Category: HAR: Petkeeping
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Bird Box. Dir. Susanne Bier. Netflix. 2018.
Susanne Bier’s Bird Box follows Malorie Hayes as she navigates the events and aftermath of an outbreak of creatures, which seem to take on the form of a person’s worst fear, deepest sadness or greatest loss, and thereby drive humans to suicide when the people look at them. However, the monsters themselves are never seen…
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Every Which Way but Loose. Dir. James Fargo. Warner Bros. 1978.
James Fargo’s 1978 film Every Which Way but Loose follows Clint Eastwood’s character Philo Beddo and his orangutan companion Clyde in their search for love. The audience’s expectations of human-animal relationships depicting docile animals who are human playthings are immediately subverted by Philo’s interactions with Clyde, the orangutan. Clyde throughout the film is given a freedom not…
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Lady Macbeth. Dir. William Oldroyd. Altitude Film Distribution. 2016.
Lady Macbeth depicts the journey of Katherine, pursuing her desire after she meets a black servant Sebastian, during her life under patriarchal oppression from her husband Alexander and his father Boris. Although the film is based on Nikolai Leskov’snovel, it has been altered, projecting the unequal act of power, encompassing race, gender, and social-class status…
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The Water Horse: Legend of the Deep, Dir.Jay Russell, Sony Pictures Releasing, 2007, U.S.
The filmmakers of The Water Horse: Legend of the Deep present audiences with the idea that a wild, Scottish mythological creature can (a) exist, (b) be a pet, and (c) a friend, to a young boy. Angus and the water horse’s friendship makes the point that not only can dogs be ‘man’s best friend’, but…
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Children of Men. Dir. by Alfonso Cuarón. Universal Pictures. 2006.
Children of Men (2006) dir. by Alfonso Cuarón is a science-fiction action drama that takes place in a Britain in 2027. The world for around 18 years has been infertile, unable to produce children. This dystopian scenario has caused all the worlds countries to collapse with the only surviving nation-state being Britain. Britain has remained…
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Wolfwalkers. Dir Tomm Moore and Ross Stewart. Apple TV+. 2020.
The woods are getting smaller every day. At the core of 2020’s Wolfwalkers is a fable about environmental degradation: the mounting destruction of the natural world, and the subjugation of those who live in tune with it. From its very beginning, the film seeks to examine and even disrupt the human/animal boundary in a unique…
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Nanny McPhee and The Big Bang. Dir. Susanna White. Universal Pictures. 2010.
Susanna White’s Nanny McPhee And The Big Bang (2010) introduces Mr Edelweiss as Nanny McPhee’s mischievous sidekick. Mr Edelweiss is a Jackdaw crow, a member of the Corvid species, who are known for their thieving habits. This scene is particularly interesting as the human-animal relationship portrayed causes a shift in the predicted stock characters of…
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Penguin Bloom. Dir. Glendyn Ivin. Netflix, Inc. 2021.
Inspired by true events, Penguin Bloom tells the story of Sam Bloom, a mother and wife who became paralysed after a serious accident. As she struggles through a difficult recovery, a small miracle occurs, a magpie called Penguin enters the Bloom family, changing the course of their lives forever. This scruffy looking creature builds an…