the m0vie blog

Non-Review Review: L.A. Confidential

Posted on February 14, 2011 by Darren

We’re currently blogging as part of the “For the Love of Film Noir” blogathon (hosted by Ferdy on Films and The Self-Styled Siren) to raise money to help restore the 1950’s film noir The Sound of Fury (aka Try and Get Me). It’s a good cause which’ll help preserve our rich cinematic heritage for the ages, and you can donate by clicking here. Over the course of the event, running from 14th through 21st February, I’m taking a look at the more modern films that have been inspired or shaped by noir.

Over the next week, I’ll be taking a look at the more modern films inspired and descended from film noir. It’s been tough trying to classify them all, to narrow down what I wanted to cover in the seven days that I had. In many cases, I wasn’t sure that I’d be able to successfully link the films back to the original genre. Trust me when I say that I had tonnes of films on my shortlist to look at as part of this event – many of them were on and off the list at various times as I attempted to include a bit of variety or range. However, there was one modern film that was always near the top of list of films that I wanted to cover – L.A. Confidential.

Best Buds?

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: 1950, Bloody Christmas, Curtis Hanson, Dudley Smith, fifties, Film noir, films, For the Love of Film Noir, For the Love of Film Noir: The Film Preservation Blogathon, kevin spacey, LA Confidential, los angeles, Movie, noir, review, Sound of Fury | 7 Comments »

Noir the Battle to the Strong: Why I’m Afraid of Classic Cinema…

Posted on February 14, 2011 by Darren

I have to admit, the “For The Love of Film Noir” blogathon is a very worthy cause. Bloggers from all around the world continuously blogging in order to raise funds to restore classic films. It’s something that I just couldn’t ignore the chance to be a part of – to have the chance to say that I helped restore a classic film print of an actual honest-to-goodness classic film. It was too great an opportunity to ignore… and yet I almost did. I hesitated as I wrote the comment agreeing to take part. My fingers felt heavy. My thoughts caught in wherever it is that thoughts catch. I wanted to blog about film noir for a week straight, but I was also genuinely terrified by the idea. After all, what do I know about classic film?

Too hot to handle?

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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: black and white, classic films, classics, coen brothers, film, Film noir, martin scorsese, Movie, Movies, old films, old movies, review, richard donner, Sound of Fury, stanley kubrick | 13 Comments »

Non-Review Review: True Grit

Posted on February 12, 2011 by Darren

True Grit is a strange proposition. It’s very clearly a very typical Western movie, about a bunch of (effectively) hired guns hunting down a fugitive on the run from the law, in pursuit of a large bounty. However, it’s also very distinctively a Coen Brothers movie, in attitude and tone. It isn’t that the two are mutually exclusive (No Country For Old Men, for example, was a modern Western with a very Coen aesthetic), but it’s just strange to see both elements so strongly pronounced. Although not quite perfect, True Grit is a movie well worth your time.

Snow man's land...

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: coen brothers, film, Hailee Steinfeld, jeff bridges, John Wayne, matt damon, mattie ross, Movie, no country for old men, non-review review, review, Rooster Cogburn, the coen brothers, the coens, true grit, Western (genre) | 5 Comments »

Non-Review Review: Winter’s Bone

Posted on February 11, 2011 by Darren

In many ways, Winter’s Bone is the Best Picture nominee most typical of the modern Oscars (or, at least, the criticism of the modern Oscars). While The Fighter echoes the every man appeal of Rocky, The King’s Speech is the archetypal historical and “triumph over adversity” tale, The Social Network is classic morality tale with a modern sheen and True Grit is the nostalgic entry, Winter’s Bone speaks the “indie” attitude that we’ve seen become dominant in the past decade. It’s a film rich in atmosphere and mood, with a bleakness that threatens to escape the screen and devour the audience whole, but it favours this lush approach over pacing and engagement. To say it is glacial, is an understatement.

The road ahead is bleak...

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: Academy Award, Academy Award for Best Picture, arts, best picture, Daniel Woodrell, Debra Granik, films, Jennifer Lawrence, John Hawkes, King's Speech, Movies, non-review review, Ozarks, review, United States, Winter's Bone | 6 Comments »

Captain America, $£%# Yeah! Trailer Remix

Posted on February 11, 2011 by Darren

What with the whole ridiculous argument about how Captain America: The First Avenger, with its politically-charged protagonist, would be sold overseas, it seemed inevitable that the superbowl trailer would be set to the anthem America $£%# Yeah! from that pop culture cult hit Team America: World Police. Anyway, the remix of the teaser works quite well, given that there were only 25 seconds of footage to play with. Have a look below, and then get some.

Filed under: Movies | Tagged: america fuck yeah, captain america, captain america: the first avenger, marvel comics, Matt Stone, remix, Super Bowl, team america: world police, trailer, Trey Parker, United States | 10 Comments »

Is There Method to the Madness: Christian Bale’s Weight & Method Acting

Posted on February 10, 2011 by Darren

Christian Bale is losing a massive amount of weight again for his role in the upcoming Concrete Island. It’s rather topical, given that the actor took time out of an interview to lambaste those who would deride his massive amount of weight loss for The Fighter:

‘To be honest, I find it laughable that it’s considered to be some f—ing gimmick — it’s so patronizing. For God’s sake, do people not understand what a pain it is to do? It’s as though it’s some comment about, ‘Oh it’s easy for him, because he’s done it a bunch of times.’ It’s not easy, it’s not fun — it’s horrible.”

In fairness, I think Bale misses the general thrust of the argument when he makes the (entirely fair) point that it’s a very difficult process. I don’t think anybody will argue that such control over his own body mass is easy (as, if it were, I’d probably choose to be the epitome of physical fitness, but it doesn’t work that way). I think the general question is whether such a large fluctuation in weight adds a benefit to his roles that is worth the physical strain. Is there a gain for the pain, so to speak?

What's the skinny?

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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: acting, actor, Actors Studio, christian bale, Concrete Island, Constantin Stainislavski, Constantin Stanislavski, craft, Daniel Day-Lewis, Fighter, films, Lee Strasberg, mark wahlberg, marlon brando, matt damon, Method Acting, Movies, Oscars, robert deniro, Stainislavski Method, Stanislavski Method, Stella Adler, the fighter, the Method, Weight loss | 9 Comments »

Non-Review Review: The Informant!

Posted on February 10, 2011 by Darren

The Informant! has some tricky subject matter to cover. Its subject, Mark Whitacre, remains a controversial figure in the history of corporate law enforcement up to (and probably well beyond) the present day. It’s a complex history, one which involves the most high-profile FBI investigation into price-fixing at major American companies, but which involves a very complicated central figure. I’m hesitant to go into too much detail as – although I’m not sure you can “spoil” a true story – I don’t want to ruin the experience of watching the film for anyone, but it’s a very fascinating example of corporate whistleblowing.

You'll be on the edge of your seat...

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: films, jim carrey, Mark Whitacre, matt damon, michael crichton, Movies, non-review review, review, Scott Bakula, stephen russell, steve russell, Steven Soderbergh, the informant | 2 Comments »

What if the Best Picture Posters Told the Truth?

Posted on February 9, 2011 by Darren

Truth be told, I’m a little behind this week. I took a trip down to Sligo at the weekend and I’m preparing for a film noir blogothon next week (stay tuned). So posting this week may be a little… scattershot. Anyway, in a nice way to tie into those wonderful BAFTA poster redesigns from last year, this year we have – courtesy of theshiznit.co.uk – a simple question: what if this year’s Best Picture nominees told the truth, up front? Instead of vague names like Winter’s Bone or Inception or The Fighter… well, that last one’s pretty spot on… but what if the movies just told you everything you needed to know, on the poster? They might look like this…

(click to enlarge)

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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: Academy Award, Academy Award for Best Picture, arts, comedy, Film noir, films, funny, homouir, Movies, Oscars, parody, poster, sligo, Winter's Bone | 8 Comments »

Mark Millar & Brian Michael Bendis’ Run on Ultimate Fantastic Four – Vol. 1 (Hardcover)

Posted on February 9, 2011 by Darren

The Fantastic Four, as originally imagined by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, were an instant overnight success for Marvel. Although perhaps Spider-Man would go on to surpass them as the most recognisable creation from the comic book publisher, the four were intrinsically linked with the spirit of newness and pop science that defined comic books in the sixties – the run was so iconic that I’m even considering placing an order for the two volumes of Lee and Kirby’s Fantastic Four Omnibus, even though I find Silver Age comic books tough to read. So, it comes as a bit of a surprise that the characters were among the last to be coopted into Marvel’s Ultimate line, an experiment designed to essentially start their characters from scratch again to attract a new audience. However, depite the late arrival of Ultimate Fantastic Four – four years after Ultimate Spider-Man and three years after Ultimate X-Men – the talent involed in the launch of the series suggests that Marvel was trying to get this version of the family off to the same flying start as their mainstream counterpart.

That's gonna put a dent in local real estate prices...

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Filed under: Comics | Tagged: adam kubert, art, ben grimm, brian michael bendis, Comics, johnny storm, kick-ass, mark millar, marvel comics, reed richards, stan lee, sue storm, the fantastic, ultimate comics, Ultimate Fantastic Four, ultimate marvel, ultimate spider man, ultimate universe, warren ellis | 2 Comments »

Memories of a Multiplex: The Gaiety Cinema, Sligo

Posted on February 8, 2011 by Darren

I took a trip down to Sligo with the better half at the weekend there. I grew up in the city, but I haven’t found myself visiting too often. There’s something strange about returning to the town where you grew up. Everything seems smaller, even if there are far more shopping centres and recognisable brands around the place. It was good to go back and to see it all again. And my better half was so kind that she suggested that we go to the local cinema and catch a screening. And so we attended a showing of The Fighter at the Gaiety Cinema Sligo.