Culture & Literature – Page 35 of 37

26Nov

By Thomas McDonaldNo Comments

A film out of this world

Nolan has always dedicated himself to making truly big films. It’s why he has been compared to the likes of David Lean, Stanley Kubrick and Steven Spielberg, film makers who formed bold new ideas and presented audiences with grand set pieces the likes of which they have never seen. They are arguably generous comparisons. He does not have the cerebral or artistic qualities of Kubrick, the subtle, human aspects of Lean, and has yet to make films which are so widely embraced as Spielberg, with even his most loved films still holding as somewhat divisive. But what he does do, is make films as big as they did. Interstellar is no different. What bigger story is there than the pursuit into the great unknown that is space. Themes of progress and human development, of what unknown things lie in ...

26Nov

By Thomas McDonaldNo Comments

Culture & Literature, Film & TV

Its Shaken, and a Little Stirred.

When Skyfall came out two years ago, many hailed it as the best ever Bond film, an argument supported by its massive box office takings and two Oscars. It was announced that the two films left on Craig's Bond contract after Skyfall would form a 'two-parter', helmed by Sam Mendes to be released in 2014 and 2015. However, after the initial excitement, production got pushed back. Mendes decided he wanted a break from film to return to the stage, and the idea of a back-to-back release was scrapped. Bond 24 is now expected to be released October 23rd 2015, with John Logan currently working on the script, and Sam Mendes now back on the project as director. On the surface it sounds good; consistency from the last film. Surely the same writer, director and star can put together another great fi...

26Nov

By Thomas McDonaldNo Comments

Culture & Literature, Film & TV

Mr. Turner

Mike Leigh has been an omnipresent figure in the British film industry over the last 30 years, telling stories about real people, living real lives. There are no far off universes, no space travel, no mechanised monsters here. To have had such continuous success with the ability to touch the audiences with their day-to-day emotions, making them sympathise and say “yes, that is what my life is like” while also holding a mirror up to society, is a true triumph. It is no surprise therefore that, even at the age of 71, there is no slowing Leigh down as he delivers another brilliant picture about real people. But this time, this character actually IS real, in the form of one of our countries best ever artists, Turner. But to say Leigh delivers us the story of Turners life, isn’t particularly...

24Nov

By Jordan ThorneNo Comments

Culture & Literature, Theatre & Performance

Dial “M” for Melodrama

It felt somewhat ironic to be reviewing Tom Stoppard’s “The Real Inspector Hound,” at Royal Holloway for it is a comedy that focuses upon, and mocks two upper-class, guffawing critics of whom actually end up participating within the show they are reviewing. Luckily and thankfully, I remained within the audience for its entirety. Irony aside, the play was shown in Jane Holloway Hall from 29th until the 31st October and was very well-received by its audience, who could be heard laughing and sniggering throughout the production. The show was good fun: it was light-hearted entertainment that used the genre of murder mystery within its parodied borders. The show acknowledged itself as a play with metatheatrical elements: it constituted a play within a play. This tool, with the potential to c...

2Nov

By Harry CrawfordNo Comments

Culture & Literature, Film & TV

Wild at the BFI London Film Festival

Gather round film-lovers, for it’s that time of year again - yes, the BFI London Film Festival is back! It saddens me to say that I did not get the chance to see this year’s prime starlets, (Mr Turner, Foxcatcher and The Imitation Game spring to mind) but all is not lost. 'Wild' has crept below many people’s radars, even my own. I can blame the marketing campaign as much as I like but I should have known better. This is director Jean-Marc Vallée’s second film of 2014, and the first, 'Dallas Buyers Club', was outstanding, landing two Oscars. Is 'Wild' another Academy contender? Based on Cheryl Strayed’s similarly titled memoir, 'Wild' focuses on her hike along the Pacific Crest Trail in the mid-nineties. Years of reckless behaviour as a drug and sex addict, kickstarted by the untimely de...

2Nov

By Michelangelo FanoNo Comments

Culture & Literature, Film & TV

Gone to the Movies – Gone Girl

Having sold over 2 million copies, it is fair to say the adaptation of the book 'Gone Girl' was going to come with a fair bit of anticipation. Similar to Fincher's previous film, 'The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo', there was plenty of pressure coming from fans of a much beloved book to get this story right. As stylish and brilliantly made as 'The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo' was, it lacked the grit that the story, and the original Swedish adaptation, had that made it so good. There was a sense that Fincher didn’t feel truly passionate about the project, resulting in a stunningly made, if somewhat hollow film. In many ways, 'Gone Girl' is similar, with it failing to scale the heights of Fincher's early masterpieces 'Fight Club', 'Se7en' or 'Zodiac'. However, it seems Fincher has had more fun...

2Nov

By Lis CarltonNo Comments

Culture & Literature, Music, Theatre & Performance

“Boots on the Ground!” – The RHUL Symphony Orchestra, The Student Body, and Rebecca Miller

The Royal Holloway Symphony Orchestra kicked off the new term in September with a concert that filled the Windsor Auditorium beyond its own doors. People squeezed into every last head space, perspiring in the heat, to get a glimpse of the Orchestra in its first event of the year, under the baton of RHUL’s new Fellow in Music Performance; BBC Proms 2014 accredited conductor, Rebecca Miller. With an audience pushing maximum capacity and an orchestra to match, swelling with fresh enthusiasm and pushing its own size limits, the year’s musical calendar began with a show of great skill that we are accustomed to seeing year-in-year out; only with a difference! Skill and success aside, it is unheard of to see Royal Holloway’s largest auditorium and concert hall filled out for a musical event. It h...

1Nov

By Michelangelo FanoNo Comments

Culture & Literature, Film & TV

We’re all falling for Wingman

Ever found yourself way out of your depth, falling so fast you barely even felt the ground as it slipped from underneath you? Ever wished that the person you fell for would, somehow, also be the one to catch you? Ever felt the pinch of Cupid’s arrow as it hits you on your – ahem – derrière and known, almost instantaneously, that you were in trouble… Us too. When Cupid lands on a university campus, he has only one thing on his mind – earning back his wings. He soon finds out that his one, single, tiny mistake isn’t so small after all and he has a whole lot more to learn about falling in love than he could have possibly imagined. Wingman is the SURHUL Film Festival society’s latest project. In collaboration with RhubarbTv, the project is a six week long web-series set to be aired ea...

29Oct

By Michelangelo FanoNo Comments

Culture & Literature, Film & TV

BFI – Debate in Film.

‘Debate; Riveting films that amplify, scrutinise, argue and surprise.’ Open your eyes. Are you an individual, or a collective? Are you an opinion, or ideology? Do you care? Perhaps not. So often we are party to a single vision, and see only a single side of a coin. As an academic, university student body, we are all striving to open our minds beyond our own ideas and attempting to get an understanding of all the facts presented to us. After all these efforts, we are still likely to return comfortably to our old seats in our cultural surroundings. For all its entertainment value, film is often marginalised to the glamour, high production values, special effects and emphatic scripts of Hollywood. Fed by Americanisms, impartiality is difficult, and it is tempting to all lean in one directi...

29Oct

By Michelangelo FanoNo Comments

Culture & Literature, Film & TV

Basically BFI

It’s October time yet again, and in the English film industry that means one thing: Hollywood is once again coming to London in the guise of the BFI London Film Festival. While not quite holding the same reputation as other festivals such as Cannes, Venice or Sundance, it has still become a core date in the film calendar, and gives the chance for two, or three weeks to see some of Hollywood's biggest stars here in London. This year’s festival opens with a homegrown number - 'The Imitation Game' - starring Benedict Cumberbatch as the famous Alan Turing, meaning anyone around Leicester Square on the 8th has the chance to spot Sherlock Holmes himself, Kiera Knightly, and Royal Holloway alumnus Mark Strong all in the flesh. However, it’s the festivals closing film which will really see Holl...