Annie Kapur
Bio
200K+ Reads on Vocal.
English Lecturer
🎓Literature & Writing (B.A)
🎓Film & Writing (M.A)
🎓Secondary English Education (PgDipEd) (QTS)
đź“ŤBirmingham, UK
Stories (1971/0)
A Filmmaker's Guide to: 20 Films of the 2010s
The 2010s is often a difficult era to find 20 great films for because of the fact the era itself is not very varied with its approach to filmmaking technique, storytelling and the acting is nowhere near as good as the eras that preceded it. However, I have managed to compile a list of films that would suit this era to be talked about in the years to come and hopefully become classics of our age because of their difference. The only problem is, in most cases, difference does not make a ton of money unless you're "Black Panther" (2018).
By Annie Kapur4 years ago in Geeks
A Filmmaker's Guide to: 10 Courtroom Dramas
The courtroom drama has been a big piece of interesting cinema for so long purely because it has the ability to show us the loopholes and problems with the judicial system in a way a crime documentary about innocence would. The only difference is that we don't get these side notes teaching us about the legal system, instead we get a very clever storyline told through numerous different voices. We are not swayed to believe either way until someone is completely exonerated and so, it is very much like watching a crime and courtroom play out the long legal process. The reason why we find this interesting is because we are not only fascinated by the dark and criminal side of human nature but, somewhere deep down, we are the only ones who actually know how this case is going to turn out. Musical scores, especially character themes and scene setters can give us hints and clues and, with the want for closure, we can normally guess the ending before it happens. The reason we watch it therefore, is to see what we don't see in real life: the madness of the courtroom.
By Annie Kapur4 years ago in Criminal
A Filmmaker's Guide to: 20 Films of the 2000s
I grew up with 2000s film and most of these I remember seeing in the cinema as a teenager or young adult. The films of this era can only be explained as innovative. As we approach our own times, we see innovation take another step into the world of immersive cinema - things like 3-D, IMAX 3D and other sights that give me a headache are coming out now. Yes, from the 1990s we carry on our backs the fact that everyone is still trying to create the next great classic film because instead of being at the end of the millennia, we're at the start of a brand new one.
By Annie Kapur4 years ago in Geeks
A Filmmaker's Review: “The Omen” (1976)
Over many years I have watched “The Omen” (1976) multiple times and have never actually brought myself to review it mostly because I was conflicted about the film. There are many things that make this film one of the greatest thrillers of all time and many things that make this film an amazing lesson in horror. I have been mostly conflicted about what I should cover. As someone who did their MA Thesis mostly in physical and visual body horror, I would like to concentrate on this particular realm in the film and tell you exactly why this is one of the best films to watch for this particular case. In this, we cover the way in which the human body is used as a medium and a force for the tension, the climax and the shock that we feel when something frightening happens. This film, mostly relying on tension, builds to a climax using the human body as the catalyst purely because it is the very thing the film is about: the antichrist has embodied the child. After we understand this, the body horror seems to work in incredible ways if we add to it the Latin Choir that keeps playing every single time the child is responsible for something evil. It is not the child’s body, but the bodies of the other characters that become part and parcel to the horror as the film builds to its climax seemingly at the end of the narrative.
By Annie Kapur4 years ago in Horror
A Filmmaker's Review: “Dr Zhivago” (1965)
A film based on a book by Boris Pasternak which itself has had many things based upon it, most recently the book “The Secrets We Kept” by Lara Prescott that deals with the turbulent history behind the book. But nothing quite like this film has presented us with a physical display of what this book means to classic literature and what this film means to cinema history. One of the considerably great epics of the 1960s, it stands alongside “Lawrence of Arabia” (1962) for its wide shots of cold and snowy Russia, moving into the mountains and the large, open city streets normally packed full of people with discerning political views. It is a spectacular display of cinematic excellence and the overture at the beginning sets a great tone for the next wonderful piece of storytelling. The contrasting colour schemes teach us about the ways Russia is changing and the popularity of certain colour schemes slowly adapted by certain characters means that this is a permanent and very quick change, but not one that is happy - instead it is full of civil war and with each step towards the Russian Revolution, this film sheds a new light on the faults and fumbles of both sides and the rights and wrongs of the Russian political system. All this sets a backdrop for a turbulent love affair between two people who are married to others in this epic story of love and war.
By Annie Kapur4 years ago in Geeks
A Filmmaker's Review: “The Bad Seed” (1956)
I had read the book to this film a few years ago and I have seen the film only once before. I’m not going to lie that the first time I saw the film I didn’t think too much of it. It took me some time, maybe a few years, to think about what this film meant and how this film was imposing a viewpoint upon the audience and then, seemingly ripping it away. It is a mixture between the “Psycho” (1960) era horror film and possibly aspects of the storyline to “We Need to Talk About Kevin” (2007). A child suspected of murder by her mother is not reprimanded and neither encouraged, but as her mother tries to come to terms with her own inherited problems, there seems to be something darker hidden behind the route of child psychology, dream analysis and the ways in which a trait can skip a generation, hitting the grand-children the hardest. Filmed in brilliant style with amazing attention to key details, this black-and-white film may not have colour but has a hell of a lot of character.
By Annie Kapur4 years ago in Horror
A Filmmaker's Guide to: 20 Films of the 1990s
As we move in to the 1990s, we see that film's budget is seriously starting to expand. We also see that everyone is trying to make the next great epic in whatever style that may be. Whether it be courtroom drama with Oliver Stone's "JFK" (1991), or biopic with Richard Attenborough's "Chaplin" (1992), whether it be a crime drama with Martin Scorsese's "Goodfellas" (1990) or Frank Darabont's epic prison movie "The Shawshank Redemption" (1994). Everyone is all about making the next classic film to be remembered as we approach the end of a millennia.
By Annie Kapur4 years ago in Geeks
A Filmmaker's Review: “The Innocent Man” (Netflix, 2018)
John Grisham is probably best known for his dramas of law and order in the world of literature. Films like “The Rainmaker” were based on his novels and his newest novel “Camino Island” is just as good as the others, I can assure you. As an incredible writer of fiction, there was one time when Grisham took a dip into the world of nonfiction, much like Truman Capote and others, he chose to cover the topic of true crime. The focus of his book being false confessions, coaxed interviews and wrongful imprisonment. The problems with the judicial system are probably Grisham’s forte in exploration but this took him far beyond anything he could imagine. He not only discovered a law enforcement team that were wrongfully imprisoning the ones they had coaxed to confess to crimes they didn’t commit, but he also discovered a law enforcement team that were corrupt as to ask for half of whatever the prisoner who had actually committed the crime was getting: whether it be drugs, money etc. In this incredible limited series, John Grisham not only explores what is wrong with the law enforcement in small towns, but also what people would do when given far too much power in a situation where they would have no requirement to give it up against their will.
By Annie Kapur4 years ago in Criminal
"Afropean: Notes From Black Europe" by Johny Pitts
I only read this particular book this year but really, it pretty much changed the way I think about people of colour and migration. This book bases itself in the way in which Black people are viewed across Europe and seriously, as a person of colour and even though I’m Indian and from England, I could really connect with this book of experience. The reason I read this was because I heard people talking about it online as the next great nonfiction text of the Black experience in Europe. Now, I’d read quite a few of these books in comparison to my library on the Black experience in America because I live in Europe. Most of the Black experience in America based books I’ve read have been written as novels as opposed to nonfiction essays etc.
By Annie Kapur4 years ago in Geeks
A Filmmaker's Review: "Auschwitz: The Nazis and the Final Solution" (BBC, 2005)
A documentary created by the BBC to showcase the lives of the survivors of the death camp of Auschwitz-Birkenau was first broadcast in 2005 and is now available on Netflix and other sites to view. It is a six-part documentary series that concentrates on the formation, building, usage and realisation of the Auschwitz death camp and from the survivors telling their tales of pain and torment to an surviving SS Officer who is haunted by his own ignorance and even to love stories which evolved between prisoner and officer in the death camp - this documentary shows us the interior of Auschwitz like we have never seen before. I bet they did not teach you about any of this stuff in school. It is absolutely heartbreaking.
By Annie Kapur4 years ago in Geeks
A Filmmaker's Guide to: 20 Films of the 1980s
During the 1980s, we get more of a mixture of film, genres begin to collide and characters are multi-faceted experiences of light and dark in human nature. From extreme levels of Sci-Fi to the High Drama Renaissance, this era is one of the most fascinating for film historians because it is in this era where film expands beyond our wildest imaginations. It comes with epics, horror movies, biopics, adaptations, teen drama, comedies, action and adventure, romance and so much more. It is truly one of the most diverse decades in the history of American film.
By Annie Kapur4 years ago in Geeks
"Complete Letters" by Pliny the Younger
Pliny the Younger’s letters represent the way in which Roman everyday life is understood by the various correspondents and depends on the fact that the correspondents may be in a similar situation and social class as himself. These letters often concern different aspects of the human experience including: living arrangements, valuing and selling houses, family and friendships, funerals and the grieving process, inheritance and family connections, life and philosophies, morals and ethics and finally, the way in which learning and knowledge impact the lifestyle one will live. Pliny the Younger though, also goes through his own profession in which he details the requirements for good oration and the way in which he scripts his narratives.
By Annie Kapur4 years ago in Geeks