Posted on February 12, 2010 by Darren
Sometimes a movie lands (pardon the pun) at the right time. If you had told me that a movie about a guy looking to earn 10,000,000 frequent flyer miles in first class would be arguably one of the most interesting explorations of the recession that Hollywood would offer, I would have laughed in your face. But, against all odds, it works. That the guy in question is George Clooney and the man behind the camera is Jason Reitman undoubtedly helps.
It isn't plane-sailing for Ryan...
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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: best picture, downsizing, films, george clooney, ivan reitman, Movies, non-review review, recession, review, up in the air | Leave a comment »
Posted on February 10, 2010 by Darren
What makes this particular painful about this story is that they’ve caused all the fuss over director Kevin Greutert over what is essentially a lame duck film. You could make the case that the writing’s been on the wall for the Saw franchise since the second movie which began a steep decline into ridiculous torture porn (so I enjoyed the first one, so sue me) or even since the last one which underperformed financially. Which is tough to do on a film that has a budget of your average 1970s Doctor Who serial, to be frank. Anyway, despite the seemingly large investment that making Saw VII in 3D would seem to represent (even crappy 3D ain’t cheap), it looks like Lionsgate are calling it a day. Saw VII will be the last of the franchise.
Brace (geddit?) yourself...
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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: antichrist, endgame, film, gorn, kevin greutert, Movies, paranormal activity, paranormal activity 2, saw, saw vii, torture porn | 7 Comments »
Posted on February 10, 2010 by Darren
Apparently the casting of Captain America: The First Avenger is around the corner. We’ve had confirmation of several story details (I’ll probably come back to those later in the week) and confirmation of the fact that The Red Skull will be the baddie. Which shouldn’t be too much of a surprise, since he is the arch-foe in a rogues gallery which isn’t exactly brimming with iconic villains. I’ve been following discussions about the casting on-line for sometime now, and something has really surprised me when Will Smith’s name came up in connection with the role: apparently the internet nerds are not ready for a black Captain America.
Of course it has been done...
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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: captain america, captain america: the first avenger, casting, comic books, ethnicity, fandom, marvel, Movies, race, racism, steve rogers, will smith | 2 Comments »
Posted on February 9, 2010 by Darren
Well, it’s been a week since the nominations were announced. I think I’m as adjusted as I’ll ever be to this year’s crop of Oscar contenders. Am I happy? Relatively. Am I delighted? No. Am I as filled with disappointment and rage as I was last year? Not nearly. Does this mean we can judge the ten horse race a success? I’m not so sure. Let’s take a look at the good, the bad and the worse of this year’s nominations, snubs and just inexplicable nods. I’ll be taking a look at the acting nominations later in the week, because this post just ballooned. Rather fitting given the expansion of the category, no?
Let the speculating and analysis and moaning begin...
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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: (500) Days of Summer, 82nd academy awards, academy, AMPAS, avatar, best director, best picture, best picture oscar, district 9, favourites, films, inglourious basterds, james cameron, kathryn bigalow, Movies, odds, Oscars, precious, Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire, slumdog millionaire, the blind side, the blindside, the hurt locker, the reader, up, up in the air, voting | 2 Comments »
Posted on February 5, 2010 by Darren
You have to feel more than a bit sad for DC Comics – at least when it comes to their film adaptations. Their one on-going franchise at this particular moment is in limbo as we await news on the sequel to The Dark Knight. Superman has been sent back into temporary retirement after Superman Returns. Aside from the long-planned Green Lantern, the only other original DC movie we’ve heard about are rumblings concerning sequels and prequels to Watchmen – ironically perhaps the one project we don’t want. On the other hand, Marvel just rebooted their most successful franchise, have a sequel to a breakout hit coming out soon, have announced principle photography with Kenneth Branagh on another and will soon be announcing the cast of yet another – all building to a climax in 2012. And, against this, DC have… Green Lantern. Okay, admittedly I’m really excited about it, because the character has been on the rise of late and I’m glad to have a DC film that doesn’t feature Batman or Superman, but something struck me about the recently released concept art: doesn’t Sinestro look more than a little bit like John Travolta in Battlefield: Earth?
Somebody shares an intergalactic stylist...
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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: battlefield: earth, concept art, films, geoff johns, green lantern, green lantern movie, martin campbell, Movies, sinestro | Leave a comment »
Posted on February 3, 2010 by Darren
I am a sucker for a crazy movie conspiracy theory. Be it the possible identities of Keyser Soze or the fact that The Shining is about Native Americans or even whether Anton Chigurh (the unstoppable killing machine from No Country for Old Men) is actually an angel. I stumbled across a somewhat similar one a little while ago which has been out there a while (and I imagine most of you are familiar with). But, for those who aren’t, I thought I’d pass on my own favourite crazy movie theory of the moment: Fight Club is a sequel to the iconic comic strip Calvin & Hobbes. Edward Norton’s narrator is Calvin and Brad Pitt’s Tyler Durden is Hobbes. It actually makes sense.
"I am Jack's abandoned childhood friend..."
Note: In case that opening paragraph hasn’t given the game away, there are spoilers in here for the rather excellent Fight Club. I’m assuming anyone reading a detailed article on the movie has seen it (you’ve had ten years!), but – if not – consider yourselves warned that here there be spoilers.
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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: brad pitt, calvin, calvin and hobbes, crazy film theory, edward norton, fight club, film, hobbes, metaphor, Movies, theory, tyler durden | 8 Comments »
Posted on February 3, 2010 by Darren
People are probably still analysing and analysing the Oscar nominees announced yesterday. I’m still formulating my opinion on the bunch – generally it’s a safe selection, but a reasonable safe selection – I thought I’d take a look at the other great annual awards ceremony. No, not the Olympics. No, not the Golden Globes. No, not even the Winter Olympics. The Golden Raspberry Awards – or Razzies, as they are affectionately known – are announced at this time of year, typically stealing a tiny percentage of the Oscars’ thunder. This year they announced the day before and gave us an eclectic line-up. For those unfamiliar with the Razzies, the idea is celebrate the worst that exists in film. However, part of me wonders if the Razzies have escaped the scrutiny that has long been a part of analysing their bigger brother: are the Razzies out of touch with the common movie-goer?
They've even got a cool little statue thing going on!
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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: 2010, all about steve, bad films, bad movies, G.I. Joe, gi joe, GI Joe: The Rise of Cobra, golden raspberries, Movies, old dogs, Oscars, razzies, the golden raspberries, the golden raspberry awards, the land of the lost, transformers 2, worst, worst movies | Leave a comment »
Posted on February 2, 2010 by Darren
The Oscar nominees have just been announced. In the next few hours, in-depth analysis from all manner of sources will take place and discussions will begin on whether the conversion of the Best Picture Oscar to a ten horse race has made the nomination phase anymore exciting. I don’t think it has – we’ve all been talking about the big five like it were any other year – Up In The Air, Inglourious Basterds, Avatar, The Hurt Locker and Precious – and that doesn’t really seem to have changed. However, there’s been a whole heap of discussion about the remaining places on the list. Though that doesn’t exactly ‘shake up the Oscar race’. Once we get a taste for how the Oscars choose the next five (and I suspect it will be on the same basis as the first five), picking ten will seem as simple as picking five did. But I digress. Nominees and preliminary analysis below. Note I’ll probably offer a more in-depth look at the race tomorrow.
It's that time of year again...
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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: 82nd academy awards, avatar, best director, best picture, best picture oscar, best picture race, best screenplay, ceremony, films, Movies, oscar nominess 2010, oscare nominees, Oscars, oscars 2010, populist, Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire, the hurt locker, up in the air | 2 Comments »
Posted on February 2, 2010 by Darren
As anyone who reads this blog is probably aware, we’re still eagerly awaiting news of any sort of announcement about Batman 3, the sequel to Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight that was rumoured to arrive this January. Be it that he was leaving or staying or what have you. Still, part of me wonders if there might be quite a significant amount of stuff in Iron Man 2 for those looking for a further exploration of the themes in the 2008 blockbuster. With recent discussions about the project and the first trailer, I can’t help but get the fantastic feeling that the second Iron Man movie may pick up and explore some of the wonderful threads which Nolan’s dark epic set up. That’s not to say that there isn’t reason to get excited for the film in it’s own right – Robert Downey Jnr! Sam Rockwell! Mickey Rourke! Jon Favreau! – but it’ll be interesting to see if the themes overlap or echo with the film’s 2008 summer rival as well.
Who says darker and edgier is the way forward?
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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: batman, Batman 3, Christopher Nolan, films, iron man, iron man 2, jon favreau, Movies, robert downey jnr., sam rockwell, superhero, The Dark Knight, the dark knight sequel, tony stark | Leave a comment »
Posted on February 1, 2010 by Darren
This news story grabbed my attention last week. Apparently Tesco – yes, the provider of weekly shopping, credit cards, loans and cheap shots at homegrown retailers – will be entering the bright and glamourous world of show business. Will this be part of the finest or economy ranges?
I'm not even sure I'm kidding on this one...
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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: films, jackie collins, Movies, philip pullman, phillip pullman, tesco, tesco films, tesco finest | Leave a comment »
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