Darren

Alfred Hitchcock Presents: Wet Saturday (Review)

Posted on May 16, 2012 by Darren

As part of the “For the Love of Film” blogathon, I’ll be taking a look at Alfred Hitchcock’s contributions to his celebrated anthology series Alfred Hitchcock Presents. I’ll be looking at some of the episodes of the classic show that he directed. The “For the Love of Film” blogathon this year is raising money to keep one of Hitchcock’s earlier works, The White Shadow (which he wrote, edited, designed and assistant-directed), available on-line and streaming for free. It’s a very worthwhile cause and you can donate here.

Wet Saturday is what you’d get if you crossed a Hitchcock murder mystery with a very British farce. It’s a bit of a strange cocktail, a comedy of manners about a sordid murder, but Hitchcock makes it work, in no small part to the work of a fantastic ensemble cast. Any excuse to see Hitchcock working with John Williams is worth the price of admission, even if the veteran performer finds himself relegated to a supporting role here. Sir Cedric Hardwicke excels as the patriarch of a proud British family who has to deal with the inconvenience of a murder on the family estate.

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Filed under: Television | Tagged: alfred hitchcock, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Cedric Hardwicke, games, hitchcock, John Williams, Love of Film, murder, Wet Saturday, White Shadow | 1 Comment »

X-Statix Omnibus by Peter Milligan & Mike Allred (Review/Retrospective)

Posted on May 16, 2012 by Darren

With our month looking at Avengers comics officially over, we thought it might be fun to dig into that other iconic Marvel property, the X-Men. Join us for a month of X-Men related reviews and discussion.

There’s been a lot written about how fiendishly clever Peter Milligan and Mike Allred’s X-Statix was when it was published by Marvel in the early part of the last decade. Spanning two titles (beginning in X-Force and then spinning into its own title in X-Statix), it offered a forty-issue re-examination of the core X-Men thesis. Published at approximately the same time, it actually serves as something of a spiritual companion to Grant Morrison’s equally controversial, challenging and provocative New X-Men run. Both series dared to consider that Chris Claremont’s once revolutionary idea, casting mutants as a feared minority because they were inherently “different” might need revision in the early years of the twenty-first century. Both series have been attacked by critics for not conforming to the model that Claremont designed for the franchise three decades earlier. However, I’m going to be controversial, and I’m going to state that both Morrison and Milligan were more faithful spiritual successors to Claremont than any X-Men writers since the nineties.

Nobody’s Doop…

Note: You can read my review of Milligan and Allred’s initial X-Force run, collected in the hardcover “Famous, Mutant & Mortal” here. This is a review of the recently-published omnibus, which collects all their work on the characters, so I won’t go into too much depth on that initial run.

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Filed under: Comics | Tagged: avengers, back from the dead, chris claremont, darwyn cooke, dead girl, di another day, doop, franchises, grant morrison, irony, marvel comics, Mike Allred, Milligan, Peter Milligan, post-modern, princess diana, the anarchist, tyke alacar, uncanny x-men, wolverine, wolverine/doop, x-force, x-statix | 2 Comments »

Alfred Hitchcock Presents: Back For Christmas (Review)

Posted on May 16, 2012 by Darren

Shrunken heads are a hobby of mine. Collecting them, of course, not making them. It takes too long to make one. First, you must wait until the original owner of the head dies. I haven’t the patience for that. As you have no doubt already guessed, tonight’s story has nothing whatsoever to do with shrunken heads. It is called ‘Back for Christmas’.

– Hitchcock’s introduction. No, really.

It’s amazing how much variety Hitchcock managed to bring to Alfred Hitchcock Presents. After all, Revenge was a straight-up noir tale and The Case of Mister Pelham was an existential mystery. Back For Christmas is Hitchcock doing wonderfully dark comedy, to the point where the surrealist introduction above perfectly sets the tone. It’s also an episode that will probably add fuel to the “Alfred Hitchcock was a misogynist” debate.

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Filed under: Television | Tagged: alfred hitchcock, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Bidisha, Dial M for Murder, hitchcock, John Collier, John Williams, United States, White Shadow | 2 Comments »

Alfred Hitchcock Presents: Banquo’s Chair (Review)

Posted on May 15, 2012 by Darren

Banquo’s Chair has a rather standard little plot. There’s no sense that any of the ideas are overcrowding one another, or that they’ve been rushed along to fill the twenty-five minute slot. Indeed, the plot and the script are about as standard as they could be, using a simple set up to play through a familiar drama and leading to a somewhat trite and predictable conclusion. Without being harsh, I think that’s a fair description of Banquo’s Chair. However, it is well served by an experienced cast and by Hitchcock’s direction. Neither truly distinguishes it from the rest of the series, but they do elevate a fairly simple set-up into an entertaining little adventure.

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Filed under: Television | Tagged: Alfred Hitchcock Presents, alfredhitchcock, anthony hopkins, Banquo, Blogathon, hitchcock, hollywood, John Williams, Love of Film, macbeth, Psycho, roald dahl, Scotland Yard, White Shadow | 1 Comment »

Wolverine by Jason Aaron Omnibus, Vol. I (Review)

Posted on May 15, 2012 by Darren

Wolverine shouldn’t be a tough character to get right. He’s a fairly simple archetype, one often seen in the annals of pulp fiction history. He’s the Man With No Name, the ronin, the warrior who has lived through the war. He’s a man who is a weapon, even if he doesn’t necessarily want to be. He’s badass, he’s a loner, and he doesn’t take any nonsense from anyone or anything. It’s easy to see why the character is one of Marvel’s most iconic fictional creations, right up there with Spider-Man in terms of recognition. However, it seems that many writers struggle in characterising the most famous mutant. Arguably the writer with the best handle on Wolverine since Chris Claremont left Uncanny X-Men was Mark Millar, who wrote two of the character’s more memorable stories (Enemy of the State and Old Man Logan). However, this collection makes a nice argument for Jason Aaron as the logical successor to the writer who defined the bladed Canadian.

It’s hardly cutting edge, but it is good comics…

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Filed under: Comics | Tagged: Aaron, Chris Bachalo, chris claremont, comic books, Get Mystique, grant morrison, Jason Aaron, mark millar, marvel comics, old man logan, weapon x, wolverine, Wolverine by Jason Aaron, Wolverine by Jason Aaron Omnibus, Wolverine: Manifest Destiny, Wolverine: Weapon X | 4 Comments »

Win! Snow White & The Huntsman Goodie Bags!

Posted on May 15, 2012 by Darren

The wonderful folk over at Universal Pictures Ireland have given us two Snow White and the Huntsman goodie bags to give away. Each goodie bag contains:

an Apple clutch bag
a T-Shirt
an Apple Charm; and
a Huntsman bag

They’ve also sent on the following behind-the-scenes videos. They aren’t too spoiler-y (everybody’s familiar with the basic myth) and are actually quite insightful when on the. I have to say, I’m looking forward to seeing how director Rupert Sanders brings the story to life – it certainly looks to have a wonderfully gothic production design.

Purely as an aside, I’m still not used to Chris Hemsworth’s normal speaking voice.

To be in with a chance to win one of the prize packs, fill out the form below.

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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: Apple, charlize theron, chris hemsworth, Huntsman, joss whedon, kristen stewart, snow white, Snow White and the Huntsman | 3 Comments »

Alfred Hitchcock Presents: The Case of Mr. Pelham (Review)

Posted on May 15, 2012 by Darren

Due to circumstances outside our control, tragedy will not strike tonight. I’m dreadfully sorry, perhaps some other time.

– Hitchcock’s introduction; well, at least he apologises

The Case of Mister Pelham picked up the series’ first Emmy nomination, with Hitchcock himself nominated for outstanding direction. It’s not too hard to see why, as The Case of Mister Pelham is a wonderfully compelling piece of television, a psychological character study masquerading as a supernatural mystery. In many ways, it feels like the best episode of The Twilight Zone that was never an episode of The Twilight Zone. It’s sharp, cleverly constructed, and features and astounding central performance from Tom Ewell as the eponymous Mister Pelham. What more could you want?

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Filed under: Television | Tagged: alfred hitchcock, Anthony Hopkin, anthony hopkins, Blogathon, Emmy Award, helen mirren, hitchcock, Love of Film, Psycho, Tom Ewell, Tony Award, twilight zone, White Shadow | 4 Comments »

Win! Tickets to the Jameson Cult Film Club Screening of Snatch, in Cork! (Closing Tomorrow)

Posted on May 14, 2012 by Darren

I’m a big fan of the Jameson Cult Film Club. It’s a great excuse to celebrate cinema in a delightful unconventional way. Literally transforming the screening into a scene or location from the film,a s well as bringing key scenes to life, it’s a wonderfully awesome way to enjoy cult classics. So far, the screenings have – as far as I’m aware – been confined to Dublin. However, this time, the wonderful team behind the Jameson Cult Film Club are bringing Snatch to Cork. And we have four tickets to give away, to one lucky individual and three mates.

I’ll be closing the competition at 9am on the 23rd May 2012. Courtesy of the nice folks at the Jameson Cult Film Club, here’s an example of what’s in store.

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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: art, Blues Brother, brad pitt, Cork, cult film, dublin, guy ritchie, jameson cult film club, Movie, Reservoir Dogs, Snatch | 1 Comment »

Alfred Hitchcock Presents: Mrs. Bixby & The Colonel’s Coat (Review)

Posted on May 14, 2012 by Darren

As has been our custom, we shall present homy little stories of an unusual nature. We shall continue to give the little man, or woman, his due. When crime is occasionally dealt with, it will be crime as practiced by ordinary people, like the fellow next door. I think that, by Spring, a large number of you will be thinking of moving.

– Hitchcock’s introduction

Mrs. Bixby & The Colonel’s Coat is, in effect, one joke. It’s a single joke extended over a half-an-hour, with a punchline appearing mere minutes before the end credits. While that might make the episode feel a little insubstantial, it is a Roald Dahl joke, which means that it is never boring. The set-up, the characters and the world around them is a wonderfully fascinating and darkly comic place. It’s no wonder that Dahl and Hitchcock seemed to work together so well. I suspect that they shared a similar sense of humour.

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Filed under: Television | Tagged: alfred hitchcock, anthony hopkins, art, Fred, hitchcock, Love of Film, Mrs. Bixby & The Colonel's Coat, roald dahl, White Shadow | 2 Comments »

Craig Kyle & Christopher Yost’s Run on X-Force (Hardcover Vol. 1-2) (Review/Retrospective)

Posted on May 14, 2012 by Darren

I’m really not sure what to make of Craig Kyle and Christopher Yost’s run on X-Force. In many ways, it is a throwback to Rob Liefeld’s nineties team of anti-heroes, only with more gore and violence and dismemberment. On the other hand, it’s also the only book in the X-Men line that explores the dark ramifications of the direction that Marvel has driven the books, and Yost and Kyle are both careful to counterbalance the darkness and graphic violence with remarkably solid character work. It’s always going be in the shadow of Rick Remender’s more conceptually fascinating Uncanny X-Force, but one can see the seeds of that later comic sewn here.