Posted on March 8, 2010 by Darren
I’ll probably have a more well thought out reaction tomorrow, but woot! My brother owes me €10!
He looks kinda like an Oscar statuette!
Other than that though, didn’t this seem like the most predictable Oscars ever, with the acting categories all sewn up even before nominations were announced? Still, great to see Mo’Nique and Christoph Waltz win. I particularly liked Mo’Nique’s confirmation it could be “about the performance and not the politics” – though I’m cynical enough to see her season-long disengagement as a calculated political move, it still made me smile.
Filed under: Movies | Tagged: 82nd academy awards, best picture, film, Movies, news, Oscars, the hurt locker | 7 Comments »
Posted on March 6, 2010 by Darren
Alice in Wonderland opens this weekend, and we were lucky enough to tag along to the Irish premiere. Since we came out of the cinema, we kinda suspected that this would be a polarising film – as the Rotten Tomatoes score seems to demonstrate. However, taking a moment to step back and appreciate the breadth and depth of the critical response, is it possible that we’ve all completely missed the point? Rather than being a fantastically realised gothic fantasy that strays just a little bit closer to The Lord of the Rings rather than its own source material, has Tim Burton produced a uniquely feminist fantasy film?
Should feminists be up in arms?
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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: alice in wonderland, disney, fantasy, feminism, feminist, film, gender, Movies, tim burton | 3 Comments »
Posted on March 5, 2010 by Darren
Well, balloting is official closed. The deadline has passed and, by the time you read this, counting will more than likely be under way. It’s been an interesting Oscar season, and – since this is my last post before the ceremony – I should probably make some sort of generic observation about the competition. In truth, the acting races seem to have been sewn up since before nominations were even announced, but it looks like there’s a genuine race on for the Best Picture Oscar. In the interest of objective journalism (okay, blogging), I should concede that I have a €10 bet with my brother on the race. He expects Avatar to win because (and I quote) “it looks awesome”. I was backing The Hurt Locker, but part of me wonders if the anti-Avatar fiasco means that I should just give him the tenner now and be done.
Chartier attempts to defuse the situation...
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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: 82nd academy awards, academy awards, AMPAS, avatar, best picture oscar, film, Movies, nicola chartier, oscar, the hurt locker, the oscars | Leave a comment »
Posted on March 4, 2010 by Darren
I got to see the Irish premiere of Alice in Wonderland at the weekend, thanks to boards.ie and the Jameson Dublin International Film Festival, and afterwards there was a Q & A session with Michael Sheen and Timothy Spall. Michael Sheen casually remarked that we’d be seeing the last of Peter Morgan’s “Blair trilogy”, The Special Relationship, hitting screens in about mid-July-ish. It’s been on my must-see list for a while – and the Internet Movie Database had a release date in 2011 last time I checked – but I have to admit that I’m a bit surprised at this particular companion in the tradition “Tony Blair and x” double act format. The Deal gave us Tony Blair and Gordon Brown. The Queen gave us Tony Blair and… well, take a guess. The Special Relationship gives us Tony Blair and a US President. Which one? Dennis Quaid (yes, Dennis Quaid) as Bill Clinton. Yep, that’s not the US President I was thinking of either.
The "Special" Relationship... It even sounds like a bro-mance...
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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: bill clinton, biography, cinema, film, george w. bush, Movies, peter morgan, politics, the deal, the queen, the special relationship, tony blair | Leave a comment »
Posted on March 2, 2010 by Darren
Far be it for us to gloat over the misfortune of a major industry publication, but this story of Oscar ‘payola’ caught my eye. Basically Variety has been accused of pulping a bad review for a film which provided the magazine with $400,000 worth of advertising revenue. The film is Iron Cross – don’t worry that you haven’t heard of the would-be Oscar contender. It’s only really claim to awards prestige is that it offered the last performance of Roy Schneider. However, that $400,000 has gone along way – a lot of film nerds now know all about the film, which wasn’t on the radar last week.
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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: $400000, advertising, bribery, film, google cache, iron cross, Movies, Oscars, payola, review, scandal, variety | 4 Comments »
Posted on March 2, 2010 by Darren
I think there’s a case to be made for The Rock as a pop culture masterpiece. And, no, I’m not being sarcastic or bitchy – I genuinely believe that. It’s tough to look back no in the era of huge summer blockbusters, but the movie really codified what we should expect from a modern summer tentpole. I remember the gasps of shock when the Criterion – the gold standard of DVD releases – announced that they would be including Armageddon as part of the Criterion Collection, in what was clearly meant to be a nod to the mainstream action movies. Being honest, they should have picked The Rock.
Can you smell what The Rock is cooking?
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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: action movies, armageddon, cliche, ed harris, film, michael bay, Movies, nicolas cage, non-review review, review, the rock | 4 Comments »
Posted on February 27, 2010 by Darren
I just won tickets to a preview screening of Alice in Wonderland as part of the Jameson Dublin International Film Festival. I’ll have my review up on Monday morning, but in the meantime, here’s how I won. It’s a reworked version of The Walrus and the Carpenter. Apologies in advance to Lewis Carroll, his estate, fans of the poem and people with taste.
Apologies in advance...
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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: alice in wonderland, film, jameson dublin international film festival, jdiff, lewis carroll, Movies, poetry, teh walrus and the carpenter, the blogger and the girlfriend | Leave a comment »
Posted on February 26, 2010 by Darren
It’s turgid. I just know that there are a lot of people who will say it is the worst film of 2010. [The location] was the main reason I took it – so that I could come home at the weekends. It wasn’t because of the script, trust me. I was told it was going to be like The Quiet Man with a Vaughan Williams soundtrack, but in the end it turned out to have pop music all over it. … Was it a bad job? Yes, it was. But, you know, I had a nice time and I got paid.
– Matthew Goode on Leap Year
It’s rare to hear an actor being so candid about a film that met with… less than stellar reception. On one hand I admire the guy’s honesty in speaking out, but on the other I kinda wonder if he really has the right to label the movie as ‘turgid’ after starring in it and whether ‘I got paid’ is really a justification for inflicting that racist romantic comedy upon mankind.
Look on my works ye mighty and despair...
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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: actors, amy adams, bad films, film, honesty, leap year, matthew goode, Movies, romantic comedy, turgid, watchmen | 7 Comments »
Posted on February 24, 2010 by Darren
What a fantastic concept. Imagine a world where nobody lies. Now imagine a world where some cheeky bugger – oh, look, it’s Ricky Gervais, who would have thought? – invents the concept of lying, an un-truth. Doesn’t it sound like comic dynamite in the right hands? I mean, humour is always about exploring and subverting social conventions, so removing all the little ‘white lies’ must surely be the stuff of comedy gold? Not so much, it turns out.
"look into my eyes, can't you see they're open wide? Would I lie to you baby, would I lie to you?"
Note: This review will probably mention some stuff that might spoil the movie for you – in some small way. We won’t be discussing the ending or such, but there’s a significant tonal shift in the middle you might not want flagged. If you want a quick opinion on the film, here it is: it isn’t worth your time, it doesn’t go anywhere with the concept and insists upon its own brilliance just a tad too much. If you want some reasoning, read on. If not, consider yourself forewarned.
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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: film, Movie, non-review review, review, ricky gervais, the invention of lying | Leave a comment »
Posted on February 23, 2010 by Darren
I’m a romantic at heart. I really am. Underneath my cold, cynical exterior beats the heart of a poet. A bad poet, no doubt, but a poet nonetheless. Which is why I find it somewhat disingenuous when my mother or my aunt feel the need to attack me for not appreciating or understanding films like My Sister’s Keeper or The Ugly Truth. It’s easy to joke that “ha, I’m a dude and dudes don’t understand the romantic or emotional drama movies!” and so on, but I think that belies the problem. And the problem is that I don’t like too many romantic comedies because… well, they aren’t good movies (or, to qualify, I don’t believe they are good movies). Read on to hear my reasoning.
The only gold standard in the traditional romantic comedy is Matthew McConaughey's fake tan...
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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: 27 dresses, film, Movies, romance, romantic comedies, the ugly truth, valentine's day | 8 Comments »
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