Denis Villeneuve | the m0vie blog

268. Incendies (#110)

Posted on January 8, 2022 by Darren

Hosted by Andrew Quinn and Darren Mooney, The 250 is a (mostly) weekly trip through some of the best (and worst) movies ever made, as voted for by Internet Movie Database Users. New episodes are released every Saturday at 6pm GMT.

This time, Denis Villeneuve’s Incendies.

Following the death of their mother Nawal, twins Jeanne and Simon find themselves dealing with dark family secrets bubbling to the surface. Nawal’s will includes two instructions for her children, to find both their father and their long-lost sibling. While Simon dismisses this last request as another manipulation from an emotionally-distant mother, Jeanne embarks on an epic journey to trace her family’s history and perhaps change its future.

At time of recording, it was ranked 110th on the list of the best movies of all time on the Internet Movie Database.

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Filed under: The 250 | Tagged: 9/11, Denis Villeneuve, ending, epic, family, film, greek, Incendies, Middle East, Movies, plot holes, podcast, Quebec, The 250, tragedy, trauma, twist, violence, war, war on terror | Leave a comment »

258. Dune – This Just In (#127)

Posted on November 6, 2021 by Darren

Hosted by Andrew Quinn and Darren Mooney, and this week with special guests Jenn Gannon and Deirdre Molumby, The 250 is a weekly trip through some of the best (and worst) movies ever made, as voted for by Internet Movie Database Users. New episodes are released Saturdays at 6pm GMT.

So this week, Denis Villeneuve’s Dune.

The galaxy is in turmoil. Rumours swirl of a plot against House Atreides. As Duke Leto Atreides takes control of the desert planet of Dune, he tries to track down the traitors in his midst. Meanwhile, his son Paul finds himself on the verge of an awakening that will have a profound impact on the future of mankind.

At time of recording, it was ranked 127th on the list of the best movies of all time on the Internet Movie Database.

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Filed under: This Just In | Tagged: blockbusters, deirdre molumby, Denis Villeneuve, dune, epic, humanity, imax, jenn gannon, scale, science fiction, size, spectacle, The 250, timothée chalamet | Leave a comment »

New Escapist Column! On the Size and Spectacle of “Dune”…

Posted on November 1, 2021 by Darren

I published a new In the Frame piece at The Escapist this evening. With Dune continuing its dominance at the global box office, it seemed like a good opportunity to take a look at the movie’s size and scale.

It is stating the obvious to describe Dune as “big.” However, the description is accurate. Still, what’s notable about Dune is how Denis Villeneuve uses that sense of scale and spectacle. Dune is so large that it often threatens to burst out of the IMAX frame, to break the confines of the generous format. Villeneuve uses that size to underscore the core theme of the book, the question of how small these individuals can seem when confronted with systems and forces that operate on unimaginable scales.

You can read the piece here, or click the picture below.

Filed under: Movies | Tagged: Denis Villeneuve, dunes, escapist, imax, in the frame, size, spectacle | Leave a comment »

New Escapist Video! “Dune Is One of the Year’s Best Movies – Review”

Posted on October 13, 2021 by Darren

I’m thrilled to be launching movie reviews on The Escapist. Over the coming weeks and months, I will be joining a set of contributors in adding these reviews to the channel. For the moment, I’m honoured to contribute a three-minute film review of Dune, which is released theatrically in Europe and the United States next weekend.

Filed under: On Second Thought | Tagged: Denis Villeneuve, dune, epic, film, Movie, non-review review, review, science fiction | 1 Comment »

New Escapist Column! On “Dune” as a Deconstruction of the “Chosen One” Fantasy…

Posted on April 17, 2020 by Darren

I published a new In the Frame piece at Escapist Magazine this evening. This week saw the release of the first production photos from Denis Villeneuve, so it felt like the perfect opportunity to dig into Frank Herbert’s science-fiction classic.

A lot of the press around Dune is making a big deal about the novel as an epic on the scale of something like Star Wars or The Lord of the Rings. However, this seems to sell the novel short. Dune is not a simple “chosen one” fantasy narrative, although it has many of the familiar trappings of the genre. It is the story of a teenage boy who comes to inspire religious devotion in his followers, after all. However, the novel problematicises that sort of story, by complicating the messiah at its core. Dune is warped and grotesque reflection of those power fantasies.

You can read the piece here, or click the picture below.

Filed under: On Second Thought | Tagged: chosen one, Denis Villeneuve, dune, star wars | Leave a comment »

8. Arrival – This Just In (#101)

Posted on November 19, 2016 by Darren

Hosted by Andrew Quinn and Darren Mooney, This Just In is a subset of the fortnightly The 250 podcast, looking at notable new arrivals on the list of the 250 best movies of all-time, as voted for by Internet Movie Database Users.

This time, Denis Villeneuve’s Arrival.

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Filed under: This Just In | Tagged: arrival, Denis Villeneuve, podcast, The 250 | Leave a comment »

Non-Review Review: Prisoners

Posted on September 17, 2013 by Darren

Prisoners is very much a game of two halves. Feeling like two separate films grafted together, Prisoners feels at once like a psychological exploration of American masculinity and also a far more conventional serial killer film. Indeed, had director Denis Villeneuve and writer Aaron Guzikowski decided to cut suddenly to black two-thirds of the way through Prisoners, we’d have a frustrating but much more cohesive atmospheric drama.

Instead, it seems like the duo conspired to surgically attach the last act from a far more conventional thriller on to their robust framework. The result is intriguing, but disappointing – the conventional paint-by-numbers final third diminishing a lot of the richness to be found in the first section of the film.

Somebody is about to get Jack(man)ed…

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: Aaron, Alex Jones, Denis Villeneuve, Detective Loki, hugh jackman, jack bauer, Jake Gyllenhaal, Jóhann Jóhannsson, Keller, Paul Dano, Roger Deakins, serial killer, The Mythical Detective Loki Ragnarok, United States, viola davis | Leave a comment »

Non-Review Review: Incendies

Posted on February 28, 2011 by Darren

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

Incendies looks absolutely beautiful. The cinematography on show is absolutely stunning. It’s a powerful exploration of the religious divide in Lebanon, and it packs quite a lot of punch. However, as a film, it never really works. It’s structure seems almost illogical, with information often being repeated or rendered redundant, and it works on a series of awkwardly-contrived coincidences which strain the viewer’s credibility (which is especially glaring when the film plays off real-life atrocities). It seems far too assured of its own merits, and could have done with some serious revision before release.