Flow

It may feel like there hasn’t been a challenger to Disney/Pixar for a long time, but in fact, the house of mouse has missed out at the Oscar’s for Best Animated Film the last three years. Not only is this refreshing but it shows that more animated films are finally being able to make an impression and break through to audiences. Dreamworks of course has been working away and creating some truly spectacular films over the last few years as well (bar that new Shrek film by the looks of it), but its with Studio Ghibli winning last year with The Boy and the Heron and Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio the year before, there finally feels like a shift happening with animation. This feeling was cemented with the historic win this year when Flow took home the prize, a first time ever win for Latvia and for co-writer and director Gints Zilbalodis.

Flow follows a black cat who lives in a world where humans no longer exist, though there are remanences from what they left behind. When the land is suddenly flooded, the cat, by chance encounters other animals, equally lost, who all end up in a boat together. As they drift along, the group must learn to work together and navigate these new waters.

 

Full review over at Filmhounds.

Audrey

 

Only your family can truly get under your skin, harvest deep resentment, and bring out our worst qualities, which is why comedies about families and their dynamics can produce the darkest humour. Mother-daughter power struggles, sibling rivalries and even conflicting parenting styles are all spread bear in this ridiculously funny, dark comedy from director Natalie Bailey. Audrey really will make you scoff at the absurdity and laugh when it really is not appropriate.

Ronnie prides herself on being a fantastic mother, believing she gave up her acting career so her daughter Audrey could have one instead. But when Audrey accidentally falls off the roof and into a coma, Ronnie sees that she has no choice by to live her daughter’s life so that Audrey can still keep her dreams alive. All while her other daughter Norah makes choices she regrets and her husband Cormack is free to lie about the whole series of events in his grief group.

Full review over at Filmhounds. 

Opus

 

Comparing worshipping or to a lesser extent, being a fan of someone to being in a cult is usually fun to explore. You can expect the same commentary and bizarre acts of service in the unnerving lead up to the climax of Opus, and overall, the film has a tone we’ve seen before. However, while the conclusion may feel expected, it’s the journey, the mystery, and the music that keep you entertained.

When legendary pop star, Moretti, resurfaces after having disappeared for 30 years, he not only drops a new album but invites a select few to listen to it first. Amongst those invited is budding young journalist Ariel. Once the group arrives at the Moretti compound, they are surrounded by his cult like followers and bizarre rituals and Ariel soon started to suspect there is far more to Moretti’s plan than anticipated.

Full review over at Filmhounds.

The Last Showgirl

 

Long-time showgirl Shelly has performed at the Razzle Dazzle for 30 years, when the casino announces that the show will close, she is devastated. While her younger co-stars decide to audition for other shows, she is left in limbo. As the world she’s know for so long starts disappear around her, Shelly tries to reconnect with her estranged daughter and decide what she should do next.

The tone of director Gia Coppola’s The Last Showgirl is a continued feeling of sadness. Beginning with the crushing news and the fallout from that. What’s interesting is that a story such as this is not focusing on the show that, within the world of the film, was seen as the last show of its kind and maybe once would have been described as iconic. The focus is nearly solely on Shelly as we watch her world fall apart. Having given up literally everything for her career and the show, she has little to show for such loyalty. She seems careful money unlike her best friend and ex-showgirl Annette who gambles away what she earns as a cocktail waitress. Shelly’s life appears empty outside of the show, her daughter doesn’t even feature in her life until she reaches out to see her. Shelly’s behaviour throughout the whole film is that of someone going through grief. The show was her life and she cannot fathom being without it. She lives in the past, still talking about the 80s when showgirls were seen as ambassadors and how the show emulated that of something similar seen in Paris. Shelly longs for the ‘old days’ of elegance, or at least what she views as elegance.

As we watch her breakdown slowly to her new reality, there is no better person to portray Shelly than Pamela Anderson. She is truly putting everything into this role and she nails Shelly’s vulnerability and delusional behaviour perfectly. Anderson emulates the frustration and sadness of Shelly, she makes us feel compassion for her. The supporting case also do an excellent job with the roles given, but Jamie Lee Curtis steals every scene she is in as Annette.

Writer Kate Gersten based the script off her own play, Body of Work which was in turn based on her visits to the now closed ‘iconic’ show Jubilee! which was one of the longest running show on the Las Vegas Strip. Though this film belongs to Shelly (and Anderson), it also serves as a bittersweet tribute to the old shows and the days of the typical Las Vegas showgirl while ushering in the new entertainers taking their place.

Fantastic performances from Anderson and Curtis are the key to The Last Showgirl but Gia Coppola does bring that feeling of loss throughout as well as a tiny glimmer of hope for the future.

Crossing Delancey

 

Isabelle enjoys working in a New York City bookstore and the carefree lifestyle she maintains outside of work. But on her weekly visits to her beloved grandmother on the Lower East Side, she met with desperate pleas for her to settle down with a nice Jewish man. Despite Isabelle’s instance on wanting to be single, she is forced to meet with a marriage broker and even an awkward date with local pickle seller, Sam. While Isabelle believes she can do better than the well-meaning Sam, she starts to entertain a crush on celebrated Dutch-American author Anton who frequents her bookstore. Through mishaps and misunderstandings Isabelle finds herself in a romantic bind of what to do.

Full review over at Filmhounds.

The Last Stop in Yuma County

 

The film easily sets up the parameters, creating a near impossible situation, where we are all just waiting to see who cracks first. Mostly strangers make up those ‘trapped’ in the diner, with one or two narrow windows of opportunity, this tension filled thriller has you hooked at what will happen. Reminiscent of films that take place in one location and slowly builds tension, The Last Stop in Yuma County is similar to a low-key Free Fire, except instead of a constant shoot out, it’s the calm before the storm.

At a remote desert rest stop, a knife salesman and waitress become entangled with two bank robbers plans to escape. As the group anxiously waits for the gas truck to arrive to fill up the pumps, a few more strangers with their own plans, arrive, adding to the tension. With few options and everyone in possession of a gun, the knife salesman is woefully ill-equipped for what’s to come.

Full review over at Filmhounds.