The Mist – Film Review

Based upon the original (1980) Stephen King novella of the same name, the 2007 Frank Darabont film is a strong standout from other modern horror movies in that it allows tension and suspense to slowly burn, as opposed to going for the quick easy scares. The story itself revolves around a disaster in a small American town and a group of survivors who are trapped inside a supermarket. Outside however, remains an unknown menace that keeps the characters trapped in this ever-growing claustrophobic location.

As tensions rise, personalities clash and tribal groups begin to form as people begin to search for answers as to what appears to be going on outside. Escape attempts are made, yet after the failures and causalities that result from these - the already high tensions begin to bubble to the surface.

Essentially during the film the characters revert into a more primal, tribal like society. With the threat of the unknown, many people wish to guess as to what may be happening. Immediately as these ideas begin to develop you begin to see the troublemaker’s surface. Nevertheless, as a member of the audience we find ourselves powerless to stop the slowly approaching confrontations. It is this feeling of helplessness that suspends you during the film, putting you at ill ease. It’s the fact that we can see the approaching dangers coming and the odds of avoiding them seem to be growing ever slimmer.

Now although the film does achieve what it sets out to do on this point, that isn’t to say there aren’t any flaws in its execution. Towards the beginning of the movie, the characters that are incarcerated seem to act quite rationally. With only a few characters being seen as abrasive or potential troublemakers. People who through their jobs would have experience or training for dealing with difficult people in intensive situations do little to disperse or separate these people from the main group. Teachers, army soldiers, retail staff and management do nothing – acting almost obliviously to the potential threat that some of the other members of the group may present.

It was small details like this, that at times felt missing from a film that wanted to be down in the trenches with its characters and give realistic reactions to their mysterious situation. The story itself balanced a fine line between a subtle group struggle and an apocalyptic scenario. At times characters and situations were realistic and intense, yet at others the film became a caricature of itself. The film never really stayed grounded for to long, and at times it was this that really kept you in suspense, but at other varying points this was one of the movies main detractions.

The end of the film itself continued with this jumbled presentation. It was in ways truly heart wrenching, but there was still a feeling that the conclusion was somehow tainted by aspects of its presentation.

In the end the most important factor is – did the movie achieve what it set out to do? And yet my answer to this would be that I don’t really know what it set out to achieve. Overall you could say that the film is well crafted, however descanted at certain points it may seem. The most off putting of these points being its overlapping tonal shifts. Perhaps if the film were more concise in this aspect then it would be wholly more of an ease to view.

I wanted to like this movie, I truly did, but there was just too much incoherence in that it never attempted to establish to its audience any kind of continual ambient tone, for which they could follow with a degree of ease.

Exercises In Style by Raymond Queneau (Translated by Barbara Wright) – Book Review

There are few books on the subject of creative writing that so adequately demonstrate the effects of perspective. By telling the same event repeatedly in different methods of projection, the author pushes the reader to examine the varying methods of representation and how each of them can influence the feel of what is being told. The more you read, the more you realise that the actual event itself is insignificant, what really becomes important is the ideas that span from this.

As time progresses you begin to relate the ideas of presentation to different things and different stories. It really works for writers as a great piece to look at and analyse as a force of inspiration; inspiring you as the reader to think of how it may relate to new stories and ideas.

The imagination of this book is vivid, it’s hard to relate it to anything else I've ever read or seen. In fact this book has been so influential that it has even been adapted to the comic book form by Matt Madden, continuing its influence even further into the visual medium.

Without question, this book is a great read for new writers, or even others simply interested in fiction. However, I don’t think that the book is merely limited to this niche, it continues to be an interesting read for academics, or even as a reference for other experienced writers. On its own, it is simply a short interesting read that enables its reader to get their mind going creatively. 

The Elements of Style by William Strunk JR. and E.B. White – Book Review

In this concise little guide, you will find a short and snappy introduction to creative writing. It will serve to most readers as a reference to style for formal essays, articles or other professional or academic work. One of the aims for the book is to supply a simple easy to use guide in grammar and punctuation for new writers or a referential textbook to others. Yet reading the text what you will often find is a frumpy, uptight, anal-retentive argument being presented as fact.

One of the defining aspects of creative writing is that it allows for people to construct arguments and new concepts, develop new ideas and opinions in a way that epitomises their perspective. In this work however, the authors seem more concerned with current conventions and the retention of such from a conservative ideological perspective. It seems inherent to them at all times, to remain concise in what an author is saying; short and sweet to say the least. This advice to many authors though may end up coming across as a detriment. Instead of being allowed to flow in their natural style of progression, authors could be driven to anxiety by the books rulings into an inane state of grammatical paranoia.

The book at times seems pigeon holed for news reporters - as a lot of the advice is designed in recognition of newspaper reporting. Its suggestions relate heavily to clarity, and only recommend going outside of this comfort zone if you are confident of the sentences overall conclusion. Throughout the book, there did seem to be many long-winded sentences whilst explaining particular hypothesis. As the reader here, you did get the sense that some of these points could be fervour shortened, (as the book had previously advised its readers to do on the same subject).

Yet, as a reference guide, the book is a great source for writers. The book, like creative writing itself, requires a critical eye to annotate what is and isn’t necessary. It does provide some good critical advice for authors in their work, but also includes pieces of opinion presented to the reader as fact. Because of this it is important to think for yourself in examining this work. What works for you may not work for others, and because of this it is important to be concise. But unlike this book suggests, it doesn’t necessarily mean you need to shorten your wording. If your wording is more concise and to the point in a longer breathe then it should be allowed to stay as such.

In the end, a lot of this book will be liked or disliked due to the individual’s opinion. The question then is would this be a good recommendation for new writers, with this clearly being the target audience? Well yes and no. It undoubtedly has information that would be invaluable to any new writers however it’s often derogatory presentation of information might do harm to discourage a young writers progression.

What’s most important here really is that any who might read this take the information with a pinch a salt. For those who may be interested, it’s important not to allow yourself to feel discouraged by the advice of the book. Taken to context, the book provides a great level of information for writers. However as an introduction to the elements of style, it does seem to come across as unnecessarily abrasive, to the likes of which an introduction to any subject simply shouldn’t.

Girls – Breakdown of a show

There has been a lot of hype recently with the British television debut of HBO original series Girls (2012 - present). Based in New York, the show follows four twenty something’s and how they cope with life in the big apple. Many critics have heavily praised it for it’s well developed characters and it’s realistic portrayal of the modern first world women. Primarily the show focuses on the social lives of these well-educated young women, and their attempts to establish themselves in their work places whilst keeping together a complete social life.

The shows praise has been mostly directed towards the well-rounded, realistic portrayals of young women. Unlike other shows about well-educated women in the city, like for example HBO’s previous series Sex In The City (1998-2004), Girls gives a less glamourized view of life in the city.  The lead characters are strongly defined here with the audience getting a detailed amount of knowledge on each of their perspectives. Everyone here is different and opinions clash at times. People are selfish and at times make mistakes, yet each decision is carefully developed upon and you can really see the craftsmanship of the writing here.

That’s not to say the show is without its critics. The show does feature some questionable aspects that many people have already pointed out, one of these being its lack of ethnic diversity in the cast. It has also faced some backlash for its selective secular views on modern women from the perspective of the over privileged. Yet from this point I find myself agreeing with The Guardian writer Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett on this issue. This show isn’t meant to be an all-encompassing show expelling the experience from the voice of a generation. Instead it simply aims to show the experience of these women from a more realistic, unbiased perspective.

And on a whole, the series does this successfully. However, one problem I do find here crops up not in the presentation of its starring cast members, but instead in the shows representation of the focal male counterparts. These characters appear in my opinion to be two-dimensional. They are voids of humanity used as fillings for a real male presence. In essence they garner no presence of a human being. They stand in as cardboard cut outs, shells even of real humanity. They’re there simply to fill in the role of there character description. One is a boring but safe comfort blanket that plays in a band. Another is a distant mysterious oddity, and so on and so forth.

But taking a step back here, the problem isn’t that this is offensive, (although ironically, all of the aforementioned problems are what some feminists have in the past complained about when talking about negative female representation in male dominated pop culture.) More so I am disappointed that the writers chose to do this. In terms of its focal cast I thought that the show did such a good job at establishing these richly structured characters that I wanted to embrace all aspects of the show. Relating this aspect to other HBO shows like The Wire or Game Of Thrones, these shows have much larger ensemble casts and are still able to create interesting and diverse characters of both genders. Even shows like the remake of Battlestar Galactica (2004-2009), a show primarily aimed at young men was able to create an extremely diverse cast of complex female characters. The show unlike Girls never allowed people to be simply defined or pigeonholed by their gender.

Yet I must digress away from this issue. The show is primarily about four women and the issues they are having in particular. So in its defence, maybe if it were to diverge from these characters and expand upon the males of the show, the structure of the program as a whole would become fractured. Damaging the foundations of the narrative that so far have brought the show to prominence and success.  

But in truth the show is only in its first season. It has been renewed for a second and I’m sure that the longer that the show goes on the more it will improve on a whole. The show covers a lot of the problems and tribulations of the modern day young middle class trying to work their way into and survive the everyday happenings in a cosmopolitan city. You feel the show touches on a generation, my generation to say the least. Yet I think that the program really best defines itself when creator of the show Lena Dunham’s character Hannah says, “I think I may be the voice of my generation. Or at least, a voice of a generation.” In essence the show is not all encompassing in its representation, but those who the show is talking and applying itself to, it does for the most point read true.

The Wire – Breakdown of a show

Based primarily in West Baltimore, The Wire (2002 – 2008) was a HBO produced show based around the local drug trade and the law enforcers who try to counter it. The show stands out as unique, with its starkly unbiased views of all those involved in some form or another in the Baltimore drug trade. As an audience we are shown from a fresh perspective what is happening throughout the systematic hierarchy within the city. From the state politicians in charge of the city down to the homeless drug addicts on the block, we engage everyone’s perspective on the reality of life in the drug industry.

As a series, it quickly engages its audience to the world that it is based in. Each character in there time on screen is given the same level of dignity and as a viewer you often find yourself shocked by the relate-ability of some characters. Morally everyone has their reasons for what they do. The show never preaches any messages or choses sides in the drug war. There are no black and white heroes or villains here; instead everyone can be summed up in varying shades of grey.

The show features all of the expected character types you have seen before in other police investigation shows, and yet here none of these characters ever seem to be defined by clichéd archetypes. Instead the series seems determined to examine the sociological aspects around the illegal drugs trade and the gang culture that has enveloped around it. It does this by creating these rich, reality based characters with understandable motivations. Above all things, every character on the show defines the way they act by their own individual code of ethics. With the situations that have been presented in life, they have chosen what they perceived was the most reasonable path for themselves.

On a whole from a craft perspective the show is flawless. The acting is top notch and there is never a bad performance to take you out of the story. Writing on the show is also first class. Each episode is carefully paced and stories unfold with real mastery. Plotlines are allowed real time to develop, with a calm restraint being shown before allowing stories to come to natural conclusions. The cinematography and direction also stand out for their stylish enhancement of the atmosphere. These techniques are done both subtly and effectively in a non-intrusive fashion. This is done in a way to highlight the performances and in turn draw the audience into the story at hand.

As stories develop you really find yourself being pulled in to what is happening. Most of the story arcs concern multiple characters and can drastically affect the fate of each of them in numerous ways depending on how the story unfolds. The bureaucracy of the police department and the governmental system can greatly change the way in which a case is able to unfold. Parallel to this a mistake on the streets can mean the death of one or multiple characters, whether or not some or all of them were actually guilty of anything.

The show provides a really good underlying tension throughout, in that you feel as though any character is only one slip away from a fall. Yet despite this you feel as though some of the more down and out characters could be only one step away from redemption. And it’s because of these underlining themes together with the enveloping character development that really keeps the audience hooked into The Wire.

Throughout the shows entire run there are very few blips in quality. Season 2 is probably the biggest dip with the story moving to far away from the integral setup of the first season. In season two the characters are not really as well developed and in the end they come across to the audience as being a bit flat. There are only two moments in the season that affect the rest of the series. Because of this I would recommend skipping the season to any new viewers of the show as it is at times painful to get through, supplying little to nothing to the overall series narrative.

On a whole, you remain unaware what to expect from The Wire before viewing it for yourself. It’s a show that has often been critically praised from just about everyone who has watched it. But until you actually get to grips with the story and the characters yourself it is hard to engage what the show is really like. The show clearly set out to show from a realistic standpoint the decline of certain areas of Baltimore and the damage caused by the drug trade. What the show does is that and more. We get to see both sides of the story; we see those who feel they’ve had to turn to crime and those who naively thought at one time that by being a good cop they could prevent it. But the truth is that it isn’t the criminals that create the crime, it’s the society that creates the need for criminality. It’s there in the show for those who feel they have nothing else or find it’s able to provide them with some kind of direction in their lives. Some will move away from it, others will be victims consumed by it. Police and criminals alike, they’re all just potential victims, only one small slip away from falling down in the hole.

Punch Drunk Love - Film Review

Paul Thomas Anderson’s Punch Drunk Love (2002) presents an unconventional mellow comedy with violent outbursts courtesy of our protagonist played here by Adam Sandler. The story follows Barry Egan (Sandler) a repressed man who allows those around him to walk all over him. These emotions seem to build and come out at inappropriate times, an example of this being at a family dinner party and another instance taking place at a restaurant.

The character clearly has psychological issues but he never veers in his behaviour so far that we lose sympathy for him as a character. At times through the direction we ourselves seem exposed to the same anxieties as the protagonist. When Barry receives repeated calls early into the film we ourselves find anger developing as an underlying tension continues to build. At times it really becomes frustrating to watch these scenes. It makes you want to scream in frustration at the mild mannered response he seems to retort with. If he just confronted the issues at hand earlier then he wouldn’t be at the point where he feels his only option is to violently lash out.

Yet on the other hand if it weren’t for these problems the rest of the story would have no room to unfold. His difficulties come from his problems with distancing himself from others. He tries to hide from his issues and in turn grows evermore withdrawn. Yearning for attention he turns to sex lines for his only human interaction outside of the workplace. He doesn’t use these services for sexual gratification, but in a way, he still uses this to fulfil something that is missing in his life, companionship.

As the film really progresses, it begins to intertwine two stories that are simultaneously unfolding. One story is an odd romance between Barry and one of his sisters work colleagues played by Emily Watson. Whilst parallel to this a worker from a sex line is blackmailing Barry. The stories follow arc types of romantic Hollywood cinema, this being the classic romantic comedy, and a blackmail plot in the mould of the classic film noirs. But even in this you are made aware of the modern variations. The couple are not exactly flawless. The man is mentally disturbed while Watson’s character just seems to be excepting of all his extremities. Whereas in the blackmailing plotline of a film noir, a character usually had a problem that they couldn’t talk to the police about, here however Barry could speak to the police but he choses not to because he is embarrassed about what has happened.

Punch Drunk Love really is a difficult one to describe. It’s unusual in the fact that none of the central characters are really all that stable. All of them seem to have their own detrimental flaws and yet they all still come across in an interesting manner. Violence in the film at times encompasses itself outlandishly; nevertheless the film still remains somewhat grounded, never reaching to far from reality. Yes the characters are flawed but they are aware of this to the most point. What matters here is that the protagonist appears to be trying to move away from this. He is trying to better himself and come out of his shell but it remains his anxieties and their effects that are the only things that may in future stand in his way.

Quadrophenia directed by Franc Roddam - Review

Quadrophenia (1979) is a film that aims to capture the feelings and angst pulsating through the conscious of the mod sub-culture of the 1960s. Based on the original rock opera by The Who, it’s a film that is able to through a character study, analyse the society and culture that feeds into the protagonists mind.

Jimmy (Phil Daniels) is a young mod working as an office assistant. As a young working class man, he dreams of more and has chosen to embrace the mod culture as a way of defining himself. The smart clothes and slickly styled hair to him are all used for his self expression. To him, it’s all about embracing and joining his friends, and others in something that is bigger than them selves.

In this there is a real fantasy element to the story. During the weekdays him and his friends have to act and participate in regular 9-5 jobs. But at the night and weekends their time is their own. They are free to be mods, to fight the antagonistic ‘Rockers’ and take as many pills as they wish. Or so it seems. That is until Jimmy meets an old friend back from his work in the armed forces. His friend (played by a young Ray Winstone) is now a rocker. The two debate the relevance of their own youth subcultures with both providing similar answers on the subject of identity. With each of them seeing themselves as part of something bigger as a means of which to wholly define their character.

But in the riots of Brighton Jimmy finds solace in his lot in life. He is able to be one with the other mods there in a truly visual confrontation with the rockers. Here he is finally able to consummate his feelings with long time crush Steph, played by a young Leslie Ash. In Brighton the mod sub-culture seems to be more, it isn’t something that’s played at by a small group of friends at home. In Brighton at least it seems to be a real social movement. It has substance there and has a real visual presence on the streets.

Upon his return home though things begin to fall apart for Jimmy. His friends begin to settle back into their old monotonous way of living and Jimmy not being able to settle for this, rebels. He is soon fired from his job as a file clerk and Steph distances herself from his erratic behaviour. Jimmy leaves back to Brighton by train. He aims to reclaim the experience that he had only a short while ago. Yet he soon realises that all is not how it was. Things have changed in Brighton, with things much more quiet and tranquil than they were during his last trip.

His tempers however, do not boil over until he sees one of the defining mods of the riot now working in a hotel as a bellboy. His fantasies have finally been shattered and he, like the others before him, has come to the reality of the situation. The fact is that the youth movement was simply a form of presentation to identify themselves. Their violent actions only a means of lashing out at those things they didn’t like or have control over. In response to this Jimmy steals the mods scooter taking it to Beachy Head. He rides and sits there for a while before finally throwing the scooter from the cliff into the sea.

Overall the film is a fantastic coming of age movie charting a young mans fantasies and dreams, and his growing up which gradually allows him to except the reality of adulthood. The film is also brilliantly shot with strong defining cinematography. Shots are framed remarkably and sequences unfold very eloquently. It is really unlike any other British film I’ve ever seen in terms of its presentation. There is a real dynamic style to the way the film embraces the culture it presents, this being something of a rare occurrence in any British film. Particularly in it’s anti authoritarian tones at times.

One of the other important factors that defines this film is that all of the characters seem real. Even those that barely have screen time, you get a solid understanding of their personality. This is something else that really seems missing in the modern British film industry. In that this film features a large ensemble cast yet even in a character piece it manages to define all of them well. To often you see now these very formulaic feel good comedies or costume dramas represented as the mainstream consensus of the modern film industry and as someone evaluating this work, it makes you think what happened to mainstream, publicly accessible, British contemporary cinema? Not just art cinema, but films that reflect on the public consciousness and would therefore be financially viable?