July | 2010 | the m0vie blog

Perfect ’10? Summer So Far…

Posted on July 5, 2010 by Darren

Am I the only person hugely disappointed with the summer so far this year? I mean, the summer isn’t traditionally where you find the best movies of the year, at least no more or less than any other time of year, but I’m not looking for great movies, just good ones. just solidly entertaining ones. At the most basic level, I’d settle for just an excuse to go to the cinema on a Friday night (although I’m sure my better half is glad of the weak string of movies – it really frees up our schedule). What the hell is wrong here?

Leo's looking for good movies too...

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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: blockbusters, cinemas, films, get him to the greek, hollywood, Inception, Movies, predators, robin hood, summer, summer movies, toy story 3, world cup | 20 Comments »

Non-Review Review: Alien³

Posted on July 5, 2010 by Darren

Alien³ is generally regarded as an inferior Alien film, and the start of a slippery slope that would lead us through Alien: Resurrection into Aliens vs. Predator and even Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem. It’s also regarded as something of a hiccup in the career of David Fincher, and an example of how meddling from greedy corporate executives can potential derail the rise of a young talent. That’s a lot of pressure for a single film to carry – particularly one which has enough trouble standing on its own two feet. However, I am quite fond of this particular incarnation of the franchise. Not enough to call it a “classic” or even “great”, but enough to argue that it was a relatively brave and ultimately valid experiment for the franchise – much more so, arguably, than the fourth film.

It’s an emotional reunion, to say the least…

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: alien, alien 3, alien franchise, alien trilogy, aliens, charles dance, charles durning, david fincher, films, Movies, non-review review, review, sequels, sigourney weaver, xenomorph | 4 Comments »

Non-Review Review: Dogma

Posted on July 2, 2010 by Darren

I have to confess that I have a soft spot for Dogma. It’s very much the black sheep of Kevin Smith’s “View Askew” trilogy (of six films), veering away from incorporating his trademark witty banter and dialogue with a relatively new philosophical and religious undercurrents. Dogma is, in fact, an odd film by any standard – one part “group on a quest” film akin to The Lord of the Rings, one part slapstick comedy and part indie introspective dramedy. Smith admittedly has great difficulty balancing the different demands on his script, pulling it one way or the other. It doesn’t always work, but the cocktail is certainly interesting and – truth be told – I am actually quite fond of the film.

Alan Rickman found himself winging it...

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: alan rickman, angels, ben affleck, christianity, comedy, god, irreverant, jason lee, jay, jay and silent bob, kevin smith, linda fiorentino, matt damon, religion, salma hayek, silent bob, theology, view askew | 16 Comments »

Off the Beaten Trail(er): Trailers and Spoilers

Posted on July 1, 2010 by Darren

Trailers are a bit of a double-edged sword. On one hand, they tease you with footage from that upcoming realise you’ve been anticipating (or can even get you excited about one you couldn’t care less for) – but that comes at a price. More often than not, trailers frequently spoil the film that they advertise. There are quick shots of action, but you can see something that doesn’t occur until more than half-way through the film, or a comedy which frequently includes its best laughs in the trailer. Of course, this makes sense – if you want to convince an audience to see a comedy, the trailer needs to make ’em laugh, so you include the really hilarious scenes; for an action movie, you want to tease what you have, so show them clips from the climax (usually larger than the other action scenes). So what are we supposed to do?

We actually need something like this...

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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: films, get him to the greek, Movies, predators, spoilers, trailers | 15 Comments »

Non-Review Review: Crazy Heart

Posted on July 1, 2010 by Darren

We all know the story. Artists are apparently particularly self-destructive, especially those who write country and western songs. Crazy Heart isn’t exactly a boldly original film by any stretch of the imagination – in fact, it’s typically predictable up until the end – but it does have a thing or two working in its favour, which elevates it just a bit above these almost conventional films. The first is a rather endearing soundtrack which is – in many ways – better written than the film itself. The second is Jeff Bridges.