Posted on September 19, 2009 by Darren
Romantic comedies generally suck. They’re predictable and formulaic. They don’t reflect the reality of relationships. They involved hackney cliché and coincidence. They never actually deal with any of the hurdles that real couples do. Sure, every once in a while there’s an exception like Chasing Amy or As Good As It Gets, but for the most part, I can’t stand the trite conventionalism of the romantic comedy genre. So, last night – as payback for dragging my girlfriend to District 9 – we saw (500) Days of Summer. Now I’m going to use four words I never saw myself using together in this combination: an innovative romantic comedy.
After the boys of Summer are gone...
Continue reading →
Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: (500) Days of Summer, film, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, marc webb, Movie, non-review review, review, romance, romantic comedy, the summer effect, zooey dreschanel | 2 Comments »
Posted on September 19, 2009 by Darren
Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale. It’s a match made in nerdy comic book heaven. Of course, the duo made their name by working together on The Long Halloween and its direct follow-up Dark Victory and have both had a huge influence on the two Nolan Batman films, but before they completed that grand sweeping arc that tied together the early years of the Caped Crusader’s career, they first teamed up on three Halloween Specials through the mid-1990s. Why is it that Halloween Specials are so much better than Christmas Specials? Think about it, you have The Simpsons’ Halloween Special in one corner and the infamous Star Wars Holiday Special in the other. Still, that’s a discussion for another day.
Because you wouldn't read a Batman Christmas Special...
Continue reading →
Filed under: Comics | Tagged: anthology, batman, batman begins, batman: dark victory, batman: haunted knight, batman: the long halloween, Christopher Nolan, comic, comic books, dark victory, graphic novel, halloween, halloween special, haunted knight, jeph loeb, mad hatter, review, scarecrow, stories, The Dark Knight, The Long Halloween, the mad hatter, the scarecrow, tim sale | Leave a comment »
Posted on September 18, 2009 by Darren
I caught Burn After Reading last night and sat down with my aunt and uncle to watch it. Sure enough, it was as divisive among us as it was among everyone else – my aunt hated it, my uncle enjoyed it and I loved it. My aunt claimed nothing happened and the cast was full of over-actors, my uncle was relatively satisfied with his viewing experience and I was delighted to see the funnest Coen Brothers film since The Big Lebowski.
Artist's interpretation of Darren enjoying this film. Note: Hunkiness may be exaggerated.
Continue reading →
Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: brad pitt, burn after reading, cia, coen brothers, comedy, ethan coen, film, frances mcdormand, george clooney, intelligence, joel coen, john malkovich, Movies, no country for old men, non-review review, review, the coen brothers | 1 Comment »
Posted on September 17, 2009 by Darren
21 is a solid middle-of-the-road coming-of-age tale. It isn’t something as deep or insightful as Good Will Hunting or The Dead Poets Society, but it doesn’t aspire to be. It sets its ambitions relatively averagely: it wants to entertain and amuse rather than stimulate or provoke. Does it succeed at these somewhat modest ambitions? Somewhat.
"You know what I'm capable of... You seen se7en, right? 21 is three times se7en. You do the math."
Continue reading →
Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: 21, blackjack, casino, counting cards, film, hollywood history, kate bosworth, kevin spacey, las vega, laurence fishburne, MIT, Movie, non-review review, review, true story, vegas | Leave a comment »
Posted on September 14, 2009 by Darren
Hmm… Understandably quite a controversial comic (Alan Moore himself reportedly has very little time for it), The Killing Joke remains the most definitive comic to examine the dynamic between the Caped Crusader and his polar opposite. It also reveals a bit of twisted logic to the character, providing an almost logical motivation for his countless heinous actions. It also features some of the best artwork that you are liable to see on a Batman comic.
The Joker didn't get he was meant to bleach his HAIR...
Continue reading →
Filed under: Comics | Tagged: alan moore, barbara gordon, batman, brian bolland, comic book, comic books, Comics, dc comics, deluxe edition, feminism in comics, graphic novel, joker, oneshot, review, The Dark Knight, the joker, the killing joke, the killing joke: deluxe edition, women in refrigerators | 4 Comments »
Posted on September 14, 2009 by Darren
I love it when the movie channels have an unexpected treat for me. Like coming home from work on Saturday and finding Star Trek: First Contact playing in high definition on Sky movies. Also known as “the only good Next Generation movie”, the film stands the test of time well and is – thus far – the only movie in the franchise that all my family can agree on. It is awesome.
"You're all astronauts... on some kind of... Star Trek?"
Continue reading →
Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: borg, enterprise, first contact, james cromwell, jean-luc picard, jonathon frakes, non-review review, patrick stewart, review, science fiction, star trek, star trek: first contact, star trek: the next generation, the borg, the next generation | 2 Comments »
Posted on September 14, 2009 by Darren
Well, the only way to go from The DaVince Code was up, right? Good, because this doesn’t go too far up, lest you get all excited. It’s a fairly run-of-the-mill chase movie without any charm or wit or intelligence (and severely lacking in logic, one might add). It commits the cardinal sin (he he, cardinal… geddit?) of thinking that it is far smarter than it actually is, and it never manages to be particularly exciting or engaging. Still, Ron Howard can’t completely hide his talent amid a jumble of half-baked action sequences and illogical clues.
Try as you may, you can't outrun the inevitable threequel, Hanks!
Continue reading →
Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: angels & demons, angels and demons, dan brown, film, Movie, non-review review, pope, review, robert langdon, rome, ron howard, the church, the davinci code, the vatican, tom hanks | Leave a comment »
Posted on September 11, 2009 by Darren
We happened to catch Panic Room on TV3 last night. It’s interesting to watch in retrospect, considering that David Fincher was between the two high watermarks of his career to date (se7en and Zodiac – we can discuss The Curious Case of Benjamin Button later). It’s interesting to see Fincher play with the thriller genre in a much less radical way than he did with either of the films that sandwich it. What we’re left with might not necessarily be groundbreaking, but it is solidly entertaining.
Hell of a time for Jodie Foster to adapt to texting...
Continue reading →
Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: david fincher, dwight yoakam, film, forest whitaker, jared leto, jodie foster, kristen stewart, Movie, non-review review, panic room, review, thriller | 1 Comment »
Posted on September 10, 2009 by Darren
I thought that monster remake mania wasn’t kicking off until The Wolfman finally gets released? This Oscar Wilde adaptation is an odd beast: one part slow, stately and almost cumbersome exploration of a boy who can never grow up and another part Universal horror movie for the MTV generation. It’s a very strange mix which works in parts and fails in others. I’m fairly sure I’m satisfied with my viewing experience, if not completely won over.
The portrait of the writer as a young man?
Continue reading →
Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: adaptation, ben barnes, colin firth, dorian gray, ealing studios, films, jack the ripper, literature, Movies, no-review review, oliver parker, oscar wilde, rebecca hall, review, the portrait of dorian gray, wilde | Leave a comment »
Posted on September 5, 2009 by Darren
Okay, now we’re into the meaty stuff. After quite a bit of set-up, Johns finally lets loose. Sinestro Corps War is a summer blockbuster in comics form, but it’s a summer blockbuster with ideas and characters that make it rich and fulfilling. Every inch an ‘event’ comic (right down to an arguably unnecessary spin-off), it manages to be perhaps the best event comic book that has been produced in quite some time. Most importantly, it seems to start to tie together a lot of the work that Johns had put into the earlier issues.
Red and yellow together? A confident choice, sir!
Continue reading →
Filed under: Comics | Tagged: comic books, Comics, dc comics, geoff johns, green lantern, review, sinestro, sinestro corps, sinestro corps war, Sinestro Corps War: vol 2, Sinestro Corps War: vol. 1, Sinestro Corps War: Volume 1, Sinestro Corps War: volume 2, Sinestro Corps War:vol 1, Tales of the Sinestro Corps | Leave a comment »
the m0vie blog 