PAGE 18
HOLIDAY 2014
Arts
Movie Review: Gone Girl
Will Cuellar
Graphic Designer
Gone Girl is a 2014
thriller directed by
David Fincher, based
on the novel with the
same title. The film
stars Ben Affleck as
Nick Dunne whose
wife, Amy Dunne,
played by Rosamund
Pike, suddenly goes
missing. Dunne is
then accused of her
murder.
Pike’s performance, though
limited to certain
sections, was especially riveting in this
psychological thriller.
Julia Tran
Staff Writer
Tyler Perry, of the Medea franchise, also
brings his A-game
portraying Tanner
Bolt, the attorney
who defends Dunne
in the disappearance/murder trial.
Despite the less than
enthusiastic response
to his other recent
films, Perry was so
deep into the character of Bolt that he
was hardly recognizable.
David Fincher
brings his specific
style of filmmaking to
the table. Well-known
for such atmospheric
flims as Fight Club,
Seven, The Social
Network, and Girl
with a Dragon Tattoo,
Fincher’s timing and
directorial skills bring
both drama and
well-placed comedy
to the movie.
Neil Patrick Harris has a small, but
pivotal role as Desi
Collings, Amy’s previous boyfriend.
Towards the end
you can feel the
length of the movie
weighing down on
you, as it is 2 hours
and 40 minutes. This is
the only drawback to
the otherwise enjoyable feature.
Movie Review: The Boxtrolls
Living in the town
of Cheesebridge,
with its motto "a
gouda place to live,"
the 'minion'-like creatures called boxtrolls
are terrorized by the
citizens and hunted
by exterminator
Archibald Snatcher
(voiced by Ben Kingsley) in the entertaining new claymation
feature The Box Trolls,
based on the children’s novel Here
be Dragons! by Alan
Snow.
This movie charts
the adventures of
Eggs, a boy who is
rescued by the box
trolls as a baby. He
devises a plan to
save his supernatural friends from Archibald Snatcher.
The story is witty,
and dark but lighthearted. The stop
motion animation
with an array of
famous British voices
brings the story to life.
This cleverly crafted
movie contains a lot
of allegorical themes
and symbols which
indicates there is a
deeper message. In
fact, while The BoxTrolls may seem to
have been made to
appeal to kids due
to its PG rating, this
quirky movie contains
some themes that
are a bit too mature
for kid to easily understand.
Although the trailer
portrayed a film that
appeared choppy
and generic, it was
packed with entertainingly depicted
themes that cut to
the core of our society. “You make you,”
“Be yourself,” and
“Material objects
shouldn’t define who
you are,” were messages apparent in
the film.
The box trolls are
relegated to living
underground. They
are looked down
upon and feared
as evil, child-eating
monsters. In reality,
they are timid creatures that collect
mechanical objects.
Overall, this movie
can appeal to all
age groups especially fans of Tim Burton,
Roald Dahl, Monty
Python, and Neil
Gaiman. In fact, it
was created by Laika
Studios, the same
makers of Gaiman’s
Coraline. The studio
is known for its gothic
architecture and steampunk accents on
its sets as well.