Renfield โ€“ Film Review

Posted on April 16, 2023 by ashleymanningwriter

Director: Chris McKay

Writer: Ryan Ridley

Starring: Nicholas Hoult, Awkwafina, Ben Schwartz, Adrian Martinez, Shohreh Aghdashloo, and Nicolas Cage

Rating: โ˜…โ˜…โ˜…1/2

After a century of being Dracula’s (Nicolas Cage) servant, Renfield (Nicholas Hoult) is starting to want more out of life. He doesn’t want to be a villain, doing his master’s bidding, so instead of going after innocent victims like his master wants, he attends a co-dependency support group and targets the people abusing the other attendees. While he’s there, he realises that he’s dependent on Dracula and starts to break free, but gets mixed up in a local mob family that run New Orleans.

It’s amazing that it’s taken this long for Nicolas Cage to be cast as Dracula. It’s perfect casting and has been staring Hollywood in the face for decades. Even though Renfield is the main character, it’s Dracula that steals the show. Cage is simply fantastic in the role. He’s very funny at every opportunity, and is by far the best thing about Renfield. Even though they’re upstaged by Cage, the rest of the cast are also really good and the film is always entertaining even if the Count isn’t on screen. Awkwafina and Nicholas Hoult have good chemistry between them, and have a lot of funny moments, and Ben Schwartz is just as good as he always is.

There is absolutely buckets of blood spilled throughout the film, which isn’t surprising considering it’s about vampires, but Dracula lets a lot of meals go to waste as he kills people. Lots of beheadings and limbs being cut off. It’s all goofy and over-the-top, so it’s funny and not overly gory or scary to watch. It’s a full-on comedy with a little bit of horror thrown in. There’s also a suprising amount of exciting action sequences throughout the story, with great choreography and a good sense of humour to it all. It’s a seriously funny film, with a lot of great jokes, that aren’t spoilt by the trailer at all.

While the film does rely on a few clichรฉs, such as a narrator that starts in the middle of the story with a ‘yeah that’s me, now let me tell you how I got here’ opening, and incredibly dumb exposition filled dialogue, there are some really great stylish moments as well. The backstory for Renfield is shot in a way that mimics the Bela Lugosi classic, which is fantastically done, the excellent action, and Dracula’s lair looks incredible, with blood bags hanging from the ceiling and a dark and gloomy atmosphere that fits the Lord of Death.

Renfield is a breath of fresh air when it comes to telling Dracula’s story. It’s silly, funny, and overall a good time. Cage is playing the role he was born to play and doesn’t disappoint at all.

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Mid-April 2023 Update

Posted on April 15, 2023 by ashleymanningwriter

Hi everyone,

It’s that time again for a little update about what I’ve been up to and what I’m planning for the next few weeks. Most of my time recently has been spent watching as many films as possible to get reviews ready for the next two weeks while I’m on holiday. I’ve scheduled posts for each day so there should still be one post a day. There will be a mixture of film reviews and a longer short story that I’ve been writing.

The story, called Parting, was an idea that I had recently for a ghost story. I originally planned it to be around 5000 words, and put it on here as 5 parts. As always, things don’t go to plan, so it’s currently 6000 words (6 parts) and isn’t close to being finished just yet. I’m not sure when it’ll be finished, but I’ll be picking it back up when I’m back from holiday and continue posting parts on here, so hopefully there won’t be too long of a wait between each part. I’m pretty happy with how it’s going so far. It’s taken some turns that I wasn’t planning and I think it’s a better story for it.

With the film reviews, there’s going to a bit of a mixture. Some horror, rom-coms, anime, and comedy. The plan will be one review, followed by the next part of Parting. I’m also going to be posting Magic in London each Friday, as normal.

With reading, I still haven’t been reading much in terms of books. Manga is still taking priority for me currently, as it’s quick and easy to read a chapter here and there. I’m still working through One Piece (currently on chapter 304), and I’ve started Jujutsu Kaisen (chapter 25 currently). I’ve recently finished reading Aliens Area, which was pretty good and a shame that it got cancelled. Also Ginka and Glรผna ended last week, which again was a real shame. It did get a somewhat decent ending though, so it wasn’t all bad. I’m planning on starting Sakamoto days soon, which I’ve heard good things about.

Thanks for reading and I’ll be back soon!

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Magic in London: Enrolment โ€“ Part 17

Posted on April 14, 2023 by ashleymanningwriter

Catch up on Magic in London here:ย https://ashleymanning.com/magic-in-london/

As soon as the horse broke through the wall Chuck backed away out of the room, panic echoing throughout his body. Fiona backed up as well.

โ€œI should have really been expecting that,โ€ she said.

โ€œHeโ€™s not moving at all,โ€ Chuck said while pointing at the boy behind the desk.

โ€œOkay, you just grab Tommy and Iโ€™ll deal with the horse.โ€

โ€œUmm, sure.โ€

Fiona didnโ€™t listen to what Chuck said, she was too busy moving into the room and swinging her knife towards the horse while whistling. She threw several fireballs at it, but the horse didnโ€™t react.

โ€œItโ€™s already on fire,โ€ Chuck said while trying to move around the edge of the room.

โ€œI know, Iโ€™m trying to distract it.โ€ Fiona replied. โ€œShut up and do your part.โ€

Chuck slowly moved around the edge of the room, moving slowly while trying to stay as far away from the horse and the big hole in the wall as possible. Fiona flicked her knife towards the horse, sending a vibrating blast of air towards the horse. Unlike the skeleton teachers, it didnโ€™t react at all. It shook it off as if it was just a cold breeze and rushed towards Fiona. She dived to one side and the horse charged through the wall of the school, bricks flying in every direction. It tore through several other walls, through classrooms and hallways, and started flying above the school. It glided around in a circle and started heading back to the hole it created, at speed.

โ€œHurry,โ€ Fiona shouted, readying herself for more.

Chuck ran as fast as he could and picked up Tommy and started to make his way back to the front of the room. The horse hadnโ€™t reappeared, which made Chuck stop in his tracks.

โ€œWhere is it?โ€ he asked.

โ€œI donโ€™t know. I canโ€™t see through walls.โ€

โ€œJesus. What is your problem.โ€

โ€œJust go, and Iโ€™ll be behind you.โ€

Chuck started to run down the corridor. In his head, he just needed to make it to the stairs and heโ€™d be free. That didnโ€™t happen.

The horse broke through the wall, stopping Chuck in his path. It turned towards them, fire in its eye sockets and started to walk towards Chuck and Tommy.

โ€œGet behind me, and stay there,โ€ Fiona said.

She moved up ahead and flicked her knife, whistled, and sent every object in the corridor towards the horse. Bricks shattered on contact. A glass trophy cabinet sprinkled down on top of it. Pictures of the various headteachers broke on impact. Nothing stopped it.

โ€œWhen you see an opening, run,โ€ Fiona said.

The horse got closer and tried to headbutt Fiona. With ease, she rolled to one side. It turned around and tried to kick at her with its back legs, but Fiona jumped back just in time. With every movement Chuck tried to get around the horse but couldnโ€™t. The hallway was just too narrow to get around it.

She ran towards the horse, jumped at it and stabbed the knife through one of its eye sockets. The horse threw itself around trying to get Fiona loose but wasnโ€™t quick enough. She whistled and sent an air blast straight through the skull of the horse. The entire skeleton flew apart in different directions, leaving a trail of fire after every piece.

โ€œWhoa,โ€ Chuck said. โ€œThat was incredible.โ€

โ€œLets just move before it pulls itself together again.โ€

They ran through the corridor and started down the stairs without looking back. Chuck was sure he was going to drop Tommy, but he managed to keep him in his arms as they made their way through the labyrinth of the school.

โ€œIโ€™m sure my school wasnโ€™t this big,โ€ he said.

โ€œI donโ€™t even remember my school,โ€ Fiona said.

โ€œWhat?โ€

โ€œI mean the one before Whistling.โ€

They made it to the courtyard. Both of them were out of breath and slowed to walking. Once theyโ€™d reached the well, Chuck placed Tommy down, carefully.

โ€œSorry, I needed to stop for a second.โ€

โ€œWhat are you doing? We need to get out of here.โ€

โ€œMy arms. I thought I was going to drop him.โ€

โ€œThe entrance is just there. Thatโ€™s all we need to get too. That thing doesnโ€™t exist outside of the school grounds, we just need to get there.โ€

โ€œOh, I thought youโ€™d destroyed it.โ€

There was a loud roar and the horse jumped into the courtyard from the top floor of the school and raced towards them.

โ€œThis is your fault,โ€ Fiona said. โ€œGet him out of here.โ€

Before Chuck had a chance to pick Tommy back up, the horse ran at him at full speed, knocking him to the floor. He bounced of the ground and scrapped his chin as he did. Pain seared throughout his limbs, and he couldnโ€™t get back up. His arms and legs had turned to jelly, and he couldnโ€™t move. All he could do was roll over and see the horse getting closer to him.

โ€œOh God,โ€ Fiona shouted as she ran over to Chuck.

Once she reached him, she turned to face the oncoming horse.

โ€œNow that weโ€™re outside, itโ€™s my turn.โ€

The horse ran at her as if it was a bull. Fiona dodged. The horse jumped and flew up a little to turn around in the air. Fiona was already spinning around on her heels, waving the knife above her head. The well started to shake, the sound of bricks rumbling got louder in the air, and then the horse was being pelted by the bricks, one by one. To Chuck it didnโ€™t look like it was having much of an effect, but after a few of them he could see that the horse was taking damaged. It wasnโ€™t moving as quickly towards Fiona and then she was close enough to stab the knife forward, whistling loudly and shot a beam of ice through the horseโ€™s skull. The fire in its mane went out and the skeleton dropped to the floor.

โ€œWhy didnโ€™t I just do that last time?โ€

The victory was short lived, as the horseโ€™s bones reassembled themselves and the fire was relit, stronger than before.

To Be Continuedโ€ฆ

Part Eighteen will be available next Friday! Donโ€™t forget to subscribe to never miss a post:

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Evangelion: 1.11 You Are (Not) Alone โ€“ Film Review

Posted on April 13, 2023 by ashleymanningwriter

Directors: Hideaki Anno, Masayuki, Kazuya Tsurumaki

Wrister: Hideaki Anno

Starring (English Dub โ€“ Dubbing Brothers): Spike Spencer, Allison Keith, John Swasey, Amanda Winn-Lee, Mary Faber

Rating: โ˜…โ˜…โ˜…ยฝ

Back in 2007 the first part of the Rebuild of Evangelion series was released. Written and directed by Hideaki Anno (with Masayuki and Kazuya Tsurumaki as co-directors) the film series is a reinterpretation of Annoโ€™s classic anime Neon Genesis Evangelion from 1995. Originally Rebuild was intended to be a trilogy, but ended up with four films, with the final entry being released 2021.

The film is a fairly straight adaption of the first six episodes of the TV series, with a few deviations from the original story sprinkled throughout. Essentially, itโ€™s still the same story. Shinji moves to Tokyo 3 at the request of his father, only to find out that his father wants to use him to pilot Eva Unit 01 to fight the Angels that are threatening the city. The events are more streamlined in the film, with a much quicker pace.

Watching it as someone who has watched the TV series a few times, it does feel like it expects you to already be familiar with the story. The slower pace of the TV series works better, letting the characters develop more between the action scenes. If you havenโ€™t seen the TV series, then it might work better, since you’re not expecting things to happen. Itโ€™s where the story deviates that it gets really interesting. Small scenes that playout slightly differently, or things happening that should happen much later in the story. Itโ€™s hinting straight away that this isnโ€™t a straight up remake and things could go in a very different direction later on.

The animation is brilliant. Everything is more detailed than the series and looks incredible, especially the Eva units, thereโ€™s so much detail. There is some CGI animation as well, that for the most part looks great, but some of it stands out a little too much. Shirล Sagisu, the composer of the score for the original series, also came back to score the film, and itโ€™s one of the highlights of the film. There are re-recorded pieces that are filled with nostalgia, as well as new additions throughout.

You Are (Not) Alone is a decent watch, that only hints at where the Rebuild series would go. This entry has some stunning animation, but overall doesn’t feel like an essential remake of the original episodes itโ€™s adapting.

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Zombiepowder – An Underrated Manga From the Author of Bleach

Posted on April 12, 2023 by ashleymanningwriter

Back in 1999 Zombiepowder started, the first on-going series from Tite Kubo, who would later find success with Bleach. This series, only lasted 27 chapters before being cancelled, unfinished and without a conclusive ending, however it’s still worth reading now and is a lot better than a lot of series that are being published today.

The story follows a young boy, Elwood, a pickpocket who becomes friends with a Powder Hunter, Gamma Akutabi. A local gang that Elwood works for, thinks that Elwood is trying to cut them out of a deal. During an attack on Elwood’s home, his sister is killed and in an attempt to resurrect her back Elwood joins Gamma in the hunt for the Rings of the Dead.

As set ups go, it’s fairly standard for a Shลnenย manga. A young protagonist sets of on an adventure to find some magical/mystical item, normally to help someone. It’s a set-up that’s been used from Dragon Ball to Demon Slayer. While it’s a cliched beginning in the short 27 chapters, the worldbuilding is incredible. There’s so much going on, and it’s filled with imaginative ideas. It’s a western style world, with technology from different eras of history.

The art style is fantastic, with distinct characters and awesome fight sequences. It’s incredibly entertaining and had me hooked almost straight away. The characters and story are interesting and kept me wanting to read more and more. It’s such a shame that this series didn’t get more time to full develop. It ends on a bit of a cliff-hanger, with lots of unanswered questions.

If you’re ever looking for a quick manga to read then Zombiepowder is definitely worth have a read. It may be unfinished, but it’s still entertaining to read while it lasts.

Thanks for reading!

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