Science Fiction and VFX have long been the marriage required to keep both running at their full potential and capacity, but what if there were another means of crafting the visual splendour and lack of physical realisation that comes with the genre’s territory? There is, but it happens to be also wholly expensive, and possibly doubly time-consuming and tedious: animation…. Read more »
2014 was undoubtedly one of the best years in recent memory, not only for films, but for the achievements in film by actors and actresses. This was the year of Michael Keaton’s comeback in “Birdman.” Steve Carell showed audiences he could go deeper than ever expected in “Foxcatcher.” 2014 was also the year that people were suckered by a great… Read more »
When explaining why he dropped out of film school, Paul Thomas Anderson said “My film making education consisted of finding out what filmmakers I liked were watching, then seeing those films. I learned the technical stuff from books and mags…Film school is a complete con, because the information is out there if you want it.” Whatever one’s motivation, the joy… Read more »
A journey is a person in itself; no two are alike. And all plans, safeguards, policing, and coercion are fruitless. We find that after years of struggle that we do not take a trip; a trip takes us. –John Steinbeck From the cave paintings of Altamira to the epics of Homer, journeys have been part of various visual art forms… Read more »
When a foreign filmmaker strikes big in their home country or internationally with a film, it can provide the opportunity to present their work to a wider audiences. Some lucky few (or unlucky depending on who you ask) might have their film picked up by a foreign distributor to exhibit in other countries, while others get the chance at something… Read more »
Every so often, a film comes along that truly captures the pulse and zeitgeist of its time and mood. The first film from writer/director Dan Gilroy, Nightcrawler is such a film. While a Hollywood screenwriter for some years, nothing previously in his career hinted at this exceptional blow torch of a film that takes aim at news media and the… Read more »
There have always been movies about disasters – earthquake and tidal waves decimated New York City in 1933’s Deluge, and we’ve gotten to watch the Titanic sink in 1912, 1913, 1953, and 1958, prior to James Cameron’s 1997 blockbuster. Traditionally, disaster films were about real events, such as the San Francisco quake of 1906, but in the 1970’s, the disaster… Read more »
By now, nearly everyone is familiar with the term mashup – the fusing of seemingly incongruent or disparate elements to create a hybrid of sorts. And while it may be considered an innovation in web design or music, as far as moviemaking is concerned, the concept has been around for a while, even before Jesse James met Dracula or Frankenstein’s… Read more »
Since the Internet has become a widely used platform for opinion-related writing and content, it didn’t take long for film criticism to make its move from newspapers and television shows to websites, blogs and YouTube. In this new age of criticism, review agitators have become a popular resource for those in need of quick and easy recommendations, and to know… Read more »
Anger, jealousy, passion, and love are common emotions to all human beings, and this is perhaps why Zhang Yimou’s films appeal to audiences over the world. The universality of the characters and situations he portrays has earned him recognition in the Western film industry. However, he remains loyal to the context in which he places his films: in every one… Read more »
Non-human characters have always been prominent in cinema, presenting to audiences those unique physical, mental and emotional traits that one can unfortunately seldom discover in real life. In the world of film, these non-human characters make it clear that anything can happen, and each in its own distinct manner. But whatever the character in question, be it an animal, a… Read more »
The increasing number of Scandinavian thriller and drama novels published over recent years and the amazing success of this literary genre has inspired many filmmakers. As such, many of the following films are book adaptations. Northern countries are ideal locations to shoot authentic and chilling sets within the thriller genre. The main characteristic that underpins thriller films is a continuous… Read more »
Whether it’s due to a particular film not striking a chord with audiences upon release or the theme being misunderstood, it is not uncommon for masterpieces to sometimes slip under the radar. Often, these treasures patiently wait to resurface through DVD release or television, gaining a slow-burn cult following. For a cinephile, there are few things more exciting than rediscovering… Read more »
The true geek is a fussy creature, for he/she is rarely sated. During the 2000s, and decades prior, attempts by mainstream filmmakers to base films on beloved fictional properties pertaining to niche markets and fan-bases were often derided for their lack of interest or care. It was felt there was less interest in creating artistically successful adaptations and appropriations of… Read more »
One of the main characteristics of magic realism is that it eludes definition. Sure, the Merriam-Webster dictionary offers a few definitions, including “a literary genre or style associated especially with Latin America that incorporates fantastic or mythical elements into otherwise realistic fiction.” It’s a start. But as the genre has made its way into other art forms such as film,… Read more »
This list gathers some of the most controversial movies of the 1980s. A time of major commercial hits and the undeniable boom of the blockbuster formula, the 80’s tend to be seen as disappointing when compared with the serious and imaginative cinematographic experimentation of 70’s. The case of controversial, transgressive films seems to support that regard. Perhaps due to the commercial… Read more »
Born in Copenhagen, Denmark, Nicolas Winding Refn is one of the most prominent filmmakers in contemporary cinema, not only in his own country, but worldwide. He has made nine feature films up to this moment, all of them written and some produced by him. In Denmark, he may only be less regarded than Lars von Trier and Thomas Vinterberg, and,… Read more »
Back in the 1990’s there was a considerable cultural stir within the film community. Several companies, notably one owned by mogul Ted Turner, were indulging in a process called colorization. Simply put, this process took films created in black and white and added color to them (much as old post cards had once been colored). This was done in an… Read more »
With the release of the Wachowski siblings’ latest, Jupiter Ascending, the time seems right to re-examine those sibling partnerships which have yielded some of the finest works of cinema in recent (and not so recent) years. 15. The Hughes Brothers When Boyz in the Hood was released in 1991, its director, John Singleton, made history as both the first… Read more »
