February | 2013 | the m0vie blog

February 2013 (Jameson Dublin International Film Festival) In Review

Posted on February 28, 2013 by Darren

Man. That was exhausting. 29 events spread across 11 days, including classic films. It was a hell of a festival, with quite an impressive programme put together. In fact, by any measure, it was actually a stronger festival than last year’s, even if I didn’t catch a film that was quite as good as The Raid this time around. Using the 4-point audience award scale, the numbers stack in this year’s favour. Indeed, I gave one more “4” than last year and – most impressively – I actually managed to avoid giving out the lowest grade at all, the dreaded “1.” Maybe I’m getting a bit softer as I get older, but I think that’s an indication that I had a pretty good Jameson Dublin International Film Festival.

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Filed under: Months in Review | Tagged: art, Casa de Mi Padre, danny boyle, danny devito, film, Film festival, Glasgow Film Festival, jameson dublin international film festival, joss whedon, Movie, National Concert Hall, Nicolas Winding Refn, Reservoir Dogs, Ryan Gosling, United States | Leave a comment »

Non-Review Review: The Summit

Posted on February 28, 2013 by Darren

This film was seen as part of the Jameson Dublin International Film Festival 2013.

The Summit is a powerful exploration of the infamous loss of eleven lives within 24 hours on K2. This is the largest disaster in the history of K2 mountaineering, and – as The Summit concedes – that we won’t necessarily ever know the full details behind this tragic loss of life. However, while the incident serves as a bit of a flashpoint, one big event that it is impossible to overlook, The Summit drops an absolutely fascinating piece of information early one, and one which contextualises that horrible accident.

Apparently one in every four people to make it to the summit of K2 doesn’t make it back down.

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: art, California, dublin, film, Film festival, Ger McDonnell, jameson dublin international film festival, Jameson Dublin International Film Festival 2013, K2, Lakewood Church Central Campus, Limerick, McLeod's Daughters, Mountaineering, Movie, Nick Ryan, non-review review, r eview, Ryan, Summit, Sundance Film Festival, United States | Leave a comment »

Doctor Who: The Age of Steel (Review)

Posted on February 28, 2013 by Darren

To celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the longest-running science-fiction show in the world, I’ll be taking weekly looks at some of my own personal favourite stories and arcs, from the old and new series, with a view to encapsulating the sublime, the clever and the fiendishly odd of the BBC’s Doctor Who.

The Age of Steel originally aired in 2006.

Human race. For such an intelligent lot, you aren’t half susceptible. Give anyone a chance to take control and you submit. Sometimes I think you like it.

– oh, Doctor, you kinky so-and-so

I really don’t like Rise of the Cybermen. I think it’s a waste of a potential origin story for one of the Doctor’s most iconic adversaries. However, most of the problems with this two-parter are front-loaded. The set-up, quite frankly, is relatively pedestrian. It’s Doctor Who on auto-pilot. The follow-up, Age of Steel, actually works a bit better. That’s not to suggest that the script is any smarter or any tighter. Indeed, this is very much Doctor Who in big blockbuster mode. However, Age of Steel does have one massive advantage. It has director Graeme Harper working on it.

At least they’re stylish…

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Filed under: Television | Tagged: arts, bbc, Caves of Androzani, Cyberman, cybermen, Dalek, doctor, DoctorWho, Graeme Harper, science fiction, tardis, The Age of Steel, torchwood, Unearthly Child | Leave a comment »

Look! Tim Flattery’s Batman Returns Concept Art! With Penguins!

Posted on February 27, 2013 by Darren

The wonderful Tim Flattery has posted up some of his concept art from a whole host of his past projects, including Real Steel and Spider-Man 2. However, his concept work for Batman Returns caught my eye. Partially because I am a Batman fan, partially because I love Batman Returns more than most and partially because… well, penguins with buzz-saws! I’m waiting for the PETA complaints to begin. There’s also some concept art for the Batmobile from Batman Forever included below. Which is not the worst thing about that movie.

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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: batman, batman returns, concept art, Penguin, Real Steel, spider-man 2, Steel, Tim Flattery | Leave a comment »

Watch! Tribute to 50 Years of Bond…

Posted on February 27, 2013 by Darren

It’s no secret that I am a massive James Bond fan. After all, Skyfall was one of my favourite movies of 2012. So when I found this tribute to fifty years of the secret agent – set to Adele’s wonderful Oscar-winning theme song – I had to share it. Check it out below and let me know what you think. Enjoy!

Filed under: Movies | Tagged: Academy Award, Adele, Halle Berry, james bond, James Bond in film, oscar, Shirley Bassey, Skyfall | 3 Comments »

Doctor Who: The Tomb of the Cybermen (Review)

Posted on February 27, 2013 by Darren

The Tomb of the Cybermen originally aired in 1967.

In fact you might say they’ve had a complete metal breakdown.

Oooooh….

I’m sorry, Jamie.

– traveling with the Doctor can be quite pun-ishing

The Tomb of the Cybermen is a bit of miracle. Originally thought lost to history in the great BBC archives purge (along with most of the Troughton era), The Tomb of the Cybermen was recovered completely intact from Hong Kong in 1992, a quarter of a century after the adventure aired and several years after the original series had been cancelled by the BBC. It remains perhaps the most significant recovery in recent memory, and fosters hope that there might be a few other serials that have been preserved in their entirety. Still, even outside of its significant historical context, I’d make the argument that The Tomb of the Cybermen stands as the best adventure to feature the metallic men.

Sealing your tomb…

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Filed under: Television | Tagged: bbc, Cyberman, cybermen, doctor, Doctor (Doctor Who), doctor who, DoctorWho, Jon Pertwee, patrick troughton, second doctor, Sylvester McCoy, The Tomb of the Cybermen, Tomb Of The Cybermen, William Hartnell | 2 Comments »

Non-Review Review: Hansel & Gretel – Witch Hunters

Posted on February 26, 2013 by Darren

There is a gem of an idea buried in Hansel & Gretel. Indeed, there isn’t too much excavation required to recover it. It lurks near the surface, visible to the naked eye. What would happen if you took a fairy tale and reworked it as a bombastic action adventure, complete with the clichés, archetypes and gimmicks you associate with such films? Hansel & Gretel veers on wry self-parody at points, as if an acerbic take on Hollywood’s fondness for “gritty” reimaginings of familiar concepts. With producers including Adam McKay and Will Ferrell, it’s not too hard to believe that this subversive exploration of genre tropes was explicitly intended as a sly joke at the expense of these sorts of nonsensical and gratuitously violent and aggressive takes on old classics. There are moments where Hansel & Gretel flirts with genuinely post-modern greatness.

Unfortunately, there’s also a sense that the film lacks the will to follow through on that somewhat sarcastic premise, and the result is that the shrewder gags are undermined by a surreal earnestness that seems to ask the audience to accept Hansel & Gretel for nothing more than what it is. The result is a discordant and scattered piece of film, one that seems almost at war with itself.

The hottest adaptation of Hansel & Gretel you have ever seen…

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: Action film, adam mckay, Fairy tale, famke janssen, film, Gemma Arterton, Gretel, Hansel, Hansel & Gretel, Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters, jeremy renner, Movie, non-review review, review, sylvester stallone, Tommy Wirkola | Leave a comment »

Non-Review Review: Cherchez Hortense

Posted on February 26, 2013 by Darren

This film was seen as part of the Jameson Dublin International Film Festival 2013.

Inoffensive. That might be the best way to describe Cherchez Hortense, a French comedy of manners about people trying to figure out how to get what they want from life – and each other. The cast do a great job, especially Jean-Pierre Bacri in the lead role of Damien Hauer, who just about manages to give the film enough weight to stop it floating effortlessly away. There’s nothing wrong with some light character-driven comedy, but Cherchez Hortense suffers from the fact that it seems like even one direct conversation would sort absolutely everything out. Okay, that’s a slight oversimplification (it depends which direct conversation), but it’s not too far from the truth. While the script is sharp and witty enough that the actors never feel like they’re just going in circles, there’s a weird sense of contrivance around Cherchez Hortense which gives means it’s hard to get too invested in anything that’s going on.

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: Academy Award, arts, César Award, Cherchez Hortense, China, Cinema of France, Damien Hauer, film, French language, Hauer, jameson dublin international film festival, Japanese cuisine, Jean-Pierre Bacri, Kristin Scott Thomas, marion cotillard, Movie, non-review review, paris, Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, review | Leave a comment »

Doctor Who: Rise of the Cybermen (Review)

Posted on February 26, 2013 by Darren

Rise of the Cybermen originally aired in 2006.

Delete. Delete.

– the moment the Cybermen realise they are second-rate Daleks

I’ll freely concede that I am sceptical of the Cybermen. Okay, that’s not fair. I actually really like the early Cybermen stories. However, it seems like Doctor Who really forgot how the Cybermen worked when it turned them into a recurring “once per Doctor” sort of threat. However, they are part of the show’s iconography. The image of the Cybermen marching down the steps of St. Paul’s Cathedral from The Invasion is important enough to earn them a sacred place in the show’s history.

So the return of the Cybermen was inevitable, even before we caught a glimpse of one of their silly helmets in Dalek. Russell T. Davies has generally done a great job revitalising old concepts for the revived series, so Rise of the Cybermen has that in its corner. Unfortunately, I’m not convinced that Rise of the Cybermen approaches anything resembling the quality of Dalek, and I think that Rise of the Cybermen manages the rare feat of turning most of Davies’ strengths into weaknesses.

March of the Cybermen…

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Filed under: Television | Tagged: arts, bbc, Cyberman, cybermen, Dalek, Davies, doctor, DoctorWho, Pete Tyler, Rise of the Cybermen, Roger Lloyd Pack, rose, russell t. davies, science fiction, tardis, Tenth Planet, Time Lord, Vitex | 5 Comments »

Non-Review Review: Broken City

Posted on February 25, 2013 by Darren

Broken City seems like an ironic title for a movie that seems to take so much pride in being functional. Broken City is a political investigative thriller, a subgenre that has produced any number of genuinely classic films. However, while Broken City doesn’t really excel in any true sense, it does take a great deal of care in making sure that everything works, that everything is assembled with enough care, and that there’s no real discordant note to be heard. Broken City isn’t a very good film on its own merits, but it manages to avoid being an overly bad one.