"In the Heights" Review - From the Vaults

"In the Heights"

In Washington Heights, New York: an eclectic group of predominantly Latin American citizens dream of a better life; and a winning lottery ticket has been bought by the people... Against this backdrop, Usnavi (Anthony Ramos) tries to whoo the beautiful Vanessa (Melissa Barrera); Nina (Leslie Grace) is welcomed home from Stanford by the neighbourhood, her old friend Benny (Corey Hawkins) and her proud father Kevin (Jimmy Fucking Smits); and the looming spectre of gentrification threatens to envelop them all...

This movie is fucking spectacular.

There is no other word for it.

It is akin to an injection of pure euphoria into the eyeballs and brain, administered by masters of their craft.

Yes, the numbers are amazing without a dud in the bunch (personal favourites are "96000"; "Benny's Dispatch", "The Club" and "Paciencia y Fe") but so much praise has to go to John M Chu for making it electrifying to watch, stage and experience. He elevates this all above a clunky translation to the big screen and makes it feel like a true film, lets it breathe, lets it intoxicate you. Even the smaller, not as bombastic and more traditional romance number between Hawkins and Grace ("When the Sun Goes Down") is rendered gorgeous and mindbending with its choreography and creativity.

The underground sequence for "Paciencia y Fe" is going to be talked about for years to come. 

Even if you're not a musical fan, I can highly recommend it for the technical capabilities on display.

This man directed the masterpieces of "Step Up 2: The Streets" and "Step Up 3D" and it fucking shows.

This is contender for movie of the year.

"Another Round" Review - From the Vaults

 "Another Round"

Martin (Mads Mikkelsen) is a history teacher stuck in a rut. Despite eing a DILF, he's distant, cold, boring to his students and family; and unhappy in his life. Fellow P.E teacher with a heart of gold Tommy (Thomas Bo Larsen); single quiet music teacher Peter (Lars Ranthe) and Psychology teacher with a marriage on the rocks Nikolaj (Magnus Millang) come up with an experiment: keep their blood alcohol at 0.05%, in a boost to their creativity and happiness. What have they got to lose?

It's excellent.

A funny, humanising, excellent examination and celebration of life, characters and the ups and downs along the way. It's tight, fun, dark in parts, just an all-too-human film about drinking with a rather (if you'll pardon the pun) dry sense of humour. Mikkelsen is amazing, but performances are unanimously good (especially Thomas Bo Larsen) across the board.

It's astutely observed, and despite its bittersweet nature something of a celebration of life and its turning points. It even has the gall to end on an excellent dance number.

It's criminal that this is not showing in more places.

"Bull" Review - From the Vaults

 "Bull"

Bull (Neil Maskell) returns to town, searching for a man named Norm (David Hayman). He's got an axe to grind, and as he makes his way up the chain of Norm's associates, flashbacks reveal why he is after him; and we the audience get the sense that there is something very, very wrong here...

I don't want to give away too much, because I adore this movie and I have a feeling that it will make not just "The Sweeties" but my personal Top 5 of the year.

The opening credits are simply 3 men walking away from a freshly turned-over and buried... something, on the moors. And when the last one disappears over the hill, the credits stop and the film starts. Genuinely a brilliant way to start, especially with what's coming.

Maskell is genuinely unsettling, breathing life into the "Cockney Hard Man" character with a mixture of genuine pathos and warmth in his flashbacks, and a startlingly bleak and unsettling depiction of violence which really translates to the whole movie. Gangsters aren't men in suits giving wordy Guy Ritchie speeches: they wear high-vis jackets, take their kids to school and are old, out of shape, unsettling and unpleasant people. As to be expected from the director and writer of "London to Brighton" (that's also excellent by the way): this is a gritty, gnarly, unpleasant film with a good eye for detail and the bottom rungs of society. 

Much like "Green Room" and "Dead Man's Shoes", the violence here just happens, it's there and it's stark and the most horrifying parts are done off screen and characterised and contextualised through this oppressive atmosphere of pure fucking evil in the film. Evil is banal, petty, and gruellingly unpleasant.

This movie is a white-knuckle grimace through the heart of darkness, unpleasantness and the best of British crime cinema. Maskell is incredible and David Hayman turns in a blood-curdling quiet and unsettling performance as Norm. 

The twist is brilliant, in my opinion, but will turn off some; the violence and general grimness will certainly be a turn-off to many, but this is a bold and refreshing take on violence and the revenge genre.

The closest comparisons (and unavoidable) are "Dead Man's Shoes", "Kill List" and "Green Room"; as well as one other film I won't say for fear of spoilers.

Put it this way: I understand why the "The Suicide Squad" was a 15. It's all down to tone.

"Bull" is awesome and I want more people to see it.