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Non-Review Review: Side Effects

Posted on February 18, 2013 by Darren

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

On one level, Side Effects is a deliciously pulpy medical thriller, with the kind of zig-zagging twisty plot that you’d expect from a Michael Crichton novel. It’s more than satisfying on these terms, almost serving as a feature-length pilot for an imaginary medical drama starring Jude Law. After all, with House off the air, there’s a clear gap in the market for a smooth English actor playing the lead in an unconventional medical drama. If he is sarcastic, all the better. While the genius of the early years of House came from mashing up the medical subgenre with the police procedural to produce a then-unique hybrid, Scott Z. Burns instead blends the medical drama with a decidedly more trashy and sordid thriller to provide a satisfyingly twisty drama.

However, on another level, Side Effects teases issues that are far more interesting than the movie it eventually becomes. It’s very frustrating when your red herrings feel like they’d produce a more thoughtful or insightful piece of cinema than the final story. Side Effects broaches topics that mainstream cinema hasn’t really engaged with, and the opening scenes flirt with the idea of providing an entirely different film. It’s not always fair to judge a film for what it isn’t, but the problem is that Side Effects sets up a much more tempting and intriguing look at medicine than we get with the final product.

Love isn’t the only drug…

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: art, banks, Clinical trial, Emily Taylor, Film festival, films, house, jameson dublin international film festival, Jameson Dublin International Film Festival 2013, Jonathan Banks, jude law, michael crichton, Movie, Movies, non-review review, review, Rooney Mara, Ryan Gosling, Scott Z. Burns, side effects, Steven Soderbergh, United States | 2 Comments »

Non-Review Review: The Place Beyond the Pines

Posted on February 17, 2013 by Darren

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

The Place Beyond the Pines is a movie best seen without the weight of expectations. The safest thing I can probably say about The Place beyond the Pines is that it’s a compelling study of the multiple relationships between fathers and sons. Writer and director Derek Cianfrance has crafted a beautiful piece of cinema here. Running almost two-and-a-half hours, it makes the most of its extended runtime to draw the audience into the film, and to craft a rich and multi-faceted world the remains so intimate that actions ripple and consequences can’t be completely avoided, even if they can be temporarily evaded.

There’s a lot riding on this…

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: arts, Avery, bradley cooper, Derek Cianfrance, dublin, Eva Mendes, Film festival, jameson dublin international film festival, Jameson Dublin International Film Festival 2013, Luke, Mike Patton, Movie, Pines, Place Beyond the Pines, robin, Rose Byrne, Ryan Gosling, United States | 5 Comments »

Non-Review Review: Mea Maxima Culpa – Silence in the House of God

Posted on February 16, 2013 by Darren

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

It’s very hard to know how to react to the seemingly bottomless pit of sex abuse allocations that have surfaced against the Catholic Church over the past couple of decades. Mea Maxima Culpa reveals that not only does the institutional abuse reach far into the past of the religious organisation, but that the Vatican was aware of these betrayals and violations of trusts for forty years. Mea Maxima Culpa is brutally candid in the way that it exposes the steps that the Catholic Church took to insulate and protect itself from these allegations and insinuations, even pointing out that most modern concessions and apologies are more concerned about the violation of the sanctity of the priesthood than with the damage done to the victims.

Mea Maxima Culpa is rough and overwhelming at times, but it’s hard to fault the documentary for this candid approach to the most uncomfortable subject matter. It’s well-constructed, thoughtful and also quite affecting – a powerful piece of documentary cinema that really exposes the true extent of a problem that has only been acknowledged in the past decade or so.

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: Alex Gibney, boston, catholic church, christianity, Father Murphy, film, Mea culpa, Mea Maxima Culpa, Movie, Murphy, non-review review, pope, Pope Benedict XVI, review, Sexual abuse, United States, vatican | 2 Comments »

House of Cards (US, 2013): Chapter 5 (Review)

Posted on February 15, 2013 by Darren

Friends make the worst enemies

– Frank Underwood

There is a sense now that House of Cards has figured out what it wants to be and how it wants to go about being that sort of thing. After the first three episodes were surprisingly non-committal, the fourth and fifth episodes make it clear that Frank has a plan for revenge against those who betrayed him, one that stretches a bit further than scuttling Michael Kern’s chance to be Secretary of State. There’s a wonderfully understated moment in the middle of this fifth episode where it looks like Frank has finally figured everything out, the pieces have aligned in such a way that he is positioned to speed up what is likely to be a pretty far-reaching payback scheme.

A name you can trust…

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Filed under: Television | Tagged: bbc, business, Chapter 7 Title 11 United States Code, Claire, david fincher, Francis Urquhart, Frank, Frank Underwood, House of Card, House of Cards, kevin spacey, netflix, Peter Russo, Robin Wright, twitter, Underwood, United States, Zoe | Leave a comment »

House of Cards (US, 2013): Chapter 4 (Review)

Posted on February 13, 2013 by Darren

So you lied to his face?

No. I revised the parametres of my promise.

Which is lying.

Which is politics.

– Bob Birch and Frank Underwood

After spending three episodes lining everything up and getting all the plot points and characters to where they need to be, it looks like House of Cards is finally ready to kick into high gear. There’s still a sense that show isn’t as comfortable with its amoral and sociopathic lead character as it should be, but there’s finally a sense of what Frank Underwood is capable of. We’ve seen him topple the incoming Secretary of State using just a college article that the man didn’t write, but that sort of politicking should be second-nature to Underwood at this point. Here, Frank is a bit more ruthless, a bit less concerned about collateral damage.

That’s really the key here. House of Cards needs us to root for Frank despite his drive for power at all costs, without excusing it. It looks like we’re getting to where we need to be.

Speaking Frankly…

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Filed under: Television | Tagged: bbc, Bob Birch, David, david fincher, Francis Urquhart, Frank, Frank Underwood, Freddie, House of Card, House of Cards, kevin spacey, netflix, Republican, republicans, Underwood, United States, Zoe | 1 Comment »

Non-Review Review: Movie 43

Posted on February 12, 2013 by Darren

For a collection of comedy sketches assembled together from a bunch of different writers, directors and actors, Movie 43 is pretty consistent in quality and tone. Sadly, in the worst possible way. It’s consistently and awkwardly unfunny, substituting rude words and crude references to male and female anatomy for jokes or witticism. You know you’re in trouble when the sketch that comes closest to fulfilling the promise of the movie – the lure of crass, immature and ridiculously low-brow comedy – is directed by Brett Ratner. Even then, it’s hardly anything to write home about. Ratner’s sequence is the best part of the film, but it’s hardly anything especially memorable.

Don’t worry, Mister Gere. In a year, nobody will remember this.

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: arts, brett ratner, Chloe Moretz, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Emma Stone, Halle Berry, hugh jackman, kate winslet, Movie, Movie 43, Naomi Watts, richard gere, Stephen Merchant, United States | 1 Comment »

House of Cards (US, 2013): Chapter 3 (Review)

Posted on February 11, 2013 by Darren

Dammit, Frank! You can’t just roll up on my property like you own it!

Oh but I can.

And we’re back to square one. I suppose this is inevitable in the transition to American television, but House of Cards is beginning to feel strangely episodic. The British version ran ran for four episodes, moving at an incredible pace as Francis Urquhart manipulated his way to the position of Prime Minister. The American version, running thirteen episodes, seems to be more about stopping and starting. Indeed, there’s relatively little traction here on the Secretary of State subplot, or Frank Underwood’s plan for political revenge against those who he feels wronged him.

Instead, this third episode feels like something of a breather episode, the kind of character-orientated piece that might have worked a bit later in the year, after the show had built up a decent momentum. Instead, it seems like we accelerated last time only to pump the breaks this time around.

Just peachy…

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Filed under: Television | Tagged: Activism and Peace Work, Chris Brown, Corey Stoll, Francis Urquhart, Frank, Frank Ocean, frank sinatra, Frank Underwood, history, House of Card, House of Cards, Kate Mara, kevin spacey, netflix, Peace, People, Robin Wright, Satan, Underwood, United States, Washington, Zoe | Leave a comment »

Non-Review Review: The Campaign

Posted on February 7, 2013 by Darren

The Campaign is hardly the most complex piece of political satire ever written. In fact, the movie suffers a great deal because its observations about political corruption feel fairly superficial. The relationship between donors and politicians, and the sway that what the movie terms “big money” has over elected officials, are hardly cutting insights into the way that lobbying and electioneering actually works. To be fair, there is something in the way that the movie parodies the tendency of US elections to get incredibly dirty incredibly fast, but The Campaign ultimately winds up feeling a little superficial.

That’s not to say that there aren’t moments of wit to be found here. Both Will Ferrell and Zach Galifianakis are skilled comedians, even when the material isn’t necessarily up to scratch. And in order to make fun of the extreme rhetoric that such campaigns may involve, the movie occasionally pushes itself into the realm of the surreal. However, its observations and its targets seem so obvious that the movie can also be remarkably frustrating.

A candid(ate) look at the electoral process?

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy, Brady, Campaign finance, Campaigns and Elections, Dylan McDermott, Eric McCormack, Ferrell, film, Galifianakis, Humor, Knife Fight, Official, Political campaign, Political corruption, Political satire, politics, republicans, Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, United States, will ferrell, Zach Galifianakis | 3 Comments »

House of Cards (US, 2013): Chapter 2 (Review)

Posted on February 6, 2013 by Darren

Get ready, Cathy, things are about to move very quickly.

– Frank is moving

That’s more like it. After a rocky season premiere, it looks like House of Cards might finally be settling into a groove. It’s very strange to see a four-part BBC drama adapted into a full thirteen-episode season of an American television show. Of course, the United States has a very different political system, so the machinations of the Chief Whip of the House of Representatives could never overlap fully with those of Sir Francis Urquhart. However, the first episode needed a sense of traction that was so sorely lacking.

Luckily, the second episode picks up the slack. The pieces are all in play, the characters are established. The game can be afoot.

Underwood tactics…

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Filed under: Television | Tagged: Cathy, Claire, Corey Stoll, david fincher, Francis Urquhart, Frank, Frank Underwood, Freddie, House of Cards, Ian Richardson, Jeff Beal, Kate Mara, kevin spacey, netflix, Reed Hastings, Robin Wright, Spacey, Underwood, United States, white house | 2 Comments »

Watch! Behind the Scenes at the Hardy Bucks Movie!

Posted on February 5, 2013 by Darren

Universal Pictures just sent over this behind-the-scenes look at the upcoming Hardy Bucks Movie. It’s released on February 21st, but it’s hosting its premiere as part of the Jameson Dublin International Film Festival, in case you’re interested. Anyway, take a look below.