Posts by lee.fenton2002@gmail.com

Kiss Kiss Bang Bang:

What a film!

I love this little satirical homage to noir thrillers of the past. Robert Downey Jr. stars as ‘Harry Lockhart’, a down on his luck criminal who has to rob just to make ends meet.

In one of the early scenes of the film, we find him stealing his son a Christmas present from a toy store, and having trouble finding the damn thing. When the police are alerted by a neighbour (and his partner is shot in the process of running away), Harry has to ditch and run into a nearby audition - in an attempt to escape incarceration. This leads to him delivering a pitch perfect performance, comedy ensues and we soon find him on his way to Hollywood.

Introduction

Snowpiercer left me out in the cold.

I found myself lost in a tundra of characters lacking motivation, nausea inducing shaky-cam, and a host of mediocre performances.

There are elements that I enjoy here, just not enough of them to make up for the lack of cohesion. This movie has potential, indeed, I believe it is chalked full - but in the end - the overall product still needs a certain amount of polish. 

I wanted to like this movie… it’s just that my understanding of critical analysis got in the way.

Damn.

I was down for ‘Creed III’ from the get-go.

Unlike some that had reservations about a Rocky property that’s ‘sans Sylvester Stallone’, I found myself intrigued with a film that was allowed to grow from the initial concept that spawned the franchise, a full forty-seven years ago. In other words, Rocky’s story has been told many times before, now it’s Creed’s moment to shine.

The fight scenes are all on-point, eliciting that intense feeling of watching a ‘Rocky’ movie - hyper-realism is utilized to make the boxing visceral and immersive, an essential ingredient and hallmark of the series.

- Ryan Gosling was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor, for his work in the independent drama ‘Half Nelson’.

-’The Place Beyond the Pines’ was a critical success and garnered Gosling praise for his portrayal of Luke, a motorcycle stunt rider who moonlights as a bank robber to provide for his family.

-At 12 years of age Ryan Gosling attended an open audition for Disney Channel’s revival of ‘The Mickey Mouse Club’ and received a two year contract to become a ‘mouseketeer’. He starred in the Disney variety show alongside Justin Timberlake, Britney Spears, and Christina Anguilera.

-Ryan Gosling was born in London, Ontario - Canada.

- He is in an indie-rock band with his friend Zack Shields called ‘Dead Man’s Bones’

-Ryan’s first turn as an action hero was in the 2011 film ‘Drive’. The movie is based on the noir fiction novel of the same name.

‘Why Superhero Movies are Proving to be WB-Discovery’s Kryptonite III’ - Opinion Piece

In the first part of this series, I detailed the concept of ‘sunk cost fallacy’ and illustrated how it applies to the current situation at Warner Bros. - Discovery. In addition - I focused on Warner Bros. rights acquisitions of DC film properties.

In the second part, I connected the dots when it came to David Zaslov’s financial decisions, as well as a new development in the story; a US Congressman who has decided to investigate WB’s canceling of recent projects and whether or not the tax write-offs are legally sound.

A neo-noir cyberpunk thriller, the first of its kind - ‘Blade Runner’ (1982) was a revolutionary motion picture due to its distinct visual style and realistic depiction of a futuristic setting.

Director Ridley Scott is credited with having invented the look and aesthetic of cyberpunk for the screen with the inception of this film.

The film ‘Blade Runner’ is an adaptation of an award winning science fiction novel by author Phillip K. Dick, first published in 1968 and titled: Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?

It was a nominee for the ‘1968 Nebula Award’ and it won the ‘Locus Poll for All-time Best SF Novel Before 1990’. The novel is very similar to the film - with one caveat - as suggested by the title the book deals with generic androids (robotic beings) whereas Ridley Scott made the decision to alter this trope and create a new creature for the film version: The Replicant.

Upon its release, I actually resisted liking ‘Love Actually’.

In fact, when someone close to me suggested watching it - I took a look at the cover of the DVD and said something along the lines of,

“Looks like another one of those romantic comedies. I’m not into it.”

At the time - I was young and only just beginning my journey into film. Luckily, the person decided to play the copy of ‘Love Actually’ regardless of my objections. After viewing the entirety of the feature, it dawned on me… I did enjoy the movie. It just so happens that I enjoyed it quite a bit.

Hell, upon viewing it again, a little while later - I realized I absolutely loved the film and would probably recommend it to anybody willing to listen.