Movies | the m0vie blog

Non-Review Review: Heat

Posted on February 15, 2011 by Darren

We’re currently blogging as part of the “For the Love of Film Noir” blogathon (hosted by Ferdy on Films and The Self-Styled Siren) to raise money to help restore the 1950’s film noir The Sound of Fury (aka Try and Get Me). It’s a good cause which’ll help preserve our rich cinematic heritage for the ages, and you can donate by clicking here. Over the course of the event, running from 14th through 21st February, I’m taking a look at the more modern films that have been inspired or shaped by noir. Today’s theme is “nineties noir” – I’ll be looking at two of the finest noir-inspired films of the nineties.

I do what I do best, I take scores. You do what you best, try to stop guys like me.

– Neil McCauley to Vincent Hanna

I’ll be honest and concede that, right off the bat, I have a lot more love for Heat than most. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t labour under the assumption that it’s a poorly-received film (it’s rare to find someone who will concede that they dislike it), but I still have a stronger affection for Heat than the vast majority of viewers. I was only ten years old when Heat was released, and I think that was a big a moment for me. My ten-year-old self was familiar with big, sprawling epic sagas, but I think I used to believe that these sorts of epics were reserved for stories set in times long past. I think, in my innocence (or foolishness, depending on how kind you wish to be to my younger self), I felt that epic stories didn’t really happen anymore.

And then I saw Heat, which somehow managed to take an epic, sprawling narrative style which – at the time – I could only remember from films like Dances With Wolves or Cleopatra or Gone With The Wind, and applied it to cops and robbers. If I were to construct a list of films which helped me fall in love with cinema, Heat would be on there. Pretty high, too.

It's a whole different ballgame...

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: al pacino, christian bale, Christopher Nolan, dark knight, film, Film noir, film nori, films, For the Love of Film Noir, For the Love of Film Noir blogathon, For the Love of Film Noir: The Film Preservation Blogathon, heat, Heat (1995 film), johnny depp, L.A. Takedown, michael mann, Movies, review, robert deniro, Sam Giancana, Sheldon Turner, Vincent Hanna | 4 Comments »

Nerd Alert! Jurassic Park Theme (1000% Slower)

Posted on February 15, 2011 by Darren

Somebody sent this through to me and it was too good for me not to share. Basically, some on-line genius by the name of birdfeeder came up with the idea of slowing John Williams’ iconic Jurassic Park theme down to one-tenth of its regular speed. This sounds like something that could just be incredibly banal, slowing down a beloved piece of film music almost beyond recognition. However, slowing the track down reveals just how beautifully crafted Williams’ score is – the end result is a wonderful ambient arrangement which sounds almost choral at points.

If you’re a fan of film music, give it a listen here, or click the picture below.

Filed under: Movies | Tagged: arts, bridfeeder, Film score, John Williams, jurassic park, jurassic park theme, Movies, soundtrack | 4 Comments »

Non-Review Review: se7en

Posted on February 15, 2011 by Darren

Although David Fincher has directing credits before se7en (most notably Alien 3), it was this look at a broken world which marked the up-and-coming director as a talent to watch. It’s a movie which works on many levels, entertaining on the superficial surface level while intriguing viewers looking for something just a little bit deeper. I have to say, of all the films I revisited as part of this blogging event, I think I got the most out of returning to se7en.

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: arts, atmosphere, brad pitt, crime, Critical Essays, david fincher, Film noir, films, For the Love of Film Noir, For the Love of Film Noir blogathon, For the Love of Film Noir: The Film Preservation Blogathon, Howard Shore, john doe, mood, Morgan Freeman, Movie, Movies, non-review review, review, serial killer, serial killers, Seven (film), silence of the lambs, Sound of Fury, YG Entertainment | 2 Comments »

Noir the Battle to the Strong: Why I’m Afraid of Classic Cinema…

Posted on February 14, 2011 by Darren

I have to admit, the “For The Love of Film Noir” blogathon is a very worthy cause. Bloggers from all around the world continuously blogging in order to raise funds to restore classic films. It’s something that I just couldn’t ignore the chance to be a part of – to have the chance to say that I helped restore a classic film print of an actual honest-to-goodness classic film. It was too great an opportunity to ignore… and yet I almost did. I hesitated as I wrote the comment agreeing to take part. My fingers felt heavy. My thoughts caught in wherever it is that thoughts catch. I wanted to blog about film noir for a week straight, but I was also genuinely terrified by the idea. After all, what do I know about classic film?

Too hot to handle?

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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: black and white, classic films, classics, coen brothers, film, Film noir, martin scorsese, Movie, Movies, old films, old movies, review, richard donner, Sound of Fury, stanley kubrick | 13 Comments »

Non-Review Review: Winter’s Bone

Posted on February 11, 2011 by Darren

In many ways, Winter’s Bone is the Best Picture nominee most typical of the modern Oscars (or, at least, the criticism of the modern Oscars). While The Fighter echoes the every man appeal of Rocky, The King’s Speech is the archetypal historical and “triumph over adversity” tale, The Social Network is classic morality tale with a modern sheen and True Grit is the nostalgic entry, Winter’s Bone speaks the “indie” attitude that we’ve seen become dominant in the past decade. It’s a film rich in atmosphere and mood, with a bleakness that threatens to escape the screen and devour the audience whole, but it favours this lush approach over pacing and engagement. To say it is glacial, is an understatement.

The road ahead is bleak...

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: Academy Award, Academy Award for Best Picture, arts, best picture, Daniel Woodrell, Debra Granik, films, Jennifer Lawrence, John Hawkes, King's Speech, Movies, non-review review, Ozarks, review, United States, Winter's Bone | 6 Comments »

Is There Method to the Madness: Christian Bale’s Weight & Method Acting

Posted on February 10, 2011 by Darren

Christian Bale is losing a massive amount of weight again for his role in the upcoming Concrete Island. It’s rather topical, given that the actor took time out of an interview to lambaste those who would deride his massive amount of weight loss for The Fighter:

‘To be honest, I find it laughable that it’s considered to be some f—ing gimmick — it’s so patronizing. For God’s sake, do people not understand what a pain it is to do? It’s as though it’s some comment about, ‘Oh it’s easy for him, because he’s done it a bunch of times.’ It’s not easy, it’s not fun — it’s horrible.”

In fairness, I think Bale misses the general thrust of the argument when he makes the (entirely fair) point that it’s a very difficult process. I don’t think anybody will argue that such control over his own body mass is easy (as, if it were, I’d probably choose to be the epitome of physical fitness, but it doesn’t work that way). I think the general question is whether such a large fluctuation in weight adds a benefit to his roles that is worth the physical strain. Is there a gain for the pain, so to speak?

What's the skinny?

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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: acting, actor, Actors Studio, christian bale, Concrete Island, Constantin Stainislavski, Constantin Stanislavski, craft, Daniel Day-Lewis, Fighter, films, Lee Strasberg, mark wahlberg, marlon brando, matt damon, Method Acting, Movies, Oscars, robert deniro, Stainislavski Method, Stanislavski Method, Stella Adler, the fighter, the Method, Weight loss | 9 Comments »

Non-Review Review: The Informant!

Posted on February 10, 2011 by Darren

The Informant! has some tricky subject matter to cover. Its subject, Mark Whitacre, remains a controversial figure in the history of corporate law enforcement up to (and probably well beyond) the present day. It’s a complex history, one which involves the most high-profile FBI investigation into price-fixing at major American companies, but which involves a very complicated central figure. I’m hesitant to go into too much detail as – although I’m not sure you can “spoil” a true story – I don’t want to ruin the experience of watching the film for anyone, but it’s a very fascinating example of corporate whistleblowing.

You'll be on the edge of your seat...

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: films, jim carrey, Mark Whitacre, matt damon, michael crichton, Movies, non-review review, review, Scott Bakula, stephen russell, steve russell, Steven Soderbergh, the informant | 2 Comments »

What if the Best Picture Posters Told the Truth?

Posted on February 9, 2011 by Darren

Truth be told, I’m a little behind this week. I took a trip down to Sligo at the weekend and I’m preparing for a film noir blogothon next week (stay tuned). So posting this week may be a little… scattershot. Anyway, in a nice way to tie into those wonderful BAFTA poster redesigns from last year, this year we have – courtesy of theshiznit.co.uk – a simple question: what if this year’s Best Picture nominees told the truth, up front? Instead of vague names like Winter’s Bone or Inception or The Fighter… well, that last one’s pretty spot on… but what if the movies just told you everything you needed to know, on the poster? They might look like this…

(click to enlarge)

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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: Academy Award, Academy Award for Best Picture, arts, comedy, Film noir, films, funny, homouir, Movies, Oscars, parody, poster, sligo, Winter's Bone | 8 Comments »

Memories of a Multiplex: The Gaiety Cinema, Sligo

Posted on February 8, 2011 by Darren

I took a trip down to Sligo with the better half at the weekend there. I grew up in the city, but I haven’t found myself visiting too often. There’s something strange about returning to the town where you grew up. Everything seems smaller, even if there are far more shopping centres and recognisable brands around the place. It was good to go back and to see it all again. And my better half was so kind that she suggested that we go to the local cinema and catch a screening. And so we attended a showing of The Fighter at the Gaiety Cinema Sligo.

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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: arts, Blade II, cinema paradiso, Cultures and Groups, Enniskillen, film, Film director, Four Star Pizza, Ireland, james bond, Matrix Reloaded, Movie theater, Movies, sligo, sligo town, star wars, the gaiety, the gaiety cinema, the gaiety cinema sligo, tomorrow never dies | Leave a comment »

Captain America 101: An Introduction to the Star-Spangled Avenger…

Posted on February 7, 2011 by Darren

I did a post a little while back that was intended to serve as an introduction to the world of the Green Lantern, what with the movie coming out this year. The post proved so popular that I thought I’d take perhaps put a similar post together on Captain America. The first trailer for Captain America: The First Avenger premiered at the Super Bowl yesterday, so it seems to be the perfect time for a bit of an introduction to the star-spangled superhero. Check out the 30-second spot below.