Film

The movie Annihilation (2018) has a pretty confusing ending with lots of interpretations. What happened to Lena? What was the significance of the mirroring alien? How does the ending tie in to the themes seen throughout the rest of the movie? Who is the Kane we see at the end of the movie?

Dr. Strange and the Multiverse of Madness and Spider-Man: No Way Home deal with the multiverse in various ways. Multiverse stories can be interesting and also complicated. How did these movies handle this complicated plot? Was it done well or could it have been done better? It might also be good to compare it to other stories with a multiverse plot (ex. Everything Everywhere All at Once, Bioshock: Infinite, Dark Matter by Blake Crouch, or Spider-Man: Into the Spiderverse if you want an all Marvel article). Explore the pros and cons of a multiverse plot and how these stories fit into it.

(My Opinion): I believe that Dr. Strange and Spider-Man used the multiverse mainly for nostalgia, to varying degrees of success, and the stories ignore the other strengths of the plot (especially Multiverse of Madness). I think these stories are flawed but enjoyable. Feel free to disagree with me, agree with me, or bring up more talking points!

"We Need to Talk About Kevin" has been praised for its insightful portrayal of a mother’s complex emotions and colour is an essential element in cinema, used by filmmakers to create emotion, convey meaning and evoke historical context. For example, the color red is often associated with passion, love, and danger. Analyze the importance of color in the movie and how it influences the way we perceive and interpret the film.

Movies of all genres and decades have had probably the biggest impact on the video game industry. Developers have always cited their favourite films and inspiration (Escape From New York inspired the Metal Gear Series, for example, or the works of John Woo inspiring the Max Payne series). Perhaps the biggest influences are the Action movies of the 1980s. Rambo, Commando, Predator, Running Man, Total Recall, and countless others. This genre has helped lead to some of the most visually and interactively appealing games in the industry. But what is the full extent of the connection? And how many games trace their roots to the big screen?

In 2005, actor Christian Bale starred in two interesting, if very different films: David Ayer’s "Harsh Times" and Christopher Nolan’s "Batman Begins." Though both films are practically diametrically opposed, they do share some interesting similarities in regards to the characters Bale plays.

Both characters are specially-trained warriors who return to a less-than-familiar home to then try and use the skills they honed in foreign lands fighting foreign enemies to find a new purpose. The similarities don’t end there, though, as both characters are plagued by past traumas that manifest themselves in disturbing visions and hallucinations.

This article would be a study of those characters (Bruce Wayne/Batman in "Batman Begins" and Jim Davis in "Harsh Times" and just how their skills, experiences, and relationships shape them into the people they are.

Jack Horner and Death

Of the antagonists in The Last wish, these two stand head and shoulders above the rest. But between them who can be argued to be the "better" villain.

Horner is a throwback, an old school villain, evil at his core. Unrepentant and callous his simplicity lends itself to easily understanding why he’s a villain but, that same simplicity could be critique as lazy or unoriginal due to him always taking the worst most inhumane option.

Contrasting him is Death.
Death plays with Puss in Boots but is solely focused on him. It could be argued he is cruel and unfair but he’s literally death and that is his nature. Is his simplicity better than Horner’s due to him being more of a force of nature than an character.

What elements make each villain unique?

The discourse surrounding sex scenes in media has risen again and this time to much more of a pushback.

Starting with the origins, who are the people criticising the existence of sex in media and what are their reasons?

From there, what are the arguments against limited sex in media?

What can come from this repetitive discourse and why does it seem to be such an enduring topic for discourse?

Book-to-movie films (and—more regularly, now—shows) are especially common in young adult franchises such as The Maze Runner, The Hunger Games, and Divergent. The first three Harry Potter films are some of the most beloved book-to-movie adaptations in history. The latter movies, while successful in other regards, were criticised (especially by book purists) for cutting out, altering, or ignoring large chunks of the source material. I have heard several fans say that they would watch a Harry Potter reboot if it was a high-budget streaming show that adapted each chapter into an episode, with the dialogue and plots and sub-plots remaining exactly the same as the books. Whether this would ever be done remains to be seen,

Movies face an issue in that they are limited in run-time. While there are long movie adaptations out there (The Lord of the Rings is a prime example), more commonly, they are cut to fit at a little over 2 hours. They prioritise entertainment and a streamlined story. Books can vary in length to a great degree—the first Harry Potter book was around 77,000 words while the fifth (the longest) was around 257,000. Yet the fifth movie (2hrs and 18 minutes long) was actually shorter than the first (2 hours and 32 minutes long). The movie arguably benefited from cutting much of the meat of the book, at least from an entertainment perspective, if not from a story and world perspective.

How important is it for the plot to be accurately represented in films, given that they are, indeed, adaptations of the source material and not direct translations? Is it enough for the characters and world to be represented with care and detail? Are fans right in complaining about inaccuracy and missing scenes in book-to-movie adaptations? What are some examples of book-to-movie adaptations done well, and done poorly?