The Rabbitte Perspective

Animation Craftmanship As arguable as it is to dismiss this point of view, stop-motion animation - which, unlike computer and traditional hand-drawn cel animation, utilises real objects shot frame by frame, with tiny adjustments made in-between - is a medium that has defied crude expectations and is a mode of means that has been effectively utilised in contemporary film-making. From the ever-knowing Wallace & Gromit short and full-length animated features produced by Aardman Studios, to the visually sumptuous pieces that studio Laika have seemingly displayed through both Coraline and Kubo and the Two Strings , stop-motion animation has never been more fruitful than it has shown to be today and, similar to how the hand-drawn technique is admired for its inherent contrast to CG animation, should be more appreciated for the craft and dedication that goes into it. While many weren't initially invested in the depiction of Roald Dahl's whimsical novel, Wes Anderson's ...

If It Ain't Broke... What was clearly evident to perceive within Netflix's interpretation of Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events  last year was its inherent decision to ambitiously embroider numerous episodes that admirably upholded the conflicting tones of the original source and never once sought to out-do itself. In this age of peak television, where high-budget serials accordingly attempt and construct concepts that try to match the vision and production value of something like Game Of Thrones , it's rather comforting to find a show in the form of A Series of Unfortunate Events  that never once takes itself too seriously and bestows natural melancholia, horror and comedy that is fitting and alluring to behold. Indeed, even though there were a few similarities to the 2004 counterpart of the same name, this series re-telling of these wistful and dismal tales matched accordingly with the wonderfully gothic tone of the books and emphasised on specific...

Where's Wally? From its compelling ability to reflect our world back at us through to the outright spectacle of the latest effects, which makes us perceive a particular feature in a different light, the realm of cinema has always drawn-off from the advancement of technology. From the fantastical star gate sequence that resides within Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey through to the grim and downtrodden dystopia that's projected in the context of Ridley Scott's Blade Runner , the projection of technology throughout cinema's history has both been celebrated and questioned and has often explored the potential repercussions of technological change and what it may bring. While its visual routes lay bear in Steven Lisberger's Tron , virtual reality (VR) has never been more pertinent than it is today - from the Playstation 4 console adopting its over-worldly majesty to the said device being used experimentally in niche projects - and is more commonly being...

Earnest Film-making An all encompassing genre hybrid that merges elements of tragedy or melancholia with sequences of comical levity, comedy-drama features, or "dramedy" for short, is one of the more recognisable filmic amalgamations that can easily sway or disdain your experience. While there are films in the forms of The Breakfast Club , One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Lost in Translation and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind  that faithfully and movingly deconstruct characters that are downtrodden and change as the run-time meanders along, there are also a select similar films that proceed to display their respective narratives in a rather bland and formulaic light, such as The Bucket List or The Internship . For me, a dramedy only works if it has meaningful story-arc, as mentioned, and implements a subtle niche that distinguishes itself from the rest of the pack. This is certainly the case with Zach Braff's Garden State , a quirky yet poignant 'com...

Poetic Visualisation Since the inception of cinema itself, the sci-fi genre has always provoked to make us think and deliberate on ideas and premises that subtly reflect our own cultural and social anxieties. Indeed, from Georges Méliès' A Trip to the Moon,  that naturally eclipsed and astonished audiences in wonderment at the time of its release in 1902, to Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey and Ridley Scott's Blade Runner which both respectively imbue themes and motifs that parallel social thinking and have each marked a new milestone in the aforesaid genre, science-fiction has consistently allowed itself to meander into ideas and story-lines that not only provide an awe of escapist reality, but establish motifs that are seemingly relatable and engaging amongst the dystopian backdrops that are displayed. This is something that Alex Garland has effortlessly done in not only his first feature as a film-maker in the form of Ex Machina , but also carries forward ...

Long Live The King? 😼 As stagnant as it may seem to many that simply discussing the ever-changing iconography of the superhero genre is a nonsensical and tiresome discourse, considering how noticeable this 'change' is easy to perceive through recent filmic and televised products, it's interesting non-the-less to see how vast the aforesaid genre has remodelled itself in recent years. Indeed, from Marvel's inception of its Cinematic Universe, which began with Jon Favreau's Iron Man , to the super-heroic televised shows being made for the mainstream, such as The Flash , Supergirl , Jessica Jones and Daredevil to name a few, the superhero genre has undoubtedly grown within this contemporary age and serves as a platform that has manifested different tendencies from unrelated genre's and has occupied film-makers to allow their distinctive styles to be displayed. In recent years, Marvel have been the best into integrating this ideal, by showcasing films in th...

The Right Sought Of Cheese? Cheese. By definition, it's a food that's made from pressed curds of milk left to ripen and age. Figurative Cheese however? Well, this a formality that binds together overly hackneyed and quintessential conventions that create moments of either hilarity or grief. Indeed, Cheesy feature-films in general stand apart from 'normal' theatrical releases. They revel in their ridiculous and overblown narratives, corny one-liners and absurd stunt sequences that imbue conflicting emotions of amusement and disappointment. These types of films are not always 'bad' features per se, but our collective and cultural understanding of this specific breed of films makes us recognise these arguably guilty pleasure movies in a distinguishable and obvious light. One film in particular that complies with these aforementioned tendencies is Simon West's Lara Croft: Tomb Raider ; one of the more recognisable and arguably acclaimed video-game live-ac...