Features
The passing of a film icon always hits me hard. Mostly because of the realization that actors are as human as the rest of us; knowing that I’ll never have the chance to meet him in person or see him in another movie. Leonard Nimoy started his performance career at the age of 20, but did not become truly recognizable until 1966, when his portrayal of the half-human, half-Vulcan science officer on Star Trek put him on the map.
From the tiniest blog to the inked pages of Empire magazine, society’s devotion to film coverage highlights just how deeply moving pictures resonate in modern culture. It’s why you’re here reading this very article right now. The finances back it up too.
This is a continuation of “Beyond Hollywood’s Mafia” with more great gangster films from around the world. There’s a rich tapestry in this field to draw from, as films influence filmmakers, writers and directors making more and more fascinating movies about crime. Some directors may have already appeared in the first list, but all these titles are new and differ, one way or another from the first installment, enjoy!
Did you ever think about your favorite film couple? We sure did. This month, the Film Inquiry team was asked which is their favorite couple in film.
Back in January Neill Blomkamp, the director of District 9, Elysium and the forthcoming Chappie posted online some intriguing fan/concept art for an as-yet-announced project related to the now floundering Alien franchise. The art featured some very intriguing illustrations of not only Sigourney Weaver as an almost fully evolved Ripley/xenomorph hybrid but also Michael Biehn as a battle scarred Corporal Hicks. At the time nobody knew what they were for:
Cult films are difficult to define, as they vary in scope, themes, genre and in just about every other way. Despite these ambiguities, it is demonstrable that the revered Roger Ebert once got the definition entirely wrong. Avatar just isn’t cool enough In his review of Avatar, Ebert described the film as an “event” that was “predestined to launch a cult.
From ideation to financing, distribution to production, the movie industry is just that, an industry. Let’s take a peek behind the projectors and movie screens at all facets of the films, and the people behind them, that we love. Let’s check out the links for this week.
Awarding movies with titles like “Best Picture” is a bit of an overstatement when you consider what goes into making a movie. And when you look through the winners over the years it’s frequently a surprise when you see who won, and the films that got snubbed. For example, 1998 is the year when Steven Spielberg shocked us with his WWII movie Saving Private Ryan, and yet Shakespeare in Love walked away with the Oscar for Best Picture.
Director Quentin Tarantino has hit our movie screens with violence, gore, action and thrills. His work creates controversy, and it is those controversial aspects that make him stand out as one of the best leading directors in the world of film. With his new film The Hateful Eight scheduled to be released at the end of this year, we cannot wait to see what the quirky director and writer comes up with next.
There has been an almost endless line of award shows over the last few months where Hollywood’s elite have had all the chances in the world to pat themselves on the back. But now the prelims are over. It is time for the main event.
From ideation to financing, distribution to production, the movie industry is just that, an industry. Let’s take a peek behind the projectors and movie screens at all facets of the films, and the people behind them, that we love. Let’s check out the links for this week.
For as long as film has been made, it has been dominated by men, both in its making and on the screen itself. In the beginning we could’ve blamed this inequality on the views of the day. Then we could have blamed it on a societal hangover; views on women as equal to men had only recently changed, and representations hadn’t quite caught up.
Nowadays it’s fair to say “gangster films” are in a league of their own, no longer thought of as sub-genre of the action film. Thus freeing them to operate on an entirely new frequency in the model created by earlier classics such as The Godfather or Goodfellas. These movies are indeed classic but have you ever thought about organized crime outside of the United States?
While the BAFTAs (British Academy of Film and Television Awards) are always somewhat overshadowed by their glitzier, Yankier cousins, they still remain the biggest night of the year for British cinema, for better or worse. Nearly 5 million viewers watched wins for Eddie Redmayne, Julianne Moore, Wes Anderson and others on Sunday’s televised ceremony, where Boyhood picked up the Best Film prize. Look here for a complete list of winners – we’ll take a look at the night’s biggest talking points.