Non-Review Reviews | the m0vie blog

Non-Review Review: The Raid (Redemption)

Posted on February 28, 2012 by Darren

This film was seen as part of the Jameson Dublin International Film Festival 2012.

I am not a fan of absolutes. They generally scare me, because they leave so little room for error. With that in mind, I have two things to say about Gareth Evans’ The Raid, the first film to pick up both the Dublin Film Critics’ Circle award for best film and the Jameson International Film Festival’s Audience Award. Put simply, The Raid is the best action movie I have seen in years. The second is that watching it in a cinema with hundreds of film fans feeling the exact same thing might be one of the best movie-going experiences of my life.

That’s a pretty big deal.

Everybody was kung-fu fighting...

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: Audience Award, dublin, Evans, film, Film festival, Gareth Evans, jameson dublin international film festival, Jameson Dublin International Film Festival 2012, jdiff 2012, Linkin Park, Movie, non-review review, Raid, review, swan lake, the raid (film), the raid (movie), the raid: redemption, United States | 10 Comments »

Non-Review Review: Hard Labour (Trabalhar Cansa)

Posted on February 27, 2012 by Darren

This film was seen as part of the Jameson Dublin International Film Festival 2012.

The problem with Hard Labour is that it doesn’t seem to know what it is? Is it a tough economic drama about a family struggling to survive in a harsh economic climate? Is it a horror story about the legacies of slavery and the beastly side of human nature? The problem isn’t just that the film can’t decide – the problem is that the film appears to have no interest in deciding. Or even on following through on either idea.

It left me cold...

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: art, arts, drama, fiction, film, horror, Horror fiction, Horror film, jameson dublin international film festival, Juliana Rojas, los angeles, Marco Dutra, Movie, Movies, Online Writing, Poltergeist, review, Ryan Murphy, São Paulo, South America, United States | 2 Comments »

Non-Review Review: Death of a Superhero

Posted on February 26, 2012 by Darren

This film was seen as part of the Jameson Dublin International Film Festival 2012. This was the closing gala.

Cancer is a tough topic to address in film, if only because mortality offers a thin line to walk between sincere reflection and blatant emotional manipulation. It is an even greater problem when you’re dealing with a younger protagonist, one who has barely had a chance at life before the disease conspires to rip them away from the world and their loved ones. Death of a Superhero is far to schmaltzy for its own good, often pandering to its audience while trying to distract away from its cloying manipulations with predictable doses of humour and a wry cynicism that the hero must vanquish before his untimely passing.

Holding out for a hero...

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: Aisling Loftus, andy serkis, art, California, Death of a superhero, dublin, film, Film festival, Filmmaking, jameson dublin international film festival, Jameson Dublin International Film Festival 2012, Michael McElhatton, Movie, non-review review, review, superhero, United States | 4 Comments »

Non-Review Review: Hunky Dory

Posted on February 26, 2012 by Darren

This film was seen as part of the Jameson Dublin International Film Festival 2012.

There’s very little in Hunky Dory that we haven’t seen before. It’s a story set in the past about a young and idealistic teacher attempting to give her students a more rounded and useful education before they enter the big bad world. It’s set in Wales in 1976, giving the movie a bit of character and contextualising this period as the calm before the storm. Margaret Thatcher, that most divisive and controversial of British Prime Ministers, can be heard faintly on the television in the background; tough economic times lie ahead; skinheads roam the streets; and the Falklands War is just around the corner. As Vivienne, our young drama teacher, attempts to offer some guidance to students who might otherwise slip through the cracks, the sinister forces of the establishment seem to conspire against her.

Joyeux de Viv!

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: art, Bel Ami, david bowie, dublin, Falklands War, Film festival, Hunky Dory, jameson dublin international film festival, Jameson Dublin International Film Festival 2012, Man Who Sold the World, Marc Evans, margaret thatcher, Minnie Driver, Movie, United States | Leave a comment »

Non-Review Review: Chicken With Plums

Posted on February 25, 2012 by Darren

This film was seen as part of the Jameson Dublin International Film Festival 2012.

As the follow-up to Persepolis, it doesn’t seem unreasonable to suggest that there’s a lot of expectations around Marjane Satrapi’s follow-up, Chicken With Plums. The second in her trilogy of graphic novels, Chicken With Plums might fall a bit short of the heights that its predecessor reached, but there’s no denying that Satrapi and her co-director, Vincent Paronnaud, have composed a truly beautiful film. In fact, I would go so far as to say that Chicken With Plums might be the most beautiful film that you will see this year – a bold statement for late February. There are some very fundamental problems with the movie, most stemming from the fact that it can never decide if it’s a story or a collection of anecdotes, but it’s held together by superb artistic direction and a charming central performance from Mathieu Amalric.

A man at peace, but with inner violin...

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: art, Azrael, Chicken With Plums, dublin, film, Film festival, jameson dublin international film festival, Jameson Dublin International Film Festival 2012, Marjane Satrapi, Mathieu Amalric, Movie, non-review review, Persepolis, reivew, United States, Vincent Paronnaud | Leave a comment »

Non-Review Review: The Good Doctor

Posted on February 24, 2012 by Darren

This film was seen as part of the Jameson Dublin International Film Festival 2012.

Much like its protagonist, there’s something not quite right about The Good Doctor. It’s undoubtedly fascinating, as a young doctor makes a series of questionable moral decisions that lead to a variety of uncomfortable situations, but there’s no real internal life to the movie. You can see what is happening, and you realise the consequences, but the script and Orlando Bloom’s headlining performance never allow you to immerse yourself in the title character. You know what Dr. Martin Ploeck is doing, and perhaps you can intuit a reason, but he never seems tangible. That is perhaps the most significant flaw with the movie. Then, of course, there’s also the third act.

Window of opportunity...

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: arts, Bloom, djimon hounsou, film, Film Festivals, films, Good Doctor, j.k. simmons, Martin Ploeck, michael pena, Movie, non-review review, Orlando Bloom, Patient, review, Taraji P. Henson, Wine tasting descriptors | 4 Comments »

Non-Review Review: The Yellow Sea

Posted on February 24, 2012 by Darren

This film was seen as part of the Jameson Dublin International Film Festival 2012.

The Yellow Sea is a strange little Korean neo-noir that manages to seem impressively intimate and epicly vast, often at the very same time. Written and directed by Hong-jin Na, the movie follows a cab driver in the borderlands between North Korea, China and Russia. Severely indebted to a local crime lord, Ku-Nam finds himself assigned to assassinate a South Korean businessman. At the same time, he tries to track down his wife, who disappeared into South Korea after he paid for a rather expensive visa. The movie occasionally has a bit of bother balancing the personal side of the story with the wider crime-based elements, but it is darkly fascinating viewing, driven by Hong-jin Na’s wonderful eye for kinetic action sequences.

Myung-Ga wonders how good his insurance police is...

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: Asia, Byung-hoon Lee, China, Film noir, jameson dublin international film festival, Kim Jong-il, Korean, michael mann, non-review review, North Korea, Pyongyang, review, Russia, South Korea, the yellow sea, the yellow sea (film), the yellow sea (movie), Yellow Sea, Yonhap, Young-kyu Jang | 2 Comments »

Non-Review Review: Stella Days

Posted on February 24, 2012 by Darren

This film was seen as part of the Jameson Dublin International Film Festival 2012.

Stella Days is held together by a sterling performance from Martin Sheen and a boldly challenging look at the Irish cultural mentality. Indeed, it’s easy to read this tale of a small-town parish priest trying to build a cinema as a metaphor for Irish cultural philosophy. In particular, with its distinctly American star, Thaddeus O’Sullivan’s movie seems like a bold challenge to what might be deemed Irish cultural xenophobia, the notion that our culture must be distinctly and completely independent of the world around us. Instead, Stella Days rather boldly and romantically suggests that Irish culture is not defined by independence or autonomy, but by its willingness to engage and accept the world around us. While the movie might occasionally indulge in a bit too much sentiment, it’s hard not to like that sort of uplifting and engaging idea.

I must confess, this was quite good...

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: Celtic, Culture of Ireland, ethnicity, film, Ireland, irish, Irish American, Irish passport, martin sheen, Movie, non-review review, Priest, review, Stella, Stella McCartney, Thaddeus O'Sullivan, United States | 4 Comments »

Non-Review Review: Stupid Crazy Love

Posted on February 23, 2012 by Darren

Stupid Crazy Love suffers a bit from being a tad inconsistent, fluctuating between compelling character drama and well-observed romantic comedy. It isn’t an issue that movie fails at either of these, it just runs into a bit of bother bouncing between the two extremes. The ending might be a little trite, and a tad conventional, but the movie manages to raise some interesting ideas along the way. Still, it allows Steve Carell his best big screen appearance since The 40-Year-Old Virgin and makes for an alternatingly side-splittingly and heart-breakingly affecting movie.

Saving Ryan's Privates...

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: 40 Year Old Virgin, Crazy Stupid Love, Dan Fogelman, Emma Stone, film, jacob, John Carroll Lynch, Julianne Moore, Marisa Tomei, Movie, non-review review, review, romance, Romantic comedy film, Ryan Gosling, Steve Carell, steve carrell | 2 Comments »

Non-Review Review: Monsieur Lahzar

Posted on February 23, 2012 by Darren

This film was seen as part of the Jameson Dublin International Film Festival 2012.

Monsieur Lehzar is a truly splendid piece of film-making, and a superb addition to the “teacher and class” subgenre, adhering to the type of mood and atmosphere that one expects from that sort of uplifting film, but with a little added nuance or bite to give it the edge. Adapted by director Philippe Falardeau from the play Bashir Lazhar by Evelyne De la Chenelière, it’s an impressively engaging film. It deals with fairly hefty themes in a way that never feels weighed down, or to sombre – providing a cautiously, rather than blindly, optimistic outlook on life.