September | 2009 | the m0vie blog

It’s For-eign, Not For Americans…

Posted on September 9, 2009 by Darren

What is the deal with remaking foreign films for American audiences, really? That Akira remake apparently still alive.

Despite the high volume of foreign films being remade, there are comparatively few English films that warrant an Americanised reworking, so I’m going to suggest that it’s not merely the cultural barrier that needs transcending. I think it’s the foreign language barrier. So, what’s the point in remaking and reimagining foreign properties for huge amounts of money – why not simply pay more heed to the original product?

For the record, NOT how you do a 180-degree turn...

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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: akira, americanisation, americanise, americanize, anime, asian cinema, audiences, coruching tiger hidden dragon, dubbing, foreign films, infernal affairs, internation cinema, reimaginiting, remake, ringu, subtitles, the departed, the ring | Leave a comment »

Pixar’s Ant-Man!

Posted on September 8, 2009 by Darren

Yes, I can’t resist the urge to post every bit of awesome Pixar-related news that comes to my attention. This week it’s the potential payoff on the humongous (yes, I’ve been waiting to use that word a while now) Marvel-Disney deal that broke last week and sent ripples through the geeksphere. I was less-than-interested because I knew it would be years before we say any payoff (given the long Hollywood development cycle) and even more years before Disney got its hands on the movie rights to any ‘big hitters’ (as all the big franchises are tied up with other studios at the moment). There was the thought at the back of my mind that I dared not articulate, but it has happened: Pixar are apparently doing a comic book movie. An Ant-Man movie!

Wait, who?

Na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na, Antman!

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Filed under: Comics, Movies | Tagged: animated movies, animation, ant-man, antman, cgi, comic books, Comics, disney, disney-marvel deal, edgar wright, hank pym, marvel, marvel-disney deal, pixar, superhero, the avengers, the ultimates | Leave a comment »

Science Fiction by any other name…

Posted on September 8, 2009 by Darren

I’m genuinely excited about The Road, the adaptation of the novel from Pulitzer-Prize-winning author Cormac McCarthy. despite a shakey production history, it looks like the Weinstein might be able to mount a successful Oscar campaign for this science-fiction tale. Oops. I shouldn’t have mentioned that hyphenated word. Pretend you didn’t hear it – maybe the Academy hasn’t heard it either. In fact, given the way that people talk about the book and the film, you’d be lucky to hear that ‘tag’ even within the same paragraph. I won’t tell anyone if you don’t.

A nice father-son day out...

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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: arts, charlize theron, classification, cormac mccarthy, critics, films, genre, labels, Movies, novel, oscar campaigns, Oscars, prejudice, sci-fi, science fiction, snobbishness, tags, the road, viggo mortensen | Leave a comment »

Summer 2009 in Review…

Posted on September 7, 2009 by Darren

So, how was it for you?

Long after the movies of summer are gone...

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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: big movies, blockbusters, cinema, district 9, films, harry potter, public enemies, summer 08, summer 09, summer 2008, summer 2009, the hangover, transformers 2, wolverine | 2 Comments »

Film Studies in the Leaving Certificate…

Posted on September 7, 2009 by Darren

I sat the Leaving Certificate over five years ago, so the memory of the examine is still fresh in my mind. For those international readers, that’s the exam we do at the end of secondary school before we go to college (it determines whether we get a place as we don’t really have college fees… yet). Anyway, no subject perplexed me as much as English did. here was a subject that could be interesting and compelling, but mostly ended up boring the pants off anyone sitting it. The subject is taught over two years with students choosing one core text (taken for a set list by the Department) and then three ‘comparative texts’ (also from a list, albeit a larger one). There were also poets and composition and all the stuff we would expect. I remember being excited when I heard that films were on this comparative list. But that soon changed when I learned which films. With all the kids going back to school, I wonder if film studies should be made a larger part of English studies, or if we simply need to revise which films we use and how we use them in the class room.

Looking for the reel deal...

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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: education, english, exams, film studies, films, irish education, leaving cert, leaving certificate, leaving certificate english, leaving certificate film studies, Movies, teaching | Leave a comment »

Geoff Johns’ Run on Green Lantern – Sinestro Corps War & Tales of the Sinestro Corps (Review/Retrospective)

Posted on September 5, 2009 by Darren

Okay, now we’re into the meaty stuff. After quite a bit of set-up, Johns finally lets loose. Sinestro Corps War is a summer blockbuster in comics form, but it’s a summer blockbuster with ideas and characters that make it rich and fulfilling. Every inch an ‘event’ comic (right down to an arguably unnecessary spin-off), it manages to be perhaps the best event comic book that has been produced in quite some time. Most importantly, it seems to start to tie together a lot of the work that Johns had put into the earlier issues.

Red and yellow together? A confident choice, sir!

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Filed under: Comics | Tagged: comic books, Comics, dc comics, geoff johns, green lantern, review, sinestro, sinestro corps, sinestro corps war, Sinestro Corps War: vol 2, Sinestro Corps War: vol. 1, Sinestro Corps War: Volume 1, Sinestro Corps War: volume 2, Sinestro Corps War:vol 1, Tales of the Sinestro Corps | Leave a comment »

Geoff Johns’ Run on Green Lantern – No Fear, Revenge of the Green Lanterns & Wanted: Hal Jordan

Posted on September 5, 2009 by Darren

Talk about a turn-around in fortunes. I remember the days when the Green Lantern was a cult figure – beloved by a few core devotees and mocked ceaselessly by anyone who knew the character well enough to know that he had a weakness to the colour yellow. That’s lamer than Kryptonite and led to all manner of hackneyed set-ups and resolutions since the rebirth of the series in 1960 (the original Green Lantern had a similar weakness to wood – yes, wood). However, he’s now one of DC’s flagship properties, managed to be the one to watch even in a summer where DC ‘killed’ Batman and has a mega blockbuster movie coming out starring Ryan Reynolds and directed by the man who saved James Bond (twice). There are a variety of factors that explain this massive reversal in fortune, but I’m going to go ahead and throw a name on them: Geoff Johns.

Don't worry, he's just out of practice... He'll figure it out...

Yeah, exposition tends to really kill those big moments, doesn't it?

Note: As Green Lantern: Rebirth is receiving an Absolute Edition next year, I held off on buying the trade. So I’ll get that in 2010 and review it then. I just wish I’d held off on buying the Sinestro Corps War books – they’ll likely get the Absolute treatment too. Still, this collection actually makes a better “jumping on” point.

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Filed under: Comics | Tagged: batman, branded, Comics, dc comics, geoff johns, green arrow, green lantern, green lantern: no fear, hal jordan, mystery of the star sapphire, no fear, revenge of the green lanterns, review, revival, silver age, sinestro corps war, tpb, wanted: hal jordan | Leave a comment »

Non-Review Review: District 9

Posted on September 5, 2009 by Darren

It was good, but not great. That’s about it. I was somewhat underwhelmed by what is being hailed as the most fresh and original science fiction film since… well, Moon way back in June. Maybe I’m being harsh though. A lot of it was very good, some of it was great, but some of it made my very uncomfortable. And not in the way that social commentary is meant to make you feel uncomfortable.

Illegal aliens...

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: aliens, apartheid, district 9, films, Movies, neill blomkamp, nigerians, non-review review, peter jackson, prawns, racism, review, science fiction, shane copley, sharlto copley, south africa, xenophobia | 1 Comment »

Going Nutz Over Nazis…

Posted on September 4, 2009 by Darren

Ah, Nazis. The most typical of Hollywood villains. It seems that whenever you want the audience to cheer at what your morally ambiguous hero is up to, just stick his opponent in a Nazi uniform and you can guaruntee that the viewers will know which side they’re on. It used to be in the old days that simply putting a villain in a Nazi uniform was a regular past time for any big director. You didn’t need characterisation or complexity. If they’re German between 1941 and 1945, they’re a bad guy. Well, at least that used to be the way. In recent years it seems that we have accepted that things may be slightly more complex than those black and grey uniforms that they wore. There are many shades. So much so that the ‘thoughtful Nazi flick’ has pretty much become guarunteed Oscar bait. Given the minor furore which surrounded the release of Inglourious Basterds, is the time of the one-dimensional cardboard cutout passed into history? And has political correctness gone too far?

Don't make a song and dance about it...

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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: films, germany, good, history, hitler, indiana jones, inglourious basterds, national socialism, nazis, political correctness, quentin tarantino, schindler's list, sterotypes, the holocaust, the reader, the sound of music | 1 Comment »

Pleasing All of the People Some of the Time – Oscar Voting for Dummies…

Posted on September 3, 2009 by Darren

You can please some of the people all of the time, you can please all of the people some of the time, but you can’t please all of the people all of the time.

John Lydgate

The above quote is frequently attributed to Abraham Lincoln (though Lincoln actually substituted ‘fool’ for ‘please’, in a bit of West Wing-style trivia for you, say what you will of “Honest Abe”), and applies to many things in life. Since this is a movie blog, and the Oscars changed the practice of counting votes for the Best Picture, today it applies to the practice of counting votes for the Best Picture. The Academy used to adopt both approaches – favouring all in the selection of nominees, but only some (as little as 18%) in its selection of winners – but now it looks like the academy is shifting towards adjusting the selection of winners to allow all (well, a lot more than before) members some say in the matter.

Anyway, we’ve put together a little maths guide to how the new system will work in practice.