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-

Hannibal - Bon Appétit

Hannibal is perhaps the only current network drama series worth watching, and certainly the only that stands up to shows by FX and HBO. The series is an adaptation not of the novel Hannibal, but is an original story featuring characters in Robert Harris' novels. The film follows the lead character of Will Graham, FBI special agent who was also featured in Red Dragon, and Dr Hannibal Lecter, a brilliant gifted psychologist, who helps the FBI in their investigations.

The series is fantastically plotted, suspenseful and tense, and the creators do a good job of maintaining the psychologically thrilling elements of The Silence of the Lambs and Red Dragon. The film is not especially gory, although there are occasional moments of gore. The series is visually highly distinctive, and everything has a certain beauty about it, even the bodies. The series plots Hannibal Lecter as a gifted gastronomist with a highly evolved sense of smell, and food is an important plot point at many moments in the series, Lecter is known for throwing extravagant dinner parties, and he prepares food much in the same way that he dissects corpses, with an almost obsessive precision and elegance.

The series features fantastic performances from it's leads, and the chemistry between Graham and Lecter is almost tangible. Hugh Dancy gives a fantastic performance as Will Graham, a criminal profiler and psychopath with an ability to empathy with serial killers that both terrifies and exhilarates him, it also makes him frighteningly good at catching killers, and useful to the FBI. Dancy is fantastic in the role, and is perfect as the obsessive, catatonic Graham, he plays the role differently to those before him, and is more relatable and empathetic than Norton or Peterson.

Also fantastic is Mads Mikkelsen, who portrays Hannibal Lecter, Mikkelsen has an overwhelmingly difficult part to play, as this role was so iconically played by Anthony Hopkins in The Silence of the Lambs. Mikkelsen's performance in the series is absolutely fantastic, and he differentiates his performance from Hopkins' by making his character colder, darker and more threatening. Hopkins performance was witty and darkly funny, with fast lines and crime dialogue. Mikkelsen's performance is highly different, and he is deadly serious, never smiles, and always seems to be one step ahead, every action seems to be precise and thought out, and Lecter is threateningly intelligent.

Hannibal is a stylish and thrilling series, intelligently plotted and highly suspenseful, the series remains faithful to the spirit of the original novels and the original films, and yet it expands the world of the books and adapts it for a modern audience. The series features fantastic performances and chemistry between its leading actors. Visually the series is stunning and atmospherically beautiful, and the series is the only network show capable of rivaling cable and online television series. Rating:A-

  
"Did you really feel so bad because killing him felt so good?" 

American Horror Story

American Horror Story is an anthology series created by Ryan Murphy, creator of Glee and Nip/Tuck. The series premiered in 2011 on the FX network, a premium cable network. The series is an anthology series, it retains the same cast, but features a different storyline, characters and setting.

The first season was retrospectively called Murder House. The series features a husband and wife who relocate to Los Angeles from Boston after he has an affair, with their daughter, things take a turn for the worst when it turns out their house is haunted with the ghosts of the hundreds who died there.

The second season is titled Asylum, and takes place in a spooky and atmospheric mental asylum run by nuns in 1964 in Massachusetts. The series features much of the same cast as the first, with some additions. The series features Jessica Lange in a pore prominent role than in series 1, as the sadistic and cruel Sister Jude, who runs the asylum.

Finally season 3 is titles Coven, and takes place around a school for witches in Louisianna, run by Cordelia Foxx, played by Sarah Paulson. The series is notable for the return of Tassa Farmigia and the introduction of Emma Roberts, both as witches.
The series is an anthology series, and this solves various problems. The first problem it solves is boredom, many tv series have been cancelled after a certain number of seasons, due to fans becoming bored of the characters, the plot arcs or becoming turned off due to the addition of certain characters. The

advantage of the anthology series is that it never becomes old, because it is like having a new series every year, but built on the back of the same brand, leaving room for artistic vision, without artists having to get their ideas continually validated by network chiefs.

The other problem that this gets around is attracting new viewers, many potential new viewers get put off by having to sift through multiple seasons of a show simply to understand what the hell is going on, American Horror Story does not have this issue, as every season is different, so viewers can watch the seasons in any order, or simply watch only one of the seasons.

AHS is also a lot of fun, the series is gory, scary and sexy. It features blood, sex and thrills, and is unafraid to be overtly provocative. The series manages to be an intelligent example of the horror genre, rather than simply an excuse for the writers to see their fantasies played out on screen. It is almost a shame that such a cinematographically rich series, has to be resigned to the small screen.

Return To Oz

Return to Oz is a 1985 dark fantasy film from Disney and is a half sequel to the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz, and an adaptation of the second and third Oz books. Although receiving mixed to negative reviews upon its release, the film has now become something of a cult movie. The film featured a cast of largely unknown actors. The films is considered by its fans and by fans of the books to be a much more faithful adaptation of the novels than the MGM film. Part of the success of this film is in its refusal to sink so low as to attempt to replicate what made the 1939 film so iconic, this film has been compared in recent years to Oz The Great And Powerful, however what makes this film so much better than 'Oz' is the fact that it is much less reductive and less referential, the film is in full color, the opening included (unlike Oz the Great and Powerful). The film actually makes more use of intellectual property created for the 1939 film, such as the ruby slippers, however is actually much less derivative.

The film is much darker than its predecessor, the film begins with Dorothy in Kansas, unable to sleep and having hallucinations about Oz, her mother sends her to an institution, where she escapes on a stormy night, in a chicken coop, and finally washes up on the shores of Oz, where she discovers a world torn apart, and destroyed by the Nome King. The yellow brick road has been destroyed, and munchkinland is in ruins and the world is observed by the rocks, who relay information back to the Nome King. All of the citizens of Oz have been turned to stone, including the Tin Man and the Cowardly Lion. Dorothy makes two friends in Oz who are essentially horrific industrial versions of her previous friends, she encounters a man named Tic-Toc, an industrial tin man who has to be constantly wound up in order to move and think, and who is not alive, and who has no soul. Her other friend is Jack Pumpkinhead, a scarecrow with a pumpkin for a head, who was created in order to scare off the wheelers, and who was brought to life using Mombi's powder of life. The trio use the powder of life to bring to life a flying sofa they have patched together. The trio travel to the Nome Kings cavern where they discover that he has the emerald slippers, and that he destroyed Oz and turned the scarecrow into an ornament, the group must reclaim the slippers, and save the wonderful land of Oz.

The film makes fantastic use of practical effects, at a time when Star Wars and 2001 A Space Odessey had already been released, and huge advancements were being made in the field of CGI and computer animation, this film uses claymation to animate the Nome King and his minions. Billina is animated using audio animatronics, a technique sadly rarely used on film anymore, being really only used on theme park rides, and a technique for which the Walt Disney Company is known. (Animatronics were also used in The Chronicles of Narnia, also a disney movie) The tone of this film is rather dark, scenes involving the destruction of Oz, may be actually traumatic for some viewers! The film is well acted, and Fairuza Balk does a fine job as Dorothy Gale, holding up the entire movie, and she really is a good actor for a child star. For the record the film is not perfect, it does have some issues, there are occasional tonal inconsistencies, the film suffers from poor pacing and at times seems to lack story and substances, and seems to not have quite enough to fill a feature length film which is longer than the prerequisite one hour thirty.

Overall I really liked Return to Oz, the film is dark and brooding, nicely low budget and organic, and actually adds something to the source material rather than trying to replicate the success of the MGM film, the film feels much less reductive than other Oz movies, and has a nice mature tone and dazzling visual style, and despite some tonal inconsistencies and pacing problems, I can see why this has become a cult film.
Rating: B+

Dorothy: Because I can't sleep, and I talk about a place that I've been to, but nobody believes that it exists.

FRANKENWEENIE - A Review By Philip Josse

Firstly I recently did an interview with Louisa from Eurofash blog, which can be found here!

Well, this was a good weekend, after much grappling over whether to watch this or the Tree of Life, me and my brother found ourselves watching Frankenweenie, a 3D stop motion horror film from Tim Burton, a little gem which unfortunately slipped under the radar a little. The film is adapted from Tim Burtons 1984 short film, about a boy who attempts to bring his dog back to life after it is hit by a car, which later runs amok creating havoc for the people of New Holland. The film is entirely in black and white, and was converted to 3D in post production, and entirely unnecessary move, which was necessitated by Burton's contractual obligation with Disney.

The film is Tim Burtons love letter to classic monster movies, (in fact various posters for the film were even created with false titles to be parodies of old monster B movies), and contains numerous references to old movies, some of which only die hard movie fans will recognize. The whole of the plot is a light parody of Frankenstein, with the main character having the same name as the titular character, and with the whole plot having a similar idea, and similar themes, albeit with a more comedic, lighter tone. Sparky, victors dog which he brings back to life, has a similar look to Frankenstein's monster, with bolts coming out of his neck, and stitching which is similar to those of the creature. One of Victor's enemies has a similar flat headed look and vacant gaze as the monster, and the final act of the film takes place in and around a windmill, ironically mirroring the end of Burton's Sleepy Hollow, whose final act also took place around a windmill, which was in turn inspired by the end of the original, classic Frankenstein movie. A character also comically falls into an oversize Russian doll wrapped up in fabric, in a visual homage to The Mummy.

Christopher Lee also features in a small cameo as Dracula, in a clip from the classic movie, and one of the creatures which is transformed into a large bat/cat creature, which is finally killed by being impaled, impaling also being the only way in which Dracula can be killed. Elsa Van Helsing's name is an homage to the famed character, and her pet poodle gains a

white stripe in her hair similar to that of the bride of Frankenstein. Edgar Gore's name and appearance is a reference of the stock character of Igor, and the final act of the film references movies such as Godzilla, Jurassic Park and Gremlins. And the school science teacher, voiced by legend Martin Landau, is a visual homage to icon Vincent Price.

The fact that this movie is stop motion is of huge benefit to the success of this film, stop motion, a genre for which i have a huge respect, gives the characters a quirkiness and a gravity which would be absent with generic computer animation. The stop motion here is the best i have ever seen, with production lasting 2 years, and with there being no jerkiness on lag, due to the high number of frames per second. Only the realness of the whole film, the brushstrokes on the faces of characters are a giveaway to the film being stop motion. Visually the film is a treat, and computer animation was used somewhat in creating lightning, electricity and clouds. The town in which Victor lives is also visually somewhat similar to the town in Edward Scissorhands, with the houses being almost identical.

Thematically the film deals with the ideals of good and evil, and the thought that creatures must be created out of love in order to turn out good. Sparky who is brought back to life out of love, is cute and adorable, whereas the other creatures in the movie, who are resuscitated out of greed and mistrust, become evil and ugly, and bear no resemblance to the creatures they were when they were alive. The film also explores the idea of use and misuse of power, and the idea that the power to bring back the dead must be controlled. That when one tries to play god, bad things happen and things go wrong.

In conclusion Frankenweenie is a lot more complex than it may at first seem, and can thus be enjoyed on two levels. My only qualm with this film is that it is not really appropriate or suitable for children, and many may be frightened by some of the creatures and imagery in the film. However for us adults Frankenweenie is stylish and fun, and as a playful parody of classic monster movies, as actually a lot deeper and more intelligent than it may at first seem. Rating: A

Edgar 'E' Gore: Your dog is alive!

My Top 10 cinematic music videos

Well, i decided in a haze that music videos can also be incredibly cinematic, and as thus can be considered cinema, so despite having previously kept this blog to movies and the occasional miniseries, i decided to review the greatest music videos of all time. Click the song titles for videos!

• Alejandro: Beautiful and haunting this is one of the best music videos i have ever seen, the video samples the haunting violin solo and is over seven minutes long, directed by Steven Klein the video is inspired by old photography, and is very saturated, being almost entirely in black and white with very little color and mainly only reds, the film contains some great dancing and is a fantastic homage to Madonna and vintage Steven Klein photography.

• Thriller: One of the greatest music video of all time, creepy dancing and iconic fashion make this a fantastic music video. The video has become the blueprint for the modern music video, and is still as modern as ever. The video is an homage to 1970's sci-fi monster movies, and is a mini-movie with a plot and dialogue, and the special effects are great, and manage to be a little cheesy, without being too ridiculous.

• Girl Gone Wild: A pitifully underrated Madonna video, she references past moments in her career, playing many of the persona's she has taken on over the years, and the black and white imagery is a playful homage to her career. The video features men in stilettos, tilting rooms and smoke effects, and uses fast editing which mimics the pulsating beats of the fast dance number. The video also features Madonna looking the best she has in years!

• S&M: Controversial and in fact banned by MTV this video is fun and flirty, and features Rihanna as her provocative hyper sexual best, colorful the video uses camera pans and wipes, makes smart use of racking shots and uses fast cuts effectively. The video is a fashion homage to bondage fashion of the 1980's of the type favored by Grace Jones, however it gives it a fun twist by being flirty and colorful.

• Telephone: Again a mini-movie this time Gaga continues on the story of the paparazzi video. The 10 minute video contains gaga in prison, waiting for a call from Beyoncé. As always Gaga gives us complete over the top fashion, fantastic dancing and dazzling color. The video is an homage to Bonny and Clyde, and to Tarantino, with Gaga and Beyoncé going on a murderous rampage in the Pussy Wagon, and killing all the customers in a diner, before dancing a bit and escaping the cops before, perhaps getting caught....to be continued.

• Ride: Perhaps a slightly controversial choice, however Ride is a stunningly beautiful music video, with a haunting monologue at the beginning. The video is beautifully understated, and feels natural and unstaged, and shows Lana in the arms of various men, as is described in the song. The video is cinematographically distinct, and i wouldn't be surprised if it was shot on film. The shots have a beautiful romantic look, and overall the video is simply heartbreaking.

• Vogue: Always a classic, this video was one of the first music videos to really show them as an art, and is still as modern today as it was twenty years ago. This film bought vogueing into mainstream consciousness. The black and white video references old movies, and vintage fashion from the thirties, and was directed by David Fincher, acclaimed director of Fight Club, and uses art deco architecture, to create one of the most stunningly beautiful videos of all time.

• Toxic: A video featuring Spears at her fun, flirtatious best, the video features Spears with three different hair colors, and a plot featuring Spears as a James Bond type spy, moonlighting as a hostess on an airplane, the video is one pf Spears best, and although it has sadly been forgotten since its release, it hasn't aged a day, and is still as current as ever.
  

• Invisible Light: a little known video by the Scissor Sisters, the video features none of the bands members, and is a surrealist art film, with thriller and horror elements, in which the song acts as almost a backing track. The video uses muted tones, and slow pans, and features a woman having a series of nightmares inspired by 1950's films, and using colors inspired by Dali paintings, this is a beautiful music video, which stands out from this list.

• BAD ROMANCE: In my mind this is the absolute greatest video of all time, Bad Romance uses a fantastic plot, inspired by the singles Russian industrial music sound, the video features Gaga as a sex slave, being auctioned off, as a doll in a bath house with huge enhanced blue eyes. The video was the first of the modern age to really redefine music videos as an art, and was nominated for a record 13 VMA's, the video is stylish, unpretentious and sleek, and was the first music video event in history, leading artists to tease the release of videos, which had been previously just been released with the song. The video features some of the best fashion featured in a music video since Vogue, and is a stunning tribute to the talents of Alexander McQueen as a designer, and to the music video for thriller, which is referenced in the choreography. Provocative artistic and daring, this truly is Gaga at her very best, and the results are timeless and classic.

 

The Future of Stop-Motion

This year marked the occurrence of an unusual phenomenon at the Academy Awards. This year out of the five films nominated for the Best Animated Feature Award, three of them were stop motion films. Frankenweenie, The Pirates! and Paranorman were nominated, though of course Brave won. Stop motion is a technique which uses models of varying scales and a camera in order to create a moving image. The model is moved slightly between each photo, up to 20 times a second. This is an intensely labourious process, and it can take a week to produce a minute of film.

One of the most famous and celebrated stop motion films is the Nightmare Before Christmas, which is responsible for popularizing the genre and which remains one of the most influential stop motion pictures to this day. The technique provides a distinct look, and adds depth and grounds the animation. There is also generally a quirkiness to stop-motion, and i do not think there is a single stop-motion film which can be accused of being generic, as the films often have unique visual identities and stunning cinematography, it is also a more flexible form of animation, in that it is easier to visualise the sets and the characters,

and easier to visualize the shot than with regular hand drawn animation, where pans and wipes are rarely used.

These films often have darker and more adult stories than regular animated films, they are also normally originals, and are rarely adaptations of fairy tales such as are typical animated films. The reason for their darker themes in my opinion is twofold. Firstly the influence of Tim Burton's work on this sub genre cannot be understated, and The Nightmare Before Christmas remains hugely influential. Secondly the technique of stop-motion lends itself to this kind of story, as the animation tends to look a little more jerky and less smooth, and thus is appropriate for this kind of subject.
 
3D is a technique that is being used more and more with stop-motion, with 'Nightmare' being the first film to be converted to 3D in post production, with subsequent films such as Frankenweenie also using conversion therapy to add a 3D effect. Paranorman on the other hand was shot in 3D, using a specialized rig which moved the camera after each photo, thus taking an identical photo but with slightly different perspective for each photo taken, and it is perhaps the first stop-motion film to be shot in 3D. Paranorman and Coraline also pioneered the use of 3D printers for printing faces, diminishing sculpting time.

Overall stop motion is a hugely exciting form of animation, and one which is only being enhanced with the use of computer generated imagery and 3D shooting. And it is a form of animation at which Tim Burton really does excel.

Antichrist - By Lars Von Trier

I recently reviewed Melancholia, and now i will be reviewing the controversial film Antichrist, also by controversial danish director Lars Von Trier. The film is much more controversial that Melancholia, and remains unrated in the united states and was not given a theatrical release there. The film however deals with similar themes as melancholia, and acts as the first part of the Depression Trilogy. The film stars Willem Defoe and Charlotte Gainsbourg as 'Him' and 'Her', a couple that goes to live in a wood after the death of their child, who falls out of the window, and he uses this time to attempt to 'heal' his wife.

I feel that i should warn people that this film is graphic, the film was released in two forms, entitled the catholic and the protestant versions, the former being the censored edited version, and the latter being the uncut and generally unrated version. The film was however released in the UK uncut, gaining an 18 certificate. I will be reviewing the unrated version here, however the two are very similar, having the same plot and events. The film is a blend of genres, and can most accurately be described as a blend of a horror film, an exploitative thriller and a porn film. I feel that it is important to clarify that this film is not torture porn, a genre which I loathe, and each act of violence has a purpose and a place in the plot, and it is really for this reason that I chose to watch the unrated version, as i feel that the censored cut robs the piece of some of it's majesty, and power.

The film was controversial as soon as it premiered at Cannes, with some ridiculously referring to it as the most controversial film of all time. The film is about a couple who retreat into the woods after the death of their son, where the woman manifests increasingly violent sexual behavior, as she transforms into the ultimate manifestation of pure evil. Thematically the film deals with evil and humanity, and the main character expresses the same revelations as in Melancholia, and expresses the evil of humanity and the evil of nature. The female lean, known as She, a woman who researched murder crimes against women, and who comes to believe that all women and nature are evil.

The film was controversial upon its release, in part due to it's use of untsimulated, 'real' sex scenes. To be honest I have a sense of ambivalence towards this, while I'm not sure if the film benefits from the use of these scenes, I also don't find these parts of the film particularly shocking, and so I guess I am not the person to say whether these add to the film or not, for me they were a part of the film, and were not more or less shocking than anything else. The film is also tied in to Melancholia with its use of musical motifs, the film uses Lascia Ch'io Pianga, by Handel to bookend the film, and to use as the prologue and epilogue, much like Melancholia uses the Wagner prologue. The film is split into four chapter, each of which deals with a certain aspect of the madness that encircles this couple.

In short I will say that this film is masterfully shot, and wonderfully filmed, atmospheric and dark, but like melancholia, it is also perhaps more interesting to discuss than to watch, and may be too gruesome for some to watch, however the film remains a masterpiece of the horror , and is perhaps my favorite horror film, a branch of cinema that I have been known to despise. Surely handled and well filmed this film stands out among the Lars Von Trier canon. Rating: B+

She: Nature is Satan's church.

Stoker - A Thriller

Now it is no secret that I am not exactly a fan of horror films, my review of Saw should prove that! But I did love Black Swan, a film which has much in common with Stoker, both films are thrillers and are perfectly understated, with the events of the films having a jarring contrast with the intense beauty of the images presented, and the hideous nature and motives of the main characters. The film stars Mia Wasikowska, Matthew Goode and of course Nicole Kidman in the leading roles.

The film revolves around a family just after the death of its patriarch, as the fathers creepy brother moves in with the family, and all hell ensues! This film is everything i love in a thriller, in that it has an economy of shocks, the film never tries to go over the top with its more cathartic moments, and manages to do more with suspense than outright gore, with only a few moments in the film actually showing blood. This economy is what makes the film truly suspenseful, and effective, and what keeps the audience intrigued, and never becoming desensitized, or adjusted to the violence.

The film has a great cast, and none of the lead actors let the side down, the three leads in the film are particularly stunning, especially India played by Mia Wasikowska, who manages to act without words, and incredibly manages to portray a child who is dark and haunted, and yet who is also introverted and silent. She is an economic actress in this role, and we connect with the character through her silence and strangeness. The character is not necessarily understood by the audience, yet is accepted and cared for, in spite of her strangeness, and in reality it is the fact that film has a foreign director, that there is a silence and contemplation to the film.

Matthew Goode is also good as the creepy uncle, and manages to be totally creepy, and really attractive at the same time, there is an unwavering malice hidden behind his perfect smile and beautifully curled hair, and something creepy about the way he swoops in, just after the death of India's father, and instantly captures the affection of the family matriarch, played by Nicole Kidman, who is a delight, despite having a rather small role, with less weight being given to the character, yet she still manages to capture the instability of a woman being driven mad by the changes in her family, and who is being driven further and further into instability by the incestuous relationships in her life.

Thematically the film deals with the themes of incest, family troubles, bad blood and the relationships we have with our parents, in fact this film is far more successful at highlighting parent child issues than the place beyond the pines, and ironically is much less overt in ist attempt to highlight these issues. The film uses traditional thriller motifs, such as spiders and footsteps, and contains many homages to old horror movies such as swinging lights, and strange sounds. The film is also a successful homage to old Hitchcock movies, and uses many of the same motifs, such as many of the pivotal moments taking place on stairs, such as many of the conversations between the characters and the final confrontation between the three main characters. Another Hitchcock motif used is the train being used as a metaphor for sexual climax, In fact one of the sex scenes in the movie takes place near a train track in the woods, and sounds of the train are heard at pivotal moments.

Now we come to the negatives, although the film has a good universal story, in fact the story itself is timeless, and we never find out where the story is set, we only in fact have one indication that the story is set during the present day, with one of the characters mentioning 1994 as the year of an eighteen year old's birth, and with various flashes of technology. The story becomes sloppy towards the end, using unnecessary twist towards the end in order to tie up all the loose ends of the plot, loose ends which do not necessarily need to be tied up, and which would be better suggested, rather than explicitly shown on film.

Overall this is an stunningly film, elegantly shot and featuring great performances, which is delightfully understated, a rarity in our modern cinematic universe, in short if you like thrillers, this film really is as good and entertaining as any, and is a cinematographic delight. In short, a wonderful homage to a universe of thrillers, and a surely handled, well acted 99 minutes of suspense. Rating: A-

India Stoker: He used to say, sometimes you need to do something bad to stop you from doing something worse.

Saw? - A Waste of Time

What is the adjective for a franchise that is under-plotted, overacted, poorly written and undeniably self indulgent: The Saw Franchise. A series of films which lack any real kind of plot, and which simply feel like the result of the catharsis of one man's sick fantasies. I will admit that I have not seen the whole of this franchise, so i will limit my comments to the first installment.

The premise of this franchise is that a man with terminal cancer attempts to teach bad people a lesson through a series of 'traps', in which people generally have to mutilate themselves in order to escape. This paper thin premise is the canvas on which the film unfolds, with 'traps' such as the reverse bear. The shaky plot of the film revolves around two men who wake up to find themselves in a deserted bathroom, and who must work together in order to escape. A plot ensues envolving a lot of flashbacks and people who randomly seem to remember things at appropriate moments, am I missing something?

The real problem with this film is that it fails to decide what it accurately wants to be, it can't distinguish between being a slasher film which makes one guffaw at its gruesome antics, yet also fails to thrill the audience, and i must say that i was a little bored whilst watching this film. The film doesn't allow its audience to make a connection with its characters, and i didn't particularly care whether these characters lived or not, perhaps this has to do with the horrendous acting, the film contains much of what i would refer to as 'porn star' acting, however i will refrain from using this phrase here as  i feel that this is offensive to the adult film industry.

The actors in this film really are appalling, and yes, they had very little to work with in terms of a script, yet that doesn't excuse the fact that the actors in this film failed to even scream convincingly. I would tell you which actor played which role, yet i found this film so uninteresting, that besides the villain, i couldn't tell you a single characters name (the villain is called Jigsaw). Overall this is a pretty appalling film, and really should only be used as a drinking game, the acting is really really bad, and the film fails to be either funny or scary, and I have seen you tube videos that managed to cram more character development into a five minute skit than this entire film contains, even if this film had terrified me and stopped me sleeping, i would still have liked it more. Rating:D

So tell me readers, am I missing something, did anyone like this franchise? given the films box office receipts i gather someone must have! Let the world know in the comments box below.

A Ballet of Madness

Darren Aronofski's 2010 psycho-sexual thriller Black Swan shocked audiences and was acclaimed by critics, and was subsequently nominated for five Academy Awards. The film is about the dark side of the ballet world, and centers around Nina, a young ballerina, who wins the lead in swan lake, and begins an inexorable fall into madness, jealousy paranoia and some great dancing.The film is stylized and bold, brash and loud, and is an imaginative insight into the world of ballet, an area i know relatively little about. Natalie Portman stars as the fragile, delicate Nina, protected and cosseted by her overbearing Mother (Portman won the Academy Award for best actress for her role) and Mila Kunis stars as Lily, her rival. Kunis' performance in the film was overlooked, and the actress failed to garner an Oscar nomination.

The film is a visual delight, with the picture being dramatic and thrilling. The film is very dark, and uses bleak cinematography and and very little color, in order to portray the impending doom. I would not usually comment on the production design i a film, except here, the film uses black and white a great deal, veering away from this in Nina's bedroom, infusing it with pink and warmth, and making it clear that this is a child's room, and inappropriate for a young woman of Nina's age. The film contains horror elements, such as Nina turning round to stare at herself in the mirror, and her leaning over the bath and looking at herself through the water, these are successful attempts by Aronofski to show us visually Nina's descent into madness, and to show us her demons in a visual graphic way, making the film visually suspenseful.

The film is in a sense a spiritual 'Film à Clef', which attempts to tell us the story of swan lake, and uses each of the characters as representations of characters in the story of Swan Lake, this is further instilled during the credits sequence, where the actors are each credited as playing two characters, their character in the film, and the spiritual role they inhabit. The two leads thus play the white swan and the black swan, each fighting for power, these two characters really exist inside Nina, as during many of the events in which Lily plays a part, we are unsure whether she is truly there, or if Nina is projecting onto Lily, her own darkness. The music in the film borrows heavily from Tchaikovsky's original score, (which explains the scores disqualification from the best original score category at that years Oscars) however with some notable exceptions, the club scene uses a piece of dance music by The Chemical Brothers, which is a reinvention of Swan Lake as a wild techno piece of club music.

Overall this film is a true tribute to Aronofski's skill as a director, like it or hate it Black Swan is bold, it is imaginative and it is fun without ever veering into camp. The film shows strong performances from its leads, and shows us a real insight into the world of the ballet, and the intense control and discipline that it requires. The director manages to give us a visually stunning film with a fun script that keeps us involved, and seems to run from twist to twist, never leaving the audience a pause in which to get bored Rating A

Nina: It's about a girl who gets turned into a swan and she needs love to break the spell, but her prince falls for the wrong girl so she kills herself.