Calling all creators: do you want an opportunity for your work to be in print!? Each year Quench publishes its annual arts supplement magazine; T┼À Celf, and we are now looking for submissions! We are after contributions from Cardiff University students (both undergrad and postgrad) in the form of photography, poetry, prose and artworks (both digital and traditional mediums). If chosen your contribution will be … Continue reading T┼À Celf 2016/17
As a part of the BFIÔÇÖs love season, Darkened Rooms and Chapter Arts Centre screened Breathless and Am├®lie upstairs in the French restaurant Le Monde. Lines of red seats were set up in front of the projector screen, with a bar near the back serving food and drink. PeopleÔÇÖs silhouettes were superimposed on the bottom of the screen as they moved to their seats like … Continue reading Review: L’amour at Le Monde
Halloween is upon us, and thus begins the battle to watch as many of the seemingly infinite number of horror films as possible. While you may associate horror films with the likes of ghosts, gore and creepy children, a key feature of the horror genre is, in my opinion, women. You may ask: ÔÇÿwhy!? What do women have to do with anything?ÔÇÖ The answer is, … Continue reading Scream Queens and Final Girls: the Portrayal of Women in Postmodern Horror Films
┬áFollowing the release of PixarÔÇÖs ÔÇÿInside OutÔÇÖ, Eleanor Parkyn interviewed former Cardiff University student Paul Oakley who has been working as a Lighting Technical Director at Pixar for the last 5 years. How did you end up working for Pixar? I did my fine art degree and then I went travelling for a long time and met someone who worked in film and they suggested … Continue reading Interview: Inside Out
The opening scene of The Last Witch Hunter made me think. It made me think ÔÇÿGod, those Lord of the Rings films really were pretty good.ÔÇÖ Some of the opening images, sweeping shots of magnificent vistas, arenÔÇÖt just reminiscent of the Tolkein-based trilogy they are almost ripping it off. And the same goes for the way in which the intrepid band of heroes-on-a-quest are filmed … Continue reading Review: The Last Witch Hunter
Just a few years ago the thought of watching horror films and television shows was non-existent for me. An episode of Midsummer Murders was about the level of thrill and fear I could handle without enduring sleepless nights with the light left on. Now, with the rise of the TV horror genre, I, like many others, have watched through my fingers as the gruesome scenes … Continue reading Netflix and Thrill: The Rise of Horror TV
Time travel has been a prominent theme within films and TV shows for decades, and why not? It allows us to explore the possibilities of things that could have drastically changed history and the course of the future. What if someone could travel back in time and give 17th century London the cure for the Black Plague? Will the world be under water in the … Continue reading I’ll Be Back- Time Travel in the Movies
Rather than opening Macbeth with the classic battle featured in Act One of ShakespeareÔÇÖs tragedy, Australian director Justin Kurzel presents a motif that appears throughout the film: childhood, and the innocence (or lack of) that comes with it. The dead baby, or ÔÇÿbabeÔÇÖ, placed centre frame in the opening shot isnÔÇÖt so much a standalone metaphor within itself, but a reflection on what is to … Continue reading Review: Macbeth
Solace? More like boring. I donÔÇÖt understand this film. ItÔÇÖs meant to be a mystery thriller but I didnÔÇÖt find any mystery and little to no thrills. Solace has an interesting concept: a series of murders take place that all share a similar method of killing, which leave no trace of the killerÔÇÖs presence, and FBI detectives named Joe (Jeffery Dean Morgan) and Katherine (Abbie … Continue reading Review: Solace
With Inside Out Pixar have staged a triumphant return to form. Directed by Pete Docter the film tells the story of Riley, a young girl, struggling to adjust with her familyÔÇÖs relocation from Minnesota to San Francisco. However, Riley is actually the filmÔÇÖs setting rather than its main protagonist with the majority of the action taking place inside her mind. This is where the film … Continue reading Review: Inside Out
I feel fairly safe in saying that Guy RitchieÔÇÖs latest offering provides the viewer with style over substance. Much like the directorÔÇÖs previous Sherlock Holmes installments, The Man from U.N.C.L.E (an abbreviation which isnÔÇÖt explained until the closing credits, and one I certainly canÔÇÖt remember) is an absolute treat to look at, and delivers a nicely palatable mixture of laughs and action, yet lacks the … Continue reading Review: The Man from U.N.C.L.E
I walked into the cinema room expecting the worst. Edgar Wright, who basically led all the pre-production of the film, had dropped out of the project as film director weeks before filming, making the press doom the whole film. Also, the thought of ÔÇÿAnt-ManÔÇÖ himself entering the vast Marvel movie universe (which includes big and robust built superheroes like Captain America and Thor) seemed bizarre … Continue reading Review: Ant-Man
This week marks the 20th anniversary of Larry ClarkÔÇÖs film Kids. Filmed in a documentary-like manner, ClarkÔÇÖs bleak portrayal of 1990s youth follows a group of teens in New York City over a period of 24 hours as they drink, take drugs and have lots and lots of sex. Strikingly different from the 1990s New York City we saw in other media, such as Sex … Continue reading Are controversial films worth it? 20 years on from Kids
Mad MaxÔÇÖ world is fire and bloodÔǪ this is no understatement. After a hiatus which would seem an eternity, director George Miller finally returns to the post-apocalyptic Mad Max universe. A place in which resources such as fuel are viciously fought over and where water is ruthlessly rationed to the remaining survivors of this barren wasteland. Rust, desert and decay are in abundance and are … Continue reading Review: Mad Max: Fury Road
Possibly one of the most highly anticipated, highest grossing and most discussed films of 2015, Jurassic World was bound to leave a big impression on people one way or another. With an accomplished female lead (Bryce Dallas Howard), a capable velociraptor trainer (Chris Pratt), dinosaurs, dinosaurs, and did I mention dinosaurs, Jurassic World seems like an infallible formula. Indeed if you are looking for a … Continue reading Review: Jurassic World
