Posted on June 23, 2009 by Darren
It’s a news story that’s got a fair bit of coverage all over the shop, but I thought I’d simply put it up here.
Pixar got a phonecall from the family of ten year old Colby Curtin, a child dying of cancer. Colby was a huge fan of the studio’s work to date, and had told her mother that she’d hang on in to see their latest film, Up. The family had planned to take her to the cinema, but she took a turn for the worse before the release. Apparently the family didn’t even know anyone at the company, they’d just made the call when it became clear Colby would not be able to see the film in cinemas. Pixar sent out the film to her house for a private screening. Apparently Colby was impressed with the result. Having seen the movie, she died later that night.
A still from Pixar's Up
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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: cinema, colby curtin, Movies, pixar, up | 2 Comments »
Posted on June 23, 2009 by Darren
I saw The Hangover last weekend, and it occurs to me: has there ever been a truly great Las Vegas movie? A movie (or even a show) that fully captures the feeling of living in a city that glows with neon glare twenty-four hours a day? I can name at least a dozen movies using Vegas as a backdrop: there’s the obvious ones like Viva Las Vegas, Leaving Las Vegas, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and maybe even Casino. Then there are the smaller films like Jon Favreau’s Swingers or The Cooler which are set in the city. I’m not sure that the film has received definitive treatment on film.
Bright light city gonna set my soul on fire...
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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: cities on film, film, las vegas, las vegas on film, Movies, the hangover | Leave a comment »
Posted on June 23, 2009 by Darren
Damn you, Billy Joel! No I’m stuck humming Leningrad! (Cold War kids are hard to kill, under their desks in an air raid drill!)
Anyway, it looks to be a relatively quiet week, cinema-wise. The calm before the proverbial storm when Transformers 2 arrives at the American Box Office. Us Europeans got it first and trust us – it ain’t that great. The real movie we’re looking forward to next weekend is Michael Mann’s Public Enemies. The king of crime dramas working with both Johnny Depp and Christian Bale on one of the most compelling true-crime stories in American popular history – what’s not to like? We’d tell you, but Universal is taking down all those early reviews, so we best be careful. I guarantee half the people reading this post will be lawyers from Universal.
Universal have a novel approach for dealing with reviewers breaking the embargo...
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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: christian bale, embargo, johnny depp, michael mann public enemies, public enemies review, review, review embargo, universal | 6 Comments »
Posted on June 22, 2009 by Darren
A deleted scene from Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction suggests that there are two kinds of people: there are Elvis people and there a Beatles people. Sure, you can like both, but you’ll always like one better than the other. With my Looney Tunes: Golden Collection boxsets having arrived in the door last week, I’d like to add a collary: there are two kinds of people in the world, there are Bugs Bunny people and there are Daffy Duck people. Which are you?
Choose wisely...
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Filed under: Opinion | Tagged: bugs bunny, daffy duck, DVD, looney tunes, looney tunes: golden collection | Leave a comment »
Posted on June 20, 2009 by Darren
We caught a late screening of The Hangover at Cineworld last night – which started ten minutes late and had twenty minutes of trailers attachmed (most of which were for movies that didn’t look particularly interesting), which led to us missing our rides home by about five minutes, but that’s a different rant. Still, it was kinda total worth it – like the eponymous hangover itself.
Three Men and a Baby it is not...
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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: bradley cooper, Ed Helms, film, las vegas, mike tyson, Movies, non-review review, review, the hangover, Zach Galifianakis | 5 Comments »
Posted on June 19, 2009 by Darren
Well, if Hollywood is going to aggressively continue its campaign of remakes in a 3D era, I suppose there are worse genres to resurrect than the old “Universal Monster Movie” horror sub-genre. We really should have seen this coming with the impending release of The Wolf Man later in the year, but there are confirmed remakes of The Bride of Frankenstein and The Creature from the Black Lagoon in the works. It seems that Hollywood is as keen to cannibalise its trashy glories as it is to remake its celluloid classics.
Something fishy's going on...
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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: bride of frankenstein, creature from the black lagoon, dracula, films, frankenstein, hollywood, monster movies, Movies, remakes, The Wolf Man, universal monster movies, wolfman | 4 Comments »
Posted on June 18, 2009 by Darren
Rumours are already circulating that Christopher Nolan may be calling it a day when it comes to his Batman franchise. Anonymous insiders – don’t you love ’em – are claiming the director has reached breaking point with the studio. Rumour has it that they want to recast The Joker and include him in the sequel, whereas Nolan is against the idea. It’s far too early to really start worrying about it – Nolan was initially reluctant to do a sequel to Batman Begins, for example. But, still, it’s a slow news day, so we’ll ponder it: What happens if Nolan doesn’t return?
There's no man like Nolan
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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: batman, Batman 3, Christopher Nolan, dark knight returns, david s. goyer, heath ledger, joker, The Dark Knight, the dark knight sequel, Warner Brothers, zach snyder | 4 Comments »
Posted on June 18, 2009 by Darren
I think everyone has family issues. They’re a bunch of people in your life who you never chose to be close to you. And you’re stuck with them, for better or worse. I think that’s why Little Miss Sunshine strikes the chord it does. That, and it’s an astonishingly good film.
"Everyone pretend to be normal."
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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: film, greg kinnear, little miss sunshine, Movies, non-review review, review, steve carrell, toni collette | 2 Comments »
Posted on June 18, 2009 by Darren
I’m surprised at the lack of word from Hollywood about another Superman film. Sure, there were mumblings after The Dark Knight of a similar venture to be named The Man of Steel, but despite Kevin Smith’s championing of JJ Abrams to take the mantle or the rumours about a Wachowski Brothers trilogy, it seems that next-to-nothing is happening. I’ll admit I’m not the biggest fan of the Superman character – largely because there is no really character and attempts to add it have simply tried to inject angst where it doesn’t belong. Still, he has the potential to make fantastic movies, as a large part of the character is simply spectacle. I thought I’d just jot down my own advice for anyone out there looking to make a Superman movie.
Don't have Superman stare deeply into middle distance. The dude has X-Ray vision and can see the wings on a fly several miles away.
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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: man of steel, man of steel movie, superman, superman movie, superman sequel | 1 Comment »
Posted on June 17, 2009 by Darren
I have to admit, the news that Paul Haggis would be replaced by Peter Morgan on writing duties at Bond 23 (because we don’t have a cool/confusing/pretentious title yet) was a little bit of a surprise, but not too much. The producers reportedly also attempted to coax Danny Boyle into directing the film, so I guess they’re trying one rung down on this year’s Oscar-nominees list. I’m not sure if that’s a good sign though. Don’t get me wrong, Morgan is amazing and I eagerly anticipate The Special Relationship (though I think he picked the wrong President), but I’m worried that the movies are creeping toward pretention. I like Casino Royale, it cleared away nearly forty years of rubble the franchise had accumulated – but it seems the producers picker up on the wrong message from its success. The Quantum of Solice didn’t give us back-to-basics Bond as much as it gave us a British Jason Bourne. Still, regardless of my feelings about behind the scenes, I am somewhat excited by the Michael Sheen as Blofeld rumours that are cropping up.
Isn't he just Darling... oh wait, wrong member of government...
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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: blofeld, bond 23, daniel craig, ernst stavro blofeld, james bond, michael sheen, peter morgan | 1 Comment »
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