Hmm… A perfectly adequate action movie. Nothing more, nothing less. Certainly not a top-of-the-line model.
Hardly an original model...
Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: angelina jolie, cars, film, gone in 60 seconds, gone in sixty seconds, Movies, nicholas cage, non-review review, review, robert duvall, stealing cars | 1 Comment »
One of the wonderful things about the advent of portable media like DVDs and BluRay is that it allows filmmakers to cram a whole lot more of their film on to the disk. Most offer a variety of insights into the filmmaking process – such as featurettes or commentaries – whereas some add more texture to the environment created – deleted or extended scenes, or included multimedia extras and so on. It’s become quite common to release extended editions (or directors’ cuts) of major motion picture releases – Watchmen, for example, has no less than three versions so far, for example. Here’s the question though: should those deleted or extended scenes be treated as the word of god (for lack of a better description) and as having occurred in the continuity with which we are presented? Admittedly it’s less of a problem for movies, where there are only occasionally sequels and even then continuity is generally loose, but what about television series? I’m watching the second season of Battlestar Galactica and it includes two distinct versions of the episode Pegasus – the extended one featuring at least one important plotpoint – so which do I presume happened when I view the following episodes?
Is it only the final cut that matters?
Filed under: Movies, Television | Tagged: continuity, cut, deleted scenes, films, interpretations, Movies, scissor, word of god | Leave a comment »
They say that Christmas gets earlier every year. I’m probably too young to remember this correctly (maybe it’s an aspirational dream I’m confusing with memory), but back in the day they used to wait until after Halloween to start selling Christmas stuff. Now I hear Argos Christmas catalog advertisements and visit the Christmas section in Marks & Sparks in early October. But, seriously, the releasing of A Christmas Carol in early November takes the biscuit.
Isn't it magical?
Filed under: Movies | Tagged: a christmas carol, christmas, christmas advertising, christmas movies, disney's a christmas carol, films, halloween, holiday, Movies, seasons | 2 Comments »
There’s been a lot of buzz generated about the new “shared universe” that Marvel is generating on-screen in the run up to The Avengers, being released in 2012. It has generated fantastic buzz and discussion given there are only really two scenes that have been screened suggesting how the the format might work: the presence of Samuel L. Jackson at the end of Iron Man, welcoming Tony Stark into a wider “universe” and the one-scene appearance of Robert Downey Jnr. at the end of The Incredible Hulk. Undoubtedly next year’s Iron Man 2 will feature even more treats (as will Thor and Captain America: The First Avenger), but it’s interesting to see the fuss that two tiny scenes have generated. I really do think that Marvel are on to box office gold here, and I also think it’s an interesting (and honest) attempt to transfer the medium of comics to film. However, these are all playing into one giant box office buster. Might it be worth taking the same concept and applying it to some of Marvel’s smaller screen franchises?
Fighting over top billing...
Filed under: Movies | Tagged: captain america, crossover, crossovers, daredevil, film, films, iron man, marvel, marvel comics, Movies, punisher, the avengers, the punisher, thor | 2 Comments »
If there was one horror movie that was the centre of much focus and discussion this autumn, it was probably Paranormal Activity. If there was another one, it was Jennifer’s Body. Written by the Oscar-nominated writer of Juno and starring ‘it’ girl of the moment Megan Fox, the movie sparked a whole host of interesting debates from its initial conception through to its underwhelming box office debut. The centre concept was an intriguing gender reversal on the traditional slasher movie dynamic: a college girl randomly murders promiscuous boys. That, and the fact that she is a demon. So, is the movie a feminist slasher flick, and does that go someway towards explaining its somewhat poor box office figures?
Do you want to see more of Jennifer's Body?
Filed under: Movies | Tagged: diablo cody, feminist, femism, horror, jennifers body, megan fox, Movies, screen scare week, slasher | Leave a comment »
There is an interesting article in The Guardian written by Samantha Morton, which lauds Nicole Kidman’s decision to announce that Hollywood treats women as sex objects and Matt Damon’s announcement that he won’t do excessively violent films. They are both valid points for discussion, but I’m never quite sure what to make of it when an artist makes a public anouncement like that, clearly politicising their work. Anyone who neede Nicole Kidman to tell them that Hollywood treats women as objects obviously hasn’t been paying attention to any film released ever, and I doubt anyone will be particularly surprised to here Matt Damon won’t turn up as a lead in Saw. That’s not to diminish their observation, but part of me is always uncomfortable abou the increasing politicalisation of actors and celebrities in our culture.
Not kidding around...
Filed under: Movies | Tagged: actors, discussion, film, Movies, nicole kidman, role models, samantha morton, sex objects, sexism, the guardian, violence, Why Nicole Kidman was brave to speak out | Leave a comment »
Well, at least it’s an action movie that acknowledges its pointlessness. It isn’t a spoiler to point out that – since Wolverine doesn’t remember his origin in X-Men and has to reminded in X-Men II – none of the events here have any real importance to the character development of the Canadian superhero. The audience knows buying a ticket that anything he learns will be erased and lost and that the film itself is just an explosion-filled flashback which, even if had something worth saying, would be pointless anyway. That said, it does deliver somewhat convincing action sequences and two very good leading performances.
The other man of steel...
Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: danny hueston, Deadpool, gavin hood, liev schreiber, Movies, non-review review, review, ryan reynolds, wolverine, x-men, X-Men Origins, X-Men Origins: Wolverine | Leave a comment »
Seriously. John Carpenter pretty much invented the genre back in the 1970s, and it has been with us ever since. But why do we get so many really terrible variations on people doing bad and gruesome things to other people year-in and year-out. You’d magine that every possible object that exists for a killer to hide behind has been hidden behind and every possible note that could be reached by a high-pitched scream has been reached by a high-pitched scream. And yet here they are, again and again and again. What’s the dealio?
I'm not even sure he's the scariest Myers around...
Filed under: Movies | Tagged: films, halloween, horror, horror genre, jason, michael myers, Movies, slasher, slasher films | Leave a comment »
The three biggest children’s films under discussion at the moment are Pixar’s Up, Wes Anderson’s The Fantastic Mr. Fox and Spike Jonze’s Where The Wild Things Are. These three films have generated a debate about who exactly family entertainment should be aimed at, and whether are not there are themes (rather than content) which should be taboo for films that would appear to be aimed at children. More importantly, these three films have sparked a flurry of complaints or criticisms from adults who claim they are far too mature for younger audiences. So, are we really only making these films for big kids?
Watch out, here comes the Politically-Correct-allo!
Filed under: Movies | Tagged: children, children's films, cinema, films, maturity, Movies, parents, pixar, scary, the fantastic mister fox, the fantastic mr. fox, themes, up, where the wild things are | 2 Comments »
They say that horror movies and (before that) ghost stories reflect the unconscious fears of the time. So, for example, vampires allayed the fear of burying members of the community alive – if there were scratch marks on the inside of their coffins, it was because they were monsters, not because your doctor made a mistake. Or Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein was a cautionary tale for a society just on the cusp of the age of reason – a warning not to dive too far into that pool labelled ‘scientific progress’. Monster stories and ghost stories allow us to put aside our fears even for a moment by expressing them in their most ridiculous forms – I don’t think that facet of human nature has disappeared over the past century or so. If we accept this line of reasoning, are zombies the current expression of our deeply buried fears? And, if so, of what?
At least they are taking good care of their teeth...
Filed under: Movies | Tagged: cinema, fears, film, horror, horror movies, individuality, metaphor, monster movies, monsters, Movies, screen scare week, subconscious, zombie, zombieland, zombies | Leave a comment »
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