19 May 2011

Cemetery Junction on DVD now

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The directorial film debut of Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant is the 1973 set Cemetery Junction, which is an average, vaguely dull suburb of Reading. The film is set around three friends, Freddie (pretty and also vaguely dull), Bruce (anger issues and attitude) and Snork (inappropriate language and chubby) as they all try to meet girls and escape from the Junction. 

Freddie takes a job away from the factory where his father and friend works to wear a suit and tie, selling life insurance overseen by his boss Mr Kendrick (Fiennes) and his right hand man Mike (Goode). Whereas Bruce talks of escaping but seems stuck between the factory and the police lock up as he bounces from work to fights. Whereas Snork on the other hand just wants to (unsuccessfully) get laid. Freddies new job sets in motion a series of changes that move the lads lives on, Freddie himself meets his childhood friend, the bosses daughter Julie. Bruce gets to finally sort out his anger and Snork actually meets a girl who’s interested in him.

Its an ok film, the cast overall are great with Fiennes and Watson leading the star names although for me it all was a little too predictable and apart from the weight of Gervais’s name I doubt it would have been made. Pleasant while watching but ultimately forgettable.  

Director: Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant

Cast

Christian Cooke – Freddie Taylor
Tom Hughes – Bruce Pearson
Felicity Jones – Julie Kendrick
Ralph Fiennes – Mr Kendrick
Matthew Goode – Mike Ramsay
Emily Watson – Mrs Kendrick 



8 May 2011

The Social Network on DVD now

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Based on the book The Accidental Billionaires by Ben Mezrich The Social Network documents the development and rise of Facebook. The film centers on Mark Zuckerberg an extremely talented Harvard student who by a series of events decides to launch Facebook at college. Facebook spreads like wildfire and soon expands over the world to become the phenomenon that it is today, making Zuckerberg the world’s youngest millionaire as well as bringing out his enemies.

A potentially unusual choice of subject matter for a film, an awkward socially isolated geeky genius creating a computer database admittedly one that changes the way the world now communicates but The Social Network is an interesting, informative film which deals with genius, jealousy and power in a very modern context. Eisenberg is great as the rather unlike able driven Zuckerberg who is a socially distant student and therefore more easily able to detach himself from his only friend Eduardo played by the next Spiderman Andrew Garfield. Even Timberlake is good as the napster inventor Parker – I was pleasantly surprised by his acting.

This film succeeds largely because of the amazing script which would manage to hold your interest even if you dont partake in social networking. It’s a modern tale of power and betrayal admittedly with its central character a billionaire who doesn’t even seem to change his clothes!

Well work a watch.

Director: David Fincher
Cast:

Jessie Eisenberg – Mark Zuckerberg
Andrew Garfield – Eduardo Saverin
Justin Timberlake – Sean Parker


2 Apr 2011

Burke and Hare on DVD Now

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Director John Landis, famed for such movies as American Werewolf in London, The Blues Brothers and Animal House, returns to the directors chair to tackle the story of Burke (Pegg) and Hare (Serkis) the infamous body snatchers on the 19th Century. Burke and Hare are skint but luckily (?) for them they are based at the centre of medical excellence so when there is a sudden death they decide to profit from it by selling it to the Dr Knox who is always on the look out for fresh bodies to dissect in front of medical students. Dr Knox cannot seem to get his hands on enough bodies and so Burke and Hare decide to profit from this lucrative trade although they too realise there are not enough fresh corpses – so they decide to take matters into their own hands. 

I would firstly warn against thinking that this will be a in-depth expose or dramatisation into the dealings of the two real life body snatchers, instead we get a slapstick romp through 19th century Edinburgh cadaver business. Pegg and Serkis seem to be enjoying themselves as they take on the Irish born anti heroes who take to their new career as a duck takes to water, and in this task they are ably assisted by Lucky (Hynes) Hare’s missus who gets turned on by the money and her hubbies new career. There are also an amazing amount of famous cameos in this film – I dare you to watch it without spotting them and in some respects that takes the focus away from the main action of the film. Although this film is funny it should also be noted that the blood and guts come with an adult edge – which mirrors that of American Werewolf or Hot Fuzz, your laughing and then suddenly are brought short when face with something a bit too visceral. 

The conclusion for me is that this film falls between two camps, its neither an outright comedy or even in drama – its more Carry On Burke and Hare.

Director: John Landis

Cast:
Simon Pegg – William Burke
Andy Serkis – William Hare
Jessica Hynes – Lucky
Isla Fisher – Ginny Hawkins
Tom Wilkinson – Doctor Robert Knox
Tim Curry – Doctor Monro



 



22 Mar 2011

Buried out now on DVD

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Buried is a film in which Paul Conroy (Reynolds) a US citizen working as a truck driver in Iraq awakens to find himself trapped in a coffin, buried underground with only a mobile phone and a cigarette lighter. It’s a race against time for Conroy to contact help, for the help to find and locate him or the ransom demands to be met. 
 
Buried is a good brave film and one for me in which Reynolds shines and the man trapped underground in what must be a situation any human would fear. In fact I couldn’t find anything really wrong with this movie, its paced really well, Conroy is both short tempered, impatient, pleading and repentant and you can feel the helplessness and claustrophobia of the situation. Reynolds as I said is great as the only character you really see in the whole movie for me shows that he can really act and is more than just eye candy. The only negative for this film is that it’s a hard sell – it’s the story of a man trapped underground, its harrowing and not exactly light viewing – its good, although you also do feel like you’ve put yourself through a bit of an ordeal watching it.

 
Director: Rodrigo Cortés


Cast:
Ryan Reynolds – Paul Conroy





19 Mar 2011

Taken on DVD now

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I had previously steered clear of watching this movie after reading some not so glowing reviews but I found myself promising my 20 year old nephew I would watch it before casting judgement (which I was doing), which is why I’m writing this review.
 
Taken is the story of Bryan Mills (Neeson) who travels to France to find his daughter after Eastern European sex traffickers kidnap her. Mills isn’t just an ordinary Joe – oh no he’s a retired CIA agent and he has revenge and blood on his mind. 

 
Hmmm I guess I don’t want to really lay into this film but I found so many things wrong with it I actually got to the point where I started laughing which I’m sure wasn’t the desired effect. Yes there’s fighting which is well done and if you want to watch Neeson strutting his stuff with a gravely voice then this film is probably the one for you, I would on the other hand rather watch a Bourne movie if I wanted close up combat – its better done in Bourne with a much better story holding it together.  I suppose if this film handled itself like the Transporter – a little tongue in cheek it would be more fun but I get the feeling that this film takes itself a little to seriously (like Mills himself) and in that respect it for me fell flat.

 
The air of the whole film is one of paranoia – Mills is paranoid about his daughter travelling in Europe where all manner of dark and shady people lurk and of course his paranoia is fully justified when the ‘evil men’ are lurking to kidnap young women straight off the plane – those dastardly foreigners!  The technology Mill’s uses is laughable – two words are recorded of the kidnapper and that’s enough to get a voice / person match and whole history, it is though handy (no pun intended) that the ‘evil foreigners’ have all decided to get a distinctive tattoo on all of their hands so they can be easily identified.

 
There is also the matter of all the ‘sex trafficked’ women. Why would any prospective kidnapper choose to take women who were not alone and friendless? – Hasn’t anyone else complained that this seems to be going on in Paris – its not exactly the third world is it and there are rather a lot of drugged women scattered throughout the city. The girls are drugged and chained to the bed, I don’t profess to know much about prostitution but I would have thought that a punter would at least want to have his girl looking ‘clean’ and not like she hasn’t had a bath in a month with needle marks all over her arms…. maybe its just me though, and that’s not me even getting started on the weird shipping tanker brothel (so classy) and the peep show auction.  Of course this all boils down to the ‘Jabba the Hutt’ like nasty foreign geezer who wants pure western girls so he can pop their cherries.  I guess as a European woman I didn’t realise thing were quite this lawless here, there again if you can kill 15 people in Paris and have no repercussions its probably quite handy Europe is a wild – a bit like the wild west was but with better architecture.

 
Give this one a miss and put on a Bourne or Casino Royale instead. 

 
Director: Pierre Morel



Cast:
Liam Neeson – Bryan Mills
Maggie Grace – Kim  




 


11 Mar 2011

Easy A on DVD now

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Easy A charts the story of Olive, a likeable, smart, quick witted and intelligent  American teenager, (yes you did read that correctly) who tells a lie about losing her virginity a lie that soon grows. Olive goes from being non-existent in high school to being the center of attention and she decides to use her newfound notoriety to help out a friend and for financial gain. Soon the rumours circulate and the lie grows and grows and Olive has to find a way to salvage her reputation and to silence the religious fever her ‘promiscuity’ has stirred up.

Emma Stone, soon to be seen in the Amazing Spiderman, is great as Olive – smart, funny and even more surprising she’s likeable and that’s not something I say about American teenage girls often. Her little lie throws her into a dilemma which is paralleled to the book she is studying – The Scarlet Letter, so Olive decides to take it to the extreme and then has difficulty containing the genie once it was out of the bottle. Stone is so important on this movie as most of it rests on her young shoulders –she succeeds in running away with the film and launching herself onto the A List. The script is great and all of the supporting characters are interesting and suitably skewed and distorted which keeps you interested. If you like Mean Girls or Clueless or even if you older Heathers, this would be perfect viewing.

Director: Will Glut
Cast:
Emma Stone                      - Olive
Penn Badgley                    -  Woodchuck Todd
Amanda Bynes                  -  Marianne
Dan Byrd                            - Brandon
Thomas Haden Church    - Mr Griffith



21 Feb 2011

A Single Man on DVD now

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A Single Man that is based on the book of the same name by Michael Isherwood, is the story of a day in the life of a college professor George (Firth), a man struggling with grief after his partner Jim (Goode) has died in a car accident.  Months after Jim’s death George is slowly unravelling and is looking for a reason to carry on.

Firstly this film is beautiful in a way that isn’t often seen, its almost a work or art, Ford the fashion designer turned director is in his element, not only do the characters look like they are straight off the catwalk there is also something ethereal, almost dreamy about the way in which the film was shot. There are some amazing shots that are almost in sepia until George takes a deep breath in and in doing so breathes life into the footage, it’s a simple technique but is done so wonderfully you don’t even realise what you have seen until it has passed.

The story is great, and also tragic, Firth is excellent as the outwardly controlled, repressed and yet deeply grieving George, the heart of the film.  We follow him through a day in his life where we see him largely detached from his surroundings as if his grief has made him an observer in his own life. Georges situation is made all the more tragic as you realise that in the 60’s when the film was set George wasn’t allowed closure on his lovers death – not allowed to attend the funeral and apart from his friend, the beautiful gin soaked Charlie (Moore) he has to live in denial as to what has happened to him.

It’s a slow moving, dreamlike beautful movie both in look as well as sentiment and it is the unsaid lines in the film where it speaks its loudest.

Director: Tom Ford


Cast:

Colin Firth             George
Julianne Moore    Charlie
Nicholas Hoult      Kenny
Matthew Goode   Jim 

 




8 Feb 2011

Splice on DVD now

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Splice is the story of a couple Nicoli (Brody) and Kast (Polley), two young enthusiastic genetic engineers who have been working on groundbreaking experiments creating new species from a mixture of DNA from various animals. Their work has been to find new medical treatments but it is suddenly threatened with closure, this galvanises them to take the next step and splice the next hybrid with human DNA.

Where the basic premise of Splice is relevant, and is likely to become even more so in the future as man takes even more steps with work on DNA and cloning, ultimately the film, like the scientists, goes a step too far. Splice at first raises questions about what is right and wrong and where man morally stands on these issues.  Even when Dren takes her first steps you are still interested into where the film might be going, it is though, soon after that you can see where the film is heading when Kast decides to humanise her by dressing her up and buying her dolls.
Dren herself is an interesting creation and lucky for her it seems that the human gene is the dominant one in the way she looks. She has birdlike movements and seems to have some unusual physical features that are only glimpsed. 

It is though in the relationship of scientists and their lack of scientific discipline that the film really fails. It seems that Nicoli and Kast although they have been a couple for years haven’t actually told one another about themselves.  They are also so pleased with dressing Dren up and playing at ‘parents’ that they are not bothered with her development or any of her genetic features or traits.  What starts as an interesting premise ends in a rather sub standard horror tale – and it’s a shame it could have been a lot more.

Director: Vincenzo Natali

Cast:
Adrien Brody             Clive Nicoli
Sarah Polley              Elsa Kast
Delphine Chaneac    Dren


2 Feb 2011

The Kings Speech – at cinemas now

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Tom Hoopers multi award winning Kings Speech, based on the true story of King George VI who upon his brothers abdication is required to take to the throne and rally the British Empire at the beginning of the second world war. The problem is ‘Bertie’ has a stammer and cannot even speak to his family without stammering – how is he going to conquer the wireless.

Its difficult to go into watch this film without the weight of expectation that the hype and publicity has brought it. Is it really that good? Is Colin Firth that good? How can a story based on not too distant history about the Royal Family evoke any sympathy in 2011? The answer to these questions is yes it can, due to an amazing performance from Firth supported by the best British cast (excluding Rush) this side of Harry Potter and a great, subtle script.

I suppose this is the type of filmmaking that the British excel at – a period piece with and ensemble task on a subject that on paper shouldn’t really work but in reality does. Im no fan of the Royals – no siree, but the film, using Logue as the voice of the common man slowly pokes fun out of the institution and even the King himself voices how restraining and confining being in the ‘firm’ can be. Its in Firths performance, though that you see the restraint, duty, pressure and weight of expectation of a man placed in a role that he feels wholly unprepared for. He deserves every award that he wins.

Hold on the cynicism it’s a must see.

Director: Tom Hooper 

Cast:

Colin Firth                        King George VI 'Bertie'
Helena Bonham Carter  Queen Elizabeth
Geoffrey Rush                  Lionel Logue
Jennifer Ehle                    Myrtle Logue
Derek Jacobi                   Archbishop Cosmo Lang







Catfish on DVD now

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Catfish is a documentary about Nev Schulman as captured by his brother, Ariel and their friend Henry Joost. What begins as a small interesting project soon becomes something much more intriguing. Catfish documents Nev as he begins an online relationship with Megan, a relationship where it soon becomes apparent that Megan is not all that she seems.

Nev’s a normal young guy and Megan seems to be and ideal match for him, he links with her and her family and friends through facebook. It’s a really well paced documentary in which you are as the viewer drawn into a facebook mystery of Nev’s relationship with Megan as he piece by piece puts together the evidence with his brother and friend that facebook sometimes lies.

What then follows although not all together surprising but it is quite scary especially the level to which the deception goes. Nev and friends expose the truth but you are left thinking how often does this happen in the virtual world to maybe more vulnerable people. Another remarkable element of this documentary is that you don’t hate the protagonist you are left feeling quite sympathetic to their situation despite the months of deception you know Nev has been exposed to.

Very telling for our times – in that respect it’s a must see.

Director: Henry Joost, Ariel Schulman 

Cast:
Ariel Schulman           Himself (as Rel Schulman)
Yaniv Schulman          Himself (as Nev Schulman)
Angela Wesselman   Herself



18 Jan 2011

44 Inch Chest on DVD now

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44 Inch Chest follows Colin Diamond (Winston) trying to come to terms with his wife, Liz (Whalley) leaving him. Well that’s the film in its simplest version, in this film Colin’s quest for revenge and justice is aided by his gang of friends who kidnap the man Liz is having an affair with and let Colin decide his fate.

Ok, it’s a sterling cast, and on paper there isn’t a weak link amongst them, which is why I feel disappointed that the film didn’t deliver for me. Noyce has chosen to present the film as if it is a stage play, depending on the strengths of the actors alone, this would be ok but theres something not quite right about the script, it doesn’t flow smoothly its too ‘staged’ not like conversation – not even like movie conversations. The film is riddled with swearing – and believe me Im not a prude when it comes to bad language  - I rate Goodfellas as one of my all time favourite movies, but hear it just doesn’t sound right. Its not like a lot of gangsters talking its more like a bunch of 10 year olds having a conversation where they fit in as much swearing as humanly possible – it just doesn’t flow.

I also thought that there was a lack tension in the film which is at odds with the films content. Surely the tension is supposed to be constantly cranked up as Colin builds up to his decision, egged on by his friends. I found myself not caring for any of the characters, except for maybe the unnamed ‘loverboy’ who does nothing except sit on a chair and look rather pathetic for most of the film.  Overall it’s a weird film, for me it didn’t flow at all, although I did find the approach interesting but it reality it fell somewhat short of the mark.

Director: Phillip Noyce
Cast:
Ray Winstone           Colin Diamond
Ian McShane             Meredith
John Hurt                   Old Man Peanut
Tom Wilkinson          Archie
Stephen Dillane        Mal
Joanne Whalley        Liz Diamond




15 Jan 2011

Salt on DVD now

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Evelyn Salt (Jolie) is a CIA agent whose life changes when one day a Russian defector Orlov (Olbrychski) walks into her CIA offices and apparently reveals that she is in fact a sleeper spy who’s mission is to kill the Russian President. Does her boss Ted (Schreiber) believe Orlov?, does Salt know that she is a sleeper agent or as she goes on the run is this because her cover is blown or is it just out of concern for her husbands fate?

So Jolie takes on another ‘action’ role with the underlying premise of is she or isn’t she a Russian spy trying to bring down the USA. Everything, excuse the pun, needs to be taken with a pinch of ……. as its somewhat light on story but heavy on action and if you can get over the fact that Jolie doesn’t look like she can jump down a kerbside without breaking her leg, let alone leap from bridges onto lorries etc I guess you are half way sold on the central idea of the film. Jolie has perfected her ‘hitting and kicking’ snarl which is on show through out the film but you overall get the feeling that this for all of the woefully underused talented cast is acting by numbers. A string of action sequences held together by flimsy script full of holes.  I guess as popcorn movies go it isn’t terrible, its just also not that good.

Director: Phillip Noyce 

Cast:
Angelina Jolie -                   Evelyn Salt
Live Schreiber                    Ted Winter
Chiwetel Ejiofor                  Peabody
Daniel Olbrychski               Orlov

 



9 Jan 2011

A Prophet on DVD now

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A Prophet begins when 19-year-old Malik (Rahim) enters an adult prison for the first time to serve a six-year sentence. The prison that Malik enters is divided into two groups - Corsicans and Muslims with the Corsicans in charge, they are a ruthless group headed by crime boss Cesar (Arestrup), who have the guards in their pocket. Malik unrealistically wants to keep his head down and out of trouble but because of his dual heritage (French / Arab) he is soon singled out by the Corsicans to undertake a deadly task. Malik has no choice but to cooperate but this marks the beginning of his determination to turn things around for himself both inside and outside of the prison.
 
A Prophet unfolds slowly, much like Malik’s character, when we are first introduced to him he is shy and awkward but soon, as he slowly turns his position around his intelligence and patience become apparent. It is testimony to the way that the character is written and portrayed in that you find yourself warming to him and willing him to succeed even if he is inflicting violent acts. This is though not a one man act although undoubtedly Rahim shines as Malik, he though would be nothing without having to deal with the prejudices of Cesar and his crew or the support and mentorship he receives from Ryad (Bencherif).

A great film, and one in which you cant predict what is going to happen until it unfolds. You find yourself supporting the underdog, from the first time he is forced to commit an act for the Corsicans to his slow and clever rise in power – unmissable.

Director: Jacques Audiard

Cast:

Tahar Rahim        Malik El Djebena
Niels Arestrup      Cesar Luciani
Adel Bencherif     Ryad
Hichem Yacoubi  Reyeb
Reda Kateb         Jordi




 


6 Jan 2011

Lebanon on DVD now

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Writer and director Maoz’ semi autobiographical story of a Lebanon tank crew is set in the first Lebanon war – June 1982, The film follows Shmulik who joins the tank crew on a mission to a nearby town. The situation goes from uncomfortable to perilous quickly, with the tanks instruments failing and the crew falling apart no-one seems to really know who to trust and what is really going on.

The film is entirely set within the restricted confines of the tank itself daylight is only glimpsed through the hatch or crosshairs or when their senior officer drops in to give orders, The film vividly portrays a feeling of chaos and claustrophobia in the cramped conditions. The viewer is brought in as close as possible to the conditions that crew are working under – Im pleased that smells are not conveyed by films!

The film portrays the futility of war, it shows the terrible conditions, tension, chaos, confusion and the feeling of the blind leading the blind. A good film – although a heavy watch too. 


Director: Samuel Maoz

Cast:
Yoav Donat                  Shmulik
Itay Tiran                       Assi
Oshri Cohen                 Hertzel
Michael Moshonov      Yigal 





 

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