By Elizabeth Paulyn Gostelow (21A01B) and Rachel Ho (21A01B)

Studio Ghibli classics have long prevailed over the ebb and flow of film trends, and their recent debut on streaming platforms has only cemented their place as perennial masterpieces. The animation studio has teamed up with streaming giants such as Netflix, Hulu and HBO Max to immerse audiences around the globe in the fantastical world of Ghibli. While Ghibli films offer a perfect respite from dreary quarantine life, their true charm lies in their percipience of the human condition, and can invoke much reflection among viewers. 

By Ng Ziqin (20S03H)

Warning: Spoilers in this review.

It’s not too often that two films which share so many similarities are released within weeks of each other.  

By V Shivani (20S06R) and Ruchira Ramaswamy (20S03A)

Far From Home is the fast-paced sequel to Homecoming, following Peter and his high school classmates on a school trip to Europe, in the aftermath of Endgame.

Reading Time: 9 minutesBy Ng Ziqin (20S03H)

The growing love affair between the modern viewer and the comic book film is no secret. And with superhero films like Iron Man (2008), Wonder Woman (2017), Black Panther (2018), not to mention all four Avengers movies consistently topping the box office, this trend looks set to stay. At the same time, the moral palates of modern audiences are becoming increasingly nuanced. It is no longer sufficient to throw the protagonist a cape, give him a toothpaste-commercial smile, and tell the audience, ‘Look, there’s your hero. Root for him.’ No, as the box office successes of ‘antihero’ protagonists Deadpool (2016) and Venom (2018) have proven, contemporary cinemagoers believe themselves to be more sophisticated than that. The contemporary cinemagoer craves complexity, shunning the traditional hero protagonist in favour of the more morally ambiguous, more ‘relatable’ antihero. 

Joker may only be the latest in what has been a long line of highly profitable comic book films, yet it is also the first of its kind. It is the logical conclusion of the modern cinemagoer’s twin obsessions with the comic book film genre and relatable protagonists: a comic book film featuring a villain protagonist, one who receives no redemption by the end of the film.

After the disappointment that was Suicide Squad (2016), which featured the Joker for a mere fraction of its 2h 17min runtime despite teasing otherwise in the trailer, Joker feels almost like it could be an apology letter to the fans. But is it a good one?  Continue reading “Joker: The Rise of A New Kind of Comic Book Film?” →

By Ng Ziqin (20S03H)

Whether it was your lecture notes, sleep, youthful idealism, or that water bottle you left behind in LT1 after a Math lecture and then never saw again, you have probably experienced loss in one of its many forms.

But how does the loss of a plastic hydration container measure up against the grief of losing “friends… family… a part of ourselves”, as Captain America so aptly puts it?

Spoilers for Avengers: Endgame below.