ZooScope

Tag: HAR: Trade

  • 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…

  • The Grand Seduction. Dir. Don McKellar. Entertainment One. 2014.

    Don McKellar’s 2013 film The Grand Seduction, delves into the lives of those living in the small fishing town of Tickle Head, Newfoundland. The film follows the life of Murray French, a lifelong resident of Tickle Head who is determined to reinvigorate and restore his once esteemed town. When Murray was but a young boy, the…

  • Earthlings. Dir. Shaun Monson. Nation Earth. 2005.

    Fig. 1 The original release poster for Earthlings, the film’s oft repeated challenge to the viewer to ‘make the connection’ features prominently alongside pictures of plants, animals and the evil emperor Commodus (representing humankind).   ‘How do you know if someone is Vegan? Don’t worry, they’ll tell you’. So proclaims an increasingly popular meme. Type preachy into…

  • The Cove. Dir. Louie Psihoyos. Lionsgate/Roadside Attractions. 2009.

    Academy Award winning The Cove (2009) is a documentary film that follows a group of activists, led by renowned dolphin trainer Ric O’Barry, on their mission to expose the mistreatment of dolphins and porpoises in Taiji, Japan. The documentary tells of O’Barry’s own complex relationship with cetaceans, with The Cove exploring and attempting to justify his decision to fight…

  • Black Beauty. Dir. Carol Thompson. Warner Bros. 1994.

    Good Places, Make Good Horses Black Beauty (1994), directed by Carol Thompson is a film adaption of the 1877 Anna Sewell children’s novel of the same name. The film follows the life of Victorian black stallion Black Beauty and his companions after he leaves his idyllic first home to serve new owners both kind and…

  • War Horse. Dir. Steven Spielberg. DreamWorks. 2011.

    Steven Spielberg’s War Horse (2011) tells the story of teenager Albert Narracott and his horse Joey, tracing their journey from rural Devonshire farm to the Western Front. Joey is the dominant character within the film with the plot line tied directly to his experience rather than Albert’s. Throughout the course of the film Joey encounters…

  • Planet of the Apes. Dir. Franklin J. Schaffner. 20th Century Fox. 1968.

    Evolutionary Reversal in Planet of the Apes Planet of the Apes (1968) brilliantly satirizes the process by which humans simultaneously invented the concept of the “animal kingdom” and appointed themselves to its highest position. Adapting Pierre Boulle’s celebrated novel, Monkey Planet (1963), director Franklin J. Schaffner and screenwriters Rod Serling and Michael Wilson use the speculative licence of the…