Rams

 

Rams is a comedy with equal part heart-breaking and heart-warming moments all centred around sheep, rams and the farmers that raise them is unexpectedly entertaining and, in some moments, rather thrilling.

Full review is over at Filmhounds and can be read HERE. 

If you'd also like to read my post about the original Rams, you can go HERE - its short but sweet.

 

 

Long Live the Physical Media!!

 

Last year, right at the start of the first Lockdown I had the idea to start making zines. Not the film ones I make from time to time but real pen and paper and photocopy zines. I managed to put together a few pages but, in all honesty, it wasn't my best work. I salvaged the best pages and will be adding them to something I'm putting together for my 10-year anniversary of this blog. One page that I kept was a rant, a train of thought, relevant for the time, about owning DVDs and Blu rays. Apologies for the scattered handwriting. This reveals how crazy my handwriting is.

Despite streaming services being the go-to for most people, including myself, to watch films, TV, music and the odd audiobook, physical media is being kept alive by the collectors. The ‘old’ media that entertained us when we were young is always looked upon fondly now and resurrected for a nostalgia trip. As we’ve all been kept inside away from everything, these nostalgia trips are happening quite frequently. I’d love to go through the boxes still at my parents that I know contain cassette tapes, videos and there’s even a shoe box with the last of my CD collection I couldn’t get rid of. I used to be the proud owner of a large audiobook collection, mostly children’s and young adult books, quite a few Jaqueline Wilson tapes and a few Jane Austen tapes, as well as a few odd ones that I never heard of anywhere else, The Weirdstone of Brisingamen anyone? With only a few videos surviving, half of which are recorded, I had tried to convert this collection to DVDs but some I couldn’t find. Without these boxes of nostalgia to pour over, I’ve looked to collection that I moved with.

 

It’s been said that the Millennials are the ones keeping physical media alive, having grown up in an age without everything at our fingertips or having the ease of streaming services for anything you could dream of. But I also think there has been a resurgence of the ‘special/limited edition’ that has caught the eye of those who collect. Distributors like Arrow and the Criterion collection are going strong with these releases, bringing cult classics into the new era and those long-forgotten gems out of the dark for new audiences to discover. Other labels such as Indicator, Vintage Classics and 101 Films focusing different genres, also offering extra features and physical extras too. Bringing out new releases to celebrate an anniversary or even just a ‘first time’ release is an opportunity. These are all for the collectors, of which I thought there were few but after a search on Instagram with the right hashtags, I find that I am most definitely not alone or at least it’s not just film writers and Film Twitter out there. The appeal of physical media is not a niche thing as I had thought.

 

My scribbles from last year were in frustrated response to digital copies being deleted as and when companies wish rendering bought digital copies useless. For anyone who loves to own the real thing, there will always be DVD/Blu ray and now 4K releases. Vinyl made its way back from being 50p in a charity shop to back on the shelves, cassette tapes are also having a mini comeback. CDs might not have the same appeal, but, you never know.

 

Neo Noir: Miller's Crossing

 

SNAPSHOT POST

"I am gonna send you to a deep, dark place and I am gonna have fun doing it!" - Eddie Dane

Despite being set in 1929 the story is still a classic neo noir. Not with femme fatales and noble men trying to save them but with criminals, gangsters and mixed messages. The most interesting way to read this film was to understand the motives and character of Tom Reagan. He's our would be hero but he's shady as the rest of the gang. But he does have one weakness, Leo, his boss and best friend. If we read that Tom is in love with Leo, everything falls into place and his actions sense. He does everything for him. In fact there is good evidence to read into the other male relationships too as being sexual. This makes a whole of sense, not to mention the incestuous relationship between Bernie and Verna and why no other guy is interested in her. A fascinating story that goes beyond the gangster genre. 

 

 

For more #noirvember & #NeoNoir follow @little_sister_filmnoir

 

Neo Noir: Wild Things

SNAPSHOT POST

"People aren't always what they appear to be. Don't forget that!" - Ray 

With more double crosses than you can shake an alligator at, Wild Things really goes above and beyond to try and trick you into thinking it’s a cleverly devised thriller disguised and several ways; a teen thriller, erotic thriller (at a push), revenge flick and straight forward crime story but of course its deep seated neo noir at its core, especially with the very unsavoury relationship this teacher has with two of his students.

 

For more #noirvember & #NeoNoir follow @little_sister_filmnoir

 

Watch List: December

 

Mulan

Without comparing this to the 1998 film, there is merit in the story and the spectacle and it’s an uplifting tale of bravery and honour BUT because this is a live action Disney film, the fact that characters are very much altered/added, there are no songs and Mulan’s character is changed beyond recognition. The agency of our heroine’s character is about saving her father but here, she’s a tomboy, has some special power and is already a warrior. The development of Mulan’s being is all off balance which makes the film off centre. This was such a missed opportunity. 3/5 

 

Babyteeth

 Full review can be read over at Filmhounds HERE. 3/5

Freaky

Just when you thought that body swapping films were dead and buried, you’re hit with a gory as hell comedy(ish) horror where Vince Vaughn plays a teenage girl. Beginning with usual slasher deaths and intrigue including a special knife that allows you trade bodies. Then the film launches into a blood bath with revenge deaths handled by the serial killer while the heroine is trapped in a man’s body running around town with her friends trying to catch said killer. It’s very entertaining. 4/5 

 

Undertaking Betty

With cast that features ‘award nominated/winning’ before their names deserves a watch especially as the cast features Christopher Walken as a funeral director with outlandish ideas and yes, he does dance at some point. Betty and Boris (the other funeral director in the small Welsh town) are in love but they can only be together if they fake Betty’s death, apparently. There are so many bizarre things in the film it was pleasant surprise of a film that could have easily been terrible. 3/5 

 

Soul

Pixar has a way of breaking into your mind, heart and now, soul too. A beautifully illustrated story about a musician who's been looking for his big break, obsessed with Jazz and focused not much else. Joe looks back at his life and it’s not filled with great memories or achievements or at least this is what he sees in himself so instead of thinking of taking stock of his life, he continues to obsess about his one big shot which he was so close to before he ended up in the great beyond. The detour he takes is trying to convince another would be soul to take the journey but of course this soul doesn’t want to go. The clashes between characters is very clear and from this meeting you can predict what happens next which doesn’t take away the heartfelt moments but it does make for a less exciting story. I also wonder, as did most people, how was this aimed at children? There is practically nothing that young children could enjoy. Most of the existential discussions will go far over most children’s heads. But if this was really for adults to enjoy then, it makes sense. 3/5

 

Anything For Jackson

With hints of Rosemary’s Baby mixed into this gory tale of grief and obsession, Justin G. Dyck’s Anything For Jackson really does get under your skin and stays there even after the bone chilling end.

 

Mourning the tragic death of their grandson, Satanic couple Audrey and Henry, kidnap a pregnant woman in order to use her baby to bring their grandson back. Using an ancient book and reciting a ritual they don’t quite understand, they invite more than Jackson’s spirit into their home.

 

Having made quite an impression at the latter end of last year, Anything for Jackson is something of an oddity as well as any horror film aficionado’s dream. Packing into the film several terrifying moments, twists and turns, the sweetest Satan worshiping couple you’ll ever see and of the most architectural marvels of a house. As the bare bones of the plot is easy to add on to Dyck is able to add more into scenes and the main characters. Beginning with a calm and distressing hoping, which is given context through a flashback later on in the film, the story unfolds in a peculiar way, creating tension and curiosity. This is thanks mostly to our protagonists, Audrey and Henry. They are in a Satanic cult but are also a friendly doctor and devoted grandmother. They are the least suspecting couple to kidnap and perform dangerous and evil filled rituals on, but grief does take us to dark and desperate places. Despite the heinous acts Audrey and Henry commit, they remain themselves, never over dramatic, never cruel. Treating their captive with as much dignity as they can without letting her get away. The bumbling behaviour of people their age is also brilliantly observed and manages to stay authentic amongst the ghosts and Satanic church gatherings. 

 

Strangely enough, director Justin G. Dyck’s background has been in making cheerful, frothy ‘holiday’ films, but they have prepared him for his transition to the dark depths of horror, keeping the family element alive here. With familiar genre tropes used, the injections of dark comedy seep through the crack and a make a clever relief from the gore and blood we’re inflicted with. The best moments and scenes in the film belong to Shelia McCarthy and Julian Richings as the central couple. Their chemistry and charm are what makes this horror an utter delight to watch which you can’t say for any other film in this genre out there. The surprises thrown out throughout the film, including the bloody end, are ones we’ll hopefully see in more ‘traditional’ horror films, just to keep things fresh.