300 Film Review - 23/4/07

Astonishing - Absolutely astonishing! Whilst not exactly a history lesson "300" which is based on Frank Miller's graphic novel; covers some of the events about the infamous Battle Of Thermopylae in 480 B.C., which was a turning point in history that spanned the world's civilisations that actually sent echoes flowing down through history to the modern day. Covering the stylisation of Miller's work from "Sin City" Director Zack Snyder's virtual landscapes resonate with bleached, faded colours that show amazing detail in all shades of hues. The extreme violence paints the screen continually red as the beleaguered Spartan forces hold off the advance of the Persian hordes. The cast headed up by Gerald Butler with Lena Headey, Dominic West, David Wenham and Stephen McHattie and Rodrigo Santoro as Xerxes really don't put a foot wrong.

Sparta is led by King Leonidas who refuses the Persian God-King Xerxes fealty after a number of savage encounters against Greece. Betrayed by members of his own council Leonidas stands at Thermopylae against the Persian might with 300 of his men and holds the valley for 3 days until their eventual slaughter by the Persian Army. Galvanising the rest of Greece to unite and fight back in eventually repelling the mighty Persian Army due to their sacrifice.

BRIDGE TO TERABITHIA Film Review - 22/4/07

A few years ago I read "IT" by Stephen King and not only did it remind me of parts of my childhood like no other book or film has done since but it scared the shit out of me because I actually started to believe in it and thought Pennywise was out to get me. This unusual children's film does not pull any punches in a similar way about the soaring flights of imagination that humans can have and brings it all down to reality by showing how shitty a child's life can be when they are young and how some things phenomenally make up for that with other passions. Simply told it features Josh Hutcherson (From "Zathura") and Anna Sophia Robb (From Tim Burton's "Charlie & The Chocolate Factory" remake) discovering their own make-believe world with good casting of Robert Patrick as Jesse's Dad and Zooey Deschanel as his Music Teacher. Mixing a blend of CGI and reality it has some choke-up moments and even a tear or two as things play out. Another film that has reminded me of my childhood running through the woods (When they were still there of course instead of a Housing Estate and Pub now!) and fighting school bullies in various forms. This is the type of film that Walt Disney should be investing their money in!

ZODIAC Film Review - 22/4/07

Seeing David Fincher's name attached to this guaranteed me watching it after seeing "Seven", "Fight Club" and "The Panic Room". Sketching out a very low-key and restrained version of events about the notorious Zodiac killings in the States in the late 1960/1970's period we follow the main people involved in the story from both the Newspaper side and the side of the Police with not only a top notch main cast but some excellent side-performances from the supporting cast as well. Jake Gyllenhaal plays the lead with a show of sheer desperation as his literal obsession destroys everything around him in his pursuit of the truth and Robert Downey Jr. goes overboard as he crashes and burns as the reporter who can't quite make it all stick. Mark Ruffalo and Anthony Edwards both pursue the likeliest suspect but also can't get the pieces together enough to pull off a conviction - But the finger does point somewhere in this true-life unsolved batch of killings. Fincher's trademarks are clearly seen in this production with rain-drenched scenes and pictures bleached grey of all colour. Not a spot on any of his previous work's but a good re-creation of the period and the fear that was felt at the time over these murders.

PATHFINDER Film Review - 21/4/07

This is the sort of film that makes you want to masturbate in the cinema and not in a good way! Karl Urban was far better in "The Chronicles Of Riddick" and Clancy Brown is one of the "bad" Vikings decimating the peaceful Native American Indians they have come across after travelling over the seas from far away - Incidentally with about 300 horses, dogs and hunting birds and what have you? Totally preposterous it does a disservice to both the Native Americans and also the Vikings in both cultural outlooks. The story as slim as it is - Involves a Viking boy left behind after a raid and brought up by a peaceful Indian tribe until the Vikings return years later and the slaughter starts all over again - He takes up arms against the invaders and blood flows by the bucketful as ears, arms and legs are sent flying in different directions - A 5 Star Turd in any language and a great disappointment!

ERAGON (DVD Review) - 21/4/07

I had heard good things about this from a mate - and having had virulent food poisoning last weekend; had my copy to watch but was too busy throwing up the Waitrose Cheese Salad (With Mayonnaise!) that had poisoned me, probably for the worse weekend ever! I need not of bothered as this ropey old piece of cod was posing as Salmon in the world of Same Old Same Old with a great cast wasted on a crap film. Lead Ed Speleers is not only ugly he can't act - What were the Producers doing when they cast him? I'm told he is now working on a building site after the "success" of Eragon which has done so well there doesn't look like there will be the follow-up sequels......Oh, thank you Lord! Wasted on this were the combined talents of Jeremy Irons, John Malkovich and Robert Carlyle (Doing a bad guy with tattoos in a shocking red wig and looking virtually unrecognisable) and if I was 12 I would have loved it: But the script filmed like a painting by numbers piece with all the stock parts in place was boring. I didn't even bother with the Special Features. One thing I did like was the poster image above - I just hope the book is better when I get around to reading it?

AMERICAN PIE ALL 5 SLICES (DVD Review) - 10/4/07

This is the 5-Disc Boxset on Region 2 (UK) of "American Pie All 5 Slices" comprising "American Pie - Ultimate Edition" "American Pie 2 - Unseen" "American Pie: The Wedding Recut" with add-ons "American Pie Presents: Band Camp" and "American Pie Presents: The Naked Mile" which is hopefully the last slice of pie thank you very much!

AMERICAN PIE - ULTIMATE EDITION: Starting off with the first film in the series a group of lads attempt to get laid and generally cause mayhem in their wake as they attempt to reach their goal but also learning a few life-lessons along the way.

SPECIAL FEATURES: This disc is jam packed with goodies with Commentary, Featurettes, Deleted Scenes, Interviews, Videos & Trailers and more.

AMERICAN PIE 2 - UNSEEN: A couple of years on we catch up with the characters in this sequel which covers the further trials & tribulations of the group as they get together for their first summer after college and more mayhem ensues.

SPECIAL FEATURES: More ace stuff with added Commentaries, Featurettes, Outtakes & Deleted Scenes, Videos & Trailers and more.

AMERICAN PIE: THE WEDDING RECUT: One of the gang gets married this time around in the much-extended version of this recut film and one final member learns what it means to stop being such a dick all the time.

SPECIAL FEATURES: Further value with more Deleted Scenes & Outtakes, Commentary and Featurettes and more.

AMERICAN PIE PRESENTS: BAND CAMP: Continuing the further adventures of Stifler's family in this spin-off with his younger brother at Band Camp.

SPECIAL FEATURES: Outtakes & Deleted Scenes, Featurettes & Videos.

AMERICAN PIE PRESENTS: THE NAKED MILE: With more from another Stifler family member attempting the time-honoured tradition of The Naked Mile Run.

SPECIAL FEATURES: None.

Will pass away a few hours with some laughs and a chuckle or two but don't expect to much from this Boxset.

MONSTER HOUSE (DVD Review) - 8/4/07

I debated about getting this on DVD and initially didn't bother. Stuck without anything to watch I thought this might fill a gap and I'm glad I did. It has a really nasty mean streak through it and also has a lot of depth to the actual pictures (Presumably why some showings were in 3D format) and when you find out that it was through Motion Capture Performance it makes a lot of sense. Not only do you get the vocals but the actor's original performance at the same time, then rendered into CGI animation for a further realistic touch. It is surprisingly creepy and frightening for a children's film and comes over more like a horror than anything else in a very subtle way which is reminiscent of a child's point of view. Headed by a unpleasant Steve Buscemi (But for all the right reasons) and performances from Kathleen Turner and Jon Heder among others, this rattles along at a fair old pace pushing all the right buttons in a certain cringe-worthy way as the cartoon version of a "Twilight Zone" episode.

The awkward fat kid, his geeky nerd of a mate and the girl (All stereotypes present!) find out that the local neighbourhood haunted house really is "haunted" and decide to do something about it as the adults don't listen and time is running out. Cue all manner of escapades as the kids attempt to find the solution to their problems.

SPECIAL FEATURES: Commentary, 7-Part Making-Of covering various part's of the film's Production & Multi-Angle Evolution Of A Scene. An excellent The Art Of Monster House Photo Gallery & DVD-ROM feature. Collector's Edition has a cardboard outer sleeve with Interactive Animation Wheel that folds out and revolves.

Special Features Not Rated or Close-Captioned. 2.40:1 Anamorphic Widescreen. Region 1 (USA) NTSC DVD - Colour. CC. Runtime: Approx 91 Mins. Rating: PG. Languages: English & French 5.1. Dolby. Subtitles: English & French. SONY 2006. ISBN # 043396166851.

MIRRORMASK (DVD Review) - 8/4/07

Mr. Periwinkle urged me to see this and I thought it would not be my "cup of tea" so to speak. It wasn't either I'm afraid to say! Like a bag of spanners dropping on your head from a second-storey window block of flats; it put me in mind of one of those late seventies animated films from Europe, that just run riot off at a tangent and just are totally bizarre. I expected something strange from both Dave McKean and Neil Gaiman and strange was what I got - It was like watching "Labyrinth" on acid and had a spoilt brat confronting the real world who really needed to grow up. I think I'll stay with the graphic novels in the "Sandman" series which is about my limit.

Girl who is stroppy teenager ends up in her own flights of fantasy and treks across a collaged landscape looking for the "charm" that will hopefully set right the havoc she has caused in a coming of age saga between the light/dark sides of herself (maybe?)

SPECIAL FEATURES: Commentary, 8-Part Making-Of covering various parts of the film's Production and a Poster/Cover Art Gallery.

Region 1 (USA) NTSC DVD - Colour. CC. 1.85:1 Anamorphic Widescreen. Runtime: Approx 104 Mins. Rated: PG. Language: English, Portuguese & Thai 5.1. Dolby / French Surround Dolby. Subtitles: English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese, Korean & Thai. Special Features Not Rated. SONY 2006. ISBN # 1404945156.

MR. BEAN'S HOLIDAY Film Review - 6/4/07

Immediately thought of Mr. Periwinkle when I saw the Trailer* for this - Oh, how we laughed! But enough of that...In this swansong to Rowan Atkinson's character we bid a final adieu to Mr. Bean as he traipses off to France on holiday. To say it's no great shakes is pretty apt but the gentle comedy of this grotesque creation in awkwardness prat-falling from one sticky incident to another mishap does raise a few chuckles and grins and I'm all for amusement! I also doubt if this film will sell well in Germany either after the Nazi film-within-a-film shoot. As Bean wanders off into the Sunset you could almost feel the world was a sorrier place without his presence (Or maybe not?)

*TRAILER: This film used a Trailer with Deleted Scenes (Notably the incident featuring the lap-top and drinks spillage) so be aware that what you have seen may not necessarily be in the film. I regard the use of deleted footage in film advertising as false advertising and this is an on-going problem. If you pay to see a film at the cinema after watching a Trailer used to advertise that film and the footage isn't in the film; but you specifically went to see the film because of the Trailer, would you be happy?