Devil’s Knot Movie Review

Devil’s Knot Review

Director: Atom Egoyan

Starring: Reese Witherspoon, Alessandro Nivola, Colin Firth, Bruce Greenwood, Dane DeHaan, Mireille Enos, Kevin Durand, Stephen Moyer and Elias Koteas

I find it impossible that any filmmaker could make one of the most notorious crimes of the 20th Century feel uninspiring and distasteful at the same time. For all of the notoriety amidst the fact-based disturbing subject matter, and one that continues to shock and surprise to this day, Atom Egoyan’s DEVIL’S KNOT (based on the same-titled book by Mara Leveritt) comes as both pointless and perplexing after what has come before.

Admittedly, Egoyan was always going to be up against it. Bruce Sinofsky and Joe Berlinger’s acclaimed and exhaustive trio of PARADISE LOST documentaries, not forgetting Amy Berg’s more recent and equally unforgettable WEST OF MEMPHIS, surely meant there is little more we needed to know or could learn about the troubling true horror story. Some could argue that allowing dramatic licence would shed new light on the controversial case and bring it to the attention of even more. Although possibly forgetting that could well have had an adverse effect on all of the good work built, even if some claim that the film was written to us remind us that six families lives were torn apart that summer in Arkansas, and not only three lost to a life behind bars. Certainly screenwriter Scott Derrickson wanted that to be conveyed when I spoke to him about his script late last year. Instead, DEVIL’S KNOT feels like an intentional attempt for Reese Witherspoon to land herself another Oscar, and by roping in British fave Colin Firth to add a little more weight, we’re ultimately left with something bordering on shameful.

For those of you unfamiliar with the harrowing events leading up to the incarceration of the West Memphis Three (Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin and Jessie Misskelley Jr.), young 8 year-old’s Steve Branch, Christopher Byers and James Michael Moore we’re found savagely butchered in a muddy ditch on the Robin Hood Hills on the 5th May, 1993. Increasingly under-pressure detectives finally setting their sights on the three teens. A love of heavy metal music, wearing black and an interest in the occult seeing them perfect candidates to close a desperate case for a community baying for blood.

Witherspoon dominates the film as Pam Hobbs, whether throwing eye-rolling suspicious looks across the courtroom or perfecting her stereotypical “poor white trash” Southern drawl, assuring us it’s all about her in a tragic tale that had so many more victims. For a passionate investigator, who instinctively knew something didn’t smell right with the police’s inept inquiry, Firth is surprisingly lackadaisical in his approach to playing the legendary Ron Lax. As for the rest of the impressively starry and talented cast? Wasted. Every single one of them. That word “stereotypical” cropping up again. You have to question some of their motives for getting involved at all with so little for them to chew on. A possible trip down the red carpet come awards season? If there is anyone deserving of praise it’s Nivola. He at least offers something suitably complex to the role of Terry Hobbs, and with his character’s part in those events now coming under scrutiny, you can’t help but pick him as the stand-out.

Given that Witherspoon is one of those who fought for this part, the most offensive aspect about film comes with part of the final crawl: “Pam Hobbs continues to fight for the truth about her son”. For a project desperate to preserve the memory of those three murdered boys and remind us it wasn’t all about a miscarriage of justice, they neglect to mention that another two sets of parents must certainly feel the same.

Bad Neighbours Movie Review

Bad Neighbours Review

Director: Nicholas Stoller

Starring: Seth Rogen, Rose Byrne and Zac Efron

If you’re familiar with the previous films of director Nicholas Stoller, like FORGETTING SARAH MARSHALL and GET HIM TO THE GREEK, the chances are you’ll have a good idea of what to expect from his latest effort, BAD NEIGHBOURS (aka NEIGHBORS to give it its Stateside moniker). Like his earlier work, it’s crude, silly and laden with an unhealthy number of dick jokes. But while the likes of GET HIM TO THE GREEK was sustained (just) by the occasional laugh out loud high point, BAD NEIGHBOURS is disappointingly devoid of any real stand out moments.

Mac and Kelly Radner (played by Seth Rogen and Rose Byrne respectively) are a young couple with a baby girl, attempting to settle down and start a home. But when a fraternity house moves in next door, the constant partying and wild antics soon ruin their idyllic vision of suburban life, forcing Mac and Kelly to rid themselves of the late night revellers by whatever means necessary. Of course, the frat boys, and particularly their president (played by Zac Efron), are not so easily discouraged, and what ensues is series of zany schemes and crazy pranks that just aren’t as zany, crazy or indeed funny as they ought to be.

Imbued with a general sense that the whole thing’s been hastily cobbled together, BAD NEIGHBOURS is just too formulaic to be as outrageous and wild as it might like. Though the film does its best to perpetuate the mythology of the fraternity house partying like it’s 1999, it’s all far too forced and in the end feels limp and hackneyed. Though Efron puts in a good effort with a character that is generally unlikeable, he and his frat boy brothers, with their barrels of weed and homemade dildos, feel like the ill-conceived rejects of a straight-to-video AMERICAN PIE sequel. But all that could be forgiven if there were just a few more laughs.

Aside from an incident in which Mac falls fowl of a hidden airbag, too many jokes fall flat and it actually feels pretty lazy. When you’re watching Seth Rogen milk his wife’s engorged breasts or you’re confronted with a character who can induce an erection at will—without doubt, the comedy low point here—you know you’re scraping the barrel.

Curiously for a comedy, BAD NEIGHBOURS is actually at its best when it’s not trying to make you laugh. As the frat boys approach graduation and stare their future in the face, Efron and co. are forced to consider what it means to move on and enter the real world. And, while Rogan is on autopilot as the same lovable stoner he’s played in pretty much every film, he and Byrne manage to generate a decent, likeable chemistry with some enjoyable back and forth banter. Thanks to this pairing, BAD NEIGHBOURS actually comes to a rather sweet conclusion, reasoning that maybe it’s okay to settle down. Maybe it’s okay to grow up. If only Stoller had taken his own advice.

For all the sex, drugs and genital humour, BAD NEIGHBOURS is an experience that is actually pretty bland. So if you want a generally enjoyable, occasionally amusing romp, you’re better off sticking with GET HIM TO THE GREEK. And honestly, I never thought I’d say that.

Blue Ruin English Movie Review

Blue Ruin Review

Director: Jeremy Saulnier

Starring: Macon Blair, Devin Ratray, Amy Hargreaves

Make no mistake, this is the revenge movie of the year. A cold-blooded yet emotionally gripping independent marvel which feels like it arrived from thin air and swept through the scene like an unstoppable but refreshing wind. A story worthy of a Hollywood classic, direction reminiscent of a modern-day Hitchcock and a cast that wouldn’t go amiss in a Coen Brother’s masterpiece. It’s a sharp, unforgiving indie rollercoaster that grabs you by the throat from the off and never let’s go until those credits roll. A character study on a character we shouldn’t morally like, the fastest slow burner (if that’s cinematically possible) to grace our screens in recent years and a sure-fire hit destined for a cult status. It’s bold, original, uncompromising and absolutely captivating…and it just so happens to be little unknown filmmaker Jeremy Saulnier’s first foray into independent cinema.

Actualy, allow me to correct myself because right now Saulnier should be anything but unknown. Many debut features are merely just a dip in the water, a taste of promising things to come and if ‘Blue Ruin’ is Saulnier’s practice run then Hollywood undoubtedly has a new master craftsman on their hands. Hitting the ground running at 200mph, Saulnier’s efforts are clearly realised when the whole piece feels as if we’re going at 5mph. It’s this sublime technique which builds its’ resilient suspense from the opening credits all the way through to the very end. It’s Hitchcock in the modern redneck era, Nolan with a gritty edge or Greengrass getting personal.

We start off in Delaware, USA. A middle-aged scruffy looking man takes a bath in a middle class peaceful house. We already gather that this isn’t his home and before we know it he jumps out of the window with nothing but a towel and his well accomplished beard. From then on we follow Dwight, a very clearly disturbed vagrant living in a derelict car and eating from bin bags. One morning he is informed that his parent’s murderer is released from jail and so ensues a trail of vengeance and utter destruction.

Where this differs from previous revenge flicks is that it focuses on the conscience, the psychological trauma that follows after any blaze of bloody violence. This is all down to Macon Blair’s unforgettable turn as the film’s lead. Blair manages to move away from the stereotypical homeless man of Hollywood and allows us to witness a humanity, a twisted sense of emotional abandonment and a sudden realisation that this could happen to any of us.  Already famously compared to the Coen’s debut ‘Blood Simple’, Blair’s presence, intentional or not, steers more towards Shane Meadows’ DEAD MAN’S SHOES whilst also making room to honour previous vengeance stories such as GET CARTER and KILL BILL. However, this is something entirely different, it feels intimate and personal and as a large majority of Saulnier’s family were involved in the production and the film dedicated to a Saulnier, it feels that this has been something he has been waiting to shout from the rooftops for a long, long time.

As debut indie features go, BLUE RUIN is unprecedented filmmaking. Funded by Saulnier himself and from the help of public funding, it’s a prime example that an industry level film doesn’t always need the industry to make it happen and it’s a credit to the creator and its’ lead that they managed to tell a story that numerous Hollywood folk have been trying years to accomplish.

The year’s first best indie gem and the most ambitious debut in recent years. An unavoidable calling card for Saulnier and Blair and an overdue reinvention of a worn out genre. This is a slick, suspenseful and unbelievably gripping film which will hopefully get the attention it deserves.

Delivery The Beast Within Movie Review

Delivery The Beast Within Review

Director: Brian Netto

Starring: Laurel Vail, Danny Barclay, Rob Cobuzio, Rebecca Brooks, David Allan Graf, Lance Buckner, Peter McLynn

‘In 2009 Kyle and Rachel Massey agreed to document their first pregnancy for a reality television series,’ reads DELIVERY’s first intertitle. ‘The show would never make it to air.’

This is Paranormal Uterus Activity. Styled as a behind the scenes documentary concerning the shelved television series in question (also called ‘Delivery’), the horror of THE BEAST WITHIN is derived from its faux documentary formula.

This strict adherence to the tried and tested guidelines of the genre results in a convincing mock documentary. The first twenty minutes of the film depicting the non-broadcast pilot of ‘Delivery’ almost in its entirety, is a triumph, uncannily resembling the material on which it is based.

Viewed on its own, the pilot sequence would excite any US constructed reality fan. The onscreen graphics are suitably kooky, the goofy chitter-chatter knowingly inane and the embedded music omnipresent. Kyle (Danny Barclay) and Rachel (Laurel Vail) are judged just right. They are cute without being unbearably saccharine or schmaltzy.

This section, though, isn’t without its problems. Whilst it is a fine method of introducing and developing characters, it is notably deficient in scares. That in itself isn’t necessarily a bad thing for a first act, the trouble is that the show-within-a-film lacks the anticipation of a scare because we, the audience, know that this is meant to be a fit for transmission, 8pm documentary about expectant parents. It’s like standing in the base in a game of tig. You can’t be got at and you know it.

Comprising of unused footage from the abandoned project and littered with talking heads, the remaining hour and ten is the pay-off for persevering with this initial barren land of horror.

Unlike the ever fashionable torture porn that elicits a visceral pleasure from the dismembering of beautiful people, DELIVERY is very much part of the old school. An old school that teaches that a fear of seeing protagonists fail can be a just as potent method of delivering horror than the butchering of barely sentient department store mannequins.

Other than the central premise of a haunted pregnancy, the drive of THE BEAST WITHIN is about real people with real problems, engaged in real domestic pacts that force their hands. The couple stay in their seemingly possessed home because they can’t afford anywhere different, and an abortion is never considered because these are two people motivated by love and optimism.

We know this because we see the characters interact, this is again thanks to the reality television element of the piece. Not a flippant, throwaway gimmick as I had anticipated, but rather the film’s crutch. To have made DELIVERY about any other couple would have sacrificed the authenticity of the sequence of events. Without Kyle and Rachel being followed about with cameras, the narrative would have felt more accidental, coincidental and scattergun.

It’s not all serious however. The film also succeeds in gently prodding and playing with overused horror tropes, affecting a kitschy TEETH-like tone. The revulsion of animals, nightmares, spooky paintings, religion, technical interference, the list of targets is almost endless, yet it does not detract from the film’s main job of causing us to jump from our chairs.

Come at DELIVERY: THE BEAST WITHIN from whichever angle you like and find yourself presently surprised. It is an exciting directorial debut from an undoubted new talent.

DELIVERY: THE BEAST WITHIN is release on VOD on 27th May and in limited US cinemas from 30th May. UK fans can catch it on DVD from the 12th May. 

Walk Of Shame Movie Review

Walk Of Shame Review

Director: Steve Brill

Starring: Elizabeth Banks, James Marsden, Gillian Jacobs, Sarah Wright

All title and director surname puns aside and all anguish let go of with the rolling of the credits; it is no surprise that ‘weak sauce’ comedy-caper WALK OF SHAME is living up to it’s name at the US box office. With scantily even a good thing to say about Elizabeth Banks, who lets face it – we ALL love to love, it’s obvious that writer/director Steve Brill hasn’t put pen to paper in 14 years. I’m assuming he hasn’t been on a date in as much time either, at least not to the pictures.

It should be doing all right as a date movie shouldn’t it? After all that’s exactly what it is. Don’t get me wrong; I know there is absolutely, positively a place for trashy, easy-watching comedies. I love a good cabbagy movie. Forget DRILLBIT TAYLOR but Mr. Deeds, which is another old Brill one, is believe it or not one of my favourite Sandler flicks! But just like in the vegetable world, there is ‘savoy’ (good) cabbage and then there’s crap cabbage. WALK OF SHAME is not a savoy cabbage! The oh-so thin plot, which boils away to literally nothing, goes like this…

Meghan (Elizabeth Banks) is dragged out drinking at a club in downtown LA by her two annoying besties Rose (Gillian Jacobs) and Denis (Sarah Wright). After being dumped by her fiancée and losing out on a huge promotion at her job as a news anchor, it’s pretty much exactly what she needs. In a heartbeat, she meets Gordon (James Marsden), the guy of her dreams who drives them back to his place in Meghan’s car to get it on. Short story short – she prepares to tip toe out early to go home but luckily hears a voicemail informing her that the job could once more be hers, IF she makes it into work on time and delivers a final convincing news reading. My oh my. She must be so excited because she somehow ends up out on the street moneyless, carless and cellphoneless. Hmm. [Insert hole here] With nothing but a strangely undermining look at her skills as an independent woman to employ, she is a babe in the woods. ‘Lost in the hood’, she is naïve and innocent in an attention grabbing canary yellow dress.

It could just be me, but I think a sense of what is an acceptable standard in comedy is fading. In all seriousness, that yellow dress is about the only bright thing about this film. With a lot of forced narrative and few very forced laughs for a comedy; the shapely dress and the poster image of the girl in it are about the only honest elements on offer that actually feature in the film. They will no doubt contribute to a large portion of what tickets do sell; each participant a moth to the proverbial flame that is fatal patterned conformity. I suppose the template can result in success, but this relies wholly on plot developments that include interesting character and scenario coming together to form the opportunity for good humour. In this instance, like so many disposable films before it; I felt completely exhausted before the pointless journey had even begun. I recently turned off WE’RE THE MILLERS only thirty minutes in and THIS was even worse. Go back to 1994 and BABY’S DAY OUT offered more childish high points.

I can’t help hoping that Banks jumped unknowingly on the offering of a lead role following her delightful casting in the ongoing THE HUNGER GAMES franchise. A momentary gem in THE 40 YEAR OLD VIRGIN and a total diamond in ZACK AND MIRI MAKE A PORNO (Smith Knows how to work her); she also works overtime in many a successful TV show too, like 30 Rock and Modern Family. I’m not sure what Marsden’s excuse is but in my opinion this project is completely beneath the both of them. I really dismay to think of so many worthy independents struggling so hard to gain recognition and cinema release, when such pathetic and lazy productions are polished up into glossy products and spoon fed to the masses. WALK OF SHAME might look attractive tonight and you may wanna be spoon fed our little bird, but trust me you will regret it. Take my advice and do what the filmmakers seemingly did at every turn. Don’t give yourself any grief. Take the easy way out.

Million Dollar Arm English Movie Review

Million Dollar Arm Review

Director: Craig GillespieStarring: Jon Hamm, Suraj Sharma, Madhur Mittal, Pitobash Tripathy, Lake Bell, Aasif Mandvi, Alan Arkin, Bill Paxton, Allyn Rachel Rating: PG Running Time: 120minutes The only other movie I’ve seen of Craig Gillespie’s was MR. WOODCOCK, and if you had seen that, then you might understand why I was a little concerned with how MILLION DOLLAR ARM would turn out. Thankfully, Mr. Gillespie did not disappoint! MILLION DOLLAR ARM is based on the true story of how sports agent, J.B. Bernstein, started the Million Dollar Arm competition, after his business was going broke. Bernstein needed baseball pitchers so he started a contest (and eventually a reality show) called Million Dollar Arm that took place in India. It was a contest where the first place prize was one hundred thousand US dollars and the second place prize was ten thousand US dollars. Both however, were brought to America to start training to try out for a Major League Baseball team. Most of the boys who tried out have never watched or played baseball which adds to the thrill and fascination of this story. To sum up the movie without completely spoiling it, the audience witnesses the yearlong journey in store for the all three of these characters. The story is amazing. Very uplifting, encouraging, and quite funny, too! I assumed this movie was going to be a complete drama with maybe two funny parts, but I was proven wrong. I felt every emotion throughout the entire film: happiness, anger, sadness, confusion, joy, nervousness- it was all there! When you can make an audience feel all of that in one sitting, you are well on your way to having a successful movie. What also helps is having a phenomenal cast.  Jon Hamm is listed as the top-billing star, but I want to give a round of applause to Suraj Sharma, Madhur Mittal, and Pitobash Tripathy.  They were definitely the stars of this movie. I believe they are all from India, so they were able to channel what it is like to come to America for the first time because I am sure they all went through what the real Patel and Singh went through; culture shock. I could feel their emotions and at one point cried with them because they were so believable. That, my friends, is astonishing acting. Everyone else in the movie was great, too! With actors like Jon Hamm, Alan Arkin, and Bill Paxton, you can expect an authentic story to be portrayed. I never heard of Lake Bell until tonight, but she played her character Brenda so well, you could not tell me she isn’t like Brenda in real life. If you love sarcasm, you will love Brenda. The soundtrack was outstanding. There were a few songs that featured some popular names, such as Kendrick Lamar and Wale, but A. R. Rahman composed the majority of the songs. If you’ve seen SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE, then you’ve heard some of his material before.  Not only were they really fun songs, but the timing and usage was dead on. It helped with the pacing of the movie and helped enhance certain scenes like Bernstein traveling through India, and the scenes were the boys are training for the competition. Credit must also be given to the editors and producers for their music choices and editing. Great cuts, great transitions, absolutely fantastic work! I only have two criticisms with this movie. I was bit confused at first because it’s called MILLION DOLLAR ARM, but the contestants didn’t make a million dollars. After thinking it over, I suppose the millions went to the business people from all the publicity they recieved, or it is fancier and cooler to say ‘million dollars’ instead of ‘one hundred thousand dollars.’ In any case, this title is extremely misleading. The writers can’t be blamed for that though, because this is based on a true story, so if that’s what it was called in reality, at least the film is staying true to the facts. My second criticism would be that towards the end of the movie, it dragged for like 3-5mins. However, it wasn’t enough, to put a damper on the entire thing. Overall, MILLION DOLLAR ARM is a must see. If you have children, definitely take them to see this movie. It teaches us about different cultures. It’s a great reminder of how fortunate a lot of us are to live where we live. The different settings throughout the movie make that lesson very clear.  The ultimate lesson is best said with the quote: “The man who has won millions at the cost of his conscience is a failure.”  When you see this movie and everything that the stars went through, you will learn how to appreciate and cherish the most important things in your life: family, friends, and yourself.

Aanamika telugu Movie Review

Anaamika Review

Story : Anaamika Sastry (Nayanthara) comes to Hyderabad in search of her husband Ajay Sastry (Harshvardhan Rane), who vanishes without a trace. Parthasarathy (Vaibhav Reddy), an honest cop, empathises with her desperation to find her husband and vows to help her. As the duo try to unravel the mystery behind the sudden disappearance of Ajay Sastry, they find themselves inching closer to a big conspiracy which puts their own lives in danger.

Movie Review : Anaamika is an unlikely film from the stable of Sekhar Kammula and him making a thriller is surprising, to say the least. For a change, the director resists the temptation of imbibing some of his favourite themes like social inequality, coming-of-age theme and innocence. This in turn gives a distinct tone to Anaamika compared to his previous films; however, the film leaves a lot to be desired, in terms of eliciting an emotional response from the audience.

The film's opening scene, which is set in the bylanes near Charminar, sets the tone for a gripping drama, but before we get sucked in to the drama, Sekhar Kammula takes his own sweet time to establish the characters. Soon after Anaamika Sastry comes to Hyderabad, the film slowly into a laborious exercise, where we are told what exactly she does on a daily basis. The only solace during this process is M M Keeravani's scintillating background score, which keeps us hooked on to the screen despite the sheer lack of drama for nearly half the film's running time. Moreover, most part of the film's first half unfolds within the precincts of a police station and a hotel, which in turn restricts the characters and storytelling.

Then there's Parthasarathy (Vaibhav Reddy), the only police officer whom Anaamika can trust, who goes out of his way to solve the case, much to the displeasure of his senior official. The film's most interesting character, however, is another police official named Khan, an encounter specialist played with aplomb by Pasupathy. His frustration can be measured from the puffs of smoke he exhales every minute and surprisingly, he's the most intense character in the film. The second half is a redeeming factor and almost immediately the story moves ahead with enough speed, to make up for all the lost time in setting up the story.

Comparisons are inevitable when one remakes a critically acclaimed film like Vidya Balan starrer Kahani and in the case of Anaamika, Sekhar Kammula almost gets away because he deviates from the original plot to a large extent. Nayanthara is no match to Vidya Balan, but she does a decent job in portraying the role of a woman who is helpless. It's tough to understand what's going through her mind and when the big twist in the film is revealed, we are left wondering how she figured it all out.

Anaamika is by no means a solid thriller, but it's a good effort from Sekhar Kammula who is enamoured with the idea of a helpless woman struggling to find her husband in a city which has learnt to embrace all its contradictions. The only thing missing in the story is edge-of-the-seat drama and that makes all the difference. Watch it if you haven't seen Kahani.