Film & TV – Page 8 of 14

9Sep

By Laura LawrenceNo Comments

No More iPlayer

Over the past few years the BBC has seen major changes to its organisation. These changes have included the proposed closure of BBC Three, the shutting down of the BBC Trust, the appointment of the National Audit Office as its financial auditor and a whole new board put in charge of the company. In addition to these changes, the government have just announced that from 1st September the Licensing Law will be changing. This will result in it being illegal to watch television programmes on BBC iPlayer without a TV licence. Although this does not affect the huge number of Britain’s population who already have a licence, it will affect the thousands of students who rely on the medium for entertainment without having to pay £145.50. Now many students may be thinking that it doesn’t matter th...

25Jul

By Beth CarrNo Comments

Culture & Literature, Film & TV

New Blood: A new concept for BBC One?

I was introduced to New Blood by the Metro, promising a fantastic foray from Anthony Horowitz into the gritty side of London's policing and fraud investigation. Once a friend from the capital mentioned the show and its greatness, I knew I had to 'tune in' and find out for myself. I use 'tune in' in the figurative sense because the first I heard of the show was as a box set on BBC iPlayer, not realising it had a prime time slot on BBC One. The way this works is that the series is made up of three cases, each consisting of two episodes (except the first which has three instalments), and released on a case by case basis. The episodes are also aired weekly over seven weeks on BBC One on Thursday evenings. A strange idea, some might think, considering that the episodes are already available ...

Film adaptation of Wicked announced to be released in 2019

27Jun

By Beth CarrNo Comments

Culture & Literature, Film & TV, Theatre & Performance

Film adaptation of Wicked announced to be released in 2019

The adaptation has been discussed since 2004, but was viewed by some fans as a mere rumour after news of the film had gone quiet. Universal Pictures, however, confirmed via Twitter that the motion picture is scheduled for release on 20th December 2019. Within 24 hours, their tweet has received over 5,000 likes and 7,500 retweets, with speculation already rife about who will play the lead characters and visible excitement from eager followers. The musical phenomenon WICKED comes to the big screen. In theaters 12.20.19. pic.twitter.com/rFojgh56oH — Universal Pictures (@UniversalPics) June 16, 2016 Wicked retells L. Frank Baum's 1900 story The Wizard of Oz, popularised by the 1939 film, from the perspective of the witches, exploring their childhoods and how they came to take the titles o...

19Jan

By Nebiu SamuelNo Comments

Culture & Literature, Film & TV

The Revenant

Leonardo DiCaprio goes all out in The Revenant giving his most physical and raw performance of his career, which is highly likely to win him Oscar gold, something he’s been hunting for a while now. The Revenant, tells the story of real life frontiersman, Hugh glass who must survive the harsh wilderness of the American West to get revenge on those who wronged him. DiCaprio’s performance as Hugh Glass is largely characterized by his physical commitment to the role which he displays many times in the film such as through sleeping in a dead horse’s carcass, eating a raw bison liver, acting in well below freezing temperatures and getting mauled by a bear. However, DiCaprio never over acts in these moments, but keeps his performance subtle and as much as I always see DiCaprio as the good looking...

18Jan

By Nebiu SamuelNo Comments

Culture & Literature, Film & TV

Beasts of No Nation

Rise of streaming service have become a concern for cinema chains in recent years as smarter cinema goers realise they can wait for certain films and TV series to become available on streaming services like Netflix and Amazon Prime rather than giving the film a chance in the cinema, unless it’s a film that warrants to be seen on a big screen like a summer blockbuster. Cinemas have become worried that people will become lazier and less driven to see films in the cinema, if they have the option to watch films at home instead and to an extent they are right. (more…)

Sexism and Cinema: are women disappearing from the business?

10Jan

By Niamh.dunne.2015No Comments

Culture & Literature, Film & TV

Sexism and Cinema: are women disappearing from the business?

October marked the release of ‘Suffragette’, a film directed by a woman (Sarah Gavron), written by a woman (Abi Morgan) and, unsurprisingly, starring a lot of women, including some of the finest actresses of our time. I wish I could say that this is a common occurrence. Unfortunately, I don’t have that luxury. (more…)

1Jan

By Zara.gillick.2014No Comments

Culture & Literature, Film & TV, Theatre & Performance

Theatre… in the Cinema?

Lyndsey Turner’s production of Hamlet, starring Benedict Cumberbatch, was the fastest selling theatre show in London’s history. But for those who didn’t get tickets and didn’t want to queue in the early hours of the morning to get a ticket for £10, of which there were a handful set aside for each performance, National Theatre Live were broadcasting the play live to cinemas worldwide. NTLive broadcast many big London theatre productions so far, including Simon Stephens’ ‘The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time’ and Stephen Daldry’s ‘An Audience’. It was an extremely slick and well produced production. The camera work arguably enhanced the experience, allowing you access to the nuanced facial expressions and emotions of the actors, not to mention allowing you to see the s...

24Nov

By Nebiu SamuelNo Comments

Culture & Literature, Film & TV, Music

‘Amy’ Documentary Review

Many documentaries struggle to find a cinematic style and voice which warrants it to be released in cinemas however in the case of ‘Amy’, it delivers on giving you an emotional, cinematic and musical experience. The documentary focuses on the rise of Amy Winehouse, through her time in the National Youth Jazz Orchestra and singing in blue clubs in North London to her international success, her problematic personal life and her tragic death. The main feature of ‘Amy’ is how director Asif Kapadia (Senna) and editor Chris King uses Winehouse’s poetic and autobiographic lyrics from songs like ‘Stronger than Me’, ‘I Heard Love is Blind’, ‘What is it About Men’, ‘Rehab’ or ‘Back in Black’ to build the narrative around and is able to make it seem Amy has a voice in the film. Through the documenta...

24Nov

By Olivia AtkinsonNo Comments

Culture & Literature, Film & TV

A Royal Review

Based on the novels by Lily Blake and dramatised by Laurie McCarthy and Stephanie SenGupta, the new television series, ‘Reign’ has stolen the spotlight on The CW - a popular American channel - and, of course, the wonderful Netflix. Following the life of Mary, Queen of Scots and her engagement to the future King of France, Francis; a politically arranged union based on forming an alliance against the English Queen, Elizabeth I, this American, historical, fantasy has proven to be worthy of not just my praise but renowned awards. Examples include the People’s Choice Award and Hollywood Post Alliance Awards, and as Series 3 unravels this month, I am sure there will be many more awards to come. Filming takes place in a variety of stunning locations, some of which include Toronto and Irel...

24Nov

By Michelangelo FanoNo Comments

Culture & Literature, Film & TV

“Er ist wieder da”. Was he ever away?

“Er ist wieder da” (“Look Who’s Back”) from the director of the controversial movie “Feuchtgebiete” ("Wetlands"), David Wnendt, comes the film adaptation of the bestselling German satirical novel written by Timur Vermes. The book was published in 2012, with more than 1.4 millions of copies sold in Germany, it became not only one of the most acclaimed and most read books in modern days in the country, but it was also well received in non German-speaking nations. The book achieved the first position in the bestseller list of the German weekly news magazine, Der Spiegel, and remained at the top for other 20 consecutive weeks. It tells the absurd story of the ex-German dictator Adolf Hitler, resuscitating in modern times on the site of his former bunker in Berlin, in todays very populated d...