discussion
Closely approaching Quentin Tarantino’s new film The Hateful Eight arises expectations not only because of the name he has created for himself, but also because we are aware of the repeating pattern of collaborators in his films. But this piece is not about the cast of the film nor about Tarantino’s specific style. It is about the collaborators behind the scene, specifically on his first time collaboration with Ennio Morricone as a composer of the film’s original soundtrack.
There are franchises that have their special days to commemorate their enduring legacy, usually ones which are directly implied from the films. Star Wars, for example, has its May 4th as a reference to the famous “may the Force be with you” quote, and the Back To The Future trilogy also has its own. As the series centres on time travel and that there are a number of dates which our heroes transport to, the one that arguably stands out as ‘Back To The Future Day’ is October 21st, 2015.
In a 2013 interview, renowned director Steven Spielberg warned of what he called a coming “implosion” regarding summer blockbuster films. Due to Hollywood’s over-reliance on the summer box office, Spielberg believed that blockbusters constrained in this time frame would undergo drastic price changes to set them on top. In an interview, he stated that at some point “you’re gonna have to pay $25 for the next Iron Man, you’re probably only going to have to pay $7 to see Lincoln.
I’m currently in the middle of binge-watching the Kevin Spacey/David Fincher created series House Of Cards on Netflix, and it really is something special. Being an avid movie fan, a character-driven plot is almost unheard of nowadays in the film industry (unless you’re the late Anthony Minghella: see here and here.
Introducing the first episode of the tentatively titled ‘The Film Inquiry Podcast’, where each episode myself (Alex Lines) will be joined by two of our writers to pick apart and discuss a different film. In our initial episode, I’m joined with Julia Smith and Alistair Ryder, who I stupidly forgot to name in the podcast episode itself. As Julia, Alistair and I were all disappointed with the 2015 indie darling Me and Earl and the Dying Girl, we talk about what exactly we didn’t like about it and try to break down who exactly the film was aimed towards.
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.
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.
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).
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.
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:
In the previous two instalments of my speculative trilogy pondering the future of British cinema, I’ve explored how innovative, non-mainstream films will continue to get funded and whether or not filmmakers will change their style in order to get their films made. In this final article, the concluding chapter of this epic trilogy, I aim to explore how British films can get into British cinemas. If British films aren’t being funded due to worry about a lack of box office returns, is there any possible way for a business model that allows all British films the same wide releases as blockbusters in their home country?
Have you ever found yourself loving the bad guy in a movie? Villains come in many different forms, whether it’s the combined protagonist/antagonist situation like Mickey and Mallory Knox in Natural Born Killers, or the complete polar opposite of the hero, a dark and vicious villain like Heath Ledger’s astounding role as The Joker in Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight. And with the recent trailer release of the movie Suicide Squad (a team of DC comic villains coming together to take on the missions deemed too horrific for the heroes), it provokes the question:
The film Ida by Pawel Pawlikowski is admired by critics and viewers around the world. The movie won awards at important international festivals and it was nominated for an Academy Award in the category for Best Foreign Language Film. A glimmer of hope woke in the Poles after winning a golden statue:
Cinematic failures appear in all shapes and sizes; some are critically acclaimed upon release only to become hated months later. Others get shunned by critics and audiences only to develop cult followings years later. In this day and age, where every other film has a sizable cult following, it is difficult to determine which films have truly earned their cult status.