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Non-Review Review: The Duellists

Posted on May 10, 2011 by Darren

The Duellists is the first film from director Ridley Scott. While it certainly isn’t his best remembered or the most highly rated, it is a cracking piece of historical cinema that manages to do a lot with very little. It’s a simple little concept, set against an epic backdrop, elevated by two leads, a wonderful sense of historical fidelity, and a young director with a long career ahead of him.

Ridley Scott's first stab at directing...

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: arts, Duel, dueling, europe, films, france, harvey keitel, historical drama, history, Keith Carradine, Louis Theroux, Movie, napoleon, non-review review, Pete Postlethwaite, review, ridley scott, The Duellists | Leave a comment »

Right Here, Right Now: Thoughts on Kathryn Bigalow’s Osama Bin Ladin Project…

Posted on May 9, 2011 by Darren

It’s interesting that the piece of news which grabbed me most coming out of the whole news cycle around the assassination of Osama Bin Ladin by US troops in Pakistan wasn’t any of the discussion over the legality of the act, nor the debate over whether assassination is now an acceptable tool of foreign policy. It was the near-instantaneous announcement that Kathryn Bigalow would be working on a feature film adaptation of the killing, an adaptation that reportedly has a mostly finished script and a lead actor already. Perhaps it’s a stunning illustration of just how quick the news and media cycle is, but I wonder how quick we feel the need to turn history into cinema.

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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: adaptation, assassination, feature films, films, history, Hurt Locker, kathryn bigalow, kill bin laden, Mark Boal, Movies, oliver stone, Osama bin Laden, Osama Bin Ladin, United States, war on terror, Warfare and Conflict | 3 Comments »

Non-Review Review: 1984

Posted on April 22, 2011 by Darren

1984 is a solid adaptation of a classic novel, featuring a fantastic leading performance from John Hurt as Winston Smith. The movie (released to coincide with the year) suffered a bit at the time (and in retrospect) from not being the best adaptation of Orwell’s ground-breaking novel to make it the big screen in 1984-5 – being somewhat upstaged by Terry Gilliam’s masterpiece Brazil. While obviously not a direct adaptation of the novel (in fact, Gilliam has admitted he hadn’t even read the book at the time of release), the latter film explores the same core themes and ideas. However, virtually any film would pale in comparison when measured against a movie like Brazil (which ranks in my top ten films ever), and 1984 really deserves to be seen on its own merits.

Welcome to an edition of Big Brother where every room is a "Diary Room"...

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: 1984, arts, Big Brother, film, George Orwell, history, john hurt, Michael Radford, Movie, nineteen eight four, Nineteen Eighty-Four, non-review review, review, Richard Burton, Spanish Civil War, terry gilliam, thought crime, Three Year Plan, Twentieth Century, Winston Smith | 2 Comments »

Non-Review Review: Die Another Day

Posted on January 27, 2011 by Darren

This post is part of James Bond January, being organised by the wonderful Paragraph Films. I will have reviews of all twenty-two official Bond films going on-line over the next month, and a treat or two every once in a while.

A new watch. Your twentieth, I believe.

How time flies.

– Q and Bond go all meta on us

I next joined Pierce and co at the premiere of Die Another Day in 2002, which marked the 40th anniversary of the series. When asked later what I thought of the film, I merely said “interesting”. In truth I thought it just went too far – and that’s from me, the first Bond in space! Invisible cars and dodgy CGI footage? Please! They gave the public what they wanted, though maybe they too realised there was only so far they could push it before Bond became a caricature of himself, and the funeral directors were called in.

– Sir Roger Moore, who seems like a lovely guy

Truth be told, Die Another Day doesn’t quite deserve the reputation that it has earned over the years. But, then again, I can appreciate A View to a Kill, so what do I know?

Close, but no cigar...

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: British Empire, diamonds, Die Another Day, Elliot Carver, film, gustav graves, history, homage, james bond, james bond january, Movie, non-review review, pierce brosnan, reference, review, Roger Moore, toby stephens, United States | 11 Comments »

The Devil Eire Effect: Historical Films and Villains…

Posted on January 10, 2011 by Darren

I wrote a little while ago about how suspicious I am concerning “true stories” that make it to the big screen. Truth be told, life doesn’t exactly fit into the three act structure or one-hundred-and-twenty minutes of screen time – I understand that changes need to be made. Real life characters are often boiled down or reduced to mere collections of quirks, the hero faces a more streamlined obstacle than they did in real life and sometimes even ends up a far better person for it. However, I was sitting down watching The King’s Speech at the weekend and I couldn’t help wondering if we really needed for Albert’s elder brother David and his American fiancée Wallis to be portrayed as nothing more than scheming villains, just because we needed to root for Albert a little more.

The Simpsons?

Note: The ever-wonderful TV Tropes describe this as a “Historical Villain Upgrade” if you’re looking for more examples of what I am talking about…

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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: alan rickman, Éamon de Valera, Easter Rising, Fianna Fáil, film, historical villain upgrade, history, Ireland, Irish Civil War, king george vi, liam neeson, List of political parties in the Republic of Ireland, michael collins, Movies, prince albert, prince david, United States, w.e. simpson, wallis simpson, we simpson | 7 Comments »

Realm of Kings (Review/Retrospective)

Posted on December 22, 2010 by Darren

This is the fifteenth in a series of comic book reviews that will look at the direction of Marvel’s shared universe (particularly their “Avengers” franchise) over the past five or so years, as they’ve been attempting to position the property at the heart of their fictional universe. With The Avengers planned for a cinematic release in 2012, I thought I’d bring myself up to speed by taking a look at Marvel’s tangled web of continuity.

Realm of Kings is a strange little chapter in the cosmic saga that Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning have been drafting. It seems to exist not really as a story in its own terms (although it does contain some interesting narratives) but rather as a bridge between War of Kings and The Thanos Imperative. It’s essentially the story of an attempt to find stability in a radically warped universe, one turned upside down by recent events. It feels somewhat smaller in scope than the other events that the pair have produced, not that there’s anything wrong with that. In fact, it’s nice to see a series exploring the consequences and aftermath of what has occurred, rather than simply pushing on right into the next big thing. While Realm of Kings does focus on “the Fault” opened at the climax of War of Kings that will become a galactic threat in The Thanos Imperative, the three miniseries are at their best when they explore the consequences of the political instability that the intergalactic war has produced.

That's gonna be Thor tomorrow...

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Filed under: Comics | Tagged: andy lanning, arts, cancerverse, captain america, comic books, Comics, cosmic marvel, crossover, dan abnett, ed brubaker, history, imperial guard, inhumans, kree, lovecraft, marvel comics, marvel universe, realm of kings, realm of kings: inhumans, realm of kings: son of hulk, retrospective, review, shi'ar, son of hulk, Thanos Imperative, the fault, war of kings, war of kings: imperial guard | Leave a comment »

War of Kings (Review/Retrospective)

Posted on December 8, 2010 by Darren

This is the twelfth in a series of comic book reviews that will look at the direction of Marvel’s shared universe (particularly their “Avengers” franchise) over the past five or so years, as they’ve been attempting to position the property at the heart of their fictional universe. With The Avengers planned for a cinematic release in 2012, I thought I’d bring myself up to speed by taking a look at Marvel’s tangled web of continuity.

War of Kings is perhaps the best thing to come out of Secret Invasion. In fact, the miniseries went out of its way to highlight its links to the Marvel comics mega-event, with the story even kicking off in a Secret Invasion: War of Kings special (note the order there, it isn’t War of Kings: Secret Invasion). However, not withstanding the attempts to tie the series back to the high-selling mainstream events that Marvel was consistently churning out, War of Kings is essentially an epic space opera, the story of an interstellar war and alien politics, told with the wit and charm that writer Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning have made the cosmic line famous for. Tying it into Secret Invasion only serves to highlight the deficiencies with that event, as the writers here attempt the same sort of story with the same sort of themes, but with more skill and grace than the bigger event could off.

Now is the time...

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Filed under: Comics | Tagged: andy lanning, black bolt, comic books, Comics, cosmic, cosmic marvel, crossover, dan abnett, darkhawk, emperor vulcan, history, inhumans, israel, kree, marvel, marvel universe, Middle East, secret invasion, secret invasion: war of kings, shi'ar, Twentieth Century, war of kings, war of kings: ascession, war of kings: darkhawk, war of kings: who will rule?, Wars and Conflicts | 3 Comments »

Non-Review Review: Gladiator

Posted on October 12, 2010 by Darren

My name is Maximus Decimus Meridius, commander of the Armies of the North, General of the Felix Legions, loyal servant to the true emperor, Marcus Aurelius. Father to a murdered son, husband to a murdered wife. And I will have my vengeance, in this life or the next.

– Maximus sums up the plot in case you were sleeping for the first hour and a half

The general who became a slave. The slave who became a gladiator. The gladiator who defied an emperor. Striking story!

– Commodus also reiterates the plot in case you weren’t paying attention

I think a lot of the appeal of Ridley Scott’s Gladiator rested on the fact we hadn’t seen a film quite like this in over a generation. In the years since we’ve witnessed a rejuvenated genre, with historical epics becoming more and more common. It’s easy to forget the impact of the Ridley Scott’s swords-and-sandals epic in the wake of films like King Arthur, Robin Hood or even Kingdom of Heaven – let alone 300 or shows like Spartacus: Blood & Sand. And yet, even after all these big all-action historical endeavours, there’s still something special about Gladiator.

It's the eye of the tiger...

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: best picture oscar, Commodus, djimon hounsou, epic, film, gladiator, Gladiators, Hans Zimmer, history, Joaquin Phoenix, Marcus Aurelius, maximus, Movie, non-review review, oliver reed, review, richard harris, ridley scott, russell crowe | 5 Comments »

Detective Abberline, I Presume?

Posted on October 23, 2009 by Darren

The second trailer for The Wolfman hit the interweb yesterday. I’m still on the fence about this one. On one hand, there’s a classic monster movie, Anthony Hopkins and Benecio del Toro. On the other hand there’s Joe Johnson (the dude who directed Jurassic Park III) and what looks like fairly dodgy CGI. The twice pushed-back release date isn’t filling me with confidence for this kick-start to the monster movie genre either. Still, one aspect of the film intrigues me, amid all the forest scenery, interesting make-up and scenery-chewing going on. It’s the ever-fantastic Hugo Weaving appearing as Detective Francis Abberline. Don’t worry if the name doesn’t ring any bells, I’m fairly sure you’ve seen him somewhere – he’s been played by Sir Michael Caine and Johnny Depp amongst others. The problem is he’s constantly upstaged by his most frequent co-star:

Jack the Ripper.

On the scent...

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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: abberline, benecio del toro, cinema, detective abberline, fictionalisation, film, francis abberline, frederick abberline, history, hugo weaving, monster movie, monster movies, Movie, real character, the wolfman | 3 Comments »

Nazi-ploitation! Or How We Treat Nazi Germany in Modern Cinema…

Posted on September 11, 2009 by Darren

I moaned last week about the loss of the two-dimensional evil Nazi. Brushed aside in a tide of political correctness or extreme sensitivity. I think it’s time to talk about what Hollywood has presented us with in its stead. I think it’s interesting to discuss the general trend in the presentation of the Third Reich that we’ve seen emerge in the past year or so.