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Film reviews

Warfare Review

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Written and directed by Alex Garland and Ray Mendoza, this is Warfare. The film is one of the most astounding and instrumental portraits of how war feels. It blends desperation and darkness in ways that weave together the emotional and drastic side of being in a war zone. It is humanistic to the extent that audiences feel a deep personal response. Warfare is a hard watch, and at the same time it is unmissable.

The film focuses on Navy SEALS and features characters ranging from Ray (played by D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai) to Eric (played by Will Poulter) to Elliott (played by Cosmo Jarvis), to Sam (played by Joseph Quinn). There are other soldiers, however, the primary focus is on these individuals most of the time Warfare. They are in uncharted territory. The opening shows the soldiers going around doing surveillance, using scopes, and making sure they are ready for when an attack happens. When an explosion occurs, their mission becomes more critical. 

This film is based on a true story and takes place in one place. Accuracy is used as an element that helps to raise curiosity. The setting is a place in a world that is in and of itself mind-blowing, Ramadi, Iraq. The Navy SEALS based there are one of several contributors to stressors in Warfare. During each invigorating aspect or detrimental moment in the story, I knew there were other layers that were bound to boggle my mind. There was always another moving component swerving back and forth in my head during the time I viewed Warfare.

Since this film is an adaptation, the seriousness of the matters takes on a surreal sense. When soldiers are injured, the momentum shifts and the matter of staying alive becomes more crucial. Throughout the streets of Iraq, Warfare has many inevitable moments that practically made my blood boil. The continuity drives desperation to the most vivid level because survival is the weapon that matters in Warfare.

Garland and Mendoza know how to push the limits of combat. This is especially the case in situations when choices must be made in a timely manner.  There are no right or wrong answersonce scenarios burst wide open in Warfare. The film makes an impact and will likely cause audiences to have different responses. Some may be shocked, some may be mortified, and some may be blown away. I was all three after seeing Warfare, because it is one of the most chilling, aching, and cinematic thrill rides I have seen. Warfare displays action that can be anxiety-provoking when traps unravel. 

There comes a time to fight back and push adrenaline to the max. Warfare is all “adrenaline!” There is no holding back. The entire focus is making it out alive for all including those who are compromised. There is a vast amount of fear that can be dismissed, but there are lives on the line. The film’s key component is a cinematic jolt based upon what steps must be taken. It is a one-of-a-kind masterpiece. Four out of four stars for Warfare.

Film reviews

Death of a Unicorn Review

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This is one of the craziest retro films I have seen. It is full of colors, wonders, and quirky revelations all centered around a unicorn. Death of a Unicorn is one bonkers ride filled with elements of surprise. Written and directed by Alex Scharfman, The Death of a Unicorn is a film where one incident loops in theories and leads to silly outcomes. For a new director, it is visionary yet achieves more fantasy than value. Scharfman utilizes his directing skills to bring audiences on an invigorating adventure in Death of a Unicorn.

The film focuses on Elliott (played by Paul Rudd) and Ridley (played by Jenna Ortega), who play a father and daughter. They are in route to visit a wealthy pharmaceutical CEO when they hit a unicorn. They hide the unicorn in their vehicle which leads to an unimaginable ride once the unicorn goes bananas. It is a bizarre but enticing foundation because the unicorn has power. Once someone touches the horn of the unicorn magic is revealed which impacts each individual in a unique way. With the dynamics between the father and daughter who are visiting a wealthy family, lots of questionable judgment ensues. Egos collide which causes the fun to spiral and plays a key role in the massive joy in this film. It is especially entertaining when the middle-class tries to impress the upper-class and neither class knows what hit them Death of a Unicorn.

The story is a suspenseful ride that borders on insanity due in part to the wealthy family in the film. The family includes Odell (played by Richard E. Grant), Belinda (played by Tea Leoni), and Shepard (played by Will Poulter). Their butler is Griff (played by Anthony Carrigan). Elliott makes it his dream to satisfy this family, but when he brings the chaos of the unicorn tragedy to them. To an extent, it is clever that he cares so much about sucking up to this family because their silliness is over-the-top. They act like the world is in their hands, but the unicorn’s destruction puts an end to that. The wrath of vengeance unleashed in magical moments is out-of-this-world. Scharfman knows how to create new comedic trends in Death of a Unicorn.

There are special effects in the film that are worth noting. For example, touching the unicorn’s horn creates a world that looks like a Neil DeGrasse Tyson space. Those who touch the horn end up in a mind-boggling space-like universe. Effects like these are correlated with behaviors that make Death of a Unicorn feel interactive.

Overall, the film feels a bit cheesy perhaps because it tangles chronological events. The story starts with hitting the unicorn, then visiting the wealthy family, and then the unicorn wakes up. From that point on, more realizations and chaos evolve. Death of a Unicorn offers more than what audiences might anticipate.Some (i.e. members of the wealthy family) think there is a benefit to the presence of a dead unicorn, and others (i.e. Elliott and Ridley) see it as a bad sign of more destruction. In the end, the film is a jousting climax of unicorns, millionaires, and plenty of mesmerizing moments. Three out of four stars for Death of a Unicorn.

Film reviews

On Becoming A Guinea Fowl Review

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There is that notion of curiosity that lingers in a subtle matter. On Becoming a Guinea Fowl is a portrait of life and reality coming together to hear the harsh truths. Those “harsh truths” are in terms of one who is deceased. The devastating matter goes forward to creating an understanding of what to believe and what not to believe. Adjustments of honesty and facts are in forms of personalities—they are through those dealing with the complicated situation. Written and directed by Rungano Nyoni, On Becoming a Guinea Fowl is a landscape piecing together parts that are hard for a family to bare. It is cinematically enticing and deeply emotional. It will leave audiences to wonder what notions to buy.

The film surrounds Zimbabwe and a middle-class family. The character of the show is Shula (played by Susan Chardy). Shula is driving on an empty road and comes across her uncle lying dead on the street. Once this happens, word-of-mouth happens instantly, and funeral arrangements begin to come together. Her cousin Nsansa (played by Elizabeth Chisela) comes into the picture. Nsansa displays an obnoxious personality, and Shula is introverted (her characterization and facial expression have traits which prove she has a lot on her mind). With the family trying to cope and deal with the funeral arrangements, deeper and horrid revelations come around. Her uncle has done some things that are unforgivable, and with the family all together, the weaving emotions struggle to remain unseen.

The painted picture is suffrage at its finest in On Becoming a Guinea Fowl. There is no light on what is mentioned, but Shula is the one that keeps thriving for her family to find what is good in the dark after one is deceased. It is enticing with the family clashing, disagreeing, and not seeing eye-to-eye. A mesmerizing path of putting behind the bad does not come easy in On Becoming a Guinea Fowl. The apple does not fall from the tree in terms of the hatred that spirals like crazy.

The film loops in expressions of complications—no one knows how to view the scenario. The more family that arrives, the more suspicion. Nsansa is always looking at the offensive context of their uncle. “Offensive context” is painted fresh throughout all the vivacious negativity of the funeral process. It is one of those films where my mind kept making me wonder how the funeral can play out. Does one plan to make a scene? Does one plan to make a confession? Are there more unfortunate awakenings abounding? In the film there is the saying, “The good die to soon.” That saying means that clearly there is a major percentage of relief after the death of Shula and Nsansa’s uncle.

The writing of coping is cinematic. More hidden truths become increasingly disturbing—enough to make there be grievances and hostilities. However, “grievances” and “hostilities” are the building blocks that Shula continually works to downplay. On Becoming a Guinea Fowl is a masterpiece that measures how family absorbs a loss—in a precise approach—the thoughts of the individual family members create a pattern of distress that will hit it audiences emotionally and vividly. The drastic sense of trust is about the norms of those in attendance at the funeral. Three-and-a-half out of four stars.