Dr Who: Series 1-4: DVD Review

Dr Who: Series 1-4: DVD Review

Doctor Who - Series 1 -4 Box Set
Released by Roadshow Entertainment
Rating: PG
Cast: Christopher Eccleston, David Tennant, Billie Piper, Catherine Tate
23 discs, 2 Time Lords, a wealth of Daleks, Cybermen and adventures - what's not to love about this collected set of the first four series of the remade for the noughties audiences?
Well, this set is a timely reminder of why new Who has been so successful - there was no guarantee when it rematerialized on our screens back in 2005 that it would be a bona fide hit - but thanks to the oft overlooked presence of Christopher Eccleston behind the TARDIS, this series had sure fire hit written all over it.
And when David Tennant, a self professed fan of the show stepped behind the blue doors, the show got stellar and became bigger and bigger.
It's easy to see why the show's so popular - over 45 minutes and some 50 odd episodes, there's much to love - all of the show's cast and its supporting players throw so much into the mix as the Doctor was brought into the 21st Century.
There's only 2500 of these complete series in existence in New Zealand - but without being churlish, aside from a lavish 68 page book, there's little new to entice old school fans to shell out once again for the 4 series they're already likely to own.
Don't get me wrong - there's some great entertainment here; episodes like Dalek, The Christmas Invasion show why the show's done so well in this day and age with a great script and story being the main thrust over the effects (granted there are a few duds - Fear Her and the one with Peter Kay as a loin cloth wearing alien aren't the finest) but for the die hard fan, there's likely to be a sense of frustration that this set doesn't come right upto date with current Doctor, David Tennant's final episodes (being broadcast this Christmas).
That said, the extras are the same as the original sets - and it's quite fun to see David Tennant being given a police escort and his priceless reaction in the video diaries; there's also the behind the scenes cut down episodes of sister show Doctor Who Confidential, which beef up the package.
All in all, if you're a new fan to the show, it's a fabulous jumping off point - if you're an old school Whovian, you may be heading straight to TradeMe to sell off your old sets to get the money together for this set - or for the inevitable reboxing of it along with Doc 10's final eps.
Extras: Christmas episodes, commentaries, outtakes, deleted scenes, cast interviews, BBC idents, video diaries - a 68 page booklet - almost as gigantic as the TARDIS itself.

Rating: 9/10 for new fans, 6/10 for fans who've already bought the series

The Tooth Fairy: Movie Review

The Tooth Fairy: Movie Review

The Tooth Fairy
Rating: 6/10
Cast: Dwayne Johnson, Ashley Judd, Stephen Merchant, Julie Andrews, Billy Crystal
Director: Michael Lembeck
Dwayne Johnson in a tutu with wings, being a fairy.
It doesn't sound like your average start to any film - but with the Tooth Fairy that's pretty much part of the premise.
Johnson (none of this The Rock business) is Derek Thompson, a fading ice hockey player whose schtick is he knocks out his opponents' teeth on the ice - and hence is known as The Tooth Fairy.
However, when Thompson tells his girlfriend's daughter Tess there's no such thing as the Tooth Fairy, he's swiftly summoned before Lily (Julie Andrews) the head of the real Tooth Fairies (there's an academy of them) and ordered to serve time in their shoes.
So paired up with Tracy (Stephen Merchant), Thompson's forced to live the life of the Tooth Fairy - and face some uncomfortable tooths (erm, sorry - truths) about his world and dreams.
The premise is nothing original, and sure you don't have to be a genius to see where the film's going, but the Tooth Fairy isn't as bad as you may think it could be.
While the kids will love the humour of the goofy Dwayne Johnson getting his wings at inappropriate moments as well as when the pint sized hero faces off against a large cat, adults will warm more to the Stephen Merchant and Billy Crystal factor. Crystal is reduced unfortunately to a mere cameo as a Fairy inventor but in his one scene, he's excellent (stick around at the end for a bit more Billygoodness)- likewise the tall gangly Merchant (Of Extras fame). His Tracy, as Thomspon's mentor is nothing original (once again, he's playing a version of himself) but thanks to a likeable performance and some smart deadpan humour, he becomes one of the best things of the entire film.
Julie Andrews brings a degree of warmth to her role - but essentially it's her turn from the Princess Diaries all over again.
Sure there's a message about belief here - both in your self and in dreams, but thanks to the affability of Johnson and the cast, it's toothfully not a bad family film.

There are some awful puns using the word tooth to start off with (some of which I've chosen to share here with you) but once you get past that, there are some laugh out loud moments throughout meaning the whole experience is not a displeasurable one.

Cold Souls: Movie Review

Cold Souls: Movie Review

Rating: 7/10
Cast: Paul Giamatti, Emily Watson, Dina Korzun, Katheryn Winnick, Lauren Ambrose

Director: Sophie Bartes
Yes, there's echoes of Being John Malkovich here - but Cold Souls is a slightly different affair.
Paul Giamatti (complete with sad sack eyes and jowly cheeks) plays Paul Giamatti, a fictionalized version of the actor, who's struggling with his part in Uncle Vanya. Clearly Chekhov's play is resting heavy on him - and one day, he sees an ad for a Soul Storage place which piques his curiosity.
So, with the ad's slogan "Is your soul weighing you down?" he heads to see if he can find some relief.
What he actually finds is a surgery which can remove souls and hold them in special units (or if they want to avoid tax, can be shipped to New Jersey) to give their owners a new lease of life.
Initially skeptical, Giamatti undergoes the treatment - and things get more complicated for him when a soul trafficking group from Russia ends up stealing his soul to satiate a Mafioso style don's girlfriend. Giamatti ends up facing the possibility of heading to St Petersburg or remaining soulless for the rest of his life&.
Cold Souls is a strange, weird ride - its mournful tone belies some of the comedy on display; sure, there are some existential overtones to the film (Giamatti's not happy when he can't find his soul) and some downright funny moments (his soul, when extracted, just looks like a chickpea)
Parts of the film have weird trancelike qualities - and some of it is downright hallucinogenic as well. An excellent supporting cast - the majority of whom I've never heard of until now - is good too.
But director Bartes (who also wrote the story) has managed to get the very best out of Giamatti - put simply, he's brilliant in the role as he navigates the levity of being soulless with the horrifying reality that he needs his soul to be complete.

It's Giamatti's film and a tour de force performance which keeps Cold Souls on just the right side of a wickedly original premise- if it had been trimmed a little (its 100 minutes feel a little bloated towards the end), Cold Souls would have been perfect.

Up In The Air: Movie Review

Up In The Air: Movie Review

Rating: 7/10
Cast: George Clooney, Vera Farmiga, Anna Kendrick, Jason Bateman, Melanie Lynskey
Director: Jason Reitman
A movie about a guy who fires people for a living may not be the one film many of us want to see right now as we continue to wobble through recessionary times.
Yet with Golden Globe nominations coming out of its ears and Oscar buzz aplenty, Up In The Air finally opens in NZ cinemas.
It stars George Clooney as Ryan Bingham, a corporate gun for hire who is called in when the bosses are too cowardly to cut loose their staff. Bingham spends 100% of his life in the air and on the way to one sacking after another - and he's happy with it his non-committal lifestyle, living out of a suitcase and out of emotional harm's way.
So when his boss (Jason Bateman) brings in Natalie Keener (Twilight's Anna Kendrick), he's appalled to discover her solution is to ground the staff who do the sacking and get them to do it via webcams.
However, Ryan becomes determined to show her a little something about life and takes her across America so she can see how it's done - and how he does it differently.
Up In The Air wears its heart on its sleeve - if you're fairly film savvy, you may see some of the twists coming; however, even if you're a film cynic, there is still plenty to enjoy with the snappy dialogue and smart humour.
Clooney does what he always does - he's suave and charming as a lovable emotional rogue. But while there's plenty of irony on display in this film (The man who does the firing faces life in the gun) there's also a little bit of predictability as well - that said, Reitman does a good job of using that to his advantage and peppers the script with some very funny one liners.
Whether you buy Clooney's change of heart (the film's tagline - Meet a man looking to make a connection should give it away) is the crux of this film; but there are a couple of scenes which seem at odds to his character - he's pulled into a family drama as a sister (Melanie Lynskey) gets married but his actions there seem directly opposed to what we've come to know about him. In effect, he becomes the cliché and appears to turn his back on his way of life.
Up In The Air has an easy going charm and some great performances from all involved. Thanks to the work of Clooney, Kendrick and Farmiga, you may end up caring about these characters a lot more than you would have expected to - and then again, you may actually get a bit more infuriated with them than you should.

But Up In The Air remains Clooney's film - he's rarely been more magnetic and appealing than in this everyman role - his charm and swagger will probably add more fuel to the Oscar fire that's already burning.

The Expendables: DVD Review

The Expendables: DVD Review

The Expendables

Rating: R16
Released by Roadshow Entertainment

With a powerhouse line up of former action heroes (Stallone, Statham, Rourke, Lundgren) like the Expendables packs, you would expect something either a) pretty spectacular or b) vaguely nostalgic.

Sylvester Stallone writes, directs and stars in this tale - here he's Barney Ross the head of a mercenary unit who we first see in action taking down Somali pirates who're holding a group of people hostage.

Needless to say they're all crack action heroes and as a unit are available for hire.

Armed with guns, explosives and the ability to kick ass, the Expendables head to Vilena to fight for freedom. But what they don't know is that someone's double crossing them.

With bad dialogue, little emotion and a relative lack of plot, there's little to inspire here - though if you're after watching some of the heroes of your youth in action, you couldn't ask for more.

Nostalgic it may be - and reasonably disposable fun it is.

Extras: Behind the scenes interviews with the actors; much better to go for the Blu Ray with the big names on the commentary track - The DVD's bounty is disappointing to say the least.

Rating: 5/10

Fantastic Mr Fox: Movie Review

Fantastic Mr Fox: Movie Review

Rating 8/10
Cast: George Clooney, Meryl Streep, Jason Schwartzman, Bill Murray, Michael Gambon

Director: Wes Anderson
The first full length animated debut of director Wes Anderson sees him tackle the much loved Roald Dahl fave, Fantastic Mr Fox.
George Clooney voices Mr Fantastic himself, with Meryl Streep taking on his long suffering wife and Jason Schwartzman voicing his son, Ash.
Mr Fox is a fox under pressure - forced to give up his chicken stealing ways by his wife, he's now writing a column for a paper but clearly listless and yearning for his old ways.
So when farmers Boggis, Bunce and Bean set up near to Fox's haunt, the Fantastic one fails to quell his desire and is soon organizing one last heist with pal Kylie, an opossum who loves to zone out during conversations.
But Foxy may have bitten off more than he can chew as the farmers fight back&.
Deranged, magical, original and blessed with a wondrous soundtrack, Fantastic Mr Fox is a treat for the family for 2010.
Thanks to some great vocal performances from the likes of Clooney, Bill Murray as a badger and a stand out turn from Jason Schwartzman, the stop motion film is a great way to spend 90 minutes.
Director Wes Anderson deserves an accolade for this film - it's zany and quirky in a brand new way - and takes the animated tale to a whole new level. The puppetry is brilliantly done and fits with the overall tone of the film which is fun.
Sure, there's a subtle layer mocking Fox's arrogance, but Clooney pulls off the role brilliantly - according to our Fantastic Mr Fox featurette, Anderson apparently gathered the cast together to perform the vocals rather than the traditional isolated booth favoured by many. And it appears to have worked because there's an energy which crackles all the way through the film.
That energy's complemented by some original sight gags and some greatly unexpected funny moments - the rivalry between Ash and Fox's nephew Kristofferson is gently dark - and benefits greatly from Schwartzman's performance which adds layers to the character and is wonderfully underplayed.
You can only hope this won't be Anderson's only foray into the animated world - because what he's committed to the screen is great fun. There's a decidedly indie feel to the film - and some wonderfully inventive touches (a fight scene between Mr Fox and Willem Dafoe's Rat is choreographed against flashing lights of an electric fence) show he has a deftness of touch.

Fantastic Mr Fox will charm kids and please fans of Roald Dahl's book - it's a bonkers piece of fun.

Paranormal Activity: Movie Review

Paranormal Activity: Movie Review

Rating: 7/10
Cast: Katie Featherston, Micah Sloat, A House
Director: Oren Peli
So the film which has torn up the USA Box Office and apparently scared Steven Spielberg silly finally arrives on these shores.
Apparently based on a true story (cough, cough) this is the tale of WASPish couple Katie and Micah who live in the suburbs of San Diego. The pair are happy but have started to notice an increase in ghostly activity in their pad.
So Micah decides to buy a camera to chart any off the wall activity in the hope they can find out exactly what is haunting them - and why.
But as the camera rolls and the nights come and go, the situation grows increasingly hostile and dangerous for the pair....until both realize they are well and truly out of their depth.
Ok let's be clear about Paranormal Activity - like the Blair Witch Project before it, this film will 100% divide the audience. It's a polarizing piece - you're either 100% in or 100% out. Granted the marketing seems to be doing a lot for this film with word of mouth giving it the momentum that it needed to become a bona fide box office smash.
But that aside, Paranormal Activity is one of those films which will play on your basest fears and insecurities.
While we watch the action from the comfort of down the camera lens, there's a growing, gnawing tension which ramps the audience up - you're never quite 100% sure where the story is going.
Both Katie Featherston and Micah Sloat are good in this - but it's their ordinariness and average performances that make the film that more compelling as the inevitable spooks begin to play out (to even discuss some of them would unfairly rob you of those heart in the mouth moments you'll see on screen.)
You also have to credit Oren Peli for creating something truly different for a generation which has seen it all before - from the irony to the blood and spatter, this genre was clearly exhausted. Yet the reinvention and ability to twist your fears and deepest worries are two of Paranormal Activity's greatest assets.
Along with the minimal effects and superb sound, you'll feel sickness and panic rising in places.
However, it's with a sense of frustration towards the end, that Paranormal Activity ever so slightly misfires. Its eventual denouement will have some sections of the audience screaming at the characters as they seem to go back on their nature and fall into clichéd horror trappings.

Paranormal Activity works best with a packed audience - its psychological spooks and frights are unexpected and you may find yourself sleeping with the light on after you've seen it.