Posted on March 2, 2010 by Darren
Far be it for us to gloat over the misfortune of a major industry publication, but this story of Oscar ‘payola’ caught my eye. Basically Variety has been accused of pulping a bad review for a film which provided the magazine with $400,000 worth of advertising revenue. The film is Iron Cross – don’t worry that you haven’t heard of the would-be Oscar contender. It’s only really claim to awards prestige is that it offered the last performance of Roy Schneider. However, that $400,000 has gone along way – a lot of film nerds now know all about the film, which wasn’t on the radar last week.
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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: $400000, advertising, bribery, film, google cache, iron cross, Movies, Oscars, payola, review, scandal, variety | 4 Comments »
Posted on March 2, 2010 by Darren
I think there’s a case to be made for The Rock as a pop culture masterpiece. And, no, I’m not being sarcastic or bitchy – I genuinely believe that. It’s tough to look back no in the era of huge summer blockbusters, but the movie really codified what we should expect from a modern summer tentpole. I remember the gasps of shock when the Criterion – the gold standard of DVD releases – announced that they would be including Armageddon as part of the Criterion Collection, in what was clearly meant to be a nod to the mainstream action movies. Being honest, they should have picked The Rock.
Can you smell what The Rock is cooking?
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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: action movies, armageddon, cliche, ed harris, film, michael bay, Movies, nicolas cage, non-review review, review, the rock | 4 Comments »
Posted on March 1, 2010 by Darren
I saw this piece over at The Cinematical and it got me thinking. The article basically looks at how open-minded viewers can and should be:
Too often, moviegoers seem to clump into camps: I only watch romantic comedies; I stick with horror; I gotta have my action fix; I won’t watch anything made after 1950; I won’t watch anything in black and white; I won’t watch anything with subtitles. To some extent, we’re pushed that way by modern media, as niche marketing gets more and more specific. Go to Netflix or Amazon, search for A Room with a View, and suggestions for other similar, period dramas may pop up as recommended choices for you, as determined by computer algorithms. The computer won’t recommend The Crazies.
Are we too close-minded about films?
Ah, the classic "vampire/cop" movie genre...
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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: cinematical, films, genre, genre theory, Movies | Leave a comment »
Posted on March 1, 2010 by Darren
I imagine Lewis Carroll’s iconic fantasy story poses quite the problem for anybody looking to bring it to the screen. Both Alice in Wonderland and Alice’s Adventures Through The Looking Glass essentially consist of a collection of vignettes, very loosely linked to each other. One minute you’re translating The Jabberwockey and the next you’re hearing the story of The Walrus and the Carpenter. I can’t imagine it would be particularly easy to produce a film following that sort of almost random structure. Perhaps that’s why Tim Burton’s wonderfully visual fantasy seems to draw perhaps more heavily from The Lord of the Rings than its own source material, which is a shame, as the director fantastically brings the magic of Wonderland to life. If only there were more of it.
Down the rabbit hole...
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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: 3d, alice in wonderland, anne hathaway, disney, fantasy, films, helena bonham carter, johnny depp, lord of the rings, Movies, non-review review, review, the lord of the rings, tim burton | 3 Comments »
Posted on February 28, 2010 by Darren
Wow, that month just flew…
Anyway, it was the month that we learnt that Christopher Nolan would return to Gotham, and take control of the Superman franchise. We had a few ideas on where David S. Goyer should take the big blue superhero.
It’s Oscar season! For the record, I have €10 bet with my brother. He has his money on Avatar and I have mine on The Hurt Locker. Only a week to go! Anyway, we pondered all the old-timer love on the acting nominations, the revamped Best Picture category and whether Paramount should have backed Star Trek instead of The Lovely Bones. Hindsight is twenty-twenty, eh? And are the Razzies, of all insititutions, out of touch?
We also wondered about the death of the tradition romantic comedy (although it seems to be clinging to life stubbornly) and whether 3D will become the de facto manner of film making for all films, not just blockbusters (think Frost/Nixon in 3D).
We vigorously mocked the rumoured plot details of Captain America: The First Avenger – while pondering if the world was ready for a black Captain America. The John Krasinski rumours would suggest not. And is Iron Man 2 the closest we’ll get to a Dark Knight sequel anytime soon?
Oh, and we got longlisted for the Irish Blog Awards. Thanks to all who nominated us.
Filed under: Months in Review | Tagged: february, irish blog awards, month in review, Oscars | Leave a comment »
Posted on February 27, 2010 by Darren
I just won tickets to a preview screening of Alice in Wonderland as part of the Jameson Dublin International Film Festival. I’ll have my review up on Monday morning, but in the meantime, here’s how I won. It’s a reworked version of The Walrus and the Carpenter. Apologies in advance to Lewis Carroll, his estate, fans of the poem and people with taste.
Apologies in advance...
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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: alice in wonderland, film, jameson dublin international film festival, jdiff, lewis carroll, Movies, poetry, teh walrus and the carpenter, the blogger and the girlfriend | Leave a comment »
Posted on February 26, 2010 by Darren
It’s turgid. I just know that there are a lot of people who will say it is the worst film of 2010. [The location] was the main reason I took it – so that I could come home at the weekends. It wasn’t because of the script, trust me. I was told it was going to be like The Quiet Man with a Vaughan Williams soundtrack, but in the end it turned out to have pop music all over it. … Was it a bad job? Yes, it was. But, you know, I had a nice time and I got paid.
– Matthew Goode on Leap Year
It’s rare to hear an actor being so candid about a film that met with… less than stellar reception. On one hand I admire the guy’s honesty in speaking out, but on the other I kinda wonder if he really has the right to label the movie as ‘turgid’ after starring in it and whether ‘I got paid’ is really a justification for inflicting that racist romantic comedy upon mankind.
Look on my works ye mighty and despair...
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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: actors, amy adams, bad films, film, honesty, leap year, matthew goode, Movies, romantic comedy, turgid, watchmen | 7 Comments »
Posted on February 25, 2010 by Darren
It’s fun to analyse the Oscars. It’s even more fun before any individual awards have been handed out. I’ve already given my thoughts on the Best Picture race and the acting nods, but I was just thinking specifically about Paramount’s Oscar campaign this year. Making the infamously misguided decision to champion The Lovely Bones at the expense of all others, they were left empty-handed and red-faced when the film imploded. In hindsight, it looks like they made the wrong choice in pushing forward their prospective Best Picture nominees. Maybe they would have been better-pushed to get behind Star Trek?
Saorse wasn't the only lost during The Lovely Bones...
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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: 82nd academy awards, academy, best picture, best picture nominees, Oscars, paramount, paramount pictures, Shutter Island, star trek, the lovely bones | Leave a comment »
Posted on February 25, 2010 by Darren
Bruce Willis has started talking about Die Hard 5 (maybe that should be Die Hard 5.0, but I digress), and has suggested that the next logical step for John McClane is to save the world. Think about it. In Die Hard, he saved a building full of people – not bad, you might say. In Die Harder, he saved an entire airport and the planes in the sky – impressive, you might agree. In Die Hard With A Vengeance, he saved New York from a mad bomber – maybe a little outside of his pay grade, you’ll possible argue. In Die Hard 4.0 (or Live Free and Die Hard), McClane pretty much single-handedly (because nerdy sidekicks don’t count) saved the United States of America. The remark that McClane is porbably going to save the world – while probably a bit of a joke on Willis’ part – got me thinking: is the rule of escalating threat necessarily a good thing?
More sequels, less hair...
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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: bruce willis, die hard, die hard 4.0, john mcclane, Movies, sequels, the first law of metafictional thermodynamics, the rule of escalating threat, threats | Leave a comment »
Posted on February 24, 2010 by Darren
Superman is a tough character to get right. In any format. I remarked earlier in the week that there are very few truly classic stories featuring the character. While I’m more than a little delighted that Christopher Nolan has been handed the reigns to the franchise, I’m also a little bit nervous. Is there a way to make Superman a viable commercial franchise for the twenty-dirst century? I’d argue there is, if we look in the right place. Here’s my opinion: Look! Up in the skies! I think that the place to look to take the character back to his roots is the sort of wonderful ‘out there’ science fiction of the fifties. Batman does noir, so let Superman do hokey sci-fi.
"You will always be a child of two worlds..." Wait, sorry, wrong monologue...
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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: bryan singer, Christopher Nolan, clark kent, comic books, fifties, nostalgia, richard donner, sci-fi, superman, superman 3.0, superman ii, superman reboot, superman returns | 2 Comments »
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