Joe Cornish
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Filmography
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The Goonies (1985)
Directed by Richard Donner
influenced The Kid Who Would Be King (2019), Attack the Block (2011)
Themes Plot
“They don’t make ‘em like this anymore,” you may have found yourself exclaiming on your last watch of The Goonies or E.T. Well, they do now…
When Alex soon discovers a sword stuck in concrete, The Kid Who Would Be King shifts gears into a full-on adventure fantasy akin, though never beholden, to ‘80s kids’ adventure films like The Goonies and The Neverending Story.
This time around he's aiming for a younger audience but borrows from an equally diverse range of sources, from 1980s Hollywood favorites like The Goonies and The Terminator to classic English children's books like The Sword in the Stone .
However, Cornish certainly has found his sweet spot with these type of adventure films that evoke some of Steven Spielberg’s classic action-adventures, like The Goonies and E.T. Similar to Spielberg’s films, The Kid Who Would Be King does not talk down to kids or simplify anything for that demographic.
Like The Goonies - and many other films - before it, The Kid Who Would Be King follows a group of kids who may not necessarily get along but who put their personal differences aside in order to save their world.
Adults will smile at elements from The Goonies and E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial , and at Electric Wave Bureau’s synth score, but references to Harry Potter and Game of Thrones are just as prominent.
It’s hard not to listen to the soundtrack of Attack the Block and think of those great, creepy as hell soundtracks on movies like Alien or The Thing.
His audacious debut feature, "Attack the Block" -- in which lower-class youths from a London housing project do battle with man-eating aliens -- combines the wry nastiness of "Gremlins" and "The Thing" with such siege dramas as "Assault on Precinct 13" and "Escape from New York."
Accordingly, Attack the Block’s premise about an alien invasion and the ensuing siege of a single South London housing estate has umpteen nods to John Carpenter’s Assault on Precinct 13 (1976), Escape from New York (1981) and The Thing (1982), Walter Hill’s The Warriors (1979) and Streets of Fire (1984), Joe Dante’s Gremlins (1984) and the John Sayles-scripted Piranha (1978) and Alligator (1980), with a dash of French cinéma du look (Diva, 1981; Subway, 1985) and a Children’s Film Foundation romp thrown in for good measure.
Like "The Thing" and "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" before it, "Attack the Block" demands to be seen simply because it is a thrill - a pulse-raiser whose perfect construction and pointed wit make it one of the year's most exciting films.
"Attack The Block" may be the sort of film where you can pull apart the DNA to find traces of "The Warriors" and "Gremlins" and "Over The Edge" and "The Thing," but it has its own voice, and it never trades on easy references or simple nods.
This smartly assembled, effortlessly cool sci-fi comedy -- written and directed by Joe Cornish and produced by the "Shaun of the Dead" and "Scott Pilgrim vs. the World" team -- makes instant stars out of the charismatic non-professionals who comprise most of the young cast.
As a protégé and sometime colleague of Shaun of the Dead and Scott Pilgrim director Edgar Wright, Joe Cornish shares in common a sensibility that feels youthful, while also having an execution that's sophisticated and mature; both filmmakers relish the inspiration they draw from other genre films, but have the presence of mind to use it as a building block rather than a raison d'etre.
"Shaun of the Dead" actor Nick Frost brings his trademark comic presence as a pothead named Ron, whose apartment is a gathering place for a like-minded younger generation.
Cornish makes a feature debut here that's almost as stunning as when his pal (and executive producer) Edgar Wright invaded the cineplex with "Shaun of the Dead."
One of his cohorts (Nick Frost of Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz) operates out of a small apartment in the British equivalent of the projects, which is where all the movie’s characters live.
Edgar Wright, Cornish’s co-writer on the upcoming Spielberg film, serves as an executive producer of Attack the Block, which is appropriate since Wright’s witty zombie genre spoof, Shaun of the Dead, bears an obvious kinship with Cornish’s film.
Taking cues from Spielberg and ‘80s fare is hardly unique, as Super 8 and Stranger Things keep demonstrating; however Cornish’s feature directs its nostalgic flavour towards its primary audience.
2011’s Super 8 , a J.J. Abrams tribute to all things Amblin and Early Spielberg (which was actually produced by Amblin and Spielberg), is funnier, more exciting, and more emotionally grounded than The Goonies .
Sure we had things like Super 8 and Stranger Things , but those are more like homages to the films of the 80s.
Its most blatant influence was Steven Spielberg (for whom Cornish co-wrote that year’s The Adventures Of Tintin ), though it wasn’t a slavish imitation like the majority of this decade’s mostly-1980s-set Amblin wannabes—a subgenre effectively kicked off by Super 8 , which hit theaters the month before Attack The Block ’s American release.
He’s brought audiences an all-ages adventure full of hope and wonder, flavored with the attitude of movies like Monster Squad, Labyrinth, and even the kid-friendly cult classic Time Bandits.
There are times when “The Kid Who Would Be King” happily recalls Terry Gilliam’s “Time Bandits,” and director Cornish provides at least one absolutely thrilling moment you will surely want to share with your kids.
Assault on Precinct 13 (2005)
Directed by Jean-François Richet
influenced Attack the Block (2011)
Plot
When John Carpenter made " Assault on Precinct 13 " early in his career, he demonstrated an invaluable formula to later low-budget generations.
Accordingly, Attack the Block’s premise about an alien invasion and the ensuing siege of a single South London housing estate has umpteen nods to John Carpenter’s Assault on Precinct 13 (1976), Escape from New York (1981) and The Thing (1982), Walter Hill’s The Warriors (1979) and Streets of Fire (1984), Joe Dante’s Gremlins (1984) and the John Sayles-scripted Piranha (1978) and Alligator (1980), with a dash of French cinéma du look (Diva, 1981; Subway, 1985) and a Children’s Film Foundation romp thrown in for good measure.
The lush, dark cinematography by Thomas Townend (“Attack the Block”) and haunting score by Jonny Greenwood (Oscar nominee for “Phantom Thread”) combine to create an effectively fraught atmosphere, while the central performances by Phoenix and Samsonov become essential to the film’s success.
Ramsay is undoubtedly one of them – working with cinematographer Thomas Townend (in only his second feature film stint as cinematographer, following 2011’s Attack the Block ), there is a precision and comprehensiveness to her visual aesthetic.
The cinematography is a beautiful, bleak, smeary mess of muted colors from Thomas Townend (“Attack the Block”).
When John Carpenter made " Assault on Precinct 13 " early in his career, he demonstrated an invaluable formula to later low-budget generations.
In fact, we’ve seen two in the last decade-and-a-half, including Antoine Fuqua’s King Arthur and Guy Ritchie’s King Arthur: Legend of the Sword .
On the middling end of the scale, we have the gritty yet dull Antoine Fuqua film King Arthur and the Jerry Zucker film First Knight (with a Scottish King Arthur played by Sean Connery).
Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017)
Directed by Rian Johnson
influenced The Kid Who Would Be King (2019), Attack the Block (2011)
Themes
The film ends up having some thoughts about that trope in a vein not dissimilar from that of Star Wars: The Last Jedi, though somehow I feel like Arthurian mythologists will be overall less pissy about them.
It’s a charitable attitude to be sure, except that when everybody’s special, no one is (a peculiar tendency that has lately extended to “Star Wars: The Last Jedi,” which implied that a Force-blessed servant boy might one day grow up to take Luke Skywalker’s place, and the final groan-inducing twist of “Glass”).
You may know Joe Cornish from his brief appearances in Hot Fuzz or Star Wars: The Last Jedi , or his co-writing credit on The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn .
He also appears in an uncredited cameo as a Resistance fighter in Star Wars: The Last Jedi .
John Boyega (2011's " Attack the Block "), who made such a splash two years earlier, is mostly an afterthought here, outshined by winning newcomer Kelly Marie Tran in their respective scenes.
(The most Amblin-like contemporary cartoon, 2006’s charming Monster House , was somewhat ahead of the curve on this trend.)
Again and again, Eloise breaks down, her disturbing stretches concerning, among others, classmate John (Michael Ajao of “Attack the Block”), a kind gent who takes an interest in her as soon as he meets her.
She also draws the attention of John (Michael Ajao, “Attack the Block”), a nice young man who recognizes both her specialness and her vulnerability.
Soon Sandie's nocturnal realm of champagne cocktails and gentleman's clubs becomes more real to Ellie than her days at school — despite the increasingly worried queries of her grandmother and the gentle flirtations of an amiable boy in her class ( Attack the Block 's Michael Ajao) — and her evenings spent pulling pints at a grubby pub.
She has her suspicions that a silver-haired perv (Terence Stamp) who frequents the pub where she works has something to do with her visions, and the only person who is remotely trying to understand what she’s going through is fellow student John (Michael Ajao, Attack the Block), who also happens to be a potential love interest.
She does catch the eye of fellow student John (Michael Ajao, Attack the Block ), who’s just as unassuming and equally bashful.
Pasamos de la famosa cabaña de Evil Dead de 1981, a un bloque de pisos a lo Attack the Block (2011).
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
Directed by Peter Jackson
influenced The Kid Who Would Be King (2019)
Characters
One such episode involves a chase through time-frozen streets with the four kids fleeing from three creatures that appear to have been inspired by the Black Riders in The Fellowship of the Ring.
Nick Frost expertly channels the weed-infused persona of druggie Danny from Withnail & I, while the young hoodlums (many of whom have soft centres) all come across as authentic rather than Blazin' Squad style stage school brats trying to act 'street'.
Some express this nostalgia overtly with success (see “Stranger Things,” “Turbo Kid,” “It“), while others wear those obvious references poorly and awkwardly (“Bumblebee“).
Cornish has a free-spirited sensibility making this picture and a playful willingness to take on the science fiction genre in an unhinged manner similar to that of 2009’s District 9, only with more comedy involved.
The beasties in both Joe Cornish's Attack the Block and Jon Favreau's Cowboys & Aliens are inclined to subtle infiltration, as opposed to the park-massive-spacecraft-above-major-city approach of those in Independence Day or District 9.
For this, it strongly contrasts the overrated District 9, which explored the same kind of social and racial issues in the alien genre but failed to make any strong or valid points about those subjects.
With Hollywood fumbling its alien-invasion flicks at least three-quarters of the time (Cowboys & Aliens, the latest Transformers, and does anyone even remember Battle: Los Angeles?), it's nice to see that the rest of the global community can pick up some of the slack, with South Africa and New Zealand contributing District 9 and now the United Kingdom offering up this film.
And not particularly interesting criminals — like Kurt Russell in “Escape from New York” or Vin Diesel in “Pitch Black” — but stupid, violent teens who take a knife to a poor nursing student trudging her way home.
Diary of a Wimpy Kid (2010)
Directed by Thor Freudenthal
influenced The Kid Who Would Be King (2019)
Themes
More Harry Potter than Diary of a Wimpy Kid, the movie conveys dangers similar to Neil Gaiman’s Stardust, avoiding spoof and silliness while retaining whimsy.
More Harry Potter than Diary of a Wimpy Kid, the movie conveys dangers similar to Neil Gaiman’s Stardust, avoiding spoof and silliness while retaining whimsy.