2010 has started on a distinctly post-apocalyptic note, with both this film and John Hillcoat’s ‘The Road’ released within a week of each other. As a fan of post-apocalyptic film I was extremely enthusiastic about Eli’s release but sadly, the film didn’t quite live up to its billing. The main reason for this is that for a film with such an action-packed trailer and the presence of a proven action movie actor such as Denzel Washington, there is precious little action on display. [click to continue…]
Rob Yeomans
Working Title films was founded in 1984 by Sarah Radclyffe (Who would later leave the company to be replaced by Eric Fellner in 1992) and Tim Bevan. The company’s first notable success was the 1985 film My Beautiful Laundrette, a story of a young Asian man’s battle to ‘make it’ in London during the Thatcher years. The film stars Saeed Jaffrey and features a breakthrough performance by Daniel Day Lewis and was both a critical and commercial success for the fledgling studio, picking up two BAFTA nominations, and an academy award nomination for best screenplay. [click to continue…]
After the longest and most unremitting promotional onslaught in film history, James Cameron’s Avatar was finally released in December. In typical style, I only got around to seeing the film a couple of weeks ago. My immediate thoughts on the film were mostly filled with the spectacular imagery and undeniably groundbreaking use of 3D technology. [click to continue…]
Billy Elliot (2000) is one of the most celebrated examples of what has come to be known as “Soft” Realism. A movement in British cinema which became prevalent in the mid-1990’s. A movement which produced films which actively drew on the traditions of Northern working class realism, but instead of following the traditional realist approach to the letter, these films depicted characters who had ambitions to escape the harshness of their day to day existence by performing as entertainers. This approach produced box office hits such as: Brassed off (1996), The Full Monty (1997) and of course Billy Elliot. [click to continue…]
“To make Michael Myers frightening, I had him walk like a man, not a monster.” – John Carpenter.
The ‘Halloween’ franchise was resurrected by Rob Zombie in 2007 to great financial success (his remake is the highest grossing ‘Halloween’ film of all time) as a result there was never any doubt that a sequel was inevitably going to be made, and given the sadly wasted potential of the original ‘Halloween II’ (1981), perhaps it was not too much of a stretch to hope that Zombie could make a success of it. [click to continue…]
