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Do We Live in the Age of the Forty-Something Leading Lady?

Jennifer Aniston’s romantic comedy The Bounty Hunter may not have quite set the US box office alight last weekend (coming third behind Alice in Wonderland and some film even I’ve never heard of), but she’s still one of Hollywood’s biggest name leading ladies currently on film – and I don’t see that changing. And she’s 41 years old. Sandra Bullock, that darling of the nineties romantic comedy, spent last year reaffirming her golden touch, with the surprising-even-by-the-standards-of-the-genre romantic comedy The Proposal and an Oscar-winning role in The Blind Side. There was also a Razzie-winning role in All About Steve, but she even managed to use that to demonstrate that she is still one of the queens of Hollywood. And she’s 45 years old. Are the attitudes towards women – particularly leading women – changing in Hollywood?

Is Aniston on a winning Streep?

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Why Does Transformers Need John Malkovich and Frances McDormand?

Francis McDormand and John Malkovich have been cast in Transformers 3. Both are fantastic actors. In fairness, Malkovich has fairly low standards when it comes to choosing his movies – he was linked to Spider-Man 4 as the Vulture before it all fell apart and managed to be the best thing about Con Air (okay, second best – but Steve Buscemi is just awesome anyway) – but McDormand is an actress known for being relatively choosy about her roles. She isn’t exactly matinee idol fare. But, as I read the story, I couldn’t help wondering: why does Michael Bay even need actors for Transformers?

Who needs actors when you have explosions?

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Academy Award Winning Movie Trailer

I know this has been going around for ages, but I figured I’d just post it. It’s from Britanick, two young comedians with a lot of skill and hopefully some good stuff in their future. Well worth a look.

See it here.

“Niave yet optimistic statement.”

Do We Give Too Much Kudos to Established Directors?

There was (as ever) a rather interesting piece in the Guardian a few weeks back which suggested – what with Alice in Wonderland and Shutter Island coming out within weeks of each other and dominating film discussion in March – perhaps we tend to focus too much on established directors like Burton and Scorsese.

Because it’s one thing for a studio to take a project and market it with such frenzied hyperbole that for a week or two seeing it becomes all but obligatory for anyone wanting to remain a la mode. It’s quite another for film-goers to convince ourselves we need to see that same project through an increasingly forlorn belief in its director as a still-vital and relevant force. Whatever the implications of Burton’s Alice may be for exhibitors and all that newly-installed 3D technology, the nuts-and-bolts issue here is surely the length of time any once-great film-maker is given in the cinephile heart purely on the basis of dusty triumphs a decade or more in the past.

I thought it only fair to wait until I had seen bother of those big films to comment. Being entirely honest, I don’t think it’s entirely reasonable to lump Burton and Scorsese together as some sort joint proof of that assertion. In fact, I’d argue the two are very different sides to the same coin.

Is Burton picking his own creative bones dry?

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We’re an Irish Blog Awards Finalist…

Wow…

I have no idea what to say. We have somehow, against incredible odds, been singled out as one of the five best pop culture blogs based in Ireland by the Irish Blog Awards.

Artist's rendition of author's emotional state right now. Note: Knowledge of method acting techniques might be slightly exaggerated.

To give you an idea of the kind of talent we’re up against, check out my fellow nominees, most of which are longterm fixtures of the Irish Blogging Landscape. I used to read several of these long before I even dreamed of starting up my own little corner of pop-culture-stream-of-consciousness. It’s a cliché to say you’ve been nominated against your idols, but it’s true. A less smaltzy way of saying the same thing is say that, if you can judge a man by the measure of his opponents, we must be doing something right. Check them out:

And a quick shout out to all the dudes and dudettes who took the time to judge. Not just this blog, but the hundreds of others. That takes a lot of patience and we’re glad you all put the time in. Thanks.

And check out our category’s sponsor, Insure.ie. They’ve also invested a lot of time and faith in this whole blogging thing and it’s great to see web companies – particularly Irish webcompanies – investing in an Irish online community. Thanks.

I’ve been emotional enough here, I reckon. I just want to say that I never really imagined that this blog would every really come to much when I started it last May. It was just a place for my random rants about whether bloggers should be considered legitimate critics or whether Hollywood respects its elderly stars. I want to just thank every person who takes the time to read a post – whether they think I’ve somehow said something that might be relevent or they think I’m talking out of a hole other than my mouth – and those who have shown support and encouragement. Yes, you. The person reading this now. Thank you.

And I want to thank those who put up with all my mindless real-world-based, pop-culture-related ranting for years before I started this. You guys know who you are. Especially my significant other. Who has the patience of a saint. Thank you all. 

I’m probably overdoing it, but I figure – in honesty – I’m punching above my weight in this category, and this post feels like the appropriate place for the well-deserved ‘thank you’s. I am honoured and chuffed to have made it this far at all. It has been a pleasure – I hope some people have enjoyed this half as much as I have. I hope to be attending the ceremony in Galway next Saturday, which should be a great night.

I’m going to say it once more: wow.

In Defense of Popcorn…

Seriously?

Not cool. Seriously not cool.

The chairperson of Sony, Michael Lynton, has come out urging cinemas to start sideline popcorn and soft drinks in favour of healthy alternatives. Perhaps its an indication of the crazy politically correct world we live in, or maybe it’s a depressing sign of how little he knows about the movie-going experience, but I’m going to draw a line in the sand and say “No more!” Yes – if movies taught me one thing, it’s rhetoric. And the joys of popcorn.

Pop quiz, hot shot... is there a kernel of truth in these rumours? Okay, I'll stop.

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Non-Review Review: The Big Lebowski

Apparently The Big Lebowski wasn’t anything special when the Coen Brothers drafted it. Just a routine little film with a main character very loosely based on a film producer that they used to know. To this day they’re still a little perplexed at the massive success the film has had, becoming a cult phenomenon and a serious contender for the mantle of “Best Coen Brothers Film”. In a way, that’s almost perfectly suited to the kind of film this is. It’s a lot of hubbub over a film clearly meant to be very small, much like the film itself is a very big story wrapped around a very ‘small’ character, so to speak. It’s always reassuring to know that The Dude abides.

"This is not 'Nam. This is bowling. There are rules."

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Non-Review Review: Taken

I don’t know who you are. I don’t know what you want. If you are looking for ransom, I can tell you I don’t have money. But what I do have are a very particular set of skills; skills I have acquired over a very long career. Skills that make me a nightmare for people like you. If you let my daughter go now, that’ll be the end of it. I will not look for you, I will not pursue you. But if you don’t, I will look for you, I will find you, and I will kill you.

– Bryan Mills

Let’s face it, if the above quote doesn’t appeal to you then you probably aren’t the audience for this action flick.

It's a little like that. Okay, it's a lot like that.

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Non-Review Review: Julie & Julia

I am quite surprised to admit that I greatly enjoyed Julie & Julia. Probably more than I should have, on careful analysis. The film’s main gimick – juxtaposing Julia Child’s time in France with Julie Powell’s attempt to cook through the gigantic tome which resulted from Child’s time in France – never really comes together, but it manages to work on pure whimsy despite highly predictable subject matter (indeed, the thread running through Julie’s storyline kinda presupposes the end of Julia’s arc – Julie wouldn’t be cooking from her book if she didn’t succeed). It isn’t a masterpiece or a classic, but it’s a very watchable piece of moviemaking.

Can you smell what the blogger's cooking?

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No Man is an Island: The Ending of Shutter Island…

I’ve probably said too much in my review of Shutter Island already, but the ending of the film merits discussion on its own, away from the chance of spoiling the viewing experience for anyone – much like I did with the ending of Inglourious Basterds.

Maybe Elias Koteas can shed some light on the ending...

Note: As the title and text directly above imply (or explicitly state), this post is about the ending of a movie currently in major release that you may or may not have seen. Reading ahead may ruin your enjoyment of the film if you haven’t already seen it. You have been warned.

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