Lawless

By Meg Sugden

Lawless is a film set in America during 1931 about 3 brothers, Forrest, Howard and Jack, who stick together no matter what even if there life depends on it, and it does. When Charlie Rakes appears on the seen to kill them for selling alcohol illegally they do anything to keep selling and stay alive.

The story begins with a background opening, we find out where they live, what they do for a living, which is obviously produce and sell moonshine, and we also find that the youngest brother Jack has his eye on a girl that he meets at a funeral. During 1931 moonshine is still illegal to make and sell so the brother sell it secretly at the back of bars and then also deliver to houses to people who are willing to pay. At the current time they are looking for someone to help run there bar where they lived and they end up hiring Maggie, an attractive red head that is bound to cause some trouble later on.


The movie cuts on a few scenes and we see Jack witness Rakes gunning down a man to get information on the brothers, so he gathers up the bullets and takes them too his brothers to show they that someone is after him. Throughout the film there is a lot of speculation that goes around the town about the fact that Forest is immortal as he survived a lot of trauma in the past, this is actually seen as true later on as he survives a lot of things despite the odds. Later on that same day we see Rakes come round the house and beat up Jack to show his family that he can get to them whenever he wants and Forrest, the oldest brother, appears to be disappointed in him; whether this is because he sees the whole family as being invincible, I'm not sure, but he does seem to get annoyed when he's hurt, but at him not at Rakes.

Throughout the film there is the continuing romance sparking between Maggie and Forrest and this is seen more after a man pulls a gun on her in the bar and Forrest beats them up, dumping them outside. But this does not go well for him later on that night, just as hes said goodbye to Maggie for the night he is attacked outside and has his throat slit by the men from earlier. Maggie comes back to tell Forrest that she's interested and ends up being attacked by them as well as Forrest is taken to hospital having survived his injury's.

Now we see the brothers in more trouble then ever as Rakes gets closer to them with every step, especially as the brothers get more cocky and start shipping across the border as well to make more money, and they should have stayed in hiding. But Jack, being the youngest is still quite naive and takes Bertha, the lady he has his eye on, for a drive and shows her the distillery where they make moonshine. Little do they know that Rake's is following them in order to kill Jack. But as they enter the distillery Howard and Cricket, Jacks friend who walks funny after having rickets as a child, come to the rescue only for Cricket to be captures by Rakes and strangled.

As the film comes to a close we see Jack go out to get Rakes for revenge, and his brothers aren't far behind him to order to help. This then leads to a stand off between Rakes' men and the brothers and their friends only for Jack to get shot in the stomach and minutes after Forrest getting shot a number of times in the torso. Rakes starts to run but Jack and Howard track him down and kill him for good before all of them going to hospital.

The film is mainly about the relationships the brothers have. Although they might not get along all the time but when they need to save another brother they come together so easily and nothing will stop them in getting what they want. The interesting part to the story is this part about the brothers not being able to die, which is taken into the story well as you can see how people might think they are invincible, especially Forrest.

The Soloist

By Callum Brown

 

The Soloist tells the true story of the journalist Steve Lopez and Nathaniel Ayers, Ayers is a homeless man with an amazing talent, he plays both the violin and Cello amazingly, however Ayers is also an undiagnosed paranoid schizophrenic. Making Lopez’s mission to help him very difficult. It’s a story of friendship more than anything else, and opens our eyes to how many homeless people live in Los Angeles and how hard their lives are.

As Lopez tries relentlessly to help Ayers, getting him an apartment, Cello lessons, even a concert, Ayers’ unpredictable and often violent nature takes a hold on their relationship, both actors (Robert Downey Jr and Jamie Fox) deliver stella performances but its Fox’s performance as Ayers that really makes the piece heartfelt. The film often uses sound in imaginative ways, combining it with surreal imagery to display Ayers’ love for Beethoven, the director has a unique take on the representation of music and what it means to Ayers, and uses it as an almost godly power that he reaches for and is desperate to understand, Ayers’ personality switches from lovable and gentle, to surprisingly violent in the slightest second and displays the effects of schizophrenia amazingly mostly through sound and these drastic changes of emotion.

Downey’s role as the hard working friend of Ayers is were what we relate to in this film, nobody could Blame his character for leaving Ayers at anytime due to his erratic and sometimes selfish behaviour, but instead of giving up he always seem to find a way to help Ayers in a way that he understands. The film always keep with its realistic tone but can often be shocking, the street ‘Skid Row’ is done with extreme realism and can often be seen as enjoyable or frightening, yet always feel like the same place, and we never doubt that all these people call it home.

The film gets many things right, and everything seems understandable and genuine, but I never got a strong feeling of emotion throughout it, which I was surprised at, as I love Downey as an actor, and find addictions and illnesses like Schizophrenia really interesting, so I don’t quite know what it was missing for me to really like it. The fact that it is a true troy is interesting, but nothing really amazing comes out of it, there’s a homeless man with an amazing talent who’s given many chances but it never really comes to flourish, it all seems rather disappointing but then again sometimes films based on true stories will be, as if they changed things, they would loose the essence that makes them intriguing.

I'm Not There

By Stuart Brown

 

I’m not there is a film by Todd Hayes inspired by the life and songs of Bob Dylan. It opens with a POV black and white grainy shot of Cate Blanchet’s character Jude Quinn making his way through backstage to way to a performance. The film cuts to Quinn then riding his motorcycle as the opening title appears, and then to Quinn dead on a table with an autopsy about to take place.

Marcus Carl Franklin plays Woody, a young travelling african american boy who’s run away from his foster care home dreaming of becoming a musician. The Arvin family befriend Woody, giving him food, shelter and encouragement. He leaves the next morning, and upon his train journey three men attempt to rob him and Woody falls from the moving train into a lake, after trying to protect his guitar from the thieves. He awakes in hospital to find that the couple that found him and saved him have waited for him to wake up. He performs for them at their home and they tell him to stay as long as he needs to get better. After a call from the foster care home, Woody carries on his travels. Upon a train he reads from a newspaper “Famed Folk Stylist of yesteryear languishes grievously in New Jersey Hospital.” He proceeds to visit the man and bring the stranger flowers and plays for him.

Christian Bale plays Jack Rollins, a popular rebellious folk singer wring songs about current problems in the world. His story is told through interviews with friends and family of the character, with footage and photographs playing of him performing his music. At an expensive dinner where he is being awarded the Tom Paine Award he drunkenly makes a speech saying that he saw something of himself in the late JFK’s murderer (which quotes what Dylan once said receiving the same award.) We are told he issued an apology the next day. We are later told he became a Christian at  the gateway brotherhood church and became a minister, referring himself as father John.

Heath ledger plays Robbie, an actor starring in a film about Jack Rollins. He meets in a French girl on set and later in a coffee shop after filming his latest scene and they discuss it, and what Robbie truly cares about and what lies in the center of his world. They quickly fall in love, movie in together and buy a motorcycle. They view Robbie’s new film, but a voice over tells us they are disappointed with its outcome. Coming back to Robbie sometime later, we see him on a plane, flash back to him at a party held at his house, when his girlfriend sees him smoking outside talking to another girl. Then we cut back to him on a plane, everything here seeming very misplaced in the editing process.

We come back to Jude Quinn playing a gig in New England (a rock version on Maggies Farm) to a booing folk loving crowd who hate the performance, (this is also something that Dylan actually did.) At a press conference following the gig Quinn defends his music against arguments that his music is persuading his ideals, an interview based and quoted from again an actual Dylan press conference. A waiter then threatens Quinn with a knife for “stabbing truth in the eye.” He is quickly knocked out by Quinn’s current lover, a very random and somewhat pointless scene. When we come back to Quinn’s story a bit later on in the film and we see Quinn meet poet Alan Ginsberg and has a conversation about what Alan said to a reporter when asked if he thought Quinn sold out, he said, “only to god.” While in the middle of an interview with a different reporter, Keenan Jones, Quinn becomes very angry and uncomfortable when asked if he cares about the lyrics in his songs. He then performs the song Mr. Jones as Keenan Jones acts out those lyrics. Another seemingly pointless scene. While performing another song, an audience member shouts out “Judas” to which Quinn replies “ I don’t believe you” (Reacting what similarly happened to Dylan on stage with the same response) and the crowd attempt to attack Quinn and his band who are forced to finish their show. We are told quite randomly of Jack Rollins love for Billy the Kid, in all probability just to introduce the next character.

Richard Genre Plays Billy the kid, who with after his dog Henry runs off, chasses after on his horse. He looks off to the distance worriedly on his horse on a hilltop and we cut back to Robbie come to greet a clearly upset wife at his home. Billy the kid then continues to chase after his dog, and asks villiagemen if they have seen his dog, he then discovers that ‘Pat Garrett’ plans destruction for Riddle County, and this somehow could’ve spooked his dog. 

Back to Robbie, and his wife and baby, who argue over Robbie’s sexist remarks. He falls out with his friend as they seem to have changed from the men they once were throughout the years. Annnnnnddd back to Billy the Kid. As the town prepare for Halloween we randomly cut away again, but I will stop trying to write every time the film cuts, as quite honestly the unpredictable, rushed and irritating cuts happen quicker momentarily than I can type. 

Somewhere in those many strange cuts it was shown that in Jude Quinn’s house Keenan Jones reveals Quinn’s real name as Aaron Jacob Edelstein, something that happed to Dylan when his birth name was revealed to be Robert Zimmerman. As Quinn later throws a party, his drug use clearly is getting worse, where this pretentious self obsessed character throws up on his friends lap and insults a former girlfriend. Quinn and Alan Gingsberg then shout abuse like “you better get down from there you’ll hurt yourself!” and “play some of your early stuff” at a sculpture of Jesus on a cross. The meaning of this, other than their equal hatred for Christianity and reflection of being famous seem to come to light, are only that the characters are obnoxious.

Robbie is seen looking through old photographs of his family, his wife talks over why she has decided to leave him. They argue about who would get custody of the kids when his wife says she isn’t going to try and take them away from him, making the argument seem somewhat pointless. They cuddle, get divorced and we the two continue with their separate lives. 

Billy then argues in public against the plans to destroy his town of Riddle County. And is then arrested despite the crowds protests. Billy the kid is then put in a car (despite the setting of his story seemingly being in the 1800’s until now) and put in jail.

We then come back to Jude Quinn who’s lying on the floor with “stable vitals” where Gingsberg says he probably will never get back on stage as he’s gotten into too many psyches. Another character states death is too much a part of the American scene these days. Robbie sees his kids at Christmas and takes them for a holiday. Billy the kid escapes jail and jumps on a train, seeing his dog Henry for the last time, also quite randomly. We see (or hear) Quinn crash his motorcycle (resulting in his death) and finally his in a car making an earlier set interview, where he states “everyone knows I’m not a folk singer” perhaps indicating that she was really more of an activist. Billy the kid wakes up on the train and finds a guitar that is the same one Woody was playing at the beginning of the film.

While trying to be original in narrative as these stories are told in different parts randomly through the film (even more than I have described), the actual result just makes the film hard to follow and unnecessarily complex. A plot is hard to recognise throughout the film, is it is essentially Dylan based characters living out Dylan based lives in a random order that serves no purpose. An hour in and my nerve to turn the film off (something I have only ever have done once) was growing ever more tempting. It seems, this juxtaposition of many random tales will only be recognisable for die hard Dylan fans, and it has amazed me how it gained such good reviews, though the acting is top notch, the editing, direction and script are appalling. 

I am actually a rather big fan of Dylan’s, hopping to see a biopic of his life with different actors portraying the famous musician, this film is noting what I expected to see, and has disappointed me hugely. The best I could advise it is just to put it on as background sound as the occasional Dylan song that pops up is pleasant to listen too, but you’re better off buying a Dylan CD, I would personally recommend “The essential Bob Dylan” and not this drizzle of a film. It would not help our research, and is one of the worst films I have ever seen. Why the below picture says these actors portray Bob Dylan is beyond me, they play charcters inspired by Bob Dylan, and Richard Gere plays Billy the Kid. Its false advertising at its finest.

The Last King of Scotland

By Stuart Brown

The Last King of Scotland is a 2006 drama about Ugandan dictator Idi Amin in the 1970’s. We follow Scottish doctor Nicholas Garrigan as he travels to Uganda to help in a rural hospital, soon after finishing his degree. He soon has the opportunity to meet the newly appointed president Idi Amin, and after treating him for a sprained wrist he gets his attention by shooting a injured cow to put the creature out of its misery. Admin at first seem intimidating towards Nicholas, but after discovering he is Scottish they immediately get on very well. 

He quickly takes a job as the presidents physician, where he becomes close friends with Amin and one of his closest advisors. While Nicholas sits in ignorant bliss, happy with his position and the presidents fondness of him, it becomes clearer and clearer of the presidents erratic behaviour and his understandable fear of assassination rapidly turns into kidnappings against every and anyone who speaks against the new presidents regime.  Even when Nicholas tries to leave to country, Admin simply says “you cannot.” Twisting his words to make himself happy, Nicholas realises he’s in well over his head and Admin is hiding very dark secrets from him.

After very stupidly getting drunk and sleeping with one of Amin’s wives, she tells Nicholas to get out of the country. Though he seems to have gotten away with it, this is when the film becomes very exciting. After Nicholas returns to his home to find out his passport has been taken, he seeks help from Stone, the British Foreign Office representative, who reveals what Amin’s been doing, killing off competition, and not even covering it up. Stone tasks Nicholas with killing Amin, to earn his passage home.

Nicholas promises to abort his and kay’s (Amin’s wife)’s baby, but being made to stay at Amin’s press conference, he finds that she tried to have it done in a back alley in the nearest villiage. She was caught, killed, and had her limbs chopped off, and her arms stitched where her legs should be and vise versa. Amin claims it was to make an example of traitors. 

A hijacked aircraft is then flown into Entebbe by pro-Palestinian hijackers with hostages seeking refuge from agents of international law. Amin brings Nicholas to the scene to help them, where Nicholas’ plot revealed to poison Amin in the form of medication, and he is beaten, tortured and left to hang on hooks by his skin. A fellow doctor cleans up Nicholas, and gets in on route to the plane where the hostages are being lead to be released. He is killed by Amin’s men for saving Nicholas.

“48 hours later, Isreali forces stormed Entebbe and liberated all but one of the hostages. International public opinion turned against Amin for good. When he was finally over thrown in 1979 jubilant crowds poured onto the streets. His regime had killed over 300,00 Ugandans. Amin died in exile in Saudi Arabia on the 16^th of August 2003.”

Though the direction by Kevin McDonald is fantastic, and what also stood out was the unique sound design. Being fast paced, silent, and eerie in all the right places, this has a great, beneficial effect for the film. The other incredible aspect of the film is the acting. Forest Whitaker steals every scene he’s in. Changing emotion so quickly and unprovoked really brings home the insane mentality of Idi Amin. Though Whitaker really is the star James Mcavoy should not be forgotten, as he plays every element of his character perfectly. The Last King of Scotland (entitled because Amin famously declared himself king) is a very exciting, engaging film about jealousy, control, fear, and desperation. Very highly recommended, though I do not feel it will help in the making of our particular subject film.

Hunger

By Callum Brown

Hunger tells the true story of Bobby Sands and how he led the 1981 Irish republican prisoners Hunger strikes in order to defy Margaret Thatcher’s removal of Special Category Status. 75 inmates agreed to the strike and unlike the last hunger strike he lead, this one was to have prisoners start 2 weeks apart to make the death toll last longer. During his strike he was elected into British parliament as an Anti H-Block candidate, after his death a further 9 inmates died before the strike was called off, in the following months the British government granted all the inmates’ demands but without any formal recognition of political status. Bobby Sands died 66 days after starting the strike. The strike consisted of 5 demands. The hunger strike centred on five demands.

      1.  The right not to wear a prison uniform.

2.     The right not to do prison work.

3.     The right of free association with other prisoners, and to organise educational and recreational pursuits.

4.     The right to one visit, one letter and one parcel per week.

5.     Full restoration of remission lost through the protest.

Steve McQueen’s debut feature length film hits hard through its emotional tug and shocking honesty, as we’ve come to know from McQueen, he holds no barriers when delivering the brutal truth. Although there is barley any dialog throughout the film, it doesn’t need it, the story is told through the events that proceed. Whilst the film is admittedly slow, and it takes a good half an hour before meeting our lead character (portrayed by the ever brilliant Michael Fassbender) the time is filled with showing the disgusting conditions in which the prisoners were forced to live in, which is important as we have to learn why Sands is prepared to give his own life, and persuade others to do the same in order to get things changed. The scenes that take place and the violation of human rights are necessary to the narrative, and the film would simply not be as effective without them. The suffering endured throughout the film and the decision to do something about it is why I think it makes great research material for the film I intend to make, not to mention the fact that it is all based upon a true story. Fassbender performance is brilliant as usual, one of the only dialog scenes that takes place lasts a good 25 minutes with only one cut, showing how incredible these actors are. McQueen’s debut is a triumph and besides Tarantino’s ‘Reservoir Dogs’ the best I have seen, although I agree McQueen’s films are simply getting better every time he makes one, with this, Shame and 12 Years a slave being his only feature lengths to date he has an incredible run so far, and a portfolio any director would envy. 

Ned Kelly

By Callum brown

Ned Kelly is the true story of the Irish family living in Australia during the late 1800’s and the story of injustice done to his family, and how he took the law into his own hands, declaring war of the Victorian Police, some consider Ned Kelly to be a murderous villain whilst others believed he was a folk hero to the likes of William Wallace. This makes his complete backstory somewhat unclear, however the facts mostly display Kelly as the film represents him.

The film stars the late Heath Ledger, Orlando Bloom, Geoffrey Rush and Naomi Watts, the story shows the unlawful treatment of what was soon known as ‘The Kelly Gang’ from many previous brushes with the law, what drove Kelly into hiding was the Fitzpatrick incident. After a brawl in a pub after the officer was acting drunk and disorderly, the officer later went to apprehend Kelly, and when his mother asked for a warrant, which the officer did not have, only a telegram, which would not suffice, and after the officers many advances of Ned’s sister, the officer was asked to leave, after the officer had refused to leave the premises despite Kelly not being present Dan Kelly took the officers gun and forced him to leave, when arriving back at the station, the officer told of how Ned Kelly had shot him. This forced Kelly into hiding and after thinking the Victorian police would never believe his story, after the police arrested his mother in hoping it would force Kelly out of hiding, Kelly declared war of the Victorian police, which ended in the 4 members of The Kelly Gang donning home-made armour in order to fight off more than 100 officers as his hostages had time to flee, Ned Kelly was eventually apprehended and hanged for his crimes. The film is told from Ned Kelly’s words and perspective weather it was what really happened or not.

Weather Kelly’s side of the argument is the true one, Ned Kelly is still one of the most interesting and influential people in human history, and his fight for survival is an amazing achievement. His story is equal to that of Robin Hood except Kelly’s is true, I am surprised not to hear more on Ned Kelly, as his story is one of incredible suffering from the people who are supposed to be here to protect, I am always astonished by the amazing stories that come from the 1800’s but this is one I find truly astonishing and saddening. The fact that they made home-made armour to fight off a small army of corrupt government officials sounds like something from a modern superhero movie like Iron Man, but this man actually did it. The film is an emotional tale of a mans struggle to fight injustice, the score for the film adds another layer of depth, but what makes this piece more harrowing is the untimely death of Heath Ledger and how the internet lit alight with the score from this film, and especially Bernard Fanning’s ‘Shelter for my soul’ soon became Ledgers tribute.

The Pursuit of Happiness

By Meg Sugden

This true story follows part of Chris Gardner's life, a man who lives in America and is trying to struggle with getting a job, keeping his house and looking after his family all at the same time. We see him go through the most difficult times in his life and all this happens within about 2 years, which is an incredible ordeal to go through. It is heartbreaking to watch as we see him fail at so many hurdles before eventually picking up on everything and gaining a life for himself and son, who is only about 5 at the time.

The story begins with Chris taking his son Christopher to day care, as both him and his wife work long and tiring shifts at different times so they cannot look after him properly. At the school we get our first indication that he wants a better life as we see him arguing with a cleaner about the graffiti of which happiness is spelt incorrectly and does not contain a 'y'. This already starts to give some indication as to what he wants most in life and he is annoyed that someone could misspell something so important. We then see what he does for a living, selling bone density scanners, but this has just caused tension with his wife as he hasn't sold any in months, meaning that they do see eye to eye any more. So, because they they can't pay the rent, afford food and don't get along, things are starting to become difficult.

'It's part of my life I like to call, being stupid.'

A few days on we see him going for a job interview for an internship at a stock brokers, and as he has his scanner with him he decides to leave it with a lady singing on the street, once he's in his interview however he cuts it short as he sees the lady run away with it out the window, so takes the application form and runs after her. The next day we do see him find the lady and take back his scanner, which we find happiness in as he can then go onto selling it, but this again proves tension with his wife as he wasn't meant to come back with any scanners, instead he comes back with two. We then see the disappointment when the only thing his son receives for his birthday is a basketball, and we see the pain as they want to provide better for their son but they know they can't.

 In an attempt to best his opportunities to get the internship he finds Jay Twizzle, a stock broker who can guarantee him the job and attempts to wow him by completing a Rubix Cube, something only one man has managed to do yet, as it has only just come out. He's impressed, and gets out of the taxi that they in, without paying and Chris realises he has no money to pay for it; so makes a run for it down to the tube station, only to get the scanner stuck in the tube door and once again loosing another one. By this point he is late home to get Christopher, forcing his wife to miss her shift at work, and loose it, leaving Chris but later on manages to gain custody of his son.

The fight for survival then continues as we see him land the internship, after a rocky night being arrested for not paying for his parking tickets and despite the state he arrived in for the interview, and things start to look up, as long as they can sell the remaining scanners as he will not get paid for 6 months. Things start to look up for him as we see him coping with his job, and even managing to get the scanner back again, even though it was broken it was still a start. Until the day when he doesn't pay his council tax and they take everything that he has forcing them to live on the streets.

This leads on to us seeing him coping with looking after his 5 year old son at the same time as trying to keep everything together as they stay inside a public loo for the night. The heart wrenching scene in which we see him cry as he doesn't know what is about to happen with his life anymore becomes difficult to watch as we know that this actually happened to someone real, and actually happens to a lot of people of America on a daily basis. The anger and hurt inside of him continues as they eventually get a place in a homeless shelter, providing that they get there on time every day, but he is still trying to manage the internship at the same time so that he can get the job.

 But there is a light at the end of the tunnel.

'This little part of my life is called happiness.'

Chris manages to fix the scanner and sell it for about 200 dollars, meaning that they can stay in a hotel for the night and things start to look up even more. Especially as he gets his job. The ending of this film is beautiful and joyful and above anything else brings gladness to everyone watching as we now know that he can live the rest of his life in happiness.

'After beginning his career at Dean Witter, Chris Gardner went on to found the investment firm Gardner Rich in 1987. 

In 2007 Chris Gardner sol a minority stake in his brokerage firm in a multimillion dollar deal.'

 

 

127 Hours

By Meg Sugden

When thinking about true life stories that prove a massive hit but also tell the story in the best way possible, instantly 127 hours springs to mind as it is powerful, moving and also a little bit gruesome at the same time. This film follows Aron Ralston's (James Franco) story, a mountaineer who become trapped under a boulder in a Utah canyon, who resorts to cutting off his own arm in the effort to survive.

The film begins as we see Aron going out into the world, packing his stuff up for another adventure in the canyon's; like any normal day that he goes on and more importantly he doesn't tell anyone where he is going. Like most of his normal days he bikes to a destination and then proceeds to climb into the canyons, but this time he comes across two girls who are hiking and proceeds to show them amazing things that the canyons have to offer. After climbing, hiking and plunging into secrets pools they have to go home, but end up inviting Aron to a party there having that evening, which he agrees to.

Minutes later we see him going about his way through a narrow slip in the canyon alone, near Moab, Utah, and proceed to make his way down deeper through the thing passage, until he reaches a point where the rock have been stacked up and fallen. Thinking he can make his way over by climbing he starts to pull himself up to find a way to the top, only to pull on a loose bolder which dislodges itself from the other and they both go crashing to the floor of the narrow canyon passage. Aron's hand is wedged under the boulder against the wall. Unable to move he panics and attempts to pull his arms free, hack against the rock with his pocket knife blade and eventually give up.

This results in 127 hours of being trapped against this boulder and difficult watching from now onwards. This then becomes the rest of the film as we see him start to go crazy from no social interaction and not enough food or water. He has the basics that he needs to survive but it isn't enough to survive on until someone realises he's missing and then eventually finds him, he is too far inside the canyon to be seen and no one knew where he was going. It proves so difficult to act out the next scenes of the film as we see Aron (Franco) make films of what he's been doing during the day and we eventually see him begin to go crazy. This would have been one of the scariest things to ensure ever, being scared and all alone with no one to come and rescue you because no one knows your out there
For 5 day, 127 hours, Aron stayed under that boulder. He knew something had to be done as the arm was becoming dead and had already started to decompose and gas releasing as he poked him knife into his thumb on the trapped arm. He knew that he had to free himself or he was going to die as the decaying gas spread to the rest of his body. Using only a pocket knife, and the smaller blade on it, as the larger one was blunt from stabbing at the rock day earlier, he began to hack away at his arm. This is certainly one of the most gruesome scenes in a film as we see the desperation and fighting to get free; to survive. He ties a pipe, fashioned from the inner linings of his water bottle, around the top of his arm to stem the blood flow as he cuts through layers of skin, artery, muscle and tendon. Until he hits the nerve going through his arm and so begins the most painful part. We feel every pain he does as merely touching it sends bolts up with arms and shock waves through his entire body. You can only image what the pain must have felt as he slammed his knife through it, severing the link between his arm and the rest of his body.

 Within an hour of cutting and mashing up what was left of his arm, he fell backwards and was free. It must have been a moment of pure joy and freedom, but at the same time he knew that he had to get out of there and get his arm seen to. The film altogether is stunning and so well told. Its accurate to how it really happened and true to the real Aron Ralston's trauma that he had to go through and what he had to ensure; and thinking that this is a true story makes it so unbelievable that he actually managed to walk out of it, and make it back to town alive.

Testing: Teleporting

Loki teleports where initially my favorite type of teleport to use, as it would relate closer the the film. As there was no tutorials of how to do this strange, bended light effect and I had after research into how to do it resulted unsuccessfully, I looked at other options. 

 Nightcrawlers teleports in X-Men 2 were one of my personal favorite type of teleports, so I looked into how to produce these. As nightcrawler teleports in a smoky fashion the teleports I thought would be difficult, but I found useful tutorials, such as this one by 'MHLstudio' http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TE-ocggI4OE, and I looked at a few others. Somehow, my teleports (which I was initially proud of) after reflection I found myself somewhat disappointed in how 2D mine looked.
So I decided finally to either develop my skill in this teleport, or as this is time consuming if I did run out of time I could revert to Looper style teleports, (that just appear) which are extremly easy to replicate and I still think are effective.

My teleport test can be viewed at this link:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MF0IUpTym1U

United 93

by Meg Sugden

United 93 is a film that was brought out after the events of 9/11. It is a true story based off the events that took place primarily on board of flight 93, the plane which was destined to go into the White House as part of a terrorist act. It is a story of both the courage and bravery of all those on board and a replication of how they tried to overthrow the terrorists in one final act of desperation.


The film begins from the terrorists point of view as they pray to God and prepare for one last journey in their lives in what they think with please him and grant them freedom. We see the effort that went behind everything that they went through to ensure every place got a plane crashed through it, and see the effort they go through to satisfy there beliefs. When arriving at the airport we see them walk through a normal busy environment, people queuing to get onto planes, talking on phones and generally being normal and happy, even through they have no idea what is about to happen. The pilot and co-pilot are then introduced. This is the worst part, having to get to know them as characters and knowing there back stories as we become more attached to them and gain this early on.We learn about the air hostesses as well and see them talking about going home to loved ones after the flight is over; making what they are about to do even more realistic. Throughout the film there are a lot of cut backs to different traffic control centers to show what they had to go through as well during the events. Its a stressful enough job already without having to mix terrorists into the pot.

'It's a beautiful day for flying.'

As the events of the day unfold we start to get an idea about what is going on in the sky from the perspective of the officers on the ground and how they are not getting a response from flight America 11. But worry doesn't stay around too long, especially on United 93 where no one seems to be paying attention to the safety instructions, and as the plane is delayed nearly half an hour the terrorists become more frantic and on edge. We start to get a little more insight into the events as random bits of transitions start to come through from America 11 and we begin to learn of the hijack situation; terror begins to cross everyone's minds as we learn that two people where stabbed and there is there is more planes involved. But at this point no flights where cancelled, they were still allowed to take off even though there was this threat of more planes being involved.

During the take off of United 93, everything goes smoothly and we get a glimpse out of the aircraft windows at the Two Towers still standing. Minutes later and the North Tower gets hit, smoke billows out of the trade center and panic begins to flow around Air Traffic Control as they are loosing the planes on their radar. The South Tower is hit, and another plane disappears off the radar, as realisation is gained from the people on the ground, but how many other planes are out there? At this point Air Traffic Control has 4200 planes in the air over the eastern side of America making it impossible to pin-point which plane was going to be taken next. This only adds to shear trauma that occurs and has been since the first tower was hit. But news is spreading quickly as we see the terrorists act upon United 93.

Probably one of the most incredible films based on an aircraft as at this point there is so much panic that you feel your heart racing for the people on board. You feel the terror that they felt and the fear that was going through all of them as one of the terrorists stands at the front with a bomb attached to him. The chaos that rumbles through the plane is unreal and very soon the terrorists have control and the passengers are sent to the back of the plane, where we find out there true motive as one, now the pilot, attaches a picture of the white house onto the planes steering panel.

'Both brothers have hit their targets.'
'We are in control, thanks be to God.'

There is so much fear and horror running through the passengers as they begin to use the on board phones as a means of first finding out what is happening and also contacting loved ones. This scene not only makes you feel heartbroken and sad but also miss your own family. You couldn't imagine how they must be feeling in this situation as it is so unbelievable that you couldn't thinking of it actually happening. They find that planes have hit the World Trade Center and even more recently just hit the edge of the pentagon. They realise something must be done.

'This is a suicide mission, we need to do something.'

Once they realise they have a pilot on board, they know they have to try and get into the cockpit to take back the plane, and everyone is up to helping. The unity that is on board in this scene is heartbreaking as they accept there fate of dying but do not want to go down without a fight. So, with bravery and courage in their hearts they keep fighting, and against all the odds, as they reach the front of the plane, taking down two terrorists along the way, they barge down the cockpit door... but it was too late and the plane hit the floor beneath them.

'Of the four aircraft hijacked that day, United 93 was the only one that did not reach its target. It crashed near Shankville, Pennsylvania at 10:03am.
No one survived.'

 

 

Trainspotting

By Stuart Brown

Trainspotting is a 1996 film directed by Danny Boyle based on the book by Irvine Welsh. It focus’ on Mark Renton, with no goals and bored in life, but just lives for the next hit of heroin he can get his hands on, and getting the money to get the drug gives a rush superior than anything else his life has to offer. He sees the average person’s life as hollow, mind numbingly boring and a simple waste. Heroin needs no reasons to be used, a quick slip into a undisturbed peace that makes him feel nothing and yet more alive than reality ever could. But throughout the film we see Renton’s life spiral downward, the passing of a friends baby, dead in the crib  due to lack of care by junkie parents is arguably the worst moment, when it becomes clear how much heroin takes a hold of the characters lives, and their immediate response is to do it all over again. Rob people, steal, and yet no matter how many times they do it it’s never enough and have to go and do it all over again, just for a next hit. Renton is fully aware of where his life is leading him, and each time he does it he’s edging closer but he just can’t help himself.

Even when his friend, the only one who seems clean, normal and healthy plunges into the use of heroin after his girlfriend leaves him (for something that was Rentons fault) ends up dead. This shows how it really can effect anyone who has it in their lives, and I think on some level his friends know it’s their fault. It takes Renton’s own near death experience due to an over dose, and after a few brush in with the law Renton to sort his life out. Getting clean, moving away from Edinburgh and his influential friends, and getting a job to get his life on track. Only for his friends to turn up on his doorstep to lure him back into the world of drugs and crime.

Trainspotting is a very realistic, unpredictable, hard hitting and sometimes surprisingly humorous film that nails the lives of heroin addicts, and how hard it can be to be rid of the drug. The film’s final moments show how Rentons views have changed, he has a new lust for life and is excited just to be the average person. It gives you an appreciation for all you take for granted and how you are really lucky to own even the simplest of possessions. Although the acting is brilliant, and it is thanks to Danny Boyle who has created a master piece of film that will remain iconic for years to come. I believe it’s John Hodge’s adapted screenplay from Irvine Welsh's book that has the most powerful impact. The writing is utterly fantastic, each character is individual and all know their fate. They know it’s wrong, they know they’re bad people, the characters are not admirable, they are believable and feel real due to the realism in the dialogue and the touching monologues that makes you sympathise with them rather than have a disliking to them for the choices they’ve made.