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Reviews
The Redeeming (2018)
You will probably fall asleep before the end. Definitely avoid!
Some of the reviews have compared the director Brian Barnes to Hitchcock. That would be like comparing the late, legendary Muhammad Ali to an old, fat, street thug who has no training or skill in the art of boxing. And yes, Brian Barnes is that bad! He thinks filming a moon that is hidden by clouds is art... He thinks filming a spider web is somehow a metaphor for suspense. How juvenile! And shame on all of you who dare speak Hitcock's name and Barnes in the same sentence. They don't even belong in the same cinematic universe!
Some of the reviews have compared this film to the iconic, award winning, marvel - 'Misery'. This is no misery! You may feel a bit miserable as you watch your life waste away watching this... But certainly this is no misery! Firstly the story lines do not even run parallel. And as much as I found the female lead, Tracey Ann Wood, enjoyable... She is no Kathy Bates! Kathy won an Oscar and the Global Awards for her performance for 'Misery'.
So let's dispel the above urban myths obviously spread by the 'canned' response of the director's friends, this film feels and moves like a B list movie. As mentioned above Brian Barnes hasn't a clue how to direct. He simply points the camera at actors and shouts action and cut. He does not pay attention to story and how story should be interpreted through the eyes of a cinematic lense. The film is spoilt by very childish directing and certainly not much thought went into shot selections. The film is further damaged by poor lighting decisions and a barely coherent script.
Ultimately the film is a one trick pony and the unfortunate thing is you have to waste almost an hour and twenty minutes of your life before this circus of a film decides to perform this trick!
The saving graces are a/ the female lead b/ the story concept . Had the director had a better understanding of the media of film.... he would of rearranged the script to make the story more compelling.
I gave the film a four star based only on it's potential. If the concept had been given to a director who possess guts, intuition, instinct and understands telling a story through the lense this could have been a big hit!
Ghost Dimension (2016)
A few frights
Really love the 2 investigators. A lot of attention to set ups and set design. For this genre this series is up with the best of them.
Great work! Well done1
White Powder (2016)
What a ride!
White power is a slow burner that leaves you breathless when it ignites. The beginning of the film introduces you to the many colourful characters that will inhabit your world for the next hour or so. As the story lines weave you are left wondering how they will all relate to the main story featuring Yasmin.
Yasmin is a lapdancer, who comes across a stash of cocaine and decides to team up with Justin, a lovable wideboy, in order to sell the drugs. We soon learn that the drugs actually belong to Big Ron, a key underworld boss, and a man definitely not to be messed with. Big Ron decides to recruit 2 local henchmen, known locally as the Headhunters, to find the people who stole his drugs. Keen to impress Big Ron, the Headhunters set out in ruthless pursuit for the drugs.
I really do not want to spoil the film for you by giving you any further information on the plot lines. However, I would like to point out that the film is totally unpredictable. I found myself trying to guess what will happen in crucial scenes and each time I was wrong in my prediction. Once the film got going it moved so quickly that it felt like a roller coaster ride. Whit Powder is fast and intense and in fact I didn't want it to end.
The cast is superb and very believable. As a Londoner this is the first film in a long while I have seen that feels like it is set in London. The characters felt very real and the casting was spot on. The cast is very diverse and representative of London but what I really liked is that there are no stereotypes in this film.
For instance the 2 actors who play the Polish bar girls are mixed raced/dual heritage. This made me question my own prejudices and assumptions about Polish people. Another instance is that there is a transexual male character in the film and not one mention of this by any of the characters in the film. I literally had to google the actors name to confirm this. Another additional bonus is the lead character is female and never once did this decision feel forced.
I also learnt that the film was made for £3,000 which makes the film even more remarkable. I am an Indie film lover and It is very rare to see a film made on such a low budget to feature so many characters and locations. I take my hat off to the producers and directors for pulling this off.
To conclude I gave this 10 stars because a/ The story line and plot is both intriguing and unpredictable b/ The acting is great c/ The music score really enhances the film D/ I do not think you wil see a better film based on the same budget.
If you like Indie films and are not expecting a flawless production I highly recommend this film.