February | 2011 | the m0vie blog

Non-Review Review: Brick

Posted on February 16, 2011 by Darren

We’re currently blogging as part of the “For the Love of Film Noir” blogathon (hosted by Ferdy on Films and The Self-Styled Siren) to raise money to help restore the 1950’s film noir The Sound of Fury (aka Try and Get Me). It’s a good cause which’ll help preserve our rich cinematic heritage for the ages, and you can donate by clicking here. Over the course of the event, running from 14th through 21st February, I’m taking a look at the more modern films that have been inspired or shaped by noir. Today’s theme is “alterna-noir” – just looking at slightly unusual choices.

You’ve helped this office out before.

No, I gave you Jerr to see him eaten, not to see you fed.

Fine. And very well put.

Accelerated English, Mrs. Kasprzyk.

Tough teacher?

Tough but fair.

– Brendan and Assistant Vice-Principal Trueman

Brick works by taking all the facets of the film noir we love, and transposing it against a high school background. Like cheese and onion, it’s a combination that really shouldn’t work so well, but makes for one tasty snack.

Phone a friend?

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: arts, Brendan, Critical Essays, film, Film noir, films, For the Love of Film Noir, For the Love of Film Noir blogathon, For the Love of Film Noir: The Film Preservation Blogathon, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Movie, Movies, non-review review, review, Rian Johnson, Richard Roundtree | 5 Comments »

The Starman Omnibus, Vol. 5 (Stars My Destination)

Posted on February 16, 2011 by Darren

The Starman Omnibus, Volume V covers a very rocky period in the history of the Starman mythos. The wonderful thing about the little after-words that James Robinson has provided for each of these volumes by way of annotation is that they offer you a hint of the context of everything that is going on around the series. Starman as a series had just lost an editor in Archie Goodwin and an artist in Tony Harris. Robinson himself was going through some very personal issues, and he confessed that he was seriously considering just hanging up the reigns on the book.

He didn’t, and ultimately saw the comic book through its full 80-issue run, but it gives you a sense of the instability surrounding the title at that period of time. And what did Robinson do with, with everything so uncertain around the book? He moved the series from the streets of Opal City into the depths of DC’s shared cosmic universe and took on David S. Goyer as a co-plotter for Stars My Destination, which was an interesting direction for one of the nineties’ most down-to-earth characters.

A "cluster" of Starmen?

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Filed under: Comics | Tagged: Christopher Nolan, comic, comic book, continuity, David Goyer, dc universe, james robinson, Opal City, Peter Snejbjerg, retrospective, review, starman, starman: stars my destination, starman: the stars my destination, stars my destination, the stars my destination, tony harris | Leave a comment »

Non-Review Review: Heat

Posted on February 15, 2011 by Darren

We’re currently blogging as part of the “For the Love of Film Noir” blogathon (hosted by Ferdy on Films and The Self-Styled Siren) to raise money to help restore the 1950’s film noir The Sound of Fury (aka Try and Get Me). It’s a good cause which’ll help preserve our rich cinematic heritage for the ages, and you can donate by clicking here. Over the course of the event, running from 14th through 21st February, I’m taking a look at the more modern films that have been inspired or shaped by noir. Today’s theme is “nineties noir” – I’ll be looking at two of the finest noir-inspired films of the nineties.

I do what I do best, I take scores. You do what you best, try to stop guys like me.

– Neil McCauley to Vincent Hanna

I’ll be honest and concede that, right off the bat, I have a lot more love for Heat than most. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t labour under the assumption that it’s a poorly-received film (it’s rare to find someone who will concede that they dislike it), but I still have a stronger affection for Heat than the vast majority of viewers. I was only ten years old when Heat was released, and I think that was a big a moment for me. My ten-year-old self was familiar with big, sprawling epic sagas, but I think I used to believe that these sorts of epics were reserved for stories set in times long past. I think, in my innocence (or foolishness, depending on how kind you wish to be to my younger self), I felt that epic stories didn’t really happen anymore.

And then I saw Heat, which somehow managed to take an epic, sprawling narrative style which – at the time – I could only remember from films like Dances With Wolves or Cleopatra or Gone With The Wind, and applied it to cops and robbers. If I were to construct a list of films which helped me fall in love with cinema, Heat would be on there. Pretty high, too.

It's a whole different ballgame...

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: al pacino, christian bale, Christopher Nolan, dark knight, film, Film noir, film nori, films, For the Love of Film Noir, For the Love of Film Noir blogathon, For the Love of Film Noir: The Film Preservation Blogathon, heat, Heat (1995 film), johnny depp, L.A. Takedown, michael mann, Movies, review, robert deniro, Sam Giancana, Sheldon Turner, Vincent Hanna | 4 Comments »

Nerd Alert! Jurassic Park Theme (1000% Slower)

Posted on February 15, 2011 by Darren

Somebody sent this through to me and it was too good for me not to share. Basically, some on-line genius by the name of birdfeeder came up with the idea of slowing John Williams’ iconic Jurassic Park theme down to one-tenth of its regular speed. This sounds like something that could just be incredibly banal, slowing down a beloved piece of film music almost beyond recognition. However, slowing the track down reveals just how beautifully crafted Williams’ score is – the end result is a wonderful ambient arrangement which sounds almost choral at points.

If you’re a fan of film music, give it a listen here, or click the picture below.

Filed under: Movies | Tagged: arts, bridfeeder, Film score, John Williams, jurassic park, jurassic park theme, Movies, soundtrack | 4 Comments »

Non-Review Review: se7en

Posted on February 15, 2011 by Darren

We’re currently blogging as part of the “For the Love of Film Noir” blogathon (hosted by Ferdy on Films and The Self-Styled Siren) to raise money to help restore the 1950’s film noir The Sound of Fury (aka Try and Get Me). It’s a good cause which’ll help preserve our rich cinematic heritage for the ages, and you can donate by clicking here. Over the course of the event, running from 14th through 21st February, I’m taking a look at the more modern films that have been inspired or shaped by noir. Today’s theme is “nineties noir” – I’ll be looking at two of the finest noir-inspired films of the nineties.

Although David Fincher has directing credits before se7en (most notably Alien 3), it was this look at a broken world which marked the up-and-coming director as a talent to watch. It’s a movie which works on many levels, entertaining on the superficial surface level while intriguing viewers looking for something just a little bit deeper. I have to say, of all the films I revisited as part of this blogging event, I think I got the most out of returning to se7en.

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: arts, atmosphere, brad pitt, crime, Critical Essays, david fincher, Film noir, films, For the Love of Film Noir, For the Love of Film Noir blogathon, For the Love of Film Noir: The Film Preservation Blogathon, Howard Shore, john doe, mood, Morgan Freeman, Movie, Movies, non-review review, review, serial killer, serial killers, Seven (film), silence of the lambs, Sound of Fury, YG Entertainment | 2 Comments »

Non-Review Review: L.A. Confidential

Posted on February 14, 2011 by Darren

Over the next week, I’ll be taking a look at the more modern films inspired and descended from film noir. It’s been tough trying to classify them all, to narrow down what I wanted to cover in the seven days that I had. In many cases, I wasn’t sure that I’d be able to successfully link the films back to the original genre. Trust me when I say that I had tonnes of films on my shortlist to look at as part of this event – many of them were on and off the list at various times as I attempted to include a bit of variety or range. However, there was one modern film that was always near the top of list of films that I wanted to cover – L.A. Confidential.

Best Buds?

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: 1950, Bloody Christmas, Curtis Hanson, Dudley Smith, fifties, Film noir, films, For the Love of Film Noir, For the Love of Film Noir: The Film Preservation Blogathon, kevin spacey, LA Confidential, los angeles, Movie, noir, review, Sound of Fury | 7 Comments »

Noir the Battle to the Strong: Why I’m Afraid of Classic Cinema…

Posted on February 14, 2011 by Darren

I have to admit, the “For The Love of Film Noir” blogathon is a very worthy cause. Bloggers from all around the world continuously blogging in order to raise funds to restore classic films. It’s something that I just couldn’t ignore the chance to be a part of – to have the chance to say that I helped restore a classic film print of an actual honest-to-goodness classic film. It was too great an opportunity to ignore… and yet I almost did. I hesitated as I wrote the comment agreeing to take part. My fingers felt heavy. My thoughts caught in wherever it is that thoughts catch. I wanted to blog about film noir for a week straight, but I was also genuinely terrified by the idea. After all, what do I know about classic film?

Too hot to handle?

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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: black and white, classic films, classics, coen brothers, film, Film noir, martin scorsese, Movie, Movies, old films, old movies, review, richard donner, Sound of Fury, stanley kubrick | 13 Comments »

Non-Review Review: True Grit

Posted on February 12, 2011 by Darren

True Grit is a strange proposition. It’s very clearly a very typical Western movie, about a bunch of (effectively) hired guns hunting down a fugitive on the run from the law, in pursuit of a large bounty. However, it’s also very distinctively a Coen Brothers movie, in attitude and tone. It isn’t that the two are mutually exclusive (No Country For Old Men, for example, was a modern Western with a very Coen aesthetic), but it’s just strange to see both elements so strongly pronounced. Although not quite perfect, True Grit is a movie well worth your time.

Snow man's land...

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: coen brothers, film, Hailee Steinfeld, jeff bridges, John Wayne, matt damon, mattie ross, Movie, no country for old men, non-review review, review, Rooster Cogburn, the coen brothers, the coens, true grit, Western (genre) | 5 Comments »

Non-Review Review: Winter’s Bone

Posted on February 11, 2011 by Darren

In many ways, Winter’s Bone is the Best Picture nominee most typical of the modern Oscars (or, at least, the criticism of the modern Oscars). While The Fighter echoes the every man appeal of Rocky, The King’s Speech is the archetypal historical and “triumph over adversity” tale, The Social Network is classic morality tale with a modern sheen and True Grit is the nostalgic entry, Winter’s Bone speaks the “indie” attitude that we’ve seen become dominant in the past decade. It’s a film rich in atmosphere and mood, with a bleakness that threatens to escape the screen and devour the audience whole, but it favours this lush approach over pacing and engagement. To say it is glacial, is an understatement.

The road ahead is bleak...

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: Academy Award, Academy Award for Best Picture, arts, best picture, Daniel Woodrell, Debra Granik, films, Jennifer Lawrence, John Hawkes, King's Speech, Movies, non-review review, Ozarks, review, United States, Winter's Bone | 6 Comments »

Captain America, $£%# Yeah! Trailer Remix

Posted on February 11, 2011 by Darren

What with the whole ridiculous argument about how Captain America: The First Avenger, with its politically-charged protagonist, would be sold overseas, it seemed inevitable that the superbowl trailer would be set to the anthem America $£%# Yeah! from that pop culture cult hit Team America: World Police. Anyway, the remix of the teaser works quite well, given that there were only 25 seconds of footage to play with. Have a look below, and then get some.