the m0vie blog

My Daddy’s a Movie-Star: When Do We Stop Thinking of Second-Generation Actors In Terms of Their Relatives?

Posted on June 13, 2011 by Darren

It occurred to me as I was watching the trailer for Lucky, the upcoming black comedy starring Colin Hanks and embedded below. I was actually thinking of Colin Hanks as a name in his own right, rather than “the son of Tom Hanks, who also acts.” I mean, of course I knew his name, and I also respected his work, but there had always been this rather pronounced association between Colin and his father. I don’t mean anything to diminish Colin’s work, and I know it isn’t fair, but that was pretty much how I had – to a large extent – defined the young performer. I don’t even think I did it consciously. However, in watching the trailer for his upcoming film, I actually found myself thinking of Colin in his own right. Even though he is – honestly – the spitting image of his father, I had to consciously drag that association into my head in order to make it. It got me thinking, when does the child of a successful actor come into their own?

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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: angelina jolie, celebrities, Colin Hanks, Emilio Estevez, famous relatives, films, identity, jon voight, lottery, lotto, lucky, lucky (movie), martin sheen, Michael Douglas, Movies, relatives, screen persona, tom hanks, Vanessa Redgrave | 3 Comments »

Pygmalion at the Abbey Theatre (Review)

Posted on June 13, 2011 by Darren

I think it’s safe to say that George Bernard Shaw’s Pygmalion has had quite the impact on popular culture. Even those unfamiliar with the original 1912 play written by the great Irish playwright will know the basic structure of the story, filtered down through countless reruns of My Fair Lady and She’s All That. It’s hard to argue that anything in Shaw’s impressive back catalogue is quite as crowd-pleasing, but never at the expense of being sharp and provocative. The fact that it’s turning out to be next-to-impossible to get a seat at the Abbey’s run of the play indicates that the work has lost none of its appeal.

Doolittle doctored?

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Filed under: Theatre | Tagged: abbey, abbey theatre, Basil Fawlty, charlie murphy, dublin, eliza doolittle, george bernard shaw, Henry Sweet, John Cleese, monty python, professor higgins, pygmalion, review, Risteárd Cooper, the abbey theatre, theatre review | Leave a comment »

Non-Review Review: Amélie

Posted on June 9, 2011 by Darren

I feel a little bit heartless in confessing this, but Amélie (or Le fabuleux destin d’Amélie Poulain, to use its original title), never really connected with me. Don’t get me wrong, I can appreciate the film’s wonderful visual style, and those amazing opening scenes with a young Amélie growing up the way she did thanks to the strange and particular set of circumstances around her, but I couldn’t maintain that emotional connection through the film. Which is a shame, because the movie is a wonderful technical accomplishment, from its heavily saturated primary colours through to its distinctive score, and the manner at which it plays with the fourth wall.

Making a splash...

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: Amélie, arts, Audrey Tautou, film, Filmmaking, french cinema, Jean-Pierre Jeunet, Le fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain, Movie, non-review review, paris, review | 3 Comments »

Y: The Last Man – The Deluxe Edition, Book II (Review)

Posted on June 8, 2011 by Darren

In an effort to prove that comic books aren’t just about men in spandex hitting each other really hard, this month I’m reviewing all of Brian K. Vaughan’s superb Y: The Last Man. In April, I took a look at all the writer’s Ex Machina.

They can say ‘fuck’ in comic books?

I guess.

Jeez, they never said stuff like that in Superman.

– 355 and Yorick get “meta”, One Small Step

If there’s one thing I hate, it’s crappy works of fiction that try to sound important by stealing names from the bard.

– Cayce, Comedy & Tragedy

You know, even if the central premise wasn’t brilliantly intriguing, and the execution wasn’t top notch, I think I’d still read this, simply because Vaughan’s Y: The Last Manis just so damn charming. Thankfully, the comic is everything I mentioned above – and winningly self-deprecating to boot. Awesome.

A thousand monkeys with a thousand typewriters...

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Filed under: Comics | Tagged: A Midsummer Night's Dream, brian k. vaughan, Glengarry Glen Ross, John Totleben, Mary Whitehouse, neil gaiman, Pia Guerra, Pirates of Penzance, swamp thing, Vaughan, watchmen, y: the last man | Leave a comment »

Non-Review Review: Celebrity

Posted on June 7, 2011 by Darren

As I was watching Celebrity, one of Woody Allen’s mid-nineties efforts, two things ran through my head. The first was that the movie was clearly intended to explain why the director had given up on his life in America and moved overseas (sparking his creative rebirth with films like Match Point and Vicky Christina Barcelona). The second, and much more pressing, was the observation that it’s not really fair to write a character with yourself in mind and then expect Kenneth Branagh to step in and play that avatar as you. Not to diminish Branagh’s Woody Allen impression (it’s much better than one might expect), but it tends to draw attention away from the rest of the film.

Woody clearly thinks this Hollywood malarkey is bananas...

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: celebrity, celebrity (1998), film, Jerry-Springer, kenneth branagh, Leonardo diCaprio, Match Point, Movie, non-review review, review, robin williams, Tony Sirico, Vicky Cristina Barcelona, Woody Allen | 2 Comments »

Doctor Who: A Good Man Goes to War (Review)

Posted on June 4, 2011 by Darren

To celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the longest-running science-fiction show in the world, I’ll be taking weekly looks at some of my own personal favourite stories and arcs, from the old and new series, with a view to encapsulating the sublime, the clever and the fiendishly odd of the BBC’s Doctor Who.

A Good Man Goes to War originally aired in 2011.

Demons run when a good man goes to war.

Night will fall and drown the sun, when a good man goes to war.

Friendship dies and true love lies,

Night will fall and the dark will rise,

When a good man goes to war.

Demons run but count the cost.

The battle’s won, but the child is lost.

A Good Man Goes to War is pretty much the epitome of Moffat’s “let’s cram as much as possible into forty-five minutes” approach to Doctor Who. This is the episode directly following Matt Smith’s last proper two-part adventure, and it firmly sets the status quo for the rest of the Eleventh Doctor’s tenure. Moffat doesn’t opt for two-parters after this point, and you can see the roots of the “blockbuster” approach he adopted for the show’s fiftieth season.

A Good Man Goes to War has enough crammed into it to sustain a bombastic Russell T. Davies season finalé. There’s character arcs, betrayal, redemption, heroism, continuity, twists and radical game-changers – all bursting at the seams of this episode. There’s a staggering amount of ambition powering A Good Man Goes to War, and even attempting to do all this in the course of a single episode earns Moffat a significant amount of respect.

What’s even more impressive is that A Good Man Goes to War manages to carry it all off.

The Doctor goes with the flow…

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Filed under: Television | Tagged: a good man goes to war, amy, amy pond, bbc, doctor, doctor who, DoctorWho, dr. who, Eleventh Doctor, Eleventh Hour, Forest of the Dead, Good Man Goes, Good Man Goes to War, matt smith, Moffat, review, River Song, rory, rory williams, russell t. davies, star wars, stephen moffat, steven moffat, tardis, Television | 6 Comments »

Non-Review Review: The Way Back

Posted on June 3, 2011 by Darren

The Way Back is an impressive technical accomplishment. Peter Weir has repeatedly demonstrated that he really is one of the very best directors working today, and that he’s a deft hand at establishing mood and atmosphere. The Way Back, the story of a prison escape from the coldest depths of Siberia, is packed with beautiful vistas – from mountains snuggled in clouds to endless desert to icy tundras – and it’s also efficient and effective. However, it seems to spend so much time on the scenery that it almost forgets about the characters.

They got snow where else to go...

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: colin farrell, ed harris, escape, films, himalayas, india, Jim Sturgess, journey, mark strong, Movie, Movies, non-review review, Peter Weir, revies, saoirse ronan, siberia, Way Back | 4 Comments »

Green Lantern’s Light: Why I’m Holding Out For a Hero…

Posted on June 3, 2011 by Darren

You know, I’m actually really impressed with how this summer’s slate of superhero-themed blockbusters are coming together. Despite fears about market saturation, I honestly think that the four big pictures this summer offer enough distinct flavour to avoid generation some superhero fatigue coming in. X-Men: First Class is a Cold War Civil Rights action adventure. Thor the story of a god, humbled. Captain America: The First Avenger is a bit of pulpy history set against a World War II backdrop. Green Lantern is an epic space opera about an intergalactic police squad. There’s enough variety there that it isn’t just wave after wave of people in silly costumes.

Still, Green Lantern holds particular interest to me. It’s been interesting to watch the buzz on-line, following the seemingly disappointed first trailer through the four minutes of footage from Wonder Con towards the well-received second and third trailers. Still, my affection for the character and the movie aren’t necessarily drawn from Warner’s publicity campaign.

You see, Green Lantern was really the character that introduced me to modern comics.

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Filed under: Comics, Movies | Tagged: arts, Bat-Mite, batman, comic books, Comics, dc comics, films, geoff johns, grant morrison, green lantern, Movies, Warner Brothers, world war ii | 6 Comments »

Non-Review Review: UHF

Posted on June 2, 2011 by Darren

I like “Weird” Al Yankovic. I realise that there are many people out there who don’t find his pop song mash-ups like Another One Rides The Bus, Amish Paradise, Like Surgeon or White and Nerdy to be especially funny – and there are probably as many who find these riffs on popular tracks as insanely irritating. U.H.F. (perhaps better known as “the Weird Al Yankovic movie”) isn’t likely to change anybody’s opinion of the songwriter one way or the other. Which is to say that, while I could see quite a few flaws in it, it was smart and earnest enough that I ended up quite enjoyed it.

Gunning for the classics...

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: Amish Paradise, Another One Rides The Bus, arts, film, films, Kevin McCarthy, Lady Gaga, madcap, Movie, Movies, non-review review, random, review, Spatula City, u.h.f, uhf, Weird Al Yankovic, White & Nerdy | Leave a comment »

Non-Review Review: How To Train Your Dragon

Posted on June 2, 2011 by Darren

How To Train Your Dragon is, at its core, the story of a boy and his dog. Except his dog happens to be a dragon. It is a well-cast, well-made and well-written little film that actually manages to have a lot more emotional depth than the majority of Dreamworks films, even if it doesn’t quite approach the wonderful sophistication that Pixar manage to produce about once a year. It’s big, it’s bold and it’s fun – a wonderfully crafted piece of family entertainment.