Category: Language: English
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King Kong. Dir. Peter Jackson. Universal Pictures. 2005.
King Kong (2003) is a remake of a 1933 film of the same name where a giant prehistoric gorilla is taken from its native island in captivity to New York where it consequently escapes. The climactic scene where Kong is protecting Anne on top of the Empire State Building is a crucial moment as it…
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Harvey. Dir. Henry Kosta . Universal Pictures . 1950.
In Henry Kosta’s film Harvey (1950), the simple power of the imagination, entwined with the light-hearted childish nature of the protagonist Elwood P. Dowd (James Stewart) acts as a tool to undermine and distinguish the evident psychological disturbances that lie beneath the surface of the plot. Harvey, a six-foot three-and – a – half – inch tall hare,…
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Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. Dir. Chris Columbus. Warner Bros. 2002.
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets utilizes horror film narratives and their depiction of monstrous animals in order to reveal a deeper complex message regarding human-animal relationships. The franchise’s reliance on Ophidiophobia acts to highlight the negative animalisation assigned to animals such as snakes, whilst the treatment of the Basilisk by humans in the film…
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John Wick. Dir. Chad Stahelski. Summit Entertainment. 2014.
John Wick is an exploration of domesticated animals and their hierarchical standing. The entire narrative centres around a revenge plot following the killing of Wick’s dog. It raises important questions of domestication, anthropomorphism, and worth. Following the opening montage of scenes detailing the loss of Wick’s wife, he is shown to have been given a…
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Jurassic Park III. Dir. Joe Johnston. Universal Pictures. 2001.
“This is how you make dinosaurs?” “No. This is how you play God.” [1] Jurassic Park III revolves around the dinosaurs of the island ‘Isla Sorna’; genetically modified and inevitably abandoned in a previous movie of the franchise. It follows a wealthy family who have lost their son on the island, and try to pay their…
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Hannah Montana: The Movie. Dir. Peter Chelsom. Walt Disney Pictures. 2009.
Hannah Montana: The Movie is about Miley Stewart, a secret pop sensation known as Hannah Montana, getting caught up in the perks of her famous life. Her fed-up father, Robby Ray, forces Miley to visit her family on her hometown farm in Crowley Corners, Tennessee. Robby Ray threatens to take away Hannah Montana forever if Miley…
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The Fox and the Child. Dir. Luc Jacquet. Pathé. 2007.
Luc Jacquet’s The Fox and the Child depicts an unnamed girl (Bertille Noël-Bruneau) exploring the French countryside and following its animal inhabitants. She develops an obsession with the titular fox and it becomes more trusting, but the girl disastrously oversteps the boundary and attempts to make the wild animal her pet. The film is interested in binaries…