Posted by Lewis in Reviews
02/09/10
After a few trips to the States I have concluded that there are a number of cultural differences that I will never fully understand. Why do New Yorkers stand in the road when crossing the street? Why do Floridians have fruit with their bacon? And why the hell do they find Adam Sandler so funny?
Granted, there’s a certain juvenile charm about his early roles, Happy Gilmore and Airheads are tolerable and I’d even go as far as to say I enjoyed The Wedding Singer. But why oh why does the man who inflicted the likes of Click and Spanglish on the world, seem to have carte blanche to churn out whatever self indulgent tripe he wants? As you might expect, Grown Ups is another prime example of such tripe.
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Posted by Lewis in Reviews
14/08/10
If ever there was a genre that continually put its arse up for a kicking the ‘Rom-Com’ would be it. Whilst history denotes that when done well, romantic comedies can prove lucrative it does seem that the genre has become a dumping ground where churned out, gormless star vehicles go to die. Just see 2010’s The Back-Up Plan (Jennifer Lopez) and The Rebound (Catherine Zeta Jones) as evidence of this. As a result, when tasked with watching Going the Distance, another on screen outing for real life couple Drew Barrymore and Justin Long I was understandably unmoved. I was also wrong.
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Posted by Lewis in Reviews
09/08/10
Overall I consider myself a pretty well rounded individual but if (if!) I do have a significant character flaw it is in my unavoidable compulsion to defend Tom Cruise. I don’t even consider myself to be much of a fan of ‘the Cruiser’ but when you look at his performances in the likes of Rain Man, Jerry Maguire and Magnolia I challenge any one to deny Cruise’s occasional dalliances with excellence. Sadly however, for every Collateral there’s a Knight and Day.
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With the San Diego Comic Con whetting the appetite for geeks and freaks all over the world, Lewis Swift runs down the top 5 moments from this years convention.
5) The first picture from Cowboys and Aliens!
Whilst Scott Mitchell Rosenberg’s graphic novel series retains a relatively cult status for now, chances are, when the film adaptation is released this time next year copies of the genre bending romp will be flying off the shelves. The man in charge of further lining Rosenberg’s pockets is none other than John Favreau, the man who made Iron Man into a phenomenon. Whilst initially rumoured to be another project for The Fav and his go to guy Robert Downey Jr, scheduling issues forced Fav to look further from home, finally settling on none other than Daniel Craig for the lead.
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Over the years, Hollywood has ransacked the television archives for inspiration, with varying degrees of success. From the awful (I Spy, Wild Wild West, Dukes of Hazzard etc) to the distinctly average (Get Smart, Land of the Lost, Miami Vice etc). Very few have managed to really pull off a reimagining that pleases cinemagoers without alientating the die hard fans. Then last year, a TV mogul came and raised the bar. J.J Abram’s Star Trek reboot was, as you’d expect, hotly anticipated and as such most expected it to fail.
I was stunned by what proved to be a sleak, contemporary thrill ride. Sadly A-team does not continue this asscendancy.
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Posted by Lewis in Classic films, Reviews
25/07/10
When your last on-screen effort proves to be the biggest selling Blu Ray to date there are inevitably going to be high levels of expectation for your follow up. Seems then, like a strange time to venture out into the woods alone. Not if you’re Christopher Nolan it isn’t. Despite his new found visionary status, naysayers claim that Nolan’s perceived ‘genius’ tag is misappropriated. Both Memento and The Prestige are adaptations, Insomnia is a remake and Batman, well, it’s Batman. With this in mind it’s reasonable to suggest that Inception is not just a big deal for the baying public. It’s a big deal for Nolan as well. Understandable then that Nolan has been so clandestine about the film’s plot ever since the mouth watering teaser trailer hit the net in August of last year.
Of course Nolan’s involvement goes back much further. It’s widely reported that he first pitched the idea to studio execs when it was just that, an idea. As the narrative suggests, idea’s are simple, realising them is where it gets complicated. Warner Bros approved but Nolan decided to work on the screenplay in his down time. Eight years later and Inception is finally in cinemas.
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Posted by Lewis in Reviews
19/07/10
The trend, as it stands, seems to be that once great action movies are gradually watered down through a series of sequels and reboots until the essence of greatness is only the faintest of memories. Die Hard 4.0 was only a few yards short of actual spoof and I hear the next Terminator movie may be an animated picture featuring the voice talents of Miley Cyrus and Neil Morrisey (possible speculation on my part). When it was announced that the Robert Rodriguez produced Predators would be released with a 15 certificate I was more than a little relieved.
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Posted by Lewis in Classic films, Reviews
13/07/10
If I’m honest, finding myself outside the world’s largest I-max the week before the release of Christopher Nolan’s Inception was initially at least, a little infuriating. Unwilling as I was to pass up the opportunity to check out the gargantuan screen I was forced to choose an alternative movie. Thankfully, amidst the abundant I-max underwater/outerspace/junior-documentary content was Pixar’s latest Toy Story 3. Whilst I am a die hard fan of the prolific animation studio I had failed to engage with Toy Story 2 to the same degree as its ground breaking predecessor but the eleven year gap between instalments offered me a degree of assurance that this was more than just the milking of a cash cow.
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Way back on the 9th if June it was widely reported that Michael Fassbender would be taking over the role of Erik Lensherr aka Magneto in the Michael Vaughn directed franchise prequel X-men: First Class. Much to my disappointment, only a few days later I read an article claiming that Fassbender had denied rumours linking him with Magneto and also a similar role in the forthcoming Spider-man reboot.
Then, yesterday I breathed a sigh of relief when Entertainment Weekly reported that Fassbender was all but guaranteed to follow/precede Ian McKellan into the X-men universe. As a fan of the X movies and of Fassbender you can see how this past week has been somewhat of a roller coaster for me.
The events of the past week got me to thinking. What is the real effect of twenty four hour casting speculation? Is it merely fan boys run amuck or does it have an almost viral impact on the entertainment industry, be it good or bad? If Inception director Chris Nolan is to be believed the whole thing can have a negative impact on the overall process.
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Posted by Lewis in Reviews
18/06/10
Those of you who read my MacGruber preview will already know that I was, against my better judgement, looking forward to the latest feature length offering from the current minds behind Saturday Night Live. Those of you who didn’t read it can go fuck yourself.
Since watching the movie I have been trying to place it within the catalogue of SNL adaptations and I think it’s safe to say it’s certainly no Wayne’s World. However, despite failing to turn a profit on its meek $10 million budget in the US it’s also, thankfully, no Night at the Roxbury either.
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