Posted on January 16, 2012 by Darren
This January, I’m going to take a look at some of DC’s biggest “events.” You can probably guess which event I’m leading into, but I don’t want to spoil it…
I have never read Swamp Thing before. This trip through these lovely (but sadly not oversized or filled with extras) hardcover editions of Alan Moore’s iconic run on the title has been my first encounter with the character. This is Moore’s longest tenure on a mainstream comic book, and the one which introduced him to the mainstream. What’s astounding here is not only how Moore manages to offer something which still stands up as something unique and challenging, but also offers a fairly exciting and well-written book on his own terms.
I have a burning desire to read more...
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Filed under: Comics | Tagged: alan moore, america, american gothic, art, comic book, comic books, Comics, crisis, crisis on infinite earths, dc comics, dc universe, dcu, fiction, John Totleben, Moore, Online Writing, Stephen R. Bissette, swamp thing, United States, watchmen | 4 Comments »
Posted on December 16, 2011 by Darren
December is “Grant Morrison month” here at the m0vie blog, as we take the month to consider and reflect on one of the most critically acclaimed (and polarising) authors working in the medium. We’ve got a special treat for you this week, which is “Seven Soldiers Week”, so check back each day for a review of one of the Seven Soldier miniseries that Morrison put together.
Shining Knight is one of those heroes that Morrison picked from relative obscurity for his Seven Soldiers project. The only encounter I ever had with the character was watching an episode of Justice League Unlimited featuring the original Seven Soldiers line-up as a bit of an in-joke. So, I don’t really have any frame of reference for how Morrison is reworking the character here, but I imagine it’s quite thoroughly.
Winging it...
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Filed under: Comics | Tagged: All Star Superman, art, arts, batman, Bulleteer, comic books, dc comics, dc universe, dcu, fiction, final crisis, Grantmorrison, justice league unlimited, Online Writing, seven soldiers, seven soldiers of victory, Shining Knight, Simone Bianchi, superhero, Zatanna | Leave a comment »
Posted on October 17, 2011 by Darren
Peer Gynt can be a daunting play to put on. Running at five hours, it’s a show that tests your audience’s bladder control at least as much as their patience. Still, it’s one of those absolutely wonderful fantasy stories that demands retelling and reimagining, with a wonderfully raw quality to it as it is passed down and filtered through countless interpretations. Rough Magic have produced a rather wonderful version of the story as part of the Ulster Bank Dublin Theatre Festival, playing at Belvedere College. It an impressive and engaging take on a classic story, working off a new version by writer Arthur Riordan.
Peerless?
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Filed under: Theatre | Tagged: arts, Belvedere College, dublin, fiction, Henrik Ibsen, humour, Peer Gynt, Theatre, Ulster Bank | Leave a comment »
Posted on September 13, 2011 by Darren
I’ve always been fascinated by mysteries in fiction. That said, I will concede I’ve never really been particularly good at picking up on the hints within the work itself designed to point towards a particular perpetrator. I haven’t necessarily got the skills to pick up on what tiny little detail mentioned in dialogue or the tiniest little action that supports a particular conclusion – it’s just not how my mind works. Instead, perhaps as a direct result of watching far too many movies, I find it more relevent to look at factors outside the fictional world where the mystery is set in order to reach a conclusion – I’m more likely to identify the culprit by reference to the film itself than the clues on hand.
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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: arts, Character (arts), Crime fiction, csi, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, fiction, film, mysteries, mystery | 2 Comments »
Posted on August 12, 2011 by Darren
The obvious point of comparison for Takers is The Town, Ben Affleck’s bank-robbing thriller that opened around the same time. However, I think it’s a misleading comparison, if only because Affleck’s film feels far more specific and nuanced in scope than this heist thriller. Instead, I think the best point of reference for this particular feature film is to consider is as “Heat for the MTV generation.” Of course, any film’s going to come out quite badly from that synopsis, but I do think it’s fair, as it speaks to both the strengths and (perhaps more importantly) the weaknesses of this particular film.
Are the crew being taken for a ride?
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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: arts, bank robbery, ben affleck, fiction, film, Idris Elba, los angeles, Matt Dillon, Montage (filmmaking), Movie, Movies, non-review review, Online Writing, review, Rosemarie DeWitt, SAT, Takers, the wire, United States, Wire | 2 Comments »
Posted on May 24, 2011 by Darren
I’m going to be a bit of killer jo here and admit that I didn’t really “get” Napoleon Dynamite and Nacho Libre, so it’s no surprise that the latest movie from the creative team leaves me cold. That sort of overly understated sense of humour feels a bit old at this stage, as if we’ve seen it once too often. There’s a sense that the movie somehow recognises this, and decided to augment those awkward silences with incredibly gross and juvenile humour.
Grabbing the stag by the horns...
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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: arts, fantasy, fantasy novels, fiction, films, Gentlemen Broncos, humour, jemaine clement, macgruber, Movies, Nacho Libre, non-review review, review, sam rockwell, science fiction | Leave a comment »
Posted on June 16, 2010 by Darren
I’m a sucker for meta-fiction – the idea of storytelling outside the story. One of the more fascinating notions suggested by Marvel’s recent spate of movies is the notion that all the individual stories in Iron Man, Thor and Captain America will be tied together to be revealed to be part of a larger canvas (in this case, The Avengers in 2012). I love it when television and films are shown to occupy the same fictional reality (for example, the Star Trek franchise, spread across five television shows (possibly six) and eleven feature films). So it goes without saying that I adore The Tommy Westphall Hypothesis.
And I thought I had an active imagination! (Click to enlarge)
For those unfamiliar with the hypothesis, it basically states that most television takes place within the head of an eleven-year-old autistic boy.
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Filed under: Movies, Television | Tagged: continuity, crossover, discontinuity, fiction, meta-fiction, meta-text, shard, shared universe, storytelling, The Tommy Westphall Hypothesis, tommy westphall, what happened happened, worlds | 2 Comments »
Posted on February 17, 2010 by Darren
Lost returned to Sky One recently, for its sixth and final mind-bending season. In the fourth season it was flash-forwards, in the fifth season it was time travel and this year it looks like it’s alternate dimensions. In fact, this season opens with an alternate universe where the Oceanic 815 flight from Sydney never crashed. Yes, there exists a timeline where an Oceanic Airlines flight made it from one side of the world to another. I’m a big fan of linking seemingly disconnected threads from various strands of fiction together – like postulating that Fight Club is a sequel to Calvin & Hobbes – so I was quite impressed to learn that Oceanic Airlines have a long and varied history of aviation disasters across any number of movies and television shows.
Note that flying that low over London is incredibly dangerous... and perfectly in keeping with oceanic's standards of safety...
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Filed under: Movies, Television | Tagged: common threads, fiction, lost, metafiction, Movies, oceanic airlines, Television, trivia | Leave a comment »
Posted on December 6, 2009 by Darren
It arrived two weeks ago, but I only found the time to sit down and watch it over two nights last week. So, what do I make of Watchmen: The Ultimate Cut?
Cue immature jokes about how they earned the name...
Note: My review of the theatrical edition can be read here. Continue reading →
Filed under: Movies | Tagged: arts, Characters of Watchmen, directors cut, dr. manhatten, fiction, gerard butler, jackie earle haley, non-review review, Online Writing, review, rorschach, Shopping, tales of the black freighter, watchmen, watchmen dvd, watchmen: director's cut, watchmen: the complete story, watchmen: ultimate edition, zach snyder | 4 Comments »
Posted on May 26, 2009 by Darren
How does Stephen King do it? He manages to churn out an astonishingly prolific back catalogue, but maintains a reasonably high quality. As with all authors, he soars above and he dips below, but – taken on average – he is a very strong writer than manages to churn out up to four books a year. How does the man do it?
It's good to be the King...
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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: books, danse macabre, dark tower, fiction, film adaptations, horror, it, literature, pop culture, stephen king, the green mile, the shawshank redemption, the shining | 3 Comments »
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