Posted on October 25, 2009 by Darren
Pixar, how I love you. If Up isn’t the film of the year so far, it’s pretty damn close. Don’t let the fact it’s a far more conventional film than Wall-E fool you – it is just as emotionally honest (it is odd how true to human feelings Pixar can be while running with more outlandish ideas). Pixar have always dealt with real experiences through metaphor – from the fear of middle-age in The Incredibles to the concerned single-parenthood of Finding Nemo – but this movie is particularly upfront about what it’s dealing with. That honesty is almost as endearing as the magical imagination which elevates the film like so many helium-filled balloons.
Almost a clear sky...
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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: 3d review, christopher plummer, disney, ed asner, film, Movie, pixar, up | 2 Comments »
Posted on October 23, 2009 by Darren
The second trailer for The Wolfman hit the interweb yesterday. I’m still on the fence about this one. On one hand, there’s a classic monster movie, Anthony Hopkins and Benecio del Toro. On the other hand there’s Joe Johnson (the dude who directed Jurassic Park III) and what looks like fairly dodgy CGI. The twice pushed-back release date isn’t filling me with confidence for this kick-start to the monster movie genre either. Still, one aspect of the film intrigues me, amid all the forest scenery, interesting make-up and scenery-chewing going on. It’s the ever-fantastic Hugo Weaving appearing as Detective Francis Abberline. Don’t worry if the name doesn’t ring any bells, I’m fairly sure you’ve seen him somewhere – he’s been played by Sir Michael Caine and Johnny Depp amongst others. The problem is he’s constantly upstaged by his most frequent co-star:
Jack the Ripper.
On the scent...
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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: abberline, benecio del toro, cinema, detective abberline, fictionalisation, film, francis abberline, frederick abberline, history, hugo weaving, monster movie, monster movies, Movie, real character, the wolfman | 3 Comments »
Posted on October 20, 2009 by Darren
I love Sky Anytime. It gives me the opportunity to watch stuff I would normally miss at a time that suits me. This weekend, for example, I sat down for Saturday lunch and decided to see what was available to watch. I found Ghost Town, a movie which never really became large enough to warrant a cinema trip and my family’s Gervais-aversion ruled out a rent. So, I switched it on and I was reasonably impressed with this modern spoof on the ghost story subgenre. There’s nothing too strange or startling or new here, but it’s a solidly entertaining comedy and a more than pleasant diversion.
Dead people see him...
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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: comedy, david koepp, film, films, ghost town, ghosts, greg kinnear, Movies, ricky gervais | Leave a comment »
Posted on October 19, 2009 by Darren
I’ve been thinking about this for quite some time – ever since snuggling in to watch the eighties sci-fi spectacular Enemy Mine only to discover that it was an experience which managed to flawlessly recreate the experience of being repeatedly hammered on the head by a blunt metallic object of some sort. The fact that the movie actually forced me to give up on it is a rare experience – I can normally grit my teeth and bare it. In a world that features so, so many terrible, terrible films, how come I don’t switch off more?
Yes, even he couldn't get me to switch off...
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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: bad movies, film, film reviewing, Movies, switching off, terrible films | 1 Comment »
Posted on October 15, 2009 by Darren
This was an interesting piece of news last week – a large number of us lie about the films we’ve seen, as demonstrated by a survey in the UK. Basically, a large number of us pretend to have seen movies which we haven’t in order to avoid appearing ‘uncultured’. There was a fair bit of focus on the fact that the most lied about film is The Godfather, but it seems to have gone unnoticed that the second most lied about film is Dirty Dancing. Even keeping Patrick Swayze’s recent death in mind (which probably happened after the survey was complete), why would you lie about Dirty Dancing? It takes a stuck-up film snob to judge you for not watching The Godfather or The Shawshank Redemption, two indisputable classics, but who in their right mind would complain that you haven’t lived until you’ve seen Dirty Dancing?
The time of your life, indeed...
Filed under: Movies | Tagged: dirty dancing, film, lying, Movies, the godfather, the shawshank redemption | 1 Comment »
Posted on October 14, 2009 by Darren
A modern classic. The finest portrayal of one the greatest villains ever created. Only the third film to win all of the “big five” Oscars. The first horror film to win the Best Picture Oscar. The movie which kickstarted Hollywood’s grim fascination with gory and sexually frustrated serial killers and those who hunt them. The movie which energised an ageing veteran’s career and confirmed one of Hollywood’s youngest female actors as one of its greatest stars. One of the most often referenced and quoted movies ever made.
It’s pretty good.
I bet his favourite book is To Serve Man...
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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: anthony hopkins, best picture, best picture oscar, buffalo bill, film, hannibal, hannibal lecter, hannibal the cannibal, jodie foster, jonathon demme, Movie, non-review review, review, serial killer, silence of the lambs, the silence of the lambs | 4 Comments »
Posted on October 13, 2009 by Darren
Halloween is coming up soon and we plan to celebrate it in style here at the m0vie blog. We’ll be looking at all manner of scary archetypes and horror conventions as that day approaches. Evidently, I’m already in the right frame of mind. I just found out that the original A Nightmare on Elm Street is based (very loosely, I must admit) on a true story. I’m not kidding, it’s actually quite freaky.
One, two... Freddy's coming for you...
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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: a nightmare on elm street, film, freddy krueger, hmong, Movies, mysterious deaths, nightmare on elm street, sudden unexplained death syndrome, true story, wes craven | 43 Comments »
Posted on October 12, 2009 by Darren
It’s a funny world. But it has always been a funny world and it’s arrogant to presume that the world waited until we got here to go and get itself in a mess. Sure, some of us carry the fire off into that night, but it’s a very cold and very dark night and all we have is faith that there is an even greater fire out there waiting for us. No Country For Old Men is a stunning film – an odd fusion of the Coen Brothers with Cormac McCarthy which manages to say a hell-of-a-lot without weighing itself down with too much exposition or dialogue. It’s a great film which realy stands out even amongst the Coens’ already-impressive filmography.
Yes, it's a silencer. On a shotgun.
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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: adaptation, anton chigurh, best picture, best picture oscar, book, coen brothers, cormac mccarthy, drama, film, javier bardem, josh brolin, Movie, Movies, no country for old men, non-review review, review, the coen brothers, thriller, tommy lee jones, western, woody harrelson | Leave a comment »
Posted on October 10, 2009 by Darren
Probably the best we could have hoped for. Which is a guarded compliment at best. The movie has several gaping flaws, both as an adaptation of Alan Moore’s seminal work and also as a film in its own right. And yet it contains more interesting ideas than most prestige dramas, and at least two standout performances. The film is widely inconsistent, sometimes feeling too long in its gratuitous acton or sex scenes, but too short on the actual big ideas that make it thought-provoking. Ultimately, what ties the film down is also what props it up, in a manner: the fact that it is based on one of the most important books of the last quarter century.
Just the three of us...
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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: adaptation, adrian veidt, alan moore, billy crudup, billy crupud, comic book, doctor manhatten, dr. strangelove, ending, film, film adaptation, graphic novel, jackie earle haley, league of extraordinary gentlemen, malin akerman, matt frewer, matthew goode, Movie, non-review review, patrick dean morgan, patrick wilson, review, richard nixon, rorschach, squid, United States, watchmen, zack snyder | 5 Comments »
Posted on October 7, 2009 by Darren
So last week we had the box office dominance of Zombieland, a post-apocalyptic comedy. Over the weekend we had the simultaneous broadcast across US network television of five minutes of Emmerich’s newest disaster flick 2012. We also may have the first post-apocalyptic Oscar-nominee in The Road this year. And that’s just in the last three months of the year. Looking back over the last decade alone there have been a million-and-one end-of-the-world thrillers, chillers, comedies and dramas. That’s a lot of apocalypse for a relatively small planet. So, what gives? is there a greater reason for the zeitgeist’s fascination with the end of the world?
Darth Vader offers an example of what the end of the world might just look like...
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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: 2012, apocalypse, doomsday, dr. strangelove, film, film genres, i am legend, Movies, post-apocalyptic, teotwawki, the day after tomorrow, the end of the world, the road, waterworld, zombie apocalypse, zombieland, zombies | 1 Comment »
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