seanriverahere

Urban Hymn is a new triumph from Rob Roy director Michael Caton-Jones. Instead of a sword and dagger epic, Jones crafts a modern coming of age story true to the trials of urban life in London. There’s social worker Kate who discovers a bad egg of hers, Jamie, possess a unique talent in singing. Though reluctant and held as a teenage delinquent, Kate doesn’t rest until Jamie can get past her angst and recognize her possible salvation. Jones shepherds this film with great ease and plumps it with heart and tension at it’s character driven moments that will most certainly grip any new viewer to the screen and subsequently steal away their hearts.

Jesse Thomas writes and directs Walk of Fame, a zany comedy with big stars and big laughs. This LA based comedy, using the golden sunshine to highlight the aspirations of the main cast, who dream to become stars in showbiz. The cast is led by Scott Eastwood who plays a failed lawyer who falls for a flight attendant, played by Laura Ashley Samuels, taking acting classes for Malcolm McDowell, a stern and strict acting coach. He joins the school to get closer to the girl of his dreams. This film is not short on laughs as every scene provides its own quirky, delightful set up that’ll have you rolling on the floor. I’d recommend this for anyone looking for a simple comedy with massive comedic punch.

1 Night is a refreshing new film with an interesting concept that really expands what we can be done with romance films. At the core of the film are the 4 principle characters (Justin Chatwin, Anna Camp, Isabelle Fuhrman and Kyle Allen) as a set of couples looking for affirmation and love. The actors drive this film to impressive narrative lengths and explore what it means to love and how to express it. Imagine The Spectacular Now with a tinge of Blue Valentine, and also a surprising unexpected science fiction element that I won’t spoil. While we have unintelligent fare at the cinema like Fifty Shades Darker, a film like 1 Night just proves again that we have to turn to independent cinema to find really fresh and interesting stories.