reconstruction | the m0vie blog

264. Star Wars: Episode VIII – The Last Jedi (#—)

Posted on December 11, 2021 by Darren

Hosted by Andrew Quinn and Darren Mooney, this week joined by special guests Luke Dunne, Alex Towers, Alexandra Harvey and Andy Melhuish, The 250 is a (mostly) weekly trip through some of the best (and worst) movies ever made, as voted for by Internet Movie Database Users. New episodes are released every second Saturday at 6pm GMT, with the occasional bonus episode between them.

This time, Rian Johnson’s Star Wars: Episode VIII – The Last Jedi.

A long time ago in a galaxy far away, the First Order and the Resistance struggle for control of the cosmos. Things are looking particularly grim, as the heroes find themselves divided; Rey is on a mission to recruit the lost Jedi master Luke Skywalker, Poe finds himself trying to hold the remnants of the fleet together, and Finn embarks on a journey to a wretched hive of scum and villainy.

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: The 250 | Tagged: backlash, broomboy, CinemaScore, controversial, deconstruction, dj, fandom, fascism, finn, george lucas, hatred, Luke Skywalker, Misogyny, Online, podcast, Poe, reconstruction, rey, Rian Johnson, star wars, star wars: the last jedi, The 250, the last jedi, twitter | Leave a comment »

226. Zack Snyder’s Justice League (#86)

Posted on March 22, 2021 by Darren

Hosted by Andrew Quinn and Darren Mooney, and this week with special guest Graham Day, 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, Zack Snyder’s Zack Snyder’s Justice League.

Following the death of Superman, Batman sets about putting together a team of superheroes to fight a threat that is charging at Earth from across the cosmos.

At time of recording, it was ranked the 86th best movie of all time on the Internet Movie Database.

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Filed under: This Just In | Tagged: aquaman, art, batman, brutality, comic books, Content, Cyborg, darkseid, deconstruction, directors cut, fascism, frank miller, Freud, graham day, joss whedon, justice league, martin scorsese, masculinity, mother boxes, ray fisher, reconstruction, superman, symbolism, The 250, the flash, unity, violence, wonder woman, zack snyder | Leave a comment »

New Escapist Column! On “Zack Snyder’s Justice League” as a Superheroic Reconstruction….

Posted on March 20, 2021 by Darren

I published a new In the Frame piece at The Escapist this evening. With the release of Zack Snyder’s Justice League, it seemed like a good time to talk about the film.

In particular, it’s interesting to look at Zack Snyder’s three films as a set, and to chart the journey through deconstruction from Man of Steel through Batman v. Superman and into the final reconstruction. Zack Snyder’s Justice League is essentially a reconstruction of these iconic characters and a celebration of the potential of these comic book characters.

You can read the piece here, or click the picture below.

Filed under: On Second Thought | Tagged: deconstruction, escapist magazine, justice league, man of steel, reconstruction, the escapist, zack snyder | 1 Comment »

Non-Review Review: Free State of Jones

Posted on September 24, 2016 by Darren

Free State of Jones does a decent job approximating the feel of a prestige picture.

Free State of Jones feels almost like writer and director Gary Ross is running through a checklist of all the elements expected from a successful prestige picture. It deals with heavy subject matter, unfolding primarily during the Civil War and touching upon Reconstruction. It is paced indulgently, never rising to more the a sitting trot. It is anchored in performance by a critically-acclaimed Oscar-winning actor who dominates the film. Its cinematography is uncomplicated and stately. It is laboured with a framing device that offers the illusion of depth.

When the dust settles…

Free State of Jones plays as an imitation of a much bolder and provocative film. There are points at which the film brushes up against potentially brilliant ideas, only to back away. For a film about slavery, Free State of Jones finds itself unable to look beyond its white leading character. The framing and scene composition is clearly intended to seem dignified, but instead feels lifeless. The film’s perspective is limited, in both a literal and figurative sense. There are a lot of interesting ideas inside Free State of Jones, but none of them are allowed to grow.

There is a heavy earnestness to Free State of Jones, but it suffocates the story.

Riding shotgun on secession.

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: Civil War, film, free state of jones, Movie, newton knight, non-review review, reconstruction, review | 2 Comments »

Absolute Identity Crisis (Review/Retrospective)

Posted on January 11, 2012 by Darren

This January, I’m going to take a look at some of DC’s biggest “events.” This week I’ll be taking a look at Brad Meltzer’s impact on the DC universe.

Identity Crisis is the first in the trilogy of stories that built off the original Crisis on Infinite Earths to offer a fairly significant reevaluation of the modern DC universe, examining where the characters and the fictional landscape was as compared to where it had been decades before. I’ve argued that Marvel went through a similar period of introspection from House of M through to Siege, but DC seemed to engage with the concept on a more direct level. Written by best-selling novelist Brad Meltzer, Identity Crisis is an attempt to explore the rather fundamental changes that occurred in superhero comics during the nineties, often as a direct response to The Dark Knight Returns or Watchmen, giving us a more cynical depiction of the concepts and characters that we take for granted. It’s controversial – as any similar reimagining would be – and, to be frank, it’s a bit of a mixed bag.

However, it’s always fascinating, even if it is grimly so.

Time to hang it up?

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Filed under: Comics | Tagged: Absolute Identity Crisis, batman, Brad Meltzer, comic book, crisis on infinite earths, dark knight returns, dc comics, dc universe, deconstruction, exploitation, flash, Identity Crisis (comics), mark bagley, ralph dibny, reconstruction, retcon, secret identity, sexism in comic books, sue dibny, ultimate spider man | 5 Comments »

Building a Better Batman: Is The Dark Knight a Deconstruction or a Reconstruction?

Posted on July 14, 2010 by Darren

This article is part of the really wonderful Christopher Nolan Blogathon, which is being run by Bryce over at Things That Don’t Suck. It’s a week of Nolan-related madness in the run-up to the release of Inception this weekend. Pop on over you daily fix.

Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4

Christopher Nolan’s new film Inception is being released this week, and I’m pretty excited, I’m not going to lie to you. Anyway, I figured that the release of Nolan’s latest summer blockbuster justified a retrospective look back at his earlier summer success story, the rather wonderful The Dark Knight. In particular whether, whether the film, which stands as perhaps the most defining example of the superhero in cinema. However, is it a successful deconstruction of the genre, or an attempted reconstruction of the superhero on film?

Nolan certainly took Batman under his wing...

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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: batman, batman begins, Christopher Nolan, deconstruction, film, gotham, Movies, reconstruction, The Dark Knight, things that don't suck | 21 Comments »

The Twilight of the Superheroes?

Posted on March 10, 2010 by Darren

We’re a bit late to the party, but this week we’ll be celebrating the 75th anniversary of DC Comics, with a look at the medium, the company and the characters in a selection of bonus features running Monday through Friday. This is one of those articles. Be sure to join us for the rest.

Earlier in the week, I wondered if the dominance of the comic book medium by superheroes was affecting the general perception of the relatively young medium. Is the time of the superhero long gone?