films | the m0vie blog

Non-Review Review: Heat

Posted on February 15, 2011 by Darren

We’re currently blogging as part of the “For the Love of Film Noir” blogathon (hosted by Ferdy on Films and The Self-Styled Siren) to raise money to help restore the 1950’s film noir The Sound of Fury (aka Try and Get Me). It’s a good cause which’ll help preserve our rich cinematic heritage for the ages, and you can donate by clicking here. Over the course of the event, running from 14th through 21st February, I’m taking a look at the more modern films that have been inspired or shaped by noir. Today’s theme is “nineties noir” – I’ll be looking at two of the finest noir-inspired films of the nineties.

I do what I do best, I take scores. You do what you best, try to stop guys like me.

– Neil McCauley to Vincent Hanna

I’ll be honest and concede that, right off the bat, I have a lot more love for Heat than most. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t labour under the assumption that it’s a poorly-received film (it’s rare to find someone who will concede that they dislike it), but I still have a stronger affection for Heat than the vast majority of viewers. I was only ten years old when Heat was released, and I think that was a big a moment for me. My ten-year-old self was familiar with big, sprawling epic sagas, but I think I used to believe that these sorts of epics were reserved for stories set in times long past. I think, in my innocence (or foolishness, depending on how kind you wish to be to my younger self), I felt that epic stories didn’t really happen anymore.

And then I saw Heat, which somehow managed to take an epic, sprawling narrative style which – at the time – I could only remember from films like Dances With Wolves or Cleopatra or Gone With The Wind, and applied it to cops and robbers. If I were to construct a list of films which helped me fall in love with cinema, Heat would be on there. Pretty high, too.

It's a whole different ballgame...

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: al pacino, christian bale, Christopher Nolan, dark knight, film, Film noir, film nori, films, For the Love of Film Noir, For the Love of Film Noir blogathon, For the Love of Film Noir: The Film Preservation Blogathon, heat, Heat (1995 film), johnny depp, L.A. Takedown, michael mann, Movies, review, robert deniro, Sam Giancana, Sheldon Turner, Vincent Hanna | 4 Comments »

Non-Review Review: se7en

Posted on February 15, 2011 by Darren

Although David Fincher has directing credits before se7en (most notably Alien 3), it was this look at a broken world which marked the up-and-coming director as a talent to watch. It’s a movie which works on many levels, entertaining on the superficial surface level while intriguing viewers looking for something just a little bit deeper. I have to say, of all the films I revisited as part of this blogging event, I think I got the most out of returning to se7en.

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: arts, atmosphere, brad pitt, crime, Critical Essays, david fincher, Film noir, films, For the Love of Film Noir, For the Love of Film Noir blogathon, For the Love of Film Noir: The Film Preservation Blogathon, Howard Shore, john doe, mood, Morgan Freeman, Movie, Movies, non-review review, review, serial killer, serial killers, Seven (film), silence of the lambs, Sound of Fury, YG Entertainment | 2 Comments »

Non-Review Review: L.A. Confidential

Posted on February 14, 2011 by Darren

Over the next week, I’ll be taking a look at the more modern films inspired and descended from film noir. It’s been tough trying to classify them all, to narrow down what I wanted to cover in the seven days that I had. In many cases, I wasn’t sure that I’d be able to successfully link the films back to the original genre. Trust me when I say that I had tonnes of films on my shortlist to look at as part of this event – many of them were on and off the list at various times as I attempted to include a bit of variety or range. However, there was one modern film that was always near the top of list of films that I wanted to cover – L.A. Confidential.

Best Buds?

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: 1950, Bloody Christmas, Curtis Hanson, Dudley Smith, fifties, Film noir, films, For the Love of Film Noir, For the Love of Film Noir: The Film Preservation Blogathon, kevin spacey, LA Confidential, los angeles, Movie, noir, review, Sound of Fury | 7 Comments »

Non-Review Review: Winter’s Bone

Posted on February 11, 2011 by Darren

In many ways, Winter’s Bone is the Best Picture nominee most typical of the modern Oscars (or, at least, the criticism of the modern Oscars). While The Fighter echoes the every man appeal of Rocky, The King’s Speech is the archetypal historical and “triumph over adversity” tale, The Social Network is classic morality tale with a modern sheen and True Grit is the nostalgic entry, Winter’s Bone speaks the “indie” attitude that we’ve seen become dominant in the past decade. It’s a film rich in atmosphere and mood, with a bleakness that threatens to escape the screen and devour the audience whole, but it favours this lush approach over pacing and engagement. To say it is glacial, is an understatement.

The road ahead is bleak...

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: Academy Award, Academy Award for Best Picture, arts, best picture, Daniel Woodrell, Debra Granik, films, Jennifer Lawrence, John Hawkes, King's Speech, Movies, non-review review, Ozarks, review, United States, Winter's Bone | 6 Comments »

Is There Method to the Madness: Christian Bale’s Weight & Method Acting

Posted on February 10, 2011 by Darren

Christian Bale is losing a massive amount of weight again for his role in the upcoming Concrete Island. It’s rather topical, given that the actor took time out of an interview to lambaste those who would deride his massive amount of weight loss for The Fighter:

‘To be honest, I find it laughable that it’s considered to be some f—ing gimmick — it’s so patronizing. For God’s sake, do people not understand what a pain it is to do? It’s as though it’s some comment about, ‘Oh it’s easy for him, because he’s done it a bunch of times.’ It’s not easy, it’s not fun — it’s horrible.”

In fairness, I think Bale misses the general thrust of the argument when he makes the (entirely fair) point that it’s a very difficult process. I don’t think anybody will argue that such control over his own body mass is easy (as, if it were, I’d probably choose to be the epitome of physical fitness, but it doesn’t work that way). I think the general question is whether such a large fluctuation in weight adds a benefit to his roles that is worth the physical strain. Is there a gain for the pain, so to speak?

What's the skinny?

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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: acting, actor, Actors Studio, christian bale, Concrete Island, Constantin Stainislavski, Constantin Stanislavski, craft, Daniel Day-Lewis, Fighter, films, Lee Strasberg, mark wahlberg, marlon brando, matt damon, Method Acting, Movies, Oscars, robert deniro, Stainislavski Method, Stanislavski Method, Stella Adler, the fighter, the Method, Weight loss | 9 Comments »

Non-Review Review: The Informant!

Posted on February 10, 2011 by Darren

The Informant! has some tricky subject matter to cover. Its subject, Mark Whitacre, remains a controversial figure in the history of corporate law enforcement up to (and probably well beyond) the present day. It’s a complex history, one which involves the most high-profile FBI investigation into price-fixing at major American companies, but which involves a very complicated central figure. I’m hesitant to go into too much detail as – although I’m not sure you can “spoil” a true story – I don’t want to ruin the experience of watching the film for anyone, but it’s a very fascinating example of corporate whistleblowing.

You'll be on the edge of your seat...

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: films, jim carrey, Mark Whitacre, matt damon, michael crichton, Movies, non-review review, review, Scott Bakula, stephen russell, steve russell, Steven Soderbergh, the informant | 2 Comments »

What if the Best Picture Posters Told the Truth?

Posted on February 9, 2011 by Darren

Truth be told, I’m a little behind this week. I took a trip down to Sligo at the weekend and I’m preparing for a film noir blogothon next week (stay tuned). So posting this week may be a little… scattershot. Anyway, in a nice way to tie into those wonderful BAFTA poster redesigns from last year, this year we have – courtesy of theshiznit.co.uk – a simple question: what if this year’s Best Picture nominees told the truth, up front? Instead of vague names like Winter’s Bone or Inception or The Fighter… well, that last one’s pretty spot on… but what if the movies just told you everything you needed to know, on the poster? They might look like this…

(click to enlarge)

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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: Academy Award, Academy Award for Best Picture, arts, comedy, Film noir, films, funny, homouir, Movies, Oscars, parody, poster, sligo, Winter's Bone | 8 Comments »

Captain America 101: An Introduction to the Star-Spangled Avenger…

Posted on February 7, 2011 by Darren

I did a post a little while back that was intended to serve as an introduction to the world of the Green Lantern, what with the movie coming out this year. The post proved so popular that I thought I’d take perhaps put a similar post together on Captain America. The first trailer for Captain America: The First Avenger premiered at the Super Bowl yesterday, so it seems to be the perfect time for a bit of an introduction to the star-spangled superhero. Check out the 30-second spot below.

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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: captain america, captain america 101, captain america: the first avenger, chris evans, ed brubaker, films, green lantern, Gulf War, hugo weaving, marvel, Marvel Comic, marvel comics, Movies, the first avenger, Timely Comics, Watergate Scandal, world war ii | 2 Comments »

Is Avatar a Revisionist Take on Aliens?

Posted on February 4, 2011 by Darren

I know this isn’t exactly a new idea, but it’s one I’ve been mulling over quite a bit lately – especially since my aunt picked up the Alien Anthology on blu ray for Christmas. It’s been fairly frequently remarked, on-line and in-print that James Cameron’s Avatar bears remarkable similarities to his Aliens. However, it’s not the similarities that interest me, it’s the differences which reveal quite a bit. Most fascinating – at least to me – is the idea that Avatar represents an attempt to revise Cameron’s work on Aliens.

Killer queen...

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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: 20th Century Fox, alien, aliens, avatar, Entertainment Weekly, films, james cameron, metafiction, Movies, revisionism, Sam Worthington, sequel, shared universe, sigourney weaver, Unobtainium, Viet Cong, xenomorphs | 10 Comments »

Non-Review Review: The Book of Eli

Posted on February 4, 2011 by Darren

The Book of Eli is an interesting film. It’s undoubtedly well made, featuring a strong cast and a pretty great script. Being honest, we’ve had more than enough death and destruction amid post-apocalyptic wastelands, so a movie that doesn’t dwell too much on the soulless nihilism of the setting – well, relatively speaking. It’s sort of an action movie response to the after-the-end thrillers we’ve been seeing a lot of in recent years (The Road comes to mind, as does Carriers and Hollywood’s current fascination with zombies). However, the movie comes across as a little too polished and stylised for its own good – at times it seems as if the cast are recording a perfume commercial set amid the ruins of a world that once was.