Posted on March 4, 2011 by Darren
I was just remarking how much I love cinema – how much I am predisposed to like a film – and I got thinking, why are we so harsh on big budget Hollywood films? Don’t get me wrong, the studio system produces its fair share of crap, but it seems to be the target of choice for any person looking to decry the death of modern culture. We’re assured, virtually everywhere, that the blockbuster is meant to be a cheap, disposable form of entertainment – and that it’s simply a “guilty pleasure”, if at all. I’ve noticed this trend quite a bit of late, as this is the time of the year that movie geeks look ahead to the summer season and realise… seemingly to their horror (though it can’t possibly be to their surprise)… that the summer is filled with big-budget mainstream blockbusters from wall-to-wall. Ignoring the fact that Hollywood’s annual cycle is highly predictable these days (save only the emerge of what I like to call “quirky March” in recent years), why is the arrival of the summer fare universally treated as a bad thing?
Swimming with sharks...
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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: Academy Award, Academy Award for Best Picture, arts, blockbuster, Blockbuster Inc., blockbuster movies, blockbusters, film, hollywood, jameson dublin international film festival, King's Speech, Movie | 2 Comments »
Posted on February 28, 2011 by Darren
This film was seen as part of the Jameson Dublin International Film Festival.
Incendies looks absolutely beautiful. The cinematography on show is absolutely stunning. It’s a powerful exploration of the religious divide in Lebanon, and it packs quite a lot of punch. However, as a film, it never really works. It’s structure seems almost illogical, with information often being repeated or rendered redundant, and it works on a series of awkwardly-contrived coincidences which strain the viewer’s credibility (which is especially glaring when the film plays off real-life atrocities). It seems far too assured of its own merits, and could have done with some serious revision before release.
Scorched earth...
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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: Academy Award, Denis Villeneuve, Dennis Velleneuve, film, hollywood, Incendies, lebanon, Lubna Azabal, Lubna Azabel, Maxim Gaudette, Mélissa Désormeaux-Poulin, non-review review, review, Wajdi Mouawad | 5 Comments »
Posted on February 23, 2011 by Darren
The wonderful folks over at Ross v. Ross asked me to contribute a very special edition of Film Fight Club, going over the ten Best Picture nominees. I stood in the corner for The Fighter, Marky Mark and what is left of Christian Bale. You can pick up a copy in the morning, or check it out here.
I got this guy in my corner...
UPDATE: Guess what just got put on the IMDb Hitlist? If you guessed Robert Rodriguez’s shoe ad, you guessed correctly, but that’s beside the point. Yep, we’re up there. Thanks to everyone for inviting me to take part, and it was a pleasure to cover the race with a bunch as witty, clever and insightful as that selection.
Filed under: Movies | Tagged: Academy Award, Academy Award for Best Picture, christian bale, david fincher, Fighter, King's Speech, mark wahlberg, Melissa Leo | 2 Comments »
Posted on February 22, 2011 by Darren
The fact that no woman was nominated for Best Director (after Kathryn Bigelow became the first female to win last year) has caused a stir at this year’s Oscars. I’m not an excessively politically correct individual (just read the blog), but I like to think I’m sensitive to issues like that. Presumably the presumptive female directing nominees would have been either Debra Granik for Winter’s Bone or Lisa Cholodenko for The Kids Are All Right, and – to be honest – I don’t think either was better than any of the five existing nominees. The continued snubbing of Christopher Nolan bothers me far more.
As I thought about the complaint more and more, part of me wondered when the gender of an individual becomes important for awards like this – my gut feeling is “never.” The best is the best, why should we handicap or install quotas? Except for the fact that we do have gender quotas for certain awards. This train of thought led me wonder why we still have a Best Actress and a Best Supporting Actress category… And, to cut a long story short, I really couldn’t think of a good reason.
Are we kidding ourselves?
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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: Academy Award, Academy Award for Best Actor, academy award for best actress, Academy Award for Best Picture, actor, actress, Christopher Nolan, Clint Eastwood, female actor, gender, Kathryn Bigelow, Los Angeles Times, nelson mandela, sexism, sexist | 18 Comments »
Posted on February 21, 2011 by Darren
You know what? At this stage I’ve seen nine of the ten Best Picture nominees this year, and I’m quite happy. There isn’t a stinker amongst them, and all I’m short is 127 Hours (maybe this weekend, before the ceremony). And yet, despite being happier with the field than I have been in quite a while, I have to admit I’ve grown somewhat tired of the Oscars this year. Usually there’s some element of surprise, but everything this year seems so sown up that there’s really no energy left in the race. One need only look at the overwhelming consensus at Awards Daily to get a feeling for how stale the race is. Admittedly there’s generally a frontrunner or two, but this year it seems that most of the major awards might as well be handed out before the ceremony begins (just to make things more efficient).
You'd have to be trapped under a rock not to see the way this race is going...
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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: Academy Award, academy award for best director, Academy Award for Best Film Editing, Academy Award for Best Picture, Academy Award for Best Writing (Original Screenplay), academy awards, david fincher, films, King's Speech, Million Dollar Baby, Movies, Oscars | 9 Comments »
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 »
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 »
Posted on February 7, 2011 by Darren
The Fighter comes from a long line of Oscar-friendly boxing films. From Rocky through to The Cinderella Man to Raging Bull and beyond, filmmakers seem to see something poetic in the boxer. A figure in the ring, usually from a disadvantaged background, fighting because it’s the only thing that they know what to do. There’s a noble simplicity to the sport, a brutal honest that one seldom finds in football (American or otherwise), basketball or baseball. There’s always something touching about watching a protagonist beat the odds, and boxing films thrive on the literal nature of their conflict. I can’t say that The Fighter adds anything new to the long established “Oscar boxing film”, but it does have one advantage: the sheer volume of talent in its corner.
How does it measure up?
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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: Academy Award, christian bale, David O. Russell, Fighter, film, Homer Simpson, mark wahlberg, Melissa Leo, Micky Ward, Movie, non-review review, review, Rocky Balboa | Leave a comment »
Posted on February 3, 2011 by Darren
Is this some sort of white guilt thing?
– anonymous female friend #1
The fundamental problem with The Blind Side is that it takes Michael Oher’s struggle to overcome everything stacked against him, and makes it abundantly clear that the real hero of the story is Leigh Anne Touhy, the rich and privileged white woman who took him in. In fact, the sports legend ends up playing a supporting character in his own damn biopic.
The trouble with this story is in the telling...
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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: Academy Award, Big Mike, Blind Side, film, Leigh Anne Tuohy, Michael Oher, Movie, non-review review, oscar, Quinton Aaron, review, sandra bullock, the blind side, Woody Allen | 5 Comments »
Posted on February 2, 2011 by Darren
This is a bit of a belated reaction to the Oscar nominations announced last Tuesday. Going in, I was pretty much agreed with the general consensus – in fact, the only prediction I really bothered to make was that Christopher Nolan would be snubbed in the Best Director category… again. A lot of people were surprised that he was omitted, but I really wasn’t – the Academy has made some cosmetic changes, but there’s still that sense of elitism which excludes the director of “common” blockbusters. Anyway, perhaps it’s because I predicted it, but I’m actually fairly okay with the list of nominees this year. When the one snub is the snub you see coming, there’s really not too much to complain about.
Leo won't be strutting to the Oscars this year...
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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: Academy Award, academy award for best director, Academy Award for Best Picture, Blind Side, Christopher Nolan, Darren Aronofsky, Inception, oscar nominations, Oscars, Wrestler | 2 Comments »
the m0vie blog 