Posted on March 18, 2010 by Darren
I am quite surprised to admit that I greatly enjoyed Julie & Julia. Probably more than I should have, on careful analysis. The film’s main gimick – juxtaposing Julia Child’s time in France with Julie Powell’s attempt to cook through the gigantic tome which resulted from Child’s time in France – never really comes together, but it manages to work on pure whimsy despite highly predictable subject matter (indeed, the thread running through Julie’s storyline kinda presupposes the end of Julia’s arc – Julie wouldn’t be cooking from her book if she didn’t succeed). It isn’t a masterpiece or a classic, but it’s a very watchable piece of moviemaking.
Can you smell what the blogger's cooking?
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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: amy adams, biography, blogs, comedy, films, julia child, julia powell, julie & julia, julie and julia, julie child, julie powell, meryl streep, Movies, non-review review, nora ephron, review | 2 Comments »
Posted on March 16, 2010 by Darren
I watched the Platinum Anniversary Edition of Pinocchio over the weekend. aside from the revelation of how ridiculously Disney manipulate the market to keep their movies out of constant circulation and creating false scarcity, what really struck me about the movie was how ridiculously (and gloriously) dark it was. As a 23-year-old adult, I felt more than a little uncomfortable watching the movie, so I can only imagine how it would have terrified me as a kid. Turning kids into donkeys and selling them to the circus! Threatening to chop up the lead character for firewood (and showing a similar puppet with an axe in his back)! The lead character lying limp, face-down in a puddle! It occurred to me that you’d never get a film like that made for kids these days. Why are we afraid to scare children?
He's a jackass! Geddit? Seriously, this gave me nightmares.
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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: animation, bambi, children, children's films, disney, fairy tales, family movies, happily ever after, morals, Movies, pinochio, stories | 17 Comments »
Posted on March 15, 2010 by Darren
I’ve probably said too much in my review of Shutter Island already, but the ending of the film merits discussion on its own, away from the chance of spoiling the viewing experience for anyone – much like I did with the ending of Inglourious Basterds.
Maybe Elias Koteas can shed some light on the ending...
Note: As the title and text directly above imply (or explicitly state), this post is about the ending of a movie currently in major release that you may or may not have seen. Reading ahead may ruin your enjoyment of the film if you haven’t already seen it. You have been warned.
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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: cinema, discussion, ending, films, martin scorcese, Movies, Shutter Island, shutter island ending, twist | 6 Comments »
Posted on March 14, 2010 by Darren
I’ll talk a bit about my more tempered analysis of the film in a moment, but I think it’s only really fair to open with my gut reaction – those few words that escaped my mouth as I turned to my girl friend as the credits started to roll.
“I want to see this again.”
Is your mind the scene of the crime?
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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: film, holocaust, Leonardo diCaprio, martin scorcese, Movie, Movies, non-review review, review, rko, Shutter Island | 9 Comments »
Posted on March 13, 2010 by Darren
An interesting snippet of news came out during the week regarding Christopher Nolan, the director of the two recent Batman films and now godfather to a to-be-relaunched Superman franchise (we’re hoping he can figure out how to make it a good film). The director, usually unbelievably coy about his work (he’ll flat out refuse to answer any particularly prying questions, which is great in an era of spoilers and speculation and so on), gave a succinct answer on whether his Batman and Superman will exist within the same universe. His answer was a flat-out ‘no’. And I think that’s great.
This looks like a job for Christopher Nolan!
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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: batman, Batman 3, comic books, films, justice league, Movies, nolan, superhero, superman, superman 3.0, The Dark Knight, the dark knight sequel | 2 Comments »
Posted on March 12, 2010 by Darren
I think it’s fair to say that Hollywood tends lose interest in actors and characters when they pass a certain threshold, age-wise. Perhaps it’s representative of a general societal lack of interest in the elderly, or maybe it’s because old people don’t pay to see movies, but it’s very rare to see an actor hang around past their use by date. So rare, in fact, that people balked when Pixar announced that Up would follow a pensioner. In many ways we’re lucky that Clint Eastwood has held on to his influence in Hollywood, as I imagine any other director or star would have had great difficulty getting a film like Gran Torino made. Yes, the film has a few shortcomings, but it’s a stunning condemnation of the way that America tends to treat the outsiders, be they elderly or immigrants, but also a very effective character piece.
A very grumpy old man...
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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: Clint Eastwood, films, Gran Torino, Movies, non-review review, review | 6 Comments »
Posted on March 11, 2010 by Darren
Disney: It’s not for boys.
It emerged earlier in the week that Disney changed the name of their next almost-conventionally-animated movie from Rapunzel, which makes sense, to Tangled, which doesn’t. People were a little confused, since Disney has traditionally been fairly straightforward in making its adaptations – Sleeping Beauty, Beauty and the Beast, The Princess and the Frog, Snow White, The Little Mermaid and so on are all named for the myths and stories which form their basis. Why the sudden name change? Apparently because boys won’t go to see Disney movies. Apparently they are more likely to go and see a movie called Tangled.
All tangled up...
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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: animation, cartoons, disney, male audience, Movies, rapunzel, sexism, tangled, the princess and the frog | 19 Comments »
Posted on March 11, 2010 by Darren
The whole Iron Cross fiasco we covered last week is getting a whole lot worse. Basically, after getting flack for deleting an offending review of a major investor, Variety republished it. And the investor was not happy. Not one bit. So, in the time honoured manner of resolving matters of honour, they are going to sue the pants off the film magazine.
Is there a refund on that?
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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: advertisers, editorial control, film, iron cross, Movies, publications, variety oscars | Leave a comment »
Posted on March 10, 2010 by Darren
I’m getting old.
That’s the only way to really explain it. The more I think about, the more irritated I get. There really isn’t too much commentary to be made on the awards handed out at the ceremony, it was the bland and safe option for just about every major category. I was more interested to see what elements of last year’s radical overhaul they kept and which ones they disposed of. Basically, my problem with the Oscars can be summed up with two questions: Who invited Taylor Lautner? And why is Kristen Stewart giving out an award?
Neil Patrick Harris gets a pass... because he's awesome!
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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: 82nd academy awards, academy, AMPAS, cermony, hosts, hugh jackman, kristen stewart, Movies, Oscars, populist, taylor lautner | 6 Comments »
Posted on March 8, 2010 by Darren
I’ll probably have a more well thought out reaction tomorrow, but woot! My brother owes me €10!
He looks kinda like an Oscar statuette!
Other than that though, didn’t this seem like the most predictable Oscars ever, with the acting categories all sewn up even before nominations were announced? Still, great to see Mo’Nique and Christoph Waltz win. I particularly liked Mo’Nique’s confirmation it could be “about the performance and not the politics” – though I’m cynical enough to see her season-long disengagement as a calculated political move, it still made me smile.
Filed under: Movies | Tagged: 82nd academy awards, best picture, film, Movies, news, Oscars, the hurt locker | 7 Comments »
the m0vie blog 