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!
Is it possible to give a film a bad review before anybody’s seen it? Apparently so, as the North Korean government have all but threatened war with the USA based on the trailer for The Interview. The new comedy re-teams James Franco and Seth Rogen, who co-directs with Evan Goldberg, as a hapless TV presenter and his producer who go to the “world’s most dangerous country” to interview Kim Jong-Un.
That kinky book your mom keeps hidden in her dresser drawer is finally being converted to moving pictures. Fifty Shades of Grey is coming, y’all! Get your popcorn ready!
What’s on the Menu? The Exit Room is a film written and directed by Todd Wisemen (Improv Island, Manifesto). It stars Christopher Abbott (Martha Marcy May Marlene, All That I Am) as Joseph Michaels, a journalist facing execution in a futuristic America.
After a couple of talking head viral teasers, we finally get our first glimpse of the situation in Panem in the new trailer for The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1. Based on the final installment of Suzanne Collins’s wildly popular series of Hunger Games novels, Mockingjay moves from the games arena to a full-on rebellion reluctantly led by Katniss Everdeen.
For me, the way a film looks is nearly as important as how good it is. I can remember leaving several theatres saying, “Wow, that movie was terrible, but it looked amazing!” Film is a visual media after all, and cinematographers work extrememly hard to present audiences with beautiful and stunning imagery even if the film doesn’t work as a whole – I’m looking at you, Prometheus.
Mad Max: Fury Road is the fourth installment of the 70’s-80’s Mad Max trilogy. It’s both a reboot and a continuation of the series – it’s written and directed by the original mastermind: