Tom Jolliffe looks at the weird wonders of cinema… There are pretty standard films when it comes to cinema. It could be straight horror (masked killer stalks teens) or Die Hard formula (terrorists take over something, everyman hero stops them). Sometimes a film lowdown tells you everything you need to know about what you’re about […]
Nihilism in Cinema
Tom Jolliffe on cinema’s fascination with nihilistic film characters… Nihilists…rejecting all values, beliefs, morals and systems of order, deeming life to be meaningless. Sounds like most peoples teenage years. On the other hand, as far as creating cinematic protagonists, a character with a nihilistic frame of mind might not necessarily seem like the safest creative […]
Extreme Cinema – A Clockwork Orange (1971)
A Clockwork Orange, 1971. Directed by Stanley Kubrick. Starring Malcolm McDowell, Patrick Magee, Michael Bates, and Warren Clarke. In a future British society law and order has completely broken down allowing gangs of youths to roam the streets looking for trouble. Arrested for murder, gang leader Alex Delarge is reconditioned and set free into this […]
The Disturbed Outsider: A Cinematic Pathway Leading to Joker
In the wake of Joker’s success, Tom Jolliffe looks at similar cinematic examples of the disturbed outsider… With a quarter billion in takings and counting, as well as divisive reviews, media attention up the wazoo, and a status (particularly among the 18-30 viewers) as a cinematic masterpiece, Joker’s depiction of disturbed isolation and disconnect from […]
Underwater Film Scenes: Would You Sink or Swim?
Long before 4DX had cinema goers vibrating in their seats, faces sprayed with water and something tickling the back of the ankles, the children of the 80s and 90s made their own cinema experiences that little bit more immersive all on their own. Or perhaps it was just this small, odd, habitual collection of people. […]
Banning Films Always Backfires
Neil Calloway argues that Russian censors have made a mistake… While you were getting upset that your favourite film hadn’t been nominated for an Oscar – some of us are still annoyed that Under Siege was never recognised by the Academy – you may have missed the news that The Death of Stalin has been […]