Posted on May 12, 2010 by Darren
I remember being assured by somebody that pop culture will eat itself. I’m not sure who and I’m not sure when (maybe this person had a time a machine – because it seems to be happening). I never understood if that was a promise or a threat, and I still don’t. However, if you wanted to get a look at the below of the beast, I imagine it might look a little like Hot Tub Time Machine.
Rubba dub dub, four men in tub...
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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: 1986, back to the future, clark duke, comedy, craig robinson, film, hot tub, hot tub time machine, john cusack, Movie, non-review review, pop culture, review, rob corddry, time travel | Leave a comment »
Posted on May 6, 2010 by Darren
I’m sucker for things that go bump in the night. It’s a personal thing. Some people are inherently weirded out by the very idea of zombies or insects or serial killers, but it’s ghosts (or demons or “spiritual presences” or whatever euphemism you wish to use) in their purest forms which terrify me. It’s a matter of personal horror preference – I can (admittedly reluctantly) take copious amounts of gore and graphic violence and, while I may flinch, I’ll shrug it off. It may get me while I’m watching it and I may even look away like a big baby, but it doesn’t really bother me. Give me something just a bit more abstract and I’ll spend the night shivering. So Paranormal Activity was right up my street, then?
A new house can be hell on a relationship...
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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: films, horror, Movies, non-review review, paranormal activity, review | 9 Comments »
Posted on May 5, 2010 by Darren
It’s hard to believe in retrospect, but the movie that kick started the whole superhero movie subgenre is nothing but a gigantic, big budget B-movie. And, trust me, that’s a compliment.
I guess this is a web review (geddit?)...
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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: film, green goblin, jk simmons, marvel, Movies, non-review review, review, sam raimi, spider man, willem dafoe | 6 Comments »
Posted on May 4, 2010 by Darren
“Love,” someone suggests at a key moment in Joss Whedon’s big screen sequel to his cult television show Firefly, is what keeps a ship afloat, “Love keeps her in the air when she oughta fall down, tells ya she’s hurtin’ ‘fore she keens. Makes her a home.” In a way, it’s hard not to feel that he could just as easily be talking about this particular movie adaptation. Serenity is a movie which by all rights shouldn’t exist. Based on a television show unfairly cancelled by a network which couldn’t bring itself to offer it a fighting chance, it seems odd to see the series transitioned to the big screen in search of closure. The movie is itself an act of love – an act early in the film confused (understandably) with madness – love for the show, for its concepts and for those who gave it the benefit of the doubt that its own producers couldn’t.
Thank god there's a master at the helm...
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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: chiwetel ejiofor, film, firefly, joss whedon, malcolm reynolds, Movie, nathan filllon, non-review review, review, serenity, Television | 8 Comments »
Posted on April 30, 2010 by Darren
Legacy. It’s all about legacy. What we leave for our children and what we inherit from our parents. Sometimes it’s bitterness and hatred, sometimes it’s more than we think. Iron Man as a concept is inherently linked to the Cold War and American foreign policy, so it’s a fitting theme for the sequel to tackle. Fathers and sons dominate the film, as does the simple and haunting fact that the now is shaped by the then. Some of us get to change the world, some of us simply leave big smoking craters behind us. Even the bad guy, a Russian, consciously evokes conflicts fading from memory that shaped our modern world.
Sometimes you just need to slow down and take a break...
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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: black widow, blockbuster, don cheadle, film, iron man, iron man 2, ivan vanko, jon favreau, justin hammer, marvel, Mickey Rourke, Movie, natasha romanov, nick fury, non-review review, review, robert downey, robert downey jnr., robert downey jr, sam rockwell, samuel l. jackson, scarlett johansson, tony stark, war machine, whiplash | 10 Comments »
Posted on April 29, 2010 by Darren
Date Night is a perfectly okay film (okay, maybe a tinsy bit better than “perfectly okay”, but “a tinsy bit better than than a perfectly okay film” just doesn’t roll off the tongue as easily as it should). It essentially coasts off its deliciously old-school comedy-of-errors premise and the charisma of its two leading actors (plus their ensemble of cameo! friends), while never really trying too hard or ever really hitting a note of pitch perfect comic genius. There are no lines you’ll be quoting to yourself for weeks afterwards (except maybe “kill shot!” every time somebody tilts their sideways gun at you – but I’ll assume that doesn’t happen too often).
Their date night is about to become a late night...
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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: comedy, date night, film, Movie, non-review review, review, shaun levy, steve carrell, tina fey | 7 Comments »
Posted on April 23, 2010 by Darren
Papillon is a great film. I fall just short of declaring it a masterpiece, but it’s certainly a proud cinematic achievement (seriously, there’s some lovely stunt work going on here). Based on the true, kinda true heavily fictionalised story of Henri Charriere (his real name is never given here, except for a brief shot of his jail cell), the movie is pretty much an episodic collection of incidences from his time in captivity, having been wrongly convicted for killing a pimp. Naturally some of these individual segments work better than others, and some seem a little disjointed, but Steve McQueen really ties it all together. Which is really something since he’s starring opposite Dustin “Oscar gold” Hoffman.
Hail to McQueen...
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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: dustin hoffman, escape, film, Movies, non-review review, papillon, prison, review, steve mcqueen | Leave a comment »
Posted on April 21, 2010 by Darren
Planet 51 is an enjoyable little animated film. It mostly skirts by on it’s rather interesting premise (what if an astronaut landed on an alien world exactly like fifties America?) and razor-sharp pop culture references (I wonder how many kids are going to get the references to E.T. let alone Alien or 2001: A Space Odyssey), but it’s ultimately let down by the fact that nobody involved seems to be trying too hard… or at all, really. The film relies on its intriguing premise to carry it, which it just about does, but it’s hard to feel that there isn’t so much more that could have been done.
I'm not sure if Chuck demonstrates to Planet 51 that there's intelligent life out there...
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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: aliens, animation, cgi, film, jessica biel, justin long, Movies, non-review review, planet 51, pop culture, review, the rock | 6 Comments »
Posted on April 20, 2010 by Darren
The Joneses is a sharply observed, perfectly timed, more than a little cynical examination of American suburbia. Trust me when I say that it’s hard not to leave the movie thinking of American Beauty, I mean that in the most flattering way possible. Yes, I bought what it is the Joneses were selling.
Sometimes you can choose your family...
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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: advertising, amber heard, american beauty, david duchovney, demi moore, films, gary cole, glenne headley, keeping up with the joneses, marketing, non-review review, review, selling, stealth marketing, suburbia, the joneses, the right hook | 7 Comments »
Posted on April 19, 2010 by Darren
Let me tell you something: My father was a very big man. And all his life he wore a black mustache. When it was no longer black, he used a small brush, such as ladies use for their eyes. Mascara.
– Robert
The Comfort of Strangers is… a strange film. I can appreciate what it’s doing (or rather what it is trying to do), but it never quite comes together. Perhaps it’s because the movie seems structured as too much of a thought exercise rather than a finished dramatic production. There’s food for thought here, but there’s really not too much else.
Never wander off with strangers... ESPECIALLY if they're Christopher Walken...
Note: I will be discussing the film’s ending, which is kinda important. But don’t worry, I’ll flag it beforehand. Plus, this film is nearly twenty years old, so I figure it’s fair game.
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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: christopher walken, comfort of strangers, films, harold pinter, helen mirren, ian mcewan, Movies, natasha richardson, non-review review, paul schrader, review, rupert everett, the comfort of strangers, venice | Leave a comment »
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