Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Watchmen Set Visit

Will the Doomsday Clock strike twelve when Watchmen finally hits theatres on March 6th?

The amount of hype surrounding Watchmen seems almost unprecedented, particularly for an R-rated movie based on source material by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons which, despite years of critical lauds, can still best be described as cultish. As early as last July, the first full-length trailer appeared (attached to The Dark Knight), followed shortly thereafter by a front cover on Entertainment Weekly, which used the film as the centerpiece for a Comic Con story. Warner Brothers has maintained the momentum month after month ever since. But then, of course, there was the lawsuit brought on by Fox, which was followed by a period of uncertainty. Fans held their breath. Would we even get to see Watchmen on the long-promised release date? The suit was eventually settled out of court for an undisclosed sum, as well as a share of theatrical profits, and everyone could breathe easy again. With March right around the corner, the WB publicity machine again kicked into overdrive, and in the last few weeks, it's been almost impossible to be a movie fan of any kind and not be aware that this film is coming soon to a theatre near you.

Read the rest of this piece, which details my visit to the Watchmen set, by clicking here and visiting Bullz-Eye.

Friday, February 13, 2009

Being There

These days, it seems almost impossible to bring up Being There without some unimaginative goon coming along and comparing it to Forrest Gump. That’s unfortunate, because if, like me, you’ve got little patience for that particular Zemeckis opus, you may be inclined to skip Being There altogether. This would be a grave mistake. The big difference between the two films is that Gump wants to be an important film, but in doing so, it achieves the opposite. Being There, on the other hand, has no such aspirations and manages to become an important film because it isn’t trying so hard. And if you’ve never seen the film and think you know everything there is to know about Peter Sellers, then Being There will show you the actor as you’ve never seen him before.

Read the rest of this DVD review by clicking here and visiting Bullz-Eye.

Tuesday, February 03, 2009

The Last Detective: Complete Collection

In a TV age when we are continually exposed to the grittiness of shows like The Shield and Criminal Minds, a series like The Last Detective is quite an antidote to the seemingly never-ending bleakness of cop procedurals. Based on a series of books by writer Leslie Thomas, the show follows the cases of Detective Constable Dangerous Davies, played by Peter Davison of Doctor Who and All Creatures Great and Small fame. “Dangerous” is an ironic nickname for the guy, as he’s anything but. It almost seems to be a joke on the viewer as well, since over the course of four seasons and 17 installments, we never actually learn his real name. (Is it somehow possible that his first name is Dangerous?) Dangerous is the kind of underdog that you can’t help but root for. He is the butt of many a joke from his colleagues, his superior hates him, and he routinely gets shit on by life. And yet he’s an immensely likable guy – a regular Joe completely unlike most of the cops seen on TV. I dare say that maybe he’s even Britain’s version of Columbo.

Read this entire DVD review by clicking here and visiting Bullz-Eye.