Posted on May 18, 2010 by Darren
I’ve been thinking (dangerous, I know). Specifically about Ridley Scott’s Robin Hood. I’m going to be honest with you, I was more than a little surprised at the way the film was put together. The film is, to borrow from the parlance of the times, an “origin” story. It’s about Robin, but before he was Robin. There is a single robbery over the entire course of the film, and it doesn’t really amount to much – it’s hardly the stuff of infamy. Instead, Robin is off doing battle with the French in a very manly, water-logged fashion. I tried to judge the film on its own merits (and I think my review is fair), but I’ve found myself thinking over the same question a lot since I saw it: Aren’t a lot of people going to be disappointed that there’s essentially little-to-none of the conventional tropes of a Robin Hood movie present?
Bringing the Hurt...
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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: audience expectations, audiences, expectations, films, imagery, Movies, ridley scoot, robin hood, russell crowe, tropes | 7 Comments »
Posted on May 18, 2010 by Darren
Iron Man has always been a character better suited to defining character arcs than to defining runs – which is arguably odd, when considered with most iconic characters. When we talk about Daredevil, for example, we talk about Frank Miller and Brian Michael Bendis; when we talk about the X-Men, we talk about Chris Claremont; when we talk about the Green Lantern, we talk about Geoff Johns. On the other hand, when we talk about Iron Man, we talk about Armour Wars or Demon in a Bottle or Extremis. Perhaps that’s a strength when releasing a big budget blockbuster like Iron Man 2 – it’s easy to flood the market with reprints of six or seven issue storylines, rather than having to deal with huge chunks of narrative. It’s also perhaps the reason that this particular miniseries – essentially a modernised continuity-light retelling of a classic story – seems like such a great idea. It’s ridiculous to suggest a retelling of an iconic writer’s tenure, but remaking a single iconic story seems much more reasonable and more than a bit smart – surely it’s a great way to bring readers into step with arguably the most popular comic book character in the world right now?
Par Armor...
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Filed under: Comics | Tagged: armor wars, armour wars, comic books, iron man, iron man armor, iron man armour, iron man: armor wrs, iron man: armour wars, marvel, steve kurth, tony stark, ultimate armor wars, ultimate armour wars, ultimate comics, ultimate comics iron man, ultimate comics iron man: armor wars, ultimate comics iron man: armour wars, ultimate marvel, warren ellis | Leave a comment »
Posted on May 17, 2010 by Darren
Jon Favreau has effectively confirmed that “the Mandarin” will be the villain for Iron Man 3. Of course, the fact that this particular opponent has been the character’s arch nemesis means that we would have expected him on celluloid long before this – most superhero movies take great joy in using the archnemesis for the original film, after all (Batman Begins managed to just about do without the Joker, but arguably only because he’d already done Batman). Part of the reason it may have taken so long to transition this particular character to the big screen may have something to do with his origins: essentially the character is a yellow peril villain (as the name implies), who was arguably long out of date when he was introduced, let alone now. Favreau has, diplomatically, acknowledged that the character is going to take great care to get ready for a film role, and it got us thinking: how do we deal with long term and iconic characters who may reflect concepts that we aren’t particularly comfortable with right now?
Yep, this doesn't conjure up any unfortunate implications at all...
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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: fu manchu, iron man, iron man 2, iron man 3, john favreau, jon favreau, mandarin, Movies, racial stereotypes, racist, stereotypes, the mandarin, yellow peril | 10 Comments »
Posted on May 17, 2010 by Darren
Lost is entering its final phase. Just two weeks left and it will all be over. I have no doubts that The End, the final episode, will be a bit of a phenomenon – ABC are reportly charging nearly $1m for advertising space during the finale. However, I imagine that a lot of people tuning in will be disappointed – as I expect a large number of viewers will be expecting an easy answer or several to (in fairness, perfectly reasonable) questions like “what is the island?”, “why was there a polar bear on the island and how did it survive?” and “what the hell happened?” To be honest, some of these questions have already been answered (not necessarily satisfactorily), but I still don’t think that the answers – even if they are provided – will be offered in a viewer-friendly mode. And I’m actually reasonably okay with that.
Lost at sea?
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Filed under: Television | Tagged: explanations, finale, jj abrams, lost, reasons, Television, the end, the island, the others, the prisoner, the x-files | 4 Comments »
Posted on May 13, 2010 by Darren
Occasionally something small and quirky comes to my attention which I can’t help but post here. In this case, it’s a unique (and clever) way of advertising Iron Man 2. Sure, it would be better if they spelt Terrence correctly, but who am I to judge?
I found this over on Rope of Silicon.
Filed under: Movies | Tagged: films, iron man 2, meme, Movies, terrance howard, terrence howard | 25 Comments »
Posted on May 13, 2010 by Darren
The second of the blockbusters arrives, celebrating the true arrival of summer. Chosen to open Cannes and featuring a return of the powerhouse pairing of maestro Ridley Scott and love-‘im-or-hate-‘im matinee icon Russell Crowe in a historic setting brimming with action potential and historic appeal, it’s safe to say that there’s a lot of pressure on the iconic outlaw, Robin Hood. So does he carry it off as confidently as he carries off that bow-and-arrow?
Boy in da Hood...
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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: blockbuster, cate blanchet, cate blanchett, film, gladiator, historical, Movies, non-review review, review, ridley scott, robin hood, russell crowe | 15 Comments »
Posted on May 12, 2010 by Darren
I remember being assured by somebody that pop culture will eat itself. I’m not sure who and I’m not sure when (maybe this person had a time a machine – because it seems to be happening). I never understood if that was a promise or a threat, and I still don’t. However, if you wanted to get a look at the below of the beast, I imagine it might look a little like Hot Tub Time Machine.
Rubba dub dub, four men in tub...
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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: 1986, back to the future, clark duke, comedy, craig robinson, film, hot tub, hot tub time machine, john cusack, Movie, non-review review, pop culture, review, rob corddry, time travel | Leave a comment »
Posted on May 12, 2010 by Darren
Face facts, John. The real Hal Jordan is back. And he’s bringing the past with him.
– Batman
Batman states the above as if it’s some sort of dire threat. Perhaps to him, one of the darker of the superhero community, it is. However, to writer Geoff Johns, it’s a mission statement. Let the reconstruction begin. It’s easy to balk at a relatively recent superhero comic being given DC’s prestige ‘Absolute’ format (it’s even easier when you realise it’s only six issues long for that hefty price tag), but Green Lantern: Rebirth deserves it. Not because it’s as iconic as, say, Alan Moore’s Watchmen or Neil Gaiman’s Sandman, because it isn’t. Nor is it because of the series’ increasingly important place in the DC canon. It deserves the treatment because of what it represents. This was the moment that the pendulum swung back in mainstream comics, a conscious rejection of the “darker and edgier” philosophy that gripped the medium in the nineties. It’s also a pretty good read.
Shine a light...
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Filed under: Comics | Tagged: absolute edition, absolute green lantern, absolute green lantern: rebirth, absolute rebirth, alan moore, comic books, dc comics, dc universe, ethan van sciver, geoff johns, green lantern, green lantern: rebirth, Guy Gardner, hal jordan, Kyle Rayner, parallax, rebirth, retcon | 4 Comments »
Posted on May 11, 2010 by Darren
A little while ago, I mumbled something about how ‘failure’ didn’t really mean much, despite how often the term was thrown around in discussions about films like Watchmen and Kick-Ass. They generally made their money back, received cult attention and didn’t enter the history books as massive wastes of time or energy – which I figured was kinda fair given that neither example was a box office bomb in the style of, say, Motherhood, Uma Thurman’s last film (opening weekend of £88 at the UK box office – I’m not kidding and I didn’t omit an ‘m’). Still, it looks like success isn’t a particularly better deal, given what is circulating on the web regarding Iron Man 2 and its opening weekend – just shy of $130m, I believe. When is success not success?
There may be blood in the water... but Ivan isn't the only shark circling...
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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: 2D, 3d, box office, box office records, cinema, failure, films, iron man, iron man 2, Movies, records, success, thor | 4 Comments »
Posted on May 8, 2010 by Darren
This is one of my entries on the latest cross-blogging event, tracking down some of the most overrated movies of all time. It’s being run by Mike over at You Talking to Me. I can’t spoil the list by giving you any of the other titles, but I did take a quick look at Spider-Man‘s legacy earlier in the week.
I love Toy Story. I love Toy Story II even more. I am anticipating Toy Story III with baited breath. I adore Pixar. The only two films they’ve produced that fall short of excellence (in my opinion) are Cars and A Bug’s Life and both are still above average as films go. So it may seem odd to critique the legacy of perhaps the first great computer animated film – but this is a strange world we live in. Think about it, though. Pixar have essentially killed conventional animated films – at least in this part of the world.
Computer-generated animation spreads its wings...
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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: animation, cgi, computer animation, conventional animation, disney, dreamworks, films, Movies, pixar, toy story, toy story 2, toy story 3 | 8 Comments »
the m0vie blog 