Posted on January 20, 2010 by Darren
There’s a lot of buzz out there suggesting that Ed Brubaker’s run on Captain America might be the run on the character, the one for the ages – like Frank Miller’s tenure on Daredevil, for example. I decided that – with the movie coming out next year – it might be worth bringing myself up to speed on the character. While I haven’t finished Brubaker’s run (it’s on-going and I still have to read The Death of Captain America Omnibus), it is a very solid run, packed with great ideas. It’s a clever and well-crafted story that demonstrates that Brubaker has more in him than just gritty pulp like his fantastic runs on Daredevil and Gotham Central. On the other hand, I’m slow to call the run an instant classic – I’d rather finish his run before I make that judgement. Towards the end it feels like Brubaker’s own story has become somewhat derailed by the larger events looming in a shared universe. He’s still an amazing writer and succeeds in keeping the train mostly on the tracks, but one gets the sense that the collection would have been better if he had been granted complete control over it.
"Hey, Cap, what are we staring at?""You'll know it when you see it, Bucky; you'll know it when you see it."
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Filed under: Comics | Tagged: Bucky, captain america, Captain America by Ed Brubaker Omnibus, Captain America Omnibus, Civil War, comic books, Death of Captain America Omnibus, ed brubaker, gotham central, graphic novel, marvel omnibus, Nazism, Red Skull, review, Steve Epting, United States, Winter Soldier, world war ii | 2 Comments »
Posted on January 20, 2010 by Darren
This is just a short post about a fairly exciting piece of news that’s broken (seemingly out of nowhere) over the past few days about the developement of a massive Omniplex Cinema at St. Stephen’s Green. It’s interesting that the southside hasn’t really had a ‘big’ cinema – the Screen is a landmark, but three screens isn’t really massive – and it’s something I’ve noticed (I live on the northside, but I work on the southside). I guess we’ll have to wait and see how the idea works out, but something occurs to me: how come we aren’t getting an Imax screen?
Remember the metro plan?
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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: cinema, cineworld, dublin, imax, movie-going, new cinema, savoy, st. stephen's green | 2 Comments »
Posted on January 19, 2010 by Darren
There’s something pleasant about watching just-past-their-prime actors working together on small-scale productions. Kinda a reminder that even though they don’t dominate Hollywood anymore (because Hollywood has little respect for their elderly), they are still around. It’s even nicer when they stray from the projects that they are obviously making a fair bit of capital on (such as Dustin Hoffman’s work in Meet the Fockers) towards smaller, more intimate fare. Last Chance Harvey is a solid and sweet romantic comedy in the very classical sense. It doesn’t rely on inappropriate sex jokes or physical comedy to make its audience laugh, just provides some wonderfully awkward ‘that could happen and it would be mortifying’ humour paired with some emotional honesty. And, despite being crafted in the mould of a classical genre, it manages to seem like a breath of fresh air.
Thankfully, Harvey is never short with her...
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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: dustin hoffman, emma thompson, film, joel hopkins, last chance harvey, Movie, non-review review, review | Leave a comment »
Posted on January 19, 2010 by Darren
The good people over at Ross v. Ross (I reserve the right to call them ‘the Rosses’) have nominated the m0vie blog for a prestigious blogging award related thing. There is simply no accounting for taste. Seriously though, thank you guys, it means a lot coming from two guys who have been a pretty big influence on my blogging (seriously, their site is well worth a look – it’s great). Anyway, there are more details below. In the meantime, here’s a photo of Darren accepting his award:
Nicholas Cage IS everyone...
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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: blogging, blogs, irish blog awards, kreativ blog award | 7 Comments »
Posted on January 18, 2010 by Darren
I read an interesting article on Avatar over at CNN last week, which basically suggested that some audience members were feeling a deep depression on returning home from the cinema. Since my dislike of the film appears to a very minority view (a borderline fringe view, to be completely honest), I will assume it has nothing to do with the poor storytelling of the movie. Instead, they seem to depressed at the prospect of leaving Pandora, having been so immersed in the 3D world that James Cameron had created.
Did the end of Avatar leave you feeling blue?
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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: 3d, addictive, avatar, cnn, emersion, geeks, Movie, nerds, news, obsession, obsessive, star wars | 1 Comment »
Posted on January 18, 2010 by Darren
Surrogates is a solid actioner with some great ideas, a recycled plot and an above-average director. In short, it’s quite satisfying for what it is. Perhaps beating Avatar to the punch (and certainly dealing with its core ideas in a much more interesting fashion), it imagines a future where human beings can interact in the real-world much as they interact on line at the moment. Denying genetics or lifestyle, they are able to craft a robotic body double to their own design (skin-colour, age, sex, weight, height) to send out into the world, allowing them to live via uplink. You could live your entire life without ever leaving your bedroom. It isn’t exactly a new idea in science-fiction, but it’s certainly a big idea for an action movie to tackle. Thankfully, it manages very well.
You know it's a messed up future because Bruce Willis has hair...
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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: avatra, bruce willis, james cromwell, jonathon mostow, non-review review, review, science fiction, surrogates, ving rhames | Leave a comment »
Posted on January 15, 2010 by Darren
A whole host of on-line news sources have jumped upon the review of Avatar which appeared in L’Osservatore Romano, the Vatican’s official daily paper – though it’s been somewhat distorted as it filters through the the huge game of Chinese whispers that is the internet. The paper wasn’t exactly thrilled with the movie’s political undertones, but it acknowledged, as we all must, that it was incredibly beautiful. It’s just interesting how the Vatican’s opinions on popular culture – such as the reversal of their position on the paganism of the Harry Potter series, for example – have become an interesting point of discussion and on-line debate over the last year or so.
Look, kids! Priests can be hip, like... Ewan McGregor, right? The kids still like Ewan McGregor, don't they?
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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: avatar, cardinal ratzinger, catholic church, church, Giovanni Maria Vian, L'Osservatore Romano, pope benedict, pope john paul, ratzinger, vatican | Leave a comment »
Posted on January 15, 2010 by Darren
Something’s happening… And it’s happening all over the East Coast… And it’s just happening to people without a reason… And… oh, that’s what’s happening? What the hell was M. Night Shyamalan smoking? Probably some killer grass.
It's a car crash of a movie...
Note: This review contains spoilers. But I’ll flag them beforehand. Still – you have been warned. Oh, and – if you’re looking for a recommendation – the only appeal of the film is in the ‘so bad it’s good’ category. It’s the movie that Lesbian Vampire Killers wishes it were.
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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: ecology, evolution, film, hitchcock, horror, intelligent design, M. Night Shyamalan, mark wahlberg, Movie, non-review review, plants, review, science, the happening | Leave a comment »
Posted on January 14, 2010 by Darren
I like to think that I can appreciate a movie for what it is. I was even able to find something positive to say about The Land of the Lost, for crying out loud! Still, this doesn’t stop Lesbian Vampire Killers from being one of the worst films I’ve seen in quite some time (The Reader and Deception are the only other two movie that stick out so strongly in my mind). Paul McGann is literally the only thing that is anyway half-decent in the film, and – much like his lead role in Doctor Who – he is sucked into the mindless vacuum of crap which surrounds him. Who the hell thought this was a good idea? Really?
Look, Paul McGann, if your religious relics couldn't keep you from getting tied up in this mess, they're probably not going hold off that rampaging sexually-liberated blood-sucker...
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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: hammer, hammer horror, james corbet, lesbian vampire killers, lesbian vampires, matthew horne, Movie, non-review review, paul mcgann, review | 1 Comment »
Posted on January 14, 2010 by Darren
Say what you will about the quality of recent seasons of Family Guy (it does go up and down like a yoyo), the Star Wars specials are an ingenious production. Blue Harvest was a fascinating experiment, and attempt to mount a comic retelling of the classic sci-fi mythos in an animated hour-long cartoon. It was a work of genius which worked far better than one might have expected, given the excesses of the show (some where present in the mini-movie, but they were all certainly toned down). So, when a sequel was announced (albeit two years later), anticipation was high. I am pleased to announce that Something Something Something Darkside is just as good as its predecessor.
Brothers at arms...
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Filed under: Television | Tagged: blue harvest, family guy, parody, something something something something darkside, special, star wars, Television, the empire strikes back | 1 Comment »
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