Posted on October 10, 2009 by Darren
Probably the best we could have hoped for. Which is a guarded compliment at best. The movie has several gaping flaws, both as an adaptation of Alan Moore’s seminal work and also as a film in its own right. And yet it contains more interesting ideas than most prestige dramas, and at least two standout performances. The film is widely inconsistent, sometimes feeling too long in its gratuitous acton or sex scenes, but too short on the actual big ideas that make it thought-provoking. Ultimately, what ties the film down is also what props it up, in a manner: the fact that it is based on one of the most important books of the last quarter century.
Just the three of us...
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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: adaptation, adrian veidt, alan moore, billy crudup, billy crupud, comic book, doctor manhatten, dr. strangelove, ending, film, film adaptation, graphic novel, jackie earle haley, league of extraordinary gentlemen, malin akerman, matt frewer, matthew goode, Movie, non-review review, patrick dean morgan, patrick wilson, review, richard nixon, rorschach, squid, United States, watchmen, zack snyder | 5 Comments »
Posted on October 5, 2009 by Darren
I didn’t know that you were allowed like comedic protagonists anymore. I thought they were all meant to be immature, or pathetic, or passive-aggressive, or petty, or emotionally damaged. The last honest-to-goodness sympathetic lead character I remember in a large comedy was Steve Carrell’s wonderful turn in the 40 Year Old Virgin, years ago now. Here we have another small-screen comedian trying to find room for himself on the big screen, in a relatively light and simplistic comedy about mall security. It’s like a family version of Observe and Report. Except not. Not at all.
Don't worry, he's trained for this... Probably...
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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: film, kevin james, mall cop, Movie, non-review review, paul blart, paul blart: mall cop, review, spoof | Leave a comment »
Posted on September 29, 2009 by Darren
This is a movie that ends with a rendition of the classic Bowie pop number Let’s Dance, because it couldn’t fit it anywhere in its linear narrative amid all the time-specific pop and rock tunes. The movie has quite a bit in common with that most financially successful of songs from the Thin White Duke. It’s light, it’s breezy and it’s catchy, with just a hint of some extra darkness that is rarely found among its light and fluff compatriots. It’s also the work of an intensely talented artist (and, indeed, artists) who probably should be doing more innovative and important work, but we almost can’t blame them because it’s so much fun. Almost.
Quite a board walk...
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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: bill nighy, british cinema, comedy, emma thompson, kenneth branagh, Movie, music, nick frost, non-review review, philip seymour hoffman, pirate radio, radio, review, rhys ifans, richard curtis, rock, the boat that rocked | Leave a comment »
Posted on September 20, 2009 by Darren
That was depressing. Really depressing. Soul crushingly depressing. What we have here is a good movie that flirts with greatness but never really comes to life. Perhaps Mendes is trying to evoke the dull lifelessness of suburban life, but the movie just doesn’t sparkle enough to engage the audience. Still, it holds two of the best performances of last year, and is never less than intriguing in its exploration of 1950s America.
Yep... Anyone want to bet things are going to work out better this time around?
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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: 1950s, 1950s america, american beauty, drama, film, kate winslet, Leonardo diCaprio, Movie, non-review review, review, revolutionary road, richard yates, sam mendes, suburban, suburbia | 2 Comments »
Posted on September 19, 2009 by Darren
Romantic comedies generally suck. They’re predictable and formulaic. They don’t reflect the reality of relationships. They involved hackney cliché and coincidence. They never actually deal with any of the hurdles that real couples do. Sure, every once in a while there’s an exception like Chasing Amy or As Good As It Gets, but for the most part, I can’t stand the trite conventionalism of the romantic comedy genre. So, last night – as payback for dragging my girlfriend to District 9 – we saw (500) Days of Summer. Now I’m going to use four words I never saw myself using together in this combination: an innovative romantic comedy.
After the boys of Summer are gone...
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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: (500) Days of Summer, film, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, marc webb, Movie, non-review review, review, romance, romantic comedy, the summer effect, zooey dreschanel | 2 Comments »
Posted on September 17, 2009 by Darren
21 is a solid middle-of-the-road coming-of-age tale. It isn’t something as deep or insightful as Good Will Hunting or The Dead Poets Society, but it doesn’t aspire to be. It sets its ambitions relatively averagely: it wants to entertain and amuse rather than stimulate or provoke. Does it succeed at these somewhat modest ambitions? Somewhat.
"You know what I'm capable of... You seen se7en, right? 21 is three times se7en. You do the math."
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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: 21, blackjack, casino, counting cards, film, hollywood history, kate bosworth, kevin spacey, las vega, laurence fishburne, MIT, Movie, non-review review, review, true story, vegas | Leave a comment »
Posted on September 14, 2009 by Darren
Well, the only way to go from The DaVince Code was up, right? Good, because this doesn’t go too far up, lest you get all excited. It’s a fairly run-of-the-mill chase movie without any charm or wit or intelligence (and severely lacking in logic, one might add). It commits the cardinal sin (he he, cardinal… geddit?) of thinking that it is far smarter than it actually is, and it never manages to be particularly exciting or engaging. Still, Ron Howard can’t completely hide his talent amid a jumble of half-baked action sequences and illogical clues.
Try as you may, you can't outrun the inevitable threequel, Hanks!
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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: angels & demons, angels and demons, dan brown, film, Movie, non-review review, pope, review, robert langdon, rome, ron howard, the church, the davinci code, the vatican, tom hanks | Leave a comment »
Posted on September 11, 2009 by Darren
We happened to catch Panic Room on TV3 last night. It’s interesting to watch in retrospect, considering that David Fincher was between the two high watermarks of his career to date (se7en and Zodiac – we can discuss The Curious Case of Benjamin Button later). It’s interesting to see Fincher play with the thriller genre in a much less radical way than he did with either of the films that sandwich it. What we’re left with might not necessarily be groundbreaking, but it is solidly entertaining.
Hell of a time for Jodie Foster to adapt to texting...
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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: david fincher, dwight yoakam, film, forest whitaker, jared leto, jodie foster, kristen stewart, Movie, non-review review, panic room, review, thriller | 1 Comment »
Posted on August 3, 2009 by Darren
This is another one of those movies that didn’t seem to make it to cinemas and instead found its way into Dad’s hands in extra vision (I blame the fantastic cast for that). It’s a story of lust, murder, drugs and Matryoshka dolls aboard the titular railway line. I wish I could make some sort of pun about the movie building momentum like a runaway freight train, but it doesn’t. It meanders and it wanders, never really going anywhere.
Trainspotting...
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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: ben kingsley, brad anderson, emily mortimer, Movie, non-review review, review, thomas kretschmann, trains, Transsiberian, woody harrelson | 1 Comment »
Posted on July 30, 2009 by Darren
Maybe Once is that mythical “good Irish movie” that comes along roughly once every five years or so, or maybe I’m being a little soft on it, but I really enjoyed it when I caught it last night. It does have some rather glaring flaws, but it seems to work well despite them.
Tally ho(wth)...
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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: film, glen hanstead, irish cinema, irish movie, john carney, Markéta Irglová, Movie, music, non-review review, once, review, the frames | 2 Comments »
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