The Rabbitte Perspective

Patience is a Virtue In similar vain to how popular film franchises have to construct sequels to be just as compelling and enthralling as the preceding features that made a positive impact, T.V. series also have to establish a precedent where the particular story arc has to go down a captivating route with every season that comes around. Indeed, from the unpredictable nature that Game of Thrones upholds, to the ever shifting scenarios that take place in Netflix's own House of Cards , it's clear to perceive just how much established TV shows warrant compelling originality with every season they produce; which in turn arguably rivals the grandeur of viewing the latest film at the cinemas. While it may be seen by a select few as just another Japanese animated show that's primarily aimed for a specific target audience, much of the same can be said about Wit Studio's Attack on Titan which mediates enthralling story-telling aspects seen in many popular live-action seri...

A Bang of Comedy and Absurdist Cinema. There are only a select few films that can instinctively create more anxiety and tension than the sense of being trapped in a small space. Even if you're not a claustrophobe, almost everyone can relate to that inner panic or high rigidity that floods in when placed in such a harrowing situation. It's a testament to the power of cinema that certain movies that can often make us feel this way; viscerally transporting us to a place which makes us feel as though the walls are closing in. From the minimalist cinematic terror of Rodrigo Cortés' Buried to the tensely potent thriller of Joel Schumacher's Phone Booth , not only do these filmic examples exemplify these enclosed feelings, but utilise distinctive filming aspects that make the space and the scenario presented compelling to watch. Much of the same can be said of Ben Wheatley's latest film of Free Fire , a film set in a tight and overblown action-orientated space that ...

Paradise Lost? In viewing a variety of may different filmic franchises that have come and graced the silver screen, one of the most worrisome aspects for cinematic series to oversee is the continuity and fluidity of the context. As much as the directors that come into these popular franchises do differentiate from the main plot that is established, by diverging into spin-offs or prequels that intricately citate minute details from the main story-line, it's not hard to observe how there are many acclaimed serials that willingly strafe from being engaging. From the overblown vampiric/lycan story of the Underworld   series of films to the unoriginal Die Hard action features, it's easy to perceive just how much engrossed franchises can easily lose their intrigue. In many ways, this can also be said of the Alien franchise. While it can't be diminished that Alien and Aliens  stand as influential films in a genre that demands creativity and originality, the later films o...

Minimalist Yet Prudent: Respect For The Sound Of Silence Following on from Hayao Miyzaki's directorial bow with his film of  The Wind Rises  in 2013 to the the famed studio's visualised  swan song of Hiromasa Yonebayashi's When Marnie Was There of last year, it looked as though Japan's highly praised Studio Ghibli had run it's creative course. Indeed, with Toshio Suzuki announcing that the famed studio would take a "brief pause" in the wake of Miyazaki's retirement, the Japanese animated film industry hasn't reached the acclaimed heights as it once did. With aspiring animators like Mokoto Shinkai, who crafted the beautifully stimulating Your Name , just recently taking the Japanese animation helm and Western animation, in particularly the Disney strain, churning-out features that are ever-improving in relation to animation styles, it's fair to say that the Japanese animated filmic industry is currently facing a time change and renewal. H...

Charmingly Spooky It's always difficult for any film-maker to impose their distinctive filmic aesthetics to a popular genre type which revels in films that essentially implement a formula and other cinematic tropes over and over again. While there are many features within the genre types of horror, and especially superhero films, that all stick to a mode of means that necessarily satisfy the demographic watching, it's a rarity to stumble upon a feature within these genre's that purposefully inform complex and intricate contexts alongside the norm aesthetics. A fairly recent good example where a film belonging to a popular genre type utilises differentiating filmic tactics to impose a change and something new, would be James Mangold's Logan ; a superhero feature that deliberately swept aside the grandeur of action set-pieces and applied emotional and compelling story-telling. As much as it's arguable to look upon Alejandro Amenábar's The Others  and recogn...

Misconstrued Expectancy "Big things have small beginnings" As a new trailer for a highly-anticipated film gets released every so often, it's not surprising to notice the subsequent hype that expectantly follows. Whereas the 'hype' of a particular feature can be justified through many different circumstances, including preceding films that received praise from audience members and critics alike, or the premise which seems to be as original as possible, it can easily be quashed by simply watching what is presented on the screen. An ample case where this has indeed happened, was the release of Star Wars: Episode 1 -The Phantom Menace in 1999; the first Star Wars film to be released into cinemas for 16 years that audience members and die-hard fans were eagerly readying themselves for, which subsequently faltered due to what happened in terms of the context and story-telling. Indeed, the expectancy that you and many others will have over a film, will inevita...