pokerlad Reviews

Homeless Ashes (2019)

Debut Directorial Tour de Force

[9/10 · 27 February 2020]

Marc Zammit is an up-and-coming huge talent. Starring and directing this movie must have been difficult and demanding, and yet he manages to produce a product that tells an interesting story and explains several of the reasons that people become homeless.

Playing the part of Frankie, he takes us on a journey of survival and hope, he also has the most patience of any man I've seen, put in some of the situations in which he finds himself, I defy any of us to be so compassionate.

This movie should be seen by everyone, it should inspire people to investigate other reasons for homelessness and hopefully drive a desire to find solutions.

I suspect every town will have a different set of reasons for homelessness, these need to be investigated and action taken at a local level, by local people (and councils). This movie should be the jumping off point for these endeavours.

Pandorica (2016)

The Future Reset is only the beginning

[6/10 · 25 March 2016]

Pandorica:The Future Reset is an incredible achievement for a film made with such a low budget and without any 'famous' faces (this will change now), the film succeeds on so many levels. It does not pander to mainstream desires for 'blockbusters' but will appeal to fans of the dystopian genre.

The premise is that a new tribal leader is chosen every generation, the current leader takes three hopefuls into a forest where a trial takes place, and only one can survive, quite why is not made plain.

The actors are all excellent and the dialogue is delivered with conviction, it's hard to single out favourites but Jade Fenix Hobday, Marc Zammit and Luke D'Silva stood out for me. Director, Tom Paton (who also created the whole film), keeps the beat of the action going, rising to the inevitable conclusion.

The filmography also excels, filmed at night in a forest but without ever looking too dark. The images are sharp and clear and reflects how much technology has improved to enable new film makers to reach previously unattainable heights.

Everything that appears in Pandorica is there for a reason, not everything is explained this time but sequels are promised. Even prequels?

Despite the outcome being fairly predictable and the start of the trial reminding me of the Wayne's World 2 quote "If you book them, they will come", this film deserves to succeed to enable the crew to develop this dystopian world further.