Intrusion – Film Review

Posted on September 23, 2021 by ashleymanningwriter

Director: Adam Salky

Writer: Chris Sparling

Starring: Freida Pinto, Logan Marshall-Green, Robert John Burke, Sarah Minnich, Yvette Fazio-Delany, Clint Obenchain

Rating: ★★½

This week’s Netflix original is Intrusion, which follows Meera and Henry who move into a house that Henry designed and help build. While on a night out, their house is broken into and the police believe it is linked with the recent disappearance of a teenage girl. Meera is left rattled and starts her own investigation into the event.

Freida Pinto gives a great performance as Meera. She is constantly on edge, especially around her husband Henry. While at points he is incredibly charming and you do feel that they love each other at points, it’s still clear that she doesn’t trust him completely. She doesn’t take long to start thinking that he has something to do with the missing girl and when they go out on a date, they must leave their phones at home as he was glued to his previously. There is a lot of backstory that is only hinted at, which is refreshing compared to a information dump at some point. It tells you enough to catch you up and then lets you piece together the rest.

Henry (Logan Marshall-Green) is a sinister and creepy character, hidden undeath a mask of charm. Marshall-Green expertly walks a fine line of a good husband trying to look after his wife and sadistic psycho who shows no remorse over killing the intruders. He switches back and forth and you can never quite tell what is going on with him.

Sadly, the script isn’t as subtle as Marshall-Green’s performance. The twist, if you can call it that, is incredibly obvious from the opening of this film. It’s signposted so much that you’re left hoping you’re wrong and that’s it’s just a red herring. It isn’t, you will figure this out very early in the film and it offers no surprises.

There are no real memorable moments or scenes in the film. It passes the time quite nicely and never feels boring but there’s not a moment that stand out. The film just happens and is entertaining while it lasts, and then ends. There’s not a lot of tension or suspense. The characters are interesting, but nothing special. It just falls flat and suffers massively thanks to its similarities to the far superior The Night House that was released in cinemas a few weeks back.  

Intrusion is a decent thriller, with some great performance from the two leads. It’s just a shame that it can be solved so quickly and that you always feel one step ahead of Meera. It’s still entertaining while it lasts, but the new Netflix original is nothing to shout about.

Posted in film reviews | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

The Many Saints of Newark – Film Review

Posted on September 23, 2021 by ashleymanningwriter

Director: Alan Taylor

Writers: David Chase and Lawrence Konner

Starring: Alessandro Nivola, Michael Gandolfini, Leslie Odom Jr., Jon Bernthal, Corey Stoll, Vera Farmiga, and Ray Liotta

Rating: ★★★★

The Many Saints of Newark, the prequel to The Sopranos, tells the story of Tony Soprano’s childhood, against the backdrop of the 1967 Newark riots. It’s a full-on mobster film, with great characters, excellent performances, a gripping story and a lot of violence.

Many Saints is a brutal and violent film. The deaths are quick and relentless. There’s no sugar coating it, when people get shot, they die quickly. The effects and blood look real and there are a few deaths that are heart stopping moments when watching. There’s a shoot-out that will have you on the edge of your seat, not knowing what’s going to happen. It’s intense.

The performances are absolutely fantastic. Alessandro Nivola (The Art of Self-Defence) is perfectly cast Dickie Moltisanti. He’s trying to be a good role model to the children, especially Tony, while at the same time is one of the most ruthless and brutal characters in the film. Nivola walks that line perfectly without missing a step. He’s sinister and charming. Michael Gandolfini (Cherry) breathes new life into the character his father played in the TV series. He’s excellent in the role and if there was any hesitation of anxiety about living up to the role, it doesn’t show on screen. Tony Soprano is a smart kid and is at a crossroads in his life between leading a good life or falling into the criminal family. Vera Farmiga (Bate’s Motel) is brilliant, as usual, playing Livia Soprano. She works well with Jon Bernthal (Punisher) as her husband, Johnny Boy, and whenever they are both on screen together, you know it’s going to be a good scene.

Even though this film is very violent film, with some brutal deaths, it still has a lot of great moments of comedy. There are more laugh out loud moments in this film than some comedies. The trailers show some funny moments, but it doesn’t give away the best ones. Vera Farmiga gets a lot of laughs with her looks and sly digs at people. There’s also every cliched line of dialogue you would imagine from a mob film, they come across as both genuine and funny.

The soundtrack is just perfect. Each song sets the era and scene perfectly. Every song is great and really helps set the mood. The costumes, sets and cars look great as well. It would be easy to believe that this was made in the 1970s, everything looks authentic and it’s clear that a lot of effort went into this.

The Many Saints of Newark is a welcome addition to The Soprano’s franchise and will help newcomers find their way to the show. While at points it is constrained by the face that this is a prequel, the film is still a massive success and very entertaining. With great performances, brutal violence and a gripping story, Many Saints is an outstanding mob film that can stand shoulder to shoulder with the greats.

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

Tenebrae – Film Review

Posted on September 22, 2021 by ashleymanningwriter

Director: Dario Argento

Writer: Dario Argento

Starring: Anthony Franciosa, Christian Borromeo, Mirella D’Angelo, Veronica Lario, Ania Pieroni, Carola Stagnaro, John Steiner, Lara Wendel, John Saxon, and Dario Nicolodi

Rating: ★ 

Dario Argento made several classics in the 1970s to the early 1980s. At the time most of his films were criticised for being too gory, for glorifying violence and murder. In the years since most of his films have been reappraised and many have gained a cult following. Tenebrae is one of those films. When it came out, critics tore it apart and it wasn’t a big success, but in recent years opinions have softened and it is now considered one of Argento’s finest films. Tenebrae doesn’t deserve the revaluation. It should have been left in the 1980s.

The film has a promising premise. An author, Peter Neal (Anthony Franciosa) travelling to Italy for a promotional tour of his latest thriller, becomes tangled up in a series of murders that seem to be mirroring his latest book, named Tenebrae. He then starts to investigate it himself

This is a really bloody film, with deaths happening regularly and lots of gore and blood. Sadly, there’s no tension, no intrigue and the gore just looks bad. It’s so lifeless and impossible to be captivated by. People are dying but why should we care? It’s obviously fake, because the effects are bad and the characters are just boring. It commits every sin a horror/thriller can and makes up some new ones along the way.

There is no good acting to be found in Tenebrae. As to be expected for an Italian film from the time, the dialogue is dubbed. Everyone on set would have spoken their native language and the film would later be dubbed into the language it was being released in. Normally this isn’t a problem, and can actually add to the uncanny feeling of certain films. With Tenebrae it’s distracting and the dubbing is awful. To top if off, at least for the English dub, the acting is horrendous. It sounds like a parody at points where someone has taken the video and added a fake dub to it.

Argento has been criticised for his treatment of women in his films. This is directly commented on in Tenebrae with a reporter asking Peter why his books are sexist, he disagrees adamantly. Despite this nod towards real-life criticisms, Tenebrae is incredibly disrespectful to women. They are exploited with far too much pointless nudity and seem to be there just to die and scream.

The effects are mostly awful. Even for the time they just don’t work. The good effects are ruined by over the top moments. The impaling, looks decent enough, but the witness screaming and screaming until there is no tomorrow is laughable. The controversial scene where the arm is cut off looks good, but the blood spraying over the wall is just ridiculous. There’s so much blood and it just looks bad. At points it feels like a spoof of a slasher film. It’s not scary, it’s not tense. The worst thing is, it’s just dull. There’s nothing engaging about the film from start to finish.  

The score has some decent moments, but that’s ruined by over the top loud sequences whenever there’s a killing or something that’s supposed to be tense happening on screen. It’s a bad score, which is a real shame because Argento’s films normally have great music. The sound effects are also silly, the sound of someone being cut up by the razor blade is almost comedic.

The only redeeming thing about Tenebrae is that it makes over films look better. Argento is a great director and writer and has created some of the best horror/thrillers around. Tenebrae, which feels like a retaliation to criticism that he received for earlier films, is bitter trash. It feels like it should be a comedy, but it’s not really that funny either. It’s not a good film in the slightest. This may be Argento’s worst effort. It’s abysmal.  

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

Brief Mid-Week Update

Posted on September 22, 2021 by ashleymanningwriter

Internet is still down, so I’m still working at my mum’s house. They are saying it should be fixed by Friday, but even that might be doubtful. We’re still making our way through unwatched DVDs. Yesterday we watched Tenebrae, with a review coming later today. Tonight I’m going to see The Many Saints of Newark, with a review for that coming tomorrow. I’m basically uploading these on breaks while working from mum’s house.

I haven’t done any writing or reading since the last update. I’m still working through plans on a new story. I have a few scenes planned out in my head and a word document filled with characters and descriptions. Once everything is back to normal I’ll be going full speed ahead.

Not much else to add this week. It’s been hectic with work and lack of Internet.

Thanks for reading and until next time,

Ashley

Posted in Updates | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Hail Caesar! – Film Review

Posted on September 21, 2021 by ashleymanningwriter

Director: Joel and Ethan Coen

Writers: Joel and Ethan Coen

Starring: Josh Brolin, George Clooney, Alden Ehrenreich, Ralph Fiennes, Jonah Hill, Scarlett Johansson, Frances McDormand and Tilda Swinton

Rating: ★★★½

A pure love letter to the studio era of Hollywood. Hail Caesar follows roughly twenty-seven hours in the life of Edward ‘Eddie’ Mannix (Josh Brolin, Avengers), a ‘fixer’ for a Hollywood studio. While the film is completely fictional, Edie Mannix was a real-life ‘fixer’ during the studio era. His job was to keep the press positive about the stars and films. There are claims that Mannix arranged abortions, fake marriages and even murder. There is a conspiracy that he is responsible for the death of George Reeves, who played Superman in the 1950s TV series.

While Mannix is the central character of Hail Caesar!, the film isn’t just about him. There are moments of full blown musical numbers, like the epic musicals of the 1950s, a stunt orientated western film being filmed and the star of the western moving into drama films. There is also an unmarried actress, DeeAnna Moran (Scarlett Johansson, Jojo Rabbit), who’s pregnant. Mannix has to find away to keep DeeAnna’s pure image, which could hurt her career and the studio’s image.

The main problem Mannix faces, is that the star, Brad Whitlock (George Clooney, O’ Brother Where Art Thou), of the studios biggest picture of the year, Hail Caesar, has been kidnapped. There’s a ransom note from a group known only as The Future and Mannix has to try to resolve this while also keeping on top of everything else happening at the studio to ensure that two journalists, Thora and Thessaly Thacker (both played by Tilda Swinton, Moonrise Kingdom), don’t write about any of the events.

The Coen Brothers have created yet another wacky screwball comedy that they are well known for. Hail Caesar! isn’t as funny as some of their previous films, but it has all the heart and eccentric characters that you’d expect from them. The cast is all brilliant and it’s an amazing line-up. Joining those already mentioned are Alden Ehrenreich (Solo: A Star Wars Story), Ralph Fiennes (Harry Potter), Frances McDormand (Fargo), Channing Tatum (Step Up), Alison Pill (Scott Pilgrim), Jonah Hill (The Wolf on Wall Street), Christopher Lambert (Highlander), and Michael Gambon (Harry Potter) as the narrator. It’s an exceptional line up and they’re all on top form. It feels like every scene there’s a new famous and instantly recognisable face.

The film is just a pure joy to watch. It’s full of great moments and the films that are being made feel like classics you would want to watch afterwards. It’s a true homage to the past and spoofs the industry with great passion. It isn’t as funny as it should be, but there is still a lot to love about Hail Caesar!. It’s definitely one of the stand out film from The Coen Brothers from their careers.

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