Posted on October 10, 2009 by Darren
Probably the best we could have hoped for. Which is a guarded compliment at best. The movie has several gaping flaws, both as an adaptation of Alan Moore’s seminal work and also as a film in its own right. And yet it contains more interesting ideas than most prestige dramas, and at least two standout performances. The film is widely inconsistent, sometimes feeling too long in its gratuitous acton or sex scenes, but too short on the actual big ideas that make it thought-provoking. Ultimately, what ties the film down is also what props it up, in a manner: the fact that it is based on one of the most important books of the last quarter century.
Just the three of us...
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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: adaptation, adrian veidt, alan moore, billy crudup, billy crupud, comic book, doctor manhatten, dr. strangelove, ending, film, film adaptation, graphic novel, jackie earle haley, league of extraordinary gentlemen, malin akerman, matt frewer, matthew goode, Movie, non-review review, patrick dean morgan, patrick wilson, review, richard nixon, rorschach, squid, United States, watchmen, zack snyder | 5 Comments »
Posted on October 9, 2009 by Darren
For reasons beyond my control (and the same reasons that might lead me to slow my contributions over the next weeks) I found myself watching late night reality television on TV3. Until now, reality TV and I have observed something resembling a mutually peaceful existence – I don’t bother it and it doesn’t bother me. However, watching an hour of Gordon Ramsey swear like he’d just bought a sailor’s thesaurus really just hammered home how uncomfortable I am watching reality television. What’s my problem?
Reality TV in a nutshell...
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Filed under: Television | Tagged: broadcasting, competitive reality shows, networks, programming, reality shows, reality television, reality tv, scripted drama, Television, voyeurism | 1 Comment »
Posted on October 8, 2009 by Darren
Hush is a divisive story arc. It seems that you either love it or you hate it, there seems to be no middle ground to speak of. Depending on where you stand it’s either a compelling exploration of Batman’s insecurities featuring a worthy new opponent for his rogues’ gallery, or it’s a hackneyed and poorly-conceived mystery which relies on an overly convoluted resolution. Honestly, I can see both sides of the argument. While I won’t argue that it’s a prestigious masterpiece in the mold of Year One or The Long Halloween, I must confess that I quite enjoyed it. Teaming up veteran Batman writer Jeph Loeb with superstar artist Jim Lee, this is very much a Batman blockbuster. It’s epic in scale, spanning most of the DC universe, with more than a few interesting (if jumbled) ideas thrown into the mix.
… Don’t say a word…
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Filed under: Comics | Tagged: absolute batman, absolute batman: hush, absolute edition, absolute hush, batman, batman: hush, BatmanHush, brian michael bendis, Bruce, bruce wayne, comic books, dc comics, dc universe, gotham city, graphic novel, hush, jeph loeb, jim lee, lex luthor, review, riddler, the joker, the riddler, thomas elliot | 3 Comments »
Posted on October 7, 2009 by Darren
So last week we had the box office dominance of Zombieland, a post-apocalyptic comedy. Over the weekend we had the simultaneous broadcast across US network television of five minutes of Emmerich’s newest disaster flick 2012. We also may have the first post-apocalyptic Oscar-nominee in The Road this year. And that’s just in the last three months of the year. Looking back over the last decade alone there have been a million-and-one end-of-the-world thrillers, chillers, comedies and dramas. That’s a lot of apocalypse for a relatively small planet. So, what gives? is there a greater reason for the zeitgeist’s fascination with the end of the world?
Darth Vader offers an example of what the end of the world might just look like...
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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: 2012, apocalypse, doomsday, dr. strangelove, film, film genres, i am legend, Movies, post-apocalyptic, teotwawki, the day after tomorrow, the end of the world, the road, waterworld, zombie apocalypse, zombieland, zombies | 1 Comment »
Posted on October 6, 2009 by Darren
I caught a screening of Toy Story 3D in Cineworld last night. It was amazing. Not for the new 3D effects – which were, admittedly graceful and understated rather than garish and intrusive – but just for the joy of seeing two old friends back on the big screen, where they belong. The rerelease of the movie has garnered a lot of discussion about what the best Pixar film is, with many suggesting that this original film may take the crown. While Toy Story isn’t the best of that studio’s filmography, it remains a highlight. To infinity and beyond, indeed!
Toyz in da Hood...
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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: buzz lightyear, films disney, Movies, non-review review, pixar, rerelease, review, tim allen, tom hanks, toy story, toy story 3d, woody | 1 Comment »
Posted on October 6, 2009 by Darren
Every year hundreds of books are adapted into movies. The adaptation process is (if Spike Jonze and Charlie Kaufman are to be believed) hell for the writer – but it’s also somewhat of a complex question for the film reviewer. Unlike the few films these days that have started their life as a script and have never before been offered to the public, the ideas, themes, characters and contents of the work now being produced as a blockbuster have all been let loose years ago. If reviewers should aspire to be educated in what they review, should they read the books before they see the films in order to properly judge them, or should the film itself stand on its own two feet to be judged as a success or failure on its own merits? On a more superficial level, is a reviewer better able to access what the audience expects from the film if they’ve read the book or should they act on the presumption that few moviegoers read the original work? Should they even care – is an attitude towards literary adaptations necessary for consistency in a film reviewer?
Book him, Leo...
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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: adaptations, books, books to screen, cinema, films, revolutionary road, Shutter Island, watchmen | 1 Comment »
Posted on October 5, 2009 by Darren
I didn’t know that you were allowed like comedic protagonists anymore. I thought they were all meant to be immature, or pathetic, or passive-aggressive, or petty, or emotionally damaged. The last honest-to-goodness sympathetic lead character I remember in a large comedy was Steve Carrell’s wonderful turn in the 40 Year Old Virgin, years ago now. Here we have another small-screen comedian trying to find room for himself on the big screen, in a relatively light and simplistic comedy about mall security. It’s like a family version of Observe and Report. Except not. Not at all.
Don't worry, he's trained for this... Probably...
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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: film, kevin james, mall cop, Movie, non-review review, paul blart, paul blart: mall cop, review, spoof | Leave a comment »
Posted on October 5, 2009 by Darren
It’s a strange world. It’s startling that last year’s writers’ strike produced one the most stunning years of television that I can recall. In particular the fourth seasons of both House and Lost managed to inject a new sense of life into premises that had been wearing more than a little thin. Both series finales were fantastic, and promised wonderful things for the coming year. And both series subsequently failed to live up to the promise offered by those finales. In fairness, Lost was pretty awesome this year, just not with the same concentration of awesome which defined its earlier season. House, on the other hand, faltered coming out of the date by giving us a whole myriad of poorly-handled interesting storylines and just blain terrible subplots. Just when it looked like it was going to limp past the finish line, the last handful of episodes managed to turn it around, but I’m still not sure what to make of the season as a whole.
The show had its problems this year, let's see if we can make a diagnosis...
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Filed under: Television | Tagged: cuddy, drama, gregory house, house, house m.d., house md, house: season 5, hugh laurie, kal penn, laurence kutner, lisa edelstein, robert sean leonard, Television, wilson | 1 Comment »
Posted on October 5, 2009 by Darren
There’s a lot of potantial here. Guys and their friends typically relate differently than girls and their friends. And nothing interferes with a wedding quite like a guy and his best friend – even if both the marriage and the relationship with the best friend are a great idea. The problem is that I Love You, Man doesn’t go anywhere with its interesting notion and it insists upon tackling the question of how the sexes relate in the most immature way possible. This is the bromantic equivalent of Sleepless in Seattle rather than Chasing Amy or (500) Days of Summer.
A scooter made for two...
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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: bro-mance, bromance, comedy, i love you man, j.k. simmons, jason segel, john hamberg, non-review review, paul rudd, rashida jones, review, romance | Leave a comment »
Posted on October 4, 2009 by Darren
With all the Silver Age love that Grant Morrison is giving Batman and Geoff Johns is showing Hal Jordan, it’s nice to see a little reflection back towards the Golden Age, which is generally forgotten (it helps that many of the comic book heroes that we have today only really emerged during that Silver Age, and that the writers would have grown up during it). Here we have a contemporary retelling of one of the early Batman stories, as reimagined by Matt Wagner in a follow-up to another Golden Age adaptation, Batman and the Monster Men. It’s a lovely little fun story that stands tall among the many, many early adventures in Batman’s career.
Who let the dogs out?
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Filed under: Comics | Tagged: batman, batman and the mad monk, comic books, dark moon rising, dc comics, gotham, james gordon, matt wagner, review, the monk | Leave a comment »
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