September 29, 2019, Posted in  Reviews Comments: No comments

October is the best month of the year. It begins with the first signs of autumn. It closes with Halloween. And in between is the BFI London Film Festival.

2019’s 63^rd LFF delivers a stellar line-up of the year’s finest movies. Sure, there are surprising omissions: if they are holding back Bong Joon-ho’s Palme D’or winning Parasite for the Surprise Film we’ll be ticked off. But, between opening film The Personal History of David Copperfield and closing film The Irishman are a wealth of cinematic treasures.

Noah Baumbach’s Marriage Story, Pablo Larraín’s Ema, his follow-up to 2016’s Jackie, Judy and Punch starring Mia Wasikowska, The Two Popes with Anthony Hopkins and Jonathan Pryce, Takashi Miike’s First Love and Shia LaBeouf’s part-autobiographical Honey Boy...

September 26, 2019, Posted in  Reviews Comments: One comment

Director: Severin Fiala, Veronika Franz

Writers: Sergio Casci, Severin Fiala, Veronika Franz

Cast: Riley Keough, Jaeden Lieberher, Lia McHugh, Richard Armitage, Alicia Silverstone

Producers: Aliza James, Simon Oakes, Aaron Ryder

Music: Danny Bensi, Saunders Jurriaans

Cinematography: Thimios Bakatakis

Editors: Michael Palm

Cert: 15 (TBC)

Running time: 100mins

Year: 2019

What’s the story: The teenage Aidan (Lieberher) and his younger sister Mia (McHugh) spend the run-up to Christmas in an isolated lodge with their dad’s new partner, Grace (Keough). Strange events soon begin to take a psychological toll.

What’s the verdict: Filmmaking duo Severin Fiala and Veronika Franz’s follow their 2014 cult hit Goodnight Mommy with anothe...

September 19, 2019, Posted in  Reviews Comments: One comment

Director: Matt Bettinelli-Olpin, Tyler Gillett

Writers: Guy Busick, Ryan Murphy

Cast: Samara Weaving, Adam Brody, Mark O’Brien, Andie MacDowell, Henry Czerny, Nicky Guadagni, Elyse Levesque, Kristian Bruun

Producers: Bradley J. Fischer, William Sherak, James Vanderbilt, Tripp Vinson

Music: Brian Tyler

Cinematography: Brett Jutkiewicz

Editors: Terel Gibson

Cert: 18

Running time: 95mins

Year: 2019

What’s the story: Newlywed Grace (Weaving) sees her wedding night become a wedding fright when her in-laws hunt her in a lethal game of Hide and Seek.

What’s the verdict: When it comes to the most unofficially remade movie ever, 1932’s The Most Dangerous Game must be a contender for the top spot...

September 18, 2019, Posted in  Reviews Comments: 2 comments

Directors: Tyler Nilson, Mike Schwartz

Writers: Tyler Nilson, Mike Schwartz

Cast: Shia LaBeouf, Zack Gottsagen, Dakota Johnson, John Hawkes, Thomas Haden Church, Bruce Dern, Jon Bernthal, Yelawolf, Jake Roberts, Mick Foley

Producers: Albert Berger, Christopher Lemole, Lije Sarki, David Thies, Ron Yerxa, Tim Zajaros

Music: Zachary Dawes, Noam Pikelny, Jonathan Sadoff, Gabe Witcher

Cinematography: Nigel Bluck

Editors: Nat Fuller, Kevin Tent

Cert: 12 (TBC)

Running time: 97mins

Year: 2019

What’s the story: Zak (Gottsagen), a young man with Down’s Syndrome, escapes his care home with dreams of becoming a wrestler. To reach his destination, he embarks on an epic river journey with Tyler (LaBeouf), a fisherman fleeing his own troubles.

September 18, 2019, Posted in  Reviews Comments: One comment

Director: Abe Forsythe

Writer: Abe Forsythe

Cast: Lupita Nyong’o, Alexander England, Josh Gad, Diesel La Torraca

Producers: Jessica Calder, Keith Calder, Steve Hutensky, Jodi Matterson, Bruna Papandrea

Music: Piers Burbrook de Vere

Cinematography: Lachlan Milne

Editors: Jim May, Drew Thompson

Cert: 15 (TBC)

Running time: 94mins

Year: 2019

What’s the story: After a zombie outbreak at a US military base, a kindergarten teacher and the uncle of one of the kids must protect her class as flesh-eaters descend on a New South Wales petting zoo.

What’s the verdict: Understandable if the arrival of another zombie comedy creates a chorus of undead-like groans...

September 18, 2019, Posted in  Reviews Comments: No comments

Director: Ciro Guerra

Writer: J.M. Coetzee (script, based on his novel)

Cast: Mark Rylance, Johnny Depp, Robert Pattinson, Gana Bayarsaikhan

Producers: Monika Bacardi, Michael Fitzgerald, Andrea Iervolino, Olga Segura

Music: Giampiero Ambrosi

Cinematography: Chris Menges

Editor: Jacopo Quadri

Cert: 15 (TBC)

Running time: 112mins

Year: 2019

What’s the story: In a desert outpost of an unnamed empire, the local Magistrate (Rylance) watches in horror as Colonel Joll (Depp) begins persecuting neighbouring tribespeople on suspicion of plotting insurrection.

What’s the verdict: All that is required for evil to flourish is for good men to do nothing, so the saying goes...

September 18, 2019, Posted in  Reviews Comments: 2 comments

Director: Alejandro Landes

Writers: Alejandro Landes, Alexis dos Santos

Cast: Sofia Buenaventura, Moises Arias, Julianne Nicholson, Laura Castrillón, Karen Quintero, Julian Giraldo

Producers: Fernando Epstein, Alejandro Landes, Cristina Landes, Santiago A. Zapata

Music: Mica Levi

Cinematography: Jasper Wolf

Editors: Ted Guard, Yorgos Mavropsaridis, Santiago Otheguy

Cert: 15 TBC

Running time: 102mins

Year: 2019

What’s the story: In the South American mountains, a squad of child soldiers kill time while holding an American engineer hostage.

What’s the verdict: A journey into the wild hearts of child soldiers, Alejandro Landes’ third feature in twelve years is riveting, frustrating, hallucinogenic and astonishing.

Conceiv...

September 12, 2019, Posted in  Reviews Comments: One comment

Director: James Gray

Writers: James Gray, Ethan Gross

Cast: Brad Pitt, Tommy Lee Jones, Donald Sutherland, Ruth Negga, Liv Tyler

Producers: Dede Gardner, James Gray, Anthony Katagas, Jeremy Kleiner, Arnon Milchan, Yariv Milchan, Brad Pitt

Music: Max Richter

Cinematographer: Hoyte van Hoytema

Editors: John Axelrad, Lee Haugen

Cert: 12

Running time: 122mins

Year: 2019

What’s the story: Astronaut Roy McBride (Pitt) must journey across the solar system to find his long-thought dead father (Jones), whose mission may now be threatening Earth.

What’s the verdict: Dad Astra might have been a more appropriate title for James Gray’s visually breathtaking space opera...

September 11, 2019, Posted in  Podcast Comments: No comments

The Electric Shadows Podcast reaches Bill and Ted’s favourite number. In episode 69 Robs Daniel and Wallis stare into the deadlights of IT Chapter Two, the follow-up to the 2017 smash hit IT.

Rob Daniel is none too impressed at how much has been chopped out of Stephen King’s novel, despite the 171 minutes running time. Rob Wallis finds more to enjoy, but still has issues he runs through in a spoiler section. Yep, a spoiler section because no discussion of IT can avoid talking about how the novel’s notoriously difficult ending is translated to the big screen.

Our intrepid casters of pod also make space to discuss the 1990 IT mini-series, this year’s Pet Sematary and the upcoming Doctor Sleep...

September 11, 2019, Posted in  Podcast Comments: No comments

Episode 68 of The Electric Shadows Podcast sees Robs Daniel & Wallis look back at the Arrow Video FrightFest’s twentieth anniversary festival and run-down their top 10 films. Gems such as Rabid, The Dark Red, Ready or Not and Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark all get warm words.

As do the two five star films to play the festival, The Wind and A Good Woman is Hard to Find.

Then, in a bumper episode, the Robs move on to what is getting them revved up at the 63rd BFI London Film Festival.

Expect discussion of opening film, The Personal History of David Copperfield, closing film The Irishman, directed by Martin Scorsese, and in between such appetite whetting movies as Jojo Rabbit, Bad Education, Le Mans 66, Vivarium, The Cave, The Painted Bird and The King.

You’ve gotta l...