The Disappearance of Alice Creed: Movie Review

The Disappearance of Alice Creed: Movie Review

The Disappearance of Alice Creed

Rating: 6/10
Cast: Gemma Arterton, Martin Compston, Eddie Marsan

Director: J Blakeson
A kidnap drama, British flick The Disappearance of Alice Creed is a tautly told tale.
As the film opens, two nondescript men (Compston and Marsan) are stealing a van, visiting a DIY shop and soundproofing a dingy apartment.
Hardly a word is spoken between them; but moments later, the reason for their endeavour is apparent when the screaming of a woman's heard.
That woman is Alice Creed (Arterton); her father is rich and the two believe that kidnapping her will garner them the cash they need to live the life of Riley.
But once Creed is locked in the apartment and the ransom demand is made, cracks start to develop all round - and it's not clear that the kidnappers' plans will go how they want.
It's difficult to fully explain Alice Creed without revealing some of the surprises that pepper it throughout and help steer it away from simply being another run of the mill drama.
With betrayals, surprises, tension and shocks, the whole thing though is a piece of twisty (and at times, twisted) film making. However, it is also a breath of fresh air as it simply involves a trio of actors and very little else. That leads to a feeling you're watching a play unfolding - but that does nothing to detract from the drama within.
It's a well-acted taut piece which keeps you guessing to the end; but it's Arterton and Marsan who really impress by bringing their A game to the piece and keep the whole thing moving along with pace and tension.
Sadly though, after about an hour, there's a dramatic lull and with most of the surprises and shock twists revealed, it makes the final thirty minutes seem a little leaden as it lurches toward its conclusion.

If you want to see stripped back film-making where the script is the star, delivered by power performances, then The Disappearance of Alice Creed is for you; it's just a shame that the story runs a little foul of itself towards the end.

Dr Who - The Complete Specials: DVD Review

Dr Who - The Complete Specials: DVD Review

Doctor Who - The Complete Specials
Released by BBC and Roadshow
Rating: PG
So it's farewell to the best Doctor Who of recent years - 10th Doctor David Tennant.
Sure, we're into the Matt Smith years now but this collection of the special feature length episodes from Tennant's final days in the TARDIS is a welcome reminder of how iconic this man made the role.
Collecting together all five specials (The Next Doctor, Planet of The Dead, The Waters of Mars and The End of Time) this set is really for the collectors as the casual fan probably already has all of these separate releases.
While the first two specials are a little varying in quality, the final three episodes really ramp up the quality and the dramatic stakes as the end nears, not only for the Doctor but for the production team which brought the series back in 2005.
Packed with extras (the majority of which have already been released on the previous releases) this set is a nice collection - but the piece de resistance is the intro to the booklet which accompanies the set.
It's written by life long Dr Who fan David Tennant to his younger self and is sweet, touching and demonstrates why the fans of this series love it so much - it really shows that the series lost a true star.
Extras: Commentaries, behind the scenes docos, Dr Who At the proms - there's plenty here but sadly nothing which hasn't already been released.

Rating: 8/10

Dr Who: The Cybermen Set: DVD Review

Dr Who: The Cybermen Set: DVD Review

Dr Who - The Cybermen Set
Released by BBC and Roadshow Entertainment
Rating: PG
This set collects together two outings for the Cybermen - one from the 70s where they face off against the eternally popular Tom Baker's Doctor Who and one from the 80s where they face Sylvester McCoy's Doctor Who.
They're opposing serials in terms of engagement; the Tom Baker's Revenge of the Cybermen serial shows a production team trying to make the best of location and script (and largely succeeding) whereas Sylvester McCoy's Silver Nemesis is from a series which was struggling with a lack of money and faith from the BBC. It makes them different watching experiences but they're still watchable fare.
However, the best part of this double release set are the extras; specifically the doco Cheques, Lies and Videotapes. This fascinating piece looks at the lengths fans would go to to get their hands on episodes of the series in the days pre-monthly DVD releases - it shows how fans would pay extortionate amounts for anything repeated fare from the Doctor. As well as the usual commentaries and docos, this is once again a superlative release on the extras front.

Rating: 7/10

Modern Family: Series One: DVD Review

Modern Family: Series One: DVD Review

Modern Family Season One
Rating: PG
Released by Roadshow Entertainment
It's rare for a comedy to show up these days which amuses on a consistent scale.
However, Emmy award winning Modern Family is that comedy series - it appeared last year and became a firm favourite with critics as well as punters.
A faux documentary style show, it centres on three portions of the modern family - a father (Married With Children's Ed O'Neill) and his younger Colombian wife (Sofia Vergara) and her son Manny; his daughter (Julie Bowen) and her family of 2 girls and one boy - she's married to the ineptly loveable Phil - and the final generation is his gay son Mitchell and partner, the ever flamboyant Cam.
It sounds as if it would be terrible but the tone's set with an excellent first episode which brilliantly introduces all the characters and sets the high level for the funny script - for example Dad Phil is trying to show how in touch he is with his kids' slang and misunderstands WTF, believing it stands for Why The Face.
Modern Family is blessed by a great ensemble cast, fantastically funny scripts and heart and humour throughout - it's difficult to pick out a stand out moment when there's so many to pick from. Trust me, this show won't disappoint - and for once it's a family comedy which has universal appeal.
Extras: Extended, deleted scenes, gag reels, family interviews which were cut from the show - a good solid bunch for a great series which will entertain time and time again.

Rating: 9/10

OSS117: Lost In Rio: DVD Review

OSS117: Lost In Rio: DVD Review

OSS 117 Lost In Rio

Rating: M
Released by Madman Entertainment
Sure the spy spoof genre's been done to death but OSS117, the latest entry-sacre bleu, a Frenchie- is pretty damn good.

Actor Jean Dujardin is Hubert de la Bath, a post war spy, who's part racist, part sexist and all funny - he even resembles a French version of Sean Connery- it's 1967 and despatched to Brazil to retrieve a microfilm, de la Bath ends up in a series of (mis)adventures which appear to channel Clouseau at times and which show he's a relic of a world gone by. However, whereas this could lapse so far into parody, it consciously stays away from that and lets the sheer nincompoopery of its agent showcase the comedy.

It's a bucketload of fun, complete with Brazilian bikini babes, a blistering Bossanova soundtrack, devilish Chinamen (as he calls them) Saul Bass style film-making and a stellar performance from dujardin.

I hope pretty soon we get to spend more time with Hubert Bonisseur de la Bath - because the whole film is a joyous spoofy romp -and far superior to Austin Powers

Extras: Outtakes, Deleted scenes, Making of, Trailer

Rating: 7/10

Donnie Darko: Blu Ray Review

Donnie Darko: Blu Ray Review

Donnie Darko Ultimate 2 Disc Blu Ray collection
Rating: M
Released by Madman
So another release for the excellent Donnie Darko - this time on Blu Ray Disc and with a heap of extras.
One disc has the original cut of the film and the second has the director's cut - for those who've not seen the film which had a breakthrough performance from Jake Gyllenhaal and a career best from Patrick Swayze, you really need to take a look.
Gyllenhaal is Donnie Darko, a troubled teen who becomes delusional and paranoid that the world will end in 28 days. But that's not the half of it - when he starts seeing a large rabbit his actions become more irrational as the end of the world nears.
Donnie Darko was director Richard Kelly's debut and what a scorching film to have graced celluloid - dark, moody and magnificent mixing scifi, horror and time travel, it still remains one of the best films ever. The transfer to Blu Ray gives it a superior look and really, you should take the time to view it - if only to see what the fuss is all about.
Extras: Commentaries, two cuts of the film, galleries, additional scenes - there's a lot to get your teeth into here.

Rating: 8/10

The Social Network: Movie Review

The Social Network: Movie Review

The Social Network
Rating: 9/10
Cast: Jesse Eisenberg, Andrew Garfield, Justin Timberlake, Rooney Mara
Director: David Fincher
Facebook - Like or dislike, it's part of our daily lives now on a massive scale.
So perhaps it was inevitable that Hollywood would turn its attention to this phenom, and now here it is.
The great Jesse Eisenberg plays Mark Zuckerberg as we dive back to the heady days of the 2003 Harvard scene - as the film opens the obnoxious and arrogant Zuckerberg is being dumped by his girlfriend (Rooney Mara - soon to be seen in the Millennium Trilogy remakes as Lisbeth Salander).
Angered by his treatment, he heads back to his college room and starts to use the internet to vent his spleen, before deciding on hacking into the Harvard mainframe so that he can set up a Harvard college-based 'Hot or Not' website to get back at the campus women.
Pretty soon, his site goes viral and causes the campus to crash - and this brings him to the attention of not only security and the admin board on campus, but also to the attention of a pair of Harvard twins, the Winkelvosses, who are working on a site idea called The Harvard Connection.
While Zuckerberg initially seems keen on the idea, he soon apparently uses the basis of that proposal to found a site, thefacebook, with business partner and long-term friend Eduardo Saverin (Spiderman's new webslinger Andrew Garfield).
However, when thefacebook gets bigger and the co-founder of Napster Sean Parker (a great turn by Justin Timberlake) gets on board to try and help spread the word, it all begins to go wrong for Zuckerberg, as blind ambition clouds his judgement.
The Social Network is written by the West Wing scribe Aaron Sorkin - and you know it from the moment the film opens.
With a sensationally wordy and intelligent opening, every character flaw of Zuckerberg is laid bare - his snobbishness, his petulance, his arrogance (as his ex tells him, "People will hate you but it's not because you're a nerd, it's because you're an asshole") are there for all to witness.
The whole film's framed around two legal cases - one brought by Saverin and the other brought by the Winklevoss Twins - and the narrative zips back and forth to both cases and the founding of Facebook.
Director David Fincher does a great job of pulling the various threads together and a blistering soundtrack from Trent Reznor keeps the whole thing pumping.

Sure, there are a couple of lulls in energy here and there (after some two hours you'd expect some kind of dip), but with a excellently written and tautly pulled together (and occasionally witty) script combined with an absolutely mesmerising turn from Jesse Eisenberg, The Social Network is simply unmissable and the film for the web generation.