Stinky Pig's Vortex Of Movie Madness

THE FOURTH KIND (DVD Review) - 17/5/10

2010-05-17T05:46:00.005+01:00

This film purportedly used archival footage taken from sessions recorded by Dr Abigail Tyler but the actress playing her in the footage was so unbelievably bad it didn't add up. I get the feeling the Marketing Department used a new spin to gain people's cold hard cash and it wouldn't be the first time Hollywood lied to people - Remember actor's are paid liars and given a licence to become someone else and make you believe in them - But that's all it is! Starting off really well the hoax is well constructed but if you look deeper the lies are easy to spot! At first I thought why would someone be so desperate for you to believe in alien abduction (I actually believe in aliens) that they would go to such lengths to concoct a story - But having seen a magician on stage in Las Vegas get crushed by a large metal robot then a second later come running from behind me down the aisle unscathed - You wonder how did he do that? So seeing is believing (Or not?) Strange things are happening in the town of Nome, Alaska. Murders, suicides, disappearances - But luckily I've heard nothing about that on any wavelength? Dr Abigail Tyler (Being played in the film by Milla Jovovich and also the 'real' Dr Tyler making appearances) investigates and coming from her own personal tragedy gets involved in bizarre circumstances. Again lucky for Dr Tyler that when she recorded this 'archival' footage in 2000 a film deal would appear on the table ten years later but the footage manages to go wonky just when the 'aliens' appear and the film's budget was strained. Having initially been fooled you can see the cracks - Worth watching for the hell of it. But no Popcorn Rating for lying to me!

I think the photo says it all - A look of complete disbelief!

HARRY BROWN Film Review - 4/5/10

2010-05-04T05:56:00.006+01:00

Harry Brown (The title character played by Michael Caine) lives on a shitty run-down council estate as the world goes to hell around him. Having already lost his daughter and with the recent death of his wife this tired OAP watches as drugs are dealed, violence flares and all other manner of nastiness erupts. With his only friend Len also fearful of the gang mentality he hopes the Police can help - Next comes the knock on the door as the Police say that Len has been murdered. This is when Harry finally snaps and starts on the vengeance trail. With an incredibly real feel to it this is no 'Death Wish' comparison just finally someone at the end of their tether. Or does it really mean that Britain is out of control and we should get a gun and fight back? I don't know? But with an Election coming up with a bunch of liars in charge do we really feel if things are really going to get any better? A timely film that is more than relevant to today - With the current surge of themes from this film seen all the time nowadays.

POPCORN RATING:

ONG BAK: THE BEGINNING (DVD Review) - 3/5/10

2010-05-03T05:42:00.004+01:00

Jumping back in time this is a prequel to the original film. We take a universal theme here and then just pad it out with a mixture of astonishing swordplay and martial arts of different cultures. Evil Commander of the Empire kills the Mother and Father of the Prince (Or some such thing?) he escapes and vows vengeance - Taken in by the local brigands he studies hard and 25 years later it's payback time. Only it turns out that the Evil Commander isn't that easy to kill and the local brigands turn out to be the bad guys. Cue a downbeat ending and a sequel to follow to tie up the loose ends.

POPCORN RATING:

KYLE XY {3rd. Season} (DVD Review) - 3/5/10

2010-05-03T05:26:00.006+01:00

This is what it's like when you can't be arsed! Not even bothering to tell the actors or producers of KYLE XY that it has been axed - The actors are now out of a job and the producers didn't even have a chance NOT to leave the Third Season ON A CLIFFHANGER - "I'm your brother" WTF? Cut down to just 10 episodes this series round - Literally everything is left unresolved. They can't be bothered with a decent cover just photoshopping the same picture from Season Two and adding a new character. They even have the gall to advertise a Special Feature (By sticker on the DVD box cover) telling you how the story would have ended. A total piss-take all around!

POPCORN RATING: (This is for the episodes - It's NO popcorn for the TV Studios decision!)

AVATAR Film Review - 11/4/10

2010-04-11T22:10:00.005+01:00

Okay - It's a very long film but it seems to fly by? Cameron's 'Dancing With Wolves' which he call's AVATAR strangely has that tone of problem that 'The Terminator' had. It's certainly no 'Titanic' or 'Aliens' but the simple tale rolls along with 'bad' humans attacking the peaceful world of Pandora for their own ends. Cue an amazingly photo-realistic journey through the realms of Pandora as seen through the avatar of Jake Sully a disabled marine thrown in at the deep end on a mysterious alien planet with it's mix of exotic fauna and dangerous life-forms. Now that Cameron has raised the bar again I think everyone else is going to struggle to catch up!

Worth watching once at least!

POPCORN RATING:

SAW 6 (DVD Review) - 6/4/10

2010-04-06T02:45:00.005+01:00

Another installment of the latest Saw in the Franchise hits DVD with the release of 'Saw VI'. It really is a total waste of your time watching it if you are not familiar with the previous tales. Like a favourite episode of a good TV show (But longer!) this gets back to form explaining previous plot-points and actually starts to reveal more of an arc about what Jigsaw the killer has set in motion and like most things nothing is what it seems? This time around there are wheels within wheels because the more you think about it the worse it gets - What would you really do when faced with a choice like this? The net is closing around Jigsaw's apprentice and the Police seem to know all of what is going on and that things are getting out of control. A murderous game is set afoot in a dilapidated zoo but the machinations of another seem to have set off a totally different set of events strewing corpses all over the place with further questions to be answered? Currently of course with the latest 3D bandwagon at full steam ahead we can expect 'Saw VII' to be climbing on that in glorious 3D next year. Added to the disc is a selection of features covering Commentaries, plus an Interview with actor Tobin Bell (Jigsaw), Trailers, Music Vids and of course a Featurette on 'Saw VI' very own horrible devices of death. Add to that a Making Of of the new Universal Saw Horror Maze "Game Over" which seems to be frightening the shit out of everyone much like the new Thorpe Park 'Saw' Ride and Maze which this DVD is also promoting with free vouchers.

POPCORN RATING:

FANTASTIC MR FOX Film Review - 29/3/10

2010-03-29T08:07:00.005+01:00

I'm afraid that unless your a particular fan of this type of anachronistic animation then this style won't be for you! Unless you a Film Student interested in this type of work or a child under 10 years old I really can't see an 11 year old really enjoying this - Tastes in animation are so far sophisticated now that this would be classed as a 'has-been'. But don't get me wrong whilst I can happily sit and watch 'Wallace & Gromit' this 'Fantastic Mr Fox' came over jarringly bland and somewhat tasteless despite the hours and hours that must have been put into it's Production; it also has a rather adult line in humour - So not really certain where this is aimed at? Add a talented voice cast with the likes of George Clooney & Meryl Streep and you still have a clunker! Mr Fox has to change his ways after getting caught by the Farmer - Several years later having gone straight he falls back into his fox-stealing habits and this time around the Farmer aims to take him out of play for good!

POPCORN RATING:

2012 (DVD Review) - 29/3/10

2010-03-29T01:14:00.004+01:00

Taking numerous ideas from a variety of sources this is no mere earthquake or twister but full-on worldwide scale destruction. Tick list is top priority here: Dog In Danger TICK Kids In Peril TICK Dysfunctional Family TICK Madman No One Believes TICK Scientist Who Has All The Answers TICK and the list goes on. Following the Painting-By-Numbers scenario all the usual scenes are in place: World weary President stands against the coming tide, stand-in father dies untimely death, plucky hero saves the day - You know the sort of thing? And you now what? I loved it - The lashings of emotion and syrup were all in evidence. Even the ending ramps it all up again and watching 'The Making Of' afterwards really shows how seamless some of the SFX is and how well the sets blend in with the locations - I was surprised at just how much setwork really did not look like a set at all! So scientist gets called to India by another scientist and things look a bit serious jump forward 3 years and the planet is going into meltdown literally but Humanity has a plan to save the day but ends on the classic film 'When Worlds Collide' with an ending almost exactly the same showing again that not much has changed and greed will buy you anything. Throw in a Commentary plus an Alternative Ending, Deleted Scenes & a Making Of with a pile of Trailers and there you have it - Sheer class!

POPCORN RATING:

THE IMAGINARIUM OF DOCTOR PARNASSUS Film Review - 28/3/10

2010-03-28T09:23:00.005+01:00

What starts off as an enchanting, breezy fantasy suddenly changes tone halfway through and turns into something very nasty indeed. I would rather fire a nailgun through my foot than watch this unmitigated pile of bollox again! Streaming through a selection of imaginary worlds with bargains with the devil - Is it real? A dream? Someones imagination running riot? Filmed in various derelict London locales the imagery is amazing - If not a touch too much CGI - But the story boringly rambles with no real sense of purpose and no explanation as to what really is happening/maybe happening? Totally frustrated I recall the mess of 'The Adventures Of Baron Munchausen' all over again - When Gilliam gets it right it's fantastic - When he doesn't it's a turgid mess like this! Let us remember Heath Ledger as The Joker and not as Tony from this dreary debacle. Dr. Parnassus gains immortality from The Devil (A great performance from Tom Waits) but as the centuries pass the Devil & Parnassus carry on their gambling game possibly changing reality through the ages.

POPCORN RATING:

LEGION Film Review - 23/3/10

2010-03-23T07:59:00.005Z

Starting off exceptionally well this spooky tale sets up it's gang of mismatched characters and dumps them in a worn down diner in the middle of the desert - Then wouldn't you know it the apocalypse hits and humanity is lined up for destruction by God sending his Angels to do his bidding. Just as the action ramps up everyone decides to have a get together and discuss their backstories? It's the apocalypse people have you nothing better to do? The occasional flash of brilliance in several scenes throughout the film is dragged down by the slow pacing. Let's face it - With the quality of SFX these days even a TV budget looks good so with a great show like 'Supernatural' this tired movie 'Legion' is the poor man's brother in so many ways! God loses faith with the Human race once more and decides to wipe them from the Earth and start again. The Angel Michael disobeys falls to earth and vows to protect a child that should never have been born - Angels take over other humans and start mass killings - Then the Angel Gabriel is sent to Earth to finish the fight for good - This sounds really terrible now I've read it why did I watch it in the first place?

POPCORN RATING:

FROM PARIS WITH LOVE Film Review - 22/3/10

2010-03-22T04:37:00.005Z

Let's face it you can see Luc Besson's touch all over this high-octane action movie and he just wrote the story! As a Director himself Besson who has way too many numerous great action films to his name so takes a back seat here and let's the Director Pierre Morel ('The Transporter') trash half of Paris. With leading man John Travolta as an out-of-control Black Ops agent called in to do a job he wades through the bad guys like butter and his sidekick a straitlaced Jonathan Rhys Meyers gets dragged along for the ride. Throw in your usual cliches of terrorists and drugs and massive plotholes and it just doesn't matter! The sheer exuberance of it all rattles along all guns blazing - It's totally ridiculous but endlessly entertaining. Another to add to the BUY LIST on DVD when available!

POPCORN RATING:

NINJA ASSASSIN Film Review - 21/3/10

2010-03-21T11:13:00.006Z

Quite a number of names attached to this: J. Michael Straczynski (He of the 'Babylon 5' Universe) was writing the Screenplay, we also had the Wachowski brothers and Joel Silver on board as Producers plus Director James McTeigue ('V For Vendetta') throw in a charismatic lead in the form of an actor called Rain and all hell breaks loose! Faces slide off heads sliced through with razor cut blades and you can hear the thhrrrrippp sound whistling through the air as various shuriken throwing stars embed themselves into torsos. Then silence as a flashback takes you into the past and an air of grace settles upon you as the story slowly unfolds. Extremely brutal and extremely violent I haven't seen anything this blood drenched for quite awhile. If you take the story-telling of 'Crying Freeman' 'La Femme Nikita' or 'Brotherhood Of The Wolf' it mixes the violence with a tender love story from the past and then lays out it's vendetta for all to see. Basically a revenge tale it has a blend of genres but follows it's own path. An Interpol Agent working in Berlin comes across information on some high-profile assassinations and the links lead to a clandestine ancient Ninja Clan - Getting too close to the truth the clan send out assassins to silence the leak - But one of their own clan defends the agent setting a drastic chain of events in motion. I for one have already ordered it on DVD.

POPCORN RATING:

G-FORCE (DVD Review) - 15/3/10

2010-03-15T11:38:00.006Z

Way over the top kiddie friendly action movie featuring CGI talking animals from Jerry Bruckheimer bringing total Transformers type madness to this endearing but boring film. Think 'Mission Impossible' crossed with 'Doctor Doolittle' and you get the picture - A select team of animals in a covert group called G-FORCE go undercover to save the world from a coffee machine or something and Bill Nighy is in it (The film not the coffee machine!) yadda yadda yadda explosion car crash or something - Then I went to bed.

POPCORN RATING:

GHOST WHISPERER {4th. Season} (DVD Review) - 15/3/10

2010-03-15T04:42:00.006Z

Plowing into this 4th. Season of 'Ghost Whisperer' we immediately lose a character who gets written out badly and a new character written in hastily - Luckily enough this new character has the ability to hear ghosts. We then also charge through this Season with the 'Love Arc' between Jim/Sam and Melinda turning the thumbscrews too wring out every drop of emotion they can until it gets tiresome. The format is starting to get stale and it seems every episode runs the gamut of the previous with a slightly different theme. It's not to say it isn't enjoyable just a bit too samey for my liking. This Season doesn't end on a stupid cliffhanger but starts with a grand premise and becomes very involving until it goes tits up and burns out like a damp squib - Talk about expectations being raised then falling flat! Nice selection of Special Features as usual with a Making Of plus Scoring The Music feature and a highlight feature on the new character this Season. More Webisodes from the net and a Bloopers Reel.

POPCORN RATING:

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

2010-02-27T22:43:00.004Z

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!

POPCORN RATING:

MOON (DVD Review) - 15/2/10

2010-02-15T04:05:00.004Z

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?

POPCORN RATING:

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

2010-02-15T03:45:00.006Z

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!

POPCORN RATING:

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

2010-02-14T09:38:00.005Z

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?)

POPCORN RATING:

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

2010-02-12T09:22:00.004Z

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.

POPCORN RATING:

THE WOLFMAN Film Review - 11/2/10

2010-02-11T22:22:00.004Z

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!

POPCORN RATING:

GAMER (DVD Review) - 11/2/10

2010-02-11T22:00:00.004Z

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?

POPCORN RATING:

SHERLOCK HOLMES Film Review - 11/2/10

2010-02-11T11:36:00.004Z

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!

POPCORN RATING:

EDGE OF DARKNESS Film Review - 9/2/10

2010-02-09T20:38:00.004Z

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.

POPCORN RATING:

PANDORUM Film Review - 8/2/10

2010-02-08T11:24:00.004Z

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!

POPCORN RATING:

PLANET 51 Film Review - 7/2/10

2010-02-07T00:58:00.006Z

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............

POPCORN RATING:

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

2010-02-02T08:58:00.006Z

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?

POPCORN RATING:

DR WHO COMPLETE SPECIALS (DVD Review) - 19/1/10

2010-01-19T22:37:00.007Z

So David Tennant's tenure on new Who comes to an end with the last few years coming full circle. I watched each episode as it aired and hated every single one - But the funny thing is watching it all a second time round on DVD I thoroughly enjoyed it all - Noticing a lot more this time around as well. Waiting for the obvious boxset release also had the advantage of extra snazzy Special Features on the last 2 discs.

DISC 1: "The Next Doctor" follows the return of the Cybermen as they tamper in the Victorian Industrial Revolution and a mysterious figure known as the Doctor with his companion Rosita get help from another "Doctor" to fend off their plans. You also get the full Dr Who Confidential for this Special and also the 'Dr Who At The Proms' feature as well.

DISC 2: See's the Doctor travelling by London Bus to "The Planet Of The Dead" and facing an alien horde of flying beasties, a couple of large flys and a motley group of stragglers left on the bus. UNIT gets a turn and also a laugh! Again followed by the full Confidential episode once more.

DISC 3: "The Waters Of Mars" is a real turning point for the show and sees the Doctor go off the rails in this dark & moody episode. Again Confidential follows on.

DISCS 4 & 5: End David Tennant's run with 'The End Of Time' Parts 1 & 2 packed with numerous Video Diaries, Deleted Scenes, Christmas Idents for the BBC and both the final Tennant Confidential Episodes. These are the episodes where you come to realise that regeneration really is the death of the previous Doctor and that a new man walks away.

A smashing cover inside the slipcase has the Doctor one side with the heroes and the Master the other side with the villains - Even the outer case has a picture of the Doctor with his back to the camera walking away as he is leaving!

POPCORN RATING:

WATCHMEN {Ultimate} (DVD Review) - 12/1/10

2010-01-12T20:31:00.004Z

I knew the company behind "Watchmen" would attempt to wring every penny they could out of the public with their usual ploys and they kicked that off with the release of 'Tales Of The Black Freighter' and then strung it out over a year with the 2-disc Motion Comic release, single disc release, the double disc set then followed with the Director's Cut and the ensuing Blu-Ray releases - Knowing full well a FINAL set (Maybe?) was due to be released with the animated footage put back in - So I waited. Along trundles the ULTIMATE Set with 5 discs and it's difficult where to start? For possibly the greatest graphic novel ever it's diversions about time translated to the screen seemed incredibly slow as the story spun out little by little but three and a half hours seemed to fly by? I can't say I finished watching the film elated but more of a sense of disappointment. Swathes of storyline have gone and to me it just did not gel at all plus the change in the ending seemed pointless - The insertion of the animated footage lent nothing to the story really and the animation itself was atrocious. Things did not bode well - But the second disc had the pseudo-documentary 'Under The Hood' on it which watched in conjunction with the 'Watchmen' fills in a number of back points. A large selection of background Featurettes really does put a greater perspective on the whole of the Production process. Disc 3 is a bit of a piss-take as it's a digital copy of the Theatrical Version of the film which expires after a year and only ships with the initial print run. Discs 4 & 5 comprise the complete Animated Motion Comic all 12 chapters spread over 3 hours and it really is like watching the book - This I found a much more rewarding experience. The cover to the boxset is appalling but the outside fold-out and the further inside fold-out is pretty good - This houses the first three discs whilst the Animated Motion Comic comes in a separate 2-disc case. Amongst the hogwash I see everything but Alan Moore who has aspired to stand by his word and avoid all of the Hollywood Hoo-Haa: Nowhere in titles written or otherwise does his name appear apart from a couple of brief mentions in the Making-Offs - Mr Moore I salute you!

POPCORN RATING:

THE FINAL DESTINATION (DVD Review) - 7/1/10

2010-01-07T12:24:00.004Z

Having missed this at the flicks a few months back when it was out I didn't worry as I knew I would buy it on DVD when available to stick on the shelf with the other three. Again stating 'the' in the title does not mean the series is finished as is the case with "The Final Destination" as it's the same story in a different setting, unless of course you set it in a different era or a different location it's starting to get tired. It gets a FIVE popcorn rating for the sheer cheese & inventiveness of the death scenes plus the constant feeling that something is going to happen - Then it doesn't - Then it does - Madness! Obviously this fourth outing ends up in 3-D with all manner of things poking out of the screen - So with this set you get Disc One with the standard version of the film & Special Features (Only Deleted Scenes & a Trailer) and Disc Two has the 3-D version of the film with two sets of 3-D glasses. This is where the piss-take begins: In desperation to sell the Blu-Ray Format increasingly most Special Features appear on the Blu-Ray version with two different endings, featurettes and so forth. I say you Production Company Suits are WANKERS! Just as I don't double-dip in buying the same product over & over again - I will not be forced into buying another Format so you can double the price of the discs and end up buying the same stuff again.

Death visits a Speedway this time around and pulps a whole crowd of people - Dull, ignorant individuals get offed in a variety of ways and there isn't a happy ending as usual!

POPCORN RATING:

FAMILY GUY: SOMETHING, SOMETHING, SOMETHING DARK SIDE (DVD Review) - 7/1/10

2010-01-07T12:02:00.006Z

I have added this to my own DVD Collection so obviously it has a Popcorn Rating of FIVE. So Family Guy continues with it's pisstake of the Star Wars Trilogy and the Second in the series. Released direct to DVD before viewing on TV this even has a Digital Copy you can download and the usual pile of excellent Special Features. The pastiche is totally spot-on and a couple of moments I wet myself with laughter. What can you say? It's just having to wait until the next installment is available to buy on DVD. Current title for 'Return Of The Jedi' is "I Have A Bad Feeling About This" currently going through Production and a table-read through clip is also on this disc.

IN NO PARTICULAR ORDER:

2009-12-31T12:39:00.014Z

Currently due to lack of time and being rather busy - plus not having access to a computer I have had to write out my most recent reviews. So here you have it before the mistakes and words are altered and stuff cut out. Hopefully in 2010 I can get back to regular posting?

DISTRICT 9 Film Review - 29/9/09

2009-09-29T13:43:00.005+01:00

A spaceship arrives on Earth and turns out to harbour several thousand drones of an insect race who seem to have no control of their ship or themselves. They end up getting all transported to Earth and stuck in a shanty town and get left to themselves. With a number of political wrangles and demonstrations from the local human populace the authorities after 20 years decide to forcefully evict them to a new area far away from humanity. Unbeknown to the humans it turns out that not all are drones and that some of the 'prawns' (which is the derogatory term humans use for them) are actually far superior and have been spending the last few years trying to return to their ship and leave Earth after their disgusting treatment at the hands of their human masters. Filmed in a documentary style the MNU organisation which is the overseer of the aliens sets up a task-force with a new leader in place to push forward the major eviction. After becoming infected by an alien substance he actually starts to side with the alien underdogs.

This story can be taken on various levels: It has an amalgam of several sci-fi stories which have covered this ground before. But it is also very plausible for it's current thinking of an underclass thrown aside and treated like shit. If the human race can do this to each other they certainly would not have a problem exploiting an alien species. The war & weapons faction features strongly with the MNU going to any lengths to harvest the alien technology even at the expense of it's own people.

If you avoid the political overtones then you have big guns blazing and lots of explosions as bounty hunters take on the aliens and the local inhabitants. Let's face it if an alien weapon can reduce someone to just a puddle of blood then everyone would want one!

A timely reminder that humanity can bring out the worse in us . . .

POPCORN RATING:

SMALLVILLE {8th. Season} (DVD Review) - 25/9/09

2009-09-25T01:33:00.004+01:00

I think there is nothing better than when a Production Company like WARNER slaps it's fans in the face. This current Season of 'Smallville' is awful - The budget has been cut (and it shows) but this loathsome company has no problem dredging out the storyline and even announcing Season 9. With most of the characters not even appearing in this Season (Only 2 of the leads were contracted for every episode) and you seem to be hanging around for the rest of the cast to show up. The story arc is pointless as they string you along with a Lex isn't dead storyline - Pity that the actor playing the character left last Season. The tiresome Lana Lang/Clark Kent romance gets stirred up for a guest appearance - For fucks sake - Just let it go! A character gets written in then killed off, a major pisstake with another character who also gets killed off but just happens to be playing his elder brother is a real letdown after previous Seasons. Most of the careless writing has characters doing things they really would not do and one episode is so lazy it's just an excuse to start up the Lois/Clark relationship. I also like the fact that alien artefact's seem to be ten-a-penny - Need an alien device? Then just open up Lex's old storeroom and there's one in a case waiting on the shelve for you - Absolute rubbish! Having plowed through 22 episodes this Season was a major disappointment. DULL is what you could describe it!

Throw in some Deleted Scenes, Audio Commentaries and a couple of Featurettes and this rounds off this 6-disc DVD Boxset on Region 1 (USA)

POPCORN RATING:

WRISTCUTTERS: A LOVE STORY (DVD Review) - 22/9/09

2009-09-22T20:40:00.004+01:00

I was recommended this by an acquaintance of mine and if you really reaLLY REALLY want to burn away two hours of your life on this tedium then go ahead! Basically kid cleans up flat slits his wrists and ends up in a crappy waystation for suicides (Purgatory?) of a life that is like reality but just shittier. Going on the road with his Russian rocker pal they set out to find his dead girlfriend and pick up a sassy young lady looking for the 'people in charge'. Two hours later with a blind-numbingly stupid ending it's all over.

POPCORN RATING:

ICE AGE 3: DAWN OF THE DINOSAURS Film Review - 20/9/09

2009-09-20T23:26:00.006+01:00

Caught this on it's last run but unfortunately not the 3D version and like banging a tube of toothpaste with a lump hammer to get out the last of it 'Ice Age 3: Dawn Of The Dinosaurs' wrings out the last few dregs while selling off a tonnage of cute furry plush toys & beanie babies. Yes - The animation was even better again and there were plenty of laughs & sniggers but it all feels oh-so-samey? Let's call it a day on this franchise and Shrek as well PLEASE!!!

Manny & Ellie the mammoths are about to have a baby. Diego the sabre-toothed tiger is fed up and has had enough and set's out on his own and Sid the sloth feels totally left out until he comes upon a clutch of eggs that hatch out into baby dinos that he looks after. When the real mother turns up and grabs Sid & the baby dinos the whole herd race off to save Sid. Coming across a hidden underground world of 'lost dinosaurs' they meet a new character called Buck (Voiced by Simon Pegg) and battle their way across the landscape with Buck guiding them. Along for the ride in the background is Scrat the squirrel who seems to have found himself a female companion along the way as they fight over 'the acorn'. Everything ends well with everybody singing and dancing all happy clappy over the credits.

POPCORN RATING:

DEAD SNOW (Dod Sno) (DVD Review) - 19/9/09

2009-09-19T17:06:00.005+01:00

After last weekend's Frightfest this time we turn to Norway with the film 'Dead Snow'. Starting off fairly atmospheric with boots crunching on fresh snow and something in the woods, this rapidly goes from chiller down the comedy tube unfortunately. With a nod towards 'The Evil Dead' the usual mis-matched misfits are isolated at a snowbound cabin retreat for an Easter break. Cue the usual running around in trees and tramping through snow as a horde of Nazi Zombies pick them off one-by-one. The usual genre staples are here with a gun rapidly running out of ammo, the chainsaw and the various head-lopping. Add in your bad CGI blood splatters and a couple of admittedly laugh out loud funny bits and there you go.

Nice selection of Special Features with a Making of, a Make-Up & Special FX Featurette plus the Cast & Crew At Sundance and a pile of Trailers. Only problem with this is they seemed to have just left the camera running and there's a lack of information into the actual background of the filmic process.

POPCORN RATING:

LET THE RIGHT ONE IN (Lat Den Ratte Komma In) (DVD Review) - 13/9/09

2009-09-13T23:30:00.004+01:00

This Swedish film looks like it was filmed in the 1970's on some crumbling sinkhole estate - Actually the film was supposed to be set in 1982 - Either way it looks old and that just adds to it's distinctive charm. Like a cross between a teenage version of 'The Hunger' mixed in with a little 'Crying Game' it has some spot on scenes which obviously blew it's budget; but makes it better for the spit & polish attempts at getting it right. The acid faced killer falling from a window to his death, the psycho killer kitty attack, the vampire without an invite, the body in the block of ice, the occasional glimpse of possible claws and more. The yearnings of childhood, the losses of that, the isolation and the realisation. Running slowly (Which is a pity) it comes in at a runtime of 110 minutes but strangely enough it didn't feel that long. Released as the title 'Let Me In' in it's first US edition of the book because the Publishers felt the original title too long; the Producers of the 'Hollywood Version' are also using the same title. So expect shoulder held ground-to-air missiles, flamethrowers and gothed up black clad vampires for the turgid re-make with none of the nuances from the Swedish original left. Although drifting in places this is a nice spin on the vampire genre.

Unfortunately for Special Features we only get a Director's/Author Commentary, some short Deleted Scenes and a Trailer. I think a half hour Making Of Featurette would have added greatly to this - Never mind.

POPCORN RATING:

THE ILLUSIONIST (DVD Review) - 30/8/09

2009-08-30T15:33:00.004+01:00

Okay - So jumping back to 2006 when 'The Prestige' came out it's often poorer cousin (More like a very distant relation!) was 'The Illusionist' which had been on the back-burner waiting for me to get around to viewing it. A pitch perfect role for Paul Giamatti who steals every scene he is in against a somewhat restrained Edward Norton. In fact a perfect set piece is when Giamatti (As Inspector Uhl) and Norton (As Eisenheim) meet for the first time. Eisenheim shows Uhl a trick and although held back you hear a clipped accent that Norton is putting on very well in character. Giamatti's response comes back in a velvet tone as he purrs his delight. With the addition of Rufus Sewell and Jessica Biel the main leads are all fleshed out.

Starting out as a testament to illusion and the old style of filming process we begin with a childhood romance gone awry. Jumping forward fifteen years we have the fabled illusionist 'Eisenheim' take to the stage in Vienna. Then murder, scandal and politics takes it toll in this period drama as revenge rear's it's ugly head.

Special Features light on the ground with this one: Just a Director's Commentary, Trailer & Making Of Feature. Watch out for the Easter Egg though - Because that runs down a small list of tricks and how to do them.

POPCORN RATING:

DEXTER {Season 3} (DVD Review) - 24/8/09

2009-08-24T06:01:00.009+01:00

There was no way I was waiting for this to come out on Region 2 (UK) DVD with several months wait as it was available from the States on Region 1 (USA) ages before. I wondered how they could top the last two Season's but realised once I got settled down into these latest 12 episodes things took off in a totally different way. This show constantly amazes me as you watch things unfold with people saying one thing and meaning another and other people interpreting it in a totally different way. Watching from the outside and getting a complete overview of what is going on is pretty thrilling. We get some interesting moral parallels about right & wrong which makes for hard digesting. When I watched TV as a kid I enjoyed it - But watching quality made shows now like 'Dexter' has even more resonance with it's shifts and subtleties within it's storylines. This Season 3 brings us a Dexter who throws caution to the wind and he makes the mistake of getting involved with another serial killer who really goes doo-lally and causes an endless stream of problems. Throw in another killer and some information from Dexter's past plus a good measure of inter-personal problem's for the cast of characters to pit-fall into and the thrill ride starts all over again. This 4-Disc Boxset on Region 1 (USA) covers all 12 episodes of 'Dexter' Season 3. On the Bonus Features you get 2 Episodes from the TV Show 'The United States Of Tara' plus Cast Bios, Photo Gallery and if you place the fourth disc into your computer contains a link to further Special 'Dexter' features.

POPCORN RATING:

POPCORN RATINGS

2009-08-24T05:51:00.003+01:00

One of the three readers of this blog has mentioned that they are not too certain as to whether I liked some of the stuff I have reviewed? So in a change to the current format we will now have a POPCORN RATING at the end of each review or moan. One box of Popcorn and Oh dear! you really shouldn't waste your time like I had to do. Two boxes and Meh! you can take it or leave it. Three boxes and this was Good - Certainly enjoyable. Four boxes and we're onto the brilliant entertainment which is Worth watching. Five boxes in my opinion usually mean's I think it Worth keeping and have a copy on my own DVD shelf.

RED DWARF: BACK TO EARTH (DVD Review) - 9/8/09

2009-08-09T13:29:00.003+01:00

Older & bolder Red Dwarf returns to TV on the DAVE Channel because the BBC can't be arsed! Weirdly it is a strange amalgam of Red Dwarf and whatever? Simply because I felt the story was not really good enough and it was too much of a pastiche of 'Blade Runner' but as a labour of love for Red Dwarf fans I think it will hit the spot. Don't quite know how to feel about the convention of breaking the 'fourth' wall but that gets a strong resolution at the end if you can stomach it! (Even weirder is Lister picking up a DVD case and Kryten reading the back blurb which is an exact match for the real-life product several months down the line?) Top notch effects & acting from the cast make this familiar and disappointing at the same time.

The Red Dwarf crew find a strange creature down in the bowels of the ship. On investigating they re-start another hologram programme by accident (Ummh?) and this all ends up with the crew mysteriously ending up back on Earth through a dimension portal. Unfortunately they then find that they are just characters in a TV show and set out after their creator to find out what is going on?

This 2-disc Director's Cut of the three episodes can be watched individually or in one long hit! You get a couple of Commentaries thrown in with a new 2-part Documentary which covers the 'Making Of Back To Earth' with some interesting insights to be had on the production from another angle. Of course we get the usual 'Smeg Ups' Reel with a selection of small Featurettes. Plus Trailers, Photo Galleries and some Web Videos Behind-The-Scenes.

TRANSFORMERS: REVENGE OF THE FALLEN Film Review - 25/7/09

2009-07-25T00:59:00.004+01:00

Neeeeerrrrrrrrwwwwwww! Boom - boom - badoom!!!!! SMASH - crunch......THUDDD! pHATOOOMMMMMMMMM! bANG - thuda. . . . .TAKKA-TAKKA-TAKKA: Gunshots, massive explosion. BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMM! Even MORE massive EXPPPPPPPPPPPPPPLLLOSSION THUDDDA-THUDDA-TUUUMM! crunch - crash PING PTHOCK-PTHOCK - booooom! Grinding crunch - SMASSSSSSSSSHHH! boom - Boom! CTHUD! CTHUD! CTHUD! ARRRRrrrrrrrrrrrrrrggggggghhhhhhhh! BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!!! A film by Michael Bay. Cash Tills Ring - Bring on Part 3 of this bilge! (2 hours of continuous destruction with no story or characterisation)

BATTLESTAR GALACTICA {5th. Season} (DVD Review) - 19/7/09

2009-07-19T09:25:00.003+01:00

Well at last the torture is over! No need to get out the weedkiller as this dreary load of codswallop has come to it's end with Season 5 or Season 4.5 or whatever the morons are calling it! Dragging out all it's final hooks that have kept people hanging over four series the mundane has never been so well depicted. So now it ends with no real 'Happy Ending' and a question or two still unanswered? Still flogging away at this dead horse we have the anticipation (None!) of another BSG TV Movie and 'Caprica' the prequel (Yawn!) which is already out on DVD. This DVD 4-disc Boxset has the last 11 episodes (What a relief!) with the last disc packed chock-full of Special Features. I didn't bother watching them as it was enough of a waste of time trawling through the episodes. Dismal - I blame you Mr. Periwinkle!

THIS AIN'T STAR TREK XXX (DVD Review) - 14/7/09

2009-07-14T02:56:00.003+01:00

Stepping away from 2005's Sex Trek pornography we now go to the latest with Hustler's 2009 Parody (Similar to their 'Munsters' & 'Brady Bunch' parodies) with "This Ain't Star Trek XXX". This 2-Disc Set is their version (again!) of the original series Star Trek story 'Space Seed'. With obviously a vast improvement for costumes & design, music & sets and some CGI - We still get let down by one 'actress' looking at the camera (and obviously!) Although stated as a parody the second disc to this set has a Non-Sex version of the Feature which does make interesting viewing complete with a 'Making Of' and a 'Blooper' Reel. You also get a 'Director's Storyboard' as well which is also pretty good. Forget the Photo Gallery/Slide Show unless you want close-up shots of growling badgers. You also get 3 Bonus Scenes (as stated on the Front Cover) unfortunately when you watch them it turns out they have nothing to do with this Production at all - Meh! The rest is just filler - So that's it - That's the last Star Trek porn I'm watching or reviewing!

SEX TREK: CHARLY XXX (DVD Review) - 14/7/09

2009-07-14T02:43:00.003+01:00

In this follow-up feature to 'Sex Trek: Where No Man Has Cum B4' Charly turns out to be a sex-mad lithe young nympho in another veiled re-run of a story from the original Star Trek show. There is only so much you can do with a porn film so this time out Yeoman Gland gets the strap-on out and gives Charly a good seeing too - In return Nurse Chapstick gets saucy with Mr. Sperm until it's green goo time again! Jerkoff gets a scene of his own with a crew member and she 'accidentally' switches on the intercom so their grunting & groanings get broadcast shipwide - It's funny! Oh Yes - Oh Yes - YEESSSSSSS - Oh Oh Oh - Ummm Yes Yes - Do It Too Me - Oh Oh Oh Yes Yes Yes YESSSSS - Ummm and so on.......

Strangely enough the Special Features run exactly like the previous disc!

TORCHWOOD: CHILDREN OF EARTH {3rd. Season} (DVD Review) - 12/7/09

2009-07-12T23:39:00.004+01:00

Disturbingly enough the First Episode of this DVD was shown on the BBC on a Monday. The programme that was before it was PANORAMA doing an investigation on Police powers and Government Laws heading towards a Police State and chillingly parrelled the Torchwood Series 3 Mini-Season of 'Children Of Earth'. If you had changed the title to 'Quatermass' it would have reflected even more so the story. Nigel Kneale was dismissive of Dr Who and had declined a chance to write for the show but if he had seen the latest Torchwood story I'm sure he would have been proud of the connection. Starting out slowly this tense and gripping tale took a lot of people by surprise. Not only has it been the best so far (Although highlights have certainly cropped up in Seasons 1 & 2) it has a knack of leaving you reeling. The story takes you to places you don't want to go and is fairly bleak. It also asks hard choices of groups of people and individuals. If you are facing extinction against an enemy you can't strike back at - What do you do? Do you sacrifice a proportion? An individual? Doing what is right can be so hard and the final scenes leave you feeling despondent. After the end it would be total anarchy - People would fight against the army and police, governments would fall and civil war would follow. The planet would be devastated.

Torchwood comes across a series of strange events and starts to investigate. Then Torchwood itself comes under attack and it's members targeted. Events from 1965 impinge on the present day and Government machinations grind into gear. An alien presence is heading towards Earth and it has the planet's children under it's control. Thing's fall apart as the Earth's Government's completely lose control of the situation.

This 2-Disc set has been rush-released straight after the TV broadcast. I personally think it will get a lot of takers and was pretty savvy of the BBC to do this. You get the full 5 Episode Mini-Series plus 'Torchwood: Declassified' an exclusive behind the scenes look and some of the 'Torchwood: In The Shadows' Audio Story. If this is the end for Torchwood then they went out on a brilliant high (But still leaving things wide open for a return) personally with large audience figures of 6 million on Primetime BBC1 and DVD sales, I can see it will return for a fourth Series?

SEX TREK: WHERE NO MAN HAS CUM B4 (DVD Review) - 6/7/09

2009-07-06T03:15:00.004+01:00

Long may the parody continue! In this ropey hash-up we get a handful of storyline threads from some old Star Trek story episodes cobbled together with even an appearance from Ron Jeremy no less. No expense has been spared to bring you scenes of alien planets - In this case a red silky curtain with some backlights and a handful of plastic plant pots. You even have the 'infamous' Vulcan - sorry Horny - alien green sperm scene - WOW! With a few scenes set with a junkyard look background (Borg - Or Bog influenced maybe?) the budget hasn't significantly improved from the last outing. The piss-takes not only self-reference Trek but the fact that they are actually making a porn film as well. This even extends to the Trailer for the next film "CHARLY XXX" which strangely enough seems to have been filmed on the same 'sets' if you can call them that?

Don't even go there for the Special Features which are just the giblets Gallery in close-up and some Cum-Shots Action. Then there's also the dreary Sex Talk which is a handful of phonelines for some sleazy sex chats.

PUSH Film Review - 29/6/09

2009-06-29T00:23:00.004+01:00

This film is the sort of film that gets made because no-one was actually thinking. A large expensive budget wasted on a piss-poor sub-standard X-Men rip-off! Even TV show Heroes had better effects than those on show here! The film has jarring visuals but even more annoying is the totally inappropriate soundtrack of clanging and banging that doesn't suit the mood of the film at all. It also seems to lose any sense of it's own logic near the end becoming really incomprehensible and the dire ending is atrocious. Throw in the background of Hong Kong and some duff fight sequences that all take place in restaurants most of the time and a blink and you'll miss him Joel Gretsch (Who all the way through the film I was expecting to crop up again) and this mess let's you down accordingly. Horrible - Just horrible.

I'm not going into the cobblers of a storyline - Make your own mind up. But a previous review I had read prior to watching this film had said "Don't waste two hours of your life!" and boy were they right with that one!

ANGELS & DEMONS Film Review - 28/6/09

2009-06-28T04:10:00.003+01:00

This film should really be called "Ron Howard Stole My Mind" because as I was watching it I had that classic feeling of already having seen it before? Every scene seemed really, really familiar? This is very strange as I read the book many years ago so there wasn't any overspill from having recently read it. I had not seen any Trailers or clips from the film at all and the only reason I saw it was as a follow-up to "The DaVinci Code" dross that was previously out. Maybe the fact that the dreary making-a-film-by-numbers scenario was in effect? The getting together of a bunch of ugly & thuggish actors to continually parade across the scenes at vital points in the thought that 'Hey, that could be the villain!' moment - Yawn!!! This film felt like it was made years back and they had just released a new print of it - It's hard to explain but it felt all out of place? I really enjoyed Dan Brown's books but feel the two film adaptions so far leave a lot to be desired?

SUPERNATURAL {4th. Season} (DVD Review) - 21/6/09

2009-06-21T23:44:00.003+01:00

Getting mighty tired of this current UK practice of releasing 2 boxsets for new TV series then releasing the full boxset a few months later! Alas; we also get a stupid cliff-hanger at the end of this series with the last episode entitled "Lucifer Rising". Yeah, so I've watched 4 seasons now, the Devil's about to show up so I won't bother watching anymore? Duuuhhhh! Plotwise the clashing of Angels & Demons isn't anything new but it's given a bit of a twist in this series. One character I wasn't sure about showed their true colours so I was happy to have that confirmed and a conspiracy stretching back years comes to it's final resolution. At least the series didn't end with what I feared might happen with one of the brothers having to actually kill the other for real to prevent the apocalypse.

The 6-disc set manages some good Special Features with a selection of Featurettes and some Commentaries. You get a Gag Reel with Deleted/Extended Scenes which rounds off another good season for Supernatural.

BOLT (DVD Review) - 21/6/09

2009-06-21T02:06:00.003+01:00

Okay, who wouldn't want a copy of this DVD without getting a free plush Rhino toy with it? For simple pleasure BOLT is an absolute treat and the more animated films I watch the more astonishing the quality of the technology advances. The clarity of the photo realism just gets better and better and some new techniques are on show here which is why it's worth checking out the Making Of Featurettes. The usual Disney roller-coaster ride of emotions is run through here (Ignore the cynical facets!) but with a piss-taking cat called Mittens and a psycho hamster in a ball called Rhino - Bolt the lead character is more or less along shooting the breeze than anything else! Bolt the dog has superpowers and uses them in the defense of his owner Penny who is searching for her scientist father who has been kidnapped by the evil Dr. Calico. Unfortunately for Bolt he doesn't realise that he is only an actor on a TV show and through a series of mishaps end's up on the other side of the country trying to desperately get back to Penny. With the help of stray cat Mittens and a TV-watching hamster called Rhino they end up on a road-trip to get back to Penny in Hollywood as real-life danger threatens.

Worth seeing the Rhino short on the Special Features which has a classic moment taken from the original film turned on it's head. Trailers, Featurettes on the music, making of and a selection of deleted scenes with voicework and sneak peeks.

LOST {5th. Season} (DVD Review) - 16/6/09

2009-06-16T08:32:00.003+01:00

Like the Japanese Himitsu Bako (Himitsu means Secret & Bako means Box - Hence 'Secret Box') LOST Season 5 this time around has wheels within wheels as the tales draw together with a hell of a lot of answers to even minor things and a fair amount of resolution to others. Jumping around in time all over the place with a major headache of space time conundrums and time-travel paradoxes this secret box is fast peeling away it's layers. A lot like the Russian Nested Dolls (Matryoshka) secrets within secrets slowly spill out and a lot of the first 3 Season's now start to make even more sense. If before they didn't; the explanations here will have you gasping, as you start to realise the import of the connections between characters and the reason's why a lot of what has been happening now comes full circle.

This set is down to 16-episodes with a large selection of Special Features with numerous Featurettes and Outtakes/Bloopers.

TERMINATOR: SALVATION Film Review - 8/6/09

2009-06-08T06:25:00.003+01:00

This film has received a lot of slating but unlike the TV Series of "The Sarah Connor Chronicles" (Which seems to play hard and fast with Terminator mythology) this new film manages to fit in very cleverly with the previous films. We get a very human element (In more ways than one) which is integral to the plot. We also get an enticing mystery which gets explained very well. You also have (By computer magic) a sleight of hand that adds even more to the story, a vast selection of homages to the first & second films and the ending not only reference's the original film but ties up a load of loose ends while still leaving the way open for further films. I really cannot state what a great film this is - Full of nail-chewing action with a range of new machines (And I've got the nails to prove it - Boy did I chew those down in the cinema!) with a plotline that really does fit in succinctly with Terminator lore. The mind-spinning side-story takes on a greater significance as you delve further into the film and hopefully an extensive 2-Disc release on DVD after it's Theatrical run will enhance the story even more with I'm imagining an in-depth look at how they put it all together?

WOLVERINE Film Review - 6/6/09

2009-06-06T18:31:00.003+01:00

'Wolverine' or to give it it's full title "X-Men Origins: Wolverine" was a spin-off from the X-Men films which has an A-lister, a couple of B-listers and some no-names starring in it. MARVEL obviously desperate to get their properties out and make some cash from them will probably have a slew of films along the X-Men Origins theme coming soon. This sorry misfire has some great action scenes and a crappy storyline badly told. Throw in some glaringly awful and obvious CGI with a super young, uncredited appearance by Patrick Stewart and a really silly double-ending finishing off the Credits at the end of the film and that's the stop-gap filled for the Summer. Totally incoherent this won't be gracing my DVD shelf later this year - Dire!

SEX TREK: THE NEXT PENETRATION (DVD Review) - 1/6/09

2009-06-01T07:45:00.004+01:00

This ropey old DVD stretches back to 1999. It has butt-ugly blokes with mullet haircuts and awful mustaches with hairy bristled chest hair and skanky rough women with an attitude to match. As a parody of Star Trek it was so successful it spawned 4 sequels with titles like: "Sex Trek II: The Search For Sperm" and "Sex Trek III: The Wrath Of Bob" and it's excruciatingly painful to watch. Captain Quirk turns to Lieutenant Uwhore and says 'Let's probe Uranus' to which she replies 'yEW! whattttttt!!!!!' and he responds 'I'm talking about the planet we're currently orbiting Uwhore'. Unluckily enough it happens to be the planet of the asshole people who can appear as anything they like but strangely want hot lesbian love. Sex parodies are currently flooding the market and everytime I see the title for 'The Da Vinci Code' which some wag has re-titled 'The Da Vinci Load' it always makes me laugh. 'Sex Trek: The Next Penetration' is so godawful you cannot not laugh from the dull sex scenes & atrocious acting, to the 'Special Effects' like having a dildo for a spaceship strung up with 2 clearly visible wires. If only I could get hold of a copy of 'Deep Space 69' now, with the guy dressed as a borg with an unusual implement and the guy with the badly stuck on Ferengi ears?

You don't even want to see the Gallery on this DVD which seems to consist of all the 'actors' genitalia in close-up scene-by-scene. Ewww! Beef curtains............

STAR WRECK: IN THE PIRKINNING (DVD Review) - 26/5/09

2009-05-26T06:26:00.004+01:00

A few years ago when I first went out onto the World Wide Web surfing the Internet in my ardent hunt for all things Trek I had originally come across this film and had watched a few scenes which obviously I couldn't understand as it was all in Finnish. Thinking nothing more of it we fast forward to now and suddenly I'm seeing adverts for it in various film magazines and being offered for sale on DVD. It turns out that a Film Distribution Company has picked up the rights for the UK and after some re-cutting of effects and sound due to copyright reasons has licenced it for sale. I did not wish to view the censored version first so got a copy of the original version direct from Finland. Following on from their previous outings "Star Wreck: In The Pirkinning" (Part VI) ups the ante again from this no-budget talented Finnish group of friends who have (although amateur) managed some quite astonishing effects when their Star Trek parody crashes into the Babylon 5 universe. Absolute chaos ensues as the piss-take starts all over again with the crew at each other's throats and all the genres faults get highlighted in some case's pedantically!

Captain Pirk now Emperor Pirk takes his new P-Fleet out to the Maggot Hole looking for new space to conquer; unfortunately once through the Maggot Hole with his fleet, he comes up against Captain Sherrypie of the space station Baabel 13 and a gigantic battle ensues for the control of Earth. For further hilarity check out the unintentional (So I think?) English subtitles which come over as slang English, slang American and that particular to Europe version of badly broken English with real English words in the mix and a lot of swearing. We also get an extensive Making Of on this disc, three Deleted Scenes and a couple of early Trailers.

DEXTER {Season 2} (DVD Review) - 25/5/09

2009-05-25T05:05:00.003+01:00

I really cannot believe it took 2 years for this to be available on DVD in the UK? Season 3 is just showing in the States - Will it take another 2 years to see it on DVD in your own time? This time around we actually get 5 discs in this set (One of them a complete Special Features Bonus disc) unlike the First Series which was pretty vanilla. With the fallout from the previous season starting to lay quiet Dexter suddenly finds himself in the middle of a murder hunt with the discovery of his seawater burial site. With the FBI being called into the case with a killer becoming known as 'The Bay Harbour Butcher' Dexter finds himself caught with several loose ends coming undone. He has an obsessive Police Sergeant scrutinising his every move & background and his relationship with Rita has gone down shit creek, problems from his past resurface causing problems in the present and an English nut-job called Lila causes Dexter even more problems. It's amazing just how quickly 12 episodes of something that you are really enjoying just flies past and finishes - Again no silly cliffhanger, but still leaving you wanting more! There is a parallel here between the character of Rorschach (From the Graphic Novel 'The Watchmen') and Sgt. Doakes in 'Dexter' both believe in an ultimate truth and if your guilty - Your guilty - No grey areas. A TV show that has it's audience rooting for it's serial killer lead character?

With this set we get 4 episodes with Trivia Tracks and a Trivia Game & Feature. Interviews, Animated Stills, Featurettes and Cast/Bios Filmographies.

STAR WRECK: LEGACY (DVD Review) - 19/5/09

2009-05-19T09:17:00.004+01:00

I love Star Trek parody and this is one of the best I have been able to track down on DVD to buy. A bunch of Finnish friends basically got together and with some pretty crappy animation did a short called 'Star Wreck' in 1992. They carried on with episodes 2, 3, 4 & 5. The animation got better, the jokes flew thick & fast and with the fifth instalment they even did a live-action piss-take with 'Star Wreck V - Lost Contact' with wobbly cardboard borg but some quite amazing SFX added to the mix. Obviously added subtitles in English let you in on the jokes; with plenty of toilet humour and the crew who more or less hate each other, and with Redshirts Ensign Cannonfodder, Ensign Goner & Ensign Bodyshield you can see what type of ride your in for! Collected on this Region 0 DVD disc entitled "Star Wreck Legacy" we get the original five shorts plus some early films directed by various members of the crew under the Special Features/Extras section. You get a Commentary on Star Wreck V Lost Contact and a rather good Making Of which covers the background to Star Wreck Legacy and it's beginnings. Lotsa chuckles with this one!

THE SPIRIT Film Review - 18/5/09

2009-05-18T05:20:00.004+01:00

While you have to respect Frank Miller for his sterling work on 'Sin City' and in the comic book/graphic novel field this comes over as his very own vanity project. Like a teenage wank fantasy for misogynists we have femme fatale women lining up to seduce and be seduced as none of them are 'good girls' at all - Please!! The blue/green screen is awash with black, black and more black with shades of grey and the odd splotch of colour now and again. Don't get me wrong the visuals are stunning and Will Eisner's comics are brought to life fully realised with Frank Miller's subtle touch. It's just that the story is so interminable slow and so slight it would blow away with the breeze from a fan. Scarlett Johansson does her pouty best with the clunky script and Samuel L. Jackson goes overboard as the manic 'Octopus' but even Eva Mendes struggles to breathe a breath of life into this drivel. A couple of scenes do stand out but some of this comes over like a bad knockabout comedy and all-in-all was very tiresome to watch.

Killed on duty a police officer is revived from the dead and becomes the masked vigilante known as 'The Spirit' who cannot die. Fighting in Central City (Yawn!) against the criminal mastermind known as 'The Octopus' and his bevy of villainesses and minions. Anxious to get his hands on a means for immortality The Octopus is after a rare artifact to achieve this. The Spirit will do anything to stop The Octopus and his own ex-girlfriend San Serif from gaining the ultimate prize.

FRANKLYN Film Review - 18/5/09

2009-05-18T01:33:00.004+01:00

Months ago I had seen Ryan Phillippe wearing his mask for his character of Preest which had attraction enough for me to seek this out and watch it. Also starring Eva Green as a suicidal art student who films her attempts as 'art' and Sam Riley as a jilted at the altar loner and a world-weary obsessed Bernard Hill all following separate strands of a story set in an alternate reality and real day London. Like a huge dot-to-dot puzzle the individual threads get partly explained with a flip half-way through then fragment somewhat with little explanation? Visually stylish in a decayed Gothic steampunk way this unfortunately fails to deliver but is a quite clever and quirky piece nonetheless!

If you forget the reality side of the film until it becomes impossible to ignore; as the film's jumping from one reality to the next and then back again, you find events in the alternate reality start to mirror the real reality in present day London. Preest has been hired to do a job in Meanwhile City and has failed with the death of his client a young girl. Getting captured by the city's police The Clerics he is given an option to take out a hit on the Individual the man responsible for his failure.

INKHEART Film Review - 17/5/09

2009-05-17T08:26:00.004+01:00

Despite a classy cast headed up by a very restrained Brendan Fraser (Little comedy in this role) with the likes of Helen Mirren, Jim Broadbent and Andy Serkis plus Sienna Guillory and Paul Bettany plus a whole wagon load of English Repertory Theatre actors to boot, they all struggle against the 'Harry Potter Effect'. This dreadful disease is brought on by the success of the Potter Series and in desperation Studio Execs rush out buying up the rights to any novel that could give repeat-franchise business. Unfortunately this has resulted in a slew of films bombing just like this one at the Box Office then being hurriedly released on DVD to make some cash back. You cannot fault the cast; but this film really slowly creaks along with a mish-mash of reality stuck somewhere in a very foreign Europe, within which lies a fantasy concocted from a book. If I was 9 years old I'm sure this would have been the greatest film I had ever seen!

Fraser's character is a man who can charm characters into reality just by reading them from any book - So he doesn't read. Desperately searching for a particular book to do with a tragic incident from his past; he soon finds his past catching up with himself and his daughter as they go on the run across Europe been tracked by a sinister group called 'The Blackjackets' and their master Capricorn.

OUTLANDER Film Review - 17/5/09

2009-05-17T01:02:00.003+01:00

From the poster you can tell if you like your men big & butch as this film is where you'll find them! All posing and dirty, holding big weapons just waiting to get it on. This type of poster always makes me laugh as you can tell from it exactly what your getting. Strangely enough though silly advertising aside this clever clash of sci-fi come viking monster movie has a decent line in myth and mythology. Taking elements from 'Beowulf & Grendel' even the Arthurian Lady In The Lake and some biblical context, we have alien James Caviezel crash-landing on earth in Norway around the year 709. Unfortunately the creature he is transporting escapes and the local vikings headed by John Hurt and his daughter Sophia Myles don't take too kindly to having their villages razed and their people eaten. Over in the next valley an unrecognisable Ron Perlman the leader of another group has also been attacked. Banding together the disparate groups try to find a way to stop the creature for good!

TIMECRIMES (DVD Review) - 11/5/09

2009-05-11T02:53:00.005+01:00

This tricky Spanish Sci-Fi come horror thriller shows the inherent dangers of time travel and why the path taken does not necessarily mean it is the right one. Writer & Director Nacho Vigalondo looks like one to watch as things start to get messier and messier as events spiral out of control in this tautly directed and highly efficient but concise tale. Unfortunately this sly story is in Spanish with English Subtitles so therefore is being remade in 2011 - As ever Hollywood rips off the best stuff and remakes it for it's own purposes!

Hector is looking through his binoculars and chances to see a young woman taking her shirt off in the woods behind his house. Deciding to investigate what is going on he searches the woods and is stabbed by a scissor wielding assailant but manages to escape, until he realises he is being followed. Breaking into a local building things start to get really weird sending Hector on a journey he does not really want to make.

STAR TREK (2009) Film Review - 10/5/09

2009-05-10T03:37:00.004+01:00

Now this was a film I was really debatable about? Having seen various Trailers though, it had enough Trek in it for me to go see it. I thought it would be best on the BIG screen and as my local IMAX is closed I opted to purchase an advanced ticket for the BFI IMAX screen in London and it was worth every penny of the £15 I spent on it! Just as well I booked ahead as all weekend shows were fully sold-out. The sheer scale and clarity of this film was well suited to the IMAX format with it's immense sound and crisp images. As to the film Star Trek purists will be shouting 'cheat' with something akin to JJ Abrams mind bending 'LOST' taking place. It is either an incredibly big gamble to rekick-start the franchise again or could sink $200 and Trek down the pan if it alienates the hardcore fanbase? If you take this quote from May 2009 'SciFiNow' Issue 27's Cover Story "...the nature of time travel in this movie doesn't negate original continuity, instead it creates a separate timeline..." (Well worth getting for the free DVD Preview disc of 'Star Trek' with a photo gallery & TV/Film Trailers) so some fans will be howling! I myself approve of the revamp and the story does explain why things are as they are. They also certainly don't waste time with the story sticking in a little background after the momentous opening sequence and diving ( Literally!) headlong into massive battle scenes and world shattering destruction. Characters you have known, loved and grown up with feel even more real and down-to-earth as they all start out with a new beginning and we even get some gravitas with the original Spock in the form of Leonard Nimoy also showing up for the ride.

Renegade Romulans flitting through time cause untold havoc to the timeline as the original (But new!) Star Trek Enterprise denizens start off at the very beginning of their journey before their original 5-year mission. Word has it that the cast has been signed for three films and the sequel is already underway - Listen to those cash-tills ring!

DEXTER {Season 1} (DVD Review) - 3/5/09

2009-05-03T20:10:00.003+01:00

Having seen the US Production Company 'Showtime' was attached to this (The same company that made the US version of "Queer As Folk") I certainly knew that we had a new series here that would be intelligent and fairly sophisticated. I had already read & heard a lot about 'Dexter' so gave it a whirl. I have often said a pilot episode needs a decent hook to get the viewer interested (Unlike the dreadful 'Dr. Who' TV movie that did not even try using a decent hook even with its luminous wealth of background story to choose from) and so it was with 'Dexter'. Using the classic Hitchcock McGuffin we get carefully pulled into the ingenious tableau laid before us but unlike the usual McGuffin this takes an intricate turn and eventually becomes an integral part of the proceedings with an eventual reveal as well. The stylings of the lead character of a man who has to emulate human feelings to fit in as he has none of his own; flies off at a tangent, with the theme of him being a serial killer killing serial killers. (A theme that has been used before but is excelled at here with 'Dexter') The 12 quality episodes not only have a disturbing feeling about them (Particularly the opening title sequences) but seem very concise with nothing wasted. Unlike a lot of really crappy series we don't have an obligatory cliff-hanger at the end but enough to satisfy, but still giving you a feeling of wanting more. If I had the other series on hand I would be already plowing into it. So I hope to get it soon and start in on the second series. Series Three is already in the can and Series 4 & 5 have been greenlit.

The First Season of 'Dexter' has a Forensic Specialist working for the police who just happens to be a serial killer killing off other serial killers. Getting involved with a killer who he can't catch sets up a story arc that covers a wealth of hidden agendas in more ways than one. Unfortunately the UK version seems to be pretty bare-bones on the Special Features front with just some Audio Commentaries. Even for such a quality show as this I would have thought some sort of effort could have been made to flesh out the behind the scenes stuff for this show?

AUSTRALIA Film Review - 1/5/09

2009-05-01T02:53:00.003+01:00

When I saw Baz Luhrmann's name attached to this as Director as well as Nicole Kidman & Hugh Jackman starring in it I was immediately drawn to it. Luhrmann's Red Curtain Trilogy of "Strictly Ballroom" "Romeo + Juliet" & "Moulin Rouge" was enough to encourage me to watch this. This literally vast vista of expansive territories with the camera lens really shows you how big Australia is and how magnificent. In very broad strokes we get a little history, some romance and villains, murder & plotting set against the background of the Second World War and the broader background of Australia itself. Also covering a disgraceful period in Australia's history (We all have them) check out the film "Rabbit-Proof Fence" with David Gulpilil (Who stars in 'Australia' as King George) about the Lost Generation of aboriginal half-caste children. Running in at about three hours "Australia" is a drama that never really lets up until the end. Another spectacle from Baz Luhrmann to add to his current fine films available.

Posh aristocratic lady from good old England travels out to Australia to find her husband dead and machinations involving the local cattle Baron and his men. Bung in the handsome drover who is on a cattle run with other murky dealings going on. Throw in some mysticism & passion and an attempt to get the cattle to the Army before said rival does. Sweeping landscapes ensue with a Japanese attack not far off as people are split apart from several sides and causes.

AMERICAN DAD {Season 4} (DVD Review) - 23/4/09

2009-04-23T19:10:00.004+01:00

And about time too! Just how long do we have to wait to get these on DVD? Obviously the English edition is a hash-up of the US Season's 3 & 4 and you can tell with the re-arranging of episodes. So give it a year or so and we will get the remnants of the US Season 4 and the beginning of Season 5 for a release here in the UK as Volume 5 - Take the piss why don't you? Still it's worth getting for the kick-off opening episode a Bond parody called "Tearjerker" and more amusement follows as dysfunctional family members bait each other continually whilst saving the free world from insurgency. Lots of fun especially the episode where Steve makes a friend of a ginger cat - I laughed like a drain! (In fact I'm laughing now remembering it while I type this out with a chuckle!) You also get Audio Commentaries on all Episodes, an Extended & Extensive Deleted Scenes section and Featurettes "Tearjerker: And Then They Will Cry" and "Roger: Master Of Disguise" which always looks like Roger in a suit & a wig - Which is just the point! You also get a "Comic Con 2008" table read-through from the voice cast. So all in all another great 14 episodes (With revamped title sequence) from the American Dad cast & crew in "American Dad Volume 4".

KNOWING Film Review - 8/4/09

2009-04-08T00:07:00.003+01:00

Starting off fairly ominously back in 1959 a school places a time capsule in it's playground to be opened 50 years hence. The mysterious numbered list from the capsule is retrieved in the present day and uncannily has predicted the last few decades major disasters with still three to go on the list (..and pretty wince inducing they are when they hit!) A fast race to prevent this from happening turns into a major panic shockingly when things get totally turned on their head? What is even stranger is that the film finishes with a typical Hollywood ending that isn't your typical Hollywood ending - If you get the meaning? At the same time it also becomes a major downer and an uplifting inspirational tale at the the same time at the finish - If you can get the gist of it? How they managed to pull that off I'll never know? Nic Cage really drives this along turning into a panicky, out-of-control character who eventually realises that nothing he can do will alter anything and resigns himself to his fate.

SAW 5 (DVD Review) - 6/4/09

2009-04-06T23:17:00.003+01:00

Sadly after 4 great films this one let's the series down in my opinion? Taking it's main element from Saw's 3 & 4 this film jumps between the past and the present with other elements coming from Saw's 1 & 2. This is not a bad thing though as it fleshes out the role of the central character and his 'hidden' accomplice nicely and also ties up some loose ends but also asks many more questions yet to be answered? Still as a Saw film "Saw 5" fits well into the canon of Jigsaw's history. Hopefully on the rewatch the next time around I'll pick up further clues and answers to the whole mystery?

This DVD also comes with five Featurettes and also two Audio Commentaries.

RODDENBERRY ON PATROL (DVD Review) - 5/4/09

2009-04-05T05:27:00.004+01:00

Another DVD short floating around the ether that I'd heard about but only just managed to get hold of a copy. Filmed with a host of Star Trek actors in cameo roles and directed by Tim Russ; this gentle tongue-in-cheek parody surmises Trek creator Gene Roddenberry, working on a script for a new show in his time as a Police Patrol Officer out on the beat. Throw in numerous Trek references in all manner of ways as this is directly aimed at die-hard fans!

Also on the DVD is a second short under the Bonus Features titled "Life 2.o" and also a short "Outtakes/Bloopers" reel. Buy only as a last resort!

WALLACE & GROMIT: A MATTER OF LOAF & DEATH (DVD Review) - 29/3/09

2009-03-29T09:54:00.004+01:00

Recently shown at Christmas I must admit I did not really like this story - It wasn't in the previous vein of the preceding short films and came across rather dark. Then again it does have all the Wallace & Gromit subtle touches like the superb animation and techniques, the intensely detailed backgrounds and modelwork and of course the 'blink-and-you'll-miss-them' in-jokes and sight-gags. The DVD also has a nice localised feel to it with the Special Features in the form of "When Wallace Met Harvey" an advert feature for Harvey Nichols set in Bristol where Aardman is based. It also runs to a Commentary & Making Of with a Picture Gallery plus a Playable Game Demo and Trailers for Shaun The Sheep and it's spin-off Timmy Time (Unfortunately this production is REALLY aimed at children under 5 and the animation is pretty dreadful - Certainly not the quality of Shaun or W&G!)

Wallace & Gromit have set up a brand new Bakery at home. Thick as ever Wallace falls for the dubious charms of Piella Bakewell whilst as usual Gromit suspects something is not quite right? Throw in the usual film homages to numerous films and some quick fast action sequences to neatly tie up a pretty flawless 30 minutes (Apart from the script!)

YOUNG INDIANA JONES {Vol.1.Boxset} (DVD Review) - 16/3/09

2009-03-16T07:02:00.003Z

George Lucas the memory-thief (Remember what he did to "Star Wars"?) does a similar hatchet job with the TV Series of "The Adventures Of Young Indiana Jones" cutting a swathe through these episodes and slicing out a main character completely as though his performance didn't matter at all! We get abrupt endings and an oddly aged Indy as the episodes have been hacked into chronological order. The dire first few episodes of this kiddie-lite fare attempt to inform but end up dreary, dull & boring. Glossing over any real violence it isn't until the final couple of discs that the real world intrudes, and yes; people do really bleed and do really die!

Where this 12-disc Boxset comes into it's own though is the extensive background features along the lines of the History Channel or National Geographic delving into history in all it's aspects and genuinely informing the viewer about historical events and people. Forget about the trite trick of Indy coincidentally meeting most of the famous figures throughout the history of the late 1800s onwards as it will soon be a moot point as we travel into the War Years in Boxset 2.

The Boxset folds out and has a listing of the episodes and features on the packaging, as well as then folding up into a nice cardboard slipcase designed like Indy's diary.

BORG WAR (DVD Review) - 22/3/09

2009-03-05T23:50:00.004Z

With the current lack of 'Official' Star Trek product this work caught my eye on one of my trawls across the web. Taking elements from a couple of video games we get a whole new story set in the Trek universe and if you can get over the initial jerky style from the gameplay your in for a treat! Apart from the odd sound-out and jump cut from scene-to-scene this is an amusing package well put together. Again no profit was made so it's distribution meets the criteria of the 'Official' Licensee. You get sent a nicely printed disc which plays multi-region with Dolby 5.1. Sound and Full Resolution with Chapter Menus & a Theatrical Trailer and even some Special Features with Game Mode Info & some Bloopers - Definitely check out the two Bloopers - Especially the wry Klingon take on YMCA!

If you head over to the Website you can also download a cover to print out for your DVD case and you could even download the current Wallpaper and print it on the reverse of your cover (Like I did) for that added effect. Now all we need is someone to re-do a new story with the live action footage from various other Star Trek games?

http://www.borgwarmovie.org/

Contact: info@borgwarmovie.com

STAR TREK: OF GODS & MEN (DVD Review) - 15/3/09

2009-03-04T22:15:00.005Z

I had heard whispers about this for awhile and imagine my surprise when I found out that a Fan Film was available on DVD. Obviously due to copyright reasons this is a 'DVD SCREENER - NOT FOR SALE OR RENTAL' but you can get a copy FREE from Renegade Studios through their website by purchasing something from the store which I duely did. Not only is the film & production quality excellent the story comes over as a classic Trek episode extremely well. The top notch SFX and all the background to the whole production is superb. This also follows onto the DVD with the same high quality - A cellophane wrapped DVD case with a very well printed cover and inside a lengthy fold-out booklet with pictures of the cast and crew rundown. The DVD also plays on my Region 2 player in the UK so presumably the disc is Multi-Region? We also get Special Features in the form of 2 Trailers and an 80 Picture Photo Gallery.

It's also amazing just how many familiar faces from previous Star Trek incarnations pop up and the Trek references will have your head spinning. The story starts a few years after Kirk's death and involves the meeting of characters from the past who end up on a collision course that fragments the current timeline to a different future. About a hour into the film I actually had a tear in my eye so what better recommendation do you need? It's not everyday a Fan Film can reduce you to tears, but seeing such well loved characters on the screen again and older; brings a lot of this all full circle once more. A definite triumph for all involved!

http://www.startrekofgodsandmen.com/

The Production Studio can be contacted at:

Renegade Studios,Inc

1482 East Valley Rd#233

Santa Barbara, CA 93108

FUTURAMA: INTO THE WILD GREEN YONDER (DVD Review) - 28/2/09

2009-02-28T08:36:00.003Z

FUTURAMA: Slubb slubb slubb! Luckily it's now all over - After waiting so long for it and now seeing it all in it's entirety this tiresome mess is finished! The latest piece of twaddle left me so disinterested I wondered why I had even bothered to buy it? Completely lacking in any sense of a script the show closes with the cast trundling into a black hole - Let's make sure it stays there! The extras were the sort that left a bad taste in your mouth the "I can't be arsed to do anything decent" type - In fact as much of a waste of time as the film itself. If you want a good episode of FUTURAMA watch the first 4 Seasons instead. Pointless!!

DEAD LIKE ME: LIFE AFTER DEATH (DVD Review) - 11/2/09

2009-02-11T17:40:00.003Z

So here we go with the classic ye olde straight-to-DVD TV movie from a series that was cancelled 2 Seasons in. I found this to be like an extended TV episode and though very enjoyable unless your familiar with the original show you won't have a clue what's going on? We also have the dreaded re-cast of a character with someone entirely different (Pointless!) and we also lose the biggest heart of the show with an actor who is off doing something else so really leaves a large hole in the script. We do in fact get most of the ensemble cast back which is a good thing - But it is all rather creaky. This one is definitely for the die-hard fans of the show. Throw in a Commentary and some Trailers and a nice little Making Of Featurette and there you have it!

Continuing from the original series we have the Reapers finding out that their local hang out has been lost in a fire and that their Boss has 'moved on' quite literally! Cue a new Boss turning up who plays hard and fast with the rules encouraging his team to do the same. Like anything once off the rails; unforeseen consequences occur which don't end happily, for all involved...

BATTLESTAR GALACTICA {4th. Season} (DVD Review) - 7/2/09

2009-02-07T06:07:00.004Z

It's bad enough that the US Writer's Strike put this show on hold but the fact that the Company behind it has the sheer and shameless audacity to rip people off with this Boxset is piss-takingly unbelievable! Chucking just the first 10 episodes from Season 4 onto 4 discs and re-packing it with the TV-Movie "Razor" to pad it out and then calling it the "Complete Season 4" is bollocks! Not only is it a grubbing money making exercise at £25 a throw they will then sting you again for another few bucks when 'Season 5' (Actually the last 10 episodes of Season 4) will be out here in the UK. At least they had the decency to package it as 4.1. in the US to be followed by 4.2.

Well as to the first 10 episodes - I can only equate it with getting gum on your shoes or treading in dogshit. From the pseudo-mystic messianic gobbledygook with it's tiresome religious overtones it's as tedious and dreary as the second two 'Matrix' sequels talking crap with no understanding of what is happening? This turgid, boring mess drones on and on and I was literally yawning at how bored I was. The mind-numbing tediousness of it all showed me 10 episodes of absolutely abysmal drivel. This Season 4 of Battlestar Galactica is the worst yet - A total waste of time until the end, with them reaching Earth at last and finding it a burnt out wasteland was the only thing of interest. Extras few and rubbish. A dull evening that I wasted watching boredom on the TV. Shite!

STARGATE ATLANTIS {5th. Season} - Cable TV Series Review 6/2/09

2009-02-06T03:39:00.006Z

Well the fifth and final Series of "Stargate Atlantis" is now done & dusted. Like Stargate SG-1 before it the suits dropped the curtain on the show (and although they need a good slap & several kicks in the nether regions) you can see why. Firstly when they do crank the good episodes up in this season we don't get any follow through or resolution to these - They just peter out! Secondly it really does seem very samey as though they are all treading water waiting for a decent script to come along. Also with the announcement of the kiddie-lite Stargate Universe (Oh dear!) they really are taking it down to a very common denominator. Thirdly with any actual tension that does take place, it eventually gets explained away with some quick visuals - In this case the death of a major character.

Bung in a duff clip-show to save on costs and a hell of a lot of stock footage and library shots to pad it all out (My, don't they get repetitive!) and add in some high quality FX segments and the final episode just leaves you standing there once again. So having been down that road before we can expect a final Direct-To-DVD Movie to round it all off and then they will show it a couple of weeks later on SKY Cable - So no - Not really a very satisfactory end at all.

UNDERWORLD: RISE OF THE LYCANS Film Review - 4/2/09

2009-02-04T08:54:00.004Z

I had grave misgivings about a prequel to Underworld but this wasn't too bad! Remember we are in the 11th. or 12th. Century so no automatic weapons or hi-tech gadgets just whopping great swords, knives, axes and the particular throwing stars that the death-dealers use. Taking the Gothic setting from the previous films we end up with an embittered Viktor (Bill Nighy) infighting with his vampire brethren and having problems with the emergent lycan race. Throw in a number of characters from the last couple of films and you have the re-run of the love story between Sonja and Lucian fleshed out in full. If you like blood spurting and limbs being hacked off this one is for you - But after a while it all gets pretty monotonous and dull. Quite why they wanted to reveal this love story I can't understand, as the flashbacks in the previous films more or less cover it. I think a better idea could have been thought up for a prequel than this? Mildly entertaining - But in a throwaway fashion. If it's enough of a success we may get a return to form in Underworld 4?

DOCTOR WHO {Seasons 1-4} (DVD Review) - 26/1/09

2009-01-26T19:50:00.016Z

I have spent a good few weekends recently plowing through the New Series Adventures of the latest "Doctor Who" and thoroughly enjoying it! Having rewatched the episodes again it is extremely rewarding to find that episodes I had previously watched on TV which I thought were duff at the time really hold up on a second viewing. With a top-notch cast and crew we kick off the First Series with Christopher Eccleston as The Doctor and Billie Piper as Rose his companion. Whilst I originally had reservations about Billie Piper they were soon dispelled over her great performances. Pity that Christopher Eccleston only did the First season as I think he would have taken the Doctor to a very different place? We get the return of old foes from the Classic Era of Doctor Who and a whole range of new villains & monsters.

With the superb packaging on all the boxsets we get fantastic fold-outs with beautifully printed discs and an excellent booklet and hardcase with slip-cover. Charging ahead into the Second Series we get a new Doctor in the shape of David Tennant. Watching everything the second time around gives you an idea of just how good his characterisation of the Doctor is and what it becomes and you miss a lot of that the first time around and also a lot of background clues as to what is going on and what it is leading up to? More broadening of the stories and further drama as old characters appear and new enemies are fought against!

After the explosive events of the last series we continue in the Third with more action in the form of a new companion for the Doctor with Martha (Freema Agyeman) and a whole host of new baddies and the return of the Doctor's nemesis in the Master. Ranging far and wide in scale & scope the series gets even better. Obviously in-between the series run we also get the Christmas Specials which are also great fun in there own right!

After the amazing scenes & feats from the last series you wonder - What next? With Catherine Tate joining up with the Doctor as previous character Donna Noble for the Fourth Series the action shifts up a gear in a big way. We get location shooting in Rome, a fantastic return for the Sontarens, a genteel 1920's murder mystery and then a massive finale with the villainous Davros creator of the Daleks and featuring characters from allover including guests from the spin-off series "Torchwood" & "The Sarah Jane Adventures". Then of course David Tennant's bravura performance comes to an end with the shocking news that he will depart the role end of 2009 after working on four Specials. With the Cyberman "Christmas Invasion" having already aired we have the next Special at Easter and the Fifth Series to follow in 2010.

With the final part of the Boxsets being the Special Features we get the "Doctor Who Confidential Cutdowns" (Unfortunately cut short due to rights issues) Gag Reels, Commentaries, Making-Ofs, Children In Need Specials, all the current Christmas Specials, Deleted Scenes, Full BBC Trailers, David Tennant's Video Diaries, plus Diaries from Billie & Freema, Animatics and more. Hopefully we will also get a presumably rather slim Boxset release of the Specials from 2009 about early Jan/Feb 2010? But all in all what a brilliant return to form for Doctor Who and the show in general - Let's hope that they can keep it up?

THE FALL Film Review - 18/1/09

2009-01-18T20:56:00.006Z

If you thought Director Tarsem Singh's clarity of vision was muted by his film "The Cell" with it's luxurious palette of expansive scenery & amazing visuals then think again! Traipsing all over the world for natural 'sets' the stunning location scenes flit from one part of the planet to the next. Bringing the complex world of the 1920's into life and then spinning a fantasy tale within that framework we see a view of the world from a child's eyes not too certain what is happening and how things sometimes don't make sense? The allegorical title charts both a fall literally and mentally as a stuntman working on the new 'flickers' gets badly injured in a horse chase. Spinning a fantasy tale to a young child of robbers & bandits in a quest for justice is his attempt to get the child to steal pills so the stuntman can end his life. But nothing prepares both the stuntman & the child for what lays ahead of them?

THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON Film Review - 18/1/09

2009-01-18T09:48:00.005Z

Brad Pitt is born old & wrinkled and ages backwards in this bizarre film from David Fincher. The dull dragging sensation of time is fully explored in this 3 year - Sorry 3 hour - boredom fest with Hollywood Oscar expectations. Views of clocks abound as relentless and monotonous clock ticking echoes in the background. I would wonder at just how much this film cost to make?

Starting out with senile dementia we see a child age backward from an old man to a baby again and visit parts of history in a fashion that for the rest of us is a life led forwards to old age. Taking the view that regardless of how time progresses it's the journey along the way that counts. You will experience time in a different way and the experiences you have will be taken differently.

CITY OF EMBER Film Review - 18/1/09

2009-01-18T09:38:00.003Z

An interesting tale of two children stuck in an underground city where time has past by and no one realises what is on the outside as the city is all they know. After being left a mysterious box by her Grandmother one of the children figures out that it was left by the original Builders of the city and that it provides a clue to actually being able to escape their underground complex. Having set the box to open in 200 years, centuries have passed and the city and it's power generator are slowly falling apart. The current Government of the city is corrupt and cares little for it's denizens. Cue an escape from the city's officials and a flight to danger in the outside world.

IGOR Film Review - 18/1/09

2009-01-18T09:27:00.005Z

Very much a mixed bag this one! I found the animation hard to get on with and can only presume that this film's failure at the Box Office was that it did not appeal to kids or adults either; and it is being rushed out to DVD in February this year. A couple of the characters stand out - But the animation was to 'way-out-there' and I didn't think much of the story.

Igor the manservant of the Count is fed-up of the stereotypical 'Igor The Manservant Role' and yearns to be an evil scientist himself in the kingdom of Malaria. After a couple of pet experiments go wrong ( The suicidal rabbit & the brain in a jar) he is determined to find a way to the top. After his master dies in a bizarre accident he takes over the mantle of the Count and pursues his destiny. Others however are equally determined to stop him!

PASSENGERS Film Review - 22/12/08

2008-12-22T07:26:00.003Z

A slow-burn torturous story that gradually gives out all the pieces of the puzzle until the punch in the gut at the end. A psychiatrist is assigned to a group of air-crash survivors who suddenly start to disappear as it becomes obvious that the Airline is covering up an accident and will go to any means to prevent the truth coming out. Shadowy figures from the company track the movements of the individuals involved and eventually even the psychiatrist realises something bigger is going on? Paranoia and deceptions abound until a thread from left-field changes all perceptions. Any more than that will give it all away!

CHOCOLATE Film Review - 22/12/08

2008-12-22T02:39:00.003Z

This is the tale of a young autistic girl and her mother who have mounting debts owed to them by the local crime lords downtown. The autistic daughter and a local lad set about getting the money back as the young girl beats the crap out of the local thugs in some brutal fight scenes particularly in a butcher's yard. Whilst the mother is taken ill we have the main story taking place between the local Yakuza & Triads as vicious infighting takes place within the gangs. Being the ex-girlfriend of one of the leaders of the group drags the family into some full-contact martial arts punch ups as the villains send in a gang of lady-boys who get slaughtered in a shootout. The jaw dropping moment comes at the end of the film in a massive fight sequence, topped off with gunplay and a mass swordfight. Following this your jaw drops even further when the protagonists proceed to have a full-scale fight scene on the side of a building with people plummeting (For real!) down a 4-storey drop onto pavement several times over. As the credits roll you get to see the real injuries and accidents as they cart people off to hospital. A pretty sturdy fight film that starts off slow and builds to an explosive finale!

THE MUTANT CHRONICLES Film Review - 22/12/08

2008-12-22T02:21:00.004Z

It's out there in the darkness lurking. Black and dreadful and slithering around. Amongst the debris and the devastation, the firing of the shells and the mud of the trenches. A future where man has fallen and risen again with a different history and a different culture. More Steampunk Gothic than anything else with a religious group trying to keep the touch of death back in the form of a great machine turning humans into zombie mutants and a group of people prepared to die to stop the evil. The story struggles valiantly to come out as a post-apocalypse magnificent seven try to destroy the root of Armageddon against a background of CGI landscapes so black & white half the time you can't see what the hell is going on in the monochrome haze. Shaky cam and computer enhanced effects just whizz by in a cloud of blood spray & mush as the action lurches from one backdrop to the other like madly spinning game animation gone wild! The setting and stylisation is epic and truly outstanding it's just a pity the total incoherence of the plot and the scene-setting, just flashes past your eyeballs with barely a glance. A strange film indeed if you want something unusual to watch?

TRANSPORTER 3 Film Review - 8/12/08

2008-12-08T04:52:00.005Z

NO NO NO What went wrong here? Apart from a fast car chase (Rather dull - Ho hum...) and then an absolutely terrific ending (Could have stuck this on the latest Bond film it's that good!) we get the usual fight scenes (Nothing new here I'm afraid) and a lot of extraneous padding. An irritating female lead who I would have just driven off and left behind she's such a pain and some to-and-fro stuff from here to there and some plot lifted from an old Thunderbirds episode. Bung in some cod about dodgy environmentalists and a political summit and bon voyage. Luc Besson get back to Directing instead of Writing please!

The Transporter this time around finds himself in a situation where the bad guys won't take no for an answer and gets an explosive bracelet attached so that if he gets too far from his car KA-BOOM!!! Throw in a female side-passenger with a similar bracelet and then the chase is on. The resultant chaos that then ensues leads the bad guys into a sticky end.

EAGLE EYE Film Review - 7/12/08

2008-12-07T06:03:00.004Z

What starts off as an effectively creepy thriller high on taut adrenalin and bone-crunching, chew your nails off, edge of your seat action - Suddenly changes tack halfway through and your like "Is that it?" moment suddenly strikes and then it all gets a bit silly. Comparisons will inevitably lead to 'Enemy Of The State' (A much better film!) and to a major extent 'Wargames'. The scenario has been done before (. . and better!) but for a jolly good smash-em-up ride it has it's moments - But it's definitely a wet Sunday afternoon no-brainer - Pretty good to start off with then lags along the final stretch.

A run-of-the-mill ordinary Joe gets home to find a terrorist's arsenal in his dingy flat, the FBI soon drop in and this guy goes on the run with a mysterious female voice guiding him (and none too gently!) away from the forces chasing him; forcing him to do her bidding by controlling everything electronic around him. Doing the same to a number of other people the plot unfolds into a complex assassination attempt on the US Government itself.

24: REDEMPTION (DVD Review) - 30/11/08

2008-11-30T09:37:00.002Z

A lot of dramatic TV series find it hard to keep the project 'on the boil' but consistently the nail-biting intrigue of "24" has always hit it's high points! With this recently showing in the UK & the States it rattles out onto DVD as a 2-disc and single disc version literally within days. This two disc set has the Broadcast Feature Version with a quick rundown Special Feature of 24 Season 6 in 4 minutes and to whet your appetite even further a sneak peek at 24 Season 7 - Which I cannot go into details about - But let me assure you; it certainly will not let you down after previous Season's action & labyrinthine plots & second guesses. After the shattering conclusion to 24 Season 6 Jack Bauer has left the States and after much travelling end's up in Africa hoping to find some sort of redemption. Highlighting the very real problem of child soldiers throughout the world we get a scenario where Jack is helping out an old friend (From some sort of Special Forces background) at an orphanage for children. Cue another background thread that has a high up political figure funding this war and him having some loose threads eliminated whilst the new President is being inaugurated. Veiled machinations behind the scenes cause a good man to lose his life and another to get caught in a political face-saving mess. Due to the Writer's strike in the US this TV film is a stop gap between Seasons 6 & 7 and segues nicely into the overall picture of the show. It also does not pull any punches over the US Foreign Policy and the fact that nothing is black or white but shades of grey.

Disc Two has the extended version of 24 Redemption on it with a Commentary and 2 Featurettes - A making of and a documentary.

AMERICAN DAD {Seasons 1-3 Complete} (DVD Review) - 22/11/08

2008-11-22T20:17:00.006Z

Having just finished the current season of Family Guy I remembered that Mr. Periwinkle had recommended to me American Dad by the same people. Oh Seth MacFarlane I love you! What other animated show could have me literally crying tears of laughter at the end of the episode and still laughing as the credits roll. In fact with a typical Star Trek reference this is Family Guy - The Next Generation and just as good on par with it's original. Sadly after plowing through all 3 series I now have to wait another year before the next release - Nnnnnn00000000000!!!! As with Family Guy the episodes are all mismatched and labelled as Volumes instead of Seasons with a handful of episodes from one and a pile from another - As long as I get to watch them all I don't care! Much like Family Guy but treading it's own path we get bigoted Stan a CIA Agent heading the household with Francine his lovable wife, right-on Hayley his daughter a left-wing activist, dopey Steve his youngest son and followed up with Klaus an East German who had his brain put into a goldfish in a CIA experiment gone wrong & Roger the Area 51 alien escapee whose a real bitch and wears a lot of wigs. Can't really describe it any further as it's as wild as Family Guy but a lot more of a political slant attached to it.

These are the front covers on Volume 2 and American Dad also lists the episodes clearly on the back covers (as below) much like the later seasons of Family Guy has done.

Throw in a package of Commentaries under the Special Features, Trailers & Animatics. Plus some how to draw articles and a few Featurettes and you can also round it off with another 3 episodes (at least) in Deleted/Extended Scenes across the 9 Disc Boxset. With Season 4 in the can and currently showing on TV & with the renewal for Season 5 confirmed, American Dad goes from strength to strength.

SHAUN THE SHEEP {1st. Season} (DVD Review) - 18/11/08

2008-11-18T09:37:00.007Z

The five DVD cases pictured are the "Shaun The Sheep" individual releases:

Of course knowing there would be a Boxset for these I have waited over a year to finally now get hold of one released in time for Christmas and what a piss-take it is! It was bad enough seeing the individual DVD releases with about 40 minutes per disc and maybe a slight Special Feature retailing for around £12 to £15. Buying the Boxset turns out to be cheaper but all it is is the same DVD releases stuck in a fold-out case with no extra Special Features. I was at least expecting some in depth insightful making of type featurettes - But bugger all! A total money-making exercise across the last year or so. So enough moaning - Even without some decent back-up this is still a classic series. The detail so fondly seen in Wallace & Gromit is all lovingly detailed here and it shows. The 40 episodes in this set comprise the complete first season on 5 discs as Shaun and his pals go wild in a variety of adventures and general scrapes. I defy anyone to not laugh at some of this fun? Plus we have the return of Wallace & Gromit in "A Matter Of Loave & Death" this Christmas with it's first showing on TV - So a Christmas goody bag for everyone!

FUTURAMA: BENDER'S GAME (DVD Review) - 18/11/08

2008-11-18T09:28:00.002Z

With the release of the third Futurama film in the shape of "Bender's Game" and the fourth to follow in Feb 2009 I must say this was a big disappointment. Like watching 87 minutes of a dull animated film with zero laughs all the characters are in place as we trudge through a tired re-run of Lord Of The Rings crossed with Dungeons & Dragons amidst an evil plot by scheming Mom involving dark matter. A couple of minor points hit the spot but all-in-all pretty much a catastrophe with a large bulk of tired padding in the so-called Special Features. At least the initial U.S. release come's with a nice cardboard slipcase and fold-out sleeve featuring full character art and you also get a free set of postcards as well.

FAMILY GUY {7th. Season} (DVD Review) - 18/11/08

2008-11-18T09:17:00.003Z

As far as I'm concerned these can't come out quickly enough on DVD! Of course the episode running list is totally shot as the U.S. Version is totally different from the U.K. one. But it's a sheer joy to be able to sit down and laugh at all the crazy stuff going on in the Family Guy world, a bit like looking into the mirror and watching the world's reflection looking back. The best treat of all on this Boxset is the extended "Deleted Scenes" which put even more of the episode's into perspective - Unfortunately the rest is mostly Seth MacFarlane padding out the Special Features. Only 12 episodes in this set but all pure gold! [and even I was offended this Season . . . ]

SHREK THE HALLS (DVD Review) - 4/11/08

2008-11-04T09:39:00.006Z

I saw this last Christmas 2007 and wondered when it would be released on DVD? At first I thought it might be a Special Feature on the 'Shrek The Third' DVD but that came and went with no word? Now suddenly 11 months later it's out - Full price £7.99p. The cynical among you out there (Me included!) would say it's no coincidence that it is on the shelves just in time for this Christmas! A 27 minute animated feature with the original voice cast and a lot of duff padding with pointless Special Features. It's a typical Shrek piece with some light moments, dark moments & some laughs. Certainly worth adding to the rest of my Shrek collection before they release 'Shrek Goes Forth' followed by Shrek 5 and the spin-off Puss-In-Boots film due 2009/2011?

Shrek has no idea what Christmas is? So with his book 'Christmas For Village Idiots' and Donkey & the gang in tow chaos inevitably follows as the 'true' meaning (Somewhat?) of Christmas gets shown Shrek, Donkey & Puss style!

TROPIC THUNDER Film Review - 2/11/08

2008-11-02T17:45:00.006Z

After dire movie 'The Heartbreak Kid' I avoided Ben Stiller for awhile and really should have known better with "Tropic Thunder" being written & directed by him. As a tapestry of events it's the sum of it's parts as the threads of the script come apart - So more of a travesty than anything else. So it's crap - Sorry C.R.A.P. (Can't Really Assess Production) a fitting acronym. Then suddenly the light dawned and I saw it in a different light: If you watch 'The Office' or 'Extras' which I find excruciating to watch mainly because it's self-absorbed people being horribly rude & unpleasant to each other I looked at Ben Stiller's back-catalogue of films. Much of his 'humour' which can be hit and miss is along the same lines - I like 'Something About Mary' but some of his other work is dross. So if you go on percentage it will be 3 crap films to 1 good one! You really cannot fault any of the actors for their performances they really are on the top of the game here - Which just goes to show that even in a bad film the quality of the acting can be top notch but the script rubbish - Thanks Ben!

A group of self-absorbed self-obsessed actors foul up the running of their latest film and the production is threatened with closure - The Director in a fit of madness (Or genius?) sticks the cast in the middle of the jungle and let's them get on with it. Thinking they are following a script the cast get mistaken for real troops by the local bandits running a heroin operation. Cue hilarity - I think I laughed about three times - So not a great gag rate!

QUANTUM OF SOLACE Film Review - 30/10/08

2008-10-31T02:19:00.005Z

As a hard-core Bond fan having watched all the James Bond films on the big screen since 1974's "The Man With The Golden Gun" I was lucky enough to get tickets for the Bond Premiere and eagerly awaited the continuing success after "Casino Royale" with the return of Daniel Craig in "Quantum Of Solace". Taking my seat for the performance and starting with a rather short but riveting car chase as the opener it then slid like a sack of shit straight down to the bottom of the cess-pit! A caterwauling Alicia Keys mangled the title tune (If you can call it that!) against the horrendous title sequence. By the end of the film I realised I had not been watching a Bond film at all - Apart from a promising roof-top chase and some later action sequences the story (Which was all over the place) seemed rather cobbled together and in some sections really slow. If you interpret the re-fashioning of Bond going on here it seems that a lot of the loyal audience will fall by the wayside. Even the lack lustre poster which usually has fast cars, women, villains and explosions is missing - With just a sedate pose from the leads looking more desolate than anything. Vast gaps in this new reality change of Bond leave so many things unanswered that by the end not only will you be bewildered - But bloody annoyed! You also have scenes played out against different backdrops with the action going on in two locations at the same time - Extremely irritating! Technically it is flawless - But it isn't a Bond film and comes over as a gritty thriller and nothing else and not much of a good one at that. I expected a revamped formula but unfortunately thrillers these days are now ten a penny!

Kicking off more or less after the end of "Casino Royale" Bond interrogates his suspect and things suddenly go awry - Catching onto some new leads he finds himself heading around some choice locations throughout the world (In a something and nothing manner) has a couple of dust-ups amidst the sinister shenanigans of the Quantum Organisation and then the plot peters out. A major disappointment!!

TAKEN Film Review - 27/10/08

2008-10-27T06:28:00.004Z

I knew nothing about this film apart from seeing a 2-page poster advert and a small review in Empire magazine that once upon a time was actually worth reading - It's more a case of picking out the few and far best bits now! Having read the totally negative review it made me even more determined to watch the film. Combined with the strength of Liam Neeson and a script from Luc Besson it couldn't be that bad - Could it? Strangely enough it wasn't - Neeson's character has his daughter kidnapped and tells the kidnapper on the end of the phone to release her and he won't pursue the matter. He is ignored and then true to his word he cuts a swathe through corrupt officials and drug-dealing lowlife to hunt his daughter down - Taking no prisoners he metes out his own justice until he finally reaches his daughter and saves her. Simple thriller action story with lots of gunplay - It's amazing what you can do with two 6" nails and a couple of crocodile clips?

SEV TREK: PUS IN BOOTS (DVD Review) - 26/10/08

2008-10-26T20:24:00.004Z

Very scant information is available on this DVD and getting hold of a copy is like finding 'Hen's teeth' - I only came across it by accident on eBay and had to import it in from Australia. No doubt the great fist of Paramount came crashing down and obliterated it. Not only is the mimicry spot on (If you will forgive the pun) the classic Next Generation cliches are all brought to the fore as well as previous Trek outings. In fact the whole shebang must have infuriated Paramount as scene by scene the pisstake continues from the sets, costumes and all. Even the DVD cover is a rip-off of the film poster series and there are also a nice pile of extras added from the original hand-drawn cartoon to production sketches and animation comparison's. If you like comedy and it's also a reflection on one of your favourite TV shows this would be for you (If you can find it of course?) Commander Piker of the Sevship Enterforaprize develops a sentient zit which escapes and is pursued around the ship by the crew followed by witty one-liners and a gratuitous space battle whilst numerous Red Shirt Ensigns get it in the neck - A cracking 3D animated parody!

BABYLON AD Film Review - 12/10/08

2008-10-12T08:19:00.007+01:00

This piece of cobblers has so many inherent faults it would be hard to list them all! This dreary action film has a story so thin a light gust of wind would blow it away. One minute action film then the next hi-concept sci-fi? Why are all dystopian futures portrayed as shit? Coming across as mildly egocentric Russian at the start, the story (As it is?) transfers to the States. A handful of action sequences dispersed amongst the dull & plodding plotline end up with a really dead-end farcical ending. Really cannot understand why such a top notch cast ended up in this drivel? The interwoven plot with all it's flaws is so slight it will have you gasping at how trite this codswallop is. Which begs the questions - Is there a really good film here waiting to emerge? Did the Studio butcher it? Was it cut badly by the Director's Production Crew? Who knows? Vin plays a mercenary who has to deliver a young girl across the border - Add various fights and gunplay - Two opposing factions want the girl - More fights/gunplay - Silly ending.