arts | the m0vie blog

Non-Review Review: When the Lights Went Out

Posted on August 20, 2012 by Darren

At its best, When the Lights Went Out feels like a cinematic throwback, almost like The Woman in Black. While The Woman in Black harked back to a period of classic British horror, the height of Hammer’s gothic schtick, When the Lights Went Out feels like an affectionate homage to the urban haunting movies of the seventies, like The Amityville Horror with a Yorkshire accent. Although the final third comes off the rails in a fairly massive way, there’s enough charm and nostalgia to keep When the Lights Went Out entertaining for most of its runtime. It’s not just the setting and the aesthetic that hark back to the seventies, but also the tone and the mood.

I hope she’s not left hanging…

Continue reading →

Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: Amityville Horror, Amityville New York, arts, Colin Wilson, daniel radcliffe, film, Hammer Film Productions, horror, Lutz, Movie, non-review review, pat holden, review, stephen king, when the lights went out, Woman in Black | 2 Comments »

J. Michael Straczynski’s (and John Romita Jr.’s) Run on the Amazing Spider-Man – The Best of Spider-Man, Vol. 3-4 (Review/Retrospective)

Posted on August 20, 2012 by Darren

I honestly believe that had J. Michael Straczynski’s Amazing Spider-Man run ended with his collaborator John Romita Jr., his time on Marvel’s iconic web-crawler would have gone down as one of the great runs. Sure, it is flawed – sometimes significantly so. However, if you divorce it from Sins Past and the mess of crisis crossover tie-in issues and awkward continuity reboots that followed, Straczynski’s early run was bold, exciting and entertaining enough to get away with doing something relatively new to Peter Parker. Given that the run includes the five hundredth issue headlined by the hero, that’s quite an accomplishment in-and-of itself. It’s not perfect, and I don’t think it’s as strong as many of the runs happening simultaneously at Marvel, but it is an intriguing direction for the pop culture icon.

How many iconic villains do you spy dere?

Note: The fourth hardcover also includes the start of Mike Deodato’s run. I am going to cover those issues separately. This review or retrospective is going to be concerned with the second half of the collaboration between John Romita and J. Michael Straczynski, culminating in The Amazing Spider-Man #508.

Continue reading →

Filed under: Comics | Tagged: Amazing Spider-Man, arts, brian michael bendis, Doctor Octopus, green goblin, Gwen Stacy, hulk, J. Michael Straczynski, john romita, loki, Marvel Comic, marvel universe, Mary Jane Watson, Mary-Jane, Peter, spider man, stan lee, straczynski, thor, ultimate marvel, West Africa | Leave a comment »

Jameson Cult Film Club: The Silence of the Lambs

Posted on August 17, 2012 by Darren

I had the pleasure, on Wednesday evening, of attending the Jameson Cult Film Club screening of The Silence of the Lambs. Any excuse to see Jonathan Demme’s masterpiece is worth taking up, but this was a wonderful night for two reasons. The first is that fact that although I am a huge fan of the film, I had never seen it before on a big screen. I’d only ever seen it on home media. The second reason is, as you might expect, that the guys and girls at the Jameson Cult Film Club really surpassed themselves in creating a powerfully immersive experience.

Continue reading →

Filed under: Movies | Tagged: anthony hopkins, arts, Clarice, Clarice Starling, Demme, film, hannibal lecter, jameson cult film club, jodie foster, Lecter, Memphis Police Department, Movie, Silence of the Lamb | 2 Comments »

Non-Review Review: Shadowlands

Posted on August 17, 2012 by Darren

Shadowlands is, at its core, a very typical “weepy” romantic drama. However, it’s an exceptionally well-executed example of the genre, one that demonstrates a rather uncanny understanding about the complexities of love and loss that help it stand out from a lot of its fellow films. A superbly powerful central performance from Anthony Hopkins certainly doesn’t hurt, and Richard Attenborough’s elegant, yet unintrusive, direction allows the story to flow without ever feeling too emotionally manipulative. It’s an intelligent and well-constructed exploration of a tragic love affair, one that feels distinctly human in its approach to its subjects and themes.

Does Hopkins deliver a superb performance? You can bank on it…

Continue reading →

Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: anthony hopkins, arts, Atheism, C.S Lewis, Christian, film, Health, Joy Davidman, Lewis, Movie, New Atheism, non-review review, Online Writing, Oxford, Oxfordshire, poetry, Remains of the Day, review, richard attenborough, Shadowland, United States, Writers Resources, Yes (band) | 6 Comments »

Win! Tickets to the Jameson Cult Film Club Screening of Snatch in Galway…

Posted on August 16, 2012 by Darren

Would you ‘adam and eve it’, the Jameson Cult Film Club is coming to Galway, and we’ve teamed up with Jameson to offer tickets to one lucky geezer and three of his mates to the ultimate screening experience of Snatch in a secret location in Galway on August 23rd.

The Jameson Cult Film Club is all about watching your favourite cult films at spectacular screenings staged to transport the audience right into the world of the movie. These free events are not just your typical screening, it’s an experiential viewing experience with clever use of props, staging and live action to ensure the audience in the venue are transported right into the world of the movie! Characters from the movie, live theatre and special effects timed perfectly with on-screen action help to create an electric atmosphere and leave movie fans wanting more.

Continue reading →

Filed under: Movies | Tagged: arts, competition, films, galway, jameson cult film club, jameson cult film galway, Movies, silence of the lambs, Snatch, snatch galway, win | Leave a comment »

J. Michael Straczynski’s (and John Romita Jr.’s) Run on the Amazing Spider-Man – The Best of Spider-Man, Vol. 1-2 (Review/Retrospective)

Posted on August 13, 2012 by Darren

It’s easy to forget just how iconoclastic that early parts of the new millennium were at Marvel. The comic company was in the midst of recovering from its bankrupcy, and was going throw a massive creative shake-up. Many would argue that the late nineties represented the company’s creative nadir, and there was a very definite sense of change in the air. Some of that change involved a radical restructuring of core concepts, placing them in the hands of more radical creators.

The early part of the last decade gave us Peter Milligan on X-Force, Grant Morrison on New X-Men and Garth Ennis on Marvel Knights: Punisher. It also saw a number of big-name creators working on these characters. Kevin Smith wrote the introductory arc of the new Daredevil book. While J. Michael Straczynski’s Amazing Spider-Man has a controversial and divisive legacy, it was a product of those times. While it was flawed even in its early days, it’s still a bold re-working of an iconic comic book mythos.

King of the swingers…

Continue reading →

Filed under: Comics | Tagged: Amazing Spider-Man, arts, Avenger, brian michael bendis, Doctor Octopus, electro, Garth Ennis, grant morrison, J. Michael Straczynski, joe quesada, john romita, literature, marvel, marvel comics, new x-men, Peter, Peter Milligan, spider man, stan lee, Steve Ditko, straczynski | 4 Comments »

Non-Review Review: Total Recall (2012)

Posted on August 11, 2012 by Darren

Len Wiseman’s Total Recall is a total mess. While the film features some superb production design and some passable action sequences, with an obvious affection for the design of contemporary science-fiction classics, the direction is muddled,the pacing is awkward and the script is constantly tripping over itself. At one point it’s suggested that the lead might have had has memory scrambled during a muddled recall session, the result of procedure started and yet not quite finished. In many ways, that feels a lot like what happens here – a choppy, uneven and unsatisfying movie that is a result of a muddled production and post-production process. “We can remember it for you,” an advertisement for the Rekall service boasts, homaging the classic short story that inspired the film. Unfortunately, they omitted “wholesale”, which is about the only price I could recommend this at.

Where’s your head at?

Continue reading →

Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: Arnold Schwarzenegger, arts, Bryan Cranston, colin farrell, david fincher, Departed, film, Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, jessica biel, kate beckinsale, Len Wiseman, Movie, non-review review, Paul Verhoeven, Post-production, review, science fiction, Sharon Stone, total recall, Wiseman | 2 Comments »

Non-Review Review: Devil

Posted on August 9, 2012 by Darren

Devil actually has a pretty interesting B-movie premise, evoking the sort of cheesy thrill of an eighties horror. Six strangers are trapped inside an elevator… and one of them might be Satan. It’s a fairly straight-forward idea, albeit one that the script and direction needlessly complicate and convolute as they attempt to fill up the seventy-seven minutes. In many ways, Devil feels like something of a classic horror throwback, a simple high concept that relies on occasionally overstated jump scares rather than gratuitous gore or carnage. It’s not necessarily the best representation of the genre, but – if you can suspend your disbelief and live with the overwrought corniness – it’s an affectionate old-fashioned homage.

And things were just looking up…

Continue reading →

Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: Army of Two, arts, bible, Bravo, Chris Messina, christianity, Devil, Electronic Arts, family, film, Frostbite (game engine), god, Hell, hollywood, Logan Marshall-Green, Mexican Drug War, Mother, Movie, non-review review, parents, Ramadan, review, Satan, Security Guard, Visceral Games, Xbox 360 | Leave a comment »

Non-Review Review: Shrek the Third

Posted on August 9, 2012 by Darren

The biggest problem with Shrek the Third is arguably reflected in its lead character. Despite producing two sequels, making a boatload of money and establishing a massively iconic franchise, it seems like the creators are unwilling to accept their changed reality. Much like the title character refuses to adapt to his new-found circumstances, and the possibility that he will become a father, Shrek the Third refuses to admit that it has essentially become the fairy-tale establishment that it so sorely ridiculed and mocked. The wry and subversive take of fairy tales championed by the original Shrek is no longer on the outside looking in, but on the inside looking out. Shrek the Thirdjust stubbornly refuses to accept that.

Has the franchise lost direction?

Continue reading →

Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: animation, arts, cameron diaz, Donkey, eddie murphy, Fairy tale, Fiona, List of Shrek characters, Lord Farquaad, Mike Myers, Movie, Ogre, Prince Charming, Princess Fiona, shrek, Shrek 2, Shrek Series, Shrek the Third, snow white, tangled, The Walt Disney Company | 4 Comments »

Dan Slott’s Run on The Amazing Spider-Man – Spider-Island (Review/Retrospective)

Posted on August 8, 2012 by Darren

Dan Sott’s Amazing Spider-Man run has been pretty well received by fans. Credited with giving the title a sense of fun after the continuity-tangling mess of One More Day, Slott has managed to inject some fun back into the franchise. Or so I’ve heard. Despite being a fan of Slott’s Mighty Avengers, I remain somewhat disappointed that there’s been no effort made to collect his Amazing Spider-Man run into either an omnibus or an oversized hardcover collection. Still, I recently had the pleasure of devouring Slott’s Spider-Island plotline in a nice oversized hardcover, and I have to admit that I was more than a little impressed with Slott’s epic “event” comic book.