Posted on June 24, 2009 by Darren
The early reviews for Transformers 2 are in, and the Irish public seem to have more-or-less unanimously spoken (based solely on my own personal experience and those around me). It’s a mindless, stupid, soulless action movie that seems to propel itself forward not by the strength of its plot or by any particular arc, but merely by the force of its explosions. It manages to be dumber than the first film, which (in fairness to it) benefited slightly from a quirky sense of humour. As I sit here an dwell upon the pretty depressing reality that this may be the second biggest hit of the summer – never underestimate Harry Potter – I need to get my mind off that thought. Blockbusters weren’t always this stupid and loud and pointless, were they?
Meet Devastator, he's got the cajones to be a big summer baddy. I wish I were making that up...
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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: blockbusters, Movies, summer movies, transformers 2 | 2 Comments »
Posted on June 24, 2009 by Darren
Well, admitting that there’s a problem is the first step. The Academy announced today that next year (in a return to vintage Hollywood tradition) there would be ten nominees for Best Picture. The shadow of the snub of The Dark Knight looms large in the announcement, and though it isn’t explicitly stated in the statement, several commentators have inferred it. While it’s being pitched as some sort of vintage return to form, it’s hard not to see it as an attempt by the Academy to cast a much wider net when it comes to nominees. I agree with the sentiment, but the jury’s still out on the method.
Looking good for an 81-year-old...
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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: academy awards, AMPAS, films, oscar nominees, Oscars, trinity film review | 5 Comments »
Posted on June 24, 2009 by Darren
I’m kinda excited about The Time Traveler’s Wife. Soppy romantic movies generally don’t reel me in particularly well, but there’s something… romantic about a couple where one of two is shifting back and forth in time (what made Lost‘s The Constant possibly the sweetest hour of television last year). Lest sci-fi-phobes be worried by the notion of a time traveling romance (and why should they – what is the problem people have with science fiction as a genre?), the time traveler in question suffers from a genetic disorder which causes his brain to leap backwards and forwards in time. Because apparently if it doesn’t involve futuristic technology, it isn’t science fiction. Anyway, the story (adapted from a book) reminds me of a similar concept executed on the BBC a few years back.
Clare Abshire wonders how it's possible for her husband to be late...
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Filed under: Movies, Television | Tagged: doctor who, film, madame du pompadour, stephen moffat, The Girl in The Fireplace, The Time Traveler's Wife | Leave a comment »
Posted on June 23, 2009 by Darren
It’s a news story that’s got a fair bit of coverage all over the shop, but I thought I’d simply put it up here.
Pixar got a phonecall from the family of ten year old Colby Curtin, a child dying of cancer. Colby was a huge fan of the studio’s work to date, and had told her mother that she’d hang on in to see their latest film, Up. The family had planned to take her to the cinema, but she took a turn for the worse before the release. Apparently the family didn’t even know anyone at the company, they’d just made the call when it became clear Colby would not be able to see the film in cinemas. Pixar sent out the film to her house for a private screening. Apparently Colby was impressed with the result. Having seen the movie, she died later that night.
A still from Pixar's Up
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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: cinema, colby curtin, Movies, pixar, up | 2 Comments »
Posted on June 23, 2009 by Darren
I saw The Hangover last weekend, and it occurs to me: has there ever been a truly great Las Vegas movie? A movie (or even a show) that fully captures the feeling of living in a city that glows with neon glare twenty-four hours a day? I can name at least a dozen movies using Vegas as a backdrop: there’s the obvious ones like Viva Las Vegas, Leaving Las Vegas, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and maybe even Casino. Then there are the smaller films like Jon Favreau’s Swingers or The Cooler which are set in the city. I’m not sure that the film has received definitive treatment on film.
Bright light city gonna set my soul on fire...
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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: cities on film, film, las vegas, las vegas on film, Movies, the hangover | Leave a comment »
Posted on June 23, 2009 by Darren
Damn you, Billy Joel! No I’m stuck humming Leningrad! (Cold War kids are hard to kill, under their desks in an air raid drill!)
Anyway, it looks to be a relatively quiet week, cinema-wise. The calm before the proverbial storm when Transformers 2 arrives at the American Box Office. Us Europeans got it first and trust us – it ain’t that great. The real movie we’re looking forward to next weekend is Michael Mann’s Public Enemies. The king of crime dramas working with both Johnny Depp and Christian Bale on one of the most compelling true-crime stories in American popular history – what’s not to like? We’d tell you, but Universal is taking down all those early reviews, so we best be careful. I guarantee half the people reading this post will be lawyers from Universal.
Universal have a novel approach for dealing with reviewers breaking the embargo...
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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: christian bale, embargo, johnny depp, michael mann public enemies, public enemies review, review, review embargo, universal | 6 Comments »
Posted on June 22, 2009 by Darren
A deleted scene from Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction suggests that there are two kinds of people: there are Elvis people and there a Beatles people. Sure, you can like both, but you’ll always like one better than the other. With my Looney Tunes: Golden Collection boxsets having arrived in the door last week, I’d like to add a collary: there are two kinds of people in the world, there are Bugs Bunny people and there are Daffy Duck people. Which are you?
Choose wisely...
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Filed under: Opinion | Tagged: bugs bunny, daffy duck, DVD, looney tunes, looney tunes: golden collection | Leave a comment »
Posted on June 20, 2009 by Darren
We caught a late screening of The Hangover at Cineworld last night – which started ten minutes late and had twenty minutes of trailers attachmed (most of which were for movies that didn’t look particularly interesting), which led to us missing our rides home by about five minutes, but that’s a different rant. Still, it was kinda total worth it – like the eponymous hangover itself.
Three Men and a Baby it is not...
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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: bradley cooper, Ed Helms, film, las vegas, mike tyson, Movies, non-review review, review, the hangover, Zach Galifianakis | 5 Comments »
Posted on June 19, 2009 by Darren
Well, if Hollywood is going to aggressively continue its campaign of remakes in a 3D era, I suppose there are worse genres to resurrect than the old “Universal Monster Movie” horror sub-genre. We really should have seen this coming with the impending release of The Wolf Man later in the year, but there are confirmed remakes of The Bride of Frankenstein and The Creature from the Black Lagoon in the works. It seems that Hollywood is as keen to cannibalise its trashy glories as it is to remake its celluloid classics.
Something fishy's going on...
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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: bride of frankenstein, creature from the black lagoon, dracula, films, frankenstein, hollywood, monster movies, Movies, remakes, The Wolf Man, universal monster movies, wolfman | 4 Comments »
Posted on June 18, 2009 by Darren
Rumours are already circulating that Christopher Nolan may be calling it a day when it comes to his Batman franchise. Anonymous insiders – don’t you love ’em – are claiming the director has reached breaking point with the studio. Rumour has it that they want to recast The Joker and include him in the sequel, whereas Nolan is against the idea. It’s far too early to really start worrying about it – Nolan was initially reluctant to do a sequel to Batman Begins, for example. But, still, it’s a slow news day, so we’ll ponder it: What happens if Nolan doesn’t return?
There's no man like Nolan
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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: batman, Batman 3, Christopher Nolan, dark knight returns, david s. goyer, heath ledger, joker, The Dark Knight, the dark knight sequel, Warner Brothers, zach snyder | 4 Comments »
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