Moving On and Moving In
So this is something a little different. I'm sorry for being incredibly consistent with my posts on this but on top of the last few months being extremely tough for me (as I imagine it has been for everyone), I was in the process of getting ready for the biggest change in my life. I have finally started studying film at university! Moving from one end of the country to another, sacrificing the Yorkshire countryside for the endearing busyness of London, it has been one hell of a change and especially disorientating in the current situation. There is, of course, an added layer of anger and confusion that came with this move, I was determined to finally start studying but walking into this situation completely ignorant to what university life will be like in the age of COVID-19 was a daunting thought. I'm paying a ridiculous amount of money to watch a series of incredibly dry video essays and attend awkward video calls that barely work and barely a word of support from the government. It is an incredibly frustrating situation to be in, it has exposed the upsetting reality behind how Universities function; prioritising business over their students. So I decided, whilst cooped up in my cupboard of a Student Accommodation that I would start to use this platform in a more traditional blog sense.
Throughout the 2 years of irregular posting on this website, I've usually abandoned structure in favour of writing pieces on whatever inspires me there and then. Usually, my writing came down to a series of incohesive passion projects, airing my thoughts and feelings on something that I became attached to in any way or form. It was freeing but it became difficult to motivate myself to write consistently and when going through phases of struggling every now and then I wasn't as proud as I wanted to be with some of my work. So I have decided to start a weekly film blog thing about my experiences at university and with studying film studies officially. It is probably going to be somehow even more sporadic and when times get tough 'weekly' may not always be true, but I think it will be healthy for me. It can feel lonely and frustrating right now and I think it is important to be able to express that, as well as being able to talk about some of the films I have had the pleasure of watching during the course (which theoretically should actually help my studies). Feedback and recommendations will always be welcome and I may even break this formula every now and then to write something a bit more traditional about something I have especially enjoyed. Without further ado, let's spend some time going over what I have watched and enjoyed during my first week at King's College London.
The Honeymoon Killers
This was a weird one to start studying with but a surprising little treat. As part of a more generic assignment to look at academic sources we were individually assigned a film, I was given the beloved cult thriller 'The Honeymoon Killers' It is one of those films which is more engaging as a piece of history than it is an actual film, the context and the history around 'The Honeymoon Killers' is fascinating whilst the film itself feels remarkably insignificant. The film was riding the wave of 'Bonnie and Clyde', aspiring to emulate its success by hiring budding newcomer Martin Scorsese before shifting gears and firing Marty for a wildcard opera composer Leonard Kastle. The film's take on the true story is surprisingly disturbing, Kastle really knows how to unnerve his audience but the poor sound quality and frustrating plot structure and pacing are tough for a modern-day audience to really get invested in. It's mostly worth it for the fantastic core performances and fascinatingly dark turns throughout, I really enjoyed finding out about the history behind this film and how much of a cult fascination it became.
Saturday Night and Sunday Morning
Usually, I can not stand the 'Kitchen Sink Drama' or 'British Social Realist Film' mostly becomes I find them to be repetitive and occasionally a little patronising. But I think there is a lot to really appreciate in this kind of revolutionary angry film from 1960 as it revels in striving forward with new ideas that became the norm in British Cinema. The story of a young working-class man frustrated and angry at a world he doesn't really understand is both riveting yet occasionally deeply sad. I really like how they characterised Finney's protagonist, he perfectly finds that middle ground between realistically downtrodden yet simultaneously the orchestrator of many of his own problems. So many films fall at that line for me, the pure anger and rage that compels the film is balanced well with a realistic portrayal of someone who makes some damning mistakes. I don't even know if this was ideally intentional when placed in context the masculine anger could have been completely in earnest. I think it is a really interesting film that has a fantastic pace and energy to it.
Jerry Maguire
Now I never expected to begin my Film Studies Degree at King's College London with studying in-depth a film like 'Jerry Maguire'. Granted this was part of the module on 1990's cinema but boy was this a disconcerting and questionable start. The film isn't bad so to speak, it is just kind of distractingly of its time and so entrapped in its own context that it becomes an insufferable time capsule into the bizarre life of the 90s. There isn't much going on in this film as it really boils down to just an unenthusiastic Tom Cruise romcom. For every iconic line, there are wades of dull and kind of insufferably wishy-washy filmmaking that I personally can't stand, I can appreciate this film for being the best of this 90s rom-com and I can especially appreciate Tom Cruise being the insane sociopath he is. But I found it hard to study, there's a difference between a film being a product of its context and a film being aware of its context, we had to attribute the socio-political landscape of the 90s to this film when in reality I feel like anything inferred is purely unintentional. I think the film is nothing more than what it wants to be; a cheesy rom-com appealing to the majority, nothing about it says a nuanced point about race relations, sexism or Bill Clinton.
Everything Else
Before my actual studies began I actually had a lot of time on my hands to watch some things for pure entertainment reasons! Can you imagine! I started watching Gareth Ennis' 'The Boys' which I enjoyed a lot more than I thought I would. I initially had a few false starts to the series due to its annoying commitment to being aggressively R rated but once I got past that I think it has some interesting things to say. Once the second season wraps up I might do a full review on it because I have quite a few thoughts about the show's relationship with its audience and the issues that may present. I also caught up on Louis Theroux' new retrospective series, as evident I am a big fan of everything Louis has done and this was especially rewarding here. Incredibly heartwarming, nostalgic and endearing, I really appreciate everything Louis had to say and this was a treat to get to dive in and reflect on his career (I wish I had written this afterwards!). Being in London was a terrifying thought but I knew I had friends nearby and enjoyed watching both the original Raimi Spiderman and the incredible 'Spiderman-Into The Spiderverse'', both films I enjoy for very different reasons.
And that's the lot! I think this is going to be a rewarding experience doing these mini-review things. I'm sure once my course really starts going, this week was much more of an introductory week, there will be a lot of exciting films and pieces of media that I will want to talk about. Thanks for sticking with me and as always, thanks for reading.