the m0vie blog

Congratulations to the LAMMY Nominees…

Posted on May 21, 2010 by Darren

A well-deserved congratulations to all those shortlisted for the LAMMY’s, the annual awards ceremony run by the wonderful guys over at The Large Association of Movie Blogs (who also deserve a congratulations for all the work they do for us little guys). There are some familiar faces on the list and some I barely know, but well done to all and well-deserved. The nominees are listed here.

Filed under: Movies | Tagged: awards, blogging, lamb, lammys, large association of movie bloggers, large association of movie blogs | 8 Comments »

Non-Review Review: Sherlock Holmes

Posted on May 21, 2010 by Darren

Well. I enjoyed that probably far more than I should have. If you ever wondered what Bad Boys would look like set in turn-of-the-last-century London and featuring a better director, then look no further. Although it would seem to be your typical old-fashioned action yarn in the mode of The Mummy or Shanghai Noon, the movie really works best as a time-displaced buddy cop film – or even just as a regular bromance. The movie is light, quick and entertaining. What more could you expect?

There's going to be bloody 'ell to pay...

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: bad boys, bromance, guy ritchie, jude law, mark strong, Movies, non-review review, rachel mcadams, review, ribert downey jr, robert downey, robert downey jnr., sherlock holmes, watson | 6 Comments »

Iron Man: Extremis (Review/Retrospective)

Posted on May 21, 2010 by Darren

John Pillinger says the Iron Man suit is a military application. I told him he was wrong. I’m trying to decide if I was lying. I’ve never sold any element of the Iron Man to the military. It’s used for extraordinary rescue and response situations. Iron Man saves lives. Iron Man used to represent the future.

– Tony Stark considers his legacy

What’s the Iron Man for, Tony?

– Sal cuts straight to the heart of the matter

The more Iron Man stories I read – and the more movies I see as well – it appears that Tony Stark as a lost individual isn’t a metaphor, it’s more of a metaphysical observation. He’s typically well written and carefully considered (of course, there are glaring exceptions), but he rarely seems to find himself involved in any particularly strong narratives. His appeal is centred entirely on the character’s charm, charisma and pride of place as one of fiction’s most famous and prestigious futurists. I don’t mean this as a slight on Extremis by any means – in fact, Warren Ellis’ revised mission statement for the true man of tomorrow may be the best Iron Man story I’ve read.

What is Tony Stark made of?

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Filed under: Comics | Tagged: adi granov, Comics, extremis, futurism, Guy Pearce, iron man, iron man: extremis, jon favreau, marvel, marvel comics, Movies, robert downey, Stark, tony stark, warren ellis | Leave a comment »

Game On: The Video Game Curse…

Posted on May 20, 2010 by Darren

Prince of Persia is coming soon. You can’t miss it, what with all the airtime they’re filling the television channels with, and all the movie specials. The movie is what it is – it’s a cynical attempt to cash in on the retro-chic of the old swords-and-sandals pulpy serial adventures in the same way that Pirates of the Caribbean originally did, while remaining anchored to a property with at least some geek recognition attached. It isn’t by any stretch of my imagination a must-see movie this year (not even making it into my top ten most anticipated films), but it looks it might manage to do what it says on the tin. It might offer a distracting low-brow Middle-Eastern-themed romp with an effective cast and competent direction masking what’s undoubtedly a weak premise. However, the movie has one major fact playing against it: it’s a video game adaptation. And those have something of a dodgy history in Hollywood.

Is Prince of Persia going to get to the next level of video game adaptations?

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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: adaptations, art, blockbuster, film, mario brothers, media, medium, Movies, prince of persia, video games | 12 Comments »

I Love the Eighties: Blockbuster Edition

Posted on May 20, 2010 by Darren

I am a child of the eighties. It’s a bit of an irony that I am too young to actually recall any of the decade, but still feel more than a pang of nostalgia about it. Evidently I’m not the only one. Perhaps it’s in recognition of the turn of a new decade or the rise of a younger generation, but even a cursory glance at the big budget blockbusters coming our way this summer reveal that the times, they are a-changing. No longer is our fascination with quirky seventies sex comedies or gritty urban cop dramas of that decade: this year, we’re going back to the eighties.

The Expendables is a blast from the past...

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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: action movies, blockbusters, films, hot tub time machine, macgruber, macgyver, Movies, nostalgia, predator, predators, prince of persia, remakes, retro, sylvester stallone, the a-team, the eighties, the expendables, the past | 7 Comments »

Dream On: The Mysteries of Inception…

Posted on May 19, 2010 by Darren

I just belatedly saw the Inception trailer last week. My first reaction is just… well, I can’t quite do it justice in printed form, so I guess “wow” will have to do. It’s my single most anticipated movie of the year, but I haven’t really written about it. I haven’t written about it because it’s all been (and will likely continue being) played close to Christopher Nolan’s chest. We only just recently got a plot synopsis, for a movie now two months away. And, you know what? I love it.

I'll be sitting these spoilers out...

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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: blockbusters, blogging, Christopher Nolan, cinema, Inception, Movies, spoiler, spoilers | 9 Comments »

Daredevil by Ed Brubaker Omnibus, Vol. I

Posted on May 19, 2010 by Darren

It’s pretty tough taking over a beloved cult title from a run which certainly measures among its best. Daredevil has long been a testing ground for many an iconic comic book writer, but Brian Michael Bendis left the book seeming to have done the impossible. Depending on who you asked, he had either come extremely close to matching the seminal run by Frank Miller, or had simply left it in the dust behind him. So taking over from Bendis would be no easy task. Thankfully, Ed Brubaker is more than up to the task.

Brubaker dives headfirst into his run...

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Filed under: Comics | Tagged: comic, daredevil, daredevil by ed brubaker, daredevil by ed brubaker and michael lark, daredevil by ed brubaker and michael lark omnibus, daredevil by ed brubaker omnibus, daredevil omnibus, ed brubaker, marvel, marvel comics, marvel omnibus, matt murdock, michael lark, our love story, secret identity, the devil inside and out, the devil takes a ride, the man without fear, to the devil his due, without fear | Leave a comment »

Robbin’ the Hood: Give The People What They Want…

Posted on May 18, 2010 by Darren

I’ve been thinking (dangerous, I know). Specifically about Ridley Scott’s Robin Hood. I’m going to be honest with you, I was more than a little surprised at the way the film was put together. The film is, to borrow from the parlance of the times, an “origin” story. It’s about Robin, but before he was Robin. There is a single robbery over the entire course of the film, and it doesn’t really amount to much – it’s hardly the stuff of infamy. Instead, Robin is off doing battle with the French in a very manly, water-logged fashion. I tried to judge the film on its own merits (and I think my review is fair), but I’ve found myself thinking over the same question a lot since I saw it: Aren’t a lot of people going to be disappointed that there’s essentially little-to-none of the conventional tropes of a Robin Hood movie present?

Bringing the Hurt...

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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: audience expectations, audiences, expectations, films, imagery, Movies, ridley scoot, robin hood, russell crowe, tropes | 7 Comments »

Ultimate Comics Iron Man: Armour Wars

Posted on May 18, 2010 by Darren

Iron Man has always been a character better suited to defining character arcs than to defining runs – which is arguably odd, when considered with most iconic characters. When we talk about Daredevil, for example, we talk about Frank Miller and Brian Michael Bendis; when we talk about the X-Men, we talk about Chris Claremont; when we talk about the Green Lantern, we talk about Geoff Johns. On the other hand, when we talk about Iron Man, we talk about Armour Wars or Demon in a Bottle or Extremis. Perhaps that’s a strength when releasing a big budget blockbuster like Iron Man 2 – it’s easy to flood the market with reprints of six or seven issue storylines, rather than having to deal with huge chunks of narrative. It’s also perhaps the reason that this particular miniseries – essentially a modernised continuity-light retelling of a classic story – seems like such a great idea. It’s ridiculous to suggest a retelling of an iconic writer’s tenure, but remaking a single iconic story seems much more reasonable and more than a bit smart – surely it’s a great way to bring readers into step with arguably the most popular comic book character in the world right now?

Par Armor...

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Filed under: Comics | Tagged: armor wars, armour wars, comic books, iron man, iron man armor, iron man armour, iron man: armor wrs, iron man: armour wars, marvel, steve kurth, tony stark, ultimate armor wars, ultimate armour wars, ultimate comics, ultimate comics iron man, ultimate comics iron man: armor wars, ultimate comics iron man: armour wars, ultimate marvel, warren ellis | Leave a comment »

The Mandarin Candidate: Legacies From A By-Gone Era

Posted on May 17, 2010 by Darren

Jon Favreau has effectively confirmed that “the Mandarin” will be the villain for Iron Man 3. Of course, the fact that this particular opponent has been the character’s arch nemesis means that we would have expected him on celluloid long before this – most superhero movies take great joy in using the archnemesis for the original film, after all (Batman Begins managed to just about do without the Joker, but arguably only because he’d already done Batman). Part of the reason it may have taken so long to transition this particular character to the big screen may have something to do with his origins: essentially the character is a yellow peril villain (as the name implies), who was arguably long out of date when he was introduced, let alone now. Favreau has, diplomatically, acknowledged that the character is going to take great care to get ready for a film role, and it got us thinking: how do we deal with long term and iconic characters who may reflect concepts that we aren’t particularly comfortable with right now?