March | 2011 | the m0vie blog

Stop Motion Capture: Time to Worry About Tintin?

Posted on March 15, 2011 by Darren

Mars Needs Moms bombed at the box office. Badly. Really badly. Ignoring the fact that Disney is in need of another hit, the failure of the Seth-Green-starring Robert-Zemeckis-produced motion-capture 3D CGI films raises serious questions about the future of that particular animation style. However, I wonder if it’s playing across the minds of Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson as they add the finishing touches to their Tintin adaptation.

All at sea?

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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: 3d, actors, animation, avatar, cgi, Charles Dickens, films, jim carrey, motion capture, Movies, peter jackson, Polar Express, robert zemeckis, steven spielberg, The Adventures of Tintin: Secret of the Unicorn, tintin, tom hanks | 10 Comments »

Supermarionation: Memories of the Gerry Anderson Shows…

Posted on March 15, 2011 by Darren

Pert of me wonders if I’m writing of an experience unique to those who grew up in the British Isles. I’m not sure if the fad ever really caught in the United States during the sixties when the shows were originally produced or if they enjoy the same sort of nostalgia that they do over here. Of course, the production and success of Team America: World Police would suggest that American audiences are familiar with work of Gerry Anderson, but I somehow doubt that the shows he produced (most notably Thunderbirds, Stingray and Captain Scarlet and the Mysterions) made as strong an impact to kids who weren’t exposed to them every morning before school.

Having a ball...

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Filed under: Television | Tagged: 1960s, British Isles, Captain Scarlet, captain scarlet and the mysterions, Gerry Anderson, Joe 90, Matt Stone, puppets, Royal Mail, stingray, Supermarionation, Thunderbird, thunderbirds, United States | 3 Comments »

Non-Review Review: Thunderbirds Are Go!

Posted on March 15, 2011 by Darren

I happened to be flicking through the channels when I stumbled across Thunderbirds Are Go! For those unfamiliar with the concept, Thunderbirds is basically the television series that Trey Parker and Matt stone affectionately spoofed when making Team America: World Police (in fact, it was really the only “affectionate” part of the production). Anyway, Thunderbirds Are Go! was the series’ first attempt at a theatrical motion picture, shortly after the first season finished and shot back-to-back with the second. As far as “movies based on television shows” go, the film is essentially a feature-length regular episode. However, in this case, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that.

"They'll never see through my cunning disguise!"

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: alan tracy, Cliff Richard, films, Gerry Anderson, Movies, non-review review, puppets, review, Royal Mail, stingray, Supermarionation, Television, Television program, Thunderbird, thunderbirds, Thunderbirds are go, Tracy Island, Trey Parker | Leave a comment »

Non-Review Review: The Matrix Revolutions

Posted on March 14, 2011 by Darren

Today I’m taking a look at the Matrix trilogy. All three films, all watched and reviewed in one day. Join us for the fun! All three reviews will be going on-line today.

I remarked in my earlier review of The Matrix Reloaded that I feel I’m in the minority in regarding the final part of the trilogy as a much stronger film than the second film in the cycle. I mean, if you look at the Rotten Tomatoes score, the second film is almost regarded as highly as the first (higher among top critics), while the third is very clearly “rotten.” On the IMDb, the second film scores higher among audiences than the third. However, while neither sequel comes close to matching the impact of the original, I do have a fondness for the third over the second. Perhaps my preference derives from the same reason many find it weaker – the fact that the only way to enjoy it is to really disengage from the underlying philosophical questions posed by the second film.

Whoa...

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: existential philosophy, existentialism, film, films, free will, hugo weaving, Ian Bliss, Keanu Reeves, Matrix, Matrix Reloaded, Movie, Mr. Kennedy, Neo, non-review review, philosophy, review, revolutions, rotten tomatoes, sentinels, the matrix revolutions, the matrix trilogy, Wachowski Brothers, Zion | 3 Comments »

Non-Review Review: The Matrix Reloaded

Posted on March 14, 2011 by Darren

Today I’m taking a look at the Matrix trilogy. All three films, all watched and reviewed in one day. Join us for the fun! All three reviews will be going on-line today.

No, what happened happened and couldn’t have happened any other way.

How do you know?

We are still alive.

– Morpheus and Neo have one of the least obtuse conversations in the film

The reaction to the second and third films in The Matrix series has always somewhat surprised me. I don’t mean that I can’t see the criticism typically levelled at the films – I can see it and I agree with most of it. I mean that most viewers regard the second film as stronger than the third, while I always considered it the other way around. Rewatching all three films in one day just cemented that opinion – but I’m still curious about why cinema fans tend to favour the middle instalment over the last. Neither is as efficient or effective as the first film, but while I appreciate the sense of closure (and action) of the third film, I find myself regarding a significant portion of the second film as just idle padding – the franchise positioning itself for a final film, which would then go on to ignore a lot of what was suggested here.

Blade of glory?

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: agent smith, arts, coen brothers, destiny, determinism, fauxlosophy, film, films, free will, hugo weaving, Matrix, morpheus, Movies, Neo, non-review review, philosophy, review, star wars, the matrix reloaded, the matrix trilogy, the wachowski brothers | 2 Comments »

Non-Review Review: The Matrix

Posted on March 14, 2011 by Darren

Today I’m taking a look at the Matrix trilogy. All three films, all watched and reviewed in one day. Join us for the fun! All three reviews will be going on-line today.

Part of me wonders if The Matrix has been somewhat tarnished by its two sequels and countless spin-offs, video-games, tie-ins and “expanded universe” material. I mean, you can pick any number of iconic pop culture moments from the original film (from “I know kung-fu” to “whoa” to “stop trying to hit me and hit me”), but you’re left with a third film in the trilogy that ultimately grossed less than the original. Watching the entire trilogy back-to-back helps the later films seem much stronger, but it also perhaps helps illuminate what was missing from the following two films that made the original such a classic.

Bending over backwards to make a good movie...

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: cinema, existentialism, films, Keanu Reeves, laurence fishburne, Matrix, morpheus, non-review review, Philip K. Dick, philosophy, reality, review, the matrix, the matrix trilogy, Thirteenth Floor, trinity, truman show, Wachowski Brothers, zack snyder | 1 Comment »

Three is the Magic Number: Why Do We Like Trilogies?

Posted on March 13, 2011 by Darren

Tomorrow I’ll be reviewing all three films in the Matrix trilogy. I sat down yesterday, watched all three back-to-back and wrote reviews of them. As I did, I found myself thinking about how nice the concept of a “trilogy” is. It’s even a nice word – it sounds much better to say “the [insert film name here] trilogy” than it does to say “the [insert film name here] tetralogy” (or, to quote the Alien films, “quadrilogy”) or even the more generic “[insert film name here] series.” So what is it about sets of three movies that we like so much?

Looking for a stellar trilogy...

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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: 3, arts, batman begins, Batman franchise media, Christopher Nolan, dark knight, film trilogies, Movie, movie trilogies, number three, sergio leone, superman, The Lord of the Rings film trilogy, three, trilogy | Leave a comment »

Non-Review Review: Stone

Posted on March 13, 2011 by Darren

Stone began its life as a play. You get a sense of that watching the film – the only points during which it seems to come especially alive is when its two leads, Robert deNiro and Edward Norton, are playing off against each other. Both actors are genuinely great performers who have faded from the spotlight in recent years and, while the film isn’t consistent enough to put either back on the map, it does demonstrate some of the talent involved.

A Stone-cold killer?

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: christianity, Corrections officer, edward norton, film, John Curran, milla jovovich, Movie, non-review review, Probation officer, review, robert deniro, Stone | Leave a comment »

Non-Review Review: Battle – Los Angeles

Posted on March 12, 2011 by Darren

Battle: Los Angeles is a movie we’ve all seen countless times, only with a different name. It’s perhaps the most generic and cliché-filled alien invasion movie that I have ever seen, and I think I’ve seen a lot of them. Part of the problem with the film is that it does a lot functionally, but does nothing especially well – but it’s also that it’s so mundanely bogged down in formula that it’s hard to ever engage with what’s going on.

Facing a completely alien foe...

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: Alien invasion, battle los angeles, Battle: L.A., Battle: LA, British Empire, film, h.g. wells, Middle East, Movies, non-review review, review, Staff Sergeant, war of the worlds, World Invasion | 4 Comments »

Only Ourselves to Blame: The Sad Truth about the Mountains of Madness…

Posted on March 11, 2011 by Darren

The internet seems to be in mourning. There’s none of the angry fist-waving fury that we saw over the announcement of the planned sequels and prequels to Blade Runner, just a solemn sense of reflection. After it seemed that good news was on the way, word came down the wire that Guillermo Del Toro’s planned adaptation of H.P. Lovecraft’s Mountains of Madness would not be happening. Apparently Universal Studios have decided that instead of spending $150m on a genuinely respected classic horror story, they’d rather blow $175m on another shot at Doom. The two decisions probably aren’t directly related (in that I doubt it was an “either or” situation), but it’s fairly damning. However, I honestly don’t think we should blame the studio for any of this. And, that, my friends, is the sad madness-inspiring truth of it all: we have only ourselves to blame.