Thursday 30 November 2017
How 'Love, Simon' Could Change Hollywood LGBTQ Representation Forever
Why is straight the default?
For decades, the 'Teen Movie' genre has been a Hollywood mainstay. 10 Things I Hate About You, The Fault in Our Stars and The Breakfast Club - all coming under this pseudo-category - took their time to dig in to adolescent issues and infuse heartache with comedy to create classic coming of age tales. One community, however, has been almost completely left out of the spotlight, with LGBTQ+ characters only really ever attaining a supporting role (Easy A, The Perks of Being A Wallflower, etc). Greg Berlanti's adaptation of the best-selling book 'Simon vs. The Homo Sapiens Agenda', though, could change everything in terms of LGBTQ representation in mainstream Hollywood film.
Thursday 23 November 2017
Justice League Movie Review | Mild Spoilers
Zack Snyder is a controversial film-maker at best.
As the visionary behind the 300 franchise and the cult-hit Watchmen, he was assigned by the Warner Bros. DC division to boot up their own cinematic universe à la Marvel Studios. With the recent success of The Dark Knight, Snyder was signed on to bring a 'dark and gritty' tone to Superman in Man of Steel. The reception was split. I myself adored the film, but those already with an idea of who and what the Superman character should be were in outrage at it's bleak and depressing tone. What followed was a bit of a train wreck. Batman V Superman was, while enjoyable to hardcore comic fans, utterly inaccessible to the larger audience, and multiple creative choices (such as a cringe-inducing take on Lex Luthor and a final cut that literally makes no coherent sense) left the film DOA.
Despite a phenomenal advertisement campaign, Suicide Squad was, as critic Grace Randolph put it, more "Snapchat: The Movie" than the thrilling, dark heist we were promised, and its only success was its spectacular character design which it won an Oscar for. Thankfully, Wonder Woman earlier this year was a great installment to the series, with talks now of its own Oscar chances. With the wonderful Gal Gadot seemingly taking a lead role in Justice League, the hope was that DC's rocky road may finally become more stable. But did it succeed in providing the course correction that the DC Universe desperately needs?
As the visionary behind the 300 franchise and the cult-hit Watchmen, he was assigned by the Warner Bros. DC division to boot up their own cinematic universe à la Marvel Studios. With the recent success of The Dark Knight, Snyder was signed on to bring a 'dark and gritty' tone to Superman in Man of Steel. The reception was split. I myself adored the film, but those already with an idea of who and what the Superman character should be were in outrage at it's bleak and depressing tone. What followed was a bit of a train wreck. Batman V Superman was, while enjoyable to hardcore comic fans, utterly inaccessible to the larger audience, and multiple creative choices (such as a cringe-inducing take on Lex Luthor and a final cut that literally makes no coherent sense) left the film DOA.
Despite a phenomenal advertisement campaign, Suicide Squad was, as critic Grace Randolph put it, more "Snapchat: The Movie" than the thrilling, dark heist we were promised, and its only success was its spectacular character design which it won an Oscar for. Thankfully, Wonder Woman earlier this year was a great installment to the series, with talks now of its own Oscar chances. With the wonderful Gal Gadot seemingly taking a lead role in Justice League, the hope was that DC's rocky road may finally become more stable. But did it succeed in providing the course correction that the DC Universe desperately needs?
Wednesday 22 November 2017
The 2018 Oscar Front Runners So Far
Stay up to date on the best critically-acclaimed films of the year so far.
As the summer movie season fades into memory and a biting chill arrives in the wind, we mere mortals can be assured of two things: loads of white people in America are about to complain about seasonal Starbucks cups, and the Oscar movie season is about to restart. While completely unrelated (unless you enjoy a take-away coffee as an accompaniment to independent film), it's these subtle signals that mark the start of a long, long race towards the 2018 Academy Awards. If, then, like me, you find it hard to keep up with the tidal wave of Oscar-hopefuls, take some comfort in the fact that this little post has you completely covered. Granted, there are always surprises, but these are the films out now (or in the near future) that are creating the largest amounts of buzz as we head towards awards season this year...
As the summer movie season fades into memory and a biting chill arrives in the wind, we mere mortals can be assured of two things: loads of white people in America are about to complain about seasonal Starbucks cups, and the Oscar movie season is about to restart. While completely unrelated (unless you enjoy a take-away coffee as an accompaniment to independent film), it's these subtle signals that mark the start of a long, long race towards the 2018 Academy Awards. If, then, like me, you find it hard to keep up with the tidal wave of Oscar-hopefuls, take some comfort in the fact that this little post has you completely covered. Granted, there are always surprises, but these are the films out now (or in the near future) that are creating the largest amounts of buzz as we head towards awards season this year...
Wednesday 8 November 2017
Murder on the Orient Express Review
Can Branagh's self-indulgent, cinematic, twisted tale stay on track?
As a joint honours student studying both English and Film Studies, it is with some degree of guilt that I admit I have failed to experience Murder on the Orient Express in either it's original, literary form, or its acclaimed 1974 adaptation. When it comes to reviewing this film, however, I feel this comes to my advantage. There have been muted but noticeable rumblings surrounding Express for some time. Many labelled it as Kenneth Branagh's self-indulgent attempt at awards bait and, more recently, critics after seeing the film have dismissed it as a re-make lacking the prowess and power of its '74 predecessor.
As a joint honours student studying both English and Film Studies, it is with some degree of guilt that I admit I have failed to experience Murder on the Orient Express in either it's original, literary form, or its acclaimed 1974 adaptation. When it comes to reviewing this film, however, I feel this comes to my advantage. There have been muted but noticeable rumblings surrounding Express for some time. Many labelled it as Kenneth Branagh's self-indulgent attempt at awards bait and, more recently, critics after seeing the film have dismissed it as a re-make lacking the prowess and power of its '74 predecessor.
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