January 2012
56 posts
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Submarine, dir. Richard Ayoade: An interesting film that I could of loved if the protagonist wasn’t such an awful creature. He is so disconnecting, and I couldn’t care less if he had a happy ending or not - 2.5/5
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If 2012's Oscar-nominated movie posters told the... →
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The Good, The Bad, & The Missing: 2012 Oscar...
A full list of nominations can be found here
Best Picture/Best Director
The good: Pleased to see Hugo and Martin Scorsese receive the recognition they deserve.
The bad: WAR HORSE??? Are you freaking kidding me. That emotional blackmail over-music’d cheese-fest is not even close to being a best picture. Extremely loud and Incredibly Close seems an odd choice as it has no other...
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Predictions and thoughts on the Oscar nominations
The Acting Nominations that would make me happy (and have a shot): Michael Fassbender for Shame, Gary Oldman for Tinker Tailor Solider Spy.
Fassbender should be a shoe-in for a best actor nomination, however you can’t count on the Academy nominating an actor for a film with such a “racy” topic. Oldman is more of an outside for...
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Underworld: Awakening, dir. Mans Marlind & Björn...
Underworld: Awakening is the 4th film in the Underworld franchise, which sees Kate Beckinsale reprise her role as the sleek vampire Seline. Seline awakes to find she has been cryogenically frozen for the previous 12 years. During this time the humans have attempted to cleanse their world of vampires and Lycans and are very much the dominant species again.
From here the story doesn’t really...
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Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, dir. Tomas Alfredson
This film is not your typical spy thriller filled with chase scenes, shot-outs, and heart-pounding action scenes. This film is much smarter than that. A slow burn that sucks you into it’s world and leaves you on the edge of your seat trying to guess who the mole is. The entire cast is fantastic. Oldman, Cumberbatch, and Hardy stand out as...
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New Zealand Box Office 2011
Below are the 10 highest grossing films in New Zealand in 2011. 8 of the 10 are sequels, and no NZ films feature. The top grossing NZ films (Billy T: Te Movie and The Orator) both grossed less than NZ$800k. The Christchurch Earthquake and the Rugby World Cup are being stated as reasons for the 9% drop in overall ticket sales.
Top 10
1. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 $7,940,795
2....
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Cloverfield (2008) dir. Matt Reeves
Had I known how truly BAD-ASS this film was, I would have made an effort to see it at the cinema. Wow, what a heart-pounding ride. The thing about this monster movie is it feels real. The shitty handheld camera, the irrational decisions, the sheer terror felt by the characters. If there was ever an alien invasion, I would imagine it would occur something like...
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Shame - dir. Steve McQueen
Addiction is a subject which has been the topic of many many films before. Some films take the comedic route, while others play it out in a more dramatic fashion. Usually the protagonist realises they have an addiction after hitting “bottom”, and then we follow them as they seek help. Shame is not either of these films. Shame is not about redemption or seeking help. It’s about how addiction guts...
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The Beaver (2011) -dir. Jodie Foster
This movie just did not work. Depression is a difficult subject to broach, but using a puppet with a ridiculous put on accent an alternative personality? It just wasn’t believable that all the people around him would facilitate that. Gibson and Foster were both fine, but nothing more. The really bizarre thing is that the most interesting storyline in...
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“Manny: What’s that you’re eating?
Bernard: It’s some sort of...”
– Black Books, “Grapes of Wrath”
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WatchProject X -An earlier contender for worst movie of 2012? It looks like all of the worst teen drunk party movies combined with the sort of shit that kids get infamous for on facebook.
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2 episodes into the highly anticipated new JJ Abrams executive produced show Alcatraz, and I am floored. Not by how good it is but by how clunky it is. The female lead (Sarah Jones) is awful and has no screen presence. The script is very wooden and doesn’t sound natural. The story just doesn’t flow.
The premise is great but the pieces aren’t fitting together. I’ll give...
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Sherlock, Season 2 Episode 3: The Reichenback Fall
Wow.
Let’s gather our thoughts now…..wow.
You think you’ve been wowed by Sherlock as much as you could be and then this episode comes along. It has everything. The mystery, the suspense, the twists, and of course the intricate mind games. Above all else however it has loyalty and the test of friendship. Because when you...
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The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, dir. David...
Below are some very brief thoughts on the film. For an interesting and in-depth discussion, you may wish to check out the excellent /filmcast episode dedicated to the film. David Fincher’s adaptation of the best selling novel by Stieg Larrson improves on the Swedish version of the film, but does little to overcome or change the problems with the source material. The biggest improvement over the...
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The Darkest Hour [3D], dir. Chris Gorak
The Darkest Hour stars the rather wooden Emile Hirsh as software developer Sean, who happens to be in Moscow for work when some rather odd aliens launch an all out attack on the city. Sean soon finds himself fighting for survival alongside his friend Ben (Max Minghella) and two girls they meet at a bar courtesy of their social networking software (one of whom is played by Australia actress...
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“The first thing I do is I try to figure out what kind of music it would be as a...”
– Director Nicolas Winding Refn on the importance of music in his films.
‘Drive’ Composer Cliff Martinez Reteams With Nicolas Winding Refn To Score ‘Only God Forgives’ | The Playlist
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Fun fact: The Adventures of Tintin is the first non-Pixar film to win the Golden Globe for best animated feature since the award was introduced
via Paramount Pictures New Zealand
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Golden Globes Winners -thoughts
TV
The award I was happiest about: Clare Danes and HOMELAND!! Danes is utterly amazing in this role and the show is very well-written and so clever. Such a great cast surrounds Danes. So happy
The huh? moment: Laura Dern wins for ENLIGHTENED?? Who watches that show?
The award that made me happy but should have gone to someone else: As much as I admire Kelsey...
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Martha Marcy May Marlene (dir. Sean Durkin)
The hard to say Martha Marcy Mar Marlene is a haunting film which tells the story of Martha (Elizabeth Olsen), who after two years living in a cult escapes. Martha is picked up by her sister (Sarah Paulson), and joins her and her sister’s husband (Hugh Dancy) at their summer lakehouse retreat. We watch Martha as she re-adjusts to life outside the cult, and deals with what she has been through in...
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Golden Globe Predictions (TV Categories)
Part 2 of my Golden Globe predictions! Here I guess who the winners will be in the main TV categories
Best TV Series: Drama
American Horror Story Boardwalk Empire Boss Game of Thrones Homeland What will win: Homeland
What I would like to see win: Homeland, Game of Thrones, and Boss are all deserving shows in my eyes. I have enjoyed all 3 of these.
Best TV Series: Comedy or Musical
...
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Golden Globe Predictions (Film Categories)
I enjoy the golden globes. I know they don’t mean as much as the Oscars, but they are a lot of fun. It’s great to see TV favourites honoured alongside cinema.
So here are my predictions* for the film categories (guesses* really)
Best Picture: Drama
The Descendants
The Help
Hugo
The Ides of March
Moneyball
War Horse
What will win: The Descendants
What I’d like to see...
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Hugo (dir. Martin Scorsese)
In Hugo director Martin Scorsese takes us on an exciting journey which allows the audience a peak behind the curtains at the magical world of early cinema. In this adaptation of the novel The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick, we follow young orphaned Hugo who lives in the walls of a Paris train station, tending to the running of the clocks. Hugo (Asa Butterfield) is a vulnerable...
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First official image of Daniel Craig in Skyfall
How can an image be both incredibly boring, and extremely hot at the same time? Well done marketing team.
(Image via /film)
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Revenge -Season 1 Episode 12: “Infamy”
What a delicious episode once again. From the moment the author of the “tell all” book about Emily’s father turned up, we knew things would get ugly. A pretty spectacular episode which opened up a whole heap of possibilities for what Emily will do next. My only gripe = not enough Nolan. He is my favourite character and I love...
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Why Do All Movie Tickets Cost the Same? - The... →
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Sherlock - Season 2, Episode 2: The Hounds of Baskerville
The second in the three episode season sees Sherlock and Holmes leave London to investigate the 20 year old murder of man, who was reportedly killed by mysterious hounds, which still haunt the area to this day.
Although I didn’t find this story as compelling as the first, it had several elements which combined made it a fantastic...
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Favourite Australian Films
As a film enthusiast and new resident of Australia, I feel that is my duty to deepen my knowledge of Australia film. I have to admit that my knowledge is limited to the more main stream films which have had cinema releases in New Zealand. Films like Priscilla Queen of the Desert, Castle, Rabbit Proof Fence, Tomorrow When the War Began etc. The Castle is currently my favourite Australia film....
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Movies for a desert Island
Salon.com recently published an interesting piece called “Movies for a desert island”. In this piece the author picked the 10 single feature films, 1 short, and 1 self-contained TV season, they would have if they were shipwrecked.
I thought it might be fun to put together my own list. Below are the rules copied from the Salon article.
Here are the rules:
1. This list is composed...
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Tiny Furniture
A fantastic film created by and starring Lena Dunham. I loved the humour and dynamics between the characters. Uncomfortably close to home in many points. I’ll definitely be keeping an eye on her in the future. Watch out for her new TV venture with Judd Apatow and HBO, Girls -coming in 2012.
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War Horse (dir. Stephen Spielberg)
“Young Albert enlists to service in WWI after his beloved horse, Joey, is sold to the cavalry. Albert’s hopeful journey takes him out of England and across Europe as the war rages on.” - This is the plot synopsis of War Horse according to the IMDB
“The audience is cruelly and blatantly manipulating into feeling as much emotion as possible, through the use of both...
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Best and Worst Movies of 2011 - Metacritic →
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Revenge - Season 1, Episode 11: “Duress”
Oh Revenge, you campy deliciousness of a tv show. I’ve been a bit worried about you these last few episodes. It seemed you had lost your way from, you know, that whole revenge plot and all.
But, i\I needed not worried. You’re back and oh, you’re so very very good. Team Nolan and Emily have made up, Tyler has lost the plot,...
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The 2011 Better-Than List | City Arts | City Arts →
Armond White is the only living film critic who would try to argue that JACK AND JILL is somehow better than THE DESCENDANTS