Posted on August 10, 2012 by Darren
Safe House is a perfectly fine international thriller, which manages to effectively capture the look and feel of its setting in South Africa. Light on plot and characterisation, but heavy on action and atmosphere, Safe House isn’t necessarily required viewing. In fact, it has a great deal of difficulty convincing the audience to emotionally invest in either of the two lead characters. Still, director Daniel Espinosa keeps things ticking over with a workman-like efficiency on a simple plot and Denzel Washington is as charming a leading man as ever.
Safe as houses…
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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: brendan gleeson, daniel espinosa, denzel washington, film, liam cunningham, Movie, non-review review, review, Robert Patrick, Rubén Blades, ryan reynolds, safe house, safehouse, Sam Shepard, south africa, thriller, Vera Farmiga | Leave a comment »
Posted on February 18, 2012 by Darren
This film was seen as part of the Jameson Dublin International Film Festival 2012.
Saving the Titanic is an interesting blend of documentary and drama, exploring the efforts of the engineers onboard the ill-fated ship, fighting to keep her afloat and alight just a little bit longer. The narration from Liam Cunningham suggests that the selfless bravery of those working in the bowels of the ship allowed her to survive more than an hour and a half longer than she should have. While the docu-drama never really reconciles the two approaches it takes to events – creating the impression that it should have opted for a “one or the other” style of approach – it is a fascinating look at one of the most important events of the twentieth century.
It's a dirty job...
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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: cgi, Ciarán McMenamin, Computer-generated imagery, denzel washington, film, Hugh O'Connor, james cameron, jameson dublin international film festival, Jamie Bell, liam cunningham, Movie, non-review review, Papist, programming, review, RMS Titanic, Saving the Titanic, Shepard, Steve Lynch, titanic, United States | 1 Comment »
Posted on August 19, 2011 by Darren
I guess I’ve kinda marked Tony Scott as a more talented Michael Bay, in that he’s a director who manages all the tense and superficial elements of his action films particularly well, but that he also a strong eye for dramatic talent and seems to work much better with his leads – or, at least, draw stronger performances from them – than Bay. I was kinda thinking that as I was watching Unstoppable, pondering how Bay’s fascination with physical objects and explosions could have turned the film into a nigh-impossible mess, as the movie is literally based around the idea of a runaway train. Scott can’t quite find the human drama at the core of the story he’s telling, but he does try. And I think that effort alone makes the film watchable, if not remarkable.
Train-ing Day...
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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: chris pine, denzel washington, film, films, hollywood, michael bay, Movies, non-review review, review, tony scott, train, Unstoppable | 4 Comments »
Posted on February 4, 2011 by Darren
The Book of Eli is an interesting film. It’s undoubtedly well made, featuring a strong cast and a pretty great script. Being honest, we’ve had more than enough death and destruction amid post-apocalyptic wastelands, so a movie that doesn’t dwell too much on the soulless nihilism of the setting – well, relatively speaking. It’s sort of an action movie response to the after-the-end thrillers we’ve been seeing a lot of in recent years (The Road comes to mind, as does Carriers and Hollywood’s current fascination with zombies). However, the movie comes across as a little too polished and stylised for its own good – at times it seems as if the cast are recording a perfume commercial set amid the ruins of a world that once was.
Have we been down this road before?
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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: Apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction, Book of Eli, denzel washington, films, gary oldman, George Washington, Hughes Brothers, michael gambon, Movies, non-review review, post-apocalyptic, review, Washington | 5 Comments »
Posted on September 20, 2010 by Darren
I’ve been thinking a bit of late about movie stars. Are we reaching the end of the star-driven era of Hollywood stars? What got me thinking about it was the news of Tony Scott’s upcoming Unstoppable – a movie about a runaway train starring Denzel Washington, who has been one of Scott’s most consistent collaborators in the past. I loved Denzel Washington – and I loved Crimson Tide and, to a lesser extent, Man on Fire. And yet, I have absolutely no urge to see the film. It isn’t a “must see” simply because of the talent or skill involved. And, being honest, I don’t think I’m alone. There would have been a time years ago when a name on a marque would have marked a film as “must see”. I am beginning to suspect that the era of “star power” might be slowly passing.
Am I Cloo(ney)ed into something?
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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: actors, box office, celebrities, denzel washington, film stars, films, george clooney, hollywood, julia roberts, Movie, movie stars, stars | 13 Comments »
Posted on August 31, 2010 by Darren
The Siege has the benefit of becoming a lot more relevent in the past couple of years. Exploring the aftermath of a series of terrorist atrocities on New York City by Islamic extremists, the film isn’t exact a subtle exploration of the relationship between liberty and security – instead preferring to offer two-dimensional strawmen instead of characters or legitimate viewpoints. Still, despite its heavy-handedness, it does have some interesting insights into the world after it has been shaken to its core.
Washington under Siege...
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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: america, annette benning, bruce willis, denzel washington, extremism, film, islam extremism, Movie, non-review review, politics, review, september 11th, subtext, terrorism, the siege | Leave a comment »
Posted on January 11, 2010 by Darren
Much like the titular train, The Taking of Pelham 123 runs almost perfectly to schedule, making all the mandatory stops. Sure, it is confined to the storytelling tracks of a cut-out hostage drama, checking all the necessary fields. It doesn’t do this in anyway exceptionally, nor does it do anything original or daring. Still, Tony Scott is a very talented director and he has two more-than-capable leads to work with, so we have a perfectly mediocre action film to work with.
Travolta trains (geddit?) his sights on a hostage?
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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: denzel washington, film, hostages, john tavolta, Movie, non-review review, pelham 123, review, subway, the taking of pelham 123, tony scott, train | Leave a comment »
Posted on December 10, 2009 by Darren
se7en had quite an impact on Hollywood. And, where there’s success, there’s countless imitators. Some are good, some are… less so. Here we have another entry in the late-nineties serial-killer-harrasses-detective subgenre and – in its defense – it’s a perfectly mediocre concept elevated by two very talented leads. The movie is ultimately undermined by its refusal to play fair (no way even the cast of CSI could figure out who the killer was before the reveal – it might actually make logical sense for him to be an unknown, but that wouldn’t give us an emotionally-invested climax), but you could do far worse than this serial killer thriller. You could also do better, but who am I to judge?
Anything Brad can do...
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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: angelina jolie, bone collector, denzel washington, non-review review, review, se7en, serial killer, the bone collector, thriller | Leave a comment »
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