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Education in the School of Dreams: Travelogues and Early Nonfiction Film
Book
In the earliest years of cinema, travelogues were a staple of variety film programs in commercial...
Awix (3310 KP) rated A Chump at Oxford (1940) in Movies
Mar 24, 2019 (Updated Mar 24, 2019)
Disjointed L&H slapstick comedy, one of their last films for Hal Roach. Originally made as a 40-minute 'streamlined feature' and was extended to 62 minutes by the addition of an opening section which is a tidied-up remake of their 1928 short From Soup to Nuts; naturally, this has no connection with the rest of the story. Stan and Ollie try their hands at catering (badly), stop a robbery (accidentally) and as a reward are sent to Oxford University to better themselves. They antagonise the local students which leads to some surprising revelations as to Stan's past.
The individual sections are not too bad, but the episodic nature of the film means it feels longer than an hour; there are some good bits, but also a sense of the boys having run out of ideas and either repeating themselves or trying too hard. Spotting Peter Cushing (this is possibly the best-known of the films he made while in Hollywood for a couple of years as a young man) adds to the fun, though.
The individual sections are not too bad, but the episodic nature of the film means it feels longer than an hour; there are some good bits, but also a sense of the boys having run out of ideas and either repeating themselves or trying too hard. Spotting Peter Cushing (this is possibly the best-known of the films he made while in Hollywood for a couple of years as a young man) adds to the fun, though.
The Documentary Art of Filmmaker Michael Rubbo
Book
Michael Rubbo's ground-breaking work has had a deep and enduring impact on documentary filmmaking...
LeftSideCut (3778 KP) rated Love, Death & Robots - Season 1 in TV
Apr 9, 2020
The beauty of Love, Death and Robots is it's format. An eclectic collection of animated short films, some genuinely brilliant, with a handful of duds, truly gives something for everyone.
There are 18 films on show here, all with something different to offer.
Firstly there were 3 that failed to really resonate with me - Sucker of Souls, When the Yoghurt Took Over, and Alternate Histories. I found these three either slightly boring, or silly for the sake of being silly. There were 2 that sort of floated in the middle - The Dump, and Blind Spot, not bad by any means (none of the shorts are truly bad) but just were sort of there.
Leaving a grand total of 13 shorts that I thought were really really great.
A handful of these realistic CGI entries - namely, Sonnie's Edge, Three Robots, Beyond the Aquila Rift, Shape Shifters (one of the highlights for me), Helping Hand (reminded me of Gravity, in a great way), Lucky 13, and The Secret War.
These lot are lengthier offerings, and boast some good looking CGI animation, bordering on photo realism at times. The run time gives an opportunity for some decent fleshed out stories.
The Secret War in particular is nothing short of breath taking, and may well be my top pick of the whole season.
Elsewhere, we have more cartoony offerings - Suits, a loud animation that features farmers in mech suits fighting aliens. Zima Blue, a beautifully touching story of how a simple robot transcends existence itself - another highlight of the season. Fish Night, a short desert based drama bursting with colour. The animation of this one reminded me of A Scanner Darkly. Good Hunting, a collision of Ancient Chinese stories and a Bioshock style steampunk future. Hard to watch at times, but stunning also - easily would have been my top pick if The Secret War wasn't included.
Rounding it off we have The Witness, and animation that looks like a moving oil painting and reminded me of Mirror's Edge, and Ice Age, a fun short that's the only live action inclusion with CGI flourishes about a civilisation growing in a couple freezer.
It's an ambitious collection of shorts for sure, but like I said, there's something here for everyone. Even the ones that I liked the least are a 6/10 at worst. If you like sci-fi or animation in any shape or form, then check this series out.
There are 18 films on show here, all with something different to offer.
Firstly there were 3 that failed to really resonate with me - Sucker of Souls, When the Yoghurt Took Over, and Alternate Histories. I found these three either slightly boring, or silly for the sake of being silly. There were 2 that sort of floated in the middle - The Dump, and Blind Spot, not bad by any means (none of the shorts are truly bad) but just were sort of there.
Leaving a grand total of 13 shorts that I thought were really really great.
A handful of these realistic CGI entries - namely, Sonnie's Edge, Three Robots, Beyond the Aquila Rift, Shape Shifters (one of the highlights for me), Helping Hand (reminded me of Gravity, in a great way), Lucky 13, and The Secret War.
These lot are lengthier offerings, and boast some good looking CGI animation, bordering on photo realism at times. The run time gives an opportunity for some decent fleshed out stories.
The Secret War in particular is nothing short of breath taking, and may well be my top pick of the whole season.
Elsewhere, we have more cartoony offerings - Suits, a loud animation that features farmers in mech suits fighting aliens. Zima Blue, a beautifully touching story of how a simple robot transcends existence itself - another highlight of the season. Fish Night, a short desert based drama bursting with colour. The animation of this one reminded me of A Scanner Darkly. Good Hunting, a collision of Ancient Chinese stories and a Bioshock style steampunk future. Hard to watch at times, but stunning also - easily would have been my top pick if The Secret War wasn't included.
Rounding it off we have The Witness, and animation that looks like a moving oil painting and reminded me of Mirror's Edge, and Ice Age, a fun short that's the only live action inclusion with CGI flourishes about a civilisation growing in a couple freezer.
It's an ambitious collection of shorts for sure, but like I said, there's something here for everyone. Even the ones that I liked the least are a 6/10 at worst. If you like sci-fi or animation in any shape or form, then check this series out.
Bread Beauty Revolution: Khwaja Ahmad Abbas 1914-1987
Khwaja Ahmad Abbas, Iffat Fatima and Syeda Hameed
Book
Khwaja Ahmad Abbas distinguished himself by his ceaseless passion for revolutionary politics, which...
Dean (6925 KP) rated Piranha 3D (2010) in Movies
Feb 22, 2018
Only watched the 3D version on DVD so far, some scenes look good and you can tell it was made and shot to be a 3D film. Some scenes looked more like a hologram though. I have to add the colours seemed a bit out at times .....barely noticed the blood which there is tons of!? Will watch again in 2D soon.
Otherwise it's a fun, very bloody, gory creature feature with some good SFX, plenty of hot girls including Kelly Brook, good soundtrack, some tongue in cheek humour and a decent cast! It's a little short at 78mins and the climax of the film wasn't exactly epic. If you like cool films that know their target audience, you'll enjoy this!
Otherwise it's a fun, very bloody, gory creature feature with some good SFX, plenty of hot girls including Kelly Brook, good soundtrack, some tongue in cheek humour and a decent cast! It's a little short at 78mins and the climax of the film wasn't exactly epic. If you like cool films that know their target audience, you'll enjoy this!
Erika (17788 KP) rated Bodyguard in TV
Dec 13, 2018
I watched this show last month, when it was finally put on Netflix (US). I keep bouncing between wanting to rate it a 7 or an 8. I feel like the show didn't quite live up to the hype. The weird, and frankly, unnecessary fling in it struck me as kind of off... I mean, I guess it was so the characters had more feelings towards each other? I watch a lot of films/shows, and I did kind of figure who was pulling all of the strings after the school was bombed. It had a very '24' vibe. I liked that it was a short season, and honestly, it doesn't need to be continued, it was good as a limited series.
Black & White Cinema: A Short History
Book
Black & white film, the cinema of shadows and light, is a filmgoer's pleasure and a film student's...
George Gershwin
Book
George Gershwin (1898-1937), during his short but prolific career, produced a varied body of work...
Gendered Lives, Sexual Beings: A Feminist Anthology
Joya Misra, Mahala D Stewart and Marni Alyson Brown
Book
This innovative reader contains foundational and cutting-edge articles representing a range of...