AvidBards
Movies

Dark Humour in “Kingsman: Secret Service”

Happy Sunday, everyone! A little bit of academic writing never hurt anyone, so today I’m posting yet another one of my old essays I wrote for a film class back in university. The essay focuses on Kingsman: Secret Service (2014), offering an academic view on the use of dark humour, satire, and self reflexivity in the film, and how it created a successful movie. Enjoy! The British-American movie Kingsman: Secret Service, directed by Matthew Vaughn, is characterized as an “action-comedy spy film”, starring Taron Egerton, Colin Firth, Samuel L. Jackson, and Mark Strong. The film both embraces the classical Hollywood…

View Post
Movies

“Ocean’s 8” Film Review

The highly anticipated film, considered a “gender-bent” version of the original Ocean’s trilogy, Ocean’s 8 (directed by Gary Ross) is doing really well at the box office. But how does it compare to the original series, or even fare as a standalone film? The reviews so far are a mixed bag, and after watching the movie, I can truthfully say I understand some of those perspectives, even though I thoroughly enjoyed the film. Here’s what I thought. Warning: spoilers ahead! Ocean’s 8 (2018) starred an incredible ensemble cast, and I was super excited to see some of my favourite actresses interact…

View Post
Movies

“The Greatest Showman” Unveiled

The Real History Behind P. T. Barnum and The Circus The Greatest Showman has quickly become a favourite amongst new releases in the last six months and I am in no way and exception to that. I absolutely adored the movie! How could you not? Everything from the characters, the music, the society defying love story were utterly lovable. However, despite all the feel-good feelings I got out watching it and listening to “This is Me” on repeat, I could not shake the discomfort I felt at the blatant re-writing of history going on in this movie. For any of…

View Post
Collaborative

Avengers: Infinity War – Flop or Fab?

Major spoilers for Avengers: Infinity War ahead! You have been warned! As is evident by the other blog posts we have done on the Avengers series (which you can read here, and here), Avengers: Infinity War (2018) was highly anticipated by us. With a budget of $322 million, the expectation for a mind-blowing film was high. And while the effects and the large star-studded cast certainly added to the glamour of the film, it inspired some dissatisfaction. Aside from seeing the collaboration between all the characters in the different Marvel movies (with the sole exception of Ant-Man, curiously) and the…

View Post
Reflections

Visibility in Marvel’s Black Panther

“Can you believe that? A kid from Oakland running around believing in fairytales.” Erik Stevens, Black Panther, 2018 Marvel’s latest movie adapts the comic book character, which first emerged in 1966 and was first introduced in Captain America: Civil War (2016), to present the feature film, Black Panther. The film is majorly set in the fictional African nation of Wakanda, the home of super-metal vibranium which has allowed extensive technological advancements and prosperity to be achieved in the country. However, Wakanda is hidden “in plain sight” from the rest of the world, believed to be a poor third world country,…

View Post
Reflections

“Call Me By Your Name”: Film & Book Comparison

A book and film comparison of the critically lauded story, “Call Me By Your Name.”

View Post

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Where to next?