Movies | the m0vie blog

Memory Lane: The Joys of Channel Surfing…

Posted on May 17, 2011 by Darren

Hello dear reader. I’m very sorry. It’s going to be a relatively slow week at the blog here, I’m afraid. That blasted real world keeps getting in the way, as it must from time – I’m preoccupied with various boring concerns, and my attention to cinema perhaps isn’t as finely honed as I might have liked. Even over the weekend, although I took the occasion to treat the better half to her first viewing of The Queen (which I suspect I liked far more than she did), I found myself without a clear idea of what I was going to watch. I hadn’t made a note of anything, or decided to revisit a particular classic, or seek out an important film, or even overheard somebody in work talking about a cult or classic film. Indeed, I didn’t have any idea what I was going to watch. So I decided to just turn the television on and see what it was that home entertainment could offer me this time.

My childhood was a bit like this...

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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: arts, BBC One, film, Filmmaking, films, kenneth branagh, Movies, network 2, rte, sergio leone, Sky News, Television, television schedule, tv3 | 6 Comments »

Non-Review Review: Pirates of the Caribbean – On Stranger Tides

Posted on May 15, 2011 by Darren

I give a lot of credit to Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides for managing to cast aside a lot of dead weight from around the franchise’s neck. After the original film, it was apparent to anybody with half a brain that audiences weren’t flocking to the cinema to see the adventures of Will and Elizabeth, but the following two sequels insisted on keeping the large and expansive cast – long after it became clear that the writers had little idea what to do with them. The result was a trilogy that often felt over-loaded and over-burdened. This time around, adopting a ruthless approach to the supporting cast, the screenplay only really brings back Captain Jack Sparrow and Hector Barbossa as lead characters. Which is grand, because they’re who we’re here to see after all? The rest of the movie doesn’t reinvent the wheel, but it strolls along pleasantly enough.

Life's a beach...

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: films, Fountain of Youth, Hector Barbossa, Jack Sparrow, johnny depp, Keith Richards, Movies, non-review review, penelope cruz, Pirates of the Caribbean On Stranger Tides, Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, review, rob marshall, Will Turner | 8 Comments »

Non-Review Review: Snuffed (aka Killer View)

Posted on May 13, 2011 by Darren

I had the pleasure of seeing a screener of Snuffed (aka Killer View), the indie horror from writer and director Brian James O’Connell. It’s a nifty little horror thriller, that is effective and deeply unpleasant in all the right ways, with an especially fascinating little hook. The basic premise is that an amateur reporter has hooked up with a practicing serial killer, documenting and interviewing the man as he goes about his business – discussing matters of philosophy, personal preferences and even practical matters. Filmed on a low budget with a small cast, it’s a well-made film which easily distinguishes itself from the rake of serial killer films out there.

Brian O'Connell (Director) instructing the actors during a scene.

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: arts, brian o'connell, crime, film, horror, Killer View, Movies, murder, noah key, non-review review, review, serial killer, Serial Murder, snuffed, snuffed (aka killer view) | Leave a comment »

The Sequel Myth and the Death of Originality in Hollywood…

Posted on May 12, 2011 by Darren

It seems that every other day somebody is taking the opportunity be bemoan Hollywood’s creative bankruptcy. The decision not to press ahead with Del Toro’s version of The Mountains of Madness sparked a similar debate a little while ago, and the success of films like The Fast & The Furious Five seem to be raising the topic once again as we enter summer. It’s become something of a mantra for film fans, quietly chanted and repeated, something that we can use to continually bash the studios over the heads with. And, truth be told, I’m tired of it.

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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: art, arts, Big Mommas: Like Father Like Son, blade runner, fast & furious, Fast Five, film, harry potter, hollywood, Movie, Movies, Plan 9 from Outer Space, raiders of the lost ark, review, sequel, Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back, The Godfather Part II, Vin Diesel | 4 Comments »

Non-Review Review: Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978)

Posted on May 12, 2011 by Darren

The Invasion of the Body Snatchers is a wonderful science-fiction premise, so it’s really no wonder that the story has been taken to the big and small screens so often. It’s a great example of how a story can strike different notes in different eras, and how something can easily be about one thing in one era, and take on an entirely different meaning in a later one. The 1978 adaptation is a wonderful piece of high-concept science-fiction, which skilfully takes the ideas from the original classic film, and shakes them around just a little bit.

It's a scream!

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: aliens, body horror, edgar wright, films, horror, invasion, Invasion of Body Snatchers, jeff goldblum, Kevin McCarthy, Leonard Nimoy, Movies, non-review review, Pod People, review, shaun of the dead, Veronica Cartwright | 3 Comments »

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: Centurion

Posted on May 6, 2011 by Darren

I have to admit, I’m a bit disappointed with Neil Marshall. I’ll concede that I genuinely enjoyed Dog Soldiers and The Descent, while acknowledging their flaws. His movies have a tendency to start in the absurd and just keep amping things up until they get unbelievably ridiculous. Even the over-the-top and quite-crap-actually Doomsday still had a lot of energy to carry it through as it gleefully veered through camp straight out into uncharted realms of gratuitous nonsense. On the other hand, Marshall’s latest, Centurion, seems relatively tame. It’s fairly mediocre throughout, which perhaps seems less entertaining because it never has the energy to go too far. And that’s a bit of shame.

The last Fassbender?

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: action, Dog Soldiers, Dominic West, films, historical, Imogen Poots, Legio IX Hispana, Marshalls, Michael Fassbender, Movies, Neil Marshall, ninth legion, non-review review, Pict, picts, review, Roman Empire, Scotland, scottish | 2 Comments »

Non-Review Review: Fahrenheit 451

Posted on May 5, 2011 by Darren

It always struck me as strange that there should be such a fuss about adapting Fahrenheit 451. After all, a book about how great books are, and how they are inherently superior to anything that any other media can offer (film and television included) seems a strange choice of subject matter for a big-budget science fiction film. Still, Francois Truffaut’s 1966 adaptation isn’t all bad… just a little strange.

Book 'em, boys...

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: Andy Warhol, arts, book, Book burning, Citizen Kane, Cyril Cusack, Fahrenheit 451, film, Guy Montag, Montag, Movies, non-review review, Oskar Werner, review | Leave a comment »

One Hundred Mornings Opening at the IFI This Friday…

Posted on May 4, 2011 by Darren

One Hundred Mornings, the post-apocalyptic movie from director Conor Horgan is opening at the Irish Film Institute this Friday, 6th May. For those interested in Irish cinema, the IFI will be hosting a free workshop and discussion with the award-winning writer director on Saturday 7th May. More details here. Meanwhile, the trailer is below.

Filed under: Movies | Tagged: arts, Celtic, Cinema of Ireland, ethnicity, International Fund for Ireland, irish, Irish Film Institute, Movies, one hundred mornings | Leave a comment »

Non-Review Review: Little Fockers

Posted on May 3, 2011 by Darren

I genuinely really enjoyed Meet the Parents. It’s a nice little movie that the family will occasionally get caught up in again if it just so happens to be on telly, a nice way to spend an hour or two that nobody can really object to. The sequel, Meet the Fockers, lost a lot of the appeal – but we still found it relatively unobjectionable. So, the third and final (hopefully) instalment of the franchise, Little Fockers, arrives and isn’t really that bad. It’s just not really any good, either.