AUTHOR: THE JT LEROY STORY review

Screened at last month's Sundance London Film Festival and now on general release, who was the real JT LeRoy? 

THE NEON DEMON review

Starring Elle Fanning as a young woman eager to make it in the cutthroat world of modelling, Refn's divisive commentary on the fashion world arrives in cinemas.

After receiving a reception at Cannes that can be described as mixed at best, The Neon Demon hits our cinema screens in typical Nicolas Winding Refn fashion; sharply tailored by master craftsmen and sealed with a monogram.

The Neon Demon begins with the startling image of Elle Fanning's Jesse lain across a chez lounge with blood across her neck. However, this isn't the scene of a gruesome murder; this is a fashion shoot. It's a cold, often heartless world we're introduced to. In the waiting room for Christina Hendricks' powerful executive, she points at a girl and tells her to go without any pleasantries, just an off hand dismissal that could destroy the hopes and dreams of a young girl.

Taking its cues from other slightly barmy, hyper stylised takedowns of their respective industries like Black Swan and in particular Showgirls, what at first appears to be all surface soon flips the page to reveal something much darker hiding in the centrefold.

Like Refn's Drive and Only God Forgives before, The Neon Demon uses a lurid colour palette to paint its picture. Among the reactions from Cannes was the accusation that this was little more than sumptuous wallpaper, but it's a truly beautiful film to look at with undeniable substance under the surface. Refn's influences are clear to see, with David Lynch's Lost Highway and Dario Argento's Suspiria being obvious touchstones.

Fanning has an almost ethereal quality about her, and exhibits beauty in an almost alien way. She deserves praise for creating nuance in her performance. With her impressively long, swan like neck and skin like milk, she could easily fit in with the more vacuous people this film depicts. Like the film itself, which could have been just shallow and pretty to look at, she adds layers and hidden depths to Jesse's seemingly innocent small town girl in the big city. When one of the more fragile of her contemporaries comments that "nobody likes the way they look", she takes her down with a simple "I do".

Among the supporting characters is Jena Malone's Ruby; a seasoned pro who's seen how the industry can chew up fresh meat and spit them out again. Malone is outstanding in the role, bringing forth a palpable sense of desire in an often cold and uncaring world.

There's gender politics at play here too. Although the cast is almost completely female, the roles occupied by men are those of abusive power. They are the photographers that demand that Jesse strips naked. They are the designers who refuse to watch some models as they walk for them. They are the motel owners who take advantage of people in a vulnerable situation.

One would assume this was a knowing wink to the audience from Nicolas Winding Refn about his role as director. After all, this is a film full of mirrors.

A poison pen love letter to the fashion industry with some beautiful imagery, as it pushes forward into its horror infused final act The Neon Demon is a hallucinatory nightmare that needs to be experienced to be believed.

Verdict

4/5

SING STREET review

When Connor is forced to move schools in 1980's Dublin, he finds himself struggling to fit in until he meets a girl that gives him a reason to make friends; he's going to need other members for the band he's just told her he's in. Director John Carney made a splash with Once back in 2007, leading to Oscar glory and a popular stage musical adaptation. Since then he has dipped his toe into Hollywood filmmaking with the similarly musical Begin Again, and has now reached some sort of middle ground with Sing Street.

Based on the Christian Brothers Synge Street school in Dublin that Carney himself attended (with the lead character of Connor clearly semi-autobiographical), it's a trip down memory lane looking at the fashions, friendships and fun times that helped shape his love of music. Musical teenagers is certainly not a new concept for the big screen, with School of Rock and the under-rated but excellent Bandslam being obvious comparison points. It also brings to mind the long forgotten but influential 1998 Channel 4 series The Young Person's Guide to Becoming a Rockstar, featuring similarly pre-naturally talented teens making their way into the music industry.

Forging friendships with his classmates as a means to create the band, apart from a couple of scenes with Eamon his chief songwriting partner, Connor's relationships with his other band mates are under explored. His first interaction with Darren leads to the formation of the band, but that character is sidelined and sadly under used after that. It's a potential mis-step by John Carney, but it could be read that this is less about the formation of a band than it is about the creation of a frontman.

The songwriting process is often skimmed over or summed up in a montage, but to not include the trial and error stage of this band's journey through The Cure to Hall and Oates and beyond is to paint an unrealistic picture of musical creativity, a problem that beset Once and Begin Again too, but to a lesser degree. Thankfully, not only are the songs competently written and performed but they're real earworms without a dud among them. In that respect Sing Street is a complete fantasy; but this is a teenage romance. What's wrong with a bit of fantasy?

Set in 1985 at the heyday of John Hughes' output, it shares a lot of his themes and romantic idealism. Crucially, it isn't just music Connor wants to make about/for the girl that's entered his life, it's a film; or more accurately, a music video. This is particularly relevant during the performance of Drive it Like You Stole it, where Connor's romantic ideals spill over from fiction and into fantasy. Moving from real world to studio based production values, it's constructed so that the clip can be used as an actual music video, but actually says a lot about Connor's world view.

In this autobiographical nostalgic fantasy Carney isn't quite sure what ending to give it, torn between giving his lead the girl of his dreams (Lucy Boynton makes for a impossibly perfect muse for Connor, although she looks waaaay too old for him) or making him follow his newfound career path. Likewise Connor's parents, who are completely oblivious to their son's newfound skills as a performer and are under developed. He does have a great relationship with his older brother, Brendan (a pot smoking college dropout with an extensive record collection and a habit of spouting wisdom but not taking his own advice), and Jack Reynor is able to bring a much needed family connection to the film. The scenes between him and Ferdia Walsh-Peelo are among the best in the film.

Despite some minor niggles, Sing Street is a fun journey through musical styles and influences; a thoroughly charming film that will leave audiences with an overwhelming sense of joy and nostalgia, and quite a few songs swimming around in their head. One for romantics and New Romantics everywhere.

Verdict

4/5

GREEN ROOM review

Starring Anton Yelchin and Alia Shawkat as members of a band who find themselves fighting for their lives against a gang of skinheads. Jeremy Saulnier's tense new thriller is out now in cinemas.

BAD NEIGHBOURS 2 review

After the events of the first film, Mac and Kelly Radner are expecting another baby and are planning on selling up and moving to a bigger house. Unfortunately for them, a sorority has just moved in next door and are being guided by Zac Efron's Teddy in the ways of partying and college life.

ALL THINGS MUST PASS review

Charting the rise and fall of Tower Records, Colin Hanks' All Things Must Pass is out now on DVD.

BASKET CASE TRILOGY Blu-ray review

In what may well be the ultimate story of the bond between two brothers (where one of them lives in a basket), out now on Blu-ray is the Basket Case trilogy.

RE-ANIMATOR Blu-ray review

Starring Jeffrey Combs as H.P. Lovecraft's Dr Herbert West, out now as a 2 disc special edition Blu-ray is the splatter classic Re-Animator.

CRIMINAL ACTIVITIES review

Directed by Jackie Earle Haley and starring John Travolta, Dan Stevens and Michael Pitt, Criminal Activities is out now on DVD and VOD.

ROSENCRANTZ & GUILDENSTERN ARE DEAD DVD review

Starring Tim Roth, Gary Oldman and Richard Dreyfuss, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead sees two minor characters from Shakespeare's Hamlet take centre stage as we learn of their importance to the Prince of Denmark's tale. This is the other side of the same coin, if you like.

The 25th anniversary of the film (and 50th anniversary of the original play) is being celebrated with this new DVD, which comes with a bonus disc full of extras. Written and directed by playwright Tom Stoppard, it has a curious set up that will certainly pique the interest of many. In a time when sequels, side-sequels and spin-offs are increasingly prevalent, I was intrigued to see such an interesting idea applied to the work of Shakespeare; Hamlet, no less.

And there are things to admire about the film. There's a great interplay between Roth and Oldman as Rosencrantz and Guildernstern (I'll leave you to figure out which one is which), two contemporaries of British cinema who have worked together a number of times and who clearly have a great trust in their fellow performer. It's odd to see Oldman in a role that is mostly whimsical comic relief, but he's very good at it. A young Iain Glen takes on the role of Hamlet, resembling Alfie Allen in a way I'm surprised hasn't set many a Game of Thrones Reddit thread alight. His performance as the potential future King of Denmark is fresh and exciting, if not more suited to a theatre experience.

It would be appreciated more by those who've studied the Bard, but to fully appreciate the film, I think you would have to be a minor obsessive of Hamlet, of which there are some out there. As well as being about the trivial goings-on of a pair of minor characters, it's surprisingly dense, and as a film, it's a better play. With Stoppard's cheeky stabs (sometimes literally) at actors and their perceived pomposity (as evidenced through Richard Dreyfuss's troupe of travelling performers), it is a play about the theatre, and that doesn't quite translate to the big screen. It certainly has moments of wryly funny, sarcastic humour, and there is a charmingly off kilter approach to its obsessions with the minutiae of life and bizarre non-sequiturs that recall the cinematic works of Richard Lester. One scene sees Oldman holding a bowling ball and a feather and dropping them from a height. "You'd think this would fall faster that this..." Thud. "And you'd be right".

For fans of the Bard it's an interesting curio, featuring two performances from Roth and Oldman that are never less than watchable. Sadly, its overlong running time and often impenetrable text will struggle to capture the interest of a wider audience. It's cinematic limitations are clear, and the DVD even includes a candid interview with Stoppard from last year, where he discusses his motivations and limitations as a director. This was his sole directing effort, and despite some plaudits laid on the film at the time (Stoppard controversially won the Golden Lion ahead of Martin Scorsese's Goodfellas), his strengths do not lie behind the camera lens.

3/5