Tag: 2011
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X-Men: First Class and the comic book heroes of 2011
2011 has already been hotting up as the year of the superhero film, with some of the biggest names in the business set for a remake, reboot or sequel. Indeed, it’s only February, and we’ve already had one blockbuster comic book adaptation in the form of Michel Gondry’s The Green Hornet. As we saw from…
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No Strings Attached
Can men and women traverse the territory between friendship and sex without love getting in the way? Or is the fabled “sex buddies” or “friends with benefits” arrangement merely a myth? The question is by no means new to the realm of film and television yet continues to be explored in countless efforts, with TV’s…
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Paramount Super Bowl Spots 2011
For non-sport fans, the US Super Bowl is a place to catch all the latest big-budget commercials, check for wardrobe malfunctions and perhaps hear a diva making a hash of the US national anthem. For film fans, there is always the added bonus of getting an early look at some of the US summer blockbusters…
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Shaolin
Despite a brief renaissance in the late 1990s and early 2000s, Chinese film (and in particular, martial arts) has been strangely absent from Australian cinema screens over the last few years. Not since the world’s love affair with Ang Lee’s Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon – which in turn led to wide releases of Hero and…
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Mad Bastards
While there have certainly been some big hits at the Australian box office over the last few years, it is difficult to translate the success of local produce to the international stage. It could be that the local focus of many Australian films may not appeal to international audiences, already inundated by the might of…
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The Green Hornet
In an interview with Total Film several years ago, legendary comic book creator Alan Moore said that “The main reason why comics can’t work as films is largely because everybody who is ultimately in control of the film industry is an accountant”. Those accountants have certainly been counting their receipts over the last few years,…
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The Dilemma
Opening with a dinner conversation that discusses the very topic of knowing one’s friends and family, the film unravels the dynamic between smooth-talking salesman Ronny Valentine (Vaughn, Couples Retreat) and his scientist buddy Nick Brannen (James, Grown Ups). With Ronny’s girlfriend Beth (Jennifer Connelly, Creation) and Nick’s wife Geneva (Winona Ryder, Black Swan) the pair…
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Polishing the canon: the importance of lists
The history of film can be told in lists. At least, that is what you’d be forgiven for thinking if you were a regular buyer of popular film magazines or were to wander the aisles of any book store’s collection of tomes on film. The American Film Institute has an entire section dedicated to lists…
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127 Hours
After conquering space (Sunshine) and fighting back zombie hordes (28 Days Later), Danny Boyle achieved what was seemingly impossible by winning no less than 8 Academy Awards for an English/Hindi Slumdog Millionaire, an adaptation of Vikas Swarup’s Q & A. After taking out such a prestigious haul, including statuettes for Best Picture and Best Director (and…
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Most Anticipated 2011
As 2010 comes to a close, and we have our Top 10 in 2010 done and dusted, we here at The Reel Bits are looking to the future. Every year, hundreds of films are released to the cinemas, and we probably see more of them than we are willing to admit. The good, the bad…
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