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Month: April 2016

Review: Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice

Batman v Superman has been met with overwhelming disdain by critics, but just how bad is it? As a fan of Man of Steel and a comic book enthusiast, I am very much part of the intended audience for Batman v Superman. So it comes with a heavy heart to proclaim that the film is indeed a crippling failure. The movie will no doubt be a financial success, but it falls considerably short of living up to the promise of the greatest gladiator match in the history of the world.

The promotional material for the film has not helped its cause. Any slightly astute viewer of the endless glut of trailers released by Warner Bros. would be able to piece together the entire plot of the film. As a result, more giddiness and excitement was elicited from viewing teasers on a laptop months before release, than in the cinema watching the feature itself.

The main criticism of Man of Steel involved the climactic battle between Superman and General Zod, where the buildings and residents of Metropolis were left decimated by a smorgasbord of CGI. It is only right then that the director, Zack Snyder, has purposely attempted to correct said errors, by showing Superman dealing with the consequences of his negligence. Unfortunately, Henry Cavill has little material to work with. Instead of focusing on the inner conflict residing within Kal-El, we see the arrival of Ben Affleck’s Batman. He is a world-weary Bruce Wayne, one that has seen too many villains during his long tenure and won’t allow an alien with the power to wipe out the human race roam free. The announcement of Affleck’s casting was met with unanimous negativity, so the fact that he is the one positive feature of the film is ironic to say the least. His motivations and methods as Batman are different enough from the incarnations of the past, distinguishing himself in this new universe.

The action scenes are no doubt a visual treat, but lack the intrigue and engagement. Jesse Eisenberg is horribly miscast as Lex Luthor, coming across as nothing more than an annoyance, and bearing little resemblance to the character’s true intimidating and menacing roots. The ever-reliable Hans Zimmer also misfires horrendously with his musical contribution. His Man of Steel score is still present and resonates well with the character, but Wonder Woman’s harpy shrill and Luthor’s classical accompaniments are both uninspired. Batman himself is sorely missing a compelling leitmotif. Zimmer was responsible for the seminal theme of The Dark Knight, so asking him to repeat the same magic again was a big ask.

Ultimately, the rushed nature of the project in order to compete with the dizzy heights of The Avengers is a wild mistake. The spectre of Marvel resides heavily over the whole film. Viewers were able to learn about the heroes first, with Iron Man, Captain America and Thor in their own solo adventures. When they finally united, the moment felt earned. Gal Gadot’s Wonder Women suffered most from this issue as she was given sparse development. A solo Wonder Woman film released beforehand would have been of great benefit.

Where the film really deteriorates is the inherently poor storytelling. There are four films within one—a Man of Steel sequel, a Batman introduction film, Batman v Superman (the fight itself lasting only a short period of the running time) and finally, a Justice League setup. Scene after scene goes by with no substantial connective thread to tie together these various plotlines. Simply put, there are too many elements being juggled, and with the addition of dream sequences and flashbacks, the narrative is unnecessarily complicated. With the introduction of so many new characters and the plugging of future films, the end product is overlong and soulless.

A brave and challenging failure would have been acknowledged with more respect than the safe, checklist-ticking approach employed. The film’s biggest offence however, is that it is solely reliant on the iconography of the characters to sell the story and at no point does Batman v Superman ever add to its own glorious mythology.

2/5

Alternative uses: Coconut oil

Some alternative uses for the white gold:

1. Car Fuel
Amazing! A hippie-approved peaceful method of powering your engine and single-handedly boycotting the oil industry. As if this wasn’t brilliant enough, your exhaust will also emit the delicious smells of the Caribbean as you chug along. Add a touch of pineapple juice for extra flavour.

2. Toothpaste
You heard of it as a hair mask, you heard of it as body lotion. But did you think of smearing the good stuff all over your pearly whites?! Behold! There is no limit to coconut oil’s cosmetic value. Simply immerse your teeth in a chilled block of the stuff and let nature do the rest. For best results leave on all day and use the excess for lip balm. It will make your teeth appear super shiny and kissable. Mmm.

3. Food preservative
Do you ever find that your fruit goes off before you get chance to eat or use it? Never worry again! Slather the contents of your bowl in a protective layer of coconut oil. But don’t tell your housemates, they might be freaked out. Enjoy watching them as apples and bananas continue to slip from their hands.

4. Contraception
Now this one isn’t 100 per cent, so by law we must disclaim any responsibility for the results of this one. But apparently, sticking a spoon on your nose using the coconut oil as a kind of ‘glue’—if you will—helps to reduce chances of impregnation during intercourse. This may not be foolproof, but at least you’ll look good.

5. Self defence spray
Mix two tablespoons of coconut oil with 1 teaspoon of ground black pepper and 100ml water in a spray bottle. Keep in an inside pocket and generously spritz enemies in the face any time danger is perceived.

So there we have it. Five more invaluable uses for the legendary coconut oil! What has coconut oil done for you? Helped you lose weight? Fixed your marriage? Got you a first class degree? Let us know how we can benefit further from this heaven sent product in the comments below.

Review: Anomalisa

Charlie Kaufman, the acclaimed screenwriter of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and Being John Malkovich, once again explores the theme of interiority and the minefield of human relations. This time it’s in collaboration with Duke Johnson in a stop motion comedy-drama and bizarre love story about a man in the midst of a midlife crisis.

Michael Stone, a celebrity in the world of customer service (David Thewlis), feels alienated and bored with life. Having travelled to Cincinnati to deliver a speech at a seminar, he has a stilted phone conversation with his wife, child, and a failed reunion with an old girlfriend—whom he walked out on years ago—at his hotel.

It is here that he is suddenly enchanted by the passing voice of the giggly, self-deprecating super-fan, Lisa (Jennifer Jason Leigh), in which he sees something extraordinarily beautiful. She is the only one able to reach Michael in a world of monotonous, colourless mundanity; an anomaly… Anomalisa.

Anomalisa is a perfect exploration of internalised, depressive isolation as Michael’s view of society is a mass of faceless faces where everyone—besides one other solely ‘special’ person—looks and sounds so tediously similar, as Tom Noonan’s perfectly bland tone voices every other character besides Michael and Lisa.

As Michael suffers the dreariness of his stay in the featureless ‘luxury’ hotel room, Kaufman’s ironic humour wittily exposes the customer service industry with its hollow attempts to suit the needs of every ‘individual’ whilst following the same dehumanised script for the masses, thereby examining the concept of independence within an artificial society on a larger scale, with an (actual) set of mindless, manipulated puppets. It is with this trademark cynicism that Kaufman critiques the romantic notion of ‘soulmates’, as Michael is self-absorbed, dismissive, and, at times, mentally imbalanced. His relationship with Lisa ultimately forces us to question whether a supposedly shared and meaningful connection with another person is simply founded on a naïve fantasy of our own narcissistic envisioning—one that is potentially destructive.

The puppetry is visually mesmerising as Michael and Lisa display every facet of human emotion with endearing, tormented intricacy through what is a sewn-on mask of a face, brought to life only through a series of pictures. As a huge fan of stop-motion, I have always found it a delightful and sadly underused medium, but also rather disturbing.

Those familiar with such classics as Coraline and Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride may recognise the haunting, adult quality of these macabre and uncanny spaces, where the figures are human-but-not-quite; both real and robotically surreal with controlled movements and expressions that call into question our very authenticity as humans. Hence—into what was originally a live ‘sound-play’ with the same cast—this animation adds all the more poignancy to Kaufman’s concept, avoiding its usual pigeonhole of children’s psychedelic dark-fantasy.

The film does have its moments of wild surrealism where Michael’s identity and psychological stability become—literally—dislodged, as words dissolve into mechanical ticking and half of the puppet’s face falls off in a physicalised existential panic. This is impressively original in its self-reflexive treatment of stop-motion animation, reinforcing that clever, unnerving comment on the fragility of human identity.

The foray into mental disorder, for me, however, steered too far away from the sympathetic realism of the film. Such sequences as Michael’s erratic speech—which descends into an odd political rant—and his paranoid nightmare especially, don’t completely work. They appear a little too disjointed and take a lot of unpacking to be altogether enjoyable, at least for the first viewing.

Indeed—whilst this was presumably the whole point—I found that the realtime scenes and much of the comedic moments rather laboured, with varying degrees of vulgarity that didn’t really fit with the film’s central pathos, and with such a profound concept, the dialogue often fell flat. Audiences will no doubt feel deflated by the abruptness and disappointment of the ending but, in some ways, therein lays its tragic and all too lifelike genius.

3/5

Cost of wasted degrees up to £65 billion, says study

Nearly two-thirds of graduates believe that their degree has had no relevance to the job they do, meaning that the amount of money wasted on university courses could total up to £65 billion.

A survey carried out by The Knowledge Academy found 64 per cent of the 2,000 surveyed felt that their degree was not relevant to the role they were working in.

With the average graduate having £13,292 of debt according to the survey, and approximately 12 million graduates in the UK, the amount spent on unused degrees could sit at £65 million, around two-thirds of the cost of replacing the Trident nuclear weapons system.

Furthermore, 67 per cent thought they could have got the job they had without having their degree, while 60 per cent said they had never even had to provide proof that they had a degree. A quarter said that there aren’t even small parts of their degree that they use in their job.

Just less than half of respondents felt that having their degree made it easier to get a job, while 51 per cent were either unsure or felt that it was inconsequential. Nearly half wished they had entered the world of work earlier in life and progressed that way.

On the other hand, 85 per cent were thankful they had gone to university, believing it had made their life better whether or not they were using it.

“The high cost of university is often considered necessary in order to progress in a particular career,” said Barinder Hothi, co-founder of The Knowledge Academy, a private training provider. “But, with most valuing the experience of university over the knowledge gained from their degree, one has to ask: is it really worth it?

“Without providing students with a good understanding of all the options available to them, some may find themselves graduating in a subject which is of no use to the career they want.

“Some graduates are perhaps finding that a trainee role would have provided them with the relevant work experience needed to give them an edge many expect a degree to have.”