Pools

Courtesy of KLA Media Group 

 On the verge of being kicked out of college, Kennedy decides that putting her head down and getting on with school work is not what she needs. Gathering together a group of random acquaintances also stuck at college over the long hot summer, she leads the group to go nighttime pool hopping throughout the lavish estates in her college town. But as she is still grieving the recent loss of her father, this spontaneous adventure becomes more of a journey of self discovery.

Full review over at Filmhounds.

The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry

 

After receiving a letter from an old colleague who has moved into a hospice, Harold Fry, in his late 60s, spontaneously decides to walk from his home in South Devon to Berwick-upon-Tweed to visit his friend. This is the start of a both an eye-opening journey full of heart-warming moments and a reflective walk through Harold’s memories and personal losses. Either way you look at it, Harold Fry is a sentimental and somewhat uplifting tearjerker that feels oh so very British.

Full review can be read HERE on Filmhounds.

Driving Mum - Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival

 

The journey of self-discovery, acceptance, adventure and ridding one’s self of the past comes in all shapes, sizes and lengths. Usually, a physical journey accompanies those on a spiritual one too. The death of a loved one is often a trigger and can lead to difficult truths, realisations, resentment and most painfully, regret. The Icelandic/Estonian co production of Driving Mum contains all of the above, filmed solemnly in black and white, journeying from the West to the South of Iceland. This story of grief is at times, funny and heart-warming and have you ponder events in your past, just like Jon and his dead mother in the back seat.

Full review over at Filmhounds HERE.

Hilma

 

The story follows the artistic career and spiritual awakening of Hilma af Klint as she tries to make sense of the world when her beloved younger sister dies tragically. Young af Klint is admitted to the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Stockholm and meets a group of like-minded artists who also share her interests and beliefs in the spiritual world. They found a collective called ‘The Five’ that creates art inspired by the spiritual world and aim to create and build a temple for the work, but the art world isn’t quite ready to welcome or understand these new ideas.

Full review over at Filmhounds HERE.

King Knight

 

Stories of redemption can cover any genre, some being those of the grittier and more violent nature. Usually associated with thrillers, westerns and crime, King knight takes a gentler approach that is surprisingly wholesome and slightly comedic. Bearing the tagline ‘not your basic witches’ sums up this story about a leader who hasn’t been completely honest with those he loves and those that follow him. Witches, spells and rituals all do appear in the story but its not really about being Wiccan, it’s about being honest and true to yourself, and seeking redemption along the way.

Full review over at Filmhounds HERE.

Death of a Ladies' Man

 

Looking back at your life and realising all the mistakes you’ve made, the people you’ve hurt and thinking about the way things could have been is often seen in cinema as a way to start the end of a journey. Samuel O’Shea’s (played by Gabriel Byrne) journey is coming to an end and instead of embracing changes and excepting the inevitable, he tries to ignore his fate and finds ways to numb the pain. With a charismatic actor such Byrne at the helm of the story, there is a shining light but it is just flicker as the film is over crowded with notions of regret and nostalgia that ultimately brings this story to a depressing low point throughout.

Full review over at Filmhound HERE.

Swan Song

 

Having once been the stylist extraordinaire to the high society members in Sandusky, Ohio, Pat, now spends his days in a dull lifeless nursing home. But opportunity for escape comes in the form of a dying wish from a former client who wants him to style her hair one last time. The journey takes Pat down memory lane, remembering ghosts from the past, his once thriving business, his loves and his greatest losses, all while gathering together the items he needs to perform his duty.

Full review on Filmhounds HERE

The French Dispatch

 

As Wes Anderson is a director with one of the most distinctive style of filmmaking, there is always that possibility that he may just end up imitating himself. But instead, with The French Dispatch, its as if he’s taken a step back and decided to go in a very different direction. Granted the framing is still the same, the use of cross section is still very in use and the deadpan acting is all there. But instead of one linear story, the film is split into sections, like the title itself, like a magazine. Each story is indeed rife with Wes Anderson-isms but there is something quite different about the entire film. It feels like a last hurrah.

 

Following the death of the editor-in-chief of The French Dispatch, of the Liberty, Kansas Evening Sun, Arthur Howitzer Jr expressed in his will that the newpaper seize publication. Along with an obituary and a column from the cycling journalist, three articles are included about the arts and artists, politics and culinary arts, tastes and smells.

 

The film plays out as a visual companion to the final issue of the newspaper/magazine complete with intro and obituary. As a homage to the printed word its wonderful. But the main three stories written feel as if they should have been given more time. This might have worked as a mini-series but I suppose the quick cuts and deadpan acting might not have sustained over 3-4 hours.

Focusing on the three main articles, all the writers are able to bask in the limelight in various ways, no medium left unexplored, whether it is through a talk with slides or through an interview on a talk show, the image of each writer is portrayed differently. A story about a disturbed artist being discovered in prison is joyfully bizarre with the best cast and would probably be a favourite among fans. A story about the student protests as seen through the students and their different encampments as well as the older journalist is thought provoking as well as full of nostalgia for the 60s but is the final story, about a chef who poisons kidnappers that is surprisingly heart-breaking. Jeffery Wright as the journalist Roebuck Wright brings all the emotion in a matter of minutes to the front. All three stories have greater depth to them than you see in trailers and marketing for the film, but this final story has the edge and the more dramatic scenes, complete with animated parts. All these stories are beautifully written coupled with the most amazing production design, as usual. It is a very different experience than Anderson’s other films but one that can be cherished.

 

Anderson has said that this film is a love letter to journalists with many of the characters inspired by real people. The passion comes across in waves from the intimate close-up moments that have to stop and reflect to the use fantastic use of miniatures and the crosscut scenery and the grand large scale set pieces that really are magnificent. This is the ultimate stand out over the top film that includes 4 stories not 1, as if he wanted to makes sure that everyone had a chance to shine. At times the film does feel overstuffed with ‘names’ but no less enjoyable. The amount of detail that is included is staggering. But this is one of the reasons why Anderson’s films stand out among the rest of Hollywood and the Indie slates. He has a distinct style and casts A list international actors but his writing is NOT what Hollywood wants which is why he keeps his work interesting a fresh, through his writing. It would be great to see Anderson return to his roots of writing, after such a great streak with his last two films, something on a smaller scale would be exciting and of course would be feel less of a farewell.

 

Ride the Eagle

 

Grief is staying in the cabin your mum left you while you complete tasks to open up to yourself and accept your situation.

 

Full review over at Filmhounds HERE.

Cowboys - BFI Flare

 

When Jo and his father disappear in the middle of the night, his mother calls the police and soon there is a search party out looking for him. Born a girl, Jo knows he is a boy and only his father seems to understand him. But his father has his own his issues to deal with, taking pills to help his mental health, he just wants his son to be happy. But choosing to take drastic measures to ensure that, doesn’t always end well.

 

Transgender children have been a more recent topic of conversation, in magazines, newspapers, TV shows, documentaries and of course all-over social media. The debate whether children should be allowed to transition at a young age still goes on and varies from country to country. But the first step before all this is the child coming forward and saying they are transgender. Various films over the recent years have created stories around this subject but there hasn’t be one (that I can think of) that has the father of a transgender child escape into the wilderness so that they can protect them. Cowboys is a story about Jo and his parents, Troy and Sally and how they act.

 

Sasha Knight who plays Jo is a revelation. Comfortably fitting into the character and finding the vulnerable and joyful aspects. The most tender and heartfelt stand out moments in the film are definitely between Knight and Steve Zahn who plays Troy. The chemistry between the actors is what makes this film a delight to watch. Jillian Bell also shows she isn’t just a comedy actress as Jo’s distraught mother, Sally.

The desperate nature of both Troy and Sally and trying to understand who they are is given equal time on screen as well as Jo’s own story. Although we learn through fragmented flashback scenes as to how the father and son ended up on the run, on horseback in the wilderness, we never really see Jo’s quieter moments or his journey to how he knew he was a boy in a girl’s body. All of this is off screen and we are shown him uncomfortable in dresses and arguments with his mother. These would have been vital scenes if this was just about Jo but as this was about an action with consequences, Jo’s personal journey is not included in the story.

 

Dreams on Fire - Glasgow Film Festival

Dance films can take on all forms and disciplines and combining the talent of one of Japan’s most famous dancers right now, Bambi Naka, and the feature-length directorial debut from Canadian Philippe McKie, there is the worry that the story could be lost in translation but Dreams on Fire is a vibrant and uplifting story about refusing to give on a dream.

Full review is over at Filmhounds HERE.

Mogul Mowgli

 

In a sea of stories about identity, self-discovery and self-acceptance there was a chance that a story about a rapper experiencing a life changing disease could become like any other film but with a different perspective and with Riz Ahmed front and centre as well co-writing with director Bassam Tariq, we are given a film with layers of these well used story tropes.

From Zed’s politically charged lyrics to his vivid dreams he experiences as his conditions worsens, these only become more apparent as he begins to accept and embrace his roots. This is a way of him becoming freer creatively, despite the fact that he doesn’t get to perform the film’s hard hitting final track, ‘Toba Tek Singh’ which holds more weight than is fully revealed in the film.

Full review over at Filmhounds HERE.

Away

 

Rarely has a film intentionally silent film been ab keto capture the imagination without uttering a single word like Away does. There are animated films such as WALL-E where half the film is without a large amount of dialogue but incorporates different sounds and eventually robotic voices and noises before introducing characters that talk. Away shows us a world that looks like something we’ve seen somewhere and lands us immediately into a story that could be interpreted in a myriad of ways, which is, apart from the beautiful simplistic style of animation, is its key charm.

 

A young boy finds himself in a strange island after waking up suspended in a parachute. After narrowly escaping a strange entity, the boy ends up on a journey across the island. Along with a little bird as his companion, meeting other animals and encountering beautiful landscapes, they try to reach civilisation and out run the ominous entity that pursues them.

Director Gints Zilbalodis creatively constructs a world, its rules and brings us along for the ride through the boy in the story. By choosing no dialogue, there is no point of the film where you feel as if you’ve been removed from the world created. There are moments of pure bliss and freedom followed by those of ever closing despair that are all portrayed by creatures that show little emotion yet these immense feelings are manifested. At first glance is seems as if the film is not yet completed but the simplistic style of the animation strips back what is needed to enjoy the story being told. The scenes details, the landscapes are beautiful, in particular the mirror lakes. As the film doesn’t try to manipulate the audience into thinking how and why the boy ended up on the island, one interpretation is that it feels like a video game. As the boy collects items along the way, following a road that is mapped out with giant rings that signify a change in terrain, he also encounters different creatures, all the while checking where he is going according the postcard map, he finds with the backpack and motorbike he finds at the start of his journey. It’s as if he must complete levels at each chapter of the story.

 

It is indeed a beautifully formed film that feel unconventional and a style that needs to be used more in feature films. A journey story that is unlike any other, whether it is real, a dream or a game that one has to play, Away is the ultimate escapism that we all need right now.

 

 

Now available on Curzon Home Cinema and available to buy on all digital platforms

Summerland

No, not that British film that came out a few months ago, this is SUMMERLAND! The road trip film that was shot on an RV that was both set and the cast & crew's accommodation. A crazy ride on and off screen.

 

Best friends Bray and Oliver are planning on going to music festival Summerland to celebrate graduation. Oliver’s girlfriend Stacy also comes along, providing a much-needed RV for the trip. Unknown to his travel buddies, Bray has been using Stacy’s photos pretending to be a girl talking to a guy online who he hopes to meet at the festival. Along the way to the festival, the three companions visit different places and cities, determined to have a good time. 

 

There are several ethical things that come up in the story that should be addressed that aren’t really solved, some with little consequence. Ultimately, the story isn’t about such issues, merely points that dress up the main story and theme. Luckily it isn’t cliché as it may seem. Both Bray and Oliver have to accept realities, Bray that he can’t hide behind a lie, Oliver that he has to leave the US. Stacy is the unlucky female character caught in between them, serving the purpose of being the catalyst and victim of their selfishness. She provides the transport for the journey, she practically bank rolls the trip, she is being lied to by Oliver and being used (to an extent) by Bray, for which she never really finds out how or why, at least we assume she doesn’t. Her only reward is that she gets to experience some of the music festival free from the burdens she had at the start. Although one of the fallouts from the trip we don’t see is how her parents react to her taking the precious RV. Oliver and Bray’s journey is both physical, on the road to the McGuffin of a festival and personally. But that fact that Bray was pretending to be a girl in order to meet a guy online is never really addressed properly, which doesn’t quite sit well. Oliver using Stacy’s credit card in Vegas after disappearing on them is also never really addressed properly either. We don’t find out what he was actually doing, again, this doesn’t sit well. It’s difficult to feel for the characters because of these issues but if we think about the fact it’s not about who’s on the journey, it’s the journey itself, it’s easier to just go with the flow of the story. 

 

 

 

The film should be commended on how it was actually shot, with the entire cast and crew travelling from location to location on the RV and shooting on it too. They got away with shooting in certain places without permission and permits, which is no easy task. Its impressive with what they all accomplished and I would be keen to see what the Lankyboy team create next. 

Any road or journey film goes through its similar stages and beats, with the characters growing or coming to an understanding and conclusion. But this story ends in a much more satisfactory way, picking up as it started but with the characters in a much better place, where they are meant to be. The places and cities the three companions stop off at on the way to the festival are the real moments of clarity, especially early on when the three of them jump off a waterfall. Illustrating the giant leap the journey really is and not just a road trip to a festival.

 

Summerland is available now on VOD.