DIGITAL DOWNLOADS & DVD RELEASES
THE KID DETECTIVE
Film Noir thrived in the forties and fifties especially in black and white movies, where its moody and hugely atmospheric lighting was a major part of its success. With the exception of Rian Johnson’s amazing directorial debut with BRICK back in 2005, in which he gave a modern twist to the genre set in a high school, there have been a few examples of film noir until now.
Writer/director Evan Morgan uses elements of the genre in his assured feature film debut and despite the misleading title, his sophisticated crime thriller is not suitable for children. Abe Applebaum (Jesse Noah Gruman) is a celebrated kid detective, still at school and able to solve every crime he is assigned to. He is incapable of failure until the case of a missing girl remains a mystery to the present day, still hauntings their small community. Now Abe (Adam Brody) is a dissatisfied 31-year-old man, who spends most of his time getting drunk with no memory of what has happened to him the previous day. One day a young woman called Caroline (Sophie Nelisse) visits his empty office and offers him a new case – to solve the mystery behind her boyfriend’s brutal murder…
A highly watchable film thanks to the striking presence of Adam Brody, who makes a suitably vulnerable hero – “the kid detective that never gave up”. Morgan’s firm direction is well balanced between light comedy and unpredictable thrills.
PATRICK
This highly original film from Belgium marks the remarkable feature film debut of Tim Mielants, an impressive television director with such credits as “Peaky Blinders” and “The Tunnel”. He sets the action of his compelling and perfectly constructed comedy on a naturist campsite and follows the story of Patrick (Kevin Jannsens) an affable 38-year-old man still living with his parents. When his father suddenly dies, Patrick finds himself in charge of the camp but he is more pre-occupied in finding his missing hammer rather than organising the campers and his search for his precious tool soon becomes a manic obsession…
Mielants’s perfectly framed compositions highlight Patrick’s solitary world in a friendly environment seemingly free from any inhibitions. Jannsens excels as the eponymous hero, a man of few words and content with his lack of ambition.
ASIA
Another confident debut this week comes from Israel by Ruthy Pribar, who tells the moving story of Russian immigrant Asia (Alena Yiv) now living in Jerusalem with her teenage daughter Vika (Shira Haas). Asia works as a nurse and puts great use to her skills when Vika gets seriously ill…
It is very admirable how Pribar manages to tell such a heart-breaking story without any sentimentality while her protagonists never fall into self-pity. A terrific portrait of a mother/daughter relationship boasting outstanding performances!
CONCRETE PLANS
An assured debut from writer/director Will Jewell, who sets the action of his atmospheric film on the Welsh mountains and follows the story of five builders hired to renovate an old farmhouse. They have a deadline but when they realise there is no cash for their hard work they decide to take matters into their own hands…
Jewell uses his single location to great effect and coaches energetic performances from his cast even though most of his characters are verging on the stereotypical. Thankfully there is Goran Bogdan as the sympathetic Russian, the most rounded and fully fleshed character of them all.
WAXWORKS
The great expressionist German director Paul Leni made this remarkable silent film anthology in 1924 before he hit big time in Hollywood with such classics as THE MAN WHO LAUGHS.
A young writer (William Dieterle) is hired by the owner of a wax museum to create back stories for his wax figures and his storytelling soon becomes reality – first with Caliph Harun al-Rashid (Emil Jannings), then Ivan the Terrible (Conrad Veidt) takes centre stage before the climactic sequence with Jack the Ripper (Werner Krauss).
The designs and lighting are out of this world and the performances simply magnificent from all these expressionist giants. (Blu-ray from Eureka)
YOU CANNOT KILL DAVID ARQUETTE
In the early nineties, David Arquette was one of the promising young talents in Hollywood along with Leonardo Di Caprio, Matthew McConaughey and Will Smith. However, after the success of the SCREAM franchise, his research for READSY TO RUMBLE in 2000 re-ignited his passion for wrestling and after that, he almost abandoned his budding career as well as marriage to Courtney Cox for a new life as a wrestler.
This enjoyable documentary is produced by his current wife and is inevitably sympathetic to his quest to be taken seriously in this dangerous sport. With fine contributions from his sisters Rosanna and Patricia and with priceless footage of Arquette in Mexico and in the ring. He is a natural choice if ever there is a sequel or remake of Mickey Rourke’s THE WRESTLER!
COLLECTIVE: This compelling documentary from Romanian Alexander Nanu follows a group of investigative journalists as they set out to expose government as well as hospital corruption. The devastating fire in a Bucharest club in 2015 cost the lives of many youngsters but the subsequent scandal that followed in the hospital was even worse. More than 75 patients with serious burn injuries died from neglect and infections in a shockingly badly run hospital. A terrific document of the power of investigative journalism!
CEMETERY: The Spanish artist Carlos Casas visits Sri Lanka for this soothing, experimental documentary which mixes the spiritual with the ritual to great effect. A dying elephant is led by his loving owner to a secret location, while a group of heartless poachers are in close proximity. Casas catches the mysterious beauty of this ethereal landscape in the most magnificent and mesmerising fashion. (MUBI)
VOODOO APOCALYPSE: A loving homage to the seventies and a rich cocktail of genres including westerns, cop shows, Mexican wrestling, zombies, black magic with a touch of Indiana Jones. Following a five year absence in Mexico, L.A detective Charlie Vargas returns to his job in order to track down a notorious drug trafficker with the help of White Chocolate, an inexperienced young officer … The acting is purposely OTT and the set pieces are as daft as they come but overall this is destined for cult status and ideal for late night shows, preferably stoned and drunk!
George Savvides
