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Film Editor: Tiffany Tucker | Copy Editor: Candice Ritchie
Film
Tiffany Tucker
Film Editor
During my time as Film
Editor at The Stag, i’ve had
the pleasure of doing a job
i absolutely love. Being
able to write about the
films I find interesting,
boring, enlightening
has enlightened me on
different subjects and
genres i would otherwise
be alien to. i am thankful
for the opportunity i have
been given and i should
give a huge thank you
to the writers who have
contributed to the Film
section consistently all
year, such as Candice
Ritchie and Caroline James.
i would also like to thank
The Stag team as a whole
for putting in the hours
to lay-up the newspaper,
for without them the
section would surely not
look as amazing. i have
had a wonderful year and
i cannot wait to continue
contributing to the Film
Section next year when i
hand over to the capable
hands of Candice Ritchie.
Review: The Black Dahlia (2006)
By Tiffany Tucker, Film Editor
From the beginning of The Black
Dahlia, director Brian De Palma
creates a ‘film Noir’ filled with an
atmosphere of tense, intrigue and
stylish seduction. The film centres
on the two main characters Dwight
‘Bucky’ Bleichert (Josh Hartnett)
and Lee Blanchard (Aaron Eckhart)
in Los Angeles, whose personal lives
become intertwined with their
occupations as homicide detectives
when they investigate the ‘Black
Dahlia’ murder case. Based on the
novel of the same name, the film
is centred on the true story of
aspiring actress Elizabeth Short’s
unsolved sinister murder in 1947.
The film’s close love-triangle
between Blanchard, Kay Lake
(Scarlett Johansson) and Bucky,
who comes between them, is the
main sub-plot. Johansson is the
perfect femme-fatal, poised with
seduction and perfect eye-candy
for the gentleman viewers.
Bucky becomes a close friend
of Lee and his girlfriend Lake, and
the mix between personal life and
the politics of the police American
institution blends perfectly.
When the mutilated corpse of the
aspiring actress Elizabeth Short
is found, Lee becomes obsessed
with solving the case. Meanwhile,
Bucky’s investigation leads him to a
Madeleine Linscott, the daughter of
a powerful and wealthy constructor
that resembles the Black Dahlia. In an
environment of corruption and lies,
Bucky discloses hidden truths. The
ending of the film, if nothing else is
worth the viewing, has a gripping
twist, and is thrillingly surprising.
With enough corruption, lies, sex,
and hidden truths, The Black Dahlia is
a tense mystery-thriller, perfectly
cast and deeply mysterious.
By Heulwen Williams, Film Team
So far, The Avengers has been
a massive hit in the UK, and
most Americans seem to like
it too, though is it just another
superhero movie? With its huge
marketing scheme, stretching
over months, it was hyped up to be
an amazing movie. CBS Chicago’s
Michael Walters says “The Avengers
is an overblown, overstuffed,
superhero extravaganza,” and I’m
afraid I’d have to agree with him.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m a massive
superhero junkie. I was pumped
to see this - not as pumped as
The Dark Knight Rises which hits
screens on the 20th of July -
because of the media attention,
and the pretty cool concept. Not
to mention the fantastic director
Joss Whedon, who wrote the
screenplay for Toy Story and The
Cabin in the Woods.
After Iron Man, Thor and
Captain America, with cameos
from Nick Fury, Black Widow
and Hawkeye, Marvel’s next
obvious step was to assemble
the Avengers. The ‘Avengers
Initiative’ was first mentioned in
Iron Man 2 and since, (super-nerds
will know) Marvel’s been dishing
out the post-credit scenes like
crazy. Remember the cube thing
in both Captain America and Thor?
Well, that’s on lock-down, under
Nick Fury’s watchful eye (sorry,
bad joke). However, Loki – Thor’s
evil adopted brother – has joined
The Stag | 22 nd May 2012
forces with an alien army and
plans to take over Earth through
channeling the power of the
cube. Run of the mill, really. Nick
Fury calls the Avengers together,
which consists of Iron Man aka
Tony Stark, Captain America aka
Steve Rogers, Thor, Black Widow
aka Natasha Romanoff, Hawkeye
aka Clint Barton and last but not
least, the Hulk aka Bruce Banner.
Throughout, there’s rivalry as
the team learn to co-operate and
try to stop Loki’s plan. There’s
this huge build up of action,
all pointing towards the final
battle scene - set in New York,
standard - where the Avengers
fight invading aliens and floating
mechanical dolphins, that look
an awful lot like Transformers.
In a nutshell, the film is a bit
of a disappointment. With so
many protagonists and a pretty
complex story line, character
FiLM 21
Review: The Avengers (2012)
By Candice Ritchie, Film Team
At a time when exams are
looming and revision
is paramount, there is that
one word which pervades all
students’ lives: procrastination.
The most conventional forms of
procrastination often lie within
catch-up services such as 4oD and
BBC iPlayer, the often delayeduntil-now
room tidying, and most
commonly, social-networking
websites. However, I am always
drawn towards wanting to watch
a film, and this can prove deadly.
Whilst the occasional glance
at Twitter and Facebook can
span as little as ten minutes or
as lengthy as an entire hour, one
can exit its realms at any point.
However, once I’ve completed the
mammoth task of choosing my
film, and I’ve begun to watch it,
I always feel as though I have to
watch it in its entirety. Turning it
off halfway is just not an option.
Perhaps it’s just the unconscious
nature of film-watching which
influences me; it’s natural to
watch a film the whole way
through and essentially, it’s the
ultimate aim: to find out what
happens at the end. But whilst
this tactic is perfectly plausible
for the everyday film-watch, when
watching it for procrastination it
can be fatal: before you know it,
an hour and a half of your sacred
revision time has disappeared.
Whether film serves as more
of a time-waster or a satisfying
break from revision, however,
may depend on the time of day in
development is side-lined slightly.
Occasionally, the action gets a
little clichéd, and there’s a lot of
cliché in that 2-and-a half hour
gap! Whedon, in his defence, has
done a terrific job of portraying
Black Widow and Tony Stark.
However, the common idea that
everyone seems to have is that he
has made an awesome job with the
Hulk. I disagree. Ruffalo’s Banner
is believable and he does a pretty
good job, but the Hulk himself
has a minor role and is only
added for comedic value, in my
opinion. The film has much more
potential, only an average film
perhaps because of the build-up
to it. That said, it is a good laugh,
and the special effects are pretty
good even though 3D doesn’t add
that much to it. Definitely worth a
shot though, just don’t expect to
be blown away or swept off your
feet Superman-style.
Film: the ultimate procrastination?
which you use it to procrastinate.
Watching a film late at night as
a revision-break and vowing to
carry on working afterwards
may simply prove futile: more
often than not, I have chosen this
option and fallen asleep mid-film.
However, if you have revised in
the morning, for example, and
chosen a film as an afternoon
break, you’re more likely to
benefit from it because you’ll
have plenty of the day remaining
in order to continue revision
post-film.
Nonetheless, it is undeniable
that watching a film, although
no doubt one of the most
enjoyable, is one of the lengthiest
procrastinations one can choose.
Perhaps Twitter and Facebook
aren’t so bad after all…