Wreck-It Ralph’s Playful Retelling of Recent American Political and Economic History
Whilst film-makers often deliberately infuse their films with messages relating to current concerns – the allegorical explorations by Romero in his zombie films immediately spring to mind – more subtle or even subconsciousness reflections of recent events often find their way into films. In the following piece I explore the way in which Wreck-It Ralph, … Read more
Zero Dark Thirty – Torture, Revenge and a Question for America
Following an opening featuring a black screen and the sounds of 9/11 calls ,which lasts for a deeply uncomfortable period of time despite actually being relatively short, Zero Dark Thirty moves into more scenes which are well played to upset and discomfort an audience. We are introduced to the lead, Maya (Jessica Chastain), who is … Read more
Top Ten Films of 2012
1. Margaret (extended cut) I queued up outside the Odeon on Panton Street for the UK ‘première’ of Kenneth Lonergan’s Margaret in 2011 and as this beautiful but scarred film unfolded in front of me I slowly fell head of heels for it. If you followed me on Twitter towards the end of 2011 you may have become somewhat bored with the name … Read more
Chasing Ice Review
Making a star of photographer James Balog, Chasing Ice is the latest in a long run of documentaries about climate change. What marks this one out so clearly though is in its focus on the breathtaking photography of Balog and the visual impact that his unique approach can have. Balog will be well known to … Read more