbodoes not take flight. Dumbo himself gets lost amongst the chaos of Michael Keaton’s dreamland. Whilst the original focuses almost entirely on the plight of an abused performing elephant, the new Dumbo dedicates too much screen time to secondary characters that quite frankly, no one came to see.
Dumbo is a beautiful baby elephant, circled with gorgeous floppy ears and a clumsiness that made the whole cinema coo. Yet, rather than guiding the story his development seems forced, and stunted. Even when learning to fly the revelation isn’t his.
I found it hard to become overly attached to Colin Farrell’s character and Eva Green’s journey had so little build up that I never truly understood her affections towards our blue eyed friend. This is not even to mention the sickeningly sweet ending, a script filled with plot holes as deep as hard to fill as this film works at being ‘woke’.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7NiYVoqBt-8
Watch the Dumbo trailer HERE
Everything was watered down to the point where it had no substance. Dumbo didn’t even fulfill the usual Burton criteria or being creepy, weird and dark, it just ending up looking like someone hadn’t turned on all the lights in the room. To say I didn’t like it though would be extreme. I enjoyed this film enough to not be bored, but I wasn’t overwhelmed.
Dumbo
Overall, despite their best efforts Disney have not created anything with enough vigour, joy or fun ti supplant their originals. Maybe, these are new films for a new audience, and maybe they will in twenty years still be standing, but I don’t think so. I enjoyed my time watching Dumbo in many ways, but next time I switch on Dumbo, it’ll probably still be a culturally problematic feature from 1941.
A Very Cute, but Sad Dumbo says it all about Dumbo 2019
