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A blog about films. Not celebrities. Not (necessarily) reviews. More likely just assorted news, and my deranged ranting.....

The Dark Knight

July 17th 2008 05:54
I just returned from seeing The Dark Knight. To put it bluntly it's incredible. I've talked before about how much I loved Batman Begins, and I wasn't expecting TDK to top it, but I think it did.

This isn't going to be a review, go to To Horrorphile for an awesome one. I agree with everything Bryn says.

Just not having the first half of the movie introducing the characters meant that they could get straight into it. Not only that but the moral choices that are made towards the end were really compelling.


Two Face was a way bigger part of the movie than I expected. I thought it was really going to be a movie introducing Two Face for a sequel. Nope, he is integral to TDK.

The Dark Knight


It's been talked about alot already but Ledger kicks arse. Its a massive cliche but its seriously the role he was born to play. Considering he's been a bit of a 'pretty boy' actor in a number of his films this really demonstrated his acting. And it was awesome. Just a complete psychopath with utter disdain for pretty much everything. The Joker's relationship with Batman is really cool.

And Aaron Eckhart's acting will be overshadowed by Ledger's but his protrayal of Harvey Dent/Two Face was very cool as well. Very good.

But the actors probably shouldn't get all the credit, it's and awesome story, with awesome effects and awesome directing. Mix that with the work from all the actors and you end up with the best sequel since Terminator 2 or Aliens and easily the best movie I've seen in a long time.


In March I said the following:
If The Dark Knight turn’s out as good as I’ve been hoping ever since Begins then it will be a fitting tribute to Ledger, who as so many others have said before passed just when he was hitting his prime.

It easily fulfills this. Easily.

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Mongol

July 1st 2008 00:35
The epic story of the Mongol Temudgin's story as the great Ghengis Khan is the type of thing that is just begging to be made in this day of Star Wars and Lord of the Rings style epics. Enter Segei Bodrov's new Russian-Mongolian-German-Kaza kh collaboration Mongol. It's the story of the rise to power of a clan chief's son who was exiled and chased by his fellow Mongols for his whole childhood. Who'se wife was stolen by the Merkit clan fro his father's crimes, and who'se only friends come to betray him. Pretty awesome origin story right?

Maybe. To tell the truth I'm still undecided on it. It's a cool film, with some really quality filmmaking behind it: some of the vistas of the Mongolian Steppe are breathtaking. The battle scenes are very cool. But it skips vital bits. Suddenly Temudgin has the second biggest army in Mongolia, it doens't explain why. Suddenly his wife can fake being a Chinese princess with money after being broke in the Steppe, again it doesn't explain why. It's a pretty slow film, which wasn't what I was expecting, but it worked.




Style wise it reminds me of some of those epic Chinese films ala Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Hero etc. Not in content, there aren't any kung fu battles or anything. Just the slow moving nature with amazing scenery.

But it ends before much cool really happens (mind you at 2 hours that's not to say it's short). It is very much only the story of the great Khan's rise to unite the Mongols. Nothing of the conquest of China, nothing of the expansion into the West. That's what I really wanted. I wanted epic battles, with the legendary circling Mongol horsemen against Easter European knights or giant Chinese armies. Wikipedia informs me that this is film one in a trilogy though, so I guess I can get my fill of Mongol invasions there. Wicked.

Actually the more I think about it I did enjoy this film. It just didn't deliver exactly what I was expecting.
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I'm Still Alive....

June 22nd 2008 01:19
Yeah, so I haven't written anything here for ages. I've had big plans to write about the Star Wars films, and the story as a while, but I've been waiting to finish all six. I smashed 3,4,5 and 1 in about 3 days, and then haven't got around to watching 2 and 3 for about two weeks.

Not only that but with The Incredible Hulk and Prince Caspian out there actually are a couple of movies I wouldn't mind seeing at the cinemas, which there hasn't been for months....

Anyway, mainly just wanted to update the page, so that it doesn't get closed down or something......
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Books to Film

June 4th 2008 06:38
Some of the greatest film's of all time have been adapted from classic books. Gone With the Wind, Jurassic Park, The Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, I Am Legend/The Omega Man/The Last Man on Earth (all based on the book 'I Am Legend'), The Godfather, James Bond all based on books.


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OK, I realise that the heading is pretty loaded, so let me explain. Certain directors have a very distinct style that makes them unique, Tarantino's work, for example, is full of stylized violence. Also I'm talking here specifically about respected and quality directors, I don't doubt the Uwe Boll could turn any classic script into a steaming pile of crap.

But much of the time content seems to be one of the major differences between directors. Scorsese for example has a hard on for Gangster/Underworld movies, both Italian and Irish-American (and who can blame him), see Taxi Driver, The Departed, The Goodfellas, Gangs of New York etc. Peter Jackson (at least his Hollywood work, I don't know his old stuff) is all about epic scenes, as demonstrated by the Lord of the Rings', King Kong and his interest in doing Halo and Temeraire). The Wachowski brothers do crazy computer special effects laden pop-culture epitaths


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300: A Retospective

June 2nd 2008 02:00
I re watched 300 yesterday. To tell the truth I was expecting to like it a lot less than I did the first time. When I saw it, it was at the cinema, with a crowd of crazy, probably drunk, people at a midnight screening. It was awesome, everyone was into it. This time I actually sat back and enjoyed the film for more of what it was, rather than just the atmosphere.

Firstly let me say that about 3 years ago I saw the old 300 Spartans, it’s a fairly ancient flick, but after the Lord of the Rings it made me think about how great a movie it could be done today. 300 did this


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Beverly Hills Cop.....again

May 30th 2008 01:34
After the success of Indy 4, Rambo 4 and the like, it seems someone decided that reviving Beverly Hills Cop is a good idea.

It isn't


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Night Watch

May 27th 2008 01:37
So I finally watched the Russian film Night Watch. I'm yet to decide how much I liked it yet. It's a fair bit different from the book, with magic taking a far less pronounced role in the film. I think I need to give it a second go without considering the book.

The story is based around the same characters, but tells a very different story. Well, it tells the first of three parts of the book. And some things I was hoping to see (eg Zavulon shapeshifting into a demon as he does in the climatic battle in the book) didn't happen. Also the morality issues the book brought up regarding what really seperates light from dark are non issues, bringing me back to a point I made a while ago now, Why do film makers think that movie goers can't deal with moral issues?. In the films defense there are a couple more movies to come out (Day Watch is already out) and the moral questions really didn't arise in this part of the book either, so maybe I'm being a bit hasty


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I’m not exactly sure how I stumbled onto this, but it looks like it could be excellent. Iron Sky is from the Finnish filmmakers who brought us Star Wreck. Which I’ve never seen. If anyone has I’d love to hear opinions about it.


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Michael Moore's Sequel

May 15th 2008 03:12
Michael Moore is making a Fahrenheit 2. God damn it. I hated Fahrenheit 9/11 but I can openly say that I generally like Michael Moore’s stuff, although I only know his latest stuff. I’m the type of person, with the political persuasion that would go for Moore, almost exactly his target audience. Young, college going and (generally) leftist, at least on big issues like these.

Bowling for Columbine, regardless of trickery was a quality film about the issues with guns in the States. I thought the issues it brought up regarding the rate of violence in the USA and the vehement opposition of some parts of the population to gun control really interesting, even with some slight of hand in terms of some elements of the film the issues it brought to the forefront, were interesting, vital and as relevant today as they were when the film was released


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