Cyrus: Blu Ray Review

Cyrus: Blu Ray Review

Cyrus
Rating: M
Released by Roadshow

Cyrus stars John C Reilly, Jonah Hill and Marisa Tomei as a mismatched trio.
Reilly is John a divorcee who meets Marisa's Molly at a party and they hit it off; so much so that after 7 years' estrangement from his ex Catherine Keener,he thinks she could be the one.

There's only one problem - her 21 year old son Cyrus (Hill) who initially welcomes John to their home but soon starts to act up in order to get him out.

Cyrus is a polished little gem of a dramedy of a film, delightfully quirky and confounds every expectation - while still delivering plenty of laughs and a good dose of heart.
The style is interesting as well - as it appears to have been shot on handheld cameras so they swoop in and out capturing every awkwardly odd moment.

The reason it works though is because of the leads - and if you give into the film's slightly weird ways and restrained humour, you'll love it

Extras: Deleted scenes, puppet movie (!) and intros

Rating: 7/10 

Heartbreaker: Movie Review

Heartbreaker: Movie Review

Heartbreaker
Rating: 7/10
Cast: Vanessa Paradis, Romain Duris, Andrew Lincoln
Director: Pascal Chaumeil
A massive hit in native France, L'Arnacouer aka Heartbreaker est arrive here on the big screen.
Duris plays Alex, a charming, expert in seduction - who resembles a French Vinny Chase from Entourage.
He's hired by various parties to break up couples; you know the ones where friends believe their friends could do better - or they're not happy.
He's good at it - and makes a reasonable living out of it too, having set up a business with his sister and dumb witted brother in law.
But he's also got money problems and with debts mounting up, he decides to take a high paying job to split Juliette (Paradis) from her fiancée Jonathan (The Walking Dead's Andrew Lincoln).
When he's taken to Monaco, Alex reckons this job should be easy - however, Juliette manages to make the work hard for him and he becomes more invested in it than he realises.
Part screwball, part farce, part rom com and part drama, Heartbreaker tries to be everything to everyone - and for the most part succeeds. With the slickness of a heist film, this stylish caper zips along with some funny moments (a pastiche of Dirty Dancing and snippets of Wham add the comedy factor).
But the end result is something like a light breezy cappuccino. There's plenty of froth and little substance at the end.
Sure, you can see what's coming a mile off - but Duris makes a good job of Alex despite some scenes being a little over the top and silly.
Paradis has some appeal as Juliette - and Lincoln impresses as the suave nice guy Jonathan.

If you fancy something a bit breezy and nothing too serious, Heartbreaker is the perfect remedy - and probably best you see it now, before the inevitable American remake hits our screens.

Dr Who - The Ark: DVD Review

Dr Who - The Ark: DVD Review

Dr Who - the Ark
Rating: PG
Released by BBC And Roadshow
Back to 1966 for this four part black and white adventure starring William Hartnell as the Doctor.
The TARDIS crew arrive on a massive spaceship carrying the final members of the human race as they head to a new home in space.
But a plague inadvertently brought by the Doc and his companions threatens their future - and their actions have shocking repercussions for all of mankind.
The Ark is known with Who circles for the Monoids - a race of rubber like aliens with one eye and a Beatles style moptop haircut. One of the less successful creatures (they can only communicate initially by sign language - which at times resembles the hand jive and other groovy dances of the sixties) they're a brave attempt at something different which sadly fail.
The story itself isn't too bad but isn't one of the strongest in the show's history- and came at a time when Who was facing the axe. Creatively it's an interesting premise which doesn't quite gel because of production failures and story issues.
Extras: Commentary, a look at HG Wells' influence on the show, One Hit wonder looks at the relative failure of the Monoids and a great doco explores the venue for the filming of many Who stories in the 1960s.

Rating: 5/10 

Harry Potter 7 Blu Ray Review

Harry Potter 7 Blu Ray Review

Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows - Part One
Rating: M
Released by Warner Home Video

This first part of the final film sees dark times ahead for the world.

With Lord Voldemort (a sinister Ralph Fiennes) completing his rise to power and the Ministry of Magic falling into the hands of the Dark Lord and his supporters, Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe) finds himself on the run - and public enemy Number One.

Following the death of Dumbledore, Potter and his friends realise they're running out of time - and opportunities - to rid the world of Voldemort.

Despite attempts to keep Harry safe, it appears no-one can be trusted and so the trio of Ron, Hermione and Harry decide now is time to try and bring Voldemort down before it's too late.

So, heading away from Hogwarts school, they set out to find the Dark Lord's Horcruxes (a sort of magical object which gives Voldemort his power) and destroy them - in the hope that that will end this battle once and for all.

Dark, bleak, moody and melancholy are just a few words to describe this, the penultimate outing from Harry Potter as the final curtain draws ever closer.

There's a lot to like in this first part - the action, such as it is (aside from an opening segment which plunges you right into the action and is breath taking on any size screen) is held by the trio of actors.

And for once, they impress; there's no way these kids could have dealt with such dark material and such emotional scenes earlier in their career.

Sure, Rupert Grint rolls out his trademark gurning face at times, but director Yates (and probably the material) reins it in this time.

To be honest though, there's hardly room for humour throughout - with jumps and jolts, the maudlin atmosphere is spooky, frightening and will be nightmarish to the younger end of the audience.

There's much of a "quest" feel about this film - perhaps, inevitably it would be the case as the story centres on the hunt for Horcruxes, swords and so forth.
It also means at times, there's little for the casual viewer - every lingering hug and stolen glance has some kind of significance and will be lost on those who've not followed the series or the book.
The best part though has to be the ghoulish animation which accompanies the tale of what exactly the Deathly Hallows are - with shadow animation and a Gothic feel, it's a stunningly well realised moment that stands out from the rest of the film.

But the problem is that it all feels too much of a set up for the final part - which granted, is, in some ways, no surprise.

The whole film has an ominous tone which doesn't have the pay off that's needed and as a result the ending to all the brooding and foreshadowing doesn't pack the emotional punch which was needed to whet my appetite for the final film, which comes out in 2011.
Extras: A 2 Disc DVD set comes packed with some good stuff - including a game of golf between the actors who play Weasley and Malfoy which charts their decade long friendship; there's also mini docos as well - but the Blu Ray contains a tantalising look at the final film, coming very soon&

Rating: 8/10

Dark Skies: DVD Review

Dark Skies: DVD Review

Dark Skies
Rating: M
Released by Shock DVD

Late 90s UFO conspiracy show Dark Skies was notable for many reasons at the time.

It crested a wave created from the success of the X Files and launched Eric Close as an actor (before he went onto Without a Trace)

It was also notable for launching to the fanfare that it would run over five seasons - if the ratings held up.

Sadly they didn't - so we're left with only the one season.

It centres around a young couple in the 60s John Leongard and Kimberly Sayers (Close and Megan Ward) who are caught up in the conspiracy of an alien invasion by a group called The Hive.

But opposing their hunt for the truth is the Majestic 12, a covert government group who'll do all it can to stop the truth coming out- and it seems all of history as we know it is a lie and was manipulated by these two groups.

Clever and well written Dark Skies still holds up reasonably well, some 15 years later.

Well acted and with a sense of compelling story telling, the 18 episodes all hang together and pack in great performances from Close, Ward and the much missed JT Walsh as the bad guy.

It's just unfortunate the season ends on a frustrating note which will never be resolved.

Extras: Photogallery

Rating: 7/10

Luther: DVD Review

Luther: DVD Review

Luther
Released by BBC and Roadshow
Rating: R16
The brilliant Idris Elba of The Wire fame finds himself in a BBC crime drama about a troubled detective (aren't they all?) lasting six episodes.
Elba is John Luther - who as the series opens is being brought back into work after being cleared from an investigation into his part in a case.
But no sooner is this maverick cop back on the beat than he finds his life taking all manner of turns for the worst.
Hoping for a reconciliation with his wife (Indira Varma), Luther discovers his already fragile world teetering on the brink into a series of investigations which push him to the very edge.
A little slow to get going, Luther is worth persevering with.
Mainly because of its star Elba who veers from burning passion and rage to complete vulnerability - and all of it thanks to a nuanced performance.
Which is a relief because the stories themselves are nothing spectacular - and may explain why the show's only coming back for another two episodes.
Ultimately Luther rises on Elba's turn and falls on the lack of originality in the script - it's perfectly watchable but instantly forgettable when it's finished.
Extras: Brief doco

Rating: 6/10

Sarah's Key: Movie Review

Sarah's Key: Movie Review

Sarah's Key
Rating: 8/10
Cast: Kristin Scott Thomas, Melusine Mayance, Niels Arestrup, Aidan Quinn
Director: Gilles Paquet-Brenner
Based on Tatiana de Rosnay's best selling novel, Scott Thomas stars as American journalist Julia Jarmond.
She begins to look into the Vel'd'Hiv Roundup in 1942 in France as part of a magazine article but discovers that she shares a key connection to what happened in the past to a Jewish family and their little girl called Sarah.
As she digs further into the past, and vivid flashbacks bring to light what happened, Jarmond finds that the present and future can definitely be influenced by what has already happened.
Kristin Scott Thomas has done little recently cinematically to impress after Leaving and Love Crime; so it's great to report that she's back on form in this exquisitely layered and powerful drama.
The film starts with two children bouncing and giggling in a bed in 1942; but with a dreaded knock at the door, everything changes.
This film is arrestingly good and packs a mighty wallop as the pieces begin to fit together; the story from 1942 is horrifically well realised, and conjures up a time we hope never to see again.

It's a strong sense of direction that delicately weaves together these two tales, stretched 67 years apart as they are - and thanks to the sensitive acting of Scott Thomas, you'll be left an emotional heap at the end.