The Most Important Question about The Dark Knight Rises: Does Catwoman’s Outfit Include Little Catty Ears?

The Dark Knight Rises is nearing completion, and pretty much everyone is looking forward to seeing how Chris Nolan rounds off the the Batman saga. Given the simply staggering success of The Dark Knight, fans of the series more or less have complete trust in Nolan’s ability to give us a great adventure, but of course that’s not really important. The important thing, according to fans, is that the costumes look good. Seriously, that seems to be all the talk is about concerning The Dark Knight Rises, fans either moaning about the look of the new villain, or telling themselves that Anne Hathaway’s Catwoman will have a different, better, costume to the one they’ve already seen.

Most importantly, fans want to know if Catwoman’s outfit includes little catty ears, forget the plot, forget any depth of character, forget even the action and special effects, the fans must know; does Catwoman’s outfit includes little catty ears?!

Well, it does yes, in fact she looks pretty much like she does in the comics, give or take a couple of adjustments. Of course you couldn’t expect her to look exactly the same as she does in the comics, everyone knows that would be impossible, and comic book costumes don’t always translate well to film anyway (just look at Wolverine’s original spandex outfit) and yet the fans still aren’t happy. Why? Because Catwoman doesn’t look exactly the same as she does in the comic. 

It must be difficult to take your fans seriously when their lamentations are so, so superficial, when all they care about is the surface detail of a cartoon character, and not the emotional potential said character may have on the big screen. Anne Hathaway has recently spoke out about the issue, calling bullshit on all the so called fans who bitch about the look of Catwoman, but I get the feeling Nolan himself just isn’t giving a shit. And I think that’s for the best, Chris Nolan is a director who just gets on with, and produces films that turn out as big fuck you’s to the non-believers. Every Batman fan salivates when the subject of Nolan’s joker comes up, like he’s the best invention since canned bread, they seem to forget Heath Ledger was just the heart-throb from Casanova and Brokeback Mountain.

Vote for Gorilla Film Magazine!

Gorilla Film Magazine is a new independent publication, based in London. Our aim is to promote the work of small, truly independent filmmakers and provide useful practical guides to aspiring artists.

But we can’t do this alone! Ever since we started this thing it’s been an uphill struggle. Actually, that metaphor is a little too mild for my liking, imagine instead a raging torrent of water, chaotic river rapids snaking down as far as the eye can see. Gorilla Film Magazine is sat in a little wooden crate with a hole in it, desperately paddling away with a bit of old bone. You can help us! Simply vote for us on Enterprise Nation and we could win £250. It might not seem like much, but remember the river rapids metaphor. We need all the help we can get.

Click here to vote for Gorilla Film Magazine on Enterprise Nation.

Thanks!

Star Wars: The Complete Saga

Star Wars: The Complete Saga (Episodes I-VI) Ltd. Edition Film Cell (Blu-ray) is now available for all you die hard fans out there. For just £60 you could be the proud owner of the (currently) definitive Star Wars boxset! Except, if you truly are a die hard fan, I beg you to reconsider purchasing this abomination. OK, sure, The Complete Saga will offer you the best visual and audio quality of the six films, and there are indeed hours upon hours of extras, from deleted scenes to interviews, to full-blown documentaries. There’s a lot here, it’s tempting, I can understand that, but it’s also evil.

You don’t know the power of the Dark Side 

George Lucas hates you, and he wants to rob you of the child-like wonder you had watching the original trilogy. He’s already done his best to destroy the mystery and mythology of Star Wars by making the prequels, but he won’t be satisfied until the magical story you once experienced is totally re-written and homogenized. Sure it’s happened before, Lucas has been tinkering away on Star Wars his entire life, but the outcry from fans about Greedo shooting first and Hayden Christensen’s appearance at the Ewok party was not enough to satisfy Lucas’s thirst for human tears. Now, Star Wars the Complete Saga offers even more nostalgia killers, from blinking Ewoks to Obi-Wan’s new and improved scary dragon scream. And for all you fans of Darth Vader’s hilarious “NOOOOO” at the end of Revenge of the Sith, it’s back! This time ruining the Sith lord’s silent self sacrifice at the end of Return of the Jedi.

Fuck you

You might argue that it’s fair for George Lucas to tamper with his own films, you might even claim that we’re simply seeing Star Wars the way it was meant to be seen. But once you make something, it’s out there, and it becomes part of the social consciousness. It’s no longer just Lucas’ plaything, but he keeps treating it as something to distract him from the fact that he hasn’t directed anything original since 1977. And besides, Lucas never had total control over the original trilogy, he was constantly being challenged and forced to compromise, which is healthy for any production because this is what gets unique and interesting results. That didn’t happen with the prequels, there was nothing to challenge Lucas, and the difference in quality speaks for itself. The reason why Lucas can continue to get away with diluting his films is because people keep buying these pointless re-releases. Lets put a stop to it people! I for one am going to dig out my old VHS copies and appreciate the true spirit of Star Wars.

Pictured: the true spirit of Star Wars  

These current defacements are just the beginning. Today, engineers with their computers can add color to black-and-white movies, change the soundtrack, speed up the pace, and add or subtract material to the philosophical tastes of the copyright holder. Tomorrow, more advanced technology will be able to replace actors with “fresher faces,” or alter dialogue and change the movement of the actor’s lips to match. It will soon be possible to create a new “original” negative with whatever changes or alterations the copyright holder of the moment desires. 

- George Lucas  1988

What is Gorilla Film Magazine?

So what exactly is Gorilla Film Magazine? Well we’re certainly not just one thing, that would be ridiculous. In addition to this blog there’s obviously a rather awesome website, where we review both feature films and shorts, and archive a lot of films we like, so you can watch them straight from our site. We also have a fair bit of film theory, news about upcoming film-related events, as well as interviews with interesting filmmakers. Incidentally, as we’re all young, hip and cool, we’ve got our very own Facebook page, managed by this guy, and a Tw*tter account to keep you in the loop. It’s totally rad. People still say rad, right?

Of course primarily we’re a magazine, which means there are 64 page, full colour copies of Gorilla Film Magazine floating around London. Issues 1 and 2 have already been printed, and are full of sexy content you won’t find on the site. We have interviews with people like Elliot Grove, Oscar Sharp and Jack Garfein, a ton of stuff on the independent film world, tips on practical filmmaking including guides on how to write scripts and identifying stories and characters. We even have our very own ‘top five’ lists, and if you want an example of how we handle such an overused formula, check out our Top Five Alternatives to Summer Blockbusters on the website.

Gorilla Film Magazine wants to raise awareness for films and projects you might not otherwise have heard of, and talk about film in an interesting way without getting bogged down by too much pretentious waffle. There’s plenty of tips for aspiring filmmakers, as well as some down to earth theoritical stuff, including a continuing essay about movie monsters.

If you want to grab yourself a copy, you can buy them online. They’re about four pounds, depending on where you are, and we’ll use the money to buy alcohol print more copies.

We don’t just make magazines, blogs and websites though, we’re not lazy, we also spend a good deal of time hosting or co-hosting events around London. We’ve had film nights, we did a Treasure Hunt for the East End Film Festival, a 46 Hour Film Competition and entertained the Student Film Festival with our spin-the-wheel premise-making game. We’ll keep you informed about our next event, hopefully we’ll get to do a lot more film nights soon.

Finally, an important part of Gorilla Film Magazine is the community, we like the idea that anyone can get in touch with an idea for an article, or a film they want to send us. If you’d like to get involved in any way, send us an email to content@gorillafilmmagazine.com. We welcome all contributions, and if we like you we’ll happily promote your work.

So that’s us, Gorilla Film Magazine. Issue 3 will be coming online very soon, as a kind of celebration of our new and improved website, so stay tuned for that. If you have any further questions I believe the video below should make everything clear. Have a wonderful day.

The Goon gets CG Animated Adaptation

Making it’s debut in the late nineties, The Goon is a comic book series that follows the adventures of a hulking, muscular brawler who pretends to be an enforcer for the mobster he killed. Eric Powell is both writer and artist, The Goon being very much his baby, and is currently involved in bringing the comic to the big screen. While I’ve had more than enough of comic book movie adaptations, The Goon promises to be something quite different. Powell will be writing the story, while David Fincher produces and Clancy Brown and Paul Giamatti provide the voices. The film is CG animated, but retains a distinctly comic-book feel, down to the ‘blunked out’ eyes of Franky, a traditional flare found in many great newspaper comic strip characters, such as Little Orphan Annie.

The Goon looks to be a highly enjoyable animated movie, with an old school feel and an adult sense of humour. And I for one am very much looking forward to the big screen adaptation about two gangsters trying to make their way in the world. Oh, and they also have to deal with the zombies, vampires, witches, evil priests, demons, tentacle monsters and hobos that have infested their city.

The Goon is still in development, and there’s no word on a release date or even a plot. However there are a few trailers and clips, presumably test footage to get investors interested in the project. For more infomation, and updates, check out The Goon’s website by clicking on this link.

Check out the hilarious clip below!

Screening of 4Q Films: Serious about Silly

Gorilla Film Magazine is still making use of the free drinks at the 4Q films screening, when the lights finally dim and Anton Short steps into the spotlight. Hurriedly, we sit down, and merge with the small crowd of friends and co-workers, still gulping at the wine and beer, and spilling salted peanuts into our laps.

“I actually wrote something for the occasion” says Anton, as he prepares to show his portfolio of short films, that he made under the 4Q films title “it was clever, full of gags, nothing like this.” everyone laughs, Anton seems like a nice chap and the relaxed atmosphere, and free bottles of social lubricant, puts us in a fine mood.

There is a time and a place for arthouse cinema… This isn’t it

The portfolio is a selection of short films and even shorter sketches, the latter being performed by So On And So Forth, three comedy performers who seem like they’re destined for great things. Anton’s films are both funny and cruel, but also surprisingly warm. Living With Mum tells the story of a man’s awkward relationship with his mother, which was strained when she was alive, and even worse now that she’s undead. Sharing a house with zombie mum might be really annoying for young Jake, but it gives him a chance to work through some issues, and patch things up. The film has an element of Braindead, which of course you can trace back to Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho, but this is just a superficial resemblance and actually the tone is very different. Living With Mum is not a horror film, in fact it’s the cuddliest short at the 4Q screening, with a genuine sweetness, evoking lighthearted laughs.

So On And So Forth

Suicide Tuesday, on the other hand, is a little different.
“I didn’t mean to go so far with that one,” says Anton apologetically “it ended up quite dark.” It’s the better for it; Suicide Tuesday is a gleefully cruel tale of a man who attempts to commit suicide, only to be told he needs a permit “I think it’s a universal feeling, it’s hard not to get fed up with all the bureaucracy that controls our lives. I was fairly pissed off when I wrote that script.” Despite the grim concept, there’s still a jolliness to the film which appears to be a staple of Anton’s work, indeed the tagline for 4Q films is ‘Serious about Silly’ and I think that rather elegantly sums up the theme.

The final short film was Tube Rage, a fun little sketch shot on the London Underground. The film shows off some rather wonderful prosthetics from make-up artist Hayley Barkway, who worked on the film for her graduation.

Says Barkway “I liked the idea of a classical werewolf character in such a modern setting. Although actually shooting on location was a nightmare; we didn’t have much time at all” in the film, a frustrated individual succumbs to Tube Rage and literally transforms into a beast man. The film is funny, but ends all too abruptly, perhaps a consequence of shooting in such a difficult environment. “The guy in the make-up is my boyfriend,” adds Barkway “he’s not an actor, but he’s someone I had regular access to! He actually got quite into it, but it must have been strange for other people on the tube, seeing this werewolf walking around”.

Hayley Barkway’s werewolf, getting Tube Rage

“Thanks for your patience,” says Anton, after the quickest screening Gorilla Film Magazine has ever been to “please stick around, there’s lot of interesting people to talk to, and more importantly there’s alcohol”.

We congratulate Anton Short on his pleasant screening, and ask him about his decision to have such a small gathering of people in such a spacious venue “I should have invited more people, shouldn’t I?” he sighs “or got a smaller venue, the place looks empty!” we ask him what’s next for 4Q films “right now I’m just plugging these films, and wondering whether I should just make them available to watch online. They’re not at the moment because I want them eligible for festivals, but now I’m thinking I’d rather just have as many people watching them as possible. That’s what it’s really all about, isn’t it?”

Rebuilding a relationship in Living With Mum

The people at the event all seem to be either involved in Anton’s projects or just enthusiastic friends, so this feels less like a screening and more like a celebration. However, 4Q films could certainly do with some more exposure, the shorts were fantastic, and Gorilla Film Magazine has a lot of respect for such a noble cause. There seems to be a focus on comedy that has a strong narrative, as well as a genuine passion for taking silly ideas seriously.

Check out the 4Q films website, to learn more and watch some funny clips.

You can also follow Anton Short on Tw*tter by clicking on this link.

Torchwood: Miracle Day Doesn’t Suck

Torchwood has been rightly thought of as the deformed brother of Doctor Who, the one your parents locked in the attic five years ago and never speak of. Strangely, the latest series, Miracle Day, is not only a darkly intense thriller full of extreme violence, sex, America, gallows humour and moral grey areas, it’s also actually quite good.

John Barrowman is back, still camp but in a grim sort of way, trying to solve the problem of eternal life, which has been bestowed upon the entire population of Earth. While some see this miracle day as a blessing, other, less stupid, individuals understand how dire things are about to become, as disease spreads unchecked, hospitals overflow and bureaucrats redefine what is technically ‘alive’ and who can be classified as ‘dead’. There’s still plenty of cheese for those of you who like the Doctor Who connection, but Miracle Day is a surprisingly intelligent thriller, and a welcome departure from what one might expect from a science fiction television show largely set in Wales.

Torchwood: Miracle Day stars John Barrowman, Eve Myles, Mekhi Phifer and Bill Pullman. It is available to watch now on BBC iplayer.

The 46-hour Film Jam

On the 24th of June SAE and Gorilla Film Magazine hosted a 46-hour film competition, hoping to encourage young filmmakers to get off their arses and make a movie. The team leaders put their hands into the mystery box and plucked out a scrap of paper with their theme written on it, they were also given a mug to use as a prop and a random line of dialogue to fit into their film. Each movie would be about three minutes in length and had to be delivered before the deadline on the 26^th, otherwise they wouldn’t be eligible to win a prize and their film wouldn’t be shown on a big, shiny screen. A couple of the teams were still rendering their films come the screening, and some of them didn’t even have time to submit, but nevertheless the films that were shown were a joy to watch and it was surprising to see how well these shorts had come together, despite the amount of time the filmmakers had to write, shoot and edit their babies.

Getting started

Out of the selection of shorts that were shown, three would go on to win prizes, and it was down to three judges to decide what films deserved the honour. After a half hour of energetic discussion, in which most of the conversation boiled down to how surprising the quality of the shorts were, the three judges shuffled awkwardly to the front of the screening room and announced the winners. Third place was ‘Ben’, the judges were impressed not only with the inventive camerawork and coherent story line, but also with how the filmmakers had taken the theme of ‘redemption’ and turned it on it’s head, showing how the idea of redemption can really mean something different depending on the individual.

The prizes are handed out

The second place went to ‘Ashes’, a beautifully shot film about lost love. The judges enjoyed the mood the film created, and appreciated the stylish, clever visuals and intriguing contrast of narratives.

First place went to Love Against the Odds, a heartfelt little film about the wonder of love. The film itself was a narrative of imagery, focusing more on objects, or landscapes rather than the couple who long to be with each other. We glimpse a quick shot of the protagonists, but the majority of the time we only see associations in the form of random items, which builds a feeling of nostalgia and a kind of understanding of what love is like in a long-term relationship. The tone of the film is light and breezy, and the expression of love bursts out of the semantics and gives you a hug. The imagery that is usually presented when dealing with the subject of love, such as kissing, is never shown, because it doesn’t need to be, the film is about love itself, no the presentation of it.

The judges and the winners of the competition 

This is the first time either SAE or Gorilla Film Magazine have hosted a 46-hour film competition, but I’m sure it won’t be the last. Check out the winner of the competition below.

Heavenly Creatures: Remastered

Heavenly Creatures: Remastered is coming to blu-ray and DVD, complete with postcards and documentaries. While the talking heads of film critics reminiscing might not be all that much to get excited about, it is nice that such an outstanding film is once again in our collective consciousness. Heavenly Creatures is a fantastical fairy tale of love, adventure, magical kingdoms and horrifying murder. Based on the Parker-Hulme incident, the film tells the story of two girls who fall in love in 1950s New Zealand, only to discover that such behaviour is apparently evil. Perhaps things could have been different, but the suppression of the girl’s desires for each other quickly leads them down a path of madness and infatuation.

Pictured: Madness and infatuation

Rather than being allowed to blossom as lovers, the two girls, Pauline and Juliet (played by Melanie Lynskey and Kate Winslet respectively) become obsessed with one another, to the point where they fail to cope in the real world, retreating further and further into a fantasyland. When it becomes apparent to the girls that Pauline’s mother is the predominant obstacle between them and their freedom, they begin to plan her murder. It’s all frightfully romantic! Heavenly Creatures was the film that proved Director Peter Jackson understood fantasy, although personally I’m still waiting for a Braindead: Remastered.

Heavenly Creatures: Remastered will be released on the 12^th of September on blu-ray and DVD.