HEROES {1st. Season} (DVD Review) - 27/8/07

Word of mouth on this came down shortly before it aired on the Sci-Fi Channel and then a year later it appeared on the BBC. If you have seen any of it and enjoyed it then don't bother with the current UK version which seems to be a propagating trend in releasing TV Series in two halves and ripping you off for double the money. You can get the complete series from the USA for about £29 instead of £50 in the UK. Some shows take a while to gain their feet this one ploughs ahead and immediately sets it all out then gradually fills in the back plot, story-arc and characters. People start to develop super powers and need to head off a cataclysmic event similar to the X-Men in style just a little bit more down to earth instead. Perceptively one of it's strongish strengths comes from the comic book/graphic novel with the main cast and peripheral characters being killed off left, right and centre. Each scene is like a panel from the pages of a comic as we flit through slices of people's lives page by page as elements of everything in the story are pulled together piece by piece. Another strong point in the series favour is the use of a real artist (Tim Sale) who illustrates magnificent pictures and paintings that guide the storyline. Neatly tying up the First Season plenty of threads are left hanging for the Second with even an opening Monologue for the next as well.

Plenty of effort has gone into this 7-disc boxset with the box itself laid out with illustrations and pictures from the show. Cleverly each disc has a written panel on the box designed in comic-book style writing that gives a synopsis on each of the episodes. SPECIAL FEATURES: We have selected Audio Commentaries by Cast & Crew. The never before aired 73 Minute Premiere Episode, 50 Deleted Scenes, The Making Of.. and the Special Effects & Stunts. A profile of the Artist Tim Sale, The Score & Mind Reader Game.

Audio: English Dolby Digital 5.1. Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish & French. Anamorphic Widescreen: 1.78:1. Region 1 (USA) Colour. Runtime: 16 Hrs. 49 Mins. Approx. UNIVERSAL STUDIOS. ISBN # 025195018968.

RATATOUILLE Film Review - 19/8/07

Seen a very short trailer for this a long while back and of course with the Pixar name attached to it - it was a must see (Unlike "Cars" Bleettttccccchhhhhh!!!) It's a rarity for an animated film to draw a tear from me (Or maybe I'm just soft?) but very near the end (In a scene stolen from "Jaws" no less) I felt a pricking in my right eye as this film hit the spot. A strange mixture of story and telling we have the tale of a rat called Remy who yearns for a different life - than - Well a rat's life actually. Being drawn from the garbage dump he wants to cook in the top Paris restaurant Gusteau's - And if you can put up with the stereotypical Frenchman "whizz de liddle Beret eet zee honion" accents you'll find a couple of hours amusement just breezes by. The lush visuals and the nuances of realism and textures get more astonishing with each Pixar production made. For a children's film it is quite dark in places but adults will get a real kick out of it!

THE I INSIDE (DVD Review) - 11/8/07

The back cover blurb on the back of this DVD interested me about a guy who wakes up from a car accident and finds he can slip through time from the year 2000 to the year 2002. Coming awake with sullen people around him in a freaky looking hospital wondering what is going on as a Doctor attempts an explanation of the situation. As you gradually get drawn into the film you wonder if it is a plot to drive this person insane and gain his inheritance, or is it a ghost story or some form of con? Is it a murder mystery or what? When the time travelling kicks in it's hard to keep track of the different threads unless you watch closely and then it falls apart with a dissatisfying ending. It was only after doing some further digging on the film (after feeling frustrated) that I then realised the film I had been watching wasn't what I thought I had been watching at all. Then of course all the pieces fell into place. It then makes you wonder just how long two minutes can be on a certain level and about the nature of time? I'm sorry that I watched this film as a time filler instead of concentrating on it properly because it is so subtle you miss it if you don't pay enough attention. Having spoilt the surprise by wasting the opportunity first time around I advise others to watch this confusing gem and go into it with eyes wide open.

BUZZ LIGHTYEAR OF STAR COMMAND: THE ADVENTURE BEGINS (DVD Review) - 11/8/07

Waiting to see this for ages! I had not realised that it was a feature-length movie which kick-started a 2 Season Animated show that ran for about 30 episodes? Interestingly enough Tim Allen re-voices Buzz in this film and William Shatner "sings" the end credits. The film starts off with an introduction from the original Toy Story characters in CGI then switches to 2-D animation for a lengthy Buzz Lightyear adventure clocking in at 67 minutes as Buzz goes up against the evil Emperor Zurg (Who else?) as he attempts to take over the universe (Again!) This DVD has an Interactive Comic Book under it's Special Features that you can read yourself onscreen or alternatively have an overexcited voice-over artist read it for you. I would be interested in watching the rest of the series if it makes it to DVD release?

DR.DOLITTLE BOXSET (DVD Review) - 10/8/07

This boxset comprises "Dr. Dolittle" with "Dr. Dolittle 2 & 3" - Unfortunately next year it will be out of date as another film is being churned out in the series with "Dr. Dolittle First Dog" - Blurrgghhhh! The first film in the set starts off with Eddie Murphy talking to the animals and them talking back against a family background with a plot machination going on behind all this in the form of a takeover at the hospital where Dr. Dolittle works. Rated PG the fart jokes and belly laughs continue in that vein.

The second piece in the set takes as it's plot a Godfather pastiche with a bit of environmentalism thrown in with the fart jokes and so on present again.

SPECIAL FEATURES: On this disc we actually get some in the shape of an Audio Commentary, Deleted Scenes, 4 Featurettes, 5 Storyboard to Film Comparisons & a Music Video.

This time Eddie Murphy has decided to jump ship and we get the sickly saccharine stage-school kids jumping at the chance to star in the latest "cool" MTV/Nickelodeon/Disney project as they all hate each other, then get on and decide to save the ranch against evil tycoon, can they win out and enter the Rodeo and all that bollocks. Dolittle's daughter wants to be normal - YADA-YADA-YADA - Just talk to the animals love. One big spew-fest to Vomitathon from start to finish.
SPECIAL FEATURES: Also feature on this with an Audio Commentary & 2 Featurettes.

THE DRESDEN FILES {1st. Season} (DVD Review) - 9/8/07

I caught this totally by accident after recording some late-nite TV guff and came across an episode with only half an hour recorded - It was of sufficient interest to make me want to watch the show when available on DVD. Of course I found out it was based on a series of novels by author Jim Butcher who I had never read before but certainly intend on doing now. Shown on Sci-Fi and then cancelled after 12 episodes due to "production costs" but actually lack of viewers this is actually good entertainment. We have a back arc spread out across the series with a range of core characters and side-characters with all the elements of every other genre show but this is in a class of it's own. I'm constantly surprised at just how good Special FX and CGI are nowadays even in a TV show constrained by a budget and there is plenty on show here in this First (and what looks like it's only) Season. Harry Dresden is your everyday wizard in Chicago trying to do a bit of good in a world gone mad - Some of it is trite but some of it is also spot on. So we get vampires & werewolves and everything else chucked into the mix from skinwalkers and other assorted beasties.

SPECIAL FEATURES: Audio Commentaries, Making Of Featurette, Deleted Scenes. 16x9 Widescreen Version. English 5.1. Dolby Digital Audio. English CC. Episodes & Special Features NOT RATED. Region 1 (USA). Colour. Runtime Approx: 530 Mins. LIONSGATE 2007. ISBN # 01223621688980.

HARRY POTTER AND THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX Film Review - 8/8/07

As with any film adaption vast chunks of the text will be missing and this film version is no exception. Luckily this book in the series was my least favourite so the extremely sombre settings and dark tone to the film reflects the books as they get darker with each installment. We meet the dreadful Dolores Umbridge (Imelda Staunton) this time around as she schemes against our heroes with her ghastly pink woollen jacket and cutesy cat plates. Suffice to say it was very much like the book - Too long and quite boring. The Special FX and CGI are obviously impressive but it's going to be hard to turn this into a "family entertainment" spectacle with such dark subject matter. Let us hope the last two films in the series catch the spirit of the books and notch up the excitement level a tad - Roll on the Deathly Hallows!

Harry ends up on trial due to using magic outside of school against Dementors. The charges are dismissed but the Ministry Of Magic sends Dolores Umbridge to Hogwarts school to interfere against Dumbledore and it's pupils. Voldemort and his Death Eater cronies fight against the Order Of The Phoenix and things seem at an impasse?

FOLLOWING - TV Film Review 6/8/07

Wanted to see this film for quite a while then noticed it was playing on a late night slot on BBC2 after a "Heroes" repeat and decide to record it to watch later. An early effort from Director Christopher Nolan (Memento, Batman Begins & The Prestige) has an unknown cast filmed in a black & white neo-noir style of an aspiring writer who gets obsessed with following people around and gets caught by an erstwhile burglar or so you may think? Truth gradually eludes you as things are not as they appear and you can clearly see Director Nolan's sleight of hand as the cross and double-cross happens and the twists pile up. Like a "Tales Of The Unexpected" episode stoked on coke and stretched out to 70 minutes this hammers home all it's points and still leaves you thinking long after it has finished. Chronologically disjointed you can actual watch it in sequence on the DVD - Much like you can play "Memento" from the beginning or the end. Worthwhile fare from this fairly unknown gem lying in a swathe of TV repeats.

THE LAST MIMZY Film Review - 5/8/07

A charming children's tale about a time travelling rabbit that enhances two children's perceptions and mind powers to save the future. With very mild thrills and spills it paints a picture of everyday life with the potential for something more. Good Special FX push the story along at a brisk pace and this really can be described as a good "family film" for all ages. Soon to be made available on DVD in the UK & the US.

WEDDING DAZE Film Review - 5/8/07

You would of thought Jason Biggs would steer clear of comedies and try something new? The tears were rolling down my cheeks in this comedy and that was more to do with how excruciatingly embarrassing and lame it was. "Wedding Daze" AKA as The Pleasure Of Your Company and The Next Girl I See [Keep changing the film's title - Why don't you??] starts out well as a dark comedy then nosedives big time. I hate it when all the best bits of the film are in the trailer! After asking a total stranger to marry him in a local diner the couple lurch from one disastrous scene to the next without anything making sense or being explained. The "comedy" falls flat without any idea of timing and no reasoning from any point of view pans out? People make decisions with no idea of characterisation and everything gets thrown into the melting pot. Awful - Just awful.

METAMORPHOSIS (DVD Review) - 5/8/07

Like rats jumping from a sinking ship there goes Christopher Lambert's career even further down with it! I wanted to watch this vampire film and have only just been able to get hold of a copy from Germany which is the only place it has been released. No dates for the UK or the US as it look's like this one bypassed the cinema straight to DVD on limited release. One can see why really - The film is directed by a hack with a totally unknown cast filming through parts of Hungary, Germany & Austria. Starting off well with a jump to the past and the legend of Elizabeth Bathory it's all down here from this point. Plot goes out the window with three obnoxious American kids travelling through Hungary and generally being arseholes with the locals until they meet up with two Eurotrash punk kids visting the forbidden castle by the monastery. It get's worse as the acting is dire, the effects cheap and the badly directed "horror" that is mind-numbingly boring it can't even raise a laugh. It get's a point for the unusual twist at the end - Or double-twist if you can stand the Director pushing his acting career in a lengthy cameo. If you can get a copy and find a dog turd in the street - Just stick the disc in the top of the pile in a prominant position - I'm sure you'll get the message! Also comes with 5.1. Dolby Sound, a Making Of Featurette, Trailers & Music Clips.

TRANSFORMERS Film Review - 1/8/07

Was never a fan of Transformers - Never had the toys or watched the cartoon. But had seen some footage of this and it looked fairly entertaining. If you watch this live action/CGI version you will have to check your brain in at the foyer though as it screams from start to finish TOYS FOR BOYS and the merchandising can't be far behind. Totally brainless for roughly 2 hours of blurry mayhem as robots pound the crap out of each other and half the time you can't tell who is who? The story concerns evil Decepticons coming to earth in search of a cube that will eradicate life on the planet but are foiled in their plot by the heroic Autobots. Side stories include the usual love interest, a top secret government organisation, some past family history about the hero and the army survivors of a Special Forces group. Like a pill - Probably best taken with liquid - Preferably alcohol to deaden the senses on a late Saturday night showing followed by a pizza.