Screen Trip - FILM & TV REVIEWS AND CRITICISM

What vampires are in any given generation is a part of what I am and what my times have become. Nina Auerbach, Our Vampires, Ourselves What will happen when the popularity of Interview with the Vampire drags their underground mystique into the naked light of day? jo...

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I saw as a vampire (). It was as if I had only just been able to see colors and shapes for the first time. I was so enthralled with the buttons on Lestats black coat that I looked at nothing else for a long time. Then Lestat began to laugh, and I heard his laughter as I had never heard anythin...

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If Angel is the ultimate outsider, Spike is the ultimate rebel among Buffyverses vampires. His entrance to Sunnydale inaugurates the advent of the super hip, young villain. Marking his new territory, he smashes the Welcome to Sunnydale sign with his 1950s deanmobile. Together with Drusilla they ...

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Angel (David Boreanaz) represents a visually updated version of the classic vampire image associated with Dracula, that of the 19th century dandy as popularized by Hollywood. He looks as impeccable as if he just stepped out of a Hugo Boss commercial. Albert Camus writing on the figure of dandy as a...

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The media have a long history of using subcultural imagery for its sheer spectacularity factor. It tends to add an aesthetic edge to any program and such constructed images are easily marketable to the mainstream public, always insatiate for something shocking, titillating and new, which would allow...

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For all fangophiles out there the departure of Buffy left a gap in TV watching pleasures, but lo and behold Alan Ball came to the rescue! The lore goes that the Oscar-winning writer of American Beauty (1999) and Six Feet Under, stumbled onto Charlaine Harris' Southern Vampire Mystery books at a se...

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Q: Who does not love a good fairytale? Especially one that features pure, incorruptible love between an amiable prince and a pretty princess, who trapped by ruthless fate, experience a series of many cruel and unexpected turns of events and yet still manage, against all odds, to reach a happy ending...

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The Academy has not disappointed this year with its occasionally offbeat choices, political stands, the obligatory glitz and glamour and the singing and dancing Hugh. Best Motion Picture of the Year Nominees: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008): Cen Chaffin, Kathleen Kennedy,...

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The Academy is known for its excessess and notorious unpredictability due to the political campaign tactics involved in the trophy race. Obviously not all deserving parties are awarded each year, however the worthwhile films are remembered long after - regardless of the actual results. I kind of wis...

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Director Sam Mendes burst into the scene in 1999 with his directorial feature debut American Beauty, an instant crossover success with viewers of various ages, nationalities, creeds and degrees of snobbism, the film won a best picture Oscar and (for once) deservedly so. It was a confrontational blac...

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The Paper Dolls are gay Filipino expats deemed half women half men. Marginal amongst societys margins, their complex lives are open-heartedly revealed to us. Working in Tel Aviv as caretakers for the elderly in Orthodox Jewish communities, their temporary visas expire the moment they lose their j...

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Abderrahmane Sissakos Bamako is one of those rare film-going experiences that educates, challenges preconceived notions and simultaneously manages to express the culture, the feelings and the plight of the people on whose behalf it speaks. Using the conventions of courtroom drama, we are presented ...

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The Cave Of The Yellow Dog is no longer as firmly entrenched in the realm of magical realism as its predecessor The Story of the Weeping Camel (2003) was. If comparisons are unavoidable, Cave holds its own as a worthwhile film-going experience. It is a heartwarming and intimate portrayal of the Batc...

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What makes remakes potentially interesting is the possibility of building on top of existing material in order to update it and reflect the contemporary cultural climate, and the ensuing conversation with the preceding film and the audience. Perhaps that is why good and thought-provoking remakes a...

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Thinking of becoming a vegetarian? This film might just push you over the edge! Imagine Wolf Creek and Resident Evil minus the camp, double the gore, and with the gloom dial maxed. Six rather comely lasses venture on a caving trip, which slowly and relentlessly turns into a nightmare, not unlike Dan...

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A nostalgic trip into the realm of the cult, the trashy and the surreal, this documentary celebrates the unique cinema experiences offered by the midnight movie circuit of the 1970s. Director Stewart Samuels concentrates on 6 movies: Alejandro Jodorowskys Mexican spaghetti westernmystic acid trip...

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Lauded as a metaphor for the virtues of chastity (hardly, judging from the delighted and charged sighs of the audience), Twilight, along with most other vampire-themed flicks, sinks its teeth straight into the guilty pleasure territory. Vampire-lite compared to classics like Interview with the Va...

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Barcelona drenched in honey-hued sunlight, Gaudi architecture, sounds of Spanish guitar and delectable wine all make for an exciting and permissive romantic backdrop. If only the voiceover guy had a sexier or funnier voice Allens usual ad-libbing is sorely missed in Vicky Cristina Barcelona, but ...

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The French are masters at capturing everyday drama - after all it was Stendhal who said that a novel is a mirror carried along a high road. Ive Loved You So Long, named after a line in a song, is just such a thought-provoking, closely observed and emotionally intense everyday drama, a debut featu...

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Baz Luhrmanns filmmaking aesthetic has its equally vocal followers and detractors, yet undeniably makes a lasting impression regardless of which camp one falls into. The sheer visual exhilaration, freshness of perspective, camp mixture of humour, pathos and splashes of colour, admirable performanc...

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