revolution | the m0vie blog

New Escapist Column! On How the Future of Streaming Looks a Lot Like Old-Fashioned Television…

Posted on November 7, 2022 by Darren

I published a new In the Frame piece at The Escapist this evening. With the recent launch of Netflix’s ad-supported tier, it seemed as good a time as any to take a look at the larger trends in contemporary streaming.

Streaming services have moved away from the binge model. They have become more transparent in their ratings. They have begun scheduling the release of particular episodes across various days of the week. They have even begun releasing some episodes in prime time. The plotting on these shows has become a lot more reminiscent of turn of the millennium zeitgeisty mystery box shows than early streaming stories. All of this is to suggest that the future of streaming seems to look a lot like old-fashioned television.

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

Filed under: Television | Tagged: ad-supported, disruption, in the frame, prime time, ratings, revolution, scheduling, streaming, Television, the escapist | Leave a comment »

New Escapist Column! On “Andor” and the Ideology of Late Capitalist Empire…

Posted on October 26, 2022 by Darren

I am doing weekly reviews of Andor at The Escapist. They’ll be dropping every Wednesday evening while the show is on, looking at the Rogue One prequel as it progresses from one episode to the next.

Following on from the bridge episode Announcement, Narkina 5 kicks off what looks to be another three-episode arc for the show. Written by Beau Willimon, the episodes digs deep into one of the recurring fascinations of Andor. The show is fascinated by the ideology of the Empire, but that extends beyond its imperialism and fascism. Indeed, like a lot of the work of showrunner Tony Gilroy, Andor suggests that the evils of this organization are a manifestation of late capitalism, and the way in which that ideology is designed to drive competition rather than collaboration.

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

Filed under: Television | Tagged: andor, capitalism, empire, late capitalism, rebellion, revolution, star wars, the escapist, the prison industrial complex | Leave a comment »

New Escapist Column! On “Andor”, Revolution and Reaction…

Posted on October 20, 2022 by Darren

The first six episodes of Andor comprised two three-episode arcs, which seemed like a logic structure for the show going forward. However, the seventh episode of the season is a mostly standalone episode, one that seems largely dedicated to the fallout from the previous adventure. However, it’s also a showcase of what Andor does well, particular when compared to so much modern franchise media. It is a cleverly written and thoughtful episode that advances the show’s characters and themes in interesting and compelling ways.

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

Filed under: Television | Tagged: andor, escapist, reaction, rebellion, revolution, rogue one, star wars, the escapist | Leave a comment »

New Escapist Column! On Deconstruction of the “Matrix” Sequels…

Posted on December 9, 2021 by Darren

I published a new column at The Escapist yesterday. With the looming release of The Matrix Resurrections, it seemed like a good opportunity to take a look back at The Matrix and its two sequels The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions.

The Matrix is one of the great “Chosen One” narratives of the late nineties, and a film that had a profound cultural impact. Its legacy is surprisingly controversial, and that makes the two sequels to the film particularly interesting. Both Reloaded and Revolutions play as a response to the themes and ideas of The Matrix, picking apart the “Chosen One” narrative and the easy “us vs. them” binary. In contrast, Reloarded and Revolutions explore how that sort of mythmaking is often part of larger systems of oppression.

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

Filed under: On Second Thought | Tagged: chosen one, Keanu Reeves, revolution, the matrix, the matrix reloaded, the matrix resurrections, the matrix revolutions, the wachowski sisters, the wachowskis | Leave a comment »

Non-Review Review: Misbehaviour

Posted on March 13, 2020 by Darren

Misbehaviour is a charming an engaging film that suffers slightly from the lack of a clear focal point.

Philippa Lowthorpe’s historical drama-comedy is set against the backdrop of the 1970 Miss World pageant in London. The event became something of a point of convergence in the cultural wars spilling over from the end of the sixties, a target for the anarchist fringe, the anti-apartheid campaign, and for the nascent women’s liberation movement. At the same time, a quieter revolution was taking place within the event itself. Grenada had sent its first contestant to take part, while South Africa sent a black woman to represent them for the first time.

Misbehaviour features an incredibly stacked cast and diverse array of perspectives, looking at the central event through a variety of radically different prisms. There’s a sense that Misbehaviour wants to offer a genuinely intersectional perspective on the events of that explosive contest, the film’s form resembling its core themes. It helps that Lowthorpe has assembled an increidbly charming cast, and that spending time with just about any member of the ensemble is a worthwhile endeavour of itself.

At the same time, though, the film struggles to balance its large ensemble. There are occasionally too many plates spinning, and too much space between them. By the time that the film has checked in on all the major characters and circled back around, dramatic momentum has been lost and the film has to spend a minute or two regaining its footing. As a result, Misbehaviour never works as well as it might, feeling a little too clumsy and broad. Still, there’s a lot to like about it.

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: feminism, misbehaviour, miss world, miss world 1970, non-review review, review, revolution | Leave a comment »

125. V for Vendetta (#153)

Posted on April 6, 2019 by Darren

Hosted by Andrew Quinn and Darren Mooney, 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 Saturday at 6pm GMT.

This time, James McTeigue’s V for Vendetta.

Accosted by “finger men” for breaking curfew, Evey Hammond is rescued by a mysterious stranger who only introduces himself as “V.” As Evey finds herself drawn deeper into the world of this violent vaudevillian figure and as she discovers more and more of his plot to topple the country’s totalitarian regime, Evey finds herself wonder whether this masked figure is a vigilante or villain.

At time of recording, it was ranked the 153rd best movie of all time on the Internet Movie Database.

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Filed under: The 250 | Tagged: 9/11, alt-right, bush, conspiracy theories, donald trump, film, george w. bush, hugo weaving, Movie, podcast, politics, revolution, Stephen Rea, The 250, the bush white house, the wachowski sisters, the war on terror, trumpism, war on terror, white nationalism | Leave a comment »

Star Trek: Voyager – Body and Soul (Review)

Posted on November 29, 2018 by Darren

Body and Soul is the old science-fiction staple, the body swap episode.

There are any number of iconic examples of the genre, even within the larger Star Trek franchise. Although the original series was populated with duplicates and doppelgängers and surrogates and clones in episodes like The Enemy Within, Mirror, Mirror, Whom Gods Destroy and even What Are Little Girls Made Of?, Turnabout Intruder might be the most straightforward example. Star Trek III: The Search for Spock featured sequences in which McCoy was channelling Spock. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine had all the cast take on the personalities of Dax’s past hosts in Facets.

Insert your cheesecake jokes here.

Often, these sorts of stories exist to showcase the dramatic range of key performers and to offer a little variety to the weekly routine of playing the same character for years and years on end. On Star Trek: The Next Generation, Brent Spiner would occasionally find himself tasked with playing Data’s “brother” Lore or his “father” Noonien Soong in episodes like Datalore, Family, Descent, Part I, Descent, Part II and Inheritance. The cast on Deep Space Nine would play their mirror counterparts in stories like Crossover, Through the Looking Glass and Shattered Mirror.

Even Star Trek: Voyager has done its own body swap and possession narratives before, like with Tuvok in Cathexis or with Paris in Vis à Vis. However, the success of these sorts of episodes largely rests in the execution, in the question of whether it is worth watching a familiar actor playing an unfamiliar role for forty-five minutes. This is a tough challenge, and many episodes falter trying to hit that mark. Body and Soul has a lot of very fundamental issues with it, but it at least has the common sense to ask one of the cast’s best actors to impersonate another of the cast’s best actors.

“Next week is a Kim episode?”

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Filed under: Voyager | Tagged: Body swap, holgorams, jeri ryan, mike sussman, phyllis strong, Pon Farr, revolution, robert picardo, star trek, star trek: voyager, tone, tuvok | 6 Comments »

87. La battaglia di Algeri (The Battle of Algiers) (#–)

Posted on July 7, 2018 by Darren

Hosted by Andrew Quinn and Darren Mooney, and this week with special guest Phil Bagnall, 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 Saturday at 6pm GMT, with the occasional bonus episode thrown in.

This time, Gillo Pontecorvo’s La battaglia di Algeri.

Unfolding primarily between November 1954 and December 1957, La battaglia di Algeri follows the chaos in the streets of Algiers as revolutionary nationalist forces struggle against the control of the French colonial forces.

At time of recording, it was not actually ranked on the Internet Movie Database, having dropped out between its selection as a film to be covered and the recording of the of the episode.

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Filed under: The 250 | Tagged: battle of algiers, documentary, Gillo Pontecorvo, imdb, La battaglia di Algeri, phil bagnall, revolution, The 250 | Leave a comment »

My 12 for ’14: Dawn of the Planet of the Apes and Talkin’ ‘Bout a Revolution…

Posted on December 25, 2014 by Darren

With 2014 coming to a close, we’re counting down our top twelve films of the year. Check back daily for the latest featured film.

The world has always seemed like it was on the cusp of something – like there was a powder keg ready to errupt. The infamous “doomsday clock” has never been further than seventeen minutes from midnight, and – outside of that brief moment of post-Cold War euphoria – mankind has always been living within a quarter-of-an-hour from the end of existence as we know it. Nuclear weapons. Global warming. Biological warfare. Economic collapse. All possible world-enders.

The new millennium has been dominated by the threats of terrorism and of global warming, unconventional opponents that can difficult to engage. However, 2014 brought its own particular brand of uncertainties and discomforts. In February, a revolution in the Ukraine sparked a political crisis in Europe, pushing Russia to loggerheads with Europe and the United States. Since August, Ferguson has been simmering away, the imagery of the protests burnt into the collective unconscious. The Syrian Civil War has faded from the front pages.

The word “revolution” seemed to simmer away in the background, with certain young activists actively travelling to Ferguson in search of their own revolution. Writing in Time magazine, Darlena Cunha compared the trouble in Ferguson to the civil unrest which gave rise to the American Revolution. Demonstrating no shortage of self-importance, actor and comedian Russell Brand published his own manifesto – helpfully titled Revolution – in whish he pledged to lead a global revolution.

“The revolution can not be boring,” Brand advised readers. They seldom are. Revolutions are typically bloody, brutal, violent, horrific. There is a reason that wars of independence tend to be followed by civil wars and internal strife. Although the idea of revolution holds a romantic allure, history demonstrates that revolutions seldom help those most in need of assistance. “Meet the new boss,” the Who teased on Won’t Get Fooled Again, “same as the old boss.” Dawn of the Planet of the Apes is a harrowing and compelling exploration of revolutionary bloodshed.

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