Film

Recently I saw Bad Times at the El Royale, and instantly wanted to do an analysis of the film. Operating in true thriller fashion, it often left me wondering what on Earth was going on, and proceeding to deliver hammer blow after hammer blow of intense character development and tense moments. It is filmed in a unique way, as a series of smaller narratives that follow each character, sometimes backtracking or jumping forward in time, before tying the narratives together a piece at a time. Analyzing what new elements this movie brings to the genre, or what elements are familiar, may be interesting.

Recently, I also saw Jaws for the first time. (Yeah, I know). I was amazed at how well it still held up after 43 years! This film is credited with beginning huge changes in cinema and marketing, and for revolutionizing a genre. Between being one of the first movies advertised on television, to knocking The Godfather from its pedestal in 78 days, to casting the Great White as a pariah in the public eye, this film altered every aspect of the moviegoing experience. Specifically focusing on the impact Jaws made in its genre and the changes it introduced to cinematograpghy (i.e. the introduction of more subtle horror, larger budgets, and the importance of a good cinematic score) would be interesting.

This time of year is filled with the macabre–from movies to haunted houses. Why do people enjoy this kind of entertainment? Is it because it makes us value our humanity as we know we are safe? I would love to see an exploration of this topic perhaps through a few specific popular horror films (slasher, demonic, etc).

A broad scope to go over, but in the wake of films like The Florida Project and Beasts of the Southern Wild from this decade, films about the downtrodden in America are often debated in circles of critics who read from a socioeconomic perspective upon their veracity. The discussion of whether a film is being authentic in its portrayal of poverty, or if it's being artificial and dishonest for the sake of appeasing a middle-class audience is an interesting one, and analyzing the contexts of aspects like class and race while looking over a few select films given/saved from this criticism are worth attempting. What appear to be the common criticisms? What keep the better films from being given the label?

With three significant reboots and refocuses we are seeing what is hopefully a significant shift:
Female cast reboot of 'Ghost Busters'
Female cast for 'Oceans 8'
Female lead for Doctor Who

Across film and television we are seeing the shift in the trends to finally reflect a better equality of story telling. Whether this is in fact simply a trend that reflects the demands of today, or (hopefully) a fundamental shift in acknowledging the need for more diverse story telling still remains to be seen.
We are also seeing the re-portrayal of over sexualisation in the structure or rebooting of other films. For example the new 'Tomb Raider' features a less busty (padded) version of Lara Croft, who also makes her own decisions and the film does not include a focal love interest narrative. Although it is a slow process it is a positive one, yet there are still some difficult questions inherent in these portrayals, and it is largely centered around the particular messages and meanings that are expressed through these portrayals – are they subvertive? Or do they still confirm to gender normalisation and fail to offer new interpretations?
What do you think?

A classic supernatural/mystery trope is the voice from the beyond – meaning the voice (in some form) from beyond this world, either they are dead, or from the past/future, or from another world. The point of this is either central to the narrative or a secondary feature to provide information. The entire concept is a fascinating example of humanity's yearning for more than what is present in our own world. To reach beyond the veil and access another plane of existence is a wonderfully tempting concept. Depending on the genre this can either be a positive or negative experience. Meaning that sometimes these voices are there to help, while other times they are the harbingers of great dangers. Either way it is an exciting narrative convention.

There are two questions I would pose to those who would undertake this topic: 1) Where has our love of this concept come from? Can it be tracked to the original god myths of the Greeks? Is it merely an aspect of explaining the unknown? Is it part of our yearning to reach out to the dead?; and 2) what are the best (and maybe worst) examples of where this has been done in film? Or perhaps someone might look at this through comics or literature – it is a concept across genres.

Street Fighter, Rampage and Super Mario are some of the video games that Hollywood adapted for the big screen. They might be nostalgic and beloved from fans but the one thing in common is that they received poor reviews despite performing well at the box office. The recent adaptation of Lara Croft received mixed reviews and moderate box office success. What is the problem with video game movies? Is it Hollywood's fault because they would rather focus on creating a big-budget popcorn movie than appreciating the heart and soul of those intellectual properties? Or are they just simply not meant to be put on the big screen?

With many shows and movies introducing elements that enable characters to warp time and reality, do character deaths still mean something if the audience knows they can be brought back to life? Marvel is infamous for killing off characters and then bringing them back. At what point do dramatic death scenes begin to lose their meaning?