Wild

"What if I forgive myself? What if I was sorry?", these are the words of a woman who has just walked a thousand miles up the west coast of america, in order to handle the grief of her mothers death. Wild is based on the eponymous memoir by Cheryl Strayed, which rocketed to the top of bestsellers lists after being featured as part of Oprah's book club.

The film opens with Cheryl, recently divorced and planning on hiking the Pacific Crest Trail to mourn her deceased mother, throughout the film Strayed reflects on her relationship with her mother, and the self destructive behavior that led up to her becoming addicted to heroin, getting divorced and hitting bottom.

Reese WItherspoon plays Cheryl Strayed, in what is almost certainly her greatest leading role since Walk the Line almost a decade ago. Her performance is deft and focused and all the more impressive given that she spends much of her screen time alone, also featured is Laura Dern as Bobbi, Cheryl's mother. The relationship between these two women is central to the film, and the chemistry between Dern and WItherspoon is impressive.

Music is also used impressively in the film, the films 'theme' is El Condor Pasa, by SImon and Garfunkel, which is used to evoke Cheryl's mother, the opening bars of this track are also used as instrumental, adding a mysterious and eerie quality to the film.

Wild is far from a revolutionary film, it doesn't do anything particularly new or different, it has highly familiar structure, which has been used repeatedly in film since it's creation by DW Griffith. This structure is frequently used badly and here it is at least successful.

Wild is worth a watch even if just to witness the incredible performances given by it's leads, it is beautifully acted and thoughtful without being ponderous.

God Help the Girl

Twee is not a word which not nearly enough films can be described by, Gid Help the Girl can definately be described in this way, directed by Belle and Sebastian frontman Stuart Murdoch and starring Emily Browning and Olly Alexander this film is a delightfully quirky musical comedy.

It’s quirkiness is definitely part of its appeal, and it also allows us to forgive some of the films shortcomings, whilst the film does often feel aimless and bloated, it is too adorable and cute to truly dislike.

The films stars are really rather good despite neither of them being known as great actors, Emily Browning partly makes up for her earlier missteps such as Sucker Punch and Years and Years frontman Olly Alexander proves his acting chops in his first leading role.

God Help the Girl is the story of Eve, a girl suffering from anorexia and living in a mental hospital in Scotland who escapes to Glasgow and meets James, a struggling musician, together they start a band, called God Help the Girl, along with Cassie, a young music student.

The film suffers majorly from third act drag, and it definitely starts to feel very long after about an hour, ironically this sense of aimlessness was one of the films greatest strengths in the early on, as the meandering plot mimicked the sense of aimlessness of the main character, however the audience soon begins to tire, and I wanted to know where this story was going, thankfully the films climax is at least relatively satisfying.

God Help the GIrl is a massively flawed film, though it is enjoyable and its use of music is superb, despite its aimlessness and meandering plot the performances in this film are strong, and its a fairly enjoyable romp through an incredibly musical Glasgow.

Snowpiercer

This ecological epic from south korean director Bong Joon-ho is an incredibly powerful piece of art, simultaneously an action epic and an art house indie Snowpiercer is about the last remaining survivors of planet earth who circle the globe in a perpetually travelling train after an ice age has caused the near extinction of the human race.

The film is a massive piece of social commentary, and on the train is a sturdily defined social structure much like on our planet today, at the back of the train the tail passengers live in squalid conditions, the passengers in the middle live lives of lavish decadence while in the head, Wilford, the builder of the train lives in peaceful minimalism.

The tail passengers, lead by Curtis played by Chris Evans surge towards the front of the train hoping to ignite a revolution. The whole train is a metaphor for our societies social structure, for our class system and how the status quo is necessary to keep order.

Mason, Wilford's henchwoman is a fearsome character, played by Tilda Swinton she is a thatcherian masterpiece, with a broad yorkshire accent and ever broader teeth, Swinton's performance is predictably magnificent.

The other performances of this film are also excellent, with Joon-ho directing a fine cast of thespians including Jamie Bell, Octavia Spencer, Ed Harris and John Hurt

Visually this film is a treat, with the segments of the train playing important roles, the train itself is a fully three dimensional space, holistically realized and minutely crafted it is a space the audience longs to explore, we long to walk though the orangery and marvel at the aquarium, we long to explore the nightclubs and saunas.

What is also apparent from Snowpiercer is how much of a mash up it is of multiple genres, the film is a blockbuster with an A-list cast, yet the way in which the film analyses our current social system. Snowpiercer is a shoestring indie film, with a massive budget and fantastic cast, and this film is the perfect example of how original films can survive in spite of large budgets.

I really enjoyed Snowpiercer, it's refreshing, unique and original, and it's heartening to see how original films can thrive in our adaptation laden movie release schedule.

Big Hero Six

As the first Disney Animated Adaptation of a Marvel property, Big Hero 6 has a lot to live up to, thankfully the film delivers and is a refreshingly original addition to the Disney animated canon.

Big Hero 6 is the story of Hiro, a young robotics genius who is forced to become a superhero after his invention is stolen and his brother is killed in order to save his city and avenge his brother.

Firstly the film is gorgeous, Disney developed new computers and algorithms to animate the world seen, this is apparent as the film features some of the most stunning photorealistic animation yet seen on film, even surpassing many of Pixar's best efforts, which in itself is no mean feat.

The film is based in San Franskyo, described as a mashup of San Francisco and Tokyo, which is more accurately a japanified version of The Golden Gate city. San Fransokyo is laid out entirely like San Francisco down to the placement of the painted ladies and indeed the film makers even dug through city archives to lay out the city exactly.

The result is a world so complete and holistic, so all encompassing that it looks and feels like a real place.

This film is only Disney's second attempt at a science fiction film after Meet The Robinsons, and where Robinsons, though fantastic is a film with obvious caveats, Big Hero 6 is an entirely more well formed work.

The film reinvents the original comic book characters to make them more relatable (and more easily marketable to children) the monster Baymax is now cuddly and lovable, and the weirdos who surround our main character are now a ragtag team of endearing scientists.

It should be said that unfortunately this film is not part of the marvel cinematic universe, it would have been interesting and unexpected to tie this film in with other marvel properties, so its a shame that it is instead segregated.

Overall I really liked Big Hero 6, finding it to be beautiful, thoughtful and entertaining, this is the Disney animated movie that those who typically hate Disney will love, and is amongst the best marvel superhero films.

Ultraviolence - Lana Del Rey

What was instantly apparent from Del Rey's third full length album, and her second under her current moniker was how her sound had evolved from 2011's Born to Die. The album, whilst not a massive revolution or departure is certainly a progression. The sound is similarly dark and cinematic, but the sound is more subtle, and less starkly different from the rest of the current pop landscape.

Also evolved is Del Rey's songwriting, which has matured and developed and is now less cliched, stronger and more assured.

My opinions when I first heard 2011's Born to Die are quite different from my opinions now, at first I found it dull and bland, and it was only after listening to it for a few week that I became hooked. Ultraviolence is an entirely different animal, catchier and more gripping.

The opening tracks on the album include the title track, a harrowing melody which caused controversy upon its release last year for allegedly romanticizing domestic violence (I can't honestly see why anyone would expect anything less from a woman who described dying young as glamorous) and Shades of Cool, one of the album's highlights.

Ultraviolence is the of few albums which improve as they progress, there is often an unfortunate tendency to frontload albums with the best songs and then to fill up behind with filler, Ultraviolence thankfully doesn't go down this route, and Money Power Glory and Old Money are definite highlights from the second half of the album.

Ultraviolence is a highly solid sophomoric effort, and is an interesting maturation of Del Rey's sound, whilst she doesn't do anything particularly new with this album, it is an entirely polished LP, and shows Del Rey's talent both as a singer, and as a songwriter.

Pornography and Cinema

“It is becoming clear to me that pornography and cinema are becoming irreversibly closer”-Philip Josse

 Beginning a post with a quote from oneself seems a little like the blog version of referring to yourself in the third person, but no matter. I reiterate my point, we have reached a fork in the road, in which as some films become more family friendly, and studio heads attempt to make every film a 12A, other, art house films are becoming darker, more serious and more sexual.

A prime example of this is Lars Von Trier's opus Nymphomaniac, a film about a sex addict discussing her past. The film is sexually highly graphic featuring copious amounts of unstimulated sex. The only actual difference between Nymphomaniac and a porn film, is that this film is not intended to be erotic or arousing, it is a film intended to be more intellectually stimulating than physically stimulating, however the content of the film is nonetheless highly graphic.

Last year also revealed a surprising amount of graphic gay content, Blue is the Warmest Colour, a lesbian drama was highly graphic and shocked audiences when it premiered at Cannes with it's graphic content. Stranger By the Lake also featured highly graphic content, and was an erotic thriller about a cruising site, situated on the shores of a lake in france.

The increased use of graphic content in film means perhaps that film audiences are losing their hypocritical puritan values, and are willing to see films with sexual content, even if in the past these films were banned or outlawed by the production code. I enjoyed many of these films, and a liberalization of the cinema industry is certainly called for.

SNL has a big fat problem

In some ways, the current state of SNL is equivalent to that of the average american family, large, bloated and stationary. Back in the heyday of SNL, cast members used the show as a stepping stone to something bigger, something where they were more important, had more creative power and more freedom, however the current cast of SNL has 14 members, though this is at least down from last year's massive 18 permanent cast members, it is still more than the shows original 8 permanent cast members.

the cast of season 39

For a show which only broadcasts no more than six or seven sketches a night, 14 cast members is still too many, and it means that certain cast members are simply getting lost, and are not truly being seen or heard, it also means that the more talented cast members are not being given enough space to shine, and talented cast members like Kate McKinnon (who is arguably the best comedian of the shows current line up) are barely seen.

The other problem with the current line up is that it is weighted down with cast members who have been there for many years, and who need to leave the cast (or be fired) in order for the show to feel fresh. Keenan  Thompson, Abby Elliott and Bobby Moynihan have all been there for over five years, and have all outstayed their welcome, Thompson in particular has been there since before 2005, and in the decade since then, his popularity has waned.

Amy Poehler, Kristen Wiig, Tina Fey and Will Ferrell all left SNL before they became too stale, Fey in particular only reached iconic status after leaving the show, and impersonating Sarah Palin. They all became hugely popular and they all new when the gig was up, and it was time to move on, a cast of 11, without Elliott, Moynihan or Thompson would be more streamlined, and less bloated.

The first SNL cast

Weekend Update was one of the few things which was right about last season, and was one of my favourite parts of every episode of the last season, being sharp, current and witty. However i am sorry to say that now it is one of my least favourite elements. The show hired Cecily Strong as co-host, and she was great, however the 40th season came around and she was promptly fired, with the show being hosted by Michael Che and Colin Jost, neither of whom are particularly amusing, and the sketch now feels like a slightly pointless part of the show.

SNL is this season worse than it was last season, Kate McKinnon is now a beacon in a sea of comedians who are neither particularly talented, nor hugely likeable, and the show has become a shadow of its former self.

An Entirely Different View

The view is back for its eighteenth season, and following the departure of Barbara Walters, and the shows failed attempts to become more pop culture friendly and lightweight. The new show features a new set, which is cleaner and fresher, which feels more modern and less stuffy, and the hosts are now sat round a coffee table as opposed to the traditional desk and sofa format seen previously.

The new show also features three new hosts, with only Whoopi Goldberg returning, after Walters retired after working for over 50 years in broadcast journalism, hosting the view for seventeen. The View started as a politically driven, heavyweight talk shown featuring a group of intelligent female journalists and presenters discussing various political and current affairs issues. The show first took a dive following the appointment of Sherri Shepherd and Elizabeth Hasselbeck.

Hasselbeck, who was appointed first was previously known only as a contestent on Survivor, a reality show, and her blind faith in the Bush Administration and the republican party won her few fans, and the show became more about argument than discussion. Sherri Shepherd was known as an actress before her time as co-host, and she caused a furor in her first appearance in which she said that she didn't know if the earth was flat, and that Christians were the first people on earth. Being a Jehovahs Witness she also claimed to never have voted, and was a huge blow for a show which claimed to be about politics.

In the shows seventeenth season, Jenny McCarthy was hired, known for her anti vaccination views and for appearing in playboy, she was a sign that the show was lost, and didn't know whether to be about politics or pop culture, and at the end of the season Jenny McCarthy and Sherri Shepherd were both fired. The show then looked to re-orientate the show back to being politically driven.

The first decision the show made was to rehire Rosie O'Donnell, who had previously quit the show in 2007 after a fight with Hasselbeck, O'Donnell is hugely politically active, and she added a sense of gravitas to the show, being a TV veteran. The other new hosts are Rosie Perez, an actress who seems to be blessed with more intelligence than either Shepherd or Hasselbeck, and Nicole Wallace, a former white house aide and political commentator who was previously communications chief during the Bush Presidency, yet who looks less biased and more objective than her biography gives her credit for.

So i ask my readers to give The View a second chance, the show is much more interesting, more diverse and more political than in previous seasons, and the co-hosts seem to be a group of intelligent and politically minded women, who actually have something to say about current affairs

HBO GO

HBO recently announced that they are finally opening up their HBO Go service to non cable users. This is something i advocated about a year ago, as a way for HBO to become more profitable, and a greater competetor for Netflix, currently an internet only service.

Netflix is one of the fastest growing internet streaming companies today, and this is mainly down o their business model, they offer cheap accounts costing less than 10 dollars a month, available in many countries worldwide, and not linked to any specific address, meaning that it is particularly popular with young people.

HBO is currently also popular with young people, having given birth to such series as Game of Thrones, The Sopranos and Girls, however HBO until now offered no way for people to access their streaming services without signing up for a cable package, meaning that many young people used their parents accounts, and thus not paying HBO any money. Allowing access to HBO Go outright means that HBO can finally capitalize on people who only watch television on their tablets and laptops, and who don't have a permanent address, or indeed who have no interest in signing up for a cable package.

This announcement is certainly timely, coming just a few months after Netflix announced a plan to expand across the world starting in france, and Amazon announced that Amazon Prime subscriptions would allow access to a catalog of original and archive television series that included much of HBO's own back catalog, and original shows like the acclaimed Transparent. Hopefully this plan will put HBO into the future, and allow them to compete against rivals Amazon and Netflix.

source: Gawker

Five Favourite French Language Films

France is a country with a huge cinematic history, (it's also a country where i lived for two years and where my parents live to this day, in fact, four of my great grandparents were french), France has been nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Feature more times than any other country, today their cinematic prowess has perhaps waned somewhat, and they haven't been nominated for the award since 2009. However countries like Switerland, Belgium and Canada still produce some fantastic films, hopefully giving some validity to this list.

• La Vie En Rose

Marion Cotillard makes this film, playing the famous french singer Edith Piaf, Cotillard's portrayal is intensely lifelike, and she takes on the difficult task of playing  Piaf from her beginnings in Paris as a young singer, living hand to mouth on the streets, through her stardom to her eventual death, Cotillard is forced to play both young and old, one of the most difficult things to do, and she pulls it off with outstanding aplomb. La Vie en Rose is a nostalgic dream, that could make anyone fall in love with the music of the little sparrow.

• J'ai Tué Ma Mère

I have made no secret of my love of Xavier Dolan, finding his films to be both powerful and beautiful. J'ai Tué Ma Mère (i killed my mother) was his first feature film, made on a shoestring when he was only nineteen, this film is a revelation. Based on Dolan's own experiences growing up, the film is about a young man, living with his divorced mother, who struggles to raise him, while dealing with his burgeoning sexuality. The film is highly personal both to Dolan and to me, and I Killed My Mother is touching and heartfelt.

• La Vie D'Adele

When this film came out last year, i quickly fell in love with it, La Vie D'Adele, or Blue is the Warmest Colour is an epic three hour film, which ventures into the love story of Adele and Emma, two young women who meet and fall in love in Lille, France. The film is long, however despite it's slightly bloated running time, the film flies by, and is ultimately heartbreaking. The film is shot in a very realistic way using extreme close ups and handheld cameras, the film is largely successful thanks to the outstanding performances of its lead actors, who are both superb in this indie epic.

• Les Amours Imaginaires

 Another film from Canadian film maker Xavier Dolan, here the subject of the film is infatuation, Dolan's first three films all deal with the concept of impossible or at least implausible love stories, and here, Dolan discusses two young people, a boy and a girl, who each fall in love with the same person, only to find that neither of their feelings are reciprocated. The film features superb performances from its three leads, and encompasses a subject we can all empathize with.

• Les Choristes

This little gem was released in 2004 to much acclaim, but since then has largely been forgotten, this comedy about a borstal in which a music teacher starts a choir. The music is by far the star of this film, and despite being butchered by Beyoncé at the academy awards (you tube it, it's really funny!), i listen to the soundtrack of this film to this day. The film is beautiful and strangely poignant, and features fine performances from its varied cast.

AHS: Freak Show

The fourth season of anthology series American Horror Story is subtitled Freak Show, and takes place in the town of Jupiter, Florida, where an aging German ex-patriot is attempting to keep one of the last freak-shows in America afloat. Jessica Lange plays Elsa Mars, secretly an amputee who tries to keep her show in business. Starring alongside Lange is a diverse cast of AHS regulars and new actors, who play the sideshow's various 'freaks'.

Sarah Paulson plays both Bette and Dot Tattler, a pair of conjoined twins who become embroiled in murder after their mother is found dead in their kitchen, they are visited by Mars in the hospital, who takes them in, and who protects them from the authorities. Kathy Bates also returns to the show playing Ethel, the shows resident bearded lady and Evan Peters plays her son, a man with fused fingers who performs as 'the lobster boy'. Amazon Eve is played by trans actress Erika Ervin, a woman who is abnormally large.

The show is visually very different to other iterations of the show, whereas both Coven and Asylum were cold, dark and stylish, Freak Show is much softer, the camera is less focused, less sharp giving the whole show a 1950's movie style. Overall the show feels a lot warmer than previous versions, both Coven and Asylum were set in highly hostile environments, the atmosphere of Freak Show is warmer, with the show actually being a place of safety for most of these 'freaks'.

Despite this change in atmosphere, the show is actually the scariest version yet, the antagonist of this season is a terrifying clown, who wears the bottom half of a mask featuring a horrific wide smile, which contrasts with his dead eyes, the clown is responsible for a number of murders which have rocked the small town, leaving four dead. The opening of the first episode is atmospheric and dark, and the entire episode is one of the most chilling the show has yet seen.

The entire cast, many of whom were used in previous seasons is superb, Jessica Lange is fantastic, in what will be her final season on the show and the entire cast is excellent, many of them are favourites, and it is fantastic to see them back on the small screen, albeit playing different characters. Rating: A-

How To Get Away With Murder

How to Get Away with Murder is a 2013 american thriller series, produced by Shonda Rhimes and starring Viola Davis as Annalise Keating, a law professor at a prestigious university, whose students become embroiled in a murder during the school year.

Keating teaches a class called How to Get Away With Murder, a practical university course teaching it's students how to defend guilty clients in murder trials. The series is produced by Shonda Rhimes, and is scheduled after the also Rhimes produced Scandal, and stars Viola Davis, Davis is fantastic as Keating, a hardened and scarily professional professor, who challenges her students to work hard and who seems to be hiding a powerful secret herself. How to Get Away With Murder has the same stylish flair as Scandal, and the show is fun and thrilling. The show uses a unique flashback structure, and the series features a season long mystery, similar in style to Desperate Housewives, and in someways, this show is the first network drama since Desperate Housewives that has the chance to become a stonking great hit.

How to Get Away With Murder is a hugely fun show, it's a stylish and sexy, and is a fantastic vehicle for Viola Davis, who is great in the lead role, the supporting cast is well rounded and diverse, and the show already looks like it will be a huge hit. Rating: A-

 

Evolving The Batsuit

Last week i wrote an essay about the costume design of superhero films, however i barely touched on the design of the batsuit, worn by the eponymous Bruce Wayne. There have been by far more iterations of this superhero than of any other comic book character, and many different costumes, these costumes vary greatly in color, design and material.

The first costume to appear on the silver screen was worn by Michael Keyton, in the Tim Burton 1989 drama and it's sequel. The costume is fairly traditional, it features the immobile cowl, thus reducing movement of the head and neck, the iconic helmet with the ears and all but the mouth covered. The suit is made of a smooth matte plastic in jet black, molded and contoured, featuring anatomic muscles and abdominals. The suit features a golden utility belt, which stands out from the rest of the suit, and a logo in fluorescent yellow. The costume is highly reminiscent of the classic comic book suit, and treads a fine line between the campiness of the television series and the tough aesthetic of later films.

The next costume was worn by Val Kilmer, this version is not dissimilar from the Michael Keyton suit, the anatomical features of the suit are now more exaggerated, Bruce Wayne now looks like he is on steroids, the suit contains defined pectorals and even the legs of the suit are muscular and overly defined. The suit contains the same cowl and helmet of the first films, but the neck of the cowl is contoured and ridged. The same utilities are present on the suit, however the belt is black, and the logo is now a bronze color. The suit is still black, however it is now shiny and reflective.

The suit worn by George Clooney would make this next film infamous, Batman & Robin was released in 1997, and would feature Clooney wearing first a suit featuring anatomically correct pectorals with nipples added, and an enlarged codpiece and buttocks, the suit also features the bat logo in silver. This suit was reviled and mocked at the time, and remains undeniably camp. The second suit Clooney wears in this film, breaks the cardinal rule of Batman wearing only black or grey. For this adventure Wayne would wear a silver suit, featuring the same unfortunate codpiece, but including silver panels on the suit, and a huge silver bat logo. This film will go down in history, for the presence of these suits alone.

The Christopher Nolan films would present a tougher, grittier and edgier aesthetic. Filmed a decade after Batman & Robin, the film uses a batsuit supposedly invented for the military, the suit is a matte black kevlar, featuring flexible panels, and a utility belt in a dark bronze, tthe batsuit is also subtly incorporated into the costume. The second suit Christian Bale would wear in this series solves the batsuit's biggest problem, it allows Batman to turn his head, the suit uses interlocking panels to make it flexible. the logo is smaller and more discreet and the neck is slim and allows Wayne to turn his head. The suit overall is tougher and more realistic.

The batsuit has gone through numerous iterations from the ludicrous to the uninspired to the realistic, the Nolan suit is  realistic and by far the most removed from the source material, the most inspired and the most realistic.

Five Favorite Non Disney-Pixar Animated Movies

• Chicken Run

Another stop motion film, directed by the creators of Wallace & Gromit, Chicken Run is a movie about a group of chickens living on a battery farm in Yorkshire, led by Ginger, the chickens launch numerous attempts to escapee, all of which fail, until an american rooster named Rocky crash lands on their farm, having escaped from the circus, the chickens launch a plan to fly out of the farm. The film is a hilariously irreverent comedy, featuring quirky and slightly twee animation, and great voice work.

• The Adventures of Tintin

Stephen Spielbergs first animated feature, prodiced by Peter Jackson is a delight, adapted from the series of graphic novels by Hergé, the film uses motion capture to present a mixture of three of Hergés classic stories, woven together to create one exciting rollicking adventure. The film uses a hyperrealistic style of animation, bypassing the uncanny valley which befells so many motion capture films, and propelling it into a graphically stimulating adventure, which is a faithful update of Hergé's adventures.

• Frankenweenie

Tim Burton directed this stop motion flick, which is a light parody and homage to hammer horror films of the sixties and seventies. The film, which is completely shot in black and white, is about a boy who successfully manages to resurrect his pet dog, only for the dog to set in motion a series of cataclysmic events which will lead to the destruction of his entire home town, the film contains some of the most beautiful and fluid stop motion work ever seen on celluloid, and the film is a tremendous achievement, and one of the best stop motion work seen in the past decade.

• The LEGO Movie

One of the newer films on this list, and i can't escape the feeling that i am shooting myself in the foot as in five years this film will already seem dated, however despite it's obvious status as a marketing gimmick, The LEGO Movie is a fantastically fun film, whilst not shot in stop motion, the film attempts to replicate the look of a stop motion film, and does this surprisingly well, the film is colorful, fun and irreverent.

• The Nightmare Before Christmas

Another film by Tim Burton, this time directed by Henry Selick,The Nightmare Before Christmas was one of the first commercially successful stop motion films released, the story of a land where is is always Halloween, and a man who is the master of ceremonies, Jack Skellington uncovers a land called Christmastown, where it is always Christmas, and he attempts to bring this tradition to Halloweenland, an endeavor ending in disaster. The film features exquisite animation, and fantastic music by regular Burton collaborator Danny Elfman.

Designing The Great Gatsby

The Great Gatsby was one of my favorite films of last year, sumptuous design coupled with wonderful costumes and fine acting made this film gorgeous to look at, despite it's narrative flaws. The film one two Oscars, both for design, one for set design and set decorating, and the other for costume design. I have always loved the twenties, art deco and art nouveau are two of my favorite movements, and having lived in Brussels, i have seen copious amounts of both.

One of the defining features of the twenties and indeed of The Great Gatsby is the architecture, the film takes place in various mansions around long island, and the characters are defined architecturally by the houses they live in. The Buchannans live on East Egg, and belong to the old establishment. Their mansion is a large regency brick building, rectangular and strong, showing the Buchannans place as old money, and their status. Jay Gatsby, on the other hand, lives in an Art Deco mansion, featuring turrets and towers. This house is much more ostentatious than the Buchannan residence, being more ornate, showing Jay Gatsby as a climber, concerned with appearances and status. Nick, on the other hand lives in a ramshackle cottage, overrun with tumbleweed and wisteria, clearly presenting him as a lesser member of society.

The interiors of the house also contrast, the Buchannan mansion features a hollywood regency style, with white stucco ceilings and classy, understated furniture, referencing the fact that they both grew up with money. Gatsby's house on the other hand is pure art deco, wood inlay floors, tall collumns and vaulted ceilings gilded with gold, the whole effect is more overstated and ostentatious, a sign of Gatsby's new money. Nicks cottage is in complete contrast with both of these interiors, it is a more arts and crafts inspired environment, and is overall a much more personal space. The apartment occupied by Myrtle is also different, being predominantly red and stuffed with flowers, the lack of taste in the interior showing Myrtles lack of class and status, the color red being significant of her blatant femininity.

The costumes of the film are also superb, Daisy is the character most obviously categorized by her clothes, her clothes make her look feminine, girlish and naive, they show a sense of immaturity, however they nonetheless show her as someone of status, and her clothes are embellished and fashionable. Gatsby, on the other hand, shows himself to be someone, again, concerned about status, he uses a cane, despite not needing one. Tom Buchanan, on the other hand is more conservative, wearing three piece suits in wool and tweed. Gatsby always wears light colored suits, while Tom always wears dark colors, showing their contrasting personalities and conflict.

The supporting casts costumes are equally distinctive, Jordan Baker wears trousers and pant suits, elegantly tailored, and unusual for a woman of this era, her wearing of more masculine clothing shows her golfing background and her dominant attitude. Myrtle's costumes are more feminine, her wearing much of the color red, wearing her skirts short and wearing fishnet stockings. Her choice of costumes show her as a sex symbol, and as a woman who flaunts her sexuality.

The Great Gatsby is a highly elegant film, the interiors show us much about the class and tastes of the people who inhabit them, their clothes are revelatory of their personalities and status, and of their interactions with the other characters.

Five Favourite Movies Your Mother Would Like

• Ladies in Lavender

This quirky little known british drama, directed by Charles Dance, knwon to younger viewers as Tywin Lannister, stars Judy Dench and Maggie Smith, both incredible actresses, this film does little to stretch their dramatic chops, and in spite of it's simpering, the film is really rather good, Dench and Smith star as two sisters who find a young man on the beach, and manage to bring him back to health. The film is a fantastic vehicle for two magnificent actresses, both in their prime, and is a soothing and comforting watch.

• Calendar Girls

This is one of my favorites, starring Helen Mirren and Julie Walters, and based on the true story of a group of womens institute members in Yorkshire, who decide to create a nude calendar to raise money for the cancer wing of their local hospital, and are met with much opposition. Julie Walters is one of my favorite comic actresses, her performance in this film is great and she is hysterical, the film is also a great showcase for the comic talents of Helen Mirren, who is not usually known as a comic, but who shines in this film, there is a twee provincialism to this film, and a comfort also present, the film is joyous and funny, and it's lead actresses are superb.

• Quartet

The directorial debut of actor Dustin Hoffman is a surprisingly british affair, the story of four musicians living in a nursing home in the english countryside, who were previously in relationships, and who have all given up their music, reunite for one magnificent performance. The film stars Maggie Smith, Billy Connoly, Michael Gambon, Tom Courtenay and Pauline Collins, the film, like most of the others on this list, is a perfect vehicle for it's stars, and despite the story being a little pedestrian, the chemistry and connections between the four leads is palpable and mesmerizing.

• Mamma Mia

The fact that this is a musical based upon the songs of ABBA makes Mamma Mia a perfect addition to this list. the music is fun and energetic, and the film overall has a great sense of energy and joy. Meryl Streep leads a superb cast of thespians, and the film does a fantastic job of adapting the show to the big screen.

• Pride and Prejudice

The 2005 version of this film, whilst not perhaps as beloved as the television serial starring Colin Firth, is still pretty fantastic, Kiera Knightley is by far the best Elizabeth Bennett seen on film, and the fest of the cast is just as excellent. Donald Sutherland stars as her father, and Judi Dench as Lady Catherine de Bourgh. Pride and Prejudice is a sumptuous and beautiful adaptation, that faithfully captures the romanticism and beauty of Jane Austen's superb novel.

Musings On... Sofia Coppola

Sofia Coppola is one of my favorite directors, her films have a timeless elegance and a calm solemness which is beautiful and soothing. Coppola is the daughter of legendary director Francis Ford Coppola, and this is apparent in her films, Coppola spent much of her childhood growing up in hotels, and thus many of her films deal with youth and loneliness. Both Somewhere and Lost in Translation are set in hotels, and deal with the isolation and shut off reality of hotels. Coppola also grew up in a privileged environment, and her films deal with this also.

One of the main themes discussed in her films is that of isolation, The Virgin Suicides is about five sisters who are isolated from society by their mother after one of them commits suicide. The film explores the cost of their isolation, and their loneliness. Her second picture deals with the same themes, and is the story of two tourists who meet in a hotel in Tokyo, and who form an unusual bond. The milieu of the hotel is an expression of their loneliness, as it is a world cut off from reality, and both the characters are lonely and lost in their marriages. Somewhere also deals with loneliness, much in the same way as Lost in Translation.

Other themes discussed in her works are ennui, which is discussed in Marie Antoinette, Lost in Translation and Somewhere, all these films deal with characters who feel despondent and uninterested with life. Her films also deal with characters who are often wealthy and privileged, but who gain little pleasure in their lives, and who feel like their loves are worthless, Marie Antoinette deals with this especially, as Antoine is rich and lives in a palace, yet she longs for a simple life, and loathes the pretense and lavish lifestyle of Versaillles. The Bling Ring stands out among Coppola's works, and it deals with a group of young people who are obsessed with fame and fortune, who long for riches and celebrity, and who steal from those they idolize.

Coppola is a true auteur, her films are highly personal, she wrote all of them, and they are highly inspired by her own life, childhood and experiences, her films mainly deal with loneliness, isolation and solitude, her films are visually stunning and poignant and are of particular significance to me.