Guillermo del Toro

John Hurt, The Elephant Man, John Hurt passed away , at 77 after a fight against pancreatic cancer The man in “The Elephant Man”, the addict Max in “Midnight Express”, the despicable Caligula in “I, Claudius”, the astronaut Kane in “Alien” and Garrick Olivander in “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone” died with his boots on, in his home in Norfolk, with his recent paper as father Richard McSorley in “Jackie”, with two unreleased movies and an unfinished project about the life and…

harshness faced during Franco’s era, especially not when compared to other contemporary films that are set during Franco’s regime. A clear example of this would be Pan’s Labyrinth by Mexican director and screenwriter, Guillermo del Toro. This film is very dark, which is a characteristic of Del Toro’s films, compared to the happy, and blasé attitude portrayed in Living is Easy with Eyes Closed. In Pan’s Labyrinth we see the violence and desperation that were characteristic in 1944, five years…

The creation of monsters like vampires and zombies presents itself as an allegory the “day to day existence.” Articles like “Why Vampires Never Die” by Guillermo Del Toro and Chuck Hogan and “My Zombie, Myself: Why Modern Life Feels Rather Undead “ by Chuck Klosterman emphasizes the correlation between folktale and reality. The difference between Folktale and reality is that folktale and reality is that folktale are variations of stories from many cultures, while reality is something that exist…

Real change takes time. It is not for the impatient or hurried. Hollywood is no exception. Gender inequality is rampant in film careers in Hollywood. For screenwriters, we appear to be in the midst of change. As Sherry Lansing broke through the celluloid ceiling in 1980 when she became the first woman studio head, “female screenwriters appear to have made a breakthrough over the last three years, with an unusually high representation in the top 20 UK independent films (37%) and profitable UK…

order to understand an underlying idea that is greater than the story itself. The audience is able to determine the theme implicitly due to common techniques that are used by many directors. Throughout the dark fantasy film Pan’s Labyrinth, by Guillermo Del Toro, and in the war drama film Hacksaw Ridge, by Mel Gibson, both directors were able to display the theme of betrayal through various filming techniques. The directors had done more than simply allow actors to speak the message directly;…

What time is it? Time to reconnoitre the psychedelic darkness and yet the sunny disposition of one of the world’s most popular animated children’s series ‘Adventure Time’ - (Cartoon Network, Pendleton Ward, 2008) and what makes this unorthodox animation lure and appeal to both the young and the mature intellects – uncovering its mass of kaleidoscopic pedagogic episodes that illuminate the uncomfortable themes of reality. Death, cannibalism, depression, an abundance of horror glazed over by the…

Beginnings The Expressionism movement is thought by many to have began on June 7, 1905 by four architecture students when they formed the group “Die Brücke” (The Bridge) (Die Brücke). The four students that formed the group “Die Brücke” were Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Erich Heckel, Karl Schmidt-Rottluff and Fritz Bleyl. Fritz Bleyl left the group shortly after (Die Brücke). The name, Die Brücke, was taken from writings of the philosopher Friedrich Nietszche, of whom the group greatly admired. It…

It all began with the Olmecs. To this day, Mexico is home to the largest population of Spanish speakers. Mexico is best known for their bright colors, Mexican cuisine, as well as their celebrations. As early as 30,000 years ago, the Olmecs settled in North America and Mexico. They were most likely hunters and gatherers. These villages eventually grew into cities. To this day, the term Mesoamerica is used to describe the areas these cities were located. The Olmecs are also known for the giant…

their own life meaning. Sunset Boulevard (1950), directed by Billy Wilder, is a black and white film, where Norma Desmond, a famous actress of the silent film era, cannot come to terms with her career’s end. Pan’s Labyrinth (2006), directed by Guillermo del Toro, centers around a depressive Spanish war, where a young girl, Ofelia, can figuratively escape the reality of it through her imagination. Jack Zipes argues that "Ofelia wills herself into this tale, and for all intents and purposes, it is…