Posted on June 28, 2009 by Darren
I caught this foreign gem playing on Sky Premier today. I’d actually heard quite a bit about it while it was playing at the IFI last year, but most of it was mixed enough that I put off catching it in the cinema. The movie – following the rise of Genghis Khan – is a historical epic of the kind that Hollywood doesn’t really make any more – and I mean that as both a compliment and a criticism. It isn’t as utterly brilliant as those who praise it claim, nor is it as bad as its detractors would have you believe.
A Khan not to be messed with...
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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: film, genghis khan, historical epic, history, mongol, mongol film, non-review review, review, Sergei Bodrov | Leave a comment »
Posted on June 28, 2009 by Darren
I’m not a big fan of posting stuff I find on-line at the blog (I’ll generally link to the article and offer my own reaction to it), but this was too fun to pass up:
Television Without Pity has this lovely photo journal contrasting Christian Bale and Johnny Depp’s approach to making Public Enemies. Click the link or the picture. It is one of the funniest film-related articles I’ve read in quite some time.
Check out our own review of the film here.
"Then we stopped by a Steak n Shake for a Steakburger (I love those f@!?ing things), but the waitress forgot my f@!?ing chili. I knew it was going to be a problem when she didn't f@!?ing write anything down. "It's all up here!" she said. F@!?ING LIAR. How does someone get to become a waitress without the ability to remember a f@!?ing order?"
Filed under: Movies | Tagged: christian bale, film, funny, johnny depp, Movies, parody, public enemies | Leave a comment »
Posted on June 27, 2009 by Darren
Caught this playing this afternoon on Sky HD, so I figured it was worth a look in High Def. I’ll be honest, I was very impressed. It’s a humourous light-hearted look at the Star Trek phenomenon, which manages to avoid feeling vindictive or mean. It’s anchored in a fantastic cast and with top notch special effects, there’s really no reason why anyone with any interest in the fringe of popular culture shouldn’t check it out.
Remind you of anything?
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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: alan rickman, film, galaxy quest, Movie, non-review review, review, sci-fi comedy, science fiction, sigourney weaver, tim allen | 4 Comments »
Posted on June 25, 2009 by Darren
My uncle and I were looking for something good to watch on Tuesday and unfortunately Sky doesn’t offer Sky Premiere HD +1, so we arrived halfway through Sweeney Todd. Feeling somewhat cultured for sitting through five minutes of musical (it is a fantastic film), we decided to indulge our… baser instincts. Digging through a pile of Blu Ray discs we’d found in some godforsaken bargain basement somewhere, we began to despair. Until we found it – the golden poster boy of mindless, insane, frentic and fun action movies of the 1990’s. Yes, we stuck on Face/Off.
Travolta took the news of Nicholas Cage's Ocar win worse than most...
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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: face/off, film, john travolta, john woo, Movies, nicholas cage, non-review review, review | 1 Comment »
Posted on June 25, 2009 by Darren
I’m not American, but I feel a strange fascination with Richard Milhouse Nixon. He’s a figure of almost Shakespearean complexity, driven to phenomenal heights and fantastic accomplishments, but never able to do enough to placate the insecurity gnawing at him. I had the pleasure of reading Conrad Black’s rather even-handed summary of his life and career last summer, and he seems as much a mystery as ever. The recent news item about another of his paranoid ramblings has grabbed media attention, but I’m amazed that there doesn’t seem to be much debate over the true impact of Nixon’s Presidency beyond the obvious shadow cast by Watergate. What is the American fascination with painting Nixon as a villain or a fiend? Why can he not embody something just a tad more complex?
Richard Nixon unsuccessfully attempts to distract from the Watergate scandal by declaring "It's behind you!" during a Press Conference...
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Filed under: Opinion | Tagged: film, frost/nixon, history, Movies, nixon, oliver stone, pop culture, richard m. nixon, richard nixon, watchmen, watergate, watergate tapes | 1 Comment »
Posted on June 24, 2009 by Darren
I’m kinda excited about The Time Traveler’s Wife. Soppy romantic movies generally don’t reel me in particularly well, but there’s something… romantic about a couple where one of two is shifting back and forth in time (what made Lost‘s The Constant possibly the sweetest hour of television last year). Lest sci-fi-phobes be worried by the notion of a time traveling romance (and why should they – what is the problem people have with science fiction as a genre?), the time traveler in question suffers from a genetic disorder which causes his brain to leap backwards and forwards in time. Because apparently if it doesn’t involve futuristic technology, it isn’t science fiction. Anyway, the story (adapted from a book) reminds me of a similar concept executed on the BBC a few years back.
Clare Abshire wonders how it's possible for her husband to be late...
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Filed under: Movies, Television | Tagged: doctor who, film, madame du pompadour, stephen moffat, The Girl in The Fireplace, The Time Traveler's Wife | Leave a comment »
Posted on June 23, 2009 by Darren
I saw The Hangover last weekend, and it occurs to me: has there ever been a truly great Las Vegas movie? A movie (or even a show) that fully captures the feeling of living in a city that glows with neon glare twenty-four hours a day? I can name at least a dozen movies using Vegas as a backdrop: there’s the obvious ones like Viva Las Vegas, Leaving Las Vegas, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and maybe even Casino. Then there are the smaller films like Jon Favreau’s Swingers or The Cooler which are set in the city. I’m not sure that the film has received definitive treatment on film.
Bright light city gonna set my soul on fire...
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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: cities on film, film, las vegas, las vegas on film, Movies, the hangover | Leave a comment »
Posted on June 20, 2009 by Darren
We caught a late screening of The Hangover at Cineworld last night – which started ten minutes late and had twenty minutes of trailers attachmed (most of which were for movies that didn’t look particularly interesting), which led to us missing our rides home by about five minutes, but that’s a different rant. Still, it was kinda total worth it – like the eponymous hangover itself.
Three Men and a Baby it is not...
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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: bradley cooper, Ed Helms, film, las vegas, mike tyson, Movies, non-review review, review, the hangover, Zach Galifianakis | 5 Comments »
Posted on June 18, 2009 by Darren
I think everyone has family issues. They’re a bunch of people in your life who you never chose to be close to you. And you’re stuck with them, for better or worse. I think that’s why Little Miss Sunshine strikes the chord it does. That, and it’s an astonishingly good film.
"Everyone pretend to be normal."
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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: film, greg kinnear, little miss sunshine, Movies, non-review review, review, steve carrell, toni collette | 2 Comments »
Posted on June 12, 2009 by Darren
When I saw Frost/Nixon in the cinema, I came out thinking it was the second best film of last year. How does my opinion hold up?
For a guy who isn't a crook, he sure has his "caught in the act" pose well-rehearsed
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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: david frost, film, frank langella, frost/nixon, history, michael sheen, Movie, non-review review, Oscars, review, richard m. nixon, richard nixon, ron howard, the curious case of benjamin button | 11 Comments »
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