★★ Director: #DJKamalMustafa Short Film Review by: #BrianPenn The preview blurb was annoyingly thin on the ground for Operation 786. An animated film showing armed forces fighting the enemies of Pakistan was all I could find online. It featured fairly basic animation techniques which led me to believe it was a computer game or maybe a training video. I was actually wrong on both counts as the film recounted a harrowing catalogue of terrorism in Pakistan. The first segment was subtitled Blast in Lahore, a representation of numerous attacks in the city over the years. Innocent men and women talking in the street are gunned down by a sniper before bombs cause more destruction. Streets are depicted in the style of the old Wild West; an all too apt metaphor for growing political anarchy in the region. The second, Train blast in Balochistan portrays a bomb attack by ethnic separatists; while the third, APS School attack Peshawar depicts an attack on the Army Public School in 2014. A fightback begins with the instigation of Operation 786. A strategy is devised with special units trained and equipped to combat enemies of the state. Bomb making factories are located and smashed; terrorist safe houses are identified and neutralised. The jauntily subtitled Here come the Pakistani Air Force leads into Top Gun style images with explosions aplenty. Generic combat sequences are followed by a stand-off on a fortified border. Tanks daubed in Pakistani flags are destroying opposite numbers with Indian insignia. The symbolism is obvious and alludes to the ongoing conflict in Kashmir. The sequence is totally at odds with the general theme as the film limps to a weak conclusion. The final five minutes are devoted to views of a green and pleasant land that is Pakistan; this presumably is what Operation 786 is fighting for. Although the film pays tribute to those who fight terrorism, the basic message is lost in some dubious animation. Comic strip explosions and Rambo style characters trivialise the subject matter; propaganda creeps into the narrative without good reason and a novel approach to storytelling is wasted. The characters also stretch credibility to the limit; one soldier muscles bulging from a skinny vest, carries a bazooka on his shoulder taking out bad guys but somehow never needs to re-load? It’s the PlayStation feel that ultimately lets this film down when all that’s really missing is a counter in the corner keeping score.

★★ Directed by: #MichaelLJackson Starring: #JulieRichardson, #KevinMajors, #ScottyWalker, #PatrickGathron, #DanielLawson and #JayWest Short Film Review: by: #BrunaFolettoLucas Despite Michael L. Jackson’s talent, his short film Cost Effective doesn’t deliver. The short film tells the story we all know: a couple of gangsters are paid to kill a morally corrupt rich man, and later, are out played by a seemingly innocent woman. The film introduces archetype characters. The rich guy who compensates his lack of power with forcing himself on prostitutes; the desk clerk who is only there for comedic relief; the two gangsters who couldn’t be more different – one is the older and wiser and the other one is the young and stupid; and finally, the star of the film, the innocent young woman who appears to be at the wrong place at the wrong time. By proposing these archetypes the film downplays the screenplay as a cliché, however, it makes it easier for the audience to recognise and connect to these characters, which can be challenging for a short film. The screenplay is where I had problems with: the film is not clearly separated into three acts, the first one to introduce the characters and to provide a site for the plot twist to happen, it went smoothly, the acting, the character developing and the setting for the second act worked well. The second act follows the first one but it drags a little bit – the last scene is almost half of the film, when the second plot twist happens the film doesn’t go into the third act – on stays in a limbo. Because the scene is so long and the dialogue is forgettable (there is a finite amount of times it is ok to hear the word “bitch” being thrown around) the film lost itself a little bit. The character of Sam was interesting and Julie Richardson did a good job with what she was dealt with, I just had a hard time accepting how dumb she was. She was a killer who had just outsmarted professional gangsters, and still, all that she thinks about is to become just like one of them – idolizing them – and taking pictures to put on her Snapchat. Having said that, Sam had the most range of emotions in the film and we see her from being a scared prostitute into being a full-blown maniac. She plays them well, too well that when she starts playing dumb and childish it just feels offensive towards the character. The genre of the film was hard to pinpoint – at times I felt the film was a comedy, but there were some moments that made me rethink that. The soundtrack was well chosen for this film, especially for a cliché comedy (and I say that in a good way). Through the soundtrack I immediately knew who the characters were and what they meant to the story. However, at times it felt that the soundtrack was overused – in the beginning the incessant music “stole the scene” and it felt too much. Because each song was very characteristic they didn’t really tie together as a film soundtrack. The strongest point in the film was the #cinematography, done by Michael L. Jackson, on top of directing it. The camera movements were flawless as they showed precision and the frames were used to convey meaning within the scene. There is not a dull moment when it comes to the cinematography of this film – the frames are unconventional and they grab our attention. As mentioned before, the film packs a lot of positive points and Jackson proves he has a talent and a mind for film. Cost Effective has a lot of good ideas behind it, but it felt as if some areas wanted to stand out more than others, instead of creating a harmonious film.

★★ Directed by: #MolSmith Written by: #MolSmith Starring: #SeanBotha, #PollyTregear Film Review by: #DarrenTilby Mol Smith’s latest offering is an 83-minute long science-fiction film centred around the idea of simulation theory. This underlying premise is an intriguing one, and the film isn’t short of ambition. But ultimately (and unfortunately) The Chair to Everywhere suffers from sub-par writing, unremarkable characters and a muddled narrative. A father (Sean Botha) and his daughter (Polly Tregear) invent a teleportation device, designed to transport organic matter from one point to another, in their small Oxford home. After a few semi-successful attempts and believing that, finally, any potential problems have been sorted, the daughter insists on being the first person to be teleported. Not all goes to plan, however, and during the process––she disappears. Father (Graham) and daughter (Laura) form the very heart and soul of our story, and as such, their relationship is the key to its success. Sadly, this is a hurdle the film is never really able to clear. It’s not through lack of trying, but a mix of poorly written dialogue, under-developed backstory and unconvincing chemistry/performances (possibly due to the two previously mentioned issues) have not helped. These problems persist throughout the film’s duration as more characters are gradually introduced. However, not all is bad. While some of these characters do suffer the aforementioned issues, others come bearing intriguing moral and ethical conundrums for our lead to overcome. These moments are wholly refreshing but, ultimately, too sparse. The main problem for many indie filmmakers is a budgetary constraint. That certainly seems to have been the case here. The production design is poor, as is the quality of the camera used, and the less said about the visual effects, the better. But worse than that is the sound quality. Why is it worse? Well, unlike everything else, the poor sound quality actually detracted from the film overall. You see, most of these details don't cause any significant problems. In fact, many of them are really quite endearing. However, on several occasions – and due to the tinny, muffled quality of the sound – the dialogue was unclear, and as a result, I missed several, what I assume to be important conversations. The Chair to Everywhere is planted firmly in the science-fiction genre. And to its credit, it contains all the hallmarks of a great piece of science-fiction cinema: from the obvious near-futuristic technologies and alien lifeforms to the more existential and morally philosophical concerns. This is something I feel the film does rather well. There are still a few missteps. The scene where the father and daughter share a bed whilst discussing how "lonely" he has been since his wife (her mother) died is a particularly uncomfortable and unpleasant moment. But on the whole, this is all handled really well and did raise some very interesting questions about human nature—as all good sci-fi films should. This was an ambitious project, which is by no means a bad thing. Indeed, it's this sheer ambition that I really respect. It's such a shame then that the film falls short of what it wanted to (and what I know it could have) achieve(d). The Chair to Everywhere is available now on Amazon Prime Video. And as always, I would advise you to check it out.

★★★ Directed by: Kyle Kleege Written by: #KyleKleege Starring: #RichardLounello, #BenAmendolara, #DennisSkiba LGBT Film Review by: #ChrisOlson A contemplation on love, sex, desire and faith, filmmaker Kyle Kleege's short #LGBT film The Lamb is a tense and evocative piece that captures the inner turmoil of sexuality with cinematic high notes. Richard Lounello plays a priest desperate to find the strength to resist his most shameful temptation. Finding himself in a darkened strip club and saving a worker called Dante (Ben Amendolara) from the cruelty of his pimp (Dennis Skiba), the priest and Dante escape into the night. However, the night is just beginning for the priest who is about to come face to face with his difficult urges. Seductive and provocative, the atmosphere of The Lamb is cranked to ensure the audience feels at least a little bit uncomfortable. From the pounding music in the club (rendering the need for subtitles for the characters’ dialogue) to the intimate framing of Dante and the Priest when they are in the motel, viewers are embracing the introspective nature of the plot and the central character's dilemma. The sequences in the club were riveting, a sense of peril permeating the screen and the priest's uncertainty was engaging. During the latter half of the movie, the tone shifts to something equally as perilous but more sexual than threatening. It was a shame that the audio was a little crackly and let down the overall experience. Lounello is a great lead, delivering a turn which was outwardly visible in terms of the character's moral predicament. His religion seems at odds with his natural urges and this made the priest appear almost frozen with fear. There are moments where we see the emotion spill out, such as at a bathroom sink or the engrossing final sequences (which I won't spoil). Amendolara was good if a little tripped up by his character's motivation; on the one hand an abused sex worker and on the other a flirty liberator of the sexually repressed. He does well with the material though and has a great chemistry with Lounello. Other shorts with similar themes of sexual identity and despair (such as Gage Oxley's short film This World We Live In or Louise Marie's Pillow Talk) were able to be a bit more subtle. The Lamb relies quite heavily on the confessional exposition by the priest which aside from an intriguing notion about the irony of having faith and engaging in “sodomy” was fairly unnecessary and clunky. Bold storytelling and a few impressive cinematic moments make The Lamb a worthy short. However, the generic production value and stilted dialogue may see it lost amongst the flock.

★★★ Directed by #GuyRitchie Written by #JohnAugust #GuyRitchie Starring #WillSmith #MenaMassoud #NaomiScott #MarwanKenzari Film Review by #GeorgeWolf Stepping in for Robin Williams as the Genie in Aladdin was always going to be a thankless task, but while everyone was busy debating the casting of Will Smith, the director's chair went largely unnoticed. Could Guy Ritchie, who's evolved from rough and tumble British crime capers (Snatch) to both big budget hits (Sherlock Holmes) and disasters (King Arthur), capture the magic of #Disney's best live action remakes? Well, how many wishes does he have left? The tale of "street rat" Aladdin (Mena Massoud) using the Genie (Smith) to get him next to Princess Jasmine (Naomi Scott) ends up feeling too stiff and self-conscious to ever let some real wonder out of the bottle. The story arc has been altered slightly, leading to an earlier meeting between Aladdin and the Princess, and a relationship where the stakes don't feel as high or the changes of heart as well-earned. Reaction shots and choppy dialog (from Ritchie and co-writer John August) carrying an overly staged, exaggerated odor, while the Genie is plagued less by casting than by the less-than-cutting edge CGI. Re-imagining the Genie character would have been a risky (but ambitious) move, and though Smith won't make anyone forget Williams, he is hardly the big problem here. His charm is abundant and a valuable asset for the film, especially when the Genie takes human form. His singing voice, though, is not strong. And strangely, neither is Massoud's, compounding the weaknesses in Ritchie's bland vision for the musical numbers. The Alan Menken/Howard Ashman tunes are still stellar, but the repeated addition of a new girl power anthem for Jasmine ("Speechless") ranks as forgettable bait for an Original Song Oscar nod. And while I'm ranting, maybe we could have an extra thirty second buffer to decompress before the ubiquitous cry of "DJ Khaled!" signals an oncoming pop mix for the closing credits? Even the best directors have struggled with musicals (Attenborough's misguided A Chorus Line and Eastwood's limp Jersey Boys jump to mind), and though Aladdin didn't originate on the stage, the music sequences demand a pizzazz that Ritchie is helpless to present. He seems much more comfortable with film's darker edges, and an intensely slimy turn from Marwan Kenzari as Jafar helps the villain's quest for absolute power find some needed gravitas. Look, the film still offers some perfectly fine moments of overly manufactured family entertainment that will make many parents nostalgic for the original. But after the live-action heights hit by The Jungle Book and Beauty and the Beast, this Aladdin is a carpet ride missing much of its magic. Watch the movie trailer for 2019's Aladdin below.

★★★ Directed by #DavidYarovesky Written by #BrianGunn #MarkGunn Starring #ElizabethBanks #JacksonADunn #DavidDenman Film Review by #HopeMadden Sort of a mash up of Superman and The Bad Seed, Brightburn wonders what would happen if that special little guy you found in the crashed space ship turned out to be a super villain rather than a super hero. But this comic book-esque origin story plays more like a straight up horror flick than an evolution of Josh Tank’s underappreciated 2012 SciFi gem Chronicle. Elizabeth Banks stars as Tori, blue collar Kansasian. (Look it up.) She and homespun farmer husband Kyle (David Denman) always knew the day would come when they had to explain some things to their “adopted” son Brandon (Jackson A. Dunn). While Brightburn echoes Superman in many ways, it’s far more deeply rooted in #comingofage horror. It is on Brandon’s 12th birthday that he begins to change. He’s broody, more aggressive—here is where director David Yarovesky (The Hive) and Brian and Mark Gunn (brother and cousin, respectively, of producer James Gunn) abandon SciFi and dive headlong into horror. And what we find is that, removed of their comic book splash and super hero protagonists, super villains don’t really make much of an impression in horror. Yes, Brandon has basically the same qualities as Superman—heat vision, flight, super strength—and he seems only vulnerable to his own ship (or perhaps any trace of his home planet?)—but the question is, would Evil Superman be that much more destructive than an immortal killing machine who visits you in your dreams? Or a demon from hell? Meh. ABOVE: The movie trailer for Brightburn. That’s is not to take too much away from Brightburn. It’s a fun B-movie with plenty of blood and gore. (It earns its R rating.) Banks is characteristically strong and Dunn does a fine job of moving from sweet boy to flat-affect sociopath. There are definitely a couple of moments of inspired gore. Brightburn is a capably made, well-acted piece of semi-schlock #horror. It’s also the third film this year to follow a put-upon mother deciding what to do with a son whose grown almost overnight from precious baby boy to burgeoning psychopath. And while this is a staple in the genre, Brightburn certainly taps an immediate social preoccupation with that moment that toxic masculinity ruins a boy. The film also mines the guilt that fuels insecure parents who had no real role models of their own. The film doesn’t wind up being as clever a conceit as you might hope—again, Chronicle did it better. It’s not an entire waste of time, either.

★★★★ Directed by #RalphFiennes Written by #DavidHare Starring #OlegIvenko #RalphFiennes #LouisHoffman Film Review by #BrandonThomas When I think about ballet and film, I drift toward the easy ones: The Nutcracker, Billy Elliot and The Red Shoes. Of course it’s also fun to throw Black Swan and Suspiria into that mix as well. The visual lullaby of those films is present in The White Crow, but with a dash of political intrigue. Rudolf “Rudy” Nureyev (Oleg Ivenko) has poured hours of blood, sweat and tears into crafting himself as one of Russia’s premier ballet dancers. A prestigious tour of France gives Rudy his first glimpse of life in the mysterious “West.” All at once, this arrogant, naive and inquisitive dancer is thrust into a culture that opens his eyes and reinforces his already rebellious nature. Despite having no concern for his home country’s politics, Rudy is forced to make a contentious choice when those same politics threaten to destroy his career and his life. On paper, The White Crow sounds like pure, unadulterated Oscar bait. It has all of the trappings: a scrappy young protagonist, a period setting, an actor as director and, most importantly, it’s set in Paris! Thankfully director Ralph Fiennes (yes THAT Ralph Fiennes - Voldemort himself!) has more on his mind than that short golden statue. On a character level, The White Crow succeeds at diving right into Rudy’s laser-focused psyche. Dance is Rudy’s life and everything else - including people - exist only on the periphery. He claims to not care what people think, yet he fishes for praise from his renowned dance instructor (Fiennes himself). Rudy's drive and the enormous chip on his shoulder are born out of his ultra-humble beginnings in rural Russia, and the sense of inadequacy this has instilled in him. Casting Ivenko, an already famous Ukrainian dancer, adds a level of authenticity that would be missing had Fiennes gone another route. The long shots of Rudy dancing allow the audience to buy into the character’s self-proclaimed skill. The passion and emotion behind his movement pour off the screen. Fiennes shows a sure and steady hand behind the camera. The movie jumps back and forth in time, and the filmmaker uses this to present each period in a different aspect ratio and style. The scenes depicting Rudy’s youth are shot in “scope” widescreen and use a more classical, static approach. The cold, stark landscape of his youth is brought to life with minimal emotion, but heightened visuals. This is contrasted with Rudy’s story as it moves into adulthood and his travel to France. Fiennes isn’t afraid to let the camera get close - or allow it to become more intimate. The balance of visually impressive and focused filmmaking, along with deep character analysis, makes The White Crow one of the most interesting dramas of the year thus far.

★★★★ Directed by #OliviaWilde Written by #SusannaFogel #EmilyHalpern #SarahHaskins #KatieSilberman Starring #BeanieFeldstein #KaitlynDever Film Review by #HopeMadden Every generation has its pivotal high school graduation film: Superbad, Say Anything, 10 Things I Hate About You, Grease, High School Musical 3. I mean, not all of them can be classics. Making her feature debut behind the camera, Olivia Wilde hopes to join the ranks of the classics with her smart, funny, raunchy yet quite loving tale of two besties preparing to go their separate ways, Booksmart. Amy (Kaitlyn Denver) and Molly (Beanie Feldstein) approach the last day of high school with a certain earned swagger. Both have been accepted into the Ivy League by dedicating their previous four years to little more than study and each other. And every other soon-to-be graduate? As Molly’s morning ritual self-help tape says, fuck them in their fucking faces. So, this movie is very definitely R-rated, FYI. But it never loses a sweet silliness, rooting its episodic adventures in a believable bond between two true talents. The catalyst for their one wild night? Molly realizes at the last possible minute that her classmates all seem destined for just as much post-high school greatness as she, and they also managed to have fun. They had it all, while she had only study and Amy. And there is just one night left to rectify that wrong. From a script penned by four (Susanna Fogel, Emily Halpern, Sarah Haskins and Katie Silberman), Wilde spins a female-centric story without abandoning the fun, the idiocy or the laughs you hope to find in this very specific kind of film. Wilde’s confident direction leans on her leads’ chemistry to drive what could otherwise be a string of sketches. Instead, taken together they provide a riot of color, laughter and misadventure that celebrates sisterhood. She and her leads are helped immeasurably by one of the strongest casts assembled for a teen party movie. Billie Lourde (Carrie Fisher's daughter) steals every scene she’s in. Meanwhile Skyler Gisondo and Molly Gordon are both very solid while adults Jason Sudeikis, Will Forte, Lisa Kudrow and Jessica Williams all deliver in small roles. Some of the bits—Williams’s teacher trajectory, in particular—feel too random, an overall tone that occasionally threatens the narrative. But Wilde’s instinct to keep each situation invested more in the friendship than the sketch pays off. There are definite missteps. For as much thoughtfulness as the film directs toward the emotional longing of its lesbian protagonist Amy, the movie's gay male characters are exaggerated stereotypes. Disappointing. Comparisons to Superbad are unavoidable, particularly since Feldstein’s brother Jonah Hill starred in Greg Mottola’s 2007 high water mark. And while Booksmart may not quite hit that target, Wilde’s comedy is the most fun flick to join the party since McLovin and the Lube.

★★★★ Directed by #OlivierAssayas Written by #OlivierAssayas Starring #JulietteBinoche #GuillaumeCanet #VincentMacaigne Film Review by #HopeMadden Nothing ever changes. That appears to be the sentiment behind Olivier Assayas’s chamber dramedy Non-Fiction, a tale set in the middle of the dying publishing industry, a relic that either needs to embrace digital disruption or die trying. Or does it? Hard to say, although a lot is being said. This is perhaps Assayas’s talkiest and most Parisian film to date. And yet, it’s breezy and honest. It’s also cagey and cynical. What Non-Fiction is depends on your mood, perhaps, because every scene unfolds in about thirty ways. Jubilant performances buoy whip-smart writing that skewers the very platitudes it seems to be promoting. Novelist and lazy anarchist Leonard (Vincent Macaigne) prefers to ever-so-slightly tweak his own daily life and liaisons than create characters and plots. Unfortunately, the audience at large - and his friend and editor Alain (Guillaume Canet – incredible) in particular - have grown weary. Is it even fiction? And do the women so thinly veiled in the works have any right to their own stories? Does it even matter? Audio books and eReaders are the hot tickets now, or so says Laure (Christa Théret), sent to the publisher to drum up excitement for a digital transformation. Well, Alain’s wife Selena (Juliette Binoche, also spectacular) prefers real, concrete books. She’s an actress coming to terms with bingeable cop shows rather than stage work, except when she’s not. Valerie (Nora Hamzawi) turns out to be the only straightforward and entirely decent character in the film. The fact that she is A) the only one entirely outside of entertainment and publishing, and B) indeed in politics, allows Assays to say quite a lot about his feelings for the industry. And as everyone talks and talks and desperately talks about changing paradigms in taste, consumption and art, they are eating, drinking and having sex. Because truly, some things do not change—especially in French films. Assayas keeps his incredibly verbose scenes aloft with a wandering camera that feels like another guest at the party. Bright, funny, biting performances highlight actors who relish the challenge of bringing the script to life. Binoche is at her slippery best. Non-Fiction toes the line of being too smart for its own good, of losing its audience for its serpentine commentary. But it never does. Assayas and his savvy foursome are having too much fun themselves for their effort to do anything other than entertain.

★★★ Directed by: #HarveyPuttock Starring: #LucyHiltonJones and #AnninaKaski Short Film Review by: #RachelPullen I can imagine being an actor is hard on so many levels. I mean my life is an act considering how much I fake my happiness every day then cry into a void of existential despair, but in order to do that I have not had to jump through the many hoops that actors do on a daily basis. Auditions, agents, reading scripts, changing your appearance to suit others needs, the list goes on, oh and of course all of the rejection. To be honest I could think of more fun things to do with my time....have you tried the crying into despair game? Loads of fun. The Many Faces of Beth Jones is the tale of an actress (played by Lucy Hilton Jones) who has to sit through another tedious meeting with her agent, who has a long list of up and coming projects that she thinks Beth would be perfect for. Problem is not one of these films are worth anything to anyone, and certainly would not be appealing to any actor trying to make serious moves in their career. With choices such as ‘’Buffering, the Movies’’ and ‘’The Last Banana’’ (films which sound absolutely amazing in my point of view, I mean...The Last Banana, on par with Schindler's List’ I’m sure) we can see quickly that this agent does not have a lot to offer. As the options get worse and worse, we can see our leading lady sink more and more into despair, until it’s not long until she puts a stop to the whole charade after the suggestion that she plays a film whereby she plays her own agent...but wait, what’s going on, are we breaking the fourth wall? That’s right reader...she did make a short about her being her own agent, who would've guessed...well me for one. Yes director Harvey Puttock does the old flip around storyline for us, and although we have seen it time and time again, his tongue in cheek approach to the subject allows us to let it slide and see the funny side of the whole affair. For that’s the whole premise of short film The Many Faces of Beth Jones, a platform to have a little laugh at the state of affairs for the actors within in the industry, and while this does not pack a laugh out loud punch, it’s still entertaining, enjoyable and light hearted, but also still leaves us feeling a little empathetic for all the crap actors must have to go through while they chase their big break. With acting that is satisfying and competent and a style that although screams budget, is able to create the cramped and depressing atmosphere of an agent's office, this short does everything it says on the tin.

★★★ Directed by: #YalanHu Starring: #TimothyJCox, #DevinCraig, #WayneDeBary, #JeffreyMandel Short Film Review by: #JasmineHollyBullock Being able to deliver an original and gripping story in less than 10 minutes is a hard thing to accomplish. Time just isn’t on your side. Yalan Hu’s film Doll It Up attempted to achieve that feat but whether or not that that attempt was successful is another thing. The plot for Doll It Up focuses around Gunther and his ‘wife’, Nat, who also happens to be an inanimate sex doll. The problem is this: Gunther’s wife is now too boring and old, she keeps deflating! So Gunther decides to buy himself a newer doll of a wife, and Nat isn’t too happy with being replaced. There isn’t much dialogue in Doll It Up, most of the conversations are between Gunther and his ex wife or his new girlfriend and neither of those women are able to actually talk. There is the occasional conversation between actual living human beings, but even those conversations don’t hold much importance. The actions and events within the film is what gets the plot moving. Timothy J. Cox is the most prominent performer, playing the character of Gunther. Cox is able to pull-off an amazing version of a very peculiar guy... the overly eager smiles, the creepy moustache and his ability to genuinely have a conversation with a sex doll is pretty impressive. Because Doll It Up is only 6 minutes long, there isn’t much room for any meaningful character development, but the character of Gunther is amusing to watch nonetheless. Nikolay Vassiles and Killer Tracks did a great job of composing the music for Doll It Up. There is only one piece of music used, however it’s lovely and mainly uses the accordion. I find accordions to be really calming and ornate instruments, thus the music they create has a similar feeling of calmness and antiqueness which gives a little bit more finesse to a film which otherwise seems to be set in an average place with average, albeit weird, people. In fact, the music was one of the components that I appreciated most in this production. Hu’s film could definitely be a commentary on how women are treated as sex dolls that are simply up for buying and disposal at the convenience of seedy men. The treatment of these dolls as if they were actual women, their dressing up by their men and their apparent ability to sometimes move or do things at their own will also suggests that these dolls are simply standing in as metaphors for idealised versions of actual living women. Although, the film aims to be a comedy, therefore I cannot be sure if its intentions were along the lines of my interpretations or not. Perhaps I’m thinking into it too much and it is just meant to be a comedy about a man and his sex dolls. Doll It up and its possibility of looking at relationships between living people and inanimate objects is certainly intriguing and had a lot of potential because of themes such as relationships, objectophilia, female disposability and commodity. However, whilst somewhat entertaining, the plot was too predictable thus disappointing.

★★ Directed by: #ChrisRenaud and #JonathandelVal Starring: #PattonOswalt, #EricStonestreet, #KevinHart, #JennySlate, #TiffanyHaddish, #LakeBell, #HarrisonFord Animated Film Review by: #NathanialEker Max and company return for more irreverent, chaotic antics behind their owners backs, in this mediocre sequel to 2015’s The Secret Life of Pets. The result is a dull 92 minutes consisting of three jarring, phoned in plotlines, culminating in an underwhelming finale. While the #animation remains admittedly tight, the film lacks the emotional investment of a children’s classic, failing to match even the small level of depth offered by its predecessor. The Secret Life of Pets 2 is undoubtedly a cash grab #sequel. This is no labour of love, made clear by a stock storyline, lame jokes, and a disparate tone, which clunkily tries to deliver a heartfelt message whilst revelling in its own weirdness. Without a witty script, it’s unfortunately all bark and no bite. The plot picks up via montage, a few years after the conclusion of the first film, with Max, now voiced by Patton Oswalt, and a completely plot irrelevant Duke (Eric Stonestreet), enjoying life as adopted brothers. Their peace is disrupted by the introduction of their owner’s baby, Lewis, who Max quickly becomes obsessively protective of. Max’s character arc (and the only arc in the entire film, mind) revolves around finding the bravery to let little Lewis find his own way. Concurrently, Snowball (Kevin Hart) becomes a (sigh) superhero rabbit, teaming up with newcomer pup Daisy (Tiffany Haddish) to rescue a tiger from an evil circus owner. Finally, we follow fan favourite Gidget (Jenny Slate) who, despite their declaration of love in the prior film’s conclusion, doesn’t seem to be ‘with’ Max? She learns ‘the way of the cat’ in order to recover a chew toy from an army of felines. Phew. There’s a lot going on with this plot, and to say the different storylines lack synergy is an understatement: it’s like watching three different movies. The stuff with Max and a bafflingly cast Harrison Ford as Rooster, an old sheep dog is the strongest, but even that struggles to deliver both effective drama and comedy. The film leans more into its comedic roots rather than crafting an emotionally engaging story, which would be fine if the jokes landed on their feet. They alternate between tedious pop culture references and slapstick physical comedy; smart, witty humour and the amusing commentary on animal life from the first film is few and far between. That said, the cast is, of course, filled with some very funny people. The vocal performance of Jenny Slate, as the deliriously hyperactive Gidget, is hilarious; it’s just a shame she isn’t working with a strong script. Patton Oswalt slips nicely into the role of Max, making him whiney enough for a somewhat convincing arc, yet still likeable enough to root for. Kevin Hart plays Kevin Hart, and Tiffany Haddish’s take on Daisy comes across as lazy and phoned in. Similarly, Harrison Ford (amazingly in his first animated role) is just here, and ultimately delivers a whimper of a performance, not the impressive howl you might expect. Technically, however, The Secret Life of Pets 2 largely puts the work in. The animation is bright and colourful, with stylised characters that pop against generic set pieces. Carrying over from the first film, the movements are distinct, and the individual quirks of the animals are surprisingly nailed. The soundtrack is also mostly successful, though again, it’s a bit disparate. Some tracks seem spy thriller inspired, though seemingly for little reason. Even more inexplicably, John William’s Superman score appears for a short, unfunny throwaway joke, in perhaps the most mind-blowing moment of the whole picture. The editing is fast and frantic, matching the chaotic action on screen, but it feels a bit underwhelming, and the multiple slow-motion moments in the ‘epic’ scenes are misguided and outdated. Unfortunately, a weak script drags down what had the potential to be a trivial, but enjoyably silly flick, like its predecessor. Though vibrant, pretty and fast paced, there is little here that’ll entertain anyone bar the youngest viewers, who might appreciate the slapstick. While not damaging or offensive, the film is painfully mediocre. The Secret Life of Pets 2 lacks the abstractions that make a great film; it has no heart, soul, or love put into it. Bring your own eye-masks, as parents will likely be asleep by the twenty-minute mark. This is one pet to banish to the garden.