No Other Choice - BFI London Film Festival

 

What would you be pushed to do if you felt you had no other choice? The latest from Park Chan-wook poses this question and quite literally answers it, at least in the case of the main character in No Other Choice. Unemployment can be soul destroying. Being without a means to earn an income prevents you from functioning, how society sees it, normally. With unemployment being discussed every day, with jobs being scarce and having to deal with companies ignoring applicants, it is a subject that will trigger many. No Other Choice, Based on the novel, The Ax by Donald Westlake, delves into this deep well of desperation mixed with one of the darkest comedies in recent years.

After working in the paper industry for 15 years, Yoo Man-soo finds himself unemployed. After trying and failing to find a job after a several months, desperate to provide for his family, he places an advert for a fake job. Examining the applicants, Man-soo decides to kill those who are more qualified than he is in order secure a job opening, that he will also create for himself.

Known for his dark comedies and violent revenge filled plots, No Other Choice does, at times, feel lighter than his previous film. Though the subject is dark and the solution even worse, the snippets of charm and tenderness feel quite natural when embedded within the story. This satirical approach at the state of current situations that many face is above all, bleak. Throughout, you are meant to be hoping that Man-soo succeeds in his plan to murder people because it means he will secure a job and will be able to fix all the myriad of problems that have happened because he lost his job. But as we learn a little bit about his intended victims, there is absolutely no way to justify these crimes, yet we still hope he succeeds. Its difficult to suspend your morals for the 2 hours 30 minutes as after each murder there is a sense of dread, not that he may get caught but that he has maybe got away with it.

Aside from these internal dilemmas that you may experience throughout, the dark comedic tone does off set most of the issues that the story brings. Man-soo and his family’s other problems that need solving; the cellist genius daughter who won’t play for her family, the son who contemplates stealing, Mi-ri (his wife) taking a job working for an attractive younger dentist. Man-soo’s previous issues are also brought to the surface, his previous drinking problem most prominent, something that could destroy him completely, if unemployment doesn’t first. There are comedic moments to be found throughout but these unfortunately don’t out-weigh the sickening violence planned and executed.

Lee Byung-hun as Man-soo gives a fantastic eclectic and emotional performance, balancing the comedic and menacing side of the character. However, as a whole, No Other Choice, feels like some other choices could have been made but discomfort and shock were more favourable.

Femme

 

Revenge stories always have an intriguing angle, whether we see it from the victim or the perpetrator or from somewhere in between. There is always a new angle to take and Femme delivers us something that we haven't seen in a while, an actual British thriller that has on the edge of our seats throughout. Based on the short film by writers and directors, Sam H. Freeman and Ng Choon Ping, the feature film is tense emotional revenge story that feels relentless. So brilliantly executed, razor sharp characters and compelling performances from Nathan Stewart-Jarrett and George Mackay.

Full review over at Filmhounds. 

The Northman

 

As Hollywood goes through it’s trends, releasing films of similar veins, the outsiders continue making films that challenge the norm and new insight to genres that have been neglected. Vikings were once a source for cinematic appeal, briefly. If anyone can recall that over dramatic swashbuckling action film starring Kik Douglas and Tony Curtis as friends and rivals in the 1958 classic, The Vikings, Robert Eggers’ vision will definitely knock any remaining memory from your mind. Eggers’ take on the Vikings is something to behold and marvel at. There is violence, death, horror, copious amounts of blood and deep-seated vengeance at the core. Those who are squeamish, need not see this epic. However, they would be missing out on a truly fantastic mesmerising slice of cinema.

Full review over at Filmhounds HERE.

Fantasia Film Festival - Paul Dood's Deadly Lunch Break

  

Paul Dood’s Deadly Lunch Break is that latest fresh view on the desire to be famous but with a humorous British twist. There will be dancing, there will be blood and there will be glitter, at all costs.

Full review over at Filmhounds HERE. 

Promising Young Woman

 

From the moment those panic-stricken strings start playing ‘Toxic’ by Britney Spears in the trailer, you can already feel that you’re in for an unexpected treat. The promise that there will be revenge, hard truths and more than backlash for deeds unpunished all packaged up in a cynical and rather bitter yet forceful nature of one woman who is determined to see justice done is definitely fulfilled in the feature.

 

Cassandra is 30, lives at her parents, works at a coffee shop having dropped out of medical school some years previous. She spends her days chatting to her boss and seemingly only friend and her nights out at clubs and bars pretending to be drunk to see if she can ensnare a ‘nice guy’ who usually offers to take her home but then quickly takes advantage. She catches them out, with varying results. But when someone from her college class appears back in her life with some interesting news, she becomes a woman on a mission to bring justice to those who wronged her best friend, all those years ago.

 

My full review can be read in the latest issue of Filmhounds, buy your copy HERE. 

Zine Scene

Leading up to my blog's 10th Anniversary, I had hoped to reveal or start something bigger than planned but I'm still quite please with what's coming. Hopefully it will be coupled with a change of scenary but until March 17th (yes, I know that's St Patrick's Day, it just so happened that way) I can show what I've made in the last few months.

Usually I pick a film I've written a longer piece about but for the last two I chose because both films were made by women, with female characters front and centre. I loved both films for different reasons and wanted to celebrate further. The zines are just something I enjoy doing if you're curious as why I make them. I'm hoping I can add PDF versions to my blog or website in the near future so everyone can see them and not just the lucky few who get physical copies.

Back in October, I was lucky to see Saint Maud again in the cinema and with a socially distanced full room. It was a great experience and thinking back it really makes me miss cinema more and more. I made a zine to celebrate the film further at the end of last year, one I'm really proud of.

Both films have received nominations at various awards. Waiting for the BAFTA nominations to come out but I'm really hoping both get some recognition.  

Watch List: January

 

Femme Fatale

Femme Fatale, released in 2002 was not received well, despite a few high-profile critics giving it a great review. Starting out with a exciting heist and double cross, the story takes a weird turn towards doppelgangers and stolen identities. Our femme fatale and self-proclaimed 'bad girl' of the title was full of intrigue. If the film had continued towards an actual conclusion and not the cliche dream switch at the end, this could have been a hit. 2/5

 

The Broken Hearts Gallery

As Rom-Coms go, this wasn't too bad. It was something different in the sense it was about a woman who wanted to open her own gallery and the main guy was trying to open a boutique hotel (whatever that is), both creative, both entrepreneurs. Also the love interest angle could be seen a mile off but wasn't fully addressed until their relationship had reached the 'greats friends' milestone. The main reason to watch this is for Geraldine Viswanathan who is a delight, despite her character being very annoying and pathetic to begin with. 3/5

 

Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile

After watching a few documentaries on Netflix about serial killers I naturally gravitated towards this film. Thankfully this wasn't a gruesome play by play of Ted Bundy's crimes. Being based on
Elizabeth Kloepfer's memories this was a very different look at the lead up to Bundy's arrest and trial. Zac Efron is superb as the killer, he got the charismatic unsettling psycho just right. Its insane to think how long the trial took and that he was allowed to represent himself, but there it is, in the real footage at the end. 3/5

 

Promising Young Woman

 Full throughts on the film HERE. Zine to follow soon. 4/5

 

Anything for Jackson

 Full review HERE. 3/5

 

Rams

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

 

The Capote Tapes

Full review is over at Filmhounds and can be read HERE. 4/5

 

Dangerous Young Woman?

I just wanted to take a short moment to show some appreciate for an upcoming film that is exactly what I want to see at the cinema.

When the trailer dropped for ‘Promising Young Woman’ my first thought was; the book ‘Promising Young Women’ had been adapted already? But the slight difference of one letter made all the difference. This was not what I thought it was, it was something far more delicious.

A woman (Carey Mulligan) goes out every week, pretends to be drunk, completely out of it, waits for a ‘nice guy’ to come to her rescue and call him out on his s**t, basically. There is obviously a bit more to the story with how she was meant to become a doctor and past trauma hinted at which will all be revealed when the film is released in April but I for one, cannot wait for this film. Penned and directed by British filmmaker Emerald Fennell (you may know that name from ‘Killing Eve’ credits). She isn’t exactly an up and coming creative, as she has a fair few credits to her name but this is her feature film debut and I think I’m going to love her very much.

The story and film have been described as simple as ‘a ‘dangerous woman’ revenge thriller’ and this stuck with me. The subject is a woman ‘calling out’ men for their wrongful actions which apparently makes her dangerous? The rest of the story could legitimately be a revenge story but to call a woman dangerous because she catches so called nice guys who would assault drunken or vulnerable women is irritating. This might just be me who is annoyed by this irksome description but I wouldn’t say she was dangerous. We don’t see in the trailer after she reveals she’s not drunk what actually happens, just that she tallies them up in a notebook with either red or blue ink. The revenge thriller is usually saved for a woman who wronged and she seeks, well, revenge but this might have a different origin or slightly skewed one at least.

It premieres at Sundance Film Festival in January and released in April so who the hell knows if that means in the UK as well or if we have to wait a billion months to see it, we’ll just have to wait and see.