BABYLON 5: THE LOST TALES - VOICES IN THE DARK (DVD Review) - 30/7/07

Saw some advertising for this and thought they were re-packaging old material for a new release. It turns out it is actually a straight-to-DVD anthology series that I had heard about a couple of years back and then heard no more about. Soon as it was available I put my order in and it arrived today and I sat down to enjoy some further adventures in the Babylon 5 universe. Fingers crossed that if they sell enough - more DVD releases will follow. This opening called "Babylon 5: The Lost Tales - Voices In The Dark" #1 features 2 stories "Over There" & "Over Here" centering on characters President Sheridan (Bruce Boxleitner), Lochley (Tracy Scoggins) and Galen (Peter Woodward). It's obvious that it is a total pared down budget job and that wouldn't be a problem if the actual "tales" were up to scratch. Both fairly dull and plodding we can only hope for better future tales from Garibaldi, Lyta & Co. but I'm more than happy to see a duff episode if better are to follow. The first tale concerns an actual demonic presence on Babylon 5 - So Lochley enlists the aid of a Priest to help her out. The second tales covers the Interstellar Alliance's 10th. Anniversary with a turn from Galen giving President Sheridan a glimpse into the future from a Centauri perspective. At least with this release we get a good chunk of Special Features.

This above is the back of the Region 1 (USA) release cover. Special Features has a nice selection of Interviews with the cast, Memorials to sadly passed Andreas Katsulas & Richard Biggs with The Straczynski Diaries covering various aspects from start to finish on this production. Fireside Chats involves some Q&A from the series creator himself. Widescreen Version. NOT RATED. English SDH Feature only. Colour. Runtime: 72 Mins - 36 Mins per episode. English: DS 5.1. WARNER BROS. 112984/ISBN # 1419847066.

SHREK THE THIRD Film Review - 26/7/07

So here we have "Shrek The Turd" - Oops, sorry - "Shrek The Third". In this rather "charmless" sequel (Let's please now stop at three!) it feels like putting on your favourite well-worn shoes or your really old comfy slippers and realising it's time for them to be binned. This time around although the same cast is present and correct with a few new hangers on - The script and story really don't add up to much. With the odd few laughs few and far between this certainly doesn't stand up to the second film and both pale in comparison to the original. The quality of animation of course is superb and when the few jokes that do hit - they are spot on. But the story - Ouch!! Hopefully the DVD will include some better Special Features on a 2-Discer to actually sell this tired sequel - and if they want a spin off film with Antonio Banderas Puss In Boots character they had better get a decent scriptwriter in.

This time Shrek gets lumbered with the King's duties in Far Far Away and getting fed up with this decides to track down the other Royal heir - Hence a quest to find Artie. In the meantime scheming Prince Charming stages a take over of the Kingdom with his band of villains aiming to put Shrek out of the picture once and for all. YAWN!

STRANGER THAN FICTION (DVD Review) - 23/7/07

Sometimes life is "Stranger Than Fiction" and ice cream proves that. Having made a journey to the local cinema now called Empire instead of the UCI I had a yearning for a white chocolate Magnum ice cream and was dismayed to find that they had stopped selling them and it was only Ben & Jerry's franchised that they sold. After the last tub of Ben & Jerry's Chocolate Cherry Garcia turned into an anal explosion & retching session due to the crap that they put in it, they were definitely off the list! Luckily I had been told on a recent visit to Mr. Periwinkle's and Our Wife that "Stranger Than Fiction" was a film to catch and so hunting out a copy on DVD I sat down in the comfort of my own lounge with a white chocolate Magnum purchased from Waitrose (In a totally different aisle from where they usually are - Only took me two weeks to find it) and proceeded directly to the film. Will Ferrell (who I had not seen in any of his other films) comes over as an OCD victim with a mathematics problem in his role as Harold Crick but the clever conceit of this film is that he hears a constant narration of his life in voice-over from obsessive & neurotic writer Emma Thompson as Karen Eiffel who has a writing block on the story of his life. With Queen Latifah as Eiffel's PA and Maggie Gyllenhaal as Crick's love interest we round out the cast with Dustin Hoffman as Professor of Literature Jules Hilbert. Weirdly enough all the characters and various events in the film portray actual real-life mathematicians names. Briskly rolling along in this light comedy with a straight edge we suddenly hit tragedy at the end which would have been even more shocking if they had left it like that - But do the decent thing and have the typical Hollywood ending. A film about how people can change - in more ways than one - that affects all the characters. A smart, clever movie, played straight with it's conventions being broken and all the better for it!

The Region 2 (UK) DVD has a nice selection of Special Features covering six Featurettes over various Production aspects of the film. With Deleted/Extended Scenes and a pile of Trailers. LANGUAGE: English. Audio: 5.1. English Audio Description Track. Subtitles: English (HOH) - Movie Only English, Hindi. Aspect ratio: 1.85:1 Anamorphic Widescreen. PAL Colour. Runtime: 1 Hr 48 Mins Approx. Rating: 12. Sony/Columbia Pictures. 41272-UK-S/ISBN # 5035822127234>

MR. BROOKS Film Review - 16/7/07

Having caught a trailer for this I found it quite interesting so set out to see it. You know when a film really grabs you from the start and you start to question what is going on and how things are going to work out? Well this film isn't it! A dreary lack-lustre serial killer offering that wanders along without any saving grace and leaves it totally open at the end (From what Kevin Costner has said this is the first part of a trilogy) and even has the nerve to throw in the old stereotypical dream sequence at the end. Fine performances from Kevin Costner, Demi Moore and William Hurt who all acquit themselves well - But really can't save this tired old dinosaur from sinking into the tar pit. Not only is it an odd fish but it is also rather slow in a paced out fashion. There is no sense of urgency here, no feeling of fright and the twists have all been seen before in better films. Mr. Brooks (Kevin Costner) is outwardly the perfect man unfortunately his dark alter-ego in the shape of William Hurt is constantly by his side taunting him to acts of murder and madness as he attempts to stay on the straight and narrow. Giving into temptation sets off a chain of events that puts a Police Officer hard on his tail with a cracking show from Demi Moore as the embittered cop.

DIE HARD 4.0 Film Review - 14/7/07

Bruce Willis blasts back on top form in this resoundingly destructive sequel in the series and drags along Justin Long ("Dodgeball") as a computer hacker the bad guys want dead from the start! Blistering gunfire, havoc and destruction, bullets peppering walls as explosions blow followed by car chases, fights and stunts and general mayhem as Bruce just pummels the shit out of the bad guys as an older and wiser version of his original character. Numerously titled with several versions the one they seemed to decide to go with was "Die Hard 4.0" in an aptly timed tale of cyber-terrorism that really pushes the "What if..." button hard. Directed by Len Wiseman (Of "Underworld" fame) the action is pretty much full-on from start to finish and 2 hours of gunplay and big bangs just flies by with this edge-of-your-seat fingernail chewer amidst the sea of popcorn. With all the trademarks in place roll on "Die Hard 5" and I'm looking forward to a packed double-discer on DVD when "Die Hard 4.0" is out to compliment my 6-disc set of the original trilogy.

THE NUMBER 23 Film Review - 9/7/07

Was very apprehensive about watching this after hearing some negative reviews. Suddenly I find out I'm wrong and will have to buy this on DVD when available. Jim Carrey puts in a blistering performance (so we have no sign of his usual grinning loon) and a slowly tortured and obsessive character trait is brought to the fore in an otherwise happily married man (with a son) and a loving wife in the shape of Virginia Madsen. After receiving a book called "The Number 23" as a birthday present things take a twist as Carrey's character gets totally obsessed in the story within a story (as do we the viewers) and goes off the deep end straight into lunacy bordering on mania as conspiracy and numerology collide. Trying to explain why the book knows so much about his life (as thing's take a further twist) psychosis starts to set in and we get drawn into the so called madness until the screws tighten and we end up with a possible killer on the loose and the book as his confession. Then things get even further involved as it's all a plot against Carrey or is it? When you don't know which way to turn and imagine just how things can get more tense another revelation screws your head totally around and then all the pieces fall into place as the shocking denouement ensues. If you can forgive the obvious coincidences (and you will do) and gloss over the slight mystic angle to the plot (you will) this chilly and creepy psychological thriller will have you deep in your seat scrunched down into a ball. Most satisfying indeed!

THE HILLS HAVE EYES 2 (2007) Film Review - 8/7/07

You start to worry when the sequel to a film is rushed out the following year, with a cast you haven't heard of (Unless you count Michael Bailey Smith as "Hades") and a director who hasn't done anything noticeable? But in this case whilst not a patch on the original re-make from 2006 (Because don't forget "The Hills Have Eyes" 1 & 2 are re-makes of the Wes Craven originals) there is still something to commend this sequel attempt cash-in: The opening scene is inexplicably unpleasant and some later scenes are also nasty. In reference to the 2006 version it was very extreme and you could understand that from the nature of the story. This 2007 follow-up has it's moments but all in all is pretty limp. Army grunts finishing their training get casually picked off one by one by radioactive mutants in a hellhole out in the desert - The moral to this tale? Emmmm???

SUNSHINE Film Review - 8/7/07

Had been interested in seeing this film and although rather plodding it is actually quite intense in places. With a fairly international casting list with people like Michelle Yeoh, Hiroyuki Sanada, Chris Evans (Who plays his character of Mace so well you would entirely forget his Johnny Storm character from the dire "Fantastic Four" films) and Cillian Murphy as Capa who is more or less the lead we delve into the psyche. The crew onboard the Icarus starship (More or less a floating bomb in space) is following up a previous failed attempt to re-ignite our dying sun and 55 million miles from Earth things are starting to go wrong. Throughout the claustrophobic film we get a spiritual or even a vague mysticism thread that makes you question entirely what is happening or going on. Madness sets in amongst the crew as they desperately attempt to complete their mission against fairly overwhelming odds until they come across the Icarus One mission and then the madness really strikes when an unknown presence targets the surviving crew. Whether we see God at the final moments or we see human nature sets you thinking and the final few minutes of the film make chilling viewing.

PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: AT WORLD'S END Film Review - 2/7/07

With this third film becoming a trilogy and the possibility of a 4th & 5th - One can only hope they can keep up the rollicking good fun bearing in mind that the whole series comes from a Disney Theme Park ride - Who would have thought it? More in spirit to some of the old classics like "Jason & The Argonauts" or "Sinbad & The Eye Of The Tiger" this fitting entry sits quite nicely with Parts 1 & 2 "Curse Of The Black Pearl" & "Dead Man's Chest". Continuing more or less from the previous events of the last film the action is more over the top, bigger and better, longer in length and it is hard to tell from where one effect starts to where the next stops it's all so seamless. The story carries itself well with the introduction of other pirates from all over the globe coming up against the dreaded East India Trading Company in it's quest to rid the seas of piracy. Taking a side-trip to rescue Captain Jack Sparrow the cast reunites to rattle along with frenetic speed and 3 hours just seems to fly by as all seem to be enjoying themselves immensely in their given roles. Enough to say that when the boxset on DVD is out it will probably be worth getting as I'm sure it will be packed with tons of Special Features making this series even more worthwhile!

28 WEEKS LATER Film Review - 2/7/07

A really duff attempt to kick-start a new franchise with this shoddy sequel to "28 Days Later". Getting in A-lister Robert Carlyle (Who obviously needed to pay the Rent that month as he does his angst driven role on auto-pilot) and a role for Harold Perrineau from TV's "Lost" has a bloody guts and splatter quotient upped to persuade the market it's up there with all the rest - Dullsville! With a slight tang of atmosphere from the get-go it does go downhill to the obligatory sequel set-up for Part 3 if it makes enough cash this time round. With none of the good points from the original half the time it is hard to see what is going on as the camera is viewing things from different perspectives and flying around so much it's just a fast transition of information you can't take in. There are better Zombie flicks out there!

NEXT Film Review - 2/7/07

Now I had not seen a Trailer for this but had read a small piece on it in a magazine months before it was out. Directed by Lee Tamahori ("Die Another Day") and with Nicolas Cage as a man with the ability to see 2 minutes into his own future I was certainly interested - Even more so when I found out it was based on a Philip K. Dick story called "The Golden Man". Starting off sharply and really getting up to speed quickly this started to look more interesting as it progressed and the story put one hell of a lot of pressure on with Julianne Moore, Jessica Biel and Thomas Kretschmann all fleshing out their characters exceptionally well and the action notched up a few ratchets and turned high octane - Then the story suddenly jolts completely, jumps back to halfway through the film and stops totally dead with no ending, explanation or anything? The sort of thing as the credits roll make you shout out "Is that it?" A really good story turned to shit in literally seconds - Don't waste 2 hours of your life - You will be really disappointed. I certainly was - Pointless!

FRACTURE Film Review - 1/7/07

I had seen Gregory Hoblit's name attached to this as Director ("Frequency"/"Fallen") and also knew that Anthony Hopkins was in the lead so that had immediately attracted my attention to this film project. A twisty turny manipulative thriller trundles off into a bog-standard courtroom affair with Hopkins character accused of attempted murder up against Ryan Goslings up and coming lawyer. Even with a great cast consisting of David Strathairn, Rosamund Pike, Embeth Davidtz and Xander Berkeley (With an appearance from Fiona Shaw who I haven't seen in anything recently except "The Black Dahlia" for a very long time) this is entertaining enough; but goes from atmospheric thriller with lush visuals, to a dreary twist with sub Hannibal Lecter overtones. For better work by the Director Gregory Hoblit see the above films listed instead!