Clint Eastwood | the m0vie blog

Non-Review: Reported Missing (Die Vermissten)

Posted on March 8, 2013 by Darren

This film was seen as part of the Jameson Dublin International Film Festival 2013.

Die Vermissten feels almost like a Clint Eastwood film by the way of David Lynch. If that sounds like a pretty strange combination, it really is. When his 16-year-old daughter disappears, divorcee Lothar is initially reluctant to investigate. He tries to convince his ex-wife that she’ll turn up, while trying to explain to his new girlfriend that he has a daughter. Eventually determining to conduct his own inquiries into the disappearance of his child, Lothar discovers that the incident isn’t quite isolated, and that there’s something much larger going on here.

Missing vital evidence…

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: art, arts, Child abduction, Clint Eastwood, david lynch, dublin, eastwood, film, Film festival, jameson dublin international film festival, Jameson Dublin International Film Festival 2013, Movie, non-review review, review, United States | Leave a comment »

Stuck in the Moment: The Mood for a (Particular) Movie…

Posted on November 15, 2012 by Darren

I’ve been thinking a bit, lately, about how I form an opinion about a particular film. Of course, it should be somewhat objective. I should be able to take out any possibly subjective influences and divorce a movie from any of those countless outside factors, to judge it entirely on its own merits. (Or, as the case might be, its lack of merits.) However, I am honest enough to admit that this isn’t always the case. There are any number of reasons I might feel a particular way about the movie. I find J. Edgar interesting to place in the context of Clint Eastwood’s body of work. I approached Cabin of the Woods with an admitted fondness for cheesy horror. I’ll admit that these facets colour my opinions somewhat – I am more likely to respond to a film that resonates with me on something I feel strongly about.

However, sometimes that influence factor isn’t anything to do with the movie in question at all. Sometimes, I can’t help but wonder, whether my opinion is down to something as arbitrary as the mood I was in when I watched the film.

I will not have my tastes subjected to this sort of double-guessing!

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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: Barack Obama, casino royale, Charlie Kaufman, Clint Eastwood, Clothing, cnn, david fincher, David O. Russell, Gran Torino, J Edgar, Languages, Million Dollar Baby, Oscar de la Renta, Pauline Kael, programming, Relationships, Republican National Convention, Samsung Electronics, Self-Help, Silver Linings Playbook, stanley kubrick, Television | 6 Comments »

X-Men: The Dark Phoenix Saga – 30th Anniversary Edition (Review/Retrospective)

Posted on May 30, 2012 by Darren

With our month looking at Avengers comics officially over, we thought it might be fun to dig into that other iconic Marvel property, the X-Men. Join us for a month of X-Men related reviews and discussion.

Chris Claremont enjoyed the company of some of the most respected and renowned artists in comics while working on Uncanny X-Men. He had the pleasure of helping to establish talent like John Romita Jr., Marc Silvestri and Jim Lee, all modern giants working in the field. However, it’s hard to argue that Claremont ever worked in tighter synergy than he did with John Byrne. Byrne succeeded artist Dave Cockrum on the book, and helped Claremont helm several iconic and defining X-Men stories, delivering pay-off on years of set-up and radically reshaping notions of what a superhero comic could and could not do. Though the pair produced several genuine classics, The Dark Phoenix Saga stands as the artistic triumph of their run. One could make a compelling case that it’s Claremont’s finest X-Men story, or the finest X-Men story, or – if one weren’t feeling especially modest – perhaps the finest mainstream superhero story ever told.

Bird of prey…

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Filed under: Comics | Tagged: Antarctica, Blackbird, chris claremont, Claremont, Clint Eastwood, cyclops, dark knight returns, dark phoenix saga, dave cockrum, Jean Grey, John Byrne, john romita, Marc Silvestri, Mastermind, stan lee, Storm, uncanny x-men, wolverine, x-men, Xavier | Leave a comment »

Chris Claremont & Frank Miller’s Wolverine (Review/Retrospective)

Posted on May 28, 2012 by Darren

It’s almost hard to believe that Wolverine only earned his first solo miniseries in 1982. The character had first appeared as a foe in The Incredible Hulk in 1974, and was coopted in the X-Men with Len Wein’s Giant-Sized X-Men #1 a year later. During Chris Claremont’s celebrated Uncanny X-Men run, Wolverine emerged a hugely popular character. In fact, I think you could make the argument that Wolverine and Storm were the central protagonists of Claremont’s epic X-Men run. Still, given how ubiquitous the character has become in recent years, it’s impressive that it took so long for him to get a solo adventure. The four-part Wolverine miniseries, written by Chris Claremont and illustrated by Frank Miller, is generally regarded as one of the best miniseries that Marvel ever produced, and I think that it provided a lot of the momentum and characterisation that would sustain the character over three more decades of solo appearances.

Get some…

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Filed under: Comics | Tagged: 20th Century Fox, alan moore, chris claremont, Claremont, Clint Eastwood, dark knight returns, frank miller, HughJackman, James Mangold, japan, Len Wein, wolverine, x-men, X-Men Origins: Wolverine | 4 Comments »

Pointing Eastwood: Clint Eastwood’s Moral Compass…

Posted on January 26, 2012 by Darren

Clint Eastwood is a fascinating director. It’s hard to imagine, watching those early Spaghetti Westerns, that the badass cowboy would emerge as one of the great American directors. To be honest, while he wasn’t the first major actor to work behind the camera, I think that Eastwood really paved the way for established actors being taken seriously as directors. I’ve always been somewhat fascinated by Eastwood’s work, even when it isn’t necessarily completely satisfying as a viewing experience. I’ve still found something interesting and compelling in most of his films, even if they aren’t brilliant in and of themselves. I think that Eastwood manages a thematic consistency that’s very rare these days, and it’s possible to see a lot of the director’s moral philosophy in his work.

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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: Blood Work, Brían F. O'Byrne, Christopher Carley, Clint Eastwood, conscience, eastwood, films, generation, Gran Torino, J Edgar, Million Dollar Baby, morality, Movies, mystic river, nelson mandela, old, themes, young | 2 Comments »

Non-Review Review: J. Edgar

Posted on January 18, 2012 by Darren

I’ll concede that I’m surprised how much I liked J. Edgar. Acknowledging that I’ve been a lot fonder of Clint Eastwood’s more recent output than most, and accepting that this film (like many of his recent films) has considerable flaws, I found it a fascinating examination of twentieth century America, explored through the lens of one character’s life. While it isn’t nearly objective enough (and is far too sensationalist) to be considered a truly effective account of the life of one John Edgar Hoover, it does offer a thoughtful meditation on the relationship between old and young, the corruption of moral responsibility and the lingering doubt that maybe our generation’s elders have somehow disappointed us. It’s in these reflective moments that Eastwood is at his strongest, hitting on themes the director knows especially well. Unfortunately, it is undermined by its handling of the famed FBI director’s personal and sexual life, if only because it completely lacks subtlety and nuance.

There's a lot on the line...

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: Clint Eastwood, Clyde Tolson, Dustin Lance Black, eastwood, Eleanor Roosevelt, film, Hoover, J Edgar, j edgar hoover, Leonardo diCaprio, Movie, non-review review, review | 2 Comments »

Non-Review Review: Catch Me If You Can

Posted on November 18, 2011 by Darren

Catch Me If You Can is an enjoyable little film which feels like Spielberg indulging in some sixties nostalgia, while allowing Leonardo DiCaprio to scratch yet another name off his “greatest living directors” bingo card. It’s always impressive when a movie running for two-and-a-half hours just breezes by – some might suggest that such a film is “light”, and it’s a hard position to disagree with, but I think it marks a nice change of pace from the darker movies Spielberg was directing during the first decade of the new millennium. It’s not a classic, but it’s an enjoyable piece of cinema, crafted by talented people, that moves almost as fast as its lead character.

They should cheque better next time...

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: Adventures of Tintin, arts, christopher walken, Clint Eastwood, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, DiCaprio, film, Fleming, frank sinatra, J Edgar, John Williams, Leonardo diCaprio, martin sheen, Movie, non-review review: catch me if you can, review, spielberg, steven spielberg, tom hanks | 12 Comments »

Non-Review Review: Drive

Posted on August 17, 2011 by Darren

This movie was seen as part of Movie Fest, the rather wonderful film festival organised by Vincent and everybody else over at movies.ie. It was well worth attending, and I’m already looking forward to next year. Good job all.

Drive took home Best Director at the Cannes Film Festival, and it’s easy to see why. This pulpy retro crime thriller is an intense joyride featuring what might hopefully be a long over-due star-making role for Ryan Gosling.

Gosling has an impressive body (of) work...

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: Albert Brooks, arts, Bryan Cranston, cannes film festival, Carey Mulligan, Clint Eastwood, Drive, drive (2011), drive (film), film, Film festival, france, Lacemaker, los angeles, Madame Bovary, miami vice, Movie, Movies, Nicolas Winding Refn, non-review review, Piano Teacher, review, ron perlman, Ryan Gosling, United States | 11 Comments »

Meme of the Moment: Double Feature Blog-A-Thon… or why I should never be allowed to run a cinema…

Posted on July 30, 2011 by Darren

Hey, I was invited to take part in the latest movie blogger meme by the wonderful Marc over at Go, See, Talk. The idea is to pretend you run a movie theatre and schedule a week of double-bills for that cinema. There are no other rules, save for the fact that you run a triple-feature on Sunday. So I peered into an alternate universe where I was allowed any sort of responsibility, and came back with a handy brochure for Cine-Moi, the exclusive high-end movie theatre experience that my alternate self has somehow bamboozled his way into running (not into the ground… so far). Let’s see what a typical movie schedule might look like.

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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: 2001: A Space Odyssey (film), arts, cinema, Clint Eastwood, david cronenberg, Double Feature Blog-A-Thon, Movie, Saturday morning cartoon, sergio leone, Theaters, Theatre | 25 Comments »

Requiem for The Wolverine: Why Darren Aaronofsky was the Perfect Choice to Direct The Wolverine…

Posted on June 17, 2011 by Darren

I was actually really anticipating what Darren Aronofsky could bring to The Wolverine, the sequel to the rather lackluster X-Men Origins: Wolverine. So I was actually genuinely disappointed when it was announced – rumoured to be for the inevitable creative reasons – that Aronofsky would not be directing the film after all. While it’s great that this affords Aronofsky complete creative freedom on the next film he works on, and while I certainly don’t want a film that has been subject to Fox’s executive meddling, I can’t help but regret what might have been.