Title: What’s in a Film Review?

1. Title: What’s in a Film Review? Learning Objective: • To know what needs to be included in a film review

2. What do you think is needed? Title of the film Running time What does the reader need to know? Remember: A film review is meant to convince somebody who HAS NOT seen the film to either watch it or avoid it!

3. Key Review Ingredients • A title for the review • Title of the film • Running Time • Certificate e.g. 12A, 15, 18, U • The genre – perhaps how this film compares to others in the same genre • The names of the main actors and their characters • A brief synopsis of the film (without giving too much away – the reader hasn’t seen it yet) • Possible theme/moral of the film – the message the audience take away from the film • Who will like the film • An opinion (including information about what was interesting or awful about it) • A rating • Writer’s name (and sometimes a little biog) • Writing that engages the reader e.g. humour The review needs to convince someone who HAS NOT seen the film to either see it or avoid it

4. Alex Zane Film Reviews • Read the review you have been given • Stick it into your book with room to write around _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Lor of averages By Alex Zane _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

5. Annotating Zane’s Reviews • Highlight/annotate where it includes the key ingredients from your list • What do you think about the review you have been given? Is it well written? • Does it make you want to watch the film it’s written about? Why/why not?

6. Certificate Title of the film Running Time Title Bat’s entertainment: The Dark Knight Rises By ALEX ZANE Published: 20th July 2012 The Dark Knight Rises(12A) 165mins AFTER The Dark Knight became a critical hit – and the first comic book movie to cross the $1billion mark – the anticipation began to build for Christopher Nolan’s final entry in his Batman saga. Set eight years after The Dark Knight, this finale shows a Gotham City at peace. With organised crime a thing of the past Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) lives as a recluse in Wayne Manor, no longer needing to don the mask. “There’s nothing out there for me,” he tells Alfred (Michael Caine). That is until terrorist Bane (Tom Hardy) shows up and turns Gotham into a war zone, creating an underground army from those struggling in the recession. Writer of the review Brief Synopsis Names of the main characters and their actors

7. The muscular Hardy is an imposing presence. His voice — emanating from behind a permanent mask and labelled “muffled” by those who saw early footage — is now perfectly understandable. • Not since Darth Vader has a rasp been so villainous. Bane is also the first foe physically equal to Batman — as a bone-crunching dust-up shows. • Caine sets the emotional stakes to 11 early on with a monologue that’ll leave even the most stony-faced reaching for a tissue. And Anne Hathaway may just be the best she’s ever been as skilled thief Catwoman. • There’s also the excellent Joseph Gordon-Levitt as a rookie cop, Gary Oldman, Marion Cotillard, Morgan Freeman and Matthew Modine’s police chief. In the hands of a lesser director, so many characters could lead to some getting short shrift but Nolan marshals all their stories into one truly epic film. • While there is nothing in this movie quite as electrifying as the late Heath Ledger’s Joker, this is still a phenomenal piece of film-making by a director at the top of his game and a spectacular and emotional end to the trilogy. • RATING: FIVE OUT OF FIVE Writing that engages the reader - humour Opinion Rating

8. Annotating Zane’s Reviews • Highlight/annotate where it includes the key ingredients from your list • What do you think about the review you have been given? Is it well written? • Does it make you want to watch the film it’s written about? Why/why not?

9. 3 Key Ingredients? What do you think are the three most important ingredients in a film review? 1. 2. 3.