Identifying the features of a genre: The Three Musketeers

The Three Musketeers is an action adventure of the swashbuckler sub-genre. We can tell this because there are dramatic, long-drawn-out scenes of sword-fighting which are often emphasised by slow motion closeups. The costumes & scenery are lavish, over the top & accordant with the time period the film is set in.
 The music is sweeping & epic to demonstrate the importance of the events in the film. There are many points in the film when royalty & the royal palace are involved; the regal music matches the regal setting for these segments.

My favourite film this summer- Hannibal (second induction task)

The film I enjoyed the most this summer was Hannibal, the 2nd film in the Hannibal Lecter trilogy but the third in the chronology of the storyline. The film follows disgraced FBI agent Clarice Starling as she tries to track down cannibalistic serial killer Dr. Hannibal Lecter, not only to arrest him but also to protect him the hordes of corrupt cops out to kidnap him on the orders of wealthy child molester Mason Verger, who wishes to feed Dr. Lecter to his wild boar herd. The characters & plot are interesting as there are lots of skewed morals to think about. I found the idea of a child molester being able to control police (who are supposed to protect the world from child molesters) because of money to be deliciously terrifying, especially as it is still poignant today with the BBC's cover-up of the Savile Scandal only recently being unearthed. The fact that Dr. Lecter can be seen as something of a victim, hero & almost a love-interest in this installment is very gratifying to a self-confessed Lecter fangirl & is also very interesting from a more objective point of view. The role of Lecter as good-guy (sort of) despite being a cannibalistic serial killer is a very interesting move, especially as it highlights Lecter's own morals of only killing people who he thinks deserve to be killed.

The emotion is relatable, the action & chase is exciting, the humour is dark & the scenes of cannibalism are delightfully disturbing. All of these factors add up to make a wonderful film.

I'm sure many households would not consider films about cannibalism to be wholesome family viewing, but as my household consists of just my mother & I (both avid horror fans since birth), the Hannibal Lecter trilogy bridged the taste-gap between mother & daughter & enabled us to settle down together & enjoy these wonderful films, making the experience of watching them all the more wonderful.

I was a little privately disappointed that the film did not end the same way as the book, which involved Clarice & Hannibal becoming a couple & going on the run to Argentina together. Although the fangirl  part of me was a little disappointed by this not being the case, the logical part of me realised that this was probably for the best as the ending in the film is more realistic with regards to the character of Clarice. Clarice Starling is a straight-edged FBI agent who could never realistically forsake her duties or acknowledge her love (if there is/was any) for a cannibalistic serial killer. This gives the underlying 'love-story' (if one could call it that) an extra layer of tragedy & realism which makes the film even better.

There are many reasons why Hannibal was my favourite film this summer. In summary, these reasons are: the exciting story & pace, the wonderful chemistry between the superb lead actors, the gore -which is effective without being gratuitous-, the underlying romantic 7 sexual tension between the main characters & the good production values which all add up to make a fantastic film from a series of fantastic films.

Why 'The Lone Ranger' was a flop (first induction task)

The Lone Ranger, directed by Gore Verbinski & starring Johnny Depp & Armie Hammer, was undoubtedly a commercial failure. We know this because, despite an large estimated budget of $225 million, the film only grossed $239 million worldwide.

Many people found that The Lone Ranger lacked vision. This can be seen (according to James Gadea of policymic) by the ballooning of the budget to almost $250 million. When a company has to keep changing the budget, it is a sign that the creative talent behind the film are doing lots of re-writes & re-imaginings & thus losing the original vision (if indeed there was vision to begin with). This lack of vision can often lead to a lack of direction & feeling of pointlessness for an audience.

Aside from the budgetary problems (& the subsequent  loss of vision caused by them), the shoot for The Lone Ranger was plagued with disaster. Often the weather on location could not be trusted, even resulting in wildfires on some occasions. This, of course, meant that filming took longer than expected. The weather & budgetary concerns were certainly not helped when an outbreak of chickenpox & even the death of a safety expert (Michael Andrew Bridger) decreased morale & slowed down production considerably. Also, many cast members had to extra formal training on horseback, gunslinging & lassoing.

These numerous problems looked very bad to the reviewers, many of whom published scathing reviews of The Lone Ranger long before it was released, which would have discouraged many potential viewers from making the effort of going to see it in the cinema. Actor Johnny Depp said "I think the reviews were written seven to eight months before we even released the film", which for many reviewers is true. These reviews placed a metaphorical curse upon the film.

The reviewers had ample reason to notice The Lone Ranger & set their sights on it to shoot it down before it was even released, as the date of this release kept drastically changing. The film was originally set for a mid-2011 release but it was pushed aside in favour of Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, because Pirates was considered to be a priority & a fail-safe success & The Lone Ranger did not have a director at the time. After Gore Verbinski signed as director, the release date was moved to the 21st of December 2012 but this was pushed even further forward to the 31st of May 2013 due to production problems. When Dreamworks' Robopocalypse encountered its own problems & could not make the 4th of July weekend release date, Disney jumped into its place with The Lone Ranger.

The sum of all these negative factors can be seen in the losses made by the film, as this shows the negative response from audiences. The release date would have really affected this, as many huge-budget & highly anticipated films (such as Man Of Steel, Monsters University, White House Down & Despicable Me 2) were out slightly before The Lone Ranger, meaning most film-goers had already spent all their time & money on tickets for this film & thus had little reason to see The Lone Ranger after the unfavourable reviews, bland colour palette on the trailer & the general unfamiliarity with the character for youths (especially those not living in America).

sources: www.policymic.com, www.today.com, wikipedia

Wilkommen, Bienvenue, Welcome....

Well then. here we are. The start of a new school year. Studying Film really is a dream, I didn't even realise it was a real subject until I went to KECS. studying the thing I am most passionate about really is a privilege. Don't get me wrong, I love books passionately too but there is just something about the beautiful immediacy of film which is so tantalising to me. No matter what language you speak, if any, a film can still reach you. Even if there are no subtitles, you'll be able to get something from it. Reading a book in Japanese means naff all if you don't read Japanese (I don't yet) whereas watching a Japanese film, even without subtitles, can still be a somewhat rewarding experience. Or it can be for me. Not sure about other people.
So yeah, I love films. Especially old films, arty films & foreign films. My favourite films are Das Cabinet Des Doktor Caligari, Labyrinth, Transformers G1, Cabaret (I named myself after it), Rocky Horror, Hellraiser (probably 3 because it is hilarious, especially the club scene. That is just lush), The Thief of Bagdad, Jason & the Argonauts (original, obviously), The Omen (1, 2 & 3. yes I am one of these rare people who enjoyed the sequels too) & various others. My favourite actors & actresses are Conrad Veidt, Mads Mikkelsen, Corey Feldman, Keir Dullea (what a guy. Is he still alive?), Mary Philbin, Keiko Kitagawa, Alan Cumming & Mads Mikkelsen again because he really is worth mentioning twice as I love him & he made me want to learn Danish & oh dear I'm going off track I'm sorry...
My favourite directors are David Cronenberg, Ken Russell (what a legend), Stanley Kubrick, Andrei Tarkovsky (what another legend. seriously. I started learning Russian because of his stuff), Thomas Vinterburg, Lars Von Trier (freaky stuff. I still can't bring myself to watch Antichrist), Andy Warhol, Fritz Lang & FW Murnau.
I love German Expressionist cinema. I want to go back in time & digitalise every GE film so they don't all get lost in WW2 like so many did.
Well, I think I have waffled for long enough. I will start posting reviews & essays & random filmy stuffs on here later.