Check out the first trailer of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part Two! Looks totally great, can't wait for the conclusion!
Film is released on 15 July in the UK on IMAX!
Friday, 17 June 2011
X Men: First Class Review!
So recently I went to see X-Men: First Class. I’ll try to sum up a small review in my introduction that doesn’t contain any spoilers. What’s good about it? Well it plays well with history, without coming off as a history lesson. The movie moves very well, (extremely fast at some points), and the special effects are amazing. Over all it is very entertaining and doesn’t feel like two hours. What’s bad? Nothing drastic, but as a prequel to the original trilogy, there are some continuity errors. It also does not go straight off the comics, so if you’re a comic book fan, don’t expect a certain issue number on screen.
Right, now onto my full detailed review. Firstly, the film moves very quickly. The first half moves so fast, that it does seem a little difficult to keep up. Although, this isn’t specifically a bad thing. They managed to cram in a lot of detail and plot into a 2 hour film that actually works and fits. The 3rd quarter slows down a little, and we get to know the characters a lot more and there are some cool funny scenes of the X Men training. The last quarter becomes very intense and political, yet full of action pact scenes. It’s basically an action movie with a lot of historical, political and social depth to it, which makes X men all the better.
As you have probably heard, Michael Fassbender and James McAvoy’s onscreen connection is what makes the film what it is. It’s an origin story of Charles Xavier and Erik Lensherr friendship, and there ultimate separation. It can be a little difficult to accept this ‘close’ relationship of theirs as real at times. As mentioned before, because the movie moves so fast, it feels almost as they have known each other for about 2 weeks. If we played out the film to match a calendar, I’m sure their friendship will span over a months.
Anyway, back to the point, what makes the films storyline so compelling is that these two men have so much in common, they both want the same thing, yet they both want to go about it in two different methods. There is Professor X, an intelligent and powerful telepath who wants acceptance and equality for mutants, but by a movement of humans themselves. Whereas Magneto is some sort of extremist/terrorist who wants mutants to become the higher society on earth.
Michael Fassbender undoubtedly gives a fantastic performance. He gives the character this bond type of dimension, yet we know that his goals are evil. He starts out as a hit man, yet we can’t help but put in a “whey” when he kills the ex Nazi’s. He provides the perfect compilation of anger, sadness, grief and hatred that makes Magneto one of the most interesting aspects to the X Men series ever.
James McAvoy managed to give a good performance, but he becomes overshadowed by Fassbender. In personal opinion, he gives an average to good performance. Nothing spectacular, but yes he does work very well with Fassbender. McAvoy along with the filmmakers portray Xavier as some type of intelligent calm, yet wild and young genius. It doesn’t go to well with Patrick Stewart’s performance of Xavier.
Another highlight of the cast was Jennifer Lawrence as Raven Darkholme/Mystique. Lawrence offered a witty confident and proud little character. She has different personality traits, and it’s great to see Mystique have some background story to her, as well as some sort of personality, rather than her snake like, personality lacking mutant.
The supporting cast aren’t given any major screen time, but it isn’t really needed. As much as the title is ‘First Class’ and the trailers would have us to believe it was about the formation of the X Men, it is more of the friendship of Magneto and Charles. It was a wise choice to give little prominence to the youngsters, as we don’t want another X-3 on our hands. They all have their individual quirky mutant powers which are a visual treat for the eyes.
On to our villain, Sebastian Shaw. Kevin Bacon was quite entertaining in his role. He fulfilled his duties well. The character comes across as a sort of big boss villain, even though he is potentially one of the most powerful mutants there. Would have been nice to see him not rely as much on his henchman. His two other henchman, Azeazal and Riptide, have extremely cool action packed scenes, but no lines. Their roles don’t really contribute anything to the storylines other than killing a shit load of humans.
Now we have January Jones as Emma Frost. This one is quite frustrating. Jones doesn’t particularly shine her acting talents in the film. While I shall not accuse her of her talents, I genuinely believe that she just didn’t hit that spot for the character. The character herself was a very interesting character, Shaw’s ‘associate’. If I saw a sequel happening, would I want to see Jones back again? Yes, I would. I feel that a huge potential was there with Emma Frost, but they just missed it.
Last but not least is the comic history. The film does not follow strictly to the comics. Yes the original line up isn’t ‘First Class’s’ line up, and yes the whole storyline isn’t what you would find in the comics. Although, I wouldn’t let that stop you from going to see it. First Class offers valuable entertainment using historical events, which, doesn’t come off as a history lesson.
Pop Culture Rocks rating: 4/5 stars.
Tuesday, 7 June 2011
Site Update.
Things are going pretty slow with the site, only because I am very busy at the moment focusing on these stupid A-levels. Anyway, I saw X-Men: First Class last week and I have a half finished review currently on my desktop. Soon as this exam is over, my first self review shall be posted! Probably Thursday. For anyone that is reading this, current failure of a blog, I shall be posting a LOT more soon!
Thursday, 14 April 2011
The British Film Industry: The Ups and Downs.
Introduction.
What is this presentation about?
The British film industry faces many economical issues every year. This presentation
is going to highlight these issues, the possible solutions that can fix them, and a general
overview of the industry itself. I have chosen 3 films to analyze which shall also be
included in this presentation; these are In the Loop and Harry Brown.
Focus Films.
The two films I am analyzing for this study shall by In the Loop, and Harry brown. These are both British films and therefore provide as perfect examples for the study; they show what the British film industry has to offer.
A Summary of the British Film Industry.
UK produced content makes a major contribution to the entertainment and education of UK audiences. It makes an important contribution to the British economy; they contribute to national income and employment and make a net contribution to exports, which have the capacity to grow.
The BFI (British Film Industry) has always experienced periods of boom and busts. The government have recognized the increased importance of the industry and sought to support it with tools like quotas, levies and tax incentives.
The BFI is heavily influenced by the American Film Industry, the major Hollywood studios. At times the AFI can be an overwhelming competitor but also a major investor in filmmaking in the UK. The production side is the BFI’s strength, but the distribution factor goes to the AMI, where much of the profit is generated.
No attempt has been successful in emulating the success of AMI in the UK. As we are now in a digital era, this may be the time for the BFI to grab its chance and rise through the ranks. Digital distribution could offer opportunities for a different distribution model.
The government has supported the British film industry with tax relief on film production
expenditure since 2007. A helpful idea to the industry would be to adjust the system with
the aim of giving more support to smaller films and allowing British films to be partly
shot abroad without suffering a financial penalty.
What is a British Film?
What makes a British film British?
The 1927 Cinematograph Films Act declares that in order to be qualified as a ‘British
Film’, then the films must follow these guidelines:
• The film must be made by a British company, or a British subject.
• All scenes must be shot in British Empire studios.
• 75% of labor costs must go to British subjects (excluding one foreign actor or
producer.
• The author of the film must be British.
This act had remained untouched or changed until the 1985 Films Act. The act mirrored
the ideology of the conservatives at that time; it had an economic nature. It was aimed at
defining what a British film is for tax purposes.
Piracy
According to http://www.launchingfilms.com/piracy/index.html, UK film distributors had
invested £147.8 million in advertising their new releases in 2003, which resulted in 167.3
million cinema tickets being sold. This compares to an average of 14 million a month.
This all seems great for distributors, but it had created a market for pirates. These are
camera recordings filmed in the theater, or pre released versions leaked onto the internet.
Both don’t contain the element that you get when you watch films at the cinema, for
example, shanky camera work and muffled sound, and special effects or scenes missing.
What are the damages?
In the first half of 2004, figures had shown that an increase of pirate DVDs had gone up
by 207%. In 2004, pirate DVDs had an estimated general income of £400-500 million,
and they estimated that within three years, figures would reach £1 billion.
How is the film industry fighting back to remain successful?
In July 2004, the Industry Trust for IP Awareness Ltd had launched a new campaign. It
was non-profit making and was funded by distributors and retailers, and cost £1.5million
to make. The campaign consisted of posters and TV and cinema advertisements.
The dawn on the digital era had made it practically easy for anyone with internet access
to illegally download films. Many companies have come up with strategies to combat
it, for example, services like lovefilm.com and Itunes, where users can download films
legally and pay for them.
Another method that the industry has devised is the successful emergence of the 3D
platform. Although it is widely seen as a gimmick, a cinematic experience tool, the
platform does in fact combat piracy. Films that are released in 3D cannot be recorded
on a camcorder because of the use of 3D glasses. It also helps with pre released versions
that have leaked online because they may still be converted into 3D, thus needing the
glasses again- although 3D releases that have leaked online are very rare.
The UK film council reported that fighting against film pirates would generate £614 million for the UK economy. A report titled Great expectations: A report on the economic opportunities for the UKL film sector, which was published by oxford economics, shows that a series of legislative changes would bring in extra gross revenues of £268 million to the audio visual industry.
The Government.
Within 2007/08, the British government had given a total public support for the film industry of £261 million. The largest public support source for the production is the film production tax credit; this has an estimated to cost £105 million in 2007/08. This is also 40% of total support for the film industry in its first year of operation.
There has been a film tax credit that was introduced in 2006 via the Finance Bill. The features of this is that it is provided directly towards the film production company, and it is also available to companies making culturally British films- films that are made to be shown in cinemas where at leas 25% of the expenditure will be in the UK.
www.parliament.co.uk suggests that due to the current economic circumstances as well as the value to the international film industry of stable tax regime, that the government should keep the rate of tax credit at its own current level. Furthermore, they recommended that the rate of tax credit be kept under review by the government and in consolation with the industry. This is in order to ensure that the UK does not become uncompetitive as a venue for international filmmaking. The website also believes that the government should consider raising the net rate of film tax for productions under £5 million to 30%.
BFI
In the September 5, 2008 Screen international, there is an article on the British Film Institute and its new chairman, Greg Dyke. The article states how the BFI’s funding of £16 million a year in grant of aid, which is administered by the UK film council, has been on a stand still for four years.
The BFI 2001 handbook.
After the disaster of the 80’s for the British Film industry, the 90’s showed a turning point for the industry. Apart from a blip in 1998, 1999 saw the number of admissions tickets rise to 139.75 million. This was the highest total for the UK since 1975, and the industry appeared resurrected. According to the BFI 2001 handbook, the rise of admissions is linked with the introduction, development and expansion of multiplex cinemas in the UK.
The handbook states that in 1999 139.75 million admission tickets, with an average £3.80 per ticket and a Box Office Gross of £570.50 million. Those numbers are taken from 1999, so if we apply it to current statistics, then we can see that the film industry has drastically evolved, but has it? The industry takes in more money, although films are becoming more and more expensive to produce. The average ticket price has gone up to 7 pounds so therefore a bigger box office intake will be obvious.
Moreover on my last point, here are the figures for 2009 from the FDA Yearbook 2010.
• 173,461,335 UK cinema admissions. This is a 5.6% increase from 2008.
• The UK and republic of Ireland total box-office gross is £1.064, 911,767. This is a 12.1% increase from 2008.
• There were 503 new releases.
• The top three films were Harry potter and the Half blood Prince, Ice Age 3: Dawn of the Dinosaurs and UP.
As we can see, these numbers are a phenomenal increase from 1999.
Harry Brown.
One could argue that one of the reasons for the British industry’s survival is the class of films that are produced each year. For example, Harry Brown delivers a film met with critical appraise.
The film is set in London and follows the story of a man (Michael Caine) named Harry Brown. After he is close friend is brutally murdered by yobbish youths, he goes on the hunt for revenge by murdering one by one. Essentially, the film is a typical revenge story, although it doesn’t follow the guidelines of a conventional revenge story. Harry Brown is an old man, diagnosed with emphysema and is killing half out of revenge and half out of protection.
The film portrays the working class, which appears to be Britain’s film industry’s greatest weapon. Many films portraying the working class have painted a positive impact on the industry, with films such as Harry Brown and This is England.
In The Loop.
In the loop offers conventional British comedy, comedy that has become a cultural aspect of British cinema. The narrative follows a British cabinet minister who slips up on an unintended comment on a middle-east war with America, and how he must undo his comments with alliance on American politicians.
Both films ‘Harry Brown’ and ‘In the Loop’ offer a cultural aspect in their representation of the UK. We can apply the cultivation theory to this, as many other countries will watch this films and believe there representation, therefore the stereotypes must be correct in order to make a correct representation.
There is also the reception theory. Many people in the UK shall view the films from different perspectives. For example, both films are set in London, so ‘ Londoners’ may either take offence, or see it as pleasure to view. In the Loop uses common stereotypes of youths that cause problems on the streets. Audiences in London may see this as an incorrect stereotype, whereas Northerners may not see any offence in it at all.
Conclusion.
To conclude, the British film industry has always face problems since the dawn of cinema as a form of entertainment. Although, it has survived the 1980’s and Thatcherism. The piracy crime is now the new problem, it is something the British film industry needs to fight against, yet they don’t have the full support of the government to pass the legislation they need to stop piracy.
The films that are produced in the UK generally tend to have a more ‘independent’ genre to them, as we have learned that funding is quite difficult, so film makers use finance from independent production companies. The films feature a cultural aspect to the British industry, and this could be one of the reasons as to why the industry still achieves success; despite its economic difficulties. They are what contribute the British film industry’s strong reputation amongst others.
Update: This piece was pasted right off word, hence the sentence structure is a bit off. Thanks for reading!
What is this presentation about?
The British film industry faces many economical issues every year. This presentation
is going to highlight these issues, the possible solutions that can fix them, and a general
overview of the industry itself. I have chosen 3 films to analyze which shall also be
included in this presentation; these are In the Loop and Harry Brown.
Focus Films.
The two films I am analyzing for this study shall by In the Loop, and Harry brown. These are both British films and therefore provide as perfect examples for the study; they show what the British film industry has to offer.
A Summary of the British Film Industry.
UK produced content makes a major contribution to the entertainment and education of UK audiences. It makes an important contribution to the British economy; they contribute to national income and employment and make a net contribution to exports, which have the capacity to grow.
The BFI (British Film Industry) has always experienced periods of boom and busts. The government have recognized the increased importance of the industry and sought to support it with tools like quotas, levies and tax incentives.
The BFI is heavily influenced by the American Film Industry, the major Hollywood studios. At times the AFI can be an overwhelming competitor but also a major investor in filmmaking in the UK. The production side is the BFI’s strength, but the distribution factor goes to the AMI, where much of the profit is generated.
No attempt has been successful in emulating the success of AMI in the UK. As we are now in a digital era, this may be the time for the BFI to grab its chance and rise through the ranks. Digital distribution could offer opportunities for a different distribution model.
The government has supported the British film industry with tax relief on film production
expenditure since 2007. A helpful idea to the industry would be to adjust the system with
the aim of giving more support to smaller films and allowing British films to be partly
shot abroad without suffering a financial penalty.
What is a British Film?
What makes a British film British?
The 1927 Cinematograph Films Act declares that in order to be qualified as a ‘British
Film’, then the films must follow these guidelines:
• The film must be made by a British company, or a British subject.
• All scenes must be shot in British Empire studios.
• 75% of labor costs must go to British subjects (excluding one foreign actor or
producer.
• The author of the film must be British.
This act had remained untouched or changed until the 1985 Films Act. The act mirrored
the ideology of the conservatives at that time; it had an economic nature. It was aimed at
defining what a British film is for tax purposes.
Piracy
According to http://www.launchingfilms.com/piracy/index.html, UK film distributors had
invested £147.8 million in advertising their new releases in 2003, which resulted in 167.3
million cinema tickets being sold. This compares to an average of 14 million a month.
This all seems great for distributors, but it had created a market for pirates. These are
camera recordings filmed in the theater, or pre released versions leaked onto the internet.
Both don’t contain the element that you get when you watch films at the cinema, for
example, shanky camera work and muffled sound, and special effects or scenes missing.
What are the damages?
In the first half of 2004, figures had shown that an increase of pirate DVDs had gone up
by 207%. In 2004, pirate DVDs had an estimated general income of £400-500 million,
and they estimated that within three years, figures would reach £1 billion.
How is the film industry fighting back to remain successful?
In July 2004, the Industry Trust for IP Awareness Ltd had launched a new campaign. It
was non-profit making and was funded by distributors and retailers, and cost £1.5million
to make. The campaign consisted of posters and TV and cinema advertisements.
The dawn on the digital era had made it practically easy for anyone with internet access
to illegally download films. Many companies have come up with strategies to combat
it, for example, services like lovefilm.com and Itunes, where users can download films
legally and pay for them.
Another method that the industry has devised is the successful emergence of the 3D
platform. Although it is widely seen as a gimmick, a cinematic experience tool, the
platform does in fact combat piracy. Films that are released in 3D cannot be recorded
on a camcorder because of the use of 3D glasses. It also helps with pre released versions
that have leaked online because they may still be converted into 3D, thus needing the
glasses again- although 3D releases that have leaked online are very rare.
The UK film council reported that fighting against film pirates would generate £614 million for the UK economy. A report titled Great expectations: A report on the economic opportunities for the UKL film sector, which was published by oxford economics, shows that a series of legislative changes would bring in extra gross revenues of £268 million to the audio visual industry.
The Government.
Within 2007/08, the British government had given a total public support for the film industry of £261 million. The largest public support source for the production is the film production tax credit; this has an estimated to cost £105 million in 2007/08. This is also 40% of total support for the film industry in its first year of operation.
There has been a film tax credit that was introduced in 2006 via the Finance Bill. The features of this is that it is provided directly towards the film production company, and it is also available to companies making culturally British films- films that are made to be shown in cinemas where at leas 25% of the expenditure will be in the UK.
www.parliament.co.uk suggests that due to the current economic circumstances as well as the value to the international film industry of stable tax regime, that the government should keep the rate of tax credit at its own current level. Furthermore, they recommended that the rate of tax credit be kept under review by the government and in consolation with the industry. This is in order to ensure that the UK does not become uncompetitive as a venue for international filmmaking. The website also believes that the government should consider raising the net rate of film tax for productions under £5 million to 30%.
BFI
In the September 5, 2008 Screen international, there is an article on the British Film Institute and its new chairman, Greg Dyke. The article states how the BFI’s funding of £16 million a year in grant of aid, which is administered by the UK film council, has been on a stand still for four years.
The BFI 2001 handbook.
After the disaster of the 80’s for the British Film industry, the 90’s showed a turning point for the industry. Apart from a blip in 1998, 1999 saw the number of admissions tickets rise to 139.75 million. This was the highest total for the UK since 1975, and the industry appeared resurrected. According to the BFI 2001 handbook, the rise of admissions is linked with the introduction, development and expansion of multiplex cinemas in the UK.
The handbook states that in 1999 139.75 million admission tickets, with an average £3.80 per ticket and a Box Office Gross of £570.50 million. Those numbers are taken from 1999, so if we apply it to current statistics, then we can see that the film industry has drastically evolved, but has it? The industry takes in more money, although films are becoming more and more expensive to produce. The average ticket price has gone up to 7 pounds so therefore a bigger box office intake will be obvious.
Moreover on my last point, here are the figures for 2009 from the FDA Yearbook 2010.
• 173,461,335 UK cinema admissions. This is a 5.6% increase from 2008.
• The UK and republic of Ireland total box-office gross is £1.064, 911,767. This is a 12.1% increase from 2008.
• There were 503 new releases.
• The top three films were Harry potter and the Half blood Prince, Ice Age 3: Dawn of the Dinosaurs and UP.
As we can see, these numbers are a phenomenal increase from 1999.
Harry Brown.
One could argue that one of the reasons for the British industry’s survival is the class of films that are produced each year. For example, Harry Brown delivers a film met with critical appraise.
The film is set in London and follows the story of a man (Michael Caine) named Harry Brown. After he is close friend is brutally murdered by yobbish youths, he goes on the hunt for revenge by murdering one by one. Essentially, the film is a typical revenge story, although it doesn’t follow the guidelines of a conventional revenge story. Harry Brown is an old man, diagnosed with emphysema and is killing half out of revenge and half out of protection.
The film portrays the working class, which appears to be Britain’s film industry’s greatest weapon. Many films portraying the working class have painted a positive impact on the industry, with films such as Harry Brown and This is England.
In The Loop.
In the loop offers conventional British comedy, comedy that has become a cultural aspect of British cinema. The narrative follows a British cabinet minister who slips up on an unintended comment on a middle-east war with America, and how he must undo his comments with alliance on American politicians.
Both films ‘Harry Brown’ and ‘In the Loop’ offer a cultural aspect in their representation of the UK. We can apply the cultivation theory to this, as many other countries will watch this films and believe there representation, therefore the stereotypes must be correct in order to make a correct representation.
There is also the reception theory. Many people in the UK shall view the films from different perspectives. For example, both films are set in London, so ‘ Londoners’ may either take offence, or see it as pleasure to view. In the Loop uses common stereotypes of youths that cause problems on the streets. Audiences in London may see this as an incorrect stereotype, whereas Northerners may not see any offence in it at all.
Conclusion.
To conclude, the British film industry has always face problems since the dawn of cinema as a form of entertainment. Although, it has survived the 1980’s and Thatcherism. The piracy crime is now the new problem, it is something the British film industry needs to fight against, yet they don’t have the full support of the government to pass the legislation they need to stop piracy.
The films that are produced in the UK generally tend to have a more ‘independent’ genre to them, as we have learned that funding is quite difficult, so film makers use finance from independent production companies. The films feature a cultural aspect to the British industry, and this could be one of the reasons as to why the industry still achieves success; despite its economic difficulties. They are what contribute the British film industry’s strong reputation amongst others.
Update: This piece was pasted right off word, hence the sentence structure is a bit off. Thanks for reading!
So Far So Good!
On my first day of blogging, I'm happy with the outcome. There is facebook links on your right, so feel free to like PopCultureRocks.com on Facebook and invite your friends! Secondly, I have now added a forum! Yes, a very mediocre and non attractive forum; but it shall do its job for now. I shall also try to do my best to join in on the discussions. Engaging with the readers is one of my biggest aims for the site! Thanks for reading everyone :)
Greetings!
First off I had better introduce myself before we start. I am a 19 year old student, studying film and media currently at A-level, and then hopefully off at University. Media and Film are major influences in my life, as they are in any ones life; most people just absorb it as entertainment value and think nothing else of it. But the reality is, media is now everywhere. It is on our TV, computers, phones, buses, ads etc.
What is fascinating is how western culture saturates the media, and is offered to everyone. This blog is an attempt to address the debates and discussions from all things from The Simpsons to The Godfather.
This is a new experience for myself, blogging is something I have always wanted to do but never quite managed to gather the I.C.T knowledge on how to, so bear with me while the site grows and expands- hopefully anyway.
What is fascinating is how western culture saturates the media, and is offered to everyone. This blog is an attempt to address the debates and discussions from all things from The Simpsons to The Godfather.
This is a new experience for myself, blogging is something I have always wanted to do but never quite managed to gather the I.C.T knowledge on how to, so bear with me while the site grows and expands- hopefully anyway.
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