Filmhounds Magazine #5 April 2021 (Sample) by Filmhounds Magazine

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his issue features our first look at Disney’s live action film Cruella which also asks who is the film actually for? With the recent news that Edgar Wright’s Scott Pilgrim Vs The World will be getting a rerelease we look at why Wright is the ultimate cult filmmaker. We’ve all seen WandaVision by now and The Falcon and The Winter Soldier is currently on so we are looking forward to seeing what else we can expect from Marvel on Disney+. It’s been a difficult time for all, including film festivals but there’s been a lot of innovation and we’ve still been able to experience some festivals just not as we knew them before. With this we’ve had the chance to watch some great films and picked some of the best.

David Garlick

t’s our favourite season, awards season! Time to pop the bubbly, order that pizza and put on your fanciest dressing gown for the best night of the year as the Academy Award winners are announced this month. Will Chloé Zhao’s Nomadland dominate this year or are we in for some surprise winners? We won’t know until April 25, but it’s guaranteed to be a night full of drama and glamour. This issue of FilmHounds digs deep into the Oscars and our writers pick their favourite Oscar winners as well as look at the history of the Best Picture and whether the Academy is problematically awarding actors for their previous work. We sincerely hope FilmHounds can bring you some joy during these difficult times and we appreciate you supporting our incredible team of writers.

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FILMHOUNDSMAG

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DAVID GARLICK Editor

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MARIA LÄTTILÄ Deputy Editor

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FEATURES ARABELLA KENNEDY-COMPSTON

arabella@filmhounds.co.uk

DAVE MANSON

dave@filmhounds.co.uk

REVIEWS ERIKA BEAN, KATIE HOGAN+SARAH LORD

reviews@filmhounds.co.uk

FESTIVALS DAVID CUEVAS+LEONI HORTON

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COntributors ANDREW GAUDION, BEN PEYTON, CALLUM BARRINGTON, CHRIS CONNOR, EMRYS MOUNGABIO, FREDDIE DEIGHTON, GAVINS SPOORS, JED WAGMAN, MARK CARNOCHAN, MARK GOODYEAR, MOLLY MILES, PAUL KLEIN, SAB ASTLEY, SEP GOHARDANI, TOM BEASLEY Copyright 2021 Filmhounds Magazine. All rights reserved. No part of this magazine may be reproduced without the written consent of FIlmhounds Magazine. Requests for permission should be directed to: info@filmhounds.co.uk Filmhounds Magazine Ltd, Company number: 12803893

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EDGAR WRIGHT

EDGAR WRIGHT “THE ULTIMATE CULT FILMMAKER”

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WORDS: TOM BEASLEY

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ften, the best cinema is made by the people who love the medium the most. And with that in mind, it’s difficult to think of a more cine-literate filmmaker working today than Edgar Wright. Certainly, one glance at his social media feed will show you how much time he spends burning through his extensive collection of DVDs, from the classic to the obscure. In his own work, the man behind some of the most enduring cult movies of recent British history – not to mention at least one bona fide Hollywood blockbuster – has earned himself a reputation as arguably the most consistent

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EDGAR WRIGHT

filmmaker on the planet. He hasn’t made a bad movie yet, and he shows no signs of delivering a turkey any time soon. His next film – London-set horror outing Last Night in Soho – is due in cinemas later this year along with his first feature doc The Sparks Brothers, which premiered at Sundance in January. Meanwhile, he has just signed on to adapt Stephen King’s The Running Man for the big screen, 30 years after the previous attempt with Arnold Schwarzenegger in the lead role. His other upcoming projects include a movie about a robot who learns to love through film and a sequel to vehicular actioner Baby Driver. As ever, Wright is a busy man, but what’s most compelling is the projects he chooses – strange, idiosyncratic and absolutely bathed

in affection for the big screen. He is, in many ways, the ultimate cult director.

The Birth of a Cult Growing up in Dorset and Somerset in the 1970s and 80s, Wright was immediately steeped in the golden age of cult cinema. He cites movies including Evil Dead II and, most prominently, An American Werewolf in London as driving his love for the art form at its darkest and most unusual and, by the end of the 1980s, he was already making Super 8 short films. In 1992, he shot a 40-minute short called Dead Right on Super-VHS, which was a Zucker Brothers-esque parody of cop movies like Dirty Harry. Dead Right would later be included

on the DVD release of Wright’s 2007 movie Hot Fuzz and it’s fascinating in that Wright seems to emerge in this movie almost fully-formed. Even on a miniscule budget of just a few hundred quid and with an ensemble of nonprofessional actors, he produced something which is recognisably him. There are terrific meta jokes, overblown bloodshed and myriad examples of Wright’s ability to create comedy visually, whether it’s with unconventional camera moves, hyper-kinetic editing or deliberately jarring scene transitions. Most notably, though, it carries the trademark Wright juxtaposition between Hollywood-style action and a parochial, British setting. Just a couple of years later, Wright made his feature debut with comic Western A Fistful of Fingers – sadly not yet available on DVD/Blu-ray in the UK, despite whispers of an Arrow Video release a couple of years ago. This movie caught the eye of the British comedy community and Wright worked extensively throughout the 1990s in TV, culminating of course in Spaced, which debuted in 1999. Spaced united Wright with the show’s creators – Simon Pegg and Jessica Hynes – and proved to be the beginning of some of the most fruitful relationships of his career. The sitcom lays the groundwork for the slacker characters of Shaun of the Dead and, of course, features the characters fighting zombies in one of its most famous episodes. It’s packed with pop culture homages and is infused with a love for TV, cinema and entertainment as a whole, shot through with Wright’s signature comic energy. The sitcom was nominated for BAFTAs for both of its series and was reviewed well by critics. The love it still earns 20 years on from

devoted fans ensures that it’s a cult hit in the truest sense of the word, and it also gained the cachet necessary for what Wright and his friends would do next.

Do You Want Anything From the Shop? Put simply, the Three Flavours Cornetto Trilogy – a tongue-incheek moniker born of a Three Colours Trilogy joke that stuck – is the pinnacle of 21st century British movie comedy. All three movies, co-written by Wright and star Pegg, were box office successes to one degree or another, but they crucially remained only modest hits. They were wildly successful, but to a small core of cine-literate young people – Blighty’s equivalent of the Kevin Smith crowd. To teens and 20-somethings of the noughties, these movies are pop cultural touchstones – and ITV4’s schedule would be pretty empty without them. Shaun of the Dead thrust Wright into the spotlight, attracting the attention of filmmakers like George A. Romero, whose work in making some of the most memorable zombie films ever was of course the key foundation stone for the

“it’s difficult to think of a more cine-literate filmmaker working today than Edgar Wright”

parody elements of the movie. Shaun’s tale of some dead-end Gen X slackers trying to survive a zombie apocalypse struck a chord with audiences, entranced by the combination of genuine scares, impressively gnarly physical effects and distinctly British comedy. But it’s more than just eloquent genre homage that marked Wright out as a once-in-a-generation cult movie talent with Shaun. The film is a gift for obsessive fans, containing dozens of hidden details which only become clear on a second viewing. Wright packs his frames with stuff, from character information to additional jokes, making movies like this the perfect cultural artefacts for the peak years of the pausing and rewinding of the DVD era. Most famously, an early monologue from Nick Frost’s Ed predicts the entire plot of the movie, but fans can also feast their eyes on multiple nods to horror legends. The supermarket is called Landis, after American Werewolf director John, and the restaurant referred to as “the place that does all the fish” is named Fulci’s in reference to Lucio – the man behind Zombie Flesh Eaters. Wright’s movies walk an elegant balance. On the one hand, they’re incredibly funny and very entertaining regardless of audience. But on the other, they provide a smorgasbord of bonuses to reward obsession. If you’re as much of a nerd as the filmmaker, you get bonus enjoyment from the movies. The same is true of analysis. Wright’s movies beg to be picked apart and dissected, whether it’s in terms of those references to other work or in the innovation of his visual style – which, as we’ve established, has been present since the earliest days of his

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WORDS: DAVE MANSON

HISTORY OF THE BEST PICTURE

he Academy Award for Best Picture is undeniably associated, directly or indirectly, with mass trends and intricacies in film history. These awards represent a point in time which, when explored more thoroughly, reveals significant detail regarding Hollywood and the evolution of cinema. This feature explores the trends, themes and associations which are inextricably linked with the Best Picture winners throughout the ages of film.

The Academy finds its feet Following its inception, the Academy was initially inconsistent. Coinciding with the turbulent financial backdrop of the early 30s, the winners can be loosely categorised as a mixed bag. Four of the first ten victors are widely considered to be amongst the most disappointing: Broadway Melody (1929), Cimarron (1931), Cavalcade (1933) and The Great Ziegfeld (1936). With uncertain direction and superfluous themes, possibly due to the concurrent deflationary environment, these films exhibited a distinct lack of identity. During this unfortunate and tumultuous run, two individuals unexpectedly emerged who became consistent with the success of the mid-to-late 1930s: Clark Gable and Frank Capra. From 1935-1940 Gable featured in three Best Picture winners, while Capra directed two. Gable’s star-power unsurprisingly led to critical success, with the original Mutiny on the Bounty (1935) and the controversial Gone with the Wind (1939) each picking up the award. However, the irrefutable gem of the

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Commonly regarded as the original romcom, this exquisite feature pairs Gable with querulous heiress Claudette Colbert, who fall in love over one night. Set and filmed during the Great Depression, it represents the ‘little film that could’; a tribute to the hardships of the early 30s and an exploration of the constructs of Golden-Age Hollywood. Capra would find continued success with You Can’t Take It with You (1938) and it remains unfortunate that Mr. Deeds Goes to Town was overlooked in 1936.

Picture winner in Rebecca (1940), paid respect to the current sociopolitical climate in Billy Wilder’s The Lost Weekend (1945), Gentleman’s Agreement (1947) and All the King’s Men (1949), and also continued to reward films which romanticised the war, namely Casablanca (1942). However, the biggest Oscar announcement in the 1940s has been retrospectively scrutinised for generations. For many Citizen Kane constitutes cinematic perfection; a movie which revolutionised screenplay and storytelling, inspiring generations of cineastes. However, during the 14th Academy Awards, John Ford’s How Green Was My Valley (1941), a remarkable film in its own right, deprived Orson Welles of what would have been his only Oscar.

WW2 and William Wyler

The Blacklist and David Lean

After previous winners Wings (1927) and All Quiet on The Western Front (1930) depicted WW1 at opposite ends of the spectrum, from glamorously heroic to unremittingly harrowing respectively, the onset of US involvement in WW2 resulted in Hollywood leaning firmly towards the former. The 40s brought a proliferation of films serving as propaganda which bordered on jingoistic. William Wyler, the most nominated director at the Oscars, revelled in the opportunities this brought, directing the WW2 Best Pictures Mrs. Miniver (1942) and The Best Years of Our Lives (1946). He quickly became one of ‘Hollywood’s most bankable moviemakers’, going on to direct his third Best Picture for Ben-Hur (1959). WW2 films have since been a prominent feature at the Oscars, notably including From Here to Eternity (1952).

The early 1950s represents one of the most intriguing and sordid periods in Hollywood’s history. The emergence of television led to a dramatic fall in cinema attendance, with a dwindling audience base who became exasperated, partially due to conventional and standardised features. Hollywood reactively adopted a ‘bigger is better’ approach, which led to the era of epic films. Sprawling movies with sweeping landscapes became commonplace among Oscar nominees, with wider aspect ratios that had not been utilised in several decades. The revival of epic movies is epitomised by the scope and spectacle of David Lean’s The Bridge on the River Kwai (1958) and Lawrence of Arabia (1962).

30s, if not the entire Best Picture catalogue, is It Happened One Night (1934). A Capra classic and the first film to win the big five categories at the Oscars.

The Academy during the 1940s provided Hitchcock’s only Best

These Best Pictures, which benefitted from enhanced screen formats, enjoyed huge success following a far more ignominious period. During the early Cold War,

anti-communism and paranoia were rife among the American public, eventually resulting in the Hollywood blacklist, a colloquial term used as a means to discriminate against many high-profile entertainment industry personnel. This disgraceful chapter in Hollywood’s history is a thinly veiled allegory of widespread McCarthyism, resulting in the muzzling of several exemplary screenwriters. Notable among them is Carl Foreman, writer for the magnificent High Noon. Due to his ‘communist affiliations’, High Noon, comfortably the most accomplished film released in 1952, unfortunately lost out to The Greatest Show on Earth, which was effectively an honorary award for Cecil B. DeMille. Furthermore, Foreman was only posthumously awarded for his screenplay Oscar for The Bridge on the River Kwai, released some years later. His pioneering company – Highroad – is appropriately named and revealing of his integrity and legacy. Contained amongst the epics and musicals of the 1950s is possibly the most important Best Picture of the decade. Societal norms were slowly being questioned and there were early signs of activism in the USA, especially regarding civil rights movements. This was reflected in the Hollywood classic On the Waterfront (1954). Before Marlon Brando was iconised for Don Corleone, he starred as a disillusioned boxer attempting to make it in New Jersey during a period of union violence. It is cut from the same cloth as the Best Picture Marty (1955) and Sidney Lumet’s immortal Oscar nominee 12 Angry Men (1957). Selected films such as these provided an early sign

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TOP 10

ACADEMY AWARDS BEST PICTURE

Photo: Allstar/Cinetext/Universal

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n May 16th, 1929 at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel in Los Angeles, a private function was held to celebrate the best films of the previous two years. Wings became the inaugural winner of the Outstanding Picture, a title which would develop into the most celebrated and iconised award in the world of film – The Academy Award for Best Picture. Following that pivotal night, there have 92 Best Pictures, all of which have been scrutinised and crossexamined for generations. Film-buffs globally rarely fixate on a topic more frequently than their preferred Oscar nominees. Whether it contains their favourite movie star, resonates with them personally or because they would prefer another film not to win, opinions remain unbending and borderline pontifical. Fortunately, the team at Filmhounds were able to put aside their differences and vote for the greatest Best Picture winners in history. Of the 42 films put forward, we narrowed them down to 10 all-time greats. Some of the following are definitely expected and such a list would not be complete without them, but some may well surprise you. All we can say is, we hope you enjoy reading about why we love these Best Pictures so much.

Gladiator

Gladiator tells us what we do in life echoes in eternity. It’s an often-quoted and remembered line, yet it occurs right at the film’s start with no emphasis or fanfare. Russell Crowe’s Maximus says it to encourage his troops before battle; he says it as he does every other great line the script offers him, as if it genuinely will echo eternally. Such is the power of Ridley Scott’s only best picture winner, with what feels like effortless poise, every single scene is memorable and impactful. From the minute Maximus is enslaved all the way to his courageous final battle, we are totally absorbed. It’s not hard to say why either. The story is an empathetic one, as all the truly great stories are. Maximus is a man wronged, his family murdered, and he himself enslaved to a life of fighting to the death. After this, with each hurdle thrown at Maximus, more viewers join his cause, begging him to somehow best the cruel emperor Commodus (Joaquin Phoenix), who imprisoned him, and this passion is all solidified in one classic moment. Just over an hour into Gladiator that Maximus yells the film’s most famous line, “Are you not entertained?”, and it remains one of cinema’s greatest rhetorical questions, because it’s when everything clicks. It’s the moment you know that a film audience will remember forever. In the great battles which follow, as Hans Zimmer’s inspiring score chimes and Crowe’s shining sword sings, you catch yourself in Rome fighting the great fight, for just an instant, you’re echoing in eternity.

Mark Goodyear

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Rocky

Ultimately it walked away with three. Its editing - perhaps best shown in the brutal final fight, its steady direction from John G. Avildsen and the film itself walked away honoured. It’s hard not to root for Stallone standing at the podium grinning ear-to-ear as his script became the film lauded as the best of the year’s films, and it showed. The film was about triumph, not of awards glory, but of personal ambition, proving you can do it when no one else thinks you can. Rocky loses the fight, and Stallone lost the awards, and yet here we are, forty-five years and seven sequels later, perhaps the happiest ending is Stallone used his pay check to buy back his beloved dog.

Paul Klein

Raging Bull. Goodfellas. Gangs of New York. The Aviator. Four of the Martin Scorsese films nominated for Best Picture, all of which lost. It seemed Scorsese was forever to be the bridesmaid at the Academy Awards. That is, until 2006, when he finally won the statue for directing The Departed and the film took the top honour as well. It has often been claimed the film’s success was an atonement for Scorsese being passed over on many other occasions, a belief that is frankly absurd. The Departed, the only remake ever to win Best Picture, is terrific cinema, a high-wire thriller full of heartpumping, simmering paranoia and containing the themes that have dominated Scorsese’s output throughout his career - the importance of loyalty, the concept of family, the search for identity and the danger of desire. The camera work is expressive and fluid, the soundtrack has the usual Scorsese pop songs, and the editing is gloriously pristine. It contains a truly outstanding cast list- Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon (who has never been better), Mark Wahlberg (in the film that got him properly noticed), Jack Nicholson, Martin Sheen, Alec Baldwin, Ray Winstone and Vera Farmiga. The Departed stands as a true companion piece to the earlier works Scorsese brought to the screen, albeit one that comes from a director in his maturity, presenting a film that’s not only nerve-shredding and visceral, but also reflective and mournful. It is peak Scorsese working in his wheelhouse. It’s mature, stylish filmmaking in an era where the importance of the director seems to have completely diminished.

Callum Barrington

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The Departed

©Warner Bros Intl Television

The greatest victory of Rocky is not his mammoth bout against Apollo Creed - which he loses incidentally - but rather its success at the Academy Awards. Sylvester Stallone couldn’t get the film made, a tiny little sports drama about a lug-head who wanted to prove himself able to go the distance wasn’t the commercial property it is now (with seven sequels, and a box office bigger than Balboa’s left arm). Stallone was dirt poor writing it, he even sold his dog to make ends meet, but through all the trials and tribulations Stallone, and his resolve not to sell the script if he couldn’t star, won out. On Oscar night Rocky was up for ten awards. Its sound and original song, along with two for Stallone - one for writing, one for Leading Actor. His co-stars Talia Shire, Burt Young and Burgess Meredith were all nominated too.

No Country for Old Men

The Coen Brothers’ are rare filmmakers in that they are able to create long lasting cult characters and stories while also not making similar films or genre specific. Experiencing a lag in positive critical and audience response to their films since 2001, after the release of O Brother Where Art Thou, their next few films just didn’t seem to make a mark at the box office. Then, in 2007 they directed No Country for Old Men, adapted from the novel of the same name by Cormac McCarthy, which was a match made in cinematic heaven. Attracted to the project, after being given the novel the Coens felt akin to the subverting genre of the story and how it played with conventions, which is exactly what the Coens are known for. Combining a Western crime thriller with a neo noir tone is what set this film apart when it was released in cinemas. From strength of the story, the ominous Anton Chigurh going down in history as one of the greatest film characters and of course a prime spot at Cannes cemented the Coens being back at the forefront of cinema. The film not only brought a whole new audience who may not have been around or old enough to enjoy and appreciate their earlier films, No Country for Old Men was a turning point. Despite the film’s success critically, it is actually one of the lowest grossing Oscar winning films in the Best Picture category. Sometimes, you just need a great story and two filmmakers who know how to create a film no one expected.

Katie Hogan

Schindler’s List

From 1993 comes master storyteller Steven Spielberg’s deeply personal account of the Holocaust and Oskar Schindler (Liam Neeson), a German industrialist who managed to save the lives of over a thousand Jews during World War II by employing them in his munition factories. Filmed in black and white and weighing in at just over three hours, there’s an intimate documentary feel to the narrative. The subject matter isn’t shied away from resulting in an often uncomfortably immersive experience. Horrifying and compelling in equal measure, there are sequences that will stay with you forever; the Kraków Ghetto liquidation, desperate children taking horrific steps to hide from the Nazis, snow that turns out to be far from pure and, of course, the girl in the red coat. Neeson, Ben Kingsley and Embeth Davidtz put in superb turns, but it’s Ralph Fiennes as malevolent SS Officer Amon Göth that will be remembered. Arguably his finest performance, it’s hard to comprehend that the Academy opted to give the Best Supporting Actor Oscar to Tommy Lee Jones for The Fugitive instead of Fiennes. Behind the camera, the cinematography brings a sense of timelessness to the period whilst there also features a hauntingly melancholic score from John Williams. His main theme, performed by violinist Itzhak Perlman, a mournful lament that lingers and exudes emotion.

Ben Peyton

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©Paramount Pictures

Unflinching in its brutality, Schindler’s List is quite possibly Spielberg’s greatest achievement as a filmmaker. Essential viewing for anyone with an interest in cinema or history, it proves that hope can be found in the darkest of places.

COURTROOM COURTROOM

The Theatrics of the Courtroom Drama 38 FILMHOUNDS APRIL 2021

WORDS: ARABELLA KENNEDY-COMPSTON

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LET HIM GO

LET HIM GO KAYLI CARTER We spoke with KAYLI CARTER and JEFFREY DONOVAN who star in the new neo-western thriller LET HIM GO

et Him Go is a new neo-western thriller starring Diane Lane and Kevin Costner as a couple who set out to find their only grandson when their daughter-in-law remarries and leaves town suddenly. The film, directed by Thomas Bezucha, has had a stalled release thanks to a little global illness, but fortunately

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we at FilmHounds had the pleasure of sitting down with actress Kayli Carter to discuss her role role in the film as Lane and Costner’s daughter-in-law Lorna.

narrative is in women, and women of a certain age. Is this something that drew you to the project?

Let Him Go is a Neo-Western that really puts the driving motivation onto an older woman, that’s not something you really see in Western films, that the drive of the

My first experience of working in film and television was actually on a Western, on Netflix, called Godless. That was set in a town of entirely women, so the idea to revisit the genre which is so barren, in terms of women, with Diane,

WORDS: PAUL KLEIN and to see that it was a Western, a thriller really, about motherhood. What it means to be maternal really drew me into the film. You kind of hit the nail on the head of why I chose to do it.

While watching it, I was quite surprised by how central Diane Lane’s character was. It appears to be a Kevin Costner film, and Diane Lane is in it, but it’s actually a Diane Lane movie and Kevin Costner is also there. Diane was attached first, Kevin was not yet attached, when I initially read the script. There were a lot of conversations that I had with the director about how difficult it actually was to get some actors to agree to maybe play second fiddle in a scene or two to Diane’s character. Which is crazy to me because I think George [the role Kevin Costner plays] is an excellent role, and in so many ways, their relationship and their love for one another as women and men of a certain age is not well trodden. So, as an actor, I would expect actors to want to do that.

As for the film itself and your role in it, it deals with quite heavy themes - particularly domestic abuse and parental bereavement - is difficult preparing for scenes that deal with that level of intensity? The day we did the most physical piece of it was pretty challenging, especially when working with a child. It’s one thing to trust and faith in everyone on the film set as an adult, to know that what we’re

doing is acting. It’s an entirely different thing to add a threeyear-old to the mix. That part of it scared me more than anything, because I knew that we were dealing with something in a way that was responsible and I had done my research and then put it away very early on, because I don’t liked to get too bogged down with my external expectations of a character. I was more concerned, which worked for Lorna, about the baby that we had on set, about the child and what he was seeing and able to process what he was seeing occur. That was my primary concern, and I think it really helped shape the character.

“I NEVER WANT TO BE THE BEST PERSON IN THE ROOM” There’s one moment, not to give anything away, towards the end of the film that involves you and some stairs. Are you particularly into doing stunts or are you happy to let a stunt person do their thing? My stunt double Sally is a genius person who did that in one take, and I sort of came in for the top and the bottom of it. But, I was very willing to do as much as they would possibly let me do at any given time. I’m always really excited when I get to do stunts because anything physical that takes you out of your head and into

your body is so helpful as an actor. I don’t need to be in my brain at all, so stunt work makes me very satisfied.

In a previous life I was in a student film that involved me falling down a flight of stairs, and I swore off ever doing it again. Oh yeah they would never let me actually fall on my own, even if I bagged. It was a very steep set of stairs, no runner, very wooden.

Is the set itself a fun set, the film itself is a very serious film, does that translate off screen or do you have fun with the cast and crew? I didn’t feel that seriousness on the day, Tom [Bezucha, the director] is such a jovial presence, and I don’t think i ever saw him on set without a kind word or a smile on his face. He is a happy warrior as a director, and that translates to the crew. We also had a Canadian crew, so everybody was cheery. The actors, we were definitely playing around, cutting up with each other in between scenes. Which is how I prefer to work, I prefer to be laughing right up until action. It just keeps it a little less ego, a little more Rock and Roll.

In terms of your career within the past five years, it’s been quite packed with projects. Godless, as you mentioned, Mrs America, Bad Education, this film, is there a desire in you to keep working on different things that have a message at their core or is it

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MARVEL

Expanding the Universe What’s Next For Marvel on Disney+?

he postEndgame phase of the Marvel Cinematic Universe is well and truly underway, just not in the way that Marvel Studios had quite planned upon. The fourth phase of the multi-billion dollar franchise was supposed to kick-off within multiplexes with the release of Scarlett Johansson’s solo movie Black Widow back in May of last year. But of course 2020 had different plans for us all. As a result of the pandemic, the MCU release schedule has had to be reconfigured. While their release dates were also pushed back and re-jiggled, it meant that the franchise’s first Disney+ shows would become fans’ introduction to Phase Four of the MCU.

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The debut show, WandaVision, went on to demonstrate how these Disney+ shows can allow for how different stories and genres can be folded more into the MCU, blending a surreal energy into the story of Wanda becoming the fully fledged Scarlet Witch. All the while, it still managed to tell a story with a great deal of emotional resonance, as well as offering many a universe expanding thread to pull upon to get fans speculating as to where the MCU is heading. With WandaVision setting the bar high, allow us to guide you through all of what we know about the upcoming MCU shows making their way to Disney+ sometime in the near future, getting a taste of what new flavours are yet to come from the MCU on the small screen.

The Falcon and The Winter Soldier RELEASE DATE: MARCH 19TH

At the time of writing, we are about a week away from the first episode dropping of the show that was meant to be the debut Disney+ adventure. It is likely you’re reading this and a couple of episodes are already on the air of the show that puts the mismatched buddy pair of Anthony Mackie’s Sam Wilson/ Falcon and Sebastian Stan’s Bucky Barnes/The Winter Soldier to the test. It looks set to be in a more traditional mould of an MCU cinematic offering than the initial run of WandaVision, as the mantle

WORDS: ANDREW GAUDION

trippy and witty thriller. With showrunner Michael Waldron having cut his teeth in the writing rooms of Community and Rick & Morty it looks like we can expect something very offbeat to match the unpredictable behaviour of the fiendish son of Odin.

Marvel’s What If?

RELEASE DATE: SUMMER 2021 While unlikely to feature anything that will affect the fabric of the MCU as a whole (although Jeffrey Wright’s casting as The Watcher could carry over), this series of hypotheticals should be a fun foray into animation for fans of the MCU. Photo courtesy of Marvel Studios. ©Marvel Studios 2021. All Rights Reserved.

of Captain America is put into dispute, with the government seemingly not keen on Wilson being the man to carry the shield. Throw in the return of Daniel Buhl’s Civil War villain Baron Zemo, and the stage looks set for a conspiracy thriller mixed in with a buddy comedy dynamic. Similarly to WandaVision, this is going to give fans a bit more time with two characters who have always been a bit more on the fringes of the cinematic offerings, giving Mackie and Stan the chance to demonstrate whether they’ve got the level of chemistry to pull off the six episode run.

Thanos may have snapped Loki’s neck in Infinity War, but as we saw in Endgame, everybody’s favourite God of Mischief, Loki (devilishly portrayed by Tom Hiddlestone), or at least an alternate version of him, escaped with the Tesseract to seemingly go off on his own universe hopping escapades. But those antics will not be going unchecked.

RELEASE DATE: JUNE 21ST

The first footage from the show confirmed that it will be used as a means to introduce the organisation, the Time Variance Authority (TVA), into the fabric of the MCU. The TVA are an organisation who monitor and oversee any meddling in timelines and the multiverse. Headed by Owen Wilson, they don’t seem too happy with Loki’s antics with the Tesseract.

No one ever really dies in the MCU.

Loki looks to be a suitably strange,

Loki

The series will bring stories to life that will imagine how significant situations in the MCU could have played out differently. We’ll see the likes of ‘what if Peggy Carter was given the super soldier serum’ and ‘what if Steve Rogers was the first Iron Man’, with many other characters returning. What should be a big draw to fans is the amazing voice cast that’s signed on. The likes of Josh Brolin, Paul Rudd, Natalie Portman, Hayley Atwell, Mark Ruffalo, and Chris Hemsworth will all be returning as their respective characters, and it will also feature the late Chadwick Boseman’s voice in what will be his last performance as T’Challa/Black Panther,

Hawkeye

RELEASE DATE: LATE 2021 It has got to be hard to be

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A look at the best of this years Film festivals so far!

best of the

FESTIVALS Censor

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FESTIVALS

The Best of Sundance Film Festival

he magic of watching films is all dependent on the people we share our works of art with. A medium that is entirely based on the inclusivity of its platform. At this year’s Sundance Film Festival for example, the total of audience attendance reached new heights. With over 600,000 views — 2.7 times (168%) more than the in-person attendance during the 2020 festival — Sundance reached a brand new audience of viewers across the United States and the world. Introducing a New Frontier program for all to enjoy, the festival incorporated userfriendly technology to create a safe and entertaining viewing environment. To put it simply, the festival committee went above and beyond to create the most accessible and inclusive platform possible; with open captions available at various screenings and ASL interpreters at nearly every event. But now it’s time to rejoice and reflect. It’s time to look back at the momentous history-making edition and share what I believe were some of the more notable titles from this year’s feature-film selection. The

following are some of my personal favorite films of this year’s Sundance Film Festival, all listed in alphabetical order:

Coda Commencing the list is the record-breaking Coda. Winner of four prestigious awards at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, Coda is a delightfully crafted and meticulously empathetic coming-of-age film that focuses on the daily routine of a deaf fishing family — all told through the perspective of the only hearing child of the four member family. Emilia Jones tackles her role with great earnesty and dedication, whereas Siân Heder’s direction proves that representation matters when creating an accurate portrait of deaf communities. A beautiful and accessible film that is bound to stir positive conversations on accessibility in the near future.

Coming Home In The Dark The best thrillers are the ones that seep into the mind of the viewer hours after initial viewing. Brutally composed and set in the atmospheric foothills of New Zealand, Coming Home in the Dark is a heart wrenching drama that aptly criticizes the years of systematic abuse perpetrated on the grounds of governmentfunded wards. It’s an enraging

WORDS: DAVID CUEVAS

and provoking film that highlights the universality of a national disgrace, while swiftly toying with genre conventions.

Flee The winner of the Grand Jury Prize in the World Cinema Documentary Competition at this year’s festival, Flee perfectly portraits the humanitarian struggle of a refugee coming to terms with his identity and family past. Gorgeously animated by renowned animation house Vivement Lundi, Flee is an effective and admirable work of non-fiction storytelling.

Human Factors Drowned in crumbling family dynamics and childhood bleakness, Human Factors is one of the few films from this year’s festival that seemed to get the lower end of the stick in its initial reception. For my money, this Haneke-inspired tragedy is righteously satisfying and a whipsmart case study on the familiar effects of paranoia.

In The Same Breath Nanfu Wang returns with yet another brave doc on the misfortune and clear carelessness of recent government policy. This time around, Wang highlights the neglectful prevention and spread of COVID-19 within the Wuhan district and the drastic impact it had on a global scale. Utilizing effective narration and apt comparisons between the political disgrace of both western and eastern governments respectively, In The Same Breath is a scathing work of investigative journalism.

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WORDS: MARK CARNOCHAN

FESTIVALS

The Best of The Fest Founded in 1986, BFI Flare is one of the few LGBT film festivals throughout the UK and by far the leading festival of those within the country. With a rich history spanning over five decades, the festival has presented the very best of LGBTIQ+ cinema from all over the world and 2021’s edition of the festival is no exception. With so much to choose from, from the festival’s three sections of programmed feature films; Hearts, Bodies & Minds it can be difficult to know what to watch. Although there are many other excellent choices from the festival these are the five best of the fest.

AIDS DIVA: THE LEGEND OF CONNIE NORMAN Throughout the many brilliant documentaries programmed for this year’s BFI Flare there is a recurring theme of LGBTIQ+ icons finally getting their recognition. Often unknown outside of, and sometimes unknown even within, the Queer community. With AIDS Diva, Connie Norman is solidified as the icon that she truly was. The film shows her immense impact throughout the AIDS crisis whilst also showing Connie as a compassionate, funny, smart and incredible human being. More people need to know who Connie Norman was.

COWBOYS Anna Kerrigan’s first feature film since her debut with 2010’s Five Days Gone, the gap between the two films is so long that Cowboys essentially acts as her second feature film debut. Cowboys follows Troy (Steve Zahn) and his son Joe (Sasha Knight) as they attempt to cross the border into Canada to escape a wife and mother (Jillian Bell) who is unwilling to accept her transgender child. Although it is not a perfect film it does offer a career best Steve Zahn but most impressively the film offers up an incredible critique of toxic gender traits through the use of the iconography of the western. Cowboys has a lot of heart and it’s short runtime makes it worthy of a viewing.

DRAMARAMA Taking inspiration from 1985’s Clue, Jonathan Wysocki’s Dramarama tells the story of a group of conservative christian theatre nerds who gather for one final murder mystery party before they all depart for college, all the while Gene hopes to come out as gay to his best friends. The chemistry between each character creates a genuine sense of friendship on screen, one that the audience won’t want to leave once the credits start to roll.

NO ORDINARY MAN Although advertised more as

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telling of the story of Billy Tipton, No Ordinary Man focuses more primarily on the legacy of Billy. His story is interspersed throughout this documentary rather cleverly with the film’s Billy Tipton audition scenes working to further portray his impact on the transgender community. Mostly, however, No Ordinary Man tells the story of the oppression of Transgender people and the progression of the treatment of the transgender community over the past forty years or so. However, the lack of knowledge of Tipton’s story from most of the audience and those within the film is more than enough to show that there is a long way to go.

REBEL DYKES Made on a shoestring budget of just over £100,000 this DIY documentary perfectly encapsulates the attitudes of those whose story is being told, all of which presented to a fantastic soundtrack made up of 80s British Riot Grrrl bands. Although it can occasionally look cheap it always looks stylish and the film’s use of what feels like very little pre-existing footage is impressive. The film tells not just the story of what it was like to be a lesbian in 80s London but it also presents just how influential these women were on the Lesbian community all over the world. Rebel Dykes is definitely worthy of your time.

LIMBO

Leoni Horton’s picks from glasgow

LIMBO Written and directed by Ben Sharrock, Limbo centres on a group of four young refugees waiting to be granted asylum on a remote and alien-looking Scottish Isle. Led by the sensational Amir ElMasry, the film is an oddly comical yet poignant look at the refugee experience. Presented through a boxy aspect ratio, we follow Omar and his friends as they attend wacky cultural-awareness classes and attempt to navigate intense homesickness in a place where mustard is considered a spice and anybody with so much as a tan sticks out like a sore thumb. Limbo is longlisted for an Outstanding Britsh Film BAFTA nomination and will release via MUBI in April 2021.

THE DISSIDENT Directed and produced by the Academy award-winning Bryan Fogal, The Dissident follows the political assassination of Saudi born Washington Post journalist, Jamal Khashoggi. The documentary is a thrilling and in-depth look a the Saudi Arabian Government’s attempts to control, infiltrate and manipulate the growing forces of international dissident activists, such as Omar Abdulaziz, who attempt thwart the country’s social media propaganda machine. We watch as Jamal’s activism and criticism of the Saudi royal family leads to his violently orchestrated murder inside Turkey’s Saudi

Embassy, followed by the ensuing controversial reactions from significant world leaders. The film is an essential watch and will have a UK VOD release later on this year.

APPLES Best known for his directorial work on Dogtooth alongside Yorgos Lanthamos, Christos Nikou’s is back with his debut feature, Apples. The film follows a global pandemic that brings on complete and irreversible memory loss in all sufferers. We meet Aris as he enters into a rehabilitation program for ‘unclaimed’ people who have no way of returning to their former lives. Aris must complete tasks and provide evidence of his attempts to structure a new life; however, the further Aris moves into the program, the more ludicrous his tasks become. Apples was selected as the Greek entry for the Best International Feature Film at the 93rd Academy Awards. The film is a wonderful, offbeat mystery and will release later this year.

POLY STYRENE: I AM A CLICHÉ This new documentary follows the life and legacy of one of punk’s biggest unsung heroes, Marriane Joan Elliott-Said, aka Poly Styrene. Directors Paul Sng and Poly’s only daughter Celeste Bell look back in time and journey across

continents, chronicling Poly’s childhood, experiences with racism, her climb to fame as lead-singer in punk-band X-Ray Spex, struggles with mental health, time spent in the Hare Krishna movement and eventual battle with terminal cancer. The film is a beautiful portrait of a woman at the front and centre of punk’s hidden feminist agenda that also peeks behind the scenes at anthems such as ‘Oh Bondage, Up Yours’ and ‘Identity’. Poly Styrene: I am a Cliché is available to view now via Modern Films in conjunction with several independent UK cinemas.

SWEETHEART Marley Morrison’s debut feature follows a teenage girl on the cusp of adulthood, forced on holiday with her feuding family. A.J, played by newcomer Nell Barlow, just about surrenders to a week from hell when she meets a dazzlingly beautiful lifeguard who seems overly keen on getting to know her. What follows is a modern, quintessentially British Queer love story, playing out on a background of sarcastic British comedy, sunburns, nagging mums and fluctuating teen hormones. Wonderfully fun yet deeply heartfelt, Sweetheart in an unmissable coming-of-age comedy. It will release later on in the year.

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