films | the m0vie blog

Elizabeth Taylor, RIP

Posted on March 28, 2011 by Darren

I’m still not sure what to write about the passing of Elizabeth Taylor. Obviously I know who she is, and obviously I’m familiar with her incredible collection of work. She was an icon, one of the stars which defined the period of Hollywood which ran from the forties into the seventies. I’ve seen Cleopatra. I’ve seen Who’s Afraid of Virginia Wolf? I have yet to see Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, but it comes recommended. And yet, as I write this, I feel quite uncertain. Unlike most of the people who will discuss Taylor’s contributions to cinema, I am too young to remember all the classics. I have never seen any of them in a cinema. Elizabeth Taylor was never really a movie-star to me, she was an icon.

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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: actors, Elizabeth Taylor, films, hollywood, Mark Dolan, movie stars | Leave a comment »

Non-Review Review: Spider-Man II

Posted on March 27, 2011 by Darren

This is a post as part of “Raimi-fest”, the event being organised by the always wonderful Bryce over at Things That Don’t Suck.

Aside from Nolan’s two superb Batman movies, Spider-Man II was the only other comic book superhero movie to make my top fifty films of the last decade. There’s a reason for that. Part of it is the fact that the movie helped define what the second film in a superhero franchise should really look like, but a larger part of it is that this film represents the moment at which Sam Raimi seemed most at home with his beloved central character – and I think that genuine enthusiasm on the part of the director really shines through over the course of the film.

I reckon Spider-Man polls highly among superhero fans...

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: Andrew Garfield, arts, Aunt May, bruce campbell, bryan singer, Comics, films, j.k. simmons, Movies, non-review review, peter parker, Raimi, review, sam raimi, spider man, stan lee, Steve Ditko | 6 Comments »

Non-Review Review: True Romance

Posted on March 18, 2011 by Darren

True Romance is one of those films I’m surprised never found a stronger audience, even retroactively. It features a screenplay from Quentin Tarantino which really put the future director on the map, but it also features a huge number of pre-stardom appearances from actors as diverse as James Gandolfini, Brad Pitt and Chris Penn. The movie holds together fantastically, but perhaps it works better as a collection of scenes than as a fully-realised movie – but, when the scenes are this good, that’s not necessarily a heavy criticism.

It's Whirley ride...

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: brad pitt, Chris Penn, Christian Slater, christopher walken, dennis hopper, elvis, elvis presley, ensemble, films, james gandolfini, Movie, non-review review, Patricia Arquette, quentin tarantino, review, tarantino, tony scott, true romance, true romance (film) | 4 Comments »

Todd Philips & “Unrated” Editions: Directors Above All?

Posted on March 17, 2011 by Darren

Todd Phillips, the director of Due Date and The Hangover, has come out blasting Warner Brothers for releasing extended “unrated” cuts of his movie without his input or consent. He makes a strong case, and threatens to take it to the DGA:

Warner Bros., they’ll make your movie; your movie does well, and they want to create an unrated version, which is entirely against DGA rules because it’s not your cut. And they can’t call it the ‘Director’s Cut’ — they’ll call it ‘Unrated’ or some ridiculous term. Really all it is, is about seven minutes of footage that you cut out of the movie for a reason.

I’ve stuck for directors’ visions in the past – I mourned the passing of Del Toro’s Mountains of Madness or hoped that someday Frank Darabont’s Fahrenheit 451 might (against all odds) make to screen. Studio interference on films like Brazil, for instance, is almost unforgivable – and I was delighted to see justice was eventually done to Blade Runner. However, I can’t find myself entirely agreeing with what Phillips says here.

Let me tell you a spiel...

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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: blade runner, DGA, director's guild of america, directors, directors cut, DVD, extended cut, extended edition, films, Hangover, Motion Picture Association of America film rating system, Movies, Richard Lester, Todd Phillips, unrated edition, variety, Warner Bros | 2 Comments »

Non-Review Review: Ronin

Posted on March 17, 2011 by Darren

Ronin is the perfect example of a movie that knows exactly what it is. It’s a high-octane thriller which bends and curves and uncertainties and all manner of similar complications. There’s no tangential elements to the plot, like an awkwardly-inserted love-story or an attempt to humanise any of the people involved. It’s just a well-made thriller with fantastic locations and wonderfully-staged action. At one stage, the grizzled French mercenary Vincent remarks, “No questions, no answers. That’s the business we’re in.” It’s refreshing and honest, and frank.

DeNiro's the big gun here...

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: action movie, david mamet, europe, films, Jean Reno, John Frankenheimer, MacGuffin, Michael Lonsdale, Movies, Natascha McElhone, non-review review, review, robert deniro, ronin | 2 Comments »

Stop Motion Capture: Time to Worry About Tintin?

Posted on March 15, 2011 by Darren

Mars Needs Moms bombed at the box office. Badly. Really badly. Ignoring the fact that Disney is in need of another hit, the failure of the Seth-Green-starring Robert-Zemeckis-produced motion-capture 3D CGI films raises serious questions about the future of that particular animation style. However, I wonder if it’s playing across the minds of Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson as they add the finishing touches to their Tintin adaptation.

All at sea?

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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: 3d, actors, animation, avatar, cgi, Charles Dickens, films, jim carrey, motion capture, Movies, peter jackson, Polar Express, robert zemeckis, steven spielberg, The Adventures of Tintin: Secret of the Unicorn, tintin, tom hanks | 10 Comments »

Non-Review Review: Thunderbirds Are Go!

Posted on March 15, 2011 by Darren

I happened to be flicking through the channels when I stumbled across Thunderbirds Are Go! For those unfamiliar with the concept, Thunderbirds is basically the television series that Trey Parker and Matt stone affectionately spoofed when making Team America: World Police (in fact, it was really the only “affectionate” part of the production). Anyway, Thunderbirds Are Go! was the series’ first attempt at a theatrical motion picture, shortly after the first season finished and shot back-to-back with the second. As far as “movies based on television shows” go, the film is essentially a feature-length regular episode. However, in this case, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that.

"They'll never see through my cunning disguise!"

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: alan tracy, Cliff Richard, films, Gerry Anderson, Movies, non-review review, puppets, review, Royal Mail, stingray, Supermarionation, Television, Television program, Thunderbird, thunderbirds, Thunderbirds are go, Tracy Island, Trey Parker | Leave a comment »

Non-Review Review: The Matrix Revolutions

Posted on March 14, 2011 by Darren

Today I’m taking a look at the Matrix trilogy. All three films, all watched and reviewed in one day. Join us for the fun! All three reviews will be going on-line today.

I remarked in my earlier review of The Matrix Reloaded that I feel I’m in the minority in regarding the final part of the trilogy as a much stronger film than the second film in the cycle. I mean, if you look at the Rotten Tomatoes score, the second film is almost regarded as highly as the first (higher among top critics), while the third is very clearly “rotten.” On the IMDb, the second film scores higher among audiences than the third. However, while neither sequel comes close to matching the impact of the original, I do have a fondness for the third over the second. Perhaps my preference derives from the same reason many find it weaker – the fact that the only way to enjoy it is to really disengage from the underlying philosophical questions posed by the second film.

Whoa...

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: existential philosophy, existentialism, film, films, free will, hugo weaving, Ian Bliss, Keanu Reeves, Matrix, Matrix Reloaded, Movie, Mr. Kennedy, Neo, non-review review, philosophy, review, revolutions, rotten tomatoes, sentinels, the matrix revolutions, the matrix trilogy, Wachowski Brothers, Zion | 3 Comments »

Non-Review Review: The Matrix Reloaded

Posted on March 14, 2011 by Darren

Today I’m taking a look at the Matrix trilogy. All three films, all watched and reviewed in one day. Join us for the fun! All three reviews will be going on-line today.

No, what happened happened and couldn’t have happened any other way.

How do you know?

We are still alive.

– Morpheus and Neo have one of the least obtuse conversations in the film

The reaction to the second and third films in The Matrix series has always somewhat surprised me. I don’t mean that I can’t see the criticism typically levelled at the films – I can see it and I agree with most of it. I mean that most viewers regard the second film as stronger than the third, while I always considered it the other way around. Rewatching all three films in one day just cemented that opinion – but I’m still curious about why cinema fans tend to favour the middle instalment over the last. Neither is as efficient or effective as the first film, but while I appreciate the sense of closure (and action) of the third film, I find myself regarding a significant portion of the second film as just idle padding – the franchise positioning itself for a final film, which would then go on to ignore a lot of what was suggested here.

Blade of glory?

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: agent smith, arts, coen brothers, destiny, determinism, fauxlosophy, film, films, free will, hugo weaving, Matrix, morpheus, Movies, Neo, non-review review, philosophy, review, star wars, the matrix reloaded, the matrix trilogy, the wachowski brothers | 2 Comments »

Non-Review Review: The Matrix

Posted on March 14, 2011 by Darren

Today I’m taking a look at the Matrix trilogy. All three films, all watched and reviewed in one day. Join us for the fun! All three reviews will be going on-line today.

Part of me wonders if The Matrix has been somewhat tarnished by its two sequels and countless spin-offs, video-games, tie-ins and “expanded universe” material. I mean, you can pick any number of iconic pop culture moments from the original film (from “I know kung-fu” to “whoa” to “stop trying to hit me and hit me”), but you’re left with a third film in the trilogy that ultimately grossed less than the original. Watching the entire trilogy back-to-back helps the later films seem much stronger, but it also perhaps helps illuminate what was missing from the following two films that made the original such a classic.