Posted on April 15, 2010 by Darren
Whiteout is a “just okay” thriller, perfectly average in most areas (but hopelessly deficient in others). Setting a murder-mystery-thriller in the cold icy tundra and in the middle of a storm immediately brings to mind any number of cinematic fore-bearers, virtually all of which are superior to this little film. Perhaps the greatest crime that Whiteout is guilty of, aside from following the usual tropes and conventions too slavishly, is that it just doesn’t do anything with its setting, which seems to want to be distinctive.
Snow wear to go...
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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: antartic, film, kate beckinsale, Movies, non-review review, reviews, tom skerrit, whiteout | 4 Comments »
Posted on April 12, 2010 by Darren
It’s certainly an interesting concept: it’s the story of a love out of sync – of two individuals who live their lives at different speeds. Claire falls in love with a strange man she met in a meadow when she was growing up – only he hasn’t aged a day. That’s because he’s a time traveler. So, as you can imagine, that throws up more than the usual boundries to romance. In fairness, the movie seems aware of the myriad of possibilities suggested by its premise, but the truth is that it does little more than exploit them for melodrama. Cheap, heavy-handed melodrama.
Stuck in a movie I can't get out of...
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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: eric bana, films, Movies, non-review review, rachel mcadams, review, The Time Traveler's Wife, time traveler's wife | 4 Comments »
Posted on April 9, 2010 by Darren
I love Demolition Man. I know I shouldn’t, but I do.
Eye see you...
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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: action, be well, comedy, demolition man, dennis leary, fascism, films, future, huxley, jack black, john spartan, los angeles, Movie, murder death kill, mvoies, non-review review, review, san angeles, science fiction, simon phoenix, simon says, sly stallone, sylvester stallone, the demolition man, the three seashells, three seashells | 3 Comments »
Posted on April 3, 2010 by Darren
Mark O’Rowe wrote a play that I had the pleasure of seeing last year called Terminus. The piece, featuring four characters narrating sensational events occurring in and around the city of Dublin in thick Northside accents and with distracting amounts of elloquence, obviously became something of a cult hit – so much so that it returned to the Abbey (our national theatre) earlier this year. I mention this purely because O’Rowe has very much fashioned the script for this Irish film from the same cloth as his theatrical success. The same elements which I enjoyed in Terminus I enjoyed in Perrier’s Bounty, and the same elements I didn’t enjoy were just magnified by the transition to film.
Parting shots?
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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: brendan gleeson, Cillian Murphy, cinema, dublin, films, Ireland, irish, jim broadbent, mark o'rowe, Movies, non-review review, perrier's bounty, reviews, terminus | 2 Comments »
Posted on April 1, 2010 by Darren
Kick-Ass may be the action movie of the year. It will more than likely be the comedy of year. And it is currently among the best movies I’ve seen so far (and it’s been a very good March, might I add). Kick-Ass does what Watchmen should have, and takes superhero movies to the next level: working on the assumption that the genre is so well recognised that audiences will appreciate all the tiny little tropes, Kick-Ass picks apart the big budget superhero flick, but manages to avoid being mean.
Kick-Ass kicks... well, you see where this is going...
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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: aaron johnson, big daddy, Chloe Moretz, film, hit girl, kick-ass, mark millar, matthew vaughn, Movie, nicolas cage, non-review review, parody, review, superheroes | 12 Comments »
Posted on March 30, 2010 by Darren
I think you could argue that Who Framed Roger Rabbit (which doesn’t have a question mark at the end, because apparently marketing demonstrated audiences don’t respond to question marks) sits at the perfect midpoint on the Zemickis spectrum, balancing the fine and fun storytelling of the Back to the Future series with the early forefathers of the technical wizardry which would so fascinate the director in the years to come. However, Who Framed Roger Rabbit finds a way to match its technical wizardry with a genuinely fun and entertaining story.
Saw VII: Would Bob Hoskins rather saw his own arm off or spend the rest of the movie as the straight guy to Roger's plucky comic relief? Jigsaw, you fiend!
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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: animation, cartoons, disney, film, jessica rabbit, live action, looney tunes, Movie, non-review review, review, robert zemeckis, roger rabbit, who framed roger rabbit | 1 Comment »
Posted on March 28, 2010 by Darren
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus is a strange film, even with the concession that Terry Gilliam is a strange film director. Everyone knows the film is the last big screen work from the deceased Heath Ledger and it’s a shadow the film doesn’t feel entirely comfortable stepping out of. It’s almost paradoxical, but in watching it one gets the sense that the film may have bee the better for being less reverent of the actor – it would stand as a better testament to his memory if it could let go of his memory. In short, The Dark Knight will probably stand as the greatest testament to the actor’s ability and and rightly so. That doesn’t mean Parnassus is a waste of time – well, not all of it anyway.
Through the looking glass...
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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: christopher plummer, doctor parnassus, dr. parnassus, film, heath ledger, Movie, non-review review, review, terry gilliam, the devil, the imaginarium of doctor parnassus, tom waits | 2 Comments »
Posted on March 22, 2010 by Darren
The Fantastic Mr. Fox isn’t a movie for everyone. It’s decidedly quirkily a Wes Anderson film above all else – above being an animated or stop motion film or a Roald Dahl adaptation. There’s the same dialogue and awkward poses and eccentric misunderstood characters at its core. It’s decidedly retro and it won’t win any awards for visual innovation. But – somewhat fittingly for a movie with a moral about being yourself – it is very much its own movie. Still, the suggestion that this isn’t a movie for kids is a little disingenuous. There are, I reckon, a lot of children who will enjoy the movie’s style and story and beauty. However, there will be a quite a few who won’t. But I reckon the same will be true of an adults as well. This is a movie for Wes Anderson fans, of all ages – even those who have never seen a Wes Anderson film before in their lives. But it’s also a film for those who can appreciate cinema in all its forms and with all its different trappings and styles. Those looking for a conventional animated children’s tale, or particularly light entertainment, will likely leave disappointed – but those looking for something with a bit more soul than usual will be right at home.
He's a foxy fella..
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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: fantastic fox, fantastic mr. fox, george clooney, michael gambon, Movies, non-review review, reviews, roald dahl, stop-motion, the fantastic mister fox, the fantastic mr. fox, wes anderson, willem dafoe | 4 Comments »
Posted on March 19, 2010 by Darren
Apparently The Big Lebowski wasn’t anything special when the Coen Brothers drafted it. Just a routine little film with a main character very loosely based on a film producer that they used to know. To this day they’re still a little perplexed at the massive success the film has had, becoming a cult phenomenon and a serious contender for the mantle of “Best Coen Brothers Film”. In a way, that’s almost perfectly suited to the kind of film this is. It’s a lot of hubbub over a film clearly meant to be very small, much like the film itself is a very big story wrapped around a very ‘small’ character, so to speak. It’s always reassuring to know that The Dude abides.
"This is not 'Nam. This is bowling. There are rules."
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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: films, jeff bridges, john goodman, Movies, non-review review, review, the big lebowski, the dude, the dude abides | Leave a comment »
Posted on March 18, 2010 by Darren
I don’t know who you are. I don’t know what you want. If you are looking for ransom, I can tell you I don’t have money. But what I do have are a very particular set of skills; skills I have acquired over a very long career. Skills that make me a nightmare for people like you. If you let my daughter go now, that’ll be the end of it. I will not look for you, I will not pursue you. But if you don’t, I will look for you, I will find you, and I will kill you.
– Bryan Mills
Let’s face it, if the above quote doesn’t appeal to you then you probably aren’t the audience for this action flick.
It's a little like that. Okay, it's a lot like that.
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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: action, films, liam neeson, Movie, non-review review, paris, racism, review, taken | 6 Comments »
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