Posted on September 4, 2009 by Darren
Ah, Nazis. The most typical of Hollywood villains. It seems that whenever you want the audience to cheer at what your morally ambiguous hero is up to, just stick his opponent in a Nazi uniform and you can guaruntee that the viewers will know which side they’re on. It used to be in the old days that simply putting a villain in a Nazi uniform was a regular past time for any big director. You didn’t need characterisation or complexity. If they’re German between 1941 and 1945, they’re a bad guy. Well, at least that used to be the way. In recent years it seems that we have accepted that things may be slightly more complex than those black and grey uniforms that they wore. There are many shades. So much so that the ‘thoughtful Nazi flick’ has pretty much become guarunteed Oscar bait. Given the minor furore which surrounded the release of Inglourious Basterds, is the time of the one-dimensional cardboard cutout passed into history? And has political correctness gone too far?
Don't make a song and dance about it...
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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: films, germany, good, history, hitler, indiana jones, inglourious basterds, national socialism, nazis, political correctness, quentin tarantino, schindler's list, sterotypes, the holocaust, the reader, the sound of music | 1 Comment »
Posted on August 31, 2009 by Darren
Alright, since the entire point of this post is spoilers, consider yourselves duly warned. I don’t like spoiling films, but I also really think that there is a lot of discussion to be had about the end of Inglourious Basterds. Only read on if you have seen the film, or know you won’t. Because there’s no going back. Seriously. It’s something you should really see for yourself before you make up your mind on it. Anyway, those disclaimers out of the way, here we go…
Shoshanna's got an axe to grind...
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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: cinema, climax, ending, films, history, hitler, inglorious bastards, inglourious basterds, Movies, nazis, quentin tarantino, spoilers, subtext, tarantino, themes | 1 Comment »
Posted on July 17, 2009 by Darren
Batman – or at least Bruce Wayne – has been ‘dead’ for about a year now. He was famously killed off by Grant Morrison through some weird timey-wimey thing I don’t even want to get into. Anyway, it has been a year, and a year since the release of The Dark Knight and seventy years since the Caped Crusader first appeared. He’s come a long way since then and I thought it might be interesting to think about what his obituary might look like, if it were run in a news paper like The Guardian. Sure he’s coming back, but from what we saw last summer, The Gotham Times are all about publishing the premature obituaries. Anyway, here’s what I think it might look like…
Who says he never embraced the camp side of his life? And I bet he has all the accessories too...
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Filed under: Comics | Tagged: batman, batman obituary, batman rip, caped crusader, comic books, dc comics, history, robin, The Dark Knight | Leave a comment »
Posted on July 13, 2009 by Darren
Finally got to sit down and watch Milk, despite it being on my DVD shelf for just over a month now. Tonnes of Oscar nominations and two wins, so it’s got a lot of hype to live up to. Was I satisfied with the latest effort from director Gus Van Sant? Was I ever.
Got Milk?
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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: best actor, biography, gay rights, gus van sant, harvey milk, history, josh brolin, milk, milk film, Movie, non-review review, Oscars, review, san francisco, sean penn | 4 Comments »
Posted on July 3, 2009 by Darren
I want to love this film. I really do. I enjoyed Miami Vice, so devoted am I to the cult of Mann and his study of the modern man lost in the world of violence and suffering. And Public Enemies has a lot going for it, it does. A fantastic cast, a better-than-fantastic lead, a solid script. On the other hand, the film is, technically speaking, a mess. And not the good kind of mess.
Don't get Christian Bale angry... He won't like you when he's angry...
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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: billy crudup, christian bale, crime, fbi, film, high definition, history, j edgar hoover, john dillinger, johnny depp, michael mann, Movies, non-review review, public enemies, public enemy number one, review | 11 Comments »
Posted on June 28, 2009 by Darren
I caught this foreign gem playing on Sky Premier today. I’d actually heard quite a bit about it while it was playing at the IFI last year, but most of it was mixed enough that I put off catching it in the cinema. The movie – following the rise of Genghis Khan – is a historical epic of the kind that Hollywood doesn’t really make any more – and I mean that as both a compliment and a criticism. It isn’t as utterly brilliant as those who praise it claim, nor is it as bad as its detractors would have you believe.
A Khan not to be messed with...
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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: film, genghis khan, historical epic, history, mongol, mongol film, non-review review, review, Sergei Bodrov | Leave a comment »
Posted on June 25, 2009 by Darren
I’m not American, but I feel a strange fascination with Richard Milhouse Nixon. He’s a figure of almost Shakespearean complexity, driven to phenomenal heights and fantastic accomplishments, but never able to do enough to placate the insecurity gnawing at him. I had the pleasure of reading Conrad Black’s rather even-handed summary of his life and career last summer, and he seems as much a mystery as ever. The recent news item about another of his paranoid ramblings has grabbed media attention, but I’m amazed that there doesn’t seem to be much debate over the true impact of Nixon’s Presidency beyond the obvious shadow cast by Watergate. What is the American fascination with painting Nixon as a villain or a fiend? Why can he not embody something just a tad more complex?
Richard Nixon unsuccessfully attempts to distract from the Watergate scandal by declaring "It's behind you!" during a Press Conference...
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Filed under: Opinion | Tagged: film, frost/nixon, history, Movies, nixon, oliver stone, pop culture, richard m. nixon, richard nixon, watchmen, watergate, watergate tapes | 1 Comment »
Posted on June 12, 2009 by Darren
When I saw Frost/Nixon in the cinema, I came out thinking it was the second best film of last year. How does my opinion hold up?
For a guy who isn't a crook, he sure has his "caught in the act" pose well-rehearsed
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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: david frost, film, frank langella, frost/nixon, history, michael sheen, Movie, non-review review, Oscars, review, richard m. nixon, richard nixon, ron howard, the curious case of benjamin button | 11 Comments »
Posted on May 18, 2009 by Darren
What do Hollywood film makers owe to history? I’ve had this question on my mind because I’ve been seeing quite a few historical films lately – The Reader, Chaplin, and Frost/Nixon will hopefully be arriving in my mailbox today – and I just wondered how faithful it was reasonable to expect a Hollywood film to be to real life events.
Contrary to popular belief, the missing 18 minutes from the Watergate tapes do not feature Richard Nixon practicing jazz hands...
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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: devalera, eamon devalera, fargo, frost/nixon, george w. bush, history, hollywood, hollywood history, inglorious basterds, michael collins, oliver stone, quentin tarentino, richard nixon, w. | 1 Comment »
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