Posted on September 9, 2010 by Darren
Funny People is the very definition of “self-indulgent”. It’s a series of comedians from both the big leagues – movie stars – and the smaller circles – the improv stand-up circuit – reflecting on how difficult life is for an entertainer. Be it the generalisation that showbiz types are all cynical and disconnected to the point of being anhedonic, or the observation that fame and success typically come with a high personal cost. Of course, coming from director Judd Atapow – who carved out his earlier career with comedies centred on everyman (okay, maybe “slacker”) types like Knocked-Up or The Forty-Year-Old Virgin – a film about the types of circles that he moved in was a risky venture, one which would definitely represent a move away from the “common man” appeal of his earlier films. And at least those films had the gift of brevity.
My girlfriend would like you all to know that apparently I wear shirts like this...
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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: actor, adam sandler, big daddy, comedy, eric bana, funny people, George Simmons, happy gilmore, judd atapow, non-review review, review, seth rogan, the 40-year-old virgin, the forty-year-old virgin | 6 Comments »
Posted on September 7, 2010 by Darren
Mister Morel, I watched Taken, I knew Taken, Taken was a film of mine. Mister Morel, this is no Taken.
No can do, apparently...
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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: action, arts, bond, from paris with love, From Russia With Love, john travolta, jonathan rhys-myers, luc besson, monty python, Movies, non-review review, paris, pierre mortel, review, Roger Moore, sean connery, spies | 4 Comments »
Posted on September 6, 2010 by Darren
Are you manly? I mean really manly? In a way, Executive Decision is kinda what I was hoping for when I heard about The Expendables. It’s not an excellent movie, or even an exceptional one – in fact, it can be cynically described as “Die Hard on a plane” – but it’s a perfectly serviceable action movie that gets bonus points for never trying to be anything more than what it is. There’s not tangential romantic plot or half-hearted attempts at characterisation: the movie is all business. And that business is attempting to give its audience testosterone poisoning.
Not quite plane sailing ahead...
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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: action, Andreas Katsulas, animation, Armand Assante, arts, B.D. Wong, die hard, Executive Decision, films, Halle Berry, J.T. Walsh, Joe Morton, john leguizamo, Kurt Russell, Middle East, Movie, Movies, non-review review, oceanic, oceanic airlines, oliver platt, president, review, reviews, steven segal, tom clancy | 2 Comments »
Posted on September 3, 2010 by Darren
Jurassic Park is one of the “big” blockbusters which defined the nineties. It’s easily recognisable and has thoroughly entrenched itself deep in popular culture – along with Independence Day or Terminator 2. Also, like the two aforementioned films, it’s actually quite good. Of course, coming from director Stephen Spielberg, the man who invented blockbuster cinema with Jaws, can’t hurt.
I call him "Rex"...
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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: arts, dinosaurs, film, films, Ian Malcolm, Independence Day, jeff goldblum, jurassic park, jurassicpark, laura dern, michael crichton, Movies, non-review review, review, richard attenborough, sam neill, samuel l. jackson, Special effect, stephen spielberg, wayne knight | 7 Comments »
Posted on September 2, 2010 by Darren
I love The Player. I really do. When I was in college, I used to organise movie screenings – we’d show The Player once a year and it would always pack out. It was just one of those films that everybody had heard nothing but good things about, but never got a chance to see. Indeed, I would go so far as to say The Player, with all its wacky fourth-wall meta-ness, is my favourite Robert Altman film.
Who would want to kill this producer? Answers on the back of a postcard...
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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: cameos, celebrities, classic, classics, executives, film making, fred ward, hollywood, long shots, movie-making, Movies, murder, non-review review, references, review, robert altman, studios, the player, tim robbins | 3 Comments »
Posted on September 1, 2010 by Darren
Geoff Johns is pretty much on top of the world. He’s a renowned comic book writer, who has got to work on all his favourite childhood properties – in many cases making them as popular as they’ve been in decades. He’s in charge of DC’s multimedia approach – he’s the guy in charge of the movies and television shows based around the iconic properties. Without his work on the character, next year’s Green Lantern movie wouldn’t be happening. And yet he had to begin somewhere. Although it doesn’t represent his earliest work in comics by a long stretch, in 2000 he took over as writer on The Flash. Despite a string of solid work behind him – and a really successful run for Mark Waid on the title – it was this creative pairing which would arguably propel both writer and character into the spotlight like never before. A decade later, Johns has returned to the book which made him famous, so I think it’s time to begin a trip down memory lane.
Wally's going to have to think fast...
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Filed under: Comics | Tagged: birth right, blood will run, captain cold, comic books, Comics, dc, dc comics, geoff johns, iron heights, review, the fastest man alive, the flash, the rogues, wally west, wonderland | Leave a comment »
Posted on August 31, 2010 by Darren
The Siege has the benefit of becoming a lot more relevent in the past couple of years. Exploring the aftermath of a series of terrorist atrocities on New York City by Islamic extremists, the film isn’t exact a subtle exploration of the relationship between liberty and security – instead preferring to offer two-dimensional strawmen instead of characters or legitimate viewpoints. Still, despite its heavy-handedness, it does have some interesting insights into the world after it has been shaken to its core.
Washington under Siege...
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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: america, annette benning, bruce willis, denzel washington, extremism, film, islam extremism, Movie, non-review review, politics, review, september 11th, subtext, terrorism, the siege | Leave a comment »
Posted on August 30, 2010 by Darren
On one level, Forrest Gump is just too sacchrine for me. Really, I feel like a need a filling after joining the eponymous character on a whirlwind tour of modern American history (or what could really be described as “America’s greatest hits”). That said, there’s a certain charm to the movie that belies this incredible sweetness (which itself stands in sharp contrast to the cynicism of the novel upon which it will be based). And most of that charm is Tom Hanks.
Plus it doesn’t hurt that the movie has an amazing soundtrack.
Forrest was quite popular in the nineties...
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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: 1994, film, forrest gump, gary sinese, Movies, non-review review, review, robert zemeckis, tom hanks | 7 Comments »
Posted on August 27, 2010 by Darren
Koyaanisqatsi is a word that comes from the language of the Hopi. It’s handily translated at the end of the film, with one of the meanings lending the film its unofficial subtitle: “life out of balance”. Brought to the screen by director Godfrey Reggio and composer Philip Glass (not that you’d know it from the film’s sparse opening credits which simply identify the film as “a Francis Ford Coppola production”), it’s safe to say that Koyaanisqatsi is one of a kind. Or, given the two sequels, one of three of a kind, but that’s still quite impressive.
Let there be light...
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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: cinema, documentary, film, films, godfrey reggio, hopi, Koyaanisqatsi, life out balance, Movies, non-review review, philip glass, prohecy, pruit igoe, review | 3 Comments »
Posted on August 26, 2010 by Darren
It’s very difficult to offer a movie that takes a cynical “Hollywood type” back to their roots. There are many reasons. The most obvious is that the type of person making the movie is a cynical Hollywood type and there’s something of an irony about making a film about the roots they’ve lost contact with – oftentimes it is more difficult to offer a grounded version of reality than it is to depict an alien invasion or a thoroughly ridiculous premise. Grown Ups is the second film this year which sees Adam Sandler playing a character attempting to reconnect with the common man – perhaps a timely theme in light of the recession, when the glitz and glamour of Hollywood stand in even starker contrast to the day-to-day lives of regular folks. However, if I didn’t know better, I’d think Sandler (whose production company produced the film and who co-wrote the script) is having something of a midlife crisis.
Not exactly a deep pool of talent...
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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: adam sandler, big daddy, Chris Rock, comedy, David Spade, films, grown ups, happy madison, hicks, hollywood, kevin james, Movies, non-review review, review, Rob Schneider, roots, salma hayek, steve buscemi | 4 Comments »
