Movies | the m0vie blog

It Was the Summer of ’09… BIGGEST. SUMMER. EVER…

Posted on September 2, 2009 by Darren

Well, at least one of my predictions worked out. Waaaay back when this blog was just starting I called this year to be the biggest summer at the American Box Office ever and – with one weekend still to go – I was right about that one.

Well, I was due after Shutter Island was moved to February scuttling my Oscar forecast. Now, if the Academy could come around to nomination Inglourious Basterds (yeah, right!), I might forgive them for that whole fiasco with The Reader.

I’m quite proud of myself, but that isn’t really a good enough reason to post (at least on its own), so I’ve brought some facts and figures and observations below.

Christian Bale isn't going to happy about this...

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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: blockbusters, box office, films, finances, money, Movies, summer, summer 2009, summer blockbusters | Leave a comment »

White and Wrong: Contrarian (Anti-Popularist) Film Critics

Posted on September 1, 2009 by Darren

I was away in Florida when the whole Armond White thing broke last month. For those out of the loop, users of film review aggregation site Rotten Tomatoes decided that they’d had enough of White’s contrary approach to film reviews after he ‘ruined’ the perfect Tomatometer for District 9 – and generated quite the reaction on the site. With District 9 being released in the UK and Ireland this week, it seems almost the perfect time to revisit the discussion, with the benefit of hindsight. Plus, film criticism is one of those topics that I take a great deal of recreational interest in.

Somehow I doubt we'll ever see eye-to-eye...

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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: armond white, cinema, criticism, critics, district 9, film critics, Movies, popularism, roger ebert, rotten tomatoes, taste, tomatometer | 2 Comments »

Non-Review Review: X-Men II

Posted on September 1, 2009 by Darren

I wrote in my review of the original X-Men that the first film in the saga still holds up quite well, even after a decade of superhero movies built off the back of it. It is by no means as spectacular as some of those that followed, nor is it as bad as some of those that followed. X-Men II is something similar. It wasn’t quite as revolutionary, but it did jumpstart another style of summer blockbuster, arguably a subgenre of the type sparked by the original film: the bigger and better superhero sequel.

No need to get your claws out...

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: brian cox, comic books, films, god loves man kills, ian mckellen, kurt wagner, magneto, marvel, Movies, nightcrawler, non-review review, review, william stryker, wolverine, x-men, x-men 2, x-men united, x2: x-men united | Leave a comment »

What a Basterdly Ending…

Posted on August 31, 2009 by Darren

Alright, since the entire point of this post is spoilers, consider yourselves duly warned. I don’t like spoiling films, but I also really think that there is a lot of discussion to be had about the end of Inglourious Basterds. Only read on if you have seen the film, or know you won’t. Because there’s no going back. Seriously. It’s something you should really see for yourself before you make up your mind on it. Anyway, those disclaimers out of the way, here we go…

Shoshanna's got an axe to grind...

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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: cinema, climax, ending, films, history, hitler, inglorious bastards, inglourious basterds, Movies, nazis, quentin tarantino, spoilers, subtext, tarantino, themes | 1 Comment »

Non-Review Review: Inglourious Basterds

Posted on August 28, 2009 by Darren

I went to see Inglourious Basterds with my brother last night at the cinema in Swords. I’m not sure what either of us was expecting – I’d read enough reviews and opinion articles and am well-versed in the knowledge that trailers always lie to know that it wouldn’t be a straight-up Nazi-killing flick. In fairness to the misdirecting marketing campaign though, I’m not sure how you could advertise what Tarantino has produced here. What we’ve got is a film possibly unlike any other you’ve ever really seen. I’m still not entirely sure what to make of it, which is certainly a big indicator in the film’s favour.

Tarantino, you magnificent basterd, you...

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: brad pitt, christoph waltz, films, inglorious bastards, inglourious, inglourious basterds, Movies, nazis, non-review review, once upon a time in nazi-occupied france, quentin tarantino, review, tarantino, weinstein | 6 Comments »

Gotta Get a Gilliam…

Posted on August 26, 2009 by Darren

Apparently Terry Gilliam wants to work at Pixar. How incredibly awesome would that be? Even the concept is intriguing. I’m not as head-over-heels in love with Gilliam as most film fans seem to be (his output tends to fluctuate wildly in quality), but Brazil is quite possibly my favourite science fiction film ever. And I love science fiction. Anyway, I would have thought a major studio that is a subsidiary of possibly the largest and most influential entertainment conglomerate in the world would be the last place an auteur like Gilliam would be found.

Evidently, I was wrong.

Rawr! Gilliam's Gonna Get Ya!

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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: animation, artist, auteur, director, film, gilliam, monty python, Movies, pixar, terry gilliam | Leave a comment »

Magneto’s Magnetism…

Posted on August 26, 2009 by Darren

Another day, another superhero movie. Still, the long-rumoured X-Men Origins: Magneto is a project which has aroused quite a bit of my interest, if only because it has the potential to be unlike any other film in that genre. And if – as it appears – the superhero film is here to stay, we should at least welcome those that are willing to deviate from the norm, even a little bit and even if they don’t work out. Still, I wholeheartedly accept that it could end up being as pointless and soulless as Wolverine was, so I won’t be priming my hopes too much.

"YOU SHALL NOT RECAST!"

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Filed under: Comics, Movies | Tagged: Anti-hero, Anti-Villain, David Goyer, Deadpool, films, Fox, franchises, ian mckellen, magneto, marvel, Movies, Mutants, nazis, Sir Ian McKellen, wolverine, x-men, X-Men Origins, X-Men Origins: Gambit, X-Men Origins: Magneto, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, x-men spin-off, x-men spin-offs, X-Men: First Class | Leave a comment »

What Constitutes a Spoiler?

Posted on August 25, 2009 by Darren

What constitutes a spoiler? I mean, really? Is discussing anything about the ending of a film a spoiler? What about talking about a twist earlier on, or an underlying theme or premise that pays off at the end? Is that a spoiler? How long does a movie have to be out before you can talk about it without worrying that you’ll spoil the ending for some poor unsuspecting individual who deserves to see the movie and take it in without having their perception coloured? Some stuff got me thinking about this and I’m not really sure I know where the line falls.

I see a twist coming...

Spoiler: This article contains spoilers. Lots and lots of spoilers. But that was kind of obvious from the header, wasn’t it? I wonder if anyone ever actually heeds these warnings. Tell you what, cycle down to the end of the article and leave a comment if you do. Nah, I’m just kidding, but still… spoilers ahoy!

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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: deathproof, endings, films, Inception, inglourious basterds, M. Night Shyamalan, Movies, quentin tarantino, reveal, spoilers, the 6th sense, the sixth sense, the usual suspects, twist, twist ending, unbreakable | 2 Comments »

Does Hype Ruin Good Films?

Posted on August 25, 2009 by Darren

So, how was Avatar Day for you?

The word so far has been a resounding ‘meh‘, but still a somewhat enthusiastic one. Still, it’s nothing compared to the hype that has built up around the movie. A ‘game changer’, Avatar was rumoured to redefine movies themselves – ushering in the golden era of three-dimensional filmmaking. How does a film live up to that hype? In fairness, most of the comments on the preview footage have been relatively positive, but most seem a little disappointed. So, has the Hollywood hype machine spoiled a perfectly good movie?

Is James Cameron still king of the world?

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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: advertising, avatar, avatar day, blockbusters, classics, district 9, fans, films, hype, marketing, masterpieces, Movies, peter jackson, pr, star wars, The Dark Knight, watchmen | Leave a comment »

Non-Review Review: X-Men

Posted on August 20, 2009 by Darren

It’s the movie that started it all. We wouldn’t have this tight-spandex-wearing superhero craze in Hollywood today were it not for Bryan Singer’s ambitious adaptation of the Marvel wonder team (okay, Sam Raimi’s Spider Man played a part too). I don’t know what’s more surprising: that it worked at the time or that it still holds together quite well today.