SMALLVILLE {1st. Season} (DVD Review) - 30/1/08

After all the apple pie moments and the sheer wholesomeness of "Mom & Pop" and the values of White Christian Middle-Class America I really hope this series improves? Trying not to spew as I waded through this first series of 21 episodes spread across 6 discs we can only hope? It's obviously not a piss-take but it is ever so fluffy & light with some odd dark edges to it more in the background than in the forefront. Hopefully it will pan out and get a stronger tone & feel to the storylines?

The sixth disc in the set has the final episode with obligatory cliff-hanger ending (Yawn!) on it but also a slew of Special Features which really bring this first series to life.

Taking a view of the young Superman's life before he becomes Superman; Clark Kent is involved in the usual raft of teenage angst and prom dates, with a handful of special abilities he has to hide from his friends and the world. After a meteorite shower hits the town of Smallville with Kryptonite the Kent family adopt a lost young boy. In the ensuing adventures Kryptonite has adverse effects on people in a variety of strange (...and mostly dangerous) ways more likely towards evil but occasionally towards good.

FILM REVIEW - DILEMMA - 27/01/08

Schoolteacher Harry Barnes (Peter Halliday) comes home one afternoon to find a dying man in his bathroom, he has been stabbed with a pair of scissors. His wife, Jean (Ingrid Hafner), is missing but Harry's nosey neighbours tell him that they heard a woman scream from his house earlier that day. Harry eager to protect his wife decides to bury the body under the floorboards of their house but this is not going to be easy since he gets interrupted by a number of unwelcome visitors...

The basic premise of this little seen British b-pic from the Bryanston studio, which only got a very limited release in 1962 and according to the booklet accompanying the DVD, it has only been shown on TV once, is a promising one about a man having to dispose of a body but is constantly finding himself interrupted by a number of unwelcome visitors including his nosey neighbour in the form of Barbara Lott who is always interested in what Halliday is up to and is always out in the garden with her shears trimming the hedge that doesn't need trimming just so that she can see through his window and forever popping round to make him a cup of tea. The story would have made a great half-hour instalment of something like Alfred Hitchcock Presents or Tales Of The Unexpected as there are enormous possibilities for suspense and black comedy as well. Unfortunately, the treatment it gets here is far too pedestrian with indifferent character development which only goes as far as Barnes' mother coming around and criticising his marriage and bemoaning the fact that he hasn't advanced the career ladder as quickly as his father did and the suspense very seldom takes its grip on the audience. The twist ending is rather predictable and by the end of its short 65-minute run time you will find yourself not really caring anyway.

CONTROL Film Review - 27/1/08

For any fan of Joy Division Anton Corbijn's "Control" is a must! The stark black & white photography transferred to film evokes the haunting sounds of the music and the crumbling state of the late 70's in Britain as Warsaw then becoming Joy Division burst out onto the music scene. Based on Deborah Curtis's own autobiography "Touching From A Distance" we get Sam Riley playing Ian Curtis with a great evocation of the period. The tragic suicide of Curtis beset with epilepsy and emotional problems, amongst the strain of touring and the pressures of his home life force something to give. It's a hard and painful film to watch and you will be pretty choked up by the end of it. You'll probably want to get out a copy of "Still" one of Joy Division's finest works and have a fag to calm yourself down from the emotional high that this film takes you on. Toby Kebbell plays Rob Gretton the band's manager and Samantha Morton gives an angst-ridden wrenching performance as Debbie Curtis in this semi-biopic of Ian Curtis's life & times. The actual live performances ain't half bad as the actors cover a stretch of songs from the bands catalogue. Extremely sad and very hard not to like.

"Control" will be available on Region 2 (UK) DVD as a Special Edition that also comes with Deborah Curtis's book "Touching From A Distance" on 11/2/08 as pictured below from Amazon UK. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Control-Touching-Distance-Exclusive-Amazon-co-uk/dp/B0011F1TGC/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1201444717&sr=1-1

THE INVASION Film Review - 27/1/08

Looking up at a poster on my study wall of the original 1956 "Invasion Of The Body Snatchers" it mystifies me how you can better the original film with a tired re-tread in 1978's remake with the same title then follow it up with another in 1993 called "Body Snatchers" then ANOTHER in 2007 with "The Invasion". This latest plodding version admittedly does rack up some nervous tension and overall panic from the start but rapidly peters out with even the obligatory studio happy ending. At least in 1956 they had the guts to leave an uncompromising ending (Which was unusual for the time) in the now classic Black & White B-Movie that started it all. In the current version from 2007 "The Invasion" bumbles along with alien space spores from a shuttle crash changing humans DNA then taking over everywhere. All rather pointless really with nothing new to say.

A space shuttle crashes to Earth in an horrific accident but unfortunately brings a deadly alien virus with it that turns humans into emotionless automatons with no feelings for anything. Nicole Kidman's character starts to notice the changes and is determined to prevent herself and her son from succumbing to the disease. The alien/human hybrids take virtual control of everything but a small group hit back with a vaccine that could prevent the destruction of the last of the human race. Already available on Region 1 (USA) DVD to buy it will also be available to purchase on Region 2 (UK) DVD from the 25/2/08 with the cover as pictured below.

KLIMT (DVD Review) - 26/1/08

You think to yourself "Jesus, just how does crapola like this get financed & made?" The sort of film where you want to punch John Malkovich over and over again in the face for his stupidity in taking on this role? I really wanted to see this film as I have always had a fascination for the artist Gustav Klimt's work. Originally released in Germany and very expensive to buy, it was later released in the UK and still far too expensive. It was cheaper to buy a US copy than from anywhere else - What a waste of good cash! Jumping into a mire that looks like it had been filmed by rejects from "The Blair Witch Project" as the camera circles around and around; in a nauseating fashion that is compounded further, from extras and actors walking in and out of camera shot spouting rubbish and general gibberish. Malkovich pops in and out of scenes from various points in history and time with absolutely no rationale in a sort of dreamlike state. Naked women wander all over and the whole boring lot jump from set to set in a shuddering and jolting way as discordant music rubs you up the wrong way. With finance from about 12 different groups you can see why this was an art-house movie flop and how truly dull it is with no focus on any of Klimt's fabulous artworks at all. Repetitive scenes play over and over again with no sense of meaning and the script is awful. The actor's play pitch perfect, the dressing & sets are superb and the costumes magnificent - It's just a pity the rest of the dreary debacle doesn't match up to the best of it!

THE NINES (DVD Review) - 26/1/08

In this tragic Region 1 (USA) DVD release you can easily lose the will to live as snargle jjs480s dduja snorp glurble ginn mibbit snlunh 22' ghus codswallop bollocks as you painfully want to smash a hammer on each finger of the Director's hand very veeeerrrryyyy slowly indeed gorrp snoot hunnkle burdf clamshell dibit gert bung smashing your head against the wall in the shallow sheer tiresomeness of it all glubb norff tunnim ic21u v9u iiuhoac jp]v
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DVD REVIEW - CHASE A CROOKED SHADOW - 21/01/08

A beautiful but neurotic young heiress called Kimberley Prescott (Anne Baxter) has her life complicated by the arrival of a handsome stranger (Richard Todd) who claims to be her late brother, Ward, who was killed in a motorcar accident a year ago. This man has gone to a lot of trouble to convince everyone that he is who he says he is. For instance, his passport and letter of credit from his bank are all in order and he even has an identical tattoo on his arm to that worn by her brother and even more frighteningly the photographs that Kimberley has kept of her brother have been switched to match his identity. Everyone apart from Kimberley seems convinced that the stranger is Ward including her Uncle Chan (Alexander Knox) and even the Police Commissar Vargas (Herbert Lom). The stranger wastes no time in making himself at home by employing a new maid in Elaine Whitman (Faith Brook) and a new butler, Carlos (Alan Tilvern) who are clearly involved in his plans whatever they are. It soon transpires that Kimberley removed $10,000,000 worth of diamonds from the safe at her father's company, which had been bought out by another firm before he died, so technically it was theft since the diamonds are now the property of the new owners. Ward and his cohoots seem interested in tracking the stones down but are they acting for the company, are they con artists or ruthless jewel thieves?

Chase A Crooked Shadow is an entirely gripping, well acted, beautifully photographed and tightly directed British mystery thriller that will keep you on the edge of your seat from the first frame to the last even though it was made fifty years ago! The screenplay by David D Osborn and Charles Sinclair is peopled with characters who are not what they seem and are brought to life by some of the British film industry's top acting talent of the era such as Richard Todd who exerts just the right amount of charm and mysteriousness as the guy posing as Anne Baxter's brother whilst the underrated Herbert Lom shines as the Policeman who does not believe Kimberley at first but finally decides to help her get to the bottom of the mystery. Lom was always an underrated artist who became typecast in the Pink Panther movies as the mad Inspector Dreyfuss but some of his straight roles warrant greater attention such as his undervalued performance in The Phantom Of The Opera (1962). Some of the film's plot twists are a little far fetched and at times the film unashamedly borrows from Hitchcock such as the scene where Elaine Whitman brings a glass of milk accompanied by a Will on a tray making Kimberley believe that the milk is poisoned. Anybody who has seen Hitch's Suspicion will recognise the borrowing from that picture where Joan Fontaine believed that her husband in the form of Cary Grant was trying to kill her and the set piece of the apparently poisoned glass of milk brought to her by the husband to heighten the heroine's paranoia was employed in that film as well.

This Region 2 DVD offering from Optimum Releasing benefits from crisp remastering and although it is short of Special Features, they have put the original 1958 censorship certificate at the start of the picture, which gives us insight into the former censorship categories of the time. Optimum have done this with some of their other classic movie DVD reissues. Chase A Crooked Shadow was originally an "A" certificate, which back then meant that persons under the age of 16 had to be accompanied by an adult.

FIRST SNOW Film Review - 20/1/08

Guy Pearce is a travelling salesman in this movie who during a car breakdown decides to while away the time by visiting a local psychic. Getting the real deal but believing it's a con job with some eerily correct predictions he changes his mind. Following up on this intriguing premise it all breaks apart as it can't sustain what becomes more or less a boring road trip with too much time to kill. The coincidences rack up as past and present characters weave in and out of his life as you await the punchline that when it comes is a real letdown. For such an innovative initial idea that showed such promise it melts away like the "First Snow" of the movie's title. Also available on Region 1 (USA) DVD to buy.

UNDERDOG Film Review - 20/1/08

Disney grabs the film rights to this ancient cartoon and transfers it to live action. Horribly likable in a caustic and generally sarcastic tone this flits from pure genius to drivel that is so bad it's good in a laughable way. Taking the Michael from the get-go this satire of Superheroes (Particularly in this current state of affairs with studios chucking wadfuls of cash at anything from a game/comic in a desperate hope of a big bucks $$$$ return) continues with the one-liners and wisecracks from beginning to end. A duff Police dog loses his job and ends up at the local pound. Here an evil scientist performs experiments and actually transforms the dog into a superhero with powers by accident. Underdog is born and flies badly from one CGI Effect screen to another righting wrongs as he goes. Cue evil scientist & stupid henchman wanting to get dog back and kidnapping his new human owners to force him to give himself up. Then the whole schmaltzy shebang ends up happily ever after! (Somewhat?)

WAR Film Review - 20/1/08

Jet Li plays the villainous Rogue up against hard-man FBI agent Jason Statham in this tale of colliding Triads & Yakuza which starts off with a bang and just keeps on going. From one almighty punch-up to the next the bullets zip across the screen peppering bodies like rag dolls and in between that it's hand-to-hand fighting, explosions of C4 and sword-fights galore. One cannot readily explain why the main hit-man for the Yakuza suddenly switches sides to the Triads then plays off both against each other until the jaw dropping finale when all is explained. A mightily enthusiastic actioner from all involved this is thoroughly entertaining amusement in all departments.

Having lost his partner to a hit-man's revenge attack an embittered FBI agent spends all his time in tracking down his killer and dispensing his own kind of "Justice" as the years pass he finally get's his chance - But are thing's what they seem? Available already on Region 1 (USA) DVD this came out on the 1/1/08 and will also be available on Region 2 (UK) DVD from the 4/2/08.

HITMAN Film Review - 20/1/08

An adaption of the game to screen that looked like it would hold it's own then apart from a couple of good action sequences strung together really doesn't make sense. A dull story that felt like it had gaps of film cut from it somewhere in the editing as it skips from one scenario to another in a nonsensical fashion. Hitman 47 does a job and get's set-up by his own group and everyone else from the look of it and he goes on the vengeance trail leaving a handful of bodies in his wake. Inconsistencies aside he flits from one part of the world to the next with no problem at all and has supposedly set all this up himself from the start and just needs to tie up all the numerous loose ends. A slow, plodding action movie with too much talk and not enough action; and so convoluted it's hard to tell who is doing what or why they are doing it? Aim for the toilet and hit FLUSH!

FIDO Film Review - 20/1/08

In that parallel world (Like the back of the sofa that all things seem to drop down such as coins, pens, the TV remote, etc) sits this little curiosity. A totally unrecognisable Billy Connolly plays Fido a 6-foot tall rotting flesh zombie who is a pet of his owner little Timmy. Stuck in a 50's time-warp in style and playing very much to that type: with black & white TV footage, mumsy whimsical charm and so forth the idyllic town of Willard is holding back the hordes of zombies in their own little Safe-Zone, with domesticated zombies catering to their every wish (But not very well!) This black comedy trundles along with such good humour amidst all the "Golly Jeez Gosh" moments of head decapitation and splattered brains flying over the the white picket wood fences and slowly dribbling down. As the fiendish ZOMCOM tampers with the news in an effort to keep the truth hidden from the residents the bodies start to pile up. As Timmy is kidnapped and zombie Fido tries to gain Timmy's Mother's attention to his predicament I half expected her to blurt out "Is Timmy in danger? Has he fallen down a well?" as Fido attempts to communicate in aarrgghhhs and moaning. The brightness and pastel colours only add to this satire which could even be the First Zombie Love-fest.

ALIEN VS. PREDATOR 2 Film Review - 20/1/08

Another film with a mouthful of gobbledygook for a title "AVPR: Aliens Vs. Predator - Requiem" when everyone else will just call it "Alien Vs. Predator 2". This sequel again follows immediately on from the ending of the last film within seconds of an Alien/Predator Hybrid being born. Crashing back to Earth the Predator Scout ship lands in some small sleepy backwoods town in the US letting escaping Alien breeders to latch onto the local populace. A totally pastiche Predator with no honour is dispatched to clear up the mess. In the ensuing chaos everyone gets killed in the standoff between the Aliens and the Predator hunter as they massacre each other and everyone else in the crossfire. Starting off well this film falters slightly after the beginning and then picks up speed towards the end; as the townsfolk have absolutely no idea what's going on and neither do the National Guard when they turn up, as the Alien infection spreads and it's all-out war and destruction. Politics then rears it's head in the eventual solution to the problem and the machinations of the Yutani Company are now realised for the first time.

Slagged off several times over I actually enjoyed this film and whilst no comparison to the original (Which had a much better setting and story) this was still hugely entertaining fun. In a disturbing way if you look at the child and pregnancy scenes you can see how much things have changed morally in the state of current cinema. A few years back neither of these scenes would have been shot. The ending is pure textbook - But don't be surprised to see another sequel one way or the other?

NATIONAL TREASURE 2 Film Review - 20/1/08

To give it's full title "National Treasure: Book Of Secrets" this direct sequel to the original is very much in the same vein. Sorry to say though it doesn't actually run as well with a Bad Guy who seems to change halfway through the film into a Good Guy type anti-hero the whole thing comes over rather half-hearted unlike the original that was far more entertaining. It even has a blatant plot-point slammed into the film which is a pointer for the third film in the series with it's "Page 47" mysterious guff? Elements of suspense seem to be missing and the inspirations of the first film long gone. If your an eleven year old you would probably enjoy this immensely but the slick ponderous styling from one scene to the next is dire and worse of all the Trailer looked really great!

In this sub-standard Indiana Jones Nic Cage's character has to prove his Great Grandfather wasn't a traitor due to the discovery of missing pages from the diary of the assassin of Abraham Lincoln. Cue a quest across Europe following clues to the greatest treasure man has ever known (Until the next film of course!)

DVD REVIEW -AGATHA CHRISTIE COLLECTION

Agatha Christie's inquistive spinster detective Miss Marple was first brought to the big screen by British director George Pollock (b.1907 d. 1979) and producer George H Brown, which resulted in four tongue-in-cheek whodunits being made for MGM between 1962-64 with the delightfully scene stealing Margaret Rutherford in the title role. Although she was nothing like the character described in Christie's books, which critics inevitably commented on, Rutherford made the part her own and with her director's well-judged blend of mystery and quirky British humour, MGM had a hit on their hands. The films which are all included in this four-disc DVD set are Murder She Said, Murder At The Gallop, Murder Most Foul and Murder Ahoy. The films were very much in the style of the old British b-features only made with bigger budgets and higher production values. They are the kind of splendid light hearted entertainment that we don't often find nowadays and they contained some great laughs such as Miss Marple doing the twist in order to fake a heart attack in order to trap the murderer in Murder At The Gallop and the climatic sword fight in Murder Ahoy where Miss Marple warns the killer "I must warn you that I won the Young Ladies Fencing Championship in 1951!" Who else could have carried off something like that other than Dame Margaret? Pollock cast a number of very fine British character actors to support her such as James Robertson-Justice, Robert Morley, Flora Robson and Ron Moody whilst regulars included Rutherford's real life husband, Stringer Davis, as her best friend and local librarian, Mr Stringer, who helped her solve her cases and supplied her with her constant supply of detective novels which aided her in her sleuthing! "Agatha Christie should be compulsive reading for the police force" she tells the hapless Chief Inspector Craddock (Charles Tingwell-a role he played in all four films), a man who was irritated at Miss Marple's constant interfering but always took the credit for bringing the killers to book.

Overall, this four-disc set from Warner's is a must have for lovers of the Miss Marple quintet as the picture quality, sound and overall remastering is as good as one would expect. Alas, it is short of Special Features with only the customary scene selection menu screens, but in this case not even the original theatrical trailers are included here but it is worth buying simply because everything about the films is a delight in that they are the kind of films that the British film industry or any other have simply forgotten how to make.

FILM REVIEW - OUTLAW - 15/01/07

Region 2 DVD cover

*This comment does contain some plot spoilers*

Soldier Danny Bryant (Sean Bean) returns home from serving in the Iraq war to find that his wife has found another man. He becomes disillusioned with what is happening around him such as drug crimes, rape and murder. Meanwhile, barrister Cedric Monroe (Lennie James) is prosecuting a drug baron called Terry Manning and he is threatened by one of his righthand men, Ian Furlong, who tells him to walk away from the case or his pregnant wife will die, which happens. A young office worker called Gene Dekker (Danny Dyer) is beaten up in a road rage incident while politics student, Sandy Mardell (Rupert Friend), was attacked by a gang of yobs and left with severe scarring to his face. Bryant unable to enter his home since his wife changed the locks takes a room in a cheap hotel where the Chief of Security, Simon Hillier (Sean Harris), happens to know Monroe since he defended him in court for a minor offence a few years ago. In addition, Hillier went to school with Dekker and through his acquaintance with these people, they all join forces with Bryant in order to punish the people who wronged them using violence. An old school copper in the form of Walter Lewis (Bob Hoskins) has discovered Bryant's activities since he put a homing device on Monroe, which was easy since Lewis has been charged with escorting the barrister, a high risk prosecutor, to and from court. Lewis arranges a meeting with the Iraq war veteran and tells him that he wishes to join forces with him since he has become disillusioned with his job in that after twenty-five years on the force they have relegated him to picking up CCTV footage and driving barristers to and from court simply because he "played it by the book". Added to that, an elderly woman was set on fire by a group of thugs and he felt that his superiors brushed it aside worried only about the "paperwork". Therefore he agrees to provide Bryant's gang with information regarding the whereabouts of members of Manning's gang using his insider knowledge of police records. The Outlaws as they have been dubbed by the media carry out a series of brutal attacks on members of Manning's gang. But it soon transpires that Lewis's superior, Grieves (George Anton), is corrupt and is well in with Manning and the crooked pair learn that Lewis has been supplying information to the gang so Furlong murders Lewis and using the CCTV footage of Bryant, which Lewis had thoughtfully kept hidden away from the police, Manning and Grieves put Bryant in the frame for their own killing. Therefore Bryant elects to dissolve his gang and the Outlaws go about their normal lives since there is no evidence to connect them with the attacks they committed. However, they find it impossible to try and lead a normal life as if nothing happened and deep down they still want to nail Manning. Eventually they regroup with Bryant who is now a wanted man to finish the job they set out to do. Manning's corrupt relations with Grieves has seen the case against him collapse and he has been allowed to walk away a free man. Through a tip-off from a work colleague, Dekker learns that Manning is now living on a country estate in Essex. The Outlaws infiltrate his estate with the view of killing him, will they succeed or have Manning and Grieves boxed clever and anticipated their arrival?

Despite rather plodding direction and a slow pace (patience is required to sit through its sometimes draggy 100 minute running time); Outlaw is nevertheless a brilliantly acted and written British thriller, which deals with a current concern within our society - yob culture and how people feel let down by the system. It proves once and for all that noteworthy films are still being produced in the UK. Sean Bean is on top form as the Iraq war veteran who decides to take the law into his own hands due to his anger at the corruption going on around him adding that some will just sit there and take whereas he has the guts to fight back. He comes across as genuinely world weary and tough and is very believable in the a part which gave him a lot more to do after his lacklustre roles in two rather mediocre horror films, The Dark and the video game spin-off Silent Hill. Nick Love's screenplay asks us to question whether The Outlaws' actions can be justified by the fact that they are attacking those who the law seemingly cannot touch. There's a little scene where a newsflash is being shown on the plasma screens of London's major railway stations and airports with hundreds of people looking detailing an account of how Bryant and co took money off a group of well known drug dealers but blundered it badly by allowing the money to sprew out the back of their get away van. "Do you see them as mindless outlaws or heroes?" the newsreader asks the nation's viewers. In addition, the film deals with corruption within the police force like when Lewis's superior, Grieves twigs that the gang of vigilantes are getting support within the force and he tales the public that "It is our duty to bring police corruption to justice" yet he is extremely corrupt himself in that he is in cohoots with the drug baron, Terry Manning, and between them engineer the death of Lewis and ultimately bring down the gang of vigilantes fearing for his own neck and arranging the case against Manning to collapse. The settings have genuine authenticity and all the performances are first rate throughout and aside from Sean Bean, Lennie James, Danny Dyer and Rupert Friend who are entirely convincing in their roles as the vigilantes. They are all contrasting characters. For instance, Bryant comes across as the hardman of the group whereas the barrister Cedric Monroe is reluctant to commit acts of violence even though his wife was brutally murdered and Bryant sort of winds him up into doing it. For instance, there is a scene in a bar where the gang go for a drink and Monroe goes to buy a round of drinks. He accidentally bumps into a guy causing his drink to fall and the glass break. The guy in question attempts to pick a fight by calling him a racist name. Monroe being the quiet and retiring guy he is grins and bears it but then Bryant goes over and pushes back ordering the guy and his pals outside to fight the matter out. Yet despite all of Bryant's tough guy bravado, he also shows signs of weakness like when they abduct Furlong from his bail hostel and set him up with a noose around his neck ready to be hanged, Bryant finds himself unable to commit murder and they cut him down and later it is this weak streak that partly leads to his downfall. Bob Hoskins is suitably down-to-earth as the veteran policeman whose dissillusioned with the job and the violence and thuggery is suitably brutal and in your face and there are some unexpected plot twists a long the way, which seem more akin to the typical far fetched big screen suspense thrillers so this does rest uneasily with the realistic feel that the movie is going for.

Overall, Outlaw, is highly recommended though you may find the slow pace heavy going at times but this is forgivable since by large it packs a punch and raises valid points about the problems of crime and yob culture in our modern day society. For once the characters are interesting rather than seeming like part of the furniture at the mercy of a barrage of special effects which is all too often nowadays.

LONDON TO BRIGHTON (FILM REVIEW) - 14/01/08

Region 2 DVD cover

*Possible Spoilers*

The film opens in a run down public toilet somewhere in central London at 3:07am where two girls, Kelly (Lorraine Stanley) and pre-teen Joanne (Georgia Groome) are hiding from someone. Kelly's face has been beaten and her eye is swelling while Joanne is in tears and her clothing is torn. Meanwhile, the multi-millionaire crime lord, Duncan Alan (Alexander Morton), lies bleeding to death from multiple stab wounds in his luxury home. Alan's son, Stuart (Sam Spruell), has found his father's body and delivers an ultimatum to Kelly's pimp, the selfish Derek (Johnny Harris), either he finds Kelly and Joanne or Derek will die and this warning comes with a knife wound from Stuart into Derek's thigh. Kelly flees with Joanne out of the capital to stay with her friend, Karen, who lives in a run down council house with a group of drug addicts. Foolishly, Kelly leaves her mobile phone in the house when she takes Joanne out to the beach and Derek has been phoning up frequently to find out where Kelly and the girl are. When he tries again the phone is answered by one of Karen's doped up friends who unwittingly tells him that they are staying at Karen's house in Brighton. Derek and his henchman promptly arrive armed with a shotgun and brutally drag the pair off to a rendevouz that Stuart has arranged out in an isolated spot. Here we learn that Stuart's father paid Derek to find him a young girl, which unfortunately turned out to be Joanne since she was vulnerable living rough in the streets of the capital. Despite Kelly's protestations, Derek dragged the pair of them off to Duncan Alan's house where we learn that Duncan is a sexual preditor who preys on young girls. In a fit of anger, Kelly stabbed Duncan to death with a knife after she saw what he intended to do to Joanne and the pair of them fled and now Stuart, Duncan's quiet spoken but vengeful son wants revenge. But at the rendezvous, Stuart's revenge takes an unexpected turn...

London To Brighton marked the impressive feature film debut of Writer-Director Paul Andrew-Williams. Shot on a low budget of £265,000, the film is a gritty, harrowing, violent, yet often moving tale of the unfortunate Joanne (excellently played by Georgia Groome) who ran away from home after her mother died and her father, a violent alcoholic, was frequently beating her and was forced to fend for herself on the streets of the capital, which lead to her being caught up in the nasty world of child prostitution at the hands of the selfish Derek, who is prepared to find any clients for anybody if the price is right regardless of who they are. The film also looks at the friendship developed between Kelly and Joanne while they are running for their lives. For instance, as the pair walk along the beach in Brighton, Joanne is eager to go into the amusement arcade and win the grand prize of the teddy bear. Here we learn that Kelly has had a hard life and has not experienced the childhood pleasures that Joanne had before her life went pair shaped after the death of her mother. "Oh why do you want to do that?" she asks, but later she joins in and begins to enjoy herself and we see that she is now finding out about all the things she has missed out on during her childhood. But we are left to guess about Kelly's childhood as the screenplay gives us practically no insight as to her upbringing at all and it is left to us, the audience, to guess. Williams has succeeded in generating moving and believable performances from his cast of unknowns. Groome is outstanding as Joanne and is ably supported by Lorraine Stanley as her companion in survival, Kelly, whilst Johnny Harris portrays Derek the pimp more than convincingly as a selfish, heartless and often violent thug who is only out for his own neck. But at times he displays traits of an out and out coward and relies on his henchman to do his dirty work for him. Spruell is also stand out as the vengeful crime lord's son out for vengeance and the settings have complete authenticity such as the grimy red-light districts of London with run down blocks of flats and grafiti covered walls, which are contrasted with the beauty of the seaside resort of Brighton captured beautifully by Cinematographer Christopher Ross who varies the tones to suit the setting such as the grim greys of suburban London with the naturalistic beauty of the seaside scenes. Some critics have attacked the film for its violence claiming that they are there simply to generate the usual big screen suspense and thrills. I am inclined to disagree, yes the film is violent in places, but not to the extent where it is over the top, but harrowing none the less and they add to our sympathies for Kelly and Joanne's plight.

Overall, the subject matter of this film will not be up everybody's street because at first glance one may be inclined to dismiss it as violent and sensationalist rubbish. But in truth it is handled with more sensitivity and intelligence than I was expecting when I walked into my local arthouse venue to see it. Therefore I recommend this film very highly since it shows a promising new writing and directorial talent in the form of Paul Andrew Williams and I think the entire cast might just go on to do bigger and better things as well. Who was it that said that the British film industry was dead? There are so many quality British movies out there these days but many of them are confined to the arthouse circuit whilst the mainstream circuits end up playing the same special effects laden multi-million dollar epics that are all technical panache and nothing else.

SUPERNATURAL {2nd. Season} (DVD Review) - 14/1/08

After the explosive finale to the First Season of "Supernatural" the second one roars into overdrive with some very clever twists on various well known stories taken from a different angle or point of view. Some excellent cracking episodes here delve into even deeper Mythology with territories stretching across Europe and the rest of the world in some pretty far-flung places as well. Certain demon's plans are slowly unfolded as aspects of the story arc become even more clearer. The Winchester Brother's continue their travails across the wastelands still fighting against all manner of spirits and foes in different disguises & forms. The various Law Enforcement Agencies have also got onto the Brother's trail which makes it even harder for them to carry out their highly dangerous work. This Boxset also has a nice little package of Extras to go with it with a couple of Commentaries, Deleted Scenes, Screen Tests, A Guide To Urban Legends & Myths In The USA and also a Gag Reel amongst others. With 13 Episodes in the can for Season 3 I await further details for the release of the next season as it hasn't faltered once so far!

SUPERNATURAL {1st. Season} (DVD Review) - 13/1/08

Thinking this was going to be a tired retread of better TV shows I was more than surprised that it is pretty compulsive viewing. Harking back to the early days of "Buffy The Vampire Slayer" with a good mix of early days "X-Files" (When it was actually scary!) it comes across much like "Millennium" but lighter in tone. With it's tales of two brothers hunting their missing father and killing assorted beasties on their backroads trips across America they delve into all sorts of Urban Legends, folklore and other things from the supernatural & paranormal. From the realms of light they come up against a darkness that has been plotting for a while but nothing is really revealed until the stories gradually unfold. The story arc's bigger picture is starting to form and it is going to be really annoying now that I'm plowing into the 2nd. Season having to wait for the 3rd. to appear on DVD. It is so entertaining I shot through the first 22 episodes in no time at all. Backstories and flashbacks fill in many gaps as well as the relationship between the brothers themselves (The humour, the arguments and so forth) and their missing Dad. Unfortunately the soundtrack is only 2.0. Dolby Surround and there are no Special Features on this set - But the quality of the stories and the SFX more than make up for all that!

THIS MONTH'S SPECIAL EDITION DVD 10/1/08

This one is a wet dream come true for hard-core purists! I have waited with this on my DVD list for about 12 years next to "The Keep" "The Hunger" and "The Omega Man" for decent releases. Here it is in all it's glory: The definitive "Blade Runner" a 5-disc Complete Collector's Edition. In my panic to get hold of a copy (Stupid!) I thought the fifth disc would only be available with this set so got the Limited Edition version # 00549/10000SD. Silly as they released it all over the place in various different formats - But still glad I got it! This set comes with a plastic slide-off outer cover with all the items listed on the back as to what is in the case.

Inside the foam base we have a model spinner, silver unicorn and the 5-disc Boxset. In the top of the case we have a fold-out file covered with art/designs & photos from the film and inside are a number of artcards with art/designs from the film with photos/text on the back. Also with this is a hologram block with Deckard brandishing his gun with a good range of movement. Separating these two is a plastic sleeve with a pre-printed letter from Ridley Scott. The 5-disc Boxset folds out with again art/designs/photos from the film with a very informative booklet enclosed as well.

Deckard is a Blade Runner a Specialized cop who is assigned to retire 4 replicants who have escaped to Earth and have caused a trail of carnage in their wake. It is 2019 and the future has never looked so grim for humanity. DISC 1: This has the "Blade Runner" FINAL CUT (2007) with an Introduction from Ridley Scott plus 2 Commentaries. DISC 2: Has the "Dangerous Days: Making Blade Runner" ultimate documentary culled from numerous sources and is an intimate & extensive and very exhaustive look at the making of Blade Runner in 8 sections.

DISC 3: For the completest we have the 3 Archival Versions of Blade Runner here all seamlessly branched with Introductions by Ridley Scott on each. U.S. THEATRICAL CUT (1982) INTERNATIONAL THEATRICAL CUT (1982) and the DIRECTOR'S CUT (1992). DISC 4: Has the Enhancement Archive on it in 3 sections covering Inception, Fabrication and Longevity and again is very extensive in scope.

DISC 5: Has the First Release ever of the WORKPRINT that early audiences got to see with an Introduction by Ridley Scott and a further Commentary. This also has a final Featurette on it in the shape of "All Our Variant Futures".

This has probably got to be the best release since "Terminator 2" to cover the whole film process from beginning to end. With footage of Philip K. Dick and the total restoration of all prints/sound the quality is absolutely stunning - Crisp and hard-edged. Well worth forking out for - this USA (Region 1) set is a must have.