Herb and Dorothy: DVD Review

Herb and Dorothy: DVD Review

Herb And Dorothy
Rating: G
Released by Madman Entertainment
If you like art you'll love this.
Herb and Dorothy is the tale of two art lovers in New York who shaped a generation and managed to amass one of the most encompassing contemporary art collections.
Cameras follow the Vogels as we see them tour gallery openings, attend launches of artists and talk to the artists whom the Vogels championed and believed in right from the get go. We also trace their history of meeting, their courtship - and family's reaction to their collection which began to take over their Manhattan apartment.
It's an interesting tale as it traces their interest in conceptual and minimalist art - and shows how passion can eclipse anything else.
The pair are likeable and lovable - and you'll be seriously impressed with Herb's eye for what makes or breaks a collection. But what truly emerges is a couple whose love for each other and whose shared passion has created such an amazing collection and insight into how a movement began.
Although it has to be admitted for those who're not in the know about art, you probably won't change your mind - although listening to the various artists talk about how the Vogel's love for their work made such a difference, you'll be glad someone knows how to champion a cause very early on.
Extras: Trailer and deleted scenes make up the package - but there's very little else to say or add from what's on the screen.

Rating: 6/10

Dr Who: Space Museum/Chase DVD Review

Dr Who: Space Museum/Chase DVD Review

Dr Who - The Space Museum/ The Chase

Rating: PG
Released by BBC and Roadshow Home Entertainment

It's back to 1965 and the very first Doctor in this double release set which continues to see Classic Dr Who released on DVD.

In The Space Museum,a vast museum of relics - along with their own future selves - causes problems for the TARDIS crew and in The Chase, the Daleks once again return as they chase the time travellers through the vortex and stop at nothing in trying to exterminate their enemies.

How much you'll appreciate these releases depends on how much of a Who fan you are - and how far you're willing to suspend disbelief. With 60s Who, it's about forgetting we have great technology these days which brings the stories to life with effects - in "those days" it was about having this original show on TV the likes of which had never been seen before. Sure it's slightly slow and not as pacy as you'd like - but it's as inventive and imaginative as ever.

Extras: A great bunch once again off set any minor niggles with this release - a look at the departure of characters Barbara and Ian, a look at the appeal of the Daleks and a tribute to William Hartnell are just three of the plethora of features on the set.

Rating: 6/10

The Boys Are Back: DVD Review

The Boys Are Back: DVD Review

The Boys Are Back
Rating: M
Released by Roadshow Entertainment
From the Academy award nominated director of Shine, Scott Hicks comes this wonderfully underrated drama starring the ever suave Clive Owen.

Owen stars as Joe, a wise cracking sports journalist and absentee father (due to work) in south Australia.

He's got a pretty sweet life; a wife Katy (Laura Fraser) whom he adores and a six year old Artie (a brilliant, crowd winning performance from Nicholas McAnulty) whose hedonistic enthusiasm for life keeps him on the move.

But when his wife suddenly dies, Joe finds himself having to run the house and is forced to reconnect with his son. That's not the half of it though - as his teenage son Harry (McKay) from his previous marriage is heading over from the UK to stay.

Suddenly Joe is facing responsibilities and emotions he'd long forgotten&

Based on the memoir by Simon Carr, The Boys Are Back was criminally ignored on its general release in cinemas. It is a sensitive look at a father's relationship with his sons, brilliantly handled by director Hicks and masterfully performed by McAnulty and Owen.

With its low key warmth and heart, as well as heartbreak, I think it's fair to say that you'll be hard pushed to find a more poignant film about the complicated relationship between a father and his son.

Extras: A Little lacking here - just deleted scenes and a photographic journey.

Rating: 8/10  

The Cake Eaters: DVD Review

The Cake Eaters: DVD Review

The Cake Eaters

Rating: M
Released by Arkles Entertainment

Kristen Stewart (sort of) sheds her Bella from Twilight image in this bittersweet story of love.

Set in small town America, Stewart plays Georgia, a teen with Freidreich's Ataxia, a progressive degenerative disease of the nervous system.

Georgia suffers with a slurred speech and a stuttering walk - but one day, while at a car boot sale, she meets Beagle (Aaron Stanford), the son of a local butcher. Beagle's family has been torn apart by their mother's death and his long errant brother has also just returned to town - to a wall of bitterness and anger at his absence during the family loss.

This quiet low key, character driven indie would probably have been consigned to TV movie status (and has sat on a shelf since 2007) were it not for Kristen Stewart and the Twilight mania. That said, while she does play a variation of the Bella character, Stewart shows what a talented actress she actually is.

Rating: 6/10

The Men Who Stare At Goats: Blu Ray Review

The Men Who Stare At Goats: Blu Ray Review

The Men Who Stare At Goats - Blu Ray
Rating: M
Released by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment

Ewan McGregor stars as small town reporter Bob Wilton in this shaggy dog style story.

One day Wilton looks into the story of Gus Lacey who claims to have psychic abilities.

After dismissing the story, Bob finds he can't escape from the idea of the psychics - and despite being posted to Iraq, in the unlikeliest of circumstances, Bob comes across Lyn Cassady (a deadpan turn by George Clooney) who Lacey claimed was a major part of the operation.

With his journalistic nose well and truly piqued, Wilton follows the story having learned that Cassady was a "Jedi warrior" and part of a psychic unit started up by Bill Django (Jeff Bridges in Dude a la Lebowski mode).

The Men Who Stare At Goats is quite the loose comedy piece here and there with Clooney once again drawing on elements of his O Brother Where Art Thou goofiness - but honestly, it's really all in the script for this.
The Men Who Stare At Goats' ending comes a little unravelled (and the final scene is a bit of a disappointment) the journey is a scarily funny one with some great one liners, hysterically odd situations and moments where you actually question what you've just witnessed and whether it was based on some grain of truth.
Extras: Commentary with author Jon Ronson, director Grant Heslov and deleted scenes - as well as exclusive to Blu Ray featurette on the goats.

Rating: 8/10

Lake Mungo: DVD Review

Lake Mungo: DVD Review

Lake Mungo
Rating: M
Released by Madman
A doco style horror, Lake Mungo is an Aussie film about a sixteen year old girl Alice Palmer who drowns in the local dam.
Initially the family's overcome by the tragedy after her body's discovered - but then they start to see visions of Alice in the house - and in photos and videos.
Calling in a parapsychologist, the Palmer family begins further investigations&.however, that's when the true reality starts to come to light.
You really need to see this film before the team behind the Ring horror series get their hands on it - it's moody, evocative, creepy and disturbing. Cleverly put together, the doco style helps lend a sense of verite to the events unfolding in front of you on the screen - and the fact it's wonderfully understated and underplayed will give you goosebumps.
It's hard to talk about this without spoiling it - and to talk of spoilers is to build a mystique which isn't perhaps there.
Suffice to say this is an effective supernatural onion of an eerie film - as the layers gradually unpeel, there are some real jolts and surprises as the twists are unveiled. It's also just the right length - which seems like an odd thing to say but any further prolonging of events could put you off.
Recommended - and you may feel a little unsettled afterwards....
Extras: Deleted scenes, commentary and trailer.

Rating: 8/10

Who Do You Think You Are? DVD Review

Who Do You Think You Are? DVD Review

Who Do You Think You Are?
Series 1 - 4
Released by Madman
With nearly 30 hours worth of television, this is some in depth set.
It's the UK series which started the ball rolling - and preceded the explosive boom interest in discovering more about one's roots. (Certainly in my parents anyway)
It's a very simple premise - grab a celebrity and get them to do some basic genealogy and discover something of their history - then film the results as they find out something they hadn't really been expecting or anticipated.
The end result is compelling television - with a raft of celebs including the likes of Top Gear's Jeremy Clarkson, Stephen Fry and Jeremy Irons to name but a few, there's plenty of people from all different walks of fame.
But what the series indicates is that all of us are linked in inextricable ways to our past - in Jeremy Clarkson's case, what he found out was a real shock. Thanks to the smart way this is made, it's never intrusive and is appealing that the celebs open themselves up so much to the cameras.
Extras: Basics really - some unseen footage - and a piece giving the basics on how to research your family - there's nothing earth shattering on this but the shows are enough to keep you entertained and informed - as well as intellectually stimulated.

Rating: 7/10