(Welcome to The Daily Stream, an ongoing series in which the /Film team shares what they've been watching, why it's worth checking out, and where you can stream it.)
The Episode: "Black Mirror," season 1, episode 2, "Fifteen Million Merits"
Where You Can Stream It: Netflix
The Pitch: The official Netflix synopsis of "Fifteen Million Merits" is:
"After failing to impress the judges on a singing competition show, a woman must perform degrading acts or return to a slave-like existence."
The woman in question is Abi, played by Jessica Brown Findlay, who later co-starred in the Peacock adaptation of Aldous Huxley's "Brave New World," one of the great dystopian novels. Yet in some ways, Abi functions as more of an ideal for Bing, who gives an impassioned speech in "Fifteen Million Merits" where he refers to Abi and her singing talent as "the one thing I ever came close to anything real about.
The Episode: "Black Mirror," season 1, episode 2, "Fifteen Million Merits"
Where You Can Stream It: Netflix
The Pitch: The official Netflix synopsis of "Fifteen Million Merits" is:
"After failing to impress the judges on a singing competition show, a woman must perform degrading acts or return to a slave-like existence."
The woman in question is Abi, played by Jessica Brown Findlay, who later co-starred in the Peacock adaptation of Aldous Huxley's "Brave New World," one of the great dystopian novels. Yet in some ways, Abi functions as more of an ideal for Bing, who gives an impassioned speech in "Fifteen Million Merits" where he refers to Abi and her singing talent as "the one thing I ever came close to anything real about.
- 2/22/2023
- by Joshua Meyer
- Slash Film
Even the best football movies struggle to capture the sport's drama on film. The worst (and there are many) are truly abysmal
Why has cinema found football to be such a tricky customer? Football scenes in film and television are traditionally very awkward affairs, with the "defenders" tip-toeing nervously around the "attackers" as they advance, the goal finally coming via the sort of impractical flying volley you just never see on a real pitch. It's clearly very difficult to let someone score a script-dictated goal while pretending to try to stop them but, at the same time, trying not to look like you're pretending to try to stop them. Perhaps they teach it at Rada, who knows?
Furthermore, filmmakers have the challenge of adding a fictional big-screen gloss to what is already an overwhelmingly camera-friendly and consistently dramatic spectacle in its own right. Real-life football already has its own "script...
Why has cinema found football to be such a tricky customer? Football scenes in film and television are traditionally very awkward affairs, with the "defenders" tip-toeing nervously around the "attackers" as they advance, the goal finally coming via the sort of impractical flying volley you just never see on a real pitch. It's clearly very difficult to let someone score a script-dictated goal while pretending to try to stop them but, at the same time, trying not to look like you're pretending to try to stop them. Perhaps they teach it at Rada, who knows?
Furthermore, filmmakers have the challenge of adding a fictional big-screen gloss to what is already an overwhelmingly camera-friendly and consistently dramatic spectacle in its own right. Real-life football already has its own "script...
- 2/27/2014
- by Adam Hurrey
- The Guardian - Film News
Suffering withdrawal symptoms after Euro 2012? This week's clip joint tackles the best football scenes in cinema
This week's Clip joint is by Ashley Clark, who also wrote Clip joints on breaking the fourth wall, mirrors and arguments. He runs the film blog Permanent Plastic Helmet. You can follow it on Twitter at @PPlasticHelmet, and/or him @_ash_clark.
Think you can do better than Ashley? If you've got an idea for a future Clip joint, pop an email over to adam.boult@guardian.co.uk
As the dust settles on tiki-taka titans Spain's soaraway success at the Euro 2012, our thoughts have turned to football's ever-complex relationship with film. Blessed with a fast pace and unpredictable rhythms, the action of the game is rather difficult to capture authentically without looking fake or telegraphed, but that hasn't stopped a number of film-makers trying their luck. Others, meanwhile, have simply used the raw...
This week's Clip joint is by Ashley Clark, who also wrote Clip joints on breaking the fourth wall, mirrors and arguments. He runs the film blog Permanent Plastic Helmet. You can follow it on Twitter at @PPlasticHelmet, and/or him @_ash_clark.
Think you can do better than Ashley? If you've got an idea for a future Clip joint, pop an email over to adam.boult@guardian.co.uk
As the dust settles on tiki-taka titans Spain's soaraway success at the Euro 2012, our thoughts have turned to football's ever-complex relationship with film. Blessed with a fast pace and unpredictable rhythms, the action of the game is rather difficult to capture authentically without looking fake or telegraphed, but that hasn't stopped a number of film-makers trying their luck. Others, meanwhile, have simply used the raw...
- 7/4/2012
- by Guardian readers
- The Guardian - Film News
Tina Mabry's "Mississippi Damned," an independent American production, won the Gold Hugo as the best film in the 2009 Chicago International Film Festival, and added Gold Plaques for best supporting actress (Jossie Thacker) and best screenplay (Mabry). It tells the harrowing story of three black children growing up in rural Mississippi in circumstances of violence and addiction. The film's trailer and an interview with Mabry are linked at the bottom.
Kylee Russell in "Mississippi Damned"
The win came over a crowed field of competitors from all over the world, many of them with much larger budgets. The other big winner at the Pump Room of the Ambassador East awards ceremony Saturday evening was by veteran master Marco Bellocchio of Italy, who won the Silver Hugo as best director for "Vincere," the story of Mussolini's younger brother. Giovanna Mezzogiorno and Filippo Timi won Silver Hugos as best actress and actor,...
Kylee Russell in "Mississippi Damned"
The win came over a crowed field of competitors from all over the world, many of them with much larger budgets. The other big winner at the Pump Room of the Ambassador East awards ceremony Saturday evening was by veteran master Marco Bellocchio of Italy, who won the Silver Hugo as best director for "Vincere," the story of Mussolini's younger brother. Giovanna Mezzogiorno and Filippo Timi won Silver Hugos as best actress and actor,...
- 10/23/2009
- by Roger Ebert
- blogs.suntimes.com/ebert
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