Lucky Strike – Action short screenplay
Lynnessa Vindi must escape with valuable intelligence from her persuers.
Does Hollywood gangster film production in the 1930s support Warshow’s contention that the gangster is a “tragic hero”?
In 1948 Robert Warshow wrote that the gangster in Hollywood film was a tragic hero. By this he meant the gangster we see on screen would achieve their success, because they are under obligation to succeed, but would inevitably meet their death because the means of achieving their goals were all unlawful and aggressive – the audience would share their journey to success only to see it tragically unfold.
Defining the film industries in the 21st century.
There are several key components of the film industry which make it what it is today in the twenty first century. Some are relatively new concepts, which gathered pace towards the early 2010’s, and others are as old as the film industry itself. All together, they help to define the industry as we know it. Most of all, we see movies breaking records at the box office, streaming giants such as Netflix and Amazon throwing hundreds of millions of dollars at exclusive projects, and technological breakthroughs enabling movies to come to fruition.
What can we learn about The Jungle Book (Favreau, 2016) film by viewing it through this interpretative lens?
The Jungle Book (Favreau, 2016) is a live-action remake of Disney’s animation The Jungle Book (Reitherman, 1967) – both adaptations of Rudyard Kipling’s 1895 collection of fables. It tells a somewhat different story but has the same underlying plot: Mowgli must leave the Jungle and join his people because Shere Khan the Tiger is back and is hunting him. In the 1967 animation there were several stereotypes of race and culture which have been altered, or even dropped completely, in the live-action remake.
The Dream Palace Theatre Chain revolution in Chicago.
The Roosevelt Theatre was one of many theatres in Chicago, Illinois, owned and operated by Barney Balaban and Sam Katz during the Dream Palace Theatre chain revolution. Others included the Central Park, the Riviera and the Chicago Theatre. These theatres were dressed up spectacularly to provide a greater experience on top of just going to the theatre and whilst they only accounted for a quarter of total theatre seats, they generated sixty five percent of Chicago’s film rentals (Allen, & Gomery, 1985, p. 198).
Was A Taste of Honey a typical film of the British New Wave?
The British New Wave had several key characteristics closely linked with social realism and the British documentary movement. These films follow ordinary lives, without unrealistic characters, but most importantly were “free from the pressures of the box-office or the demands of propaganda” (Dupin, n.d.). This short essay explores if A Taste of Honey (Richardson, 1961) was a typical film of the British New Wave.
How does Guillermo del Toro use a ghost story to tell the story of the Spanish Civil War for international audiences?
Guillermo del Toro is known for creating fantastical tales of conflict – whether it is humanity’s fight for survival against the Kaiju in Pacific Rim (2013), Hellboy’s discovery of his origins in Hellboy (2004), or Ofelia’s desire to escape reality in Pan’s Labyrinth (2006), there is always some form of conflict which is central to the premise of the film. He uses this to his advantage when exploring the history of the Spanish Civil War in The Devil’s Backbone (2001).
How is Sokurov rejecting Soviet Film or History?
Russian Ark (Sokurov, 2002) was shot in one continuous take and travels through the history of Russia. The impression given is that Sokurov feels that the Siege of Leningrad was too important to exclude from the film, but he wanted to move on quickly having covered it.
How does Contemporary German Film portray the past?
The tensions between East and West Germany are approached carefully in Contemporary German Film, or, at least that is the case in Good Bye Lenin! (Becker, 2003).
What unites or divides people in This is England?
Meadows didn’t set out to make a particularly political film but did admit in an interview with IndieLondon that it was “probably the closest thing to a political film I will ever make”. This short essay explores what unites and divides characters within This Is England (Meadows, 2006).