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!

  • Embrace Of The Serpent: Review

    Embrace Of The Serpent: Review

    By Donna Darling.

    Embrace of the Serpent is an interesting historical insight into Amazonian people and their culture. Inspired by the journals of two explorers, Theodor Koch-Grünberg (Jan Bijvoet) and Richard Evans Schultes (Brionne Davis) we see how the indigenous people lived and how the ‘whites’ effected their lives. Even though years separate the journeys of the 2 explorers, they both desire the same thing from the Amazonian people, and it’s fascinating for us to watch their journey as they try to get what they want.

    Looking at the Western world through the eyes of the protagonist Karamakate (played by Antonio Boli’var Salvador when he’s older, Nilbio Torres in his youth) and the tables are turned as the West’s ideals are laughed at and mocked by the natives. Filmed in black and white the film is not lacking in colour in other ways. With the vibrant landscape jumps off the screen as does Karamakate’s unique personality; strong and defiant when he’s younger, wise yet forgetful when he’s older.

    Multi award winning writer and director Ciro Guerra chooses to fill the background with the sounds of the Amazon making the viewer feel like they are there on the journey with the explorers. This replaces music throughout the majority of the film and contributes to the atmosphere.  Even though the life of the Amazonian people may be alien to us the, basic concepts of friendship and betrayal run throughout Embrace of the Serpent. This is definitely a film to watch and enjoy. Not just for the knowledge it imparts but also for the great entertainment value.

  • Review – Lurking Fear: Re-mastered

    Review – Lurking Fear: Re-mastered

    Lurking Fear can only be described as a B-movie. Telling the tale of a town ravaged by humanoid creatures lurking underneath a church whilst terrorising the town above. When thieves cross those trying to put an end to the horror, things get a little more complicated.

    Re-mastered and released, much like the monsters in this tale, Lurking Fear remains at the bedrock of the horror genre; yet, that in itself might be this films truly redeeming feature. The pretense is terrible, the application even worse, and there are no two ways about it, the acting is poor. Ashley Laurence (Hellraiser) gives one of the few decent performances, but ultimately the script and direction did nothing to help.

    Nonetheless, and despite the fact that the beginning of this film was so poor it almost made me turn it off, I grew to like Lurking Fear as it went on. At less than eighty minutes, Lurking Fear is just long enough that we can all laugh and enjoy a truly, truly terrible film, for everything that it is and not have the experience drawn out and ruined. Lurking Fear doesn’t hide from what it is, and I don’t think the actors or directors do either. It is a B-movie, it knows it’s a B-movie and that name sums up this film completely.

    Worth every inclusion in a B-movie and beer marathon Lurking Fear is exactly what it thinks it is and if that’s what you enjoy, you’ll love this film.

  • Review: A Beautiful Planet

    A visually stunning hour long documentary providing a real window into the life of astronauts shot by astronauts. It is aimed at elementary and secondary school children but there are a few delights for adults thats if you can shut out the clumpy narration even if the narrator is the Oscar winning actress, Jennifer Lawrence.

    This film is best viewed in IMAX. Before the screening, the director, Toni Myers, told us that the astronauts were taught how to film so they could capture everyday life on the space station. None of the images are enhanced and shows everyday life at the International Space Station – how they eat, the difficulties of drinking out of a cup in zero gravity etc. This is the 7th film in Space the first in 1985. The scene showing thunder storm and lightning truly leaves you in awe of our majestic planet earth. Most of the narration is for the benefit of children and watching it in IMAX does make it feel even more accessible.

    The European Premiere of A Beautiful Planet was held on Monday 23 May at the Science Museum.

    It was released on 27 May 2016 in IMAX and 3D in cinemas across the UK.

  • The BRWC Review: Where To Invade Next

    Michael Moore’s latest full length documentary film is called Where To Invade Next. The title like the film is no reflection of what you expect it to be. It seemed like a good idea to begin with. However, like modern day Western coalition foreign policy once the invasion is finished just move onto the next place leaving, in this case, the inhabitants of the “invaded” countries and viewers bemused with no answers and little reasoning.

    I thought I knew what the film was about – Michael Moore doing what he does pointing at all America’s flaws and showing critical thought. Here he leads the “invasion” to “steal” the best ideas from other European countries and take them back to the US: Italy’s 8 weeks of holiday, the French school dinners, Norway allowing prisoners the right to live openly within confines, Finnish no school holidays and Iceland showing women do it better. All that is great until he raises the point that all of these were originally American ideas. What then is the point of these “invasions”? He doesn’t quite know where he’s taking us. The images of American prison brutality and the disproportionate amount of black men locked up are sobering and thought provoking and could be the subject of its own film. There are a litany of good thoughts and ideas sprinkled liberally throughout this documentary film but no real thread if you discount Michael Moore.

    At the end, it was apparent he “invaded” too many countries with no plan of what to do next. Sometimes it was with comical results but mostly it just felt like many an international assault of late in the Middle East – invade and follow up later. It therefore didn’t really achieve what he set out to do. Which is what I do not know. It is enjoyable and I laughed in parts but when it was apparent that no critical thought or conclusion would be forthcoming my attention waned.

    It is thought provoking and raises questions it is just that Michael Moore doesn’t answer any of them. Go to the cinema to watch this if you are a big fan of Michael Moore’s films otherwise wait for the DVD.

    Where To Invade Next is released in cinemas across the UK on Friday 10 June.

  • The BRWC Review: X-Men: Apocalypse

    The BRWC Review: X-Men: Apocalypse

    Before I start talking about X-Men: Apocalypse in detail, I want to start this review by stating two things about myself. Firstly, I’m not the kinda guy who usually says a film isn’t worth watching, or be completely damning. I like to find the good in everything, and I’ll pretty much watch and enjoy something even if I know it’s no cinematic masterpiece, or, in this case, worse than others in the series. Secondly, I liked Batman Vs. Superman. Say what you want, I thought it was great, that’s right,… not good, but a great film.

    X-Men: Apocalypse, in which we our famed heroes, plus a LOT of new ones, fight a tyrannical and all-powerful God like villain hell bent of destroying everything is an OK film. It had redeemed parts and it had long drawn out wasteful parts. It was good and bad in equal measure. We saw plenty of great comedy action sequences and the portion of the film set mainly in Xavier’s school was almost perfect. Quicksilver was a delight once again and the new mutants were ones we all knew and wanted in the film, these parts were fantastic. Apocalypse however, Apocalypse was awful.

    The writers somehow managed to take one of the meanest and most insane villains from the X-Men universe and make him meh. His motivation was strange, his expressions odd and he simply caused big and powerful explosions. He had no depth and no soul. He’s a typical third film villain, designed only to be bigger and badder than everyone who’d come before. For me, this isn’t what made X-Men great, and it’s the same thing that brought down X-Men: The Last Stand and the same reason again, Captain America: Winter Soldier was my least favourite Cap film so far. Constant action, huge explosions and bigger everything doesn’t guarantee a strong film.

    When all is said and done, and despite my rant, I liked X-Men: Apocalypse and I will be watching it again (the day after I’m writing this review in fact). It had enough redeeming features for me to enjoyable. I laughed and in times I was even in suspense. Not only that, but like many others I’m sure, I’m involved in this story line. I still want more, and I hope they make more. If they don’t it’ll be a great shame. I just hope the box-office does enough to placate the seemingly many, bad reviews.