Misfits Series One: DVD Review

Misfits Series One: DVD Review

Misfits Series One
Released by Roadshow Entertainment
Rating: R18
Made for the digital arm of Channel 4 in the UK, Misfits is a terrific series about a group of five criminal misfits who are out carrying out community service when their worlds change.
Hit by a freak storm, the gang gradually find out they've got superpowers - and that the death of their community service minder is being investigated by social services...and they've all had a hand in the death.
It sounds like a rip off of Heroes in many ways - but what sets Misfits apart and gives it its fantastically fresh feel is that none of these guys get a cool superpower merely one which accentuates their insecurities.
I don't remember the last time I was so hooked on a TV mini series so quickly - within 10 minutes into episode one, these characters are so well written and rounded that they're believable, funny and realistic. It's also in the script and acting of the relative newcomers that make this such an easy watch - and despite being only six episodes long, you're left wanting more immediately.

Extras: Behind The Scenes, Simon's Films and the Making of Misfits will get you ready for series two coming soon.

Rating: 8/10

The Blind Side: DVD Review

The Blind Side: DVD Review

The Blind Side

Released by Warner Home Video
Rating: PG

The film that netted Sandra Bullock an Oscar on the same weekend as she scored a Razzie finally hits DVD.

Based on a 2006 book, The Blind Side is the story of Michael Oher (Quinton Aaron), a towering gentle giant who's from the wrong side of Memphis. Homeless, apparent family-less and with no prospects at all, Michael's life is changed when his path one day accidentally crosses with Sandra Bullock's brassy, Southern sassy Leigh Anne Tuohy.

The Tuohys are from the right side of town; Leigh Anne's husband owns a heap of Taco Bells and with their Christian way of life and ethics, they never want for anything.

So in the true spirit of altruism, the Tuohys take in Michael and begin to offer him some hope - and some of that hope gives him the belief he needs to play American football.

I know exactly what The Blind Side is aiming for - it has aspirations to be inspirational and is clearly pitching purely and simply at uplifting.

But sadly, personally it didn't strike the chord with me.

Sandra Bullock is good as Leigh Anne but I couldn't shake the feeling having seen other Oscar nominated performances that she didn't quite deserve to walk off with the statuette - she does ballsy and headstrong with a heart well but is it Oscar winning? Well that's for debate I guess.

Extras: A very light Additional Scenes

Rating: 5/10

From Paris With Love: DVD Review

From Paris With Love: DVD Review

From Paris With Love
Released by Sony Home Pictures
Rating: R16

From a story by Luc Besson and from the director who made Liam Neeson an action man in Taken comes From Paris With Love.

Jonathan Rhys Meyers stars as James Reece, a young employee of the US ambassador in France. With his 1920s style spiv like moustache and slightly uptight attitude, Reece is a model employee, deeply in love with his girlfriend Caroline and when his country calls him, he's a bit of a rookie spy.

He yearns to play a bigger role in the espionage world.

He's given that chance - enter John Travolta's dome headed slightly unhinged Charlie Wax who's an operative with the CIA and in France to try and stop a terrorist attack.

But given these two are polar ends of the spectrum when it comes to attitudes and Reece finds himself in a world he never imagined he'd be part of.

What do you say about From Paris With Love? With its tagline, Two agents, One City, no Merci, explosions, gunfights and beatings set to heavy metal, let's be clear this isn't rocket science - or a film you particularly need to concentrate on the plot of (although you do have to keep up).

However, it is more entertaining than you'd expect.

And it's worth it for just one moment - to see John Travolta finally get that burger he talked about in Pulp Fiction all those years ago....

Extras: Making of, deleted and extended scenes and a music video

Rating: 6/10

Animal Kingdom: Movie Review

Animal Kingdom: Movie Review

Animal Kingdom
Rating: 9/10
Cast: James Frecheville, Joel Edgerton, Ben Mendelsohn, Guy Pearce
Director: David Michod
One of the hits from the 2010 New Zealand International Film Festival, Animal Kingdom duly deserves its wider release.
An Aussie crime thriller Animal Kingdom by writer director David Michod, this is the Melbourne set story about a crime family falling apart amid police scrutiny - and how a teenager previously estranged from the underworld becomes involved.
It opens with Josh (newcomer James Frecheville) discovering his mum's heroin overdose - and calmly watching an episode of Deal Or No Deal as it all goes down.
With no family to turn to, he's taken into the bosom of the Cody family - a local crime gang who're in their twilight of their career thanks to continual police surveillance.
When one of the Cody family is brutally dispatched by the cops, tensions escalate - and soon Josh is in deeper than he expected - and with Guy Pearce's Detective Leckie using him as leverage to try and bring down the syndicate, Josh soon realizes he has to take a side - and that the wrong one could cost him his life.
Animal Kingdom is a tense enthralling affair which hooks you in when you least expect it.
Thanks to the wonderfully layered performance of newcomer James Frecheville,you're caught in the grip of this slick slow burning thriller as you're never quite sure when it's going to explode into violence; there's little of that throughout but thanks to welcome directorial restraint, when it does happen,you're shocked.
With a moody ominous OST, some scenes crackle with uncertainty as you wait for the inevitable to hit. Ben Mendelsohn deserves mention as the volatile uncle Pope whose actions drive so much of the film.
But the real star of this film is relatively new director David Michod - he's clearly now a presence to watch over the coming years with this essential feature film debut.

Animal Kingdom is the perfect intelligent and excellently plotted antidote to fast paced unsubstantial crime films- it's a savage must see.

Despicable Me: Movie Review

Despicable Me: Movie Review

Despicable Me
Rating: 8/10
Vocal talent:Steve Carell, Russell Brand, Jason Segel, Julie Andrews, Kristen Wiig, Jemaine Clement
Director: Pierre Coffin
Gru (Steve Carell) is the world's number one baddie.
Built like Dr Frankenstein's helper Igor, and with a giant hook for a nose, he's an imposing sour faced figure. The kind of guy who will see a child crying in the street, will make them a balloon animal to help them smile and then pop it in front of them.
However, one day Gru finds his position atop the league table of bad guys is being usurped by a newcomer, Vector (Jason Segel) to the world stage who's stolen the Pyramids and replaced them with inflatable ones.
So aided by a fleet of diminutive yellow minions, Gru decides to unleash an audacious plan to steal the moon and bring the world to its knees.
But once again, he finds his plans threatened by Vector. And to make matters worse, Gru's forced to adopt a trio of orphans (Margo, Edith and Agnes) to help him achieve his despicable plan.
Yet, things don't quite go as planned - and soon Gru finds his life and view of the world changed by this clutch of kids.
Despicable Me has a wicked sense of humour - and an inspired lunacy about it (thanks largely to the behaviour of the yellow minions). The story will amuse both young and old - and it's all thanks to Carell's at times wearied Russian style vocal performance, there's a lot of humour throughout.
There's also a nice amount of sadness and dark tragedy running concurrently through Despicable Me - Gru's a kid who had all his dreams quashed by his dismissive mum's acerbic putdowns. For example, as a child when he tells his mum he's going to go to the moon, his mum simply states that she doesn't know how given that NASA's stopped sending the monkeys. That, coupled with villain envy and some genuinely fun moments, finds Gru given as much of a 3D treatment as the animation around him.

Despicable Me is a delightful treat which will perfectly amuse the entire family.

The Sorcerer's Apprentice: Movie Review

The Sorcerer's Apprentice: Movie Review

The Sorcerer's Apprentice
Rating: 7/10
Cast: Jay Baruchel, Nicolas Cage, Alfred Molina, Monica Bellucci
Director: Jon Turteltaub
So it's a new generation of wizardry ways.
In the latest from Disney, Nicolas Cage stars as Balthazar Blake, a sorcerer who's fought his arch nemesis, Maxim Horvath (Alfred Molina complete with requisite English bad guy accent and goatee beard) throughout time - and since the time of Arthur and Merlin.
But Blake needs to find the Prime Merlinian, a sorcerer who has so much power that they can wield the power of Merlin and help vanquish Horvath.
Enter Jay Baruchel's Dave, a nerdy physics major who ten years ago met Blake, was told of his destiny and then watched Blake disappear into thin air. So obviously he has a few issues with self esteem, doubts and of course, women.
However, when Blake reappears, Dave finds he is slap bang in the middle of Maxim's plans to use an ancient power to raise an army of the dead and take over the world&can Dave help Blake save the day?
The Sorcerer's Apprentice is a fresh, fun take on the world of sorcery and magic; it's fantastical family fun complete with its everyman central character played with humour and likeability by Jay Baruchel (How To Train Your Dragon).
Nicolas Cage gives his usual laconic slightly dry take on his character - complete with shaggy hair and trenchcoat, he looks like a cross between the Matrix and the homeless.
Yet, with some eye popping special effects (some of which hark back to the Mummy) and a script which is smart enough to throw cinematic nods to the older end of the audience (Star Wars and Indy are just two of them), the team behind this know how to keep all sections of the audience engaged. Also it's well worth seeing for the clever tongue in cheek reference to Fantasia - it seems like a corny idea but the homage is a wonderful piece to those in the know.

Sure, Cage rolls out some awful babble at the start and the film threatens to plunge into a pit of its own po-faced making, but with an engaging Baruchel, some excellent set pieces and effects, the whole thing hangs together nicely for some good family fun.

A Prophet: Movie Review

A Prophet: Movie Review

A Prophet
Rating: 9/10
Cast: Tahar Rahim, Niels Alstrup
Director: Jacques Adiard
Winner of the Grand Jury prize in 2009 at Cannes,A Prophet clearly deserves its accolades.
This is the tale of Malik, (Tahar Rahim) a 19 year old French Arab sentenced to 6 years in jail.
Finding himself in over his head initially, Malik is ordered to kill a Mafia informant by the Mob inside the prison - or forfeit his own life.
With no choice, Malik carries out the crime and subsequently finds he rises through thr ranks of the Mafia inside the jail. Pretty soon, Malik is a pivotal part of life behind bars - but soon realizes that there will come a time when he's leaving jail to embark on the next stage of his life.
A Prophet is a sophisticated, restrained and sensitive drama with a wonderful central performance from Tahar Rahim.
It's deeply compelling, richly rewarding and gripping from beginning to end.
Don't be put off by 155 mins running time; every single minute continues to build a richly layered and subtle film which is nothing like you've come to expect from the prison genre. There's little cliché here and with such a well paced story, there's much to lose yourself in as you invest the time in Malik's life.
Sensitive direction from Adiard capture the reality of life in jail - seasons come and go as life continues - coupled with great performances A Prophet soars.

This is a film to be treasured-this is cinema at its most searing; a film which you can't tear your eyes from and one which will live on with you after you leave the theatre.