Tag: Dogs
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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 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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Jaws. Dir. Steven Spielberg. Universal Studios. 1975.
Jaws, Spielberg’s second major film[1] , released in 1975 is widely recognised as an important piece of cinema, with one of the most memorable and suspense building soundtracks of all time. Despite the creepy and more blood thirsty elements of the film there are also moments of humour, as comedy plays quite a large role in…
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Shooter. Dir. Antoine Fuqua. Paramount Pictures. 2007.
Shooter The animal presence in the film Shooter in form of the main character’s dog Sam plays into the theme of friendship and loyalty that is present throughout the whole film. The first time the viewer meets Sam is right after a 36 months time skip following the opening scene of the film. Through the events in…
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Bringing Up Baby . Dir. Howard Hawks. RKO. 1938.
In the romantic comedy Bringing Up Baby (1938) Hawks explores the association between animalism (behaviours or feelings associated with animals) and chaos. The comedy emerges out of the interactions between the unlikely pair: Susan (Catherine Hepburn) and David (Cary Grant). This is because Susan is an eccentric, chaotic and a law evading romantic and David is a…
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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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The Ugly Dachshund. Dir. Norman Toker . Walt Disney. 1966.
The Ugly Dachshund (1966), adapted from the 1938 novel by Gladys Bonwyn Stern, begins as Mark Garrison (Dean Jones) frantically prepares to drive to the hospital. This tricks us in to thinking that his wife, Fran Garrison (Suzanne Pleshette), is going to give birth when in fact they are taking their Dachshund Danke to the animal…
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Fantastic Mr. Fox. Dir. Wes Anderson. 20th Century Fox . 2009.
2009 saw Wes Anderson turn his unique eye for detail and style to stop motion animation, with his adaptation of Roald Dahl’s Fantastic Mr. Fox. The film has a distinct and consistent colour scheme of warm oranges and browns, changing only to show the warehouses and homes of the evil farmers Boggis, Bunce and Bean.…
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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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Into The Wild. Dir. Sean Penn. Paramount Vantage. 2007.
It’s 1992, and Christopher McCandless, reborn as Alexander Supertramp, embarks on a ‘rite of passage for a young man in search of meaning,’[1] escaping from the human world and into the Alaskan wilderness. A ‘vagabond loner’[2] who donates his college fund to Oxfam and abandons his worldly goods by the side of the road, Alex forges relationships with the…