Well I'm late to the party on this one but I think it's time to talk a little about the behemoth that is Call Of Duty : Modern Warfare 2.
Now it has to be said the guys building this game have clearly spent a lot of time studying the films of Micheal Bay and Tony Scott since the game's single player campaign replicates that kind of brand of ADD wham, bang, wallop action.
It bounds breathlessly from set to set piece (snowmobile chases, helicopter crashes, fights in the White House, prison breaks, space stations!) taking little time to lay down the story or context of what is going on in.
Mind when you do think about for a second or two the story (of as far as I can tell what the story is) makes about as much sense as using a jam jar to bail out Cumbria. Seriously Bad Boys II actually makes more sense.
In amongst all of this of course is the notorious 'No Russian' airport terminal level of terrorism. Now, I can see what developers Infinity Ward are trying to achieve here in terms of illustrating the nature of terrorism but they just don't pull it off and it comes over rather crassly. And for my money goes on for far too long.
It's certainly fair to say that nothing matches the tension and artistry of the previous game's Ghillies In The Mist or Aftermath levels. The jail break of 'Gulag' comes closet to really reacreating that sense of excitment in a time place that feels vivdly real plus it is like playing through 'The Rock' complete with shower room gun fights. Those two levels in the first game made it the first video game where I genuinely didn't what to spoil those levels for other people
Don't get me wrong the game is still thrilling to play with action as fast and compelling as before but for it just lacks that something that it makes it special, its just not as a cohesive experience as the first game's campaign.
But the online play has taken a number of steps forwards with more options than ever before to customise your load out and rewards. Each match no is full of dynamic changing twists and turns with Harriers, Sentry Guns, Predator missiles, Air Drops and even Tactical Nukes unleashed in the name of besting the other team.
It is as addictive as ever, not since Counter Strike's heydey have I had so much fun running around and shooting at total strangers.
So it's a blockbuster (taking in over £48m in it's first two days on release) and is a good, good game. But it's not game of the year, not this year. The likes of Batman : Arkham Asylum, Mirror's Edge, Empire : Total War lead the way and I've only just started it but it seems Assassin's Creed II is going to be everything the first game promised it might be one day - more on that soon but check out the trailer below...
Monday 30 November 2009
Sunday 29 November 2009
Thursday 26 November 2009
Trailer of the day : It's All About Love
It makes little sense as it takes in randomly dying people, a sweeping romance, mysterious identities, random water freezes and loss of gravity in Africa but it's a film that still somehow conveys more genuine emotion than many others and the final third is actually quite moving amongst all the bizarre goings on.
Many will hate but I think it's a charming curio of a film.
Empire Records : A film to listen to
Empire Records follows a day in the life of the staff at the titular music store as the store's closure looms. It's classic teen fair (basically The Breakfast Club in a shop) as the characters make decisions about their future, wrestle with finding a place in life and look to the future whilst Joe the fatherly manager tries to keep everything under control.
Featuring a young cast of up and comers with Liv Tyler, Robin Tunney, Rory Cochrane and Renée Zellweger a year before her break out role in Jerry Maguire it's a film that bounces along from farce to TV life drama of the week fare.
What sets the film apart though (beyond the curiosity factor of the cast in before they were famous roles) is the films soundtrack. The is barely a scene or sequence in the film that isn't played out to the backing of choice picks from the American alt-rock scene. And all the tracks used suit the soundtrack without question as a cultural item that is so very much of it's time and place
In fact in places the films is almost a music video in and of itself. The tone of the picture is uneven as it tires to decide what it wants to be but individual moments come together excellently although it is a shame it doesn't manage to sustain the verve of the opening and early sections, it also fair to say that it is fairly easy to see where each of the character's arcs will take them.
So it's not vastly original and doesn't really hold many surprises but check it out at least for the soundtrack and the very least you'll see Renee prancing around in nothing but an apron.
Featuring a young cast of up and comers with Liv Tyler, Robin Tunney, Rory Cochrane and Renée Zellweger a year before her break out role in Jerry Maguire it's a film that bounces along from farce to TV life drama of the week fare.
What sets the film apart though (beyond the curiosity factor of the cast in before they were famous roles) is the films soundtrack. The is barely a scene or sequence in the film that isn't played out to the backing of choice picks from the American alt-rock scene. And all the tracks used suit the soundtrack without question as a cultural item that is so very much of it's time and place
In fact in places the films is almost a music video in and of itself. The tone of the picture is uneven as it tires to decide what it wants to be but individual moments come together excellently although it is a shame it doesn't manage to sustain the verve of the opening and early sections, it also fair to say that it is fairly easy to see where each of the character's arcs will take them.
So it's not vastly original and doesn't really hold many surprises but check it out at least for the soundtrack and the very least you'll see Renee prancing around in nothing but an apron.
Sunday 22 November 2009
Defy Gravity
I can't recommend Defying Gravity enough. It's unlike any other space set sci-fi show on TV at the moment. Much close to the likes of Rendezvous with Rama than Star Trek.
The basic premise is we follow the eight strong crew of the Antares on a six year journey around the solar system and the members of the ground crew who support them, meanwhile we flash back to the personal journey of the crew as they go through the selection and training process to be part of the mission. And in the background there is a mysterious alien presence known only as Beta.
Primarily it is about the characters rather than being driven by plots featuring disaster the week. The most recognisable face is Ron Livingston (Band Of Brothers) as Maddox Donner who provides a voice over at the start and end of each episode.
The characters feel like real people and the performances are consistently excellent and the building mythos of the show is fascinating not to mention the interesting near future world that has been constructed.
It's hard to describe the series and convey the feel and tone of it. But I do suggest people check it out, it may not be to all tastes but its a fine grown up character driven drama that happens to be set in space.
The basic premise is we follow the eight strong crew of the Antares on a six year journey around the solar system and the members of the ground crew who support them, meanwhile we flash back to the personal journey of the crew as they go through the selection and training process to be part of the mission. And in the background there is a mysterious alien presence known only as Beta.
Primarily it is about the characters rather than being driven by plots featuring disaster the week. The most recognisable face is Ron Livingston (Band Of Brothers) as Maddox Donner who provides a voice over at the start and end of each episode.
The characters feel like real people and the performances are consistently excellent and the building mythos of the show is fascinating not to mention the interesting near future world that has been constructed.
It's hard to describe the series and convey the feel and tone of it. But I do suggest people check it out, it may not be to all tastes but its a fine grown up character driven drama that happens to be set in space.
Terminator : Salvation - I quite enjoy it
Terminator Salvation is loud, very loud (the sound track is muscular to say the least but it does add to the experience) and a lot of things explode, crash, smash and wheel out of control.
The film has been on the receiving end of a lot of criticism but I have to say I enjoy it. Ok, yes the plot does not make an awful lot of sense if you think about too hard (how does Skynet know who Kyle is?) but as a sci-fi action film the enterprise is carried off with a lot of style.
Credit has go to McG (that is a stupid name it has to be said) and the rest of the team for using practical, physical effects whenever possible, given a weighty and believable feel to the terminators that feature. They feel like threat, especially the reborn T-800 that enters the action during the final scenes. It truly seems like an unstoppable killer.
But if you look amongst the action (and some of the action is riveting such as the exploding garage to aerial dogfight via a truck chase sequence) there are some interesting things going on in the narrative.
For example Marcus takes the mantle of the story as the hero with John more of a supporting character but interestingly as far as we know he is a man who is a murdered. We don't get told he was wrongly imprisoned or wrongly accused, as far as we know this is a man who killed his brother and two cops. And that's it. He's a killer.
And although they don't quite make sense but the alterations to the timeline are interesting, this is not the future that John was expecting, Marcus is something new and not predicted. Thus we as the audience also can't safely predict where the story is heading.
Salvation for me was the most enjoyable of the summer's big releases. More of a roller coaster ride than the likes of Trek and it with a plot that I actually did not manage to totally second guess within twenty minutes.
I may be one of few hoping for a further installment but if that is to be the last Terminator film we see I'm happy enough.
But of course I enjoy Terminator 3 : Rise Of The Machines too!
The film has been on the receiving end of a lot of criticism but I have to say I enjoy it. Ok, yes the plot does not make an awful lot of sense if you think about too hard (how does Skynet know who Kyle is?) but as a sci-fi action film the enterprise is carried off with a lot of style.
Credit has go to McG (that is a stupid name it has to be said) and the rest of the team for using practical, physical effects whenever possible, given a weighty and believable feel to the terminators that feature. They feel like threat, especially the reborn T-800 that enters the action during the final scenes. It truly seems like an unstoppable killer.
But if you look amongst the action (and some of the action is riveting such as the exploding garage to aerial dogfight via a truck chase sequence) there are some interesting things going on in the narrative.
For example Marcus takes the mantle of the story as the hero with John more of a supporting character but interestingly as far as we know he is a man who is a murdered. We don't get told he was wrongly imprisoned or wrongly accused, as far as we know this is a man who killed his brother and two cops. And that's it. He's a killer.
And although they don't quite make sense but the alterations to the timeline are interesting, this is not the future that John was expecting, Marcus is something new and not predicted. Thus we as the audience also can't safely predict where the story is heading.
Salvation for me was the most enjoyable of the summer's big releases. More of a roller coaster ride than the likes of Trek and it with a plot that I actually did not manage to totally second guess within twenty minutes.
I may be one of few hoping for a further installment but if that is to be the last Terminator film we see I'm happy enough.
But of course I enjoy Terminator 3 : Rise Of The Machines too!
Saturday 21 November 2009
Today's Triple Bill
Will be Sunderland vs Arsenal, a chance to see the beautiful game and Sunderland. Followed later by Fight Club and Terminator : Salvation on Blu-ray.
Having already had a quick look I can tell you that the HD transfer on the Terminator disk is outstanding, the best looking Blu-ray I've seen yet. And before you say it I really enjoyed the film back in the Summer so I'm looking forward to watching it again.
And even those from beyond our shores find this funny:
Having already had a quick look I can tell you that the HD transfer on the Terminator disk is outstanding, the best looking Blu-ray I've seen yet. And before you say it I really enjoyed the film back in the Summer so I'm looking forward to watching it again.
And even those from beyond our shores find this funny:
Sunday 15 November 2009
The best drama on (American) Televison ; My top five
Recently I have been enjoying True Blood the latest TV venture from Alan Ball and HBO. So far the series if very good and is playing around with its hokey conventions whilst building an array of fascination characters.
It feels like someone crossed Buffy with Six Feet Under, which considering these are two of my favourite series ever is a very good thing if you ask me. The echoes of Six Feet Under have also got my thinking about the old question of which american drama series I think are the best ones out there (and lets face it they american's having been outdoing us for quite some time with ongoing drama)I feel quick rundown is in order (and I'm looking at those series that don't fall into 'genre' territory here) .
Kicking off my top five is Law & Order. Now admittedly I've not watched this for quite a while but for a period I really did get into it (back when Benjamin Bratt was on it). Firstly I really like the structure of the thing, one half police procedural and one half legal drama, giving you a view of each case for two different points of view.
It's also primarily about the case of the week and only rarely do the characters personally lives inturde on proceedings, as such it works really well as a kind of anthology show for a wide range of human dramas from week to week as the cases are often more complicated than they first appear. It short its like The Bill used to be and excellent with it, but I've not tried any of the spin off series.
Nect up at number four is Band Of Brothers. Okay it's only a mini-series but in it's thirteen odd hours it covers so much ground so well that it has to be included. Damian Lewis and Ron Livingston head an excellent cast in a thoughtful, exciting, terrorfying and understanding portrayal of men at war and that goes with it.
Episode 6 "Bastogne" is for me one of the most compelling hours of television I've seen, the tightening of the feeling of unease and tension (in almost etheral winter landscape) leading to a gut wrenching conclusion making you realise just how hard life was for these men. The upcoming compainon piece Pacific should be one to look out for
E.R. comes next. During it's first few years ER was outstanding televison as it threw you into the chaotic world of the Emergency Room in a busy inner city hospital. (It really did put Casualty to shame) Each week the ever complicated lives of the teams of doctors was counter balanced by the drama coming in through the doors for treatment.
Making a star of George Clooney the show had energy and passion to burn and was frequently moving. As the years went by we watched the nervous medical student John Carter grow and slowly but surely become a renowned doctor and a fine man has he lernt from Clooney's impassioned Dr. Ross and Anthony Edwards's Dr Greene.
Dr Greene was arguable the heart of the show and this made it all the more devestatingly when the character suffers from terminal cancer, after along road back to confidence after a devestating attack in the hospital bathroom. In fact the episode in which Dr Greene's death occurs(as seen from the E.R.'s point of view) is a masterclass in understatement and just how effective that can be.
..and from there its business as usual for the episode, occasionally we see others reading the letter on the notice board in the background at episode's end the pages blow up in the wind as the doors open and the faded cork underneath tells us how long they have been pinned up there. Simple, effective, devestating.
Whilst the series was best for it's first few years (the will they, won't they of Dr Ross and nurse Hathaway, Carter's tutalge with Dr Benten, Dr Greene's assult, the shocking attack on Lucy, Ewan Mcgregor guest starring and Tarantino directing) it was never anything other than very good the rest of the time and considering it ran for fifteen years that is some achievement. And the final shot of the series is a stroke of genius. For all those years the audience never saw the hospital building, we were always in looking out and the final episode the final frames are for the first time a shot of the hospital from down the street as the amubulances rush in and life continues.
Coming in second is The Wire, the chronicling if life on both sides of the law in Baltimore. On paper it's a crime drama but it takes in so much more and is quite possiblly the closest thing to a novel on televison as characters, stories and lives interweave over the course of five years.
A clip I've used before but it captures the feel of the series so well.
Rightly championed as the smartest series on televison by many it shows what can be done and it is immaclualty staged and crafted. There's not much more I can say beyond what has been said many places before but only that you should watch it By why is it only number two I hear you ask?
Well, it's because I consider the show that tops the list to be head and shoulders still above all else I've seen. And this is because it melds tremendous craftmenship (each episode looks and feels like it's been made with a film's budget) with brillant performances (from Peter Krause, Micheal C Hall, Frances Conroy, Lauren Ambrose, Rachel Griffiths and well the whole damn cast) and superb writing that picks at and highlights all aspects of life from the dark and destressing to the joyous and to the down right surreal and it comes together to tap into my emotions in a way no other TV show has.
I even adore the titles.
Yes, it is the aforementioned Six Feet Under, the story of the Fisher family and their loves and lives. Once again we have a format that allows a wide range of stories in alongside the continuing characters as the feature funerals often bring to the fore questions for the family and an array of themes for the audience.
From hiding a severed foot in a school locker to starting a new family to surving through the greif of losing a loved one to finding out who you want to be the seires pretty much covered it all. It remains the only thing on TV that has actually reduced me to (manly) tears. I understand it is not for everyone but I for one put it top of the pile.
So that is it, no room for the likes of 24, The Shield, Hill Street Blues, House, The West Wing, The Sopranos. But hey it's my list and if anyone wants to try and convince me they belong in the list above those I've choose they are welcome to try.
It feels like someone crossed Buffy with Six Feet Under, which considering these are two of my favourite series ever is a very good thing if you ask me. The echoes of Six Feet Under have also got my thinking about the old question of which american drama series I think are the best ones out there (and lets face it they american's having been outdoing us for quite some time with ongoing drama)I feel quick rundown is in order (and I'm looking at those series that don't fall into 'genre' territory here) .
Kicking off my top five is Law & Order. Now admittedly I've not watched this for quite a while but for a period I really did get into it (back when Benjamin Bratt was on it). Firstly I really like the structure of the thing, one half police procedural and one half legal drama, giving you a view of each case for two different points of view.
It's also primarily about the case of the week and only rarely do the characters personally lives inturde on proceedings, as such it works really well as a kind of anthology show for a wide range of human dramas from week to week as the cases are often more complicated than they first appear. It short its like The Bill used to be and excellent with it, but I've not tried any of the spin off series.
Nect up at number four is Band Of Brothers. Okay it's only a mini-series but in it's thirteen odd hours it covers so much ground so well that it has to be included. Damian Lewis and Ron Livingston head an excellent cast in a thoughtful, exciting, terrorfying and understanding portrayal of men at war and that goes with it.
Episode 6 "Bastogne" is for me one of the most compelling hours of television I've seen, the tightening of the feeling of unease and tension (in almost etheral winter landscape) leading to a gut wrenching conclusion making you realise just how hard life was for these men. The upcoming compainon piece Pacific should be one to look out for
E.R. comes next. During it's first few years ER was outstanding televison as it threw you into the chaotic world of the Emergency Room in a busy inner city hospital. (It really did put Casualty to shame) Each week the ever complicated lives of the teams of doctors was counter balanced by the drama coming in through the doors for treatment.
Making a star of George Clooney the show had energy and passion to burn and was frequently moving. As the years went by we watched the nervous medical student John Carter grow and slowly but surely become a renowned doctor and a fine man has he lernt from Clooney's impassioned Dr. Ross and Anthony Edwards's Dr Greene.
Dr Greene was arguable the heart of the show and this made it all the more devestatingly when the character suffers from terminal cancer, after along road back to confidence after a devestating attack in the hospital bathroom. In fact the episode in which Dr Greene's death occurs(as seen from the E.R.'s point of view) is a masterclass in understatement and just how effective that can be.
..and from there its business as usual for the episode, occasionally we see others reading the letter on the notice board in the background at episode's end the pages blow up in the wind as the doors open and the faded cork underneath tells us how long they have been pinned up there. Simple, effective, devestating.
Whilst the series was best for it's first few years (the will they, won't they of Dr Ross and nurse Hathaway, Carter's tutalge with Dr Benten, Dr Greene's assult, the shocking attack on Lucy, Ewan Mcgregor guest starring and Tarantino directing) it was never anything other than very good the rest of the time and considering it ran for fifteen years that is some achievement. And the final shot of the series is a stroke of genius. For all those years the audience never saw the hospital building, we were always in looking out and the final episode the final frames are for the first time a shot of the hospital from down the street as the amubulances rush in and life continues.
Coming in second is The Wire, the chronicling if life on both sides of the law in Baltimore. On paper it's a crime drama but it takes in so much more and is quite possiblly the closest thing to a novel on televison as characters, stories and lives interweave over the course of five years.
A clip I've used before but it captures the feel of the series so well.
Rightly championed as the smartest series on televison by many it shows what can be done and it is immaclualty staged and crafted. There's not much more I can say beyond what has been said many places before but only that you should watch it By why is it only number two I hear you ask?
Well, it's because I consider the show that tops the list to be head and shoulders still above all else I've seen. And this is because it melds tremendous craftmenship (each episode looks and feels like it's been made with a film's budget) with brillant performances (from Peter Krause, Micheal C Hall, Frances Conroy, Lauren Ambrose, Rachel Griffiths and well the whole damn cast) and superb writing that picks at and highlights all aspects of life from the dark and destressing to the joyous and to the down right surreal and it comes together to tap into my emotions in a way no other TV show has.
I even adore the titles.
Yes, it is the aforementioned Six Feet Under, the story of the Fisher family and their loves and lives. Once again we have a format that allows a wide range of stories in alongside the continuing characters as the feature funerals often bring to the fore questions for the family and an array of themes for the audience.
From hiding a severed foot in a school locker to starting a new family to surving through the greif of losing a loved one to finding out who you want to be the seires pretty much covered it all. It remains the only thing on TV that has actually reduced me to (manly) tears. I understand it is not for everyone but I for one put it top of the pile.
So that is it, no room for the likes of 24, The Shield, Hill Street Blues, House, The West Wing, The Sopranos. But hey it's my list and if anyone wants to try and convince me they belong in the list above those I've choose they are welcome to try.
Thursday 12 November 2009
I have been watching : Burn After Reading
The Coens follow up to No Country For Old Men is a much more lightweight film. Ostensibly a comedy it once again sees the brothers fusing desperate genre conventions as the political spy thriller becomes a farce then the darkest of comedies.
George Clooney once again essays one of life's deluded as the stay at home husband with a taste for the ladies and a eye raising invention in the basement. Around him John Malkovich is in angry mode, the ever excellent Frances McDormand is a women driven to better herself (with "surgeries"), Tilda Swinton is the ice queen (although not that one) and Brad Pitt has a whale of a time playing a total goof ball of a fitness instructor.
Altogether it's a lightweight follow up to No Country For Old Men and it will leave as many puzzled as it does amused and the denouncement is certainly one to frustrate a lot of people. Very much a case of the Coens at play.
George Clooney once again essays one of life's deluded as the stay at home husband with a taste for the ladies and a eye raising invention in the basement. Around him John Malkovich is in angry mode, the ever excellent Frances McDormand is a women driven to better herself (with "surgeries"), Tilda Swinton is the ice queen (although not that one) and Brad Pitt has a whale of a time playing a total goof ball of a fitness instructor.
Altogether it's a lightweight follow up to No Country For Old Men and it will leave as many puzzled as it does amused and the denouncement is certainly one to frustrate a lot of people. Very much a case of the Coens at play.
Sunday 8 November 2009
Filed under X
Well, thats it. Years behind and many months after I begun (there where many breaks) I have finished my project to watch the entirity of The X-Files.
I think the show is really good for five years, shows flashes of genius upto until the end of year eight but the last season was a slog. It seemed to just drift directionlessly along trying to find itself a purpose after pretty much all the major plotlines had either reachd conclusion or been lost in a fog of half thought out ideas.
Anyway I thought I'd just quickly give my thoughts on the conclusion and I have to say that for a seires that last nine years the big finish was low key and underwhelming to say the least.
I have no problem with the actual plot of the thing or really where the characters were left (apart form the fact that I wonder why they bothered writing in Scully's child at all - hey the wrote around Gillian Anderson's first pregnancy) rahter the way it was all put together.
The first hour or so of the finale was a court room hearing which was used basically as recap of the story so far, including the use of clips from previous episodes. It didn't even work dramatically since it was supposed to be a trail for Mulder's life and all that happend is that Skinner would say "Hey there is a massive conspiracy that's at fault here, listne to this witness", said witness would then recant part of the arc plot before the prosecuter would demand proof and our band of heores would stand around going "Errmmm...".
After this pointless bit of drama was done, Mulder escapes with the help of Deputy Director Kirch who's suddenly decided he's not such a bad man after all. He then goes to see our old smoking friend who turns out not to be dead but does turn out to be uninteresting as he basically has to restate what Mulder saw at the begining before there is a undramatic chase leading to a low key final five minutes as Mulder and Scully reflect on nine years of basically getting no-where.
And the one interesting part with Mulder imagining long gone characters coming to him in his cell wasn't explored at all. Plus the chocies seemed strange, I understand the Lone Gunmen turning up but X and Krychek? Where were Mulder's father, Deep Throat, Fox's mom, his sister?
So it seems finales remain a tricky thing for people to get right. Quantum Leap's did it well, Buffy's worked for me, the final moments of Cheers are brillantly done but it does seem fewer getting right than those that don't at the end of the day.
The X-Files, great when on song but it was dragged along at least two (if not three) years too long.
I think the show is really good for five years, shows flashes of genius upto until the end of year eight but the last season was a slog. It seemed to just drift directionlessly along trying to find itself a purpose after pretty much all the major plotlines had either reachd conclusion or been lost in a fog of half thought out ideas.
Anyway I thought I'd just quickly give my thoughts on the conclusion and I have to say that for a seires that last nine years the big finish was low key and underwhelming to say the least.
I have no problem with the actual plot of the thing or really where the characters were left (apart form the fact that I wonder why they bothered writing in Scully's child at all - hey the wrote around Gillian Anderson's first pregnancy) rahter the way it was all put together.
The first hour or so of the finale was a court room hearing which was used basically as recap of the story so far, including the use of clips from previous episodes. It didn't even work dramatically since it was supposed to be a trail for Mulder's life and all that happend is that Skinner would say "Hey there is a massive conspiracy that's at fault here, listne to this witness", said witness would then recant part of the arc plot before the prosecuter would demand proof and our band of heores would stand around going "Errmmm...".
After this pointless bit of drama was done, Mulder escapes with the help of Deputy Director Kirch who's suddenly decided he's not such a bad man after all. He then goes to see our old smoking friend who turns out not to be dead but does turn out to be uninteresting as he basically has to restate what Mulder saw at the begining before there is a undramatic chase leading to a low key final five minutes as Mulder and Scully reflect on nine years of basically getting no-where.
And the one interesting part with Mulder imagining long gone characters coming to him in his cell wasn't explored at all. Plus the chocies seemed strange, I understand the Lone Gunmen turning up but X and Krychek? Where were Mulder's father, Deep Throat, Fox's mom, his sister?
So it seems finales remain a tricky thing for people to get right. Quantum Leap's did it well, Buffy's worked for me, the final moments of Cheers are brillantly done but it does seem fewer getting right than those that don't at the end of the day.
The X-Files, great when on song but it was dragged along at least two (if not three) years too long.
Wednesday 4 November 2009
Iconic
Empire file magazine this month has a cover feature looking at what they consider to be the ten film icons of the last decade and it's fair to say that it is an intriguing list.
First up we have James Bond. Now I have no problem with saying Bond is a cultural icon but I'm not so sure I'd pick him out as being one of great significance to the last decade. Yes the retooled and rebooted Bond of Casino Royale made impact and Quantum Of Solace was a big hit but I still feel that Daniel Craig's Bond is an excellent performance still waiting for an excellent film.
Casino was quite good but the final third just got the pace all wrong and QoS was, well a built dull, plus all of it's best bits (and in fact modern Bond's best bits) are effectively stolen from the next on list, Jason Bourne
Now Bourne is one I totally agree with, the films are all excellent top rate thrillers and the role has made a true bona-fida star of Matt Damon. The Bourne series bought the spy thriller genre right up to date with a feel of realism and verve. And with Bourne himself we had a flawed, real, believable man you could indentify with much more than the (until recently) almost comic book styling of Bond
Next up is Aragorn he of unwashed hair, manly strength and awww a big ol romantic heart. I think I'm ok with this one too since Aragorn is one of the more effective parts of the Rings films and he does basically take the lead in half of the story. Almost a Han Solo for the decade, well, he would be if he had a bit more charm anyway.
We also have The Bride of Kill Bill film and again I think this is a good choice. Certainly in terms of basic iconography the character looks the part (see above. Whilst the overall quality of the films can be debated (I like 'em and Part 2 gets better each time I watch it) yo have to admit Uma Thurman nailed the part totally. Both strong warrior and grieving mother and when teamed up with QT's magpie mind and eye for a visual you get a character that works wonderfully.
Another strange choice is Heath Ledger's Joker. Don't get me wrong it is a great performance and the look of the character I'm sure is one that will enter the public culture at large and be seen every Halloween for years to come. But I'm not sure I'd call it iconic for the decade.
Coming up next is the role that made Russel Crowe a star, it's Gladiator's Maximus. Having already ingrained itself into the lexicon (how many times have you heard rif's on his self introduction to the Emperor?) I've no problem with his inclusion. A character that is deceitfully deep and one that was strongly protected by both star and director (both insisting on no added love interest and his eventual demise). Popular with the ladies too I hear!
Harry Potter seems a fair enough choice since he's the star of the decade's biggest film franchise.
Shaun of Shaun Of The Dead fame is another one I'm not so sure on, yes he's great creation but he works best as one of a group, specifically a double act with best mate Ed. For me you have to take both for it to work, but I guess as a depiction of a modern urban young(ish) male he's as good as it gets.
Then we have Jack Sparrow who I guess has made a strong impact and launched Johnny Depp to a level of mega stardom he'd never before been close to. Tho' I do maintain whilst he was awesome in the first film he was just a bit of tool in the subsequent entries. Still a planned fourth pirates film centered around him is in the works and a testament to his popularity
Last up we have Hugh Jackman's charismatic take on Wolverine which is another one I happy to go with. After all this decade has been the decade of the comic book blockbuster and out of those films and characters it has to be said Wolverine is the coolest by far. Now he is a bit of a Han Solo for the decade, the lovable rogue with a dark side and hidden past. And had Jackman not made the part his own and made it work it's quite possible that X-Men would have failed to hit a cord and thus the cinematic landscape would be very different today.
So that's Empire choices and my brief thoughts on those, but what do you think and who should be on this list instead?
Sunday 1 November 2009
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