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Dan Owen reviews
2 0 0 6 R e t r o s p e c t i v e |
MAYNot content with creating two of the most successful TV shows in history (Alias and Lost) J.J Abrams set his sights on the movies with Mission Impossible III. Incredibly, MI-III is possibly the best of the three movies in terms of pure popcorn entertainment, but wasn't the expected behemoth at the box-office. Fingers were firmly pointed in the direction of Tom Cruise's wavering star power post-Katie Holmes and sofa-hopping on Oprah... The summer's biggest disappointment arrived with Tom Hanks, as he took the lead in The Da Vinci Code. The Dan Brown novel has been a remarkable hit for a few years now (I defy anybody not to spot a copy being read while on holiday...) so fans were left deflated by this uninspired adaptation. Or perhaps when the book is translated visually it's easier to see its weaknesses? But audience frustration didn't damage the box-office –- it seemed everyone wanted to see for themselves, and The Da Vinci Code became the second most successful film in 2006! X-Men 3 was set to be another of 2006's casualties, as original director Bryan Singer jumped ship to Superman. Renowned hack Brett Ratner took charge and produced a competent but emotionally empty vehicle for some impressive action set-pieces. X3 just about saved itself from bombing through pure strength of CGI and audience investment with the characters and ongoing story. |
JUNEThe first notable remake of the year came with Poseidon, courtesy of Wolfgang Petersen (who has a thing with water following Das Boot and The Perfect Storm). Sadly, Poseidon didn't capture imaginations like the classic 70s original, but it remains an enjoyable spectacle for disaster movie fans. The Omen was the next "why bother?" remake of the year, essentially sticking with the Richard Donner original but altering the cast. Unfortunately, all the scares and foreboding was lacking in this retread. If the intent was to cash-in on the 6/6/6 release date, a reissue of the original would have been preferable. Pirates Of The Caribbean 2 was the summer's main hit and most lucrative film of the year, with Johnny Depp and the gang returning for more high-octane nautical/supernatural jollity. Pirates 2 was a massive hit (indeed 1 out of every 4 DVDs sold at Christmas was Dead Man's Chest) but it split critics –- with many claiming it to be overlong, convoluted and uninspired. Another CGI cartoon blew into theatres in the shape of Over The Hedge, another adventure featuring talking animals (all voices by celebs, of course) that did amazing business. In fact, it became the 9th most successful film of the year! |
JULYBryan Singer left the X-Men behind to bring The Man Of Steel back to cinemas in Superman Returns. By rights it should have been the hit of the summer, but it disappointed many insiders with its box-office take. Still, by no means a turkey, it gathered strong reviews and general praise for its respectful homage to Richard Donner's original. Another needless sequel arrived with The Fast & The Furious 3: cars, sexy women, macho men = modest hit. Us Brits attempted to splice home-grown hits Harry Potter and James Bond into Stormbreaker –- a fun if forgettable piece of junior espionage. Pixar had mixed success with Cars. The CGI movie animation is no longer a novelty in itself, but Pixar can usually be relied upon to provide more story, characterisation and heart than the competition. Cars is easily their weakest movie, although visually it's unsurpassed and... well, even sub-par Pixar is streets ahead of stuff like Ice Age 2. |
AUGUSTWhoever persuaded Bill Murray to return and voice Garfield in a sequel nobody wanted is anybody's guess. I think money had a role to play. Garfield 2 was marginally better than the first one, amazingly, but still a weak adaptation of Jim Davis' iconic comic-strip. Again, 20 years too late, guys... A big let-down in late-summer was Michael Mann's Miami Vice. This straight update to his '80s cop show was expected to do big business, but got buried despite mostly positive reviews. It seemed people just weren't interested. Monster House was easily the year's most undervalued CGI animation -– and perhaps the best. It's a classic throwback to the 80s adventures of Spielberg's era, beautifully animated and with a great story. Check it out if you're one of the many millions who missed it at the cinema. Jack Black had a bad year in 2006. Nacho Libre started the bad penny rolling. It was a one-joke comedy with one laugh: that Black looks kinda funny dressed as a Mexican wrestler. Black is always good value, but the movie is lazy and lacked spark. My Super Ex-Girlfriend was never going to be a classic, but its super-heroic spin on a relationship break-up was more fun than you'd imagine. Uma Thurman is always good and perfectly cast here, while Luke Wilson finally began to compete against his brother Owen at the movies. Mind you, if you thought Jack Black had an annus horribilis, spare a thought for Wilson, whose other movie, Idiocracy, was swept under the carpet by US distributors and goes unreleased in the UK to this day... M. Night Shyamalan, that self-proclaimed father of modern horror, retuned, following the critical thrashing afforded The Village, with Lady In The Water. A more savage drubbing ensued. To be honest, the film isn't as bad as you'd expect based on reviews, but there's a pervasive sense that Shyamalan believes his own hype far, far too much. It's time to re-examine The Sixth Sense and get your groove back Night. |
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The following is a list of Dan's Movie Digests online :
2007 Retrospective: Part One 2007 Retrospective: Part Two 2007 Retrospective: Part Three 2007 Retrospective: Part Four
Issue 188: August 22nd 2007 Issue 187: August 8th 2007 Issue 186: February 22nd 2007 Issue 185: January 26th 2007
2006 Retrospective: Part One 2006 Retrospective: Part Two 2006 Retrospective: Part Three 2006 Retrospective: Part Four
Issue 184: December 20th 2006 Issue 183: December 8th 2006 Issue 182: November 30th 2006 Issue 181: November 22nd 2006 Issue 180: November 15th 2006 Issue 179: November 6th 2006 Issue 178: July 19th 2006 Issue 177: July 12th 2006 Issue 176: July 6th 2006 Issue 175: June 23rd 2006 Issue 174: June 16th 2006 Issue 173: June 7th 2006 Issue 172: May 18th 2006 Issue 171: May 10th 2006 Issue 170: May 4th 2006 Issue 169: April 26th 2006 Issue 168: April 20th 2006 Issue 167: April 12th 2006 Issue 166: April 5th 2006 Issue 165: March 29th 2006 Issue 164: March 15th 2006 Issue 163: March 9th 2006 Issue 162: March 3rd 2006 Issue 161: February 22nd 2006 Issue 160: February 15th 2006 Issue 159: February 8th 2006 Issue 158: February 3rd 2006 Issue 157: January 27th 2006 Issue 156: January 18th 2006
2005 Retrospective: Part One 2005 Retrospective: Part Two
Issue 155: November 24th 2005 Issue 154: November 18th 2005 Issue 153: November 11th 2005 Issue 152: November 4th 2005 Issue 151: October 21st 2005 Issue 150: October 12th 2005 Issue 149: October 7th 2005 Issue 148: September 29th 2005 Issue 147: September 21st 2005 Issue 146: August 19th 2005 Issue 145: August 10th 2005 Issue 144: August 4th 2005 Issue 143: July 29th 2005 Issue 142: July 22nd 2005 Issue 141: July 13th 2005 Issue 140: July 8th 2005 Issue 139: June 30th 2005 Issue 138: June 24th 2005 Issue 137: June 17th 2005 Issue 136: June 9th 2005 Issue 135: June 2nd 2005 Issue 134: May 25th 2005 Issue 133: May 20th 2005 Issue 132: May 11th 2005 Issue 131: April 20th 2005 Issue 130: April 13th 2005 Issue 129: April 6th 2005 Issue 128: March 23rd 2005 Issue 127: March 16th 2005 Issue 126: March 2nd 2005 Issue 125: February 23rd 2005 Issue 124: February 17th 2005 Issue 123: February 11th 2005 Issue 122: February 2nd 2005 Issue 121: January 26th 2005 Issue 120: January 21st 2005 Issue 119: January 12th 2005
2004 Retrospective: Part One 2004 Retrospective: Part Two 2004 Retrospective: Part Three 2004 Retrospective: Part Four
Issue 118: December 22nd 2004 Issue 117: December 15th 2004 Issue 116: December 8th 2004 Issue 115: December 1st 2004 Issue 114: November 24th 2004 Issue 113: November 18th 2004 Issue 112: November 11th 2004 Issue 111: November 3rd 2004 Issue 110: October 28th 2004 Issue 109: October 13th 2004 Issue 108: October 6th 2004 Issue 107: September 29th 2004 Issue 106: September 22nd 2004 Issue 105: September 15th 2004 Issue 104: September 8th 2004 Issue 103: September 1st 2004 Issue 102: August 11th 2004 Issue 101: August 7th 2004
Issue 100: Greatest Underdog Movies Part 4 Issue 100: Greatest Underdog Movies Part 3 Issue 100: Greatest Underdog Movies Part 2 Issue 100: Greatest Underdog Movies Part 1
Issue 99: July 28th 2004 Issue 98: July 21st 2004 Issue 97: July 9th 2004 Issue 96: July 7th 2004 Issue 95: June 30th 2004 Issue 94: June 22nd 2004 Issue 93: June 6th 2004 Issue 92: May 28th 2004 Issue 91: May 23rd 2004 Issue 90: May 14th 2004 Issue 89: May 9th 2004 Issue 88: April 30th 2004 Issue 87: April 24th 2004 Issue 86: April 17th 2004 Issue 85: April 9th 2004 Issue 84: March 27th 2004 Issue 83: March 19th 2004 Issue 82: March 12th 2004 Issue 81: March 5th 2004 Issue 80: February 27th 2004 Issue 79: February 20th 2004 Issue 78: February 13th 2004 Issue 77: February 6th 2004 Issue 76: January 30th 2004 Issue 75: January 23rd 2004 Issue 74: January 16th 2004 Issue 73: January 9th 2004
2003 Retrospective: Part One 2003 Retrospective: Part Two 2003 Retrospective: Part Three 2003 Retrospective: Part Four
Issue 72: December 12th 2003 Issue 71: December 4th 2003 Issue 70: November 28th 2003 Issue 69: November 21st 2003 Issue 68: November 14th 2003 Issue 67: November 7th 2003 Issue 66: October 31st 2003 Issue 65: October 24th 2003 Issue 64: October 17th 2003 Issue 63: October 10th 2003 Issue 62: October 3rd 2003 Issue 61: September 26th 2003 Issue 60: September 19th 2003 Issue 59: September 12th 2003 Issue 58: August 29th 2003 Issue 57: August 22nd 2003 Issue 56: August 15th 2003 Issue 55: August 8th 2003 Issue 54: August 1st 2003 Issue 53: July 25th 2003 Issue 52: July 18th 2003 Issue 51: July 11th 2003 Issue 50: July 4th 2003 Issue 49: June 27th 2003 Issue 48: June 20th 2003 Issue 47: June 13th 2003 Issue 46: June 6th 2003 Issue 45: May 30th 2003 Issue 44: May 23rd 2003 Issue 43: May 16th 2003 Issue 42: May 9th 2003 Issue 41: May 2nd 2003 Issue 40: April 25th 2003 Issue 39: April 18th 2003 Issue 38: April 11th 2003 Issue 37: April 4th 2003 Issue 36: March 28th 2003 Issue 35: March 21st 2003 Issue 34: March 14th 2003 Issue 33: March 7th 2003 Issue 32: February 28th 2003 Issue 31: February 21st 2003 Issue 30: February 14th 2003 Issue 29: February 7th 2003 Issue 28: January 31st 2003 Issue 27: January 24th 2003 Issue 26: January 17th 2003 Issue 25: January 10th 2003 Issue 24: January 3rd 2003
2002 Retrospective: Part One 2002 Retrospective: Part Two 2002 Retrospective: Part Three 2002 Retrospective: Part Four
Issue 23: December 20th 2002 Issue 22: December 13th 2002 Issue 21: December 6th 2002 Issue 20: November 29th 2002 Issue 19: November 22nd 2002 Issue 18: November 15th 2002 Issue 17: November 8th 2002 Issue 16: November 1st 2002 Issue 15: October 25th 2002 Issue 14: October 18th 2002 Issue 13: October 11th 2002 Issue 12: October 4th 2002 Issue 11: September 27th 2002 Issue 10: September 20th 2002 Issue 9: September 13th 2002 Issue 8: September 6th 2002 Issue 7: August 30th 2002 Issue 6: August 23rd 2002 Issue 5: August 16th 2002 Issue 4: August 9th 2002 Issue 3: August 2nd 2002 Issue 2: July 26th 2002 Issue 1: July 19th 2002
DVDs reviewed by the editor are watched on a Panasonic TXW32R4 32" widescreen TV connected to either a Creative Dxr2 DVD-ROM player or Microsoft Xbox and played through a Sony STR-DB930 amplifier.
PC games reviewed by the editor are on:
