Film News: Week Commencing 14/12/2009

Well well, a few little bits and pieces I came across, that I decided were worthy of a sneaky little mention.

Firstly, home for Christmas now, fantastic times, massive stress throughout the majority of the semester, so it's gonna be good to not have any work to do for a month or so. General chilling out and eating lots of food. Sorted.

Secondly, Avatar is released anytime now, so soon i'll be hitting an IMax and getting on that. Expect a review at some point.

Onto business time.

Inception
The teaser poster for Inception has been released and my-oh-my, what does it mean? Christopher Nolan's first film since directing the mega-super-blockbuster The Dark Knight raises all sorts of questions. It's been under more secrecy than Area 51 and the poster just adds to the teaser trailer released earlier this year.

Alice In Wonderland

Now here's a film that's looking oh so very interesting, directed by Tim Burton and featuring Johnny Depp in the role of the Mad Hatter, this looks set to be an amazing take on the Lewis Carroll books. Tim Burton of course is the master of weirdness, and this fits right into his train of thought. He did a decent job (some may disagree) on Charlie and The Chocolate Factor, but this looks like it might work a whole lot better, and in 3D, what can go wrong?

The official trailer was released this week and fills in all the gaps that the teaser didn't. Plus we see more of the characters instead of it just being 'The Johnny Depp Show'.

Robin Hood

The first trailer for the latest incarnation of 'Gladiator 2: The Bow and Arrow Years' Robin Hood has hit the net this week, Ridley Scott and Russell Crowe have teamed up again to give the 'true' story behind the legend, and well, it has forest death-trap a la Rambo, landing on the beaches in boats a la Saving Private Ryan and then some sword-play like Gladiator. All of this set in Nottinghamshire, with a very angry Russell Crowe, it looks like it might just kick-off. Take a peek below.

Music DVDs The Answer To Piracy?

Maybe music DVDs are the answer to stopping people from downloading illegally?

It seems that artists are adding an extra disc, or some extra goodies to entice a buyer to their particular product. It may be more expensive on their part, but for completists and fans looking to get some more for their money. This could be a good solution.

Pendulum released a live CD/DVD earlier this year, which illegal music downloaders could download the CD, but downloading video too, is altogether more time-consuming for them. I've just bought myself the Prodigy's special edition CD, which follows this exact little idea. They didn't release the album all that long ago, but they've re-released it with an extra disc of remixed version from the biggest names in drum 'n' bass and dubstep. Tailoring their music to a new target audience, I would easily put myself in the second generation of Prodigy fans, following their recent soaring back to the top of the electronic music game. This matters not, what matters is that they are moving forward, picking up fans from everywhere they can. On top of the extra CD is a DVD with their latest music videos and some live videos. Milking every little piece they can to create as much content as possible for their listeners.

Some artists release an out and out DVD, a high quality release of a live show. These are quite often expensive and although top quality and amazingly mixed, the future might be these CD/DVD combinations. Muse did it after their Wembley show, Green Day did it after their Milton Keynes show and these soar straight to the top of the sales charts.

Another idea is that it splits up the time between an artists CD releases. No one wants to drop out of the spotlight. So they're bringing out album after album quickly, bringing out a live CD means that they're throwing another CD out without having to write new material. Artists like Franz Ferdinand disappear for a good couple of years before coming back, bringing out a new album, doing the tour circuit and going again. Other artists like Bloc Party have seemingly been constantly on the tour circuit and bringing out album after album the past few years. Before taking a much needed break.

I may have gone off my original point, but something to be mentioned nonetheless. Now, enough procrastinatin'. Back to work I go.

Jennifers Body Review and other unrelated nonsense.

I feel sorry for this blog these days, other things get in the way, time passes by. Yet this blog stays as a pointless place to vent nonsense, or to write reviews on. Becoming Entertainment Editor means that every couple of weeks, that's all i'm doing, staring at reviews, collecting them, sending them on, writing them. So then this blog becomes a chore rather than somewhere good to place my writings. It's not like I need to take care over this, i'm not being graded on it. However, once you've written and written, being judged, being forced, it doesn't really feel like fun anymore. So, i'm here to rediscover that.

University is back and along with that comes a few things, assignments, being busy and most importantly of all, cinema trips on the regular. This little blog might become a bit more loved soon.



So, without further ado, my thoughts on Jennifers Body.

The poster is graced with the fine features of Miss Megan Fox, who most males will agree is a perfect specimen of the female species.

Here is the film where she can finally show her true acting credentials and she doesn't disappoint. She actually has dialogue in this, other than being a piece of eye-candy amongst robots blowing seven shade of shit out of each other.

The film is written by Diablo Cody who shot into the limelight following the indie smash Juno. The dialogue is tight, snappy and actually sounds like something teenagers might say.

The whole thing is somewhat cheesy, but strangely enough it works, it's knowingly cheesy and very funny. The humour is dark and Diablo Cody milks those little one-liners for all their worth, with superb delivery from Fox and her co-star Amanda Seyfried, the goody goody best friend of Megan Fox's title character.

All in all, this film is most likely going to be pretty love-hate, if you get it, it'll be great, if not, it might just look a bit stupid.

So, boys, go and see it, it's got Megan Fox in, you probably won't need to know much else...Oh apart from there's one scene, which will make you love her even more than you already do.

Girls, well, it's written by a woman, directed by a woman, and it makes little knowing jokes at men. Bring out the feminist in you.

Now, that little blog post wasn't too hard, and if it's not very good, well, you can suck it.

:)

The 'non-film' post.

Film is where I generally feel safe, feel comfortable, I can hold my own and talk about films easily. Though it would be difficult to forge a career out of that one single direction.

Last week I went on work experience to the Teesdale Mercury, you'll see your Suns and your Times and your Guardians all lined up neatly, a new issue everyday. Once a week though, in the Teesdale area, this is the paper that matters, anything and everything that's going on in the area, birthdays, deaths. It's basically the fuel that drives the gossip in the town.

Before doing work experience on the paper, I hadn't a care for 'news' as such, at least not news in the generic sense of the word. I'd look at the news, but most of the time, it would only be to see if I could find something funny, or see what new film has been announced.

The week opened my eyes to some genuinely interesting people. I interviewed a man named Alan Fentiman, he moved himself and his family to Barnard Castle from London, he's a film maker and has been creating films for the Barnard Castle Vision. I went down to meet him and spent an hour talking about anything and everything, somewhat off topic half the time, which i'm sure i'll learn better as time goes on, but I felt thoroughly pleased to be writing a piece about this man and putting the word out about himself and his business.

Pushing away my nervousness was also something I had to do. Going along to a summer school event. Speaking to the lady running it, and then having to take a picture for the paper of roughly 60 kids all gathered together, trying to bunch them all up into the picture, in the middle of the main hall, with parents and teachers alike around. Generally i'm confident, but with people I don't know, it's entirely different.

Somehow talking to people I don't know as a job doesn't seem nearly as scary as when it's simply idle conversation to pass the time. When there's a point, it matters all the more and you have something to aim for.

Oh and things seem to be getting brighter and brighter every day.

(I realise this post doesn't have much point, but it's nearly 2 in the morning and I felt the need to vent.)

In The Summertime...

It's summer, the sun isn't shining, the grass is still green. It's Britain, what do you expect?

Again, this little blog as become unloved and uncherished, so it's about time it got a nice little addition and some love and attention.

Big Brother is the first topic on the agenda. It's been running for the entire summer, and everyone has forgotten they're even there. Essentially they are now just there as a precaution against swine flu. While everyone else in the country is being struck off, one by one. The dimwitted retards in the Big Brother compound will come out fine and well, with the eventual winner being given the task of re-populating the human race. A new human race, with every one of them coming from the same celebrity hungry gene pool. Superb.

So, in order to prevent this catastrophe, five new housemates were added. One of which has since escaped, and then another has simply walked out. Leaving Bea, the hippy, Hira, the one who no one actually knows is in the house and of course David, the gay from't Dewsbury. Awesome. So the only good reason to watch Big Brother now, is to hope and pray that Marcus flips and kills everyone.

In other news, the daytime TV of choice is Come Dine With Me, probably the most simple TV show, yet, the most effective. Jeremy Kyle can carry on doing what he's doing, but give me a sarcastic narration and some rubbish chefs any day over him.

In the world of film:

Bruno = Hilarious.
Transformers 2 = Fun.
The Hangover = Hilarious.

Bye for now.

Terminator Salvation

The 4th installment has intrigued everyone for quite a while. The first thoughts weren't good as McG was given the task of rebooting and breathing new life into this franchise, but not only that, bringing Judgement Day to our screens in the present. The future had been hinted at throughout, but now it was time to see it, to see this barren wasteland across our cinema screens.

McG of course is the man who brought Charlie's Angels kicking and screaming onto the big screen, with lots of explosions, thumping soundtrack and a lot of girl power. Not many people liked the idea of this guy being in control of one of the most popular and successful franchises around. Then something happened. He consulted James Cameron, somehow wrangled himself Christian Bale, the man of the hour, and Sam Worthington, the man of the next hour. Then the pictures and trailers hit the net, and people actually started getting excited. Maybe, McG actually had some talent somewhere.

The result isn't much of a disappointment, this isn't quite the future we've been looking for yet, but there's still time and we look to be heading in the right direction. Let's just hope that we've got everyone back on board for round 2.

The film begins pretty suddenly, there's no messing around, straight away Bale is in the shit as John Connor, and nothing really is going well. He is straight away billed as the messiah of the future, and he is a damn sight better of a messiah than Keanu was as Neo. It seems though, that Bale is forgetting how to speak in accents now, immersing himself from character to character, he sounds like Batman with his deep and gruff voice. Eventually he seems to find where he is.

The surprise of the film was Sam Worthington who plays Marcus Wright, a man who we see on death row at the beginning of the film and then he reappears 15 years later with no recollection of what's happened in those missing years. He is the star of the future, fantastic in the role and easily the most interesting character in the film.

Bryce Dallas Howard is utterly pointless, apart from showing that John Connor has a wife, she has no point whatsoever. Moon Bloodgood is pretty decent, but overall it's a boys show and bringing up the rear is Anton Yelchin as Kyle Reese, generally he's OK, but he doesn't really offer much, he's too boyish to fill the role, hopefully he'll be better in a follow-up, but so far he's too much of a kid to make it look believable.

A small annoyance was the shoe-horning of catchphrases into the film. 'Come with me if you want to live' and 'i'll be back' snuck into the mix along with Guns 'N' Roses track 'You could be mine'. It offered a titter in the cinema, but was still a little bit annoying, it's unnecessary, it didn't suit the style of the film, but fair enough, they kind of have to do it.

The storyline is fine, the set-pieces are spectacular. The film starts off pretty confusing, there's no set-up and the action begins straight away, leaving no time to ease yourself in. Around the mid-point of the film, it starts to come together and the last two thirds of the film are fantastic. Once all the actions over at the end, it starts to get pretty useless.

Overall, this is a top film and probably the best of the summer so far. Enjoyable, better than the third film and looks to be the start of something good. Bring on the next installment.

8/10

Remakes, Re-imaginings and Reboots

After watching Casino Royale last night, it came to me that this could be where the trend of rebooting franchises stemmed from along with Batman Begins. These have been done well, but look over at Superman Returns which carried on from where the original Superman films started and just stuttered and fell to the ground as though struck by a hunk of kryptonite.

Studios see the love of characters, franchises and they need them to be successful, so why not just try again? Hulk was released in 2003, with OK reviews, but generally the public weren't happy with it, especially the comic book fans. 5 years later, The Incredible Hulk was released, is it a sequel? well, no not really, it doesn't make it clear though. It's more of a reboot of the franchise, replacing all of the characters and putting lots more action in.

Now, re-imaginings are something altogether more confusing! Really, it's the same as a remake, but a re-imagining is said to be where they take the original film and completely change it to their own way of thinking. Halloween would be a prime example, it would be sacrilege to do a straight remake so Rob Zombie decided to do it his own way and make his own set of films. No one quite knows the point of it, but the studios love it. Especially when it comes to horror films, hence the slew of classic horrors coming back to us (Friday the 13th, Halloween, Nightmare on Elm Street).

Terminator Salvation is released this week and again we have the same problem, yes it is a sequel or is it a prequel? Because of the way time has confused us, is it a prequel because John Connor hasn't told Kyle Reese to go back in time and have sex with his mum? or is it a sequel because it's after Arnie has destroyed pretty much everything in his path? Really it's neither of these things, because it's meant to have a whole new feel to the film. Instead of being a rampaging machine, we've got a Mad Max looking barren wasteland. Reboot? Sequel? Who knows?

After recently viewing the original Psycho, it shows just why so many people scream and shout everytime something is remade. It may seem boring now, but this film is where the majority of modern horror takes its style from, in some or another it leads back to it. So, what was Gus Van Sant thinking when he decided to direct an exact shot for shot remake with Vince Vaughn in the role of Norman Bates...This is the same Vince Vaughn who stars in Wedding Crashers, Four Christmases and Dodgeball. I needn't go on.

A really genius way of doing remakes now is by not even acknowledging the fact they are a remake, in the way of Disturbia and Eagle Eye, D.J. Caruso is taking Hitchcock films and bringing them into the 21st century, with impressive results. So, it can be done well and appease the general viewing public.

Really, it's all a money game for those big Hollywood producers, but at last take the time to watch the originals or their predecessors before telling your friends it's 'the best film everrr, omg, wtf, so good, loved it 4evaaa'.

The Post To Make Up For The Lack of Posts Recently.

Well, I haven't seen me around here for a while.

Basically, due to a mixture of laziness and working towards the end of first year. I've left this blog to get dusty and unwanted, but remember, a blog is for life, not just for Christmas. So, it's time to give some love back. I'll do a few brief reviews and then a little summer preview, just to cool you down for the hot hot summer to come. I say 'hot hot summer' because i've heard it will be hot, and it is summer. If it isn't hot, try not to sue me.

Reviews.
Crank 2 - I'm a big fan of the original Crank, whereas the first one still kept at least a foot dangling in some sort of reality but with heaps of fun. Crank 2 jumps straight into the ridiculous and is better for it. Massively funny, immense action and The Stathe is on top form as Chev Chelios. Switch off and feel the testosterone. Maybe not one for the girls.

Observe and Report - I wasn't sure how to take this film. Seth Rogen obviously has massive appeal, he can't do wrong in my eyes at this moment in time. However, this film stepped away from his comfort zone, with mixed results. Directed by Jody Hill, the director of The Foot Fist Way, the film which thrust Danny McBride into the spotlight. Observe and Report is the complete opposite of Paul Blart, both featuring mall cops, where Blart is the light, Observe is definitely the dark. It goes from pretty funny and then gets serious and then gets funny again, never quite deciding what it's trying to do. Nothing special, but with some funny lines, could do with another viewing. May be a grower.

Wolverine - This was one of my big anticipated films for the summer line-up, the trailers made it look spectacular. Hugh Jackman had impressed on the press circuit. What could go wrong. Well, not too much but enough to disappoint. The film was good, don't get me wrong. However, it just wasn't up to standard to a big summer release. Some of the effects seemed like they needed adding to, I believe this is due to the choice of director, who is a smaller name in terms of blockbuster standards. Along with the handful of mutants not getting much screentime and just seemingly shoehorned in to make the trailers and posters look better.

I Love You, Man - Paul Rudd is another offshoot from the Judd Apatow gang, who i've thought from back when he was Knocked Up and 40 Year Old Virgin was very underrated. Now he's moving into leading man status after Role Models. Here he is with Peter Segel who jumped into the fray after Forgetting Sarah Marshall. The film is very funny, but lacks the effortlessness of other recent comedy films by the two. The lines seem too 'catchphrasey' like they're pushing it to be the next quotable film. It's funny, but isn't up there with the best.

Star Trek - I'm not trekkie, but from this I maybe a convert. Absolutely fantastic film. I won't comment on it from a trekkie point of view, but as a general film, it was entertaining and seemed to throw in some nice little nods for fans of the series and previous films. JJ Abrams is the man of the moment after bringing us Lost, Mission Impossible 3 and producing the intriguing monster movie Cloverfield. Here he delivers a much needed reboot to the Star Trek franchise and brings it to the masses, maybe even making it cool?

Coraline 3D - 3D isn't a gimmick anymore, gone are the red and blue cardboard glasses and in are RealD glasses, the films are getting better and now it isn't all about things jumping out of the screen at you. It gives the film depth and adds an extra incentive. Enough about that. Coraline comes straight from Henry Selick, the director of Nightmare Before Christmas. He brings this fairy tale to life, which shows our titular hero going into a parallel world where everything seems perfect, but of course it isn't. Stylisticly, the film is superb, it looks amazing. I didn't find it particularly up to par with the superb Nightmare Before Christmas, but it was still very fun and looked brilliant. As a kids film, it would definitely give them nightmares, starting off fine, but then it gets dark. Very dark.

Preview
Angels and Demons is out now, i'm yet to head over to see it, but reviews have been pretty bad. Everyone seems to agree it's better than The Da Vinci Code, but still nothing brilliant.

Night at The Museum 2: Battle of The Smithsonian is next up, mixed reviews, but most agree it is better than the original.

Drag Me To Hell has been getting good write-ups, Sam Raimi seems to be moving to his Evil Dead days with some all-out good old-fashioned horror. Before he returns to the Spiderman franchise in an attempt to resurrect it.

Terminator Salvation has just been released over in America and the word is good. Not a patch on the first two, but miles better than the third. Christian Bale is the man of the moment and looks set to stay that way. Sam Worthington though seems to be coming hot on his heels with a few big blockbusters on the way.

Well, that'll do for now. As Keith Lemon - Businessman of the year 1993 says - If I don't see ya through the week. I'll see you through the window.

Trailers

After watching the latest Harry Potter trailer, I thought about how much these affect the film-going public. Does a good trailer really rake in the dough, or does word of mouth give films the popularity they need.

The easiest case in point would be the 'Movie' movies. Epic Movie, Disaster Movie, Superhero Movie. The possibilities are endless for this franchise, destroying every genre, one at a time. I have seen Date Movie, it was rubbish. I gave Epic Movie a try, again, disappointment. Disappointment could be the wrong word, because to be disappointed, I would need to have had good expectations to begin with. Fortunately I didn't pay money to see either of them, I feel deeply sorry for anyone who did.

What i'm getting at, is the trailers for these films make them look half decent. As is true for around 70% of all comedy films. They throw the funniest moments into the trailer, leaving it looking fantastic, only for Joe Public to wander to the cinema, part with their money and come out with a smile about as big as Jack Tweed's.

Action films are the same, Spiderman 3 had one of the best looking trailers of that year. It had all of the ingredients to make a good Spiderman film, with everyone salivating over even the slightest glimpse of Venom. When the film was released it broke records for its opening, however, it is widely regarded as a failure, being the worst film in the franchise and giving calls for a new director and cast.

The future is looking towards viral marketing. The Dark Knight did this superbly, even a year before the film came out, forums and film sites were swarming with talk about it, leaving it up to the fans to uncover pictures and trailers. Only for each trailer to just give a couple of nice quotes and a montage of short clips and images. Indiana Jones did a similar thing, no plot details were given and the trailer didn't give much away. Secrecy is now key to a films success, directors want people to go into the cinema and be surprised. They want people to come out pleasantly surprised.

Now, the time has come for the summer films to start bringing their trailers to the plate. Harry Potter has done us proud, looking to have plenty of action with some more emotion, a bit more grown up. Transformers 2 has only allowed us one trailer so far, with barely any dialogue and just a selection of images of the robots doing battle in a sort of robo-porn montage.

So, a good trailer might give a film commercial success. However, for most of these films it will rarely give them the longevity of films made popular through word of mouth and critical success.

Fast & Furious

Normally, this sort of film is right up my street, it looks good and is simple to just switch off. However, surprisingly it didn't quite work as well as I expected.

The action sequences are pretty amazing, it's definitely fast and it is definitely furious. Quite why they couldn't think of a new title I don't know, laziness, or maybe they wanted to put more emphasis on the fact it was a "New Model, Original Parts". The problem with this new model is that the original parts didn't seem to put as much effort in this time round. Vin Diesel is so far into the character that he's just dull, with his gravelly voice and his one liners. Michelle Rodriguez is like a female version of Vin. Jordana Brewster doesn't really do anything. Paul Walker is just annoying.

Lets be honest though, the cars are the stars in this film. They work very well, powering along to thumping beats through the streets, the adrenaline certainly gets pumping. The new take is the use of GPS and going through streets with cars actually driving around.

Need For Speed: Underground came along after The Fast and The Furious with some notable similarities, however this film looks like it's even closer to the game.

The film never really takes itself too seriously, but the acting is pretty bad. The action sequences are pretty spectacular, but the bits in between are just bad. I had no care in the world what happened to the characters, I was more bothered about when the next car chase was coming along.

Some neat little twists make it a little more interesting and a brilliant closing sequence giving rise to a sequel redeem the film slightly. Enjoyable would be the keyword if I had to sum it up, but the storyline seems to have been moulded around the sequences.

7/10

The Boat That Rocked

Richard Curtis is what some might say, the God of British comedy. He has written and produced everything from Blackadder to French and Saunders and then Notting Hill, Bridget Jones and he directed Love, Actually.

This film certainly didn't disappoint. Centred on the pirate radio stations of the 1960's, and loosely the controversy surrounding them. The weak points in my opinion generally are the government scenes. Kenneth Branagh plays an excellent villain, and Jack Davenport's Twatt similarly. But, it's just too boring compared to the rest of the film. I understand this is how it's meant to feel, them being the 'anti-fun' but the 'fun' is just so much fun!

Starring some of the top comedians working today and then a few extras. The cast is simply brilliant and the chemistry is just superb. On-screen, they seem as though they didn't even need a script. Chris 'O' Dowd looks like he could have a fine big screen career, just please don't leave The IT Crowd. Rhys Darby as well, a one to look out for. He's just fantastic, fresh from his scene stealing performance in Yes, Man, he just, words can't express. Along with Tom Brooke, who plays Thick Kevin, i've never seen him before but I hope we see him again, absolutely brilliant.

Rhys Ifans and Phillip Seymour Hoffman are the big men on the cast, but honestly they don't show up the rest at all. Along with Nick Frost, who is without his comedy co-star, Simon Pegg here and doesn't seem to be lost at sea at all (ooh, it had to be done somewhere).

The soundtrack of the film is simply spot-on, absolutely perfect. I couldn't possibly say anything more from what i've already said, I can't sing its praises enough. The film is brilliant, it's laugh out loud funny, it's heart-warming, it's definitely gonna have to be bought on DVD.

10/10

Lesbian Vampire Killers

It would be difficult to write a review about this film without noting the many comparisons it will surely receive on Shaun of the Dead. A comedy pairing straight from the TV screens, trying to push their status across the Atlantic and also into the homes of many more fans.

The problem I have with this is that Pegg and Frost are clearly much better. Either this, or Edgar Wright, who directed those two in Spaced followed them to direct both Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz. Horne and Corden just don't have the same talent, don't get me wrong, the film was hilarious, but it just didn't have the film references done quite as well.

My first niggling annoyance was our first scene of them in the pub discussing the holiday in which the whole film surrounds. Close up shot of the pub name, slide cut to them in the pub drinking. Torn straight from the pages of Shaun of the Dead. Next, main character trying to get over ex-girlfriend, getting very drunk in pub with fat best friend telling him theres plenty more fish in the sea. Ooops...did someone just do some copying and pasting?

James Corden is a very funny man, this is mostly just due to his massive over-confidence and his generally all round persona. He is one of those people who can effortlessly just be funny. Mat Horne (note to the Horne parents: a mat is something you put outside a door to rub your feet on.) is simply the main character who gets the girl, zero to hero, everyman type of person. The pairing works fine.

This is definitely a lads film. This probably is quite noticeable when looking at the title, but it seriously is very lad orientated. There's boobs, toilet humour and erm...vampires.

Now, it probably sounds a lot like i'm slating the entire film. However, I really enjoyed it, it wasn't hilarious throughout, but there some very funny moments. Some jokes overused, but it was the random lines peppered throughout which offered the laughs, catching you offguard.

All in all, it was nothing to shout about, but I would definitely watch it again. Another example of the British film industry pushing it's way to becoming a force to be reckoned with.

8/10

DVD, Blu-Ray and a Consumer Obsession.

Stepping into The Mall in Preston today I stumbled across my new foe. I say foe lightly however, the place is more like a best friend and an enemy. 'Replay' possibly has the most enticing DVD offer i've ever witnessed, like my own personal nicotine it draws me in and never fails to make me part with some dosh.

I don't know what is is about DVDs, earlier in my life I would see 3 for £20 and throw a fit then buy the lot. These days i've come to realise that my money needs to be stretched that little bit further so DVD splurges are few and far between. It just never seems as though i'm spending a lot, now I go for the £3 pound DVDs knocking around HMV or the amazing offers that play.com seem to produce. Although, it seems DVDs are dropping in price quicker and cheaper.

Blu-Ray is unashamedly stealing the DVDs glory, no longer are we given the DVD in the adverts, now Empire magazine is plastered with Blu-Ray adverts in double page spreads offering us the next generation in film viewing. This is fantastic, or it would be if it didn't scare me.

I now own upward of 250 DVDs (I think), so as the Blu-Ray weedles its way in, the DVD gradually moves out of favour. Just like VHS did, not long before. I admit, it's going to be a while before DVDs do become obselete, with shelves still filled with DVDs rather than Blu-Rays.

The DVDs drop in price, I, and most likely everyone else, buy them and then it works towards having a bigger collection of DVDs which are potentially moving towards being obselete. It's a vicious circle.

Today, I stood in front of around 50 DVDs trying to select 4 to get my £10 worth. Not because I need them, but because it seems to good an opportunity to miss, and has been the last two times i've visited the shop. I search through them all and whittle them down to the best contenders in my own personal DVD X-Factor. It has become a case of choosing DVDs, not just based on merit but on whether it completes my collection, I have Saw 1 and 3, so Saw 2 was an obvious choice. Maybe i'm going a bit far with this, but I stood there for a good 10 minutes trying to decide.

Whether i'm a film lover/buff or a consumer bitch is yet to be seen, but i'd like to think the former is to be the true analysis.

Paul Blart: Mall Cop

I've dropped the review from after the title...because i'm pretty sure you all know what it is.

So, anyway, the new Kevin James starrer is rubbish. From the Sandler production company, this film just couldn't stir up much more than a chuckle. The chuckles mostly came at times when they weren't meant to.

Firstly, i'll tell you what was good about this film. Kevin James, he carries the film, if he wasn't in it, it would really be awful. However, he manages to raise a few laughs and a scene in which he rocks out to Detroit Rock City is fairly priceless. Unfortunately the supporting cast just don't do the same, when you've got 'that girl from Epic Movie' and 'the weird brother from Wedding Crashers' as the two below him on the bill, you know you're up a certain creek without even so much as a plank to float on.

Now, heres the fun part. It's time to tell you folks what was particularly bad about this film. The director Steve Carr seemed to have an obsession with stunt glass. I think various characters smashed through some form of glass at least ten times. I know a mall doesn't provide much in the way of stuff to blow up, but come on. It must have been like christmas when he filmed a scene in which Kevin James is in a glass elevator and has two of the henchmen smash through the glass to attack him.

Speaking of the henchmen, I guess the Power Rangers stunt doubles must be out of work. The amount of unnecessary back flips and jumping down stairs was unbelievable. Oh. Not to mention they were all named after Santa's reindeer. Lead by probably one of the top ten worst movie villains of all time.

All I can say is I hope Seth Rogen's next film, Observe and Report, manages to make the mall security guard look good.

2/10

Destroying Our Childhood, One Cartoon Character At A Time.

Recently, it was announced that Tom and Jerry and Yogi Bear were to receive the 'Garfield' treatment and get their own live action/CGI films. Initially, this makes my heart bounce with absolute glee. Tom and Jerry probably being my favourite cartoon as a child, and probably a lot of other peoples.

The only niggling little feature is the whole CGI/live action bit. It's a tag which never quite amounts to everyones expectations. Who Framed Roger Rabbit and Space Jam began the trend, without CGI, and managed fairly decently to seamlessly blend cartoon and live action. Looney Tunes: Back in Action then kind of ruined everyones efforts before attention was turned to CGI. Garfield, Scooby Doo and Alvin and The Chipmunks came along, and didn't quite manage it either. Don't get me wrong, Garfield was an enjoyable film, but it nowhere near captured the wise-cracking genius of it's comic strip predecessor.

Scooby Doo was originally a cartoon based on a murder mystery, with the first film following that formula to an extent, but it relied heavily on silly slapstick gags and just didn't really seem to live up to its cartoon partner.

Usually, it's the live action part which ends up being the clincher. The 'supporting' cast if you will. Breckin Meyer in Garfield just sounded like a helpless loser, leaving it up to his cat to find his other pet. Honestly? Really? Jason Lee in Alvin and The Chipmunks, seems a little warmer, gathering a fan base from his turn in My Name Is Earl. Matthew Lillard did an OK job in Scooby Doo, but it was more of an overexaggerated copy of his cartoon counterpart.

Tom and Jerry have been long overdue a live action film. However, previous films don't leave much of a taste for anticipation. Yogi Bear equally. It's a predicament the film makers may have to combat. Previous attempts at the same sort of material have been hit and miss. There's no doubt the kids will flock to see these films, but in the long run will they stand up proudly against the original source material or just float into the wilderness of the DVD stands.

Watchmen Review

Arguably one of the top ten most anticipated films of 2009 hit cinemas last friday. Reviews seemed decent, with the general consensus being that it kept very close to the graphic novel. Which I had read a couple of weeks ago in preparation.

As the film started I sat staring at the Imax screen, fully expecting to have some sort of strain on my neck by the end of the film.

The tagline "Who watches the Watchmen?" was answered fairly well when we got in, everyone and anyone, and at a 11.45 showing, this definitely shows it is going to be popular.

The film seemed long, and I am fairly split as to whether I liked it or not, I did in a sense, but also I didn't. The action scenes were few and far between, but when they did happen, they were fantastic. Definitely not for the faint hearted, lots of blood and sometimes the fight scenes offer so much fast cutting I felt a little dizzy.

With it being based on a graphic novel and following closely to it, this had its advantages and also its disadvantages. Firstly, it meant that it pretty much had a script there already and a storyboard. However, because each box only has 2 or 3 speech bubbles, the gaps in speech were quite frequent and it all seemed a bit boring.

The film was similar to The Dark Knight in that it was fairly slow to begin with, until everything kicked off. Then I was firmly stuck to my seat.

Zack Snyder can definitely put himself up there as being the man to adapt graphic novels, after this and 300. Along with some rumours about him being the back up if Nolan jumps ship from the Batman franchise.

Now for the acting. Jackie Earle Haley IS Rorschach, he fit into the character perfectly, the voice and the general mannerisms were exactly what Rorschach is. Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Patrick Wilson as The Comedian and Nite Owl II both were perfect in the roles. Billy Crudup as Dr Manhattan, although being a big blue man for most of the film was pretty good too (apart from half the time having his 10 foot glowing cock in your face for half of the film).

Matthew Goode as Ozymandias wasn't so good. He just seemed a bit poncy to actually look like he could fight anyone. Then Malin Akerman as Silk Spectre II, really, she just can't act, fantastic to look at however (and for the boys, she gets them out).

All in all, it didn't make me want to rush back to see it again. However, it was decent enough and people will give it bonus points for sticking so close to the base material, but I think this is where it suffered as well. It's difficult to keep the peace everywhere.

7/10

The Foot Fist Way Review

Well, another film tagged with the Ferrell/McKay seal of approval always warranted a viewing. Starring Danny McBride, the new up and coming actor in the Judd Apatow pack.

The film was all a bit rough around the edges, it had a taste of the Napoleon Dynamite about it, amateur style acting and a lot of improvisation. There is promise in Danny McBride, which seems to be why he's been thrown straight into films such as Tropic Thunder and Pineapple Express. However, he cannot hold a film as a leading man, although this was his first film, so it's only expected.

Foot Fist Way offers a few chuckles but nothing out of this world. Although it's a damn sight better than most sport comedies. All in all, it's good but not amazing. Just okay.

5/10

Michael Bay/Bayhem/Bay-splosions

This is a post i've been meaning to do for a while, but it has taken me some time to collect together my thoughts and ideas. Plus, the inconvenience of travelling to and fro from university to home hasn't helped too much. Here I will be telling you why Michael Bay is a good director. I'll let that sink in for a bit...

Possibly the most hated director working in Hollywood today, mostly amongst those self proclaimed film experts on forums and messageboards, with their only expertise being based on they own roughly 2, 567 films made in the outer reaches of Eastern Europe and they tell 'real' stories...there is a reason why the mainstream film industry hasn't picked up on them...it's because they are rubbish and only useful for a film studies lessons.

I feel i'm going off the course of my original idea. For those of you who don't know, Michael Bay has directed a multitude of blockbusters. Bad Boys 1+2, The Rock, Armageddon, Pearl Harbour (or Pearl Harbor to go by its real American name), The Island and then of course Transformers. I am very aware that not all of his films are great, The Island was OK at best, and Pearl Harbor's only crowning moment was watching the destruction of the titular site.

Bay creates films for teenage boys, and he does this very well. He's good at blowing stuff up, he's good at choosing leading ladies, he's good at creating action sequences. Does this necessarily equate to him being a bad filmmaker?

If the target audience and the production company are asking for an enjoyable film, he can create one. No one wants every single film ever made to be a deep, heart-wrenching piece of cinema. We can't have the Godfather or the Shawshank Redemption being made a thousand times over, sometimes you can't be bothered with it, I know I can't.

Sometimes all you want to do is sit back and watch Will Smith driving really really fast dodging falling cars. Sometimes you want to watch robots fighting each other. Sometimes you want to see the end of the world being prevented.

He makes visually amazing looking and exciting films. Transformers used some of the best special effects of last year, utilising CGI to the best of its ability.

Isn't the idea of film about escapism, it's a form of entertainment, I want to be entertained. I think some people forget this, demanding thought provoking and interesting subject matter. His films aren't necessarily thin on plot either, they might end up being a bit far-fetched, but who cares?

I know i'll be waiting in line to watch the Transformers do battle again this summer and so will a hell of a lot of other people. I'm aware by voicing this opinion, I have committed film journalistic suicide, but I feel a lot better for it.

A little quote from Nick Frost to finish this off:

"You ain't seen Bad Boys 2?"

His disbelief is warranted, any action fan should see that film.

Don't Mess With The Zohan Review

I decided on watching this film primarily on the involvement from Judd Apatow, the comedy producer with the Midas touch...somehow everything he's involved with turns into absolute comedy gold.

This however, is a bit of a bum note, but I would put that down to the fact it is more of an Adam Sandler vehicle than an Apatow vehicle. Hopefully the case may change for this summers Funny People, in which Apatow directs.

Anyway, back to the film...It all starts off very silly and is quite enjoyable, however, bases most of its jokes on racial stereotypes. Once it gets into New York is where the laughs come, although not very often I might add, only here and there.

Now I could have still accepted this as a funny film, around the 7/10 mark. Butttt...and this is a big but. Sandler syndrome seems to strike the film in the final 10 minutes, where we get a monologue from a key character blabbering on about how its ok to be different, everyone should get along, be in love with everyone etc etc. It happens in every single Sandler film without fail, every Sandler film should come with an edited version where you don't have to watch the ending. Because of this i'm disappointed, again, I try and like Adam Sandler, but he just ends up disappointing me at the end of every film he's in.

5/10

Push Review

With not much choice at the cinema, we opted for the least bad seeming one. So, the hopes were simply average for this. About a group of 'special' people, as they like to put it, Push follows Chris Evans (not the ginger one) and Dakota Fanning as they try to search for things that are shown to Dakota in her future. She's a 'watcher' and he's a 'mover'...simple names for people with foresight and telekinesis.

The film starts out all well and good, apart from some people with the most ridiculous power...to scream really loud, this hurts peoples ears and smashes stuff. As you can imagine, it gets annoying after the...erm...first time.

Everything kind of slows down towards the middle and the bum starts to numb. Until the final third of the film where things pick up and then it starts to get a little complicated. It's all very good to watch though, the people with telekinesis are the best to watch, throwing limp bodies around etc.

The ending is probably the best part, after a few little twists and turns. The film could quite easily find itself a sequel. Perfectly finished. Apart from a few minor inconveniences, the film was enjoyable, but probably helped from the fact i didn't have much of a preconception of it.

6/10

Hitman Review

Well, I wasn't expecting anything special from this film. A videogame adaptation, therefore I was naturally sceptical.

As a fan of the game (I owned Hitman 2, and played it more or less non-stop for a good 2 weeks), i was hoping for the best and the film didn't disappoint...too much. I would drop it into the same category as the Doom adaptation, it was fun. It was a fun game, however, could easily have been made into a serious delve into an assassin's psyche. I'm personally happy it wasn't, it was an action film, and in my opinion a very good one. It wasn't an amazing one however.

The action and the dialogue could easily have been picked out of any other action film from the 90's. The Russians...the most stereotypical villains' possible.

In the mood I was in, it was perfect, pure escapism. It brought a big smile to my face seeing the character from the much loved game using his traditional baller pistols, his emotionless personality, disguises. Oh, and Olga Kurylenko isn't too bad either, she seems to be popping up in every recent game adaptation, with her featuring in Max Payne too.

Mindless fun, could have chosen a better leading actor, Timothy Olyphant definitely wasn't the man. He did an adequate job however.

7/10

On a side note, Mickey Rourke should have won Best Actor. Everything else spot on.

Choke Review

This is a film I didn't know much at all about, given it for free to review for the student mag. It was an intriguing film. We are introduced to Sam Rockwell going to his sex addicts meetings, ironically to get some sex. He goes to restaurants to try and get rich people to save him from choking and hopefully get some sort of financial sustinence from them. He spends the money on keeping his mother in a good care home, while she suffers from Alzheimers.

The film, although billed as a comedy, doesn't really throw up many opportunities for a laugh. Some instances are funny, but they never seem to feel okay to laugh at. The films funnier moments seem to be when we see Rockwell's character Victor breaking down. The scenes in the care home offer up a smile, until the realisation that it must actually be very hard for people who suffer from these illnesses.

The flashbacks to his childhood are an interesting insight into how he is in the present and show that there are some levels to his complete and utter disregard for most people he knows.

All in all, the film isn't one that will appeal to everyone due to its subject matter, but it was a good film nonetheless. Definitely different to most things I watch.

7 out of 10.

Notorious Review.

I went to see Notorious last night. A film which was good, although lacking something, not quite sure how to put my finger on it. Ray and Walk The Line were both long films but dragged you into the lives of the characters, both heavily oscar nominated. Notorious went with the unknown actors, maybe this was it, or maybe it just wasn't interesting enough.

The first quarter to a third of the film jumped around, taking only around 10 minutes or so to be a child and jumping to being 17. This happens quite often, however the jumps vary in age gaps, making it fairly difficult to grasp at times.

Eventually everything levels out more or less and we see a P Diddy/Puff Daddy/Puffy D who looks somewhat like R Kelly, but its not a lookalike contest, anyway, the history of BadBoy Records, and the East/West rivalry unfolds. With most biopics, we get the whole its going well, now its not, oh it's okay now. All in all, the film was enjoyable but theres no wonder that it didn't grab any nominations, something which i would imagine the production companies were hoping after every other biopics success. Maybe it's just the subject matter, but who knows.

5 out of 10.