Thoroughbreds – Film Review

Posted on July 10, 2022 by ashleymanningwriter

Director: Cory Finley

Writer: Cory Finely

Starring: Olivia Cooke, Anya Taylor-Joy, Anton Yelchin, Paul Sparks, Francie Swift

Rating: ★★★½

Thoroughbreds follows Amanda (Olivia Cooke), an emotionless teenager who starts hanging out with her old best friend, Lily (Anya Taylor-Joy). They meet up under the guise of a casual tutoring session, but Amanda’s mother has paid Lily to be there. The pair strike up a connection as Amanda convinces Lily to be honest about her life and share some secrets about her hatred for her stepdad Mark (Paul Sparks).

Lily is completely emotionless, copying what other people do, and using what she calls ‘the technique’ to cry when needed in order to fit in. Olivia Cooke does a really good job at bringing Lily to life, with a lot of mystery in her performance. You’re never quite sure what she’s thinking as the plot moves forward. Lily is an instantly intriguing character. She makes the point that just because she’s emotionless, doesn’t mean that she’s not a good person, it just means that she has to try harder to be a good one.  

Amanda, on the other hand, is smart and living an almost idyllic life in a lavish house with good prospects in the future. Even so, there’s a real send of isolation in her life since her dad died. All the way through the film her house feels lifeless and barren of joy. Even at family dinners there seems to be no happiness to be seen.

After airing out Lily’s hatred of her stepdad, the pair start to plot his murder, by using a small-time drug dealer, Tim (Anton Yelchin), who has previously spent time in prison but still has big plans to build a drug empire. He’s a sleezy character who is completely untrustworthy. Anton Yelchin is absolutely brilliant in the role, and this is one of his final roles. Around two weeks after production ended Yelchin very sadly died in an accident.

There’s a really cold and distant tone to the film, reflecting the plot and Amanda’s character. At the same time, it is a black comedy, so there are a fair few awkward laughs and funny moments. It’s not a laugh-out-loud every minute kind of comedy, but the comedy isn’t the main reason to watch the film. The relationship between Lily and Amanda is the centre of the film. It’s really interesting to see the differences between them.

Thoroughbreds is a really interesting film, and while it’s definitely entertaining while you’re watching it, it’s not something that you’re going to rave about. It’s still a solid black comedy.

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LFCC 2022

Posted on July 9, 2022 by ashleymanningwriter

So today I headed down to London with Tabby and my mum to go to London Film and Comic Con. Normally, we go down for the full weekend, but this year we only went for one day. For us, it was a 6am start with getting the 7:05 train to London Euston, a shortish ride on the tube to Shepherd’s Bush and then a 15 minute walk to Olympia to get there at almost dead on 9am, when the event started. Fortunately for us, from then it didn’t take that long to get inside, with a quick zig-zag along the snaking queues and then we were inside. I’ve since heard that some people were stuck outside for ages, with some not getting in until the afternoon, which sounds like an absolute nightmare and judging from how busy it was inside in places I feel they oversold it.

After we got in we headed upstairs to where all the guests were and got a lay of the land. The main guests this year were David Harbour and Joseph Quinn from Stranger Things. I don’t know who Joseph Quinn is, as I haven’t watched the latest season of Stranger Things, but he was incredibly popular. It genuinely felt like every other person we saw was wearing a Hellfire Club t-shirt, and there were a lot of people dressed up like Quinn’s character (I don’t even know the character’s name, it’s just a good thing my mum was there to keep me updated). I didn’t see either actor up close as their queues and crowd around their area was immense. So many, hopefully, happy people crying after meeting their heroes. There’s also a lot of horror stories online about the management of the queue and overselling that I’ve seen on social media. That just seems to be part of the convention experience, it feels like every one I go to is oversold and too crowded.

Pretty much everyone I wanted to see had cancelled in the last few weeks, but there were still a couple of Star Trek actors that I hadn’t seen up close. I’m a big Trekkie, and have a nice collections of all the actors we’ve met from the various shows, from the original series to modern Trek. Today we added Santiago Cabrera from Piccard to our collection, who seemed really nice. The main reason we went though was for Christopher Lloyd, who Tabby has tried to meet several times at previous shows before his queue was cut-off. This time around we kept on coming back and getting sent away, until later in the day where everything seemed to just die down massively and we were allowed to stay. Tabby’s favourite film is Back to the Future 3, and it was a big moment for her to be able to say that to Doc Brown himself.

The other big reason to go to conventions, at least for me, is to find some cool stuff on the stalls. I bought a book that I’ve wanted to read for a while, Clown in a Cornfield by Adam Cesare. I’ve been a fan of his YouTube channel for a while and I’m sure his book will be good. I also bought a Dragon Ball figurine, pretty cheaply, of young Goku and Bulma, and Tabby has gotten me a Godzilla figure that will be my birthday present next month. I have a shelf above my writing desk that’s slowly being filled up with Godzilla and Evangelion figures, and I’m looking forward to adding this one to the shelf.

Overall I would say that it’s been a pretty decent day and we did everything we set out to do. We didn’t get back home until almost 10pm, so it’s been a long one, but something to remember.

Thanks for reading and until next time,

Ashley

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Thor: Love and Thunder – Film Review

Posted on July 8, 2022 by ashleymanningwriter

Director: Taika Waititi

Writers: Taika Waititi and Jennifer Kaytin Robinson

Starring: Chris Hemsworth, Christian Bale, Tessa Thompson, Jaimie Alexander, Taika Waititi, Russell Crowe, and Natalie Portman

Thor: Love and Thunder is essentially Thor: Ragnarok turned up to eleven, with lots of comedy and action, all wrapped up in a quirky and light-hearted film. Somehow, it’s the 29th film in the MCU and works as a sequel to both Ragnarok as well as Avenger: Endgame. Being written and directed by Taika Waititi the film has a quirky and offbeat style, and it really works. Love and Thunder is by the far the funniest film in the MCU so far with laugh out loud moments coming left, right and centre. It’s a thrilling good time that doesn’t miss a beat. There’s also a little more emotional weight this time around, with some character driven moments that don’t feel hollow like they did in Ragnarok, even though it still doesn’t hit you as hard as it should.

Chris Hemsworth is just brilliant as Thor. Every time he plays the character he seems to get better and better. This time around Thor is in a dark place, isolated from everyone and not wanting to let anyone in. He spends his time meditating and waiting to be called into battle by the Guardians of the Galaxy, who make a much more minor appearance in the film that the trailer suggests. Love and Thunder also sees the return of Jane Foster (Natalie Portman), and it’s so good to see her again. Jane is suffering from stage four cancer and turns to Viking Mythology to see if there’s a cure, when Mjolnir calls upon her and offers her an alternative to chemotherapy. Natalie Portman is great every time she’s on screen and both Portman and Hemsworth are excellent together.

The highlight of the film is Christian Bale as Gorr the God Butcher. He’s incredibly sinister and menacing in the best way possible. He feels like a serious threat and at the same time, like with all great villains, you can completely see his side and why he’s doing it. He’s a man mourning the loss of his daughter, and he has a great character arc. The most memorable moment is when he’s toying with the children he’s kidnapped, acting as if he’s a children’s TV presenter, showing that Bale can be terrifying when he wants to be. Gorr is scarier than any villain that’s come before him, and even though there is mostly a fun style to Love and Thunder, there is some real darkness to the story because of Gorr.

However, that darkness is kind of undercut with the focus on the comedy. The threat to the children never feels quite real when Thor and co. are all having a good time on their adventure, making catch phrases, Guns ‘N’ Roses needle drops whenever the opportunity arises, screaming goats, and a fabulous appearance from Russell Crowe. This is a comedy first, and then everything else second. Thankfully, it’s incredibly funny and the time absolutely flies by. It doesn’t matter that the darkness doesn’t hit as hard as it could, when you’re on a thrilling and hilarious adventure.  

Thor: Love and Thunder is an improvement on Ragnarok in every way and its two-hour run time absolutely flies by. Chris Hemsworth continues to be fantastic as Thor and will hopefully stick around in the MCU for a long time to come.  

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The Miniaturist – TV Review

Posted on July 7, 2022 by ashleymanningwriter

Director: Guillem Morales

Writer: John Brownlow

Starring: Anya Taylor-Joy, Romola Garai, Alex Hassell, Hayley Squires, Paapa Essiedu

Rating: ★★★★

The Miniaturist is a 2017 BBC miniseries based on the 2014 novel of the same name by Kessie Burton. Set in 17th Century Amsterdam, the story follows Petronella (Anya Taylor-Joy) who is recently married to Johannes Brandt (Alex Hassell). She moves into her new home and her husband isn’t there to greet her, in fact he doesn’t seem that interested in her at all apart from some passing greetings. Instead, he buys her a cabinet doll’s house designed to look like their home for her to fill with objects. Petronella contacts a miniaturist to order objects for the cabinet, but along with what she orders the package contains other objects and dolls that looks strikingly similar to those around her. As their lives are thrown into turmoil Petronella seeks out the miniaturist to find out how they have such an insight into the Brandt household.

The two-part series, which can be combined to watch as a two-and-a-half-hour film, is filled with mystery. Petronella arrives without really knowing anyone in the household, she’d only met Johannes once prior. Instead of finding a warm welcome, instead she is ushered to her room, separated from her pet parakeet. Johannes’s sister, Marin (Romola Garai) is very cold to her and almost seems envious of Petronella’s new position. The house servants seems to keep a distance and don’t let Petronella in on secrets of the household. She’s completely isolated, even though Johannes himself seems polite and kind to her. There’s clearly more going on in the household, and the marriage is clearly not a genuine one. Added to that mystery is the miniaturist, who seems to know a lot about what’s going on in the household, sending unasked for miniatures, even after being asked to stop, that recreate the real household.

Throughout the story there’s a really unsettling and creepy tone, that almost feels like a horror story. It feels like Petronella is always one step away from finding her own doom, and it’s really tense as she starts to uncover the secrets. Beyond this, the miniseries is essentially a period drama, dealing with the social issues of the era that its set in. It really works on that level and doesn’t really need the more supernatural elements. Despite the actual miniaturist being a really interesting and engaging mystery, it really doesn’t go anywhere. It’s the title of the miniseries and isn’t explored in any meaningful way at all, and when the whole thing is over that plot thread feels very thin and pointless. The best thing about The Miniaturist is the main dramatic plot with public scandals and sugar trading, and that’s what’s worth watching. The mystery is gripping, but it’s the drama that really stands out. At first it feels like the miniaturist is the main focus, but as the story goes on it becomes more and more side-lined.

With a great cast, excellent sets, and an engrossing mystery The Miniaturist is a really great miniseries and really worth watching.  

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Ms. Marvel – Episode Five: Time and Again – Review

Posted on July 6, 2022 by ashleymanningwriter

Director: Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy

Writer: Fatimah Asghar

Starring: Iman Vellani, Matt Lintz, Yasmeen Fletcher, Zenobia Shroff, Mohan Kapur, Saagar Shaikh, Laurel Marsden, Azhar Usman

Rating: ★★★★

The fifth and penultimate episode of Ms. Marvel is quite different to what’s come before it. Instead of focusing on Kamala (Iman Vellani), we spend most of the episode in the 1940s with a lot of time spent unravelling backstory. The Indian partition had already been mentioned in the show, and with this episode we get to see the history of Kamala’s family during that period.

The episode starts with some archival news footage showing the effects of the partition and then dives into 1942 with Aisha (Mehwish Hayat) on the run and finding Hasan (Fawad Khan). The couple fall in love and start a family while the tension in their country starts rising.

Ms. Marvel has been at its best when its focused on family and been more dramatic rather than a typical superhero story, and this episode is no exception. It feels like a history lesson hidden inside a fantastical adventure, in a similar way to classic Doctor Who episodes. The focus on the relationship between Aisha and Hasan is really well done, and doesn’t feel forced or rushed, even if it’s only for one part of one episode.

Kamala doesn’t even appear in the episode until it’s well over half way through, following up on the cliff-hanger ending of last week’s episode. When she does appear it’s all go, with some of the best moments of the series so far. The last ten minutes are excellent and perfectly set up what will hopefully be one hell of a great finale.

Ms. Marvel is genuinely a joy to watch every week. As the series has progresses it’s lost some of it’s more cartoony quirks, but it’s still very entertaining. The characters are magical and feel like real people. This week’s episode was something special with the long flashback and world building. It also manages to sidestep one of the most frustrating clichés of superhero shows later in the episode. Let’s hope the final episode sticks the landing.  

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