Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll – Mat Whitecross
Going into this film, i hadn’t known much about it, only knowing that Andy Serkis was the lead and that it was biopic about a famous British musician. I’m not going to lie and tell you i knew of this person, because i hadn’t. I came into the film not knowing of Ian Dury and his musical legacy which he had seemed to have made. When you sit down and watch a biopic not having a clue that the person is, you need to be informed, you need to be given the vital information about their life, and what made them famous. Not like the recent John Lennon biopic Nowhere Boy, where you’re expected to know who John Lennon is and respond to the way he acts as being “John Lennon-ish”. Recently released on DVD Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll is the latest biopic, named after a famous Ian Dury song of the same name, it follows the rise to fame and documents the struggle Dury has with a mixture of family problems, battling a childhood disease of polio, drug and drink problems and becoming a better musician. His manic lifestyle is what makes Dury the person he is well known to be, with the wild parties, the crazy stage shows and the complicated relationship problems. Well as i don’t know of Dury and his legacy, I’m just going by what I’ve seen in the film.
As pointed out before Dury is played by Serkis and he plays him with both humorous and tender moments, creating one of the most complicated characters I’ve ever seen, in instances you want to hate him but in others you wish you were more like him. He tries to understand the world around him in a different perspective which then unleashes itself onto other people’s life’s, either affecting them for better or for worse. Along with the storytelling of Dury’s rise to fame, it also has segments involving Dury’s songs with Serkis singing them to a crowd, which breaks the fourth wall where the sings intertwine with the story and become a part of the set up. These performances are guaranteed meant to symbolise and replicate the performances Dury would give, and they are certainly “different”. It has moments of humour and moments of tragedy but it still isn’t in the same par as other musician biopics released over the last century, which notable examples such as Walk The Line, Ray and I’m Not There. Having a decent British cast behind does help and it does have its moments which outshine the whole of Nowhere Boy but it still isn’t a story i would love to know more about.
5/10
Simon Childs
Directed by: Jeremy Podeswa
The end of the epic review series of The Pacific, and it ends on a kinda high, i guess. You can’t have a whole series of war and violence and have a final episode with that in too, you need to have a finale where you show the main characters and where they end up and here it’s done with class and style. Sure it’s very cheesy but i like it, i want to know what happens to all the men that I’ve watched over the last ten hours, showing their struggles and their heartache and the pain they’ve been through, i at least deserve to see their homecoming and triumphs. Massive congratulations on the last segment of the episode where it showed the actors who played them and then went to describe the real people the characters were based on with a photo and some information about them. Having that final punch of realisation that these people and th
ese stories were real, and that all the effects of mental instability and seeing the many horrors of the war, is very real. It makes it frightening emotional. Each main character gets the send off and it’s great to see how they have changed since they first appeared with Basilone dead, his family and new wife try to pick themselves up, Leckie comes back and rejoins the paper he worked for before and starts seeing the girl from before the war and Sledge or Sledgehammer to his friends, comes back a lot worse than everyone and the obvious effects are devastating. A great series and it just shows if the right amount time, effort and money are put into a television show, all future programming will be on the same high quality level as this.
Simon Childs
The Arcade Fire – Suburbs
‘The Suburbs’ is a concept album that unsurprisingly deals with the deep and meaningful ‘concept’ of suburban life. It provides a sharp social critique, attacking apathy and conformism in such a way that it attracts an emotional response at base level. The effect is such that listening to this record encourages you to leave the house and make something of yourself. It encourages you to want better, in the faint hope you may eventually end up with something than the meaningless existence of your elders. It speaks of the idea of a better way.
Or it would, if anyone actually listened to the end.
It is fair to say that instead of providing a thought provoking insight into the ‘previously unexplored’ idea of suburbia, the album simply descents into itself. It becomes dull and lifeless, in a sense, everything it is speaking out against. For example, the predictably titled opener ‘The Suburbs’ lazily trudges through two riffs for its five minute duration, with plenty of clean guitar and reverberating noise in the background. This is essentially the formula for most of the rest of the album. Many of the subsequent tracks feature the same basic instrumentation, slow pace and background synthy noise that makes the title track a hard listen. Indeed, tracks like ‘City With No Children’ and ‘Rococo’ lack any purpose and direction, essentially providing a listening experience as apathetic as the suburban lifestyle the album criticises. Similarly, there appears to be a lack of deeper meaning in the album itself – rather than open up to listener, the second spin accentuates the negative aspects of it that made the second listen necessary in the first place.
That isn’t to say there aren’t any attempts at variation – the album’s second, and standout track ‘Ready to Start’ is a faster paced, and altogether more lively affair, making for an engaging listening experience. Similarly, the verses of ‘Modern Man’ differentiate themselves from the droll of the rest of the album using a pattern of odd time signatures. However, these standout moments are few and far between, with each catchy riff interspersed with many that lack variation and quality.
In this sense, ‘The Suburbs’ is a pretty underwhelming album, failing for the most part to live up to the hype surrounding The Arcade Fire. While there are some moments of note, for the most part the album provides the soundtrack to the tedium of suburbia rather than a criticism of it. For all its multi instrumentalists and lazy textures, the album lacks the craftsmanship and intelligence that makes an album more than just background music for everything it stands against.
Standout tracks – Ready to Start, Month of May
2/5
Dan Stafford
Repo Men - Miguel Sapochnik
A lovely little story starts this review, examining the true fact that I’m connected to the one and only Jude Law. Well it’s a small story; we went to the same secondary school. It doesn’t have a great ending; he went for two years and left after not liking it and becoming the target of bullying. So yeah, it’s not a connection seeing he was there like 10-15 years before me, but it still counts. Kinda. But anyway, looking at his latest release Repo Men, i was genuinely interested in it, hearing people call it a cross between Blade Runner and Children of Men, which it is, but in a pleasantly surprisingly way, swaying between both to create something enjoyable and a little refreshing. Sure it manufactures the same world and the same kind of characters but uses them in different situations, with different emotions and a different type of storytelling. It’s a solid fun film from Law who seems to have sound himself in a bit of form with films lately, especially the fun Sherlock Holmes which i also enjoyed. Plus Forest Whitaker taking more of a lighter role is something new and i like it, it suits him but in the back of your mind, you still fear the fuck out of that dude. As well as Sabretooth from the dreadful Wolverine movie appears as a bit role, nothing too much to worry about, a villainous type role which ends horribly bad but funny at the same time.
The film follows “repo men”, people who collect machines that, in the future, have been made to act as vital organs, like hearts, kidneys, livers and that, and so these people, kinda like bailiffs, come to collect from people who can’t keep up with affording them. The Union, which the organisation is called, hires these men to do the deeds and Jude Law is one of them. Set in the future where people can live on without their organs using these machines, half of the film shows Law at work, showing his skills and having a wife and kid. It’s all very hunky dory, but the second half, well you can see where it’s going, and he becomes one of them, and goes on the run. It’s a flip reverse, the hunter becomes the hunted and so Law experiences what it’s like to be a normie and learns to grow (yawn). In the end, it works out for him, or does it? Great ending, never saw it coming. Somewhat similar to Inception strangely, where the ending is something to discuss because we all have theories of Inception but here they show it. I won’t reveal it as it’s really good but i do suggest seeing it. It’s violent, it’s funny in places, it’s got good action sequences, the look is spot on, and Law isn’t annoying.
7/10
Simon Childs
Shank - Mo Ali
Is there now a common trend of releasing British film that depict “real” life where teenagers are “gangster” and threatening? Is that what has happened now, that filmmakers think its right to almost publicise the good aspects of this kind of behaviour? Because it’s starting to begin to look like it. I found it with the release of Kidulthood and Adulthood, both films that were new to the genre, showcasing “real” aspects of a typical teenager living in rough areas, where it used small instances and blew them up to become something that they are not. Not everyone growing up in London is stabbed or robbed or grows into a life of crime. It just isn’t true. And now with companies thinking that the market is open to using this idea and running with it to create the basic idea but in different genres, shows that British filmmaking maybe on a decline. Sure it’s very been fantastic, but it’s had a few gems like Dead Man’s Shoes, In The Loop, The Last King of Scotland and Slumdog Millionaire to name a few. We don’t have to keep using this whole idea of kids in major cities living the hard life, it’s utter bollocks, it’s just something the media came up to describe a handful of people and thus in the cycle of life, people begin to want to become the label they’ve been given. It’s fucking wrong and i can’t stand it, the whole culture of it. So seeing that a film which is basically the –ulthood series but in a futuristic world with small segments of animation, i was both intrigued and already guessing that it would be shit. My prejudgement wasn’t wrong.
Starring a handful of familiar faces and some newcomers, a kid loses his brother in a futuristic hood where people are living without the law, where food is scarce and the world has collapses somehow. This young kid in a gang with his older brother as the leader find themselves in trouble with a local gang and is killed, and this triggers a series of events that lead the younger brother to find revenge, talking to other gangs, finding new friends and recruiting people. Throw in some fucking random animation sequences that will make you laugh and you have an hour and a half episode of Skins but produced by the Channel U or AKA as it is now. I’m not trying to be predictable with the review or racist with the comments but I’m just shocked this was allowed to be made, glorifying gang culture. Surely this is against what the world wants right?
3/10
Simon Childs
Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang - Susanna White
Coming into the sequel having not the watched the original probably hinders this review and I’m not gonna lie to you; i wasn’t expecting a great film contradicting its strange love from people and the people who are in it. True it does have Maggie Gyllenhaal, Ewan McGregor, Ralph Fiennes, Rhys Ifans and Bill Bailey, but still this film is so incredibly lame. I don’t know if it’s trying to ride off the success of the first film because i haven’t seen it, nor do i know if the audience really want to see this because i am not its target audience, I’m a young teenager or a young child. From what i can gather, this is Mary Poppins for a new generation featuring jokes about poo and falling over and naughty words and all sorts. It’s a middle class film for middle class children to watch. That probably sounds harsh but that’s how i see it. It’s not entertaining to me, even if i was a kid, i would utterly bored, i want to see something funny, something sad, something entertaining. Now take some of the best teenage films ever, The Mighty Ducks, The Karate Kid, Pokémon, The Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, Home Alone, Toy Story trilogy, Where The Wild Things Are, Wall-E, Up, Sky High, Harry Potter, the evolution of a children’s film has worked well, but this feels stuck in the mud. What the company behind the film will distress is that the film is a “family film”, something both adults and children will enjoy. Looking at the past examples I’ve given, most families would enjoy those films both young and old, but here i don’t think. I’d imagine the parents to put it on and walk away because they have shitloads of jobs to do that would be more fun than watch this.
The plot is pretty simple, a nanny appears, helps a family with a bundle of problems like being clean or being posh or missing family or growing as a human being. Boring as shit. And through in some random storyline where a villain is made and stuff. I’m not gonna lie, i wasn’t playing attention. So don’t buy this, don’t watch this, it’s really bad. But i guess if you enjoy the first, you’ll like this, maybe?
2/10
Simon Childs
Scott Pilgrim vs. The World - Edgar Wright
Let just start off by saying: OMG! ZOMG! OMG! OMG! OMG...
Sorry i had to vent my excitement at the fact that after many years waiting for this film to be released, after reading the graphic novels, after watching the trailers, looking at the posters, playing the video game, buying the soundtrack, buying the t-shirts, watching for spoilers and for casting news and reports on set, i finally sat down and watched Scott Pilgrim vs. The World. And my world, i think it may have become the best movie of 2010. Now i wouldn’t be saying that lightly, look at some of the releases, big time releases such as the brilliant but mind-fucky Inception, the wonderfully brilliant and sweet Toy Story 3 and awesomely geeky Kick-Ass. Three of my favourite films this year, hell maybe even in my top 10 of all time. The film is fucking amazing. I urge you to see it now, right now, stop reading this review or whatever and go see the flick, because it deserves you too, and i guarantee you’ll enjoy it. I’m even going to see it again because it’s that good, and i never do that. And so, if you haven’t been living under a rock, you probably know a little maybe about this film, consisting of a fight against several “evil” ex’s and starring Michael Cera and directed by Edgar Wright who directed Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz and the telly show Spaced, you’ve probably already know that. You probably already know that the film is based on a series of graphic novels written by Bryan Lee O’Malley, six to be precise, telling the story of Scott Pilgrim in black and white and featuring some of the funniest sequences seen in graphic novel history, these really are cult favourites. So will the film match up to the book, similar to the hysteria around The Watchmen and if it lived up to the books written by the legendary Bryan Lee O’Malley?
Well the answer is a resounding yes, like this YESSSSSSS! Because not only does it match the books in style, the humour and the action sequences, i would even go as far to say it may surpass the original material because of the way the film has such smooth transitions that are quick and exciting making the overall experience better. Plus the ending is different and i favour it, but I’ll allow your own opinion of it and i won’t ruin it. I’m sure you know the plot of the film already with all the ads and posters with Michael Cera playing Scott Pilgrim, Canadian slacker who must defeat Ramona Flowers’s 7 evil- ex’s, played by the lovely Mary Elizabeth Winstead and these 7 evil ex’s a played by a bag of famous faces including Brandon Routh AKA Superman and the ever magnificent Jason Schwartzman playing Gideon Graves. Along with the ride are Sex bob-omb, the band that Scott plays bass in with Stephen Stills (Mark Webber) and Kim Pine (Alison Pill), both performances nearly steal the whole movie but the award of best performance is a mix of two characters who both have amazing performances with Scott’s gay roommate Wallace Wells played by Kieran Culkin and Knives Chau, an elegantly funny performance by Ellen Wong. The performances here are all spot on including random cameos from people you may know and even the background characters also pick up the slack too. The action sequences are over the top and look pretty amazing, especially the monster DJ’s vs. Band scene and the end fight scene with Gideon and Scott. It’s a clearly worked film with massive amounts of detail and it can defiantly be seen. I’m sure loads of films will now begin to be more precise in their post-production and borrow that style. I just hope they use it in the right way. Easily one of the best films of the year.
10/10
Simon Childs
Part 9: Directed by Tim Van Patten
The penultimate episode of The Pacific and it seems now the charm of war and the hero winning ending and sequences of the one man army have seemed to have worn off. The overall effect of war now is very damaging and you can see this episode being the point of where the viewer becomes distressed by it too, the way Sledge is on screen. Becoming the main hero of the series, Sledge has dramatically changed from the shy boy we’ve seen before. Now being the somewhat edgy soldier fighting in a war which seems to be going wrong, a few bad turns start to appear, especially with new recruits making his life hell. The scenes in the mud and rai
n are again a testament to the fantastic direction and cinematography of the whole series, with it being a great mix of beauty and horror. The guy who is played Sledge defiantly has a quick turn of being quite masked to the thought of war and the real troubles to being a fucking mental case who just wants to kill; the intensity goes up a completely new level with him. This is based on a real man’s experience of the war and it’s truly terrifying how he’s portrayed it. I just hope the other characters stories are tied up at the end of the all this and a somehow happy ending is made or something. Actually that does quite cheesy, so maybe not. By the looks of the preview for next week it will recap on all the characters and what they have done after the war. Should be good.
Simon Childs
Final Fantasy 13 - PS3 & XBox 360
Released way back in March is probably one of the biggest gaming franchises latest number and it now being August, it has taken me that long to come round to playing it and gain a few hours into the game to give a warranted review of the game. The game in question pushes the boundaries of gameplay, flourishes with style and elegance that many games can only wish for and seem to divide many people about. Yes, I’m talking about the one, the only, Final Fantasy, with the latest instalment being the unlucky 13, well some people say it’s lucky because of the success compared to the past games. But Final Fantasy 13 has graced the next-gen consoles, showcasing the true power of video games by providing some of the best looking sequences seen on either console. It really is one of the best looking games ever made. True, the cut scenes do look straight out of an anime film, but that’s what FF is known for. Cut scenes that are beautiful and complicated, similar to Metal Gear Solid but with less talking. Produced by a prominent gaming company in the world, Square Enix, this role-playing game has a steep, steep history, with roughly around 30 games including spin-offs from the main series and becoming a massive media empire, producing a TV show, merchandise, movies and books, it seems that it will never stop, with number 14 currently in production, every gamer has had an experience with the legacy, and each person has a particularly favourite. Mine being the glorious number 10; i remember it being yesterday when i played that game, and to date, the only Final Fantasy game I’ve completed. It took nearly a year of my life, but i did it, and the pay-off was spectacular. And of course, i also played number 7, which was the first time i noticed the series and first noticed its grace and charm, something different to what I’ve played before. Now as time as gone on, the games have evolved from being epic to being infinite, which i don’t think is physically possible. The games now can last up to around 200 hours, if you count the side quests, the main storylines, all of the cut scenes and the secrets thrown in too, and for a modern game, that’s impressive. Most games pack a good 50/60 hours which keeps the gamer happy, even the last game i reviewed God of War only had 20 hours of gameplay which is nothing compared to the longevity of FF13.
Let’s start with the wonderful company behind the game, Square Enix, one of the best makers of video games for all audiences and especially in the genre of RPG’s where they have an esteemed long line of gems that you’ll probably have played like Final Fantasy 7, Dragon Guest, and have published a majority of great games recently like Batman Arkham Asylum and the upcoming Call of Duty Black Op. The company also made one of the best film series I’ve ever played, Kingdom Hearts. And I’m looking forward to the next instalment hopefully coming soon on the PS3. But back to Final Fantasy 13.
I’m not going to try to explain the plot to the game because it’s fairly complicated but I’ll talk about the game so far, because i haven’t reached half way yet. It’s a beautiful looking game, with excellent sound, sure the voice over’s can get annoying, but overall, the “show” of the game works brilliantly. The gameplay is very repetitive and you will see yourself just button bashing the x button whilst playing. But with a storyline that pulls you in and action that happens very quickly, after the hump of the linear gameplay you’ll find yourself in an open world which becomes a better game. It’s a decent buy with a long life in playing but you may get bored of it quite quickly.
VISUALS: One of the best looking games to have ever been released, most of the time it’s like watching a movie 19%
SOUND: Sure the voice actors can be annoying but the sound throughout the levels is astounding, even during the cut scenes 19%
GAMEPLAY: Repetitive in places but changes the familiar ways we’ve had before for a more commercial audience 17%
LASTING APPEAL: 200 hours of gameplay, need i say more? 20%
SPECIAL FEATURES: Not much extra stuff for you to grab it, sure there are trophies/achievements to get but other than not, just the everlasting side quests 14%
89%
Simon Childs
Shoot The Hero - Christen Sesma
You know when a film is bad when it doesn’t even have a Wikipedia page. It’s not even noteworthy in the world, and it’s a shame, having a cast of people you may know the face of but can’t quite put the name to it, it has an actor who i think is funny; unfortunately this is not a comedy. This review won’t be a very long review, the film doesn’t deserve a full analysis because it’s very hard to analyse a film where nothing really entertaining or good happens. It’s a straight-to-DVD release where you’ll find it in the obscure section on Amazon. So obscure you won’t know of it, nor will anybody ever know of this film and they shouldn’t. It’s a pile of shit. I thought i would review it because it stared Jason Mewes, star of the famous Kevin Smith films, the last being Clerks 2 and Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back being the highest in his career. I’m still a big fan of his and i find him very funny but i guess because of the business, finding decent acting jobs must be rare. The film divides into three parts, the first being a jewellery shop robbery that goes wrong and involves a couple who are about to break up, this includes Mewes. After this scene, it cuts to two friends or brothers lost somewhere in the desert and they stumble into a war. I’m not going to lie; i wasn’t really paying attention to what was happening. And then these two stories intertwined to end with a massive gun fight with Danny Trejo. Yeah, bit strange. I don’t recommend it. I’m just annoyed I’ve wasted an hour and a half on this where i could be watching something worthwhile. Don’t ever watch!
1/10
Simon Childs
Sita Sings the Blues - Nina Paley
Being a film lover, someone who watches all the latest releases from DVD to cinema, checking out films that have been given high ratings to films with low ratings, and even using this site as an example of fascination and wonderment of the process and the entertainment factor of a movie, sometimes, you really find films that perhaps have not been given the limelight it deserves. And today, I’m here to showcase a film you may have never even heard of before: Sita Sings The Blues. And just to clarify, if you have heard of this film, i salute you for having great taste. An animation masterpiece which seems to take away from the heavy labour of creating animation that is meant to represent real life as much as possible, like films that use CGI to try to recreate real people, here animation is used in a way to tell a story in a different style, not recreate what we see every day. From the first ten minutes, you may wonder what type of animation it is, and the way it looks, coming off as something YouTube would of made or a young animator creating animations for his friends, but sticking through the film, you uncover something that crosses the fun and enchantment of Disney films, the sense of mystery and freedom only seen in Asian animations mixed with quirky humour and beautiful storytelling. It’s a great mix which leads to a contrasting piece that tells a common love story but using Indian folklore but through the medium of flash animation, something not done before or on this scale.
The film is told from different perspectives and in different forms, with four major featuring ones to be the main story: a legend told from the pages of Ramayana about the story of a prince who is followed by Sita, a woman who deeply cares for him, but the prince takes her for granted. That’s the basic storyline from which i followed, true, it’s hard to follow at the beginning but once the alternative version where the story is told in a modern context, and you begin to understand it. The second style is the alternative version which has a different animation style to the first section, and retells the story for the audience to understand better. The third style is where a group of people discuss the legend in a different way, making jokes and discussing the subject in a formal way, which leads to most of the jokes and the final and fourth way is where songs are used to retell the story in a music video-esque fashion. Here is also where some of the laughs appear along with some beautiful style and vivid colours. It’s defiantly something you’ll notice, the colours and patterns, it’s something so different but at the same time formulary.
A new type of animation and style i haven’t seen before that you might fall in love with, so go check it out and experience something different.
7/10
Simon Childs
The Blind Side - John Lee Hancock
You may wonder what the title of this review may refer to but i think the phrase, never judge a book by its cover, is basically the mantra of the latest surprise hit The Blind Side. Well not latest, as it was released on DVD earlier on in the year, but I’ve only just gotten round to peeking it out after willing never to watch another Sandra Bullock film in my life. And i was sadly judging her film career and her acting ability, let’s start off by saying The Blind Side is a good film. The subject is something I’ve been interested in recently, NFL or American Football, a sport which seems to be gaining a bigger audience in the UK. With the TV show Friday Night Lights and big video game franchise Madden along with the massive event of the Super Bowl, American Football seems to be growing in size and I’m glad. It’s a decent sport which seems to entertain more than anything. And having a film about a certain player who had a bad upbringing and found his way onto the field is inspiring and something that can easily entertain a lot of people. Of course throw in modern music and cultural references we know of and you’ve got a hit. A hit in America, winning Oscar nominations and such and also sweeping at the MTV Movie Awards; which did open my eyes to the film, but i was still hesitant to dive into a Bullock film. I don’t like Sandra Bullock and the film she makes, they are for a certain audience and a certain person who is stuck in their ways. It’s annoying.
Back to the film and the plot, a black child is brought into a Christian white family’s house and soon begins living there to hopefully mould him into a better person. Having the strong mother Bullock, she comforts the shy quiet boy and helps him become smarter and gets him into a sport he was destined to play, American Football. It’s a sob story, rags to riches but with a cool soundtrack and including elements of normal life like a shitty neighbourhood or your mother being addicted to crack or being racially abused by people. It has themes we’ve all seen, but i think the goodness comes from the lead actors portray, it’s a mix of sadness and a heavy dose of inspiration, where a kid this low in society’s pecking order can rise and become a famous player. Yes this is based on a real story, so the feeling that the film was made for the biography channel for MTV is somewhat apparent, but you may be surprised by how much you kinda like it but can’t admit it.
It’s likeable in parts but not as great as other sport movies like Remember The Titans, Mighty Ducks or The Karate Kid (Does that count as a sport movie?), i recommend it for a date or something easy to watch.
5/10
Simon Childs
Part 8: Directed by David Nutter & Jeremy Podeswa
The Battle of Iwo Jima. The legendary battle that took place during the war and finally we’ll get to see it here, and you can tell this is another beat entirely compared to the last battle we had in the last two episodes. Maybe the last three will be with this battle showing Sledge die or something? He’s looking mighty pale and thin Sledge; it wouldn’t surprise me if he went crazy and did something that will change his life forever. And i still continue to like the small segments with Basilone dealing with home life and being a “celebrity” of the war. The war which he both wants to rejoin and to forget. But i like the direction of having Basilone become a teac
her to the new recruits; i think it suits him nicely. And the episode further explores him teaching the new marines and finding love, with of course The Pacific standard love scene/nudity thrown in for good measure. Seems like the episode is the bridge or the start of something for the next two episodes. With Basilone going back to the marines and the front line, you wonder if something big is going to happen to him or worse. The battle of Iwo Jima is shown in the last ten minutes of the episode, so it’s a good lead into more. It’s been an okay episode, a bit slow which was bound to happen with how fast paced it’s been lately with like three or four in a row being quick. The battle sequence at the end is again stunning and brutal with a surprise too which you can kinda see coming but the way it happens is very well made. An okay episode with a strong ending.
Simon Childs
Extract - Mike Judge
From Arrested Development onto his somewhat successful film career with hits such as Dodgeball, The Break-Up, The Ex, Juno, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Hancock, The Invention of Lying, Up in The Air, Couples Retreat and upcoming Paul, Jason Bateman is a very popular comedic actor who can somehow go from working big blockbuster films to starring in small indie flicks. But Bateman has the talent to turn those small indie flicks into laugh out loud memorable performances. Extract for instance is the latest film to be made to showcase Bateman’s true range of skills, directed by the magnificently funny and strange Mike Judge, a film essentially about an extract production company has some of funniest moments of the year with a great ensemble cast also featuring heavy hitters in the comedy scene such as Mila Kunis, Ben Affleck, Kristen Wiig, J.K. Simmons and David Koechner. So finding out this ensemble cast had been brought together by Judge, i knew had to see it, and now it’s been released onto DVD, i snapped at the chance to see this film which won’t be getting a massive release nor will it be getting a massive following, which it somewhat deserves considering how light-hearted and funny it is.
It shows the life of Joel Reynolds, owner of a flavour-extract company, married to the wonderful Kristen Wiig, and being best friends with a bar owner and drug dealer Affleck whilst juggling problems at the plant and with his marriage. It shows the bad things a man would do to get everything back on track, and this is where the true laughs emerge, giving real life instances new meaning and having the heartfelt “real” responses in situations, such as Joel willing to take drugs to calm him down, a con artist willing to “fall in love” with a guy with only one testicle who is about to win a settlement and a guy who forgets his workers names. Okay, maybe not the testicle thing but still, you get my point. The growing relationship between Joel and Cindy, the con artist is believable and it becomes apparent that Joel is only doing it to get back at his cheating wife, who don’t suspect is doing anything until all the is revealed. It’s a decent comedy with some funny scenes, especially with Affleck, rocking a mad wig. He seems to be the light relief, similar to the role of Ryan Reynolds in Adventureland.
The massive increase in small, but relatively funny films seems to be occurring more in 2010, with tons of films not getting the massive releases they deserve but instead finding their way into people’s DVD collections that follow the one or two actors such as Bateman or Affleck. Big fans of Mike Judge will like too, so i would defiantly give it a chance, you might enjoy it like i did.
6/10
Simon Childs
The Stranger - Robert Lieberman
Let’s begin with a little story of myself and my childhood and involving a form of entertainment that many would call embarrassing or ridiculous. A form of sport that has received widespread hatred because of its childish nature and it’s over the top representation. You may already know what I’m talking about but if you’re unsure, it’s called wrestling, and no not the Olympic style wrestling but the good old fashioned wrestling provided by the WWE, the World Wrestling Entertainment Company, formally WWF. Growing up as a kid in South East London, fascinated by TV and the movies, it was no surprise that growing up; sport was a massive thing in my house. Watching football, cricket, rugby and a wide range of sports, one type that always fascinated by me by the staging of it, the sense of drama and script was wrestling. It had amazing characters, fantastic storylines and real athletes performing week in, week out all types of exciting shows and matches for you to wonder and wish about. It’s something that should grow out at a young age, but i do sometimes still read about the business about what’s going on, especially PPV every month. It’s something I’ve embraced, but I’m not a massive fan where i watch it three times a week like most children or teenagers but i still have my favourite wrestlers from the past and now. Always been a big fan of The Rock, Mankind, CM Punk, Triple H, Edge, Chris Jericho, and many, many more. But one name that defined the era that i watched, was the legend, Stone Cold Steve Austin. This man was wrestling. He was the face, he was the sound, and he was it. And people fucking loved it. And still do now. That’s why, using his massive popularity with the older audiences, his film career has somehow emerged with his starring in The Expendables, the new Sly Stallone film about a group of mercenaries, but before that Stone Cold had his own film, produced by the WWE with its new film company, Stone Cold takes centre stage, but will be able to take this and run with it into a fully fledged action film career?
Sadly the answer is no. Finding out that this was to be released on DVD instead of a cinema release, i knew that the film would be poor. The quality of a straight-to-DVD release where the filmmaking is so poor, you wonder if you could do a better job yourself. The storyline is weak, the action sequences are sloppy and all over the shop. Yeah sure it’s Stone Cold in action, but he can’t act really, just act tough, and that’s what makes the difference from him and other action films that had some acting kill, that charisma that made you care, for instance Bruce Willis in Die Hard, you actually care if he lives or dies. So after finding out Stone Cold had his own movie and finally getting to see it, it’s not looking good. He hasn’t made an impact like The Rock has. But i will keep watching his work, and who knows, over time, he could become brilliant. We all wish!
And on a last note...STUNNER!
2/10
Simon Childs
The Karate Kid - Harald Zwart
Another remake for the summer blockbuster season where Hollywood churns out the best films of the year with most profit as the kids are out on their summer holidays, the parents are going on holiday to lovely places and having time off work. And for 2010, it’s The Karate Kid that has been remade with a bigger budget and grander scale to hopefully gain a new audience as well as charm the fans of the old Karate Kid films. I’m a big fan of the original Karate Kid film with Daniel La Russo fighting against the evil Cobra Kai fighting crew with the evil master John Kreese who wants blood. It’s a classic teenager film with some iconic scenes and phrases that will never die in film history, and the man who makes the film is Mr. Miyagi played by the legendary Pat Morita and looking at the martial arts history, there aren’t many people who would be right to take over the mantle from him, but one of the names that will always pop up is the awesome and historic master of martial arts and action films, the one, the only, Jackie Chan. The dude is a powerhouse in fight sequences and his whole career features some of the best ever seen and i doubt they will be beaten. But with this and Chan’s recent turns in becoming a better actor, would this be enough to either relive the past or upgrade for the better in the future? And i was hoping that Chan would do a bit of both, fusing the two together to recreate something familiar but at the same time new and I’m glad to say he does that with a whole heap of charisma and talent.
The story is adapted slightly to base it itself in today’s society where the kid moves to Beijing to start a new life with his mother and he soon meets the maintenance man of the building he lives at, Mr. Han. Mr. Han helps Dre Parker, the 12 year old kid played by the upcoming and quite likeable Jaden Smith (son of William Smith) after he is bullied outside his house and in his new school which seemingly started with Dre showing some of his dance moves to a local girl who takes a liking to him. From there, random events happen where Dre is beaten up and gets further upset about the situation until Mr. Han teaches him some moves to stop the bullies. This only about an hour in so far and the build up for Dre to become the master of kung fu he is at the end is a great pay-off, you can defiantly see the struggle and pain of training. It’s like a 45 minute long montage which is just ridiculous.
And before i give the score, a couple of things to point out, the ending is very good with the final move from Dre fucking hilarious and insane and something that defiantly trumps the crane kick from the original, which i was hoping they wouldn’t use. Also you’ll find in many scenes that Dre will give a look that is ridiculously similar to his father, like uncanny in how this kid acts and portrays himself on screen, once you see the film, you’ll know what I’m talking about. A decent remake with good fight sequences but just lacking the original spirit and the age gap isn’t a good thing.
6/10
Simon Childs
Part 7: Directed by Tim Van Patton
Wow. That’s the word that came out of my mouth once the episode had ended. It’s an eye opener for sure. It is easily the most upsetting episode so far in terms of showing the real effects of war on a human being and it’s terrifying to say the least. Some of the sequences in this part were downright shocking, especially where one of the soldiers is throwing rocks into an open skull of one of the Japanese men. It’s revolting, but i guess it’s meant to be like that, it’s meant to show the brutality of the situation there in. The constant threat of death and the amount of destruction around him with their colleagues and sometimes friends dying or being blown up. The way the battle scenes are shot must take days, weeks or even months to perfect with the amount of timing and precise detail that does into them. To have it coming out the way it did, it prov
es that this show is one of the best on TV at the moment. The story at the moment has taken its chance to really show the horrors and the effects on the men and it shows none better than on Sledge, the innocent boy going into the war, being turned into the shell of the boy who first arrived. He’s seen things he wished he hadn’t and because of it, he’s changed. Sledge now moving into the limelight of the series, only small scenes with Basilone still not over the war and Leckie being hurt and being deported it seems only Sledge is left in the warzone. Maybe the next instalments will focus on the men outside the war, with Basilone trying to grip the reality of not being in a war, Leckie recovering from his injuries or being too injured and Sledge returning home to his family the man he was meant to be but something a little off about him. I’m looking forward to the direction this might go.
Simon Childs
God of War 3 - PS3
This review is probably a few months way behind when it was released in March, but it was the first time i had gotten round to playing the game this summer and i thought i would review one of the best games ever to have been produced. I know in the future I’ll try to get games that are new and upcoming showcasing some of the best video games on the market at that time. With reviews of Call of Duty: Black Ops, Fifa 2011, Playstation Move and Scott Pilgrim vs. The World coming this season, i hope you find the reviews worthwhile in selecting the right game to buy and most importantly play. So with one of the biggest years for the Playstation brand, from having heavy beatings from Microsoft and Nintendo, the games would have to shine in 2010 and so far, they have been with massive releases of Uncharted 2, Bioshock 2, Battlefield: Bad Company 2, Final Fantasy 13, M
odNation Racers, Red Dead Redemption, Transformers: War For Cybertron and many others that were both first party games and third party, but it seemed the line-up they had would somehow beat both the dry spell of original franchises from Microsoft and the family friendly, somewhat on a downward spiral Nintendo. With so many sequels to the successive franchises and series the console had before on both PS2 and with the launch of PS3, the second generation games would come to save the day for PS3 in terms of money.
One of the biggest successes for Playstation was the original concept of God of War on the PS2, a massive smash for the company, creating a game with luxurious settings, a fascinating and engaging storyline with action sequences that were not rivalled until the latest consoles of PS3 and Xbox 360. And with the sequel God of War 2, the team behind the games, Santa Monica Studios, wanted to create a game above the first, trying to capitalise on the software given to them and create an almost epically end to the console as the next in line was about to be released. And they did, creating a game furthering their work on the first and infusing more action and storyline with more puzzles and enemies to produce one of the best games I’ve ever played. And now moving onto God of War 3, a game which is released 3 years after the last one, from the same studio but this time with the PS3, a piece of software that would be utilised by the production crew to produce one of the best gaming experiences of all time. Mixing the fantastic storyline which once and all ends in epic fashion, causing iconic and mesmerising moments where you’ll wonder if your watching a Hollywood film and action sequences that would make Michael Bay have a boner. It’s really that great. Straight from the get go you have these fights with bosses that are probably better than final bosses of most of the games of PS3. And this is only the first level. The level designs are splendid and not once did i feel bored or began to lose patience with it like some games that have a grand scale, too much to handle. Here it is just right. Perfectly fitted into about 10 hours of gameplay, you could easily finish it in a day, but it’s worth
it. It may seem short but it packs a punch with boss battles, puzzles and quick movements that will blow you away.
I won’t ruin too much of the storyline as I’m sure if you know about God of War you know about the back story of Kratos, a demi-God who after many years of being a powerful warrior becomes the God of War in the first game after defeating Aries and soon begins to think bigger threatening Zeus to become the God of Olympus. Throw in a few plot twists and turns and you’ll be rooting for Kratos to kick some butt throughout. And special mention to the sequences in God of War 3 where you’ll get to face off against certain gods, such as Hades, Helios, Hermes and Poseidon, and one of the most brutal sequences in the game is with Hermes, famous for his winged boots, Kratos does something that will both disturb you and want you to physically do it yourself. If you’ve played the game you’ll know what i mean.
Overall, a fantastic game with set pieces that are built to look and feel like a Hollywood Blockbuster, and the designs of both setting and character give it an edge over most of the games out there. Sure there are downers about the length of the game and button bashing gameplay with repetitive parts, but i think these are minor offensives, really nit-picking. So if you haven’t played it yet, go out and buy it NOW!
VISUALS: So far only two games match this for visuals, that being Uncharted 2 and Red Dead, but the boss battles alone warrants this full marks 20%
SOUND: It’s brooding, it’s vicious, it’s over-the-top sure, but it fits. The voice acting is silly at times but it matches the game, no faults i can find with it 20%
GAMEPLAY: God of War 1 and 2 were epic games and to once again feel that here makes the years long wait that extra special. It was perfect gameplay where the pace never stopped. 20%
LASTING APPEAL: Maybe not as long as many games on the PS3 like FF13 or Red Dead, but it packs a punch within the 10 hours of gameplay, there are no boring sequences just continued fun and i like that in a game 20%
SPECIAL FEATURES: Maybe lacking in online and other features, but trophies wise it will take a long time to complete and with artwork and special videos, it’s decent 16%
96%
Simon Childs
Leaves of Grass - Tim Blake Nelson
Every so often a really weird film comes out of nowhere and surprises you. Especially the people in it or the plot which somehow seems to be made from the mind of a mad man about to go on a killing spree. You know the films I’m talking about, the ones ruled by urban myth of how bad they are or for one particular scene where a tongue is cut off or a sex scene occurs that involve real sex. And for this month’s weird fucking film award goes to Leaves of Grass. Even the name is going to suggest some sort of drug use or drug connected, and it is. It revolves around the growing of drugs and how science can used for good to create a sustainable and varied choose of drugs. Wait did i say it was a good thing; i meant a horrible bad one. Now I’m not a believer of drugs but at the same time i don’t openly hate upon it, I’m that kind of person, everyone has their own choice and I’m not going to threaten people to do what i want. So I’m open to the idea of people doing it sensibly and it’s up to them. So going into the film, i was hoping the humour would overrun the fact it’s a stoner comedy with a lot less stoner, not like Pineapple Express or a Cheech and Chong movie. So once i knew it was Edward Norton as the main lead, i was a little surprised, seeing him as a professional actor who may not have the same roots in comedy been in this type of movie, i was defiantly surprised. And unfortunately after seeing the film, it doesn’t change my view greatly, it just cements the fact that it doesn’t work.
Ed Norton plays two characters, two twins, one being an ivory league philosophy professor and the other a weed grower from the Deep South with one of the worst accents of all time. Through in this whole storylines of the weed grower brother tricking his smarter brother to come back to their home town to help him with a local druglord who wants the hillbilly killed and that’s pretty much it. Of course a love story in thrown in too with the smarter brother, as every film has to have it and also the realisation of the smarter one that maybe his brother isn’t half as stupid as he thinks. It has the normal clichés of a stoner comedy but just without the comedy and random violence mixed with it. I don’t find it funny or entertaining, if anything just really boring and predictable. I expected more from Ed Norton considering his past and the knowing fact that he is one of the best actors alive. Poor show. I don’t recommend it at all.
2/10
Simon Childs
Remember Me - Allen Coulter
Robert Pattinson. A name googled more times than some of the greatest people that has ever lived, Newton, Gandhi, Einstein, and people all types of fields of science, mathematics, technology, media and the arts. His name is now one of the founding names of this generation. It’s sad to know that the Noughties will be remembered for a series of books and films that have seen to take over many people’s lives. Twilight. And when i say Twilight, with that horrible shiver down my neck, this cultural phenomenon has tore this universe into shreds because of its following, it defies logic in how so many people enjoy it. From mothers to daughters, to white people to black people, from the rich to the poor, it seems that the book has connected with a lot of people. It’s even difficult to comprehend this fact by how it’s bigger than one of the biggest book series ever, Harry Potter. So when a phenomenon defeats another, only one thing can come from it. Labels. Especially with the actors who star in these films; they are forever labelled as that role, we’ve seen it all before, where their lives are dictated by it, including their personal lives. Robert Pattinson will sadly be labelled that guy from Twilight. It’s sad but it’s true. He won’t be able to shake it off unless he does a Harrison Ford and continues to become iconic figures like Indiana Jones, Han Solo and Deckard. So with his first major lead film outside the Twilight franchise sees him trying to shake off the critics and i can say that’s not as bad as you may think.
Remember Me is a romantic drama piece that sees Pattinson fall in love with Emilie de Ravin, the lovely Claire from the epic TV show Lost. So it seems both have things to do in this film to move on. The two meet after a bet made by Pattinson’s friend to go after her in a cafe, and they soon begin to date. Pattinson beforehand is arrested after a fight and is arrested by de Ravin’s father played by Chris Cooper who shows the two young leads how to act. Through in the death of Pattinson’s brother who still haunts him long after his suicide and de Ravin’s mother being killed in front of her at an early age, it seems the two are damaged souls that get on together because of their up and down emotions. They do suit each other very well and the chemistry works. So the story follows the budding romance along with the two family problems with Pattinson’s father, Pierce Brosnan wanting to help but at the same time being a dick towards Pattinson and her daughter, Pattinson’s sister, who is very cute in the film, you will defiantly feel sorry for her.
And on a last note, a lot of controversy surrounds the ending of the film involving a certain event. Now i won’t ruin it for you, but it will swing your opinion in if it’s too soon to be using that event for a film, but it’s up to you. I thought it worked and added a different kind of twist, i just hope it isn’t used too many times as a scapegoat.
6/10
Simon Childs
The Crazies - Breck Eisner
The latest in a long line of modern remakes of classic horror films, this George A. Romero’s 70’s B-Movie hit The Crazies has been updated and significantly changed from the original and many are calling it better than the original. Now there haven’t been many examples of horror remakes that have worked, sure you can list the names of films on one of your hands for the good ones, but when it’s done right, it easily makes up the fact that the others were shit. For example, Dawn of the Dead and The Hills Have Eyes, both use traits from the past film but update it in such a way it’s on its own accord and shouldn’t just be analysed for being a rip off of the original films. But as I’ve said, there are plenty more shit remakes than good, as you can see by some I’ve reviewed about like Halloween 2 and the upcoming DVD release of The Nightmare on Elm Street, both of which many hated on because of its portrayal of its lead iconic characters. With The Crazies, there aren’t any iconic parts or characters, but instead a simple plot which we’ve seen before where a town is infected by a deadly virus turning them into angry blood thirsty slow people with weird faces. It’s kind of a cross between the virus from Cloverfield and the Resident Evil slow types of zombies.
The lead character played by the dick Timothy Olyphant, and the reason i call him a dick is because i don’t like him. I just don’t. It’s almost like the scene from Star Wars in the cantina where the guy says he hates Luke Skywalker. Well it’s like that, but for a reason. I’ve heard reports of arrogance and the way he treats other actors and directors. I can’t respect an actor when shit like that comes out. So going into the film, i knew i wouldn’t sympathise with the lead, so may that have hindered it. Or maybe it was the boring plot with standard un-entertaining characters, the predictable action and the shiteous ending. I think it was a mix of all that. But back to the plot, Tim plays the sheriff of a small town and one night, after a dead body is found in the nearby lake and water system, the water is infected by a virus which soon spreads around the whole town. The government finds out and quarantines the whole town off, separating everyone into different sections. Along with the sheriff are his wife and his second in command who seems to be the only one whom turns up to the film wanting some action. The film is so boring, you’ll want to move onto something with action. As the main character is a sheriff you’d imagine he would be trying to sort shit out and taking names, but instead he just pusses out.
A bad remake of a film that wasn’t that great to start off with. Doesn’t work in the current climate where films like this appear every year in numbers but add new twists, don’t remake the film that started it all and not change it for the better. Sloppy filmmaking.
2/10
Simon Childs
The Bounty Hunter - Andy Tennant
The third romantic comedy review in a row, and I’m beginning to hate the fact that there are so many shit films out there claiming to be funny or claiming to be about romance. Here we have one of the worst cases of it. Yes, another Gerald Butler film showing his muscular charm along with his wit and action background with a semi attractive woman from TV. And here it’s Rachel from Friends, Jennifer Aniston. And it almost seems like a comeback for Aniston as i remember the last film she was in that I’ve watched was the half decent The Break-Up with Vince Vaughan, which i found to have a good time watching. Sadly, you can tell the leading man is one of the most important things where so she can bounce off of them, like how in Friends, the funniest people are the men and how Vince Vaughan is the show stealer in The Break Up. Butler can’t quite hold his own here with just his comedic timing, but with a poor script thrown in the mix, it ends up being more about the past relationship and less about actually being a bounty hunter or about the overall message of the film, if it even had one.
The film follows Butler’s character, becoming a bounty hunter and being asked to take her ex-wife, Jen Aniston in after she missed a court appearance. So here begins the goose chase with these two with different chase sequences and mind games and the usual, going down the road of their relationship and finding out how they’ve matured and how they’ve changed their wicked ways. Then comes the reconciliation part where you’ll see either be sexy or naked or both, and that’s the main draw of the whole film, seeing Butler topless or Aniston in skin tight clothes and showing her bust. Do actors really have to resort to that to gain a popular following? Proper actors use their bodies in the role for a reason, to further the character or story for the better, not because it’s the easy way out. So we have sequences that are meant to be humorous with the bounce back witticisms from them both but the only funny scenes, which are also pretty bad, are with Jason Sudeikis, a great comedy actor seen on Saturday Night Live in the US. He’s a very funny comedian, but here he is used as a secondary comedy source and it really doesn’t work. It would have worked better if Sudeikis was in Butler’s shoes and then it would have been funny.
So overall, don’t waste your time watching this, its utter shit that will almost anger you in a way you would have never thought of.
3/10
Simon Childs
Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll – Mat Whitecross
