Posted on November 13, 2009 by Darren
In my defense, I haven’t seen the original 2002 movie The Gathering Storm, to which this movie serves as a sequel – but I think the movie (as a historical piece) stands very well on its own two feet. Besides, aside from the producers (the brothers Scott, obviously attempting to follow Spielberg into the World War II market) and writer (Hugh Whitemore), the series has little in common with its illustrious predecessor. The director is new. The roles have been recast. If it weren’t for the linking theme of the word ‘Storm’ in the title and the fact that this movie picks up where the other left off (at least chronologically), there would be nothing to really tie it down. So, with the confession that I have not seen the original made-for-TV movie, what did I think of Into The Storm?
Cry Havok! And let slip the insurance-selling dogs of war!
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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews, Television | Tagged: brendan gleeson, churchill, drama, hbo, into the storm, made-for-television, Movie, non-review review, review, Television, winston churchill | 2 Comments »
Posted on November 12, 2009 by Darren
I remember laughing when Roger Ebert made a shortlist of toys and games just waiting to be adapted into big screen properties after the success of Transformers 2. How far we’ve come in so little time. When Peter Berg (director of The Kingdom and Hancock) was announced as the director of the forthcoming Battleship film, we didn’t know quite what to expect (apart from that it would likely feature Jason Bateman). That’s only natural, since the boardgame it is based upon is fairly straight-forward. Well, since the news broke that it’s going to be set IN SPACE, I’ve been wondering why that news surprises me as much as it did.
I think Peter Berg just sunk my battleship...
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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: adaptations, battleship, battleship movie, boardgames, hollywood, movie adaptations, peter berg, resident evil, super mario brothers, transformers, video game movies | 1 Comment »
Posted on November 12, 2009 by Darren
Hmm… A perfectly adequate action movie. Nothing more, nothing less. Certainly not a top-of-the-line model.
Hardly an original model...
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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: angelina jolie, cars, film, gone in 60 seconds, gone in sixty seconds, Movies, nicholas cage, non-review review, review, robert duvall, stealing cars | 1 Comment »
Posted on November 11, 2009 by Darren
Well, I guess the Ultimate line is supposed to be a vehicle for redefining old Marvel stories, so it seems appropriate that the Ultimate Hulk has been getting around knocking seven kinds of crap out of various heroes. He was the first opponent Mark Millar’s superteam faced in The Ultimates, he had this themed face-off with Iron Man last year and this year he squared off with Wolverine in the infamously delayed Ultimate Hulk vs. Wolverine series (in a fitting echo: Wolverine originated as a Hulk opponent). The book is an obvious attempt to cash in on Marvel’s two big summer blockbusters last year: The Incredible Hulk and Iron Man. Still, as cash-ins go, it’s reasonably diverting.
I quite like him when he's angry...
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Filed under: Comics | Tagged: cary nord, hulk, iron man, marvel, marvel ultimate universe, marvel universe, review, ultimate hulk, ultimate hulk vs. iron man, ultimate hulk vs. iron man - ultimate human, ultimate hulk vs. ultimate iron man, ultimate human, ultimate iron man, ultimate leader, ultimate marvel, warren ellis | Leave a comment »
Posted on November 11, 2009 by Darren
One of the wonderful things about the advent of portable media like DVDs and BluRay is that it allows filmmakers to cram a whole lot more of their film on to the disk. Most offer a variety of insights into the filmmaking process – such as featurettes or commentaries – whereas some add more texture to the environment created – deleted or extended scenes, or included multimedia extras and so on. It’s become quite common to release extended editions (or directors’ cuts) of major motion picture releases – Watchmen, for example, has no less than three versions so far, for example. Here’s the question though: should those deleted or extended scenes be treated as the word of god (for lack of a better description) and as having occurred in the continuity with which we are presented? Admittedly it’s less of a problem for movies, where there are only occasionally sequels and even then continuity is generally loose, but what about television series? I’m watching the second season of Battlestar Galactica and it includes two distinct versions of the episode Pegasus – the extended one featuring at least one important plotpoint – so which do I presume happened when I view the following episodes?
Is it only the final cut that matters?
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Filed under: Movies, Television | Tagged: continuity, cut, deleted scenes, films, interpretations, Movies, scissor, word of god | Leave a comment »
Posted on November 10, 2009 by Darren
Well, the whole point of Frontline was to offer a more realistic and “grounded” discussion of current affairs, where anything could happen. So – in a way – the three-minute rant that Kenny was subjected to last night seems to be almost a proof of concept: this is no-holds-barred television, not choreographed or airbrushed. The rant seems to have split public opinion (at least from listening to Newstalk this morning), but I think we’ll all avoiding the real elephant in the room: if you’re going to hijack the spotlight on a current affairs show, at least make your point in a way that isn’t simply mashing up a handful of words (“hypocritical”, “600,000”, “eleven hours”, “credibility”, “pontificating”) in a variety of permutations for three minutes.
Quite literally on the front line...
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Filed under: Opinion, Television | Tagged: frontline, oratory, Pat Kenny, public speaking, rants, raves, recession, rhetoric, rte, speeches | 1 Comment »
Posted on November 10, 2009 by Darren
The first member of The Ultimates to get spun-off into his own book, the ultimate version of Iron Man is also the only one to get his own miniseries (and he even supported another miniseries, Ultimate Human, last summer and has a new one, Ultimate Armour Wars, this year). Here we have all the ingredients for a great superhero saga – Andy Kubert as artist on the first six issues and Orson Scott Card as a writer – but it just doesn’t come together quite as well as it should. Though Card posits some interesting theries behind the psychology of Marvel’s current poster-boy, he doesn’t really deliver anything of interest on the story front, and really suffers from attempting to write rebellous teenage characters and somehow feeling required to craft his observations into something resembling a cookie-cutter superhero plot.
Nice Suit...
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Filed under: Comics | Tagged: andy kubert, comic books, iron man, marvel, orson scott card, pasqual ferry, review, the ultimate, tony stark, ultimate iron man, ultimate marvel, ultimate universe | Leave a comment »
Posted on November 9, 2009 by Darren
Oliver Stone famously rushed just about every aspect of this production in order to get it into cinemas before last year’s November election. Does that affect the movie? It does and it doesn’t. It doesn’t in that Stone seems to have a clear image of the President in his head and it’s perfectly captured on screen. It does affect the movie in that Stone has to choose an arbitrary cutoff point for his movie, since he can’t end it with the end of Bush’s presidency. So he chooses the re-election of George W. Bush in 2004 to serve as the film’s ending. That point arguably suits the central thesis of Stone’s psychological profile of the man, butit also serves to make that thesis seem heavy-handed or forced. The other side of that coin is that I doubt the Stone would have been able to market and sell the film for a few years after the end of the Bush administration, and the fact that so vintage a diretcor as Stone can still make such a raw and energetic film is a testament to his abilities (that some of us may have doubted after World Trade Centre and Alexander).
Misunderestimate at your peril...
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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: biography, biopic, dubya, elizabeth banks, film, george w. bush, james cromwell, josh brolin, Movie, non-review review, oliver stone, presidency, president, review, scott glenn, texas, toby jones, w., white house | 3 Comments »
Posted on November 8, 2009 by Darren
Possibly one of the best depictions of Irish humour that I’ve seen captured in celluloid, In Bruges is a fascinating little story of honour, loyalty, stupidity and a small little town in Belgium. The movie was a highlight in the very solid pantheon of 2008. Featuring a sharp script, a fantastic cast and some really lovely scenery, the movie stabnds as one of the best comedies I’ve seen in yonks. And a yonk is a long time.
Irish charm...
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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: belgium, brendan gleeson, bruges, colin farrell, comedy, film, in bruges, martin mcdonagh, non-review review, ralph fiennes, review | 3 Comments »
Posted on November 6, 2009 by Darren
We caught V last night on TV3. I’m still disappointed no high definition channel is offering it – though, judging by the special effects quality, we weren’t missing much. We’re all fairly undecided on the show, which is a fairly solid reissue of a cult classic, rather than an attempt at a redesign. Don’t expect anything as smart or insightful as Battlestar Galactica and you should be relatively pleased. I think we’ll give this at least a season pass, and then review after that. Anyway, it was hard to watch the remake without the obvious themes playing in my head. Is V a criticism of what the media have dubbed Obama-mania?
The New Republicans?
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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: aliens, america, barrack obama, change, discussion, hope, metaphor, obama, parallel, politics, Television, universal healthcare, us, v | Leave a comment »
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