Tag: HAR: Science/Technology

  • Fly Away Home . Dir. Carroll Ballard. Columbia Pictures. 1996.

    Fly Away Home focuses on 13-year-old Amy Alden who has just lost her mother due to a car accident. She has to move to her dad Tom, whom she hadn’t seen for years and whose passion for pottering aircrafts seems weird to her. Being alone, Amy finds a nest with 16 eggs, which have been abandoned…

  • Monkey Business. Dir. Howard Hawks. 20th Century Fox. 1952.

    Forever young – what seems to be an unrealistic and silly fantasy to some, is Dr. Barnaby Fulton’s (Cary Grant) everyday life: in Howard Hawk’s screwball comedy Monkey Business (1952), he tries to develop a formula which reverses the ageing process. Even though Barnaby is completely dedicated to his work, he fails. It isn’t until…

  • Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind. Dir. Hayao Miyazaki. Studio Ghibli. 1984.

    Hayao Miyazaki’s 1984 film ‘Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind’ follows the adventures of a young princess named Nausicaä who is part of one of the last tribes of humans remaining on Earth. A toxic forest has taken over most of the world as a result of mankind’s pollution; Nausicaä seeks to save the…

  • Avatar. Dir. James Cameron. 20th Century Fox. 2009.

    Set in the year 2154, Avatar (Dir. James Cameron, 2009) follows Jake Sully (Sam Worthington), a paraplegic ex-marine who is given the opportunity to take part in a program on the distant moon Pandora. Pandora is inhabited by a wealth of creatures and biodiversity, as well as the desirable mineral ‘unobtanium’ which the humans are attempting to…

  • Mighty Joe Young. Dir. Ron Underwood. Buena Vista Pictures. 1998.

    Film provides a platform for racial stereotypes to indoctrinate its viewers and relay social prejudices. Lester and Ross argue that ‘the predominant juxtaposition of images of blacks and social problems- welfare, crime, poverty, drugs, violence…implicitly helps to activate long-existing stereotypes of blacks as sambo and savage’ [1]. The black African poachers in Mighty Joe Young…

  • The Cat From Outer Space. Dir. Norman Tokar. Buena Vista Distribution. 1978.

    As we see a feline descend from the tongue-like walkway of a cat-shaped spaceship, Disney’s 1978 film The Cat From Outer Space opens, invoking a science-fiction both familiar and alien. It is difficult to not subscribe to the film’s endearing nature of a developed animal companionship as a bond forms between human and cat that goes beyond…

  • How to Train Your Dragon 2. Dir. Dean DeBlois. 20th Century Fox. 2014.

    Five years after Hiccup successfully ended the war between humans and dragons, he faces many new conflicts. He and his village of both species are living happily until they learn that the cruel and brutal Drago Bludvist is building a dragon army and will soon come to take them over. While rushing out to stop him, Hiccup…

  • The Plague Dogs. Dir. Martin Rosen. United Artists Corporation. 1982.

    The Plague Dogs – Revival of a Masterpiece* By Loredana Loy Based on the book with the same title by Richard Adams, The Plague Dogs (1982) is a one of a kind movie. Snitter and Rowf are two dogs who escape from an animal experimentation facility only to find that the outside world is just as cruel.  They try to survive…

  • Dolphin Tale. Dir. Charles Martin Smith. Alcon Entertainment. 2011.

    Dolphin Tale begins with a view of the underwater world, showcasing the inquisitive nature of dolphins to their surroundings. Dolphin Tale is based on the remarkable true story of a Bottlenose Dolphin named Winter. When Winter’s tail becomes hopelessly entangled in a fisherman’s ropes causing Winter to wash ashore, a friendless and lonely boy tries to help…

  • The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou. Dir. Wes Anderson. Buena Vista Pictures. 2004.

    Wes Anderson’s fourth full-length film, The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, details the life of oceanographer and documentarian Steve Zissou following the death of his professional partner and best friend. The film, like many directed by Wes Anderson, ultimately became a cult classic, but not before being met with serious criticism from film critics. The dissonance…