Bringing together various people responsible for The Inbetweeners including director Iain Morris, and cast members Joe Thomas and Hannah Tointon, 'The Festival' (★★) is an attempt to capitalise on the popularity of the aforementioned TV show using similar levels of youthful japery and gross-out humour. Except this time it's set at a music festival.
Thomas stars as Nick, is coaxed into the alien atmosphere of a festival by his best mate (Hammed Animashaun), following a catastrophic uni graduation. It's the support acts that shine brightest in the film's line-up, with Jemaine Clement from 'Flight Of Conchords' and enigmatic Australian comedian Claudia O'Doherty delivering the majority of the film's good moments. Arguably much like festivals themselves, 'The Festival' is ultimately a bit too messy and all over the place.
Director Spike Lee has been outspoken over his many years in Hollywood but with the appearance of his new feature 'BlacKkKlansman' (★★★), he has found himself on the receiving end of strong words, most significantly from fellow filmmaker Boots Riley. The film highlights the 'true story' (one of Riley's particular bugbears) of a 1970s black Colorado police detective whose plan is to infiltrate the KKK.
Starring John David Washington and Adam Driver, Lee's latest is a relevant social commentary albeit one that is quite tonally inconsistent and often promotes style over substance. However, the concluding documentary footage, reflecting on the state of modern America and the high costs that black Americans and their allies can face, will be some of the most powerful imagery seen on the big screen this year.
At Home: 'WOS Wrestling'
Having reviewed the recent series opener for ITV's 'WOS Wrestling' reboot, we thought it would be timely to report back on the latest episodes. Continuing in its attempts to capture something of the original 80s 'World Of Sport' pro-wrestling TV show, the new 'WOS Wrestling' is somewhat cheesy and certainly family-orientated.
Its setting and presentation reeks of a typical Saturday early evening ITV programme, to the extent that it almost feels like Ant and Dec should be hosting, and suffers as a result. The most painful aspects of the show however are the jumpy in-ring editing and the lack of character development. There are some bright moments however, particularly in the feud of Joe Hendry and the villainous Martin Kirby, whereby the latter most recently brought out a sick note from his mum to much hilarity.
The actual wrestling on show isn't quite as brilliant as we could have hoped for, even with the inclusion of the in-demand Will Ospreay and seasoned veteran Davey Boy Smith Jr, which leaves us pining for the in-ring return of the show's authority character, Stu Bennett aka Wade Barrett from WWE. Ultimately, there's still enough to keep us interested at this point, and with only four episodes left, we imagine we'll be seeing this one out till the end.
TV And Movie News
- The new Jodie Whitaker-led 'Doctor Who' will be gracing TV screens on Sundays, rather than the usual Saturday evening slot.
- Having pulled out of the forthcoming Bond film, more details are emerging about Danny Boyle's latest film, with Ed Sheeran confirming his role in the musical comedy.
- The 62nd BFI London Film Festival has launched its full programme, kicking off with Steve McQueen's much anticipated 'Widows' thriller on 10 October. Find full details here.
- Speaking of festivals, Venice Film Festival is in full flow. Catch up via The Guardian's coverage.
Read previous On Camera columns here. Drop us a line at film(at)fadedglamour.co.uk if you have something you think might be worth featuring in a future column.
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