Articles + Quotes on Film & TV

 Something that has become increasingly clear, that when the great pendulum swung in one fell swoop in popular movies, from camp to gritty, the movie makers forgot something rather important. Humour. True, there are moments of comic relief in Marvel films and DC and they are quite funny. No arguments here. One could make the argument that Robert Downey Jr's main purpose was to provide the levity when everyone else was in a brooding stare. But there is a difference between a few moments of levity and imbuing each of the characters with heart and a sense of humour. And that is important, especially with a character like Superman. Sure, he has the weight of the world on his shoulders and that's all well and good. But if he's just a strong guy working hard to prop up a few buildings full of people and rescuing cats up trees, then they've missed something crucial. And the basis for Superman, of course, being Clark Kent, means giving that character a real smile and the abilit...

 Anyone who has studied English literature at any point in their life will know this one. Red means danger, green new life, blue sadness and so on. But there is one colour that usually gets skipped over.  And that is purple. Once upon a time, purple denoted royalty. It was an expensive fabric dye, reserved even back in the day for those who could afford it.  Now, though, it is attached to anything malignant, evil and wrong. Any time there is a vile potion meant to corrupt anyone remotely near it, it's purple. Power Rangers 90's movie, the main plot by the resident baddie was rendering the parents in the local town infected - by a purple goop. Same with Despicable Me 2, Hercules (Disney), Penguins and most recently, the big villain of this decade - Thanos. And let's not forget Madam Mim in The Sword in the stone, Ursula in The Little Mermaid, Yzma in The Emperor's New Clothes, and the list goes on. And on. It's a strange transformation for one colour to go through, b...

 There is a part of Dalton Trumbo's acceptance speech (when he was awarded the Laurel Award by the Writer's Guild of America) that I thought about after I watched this film. Mr Trumbo, like others in America, was for a time blacklisted by the House on un-American activities committee and by the major producers of the period who went along with the government, the committee's agenda.  "The blacklist was a time of evil and that no one on either side, who survived it, came through untouched by evil. Caught in a situation that had passed beyond the control of mere individuals, each person reacted as his nature, his needs, his convictions and his particular circumstances compelled him to. There was bad faith and good. Honesty and dishonesty. Courage and cowardice. Selflessness and opportunism. Wisdom and stupidity. Good and bad on both sides. And almost every individual involved, no matter where he stood, combined some or all of these antithetical qualities, in his own pers...

 This might just be the first film I've watched that has pushed my own limits of dark comedy. Definitely not one for beginners, and not one to watch with the family. That being said, if you're feeling brave enough and feel like seeing real revenge play out that echoes the very real realities of the world we live in, then dive right in. But don't say I didn't warn you. Memorable, with some carefully understated roles from the likes of Connie Britton, Jennifer Coolidge, Molly Shannon, Alison Brie, Laverne Cox, Clancy Brown and Alfred Molina - all quietly tiptoeing over the literal and very real darkness that goes on but doesn't get mentioned with any real action being taken. Carey Mulligan, fifteen years after her film debut as Kitty Bennett is in the starring role here as Cassandra Thomas. And like another recently Margot Robbie produced film, Ms Mulligan is portraying a one woman powerhouse on a mission with more wit and guile than most other revenge flicks put toge...

 There is a reason why war films are made. Beyond the usual chicanery of making a movie - there is the overwhelming responsibility to remind people of the horrors of war. But beyond even that, beyond the horrors of war that are portrayed on the silver and small screen, is the tragic and sickening madness of the Holocaust. And especially now, when the world is reeling from unimaginable cruelties anew, we have to remind ourselves that we might be capable of not just seeing it but also stopping it. This film, Resistance almost plays like a Shakespeare production from the start. Ed Harris, is this film's 'Chorus' providing us with the introduction and conclusion to the tale. Only Chorus is now General Patton and he is speaking to soldiers, not theatre goers. Marceau Marcel, as he becomes, is portrayed with startling innocence by Jesse Eisenberg. That innocence is fleeting as he becomes more involved in the resistance, helping children escape the Nazis. His performance is one of...

There is a reason why so much care must be given to portrayals of historical events. A poor portrayal happens when the history is kept one sided, tamed or otherwise blunted. Claws removed, it has all the power of a wet tea towel and just as appealing. You can rest easy, knowing this film, the latest by the great Aaron Sorkin, has the power of a hurricane, volcano and a hail storm combined and like natural disasters, will have you breathless, tense and on edge until the crew and cast credits roll.  In this film, everything is turned up to eleven. The real life drama is compelling on its own but Mr Sorkin's steady hand on the script and as director - means that every angle of this story is covered. Pure perfection. It has been said before, he is a master of the political drama and here he proves it in spades. As I said, portrayals of historical events need to be carefully handled. It's not enough to merely show what happened, editing plays a huge part in keeping the whole thing t...

A little context: when I was around ten, we got on video, three episodes of Batman: The animated series. This was my first introduction to the character of Harley Quinn, a little short on her marble collection (given her company, hardly a distinction) but clearly just as able to hold her own up against the other crazies in Gotham. Given this was the nineties and live DC heroines were limited to Batgirl, Harley Quinn became my new favourite. I decided to ignore the fact she was a villain. And while it seemed that every other DC character was given the live action treatment, this one was getting passed over each time. When the trailer for Suicide squad was released, my inner ten year old was whooping with joy, more so seeing the character come to life on the big screen - then bitterly disappointed with the rest of the film. Thanks to the combined efforts of director Cathy Yan director and writer Christina Hodson, we finally have a Harley Quinn movie that surpasses Suicide Squad in e...