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Jason Statham and a massive shark.  5/5 It’s Jason Statham and a massive shark. Seriously though what more would you want from a film? It’s Jason Statham and a massive shark. Look, if you was expecting an oscar worthy movie that was going to be challenging, insightful, intelligent then get out, this is some B-Movie, blockbuster trash, it’s trash, it’s complete trash. But my god this is a brilliant steaming pile of trash. 📷Originally posted by theshawbrothers Jason Statham is an ex-rescue diver, after a mission goes wrong where he encounters Meg, has to leave two of his friends behind to save 11 men, he retires. Fast forward 5 years and Dwight from The Office has spent a tonne of money on this underwater research facility that is exploring the depths of the ocean. The scientists have found a strip of science stuff that is blocking some sort of underwater world that is untouched by humans. They send a crew down there but their sub gets attacked by Meg and needs saving. Jason Statham comes along and saves the day. However, Meg manages to get out of the layer of science stuff (it couldn’t before because the layer was too cold, however because of the ships heat it now can) and starts to cause a right nightmare in the normal ocean. Jason Statham and his crew try to find a way to capture it, they do but it turns out to be baby Meg. Big Meg kills a couple of the crew and then makes his way to the beach. Kills a couple of people on the beach and then Jason Statham stabs it in the eye, takes a massive chunk out him. Blood comes gushing out, little sharks come out and eat Big Meg. Bit like Scar in Lion King, but in water, and sharks, and not digitally animated, and not as good.  Gripping stuff right there, am I right? What do you expect from the guy who directed the National Treasure films? To be fair, this movie is a whole lot of fun. Sure, the dialogue is a bit iffy, it’s a bit all over the shop and at times it doesn’t make a lot of sense. Jason Statham saves the crew and then gets accused by the female lead (Li Bingbing) of not saving the guys life who sacrificed himself. And then the scene after she’s flirting with him. What’s that all about? Where’s the consistency? The humour is really cringe, you know it tries to be funny but it fails a lot. A couple of the stereotypical black jokes and the film mostly tries to use Rainn Wilson (who was Dwight) as the comic relief as nostalgia to his Office role. It just doesn’t work.  📷Originally posted by dailydwight What does work is the action, it’s good shark vs Jason Statham shenanigans. It’s fun to watch, a massive shark being a nuisance and eating people, what’s more fun is the attempts to catch it and the method in doing that. Jason Statham out in sea trying to plant a tracker on it. Or Suyin Zhang (Li Bingbing) tricking it by going in a shark cage. Which, although can’t be smashed because of what it is made from, can fit inside its mouth because it’s a FRICKIN’ MEGALODON. 2/5 Look it’s good fun. That’s what I can say. It’s a good blockbuster flick. It’s worth paying the £11 at the cinema just to hear Jason Statham say ‘oh my god, it’s Megalodon’. Brilliant. That will be up there with ‘No, I am your father’. At the end of the day though, it is Jason Statham and a massive shark.

(London Film Festival, October 13th, 2018, Prince Charles Cinema, 18:15) "Bad Reputation" A look at the life of Joan Jett, from her early years as the founder of 'The Runaways' and first meeting collaborator Kenny Laguna in 1980 to her enduring presence in pop culture as a rock ‘n’ roll pioneer. When a precocious 13 -year-old girl in a sleepy suburban town put a 'Sears Electric Guitar' at the top of her Christmas list in 1971, no one could have predicted how the gift would change the course of history. Joan Jett wants to make some noise. She wants to start a band. An all-girl band. Never mind that the only viable path forward for aspiring female artists in the male-dominated music industry was as a singer-songwriter on an acoustic guitar. Jett wants to plug in, and nothing is going to stop her. Following the break- up of 'The Runaways', Jett met songwriting partner and producer Kenny Laguna, and formed 'Joan Jett & The Blackhearts'. After being rejected by twenty three labels, Laguna and Jett formed 'Blackhearts Records', selling records out of the trunk of Kenny’s Cadillac. Then, 'I Love Rock n Roll' went number one all over the world. The friendship and tenacity exhibited between Jett and Laguna proves to be both entertaining and inspiring. Jett ’s relentless passion for music and her revolutionary spirit has allowed her to defy great odds and find success, credibility and respect among her peers. Joan Jett is an originator, an innovator, and a visionary. As the leader of the hard- rocking 'Blackhearts', with whom she has become a 'Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame' inductee, she's had eight platinum and gold albums and nine Top 40 singles, including the classics 'Bad Reputation", 'I Love Rock 'N' Roll', 'I Hate Myself For Loving You', and 'Crimson and Clove'. Her independent record label, 'Blackheart Records', was founded in 1980 after she was rejected by no less than 23 labels. 'Blackheart' is one of the longest running indie labels and continues to give voice to new bands. Jett has acted in movies and television, including 1987's "Light Of Day", and in a Broadway musical, 'The Rocky Horror Show'. She has appeared on such television shows as 'Oprah' and 'Law and Order'. As a producer, she has overseen albums by 'Bikini Kill', 'Circus Lupus', as well as 'The Germs'. Her music has become a permanent force in mainstream culture. A version of 'I Hate Myself For Loving You' was reworked for 'NBC's Sunday Night Football' theme song. Her music is heard in countless films and TV shows including 'Easy-A', 'The Runaways', 'Shrek' and 'Baby Mama'. Since co-founding 'The Runaways', the pioneering all-girl punk quintet, at age 15, Jett's determination and drive have kept her in the public eye. Jett and 'The Blackhearts' released their latest record, 'Unvarnished', in 2013 and continue touring the globe to throngs of adoring fans. Joan Jett has spent her lifetime breaking barriers and challenging expectations, this is, after all, a woman who's both a spokesperson for 'PETA' and a devoted supporter of 'The US Military'. She's fought hard for all of her historic accomplishments, yet she remains humble and appreciative.   Kenny Laguna has been in the music industry as a musician, songwriter, singer, and producer, for nearly five decades. His resume is as diverse as his talents, including 'Bubblegum', 'Punk Rock', 'Indie Rock', and 'Blue-Eyed Soul'. He has produced the soundtrack to 'The Andy Warhol' movie "Lonesome Cowboys". He's Joan Jett's longtime producer, songwriting partner and partner in their label, 'Blackheart Records'. Starting at the tender age of 12 years old, Kenny was playing keyboards for New York radio high school hops, for twenty dollars a day, when he was recognized by an industry bigwig. This led to other doors that Kenny kicked open, and eventually he found himself producing and playing in 'Bubblegum' bands like 'The Ohio Express'. By 1972, Kenny had played and sung on over '50 Billboard Top 40' hits. After the demise of 'Bubblegum', he was given the opportunity to produce for 'The Who's' label in London, which would prime him for the next phase, 'Punk Rock'. Soon after that, Kenny was asked to help write and produce six songs in 8 days with a young singer named Joan Jett. Her former band, 'The Runaways', had broken up, but they're still contracted to do a project that was yet unfinished. Kenny and Joan immediately found they're kindred spirits, and have collaborated on every Joan Jett album and hit ever since. Kenny wanted to help Joan get a record deal, so they submitted 'I Love Rock N' Roll' and 'Bad Reputation'. They're turned down by every  one. Despite this, they didn't give up; Kenny and Joan manufactured the record, 'Bad Reputation' and sold the album from the trunk of 'Kenny's Cadillac'. This was the beginning of 'Blackheart Records'. 35 years later, 'Blackheart' is still the home to Joan Jett and 'The Blackhearts'. Kenny served as 'Executive Producer' of 2010's, 'The Runaways', bringing the story of the band to life on screen. After 35 years of creating music together, he and Jett are still touring the world, writing and recording new music. Kenny Laguna's vast career is a testament to his talents and tenacity. His body of work is as diverse as his talents. His lengthy career has been driven by passion for what he loves to do best; create music.   Carianne Brinkman spent her first 5 years traveling all over the world with rock n roll bands and then retired from the tour life to start kindergarten. Having grown up in the music industry, she was destined to follow in the formidable footsteps of her father, Kenny Laguna, a music business legend, and her adopted aunt, Joan Jett. After attending college, she joined the family business, 'Blackheart Records', and began to plot how to bring the label into a new era. 'Blackheart' was started after 23 labels rejected Jett and Laguna, before they found success with 'I Love Rock n Roll'. Brinkman rebranded 'Blackheart'' to reflect Jett's authenticity and rock n roll spirit. The label has become one of the longest running and most respected indies. By bringing Jett's catalog into the digital space, and focusing on Jett's unique brand and influence, Brinkman helped propel Jett from rock star to icon. In addition to infusing new life into the over 35 year old label, by signing and championing unique and diverse artists, she has been an integral part of Joan Jett's management team and was key in ushering in a new era for Jett. Jett credits Brinkman as the secret to her current success. After 13 years as 'SVP Of Blackheart', Brinkman began to expand into film. She was an associate producer of the 2010 film, 'The Runaways'. "Bad Reputation" chronicles the life of Joan Jett, from her early teenage years as founding member of The Runaways to her enduring presence over four decades later as a rock ‘n’ roll icon. Joan is so much more than "I Love Rock 'n' Roll." It's true, she became mega-famous from the number-one hit, and that fame intensified with the music video's endless play on 'MTV'. But that staple of popularity can't properly define a musician. Jett put her hard work in long before the fame, ripping it up onstage as the backbone of the hard-rock legends 'The Runaways', influencing many musicians-both her cohort of punk rockers and generations of younger bands-with her no-bullshit style. The film gives you a wild ride as Jett and her close friends tell you how it really was in the burgeoning '70s punk scene, and their interviews are laced with amazing archival footage. The theme is clear, even though people tried to define Jett and keep her stuck to one hit, she never compromised. She will kick your ass, and you'll love her all the more for it. The film shows the evolution of a young girl with a radical notion that girls could play electric guitars into a woman whose place in history will be marked by perseverance, authenticity and incredible rock n roll. Jett’s activism and commitment to all living beings are captured in her work on behalf of animals rights, travels to warzones to entertain the troops. Her humanity and candid reflections reveal a side seldom seen of the seminal rock star. Joan Jett is the essence of rock and roll. A dark and dingy club filled with the hormonal roar of longing and desperation and fuck yes. A stadium filled with hundreds of thousands of fans with their fists in the air. A dyed in the wool musician working on a song alone in her bedroom who won't let a lick or lyric rest till it's just fucking right. A machine who has such perfect timing that she don't need no stinking click track. An alley cat whose iconic howl is either mother's milk or a call to arms or both for millions of people all across the world. An atomic, three chord burst of guitar that's a thousand punches in the gut. A poet who speaks screams whispers of things that go bump in the night with such insight and finesse that the pain somehow just goes away. The highest of all hi-priests and priestesses who preside over a ritual that's still the gold standard for all art forms when it comes to moving masses. A fight against injustice of every stripe. A voice for the voiceless. A champion of champions and defender of the underdog. A feminist manifesto in the flesh. A paver of ways for little girls all acrothink pink was their color and even for those who did. A defiant, never-say-die general and foot soldier who tore down the old world patriarchy so that little girls could plug in and play it loud.

Hounds of Love (2016) Starring Emma Booth, Susie Porter, Ashleigh Cummings and Stephen Curry. Written and Directed by Ben Young. What a dark horse Australia is proving to be when it comes to filmmaking. I first discovered this when I was introduced to The Babadook a few years ago after complaining to my brother I hadn’t seen a decent horror in a while. Now, I have found this little gem and was surprised to find Australia is giving us a whole other dimension to abduction based thrillers. Hounds of Love tells the story of teen Vicki (Ashleigh Cummings), struggling to come to terms with her mum leaving her dad to ‘find herself’. As a result, she plays out her inner rebel and sneaks out at night to a party one evening. After a moment of naivety though, she is abducted by serial rapists/killers Evelyn (Emma Booth) and John White (Stephen Curry) after foolishly accepting a lift and a promise of drugs. Don’t get me wrong, it still has all the typical elements of an abduction movie - an escape attempt that is thwarted as it comes too early in the film to pay off, agony that is further prolonged by the hard-to-watch ordeal (very tactfully shot), chains and blood, local law-enforcement who don’t care, the inevitable scenarios of sexual abuse, which became over-familiar (and therefore devalued) in the Hostel heyday of torture porn. However, this film is different from the rest. In many other ways, it plays against expectations, which of course keeps you gripped. Rather than the basement cage in a remote house of most abduction movies, Vicki is very loosely chained in a back bedroom, in a bungalow, on a regular street, and the racket she raises often alerts nosey neighbours. Accustomed to cracks in relationships from her parents’ break-up, she realises that the needy Evelyn, who has children that don’t live with her and dotes on a child-substitute dog, is exploited by her perverse, domineering, inadequate partner. A monstrous master in his own home, John is a little fish in a bigger crime pond (people are chasing him for money), taking frustrations out on his victims and his wife alike. Vicki sees an opening and plays on Evelyn’s insecurities with the moody teenager skill she has developed pushing her own mother’s buttons. As a result, very quickly as a viewer you begin to ask all the questions the Director hopes you will – will Vicki’s plan work? Will she actually be able to negotiate? Oh god, is she actually going to make it out? The fact she is so painfully close to the perfectly populated street (excellent storytelling) makes it all the more enthralling. In my past posts, I have spoken about true horrors having a huge element of psychological trauma. What works in this film is that John’s victims know exactly who he is and what he wants, but his wife lies to herself about it until he crosses a line, which makes Evelyn waver in her loyalties. Again, this makes us question does Evelyn even have the mental capacity to believe Vicki’s plea? Abduction narratives are always tough to watch and this one is no different. However, Young’s storytelling is proof he cares about audience satisfaction and how realistic we believe it to be. After all, the minute it becomes too farfetched we switch off. Vicki’s abduction has plenty of uncomfortable scenes, but it isn’t just blood, gore and chains. Most of the harrowing scenes take place behind closed doors, leaving it to us to use our imagination. That alone is enough discomfort for any reasonable person. It doesn’t surprise me to see this film is based on fact, relating to similar abductions that happened across Perth in the ‘80s. Emma Booth and Ashleigh Cummings are outstanding. In most films like this, female characters have to be foolish and irrational for the narratives to work, but here we see why these intelligent women (Evelyn is unnervingly good at luring victims into the car) ignore their own best instincts to get into a position where John can exploit them. I think what was missing for me was the motive. I wasn’t sure why this deranged couple did this to young girls, but my first thought was something to do with using them to reproduce, because of the storyline of Evelyn not having her children with her. However looking back, a couple capable of committing such crimes probably don’t need a reason. The most thrilling scene for me was right at the end, when Vicki is a matter of feet away from her own mother, but being kept quiet under a knife to the throat. Conveniently, Vicki and her boyfriend have code breaking skills, whereby simple spelling errors in letters can reveal a message. Earlier in the film, Evelyn had forced Vicki to write a letter to her mum to throw her off the scent but this handily led her to her best chance of survival. Does she get out??? Watch it!!! You won’t be disappointed.

First seen at the Raindance Film Festival, our movie critic Chris Olson reviews short film Balcony for UK Film Review. You can see his Vlog film review below:

■ (Release Info London schedule; August 4th, 2019, BFI Southbank, London SE1 Belvedere Road, South Bank, London, England, SE1 8XT, 12:30 PM) ■ (Release Info UK schedule; August 23rd, 2019, Phoenix Cinema and Art Centre, Leicester 4 Midland Street, Leicester, LE1 1TG, 10:15 AM) "Playmobil: The Movie" For more than 45 years, children around the world have been delighted by the 7.5 cm-tall plastic figure toys known as 'Playmobil'. This year, the popular toys come to animated life in 'ON Animation Studio’s' beautifully crafted and imagined new movie. Featuring a live-action prologue and epilogue, "Playmobil: The Movie" is centered on an imaginative young girl named Marla Brenner (Anya Taylor-Joy) who embarks on an epic journey after her younger brother Charlie (Gabriel Bateman) disappears into the vast and wondrous animated world of 'Playmobil'. As Marla tries to find her brother in this magical realm, she encounters a memorable cast of 'Playmobil' characters including a friendly food truck driver Del (Jim Gaffigan), dashing secret agent Rex Dasher (Daniel Radcliffe), a modern fairy godmother (Meghan Trainor) and the power-hungry Emperor Maximus (Adam Lambert). After being reunited with her brother, her sweeping adventures teach Marla to break free from her structured adult life, reconnect to her childhood dreams and enjoy the endless possibilities of her imagination. Like many animated family classics, "Playmobil: The Movie" is a 'Musical'. If a character has a song, you want to hear bits of that song to remind you of their want or their need, whatever it's. The movie begins with a song in the live-action world, where the main character Marla is aspiring to her future. She expresses her feelings about the world, and it sets up the whole journey. It encourages young people to go out there and conquer the world out there. The song serves as the musical peaks in the movie. We want to approximate life in a sense. We like to sing when we’re feeling very good or sad. So, the main character sings to celebrate a moment or feel the blues. Get wet in the rain and enjoy the ride. The heroine of "Playmobil: The Movie" is Marla Brenner, a spirited young woman who's thrust into the magical world of 'Playmobil' when her young brother Charlie disappears into a fantastic toy universe. In the beginning of the movie, Marla is really excited about going out into the world and she has such a zest for life. When her little brother goes missing, they both end up on this mad adventure when they get sucked into 'Playmobil-Land', and she has to find him. Marla has a very grown-up sensibility and throws her into this eclectic wildness that's the world of 'Playmobil'. She has to face problems that she's not used to solving without the benefit of her digits, or a stiffness in her arms, or all those sorts of things. Something that's really fun about this world is that the film adopts the genre of that world and the film language of that world. She's really going to be a fish out of water as she's bounced from a world of 'Kung Fu' to a world of 'Sci-Fi'. All of a sudden, she's riding on the back of a dinosaur. 'Playmobil' lets you do that, because all of these worlds are so wildly diverse. Some of the obstacles that Marla faces in 'The Playmobil World' echo epic traditional film moments, allows to wink at the audience with clever homages to films as diverse as 'The Indiana Jones' movies, martial arts classics such as 'Crouching Tiger', 'Hidden Dragon', 'Gladiator' films and 'James Bond'-type spy capers. Marla who’s zooming out on her life, and then she has this adventure and comes back to it with a newly found perspective and a lot of gratitude. That's a very important, healing message. So, the movie is a really lovely story of courage and family love, but it’s also very funny and entertaining. Charlie Brenner, Marla’s younger brother, whose imagination and sense of wonder, draws him to the amazing realm of 'Playmobil'. In the beginning of the movie, Charlie doesn’t see Marla’s point of view. She’s too strict with him. When he has to take responsibility, he really starts to understand that she was just doing her best to take care of them. As a result of their time in 'Playmobil-Land', their relationship changes. They get closer and they feel more like a family again. The film has a huge amount of care and attention and comes up with something that pays a lovely homage to the world of imagination and how toys fire up the imagination and make you connect with others. So the film as a whole will be imbued with that same kind of joy of discovery and the sort of family relationship between Marla and her brother is very sweet. One of the first characters Marla meets in 'The Playmobil World' is Del, a happy-go-lucky food truck driver who decides to help her along the way. He’s kind of a guy who gets by thanks to a lot of side jobs. The interaction with Marla changes his life in some ways. Del is certainly someone who's able to move between the different worlds of 'Playmobil' and as we get to find out, he also has a heart of gold. Initially, Del has selfish motives for helping Marla, but he soon reveals that he does have a big heart as the adventure unfolds. You don’t see his humanity in the beginning of the movie, but he and Marla navigate these worlds together to track down Marla’s brother. He has a lot of interactions with lots of people, so he’s a very useful person for Marla to accidentally come across. Rex Dasher is a smooth and savvy secret agent. He's sort of 'Playmobil' world’s version of 'James Bond'. He exists to be a toy parody of 'James Bond', but it’s all sorts of the silliest bits of Bond, more of 'The Roger Moore-Era Bond' than 'Fhe Daniel Craig Persona'. 'The Fairy Godmother' is everything! She's amazing, super cool and down to earth. She comes to the aid of Marla when she needs her the most. She has a tattoo, and is edgy. She kind of has fishnets on her arms, and has pink hair and flowers in her hair. It reminds of 'The All About The Bass’ video with a little more edge. In the movie, 'The Fairy Godmother' helps revive Marla’s spirit. She reminds Marla that she can get through anything, that the power is in her. 'Emperor Maximus' is the villain of the movie, but he’s also completely out of his mind. In a weird way, he's lovable. He's a childlike spoiled brat of a dictator. He decides that his way of keeping control over the people is by giving them a big fight to watch, a la 'Rome'. He's completely obnoxious. He's the bad guy, but you kind of like him and hate him all at the same time. The 'Pirate Blood Bones' (Kenan Thompson) often gives pep talks to the rest of the bunch. He’s always like, ‘come on guys we can do whatever we want'. During the journey, the main characters visit different worlds, the idea is to change the look and feel using the codes and cinematography of the genre each sequence refers to. 'The Viking' sequence is the entry in this world. It's contrast strongly with the real world we've left behind. It's vibrant, colorful, and the kind of messy battle you would find in "Braveheart" or "Gladiator". When Marla ends up in 'The Wild West World', audiences are taken to the dry, empty plains. We've this super strong light that’s used to emphasize her effort to get to the town, and the images are almost overexposed because of the sun being so strong. The pace changes too, using the classic western codes, slower camera moves, close up shots on the staring bad guys. Then she and Del escape to 'The Spy Sequence', which is treated like a retro futuristic 'James Bond' classic with surprising gadgets, an atmospheric night and villains with a dark plan. The lighting and mood of the exterior sequence compares to a film noir, the saturation is toned down to let more space to the shadows and lights, and there’s fog as well. This also contrasts with the bright lab-like villain facility and their super cool retro computers. Then there are wide open spaces of the drive on the highway, followed by the mix-and-match world of 'Constantinopolis' and the power-hungry 'Emperor. Maximus' has access to modern technology, so we can turn the games into a giant light show to really captivate the audience. We also move on to the busy, futuristic 'City Of Glinara'. For this sequence the film reminiscences 'The Fifth Element', funny creatures, robots, infinite glass buildings and lens flares. In this 'Asian'-inspired city, the best place for a smuggler to hide would be a huge karaoke machine. First, there's the scary gray forest from which Marla is unable to escape, with all the many twisted trees, which are a metaphor for her tangled mind. Then, we move on to the shiny, colorful fairytale city which restores hope and send her back on her way to her brother. The challenge is to look at the broad landscape of 'The Playmobil Universe' and identify the kinds of characters and story, the film wants to develop. It’s about forgiveness and understanding, a fractured family finds a way to come back together. This feels like a worthy and meaningful story to tell. The characters are emotionally upended and turned literally into something else, and that transformation challenges them in a remarkable ways. Their journey inspires them to act courageously and offers hope that the best version of their life together is yet to come. Classic storytelling and universally relatable characters help strengthen the film’s broad appeal. Many of us grew up with 'James Bond' movies, Clint Eastwood’s spaghetti westerns, and movies about knights and magical kingdoms. When we got together and started talking about genre jumping, we're like kids again, playing with toys in the living room. The film brings that same level of playfulness and joy to audiences around the world and remind them that with imagination, anything is possible. We're able to contrast a young character that really has that sort of superpower to create worlds and have this expansive imagination contrasted against somebody that never really had that, and you see that missing component from their life and how essential it's. We've this opportunity to have 'Playmobil’s' really fun and silly multi-world, which also allows you go to a deeper place and talk about character and what it means to graduate from childhood into adulthood. This movie has this amazing ability to find magic in the mundane. When you think about the world of toys, especially 'Playmobil', they're sort of sitting there just waiting for a child to activate it and unlock it's magic. We see those toys from a kid's eyes, not what he has in front of him but what he imagines; the pirate in his hand has a stiff plastic cape, but when he plays he sees it, the cape floating in the wind. That’s what the movies does, which explores this idea of a wish fulfilment visually. The animation is based on how a kid would see the toys through his/her imagination. You see the arms and legs bending at 90 degrees, but we still maintain some of the iconic constraints of the toys. Their necks don’t bend. They've no fingers and noses, and surprisingly, we discovered that we didn’t need them. We can tell everything we want without fingers or noses. From time to time, the visuals remind audiences that we're still playing with 'Playmobil' toys. You see the skin change from something fleshy and organic to a texture that has little sparkles of plastic in it. One of the remarkable aspects of the film’s animation is how the animated 'Playmobil' characters each display their complex and special personalities with such elementary visual cues. We've a laid-back character like Del, who's very different from the villain 'Emperor Maximus'. But when you put them side by side, they are the same toys. They both have beards and literally come from the same mold. "Playmobil: The Movie" provides the opportunity to remember how as a child we used to play with our favorite toys. Launched in 1974 'Toys' like 'Playmobil' are a gateway to your earlier memories. They can be like time machines as they take you back and immediately give that spark. It's very important to convey the true emotions that we all experience in childhood. The central part of the movie is the ability to bring back the feelings and spirit of childhood that come with playing with 'The Playmobil Toys'. With 'Playmobil', you get the feeling that anything is possible. You create the rules, and you become a character in this movie. Kids can be 'Knights', 'Vikings', 'Princesses' or 'Cowboys'. It’s not a girl- nor boy-driven toy. We often see boys and girls playing together in the world of 'Playmobi'. You've pirates, knights, police officers, firemen, brides, princesses, and children connect to these characters all over the world! You can mix the characters, the figurines and the worlds, and the only limitation is your imagination. You can travel through time, fly to the moon and be a pirate at the same time. They're quite serious about their game, but they've great fun! So it’s about serious fun as well as creating own stories. The world of 'Playmobil' offered us endless story possibilities. Most fairy tales use a visual device that bookends the story. This film explores opening up a storybook or having a narrated opening, but none of it feels organic to the story. To have a dynamic contrast and stimulating visual from animation it's best to have a live-action opening and ending. The protagonist Marla has lost touch with the child’s point of view that she used to have. It feels right to show her in a live-action world where there's no magic. When she finds herself in a very magical situation, which is the entrance to the world of 'Playmobil', it becomes the catalyst for the whole movie. 'LEGO' is to construction, 'Playmobil' is to role playing. The film wants to reflect that idea in the movie since Marla literally gets turned into a toy and ends up in a magical world. This is mportant for a creative education. You can go through a lot of different experiences, but just like the main character in the movie, you should never forget about your dreams and your childhood. Know that anything is possible if you trust yourself and stay optimistic. It’s also the magic of imagination that you see in all of these distinct 'Playmobil Worlds'. Everything feels familiar, because for some of us, it’s not that distant memory. And for children, it’s a world that they know very well. The movie has both an honest, emotional core it, while being funny and entertaining at the same time. Simple plots with complex characters. One of the special devices that sets the movie apart is that the characters get to travel to different realms, which allows to have fun with various cinematic genres. If you think of your favorite genre films like 'Westerns', 'Fantasy', 'Sci-Fi', 'Musicals', there are tropes that are familiar in all those movies. The film uses those tropes as our comedic framing device. As the characters travel through the different lands, "Playmobil" adopts the cinematic language, acting and dialogue from the different genre’s and just have fun with it. There’s a certain chord that animated movies strike inside you. Maybe it’s because you don’t expect them to affect you so deeply or have such a powerful meaning. Animated movies have this emotional impact more than regular live-action movies do. Audiences will really love this movie because it’s entertaining, very creative, and it will make you laugh and cry at the same time. It really hits you in the heart right from the beginning and keeps you engaged all the way. There’s a lot at stake, but there’s also a lot of honest emotion and we infuse the comedy all throughout the movie as well. It’s always nice to go back to something that you loved from your childhood as it triggers an honest emotional response. This movie will make audiences remember the young person inside of them. That's why this is truly a family movie that everyone will enjoy. It's important because it reminds us that everyone is bound to grow up and take on responsibility of adulthood, but at the end of the day, you can't lose the child inside of you. This movie really reminds people to always be a little bit of a kid inside and to honor that, to honor the part of you that wants to play, create, and have an imagination. It's a great vehicle for positivity, and parents and children will leave the theater feeling upbeat and optimistic about the future. "Playmobil" is just an awesome piece of our culture.

Early Man is the new stop-motion, clay animation film from Aardman Studios. If you're familiar with the studio's previous films or series you likely know what to expect. By continuing the studio's affinity towards good humoured, layered and utterly charming animated films that can be enjoyed by the whole family; Aardman has created another classic! Early Man follows, Dug and his tribe of stone-age people as they're driven out of their home by the despicable, Lord Nooth and his more advanced city of bronze ("Ze age of stone is over!"). After being evicted to the volcanic badlands and realising that fighting is futile, Dug discovers his ancestors had a love for a game the bronze people call...football. With the help of Goona – a bronze city resident with her own desire to play football – Dug sets about training his tribe in an effort to win back his home and save his people from slavery or destruction. Featuring a concoction of some of Britain's finest talent, Early Man is as wondrously voice-acted as it is animated. Eddie Redmayne, as Dug – our lead, and the stone age tribes more plucky character – gives a typically excellent performance; as does Maisie Williams as the tough, want-to-be football player, Goona. Dug's best friend and sidekick, Hognob – lovingly grunted by Nick Park – is a delight to watch, and serves as a reminder of how perfectly Aardman can develop speechless characters that are equally as emotive and understandable as others. Rob Brydon also deserves credit for his hilarious, albeit limited role as the mimicking messenger bird; a bird that frequently brings bad news or angry messages to Lord Nooth, from his wife, Queen Oofeefa. Contributing some of my favourite scenes in the whole movie; watching as the messenger bird struts around the table, yelling and throwing fruit at Lord Nooth – as his wife would, had she been there – never got boring and had me in fits of laughter long after the scene had ended. The rest of the cast is made up of an eclectic group, including the likes of: Timothy Spall, Richard Ayoade, Mark Williams, Johnny Vegas, Miriam Margoyles and Gina Yashere. All of whom do a superb job at creating side characters that never feel like a carbon-copy of another, or unimportant; imprinting each with their own personal flair. It's Tom Hiddleston who really steals the show for me, however. Playing the tyrannical Lord Nooth, Hiddleston gives us the perfect mixture of the evil villain and the campy bad guy (think Victor Quartermaine - Curse of the Were-rabbit); with the most extraordinary French accent, I might add! The animation and humour on display are typical for Aardman, and for a legitimate reason. They're good at it. Really good at it. Mixing a Punch and Judy style slapstick, hilarious puns ("Go on then! Show us your tackle!") and intelligent cultural jokes is no straightforward task; and yet, Aardman rarely put a foot wrong. The combination of clever and funny off the cuff puns and jokes regarding British culture (Dug kicking the ball over the fence and having to ask for it back) will ensure there's plenty of laughs for adults. The more physical look of the animation, silly slapstick, and cheery style captures the interest of children; truly, a film for the entire family. Handmade plasticine models provide the basis for the movies painstakingly made animation. CGI is also used to add certain visual flourishes, but mostly to create the movies backdrops. Although CGI is used more than ever now; Early Man nevertheless manages to hold onto the down to earth, thumbprint look, and style that so defines Aardman Studios. Verdict Early Man is a beautiful and laugh out loud funny animated movie from Britain's best known, and most loved animation studio. By sticking to their tried and tested formula, Aardman can sometimes seem unadventurous; but why change something that works so well? The pick-a-mix bag of gags and jokes ensures that there is something for every member of the family; no matter the age. For me, Early Man did its job; it had me smiling from the get-go, and I didn't stop laughing until the movie finished. Although primarily about football – not a subject I have any interest in, or much knowledge of – the movie managed to keep me hooked, and I never felt like I was watching a film I just didn't get. Although not one of their best works (for me that's Curse of the Were-Rabbit), Early Man is nevertheless a wonderfully charming, and funny piece to join Aardman's already marvelous back catalogue. I've seen the movie once so far, but fully intend to see it a couple more times; to look out for the no doubt copious background gags I missed the first time around; something you can always rely on with these films. I challenge anyone to go see this movie and not come out of it smiling and feeling even just a little better about things. 9/10

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(Release Info London schedule; June 29th, 2019, BFI Southbank, Belvedere Rd, Lambeth, London SE1 8XT, United Kingdom, 17:15 pm) https://walloh.com/movies/33714-photograph/ "Photograph" Rafi (Nawazuddin Siddiqui), a struggling Mumbai street photographer, pressured to marry by his grandmother Dadi (Farrukh Jaffar), convinces Miloni (Sanya Malhotra), a shy stranger, to pose as his fiancée during a family visit. Despite vast cultural differences, the pair develops a surprising connection that challenges their worldviews in a wistful and funny romance. Rafi comes to Mumbai from a small village to earn money to pay off an old family debt. Working as a street photographer, he shares one small room with friends and sends almost everything he makes to his grandmother, Dadi, in the hope she will be able to buy back her ancestral home. To satisfy the elderly woman’s desire for him to marry, he sends her a photo of a shy stranger, claiming that the girl, Miloni, is his fiancée. When his grandmother insists on a meeting, he tracks Miloni down and asks her to pretend to be his betrothed. A sheltered young woman studying to become an accountant, Miloni lives a quiet, middle-class life with her parents, and awaits an arranged marriage to a suitable boy when she finishes school. She impulsively agrees to Rafi’s scheme, opening the door to an unexpected adventure at the crossroads of tradition and modernity. "Photograph" is a heartwarming and comical snapshot of life in contemporary Mumbai. Miloni, a shy and traditionally raised middle-class 'Mumbaikar', crosses paths with Rafi, a 'Muslim' villager living in the city trying to scratch out a living as a street photographer. Who are these people, what happens to them and how it's that their lives go along together for some time. Miloni is very strong, and keenly sensitive to the needs of others. She's devoted to her family, but also feels burdened by the ties. She's seeking a sense of freedom that she has never had, freedom from family traditions, expectations, status, societal norms. Miloni’s experience of life is limited to home and school, but she has a measure of curiosity about the world around her. She has never had a chance to decide what she wants. She has been led by her family’s priorities for her and by the force of tradition. She's a dutiful daughter. The logical next step for her is marriage to a suitable boy, one carefully vetted and selected by her parents. But meeting Rafi has her wondering if there could be more to life. There’s constant pressure from the society to be a certain way. Meeting Rafi opens an entirely new world to Miloni and it’s the world she wants to live in. He allows her to experience things she hasn’t before. Through his friendship with Miloni, Rafi is exploring the possibility of falling in love, something he has never felt he had the opportunity to do. He’s letting himself go for once in his life. Rafi and Miloni are divided by radically different religious, economic and cultural backgrounds, and even skin color, but both struggle with the same kinds of existential questions. India’s in a very interesting place now. For probably centuries, people always thought as a family first. Recently, they've started to think of themselves as individuals rather than as part of a family. It’s become one of the central conflicts in Indian life today. Miloni and Rafi find themselves at odds with the expectations of a modern world in which they can’t ever truly be themselves. For her, it means that while she has been raised to be a professional and is excelling in her classes, she still lives with her parents and must defer to them in all things, including her choice of career and husband. For his part, Rafi has moved far away from the village he grew up in and lives without family around him, but he's still bound by tradition to restore his family’s honor and to satisfy his grandmother’s wishes. Differentiating visually between Rafi’s chaotic, hand-to-mouth world and Miloni’s orderly family life is essential. It helps to define the internal state of a character with the color of their surroundings, especially in quiet movies like this that are expressive only in ways that are true to the characters. The film uses warmer light and mainly handheld camera work to depict the scenes in Rafi’s world. As an example, there's a scene in which Miloni walks from her apartment building’s elevator into her parents’ apartment. The elevator itself establishes her relative economic privilege, while her reaction to the conversation in the apartment offers a window into her thoughts. There's a sense of nostalgia that Rafi has, and that Miloni has inherited from her grandfather. The sense that these characters would have been happier in an earlier time when life was simpler in India, when everyone was not running around so much, when there was only one kind of cola on the stands, one TV channel, and two kinds of cars. Miloni speaks about missing a soft drink from her childhood called 'Campa Cola'. It was the only cola available in India for years. It's a golden-age fallacy, but the nostalgia is what binds the two characters together. Following the intersecting paths of two people who would typically never meet has a source of humor. The different ways people express that can be both funny and sad. People often mistake that kind of longing for loneliness. Longing is an act full of life and vitality, with room for humor and sadness and everything in between. Lots of people longing for all kinds of things; the past, things they dream of but have never seen, other people, even for the smallest of things. Rafi’s imposing grandmother, whom he calls 'Dadi', has a single mission in life; to make sure her grandson gets married sooner rather than later. She writes Rafi letters, sends messages though friends in Mumbai and relentlessly entreats him to find a wife. Her determination may seem hilariously over-the-top to some audiences. It’s pretty realistic. It may seem exaggerated, but that’s pretty much how it goes. After a certain age, if you’re not married it becomes the point of your life for both men and women. All your relatives are asking why you aren’t married yet. When Rafi tells his grandmother he's engaged, she immediately makes the grueling journey from her village to meet his fiancé. Dadi, a diminutive dynamo, turns her laser focus on Miloni as soon as they meet, dominating the conversation with a barrage of blunt questions to determine her suitability as a wife. Perhaps because the three characters are so different, their encounter opens new doors for each of them. Some people are able to inspire us to be something other than what we believe we can be. They do that for each other. She brings about a curiosity in him. She inspires him to take a moment for himself and do something for somebody other than his family. He gives her an opportunity to explore and expand her world, to take on a new persona when she's with him and his grandmother. There’s a lot of nobility and sacrifice that goes into thinking as a family as opposed to thinking as an individual. These people are torn between that and putting their own desires first. Since the international success of his 2013 debut feature film, "The Lunchbox", "Photograph", marks Batra’s return to his roots for an inspired and funny look at love in the contradictory world of modern urban life on the Indian subcontinent. The film is inspired by both exuberant 'Bollywood' musicals and a classic 'Shakespeare' comedy. They're always some kind of 'Taming Of The Shrew' adaptation. There are hundreds of them with a poor guy who’s maybe a car mechanic and a rich girl who's a little hot-tempered. For decades, 'The Indian Film Industry' has made tales of plucky heroines who defy tradition and family with the men they love it's stock-in-trade. The girl in these movies has little more to do than look pretty and spend three hours being mindlessly pursued by the hero as her family alternately bosses her around and mollycoddles her. Nowadays she may have a job, a goofy group of friends, a lovable dog, or none of these, but she’d certainly have a say in who she wants to end up with. Living in Mumbai today has more a feeling of an independent arthouse film than a 'Bollywood Extravaganza'. The action of "Photograph" begins at the bustling 'Gateway Of India', a landmark that has become a symbol of both modern and historic Mumbai. Built to commemorate the visit of 'King George V' and 'Queen Mary' to India in 1911, it has become a favorite place for tourists and locals alike, with pleasure boats that tour the harbor and vendors of all kinds. For decades it welcomed dignitaries arriving in India via 'The Arabian Sea'. So it’s a tourist attraction but also a local hangout and it’s always jam-packed with people. "Photograph" is the first film shot at 'The Gateway' since the 2008 terrorist attack on the nearby 'Taj Mahal Palace Hotel', a Raj-era architectural marvel that's often seen in the background of the film. Mumbai is a densely populated city of about 20 million that continues to grow every day. There are about 10,000 people moving to the city every day. There's a mass migration from the villages into the city. Mumbai is a city of stark contrasts, home to both a 27-floor private residence and some of the most desperate slums in the world. Centuries-old temples and modern office buildings co-exist side-by-side, while the glitzy world of 'Bollywood' and India’s straight-laced financial sector flourish. Luxury hotels and restaurants have proliferated in recent decades. 'Chowpatty Beach' is a longtime destination where visitors still enjoy the city’s renowned street food, bhelpuri, in a portable paper cone. In this complicated, hectic world, the film tells a story of extraordinary sweetness and optimism. The location has much to do with the story. It's shaped by life in Mumbai, which cannot be replicated in any other city in India or elsewhere. People are defined by the small corner of 'The Earth' they stand on. The film captures the city we travel through every day, the people we meet every day. Nothing expresses a character’s internal state more than how they perceive magic in a world that seemingly has none. If you believe in a ghost, maybe he will come and speak with you someday. "Photograph" may surprise audiences with a picture of an incredibly diverse metropolis. It's a classic independent film that Americans will easily relate to. It’s about finding companionship and maybe even love, but filtered through an Indian sensibility. Whether it's to save the home in the village or complete a degree or get a temporary reprieve from family pressures through this photograph, they end up making some space in their own lives for the things they long for. They're finally able to think of themselves as individuals, not just a cog in the family machine. It does show that India is no different from anywhere else in the world in many ways. This film is not meant to be a cultural education as much as it's an emotional experience that's true to the time and place, which is today in India. It's a simple, timeless, universal message about vastly different people being able to transcend boundaries. In these times, where Trump wants to build a four meter wall at the Mexican border, this is a very important message.

All right, I need you to loosen the guy up. He’s old, all right? Do not kill him. The only thing I wondered afterward was “Why for God sake was this movie made?“. I’m not saying that this was the most horrible film of the year. Or the most superfluous release ever. There were some positive things in it. And in a certain way, it was sometimes far from bad even. But in the end, it was only a simplistic storyline and little to nothing innovative. The only thing that stayed with me is that you got an unpleasant feeling while watching. The way Rainy (Guillermo Diaz) addressed and dealt with the kidnapped persons was rather intimidating. An agitated character who’s completely out of control after consuming some kind of soft drugs. You just felt that it was a difficult situation for Audrey (Tammy Blanchard) and her daughter Cheyenne (Onata Aprile). But that’s the only thing in this film that can be called exciting. For the rest, it’s quite weak. It’s all about water. Everything revolves around the claiming of water rights by Bobby (David Spade). Something his ancient grandfather failed in doing. And apparently, he can only achieve this by sending two vicious-looking characters to the elderly owner. To exert a little pressure. What Bobby didn’t know was that the latter had already died. The only ones they find in the old man’s house are the daughter Audrey and granddaughter Cheyenne. And the only plan that those two bums can come up with is to kidnap these two people who happen to be present. What follows is a precarious situation where one kidnapper (Dwight Henry as Jawari) tries to keep the other in line (clearly that these two bunglers don’t really know each other). And when someone unexpectedly shows up at the door, Ryan gets even more agitated. Some familiar faces. Apart from the lesser known actors, you will notice a number of familiar faces. The most well-known person is, of course, the comedian David Spade as the go-getter Bobby who apparently has to prove himself towards his grandfather Calvin (Bruce Dern, known face number two). Personally, I don’t think David Spade belongs to the crème de la crème when it comes to comedy. Usually, these are forgettable, nonsense comedies that are far from funny. I thought he’d make a funny comment at any moment. His contribution was reasonably mediocre. Bruce Dern’s acting was also fairly limited. Certainly compared to his part in “The Hateful Eight” as General Sandy Smithers. And finally, you’ll also recognize James Earl Jones in a tiny role as a sort of notary. Also an insignificant role for such a well-known star. A movie to forget about. What remains are the leads. Their acting is nevertheless of a reasonable level. For example, I found the interaction between Tammy Blanchard and Onata Aprile very convincing. Maybe at times, it was a bit overly sentimental and Cheyenne came across as inexperienced. But that didn’t really bother me. Also, the acting of Guillermo Diaz was generally good. He managed to picture Ryan as an unstable character. Although his frantic attempt to sound like an accomplished psychiatrist was a bit absurd. Unfortunately, this wasn’t enough to make it an interesting film. The motive itself was already far-fetched. The final denouement sounded even more nonsensical. Nope, “Warning Shot” certainly isn’t a great film. So, you don’t want to waste time? Better you skip it then. My rating 3/10 Links: IMDB More reviews here

(Release Info London schedule; July 11th, 2018, Picturehouse, 21:00) "Marrowbone" Four siblings seek refuge in an old home after the death of their mother, only to discover that the house has another, more sinister, inhabitant, in this haunting directorial debut from Sergio G. Sánchez. "Marrowbone" tells the story of Jack (George MacKay), Billy (Charlie Heaton), Jane (Mia Goth), and Sam (Matthew Stagg), 4 orphan siblings that only have each other and that face the threat of a voracious past, that doesn't let go and the promise of a future of light that doesn't really sets in. While they try to overcome that moment, they take shelter in a house, which actually is a great fiction that allows them to live under the mirage of being safe from that, which harms them. Jack, Billy, Jane, and Sam represent different way, sometimes opposed, sometimes complementary to face the trauma they've in common. That's why their inner relationships are so fascinating and complex. The main weight falls on Jack. As the older sibling, he faces the responsibility of looking after his siblings. He struggles with the usual concerns of a boy his age, his love for Allie (Anya Taylor-Joy), and the responsibility his mother has given him by asking him to keep the family together. He's a tortured character because he lives with anguish and emptiness in his memory and is constantly trying to close that hole. By contrast, Jane, the second sister, symbolizes goodness in the absence of the mother. Whenever there's a violent or negative instinct, Jane compensates. She fights for the brothers can leave behind their painful past. Billy, the third of the siblings, is perhaps the most troublesome. He represents courage, the bravery that Jack sometimes lacks. In return he has a tendency to rush and move towards the dark side. It contrasts with Jane, who leads the family into the light. Billy is therefore one of the most interesting characters in the story as it condenses the fears of the group, the fear with which they've to learn to live with. He's only a teenager who, like the boys of his age, wants to explore, feel free. A vehemence that given the peculiar situation in which his family is, turns out to be counterproductive and dangerous. The most obvious metaphor for summarizing Billy's character corresponds to that of a caged bird that's eager to fly.   The fourth brother is Sam. He's the youngest, so everyone feels they've to overprotect him by hiding the most scabrous aspects that have led them to their present situation, which is funny considering Sam is very conscious of what happens. In this sense, Sam is a fundamental pillar of the family. He tries to remain innocent before his siblings, as if he fears to put them in danger if he verbalizes everything he knows. It seems that his older siblings need to believe that he's more tender and naive than he really is. For them, his innocence is living proof that not everything is corrupted in the world. Allie is practically the only link they've with the outside world, the lens through which they observe what goes on outside the walls of their little microcosm. She's a bright, cheerful character that holds us to the story and the moment in which it happens. Allie represents the real world. Her life is radically different from the sibling's one. The romance between Jack and Allie accurately sums up the idiosyncrasy of both characters. It's teenage love shared by two young people who neither want nor have time to consider where it will lead.   There's another character that's also essential and has to do with the Asturias nebula. It's the house where the siblings live, the miniature universe that frees and cages them at the same time, and which, although in the film is located in a fictional point of Maine. The protagonists live in the world with their own rules, invisible to society that continues with their concerns on the other side. All this is very easy to convey thanks to the house they chose, because it's totally isolated, with no signs of modern life around it, as if the history had really run it's course without it. In addition to the house, it's also important the recreation of the town that Jack visits on occasions to run errands. This village is conceived in the film to aggressively contrast with the reality of the house. While this has barely evolved since 1931, when the house was closed, the village people live fully in the year that corresponds to them, 1969. It's a town that we don't see much in terms of footage, but the feeling that you are somewhere else has to be very fast. The chosen place is 'The Old Factory Of Arms Of Oviedo', which also has to be transformed to fit the geographical and temporary needs of the story.   "Marrowbone" is Sergio G. Sánchez's filmmaker debut. Up until now, Sánchez had been responsible for some of the best screenplays of recent Spanish cinema, praised for his ability to manage emotions and connect almost immediately with the audience. Especially well known are "The Orphanage" and "The Impossible". It's a complex story, with different time lines, with several twists. This idea of a novel in installments is not by chance. "Marrowbone" shares with this type of literature the presence of an independent universe, filled with secrets that entices the audience and invites them to stay and live inside. The odyssey of four siblings that cross the Atlantic escaping from a mysterious trauma with a life of it's own. The four siblings are flesh and bone people. One wants to stay and live with them, know their secrets and be by their side in their fears. A great deal of it comes from the special interest in childhood, youth and all which happens when their characters swim into the deep and dark water of adulthood. It's not by chance that "Marrowbone's" main characters are four kids that haven't yet reach adulthood. The same way "The Orphanage" and "The Impossible" placed the lights and shadows of childhood at the core. The film defends the importance of fiction as a medicine to cure deep wounds or even as shelter for a hostile reality we're not able to manage. It's a combination of fantasy and terror and drama genre. The film creates a cinema, which is analogous and supplementary, with obsessions and themes alike.   It's a subtle approach to the genre, without tightening the screws. The genre, as a way of reaching the truth, but not as a purpose itself. It's the kind of feature that's no longer done, that don't requires special effects or make up; terror is at the story's core and gradually consumes everything. Genre is a crucial and essential element that gradually sneaks under the door, always to help the characters, not the other way round. The fantastic element helps narrate the ordinary in an extraordinary way, as something that can't be, but it in the end, is. "Marrowbone" moves along different areas. A balance between drama and different elements of genre that adjust to the point of view of four siblings, full of life, but also with anxiety. And all of it, impregnated with a unique romanticism that tinges each frame. It's only logical that the family dynamics between the four members constitutes the cornerstone that articulates all the film. In "Marrowbone", all those principles take place simultaneously. We know something is happening beyond that surface of apparently calm images, and of course, we're willing to unravel it's deepest nooks We want to cross the threshold and dig into the story.   "Marrowbone" is a thriller that combines many elements, thriller, horror, love story and fantasy. The film invites the viewer to participate in the game, to actively participate and compose a puzzle. It's a classic movie of suspense, it seems like a movie from another time, away from the patterns of the current genre cinema. But for this not seem like an exercise of nostalgia, the film tries to narrate it for it to have a complex and original structure. Sanchez uses the simile of a Russian doll to define the structure of the film. This is not a classic story in three acts. The framework is more complex. Each time a new mystery is revealed it's as if we open one of these matrioshkas, the film changes and reveals a new identity. What begins as a story becomes a family drama, then to become a ghost story, then a psychological thriller and so on until finally to the last of those dolls that encircles the heart of the story that which surrounds the emotion of this fable. But once you know all the secrets, you can watch the movie again and understand it in another way. The most poetic, or fabled, side of history takes on a new meaning once you understand everything that's happening and you can see it again, taking a different journey with it's characters. It's cinema appeals to that apparently complete happiness, but incredibly fragile, in which you can get a glimpse of the cracks of growing up. It's a message directly to kids; telling them that once they cross that line, they're force to grow up, even though in essence, they're still children. In our cinema, the look is always connected to a kid's point of view. It happens in the films we've done together and it happens in "Marrowbone". The characters struggle between different worlds, they fight to remain in one, but they're destined to grow up and enter the other one. The phrase that the mother states, can also be understood like a hidden message for the audience. It's telling us that going through that threshold will take us directly to the film's mysteries, to a secret that promises to change us forever. A point of no return. A journey that has to do with the fantastical. It's a movie with a lot of heart, with a lot of spirit. The audience is going to find a very rich universe, full of nuances, with many turns and, above all, a lot of emotion.

(Release Info London schedule; June 19th, 2020, Curzon Home Cinema) https://www.curzonhomecinema.com/film/watch-on-a-magical-night-film-online "On A Magical Night" We meet Maria Mortemart (Chiara Mastroianni), a woman who's dissatisfied with her marriage after a heated argument with her husband Pierre (Anthony Devaux). After 20 years of marriage, Maria decides to leave her husband. She moves out for the night to stay in a hotel across the street from their home and settles in room 212 from which she watches her husband and reflects upon their life together. While mulling over her decision, various people from her past appear, offering their opinions. She's visited by her late mother (Marie-Christine Adam), her dead grandmother (Claire Johnston), Richard Warrimer (Vincent Lacoste), a younger, 25-year-old version of her husband, her husband’s first love Irene Haffner (Camille Cottin) and her many lovers, to berate her for a string of infidelities. In room 212, she reflects upon her marriage, gifted with the ability to see it all at once. There, she has a bird’s eye view of her apartment, her husband, and her marriage. In this comic romp, she confronts her past lovers and relationships on one magical night, fantasizing about the lives she could’ve lived and wondering if she’s made the right decisions. Inspired by Leo McCarey’s 'The Awful Truth', this is a playful, witty fantasy, served by stunning cinematography. From the very beginning, the story looks like a conjugal tale more than a report on couples. The film takes a familiar topic, a couple in crisis after many years of marriage, and revives it with abundant creativity and cinematic strokes of genius. 'Thus play I in one person many people, and none contented'. We believe that this 'Shakespeare' verse, that John Irving borrowed for the title of one of his novels, defines quite well the initial mystery in that story. Let’s pretend a woman, Maria, one night has the revelation that she has the gift of seeing how there are always more people around her than it seems. Her husband is also her young fiancé, and the teenager she did not know. Her rival Irene is also Irene the role model of her future life. Her lover Asdrubal Électorat (Harrison Arevelo) is all of her lovers in one person. Maria would be like a fixed star that would attract satellites around her that keep multiplying. The story follows the poisonous steps of this invasion and simultaneously builds with Maria the antidote to escape them. Let’s pretend that woman, Maria, experienced finding her voice among all the voices that block her. The more Maria would like to think about her life, the more her life turns out to be filled with protagonists who want to speak for her. Maria crosses a street, hoping for some perspective, to see herself from the outside, to see her apartment, her husband, her marriage from above. Yet now she's not facing loneliness, but the noisy group of people who claim they've suffered from her, her freedom, her desires. Among them, Maria is like a prisoner of more or less aggressive signs that she must interpret. And we don’t have much of an explanation for it except that they're shamefully sweet and exhaustingly kind; these four characters liked one another. In our great ideas about films and how cinema happens, we forget this essential, precious and rare element; the love that the characters feel for one another. The trust, the humor, the affection, the friendship between them. This film owes everything to the health, kindness, tenderness, wildness and delicate and benevolent warmth of the characters. As often, “On A Magical Night” proceeds from "Les Fleurs", which has not been shot, barely been written, but which is it's secret source. The story is set during 'The Occupation', then in 'The 50’s'. There's an imaginary painter, a piano, 'The Picardie' region, 'The Opéra Garnier' and two female characters who are keeping a secret that they could not access themselves. We find ourselves watching Leo McCarey’s “The Awful Truth”; Irene Dunne and Cary Grant as an infallible married couple after their divorce. It takes us to an overly solemn level. How many filmmakers have taken an interest in the subject of conjugal conversation? We're more and more distrustful of this importance, this sort of domination that some films command to cinema itself. "On A Magical Night” expresses in a sentimental and stubborn way, the attachment to fiction cinema where let’s pretend has more value than the let’s do it as it's. Here, fiction in the sense of enchantment. We've let ourselves been swept along it in a dance with forgotten steps, charmed by it's spells. And little by little, it appeared to us that it's not nothing, in this day and age, to claim the precious tools of acting, of metaphor, to favor the magic of backstage, of tricks, in a work that aims to make life happen during a film. We should not forget that we've been twenty-five and that we loved us madly when we was that age! For years, we've gotten our bearings in life from the love stories that punctuated it. It was back in the days of 'X' or in the days of 'Y', month-long or night-long romances seemed to be the highest points of our existence. As if romantic faithfulness allowed us to multiply projects. We're aware that it's arbitrary, and maybe irrelevant to bring up these two words, truthfulness and films. We're quite tempted to claim that loving lengthily has certainly allowed us to shoot often.

(Release Info London schedule; July 23rd, 2019, Curzon Soho, 99 Shaftesbury Ave, Soho, London W1D 5DY, United Kingdom, 9:00 PM) https://www.curzoncinemas.com/soho/film-info/marianne-and-leonard-words-of-love "Marianne & Leonard: Words Of Love" "Marianne & Leonard: Words of Love" is about the beautiful, enduring love story between legendary folk singer Leonard Cohen and his Norwegian muse Marianne Ihlen. The story begins on 'The Greek island of Hydra' in 1960, where Leonard, then a struggling and unknown fiction writer, and Marianne, a single mother with a young son Axel, become part of a community of expat artists, writers and musicians. The film follows their relationship from the early days on 'Hydra', a humble time of free love and open marriage, to how their love evolved when Leonard becomes a successful musician. She's an enormous influence on him. Marianne and Leonard’s is a love story that would continue for the rest of their lives. Along the way we learn of the tragedy that befell those that could not survive the beauty of 'Hydra', the highs and lows of Leonard’s career, and the inspirational power that Marianne possessed. This are magical moments of life. Never-before-seen footage shot by legendary documentarian D.A. Pennebaker make for a unique portrait of an idyllic 1960’s bohemia. Marianne had been visited the year before by D.A. Pennebaker, who had filmed her with her young son, and very much impressed her with the joys of documentary filmmaking. It's D.A. Pennebaker’s footage of Marianne, shot all those years ago, that's used in the film. D.A. Pennebaker, Marianne, and Leonard have remained the greatest of influences. It's on 'Hydra' in 1968 that director Nick Broomfield, then aged 20, first himself meet Marianne. Under 'The Greek' moon and stars she introduces him to Leonard Cohen’s music and encouraged Nick to make his first film. As she's with so many artists, Marianne is an enormous influence on Broomfield, who direct many documentaries about iconic music legends including Whitney Houston, Tupac Shakur, Kurt Cobain and Courtney Love. It's a time that left a lasting imprint on both Marianne and Leonard, whose friendship would last another fifty years. Marianne and Leonard went through many highs and lows. Bonded for life, even though drifting apart, they died three months apart in 2016. This touching documentary illuminates tender aspects of the enduring love between the Canadian musician and his Norwegian muse, who gained immortality through his songs 'So Long Marianne' and 'Bird On The Wire'. This Marianne is Norwegian Marianne Ihlen, his lifelong muse with whom he started an intense relationship in a time of free love. Nick Broomfield, director of documentaries such as 'Whitney: Can I Be Me', 'Biggie & Tupac' and 'Kurt & Courtney', follows their unconventional relationship from the early days in idyllic Greece. Along the way we learn of the tragedy that befell those that could not survive the beauty of 'Hydra', the highs and lows of Leonard’s career, and the inspirational power that Marianne possessed. In later life when Marianne lay dying, Leonard himself old and sick wrote to Marianne. 'Know that I am so close behind you that if you stretch out your hand, I think you can reach mine, I've always loved you for your beauty and for your wisdom, but I don't need to say anything more about that. Endless love, see you down the road'. Does love have to be conventional? "Marianne & Leonard" is a beautiful illustration of the twists and turns of a complicated relationship that has produced some of Cohen's most famous songs. Archive material and some recent interviews tell the story of the interrupted yet never ending love that began on the island of 'Hydra'. Cohen was mostly a writer at the time, the songs came later, when the melancholy poet evolved into a prominent musician. When Cohen became famous, and Ihlen became known as his muse, their relationship suffered and they lived apart more than they lived together. Still, their connection remained strong, even after Ihlen returned to Norway. A love story that defies conventional structure and slides back and forth in time within a rough chronology.