non-review review | the m0vie blog

Non-Review Review: Scott Pilgrim vs. The World

Posted on August 17, 2010 by Darren

If it weren’t for Inception, Scott Pilgrim vs. The World would be the most visually impressive film of year. Maybe it still is. This tale of adolescent irrelevence might have a bit of difficulty finding an audience, but it certainly deserves one – it’s a pure kaleidoscopic sugar rush of youthful exuberence and energy, all focused through a simple but effective emotional narrative. Indeed, perhaps its closest companion is (500) Days of Summer, the breakout romantic comedy of last year – except this time the emotional complexity is dialed down and the visual flair way up. And neither of those are bad things. In fact, as part of Edgar Wright’s latest film, they are actually quite genius.

Scott packs quite a (cup of) punch...

Continue reading →

Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: action, brandon routh, bryan lee o'malley, choreography, chris evans, edgar wright, ellen wong, films, graphic novel, Ireland, kieran culkin, Movies, non-review review, review, scott pilgrim, scott pilgrim vs. the world, universal pictures, universal pictures ireland, visuals | 4 Comments »

Non-Review Review: Nine

Posted on August 16, 2010 by Darren

I have to admit, I greatly enjoyed Nine, even if it never really felt substantial or fulfilling. I’m not convinced that the film works as a story, but it does provide director Rob Marshall the opportunity to put together setpiece after setpiece, each choreographed with impeccable skill. Indeed, given his ability to stage glitzy sequences and the sheer volume of talent in front of the camera, coupled with lavish production values and a mesmerizing setting, it’s easy to forgive Nine its faults – the most glaring of which is that nothing really happens for the first three-quarters of it, and then stuff happens which doesn’t necessarily feel earned in the last quarter. Still, it looks damn pretty and the soundtrack is quite catchy.

Now that's a showstopper...

Continue reading →

Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: cinema paradiso, dame judy dench, Daniel Day-Lewis, directors, eight and a half, fellini, fergie, film, frederic fellini, judy dench, lethario, marion cotillard, Movies, musical, nicole kidman, Nine, non-review review, penelope cruz, review, rob marshall, stereotypes | 3 Comments »

Non-Review Review: Cinema Paradiso (Theatrical Cut)

Posted on August 13, 2010 by Darren

Hmm… a dude who runs a film site loves a nostalgic movie about the power of cinema? I never could have called that one.

It's another day for you... for you and me in paradiso...

Continue reading →

Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: cinema, cinema paradiso, cinema paradiso: director's cut, film, filme, giuseppe tornatore, italian cinema, leaving certificate, non-review review, nouvo cinema paradiso, review, subtitles, toto | 7 Comments »

Non-Review Review: I’m Gonna Git You, Sucka!

Posted on August 12, 2010 by Darren

Wow. A Wayans’ movies that wasn’t completely terrible. Okay, it isn’t great, but there are some genuinely hilarious moments hidden in this blaxploitation spoof. There’s a fairly high miss-to-hits ratio, though – but it still hits the spot frequently enough.

Pretty fly...

Continue reading →

Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: blaxploitation, comedies, films, i'm gonna get you sucker, i'm gonna git you sucka!, non-review review, review, spoof, wayan brothers | 3 Comments »

Non-Review Review: The Green Mile

Posted on August 9, 2010 by Darren

I never really responded to The Shawshank Redemption. I’ll go into why exactly if I ever get around to writing a review of it, but perhaps the fact that I never really embraced the film as strongly as most film fans (or even just, y’know, people) is the reason that I am somewhat fonder of The Green Mile than most. The Green Mile is admittedly as guilty as Frank Darabont’s early Stephen King adaptation set in a prison when it comes to emotional manipulation of its audience (look at us humanise the prison guards by having the three of them tackle a mouse in a borderline comedic fashion!), but I find it a lot more honest about its inherent darkness than that tale of redemption in Shawshank.

No, it's not a halo, but it's pretty close...

Continue reading →

Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: barry pepper, david morse, doug hutchinson, film, frank darabont, green mile, james cromwell, michael clarke duncan, Movie, non-review review, review, sam rockwell, stephen king, the green mile, the shawshank redemption, tom hanks | Leave a comment »

Non-Review Review: Futurama – Into the Wild Green Yonder

Posted on August 6, 2010 by Darren

Interesting. It seems that Futurama has somehow (presumably unconsciously) incorporated one of the central features from its key sources, the Star Trek franchise. It’s frequently asserted by fans of that series that the television show spawned a rather inconsistent movies series. Some, such as Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, could stand tall and be measured along the best movies that science-fiction could offer; while others, notable Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (in which Kirk kills God in a story pitched and directed by William Shatner), were actually terrible. The consensus emerged that the even numbered sequels were great and the odd numbered movies were terrible. This is just a run of thumb, and it’s possible it has been reversed (the tenth movie, Star Trek: Nemesis, was pretty disappointing; the eleventh, Star Trek, was a blast of fresh air) or even completely deconstructed. While none of the four Futurama movies are “terrible” or even “bad”, the distinction between the “okay” and the “great” seems to fall on similar lines. The first and third, Bender’s Big Score and Bender’s Game, weren’t great, while the second and fourth, The Beast With A Billion Backs and Into the Wild Green Yonder, perfectly capture all that was great about the show.

Here we go-go again...

Continue reading →

Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: films, finale, futurama, futurama: into the wild green yonder, into the wild green yonder, matt groening, Movies, non-review review, review, Television | Leave a comment »

Non-Review Review: Futurama – Bender’s Game

Posted on August 5, 2010 by Darren

You could make the arguement that the first two Futurama movies – Bender’s Big Score and The Beast With A Billion Backs – cast their nets particularly widely in charting the universe the show had been cultivating for four years before it went off the air, perhaps drawing in more threads than it was fair to assume that an hour-and-a-half movie could handle. So Bender’s Game might seem a relief in that regard. It’s a relatively tightly-focused tale, involving a small subset of the show’s many, many characters. However, in doing so, it never really seems to justify why it’s a bigger and longer tale. Indeed, it could just as easily have been two shorter ones.

A Knight to Remember...

Continue reading →

Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: bender's game, dungeons & dragons, dungeons and dragons, film, futurama, futurama: bender's game, Movies, non-review review, review, Television | Leave a comment »

Non-Review Review: Superman

Posted on July 30, 2010 by Darren

Tell me your heart doesn’t skip a beat when you hear the familiar brass of John Williams’ iconic score. Or that you can resist a smile as a small child introduces the movie by opening a comic book and reading aloud. Or that the opening shot of the crystal canyons of Krypton doesn’t make your spine tingle just a bit. Richard Donner’s Superman is perhaps correctly regarded as the father of the whole superhero genre, and deservedly so, but it’s also a stunningly well put together film in its own right. You could argue that this film predates the whole “superhero” genre in Hollywood, and – as such- more deserves classification as a “fantasy” film. And it can certainly stand with the very best of them.

Don't worry, he's trained for this sort of emergency...

Continue reading →

Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: arts, batman begins, christopher reeves, film, films, gene hackman, John Williams, jor-el, lex luthor, marlon brando, Movie, non-review review, review, richard donner, Smallville, superheroes, superman, superman ii: the richard donner cut, Warner Brothers | 13 Comments »

Non-Review Review: The Incredibles

Posted on July 27, 2010 by Darren

I think Pixar’s The Incredibles must stand as one of their best productions – alongside Finding Nemo, perhaps. It’s certainly one of their more conventional entries in the Pixar stable, in that it’s offered in the blockbuster format of the decade (superhero adventure), but – like the very best of their work – it’s so much more. A whole host of Pixar’s films – Toy Story and Finding Nemo chief among them – deal with the notion of paternal abandonment (though perhaps more fond of addressing the story of parents abandoned by kids, rather than kids abandoned by adults), but The Incredibles is perhaps the one which best deals with the challenges that managing a ‘functioning’ family.

That's one incredible family...

Continue reading →

Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: craig t. nelson, disney, films, holly hunter, incredibles, jason lee, Movies, non-review review, pixar, review, samuel l. jackson, superheroes, the incredibles, watchmen | Leave a comment »

Non-Review Review: A Serious Man

Posted on July 26, 2010 by Darren

I can’t help but feel like I’m missing something with A Serious Man. I mean, I get it, it’s all pointless and we’re meant to be as unable to make sense of it all as the dentist who finds words on his goy‘s teeth or Larry Gopnik himself, but there’s something ultimately uncomfortable about the film’s reflexiveness. After all, the story filters tales through tales through tales, with a rabbi sharing a pointless story with Larry as he waits there for the rabbi to instill it with meaning, but can’t. The movie’s central thesis is that – assuming he exists – God is a sadistic and horrible creature for the way he arranges the world without meaning and seemingly to punish a man “trying to be a serious man”. Of course, whether or not God exists is a question for each individual to come to themselves, but the film draws attention to its nature as a narrative rather than a documentary – first through a random introductory film and then through a-story-within-a-story – which makes it clear that while the real world may or may not have an omnipotent creator, Larry’s world does. And you can’t help but feel, at the end of it, that the Coens are really just dicks.