Posted on January 6, 2010 by Darren
I’ve always said that great movies take the audience on a trip somewhere, so it’s really appropriate that The Hurt Locker brings viewers on a trip to hell. Or as close as it is possible to get to hell on earth. A place where flies roam the bodies of the still living in the desert heat or where even the cats walk with limps and scars or where the dead are stuffed with explosives to mount an attack upon any member of the living not callous enough to know better than to care. This is Iraq, where anything – and anyone – could turn out to be fatal and this is the story of those who survive there, those who die there and – against unlikely odds – those who thrive there.
Sadly, Guy Pierce's improvised retelling of "Moon", complete with homemade space suit, did little for troop morale...
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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: guy pierce, iraq, iraq war, jeremy renner, kathryn bigalow, Movie, non-review review, ralph fiennes, review, the hurt locker | Leave a comment »
Posted on January 5, 2010 by Darren
It seems that the cast and crew took the entirely wrong message out of the hugely successful (commercially and critically) Casino Royale. A brilliant combination of fancy stunts and grittiness that called to mind the series’ recent challengers in the Bourne series, Royale reinvented Bond for the naughties, in much the same way as GoldenEye did for the nineties. Unfortunately, Quantum of Solace seems to be based around the assumption that the reaction to Casino Royale was based solely around the modern aspects of the film, rather than the fusion of the old with new, so Solace ends up being Royale without the knowing grin. And it’s a shame, because the knowing grin is part of what makes Bond Bond (perhaps moreso than gadgets, gizmos and world domination plots). Don’t get me wrong, the action in the sequel is nothing short of fantastic (possibly surpassing even its progenitor in the action sweepsteaks) and the movie is well put together, but it just lacks the firm sense of identity which defines the best of the Bond movies.
Bond admits he might be getting a bit old for these crazy college nights out...
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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: bond, casino royale, daniel craig, film, ian fleming, james bond, Movie, non-review review, quantum of solace, review | 1 Comment »
Posted on January 5, 2010 by Darren
Dying kids are a story device that should always be considered very carefully before you use them as a storytelling device. On one level it’s because it’s a very tough blow to deal the audience, but – on a more sophisticated level – because it can horribly misfire and seem like blatant emotional manipulation. Which, in fairness, all movie-making is – but you don’t want the audience cottoning on to that fact or you’re ruined. The illusion is shattered. Unfortunately My Sister’s Keeper isn’t smart enough to be aware of either of these risks in framing a story around a dying child suffering from cancer, so it smashes through both ideas like two large window panes before staggering blindly through the china shop of the tangental moral issues it raises. And yes, even those awkward and ham-fisted analogies I just fed you are more subtle than the movie itself.
Cameron Diaz really wants the part of Blofeld in Bond 23...
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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: abigail breslin, alec baldwin, cameron diaz, film, grief, jason patric, loss, Movie, my sister's keeper, non-review review, review | Leave a comment »
Posted on January 4, 2010 by Darren
‘Tis still (barely) the season and all that…
I thought I’d very quickly jot down my most anticipated movies of the upcoming 12 months. This is a personal list and is by no means anything official or objective. It’s subjective all the way, baby. Keep in mind that I am a nerd who lives in Ireland, so two of these bad boys have already seen release and mixed reception Stateside. So, let’s get this thing started.
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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: 10 for 2010, 2010, Inception, invictus, iron man 2, kick-ass, most anticiapated movies, most anticipated, predators, Shutter Island, ten movies, the expendables, the road, The Wolf Man, the wolfman, tron, tron: legacy | 4 Comments »
Posted on December 31, 2009 by Darren
We’ve known this was coming for a while. From the moment I ran through the Irish Times’ Top 20 Films of the Decade through to my own Top 50 Films of the Decade (why stop at 20?) and even on my Top 10 TV Shows of the Decade. It seems only fair and natural to offer a top ten countdown of my favourite movies from the past twelve months. I make no apologies for how populist or anti-populist the list may seem, and I hope that it doesn’t offend anyone – I’m just a nerd on the interweb afterall. If you think I missed something, or overpraised something, just let me know in the comments below. Cheers. Now enjoy.
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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: coralive, doubt, films, frost nixon, frost/nixon, inglorious bastards, inglorious basterds, inglourious basterds, moon, Movies, star trek, the good the bad and the weird, the good the band and the weird, the hangover, the top ten films of the decade, the top ten movies of the year, top ten of the year, up, year in review | 1 Comment »
Posted on December 23, 2009 by Darren
I’ll be honest. I didn’t like Avatar. Part of the movie made me uncomfortable. The implications of the whole “white man leads a bunch of noble savages to a victory they couldn’t have acheived without him” bit are worrying when place in the context of a metaphor for the genocide of the Native Americans. But, beyond that, it just isn’t a very good film. The dialogue is terrible. The characters don’t seem half as real as James Cameron’s wonderfully brought-to-life planet Pandora. On the other hand, I will concede that the visuals are stunning. They are breathtaking. What really amazes me, though, is the tone of backlash that most negative reviews seem to be generating, which can be effectively summed up with: just shut up and look at the pretty picture – who cares about plot and characters?
King of the new world...
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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: avatar, avatar backlash, avatar reviews, criticism, critics, film, Movies, special effects, story | 1 Comment »
Posted on December 20, 2009 by Darren
Yes, it is as visually stunning as you have heard. No, the special effects and 3D don’t combine to give you massive headaches. No, you’re never really dizzy or disorientated. Yes, it is the most technically impressive movie since… well, Titanic. But, with all that said, there’s really very little here. Cameron might be a master chef, and is an expert at serving up meals that look incredible, but here it seems that he spent more time on the decoration than on the ingredients. The movies is easily the most incredible technical accomplishment of the decade, but does that really matter when the plot is not only recycled (in fairness, that suits the green tone of the movie), but recycled poorly? Is watching two-and-a-half-hours of visually stunning work enough if it can’t generate any sort of emotional investment?
I wish I could say it blue (geddit?) me away...
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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: 3d, aliens, avatar, avatar (film), Cameron, Fictional universe of Avatar, film, Jake, james cameron, Movie, na'vi, non-review review, pandora, review, sigourney weaver, titanic | 6 Comments »
Posted on December 18, 2009 by Darren
It seems to happen at least once a decade: the critic consensus emerging immediately after the release of a film turns out to be wrong, swayed by the tides of retrospect and history. Initial reviews of The Shining criticised it for being slow – today we regard its pace as being one of its many virtues. It wasn’t greeted with triumphant applause, but a resounding ‘meh’. Blade Runner was dismissed as a wannabe sci-fi epic, now we consider it to be one of the high watermarks of the genre – a masterpiece. The Wizard of Oz equally divided critics between those who considered the movie to be a game changer, and those who thought it was just light and fluffy entertainment. You could make the case that Fight Club debuted to a hugely divided critical opinion, but that belies that fact that the acknowledgement of the movie as a modern classic is grudging at best. So is there a film from the last ten years that is likely to feature a similar historical revision, considered a retrospective masterpiece?
Harrison Ford knew how to "persuade" critics...
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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: after the fact, blade runner, critical reaction, cult, cult movies, films, in hindsight, Movies, retrospect, the shining | Leave a comment »
Posted on December 17, 2009 by Darren
It’s strange what we carry with us past the end of the world. In The Road, it’s hope for our children carted around inside an old shopping trolley; in 28 Days Later, it’s whatever humanity we can find hiding amid the ruins. For Admiral Helena Cain, what she carries with her after the destruction of her home is what she’s carried with her her whole life: a razor she picked up as a small child to defend herself after the loss of her younger sister. She carries that until she can’t – then she passes it on to her surrogate daughter, who carries it until she can’t. The razor itself is lost with Kendra Shaw, and maybe that’s a good thing. The last member of Cain’s inner circle dies taking all that hatred and aggression and lust for validation and vengeance with her. It’s an important transition. It’s also particularly insightful – given how Battlestar Galactica has generally focused on rebuilding after the fall of society – establishing a functioning democracy, a legal system and even rebuilding Caprica in a form – that this television movie focuses on the flipside of the coin: what humanity takes with it after the fall.
Talk about retro chic...
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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: battlestar galactica, battlestar galactica: razor, galactica in name only, gino, helena cain, jamie bamber, michelle forbes, pegasus, razor, science fiction, stephanie jacobson, Television, television movie | Leave a comment »
Posted on December 17, 2009 by Darren
Last week it surfaced that Quentin Tarantino was invited to make Green Lantern before Martin Campbell took on the project. Being honest, I am actually more interested in what his Casino Royale would have looked like – he was interested in directing the project and keeping Brosnan in the leading role. It certainly would have been different from Campbell’s reimagining of the Bond series. But during the interview, Tarantino revealed that he might once have been interested in the idea of directing a comic book movie, but that has passed:
So there’s a little part of me that’s like, ‘Wow, if I was in my 20s, this would be the genre I’d want to specialize in’. But they weren’t making them then, or at least not the right ones. But there also is an aspect where I’ve kind of outgrown that a little bit.
I don’t think I’m alone in thinking that Green Lantern – with it’s massive space opera tapestry, inevitable reliance on hockiness that really won’t stand up to deconstruction and newl-emerged status as an A-list comic book hero – would not be ideally suited to Tarantino’s unique skillset. I racked my head thinking of some – Black Panther, Ant-Man, Starman – but I think I kinda settled on the hero would perhaps best suit his style. Daredevil.
Can Tarantino save Daredevil?
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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: adaptations, comic books, daredevil, daredevil sequel, films, frank miller, green lanter, kevin smith, Movie, quentin tarantino | Leave a comment »
