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Non-Review Review: (Seeking) Justice

Posted on August 7, 2012 by Darren

The premise of Justice (or Seeking Justice, as it is named in the States) is not fundamentally unworkable. The basic plot seems almost like an affectionate homage to Hitchcock, with people essentially trading motivations for murder, with a mysterious organisation (known as “the Organisation”) offering people a chance for revenge against the person who hurt them – but with a caveat. If they do you a favour, you will have to do them a favour later on. It’s not a bad premise for a revenge thriller, but the problem with Justiceis that it takes itself far too serious, and expects us to do the same. What could have been a cheesy-yet-enjoyable thriller becomes an overly long and self-important waste of time.

Cage rage!

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: arts, business, Business and Economy, Coca-Cola, film, Food and Drink, Guy Pearce, Harold Perrineau, Hurricane Katrina, January Jones, Jennifer Carpenter, Manufacturing, Movie, New Orleans, nicolas cage, non-review review, Opportunities, Pearce, review, Seeking Justice, Simon, Supplies and Equipment, Vending, Vending machine, Will, Will Gerard | 4 Comments »

Non-Review Review: Paranormal Activity 3

Posted on July 30, 2012 by Darren

Part of me wonders how far you can stretch a particular concept. I’m a big fan of the original Paranormal Activity, and I think it’s fair to argue that it was a massive game-changer for low-budget horror, somehow finding a novel twist on the “found footage” genre. However, there’s only so many times a particular trick will work. Paranormal Activity 3 works a lot better than Paranormal Activity 2 ever did, even if it comes with its own set of problems and its own diminishing returns.

Putting this spectre to bed…

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: arts, Camera, Dana Scully, Dennis, Equipment and Services, ghosts, Imaginary friend, Oren Peli, Paranormal, paranormal activity, Paranormal Activity 3, Photography, Randy, Shopping, Video camera | 5 Comments »

Non-Review Review: Brave

Posted on July 29, 2012 by Darren

Brave is certainly a significant improvement upon Cars 2, even if it doesn’t necessarily measure up the finest films in the Pixar stable. Part of the problem is the sense that, for the first time, the studio is telling a story that isn’t really their own. I know that particular films in the studio’s history owe a great deal to certain influences (The Incredibles to The Fantastic Four, for example), but Brave really feels like the studio is very much trying to put its own take on the conventional “Disney Princess” movie. While the results are certainly interesting, it never feels like Braveis entirely comfortable with itself. While the film is, technically speaking, quite impressive, it does feel like it never quite strikes the right balance.

The right to bear arms…

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: animation, arts, Brave, Cars 2, disney, Disney Princess, emma thompson, fantastic four, film, incredibles, John Ratzenberger, Kelly Macdonald, Little Mermaid, Merida, Movie, non-review review, pixar, review, Scotland, The Walt Disney Company, toy story, wall-e, Walt Disney Company | 10 Comments »

Recommended Batman Comics 104: Adam West’s Batman!

Posted on July 27, 2012 by Darren

To celebrate the release of The Dark Knight Rises, July is “Batman month” here at the m0vie blog. Check back daily for comics, movies and television reviews and discussion of the Caped Crusader.

I know that movies traditionally have a minimal impact on comic book sales, but to celebrate the release of The Dark Knight Rises, I thought I’d make a list of accessible jumping-on points for fans of Batman in mass media. There are several wonderful things about Batman. There are two especially relevant to this article. First, Batman is an infinitely adaptable character. He can literally be anything to anybody. It is entirely possible for somebody to love one interpretation of Batman while loathing others. So I’ll be breaking down my recommendations by source, so you can look at your favourite interpretation of Batman and find the most thematically and tonally relevant jumping-on points:

Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight Trilogy
Batman: The Animated Series
Tim Burton’s Batman Films
Adam West’s Batman

The second factor is that Batman is one of the few characters blessed with a back catalogue of accessible runs and stories, so there’s quite a few recommendations for each. It’s as simple as finding one that works for you.

Finally, we’re going to take a bit of a leap backwards and dig into one of the first truly iconic representations of Batman outside of comics. No, I’m not talking about the film serial. I’m talking about the camp-tastic Adam West Batman! television show.

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Filed under: Comics, Movies | Tagged: adam west, arts, batman, batman begins, batman: the long halloween, christian bale, Christopher Nolan, ChristopherNolan, comic book, Comics, dark knight, dark knight returns, Dark Knight Rise, Dark Knight Rises, Dark Knight [Blu-ray], frank miller, gotham city, nolan, tim burton, tim sale, two face | Leave a comment »

Recommended Batman Comics 103: Tim Burton’s Batman Films…

Posted on July 27, 2012 by Darren

Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight Trilogy
Batman: The Animated Series
Tim Burton’s Batman Films
Adam West’s Batman

And now we’ll take a trip back in time to the late eighties and early nineties, when Tim Burton’s take on the character (with his films Batman and Batman Returns) seemed to dominate pop culture’s impression of the character.

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Filed under: Comics, Movies | Tagged: arts, batman, batman begins, batman: the long halloween, christian bale, Christopher Nolan, comic book, Comics, dark knight, dark knight returns, Dark Knight Rises, Dark Knight [Blu-ray], nolan, tim burton, tim sale, two face | 2 Comments »

The Politics of Nolan’s Batman Films…

Posted on July 26, 2012 by Darren

I think it’s fair to say that Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy is quite an accomplishment. I think there’s a valid argument to be made that the series can be successfully measured against other classic film trilogies like the original Star Wars trilogy or even the more recent Lord of the Rings trilogy. However, I think it’s also notable just how much political discourse and discussion the trilogy has generated, particularly for its political content. It’s quite impressive that Nolan’s three films about a masked pulp hero have provoked such debate, and I’d certainly argue that The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises are easily two of the most politically complex and fascinating blockbusters in quite some time.

A caped social crusader?

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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: arts, bane, batman, caped crusader, Christopher Nolan, dark knight, Dark Knight Rises, Dark Knight [Blu-ray], films, george w. bush, joker, Movies, politics, review, star wars | 6 Comments »

Recommended Batman Comics 102: Batman – The Animated Series…

Posted on July 26, 2012 by Darren

Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight Trilogy
Batman: The Animated Series
Tim Burton’s Batman Films
Adam West’s Batman

We’ll continue with perhaps the most comprehensive and consistent portrayal of the character in mass media, Bruce Timm and Paul Dini’s Batman: The Animated Series.

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Filed under: Comics, Movies | Tagged: arts, batman, batman animated series, batman begins, batman: the animated series, batman: the long halloween, bruce timm, christian bale, Christopher Nolan, comic book, Comics, dark knight, dark knight returns, Dark Knight Rises, Dark Knight [Blu-ray], detective comics, Harley Quinn, nolan, paul dini, tim burton, two face | 2 Comments »

Peter Tomasi & Patrick Gleason’s Run on Batman & Robin – Tree of Blood (Review)

Posted on July 25, 2012 by Darren

Today we’re taking a look at three of the authors who followed Grant Morrison’s groundbreaking Batman & Robin run. And, in the middle, are Peter Tomasi and Patrick Gleason.

It seems that Peter Tomasi and Patrick Gleason were originally intended to be the full-time creative team succeeding Grant Morrison on Batman & Robin, allegedly chosen by the Scotsman himself to take over the title. However, possibly due to the post-Flashpoint reboot, the series ended up bouncing around various authors and artists, including Judd Winick and Paul Cornell. However, Tomasi and Gleason did manage to contribute one three-issue storyline to the title before the relaunch, Tree of Blood. While it might not be the most conceptually fascinating Batman story, it does show that the team are well suited to the title, and serves as an appetizer for their current run.

Signal for action…

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Filed under: Comics | Tagged: arts, batman, batman & robin, batman robin: tree of blood, damian wayne, dark knight, Dark Knight Rises, Das Rheingold, Gleason, grant morrison, Grantmorrison, patrick gleason, Paul Cornell, peter tomasi, robin, Tomasi, tree of blood, white night | Leave a comment »

Recommended Batman Comics 101: Christopher Nolan’s Batman Films…

Posted on July 24, 2012 by Darren

Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight Trilogy
Batman: The Animated Series
Tim Burton’s Batman Films
Adam West’s Batman

We’ll start with the most recent of the bunch, Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy.

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Batman: Bride of the Demon (Review/Retrospective)

Posted on July 18, 2012 by Darren

To celebrate the release of The Dark Knight Rises this week, today we’ll be reviewing the complete “Demon” trilogy, exploring the relationship between Batman and Ra’s Al Ghul.

Bride of the Demon is generally agreed to be the weakest of the Demon trilogy. Written by Mike W. Barr, with artwork from Tom and Eva Grindberg, it’s hard to argue that it isn’t the most conventional story in the set. While Son of the Demon and Birth of the Demon both justified their one-shot graphic novel status by telling fairly unique Batman stories, Bride of the Demon feels like an adventure that could have been written during Barr’s run on Detective Comics. That’s not to say that it isn’t an entertaining story, or that it doesn’t fit within the context of the trilogy, just that it feels relatively straight-forward and a tiny bit mundane.