Annie Kapur
Film and Writing (M.A)
Focus in Film: Adaptation from Literature, Horror Filmmaking Styles and Auter Cinema
Author of: "The Filmmaker's Guide" series
Twitter: @AnnieApprox
IG: @AnnieApproximately
Book Review: "Mr. Palomar" by Italo Calvino
I adored this book because there was a lot I could contemplate. As you know, I love these deep, meaningful, philosophically written over-the-top descriptions of minute details on which I can muse about for ages as opposed to quick plot scenes and/or dialogue that goes on forever. I prefer the long descriptions because of their ability to unlock a certain feeling inside me that normally, I feel increasingly difficult to access. I think it might be happiness, but I honestly don’t know. It’s almost sublime to feel it. Like I can shut my eyes after reading the description and really feel it going through my body, feeling like I’m there and I’m looking directly at this thoroughly with all the philosophical contemplation this thing or person is seeking. That is exactly what I did with “Mr. Palomar” by Italo Calvino. It was one of those special books that contained these very particular, long-winded and beautifully written descriptions that I loved, blended with a deep affection for life and observation.
Annie KapurPublished about 14 hours ago in Geeks
A Filmmaker's Review: "Milk" (2008)
"Milk" (2008) is a film starring Sean Penn as the forward-thinking progressive and incredible activist and member of the public office, Harvey Milk - the first openly gay man to have a job in public office. Josh Brolin portrayed the famous Dan White who eventually assassinate Harvey Milk. Emile Hirsch portrays the AIDS activist Cleve Jones. The film's storyline is actually surprisingly close to what actually happened and the acting is surprisingly very good (since I am not the biggest fan of Sean Penn).
Annie KapurPublished about 14 hours ago in Geeks
A Filmmaker's Guide to: Film Noir II
In this chapter of ‘the filmmaker’s guide’ we’re actually going to be learning about literature and film together. I understand that many of you are sitting in university during difficult times and finding it increasingly hard to study and I understand that many of you who are not at university or not planning on it are possibly stuck of what to do, need a break or even need to catch up on learning film before you get to the next level. This guide will be brief but will also contain: new vocabulary, concepts and theories, films to watch and we will be exploring something taboo until now in the ‘filmmaker’s guide’ - academia (abyss opens). Each article will explore a different concept of film, philosophy, literature or bibliography/filmography etc. in order to give you something new to learn each time we see each other. You can use some of the words amongst family and friends to sound clever or you can get back to me (email in bio) and tell me how you’re doing. So, strap in and prepare for the filmmaker’s guide to film studies because it is going to be one wild ride.
Annie KapurPublished 2 days ago in Geeks
Book Review: "Seven Gothic Tales" by Karen Blixen
I was interested in reading Gothic short stories and so, I read things like the gothic tales of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and the stories written by Karen Blixen. However, I did not always find they were to my liking. I love stories with heavy atmospheric description. It was something that I enjoyed like there was no tomorrow. Reading about the atmosphere, the weather, the interior design, the various description of tons of gothic scenery was something that relaxed my mind and yet, made me think about what was coming next in the story. I was gobsmacked when I read the stories of Karen Blixen because the atmosphere was amazingly described - it was done with such greatness and poise, such amazing brilliance and noir, such death and disaster. Even though the writing of the atmosphere was amazing, brilliant and had all the things that were expected and even revered of the gothic, the story itself had no substance. I feel like the storylines did not reflect the brilliance of the atmosphere and when I was reading it for the first time around, I definitely realised this more than when I read it around for the second time, concentrating on the way in which the atmosphere influenced the way in which the audience think about the story.
Annie KapurPublished 2 days ago in Geeks
A Filmmaker's Review: "The Invisible Man" (1933)
I think we can all agree that Claude Rains is an incredible actor with buckets full of talent. For a man of his era, he was extremely forward in the world of acting - it was no longer that Vaudevillian stuff but instead, Rains went for a more realistic approach based in the novel's actual character rather than someone who was made more for theatre than film. A film made in the era of the Hayes' Code meant that the punishment of the 'bad guy' was necessary to its release and was done pretty well to be honest. A clever and subtle ending done through atmosphere made for perfect tension. The story stayed in sufficiency, close to the story put forward by HG Wells.
Annie KapurPublished 2 days ago in Horror
Book Review: "The Following Story" by Cees Nooteboom
This was the last book I read of 2020 and honestly, it was well worth it. It’s a fairly short book and possibly has no more than 100 or so pages. It’s about a man who has an existential crisis when he cannot figure out what he was doing the night before as he wakes up with a woman that is not his wife or girlfriend in a place he does not remember being. In most aspects, this novel starts like a lot of novels do since the main character is seen in media res and does not know what to expect later on. However, the difference is that this character here cannot seem to remember who he is underneath. On this journey, we see him search on the outside and on the inside for who he really is. Exploring everything from details about his past to the deep philosophical questions in our own searches for the meaning to our lives. In the end, do we ever really get an answer or is it just more questions? Cees Nooteboom attempts to give you an ending that will leave you wholly satisfied but keep your mind turning about possibility. In this work, there are things that we can interpret as being the answers to identity - the question of what individualism really is poses a threat to the way in which we see ourselves as a part of a group - a family for example. This man here cannot seem to find his own sense of grouping and so, it may be that very individualism, the fact he is centred on himself, that is paradoxically holding him back.
Annie KapurPublished 3 days ago in Geeks
A Filmmaker's Guide to: Weimar Cinema
In this chapter of ‘the filmmaker’s guide’ we’re actually going to be learning about literature and film together. I understand that many of you are sitting in university during difficult times and finding it increasingly hard to study and I understand that many of you who are not at university or not planning on it are possibly stuck of what to do, need a break or even need to catch up on learning film before you get to the next level. This guide will be brief but will also contain: new vocabulary, concepts and theories, films to watch and we will be exploring something taboo until now in the ‘filmmaker’s guide’ - academia (abyss opens). Each article will explore a different concept of film, philosophy, literature or bibliography/filmography etc. in order to give you something new to learn each time we see each other. You can use some of the words amongst family and friends to sound clever or you can get back to me (email in bio) and tell me how you’re doing. So, strap in and prepare for the filmmaker’s guide to film studies because it is going to be one wild ride.
Annie KapurPublished 3 days ago in Geeks
A Filmmaker's Review: "Oedipus Rex" (1967)
I've watched a couple of movies by this director and really, I am very, very impressed by the innovation considering the costume, set up and even the scripting being on line with this cross between melodrama and psychological violence. It's like a modern Shakespearean script whilst holding on to the way in which Shakespeare creates tensions through language. The film is based on Sophocles' Theban Plays and specifically "Oedipus Rex". We all know the story of Oedipus who's mother Jocasta was told a prophecy by an oracle in which her child will murder his father and marry his mother. However, Jocasta's response is to get the servant to take the child and kill it. But he cannot do it so gives it to a servant of the opposing city who takes it back and gives it to the king and queen. He eventually grows up and finds her way back - only for the prophecy to begin to play out. It has horrifying consequences.
Annie KapurPublished 3 days ago in Geeks
