Movies | the m0vie blog

Who Killed The Golden Compass Franchise?

Posted on December 16, 2009 by Darren

It’s like a Hollywood blockbuster murder mystery brought to life. I can see it now: Bruce Willis as a cocky private detective investigating the dispatching of a controversial emerging star. A lot of people are mumbling in their drinks, but everyone’s afraid to say what they know. That is, until a surly-voiced stranger straightens up and says what’s on everyone’s mind. Cue Sam Elliot:

The Catholic Church happened to The Golden Compass, as far as I’m concerned. It did ‘incredible’ at the box office, taking $380million. Incredible. It took $85million in the States. The Catholic Church … lambasted them, and I think it scared New Line off.

Did the Catholic kill The Golden Compass, a potentially viable fantasy franchise in the mould of Harry Potter or The Lord of The Rings (or at least as far as fans would have you believe)? Let’s investigate.

An un-bear-able crime?

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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: catholic church, chris weitz, controversy, films, his dark materials, his dark materials trilogy, hollywood, Movies, new line, northern lights, philip pullman, phillip pullman, religion, sam elliot, sequel, the golden compass, the subtle knife | Leave a comment »

Non-Review Review: Role Models

Posted on December 14, 2009 by Darren

There’s nothing really wrong with this movie – per se. At least nothing that isn’t wrong in just about every comedy that’s been released in the past few years. Taken in context, Role Models is a slightly above average slice of amusement. It’s not particularly memorable, but it should bring more than a few smiles to you’re face, provided you’re not expecting anything groundbreaking. It’s a by-the-numbers comedy, the kind of movie which an average movie-goer could tell exactly what’s happening (and what’s going to happen), even with the sound turned off.

Suit up!

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: Bobb'e J. Thompson, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, comedy, jane lynch, Movie, non-review review, paul rudd, review, role models, sean william scott | Leave a comment »

The History of the “R” Rated Blockbuster

Posted on December 13, 2009 by Darren

It looks like The Wolfman, the first monster movie reboot due from universal, has just secured an ‘R’ rating State-side. In Ireland and the UK, we’re used to blockbusters receiving higher film ratings (12s, 15s, 18s), but in the US it’s unheard of for a major motion picture intended to make loads of money to go out with a rating higher than PG-13. It’s bizarre, as technically an adult can take a child to see an R-rated movie, whereas over here, back in the old days, it didn’t matter who you were with – if you weren’t the age on the poster, you didn’t get in. So what’s with this recent trent towards selling big budget movies with the R rating on them serving not as something to be downplayed by the studio, but actually used as a major selling point? Hell, we’re even seeing more redband trailers.

Because red is just sexier...

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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: films, motion picture association of america, Movies, mpaa, pg-13, R, rating restricted, ratings, the wolfman, violence | Leave a comment »

Early Avatar Reviews Are In; Nerds Everywhere Sigh With Relief…

Posted on December 11, 2009 by Darren

It’s not easy being green. I imagine it’s even harder being blue. It’s almost as hard being a film nerd, with all the news and speculation that’s been going backwards and forwards about Avatar, James Cameron’s triumphant return to filmmaking. There was a lot of hmm-ing and hah-ing, a lot of speculation about the film’s budget and about the director’s excess. Too late to do anything about that. The first reviews are sneaking in. And I think we can all rest a little bit easier.

Apparently James Cameron is still king of the world...

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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: 3d, avatar, avatar reviews, films, james cameron, Movies, review | 1 Comment »

The Vulture(s) Circle Spider-Man 4…

Posted on December 11, 2009 by Darren

It’s been a while since I looked at the possible villains lined up for Spider-Man 4. With the shooting date drawing dangerously close, I’ve bowed out of all the rumours we’ve been hearing about the film – mainly about whether The Lizard would be appearing or who would be playing the Black Cat. But, as far as rumours go, this one is too juicy – and too close to the deadline – to avoid discussing. Basically two Oscar-nominated actors – John Malkovich and Anne Hathaway – are playing a pair of villains. Malkovich will be playing Adrian Toomes, and Anne Hathaway will be playing Felicia Hardy – but the character apparently won’t be sharing her comic book counterpart’s secret identity (the Black Cat), instead getting an entirely new secret identity (something called ‘the Vulturess’).

Somebody finally figured out that the only way to make John Malkovich more badass was to strap wings on him...

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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: anne hathaway, black cat, comic book films, films, john malkovich, lizard, marvel, Movies, raptor, sam raimi, sequel, spider man, spider-man 4, spiderman, spiderman 4, the lizard, the raptor, the vulture, the vulturess, villains, vulture, vulturess | Leave a comment »

Will Warners Reboot Batman?

Posted on December 10, 2009 by Darren

My spidey-sense is tingling. Word on the rumour mill is that we’ll know next month if Christopher Nolan will be making a Batman trilogy, or simply leaving it at a duology. There’s all manner of discussion about what will happen if he isn’t back – but I think it’s looking increasingly like we may be moving away from the Zack Snyder’s The Dark Knight Returns approach, which means a new Batman movie relatively similar to the last two (because nothing succeeds like success). But part of me is wondering what the plan is beyond that. Are we going to see a direct sequel or a reboot? Would Warner Brothers reboot Batman so quickly?

Not only the director we deserve, but the the director we need right now...

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Filed under: Comics, Movies | Tagged: batman, Christopher Nolan, continuity superman, earth one, film, green lantern, justice league, Movies, reboot, relaunch, ultimate marvel, ultimate universe, Warner Brothers | Leave a comment »

Non-Review Review: The Bone Collector

Posted on December 10, 2009 by Darren

se7en had quite an impact on Hollywood. And, where there’s success, there’s countless imitators. Some are good, some are… less so. Here we have another entry in the late-nineties serial-killer-harrasses-detective subgenre and – in its defense – it’s a perfectly mediocre concept elevated by two very talented leads. The movie is ultimately undermined by its refusal to play fair (no way even the cast of CSI could figure out who the killer was before the reveal – it might actually make logical sense for him to be an unknown, but that wouldn’t give us an emotionally-invested climax), but you could do far worse than this serial killer thriller. You could also do better, but who am I to judge?

Anything Brad can do...

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: angelina jolie, bone collector, denzel washington, non-review review, review, se7en, serial killer, the bone collector, thriller | Leave a comment »

Non-Review Review: Drag Me To Hell

Posted on December 9, 2009 by Darren

I’m a little torn about this film. On one hand, it’s nice to know that Sam Raimi has more than simply half-a-dozen Spider-Man movies left in him, on the other hand, this feels like it’s what The Evil Dead would look like in the era of CGI. And that’s not necessarily a compliment. At the very least, Raimi immediately reestablishes his creditionals as a unique film maker – I don’t think anyone has a vision quite like him. While he has the same difficulties finding the perfect balance of black comedy and horror that he had while making the Evil Dead trilogy. It doesn’t always work, but it benefits from being new and relatively exciting.

A grave matter...

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: alison lohman, black comedy, dark me to hell, film, horror, Movie, non-review review, review, sam raimi | Leave a comment »

My Top 50 Movies of the Decade…

Posted on December 7, 2009 by Darren

Alright here it is, my top fifty films of the decade. I’ve decided to stop complaining about Donal Clarke’s list in the Irish Times and just let rip myself. There’s more than a few crazy choices down there, but – after a week in the works – I’m happy with it. I doubt that a lot of other people will be.

Like the Oscars, but... you know, better...

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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: (500) Days of Summer, 1 hour photo, 28 days later, a history of violence, anchorman, apocalypto, batman, batman begins, battle royale, best movies, best movies of the decade, best movies of the naughties, burn after reading, casino royale, collateral, coraline, crash, crouching tiger hidden dragon, dark knight, doubt, downfall, eternal sunshince, eternal sunshine of the spotless mind, finding nemo, frost nixon, frost/nixon, gladiator, gone baby gone, good movies, history of violence, in bruges, infernal affairs, inglorious basterds, inglourious basterds, inter mission, intermission, juno, kiss kiss bang bang, little miss sunshine, Momento, moon, mystic river, naughties, no country for old men, one hour photo, pans labyrinth, phone booth, prestige, shaun of the dead, sin city, spider-man 2, spider-man ii, sunshine, team america, team america: world police, The Dark Knight, the departed, the good the bad & the weird, the good the bad and the weird, the incredibles, the lord of the rings, the lord of the rings: the two towers, the mist, the naughties, the noughties, the prestige, the two towers, there will be blood, top 50, top fifty movies of the decade, training day, tropic thunder, twenty-eight days later, zoolander | 16 Comments »

Non-Review Review: Watchmen (The Ultimate Cut)

Posted on December 6, 2009 by Darren

It arrived two weeks ago, but I only found the time to sit down and watch it over two nights last week. So, what do I make of Watchmen: The Ultimate Cut?