Every Monday, Film Inquiry publishes the movies that are opening in cinemas! This week: The Expendables 3, Let’s Be Cops, The Giver, The Trip To Italy and Life After Beth.
Author’s note: I set out to write a very simple article looking back on Tarantino’s work and I wound up on a truly head-spinning journey into the mad world of Quentin Tarantino’s film universe. I believe I’ve come out of the rabbit hole more informed and slightly dazed, but with some interesting things to say.
Big Hero 6, from the same team of producers that brought us Frozen and Wreck-It Ralph, stars Ryan Potter as boy genius Hiro Hamada and his robot friend, Baymax (Scott Adsit). This trailer is one of the funniest I’ve seen in a while: While the trailer leaves a lot to the imagination as far as plot-line, Walt Disney Studios gives us a little teaser introducing what we’re in for.
Guardians of the Galaxy, the latest instalment in the Marvel cinematic universe, has just smashed box-office records on its way to being number one, raking in almost five times as much as its nearest competitor. It continues the highly successful “phase two” of the studio’s cinematic output which is timetabled until at least 2019. On the face of it, their films are among the safest bets in Hollywood – it is taken for granted that Marvel equals success.
Have you ever noticed that some of the most resounding characters in film, either heroes or villains, usually behave in ways that absolutely baffle you? They are a dichotomy, a wonderful multi-layered creation, taking our breaths away with their grays (a refreshing contrast to the black/white of some of the more forgettable characters in films). Whenever I run across a character like this, my celluloid-loving heart skips a beat.
There was an odd time in the late 1980’s where Michael Keaton was the biggest star in Hollywood. Since hanging up the Bat-suit in the early 1990’s, he has continued to have a successful career, yet will never reclaim that success he once had. In Birdman, the first foray into comedy from Amores Perros director Alejandro González Iñárritu, Keaton plays an actor whose life is overshadowed by the fact he once was a megastar due to playing a superhero decades earlier (sound familiar?
Time flies, as they say – we’ve already moved deep into the first week of August, which means it’s time to present to you Film Inquiry’s best articles of July. Here they are! Review of Enemy (2013) Jay Ledbetter discussed the mysterious movie Enemy, featuring Jake Gyllenhaal, directed by Denis Villeneuve, both of Prisoners (2012) fame.
The best film of the summer is here, and it is the Guardians of the Galaxy. After months of promos and trailers, the time has come to see Marvel’s newest addition to its universe of superhero films. According to The Wrap, it got started with a nice boost from Thursday night showings with $11.
Every Monday Film Inquiry publishes the movies that are opening in cinemas! This week: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, The Hundred-Foot Journey, Into The Storm, Step Up All In, What If and About Alex.
Experimental film by its very nature often flies under the radar of the average film viewer and even most movie buffs. However, I’d like to take this opportunity to offer a sort of crash course in experimental film by highlighting five (well, sort of six) experimental filmmakers that deserve at the very least a cursory glance. These are people who changed film-making, completely threw out the rule book, and influenced cinema in very permanent and crucial ways, both with their cameras and their pens.
What piques my interest for this upcoming film is the writer and director, Kevin Smith. I’ve seen Clerks II and Mallrats, as well as watching some episodes of Comic Book Men and an interview or two. I have to say, I like the guy.
Cinema is one of the few areas of modern life where the word ‘cult’ can conjure up positive connotations: more Rocky Horror and Fight Club than Charles Manson. Screenings of ‘cult’ films gather huge, enthusiastic crowds and each have their own strange rituals and practices, such as the hilarious habit of spoon-throwing during showings of The Room.
It may still be summer blockbuster season, but awards season is almost with us. Over the next few weeks we’ll have a flood of trailers for award baiting movies, and The Imitation Game ticks multiple boxes: a World War 2 period drama, a biopic, a Harvey Weinstein production and a chance for Benedict Cumberbatch to finally get some awards recognition.
Earlier this week, the British government announced that after years of trying to make it work, they were finally giving up what was already a losing battle. From 2015, it will no longer be illegal to file-share in the UK, to the fears of the entertainment industry. Instead, certain internet providers will email their customers just four warning letters per year informing them at how their killing the industry, to which they’ll probably reply with a shrug and will continue to download the latest episode of Game of Thrones without a second thought.
We came across the following infographic, which features some of the most famous properties you’ve seen in film and on television. It includes the properties used for Blade Runner, Driving Miss Daisy, Home Alone and Downton Abbey. Please click on the infographic to enlarge it so you can actually read it – it’s a big one!