Movies | the m0vie blog

Long Live the King: The Appeal of the King’s Speech…

Posted on May 3, 2011 by Darren

The King’s Speech was available to rent this weekend, and will go on sale next weekend. Indeed, it seems like perfect timing to release the DVD, what with all the press buzz about the monarchy this past week. It seems you can’t turn a corner without bumping into a newspaper vendor who is stocked up on tabloid promising exclusive looks at various aspects of the ceremony, or turn on the television without being subjected to a five-hour marathon of How to Marry a Prince. I’m not making that one up either, it’s actually a show running on Living HD. Yep. And I live in Ireland, a country that spent a significant amount of time trying to distance ourselves from the monarchy… imagine how overwhelming it might be if I was based in Britain. Still, it seems royalty has a very special appeal, at least based on the box office success of The King’s Speech and the viewing figures from the ceremony… so why, when most of the globe struggled to be free of this particular monarchy, are they so fascinating?

Colin all film fans!

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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: Academy Award for Best Picture, British Royal Family, colin firth, Edward VII of the United Kingdom, George VI of the United Kingdom, kenneth branagh, King's Speech, United States | 2 Comments »

Non-Review Review: Little Fockers

Posted on May 3, 2011 by Darren

I genuinely really enjoyed Meet the Parents. It’s a nice little movie that the family will occasionally get caught up in again if it just so happens to be on telly, a nice way to spend an hour or two that nobody can really object to. The sequel, Meet the Fockers, lost a lot of the appeal – but we still found it relatively unobjectionable. So, the third and final (hopefully) instalment of the franchise, Little Fockers, arrives and isn’t really that bad. It’s just not really any good, either.

Greg still don't know Jack...

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: dustin hoffman, films, harvey keitel, Jay Roach, Jessica Alba, laura dern, Little Fockers, Meet the Fockers, Meet the Parents, Movies, non-review review, review | Leave a comment »

Meme of the Moment: Clockbusters 2

Posted on May 2, 2011 by Darren

Everyone loves sequels, right? The most fun movie meme I’ve seen in a while got a little more fun. The guys over at Veer have added a second round of the superb Clockbusters and you can find it here. It seems just a little bit tougher this time around, but that just makes it more fun.

I’m currently on 47 out of 50.

Filed under: Movies | Tagged: AT&T, clockbusters, clockbusters 2, Hewlett-Packard, IntoMobile, Launch Party, Mini, veer, WebOS | 72 Comments »

A Knight by Any Other Name: Why We Don’t Need Nolan to Use Characters from the Comic Books…

Posted on April 29, 2011 by Darren

Read our in-depth review of the film here.

There was a bit of a ripple on-line last week when it was announced that Marion Cotillard was playing a Wayne Enterprise employee by the name of Miranda Tate and Joseph Gordon Levitt was playing a cop named John Blake in the upcoming The Dark Knight Rises. Both actors had been suggested for various and established characters (Cotillard seems a perfect fit for Talia Al Ghul, while Levitt was linked to characters as diverse as Alberto Falcone and the Black Mask). Still, it’s surprising how shocked everybody seemed that neither high-profile actor would playing a character established in the Bat mythos. Does it really matter that much?

I can’t Talia if it’s really an original character…

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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: Alberto Falcone, Batman in film, continuity, dc comics, dc universe, Harvey Bullock, Henri Ducard, john blake, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, marion cotillard, miranda tate, original characters, Silver St. Cloud, Talia Al Ghul, The Dark Knight, The Dark Knight Rises | 6 Comments »

Non-Review Review: The Tourist

Posted on April 29, 2011 by Darren

In theory, The Tourist should be great fun. After all, the last time we had a high-octane romantic adventure thriller, we ended up with the genuinely entertaining Knight and Day. And, if anything, Johnny Depp and Angelina Jolie should represent a large step-up from Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz. Unfortunately, the movie doesn’t quite deliver. Mistaking twists for plot and assuming that strong leads can make up for underwritten roles, the film flails around rather randomly, alternating between a genuinely exciting little European thriller and fairly paint-by-numbers twist-a-minute adventure, it never manages to set a particular tone, and leaves its two actors struggling to stay afloat amid the rather wonderful Venetian scenery.

Tour of duty?

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: angelina jolie, Banged Up Abroad, cameron diaz, films, johnny depp, Movie, Movies, non-review review, paul bettany, review, steven berkoff, tom cruise, Tourist, True Lies, United States | 2 Comments »

Can a Good Talent Be Over-Exposed?

Posted on April 28, 2011 by Darren

Jeremy Renner is having a good year. Recently confirmed to take over from Tom Cruise in Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol, offered the job of taking over from Matt Damon in the Bourne series, playing Hawkeye in both Thor and The Avengers, and starring in Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters, it seems that Renner is on the cusp of being huge. And, for those of us who have noted Renner’s performances in films like The Town and The Hurt Locker, it’s surely well-deserved. However, can Renner be over-exposed?

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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: actors, brands, Cuba Gooding Jr, exposure, Halle Berry, helen mirren, Hurt Locker, hype, jeremy renner, Jerry Maguire, matt damon, Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol, names, over-exposure, overexposed, overexposure, publicity | 6 Comments »

Non-Review Review: The Firm

Posted on April 28, 2011 by Darren

The Firm would be an entertaining little thriller, if it ran maybe half-an-hour shorter. John Grisham’s legal thrillers were pretty much the gold standard for lawyer-related movies during the nineties, with any number of movies adapted freely from his books (notably in the format of “The [insert noun here]” like “The Firm”, “The Client“, “The Rainmaker“and so on). It’s a shame, because I believe that The Firm might have, with a little judicious editing, had the capacity to be the best Gresham adaptation out there. Instead, it’s too bloated to really make an impact.

It's no coincidence that "lawyer" and "liar" sound so similar...

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: David Strathairn, film, Firm, Gary Busey, gene hackman, Hal Holbrook, holly hunter, John Gresham, john grisham, Keanu Reeves, Lincoln Memorial, Movie, non-review review, review, the firm, tom cruise | Leave a comment »

Non-Review Review: Fletch

Posted on April 27, 2011 by Darren

Fletch has endured as something of a cult hit, offering Chevy Chase perhaps the defining role of his career and striking a chord with modern comedy talents like Bill Lawrence and Kevin Smith interested in bringing the character to modern audiences. I have to admit, after seeing the original film featuring Chevy Chase as the fast-witted quick-talking investigative journalist, that I can certainly see what the appeal of Irwin M. Fletcher.

He's got a nose for this sort of thing...

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: Bill Lawrence, Chevy Chase, Film noir, films, Fletch, Gregory Mcdonald, Investigative journalism, kevin smith, los angeles, Movies, non-review review, Raymond Chandler, review, Truman Harry S, Warner Bros | Leave a comment »

Scary Monsters and Super Freaks…

Posted on April 26, 2011 by Darren

D’you know what would have been scarier than nothing?

What?

Anything!

– Bart and Lisa discuss Edgar Allen Poe’s The Raven, The Simpsons

The week before last, in reviewing Insidious, I made the observation that director James Wan made the mistake of “showing too much” in his horror film, and that movie itself suffered because it didn’t show any restraint in how it handled its creatures and monsters. The always wonderful Justin, in fairness, called me on my assertion correctly – who ever stated it was a rule that horror films can show too much? Surely it’s possible to show as much of something as you might want, provided you have enough talent and skill to do it well? Surely showing too much only becomes a problem when you aren’t skilled enough to deliver something genuinely terrifying?

Or is it something more primal? Is what you don’t see scarier?

Do I have a point?

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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: arts, Child Catcher, Chitty-Chitty Bang-Bang, david cronenberg, film, horrifying, horror, Horror film, James Wan, monsters, Movie, Movies, nightmares, saw, scary, scary movies, shining | 9 Comments »

Non-Review Review: Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back

Posted on April 26, 2011 by Darren

Jay and Silent Bob is a movie that runs hot and cold from scene to scene. More a collection of random jokes set against an ever-shifting premise than a fleshed-out over-arching story, the film frequently fluctuates between brilliantly and subversively hilarious, and just a little bit awkward. While the randomness of Kevin Smith’s original Clerks was a large part of the appeal, the mish-mash approach doesn’t work so well this time around. Part of it is, perhaps, that this movie does clearly have a plot (a roadtrip to Hollywood), but I think it might also be a question of the characters involved.

While Jay and Silent Bob work well in supporting roles, it seems perhaps a bit much to ask them to carry their own movie. It’s a criticism Smith seems to accept, even including it in the movie itself. “Bluntman and Chronic and their stupid alter egos Jay and Silent Bob only work in small doses, if at all,” an anonymous on-line “militant movie buff” writes about a fictious movie to star characters modelled on the pair. “They don’t deserve their own movie.”

Well, at least he’s self-aware.