Ron’s Gone Wrong – Film Review

Posted on October 10, 2021 by ashleymanningwriter

Directors: Jean-Phillipe Vine and Sarah Smith

Writers: Peter Baynham and Sarah Smith

Starring: Zack Galifianakis, John Dylan Grazer. Olivia Coleman, Ed Helms, Justice Smith, Rob Delaney, Kylie Cantrall, Ricardo Hurtado, Marcus Scribner, and Thomas Barbusca

Rating: ★★★★

The first film from Locksmith Animation, an England based animation company, Ron’s Gone Wrong had its world premiere at London Film Festival 2021. The company was set up to be an English animation studio with the same high-end production values as companies from America such as Disney and Illumination. Ironically, the film is now being distributed by Disney after Locksmith Animation partnered with Fox before the takeover.

Ron’s Gone Wrong tells the story of Barney (John Dylan Grazer), the only kid in his school to not have a B-bot, a robot buddy that follows you around with apps and a friend list, almost the next step in smart phone evolution. Barney has no friends and feels completely left out at school, dreading every recess. He doesn’t even hand out the invitations to his birthday party. After seeing how alone Barney is, his father buys him a B-bot for his birthday, a cheaper broken one named Ron (Zack Galifianakis). Ron and Barney learn about each other while they form a bond closer than most people have with their B-bots.

The animation in this film is simply gorgeous. Locksmith Animation have truly achieved their aim of living up to the high animated productions of the bigger studios around the world. It would be easy to believe that this is the latest Disney film. The animation is sleek, the character design is unique and charming, and the backgrounds look incredible. It’s a beautiful film to look at.

Ron’s Gone Wrong has so many amazing laugh out loud moments that will have audiences of all ages in hysterics. This isn’t something that has two levels of humour, like Shrek, instead it’s full family entertainment where people of any ages can enjoy. Beyond the comedy is also a lot of heart. Ron is a lovable character and is destined to become a new household favourite. He’s quirky, funny and is a cute design. Ron isn’t connected to the Bubble Network, which means he hasn’t received all the updates to be Barney’s best friend right out of the box. Instead, he has to learn everything about Barney, a task he takes too literally.

The music is upbeat and catchy, perfectly capturing the comedy and positive message in the film. The soundtrack is rounded out with a new ear-worm of a song from Liam Payne, called ‘Sunshine’. It’s feel-good music for a new animated classic.

There are moments towards the end where the film starts to feel a little lost. Moments where you think the end is coming and then more stuff happens. It’s always entertaining, but does feel a little too long as it reaches the final moments. The film also feels like it’s trying to act as a warning for the addiction to social media, but never deals with this in a meaningful way. That doesn’t matter when the film is so entertaining.

Ron’s Gone Wrong is an almost perfect family film. It features great memorable characters, funny moments and is genuine fun for the whole family. This is the best family animated film of 2021 and Locksmith Animation has a great future ahead.

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Last Night in Soho – Film Review

Posted on October 10, 2021 by ashleymanningwriter

Director: Edgar Wright

Writers: Edgar Wright and Krysty Wilson-Cairns

Starring: Thomasin McKenzie, Anya Taylor-Joy, Matt Smith, Terence Stamp, Michael Ajao, Diana Rigg, and Rita Tushingham.

Rating: ★★★★½

It’s been four years since Edgar Wright last released a film, Baby Driver back in 2017. Since then he’s been working on his first proper horror film (alongside a documentary about the band Sparks), which has received rave reviews from festivals around the world with another screening close to Soho at the London Film Festival, the perfect place to see his new mind-melding film.

Ellie (Thomasin McKenzie) is a fashion student who moves to London to study. She moves out of the dorms, after not fitting in, and rents a bedsit. While living there she starts to have dreams that transport her back to the 1960s and lives the life of Sandie (Anya Taylor-Joy). Sandie wants to be a singer and will stop at nothing to achieve that. Ellie starts to become obsessed with Sandie, changing her hair and fashion to match hers. The worlds start to meld together, until Ellie witnesses a murder in the 60s, where the killer is still around today.

Last Night in Soho is a stylish frenzy of neon lights, trippy sequences, and an energetic soundtrack of 1960s hits. Edgar Wright is a fantastic director, who seems to be getting better and better with each release. Last Night in Soho takes everything he’s done so far to another level. The use of music is fantastic, with songs being used to move from the modern day to the 60s. The neon lights that flash through Ellie’s window is haunting. The music is fantastic with an amazing score from Steven Price as well as a wide selection of hits from the decade.

While this film is being pushed as a horror film, there’s still the usual humour you’d expect from Wright. Jokes about London and stuck up characters are plentiful and quite a few got big laughs from the audience. The reactions were even bigger with the scary sequences. While it doesn’t rely on it too much, there are quite a few jump scares and shock moments. Combining that with the atmosphere that the film creates in the second half, with the modern world and the 60s becoming one and Last Night in Soho is a mind-melding experience.

The performances are stunning. Thomasin McKenzie is excellent as Ellie, the fashion designer who is obsessed with the look and sound of the 1960s. Anya Taylor-Joy commands the screen as the confident Sandie, who dreams of being a singer and is not settling for any less. Matt Smith gives his creepiest and most sinister performance yet as Jack, Sandie’s manager. After seeing him for so long as the loveable oafish Doctor Who, it’s quite jarring to see him as a truly horrible human being. Diana Rigg, in her final role, is also great. She gives a subtle and powerful performance as Ellie’s landlady.

Last Night in Soho feels like an Italian Giallo film from the 1970s with the murder mystery at the heart of it. The scene where Ellie witnesses the murder, where you can only see the knife moving up and down, with Ellie’s eyes reflected in it, would be right at home in an Argento film.

Edgar Wright has created another masterpiece. He’s one of the best directors working today and it feels like he’s holding nothing back here.  Last Night in Soho is a wonderful film that is gripping from the first moment it starts.

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The Monster – Film Review

Posted on October 9, 2021 by ashleymanningwriter

Director: Peter Sasdy

Writer: Stanley Price

Starring: Joan Collins, Ralph Bates, Eileen Atkins, Donald Pleasence, Hilary Mason, Caroline Munro, and John Steiner

Rating: ★★★

The Monster (or I don’t Want to be Born) was supposed to be a terrifying horror film when it was originally released back in 1975. A mix of Rosemary’s Baby and The Exorcist, it was supposed to be the next horror classic to chill and terrify. Instead, it was ripped apart by critics and audiences. In the years since the film has found a cult following with people finding the unintentionally funny with it’s horrendous dialogue and beyond absurd moments. It’s now been re-released on Blu Ray for the first time from Network, with new commentary and a booklet written by Adrian Smith.

Joan Collins stars as Lucy, a former stripper who’s found a new high-style life after falling in love and marrying Gino (Ralph Bates). The film starts with an incredibly unconvincing birth scene, where Lucy gives birth to the baby that doesn’t want to be born. He’s heavier and stronger than the average child and after strange incidents where the baby is incredibly violent, it’s not long before Lucy and Gino start to think that that their new-born is possessed by a demon.

The film is completely ridiculous, and it lives in the ‘so bad it’s good’ category of horror films. The premise is interesting, and the first fifteen or so minutes (after the birthing scene) do a good job at setting up the horror. It starts to get strange with a long flashback that involves Lucy being cursed to give birth to a demonic child. From there the film goes completely off the rails and despite its best intentions has some very funny moments.

Joan Collins gives a good performance as Lucy. As good of a performance as possible with the stilted dialogue that was written. It’s the same for every character. Most of the dialogue isn’t natural. There’s still a charm to everything. Even though it’s not scary in the slightest, there’s still a charm to the film that’s found within the unintentional comedy. This is the perfect kind of film to be watched on Halloween with a group of friends.

It would be really spoiling the film to go into the absurd moments of the plot. It is best to go in not knowing what to expect and find it fresh. If you’ve never seen it before then there is fun to be had. If you’ve seen it hundreds of times then the new release is still worth your time, if only because the restoration is really great.

It must be a strange thought for the filmmakers, after trying so earnestly to create a genuine horror film about a demon baby, that where they failed so spectacularly, the following year The Omen would succeed in every way.

The Monster isn’t something to watch to be scared. It’s something that works as a goofy serious-toned comedy. It may not be intentional, but The Monster has enough funny moments to make this enjoyable.

The Monster is available on Blu-ray and DVD 11 October from Network

Pre-order: https://new.networkonair.com/british_horror_classics

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The Dark Eyes of London – Film Review

Posted on October 9, 2021 by ashleymanningwriter

Director: Walter Summers

Writers: John Argyle, Patrick Kirwan, Walter Summers and Jan Van Lusil

Starring: Béla Lugosi, Hugh Williams, Greta Gynt, Edmon Ryan, Wilfred Walter and Alexander Field

Rating: ★★★★

Cult classic The Dark Eyes of London is receiving a remastered release from Network, just in time for Halloween. The film couldn’t look better in high definition and the new release comes with a load of great extras. It’s a real treat for fans of old horror films and Béla Lugosi.

Based on the novel of the same name by Edgar Wallace, The Dark Eyes of London tells the story of Dr. Feodor Orloff (Béla Lugosi, Dracula), an insurance salesman. A few of his clients die in suspicious drownings in the themes and the police start to suspect Orloff’s involvement.

While now, over eighty years after its original release in 1939, the film seems really tame, at the time it was shocking and terrifying. The Dark Eyes of London was the first British film to be rated ‘H’ for being ‘Horrific for Public Exhibition’. It’s a dark tale full of death and there’s a few twists that are still surprising today.  

Béla Lugosi was one of the finest horror actors of his time. His legacy of strong, intense, and overpowering villains is undeniable, and his Dracula is the one that most people think of when you mention the Count’s name. Lugosi is on full force in The Dark Eyes of London. Even if you have no familiarity with him or his roles, you can tell by the first scene he’s in that there’s more than meets the eye. There’s something sinister hidden underneath his kind smile.

The rest of the cast are also great, bringing life to rich characters. This is the era of Britain where the police officer who is chastised for not being good at his job, goes into his office and orders a pot of tea over the phone in response. There are some dated stereotypes about people with physical disabilities, that wouldn’t go down very well (Ignoring all the Bond villains with scars on their faces in Daniel Craig’s era). It’s a little bit jarring from a modern perspective.

What is stunning, is the background scenes. Boats on the Thames, streets, and carriages. There is always something fascinating about watching really old cinema, it’s like a time machine back to an earlier time. The technology they use to project photo on the wall, the transport and clothing. It’s a joy to watch it from a contemporary source.

The Dark Eyes of London may not be the first film that Lugosi fans think of, but it is a worthy part of his filmography. The new Network release is essential for horror fans.  The film couldn’t look better and it’s still more than enjoyable today.

The Dark Eyes of London is released on Blu-ray and DVD 11 October from Network

Pre-order: https://new.networkonair.com/british_horror_classics

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Enemy – Film Review

Posted on October 8, 2021 by ashleymanningwriter
Enemy (2013) – the ghost of 82

Director: Denis Villeneuve

Writer: Javier Gullón

Starring: Jake Gyllenhaal, Mélanie Laurent, Sara Gadon and Isabella Rossellini

Rating: ★★½

Denis Villeneuve has made a name for himself as a director of smart and thought-provoking sci-fi with Arrival, Blade Runner 2049 and the upcoming Dune. Before that he made Enemy, a film that deals with commitment, reflections and a recurring motif of spiders.

Jake Gyllenhaal (Donnie Darko) plays Adam Bell, a history professor who is disillusioned with his life. To break his routing he rents a film that one of his co-workers recommends. After watching it, he notices that one of the actors, Anthony Claire (also played by Gyllenhaal) is a spitting image of himself. Adam starts to become obsessed with finding out about his mirror image and starts stalking him.

The first half an hour of Enemy where the mystery is unfolding, and Adam Bell is becoming obsessed with his doppelganger is captivating. The story grabs your attention with its melancholic tone and it’s creeping atmosphere that starts with the bizarre opening scene, featuring a woman, in only high heels, standing on a tarantula. It’s the next forty or so minutes where the film becomes mind-numbingly boring. They both become obsessed with each other and that’s about it. The film does pick up towards the end, but that middle section drags on and on with seconds feeling like minutes. It feels so padded out just to get the central idea to ninety minutes in length. Yes, there is some beautiful direction, cinematography, and the film does raise some interesting questions during the second act, but it fails to do so while being engaging. The score, by Daniel Bensi and Saunder Jurriaans is chilling, setting a sombre mood throughout with it’s quiet and drifting feel.

The first act has a unique feel to it, as does the ending, of being on the brink of disaster, but it’s just not kept up for the entire run time. Jake Gyllenhaal is great and does capture both characters to such a degree that most of the time you can tell which one he’s playing by the way they move and hold themselves. The ending is such a shock, that it does make it worth watching through to the final moments. It leaves you with more questions than it answers, and everyone will find something different in it. Villeneuve has himself said that you can make your own mind up about what’s happening and that there isn’t really a concrete answer.

Enemy raises some interesting questions, and the first half hour and final twenty minutes are something unique and . It’s just the middle part feels like an eternity that even a stunning performance from Jake Gyllenhaal can’t save.

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