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Belle and Sébastien. Dir. Nicolas Vanier. Gaumont. 2013.
Belle and Sébastien is an action and adventure children’s film that touches on animal bond and servitude. During the era of German soldiers raiding French towns for Jewish refugees, the townsmen of a southern French town are hunting for a beast – Belle, a Great Pyrenees dog gone feral. They believed she was the killer…
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Max. Dir. Boaz Yakin. Warner Bros. 2015.
Max follows the journey of a fallen Marine, Kyle, and his dog, Max, who is brought to his hometown in Lufkin, Texas following his death. Military dog relationships are usually inseparable; Kyle’s death devastated Max resulting in being unresponsive to any new Marine handler and was forced to either be put down, or taken in…
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Fantastic Mr. Fox. Dir. Wes Anderson. 20th Century Fox. 2009.
Mr. Fox in Fantastic Mr. Fox is a charismatic selfish father that puts his own wants and needs before his family. The narrative follows Mr. Fox and his many escapades of stealing chickens and putting his family and town into harm’s way by interfering with three powerful corporate farmers. After being fooled one too many times, the…
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Tangled. Dir. Nathan Greno and Bryon Howard. Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. 2010.
A modern twist on the traditional fairytale story of Rapunzel, Tangled is an edgy take on a timeless classic. Disney’s 50th animated family film is a fantasy, fairytale, romance, comedy and musical. Set in a fantasy kingdom far-far away, the King and Queen’s baby daughter Rapunzel is stolen by the evil Mother Gothel, who wants to use…
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The Whale. Dir. Suzanne Chisholm, Michael Parfit. Kinosmith & Paladin. 2011.
The 2011 documentary The Whale confronts the moral and ethical struggle within intense human-animal interactions. While the film can be perceived as a cautionary tale about human interference in nature, there is no political statement being made to sway the audience. The leading affect within the film is sentimentality. Luna, the 2-year-old orca, is forced…
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Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. Dir. John Hughes. Paramount. 1986.
(Scene beginning 55:15) ‘Mr. Rooney’s sole motivation is “getting Bueller”,’ claims Media Literacy author Art Silverblatt; ‘To reduce Ferris’ influence over the other students, which would re-establish adults, Rooney, that is, as traditional authority figures.’[1] Rooney does not ‘get Bueller’ however, thus never truly establishes himself as having any executable authority. This is no better exemplified than through…
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Marley and Me. Dir. David Frankel. 20th Century Fox. 2008.
Is this love, is this love, is this love, is this love that I’m feelin? This is the one question undoubtedly playing on John Grogan’s mind when looking at his cushion shredding, underwear stealing, jewellery eating, chaos causing canine; an ebullient bundle of joy whom he later asserts is “the world’s worst dog.” It goes…
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Belle and Sébastien. Dir. Nicolas Vanier. Gaumont. 2013.
Belle and Sébastien Synopsis It is the summer of 1943 in a small village in France and there is something disturbing the livestock of the area. Sébastian, a young orphaned boy, continues his usual wildlife exploring and accidently runs into the ‘beast’ everyone was talking about – a Great Pyrenees – whom he later names…
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Snatch. Dir. Guy Ritchie. Columbia Pictures. 2000.
What do you get when you cross an unlicensed boxing match, a gang of angry gypsies and an 86-carat diamond that everybody wants to get their hands on? Guy Ritchie’s Snatch.[i] The film revolves around the adventures of: Turkish (Jason Statham)and his sidekick Tommy (Stephen Graham): two boxing promoters tasked with finding a boxer for the fight, whilst trying…
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