Darren

Non-Review Review: The Dictator

Posted on May 10, 2012 by Darren

The obvious point of comparison for The Dictator would seem to be Borat or even Bruno. After all, the film reteams Sacha Baron Cohen with director Larry Charles, while providing a vehicle for exploring American society. However, The Dictator is a very different beast – it’s a much safer film, which is quite something to say about a film featuring a joke about “911 2012.” It is more conventional, more accessible, and more driven by a clearly focused narrative. In a way, it feels almost closer to Ali G in da House, only a lot funnier.

The Dictator is a very funny film, but it does feel like Cohen is a little more constrained than usual, a lot more rigidly structured. This lacks the sort of anarchic spirit that viewers have come to expect from Cohen, and I’d be lying if I said I didn’t miss it. Still, Cohen has a unique ability to blend offensive boundary-crossing with classic comedy, and The Dictator feels like a film that will have a broader appeal than his cult hits. Despite the abundance of jokes about male and female anatomy, I think this might be the first Sacha Baron Cohen film I would recommend to my parents.

Coming to America…

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: Aladeen, ali, Borat, bruno, Cohen, Dictator, film, Howard Stern, israel, Larry Charles, Movie, non-review review, review, sacha baron cohen, United States | 4 Comments »

Fall of the Mutants: Uncanny X-Men (Review/Retrospective)

Posted on May 10, 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.

Part of me does feel a little bit sorry for Chris Claremont. After all, his Uncanny X-Men run was trapped in a perpetual second act. He hadn’t introduced the franchise, inheriting it from a bunch of other writers and artists, and he couldn’t resolve it either. So, as a writer, Claremont was charged with keeping readers interested in an on-going narrative that spanned well over a decade. Occasionally, the writer would try to keep things fresh, and Fall of the Mutants represents just such an attempt. Trying to transition his team from one status quo to another, you have to give the writer credit for pitting the team against an enemy who is (effectively) God, even if it does make this chapter in his on-going saga the equivalent of Star Trek V: The Final Frontier.

United we fall…

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Filed under: Comics | Tagged: chris claremont, Claremont, cyclops, fall of the mutants, Forge, hannibal, Jean Grey, Louise Simonson, marvel comics, matt fraction, Mister Sinister, mutant massacre, Mystique, Psylocke, Sinister, Star Trek V: The Final Frontier, Storm, uncanny x-men, uncanny x-men: fall of the mutants, vietnam, wolverine, x-men, x-men comics, x-men: fall of the mutants | Leave a comment »

Fall of the Mutants: X-Factor (Review/Retrospective)

Posted on May 10, 2012 by Darren

I’ll freely concede that I’m generally wary of Louise Simonson’s X-Factor. Her contributions to the Mutant Massacre were the weakest part of the crossover, and she didn’t exactly make Inferno an exceptionally readable event. While I can understand why some fans are fond of her writing, I’ve found the X-Factor I’ve read to generally be an awkward and heavy-handed attempt to emulate Chris Claremont’s patented soap opera stylings.

However, I will concede when I’m impressed, and Simonson has more than impressed me here. While I respect Claremont’s Uncanny X-Men tie-in to Fall of the Mutants more than I enjoy it, Simonson’s X-Factor feels like a much stronger offering, feeling like the book is really firing on all cylinders. Fall of the Mutants allows Simonson to bring all manner of plotlines to a head, tying together years of build-up into a fascinating, exciting and compelling pay-off. I have no qualms in suggesting that Simonson’s X-Factor is the highlight of this gigantic collection.

A wing and a prayer…

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Filed under: Comics | Tagged: chris claremont, cyclops, fall of the mutants, fall of the mutants: x-factor, jack kirby, Jean Grey, Louise Simonson, mutant massacre, Simonson, stan lee, uncanny x-men, x-factor, x-men | Leave a comment »

Non-Review Review: Dark Shadows

Posted on May 9, 2012 by Darren

I really liked Dark Shadows. Of course, the film comes with the proviso that it’s probably nothing at all like anybody is expecting, at least based on the trailers. While there are elements of a comedy about a vampire lost in time, Tim Burton is far too busy constructing an elaborate spoof of a gothic melodrama to every really develop that thread. Instead, it’s a movie that seems wry and self-aware more than it is side-splittingly hilarious, an old-fashioned homage to the melodramatic horrors of old rather than a compelling story in its own right. I don’t think anybody could argue that this is truly “classic” Burton, measured against Ed Wood or Batman Returns. However, it is a director who seems to be having a great deal of fun playing with some rather esoteric toys.

Collins family values…

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: Angelique, art, Barnabas Collins, burton, Chloe Moretz, Dark Shadow, Dark Shadows, Ed Wood, Elizabeth Collins Stoddard, eva green, film, helena bonham carter, jackie earle haley, johnny depp, Julia Hoffman, michelle pfeiffer, Movie, non-review review, review, tim burton | 114 Comments »

X-Men: The Asgardian Wars (Review)

Posted on May 9, 2012 by Darren

It has been said that the X-Men rarely interact with the broader Marvel Universe. While characters like Wolverine and the Beast might have appeared on a roster or two of The Avengers, and Storm might have popped up in Fantastic Four, events within the X-Men line seemed to be self-contained, with Marvel’s mutants generally fighting their own problems in their own way. After all, Captain America was hardly a champion of civil liberties if he didn’t stand up for mutant rights, so it made sense to keep the mutants relatively self-contained.

However, despite this (somewhat deserved) reputation, it’s interesting to look back at the connections that writer Chris Claremont fostered with the wider Marvel Universe. Some of these (like the Claremont’s frequent connections to the Ka-Zar mythos) were relatively frequent within the pages of the main title (and no less strange for it), but Claremont was also a fan of making an event of a crossover between the X-Men and any other major players – things like Fantastic Four vs. X-Men. This story arc, told over four special issues, is something similar, making a big deal of the crossover between the world of Thor and the X-Men.

The Goddess of Thunder!

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Filed under: Comics | Tagged: alpha flight, art adams, Asgard, captain america, chris claremont, fantastic four, marvel, Marvel Comic, marvel comics, marvel universe, New Mutant, new mutants, Storm, the Asgardian War, thor, walt simonson, x-men, x-men/alpha flight, X-Men: The Asgardian War | Leave a comment »

Non-Review Review: Jeff Who Lives at Home

Posted on May 9, 2012 by Darren

This film was seen as part of the Jameson Dublin International Film Festival 2012. As the movie’s getting a delayed Irish release this weekend, I thought I’d share it again.

There’s a common misconception about the films of Mark and Jay Duplass. It’s easy to confuse their films with comedies. Just look at the cast they assembled for Cyrus, including Jonah Hill and John C. Reilly (with Marisa Tomei taking home her Oscar for a comedic turn in My Cousin Vinny), or even the one they’ve gathered here. After all, Jason Segel is still most recognisable from How I Met Your Mother or The Muppets or Forgetting Sarah Marshall. Ed Helms’ filmography includes The Office and The Hangover and Cedar Rapids. While Jay and Mark Duplass include a wonderful amount of humour in their work, it tends to distract away from their core themes or ideas. Beneath the awkward triangle in Cyrus, there’s a coming-of-age family drama. Underneath the witty exterior of Jeff Who Lives at Home, there’s a sincere and optimistic romantic drama. And I’m a sucker for romantic drama.

Rub a dub dub, two men in a tub…

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: Academy Award, cyrus, Ed Helms, Hangover, jason segel, Jay Duplass, Jeff, Jeff Who Lives at Home, john c. reilly, jonah hill, Judy Greer, Marisa Tomei, Mark, Mark Duplass, Movie, susan sarandon | Leave a comment »

Non-Review Review: The Blues Brothers

Posted on May 8, 2012 by Darren

I had the pleasure of catching a Jameson Cult Film Club screening of The Blues Brothers earlier this evening. And it was awesome. Really, really great night. Might have been the best yet. I’ll have more details on it later in the week, but now seems like a good time to revisit the classic.

It’s 106 miles to Chicago, we got a full tank of gas, half a pack of cigarettes, it’s dark… and we’re wearing sunglasses.

Hit it.

– Elwood and Jake

It might seem a bit redundant to say it, but The Blues Brothers has soul. Not just the funky music, though it has plenty of that. Nor an evangelical message, although the two brothers are, as they claim, “on a mission from God.” No, The Blues Brothers has a core of pure exuberance, a sense of joy that is all too rare – it doesn’t seem like writers Dan Ackroyd and John Landis threw ideas at the wall to see what stuck, so much as they demolished the wall and threw it at another wall. The Blues Brothers is, by turns, absurd, wry, grounded, sarcastic, charming, heartwarming and sardonic, with those elements frequently overlapping to an almost insane degree. In many ways, like John Belushi’s scheming, manipulative and aggressive Jake Elwood, it’s far more charming than it really should be. But we love it for it.

It’s a dirty business…

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: arts, Blues Brother, Chicago, Dan Aykroyd, Elwood, films, Illinois, Jake, John Belushi, John Candy, john landis, Movies, non-review review, Rawhide, Ray Charles, review, Steven Williams | 4 Comments »

X-Men: Mutant Massacre (Review/Retrospective)

Posted on May 8, 2012 by Darren

Mutant Massacre represents something of a minor game changer in the world of the X-Men titles that Marvel was producing. Originally proposed by Uncanny X-Men scribe Chris Claremont as a story to be told within that title, editorial seized upon the opportunity to connect their developing line of mutant titles, having each monthly issue of Uncanny X-Men, X-Factor and The New Mutants serve as a single chapter in an expansive storyline. It really was the first X-Men crossover, setting the template for dozens to follow over the coming decades from “thematic” crossovers like Fall of the Mutants to more straight-forward examples like Inferno or X-Tinction Agenda, or even ones that came long after Claremont like Messiah Complex or Second Coming. More than that, though, Mutant Massacre demonstrated the key attributes of Claremont’s rapidly expanding universe, reintroducing a sense of uncertainty and dread into the comics.

Tearing the X-Men to pieces…

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Filed under: Comics | Tagged: bryan singer, chris claremont, Claremont, Comics, dark phoenix saga, emma frost, magneto, mutant massacre, Mystique, new mutants, nightcrawler, Nightcrawler (comics), Professor X, Race-Ethnic-Religious Relations, the mutant massacre, uncanny x-men, x-men, X-Men: First Class, x-men: mutant massacre | 2 Comments »

Playhouse Presents: Nixon’s The One (Review)

Posted on May 8, 2012 by Darren

I can’t help but feel just a little bit disappointed by Nixon’s the One. Sky Arts have been producing a series of television plays as part of Playhouse Presents bringing together a wealth of talent including Emma Thompson, Richard E. Grant, Tom Jones, David Tennant, John Hurt, Stellan Skarsgård, Stephen Fry and Olivia Williams among others. Nixon’s the One, the third in the series of ten plays, caught my eye because it was a re-enactment of various exerts from Nixon’s infamous White House tapes, brought to life by a talented cast. While the approach is fascinating and Harry Shearer makes a convincing Nixon beneath far too much make-up, the play is simply too short to capture any real portrait of America’s most controversial President. It drops some interesting insights, but doesn’t have enough room to expand or develop them beyond what we already knew of Nixon.

Just dossier-ing around…

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Filed under: Television | Tagged: Billy Graham, Harry Shearer, Henry Kissinger, hollywood, nixon, oliver stone, Oval Office, playhouse presents, Richard E. Grant, richard nixon, Ronald Reagan, Sky Arts, Stephen Fry, United State, Washington, watergate tapes | Leave a comment »

Uncanny X-Men by Chris Claremont Omnibus, Vol. 1 (Review/Retrospective)

Posted on May 7, 2012 by Darren

Chris Claremont wrote Uncanny X-Men for seventeen years, which is really quite a run in mainstream American comics, especially for a writer who didn’t create the property that he was working on. Over the course of a defining run that lasted almost two decades, the creator shaped the franchise from the forgotten stepchild of Stan Lee and Jack Kirby – cancelled and reduced to reprints – into Marvel’s biggest and most successful comic book franchise. While the book hadn’t quite made it to the top of the sales charts by the end of this omnibus collection, it was well on its way – and you can see Claremont gradually moulding the team into the iconic collection of mutants that we’d see across a myriad of mediums.