Bright, the Netflix original film by director David Ayer (who really isn’t having the best year), has been dubbed the worst film of 2017. I think that’s unfair. True, Bright is not a particularly good film but I’ve seen far worse. I ...
Read More »On criticism: Misconceptions of the opinionated
I’m a critic. It’s become something of a bad word. I’m a critic of stories: spanning many types of storytelling mediums – film, TV, books, comics… I love stories. I know stories – I’ve studied them extensively. I know what ...
Read More »A Cult of Deception: Romance in Hollywood
You know how the story goes. Girl meets boy. Girl (or boy) lies about who they are and/or what their intentions are. Over the course of their subterfuge, they fall madly in love. The truth is uncovered and the object ...
Read More »Drugs, sex, and studying: University life on-screen
TV and film is real life, isn’t it? After living in the US for a few years, one of the most common questions I was asked by my Australian friends was ‘Is school there really like it is on TV?’ ...
Read More »Kingsman: The Golden Circle
I have rarely been so disappointed with a film. Not only did I love Kingsman: The Secret Service but the sequel opens with a fight scene played out to Prince’s Let’s Go Crazy. How could a film that used Prince ...
Read More »Nostalgic Impulse: Gladiator (2000)
I’m not sure how I managed to avoid watching this film for so long. It isn’t as though it is an under the radar classic. For years, friends have been lecturing me about watching it, which prompts me (contrary bastard ...
Read More »The art of the trailer: Star Wars trailers over the years
The structure and techniques used in film trailers have changed a lot over the years. What better way to get to grips with just how much has changed than by looking at the evolution of the trailers for a franchise ...
Read More »The art of the trailer: Genre tropes
The genre of a film determines a lot, from typical plot points and character arcs to visual style. It’s no surprise then that trailers follow a similar pattern. It might sound obvious that the trailers for comedies and thrillers follow ...
Read More »The art of the trailer: A marketing soundtrack
Trailers are, like the medium they are representing, both audio and visual in nature. While we may watch trailers for the snippets of the feature to come, it is the music that is often most successful in setting the tone. ...
Read More »The art of the trailer: Misleading the audience
Trailers are like mass market elevator pitches for films. They are meant to hook the audience, telling them enough about a film to fuel interest but not so much that the entire plot of the film is ruined. Writing a ...
Read More »