Movies | the m0vie blog

Non-Review Review: Nine

Posted on August 16, 2010 by Darren

I have to admit, I greatly enjoyed Nine, even if it never really felt substantial or fulfilling. I’m not convinced that the film works as a story, but it does provide director Rob Marshall the opportunity to put together setpiece after setpiece, each choreographed with impeccable skill. Indeed, given his ability to stage glitzy sequences and the sheer volume of talent in front of the camera, coupled with lavish production values and a mesmerizing setting, it’s easy to forgive Nine its faults – the most glaring of which is that nothing really happens for the first three-quarters of it, and then stuff happens which doesn’t necessarily feel earned in the last quarter. Still, it looks damn pretty and the soundtrack is quite catchy.

Now that's a showstopper...

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: cinema paradiso, dame judy dench, Daniel Day-Lewis, directors, eight and a half, fellini, fergie, film, frederic fellini, judy dench, lethario, marion cotillard, Movies, musical, nicole kidman, Nine, non-review review, penelope cruz, review, rob marshall, stereotypes | 3 Comments »

Non-Review Review: Cinema Paradiso (Theatrical Cut)

Posted on August 13, 2010 by Darren

Hmm… a dude who runs a film site loves a nostalgic movie about the power of cinema? I never could have called that one.

It's another day for you... for you and me in paradiso...

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: cinema, cinema paradiso, cinema paradiso: director's cut, film, filme, giuseppe tornatore, italian cinema, leaving certificate, non-review review, nouvo cinema paradiso, review, subtitles, toto | 7 Comments »

Non-Review Review: I’m Gonna Git You, Sucka!

Posted on August 12, 2010 by Darren

Wow. A Wayans’ movies that wasn’t completely terrible. Okay, it isn’t great, but there are some genuinely hilarious moments hidden in this blaxploitation spoof. There’s a fairly high miss-to-hits ratio, though – but it still hits the spot frequently enough.

Pretty fly...

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: blaxploitation, comedies, films, i'm gonna get you sucker, i'm gonna git you sucka!, non-review review, review, spoof, wayan brothers | 3 Comments »

Non-Review Review: Minority Report

Posted on August 10, 2010 by Darren

I don’t love Minority Report. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a well-made film – perfectly entertaining and cleverly directed by a director who is one of the best living today – but it just doesn’t feel consistent for me. The whole doesn’t necessarily add up to the sum of its parts, as it were.

They should probably screen their officers better...

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: colin farrell, destiny, fatalism, fate, free will, future, max von sydow, minority report, philp k. dick, pre-cog, pre-crime, samantha morton, science fiction, stanley kubrick, steven spielberg, tom cruise | 7 Comments »

An Official-y Announcement-y Dealio Thingy…

Posted on August 9, 2010 by Darren

Hi.

You might have noticed that I haven’t quite been able to keep up with things around here of late. Everything’s a bit all over the place at the moment – more responsibility at work, longer hours, that sort of thing. Anyway, until things die down again, I’m afraid that things might be slowing down around here (temporarily). For example, this week it’s just reviews being published (one a day – in my defense) as I didn’t have time to do any commentary or gossip or opinion or such (“thank god!” comes a loud sigh from the audience).

Anyway, like that most iconic of killer robots, I’ll be back. Until then things should keep ticking over. I plan to use the shorter spells of time I have to do some tidying up, updating the “Reviews” section and stuff.

Cheers and see you soon,

Darren

Filed under: Movies | 5 Comments »

Non-Review Review: The Green Mile

Posted on August 9, 2010 by Darren

I never really responded to The Shawshank Redemption. I’ll go into why exactly if I ever get around to writing a review of it, but perhaps the fact that I never really embraced the film as strongly as most film fans (or even just, y’know, people) is the reason that I am somewhat fonder of The Green Mile than most. The Green Mile is admittedly as guilty as Frank Darabont’s early Stephen King adaptation set in a prison when it comes to emotional manipulation of its audience (look at us humanise the prison guards by having the three of them tackle a mouse in a borderline comedic fashion!), but I find it a lot more honest about its inherent darkness than that tale of redemption in Shawshank.

No, it's not a halo, but it's pretty close...

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: barry pepper, david morse, doug hutchinson, film, frank darabont, green mile, james cromwell, michael clarke duncan, Movie, non-review review, review, sam rockwell, stephen king, the green mile, the shawshank redemption, tom hanks | Leave a comment »

Scott Pilgrim

Posted on August 7, 2010 by Darren

Hey, there was meant to be something way more impressive and cool going on here, but it turns out I wasn’t nearly swanky enough to pull it off. Anyway, the guys over at Universal Studios Ireland want to give away tickets to the Irish premiere of Scott Pilgrim vs. The World. Check out their facebook or click the picture below.

Filed under: Movies | 1 Comment »

Internet Advertising…

Posted on August 6, 2010 by Darren

I love it when movies make an effort to embrace new technology. It can be something as careful and precise as the carefully orchestrated internet campaign of The Dark Knight (“I believe in Harvey Dent”) or the slow and steady burn of Tron Legacy over two years, or it can even be more direct than that. I thought I might share two of the more wonderfully internet-specific trailers I’ve ever seen, released within a week of each other. These are pretty much ways of publicising a movie that could only work on-line. The first is the interactive Scott Pilgrim trailer. As if we needed more reason to get excited about Scott Pilgrim vs. The World.

A game changer? (click to view)

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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: advertising, fourth wall, itrailer, scott pilgrim, scott pilgrim vs. the world, the expendables, videos, youtube | 6 Comments »

Non-Review Review: Futurama – Into the Wild Green Yonder

Posted on August 6, 2010 by Darren

Interesting. It seems that Futurama has somehow (presumably unconsciously) incorporated one of the central features from its key sources, the Star Trek franchise. It’s frequently asserted by fans of that series that the television show spawned a rather inconsistent movies series. Some, such as Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, could stand tall and be measured along the best movies that science-fiction could offer; while others, notable Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (in which Kirk kills God in a story pitched and directed by William Shatner), were actually terrible. The consensus emerged that the even numbered sequels were great and the odd numbered movies were terrible. This is just a run of thumb, and it’s possible it has been reversed (the tenth movie, Star Trek: Nemesis, was pretty disappointing; the eleventh, Star Trek, was a blast of fresh air) or even completely deconstructed. While none of the four Futurama movies are “terrible” or even “bad”, the distinction between the “okay” and the “great” seems to fall on similar lines. The first and third, Bender’s Big Score and Bender’s Game, weren’t great, while the second and fourth, The Beast With A Billion Backs and Into the Wild Green Yonder, perfectly capture all that was great about the show.

Here we go-go again...

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: films, finale, futurama, futurama: into the wild green yonder, into the wild green yonder, matt groening, Movies, non-review review, review, Television | Leave a comment »

In Defense of Jim Carrey’s Riddler…

Posted on August 5, 2010 by Darren

I had the misfortune of sitting through Batman Forever a few weeks ago. I also stumbled upon it at the weekend with the better half, who was curious to know what a “terrible” Batman film looked like. We got as far as the intimate “Bat-ass shot” before we simply gave up and tried to wipe our short-term memories. However, I found myself sticking up for a most unlikely part of the production: Jim Carrey as the Riddler.