YayNayorMeh Reviews

Occupied City (2023)

Meditative, Contemplative, Kinda Hypnotic... Also Unnecessarily long

[6/10 · 25 February 2024]

In one way I admire this movie. The intent of showing the buried and uncomfortable history of a major European city and simultaneously showing the conflicts and protests that have become part of the present day is admirable.

McQueen manages to show modern Amsterdam on a city-wide civic scale as well as a personal, private scale and gives equal importance to both.

I also find the focus on multiculturalism admirable. We spend time with people with North African, East Asian, Afro-Colonial & Palestinian heritages. As well as the modern Jewish community of Amsterdam.

But it's very repetitive. The historical anecdotes are very compelling, but after a while they seem to be the same type of story over and over. We also didn't need the journeys of the roofs of trams in Amsterdam.

Bottom line, this documentary DID NOT need to be over 4 hours long. It turns what could have been a truly meditative experience into an endurance test.

American Cherry (2023)

I did watch the movie...

[5/10 · 28 October 2023]

... but still don't think it's very good.

This is a film which is so clearly inspired by/a pastiche of American Beauty it's painful. Cod-philosophical musings on Vonnegut, Kafka, Soviet Sci-Fi and of course Death. A protagonist who films mundane things on VHS video tapes and calls it art. We don't need to see this kind of thing again.

I was attracted to this because the trailer made it look like a film where there would be some kind of mystery revolving arund the videos that are being made or at least the videos would be a major plot point or revelatory about the central relationship.

No.

What we have instead is a typical story of naive girl falling for bad boy with disasterous consequences. The VHS tapes that the protagonist films are barely part of the plot. Mostly an incredibly lazy excuse to have some "Deep" voice overs.

It's also worth pointing out that this film has a couple of issues that are common to low-budget film-making: a) Some of the acting is incredibly stilted and awkward b) The sound mixing is terrible. Many times through the course of the film dialogue is drowned ut by the sound design and/or score.

Nanny (2022)

I hated the ending too

[5/10 · 2 March 2023]

I was already luke-warm on this movie. I appreciate the attempt to use folklore from a place like West Africa to show a different type of horror than we're used to in the West (BTW I recommend Saloum). I also appreciated the tense relationship between Anna Diop and Michelle Monaghan and the naturalistic cinematography. However I don't think the spiritual aspects of the film were strong enough or were explored enough. It felt a little under developed.

And then the ending. I don't know if it was the producers or Nikyatu Jusu herself who decided to tack on a coda seemingly using off-cuts from previous scenes, but whoever made the decision made a wrong decision. We have a beautiful poignant scene that would have made a perfect, albeit melancholy, ending. It is then immediately undercut by some bad ADR and a montage of images left over from the cutting room floor. This attempt at a less melancholy ending did not work and tipped me over the line from a mediocre movie to a frustratingly bad one.

The Long Walk (2019)

More meditative than spooky

[8/10 · 14 August 2022]

Technically this is a ghost story and has been marketed as such (I saw it on Shudder), but that does not give the whole picture at all. If I had to pick one sub-genre to classify this film I would have to say it's a time-travel movie and even that is woefully inadequate. Empirically you might also call it a Serial Killer movie, but again that would be technically true but missing the point entirely.

This is a very mediative film that deals with the consequences of grief and how 'helping' other people (or spirits) is often simple selfishness. It depicts a cycle of behaviour that can be difficult to break and it's debatable whether the action in the movie has actually broken that cycle.

To me this is Nacho Vigalondo's 'Timecrimes' mixed with Ray Bradbury's 'A Sound Of Thunder' mixed with Buddhist philosophy telling a tale about the selfishness of grief.

I think this is excellent.

Who Am I Now? (2021)

Basic and Old Fashioned... But In A Good Way??

[6/10 · 19 July 2022]

There are several caveats that need to be put into place for this film.

Firstly, It is so micro-budget it may as well have been shot on a camcorder. The cinematography and the sound mixing are very sub-par.

Secondly, The acting isn't great, and it certainly doesn't help that everyone is supposed to be in college but seems at least a decade too old.

Thirdly, This type of narrative with characters so scared of their sexual identity seems archaic. The attitudes are only slightly advanced from 'Desert Hearts' which was made in the 80s and set in the 50s.

The 'Coming Out' story, or more specifically its sub-genre the 'Coming Out To Yourself' story has been done to death in the English Speaking world and we don't necessarily need another one. Having said that, the by-the-numbers approach that this film has is adequate enough.

The Great and Terrible Day of the Lord (2020)

Interesting idea, made by the wrong people

[3/10 · 2 February 2022]

I am a fan of films that are largly two people talking. The End Of The Tour, Southside With You, The Two Popes and Linklater's Before trilogy are all films I have really appreciated. I was hoping for something similar here, but didn't get it.

Broadly speaking given the premise I think there are three legitimate answers as to what's going on:

Scenario 1: He is a dangerously manipulative man (or possibly cult leader) who has lured his latest conquest to the middle of nowhere.

Scenario 2: He is a nice guy who is suffering from a severe psychotic break.

Scenario 3: He is God, or at least channelling God

What I was hoping for was a film where all three of those scenarios were equally valid and given equal weight in the discussions between these two individuals. It very quickly becomes apparent that instead what we are going to get is a LONG theology/philosophy seminar debating the existence of God. It also becomes apparent early that the film-makers have a goal they want to get to. Both the directors went to a college in Pennsylvania founded by an Evangelist and the male lead is the son of a famous Texan country singer. You can guess what side of the theology debate they come down on.

It's also amateurishly made. The score is an obtrusive mix of Carpenter-esque electronica and church organs, the sound mix in general is severely sub-par and edits within the same scene are often stilted and awkward. There are even some scenes where the framing is off. This didn't strike me as 'I'm going to break the rules for an artistic reason' it struck me as 'I don't know what the rules are'.

Essentially this is 2 hours of proselytising. It has some OK ideas and OK acting, but it doesn't need to be this long and it doesn't need to come so firmly down on a specific side.

Lapwing (2021)

Literalising the voiceless

[7/10 · 13 January 2022]

The harshness of some critics astounds me. I am not involved with this production in any way, I am not giving it 10/10, I'm giving it an honest assessment.

A quiet, melancholy film about outsiders. The 'Civilised British' of this film are a group of religious fanatics exploiting those even lower in society than them. Living in tents and eking out an existance farming salt on the bleak Lincolnshire coast hardly makes you a part of society, yet they are still able to make profit off those even worse off than themselves.

The fact that Hannah Douglas has a stammer so severe she is functionally mute, and when she tries to speak she 'screeches like a lapwing' literalises the fact that for so many people throughout so much of history having a voice was not an option. When you can't speak, you can't speak up.

Emmett J Scanlan is a typical cult leader, in that he maintains his power through charisma and control, but what happens when the charisma stops working? Drinking more heavily through the course of the film starts things unravelling. Is he drinking because his control is slipping or is his control slipping therefore he's drinking? Either way it's a portrait of a man no longer in control of himself or others, and in my opinion it works well.

A touch more fatalistic acceptance of the way her life has gone from Hannah Douglas might have been in order and a few more happy interactions with Sebastian De Souza would have been nice, but overall a bleak, heart rending film that worked well on me.

Redemption of a Rogue (2020)

Rogue isn't the word

[8/10 · 6 November 2021]

This is a jet black, absurdist comedy that works surprisingly well.

I would say that 'deeply traumatised man' would be a more accurate than 'rogue'. For varying reasons Aaron Monaghan's character is an outsider. Some reasons are personal and traumatic, some are public and enormously petty. Either way he's not in a good place. When the first thing you do when returning to your home town is buy some rope to hang yourself with, it says something. It also says something that the shop keeper gives sensible suicidal advice.

The black comedy tone is continued with a throwaway gag about child abuse and a serious discussion about the best way to maim someone. This is not a film to be approached lightly, but in my opinion it is one that works.

A surreal, deadpan, stylised gem.

The Greenhouse (2021)

Good idea, Poor execution

[5/10 · 1 August 2021]

The general idea of this film is solid. Find a portal to the past and assess your issues. Not only your grief for your mother, but also the complex relationship you have/had with the literal girl-next-door.

The execution leaves something to be desired though. What are the specific rules for this portal? What are the consequences for staying? How much physicality is wanted/needed in the portal? Did you actually need THREE siblings to be part of the story? Why introduce an inconvenient boyfriend if he's eventually just quietly dismissed?

This feels a little bit like two films inexpertly crammed together. One about complex sibling relationships in a large family and One about the dangers of nostalgia. Each one is reasonably well executed, but put them together and they diminish each other.

The Green Sea (2021)

It's not misdirection, it's just a cheat.

[4/10 · 26 July 2021]

When I came across this film I was intrigued. An independent Irish film starring the awesome Katherine Isabelle with a trailer that made it look like a mind-bending tale of questionable realities. The type of film I really gravitate towards. I was even more intrigued when I saw that it was directed by an Irish aristocrat.

Unfortunately it doesn't work.

The trailer had prepared me for a film where the physical existence of "The Kid" was up for debate. The fact she doesn't have a name and she's a character in what Katherine Isabelle is writing adds to that idea. It's the same trope we've seen for decades in many different types of film, most notably in Fight Club. Plunkett then procedes to shoot the film as if that is going to be the truth. The only person who talks to or sees "The Kid" is Isabelle, persistant hints at the traumatic back story of Isabelle, the fact she's almost always drunk. A problematic character dealing with her issues in a very unhealthy way.

It turns out that's not what we should have been focusing on. The quirks of "The Kid" are the more important factors. The strange way she reacts to coffee is notable, but given the directions the film eventually goes in, there should have been more. If we are going to have such a radical change of direction and genre then in my opinion it should have been built up to. Have more hints that she's 'off' and we will follow you down the strange (and mildly confusing) paths the film goes into by the end. As it is the revelations come out of nowhere and are under-explored.

There are also very basic things that the 21st Baron Dunsany could have corrected. We've seen the scenario where a problematic character has their car graffitied, but when it's black paint on a black jeep, you can't actually read it. Having title cards that are red text on a black background also turns out to be very hard to read on a tablet screen (which lets face it is how this movie is mostly going to be seen).

Randal Plunkett had an idea. I'm not entirely sure what that idea was, because a little more exposition would have been helpful. He got that idea made with an excellent cult actress and turned it into a mediocre film. Shame. I think this had potential.

Zebra Girl (2021)

A Case Study In The Perils Of Marketing

[8/10 · 14 June 2021]

This was not at all the film I thought I was signing up for. Fortunately I really liked the film it turned out to be.

Judging by the synopsis here and the trailer it looked like:

"I have just discovered something horrible about my husband so I snap and kill him"

That's not what this film is at all. It is more:

"I have a complex history and a complex relationship which leads to murder"

Calling this film a comedy is also WAY off the mark. The very small, very brief bits of jet black comedy are completely drowned out by the uncomfortable darkness. Ultimately this film is a tragedy and you have to accept that going in.

This reminded me strongly of Marjane Satrapi's 'The Voices' with a hint of Cory Finley's 'Thoroughbreds' (Both excellent films BTW). From the very opening shot the mental state of the protagonist is in question and the way the film plays out from that point doesn't have too many surprises, but it's superb nonetheless. Sarah Roy in particular puts in sterling work.

Accept this as an uncomfortable tragedy rather than a black comedy and I think it's well worth watching.

Lucky (IV) (2020)

Excellent feminist parable.

[9/10 · 9 June 2021]

I really wonder how many of the low reviews are from people who just want a slasher film and don't 'get' what the film is trying to do and how many are from people who do 'get' it but don't want to engage with the razor sharp commentary about the struggles of modern women.

Renaissance woman Brea Grant (12 Hour Shift, The Stylist) is definitely my discovery of the year.

What Lies West (2019)

It's Not About The Journey...

[8/10 · 24 May 2021]

There have been many films recently about young women struggling to find purpose and identity. Many have been set in school, such as Ladybird, Booksmart, Eighth Grade and the criminally underappreciated Edge Of Seventeen. In the slightly older Quarter-Life-Crisis bracket the prime example is Frances Ha, but in my opinion the superioir version is Saint Frances. What Lies West fits very nicely alongside these films.

Nicolette is 22 years old and at a loose end over the summer after graduating from college with an acting degree. Instead of following all her friends to La La Land she has a different plan, which on the surface is not a bad idea, but in reality is covering a chasm of self-doubt and insecurity.

Chloe, the 16 year old she has to "Babysit" has been so warped by her chronically over protective mother that she has no friends, no life and has become completely insular. The tiny, rebellious idea she has to hike across California is weird, but at least it's not going the sex-and-drugs route. Even if she wanted to go the sex-and-drugs route she wouldn't know where to start.

What I like about this film is that the hiking section is actually a relatively small part of the film. There is a lot of build up to setting off on the hike and a lot of effort to set up the dynamics. Nicolette quickly realises what a bad situation Chloe is in with her mother and tries her absolute best to engage with her charge, despite not really needing to. She's getting paid either way. Chloe is constantly protesting about Nicolette pretending to be her friend, yet Nicolette continues anyway. By the time the hiking section actually starts the tentative, genuine connection between the two has been so well established, that director Jessica Ellis simply puts obstacles in the way and sees what happens. The different ways the women react to a mobile phone is very telling. Nicolette is more concerned with showing nature on Instagram than nature itself and the overprotected Chloe doesn't know how to react to a mobile at all.

The highest compliment I can pay to this film is I wish it was longer. In an era where many films clock in at well over two hours having one than lasts a trim 79 minutes would usually be a relief. Honestly though I wanted more. The relationship between the girls was engaging, the examination of the enormously problematic mother was interesting and the hiking scenes had all the wilderness magic you could ask for. I even know where I would have added content. The relationship Nicolette has with a douchenozzle who seems nothing more than a user might have been explored a little deeper.

Jessica Ellis has created a charming, simple, sweet film that would be all too easy to overlook, but I think you should give it a try. I also think Ellis deserves more opportunities and should be given them.

Mouthpiece (2018)

Razor-sharp exploration of feminism & grief.

[8/10 · 5 May 2021]

Having two actresses simultaneously play the same 30 year old woman dealing with the death of her mother is an ostentatious approach to take to a film. It also really works.

Essentially we constantly have the inner monologue of this character making itself known and the often conflicting thoughts being shown to the audience. 'Tall' Cassie is more agressive & messy, 'Short' Cassie is more empathetic & together, so when a potential romantic partner asks if she's interested in a relationship 'Tall' Cassie instantly says no, 'Short' Cassie says maybe. When a workman catcalls her 'Tall' Cassie says Thank You, 'Short' Cassie says FU. What each of them feels at every moment allows us to see the confusion of a millenial woman.

It also explores the legacy of feminism through the ages. In flashbacks to Cassie's mother we gradually uncover her story with it's disappointments and regrets. To some degree, as with so many women, she chose family over career and had much wasted potential. Potential that will never now be fulfilled. At least that's how Cassie feels, and Cassie's battle with guilt and resentment over her dead mother is the backbone of this film.

Exploring grief in a painful, truthful occasionally funny way is one thing that this film does very well. The things said, the things unsaid, the feelings revealed to someone no longer there. Regret of never being able to say all the things you wanted to say, remorse of the things you did say. It's all there. What happens when you dedicate your life to your children, and your children worry they're not worth it?

Patricia Rozema directs this film with a lot of flair. Not only managing to get outstanding performances from her leading ladies, and original playwrights, Amy Nostbakken & Norah Sadava, but putting surrealistic touches into the flashbacks. Sometimes these women/this woman just breaks into song. And having the score be a capella humming done by Amy Nostbakken is bizarre, but weirdly effective.

A film dealing with generations of women who struggle to have it all and a palpable study of the grieving process. This is excellent and highly recommended.

The Glorias (2020)

Neither one thing nor the other

[6/10 · 14 March 2021]

On paper the conceit of this film is fascinating. Have the same character/person at different stages of their life interact with their future/past self and give context and comment on the important moments of their life.

In practice this film is not the best example of that conceit. The scenes where the 4 Glorias are on the never-ending bus journey together are few and far between and feel like very brief, surreal interludes in an otherwise fairly basic biopic. Either commit to the surrealism and have the fantastical bus journey BE the film as they discuss each important moment in Gloria Steinem's life or dispense with it entirely and just do a by-the-numbers biopic. I think Julie Taymor tried to do both and ended up falling between too many houses.

I also think the film is a little too directly connected to the original memoir that Steinem wrote. The scene where Julianne Moore is giving a reading from the book goes way too far in my opinion. It tips into the realm of hagiography. Don't get me wrong Gloria Steinem is an awesome person and her story should be told, but there's far too much hero worship here. Having said that I loved the real Gloria Steinem showing up at the end.

Ultimately this comes across as a standard, basic biopic with surreal interludes that are too infrequent and don't really fit the tone of the film at large. Well acted and a story worth telling, but only an average feature film.

Black Bear (I) (2020)

Richer and more complex than it first appears

[8/10 · 1 March 2021]

One of those frustrating films it's very difficult to give a proper review to without major spoilers. Suffice it to say I am a sucker for films that play with the 'reality' of what we are seeing and this film qualifies on multiple levels.

In both a diagetic and non-diagetic way questions are raised about the truth of what we are seeing. For the characters on screen there are blurred lines of honesty and fiction and for the audience there are questions as to the veracity of absolutely everything we are seeing. Without going to much further into spoilers who is acting, who is manipulating and who is truthful are always up for discussion.

There are also deep discussions about the creativity vs. practicality, artistry vs. pragmatism and the pursuit of non-traditional gender roles for women. For a film written and directed by a man he seems to have the female voice and perspective well. At least he is attempting to show the female thought process authentically. (Judging as a cis man myself). I can't help wondering how much of an influence, whether direct or indirect, Levine's very talented wife Sophia Takal had on this film.

It starts out reminding me a little of Alex Ross Perry's Queen Of Earth but develops into something a little more interesting and richer. It also almost goes without saying that Aubrey Plaza is fantastic. I hope this is Levine's overdue entry into the mainstream.

My Favorite War (2020)

Creative telling of dark history

[8/10 · 27 February 2021]

I got strong Jojo Rabbit vibes from this animated, autobiagraphical documentary. It shows a childs-eye-view of growing up in a totalitarian state with inventive fantastical elements, but also the grim realities of growing up in such a way. When it is drawn the past can look particularly grim.

The story of a young girl growing up and gradually coming to realise the propagandas she is swallowing is a powerful narrative. Made more powerful by occasional live-action sequences in which the director returns to her homeland. This gives the film an even stronger context.

The film even touches upon the dangers of local pride and nostalgia by being set in the so called 'Courland Cauldron' an almost forgotten chapter at the end of the second world war. Technically one of the last places where the Germans surrendered. The differences between the 'Patriotic' (i.e. Soviet) version of history that is taught in schools and the gradual realisation of the horrors of war as Ilze Burkovska-Jacobsen grows up is incredibly powerful.

I saw this at the Virtual Glasgow Film Festival 2021 and I really hope it eventually gets proper UK distribution. This is the kind of mature, powerful animation that rarely gets made and we rarely get to see.

Time (I) (2020)

Frustrating

[4/10 · 4 February 2021]

I watched this because it is widely critically appreciated and expected to be a strong contender for the Documentary Feature Oscar.

It left me cold.

What we have here has issues from what I perceive to be two different angles.

Issue 1: It is fully in Black and White and has a fractured structure that makes it overly 'arty'. We go back and forth in time and back and forth between footage Fox Rich has shot herself and footage Garrett Bradley has shot. It gives us no context and it gives us no sense of time passing. When that's the title of your film it should be more of a focus.

Issue 2: The details of the case are never fully explored. Why didn't Robert Rich take the plea deal like his wife? If it's so terrible raising children alone why did Fox have at least one more child after her husband was imprisoned? Are those statements I've just made even accurate? I don't know. I'm sure there are answers to these questions (if they even ARE questions) but this film doesn't answer them.

The mass incarceration of black men is a definite problem. A problem that was expertly dealt with in Ava DuVernay's '13th' a few years back. I wanted to support this film and support a family finally being reunited, but I couldn't. It was a similar feeling I had with another critically acclaimed documentary a few years back, 'Hale County This Morning This Evening'. In both cases they were subjects that should appeal to me and should be spread to as wide an audience as possible. However in both cases the meditative, non-linear way in which they were shot ended up being frustrating rather than poetic.

Carmilla (2019)

Not an 'adaptation' or even a 'horror' per se, but a slow, haunting masterpiece.

[8/10 · 23 December 2020]

Excellent film that uses the framework of a gothic novel to tell a different and much more ambiguous tale (Who is the monster?).

This is a film much more interested in female intelligence and desire and the crushing of female intelligence and desire than it is in lurid Jess Franco-esque titillation or squelchy Roberto Rodriguez-esque gore.

The ambiguity of whether there is anything supernatural going on or even if there is anything homoerotic going on is pitched very well and brings up other aspects of life such as the propensity for a witch-hunt. Jessica Raine is excellent in her supporting role.

Reminds me of 'Lady Macbeth' in all the best ways. Emily Harris is another director to watch.

Cocoon (2020)

Honest and beautiful

[9/10 · 14 December 2020]

Excellent film that is not so much a coming-of-age story as a coming-out-to-yourself story. Charmingly told with just enough working class grit and multiculturalism to give it a level of veracity rarely seen in this kind of film. Highly recommended.

Fishbowl (2018)

Another honest review, from a real person

[6/10 · 13 December 2020]

It's clear to see what the Kinigopoulos siblings were aiming for. Take the aesthetic of 'The Virgin Suicides', the film-making style of 'The Tree Of Life' & the plot of 'Take Shelter' and simmer for 80 minutes.

They didn't pull it off.

The film has a point, albeit a rather banal one, but it is buried so deep under mounds of unneccesary style that it doesn't come through. What could be an interesting backdrop to this tale of faith gone wrong is so catastrophically underplayed that the final revelations mean nothing.

I'm intrigued enough by this directing team that I will be looking out for what comes next, but this film probably isn't worth it.