Movie | the m0vie blog

Non-Review Review: Austin Powers – The Spy Who Shagged Me

Posted on January 9, 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.

I have to admit that I’m quite fond of Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me. Perhaps it’s the way that the film vindicated its direct predecessor – although Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery did very well on video, the sequel made more money at the box office in its opening weekend than the original film did during its entire theatrical run. Sure, watching the film one can spot the cracks developing which would completely envelop the franchise when the third film, Austin Powers: Goldmember, was released. However, while it’s probably not quite as good as the original, it’s still a damn entertaining film.

Time to put the franchise to bed...

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: arts, Austin Powers in Goldmember, Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery, Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me, casino royale, Denise Richards, Fat Bastard, Heather Graham, Jay Roach, Movie, non-review review, review, Shirley Bassey, tim robbins | Leave a comment »

Non-Review Review: You Only Live Twice

Posted on January 7, 2011 by Darren

You Only Live Twice was my favourite when I was younger. It was energetic, witty, bright, colourful and adventurous. The stakes were ridiculously high – no less than the Third World War. Bond’s trip to Japan painted the country as an exotic wonderland to a mind as young as my own. The script was smart and the action was fast-paced – the movie still breezes along even today. The cost of the speed is that the movie is ultimately fairly light – it doesn’t carry anything particularly heavy or thought-provoking. This means that it ends up feeling relatively light-weight when measured against some of Sean Connery’s earlier outings like From Russia With Love or Goldfinger, which worked at least as much with suspense as with action.

Is Bond turning Japanese?

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: blofeld, bond, casino royale, Chitty-Chitty Bang-Bang, ernst stavro blofeld, film, GoldenEye, Goldfinger, ian fleming, james bond, james bond january, japan, Movie, non-review review, on her majesty's secret service, oriental, quantum of solace, review, roald dahl, Roger Moore, sean connery, you only live twice | 8 Comments »

Non-Review Review: Thunderball

Posted on January 6, 2011 by Darren

Thunderball perhaps gets a bit of a bad wrap because it’s perhaps not quite as good as From Russia With Love or Goldfinger. I’d argue that very few Bond films are. Thunderball perhaps represents the first moment that the series came to a rest – the first three installments had been built around establishing the character, his world and the tropes and clichés that viewers could expect from movie to movie. Sometimes concepts evolved gradually (for example, the novelty henchmen grew from the three blind assassins to Klebb and her knifey boots to Oddjob), while sometimes they were introduced suddenly (Bond’s Aston Martin), but by the time the fourth film came around, all these elements had been fairly firmly established. As such, the fourth film seemed to be more intent on consolidating the series than in breaking new ground. Not that there’s necessarily anything wrong with that.

Bond isn't washed up... yet...

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: Aston Martin, Aston Martin DB5, casino royale, film, From Russia with Love (film), Goldfinger, james bond, james bond january, Movie, nato, non-review review, nuclear wepons, Pussy Galore, review, sean connery, spectre, thunderball | 2 Comments »

Non-Review Review: Goldfinger

Posted on January 5, 2011 by Darren

Even though it was the third movie in an already iconic and hugely successful franchise, I think that Goldfinger is perhaps the film most responsibly for defining the shape of the archetypical Bond film we’ve been watching for fifty years now. Don’t get me wrong, I love Dr. No and From Russia With Love, but this film defined what an audience could expect from a Bond film. It’s big, it’s bold, it’s confident and it’s flamboyant. It’s also a wonderfully fun cinematic experience which manages to be consistently entertaining but never veering too far into the realm of the ridiculous.

A Golden Girl…

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: 007, Aston Martin, auric goldfinger, Bond girl, film, gert forbe, Goldfinger, ian fleming, james bond, james bond january, Movie, non-review review, oddjob, Paul McCartney, Pussy Galore, review, sean connery | 7 Comments »

10 for 10: Top Ten Movie Moments of the Year

Posted on December 30, 2010 by Darren

Tomorrow, I’ll be revealing my top ten movies of the past year. It should be a fairly straightforward list, and – to be honest – there won’t be too many surprises on it. Anyway, I thought I’d put together my list of the top ten “moments” from the past year. As ever, I’m Irish – so I’ve yet to see the major crop of Oscar nominees – but it’s worth keeping in mind that there isn’t really a major overlap between this and the list of the best pictures. Some of the best movies didn’t have iconic moments, while some of the best moments were in otherwise lackluster films. Some good movies had great moments, and some great movies had simply okay moments. So, with the rules out of the way, let’s get this countdown under way!

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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: 2010, arts, Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans, batman, Due Date, films, ghost rider, hallway, Inception, iron man 2, Jason Todd, kick-ass, light cycle, lightcycles, Movie, movie moments, Movies, nicolas cage, robin, the road, top ten, toy story 3, tron: legacy, under the red hood, Vampire kiss | 6 Comments »

Non-Review Review: Batman – Gotham Knight

Posted on December 16, 2010 by Darren

This post is part of the DCAU fortnight, a series of articles looking at the Warner Brothers animations featuring DC’s iconic selection of characters. I’ll be looking at movies and episodes and even some of the related comic books. This is one of the animated feature films involving the characters from the creators of the original animated shows.

Batman: Gotham Knight was somewhat misleadingly advertised as a “missing link” between Batman Begins and The Dark Knight. Released in the run-up to Christopher Nolan’s superhero sequel, the film was clearly intended to call to mind the Animatrix, with a strong sense of anime flavouring the variety of shorts on display here. Each was produced by a different studio in a different style from a different author. The result is, as you’d expect, a mixed bag. Some stories are good, some stories are bad – there are interesting stories let down by poor animation and strong stories featuring weak animation. It’s a very mixed bag, which never really seems necessary or exceptional.

Yes, that is a batarang in his hand. And yes, he is happy to see you...

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: animation, anime, anthology, arts, batman, batman begins, batman: gotham knight, cartoon, Christopher Nolan, Crispus Allen, film, gotham knight, gothic, kevin conroy, Lucius Fox, Movie, Movies, non-review review, review, Sal Maroni, The Dark Knight, tim burton | 3 Comments »

Non-Review Review: Superman/Batman – Apocalypse

Posted on December 15, 2010 by Darren

This post is part of the DCAU fortnight, a series of articles looking at the Warner Brothers animations featuring DC’s iconic selection of characters. This is one of the “stand-alone” animated movies produced by the creative team that gave us the television shows.

Prompted by the massive success of Superman/Batman: Public Enemies, Superman/Batman: Apocalypse is the first direct sequel in this line of animated films. It adapts the second arc of Jeph Loeb’s Superman/Batman run, and contains several direct references to the first film (including a news report covering “President Luthor’s impeachment”). While the first film worked on the sheer fun of a super-powered buddy cop film, there’s admittedly less to endear this particular movie to an audience – most notably because this same production team had already animated it as Little Girl Lost, an episode of Superman: The Animated Series.

Some looks CAN kill…

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: andre braugher, animated, batman, Batman in film, clancy brown, darkseid, dc animated universe, dc universe, dcau, dcu, Ed McGuinness, film, kevin conroy, Movie, new gods, non-review review, review, summer glaue, superman, superman/batman, superman/batman: apocalypse, Susan Eisenberg, Warner Brothers, wonder woman | Leave a comment »

Non-Review Review: Tron Legacy

Posted on December 8, 2010 by Darren

I admired the original Tron perhaps because of what it attempted rather than because of what it accomplished. It was brave and bold, and it demonstrated more than any other film of its time what was possible with computer-generated imagery – it was a statement of intent and a proof of concept. However, it was also somewhat awkward and clunky – to the point that several sequences in the movie had to hand-animated rather than digitally modelled, because time and technology worked against the crew. It was very much a movie of its time, held back by the status of the industry at the time – and yet inspiring a whole new generation of film-goers and film-makers as to the possibilities. It seems only fitting, perhaps, that Tron: Legacy took so long to make it to the screen – those impressionable young future movie-makers have come of age in the thirty years since the original. In many ways, the sequel feels like a debt is being repaid – here’s a chance to see the original and daring vision as it was imagined all those years ago.

I haven't got a Clu...

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: 3d, cgi, Computer-generated imagery, Daft Punk, dark knight, disney, film, film review, Filmmaking, jeff bridges, michael sheen, Movie, non-review review, tr0n, tron, tron legacy review, tron: legacy | 115 Comments »

Non-Review Review: Green Lantern – First Flight

Posted on December 7, 2010 by Darren

In case you weren’t aware, director Martin Campbell (the man who saved the Bond franchise twice – with both GoldenEye and Casino Royale) will be bringing a big screen adaptation of DC comic’s Green Lantern our way next summer. I am really looking forward to it, which might seem odd – Green Lantern has never really had the popular exposure that Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman or even Flash has had. Of course, that might be down to the fact that nobody has produced a television show based entirely around the character – hell, even Aquaman had that aborted Ving Rhames pilot and that fictional movie. So, it’s understandable if Green Lantern isn’t exactly lighting up the radar in the same way that, say, Kenneth Branagh’s Thor is. That said, if you’re looking to get a taste for the character, you could do a lot worse than checking out Green Lantern: First Flight.

Shoulda put a ring on it, indeed...

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: arts, bruce timm, christopher meloni, comic book, Comics, dc, dc animated universe, dc universe, dcau, geoff johns, green, green lantern, Green Lantern: First Flight, hal jordan, martin campbell, Movie, oa, sinestro, victor garber, yellow | Leave a comment »

Non-Review Review: El Mariachi

Posted on December 2, 2010 by Darren

El Mariachi is the first film from director Robert Rodriguez. Although his first major success, Desperado, borrows heavily from the Mexican Western, there’s a certain playful exuberance which underpins his debut. It’s a very rough film – one which doesn’t quite have the shine of a finished major motion picture release – but there’s enough charm and wit bubbling away to carry the film over the line. It’s quirky and perhaps a little cheeky, but it’s also surprisingly respectful of the genre and of the films around it. It almost lacks the ridiculously gratuitous nature of his later efforts, though perhaps here he was restrained by a tiny budget.