Posted on January 5, 2010 by Darren
It seems that the cast and crew took the entirely wrong message out of the hugely successful (commercially and critically) Casino Royale. A brilliant combination of fancy stunts and grittiness that called to mind the series’ recent challengers in the Bourne series, Royale reinvented Bond for the naughties, in much the same way as GoldenEye did for the nineties. Unfortunately, Quantum of Solace seems to be based around the assumption that the reaction to Casino Royale was based solely around the modern aspects of the film, rather than the fusion of the old with new, so Solace ends up being Royale without the knowing grin. And it’s a shame, because the knowing grin is part of what makes Bond Bond (perhaps moreso than gadgets, gizmos and world domination plots). Don’t get me wrong, the action in the sequel is nothing short of fantastic (possibly surpassing even its progenitor in the action sweepsteaks) and the movie is well put together, but it just lacks the firm sense of identity which defines the best of the Bond movies.
Bond admits he might be getting a bit old for these crazy college nights out...
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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: bond, casino royale, daniel craig, film, ian fleming, james bond, Movie, non-review review, quantum of solace, review | 1 Comment »
Posted on January 5, 2010 by Darren
Dying kids are a story device that should always be considered very carefully before you use them as a storytelling device. On one level it’s because it’s a very tough blow to deal the audience, but – on a more sophisticated level – because it can horribly misfire and seem like blatant emotional manipulation. Which, in fairness, all movie-making is – but you don’t want the audience cottoning on to that fact or you’re ruined. The illusion is shattered. Unfortunately My Sister’s Keeper isn’t smart enough to be aware of either of these risks in framing a story around a dying child suffering from cancer, so it smashes through both ideas like two large window panes before staggering blindly through the china shop of the tangental moral issues it raises. And yes, even those awkward and ham-fisted analogies I just fed you are more subtle than the movie itself.
Cameron Diaz really wants the part of Blofeld in Bond 23...
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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: abigail breslin, alec baldwin, cameron diaz, film, grief, jason patric, loss, Movie, my sister's keeper, non-review review, review | Leave a comment »
Posted on December 23, 2009 by Darren
I’ll be honest. I didn’t like Avatar. Part of the movie made me uncomfortable. The implications of the whole “white man leads a bunch of noble savages to a victory they couldn’t have acheived without him” bit are worrying when place in the context of a metaphor for the genocide of the Native Americans. But, beyond that, it just isn’t a very good film. The dialogue is terrible. The characters don’t seem half as real as James Cameron’s wonderfully brought-to-life planet Pandora. On the other hand, I will concede that the visuals are stunning. They are breathtaking. What really amazes me, though, is the tone of backlash that most negative reviews seem to be generating, which can be effectively summed up with: just shut up and look at the pretty picture – who cares about plot and characters?
King of the new world...
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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: avatar, avatar backlash, avatar reviews, criticism, critics, film, Movies, special effects, story | 1 Comment »
Posted on December 20, 2009 by Darren
Yes, it is as visually stunning as you have heard. No, the special effects and 3D don’t combine to give you massive headaches. No, you’re never really dizzy or disorientated. Yes, it is the most technically impressive movie since… well, Titanic. But, with all that said, there’s really very little here. Cameron might be a master chef, and is an expert at serving up meals that look incredible, but here it seems that he spent more time on the decoration than on the ingredients. The movies is easily the most incredible technical accomplishment of the decade, but does that really matter when the plot is not only recycled (in fairness, that suits the green tone of the movie), but recycled poorly? Is watching two-and-a-half-hours of visually stunning work enough if it can’t generate any sort of emotional investment?
I wish I could say it blue (geddit?) me away...
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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: 3d, aliens, avatar, avatar (film), Cameron, Fictional universe of Avatar, film, Jake, james cameron, Movie, na'vi, non-review review, pandora, review, sigourney weaver, titanic | 6 Comments »
Posted on December 10, 2009 by Darren
My spidey-sense is tingling. Word on the rumour mill is that we’ll know next month if Christopher Nolan will be making a Batman trilogy, or simply leaving it at a duology. There’s all manner of discussion about what will happen if he isn’t back – but I think it’s looking increasingly like we may be moving away from the Zack Snyder’s The Dark Knight Returns approach, which means a new Batman movie relatively similar to the last two (because nothing succeeds like success). But part of me is wondering what the plan is beyond that. Are we going to see a direct sequel or a reboot? Would Warner Brothers reboot Batman so quickly?
Not only the director we deserve, but the the director we need right now...
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Filed under: Comics, Movies | Tagged: batman, Christopher Nolan, continuity superman, earth one, film, green lantern, justice league, Movies, reboot, relaunch, ultimate marvel, ultimate universe, Warner Brothers | Leave a comment »
Posted on December 9, 2009 by Darren
I’m a little torn about this film. On one hand, it’s nice to know that Sam Raimi has more than simply half-a-dozen Spider-Man movies left in him, on the other hand, this feels like it’s what The Evil Dead would look like in the era of CGI. And that’s not necessarily a compliment. At the very least, Raimi immediately reestablishes his creditionals as a unique film maker – I don’t think anyone has a vision quite like him. While he has the same difficulties finding the perfect balance of black comedy and horror that he had while making the Evil Dead trilogy. It doesn’t always work, but it benefits from being new and relatively exciting.
A grave matter...
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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: alison lohman, black comedy, dark me to hell, film, horror, Movie, non-review review, review, sam raimi | Leave a comment »
Posted on December 1, 2009 by Darren
You know how interested I am in quirky interpretations of the deeper meanings of popular culture – like the discussion over whether Anton Chigurh of No Country For Old Men is actually an angel or whether this year’s Torchwood: Children of Earth miniseries was actually about the recession. So it should come as no surprise that when I read about how The Shining by Stanley Kubrick is supposedly about the genocide of the Native Americans, I was more than a little intrigued.
Even the baking powder is in on it…
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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: allegory, film, genocide, holocaust, horror, indians, kubrick, metaphor, Movies, native americans, racism, shining, stanley kubrick, the shining | 2 Comments »
Posted on November 30, 2009 by Darren
You have to admit that the premise, at least, is intriguing. Maybe the execution is less so, but the basic premise (a martial arts movie directed by maestro wordsmith David Mamet) deserves at least a little consideration. In fairness, the movie plays its cards pretty well. It’s populated with kind of deceit and self-deceit which we have come to expect from the characters which Mamet presents to us on a regular basis. It’s a grim and dark and seedy world, even underneath those bright lights. The problem is that the movie’s core appeal (articulated in its title, premise and marketing) of a martial arts movie simply cannot deliver in that environment. These two facets of the movie lock themselves in mortal combat like two prize fighters in the ring: Mamet’s cynicism and human drama facing off against the requisite showiness and razzle-dazzle of martial arts. At one point a character suggests that the money is in a draw (since a rematch is a huge moneyspinner), and maybe that’s why we get no winner here. We don’t even get an entertaining struggle.
The blows come as quick as the dialogue and are almost as sharp...
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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: david mamet, film, martial arts film, Movie, non-review review, play, red belt, redbelt, review, tim allen | Leave a comment »
Posted on November 29, 2009 by Darren
Is just me, or are the Judd Atapow machine comedies getting crasser and crasser? Sure, The 40-Year-Old Virgin and Knocked Up weren’t exactly incredibly clean pieces of comedy, but they certanly demonstrated far more maturity than most of the recent output from that particular comedy factory – for better or worse. It’s just hard to find bodily function jokes and profanity funny for their own sake, and – if that is the measure of humour these days – that sort of humour is a dime-a-dozen these days. That’s not to say that Step-Brothers is entirely without charm (it has more than a few engaging moments), but just that it seems to think that appealing to the lowest common denominator is a legitimate form of comedy when it can’t think of anything better to do.
Brothers in arms...
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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: adam mckay, comedy, film, funny, john c. reilly, man-child, manchild, Movie, non-review review, review, step-brothers, stepbrothers, will ferrell | Leave a comment »
Posted on November 27, 2009 by Darren
My mum can’t watch horror films. She just can’t. Even if they aren’t that scary. Even if they are horror-comedies or versions of stories she’s heard before. She can’t even be in the same room when they’re on – even if nothing actually horrific is happening. It turns out that – in her youth, while an au pair in Belgium – one of her friends convinced her to see a movie playing in the local cinema. A film about a family in a hotel over the winter, starring Jack Nicholson. That movie scared her to death, and has arguably scared her ever since.
That movie is – if you haven’t gathered from the title of this post and the plot description – The Shining.
Baby, it's cold outside...
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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: film, ghosts, haunted, haunted hotel, horror, hotel, jack nicholson, Movie, non-review review, overlook hotel, review, stephen king, the shining | 4 Comments »
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