non-review review | the m0vie blog

Non-Review Review: The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (2011)

Posted on December 17, 2011 by Darren

I will confess that I’m not a huge fan of the original Swedish adaptation of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. It was just too bleak, with every male character existing as some form of sexual predator, shot against a drab grey backdrop and with nothing but unrelenting cynicism to propel it. I don’t want to describe David Fincher’s version as “softer” – there are still any number of scenes that will have viewers squirming in their seats – so perhaps “smoother” or “rounded” represents a better choice of adjective. While there are still some pacing issues in the last third, Fincher succeeds in adapting the best-selling book in a fashion that makes it just as fascinating as it is grim.

Opening a cold case...

Continue reading →

Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: david fincher, Fincher, Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, Immigrant Song, Larsson, michael mann, Mikael Blomkvist, non-review review, review, Rooney Mara, Stieg Larsson, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (2011 film), The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (film) | 6 Comments »

Non-Review Review: Mission Impossible – Ghost Protocol

Posted on December 15, 2011 by Darren

Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol reminds me – and, I feel the need to specify this, in a good way – of one of the Bond films from before Casino Royale made them all grittier and edgier. No disrespect to that fantastic film, but the relatively serious remodelling of Britain’s most famous secret agent left a bit of a gap in the market for an espionage thriller that doesn’t take itself too seriously. And while Ghost Protocol takes a great deal of pride in doing what it sets out to do with a great deal of skill, it certainly never takes itself too seriously. And that proves to be a very good thing, indeed.

Keeping me on edge...

Continue reading →

Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: Brad Bird, casino royale, film, Ghost Protocol, imax, Michael Nyqvist, Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol, Movie, non-review review, pierce brosnan, review, Simon Pegg | 8 Comments »

Non-Review Review: The Help

Posted on December 12, 2011 by Darren

The Help is a well made film with a solid script, decent direction, and some very good performances from a superb ensemble. It’s hard not to get swept up in the drama as it unfolds, as the movie takes a harsh look at some of the prejudice festering in Mississippi during the sixties, where the phrase “hippie!”was an accusation that could destroy anyone’s social standing, it was not appropriate to fraternise with the help, and even raising the suggestion of racial equality was to open one’s self to prosecution for breaking the law. It’s powerful stuff. I was moved by it, particularly by the wonderful work put in by the cast. And, yet, I couldn’t help but feel that there was something very cynical unfolding before my eyes. The Help is a movie that seems built to fill a particular void, carefully measured and constructed to keep its audience well within their comfort zones, and a movie that feels like it might be sacrificing some of its depth for fear of actually challenging its audience.

Fraternising with the help...

Continue reading →

Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: Africa, African American, Allison Janney, Bryce Dallas Howard, Emma Stone, Help, Hilly, Jessica Chastain, Minny, Mississippi, non-review review, Octavia Spencer, review, Sissy Spacek, The Help, The Help (book), the Help (film), United States, viola davis | 2 Comments »

Non-Review Review: Alien

Posted on December 9, 2011 by Darren

I had the pleasure of attending of the Jameson Cult Film Club’s screening of Ridley Scott’s 1979 Alien. It was a great evening for all concerned, and it was great to see a classic film like that projected on a huge screen, blasted out of a superb sound system. The screening seemed to coincide with the build-up to the release of next year’s Prometheus, a sci-fi thriller from Ridley Scott with “strands of Alien DNA”, but Scott’s film is one of those rare pieces of cinema that continues to give, even thirty years after the original release. It’s rare to point to a film that seems to offer new nuance and depth on each viewing, especially within the horror genre. Alien is a movie that’s absolutely fascinating in its complexity.

A bad egg…

Continue reading →

Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: 1979, alien, alien (1979), Alien (film), Dan O'Bannon, Duellists, feminism, film, Fox, HR Giger, james cameron, Movie, non-review review, Prometheus, review, ridley scott, Scott, sexual violence, sexuality, Stan Winston, The Duellists, xenomorph | 4 Comments »

Non-Review Review: Shrek

Posted on December 8, 2011 by Darren

I caught Shrek again at the weekend, and I’m surprised how well it still holds up. Of course, part of my concern was that the sequels might have somehow retroactively impacted on my opinion of the original film, but I’m always a little hesitant to return to films I greatly enjoyed when I was younger – afraid that they might have been superseded by movies I’ve seen in the years since, or perhaps victim to slightly changing tastes. To be honest, it help up very well, and I was genuinely reminded of why I enjoyed it so much over a decade ago.

A fairy tale romance?

Continue reading →

Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: animation, disney, dreamworks, Fairy tale, film, Movie, non-review review, review, shrek, shrek (2000) | 4 Comments »

Non-Review Review: Alvin & The Chipmunks – Chipwrecked

Posted on December 5, 2011 by Darren

I know it’s not exactly fair to blame Alvin & The Chipmunks, but I feel a bit spoilt by modern family entertainment. It’s easy to point to Pixar’s work, but I’m talking about the general standard of the output from Dreamworks and others like Despicable Me. However, Alvin & The Chipmunks: Chipwrecked feels like what might have passed for children’s entertainment ten years ago, when it seemed like Disney was the only major American studio capable of producing consistently high-quality entertainment. Alvin and his friends feel out of place in a movie that might have been passable over a decade ago. It doesn’t help that the movie mistakes pop culture references and Lady Gaga songs for relevance.

All at sea?

Continue reading →

Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: alvin, alvin & the chipmunks, alvin & the chipmunks: chipwrecked, alvin and the chipmunks, alvin and the chipmunks: chipwrecked, chipmunks, chipwrecked, non-review review, review | 1 Comment »

Non-Review Review: The Resident

Posted on December 2, 2011 by Darren

While I was watching The Resident, I couldn’t help but think of Pacific Heights. Maybe it was the fact that I had just watched Jackie Brown and Michael Keaton was fresh in my head, but I really couldn’t get the comparison out of my head. Both movies have a rather fascinating central premise, and a fertile ground for horror – the notion that we know next-to-nothing about the people we finding ourselves living with – but both also fail to follow through on some truly great potential. There are moments when The Resident seems to be working, but they’re all too briefly brushed aside in a movie that doesn’t seem willing to build or develop its unsettling undertones.

This relationship is suffocating her...

Continue reading →

Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: Christopher Lee, film, hammer horror, hilary swank, Horror film, Jackie Brown, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, michael keaton, Movie, non-review review, Pacific Heights, Resident, review | Leave a comment »

Non-Review Review: Puss in Boots

Posted on November 30, 2011 by Darren

Puss in Boots is a fun film. It’s a very fun family film that works because it never takes itself too serious. Breaking free of the increasingly irrelevant Shrek films, which devolved into exactly the type of feel-good fairy tale stories they originally savagely lampooned, Puss in Boots benefits from the freedom to define its own identity. Of course, it retains the trappings (after all, Puss inhabits a world with Jack and Jill and Humpty Dumpty and Little Boy Blue), but it doesn’t carry the same level of baggage that its parent series does. It’s not a vicious parody of Disney values, and in fact feels remarkably straight-forward. However, the simplicity of its approach is remarkably endearing, and means it’s easy to sit back and enjoy the ride. Puss in Boots is solidly entertaining family fair, arriving perfectly in time for the holidays.

Here, kitty kitty kitty...

Continue reading →

Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: Antonio Banderas, billy bob thornton, film, Humpty Dumpty, Jack & Jill, Lady Gaga, Movie, non-review review, Puss, Puss in Boots, review, salma hayek, San Ricardo Southern Leyte, shrek, Zach Galifianakis | 2 Comments »

Non-Review Review: Three Colours White

Posted on November 30, 2011 by Darren

This week we’re taking a look at Krzysztof Kieślowski’s celebrated “Three Colours” Trilogy. We’ll be publishing reviews on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, so check back and sound off.

There’s a general critical consensus that Three Colours White represents the weakest instalment in Krzysztof Kieślowski’s Three Colours Trilogy. I have to admit, it’s not a position that I disagree with. It’s not a bad film by any stretch (it’s quite a good one), but it never reaches quite the same levels of depth and development that the two films bookending the trilogy attain so easily. When I was younger, I could never quite put my finger on why that might be, but – as I got older – I think I might have figured out why this instalment leaves me cold.

It's all down-hill from here...

Continue reading →

Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: Brigitte Bardot, films, french cinema, Julie Delpy, Karol, Krzysztof Kieślowski, Movies, non-review review, Peter Bradshaw, Poland, review, The Three Colors Trilogy, Three Colors: White, Three Colours White, Trois Couluers Blanc, Zbigniew Zamachowski | Leave a comment »

Non-Review Review: Three Colours Blue

Posted on November 29, 2011 by Darren

This week we’re taking a look at Krzysztof Kieślowski’s celebrated “Three Colours” Trilogy. We’ll be publishing reviews on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, so check back and sound off.

Krzysztof Kieślowski’s Three Colours Trilogy is generally regarded as one of the landmarks of European cinema, one of the great cinematic accomplishments of the past few decades. I find it hard to disagree. A cynical and bittersweet (and, occasionally, just bitter) look at the ideals of the French Revolution (liberty, equality and fraternity) filtered through the three colours of the French flag, Kieślowski’s three films are powerful studies of human nature, exploring the way that we react and interact in this strange and surreal world that we share with everybody else.