Escapism Preview #2: Dr Strangelove, Superman, The Black Hole, Planet of the Apes
The Escapism Festival begins tonight and runs til late on Sunday evening – Jett and I are ensconced and ready for the show. One sentence previews follow: hope you’ll be with us in spirit if not body; and we’ll podcast next week about whether or not the experience renewed Jett’s love of the movies, or [...]
TFT 91 – Surrogates / Paul Newman
In this week’s episode: Surrogates / Paul Newman: The Tribute Collection / The Paul Newman Collection Get TFT delivered weekly via iTunes Subscribe to our podcast Subscribe to our blog Follow us on Twitter
You asked, so here it is: My Complete Sent-from-the-future review of 'Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen'
I had a dream the other night in which I was visited by my The Film Talk co-host Jett Loe as an old man –he didn’t seem to remember me; but he gave me a transcript of a statement which he asked me to read on the show. I duly complied, but demand for a [...]
The Film Talk – Part 72 – Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
This Episode: Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen Get TFT delivered weekly via iTunes Subscribe to our podcast Subscribe to our blog Follow us on Twitter
Mark Kermode's Finest Review: 'Transformers' and the Work of Michael Bay
Our review of the ‘film’ Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen won’t be uploaded till tomorrow Dear Listeners. In the meantime I present Mark Kermode’s take on the pic. We’ll try to match his review’s insight into the work of director Bay, though this may not be possible.
I've Fallen and Can't Get Up – AKA "Take One 'Raiders of the Lost Ark' and Call Me in the Morning"
Should films subscribe to that doctor’s oath: “First do no harm?” This comes to mind this morning as I feel that watching ‘Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen’ has caused irreparable harm to some aspects of my functioning – namely, the ability to integrate ideas/things together – put concepts into context. So horrible and possibly physically [...]
The Film Talk – Part 69 – Up / Anvil! / The Hangover
This Episode: Up / Anvil! / The Hangover Get TFT delivered weekly via iTunes Subscribe to our podcast Subscribe to our blog Follow us on Twitter
Are Bad Films of Any Value?
‘Terminator Salvation’: an unrecognised masterpiece full of signs/symbols that points towards a new way for cinema? No, I don’t think so. ‘Salvation’ is a film we both roundly denounced on the podcast, (Gareth arguably less so), but the vehemence with which ‘kbm’ puts forwards his comments in this post: Three Questions about ‘Terminator Salvation’ at [...]
The Summer-Movie-Looking-Forward-Or-Not-TFT-Continuum
It’s summer, so five kinds of movies will soon arrive: the rare ones that justify the existence of the Hollywood machine; the ones that I shouldn’t like but probably will; the ones that could turn out terrible or fine; the ones that are completely unpredictable; and the ones you couldn’t pay me to see. Given [...]
Three Terminator Haikus
A Depressing Haiku about ‘Terminator: Salvation’ The age of machines Has already begun, right? Skynet’s in your house. An Amusing Haiku about ‘Terminator: Salvation’ McG is the name Of the Director. Makes him Sound like an android. A Serious Haiku about ‘Terminator: Salvation’ Robots kill people. People kill back. But don’t ask Why we like [...]
Terminator Salvation
I must admit, the new ‘Terminator’ film looks dreadful. Still, I’d like to review it for this week’s show, (mainly because my old house – precariously perched by the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge in New Mexico seems to feature in the movie prominently!) but Gareth and I are both, of course, out of town for [...]
The FilmTalk – Part 66 – Angels and Demons
This Episode: Angels and Demons / Angels over Berlin / Night of the Demon Get TFT delivered weekly via iTunes Subscribe to our podcast Subscribe to our blog Follow us on Twitter
'Star Trek' Haiku
Now Spock cries. Kirk flirts. Time loops create new options. Movie’s pretty good. It really is, actually. JJ Abrams knows how to keep an audience’s attention, the black hole/time warp device is a stroke of genius, allowing the story to start from scratch while also making space for old Spock to make a return visit, [...]
The Film Talk – Part 65 – Star Trek
This Episode: Star Trek Get TFT delivered weekly via iTunes Subscribe to our podcast Subscribe to our blog Follow us on Twitter – – – What is TFT+ ? Click Here to Find Out
'Wolverine' Affected by Piracy?
Via The Hollywood Reporter comes the news that News Corp’s Fox says the workprint of ‘Wolverine’ has been downloaded illegally 4 million times: Pirated ‘Wolverine’ bigger than expected Now, as addressed in our ‘Wolverine’ podcast analysis: The Film Talk – Part 64 – Wolverine / State of Play I found the workprint of the film [...]
Spielberg's 'War of the Worlds' – September 11th and the War in Iraq
Boy, ‘War of the Worlds’ is a good movie. I thought I appreciated it when it came out in 2005, but was struck watching it again last night by just how well it interweaves into a single experience the two monumental U.S. horrors of the first decade of the 21st century: * people are going [...]
The Film Talk – Part 64 – Wolverine / State of Play
This Episode: X-Men Origins: Wolvervine / State of Play Get TFT delivered weekly via iTunes Subscribe to our podcast Subscribe to our blog Follow us on Twitter
What Watchmen Creators Zack Snyder and David Hayter Could Have Learned From Peter Weir
Gareth and I have already gone into some depth analysing the myriad failures of the recent film ‘Watchmen’: The Film Talk – Part 52 – Watchmen But am prompted to add a last thought after reading this weekend a plea from ‘Watchmen’ screenwriter David Hayter to go see the film again so as to boost [...]
'Watchmen' Re-visited
Regular listeners will already know that my genial co-host and I didn’t much care for ‘Watchmen’. Jett, as a long term fan of costumed avengers felt it missed the point, to say the least; I wasn’t sure. I saw it again the other night in the hope that my thoughts might clarify themselves. So, for [...]
Just Back from 'Watchmen' – The Theatre was Empty
Has everyone who is going to see ‘Watchmen’ seen it already? After all the websites, Twitter chatter, blogs, etc. me and my film-going companions this afternoon were shocked to find the matinee showing of ‘Watchmen’ empty, only one day after being released. So is all the hype, all the fan-boy excitement just an example of [...]
An Experiment in (not) Reading a Film
I’m a writer. That’s the kind of gambit that gets people in trouble – Rip Torn in ‘Wonder Boys’ comes to mind, the appellation apparently being evoked as the beginning and end of his vocation: he seems to believe that ‘being’ a writer is more important than ever actually writing anything. So I know I [...]
Why You Should See 'The Godfather' and 'Part II' If You're In Nashville
There are many reasons to see ‘The Godfather’ and its first sequel (I’m a somewhat defender of the third one, but let’s not get into an argument on a Monday). 1: They are terrific stories, of a family’s rise and downfall, a metaphor for the dehumanising effects of what we often call capitalism, and how [...]
Rocky IV Is Some Sort of Pop Art Masterpiece
What a gloriously misunderstood film. Released in 1985, reviewers, then and now, judged it against a template taken from faux realistic cinema, (as in the original Rocky), rather than seeing it for what it is: A joyous, Warholian Pop Art treasure. Look at the image above, from the opening titles of the film, has there [...]
It's Official – 'Watchmen' to be Remade for 2012
A friend in the business sent me this framegrab from a Warner Brother’s Press Release site, (click on the image for larger version), – looks like it accidentally went live a week early. As to the content…well…I’m not surprised. – – – UPDATE: Our 40 minute podcast analysis on the failure of ‘Watchmen’ is now [...]
