the m0vie blog

Non-Review Review: Contagion

Posted on October 13, 2011 by Darren

It’s somewhat ironic that the biggest fault with Contagion is that it’s not nearly clinical enough. Soderbergh’s exploration of the impact of a mass pandemic actually works best when the director pulls back to give us a high-level overview of a society collapsing, the individual lives reduced – appropriately enough – to microscopic cells in a larger organism in what might be its death throes. It’s these sequences and shots that are brilliantly effective, demonstrating the systemic and group dynamics that enable and facilitate the spread of a deadly bird flu variant, while the more intimate moments feel awkward and shoehorned in, never afforded enough space to develop character or plot lines. Still, if you pull back and look at the big picture, Soderbergh’s latest effort is an engaging ambitious disaster movie.

One sick picture...

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: bird flu, Bryan Cranston, Contagion, disease, film, films, Gwyneth Paltrow, hollywood, Horror film, Jennifer Ehle, jude law, kate winslet, laurence fishburne, matt damon, Movies, review, roland emmerich, Soderbergh, Steven Soderbergh | 6 Comments »

Tintin: The Seven Crystal Balls (Review)

Posted on October 13, 2011 by Darren

In the lead-up to the release of The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn, I’m going to be taking a look at Hergé’s celebrated comic book character, from his humble beginnings through to the incomplete post-modern finale. I hope you enjoy the ride.

Apparently, if Steven Spielberg’s The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn is a success, Peter Jackson will be directing a sequel that will be based on the two-part story directly following The Secret of the Unicorn and Red Rackham’s Treasure. I’m already anticipating that, seen as The Seven Crystal Balls and Prisoners of the Sun are probably among my favourite Tintin stories, and I can actually see the rather wonderful conflict between mysticism and rationality playing out really well on the big-screen. It’s pure unadulterated pulp fiction, and it’s pulp fiction done exceptionally well.

Mummy!

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Filed under: Comics | Tagged: Adventures of Tintin, Captain Haddock, Hergé, List of The Adventures of Tintin characters, peter jackson, Red Rackham's Treasure, Secret of the Unicorn, seven crystal balls, steven spielberg, The Adventures of Tintin: Secret of the Unicorn, the adventures of tintin: the seven crystal balls, the seven crystal balls, tintin and the seven crystal balls | 2 Comments »

Non-Review Review: The Spy Who Came In From The Cold

Posted on October 13, 2011 by Darren

Spying is a damn dirty business. Don’t let James Bond and his fancy Union Jack parachutes or underwater cars fool you. According to The Spy Who Came In From The Cold, it’s an empty and depressing little existence where the players are all confined to the role of pawns on a chessboard. I can’t help but feel that there’s something symbolic about the scene where Alec Leamas, played by Richard Burton, assaults an elderly shopkeeper, played by Bernard Lee – the actor who was playing Bond’s paymaster, M. Given the character’s growing sense of disillusionment, it can’t help but feel strangely potent to see him lash out a symbol of the other – far more romanticised – series of adventures built around British Intelligence.

"I, I can remember... standing by the wall... and the guns, the guns shot above our heads..."

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: Berlin Wall, Bernard Lee, Cold War, gary oldman, George Smiley, ian fleming, james bond, John le Carré, non-review review, review, Richard Burton, Spy Who Came In From The Cold | Leave a comment »

Non-Review Review: Real Steel

Posted on October 12, 2011 by Darren

Well, at the very least, Real Steel confirms that Hugh Jackman is a bona fides movie star (as if X-Men Origins: Wolverine didn’t already do that). It proves that the actor can pretty successfully anchor and ground any high concept blockbuster in a charming performance, one that’s engaging and witty enough to allow the audience to overlook some of the movie’s more obvious flaws. Still, despite the rather wonderful special effects and the strong cast, I left Real Steel feeling just a little bit strange, as if I’d been watching a movie that I appreciated, but never really engaged with.

And in the neon orange corner...

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: Boxing, Charlie, Dakota Goyo, Evangeline Lilly, films, hilary swank, hugh jackman, James Rebhorn, Kevin Durand, mark wahlberg, Million Dollar Baby, Movies, non-review review, Real Steel, review, Shawn Levy, Steel | Leave a comment »

Tintin: Red Rackham’s Treasure (Review)

Posted on October 12, 2011 by Darren

I have to admit to being just a little bit lukewarm to The Secret of the Unicorn as an entry in The Adventures of Tintin. However, the second part in the adventure, Red Rackham’s Treasure, is a much stronger instalment, standing on its own two feet. Part of me has always liked the more exotic Tintin adventures, but I reckon a large part of the appeal of this instalment is seeing Hergé resurrect a genre that has been left fallow for quite a few decades: the good old-fashioned treasure hunt.

Are Tintin and Haddock LOST?

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Filed under: Comics | Tagged: Adventures of Tintin, blue lotus, Captain Haddock, Hergé, King Ottokar's Sceptre, Red Rackham's Treasure, review, Secret of the Unicorn, steven spielberg, the adventures of tintin, the adventures of tintin: red rackham's treasure, The Adventures of Tintin: Secret of the Unicorn, tintin and red rackham's treasure, Tintin in the Congo | Leave a comment »

Grand Larson-y: Nick Swardson and Being Critical of Comedies…

Posted on October 12, 2011 by Darren

This type of thing happens every once in a while, to the point where it’s almost not really news at all. Kevin Smith took to twitter to lambast critics of his (admittedly) disappointing Cop Out, and studios have a habit of releasing potentially divisive films around critics (look at how they sold G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra). Nick Swardson, who has only come to my attention of late with a solid supporting role in the perfectly adequate but unexceptional 30 Minutes or Less, has taken to lashing out at the critics who didn’t respond especially favourably to Bucky Larson: Born to be a Star. He suggests:

I knew the critics were going to bury us. It was a softball. They were waiting, waiting to hate that movie. It’s kind of funny that they get their rocks off on reviews like that. They review The King’s Speech, then they review Bucky Larson.

…

It’s a lot of work and a lot of reviewers aren’t going into that movie to like it. They don’t want to like it. None of those reviewers was psyched to see Bucky Larson and laugh. They go in with the mentality, fuck these guys for making another movie. They go in there to kind of headhunt. It makes me laugh because it’s just so embarrassing. It makes them look like such morons. You can’t review Avatar then review Bucky Larson. Comedy is so subjective, you know what I mean? To sit there and technically pick it apart is so stupid. We’ve never made movies for critics, so we could give a f***.

There’s obviously more than a hint of bitterness (the last line is very much “well, we don’t care what they think!”), but does Swardson have a point about the difficulty of reviewing comedies?

Bucky bites back...

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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: adam sandler, Born to Be a Star, Bucky Larson, comedies, cop out, criticism, film, films, kevin smith, King's Speech, Movies, Nick Swardson, review, reviews, rotten tomatoes, subjectivity, Swardson | 4 Comments »

Non-Review Review: Footloose (2011)

Posted on October 11, 2011 by Darren

Footloose is a strange beast. On one hand, it copies huge swathes of text from the original film, with lines spoken almost verbatim. On the other hand, the movie has the courage of its convictions, daring to update the story for modern times, adding quite a bit of modern subtext to the film. I think this approach is part of the reason the film works so well, but also its chief weakness. For all its clever insights and wonderful thoughts on the cost of security, it does wind up feeling just a tad heavy-handed. Still, it’s perhaps the best “dance” movie I’ve seen since the original 1984 version, so it must be doing something right.

Everybody cut loose!

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: boston, Brewer, Craig Brewer, Dennis Quaid, Footloose, john lithgow, Kenny Wormald, kevin bacon, non-review review, Ren, review | 2 Comments »

Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn (Review)

Posted on October 11, 2011 by Darren

The Secret of the Unicorn is the basis of the upcoming live-action adaptation of The Adventures of Tintin, as directed by Steven Spielberg. It will form the basis for the film, along with The Crab With the Golden Claws and the second part of this adventure, Red Rackham’s Treasure. While Cigars of the Pharaoh fed into The Blue Lotus and Tintin in the Congo led into Tintin in America, The Secret of the Unicorn and Red Rackham’s Treasure represent the first real two-part story in Hergé’s series, and you can feel the writer appreciating the opportunity to spread his adventure over two volumes of the series.

Set sail for adventure!

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Filed under: Comics | Tagged: Adventures of Tintin, blue lotus, Captain Haddock, Crab With the Golden Claws, Hergé, red rackham, Red Rackham's Treasure, review, Secret of the Unicorn, steven spielberg, The Adventures of Tintin: Secret of the Unicorn, tintin and the secret of the unicorn, tintin: secret of the unicorn | 2 Comments »

Tinkers, Tailors: The Phantom of the Prestigious Sequel…

Posted on October 10, 2011 by Darren

If rumours are to be believed, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy is such a dramatic success that discussions have begun about a possible sequel, with Gary Oldman even chiming in that a follow-up might do well to adapt both The Honourable Schoolboy and Smiley’s People into a single film – reducing leCarré’s trilogy to a duology. Still, even if there’s only one more film produced, the news can’t help but seem a little strange: after all, it’s very intellectual material for a Hollywood franchise, isn’t it?

Every right to be Smiley...

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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: blockbusters, box office, Christopher Nolan, franchises, gary oldman, George Smiley, hollywood, Honourable Schoolboy, sequels, Smiley's People, The Honourable Schoolboy, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Tomas Alfredson | 4 Comments »

Tintin: The Shooting Star (Review)

Posted on October 10, 2011 by Darren

It’s very strange to return to material you read as a child. Occasionally – as when reading King Ottokar’s Sceptre – you find a lot more than you remember. However, reading The Shooting Star, I was quite surprised to find the more surrealist elements I so strongly recalled – foreshadowed by the giant mushroom on the cover and the not-so giant spider on the telescope – were pretty much confined to the last ten pages of the adventure. Reading it again, I was incredibly impressed with the atmospheric opening scenes and the wonderful race to the fallen meteorite, both elements downplayed in my memory to giant apples and exploding mushrooms. It’s things like this that make me glad I decided to revisit the series for the occasion.