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'Feelings To Tell' - Raindance Film Festival 2018

25/10/2018

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'Feelings to Tell' is a beautifully shot story about wanting to return to yourself, about reconnecting with life and who your are. A young painter named Jiang finds himself in a Taogu village where he meets a mute girl called Jiu'er. Her age means she will soon be taken away to become a mountain goddess. Set amongst stunning scenery in the mountains of China it is reflective of modern day life and getting lost in the rush and pressure of it all.

The film speaks volumes about the importance of inner peace, and it does so by speaking less. There are some beautiful dance sequences with Jiu'er as she prepares to become the goddess and there is a lot of focus on being connected with the people and environment around you. The sense of the loss and grief of our main character is truly felt as we piece together his story bit by bit.

Time is not linear in this film and while that makes for in interesting watch, it is also quite confusing. 'Feelings to Tell' succeeds more in getting its message and morals across than it does in giving us a fully coherent story. It is difficult to tell what is actually going on up in the mountains, you get the feeling that there is a deeper meaning to events but it remains unclear what that actually is.

The film is slow to tell its story, but it’s actually the better for it as it again echos the values of essentially finding your inner peace and serenity. The performances are subtle yet strong throughout and ‘Feelings to Tell’ is enjoyable and relaxing to watch.
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Review by May Heartly.
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'Baby Driver'

21/1/2018

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Out Now!
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​There are firsts for everything. Baby Driver gave me a new first; the first time ever - as far as I can remember - where I disliked a film's protagonist in less than 5 minutes. How is that possible while everyone around me loved the film from start to finish?
Let me set the scene: three people approach a bank with guns and masks while a young man sits behind the wheel of a car, innocently listening to music. And he's got great taste in music, I tell you that! He starts singing along, tapping the wheel, as we all do. But then he starts going overboard, banging on the outside of the car and making a huge fuss about how much he is loving his music all the while grimacing in the most arrogant cocky way that only a sure as heck, arrogant, cocky kind of late teen/early twenties male can do. I despise this person immediately. I want him to shut up and stop what he's doing, thinking he's the king of the world without the charm of a young DiCaprio. And I usually love Ansel Elgort. But this introduction to Baby made it really hard. I like self-assured, confident people as much as the next person, but I despise arrogance. I. Cant. Stand. It. Even if the guy wasn't supposed to be an inconspicuous getaway driver - which he is spectacularly failing at - this display of "I'm the greatest person in the universe" isn't endearing at all. At least in my book. Thankfully our friendly neighbourhood (not as much friendly as violent) bank robbers don't take long and we're off on our first car chase. And this is where Baby Driver truly shines.

Director Edward Wright decided to time all action sequences to the music Baby is listening to. It is absolutely brilliant! The choreography in conjunction with the earworm-worthy music makes for a mesmerising style that almost makes 'Baby Driver' into an action musical of sorts. The action pieces are fantastic. The chase sequences are fast, precise, insane and utterly exhilarating. And the film doesn't stop there. Plenty of non driving action scenes appear in the second half of the film, not any less impressive than their car chase big brothers. Wright knows how to give us shiny visuals combined with awesome soundtracks and 'Baby Driver' is no different. It looks great, it sounds even better. If only it had established a likeable protagonist I would have loved this film. 
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Elgort is joined by Kevin Spacey, Jamie Foxx, Jon Hamm, Eiza González and Lily James. Despite the star power the characters are mere caricatures than fully realised people. Everyone is introduced with a code name and you never really get to dig deeper, even with our hero. Yes, we do find out his parents died in a car crash when he was young; which also gave him his tinnitus. And that he grew up with a loving, deaf foster father (how hard it must be for a deaf, black, wheelchair bound man to be considered as a foster parent on his own baffles my mind), who he is clearly very close with. But all that feels like reading someone's online profile. You don't really get to know the person behind it all and that is where the film ultimately failed for me. I did not care about any of the characters.

We have pretty much all ingredients of your usual superhero origin story in 'Baby Driver'. Little boy witnesses his parents death in a car accident, gets an ailment (tinnitus) which somehow turns him into a superhero as he has to listen to music constantly to drown it out, and apparently that enables him to be the world's greatest driver and parkour artiste. Unfortunately Baby never turns into the superhero he is set up to be. He is clearly uncomfortable with the violence he is being part of and when he finally springs into action it felt hollow, because he was causing as much violence, carnage and - if I'm not mistaken - death as the people he was going up against. What was his point again?
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Style over substance. That sums up 'Baby Driver' for me. Nothing wrong with that, but personally I need charismatic and/or memorable characters. And there were none. On top of all that the film wastes a great opportunity at the end, where we are instead greeted by an almost inconsequential resolution to the events we've witnessed. Our lead character seems unchanged by what he endured. Character development: non-existent. The action was great and I'll remember the soundtrack, that's something.
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Review by Melanie Radloff.
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The Box - White Bear Theatre

23/10/2017

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A new play by Chris Szuca (and his solo debut as a playwright) and directed by Jodi Burgess (Secrets), The Box explores darker sides of romantic love through two plotlines.

The first one follows younger Robyn and Andrew (Emma Stirling, Dan Burman) as they move in together, while in the second story we find the couple’s elder selves (Pat Garrett, Will Anderson) as older Robyn pays her former lover a visit.
Given younger Robyn’s reaction to Andrew’s first surprise, seeing then that older Robyn has left Andrew doesn’t come as much of a shock. What could make less sense to some is how long it takes younger Robyn to do so. But for anyone familiar with psychological abuse, the length of time and gravity of the deeds that can happen before someone breaks free often defy logic. And thanks to Dan Burman’s fantastic embodiment of younger Andrew, blending caring warmth and understated charm with more dangerously unpredictable tones, and to Emma Stirling’s very moving, subtly restless incarnation of younger Robyn, the couple’s downward spiral is both believable and interesting to watch.
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The other plotline, however, unfortunately takes some of the edge off. Given the very first tableau, it is quite clear from the start where older Andrew really is, and how the play will end (but I might have annoyed friends who saw 'The Sixth Sense' and 'Fight Club' with me, so take this one with a pinch of salt). In addition, the older couple’s story is more one of telling and reminiscing than showing and doing. Finally (and maybe due to the size of the stage and very minimal light design) the two couples are hardly ever on stage at the same time. As a result, entrances and exits often cut wonderful tension after certain scenes.

Given the extremes reached by both younger characters and the fact that we start the play when at least a big move has been made by one of the characters, I found myself craving for a beginning set earlier in the couple’s life together, and seeing less of their older selves in spite of Garrett’s and Anderson’s fine performances (and in spite of finding the concept of the younger/older double narrative incredibly cool). Maybe the two plotlines could find a more compelling cohabitation if the four characters remained on stage throughout, and with a light design that creates two worlds, almost haunting one another. This may also give a more pivotal place to the box in which Robyn keeps her diary, and which (as the title suggests) is an important element of the play (a lovely choice of colour for the diary and older Robyn’s jacket did move in that direction though).
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Whichever way this balance is found, vignettes of happier/earlier days would have pulled me in the story and in Robyn’s psyche a lot more, to probably punch harder as the play ends. The loftier the start, the bigger the crash.
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Review by Sophie Martin.
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'History' - Season 2

27/9/2017

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Out now on YouTube and Vimeo!
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Once upon a time, there was a distinct divide between movies and television. Often actors and directors and such would work in one medium or the other, and never the twain would meet. Of the two, television was often looked down upon like the cliched red-headed step-child. In the recent decade, with the golden age of television emerging from behind that particular cloud, that has become increasingly less so, with more and more people venturing back and forth across the river. Unfortunately, nature abhors a vaccuum, and so does entertainment. With the emergence of Youtube and Vimeo as almost television channels of their own, more and more web-based content is being produced. As a result, web series have assumed the unenviable position, usually dismissed as inferior and oft-dismissed. But, venture into the world and it's easy to see that isn't truly the case.

'History' - written, directed, edited by, and starring Jack Tracy - is a six-part series that explores the (pun very much intended) ins and outs of a group of gay friends living and working and playing in New York. So far, so familiar, with numerous parallels immediately able to be made. With the more realistic, frequently awkward, down-to-earth tone of Girls and the brunches and gossip-y social get-togethers of 'Sex and the City', this could very well have been named Sex with Boys in the City. And this is a sex-heavy show meant strictly for mature audiences. But at the same time 'History' is very much a more nuanced story-piece than it first appears, and those above comparisons would suggest.
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Picking up a year later, in terms of the story and the production, the start to season 2 is a rocky one, with the actors struggling to re-inhabit their roles. The delivery is stilted and their movements stuttery, but once they find their groove again, things really improve drastically and then continue to do so right through to the emotional conclusions. There are great lines and references from the beginning, but it's not until episode three, You and Me, that 'History' really begins to excel, both comedically and emotionally. As the dynamics between the characters becomes both more natural and authentic in their interactions and some of the emotional beats become more keenly felt.

From episode three onwards, there is clearly a lot more confidence and comfort in both the writing and direction and, even more so, in the performances. 'History' is a very talkative piece, but there comes some moments when words are no longer needed, and Jack Tracy - both as a writer, director, and as an actor - is unafraid to let things play out almost silently. This is most visible and profound in the moment's when he is confronted by stark truths and realisations. In one of the episodes, the character of Jamie is taking a selfie with a friend who insists that they show no teeth, prompting him to (as far as I'm aware) to invent something called 'Smising' wherein his face remains stoic whilst his eyes smile. He really needs to come up for a term for the dramatic version of this phenomenon, because - whether it's a friend highlighting how pain exists outside of his own or when he's receiving a voicemail that serves to convey just how much pain he himself is on the verge of inflicting upon others - It's all in his eyes, and it's beautifully done.
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Similarly this can be extended to the other characters, such as Gio (Connor Lounsbury) and Matthew (Jacob Seidman) who, on the surface, seem like cliched gay characters but each get their chance to peel back the layers and convey multiple dimensions. Rounding out the "Core Four" is William (played by William Cohen) who adds a likeable, selfless element to a seemingly "will they, won't they" scenario with Jamie (Jack Tracy) but which thankfully values the friendship element over the romance - a message that lingers over the series as a whole, but is especially pleasant here as Jamie's numerous romantic entanglements with others serves to undercut the potential build-up this show is trying to achieve. And, in other words, would have made any thing more seem a tad unbelievable at this point in the series.

What 'History' presents, and quite well, is that this is a journey. One that explores the history of a man and how it informs his present and, inevitably, his future. Though some of the flashbacks work and others generate confusion, they are always thematically or emotionally linked, either highlighting flaws or adding context to some present decisions. And Jack Tracy does a great job of making the character of Jamie at different points in his life seem physically and emotionally distinct.
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Much like it's sex scenes, 'History' isn't afraid to venture deep into some resonant themes. Over the course of the series, they tackle everything from social media, to relationships with HIV-positive partners, to loneliness. And that is the greatest accomplishment of the web series. Whilst it's a tale of a gay man and his gay friends, it's never truly about being gay. None of the drama or tension or angst comes from being gay. It comes from being human, from experiences and decisions rather than who the characters are at their core, it comes from their relationships. And whilst the dialogue is occasionally monologue-y and the music can be extremely overwrought, the writing and performances are sharp enough to cut through such things and offer a heartfelt and realistic view of a life, and how that life can affect and impact upon others.
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Review by Jay Thomas.
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'Pirates of the Caribbean: Salazar's Revenge'

23/5/2017

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In cinemas May 25th!
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After the disappointment that was 'Pirates of the Caribbean - Stranger Tides', expectations were low for Disney’s latest instalment in the gold coin raining franchise. But nothing will stop everyone and their dog (or monkey) from seeing the shenanigans infamous Captain Jack Sparrow is up to this time. No matter the ridiculousness of the plot, the non-existence of character development, the predictability of the dialogue or the cameo checklist, audiences will run cinema doors in to see this.

If you’re still interested in hearing my thoughts, let me set the scene: Henry, Will Turner’s son, wants to free his father from the curse of the Flying Dutchman (see previous films) and calls upon Jack Sparrow for help. Together with witch (though just academically inclined) Carina they must find the Trident of Poseidon, which grants its possessor total control over the seas, before it falls into the hands of Captain Salazar, yet another one of Sparrow’s nemeses.
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The usual suspects return with new additions Javier Bardem as Salazar, Brenton Thwaites as Henry Turner and Kaya Scodelario as Carina.

Highlight of the film, as always, is Johnny Depp as Captain Jack Sparrow. He gets a grand entrance (albeit nothing can top his very first introduction in Curse of the Black Pearl) and the crazy spiel unfolds before our eyes. A ridiculous action chase sequence is an entertaining opener to Salazar’s Revenge. If you are immediately reminded of the first instalment I don’t blame you. Salazar’s Revenge does what The Force Awakens did so well, use the script of the beloved first one and change a few things around but keep the structure intact. Unfortunately for Salazar’s Revenge, its new characters are not remotely as interesting or captivating, so the film feels like a lukewarm infusion of the impeccably entertaining ride that was Curse of the Black Pearl. The lack of character evolution, especially in regards to Jack Sparrow, keeps Salazar’s Revenge from reaching any new heights. You feel you’ve seen all of this before, because you have. Only then it was fresh and entertaining. Now it’s like munching on stale biscuits.
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Javier Bardem doesn’t break any new ground. He is channelling his Bond villain persona in a period costume on the high seas. Like every other Sparrow nemesis before him, he is a victim of the supernatural and wants to make Sparrow pay. Only difference, Salazar isn’t a pirate but a pirate hunter. Everything else, the same.

The film looks great, the CGI is state of the art, but deep down it is missing a soul. Superficial beauty with no charm or personality. And the few scenes that were a hoot to watch lost their impact because I had seen them dozens of times in the trailers or the promo footage playing before 'Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.2'.

None of this would matter as much if the characters were more interesting. I did not care about any of them. How is that even possible? Even Jack Sparrow. He is the same Jack we have seen in Curse of the Black Pearl and all subsequent films. He hasn’t evolved. While that might be entertaining to some, I can’t help but be bored. With some funny bits splashed here and there, Salazar’s Revenge still manages to entertain. Good action sequences, a few character highlights and a tongue in cheek approach help elevate the film.
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Overall I wasn’t disappointed, my expectations were THAT low. Despite all of the above Salazar’s Revenge is a decent blockbuster. Better than its direct predecessor but it still fails to capture the brilliance of the original. Entertaining in places, this latest iteration of the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise tries to regain former glory but manages to be merely a lukewarm copy.
If you can, stay for a post credits scene.
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Review by Melanie Radloff.
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Rate the film and why not write your own review in the comments?
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'Miss Sloane'

23/3/2017

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In cinemas May 12th!
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A female led, high stakes political drama could be just the thing to make some waves in the Trump era. Particularly when the focus point is gun control. Unfortunately 'Miss Sloane' hits just wide of the mark.

Jessica Chastain plays the titular character, a strong, ruthless lobbyist in the world of Washington DC. Making a move against her previous employer by supporting a campaign to run background checks for buying firearms. Chastain has previously shown she is well capable of playing these spiky, strong willed characters. Capable of verbally going toe to toe with anyone. She is in fine form here once again, believably obsessive, smart and dominant. The supporting cast, including Mark Strong are also solid.
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We come into the film with Miss Sloane defending herself in a court hearing. Seamlessly going back and forth in the timeline to show us what brought Sloane to this point. However where things start to work less well is with the script. Though it isn’t all bad, while being a very dialogue driven film, the verbal back and forth battles prevent that from dragging the film down and makes it feel pacier than its long run time could feel like. But where it falls down is the characters. They just don’t feel like real people. With Sloane being the worst culprit, as good as Chastain’s performance is, the character comes across as too competent. Even the flaws that are highlighted don’t really have the impact that they should. The biggest issue however, is that ultimately her motivations don’t really make any sense. Even as we learn more about her this becomes even more problematic as the reasons behind her choices become more and more murky and this is never resolved.
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The subject of gun control is obviously very relevant to the current climate. In the opening moments, Sloane tells the audience about how important it is for a lobbyist “To anticipate your opponent’s moves and devising countermeasures.” The film echoes this by shying away from the politics of the subject itself, and moving the focus on winning the battle to win the campaign, interestingly mirroring modern day politics. We see very few valid arguments from either side. The ugly realities of what gun regulations (or lack of) mean for some Americans is never presented. Instead, things are discussed from the comfort of modern offices. This does allow some interesting ideas to present themselves, do the ends justify the means? Is winning more important than doing the right thing? When is it okay to break the rules to do the right thing?
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In the final act is when the films faces its biggest problems. The moral ambiguity that fuelled much of the interesting conflict is abandoned. Instead the plot is reliant on making twists and turns, which haven’t been earned and end up feeling unsatisfying and borderline silly, with muddy motivations being at the core of the problem. In the end 'Miss Sloane' offers some interesting ideas and engaging moments, but ultimately feels falls well short of its full potential.
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Review by Chris Smallwood.
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'History'

8/3/2017

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Available to watch on YouTube now!
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New web series 'History' explores the relationships, breakups, hook-ups, and friendships of gay men in New York City. Written and directed by Jack Tracy, who also stars in the lead role, the series follows handsome thirty something lawyer Jamie after his messy breakup with his partner of five years, Jared. With his life as he knew it gone - having lost his partner, home and friends - Jamie is more determined than ever to not make the same mistakes and learn from his past experiences, his history.

Tracy uses flashbacks to fill the audience in on what has occurred in Jamie’s recent past. The series is neatly structured into themed episodes that deal with their own important issues, but always in relevance to what is going on in Jamie’s life. The amount of flashbacks can be overpowering at times, especially when trying to keep track of the overall timeline. Every flashback is dated, some more general like “July”, others more detailed like “September 1”. There were a few moments where I had to pause and reorient myself as to what had happened and what hadn’t happened yet when a new flashback started. Overall I thought the use of flashbacks was a great idea, some colour coding would have been helpful to immediately identify switching between then and now.
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While Jamie (Jack Tracy) is the clear star of the show, the other characters are just as interesting and captivating once you get to know them. Especially William (William Cohen) and Matthew (Jacob Seidman), who round out the new trio of friends post-breakup, make for wonderful additions to the show and bring out a new side in Jamie. I have to admit that Episode 4 'Saying Yes', which I immediately dubbed the “friendship episode”, was my absolute favourite and these three shine throughout.

Jumping from one hook-up to the next Jamie is desperately trying to fill the void left by Jared. He needs them to feel good about himself and fight his loneliness. He cannot be alone even for a minute. This is perfectly captured in a scene where we see Jamie clinging to his phone like a lifeline. When the battery is empty and he has to wait for the first tiny bit to recharge before being able to use it again, his life literally comes to a stop. He sits on the floor, leaning against the wall that has the phone charger plugged into it, staring at the lifeless device, not sure what to do. Once it comes back to life he immediately comes out of the catatonic state he was in. The series has a few powerful moments like these, but I don’t want to give too much away.
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The series is also not without its issues. The first episode didn’t sit well with me upon first viewing. Mostly due to technical issues, the audio sounds as if it was recorded by the on-camera mic, with background noise too high to make for comfortable viewing. This issue never really went away throughout the series, but seemed to have lessened in later episodes or I just got used to it. When I re-watched Episode 1 it did not bother me as much. The one thing that doesn’t go away is some of the performances leave much to be desired. I think I would have stopped watching halfway through Episode 1 if I didn’t have to review it. That group dinner scene was uncomfortable to watch thanks to dialogue and delivery being so stilted and unnatural. But as they say, it gets better. So make sure to stick with Jamie and his friends.
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Following Jamie’s evolution through his breakup, its aftermath and prelude, losing friendships, forging new ones, and most importantly discovering who HE is as a person on his own, without a
partner to fill a void, is an engaging journey everyone can relate to. You don’t have to be gay or male to know what it’s like going through the things Jamie encounters, processing what has happened to you and trying to come out the other end a better man. I really enjoyed this series and am hoping there will be more. You know what they say, never judge a book by its cover. So do not judge this series by its first episode. Give Jamie and his story and his friends a chance. I’m sure you’ll be happy you did. I know I was.
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Review by Melanie Radloff.
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'A Quiet Passion'

24/2/2017

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In cinemas April 7th!
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Not knowing what’s to come is intriguing. Suspense is the lifeblood of a good story. I love walking into the cinema not knowing anything about the film I’m about to watch. It doesn’t happen often, hardly ever if I’m totally honest. Trailers nowadays spoil most of the plot points. It is such a different experience viewing a film without any preconceived notions. So I was really excited sitting down for 'A Quiet Passion' in a cosy little cinema just off Oxford Street.
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The film is a period drama, not my favourite genre. A biopic, even worse. About the life of Emily Dickinson, a poet! I chuckle to myself, remembering my experience with another poetry film, 'Paterson', a few weeks ago, and readying myself for a lengthy two hours. Within a few minutes the film has me truly chuckling at the snappy performances and witty dialogue firing left and right. The Dickinson family has you engaged from the first moment.
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This is where the film shows its strengths. The performances are brilliant and Director Terence Davies’ script is solid. Cynthia Nixon does a marvellous job as Emily Dickinson, portraying a woman at odds with the world around her, later succumbing to Bright’s disease which sees her go through sudden violent spasms, among other things. I didn’t know anything about the disease so the physicality of this role surprised me and I cannot say if the depiction is correct or not, but it had a profound impact on the entire audience.

Jennifer Ehle and Duncan Duff play Emily’s siblings Vinnie and Austin, and it is with them that Nixon has some of the most memorable scenes. Especially Ehle, who’s Vinnie plays the perfect counterweight to Nixon’s eccentric Emily. The scenes between these two are gold.
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The cinematography is intimate, yet distant. Dickinson hardly ever left her homestead, she never married and turned into a recluse in later years, so most of the film takes place inside the house. The mostly stagnant camera captures that claustrophobic feel well, which draws even more attention to scenes where it is moving, like the 360 degree pan near the start and end of the film, showing the family (or what’s left of it) in the living-room. The one thing I could have lived without was the aging family portraits to show the passage of time, thereby introducing new actors for certain characters. Instead of showing every single member of the family by themselves a family portrait would’ve cut down on this rather repetitive sequence.

As most biopics I found 'A Quiet Passion' to be checklist-y, jumping from one seemingly important or well-known event to the next. The film doesn’t have as much flow to the narrative as I'd have liked. But the captivating performances more than make up for any shortcomings in that regard. Even the poetry readings Cynthia Nixon does throughout the film in form of a voice-over are interesting and fitting. A stark contrast to what I thought of the same technique used in 'Paterson'. Nixon delivers the prose eloquently, keeping her read truthful, vibrant and engaging.
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Overall solid performances and witty dialogue make 'A Quiet Passion' an entertaining framework for Emily Dickinson’s poetry.
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Review by Melanie Radloff.
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Rate the film and why not write your own review in the comments?
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'Sweet Dreams' ('Fai Bei Sogni')

23/2/2017

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In cinemas February 24th!
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Based on Massimo Gramellini’s novel, 'Fai Bei Sogni' follows a young boy from 1969 Turin until his adult life as a journalist in the 90s, in his struggle to fully accept the tragic loss of his mother at a young age. Marco Bellocchio’s film adaptation, exquisitely shot by Daniele Ciprì, often feels closer to a series of dreamlike vignettes, wistfully strung together in a study of stunted childhood, than to a cinematic narrative with a beginning, a middle and an end. Maybe not so strangely, it is ultimately both its downfall and its charm.

We beginning the story in 1960s Italy as Massimo (newcomer Nicolò Cabras) as he spends his days with his mother (Barbara Ronchi), at times joyfully dancing the twist or mesmerised by Juliet Greco's  Belphegor on TV; other times warily watching dark clouds passing through his mother’s soul. Cabras’s mesmerizing performance, Daniele Ciprì’s cinematography and Marco Dentici’s superb production design immediately pulls us into the story. Everything is both magically stylised and naturalistic.
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In an almost parallel storyline, with again an esthetics that brilliantly captures the 90s, we’re also acquainted with adult Massimo (Valerio Mastandrea), a reserved journalist, who must finally tackle his childhood trauma as he prepares to sell his parents’ home.

This home is the place of the film’s inciting incident: Massimo’s mother’s death. Though its place in the film makes a lot of sense, and Massimo’s family’s gauche way of handling the situation is completely human, the consequences on Massimo’s adult storyline (what is shown of it) was more difficult to fully grasp. And though this was the entire point of the film, Massimo’s weaknesses as an adult, in spite of having worked in Sarajevo, held a good career as a sports journalist as well as experiencing tremendous success when responding to a reader about motherly love (or lack thereof. This moment is by the way the only comic relief of the film), made it hard to fully route for his character. How can an intelligent adult be in that much denial without anyone ever saying anything? How can a child who seems so observant become an adult who, in spite of his job, accepts what he is told as pure truth without ever challenging his father or re-examining the facts? He of course eventually does, but it’s nearly impossible to believe it would have taken him that long, especially given his professional background and his apparently otherwise normal mental health, give or take a few panic attacks (which one might expect of someone who has seen the horrors of war first hand).
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It was a bit less of a challenge to believe he would charm the women around him, as long as we follow the belief that many women crave to mother the men they’re with. Even with that in mind, his relationship with a young doctor who helps him with his panic attacks (the delightful Bernice Bejo) becomes a bit of a stretch when he bumbles through a joyful wedding party. I’m not completely sure why, but this specific relationship never really got to me. Possibly because I didn’t see any great milestone or conflict to overcome, which was acceptable, as the story was not theirs, but Massimo’s strife regarding motherly love.

Adult Massimo’s obsession with Belphegor was another point on which the film lost me. Yes, I completely understand the association made between Belphegor and his mother’s dark side and death, but again, what kind of adult would express feelings close to being scared of the dark with a straight face? (also, reading the English subtitles, I was quite aggravated to see that Belphegor was inappropriately mentioned as a “he” and neither “she” for Juliette Greco, nor at least “it” as would make sense for a creature, and which I was told, was in fact the choice in the original Italian).
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This aside, the film, childhood and adult moments alike, manages to bring us back to our own childhood fairy tales, (for me, strangely, it was Gina Lollobrigida’s Blue Fairy from a 1970s Pinocchio).  Seeing childhood creatures still haunting adulthood, though outlandish to the logical mind, may be highly relatable to many.

Similarly, one of my favourite moments showed teen Massimo (Dario Dal Pero) visit a wealthy friend in a gorgeous old house, and sitting still as the other teen misbehaves with his mother (the wonderful Emmanuelle Devos who I was hoping would play a more important part in the film). The scene was fairly random and only relevant to the overall story as it showed Massimo’s yearning for a mother persist throughout his teens. Though it does bring narrative value to the film, it doesn’t seem essential to tell the story. But there is something almost otherworldly, something deliciously French and Italian and which in a way also captures the emotional stakes of the film so much more than many slices of Massimo’s adult life. It is that sense of nostalgia and “out of time-ness” which kept me hooked, and later led me home daydreaming, a head full of fond memories of the past and longing for the magic moments ahead.

A gorgeous and heartfelt mess.
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Review by Anne-Sophie Marie.
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'John Wick: Chapter 2'

16/2/2017

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In cinemas February 17th!
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Spoilers for 'John Wick' (the first one) but then it’s not much more than a movie about an angry Keanu Reeves killing everyone he meets, so maybe not worry about it too much.

Anyway, chapter 2 takes place in the immediate aftermath of the first movie, John Wick (Keanu Reeves) has killed everyone he set out to kill plus a few people who were dumb enough to try and kill him in return, and now he’s looking for his stolen car. We open with him finding it in the process of eliminating another branch of the Russian mafia in a pretty epic gun fight slash car chase sequence just to tie up loose ends before we move on.
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John goes home with his new dog and prepares to settle in to retirement once more, but unfortunately for him he barely has time to put his feet up before there’s knock at his door. It seems word has gotten out that he’s been on a killing spree and some have presumed this means he is back to work and an old acquaintance is at his door to call in a debt he is owed. John turns him down and our new villain proceeds to aggressively threaten him into accepting the deal despite everyone around him being able to see what a stupid idea that is.
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 This is the main problem of the film, the first 'John Wick' was about the idiot son of a gangster accidentally making enemies of the most dangerous assassin who ever lived because he’s an idiot. In this film we have a relatively uninteresting sociopath gangster (or something, I’m not actually sure what his deal was) deliberately and repeatedly making enemies of the most dangerous assassin who ever lived because presumably he’s an even bigger idiot.

This is actually a huge disconnect for me, the first movie was a clever revenge story that whilst the “bad guys” were clearly bad guys our hero was also basically a bad guy and the script wouldn’t have required too much manipulation to turn it into a horror movie where John Wick relentless hunts and murders a bunch of people who whilst far from being saints don’t necessarily deserve a gruesome death.
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Coupled with some amazing fight sequences and a return to form for Keanu, seriously he was born to play this character, the first movie was kind of an unexpected surprise. Simplistic maybe but it did what it did to perfection and constructed an elaborate world with it’s own mythology and rules that though we only scrapped the surface, was clearly very well thought out and opened up an infinite amount of possibility.
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This time around we get to see a lot more of this secret world but as with any mystery the more you know the less interesting it is. The move to another branch of the Continental in Rome is almost meaningless and Lawrence Fishbourne commanding an army of homeless people and pigeons is actually kind of silly, they only serve to over complicate the world. In addition it all makes the rules of both this world and the assassins guild within it much less clear. There’s a cool scene where Keanu and Common walk through a crowded area covertly firing silenced pistols at each other, and it’s a fun idea, but why do they do it, from a practical standpoint.

This “secret” society doesn’t seem too concerned with secrecy, the number of people aware of it’s existence seems to be growing beyond it’s assassin base and the assassins themselves don’t seem too concerned about openly firing their guns in public, starting fist fights in the street, and equate wandering into a building and shooting everyone they meet as the same thing as a meticulously planned assassination. So the world has been dumbed down a bit and the villain has been dumbed down a lot and it’s impossible to have the same unique impact as the first movie, so … did I like this? I feel like I shouldn’t like this.

Okay, so on a positive side it is basically more of the same from the first movie, cool action, interesting world building, cool action, Keanu Reeves owning the show and cool action. I mean it’s mostly cool action, that’s kind of why we’re here, and it does it well just not quite as well as the first movie and as I’ve said it’s impossible to create the same experience a second time around. This is basically a less interesting plot with less likeable characters. It comes to life a little when John becomes the target of the not-so-secret assassins society and we meet a handful of seemingly unique characters who come after him but they all just turn out to be nameless stunt people with guns for shooting and fists for punching and it’s just a whole lot of nothing.
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So it’s good for what is more or less a two hour fight scene but I suppose you’d do just as well watching the first one again. You won’t be disappointed but you probably won’t be rushing to watch it a second time.
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Review by Kristian Mitchell-Dolby.
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