If this blog post is only half done, it’s because I have fully melted into liquid form while writing it. These days, the minus sixty degrees Mars temperature doesn’t quite seem so bad compared to today, and that’s where the astronaut will go in this week’s new release Proxima (2019)

Proxima is a German/French/English/Russian film about French female astronaut Sarah Loreau. In the near future, she has been chosen to go on a mission to Mars which will see her leave her daughter for 2 years. The daughter will go and live with her father. The film, which is all set on Earth, focuses on the more human struggles that mother and daughter deal with in quite an understated way. However, the whole thing felt a bit bland. The characters all feel like they’re trying too hard to remain strong and are a bit samey. There is no real warmth between mother and daughter and there wasn’t any shown before this saga. Unfortunately, this all left me a bit under invested.

The whole setting, a space training camp, felt real and authentic. It was nice to look at and had an intensity about its magnitude, if a little bland. In terms of the space parts, my big issue was the American astronaut who was meant to be a friend, but instead turned out to just be a bit of a jerk.

I’m not quite sure why I really struggled to connect with this film. I really liked the dreamy soundtrack, but the characters all just felt a bit closed and one dimensional. It was an okay, solidly made film which I neither loved or hated. Three stars and you can see it in the cinema.

The Kings of Summer (2013) also suffered similar problems. This low-budget comedy film focused on three boys who decide to run away into the woods one summer and build a house to escape from their over-bearing parents. I liked the style a lot, the music and the cinematography were better than I expected, so kudos for that.

The problems were that I didn’t find it too funny (Which is a shame because Nick Offerman was the best Parks & Rec character and Kevin is always a welcome cameo in Brooklyn Nine-nine). Maybe I was grumpy because of the hot weather, but it all felt lazy. Throw in the fact that I really didn’t like the lead character and felt no sympathy for him at all and suddenly, my enjoyment of the film was limited. It improved a bit as it went on, but the bit that should be the highlight of the film, them making the house, wasn’t that enjoyable.

As it was really well made, I’ll also give it three stars, however I will say that if you want a film about Moises Arias being stuck in a jungle with other young people, this is a much better option. If you want to give Kings of Summer a go, then it’s available on Prime.

This weekend is the Sundance London digital festival, which I was lucky enough to obtain a free pass for. This allowed me to see three previews. One is tonight, the last night one I skipped due to the weather, however I did see Friday night’s UK Premiere of Uncle Frank (2020).

While it’s not been released in the UK, I reckon it may find some audience when it is. It was a charming little story about Beth who has moved from her Southern American home to New York in the 1970’s where her Uncle, Frank is a professor. Soon she discovers that he’s gay and has a long-term partner, Wally. When Frank’s father dies, he and Betty must go back home on a road-trip as Uncle Frank confronts his identity problems.

You know what you’re getting into. The whole film is rather predictable with every cliche in the book. However, some great performances, with Paul Bettany in particular being fantastic,make this film a pleasant watch.

It comes out in USA in November, so probably won’t be out in the UK for a few months more, however when it is out, you can choose whether to watch a 3.5 star film.

I went across to Japan to revisit the cult Battle Royale (2000). The film, based on a book, sees a class of randomly selected students punished for national rebellion and put on an island, forced to fight to the death in a last man standing situation. Sound familiar? Well it should do, because Suzanne Collins basically ripped it off for the Hunger Games. However, the Battle Royale Film is superior in every way.

Tonally, Battle Royale is much darker. The weapons are much deadlier and the kids are a lot more brutal. It’s really well made, each of the 42 characters all feel unique and well thought out, which is incredible for a 100 minute movie. I’d forgotten quite how messed up this film was, but it had me back on the edge of the my seat. It’s uncompromising, unpredictable and down right mental.

It’s well worth a watch, even though you’ve seen Hunger Games. I’d rate it 4 stars and will say that it’s available now on BFI player or on about 80% of CEX International Film shelves.

Film Of The Week

I’ve been meaning to watch more Lee Chang Dong films, having been enthralled by Burning. This week, I finally managed to get around to Poetry (2010), a Korean film about an old lady with Alzheimer’s disease. She undertakes a poetry class in order to partially help her remember words and to achieve her dreams her younger self never achieved, thus the title.

She also has another big issue to deal with. A local girl has committed suicide and she finds out her grandson, whom she looks after, was part of a gang who raped her before her death. This gang’s parents all want to work out a financial settlement with the girl’s parents to avoid their kids going to jail. The grandmother explores the scenes of what happened and has to make the decision of whether to pay the settlement or whether to have her horrible grandson face the consequences for the action.

I thought this film was incredible. It kept up its themes of memory, independence and dreams throughout. It’s about trying to find beauty in dark places, even where there may be none. Some characters were cold and evil. The grandmother was pained as she had to deal with ageing and her new disease as well as her grandson. The scenes in poetry classes were calm and almost enchanting. The key reason this film worked as well as it did was the oscar-worthy performance from Yoon Jeong-Hee. She made this film her own and portrayed a deep emotional character with great under-stated dignity.

Poetry is available to purchase digitally from a good number of online stores and is worth it. It’s 4.5 stars in my book with one of the best leading performances around.

New Streaming Selects

This is the part where I give some shout-outs to great films which are newly on streaming services this week. First up is the Best Picture nominee The Imitation Game. I haven’t watched it in a few years, but remember Benedict Cumberbatch being fantastic as Alan Turing. It’s recently become available on Netflix again, so may be worth a watch.

Two films in my top 20 of 2019 list both became available on streaming services this week. We The Animals tells the story of a young gay Puerto Rican boy in America who has to live in a hyper-masculine environment with his two older brothers. He is much more gentle than these two and struggles with his identity. It can be quite dark at times with themes such as domestic abuse explored. However, the film is done from the child’s perspective, similarly to the Florida Project, so you don’t see it directly as much as you’re aware it happened. It’s really impressive and intimate. This stylistically unique film is on Amazon Prime Video. (Full Review)

The film which never got the recognition it deserved last year was The Peanut Butter Falcon. This was such a shame as it is one of the best feel good films around. Zack is a young man with down syndrome who escapes the nursing home where his family has left him to go to the Saltwater Redneck wrestling school as he wants to be a pro wrestler. He teams up with Shia LeBouf’s redneck character who lost his brother and is on the run from a gang to get there before the carer at Zak’s home (Dakota Johnson) finds them. It’s a goofy road trip film, but it has so much heart and warmth. Each actor takes the film seriously and the comedic moments are funny. You laugh with the characters, not at them and it’s so nice to see an actor with down syndrome in a big role (He even won an unnominatables award). A perfect family film, it’s available now on Netflix. Go and watch it. (Full Review)