Tuesday, May 11th, 2010
Review:
After the success of the first Iron Man film, a sequel was quickly produced, once more attempting to create a mixture of light-hearted, comedic entertainment and a gritty action film, which means that the film is on the middle ground and doesn’t really work as either. This time around Robert Downey Jr., who plays the narcissistic Tony Stark with his usual charm, thus easily being the best thing in the film, sadly has to surrender some screen time to villain Mickey Rourke and a large big-name supporting cast. Through all this, he develops a self-destructive streak that simply doesn’t fit with the tone of the film, thus creating a film that never manages to truly pull the viewer in. The film is often funny and the special effects sequences (that which used to be action set pieces before everything became CGI) are solid, so watching the film is not a waste of time, but it’s also hardly more.
Random Observations:
Iron Man 2 at the IMDb
Don Cheadle replaced Terrence Howard as Iron Man’s sidekick, supposedly over a contract (i.e. money) disagreement.
Some other illustrious cast names: Gwyneth Paltrow, Scarlett Johansson and Samuel L. Jackson as well as director Jon Favreau.
Marvel is really pushing that whole “one gigantic franchise” thing. The film references several of their other comic book superheroes, all in the set-up for the 2012 release of The Avengers.
Tags: 2010, action movie, adventure movie, American Film, Clark Gregg, comic book movie, Don Cheadle, Don Heck, english, franchise film, Garry Shandling, Gwyneth Paltrow, Iron Man, Iron Man 2, Jack Kirby, John Slattery, Jon Favreau, Justin Theroux, Kate Mara, Larry Lieber, Leslie Bibb, Mickey Rourke, minute movie review, movie review, Movies, Paul Bettany, Robert Downey Jr., Sam Rockwell, Samuel L. Jackson, Scarlett Johansson, sequel, Stan Lee, Terrence Howard, Thriller
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Saturday, March 6th, 2010
Award Season is Crazy Season. If you follow these things at all, you have been bombarded by information about the superiority of one film above another for months now. If you blissfully ignore all that stuff, you might even not have heard that a producer on The Hurt Locker is in trouble for trying to convince Academy voters to vote for his film instead of Avatar. His crime: sending an e-mail to his friends. Yes, things are crazy. So it is a good thing that with the Oscar telecast on Sunday, Award Season will be over. Until May or so, when the first discussions for next year’s favourites and winners will begin once more.
But before the Oscars, the most important of all the meaningless awards, are handed out on Sunday, it is time for my annual Oscar predictions. Last year, I picked 19 of the 24 winners. This year, let’s try to improve on that. But unlike last year, this year I actually feel like I am entitled to my own opinion, having seen 20 of the 58 animated films, 18 of the 38 feature films, and actually having seen all nominated films in three categories. So not only will I now predict the Oscar winners as promised, I will also tell you who should win. (Yes, my opinion constitutes objective truth in these matters.) The following list is ordered rather randomly and incomplete, an alphabetical and complete breakdown of all categories and predictions follows at the end.
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Tags: 2009, 2010, A Matter of Loaf and Death, A Serious Man, A Single Man, Aardman Animations, Ajami, Alessandro Camon, An Education, Anastasia Masaro, Anna Kendrick, Armando Iannucci, Avatar, award season, Bob Peterson, Carey Mulligan, Caroline Smith, Christoph Waltz, Christopher Plummer, Coen Brothers, Colin Firth, Coraline, Crazy Heart, Das Weisse Band, Dave Warren, Disney, District 9, El Secreto de Sus Ojos, english, Ethan Coen, Fantastic Mr. Fox, Faubourg 36, Gabourey Sidibe, Geoffrey Fletcher, George Clooney, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Helen Mirren, Henry Selick, In the Loop, Inglourious Basterds, Instead of Abracadabra, Invictus, James Cameron, Jason Reitman, Jeff Bridges, Jeremy Renner, Jesse Armstrong, Joel Coen, Kathry Bigelow, La teta asustade, Lee Daniels, Logorama, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Marion Cotillard, Mark Boal, Matt Damon, Mauro Fiore, Meryl Streep, Mo'Nique, Morgan Freeman, Movies, Neill Blomkamp, Nick Hornby, Nine, Oren Moverman, Oscar, Paris 36, Penélope Cruz, Pete Doctor, Pixar, Precious, Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire, Quentin Tarantino, Randy Newman, Sandra Bullock, Sheldon Turner, Sherlock Holmes, Simon Blackwell, Stanley Tucci, Star Trek, T-Bone Burnett, Terri Tatchell, The Blind Side, The Door, The Hurt Locker, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, The Messenger, The Princess and the Frog, The Secret of Kells, The White Ribbon, Tom McCarthy, Tony Roche, Un Prophète, Up, Up in the Air, Vera Farmiga, Wallace & Gromit, Wes Anderson, Woody Harrelson
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Wednesday, March 3rd, 2010
Review:
A Federal Marshall sent to an insane asylum on an island in Boston harbour to investigate the disappearance of one of the patients struggles with his own sanity and past as he tries to uncover a big conspiracy. The film is pretty standard thriller fare, including the usual twist near the ending and wouldn’t be the least bit noteworthy if not for the great direction by legend Martin Scorsese and the great acting throughout the film. The ending might seem a bit of a let-down (without spoiling it for those who still want to see the film), but the last line almost makes up for that. Nothing great here, but solid entertainment, much like Scorsese’s Oscar winning last feature film “The Departed“, just not as good.
Random Observations:
Shutter Island at the IMDb
Second film this year where I missed the first few minutes. I really have to work on my timing when going to the cinema. It is very hard to become fully engulfed in a story when you are constantly wondering whether you missed anything important.
Once more Leonard DiCaprio stars for Scorsese. How many times does that make?
The film has an absolutely incredible cast, with great actors like Jackie Earle Haley or Elias Koteas in small, third-tier roles. The cast also includes Ben Kingsley, Max von Sydow, Mark Ruffalo, Michelle Williams and Emily Mortimer.
Tags: 2010, American Film, Ben Kingsley, book adaptation, Dennis Lehane, Drama, Elias Koteas, Emily Mortimer, english, Jackie Earle Haley, John Carroll Lynch, Laeta Kalogridis, Leonardo DiCaprio, Mark Ruffalo, Martin Scorsese, Max von Sydow, Michelle Williams, minute movie review, movie review, Movies, Patricia Clarkson, Shutter Island, Ted Levine, The Departed, Thriller
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