Downton Abbey: Season 3 : Blu Ray Review

Downton Abbey: Season 3 : Blu Ray Review

Rating: M
Released by Universal Home Entertainment

So, it's back for another year - another outing for the gang at Downton - and this time, it brings a wedding as well.

Following on from a relatively lacklustre season 2 was never really going to be a challenge but with critical eyes on this latest outing, there was always a sense that the makers had to up their game a little.

And it's fair to say they have. To a large degree.

There's still the ongoing Bates saga to sort out and a wedding of Mary and Matthew, but this year brought economic and health worries to Downton as the estate ran out of money and there was cancer concerns within the ranks.

I think, if anything, Downton Abbey is becoming more and more soapy as time goes on - but with strong performances from the likes of Hugh Bonneville and occasionally strong writing, it's easy to see why it's still so popular. Though, the ending this year, with a spot of cricket, was something of a let down.

Downton will continue to garner fans with this latest release and certainly the masses who adore it will continue to do so - with a bit of an improvement, non-fans may also take some solace in this masterful release which mixes culture with soap to good effect.

Rating:

Seven Psychopaths: Movie Review

Seven Psychopaths: Movie Review

Cast: Colin Farrell, Sam Rockwell, Christopher Walken, Woody Harrelson, Abbie Cornish, Tom Waits
Director: Martin Mcdonagh

From the writer/ director of In Bruges, comes Seven Psychopaths.

Farrell is Marty, a struggling writer who is trying to put together a screenplay but getting nowhere with it. Part of that is due to his friend Billy (Rockwell), who's running a sideline, dognapping. In part he's doing that scam with Christopher Walken's Hans - but they fall foul of the fact Billy's stolen a dog from gangster Charlie (Harrelson).

When Charlie works out what's going on, the scene is set for a massive showdown.

To say Seven Psychopaths is a darkly black comedy is a bit of an understatement.

It starts with two mafiosi types discussing whether Dilinger was shot in the eyeball and concludes in a manner which really does set the tone for what lies ahead. It's incredibly similar to In Bruges, but perhaps is lacking a bit of the maudlin tone which pervades that piece of celluloid.

Riffing on movie cliches, crime cliches and proffering up a whole heap of one-liners, this ludicrously overbaked story finds its feet and certainly runs with it, thanks in part to the performances of Farrell, Rockwell and Walken who make a farcical, if talking nonsense, trio.

It's an initially clever script too - and one which becomes self referencing towards the end (where it sadly starts to lose some of its initial gumph and gumption). And yet, Seven Psychopaths certainly manages to carry it off mashing up genres, pouring on the dark comedy as it freewheels on and piles in some surrealist sequences which are one shaggy dog story after another. For a while, at least.

It's violent too and splattered with blood and gore in ways that the very darkest of crime genres should be too. However, I can't help but feel that aside from one well written female character, the other women in this are treated somewhat badly - and I can't quite work out if they are supposed to be caricatures of women within the crime genre. It's borderline misogyny in places and certainly a difficult laugh to garner from the audience. Despite throwing in dialogue from Hans which critiques the poorly written women characters and that psychos get a bit boring after a while, it's an odd mix and one which doesn't sit well with me personally.

Ultimately about friendship and buddies (Rockwell in particular excels in his role, it's a crime film which revels in its deep seated black humour, served with a side of slit throats and an ensemble which satirises as it slaughters. It ends up in an absurdly imagined and over the top shoot out sequence but there's never really anywhere else it could have gone.

Seven Psychopaths certainly brings the laughs and the blackness but whether you'll love it or not, depends on how much you adore the crime genre in general and if you're ready to see a derivative film which isn't quite as clever as it thinks it is.

Rating:

The Expendables 2: Blu Ray Review

The Expendables 2: Blu Ray Review

Rating: M
Released by Roadshow Home Entertainment

Having successfully blown up a lot of stuff (and the box office in the process) in the Expendables back in 2010, it was perhaps no surprise that Sly and his mercenary team of stars from the 80s would return again. (Sly and the Family Stallone, anyone?)

This time around, it's a bit more of a personal quest for the group.

When CIA operative Church (a relatively non-smirking Willis) commands Barney Ross (Stallone) and his unit to extract a safe from a shot down plane, the group duly heads out to pay off their debt.

But what they don't realise is that sneering sunglasses wearing bad guy Jean Vilain (Seriously???) is also after the contents of the safe - and when he takes out one of their own, the Expendables' thirst for retribution propels them to seek revenge.

And that's really it for plot.

Except for plenty of explosions, big guns being shot and crowd pleasing cameos (if you're a fan of the 80s action genre), then the Expendables 2 doesn't do anything more than what it sets out to. There are two schools of thought on this one - it may be bigger, louder and packed with more explosions and mayhem than ever before, but it doesn't half feel a little soulless as it goes about its plot.

This ageing action thriller is surely aimed at giving the 80s action stars some cred and show that they can still do it with the best. However, it ends up feeling more akin to an episode of The A Team populated by your slightly embarrassing parents, who are determined to show they can still do it, via some grunting, running and generally smacking down whatever they can to demonstrate they're still in shape.

It's incredibly dour with a bit of self deprecation here and there but not enough to carry it off; sure, there's cheese aplenty and cameos to tug at the toughest action hero heart as it enters its final furlong - and there's also risible dialogue throughout. Even with the addition of a female to the mercenary group seems like a shallow attempt to shake the dynamic up and get a few women into the auditorium.

And yet, despite railing against these ideas, I can't quite tell if the film deliberately chose those intentions or whether those involved are such geniuses of the genre that we've all had the wool pulled over our eyes.

Arnie's rolled out like some geriatric deus-ex-machina, and spends his little on-screen time stealing all his scenes, shooting everything and dispensing various catchphrases from his past (no sign of Hasta la vista, so maybe we should be grateful); there's a great use of the Sergio Leone theme from the Good, the Bad and the Ugly, though the person who shows up afterwards is not who you'd expect, Liam Hemsworth gives an utterly ludicrous and laughable speech about how, despite the horrors of war, it was the killing of a camp dog which forced him out of the forces (and thus, being a bit vulnerable marks him for death); and even Stallone looks a little weary and tired as it wears on. Crowd pleasing cameos ensue and ultimately, the film's final set piece ends up at an airport, doling out more carnage than a security scanner would ever prevent from happening. Even the final smackdown between a vengeful Ross and wry Vilain lacks the punch-the-air-in-glee denouement you'd expect from such a confrontation you've been teased with over the past 100 minutes.

Despite all the macho gung-ho testosterone on show, and with all of the formulaic plot constraints and constant bombardment of explosions, and people being shot to bits (after dispatching one guy with guts and gusto, Stallone tells his victim to "Rest in Pieces"), if you check your brain at the door and fancy a piece of retro action which comes with a large side order of cheese and explosions, has little coherence and originality, then the Expendables 2 is the perfect night out for you.

Bear in mind though Arnie's final line - when his pals are given an ancient plane to fly off into the distance, and is told that it "belongs in a museum", the Governator smirkingly nods before announcing that "We all do."

Though with a third Expendables outing slated to go into production and with box office anticipation still high for these OAP mercenaries, that seems highly unlikely to happen.

Extras: Commentary, doco, deleted scenes, gag reel

Rating: 

This Is England '88: DVD Review

This Is England '88: DVD Review

Rating: R16
Released by Madman Home Entertainment

Christmas - a time of hope, forgiveness and starting again.

And in This Is England 88's world, a time of misery and abuse dealing with what happened a couple of years ago.

Brilliant.

Shane Meadows' spin off series from This Is England continues with this four part drama and sees Woody and Lol (all from working class England) growing apart from each other and Woody (Joseph Gilgun from Misfits) leaving the gang.

Themes of separation, family, depression and general misery pervade this release - and it's a little unrelenting to be honest with the malaise of unhappiness from the past few series continuing to drip through. It's only thanks to an extremely talented cast that you really stick with it - because the continual unhappiness, is to be honest, a little draining after a few series. I know working class Britain is a bit rough, but it would be good to bring in a little light occasionally.

That said, the series won BAFTA nominations and it does beat the pants off a lot of other mini series - so stick with it and you will be rewarded with some of the best acting on the box. But don't expect, sunshine and rainbows all the way through.

Extras: Commentary on ep3 with Joe Gilgun and Vicky McClure, interviews and deleted scenes

Rating:

Watch the first four minutes of Warm Bodies

Watch the first four minutes of Warm Bodies

It's here - your chance to watch the first four minutes of Warm Bodies, starring Nicholas Hoult and Teresa Palmer.

We've already had the Warm Bodies trailer and now the Warm Bodies guys have decided to give us a bit of a treat.

The film's due in 2013 - so stay tuned to find out more - it looks as if the zombie movie is about to get a shot in the arm.

Rise of the Guardians: Movie Review

Rise of the Guardians: Movie Review

Vocal cast: Chris Pine, Hugh Jackman, Alec Baldwin, Isla Fisher, Jude Law
Director: Peter Ramsey

It must be summer time as we're suddenly awash with animated fare.

The latest to hit the big screen is computer generated animation, Rise of The Guardians.

Starring Star Trek's Chris Pine as Jack Frost, it's the tale of a threat to the world from the evil Pitch (played by Jude Law).

When the collective group known as the Guardians - Santa (Baldwin), the Easter Bunny, (Jackman) The Sandman (doesn't speak throughout) and the Tooth Fairy (Fisher) - find children are stopping believing in them, they realise they're facing a danger bigger than they could have imagined.

It turns out that threat is Pitch, a nightmarish character / Boogeyman (played by Jude Law) who is sick of lurking in the shadows and being ignored. So, The Guardians decide to recruit Jack Frost, the lone boy whom no-one sees to help them save the day.

Rise of the Guardians is a curious beast.

On one hand, the story is a relatively novel one, a kind of Avengers of the imaginary world unite.

But on the other, there's not quite enough to keep it going or enough knowing story subtext to engage the adult audience.

Visually, it looks - in places - stunning, painting in FX that are lush, subtle and gorgeous to behold. But then, it's almost as if the animators get carried away by how clever they feel they are and end up swamping the screen with so much unnecessary animation or, worse than that, throw in FX shots for no real reason other than because they can.

Also, it's a strange mix of story as well - these aren't the traditional characters as you'd come to expect. This Santa is a Russian accented, tattooed heavy who employs Yetis rather than the traditional elves; the Bunny is a gruff on-the-edge Aussie, and the lack of real recognition may mean some are put off in this slightly skewed tale.

But there are themes of belonging and belief melting through the Avengers recruitment feel of the film - and while it's not a bad mix overall, it's just neither fish nor fowl unfortunately. It's a film that's a little lacking in story, a little too ready to show off its animation and a little too dark to appeal to a mass audience of kids.

Rating:

Worst films of 2012

Worst films of 2012

Well, we've had the best movies of 2012 - so it can now only be the turn of the worst of 2012; the cinematic stinkers, the celluloid catastrophes and the filmic flops that made being a reviewer just that little bit more difficult to bear.

In no particular order, these are the films which didn't do it for me during the past 12 months - and as a proviso, this list is confined to the films I saw on the screen, which means some which I endured on DVD get a bit of a break (Project X and Piranha 3DD, I'm looking at you!)

So here are the top 12 worst films of 2012....

Alex Cross - Alex Cross? It made me Alex Angry. Everything a thriller shouldn't be - a mess of acting (Matthew Fox gurning his way through serial killing anger) and a hero whose powers seemed to be provoked by his co-investigator urging him to "Think like him, and get inside his mind." Just a disappointment all round - and a shock to hear a sequel is on the way.

Fresh Meat / Two Little Boys  - a double helping of Kiwi let downs this year. Kiwi cannibal "comedy" Fresh Meat didn't have anything new to bring to the table and felt a real let down because it held back when more would have been perfect for it. Two Little Boys wasn't as dark as it could have been and sure wasn't as funny as it was forced. Towards the end, it threw in some great visual touches, but it was hard yards getting there.

Battleship / John Carter - Taylor Kitsch started the year as the guy who could take over the world but whose two celluloid outings torpedoed those dreams. To be fair, it wasn't so much his acting ability which let him down but the films which let him down. Battleship made good on its Transformers x Hasbro game premise with plenty of hokum and noise; and John Carter turned a great idea into a wonderfully realised but ultimately frustrating film which failed on the story telling front.

The Campaign - Will Ferrell and Zach Galifianakis in a comedy about elections? That should be funny. But yet, it wasn't strong enough or subtle to reach the satirical highs it could, settling instead for a proliferation of profoundly unfunny moments with a smattering of minorly amusing punchlines.

Taken 2 - A mis-Taken attempt at a sequel, whose first outing was original, clever and a subtle twist on the established action formula. The problem with this one, which had the families of the bad guys that Liam Neeson's Bryan Mills offed in the first place coming after him and his family, was that it was robbed of any surprise and originality as it dispensed with logic and sanity. Please, no Tak3n sequels - though given how well it performed, am guessing there will be.

Bel Ami - RPatz ditches Twilight and goes for period drama in this flick about a man's rise to power and his seduction of women was about as sexy and enticing as some wet lettuce, left soaking in the back of your fridge. By making Pattinson's character dull and uncharismatic, a lack of chemistry with any of the leads, the filmmakers made this a drudgery and dull night out at the cinema.

StreetDance 2 3D - this time, the dance flick goes to Europe. And appears to leave any semblance of a script somewhere on the plane as it passes time zones. A flat lead character and story, plus frenetic editing - including speeding up and slowing down - of the dance sequences mean nothing stands out or is given the time to breathe. Even worse was Tom Conti's character being brought round from a heart attack by the rhythm of a drum.

Men in Black 3 / Total Recall - Agent J and K return for MiB3 but leave most of the J-O-K-E-S behind. Despite Josh Brolin's wonderful impression of a younger Tommy Lee Jones, a confusing ending and general misuse of characters showed that I desperately needed to be zapped by one of those memory forgetting devices they carry around. Likewise, Total Recall offered up some tantalising hints of a remake, but forgot to add anything in other than wall to wall action/ running/ shooting/ slow mo running/ slow mo shooting. Again, I wanted my memory wiped afterwards.

Dark Shadows - a remake of a 60s show which very few people saw, put a cursed vampire played by Johnny Depp back with Tim Burton to mixed and undercooked results. A spooky atmosphere was squandered by some boring narrative and unamusing jokes. Throw in way too many characters as well and this gothic horror should have been staked at birth.

So, those are my thoughts - what did you make of 2012's films?

Here's hoping 2013 is a slightly better year....