Features
The holidays are over and it’s back to work and school. It’s a long wait till Halloween and an even longer one till Christmas. Even us writers at Film Inquiry pace around anxiously, watching out for the beginnings of Oscar season.
Robots have been present in films for years, but the more specific element of these mechanized beings that is often highlighted in these films is what makes them tick (so to speak), or what makes them think. This, more often than not, is artificial intelligence. Artificial intelligence, or A.
Film is a great healer. And for everyone reading this article there will have come a time when you have turned to a movie to find solace from the troubles of life. Because, let’s face it, life sucks.
It’s time for a public announcement! We’d like to extend a very warm welcome to the new and improved Film Inquiry. We’re very proud to finally be able to share it with you – we’ve worked on it long and hard!
I flipped the final page of Andy Weir’s “The Martian” a couple of weeks ago. Thousands of other people have done the exact same thing since, and we all had similar motivations. I didn’t do it because I had heard good things about the book (at least, that was not the primary reason); rather, I did it because Ridley Scott’s adaptation of the book will be released in theaters this October.
This year there are 238 films, from 57 different countries showing at the 59th BFI London Film Festival. A star-studded event which draws crowds from Europe and across the globe. With its various Galas, Official Competition and hordes of talent – there is only one question worth asking.
Over at our official Facebook page , we are currently posting daily Film Recommendations, with each week being a different theme. This is a collection of those recommendations! This week’s theme is Underrated Neo-Noir films.
What inspired me to begin this series was actually the knowledge that Harper Lee, the author of To Kill A Mockingbird, was going to be releasing a new novel called Go Set a Watchmen. As I had remembered being fond of Lee’s writing, I was planning to read it. (I still have not, but am hoping to get to it after this).
Over at our official Facebook page , we are currently posting daily Film Recommendations, with each week being a different theme. This is a collection of those recommendations! This week’s theme is Portmanteau Films (otherwise known as Anthology Films), films usually compiled of different shorts/segments normally linked up by a connecting narrative.
Near the conclusion of The Bourne Identity (2002), we find our hero, Jason Bourne (Matt Damon), taking refuge in a country farmhouse belonging to Eamon, the ex-boyfriend of Bourne’s hostage/lover/sexy barber Marie (Franke Potente). Bourne’s shadowy employers have dispatched a rival Treadstone assassin – known only as The Professor (Clive Owen) – to eliminate the threat posed by their malfunctioning asset. When Eamon’s son notices the family dog has gone missing, Bourne (preternaturally perceptive, as always) recognizes the portent.
Though documentaries have been around as long as cinema itself, it is only within the past decade or so that they have started to really gain widespread acceptance. Traditionally marginalized as “academic” or “high-brow” filmmaking, the humble documentary has found a home in an age where authenticity and accessibility have grown to be core cultural values. Also, a core cultural value in this modern age are lists:
Breaking the boarders with transnational themes and making people cry and laugh in the same way? Genre as a global system? Why not!
Having recovered from the shock upon discovering that summer 1990 was a quarter of a century ago, I recently reacquainted myself with one or two of the cinematic treats that I first enjoyed at the tender age of 15. Darkman got a repeat viewing, as did the sorely underappreciated Quick Change with Bill Murray. I was especially pleased to find that my personal favourite alumni from the class of ’90 had aged so well:
Reviews of Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation, Inherent Vice and The Diary of a Teenage Girl, an essay on music in film, and a list of Youtube channels everyone passionate about film should follow: just a small collection of the great articles that we published last month!
Over at our official Facebook page , we are currently posting daily Film Recommendations, with each week being a different theme. This is a collection of those recommendations! Last week’s theme is Film-Related Documentaries, films which highlight the utter chaos and hard work which goes behind all the movies we love.