True Detective 3.3 Review: The Big Never

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After being informed that the Purcell's have received a note stating that Julie is still alive Hays and West re-examine their investigation to see if they can uncover something they have missed. Mainly, why did Will and Jamie tell their father that they were going to meet the Frankie Boyle when, after interviewing him, he informs them that he had never made concrete plans or met up with the Purcell's outside of school. What were the Purcell children doing and who were they meeting? They return to the Purcell's to look through the children's possessions again they find a map, along with some handwritten notes with messages: 'It's alright', 'I'm always here', 'Don't listen', 'I'll always keep you safe'. The messages were in a sketchbook found in a Hoyt Foods bag, where Lucy Purcell previously worked two years ago on the chicken line. Coincidentally, Hoyt Foods also runs the Ozark Children's Outreach Centre, which has put a reward out for Julie's safe return to her family, causing a lot of false tips for the case (although, it turns out, the companies board cleared it with the count prosecutors office).

Later during another search party West finds dice to a game they believe Will was playing, and a bag of toys, as well as the site of Will's murder before his body was moved. The site is near a farmhouse the original search missed as the farm road wasn't on any maps. The owner tells them that he already spoke with the police, and that in addition to seeing Will and Julie multiple times, he also mentions a black man and a female driving around in a brown sedan. Be refuses to let them search the property without a warrant. West and Hays take the toys back to the Purcell's to identify, but neither recognise them despite having their children's prints on them, in addition to a set which they couldn't get a match for. West spots a family photo album that he hadn't seen before, as Tom had only taken it out since the children had been missing. Inside is a photo of Will's first communion, him posed with his hands in prayer the exact same way his deceased body was posed.

In 1990 the deposition continues, but now it is West recounting the events above in 1980. Hays and Amelia visit the Walgreen in which Julie's fingerprints were found. Hays expresses how tired he is with the case being in their lives, but Amelia suggests that she uses her book as an excuse to find out more information about Julie from the police. Hays goes to Walmart to shop with the kids while she does this, and Rebecca goes missing, causing him to panic. Amelia returns home giddy with success but Hays is angry as he doesn't want it in their lives any longer.

West visits Tom Purcell to ask how him how he feels about the case being re-opended and the discovery of Julie's prints, and we learn that Lucy has passed, perhaps a suicide, and that Tom is five years sober. Tom then asks West to pray with him. He alter leaves a message with Hays and work, whom he hasn't seen in nine years, telling him he wants to meet. They meet at a bar and he asks Hays to become a detective again under him, as he is in charge of re-opning the Purcell case.

In 2015 Hays and his son Henry visit the Doctor about his memory loss and it is all but confirmed that he has Alzheimer's, but he tells Henry he will kill himself if he is put into a home. He continues his interviews with Elisa and she throws him off guard with testimonies of witnesses who claim they were never questioned by police during the initial investigation. Some of these witnesses also claim to have seen the brown sedan the farmer mentioned driving around Devil's Den they day the Purcell's went missing, as well as the black man. Later in his study as he is trying to record things to remember Hays has visions of Amelia who implies he is worried about them finding something he left in the woods, and she tells him to finish it.

Rating: 3.3/5

True Detective Season 3.2 Review: Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye

Having found Will's body and fearing the worst about Julie, Hayes and West start following every lead possible. They talk to everyone who works with Tom Purcell at Wilson's Bodyworks where they make parts for schoolhouses, they talk with the Purcell's extended family, where they find out that Tom's mother thinks Julie might not be his child. Most notably they talk to Dan O'Brien, Lucy's brother who presumably drilled that peep hole in Will's closet. But all of these leads turn up nothing.

It's only when Hayes invests the help of his future-wife Amelia after an emergency town meeting that they get a lead. Armed with a picture of the mademade dolls that were left near the site of Will's body, a young friend of Julie's reveals to Amelia and later Hayes and West that he believes Julie was given one of the dolls on Halloween.

After a convincing Star Wars lightsaber impersonation from Hayes, he and West take it to their superiors, specifically Greg Larson, who Hayes believes foolishly squanders their only lead by reporting it on the news, which interrupts his unofficial date with Amelia.

Following a lead from a Vice Cop, Hayes and West track down a man with a prior conviction in regards to who is going by an alias, but while he's violating his parole, he has a credible alibi.\

The pair get called back to the Purcell home where a note has been delivered:

Much like the detectives throughout its second episode, True Detective leaves its audience frustrated and almost bored as Hayes and West trudge through a series of unfulfilling leads in Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye.

Rating: 2.5/5

True Detective 3.1 Review: The Great War And Modern Memory

True Detective's third season premiere sees Vietnam war veterans-turned detectives Wayne Hayes (Ali Mahershala) and Roland West (Stephen Dorff) investigating the disappearance of two children, Will and Julie Purcell, in West Finger, Arkansas, 1980.

Ten years later, in 1990, Hayes is being interviewed during a deposition by his superiors about the case - but he is unaware why, then in 2015 he is being interviewed in his own home by a reporter, with his son Henry (Ray Fisher) by his side, again in relation to the Purcell case.

It's a lot to take in in the first couple of minutes of the premiere and it's obvious True Detective once again isn't too concerned about unneccassrially confusing audiences by jumping back and forth through this timelines. Mahershala, however, navigates Hayes through his years skilfully.

Thankfully, this episode spends most of it's time at the very beginning of the Purcell case with Hayes and West (and the audience my extension) methodically trying to figure out what could have happened to the Purcell children and who the suspects are. Naturally, their almost-separetd parents Tom (Scoot McNairy) and Lucy (Mamie Gummer) come under suspicion, and their bereavement and blaming of one another almost comes under risk of being cliche (plus the unfortunate Hayes re-telling of the situation in future timelines confirms that Tom is not involved). Lucy's brother Dan, however, is revealed as having stayed with them recently, and also seems the likely culprit of owning the Playgirl magazines hidden under Will's bed and having drilled a peep hole in his closest into Julie's room.

Other suspects include a group of older students from West Finger High School, Freddy Burns (Rhys Wakefield, who will always have a great appearance for a villainous character), Brett Woodard (Michael Greyeyes), and Alan Jones (Jon Tenney) who are seen menacingly staring down Tom and Julie as they ride their bikes past Freddy's purple Volkswagen beetle, and again later riding their bikes at the town's local hangout, Devil's Den (and once again Hayes' retelling narrative makes the scenes without him being featured very annoying, as he could not have possibly know what was happening making him an unreliable narrator).

Hayes and West visit the school to ask about Will and Julie and question the boys, and meet Amelia Reardon (Carmen Ejogo) a schoolteacher who we learn is married to Hayes and writing a non-fiction book, Life and Death and The Harvest Moon, about the case by 1990, and who has passed by 2015.

As the first day of the investigation comes to a close in 1980 Hayes discovers one of the children's bikes near Devil's Den and follows a trial that leads him to a handmade bride doll of straw and hay on a tree stump, he finds another on higher rockier ground and there in a crevice he finds Will's deceased body, hands posed in prayer, presumably killed by head trauma.

Hayes is shook and is desperate to continue looking for Julie, but in 1990 he learns that the reason he is being questioned by his superiors is that Julie's fingerprints have been linked to a robbery meaning that she is alive.

Despite a disorientating first couple of minutes, and the continuing difficulty the multiple timelines often forces True Detective to have, The Great War And Modern Memory was an entertaining start to the season.

Solo: A Star Wars Story Film Review

Based approximately ten years before the events of Star Wars: A New Hope (1977) a young Han Solo (Alden Ehrenreich) and his girlfriend, Qi'ra (Emilia Clarke) attempt to escape the shipbuilding planet of Corellia where they live as orphans and are forced too steal for criminals in exchange for protection. Qi'ra is caught as they're fleeing planet, and in order to prevent his own capture Han enlists in the Impeiral Navy as a flight cadet, vowing to return to Corellia to rescue Qi'ra. Three years later while fighting for the Empire on the planet Mimban, Han meets a group of criminals who are undercover as Imperial soldiers and planning to steal an Imperial ship to use for their next job - stealing a shipment of coaxium (hyper fuel) on the planet Vandor. He convinces them to take him and his newfound friend, Chewbacca, as an extra pair of hands on the mission in an attempt to get enough credits to return home to Corellia to rescue Qi'ra.

From there the film is a fast-paced, action-adventure full of fan service moments chase sequences and moments long-time Star Wars fans will enjoy like Han first meeting Chewbecca and Lando Calrrissian.

Solo boasts an impressive cast, playing a variety of entertaining characters. Emilia Clarke is a capable as ever as Qi'ra, despite some questionable characters motivations, as is Woody Harrelson as Tobias Beckett, the leader of group of criminals Han encounters. He is joined by Val (Thandie Newton) and alien Rio Durant (voiced by Jon Favreau), who both end up being underused. Donald Glover is perfect as Lando Calrissian, but his co-pilot L3-37 (voiced by Phoebe Waller-Bridge) steals the spotlight as an outspoken female droid. Paul Bettany plays the most lively and charismatic villain the Star Wars franchise has seen in crime lord Dryden Vos. And for all the concern about Alden Ehrenreich's portrayal of Han Solo, he does well, adding a nice touch of naivety to the young, wise-cracking smuggler.

The film looks spectacular, with a number of new planets and ships for Star Wars fans to admire, particularly in the action sequences. Dryden Vos' yacht floating through the clouds is one such example. And the score is as good as always, with composer John Powell incorporating a lot of John Williams' pieces from previous Star Wars films.

The film only starts to falter when, as hardcore Star Wars fans will do, you begin to think about it too much. It's odd that ultimately a film marketed as the origin story of Han Solo isn't really that at all. Had the entire film revolved around his time and escape from Corellia it would have been, but as it is Han is still very much an enigma. He is a character clearly desperate for an outlaw image, but none of his actions in the film will generate questions of his morality from the audience - he is the hero no matter what he, or the film, wants us to think. This is in spite on him joining the Empire as an Imperial trooper (something I personally find very uncharacteristic), and his actions towards Beckett at the end of the film.

Similarly, a masked gang of pirates called the Cloud Riders skirt around the edge of the film as obvious foes to the protagonists, yet a third act twist sees their previous actions forgotten as they reveal themselves as trying to spark the rebellion against the Empire. The most painful of these character motivation problems lies with Qi'ra, easily the films worst female character. By the end of the film you still have no idea where her allegiances lie, with her childhood sweetheart Han or the criminal syndicate in which she works - Crimson Dawn. It's easy to say her allegiance is to herself, but then give her a reason to act this way. Unfortunately her time between attempting to escape with Han and coming to work for Vos is left unexplored, leaving audiences unenlightened.

Rating: 3.5/5

Avengers Infinity War Film Review

Aboard The Grandmaster's spaceship Thanos and his henchman, The Children of Thanos, have slaughtered the remaining Asgardians fleeing from a destroyed Asgard. He has traced Loki there, who is in possession of the Tesseract which contains the Space Stone, one of six stones Thanos needs to wield the Infinity Gauntlet. Thanos kills Loki after imprisoning Thor and defeating the Hulk, but a dying Heimdall manages to open the Bifrost one last time to send The Hulk back to Earth. He lands at the Sanctum Sanctorum in New York City where he warns Doctor Strange and Wong about Thanos' impending arrival. Back in space Thanos destroys the ship using the Power Stone hurtling Thor through space, but he is saved by the Guardians of the Galaxy who received a distress call from the ship. Knowing that Thanos already has two of the stones the separate groups go about trying to stop the increasingly powerful villain from obtaining the others in order to disintegrate half the universe.

With such a large amount of characters to deal with there was always going to be some that featured less prominently than others, but for the most part the film balances them well. The film partciulary excels at grouping them into several sub-plots as to allow specific characters to bounce off each other.

Robert Downey Jr. is as solid as ever as the playboy genius Iron Man, and is paired well with the very similar Benedict Cumberbatch's Doctor Strange. They are joined by the enthusiastic yet naive Peter Parker. Tom Holland can do no wrong, and is particularly strong in one of the films closing scenes; his character a perfect balance to the hardened thespians of the franchise.

I found Chris Hemsworth's Thor to have become uncharacteristically funnier, in the same manner of those aforementioned, in his previous film Thor: Ragnorak and was concerned that trend would continue here. The beginning of the film sees Thor suffer a terrible loss and which could have easily seen him transformed into a dour character to deal with, which is again perfectly rectified by having him joined by The Guardians of the Galaxy, particularly Rocket and Groot, to counteract this with their funny banter. Their humour doesn't always fit in with the rest of the Avengers, though, with both Drax and Mantis finding little to do.

Gamora, on the other hand, is extremely instrumental to the film, with Thanos's daughter providing some much needed pathos to the villains motivations. He's surprisingly likeable as a villain because of this, although ultimately he's world destruction agenda still falls flat despite an attempt to character a relatable backstory for the troubled family.

Back on Earth, Paul Bettany and Elisabeth Olsen's Vision and Scarlet Witch are the most focused on characters, due to Mind Stone being his life source. Their relationship has never felt understandable to me, so it's a hard sell here, but it's hard to care too much when longtime fans can't help but get excited when the Avengers and constantly reuniting with long separated friends (I'm looking at you, Steve Rogers with that impressive beard), or even meeting each other for the first time.

The only real problem the film has, as it has been for majority of Marvel's phase two films, is that believable and the motivation behind a lot of the characters actions. The franchise has been running for ten years, so fans gain a greater sense of what they think characters will do, and when they don't it becomes difficult to believe. Loki, God of Mischief has escaped death numerous times, so his demise here - trying to foolishly stab Thanos - is annoying (as is the fact that if he hadn't stolen the Tesseract from a collapsing Asgard none of this would have happened). Despite knowing where the Soul Stone is and asking Quinn to kill her so Thanos can't get it, Gamora not only tells Thanos where is it after her sister Nebula is tortured, but she foolishly doesn't realise Thanos's plan to kill her to get the stone until too late. The moment The Children of Thanos come to Earth to retrieve the Mind Stone from Vision he knows the solution is to kill himself for the greater good, yet Scarlet Witch only agrees to this until it's too late. The most ridiculous of all is Stephen Strange giving Thanos the Time Stone in exchange for Tony Stark's life, a man who he's just met and openly expresses that he doesn't like, the only understandable explanation being that when he calculated the future possibilities the only one in which they win featured Tony playing a significant role, which is why he would save him. One understands that quickly addressing these dilemmas significantly shortens and changes the story, but that doesn't make them any less frustrating.

The movie is fast-paced, has high-stakes, and is surprisingly emotional amongst the abundance of action, while still managing to retain its humour. While it is the longest-running Marvel film to date, fans of the franchise will not notice its longevity in the slightest, and in fact while be left wanting a lot more due to its cliffhanger ending.

Rating: 4/5

The Disaster Artist Review

Based on true events, The Disaster Artist starts in San Francisco 1998 with aspiring actor Greg Sestero (Dave Franco) meeting the kooky and mysterious Tommy Wiseau (James Franco) in an acting class. The reserved Sestero is instantly drawn to the fearlessness and passion of Wiseau and the pair become fast friends, soon deciding to move to Los Angeles where Wiseau has another apartment to further pursue their acting careers. The pair find it increasingly difficult to follow their dream with Greg's talent agency failing to supply him with any work and Tommy constantly baffling casting directors with his bizarre accent/ demeanour. Frustrated with this, Tommy decides to make a movie for him and Greg to star in in and what follows is the making of 'the best worst movie ever made'.

For those who haven't seen The Room (2003) it's hard to explain exactly what the film is, and interestingly The Diaster Artist doesn't try to explain it all that much. Sure, Robyn (June Diane Raphael) floats the theory to the rest of the cast during a lunch break on set that the film is semi-autographical and that the characters of Lisa screwing Wiseau around is a metaphor for life itself, but The Diaster Artist doesn't focus on this. Rather, and thankfully so, it focuses on Wiseau's passion for cinema and for life and how this passion created a successful cult film against all odds. 

James Franco is perfect as Tommy Wiseau, so much so that you watch him like one watches Wiseau's actual performance in The Room - perplexed but intently intrigued and unable to look away. And Dave Franco holds his own as Greg Sestero, a character that could have easily become an unlovable straight-man in comparison to Wiseau, but manages to remain loving and authentic. Much like the focus of the plot, the film is greatly benefited by the talent involved in its making, and again, their passion for The Room and wanting to tell its story. James Franco directed, produced and starred (not unlike Wiseau himself in The Room). There's a wonderful short series of interviews from stars such as Kristen Bell, Adam Scott and J.J Abrams at the beginning of the film that feels out of place in the overall picture become again celebrates the films message of passion and belief in cinema that it's hard not to enjoy. The film itself is also packed with well known faces like Bryan Cranston, Zac Efron, Judd Apatow, Seth Rogen.

While at the end of the film we know little more about Tommy Wiseau, which may disappoint some, we know a lot more about the origins of The Room, and the strong friendship that created it.

Rating: 3.5/5

Call Me By Your Name Review

During the summer of 1983 in Northern Italy seventeen year old Elio (Timothée Chalamet) and his parents await the arrival of an American graduate, Oliver (Armie Hammer), who his father has invited to live with them for the summer to help him with his academic paperwork in return for him giving notes on Oliver's novel. Elio is initially annoyed by Oliver's presence - he has to give up his room for Oliver and the visitors carefree attitude draws the attention of Oliver's friends (especially the females).

Gradually, though, Elio begins to warm to Oliver and tension between them becomes clear - but of what type? Animosity? The desire to be like one another? The desire to be with one another? This is not made clear until over a third of the way through the long film, where while during a trip into town  Elio reveals to Oliver that he doesn't know anything about the things that really matter. Oliver asks him why he's telling him this, and he he's thinking what he thinks Elio is saying they can't talk about such things. It's a frustrating watch because these characters saying what they truly want to say, and everything they do say can be easily misconstrued. It's a testament to the film that it mimics reality so well in this sense but also detrimental to the audience in understanding the special connection Elio and Oliver seem to develop after this point in the film.

From here the film becomes slightly more comprehensible and relatable when Elio makes a move on Oliver after showing him his secret swimming spot and Oliver turns him down, telling him he wants to be good. The rejection is painful and Chalamet is excellent at portraying a young boy first obsession with a love he seemingly can't have. But as soon as the pain starts to sink in, Oliver gives in to the teens' advances and the rest of the film follows their whirlwind but ultimately temporary romance. It's a shame because there's a lot to be explored from both characters of wanting something that they shouldn't have, the thought process of finally deciding to cross the lone, the idea of age transcending love, and the ramifications of such an affair but ultimately the film seems more concerned with celebrating their love, as demonstrated by a powerful conversation Elio has with his father (Michael Stuhlbarg) before the end of the film. And this is fine, but it perhaps makes it a little less entertaining by the time Elio and Oliver get together.

Rating: 3/5