POOR OLD TERRY GILLIAM? 28/2/06

• Naughty old Terry Gilliam! Having read this snippet in The Daily Express I found it amusing that Terry is attempting to produce further films with "poor" Film Companies and loads of Suits and Money-Men all of which he has had trouble with in the past - The "Brazil" fiasco, the problems with "13 Monkeys" and his latest on "The Brothers Grimm".

  
  

WALLACE & GROMIT CURSE OF THE WERERABBIT (DVD Review) - 26/2/06

• Everything about this film from start to finish is a delight - I cannot heap enough praise on the film and it's makers; from it's superb sets and designs,background details and artistic flourishes it's a sight literally for sore eyes.
  
  

  • What can I say about this film? Apart from it making a great addition to my DVD Collection I would be treading over the ground of a hundred other reviews. It made me laugh and it was everything I expected of it and more. Having seen all the original 3 shorts and then the following "Cracking Contraption's" I knew this would be a winner and it didn't disappoint!

    • The film comes in Dolby Digital 5.1. and is 1 hour and 20 minutes long. The Special Features take up about 2 hours. The film is Subtitled in English and so are all the Special Features as well.

      
      

      • This disc can also be inserted into a DVD-ROM drive for additional features.

        
        
        • These discs also have a Dreamworks Kids selection of Games and Activities: The best in my opinion being the "Anti-Pesto S.W.A.T. Team" game - But you also have 3 other games including "Victor Quartermaine's Guide to Cool", "Style With Lady Tottington" and "Build Your Own Bunny". This (Region 2) Special 2-Disc Collector's Edition also has a Trailer for a new Dreamworks film entitled "Over The Hedge" and also has a Preview Trailer Feature for the new Aardman/Dreamworks "Flushed Away" production plus a selection of Preview Trailers. On the strength of what I saw for both these films it was enough to persuade me to want to see them as soon as I can.
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          • DISC 1: Has the actual feature film and a Commentary from Writers/Directors Steve Box and Nick Park. Deleted Scenes with Additional Commentary. Featurettes: "The History Of Wallace & Gromit". Also an extensive "Behind The Scenes Of The Curse Of The Wererabbit" and "A Day In The Life At Aardman" Studio Tour. We also get a "How To Build A Bunny" feature and "The Family Album" which is a selection of still shots in gallery form covering the films signs, storyboards, Wallace & Gromit's photo album and the most interesting for me which was the Behind The Scenes photos - which just go to show just how big the sets are and how much work and effort is put into a production like this.

            
            
            

            • DISC 2: Has the features - "The Making Of The Wererabbit" a fairly intensive look at the making of the actual wererabbit monster in the film. It also has the 2002 Official Release of "Wallace & Gromit's Cracking Contraption's" 10 animated shorts that have only been released on DVD before through a newspaper promotion and via Fan Club and available nowhere else. These were intended as an animation test run for the feature film which Dreamworks had given the go-ahead for in 2000 and as you can see it took them 5 years to actually complete the film. ( The 10 shorts are: The Soccamatic, The Tellyscope, The Autochef, The Snoozatron, The Turbo Diner, The Bully Proof Vest, The 525 Crackervac, A Christmas Cardomatic, The Snowmanotron and Shopper 13 respectively ) But they have been seen fairly extensively on the web and also available on other releases seperately; and on various advertising promotions, but it's certainly about 20 minutes of excellent animated fun from the comedy duo either way. Also here we have the documentary from the Fan Club release of "The Amazing World Of Wallace & Gromit" a pretty heady retrospective covering Wallace & Gromit up to the present day. We also have Steve Box's bizarre cartoon short "Stage Fright" tacked onto the end of the Special Features on Disc 2. So finally at last Aardman Animation can be forgiven for the waste of time and talent spent on the drivel of "Chicken Run" a woefully unfunny film, and are truely redeemed in the inspired "classic" of "Wallace & Gromit Curse Of The Wererabbit". A film they should have started out with and their most well-known character's; instead of the previous disaster they churned out, presumably at the bequest of their rich American backers. If this 2-Disc set isn't already on a shelf in your house I urge you to dash out and buy one! If you have never seen anything by "Wallace & Gromit" zip out and get their first 3 adventures and then buy the film - It's something you'll not regret and you can watch them all over again time after time - Enjoy!!

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New Trailers: "V For Vendetta" & "Inside Man" - 19/2/06

Another film to watch out for is the new Wachowski brothers version of "V For Vendetta" with Natalie Portman and Hugo Weaving and a whole crop of english actors like the great John Hurt involved. There are currently a couple of trailers doing the rounds; and on viewing it seem's very similiar to the original Alan Moore's graphic novel, which I've also pictured to show you how similiar the "V" character is portrayed. As long as the Wachowski's don't do a "Matrix" foul-up again the film should be fine and I'm only forgiving them that fiasco because "Bound" was so good!
Caught the new trailer for Spike Lee's new film "Inside Man" with Clive Owen, Denzil Washington and Jodie Foster starring. Those name's alone would drag me to watch it - But having seen the trailer it's even more interesting - A heist thriller with twists by the look of it! I for one will certainly be checking it out when it turns up for viewing.

AEON FLUX - 18/2/06

• On the whole I found this film to be mildly entertaining and a fairly enjoyable experience. I can presume it's lack of box office success was probably due to no really major stars and the fact that it wasn't constant mind-numbing action all the way through, which probably would have detracted from it's storyline. It's an intelligently well made film; with probably a rather thin plot, but it's it's own creature and that's all to the better for it.
  
  • Note from the pictures the scope of the scale that the location filming gave to the film and just exactly what a feel it gave to the mood of the movie. The story has a couple of twists and won't really tax anyone to hard in following what is actually going on. Again the film has a strong element of "The Island" in it; more so than the other film's I will mention later, but it still has enough of it's own panache and style to give it a seperate identity.
    
    • The action in this hour and a half is well restrained and that may make the film seem slow - But when you dive straight into the attack on the President you have a visceral view of plants firing drug needles across the screen in rattling terror as they shred foliage and clip the assassin's arms. The guards fire screw-tipped blades from multi-barrelled guns slicing into doors and furniture in amazing detail and there is some excellent hand-to-hand combat in later scenes as well.
      
      • This is another of these films that you immediately have to suspend your disbelief of the actions and get straight into the story of two opposing groups fighting for a different type of future for their society. It has certain themes of Orwell's "1984" which come across well as a society ruled by a benevolent dictatorship. It also has trait's of "Equilibrium" about the use of a fascist Police Force to keep order and control of the population.
        
        

        • I was led to believe that this film flopped big time in the States? Can't understand why - Because it remind's me in some way of an updated "Logan's Run" in some of it's plot threads. It is filmed on a grand scale with a wondrous view of a future society plagued with a benign conspiracy behind a conspiracy. The locations filmed in Germany come across on a new level and this fits well with the overall feel of the film - As a society living in a future enclave.
          If you feel this would entertain you give it a go!
          

FINAL DESTINATION 3 - 17/2/06

• So I eventually decided to traipse down to my local Odeon ; to catch "Final Destination 3" having seen the Trailer, and thinking it looked fairly amusing much like the first two. The four 15 year old lads in front of me in the foyer looked rather shocked when they got told it was £7.20p each to get in - Oh, the horror - And the film hadn't even started yet! So having paid the better part of a tenner myself to get in; I settled down in a seat at the back and got 20 minutes of crap adverts and warnings about pirating films and a couple of Trailers for nothing of interest. Then the film started - And I don't know about you - But the opening credits had a rather sinister and creepy feel to them - Maybe it was just me?

  
  

  • PLOT SPOILER: Let's face it; anytime something is usually introduced on to the scene at a critical point in the movie, you know as sure as hell that it's going to get used there and then or later on the character's will go back to it. In this case it's a massive nail-gun - So go figure? The story in "Final Destination 3" is the same as the first two just set differently and just as amusing in a sarcastic, dry kind of way. On watching the second "Final Destination" I was amazed at how graphic and inventive all the deaths were; in fact you could say I was rather stunned - Much the same as the third in the trilogy.

    
    

  
  

  All the usual cliches are here, with the usual stereotypes - But don't get me wrong I enjoyed this film and it was entertaining. The opening scene on the roller-coaster would put most people off ever going on one again. It certainly didn't pull any punches and more or less set the tone for the rest of the film. All the horror you see in full shocking detail.

  
  
  It isn't high art or drama but it's certainly a great popcorn muncher! Leave your brain at the Cinema door and your in for an entertaining hour and a half of blood, guts and gore. It's all pretty graphic: blood sprays and guts fly along with other bodily parts and this year's award for most inventive use of a nail-gun certainly goes to "Final Destination 3". I jumped on at least two point's in the film and you have got to see the burger-bar drive-in scene to believe it! Now all I need is for them to release a trilogy boxset instead of the current 2-disc boxset below and I'll have a triple dose of death!

THE DYING ART 16/2/06

I realised whilst writing the "Tim Burton's Corpse Bride" article just how much of a dying art the Stop-Go Animation technique is and my mention of Ray Harryhausen was reflected in a scene from "The Corpse Bride" where the character's sit at a piano and the maker's nameplate on the piano reads "Harryhausen". I've a very fond spot in my heart for his work and some of his best is pictured here. I have memories of watching "Sinbad And The Eye of The Tiger" at my local Cinema and also of watching "Jack The Giant Killer" amongst other's on the TV. Most of his work is now available on DVD (Both on Region 1 and 2) and a lot have a variety of very interesting extras added. My personal favourites would have to be "The First Men In The Moon" with "Mysterious Island" and "Jack The Giant Killer". I recently met Mr. Harryhausen at an autograph show and it was unfortunate that he had ill health but was still going strong at 86. He deserves his rightful place in history as the master of his art and craftmanship.

RUMOUR HAS IT...? 15/2/06

Rumour has it ... that the final "Star Trek" Series to go to DVD will be the collected Animated Adventures of about 17 Episodes or so? There have also been persistent rumours about "Futurama" going Direct-To-DVD with 4 features in the pipeline due for a possable release end of 2006/early 2007 for the much-missed and late-lamented cartoon show unwisely scrapped by TV Suits in it's prime...

RETRO FLASHBACK 15/2/06

RETRO FLASHBACK is a little feature where I look back on something from the past! This month I watched Dom Joly's ground-breaking "Trigger Happy TV3" on Region 2. Having watched them originally on Video - it's a joy to watch it all over again - But of course on DVD you now get all those little extra's that you didn't get on Video. How this guy got away with some of the stuff he was pulling on the public - And of course under the Special Features we see Mr. Joly getting arrested several times by the Police. If you really want a laugh this TV Series is for you. Includes the "Christmas Specials" and "Being Dom Joly" and Unseen Footage. Extras include 14 Unseen Clips/3 Bad Rabbit Jokes/The 3 Worst Ideas Ever/Brushes With The Law/4 Unseen Celebrity Interviews and Audio Commentary. Feature Length: 81 Mins Approx. Dolby Digital Stereo.

THIS MONTH'S SPECIAL EDITION DVD 15/2/06

This month's Special Edition DVD: I've been lucky enough to get a chance to view the 2-Disc Director's Cut (Rob Zombie) Unrated "The Devil's Rejects" on Region 1. Having seen "House Of 1,000 Corpses" and read a bit on the way the film studios treated the film (shelved for a couple of years - film exec's, eh?) I can only presume that the first film gained a cult following and made enough cash to warrant a sequel. I thought Sid Haig was superb in the first film and I feel this follow-up is an even better film. Not only does it showcase Sid Haig's considerable talents, as well as the rest of the fine cast - It also come's across as an unrelenting nightmare of horror from the opening titles to the final credits. There are some very nasty and fairly uncomfortable scenes in this film and all filmed in a hazy glow of 7o's acid kitsch with a soundtrack to match. I would go for this Special Edition to get the full impact. DISC 1: Contains the following - Unrated Widescreen Director's Cut Version/Audio Commentary with Director Rob Zombie/Actor Audio Commentary with Sid Haig, Bill Moseley and Sheri Moon Zombie/Blooper Reel/The Morris Green Show - "Ruggsville's # 1 Talk Show"/"Mary The Monkey Girl" Commercial/"Spaulding Christmas" Commercial/"Cheerleader Missing" - The Otis Home Movie/"Satan's Got To Get Along Without Me" - Buck Owens Video/Deleted Scenes/Make-Up Tests/Matthew McGrory Tribute/Still Gallery/Theatrical Trailer And TV Spots/6.1 DTS ES Digital/5.1 Dolby Digital Surround EX. And if that little lot wasn't enough, on DISC 2: You get a 2 hour plus "30 Days In Hell: The Making of The Devil's Rejects". Where you go behind the scene's of the film from the beginning to the last day of shooting.

CURRENT ROUND-UP 14/2/06

O U T N O W : Hoping to get down to the flicks and catch both "Final Destination 3" and "Lucky Number Slevin". Saw the trailer for both and both looked entertaining. Just glad I didn't buy the 2-Disc DVD Boxset of "Final Destination" now that it's a trilogy - as I enjoyed the first two immensely.
T H E B A D : Having waited year's to get a decent copy of "DUNE : The Extended Version" the best thing I can say about it is the Collector's Metal Case - A metallic outer shell with a plastic insert. Unfortunately it's downhill from there: The disc itself is a flipper (awful!) the transfer itself is dreadful on both versions of the film and both films skip and jump. The Extended Version (TV) make's no sense what so ever and I presume that's why the Director David Lynch washed his hand's of it. The extra's give some insight's into the whole film's background - But just as it get's interesting the features end - Very frustrating indeed!
C O M I N G S O O N: Another recent trailer I ended up watching was "Ultraviolet". The director Kurt Wimmer had done "Equilibrium" which was enough to make me want to see this! Lot's of guns,explosions - The usual.
Caught the trailer for this film "Brick" recently. The trailer was so good I made an effort to find out a bit more about the film and was impressed enough to want to see it. The soundtrack's creepy and the subject matter looked chilling. Due out in March at the Cinema.

T H E G O O D :Was also very happy watching "Tim Burton's The Corpse Bride" a stunning animated film in the Ray Harryhausen tradition. A nice set of extra's fully explain just how time consuming the work was to produce this film and I had a tear in my eye by the end of it. I'm looking forward to watching "Wallace And Gromit: Curse Of The Wererabbit" and expect it to be in a similiar vein judging by the clips I've seen of it. "The Corpse Bride" is also available in a Collector's Edition with a book and postcards.
Having watched the first "Saw" I was happy to find out a few month's later that they intended on a sequel snappily titled "Saw 2 ". Again having now got an Unrated DVD version I was happy to sit down and watch this. I won't go into the plot otherwise it will spoil it for you - But if you enjoyed the first film this serve's up more of the same but slightly differently this time round. The best bit is they have just annouced pre-production on "Saw 3". This version come's with a clear-case cover so you can see the saw-blade disc inside - Similiar to the original "Saw" release. It also come's with a small set of extras which on the whole are very informative.

Managed to get to see "DOOM" at last with a brand spanking new copy on Region 1 of the Unrated Widescreen version on DVD. Has a nice cardboard outer sleeve to it and a nice little set of extras covering various aspects of the film. As a popcorn muncher it's vastly entertaining and as long as your in the mood for this type of action you'll enjoy it! I've kept my copy as I know I'll be watching it again. It certainly reminded me of "John Carpenter's Ghosts Of Mars" probably why I enjoyed it so much! Also in the vein of "Resident Evil" another great popcorn muncher. THE UGLY: Nothing in this current round-up (Luckily!)