Talking Movies: The Last Bus, Apollo 10½: A Space Age Childhood and Last Blue Ride: The Hannah Cornelius Story

Spling reviews The Last Bus, Apollo 10½: A Space Age Childhood and Last Blue Ride: The Hannah Cornelius Story as broadcast on Talking Movies, Fine Music Radio. Listen to podcast.

TRANSCRIPT

Good morning – welcome to Talking Movies, I’m Spling…

This week, we’re talking about a coming-of-age drama, an animated sci-fi adventure drama and a true crime documentary.

Starting off with a film now on circuit…

THE LAST BUS

An old man travels the length of Great Britain using local buses.

Director: Gillies MacKinnon

Stars: Timothy Spall, Phyllis Logan and Natalie Mitson

– Spall is a well-respected actor, best known for Mr Turner, whose underdog status and roles reflect his career.
– While he has become an expert when it comes to the art of glum, his unusual features keep him compelling in just about any role.
– In The Last Bus, he plays an old man who embarks on a mysterious road trip from northern Scotland to the southernmost tip of England.
– Using flashbacks, we get a clearer picture of his life’s story and the reason for his unexpected and late cross-country adventure.
– The Last Bus is a sentimental and touching drama about journeys and the kindness of strangers.
– Ambling with its dignified protagonist, who tries to relive some memories along the way, he encounters a cross-section of people and places with varying reception.
– In an attempt to broaden the drama’s appeal, it uses a contemporary music selection and subplot involving the character’s exploits captured in the moment and broadcast on social media.
– While slow-moving, it’s refreshing for a film to hinge on tender heroics, spurred on by Spall’s bittersweet performance.
– A segment involving Ukrainians takes on new meaning and while the film’s sentimentality threatens to overwhelm at times, it’s tempered by Timothy Spall’s earnest turn and the mystery’s slow build.

A satisfactory 6 on the splingometer!
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Moving on to a film now on Netflix…

APOLLO 10½: A SPACE AGE CHILDHOOD

A coming-of-age story set in the suburbs of Houston, Texas in the summer of 1969, centered around the historic Apollo 11 moon landing.

Director: Richard Linklater

Features the voice talents of: Glen Powell, Zachary Levi and Jack Black

– Apollo 10½ is a nostalgic animated coming-of-age sci-fi adventure drama from a director known for creating atmospheric, moody and nostalgic stories that soak up the life and times of eras or generations such as Dazed and Confused, Before Sunrise and Boyhood.
– Filming Boyhood over the course of a decade, a gimmick that helped him craft an unusually immersive suburban tale, he takes a page in Apollo 10½.
– Employing a similar rotoscoping and live-action animation technique used in Waking Life and A Scanner Darkly, Linklater supplants his actors in a playful two-dimensional world where it’s much easier to recreate space flights, moon landings, pop culture brands and even theme parks.
– Using some of his trademark elements, Apollo 10½ has a sweetness, naivete and warmth as a throwback to the age of the first moon landing.
– Similar to First Man, Boyhood, The Wonder Years and Young Sheldon, Linklater injects a degree of fantasy to his grounded storytelling by allowing a 10-year-old boy’s daydream to take root.
– Narrated by Jack Black, the film harks back to simpler times, using music from the age to connect dots and an amusing retrospective commentary to poke fun.
– From playing in the garden to drive-ins, Apollo 10½ will conjure up many fond memories for people who grew up on both sides of the moon landing.
– Lively animation, good memories and gentle daydreaming about the space age keep this delightful and entertaining throwback animated drama compelling.

An excellent 8 on the splingometer!
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And finally a documentary on Showmax…

LAST BLUE RIDE: THE HANNAH CORNELIUS STORY

Writer-Director and Journalist: Anthony Molyneaux

A chronicle of an 11-hour hijacking ordeal and its aftermath.

– The story of Hannah Cornelius caught the public’s attention and international headlines when a hijacking and abduction in Stellenbosch culminated in her brutal murder.
– Unknowingly beautiful, much-loved and filled with potential, her tragic story is just one of thousands in a country suffering the ongoing affects of drugs, gangsterism, poverty, violent culture and an overburdened prison system.
– This documentary attempts to encapsulate the events of the fateful night, the courtroom proceedings of the four accused and the dire effects of the tragedy on all.
– Using CCTV footage, photographs, news archives and interviews with those willing to speak openly, Last Blue Ride crafts a character portrait, details the crime and explores the trappings of gangsterism against a failing prison system.
– Avoiding sensationalism and paying respects to the survivors, this documentary serves as more of a true crime overview than a retrospective investigation.
– While a tribute to Cornelius, the documentary gets up close and personal with Cheslin Marsh’s miraculous survival as a secondary objective, coming to rest on the faces of the accused, their gangland affiliations and eventual sentencing.
– While it lacks focus and sidesteps tough questions and interviews, the short runtime and actual footage maintain a sense of spontaneity.
– Essentially blending three perspectives, the timely themes and heartbreaking interview and courtroom footage help land a gut punch.

A satisfactory 6 on the splingometer!
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So just to wrap up…

THE LAST BUS… a fine lead performance and moving road trip story drives this sentimental and slow-moving drama… A satisfactory 6!

APOLLO 10½: A SPACE AGE CHILDHOOD… a sweet, dreamy, nostalgic and lovingly-crafted throwback sci-fi adventure drama with life-like animation… An excellent 8!

LAST BLUE RIDE: THE HANNAH CORNELIUS STORY… a scattershot yet emotionally-powerful overview of the events and courtroom proceedings following a headline-grabbing murder… A satisfactory 6!

For more movie reviews and previous Talking Movies podcasts visit splingmovies.com.

And remember, Don’t WING it, SPL!NG it!

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