Happy 10th Birthday Episode I
Posted on Tuesday May 19, 2009, 17:08 by Ian Freer
 It might have escaped your attention but Star Wars Episode I The Phantom Menace opened ten years ago to the day in the US (for some inexplicable reason Blighty didn’t get the film for another two months). It seems to me that What Went Wrong With Episode One arguments is an energy that binds a generation together. Put a group of twentysomething/thirtysomethings who have never met and you can bet your bottom dollar that they can find common ground about Darth Maul’s majesty/Jar Jar Binks’ crapness. Nothing stirs up debate like Episode I
I’ll tell you where I am on the debate. I am a Prequel Apologist. I would even go as far as to say that I would rather watch Episode I than any LOTR film. Are the Lord Of The Rings films “better movies” than the prequels — of course they are. But I don’t love Tolkien’s universe half as much as I do Lucas’ lands, so I would much rather race through the Boonta Eve classic or watch Maul pace arou Continue reading... Comment Now (177 comments)
What's The Greatest Ever Movie Title?
Posted on Tuesday February 3, 2009, 15:04 by Ian Freer
 Coming in to Empire towers this morning, I saw an advert for Hotel For Dogs on the side of a bus. If you don’t know, Hotel For Dogs stars Julia Roberts' Niece in a movie where she sets up 5-star accommodation for the neighbourhood waifs and strays. Whatever you think of the premise of the movie, it just stuck me that Hotel For Dogs as a title is a genius piece of marketing: cute, intriguing and straightforward. If you’re an eight year old girl, Hotel For Dogs (bet the rotweiller nicks the hand towels) sounds like the best film ever made. You immediately know everything you need to know about that movie from those three little words.
So this got me thinking about the greatest movie titles of all time. Some great movies have awkward titles — in 1977, Close Encounters Of The Third Kind must have been a right mouthful , the quality of the movie legitmising it as a phrase. Similarly, great titles have adorned terrible movies: Dude Where’s My Car or Snakes On A Plane are Continue reading... Comment Now (243 comments)
The Best Movie Swearing
Posted on Thursday January 8, 2009, 10:10 by Ian Freer
 Swearing. From as soon as you can say the word “bum”, you hear these immortal seven words: It’s not big and it’s not clever. Maybe not, but movie swearing is undeniably entertaining and in the hands of a Mamet/Tarantino/Lee can be both big and clever. There is little to beat a well-chosen expletive to make a dramatic point or underline a character’s emotion or - if it is children, old ladies or Hugh Grant doing the swearing - get a laugh. If you want proof check out these watered down versions of classic curse-filled lines and just feel the difference.
The opening narration of Apocalypse Now as Captain Willard considers his fate: “Saigon….blast….I’m still only in Saigon.” The beginning of Four Weddings And A Funeral when a frantic Charles realises he’s over slept before wedding no. 1: “Flip… F Continue reading... Comment Now (291 comments)
My Favourite Christmas Movie: Uncle Buck
Posted on Wednesday December 17, 2008, 10:42 by Ian Freer
 The best thing about Christmas isn’t the presents. It isn’t the week off work. It isn’t even the time you spend with loved ones.
Nope, the absolute best thing about Yuletide is the movies on television. But I’m not talking about the BBC premieres of the big blockbusters that this year — as the snappily edited montage tells us — include a Pirates sequel, a Narnia flick, Wallace And Gromitt and Singer’s Superman revamp. I’m talking about the films that clog up the schedules in the afternoon, the sandwich filling between the Find A Bargain In Your Attic And See What It’s Worth At Auction programmes and The Highlights Of Bill Oddie’s Year In Nature programmes.
But I’m not even talking about recognised Christmas classics like The Wizard Of Oz or The Great Escape (what says Christmas more than the Nazis building an escape-proof prison camp?). The movies I love to watch on telly over Christmas are mid-range ‘80s to &lsq Continue reading... Comment Now (34 comments)
Why Adam West Is A Better Batman Than Christian Bale
Posted on Thursday December 4, 2008, 16:32 by Ian Freer
As you may have seen by now, Empire has (perhaps not unsurprisingly) voted The Dark Knight our best film of 2008. In case you wondered what skulduggery is involved in coming to this conclusion, every member of the Empire team submits their Top Ten of the year. If you put the film at No.1 it receives ten points; if you put the film at No.2, it earns 9 points and so on and so forth. The points are then added up and the movie with the highest points tally wins. Not that you’ll care, but I didn’t put The Dark Knight at No.1. I put There Will Be Blood. Milkshakes over masks any day. But all the office talk of The Dark Knight got me thinking about the character of Batman. And it seems to me that — and I am fully prepared to admit this might be madness — Adam West, the legend of the ‘60s TV version, is a better Batman than Christian Bale. Firstly, he doesn’t talk in that ridiculous gravel pit voice (although West does have his own distinctive voice patterns). But, more i Continue reading... Comment Now (122 comments)
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