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Non-Review Review: John Dies at the End

Posted on March 6, 2013 by Darren

This film was seen as part of the Jameson Dublin International Film Festival 2013.

Don Coscarelli is that most frustrating of film-makers. He’s a remarkable talent able to produce a story with the zany off-kilter madness of Bubba Ho-tep, but can also produce something as disappointing and as frustrating as John Dies at the End. It isn’t that John Dies at the End is completely without charm. It can occasionally be a wittily subversive take on the staples of American horror, from the works of H.P. Lovecraft through to the gore of seventies and eighties schlock-fests.

The real problem with John Dies at the End is that, for all its charm and its wit, it feels terribly unoriginal.

Sauced…

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: agent smith, Bubba Ho-tep, clancy brown, Don Coscarelli, film, Film festival, Filmmaking, jameson dublin international film festival, John Dies, John Dies at the End, Movie, non-review review, paul giamatti, review, russell t. davies, United States | 2 Comments »

Non-Review Review: Robot & Frank

Posted on March 4, 2013 by Darren

This film was seen as part of the Jameson Dublin International Film Festival 2013.

Robot & Frank is perhaps best described as a live-action Pixar film, a lost script or concept from that period only a few years ago when it seemed like the studio could do no wrong. The beauty of films like The Incredibles or Toy Story 3 was the way that these fantasies allowed us to engage with incredibly adult issues in a disarmingly wondrous way. Up could deal with the pain of loss in great detail, because it was really the story of a man flying his house to South America, right? Finding Nemo could play out the darkest fears lurking in a parent’s subconscious, because it was really about cute fish, correct?

And so Robot & Frank provides a wonderful vehicle for the exploration of what growing old really means, and how we cope with the challenges that it presents. Because, after all, it’s just a film with a cute-looking robot butler, right?

Frank’ll test his metal…

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: art, Domestic robot, film, Film festival, Frank, frank langella, jameson dublin international film festival, Jameson Dublin International Film Festival 2013, kevin spacey, Langella, Movie, non-review review, Peter Sarsgaard, pixar, review, Robot & Frank, Ryan Gosling, South America, toy story 3, United States | 2 Comments »

February 2013 (Jameson Dublin International Film Festival) In Review

Posted on February 28, 2013 by Darren

Man. That was exhausting. 29 events spread across 11 days, including classic films. It was a hell of a festival, with quite an impressive programme put together. In fact, by any measure, it was actually a stronger festival than last year’s, even if I didn’t catch a film that was quite as good as The Raid this time around. Using the 4-point audience award scale, the numbers stack in this year’s favour. Indeed, I gave one more “4” than last year and – most impressively – I actually managed to avoid giving out the lowest grade at all, the dreaded “1.” Maybe I’m getting a bit softer as I get older, but I think that’s an indication that I had a pretty good Jameson Dublin International Film Festival.

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Filed under: Months in Review | Tagged: art, Casa de Mi Padre, danny boyle, danny devito, film, Film festival, Glasgow Film Festival, jameson dublin international film festival, joss whedon, Movie, National Concert Hall, Nicolas Winding Refn, Reservoir Dogs, Ryan Gosling, United States | Leave a comment »

Non-Review Review: The Summit

Posted on February 28, 2013 by Darren

This film was seen as part of the Jameson Dublin International Film Festival 2013.

The Summit is a powerful exploration of the infamous loss of eleven lives within 24 hours on K2. This is the largest disaster in the history of K2 mountaineering, and – as The Summit concedes – that we won’t necessarily ever know the full details behind this tragic loss of life. However, while the incident serves as a bit of a flashpoint, one big event that it is impossible to overlook, The Summit drops an absolutely fascinating piece of information early one, and one which contextualises that horrible accident.

Apparently one in every four people to make it to the summit of K2 doesn’t make it back down.

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: art, California, dublin, film, Film festival, Ger McDonnell, jameson dublin international film festival, Jameson Dublin International Film Festival 2013, K2, Lakewood Church Central Campus, Limerick, McLeod's Daughters, Mountaineering, Movie, Nick Ryan, non-review review, r eview, Ryan, Summit, Sundance Film Festival, United States | Leave a comment »

Non-Review Review: Blood Rising

Posted on February 25, 2013 by Darren

This film was seen as part of the Jameson Dublin International Film Festival 2013. It was the closing gala.

It is sometimes quite tough to review documentaries. It’s tempting to confuse a worthy cause with a worthy film. Blood Rising is certainly about a worthy cause. It explores the “femicides” that have been occuring in Juárez, Mexico since the nineties (if not earlier). Women are kidnapped, raped and murdered – and the local authorities have done next-to-nothing to help stem the tide of abuse. Those who dare speak up have been hounded out of the area, with some advocates even continuing the cause “in exile.” It is a very compelling and a very worthy cause, and one that deserves as much attention as it can garner.

However, even factoring in the very worthy cause and the fact that its heart is in the right place, Blood Rising feels like a rather ill-judged piece of cinema.

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: Chihuahua, Ciudad Juárez, Documentary film, El Paso Texas, Felipe Calderón, jameson dublin international film festival, Juarez, Maguire, Mark McLoughlin, Mexico, Movie, murder, Spanish, States, United States | 3 Comments »

Non-Review Review: Welcome to the Punch

Posted on February 25, 2013 by Darren

This film was seen as part of the Jameson Dublin International Film Festival 2013.

Welcome to the Punch is a weird best, a sort of a hybrid that runs on a engine built of mismatched parts. It’s very clearly a distinctly British film. the presence of Mark Strong and James McAvoy attests to that, let alone the supporting cast composed of people like Daniel Mays, Jason Flemyng, Davide Morrissey, Peter Mullen and Andrea Riseborough. However, it’s constructed in the style of an American action movie, with lots of guns, explosions and chases. It’s a very strange cocktail, and Welcome to the Punch suffers because it doesn’t blend the strength of both schools of thrillers. It feels rather clumsily, and rather hastily, thrown together without any real thought as to what the final composition might turn out like.

Top gun…

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: Andrea Riseborough, Daniel Mays, Eran Creevy, film, james mcavoy, Jason Flemyng, mark strong, Movie, non-review review, Peter Mullen, Punch, review, Steven Soderbergh, United States, Welcome to the Punch | Leave a comment »

Non-Review Review: Blancanieves

Posted on February 22, 2013 by Darren

This film was seen as part of the Jameson Dublin International Film Festival 2013.

Blancanieves feels like either a film that has its finger firmly on the pop culture zeitgeist, or the victim of the worst timing. It appears less than a year after The Artist won the Best Picture Oscar, becoming a massive critical and popular success. Given the relative dearth of high-profile silent black-and-white films, Blancanieves is somewhat trapped within that shadow. More than that, though, it emerges following a year that demonstrated popular culture’s fixation on the Snow White story. 2012 saw the release of both Mirror Mirror and Snow White & The Huntsman, both reimaginings of the classic tale. Blancanieves is, for its own part, an adaptation of the fairy tale, and it seems like the story was weighing on the popular imagination.

In any other context, Blancanieves would seem like a breath of fresh air. An affectionate homage to the classic era silent cinema, retelling the Snow White story in an unfamiliar setting, there’s a lot to recommend it. Indeed, Blancanieves is easily the best Snow White adaptation of the past year. Unfortunately, it suffers because it’s not quite as charming, witty and well-constructed as The Artist.

Dark materials…

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: Aki Kaurismäki, art, Blancanieves, Film festival, jameson dublin international film festival, Jameson Dublin International Film Festival 2013, Maribel Verdú, Mel Brooks, Movie, Pablo Berger, Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, Ryan Gosling, silent film, snow white, spain, United States | Leave a comment »

Non-Review Review: Le Capital

Posted on February 21, 2013 by Darren

This film was seen as part of the Jameson Dublin International Film Festival 2013.

Thanks to Costa-Gavras, Le Capital looks amazing. It’s crisp, it’s vibrant and it’s beautiful. For a movie about financial corruption, it moves along relatively quickly and with a lot of visual flair. The problem with Le Capital, though, is that it’s really a very simplistic version of a story we’ve all seen countless times before. A person assumes a large amount of power, only for that power to have a potentially corrupting influence. Okay, Marc Tourneuil is already a successful executive when good fortune thrusts him into the role of CEO of one of France’s largest banks, and he’s certainly not naive when he negotiates his salary and bonus scheme, but Le Capital hints early on that there is some level of decency to Tourneuil before the wealth and influence start chipping away. As such, as the movie explores his corruption and the way that power erodes him, Le Capital feels like an engaging modern telling of a story that we’ve already heard quite frequently.

Byrne the bondholders…

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: american, art, Costa-Gavras, dublin, film, Film festival, france, Francis Urquhart, gabriel byrne, Gad Elmaleh, jameson dublin international film festival, Jameson Dublin International Film Festival 2013, London, Movie, non-review review, review, United States | 2 Comments »

Non-Review Review: Far Out Isn’t Far Enough – The Tomi Ungerer Story

Posted on February 20, 2013 by Darren

This film was seen as part of the Jameson Dublin International Film Festival 2013.

A lot of the strength of a documentary lies in the subject matter. If you can find an interesting premise or subject, then you’ve got a hook. Far Out Isn’t Far Enough, the debut from director Brad Bernstein, picks a fascinating central character – writer and artist Tomi Ungerer. It is very tough to reduce Ungerer to a one-line synopsis or to define him in a relatively short strong of words, but Far Out Isn’t Far Enough takes a look at the life and times of the artist who made an enormous impression on American popular consciousness, only to fade from view surprisingly quickly – retiring first to Nova Scotia and then to Ireland. Far Out Isn’t Far Enough is a fascinating portrayal of a unique talent, with Ungerer making for a charming and engaging subject. While Far Out Isn’t Far Enough might gloss over his departure from the scene a bit, it’s a fascinating overview of the life and work of a truly gifted individual.

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: art, Brad Bernstein, film, Film festival, Ireland, jameson dublin international film festival, Jameson Dublin International Film Festival 2013, Maurice Sendak, Movie, non-review review, Nova Scotia, review, Ryan Gosling, Three Robbers, Tomi Ungerer, Ungerer, United States | Leave a comment »

Non-Review Review: The Hardy Bucks Movie

Posted on February 19, 2013 by Darren

This film was seen as part of the Jameson Dublin International Film Festival 2013.

I’ll be the first to admit that I’m not a massive fan of The Hardy Bucks. Still, it’s hard not to smile at an Irish success story that seen a bunch of lads fooling around on YouTube, brought them to national television and launched a feature film. The Hardy Bucks Movie isn’t revolutionary. It’s not a work of comedy genius for the ages. Quite a lot of it feels overly familiar, an Irish spin on the “young men go wild abroad” subgenre that has proven popular in the past number of years. And yet, despite that, there’s a quaint charm to The Hardy Bucks Movie that makes it reasonably entertaining. The lads from Castletown has survived the transition to the big screen with their dignity – such that it is – intact.