What Makes A Film Flop?

Cue: tumbleweed. Iwan Gabovitch/flickr, CC BY-SA

By Suman Ghosh, Bath Spa University

Some films succeed, others don’t. Success comes in many forms. Some films are an instant hit from the opening night, some are slower on the uptake while others generate interest only after they have been commended by critics, discerning bloggers or widespread word of mouth.

The producers, director, cast and crew of 2015’s Momentum, which managed to eke out a miserable £46 in its UK opening weekend across the 10 theatres where it was released, could scarcely have feared a worse outcome for their $20 million film about a hi-tech bank robbery.

With a 27% rating from Rotten Tomatoes and searing reviews in the media, its fortunes are unlikely to improve, despite the star appeal of Morgan Freeman.

The Hotel Barclay - New Horror Web Series Becomes An Internet Sensation With Debut Of Season One

Photo Credit: Aaron Needham (PRNewsFoto/The Hotel Barclay Series)

From the brilliantly perverse and dark mind of Writer/Director Leah Myette comes The Hotel Barclay, a provocative, new, thirteen-episode web series that has horror fans across the country singing its praise with the release of Season One on YouTube (October 1, 2015). 

The highly anticipated Season Two, featuring seven additional, bone-chilling episodes will be released once a week starting Jan 19, 2016.

'38 Degrees' Survey: Which Campaign Should We Prioritise Most In 2016?

Dear Friends, 2016 could be a beautiful, inspiring year. If we work together, we can truly help make the world a better place. But we know that campaigns like the NHS, bees, and TTIP are going to be tough ones to crack. We’ll be up against powerful forces - self-interested corporations, cynical politicians and shameless media barons. To win, we’ll need a strong plan for the year. 38 Degrees members make great plans - and win great campaigns - through people power. Every one of us gets a say in what we do. So what should be our top priority?

What Superheroes Looked Like In 2015

The ubiquitous superhero finally seems to be growing up and moving on. Eneas De Troya

By Liam Burke, Swinburne University of Technology

The Golden Age of Comic Book Filmmaking began in 2000 when Bryan Singer’s X-Men (2000) dragged superheroes to the centre of popular culture. Today superpowered protagonists are as familiar to cinemagoers as sticky floors and popcorn.

Such awareness saw studios in 2015 going bigger (Avengers: Age of Ultron), smaller (Ant-Man), or back to the beginning (the erroneously-titled Fantastic Four) to reinvigorate the genre.

Somewhere between the mash-ups and redundant reboots, more interesting work has started to emerge. The comic book adaptation, like all good teenagers, is demonstrating new-found maturity. So let us take a look back at the trends and triumphs of this year in superheroes.

The Danish Girl: All Skirt And No Substance

Eddie Redmayne stars as Lili Elbe.

By Clare Tebbutt, Nottingham Trent University

It was with some trepidation that I went to watch The Danish Girl. Prior to its release the film had already attracted accusations of transphobia for director Tom Hooper’s decision to cast the cisgender actor Eddie Redmayne in the title role of Lili Elbe, a trans woman.

Lili Elbe was one of a good number of people in interwar Europe who felt the sex they had been assigned at birth was incorrect. How, I wondered, would a film that had arguably opted to undermine Lili’s womanhood in its choice of actor, handle the complexity of sex and gender at this time?

The answer, perhaps predictably, is not very well.

Canada - Record-Breaking Year For Courage Polar Bear Dip

More than 800 dippers make for a record-breaking year at the Courage Polar Bear Dip in Oakville, ON. (CNW Group/The Courage Polar Bear Dip)

More than 800 enthusiastic dippers  braved below freezing temperatures to ring in the New Year with adventure at the 31st annual Courage Polar Bear Dip.  Fun-loving rookie and alumni dippers of all ages joined dip founders, Todd and Trent Courage at  Coronation Park in Oakville, plunging into frigid Lake Ontario.  

Thousands of spectators cheered them on from ashore. It is the largest Polar Bear Dip in Ontario, and the largest charity dip in Canada.