Brian and Charles

Title: Brian and Charles
Director: Jim Archer
Released: 2022
Starring: David Earl, Chris Hayward, Louise Brealy, Lowri Izzard, Mari izzard, Nina Sosanya, Jamie Michie

Plot: Mockumentary following Brian (Earl) a cabbage farmer and keen inventor as he sets out to build himself a robot friend

Review: Building upon his 2017 short film of the same name here director Eric Appel makes his feature length debut with a mockumentary following the socially awkward Brian who lives in a small village in rural Wales were he passes the time making questionable inventions in his shed like a flying cuckoo clock and an egg belt but what he wants is a friend and if you can’t make a friend why not build one.

Playing like Short Circuit in the valley’s this quirky comedy is certainly big in heart as Brian builds his robot friend Charles out of scrap using a washing machine for the torso and a mannequin head it’s a ramshackle creation that somehow manages to work much like Appel getting the audience to buy into this touching friendship between the pair as Brian teaches Charles about the world while finding the friendship he’s been missing. But the more Charles learns about the world the more he wants to see leading the pair in a parent / teenager style conflict especially with Brian is content with his small village life. 

David Earl, a regular collaborator of Ricky Gervais’ acting trope here co-writes the screenplay with Chris Hayward (who also provides the voice of Charles) really is fantastic as a Brian who for some unexplained reason is the subject of interest for the documentary crew whose film frames the story. By having the film shot as a mockumentary it provides his character someone to interact with especially when his life in this tiny village is isolated to begin with. Equally it’s through these interactions the quirky humour really shines and thankfully free of the awkwardness which blighted Napoleon Dynamite.

There is a touching bromance between robot and creator that runs through the film as the pair play house, throw darts and share a weird love of cabbage all while Brian shows an E.T. esq worry about the locals finding out about Charles. While the stakes of the film are certainly low it does throw in an element of danger with Brian’s loutish bully of a neighbour Eddie (Michie) whose yearly bonfire has a hint of rural horror to it, especially as he plans to burn Charles on top of it. Ultimately coming in the final quarter and serving as the final push Brian needs to break out of his timid shell that much like his relationship with the equally shy and softly spoken local girl Hazel (Brealey) it’s easy to see the direction things are going to go from a mile off. 

While extending a short into a feature is never going to be easy especially if the material is limited in scope but the tight runtime and charming relationship between Brian and Charles along with the odd but harmless nature of Brian make it an enjoyable watch that doesn’t overplay its hand.

Weird: The Al Yankovic Story

Title: Weird: The Al Yankovic Story
Director: Eric Appel
Released: 2022
Starring: Daniel Radcliffe, Evan Rachel Wood, Rainn Wilson, Toby Huss, Will Forte, Patton Oswalt, Weird Al Yankovic

Plot: The highly fictionalised story of Weird Al Yankovic

Review: Right off the bat as soon as this film was announced the question certainly had to be asked why Weird Al needed a biopic. More so considering how he’s a figure so free of any obvious controversy and seemingly beloved by the fans as the artists whose work he parodies to the point where it’s almost seen as badge of honour to have your work turned into one of his (usually food based) parodies. At the same time did we need biopics about the creation of Facebook and Steve Jobs (The Aston Kutcher one certainly wasn’t) and they both turned out to be fantastic movies with The Social Network certainly my favourite film of the last decade. 

Equally there is something to really admire in the fearless role choices that Daniel Radcliffe has made post-Potter playing everything from a corpse to a neo-nazi but here playing the role of Weird Al it feels like he took on a character too big for him to handle. Of course the blame could equally be placed on director Eric Appel who building upon his original Funny or Die short which originally pitched the idea of the Weird Al Biopic with Aaron Paul strapping on the accordion but in attempting to expand upon the joke only ultimately leads it to suffer the same fate as Machete as the joke being stretched to feature length fails to provide anything more than we got with the original short. 

While I had gone into this expecting an actual biopic of the master of the parody song only instead to get a parody of a biopic as the truth blends with a dose of sheer randomness as the film follows the young Al sneaking out to polka parties and getting his big break through his mentor Dr. Demento here played by a pitch perfect Rainn Wilson who like with most things he appears in is also one of the best things here as well.  

Hitting all the usual cliches from the unapproving father (because abusive parents are always funny), the descent into drink and drugs while burning bridges before the inevitable phoenix-like rise to glory. The fact that it pushes the facts so far into fantasy as Al becomes proclaimed in this world as a musical genius who Michael Jackson’s Beat It is a parody of his Eat it really ends up becoming more grating than funny especially knowing the actual history.

Certainly Radcliffe isn’t bad as Weird Al as he lipsynch’s his way through a selection of the early hits and certainly the film hits a real high moment when he puts on a performance of “Another One Rides The Bus” alongside the who’s who of oddball celebrity. Sadly the further the story goes and the more fantastical things get ultimately the less interested in the story I became.

While for some it’s zany quirky energy might work but while it has fun flashes it’s bogged down by jokes which feel more dated than funny. Certainly I hope that Radcliffe never tires of his fearless role choices this however much like Guns Akimbo was one of his rarer misfires.

I Blame Society

Title: I Blame Society 
Director: Gillian Wallace Horvat
Released: 2020
Starring: Gillian Wallace Horvat, Chase Williamson, Olivia Kuan, Macon Blair, Keith Poulson, Lucas Kavner, Morgan Krantz

Plot: After her friend casually remarks that she would make a good murderer, indie film maker Gillian (Horvat) set out to test the theory only to slowly blur the lines between fantasy and reality.

Review: Tapping into a Man Bites Dog vibe writer / director and producer Gillian Wallace Horvat plays a fictional version of herself or at least I hope so. Her debut feature follows her journey as she starts off determined to prove that she could pull off the perfect murder after receiving the questionable complement from her friend that she would make a good murderer. 

The first half of the film follows her good natured attempts to prove the theory correct as she goes about working out the logistics of pulling off a murder from working on her knots and how to break into an apartment to questionable disguises all presented with this preppy and almost naive world view which leads to her accidentally poisoning her friend and in that moment realising that she’s actually is good at being a murderer with the second half of the film seeing her exploring these new urges as she starts refining her skills. 

At the same time a pair of producers seemingly interested in her documentary instead are more interested in her helming projects for the “diversity narratives” they want to tell and just want samples of her work that they can use to bring in potential investors. What they will end up with instead is Gillian’s video diary of her newly found path as serial killer. 

Shot largely by the cast with Gillian’s go-pro providing a POV style to some sequences while switching to handheld camera for others the switching style really giving the film that indie filmmaker style and it works perfectly with her preferred method of murder which involves her poisoning her victims and then writing suicide notes so convincing that no one suspects they have been murdered. 

Somehow Horvat is perfectly able to tap into both sides of the character, showing a truly chilling side to her personality the more confident she becomes in her abilities. The kills themselves never push things too far with the poisoning keeping the violence quota low even if she does dabble in organ removal with one victim there is no attempt to find sympathy with her as the viewer is always kept the onlooker.

While the film suffers from a clumsy ending it’s an enjoyable ride especially one Gillian starts exploring her darker side and certainly makes me excited to see how Horvat follows this up as this was certainly an introduction to an exciting new talent worth watching.