Reviews

How To Build A Girl was an enjoyable, but uneven experience. The story focuses on Johanna, a teenage nerd coming from a Wolverhampton council estate, and gaining a spot at a top music magazine. As the film progresses, Johanna learns the lesson that all critics, editorial columnists, and feature writers must face - her opinions and words on the page have real life consequences.

The execution was a bit of a mixed bag, right down to the character development. While I personally related to the character of Johanna and her discovery of an interest in writing, I found her attempt at moral grandstanding in the middle of the film unsympathetic and off-putting. A good film for what it is, but it could've been better. 6/10.

After attending an advance screening of Mary McCartney's If These Walls Could Sing, I was reminded of that old adage "the recording studio doesn't make the artist, the artist makes the studio."

While that isn't strictly true - there are numerous excerpts regarding the unique timbre of Studio 2 - it is the unique cast of characters who recorded at Abbey Road which make it the name it is today. The Beatles, Cliff Richard, Pink Floyd to name a few.

It is to McCartney's credit as a director that she gives ample focus to the players, both through interviews and archival footage/recordings, while also reminding viewers of the omnipotent force that is the studio itself.

She uses beautiful shots of the studio rooms empty in modern times, which flow nicely into the archival footage. The interviews were especially popular with the audience, with a Liam Gallagher segment regarding Oasis' ill-fated Be Here Now recording sessions drawing a lot of laughs.

The one complaint I have is that at 90 minutes, it almost felt too short. McCartney stated in a post-viewing audience Q&A that her initial rough cut was two and a half hours long. I said to her afterwards that I would love to see more of this material released. (Maybe a podcast is in the cards?)

If Walls is about crediting artists for making the most of their surroundings and drawing influence from those that came before, then I think we must credit Mary McCartney for making a great film using the same methods. I can only hope that this is just the first in a series of music films from McCartney, and not a one-off. If These Walls Could Sing premieres on December 16th on Disney+

Great story. Minus a point because it uses language that is very... 2022 for scenes that happened in 1991. Some of the detective stuff was retconned from real life. I also wish they'd actually included some of the necrophelia that Dahmer engaged in rather than just talking about it.

Other than that, the story is accurate and engaging. The script seems to draw most heavily on the books Grilling Dahmer by Detective Patrick Kennedy and A Father's Story by Lionel Dahmer.

In this light, it was more of a psychological/detective story than pure horror.

People have criticized Netflix for releasing this series and not compensating the victims families. But it was a fascinating story worth telling.

The good: Captures McGee's meeting with Bobby Gillespie in a really moving fashion, as well as his dysfunctional home life.

The Bad: Not enough on McGee's descent into drug-induced madness or how he got there. It's portrayed as more of a one-time binge which lead him to losing his mind.

The musical segments were cringe-y.

The interview at the end, with a god-awful cover of "Stop Crying Your Heart Out" playing in the background was atrocious. The scene played out way too long.

The bottom line: get the book instead. If you must watch a film on Creation Records, watch Upside Down.