Every year, it is easier for audiences to grow more cynical as awards season comes ever-closer, with the plethora of middle-of-the-road “prestige pictures” being dumped by the truckload at multiplexes worldwide, to indifferent audiences who would prefer to watch a star war. For the standard movie fan, prestige season should be an embarrassment of riches, the best films of the year being released all at once like a smorgasbord of cinematic delights. But with each passing year, audiences have wised up to the cynical nature of these movies:
When a writer/director makes a film set in a country foreign to them, it is clear to local audiences that this is an outsider’s view of their nation and their culture. There’s a reason Lost in Translation is derided in Japan and Match Point is met with sheer indifference in the UK. It becomes alienating to see your country through the eyes of somebody who hasn’t spent the majority of their life there, especially when the film is a work of social realism made by somebody with merely a second-hand knowledge of the realities of life there.
Trailers are normally such fast-paced, choppy things that the movie being sold can get lost in its rigid formula. To get a clear look at what the film itself will be is something of a rarity, which makes the boldness of the Zootopia sloth trailer impossible to miss. After a brief introduction to the spry Officer Hopps (Ginnifer Goodwin), it launches into what appears to be an intact scene of her and the amused Nick Wilde (Jason Bateman) getting a plate run at the DMV.
Delivering a much-needed scissor kick to action cinema, Gareth Evans is a director who already has had a major influence in mainstream action filmmaking. Born in Wales, he graduated from the University of South Wales with a Master of Arts in screenwriting. With this knowledge in tow, he directed the independently-budgeted kitchen sink-noir film Footsteps, which didn’t lead to much work.
Aferim!, which translates to Bravo!, is a Romanian comedy-western that’s been snatching up awards on the festival circuit for almost a year now, most notably taking home the Silver Bear for Best Director at the Berlin International Film Festival.
Joy has certainly split the critics – but I didn’t know that when I went to see it. I like going to see films without knowing anything about them, or having any preconceptions in my mind to spoil the experience. On this occasion, I’m glad I didn’t know anything about Joy, as personally, I loved it.
In this new series our team will recommend interesting articles they found on the web on a weekly basis. Read and enjoy! Feel free to place your favorite articles of the week in the comments!
Every week Film Inquiry publishes the movies that are opening in cinemas! This week: Ride Along 2, 13 Hours:
The Falling, the first drama feature by critically acclaimed director Carol Morley, went largely unnoticed on its general release. Despite collecting high praise from the critics, and starring Game of Thrones’ Maisie Williams in the lead role, The Falling was almost a blink-and-you-miss-it situation. This seems absolutely tragic, as I would have no reservations in rating it as my favourite film of 2015.
The production nightmare of Jane Got a Gun garnered more media attention than a film of its size could hope for. Acclaimed director Lynne Ramsay quit one day before shooting was scheduled to begin, leading to a cast and crew shake-up and a very public (and very nasty) lawsuit. Once the film was in the can, distributor Relativity Media pushed the release for over a year only to be delayed further by the company’s bankruptcy filing.
In June of 2015, the Supreme Court declared same-sex marriage legal in the United States. A prominent subject in the news, almost daily it seems that another celebrity or sports player has come out as gay, bisexual, or transgender; Caitlyn Jenner’s recent transformation being a prime example. Although there are still those that are resistant to it, having an alternate sexual orientation or gender identity is now acceptable in the modern world.
Being a film lover should be one of the more unique experiences you have in life. As audience members, we should be able to watch, enjoy and talk about movies without the fear of being scrutinized. So, when I see the average film fan (mostly on reddit the internet) being berated for saying something like “Fury Road was just okay,” or “I really don’t like Christopher Nolan’s movies,” it’s pretty disheartening.
I’m not a fan of directors like Brett Ratner. You may have a gift in appealing to a certain audience base but don’t bumble around using established lore. Comic stories, especially iconic Marvel and DC storylines, are what the old Greek myths were millenia ago.
To successfully make a genre hybrid that satisfies the needs of both genres is one of the most difficult accomplishments in modern mainstream cinema – something made even more difficult when the genres being mashed-up together couldn’t be in a sharper contrast. There is no sharp contrast between the elements to The Keeping Room, director Daniel Barber’s attempt at a feminist revision of Sam Peckinpah’s tales of masculinity in crisis in the old West. A Peckinpah homage that pales in comparison to its influence Essentially, The Keeping Room is a hybrid between the classical Western and the home invasion thriller, with fantasias of violence depicted in a gruesome and shockingly heartless way that would have made the old master proud.
As 2015 comes to a close, the promises of 2016 in film leave excitement fizzling like the fireworks of New Year amongst Quentin Tarantino fans. We have been treated to an influx of releases ripe from the mind of the divisive director over the past few years, with Inglourious Basterds and Django Unchained providing much controversy and dividing many opinions, but it is The Hateful Eight that is now beginning to incite anticipation about its January release. But, as this excitement grows towards the end of Tarantino’s twenty-fourth year in the filmmaking business, the success he enjoys now has progressed in an initially unexpected way.