Jackpot: DVD Review

Jackpot: DVD Review

Rating: R16
Released by Vendetta Films

Another Scandanavian crime thriller, Jackpot is yet further proof that the Nordic way of looking at life is somewhat skewed.

After a violent shoot out at a porn shop, one survivor, Oscar remains. Surrounded by eight bodies, and the police and clutching a shotgun, Oscar's immediately hauled into the cop shop to be interrogated as to what exactly he knows about the shooting....

However, while the investigating detective Solør is convinced Oscar's guilty, Oscar begins to explain what happened - and how it all came from the winning of a football pool which netted four men over 1.7 million kroner and caused all manner of divisions.

Jackpot is as dark a black humoured story as they come - it's also incredibly amusingly dry throughout.

Oscar's choice of colleagues for the football pool happens to be three ex-cons, Billy, Thor and Dan who are particularly inept at division (a running gag centres on how they're unable to work out exactly how much money each of them will get) but whose propensity for mistrust and paranoia outweighs the benefits of the win.

But there's a very tongue in cheek feel to some of the extreme violence throughout; when one ganglord's killed in the shoot-out, his final words to a co-worker in the porn shop is to plead with him to go and pick up his son. To which, the co-worker asks if he'll need written permission to do that.

It's that kind of off-kilter, slightly left-field view which permeates the slickly produced piece and thanks to a snappy running time, touches of Fargo (think chippers) Jackpot is a twisty, albeit slight shaggy dog story with a fun pay-off that's as pulpy and in keeping with the genre as you'd expect.

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To Rome with Love: Movie Review

To Rome with Love: Movie Review

Cast: Woody Allen, Alec Baldwin, Penelope Cruz, Jesse Eisenberg, Ellen Page, Greta Gerwig
Director: Woody Allen

After his recent fantastical offering in Paris, Woody Allen returns.

This time, he and an ensemble cast head to la bella Italia, Rome, for another fantasy magical comedy offering - To Rome With Love.

Visitors to and residents of Rome find their lives changed by the adventures and predicaments they find themselves in.

From Jesse Eisenberg's trainee architect, Jack, who's tempted by his girlfriend's best friend Monica (Ellen Page) to Roberto Benigni's Leopoldo, who awakes one day to find his life has been turned into that of a celebrity, chased at every turn by the paparazzi, this is a mix of farcical and the comedic, with a pinch of the serious thrown in.

Allen himself is back in his usual neurotic form as a frustrated former opera director whose daughter is engaged following a whirlwind romance to one of Rome's locals. When he heads there, he discovers his daughter's father-in-law is a talented singer - but only when he sings in the shower...

It's full of whimsy, fantasy and light heartedness - but it didn't half rub me up the wrong way. Allen seemed to be a parody of himself and all his neuroses wound up to 11; with comments like "I have an IQ of 150 - you're thinking in euros, in dollars, it's a lot less" and "Don't psychoanalyse me! Many have tried. All have failed.", it's like he's rolling out his best lines.

Like any series of stories, some fly, whereas others falter and fail, proving their flimsy coincidence is all a little too much to bear - from the farce of the newly married husband whose wife wanders off only for him to be left with Penelope Cruz's call girl and his parents thinking that's his wife, it's an intriguing mix which doesn't quite work out as well as perhaps it should.

It's a shame because Allen's eye for the beauty and majesty of Rome from behind the camera is once again magnificent - even if his writing is stereotyped and a little too farcical and fantastical to take seriously. But then, perhaps that's some of the reason for To Rome With Love - it's a postcard and declaration of amour for the city and one which will resonate with those looking for light and flouncy Woody Allen.

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Django Unchained: Movie Review

Django Unchained: Movie Review

Cast: Jamie Foxx, Christoph Waltz, Leonardo di Caprio, Samuel L Jackson, Kerry Washington
Director: Quentin Tarantino

Quentin Tarantino's back in true trademark skewed style - and he's already dragging with him five Golden Globe nominations for Django Unchained, his take on the spaghetti western.

It's set in America in 1858 and Jamie Foxx plays Django, a slave who's been separated from his wife Broomhilda (Washington) and part of a chain gang. He's sought out by former dentist turned bounty hunter Dr Schultz (a stunningly great turn from Christoph Waltz). Schultz seeks out Django as he knows what three of his quarry look like - and the pair form an alliance, working through the winter and capturing bad guys, dead or alive (mostly dead though in bloody Tarantino fashion).

But Django's got one thing on his mind - the return of his wife. And making a deal with Schultz, the pair set off for slave laden estate Candie land owned by Leonardo di Caprio's Monsieur Calvin Candie (who has a side line in mandingo fights) and run by Stephen (a cowed Samuel L Jackson) to free her once and for all.

What do you say about Django Unchained?

Violent, pulpy, bloody, funny and trademark Tarantino, it's a revenge flick through and through. Filled with, of course, historical liberties, it's a stylish film which has Quentin's pawprints all over it - from the fantastic soundtrack to patented patter and violence and zoom shots. (Plus an old Columbia logo at the start of the film sets the reverential tone for the westerns and cinema from days of yore.)

And yet, it's anchored by a tremendous turn by Christoph Waltz, who commands the screen from the moment he arrives on it, drawn by a horse and cart with a giant wobbling tooth attached by a spring on its roof. Through a calm and intelligent exterior, Waltz is a towering presence over the film and in some ways, overshadows everyone who appears - with the exception of Leonardo di Caprio, whose flouncy cotton plantation owner Calvin Candie is all flourish and charm, until his anger is aroused at which point the tension has you on the edge of your seat before it all explodes in violence. It's no wonder these two have been granted Golden Globe nominations - they're rarely matched on this celluloid outing.

So it's fair to say that Jamie Foxx brings a quiet and measured performance as Django, but it's not until the final part of the film that he actually gets to shine, because of how towering Waltz and DiCaprio are. Even Samuel L Jackson as the toadying and calculating runner of the home Stephen is more sidelined by these - but at the end of the day, you can't have the final mix without all the ingredients and it's not to suggest their performances are lesser, but that their superior turns pale when compared to the electrifying performances from the other two. Each get their time to shine away from the others and when they do, you can't take your eyes off the screen.

Django Unchained also suffers a little from a long winding narrative, with some extra excursions (including Tarantino's bizarre appearance and attempt at an Aussie accent) seeming better suited to the cutting room floor than in this 2 hour 45 minute epic, occasionally over-indulgent and sprawling vengeance flick. A little more expeditious editing could have turned this occasionally sprawling N-word littered Western into a tighter piece without losing the character touches and humorous moments which stand out. (One riotous sequence sees a posse of sack wearing vigilantes railing about how they can't see through their eye slots)

Pulpy, trashy and true Tarantino, Django Unchained is a stunning and audacious piece of film-making which has artistic and stylish flourishes aplenty and offers up cinema lovers the typical Tarantino cocktail of furious film-making, guaranteed to nourish and at the same time, confront with its brutal -and brilliant -touches.

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The Campaign: DVD Review

The Campaign: DVD Review

Rating: R16
Released by Warner Home Video

Enter into the fray, The Campaign movie, the latest contender in the political comedy landscape.

In North Carolina, Will Ferrell is unopposed candidate Cam Brady; he's been the incumbent for years and is going for a fifth term as congressman. But, when his lusty ways get the better of him and a misdialled smutty phone call ends up going to a Christian family, he starts slipping in the polls.

Sensing their influence over the district may be slipping with Brady faltering, two CEOs (Ackroyd and Lithgow) decide to put up rival candidate, Marty Huggins (a moustachioed Galifianakis) to shake up the race.

And that's when the politics get dirty - Huggins vows to run a clean campaign and Brady is determined to do whatever he can to stay in power...

So, the big question has to be - does (and should) the Campaign 2012 get your vote?

Not exactly. This is not a satirical comedy, aimed at the smarter side of politics; it's a hit and miss, scrappy affair which proffers up a few laughs here and there but no smart intelligent insights into American politics. (Mind you with Ferrell and Galifianakis on board, what would you really expect?)

Sure, there are some funny one-liners dusted throughout (some of which are unprintable here)as the campaigning gets personal and the tit for tat silliness escalates. There are also some amusing sequences (including what not to do with a baby and world famous dog) but most of the humour falls a little flat given the pedigree of who's involved. The uneven film starts off amusing and with its tongue sharply in its cheek but quickly runs out of steam like a campaign lacking in finance and a groundswell of support.

The Campaign is merely a collection of amusing moments in a broad scatter-shot comedy which packs no sharp satire. You will laugh (occasionally) but you'll find the next gag is a long time coming as the story plays out over its short 85 minute run time.

Sadly, this campaign and its candidates don't get my vote..

Extras: Deleted scenes

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Brand new Iron Man 3 still released

Brand new Iron Man 3 still released 

We've already had a heap of new Iron Man 3 images with Robert Downey Jr (see below) and today's there's a new image of a somewhat battered Tony Stark in Iron Man 3.

Previously -  Marvel.com's released four new images of Iron Man 3 for you to look at - including a shiny Iron Patriot, Rebecca Hall as Maya Hansen, a broody looking Robert Downey Jr as Tony Stark and a rather bloodied Iron Man.

Iron Man 3 will feature Tony Stark aka Iron Man trying to pick up his life after his world is shattered by Sir Ben Kingsley's terrorist, The Mandarin....

Sightseers: Movie Review

Sightseers: Movie Review

Cast: Alice Lowe, Steve Oram
Director: Ben Wheatley

Sightseers is the best black comedy you will see this year.

As an ex-pat Midlander who's been forced to endure some caravan holidays, I can perfectly attest to what Ben Wheatley's brought to this killer film.

Steve Oram and Alice Lowe play Chris and Tina, a pair of recent lovers who decide to escape Tina's stifling mother by heading away on a caravanning trip around the Yorkshire dales in the UK. But Chris is a veritable powder keg of anger, waiting to boil over...and as the mundane turns to murderous, the very dark humour is ratcheted up to 11.

The thing is combined with Tina's slightly creepy attitude (scarred after her mum's dog died in a knitting needle accident that she caused) and Chris's bristling ginger beard of pure rage, SightSeers manages to be a spectacle which heartily amuses and equally horrifies.

A radical dosage of ultra violence complements (and yet never overshadows) this apparently occasionally improvised mix; throw in some great banter (one scene sees Tina's mum shouting that her daughter was an accident) as well as a whole heap of phrases which are destined to become quotable (brown lipstick anyone?) and this is the perfect concoction of horror and humour.

But what Wheatley's also managed to capture is the various personalities who inhabit caravan holidays - be they the annoying pedants, noisy neighbours or new age nutjobs, it's a perfect dichotomy of lives lived in middle England.

Replete with great shots of the countryside and a cup so filled with black darkness that it runneth over, Sightseers is to be wholeheartedly recommended if you've got a slightly warped view of life.

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Brand new Great Gatsby trailer

Brand new Great Gatsby trailer

A brand new trailer for The Great Gatsby has arrived...