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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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