the m0vie blog

The Sequel Myth and the Death of Originality in Hollywood…

Posted on May 12, 2011 by Darren

It seems that every other day somebody is taking the opportunity be bemoan Hollywood’s creative bankruptcy. The decision not to press ahead with Del Toro’s version of The Mountains of Madness sparked a similar debate a little while ago, and the success of films like The Fast & The Furious Five seem to be raising the topic once again as we enter summer. It’s become something of a mantra for film fans, quietly chanted and repeated, something that we can use to continually bash the studios over the heads with. And, truth be told, I’m tired of it.

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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: art, arts, Big Mommas: Like Father Like Son, blade runner, fast & furious, Fast Five, film, harry potter, hollywood, Movie, Movies, Plan 9 from Outer Space, raiders of the lost ark, review, sequel, Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back, The Godfather Part II, Vin Diesel | 4 Comments »

Non-Review Review: Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978)

Posted on May 12, 2011 by Darren

The Invasion of the Body Snatchers is a wonderful science-fiction premise, so it’s really no wonder that the story has been taken to the big and small screens so often. It’s a great example of how a story can strike different notes in different eras, and how something can easily be about one thing in one era, and take on an entirely different meaning in a later one. The 1978 adaptation is a wonderful piece of high-concept science-fiction, which skilfully takes the ideas from the original classic film, and shakes them around just a little bit.

It's a scream!

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: aliens, body horror, edgar wright, films, horror, invasion, Invasion of Body Snatchers, jeff goldblum, Kevin McCarthy, Leonard Nimoy, Movies, non-review review, Pod People, review, shaun of the dead, Veronica Cartwright | 3 Comments »

Thor & Loki: Blood Brothers (Review/Retrospective)

Posted on May 11, 2011 by Darren

With the release of Marvel’s big-budget superhero action movie Thor this summer, we’re taking a month to celebrate the God of Thunder. Check back each Wednesday for a Thor-related review.

One of the slew of hardcovers released to coincide with Kenneth Branagh’s epic adaptation of the classic Marvel comic book Thor, Thor & Loki: Blood Brothers is basically just a repackaging of the classic four issue Loki miniseries written by Robert Rodi and painted by Esad Ribic in the nineties. Much like Lex Luthor: Man of Steel, the miniseries was repackaged with a slew of extras and re-released in order to capitalise on a hungry market place. (Luthor, as it was rebranded, was released after the success of the another villain-themed graphic novel from the same creative team, the superb Joker). Still, despite the fact that the “Thor &” part of the title was just stuck on there to tie the book to the film, it’s a lovely little story which perfectly captures a lot of the charm and appeal that the Norse backdrop offers to epic comic book stories.

Commander and (mis)chief...

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Filed under: Comics | Tagged: Asgard, comic book villains, comic books, Comics, esad ribic, fourth wall, hardcover, ITunes, kenneth branagh, lex luthor, loki, marvel comics, meta-fiction, metafiction, mythology, review, Robert Rodi, stan lee, thor, thor & loki, thor & loki: blood brothers | 3 Comments »

Non-Review Review: Batman & Robin

Posted on May 11, 2011 by Darren

It takes a lot to kill Batman. Just ask Bane. That character broke Batman across his knee, discarded him and claimed Gotham for his own… only to have Bruce claw his way back and reclaim the mantle. The evil New God Darkseid once decided not only to kill Batman, but to send him back to the dawn of time to live through a cycle of death and rebirth in the hopes of destroying the Caped Crusader… Batman just sorta shrugged that one off. He’s a tough nut to keep down, is that Dark Knight.

However, Joel Schumacher managed to nearly knock Batman out for the count (at least on film) with Batman & Robin, the movie which – if it didn’t kill the Batman franchise – at least put it into a coma for several years.

It's some kinda storm (it's not "snow", but it begins with "s")...

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: Alicia Silverstone, Arnold Schwarzenegger, batman, batman & robin, batman forever, bruce wayne, camp, dark knight, filom, joel schumacher, michael gough, Movie, non-review review, review, sylvester stallone, terrible | 10 Comments »

Putting a lot of Sloth into it: Sloth in se7en…

Posted on May 10, 2011 by Darren

A few months back, I watched the film se7en twice in quick succession, as I knew two people who hadn’t seen it, and thought I might join them. The film actually rewards repeated viewings, which is nice, but I couldn’t stop a particular question from popping into my mind as I watched the film again. The murders in the film, as the title implies, all follow a fairly basic theme, with each based around one of the seven deadly sins. However, I had a bit of difficulty making “sloth”stick.

Dead tired...

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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: crime, film, john doe, kevin spacey, Movie, murder, se7en, serial killer, seven, Seven deadly sins, Sloth | 41 Comments »

Non-Review Review: The Duellists

Posted on May 10, 2011 by Darren

The Duellists is the first film from director Ridley Scott. While it certainly isn’t his best remembered or the most highly rated, it is a cracking piece of historical cinema that manages to do a lot with very little. It’s a simple little concept, set against an epic backdrop, elevated by two leads, a wonderful sense of historical fidelity, and a young director with a long career ahead of him.

Ridley Scott's first stab at directing...

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: arts, Duel, dueling, europe, films, france, harvey keitel, historical drama, history, Keith Carradine, Louis Theroux, Movie, napoleon, non-review review, Pete Postlethwaite, review, ridley scott, The Duellists | Leave a comment »

Right Here, Right Now: Thoughts on Kathryn Bigalow’s Osama Bin Ladin Project…

Posted on May 9, 2011 by Darren

It’s interesting that the piece of news which grabbed me most coming out of the whole news cycle around the assassination of Osama Bin Ladin by US troops in Pakistan wasn’t any of the discussion over the legality of the act, nor the debate over whether assassination is now an acceptable tool of foreign policy. It was the near-instantaneous announcement that Kathryn Bigalow would be working on a feature film adaptation of the killing, an adaptation that reportedly has a mostly finished script and a lead actor already. Perhaps it’s a stunning illustration of just how quick the news and media cycle is, but I wonder how quick we feel the need to turn history into cinema.

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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: adaptation, assassination, feature films, films, history, Hurt Locker, kathryn bigalow, kill bin laden, Mark Boal, Movies, oliver stone, Osama bin Laden, Osama Bin Ladin, United States, war on terror, Warfare and Conflict | 3 Comments »

Non-Review Review: Monsters

Posted on May 9, 2011 by Darren

At this stage it seems almost pointless to reflect on how impressive Monsters is from a purely film-making perspective. Filmed on a ridiculously tiny budget, the film features a wonderful epic scale, beautiful locations and not-half-bad special effects (they’re more The Mist than Avatar, but let’s not complain). It’s the latest “look what modern film directors can do on a shoe string!” picture, one that you drop into conversation when you wonder how a film like Transformers can cost as much as it does. Unfortunately, as bedazzling as these aspects are, and they are very bedazzling, the film has several shortcomings which have nothing to do with budget.

Here be monsters...

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: Filmmaking, H. P. Lovecraft, horror, jurassic park, low budget, Mexico, monster, monster movie, monsters, Movie, New Orleans, non-review review, review, thriller, United States | 4 Comments »

Doctor Who: The Curse of the Black Spot (Review)

Posted on May 7, 2011 by Darren

Arriving just in time for the latest Pirates of the Caribbean movie (On Stranger Tides), Doctor Who has decided to go all pirate on us – even adopting the episode title The Curse of the Black Spot, to mirror The Curse of the Black Pearl. What we get feels genuinely like “Old School” Doctor Who, with the action confined to a very tight remote location, some corny (but effective) special effects and advanced technology masquerading as superstition. I suppose it was inevitable that a “monster of the week” episode would feel like a bit of a letdown after the superb Day of the Moon, but – while fun – The Curse of the Black Spot never really feels essential.

Not quite a wash-out...

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Filed under: Television | Tagged: bbc, doctor, doctor who, Fenella Woolgar, Hugh Bonneville, matt smith, Neil Morrissey, Old School, pirates, pirates of the caribbean, review, steven moffat, tardis, Television, television review, the curse of the black spot | 7 Comments »

Non-Review Review: Centurion

Posted on May 6, 2011 by Darren

I have to admit, I’m a bit disappointed with Neil Marshall. I’ll concede that I genuinely enjoyed Dog Soldiers and The Descent, while acknowledging their flaws. His movies have a tendency to start in the absurd and just keep amping things up until they get unbelievably ridiculous. Even the over-the-top and quite-crap-actually Doomsday still had a lot of energy to carry it through as it gleefully veered through camp straight out into uncharted realms of gratuitous nonsense. On the other hand, Marshall’s latest, Centurion, seems relatively tame. It’s fairly mediocre throughout, which perhaps seems less entertaining because it never has the energy to go too far. And that’s a bit of shame.