Sundance 2015 Review - Finders Keeper's (2015)

Sundance 2015 Review - Christmas, Again (2014)

Genre:
Drama, Romance, Indie
Venue:
Sundance 2015
Rating: 15
Director:
Charles Poekel
Cast:
Kentucker Audley, Craig Butta, Hannah Gross,Andrea Suarez Paz
Ever been dumped at Christmas? If so, Charles Poekel’s yuletide misery tale Christmas, Again will prove unfortunately familiar for you. Give it time though, and it might just teach you a thing or two about the grieving process.

Kentucker Audley delivers a tender portrayal of festive alienation as Noel, a young man working the streets of New York selling Christmas trees. Amidst stupid customers and lazy co-workers, Noel is simply trying to survive without breaking down, but after bringing an unconscious young woman home one night, his December starts to take a different direction than previously anticipated.

Commendable for realistically dealing with flirtations and passing friendships, writer/director/producer Poekel has a tight hold on this tender character piece.Audley is superb, but his consistently miserable performance can be a bit much until you start to share his headspace. The few moments of staunch emotion are apt and perfectly placed to articulate Noel’s pain and the point of the film as a whole. Poekel wants us to think about encounters we try to cling to, putting a hand on the viewer’s shoulder to assure us that its ok, friendships are sometimes doomed to end just as abruptly as they began.

Oddly this film feels like its for anyone who’s worked in retail or the service industry during the festive season too, proving itself a sharp satirical work whenever Noel is forced into awkward encounters with awful, pernickety, and downright infuriating customers. Keeping the script light means that the focus is elsewhere, on the performances and the camera work. Sean Price Williams keeps the project sedate and lacking in a flashiness that might have proved overbearing on the tight character work. Shooting on film gives the feature a depth and substance that might otherwise have been lost in the polished veneer of digital.

Christmas, Again is a muted affair, balanced precariously on the line between intriguing vignette and wide-scoped essay on capitalism, Christmas, and love. The film’s finest flourish comes in the form of the fantastic Kentucker Audley who channels an ocean of pain in an honest portrayal of heartache in the festive season.

★★★★
Scott Clark

Sundance 2015 Review - The Overnight (2015)

Sundance 2015 Review - Best Of Enemies (2015)

Genre:
Documentary, History
Venue:
Sundance 2015
Director:
Robert Gordon, Morgan Neville
Cast:
Gore Vidal, Kelsey Grammer, John Lithgow
Two of American political history’s most arresting conservationists, will forever be heavy weight republican William F. Buckley and lizard-tongued liberal Gore Vidal. Now, whatever your political beliefs, one can neither deny the magnetism of either men, nor the balanced way in which they are dealt with in Best of Enemies. Robert Gordon and Morgan Neville strive to keep the field tight at both ends, focusing on what the outspoken gents’ televised 1968 debates meant for American politics (not to mention the development of news broadcasting as a whole) instead of simply digging up the past to settle an old score.

Buckley and Vidal’s debate came as the result of a kind of trifecta of issues; first, failing broadcaster ABC needed ratings, second, the Republican and Democratic party conferences were kicking off, and finally two desperately opposing writers were looking to cement their philosophies in the new age via TV. Unfortunately, the debates- there are 10 of them- don’t quite seem to ever deal with the issues at hand.

It’s about a clash of characters and ideals but its skimpy on the ideals. Vidal is an incredible wordsmith, but so is Buckley, the two spend so much time sparring (read; dick-waving) that the issues are left to the filmmakers to structure. And that’s where some problems can arise; too much context and arguably not enough info on what the two were actually supposed to be discussing leaves the viewer a little hungry for closure. As a whole the documentary is riveting, undeniably enjoyable, but one must eventually wonder whether it’s overly reliant on the fascinating intellectual deviants at its core.

Like Frost/Nixon without the political intrigue, Best of Enemies is a gripping piece of historical entertainment. It does however sport a line of such shattering incredulity, that it might just put Nixon’s now infamous ‘not illegal’ spurt to shame. John Lithgow and Kelsey Grammer narrate the diaries of Vidal and Buckley respectively, which is a fantastic idea given the two actors’ outspoken and parallel political views. There’s a host of charismatic and fascinating interviews, none least with Buckley’s own often hilarious brother, an excellent array of clips, and some really sparky editing. However the film never seems to quite articulate itself in the best way. The effects of the titanic duo’s verbal sparring on contemporary media is unfortunately ditched to a short credits sequence which is a shame as its one of the most striking parts.

As an introduction to the works of Gore Vidal and the processes of political commentary Best of Enemies is a blast, but it never quite manages to resonate or strike as hard as Vidal’s vocabulary. If you want to watch two very smart men be snide and snippy at an explosive point of zeitgeist, this is probably the best place to see it.

★★★
Scott Clark

Blu-ray Review - Shoah (1985)

Genre:
Documentary
Distributor:
Eureka
Release Date:
26th January 2015
Rating: E
Director:
Claude Lanzmann
Buy: Blu-ray - Shoah
Claude Lanzmann started work on what would become Shoah in 1974. He initially had backing from the Israelis but after time went on, they withdrew funds. Six years of the eleven until it’s eventual release in 1985 were simply devoted to getting the interviews. What he finally finished was an extremely long, but fascinating and thoughtful film on the Holocaust, and primarily what happened in Poland.

Shoah runs at a simply exhausting 9 and half hours. Lanzmann takes the brave move of using for the majority of the running time, filmed testimonies with survivors, witnesses and German perpetrators. It also extensively shoots the landscapes of where the camps are, and in a very eerie but effective way, puts you there, even without reconstructions or photographs etc.

The film’s most fascinating elements are stories where you hear about denial. One of the most shocking is when a Jewish woman is trying to warn everyone they are about to be gassed but they tell her to go away, and unfortunately, they get killed as well. It also goes into great detail about the production line aspect of the concentration camps and how a lot of Nazi office workers really didn't know about the final solution until really near the end of the war - if you believe them or not it’s up you to decide. The second part of the film also deals with the heroic attempts by the Jewish to fight back in the Warsaw Ghetto despite knowing it was unwinnable.

Shoah’s biggest flaw is also it’s most controversial one. When it was released in Poland many pundits criticized it as anti-polish propaganda. It does at times show the Polish in not a very good light, for example, a lot of them just stood and watched the atrocities happen, they collaborated with the Nazis, they were already anti-semitic etc. It was criticized for not showing all the great things the Polish did for the Jewish, or the millions of Polish that were exterminated by the Nazis. Lanzmann has admitted part of the film was to show how implicit the Polish were, which was true to an extent, but there was also another side which would have been nice to have it be represented.

It’s quite riveting stuff throughout, there are numerous parts where you zone out for a while, but within 20 minutes you get all wrapped up into the story again. Obviously the film cannot explore the full depths of the Holocaust, because of the scope of the atrocities, it is impossible to make a definitive document, however this is one of the most powerful films made on the subject to date.

Over the years Lanzmann has revisited the subject in another 4 films, mostly made out of outtakes of Shoah with the latest being the recently released The Last of the Unjust. Naturally, they are all included in this Blu-ray set.

★★★★1/2
Ian Schultz

DVD Review - Sunflower (I girasoli, 1970)

Sundance 2015 Review - The Witch (2015)

Genre:
Horror
Distributor:
A24
Rating: TBC
Venue:
Suncance 2015
Director:
Rober Eggers
Cast:
Kate Dickie, Julian Richings, Anya Taylor-Joy, Ralph Ineson
Robert Eggers debut feature as writer/director, The Witch, is the kind of abstract horror feature that can either flounder in monotony or champion a kind of folk-tale methodology rarely seen.

Announcing itself ‘A New England Folk Tale’ the feature goes on to tell the story of a colonial family who, upon exile from plantation life, take up residence on the edge of a New England forest, to live the Godly life. Tensions climb and emotions blaze after the youngest of the family disappears from the would-be idyllic farm, eyes fall on and from there…it doesn’t get much better.

Eggers has carefully built an incredibly uncomfortable piece of film that effortlessly strolls through horror drama with the skill and acute control of an intimate theatre production. Carefully chosen iconography from the history of witchcraft, along with a kind of infectious condemnation borrowed from The Crucible, keeps the atmosphere grim as Hell. Select images, sporadically introduced, induce an air of panic and mystery in the viewer, planting us in the position of horrified onlooker. Dark caves, bloody apples, towering trees of charcoal black, dark and degrading monstrous doings. It’s a treasure trove of Gothic imagery.

Jarin Blaschke’s palette of miserable greys does much of the films work, ensuring that whenever dull sticky reds appear, they make you feel nauseous. Every shot is loaded, every performance pitch-perfect. Particularly Kate Dickie and Ralph Ineson who threaten to steal the show at every turn with a chemistry as tangible as the atmosphere itself. Seriously, Dickie is fantastic as the puritanical grieving mother, delivering a matronly performance that parallels her fantastic work in For Those in Peril, whilst Ineson’s overbearing turn becomes bolder and bolder with every scene that passes.

Incredibly evocative filmmaking, dark, mystic, horrifying, stunning, The Witch is a feature all by itself. Dickie and Ineson impress with towering performances, Egger promises a talent to look out for, and Blaschke just about instigates a nervous breakdown with intense visual control. And that’s without mentioning the invasively boisterous score.

★★★★★
Scott Clark

Sundance 2015 Review - It Follows (2015)

Sundance 2015 Review - What Happened Miss Simone? (2015)

Genre:
Music, Documentary
Venue:
Sundance 2015
Rating:NC
Director:
Liz Garbus
Nina Simone is one of those people who requires no introduction, but after viewing Liz Garbus’ stellar documentary What Happened, Miss Simone?, you might be surprised how little you knew about the outspoken songstress.

First and foremost, this is a film about love and music, specifically Simone’s love for music which seemed to go beyond just love and graduate to a fiercely symbiotic relation. Thus What Happened is also about the heartbreak and trauma Simone underwent when those things were perverted in every aspect of her life.

After an enigmatic opening which sees Simone take to the stage, stare near-violently into space then abruptly, and mysteriously introduce herself, Garbus zips back to contextualize the singer’s ominous cynicism. By any respects Simone led a fascinating life, from her humble upbringing flourished a prodigal talent in classic piano, through a fierce marriage, rocket to fame, family woes, embracing a political lifestyle, friendships with Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, falling in with black radicals, collapse of her mental state, fleeing the USA, absorbing and reflecting all the shit she ever put up with, but eventual rescue by friends, and success in later life. This is a riveting documentary about a truly remarkable woman.

Simone was overwhelmingly alone. Hers was the gift of insight, understanding and this - along with other disturbances in her life- drove her to the edge. Garbus understands this implicitly, giving us unprecedented and never-before-seen access to, not just Simone’s career, process, and personal life, but arguably her very soul. Her manic depression, self-harm, and bipolar behaviour, are presented as part and parcel of her anguish towards a world torn apart by racism and greed. Yet, Garbus is wise to keep Simone’s radical, violence-inciting, behaviours at arm’s length, even when the context of the story argues them an act of desperation.

When asked in her later years about the civil rights movement she replies ‘there is no civil rights movement…they are all gone’. I wonder what she would have said about the last 12 months of American history, how she would have reacted to the continuing age of distress. If we can’t know what Simone thinks, we can at least deduce Garbus’ feelings in this bold and fascinating historical cross-section that seems preposterously well-timed.

Endearingly composed of unseen footage, personal letters and diaries, archive interviews, and intimate conversations with Simone’s colleagues and friends, What Happened, Miss Simone? Is a fantastic piece of work. Perhaps a little flashy, you can’t really blame Garbus for a little overdramatic sound editing and dramatic flareflair…she is writing about Nina Simone after all.

★★★★
Scott Clark

Win Ragnarok - The Viking Apocalypse On DVD

To celebrate the release of Ragnarok The Viking Apocalypse, the fast-paced throwback to the kind of old-school Spielberg action we all grew up on - coming to DVD 2nd February 2015 - we have a copy to giveaway courtesy of Studiocanal.

Think the Goonies meets Jurassic Park, or Indiana Jones with a Lord Of The Rings twist.

Fast-paced, gripping but most of all fun, Ragnarok is ridiculously entertaining. And, as a bonus extra, it’ll help Marvel fans swot up on viking mythology ahead of Thor: Ragnarok. So, exciting AND educational, what more could movie fans want?

“Ragnarok is the closest you're going to get to a new Steven Spielberg movie in the manner of Jurassic Park or Raiders of the Lost Ark” Sound on Sight

Available to order on Amazon today: http://amzn.to/1tDgPgv

Archaeologist Sigurd Svendsen has for years been obsessed with the Oseberg Viking ship. The only inscription found on the ship is the enigmatic ‘man knows little’ written in runes. Sigurd is sure that the Oseberg ship contains the answer to the mystery of Ragnarok, the end of days in Norse mythology. When his friend Allan finds similar runes on a stone from the north of Norway, Sigurd becomes convinced that the runes are in fact a treasure map. Together they mount an expedition group and their adventure leads to “No man’s Land” between Norway and Russia, which has been deserted for decades. Here Sigurd learns the true meaning of the runes – a secret more terrifying than he could possibly imagine.



To Win a copy of Ragnarok The Viking Apocalypse, please answer the following question...

Q.Name the 'Viking'Film directed By Nicholas Winding Refn starring a near dialogue free Mads Mikklesen?

Deadline is Sunday 8th February 2015 (23:59pm),If you haven’t done already Like us and stay with us at our Facebook page (if you are already liking us just share this post on twitter and facebook). Must be 13  or older to enter.

1.The competition is not opened to employees, family, friends of The Peoples Movies, Arrow Films .13 years or older to enter 3.Failure to include any information required to enter could result in your entry been void.  4.automated entries are not allowed and will be disqualified, which could result you been banned, DO NOT INCLUDE telephone numbers as for security reason your entry will be deleted.5.If you are friend or like us at facebook for every competition you enter you get double entry, but you must stay friend/like us all the time,or future entries maybe considered one entry if you are liking us share the post on facebook and re-tweet the post.6.The Peoples Movies, Cinehouse takes no responsibility for delayed, lost, stolen prizes 7.Prizes may take from days to a few months for delivery which is out of our control so please do not complain 8.The winning entries will be picked at random and contacted by email for postal details and will be announced via facebook, sometimes we are unable to confirm winners. Uk & Irish entries only

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