Posted on March 13, 2010 by Darren
An interesting snippet of news came out during the week regarding Christopher Nolan, the director of the two recent Batman films and now godfather to a to-be-relaunched Superman franchise (we’re hoping he can figure out how to make it a good film). The director, usually unbelievably coy about his work (he’ll flat out refuse to answer any particularly prying questions, which is great in an era of spoilers and speculation and so on), gave a succinct answer on whether his Batman and Superman will exist within the same universe. His answer was a flat-out ‘no’. And I think that’s great.
This looks like a job for Christopher Nolan!
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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: batman, Batman 3, comic books, films, justice league, Movies, nolan, superhero, superman, superman 3.0, The Dark Knight, the dark knight sequel | 2 Comments »
Posted on March 12, 2010 by Darren
I think it’s fair to say that Hollywood tends lose interest in actors and characters when they pass a certain threshold, age-wise. Perhaps it’s representative of a general societal lack of interest in the elderly, or maybe it’s because old people don’t pay to see movies, but it’s very rare to see an actor hang around past their use by date. So rare, in fact, that people balked when Pixar announced that Up would follow a pensioner. In many ways we’re lucky that Clint Eastwood has held on to his influence in Hollywood, as I imagine any other director or star would have had great difficulty getting a film like Gran Torino made. Yes, the film has a few shortcomings, but it’s a stunning condemnation of the way that America tends to treat the outsiders, be they elderly or immigrants, but also a very effective character piece.
A very grumpy old man...
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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: Clint Eastwood, films, Gran Torino, Movies, non-review review, review | 6 Comments »
Posted on March 8, 2010 by Darren
We’re a bit late to the party, but this week we’ll be celebrating the 75th anniversary of DC Comics, with a look at the medium, the company and the characters in a selection of bonus features running Monday through Friday. This is one of those articles. Be sure to join us for the rest.
Comic books are what Neil Gaiman once famously described as “the medium that’s always confused with a genre”. The fact that they are typically populated with spandex-wearing superheroes has led to a bit of a pop culture stigma around the medium, as stories about grown men in their underwear pounding each other are the only stories that could be told in that format. Anyone even loosely familiar with the history of the genre will know better, but I’ve always imagined comic books having a hard time fitting in to popular culture in the same way that books or film or television do. So can comic books ever really draw in that elusive adult audience?
Smoking? In a comic book? That will not stand!
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Filed under: Comics | Tagged: alan moore, comic books, dc comics, films, for kids, grant morrison, graphic novel, kids, marvel, mature, maturity, neil gaiman, pop culture, sandman, vertigo, watchmen | 5 Comments »
Posted on March 8, 2010 by Darren
You’re reading this asthe 82nd Academy Awards kick off, but perhaps the most interesting awards-related snippet occurred at the Razzies, the anti-Oscars which held their ceremony before the Oscars (in a calculated attempt to steal some thunder). Basically the Razzies pick out the worst-of-the-worst from the past year and give them the recognition they so sorely deserved. I am more than a little skeptical about the awards, given how they exist mainly as an in-joke, nominating the biggest flops as opposed to the real worst films of the year. In the tradition of Halle Berry, Sandra Bullock showed up in person to collect her award. As is the norm for such celebrity appearances, the crowd loved her. But what did Sandra really say?
Thanks a crateload... of All About Steve DVD's...
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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: all about steve, awards, films, Movies, razzies, sandra bullock, worst actress | 4 Comments »
Posted on March 5, 2010 by Darren
Forget your Anti-Social Behaviour Orders and your neighbourhood watch, the only real way to stop the downward trend in modern society is to give Michael Caine a gun and let him clean house. It’s fun to see Michael Caine back in leading role and it’s fun to see that the whole ‘gritty urban vigilante’ subgenre is still alive – it’s like The Brave One in a British housing estate. The film comes apart at the end, perhaps succumbing from a need to answer the iconic question ‘what’s it all about?’, and disconnecting the movie from its initially intriquing premise, but Harry Brown is a respectable old-school law-in-the-lead-characters-hands drama.
Michael Caine is... browned off...
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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: asbos, britain, council housing, films, harry brown, justice, Michael Caine, Movies, non-review review, vigilante, yob | 2 Comments »
Posted on March 5, 2010 by Darren
The rumour is that the Flash is the next Green Lantern. By which I mean the character looks set to move to the centre of DC’s universe – on panel and on screen – in the next few years. Geoff Johns relaunched Hal Jordan with Green Lantern: Rebirth about four years ago and since then he’s guided the character through arguably two of the best received event comics of the past decade (Sinestro Corps War and Blackest Night), launched a direct-to-DVD animated feature and is getting the big screen treatment from Martin Campbell, the man who saved Bond (twice). All this from what a character who was a second stringer a few years ago. It appears that the Flash is on a similar trajectory. A relaunch of the comic book was completed last month with the final issue of Flash: Rebirth and there are rumours of a big screen treatment already in the works. Part of me wonders, however, if the character’s foes are ready for the big screen?
They're either a bunch of supervillains, or a very committed eighties concept band...
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Filed under: Comics, Movies | Tagged: bad guys, Comics, dc comics, films, flash, geoff johns, hunter zolomon, Movie, professor zoom, the flash, the rogues, villains, zoom | Leave a comment »
Posted on March 4, 2010 by Darren
It takes a certain mindset to enjoy Zombieland. Not everyone can laugh at the fact that a zombie clown’s nose squeaks as you bash its head with a mallet. Fortunately, I discovered, I can.
Tallahassee goes to bat...
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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: films, jesse eisenberg, Movie, non-review review, review, tallahassee, the undead, woody harrelson, zombieland, zombies | 7 Comments »
Posted on March 3, 2010 by Darren
You know the kind of movie The Deal is. It’s about an over-the-hill writer who decides to screw with the Hollywood system and play it against itself, while seducing a beautiful woman and generally just being a cad. In short, it’s a movie writer’s fantasy. That’s by no means a bad thing, to be honest – when done right, you get the dark comedy Robert Altman’s The Player, a story of a writer’s revenge on a corrupt studio executive; unfortunately, when you do it wrong, you end up with a self-indulgent mess like The Deal.
Deal or no deal?
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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: cinema, elliott gould, films, hollywood, ll cool j, meg ryan, Movie, non-review review, review, the deal, william h. macy | Leave a comment »
Posted on March 1, 2010 by Darren
I saw this piece over at The Cinematical and it got me thinking. The article basically looks at how open-minded viewers can and should be:
Too often, moviegoers seem to clump into camps: I only watch romantic comedies; I stick with horror; I gotta have my action fix; I won’t watch anything made after 1950; I won’t watch anything in black and white; I won’t watch anything with subtitles. To some extent, we’re pushed that way by modern media, as niche marketing gets more and more specific. Go to Netflix or Amazon, search for A Room with a View, and suggestions for other similar, period dramas may pop up as recommended choices for you, as determined by computer algorithms. The computer won’t recommend The Crazies.
Are we too close-minded about films?
Ah, the classic "vampire/cop" movie genre...
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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: cinematical, films, genre, genre theory, Movies | Leave a comment »
Posted on March 1, 2010 by Darren
I imagine Lewis Carroll’s iconic fantasy story poses quite the problem for anybody looking to bring it to the screen. Both Alice in Wonderland and Alice’s Adventures Through The Looking Glass essentially consist of a collection of vignettes, very loosely linked to each other. One minute you’re translating The Jabberwockey and the next you’re hearing the story of The Walrus and the Carpenter. I can’t imagine it would be particularly easy to produce a film following that sort of almost random structure. Perhaps that’s why Tim Burton’s wonderfully visual fantasy seems to draw perhaps more heavily from The Lord of the Rings than its own source material, which is a shame, as the director fantastically brings the magic of Wonderland to life. If only there were more of it.
Down the rabbit hole...
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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: 3d, alice in wonderland, anne hathaway, disney, fantasy, films, helena bonham carter, johnny depp, lord of the rings, Movies, non-review review, review, the lord of the rings, tim burton | 3 Comments »
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