Tag archives for Movies
Dunkirk – A different sort of war movie [movie review]
I went to see Dunkirk with my 11 year old son last week. I'd read some reviews beforehand and chose the IMAX version. It's an amazing movie that I think will bear watching again. I'll try to avoid spoilers. Dunkirk English: Royal Navy gunner covering the troops retreat at Dunkirk (France, 1940). Screenhot taken from the 1943 United States Army propaganda film Divide and Conquer (Why We Fight #3) directed by Frank Capra and partially based on, news archives, animations, restaged scenes and captured propaganda material from both sides. (Photo credit: Wikipedia) The movie focuses on three stories, one on Land (over a week), one on the Sea (a day) and in the Air (an hour). The three stories are very personal perspectives and are interwoven, coming together near the end of the movie. There's no overview, or explanation of…
Horror Movies – What Makes Them Properly Scary?
The Blair Witch Project (Photo credit: Wikipedia) On the way to school this morning Alexander was asking me what makes the Blair Witch Project a scary horror movie. He hasn't seen Blair Witch, but he has read the article on the sequel in the current Empire magazine. Ever since he has been obsessed about knowing how the Blair Witch Project went. Horror or Splatter? One of the things we talked about was whether or not you really need lots of blood and gore in a horror movie. There's certainly a visceral horror in seeing injured or dismembered people. But it is quite hard to get it right. We're good at understanding that it isn't real. If we don't think it is real then we cannot be truly terrified. Gore in a horror movie is like slapstick in a comedy. It…
Ghostbusters new movie review
Logo used by the "Ghostbusters" in the film (Photo credit: Wikipedia) Alexander and I went to see the new Ghostbusters movie the other week. It was a very civilised experience in the Reigate Everyman cinema. It even featured bespoke sundaes made in glass jars. The best bit was definitely the movie though. New Ghostbusters or Original? The new movie is most definitely not a remake of the original. It takes the same basic premise and brings it firmly into the 21st century. The movie itself is pretty straightforward, we get what we expect, in that there's a bit of action and some spectacular effects. However the case is an all female group, which I think makes it a better movie, for social reasons as much as how it gives a new angle to make fun. The team are all slightly social outcasts,…
Film Review: Jurassic World
Immediately after the Don't Panic megagame I took my nine year old son Alexander to see Jurassic World at the cinema. We saw the 3D version (although I don't think that the 3D added anything to the experience). I wasn't expecting it to be a fantastic movie from a story/plot/realism perspective. Jurassic World is the fourth in the Jurassic Park franchise, and some of the earlier ones were a bit ropey. I couldn't quite see how any government would license a dinosaur park given the mistakes of the previous attempts, especially the last one that set a T Rex loose in a major American city. The movie worked though. It paid homage to the previous movies and acknowledged the need for absolute safety. It also showed a lot of safety measures as background too. It also showed the science having…
#ExplainAFilmPlotBadly my tweets
This twitter trend piqued my interest this morning and helped me avoid dealing with my end of module assessment for B120. Anyway here is my contribution to the infinite monkeys. If you think you recognise them feel free to reply on twitter. Related articles What I Did With My Post-Event Time Last Night Victor Ganata: I haven't seen any #ExplainAFilmPlotBadly posts that top this description of "The Wizard of Oz", though: "Transported to a surreal landscape, a young girl kills the first person she meets and then teams up with three strangers to kill again Guardians of the Galaxy Chaos Monkeys Explain a Film Plot Badly: Best 'Worst' Movie Descriptions - #explainafilmplotbadly Goes Viral Infinite Monkey Copyright Theory