People Just Do Nothing: Big in Japan – Film Review

Posted on August 29, 2021 by ashleymanningwriter

Director: Jack Clough

Screenplay by: Steve Stamp, Allan Mustafa, Asim Chaudhry, Hugo Chegwin and Lily Brazier

Starring: Allan Mustafa, Hugh Chegwin, Asim Chaudhry, Steve Stamp and Dan Sylvester

Rating: ★★½

A sitcom being adapted to the big screen rarely goes well. It’s hard to expand something that is usually twenty to thirty minutes and stretch it to ninety minutes, or sometimes even longer. Something is just lost in it and most of the them outstay the welcome massively. Thankfully People Just Do Nothing: Big in Japan doesn’t outstay it’s welcome.

Kurupt.fm are back. Three years after their radio station shut down, they discover that their single has become a big hit in Japan after playing on one of the biggest TV shows in the country. The band and their manager head to Tokyo to potentially sign a record deal and finally make their dreams come true. It’s not long after they arrive that it becomes clear that the price of fame is higher than what they were expecting.

Big in Japan follows in the footsteps of This is Spinal Tap and Popstar: Never stop Never Stopping as a mockumentary following terrible musicians who believe they are something greater than what they are. The comedy comes from their awkward and often eye wateringly cringe-filled interactions. Big in Japan takes this one step further by taking the film to another country, so adding a little Lost in Translation into the mix. That’s not just because they are in Japan, they struggle with the customs, can’t communicate very well and at one point end up on a TV show they don’t understand.

This is a funny film that has plenty of jokes. If you’re a fan of TV shows like The Office or films like Spinal Tap, then there is something here for you. Most of the comedy comes from the character’s ignorance of Japan as well as their naivety around the music business. Their manager, played by Asim Choudhry, has never achieved everything, and starts the film by selling his van, that he’s also been living in, to join them in Japan. His attempts to take control and clashes with the management from Tokyo, is funny and awkward to watch. A specific scene where he’s buying new clothes is as cringe-inducing as a David Brent moment.

The film may play with some stereotypes about Japan, with the serious salarymen and bizarre gameshows, but it never tries to ridicule the culture. The characters, in their own idiotic way try to honour the customs, even if they don’t quite understand them. For example they take their shoes off every time they enter a building, even when they’re told they don’t have to. Matthew Wicks deserves a lot of praise for some great cinematography that captures the small backstreets of Tokyo and contrasts them with the sprawling neon-lit main streets. Tokyo looks gorgeous and if you’re dragged along to the film and hate the comedy at least you can enjoy the setting.

A lot of this film feels like you’ve seen it before. The main plot centres around how far the band are willing to go to make it and how much of themselves will they lose along the way. It’s predictable and doesn’t do anything that’s unexpected. The comedy is there, but there’s no real stand-out moments that you’ll be quoting while leaving the cinema with your friends. It pales in comparison to Life on the Road, the follow-up film to The Office, that walks a similar plot but with a surprising amount of heart.

There’s a nice sub-plot about Steeves (Steve Stamp) and a budding romance with Miki, the translator who follows the group around. It’s really the little things that stand out in the film, their romance, the reaction shots of Decoy (Dan Sylvester) who looks just as awkward as you’ll feel and culture shock of Japan. The main plot feels fairly familiar and doesn’t really do anything that unexpected.

Long-term fans and newcomers alike should find something to like in Big in Japan. It’s not a fantastic film by any stretch, but there’s some laughs to be had. If anything it might bring more people to watch the original show.

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Beauty and the Beast of Paradise Lost – Book Review

Posted on August 29, 2021 by ashleymanningwriter

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

There’s a new adaptation of the classic fairy tale, Beauty and the Beast and this time it looks quite different. Belle was born with violet hair, making her different from anyone else. She goes out into the woods to look for a red rose, the only flower that will match her hair. Her mother follows her, trying to stop her as the beast wonders the woods. The beat hunts and kills people, removing their faces. The beast finds Belle and her mother sacrifices herself to save Belle. 5 years later, Belle goes back out into the woods to find the truth to what actually happened and discovers that there is more to the truth than she could possibly imagine.

This is a dark take on the fairy tale, with some horrific elements. There are moments that edge this closer to a horror story. When Belle eventually gets to the Beast’s castle, she finds herself locked in a room full of Idoles, the faceless people that have been left to die. One they die, eyes and mouths grow in the void on the head, where their face should be, and they hunt the living. It’s a creepy scene and the artwork is great, the faceless people look demented.

The story is really interesting and I did find myself wanting to know more and not wanting to put the book down. It has enough of the story we all know to feel familiar but enough new stuff to keep it interesting. I have a feeling it’s only going to get better as it goes on. It’s full of imagination in the best way possible.

The story does feel a little rushed at the beginning. When Belle gets back to town it’s a lot to take in, it would have been nicer to spend a little more time with the plot being set up. It’s a quick paced manga throughout the first volume and one it finds its pace in chapter two it does settle in quite nicely. Sadly, there are a couple of bits where it isn’t 100% clear what’s going on and you just have to continue and piece it together. I find that to be a common problem with some comics and manga and it’s not that big of a deal here, but it’s worth mentioning that some of the panels don’t flow into each other very well.

Some of the dialogue is laughable. When Belle’s father finds out his wife is dead, he shouts at Belle that it’s her fault and ‘it’s because you’re so ugly’. He calls her ugly and vile at all times and plot wise it makes sense, but I still found it funny when reading it from time to time.

I did enjoy this book and I will keep an eye out for volume 2 when it comes out. I like interesting adaptations of fairy tales and that is exactly what this is.

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Vacation Friends – Film Review

Posted on August 29, 2021 by ashleymanningwriter

Director: Clay Tarver

Screenplay by: Tom Mullen, Tum Mullen, Clay Tarver, Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley

Starring: Lil Rel Howery, Yvonne Orji, John Cena and Meredith Hagner

Rating: ★★★

After originally being announced in 2014 (with Chris Pratt and Anna Farris attached), Vacation Friends has finally seen its release on both Hulu and Disney+ Star, depending on where you are around the world. As expected, this is an okay film elevated to an enjoyable comedy based on the cast alone.

Jon Cena is having a pretty great year so far film-wise, and he’s really shown a range from the action hero in F9, to anti-hero Peacemaker in The Suicide Squad. He’s clearly got great timing for comedy, which is in full display in Vacation Friends. Ron is an intense and insane character. Wherever he goes chaos follows and his reaction is just to float through it, never panicking for a moment. He is the standout star of the film and whenever he’s on screen you know you’re going to laugh.

Equally great is Lil Rel Howery, who is also having an incredible year with great comedic and memorable performances in Fatherhood and Free Guy. He is a great comedy actor and really shines in this film. Meredith Hagner is great as the free-spirited Kyla, who gets one of the biggest laughs of the film with her kidnapped story.

Howery plays Marcus, on vacation to propose to his girlfriend, Emily (Yvonne Orji, Insecure). When the proposal goes wrong and they are left without a hotel room, Ron and his partner Kyla offer to share there’s. The two couples bond over the differences and Marcus and Emily end up taking a more wild vacation than they originally planned.

Vacation Friends has a lot of really funny moments throughout the film. There’s a trippy hallucinogenic sequence that gets a few laughs, for a moment it looks like it’s going to take a really dark turn and it would have probably been a lot funnier/sadder (depending on the viewer) if it had taken it. The entire first half of the film, set in Mexico, is funny and everything seems to be going well, even though you know deep down that something will change and there must be some conflict. There are lots of good moments in the opening that even though it’s a long set up for the main part, it still works.  

There are so many credited writers on this film and at points you can feel it. The humour does range from crude and childish humour to slapstick and more situational based comedy. For the most part it works and while not every joke lands, enough do to make this film enjoyable. The film is too long though. It would have been a lot better as a ninety-minute comedy and the extra fifteen minutes is really felt by the end.

There are a lot worse ways to spend and evening and a brain-dead comedy is sometimes exactly what you want. This won’t go down as a classic, but it’s still a good time while it lasts.  

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He’s All That – Film Review

Posted on August 28, 2021 by ashleymanningwriter

Director: Mark Waters

Screenplay by: R. Lee Fleming Jr.

Starring: Addison Rae, Tanner Buchanan, Madison Pettis, Rachael Leigh Cook, Matthew Lillard and Peyton Meyer

Rating: ★★½

Netflix’s latest comedy offering is He’s All That, a gender-swap remake of 1999s She’s All That. The original film is perfectly fine, not breaking any moulds or anything outstanding but it is a fun film. The characters were pretty great and there was enough laughs to keep it entertaining. The remake is pretty much more of the same. The plot is very similar with very little differences, there’s still some laughs to be found and there’s a lot of nods for fans of the original. The problems from the first one are still here, mainly being that you know every plot beat from the first few minutes (even if you haven’t seen the original).

Padgett Sawyer, played by real-life TikTok star Addison Rae, is a social media influencer and one of the most popular kids at school. After her boyfriend, Jordan Van Draanen (Peyton Meyer, Girl Meets World) cheats on her, Padgett’s life gets turned upside down and, in an attempt, to regain her popularity she makes a bet that she can take any boy and turn him into prom king. Her challenge is Cameron Kweller (Tanner Buchanan, Cobra Kai), an outsider who doesn’t fit in.

Much like the original one, you know every moment of the film. You’ve seen it before, even if you’ve never even heard of, She’s All That. It’s a played-out story and there are no twists or surprises here. Thankfully there are still some laughs and decent moments in this one. Screenwriter R. Lee Fleming Jr. essentially took the plot from the first one, swapped the genders of the main characters and updated it to fit into the social media focused world of 2021.

The performances are fine, even if there’s nothing outstanding. The characters are enjoyable enough. The two main characters do feel a little exaggerated and not as believable as their counterparts from the original. Especially Cameron who feels like a template hipster, from his clothing to his old-style camera. He also quickly changes from what he was to fit in with Padgett. When he’s first introduced, he’s not that likable, more irritating and full of himself. That’s quickly eroded as the film moves forward.

There are a few nods to the original film, from cast members coming back in new roles. Matthew Lillard is back and one of the highlights, even if his character is criminally underused. There should have been a bigger part for him to pop up throughout the film. Rachel Leigh Cook stars as Padgett’s mum, and is good in the role. She has a couple of jokes that work really well and her character references that she knows the song ‘Kiss Me’, from somewhere at the prom, which is a nice nod to the original’s soundtrack.

He’s All That is a fine film. It’s enjoyable while it lasts, but it’s not going to stay with you after the credits roll. There’s some laughs and the characters are enjoyable to watch, but there’s nothing spectacular here.  

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Candyman – Film Review

Posted on August 28, 2021 by ashleymanningwriter

Director: Nia DaCosta

Screenplay by: Jordan Peele, Win Rosenfeld, and Nia DaCosta

Starring: Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Teyonah Parris, Nathan Stewart-Jarrett, Colman Domingo and Tony Todd

Rating: ★★★★

2021 is turning into the year of horror. From Spiral (the best Saw film since the original) that re-opened cinemas back in May, through The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It, The Unholy, The Forever Purge (the best of the entire series), Freaky, Netflix’s Fear Street trilogy and right up to last week’s releases The Night House and Censor. It’s been an exceptional year so far for horror and we haven’t even reached October yet with the release of Halloween Kills. Candyman, this week’s offering, doesn’t disappoint and is one of the better horror films from this year’s stellar selection.

It’s becoming an annoying trend that films that that are both a reboot and a sequel take the name from the original one rather than a new subtitle. 2018’s Halloween and next year’s Scream are also guilty of this. Candyman does exactly this and you’d be forgiven for thinking this is a remake not a sequel. It is a sequel and there are enough nods to the first one that makes it even better if you’ve seen the original beforehand, from cameo appearances to fleshing out the story.

Picking up around thirty years after the events of the original film, Anthony McCoy (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, The Trial of the Chicago 7), the baby from the first film, is an artist struggling to match his earlier work. After hearing the story of Helen Lyne, the grad student researching urban legends from the first film who has since become an urban legend herself, he travels to Cabrini-Green and investigates the story, not knowing that he is part of it himself.

The original Candyman is a great film, that works incredibly well as its own thing. The sequel lives up to this and is a worthy follow-up to the horror classic. Tonally it feels very similar, mixing race relations, urban legends, and horror together. The effects obviously look much better, and the gore is more visceral, but it’s not shoved in our faces. Just like the first film it’s quick, and a lot of it happens off-screen.

The use of mirrors is excellent. From the reversed opening company logos before the film has even started, reflections and mirrors are a massive part of this film. Without spoiling it, there’s a moment where someone is walking around a car and their reflection differs on each side of the car. It creates the idea of a world just out of sync with ours and it works so well. Nia DaCosta is an excellent director, and it really shows here. This film is one of the most stylish horror films of recent years. Such as, instead of standard flashbacks, they are told using shadow-puppets. It looks great.

Yahya Abdul-Mateen II is great as Anthony, he’s charming and believable and when needed he can be unsettling. He gives a great performance, as does everyone else in the cast. Troy (Nathan Stewart-Jarrett, Misfits) is great and offers some much-needed comedy amongst the tense horror, with witty one-liners and some reaction shots that whole screen laughing.

Candyman is a fantastic horror film and completely lives up to the legacy of the original. It delves deeper into the race relations that the first one dealt with, this time in a much more direct manner. It’s tense, horrific and has one specific body horror moment that Cronenberg would approve of. It’s wonderfully directed and co-written by Joran Peele who is one of the best writers of modern horror. It flies by and when the final sequence starts, you’ll find it hard to believe that it’s been 90ish minutes. The only downside of this film is that there isn’t more. The themes it presents could use some more time to unfold further, but that’s only a minor issue, if it is one at all. For the most part Candyman is a fantastic film.

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