LOST Part One {2nd. Season} (DVD Review) - 28/8/06

One of the major piss-takes that the big TV/Film Companies have made with this series is the deliberate rip-off procedure they have set-up in the UK whereby they released the first season of "Lost" in two parts and made people pay through the nose for it - So many people bought the full season from the USA as a Region 1 Import; that this time around they held back the season two release in the USA so they could deliberately release parts one & two in the UK, so again cash in - Disgusting is what I call it! I would advise buying the Region 1 Edition when it is released anyway as it has better Special Features and is extended. You can still buy the full season two on Region 2 in September if your that desperate - But please don't line the money men's pockets any further by buying 2 parts! As to the boxset of 4 discs itself - It carries off straight where season one finished and throws you headlong into the maelstrom of madness with brain numbing effect. As a friend of mine said to me "every time it answers a question it raises two more" and not a truer word has been spoken as more revelations, twists and past-flashes shoot by in stuttering flash-backs into fast-forward it's sometimes hard to keep up? JJ Abrams Rambaldi from "Alias" has nothing on "Lost" as I had a vague idea of what was happening but (if you'll pardon the pun) I'm truly lost with "Lost". It's not just a case of trying to get my head around all the events and happenings - It's the trying to make sense of it and put it in some kind of order that has me confused? Confused? So am I? It also doesn't help when you get morons like the twat in the BBC's Radio Times giving a review of "Lost" and conveniently giving away a major plot point - Duh? Who reviews something and tells you the story - It's like someone telling you the ending to "The Crying Game"? Suffice to say the first part of 12 episodes of season two of "Lost" is just as tricksy as the first season was - Nuff said!

THE PILLOW BOOK (DVD Review) - 26/8/06

Ewan McGregor plays the part of a Translator in "The Pillow Book" set in Japan by Director/Writer Peter Greenaway. Another take on the bizarre as a woman struck with a Calligraphy Fetish (All across her body) seeks to replicate her childhood by painting on human canvasses of her own. Revenge and retribution are not far behind in this lushly laid out art movie with frames within frames and pictures dissolving into the past and present amidst strange going-ons at the book's publisher's where the secret of the pillow book is finally revealed. English clashes with Japanese as both English subtitles and Japanese script flows across the scenes fading in and out as other elements come to the fore and disperse like hazy mist across a cold winter's lake early in the morning. Sorry to say the Region 1 (USA) DVD version is a piss-poor vanilla edition much like the UK version with just the Theatrical Trailer and sorrily treated to a bad re-formatting to fit TV screens as well to boot. Still it hasn't been cut and is the Unrated edition. Columbia/Tristar Home Video. Japanese and Chinese with English Subtitles. Runtime: Approx 126 Mins. Colour - NTSC. Sound: Dolby Surround. Close Captioned. Because the movie was originally shot with Multi-Aspect Ratios the proportions of the screen image will change periodically throughout the film. 28709/ISBN # 0767819772.

BAISE-MOI (DVD Review) - 26/8/06

Won't go into the controversy surrounding this extremely low-budget French film but after being banned in France then re-released with a more "adult" rating and both covers for Regions 1 (USA) & 2 (UK) given warnings you can tell it's not going to be easy sailing. The lead actors were originally porn stars and the sex scenes in this film are for real - Much like the film "9 Songs" with strong sexual imagery and sadistic violence. The two female leads are living a shitty life amongst other drug peddlers and assorted lowlifes, get horrendously assaulted then go out on a road trip sucking, fucking and killing anyone that gets in their way - and that's it! Not only did I find it boring - I found it pointless. What it was trying to say I don't know??? For a film with a story seek out "9 Songs" at least it has the thread of a plot and actually goes somewhere.

LORD OF WAR (DVD Review) - 26/8/06

The Region 2 (UK) Limited Edition of last year's 2005 release came out as a 2-Disc Set with Special Features and is also available on Region 1 (USA). The film starts with a really annoying advert for a Mars bar - Why? It then starts properly with a mocked-up Home Shopping Type TV Channel Ad for the AK-47 rifle which is quite chilling - It's only at the end of this that you realise that it is actually an advert pushing the admirably work of Amnesty International and that the film hasn't even started yet? From this point on it gets absolutely horrific from the opening scene with Nicolas Cage's back to the camera standing on a carpet of millions of spent bullet casings mixed with live ones as it starts off like a video game and ends with real people being killed. It documents the true life events of a man with no moral compass who set's about his every day job of trafficking weapons and arms to anyone who can pay; with no compunction about what they do with these, and dredging the depths of humanity with no cause or concern for anyone around him. The further you get dragged into this hell the worse it gets as you keep getting drawn back to the fact that this man helped commit genocide several times over around the world and most governments helped him do it - Money talks eh? Acting also as a Producer on this film we get a very different view of Cage the actor this time around with no easily distinguished "good guys" or "bad guys" which most certainly for most of this film make's for very thought provoking and uncomfortable viewing which is even more laid bare in the film's Special Features. Feature Runtime: 116 Mins Approx. Sound: Dolby 5.1. Subtitles: English Hard Of Hearing (Feature Only). PAL - Colour. Widescreen Version: 16x9 (Original Aspect Ratio - 2.35:1) Rating: 15. Momentum Pictures 2005/2006. MP475D1SV/ISBN # 5060049147758. SPECIAL FEATURES: Commentary, Making Of Lord Of War, Featurette - Making A Killing: Inside The International Arms Trade, Nicolas Cage Interview & Cast/Crew Interviews with Deleted Scenes and Trailers.

THE TUXEDO - TV Film Review 26/8/06

Recorded from TV on a Friday night and watched Saturday afternoon you pretty much know where you stand with a Jackie Chan film! All the usual staples of the diet are here - A lot of slapstick and jokes, a bit of romance with a hint of danger as a side serving. Followed by the head villain and his henchman getting a good trouncing near the end of the film and foiling their dastardly plot (add obligatory nonsense plot here!) with more jokes and fun and then a pile of bloopers as the credits roll - Chuck in some fancy martial arts moves and there's your film! Nothing overly dramatic - Just fairly entertaining in a watch-once mode then forget about. Available on Region 1 (USA) & Region 2 (UK) DVD.

INSOMNIA (DVD Review) - 20/8/06

This was originally going to be a review of a TV movie called "Revelation" a supernatural thriller with a journey through ancient symbolism and mystery - But unfortunately the BBC started the film late and my recorder cut the end of the film off - So hence no review. Even more annoying was the point where I got in the film with the Indiana Jones style sand cascading into the underground vault and the heroes fighting to escape and then it stopped - I really hate that!! So bearing in mind that I'm constantly playing catch-up with films and they are making one as I write - It's a constant game of trying to watch stuff and keeping up. This film "Insomnia" was an American remake of a Norwegian/Swedish film of the same title and was directed by Christopher Nolan of "Batman Begins" and "Memento" fame. Starring Al Pacino, Robin Williams and Hilary Swank in the leads and a fine ensemble cast we get a taut, claustrophobic feel to a film set in the wide open spaces of glacial Alaska where a murder has been committed in a small town in the middle of nowhere and hemmed in by the wilderness. The more you watch this as the film progresses the more tired you feel as the midnight sun never sets and it's constant daylight starts to irritate. In black and white it has someone spray-painting a grey swathe right in the middle of everything and nothing feels quite one way or the other as the tale unfolds. Twisting back and forth it has elements of a Hitchcock thriller about it as all the threads tighten in the rug to the final weaving - literally - in the case of the blood stained clothing.
The DVD covers feature the original film on Region 2 (UK) and also the remake on Region 2 (UK). It is also available on Region 1 (USA) in a couple of versions - Pan & Scan, Fullscreen & Widescreen.
SPECIAL FEATURES: The Region 2 (UK) remake is rated 15. Colour Pal. Runtime Approx: 113 Mins. Widescreen Format: 2.35:1. Languages: Dolby Digital 5.1. English/French. Subtitles: English & Central European. Bonus Features minus subtitles. (2) Commentary Tracks, 180 Degrees: A Conversation with Chris Nolan & Al Pacino, Day & Night: The Making Of Insomnia, In The Fog Featurettes, Stills Gallery and Deleted Scene and more. ALCON /Summit / Touchstone. Z1 D888696/ISBN # 5017188886963.

HIGHWAYMEN (DVD Review) - 19/8/06

A film that I had seen the Trailer for and had decided to get around to seeing. Directed by Robert Harmon (Who also directed "The Hitcher") "Highwaymen" has a number of it's elements taken from that film - Desolate fuel stops and heat hazed roads stretching into the distance, a psycho on the loose (in this case more a patchwork of Frankenstein's monster) in the shape of Colm Feore from "The Chronicles Of Riddick" and a cat-and-mouse scenario played out on the open highways. Feore's character is a quilt of bits & pieces held together by hate and using his car as an extension of himself serial kills victims across various States whilst being hunted by revenge driven James Caviezel ("Frequency") a left-over from a previous hit & run. Close on their tail is Frankie Faison (The only actor to have starred in all the Hannibal Lector films) as an Investigative Road Traffic Officer. From the opening crunch sequence we soon find out why this film was rated an 18 certificate. Good versus Evil using high speed car chases what more could you want?

This Region 2 (UK) DVD is one of your typical films that shot straight to DVD release and hence was only released as a "vanilla" version with only the Theatrical Trailer to back it up. At least it has a soundtrack in the form of a Dolby 5.1. Surround Sound or a DTS 5.1. Surround Sound making the sound quality excellent depending on your choice. English Subtitles. Runtime: 77 Mins. Anamorphic Widescreen 16x9 / 2.35:1. New Line Cinema / Entertainment In Video. EDV 9245 / ISBN # 5017239192456>

BARNYARD Film Review - 19/8/06

Surprisingly refreshing CGI animated comedy that again is totally different in style over currently what's on offer - Considering there is an absolute glut of CGI stuff out at the moment you really need something with an edge to hold your own amongst the big boys in the current marketplace! Backed by Paramount this tale of the barnyard literally sweeps you away with it's infectious humour and good intentions. We get a lot of laughs and the moral compass is switched to overload and most of it is predictable - But all in a fairly entertaining way. Nothing like a few in-jokes, some songs and sketches and jokes old and new - All wrapped up in a puff pastry of motorcycling farm animals singing and dancing to the obvious ending. Still a well made piece of animation that I would wholeheartedly endorse! (Plus it's also pretty funny as well!)

SCARY MOVIE 4 (DVD Review) - 19/8/06

With this Region 2 (UK) Extended And Unsanitized Edition we have reached the point of diminishing returns with this 4th film in the Scary Movie series - It's not to say it doesn't have it's fair share of laughs - Just that they are sparse throughout and the film seems slow in comparison to the others. Targets hit parody wise include The Grudge, The Village, War Of The Worlds, Brokeback Mountain, Million Dollar Baby and the list goes on...which is fine if you have seen all these films - otherwise you may get a little lost among the pisstakes. Chuck in a handful of cameos (Again a lot will be unfamiliar?) and some serious riffing on Tom Cruise, Michael Jackson and others and you have the same kettle of fish but spread thinly like a poor margarine with no-name you bought from the corner shop because it was cheap. One of the stand out moments is a scene with Carmen Electra which had me in fits! Hopefully they will call it quits now on this franchise and let it rest in peace. SPECIAL FEATURES: Unfortunately this cover on this DVD has Bonus Features listed as Feature Commentary, Deleted Scenes and an Interview Featurette with the Filmmakers: This is in fact incorrect and actually has a whole slew of Special Features which haven't been listed properly. These are - Feature Commentary, Deleted & Extended Scenes with Optional Commentary, Bloopers Gag Reel, 5 smaller Featurettes: The Man Behind The Laugh with David Zucker (Director), Zany Spoof Humour Zucker Style, Visual FX Of Scary Movie 4, The Youngbloodz and Rappers Actors. The full Improvisation Of Craig Bierko and the featurette The Scary Truth: A Conversation With The Filmmakers. Languages: Dolby 5.1. English/Dolby Surround 2.0. Audio Described English. Subtitles: English/English Hearing Impaired and Central European. Colour PAL. Running Time: 86 Mins Approx. Bonus Materials without Subtitles. Dual Layer Format/Widescreen 1.85:1. Rating: 15. Region 2 (UK) DVD. Dimension/Miramax/Buena Vista. Z1A/BUA0022401/ISBN # 8717418094683>

LEROY & STITCH (DVD Review) - 14/8/06

This is the final movie in the series which also ties up the TV Series as well. There is quite a jump in chronology from the last film to this and the animation style is also slicker and more computer generated as well. This Region 1 (USA) Version has the dastardly return of villain Hamsterviel (Again sounding like Clouseau!) with a plot that has Star Wars/Star Trek threads (Try spotting them!) added to it and an army of red Stitch Clones (The "Leroy's" of the title) attacking Earth - The humour quotient has been ramped up high and we get Elvis again - Hooray! More good fun with life lessons added as usual make this a fitting finale to the whole saga. Special Features have a Bonus Episode never seen before from the Lilo & Stitch TV Series and a simulator game.

LILO & STITCH 2: STITCH HAS A GLITCH (DVD Review) - 14/8/06

With this Region 1 (USA) Version we continue the animated tales of Lilo & Stitch in "Lilo & Stitch 2: Stitch Has A Glitch" and even manage once again to pack in 3 classic Elvis songs as well as tugging on the heartstrings when Stitch gets a glitch and goes haywire from good to bad again. Add a sprinkling of pathos and humour and a sprig of morality and it's much the same formula all over again. Special Features this time around include another animated short on Stitch's origins, a game with Jumba and a Music Video.

STITCH! THE MOVIE (DVD Review) - 14/8/06

This Region 2 (UK) Version of "Stitch! The Movie" was a Direct-To-DVD follow up to the original Disney "Lilo & Stitch" film. Entertaining enough in it's own way we get the villain of the piece Hamsterviel introduced who comes over sounding like Peter Seller's character of Clouseau from The Pink Panther films - I kid you not - He sound's exactly like him! Unfortunately I get the feeling the Disney Exec's wanted a way to cash in on the original film without spending any $$$ and also as a set-up for the Disney "Lilo & Stitch" TV Series so in that way it's a bit naughty! Still it manages to further push the Elvis fixation and chuck in a few emotional moments with some good comedy spaced about as well so still good fun. As to Special Features we get 3 games and a Music Video.

FIRE AND ICE (DVD Review) - 13/8/06

One of those films you hear about for years and have never seen on TV and so I thought I should really get around to seeing at last. I came across the 2-Disc DVD Limited Edition (as above) which has a fantastic lenticular 3-D Cover with amazing depth to it. Having only seen animator Ralph Bakshi's "Lord Of The Rings" and feeling pissed off when it stopped halfway through the story at the cinema; I was hoping for something similar which might actually finish a story this time round. So with illustrator Frank Frazetta on board (creator of the iconic "Conan The Barbarian") we get the tale of a scantily clad woman being chased by henchmen of the evil overlord and his mother the witch; amidst blood and swearing and slice and dice, which certainly didn't feature in my Saturday morning cartoon schedule years ago. This vibrant tale covers the lands of Fire and Ice - hence the title - and is reminiscent of many a cartoon I remember from my childhood just that it's more adult in nature. Long unavailable it's been given an overhaul and was released in 2005 having been remastered in High Definition with a DTS/5.1. Dolby Soundtrack as a 2-Disc Limited Edition. With all the elements in place and a hoard of Special Features this startling animated tale now can rightly resume it's place as one of the most brilliant epics of all time. You can see strong parallels between Bakshi's "Lord Of The Rings" and this - Both very dramatic and brooding and dark in the telling. SPECIAL FEATURES: (Disc 1) The Film with Audio Commentary, The Making Of "Fire And Ice", Feature "Bakshi On Frazetta", Sean Hannon's Diary Notes, a very interesting Behind The Scenes Still Gallery and Theatrical Trailer. (Disc 2) This has the 93 Minute Documentary "Frazetta: Painting With Fire" with a host of Interviews and such stuff plus an optional Audio Commentary. Sound: 6.1. DTS-ES/5.1. Dolby Digital Surround EX/Dolby Surround 2.0. Widescreen: 1.78:1/16x9. Rating: PG. Region 0 - Colour NTSC. Optional Subtitles: English, French & Spanish. Close Captioned. Disc 1 Extras Not Rated or Close Captioned. Runtime: 81 Mins. Blue Underground/Icon. BU2006DVD/ISBN # 827058200691.

PROSPERO'S BOOKS Film Review - 7/8/06

Having seen a number of films by Director Peter Greenaway; I had never seen his version of Shakespeare's "The Tempest" adapted as "Prospero's Books" and starring John Gielgud. This abrasive film is like having your nuts rubbed raw with sandpaper and then ingesting a bucket of morphine, cocaine, acid, speed, heroin and opium all mixed together. If you didn't believe in magic before - after watching this film you will. A dazzling, multi-layered texture of colours and sounds, dance and settings, played in what looks like a Turkish Bath with strange costumes and movements, careering out of control amidst stimulating and very often bizarre pictures and coverings, of ink, material, camera work and props give this production a real often unsettling otherworldly feel. If Shakespeare could have envisaged the camera/film he would have been astonished at how his play has been translated into something so isoteric. Unfortunately Greenaway's films haven't been dealt a very good hand in the DVD market and "Prospero's Books" hasn't even made it that far - being only available on VHS Video with no sign of a transfer to DVD on the horizon. This film needs an over haul and a chance to be seen by a wider audience not just the art crowd - As Peter Greenaway himself said "I don't film a film with a sell-by date" so in affect all his work is timeless much like Shakespeare himself.

FINAL DESTINATION THRILLOGY (DVD Review) - 7/8/06

Like all your Christmases coming at once this is the bumper box of fun set that you have always wanted! Hopefully they will leave the format at three and just have the trilogy of "Final Destination" films. This the "Final Destination Thrill-Ogy" Boxset is available on Region 1 (USA) as pictured and also on Region 2 (UK) now as well. It has all 3 films as their Special Edition Versions with tons of Special Features per film and "Final Destination 3" is a 2-Disc Set - So 4 Discs in total. {ISBN # 065935166719} You don't need to know the plot just the formula: Death is an entity with a plan, teenager has premonition of disaster and gets saved with friends, death is pissed off and kills them. First film with a plane, second with a car, third with a roller-coaster. But strangely enough it is pretty inventive dumb fun for this genre and very well laid out in it's overall execution and it gets better as it goes along!
SPECIAL FEATURES: (Final Destination) Two Commentaries and Isolated Score & Commentary. Two Original Documentaries, Test Screenings & Premonitions with the Theatrical Trailer. Deleted Scenes & Alternate Ending. Added Bonus is the DVD-ROM feature with access to a whole load of goodies!
SPECIAL FEATURES: (Final Destination 2) Further Added Bonus with DVD-ROM Content. Trailers, Deleted/Alternate Scenes with Commentary. Featurette "Bringing Death To Life" with Filmmaker Commentary. The Terror Gauge, Cheating Death & Fact Track. Widescreen & Fullscreen Versions.
SPECIAL FEATURES: (Final Destination 3) Widescreen Version. Two Versions of the film - The Original Theatrical Cut or the "Choose Their Fate!" Version (This gives you the option to change the film at various key points with seamless branching) where you can switch to entirely different footage to create a different version of the film. Making Of Documentary "Kill Shot", "Dead Teenager Movie" Featurette with "It's All Around You" Animated Short. Audio Commentary with Theatrical Trailer, TV Spots and Promotional Material. Also more features can be accessed again through DVD-ROM Content.

LIVE AND LET DIE (DVD Review) - 6/8/06

So with Connery doing a runner the hunt was on again for a new Bond and having looked at Roger Moore in the past (twice) the mantle of Bond was handed to him at long last. With his first foray into Bond territory with "Live And Let Die" Moore's version of the character makes the transition easily and would rack up another six to his credit ending with "A View To A Kill". The fantastic speed boat chase in this film is worth the price of the DVD alone! We get a bevvy of girls, a slew of villains and a fairly tight plot running on a drugs racket with a mix of exotic locations and a dash of voodoo thrown in for good measure - In fact all the usual Bond ingredients actually. SPECIAL FEATURES: Again with this Ultimate Edition DVD we get a newly recorded Audio Commentary with Roger Moore, Bond 1973: The Lost Documentary, Roger Moore TV excerpt as James Bond - Circa 1964 and the Live And Let Die Conceptual Art featurette. 007 Mission Control filler once again! Two further Audio Commentaries and another fine Patrick MacNee Making of with Inside Live And Let Die, two more On Set features with Roger Moore & Original Trailers, TV/Radio Spots & Photo Gallery. Soundtrack: DTS/5.1. Dolby Digital. Language: English with Subtitles for the Hard Of Hearing & European (Movie Only). Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 Widescreen 16x9 Colour PAL. Runtime: 1 Hr. 57 Mins. Approx. Playstation 2 Compatible. Rating: PG Region 2 (UK) 2-Disc Ultimate Edition. MGM/United Artists/Sony Pictures Ltd. D1-55235-UK-S/MDR 55235 UE/ISBN # 5035822523593>

RETRO FLASHBACK "Never Say Never Again" 5/8/06

Well with Bond currently riding high in the charts with the new issue of "The Ultimate Editions" I thought I would reassess the "unofficial" Bond that came out the same year as "Octopussy". With this remake of "Thunderball" oddly enough this film still fit's into the Bond Canon well - The only downside being the crappy soundtrack in Dolby Surround, the dire print which has loads of dirt and flickers on it and the piss-poor blue screen work - apart from that it's an entertaining Bond without the mainstream elements to it. What it could do with is it's own Ultimate Edition - Clean up the soundtrack & print, bung on some Special Features and voila - Instant Bond! Designed to look like the "real" Bond it's cover matches the original releases - Unfortunately it's not so Special Features only consist of the Original Theatrical Trailer and that's it! Region 2 (UK) Rating: PG. Widescreen Version 16:9 - 1.85:1. Soundtrack: English Dolby Surround. Subtitles: English & Hard Of Hearing Only. Runtime: 2 Hrs. 9 Mins. Colour. MGM DVD. 19882DVD MZ1/ISBN # 5050070006292>