Hi folks and welcome to the The Friday Film Club where both myself and Elwood will be highlighting a film which we feel is worth checking out. At the same time we would love to hear your own selections whether you’re choosing to just name them in the comments section or join us in arguing the case for your film on your blog, let us know and we will share it below.
Elwood’s Pick – The Killing (1956)
While Stanley Kubrick might be unquestionably a master director, the strength of the key films of his career like Dr. Strangelove, A Clockwork Orange and The Shining does mean there are other films which never seem to get discussed and The Killing can certainly be considered to be one of those films.
Based on the Lionel White novel Clean Break here Kubrick crafts as gripping film noir as he follows professional criminal Johnny Clay (Sterling Hayden) as he plots to pull off a final heist on a racetrack, the film following him as he assembles his team of inside men and hired goons to pull of the heist only for things to go astray and soon becomes more about who will live to get their share from the heist.
Despite only being his second film after Killer’s Kiss here Kubrick shows a real visual flair and confidence as while the setup might not be anything we haven’t seen in numerous heist movies before, the construction of this film certainly feels a lot more modern than it’s counterparts as Kubrick uses long takes and tracking shots to keep the film flowing while even playing with the structure by showing meeting with certain key players out of sequence to the rest of the film making it unsurprising that the film was one of the key inspirations for Quentin Tarantino’s Reservoir Dogs.
Not only is the film engaging from the aspect of watching the crooks pulling off the heist it’s equally as gripping to see how they are going to get away with the money, especially when so many aspects of the plot hinge on timing and people being in the right location while outside of the heist things only become more complex when potential double crosses arise.
It’s confusing why this film is not brought up more in the discussion about Kubrick’s filmography but it is well worth checking out especially the Criterion edition which not only contains all the usual bonuses expected from the label but also has a print so well cleaned you would think it’s a new movie.
Kim’s Pick – Big Brother (2018)
A unique addition to Donnie Yen’s filmography comes in a film that uses its story to highlight the societal issues with the Hong Kong education system. While that might not sound relevant to the general viewer, the film is about an ex-soldier Mr. Chan that has decided to take on the task to teach a class of teen delinquents at a school on the verge of losing its funding due to its students’ poor university entrance rate.
The film focuses on the story of specifically five students in his class which cover a lot of the main issues which exist in their students from conversative thinking where parents put more focus on their sons and neglect their daughters, studying deficiencies, immense stress from preparing for exams leading to suicide, gang influence, a sense of belonging due to different race and its prejudices, parents under substance abuse.
Everyone expects Donnie Yen films to be a martial arts action feast, Big Brother is a project that is so much more. It’s a feel-good, comedic, heartfelt, meaningful and yet still manages to find a few moments for Donnie Yen to shine in his fighting moments. One of them even involves fighting an ex-MMA fighter and the other is a fun assembly of using different basic items lying around to its advantage.
However, the film is at its best in its more emotional moments as this teacher barges into these kids’ lives and uses his unorthodox teaching methods to spark their own confidence and interests to follow their dreams no matter how impossible it feels or how others don’t expect to be any more than the “losers”. The film’s genuinity does work even more as these five young cast are all in their first time roles. Their roles are supported by a lot of veterans in the industry from Fung Woo as the ex-principal, Joe Chen who is a renowned Taiwanese actress as another teacher, Ka Wah Lam as the current principal and it extends to a lot of the parent roles.
BIG BROTHER (2018) Official Trailer | Donnie Yen Action Movie
Big Brother isn’t exactly the typical Donnie Yen film and yet this one is a film that is very meaningful in its societal purpose reflecting on the education system but also delivers a lot of feel-good vibes and positive encouraging messages about chasing your dreams no matter how impossible it feels and the importance of having the knowledge to make rational decisions.
So you’ve seen our picks for this week’s double feature but what are your movie watching plans this weekend?
Let us know in the comments section below.
Movies and Tea 