FRINGE {1st. Season} (DVD Review) - 27/2/10

Really enjoyed this as the First Season progressed and as long as it doesn't end up it's own arse like the X-Files mythos did it looks like it could run for a while. As the title suggests 'FRINGE' covers those aspects of fringe science, the unexplained or strange. Building steadily it turns the whole plot on it's head come the end of this First run with a whole mix of bizarre cases from the weird to even weirder. Some plot points you will have come across before in this obviously genre show but they manage to put a fresh spin on it all and cleverly gloss over the cracks. A definitive arc is laid out with a credible back-story and all manner of surprises turn your head as you go along. The 7-disc boxset has a nice selection of extras and even has the forethought to actual clearly label some of the features with SPOILER warnings so you don't get too far ahead of yourself and get that sinking disappointment feeling as you know what's coming next!

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MOON (DVD Review) - 15/2/10

Desperately wanting to work with Sam Rockwell Writer/Director Duncan Jones wrote this specifically for the actor himself. Quite a nifty little piece it is too for an independent film and harks back to the days of the 197o's when most films used models instead of CGI - So trying to keep everything practical gives this film quite a depth of it's own something akin to 'Silent Running' in it's isolation and model-making. Filming entirely on an enclosed set also gives it that feeling of claustrophobia as well and Gerty (The robot base command - voiced by Kevin Spacey) has an air of HAL about him? Rockwell's character of Sam Bell the sole occupant of a mining base on the Moon carries out his daily solitary tasks checking instrumentation and logging results. Getting the occasional message from his wife on Earth he only has two weeks more of a three year contract before he can return to Earth. Checking out a problem with one of the mining harvesters he gets distracted and has an accident. Awaking back in sickbay he finds the base on lockdown and realising something is wrong he escapes the base and returns to his crashed vehicle where he finds an unknown crewman then things take a strange twist?

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MEDIUM {5th. Season} (DVD Review) - 15/2/10

Having plowed through the first (4) Seasons of 'Medium' I was looking forward to this latest and then having heard about NBC & CBS slugging it out with one dumping the Series down the pan and the other taking it onboard for another Season - I was glad to have Season 5 with Season 6 also steaming full ahead. This Season is a pretty mixed kettle of fish with the comedy body-swap episode and we also get a 3-story twisty arc with Big Corporate Business involved and some general unpleasantness from that quarter. Several false start dreams keep you on edge and we have some tales set in the past but unfortunately they end this Season on a silly cliff-hanger obviously trying to entice people to stay with the show now that it has jumped ship so to speak. Another good Season spread out over 5 discs with a handful of Special Features thrown in for good measure!

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PERCY JACKSON & THE LIGHTNING THIEF Film Review - 14/2/10

Saw the Trailer for this whilst watching another film and it looked mildly amusing so I gave it a go. Going by a different title in the States (As per the poster) over here in the UK it's just "Percy Jackson & The Lightning Thief" - Up pops Pierce Brosnan in the first 20 minutes plus a rather brief cameo from Sean Bean. Throw out the Harry Potter tone and replace it with ancient mythology and you have a far more entertaining film than anything JK Rowling has churned out. In fact it reminded me a lot of 'Jason & The Argonauts' or 'Sinbad & The Eye Of The Tiger' but obviously the creatures are CGI instead of Stop-Go Animation. Slacker Percy Jackson turns out to be anything but, when his whole world is turned upside down when he gets attacked by a Fury. Well what do you know? It turns out Percy (Perseus) is a demi-god son of Poseidon and Zeus thinks his lightning bolt has been pinched by the aforesaid Percy; if he doesn't get it back sharpish, all the Gods go to war. Time for a road trip as Percy and a couple of friends try to find a way down into Hades domain - All manner of monsters cross their path to try and stop them. (There's another 4 books yet so we may see more?)

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THE INVENTION OF LYING (DVD Review) - 12/2/10

Having watched both series of "Extras" I was quite amazed with Ricky Gervais in this new film 'The Invention Of Lying' where he puts on an absolutely cracking performance which in a couple of scenes for a romantic comedy had me welling up with tears showing that he can really act. His previous work with Jennifer Garner on 'Alias' gets her in the opposite lead to him at his request and it's all pretty sparky. Basically in a parallel world exactly the same as ours except people have no concept of lying so tell the whole hideous truth all the time every time - Regardless of how embarrassing, rude or awkward it can be Ricky Gervais' character invents the lie. A totally outrageous thought because it raises loads of questions? With no fiction - You only get events - Dull boring lectured talks of events. I'm also surprised that this film was not savaged by various religious parties as there is no God - Until Ricky's character invents 'The Man In The Sky' and then has a hard time explaining the point to all the pedants who want all the minutiae in excruciating detail. The idea really is fascinating? The Man In The Sky can't be seen but you have to believe in everything he says and the ten commandments written on two pizza boxes has to be seen to be believed. It's probably also the only film you will see with Jennifer Garner saying "I've just been masturbating and I'm still horny so if it's quiet I'm just finishing off" or words to that effect.

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THE WOLFMAN Film Review - 11/2/10

After re-makes of Dracula & Frankenstein Universal takes a chance on 'The Wolfman' this time around and a suitably gothicky feel is lent to the proceedings with lots of darkness and sepia tones. With a simmering sexual passion building up with Benecio Del Toro & Emily Blunt as the two star-crossed leads (Which is tightly repressed throughout) until the denouement and the heat explodes dangerously. An unsympathetic character play by Anthony Hopkins turns out to be anything but noble and a straight-laced Hugo Weaving fends off the villagers and monsters alike. Also nice to see Art Malik back on the screen in a pivotal role. Astonishing visuals grace this Production from the werewolf transformations and varying action scenes (There is only so much head-loppings off and intestines, entrails and slashing one can take before it gets dull) A nice try but give me the original atmospheric Black & White Universal films the true classics!

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GAMER (DVD Review) - 11/2/10

This film is truly horrific - Not because of all the heads exploding, blood spatter & flying limbs amongst the excessive gore, brain-bursting thump-pounding music awash with non-stop spinning visuals and synapse burning chaos - But because of it's subject matter. With the ever increasing possibility of all manner of social networking and computer simulation giving you a chance to actually live your life through another human being isn't that far-fetched. The total disregard for others, the de-sensitising of morality and the depravity on show here is nothing to what would actually happen in real life? Where do you really draw the line? If you ignore the video-game antics and really, really look hard at the message here it's an incredibly valid point. A frightening prospect that has been covered in a number of similar films recently notably 'Surrogates' and the 'Death Race' re-make. People can choose to participate in a new game experience called "Society" where another individual takes on that person and plays them in the game. Taking it a step further a new game is released where criminals can be played by Gamers in another game called "Slayers" if they win 30 rounds they get let out - Surprisingly (Oh my!) nothing is what it seems?

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SHERLOCK HOLMES Film Review - 11/2/10

In this amusing romp through a suitably gothic London set in the 1800's we get another go at the Sherlock Holmes & Watson mythos this time with a pseudo homo-erotic flavour to their relationship? Into the mix we also get the villainous Lord Blackwood a Mason dabbling in Black Magic and using that new-fangled 'science' to cook up a devilish scheme. Elsewhere in the background we see stirrings of Professor Moriarty (Obviously being lined up for the sequel if this does well?) I was suitably impressed with all the attention to detail particularly the half-finished Tower Bridge that was in the stages of being built across the Thames and features at the end - Unfortunately I cannot say I was happy with the way the film was actually laid out with a lot of unnecessary explaining and re-running over facts sequences that really started to irritate. You don't need a film to obscure detail but then again you don't have to lay it on so thick either!

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EDGE OF DARKNESS Film Review - 9/2/10

It would be hard to talk about this film without mentioning Mel Gibson as his is the lead role (So apart from being a major wanker) we will ignore him and concentrate on the film. Martin Campbell basically remake's the TV series he directed back in the 80's as a full-length feature film instead of a 6-part TV show from the BBC. Gibson having bought the rights many years ago plays the part of a cop whose daughter is killed mistakenly instead of him - But then it turns out he wasn't the target at all and the mystery deepens? Transposing the action from Scotland to the States doesn't affect the tale in any way but all it adds is some graphic violence and the usual cover-up thriller - Really I can't say that I was impressed - A pedestrian tired thriller. The one thing I can say though was at one point I expected something to happen (It did!) but I still (Literally!) jumped out of my seat with an oath I think was 'Shit!' then my heart calmed down and that was the jumpy-moment over - At least I didn't spill any popcorn.

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PANDORUM Film Review - 8/2/10

I had seen a few things on this but was interested in the German Director Christian Alvart who had directed a creepy little thriller called 'Antikorper' (Antibodies) so when I found out he was directing this new sci-fi and it was his first English film I decided to hunt it down. Of course much like another underrated film 'Outlander' this had a blink-and-you'll-miss-it limited cinema release and then straight to DVD. Both films have a theme in common - Someone thrown into an alien situation and having to deal with it. In this case it could be called space madness or again it could be something completely different? Taking the usual genre threads and weaving them together instead of a tired alone in space scenario this goes off on it's own little tangent and actually has it's own credible story backing it up right through to the end - Of course questions remain unanswered - But it is coherent enough to all make sense. Awaking out of hypersleep a disorientated member of the starship Elysium has lost his memory, not finding any other crew he starts to despair until another sleep pod opens heaving out another equally disorientated crewmember - Together they decide to find out what is going on and then find that something is stirring in the depths of the vast ship? Plausible it runs through a gamut of theories and action with a number of twists & turns thrown in for good measure. A rather satisfying tale all round!

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PLANET 51 Film Review - 7/2/10

Saw a photograph of this and immediately took a dislike to it with it's 'Shrek'-like logo and green aliens - Not only had I heard nothing about it but it tanked dismally Stateside and looks like it's straight to DVD here in the UK? After seeing it though it does have an amusing charm to itself reminding me of 'Kung Fu Panda' in places. Living in their idyllic home-spun township the friendly inhabitants of Planet 51 face an invasion from Earth ('Terror Of The Humaniacs') in the form of a robotic 'Rover' vehicle (Cue Pixar 'WALL-E' rip-off) and it's human astronaut owner. Various shenanigans ensue as the Planet 51 people try to fend off the enemy! If you have a hour or so to waste this might amuse you and while away the time instead of watching 1950's sci-fi B-movies............

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THE BOOK OF ELI Film Review - 2/2/10

The world has burned and been devastated in a war and there isn't much left. This film's main theme is Christianity if you can handle that part (which is pretty integral to the plot) then wandering through a bleached and blasted wasteland covered in wreckage and ruins with every other person you meet a killer or a thief may make you wonder where your headed? The is no colour in the film it's as burnt and blistered as the landscape that Denzil Washington's character of Eli is travelling through - All greys and bluish blacks and deeply unsettling. What a person now throws away for nothing a character in this story would kill for - A KFC Cleaning Wrap, a box of matches or whatever? Struggling along the road for 30 years with a book in his possession Eli comes across Carnegie (A very restrained performance from Gary Oldman) and his henchman Redridge (Ray Stevenson from "Rome") who decide they want that precise book. Violence ensues as Eli continues his journey West closely trailed by Mila Kunis as Solara (Family Guy's Meg Griffin) and trailed by Carnegie and his bad-guys. In a bid to shake the pursuers we get a nice set piece with Frances de la Tour & Michael Gambon as they hole up in a house in the middle of a dusty plain. It's here that you then start to realise that things are not quite right? Events take a turn and to say any more would spoil it - But it's a film you come out of thinking now I understand why he did that - that was the reason he reacted as he did - that now makes sense why that happened - I can see the point of how that was and things spin around on a different axis as realisation dawns. It won't be a film for everyone but it certainly leaves you thinking afterwards on the way things are or could be?

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