Non-Review Reviews | the m0vie blog

Non-Review: Alien Resurrection (Theatrical Cut)

Posted on June 1, 2012 by Darren

To celebrate the release of Prometheus this week, we’ll be taking a look at the other movies in the Alien franchise.

I always feel a little hint of trepidation when I return to a movie that I know I didn’t like the first time. Part of me is reluctant to watch it again, even for the purposes of examining what exactly went awry during production, while some small part of me holds out hope that the film might be redeemed – that I might somehow magically get it the second time around. So, completing a marathon rewatch of Ridley Scott’s Alien and the sequels it spawned, I left Alien: Resurrection until last.

Unfortunately, it was just as flawed and messy as I remember it.

Reflecting on his behaviour…

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: alien, Alien Resurrection, Brad Dourif, business, Ellen Ripley, film, Franchising, Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, james cameron, Jean-Pierre Jeunet, joss whedon, Movie, non-review review, Opportunities, Prometheus, review, ridley scott, Ripley, sigourney weaver, Weyland-Yutani | 2 Comments »

Non-Review Review: Prometheus

Posted on May 31, 2012 by Darren

Prometheus is an impressive science fiction thriller. Indeed, its weakest link is its attempt to “line-up” with Scott’s original Alien, as its own interesting ideas end up caught up in an attempt to throw knowing winks and nods towards an overly eager audience. “look! green gooey possibly acidic blood!” the movie seems to cry or “gee! that illustration looks familiar!” The problem is that these feel like distractions from a plot that is compelling and fascinating when explored on its own merits. Still, it feels like a worthy science fiction film in its own right, a fitting hybrid of Scott’s Alien with his Blade Runner, daring to pose interesting existential and philosophical questions about humanity’s place in the universe.

David is a piece of work…

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: alien, blade runner, Dallas, David, film, Guy Pearce, Idris Elba, Michael Fassbender, Movie, non-review, Noomi Rapace, Prometheus, review, ridley scott, science fiction, Scott, Shaw | 13 Comments »

Non-Review Review: Snow White and the Huntsman

Posted on May 30, 2012 by Darren

Snow White and the Huntsman can’t help but feel like it misses the mark. Its intentions are clear, its objectives very firmly set. It’s an attempt to “reclaim” the age old fairytale for a more modern audience, to revisit all the tropes and the plot devices from the story we all know and rework them so that they speak to today. The result is a massive misfire, as the attempt to craft a feminist fable from the story of Snow White makes the same fatal misstep as Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland: just because you put a sword in the hand of your leading female, and just because she wears a suit of armour, does not immediately reinvent her as a feminist icon.

Not quite queen of our hearts…

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: alice in wonderland, charlize theron, chris hemsworth, film, Hemsworth, Huntsman, kristen stewart, Movie, non-review review, Queen, Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, review, Sam Claflin, snow white, Snow White and the Huntsman, SnowWhite, Takin, Theron, tim burton, universal studios | 13 Comments »

Non-Review Review: Moonrise Kingdom

Posted on May 30, 2012 by Darren

I’ve always felt that Wes Anderson sees the world through the eyes of child. Events take on a surreal larger-than-life significance, characters are exaggerated, emotional interactions are somewhat simplistic, yet peppered with nuance and hidden depth. To be entirely honest, I’ve found this has a tendency to make Anderson’s adult characters difficult to relate to and his movies difficult to engage with. That’s why I think The Fantastic Mr. Fox worked so well, because it was a childish view of an adult work through the prism of a children’s story.

That’s also why, I think, Moonrise Kingdom works just as well as Anderson’s quirky foray into the world of stop motion animation. While many of Anderson’s films are tragedies about overgrown children living in the bodies of adults, Moonrise Kingdom is more keenly focused on how adults and children interact with one another – giving the movie a depth to complement Anderson’s unique stylistic vision, and heart to go with its cynical wit.

“Well, we know where we’re going…”

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: Anderson, arts, bruce willis, fantastic mr. fox, Fantastic Mr. Fox (film), film, Fox, Khaki Scout, Moonrise Kingdom, Movie, New England, non-review review, review, Sam, Snoopy, stop-motion, Suzy, wes anderson | 9 Comments »

Non-Review Review: To Catch a Thief

Posted on May 30, 2012 by Darren

To Catch a Thief is unique among Hitchcock films. It’s the only Hitchcock film produced by Paramount to remain distributed by Paramount. The rest reverted to Hitchcock and are now distributed by Universal. More than that, however, the film feels remarkably “light” as measured against some of his other work. It feels almost like Cary Grant and Grace Kelly are just supporting players, with the French Riviera serving as the headlining star of the film. That not to dismiss To Catch a Thief entirely – it’s still a beautiful and well constructed piece of cinema from a master director, just one that feels a little shallow compared to his better work.

The short kiss goodnight…

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: alfred hitchcock, arts, Cary Grant, film, france, French Riviera, Grace Kelly, hitchcock, John Robie, Movie, Movies, non-review review, review, Robie, To Catch a Thief | 1 Comment »

Non-Review Review: Aliens (Theatrical Cut)

Posted on May 29, 2012 by Darren

To celebrate the release of Prometheus this week, we’ll be taking a look at the other movies in the Alien franchise.

I think Aliens might be my favourite James Cameron movie. Of course, the guy has any number of iconic movies vying for that position – The Terminator and Terminator 2 both come to mind, for example – but I can’t help but admire how efficiently the director constructed his first big budget motion picture. Regardless of its place within an iconic science-fiction franchise, Aliens is practically a guidebook on how to effectively construct a movie, from writing the script to directing the action and absolutely everything in between. It’s hard to look at Aliens as anything less than a complete triumph, no matter which angle you examine the film from.

Queen bee…

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: alien, aliens, avatar, Banquette, bishop, Blu-ray Disc, Burke, Cameron, Christopher Nolan, David Giler, Ellen Ripley, film, hicks, james cameron, List of Alien characters, Marine, Michael Biehn, Movie, non-review review, review, ridley scott, Ripley, Ripley's Believe It or Not!, sigourney weaver, space, terminator, Terraforming, United States, United States Marines | 3 Comments »

Non-Review Review: Falling Down

Posted on May 25, 2012 by Darren

Falling Down is something of a cult classic. It, along with Phone Booth, stands as proof that Joel Schumacher is actually a rather wonderful director, as much as his failures might occasional overshadow his accomplishments. Filmed in the midst of the Los Angeles riots, Falling Down manages to speak to a lot of the anger of urban living, as William “D-Fens” Foster takes out his frustration on an urban environment that has gone completely mad. Almost twenty years after it was originally released, Falling Down is still a potent little film.

The best D-FENS…

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: 1992 Los Angeles riots, Athens, batman, batman forever, Falling Down, fascism, film, Foster, Foster care, Gang, Golden Dawn, Health, Home Office, Jacob Black, joel schumacher, los angeles, Movie, Nazism, Neo-Nazism, non-review review, politics, Prevention, r eview, Reports and Surveys, review, Road rage, Schumacher, Seattle, United States, Violence and Abuse | 8 Comments »

Non-Review Review: Rope

Posted on May 23, 2012 by Darren

Rope occupies an interesting place in Alfred Hitchcock’s filmography. The director himself was less than fond of it, allegedly quite happy that it remained out of circulation for some time after its initial release. Jimmy Stewart has apparently been critical of his own performance in the film, although I think it’s a wonderful example of a beloved actor playing against type. In the years since, however, it has been somewhat re-evaluated. While most film fans would be hesitant to describe it as an unqualified success, it’s certainly a technically ambitious little film, and the tight script and set-up allow Hitchcock to indulge his knack for creating suspense.

I hope nobody choked with all those ten-minute takes…

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: alfredhitchcock, arts, Brandon, Cut the Rope, David, film, games, Health, hitchcock, James Stewart, John Dall, Movie, murder, Murder Mystery, Necklace, non-review review, OpenSky, People, Performing Arts, review, Rope, Skipping rope, tom hanks, White Shadow | 10 Comments »

Non-Review Review: Men in Black 3

Posted on May 21, 2012 by Darren

Men in Black 3 is a fine film. Like Men in Black and Men in Black 2, it’s a perfectly entertaining piece of popcorn entertainment if you’re willing to just go along with it. It’s not superb, it’s not exceptional, but it’s not bad either. It’s a decent movie. It manages to probably offer some better moments than the earlier two films, but these are averaged out by some painful deficiencies. You lose Tommy Lee Jones for most of the runtime, but you gain Josh Brolin. That’s a fairly reasonable trade, even if Brolin and Smith don’t share the same chemistry. You get the same wonderful production design, this time heightened by a sixties setting, but a plot that threatens to evaporate if you think about it too hard and any number of developments that are far too easy to predict. Nothing is truly fantastic, but nothing is exceptionally terrible. It just sort of is.

Putting the star in 69…

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: Agent J, Agent K, Alice Eve, arts, Barry Sonnenfeld, Boris, film, jemaine clement, Jones, josh brolin, Men In Black, Men in Black III, Movie, non-review review, People, review, Smith, tommy lee jones, will smith | Leave a comment »

Non-Review Review: Crimes and Misdemeanors

Posted on May 21, 2012 by Darren

I have to admit a special fondness for Crimes and Misdemeanors. It isn’t my favourite Woody Allen film, but it does sit somewhere near the top of my ranking of the director’s extensive filmography. More than that, though, it’s interesting to revisit Crimes and Misdemeanors in light of the director’s more recent work in films like Cassandra’s Dream or Match Point. Indeed, reflecting on it today, Crimes and Misdemeanors seems to occupy a strange middle-ground, literally positioned half-way between the director’s observational comedies and his more sombre meditations on the human condition. Anchored in a fantastic lead performance by Martin Landau, Crimes and Misdemeanors is an intriguing moral dramedy.