by Cookie N Screen
Picking a song from a musical is a tentative process. Especially if it is a good one. I mean, would you go for the iconic moment? The finale? The emotional ballad of our protagonists as they profess their love? See, when a fantastic film has a whole heap of songs so fantastic you’ll be humming them along with your friend whilst naked in the shower, you cannot fail in picking a great song to enjoy. But you could clash with other fans about which is the most stellar. Hmm, tricky. Pitch Perfect is one of those films that suffers from its abundance of great music. To celebrate the release of Pitch Perfect 2, I’m taking a gander at one of the best moments in the film.
by Alli Kett
Pitch Perfect 2 failed to fine tune it's performance as an encore from the acclaimed first film. Was I dis-aca-pointed? Yes Did I popped along in my seat anyway? Yes Pitch Perfect 2 opens with Rebel Wilson’s Fat Amy having an on-stage incident, in front of President Obama, that embarrasses the Barden Bellas and gets them kicked off the championship tour. Expelled, and replaced by the German team, Das Sound Machine (DSM), the Bellas take on the World Championships to regain their championship status. DSM have a very different, showier style to the Bellas, which of course intimidates them and pushes the Bellas to greater things.
by Ameena Majid
Experiment 626 (which may, or may not be Stitch's real name) is an event embarked upon by the I'm With Geek Film Team. Film knowledge was unearthed, truths were found and a DVD exchange took place. These are the true life stories from that experiment. Dear Ameena With all the films you like in your top 5 are ranked very high in my list too. That being said, Martin Scorsese highly influences the directors of your top 5, hence I would like you to watch his best underrated film entitled After Hours made in 1985. Originally this would’ve been Tim Burton’s directorial debut and when he found out that Marty expressed an interest to direct it because he had failed to complete his ambitious project, The Last Temptation of Christ, he decided to try something more low budget. Tim Burton humbly bowed out, Scorsese stepped in and the rest is history. After Hours won the Palm D’or at the Cannes Film Festival and the film put the trust back in Marty for producers to allow him to complete his project of The Last Temptation of Christ. A bored buttoned up, buttoned down word processor (Griffin Dunne) sets out on a late night date. He’s about to become the punch-line of a giant cosmic joke. Because different rules apply when it’s After Hours. This black comedy of the ultimate bad night on the town of New York, Soho offers juicy roles to Rosanna Arquette and Linda Fiorentino as well as others. This is based on French farce at its best. This film proves that dreams can come true as the script was written by Joseph Minion, an unknown who wrote a script in his film writing class. The fact that Marty directed it demonstrates that dreams can and do come true. Check it out, you won’t regret it. It’s the best film ever of one man having the worst night ever and all he wants to do is get home. You feel for him as well as laugh at him. Love, Aly Lalji
by Sean Narborough
When people think of short films, they believe that it’s not going to look as good as features, it will be very slap-dashed and you won’t be able to get the actors you want. Well I have proof that this is not the case. Labeled a “Short Ska Film”, Alexander Thomas’ award winning Beverley follows a mixed race girl’s struggle to find a sense of identity in a confusing, shifting cultural landscape, 1980’s Leicester. A move from the decaying, poverty-stricken, urban environment to the relative comfort and theoretical safety of white suburbia does not provide the hope and opportunities Bev may have wished for. A familiar enemy is ever present - a threat that extends beyond her own safety – more importantly she must protect her brother and sister. By asserting her will and using her guile, Bev tries to shape her new environment into something palatable, but the result is the opposite of what she is trying to achieve.
by Cookie N Screen
Everyone has those few films that are inescapable. For example, I’ve been fleeing the grasps of Hannibal Lecter and his cannibalistic tastes in The Silence of the Lambs since I first caught it at fourteen. In fact, these movies become so special that even the people around us start to notice how much we obsess over them (I say notice, it’s more of a heavy sigh and a roll of the eye but that’s love, baby). It enhances the world around you, everything about the film is wrapped into your tiny life. Your shelves begin to fill with merchandise, you slip dialogue into your everyday and at the extremity of it you may even name your child after a character. The best thing about this? Passion. Inescapable passion. That is one of the more beautiful things in the world. This is all because I know you’ve seen the title of the piece and I know the first thing from your lips was “For fuck sake, she’s talking about Filth again.” True, I don’t think there is any other film I’ve written about since I started my writing career and I don’t think there will be one again. The movie changed a lot of things for me and it’ll stay as so - immortalised on my skin and passed down in generations. And as it is my birthday, my present to myself is to talk about Jon S Baird’s glorious film yet again. Though this time, I’m talking about something new - the soundtrack. (Be careful, there are spoilers)
by Melissa Haggar
Experiment 626 (which may, or may not be Stitch's real name) is an event embarked upon by the I'm With Geek Film Team. Film knowledge was unearthed, truths were found and a DVD exchange took place. These are the true life stories from that experiment.. Dear Melissa Here’s The Place Beyond The Pines Going by her choices, Melissa seems quite fond of big, fun action films but also appreciates slow drama, so I'm goning recommend Derek Cianfrance's The Place Beyond the Pines. I very nearly said Blue Valentine, but I don't want to ruin her life. The Place Beyond the Pines is a riveting drama that moves at a slower pace than her favourites but is rich in it's character and it's story. I really hope she likes it Love, Robbie
by Cookie N Screen
I often talk about how short film can be an amazing and lucrative art form where artists can explore ideas that wouldn’t work in a feature. A killer table can only haunt for ten minutes, a life-sized stop motion piece is a lot of work for two hours whilst a man in slow motion would drag, literally, over the run time. I think short film can help you tell a story and learn to cut it down - edit yet still enrich the audience. That being said, there are cases where a story is explored and while it fits in to the time restraints, standing on its own, it is just a step forward to a feature. There is something a little strained about that, I believe, but sometimes it’s genuinely incredible to explore a story on a wider scale. This can be said about short film Captcha which has been released on We Are Colony this week. |
FilmWriter of the Month
FeaturesFilm News -
Keep up to speed with the latest news from the world of cinema Must See Movies - A list of independent films we are looking forward too! Movie Monologues - Paul Costello counts down the best speeches in cinematic history every Thursday. Movies In Motion - Jo Johnstone explores the world of stop-motion animation from adverts to features every last Friday of the month. Experiment 626 - Our writers exchanged DVDs and here are the results We'll Fix it in Post - Graham Osborne gives us the run down on how certain movies could be improved. The Horror Vault - The dark side of cinema You May Have Missed - Movies that passed you by. From The Trenches - Matthew Howe delights with stories from the front line! Hidden Heroes - Celebrating those incredible people often in the shadows of cinema Terribrill - So bad they are actually good! Straight On Till Morning - Leah looks at the impact of childhood films Monthly Musical Moment - Taking a look at the best soundtracks and music moments Film FriendsCategories
All
Archives
July 2015
|