films | the m0vie blog

Non-Review Review: Master and Commander – The Far Side of the World

Posted on November 8, 2010 by Darren

Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World is a movie that, like Gladiator before it, finds a lot of appeal in resurrecting a genre that was pretty much dead in cinema. As such, despite being well-produced and well-acted, the core of the movie is one of nostalgia – we’ve all seen those classic tales of men at war on the oceans, what might be termed swashbuckling sea-faring adventures. However, unlike Russell Crowe’s earlier film, Peter Weir’s attempt to revive the men-at-sea adventure movie never quite landed with the public – to the point that the genre hasn’t really seen a resurgence, nor has a sequel been produced. Which, to be honest, is a bit of shame. Master and Commander isn’t quite as powerful an experience as it could be, but it is – like the ship on which it is set – well built and sturdy.

It's long and hard and filled with... never mind...

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: A Beautiful Mind, films, gladiator, Jim Sturgess, Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World, Movies, non-review review, nostalgia, paul bettany, Peter Weir, review, romanticism, russell crowe, Way Back | 2 Comments »

Non-Review Review: Land of the Dead

Posted on October 31, 2010 by Darren

Welcome to the m0vie blog’s zombie week! It’s a week of zombie-related movie discussions and reviews as we come up to Halloween, to celebrate the launch of Frank Darbont’s The Walking Dead on AMC on Halloween night. So be sure to check back all week, as we’ll be running posts on the living dead.

Zombies, man. They creep me out.

– Kaufman

Land of the Dead is something of a delayed epilogue to Romero’s “dead” trilogy. The first three films were produced roughly once every decade, with The Night of the Living Dead appearing in the sixties, Dawn of the Dead in the seventies and Day of the Dead in the eighties. There was no zombie movie from Romero during the nineties (save a remake of his original film – and even then Romero didn’t direct it – his frequent collaborator Tom Savini was behind the camera. Land of the Dead is a somewhat more controversial film than the first three films Romero produced, perhaps because it’s the first time that it feels like Romero gives his zombies more development than the human survivors. It also plays with the audience’s expectations a bit more than the first three films – and, whiel I’m not convinced that this sort of toying around with the formula works, you have to give the director credit. It isn’t as strong as the earlier films, but it still feels like a director who has something to say about the state of modern society. And that is about good enough for me.

Hopper-ed up...

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: 28 weeks later, asia argento, dennis hopper, films, george a. romero, george romero, horror, john leguizamo, Land of the Dead, Living Dead, Movie, Movies, night of the living dead, simon baker, Tom Savini, zombie, zombie week!, zombies | 2 Comments »

Non-Review Review: Day of the Dead (1985)

Posted on October 29, 2010 by Darren

Day of the Dead is the third in Romero’s classic “dead” trilogy and perhaps the last film he produced that has been universally accepted. While he has, to date, produced three more zombie films (and there are those – including myself – who appreciate some of those to a greater or lesser degree), Day of the Dead is considered something of a closing note on Romero’s epic zombie apocalypse saga – perhaps the other three acting as appendices (with Land of the Dead an epilogue and Diary of the Dead a “reimagining”). Either way, it’s a strong little film which holds together relative well. It will never be iconic as the two earlier films produced – The Night of the Living Dead and Dawn of the Dead – but it still feels like a fitting companion piece.

He's got him undead to rights...

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: Dawn of the Dead, Day of the Dead, films, george a. romero, george romero, Jan Hammer, Living Dead, miami vice, Movie, night of the living dead, Tofurkey, zombie week!, zombies | Leave a comment »

Non-Review Review: Shaun of the Dead

Posted on October 28, 2010 by Darren

Ah, facing down a herd of zombies with nothing but a Cricket Bat. Is there a more British response possible to the fall of civilisation?

And that's my cue...

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: Dylan Moran, edgar wright, films, Jessica Hynes, Movies, nick frost, night of the living dead, non-review review, penelope wilton, review, shaun of the dead, Simon Pegg, zombie week!, zombies | 3 Comments »

Non-Review Review: Dawn of the Dead (1978)

Posted on October 27, 2010 by Darren

It’s strange. For all the huge cultural impact that George A. Romero’s The Night of the Living Dead had (and it had quite a bit), people tend to focus quite a bit on the sequel, Dawn of the Dead. Perhaps it’s because the film is in colour, or because it features a far broader tapestry than Romero’s original zombie effort, or maybe it’s simply a better film, but the sequel is arguably every bit as well known (even to those who haven’t seen it) as the original – the idea of surviving a zombie apocalypse in an American shopping mall is one now etched on public consciousness (so much so that anywhere any survivor in any film ever seeks shelter is compared in some way to that mall) and even the damn elevator music has become famous in its own way. While I will concede the film is far more ambitious than its direct predecessor (and probably contributes more to the zombie mythos), I think it can also be argued that the film has far greater weaknesses as well.

Hope he's a dead shot...

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: Dawn of the Dead, films, george romero, horror, Irish Film Institute, Living Dead, Movie, Movies, night of the living dead, non-review review, review, Shopping mall, zack snyder, zombie week!, zombies | 2 Comments »

When Average Just Isn’t Good Enough: Do Better Directors Have Further to Fall?

Posted on October 21, 2010 by Darren

I watched Cop Out at the weekend, and I have to admit it was just about okay. It wasn’t terrible, but it wasn’t consistently funny. It had moments of wit, but they were separated by pointless and boring scenes. It had a talented cast, but didn’t do anything with them. I wouldn’t describe it as a bad film, but I wouldn’t advise you to rent it (or otherwise seek it out). However, there was a stronger and more bitter taste in the air. There was something especially disappointing about the film, because of its director. Cop Out was a Kevin Smith film, and it actually felt a bit worse than it arguably should have because I knew the director was capable of so much more. Am I the only one who tends to be more disappointed by an average film from a talented filmmaker than perhaps even a bad film from an untalented director?

Feels like a bit of a cop out...

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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: arts, Christopher Nolan, cop out, critics, david fincher, directors, films, francis ford coppola, kevin smith, Movie, Movies, reviews, roger ebert, stanley kubrick | Leave a comment »

Non-Review Review: Transformers – Revenge of the Fallen

Posted on October 19, 2010 by Darren

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen is one of those films that you have heard so much about that you feel almost obligated to check out. It’s like a challenge. “It can’t possibly be that bad,” you laugh off criticism from just about everybody you know, “I mean, if it’s that bad, it has to at least be entertaining – you know, in the same way that Ed Wood films are entertaining?” And those people reply in what gradually become pleas, imploring you to just accept that it’s a terrible film and let it go. And yet, it’s like a “do not touch” warning to a small child – it draws you closer, attracts your attention, arouses your curiousity. It couldn’t be that bad.

Oh, but it is.

Two-and-a-half hours of torture...

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: action, Bad Boys II, Cloverfield, Decepticon, films, John Turturro, megan fox, michael bay, Movies, non-review review, review, shia labeouf, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen | 5 Comments »

Non-Review Review: The Social Network

Posted on October 18, 2010 by Darren

Blessed are the geeks, for they shall inherit the earth.

– The Bible. It’s in the back somewhere.

I’m blogging about The Social Network. How post-modern is that?

Should it be the anti-social network?

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: Aaron Sorkin, arts, Citizen Kane, david fincher, eduardo saverin, facebook, films, Mark Zuckerberg, Movies, non-review review, review, Sean Parker, Social Network | 8 Comments »

Is Classism Alive And Well At The Box Office?

Posted on October 11, 2010 by Darren

Richard Nixon introduced the phrase “the silent majority” into the popular lexicon, referring to those people who weren’t out protesting or stirring up a storm, but quietly and strongly sanctioning his actions. Since then the term has become almost synonymous with “middle America” or the “the big red middle”, the clear indication that liberalism and activism were traditionally associated with the coasts of the country – specifically concentrated around Washington, New York and California. Whenever loud and vocal protests arise in these regions, expect the more conservative politicians to speak about the silent majority of decent middle-class folks in “flyover country” who don’t make big deals of things and vote with their feet. These are the people, these politicians will tell you, who save their public political expressions for the election day. And so, it would seem, this central part of the country has voted on The Social Network. And silence was certainly there in spades.

The Silent Majority turned down The Social Network's Friend Request...

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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: box office, cinema, CinemaScore, classism, coastal america, david fincher, entertainment, film, films, gi joe, middle america, Movies, politics, richard nixon, rotten tomatoes, Social Network, United States | 2 Comments »

Non-Review Review: The Special Relationship

Posted on October 7, 2010 by Darren

The third part of Peter Morgan and Michael Sheen’s superb “Tony Blair trilogy” seems perfectly timed. In fact, being honest, I’m surprised that HBO couldn’t muster up enough enthusiasm for a small-scale cinematic release, what with Blair’s political memoir A Journey doing the rounds at the moment (I’m working my way through it and it’s probably the best political memoir I’ve read since Churchill). Blair is easily one of the most fascinating political leaders of the last few decades, and Morgan does well to juxtapose him against perhaps his greatest political influence: Bill Clinton. Still, all that being said, and with this reportedly the final part of the trilogy, it might have been best to focuse on his relationship with the leader who most strongly defined his legacy. However, Morgan has admitted time and time again that he simply didn’t want to write Bush. While I’m happy with what we got, it doesn’t exactly feel like a fitting coda.