Tag: Cinema
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Melinda and Melinda.
Woody Allen’s Melinda and Melinda opened to mixed reviews ten years ago. The film’s main narrative is split between two stories which both revolve around a character called Melinda. These two stories are merely the fabrications of two friends discussing the comedy and tragedy of life over a meal and a glass of wine. Allen handles…
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Another Woman.
It’s my strong belief that Woody Allen’s work is at its best when he is doing two particular things – engaging in philosophical debate and writing for women. His masterful 1988 feature, Another Woman, shows glimmers of philosophy but primarily demonstrates just how well Allen knows women and their complexities. To enhance his insight into the female…
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Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call – New Orleans.
It makes a lot of sense that Nicolas Cage and Werner Herzog should collaborate. Both men have a diverse cinematic portfolio that contain several real gems alongside many more absurd and questionable entries. However dubious their past work may have occasionally been, there is no denying that both men are courageous in their art…
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Bad Lieutenant.
Abel Ferrara’s Bad Lieutenant takes its audience on a harrowing and trippy journey into the unhinged and depraved mind of its lead character. The title explains everything. Harvey Keitel plays a bad cop; as bad as they come. Despite learning many disturbing things about him, we never learn this cop’s name. The lieutenant scurries around his…
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Gangs of New York.
The Wolf of Wall Street marks the fifth collaborative effort between director Martin Scorsese and actor Leonardo DiCaprio. The duo will only need to make another three films together in order to equal the number of ‘Bobby and Marty’ joint efforts. Their first cinematic collaboration was the gruesome and relentless Gangs of New York. Scorsese is…
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Edinburgh: A Final Reflection.
Two weeks ago I handed in my MSc Film Studies thesis. Before I knew it, everything was in boxes and my time in Edinburgh had come to an end. I’m now back home in Lancashire, with several full cardboard boxes still lingering in the corner of my bedroom. Unpacking these last few boxes will mean…
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Shadow of the Vampire.
E. Elias Merhige’s Shadow of the Vampire is a very absurd film. It presents an alternative idea as to what happened on the set of F. W. Murnau’s Nosferatu in 1922. The film proposes one outrageous question and expands from this point: what if actor Max Schreck was a real vampire? Shadow of the Vampire…
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Only God Forgives.
Nicolas Winding Refyn got just about everything right with Drive. Slick and sophisticated, Drive created an intense cinematic atmosphere whilst balancing romance with violent action. In the two short year that Drive has existed it has gathered a cult like following with its simplicity and suspense being viewed as refreshing and original. It is an undefinable…
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God’s Pocket.
Deep underneath its greasy, dishevelled characters, God’s Pocket has community at its heart. Outside of the plot, this is a film about the claustrophobia of a certain type of neighbourhood and the unlucky individuals who can’t get out of them. Despite the film’s negative portrayal of such a world, where education is lacking and violence…
Hannah McHaffie 