Posted on April 12, 2011 by Darren
MGM has been running a rather wonderful sci-fi season this past week, screening classics like Robocop along with smaller cult films, like Rollerball. One of the great things about having channels like this that it gives you a chance to sit down and watch what you wouldn’t normally – there’s something specially about stumbling across a gem on television that you might otherwise have missed. In fairness, Rollerball isn’t quite that gem, but it’s an entertaining high concept science-fiction ideas and some great direction, even if it does seem a little bit heavy-handed and cheesy from time to time.
Is Jonathon all burned out?
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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: arts, films, James Caan, Jonathon, Movie, Movies, non-review review, Norman Jewison, review, Rollerball, star trek, Video game | 2 Comments »
Posted on April 12, 2011 by Darren
Return of the Living Dead is a fairly strange beast. Something of a black comedy spin-off from George A. Romero’s Night of the Living Dead, the film is a ridiculously campy exploration of trashy low-rent horror… and yet somehow has been picked up and embraced by popular culture. After all, this is the movie that introduced the idea that zombies weren’t just satiated by consuming large quantities of meat (most often from humans) – this was the film which introduced the idea of zombies stumbling forward, repeatedly droning “braaaaains!” It’s a concept which has been so throughly incorporated into pop culture’s definition of zombie (although it’s rarely the case, we still expect it and recognise it), so it seems strange that it came from a spoof.
No bones about it...
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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: Dan O'Bannon, film, george romero, horror, Horror film, Living Dead, Michael Jackson, Movie, Movies, night of the living dead, non-review review, parody, popular culture, return of the living dead, review, sam raimi, schlock, zombie | 3 Comments »
Posted on April 11, 2011 by Darren
I love Crimson Tide. It comes from a time when, through my nostalgic eyes, Tony Scott could do no wrong. This was the nineties, when Scott was after directing the under-rated True Romance and on his way to helming the solidly entertaining Enemy of the State. Sure, there was also The Fan in there, but we really don’t talk about that. Part of the appeal of Crimson tide, beyond it’s wonderfully powerful basic premise, is the fact that concept could work as either a powerful Aaron Sorkin stage play, or as a bombastic Michael Bay production – the set-up is such that either approach is possible with the material. Scott manages to straddle the middle, offering a tense action thriller which isn’t afraid to ask a few probing questions about the nature of the chain of command and the morality of blinding following orders.
It's long and hard and... ugh, you get it...
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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: Aaron Sorkin, Chi McBride, Crimson Tide, film, james gandolfini, michael bay, Movie, non-review review, quentin tarantino, review, silver surfer, Steve Zahn, tony scott, United States | 6 Comments »
Posted on April 8, 2011 by Darren
I will confess that I enjoyed The Mummy for what it was. It wasn’t ground-breaking or revolutionary, but it was a nice attempt to resurrect the old Universal Monster Movie for modern audiences, with Raiders of the Lost Ark providing a rather clear inspiration. Perhaps part of the appeal was novelty, as we hadn’t seen an old-style monster movie like that in quite some time. I remember being somewhat disappointed on seeing the second film in cinemas, feeling like it just didn’t measure up to the solidly entertaining original. Having caught it again this weekend, I find I’m in firm agreement with my younger self.
I'll stick my neck out and admit I enjoyed the first film...
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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Ancient Egypt, arts, brendan fraiser, British Museum, comedy, films, horror, Joe Wright, Movies, Mummy, non-review review, rachel weisz, review, the mummy, the mummy returns, United States | 3 Comments »
Posted on April 7, 2011 by Darren
I’ll confess right off the bat that I don’t share the same honest-to-goodness hatred of this third film in the X-Men series that most on-line commentators do. It isn’t a patch on Bryan Singer’s original two films (and – looking at Superman Returns – it might have been better for all if he’d stayed on here), but it isn’t quite as weak as other third-instalments in other superhero franchises (Spider-Man III and Batman Forever, for example). It’s not a fantastic film, and it’s not the final chapter that the film series deserved, but it’s not a complete disaster.
Weathering the Storm...
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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: anthony heald, batman forever, bill duke, brett ratner, bryan singer, cure, cyclops, dark phoenix, dark phoenix saga, gifted, Golden Gate Bridge, Halle Berry, hugh jackman, james marsden, mutant cure, patrick stewart, phoenix, Shohreh Aghdashloo, spider-man 3, superman returns, Warren Worthington III, wolverine, x-men | 5 Comments »
Posted on April 6, 2011 by Darren
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: no more f%$#ing Abba!
The Adventures of Priscilla: Queen of the Desert is one of those wonderfully fun and upbeat little movies that often can’t help but draw a smile from even the most cynical of viewers. Despite a somewhat bitchy and frothy exterior, the film is a charming little road movie about a quirky little pseudo-family unit making their way through the heartland of Australia.
Bus-ted...
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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: Australia, Benny Hill, film, films, Guy Pearce, hugo weaving, Movies, non-review review, review, Terence Stamp, The Adventures of Priscilla Queen of the Desert, Tony Sheldon, Village People | Leave a comment »
Posted on April 5, 2011 by Darren
I think Robocop might be on the shortlist of most influential B-movies ever made. Certainly, coming out of the eighties, I think that Robocop defined what an audience expected from an incorporated future – the notion that big business would eventually replace local government in the lives of citizens. It’s not a novel theme, it’s one that science-fiction has been throwing out for decades, but I think that Robocop almost redefined that argument. It’s hard not to detect the influence of the film in a lot of movies that followed, so effortless and all-consuming was the “not too distant future” presented by Verhoeven.
I wonder if that's a manual or an automatic...
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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: Detroit, film, Kurtwood Smith, Miguel Ferrer, Movie, non-review review, Paul McCrane, Paul Verhoeven, Peter Weller, Ray Wise, review, RoboCop, Ronny Cox | 5 Comments »
Posted on April 4, 2011 by Darren
In the real world, when you kill people, they die. For real!
– this movie is brought to you by the letter “o” for “open source” (and “obvious”)
You know, I think Microsoft’s PR department deserves a huge round of applause. Sure, they are still pretty universally regarded as a big evil corporation intent on global domination – using controversial business practices in order to stay on top of the computer software food chain. So there’s a lot of hate still out there. And yet, ten years on, it’s remarkable how far we’ve come since AntiTrust was released. There is a lot of hate on show here.
Hit a NURV?
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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: AntiTrust, Bill Gates, Claire Forlani, film, films, Google, Microsoft, Movies, non-review review, open source, review, software, Steve Jobs, tim robbins, William Gates | Leave a comment »
Posted on April 2, 2011 by cimooney
A special thanks to the guys over at movies.ie for sneaking us into an advanced preview screening. My brother Ciaran stepped in to review the film for me at short notice, so thanks to him as well.
“Don’t write checks with your mouth, that you can’t cash with your ass.”
I feel this quote sums up the movie quite well… pointless.
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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: Babydoll, Emily Browning, film, Jena Malone, Movie, non-review review, punisher war zone, review, Sucker Punch, Vanessa Hudgens, zack snyder | 9 Comments »
Posted on April 2, 2011 by Darren
This is a post as part of “Raimi-fest”, the event being organised by the always wonderful Bryce over at Things That Don’t Suck.
Spider-Man III has a lot of problems. I’ll get to a couple of them in a moment. However, the single biggest issue with the movie seems to be that nobody seems especially interested in making it. It’s a feeling that it’s hard to back up with substantive evidence, but there’s just this general sensation that the film wasn’t the product of the same love and enthusiasm that made the first two films so refreshing. It almost seems like the movie was made out of a sense of obligation, rather than because anyone wanted to be there. It seems that they didn’t really care.
Back in black?
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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: Avi Arad, brian michael bendis, Christopher Young, danny elfman, films, flint marko, green goblin, harry osborn, hollywood, Movies, peter parker, sam raimi, sandman, spider man, spider-man 3, spider-man iii, stan lee, symbiote, venom | 7 Comments »
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