hbo | the m0vie blog

Non-Review Review: Broadcast News

Posted on June 27, 2012 by Darren

Broadcast News feels like it has lost a bit of its bite as the years went on. Originally released fifteen years ago, it undoubtedly seemed like a prophetic commentary on trends in news media, voicing an understandable unease at the line blurring between merely reporting the news and “selling” it to an eager and unquestioning population. Back then, these trends were undeniably present and one could sense a none-too-subtle shift in the approach to news. Unfortunately, it looks like those trends are to stay, and I think that has aged Broadcast News considerably. It doesn’t feel like James L. Brooks’ telling media satire is attacking a coming change so much as it is making one last stand against it. It’s still a very clever, very powerful and very well put together piece of film, but it sadly feels like it’s fighting a battle lost long ago.

That, perhaps, makes Broadcast News the most depressing comedy I’ve seen in quite some time.

They let an Tom, Dick or Harry host the news…

Continue reading →

Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: Aaron, Aaron Sorkin, Albert Brooks, Blair, Broadcast News, Brooks, film, fox news, hbo, holly hunter, James L. Brooks, Jane, Journalist, Movie, news media, Newsroom, Nuclear disarmament, review, Television, Tom, United States, white house, william hurt | Leave a comment »

The Sopranos: Pax Soprana (Review)

Posted on May 2, 2012 by Darren

I think it’s possible to make the argument that The Sopranos can be read as that illusive “great American novel”, just handily divided into eighty-six chapters and televised as opposed to written. Sure, it’s a show about the mob, but it’s also a compelling examination of the disillusionment festering at the heart of the American psyche. Tony might be a New Jersey mob boss, but most of his problems aren’t too far disconnected from those eating away at the American middle class. (Hell, I’d argue that it speaks volumes to the Irish psyche and probably many other nationalities as well.) As such, across the crucial first season, Chase and his team of writers seem to lay down and establish the core themes, allowing Tony to confront and explore just one of the many gnawing insecurities eating away at any middle-class father. In College, Tony wrestled with the idea that his daughter might discover who he truly is, while Pax Soprana explores the notion of impotence and insecurity – some times literally.

Psyche!

Continue reading →

Filed under: Television | Tagged: Carmela, Carmela Soprano, Chase, David Chase, godfather, hbo, Jennifer Melfi, Junior, Junior Soprano, Livia, Nancy Marchand, New Jersey, Pax Soprana, Soprano, the sopranos, Tony, Tony Soprano, United States | Leave a comment »

The Sopranos: College (Review)

Posted on April 18, 2012 by Darren

College is interesting because it perfectly captures a lot of the themes at the heart of The Sopranos, effortlessly blending Tony’s upper-middle-class concerns with his familial obligations (both to his nuclear family and to the mob). At the same time, it explores many of the inherently contradictory aspects of modern living, including the implied acquiesce to a culture of greed and corruption. College is the first time that we really see Tony get his own hands dirty, and it’s the point at which we explore how complicit Carmela is in his shady dealings and illegal activities. I think it’s a show that really pins down what the show is going to be – and it’s no surprise that the episode won Chase his first writing Emmy for the show, and is reportedly his favourite episode of the series.

Driving the conversation...

Continue reading →

Filed under: Television | Tagged: american dream, Anthony, art, Beatles, Carmela, Carmela Soprano, Chase, David Chase, hbo, Italian American, Jennifer Melfi, Jesus, John Lennon, Meadow, Organized crime, Ritual, Soprano, Tony, Tony Award, Tony Soprano, United States | Leave a comment »

Game of Thrones: Season 1 (Review)

Posted on April 13, 2012 by Darren

In many ways, Game of Thrones feels like a fitting successor to Peter Jackson’s epic adaptation of The Lord of the Rings. Undoubtedly fans of either work are getting a bit tired of the comparisons, understandably feeling that such a point of reference is a crutch for writers or reviews with little knowledge of the fantasy genre outside those tent poles. Still, it has been a while since an adaptation of such a well-received literary work has managed to make such an impact on popular culture. A decade after the release of the first film in Jackson’s trilogy, I think that G.R.R. Martin’s work builds upon the conventions Jackson taught us to embrace so easily. In fact, the celebrated HBO series works so very well because it so radically and gleefully subverts the audience expectations that were so firmly entrenched by Peter Jackson’s fantasy landmarks.

It’s really Throne me…

Continue reading →

Filed under: Television | Tagged: Cersei, Dothraki language, eddard stark, Game of Throne, Game of Thrones, god, hbo, house lannister, house stark, Jon, Major houses in A Song of Ice and Fire, Ned, Ned Stark, peter jackson, politics, pragmatism, review, sean bean, sexposition, Television, Thrones, twyin lannister, viggo mortensen, Western World, westeros, World of A Song of Ice and Fire | 3 Comments »

Trailer for Aaron Sorkin’s The Newsroom…

Posted on April 4, 2012 by Darren

This has been doing the rounds for a few days, but I’m still quite excited for Aaron Sorkin’s upcoming HBO drama, The Newsroom. While I’m not quite as fond of The West Wing as most are, I’ll concede that the dialogue and characterisation of the first four seasons were almost flawless, and I’m a huge fan of Sorkin’s work on both The Social Network and Moneyball. Taking place inside a network news show, The Newsroom should allow Sorkin to explore the culture of news broadcasting, and should provide ample fodder for his superb cast. Seriously, look at it – you’ve got Jeff Daniels, Emily Mortimer, Alison Pill and Dev Patel. It’s starting on HBO in June, and I can only hope it’ll be coming to Sky Atlantic shortly thereafter for us Irish and UK television junkies.

This is getting added to the planner, even though I’m already well behind on the other shows I’m following (and trying to catch up on retroactively). Check out the trailer below.

Filed under: Television | Tagged: Aaron Sorkin, hbo, jeff daniels, Moneyball, Newsroom, Social Network, Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, The Newsroom (HBO), The Newsroom (television), West Wing | 4 Comments »

The Thick of It – Series III (Review)

Posted on March 30, 2012 by Darren

The wonderful folks at the BBC have given me access to their BBC Global iPlayer for a month to give the service a go and trawl through the archives. I’ll have some thoughts on the service at the end of the month, but I thought I’d also take the opportunity to enjoy some of the fantastic content.

No one forgot their first carpeting from Tucker – it was like a red hot poker.

– the BBC’s career retrospective on Malcolm Tucker

The first two seasons of The Thick of It proved to be quite the success for BBC4. Critics were raving about, the politicians it sought to ridicule were loving it. Creator Armando Iannucci even got to produce a movie with HBO using characters from the series (In The Loop) and plans were underway for a US adaptation. (In fairness, the adaptation was killed very quickly, which might be for the best given Iannucci’s opinion of it, but he’s currently working on Veep for HBO with Julie Louis Dreyfus.) So it seems fitting that the series came back to television in a big way. Fresh off two specials, with a new minister and a new slot on BBC2, the show was commissioned for eight glorious episodes. And it was great. The decision to re-focus the series on Malcolm Tucker, the Prime Minister’s advisor who thinks of himself”as a thin, white Mugabe.”

It's Party (Conference) time...

Continue reading →

Filed under: Television | Tagged: Armando Iannucci, bbc, bbc global iplayer, BBC iPlayer, Chris Langham, Conservative, Gordon Brown, hbo, in the loop, Malcolm, Malcolm Tucker, peter capaldi, Prime Minister, Spin (public relations), Thick of It, Tucker | Leave a comment »

The Sopranos: 46 Long (Review)

Posted on March 7, 2012 by Darren

With the second episode of the show, we can see things beginning to settle into place a bit. While David Chase did a phenomenal job with the pilot episode – introducing threads that would pay off years down the line – here we get a chance to see The Sopranos settle into its groove. The series has been praised, quite rightly, as one of the great and defining television series, and many writers have echoed the claim that the series is effectively a “televised novel”, wherein each episode could be considered a chapter as part of a greater whole, with small patterns becoming evident once the viewer pulls back far enough. I’m not sure I entirely agree – I think that each episode does a phenomenal story covering its own ground while playing into larger themes and that each fifty-five minute show is more than just an idle chapter.

Mommy issues...

Continue reading →

Filed under: Television | Tagged: american dream, arts, bbc, Carmela Soprano, David Chase, drama, hbo, Italian American, Livia Soprano, Programs, Soprano, Television, Television program, Tony, United States | 4 Comments »

The Sopranos: Sopranos (Review)

Posted on February 20, 2012 by Darren

I feel like I am massively late to the party. Not fashionably late, mind you. However, my gran received The Sopranos on DVD for Christmas, and I’ve decided to go back and watch it from the start with her. I’ve seen bits and pieces of the iconic television show over the years – even following it for a full two seasons in the middle – but I’ve never seen David Chase’s dark exploration of the American dream from beginning to end. So, slowly, in the company of my grandmother, I shall be making my way through what many people consider to be the best television show ever produced. And where better to start, after all these years, than the very first episode?

Talking it out...

Continue reading →

Filed under: Television | Tagged: american dream, arts, Christopher, David Chase, Gary Cooper, godfather, hbo, history, Melfi, review, Silvio Dante, Soprano, sopranos, Steven Van Zandt, Television, the sopranos, the sopranos (pilot), Tony, Tony Award, Tony Soprano, tv, United States | Leave a comment »

Non-Review Review: Music by Prudence

Posted on October 20, 2011 by Darren

The first annual International Disability Film Festival is being hosted from the 20th through to the 23rd October, organised by Arts & Disability Ireland, in Dublin and Galway. I was honoured to be invited to the gala screening of the Oscar-winning HBO documentary Music by Prudence. You can read more information on the festival here.

Music by Prudence is an absolutely fascinating documentary from director Roger Ross Williams, looking at the band Liyana, fronted by Prudence Mabhena. The thirty-three minute documentary does a wonderfully effective job giving us a snapshot into the Zimbabwean band, composed of faculty and students from the King George VI Centre and School for Children with Physical Disabilities. The runtime is remarkably short, but Williams compensates by giving us a whirlwind introduction to the band’s lead singer, who has enough charm and wit to carry a far longer documentary. The band themselves provide a beautiful soundtrack, and there’s talk of them releasing two albums off the back of the film’s success.

Continue reading →

Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: Disability, Elinor Burkett, Film festival, George VI of the United Kingdom, hbo, Liyana, Music by Prudence, non-review review, Prudence, Prudence Mabhena, review, Roger Ross Williams, Zimbabwe | Leave a comment »

Non-Review Review: Too Big To Fail

Posted on September 26, 2011 by Darren

I’ll admit to being quite impressed with the work HBO have done of late. I’m not so much talking about their production of some of the finest drama on television, but instead talking about the fantastic job they’ve done in bringing original drama to life inside the format of television movies. There was a time that television movies were mocked and frowned upon, something of a guilty pleasure rather than an artform to take seriously, but HBO has done a rather sterling job of late, producing films like The Special Relationship, which I thought might have supported even a small-scale theatrical run. Too Big To Fail is just as good, if not slightly better – focusing on the United States financial collapse of 2008, it brings together an all-star cast under a fantastic director to offer a movie that is far more interesting and compelling than any drama based on number crunching really ought to be.