Posted on March 7, 2010 by Darren
Here’s a little treat to get you in the mood for this evening’s festivities. BAFTA hired artist Tavis Coburn to basically design retro-style posters for their own awards – you know, like Turner Classic Movies did last summer. Since there’s significant overlap between the Oscars shortlist and the BAFTA shortlist, it’s a nice way to get yourself geared up for an interesting night. It’s a shame there isn’t an Inglourious Basterds poster, as that movie is arguably the best suited to a retro reimagining, but I guess the recent charity redesigns will have to do.
The posters are below. Click for bigger versions.
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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: an education, avatar, awards, baftas, best picture, best picture nominees, best picture oscar, chic, design, movie posters, posters, precious, Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire, retro, the hurt locker, up in the air | Leave a comment »
Posted on March 7, 2010 by Darren
Watching Bad Boys is a strange experience. On one hand, it’s a smooth reminder of the odd-couple cop comedies that were the style of the eighties, right down to an angry and exasperated (but ultimately trusting) chief. On the other, it has adopted all the stylistic mannerisms of the big, bold and empty action movies of the nineties. Advertised as an action comedy, it really doesn’t contain enough of either to justify a watch, and many of its stylistic ticks – driven by an inexperienced Michael Bay – have either been surpassed or become so common that they seem trite. Still, there’s a small charm to the film, most of which stems from the chemistry between the two leads and the way the movie seems to consciously revel in bromantic undertones of the genre. In that regard, it’s ahead of its time. And unlike all of its original ahead-of-it-time selling points, the bromantic angle still works. I’m just not sure that enough of the rest of the movie works to justify it.
I wish I could say the action was explosive...
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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: action movies, bad boys, martin lawrence, miami, michael bay, movies films, nineties, non-review review, review, will smith | Leave a comment »
Posted on March 6, 2010 by Darren
The best part of The Walking Dead is the premise, brilliantly summed up by Robert Kirkman in his afterword: why do zombie movies end? The answer is quite logical, as he concedes, in that people don’t want to spend their life in a cinema watching 24-hour zombie movies. Okay, most people don’t want to do that. Somewhat forshadowing the recent announcement we’d be getting a Walking Dead television series (from Frank Darabont, director of The Shawshank Redemption and The Mist, no less), Kirkman argues that comics and television are the only media that can truly support a longterm continuous narrative. What happens after your favourite zombie film ends? It’s an interesting premise to be sure. It’s just a shame that the initial twelve issues of the series don’t quite live up to it.
Better off red?
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Filed under: Comics | Tagged: black and white, Comics, end of the workld, frank darbont, image comics, review, robert kirkman, sexism, the walking dead, zombie apocalypse, zombies | 4 Comments »
Posted on March 6, 2010 by Darren
Alice in Wonderland opens this weekend, and we were lucky enough to tag along to the Irish premiere. Since we came out of the cinema, we kinda suspected that this would be a polarising film – as the Rotten Tomatoes score seems to demonstrate. However, taking a moment to step back and appreciate the breadth and depth of the critical response, is it possible that we’ve all completely missed the point? Rather than being a fantastically realised gothic fantasy that strays just a little bit closer to The Lord of the Rings rather than its own source material, has Tim Burton produced a uniquely feminist fantasy film?
Should feminists be up in arms?
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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: alice in wonderland, disney, fantasy, feminism, feminist, film, gender, Movies, tim burton | 3 Comments »
Posted on March 5, 2010 by Darren
Well, balloting is official closed. The deadline has passed and, by the time you read this, counting will more than likely be under way. It’s been an interesting Oscar season, and – since this is my last post before the ceremony – I should probably make some sort of generic observation about the competition. In truth, the acting races seem to have been sewn up since before nominations were even announced, but it looks like there’s a genuine race on for the Best Picture Oscar. In the interest of objective journalism (okay, blogging), I should concede that I have a €10 bet with my brother on the race. He expects Avatar to win because (and I quote) “it looks awesome”. I was backing The Hurt Locker, but part of me wonders if the anti-Avatar fiasco means that I should just give him the tenner now and be done.
Chartier attempts to defuse the situation...
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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: 82nd academy awards, academy awards, AMPAS, avatar, best picture oscar, film, Movies, nicola chartier, oscar, the hurt locker, the oscars | Leave a comment »
Posted on March 5, 2010 by Darren
Forget your Anti-Social Behaviour Orders and your neighbourhood watch, the only real way to stop the downward trend in modern society is to give Michael Caine a gun and let him clean house. It’s fun to see Michael Caine back in leading role and it’s fun to see that the whole ‘gritty urban vigilante’ subgenre is still alive – it’s like The Brave One in a British housing estate. The film comes apart at the end, perhaps succumbing from a need to answer the iconic question ‘what’s it all about?’, and disconnecting the movie from its initially intriquing premise, but Harry Brown is a respectable old-school law-in-the-lead-characters-hands drama.
Michael Caine is... browned off...
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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: asbos, britain, council housing, films, harry brown, justice, Michael Caine, Movies, non-review review, vigilante, yob | 2 Comments »
Posted on March 5, 2010 by Darren
The rumour is that the Flash is the next Green Lantern. By which I mean the character looks set to move to the centre of DC’s universe – on panel and on screen – in the next few years. Geoff Johns relaunched Hal Jordan with Green Lantern: Rebirth about four years ago and since then he’s guided the character through arguably two of the best received event comics of the past decade (Sinestro Corps War and Blackest Night), launched a direct-to-DVD animated feature and is getting the big screen treatment from Martin Campbell, the man who saved Bond (twice). All this from what a character who was a second stringer a few years ago. It appears that the Flash is on a similar trajectory. A relaunch of the comic book was completed last month with the final issue of Flash: Rebirth and there are rumours of a big screen treatment already in the works. Part of me wonders, however, if the character’s foes are ready for the big screen?
They're either a bunch of supervillains, or a very committed eighties concept band...
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Filed under: Comics, Movies | Tagged: bad guys, Comics, dc comics, films, flash, geoff johns, hunter zolomon, Movie, professor zoom, the flash, the rogues, villains, zoom | Leave a comment »
Posted on March 4, 2010 by Darren
I got to see the Irish premiere of Alice in Wonderland at the weekend, thanks to boards.ie and the Jameson Dublin International Film Festival, and afterwards there was a Q & A session with Michael Sheen and Timothy Spall. Michael Sheen casually remarked that we’d be seeing the last of Peter Morgan’s “Blair trilogy”, The Special Relationship, hitting screens in about mid-July-ish. It’s been on my must-see list for a while – and the Internet Movie Database had a release date in 2011 last time I checked – but I have to admit that I’m a bit surprised at this particular companion in the tradition “Tony Blair and x” double act format. The Deal gave us Tony Blair and Gordon Brown. The Queen gave us Tony Blair and… well, take a guess. The Special Relationship gives us Tony Blair and a US President. Which one? Dennis Quaid (yes, Dennis Quaid) as Bill Clinton. Yep, that’s not the US President I was thinking of either.
The "Special" Relationship... It even sounds like a bro-mance...
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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: bill clinton, biography, cinema, film, george w. bush, Movies, peter morgan, politics, the deal, the queen, the special relationship, tony blair | Leave a comment »
Posted on March 4, 2010 by Darren
It takes a certain mindset to enjoy Zombieland. Not everyone can laugh at the fact that a zombie clown’s nose squeaks as you bash its head with a mallet. Fortunately, I discovered, I can.
Tallahassee goes to bat...
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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: films, jesse eisenberg, Movie, non-review review, review, tallahassee, the undead, woody harrelson, zombieland, zombies | 7 Comments »
Posted on March 3, 2010 by Darren
With the news of the Spider-Man reboot being bandied about and the rumour that they were “darker and edgier” with the character, I thought I’d best check out what “dark and edgy” Spider-Man looks like. Here’s a hint: it isn’t Spider-Man III. I picked up Marvel Knights: Spider-Man. For those not-too-versed in comic book lore, Marvel Knights was basically the “mature” branding for Marvel properties, like Vertigo is over at DC (Neil Gaiman’s Sandman was published at Vertigo, for example). Basically, Marvel attempted to publish several books under this header – including Spider-Man and Kevin Smith’s relaunch of Daredevil – the idea being to offer more “grown up” versions of the familiar superheroes. While it’s entirely unfair to take the fact that the series was rebranded within three years as evidence of it’s quality, it failed to convince me that Spider-Man really needs to be made “darker and edgier”.
Yes, "darker and edgier" is a euphemism for "more violent"...
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Filed under: Comics | Tagged: Comics, down among the dead men, kevin smith, last stand, mark millar, marvel, marvel knights, marvel knights: spider-man, review, spider man, venomous | 1 Comment »
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