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Ill Manors (2012)
Incredible Debut!
Considering that a year ago I had never listened to a Ben Drew (Plan B) track, dismissing him out of hand as yet another rap/hiphop wannabe, and today regarding him as a genuine multi-talented prodigy is an honest tribute to his unbelievably versatile creativity.
Due in part to the perfect format of a rap narration, in part to the fact that this is a man with his finger FIRMLY on the pulse of a disaffected sector of society and in part to the unforgiving art and poetry of the writing, direction and art direction, I feel that this is a modern masterpiece.
Consider again that this is a directorial debut and was achieved on a budget of merely £100,000, it's almost genius.
John Cooper Clarke, rather surprisingly for me, adds the perfect complementary poetic touch; I had forgotten quite how uncompromising and bleak his words can be.
Reminiscent of Clockwork Orange in its brutal beauty,the story is realistic to the immorality and just plain incomprehension of the consequences within an "underclass" subculture, yet the characters are so finely drawn and portrayed that you feel not only sympathy, but you feel a part of their hopelessness and helplessness.
There was one scene I couldn't watch (no spoilers); watching with my 19 y o daughter, she remarked that it was the first time in a long time that a film had affected her emotionally. She is braver than me for doing so...as it is impossible to un-see anything, so I could not bring myself to watch.
Absolutely beautiful, sad, horrifying and harrowing. Ben Drew, I take my hat off to you and can't wait for the next thing to come out of your remarkable mind.
Grave Encounters (2011)
Scariest thing I've ever seen.
Films don't scare me. I've seen em all. Found footage, Japanese disturbia, schlock horror, et al et al.
I can quite honestly say that this scared the c**p out of me and my daughter. It has almost a stop-motion feel, many scenes were reminiscent of the Metz Judderman advert (which is probably the best ad ever :P).
I jumped, I screamed, I hid my eyes. Nothing more I can add really, as that to me is the epitome of good horror, well done.
No real unique story (psychiatric hospital) no unique ideas (ghosthunters, blair witch) but a totally unique take on being petrified. Kudos. Seriously.
Watch it (with the lights out) before you believe any of the negative reviews. It's a horror great in my book.
Anuvahood (2011)
Seriously Funny
I'm a hard one to make laugh. The Hangover...meh. Shaun of the Dead...OK. Admittedly there are better crafted films, cleverer, snappier, whatever. I don't really like comedy that tries to be too intelligent. What I love is silly, leave your brain at the door, and just make me forget all my workday stress. I like to LMAO. And this doesn't disappoint, AT ALL.
I had read reviews...all of them suggested I shouldn't bother watching this. But being the perverse creature I am, and almost in a way WANTING to put it down (I'm a huge fan of the Noel Clarke hoods)I announced last night (to groans) that this was the evening's viewing. I'm so glad I did.
Being a 40-something (yeah, that'll surprise your "not for the over-30s" crew) middle class parent of teenagers, I'm already well used to the street slang, and in this film, every single tiny nuance of the culture and language is used to send itself up - brilliantly. Not much of a story, not much of a plot - it doesn't matter. Listen to your own kids speaking to their friends; look at their text talk. It's all here and ridiculed...but in a loving way.
Well done Adam Deacon; this was a great debut. It ranks up there with 4 Lions for me. And the next time I have an absolute b****** of a day at work, I might just watch it again ;)
The African Traffic Warden is one of the funniest things I have seen in forever. Kudos.