Memento Film Review
To call this an intricate thriller would be an understatement. Film noir has never been so labyrinthine. Leonard, the central figure, played by Guy Pearce, is a mystery even to himself. Expensively-suited, driving a chic sports car, yet living precariously in seedy motels, he seems to be on a desperate quest to find his wife's killer and avenge her death.
He is also up against a rare form of amnesia which makes it difficult for him to remember what has happened to him in the immediate past, although he can recall his earlier life. In order to keep track of where he is and what he is doing he surrounds himself with reminders, and even uses his body as if it were a giant note pad. On his limbs and torso he has indelibly etched messages designed to jolt his deficient memory cells, but which serve only to magnify the enigma. Nothing is what it seems. Characters he has trusted turn out to be duplicitous, those who seemed dangerous could well be friends.
The structure of Christopher Nolan's fascinatingly original second film is determinedly non-linear. The same sequences are seen from different viewpoints, alternatively clarifying and muddling perceptions. It is edited like a random pile of mosaic tiles, but when the last one has snaps into place, a surprise sets the whole intrigue in motion again.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/films/2000/10/16/memento_2000_review.shtml
Friday, 26 February 2010
The Dark Knight Film Review
The Dark Knight Film Review
Overlong and overhyped but hugely entertaining... The Dark Knight
A sound like a batgloved fist smacking into a cupped palm is what this film delivers: only deafeningly amplified and clarified with crisp, digital precision. It is the sound of all other recent super-hero movies getting their asses well and truly kicked. The Dark Knight is strange, dark, grandiose and mad; it is overlong and overhyped but hugely entertaining. In a simple, physical sense it really is huge, with cityscape sequences filmed on Imax technology, that demand to be seen on the vast Imax screen. Watching the first dizzying, vertiginous overhead shot of the glittering skyscrapers and minuscule streets, I literally forgot to breathe for a second or two, and found myself teetering forward on my seat - timidly, I had chosen one high up at the very back of the auditorium - as if about to topple into the illusory void.
The Dark Knight is the continuation of British director Christopher Nolan's reinvention of the Batman story and it takes the story up to his primal confrontation with the Joker, the villain who among the wrongdoer-gallery ranged against Batman is first among equals: here leading an unspeakable cabal of wiseguys. The caped crusader himself (although this camp designation is now not used) is again played by Christian Bale, clanking around in a kind of titanium-lite exoskeleton and making use of a heavy-duty Batmobile so macho and military-looking it makes a Humvee look like the kind of Prius driven by Gok Wan. Otherwise, he bops around town on a brutal motorbike with wheels the size of rubber boulders, cape fluttering in the slipstream.
The Joker is played, tremendously, by the late Heath Ledger. His great grin, though enhanced by rouge, has evidently been caused by two horrid slash-scars to the corners of his mouth, and his whiteface makeup is always cracking and peeling off, perhaps due to the dried remnants of tears, making him look like some self-hating Pagliaccio of crime, sweating backstage after the latest awful spectacular. Ledger has a weird collection of tics and twitches, kinks and quirks; his tongue darts, lizard-like, around his mouth, a little like Frankie Howerd, or perhaps Graham Kerr, the galloping gourmet of 1970s television.
Batman is still a reasonably novel figure in Gotham city as the action begins. They still refer to this dubious vigilante with a retro-sounding definite article: he is "the Batman". And there is a new, conventional crime fighter in town: the handsome, dashing district attorney Harvey Dent, played by Aaron Eckhart, a man who believes that the rule of law has to be upheld by a democratically accountable person, not some shadowy figure of the night. To the chagrin of Batman and his far-from-mild-mannered alter ego, billionaire Bruce Wayne, Harvey is dating the love of Batman's life: legal eagle Rachel Dawes, played by Maggie Gyllenhaal. Gary Oldman plays Lt Gordon, before his historic promotion to "Commissioner" status. Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman provide droll performances as Wayne's ancillary staff, his butler Alfred and his Q-like costume designer, Lucius Fox.
There are some really exhilarating set-pieces, especially the one that kickstarts the proceedings: Nolan starts off with a high-tension, high-anxiety bank raid, carried out by a dodgy crew all in Joker masks, all whispering among themselves about the crazy guy in clown makeup who hired them to do the job. Why isn't he there personally? Wait - is he there personally?
With some big masculine face-offs, and a high-speed convoy scene, Nolan appears to have imbibed the influence of Michael Mann, and a sequence in Hong Kong has a touch of the Infernal Affairs movies. Various debates about Jack Bauer/24-type torture methods appear to show modern Hollywood discovering, if not a conscience exactly, then a certain self-consciousness. But the film is better at pure action - particularly one awe-inspiring chase scene Nolan later contrives between Batman on his bike and the Joker at the wheel of a enormous truck. The conclusion to this sequence had the audience in a semi-standing crouch of disbelief.
Perhaps the most bizarre moment comes when the Joker has evidently abducted some unfortunate from the local psychiatric hospital to "impersonate" Batman's lost love: this man does appear to resemble Maggie Gyllenhaal: a joke of considerable malice, sophistication and lack of taste.
Nolan has made an enormously profitable smash with the Batman franchise, but at the risk of sounding priggish, I can't help thinking it may be a bit of a career blind-alley for the talented director who gave us brilliant and disquieting movies like Following (1998) and Memento (2000), whose inventions still linger in the mind. The Dark Knight's massive box-office success has surely given Nolan the means to write his own cheque, and in addition something sweeter still - clout. I hope that he will use it to cultivate movies that are smaller and more manoeuvrable than that great armoured Batmobile.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2008/jul/25/actionandadventure1
Overlong and overhyped but hugely entertaining... The Dark Knight
A sound like a batgloved fist smacking into a cupped palm is what this film delivers: only deafeningly amplified and clarified with crisp, digital precision. It is the sound of all other recent super-hero movies getting their asses well and truly kicked. The Dark Knight is strange, dark, grandiose and mad; it is overlong and overhyped but hugely entertaining. In a simple, physical sense it really is huge, with cityscape sequences filmed on Imax technology, that demand to be seen on the vast Imax screen. Watching the first dizzying, vertiginous overhead shot of the glittering skyscrapers and minuscule streets, I literally forgot to breathe for a second or two, and found myself teetering forward on my seat - timidly, I had chosen one high up at the very back of the auditorium - as if about to topple into the illusory void.
The Dark Knight is the continuation of British director Christopher Nolan's reinvention of the Batman story and it takes the story up to his primal confrontation with the Joker, the villain who among the wrongdoer-gallery ranged against Batman is first among equals: here leading an unspeakable cabal of wiseguys. The caped crusader himself (although this camp designation is now not used) is again played by Christian Bale, clanking around in a kind of titanium-lite exoskeleton and making use of a heavy-duty Batmobile so macho and military-looking it makes a Humvee look like the kind of Prius driven by Gok Wan. Otherwise, he bops around town on a brutal motorbike with wheels the size of rubber boulders, cape fluttering in the slipstream.
The Joker is played, tremendously, by the late Heath Ledger. His great grin, though enhanced by rouge, has evidently been caused by two horrid slash-scars to the corners of his mouth, and his whiteface makeup is always cracking and peeling off, perhaps due to the dried remnants of tears, making him look like some self-hating Pagliaccio of crime, sweating backstage after the latest awful spectacular. Ledger has a weird collection of tics and twitches, kinks and quirks; his tongue darts, lizard-like, around his mouth, a little like Frankie Howerd, or perhaps Graham Kerr, the galloping gourmet of 1970s television.
Batman is still a reasonably novel figure in Gotham city as the action begins. They still refer to this dubious vigilante with a retro-sounding definite article: he is "the Batman". And there is a new, conventional crime fighter in town: the handsome, dashing district attorney Harvey Dent, played by Aaron Eckhart, a man who believes that the rule of law has to be upheld by a democratically accountable person, not some shadowy figure of the night. To the chagrin of Batman and his far-from-mild-mannered alter ego, billionaire Bruce Wayne, Harvey is dating the love of Batman's life: legal eagle Rachel Dawes, played by Maggie Gyllenhaal. Gary Oldman plays Lt Gordon, before his historic promotion to "Commissioner" status. Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman provide droll performances as Wayne's ancillary staff, his butler Alfred and his Q-like costume designer, Lucius Fox.
There are some really exhilarating set-pieces, especially the one that kickstarts the proceedings: Nolan starts off with a high-tension, high-anxiety bank raid, carried out by a dodgy crew all in Joker masks, all whispering among themselves about the crazy guy in clown makeup who hired them to do the job. Why isn't he there personally? Wait - is he there personally?
With some big masculine face-offs, and a high-speed convoy scene, Nolan appears to have imbibed the influence of Michael Mann, and a sequence in Hong Kong has a touch of the Infernal Affairs movies. Various debates about Jack Bauer/24-type torture methods appear to show modern Hollywood discovering, if not a conscience exactly, then a certain self-consciousness. But the film is better at pure action - particularly one awe-inspiring chase scene Nolan later contrives between Batman on his bike and the Joker at the wheel of a enormous truck. The conclusion to this sequence had the audience in a semi-standing crouch of disbelief.
Perhaps the most bizarre moment comes when the Joker has evidently abducted some unfortunate from the local psychiatric hospital to "impersonate" Batman's lost love: this man does appear to resemble Maggie Gyllenhaal: a joke of considerable malice, sophistication and lack of taste.
Nolan has made an enormously profitable smash with the Batman franchise, but at the risk of sounding priggish, I can't help thinking it may be a bit of a career blind-alley for the talented director who gave us brilliant and disquieting movies like Following (1998) and Memento (2000), whose inventions still linger in the mind. The Dark Knight's massive box-office success has surely given Nolan the means to write his own cheque, and in addition something sweeter still - clout. I hope that he will use it to cultivate movies that are smaller and more manoeuvrable than that great armoured Batmobile.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2008/jul/25/actionandadventure1
The Godfather Film Review
The Godfather Film Review
In "You've Got Mail" (1998), Tom Hanks suggests the answers to all life's questions can be found in "The Godfather". Not as ridiculous as it sounds, because Francis Ford Coppola's masterpiece reveals something new every time you watch it.
The family that slays together, stays together, and that's certainly the case for the embattled Corleone clan. Caught up in the middle of a bloody gang war, Don Vito's doomed quest to make his family respectable is dealt a body blow when his youngest son Michael, a decorated war hero and lawyer, is inexorably sucked into a life of murder and violence.
Marlon Brando was considered box office poison when he was cast as the ageing Don, and his hamster-cheek performance launched a thousand parodies (Even Brando got in on the act, mocking himself mercilessly in "The Freshman" (1990)). His performance as Don Corleone won him an Oscar and sealed his reputation as perhaps America's greatest film actor - a claim he bolstered with "Last Tango in Paris" later that year.
Packed with more classic lines than any movie deserves to have ("I'll make him an offer he can't refuse"), "The Godfather" won an Oscar for best picture, became a world-wide smash, and marked career watersheds for James Caan and Robert Duvall.
For Al Pacino and Francis Ford Coppola, however, the best was yet to come with "The Godfather Part II" (1974), one of the few sequels to surpass the original.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/films/2000/12/15/the_godfather_1972_review.shtml
Quentin Tarantino - Inspirations for Pulp Fiction
Oscar award winning director Quentin Tarantino talking about his inspirations for his characters and settings.
Quentin Tarantino is the director of award winning thriller films. He first directed and co-wrote a movie called "My Best Friends Wedding" in 1987, however during the editing the final reel of the film was damaged in a lab fire that broke out. Tarantino's 1992 "Reservoir Dogs" was an immediate hit. "True Romance" was originally Tarantino's screenplay for "My Best Friends Wedding", "True Romance" was released in 1993. After offers from Hollywood for projects such as "Men In Black" Quentin Tarantino retreated to Amsterdam to write his script for "Pulp Fiction". Tarantino's third feature film was "Jackie Brown" an adaptation of "Rum Punch". He then planned to make a war film (inglorious bastards) but postponed it to direct "Kill Bill" with leading actress Uma Thurman. Quentin Tarantino then co-directed "Grindhouse" with Rodriguez released in 2007. Tarantino's last film he directed was "Inglorious Bastards" in summer 2009; which went on to be Tarantino's highest grossing film in both The United States and worldwide.
Femme Fatale
Femme Fatale
Femme Fatale is french for "Fatale Woman".
A femme fatale is a seductive woman who lures her lovers into dangerous or compromising situations. She uses lying or coercion to talk herself out of things. She may also be a victim (or say she is), caught in a situation where she cannot escape.
A good example of a femme fatale is Basic Instinct - Catherine Tramell: Played by Sharon Stone in both basic instinct 1 and 2. Catherine Tramell is a murder suspect and love-interest of the detective Nick Curran. She was nominated to be a member of "Best Villians" She has been said to be "One of the most evil characters to ever be created". She was also included in the best 250 fiction villian ever created.
A femme fatale is a seductive woman who lures her lovers into dangerous or compromising situations. She uses lying or coercion to talk herself out of things. She may also be a victim (or say she is), caught in a situation where she cannot escape.
A good example of a femme fatale is Basic Instinct - Catherine Tramell: Played by Sharon Stone in both basic instinct 1 and 2. Catherine Tramell is a murder suspect and love-interest of the detective Nick Curran. She was nominated to be a member of "Best Villians" She has been said to be "One of the most evil characters to ever be created". She was also included in the best 250 fiction villian ever created.
Top selling thriller films
These are examples of top selling thriller films:
"The Godfather" "The Dark Knight"
"The Godfather" "The Dark Knight"
Monday, 22 February 2010
The Sixth Sense
The Sixth Sense
Thriller research
Director: M.Night Shyamalan
Genre: Thriller, drama, mystery
Year made: 1999
Production Company: Bary Mendel Productions, Hollywood Pictures, The Kennedy/Marshall company, Spyglass Entertainment.
The Sixth Sense explores the supernatural from a humanised perspective. This thriller film ultimatley revolves around the communcation with each of the characters. The complex narrative structure confounds understanding until its very end.
1. M.Night Shyamalan immedietley uses thriller conventions. The first shot uses noir lighting. Showing a femme fatale dressed up in a formal dress and high heels walking down into a basement, an enclosed space.
2. The director uses voiceovers for important parts in the film. For example, when Dr Malcolm Crowe is talking to Cole about his pictures a voiceover is used to show Coles mother cleaning his room and finding one of his pictures with "i'll kill all you bastards" written on it in Coles writing and "someone stop the burning"
3. On the famous line "I see dead people" the camera zooms into Coles face to capture his emotions and bring the audience in to the action. This line leaves suspense and understanding to a few loose ends in the previous hour of the film.
4. M.Night Shyamalan uses a series of long shots of Dr. Malcolm Crowe throughout the film to show his progression towards the end of the film.
5. The director uses colour to signify danger. A red door handle signifys danger. Cole is wearing a red jumper when he is attacked. A red ballon floats to the top of a big staircase just before he is attacked, the ballon popping shows the danger Cole is about to face. A slow motion shot ends the scene, as Cole is carried out by his mother. This is the kind of shot you would commonly find in a war film to show grief and suspense.
6. Dr Malcolm Crowe is presented just as a normal, successful doctor or psychologist, he wears the same grey suit throughout the film and always has a good appearence.
The central character, Cole Sear is stereotyped the opposite as to what most young american boys are seen as. Cole seems somewhat intelligent and well-mannered whereas young boys are mostly always seen as a handful and out-of-control. We see this contrast with some of Coles classmates who seen to bully him and dislike him because he is 'different'. The relationship between Cole and Dr Malcolm Crowe makes Cole seem more mature in that aspect. The director presents Coles mother as a skeptic single mother who is struggling to reach out and communicate with her son, living a hectic lifestyle she seems to have little time for her son. Ultimatley creating space between her and Cole. The moment where Coles mother and the audience realise her alienation from Cole is when she realises a flicker of light in every photograph of Cole, she notices that it isnt normal. This point is enhanced by the diegetic music that his mother is listening to through her headphones, this looks like she is choosing to be seperate from the rest of the world, this is in contrast with the reality as the subject matter in this scene is very important.
7. The demographic user ratings for this film is "males under 18" and "aged under 18" both at 8.6%. The director has inadvertently appealed to this demographic by his story line, the way Cole plays with his toy soldiers and hides in his den which is his "safe zone" it is also young people or young males that would have an imagination like Coles or believe they have had encounters with the supernatural. The casting is alsp appealing to this demographic as both of the main characters are male and Bruce Willis is a male movie icon who is famous for starring in action films which is also appealing to this demographic.
8. The target audience is male and is aimed at a mainstream audience, however it is way more niche than that. This target audience may also enjoy "What lies beneath" because of its supernatural element to the plot. The stylistic features of both films are similar, such as the minimal characters and emphasis on contact with the supernatural. It was made and produced at the same time, possibly competing with the sixth sense.
9. The Sixth Sense has an unexpected twist and the audience is shocked by the outcome. This is in contrast with modern thrillers such as: "Pulp Fiction"
Thriller research
Director: M.Night Shyamalan
Genre: Thriller, drama, mystery
Year made: 1999
Production Company: Bary Mendel Productions, Hollywood Pictures, The Kennedy/Marshall company, Spyglass Entertainment.
The Sixth Sense explores the supernatural from a humanised perspective. This thriller film ultimatley revolves around the communcation with each of the characters. The complex narrative structure confounds understanding until its very end.
1. M.Night Shyamalan immedietley uses thriller conventions. The first shot uses noir lighting. Showing a femme fatale dressed up in a formal dress and high heels walking down into a basement, an enclosed space.
2. The director uses voiceovers for important parts in the film. For example, when Dr Malcolm Crowe is talking to Cole about his pictures a voiceover is used to show Coles mother cleaning his room and finding one of his pictures with "i'll kill all you bastards" written on it in Coles writing and "someone stop the burning"
3. On the famous line "I see dead people" the camera zooms into Coles face to capture his emotions and bring the audience in to the action. This line leaves suspense and understanding to a few loose ends in the previous hour of the film.
4. M.Night Shyamalan uses a series of long shots of Dr. Malcolm Crowe throughout the film to show his progression towards the end of the film.
5. The director uses colour to signify danger. A red door handle signifys danger. Cole is wearing a red jumper when he is attacked. A red ballon floats to the top of a big staircase just before he is attacked, the ballon popping shows the danger Cole is about to face. A slow motion shot ends the scene, as Cole is carried out by his mother. This is the kind of shot you would commonly find in a war film to show grief and suspense.
6. Dr Malcolm Crowe is presented just as a normal, successful doctor or psychologist, he wears the same grey suit throughout the film and always has a good appearence.
The central character, Cole Sear is stereotyped the opposite as to what most young american boys are seen as. Cole seems somewhat intelligent and well-mannered whereas young boys are mostly always seen as a handful and out-of-control. We see this contrast with some of Coles classmates who seen to bully him and dislike him because he is 'different'. The relationship between Cole and Dr Malcolm Crowe makes Cole seem more mature in that aspect. The director presents Coles mother as a skeptic single mother who is struggling to reach out and communicate with her son, living a hectic lifestyle she seems to have little time for her son. Ultimatley creating space between her and Cole. The moment where Coles mother and the audience realise her alienation from Cole is when she realises a flicker of light in every photograph of Cole, she notices that it isnt normal. This point is enhanced by the diegetic music that his mother is listening to through her headphones, this looks like she is choosing to be seperate from the rest of the world, this is in contrast with the reality as the subject matter in this scene is very important.
7. The demographic user ratings for this film is "males under 18" and "aged under 18" both at 8.6%. The director has inadvertently appealed to this demographic by his story line, the way Cole plays with his toy soldiers and hides in his den which is his "safe zone" it is also young people or young males that would have an imagination like Coles or believe they have had encounters with the supernatural. The casting is alsp appealing to this demographic as both of the main characters are male and Bruce Willis is a male movie icon who is famous for starring in action films which is also appealing to this demographic.
8. The target audience is male and is aimed at a mainstream audience, however it is way more niche than that. This target audience may also enjoy "What lies beneath" because of its supernatural element to the plot. The stylistic features of both films are similar, such as the minimal characters and emphasis on contact with the supernatural. It was made and produced at the same time, possibly competing with the sixth sense.
9. The Sixth Sense has an unexpected twist and the audience is shocked by the outcome. This is in contrast with modern thrillers such as: "Pulp Fiction"
Thursday, 4 February 2010
Audience Research
How do you find out about film releases? How do you view films?
How do you view films?
1. Gender: Male
Age: 16
Answer: I normally download recent films off the internet because they're too expensive to buy or rent.
2. Gender: Female
Age: 19
Answer: I just watch the films that are on television at the time. I dont have time to go to the cinema.
3. Gender: Female
Age: 21
Answer: Sometimes i rent films or buy cheap ones from the shop. I occasionally go to the cinema if i hear a good film is out, i will make the effort to go and see it if it's worth it
Where do you find out about film releases?
1. Gender: Male
Age: 18
Answer: Mostly adverts on television or just off friends
2. Gender: Female
Age: 23
Answer: From posters advertising the film mostly, i dont really watch many films anymore. I only ever hear of the big breakthrough films.
3. Gender: Male
Age: 14
Answer: Off the internet or on television when an advert comes on. I always see posters around the city telling you to watch this new film. its intriguing so i must go and see it.
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