Where Do We Go Now? cleverly delivers an optimistic message

Lebanese filmmaker Nadine Labaki follows up her debut Caramel with Where Do We Go Now?  As with her first feature, Labaki again notches up a cinematic trifecta, co-writing the script she would go on to direct and star in.  With an odd mix of comedy and drama, with a touch of musical flare thrown in for flavour, Where Do We Go Now? highlights the strife inflamed by religion in a small Lebanese village.  Labaki makes a powerful, if uneven, statement about the absurdity of the divisions faith can create within an otherwise close-knit community.

Where Do We Go Now? finds its way to the UK 22 June

Beginning on a sombre note, Where Do We Go Now? quickly moves on to introduce the large cast of characters.  At the forefront is Amale (Labaki) and Rabih (Julian Farhat); a Christian and Muslim respectively who dream of one day being together.  Their relationship is the trigger for the first musical number in which the would-be lovers share a duet.  The other central figure is Claude Baz Moussawbaa’s Takla, a mother who epitomises the lengths the women of the village will go to in order to prevent tensions from rising along the religious divide.  Though it takes a bit for the film to find its stride, for much of Where Do We Go Now? the village is like a powder keg waiting to explode, as incidents ignite intense responses from the men.  It’s a troubling reminder of the power ideology holds over otherwise reasonable people.

Killer Joe is finger-lickin’ good

For Killer Joe, director William Friedkin again teams with playwright Tracy Letts, in his first outing since the duo’s Bug in 2006.  This time the pair set their sights on a family of Texas rednecks and the hitman they strike a shameful deal with.  Black and bizarrely comedic, Killer Joe’s often shocking moments have earned it an NC-17 kiss of death in America, despite having nary a glimpse of a Fassmember. For those who brave it, Killer Joe utilises a superb cast that makes the madness exceptionally enjoyable, in a dirty-feeling way.

Killer Joe gives UK audiences a mouthful from 29 June

Emile Hirsch gives a slightly stagey performance as Chris, the drug-dealing son whose life depends on coming up with a large sum of cash, toot sweet. As they saying goes, “it takes money to make money” so Chris and his dopey dad Ansel (Thomas Haden Church) hatch a plot that sees them hiring the services of Dallas police detective Joe Cooper, menacingly played by Matthew McConaughey, who moonlights as a contract killer.  His target is Chris’ own mother.  It sounds heavy, but that is the mere tip of the creepy-iceberg.  Thankfully, there is some delightfully daft, deadpan humour provided by Church.  The three male leads all get brilliant quips in, but it’s Church, with his patchy pubic-like facial hair, who knocks it out of the park each and every time.  Ansel is as gloriously stupid as any character can get.  Then there are the women of Killer Joe, whose treatment will be a great source of discomfort for many viewers.  The portrayals of Juno Temple’s princess and Gina Gershon’s wicked step-mother in this southern-fried fairy tale are anything but Disney-like in their nature.

Politics and romance prove a dangerous mix in A Royal Affair

A Royal Affair tells the story of King Christian VII’s bizarre relationship between him, his queen and his personal physician and the impact it made on 18^th century Denmark.  Though Nikolaj Arcel’s film is a dramatized account presented from Queen Caroline Mathilde’s perspective, the events depicted onscreen are heavily based on true accounts.  Fresh off a successful run at the Berlin International Film Festival, A Royal Affair arrives in the UK promising to be one of 2012’s finest foreign language features.

A Royal Affair is in UK cinemas 15 June

The film takes the form as a letter penned by the exiled Queen to her two young children whom she is convinced she will never see again.  From there A Royal Affair introduces the young British royal Caroline (Alicia Vikander) as she crosses over to the continent to meet her new husband, the King of Denmark.  Mikkel Boe Følsgaard brilliantly fills the mad monarch’s shoes.  His uncontrollable paranoia and philandering eventually require the presence of a dedicated doctor, which is where Mads Mikkelsen steps in as German doctor and anonymous Enlightenment promoter Johann Struensee.  The three leads are terrific in their portrayals, but none more so than Følsgaard, the well-deserved best actor winner at Berlin, whose child-like king is manipulated by all closest to him.  As he lifts Christian to manic highs and wallows in dejected lows, Følsgaard’s performance is powerfully authentic, making it difficult to hate the deluded King, yet effortlessly managing to evoke unreserved pity towards him.  The supporting players are also worthy of note, especially David Dencik (most memorable as Esterhase in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy) as the scheming Ove Høegh-Guldberg.  Illustrating the struggles of the time, A Royal Affair is not only a fascinating historical account, but also serves as an allegory for our own cash-strapped and troubled contemporary times.  Issues of taxation, propaganda and resentment from the masses are no less relevant today than they were 250 years ago.

Pattinson raises the stakes, but Cosmopolis confounds

David Cronenberg’s latest foray into the unusual takes the form of the Robert Pattinson-ful Cosmopolis.  Based on the Don DeLillo novel of the same name, Cosmopolis is likely to garner a similar mixed response from critics and audience alike.  Pattinson himself has stated that he has “no idea” what the film is about.  That may not bode well for R-Patz’ fan base, but even those less sparkle-vampire inclined will struggle to make sense of it all.

Cosmopolis will may you say “Huh. Okay.” from 15 June in the UK

There are a few things that may be helpful to know about Cosmopolis going in.  Firstly, it is primarily set in a limousine.  The action, as it were, occasionally moves to a dining establishment of one sort or another, but prepare to get quite familiar with the interior of one pimped out ride.  Secondly, it is extremely dialogue heavy and full of stock market jargon that makes for exceptionally dry viewing.  In fact, during the opening act it sounds as if the characters are speaking in riddles.  As such, Cosmopolis is tough to get through, at least initially.  Cronenberg has explained that what is being said isn’t what is important, but rather the interest Eric (Pattinson) takes in it.  The final thing to keep in mind about Cosmopolis is regardless of how offbeat the film and his character are, Pattinson does a terrific job in bringing the young billionaire asset manager to life.

Friends with Kids wastes time and talent

It would be fair to say that Jennifer Westfeldt’s directorial debut Friends with Kids has a sizable Bridesmaids problem.  Despite the two films being totally different animals, the comparisons are unavoidable.  A romantic comedy penned by a female? Check. Stars Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph, Chris O’Dowd and Jon Hamm? Check, check, check and impossibly handsome check.  With even a similar release date to the lauded and loved comedic smash of 2011, it is impossible to not see this film, in spirit if nothing else, as a follow-up.  Friends with Kids would have struggled to stack up to the reception Bridesmaids received under any circumstances, but Westfeldt has put together a movie that fails spectacularly on its own terms.

Friends with Kids should be neglected from 29 June in the UK

Of course, having seen how terrific the aforementioned Bridesmaids stars can be together onscreen just a year ago underscores how dreadfully wasted they are in Friends with Kids; yet anyone familiar with Hamm, Wiig or O’Dowd otherwise will be able to see how criminally underutilised they are in Westfeldt’s film.  Rather than allowing them the spotlight, the focus is on the cast’s least engaging and, let’s call a spade a spade here, least talented members; Adam Scott (known best as Ben on NBC’s “Parks and Recreation”) is commitment-phobe Jason who is best friends with the unlucky-in-love Julie, played by Westfeldt herself.  The duo, who decide to platonically have a child together for no reason beyond the fact that people are just meant to have children, would likely struggle to carry a film without the distraction of more enthralling actors on the side-lines.  However, watching Scott and especially Westfeldt trudge through the exceptionally unfunny material, whilst the likes of Wiig and Hamm literally sit next to them staring into their drinks, is nothing short of aggravating.

Your Sister’s Sister is a rom-drama treat

In the 1989 rom-com classic When Harry Met Sally, Billy Crystal’s Harry Burns confidently explains to Meg Ryan’s Sally Albright that “men and women can’t be friends because the sex part always gets in the way”.  In the twenty-odd years since, cinema has provided countless examples of that exact problem.  In Your Sister’s Sister, mumblecore darlings Lynn Shelton and Mark Duplass reunite for a largely improvised modern take on the not-so-platonic relationships between men and women.  As was the case with Shelton’s Humpday, the writer/director has fellow filmmaker Duplass don his actor’s hat in the film’s lead role.  Supported by Emily Blunt and Rosemarie DeWitt, Shelton tells a heart-wrenching, character-focused love story that does little to disprove the Harry’s hypothesis.

Your Sister’s Sister comes to UK cinemas 29 June

A year on from the passing of his brother Tom, Jack’s (Duplass) life is stagnating and has drawn the concern of his best friend, Iris (Blunt), who is also one of Tom’s former girlfriends.  Duplass makes a strong entrance via a painfully honest tribute to his late brother.  He is soon after sent off by Iris to her father’s cabin in order to sort himself out.  It is here that the majority of the film is set.  In what could easily be performed as a three-person play, Your Sister’s Sister is largely a series of discussions between the central characters. DeWitt’s Hannah, Iris’ lesbian half-sister has already fled to the cabin herself and the initial scenes she shares with Duplass feel entirely natural, with a touch of unease.  Complicated matters become even more so when Blunt is re-inserted into the mix and uncomfortable revelations come to light.  The vulnerability shown by both Duplass and Blunt goes a long way in making Your Sister’s Sister an engaging experience, despite the fact that so little actually happens.

Moonrise Kingdom is Wes Anderson at his delightful best

Love or hate Wes Anderson’s films, there’s no denying that the auteur’s work stands out from the crowd in big way.  At script-level and onscreen, there’s no mistaking the stylistic flairs Anderson brings to the table.  With his latest work, Moonrise Kingdom, Anderson offers up an easily accessible tale of young love, in what may well be the most beautifully composed film of 2012.  Heavy on sixties nostalgia, orchestral music and Hank Williams, Moonrise Kingdom is every bit as offbeat would be expected from Anderson but manages to be heart-warming in ways quite unexpected.

Moonrise Kingdom is now in cinemas

With Anderson regular Bill Murray on-board in a pivotal supporting role, Moonrise Kingdom is led by two young actors making their onscreen debut.  For both Jared Gilman and Kara Hayward, the film provides a terrific introduction that the rookie duo make a surprisingly assured mark on.  As two troubled souls brought together, initially by chance and later by design, the pre-teens do well to inhabit the innocent, yet jarringly adult characters.  These are not the types of roles 12-year olds normally play, and yet both are utterly charming and convincing in their own unique ways.  It is a brave casting move that speaks volumes about Anderson’s confidence as a filmmaker.  His script, co-written with Roman Coppola is full of colourful characters that shine, despite the supporting roles proving to be rather shallow.  The audience may never learn much about Ed Norton’s Scout Master Ward or Tilda Swinton’s Social Services (yes, that really is her “name”), but that doesn’t prevent them from being an anwful lot of fun.  Still, it’s the pure romance between AWOL Khaki Scout Sam (Gilman) and bookworm Suzy (Hayward) that is the heart of Moonrise Kingdom and their whimsical adventure is a moving experience.

Red Tails coasts into mediocrity

George Lucas produced World War II drama Red Tails has faced an uphill climb from the start.  As a film dedicated to the heroics of the all black Tuskegee Airmen, Lucas funded the film entirely on his own due to studios’ feeling the film’s appeal would be too limited (i.e. the cast would be too black).  Now, over twenty years after development first began Red Tails takes to the sky, captained by first-time feature director Anthony Hemingway (“CSI: NY”, “The Wire”).

Despite the investment of his own money and a chance to prove naysayers wrong, Lucas has opted to give inexperience a chance.  Not only is his directorial choice making the switch from television to the silver screen for the first time, scripting duties see John Ridley, whose only other screenplay this century was Undercover Brother, working alongside the debuting  Aaron McGruder (“The Boondocks”).  With a cast including Terrence Howard, Cuba Gooding Jr and David Oyelowo, the film has enough talent to work with, yet it is the inexperience that shines through.  Perhaps Lucas felt his decades in the biz would be enough to guide Red Tails to a safe landing, but even the choice of cinematographer John Aronson (whose CV, again, is TV production heavy with the occasional Barely Legal or Moscow Heat thrown in) makes it easy to question exactly how he thought this film would come together successfully.

The prognosis is negative for Ill Manors

Ill Manors, the brain-child of musician Ben Drew (aka Plan B, here wearing his writer/director hat), is quickly described as “where dark shit goes on at night”.  Indeed, the tone gets no lighter as the gang drama set in eastLondon’s Forest Gate unfolds in the midst of copious amounts of profanity, drug use and sexual abuse.  Drew’s debut may be many things, but a date movie it most certainly is not.

The film wastes no time in getting down and gritty with time-lapse photography being used to illustrate the daily routines of junkies and dealers.  A variety of characters are introduced, the film often breaking to tell their backstories via rap as the lyrics are dramatised onscreen.  This is not altogether a bad idea, even if the verses fly a bit too quickly for some of the less “street” amongst the viewers, but the use of it in Ill Manors is inconsistent, as the style occurs a few times early on but then disappears before resurfacing in the final act.  If there’s anything that defines Drew’s film, it’s the unevenness that is as plentiful as the expletives.  As a writer, Drew may have had a lot of good ideas as to where to take the story, but what he has yet to learn is that he doesn’t need to try to shoe-horn them all into one work.  It’s this rookie mistake that eventually brings down Ill Manors after a strong start.

Monsieur Lazhar and the deathly hollows

Oscar nominated Monsieur Lazhar comes to the UK from the mind of director Philippe Falardeau and presents a tender view of the impact that sudden, tragic death can make.  Set largely in a Montreal primary school, this bittersweet tale relies on some great child performances and a touchingly sympathetic turn from Mohamed Fellag’s eponymous teacher.

Monsieur Lazhar is in UK cinemas from 4 May

Within Monsieur Lazhar’s opening minutes, a school teacher’s classroom suicide sends shockwaves through staff and students alike.  With the discovery being made by the troubled Simon (Émilien Néron), it becomes clear that this won’t be an easy journey for anyone involved.  A week later, an Algerian national, Bachir Lazhar, offers his services to take over the traumatised class.  Despite headmaster Ms Vaillancourt’s (Danielle Proulx) insistence that things don’t work that way- that procedures must be followed, it turns out that, for some reason, things actually do work that way.  It’s easy to give this moment a free pass, but unsurprisingly, this decision will prove to bite Vaillancourt in the backside.  In the meantime, Lazhar’s approach to the children takes some warming up.  Fellag’s charm makes him immediately likable, both to the audience and the characters.  His methods may be rigid and unrealistic, but Fellag projects a genuine desire to help heal his students’ psyches.  As it turns out ,it’s not just the students who are struggling to come to terms with a heart-breaking loss.