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CHUCK CHUCK BABY |
MYSTERIOUS WAYS |
SKY PEALS
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See also: SHADOWS FILM FESTIVAL | Last update 24.Jul.24 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Chuck Chuck Baby Review by Rich Cline | ![]() | |||||||||||||||||||||
![]() dir-scr Janis Pugh prd Peggy Cafferty, Andrew Gillman, Adam Partridge, Anne Beresford with Louise Brealey, Annabel Scholey, Sorcha Cusack, Celyn Jones, Emily Fairn, Emily Aston, Beverly Rudd, Cat Simmons, Edyta Budnik, Michal Nowak, Sandie Lavelle, Megan Jay release UK 19.Jul.24 23/UK BBC 1h41 TORONTO FILM FEST IRIS PRIZE FEST Is it streaming? |
![]() Infused with powerful pop tunes, sometimes even bursting into musical numbers, this romantic drama from Wales is charming and sometimes gleefully silly as it finds joy even in bleak situations. Writer-director Janis Pugh creates nuanced characters who pull us in with snappy wit and internalised feelings, finding emotions we can identify with. The narrative kind of meanders in circles, but this colourful film remains sweet and heartfelt. It's understandable that Helen (Brealey) wants to escape the house where she lives with her unhelpful husband Gary (Jones), his young girlfriend (Fairn) and his dying mum Gwen (Cusack). Even in her awful job in a chicken-packing factory, she finds camaraderie with sparky coworkers as they cavort around town when they're off the clock, or sometimes on it. Then her school crush Joanne (Scholey) returns to town, moving in next door. As they get to know each other, they begin to wonder what life would have been like if they'd got together as teens. Helen and Joanne accompany themselves with an amazing song score, singing along with classic tunes from the likes of Elton John, Neil Diamond, Janis Ian and the Pogues. This helps both deal with their fear. Unafraid of dying, Gwen urges Helen not to be afraid of living. So she dives into crazy antics with her friends while finding a warm connection with Joanne. Much much darker feelings will need to emerge before anyone can move on. Both Brealey and Scholey are superb in understated roles as strong women who have lost their mojo, for very different reasons. So it's fascinating to watch them rekindle the childhood connection that they have spent decades trying to forget. Each has a prickly quality that obscures their deeper feelings, and the actors are able to peel away the defences in subtly honest ways. Surrounding characters are strong as well, providing both comical relief and emotional kicks. Dandelion seeds and chicken feathers flutter through scenes, offering an offbeat visual connection. These two women are struggling against the fact that neither has truly begun their lives yet, and the thought of leaving their safe rut behind is terrifying. So even if the plot feels rather loose, peppered by scenes that are either goofy or wrenching, or sometimes both at the same time, the film has a quiet resonance that ends on a wonderfully hopeful note.
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Mysterious Ways Review by Rich Cline | ![]()
| ![]() dir Paul Oremland prd Ngaire Fuata scr Dianna Fuemana, Harry McNaughton, Paul Oremland with Richard Short, Nick Afoa, Joe Malu Folau, Becky McEwan, Maureen Fepuleai, Michael Hurst, Elisabeth Easther, Zac O'Meagher, Vincent Andrew-Scammell, Te Radar, Logan Cole, Reina Va'ai release NZ 17.Aug.23, US 30.Apr.24, UK 26.Jul.24 23/New Zealand 1h30 Is it streaming?
| ![]() Honest, earthy emotions infuse this warm drama from New Zealand, which takes on a big issue from a personal perspective. While it sometimes drifts into melodrama, the film remains engaging as it explores how religious people react with vehement hatred on the topic of sexuality. The screenplay is carefully structured to the usual formula, but the filmmakers maintain a warm, fresh tone makes the story both important and moving. Auckland vicar Peter (Short) faces criticism as he preaches messages of love and acceptance. And he takes it personally, because the prejudice centres around his relationship with his rugby coach boyfriend Jason (Afoa), whom he's not allowed to marry. As the media gets hold of the story, the bishop (Hurst) wants Peter to remain silent, but he defiantly plans a wedding. The resulting press storm turns their relationship into an international scandal and jeopardises Peter's work in the community. They'll need to navigate personal as well as cultural and social issues to get through this. Peter regularly endures vile bigotry from the public and more insidiously subtle homophobia from church officials, so it's painful to watch the hatred surge as a result of this story going viral. Meanwhile, Jason has his own struggle with his colourful fa'afafine nephew Billy (Folau), who arrives suddenly and is insistent on planning a fabulous wedding. And Jason's Aunt Nola (Fepuleai) has a her own salient views based on their Polynesian heritage. Both Short and Afoa have strong charisma in their roles, which develop in parallel strands as Peter and Jason grapple with their personal issues against a storm of bigotry. They have terrific chemistry together, even when they fight, and even though they oddly don't turn to each other to face their individual battles. Side roles add strong textures, including the Folau in a remarkably complex role and McEwan as Peter's supportive daughter. Director Oremland maintains an uplifting tone even as the story takes some rather dark turns along the way. How things will turn out is never in doubt, but the various wrinkles in the plot are pointed and thoughtful, creating a vivid exploration of the true nature of faith in a world that has warped and weaponised it. And while the final sequence is a bit odd, it's also full of hope for communities that choose acceptance rather than hatred.
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| Sky Peals Review by Rich Cline | ![]()
| ![]() dir-scr Moin Hussain prd Michelle Stein with Faraz Ayub, Natalie Gavin, Claire Rushbrook, Simon Nagra, Steve Oram, Jeff Mirza, Bill Fellows, Adrian Hood, Maizie Wickson, Teresa Mondol, Junaid Arshad, Bhasker Patel release UK 9.Aug.24 23/UK 1h31 VENICE FILM FEST ![]() Is it streaming?
| ![]() Slow, dark and artful, this British drama won't appeal to a mainstream audience, since much of the screen-time is filled with an inexpressive young man increasingly worried about who he is. With this first feature, writer-director Moin Hussain digs deep into the character's sense of identity, which hinges on nationality, ethnicity, religion, family and employment, among other things. It's a complex portrait that's fascinating and textured, but also hard-going. At Sky Peals motorway services, Adam (Ayub) enjoys his anonymous job in a burger joint kitchen. But everything is changing. New boss Jeff (Oram) moves him into a customer-facing role. His mother Donna (Rushbrook) is selling the family home to move in with Ray (Hood), and Adam hasn't even started looking for his own place. Then Adam learns that his estranged dad (Mirza) has died, and organising the funeral reconnects him with his father's brother Hamid (Nagra). Everyone comments that Adam's dad thought he was an alien. And now Adam wonders if he's one too. It's fascinating to watch Adam go through his life so passively, allowing himself to be moved on without any action on his part. This includes almost accidentally making new friends at work, such as the sparky Tara (Gavin), and working out what to do with his dad's car, with its annoying alarm system. The film follows him through this experience as if it's an almost dreamlike blur, including flashes of colourful light during which he has brief blackouts. Adam certainly isn't the usual movie protagonist, and Ayub underplays him beautifully. This makes him sympathetic even though we often want to shake him for so consistently refusing to do anything proactively. But as he becomes haunted by CCTV footage of his father's last day, there's a flicker of intention in his actions that leads somewhere intriguing. And the people around him are earthy and real, continually adding barbed edges to the narrative. What all of this means is a little vague, as the film never quite settles on an idea bigger than that each of us can only move forward if we live as who we are, regardless of where we came from. Worrying about things he might have inherited, whether genetically, spiritually, culturally or economically, isn't going to help Adam work this out. The film almost whispers this idea as it paints an impressionistic portrait of this singular young man.
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