Posted on September 17, 2022 by Darren
Hosted by Andrew Quinn and Darren Mooney, and this week with special guests Alex Towers and Phil Bagnall, The 250 is a weekly trip through some of the best (and worst) movies ever made, as voted for by Internet Movie Database Users. New episodes are released Saturdays at 6pm GMT.
So this week, Christopher Nolan’s Batman Begins.
Following the death of his parents, billionaire Bruce Wayne finds himself struggling for a way to make sense of the world. Studying under the mysterious Ra’s Al Ghul, Wayne vows to devote his life to a war on crime itself. However, on returning home to Gotham, Bruce very quickly discovers that something very sinister has taken root in his home city.
At time of recording, it was ranked 126th on the list of the best movies of all time on the Internet Movie Database.
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Filed under: The 250 | Tagged: afghanistan, alex towers, america, batman, batman begins, Christopher Nolan, iraq, phil bagnall, podcast, The 250, violence, war on terror | Leave a comment »
Posted on September 6, 2022 by Darren
I published a new piece at The Escapist last week. We’re doing a series of recaps and reviews of Star Trek: Lower Decks, which is streaming weekly on Paramount+ in the States and on Amazon Prime in the United Kingdom. The second episode of the third season released last week, and it seemed like a good opportunity to take a look at the series.
It’s very obvious that Lower Decks is being written by Star Trek fans, andthe show operates in a fairly comfortable register of trusting that its writers and audience know (and care) enough about the franchise that it can effectively race through familiar Star Trek tropes, turning the standard conventions of the franchise into a loving joyride. The Least Dangerous Game is a light episode, but a fun one. It is fast on its feet, and moves with enough charm that it never collapses under its own weight.
You can read the piece here, or click the picture below.
Filed under: Star Trek | Tagged: fandom, Klingon, klingons, Lower Decks, Martok, star trek: lower decks, the least dangerous game | Leave a comment »
Posted on September 5, 2022 by Darren
I published a new In the Frame piece at The Escapist this evening. With the release of The Rings of Power this weekend, it seemed like a good opportunity to take a look at what is effectively the biggest television show in the world, and what it says about the current state of television.
For the past twenty years, American television has gone through an era described as “the Golden Age”, one rooted in moral ambiguity and uncertainty in shows like The Sopranos, Breaking Bad and The Shield. These were morally complex stories about difficult protagonists that invited the audience into murky liminal spaces. As such, it is interesting that The Rings of Power exists in marked contrast to that paradigm. Instead, it offers a very clear-cut black-and-white worldview.
You can read the piece here, or click the picture below.
Filed under: Television | Tagged: Amazon, ambiguity, better call saul, Breaking Bad, golden age of television, moral ambiguity, moral complexity, rings of power, Television | Leave a comment »
Posted on September 4, 2022 by Darren
I am doing weekly reviews of House of the Dragon at The Escapist. They’ll be dropping every Sunday evening while the show is on, looking at the Game of Thrones prequel as it progresses from one episode to the next.
One of the more interesting aspects of Game of Thrones was the way in which it was a high fantasy series that used the language and conventions of the genre as what felt like a compelling commentary on American identity, filtering the anxieties of the War on Terror through the prism of dragons and free cities. House of the Dragon continues that trend, offering a show that seems to reflect a particularly anxious and unstable moment in American history.
You can read the piece here, or click the picture below.
Filed under: Television | Tagged: allegory, america, corruption, decay, fantasy, high fantasy, house of the dragon, identity, metaphor, politics, reflection, rogue prince, rome | Leave a comment »
Posted on September 3, 2022 by Darren
Hosted by Andrew Quinn and Darren Mooney, The 250 is a weekly trip through some of the best (and worst) movies ever made, as voted for by Internet Movie Database Users. New episodes are released Saturdays at 6pm GMT.
So this week, to mark its re-release in Irish and British cinemas, Nicholas Meyer’s Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.
Now supervising cadets at Starfleet Academy, Admiral James Tiberius Kirk finds himself reflecting on his mortality. A routine training mission provides an unlikely reckoning when genetically engineered superman Khan Noonien Singh escapes from his exile and vows revenge on Kirk as the man who marooned him. Kirk has lived his life on the assumption that there is no such thing as a no-win scenario, but that philosophy is about to be sorely tested.
At time of recording, it was not ranked on the list of the best movies of all time on the Internet Movie Database.
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Filed under: The 250, The Original Series | Tagged: aliens, Harve Bennett, Khan Noonien Singh, kirk, Leonard Nimoy, militarism, Nicholas Meyer, revenge, spock, star trek, star trek ii, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, Starfleet, violence, William Shatner | 2 Comments »
Posted on September 2, 2022 by Darren
I am doing weekly reviews of The Rings of Power at The Escapist. They’ll be dropping every Friday morning while the show is on, looking at the Lord of the Rings prequel as it progresses from one episode to the next.
The Rings of Power is very obviously a prequel to the events of The Lord of the Rings, and so exists in the shadow of Peter Jackson’s earlier cinematic adaptation. However, it emerges into a very different landscape, twenty years later. Audience expectations have shifted, along with their relationship to the larger fantasy genre. The Rings of Power asks what it means to be a Lord of the Rings prequel in a post-Game of Thrones world, and finds itself navigating the boundaries that have been reset.
You can read the piece here, or click the picture below.
Filed under: Television | Tagged: Amazon, audiences, elves, fantasy, Game of Thrones, lord of the rings, prime video, rings of power, the lord of the rings, the rings of power | Leave a comment »
Posted on August 28, 2022 by Darren
Hosted by Andrew Quinn and Darren Mooney, with special guest Richard Drumm, The 250 is a weekly trip through some of the best (and worst) movies ever made, as voted for by Internet Movie Database Users. New episodes are released Saturdays at 6pm GMT.
This week, Darren Aronofsky Requiem for a Dream.
Four Brooklyn residents navigate addiction and isolation in its various forms, through Summer, Fall and Winter. There is no Spring.
At time of recording, it was ranked 84th on the list of the best movies of all time on the Internet Movie Database.
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Filed under: The 250 | Tagged: american dream, ass to ass, awards, controversy, Darren Aronofsky, delusion, drug addiction, drugs, ect, ellen burstyn, films, independent cinema, jared leto, jennifer connelly, just say no, marlon wayans, Movies, nightmare, obsession, Oscars, ratings, requiem for a dream, richard drumm | Leave a comment »
Posted on August 26, 2022 by Darren
I published a new In the Frame piece at The Escapist this evening. With the release of House of the Dragon last weekend, it seemed like a good opportunity to take a look at Matt Smith’s career. In particular, how the actor has cornered the market on a particularly modern take on masculinity.
As Daemon Targaryen, Smith was the breakout star of House of the Dragon. However, Daemon typifies the kind of roles that Smith has been drawn towards in the years following his departure from Doctor Who. In projects as diverse as The Crown, Last Night in Soho and Charlie Says, Smith exemplifies a fascinatingly contradictory portrait of masculinity, one that is by turns alluring and pathetic, powerful and fragile, arrogant and insecure. Smith’s ability to play these conflicting facets off one another is what makes him such a compelling performer.
You can read the piece here, or click the picture below.
Filed under: Television | Tagged: charlie says, doctor who, house of the dragon, identity, last night in soho, masculinity, matt smith, the crown | Leave a comment »
Posted on August 25, 2022 by Darren
I published a new piece at The Escapist this evening. We’re doing a series of recaps and reviews of Star Trek: Lower Decks, which is streaming weekly on Paramount+ in the States and on Amazon Prime in the United Kingdom. The first episode of the third season released this week, and it seemed like a good opportunity to take a look at the series.
There is something very interesting about how modern Star Trek treats the idea of Starfleet and the Federation as sacrosanct. It’s very different from how shows like Star Trek: The Next Generation or Star Trek: Deep Space Nine approached the idea of these authorities and institutions. It’s very strange to watch a television show in August 2022 that asks its black female protagonist to place her complete unwaivering trust in the system, and in particular in the judicial system.
You can read the piece here, or click the picture below.
Filed under: Star Trek | Tagged: Federation, grounded, institution, mariner, pakled, rebel, Rogue, star trek, star trek: lower decks, Starfleet, Supreme Court, trust | Leave a comment »
Posted on August 23, 2022 by Darren
I am doing weekly reviews of House of the Dragon at The Escapist. They’ll be dropping every Sunday evening while the show is on, looking at the Game of Thrones prequel as it progresses from one episode to the next.
Part of what is so interesting about the first episode, The Heirs of the Dragon, is the way in which the show immediately positions itself in the shadow of Daenerys Targaryen, perhaps the biggest breakout character from Game of Thrones. The first three scenes of The Heirs of the Dragon place the show firmly in the context of Daenerys, fixating upon the idea of what it means to be a Targaryen Queen of Westeros. It is a bold move from the show, and a strong statement of purpose, one that immediately establishes House of the Dragon as a series in conversation with Game of Thrones.
You can read the piece here, or click the picture below.
Filed under: Television | Tagged: daenerys targaryen, dragons, Game of Thrones, hbo, HBO Max, heirs of the dragon, house of the dragon, legacy, Paddy Considine, rhaenyra, rhaenyra targaryen, sexual violence, targaryen, the bells, the heirs of the dragon, viserys, viserys targaryen | Leave a comment »
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