What’s Going On

OBAA is a thriller from Paul Thomas Anderson, who is undoubtedly one of the greatest directors working today. The film starts with the French 75, a revolutionary direct action group in America and in particular, members Bob Ferguson and Perfidia Beverley Hills, husband and wife. The antagonist is Colonel Steven Lockjaw, who takes the lead in bringing the group down with extreme methods. The film then cuts to 15 years later, when Bob is simply trying to raise his daughter, Willa, in peace and safety, but Lockjaw is once again seeking them out.

Behind The Scenes

The film is directed and written by Paul Thomas Anderson, whose previous films include There Will Be Blood, The Master, Punch-Drunk Love and more, and some are calling this film the best of this already great career. Anderson’s films cover a range of genres, with this being one of the more straightforward, at least on the surface. The film is based on the book of the same name by Thomas Pynchon. Anderson has already adapted one of his works, Inherent Vice, a very different sort of film.

In Front of the Camera

It is a big cast, but Leonardo DiCaprio does probably have the most screentime, and it is essentially his character’s story that we follow. He plays Pat/Ghetto Pat/Rocketman/Bob Ferguson, Bob being the last identity he adopts, and for clarity’s sake, he shall be referred to as Bob Ferguson.

Perfidia Beverly Hills is played by Teyana Taylor and is very convincing as the committed revolutionary who wants to overturn practically every element of society. Like many in the group, she has an assumed revolutionary name – Perfidia Beverly Hills. Taylor is probably better known for her work in music as a singer, songwriter, choreographer and more.

Sean Penn plays Colonel Steven J. Lockjaw and gives one of the best performances of his career as one of the most unpleasant characters seen in film in a long time. Penn is a two-time Oscar winner and known for his roles in Milk, Mystic River and Carlito’s Way.

One Battle After Another is brilliant and ranks amongst Anderson’s best films. It is an incredibly complex representation of the struggle the revolutionaries are fighting and the authorities they are fighting, but also family bonds, communities in crisis, betrayal and obsession.

The audience sees the story from the point of view of Bob in the French 75, but they are not the “good guys”; the first revolutionary act we see is them briefly taking over a detention camp for undocumented migrants and liberating it. This is not represented as clever rogues getting one over on the authorities – the oft-employed Hollywood trick of the good guys having guns but not having them loaded is definitely not used here – but a genuine attack. Certainly, the French 75 seems like they do not want to actually kill people, but doing what they do, someone is going to get hurt, and indeed, someone does. The forces of law and order, such as they are, as exemplified by Lockjaw, are horrendous. It is true that the higher authorities may not be aware exactly what Lockjaw is doing and certainly not why, but the fact that that is possible is damning. It is never made completely clear exactly what Lockjaw’s position is – sometimes appearing to be a military officer, in which case, why is he deployed on US soil? Sometimes he seems more like some aspect of law enforcement, in which case, why does he act like an invading army? This ambiguity could be for several reasons: the difficulty of quickly explaining this, the fact that the distinction in the use of military and law enforcement in America is blurring, or that it is blurred to give the audience the impression that Lockjaw had effectively limitless power with no accountability. The only pushback to Lockjaw is from forces outside the authorities. It could even be thought that those above Lockjaw knowingly turn a blind eye, as spending ten minutes in his company would seemingly highlight the fact that he should not ever be given any power. He plays a supremely sinister villain, who keeps adding new layers to villainy, abuses of power, just plain abuse, and violence of every kind. He has an unrelenting nature, which is sometimes more akin to a villain in a slasher film. Yet he is simultaneously a ridiculous figure, riddled with insecurity and self-loathing, but that takes nothing away from how dangerous he is.

DiCaprio’s change from wild rebel to burned-out father is very well done, with his focus for action moving entirely to his daughter. DiCaprio’s best moments are when he is separated from his daughter and trying desperately to find her and help her, particularly the series of conversations he has with revolutionary agents, finding out where his daughter might be, but he can’t remember the long and convoluted password system.

Paul Thomas Anderson is not typically known for action scenes, but towards the end of the film comes an incredibly tense and thrilling set piece on deserted American roads that wind and undulate, hiding characters from each other and then coming into view spectacularly quickly. The extended sequence of what feels very much like an ICE raid on a city is non-stop tension for what feels like six hours.

OBAO is definitely one of the best films of the year and feels incredibly timely, as heart-wrenching as it is thrilling and packed with so much going on that lots of details weren’t able to be included in this review.

Rating (4.5 / 5)

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Those scenes are taken from the first season of HBO’s Max ‘Tokyo Vice’ released in 2022 and gearing up for its second season, a product based in the homonymous book published in 2007 by American reporter Jake Adelstein who brought to the Western society the underbelly of Japanese organized crime and its gangs known as the yakuza. The series protagonist is a version of Adelstein played by American heartthrob Ansel Elgort (Baby Driver) who shows depth in his portrayal, the narrative also features Academy-nominated Japanese luminaries Rinko Kikuchi (Babel) and Ken Watanabe (Last Samurai), who play Jake’s editor at the main Japanese newspaper and the policeman, respectively. The series is rounded by other international talent and the locals show what they can do with a material that goes far from the stereotyped images that are seen in mainstream media.

‘Tokyo Vice’ is executive produced by Michael Mann, the director of ‘Heat’ who held the same position in the quintessential 80’s show ‘Miami Vice,’ from which Adelstein confessed to me to be a great fan and borrowed the name for his story. Like the Floridian ‘Vice,’ the Japanese counterpart presents its players with flair, surrounded in a lavish environment inhabited by good-looking people, but all infused with darkness that corrodes its players from the inside straying away from the critics who might say that both shows glamourize the criminal lifestyle.

In ‘Tokyo Vice,’ the most gripping scenes are those where everything seems to be calm, as the air is filled with the possibility of violence that ends with lives abruptly in a nihilistic manner much like in the real world of those nightcrawlers. The show follows another Mann speciality by portraying how work life can harm personal lives and leave everlasting damages, an aftermath lived by Adelstein who lost many cherished ones and while carrying physical and psychological traumas that the series helps to understand due to character evolution.

In the case of the journalists, it shows how this profession can be not only demanding but humiliating and also portrays Japanese corporate culture without holding back, Adelstein suffers from being a “gaijin” (foreigner) in a homogenous place, still Kikuchi’s Emi represents what women journalists still endure in the press and in Japanese society as a whole.

Cops, thugs and night workers aren’t spared either as these people are stuck in a game of power while also playing against themselves for the little space available in what outsiders mistake for glamour and excitement. The clothing department shines in particular when the salary people are put close to the members of the yakuza or from other spheres of power, although Adelstein tries to come as elegant and debonair as possible, the fabric and colours of his suits denounce his place in the gaming board.

As expected in a Michael Mann production, it feels more like a movie than television due to cinematography, editing and soundtrack, even when we look at the current prestige TV. Its noir cinema influence pours on how Adelstein has a moral core, but he is not restrained by it like a self-righteous journalist, his unorthodox methods play a role in his competent journalistic skills which helps to understand why the real-life Adelstein is one of the best storytellers of his generation.

Adelstein swims in a pool of greyness as he doesn’t shy away from sleeping with hostesses, prostitutes, and other women. Still, he is not also revered by this behaviour as if he is an alpha male character, it fits the narrative by showing his humanity, and his womanizing ways are not complimented nor condemned, and they help to understand the character and the plot.

In its way, ‘Tokyo Vice’ shows a deeper Japan that is not tied to anime or kaiju nor restricted to high-art cinema circuits, actors like Watanabe and Kikuchi are already recognized although they show some shades not very much seen in their forays in American mainstream products, but ‘Tokyo Vice’ also brings talents like Hideaki Itō (Umizaru) playing a conflicted cop who wants to be seen as a flamboyant superstar or the novice gangster Sato who under the acting of Shô Kasamatsu goes through a large character development and can be perceived as its second protagonist and a counterpart, not an antagonist, to Elgort’s Adelstein.

By having veteran yakuza movies actor Shun Sugata (Ichi the Killer), it pays homage to a very popular Japanese genre, as Sugata plays a supposedly honourable mob boss pointing toward a past that, like him, is not as romantic as meets the eyes. A ranged acting that demands the viewer’s attention.

Vice is also a document of an era, the 90’s and early 2000’s Japanese country in a country that was starting to leave the notion that it was becoming an economic powerhouse due to the 80’s economic boom, but haven’t yet dealt with terrorist attacks and the ageing of its population while trying to deny that its youth was coping with more than they can handle and unassisted.

Sadly, the real Adelstein has not only to deal with the toll of his journey and life-threatening events but also to mediatic hit jobs that coincidently came around during awards season which might have taken a bit of the series’ steam, where members of the technical team and the talents of Watanabe, Itō and Kikuchi shouldn’t have been overlook in said ceremonies.

In ‘Tokyo Vice,’ the supporting players have full-fledged lives, and their suffering and joy aren’t just stepping stones to show how Adelstein is good thus making the accusations of playing to the “white saviour” trope being unfounded, the American reporter is a point-of-view character and not a demigod that came to put an end to the yakuza and the corruption in Japan.

‘Tokyo Vice’ is flashy like the city’s brimming 90s and early 2000s nightlife which makes those moments of discretion in the characters’ homes hit even harder and sets it aside from contemporary American series that aim to portray law enforcement and other classes as unwavering heroes of American exceptionalism. ‘Tokyo Vice’ deserves a meticulous look as it is one of the best crime dramas of today.

Also Read: How Anime Went International

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Possessor (2020)

A horror-sci-fi-thriller from Brandon Cronenberg, son of film legend David, which suggests he’ll be working in a similar space to his father and not going off to make rom-coms. Tasya Vos is an assassin who uses new technology to take control of the bodies of others – to possess them – to carry out her assassinations, then having the possessed body kill itself and her consciousness returns to her own body. The film focuses a lot on what these murders and the experience of switching bodies and going through the process of suicide does to Vos. Each mission has a debrief where Vos goes through a series of tests and procedures to re-establish herself in her own reality and who she is. The tension escalates after a mission goes wrong, and Vos finds herself not in control of the body she possessed.

Black Bear (2020)

More of a psychological thriller than an action-filled movie, the tension in Black Bear builds throughout and there is the feeling something terrible could happen at any moment. Despite having a very small cast, most of the time revolving just around three actors, and taking place in a beautiful open area of the countryside, it feels very claustrophobic and that it’s almost impossible for the characters to escape.

Those Who Wish Me Dead (2021)

First off, it has a great title, but also an interesting setting, Angelina Jolie plays Hannah, a firefighter specifically tasked with dealing with forest fires, whilst also coping with the trauma of previous firefighting incidents. She crosses paths with Connor, a young boy who had been travelling with his father, a forensic accountant whistleblower, who is murdered, and whilst dying hands the evidence to Connor. Naturally, Hannah tries to protect the child but this is complicated as the assassins spark a forest fire, knowing that will prevent help from coming. It is an enjoyable film with the added carnage and intense cinematography of a forest fire.

Black ’47 (2018)

A great revenge thriller set against the backdrop of the Great Irish Famine (with 1847 being the worst year of the famine and the year often referred to as Black ’47). Feeney is returning home to Ireland after serving with the British army and sees the terrible state of his country. There are people starving, thrown out of their homes, persecuted by the authorities and facing all manner of oppression. Feeney soon reaches his limit and there ensues a bloody revenge rampage against the British state. It is an interesting thriller with a different mindset to many films of the genre.

Ready Or Not (2019)

A horror-thriller-comedy, Ready or Not tells the story of Grace who marries into the wealthy Le Domas family. The family has made their money through games and a tradition is that those marrying into the family must play a game on their wedding night. Unfortunately, Grace has to play hide and seek. This is a problem as it turns out the family fortune is based on a deal with the devil, and this is the price, in a game of hide and seek where the rest of the family must hunt and kill the newcomer before sunrise. Grace undergoes an onslaught of running, hiding, and fighting follows with many of the family not actually that good at hunting people.

Bad Times At The El Royale (2018)

A very good movie that seemed to pass most people by unnoticed, Bad Times At The El Royale takes place in a nearly empty hotel where an odd group of disparate guests all come to check-in at the same time. It soon becomes clear that not only are the guests not quite who they appear to be but the hotel itself is not what it appears to be. The film has a large cast and focuses on one character at a time- giving the audience their story – and then cutting to another character, with their stories intertwining when they arrive at the hotel.

Also Read: Six Underrated Movie Sequels

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First on our list is Loukman Ali’s The Girl in the Yellow Jumper. This tense 2020 mystery-thriller was the first Ugandan movie to be added to the Netflix catalogue. It is critically acclaimed in East Africa but still not yet widely known to audiences around the world. Let’s dig in.

The Story and Characters

The story begins with Jim, a seemingly ordinary man asleep in front of a TV that’s playing a news report of a serial killer called the “Cigarette Butt Killer”. A figure in a gas mask and a yellow jumper quietly breaks into the room and drugs Jim. The story takes us on an unexpected journey of a kidnapping, a string of murders and discovering who the real villains are.

This film was an exercise in tension and pacing, truly earning its title as a thriller. The complex narrative makes it a perfect watch for those of you thirsty to figure out a short but engaging mystery. Clocking in at 1 hour 20 minutes long, it’s just long enough to keep you hooked. Be warned; this is not a light movie for casual viewing, so only watch it if you plan to pay attention. There are a few brief scenes of graphic violence, just in case you’re wary of blood.

One of the biggest criticisms of African films is having one-dimensional storylines and characters. That’s not the case for The Girl in the Yellow Jumper. The characters seem straightforward at first, but the more you watch you’ll see the complexities between each one. Compelling performances from Maurice Kirya, Michael Wawuyo Jr., Rehema Nanfuka and Oyenbot will have you rooting for multiple sides by the time the movie ends.

The narrative is littered with foreshadowing and red herrings. The puzzle pieces don’t fully click together until the very end, which makes for a satisfying finale.

The Visuals and Sound

Loukman and his team really brought in the big guns when it comes to cinematography. The lighting and tone of the film reflect old-school 90s films, while still being set in the present day. Much of the movie takes place on a highway and we are given beautiful shots of Ugandan nature throughout. I appreciated the creative camera angles during the fight scenes and kidnapping scenes.

The music choices were very appropriate, incorporating contemporary Ugandan music sounds. The sound design elevated the visuals to create the distinctive ambience of every scene.

The movie also included some refreshing animated scenes, something hard to pull off in the thriller genre. In this way, the heavy tones of death and abuse were balanced out with a few lighter scenes that elaborated on Ugandan traditions.

Admittedly, there was a point at which the transition between shots could have been smoother. However, the quality of the filming and editing was really remarkable for a production done on a shoestring budget with multiple interruptions.

The Bottom Line

We definitely recommend giving The Girl in the Yellow Jumper a try. While there could be room for improvement in the production and a few character portrayals, it’s a solid film nonetheless. Anyone in the East African film industry can tell you how hard it is to get a feature film on the global stage. A lot of blood, sweat and tears went into this movie, and it paid off.

Also Read: 5 Films In 2022 With Creative Concepts

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Sci-Fi: Crimes Of The Future

In Crimes of the Future pain is mostly a thing of the past because of implied evolution. And some people are now able to grow extra organs. But others have evolved further, now being able to eat and digest plastics along with other undigestable materials. Something which the government wants to suppress. Featuring such intriguing concepts as theatrical live organ transplants, human bodily evolution to adapt to a decaying world and surgery being so commonplace it is considered “the new sex”, David Cronenberg’s return to body horror encourages much discussion thanks to the many thought-provoking ideas that populate this fascinating world.

Comedy Action: Everything Everywhere All At Once

When the year started everyone wanted to see how Doctor Strange’s sequel would showcase the creative possibilities of the multiverse. But Everything Everywhere All At Once managed to capture viewer adoration more. And it used the multiverse concept as an excuse to showcase a number of creative and hilarious ideas. Including using technology to access skills possessed by different versions of oneself in the multiverse, showcasing a diverse array of parallel worlds that feature such great ideas as humans having sausages for fingers, humans being controlled by raccoons, and the main characters becoming rocks and an apocalyptic doomsday device made from a snack. All of which was accomplished on a $25 million budget. 8 times less than Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Showing that the multiverse has such big creative potential even smaller productions can use it to showcase fantastic ideas.

Thriller: Fall

Movies primarily based around one location are nothing new. Fall however bases its central plot around two friends scaling up and then trying to get down from a 2000-foot-high TV tower. This conceit not only provides a thrilling setting for most of its action but allows for a constantly high amount of tension to be present even during mundane scenes. This is thanks to the high winds at such heights and the small surface area not providing many opportunities for respite. Plus being up so high provides great explanations for common problems viewers have with many of these thrillers. Such as why don’t the protagonists just call for help? High-altitude thrillers are always a guaranteed source of tension. And the conceit to set one atop such a thin, high structure paid off.

Horror: Hatching

Hatching concerns a child facing incredible pressure from her mother. She subsequently takes care of an egg which eventually hatches into a monstrous creature. It then begins taking on more of the girl’s likeness and violently acting out. Hatching’s central idea is a perfect allegory for how abusive parental pressure negatively impacts and shapes children. The creature acts as a great metaphor for the child’s mental health. Demonstrating once again that horror is a perfect genre for using creative ideas to address bigger issues.

Action: Prey

How do you revive interest in the predator franchise when only the first one is universally considered a good film? You go back to the series’ roots, having the predator attack a group of people in a sparsely populated area while offering something new by setting the film in the 1700s. The era of colonial expansion. This conceit of placing the technologically futuristic predator during this era instantly stacks the odds against our main characters and provokes discussion of colonialism and power. Additionally, the film gives us diverse, fully-rounded indigenous protagonists, and centralizes their voices in depictions of their cultural history. Instead of having them act in service of someone else’s story.

These were just a small sampling of creative ideas that we got to see this year. So please make sure to let us know any creative movies you particularly gravitated towards. And let’s hope 2023 continues to provide us with more genius film ideas.

Also Read: The Impact: How Dozens of Filmmakers Around The World Crowd-Created A Film About The Apocalypse

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Visiting her sister in Bogota, Jessica (Tilda Swinton) is awoken by a loud bang, audible only to her. Restless and disoriented, she roams the city in search of an explanation for the mysterious sound. Despite being present throughout, Jessica’s motives remain opaque and her encounters enigmatic. Soon she begins to confront the unsettling sights and sounds that call her identity into question.

How is it?

Memoria’s strength as a film lies in its ability to be focused on what it is and not try to cram too much into a film for the sake of it. What we are treated to is a multilayered look at searching for connection, meaning and purpose. Stylistically, the film plays on contrasts: the continuous thud (or bang) Jessica here’s intermittently throughout the film provides the literal heartbeat of the film which provides the necessary tension; whilst the story feels like it develops slowly enough to appreciate all the nuance in Jessica’s journey. The use of natural sounds of Jessica’s environment contrasted with the cold mechanical thud that is central to the story provides another element of contrast which provides a unique stylistic quality to this film.

Style & Substance

Although a lot of emphasis can be placed on the stylistic elements of the film director, Apichatpong Weerasethakul has crafted a film with a fine balance of both style and substance. Tilda Swinton gives an engrossing performance as Jessica, the key to her performance is her relationship with Hernan – which plays out wonderfully through the film and pays off at the start of the final third of the film. The closer Jessica gets to the source of this noise, the more she is able to question and discover more about herself and her purpose. The focus is very much on Jessica’s journey and self-discovery, as such, the supporting cast, with the exception of Elkin Díaz’s Hernan, are not the focus of character development. This narrowing of focus does actually help to keep the film focused. The ending is bold in the direction it chooses to take, which might not satisfy everyone, but is certainly a point of discussion.

Rating: (4.5 / 5)

Apichatpong Weerasethakul has created a film that is a very intriguing mix of arthouse, thriller and Sci-Fi – an intriguing & introspective sensory journey.

Memoria is released in U.K cinemas on 14th January 2022

Also Read: The Red Pill or the Blue Pill: Matrix Philosophy

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Synopsis: A mute young woman, Patience, from an isolated community in rural England in 1555, struggles with her controlling brother-in-law and leader, David, who is gradually unraveling after the failure of his idyllic community. The Egyptian Act has been passed, stipulating that all ‘gypsies’ must vacate England immediately and anyone found aiding them could be executed. In exchange for a fee, David agrees to help an Egyptian family who must stay a month on their land until a ship comes to take them away.

Watch the full interview with Laura Turner below

Also Read: Neurocinema: The Study of How Films Control The Brain

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What’s Going On?

Anton Chigurh goes into a petrol station to pay for his petrol and get a snack. It has already been demonstrated that Chigurh is an incredibly dangerous and unsettling man, quite happy to kill. As the Gas Station Proprietor (as IMDb refers to him and shall henceforth be called GSP) engages in small talk with Chigurh he enquires about what the weather is like where he’s from. This seemingly innocuous comment changes their interaction immediately. While keeping an even tone Chigurh begins a barrage of questions regarding the man, the petrol station, and what time he goes to bed, and even without our knowledge GSP is scared. The next question, “How much have you ever lost on a coin toss?” Chigurh flips a coin and insists GSP calls it, who is clearly terrified and wants to know what the stakes are before he agrees to take part. In short order GSP crumbles and calls heads, which it is. Chigurh’s tone change and seems to back off, telling the man to look after his lucky quarter and not to keep it with the other coins, even though that’s all it is.

Acting

As already stated there are only two characters: Anton Chigurh, played by Javier Bardem and GSP played by Gene Jones. Bardem is an Oscar-winning titan of acting and plays one of the three central characters and the most obvious bad guy in the film. Jones is a character actor with a varied CV and this is his only scene in the film. This scene could be the best piece of acting Bardem has ever done but nothing should be taken away from Jones, GSP is a pleasant, slightly bumbling figure, so wildly out of his depth when confronted with a man like Chigurh (another character feels it necessary to bring up the bubonic plague when discussing just how dangerous Chigurh is). Jones is the ordinary person harmlessly leading his life until the personification of the bubonic plague shows up and his quiet life can be utterly shattered. My favourite moment is when GSP calls the coin correctly and Bardem adopts a subtle change of tone, particularly the raised eyebrows when saying “just a coin”. It’s worth pointing out the scene is almost entirely shot with the camera position so we see the back of one character and the face of the other, so we cut back between the two, so really there’s only one person acting in the shot and both do a fantastic job with all the attention focused on them.

Tension

The scene is 4 minutes 22 seconds long and from second 17 it is an unbearably tense nightmare. Like so many great tense scenes there’s not actually much you could objectively point to as the cause of tension – there are no overt threats, there is no violence, no weapons are displayed. The dialogue could convey just an annoyingly inquisitive person who doesn’t have great social skills but from what we know of Chigurh, the manner of Bardem’s acting and the reaction of GSP this is a terrifying experience. An idea I’ve always found fascinating and first encountered in The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy is the idea that if a person does something that you have no frame of reference for then you don’t know how to react. If Chigurh had come in with a gun to rob GSP or if he was drunk and being aggressive GSP would understand the situation – but he has no idea what is going on. He knows he should be scared though. Perhaps as time goes by GSP would convince himself that it was nothing really, just an unusual encounter.

Who Is Anton Chigurh?

Apart from just being a great scene, I think it is in the film to give us more understanding of Chigurh. He isn’t just a mindless psychopath bringing death to everyone he meets – he has rules, something which is very important later in the film. Once GSP has antagonised him with his question there is the distinct likelihood Chigurh will kill him but he leaves it to chance, not only that, he insists GSP call it, rather than himself. He has bound himself to the outcome of the coin toss and even though he’s leaving a man who may very well pick up the phone and call the police about the terrifying man who just came into his petrol station, he lets him live. I think Chigurh also believes in consequences, that all actions have consequences. He is hunting Llewyn Moss who stumbled into a drug deal and walked out with a fortune, does Moss deserve to die? No, but he made a decision and he did something and consequences will come. GSP’s idle small talk is fine until perhaps you meet a person who doesn’t want you thinking about where they’re from and you have to live with the consequences of asking that question. No reasonable person would think asking about the weather is worthy of death but that isn’t important to Chigurh. At this point Chirgurh has business to be getting on with – he is dealing with drug cartels, crime organisations, the police and every ounce of common sense would say – don’t make any unnecessary trouble, don’t draw attention to yourself. Not Chigurh. He’s seemingly willing to kill a passerby which could bring down a manhunt on him because of his twisted principles.

An Iconic Scene In An Iconic Film

I remember being riveted by this scene when I saw it and being terrified for poor GSP. To show the amazing talent of the Coen Brothers there is another scene later in this film that is almost as tense, this one being the exact opposite, with no dialogue and Josh Brolin watching the shadows move outside his door.

Also Read: Anatomy Of A Scene: The Godfather – Restaurant Scene

Read More: Making A Coen Brothers Film

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What’s Going On?

Super-assassin John Wick has a $14,000,000 bounty placed on his head after breaking one of the cardinal rules of the Continental Hotel – no business is conducted on hotel grounds. As this is a hotel for assassins, “business” means killing people. In the world of this film, assassins lurk around every corner and John is set upon by an endless array of killers. Eager to get out from under this death sentence, John delves deeper into the mysterious world of assassins to find a solution to his problem.

Behind The Scenes

John Wick was directed by Chad Stahelski who, famously, before that film had been a stunt co-ordinator and as such was incredibly focused on the fight scenes. Stahelski stayed on to direct Chapter 2 and Chapter 3 and the fight scenes are still amazing, at times truly dazzling and clearly directed by a world-class expert. I am something of a connoisseur of good fight scenes and I still winced at how real some of the blows felt while marvelling at the technical capabilities of all involved.

In Front Of The Camera

Keanu Reeves obviously dominates the film as he plays John Wick and continues to bring an almost stoic sensibility to non-stop life and death fights. Alongside Reeves’ acting talent is sheer ability to be in this film, I am unaware exactly how much of Reeves’ fighting is done by a double but he certainly seems to be taking on a lot. Ian McShane reprises his role as Winston, manager of the Continental Hotel (the assassin hotel that has placed the bounty on Wick for breaking their rules) and with him also returns Lance Riddick as the ever helpful concierge, Charon. Lawrence Fishburne is also back as the unnamed Bowery King – the ruler of another mysterious group of criminals who pose as homeless New Yorkers. There are newcomers – the primary antagonist is the Adjuciator, a representative of the High Table, the rulers of this world of assassins played by Asia Kate Dillon, who not only wants Wick dead also wants New York shaken up a bit. Perhaps more important is the addition of Mark Dacascos, an assassin and sushi chef billed as someone actually capable of taking on John Wick. Real star power is brought by Oscar winner Halle Berry, who operates a similar hotel as that managed by Winston but in Casablanca. Angelica Houston pops up playing The Director, who doubles as ballet director and crimelord whose help John Wick seeks and provides a little more backstory to the character of John Wick.

Does It Work?

I consider John Wick a great action film, a twist on a simple revenge story, driven by Keanu Reeves’ performance and some of the best fight choreography ever. John Wick 2 was entertaining, and again, had amazing fight scenes, but it wasn’t quite the same and I feel much the same with John Wick 3. It’s certainly an enjoyable film and I was never bored but the more it’s delved into this world the less I get out of it. It somehow lacked the magic of the original and this might be as simple as I knew what to expect, whereas Chapter 1 was a surprise. I do think that there is a problem with John Wick’s motivation, in the first film it was revenge but in the other two there is something more complicated going on – debts owed, rules broken and the schemes of powerful people.

The more that is revealed about the Continental, the High Table, the Bowery and so on the more convoluted and less satisfying it becomes. The sheer number of assassins that exists not just in New York but seemingly any spot on the globe is astounding and stretches credulity. The thing that seems most unbelievable is that surely there aren’t this many assassinations to support such a huge number of assassins.

Whereas the first chapter was based entirely in New York, Chapter 2 took us to Rome and Chapter 3 continues with this international perspective. John Wick felt very contained, everything happened in a couple of days in a couple of locations but increasingly the franchise is eager to spread its wings. Doing this does allow for a bit of variety but personally, I would have preferred a more claustrophobic setting.

There was a cool touch in John Wick where after one fight scene early in the movie the police turn up. They know John who is, simply ask if he’s working again and then stay out of his way but you can’t help but think the level of carnage caused in this film would warrant some kind of police response. There are even suggestions of supernatural powers or mystical techniques possessed by some of the assassins, that to me, make John Wick’s phenomenal killing abilities less impressive.

Of course, John Wick was never supposed to be set in the real world, this hyper-violent world of secret assassins and globe-spanning criminal syndicates was supposed to be escapist fun but I think after the first film the balance between reality and fantasy has moved too far to the latter.

But really most of these complaints and minor gripes and is just what separates a good film from being a great film. If you enjoyed the previous John Wick films you will almost certainly love this. The fight scenes continue to offer something new, whether it’s drafting in Boban Marjanovic, a seven foot three inches tall basketball star, to serve as an early opponent or adding horses and dogs to the weapons John Wick utilises. While I feel the story has become a little bogged down with secret organisations the core of the film remains the same- John Wick having to fight a seemingly impossible number of people.

The biggest plus in the film is certainly Mark Dacascos. In the two previous chapters, there was no one who, individually, was thought to be John Wick’s equal when it came to killing people. There wasn’t one bad guy for him to fight there would be a couple of dozen. Of course, John Wick still has to fight through dozens of opponents but it all leads to a showdown with Dacascos.

Overall this is a very enjoyable action film that doesn’t quite capture the magic of the first instalment but compared to other franchises on their second sequel this is amazing stuff.

Verdict (3.5 / 5)

Also Read: Ten Movies Turning 20 in 2019!

The post Review: John Wick Chapter 3: Parabellum appeared first on Big Picture Film Club.

What’s Going On?

Nick brings his girlfriend, Annji, back to his family home for Christmas after an absence of several years. It is not long before the tensions in the family boil over, particularly the racism directed towards Annji. After making the decision to leave Nick and Annji find out they are trapped in the house by metal shutters placed there by some outside power. Their only outlet to the outside world is through the television broadcasting instructions on what they should do. The already fractured family are put through increasingly intense dramas that only brings out the worst in them.

Behind The Scenes

The film is directed by Johnny Kevorkian and written by Gavin Williams and this is probably their biggest project to date. The film certainly has it’s interesting moments but neither the direction or the writing particularly stand out.

In Front Of The Camera

The main actors are Sam Gittins (Nick), Neerja Naik (Annji) and Grant Masters (Tony, Nick’s father) and they are all asked to a lot but don’t manage to pull it off. Of the three Naik’s performance is the best as she tries to withstand a familiar line of abuse, ranging from unpleasant comments about immigrants to vicious slurs yet not lose her temper. Gittins plays the dependable boyfriend and (as well as Naik) the voice of reason to the encroaching madness. Masters isn’t quite believable as the ringleader of what happens and fails to convincingly portray a normal man who goes too far.

The most recognisable member of the cast will probably be David Bradley best known as either Filch from the Harry Potter films or Walder Frey from Games of Thrones. Bradley plays Granddad – the family member who never even tries to welcome Annji or moderate his behaviour at all.

Does It Work?

The film starts off with an interesting premise of a family, already on edge, being pushed further by the horrendous circumstances. Often films where people are trapped together in a small space they start as friends or strangers but before any of the horror starts there are clear dividing lines in the group. It’s hard to not think that this is a post-Brexit film; the issues of immigration and race are specifically brought up, with each side thinking the other is utterly ridiculous and completely to blame. The first half of the film definitely works better and Abigail Cruttenden plays the mother desperately trying to reconcile the different elements of her family and maintain the peace quite well.

When they wake up on Christmas day and realise they are trapped these fault lines only harden. Tony tries to take control of the situation but that is limited to blindly following the instructions via the television, trying to disguise his blind obedience as sensible and practical behaviour.

There are a few cliches that get wheeled out and when things start getting out of hand it’s not a surprise when the most obviously unpleasant character is the first to suffer. Then there is the presence of Nick’s sister, Kate, heavily pregnant, used as justification by her husband for his behaviour and, of course, making her incredibly vulnerable.

One of the biggest stumbling blocks is that the slip from imprisonment and mild paranoia to outright violence and worse is incredibly quick. It is only hours before all manner of terrible things are being done and even with their existing problems, it’s hard to reconcile such extreme behaviour with their circumstances. Even families that don’t get along will have their limits and most people place their family’s wellbeing as the centre of their world.

What the film reminded me of most was an episode of Black Mirror, or probably more accurately, a sub-Black Mirror inspired show. The film comments on hysteria, the power of media, the fear of the Other but without any subtlety or particular originality. The film also reminded me of one of the most infamous experiments in all of psychology – Stanley Milgram’s study on obedience. Participants were asked to give electric shocks to a person every time they got a question wrong, increasing the voltage with each wrong answer. Most participants carried on past the point their victim begged them to stop with one of the researchers telling the participant they must continue. Importantly no one was actually harmed in the experiment but people thought they were harming people. The film is partially a study on obedience to authority; obeying the government, obeying your father, obeying those with power over you. Each character responds differently to these different authorities and this is one of the film’s most successful aspects.

As the film nears the end and the madness is ramped up even further the bizarreness of the ending does not feel justified. I can go along with all manner of oddness if I feel it has been earned or handled in an interesting way but it just felt silly – the worst thing that can happen to a horror film.

Overall Await Further Instructions is not a good film, despite a good beginning and an intriguing idea of bringing the division of the country into one home. I would say in its defence that I was never bored and did want to see where it was going and how it would all end, but I could already sense that the ending would not be able to tie up the loose ends sufficiently let alone deal with some of the bigger plotholes.

Verdict (2 / 5)

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What’s Going On?

I have always thought of Steve McQueen as an ambitious and confident director and not just because of his films, this a man who shares the name of a Hollywood legend and was not worried about permanently being called The Other Steve McQueen. McQueen’s latest film starts with the viewer being introduced to each member of a crew who is about to undertake a daring robbery lead by Harry Rawlings (Liam Neeson). The brief glimpse into each of their family lives before the heist shows a not entirely sympathetic group of people. Things do not go to plan and Rawlings and the entire team are killed by the police. That is still just the beginning as the film is not really about Rawlings and his crew but the people they leave behind.

Viola Davis star’s as Veronica, Rawlings’ widow, who while still reeling from the death of her husband is visited by the criminals who were robbed and even though the money was destroyed they expect Veronica to pay it back.  The one thing of real value Rawlings left Veronica was his notebook on all his planned heists and with that Veronica plans to steal the money she needs, bringing in the other widows from the gang.

There is an ongoing B plot of an upcoming election for alderman between Jack Mulligan (Colin Farrell) and Jamal Manning (Bryan Tyree Henry), Mulligan being the son of the previous alderman and part of a political dynasty that has controlled the politics of the area for generations and Manning the very criminal who threatens Veronica. But while Manning may be the more obvious criminal it becomes very clear that Mulligan and his family are far from innocent.

Behind The Scenes

Steve McQueen is known for serious weighty dramas, 12 Years A Slave winning the Best Picture Oscar in 2014, and so Widows does feel like quite a departure. When watching the trailer my first thought was “I just have to see a Steve McQueen heist film” just to see what he would come up with. Widows is based on a Linda La Plate British TV show from the 1980s and while I hadn’t heard of it does seem to be well-regarded. Gillian Flynn, of Gone Girl fame, wrote the screenplay and the pair of McQueen and Flynn sets expectations high.

In Front Of The Camera

The cast McQueen has put together is amazing, casting great actors like Jacki Weaver, Liam Neeson and Robert Duvall in relatively small roles. The key trio of Veronica, Alice (Elizabeth Debicki) and Linda (Michelle Rodriguez) as the eponymous Widows hold the film together well with each of them adding immensely to the story, each with their own struggles and reasons for getting involved. Viola Davis is very convincing as a woman who had nothing to do with her husband’s criminal enterprises but rather than giving up or running wants to take back control of her life. Elizabeth Debicki stands out for the transformation her character goes on finding previously untapped reserves of strength. Michelle Rodriguez plays a little against type, being the most hesitant but also with the most to lose. Importantly, none of the women are ignorant of their husbands’ careers, even if not active participants.

Does It Work?

The film is very enjoyable with great performances all round and the two plots dovetail neatly in the conclusion. The film is suffused with the grim reality for all those within it and even Mulligan’s much more prosperous family are shown to be very much entangled in dark goings-on. Each of the three widows convincingly portrays women who are in dire straits and are willing to risk prison or even death to give themselves a chance.

McQueen is a brilliant director and easily handles the large cast and the quick plot developments easily. There are moments of real tension, particularly around Daniel Kaluuya who plays Manning’s brutal but keen on self-improvement enforcer. For a film that starts with the fiery death of four characters, there isn’t a great deal of violence in the film with just a few brutal and short scenes containing most of it. McQueen also gets as much tension out of the corrupt political machinations as the gunfights.

It is debatable if there are any “good guys” in this film. Even though you are rooting for Veronica and her team they are not entirely innocent and when faced with difficult times are happy enough planning an armed robbery and I think this is an intentional choice by McQueen. The political struggle of two different types of criminal – the gang leader Manning and the white collar corruption of Mulligan – supports the idea that everyone is involved in crime, to some degree, importantly the widows’ solution to their problem is more crime.

There is a running theme that it’s very hard to find people to trust. Family, what is normally the strongest of bonds between people, is shown to be unreliable and being close to someone brings trouble. Alice’s mother, played by Jacki Weaver, is shown to be far from the nurturing and supportive figure a mother usually is. Much of the same is also true of romantic relationships and there is a feeling that the best way to get through life is to rely on no one but yourself.

The film is an engaging drama with good performances from all the cast and I thoroughly enjoyed it, however, I am not sure how long it will linger in my mind and if it’s a film that I would want to come back to. Certainly, it is more entertaining and well made than similar films but considering the calibre of the people involved I was hoping for something better, something that would be a real classic.

Verdict: (4 / 5)

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