From 18 to U: When Famous Directors Turn Family Friendly Olivia Luder November 13, 2015 Analysis, Close-Up, Features “We're kids, not monsters,” Carmen Cortez declares in Robert Rodriguez’s family friendly epic Spy Kids 2. But crazy scientist Dr Romero just doesn’t get it: “What's the difference?” he...
The Story of Primer – The Best Sci-Fi You Haven’t Seen Tom Bond August 19, 2015 Analysis, Close-Up, Features The middle of the summer blockbuster season seems an appropriate time to look back at a film which rebelled against so many of that genre’s defining traits. 10 years ago, Shane Carruth’s sci-fi Primer was...
The Return of the Classic Spy Movie Phil W. Bayles August 12, 2015 Analysis, Close-Up, Features “Nowadays they're all a little serious for my tastes… Give me a far-fetched, theatrical plot any day.” Watching a suave, besuited Colin Firth decimate a church full of bigots to the sounds of Lynyrd...
Who is Stephen Greene, and Did He Really Direct Accidental Love? Bertie Archer June 17, 2015 Analysis, Close-Up, Features Accidental Love stars Jake Gyllenhaal, Jessica Biel, James Marsden and Tracy Morgan, yet it is directed by an unknown. This isn’t unheard of; even in 2014 Hollywood was rocked by a first time director with a...
Rosewater – In Focus Bertie Archer May 12, 2015 Analysis, Close-Up, Features Jon Stewart. You know, that guy from Big Daddy? The voice of Zeebad in the Magic Roundabout movie, Doogal? He played himself in several films too, like The Adjustment Bureau. Still nothing? You’d be...
It’s Complicated: The Ongoing Battle Between Social Media And Film David Brake April 29, 2015 Analysis, Close-Up, Features You’ve Got Mail is one of the best films about social media. Apparently. Going further down this list, at number eight, it’s Tron, and holding up the middle is The Matrix. As you’ve already gathered,...
Love And Race In Samson and Delilah Ellena Zellhuber-McMillan April 24, 2015 Analysis, Close-Up, Features "I have only questions," stated director Warwick Thornton when asked by Sight and Sound about his 2009 Camera d'Or-winning feature film debut, Samson and Delilah. It is not surprising, given the film’s...
The Age of Ultron and Hollywood’s Expansion into Asia Andrew Daley April 23, 2015 Analysis, Close-Up, Features The upcoming release of Avengers: Age of Ultron heralds a change in the mindset of Western cinema, a breath of fresh air for Hollywood as they dust off the time-worn unwritten rules of film and turn their...
A History of Disney Princesses – How Have They Changed? Tori Brazier April 7, 2015 Analysis, Close-Up, Features Disney is an institution synonymous with princesses. They are the owners of a mammoth marketing and merchandising machine that has seen their heroines make regular (and often overwhelming) appearances at any...
The Show Must Go On: When Actors Die During Production Daniel Orton April 3, 2015 Analysis, Close-Up, Features What do Oliver Reed, Brandon Lee, Natalie Wood and Paul Walker all have in common? The answer to that rather macabre pub quiz question is that all of them are examples of actors who have died during production...
Inside Brick, Rian Johnson’s Neo-Noir Masterpiece Ellena Zellhuber-McMillan March 27, 2015 Analysis, Close-Up, Features When writing his review of Brick for Rolling Stone, Peter Travers stated that the film’s director, Rian Johnson, ‘risked ridicule’ by setting his neo-noir in a high school. Arguably, the bigger risk was...
What Are You Looking At: A New Age of Aspect Ratios? Tom Bond March 25, 2015 Analysis, Close-Up, Features 1 Comment What are you looking at? A laptop, a tablet, a smartphone? Whatever you’re reading these words on, it’s probably a rectangle, framing the text and the images and this article in a standard space. This...
The Culinary Craft Of Jiro Dreams Of Sushi Nick Evan-Cook March 5, 2015 Analysis, Close-Up, Features Kaizen noun: A Japanese philosophy of continuous improvement based on making incremental positive changes on a regular basis. An interesting and admirable concept – one for which there is no close...
Selma, Bond and Race: Examining Hollywood’s “Invisible White Men” Madeline Joint March 1, 2015 Analysis, Close-Up, Features 1 Comment The Oscars: a night to celebrate the film industry’s “best and whitest.” Thanks Neil Patrick Harris, you hit the nail on the head - but frankly the issue deserves a little more than a cheap pun....
Love Lives of Supporting Characters: It’s Not All About Harry and Sally Olivia Luder February 14, 2015 Analysis, Close-Up, Features 1 Comment It’s Valentine’s Day: the perfect time to catalogue the most iconic couples in all their romantic glory. But for most of us, coupled up or not, Valentine’s never quite seems to live up to the movie...
