As far as I am concerned, there are two extremely important factors to consider when it comes to a good film; acting and story. Because if these two things are in place, then you are more or less guaranteed to be onto a winner. Unfortunately, a lot of modern movies will place very little importance on either of these… instead they will prefer to base their work around two other factors; CGIs and budget. And that, I think, is why so much of modern mainstream filmmaking can feel so very hollow, synthetic or insubstantial…
There was an era in film before everything was oriented around spectacle: what 3D effects are most impressive, who can make the biggest explosion, and what comic book heroes can be stolen from the imagination of the public and “transformed” into a multimillion dollar blockbuster. That era–an era centered on content and substance–seems long gone, but when Shawshank Redemption came on the television yesterday, I was reminded that it has only been fifteen years, and that films of substance are not dead.
Going trough the channels constantly has become more like a habit for me rather than an attempt to find something worth spending some time on. It is just the fact that television is becoming too concentrated on ’90210'shows and reality shows that honestly have no real entertainment simply because some of them are what you would expect from the life of the ordinary man like yourself. But I noticed that Discovery Channel (they have also started using quite a lot of TV cliches that kept my interest for the program quite low until now) have actually made something different and it is called Atlas!
Atlas is a series of documentaries about countries around the world, mainly focusing on large and densely populated states such as India, China and Brazil and well developed and interesting places such as Australia. The show I first watched was dedicated to India and I must admit it went far beyond my expectations about a standard documentary. The mere fact that years were spent by reporters and filmmakers to make the documentary was impressive enough for me to start watching it.
The show focuses on various stories within a country, exploring the way people live and looking at the achievements both historically and socially within a nation. You can grasp various information from the storyteller such as the quality of teaching English jobs in Australia, the faithfulness of Hindus in India, the working discipline of Chinese and their somehow quickly spreading love for Christianity. All these interesting facts you get for an hour and a half while watching some of the most interesting documentaries I have had the chance to see.
The films themselves are made quite professionally, with geographical illustrations and 3D graphics so that you are aware of where the story being told is taking place, with different commentaries and interviews from the people discussed in the film.
So if you are still getting angry at the soaps running on TV almost all the time, switch to a rather different program and watch something quite well made and interesting enough to make a documentary fan!
Watching the TV last night, I was fortunate enough to find myself watching a program called Graffiti wars; a fascinating documentary which explored all kinds of interesting issues which people are generally divided upon. The program, which charted the ongoing dispute between infamous London artist Robbo and the even more infamous – and acclaimed – Banksy. was fascinating in every which way. To be honest I know very little about graffiti and street art but by the time the show was over, I had a really good understanding of both what it is about, and the rules which govern this sacred world of politics and macho attitude.
My only complaint would be that there weren’t any female artists featured in the show; but aside from that I have to say it ticked all my boxes and more.
Graffiti, on the other hand, isn’t considered half as good or worthy or valuable as street art
Don’t know the difference between street art and graffiti? Don’t worry, you’re not the only one, even the local councils of London struggle with that definition, and are constantly caught between doing what’s considered right and what will add value to the community. In the film they talked about how they battle with what to clean off the walls and what they choose to keep. The moral of the story seemed to be that if you are Banksy, the world’s most famous street artist, you can pretty much get away with painting anything you like, whenever you like, and that really is it. Graffiti, on the other hand, isn’t considered half as good or worthy or valuable as street art. So if you’re a graffiti artist and your name isn’t Banksy then you had better watch OUT, because hefty fines are given and sometimes people even go to prison…
I suppose I should come clean, now, and say that I have seen a bit of graffiti being done; although the graffiti we used to do has very little in common with any of the amazing artwork as featured in the show (hence why I said I knew nothing about it). When I was younger we used to creep into the Red Diesel Cornwall yard at night, and put tags on the walls. The area was large and concrete and great for what we wanted to do. The perfect training ground, and this was well before CCTV became so widespread, which meant we could pretty much do whatever we wanted.
There is one last sombre note to end this post on: at the end of the documentary it was said that Robbo – or King Robbo as he is officially known – is still in a coma from an assault which happened shortly after filing stopped. I was shocked to hear that, and I truly hope that the King awakes and gets back to doing what he does best.
Every decade has its greatest movies and the 80’s is no different. I absolutely love the movies from the 80’s because they are so fun to watch. This list is not in any particular order, all you have to do is pick one or two of them and you will be thoroughly entertained. Just like there are many red diesel suppliers but only a few great ones, there are only a few great movies from the 80’s as well. Following More
Any review of Spike Jonze’s 2002 film should come with a disclaimer: what you are about to see will confuse you if you look away for even a second. If you stay with this film, though, and listen to every word, and pay attention to every shift in pace, what you find is a startlingly original piece of work that will be unlike anything you have ever seen before. And it all begins with Being John Malkovich.
One of the most overlooked horror films in recent years caught my eye the other day and I’ve barely been able to sleep since!
‘The Mist'adapted from the novella by Stephen King is up there with classics like ‘The Thing'(itself referenced as an artwork by the main character). ‘The Mist'works because it plays on that most basic of human emotions: fear of the unknown. The Personal Injuries Claims industry must have been pleased with the result as thousands of people More
A visually stunning film from Chinese director Zhang Yimou, The Curse of the Golden Flower is an epic movie telling the story of a power-hungry emperor in tenth-century China who wants to cling onto authority at all cost. Yet the central figure is not the emperor at all. Instead, taking centre stage is his wife, a much younger women, the daughter of a neighbouring lord, who has been the dominant woman in the life of the emperor’s oldest son and More
Adaptations and remakes are all the rage these days. So why are there so few original ideas appearing on the big screen?
The answer is quite simple: money. It is far easier and entails less financial risk to adapt a successful book or TV show simply because there is already a built in audience who will turn up to the local cinema and watch it. To persuade film executives to part with their cash for a new project, you either More
Few series have translated as well to the big screen as legendary series The X Files have. Why is that? Well, it’s all down to opinion, but my opinion is this: it’s because up until The X Files came along, no series had truly explored paranormal issues with any real gravity. And when Scully and Mulder appeared things changed fast. Suddenly, here was a series (and films) which dealt with it ultra serious, scientifically, even. This meant that it was More
