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Short Stories 2011: The Pit

Posted on August 30, 2011 by Darren

Ronan from Swear I’m Not Paul (he’s not) sent on the final instalment in the Relentless Short Films competition, and I’ve enjoyed the other entries so far, so I thought I’d share this last video with you. It’s an interesting look at the world of crowd surfing, and you can see it below.

For more details of the Relentless Short Films competition, click here.

Filed under: Movies | Tagged: art, Crowd surfing, Filmmaking, Jeff Gordon, Moshing, Movies, Relentless Short Stories, Shaw Conference Centre, Short film, The Pit | Leave a comment »

Thoughts on Documentaries and Objectivity…

Posted on August 23, 2011 by Darren

I caught The King of Kong at the weekend and I really enjoyed. It’s a fantastic underdog tale set in a fascinating subculture that really deserves to be seen. However, the movie was beset by claims after the fact that it had been somewhat unfair to Billy Mitchell, the reigning Donkey Kong champion who found himself cast in the role of villain. While fictional movies take liberties with their characters all the time, I can’t help but wonder what sort of standard should apply to documentaries. They obviously require some basis in fact, but to what extent is possible to be entirely fair and objective in bringing any subject to screen?

Something to chew on...

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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: art, Billy Mitchell, documentaries, Documentary film, Donkey Kong, film, Filmmaking, Michael Moore, Movies, Werner Herzog | 12 Comments »

Let’s be Franco: Actors Who Don’t Like the Interview Circuit…

Posted on August 18, 2011 by Darren

I actually don’t feel strongly one way or the other about James Franco. I do kinda like that he was willing to experiment a bit by appearing as “Franco the performance artist” on General Hospital, respect the fact that he doesn’t care too much about his image to appear in films like Pineapple Express and Your Highness, but I also feel a little frustrated when I see how incredibly bored he seemed hosting the Oscars. There’s been a bit of on-line discussion about Franco’s public persona, and his perceived lack of interest in his own projects or in giving interviews, to the point where the actor has found himself being compared to Harrison Ford, one of the more notoriously difficult celebrity interviewees. However, despite all that, I find myself having quite a bit of sympathy for actors clearly not comfortable with dealing with the press circuit.

Going to great lengths to get away from it all...

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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: actors, art, Days of Our Lives, film, harrison ford, interviews, James Franco, mark wahlberg, multimedia, personality, Pineapple Express, press junkets, privacy, ryan reynolds, Your Highness | 2 Comments »

Marvels by Kurt Busiek & Alex Ross (Review)

Posted on July 27, 2011 by Darren

In celebration of the 4th of July and the release of Captain America: The First Avenger this month, we’re jumping into Marvel’s comic book alternate history and taking a look at the star-spangled avenger every Wednesday this month.

I think it’s safe to say that Marvels, the four issue miniseries from Marvel released during the nineties revolutionised the industry. An attempt to create something akin to a social history of the Marvel Universe from the perspective of “everyman” reporter Phil Sheldon charted the course of history in the fictional Marvel Universe from its humble beginnings in the adventures of the Human Torch and the Submariner through to the death of Gwen Stacey, wondering what ideas and themes could be derived from the evolution of this world populated with the magnificent and the ridiculous, the epic and embarrassing, the big and the small.

Something stuck about this miniseries...

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Filed under: Comics | Tagged: alex ross, art, Comics, dark knight returns, dc comic, dc comics, Human Torch, marvel, marvel comics, marvel universe, Marvels, wally west | Leave a comment »

Can a Good Film Be Too Long?

Posted on June 30, 2011 by Darren

Man, I watched Apocalypse Now Redux last weekend, and my butt is still a little bit numb. Clocking in at well over three hours, I couldn’t help but find my attention wandering, despite the fact that I was deeply interested in the story unfolding in front of me. Terrence Malick’s Tree of Life, which I am very much looking forward to, hasn’t opened over here yet, but there are already rumours circulating at a cut of the movie over six hours long. As much as I want to see the film, and as much of the director’s vision as I might want to take in, I can’t help but feel that 360+ minutes might just be too long for a single sitting.

You could nearly grow a tree during the length of Malick's proposed six-hour cut...

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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: art, arts, Blu-ray Disc, brad pitt, butt numb, dark knight, david lynch, DVD, film, film length, film runtime, Filmmaking, films, length of a film, Movie, Movies, runtime, Terrence Malick, Tree of Life | 9 Comments »

Non-Review Review: The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen

Posted on June 30, 2011 by Darren

The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen is a wasted opportunity. The superb graphic novels by Alan Moore are among the best that comics have to offer, and even the basic concept of picking a variety of public domain character to base an action adventure around has a sort of pulpy thrill to it. It could have been a very witty and a very clever film, or it could have just been an effective big-budget blockbuster. In the end, unfortunately, the film is neither – it ends up feeling more like a waste of effort for all involved.

I feel like shredding this film...

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: alan moore, art, British Empire, Captain Nemo, films, league of extraordinary gentlemen, meta-fiction, Mina Harker, Mister Hyde, Movies, non-review review, review, Tony Curran | 2 Comments »

Non-Review Review: How To Train Your Dragon

Posted on June 2, 2011 by Darren

How To Train Your Dragon is, at its core, the story of a boy and his dog. Except his dog happens to be a dragon. It is a well-cast, well-made and well-written little film that actually manages to have a lot more emotional depth than the majority of Dreamworks films, even if it doesn’t quite approach the wonderful sophistication that Pixar manage to produce about once a year. It’s big, it’s bold and it’s fun – a wonderfully crafted piece of family entertainment.

An all-time high for Dreamworks?

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: animation, art, cgi, david tennant, Dragon, dragons, dreamworks, film, films, gerard butler, How to Train Your Dragon, Jay Baruchel, Movies, non-review review, review, toothless, Viking, Vikings | Leave a comment »

Short Stories 2011: All In

Posted on May 17, 2011 by Darren

Last month, Ronan from Swear I’m Not Paul (he’s not) asked me to share a short film about Frank Turner with you. This month, he’s back with another little gem, All In, looking at the world of urban skateboarding. Check it out here or embedded below.

Filed under: Movies | Tagged: art, film, Film festival, Filmmaking, Frank Turner, Movie, Paul, Short film | 2 Comments »

The Sequel Myth and the Death of Originality in Hollywood…

Posted on May 12, 2011 by Darren

It seems that every other day somebody is taking the opportunity be bemoan Hollywood’s creative bankruptcy. The decision not to press ahead with Del Toro’s version of The Mountains of Madness sparked a similar debate a little while ago, and the success of films like The Fast & The Furious Five seem to be raising the topic once again as we enter summer. It’s become something of a mantra for film fans, quietly chanted and repeated, something that we can use to continually bash the studios over the heads with. And, truth be told, I’m tired of it.

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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: art, arts, Big Mommas: Like Father Like Son, blade runner, fast & furious, Fast Five, film, harry potter, hollywood, Movie, Movies, Plan 9 from Outer Space, raiders of the lost ark, review, sequel, Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back, The Godfather Part II, Vin Diesel | 4 Comments »

Short Stories 2011: Frank Turner

Posted on April 8, 2011 by Darren

Ronan from Swear I’m Not Paul asked me to pass this on. It’s a short film documenting life on The Road with Frank Turner, as the songwriter shares his own thoughts on his life’s journey, as filmed by James Henry. It’s an understated yet powerful little piece and well worth a look just for the honesty of Turner and the wonderfully sparse black-and-white photography from Henry.