Author: Michael Shiels

Photo Credit: Hilary Bronwyn Gayle SMPSP Just like the previously discussed Dark Waters, Bombshell dramatizes a true story of scandal and horror which affected the lives of multiple people for decades. Based on the accounts of the Fox News female employees who sued CEO Roger Ailes for sexual harassment in the mid 2010’s, the film largely follows three main characters as they face their own individual struggles around the same injustice. Bombshell is directed by Jay Roach who came from a background in comedy, with the likes of Meet the Parents and the Austin Powers trilogy in his filmography. It…

Photo from Focus Features: Mark Ruffalo as ‘Robert Bilott’ Dark Waters is a 2019 conspiracy thriller film which follows the true story of lawyer Robert Bilott’s long lasting case against chemical giants Dupont. Mark Ruffalo plays Bilott who, at the start of the film, is a corporate defence lawyer working for the chemical companies. But when a farmer comes to him with a claim that 190 of his cows have died as a result of exposure to dangerous chemicals, Bilott sets off on a journey of horrifying discovery which consumes his entire life. Unfortunately, this film wasn’t seen by a…

Photo Credit: Aashish950 at en.wikipedia (CC BY 3.0) With the 25th entry in the James Bond franchise ‘No Time To Die’ close to finally making its delayed release, I thought it would be a good time to rewatch the entire series to see how the films have changed and developed over the decades. With multiple actors bringing their own style and flavour to their films, there is often complete tonal shifts between incarnations of the character; for instance the camp action comedies of the Roger Moore era are a completely different animal to the uber serious Daniel Craig entries. Therefore,…

One of the most recognisable directing styles in the world is that of director/producer Michael Bay, the former music video director who has gone on to create box office behemoths over the past 25 years. However, where he has generally had financial success his films have often been torn down by critics and as a result only 3 of his 14 features have achieved over a 50% critic rating by Rotten Tomatoes. His work has been criticised for having lacklustre plots, poor acting and in some circles he has even been accused of racism and sexism by some of his…

With the looming prospect of Brexit overshadowing daily life at the minute, us at Seren along with the majority of informative news outlets up and down with the country are naturally spending a vast majority of time discussing this big issue that will affect us all. In fact, this issue is going to be heavily influenced by the whole political climate as we hurtle towards a ‘No Deal Brexit’, and unlike another unstoppable cataclysm in the form of the asteroid from Armageddon, we unfortunately do not have the luxury of sending in Bruce Willis to save the day. Although the…

With the release of the latest instalment in the Star Wars saga almost upon us, I believe that now is the perfect opportunity to look back upon the Skywalker story, from the genesis in 1977 through to its supposed conclusion over forty years later. We will look at the highs and the lows over the decades, and have a look at how the imagination of George Lucas created one of (if not) the biggest properties in global popular culture. Although the Star Wars brand has transcended mediums from books, video games, television shows, and everything else you could think of,…

Fact or fiction? Mere pranking, or genuine harassment coming to our streets? These are some of the questions the student population of Bangor are asking themselves following the revelation of a mysterious figure known only as the ‘Fishman’. Whether or not the Fishman is an elaborate student prank, or someone who genuinely feels that there is “a serious lack of Omega 3” in our diets as stated in an alleged post by the Fishman on the popular student confession site ‘Bangfess III’, over the past week reports have been coming from all over the town with stories of fish being…

October time means one big holiday, and that holiday is of course Halloween; and with Halloween of course comes horror films. Now I have to admit that I’m not a big fan of the horror genre in general, but when a great one hits it really resonates with me, and the slight renaissance of the genre in the past few years has been a great addition to the industry as a whole. In celebration of the genre I will be counting down my top 5 favourite horror films of all time in descending order from number five down to the…

With the looming prospect of Brexit overshadowing daily life at the minute, us at Seren along with the majority of informative news outlets up and down with the country are naturally spending a vast majority of time discussing this big issue that will affect us all. In fact, this issue is going to be heavily influenced by the whole political climate as we hurtle towards a no deal Brexit, and unlike another unstoppable cataclysm in the form of the asteroid from Armageddon, we unfortunately do not have the luxury of sending in Bruce Willis to save the day. Although the…

Another great British institution in the filmmaking world is the world renowned Aardman Animation Studios based out of Bristol. Just like the portrayal of the plucky inventive Brit in the classic war films, Aardman has slowly built a name for itself over the past few decades by their incredible attention to detail and top-quality filmmaking. Since their first feature length effort in 2000 with Chicken Run they have only released 7 more films, but every single one of them has been a top-quality joy to watch. Unlike any other animation studio (including the gold standard of Pixar), Aardman is the…