Flickering Myth

Film & TV News, Reviews and Features

Why Chinese Censors Can Make Or Break A Film

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This week, Neil Calloway explains why China being afraid of ghosts harms Hollywood… Despite much antagonism towards the film, and mixed reviews, Ghostbusters has so far managed to make $80 million globally; not bad going for a film that everyone thought – and some hoped – would crash and burn. However, news came this week […]

The Callow Way – How a Hollywood flop got £20 million from the British taxpayer

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This week Neil Calloway looks how 47 Ronin qualified for a subsidy from the UK government… Have you seen 47 Ronin? If you haven’t, I wouldn’t bother if I was you. It’s That-Historical-Film-You’ve-Seen-A-Hundred-Times-Before. An outsider, after being saved by the daughter of a great man, helps a group of natives. It’s very very loosely based […]

The Callow Way – Why aren’t there more female directors?

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This week Neil Calloway looks at the lack of women behind the camera in Hollywood… This week, a report by San Diego State University revealed that only 7% of the films in 2014’s top 250 highest grossing list were directed by women. That works out at 17 films, with only one film in the top […]

Does This List Really Reveal The Best Films Of The Century?

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This week, Neil Calloway takes a look at a list claiming to reveal the best films of the 21st Century… Earlier this week, casual film fans were sent running first to IMDB and then to Netflix or Amazon at the news that David Lynch’s Mulholland Drive was named in a poll of 177 film critics […]

Why Emma Watson’s New Film Wasn’t The Flop You Think It Was

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This week, Neil Calloway argues that a poor opening weekend isn’t a sign of a failure for The Colony…   This week brought the news that The Colony, the new film starring former Hogwarts alumna Emma Watson, made just £47 on its opening weekend at the British box office. I’ve spent more on a night […]

The Callow Way – Why We Like Special Forces Movies

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This week Neil Calloway looks why American Sniper is breaking box office records… I’ve read a lot about American Sniper since it was released; about the fake plastic babies it uses instead of real children, about how Michael Moore said snipers were cowards (and then backtracked and said he liked the film), about how it […]

Why 1996 was the Most Important Year in Hollywood

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This week, Neil Calloway argues that 1996 was a hugely influential year in cinema… This month sees the release of the long awaited Independence Day sequel. In many ways it seems like a long time since the original came out; the film industry has moved on a lot, and there is no way that a […]

The Callow Way – Why the Sony hack is hilarious but depressing

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Neil Calloway is amused but disappointed by the release of emails from Sony… It’s an old adage that show business is High School with money, and the release of emails that followed the hacking of Sony Pictures seems to prove it’s just like Mean Girls or Heathers, but where people earn $3 million dollar salaries […]

Why Choose Your Own Endings For Film And TV Are A Bad Idea

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This week, Neil Calloway argues that allowing viewers to decide what happens next will lead to lower quality stories… Wednesday brought the enticing news that Netflix are planning on creating a show that has an element of interaction, where viewers will be able to choose what happens next. Initially this will be for children’s programmes, […]