The Craft – Film Review

Posted on September 28, 2021 by ashleymanningwriter

Director: Andrew Fleming

Writers:  Peter Filardi and Andrew Fleming

Starring: Fairuza Balk, Robin Tuney, Neve Campbell, Rachel True and Skeet Ulrich

Rating: ★★★½

The Craft received mixed reviews when it was originally released in 1996. In the years since then it has gained a cult following and has been praised for being a standout film from other teen films of the era. Its inspiration on classic TV shows Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Charmed is undeniable. Without The Craft neither of those would exist in the same way.

There are some dark subjects in the film, that separates it from other teen films of the time. It deals with body shaming, racism, and sexism in a powerful way. The four main characters are bullied consistently at school by a group of some of the vilest teenagers imaginable. Chris (Skeet Ulrich, Scream) makes up stories about Sarah having slept with him (Robin Tunney, The Mentalist) and doesn’t show any remorse. The rest of his friends mock her for look like she’s going to cry. Laura (Christine Taylor, Zoolander) is opening racist to Rochelle (Rachel True, Half Baked).

Nancy (Fairuza Balk, Almost Famous) and Bonnie (Neve Campbell, Scream) join Rochelle and Sarah as the four main characters. They are outcast teenagers who turn to witchcraft to get revenge on the bullies in their lives. It’s not just school life that is Nancy is dealing with an abusive homelife and Bonnie has burns all over her body that have made her feel like a monster. The plan goes too well, and things start to turn into a nightmare.

The characters are all great and the performances are excellent. It all feels natural, especially the four leads. There isn’t a weak link to be seen. The bullies are also great, and you enjoy seeing them suffer when the tables start to turn. The later half of the film does feel a little over the top when everything starts to go wrong. The story has been played out before and is overdone. The second half is pretty much all about karma.

For the time the effects are excellent, and they still look great today. There’s shapeshifting, people flying and a fight sequence in the later part of the film that has objects flying about all over the place. They have obviously aged over time. The way magic and witchcraft are presented also feels grounded there was a wiccan on set to supervise to ensure that the presentation was accurate and respectful, and it makes the film that much better.

It wouldn’t be a teen high school film without a loud soundtrack to accompany it and The Craft has a loud soundtrack. There’s nothing spectacular on it, but there’s a solid 90s alt rock sound that feels right at home with the era. It starts with a cover of The Beatles song ‘Tomorrow Never Knows’ by Our Lady Peace. It’s a grungy cover and sets the tone for the rest of the music, a lot of grunge and 90s rock. It’s not the best soundtrack but it does the job.

The Craft is a good high school film. The performances are excellent, the effects are great, and the story is entertaining, if a little cliched. It has an enduring legacy inspiring a whole bunch of TV shows and films. It’s entertaining and fun, while dealing with dark subjects.  

Posted in film reviews | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

The Girl, the Shovel and the Evil Eye, Volume 1 – Book Review

Posted on September 28, 2021 by ashleymanningwriter

Thank you to Kodansha Comics for the copy of this Manga in return for an honest review

There is an entire sub-genre of manga and anime where a character finds themselves inside a world that is very much like a video game. The Girl, the Shovel and the Evil Eye is a new addition to that genre. The characters have tags that let them see their own stats, an adventurer’s guild that gives them quests and can buy potions.

Tsuguto Sumihara has become nicer since becoming an adult. He’s on his way home on the bus, when a teenager demands his seat. Fearing being beaten up or prison if he wins the fight, Tsuguto gives up his seat and stands for the rest of the journey, The bus has an accident and Tsuguto ends up dying on the bus, with the teenager recording him and mocking him. He then wakes up in a world he doesn’t recognise and has to adapt to survive.

I really enjoyed this manga. It’s not the most original or ground-breaking, but it’s a good time. The artwork is clean so it’s always clear what is going on, the characters are interesting and the opening scene on the bus is great. I didn’t expect it when I was reading it.

This one is quite a quick read as well, with minimal dialogue for a lot of it, so the pages flew by. I like the fantasy/rpg world the manga is set in and it reminds me of the Final Fantasy games that I played when growing up.

There is a mystery at the centre of what is actually happening, and the Evil Eye that Tsuguto seems to have. I feel like this is going to be further explored in further volumes and I’m definitely going to be reading them when they come out. The Girl, the Shovel and the Evil Eye is a really decent, if very familiar, manga series.

Posted in Book reviews | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

End of September Watch List

Posted on September 27, 2021 by ashleymanningwriter

My film of last week was Dune (1984). I first watched it over a decade ago on video and I really didn’t like it. Having rewatched it now, that was purely down to how much talking there is in the first hour or so. Once it gets past that it’s colourful fun. I’m glad that I’ve watched it again, it’s really changed my opinion of it and I would happily watch it again.

This week is all about Bond. After what feels like an eternity there is a new James Bond film out on Thursday, No Time To Die. It feels like an eternity since the film was first announced. I’m very excited to see Craig’s last Bond film and I can only it lives up to. Since No Time To Die is being shown every 10 minutes at the cinemas around me, there isn’t a spare screen for anything else, so I won’t be going to the cinema this weekend at all.

Before then though, The Lord of the Rings has received a 4K IMAX release, and I’m going to that tonight, tomorrow and Wednesday. It’s been a very long time since I’ve seen these films. I think I watched them once each on DVD after the cinema way back when. I’m sure I’m going to love them all over again and can’t wait to re-watch it.

I’m also going to be finishing over The Hunger Games series at some point in time for Thursday’s Franchise Catch Up post.

I have Wednesday off work this week and it’s really time that I get some reading done. The last 2 weeks have been hectic with Internet issues and work and I haven’t read a page in a week. With so many books to read, I’m going to finish Alejandro’s Lie on Wednesday.

I hope everyone has a great week and let me know what you will be reading and/or watching this week.

Thanks for reading and until next time,

Ashley

Posted in Updates | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

From Here to Eternity – Film Review

Posted on September 27, 2021 by ashleymanningwriter

Director: Fred Zinnermann

Writer: Daniel Taradash

Starring: Burt Lancaster, Montgomery Clift, Deborah Kerr, Donna Reed, Frank Sinatra, Philip Ober, Mickey Shaughnessy, Harry Bellaver and Ernest Borgnine

Rating: ★★★★½

From Here to Eternity adapts the classic book of the same name, by James Jones, with a few alterations from the source material to keep to the Production Code Office, as well as to appease the military who were vital in its creation. The film uses archival footage of the attack on Pearl Harbour as part of one of the pivotal moments of the story. This would only have been possible with the Army’s agreement. Despite this, the Army and navy both criticised the film heavily and distanced themselves from it, with the Army refusing to let its name be used in the opening credits.

Montgomery Clift stars as Private Robert E. Lee Prewitt, who after being transferred to Fort Shafter refuses to take part as a boxer. Captain Holmes (Philip Ober) starts to put pressure on Prewitt to join, who resists as much as possible with only one true friend, Private Angelo Maggio (Frank Sinatra).

Sinatra really proved he could do more than sing From Here to Eternity. His performance is mind-blowingly great and he’s the standout character of the film. Honestly this film is worth watching just for him, and he’s only a side-character. The rest of the cast is also fantastic, without a bad performance from the bunch.

One of the later sequences shows the Pearl Harbour attacks with military footage of the attack and dramatized moments. It’s a harrowing reminder of the devastating effects of WW2. The film captures perfectly how unprepared and unaware America was about the attack. Now that everything is almost a century in the past, watching the film now humanises something we are taught about in school. For the actors, the attack and war were still very recent and real, it shows on their faces. Despite the brutal and shocking moments, the characters still have a sense of humour with them. When First Sergeant Milton Warden moves the guard who is stopping them from getting to the ammunition, he tells him he will get a medal for following the rules as the rest of the men break down the door.

There is a moment in the film, that feels a little too sentimental in that classic Hollywood way, and it deviates from the novel massively. Captain Holmes is forced to resign, as an alternative to being court-martialled, while in the book he isn’t punished. This change was made at the request of the Army. They were still unhappy with the final product and director Zinnermann later said that the scene was the worst moment in the film, and it made him feel sick whenever he saw it. It’s good to see the captain punished, but it does feel out of place for the rest of the film.

From Here to Eternity is a timeless romantic tragedy. It’s just as captivating now to modern audience, as it must have been when it was first released. The performances are great, the story is gripping, and this is something that should be as highly spoken about as something like Casablanca, a classic Hollywood film that shouldn’t be missed.

Posted in film reviews | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Annette – Film Review

Posted on September 26, 2021 by ashleymanningwriter

Director: Leos Carax

Writer: Ron Mael, Russell Mael, Leos Carax

Starring: Adam Driver, Marion Cotillard, Simon Helberg and Devyn McDowell,

Rating: ★★★

Annette has taken a long time to reach our screens. Sparks have working on the film for years, with many cast changes along the way. The latest delay has been put down to Adam Driver’s work in Star Wars pushing back production, combined with the pandemic. After being shown at Cannes earlier in the year to outstanding praise, it has finally been released in the cinema in the UK with a planned release on the MUBI steaming service later in the year.

Adam Driver, who is having a busy year with The Last Duel and House of Gucci being released in the next few weeks, stars as Henry McHenry, a stand up comedian with an edge. Henry has fallen madly in love with Ann Defrasnoux (Marion Cotillard), although he openly mocks her performances as part of his routine. They quickly marry and have a child, Annette. Henry’s career starts to decline, while Ann’s prospers, and his resentment grows.

The main thing with any musical is the music, and Annette has a real mixed bag. This isn’t the type of musical that will get a sing-a-long version, it even tells you not to sing in a voiceover at the start, the songs are repetitive and minimalist in lyrics, although the music is great. The first song, which features the cast, writers Sparks and director Leos Carax asking us ‘so, may we start?’, is catchy and will be stuck in your head for the rest of the film and beyond. It’s a real shame that the best song happens straight away, before the narrative of the film has even really started. There are some other good songs, such as ‘we love each other so much’, with a great guitar change halfway through, but for the most part the songs are lacking something to make them special. They are there to tell the story, but this isn’t a soundtrack to have on repeat.

The story is hypnotic with long stretches where not a lot is happening, but it’s never boring. This is all through Adam Drivers stunning performance. He’s intense, self-absorbed and dangerous. Henry is struggling with his career. The first time we see him on stage, we don’t see his performance, instead we get a monologue of how he’s feeling about his life and how he sees his tried and tested routine, with the audience laughing when they should, as if it was a hilarious routine. Later when he has a minor meltdown on stage with a new routine, no one laughs. Whatever magic propelled him to stardom has left.

The strange stage show, along with the opening song with the actors out of character, are the first moments that show Carax’s strange and weird side. Nothing is quite what it seems. It’s not as hard to crack as something like Synecdoche, New York, but it is definitely going to be off-putting for some. Annette is presented as a puppet, showing Henry’s detachment from her and seeing her as something only to gain more success and Ann’s own uses for her daughter (which would be going into spoiler territory).

Annette isn’t a spectacular film, the best song is used to early and the rest aren’t that great. It has a lot of mesmerising qualities, but the film feels really flabby and could do with being timed down. It’s a strange and cinematic experience and it’s something that you’re either going to love or hate and either way you’re going to have a strong reaction. This isn’t going to be something you are going to forget quickly.

Posted in film reviews | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment