Film festival | the m0vie blog

More Than You Embargoed For: Thoughts on Review Embargoes…

Posted on May 24, 2012 by Darren

I know I’m a bit late on this one, but I’ve been thinking a bit about movie review embargoes of late. For those unaware, embargoes are those restrictions on when a reviewer can publish a review. They’re normally enforced by studios, limiting the publication of reviews to within a one week window of the movie’s release. I’ve had the fortune over the past few months to be invited to screenings of The Avengers and Pirates! In An Adventure With Scientists long before the window, and have held my review until it’s okay to publish. Still, I can’t help but feel a little uneasy at the prospect.

Nothing to get too Fury-ous about…

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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: 21 Jump Street, Albert Nobbs, art, avengers, David Denby, embargo, film, film criticism, Film festival, hollywood, jameson dublin international film festival, Level playing field, Movie, New York Times, review, review embargo, screenwriter, United States | 2 Comments »

Film Festival Fatigue & True Cinematic Love…

Posted on March 6, 2012 by Darren

I had the pleasure of attending the Jameson Dublin International Film Festival a few weeks back, and it was an intense pleasure. Two weeks of the celebration of the best of film, both new and old, national and international, big and small. However, as I caught thirty different film-related events over ten days, while still working regular hours, I couldn’t help but fight a sense of fatigue – getting up early to commute to Dublin for the festival and getting home at the strangest hours to write a few words and nod off for a few hours before beginning again. Don’t get me wrong, I wouldn’t trade it for the world, but I do wonder if that sort of thing could ever get so tiring that I might sired of writing about or watching movies? I wonder if I’ll ever suffer what might be described as “film fatigue.”

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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: art, Baraka, Bel Ami, dublin, film, Film festival, Fort McCoy Wisconsin, france, jameson dublin international film festival, Movie, toronto, United States | 2 Comments »

February 2012 (Jameson Dublin International Film Festival) In Review

Posted on February 29, 2012 by Darren

Well, it’s been a fun month. I’ve been blogging from Dublin’s annual movie festival, the Jameson Dublin International Film Festival, which ran for the eleven days leading up to the Oscars. I saw twenty-five films in the festival, two films outside it, and took part in two of the special movie-related events. It was quite a month of high-intensity movie-going experiences, and I think that the entire group responsible for organising the festival deserve considerable credit for pulling off. I thought it might be handy to centralise all my reviews and articles relating to the festival in one place, just for ease of reference. Some of these might be opening near you soon, some may get more limited releases, and some are already out, but these are the films I saw as part of the Jameson Dublin International Film Festival 2012.

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Filed under: Months in Review | Tagged: Academy Award, art, danny elfman, dublin, film, Film festival, Fort McCoy Wisconsin, jameson dublin international film festival, Jeff Who Lives at Home, Movie, National Concert Hall, review, Yellow Sea | Leave a comment »

Jimmy Kimmel Presents… Trailer for Movie: The Movie…

Posted on February 28, 2012 by Darren

I’ve been a bit all over the place of late, recovering from the Jameson Dublin International Film Festival. I’m just finishing up the last of my reviews of films caught at the festival, which will be up this week. Anyway, in the mean time, I thought I’d share this delightful post-Oscars parody from Jimmy Kimmel. Sure, the clip might run a little bit too long for its own good, but it has some wonderful laughs, and displays an astute knowledge of movie tropes and clichés. Enjoy.

Filed under: Movies | Tagged: Academy Award, arts, film, Film festival, george clooney, Jimmy Kimmel, Movie, samuel l. jackson | Leave a comment »

Non-Review Review: This Must Be The Place

Posted on February 28, 2012 by Darren

This film was seen as part of the Jameson Dublin International Film Festival 2012. It was the second “surprise” film.

This Must Be The Place is a film that has several interesting components, but keeps them so thoroughly isolated from one another through almost deft use of road movie clichés that nothing ever clicks. Paolo Sorrentino hasn’t so much made a movie as he has stapled a bunch of holiday snapshots together, treating us to a holiday slideshow full of half-finished anecdotes, banal details and no real sense of structure. That’s not to say that there aren’t moments of brilliance scattered through the over-long and self-indulgent mess of a film, but the fact is they can’t add enough flavour to salvage the film.

Here's lookin' at you, punk...

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: art, David Byrne, dublin, film, Film festival, France McDormand, Harry Dean Stanton, Ireland, Irish Film Board, jameson dublin international film festival, Jameson Dublin International Film Festival 2012, Movie, non-review review, Paolo Sorrentino, review, sean penn, This Must be the place (film), this must be the place (movie), titanic, United States | 7 Comments »

Non-Review Review: The Raid (Redemption)

Posted on February 28, 2012 by Darren

This film was seen as part of the Jameson Dublin International Film Festival 2012.

I am not a fan of absolutes. They generally scare me, because they leave so little room for error. With that in mind, I have two things to say about Gareth Evans’ The Raid, the first film to pick up both the Dublin Film Critics’ Circle award for best film and the Jameson International Film Festival’s Audience Award. Put simply, The Raid is the best action movie I have seen in years. The second is that watching it in a cinema with hundreds of film fans feeling the exact same thing might be one of the best movie-going experiences of my life.

That’s a pretty big deal.

Everybody was kung-fu fighting...

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: Audience Award, dublin, Evans, film, Film festival, Gareth Evans, jameson dublin international film festival, Jameson Dublin International Film Festival 2012, jdiff 2012, Linkin Park, Movie, non-review review, Raid, review, swan lake, the raid (film), the raid (movie), the raid: redemption, United States | 10 Comments »

Non-Review Review: Death of a Superhero

Posted on February 26, 2012 by Darren

This film was seen as part of the Jameson Dublin International Film Festival 2012. This was the closing gala.

Cancer is a tough topic to address in film, if only because mortality offers a thin line to walk between sincere reflection and blatant emotional manipulation. It is an even greater problem when you’re dealing with a younger protagonist, one who has barely had a chance at life before the disease conspires to rip them away from the world and their loved ones. Death of a Superhero is far to schmaltzy for its own good, often pandering to its audience while trying to distract away from its cloying manipulations with predictable doses of humour and a wry cynicism that the hero must vanquish before his untimely passing.

Holding out for a hero...

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: Aisling Loftus, andy serkis, art, California, Death of a superhero, dublin, film, Film festival, Filmmaking, jameson dublin international film festival, Jameson Dublin International Film Festival 2012, Michael McElhatton, Movie, non-review review, review, superhero, United States | 4 Comments »

Non-Review Review: Hunky Dory

Posted on February 26, 2012 by Darren

This film was seen as part of the Jameson Dublin International Film Festival 2012.

There’s very little in Hunky Dory that we haven’t seen before. It’s a story set in the past about a young and idealistic teacher attempting to give her students a more rounded and useful education before they enter the big bad world. It’s set in Wales in 1976, giving the movie a bit of character and contextualising this period as the calm before the storm. Margaret Thatcher, that most divisive and controversial of British Prime Ministers, can be heard faintly on the television in the background; tough economic times lie ahead; skinheads roam the streets; and the Falklands War is just around the corner. As Vivienne, our young drama teacher, attempts to offer some guidance to students who might otherwise slip through the cracks, the sinister forces of the establishment seem to conspire against her.

Joyeux de Viv!

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: art, Bel Ami, david bowie, dublin, Falklands War, Film festival, Hunky Dory, jameson dublin international film festival, Jameson Dublin International Film Festival 2012, Man Who Sold the World, Marc Evans, margaret thatcher, Minnie Driver, Movie, United States | Leave a comment »

Jameson Cult Film Club: Reservoir Dogs & A Talk With Michael Madsen (JDIFF 2012)

Posted on February 25, 2012 by Darren

This event was held as part of the Jameson Dublin International Film Festival 2012.

Last year’s Jameson Dublin International Film Festival served as the launch of the Jameson Cult Film Club, with a screening of The Usual Suspects with Kevin Spacey in attendance. To celebrate the first anniversary of that launch, the guys organised a special treat for movie fans in the capital – a screening of Reservoir Dogs, with Michael Madsen in attendance. It goes almost without saying that the Jameson folks threw one hell of a shindig, converting Dublin’s CHQ into the warehouse from Tarantino’s iconic debut – a film that had hosted its Irish premiere as part of the festival twenty years ago, a screening that host Rick O’Shea remembered fondly. It was a great evening, organised with the same impeccable style as ever.

Note: This is just an article about the wonderful screening held by the Jameson Cult Film Club, including an interview with the man himself, Michael Madsen. I’ll be running a review of Tarantino’s masterpiece sometime next week, when I’ve had a bit more sleep.

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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: art, cult film, dublin, film, Film festival, jameson dublin international film festival, Jameson Dublin International Film Festival 2012, kevin spacey, Michael Madsen, Movie, quentin tarantino, Reservoir Dogs, Rick O'Shea, ridley scott, tarantino, United States | Leave a comment »

Non-Review Review: Chicken With Plums

Posted on February 25, 2012 by Darren

This film was seen as part of the Jameson Dublin International Film Festival 2012.

As the follow-up to Persepolis, it doesn’t seem unreasonable to suggest that there’s a lot of expectations around Marjane Satrapi’s follow-up, Chicken With Plums. The second in her trilogy of graphic novels, Chicken With Plums might fall a bit short of the heights that its predecessor reached, but there’s no denying that Satrapi and her co-director, Vincent Paronnaud, have composed a truly beautiful film. In fact, I would go so far as to say that Chicken With Plums might be the most beautiful film that you will see this year – a bold statement for late February. There are some very fundamental problems with the movie, most stemming from the fact that it can never decide if it’s a story or a collection of anecdotes, but it’s held together by superb artistic direction and a charming central performance from Mathieu Amalric.