FILM REVIEW:
BRITAIN AND THE BLITZ (UK 2024) ****
Directed by Ella Wright
The Battle of Britain and The Blitz were distinct but connected events in World War II. The Battle of Britain was a series of aerial engagements between the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the Luftwaffe (German Air Force) in the summer and autumn of 1940. The Blitz, which followed, was a sustained campaign of night bombing raids on British cities by the Luftwaffe from September 1940 to May 1941.
Following the failure of the Battle of Britain, the Luftwaffe shifted its focus to bombing British cities, aiming to demoralize the population and cripple the war effort. The Blitz involved relentless night bombing raids on London and other major cities across Britain. The Blitz resulted in significant civilian casualties and widespread destruction, but the British people demonstrated remarkable resilience and determination. While the Blitz inflicted significant damage and casualties, it ultimately did not break the spirit of the British people, and the Luftwaffe eventually withdrew from the campaign.
BRITAIN AND THE BLITZ tells the story of the Blitz - during the 8 months when Nazi Germany bombed London but mostly concentrated on how the people responded. The documentary, assembled from archival footage, colourized and some joined together for dramatic effect, is as expected, moving, emotional, gut-wrenching, nostalgic, but mostly shows the resilience of the human spirit over adversity.
The doc also contains a strong female slant with a segment told from a female’s point of view, a teen called Edith Heap, barely twenty, who was involved with the planning during the Blitz. The doc is also directed by a female, a change from war films directed by males.
The most moving moments involve the children. Many were separated from their parents and evacuated by trains to Northern towns and cities for safety. They were told to be bold and not to cry or to give their parents a last hug. The film focuses on a 5-year-old boy called Eric Brady. He had to look after his big sister, Kitty, but he was more comforted by knowing that she was looking after him. The camera shots of the faces of young children as they are separated from their parents are nothing short of emotionally wrenching and guaranteed to bring out tears. The recent film BLITZ, a 2024 historical war drama film written, produced and directed by Steve McQueen, covered identical material, though fiction of a boy who jumped the train to go back in search of his parents in London. Another memorable film, told from the point of view of the RAF, called THE BATTLE OF BRITAIN directed by Guy Hamilton is set in 1940, a film that follows the British Royal Air Force in its fight of a desperate battle to prevent the Luftwaffe from gaining air superiority over the English Channel as a prelude to a possible Axis invasion of the U.K.
What makes this doc is the British insights. The children were to be looked after by the Welsh, but when the children came, they were London kids and fought with the local kids. It was another war. Also, the Welsh were not welcoming to the Londoners when the coal miners were on strike at the time.
BRITAIN AND THE BLITZ opens for streaming on Netflix this week.
Trailer:
CAUGHT BY THE TIDES (China 2024) ***½
Directed by Jia Zhangke
CAUGHT BY THE TIDES, directed by Jia Zhangke, and written by Wan Jianhuan and Zhangke, is an ambitious and stunning-looking film based on footage across 22 years, some from director Jia's previous films, in an impressionistic non-linear blend of fiction and non-fiction.
In 2001, in the northern Chinese city of Datong, a working-class woman named Qiao Qiao has a romantic relationship with her manager Guao Bin as she hustles to make a living as a singer, model, and club girl. Guao Bin leaves Datong to try earning his living in another province, sending Qiao Qiao a text message that says he will bring her when he has money. After a stretch, Qiao Qiao decides to go looking for him, passing through communities which are being displaced by the Three Gorges Dam, as well as Guangdong Province. Meanwhile, Bin tries his hand at a number of businesses, including entering a shady business deal with a corrupt politician. W h shady business is typical of what goes on behind the government’s back and authorities in China. There is also a gay segment. When Qiao Qiao finally finds Bin, she breaks up with him. They eventually re-unite in COVID-era China, after both have notably aged.
The film that stretches through decades depicts the different eras of time in detail and with insight. The audience gets to look at the timeless Three Gorges Dam at the time when the water are rising and the inhabitants of the affected cities had to evacuate. The segment is personalized with Qiao Qiao travelling by boat on he water searching for Bin. The audience also sees her close up and personal doing dances of different sorts - dancing playfully and set in a night club or performing in public, as when China won the bid for the Olympics hen the country was celebrating its victory in winning the bid.
The blending of the past of Jia’s previous films and current footage results in a non-linear blend of fiction and non-fiction genres, giving the film an epic feel of a difficult romance, one that takes its participants on a long journey of learning and experience.
Jia’s film provides lots of insight regarding the Chinese general population. It shows what the Chinese and China are like - the patriotism and the hardships they face. This should be a lesson tomTrump and his idiotic cronies to look who they’d taking on when they decide to taken China, The Chinese know suffering and survival and one should think twice before fucking with China.
The film is quite a serious affair, especially with the doomed romance at stake. Director Jia lifts the film’s spirits at points with a few catchy songs.
What is so amazing is that CAUGHT BY THE TIDES is assembled from 22 years of footage, including many of Jia's previous characters and locations. As a result, the actors naturally age, including the lead character, Qiao Qiao, who is played by Jia's real-life wife, actress Zhao Tao
The film was selected to compete for the Palme d'Or at the 77th Cannes Film Festival, where it had its world premiere on 18 May 2024. CAUGHT BY THE TIDES, which was also screened at TIFF last year, finally opens in theatres in Canada on May 9th.\
CLOWN IN A CORNFIELD (USA 2024) ***
Directed by Eli Craig
Horror films have featured scary clowns (CLOWN, CLOWNS 2) and cornfields (CHILDREN OF THE CORN) and this new horror slasher comedy combines clowns (there are more than one) in a cornfield, though the reason the clowns are so dressed is not convincing.
The film is based on Clown in a Cornfield, is a 2020 horror novel by American author Adam Cesare and marks his first novel in the young adult genre. The film centres upon Quinn Maybrook (Katie Douglas), a teenage girl who is a senior in high school and who has recently moved to the small factory town of Kettle Springs, Missouri, from Philadelphia after the tragic death of her mother, Samantha. Her father, Glenn (Aaron Abrams), has been hired as the new town physician in the hopes that this will allow the two of them to heal. But Quinn is not looking forward to moving. Kettle Springs has suffered financially since the closing of the Baypen Corn Syrup Factory and its subsequent burning due to arson by a local boy named Cole Hill (Carson MacCormac). As a result, the town is at odds with itself and strict lines are drawn between the largely conservative adults and the teens, who are more interested in having fun and getting views on their YouTube channel. The clown? The clown is Frendo, the Baypen mascot, a creepy clown who goes homicidal and decides that the only way for Kettle Springs to grow back is to cull the rotten crop of kids who live there now." “Never fuck with Frendo!” this is th advice given to the kids when they are put in a holding cell in one scene with a crazy.
The film is shot largely in Manitoba, though the setting is American. The main actors, Douglas and Abrams, are also Canadian, as is the more well-known Kevin Durand, once again playing a crazy the craziest way crazy can be.
The small-town atmosphere is well created. The local folk are apprehensive of the new residents. The townsfolk celebrate Founder’s Day, in which a marching band plays American favourite band anthems like The Washington Post.
Director Eli Craig is also Canadian and hails from the province of Alberta. Craig is not a stranger to comedy horror with his film, the 2010 horror comedy TUCER AND DALE VS EVIL, winning the Best Feature Film Prize at the Alberta Film and Television Awards. Craid also proves his mettle at comedy. There are quite a few laugh-out-loud laughs amid the horror. The film also contains jump scares, a tactic this critic largely dislikes, but the ones done here are well thought off, with a series of jump scares, one after the other, all false alarms in one horror set-up sequence, but he last one ending up for real.
CLOWN IN A CORNFIELD opens in theatres on May 9th. A low-budget well made comedy horror that will leave audiences both laughing and scared with a few gory, violent scenes at the same time - a scary mix as well as the SCREAM franchise.
Trailer:
A DEADLY AMERICAN MARRIAGE (UK 2025) ***½
Directed by Jenny Popplewell and Jessica Burgess
The true crime drama is the story of Jason Corbett. Jason Corbett was an Irish man who was killed at his home in North Carolina in 2015. Investigations later revealed that his death was the result of a physical assault by his wife and his father-in-law. The circumstances of Corbett's death were the subject of widespread media coverage in Ireland. His wife and father-in-law were found guilty of second-degree murder in 2017, however, their convictions were later reversed and after accepting a plea bargain to reduced charges, they were both released from prison in 2024.
The film begins in 2023, when the audience sees Jack and Sarah in separate cars. Flashback to 8 years earlier in 2015, when the two were children after their father, Jason, was killed. The audience hears the 911 call that Jason had been killed.
The doc plays like a solid whodunit with lots of twists and turns. Though the title, A DEADLY AMERICAN MARRIAGE, implies that the husband/father could have been murdered, directors Jenny Popplewell and Jessica Burgess always keep ahead of their audience and keep them guessing as to what is going to happen next. This makes A DEADLY AMERICAN MARRIAGE one of the better true crime series that Netflix regularly puts out.
There is also a lot at stake, like Jason’s will, the custody of the two children and the fact that Jason is originally from Limerick, Ireland and has family there, family that are concerned for the kids Jack and Sarah. The question any bay is heather jason was killed, an abusive person put of self defence or was it ordered? The investigating detective is one smart cookie and the cops are smart enough to tell if something is amiss. All this makes a good true crime drama.
A DEADLY AMERICAN MARRIAGE opens for streaming on Netflix this week.
Trailer:
JIMMY IN SAIGON (USA 2023) ***
Directed by Peter McDowell
JIMMY IN SAIGON is a documentary about Jimmy in Saigon. The doc is directed by Jimmy’s youngest brother Peter.
Jimmy in Saigon begins as a personal exploration into the mysterious death and radical life of Jimmy McDowell, a 24-year-old American Vietnam veteran who died as a civilian in Saigon in the 1970s. Director Peter McDowell was only five when his brother died, and in his quest to get to know him, he uncovers a hidden romance, new family ties and secrets surrounding Jimmy’s drug use and sexuality - a story that takes viewers to Vietnam, France and across the United States.
Jimmy dies in the doc and in the story at the one-third or 30-minute mark in the film. Jimmy had returned to Vietnam as a civilian and died in the Vietnamese hospital, with news reaching Jimmy’s family, father and brother by telegram. Vietnam is 13 hours ahead of the United States at the time of the news.
The documentary introduces the audience to Jimmy’s family. The film begins with his mother at Jimmy’s grave and speaks of how difficult it is to lose one’s son, particularly one’s firstborn, as in Jimmy's case. Jimmy’s two sisters and two brothers, including his youngest, Peter, the director of this documentary, are all included in the documentary.
The film takes what seems to be a detour with a gay slant, beginning with the information on voiceover that Jimmy had a girlfriend. Then director Peter goes on about being gay and being awkward at a time when being gay was not accepted. Peter came out to his mother, whose immediate response was that it was a phase and he should go for therapy. Peter’s reply was for her to go instead. Which, humorously enough, she did, His father was more accepting of having gay people at his workplace. Though this has little to do with Jimmy in Saigon, the distraction is, for all it is worth, an interesting distraction. But as the doc progresses, there are strong hints that Jimmy could very well be gay, which is intriguing to Peter.
The rationale for making the doc and digging up Jimmy’s life is debated between Peter and their mother. It is known that Jimmy did a lot of drugs, especially in his stint as a soldier in Vietnam and his mother thinks best not to know, as opposed to Peter.
The search for information about Jimmy takes Peter on several international trips to Paris, France, to meet a journalist who is Jimmy’s acquaintance in Vietnam and then to Saigon itself.
The search for the truth in the doc and the inclusion of Jimmy’s family make the doc more interesting than many biopics of the life of any person, or even a celebrity. The truth is revealed at the end of the doc.
JIMMY IN SAIGON opens in theatres in NY on April 25th at Cinema Village and in LA on May 8th at Laemmle NoHo followed by a premier VOD release on May 13th.
Trailer:
SHADOW FORCE (USA 2025) ***
Directed by Joe Carnahan
Action flicks have flooded the movie theatres and streaming services lately. Opening recently are films like THE ACCOUNTANT 2, A WORKING MAN, HAVOC and variations like BANGER, DROP and SINNERS. And opening a week before SHADOW FORCE is THUNDERBOLTS., Most of them are not bad, so the competition is as fierce as the action in these films, each one aiming at being different from the other. SHADOW FORCE is an action flick that stresses the importance of family and has the young son of the operative parents tagging along most of the way. The point is stressed in a voice-over heard at the start of the film, which states that more important than survival is family. The family in this case is the husband and wife, and son.
Kyrah (Kerry Washington) and Isaac (Omar Sy) were once the leaders of a multinational special forces group called Shadow Force, but broke the rules by falling in love, and they go underground to protect their son, Ky (Jahleel Kamara) with the rest of the Shadow Force hot on their trail.
The film boasts a heavy lineup. Kerry Washington is an Emmy winner, recently seen in the lead dramatic role in Tyler Perry’s THE SIX TRIPLE EIGHT. Omar Sy is the French version of Idris Elba. Sy won the Cesar (the French equivalent of the Oscar) for INTOUCHABLES. Sy’s character speaks French quite so often in the film. Mark Strong does an excellent villain, Jack Cinder, one who has had a personal previous affair with Kyrah and who now makes his mission personal. The last heavyweight is Best Supporting Actress Academy Award Winner for THE HOLDOVERS, Da'Vine Joy Randolph, playing Auntie.
Never mind the outrageous plot. The audience is supposed to believe the G20 guys have assembled a clandestine action force that will kill and destroy obstacles in their way. The most important things in action flicks are the action set pieces and often tongue-in-cheek humour, both of which the film exceeds successfully.
SHADOW FORCE opens in theatres May 9th, one week after THUNDEBOLTS to avoid too much competition.
Trailer:
SHARP CORNER (Canada/Ireland 2024) ***
Directed by Jason Buxton
A dedicated family man, Josh McCall (Ben Foster) becomes obsessed with saving the lives of the car accident victims on the sharp corner in front of his house - an obsession that could cost him everything. The question is whether there is any redemption.
American Ben Foster inhabits the title role of the father, Josh, slowly sinking into a psychological madness in which his family and personally both fall apart. Foster, who has shown his acting chops in hits like HELL OR HIGH WATER, BIRDS OF AMERICA and 3:10 TO YUMA, carries the film well on his shoulders. Without resorting to cheap theatrics and overacting, his sullen and controlled performance makes the movie.
Josh is in total misery with the obsession of the sharp corner at his new house, causing the car accidents, the last of which was a fiery explosion resulting in the driver being burned to death as Josh is driving his son home. Josh takes CPR course, bringing the dummies home to practice, for no reason, exhibiting some form of insanity, and then loses focus at work, leading eventually to the termination of his job. The way director Buxton creates the atmosphere is one of distance. The audience does not feel sorry for Josh in his demise, but somehow feels that he deserves it. It is likely from his matter-of-fact behaviour of not listening to others, whether it be Rachel or his boss, or his psychiatrist. The character of Josh appears to be a sort of loser who cannot make up his mind, and when he does, he ends up not doing the right thing. More sympathy is felt for his wife, Rachel.
The film is basically a neat examination of psychology. Josh’s wife, Rachel (Cobie Smulders) also has a new job counselling couples, a job that she describes as challenging. She says that it is a way in which barriers are sometimes broken down. Her observation is reflected by the fact that in the film, her relationship with her husband is slowly escalating to confrontation for a number of reasons, moving into the new house notwithstanding. They start to argue about almost everything, from the possibility of getting a new car to home improvement.
The setting of the film, near a town or city, is not made clear in the film. The setting could also be American or Canadian. But at one point in the film, Josh sees a psychiatrist who says that’s daughter, who is now 20, has moved to study in Montreal, indicating a possible Canadian setting. The film is actually an Irish and Canadian co-production made with both countries’ funds.
SHARP CORNER, a Canadian film from Nova Scotia, has won a few prizes, including Best Picture at the Atlantic Film Festival and has been nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay, visual effects, and Editing for the Canadian Screen Awards. A solid family, well-made Canadian psychological drama that is definitely worth a look. SHARP CORNER opens in theatres Friday, May 9th.
