Posted on January 25, 2010 by Darren
We like to laugh at the things that really scare us – as if giggling in the face of death and destruction somehow removes them of their power. Or maybe it’s just an acknowledgment of the truly perverse sense of humour which underlines so many aspects of the modern world. Still, years after Team America: World Police demonstrated that nothing is truly sacred and gave us lines like ‘hey, terrorist, terrorise this!’ or ‘durka durka mohammed jihad’, it’s reassuring to know that the war on terror and religious fundamentalism aren’t taboo subjects. A comedy about a suicide bombing training camp, I’m quite interested to see how Four Lions turns out – if only for its fascinating pedigree.
A box office bomb or an explosive hit?
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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: brass eye, brasseye, four lions, jihad, political correctness, suicide bombers, sundance, team america, team america: world police | Leave a comment »
Posted on January 22, 2010 by Darren
With the Golden Globe firmly in hand, James Cameron’s double victory at the Golden Globes cemented Avatar as a serious contender for the Best Picture Oscar. Not that there was ever really much doubt about the film receiving a nomination: the Academy loves Cameron. It still just seems a surprise in a race that has generally seen debate over Precious, Up in the Air and The Hurt Locker, with a fringe advocating Inglourious Basterds. Still, give the people what they want, right? An Oscar win for Avatar clearly indicates that the Academy is moving back to embrace popular tastes, right? I’m not so convinced.
Yes, that's James Cameron biting his lips to stop himself from reminding you how awesome he is...
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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: 81st academy awards, academy awards, avatar, best picture, best picture race, golden globes, james cameron, Oscars, oscars 2010, populism, populist, The Dark Knight | 8 Comments »
Posted on January 22, 2010 by Darren
Waltz With Bashir garnered quite a bit of attention on its release – winning all sorts of awards and even receiving an Oscar nomination for Best Foreign Film (though it didn’t get a nomination for Best Animated Film – because, didn’t you know, animation is for kids?). An animated film from Israel, it’s a very interesting look at the Lebanese War, and what we tend to remember and – more importantly – what we tend to forget in hindsight.
Tanks for the memories...
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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: animated, best foreign film, film, israel, lebanon, Movie, non-review review, Oscars, review, waltz with bashir | Leave a comment »
Posted on January 21, 2010 by Darren
Looks like Tim Burton is getting quite comfortable at Disney – apparently he plans to follow his 3D spectacular Alice in Wonderland with a reboot of the classic Sleeping Beauty. Don’t worry (or do worry, depending on your opinion of the director), he’s not going to be offering a straight-forward adaptation – that would be much too straightforward. Instead, Burton is going to rework the story from the perspective of the evil queen: Maleficent. It seems that revisiting classic stories from the villain’s perspective is Hollywood’s new business plan, and – being honest – I’m equally worried and excited about it. Which, at the very least, means it is in someway daring.
Evil or misunderstood? It is going be a Burton film after all...
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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: alice in wonderland, animation, childhood, children, deconstruction, disney, fairy tales, maleficent, Movies, myths, sleeping beauty, snow white, tim burton | 4 Comments »
Posted on January 21, 2010 by Darren
Yes, it’s Rear Window for the MTV generation, but what’s the harm in that? They say that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery after all. Disturbia is a movie that is more than entertaining on its own terms, a light bit of fun that doesn’t let itself get carried away with taking itself too seriously. The final third degenerates into standard teen thriller fare, but – for most of its runtime – the movie manages to keep you smiling along enough that you don’t mind that it’s a copy of a cinematic classic.
Yes, even in his dressing gown, David Morse could still take you and use you as cheap building insolation... ((Allegedly...))
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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: david morse, disturbia, film, hitchcock, Movie, non-review review, rear window, remake, review, shia labeouf, thriller | 2 Comments »
Posted on January 20, 2010 by Darren
This is just a short post about a fairly exciting piece of news that’s broken (seemingly out of nowhere) over the past few days about the developement of a massive Omniplex Cinema at St. Stephen’s Green. It’s interesting that the southside hasn’t really had a ‘big’ cinema – the Screen is a landmark, but three screens isn’t really massive – and it’s something I’ve noticed (I live on the northside, but I work on the southside). I guess we’ll have to wait and see how the idea works out, but something occurs to me: how come we aren’t getting an Imax screen?
Remember the metro plan?
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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: cinema, cineworld, dublin, imax, movie-going, new cinema, savoy, st. stephen's green | 2 Comments »
Posted on January 19, 2010 by Darren
There’s something pleasant about watching just-past-their-prime actors working together on small-scale productions. Kinda a reminder that even though they don’t dominate Hollywood anymore (because Hollywood has little respect for their elderly), they are still around. It’s even nicer when they stray from the projects that they are obviously making a fair bit of capital on (such as Dustin Hoffman’s work in Meet the Fockers) towards smaller, more intimate fare. Last Chance Harvey is a solid and sweet romantic comedy in the very classical sense. It doesn’t rely on inappropriate sex jokes or physical comedy to make its audience laugh, just provides some wonderfully awkward ‘that could happen and it would be mortifying’ humour paired with some emotional honesty. And, despite being crafted in the mould of a classical genre, it manages to seem like a breath of fresh air.
Thankfully, Harvey is never short with her...
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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: dustin hoffman, emma thompson, film, joel hopkins, last chance harvey, Movie, non-review review, review | Leave a comment »
Posted on January 19, 2010 by Darren
The good people over at Ross v. Ross (I reserve the right to call them ‘the Rosses’) have nominated the m0vie blog for a prestigious blogging award related thing. There is simply no accounting for taste. Seriously though, thank you guys, it means a lot coming from two guys who have been a pretty big influence on my blogging (seriously, their site is well worth a look – it’s great). Anyway, there are more details below. In the meantime, here’s a photo of Darren accepting his award:
Nicholas Cage IS everyone...
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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: blogging, blogs, irish blog awards, kreativ blog award | 7 Comments »
Posted on January 18, 2010 by Darren
I read an interesting article on Avatar over at CNN last week, which basically suggested that some audience members were feeling a deep depression on returning home from the cinema. Since my dislike of the film appears to a very minority view (a borderline fringe view, to be completely honest), I will assume it has nothing to do with the poor storytelling of the movie. Instead, they seem to depressed at the prospect of leaving Pandora, having been so immersed in the 3D world that James Cameron had created.
Did the end of Avatar leave you feeling blue?
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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: 3d, addictive, avatar, cnn, emersion, geeks, Movie, nerds, news, obsession, obsessive, star wars | 1 Comment »
Posted on January 18, 2010 by Darren
Surrogates is a solid actioner with some great ideas, a recycled plot and an above-average director. In short, it’s quite satisfying for what it is. Perhaps beating Avatar to the punch (and certainly dealing with its core ideas in a much more interesting fashion), it imagines a future where human beings can interact in the real-world much as they interact on line at the moment. Denying genetics or lifestyle, they are able to craft a robotic body double to their own design (skin-colour, age, sex, weight, height) to send out into the world, allowing them to live via uplink. You could live your entire life without ever leaving your bedroom. It isn’t exactly a new idea in science-fiction, but it’s certainly a big idea for an action movie to tackle. Thankfully, it manages very well.
You know it's a messed up future because Bruce Willis has hair...
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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: avatra, bruce willis, james cromwell, jonathon mostow, non-review review, review, science fiction, surrogates, ving rhames | Leave a comment »
