March | 2011 | the m0vie blog

Non-Review Review: Piranha 3D

Posted on March 11, 2011 by Darren

You know, I wanted to like Piranha 3D. I really did. I like a certain level of schlock and self-awareness which a film like this really just promises. Hell, I’ll normally even acknowledge that a one-note film can strike that one note particularly well. Unfortunately, Piranha 3D is just… well, let’s just say I’d probably enjoy skinny-dipping with the eponymous monsters more than watching them.

Fish out of water...

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: Adam Scott, Christopher Lloyd, Elisabeth Shue, Girls Gone Wild, monster movie, Movie, non-review review, piranha 3d, review, Richard Dreyfuss, schlock, ving rhames | 3 Comments »

See the Aborted Monsters Inc. 2 Trailer…

Posted on March 10, 2011 by Darren

I’m a sucker for all things Pixar, so when this turned up on-line, I thought I would share it. Basically, it’s a trailer for the original planned Monsters Inc. 2: Trouble in Scaradise movie that was in development at the company few years back. It’s apparently radically different from the iteration of Monsters Inc. 2 that we will see hitting our screens next year, but the writers of the original film found some concept art that had been prepared for their draft of the film, and decided to give us a taste of what their version of the film might have looked like. I think it was interesting, but it does seem a little close to Toy Story 3 (with a child abandoning the objects of their fantasy), but perhaps I’m too harsh. Give it a look below.

Filed under: Movies | Tagged: Cars 2, concept art, monsters, monsters inc 2, Pete Docter, pixar, The Walt Disney Company, toy story | 2 Comments »

Can a Sequel Spoil the Original Film More Than a Remake?

Posted on March 10, 2011 by Darren

So, the rights to Blade Runner have been sold. However, us on-line film nerds are being told to breathe easy, because the rights that were sold explicitly do not include the option to remake or “reimagine” or “reboot” the classic Ridley Scott film. However, is that really that much of a comfort? Surely a terrible sequel can tarnish an original film just as much as a terrible remake?

Concept art from Blade Runner by Syd Mead

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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: Alcon Entertainment, batman, blade runner, christian bale, Darth Vader, gus van sant, ridley scott, starsky & hutch | 5 Comments »

Non-Review Review: Ed Wood

Posted on March 10, 2011 by Darren

One gets a sense that Tim Burton is one of those people who feels a deep connection with famously awful director Edward D. Wood Jr. His bio-pic on the (in)famous director is saturated with a sense of deep nostalgia and almost earnest respect for the man, who it paints as an enthusiastic and inoffensive loon. In fact, coming out of the film, it’s really hard to feel that describing the master of schlock as “the worst director of all time” is actually an insult – but rather an endearing little nickname, a half-joke half-serious remark amongst friends. The movie does share an odd laugh at the expensive of its protagonist, but it also can’t help but admire a visionary who just wouldn’t compromise with the studio system. Even if it didn’t always (or ever) work out, you get the sense that Burton admires the actor/producer/writer/director for that.

A Wood(en) performance?

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: Béla Lugosi, Ed Wood, Edward Scissorhands, films, johnny depp, Martin Landau, Movies, non-review review, Plan 9 from Outer Space, review, Sarah Jessica Parker, tim burton | 4 Comments »

A Good Poster for X-Men…

Posted on March 10, 2011 by Darren

If you were on the inter-webs yesterday, you might have had the grave misfortune to stumble across Michael Fassbender’s face superimposed over Sir Ian McKellen’s crotch and James McAvoy’s eyebrows being cut short by Patrick Stewart’s wheelchair arm in a vain attempt to promote X-Men: First Class, which must have the worst marketing campaign in the history of cinema. However, in order to help you forget those images (I never will), Last Exit to Nowhere tweeted the below epic X-Men posted from Eric Tan. It has nothing to do with actual movie, but it still manages to fit the whole “nostalgic” thing the movie’s going for (albeit fifties instead of sixties).

Superb.

On the other hand, I do quite like the (relatively) more subtle European posters which don’t feature Michael Fassbender’s face superimposed over Sir Ian McKellen’s crotch and nor James McAvoy’s eyebrows being cut short by Patrick Stewart’s wheelchair arm.

Filed under: Movies | Tagged: ian mckellen, james mcavoy, matthew vaughn, Michael Fassbender, patrick stewart, Professor X, x-men, x-men:first class | Leave a comment »

Possible Villains for the Zack Snyder Superman Reboot…

Posted on March 9, 2011 by Darren

March is Superman month here at the m0vie blog, what with the release of the animated adaptation of Grant Morrison’s superb All-Star Superman. We’ll be reviewing a Superman-related book/story arc every Wednesday this month, so check on back – and we might have a surprise or two along the way.

This being a month dedicated to Superman and all, I thought I’d put together a “rogues gallery” of Superman foes that Snyder might possibly consider using for the upcoming Superman reboot. After all, Luthor and Zod are the only Superman foes to really get a shot at a big-screen adaptation so far, so there’s a whole range of choices out there. Superman might not have as deep a selection of foes as Batman or Spider-Man, but he’s not exactly short on major threats, either.

A viable threat to the Man of Steel?

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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: bizarro, brainiac, clark kent, Comics, darkseid, dc universe, doomsday, films, fourth world, general sam lane, general zod, joker, lex luthor, Lexluthor, parasite, sam lane, superman, superman reboot, the parasite, the toyman, toyman, zack snyder | 9 Comments »

Lex Luthor: Man of Steel (Review)

Posted on March 9, 2011 by Darren

Brian Azzarello and Lee Bermejo worked together on Joker, the rather wonderful reinvention of the Clown Prince of Crime which happened to almost perfectly synch up with the release of Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight. However, the pair had worked together before on a very similar story – an attempt to offer a more in-depth look at another iconic comic book villain. Lex Luthor: Man of Steel was originally released as a six-issue miniseries, but it has now been released as a graphic novel branded only Luthor, in an attempt to cash in on the success of the pair’s stand-alone Batman novel. In the form of a lovely hardcover with the covers relegated to the extras at the end, it actually makes quite a compelling read.

He needs to Luth-less to win this...

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Filed under: Comics | Tagged: batman, brian azzarello, bruce wayne, Christopher Nolan, comic book review, comic book reviews, comic books, dc comics, graphic novel review, joker, lee bermejo, lex luthor, lex luthor: man of steel, Lexluthor, luthor, review, superman | Leave a comment »

We’re an Irish Blog Awards Finalist!

Posted on March 9, 2011 by Darren

We made the final of the Irish Blog Awards in the Best Pop Culture category. It’s an honour to be nominated again, and we’ll see you all for the final in Belfast next Saturday.

It’s an honour to make the final alongside such Irish blogging institutions as:

A huge congratulations to those who made the final list, and commiserations to those who didn’t.

Filed under: Movies | Tagged: Europa Hotel, irish blog awards, popular culture | 17 Comments »

Non-Review Review: Armageddon

Posted on March 8, 2011 by Darren

At least Michael Bay’s Armageddon is honest with you from the opening moments. A deep and thoughtful voice provides an explanation of how a single hunk of space rock managed to wipe out the dinosaurs, complete with an illustration of that important moment. Now, as a viewer, you are confronted with two options. Your choice will define whether you enjoy the movie, or whether it ends up causing you serious physical pain. Your options are: (a.) sit back and enjoy the fact that Bay opened his movie with a pseudo-science lecture which had the decency to include an explosion with the force of “ten thousand nuclear bombs”; (b.) wonder why, if this scene is set millions of years ago, the continents are all in exactly the same places they are today.

We'll always have Paris... Oh, wait...

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: armageddon, armageddon (film), billy bob thornton, bruce willis, films, Harry Stamper, Iwo Jima, Jason Isaacs, michael bay, Movies, NASA, space, Udo Kier, United States | 4 Comments »

Iron Man 3: Tony Stark to Face Real World Baddies…

Posted on March 8, 2011 by Darren

You know what? I was sad to hear that Jon Favreau wasn’t coming back to direct Iron Man 3, especially after Marvel so thoroughly mucked with his vision of Iron Man 2 – turning the second act into an extended infomercial for The Avengers. However, I was kinda glad to see Shane Black come on board, if only because his last collaboration with Robert Downey Jr. (Kiss Kiss Bang Bang) was pure gold. Anyway, Black – as a screenwriter – will be writing the new Iron Man film, and he’s promising a Tom Clancy plot and “real world villains.” So what exactly does that mean?