Film Magazine Reviews - Phone booth - Kieran Brown

Empire Film Review



http://www.empireonline.com/reviews/reviewcomplete.asp?DVDID=9391

The name of the film is stated at the top of the page and beneath this is the rating system shown out of 5 stars, which this film has 4 stars out of 5.

The language used is descriptive and written in a foral manner. As shown in the review they use very descriptive 'But that was before two men decided to take fatal pot shots at innocent American citizens, and the country froze in fear of 'The Washington Sniper'. This will give the reader an insight of the film before they have see it and gives them an imaginative visual context of the narrative. The review also describes the narrative ad explains how the main character is show in the film 'At first we're on the side of 'the caller' because we've seen what a manipulative asshole Stu is. Okay, the confessions he's forced to make will ruin his career, but he is only reaping what he has sown' This quote explains a sense of sides which can be linked to the generic binary opposites of an action film of good vs evil. The review also gives a justification for the reason why the directors chose this plot for the film as shown 'Writer Larry Cohen and director Joel Schumacher surely thought that the only real-life raw nerves they'd touch with this tense but funny thriller would belong to the sleazebag publicists upon whom the main character is based'. The review also references the use of camera 'Visual breaks are provided by split screens that show either end of the phone conversations' but in the review it isnt explained in depth. The location in the film is explained as low budget but effective as shown 'The filmmakers' clever, low-budget scenario - one man trapped in a single location (in real time) by an unknown, gun-wielding adversary - suddenly became front page news'. Because the writer exaplains it as clever it gives the film a sense of good narrative.

BBCi Films Review

http://www.bbc.co.uk/films/2003/02/25/phone_booth_2003_review.shtml

The name of the Film and the year of release are shown together at the top of the review as a main heading.

Above the film name and year of release is the reviewer's ratings and the site user ratings out of 5 stars and the reviewer's rating is 3 out 5 and the users gave the film 4 out of 5 stars.

This review seems to use informal writing throughout as it is reviewed to be shown to a mass audience and is meant to make the reader feel more inclusive. an example of the informal language being used is 'As the tagline would have it, Stu's "life is on the line".' This use of informal writing is effective as it is explaining the simplicity of the films tagline which gives away most of the story. The language is descriptive as the review explains the narrative throughout. The actors are described based on their behaviour which gives the audience an insight of the way their character will be. There is a reference to the camera use and the director and script writers as shown
'Schumacher stacks up the stylistic tricks, keeping his camera flighty, flicking round the static situation, feeding off the fear of the protagonist. Veteran journeyman scripter Larry Cohen, meanwhile, mostly avoids or undercuts clichés - creating dialogue a little too bespoke to be believable, but amusing and angry nonetheless.' This gives the a rough idea of the people involved behind the makings and will help them paint a visual imaginative picture of how the film should be based on the people involved. There is no reference towards where the location is in the film as it is only shot in one place but in the information at the bottom of the page along with the duration of the film is the place which it is set which it is set in the USA.

http://www.urbancinefile.com.au/home/view.asp?a=7402&s=Reviews

The review on this site is very simplistic but includes some informative language about the film. The review firstly summarises the plot of the film, giving some highly descriptive language which gives the audience a formal insight about what will happen in the film. The opening line shows this 'Stu (Colin Farrell) is a New York hustler publicist, married to Kelly (Radha Mitchell) but in hot pursuit of Manhattan waitress Pamela (Katie Holmes).' The language used is formal and informative and gives the audience a detailed description of the plot. The actors are described by their body language and behaviour. also in terms of their costumes as shwon 'as we meet and get to know a cocky, charming con man who wastes no time on people who are of no use to him. At first we meet him superficially – we watch him at work as he hustles clients on a mobile phone, handsome in his designer Italian suit and trendy raspberry shirt, walking confidently along his everyday stomping ground in Time Square. He arrogantly tosses orders to his young apprentice; he is rude, arrogant and brash. When he first enters the phone booth and makes the call to his fantasy girl Pamela, he takes off his wedding ring. We quickly get the picture. Then the phone rings and he just can’t help himself '. There is no main information about this review such as the rating system,location,use of camera and special effects but one may argue that this review is effective at informing the audience of a descriptive insight of the film and what will occur and also it's simplicity may be effective at giving the audience the information they want.

Film poster annotation - Kieran Brown (Phone Booth)


 



Phone booth released poster



This poster is the final release which the phone booth team released. This movie would be aimed at the social clases E-C1 mainly people who have time on their hands and would enjoy a Action/thriller movie which is simple but unique with the storyline and camera movements.

The target audience wouldrange from the ages of 16-21(males) as they will be drawn to this poster as it is simple and potrays the main storyline through the use of effective visuals which will catch the target audiences eyes because of the intensity effects. The man in the phone booth shows that the main plot of the story would be based around the phonebooth, with the cops in the other section of the photo, this shows that apart of the disruption will be due the that phone call. Also the perception of most of the film being revolved around this phone call is enthasised by the poster caption 'Your life is on the line' This gives away to the audience a subtle insight into what might happen in the film so altogether the audience knows that the film will be revolve around the phone booth but will also include some dramatic storyline as his life will be at risk.

The genre is communicated through the use of mis-en-scene to the target audience. The main character's facial expression is typical of an action film because it is dramatic and tense also the make-up make the character look like he is panicing as it makes him look sweaty. As for costumes the police are typical of an action film as the main cop would usually wear a suit to show his is in a higher power to the others and in the phonebooth poster this is shown but it isnt very apparent that the man in the suit is a cop but the suit indicates that he has some type of power in the film as the picture is also taken from a low angle to make him look bigger.

The main USP of the poster is the bold writing which says 'Your life is on the line' This is one of the most important parts of the poster as it stand out in a bold font and the colour red. This may be to catch the audiences attention and give them something to remember easily. Also, it sounds very dramatic which may influence the audience into wanting to watch the film more. Furthermore, the actors names are mentioned within the poster this may be to rake in fans of their work as a unique selling point for the actors fan base.

The main representation in this poster is gender as the male characters are seen as taking more control of the situation for example the women are seen behind the man who seems to be taking the most control of the situatuion and he is represented in a higher power than them from the use of mis-en-scene which has previously been explained.







Textual Analysis - Kieran Brown (Phone Booth)

Film title: Phone booth


Directed by: Joel Schumacher


Writen by: larry Cohen


Date of release: April 4th, 2003


Budget: $10million


Genre: Action


Sub genre: Thriller

Film Duration: 81 minutesStarring:
Collin Farrell
Kiefer Sutherland
Forest Whitaker
Radar mitchell
Richard T. Jones
Katie Holmes



Phone Booth Trailer 

This movie is about a man who works as a publicist his character name is Stu Shepard. He is a very arrogant, ignorant man and does most of his business over the phone, he has very good pursuasive talking skills and can almost sweet talk anoyone into doing things he wants them to and he plans to cheat on his wife with a woman named pam, who he only itends to sleep with. After work he calls pam and is suddenly disturbed by a man who tries to deliver him pizza but he rudely dismisses him away by paying him. As stu goes to leave the phone booth a phonecall to the phone boooth is immidiately recieved after and stu decides to answer it. He is the greeted by a voice, who to him, is an unknown caller and the caller says to him "You should have accepted that pizza for what's coming up next". stu suspects the caller is a previous customer who he may have screwed over in the past. The caller then decides to show stu how serious he is and tells stu he has a sniper rifle and he then aims the lazer at stu in the phone booth and he then tells stu not to move from the phone box or else. The caller explain how he is tired or publicist like him who lie in the corporation and stu is now his most prioritised target. The caller seems to know alot of information about stu and tells stu aslong as he co-operates then everything should run smooth. Things start to heat up when the The caller (sniper) then shoots a pimp at the phone booth for complaining at stu for not letting his hookers use the phone booth.

The film then carries on until stu has to confess to his wife nthat he has been cheating on her with pam and is then put in a position where he has to choose between which ones to die. He then explain how much he loves his wife and begs for forgiveness. eventually, towards the end the sniper decides to let stu live as he told the honest truth and the SWAT team shoot stu when he comes out of the phone booth. but stu was only shot with a rubbet bullet and has a bruise on his chest where he was shot. he is then taken away in an ambulance a is treated with a shot injection. A man then walks up. it's the sniper and  the audience then see his face but as stu's vision is blurry it is hard to see it fully. The sniper then says, "stu you did very well". now be sure that you keep your good behaviour up or i'll come and visit. He is then seen walking away with a suitcase and then stu passes out.

The levi strauss' Theory of binary opposition can be applied to this film. Binary opposition is an important concept of structuralism and is a pair of terms or concepts that contrast between two equally selected terms. for example the Hero concepts which we understand in a film are always opossed by the villain concept which brings us Villain vs Hero. Phone booth has an interesting binary oposition as the postion of villain from the main character stu is turnt into Hero as he goes against his own ethics of lieing to save the lives of the ones he loves.

The film genre is apparent as Action/Thriller. The main conventions which suggest thius is the binary oposition villain vs hero. The sniper being the villain and stu being Hero eventhough stu did screw over the person who is the sniper at one point two wrongs don't make a right so the sniper would still be known as the villain in this binary oposition as he catches stu in a vunerable state and manipulates with stu's mind. The film is furthermore typical of it's genre because of the props and costumes. The costumes are parrallel to the character's personalities and stereotypes for example the police have typical cop uniform and try to defuse the situation in a calm but also threatening manner at the same time and stu's character's costume suggest his smugness and his way of life which he believe's he is more superior than everyone else.

The stroyline is typical of it's genre to an extent. Firstly, it is typical of it's genre because it fits many film convetions such as the parrallel action type music, The dialogue is also typical. The costumes fit the stereotypes and camera movement and fast pase camera editing easily fit into the conventions of a typical action/thriller film. Furthemore, the storyline has the typical equilibrium, disruption, new equilibirum based structure.

However, the film also shows more sub-genre's such as a romance genre film as alot of the storyline is based around how much he really loves his wife compared to the woman his cheating on her with called pam and also one of the main conventions of the action/thriller genre is huge special effects and phone booth doesn't have any main huge special effects.

In conclusion, Phone booth fits into the Action/thriller genre as most of the Action/thriller convetions are apprent throughout the film through the use of mis-en-scene and also the film structure and storyline help enthasise on that genre and subgenre.