arts | the m0vie blog

Meme of the Moment: Honest Trailer for The Avengers

Posted on September 28, 2012 by Darren

Readers will know that I’m a big fan of geeky stuff. So I thought I’d pass this on. It’s Screen Junkies’ surprisingly reflective commentary on The Avengers, which opened up 2012’s blockbuster season with a bang. While I enjoyed it, I wasn’t as much of a fan of it as most, and a lot of the reasons are covered in the trailer. (In particular, the fact it completely invalidates the ending to Thor, the fact that Loki has no motivation for what he’s doing, and the contrivance of his plan to bring together the only people who could beat him.) It doesn’t quite cover the somewhat thematic and structural problems raised by Nick Fury, which the film alludes to, but never addresses – but it’s all in good fun. And well worth a look.

Although, to be honest, gentle tongue-in-cheek ribbing aside, I think I’m still in the minority in not quite loving The Avengers as much as everybody else. Again, not hating or disliking, but just not liking as much.

Filed under: Movies | Tagged: arts, Avenger, IronMan, joss whedon, loki, nick fury, Television, thor | 2 Comments »

A Little Gold Man, Far Away: Oscar Season as a Spectator Sport…

Posted on September 26, 2012 by Darren

In case you hadn’t realised, Oscar season is in full swing. We’ve already had the Toronto International Film Festival. There’s already a front-runner in the form of The Master. The seemingly obligatory voting controversy has already been reported upon. Newspapers and on-line film websites are already launching their coverage of a race that won’t be over for another five months, despite the fact that many would argue the race probably already has a winner. And that discounts those websites already set up specifically for the race, which are (understandably) kicking into overdrive.

And I… find myself having difficulty mustering too much enthusiasm about it.

The show goes on…

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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: Academy Award, Academy Award for Best Picture, arts, Film Festivals, Joaquin Phoenix, John Hawkes, Martha Marcy May Marlene, Master, Movies, oscar, Oscar season, Scientology, toronto international film festival, United States | 9 Comments »

Tall Tales from a Lincoln Test Screening: Critiquing the Critics…

Posted on September 24, 2012 by Darren

Apparently there was a test screening of Lincoln in New Jersey. I know this because the film media has gone absolutely wild over it. What’s astonishing about this coverage is the fact that it’s less about how rare it is to test Spielberg movies (Hook was the last one tested, and we know how that turned out), but more about the perceived responses to audience comments coming from that screening. Critics and pundits were quick to dismiss audience members speaking out as “anonymous jackasses” or to question their critical faculties…

Which all seems a bit much, doesn’t it?

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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: Adam Berg, Anne Thompson, arts, david cronenberg, Ehren Kruger, film, film criticism, indieWire, Movie, New Jersey, rotten tomatoes, steven spielberg, Videodrome | 4 Comments »

Watch! Live Singing in Les Misérables…

Posted on September 24, 2012 by Darren

Universal Pictures Ireland just sent over this behind-the-scenes look at Tom Hooper’s Les Misérables. The film is opening here in January 2013, and I’m actually quite curious to see how it pans out. We’ve had juke box musicals, and modern movies like The Muppets incorporating songs, but there really haven’t been too many legitimate old-school-style musicals in the past number of years. Even Sweeney Todd seemed remarkably subversive. I’m fascinated with this attempt to play the genre straight, because I don’t think I’ve ever seen a musical in a cinema. I can’t remember a large-scale musical like this, with a lot of pundits suggesting the genre has been relegated to history.

I actually find this snippet quite insightful, because I would have assumed – for purely practical purposes – the film would have been shot with actors recording the songs separately to filming the scenes. It also illustrates just how skilfully Hooper has put all this together – even offering an off-hand reference to a tune from the musical, Hugh Jackman has a fantastic singing voice. Anyway, check it out below.

Filed under: Movies | Tagged: Amanda Seyfried, anne hathaway, arts, Eddie Redmayne, Hooper, hugh jackman, Les Misérables, russell crowe, Tom Hooper, universal studios | 2 Comments »

Clip for Pitch Perfect…

Posted on September 19, 2012 by Darren

Pitch Perfect was the first mystery film at Movie Fest, and it was actually a surprising treat. A fairly conventional coming of age story, filtered through a charming and astute wit, it’s a movie that makes the best of a great cast and a strong script. It’s well worth a look when it gets a release over here, at the end of October. In the mean time, Universal Pictures Ireland just sent over this clip from the film. Have a look.

Filed under: Movies | Tagged: Anna Kendrick, arts, Brittany Snow, elizabeth banks, Jason Moore, Movie, nodes, Pitch Perfect, Rebel Wilson, Universal Studio | Leave a comment »

Non-Review Review: Untouchable (Intouchables)

Posted on September 17, 2012 by Darren

Untouchable is that rare gem. It’s a sweet, life-affirming story that never overplays its hand. It never devolves into cheap melodrama, as stories like this tend to. The story of two people from two very different walks of life coming together and learning from one another is a well-travelled plot-device, but there’s a strong heart at the centre of Olivier Nakache & Eric Toledano’s comedy drama. It has soul, it has rhythm, and it refuses to wallow in tragedy or angst as it follows the unlikely relationship between a wealthy paraplegic and a street-smart welfare recipient.

Joy ride!

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: arts, Driss, Dunkirk, Eric Toledano, fiction, film, François Cluzet, france, Ludovico Einaudi, non-review review, Olivier Nakache, Online Writing, paris, Philippe, Plot device, review, Short Stories, Untouchable | Leave a comment »

Non-Review Review: The House of Flying Daggers

Posted on September 17, 2012 by Darren

Yimou Zhang’s House of Flying Daggers is a wonderful visual and auditory experience. It’s a sumptuous feast for the eyes and the ears, a truly beautiful piece of film that really needs to seen to be fully appreciated. While its plots and characters aren’t quite as rich as the wonderfully saturated surroundings, House of Flying Daggers remains a film that really seems to bask in light and colour, almost soaking in those elements, with each frame seeming like a stunning work of art.

Bamboozled?

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: arts, Arts and Entertainment, Blade & Soul, cgi, China, crouching tiger hidden dragon, film, House of Flying Daggers, Movie, Movies, NCsoft, non-review review, Raise the Red Lantern, review, Shopping, Siu-Tung Ching, South Korea, Tang Dynasty, Yimou Zhang, Zhang, Zhang Ziyi, Zhao Xiaoding | Leave a comment »

Non-Review Review: Stitches

Posted on September 14, 2012 by Darren

This movie was seen as part of Movie Fest, which was as much of a joy this year as it was last year. If not moreso.

Stitches is an interesting little Irish film. Featuring an interesting set up to parody the conventions of the supernatural slasher film, the movie finds itself falling prey to them just a little bit too often. Irish writer and director Conor McMahon creates a credible gory teenage bloodbath, but doesn’t really find a narrative hook to engage the audience. Never entirely sure how ironic it is trying to be, Stitches is a solid effort, albeit one far from greatness.

Not clowning around…

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: art, arts, Cinema of Ireland, Clown, Conor McMahon, Cross-stitch, film, grabber, Horror film, irish, John Wayne Gacy, Movie, nightmare on elm street, non-review review, Performers, Performing Arts, Recreation, review, Ross Noble, Sewing, Slasher film, Stitch, Stitches, United States | Leave a comment »

Non-Review Review: Hit & Run

Posted on September 13, 2012 by Darren

This movie was seen as part of Movie Fest, which was as much of a joy this year as it was last year. If not moreso.

Hit & Run is just a mess. It is, like its protagonists, all over the map. It never seems to be entirely sure of what it wants to be. Is it a high-speed comedy, a road-trip adventure, or a romantic comedy about an unconventional couple? There are moments when the film seems to work, on the verge of coming together, but there are also moments where it misses the mark completely. The problem is that Dax Shepard is not quite as versatile as Dax Shepard seems to think that he is.

Tres Bell?

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: arts, Beau Bridges, bradley cooper, Charles Bronson, comedy, David Koechner, Dax Shepard, film, Gay Lesbian and Bisexual, history, hit & run, hit and run, kristen bell, los angeles, Memorials, Michael Rosenbaum, Movie, movie fest, non-review review, Performing Arts, Recreation, review, Romantic comedy film, Shepard, Tom Arnold, United States, Zac Efron | Leave a comment »

Superman: The Animated Series – The Demon Reborn (Review)

Posted on September 13, 2012 by Darren

This September marks the twentieth anniversary of Batman: The Animated Series, and the birth of the shared DC animated universe that would eventually expand to present one of the most comprehensive and thorough explorations of a comic book mythology in any medium. To celebrate, we’re going back into the past and looking at some classic episodes.

I’m generally not a fan of excessive continuity in comic book storytelling. I find it insular and exclusive. One shouldn’t need to pick up a twenty-part crossover involving books they’ve never heard of in order to read a story featuring an iconic character, and one shouldn’t feel left out because they weren’t reading comics written twenty years ago receiving an obscure but vital reference in this month’s issue. That said, I do think there’s an element of fun that comes from the idea of all these pulp characters sharing the same fictional space. It allows for a curious mixing and matching of archetypes and ideas, turning old matches into something a bit more exotic. The Demon Reborn finds Superman facing off against Ra’s Al Ghul, and the result is quite fascinating.