Posted on September 29, 2011 by Darren
Nicolas Refn’s Bronson is a rough film, quite like its central character. It’s tough and it’s challenging, and it doesn’t pretend to have all the answers, very much like “Britain’s most violent prisoner.” While it’s probably quite frustrating for most viewers, I actually quite admired the fact that Refn doesn’t try to explain or rationalise the conduct of his central character, instead daring to examine a man who is so institutionalised that he thinks of prison as a “hotel”, a hotel he’s been staying in for well over thirty-five years.
Like a caged animal...
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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: Bronson, Charles Bronson, Charlie Bronson, david bowie, Michael Gordon Peterson, Nicolas Winding Refn, non-review review, Pet Shop Boys, Refn, review, Thin White Duke, tom hardy | 2 Comments »
Posted on September 28, 2011 by Darren
I really wanted to like 30 Days of Night. I’m a sucker for vampire films, and David Slade’s adaptation of the horror comic started off on all the right notes, with a rather ingenious central concept. After all, if you were a vampire, could you imagine a better hunting ground than a town that spends thirty days in absolute and complete darkness, isolated completely from the outside world? It’s a novel take, and one that really should be more interesting than the rather generic desaturated gore fest that it becomes.
In need of a reVamp?
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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: 30 Days of Night, Alaska, arts, Ben Foster, David Slade, film, horror, Josh Hartnett, Melissa George, non-review review, Otherkin, People, review, vampire, Vampire film | 1 Comment »
Posted on September 27, 2011 by Darren
Law Abiding Citizen is an interesting movie. It’s a well-made thriller that seems to have some underlining arguments about the justice system and civil liberties, even if it tends to get a bit muddled towards the end. However, director F. Gary Gray knows how to handle tension, and has two very strong leading actors, which helps carrying an intriguing premise through some of the difficulties it has with its own moral philosophy.
Naked guns?
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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: Clyde, Clyde F.C., Death Wish, F. Gary Gray, film, gerard butler, jamie foxx, Law-Abiding Citizen, Movies, non-review review, review | Leave a comment »
Posted on September 26, 2011 by Darren
I’ll admit to being quite impressed with the work HBO have done of late. I’m not so much talking about their production of some of the finest drama on television, but instead talking about the fantastic job they’ve done in bringing original drama to life inside the format of television movies. There was a time that television movies were mocked and frowned upon, something of a guilty pleasure rather than an artform to take seriously, but HBO has done a rather sterling job of late, producing films like The Special Relationship, which I thought might have supported even a small-scale theatrical run. Too Big To Fail is just as good, if not slightly better – focusing on the United States financial collapse of 2008, it brings together an all-star cast under a fantastic director to offer a movie that is far more interesting and compelling than any drama based on number crunching really ought to be.
Bringing the Hurt...
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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: arts, Curtis Hanson, hbo, Henry Paulson, Lehman Brothers, Lehmann Brothers, non-review review, paul giamatti, review, Too big to fail, United States | Leave a comment »
Posted on September 18, 2011 by Darren
Terence Malick’s Tree of Life stems from the beginning of the universe to “the end of time.”It’s hard to imagine any film with a similar scope, let alone one focused on the troublesome relationship between a nuclear family in the mid-to-late-twentieth century. The easiest way to summarise Malick’s epic yet intimate drama is describe it as a profound meditation on the history of the cosmos, reflected through a child’s coming-of-age tale. Confused? I don’t blame you. I’m slightly confused and I just watched the damn thing.
A beautiful sequence of images...
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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: bbc, Book of Job, christianity, Father, film, Filmmaking, god, Koyaanisqatsi, Movies, non-review review, Old Testament, Religion and Spirituality, review, Terrence Malick, theology, Tree of Life | 5 Comments »
Posted on September 16, 2011 by Darren
I really do have a great deal of affection for Run Lola Run, as a highly energetic and stylishly executed piece of cinema. It’s hard to think of a movie that can match the sheer intensity of the assault that the opening few moments make upon your senses, as the images flash across the screen, the heavy dance soundtrack kicks to life, and the camera dances and cuts like there’s no tomorrow. It’s a shame that the movie can’t really maintain that wonderful pace for the rest of its runtime, but perhaps it’s too much to ask for an eighty-minute sprint.
Betting it all on red...
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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: arts, film, Filmmaking, games, Movie, Movies, non-review review, review, Run Lola Run, Sepp Herberger, Tom Tykwer | 2 Comments »
Posted on September 15, 2011 by Darren
I’m honestly not quite sure what to make of Extract. Ironically for a movie about a factor producing flavour additives, the movie seems lack a flavour of its own. Is Mike Judge’s effort a quirky and eccentric anything-goes laugh-out-loud fest, or is it a more conventional cookie-cutter comedy? The film seems to fluctuate between the two extremes, at times playing incredible safe and yet occasionally swinging for the fences, adding to a vaguely disjointed feeling to the whole thing.
Meeting of the bored...
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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: ben affleck, Clifton Collins Jr, DavidKoechner, Extract, film, j.k. simmons, jason bateman, Kristen Wiig, Mike Judge, mila kunis, Movie, non-review review, review | 2 Comments »
Posted on September 13, 2011 by Darren
Buried is a great high-concept thriller, with one hell of a hook and a fascinating premise. Basically the story of kidnap victim Paul Conroy, who is kidnapped by “insurgents” (or “criminals” or “terrorists”, depending on who you ask) and buried alive in Iraq. With only a limited source of light, and even less time, the truck driver is given mere hours to come up with a ridiculously large ransom or he’ll be left in the ground to rot forever.
It's a dirty job...
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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: buried, colin farrell, film, iraq, monty python, Movie, non-review review, Paul Conroy, review, ryan reynolds, Truck driver | 6 Comments »
Posted on September 12, 2011 by Darren
You know, even after all this time, I think that Finding Nemo views with The Incredibles as my favourite Pixar production. I respect and appreciate the sheer artistry and technical skill that went into Wall-E and I think Uprepresents the company’s most mature work to date, but I think Nemo perfectly captures everything that I love about the company – the maturity, the humour, the adventure, the technical skill of it all. Plus it has perhaps the best voice cast of the films.
The life aquatic...
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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: Albert Brooks, finding nemo, Great Barrier Reef, non-review review, pixar, review, the incredibles, toy story, up, Up (2009 film), wall-e, Walt Disney Company | 5 Comments »
Posted on September 10, 2011 by Darren
This latest in the long line of Jane Eyre adaptations stands quite well among them. My better half, whom I readily defer to in matters of culture (if not, sadly, also taste), assures my that it represents a relatively faithful and incredibly thorough exploration of the classic gothic romance, condensed down into a relatively short two-hour-and-ten-minute film. It really is a well-made film, produced with genuine skill and class from everybody on board, and I’d go so far as to suggest that the few problems I had with it stemmed directly from its source material.
Love is in the Eyre...
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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: bbc, Brontë family, Charlotte Brontë, colin firth, films, frankenstein, Jane Eyre, Mia Wasikowska, Michael Fassbender, Movies, non-review review, reviews, Wuthering Heights | 6 Comments »
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