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168. Little Women – This Just In (#—)

Posted on February 5, 2020 by Darren

Hosted by Andrew Quinn and Darren Mooney, and this week with guests Charlene Lydon, Rioghnach Ní Ghrioghair and Aoife Barry, The 250 is a fortnightly trip through some of the best (and worst) movies ever made, as voted for by Internet Movie Database Users.

This time, Greta Gerwig’s Little Women.

Receiving an urgent telegram summoning her home, Jo March reflects on the life that she has lived. As memories come flooding back, Jo contemplates friendship and family against the backdrop of her New Hampshire upbringing.

At time of recording, it was not ranked on the list of the best movies of all time on the Internet Movie Database.

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Filed under: This Just In | Tagged: aoife barry, best picture, charlene lydon, film, Greta Gerwig, little women, Movie, oscar, Rioghnach Ní Ghrioghair, saoirse ronan | Leave a comment »

Watch! Tribute to 50 Years of Bond…

Posted on February 27, 2013 by Darren

It’s no secret that I am a massive James Bond fan. After all, Skyfall was one of my favourite movies of 2012. So when I found this tribute to fifty years of the secret agent – set to Adele’s wonderful Oscar-winning theme song – I had to share it. Check it out below and let me know what you think. Enjoy!

Filed under: Movies | Tagged: Academy Award, Adele, Halle Berry, james bond, James Bond in film, oscar, Shirley Bassey, Skyfall | 3 Comments »

12 Movie Moments of 2012: September (Intouchables)

Posted on December 21, 2012 by Darren

As well as counting down the top twelve films, I’m also going to count down my top twelve movie related “moments” of 2012. The term “moment” is elastic, so expect some crazy nonsense here. And, as usual, I accept that my taste is completely absurd, so I fully expect you to disagree. With that in mind, this is #11…

Apparently there was a great deal of upset when Intouchables was chosen ahead of Rust and Bone as France’s Oscar nominee this year. While I’d argue that any film that restricts nominations to one-per-country is a little bit daft (even if I can understand the practical concerns), I can’t help but feel like France made the right choice here. The Intouchables is a superb piece of feel-good cinema that works much better than one might expect. Even my inner cynic was convinced. And I was convinced, conveniently enough, by the opening sequence, which features a joy ride to the sound of September by Earth, Wind and Fire.

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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: Academy Award, arts, Bone, Driss, Earth Wind & Fire, france, Intouchables, Ludovico Einaudi, Movies, oscar, paris, Philippe, Rust | 2 Comments »

International On-Line Film Critics’ Poll Nominees Announced…

Posted on December 3, 2012 by Darren

The nominees for the 2012 International On-Line Film Critics’ Poll 2012 have been announced. Open to all films released in the United States between November 2011 and November 2012, it allows for a slightly different playing field than the Oscars typically does. It also means that I am (as a non-American) far more likely to have seen all the nominees, with only Lincoln yet to see among the Best Picture nominees. Anyway, I will be sending in my ballot soon enough, but take a gander at the full list of nominees below. It’s a strong list, to be sure.

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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: Academy Award, Academy Award for Best Actor, Academy Award for Best Picture, Academy Award for Best Writing (Adapted Screenplay), Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, arts, awards, ben affleck, Daniel Day-Lewis, Dark Knight Rises, Lincoln, Movies, oscar, Paul Thomas Anderson, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Tree of Life, United States, Visual effects | Leave a comment »

A Little Gold Man, Far Away: Oscar Season as a Spectator Sport…

Posted on September 26, 2012 by Darren

In case you hadn’t realised, Oscar season is in full swing. We’ve already had the Toronto International Film Festival. There’s already a front-runner in the form of The Master. The seemingly obligatory voting controversy has already been reported upon. Newspapers and on-line film websites are already launching their coverage of a race that won’t be over for another five months, despite the fact that many would argue the race probably already has a winner. And that discounts those websites already set up specifically for the race, which are (understandably) kicking into overdrive.

And I… find myself having difficulty mustering too much enthusiasm about it.

The show goes on…

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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: Academy Award, Academy Award for Best Picture, arts, Film Festivals, Joaquin Phoenix, John Hawkes, Martha Marcy May Marlene, Master, Movies, oscar, Oscar season, Scientology, toronto international film festival, United States | 9 Comments »

“Must Do Better”: Dramatic Talents & Wasted Potential…

Posted on March 13, 2012 by Darren

There’s something very sad about Eddie Murphy. His latest movie, A Thousand Words, opened last Friday in the States with an almost impressive 0% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. That means that there wasn’t a single reviewer who though that the movie was even “okay”, let alone “good” or “great.” It’s are to find a film that can generate such a consensus, although I don’t think anybody was especially astounded that Eddie Murphy headlined a comedy that was frustrating and disappointing. Of course, he has undoubtedly made a lot of money, and has decided that this is what he wants to do, but there’s something very frustrating about actors like Eddie Murphy, who have demonstrated uncanny ability, but seem willing to settle for generic film after generic film.

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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: adam sandler, animation, arts, Beverly Hills Cop, brad pitt, Dave, eddiemurphy, Friday, hollywood, Jack McCall, jim carrey, Meet Dave, Movies, Murphy, oscar, reviews, rotten tomatoes | 4 Comments »

John Carter is Marred: Thoughts on Big-Budget Schadenfreude & Film Media Hypocrisy…

Posted on March 5, 2012 by Darren

Everybody is talking about Disney’s John Carter. And not in a good way. It seems that everybody is talking about the project’s huge budget and poor marketing, with many news outlets taking an obscene amount of pleasure in declaring Andrew Stanton’s live action project dead on arrival. Some have even started making comparisons to Waterworld, another science-fiction epic with a huge budget that failed to find an audience. In the interest of honesty, I haven’t seen the film yet; I am cautiously optimistic, but I can’t help but worry about the film. Still, I can’t help but feel like this is an example of an hypocritical “damned if do, damned if you don’t” logic from film writers and journalists all over the web, who seem to be salivating at the prospect of a huge studio being humbled by a blockbuster that might mess up the landing. The irony being that these are probably the same people who frequently deride the “safe” and “obvious” choices for blockbuster films, bemoaning the fact that directors like Guillermo Del Toro aren’t given the budget to make the films they want to make.

Does anybody "get" Carter?

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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: Andrew Stanton, disney, Edgar Rice Burroughs, guillermo del toro, hollywood, John Carter, oscar, Princess of Mars, Tars Tarkas, Taylor Kitsch, The Walt Disney Company, willem dafoe | 6 Comments »

Is It Just Me Or Does The Artist Backlash Seem a Little Half-Hearted?

Posted on February 7, 2012 by Darren

The annual Oscar race is a process so predictable that it could be a movie formula all of its own. You have your initial race to nominations, with various films falling at certain hurdles, leaving you with a fairly well-spaced field. You have the frontrunner surging ahead, but a dark horse waiting in the wings. And, every year, you have a very eager publicity industry ready to launch a very vehement attack on that frontrunner simply because it has the tenacity of pulling ahead. This year is no different, and The Artist seems to be seeing its share of controversies. However, these seem to be unfolding simply because it’s expected at this point in the race. I can’t help but feel like any of the attacks on The Artist are anything more than half-hearted.

Barking up the wrong tree?

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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: Academy Award, Academy Award for Best Picture, arts, avatar, backlash, Dujardin, film, france, Jean Dujardin, Michel Hazanavicius, Movies, oscar, oscars backlash, paris, poster, slumdog millionaire, Sports, the artist backlash, Woody Allen | 6 Comments »

Academy Awards 2012: The Insiders’ Oscars…

Posted on January 25, 2012 by Darren

That was… underwhelming. I mean, I think I’m relatively happy with most of the nominees, and there’s very little I can vehemently object to as completely unworthy in yesterday’s Oscar nominations, but still… Yesterday’s Oscar nominations felt decidedly insular, as if the Academy had taken a complete U-turn on any of the amendments that had recently been made in an attempt to broaden the Academy’s horizons. The Oscars have always been a party thrown by the movie industry to celebrate themselves, but this year’s nominations feel increasingly isolated, with nominations and lists populated with the safest and most predictable choices. This is the first year in quite some time that there hasn’t been anything as pleasantly refreshing as the Best Picture nomination for District 9 or Toy Story 3.

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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: Academy Award, Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close, gary oldman, Melissa McCarthy, meryl streep, oscar, Rooney Mara, viola davis | 5 Comments »

My Best of 2011: Black Swan & The Elevation of Schlock…

Posted on December 26, 2011 by Darren

It’s that time of the year. To celebrate 2011, and the countdown to 2012, I’m going to count down my own twelve favourite films of the year, one a day until New Year’s Eve. I’m also going to talk a bit about how or why I chose them, and perhaps what makes this list “my” best of 2011, rather than any list claiming to be objective.

Black Swan is number six. Check out my original review here.

It’s interesting, how one can end up loving the same films, for very different reasons. I suspect that a great many critics and commentators lavish praise on Darren Aronofsky’s Black Swan for its elegance and sophistication, which I appreciate and admire. There’s a lot to love about the film. However, my own appreciation of the movie seems to be for a very different reason. I think that what makes Black Swan so utterly compelling is the fact that it’s essentially a classic horror movie elevated to the status of fine art.