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!

  • Nina Forever – The BRWC Review

    Nina Forever – The BRWC Review

    Holly and Rob’s budding romance is complicated by the physical manifestation of his emotional baggage – the blood-spattered and sarcastic ghost of dead ex-girlfriend Nina.

    This deliciously dark debut from Ben and Chris Blaine has just earned the brothers a British Independent Film Award nomination, and for good reason. The horror love-story is sharply written, smartly cut, and stylishly shot; eerie images of misty estates and striking use of colour provide a visual treat, while not distracting from the drama and emotional depth.

    Nina Forever also features a fearless performance from newcomer Abigail Hardingham (also bagging herself a BIFA nod) and a wickedly funny turn from Fiona O’Shaughnessy (Utopia). Their two characters are well-developed and sensitively drawn, while their twisted ménage à trois with Rob manages to be moving, sexy and blackly comic all at once.

    Despite the fantastical premise of the film, there’s a tangible sense of realism to their tangled relationships, and this extends to the awkwardly touching scenes shared by Rob (Cian Barry) and Nina’s grieving parents.

    Nina Forever is an assured debut from the Brothers Blaine that boasts a host of young talent to keep an eye on.

    Seen at the Abertoir Horror Festival Halloween warm-up at Chapter Arts Centre – check out the main event at www.abertoir.co.uk

    Nina Forever is a 2015 British horror comedy film written and directed by brothers Ben and Chris Blaine. It stars Fiona O’Shaughnessy, Abigail Hardingham, and Cian Barry. It premiered at the 2015 SXSW film festival. Fiona O’Shaughnessy plays Nina, a revenant who comes back to life to torment her ex-boyfriend and his new girlfriend whenever they have sex.

  • Review – Yakuza Apocalypse

    Review – Yakuza Apocalypse

    A barmy army of Japanese mobsters face off against the vampires trying to take their turf in Takashi Miike’s latest. Yakuza minion Kageyama finds himself caught in the middle after his boss bestows upon him a secret and a curse with his dying breath.

    Cue bonkers action sequences and a menagerie of bizarre characters, including a vampire slayer in full Vincent Price Witchfinder General regalia, barely strung together by the slightest of plot threads.

    As deliriously entertaining as that sounds, Yakuza Apocalypse plays a little safe; it lacks the intense surrealism of Gozu, the demented splatter of Tokyo Gore Police and the fighting flair of The Raid. Sure, it’s silly fun, but as amusing as it is to see a magical martial arts warrior destroy the world while dressed as a froggy football mascot, I’d expect more from Miike.

    Seen at the Abertoir Horror Festival Halloween warm-up at Chapter Arts Centre – check out the main event at www.abertoir.co.uk

    Yakuza Apocalypse (極道大戦争 Gokudō Daisensō) is a 2015 Japanese action fantasy–yakuza vampire film directed by Takashi Miike and written by Yoshitaka Yamaguchi. It premiered at the Cannes Film Festival on May 21, 2015, before being released theatrically on June 20 throughout Japan.

     

  • Review: Amar Akbar & Tony

    What happens when you only like one of the three friends or in this case Amar (Rez Kempton)? The other two are irritating Akbar (Sam Vincenti) & Tony (Martin Delaney). Well in Amar Akbar & Tony it’s all for one and one for all except it’s only one of them that takes the fall. By the end of the film you are left wondering why they remained friends for so long.

    The opening scene could have been an opening from East is East and provides a brief overview: queue the bland 1980s and 1990s flashback scenes of a family from the Punjab arriving in England to set up the ubiquitous take-away – there’s a nutter, a hard man, a beautiful girl etc. As I watched the film unfold, it felt as if I was writing the script in real time and then came the unexpected twist. I was honestly shocked and the tempo of the film changed. It suddenly became interesting but that’s not to say engaging. There were a lot of characters and the script is riddled with stereotypes. Maybe the writer director, Atul Malhotra, was seeking to show a different representation of Asian culture and deal with controversial subject matter for that community: homosexuality, honour killings and that is admirable. However, at some point in the film the focus shifted and I wasn’t sure if it was still about the friendship between the three main protagonists or just a grittier, less fun version of East is East set in London and a decade later.

    The outstanding performance is that of Amar (Rez Kempton) when the pivotal moment happens 10 minutes into the film he was mesmeric and certainly a name to watch out for in the future. Every time he entered the frame, he dominated the screen. There are well known faces that appear in the film, Nina Wadia and Meera Syal, but even they can’t save this riddle of clichés and poor jokes.

    Amar Akbar & Tony receives its’ VOD release on 2 November.

  • Review: CONVENIENCE (2013)

    Review: CONVENIENCE (2013)

    By Louise McLeod Tabouis.

    One night. Two men. Three hostages…No clue.

    Ajay (Ray Panthaki) and Shaan (Adeel Akhtar) are good friends with problems. Their latest is trying to pull off a spontaneous robbery in a garage convenience store and discovering they will need to remain there for the next six hours.

    After a sympathetic masking-taped binding of the manager and a diet-Coke-loving client, they are left with Levi (Vicki McClure), the feisty, under-utilised, sharp-talking shop assistant.

    The eclectic and nutty stream of night time visitors keeps the film amusing as do Panthaki and Akhtar, who bumble around affectionately, playing off each other, and keeping the pace moving.

    Director Keri Collins and Director of photography Stil Williams have done a great job, managing to turn a one-set film into a visually and psychologically interesting, as well as funny place.

  • Review: A Haunting In Cawdor

    Review: A Haunting In Cawdor

    A Haunting in Cawdor takes inspiration from Macbeth with an interesting narrative centred on helping juvenile delinquents.

    Vivian Miller (Shelby Young) is serving out her jail sentence at a work release program in the Midwest that involves a theatre program at The Cawdor Barn Theatre run by Lawrence O’Neil (Cary Elwes). She has 90 days to stay alive. Vivian watches an old taped stage production of Macbeth and with the help of the enigmatic Roddy (Michael Welch) tries to uncover what the killer wants before it strikes again. Will real life imitate art and the reputed curse of the Scottish play become a reality?

    This is written by Phil Wurtzel and it is not without its failings. Despite the relatively low budget, the Macbeth metaphors are well done and there are a couple of novel twists. It is an interesting take on Macbeth – not an adaption but the Scottish play serves as an inspiration to help with the narrative.

    It opened across the UK on 9 October.

    Overall, I found this movie dull, but it could have been saved with more in-depth characters. We really don’t know much about the troubled young adults who come to the Barn Theatre for “rehab”. We know what happened to Vivian, but we don’t really know her.

    In addition, it just was not scary. It really needed some more haunting moments.

    Cary Elwes shines as the tortured soul trying to save a dying little theatre, while running from his own demons – his performance at the end is intense and moving.

    A painfully slow-paced movie saved by good acting. Worth watching if you can be patient with it’s slow pace.