Tom's Film History II Blog

  The cyborg is a science fiction concept; combining human anatomy with technology to achieve feats beyond what a human can do. In a sense, Chow's figures are cyborgs. The actors perform impressive kung-fu techniques, but Chow uses CGI in post-production to transform their moves into a superhuman display. Mamoru Oshii's film  Ghost in the Shell (1995) reckons with the philosophical implications of the cyborg as well, questioning whether it is ethical to create a fighting machine that can be manipulated like a computer. Should a fighting machine be allowed to have human decision-making skills? What if Sing in Kung Fu Hustle used his strength to join the Axe Gang, like Anakin Skywalker joining the dark side in Revenge of the Sith?    In Kung Fu Hustle, Chow uses this trope for a humanist argument; the idea that one person can, through self-discipline and agency, achieve their "best self". Kung Fu Hustle also carries out a political statement through this trope. The Axe

    Uche Chukwu's Run is an uninhibited, creative and morally complex film that operates outside of the confines of Western genre tropes. It contains comedy, action, drama and horror in fairly equal parts; though Hollywood bends genre often, almost no Hollywood films incorporate these many genre elements in one work.     Chukwu uses the narrative to opine on various issues relating to women's rights. The lead, Tomilola Wright (Kiki Omeili), runs through a city, constantly pursued by men trying to kill or assault her for varying reasons.  Most of the narrative takes place at night, which adds to the unsettling tone. The clearest takeaway from the film is the difficulty of being a woman in a largely populated area. None of the men that Tomilola encounters seem trustworthy; or if they do seem trustworthy at first, we suspect that they will betray her, which almost every man in the film does. She encounters a sex worker who is being exploited by a customer, and a woman giving birth

    Popular cinema requires themes and content that can resonate with a wide audience. In Hollywood today, major studios are challenged with making films that can sell to both American and international audiences (usually focusing on China). This raises the question: how do you appeal to the widest audience possible? What style and themes transcend cultural differences? While there is some variance to the answer, the commonality in popular cinema is spectacle.     Genre and spectacle are often used for the purpose of escapism.  For example, in Star Wars, visual and sound effects place the film in a world outside of Earth. This other world shares many elements of the real world, but it feels different enough from our perception of reality to reduce the events of the film to mere allegory. There are aliens, but most of them take recognizable forms. Although it is set in the past, the world of Star Wars  likely parallels much of its audience's vision of Earth's future. There are l