Posted on September 3, 2010 by Darren
Jurassic Park is one of the “big” blockbusters which defined the nineties. It’s easily recognisable and has thoroughly entrenched itself deep in popular culture – along with Independence Day or Terminator 2. Also, like the two aforementioned films, it’s actually quite good. Of course, coming from director Stephen Spielberg, the man who invented blockbuster cinema with Jaws, can’t hurt.
I call him "Rex"...
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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: arts, dinosaurs, film, films, Ian Malcolm, Independence Day, jeff goldblum, jurassic park, jurassicpark, laura dern, michael crichton, Movies, non-review review, review, richard attenborough, sam neill, samuel l. jackson, Special effect, stephen spielberg, wayne knight | 7 Comments »
Posted on September 2, 2010 by Darren
I love The Player. I really do. When I was in college, I used to organise movie screenings – we’d show The Player once a year and it would always pack out. It was just one of those films that everybody had heard nothing but good things about, but never got a chance to see. Indeed, I would go so far as to say The Player, with all its wacky fourth-wall meta-ness, is my favourite Robert Altman film.
Who would want to kill this producer? Answers on the back of a postcard...
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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: cameos, celebrities, classic, classics, executives, film making, fred ward, hollywood, long shots, movie-making, Movies, murder, non-review review, references, review, robert altman, studios, the player, tim robbins | 3 Comments »
Posted on August 31, 2010 by Darren
I’ll admit that I did not like James Cameron’s Avatar as much as most. It was a slight disturbing racial fantasy played with Disney-esque simplicity and some truly incredible special effects. Such is life. It’s inevitable that my opinion diverges from the mainstream from time-to-time. I mean, everyone’s should at one point or another, right? Still, I can’t be the only person who thinks that re-releasing Avatar into the cinema smacks of cynicism – particularly with eight minutes of restored footage (that’s less that 5% of the total runtime). The movie is already the most successful movie ever made. At what point does enough become enough?
This movie has wings...
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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: arts, avatar, avatar re-release, avatar rerelease, avatar: special edition, dark knight, DVD, film, george lucas, james cameron, Movies, re-release, special edition | 4 Comments »
Posted on August 31, 2010 by Darren
The Siege has the benefit of becoming a lot more relevent in the past couple of years. Exploring the aftermath of a series of terrorist atrocities on New York City by Islamic extremists, the film isn’t exact a subtle exploration of the relationship between liberty and security – instead preferring to offer two-dimensional strawmen instead of characters or legitimate viewpoints. Still, despite its heavy-handedness, it does have some interesting insights into the world after it has been shaken to its core.
Washington under Siege...
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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: america, annette benning, bruce willis, denzel washington, extremism, film, islam extremism, Movie, non-review review, politics, review, september 11th, subtext, terrorism, the siege | Leave a comment »
Posted on August 30, 2010 by Darren
Sean Connery turned eighty last week, and there were all manner of celebrations. I can’t really add too much that hasn’t already been said about the legendary actor, with his smooth Scottish accent and effortless charm, but I got thinking about Sean Connery and what I think of when I hear the name or what I associate him with. And, without a doubt, it’s that thick Scottish accent, which just makes even me weak at the knees when I hear it.
I have something I need to get off my (very hairy) chest...
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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: accents, animation, arts, Daniel Day-Lewis, Highlander, Hunt for Red October, Movie, Movies, sean connery, suspension of disbelief, the untouchables, Untouchables, willing suspension of disbelief | 6 Comments »
Posted on August 30, 2010 by Darren
On one level, Forrest Gump is just too sacchrine for me. Really, I feel like a need a filling after joining the eponymous character on a whirlwind tour of modern American history (or what could really be described as “America’s greatest hits”). That said, there’s a certain charm to the movie that belies this incredible sweetness (which itself stands in sharp contrast to the cynicism of the novel upon which it will be based). And most of that charm is Tom Hanks.
Plus it doesn’t hurt that the movie has an amazing soundtrack.
Forrest was quite popular in the nineties...
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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: 1994, film, forrest gump, gary sinese, Movies, non-review review, review, robert zemeckis, tom hanks | 7 Comments »
Posted on August 27, 2010 by Darren
Koyaanisqatsi is a word that comes from the language of the Hopi. It’s handily translated at the end of the film, with one of the meanings lending the film its unofficial subtitle: “life out of balance”. Brought to the screen by director Godfrey Reggio and composer Philip Glass (not that you’d know it from the film’s sparse opening credits which simply identify the film as “a Francis Ford Coppola production”), it’s safe to say that Koyaanisqatsi is one of a kind. Or, given the two sequels, one of three of a kind, but that’s still quite impressive.
Let there be light...
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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: cinema, documentary, film, films, godfrey reggio, hopi, Koyaanisqatsi, life out balance, Movies, non-review review, philip glass, prohecy, pruit igoe, review | 3 Comments »
Posted on August 26, 2010 by Darren
It’s very difficult to offer a movie that takes a cynical “Hollywood type” back to their roots. There are many reasons. The most obvious is that the type of person making the movie is a cynical Hollywood type and there’s something of an irony about making a film about the roots they’ve lost contact with – oftentimes it is more difficult to offer a grounded version of reality than it is to depict an alien invasion or a thoroughly ridiculous premise. Grown Ups is the second film this year which sees Adam Sandler playing a character attempting to reconnect with the common man – perhaps a timely theme in light of the recession, when the glitz and glamour of Hollywood stand in even starker contrast to the day-to-day lives of regular folks. However, if I didn’t know better, I’d think Sandler (whose production company produced the film and who co-wrote the script) is having something of a midlife crisis.
Not exactly a deep pool of talent...
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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: adam sandler, big daddy, Chris Rock, comedy, David Spade, films, grown ups, happy madison, hicks, hollywood, kevin james, Movies, non-review review, review, Rob Schneider, roots, salma hayek, steve buscemi | 4 Comments »
Posted on August 26, 2010 by Darren
I reviewed Baby Mama earlier today and – while I was impressed with the film’s willingness to tackle a somewhat controversial topic – I was less than impressed by the somewhat conventional ending tacked on to the film. And then I mellowed out a bit. “It is a comedy after all,” I reminded myself, in the hope that I would forgive the film because it wasn’t a black comedy – most lighthearted comedies call for a light-hearted ending, after all. Besides, this particular film isn’t the only film in recent memory to resort to a disappointingly conventional ending, so why does it bother me so much?
Not everybody gets a fairytale ending...
Note: As you may have guessed from the topic, I’ll be discussing endings here – particularly the one from Baby Mama. Consider yourself warned, there are spoilers ahead.
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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: baby mama, cheat, cliche, conventional endings, ending, endings, films, fin, happily ever after, movie endings, Movies, spoilers, storytelling, twist endings | Leave a comment »
Posted on August 26, 2010 by Darren
Baby Mama is effectively a “buddy” chick flick. Indeed, considering that the bulk of buddy guy flicks – like Lethal Weapon or The Expendables – are about guys doing stereotypically “macho” stuff (grrr… explosions and guns and fights and stuff!!!), it’s perhaps appropriate that this movie pairs off its two leads doing something stereotypically “feminine” (awww…. babies and maternal instincts and things…). The premise and the message of the movie are difficult to get a hold of (it by turns mocks and reinforces a conventional liberal perspective, particularly in its portrayal of class conflicts), but works at its best when it lets its two tremendously talented leads time and room to work – there’s a reason that Tina Fey and Amy Poehler are competing against each other for that Emmy this year. Despite its fairly heavy subject matter, the movie arguably finds its feet as a conventional “odd couple” comedy – which is a shame, as that’s only one of many things it’s juggling.
Guess which one's white trash...
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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: amy pehler, baby mama, comedy, feminism, films, greg kinnear, modern families, motherhood, Movies, non-review review, review, sigourney weaver, single motherhood, steve martin, tina fey, unconventional families | 2 Comments »
