August | 2010 | the m0vie blog

Excuse My Na’vi-ity: At What Point Does Re-Releasing Avatar Become Overkill?

Posted on August 31, 2010 by Darren

I’ll admit that I did not like James Cameron’s Avatar as much as most. It was a slight disturbing racial fantasy played with Disney-esque simplicity and some truly incredible special effects. Such is life. It’s inevitable that my opinion diverges from the mainstream from time-to-time. I mean, everyone’s should at one point or another, right? Still, I can’t be the only person who thinks that re-releasing Avatar into the cinema smacks of cynicism – particularly with eight minutes of restored footage (that’s less that 5% of the total runtime). The movie is already the most successful movie ever made. At what point does enough become enough?

This movie has wings...

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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: arts, avatar, avatar re-release, avatar rerelease, avatar: special edition, dark knight, DVD, film, george lucas, james cameron, Movies, re-release, special edition | 4 Comments »

Non-Review Review: The Siege

Posted on August 31, 2010 by Darren

The Siege has the benefit of becoming a lot more relevent in the past couple of years. Exploring the aftermath of a series of terrorist atrocities on New York City by Islamic extremists, the film isn’t exact a subtle exploration of the relationship between liberty and security – instead preferring to offer two-dimensional strawmen instead of characters or legitimate viewpoints. Still, despite its heavy-handedness, it does have some interesting insights into the world after it has been shaken to its core.

Washington under Siege...

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: america, annette benning, bruce willis, denzel washington, extremism, film, islam extremism, Movie, non-review review, politics, review, september 11th, subtext, terrorism, the siege | Leave a comment »

Wednesday Comics: Sgt. Rock & Easy Co.

Posted on August 31, 2010 by Darren

Earlier this week I reviewed Wednesday Comics, a rather spanking anthology from DC Comics. I kinda figured, however, it might be worth my while to break out some of those fifteen stories on their own (but not all of them) and discuss them, as it’s easy to lose sight of a particular writer/artist’s work in an anthology. Now we’re going back to a “new” old bunch of pulp characters.

Sgt. Rock & Easy Co. is an interesting choice for the anthology. Although it’s a war comic, it was only introduced in 1959, long after the end of the conflict and in the twilight days of the newspaper strips that this anthology is meant to reproduce. It’s inclusion arguably speaks more to the desire by DC to create a nostalgia for a long legacy that never quite existed than it does to the character’s popularity or place within DC continuity. Sgt. Rock & Easy Co. is one of only three non-superhero strips included – the post-apocalyptic adventures of Kamandi and the Strange Adventures strip, following Adam Strange: Space Hero – and it seems a logical fit if the goal was to create the impression of a large interconnected tapestry of DC history. After all, the only thing as pulpy as a superhero story is good old fashioned war yarn.

That's the closest you'll come to a splash page in this storyline...

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Filed under: Comics | Tagged: adam kubert, comic books, Comics, conflict, dc comics, easy co., easy company, joe kubert, nazis, pulp, second world war, sergeant rock, sergeant rock & easy co., sergeant rock & easy company, sergeant rock and easy co., sergeant rock and easy company, sgt rock and easy co, sgt. rock, sgt. rock & easy co., war comics, wednesday comics | Leave a comment »

The Sean Connery Effect: Pardon My Accent…

Posted on August 30, 2010 by Darren

Sean Connery turned eighty last week, and there were all manner of celebrations. I can’t really add too much that hasn’t already been said about the legendary actor, with his smooth Scottish accent and effortless charm, but I got thinking about Sean Connery and what I think of when I hear the name or what I associate him with. And, without a doubt, it’s that thick Scottish accent, which just makes even me weak at the knees when I hear it.

I have something I need to get off my (very hairy) chest...

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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: accents, animation, arts, Daniel Day-Lewis, Highlander, Hunt for Red October, Movie, Movies, sean connery, suspension of disbelief, the untouchables, Untouchables, willing suspension of disbelief | 6 Comments »

Non-Review Review: Forrest Gump

Posted on August 30, 2010 by Darren

On one level, Forrest Gump is just too sacchrine for me. Really, I feel like a need a filling after joining the eponymous character on a whirlwind tour of modern American history (or what could really be described as “America’s greatest hits”). That said, there’s a certain charm to the movie that belies this incredible sweetness (which itself stands in sharp contrast to the cynicism of the novel upon which it will be based). And most of that charm is Tom Hanks.

Plus it doesn’t hurt that the movie has an amazing soundtrack.

Forrest was quite popular in the nineties...

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: 1994, film, forrest gump, gary sinese, Movies, non-review review, review, robert zemeckis, tom hanks | 7 Comments »

Wednesday Comics: Superman

Posted on August 30, 2010 by Darren

Earlier this week I reviewed Wednesday Comics, a rather spanking anthology from DC Comics. I kinda figured, however, it might be worth my while to break out some of those fifteen stories on their own (but not all of them) and discuss them, as it’s easy to lose sight of a particular writer/artist’s work in an anthology. I’ve done Batman and Wonder Woman, so I figure I should round out the trinity with the Man of Steel.

John Arcudi’s Superman project was arguably the comic in Wednesday Comics with the most banking on it. Aside from featuring perhaps the most iconic superhero on the face of the planet, it was also serialised in USA Today. That’s a pretty solid forum for publicising a comic book event, a respectable newspaper with an international circulation. So I can understand that DC might have wanted to avoid a particularly “challenging” or even “geeky” story. However, they ended up choosing perhaps the must dull and lifeless story in the collection to serialise to the public at large. Even more than that, Arcudi’s Superman is a perfect illustration of everything that’s wrong with the character in recent years and why he has seen his hold on popular culture somewhat diminished.

Superman's ship isn't the only thing which crashes and burns...

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Filed under: Comics | Tagged: comic books, Comics, dc comics, superman, wednesday comics, wednesday comics: superman | 1 Comment »

Wednesday Comics: Wonder Woman

Posted on August 29, 2010 by Darren

Earlier this week I reviewed Wednesday Comics, a rather spanking anthology from DC Comics. I kinda figured, however, it might be worth my while to break out some of those fifteen stories on their own (but not all of them) and discuss them, as it’s easy to lose sight of a particular writer/artist’s work in an anthology. Now it’s time to discuss the most controversial (or, at least, divisive) of the bunch: Wonder Woman.

When you discuss the ambition of DC Comics’ wonderful Wednesday Comics series, the argument inevitably comes back around to Ben Caldwell’s Wonder Woman strip, which seems to be the most divisive of the bunch. Everyone hates Teen Titans and loves The Flash, but Caldwell’s take on the iconic Amazon has served to split readers down the middle. It shouldn’t be too surprising, though, since the strip is really one of the handful to play with the extra space the book was allowed. While I’m not exactly overjoyed with the story, I certainly respect it a great deal for having the guts to follow through on some fascinating design ideas.

Wonder Woman fans should get a kick out of it...

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Filed under: Comics | Tagged: ben caldwell, dc comics, wednesday comics, wonder woman | 2 Comments »

Wednesday Comics: Kamandi

Posted on August 28, 2010 by Darren

Earlier this week I reviewed Wednesday Comics, a rather spanking anthology from DC Comics. I kinda figured, however, it might be worth my while to break out some of those fifteen stories on their own (but not all of them) and discuss them, as it’s easy to lose sight of a particular writer/artist’s work in an anthology. I thought I’d turn my attention to one of the conspicuously non-superhero titles in the anthology, an adaptation of the classic Kirby comic, Kamandi.

Although Kamandi only debuted in 1972, there’s an argument to be made that the character is better suited to this particular format and style of storytelling than the DC superheroes which otherwise populate the collection. Created by the legendary Jack Kirby, Kamandi is the story of the last boy on earth, attempting to survive in a post-apocalyptic future ruled by hyper-evolved talking animals (rats, cats and – most viciously – apes). The character has a lasting cult appeal, but was never necessarily the most popular property at the publisher, but it’s nice that they dusted him off for this project. I have to admit being a bit surprised at the creative team – Dave Gibbons is regarded as an author, but made his name as an artist, so it’s strange to see him writing this – but it works, it really comes together and suits the unique format of the project perfectly.

Gibbons successfully apes the adventure comics of yore...

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Filed under: Comics | Tagged: Comics, dave gibbons, dc comics, jack kirby, kamandi, ryan sook, wednesday comics | 2 Comments »

Non-Review Review: Koyaanisqatsi

Posted on August 27, 2010 by Darren

Koyaanisqatsi is a word that comes from the language of the Hopi. It’s handily translated at the end of the film, with one of the meanings lending the film its unofficial subtitle: “life out of balance”. Brought to the screen by director Godfrey Reggio and composer Philip Glass (not that you’d know it from the film’s sparse opening credits which simply identify the film as “a Francis Ford Coppola production”), it’s safe to say that Koyaanisqatsi is one of a kind. Or, given the two sequels, one of three of a kind, but that’s still quite impressive.

Let there be light...

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: cinema, documentary, film, films, godfrey reggio, hopi, Koyaanisqatsi, life out balance, Movies, non-review review, philip glass, prohecy, pruit igoe, review | 3 Comments »

Wednesday Comics: Batman

Posted on August 27, 2010 by Darren

Earlier this week I reviewed Wednesday Comics, a rather spanking anthology from DC Comics. I kinda figured, however, it might be worth my while to break out some of those fifteen stories on their own (but not all of them) and discuss them, as it’s easy to lose sight of a particular writer/artist’s work in an anthology. And I thought that the opening strip deserved a bit of discussion, as it’s perhaps come under a bit of fire for a lot of flaws that are present through a lot of the stories collected.

Batman is the story arc which opens Wednesday Comics. Indeed, it was the story which would find itself peering out at the reader week-on-week. Perhaps it was unfortunate that Brian Azzarello’s take on the Caped Crusader went first, because it’s typically drawn a lot of criticism that the stories told failed to take advantage of the format. A lot of the criticism of the story can also be directed at a lot of the subsequence serials, but the Dark Knight draws the brunt of the negativity. Which is a shame, because – despite its conventional nature – Azzarello and artist Eduardo Risso offer a pretty effective snapshot of the Caped Crusader.