the m0vie blog

BAFTA Best Picture Brochure Covers…

Posted on February 7, 2012 by Darren

It’s a shame that the Oscars can never do something quite as a nice as this. Indeed, looking at the BAFTA Best Picture nominees, I can’t help but think that the British Academy of Film and Television has crafted a far more representative list of the best films of 2012. As with years past, the august group have crafted a unique piece of art around each of their five nominees, each intended for their awards brochure, and trying to capture the essence of the nominee in question. Arguably they manage to do a better job than most of theatrical posters for these films. Check them out below and click to enlarge.The five covers below have been designed by Eda Akaltun & StudioSmall (heartagency.com & studiosmall.com)

Filed under: Movies | Tagged: Academy Award, Academy Award for Best Picture, art, BAFTA, British Academy, British Academy of Film and Television Arts, martin scorsese, Movies | 2 Comments »

Is It Just Me Or Does The Artist Backlash Seem a Little Half-Hearted?

Posted on February 7, 2012 by Darren

The annual Oscar race is a process so predictable that it could be a movie formula all of its own. You have your initial race to nominations, with various films falling at certain hurdles, leaving you with a fairly well-spaced field. You have the frontrunner surging ahead, but a dark horse waiting in the wings. And, every year, you have a very eager publicity industry ready to launch a very vehement attack on that frontrunner simply because it has the tenacity of pulling ahead. This year is no different, and The Artist seems to be seeing its share of controversies. However, these seem to be unfolding simply because it’s expected at this point in the race. I can’t help but feel like any of the attacks on The Artist are anything more than half-hearted.

Barking up the wrong tree?

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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: Academy Award, Academy Award for Best Picture, arts, avatar, backlash, Dujardin, film, france, Jean Dujardin, Michel Hazanavicius, Movies, oscar, oscars backlash, paris, poster, slumdog millionaire, Sports, the artist backlash, Woody Allen | 6 Comments »

Non-Review Review: The Blob (1958)

Posted on February 6, 2012 by Darren

I’m surprised that The Blob doesn’t get more love as a late-fifties creature feature. It has all the right ingredients, from a compelling monster, a clever central metaphor and a dashing lead in Steve McQueen. Sure, the special effects haven’t aged well, and the movie occasionally veers into the realm of cheese, but it is a wonderful example of type of monster movies American studios used to churn out during the fifties – seemingly disposable little horrors that ended up a lot smarter and more sophisticated than most viewers took them for.

It came from outer space...

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: 1950s, Binary large object, Blob, business, Database, Drinkbox Studios, Earth, Google App Engine, Jeff Sharlet, non-review review, PlayStation Vita, review, Special effect, Star jelly, steve mcqueen, Tales from Space: Mutant Blobs Attack, The Blob, United States | 4 Comments »

For the Love of Film 2012: Alfred Hitchcock Film Preservation Blogathon

Posted on February 6, 2012 by Darren

I’m delighted to announce that I’ll be taking part in this year’s For the Love of Film blogathon, organised by the Self-Styled Siren, Ferdy on Films and This Island Rod. A celebration of classical cinema, the event hopes to raise money to preserve and restore classic films that would otherwise be lost to the ages. This year, from the 13th May through to the 18th, bloggers from around the world will contribute articles on classic film, hoping to raise awareness and to raise $15,000 to make The White Shadow available to stream live for anybody with internet access. I am honoured to announce that the m0vie blog shall be proudly participating.

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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: alfred hitchcock, art, Birds, film, Filmmaking, Graham Cutts, hitchcock, Movie, North by Northwest, steven spielberg, The White Shadow, Tippi Hedren, White Shadow | 5 Comments »

Does Whatever a Spider Can: Do Chronicle and Kick-Ass Render The Amazing Spider-Man Moot?

Posted on February 6, 2012 by Darren

We still have a few months to wait before Marc Webb reboots Sony’s Spider-Man franchise with The Amazing Spider-Man. Despite some tonal worries, I’ll admit Webb has quite a talented crew assembled – Andrew Garfield is on the cusp of stardom, and Emma Stone is a bit ahead of him. However, I can’t help but wonder if Webb’s film might be a few months too late. After all, haven’t Kick-Ass and Chronicle offered a fairly solid deconstruction of the iconic web-slinging superhero? Is there really enough left to be said in the Spider-Man origin story when we’ve already seen it picked apart and subverted so often and skilfully?

Webb's Spider...

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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: Amazing Spider-Man, Andrew Garfield, batman, bryan singer, clark kent, Emma Stone, fantastic four, Gwen Stacy, kick-ass, lizard, marc webb, mark millar, Peter, peter parker, sam raimi, sony, spider man, stan lee | 4 Comments »

Non-Review Review: Wayne’s World 2

Posted on February 3, 2012 by Darren

I have to admit I have a soft spot for Wayne’s World 2. It’s not a patch on the original film, but there’s something so charming about Mike Myers’ creations that it’s hard not to enjoy the film, even if the number of misfiring jokes is compounded by a sense of “been there and done that.” More than that, though, the sequel features any number of original and hilarious moments that have managed to bleed out into wider popular culture. While it’s nowhere near as brilliant as the first film, it’s a still a fairly entertaining watch.

There's no need to feel down...

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: christopher walken, film, Mike Myers, Movie, non-review review, party on wayne, review, Rob Lowe, Saturday Night Live, Village People, Wayne, Wayne's World, wayne's world 2, World | 2 Comments »

Non-Review Review: Man on a Ledge

Posted on February 3, 2012 by cimooney

I was at the launch of the Jameson Film Fest last night, so Ciaran bravely jumped in to review Man on a Ledge for me. What a ledge(nd).

Man on a Ledge has a fairly simple premise. Nick Cassidy (Sam Worthington), a former policeman, is pushed to the ledge of a Manhattan hotel in an attempt to clear his name after he was convicted of stealing a 40M$ diamond from David Englander (Ed Harris), a well established real estate investor. Nick demands to talk to officer Lydia Nercer (Elizabeth Banks), who was unsuccessful in her last negotiation with a suicidal cop, in order to form a large crowding the street below. This crowd acts as a distraction while Nicks brother, Joey (Jamie Bell), and Joey’s girlfriend Angie (Genesis Rodriguez) break into one of David Eglander’s buildings, which is located across the road. The plan is to steal the diamond and prove Nick’s innocence.

Exactly what it says on the tin...

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: Angie, Burj Khalifa, Cassidy, ed harris, film, Joey, Man on a Ledge, Manhattan, Movie, Nick, non-review review, review, Sam Worthington | 48 Comments »

The Magic Flute at the Samuel Beckett Theatre (Review)

Posted on February 3, 2012 by Darren

The Opera Theatre Company is celebrating its twenty-fifth anniversary by touring the country with a production of Mozart’s The Magic Flute. Perhaps one of the most well-known and accessible operas, I do have to praise the cast and crew for bringing it to life. The production design is lavish and the vocal talent is impressive, even if there were one or two logistical problems to do with the staging in the Sam Beckett Theatre in Trinity College Dublin.

Sing no evil...

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Filed under: Theatre | Tagged: Freemasonry, Magic Flute, Mozart, Opera, Opera Ireland, Opera Theatre Company, Sam Beckett, Theatre, Trinity College Dublin, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart | 2 Comments »

Jameson Dublin International Film Festival 2012 Highlights

Posted on February 2, 2012 by Darren

The Jameson Dublin International Film Festival have released their programme for 2012. Taking over the city centre from the 16th through to the 26th of February 2012, the team have been working tirelessly to put together a schedule offering something for everybody. I have to admit, I’m quite looking forward to a number of these films, and have included some of my own choices and preferences below.

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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: al pacino, arts, Cave of Forgotten Dreams, Cinema of Ireland, cineworld, Dark Knight Rises, dublin, film, Film festival, jameson, jameson dublin international film festival, judi dench, Movies, Sherlock Jr, tim burton | 2 Comments »

Negotiating Potential Hazards: The Art of Movie Negotiation…

Posted on February 2, 2012 by Darren

I’m kinda looking forward to Man on a Ledge, if only because it looks like the sort of high-concept thriller that could be fascinating viewing – I’m hoping for something similar to Phone Booth or Buried or other movies that take a fairly simple situation and centre a thriller around it. I’m a sucker for a good negotiation thriller. There’s something about that sort of film that just intrigues me. Whether it’s a hostage situation, a botched bank robbery or something else entirely, I think that those kinds of movies that manages to combine large-scale epic drama with a more intimate personal conflict. I think that’s a dynamic that’s somewhat hard to mess up, there’s just something inherently compelling about such a small-scale interaction with such large-scale consequences that it’s very hard not to get sucked up in the drama of it all.