“So… what did you see all this time watching me?“ Advertised as the “first Iranian vampire western,” A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night (2014) is a stunning film, shot in monochrome black and white, written and directed by Ana Lily Amirpour. The film is set in the Iranian ghost-town Bad City and tells the story of…
Film Review: Obvious Child (2014)
“You’re dizzy because you played Russian roulette with your vagina.“ I came across Obvious Child (2014) whilst searching for more films to watch for the 52 Films by Women project. Obvious Child was both written and directed by Gillian Robespierre, who said whilst she loved films like Knocked Up (2007) and Juno (2007), she did not see herself relating to them and set…
Film Review: Jenny’s Wedding (2015)
“When you meet the right person, you go the distance. And let me tell you about the distance: everybody changes. But if you’re with the right person, and they change; you meet the right person all over again.” Jenny Farrell (Katherine Heigl) and her immediate family are brought together for a baptism, and Jenny learns…
International Women’s Day: Female Screenwriters
In celebration of this year’s International Women’s Day on March 8th, I have decided to bring some attention to women in film; more specifically female screenwriters. As a whole, screenwriters tend to be overlooked by your most general film viewing/cinema going fans, especially the women. Without further ado, here are some great screenwriters who have…
RIP Andrzej Żuławski
Polish director Andrzej Żuławski sadly passed away on February 17th at the age of 75 after a long battle with cancer. Żuławski is mostly known for his controversial and violent art-house films. He mostly enjoyed the praise from EU art-house audiences. His most famous film is Possession (1981) which stars Isabelle Adjani as Anna; a young woman…
A Look into Laura Mulvey’s Article ‘Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema’ (1975) in Reference to Sabrina (1954)
Laura Mulvey argues that within a film text, the male characters are said to control the look while the female characters connote the ‘to-be-looked-at-ness’. Laura Mulvey is a British feminist film theorist and her article ‘Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema’ (1975) outlines her concept of how feminism presents itself in Classical Hollywood film. Mulvey begins…
Film Review: Girls Against Boys (2012)
Bad Girls Don’t Cry. They Get Even. Girls Against Boys is unlike any other revenge drama. It touches upon some elements of horror and delivers a few twists which is what makes it stand out from other films that carry a similar premise. It stars Danielle Panabaker as Shae who has a lot of bad experience…
Film Review: The Herd (2014)
The first feminist vegan horror film. The Herd (2014) was first introduced to me at Celluloid Screams, Sheffield’s horror film festival, in October of last year. During this time I was working as part of the festival team and didn’t get a chance to see it. However, I did see the effect it had on people…
Film Review: Crimson Peak (2015)
“Ghosts are real, that much I know. I’ve seen them all my life…“ Guillermo del Toro is no stranger to dark fantasy with his impressive filmography including films such as The Devil’s Backbone (2001), Pan’s Labyrinth (2006), Blade II (2002) and Hellboy (2004). His latest effort, Crimson Peak (2015), is no exception and is a remarkable gothic horror that tells a ghost story that isn’t…
‘My Bloody Valentine’ (1981) in Relation to Vera Dika’s “The Stalker Film” Essay
The stalker or slasher film is a phenomenon that began in the late 1970s with John Carpenter’s Halloween (1978), reaching nationwide markets during 1978 – 1981. Halloween inspired many stalker films which all share a set group of cinematic and narrative elements, put in place by Carpenter. Many directors copied its style in the hope of replicating its success….