film reviews, interviews, features | BRWC

Category: REVIEWS

Here is where you would find our film reviews on BRWC.  We look at on trailers, shorts, indies and mainstream.  We love movies!

  • The BRWC Review: Black (2015)

    The BRWC Review: Black (2015)

    A modern re-telling of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet set in the context of Brussels’ dark gangland; Black is a powerful and harrowing insight into the dungeons of European youth and gangland violence. After an unlikely meeting in the police station, star-crossed lovers Marvela (Martha Canga Antonio) and Marwan (Aboubbakr Benaihi) are forced apart as gang loyalty and duty take hold. As their gang affiliations become deeper the stakes rise until the final moment where their once separate lives collide.

    Never shying away from the truth and brutality of the situation, Black is both beautiful and disturbing. Our two protagonists, although not likable at first, are soon entwined with the viewer and its hard not get behind the characters. Marvela in particular is hard not to feel a connection with, as she goes from insubordinate teen to victim with such poignancy that it would be difficult not to shed a tear. As Marvela realises both her mistakes and the number of lives she’s helped destroy, Martha Canga Antonio gives the performance of her life when it becomes her turn to take the fall. As I said before, with intensely violent scenes, without fear, Black gives us an open display of sexual violence that very few films choose to tackle. What could be a tricky subject, Black does this incredibly well.

    It displays the horror of the events disturbing nature freely, but by focusing on the pain of the victim instead of the mind of the perpetrator Black is a brilliant commentary on the deepest problems in the poorest areas in Europe and how difficult it can be to oppose them.

    BLACK STILLS_13

    The skill of writers and directors Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah in providing a flawless commentary is without question and so is the performance of Antonio who’s journey is unbelievably real. Yet, the most amazing part of Black is just how great a film it is overall. Everything about this film is fantastic and I was tempted to watch it again immediately after it concluded. Despite the increasing number of Romeo and Juliet-esque tales in existence Black manages to bring something different to the fray and creates a fantastic film that anyone and everyone should view.

    BLACK is released in UK cinemas & on VOD from Friday 19th August and you should DEFINITELY watch it!

  • Review: Blessid (2015)

    Review: Blessid (2015)

    Blessid is a new psychological thriller from director Rob Fitz and writer Rob Heske.

    The film stars Rachel Kerbs, Rick Montgomery Jr & Gene Silvers.  

    Sarah Dunicliffe (Kerbs) is a pregnant, married women with suicidal tendencies brought on by a traumatic childhood and also her dysfunctional-at-best relationship with husband Edward (Silvers). Mysterious neighbour Jedediah (Montgomery) moves in across the street and although he turns out to have an unusual secret (think The Curious Case of Benjamin Button) they form a bond and become friends. Not only this…but Sarah must brush off the advances of her increasingly violent and psychotic ex Evan (Chris Divecchio).

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    Any two of the above elements could have made for a compelling plot, but I feel like throwing all these elements in together makes for a disjointed and at times baffling story. Flash back scenes are intercut (with little or no explanation) with dramatic and violent scenes as well more reflective dialogue scenes. It’s a film that at times can’t decide what it wants to be.

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    Montgomery gives an enlightened performance; despite his character being somewhat inserted into the story for shock value. Divecchio also gives a strong performance as the psychotic Evan. However I feel that Kerbs in the star role kind of coasts along and relies on bouncing off the other actors for her performances.

    Overall it is an interesting story if not rather bizarre at times and (less than) ordinary suburban life is reflected perfectly in the setting and cinematography.

  • Pink Unicorn Fetishes & Gothic Absurdity: Defining Normal In Suicide Squad

    Pink Unicorn Fetishes & Gothic Absurdity: Defining Normal In Suicide Squad

    By Neil Merrett from Squareblind.

    It is hard to say whether it is a strength or weakness of the supervillain mash­up movie Suicide Squad that the film’s most arguably compelling couple is Jai Courtney’s Aussie super­bogan Captain Boomerang and his cuddly pink unicorn.

    As stereotypical portrayals of Aussie’s go, this lager swilling arsehole capable of killing with the most Australian weapon imaginable, seems to value only one thing, a cuddly mythical creature kept in his pocket that could be more than just a friend.

    While the exact details of the character’s fetish for brightly coloured, one­horned animals is largely irrelevant within the film’s overall narrative, it is among a handful of standout moments from a decidedly safe film about supposedly awful super beings.  While lightly touching upon themes such as kink, forbidden desire and the general oddness that drives us as human beings, it is ‘Pinkie’ the unicorn is one of the more successful cases of genuine counter culture in Suicide Squad. A story that promises to touch upon the murkiness of love, morality and heroism.

    Suicide Squad
    Suicide Squad

    Many of these themes have been successfully explored for years in DC’s namesake comic and other similar titles it has published such as Gail Simone’s Secret Six.

    Yet the majority of the film seems like a glaring missed opportunity to have a mainstream superhero story explore the odd, eccentric, sometimes monstrous, sometimes noble sides of humanity, with our contradictions, perversions and flexible acceptance of what ‘normal’ means.

    Both newcomers and comic purists may have thanked them for it.  In the end, the film promises a collection of morally repugnant, if somewhat charismatic and incredibly good looking characters, but eventually succumbs to a being fairly generic super hero action movie.  Needless to say ticket sales have, so far, been better than the overall critical reaction might suggest.

    In terms of mainstream blockbusters, just like 50 Shades of Grey, Suicide Squad appears to have largely bottled a grand opportunity to give mainstream audiences a taste of something… well a little less mainstream to contemplate through their 3D glasses.  Few of us are likely to meet our potential to be supervillains, but many cinemagoers are likely to labour under the apprehension they might not be entirely “normal”, altruistic or morally pure in that classic Disney princess sort of way.

    But what does the film tell us about badness?  Certainly, there are moments of something unique and interesting lurking in Suicide Squad that hint at something truly funny, moving, subversive and possibly, quite good.

    Suicide Squad
    Suicide Squad

    For instance, one of the film’s most memorable moments is an absurdly gothic scene detailing the origins of a key character. Jared Leto’s Joker, having seduced/tortured Margot Robbie’s Harleen Quinzel, then demands that she chooses, begs for and commits her life, body and who knows what else to him by throwing herself into a vat of chemicals below.

    Whether you like it or not, in seemingly merging hammer horror, high camp, R&B, baptism and a smidge of sado masochism ­ it is certainly different from what Marvel has done to great success.

    Presumably mirroring the Joker’s own transformation, the heavily stylised, almost vampiric scene involving two characters necking in a soupy concoction, replete with some canny scoring and soundtrack use, is something odd, weird, upsetting and possibly quite sexy at the same time.

    Later, as the film reaches it generic kick­boxing finale, the now ‘villainous’ Harley Quinn chastises the tragic backstory of one main character for assuming that someone considered a super villain has the right to masquerade as having a “normal” life without consequences.  Rather than succumbing to pity, she suggests that even a supposed bad guy has to find some form of acceptance in themselves and choices, whether a man­crocodile hybrid, wise­ass assassin with a living breathing conscience at odds or a square jawed, once infallible soldier now facing impossible choices.

    “Own that shit,” she informs one member of the squad as a means to embrace their pain, weirdness and villainy. It is perhaps advice the filmmakers should have themselves embraced with regard to their talented cast and the oddness of their characters.

    In the closing moments of the film, Will Smith’s charming assassin Deadshot tries to build some form of normal relationship with his young daughter in accepting his dual role as father and professional murderer.

    Suicide Squad
    Suicide Squad

    His reward as a jailed saviour is to help his daughter with her maths homework, the only way someone a master hitman could, explaining geometry based around the numerous factors likely to affect a bullet on its path to killing someone. We are informed briefly in the film that Deadshot’s pre­teen daughter is smart, moral and aware of her father’s villainy and incarceration.

    Yet it is almost touching that they nonetheless are written as having a damaged, loving, complicated and imperfect relationship to each other. In the scheme of the film’s big budget preposterousness, it’s a fairly spot on representation of not being able to choose our families of the ones we love.  By the end of the film, this strong cast of oddball characters have saved the world for love and friendship, becoming in the process a fairly routine superhero group ­ hazy past misdemeanors aside.

    Yet is is not outright villainy that the target audience flocking to see the film over the last week are likely to have taken away and most related to.

    It is more likely the brief glimpses of damaged psyches, unrelenting unconventional love, imperfect family bonds, and makeshift heroes with their perversions for cuddly mythical creatures that its audience of geeks, nerds and seemingly well adjusted thrill seekers will remember.

    So forget the Wonder Woman and Batman spin­offs, or a even Suicide Squad sequel, let’s just have some more family unfriendly Maths lessons, pink unicorns and whatever darkness lies in the minds of killers, monsters, soldiers and people deeply and unconditionally in love. Now that would be subversive.

    Neil Merrett is a struggling technology journalist, comic book reader and co founder of gaming lifestyle blog Squareblind.

  • The BRWC Review: Wiener-Dog

    The BRWC Review: Wiener-Dog

    Wiener-Dog is directed by Todd Solondz. It follows a daschund and the impact it has on characters in different interwoven stories that make up this film. The first story is the strongest. Although Ellen Burstyn in story three steals her slot with cancer and that’s it. It is a poor imitation of The Gun (From 6 to 6.30pm) by Vladimir Alenikov that follows the journey of a gun through several stories of people who want it and have to have it for their own personal reasons. Whereas as this Wiener-Dog is billed as a comedy when what it is one of those intellectual comedies that really wants to be a deep intellectual metaphor for life itself that leaves you thinking can you even be arsed to try and understand.

    It is produced by Annapurna Pictures – maybe you aren’t familiar with the name but you know the films – Zero Dark Thirty, Hero, The Master and then there are others that just aren’t very good. What do they all have in common money. The issue is sometimes you have so much money to produce films and can obtain high profile actors that you overlook the necessity of good editing and a script doctor both of which this ensemble piece of Wiener-Dog absolutely needed.

    The cast of Wiener-Dog is stellar: Danny Devito, Ellen Burstyn, Greta Gerwig, Julie Delpy but even they cannot save this poorly edited ensemble piece.

    Short stories are fantastic but rarely work when transposed to the medium of film. Todd Solondz’s earlier film of Happiness did but in this film the shocks felt exhausted, the jokes bloated and the dog wasn’t even the same dog throughout so it went from a living creature to a metaphor for what I still don’t know.

    Go and see this if you like ensemble pieces and meta type films otherwise avoid as it’s just not that funny.

    Wiener-Dog is released on 12 August 2016.

  • Review: Mae So Ha Uma (Don’t Call Me Son)

    Review: Mae So Ha Uma (Don’t Call Me Son)

    Pierre (Naomi Nero) and his little sister Jacqueline (Lais Dais) live with their widowed mother Arcay (Dani Nefussi). Pierre, a beautiful gender-ambivalent 17-year-old is boring his way through high-school while playing in a garage band, cross-dressing and grunting at his mother. The results of a police-requested DNA test mean the end to family life as he knows it.

    It is a story that is unfortunately a very contemporary one. On the Missing Kids UK website, it states that a child is reported missing every three minutes. On the site a lot of the missing children are now adults, and interestingly a lot of them disappeared at about the age of 16, the age when some 16 year olds are ready to run away and establish their own identity. Pierre, aged 17, has been unwittingly found. Just as he is discovering his interior life, his external life explodes. One of the key questions is what does it mean to be connected by blood ties and nothing else?

    Mae So Ha Uma, literally translated from Portuguese as There’s Only One Mother, has been released with three different titles that I’m aware of including, Don’t Call Me Son (English) and From One Family To Another (French). In this case, these three sum up most of the themes of the film.

    This is writer and director Anna Muylaert’s third feature-film after the award-winning The Second Mother and the story is based on a real event that occurred in Brasilia. Muylaert has a rich background in the Brazilian entertainment industry, as an award-winning writer and director, as well as one of the first female directors to have had overseas film sales.

    Director of photography Barbara Alvarez has created a visually intriguing film with the simple ambient sounds – cooking, rain, parties – which introduce us to the story before the image does. Anna Muylaert has created a brilliantly constructed and emotionally-rich story with a great cast. Intriguing, beautiful and provocative.