arts | the m0vie blog

Non-Review Review: Quartet

Posted on December 22, 2012 by Darren

Quartet is an entertaining light comedy, and a solid directorial début from Dustin Hoffman. The film itself isn’t too surprising or demanding, but – as The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel demonstrated earlier in the year – there is something to be said for putting a bunch of older actors together in a room and letting them remind you what they can do. Quartet is a fairly standard “life doesn’t end at retirment” film, and one that makes smart use of a talented ensemble cast. Indeed, as the credits roll, we’re reminded of just how talented as Hoffman introduces us to each of the performers – many of whom have long and impressive careers in theatre or music.

There’s nothing here that will surprise anybody, but it is occasionally nice to be reminded just how superb some of the older generation of actors can be.

… in with the old…

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: arts, Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, Billy Connolly, dustinhoffman, film, Hoffman, Maggie Smith, michael gambon, Movie, non-review review, Pauline Collins, Quartet, r eview, review, Tom Courtenay, Tom Courtney | Leave a comment »

Winners of the 2012 International On-Line Film Critics’ Poll

Posted on December 21, 2012 by Darren

The International On-Line Film Critics’ Poll has just published the winners of their 2012 poll. I was honoured to take part, and I was very glad with most of the results. You can read the nominations here, but the winners are listed below. The superb Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy was the biggest winner – winning Best Film, placing on the Top Ten Films, taking home Best Director, securing Best Actor for a very deserving Gary Oldman, along with Best Cast and Best Adapted Screenplay to boot. A host of other wonderful films (including The Master) did very well as well.

Results after the jump.

Looks like we’re all Smiley’s people…

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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: Academy Award, Academy Award for Best Writing (Adapted Screenplay), arts, awards, Dark Knight Rises, Eric Fellner, European Film Awards, gary oldman, Movie, Peter Straughan, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, tom hardy, United States | Leave a comment »

Star Trek: The Next Generation – Symbiosis (Review)

Posted on December 21, 2012 by Darren

To celebrate the twenty-fifth anniversary of Star Trek: The Next Generation, and also next year’s release of Star Trek: Into Darkness, I’m taking a look at the recent blu ray release of the first season, episode-by-episode. Check back daily for the latest review.

After Arsenal of Freedom, I was wary of Symbiosis. Star Trek has always liked exploring socially and morally relevant ideas through the vehicle of science-fiction. I can understand the appeal of it – science-fiction allows us to divorce basic arguments for all manner of clouding context and to address them in the purest or terms. I think Star Trek is at its most powerful exploring these themes (as The Next Generation would do in episodes like The Outcast), but there’s a risk involved. Nobody wants to be lectured about a simplistic moral principle for forty-minutes, and nobody wants to see a complex issue boiled down past all recognition.

So it’s pretty nice that Symbiosis works quite well. The show is a bit bumpy in places, but it does a lot of things well enough that it’s an entertaining watch. Indeed, it feels like the kind of episode we should have seen a lot earlier in the year.

Star gazing…

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Filed under: The Next Generation | Tagged: Arsenal of Freedom, arts, Beverly Crusher, Data, Denise Crosby, Earth, Federation, Orbit, patrick stewart, Photosphere, picard, Prime Directive, star trek, Star Trek Next Generation, star trek: the original series, Sun, Symbiosis, Television, Wesley, Wesley Crusher, Will Wheaton | 6 Comments »

12 Movie Moments of 2012: September (Intouchables)

Posted on December 21, 2012 by Darren

As well as counting down the top twelve films, I’m also going to count down my top twelve movie related “moments” of 2012. The term “moment” is elastic, so expect some crazy nonsense here. And, as usual, I accept that my taste is completely absurd, so I fully expect you to disagree. With that in mind, this is #11…

Apparently there was a great deal of upset when Intouchables was chosen ahead of Rust and Bone as France’s Oscar nominee this year. While I’d argue that any film that restricts nominations to one-per-country is a little bit daft (even if I can understand the practical concerns), I can’t help but feel like France made the right choice here. The Intouchables is a superb piece of feel-good cinema that works much better than one might expect. Even my inner cynic was convinced. And I was convinced, conveniently enough, by the opening sequence, which features a joy ride to the sound of September by Earth, Wind and Fire.

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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: Academy Award, arts, Bone, Driss, Earth Wind & Fire, france, Intouchables, Ludovico Einaudi, Movies, oscar, paris, Philippe, Rust | 2 Comments »

12 Movie Moments of 2012: We Built This City (Rock of Ages)

Posted on December 20, 2012 by Darren

Rock of Ages was not a terrible film. It was also not a great one. It had a lot of fundamental problems holding it back from any sort of consistent. The film didn’t seem to know quite when it was camping it up to eleven, when it was taking itself too seriously, or when it was approaching near-critical levels of irony.

Except…

When the cast broken into a medley of We Built This City and We’re Not Gonna Take It. It’s the only point in the film when it seemed like everybody involved grasped the ridiculous irony of basing a jukebox musical around the concept of rock ‘n’ roll’s refusal to sell out. Most of Rock of Ages was silly, enjoyable, hypocritical nonsense. With We Built This City, for about a minute, Rock of Ages seemed just a little bit smarter than the rest of the film might have you believe.

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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: Adam Shankman, arts, Dee Snider, Diego Boneta, Hairspray, Jefferson Starship, Julianne Hough, Parents Music Resource Center, rock of ages, russell brand, Tipper Gore, tom cruise, Twisted Sister, We Built This City | 4 Comments »

My 12 for ’12: The Raid (Redemption) & An Action Aesthetic…

Posted on December 20, 2012 by Darren

I’m counting down my top twelve films of the year between now and January, starting at #12 and heading to #1. I expect the list to be a little bit predictable, a little bit surprising, a little bit of everything. All films released in the UK and Ireland in 2012 qualify. Sound off below, and let me know if I’m on the money, or if I’m completely off the radar. And let me know your own picks or recommendations.

This is #12…

It’s a bit of a stereotype that critics don’t like action movies. It’s one of those handy clichés that gets trotted around whenever some mega-blockbuster brings in a ridiculously large number at the box office after a thrashing from the pundits. I can’t speak for the critics, of course, but I can tell you that the reason I disliked The Bourne Legacy or Transformers 3: Dark of the Moon had nothing to do with an innate dislike of action movies as a genre. I’m a big fan of action movies. However, like any other genre, an action movie needs to be done right.

The Raid does an action movie right.

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Filed under: On Second Thought | Tagged: Action film, arts, casino royale, crouching tiger hidden dragon, Evans, film, Film Festivals, games, Gareth Evans, Hobbit, Hunger Games, Iko Uwais, jameson dublin international film festival, Lykke Li, martial arts, Movie, Raid, Sports, SWAT, the simpsons, tomorrow never dies, United States | 9 Comments »

Star Trek: The Next Generation – Coming of Age (Review)

Posted on December 18, 2012 by Darren

Coming of Age is interesting, if only because it is one of those rare instances where an episode’s B-story is far more compelling and interesting than the primary drama unfolding. Coming of Age is apparently about Wesley’s entrance examination to Starfleet Academy, which seems to have quite high standards for an organisation that let Riker and Yar into its ranks, but that teenage academic story feels a little trite and cliché.

Far more interesting, however, is the strange investigation conducted into the crew of the Enterprise at the behest of Admiral Gregory Quinn, who makes a dramatic impression by suggesting to Picard, “I have reason to believe there may be something very wrong on this ship.”

Evidently he has been watching the first season as well.

Picard off-guard…

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Filed under: The Next Generation | Tagged: arts, Battle, Deanna Troi, Denise Crosby, Ferengi, Gates McFadden, Geordi La Forge, jean-luc picard, Next Generation, Oliana, picard, star trek, Star Trek Next Generation, Starfleet, Starfleet Academy, Starfleet ranks and insignia, Television, Tracy Tormé, Wesley, Wesley Crusher, Wil Wheaton, William Riker, Worf | Leave a comment »

The Spirit Archives, Vol. 17 (Review/Retrospective)

Posted on December 17, 2012 by Darren

The Spirit Archives, Volume 17 contains perhaps the best-loved Spirit story of all time. Indeed, you could make a compelling argument that The Story of Gerhard Schnobble represents perhaps the best seven pages that Will Eisner ever produced, beautifully encapsulating all the magic of the creator’s work, tempered with the same awareness of the harsh realities of life. This collection continues to offer The Spirit at the peak of its run, and The Story of Gerhard Schnobble simply sees all these elements that have been working so consistently for so long coalescing into something that is practically transcendental.

Beginning with a bang…

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Filed under: Comics | Tagged: Ambrose Bierce, arts, Damned Thing, Dolan, Ebony, Edgar Allan Poe, Eisner, Good Will Hunting, House of Usher, London, new york, Princess & The Frog, Spirit, The Spirit Archives: Volume 12, United States, Will Eisner, world war ii | Leave a comment »

The Spirit Archives, Vol. 14 (Review/Retrospective)

Posted on December 14, 2012 by Darren

The Spirit Archives, Vol. 14 finds Will Eisner back in full swing. The Spirit is truly firing on all cylinders, after taking about a year just to get everything lined up after the creator returned from military service. The success of this volume isn’t so much that Eisner is doing anything especially new or innovative. Rather, it seems like The Spirit has made a note of the aspects of the strip that work and has decided to concentrate on those stronger elements. This six-month stretch on newspaper strips doesn’t necessarily contain a record-breaking number of stand-out stories, but there are far fewer duds that we’ve seen before. There’s still a couple of Ebony-centred stories, but they’re few and far between. The other annoying kid sidekicks are mostly demoted to black-and-white one-line “P.S.” strips at the bottom of the page, and don’t intrude on the narrative.

The Spirit Archives, Vol. 14 isn’t so much about doing things better, as doing them more consistently.

Getting into the Spirit of things…

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Filed under: Comics | Tagged: art, arts, balkans, Bastille, Bastille Day, Blackmail, comic strip, Comics, crime, Derek Dooley, Eisner, fiction, Harry Truman, J. Robert Oppenheimer, Jules Feiffer, Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, Manhattan Project, Nuclear weapon, Online Writing, Spirit, Spirit (comics), The Spirit: Femmes Fatale, United States, Will Eisner, world war ii | Leave a comment »

The Spirit Archives, Vol. 11 (Review/Retrospective)

Posted on December 11, 2012 by Darren

I have to admit that I feel a bit guilty for glossing over the World War II era of The Spirit. The era tends to get ignored because Will Eisner effectively handed over control of the strip to a variety of writers and artists while serving in the Armed Forces. The talent involved professionals like Jack Cole and Lou Fine, so it’s hardly as if it was neglected. Still, without Eisner’s passion driving the strip, it seemed to lose its way slightly. The aesthetic shifted even further the longer Eisner was away. Fans skipping from the first collection of post-Eisner work (The Spirit Archives, Vol. 5) to the work included here will see a radical change in style. While there was still a strong influence from Eisner, the comic simply didn’t look right. However, the differences extended deeper as well. On some primal level, The Spirit of the World War II era didn’t really feel right either.