The excellent Sound of My Voice further heralds Marling’s talents

In 2011, Brit Marling took sci-fi and indie-film fans by surprise with Another Earth, a contemplative character piece written and performed by the young Chicagoan.  Alongside that debut, Marling was also hard at work on Sound of My Voice, which soon will see its UK release.  Again, Marling pulls double duty in this sci-fi tinged thriller, which sees her take the role of a woman allegedly from the future.  The result is the knock-out blow of Marling’s one-two punch debut.  Suspenseful and gripping, Sound of My Voice is exciting both as a work unto itself and as a glimpse of the talent and potential within Marling.

Suspense is built from the get-go, as a couple engage in a mysterious preparation before finally being taken to the home of Maggie (Marling), where odd cult-like rituals ensue.  The couple in question are Peter (Christopher Denham), a substitute teacher, and Lorna (Nicole Vicius), a reformed socialite, who secretly aim to put together a documentary about the group they perceive to be a cult and whose lives may be at risk from Maggie’s manipulation.   Seeds of doubt are planted at every available turn and not only about whether Maggie is what she says.  There’s a certain K-Pax-ian influence at play here, but as each day and interaction pass, Sound of My Voice becomes more and more enthralling.  With no idea of what lies ahead or how one of Peter’s young students factors into things, Marling’s story is truly a joy to experience.  The finale may leave the audience asking questions, but it’s the right kind of questions, those intentionally left open to interpretation, that will be on their lips.  Sound of My Voice provides the type of clever psychology that is sadly lacking in most modern Hollywood sci-fi flicks.

Pixar’s Brave stands proudly amongst the studio’s finest work

If ever a studio was primed for complacency, it would be Pixar.  For over 25 years now, John Lasseter’s team has been pushing the boundaries of computer graphics animation, going on to win six Oscars for Best Animated Feature and leaving a pack of contemporaries in a distant second place.  Yet, for their 13^th feature film, Pixar has branched off into new territory, as Brave not only features the studio’s first female protagonist, but also sets the tale in their most realistic environment to date.  In a distinct move away from the more cartoonish aspects of animation, the design and detail of Brave makes it easy to forget that everything onscreen is CGI.  Thanks to a beautifully touching plot, not only is Brave certain to bring home Pixar’s seventh Best Animated Feature statuette, it is likely take a place at the top of the year’s best films, full stop.

Set in 10^th century Scotland, Brave is the story of young Princess Merida’s struggle to cope with the expectations attached to the position she has been born into.  Dealing with rebellion, resentment and regret, Brenda Chapman has crafted a Celtic folk tale that is easily relatable, regardless of age or gender.  Despite creating a princess as its lead, Pixar isn’t actually breaking into Disney Animation Studios terrain, as Merida (voiced by Kelly Macdonald) is neither in need of rescue by a prince, nor faced with any fairy-tale foes.  Instead Brave, sees her lash out against plans for a parentally arranged marriage.  The consequences of her actions not only help her to mature and gain perspective, but also allow Merida to come into her own within her family.  This is complicated character development that Chapman and her writing/directing team of Mark Andrews and Steve Purcell deftly weave into the action.  The fractious relationship between Merida and her mother, Elinor (Emma Thompson), is tenderly balanced, as both mother and daughter are portrayed as fallible but well-intentioned.  While it may have taken Pixar too long to create a heroic female lead, they have certainly ensured that it has now been done properly.  Merida may be the second arrow-slinging heroine to hit the silver screen this year, but in a genre where female characters are either frilly or forgettable, Brave’s fierce, fiery-haired lass is in a league of her own.

Lovely Molly, hideous mess

Thirteen years ago, Eduardo Sánchez brought The Blair Witch Project to screens worldwide and created a new genre of film that is still limping on in 2012.  His latest, Lovely Molly, carries elements of his debut, but will be as easily forgotten as every other film he has produced since.  Lovely Molly’s concept of a woman battling her demons, literally and figuratively is a promising one, but in the hands of Sánchez and co-writer Jamie Nash, it’s nothing but an ugly mess.

Gretchen Lodge is the titular Molly, a newlywed recovering heroin addict, who makes the classic mistake of moving into the old-family-home-where-lots-of-bad-shit-happened™ with her truck drivin’ hubby, Tim (Johnny Lewis).  For no particular reason, Molls often likes to go for a wander with her camcorder.   This allows Sánchez to remind everyone how he made his name, by inserting the found footage of her exploration and peep sessions at various points throughout Lovely Molly.  Most of it makes little sense and adds nothing but extra creepiness, for the sheer sake of it.  The film actually starts off on a steady foot, employing typical horror tropes such as the droning score with deep, rumbling bass and ensuring everything creaks sufficiently to create a tense atmosphere.  However, once Molly begins to lose her grip on reality, Sánchez loses his grip on his narrative and this haunted house flick becomes a house of horrid.

The Brooklyn Brothers Beat the Best defies expectations

The world has changed a lot over the past five years.  International economic woes can be felt everywhere and it’s easy to see how the landscape of our future has been distorted.  With less investment and fewer companies willing to take a chance on unproven commodities, big dreams now seem even more unlikely.  How, then, does a society respond to such an outlook?  One way is to alter its perspective.  Ryan O’Nan’s directorial debut The Brooklyn Brothers Beat the Best illustrates just such a concept taking hold.  On the surface, it’s an enjoyable indie road trip flick, but the moral of the story is reflective of the road western society is currently on.

In centring the film on a character attempting to break into the music industry, O’Nan has obviously played to his own strengths.  On top of writing the story, O’Nan also wrote many of the songs he performs as Alex in The Brooklyn Brothers Beat the Best.  However, the music business is a perfect example of the toll economic struggles (and, of course, the internet) have taken on once thriving, vital industries.  With fewer record labels, a shrinking market for albums and music retailers, the career that Alex dreams of has never been more of a long shot.  Saddled with a job he hates and recently dumped by the woman he loves, Alex doesn’t have a lot going for him.  Yet, he’s not cut of the stereotypical slacker cloth.  He clearly has both talent and ambition, but said ambition isn’t to just slog through a white-collar existence.  Sure, Alex may perform for mentally disabled young adults in a pink moose outfit and his shotgun-collaboration with Jim (Michael Weston via Charlie Day) is fairly far-fetched, but the offbeat nuisances of The Brooklyn Brothers Beat the Best sit well alongside a message that says this- right here, right now- is it.

The Imposter is a genuine cinematic triumph

“No one ever gave a damn about me… I was reborn.”

So explains the man at the centre of one of the most bizarre cases of identity theft to ever occur; as superbly documented and re-enacted in documentarian Bart Layton’s debut feature-length film The Imposter.  This story of a Frenchman who passed himself off as a Texas family’s missing teenage son in 1997 presents a series of events too unbelievable for fiction.  In The Imposter, the astounding tale is recounted by, not only the victimised family, but the actual imposter himself, Frédéric Bourdin, in amazing detail.  What is revealed is a real-life thriller as gripping as any film to hit the big screen this year.

The scene is set by a brief explanation of how 13-year old Nicholas Barclay went missing on his way home late one night in 1994.  Grainy home video footage provides glimpses of the boy who, it had seemed at the time, would miraculously be found in Spain three years later.  The audacious Bourdin narrates his side of the story, as actors portray the events he describes.  Carey Gibson, Nicholas’ older sister, provides her take on the matter, as the family member most responsible for the return of “Nicholas” to the US.  Interviews with other relatives- including his mother, an FBI special agent, a US consul, and a private detective are all expertly weaved into the fabric of Layton’s documentary.  The level of candour exhibited by Bourdin is simply astonishing, as the man exposes himself to be a textbook psychopath.  However, what Bourdin may lack in remorse, he makes up for in shameless honesty, fully explaining his motivations and thought processes behind his cruel ruse.  While The Imposter is very much about how this one, deeply disturbed man managed to pull off such a remarkable con, a jaw-dropping twist to this already shocking story awaits.

The Lorax is truffula-rific

In 1971 Theodor Seuss Geisel published The Lorax, one of his many rhyming children’s books.  In it he highlighted the destructive impact on the environment brought on by the greed of mankind.  Now, over 40 years later, Dr Suess’ warning has been adapted into a full-length animated feature and the message rings louder than ever before.  Produced by Illumination Entertainment, The Lorax feels familiar as it bears stylistic resemblances to its sister films, such as Despicable Me and Hop, but also largely due to being visually faithful to Dr Seuss’ creations.

The Lorax arrives in the UK on 27 July

True to the book, The Lorax frequently plays out via flashbacks, but Ken Daurio and Cinco Paul’s screenplay does an excellent job of, not only fleshing out the short story, but adding elements in keeping with the spirit of Seuss’ tree-hugging ways.  In their take, the story is set in Thneedville, a city made entirely of plastic, where fresh air is sold by the bottle and actual trees are no more than a distant memory.  An added love-story provides the motivation for Ted (voiced by Zac Efron) to seek out the Once-ler (Ed Helms) in hope of finding a tree to win over his crush, Audrey (Taylor Swift).  His visits occur over several days, in between which Ted is faced by opposition from the head of O’Hare Air (Rob Wriggle) for whom real trees pose a threat to his fresh air business.  It’s a fantastic addition that echoes the original tale of the Once-ler’s thneeds whilst lampooning the pointlessness of commodities like bottled water and the detrimental effect such products have on the environment.

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.

Chernobyl Diaries trades scares for despair

2012 is a busy year for horror writer/director Oren Peli.  Having already debuted his horror drama series “The River” on the ABC network earlier this year, his first of three film projects is about to hit UK cinemas.  The brain behind the Paranormal Activity series has made some new creative strides prior to returning for a fourth instalment of the popular found footage franchise.  Peli has penned Chernobyl Diaries and handed it over to director Brad Parker for his first venture behind the camera.  While thankfully leaving found footage gimmick behind, Peli runs with what sounds like an intriguing idea on paper, only to see it fall victim to its own premise.

Chernobyl Diaries presents six traveling twenty-somethings about to take an “extreme” day tour of Prypiat, an abandoned town within the Chernobyl exclusion zone.  The initial “two-hour” exploration makes for some fascinating viewing as the decaying, overgrown buildings provide a serenely haunting environment.  A first hint of trouble quickly leads to a much bigger problem that leaves the tour group stranded in the radioactive town.  It is at this point where matters fall apart for the characters and for Chernobyl Diaries as a horror film.  Despite making a fair stab at acquainting the audience with his characters, Peli digs a hole so deep for them that any dramatic tension is nullified by the sheer insurmountability of the scenario they find themselves in.  As a result, instead of being thrilling or nerve-racking Chernobyl Diaries becomes a rather depressing affair, as suspense is replaced by inevitability.

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.