Tuesday 11 December 2012

The Good, the Bad and the Blu-rays

You wouldn't think there's only two weeks of Christmas shopping left, as this may be the sparsest week for new releases in recent memory.

Monday 3 December 2012

The Good, the Bad and the Blu-rays

Gotham's finest makes his final (for now) Blu-ray appearance this week, and although not many other releases dare go up against him, there's a couple of worthy contenders in the ones that do.

Thursday 29 November 2012

Actually, Kevin Bacon, I Think You'll Find That...


...Ken Barlow has a Bacon Number of 3. Ignoring the nonsense that Kevin Bacon is spouting is the current TV commercial for the EE mobile network (where he proves that he either doesn't understand the Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon game, or that he's willing to be flexible on the rules for cold, hard cash), it doesn't matter that Ken Barlow drinks at the Rover's Return and Kevin Bacon has a dog bring a ball back to him; no matter which way you cut it Ken Barlow (let's just made the assumption he means actor William Roache) has at best a Bacon Number of three. Here's how I worked it out...

Monday 26 November 2012

Whose face looks the most out of place on the poster for Movie 43?

Despite having a non-entity of a title, a trailer that makes it look like this generation's Burn, Hollywood, Burn and one of the most offensively garish posters I've ever seen, the upcoming Movie 43 has managed to secure itself an impressive cast of Hollywood A-Listers and respected comic actors. But which one of them looks the most out of place?

Could it be...

Richard Gere, who's looking right at us saying "look, I'm old, I'm miserable, and I'm in this film because I wanted something to do on the weekends".

Hugh Jackman, who is happy to remind everyone that although sometimes he looks like this, he's quite possibly the most theatrical man in Hollywood who likes to have a laugh and a joke too, and wear rather lovely knitted scarves.

Chloe Grace Moretz, who seems to be saying to herself "Naomi Watts' and Kate Winslet's names are on this poster somewhere, and I have to share a photo frame with McLovin? Wait a minute, didn't I mess you up big style in Kick Ass?"

Halle Berry, who at this point in her career is taking as many opportunities as she can to show off about how good looking she still is. She's 46 for chrissakes.

Emma Stone, who looks disappointed in her agent for getting her involved in this project. Her face seems to say "I'm better than this". Yes, Emma, you are. Also, your hair looks pretty.

And the winner is....

Johnny Knoxville, still plugging away at his acting career but not noticeably enough for the makers of this film to take a still photo of him whilst he was on set, instead putting this old candid photo of him through the photoshop mill so that he resembles Frankenstein's Monster's little brother.


The Good, the Bad and the Blu-rays

As we fast approach Christmas, some of the big hits from this summer are making their way onto Blu-ray and DVD. It's not all new releases this week though, and is a particularly good week for fans of Quentin Tarantino.

Saturday 24 November 2012

LOLA VERSUS DVD review


Waking up on her 29th birthday to be greeted by a marriage proposal from her long term boyfriend Luke (Joel Kinnaman), Lola (Greta Gerwig) starts to plan the wedding, only to have it all fall apart leaving her living the single life in the big city.

FLIGHT OF THE NAVIGATOR BLU-RAY review

The second of this week's classic '80s films to arrive on Blu-ray, the nostalgia-fest that is Flight of the Navigator is available now. When David Freeman disappears for 8 years only to return without having aged a day, NASA scientists start to study the information stored in his brain that has something to do with a spaceship they've recently found.

It's Nice To See That The Copies of Michael Keaton From Multiplicity Are Still Getting Work


If you don't know what I'm talking about, this.

   


On a side note, there's something different about the Russian poster, and I don't just mean all the backwards Rs.


Friday 23 November 2012

SHORT CIRCUIT BLU-RAY review

When S.A.I.N.T droid Number Five gets struck by lightning following an arms presentation, he finds himself that most magical of things, alive. On the run with the security forces trying to blow him to pieces, Number Five encounters Stephanie (Ally Sheedy), a free spirited young woman who believes he is alive and wants to protect him.

Monday 19 November 2012

The Good, the Bad and the Blu-rays

With Christmas fast approaching, it's a week dominated by releases for kids, and thanks to some '80s re-releases arriving on Blu-ray, for those trying to relive some of their youth as well.

Monday 12 November 2012

The Good, the Bad and the Blu-rays

In the run up to Christmas there's always one week that's almost entirely devoted to new stand-up DVDs hitting the market. This is that week. Still, ignoring all of that lot, there has to be one or two decent films mixed in, surely?

Sunday 11 November 2012

LOVE BITE review


Now in cinemas is the teen werewolf comedy horror Love Bite, starring Ed Speleers, Gossip Girl's Jessica Szohr and Skins' Luke Pasqualino.

Wednesday 7 November 2012

FOSTER DVD review

Watching Foster on DVD has led me to question how cynical I should be about a film that claims on its cover to be "a feel good family fairy tale" and certainly is that, but nothing more. It's not what I'd readily describe as a good film, but when a film is aimed at an audience who are looking for an emotional connection to a story rather than storytelling ability, who am I to begrudge them of that?

Tuesday 6 November 2012

The Good, the Bad and the Blu-rays

Now, do I buy the steelbook editions of films I already own, or the underwhelming sequel that no-one was asking for anyway? Hmmm....

Friday 2 November 2012

London Film Festival: LAURENCE ANYWAYS review


Screened at last month's London Film Festival, Xavier Dolan's third directorial outing is now in cinemas.

Thursday 1 November 2012

SAVE THE DATE trailer



The tragic indie romantic comedy has long been the stomping ground of TV actresses wanting to show off their range whilst boosting their credibility, but when the film in question stars Community's Alison Brie and Lizzy Caplan, I'm inclined to pay more attention than I normally would. Yes, they're both quite easy on the eye, but both are also actresses on the cusp of wider recognition, and Save The Date seems like a promising enough drama to do that.

Documenting the troublesome times of late 20s dating and relationships, when Caplan's Sarah decides to split up with her long term boyfriend and re-evaluate her life, it has a domino effect on the seemingly happy relationship of her younger sister, Beth (Brie). With both young women approaching potential heartbreak with drastically different methods and Sarah finding rebound love with Mark Webber's Jonathan, Save The Date looks to sidestep its hipster leanings by being emotionally vunerable whilst offering some tragi-comic moments. I'm only really familiar with Brie's comedic side, so I'm keen to see how she adapts to a heartfelt indie romance.

The title might make you think we're in for another post-Bridesmaids "girls can be raucous too!" wedding movie, but from the evidence of this trailer, Save The Date appears to be more than that. The poster appears to be aiming for a much more middle of the road audience than the rather more frank trailer is, but with two of young Hollywood's unheralded talents flexing their dramatic muscles, hopefully it will attract the right audience.

Save The Date is released in the States on December 14th. Best make a note of it somehow so that you don't forget.



Wednesday 31 October 2012

The Good, the Bad and the Blu-rays

Just because it's Halloween week don't go expecting a whole new array of horror films to enjoy, as bar one or two exceptions, we're in for a tame October 31st. It's not a bad week for fans of mumblecore, American indies and Emily Blunt though, so good news for me.

Friday 26 October 2012

A GOOD DAY TO DIE HARD trailer



Back for a fifth installment in the franchise, Bruce Willis's world weary cop John McClane is heading to Russia on undisclosed business, although the possibility that he's going to pick out a mail order bride who will put up with him hasn't been officially discounted yet (Bride Hard? BBC Three would love that).


To avoid the possible confusion of having two main characters in a film with one of the most popular first names in the world, John McClane Jr is now going by the name of Jack, because apparently there isn't already enough characters in action cinema with that name. Jack's living in Moscow trying to run away from the inevitability of inheriting his father's hairline (or maybe he's doing some kind of government agent type stuff. I don't really know), until he runs into his dad in a foreign city with a population of 11.5 million and they start going around bickering at each other and shooting at commie scumbags. Hey, I'm just telling you what I saw.


As well as this new trailer we also have the above teaser poster (exclusively revealed at EW.com but now making its way around the internet on its way to becoming the latest meme), which takes McClane's most famous catchphrase and repositions it as some sort of jokey wink for the fans of the franchise, whilst also coming across as potentially a little bit xenophobic. At least it's a step up from the fourth installment's method of covering up a swear word with the sound of gunfire, which immediately pointed out what's wrong with the ratings system in America.

A Good Day To Die Hard is released on February 14th 2013.

Thursday 25 October 2012

EVIL DEAD Redband Trailer

Sweet zombie Jesus this looks terrifying. Instead of walking the well worn path of being a poor interpretation of the original, this new remake of the 1981 horror classic seems to have kept what was so scary about the original (as well as pinching elements from the sequel) and added a bunch of new intriguing ideas. What's that you say? A female lead?


Rather than deal with fan uproar over who could play a new version of Ash, they've side stepped the issue by not including the character at all. Directed by newcomer Fede Alvarez, this remake (that for all intents and purposes could be a Bruce Campbell-less sequel) sees Suburgatory star Jane Levy and friends descend on the familiar cabin in the woods for a fun filled weekend of sex, drugs and ancient spirit awakening. In what must be one of the best cut trailers in years, we get a sneak preview of the horrific action in store including some terrifyingly gory body horror and the return of the infamous "tree rape".

Arguably more important than me being okay with this film coming into existence, so are original director Sam Raimi and star Bruce Campbell, both on board here as producers. In a grammatically confusing move that I'm sure no-one else has noticed, this new film is titled Evil Dead as opposed to the original being The Evil Dead, meaning that whilst this film might feature The Evil Dead, the original film will always be THE Evil Dead. Nice move Raimi, I can see what you did there.

Evil Dead will be among us in April 2013.

Tuesday 23 October 2012

The Good, the Bad and the Blu-rays

Hardly a classic week for new releases, once again we have to rely on the back catalogue to offer up some interesting films and an absolute must buy.

Thursday 18 October 2012

London Film Festival: LORE review

Screened at this year's London Film Festival, this is director Cate Shortland's long awaited follow up to Somersault, Lore.
Set in the days after Hitler's death and the end of World War II, Lore sees the eponymous teenager take her younger siblings across treacherous ground as they aim for safety away from the downfall of what they thought was true about the war and the involvement of their father, a high ranking officer in Hitler's army.

Tuesday 16 October 2012

The Good, the Bad and the Blu-rays

It's one of those great weeks where the big releases look pretty boring and the smaller titles have a few gems to offer.

Thursday 4 October 2012

The Good, the Bad and the Blu-rays

It's a week dominated by one particular release, but there's also a highly anticipated boxset highlight and with it, the high definition debut of a number of long overdue films.

Tuesday 2 October 2012

Fast Girls - Way to tap into a nation's post Olympic high by doing something really misogynistic


Released earlier in the summer and completely missing the whole nation's new found interest in running and jumping and all that other stuff that came off the back of the Olympics, the Noel Clarke scripted Fast Girls told the story of two young women from different backgrounds finding common ground in their love of sport and forging an unlikely friendship. Inspirational stuff, really.


Well, the distributors have decided to try and make the most of the nation's post-Olympics pride by re-jigging the DVD cover to make it look a bit more patriotic. So, now instead of simple plain, everyday training gear, the girls are now dressed in red, white and blue with GBR blazoned across their chests. They're also sponsored by Aviva, which I'm sure is an absolutely crucial detail that warrants inclusion on the DVD cover.

They've also decided to, ahem, boost their audience by photoshopping some noticeably larger breasts onto the athletically figured star Lenora Crichlow, thereby increasing the odds that when dirty old men in rain macs are blindly Google searching for movies about "fast girls", they might consider this to be perfectly serviceable evening viewing material after all.

Fast Girls is available on DVD from the 8th October.

Monday 1 October 2012

The Good, the Bad and the Blu-rays

As we wade into October, so appear a plethora of horror films, including a bunch of classics seeing a re-release. It's the offbeat indie comedy-drama that provides the best disc of the week, though.

Sunday 30 September 2012

KILLING THEM SOFTLY review

After learning some insider information, a local crime boss and his two hired hands turn over a mob poker game, placing the blame on Markie (Ray Liotta), the organiser of the game. A representative with a guarded interest hires Jackie Cogan (Brad Pitt) to sort through the mess and restore order to the area.

Friday 28 September 2012

Obscurity Files - Valley Girl

When misfit teen Randy (Nicolas Cage) meets Julie at a high school party he wasn't invited to, they instantly feel an attraction despite coming from different worlds. He's a city rat whilst she's the titular Valley Girl, but they try to overcome the peer pressure felt on both sides to embark on a great '80s high school love affair.

Wednesday 26 September 2012

The Good, the Bad and the Blu-rays

Not the busiest of weeks, but there's one or two gems among this week's selection of new DVD and Blu-ray titles.

Wednesday 19 September 2012

ANTON CORBIJN: INSIDE OUT DVD review

Following the renowned photographer, music video director and filmmaker, Anton Corbijn: Inside Out is now available on DVD.

Monday 17 September 2012

The Good, the Bad and the Blu-rays

Finally, the big summer blockbusters are starting to arrive on DVD and Blu-ray, with this week's only major release being the biggest hit of them all.

Friday 14 September 2012

The Good, the Bad and the Blu-rays

A couple of days late but still as valid a source of information as it ever was, here's the ups and downs of this week's new DVD and Blu-ray releases.

Wednesday 5 September 2012

JAMES BOND: Licence to Photoshop

Although I'm not what you'd call a fan of the franchise, I know I'm not alone in thinking that Daniel Craig was an unconventional choice to play James Bond. Sure, Craig is a fine actor who can handle the required action scenes easily and he can be a charming bastard with the ladies, but he spends most of his time looking like a bulldog chewing a wasp whilst entering a gurning competition and being angry about winning it.

Exhibit A
Hearing my call (that I don't actually remember making), it appears that the new issue of Empire Magazine has taken steps to soften his image, mainly by softening his image. Now resembling what Tintin's older brother may look like, only time will tell if Skyfall sees Mr Bond teaming up with a salty old sea captain and a little white dog to stop a dastardly plan hatched by the villainous Red Rackham, also played by Daniel Craig in some sort of meta-twist that seems to be the in thing nowadays.


The new issue of Empire is on sale now.

Monday 3 September 2012

The Good, the Bad and the Blu-rays

This week's selection offers a variety of delectable meals, depending on whether you're hungry for classic re-releases, big bouncy 3D boobs, music documentaries, or even The Hunger Games.

Wednesday 29 August 2012

ELEVATOR - Raising the bar for rip-offs


In the immortal words of Kylie Minogue, better the devil you know, and in what can only be described as a do-over of M. Night Shyamalan's Devil but with added terrorism, we now have the simplistically titled Elevator. Lifting* heavily from Devil's cover art but without the reverse crucifix and with added dodgy photoshopping (look, they're on floor 13! The deadliest of all high rise building levels!), Elevator clearly wants to look like Devil as much as possible, going so far as to have a trailer that's almost a shot for shot remake of Devil's.



So, there's the old lady, the annoying nervy guy and plenty of other stock characters to keep you guessing which one the terrorist is. Oh, and if the chubby guy with the little goatee looks familiar, you probably know him better as this guy...

Devin Ratray, always holding a place in our hearts and minds as Buzz McCallister from the first two Home Alone movies (the only two that count if we're being honest), appears in this film as the one of trapees. This is the point where we'd usually make a sarcastic comment about how they've been relegated to starring in straight to DVD rip-offs of other films, but if you want to compare Ratray's career to Macaulay Culkin's... well, at least Ratray is still making movies.

If you've already seen Devil, curiosity over Devin Ratray's role must be the only real reason to watch Elevator, so I'm going to recommend that they just take that next step and change the title to something like this...


*Yes, that was meant to be a pun.

Rather helpfully, I've gone and fixed the UK poster for A Night in the Woods

ORIGINAL
FIXED

There we go, much better.

Tuesday 28 August 2012

How Do You Solve a Problem Like Piranha?


So you've gone to all the trouble to give your sequel to a marginally well received exploitation remake/sequel a snappy title that people will instantly understand and perhaps raise a wry smile to; but what do you do when said film gets released on home video format?

Okay, so now we've got Piranha 3DD 3D on Blu-ray and Piranha DD on DVD. That's not confusing in the slightest, is it? Still, I doubt the target audience of hormonal teenage boys will be paying too much attention to the title anyway.

Piranha 'whatever it wants to be called' is released on 3rd September and can be pre-ordered from Amazon now.

Butter


Nowadays it's nigh on impossible for any actress to play a strong, career minded woman without it looking like a parody of Sarah Palin, but this smart new trailer for Butter plays on that preconception, starting off with the Stars and Stripes awaving before wading into the strange world of competitive butter carving. Like all good satires, there's something slightly nauseating about the whole thing.

The influence on Jennifer Garner's character is clear, and although Olivia Wilde may look like she's regressed back to her days in The O.C., I'm all for any character who boasts she gets pregnant "like, once a month". The trailer also has a blink and you'll miss it appearance from Alicia Silverstone, her one line of dialogue proving that time can be cruel; her stardom melting away like so much warm butter...

Anyway, with just the right amount of Drop Dead Gorgeous-style satirical comment on those weird suburban American things we don't get, and a great cast that also features Modern Family's Ty Burrell and Hugh Jackman in an extended cameo, if I was hunting for a poster quote I'd say it looks "butterly brilliant" and then feel quite cheap about the whole thing.

Butter hits US screens in October and should hopefully arrive in the UK soon after.