The Derivative Pastiche of La La Land

It will come as no surprise to many that there is a formula to winning the coveted prizes of the Academy Awards. Powered simultaneously by nostalgia and a desire to escape these troubling, unsettled times, the Oscars have long been known to honour most the films which flatter and promote the carefully curated history of Hollywood's Golden Age. This year, it is the turn of La La Land, Damien Chazelle's musical romantic drama, to garner a considerable 14 nominations for its colourful dance numbers telling the story of two plucky, aspiring stars.

With more than just echoes of classics from An American in Paris to Singin' In the Rain, there is hardly anything original about La La Land. Like fellow best picture nominee (and winner) The Artist, La La Land borrows its best scenes and ideas from earlier films. The tale it spins is predictable and comforting, coasting on the easy chemistry of leads Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone. Their reality show-quality singing and dancing is an unintentionally depressing reminder of just how far stardom can get someone with mediocre talent.

The racial politics of the film are also hard to ignore. Here we see a white man claiming, several times, that he will save jazz music, even as the African American musicians play the music they invented behind him, out of focus and ignored. In a film which is so much about jazz music, it is hard to watch so many white characters claim it as their own. Even John Legend's shoehorned cameo as Gosling's only black friend stinks of the 'Oscars so white' controversy of last year, in which an all-white roster of acting nominees was clumsily offset by a host of diverse last-minute presenters.

In a year which has seen so many celebrities make pointed political statements at the awards podium, the draw of the simplicity and escapism provided by La La Land may be stronger than the challenge presented by films such as Moonlight, which tells the story of a black gay man as he grows from an abusive childhood to a drug dealing adulthood. Once again, Hollywood is rewarding a film about itself - specifically, the white, wealthy, creative, joyous version it has created for the world to see.

My Ten Favourite Films of 2016

1. Arrival

Over time I have discovered that Hollywood releases one great science-fiction film every year. Last year, it was Arrival, Dennis Villenueve's moving and contemplative meditation on the nature of time and love, framed by an alien "invasion" that turns out to be much more than it seems.

2. The VVitch

There is no film quite like The VVitch. A menacing, feminist parable, this self described "New England folktale" uses historically accurate costuming and speech to portray the challenges of faith and patriarchy experienced by a banished colonial family. Look out for the devil; he was there all along.

3. The Wave

As the first blockbuster-style disaster film to come out of Scandinavia, this Norwegian epic is as crowd-pleasing as any Roland Emmerich film, and will hopefully lead to increased funding and international recognition for Scandinavian films and filmmakers. See my August review for more.

4. Room

Abduction, isolation and childhood collide in Lenny Abrahamson's powerful drama. Room's modest success at last year's Oscars doesn't quite do justice to the film's wonderful performances and deep emotional core.

5. High-Rise

While Tom Hiddleston's role in The Night Manager has been deemed his most successful of the past year, it is High-Rise which stands as one the most inventive and unusual films of the year. Portraying the strange breakdown of order in a London apartment building, this allegorical vision has a host of famous faces, but will leave you wondering more about yourself.

6. The Lobster

A Divergent-style dystopian romance for adults, Greek director Yorgos Lanthimos's English-language debut sees a host of nameless characters navigate a blackly-comic landscape in which it is illegal to be single, saying volumes about our real world, in which sometimes being single seems just that.

7. Moonlight

Golden Globe winner and Oscar favourite Moonlight is a searing exploration of identity, family and masculinity among African-Americans. It's a deeply-felt story, and one which will likely come to have increasing importance with the beginning of the Trump presidency.

8. Train to Busan

Korean cinema is becoming more and more popular with western audiences, and deservedly so. Yeong Sang-ho's film draws inspiration from modern zombie classics, but manages to deliver something new and profound - a philosophy that, rather than fear our fellow man, we should look to each other for help and support.

9. The Birth of a Nation

This historical drama has arrived at a crucial juncture in American history, in which the racist narratives of pre-civil war USA are rearing their ugly heads once again. Nate Parker's much-hyped biopic of Nat Turner and the slave rebellion he led was considered too simplistic by some, but remains an essential film for this era.

10. The Neon Demon

A psychedelic fantasy parable about the perils and rewards of a cutthroat fashion industry, The Neon Demon is full of beauty, though sometimes gets too bogged down in its own philosophising. It is nonetheless a powerful work from Nicholas Winding Refn.

Will Hacksaw Ridge be Enough to Redeem Mel Gibson?

A complete list of the offensive and controversial remarks made by actor and director Mel Gibson would undoubtedly take up several posts, not to mention containing more censor stars than the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Racist, anti-Semitic and downright nasty comments have been captured on film and tape, creating an inescapable offensive against any apologies or reconciliations the star may try to make.

From a stable family life and successful career which included the Mad Max trilogy and Oscar-winning Braveheart, Gibson's downfall took several years of substance abuse and religious tirades to deteriorate both his personal life and film career. Disgraced, and with the abuse of his partner caught on tape, not even the success of The Passion of the Christ could redeem him. A four-year break and the lacklustre reception of thriller Edge of Darkness did little to raise his stature, despite journalist Alison Weiner calling for the end of his "blacklisting" by Hollywood execs.

However, a new film, directed by Gibson, has been quietly gaining strong reviews and plenty of interest, raising the question of whether Gibson can finally be redeemed. Hollywood second chances have been popular in the last few years, with the flagging reputations of Robert Downey Jr. and Ben Affleck both enjoying astronomical comebacks with the help of rehabilitation and superhero blockbusters. Hacksaw Ridge, as well as being tipped for an excellent awards season, is also predicted to do the same for its director. Grisly and harrowing, it tells the story of a World War II Pacifist who attempts to navigate the conflict without harming anyone. While perhaps not suggesting that Gibson is a reformed man apologetic for his past actions, it certainly proves that he is still a striking director or performance, capable of that difficult feat of making films which will please both audiences, critics and Hollywood bosses alike. That will certainly be enough for the money-driven, business minds of the film industry. But will it enough for disillusioned fans and cynical critics? Only time will tell.

The Origins of Conflict in Game of Thrones

For those who are familiar with Game of Thrones or its book series, it would appear that war, strife and conflict is the default setting for those unfortunate enough to live in Westeros. In fact, if you said it was part of their DNA, you might not be far off.

The past, and specifically one's personal and family history, is a constant preoccupation for the characters of Game of Thrones. Every person of note is preceded by their father's or grandfather's name and reputation, and immediately judged upon it. A single act earns a nickname or curse which remains for the individual's whole life, regardless of what happens for the rest of it. The people of Westeros have long memories. This creates a suffocating bubble of retrospective guilt, inescapable prejudice and mistakes handed down through the generations. This is exacerbated in the series by the lack of flashbacks - everyone is obsessed with the past, but we may never experience it in the present, so never achieve closure or a sense of what really happened. Subsequently, the many traumatic and hideous actions experienced by the characters constantly remain to haunt them, creating tensions and fear in the present.

These feelings of difference and alienation also stem from a far more ancient source; the evolutionary ancestors of the families. Though only mentioned occasionally within the series, there are distinct ancestral peoples from which the current inhabitants of Westeros are descended.

Families from the North of Westeros, such as the Starks, as well as wildlings, speak of themselves as having the blood of the First Men - the original human inhabitants of Westeros. Many Northerners and wildlings still retain the ancient traditions and religions of these people, and pride themselves thus on having a stronger connection to their roots and past. The Lannisters are known as descendants of the Andals, a race more advanced and Aryan-looking than the First Men, who they largely defeated. The Andals are credited with bringing medieval chivalry, iron tools and the present language to Westeros, and remain the dominant racial type on the continent. The third and final root civilisation are the Rhoynar, a small group of people from the south of Westeros, who give the Martells of Dorne their unique culture and typically more Mediterranean appearance. Finally the Targaryens, descended from the magical Valyrian people and the survivors of the mysterious Doom of Valyria. It is this ancestry which gives the Targaryens their unique appearance and ability to control magic and dragons.

It is in this way that, despite years of interbreeding, the people of Westeros still feel clear, deep boundaries between each other. Their ancestries, both familial and genetic, though hardly relevant, create inescapable cultural and religious differences which stand at the root of many of the conflicts within the story. Thus it would seem that rivalry and war is inevitable in Westeros, as long as the characters continue to live in the past and hold onto old grudges.

Film Review: Things to Come

From The Upcoming: http://www.theupcoming.co.uk/2016/09/01/things-to-come-movie-review/

In Mia Hansen-Løve’s thoughtful, detailed drama, Isabelle Huppert plays Nathalie, a philosophy professor whose comfortable home life is turned upside-down over the course of a summer, causing her to rethink both her own life and her longstanding philosophical convictions.

One day, Nathalie battles her way to her teaching post through a mob of angry students. The next, her pipe-smoking husband leaves her; the breakup scene is brief but realistic, made all the more powerful by Huppert’s performance. Nathalie admits she was prepared and does not seem upset, only tearing up when realising how much she will miss the family holiday home in Brittany. More tears are shed, however, as, one by one, things start to go wrong in her serene life.

Hansen-Løve perfectly captures Nathalie’s confusion as she drifts through a world in which everyone is younger, more adventurous and less cynical than she. Marketers want to give her classic textbook a trashy modern makeover; her students strike, riot and protest for a cause she cannot remember; her children begin having their own children. We only glimpse her husband’s new lover, but it goes unsaid that she is younger. Nathalie’s ageing mother exists as if to warn her daughter of what she may be in danger of becoming: a presumably unsuccessful actress suffering from frequent depressive episodes, she lives in the past and stays sequestered in her house in a state of faded glamour, like Edie Beale of Grey Gardens.

The film’s only misstep is involving the constant presence of a black cat, adopted by Nathalie from her mother. The subplot leads nowhere, and the clumsy symbolism belongs to a less-accomplished work. Nevertheless, Things to Come resonates with its simplicity and honesty, and Huppert creates a memorable character. Her sweeping remark, “after 40, women are fit for the trash,” is a bleak, cynical statement at odds with a practical and positive movie.

Film Review: The Wave

The majesty of Norway's unique fjords are a sight marvelled at by locals and travellers alike. However, these beautiful geographic formations hide a deadly secret: many are ticking time bombs. In 1934, a rockslide deposited almost two million cubic metres of rock into the Tafjorden, creating a local tsunami which, funnelled by the fjord's narrow cliffs, reached a height of 62 metres. The village of Tafjord was obliterated by the wave, killing 40 people in one of Norway's worst recent natural disasters. Last year, director Roar Uthaug imagined the event on a grander scale in the present day, creating The Wave, a blockbuster said to be "Scandinavia's first disaster movie."

With echoes of past great, if unsubtle disaster movies such as The Day After Tomorrow and 2012, Uthaug appears to be paving the way to becoming Norway's answer to Roland Emmerich, and has already signed his first Hollywood film deal. The film boasts a budget a fraction of its American counterparts, yet with special effects, performances and thrills to equal that of any veteran disaster director.

He nails the formula in the film's brisk 105-minute runtime: the slow buildup of tension, as the only man aware of the impending disaster is ignored, the event, a seat-rattling explosion of CGI water, and the climax, an intense slow-burn in which the scattered family must its way back together. Genre cliches, such as the child in peril and the last minutes dash before the disaster, are used cleverly so as to still seem original. A few subtle moments of wry self-awareness prevent the film from becoming too portentous. A clever pre-event scene involves an early-warning analyst watching a horror movie on his laptop. As the victim is unaware of the killer behind her, so too is he oblivious of the warning lights illuminating around him. The film's modest international success so far is a hopeful sign of an increasing interest in foreign, independent films by mainstream audiences. May it continue.

The Evolution of Tarzan's Female Gaze

1918: The first Tarzan of the Apes

The first and most faithful Tarzan adaptation, this silent film introduced cinema audiences to the vine-swinging hero, but was subject to the rigorous censorship of the era. Cut scenes included "woman standing over kettle showing breasts" and "first two scenes of maid on man's lap in closet." Little room for anything too risqué then, and out-of-shape Tarzan actor Elmo Lincoln was unlikely to inspire many erotic fantasies.

1932: Tarzan, the Ape Man

The most enduring and archetypal Tarzan incarnation came in 1932 with five-time Olympic medallist Johnny Weissmuller. The buff swimmer was extremely popular among female audiences, and paired with Maureen O'Sullivan for six films during the 30s and 40s, with the most memorable being the pre-code Tarzan and His Mate, which features a nude underwater dance. This controversial film marked the last Tarzan film aimed at an adult audience.

1938: Tarzan's Revenge

Two more Olympic athletes led the cast of the low-budget standalone Tarzan's Revenge, decathlete Glenn Morris and backstroker/party girl Eleanor Holm. While both were slammed for their lack of acting talent, they were praised for looking fabulous in their loincloths. Apparently with little respect for women, Morris fell in love with Leni Riefenstahl, Hitler's famous propaganda film-maker, at the Berlin Olympics. After he was awarded his medal in the stadium he apparently grabbed her, tore open her blouse and kissed her breasts in front of the stadium spectators.

1984: Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes

A more inspired film than its predecessors, this clumsily titled reboot features over five minutes of full-frontal male nudity, but is largely aimed at the male action movie market. Nevertheless, the second half of the film, which tracks Tarzan as he attempts to adjust to his new civilised life, has little in the way of action, and its emotional core may appeal to women more than men.

1999: Walt Disney's Tarzan

This beloved animated film takes Tarzan's origin story and simplifies it to an uplifting tale about wilderness adventures and what it means to be different. However, beneath the Disney innocence some have recognised a lustful undercurrent that has caused the film to be labelled by Buzzfeed as the thirstiest Disney movie ever. It is true that the repressed Victorian Jane all but drools over the untamed Tarzan in several scenes. However, the film's U rating prevents anything too suggestive, and it is romance, rather than sex, that is the focus here.

2016: The Legend of Tarzan

The marketing campaign for the ape-man's latest screen outing has been dominated largely by high-res stills of star Alexander Skarsgård posing shirtless in the jungle, all the better to show off his chiselled abs. In a cinematic world in which exposure of women's bodies has become the norm, director David Yates has cleverly tapped into the movie industry's dearth of male nudity to the delight of many female cinema-goers. We as an audience join Margot Robbie's Jane in lusting after her husband, with Tarzan as the object of desire. Despite this obvious reversal of roles, however, their relationship is an equal one, with respect and power equal on both sides. Here, as it should be, female sexuality is celebrated, not condemned.

The Birth of a Nation - 1915 vs 2016

It's been the pride and shame of the film industry for over a hundred years - D. W. Griffith's epic, 3-hour long blockbuster detailing the end of the American Civil War, the death of Abraham Lincoln and the rise of the Ku Klux Klan. It became legendary, not as a good film, but as a great film that was on the side of evil. Griffith's pioneering film techniques set the standard for every film since and created a powerful argument, unfortunately one that advocated white supremacy and presented African Americans, portrayed in blackface, as unclean, unintelligent and sexually aggressive. It is offered to film students as a challenge to separate style over content, and arguments remain to this day as to whether its filmic and technical importance should overshadow its racism.

This year, however, among the recurrence of whitewashed Hollywood blockbusters, most notably Alex Proyas's Gods of Egypt, has seen the emergence of a film which directly counters Griffith's unwatchably racist portrayal of freed slaves. Nate Parker helms and stars in the film of the same name which portrays the birth of a very different nation, in which a young slave preacher is taken on an inter-county preaching tour and, bearing witness to the full horror of slavery, is compelled to lead in a different way. The film is both spiritual and intellectual in its portrayal of the protagonist and his intense theological convictions.

While Griffith's film existed to inflame racial hatred and paint a comforting portrait of history for white people, Parker's answer exists to challenge our view of the past and debate the morality of violence and the ongoing struggle for justice and equality for black people in America. It has both historical and contemporary resonance, and, along with Steve McQueen's acclaimed 12 Years a Slave, signifies the continuation of an era in which we beginning to see, at last, truer representations of American slavery in all their horror.

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies Preview Screening

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies offers exactly what the title promises, but little more. It is the familiar Regency England of Jane Austen’s world: balls, etiquette, chivalry, but with the added issue of rotting corpses which stalk the countryside. Seth Grahame-Smith’s novel of the same name takes the famous romance of feisty Elizabeth Bennet and moody Mr Darcy and places it in a world at the mercy of an insidious zombie outbreak. Life goes on for the aristocracy with romance, marriage and gossip, but young ladies are taught to hide knives in their corsets and stockings, while gentlemen must keep a musket on hand at all times.

This admittedly bizarre concept has given rise to a similarly ridiculous film, but one which at least harbours no illusions about being a serious literary adaptation. The scenes which use the differences between the original Pride and Prejudice and the horror reimagining subtly make up the most effective, amusing parts of the film. For example, an early sequence in which the Bennet sisters chatter excitedly about an upcoming ball while polishing their weapons at the same time is subversive and slick. Another interesting aspect of the social differences of the era is also created. Those who can afford it receive zombie combat training in Japan, while those who cannot settle for lessons in China. The charming young cast includes Lily James, Bella Heathcote and Jack Huston, who elevate the production with likeable performances. The stand out role, however, goes to Matt Smith, whose bumbling and awkward Mr Collins steals every scene he is in with hilarious physical comedy and improvised one-liners which brought the house down several times.

Despite these commendable aspects, however, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies is never sure what mood to create, and tonal missteps in both romantic and action scenes lose their effectiveness accordingly. The bloody fight scenes are not translated well to a period setting, and appear muddled and over the top. Fans of Grahame-Smith’s novel will be satisfied, but Austen herself will be turning in her grave - which would ironically make her a zombie.

My Ten Favourite Films of 2015

1. Ex Machina

One of only a few true science-fiction films released this year, Alex Garland's directorial debut is quiet, contemplative and chilling. Seamless special effects combine with unforgettable performances to make us question our very existence, as good sci-fi should.

2. The Look of Silence

Though perhaps less enjoyable than some of the films on this list, Joshua Oppenheimer's follow up to last year's searing The Act of Killing is no less devastating. Watching mass murderers re-enact their killings through the eyes of one victim's family was one of the hardest and most important experiences for audiences this year.

3. Mad Max: Fury Road

Everyone has raved about this film, and George Miller indeed proves that age does not necessarily prevent one from delivering a masterpiece of hand-crafted mayhem and destruction to the mainstream screen, making all other summer blockbusters look MEDIOCRE in comparison.

4. Crimson Peak

So many unforgettable images make up Guillermo Del Toro's latest film, from the young girl creeping through a corridor in her nightdress, to a great haunted mansion sinking into blood red mud. An unusual yet instantly classic gothic horror.

5. The Gift

Marking Joel Edgerton as a promising writer-director as well as an accomplished actor, The Gift is a slow burn of psychological menace and threat, with an eventual climax more horrific than you could ever have imagined.

6. It Follows

Despite an unpromising trailer, this indie horror is a chilling allegory for sex, love and death. One of the most terrifying concepts in years combines with excellent cinematography and well-timed scares to create a film far above the calibre of mainstream horror.

7. Embrace of the Serpent

Shot in lush black and white widescreen, El abrazo de la serpiente received many excellent festival reviews and delivers wisdom, elegance and gravitas in its two-hour runtime. See my full review here.

8. The Diary of a Teenage Girl

A sensitive, realistic and entertaining portrayal of young female sexuality is a rare find, so watch Marielle Heller's passion project for a frank and beautiful coming-of-age tale.

9. The Martian

Though with considerably less peril than the average space-disaster film, seasoned sci-fi great Ridley Scott delivers a well paced adventure with incredible special effects, that hopefully will not discourage future astronauts from venturing to Mars.

10. Jupiter Ascending

Panned by most critics, the latest epic from the Wachowski siblings is nonetheless what the film industry greatly needs: an original, inventive blockbuster with a female lead.

Film Review: Doctor Zhivago + BFI Love

'Turbulent were the times and fiery was the love story of Zhivago, his wife, and the passionate, tender Lara.' Thus gushes the original tagline of Doctor Zhivago, David Lean's rambling 1965 epic, which follows the difficult life of poet and physician Yuri Zhivago. Entering and exiting the story at various intervals are his long-suffering wife Tonya and his mistress Lara, who struggles under the desires of Victor Komarovsky, a rich businessman with dubious motives.

Despite a lengthy runtime of 200 minutes, this is but a fraction of the extensive narrative first published in 1957 by Russian novelist Boris Pasternak. The film misses many crucial details of the original novel, bookended by a cliché Hollywood framing device which provides the rather bleak tale with some sense of satisfying closure. Such trims cause the motivations of many of the characters to be difficult to understand. Zhivago's forgiving nature and romantic soul seem constantly at odds with the cold cynical world around him, and his wife seems impossibly accepting that he should suddenly leave her for another woman. Lara's desire for the corpulent Komarovsky is played too safe to be believable. Lean's attention to detail, however, is meticulous, and still stands up after fifty years despite the picture-postcard portrayal of a bloody revolution. Maurice Jarre's 'Lara's Theme' is iconic, if repetitive.

In the end, strangled by Production Code censorship, Lean's film rings emotionally cold compared with the charged remake from 2002. But it is nonetheless a classic, a triumph of colossal set design, daring vision and the clout of the studio budget. Its melancholy comes from the memory of the recently late Omar Sharif, his death echoing the film itself which heralded the end of the age of sweeping epics made to be seen on the big screen. I am glad I got to see it up there when I did, thanks to the BFI's Love season here.

Steve Jobs - The New Citizen Kane?

"Can a great man... be a good man?" Thus poses a tagline for Steve Jobs, the new biopic drama on the life and times of Apple founder and billionaire Steve Jobs, written and directed by the powerhouse couple Aaron Sorkin and Danny Boyle. Despite only being days old on the US cinema circuit and not reaching UK shores until 13th November, the film is already drawing a significant amount of attention for its similarities to another film about the life of a troubled rich man attempting to find meaning in the world. Orson Welles's 1941 masterpiece Citizen Kane follows a similar trajectory of a toweringly successful individual who struggles with stunted emotion and the emptiness which comes with extreme wealth. With an excellent pedigree behind the camera and a powerful leading man in Michael Fassbender, could this new film come close to Welles's multifaceted genius creation?

It is true that both films discard regular narrative structures in favour of telling their stories in more unconventional ways. Kane is structured into different recollections from those closest to the recently deceased magnate, including his second wife, his butler, and a rare friend. Sorkin structures Steve Jobs in a similar way, centering the scenes around three pivotal Apple product launches throughout the 80s and 90s. With both directors, however, it is what happens behind the scenes of the lives of these great men that interests them. What lies at the heart of Kane and Jobs as characters is a sense of abandonment carried through from childhood. Both are insecure and crave love, but insist upon attaining it on their own terms, subsequently estranging their friends and loved ones.

Despite so many shared qualities, sadly, if we compare just based on the quality of the films, it is looking highly unlikely that Jobs could come close to matching the hypnotic deep focus and fascinating sound techniques which have had Kane ranked as the greatest film ever made for over fifty years. However, it is interesting to see that the issues Kane engages with are still relevant to people and films today. With the world, companies, and personal wealth only getting bigger for each new global success, it seems that we still have much to learn. The moral of both films is clear, however: if we do not, we will die alone, a bleak forecast which no amount of money can prevent.

Whitewashing in Pan

The lack of diversity of characters and opportunities for actors of colour is a problem Hollywood has been struggling with, or at least appearing to, for decades. Despite recent advances white, and predominately male actors still dominate in the world's biggest films, with interesting and important roles for those who do not fit into this category are few and far between. Beginning the pre-Oscars run of cinema releases, Walt Disney's beloved, if retrospectively worrying, adventure Peter Pan has become the latest literary classic to receive an overblown CGI makeover, this time at the hands of Anna Karenina director Joe Wright. The casting of Rooney Mara as Tiger Lily is the most troubling recent example of Hollywood's whitewashing. Mara is an extremely talented actress in her own right, but as a white 30-year-old woman, bears little resemblance to J. M. Barrie's pre-adolescent Native American princess. Many have already criticised the choice, the unashamed denial of a high-profile role to an actual Native American actress causing anger among audiences and critics alike. It has recently come to light that Native American actress Kawennáhere Devery Jacobs reportedly auditioned for the role, but was turned down as producers were specifically seeking a Caucasian actress.

The original Disney animation is riddled with Native American stereotypes, and is difficult to rewatch as an adult. However, Pan's director Joe Wright has attempted to placate critics by saying that his film is “very international and multi-racial, effectively challenging audiences’ preconceived notions of Neverland and reimagining the environment.” It is disappointing to see such a glaring missed opportunity for a respectful representation of Native Americans in the middle of a film which claims to be 'international.' Even Mara's make up and dress are overly colourful and exotic, reeking of far too many quasi-'Indian' costumes. The far-reaching consequences of this include young Native American girls effectively being told that, in order to be represented on the big screen, they must be tall, thin, and white. This also sets a standard in the industry for the continued whitewashing of characters of colour, and a continued reluctance to balance the enormous budgets of current blockbusters on the shoulders of less-known actors who may not guarantee a return.

Little can be done for Pan now, and this vicious cycle will continue unless the problem is fully addressed by studios and audiences alike. The growing demand for diversity on screen cannot be ignored, and Hollywood revenue may suffer if it does not reciprocate. Mara is a favourite to earn an Oscar nomination for her role in Carol. Since her breakthrough role in David Fincher's The Social Network, she has demonstrated a clear ability of making better choices, and will hopefully grow out of this episode, even if Peter Pan does not.

The Hidden Mexico of Cartel Land

You'd be forgiven for not knowing about the murder of a dozen lime pickers in Mexico's southern Michoacán state two years ago. But for those who fight against the drug cartels which terrorise hundreds of Mexican towns, it is just one of the many reasons why they initiate vigilante justice against gangs. The situation is on the rise in Mexico and America. Read my full review here, written for and published on entertainment website The Upcoming.

Nolan, Spielberg, and the Battle for Ready Player One

It is an adage for the modern age: nobody likes watching someone else play video games. And yet, for most of the duration of Ernest Cline's geektastic cult novel, Ready Player One, we do just that. It is a sign of our modern times powered by simulation and the internet that the book spent much of its early life as a New York Times best seller. The story is exciting, complex, and rich in detail as we follow the story of Wade Watts, a lonely teenager in the near future who lives most of his life inside the OASIS, a vast virtual-reality network into which most of the world is logged in. Wade, under the screen name 'Parzival', is just one of the millions of people across the world engaged in a quest to gain control of the OASIS and its infinite expanse and power, a quest left by the network's late creator James Halliday, a reclusive Steve Jobs/Howard Hughes billionaire who has woven a series of 'Easter eggs' into the OASIS for players to find. What ensues is a fantastic adventure-quest for the arcade and iPad generations, but only for them, as gaming makes up such an integral part of the novel that it would be difficult to understand without some knowledge of recent gaming and technological history.

The film rights for Ready Player One were obtained by Warner Bros. a year before the novel's publication. Having first read it when it was rumoured that Interstellar's Christopher Nolan would be directing the adaptation, it was easy for me to see how the director would simultaneously handle the vast scale of both the novel's real world and it's virtual one, while at the same time incorporating the great detail which makes up every scene. The director has never had any trouble mixing the epic and the intimate, and so could have easily handled such an expansive work. Having helmed the most recent trilogy of Batman films, Nolan also has at least some experience of appeasing nerdy fans, who will no doubt scan every shot of the film for misrepresentations of their favourite movies or games.

However, despite his more than adequate credentials, it is not to be, as it was recently announced that Steven Spielberg had signed on to direct. Following completion of The BFG, Spielberg will be returning to Warner Bros. for the first time since A.I.: Artificial Intelligence. As a filmmaker whose scale of production arguably exceeds Nolan's, it will be interesting to see how the director will interpret the novel, and the project may be a historical first as Spielberg prepares to adapt for the screen a book which mentions him by name, as one of OASIS creator Halliday's favourite filmmakers. While I was disappointed at the departure of Nolan, it is clear that the novel lends itself almost entirely to Spielberg, from his creative signatures to his intrinsic place in popular culture. The clues to the egg's location are based on Halliday's obsession with the eighties of his childhood, from Dungeons & Dragons to the Commodore 64 and John Hughes. Spielberg will essentially be making a film which worships his heyday of some of cinema's biggest home runs and the tastes which inspired them. Look out for the film's new title: Steven Spielberg was Amazing in the Eighties, by Steven Spielberg.

Mad Max: Feminist Road

"It looked like a straight-up guy flick" whines one misogynist website. "This is the vehicle by which they are guaranteed to force a lecture on feminism down your throat." Thus complain the detractors of Mad Max: Fury Road, George Miller's brilliant new post-apocalyptic action revival, which has drawn criticism from anti-feminists for, quite literally, setting the patriarchy on fire. In a world decimated by nuclear war, the collapsed remnants of civilisation are plagued by warlords who seek to control the few resources left (primarily water and women). The stark, howling desert has bred a disease of violent hyper-masculinity, the sort of fevered dream the above reviewers might fantasise about. The greatest wish of the crazed 'war boys' is to die in battle, the only purpose for women is as breeding stock.

The fact that the film itself is so enjoyable and fun, with excellent performances, special effects and writing, goes a long way to stoke the anger of those calling for its boycott; they are afraid the explosions and cars will brainwash the unwitting common man into swallowing the film's feminist message. Playwright and author of 'The Vagina Monologues' Eve Ensler was drafted in to consult on the film, and what results is a story where female characters are not defined by their relationship to the hero, where the young and vulnerable fight with equal strength alongside the elderly. It is egalitarian in every sense, and the male characters who accept this succeed, while the bloodthirsty patriarchs who refuse to accept it meet their inevitable end in flames.

The tensions of Mad Max lie not in whether humanity will survive the apocalyptic catastrophe, but whether we will survive each other. The themes of ownership of women's bodies, of society descending into chaos and environmental collapse are sadly those which extend out of fictional worlds into our own, making the film, and its promotion of equality, all the more important today. As I went to close my browser window, a pitiful pop up ad from the website promised me 'an online dating profile that gets you laid.' These men are unashamed about the fact that they want to live without women, but not without sex. One would do well to take a better message away from Mad Max: that we all must learn to live together, because survival depends upon it.

Lost River and the Difficulties with Actors-Turned-Directors

It would seem that the cruellest, most vitriolic film reviews are always reserved for the famous actors who have decided to become their own boss and take their turn in the director's chair. In 1997 it was Johnny Depp, whose sole directorial effort The Brave was labelled 'turgid and unbelievable' by Variety magazine, and currently holds a miserable 33% on Rotten Tomatoes. This year, it is the turn of heartthrob Ryan Gosling, who captured hearts in romance films such as The Notebook and Crazy Stupid Love, to be booed at the film festival for his avant-garde drama Lost River.

If it had come from a new, first-time director fresh out of film school, Lost River might have garnered more praise. Its experimental montage style is highly inventive and unusual, reminiscent of Harmony Korine or David Lynch. A fractured society is portrayed through a series of fractured images. But the sound design is the equivalent of a punch in the face, and the myriad images never quite manage to knit themselves together into a coherent narrative. Discussion among writers has focused as much on Gosling as an artist as Lost River itself. A viewing of the film is clouded by the famous name behind it, even though that name was probably used to secure funding and audiences in the first place.

So what is the superstar to do after deciding to direct a film themselves? A look back at the recent history of thespians in charge provides an interesting set of rules. Firstly, it is a good idea to shine a light on a less famous actor. Last year, Angelina Jolie's Unbroken provided an excellent role for up-and-comer Jack O'Connell, and received relatively favourable reviews. Another good idea is to adapt a book. Argo, while not earning Ben Affleck a directorial Oscar, was awarded Best Picture and critical acclaim for it's thoughtful, narrative based true story. The main mistake to avoid is narcissism. Famous actors and actresses are often called upon to play charming, charismatic Casanovas. But when they place themselves in this role, it becomes even less believable. The trend for having sex with Sofia Vergara and Scarlett Johansson in their films was shared by John Turturro, Jon Favreau, and Joseph Gordon-Levitt. This also goes for acting beyond one's age (see Kevin Spacey's 2004 debacle Beyond the Sea). Another tip would be to avoid writing the film yourself as well. Despite several exceptions to this rule, you only have to watch the opening of Tom Hank's Larry Crowne to see the entire production weakened from the outset by Hanks's writing. The safest route would be to copy Ralph Fiennes and Kenneth Branagh and have it written by Shakespeare.

A final rule could be to avoid indulging in any misguided experimental tendencies, bringing us back to the nonsensical Lost River. But in doing this Gosling has chosen not to just play it safe with rom-coms, but to take artistic risks. This surely comes from the actor's obvious desire to prove that he is more than just a pretty face, a fact for which he should be commended.

A Host of Disney Sequels

With the release of Kenneth Branagh's much-hyped Cinderella, an analysis of the sudden influx of live-action Disney remakes reveals the film industry's struggle between its desire for progressiveness and obsession with the safety of the past.

Last year, Robert Stromberg's Maleficent provided a strongly feminist, post-modern interpretation of one of Disney's most enduring classics. Barely passing a reverse Bechdel Test, the film reimagined Maleficent from a two-dimensional traditional villain to a complex character with a rich and affecting back story. With many praising Angelina Jolie's performance as outshining even the film's vast special effects, it became clear that Disney fairytales, despite their timeless quality and enduring appeal, could benefit from some tasteful updating.

However, it is becoming clear that not all will be able to pull it off. After the phenomenal box office success of 2010's Alice in Wonderland, it should come as no surprise that Tim Burton has once again been appointed to helm the bringing to life of another Disney classic. His interpretation of the Lewis Carroll novel turned innocent Alice into a sword-wielding action heroine among a world of eye-popping special effects, and was extremely popular among audiences. But a live-action version of Dumbo, with it's trippy dream sequences, racist caricatures and the unpopular, animal cruelty-ridden setting of the circus may not ingratiate itself so well to modern audiences. Already the thought of a CGI, anthropomorphic baby elephant soaring through the air under the volition of his own ears is causing toes to curl among film critics.

Much more hopeful, however, appears to be the fate of next year's Tarzan movie, tentatively titled Tarzan Untamed. Wisely avoiding too much vine-swinging loincloth action, Harry Potter director David Yates will reportedly have Swedish actor Alexander Skarsgård, in his first role as a Hollywood leading man, embroiled in a dangerous political conspiracy upon his return to the Congo several years after the events of the Disney classic. An extremely strong supporting cast which includes Samuel L Jackson, Christoph Waltz and John Hurt means that this Pirates of the Caribbean-style adventure will hopefully avoid the ludicrousness which other adaptations of Edgar Rice Burroughs' character have fallen victim to.

Many other Disney adaptations also lurk on the horizon in an era which, from Jurassic World to the nth Star Wars, is already saturated with sequels and remakes. Emma Watson has been confirmed to star as Belle of Beauty and the Beast, another premise which must undergo a careful reinterpretation if it is to hold up to the standards of today. Glenn Close is hoping to reproduce the success of Maleficent with the similar Cruella. Bill Murray and Scarlett Johansson will bring a subtle touch of the USA to a new version of The Jungle Book. With all this only one thing is certain: that Hollywood's drive to make money with safe, bankable products is crippling the production of anything remotely risky, innovative or original.

My Ten Favourite Films of 2014

1. Boyhood (Richard Linklater, USA)

I could go on and on about this wonderful film, but for the full review see my post from last year.

2. I Origins (Mike Cahill, USA)

By far the saddest and most underrated film of the year, I Origins is Mike Cahill's second gift to us after his brilliant debut Another Earth.

3. Snowpiercer (Bong Joon-ho, South Korea)

Unfortunately, unless you attended the Edinburgh Film Festival, it is unlikely that this science-fiction masterpiece graced your cinema screen. Due to editing conflicts, Snowpiercer has struggled to be released in many countries, but if you take the time to find it you will be well rewarded.

4. Interstellar (Christopher Nolan, UK/USA)

It is unlikely that this film has escaped your notice, and for good reason. Christopher Nolan's space odyssey is Americana-oriented but a tour-de-force of special effects and scientific thinking.

5. Force Majeur (Ruben Östlund, Sweden)

Sweden produces many incredible films each year, and Force Majeur is one of the best; a tense family drama of epic proportions.

6. Only Lovers Left Alive (Jim Jarmusch, UK/Germany)

Jim Jarmusch's understated hipster bloodsuckers are the best vampires of the year, a difficult task within a genre which can be so easily ridiculed.

7. Birdman (Alejandro González Iñárritu, USA)

From one of Mexico's most skilled directors comes a darkly comic look at the fading of Hollywood stars and the power of the mind.

8. Gone Girl (David Fincher, USA)

Another dark and menacing novel adaptation from the master of unsaturated lighting and characters with psychopathic tendencies, David Fincher. Rosamund Pike is more evil than she looks.

9. The Giver (Phillip Noyce, USA)

A young-adult novel from before they were cool, Lois Lowry's The Giver translates excellently to the big screen, even after Jeff Bridges waited twenty years to produce it.

10. 300: Rise of an Empire (Noam Murro, USA)

Though not quite as thrilling as it's predecessor, 300: Rise of an Empire is a fitting exhibition of Zack Snyder's trademark style and the best sword-and-sandals epic of the year.