Are Disney Going to Far With Star Wars

Yes George Lucas you have sold the rights to Disney but making an episode 7,8&9 going to far?
Where can you go with the story ???
I thought Star Wars was finished? The story had been told.
I love Star Wars but I don't see where it will go narrative wise.

Empire Magazine is a must !

Please go out and buy a copy of Empire as it is great for all film lovers.
It gives in depth interviews and features on the years biggest film as well as Blu-Ray, DVD and game releases.

Sex Lies and Videotapes - A Review

 A Review 

For me, I didn't know what to expect from this film... I thought that it would be just what it said in the title. But I was wrong. There is a preconception with any film when you see the title to instantly guess the narrative of the film from the title, but until you sit down and watch the film in detail you might be surprised.

Sex,Lies and Videotapes isn't a Hollywood film, it is the beginning of the Indiewood era (late 80's and throughout the 90's). Written and Directed by Steven Soderbergh the film explores the relationship and the concept that people have towards sex. With character's who have different views on sex itself and a relationship with it. 

That stood out to me from the beginning of the film, being introduced to Andy McDowell's character Anne who doesn't really desire or in fact want to engage in sex, to her she finds it hard to talk about and is I felt a little bit timid and slightly disgusted with the idea of sexual intercourse with anyone or the act of even  satisfying herself as a women. 

She is a frustrated kept women, her husband is a lawyer in a big company who made her give up her career and in my view her life to be a house wife and to satisfy the idea of the man is head of the house and the sole bread winner, where as her life is concentrated on cleaning the house and cooking his dinner while he sleeps with her younger sister. 

All the concepts of what the title suggests are there, but unlike the preconception that most people have towards this film, it is a gritty real life story of a women stuck in a marriage that she thinks she can't escape from, a man who is frustrated with not being able to have sex with his wife so seeks out a mistress who happens to be his wife's sister and a man who can't even get an erection in front of another person and so finds it hard to release his sexual frustrations and becomes detached from life.

In my head I class this film as being like a William Blake Poem in a world full of Wordsworth poems, as at the time of the films completion in 1988, the industry was packed full of High Concept Blockbuster films that were an outlet for  cinema goers to escape reality of their everyday lives. Whereas Sex, Lies and Videotapes was a reminder of someone's life, about how miserable life can be and the harsh reality of being in a marriage and the frustration of being in it between a man and women. 

It also as I stated before highlights the relationship that individuals have with sex itself, also looking at the relationship that men and women have with sex and showing that men are more interested and engaging with sex as a concept but also breaking the stereotype using characters such as Anne and Graham who's relationship with sex has become disengaging and more  feeling like a discomfort about the idea of sex. 

I loved Graham's and Anne's relationship, they were from the very beginning attracted to each other but didn't know how to verbalise these emotions. Whereas John (Anne's husband) is seeking relief by having an affair his wife's sister as he isn't getting any at home. He is using Cindy(Anne's sister) who is the complete opposite of Anne, she is more adventurous and doesn't really have a care in the world when it comes to sex. She enjoys it, she gets her kicks from it and doesn't mind talking about it with a complete stranger. But Cindy knows that there is no strings attached and this is just sex, which is breaking the stereotype that women are sensitive about sex, that it is an act of love between a man and a women (or a gay relationship) and not just a consensual past time between two people. 

The film isn't Pornographic what so ever, the scenes involving sexual relations are hardly there or are done tastefully and sensitively. 

Andy McDowell's character Anne confronting her sexuality with a video camera

 Speaking of Graham, he is a hard character to actually understand when you first are introduced to him at the beginning of the film. He has an aura of awkwardness around him, you're not sure who is he and are a little bit suspicious of him as he is a stranger in the film, he is the strange guy who has just come in with little information about him.
Graham is John's old friend from school, he is a complete opposite to John and is more sensitive and inquisitive towards Anne. He is attracted to her instantly from meeting her and the sexual tension is there.
Graham confesses that he is impotent to Anne and is very open with her about his life and his videotapes which are interviews with women about their sexual experiences. He does not show them to anyone else and finds it easy to get turned on to them (which is a little bit strange but you have to watch the film to understand the character and why he does it) and to manage to get an erection. But it isn't in a perverted way there is an underlining phycological reason to why he is impotent.

Graham - watching his interviews back

In film- making terms this film is brilliant, the way the whole film was shot was simple and not complex. I liked the fact that it was shot softly, there was no harsh shots and there was always a soft filter on the camera which allowed the audience to be drawn in, it was almost romantic looking. Although this was distracting us from the harshness of the narrative itself, dealing with issues that are still quite important in today's society. The issue of infidelity is a issue that affects everyone in daily life and to see it on film can be a comfort to know that you are not alone.

The film itself was made on a budget of $1.2 million and grossed $25 million at the US box office showing that it was a great success in America as well as around the world.
The movie also had major success at the Sundance Festival and Cannes Film Festival where it was well received by the audiences.

If you were wondering whether to watch it or not I recommend you watch this film! It is a must see!!!!

Screening of Sex Lies and Video Tapes

Watching Sex Lies and Video Tapes in film lecture will write review later

SpotLight- November 2012

November 2012

Spotlight feature will be on Stanley Kubrick's 'A ClockWork Orange'.

Original Film Poster 

From Director Stanley Kubrick brings the critically acclaimed and controversial film from 1971. Set In Future Britain, the film follows delinquent Alex DeLarge on his journey as he is jailed and volunteers for a experimental aversion therapy created by the government in the hope to save  Britain from it's crime problem.

But all does not go to plan! 

Stanley Kubrick was known famously for directing the Steven King horror novel "The Shining". 

In the Spot Light feature I will also look into Stanley Kubrick's work and his life to try to understand the man who created a Cult Classic. 

London Calling!!!!

Off to the big smoke today will be popping to HMV on Oxford Street ;) getting some movies for myself including one that i will use as a new feature called Spot Light where i'll take a film, director , film festival or new talent and write about it !
i'm so excited haven't been London for ages !!!!!

The BLOCKBUSTER!!!!

The birth of Blockbuster is set in History for all eternity!  And I don't mean the Video shop, I mean the Blockbuster Film.

Yes believe it or not the modern Blockbuster came to life in 1975 when a film was released that changed the face of cinema and the rise of the High Concept and High budget film!

The film well it is one of the best films in history with a simple score of notes that made a villain, with not very super high tech special effects or CGI, you're probably thinking what film are you on about!
If you're guessing Star Wars you're a little bit early that wasn't released until 1977.

The film in question was Directed by one of my favourite Directors of all time, his unique way of making films and writing them has made him become a family name throughout most households!

I am talking about the man himself Mr Steven Spielberg and his classic Epic JAWS!!!!

Jaws was ultimately nothing that had never been seen before on cinema screens, after the age of the Movie Brats (Directors such as Francis Ford Coppola, Martin Scorsese, Brian De Palma and George Lucas) Jaws burst onto the scene with a new way of advertising and marketing a film.
As you can see the Film Art is simple and what we would call High Concept Art, you can tell what the film is going to be about from the actual poster.
When i mean marketing a film, Today films can be everywhere all over the internet, TV and Radio, back in 1975, the film company bought up 30 second slots on TV three days before the film was due to be released and made sure that the majority of the public knew about the film, this clever strategy made sure that Jaws remains one of the biggest grossing films in history at the box office!

Jaws's Success paved the way for the Blockbuster culture throughout the late 70's and 80's with big budget films being made and realised to mass audiences using advertising and marketing formats that Jaws had introduced.

No One Can Hear You Scream In Space!

Thinking of High Concept films, I've brushed on them before, and haven't really explained them, some films that you wouldn't think were High Concept actually are.
I can argue that some are not, for and example Alien can be considered a High Concept film due to it's artwork rather than the narrative (which is complex in every detail if you read into it!) as Sir Ridley Scott wasn't just making a Horror/Sci Fi film about an alien killing everyone on a Spaceship... watching the prequel (Prometheus- 2012 on DVD and Blu-ray) the actual content of the narrative is complex as you would ask how did the Alien get on the ship? Why is it there? Whats the reason for killing the crew members?








And leaving Sigourney Weaver's character to be the last human alive on the ship?

The Last Human Left- A Female Hero!

Original Star Wars Cast 

Other High Concept films have followed another legendary hit being Star Wars (1977) by George Lucas, with it's out of this world cinema experience for the time (the later films again the prequels episode 1,2 and 3  were even better for special effects) captured the imagination of a generation. 

With the odd nod to the film in cult comedy series like 'Friends' and cartoons such as 'Family Guy' and 'The Simpsons'. Star Wars went down in history as an epic, with droves of dedicated fans still to this day going to comic book conventions and buying merchandise and one off pieces. That was  what sold the Star Wars franchise again a new technique on the marketing front. Making action figures to go with the film is simple these days back then it was a new thing to make action figures for a market to get involved in a film! Selling mechanise to the general public from an external company made George Lucas rich as the film company thought it'd be silly to keep the rights to themselves! OH HOW SILLY THERE WERE !!!!! 

Rachel dressed as Princess Layer in the iconic Gold Bikini

Yes it is true to say the 'Blockbuster' is here to stay!!!! So when you read the term Blockbuster hopefully you'll understand the term?