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Archive for the ‘Films’ Category

Who is watching the Watchmen?

Wednesday, March 11th, 2009

I am.  Well, I was.. I mean I have… in the cinema.  Erm, uhm, you know?  Actually, let’s start this again shall we?

The first draft of this review turned out to be a complete disaster.  I had initially wanted to ‘describe and rate the total experience I had: the place, the cinema, and the film.‘  What actually happened was I ended up discussing car parks in great detail.  In-depth and rigorous, but ultimately very boring.  I’m sure you wanted to hear more about my thoughts on Watchmen, not car parks, right?

Most of you will know that Watchmen started out as a graphic novel.  I was aware of this, but as of yet I haven’t got around to reading it.  I will though, someday.  So, to many people a comparison with the graphic novel is a must, but alas I cannot do that here.  For that, you can take a look at Empire’s review.  Considering the creator of Watchmen, Alan Moore has been quoted as saying that Watchmen is “inherently unfilmable” I didn’t exactly know what to expect.

Again, if you want a sublime review considering every facet of the film, then I urge you again to read Empire’s review.  All as I am providing here are a few thoughts and opinions of mine on the film.  Obviously the film tends to benefit the reader of the novel, not your humble movie-goer.  I can tell you that my friends didn’t really ‘get’ the film, and rated it below average as it wasn’t a particularly action-packed film, and the pace didn’t really kick up a gear.  So whilst Empire has rated it 4/5, I’ve rated it 3.5/5 due to its poor translation on to film.

But even I feel that’s missing the point.  Whether or not you believe the film compares favourably with the graphic novel, it is still a very intelligent film that gives you a lot to think about.  Whilst coming out of the film initially disappointed- the underlying story, themes and concepts have been gradually eating away at me.  I want more!  And I’ll definitely be picking up a copy of the Watchmen graphic novel.  As a side note: the book containing artwork from the film is worth a look.  The black and white photos are fantastic.

So, a mixed bag of thoughts.  Those of you who have see Watchmen as well, please let me know what you thought and maybe I’ll be able to add another angle to this article.

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Empire Blog attacks character of Aunt May

Friday, January 9th, 2009

Empire Blog attacks character of Aunt May- I feel that the attack is a little bit on the harsh side!  What do you think?

Aunt May is supposed to be the hero’s role model and the wise, kindly heart of the franchise. In reality, she’s a humourless, boring windbag — Yoda without the lightsaber, kung fu skills or amusing wordplay.

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Shoot! away

Monday, December 8th, 2008

Hello there everyone, I’ve been contacted by the good guys at PlayStation about Shoot!  Without further ado, I present the info straight from the horse’s mouth:

I was just browsing your blog and thought that this would be of interest to you and your readers. It’s an online project for PlayStation 3 called Shoot!.

It brings six of the most promising international directorial talents together with the six of the most respected names in the film industry today, to make six short films commissioned exclusively for PlayStation.

Some of these films are already available and some will be released later this month through the PlayStation Network (available in High Definition through a PS3 or PSP) or 7 days later at www.psshoot.com (in standard definition).

Each week one of the films will be released to download (for free) along with further video content which tells the story of how that film was made, from its pitch to its production and interviews with the respective directors.

This is the kind of rich, value-added content that will entice users to make the most of the PlayStation Network and show that it can provide a wealth of great content, not limited to downloadable games.  I came across Shoot! at the weekend whilst perusing the PlayStation Store, but I didn’t know about this dedicated website.

Aside from the standard ‘this is good for PlayStation’ spiel, the content itself is very interesting and sheds light on how each respective director approached the creative process and the techniques used to achieve their vision.  Even for those who don’t have a PS3, videos are up on www.psshoot.com- well worth a look.

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