the m0vie blog

Non-Review Review: No Strings Attached

Posted on July 26, 2011 by Darren

If ever there was a movie that demonstrated that you need more than a single great idea to make a good movie, I think No Strings Attached is really it. It basically takes the conventional romantic comedy and reverses the traditional gender roles that have ben reinforced for centuries. Instead of an emotionally-needy woman being paired with a commitment-phobe man, this time we see a free-and-easy lady hooking up with a guy who simply wants more. In fairness to it, it’s a nice way to distinguish the comedy conceptually from the standard rom-com template, but the problem is that it’s executed in the most mundane and half-interested fashion ever, substituting vulgar and crass jokes for actual humour and development.

Is she stringing him along?

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: Adam, Ashton Kutcher, black swan, film, Friend With Benefits, Friends With Benefits, ivan reitman, Love And Other Drugs, mila kunis, Movie, Natalie Portman, No strings attached, non-review review, review, romance, Romantic comedy film | 2 Comments »

Pottering Away: Reflections on the Harry Potter franchise…

Posted on July 25, 2011 by Darren

It’s quite strange, considering a movie series as opposed to its independent constituent elements. It seems like in taking in the broad tapestry of adventure allows the viewer a completely different appreciation for the story being told, especially when measured against considering each individual film on its own terms. With the Harry Potter series finally ending, I had an excuse to go back and dig through the old DVDs, watching each and every instalment in the series as a means of saying one final goodbye. However, despite the fact that some of the films may have been less impressive than others, or the fact that the plots didn’t always flow consistently from one film to the next, I still think that the eight films taken in their totality represent a rather wonderful accomplishment for all involved.

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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: arts, Christopher Nolan, David Yates, Disputed Domain Names, Domain Names, harry potter, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (film), Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (film), Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, HarryPotter, harrypotterguide.co.uk and harrypotternetwork.net, Hogwarts, J.K. Rowling, jim broadbent, Kitty Pryde, Movies, steven spielberg | 4 Comments »

Non-Review Review: Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s (Sorcerer’s) Stone

Posted on July 25, 2011 by Darren

So, here we are, back at the beginning. The first movie in the eight-movie cycle about the boy wizard with the distinctive glasses. Harry Potter – “the boy who lived”, as he is described – and his eventful six-year stay at Hogwarts, with one final story to wrap it all up. To be honest, the first movie does benefit a lot from the movies that followed, giving the film a lot of retroactive weight as you can see the plot threads thrown out and suggested to be developed later – the countless little set-ups deployed by Rowling to pay off down the line. Which is handy, I suppose, because otherwise the instalment feels just a little bit too slow and convoluted for its own good.

The series has a bit of difficulty getting off the ground...

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: Albus Dumbledore, Christopher Columbus, Dumbledore, games, harry potter, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (film), Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, Hogwarts, literature, Magical objects in Harry Potter, Places in Harry Potter, Richard Griffiths, star wars, United States | 10 Comments »

Non-Review Review: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

Posted on July 22, 2011 by Darren

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince represents a fairly significant improvement in quality from Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. It seems the movie franchise is finally getting a handle on this sort of serialised story-telling, as the movie serves more as a collection of sub-plots leading into Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows than it does as a story in its own right. However, there’s a sense that the series is getting a bit better at balancing all the competing demands for screentime, and it even manages to explain the title mystery, albeit in a slightly off-hand manner (almost as an after-thought).

Storm clouds are gathering over Hogwarts...

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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: alan rickman, Albus Dumbledore, Death Eater, film, harry potter, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (film), Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, HarryPotter, helena bonham carter, Hogwarts, jim broadbent, JK Rowling, Lord Voldemort, magic, michael gambon, Movies, non-review review, ralph fiennes, review, Rupert Grint, Tom Felton | 4 Comments »

Emo Spider-Man & Going Against the Nerd: It Isn’t Easy Being Geek…

Posted on July 21, 2011 by Darren

The Amazing Spider-Man trailer debuted during the week and it was… kinda okay, I suppose. Nothing too shocking or gripping or incredible, and nothing to push it too high on a “must see” list that includes The Dark Knight Rises and The Avengers as two massive hits for my superhero fix. However, I was surprised at the rather immediate response from relatively mainstream sources to “emo Spider-Man.” Even non-geeks seem to have picked up on the fact that Peter Parker in a hoodie hunched over a text book is not a good sign. Surely Spider-Man III taught us that “goth Spider-Man” is not a good idea?

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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: Andrew Garfield, Batman in film, brian michael bendis, counter-culture, emo, films, geek chic, geek culture, high school, marc webb, Movies, punk rock, sam raimi, secondary school, spider man, stan lee, sub-culture, the amazing spider-man, the amazing spiderman | 15 Comments »

Non-Review Review: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

Posted on July 21, 2011 by Darren

Truth be told, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix has a lot of problems. It’s structurally the weakest of the films, existing as a bridge between what came before and what follows – but ultimately feels like treading water. One gets the sense that the ruthless editing that made Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire work so well was sorely missing here. It literally feels more like a collection of subplots rather than a movie in its own right. And then there’s the ending, which is ridiculously weak, but also somewhat undermines the threat the last film spent so long building up.

It's not a knock-out success...

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: daniel radcliffe, Death Eater, Dumbledore's Army, films, games, harry potter, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, HarryPotter, Hogwarts, Hogwarts staff, literature, Lord Voldemort, Magical creatures in Harry Potter, Ministry of Magic, Movies, non-review review, Online, review, Roleplaying, Rupert Grint | Leave a comment »

Captain America Lives! Omnibus (Review)

Posted on July 20, 2011 by Darren

In celebration of the 4th of July and the release of Captain America: The First Avenger this month, we’re jumping into Marvel’s comic book alternate history and taking a look at the star-spangled avenger every Wednesday this month.

I have to say, I am genuinely quite pleased with how they’ve been chunking up Ed Brubaker’s well-loved run on Captain America for these oversized omnibus editions. Each of the three omnibus editions – Captain America, The Death of Captain America and, now, Captain America Lives! – represent an act in his over-arching story, with the status quo continually changing and shifting. The first set of issues closed with the assassination of Steve Rogers, while the second set saw Bucky Barnes assuming the mantle in Steve’s absence and defeating the Red Skull. So the third collection returns Steve Rogers to the Marvel Universe. Does it make me a bad person if I kinda don’t want the original character back so soon?

Stars and stripes...

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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: Bryan Hitch, Bucky, bucky barnes, captain america, captain america #600, captain america: reborn, comic books, ed brubaker, Ed McGuinness, gene colan, marvel comics, marvel universe, old friends and enemies, reborn, Red Skull, stan lee, Steve Epting, steve mcniven, steve rogers, the winter soldier, time travel, time's arrow | Leave a comment »

Non-Review Review: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

Posted on July 20, 2011 by Darren

“Everything’s going to change now, isn’t it?”

– Hermoine, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

Truth be told, before I saw Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part II, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire was easily my favourite instalment of the series. It’s the perfect balance between the lighter start of the series and the much darker end of it, straddling the two distinct tones with ease, and managing to walk the line between it’s under-plotted predecessors and over-plotted successors. It’s still not quite perfect, but it genuinely feels like things are changing and world is lot more vast than the earlier films had led us to believe.

The series is finally firing on all cylinders...

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: alan rickman, Alfonso Cuarón, films, Half-Blood Prince, harry potter, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, HarryPotter, Hogwarts, JK Rowling, Mike Newell, Movies, non-review review, Order of the Phoenix (organisation), review | Leave a comment »

Non-Review Review: Horrible Bosses

Posted on July 19, 2011 by Darren

“You can’t win a marathon without putting some bandaids on your nipples!” Dave Harkin, the “psycho” boss of Nick Hendricks, insists throughout the movie. It’s curious, because Horrible Bosses feels like a movie pacing itself for a marathon – and that’s not a bad thing at all. It’s consistently funny, with the humour spread evenly over most of the runtime. It’s hard to point to particularly brilliant sequences that had the audience in stitches, but instead the room was constantly giggling throughout. It’s a solidly entertaining comedy, which makes the most of a clever premise and superb cast, even if it does falter just a little bit as it reaches the finish line.

Spacey is boss...

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: arts, Charlie Day, CharlieDay, colin farrell, film, Good Girl, Horrible Bosses, jason bateman, Jason Sudeikis, JasonSudeikis, jennifer aniston, kevin spacey, KevinSpacey, Movie, non-review review, review, Seth Gordon | 6 Comments »

Cinematic Nostalgia: Old Films on the Big Screen…

Posted on July 19, 2011 by Darren

Jameson, the wonderful people behind the Jameson Dublin International Film Festival and the Jameson Cult Film Club are planning on launching their own film blog this week. It’ll be well worth a look and, based on their passion for good cinema, it’s sure to be wonderful. Anyway, as part of the launch, I was delighted to be invited along to a screening of Chinatown with a few other Irish film bloggers. Hosted in a lovely little cinema, I have to admit that there was just something incredible about watching a classic film I had only ever seen on television projected on to a big screen like (I suppose) it had always been intended to be shown. Given how much any love affair with cinema draws on classics from eras long gone, I have to admit that I was genuinely blown away by the chance to see such a classic film on such a big screen.