New York City | the m0vie blog

Captain America: The New Deal (Review/Retrospective)

Posted on June 27, 2012 by Darren

Oh, God — How could this happen here?

– Steve Rogers, Captain America #1

It seemed inevitable that Captain America would have to respond to September 11th. After all, the terrorist atrocities were an attack on the American way of life, and the iconic superhero was perhaps the hero best equipped to explore the scars left by the still-recent attacks upon the American psyche, much as his Secret Empire plot allowed him to respond to the Watergate Scandal. Unfortunately, John Ney Rieber’s work on the character is – while well-intentioned – clumsy, awkward, groan-inducing and cliché-ridden. Even the fantastic artwork of John Cassaday cannot salvage the run from its own tired and trite pseudo-philosophical ramblings.

Subtle.

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Filed under: Comics | Tagged: Avenger, brian michael bendis, captain america, captain america: the first avenger, Dresden, ed brubaker, frank miller, god, john cassaday, john nay rieber, john ney rieber, joss whedon, MarvelUniverse, New York City, Osama bin Laden, Secret Empire, september, Steve Roger, steve rogers, terrorism, United States, Watergate Scandal | 2 Comments »

Non-Review Review: The Apartment

Posted on June 21, 2012 by Darren

The Apartment is a classic romantic comedy, and deservedly so. Reuniting director Billy Wilder with actor Jack Lemmon, it’s a wonderfully dysfunctional look at life in the big city, and the compromises the people find themselves forced into. While I think the movie probably works better as a romantic drama than as a comedy – with some outstanding moments of bleakness, including a serious suicide attempt and another false alarm towards the end – Wilder and Lemmon do an exceptional job keeping the movie just light enough that the darker elements don’t overwhelm the film. It is a piece of cinematic history, and one that holds up as well today as it ever did.

The neighbours were wondering about the racket…

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: Academy Award, Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, Apartment, Billy Wilder, film, Glengarry Glen Ross, Greyhound Lines, Jack Lemmon, Karachi, kevin spacey, Lemmon, Metro Areas, Mississippi, Movie, Natchez Mississippi, new york, New York City, non-review review, Pakistan, review, Shirley MacLaine, Social Security number, the apartment, the apartment (1960), Times Square, United States | 4 Comments »

Non-Review Review: Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow

Posted on June 18, 2012 by Darren

Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow evokes pulp science-fiction cinema with an earnestness and an eagerness that is endearing, if not infectious. Although the special effects have dated significantly in the time since the movie’s release, it’s hard not to admire director Kerry Conron’s use of computer graphics to forge a connection to classic cinema. However, one senses that Conron might have been better suited to emulate the mood, rather than merely the appearance, of these old adventure serials. The problem is that despite its rather wonderfully crafted appearance, there’s never anything in Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow to really get excited about. And that’s a shame.

A ray of hope?

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: Alfred Hitchcock Presents, arts, captain america, CaptainMarvel, Collecting, Conran, Father's Day, film, games, Gwyneth Paltrow, John Williams, jude law, Kerry Conran, Laurence Olivier, michael gambon, Movie, New York City, non-review review, orson welles, Retro-futurism, review, Sky Captain, Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, superman, United States, video games | 11 Comments »

Non-Review Review: Crimes and Misdemeanors

Posted on May 21, 2012 by Darren

I have to admit a special fondness for Crimes and Misdemeanors. It isn’t my favourite Woody Allen film, but it does sit somewhere near the top of my ranking of the director’s extensive filmography. More than that, though, it’s interesting to revisit Crimes and Misdemeanors in light of the director’s more recent work in films like Cassandra’s Dream or Match Point. Indeed, reflecting on it today, Crimes and Misdemeanors seems to occupy a strange middle-ground, literally positioned half-way between the director’s observational comedies and his more sombre meditations on the human condition. Anchored in a fantastic lead performance by Martin Landau, Crimes and Misdemeanors is an intriguing moral dramedy.

Well suited to each other?

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: Abraham, Alan Alda, Allen, arts, comedy, Crimes and Misdemeanors, god, Israelite, Judah, Martin Landau, Match Point, Miriam, Misdemeanor, Misdemeanors, new york, New York City, Old Testament, Woody Allen | 7 Comments »

Non-Review Review: Safe

Posted on May 2, 2012 by Darren

Safe is remarkably up-front about what it is. It’s a collection of action clichés strung out on a series of contrivances and coincidences that exist purely so Jason Statham can appear menacing and get involved in brutal fight sequences. There’s no surprise to be had in Safe, save perhaps the charm of Statham as a leading man and his wonderful chemistry with the debuting Catherine Chan. The movie’s never outside its comfort zone, but it manages to do what it sets out to do with a respectable efficiency and charm. While he does occasionally succumb to the rapid-fire editing that plague modern action movies, I think that it’s safe to say that Boaz Yakin is a much stronger director than he is a writer.

Looking for a Safe house…

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: Action film, Boaz Yakin, Catherine Chan, film, guy ritchie, Jason Statham, Luke Wright, New York City, non-review review, ovie, review, Safe, Safe (film), Statham, Transporter, Yakin | 2 Comments »

Non-Review Review: Collateral

Posted on April 6, 2012 by Darren

Collateral is a masterpiece. I think the only Michael Mann movie I’d rate against it would be Heat, which puts it in very good company. It’s probably my favourite neo-noir film, and I actually ranked it as my favourite film of 2000-2009. There are a lot of reasons for that: I think it’s the best example of digital video cinematography I’ve ever seen, the script is superb, the two leads are fantastic and it’s an utterly compelling examination of urban isolation. The screenplay was originally set in Manhattan, but I think the decision to transpose the story of a cabbie and his client to Los Angeles was actually quite clever – there’s generally an eerie emptiness and anomie to how life in Los Angeles is portrayed, and Collateral captures it perfectly.

Top gun...

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: anomie, Ashlee Simpson, Australia, Ching, collateral, collateral (film), Darwin, Darwin City, Darwin Northern Territory, film, heat, isolation, L.A., los angeles, max, michael mann, Movies, Municipalities, New York City, non-review review, Northern Territory, Oceania, review, Vincent | 6 Comments »

Thor by Walt Simonson Omnibus (Review/Retrospective)

Posted on April 5, 2012 by Darren

April (and a little bit of May) are “Avengers month” at the m0vie blog. In anticipation of Joss Whedon’s superhero epic, we’ll have a variety of articles and reviews published looking at various aspects of “Earth’s Mightiest Heroes.” We’re also taking a look at some of the notable stories featuring individual Avengers.

Read our review of The Avengers here.

Walt Simonson’s run on Thor is one of the truly great Marvel runs of the eighties – along with Frank Miller’s take on Daredevil and John Byrne’s tenure on The Fantastic Four. It’s great to have that entire run – and the Baldar the Brave miniseries – collected in one absolutely giant omnibus, which stands as one of the greatest accomplishments of Marvel’s collected editions department. Did I mention that it has been lavishly recoloured for the occasion? Because it has. And it’s spectacular.

A snake in the grass (and pretty much everywhere else)...

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Filed under: Comics | Tagged: arts, Asgard, brian blessed, frank miller, iron man, joss whedon, kenneth branagh, marvel comics, marvel omnibus, New York City, Online Writing, stan lee, Surtur, thor, thor by walt simonson, thor by walt simonson omnibus, walt simonson | 9 Comments »

Non-Review Review: Leon (The Professional)

Posted on February 14, 2012 by Darren

What makes Leon so fascinating is the combination a wonderfully disturbing script that puts a novel and unsettling twist on that “suddenly a father” subgenre, Besson’s understated direction, Eric Serra’s atmospheric score and a trio of fantastic central performances. The movie is never less than completely engaging, especially when it’s being very deeply uncomfortable. The movie is very much a “messed up”portrait of the survivor of a family massacre and her unconventional surrogate father figure, with the difficulties that both have adapting to their situation, although it’s probably Gary Oldman’s powerhouse villainous performance that you’re going to leave the film thinking about.

Leon is a bit daunted by the scope of fatherly responsibility...

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: adam sandler, arts, Éric Serra, Besson, fiction, film, gary oldman, george clooney, GoldenEye, hollywood, Jean Reno, Léon (film), Leon, madonna, Mathilda, Movie, Natalie Portman, New York City, non-review review, Oldman, rain man, review, Shopping, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy | 5 Comments »

Negotiating Potential Hazards: The Art of Movie Negotiation…

Posted on February 2, 2012 by Darren

I’m kinda looking forward to Man on a Ledge, if only because it looks like the sort of high-concept thriller that could be fascinating viewing – I’m hoping for something similar to Phone Booth or Buried or other movies that take a fairly simple situation and centre a thriller around it. I’m a sucker for a good negotiation thriller. There’s something about that sort of film that just intrigues me. Whether it’s a hostage situation, a botched bank robbery or something else entirely, I think that those kinds of movies that manages to combine large-scale epic drama with a more intimate personal conflict. I think that’s a dynamic that’s somewhat hard to mess up, there’s just something inherently compelling about such a small-scale interaction with such large-scale consequences that it’s very hard not to get sucked up in the drama of it all.

High stakes game...

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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: al pacino, Chris Sarandon, Clarice Starling, Dog Day Afternoon, elizabeth banks, Man on a Ledge, Negotiator, new york, New York City, phone booth, Sam Worthington, samuel l. jackson, Sidney Lumet, Taking of Pelham 123 | Leave a comment »

Non-Review Review: Shame

Posted on January 10, 2012 by Darren

Shame is a masterpiece, a master class in cinema, and the perfect example of a director and lead actor working synchronously and seamlessly. The movie wouldn’t work without director Steve McQueen willing to push it as far as possible, knowing when to pull back and when to dive in, matched by Michael Fassbender’s fearlessness, throwing himself into a naked performance. (This is where I make a cheap joke about it being “in more ways than one.”) Shame is pretty much the perfect note on which to start 2012.