ZooScope

Tag: Road Movie

  • Wendy and Lucy, Dir. Kelly Reichardt, Oscilloscope Pictures (2008)

    Wendy and Lucy, Dir. Kelly Reichardt, Oscilloscope Pictures (2008)

    A Photo of Lucy who stands at the front of the shot panting, and her owner Wendy who stands behind her, separated by a chain-linked fence. (1) Wendy and Lucy (2008) Whilst spending the majority of the film searching for her lost companion after getting arrested for stealing dog food she can’t afford from a…

  • Bolt. Dir. Chris Williams, Byron Howard. Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. 2008.

    Bolt. Dir. Chris Williams, Byron Howard. Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. 2008.

    Disney’s 2008 feature, Bolt, follows the television star pup who believes that, through the meticulous production of the show, he has super-powers and faces an archvillain, the green-eyed man. When the plotline demands that he be separated from his owner and co-star, Penny, due to her being kidnapped on the show, Bolt escapes the set…

  • The Emperor’s New Groove. Dir. Mark Dindal. Walt Disney Pictures. 2000.

    The Emperor’s New Groove. Dir. Mark Dindal. Walt Disney Pictures. 2000.

    Disney’s animated comedy feature The Emperor’s New Groove follows the journey of a selfish Inca Emperor, Kuzco, who is transformed into a llama by his megalomaniac royal advisor, Yzma. In order to revert back into his human self and stop Yzma from taking over the Inca Empire, Kuzco persuades the gullible yet good-natured peasant Pacha…

  • The Simpsons Movie. Dir. David Silverman. 20th Century Fox. 2007.

    Why does everything I whip leave me? – Homer Simpson, The Simpsons Movie The Simpsons Movie is characterised by imprisonment vs agency – the central plot revolves around the incarceration of the town of Springfield using a giant glass dome as a punishment for environmental damage – therefore it seems only right to extend the…

  • Captain Fantastic. Dir. Matt Ross. eOne Entertainment. 2016

    When Ben’s world is turned upside down by the death of his wife, Leslie Captain Fantastic [1] sets out to explore the question – what does it mean to be a father? At first, Ben’s parenting methods are, let’s say, unconventional. In an off-the-grid settlement deep in the forestland of Washington State, Ben strives to…

  • American Honey. Dir. Andrea Arnold. British Film Institute. 2016.

    Prior to American Honey, Arnold’s filmography was distinctly British, primarily focused upon the harsh reality of poverty in Britain. However, American Honey deviates from this pattern, as it follows protagonist Star (Sasha Lane) on her journey with a travelling magazine sales crew across America. Star dices with danger, leaping headfirst into risky situations, whether it…

  • American Honey. Dir. Andrea Arnold. 2016.

    Andrea Arnold’s films are renowned for their nuanced focus upon human behaviour. However, as Michael Lawrence recognises in his analysis of her 2011 adaptation of Wuthering Heights, Arnold ‘privileges the natural environment and its non-human inhabitants as characters in their own right’.[1] This scene is no different, as even within the interior setting Arnold utilises…

  • The Wizard of Oz. Dir. Victor Fleming, King Vidor, George Cukor, Richard Thorpe, Norman Taurog. MGM. 1939.

    The Wizard of Oz is about a small-town girl in the big city–the Emerald City. Dorothy lives on a farm in Kansas with her dog Toto. When she is knocked unconscious during a hurricane, she wakes up to find herself in the magical world of Oz, filled with a myriad of unusual creatures. She must travel…

  • 28 Days Later. Dir. Danny Boyle. Fox Searchlight Pictures. 2002.

    You wouldn’t expect one of British cinema’s most poignant and idyllic moments to lie in the centre of a post-apocalyptic horror film, yet it does. Danny Boyle’s 28 Days Later cuts in the melancholy scene at its centre, with four wild horses providing respite for the film’s central four characters by subverting the film’s primary genre…

  • Mad Max: Fury Road. Dir. George Miller. Warner Bros. 2015.

    Miller’s use of post-apocalyptic colour is deliberate and ground-breaking. Mad Max: Fury Road is saturated with reds and oranges. Immediately following a fight scene that results in a lead-character casualty, the colouring changes to a palette of deep blues and blacks. This immediately creates an association around the characters within of death; alongside the Crow…