the big punch ( 1948 film )
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you read correctly: gareth evans has proved that the expendables are big girls .
in his big - screen breakthrough, sam shepard delivers tenderness, ferocity, and the quiet expressiveness of a silent film star .
“the customer was a big, monolithic brunette, sloppily dressed and with a face like an arrested cyclone. ”
haven’t seen this movie but have watched the kevin costner version. the knock - out punch in the end had me reeling for days altogether .
so now, after nearly two years, i have finally read the big clock, and liked it a lot. we also have purchased our own copy of the film the big clock which we will be watching soon. i guess i will have to give no way out a try also
another masterpiece from john huston, the tension rarely lets up in this fantastic film. with great performances from the whole cast and an ending that packs a punch on noir goodness .
did for the found footage genre, this sorry excuse of a film should never have made it past the drawing board. it found itself on the big screen mainly because it has
blood punch is currently without a distributor, which will hopefully be remedied soon because genre fans need this movie in their eyeballs, asap .
hamlet
( 1948). one of the most revered versions of one of shakespeare' s most famous plays. the film is the only straight adaptation to win the oscar for best picture, and laurence olivier is the only man to win best director and best actor for the same film .
there are no big budgets or special effects at work here - the twists and turns of the crafty script suffice and the lack of artifice means the spectator truly believes in the technology and the characters .
the big clock (1948) director: john farrow producer: richard maibaum screenplay: jonathan latimer cinematography: john f. seitz art direction: hans dreier, roland anderson, albert nozaki music: victor young cast: ray milland, charles laughton, george macready, maureen o’sullivan, elsa lanchester, rita johnson, harry morgan, dan tobin
uk smart girls don' t talk (1948) - warner smart money (1931) - dvd warner us smash - up (1947) - dvd alpha us snake pit, the (1948) - dvd 20th century fox us sniper, the (1952) - dvd columbia us snorkel, the (1958) - dvd columbia us snowbound (1948) - rko / universal so dark the night (1946) - columbia so evil my love (1949) - paramount tcm... aka for her to see so long at the fair (1950) - rank
thanks neeru – i love the twist at the end of no way out though some people feel utterly betrayed by it. having said that, it is no equivalent on the original bool (nor the 1948 movie )
darkly comedic with a seriously warped set of sensibilities, blood punch takes us down the road to hell, which here is paved with blood and meth (with some peyote as a stiff chaser). it’s fun as hell and smart enough to pull all the right moves without rubbing its twists in your face. there’s a film noir from 1948 called road house (no relation to the swayze throat ripper) about a violent love triangle that implodes at a secluded cabin. blood punch reminded me a bit of that classic, but in broad daylight with a twilight zone affection for screwing with our minds. it’s a helluva trip .
the film itself can be divided into three sections. the first is basically kubrick’s
this alternative account is one that writes journalism and the journalist back into the trajectories of the cinema, and into the terms of any understanding of the development of an aesthetic education in the cinema. slessor in smith’s is not, of course, the film criticism of the serious stand alone film magazine then coming into being in london with sight and sound (1932) or its first australian equivalents – monthly film guide (1948) and film monthly (1949) – that would emerge a decade and a half later. while it would be tempting to see these kinds of film - specific, film - world publications as inaugurating a trajectory that takes us to film studies via the british film institute, urban repertory cinemas, film festivals, film societies, and associations like the worker’s education association (wea), this would be inaccurate. by providing a dedicated space in a generalist context for the extended consideration and study of film, and by having this work conducted by a named man of letters of considerable standing and ability, smith’s created a space for film appreciation and therefore film education that these publications and practices built upon. [ 71 ]
i missed this. or at least missed commenting, because i remember asking my husband about it. great post about the book and the movie and i will definitely read the book someday. and i have put the big clock on the netflix queue .
this georgian film, shot in black and white and with predominantly french dialogue, is not an easy film to ‘enjoy’. it did however wow critics upon its release, winning best first feature film at the venice festival in 2005 and the best world film at sundance in 2006 .
unfortunately, these bonus points don’t save the train wreck that is this film .
hawks has given story a staccato pace in the development, using long stretches of dialogless action and then whipping in fast talk between characters. this helps to punch home high spots of suspense, particularly in latter half of picture .
-
the best way to enjoy this romp of a film is to let go and let oneself be emerged in the world, like baby doll when she enters her own mind. it delivers an ambitious sucker punch for style and execution but unfortunately, the film resembles a wet firework when it comes to plot, as if the whole product never fully gels together to give a completely satisfying whole. still, no one was expecting
fearing supported his main work as a poet by producing pulp fiction (under various guises, including as by ‘kirk wolff’) as well as the crime novels under his own name for which he is known best today. the big clock was his greatest hit and sold immediately to the movies, becoming the fine film noir of the same title released in 1948 (see below). as with all his novels it uses several first person narrators, though the voice that predominates here is that of george stroud, its highly flawed central protagonist who has to fight his way out of a web partly of his own devising .
the film’s form is also a bold move: andrew is the linchpin not only as the main driver of the narrative but also because the audience members see the events of the film unravel through his camera (for the most part) .
the newspaper claims the film shows “a new, introspective side of the british agent” and added that the film
does not lack any of the classic ingredients which have made james bond a legend – the title credits song, adrenalin pumping action, amazing hyper - realistic chases, exotic locations, extremely beautiful bond girls, the usual super villain and the essential vodka martini .
the paper summed up by saying that
nothing will ever be the same again on the big screen for james bond .
, with a flawless last act that will make you want to watch it all over again. all in all, jones is fast becoming christopher nolan’s young apprentice in the art of making big studio films with brains. (trailer below )
therein lies the strength of the film: there is beauty in the breakdown, as frou frou would say .
, the winner of this year’s palme d’or at the cannes film festival. putting aside all award accomplishments, my partner in crime and i were quite excited about this film .
according to the wince - inducing promotional blurbs surrounding the film, most unforgivably the tagline “the world’s most beloved and acclaimed film”, it took 300 computer artists over a year (longer than it took the original film to shoot) to convert the original 1997 release into 3d format. $ 18 million was spent in this post - conversion and the release coincides with the film’s 15th anniversary and the actual disaster’s 100th anniversary .
salinger never wanted one when he was alive. a letter to a hollywood producer in 1957 makes it plain. noting it' s a
very novelistic novel
, with the bulk of the book taking place inside holden caulfield' s head, salinger admitted what was left could, theoretically, be transferred to the big screen, but that the idea was
odious enough to keep me from selling the rights
. he' d already been burnt by 1949' s my foolish heart – a critical flop based on his 1948 short story uncle wiggily in connecticut .
future learning and skills – giving everyone the opportunity to build a lifelong relationship with film .
this is only the opening weekend. expect numbers to spike when the film opens in the us on 9 november .
the image of the blood - splattered bride and her chainsaw is an iconic one and may ultimately save the film .
slessor’s context slessor’s film criticism did not emerge in a vacuum. his work in the film pages at smith’s weekly was a continuation and extension of emerging trends in film reviewing in general interest publications, which he took in new directions and to new heights. its film pages were shaped not only by smith’s broad routines, practices and commitments but also by the newspaper’s adjusting, reformatting and extending the practices of film reviewing and reporting of competitor publications. smith’s consolidated a new form of newspaper film criticism in australia that featured longer reviews, extended film coverage, and distinctive, identifiable critical voices .
slessor started his journalistic career at the sydney sun in 1919 where film was being foregrounded as one of that newspaper’s points of difference with competitors. the sun ran extensive coverage of film releases under the page heading “’the moving row of magic shadow shapes’ – omar khayyam”. by 1926 egyptianate art - deco trappings along the lines of picture palace architecture visually complemented and framed the film writing. [ 18 ] from the sun, slessor was lured to melbourne in 1924 as chief sub - editor for punch magazine [ 19 ] where he was exposed to further generalist publications, weeklies crucially, that also covered the cinema in a dedicated fashion. [ 20 ] slessor returned to sydney in 1927 to take up his post at smith’s weekly. slessor brought with him from melbourne an experience of film coverage that consisted of a fairly stabilised language and style of film reviews: about a paragraph in length; in a film and theatre section with dedicated sub - sections for each; and cordoned off from the coverage of other amusements. [ 21 ] this film criticism still repeated the rhetorical form of the theatre review in that it was principally concerned with performances and, most particularly, notable moments of acting performance in a film. however, this form provided slessor with the basis to build a specific “film as film” type of film criticism upon formally assuming charge of smith’s film pages in early 1931 .
the film is also genuinely poignant at times, which is rare. in the pixar and dreamworks classics (
pushed the bar with some inspirational choices towards the end of the film… compared, the third [ rec ] feels a smidge lazy .
tintin creator hergé famously said before he died that only spielberg could do justice to his intrepid reporter. this was based on the belgian artist having seen the first indian jones installment. has the beard done the bequiffed reporter justice or should have the boy reporter have stayed on the page, not needing another big screen stint? *
her last feature film was the fourth angel (2001) starring jeremy irons and forest whitaker .
alumni damon lindelof focusing on not goiving - up the film’s second half? without a doubt .
richard jewel,' rko film grosses: 1931 - 1951', historical journal of film radio and television, vol 14 no 1, 1994 p. 57 .
: known for directing adaptations of shakespeare on film, apparently (david knows about that stuff, so check his piece downward). the only other film of his i’ve seen is
can screenwriters change the course of film history? the work of key kurosawa collaborator shinobu hashimoto proves they can .
chuck jones' s' rabbit punch' is a great cartoon in which bugs is drawn into a boxing match with the champ (later redubbed the crusher in the far inferior wrestling - based sequel' bunny hugged') and ends up going 110 rounds with him, each round escalating in its levels of violence until finally bugs finds himself tied to a train track! a fast paced, beautifully orchestrated cartoon which eventually turns into a series of unusual spot - gags,' rabbit punch' is full of great sequences, the best being bugs' s grease - assisted ice skating routine which is abruptly ended by a glove to the head. there' s also a famous ending in which bugs admits psychical defeat by resorting to tampering with the very cartoon itself. unlike the lifeless follow - up' bunny hugged',' rabbit punch' is filled with invention and moves along at a fast lick, making it an enormously enjoyable short .
harrison' s reports film review; july 25, 1936, p. 119 .
film noir guide: 745 films of the classic era, 1940 - 1959 by michael f. keaney
such close reading of films is uncommon in the reviews of the day, and slessor’s attention to film style, his ability to recall and record pro - filmic detail and envelop the reader in the film’s specificities, is strikingly singular .
much ado about nothing
( 1993). kenneth branagh beat whedon to the punch at adapting this comedy and set a pretty decent bar, receiving a warm reception from critics. it had quite the ensemble cast with branagh, emma thompson, denzel washington, keanu reeves and a young kate beckinsale in starring roles .
is a superhero film, yes, but not a stupid one. it feels important .
this combination of activities and level of sustained attention allowed slessor and smith’s to innovate in film criticism, providing a much more extensive and multifaceted engagement with film than had hitherto been undertaken. as the sample of film criticism represented in this issue of screening the past shows, slessor cultivated a distinctive critical persona with a national reach. part of this was the promulgation of smith’s film grading scales, which were used to not only rate individual films, but also to survey the year in film, measuring cinema’s progress in realizing the possibilities of sound cinema. [ 8 ] he also extended the newspaper’s existing “media watch” functions to the smith’s film pages, providing a running commentary of film criticism in print media that highlighted wherever possible the inadequacy of smith’s rivals. [ 9 ]
nevertheless, the monster is not the focus and ultimately, we come to realize, never the point of the film. it is the famous hitchcockian macguffin: it keeps the narrative going, but ultimately, the film is about the kids, their relationships and their journey to…. well, puberty. like
to finally draw this to a conclusion, it must be said that it’ll be essential to view the series as a whole, much like the books. the big picture is stunning from a literary point of view and if the filmmakers play their cards right, the saga should trump the pubescent wizard and the mopey vampires. all they need to do now is to secure gary ross and his team for
chuck stephens is a columnist for film comment and cinema scope. he lives in los angeles .
go to, kind reader, and see this film. you’ll be fascinated, frustrated and something else that begins in ‘f’ that would imply how much you need to see ben wheatley’s film .
… seriously, i could go on…), here is how i’ll remember 2011 in film .
if it wasn’t for the sharp dialogue and the wonderful design, this film could have been slightly average. as it stands ,
moroni olsen as john knox. olsen was the only member of the film' s cast to repeat his original stage role .
introduction australian film critics have not been well represented either by australian film studies, or by australian letters, the two branches of scholarship we might expect to attend to them. while a number of film critics are featured in that compendium of notable australians, the australian dictionary of biography (adb), [ 2 ] in many entries film criticism is mentioned sparingly, sublimated to the writer’s other achievements in letters. [ 3 ] australia’s first wave of significant film critics, who came to prominence in the 1930s – beatrice tildesley, erle cox, josephine o’neill, and kenneth slessor – are now with the exception of o’neill not usually remembered as film critics. [ 4 ] in the case of kenneth slessor there is no mention whatsoever of film criticism in his adb entry. moreover there is no film criticism collected in the anthologies of slessor’s journalism, and there is scant mention of film criticism in the oral histories and biographies that cover his journalistic life. [ 5 ] it is ironic that, of any of these names, slessor’s film criticism in particular should be so neglected. as we will show in this article, slessor has a compelling claim to being australia’s first great film critic .
the retro feel of the film is heavily accentuated, to the extent tarantino would lap it up and ask for more. the italic pink neon lettering and the pulsing 80’s synth pop wraps up the film and creates a chilling and almost nostalgic (also in reference to the good old nameless heroes, à la
... film contains the sharpest, toughest, wittiest, sexiest dialogue ever written for detective film... hawks perfectly conveys chandler' s corrosive yet enticing los angeles .
- danny peary ,
the film plays with the audience, who know the unavoidable revenge is coming, but never quite sure what form it’ll take, if indeed the plan is executed .
the main part is, in my opinion, flawless. in fact, if one were to scrap the first and third parts of the film ,
this domain was not fully realized, but aesthetically developing and dynamically unfolding. in these circumstances it was the critic’s task to chart, evaluate and judge against the yardstick – indeed to set the yardstick – of what it might and should be. slessor’s criticism proposed the film critic as one knowledgeable about and firmly situated in the film world, understanding film as film. while slessor later positioned himself as a “man of letters” through his book reviewing, literary criticism and public lectures, his first effort in this regard – his film criticism – was perhaps his most significant. here he extended literary journalism into film criticism to create a new comportment that we would later call a cineaste .
first seen soaking in a tub while chomping on a cigar, robinson arises from the water to put a stranglehold on the film .
this film by gus van sant, inspired by the 1999 columbine shootings, won the palm d’or at cannes but remains nevertheless understated .
the tomatometer score — based on the opinions of hundreds of film and television critics — is a trusted measurement of critical recommendation for millions of fans. it represents the percentage of professional critic reviews that are positive for a given film or television show .
called the film
a splendidly powerful drama
with a
sincere, intelligent and genuine
performance by hepburn .
a panda has a kung - fu film… now, a lizard has a spaghetti western. gore verb
/ bond and introduce a new actor as jason bourne or set the events of the fourth film in almost perfect concurrence with the third film, thereby introducing a new agent and leaving the door wide open for damon to crash back into action when his little heart desires .
milo’s first hint that things are way, way off is when he awakes to find a video of himself he doesn’t remember recording in which he chops two of his fingers off. but milo has all his fingers? blood punch is full of reality distorting moments like this, but it never feels like writer eddie guzelian is trying to outsmart us or yelling “gotcha! ” in our faces. as wild as the story gets, it flows very organically. the only instance where it feels like they’re maybe getting too absurd is when their drug buyer is introduced. blood punch sharply veers off its course there. however, considering how much it’s played with our expectations up to this point, it’s easy to overlook the craziness of this scene .
) and arrival on the planet are the best parts of the film, due to the weighty implications that lie ahead and the general stylistic elegance. this is also what elevates the first half to greatness :
on the disney channel, oh no. it’s a twisted and clever film that’s been kicking much ass on the festival circuit and just last week it damn near blew the roof off of the screening i caught at the mile high horror film festival. it’s like a supernatural film noir on meth, with heaps of dark humor and a madcap edge that cuts deep. and as its name suggests ,
first and foremost this concluding chapter was one gargantuan task, a film awaited with much anticipation. the previous chapter was the prelude to the trial and a mildly tedious one at that. this second one needed to deliver the goods: the characters needed to find the horcruxes, use the deathly hallows, save the school, cry for fallen friends, defeat the dark lord and most importantly, snog. all of this with punch, pomp and pyrotechnics, without forgetting that not only does the book have its comic, emotional and creepy moments, but it’s also the last one. making a pig’s ear of this film would end 14 years of potter mania on a very sour note. over to you, mr director, and best of luck .
slessor’s reviews as the limited selection of film reviews following this article demonstrate, slessor’s film criticism was exemplary not only by the standards of its day, but by contemporary standards. even next to his most able contemporaries, slessor impresses with his insight and film literacy. the reviews reference the dynamics of film production and made note of the key contributors to the film text. they foreground scriptwriters, such as anita loos, producers, such as cecil b. demille and, most strikingly, recognized the quality of the directors of the 1930s that cineastes would later claim as their own: alfred hitchcock, frank capra, ernst lubitsch, josef von sternberg, and leo mccarey. these directors were recognized as making particular distinctive contributions in the course of unfolding film oeuvres. for instance, here is slessor on the merry widow :
this film could potentially be career / franchise - ending move. on the other hand, it could set a precedent of epic proportions, kicking every past action / superhero film very hard in the gonads. the dice were rolled and the finishing result could not be more exciting :
furthermore, the film has registered the biggest march debut in history and become lionsgate' s highest - grossing movie. all in the space of a weekend .
period), is the emotional focus and the catalyst for division when it comes to friendships. his character also represents a pivotal point for the film’s success :
scarring. the tension is overwhelming and the creature reveal is terrifying. marshall’s film is also very bleak, so much so that there had to have an alternate ending for the american market, who couldn’t hack the bold finale. this is arguably one of the scariest films on the list. scratch that – this is the scariest film on the list .
huw walmsley - evans was recently awarded his phd from the school of english, media studies and art history at the university of queensland. his thesis is titled “crisis and continuity: film criticism as a cultural institution”. he is the essays editor of online film criticism magazine
the use of the hymn“leaning on the everlasting arms” throughout is moving and goes to show that nothing is ever left to chance when it comes to a coen film .
an interview with writer / director boots riley about his incendiary new film ,
sorry to bother you .
this well - constructed film has a clear narrative framework: three chapters and a prologue. however, one of
y are ugly buggly. this norwegian film about three university students who discover a government conspiracy to cover - up
. new york: wid' s films and film folk, inc. : 2 july 27, 1936 .
. new york: wid' s films and film folk, inc. : 7 july 24, 1936 .
is one of the key hollywood features of 1947, the year film noir flooded the screen like a ruptured reservoir of india ink. adapted from the popular crime novel by dorothy hughes ,
are, it teaches two valuable lessons. the first: don’t let the abundant marketing overshadow the feature film. second: in space, no one can hear you kill the scriptwriters .
so, on the year britain has celebrated the queen’s diamond jubilee, hosted its first olympic games since 1948 and celebrated the release of the beatles’ first single (for the heathen out there, it’s ‘love me do’), it seems only apt that a landmark institution such as bond should turn half a century. expectations have been suitably high, with an imposed four year hiatus since the last film due to mgm’s financial woes. these have pushed back the start of the production and threatened craig’s third turn, much like what happened to the underrated timothy dalton, who didn’t get to do his contracted third outing due to legal issues, landing the bond franchise into a six long bondless years. added to the legal kerfuffle is the previous outing, the rushed
yet a voiceover does run the risk of that ultimate nightmare: catcher in the rye meets the wonder years. but who, then? a good alternative might be paul thomas anderson. with punch drunk love and there will be blood, he' s shown he can paint complicated main characters while saying very little. even spike jonze must be worth a try, fresh from adapting another coming - of - age classic in where the wild things are .
however, the 3d isn’t the appeal – the film wasn’t originally shot with it in mind. more than anything, seeing this film in 2012 reminded me of the fact i was 12 years old when it was first released… my sister and my mum had seen it before me. i was smuggled into
put simply, it’s just not good enough and a decent film about the murky and layered world of finance is hard to find .
one or two scenes could make you jump, but this film focuses more on the human story and what eli is really after .
sound cinema and a film critic in a film world the achievement of smith’s film pages and slessor’s criticism is inseparable from its response to the era’s major media transformation: the transition from silent to sound cinema. slessor’s time at smith’s weekly coincided exactly with this transition, from 1927 onwards. slessor was acutely aware of the significance of what he was witnessing, and sought to explicate its importance for a wide audience. he considered himself not only to be passing judgment on the cinema of the day, but to be witnessing the rebirth of the cinema, or the birth of a new kind of cinema; nothing less than the emergence of a new art form. for slessor the sound cinema constituted an aesthetic revolution that required new critical terms, both in language and engagement. the notion that the sound cinema represented film’s finally coming into its own is what warranted the attention slessor and smith’s lavished on the cinema: the extended criticism, the coverage of the film industry and cinema’s public uptake, and the formation of the office of the film critic as a particular kind of expert .
now we get to m. biggest plaudits go to judi dench, who takes on the role of bond girl / woman in this film. it’s no accident that the previously mentioned bond girls are slightly sidelined: at the heart of the film is m and the dysfunctional tripod which reveals her relationship with bond and silva .
every now and then, a film comes along that is as enticing as the thought of susan boyle naked… in the snow…while being repeatedly stabbed with syringes .
producer guillermo del toro and also manages to do that rarest of things for a horror film: it moves us .
this is surprisingly staid for a huston film. still, the top - notch cast punches it across, and the swirling storm raging outside the hotel provides an interesting backdrop .
the uniqueness and the way everything fits perfectly together makes it look like it fell ready - made into the director’s lap. such seamlessness is rarely achieved, and rarely expected within the animation genre, which people see as meant for kids. not this film. this isn’t a kids’ film with bits for adults thrown in, but rather a film for adults with child - like undertones (for an even harder hitter, we recommend
alfred hitchcock called “rope” an “experiment that didn’t work out, ” and he was happy to see it kept out of release for most of three decades. he was correct that it didn’t work out, but “rope” remains one of the most interesting experiments ever attempted by a major director working with big box - office names, and it’s worth seeing this week during its revival at the fine arts theaters .
boasts an eye - watering cast, making this newest adventure the closest any bond film has come to an ensemble piece. in fact ,
( here’s one poster for every shit wedding film pun i just did – the social network rip - off is definitely my favourite. )
not a very long review if you haven’t seen the film, huh? well, get on it. your fault, not mine .
conclusion it is customary in film studies (as in other arts disciplines) to keep journalism at a distance when considering criticism. film studies tends to want to see criticism as something other and more than the “mere journalism” of the film review. [ 70 ] from this vantage, slessor’s claim to significant film criticism is all the more specious given that it came packaged with various forms of non - criticism: journalistic reports and op - ed pieces; satire and light verse; and black and white illustration. but rather than finding something else to call it, we need an alternative aesthetic account that can admit slessor’s film criticism and reconcile the elaborated responses that accompanied it .
is what a blockbuster should feel like and somehow, along the way, this ethos of sorts has been lost. abrams has delivered a bold film with swagger and, crucially, soul, a film which will go down as a rightful neighbour to classics like
considering the fact that a film can be a poor adaptation but a nonetheless a decent film, and sometimes even vice versa, it’s a creative everest for a director and creative team. the film can be too faithful, lacking the creative backbone due to its shackles linked to the source material, or it can be too far removed from the original book, a travesty that many fans will refuse to accept. a good adaptation is hard to come by .
from the moment they arrive at the cabin, russell sets milo on edge – explaining how much he adores guns and admitting he knows milo and skyler knocked boots in rehab (awkward !). from this point forward, blood punch makes you second guess everything you thought you already had figured out. russell is not as dumb as he seems, skyler is not as one - dimensional as she seems, milo is not getting played the way he seems, and the cabin is not what it seems. the film frequently toys with your expectations like a kid in a sandbox – building little structures then smashing them up .
to his credit, whether it’s the production, the sets or the costumes, everything looks great. the rest of the film however is rather dull. it’s not that a family - orientated burton is a bad thing :
but slessor’s engagement with the cinema extended beyond film criticism. he improvised a film journalism – which had previously been the province of trade publications – for a general readership. this allowed slessor the scope to comment on everything from the state of the australian film industry to the pettiness of australian censorship. [ 10 ] slessor also encouraged smith’s readership, the films’ audiences, to talk about the cinema. he actively elicited and published feedback and comment from his readership both on films and on his own film criticism. [ 11 ] slessor’s and smith’s film coverage also had a more playful or poetic register, treating film in light verse and other forms of written satire. [ 12 ] this verse was accompanied by, and accompanied, black - and - white drawings of cinema stars and scenarios. these diverse practices participated in, but also took a critical distance from the industry and celebrity gossip culture of the trade publications, fan magazines and the “women’s pages” .
a disillusioned man of faith is called upon for an exorcism, accompanied by a film crew, invited by the minister in order to chronicle the proceedings. refreshingly ,
’s fate: kubrick’s film is now considered a masterpiece, yet at the time, the outcry against it and criticisms where abundant. time will tell ...
while australians of a certain age might know of kenneth slessor – either as australia’s foremost modernist poet, as a prolific journalist and writer of light verse in australian newspapers, or as the official second world war correspondent – few know that kenneth slessor was australia’s foremost film critic between the wars. [ 6 ] film criticism was central to slessor’s tenure as a journalist at the popular and populist independent national weekly newspaper, smith’s weekly, from 1927–1940. [ 7 ] he was the named editor of its film pages from early 1931. here he wrote on film at a length and depth that was not only unparalleled in the australian print culture of his own time, but that would not be rivalled by any individual in any medium until the explosion in film discourse of the post - war era. smith’s film pages were not only remarkable in their own time, they still represent the most devoted coverage of the cinema in the history of australian newspaper publishing .
, but wrote, shot, designed, added effects and produced the film, all of this on a budget akin to tom cruise’s hairstylist’s revenue. give the man a cookie. a big fat jar of cookies, due to the fact that the end result is quite brilliant and stands alone as a romance sci - fi road movie. the premise? nasa, having received news of life other than our own, sent a probe to recover samples. this very same pod inadvertently crashes on return in mexico, where the alien specimen leaks. the mexican nation thus becomes inhabited by alien life forms and is treated as an infected, bio - hazardous zone .
kenneth fearing (1902 - 61), modernist novelist and proletariat poet, was driven by a strong social conscience. when subpoenaed in the 1950s and asked if he was a communist, he replied, rather splendidly, “not yet. ” of his seven crime novels, the big clock remains the most famous, smartly merging a strong suspense plot with his progressive agenda together with a biting social critique as our anti - hero gets squeezed almost beyond endurance .
so, bond travels to shanghai and macau to find that the big bad is silva (javier bardem), a former agent and one of m’s previous protégés, who was given up during her pre - handover hong kong days. it turns out the hard - drive is ultimately a macguffin and that the true motivations are ultimately very simple: silva is eaten away by his personal vendetta and wants nothing more than to exact vengeance on m, the woman who betrayed him .
is far from an awful film, once the evidence is weighed, it has less going for it and more condemning it. it therefore should dodge the strongest punishment handed down to the aforementioned
the final characteristic of the homage is a tip of the hat to spielberg: abrams’ film is a direct homage to its producer. this isn’t entirely surprising coming from abrams. after all ,
the hulk is a good embodiment of what whedon does so well in the film and for all the characters: he takes the time to show their struggles, their flawed humanity and the borderline impossible nature of the task they face. as previously stated, he makes the audience care, thus amplifying the response: rarely do you hear as much laughing, cheering and applause during the screening of a film of this nature, and for good cause .
the film lasts a mere 95 minutes. any more would be unbearable because of the nerve - wrackingly bleak atmosphere. the lack of characterization and subplot development is paradoxically welcome and adds to the fish out of water feel. the remake ,
in an ordinary movie, closer shots indicate more intensity, longer shots are more objective. camera movement helps establish mood. closeups punch home dramatic moments. cutaways, or “reaction shots, ” make it clear who is reacting, and when. although hitchcock tried to choreograph his 10 - minute takes so that the camera would be where the drama demanded it, there are moments when it seems to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. and that trunk spends so much time in the foreground that we wonder why it’s not the immediate center of attention .
the book has been adapted for the cinema three times. the first and most faithful was the film of the same title, a little gem by the team of director john farrow and writer jonathan latimer (which i profiled here) and released in 1948. it boasts a terrific cast that is superbly suited to its role, most notably ray milland as stroud as he was so often at his best as anti - heroes with a roving eye; charles laughton is simply perfect as the slightly campy janoth, here made into a man truly obsessed with the minutiae of time, adding an extra layer to the story. the movie is narrated solely by stroud and told in flashback with him literally trapped inside the huge clock that dominates the inside of the janoth building – after an elegant shot sweeping us through the janoth building late at night, we then go back 36 hours to see how he ended up on the run .
while “non - commercial” forms of film distribution, exhibition, and making – such as the amateur cine - club and the film society – were developing worldwide, including slessor’s sydney, at the time of his film critical practice, slessor showed no interest in these new ways of being with film, or the new kinds of film criticism they entailed. slessor was not interested in razing the institution of the commercial cinema, or even in substantially reshaping it. indeed he loved this cinema and its accompanying rhythms, routines, and rituals. slessor took the fact of this cinema for granted, but held it to an exacting standard, taking it seriously. he didn’t want a new kind of cinema, but the very best version of the existing kind of cinema. he didn’t want audiences to see a different cinema, but to see the cinema they were already attending differently .
romeo + juliet
( 1996). baz luhrmann added his signature flair to shakespeare in this modern adaptation. definitely over the top, but it gave a unique stamp to the film. starring a pre -
titanic
leonardo dicaprio, the film is one of the top grossing shakespeare adaptations to date with nearly $ 150 million worldwide .
following most comic book storylines, the film presents us with an arrogant youth who is punished by his father, and sent to earth to learn a lesson (what it is to be a true king / real hero). before going into the film as such, here’s how it fits into the pre - existing material :
the ballad of narayama
is a japanese film of great beauty and elegant artifice, telling a story of startling cruelty. what a space it opens…
with her dazzling work on paul schrader’s portrait of author yukio mishima, graphic designer eiko ishioka set out to create sets as vivid as the film’s characters .
: for those wondering, the title is pretty much the only thing the film shares with the comic book series, the latter being focused on the first class / team that xavier taught / trained i. e. iceman, beast, cyclops, jean grey, and angel - who later becomes archangel, and not to be confused with the female angel in the film. now that that’s settled, over to you, professor d !
all in all, another great film from refn and one of the best pulp thrillers in recent memory. it’s a brutal, touching, sophisticated crime film that is as cerebral as it is tense. with regards to gosling, his omnipresence in cinemas is not over, as george clooney’s
) can carry a whole film on her gorgeous shoulders. her deliveryand timing is spot on, elevating scenes which could have spiraled into
? there was however a serious need to add some motivation and decent tension to the mix. basically, it’s hard to care. even if one feels for a man needing pills in order to stay mentally stable (it turns out, in a decent twist, that renner’s character was originally below - average on the intellectual front), it doesn’t quite pack the same existential punch as a man searching for his identity. bourne’s world was filled with palpable paranoia and tension: both are sadly mia in cross’ world .
the start of the film is note perfect: a brief scene (rather cryptic for those unfamiliar with the story, but the perfect choice for an opener) followed by one the best credit sequences in recent memory. (see below) fincher treats us to a sort of warped bond opening sequence, a chilling video in which amorphous black ooze flows and morphs itself into abrasive flowers, dragons, computer wires, strangling hands… it’s gorgeously nightmarish and all too brief, a stunning piece that sets the tone from the word go: this version will be more stylized and possibly sleeker than the previous, with fincher bringing his trademark sensibility for imagery, tone and sound. it’s a sucker punch of an introduction, brilliantly galvanized by karen o and trent reznor’s cover of led
, nolan’s batman saga, even the first transformers film managed it… there now is a minimum standard to uphold, a line drawn in the cinematic landscape that one does not cross .
anchors itself in the avengers coda, but never forgets to be its own film, and this is due in my humble opinion, to the directorial scholar and his shakespearian predilections .
the film is highly regarded by a few critics today, but in its time was a box office flop, making a loss of $ 165, 000 .
the action closely follows the source material and even if fincher wisely plays fast and loose with certain details, he makes it his own by adding to the mystery without betraying the novel. therefore, it is globally a film split in two: the first sees blomkvist and lisbeth respectively investigating and seeking revenge while the second, more enticing half, sees the two protagonists join forces. no major surprises await the knowledgeable reader / film fan but fincher manages to keep the pace engrossing and relentless. it is blessed with a more economic script, thanks to scenarist extraordinaire steven zaillian, and the smooth editing makes the investigation itself seem less clunky than it may have been in the original film .
it sounds just as bad as the end result. the problem is that the point of an action film sequel is traditionally to up the ante, to feel that the threat is harder, better, faster, bolder, tougher… whatever the daft punk duo were on about .
the true highlights of the film remain mcavoy and fassbender. they both bring a great amount of personality to their roles, to the extent that at no point do we yearn to see stewart and mckellen. indeed, it has now become hard to imagine anyone else playing them. mcavoy does have the harder task: he has less emotion to work with but needs to be the glue that cements the team together. he aces the cheeky side to xavier and holds the film together. by the end of the film, our hearts go to him: we see how he ends up in a wheelchair and his emotions are spot - on.
the big punch is an american drama boxing film released in 1948 . the film was directed by sherry shourds and produced by saul elkins . it stars gordon macrae , lois maxwell , wayne morris , mary stuart and eddie dunn . it is considered to be an american film noir , and was macrae 's film debut , after signing a five-year contract with warner bros . maxwell would become known later as miss moneypenny in the james bond film series .
the big punch is an american drama boxing film released in 1948. the film was directed by sherry shourds and produced by saul elkins. it stars gordon macrae, lois maxwell, wayne morris, mary stuart and eddie dunn. it is considered to be an american film noir, and was macrae's film debut, after signing a five-year contract with warner bros. maxwell would become known later as miss moneypenny in the james bond film series.
the big punch is an american drama boxing film released in 1948. the film was directed by sherry shourds and produced by saul elkins. it stars gordon macrae, lois maxwell, wayne morris, mary stuart and eddie dunn. it is considered to be an american film noir, and was macrae's film debut, after signing a five-year contract with warner bros. maxwell would become known later as miss moneypenny in the james bond film series.