Category: Country: UK
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Free Willy. Dir. Simon Wincer. Warner Bros. Family Entertainment. 1993.
Famed for its CGI clip of a killer whale jumping over a wall into freedom, family film Free Willy follows a young boy’s transformation from “street kid” to animal activist after forming a bond with hostile orca Willy. 12 year old Jesse’s bond enables him to train and care for the three ton orca, which several trainers…
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Grizzly Man. Dir. Werner Herzog. Lions Gate Films. 2005.
Grizzly Man, Dir. Werner Herzog, (2005). Grizzly Man, directed by Werner Herzog, presents a mixture of actual footage collected from Timothy Treadwell’s archive as well as interviews with his friends and family, conducted by Herzog. Treadwell’s relationship with the Bears and other wildlife is problematic as although he champions conservation he is also arguably interfering…
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A Close Shave. Dir. Nick Park. BBC. 1995.
Following the great success of director Nick Park’s A Grand Day Out in 1990 and 1993’s The Wrong Trousers, eccentric inventor Wallace and his canine companion Gromit returned in 1995 with A Close Shave. The action begins as the duo – now running a window cleaning service – have their breakfast interrupted by Shaun the…
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Creature Comforts (Series 1, Episode 1). Dir. Richard Goleszowski. ITV. 2003.
Creature Comforts, the ITV series which started life as an Oscar-winning short film in 1989, might, at first glance, best be described as a documentary; its vox pop format providing a platform for the genuine, unscripted opinions of the British public. However, what appears on screen is anything but reality, as these voices are given…
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Hot Fuzz. Dir. Edgar Wright . Universal Pictures/Rouge Pictures. 2007.
Hot Fuzz is an action comedy which follows PC Nicholas Angel’s transfer from the London Metropolitan Police to rural Sandford, where he discovers a string of murders have been committed. Despite being overly violent at times, the film maintains a light-hearted tone through the use of comic conventions, such as the urbane character being a…
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The Future. Dir. Miranda July. Roadside Attractions. 2011.
The scene begins with Paw-Paw the cat waiting to be picked up from the adoption centre, asking: “How long is 30 days?” It is not clear who this question is directed at, but since there is no one else within the scene we can only assume that these are Paw-Paw’s internal thoughts. The only part…
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The Plague Dogs. Dir. Martin Rosen. United Artists. 1982.
Based on Richard Adams’ 1977 novel of the same name, The Plague Dogs[1] follows the story of Rowf and Snitter, who escape from an animal research centre after Rowf’s cage is left unlocked, finding themselves in the heart of the Peak District. The dogs hope to find a master, but every human encounter is hostile. Running out…
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Watership Down. Dir. Martin Rosen. Cinema International Corporation. 1978.
Above left: Film Poster Richard Adams reading Watership Down in 2008 Far from the fluffy, cotton-tailed animals we think rabbits to be, Watership Down (dir. Martin Rosen, 1978) depicts the brutal world of a political and regimented rabbit hierarchy. Chief rabbits dictate from the top of the hierarchy, whilst the military ‘Owsla’ bring down…