Movie Review: "Colossal"

Strange, quirky and, yet, in a very original manner, a fine piece of art.

Led by outstanding performances by Anne Hathaway and Jason Sudeikis, 'Colossal' is a comedy, that not only explores science fiction, but romance, drama and action as well. Wrapping it up with a beautiful ribbon, showing that original filmmaking can still be found in the most unlikely places.

Walking in to 'Colossal' I had high expectations, since I loved the trailer, but the movie didn't only fulfill my expectations, but exceeded them by a huge margin.

The film revolves around Gloria, an unemployed party girl who is forced to leave her life in New York and move back to her hometown after her boyfriend kicks her out. As news about a giant creature destroying Seul, South Korea start to break out, she slowly comes to the realization that she is, in some way, connected to the monster. When events start to get out of control, Gloria must determine why her, seemingly, insignificant existence has such a colossal effect on the world.

Due to the strangeness of the plot line, 'Colossal' is a challenge to bring to the screen with such fluid narrative, but director/writer Nacho Vigalondo manages to make it seem effortless. With stunning visuals, great dialogue and gripping scenes that keep audiences on the edge of their seats. Even though, it sometimes stumbles on its own premise, the movie rises from these small flaws, embracing every single aspect of its originality and concocting, what might be, one of the most singular films of all time.

In the end, 'Colossal' deconstructs and redefines certain movie genres, adding different aspects to create a wonderful and thrilling movie experience.

The lesson Gloria learns at the end of the film is uplifting, proving that visuals, great directing and an incredible screenplay are not the only factors that make or break a movie, but the performances brought to the table by the incredible cast and the personal level in which audiences connect with the characters, taking us on their journey and leading us to the final conclusion, that stories told with talent manage to bring a new outlook on the nature of human existence and how impactful our lives can be for those around us.

The Origins of Screenplay Formatting

Origins of Formatting Film goes back to the 1800s, when movies were nothing else than photographic techniques mixed with light bulb effects to create a moving picture effect. These film were called "Scenarios", which were no longer than 40 seconds. The writing for these scenarios were short synopses used both for film description and marketing. For example: Edison's 1897 tale "Pillow Fight" is described as: “Four young ladies, in their nightgowns, are having a romp. One of the pillows gets torn, and the feathers fly all over the room.” John P. Hess. (2017). Proto-Screenplay-The Essentials of Screenplay Formatting. 2017, by Filmmaker IQ Website: https://filmmakeriq.com/lessons/silent-era-scenarios/ But with time it was discovered that different pieces of film could be put together to tell a story. The first screenplays were only written as technical support, so the director knew what to shoot and in what order. Later, by 1903 it was start...

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Screenwriting 101

Screenplays are often defined as the blueprints for a movie, the document that will guide the filmmaking and storytelling processes from beginning to end. Screenwriting is also conceived as one of the most difficult writing tasks in the world, due to its limitations (page count, writing style, tense, etc.), limitations novelists and poets don’t have. This post is the first one, in a series, to bring a wider understanding of what screenwriting is, its purpose and tips on how to write better screenplays. With that said, first things first: What is a screenplay? Wikipedia defines a screenplay as: A written work by screenwriters for a film, video game or television program. These screenplays can be original works or adaptations from existing pieces of writing. I think this is a great definition of what a screenplay is; like I said before a screenplay is the blueprint for a story, any type of story that is set to become an audiovisual production. It is also a g...

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