hollywood | the m0vie blog

Non-Review Review: Independence Day

Posted on April 16, 2012 by Darren

I think there’s a serious argument to be made for Independence Dayas one of the truly exceptional summer blockbusters. It’s not exceptionally clever or insightful, its characters aren’t necessarily more than plot functions given life by a wonderful cast, but it has a high-octane energy and wonderful sense of tone that makes it a joy to watch. It’s cheesy enough that it never takes itself too seriously, and yet it’s efficient enough and effective enough that it never descends to the level of pure camp. It’s a deft balance, and I suspect that it might be a fluke, but I think that Independence Day remains a gleefully enjoyable guilty pleasure to this day.

Don't run! We are your friends!

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: Alien invasion, Area 51, Barack Obama, battleship, Brent Spiner, Emmerich, Executive Branch, film, Government, history, hollywood, id4, Independence Day, Interstellar war, James Rebhorn, jeff goldblum, Judd Hirsch, Leland Orser, liam neeson, Movie, Movies, non-review review, peter berg, president, Recreation, review, roland emmerich, Shopping, Smith, Taylor Kitsch, United States, War of the Worlds (2005 film), white house, will smith | 2 Comments »

Just Not My Hype of Thing: Countdown to Teaser Trailers, Hype Build-Up and Other Pre-Release Concerns…

Posted on April 5, 2012 by Darren

There is a tendency to romanticise the past, to engage in nostalgia for an era that never really was. Still, I can’t help but wonder if the internet has been a bit of a mixed blessing for movie fans looking forward to the next big Hollywood release. Sure, it’s full of commentaries and interviews and trailers. Occasionally, a film like Tron: Legacy or The Dark Knight will do something utterly wonderful to grab the attention of various film fans. However, it also feels, sometimes, that there’s a conscious attempt to push the hype machine into overdrive. I have no problem with anticipation, but I think making a teaser trailer for an actual trailer or even staging a countdown to a release date of a trailer might be a bit much, even to me.

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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: arts, August, Bryan Cranston, dark knight, hollywood, kate beckinsale, Movie, Teaser campaign, tim burton, total recall, trailer, trailers | 6 Comments »

My Heart Will Go On: Titanic & We Need to Talk About Calvert…

Posted on April 3, 2012 by Darren

It’s funny the things we pick up on after seeing a movie a few times. I had the pleasure of attending a preview of Titanic 3D last week, and Cameron’s film still holds up as an epic romance in a style that Hollywood simply doesn’t do anymore. It still has its problems, but it is one hell of a cinematic accomplishment. Still, as I was watching the film, my attention may have wandered a bit, and I found myself thinking about things that were unseen, as opposed to those moments Cameron had explicitly shown. Specifically, I thought about Rose Dawson’s life after the sinking of the ocean liner but before her trip to the salvage crew. In fact, I thought quite a bit about Calvert. Who is Calvert, you might ask? Calvert is her husband, the father to her children and the grandfather to her granddaughter, who is entirely absent from the film as we pay homage to the love story between Jack and Rose.

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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: Atlantic Ocean, Billy Zane, Calvert, Cameron, hollywood, jack, james cameron, kate winslet, Leonardo diCaprio, London, Ocean liner, rose, Rose Dawson, Royal Albert Hall, Sherlock, titanic | 11 Comments »

Non-Review Review: Titanic (3D)

Posted on March 30, 2012 by Darren

James Cameron’s Titanic is still a breath-taking production, even sixteen years after the fact. Sure, its huge budget and even bigger box office returns, coupled with its enormous pop culture impact, have all combined to make it a bit of a target for movie critics in the years following its initial release. To be honest, while I wouldn’t rank it as anywhere near Cameron’s finest accomplishment, I’ve always admired it for what it was: a romantic historical epic, perhaps the most recent film like that which Hollywood has produced. Even a decade and a half later, Titanic remains one hell of spectacle and a well-constructed piece of cinema, with Cameron displaying a mastery of form and an innate skill for story-telling. Couple with the best post-conversion 3D that I have ever seen, there’s no reason for anybody with a genuine interest in the film to stay away from the big re-release.

Her heart will... go on, finish it...

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: American Civil War, Brock, Cameron, film, george lucas, hollywood, jack, james cameron, kate winslet, Leonardo diCaprio, London, Movie, non-review review, Phantom Menace, review, rose, Royal Albert Hall, Sherlock, Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace, titanic, United States | 4 Comments »

Non-Review Review: The Devil Inside

Posted on March 15, 2012 by Darren

The Devil Inside is a cocktail of fascination, frustration and infuriation. Unfortunately it’s not a balanced one – though there’s just enough interesting ingredients to pique our curiosity, but the delivery is so slapdash and haphazard that these intriguing elements are swiftly brushed aside. The Devil Inside confuses provocative drama with shallow sensationalism, but the biggest flaw with the film is that – quite simply – it doesn’t work. I don’t mean that it doesn’t work as a film. The problem is more fundamental than that. I mean that it doesn’t work as a story.

No need to get bent out of shape...

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: Blair Witch Project, catholic church, church, Cocktail, Demonic possession, Devil, Devil Inside, exorcism, Exorcism of Emily Rose, film, games, hollywood, home, Horror film, Isabella, Movie, Movies, non-review review, r eview, rome, The Devil inside, William Brent Bell | 3 Comments »

“Must Do Better”: Dramatic Talents & Wasted Potential…

Posted on March 13, 2012 by Darren

There’s something very sad about Eddie Murphy. His latest movie, A Thousand Words, opened last Friday in the States with an almost impressive 0% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. That means that there wasn’t a single reviewer who though that the movie was even “okay”, let alone “good” or “great.” It’s are to find a film that can generate such a consensus, although I don’t think anybody was especially astounded that Eddie Murphy headlined a comedy that was frustrating and disappointing. Of course, he has undoubtedly made a lot of money, and has decided that this is what he wants to do, but there’s something very frustrating about actors like Eddie Murphy, who have demonstrated uncanny ability, but seem willing to settle for generic film after generic film.

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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: adam sandler, animation, arts, Beverly Hills Cop, brad pitt, Dave, eddiemurphy, Friday, hollywood, Jack McCall, jim carrey, Meet Dave, Movies, Murphy, oscar, reviews, rotten tomatoes | 4 Comments »

Non-Review Review: John Carter

Posted on March 9, 2012 by Darren

I really enjoyed John Carter for what it was. In a way, the movie feels quite a bit like its lead character, a Confederate soldier yanked off Earth and dumped in another very strange setting. This movie feels like a seventies or eighties science-fiction epic, mercilessly plucked from the era of pulpy high-tech fantasy and transposed to a more cynical modern time. Whether or not you will enjoy John Carter will depend entirely on your taste for big-budget science-fiction epics. Those who favour a wry and self-aware approach to their wild interplanetary adventures will likely go home unsatisfied. However, those who can embrace an earnest and straight-faced adaptation of a science-fiction classic will find much to enjoy. You can guess which camp I fell into, even if I could acknowledge the movie’s significant shortcomings.

Warlord of Mars...

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: Andrew Stanton, Confederate States Army, david lynch, Earth, Edgar Rice Burrough, Edgar Rice Burroughs, film, george lucas, hollywood, james cameron, John Carter, john carter of mars, mark strong, Michael Giacchino, Movie, non-review review, Princess of Mars, r eview, science fiction, Taylor Kitsch, The Walt Disney Company | 11 Comments »

John Carter is Marred: Thoughts on Big-Budget Schadenfreude & Film Media Hypocrisy…

Posted on March 5, 2012 by Darren

Everybody is talking about Disney’s John Carter. And not in a good way. It seems that everybody is talking about the project’s huge budget and poor marketing, with many news outlets taking an obscene amount of pleasure in declaring Andrew Stanton’s live action project dead on arrival. Some have even started making comparisons to Waterworld, another science-fiction epic with a huge budget that failed to find an audience. In the interest of honesty, I haven’t seen the film yet; I am cautiously optimistic, but I can’t help but worry about the film. Still, I can’t help but feel like this is an example of an hypocritical “damned if do, damned if you don’t” logic from film writers and journalists all over the web, who seem to be salivating at the prospect of a huge studio being humbled by a blockbuster that might mess up the landing. The irony being that these are probably the same people who frequently deride the “safe” and “obvious” choices for blockbuster films, bemoaning the fact that directors like Guillermo Del Toro aren’t given the budget to make the films they want to make.

Does anybody "get" Carter?

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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: Andrew Stanton, disney, Edgar Rice Burroughs, guillermo del toro, hollywood, John Carter, oscar, Princess of Mars, Tars Tarkas, Taylor Kitsch, The Walt Disney Company, willem dafoe | 6 Comments »

Non-Review Review: This Means War

Posted on February 28, 2012 by Darren

It’s hard to find anything redeeming in McG’s This Means War, a romantic comedy that attempts to court the male demographic with promises of car chases and explosions and action sequences. However, the movie has some rather unpleasant undertones as it devolves into a competition between two male friends to see who can effectively trick a beautiful young woman into falling in love with them. Interestingly, the movie is primarily about these two guys and their relationship, with the (supposed) object of their affection serving as a glorified prop.

War and pieces...

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: Charlie, chris pine, film, Heinrich, hollywood, mcg, Movie, non-review review, Reese Witherspoon, review, Romantic comedy film, This Means War, This Means War (movie), This Means War 9film), Til Schweiger, tom hardy, USA PATRIOT Act, valentine's day | 4 Comments »

Non-Review Review: Black Gold

Posted on February 20, 2012 by Darren

This film was seen as part of the Jameson Dublin International Film Festival 2012.

The problem at the heart of Black Gold is that its politics are too simple to fit within the confines of the epic sand-swept adventure that it sets out to tell. It’s hard to construct a standard epic when there’s no clear delineation between the forces of good and evil. While the stylish direction, larger-than-life performances and James Horner’s classic score may point to an old-fashioned adventure film, the fact we’re asked to sympathise with a protagonist burning men alive in tanks or engaging in terrorist tactics creates a surreal dissonance that the movie never quite gets past.