Category: Imaginary Animals: No
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Lady and the Tramp II: Scamp’s Adventure. Dir. Darrell Rooney and Jeannine Roussel. Walt Disney. 2001.
In this sequel to Lady and the Tramp, the story of Lady’s and Tramp’s rambunctious young pup, Scamp is followed. Scamp desperately wants to be free to run, play, chew, and to not follow the strict rules imposed upon him through family life. In search of the adventure he wants, Scamp runs away from home…
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Earthlings. Dir. Shaun Monson. Nation Earth. 2005.
Fig. 1 The original release poster for Earthlings, the film’s oft repeated challenge to the viewer to ‘make the connection’ features prominently alongside pictures of plants, animals and the evil emperor Commodus (representing humankind). ‘How do you know if someone is Vegan? Don’t worry, they’ll tell you’. So proclaims an increasingly popular meme. Type preachy into…
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Gates of Heaven. Dir. Errol Morris. New Yorker Films. 1978.
Figure 1: The original cinematic release poster for Gates of Heaven. Eighty-Five minutes of predominantly medium close-up shots without narration with a focus, superficially at least, on the pet cemetery business. You may think that the initial prognosis for Errol Morris’s 1978 debut Gates of Heaven is bleak; indeed you would be in good company.[1] Morris’s fleeting between concepts led…
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The Misfits. Dir. Arthur Miller. United Artists. 1961.
The Misfits (dir. Arthur Miller, 1961) The final two scenes in The Misfits (dir. Arthur Miller, 1961) epitomise the varied conflicts that underpin the changing zeitgeist narrative of the film.[1] The relationship between the bucking beast and the faded hunter is complex; the mustang and the cowboy are two of the most poignant and pervading symbols…
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The Elephant in the Living Room. Dir. Michael Webber. NightFly Entertainment. 2010.
The Elephant in the Living Room (2010, dir. Michael Webber) As The Elephant in the Living Room rolls towards a conclusion Webber appropriates a pair of Brumfield’s home videos to give a raw and powerful insight into a personal tragedy.[1] These juxtaposed excerpts represent the film’s climax and epitomise both the intense emotional relationship between Brumfield and Lambert as…
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Happy Feet. Dir. George Miller. Warner Bros. Pictures. 2006.
Happy Feet (Dir. George Miller, 2006) is a film normally associated with the representation of environmental issues, encouraging environmental awareness and consciousness of the animals worldwide affected by human actions. It also presents the theme of individuality, with the main character Mumble shunned for being different but eventually accepted into the penguin community after he is…
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Alice in Wonderland. Dir. Clyde Geronimi, Wilfred Jackson, Hamilton Luske. Walt Disney Studios. 1951.
‘Alice in Wonderland’ is a 1951 animated musical about a young girl, named Alice (Kathryn Beaumont), who follows a white rabbit in a waistcoat (Bill Thompson), down his rabbit hole, to fall into a fantastical world where she must overcome constant confusion and bewilderment, as this world becomes ‘curiouser and curiouser’. She meets a myriad…
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The Drop. Dir. Michaël R. Roskam. Fox Searchlight Pictures. 2014.
Synopsis The Drop is a tense and dark crime drama set in Brooklyn and centers on the character Bob, portrayed by Tom Hardy in a incredible understated performance, who tends the bar of his cousin Marv, James Gandolfini’s final fantastic performance. This bar is a ‘drop bar’, which means it collects money for the local Chechen mob. The…
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The Cove. Dir. Louie Psihoyos. Lionsgate/Roadside Attractions. 2009.
Academy Award winning The Cove (2009) is a documentary film that follows a group of activists, led by renowned dolphin trainer Ric O’Barry, on their mission to expose the mistreatment of dolphins and porpoises in Taiji, Japan. The documentary tells of O’Barry’s own complex relationship with cetaceans, with The Cove exploring and attempting to justify his decision to fight…