This fish's tale follows the character Marlin who is voiced by Albert Brooks, a clownfish who's afraid to let his vulnerable son, Nemo (played by Alexander Gould), out of his sight in case he is gobbled up by one of the Great Barrier Reef's many, many predators. This is following a tragic death of his wife who is brutally murdered by a barracuda which is displayed at the beginning of the film to give the audience understanding of Marlins behaviour. The inevitable then proceeds to happens later on in the film when Nemo is netted by a diver and whisked away from his ocean home. The distraught Marlin immediately goes in pursuit of the divers hoping and praying to get his son back,this however is a great challenge for a small fish in a big world so he reluctantly enlists the help of Dory (Voiced by Ellen DeGeneres), a fish who suffers from short-term memory loss and can become very annoying at times as you will witness throughout the film..., all in all this film was great and would be a definite recommendatory to go and see when you get the chance, it does not, however, live up to the standards that Toy Story set, but then again, what animated film does?
When little goldfish Nemo decides to take on the unknown deep blue sea by himself, a nasty turn of events sees him captured and placed in a fish task with other fish who will later help him try and get back home to his dad and friend Dory.
If you watched Edwardian Farm and Victorian Farm, you will again be thrilled at this new wartime farm. Learn what farmers had to do during the war, didnt fancy ploughing that extra land you had? no problem you would lose your farm !
I bet you didnt know many farmers were told exactly what they had to grow, what animals to keep, and what animals to get rid of.. like the pig
Excellent follow up, you will be very pleased with this wartime farm, and learn a lot about our land during bad times
Craic Dealer is hilarious we saw the show on tour in March. Dara O Briain is great with the audience as usual including them and being very quick witted with his comments. The stories he told were brilliant can't wait to see the dvd to see the show again. If you loved his past shows you will enjoy this one too.
enjoy the craic !
When Life (starring Damian Lewis and Sarah Shahi) was cancelled back in 2009, it was a big disappointment as Lewis was fantastic as Detective Charlie Crews, someone who had been in prison for many years for a crime he did not commit. Eclectic, crazy or loveable, Crews was a truly fascinating character worth tuning in for every week. Fast forward to 2011 and I finally get over the loss of Life because of a debuting show called Homeland.
Adapted from an Israeli television drama Prisoners of War/Hatufim, Homeland is one of the most gripping shows on TV since 24 - unsurprisingly as Howard Gordon, former showrunner for 24, developed Homeland alongside writer/producer Alex Gansa and Hatufim's Gideon Raff. The talent behind the scenes is certainly top notch, and matched by those appearing on-screen - the aforementioned Damian Lewis, Claire Danes from My So Called Life and Romeo & Juliet, and Mandy Patinkin, best known for Criminal Minds, Dead Like Me and Chicago Hope. Other familiar faces fill the cast, from Morena Baccarin (Firefly) to David Harewood (Doctor Who, Robin Hood, The Vice, and much more!).
It would be lazy to compare Homeland to 24 beyond two top quality dramas that burst onto the scene with a freshness and gripping nature. They are two very different entities but certainly ones that work best watched on home media - simply because you won't want to wait a week in between episodes. Homeland is very much a show that will hook you in every episode and leave you with a thirst for more. The twists and turns of the story and the ambiguous nature of the characters is so captivating that you'll struggle with only having 12 episodes in a season. Yet much like Dexter, Game of Thrones and similar, the shorter season allows for a much tighter and close knit storyline to run through a single season, with no room to breathe and no unnecessary stopgaps like longer series may have.
As the former prisoner of war Sergeant Nicholas Brody, Lewis shows why he is one of Britain's best exports. Brody is a complex character with many sides, from a tortured soul to a family man, and Lewis has a strong range that very few could pull off with such
conviction. The chemistry between Brody and CIA officer Carrie Mathison (Danes) is amongst the best on television, not just now but in the past decade. Danes is very much the equal of Lewis, matching his range step by step, albeit in a slightly crazier and more
unstable way. Or is she? That's what is so fascinating about Homeland - you have no idea of anyone's genuine motives and emotions, and you second guess every move. Just when you think you've got it figured out, another curveball is thrown. It's the best kind of
frustration you could imagine.
Mathison and her mentor Saul Berenson (Patinkin) have a complex yet heart-warming relationship, perhaps the only one fully based on trust and respect. Berenson is a very intelligent man who seeks the truth in everything he does, and there's no one better to pull off such a character than Patinkin, very much echoing the leadership and strong morals of Jason Gideon in Criminal Minds. As the season goes on, we see this relationship tested under great pressure, as Mathison's opinions on Sergeant Brody develop and change. For a story so elaborate, it's surprisingly believable, and this is down to the performances of the main cast. You can believe every word that comes out of Brody's mouth, yet you also support Mathison. It's easy to see how people can be tricked and confused at each turn. Another highlight is the struggle between Brody and his family - Baccarin as the loving wife who has lived without her husband for years, and her children Chris (Jackson Pace) and Dana (Morgan Saylor) who really never knew their father. You sympathise with everyone involved.
In terms of the home release, it's no surprise that the show looks fantastic on Blu-ray. Series such as Homeland pride themselves on beautiful locations fitting for the story - from Iraq to the United States, we see everywhere that we need to, just like we are
right there in the action. It's a show that doesn't rely on set pieces or gratuitous shots, but if they need to take the storyline somewhere then they do. Whether it's two people talking in an interrogation room, or a wide open space in the middle of Iraq, the acting is always at the forefront. The quality of the picture and the audio simply adds to the believability and situation. And of course, seeing Claire Danes in HD every episode is almost worth the money itself.
Homeland is everything you expect, and nothing like it. You might be able to guess where they end up from time to time, but it's the twists and turns along the way that keep you on the edge of your seat. From the get go, you'll get sucked in to the world of war and
politics, never knowing who to trust or believe in, much like real life. The extras might be lacking but the episodes speak for themselves and are certainly worth the price. Do yourself a favour and buy this set - you'll soon see why it won six Emmy awards
including Outstanding Drama Series and Outstanding Lead Actress and Actor. After you've watched, there's no way you'll disagree with the decisions.
The craziest and most captivating show in years.
worth a gold star or plus what ever age from your teens to the elderly some very good entertainment which will keep you enthralled for hours.
5 star plus it was done 30 years but it is still as funny as it was then and it is something you can watch over and over and still get you laughing your socks
Absolute classic with excellent songs. Especially "Am I a Man or a muppet..." Kept playing it it was so funny! Kids and grown ups will love this!
The Muppet Movie is one of the best Muppet Movies ever. As Kermit and Miss Piggy fight to keep the Muppet Theatre and Muppet name alive a young Muppet struggles to find his place.
The Magical Mystery (INC.) tour
Unfortunately, against my consent, the much praised Cabin In The Woods passed me by in its cinema run, I had to settle with watching the controversial horror at home; but with all the talk will the Cabin In The Woods be a real Scream or just another Nightmare?
Tell me if you've heard this one before, 5 teens (of varying intelligences) decide to go on a long vacation to a remote cabin in a secluded woods for a weekend of fun (in all the ways that can be imagined), however, when sinister forces come knocking the body count begins to rise.
Too many movies today make sense, that's what I think. Too many stay on the straight and narrow of having some kind of tangible logic to them. It's good to see that there are still some horror movies that are unafraid to be truly MENTAL. Enter (The) Cabin In The Woods, here is a movie that makes nothing even resembling coherent until the last 8 minutes, and you know what? It couldn't care less.
That's why I like Cabin In The Woods, because it doesn't care if you like it or not, it's just supposed to be a big pile of fun and is. Cabin lays out it's cards very early on, any opening that makes no sense within the confines of the plot but is funny, then directly cuts straight to an attractive women in her underwear packing; knows it's audience. If you don't get the right feel for the movie from that opening then you'll have NO fun at all, and that's very much the dish of the day with Cabin In The Woods. fun.
It even gives us 5 characters who are deliberately cut from stereotypes (no seriously, it's on purpose and relative to the story), however I can't be the only one thinking that the 5 kids also have more than a passing resemblance to Mystery Inc. We have Danna who is the "Brains" and takes the role of Velma (played by Kristen Connolly), Freddy or the jock is played by Chris "Thor" Hemsworth. Daffny, The Model is taken by Anna Hutchison. Freedy, the joker and stoner is portrayed by Fran Kranz, Kranz is the most notable, he is clearly modelled after Shaggy, I half expected him to come say "Jinkins!" during the feature. Finally, Jesse Williams is left outside and forced to be Scooby. All the cast understand they are there to both pay homage and send up the very genre they are shooting. Personally, I was impressed by Hemsworth and Kranz most.
Of course, I'm totally ignoring that Cabin In The Woods has a second plot that is near free standing from the cabin scenario, that being the one with the "controllers", but the less said about those the better. The controllers are where the comedy lies for Cabin and they know it.
I'm also ignoring talking about any horror aspects of this horror movie, I think that's because in Cabin In The Woods horror should be seen in inverted quotations, the "horror" is only used as a device for the rest of the fun, however Cabin resists the urge to take any cheap "Scar" shots, it always keeps its integrity, no matter how bizarre it gets.
The Cabin In The Woods is the horror film we all have always wanted, as long as you can switch off and embrace the madness you'll love it. It's a little bit Scream, with some 13 Ghosts, a dash of Kill List, and a chunk of Cabin Fever.
Hana Makhmalbaf was only a teenager herself when she directed this remarkable film whose idea was to show a small part of the difficulty that women face under the Taliban in Afghanistan. The beautiful little girl, who is meant to be around 5 or 6 years old, decides she wants to go to school after her neighbour, a cheeky little boy, explains that he learned a joke by going to school. She is determined to go to school and "learn jokes". She is confronted by all manner of difficulties in trying to achieve this ambition, including being confronted by a group of boys who are brutally pretending to be part of the Taliban. Although the little girl faces real danger, she will not give up trying to go to school, and the film is by turns humorous and heartbreaking. It is one of the best films I have ever seen, and richly deserves a much wider audience. The Buddha of the title refers to the 3000 year old statues in Afghanistan, which were summarily destroyed by the Taliban several years ago.
A little girl in Afghanistan must go through many trials and tribulations because she wants to attend school.
If there's one thing that we, here in the UK, will remember for years to come, it is the London 2012 Olympic Games. We will remember it as a time of triumph, a time of achievement, and a time when we came together as a country and did something right.
This five-disc box set is an absolutely fantastic release to relive our successes, and to retain our moments of glory for posterity, to show our coming grandchildren how high we rose to the occasion.
Beginning with the Opening Ceremony, the Games start with an unforgettable celebration of British history from the early days through to the Industrial Revolution, right up to modern day, with some of the best-known artists taking centre-stage throughout the night's events. We are also treated to a fascinating commentary with director Danny Boyle and writer Frank Cottrell Boyce, who go into great detail about how they devised and organised such a magnificent ceremony, which was thankfully largely kept secret until the live broadcast itself.
Included in the Opening Ceremony, of course, is the brilliant short film, Happy and Glorious, featuring none other than Daniel Craig as 007 and the Queen, herself. And we see once more the great Kenneth Branagh's involvement in the opening, performing lines from Shakespeare's The Tempest, as the world-renowned Brunel.
The next three discs are a tour de force of sporting greatness. Across over two weeks, we have success after success, medal after medal, victory after victory.
Lizzie Armitstead takes the first gold medal for Team GB. The unstoppable American, Michael Phelps, breaks records with his 19th medal in his Olympic career. Andy Murray surprises the world to take Gold in the tennis final.
Usain Bolt, on the other hand, surprises no one when he retains his Olympic Golds in the Men's 100m and 200m sprints, and goes on to break the world record with his fellow countrymen in the 4x100m relay.
And in the final days leading up to the end of the Games, Nicola Adams takes home the first ever Women's Boxing Gold Medal in the Olympics, which is an achievement that is truly remarkable.
All these terrific milestones, and many more, are captured beautifully here on Blu-ray, and the feeling they re-ignite whilst watching them in stunning High-Definition cannot quite be described. It makes one feel patriotic, that much is for sure, no matter where your allegiance lies.
And after all the fantastic victories and graceful defeats from the best competitors around the globe, it all finally comes to an end with a magnificent Closing Ceremony, in which we all come together once more - as a country and as an international community - and celebrate the end of these tremendous Games.
We head towards the end with Boris Johnson handing over the Olympic flag to Eduardo Paes, the Mayor of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with a vibrant taste of the celebrations we can look forward to in four years' time, entitled, 'Embrace', finishing with a beautiful display of fireworks.
And finally, it is The Who that see our Olympic Games through to the end, with a classic medley of some of their greatest hits, including Baba O'Riley and My Generation. A fitting tribute to what has been one of the most exceptional sporting events our country, and our world, has ever seen.
David Cronenberg's A Dangerous Method tells the famous story of Sigmund Freud (Viggo Mortenson) and Carl Jung (Michael Fassbender) as their friendship is tested by their ideological differences, conflicting egos and Jung's decision to take one of his patients as his mistress.
I would have to admit that my immediate response to it was somewhat unusual: although I was always very conscious of the fact that what I was watching was pretty awful, I still found it to be an enjoyable enough experience. My reaction to watching a bad film is usually a mixture of boredom, irritation and disappointment but by the end of Cronenberg's latest my predominant emotion was simply curiosity as to why a film that seems to have all the elements of a quality costume drama should fail quite so badly.
At a glance, everything would seem to be in order: a historical drama based upon the relationship between the founding fathers of modern psychology and the patient that came between them, a trio of excellent actors in the main roles as well as a couple of great supporting players and a veteran director to helm the whole thing.
For the most part, things go according to plan: pre-war Zurich is recreated in intricate period detail, the two leading men are on great form, the scenes they share offer an intriguing look at how the field of modern psychology was formed, Vincent Cassel is hilarious in his minor role as the unapologetically nymphomaniacal Otto Gross and the whole film is shot in pleasant, if unspectacular fashion.
Keira Knightley's performance is harder to quantify. Admittedly, it's an extremely difficult role: Sabina begins the film as little more than a rambling lunatic, the early scenes of her in treatment are intense and uncomfortable and Knightley equips herself well, perhaps occasionally going a little over the top and becoming cringe-worthy for the wrong reasons.
The other issue is the accent: although it turns out Knightly can do a pretty serviceable Russian, she's the only one to adopt their character's accent and it sounds immensely out of place in a film in which everyone else speaks like an Englishman. (Except Gross who simply speaks like Vincent Cassel)
This has always befuddled me slightly: if you're going to make a film in which Europeans all speak English to one another, why not just have them do so in the actor's actual accent? Is anyone's ability to suspend their disbelief actually improved by characters speaking completely the wrong language in the right accent?
More to the point, why do Mortenson and Fassbender pretend to be English to play Austrian and Swiss respectively? It's just weird.
To be honest, though, the film's severe case of cinematic Foreign Accent Syndrome, whilst slightly distracting, didn't really hamper my enjoyment of it.
What did was the fact that it is a complete and utter failure as a piece of storytelling.
The film focuses upon two relationships - Jung's romance with Sabina and his friendship/rivalry with Freud- and handles both awfully. The romantic storyline is the less offensive of the two, its main problem is simply that the film can't decide whether it wants to depict it in purely psychological terms or turn it into a more conventional Hollywood romance. The result is an awkward mix of the two that never really engages emotionally or intellectually.
Jung and Freud's, on the other hand, is quite spectacularly mishandled: we never actually see their friendship dissolve, we're just explicitly told at certain points that they have grown further apart without any tangible change in the dynamic between them.
Much more infuriating, though, is Cronenberg's apparent inability to decide what the cause of the divide was: Freud's jealousy of Jung's wealth, his anti-Semitic paranoia, Jung's belief in the supernatural and his affair with Sabina; each is brought up then immediately dropped in the most random fashion, as if the film hoped that by shuffling them fast enough, it might convince the audience that they've been offered a convincing explanation.
There's nothing wrong with trying to present the breakdown of a relationship as ambiguous and multi-faceted, that's just realistic, but as a story it ought to make sure that shifts in the dynamics between its characters feel like they have occurred for a reason. We're offered no insight into what is really making the characters tick and as such, it is impossible to really connect with them.
I don't know whether these problems were present in the screenplay or whether the blame must fall upon Croneneberg in its entirety but it feels an awful lot like he simply shot a bunch of scenes of great actors holding intense, intellectual conversations and then just stitched them together without deciding what the overlying narrative was supposed to be.
As I said, A Dangerous Method is not a film I dislike; the set and costume design are gorgeous, it provides some genuinely interesting observations upon a field that now plays a massive role in our society and contains several excellent actors, all of whom are on excellent form. The fact that it manages to be so much less than the sum of its parts just makes it hugely disappointing: it's a great story based upon two of the most important minds in recent history, told by an experienced director with a decent budget and a host of great actors at his disposal.
In truth, it's not a terrible film, it's just so much worse than it should be.
If you are a fan of anything like Peep Show, Fresh Meat you'll love this. Quirky. Great actors. A comedy angle from the emergency services point of view. Sounds odd? It is a must see. Only gutted they are mot making any more!!
Really good comedy drama!
This is a film that will divide critics, mess-up viewers' minds, and keep people guessing, digesting, discussing and puzzling for years to come. I thought it was brilliant. Leos Carax has crafted a weird, uniquely disturbing epic; a panorama of derangement, a celebration of surrealism. You won't believe your eyes.
Of all the films I review, my constant fear is that I shall fail to convey to the reader what the plot is like, and how I felt experiencing it. I usually do fail - every film review does, as words on a page can't really do justice to the images on a screen. But in this instance, please forgive me if I do not even try. It would be pointless to attempt to give an indepth description of the plot of Holy Motors. Part of the fun is trying to work out the film for oneself as it wanders along in its own bizarre wonderland. All I will say is this: it is about a man of many disguises, who travels around Paris in a limousine.
Carax, who until now has not made a film for 13 years, takes the viewer on a ride around France's gorgeously stylish capital and in doing so throws them down a rabbit hole that is terrifying, inspiring, hilarious and desperately sad.
The film is making its way around the cities of Britain. If it hasn't come to a screen near you, and if you have patience, intelligence and an interest in cinema, I implore you to buy it on DVD or, better still, on blu-ray. Not everyone will like it, but those who go in with an open mind will perhaps have one of the richest experiences they have ever had in front of a screen.
I doubt I will ever forget Holy Motors. It has stained my brain. And I am going to watch it again and again, and maybe then I will understand that stain a little bit more each time.
What is the secret of House's success?
In a TV landscape that's hardly been light on hospital-based dramas over the past few years, House has consistently stood out as one of the most original, entertaining and popular shows to have made use of the medical profession as a backdrop, and its success has lasted the best part of a decade. With the release of this definitive boxset - containing all eight seasons of the series - we can finally stand back and fully admire a show that has maintained a remarkable level of quality over the years, despite the occasional ups and downs that afflict any long-running TV series.
Now, I've been a big fan of House ever since it started way back in 2004, and I could happily take you through each season of the show individually, and tell you just what makes every one of them so great in their own right. But that'd probably result in a pretty long review, and it probably wouldn't mean much to anyone who's never watched the series before. So, rather than trawl through each and every year's worth of episodes separately, I thought I'd pick out a handful of general elements that really make the show worth watching - and in doing so, I'll hopefully encourage anyone who hasn't discovered the show yet to take the plunge.
So what makes House such a great programme?
IT'S A DETECTIVE SHOW IN DISGUISE: Imagine a series in which a detective and his team of sidekicks are tasked with tracking down a different villain each week, and are confronted with a series of escalating crimes before finally catching up with the bad guy at the last minute. Sounds pretty exciting, right? Well, House is that show - just with doctors as the detectives, and rare diseases as the villains. Yes, the series tends to follow a pretty repetitive formula (with a patient coming in with a mysterious illness, which is initially treated in a way that only causes further complications, before Dr House finally has a moment of clarity and realises what he's got to do to cure the condition), but it's a formula that works.
Crucially, the patients are always interesting characters in their own right - often played by a high-profile guest star - with engaging personal stories to accompany their medical woes. And the various diseases are kept very varied, meaning that you'll never feel like you're watching the same story twice. Plus, with all of the Sherlock Holmes references that the show crams in (House/Holmes, a gifted musician and hopelessly-addicted drug user, lives at 221B Baker Street and solves mysteries through deductive reasoning, with the help of his best friend Wilson/Watson!), it's difficult to escape the fact that this apparent medical drama is secretly a detective show at heart. And a compelling one, at that.
IT'S A SOAP: House is a medical drama first and foremost, and one that revolves around detecting diseases and treating patients. However, just as critical to the show's success has been the supporting cast of characters that populate the fictional Princeton-Plainsboro teaching hospital. Starting off with a small hub of trainee/assistant doctors who help House with his "differential" deductions, the show gradually builds each one of these secondary characters up into three-dimensional personalities who all have their own stories, and who all bring their own individual viewpoints into play over the course of treating their patients. And rather than permanently trapping each of these supporting-cast members in a safe status quo, the show allows each of them to undergo genuine progression, developing each character in their own right as well as building a complex web of inter-pesonal relationships that adds real depth to the dynamics of the show.
And as the years go on, some of these characters rotate in and out of play, often allowing fresh ones to take the spotlight. This is a show that isn't afraid of change: new doctors are introduced in later seasons, whilst the role of House's immediate superior - and love interest - Cuddy is made far more complex and sympathetic, and the show also isn't afraid of making waves by allowing characters to change position in the hospital hierarchy (which is particularly fun during the sections in which former-subordinate Foreman is required to act as House's boss). The label of "soap opera" is often used in a derogatory way, to signify melodrama and cheesy relationship-based writing - but House is the best kind of soap: one that builds up characters that you really care about, and is brave enough to take them to new and challenging places as their personalities evolve. By the end of these eight seasons, you'll really feel like you know and care about these characters intimately, and that's no mean feat given that they're mostly required to play second-fiddle to whatever the disease-of-the-week happens to be in any given episode.
IT'S A SHOW THAT TAKES CHANCES: Once most shows hit their stride, they're content to settle on a winning formula and repeat it endlessly until the series has run its course and viewers are no longer interested. But House is smart enough to take some real chances with its cast and concept, regularly shaking things up and changing the entire dynamic of the show, and frequently posing difficult moral problems to which there are no easy solutions. Several times over the course of these eight seasons, you'll see the show pass a point-of-no-return in terms of a plot twist that seems impossible to reverse or undo, and you'll probably worry that the show can't survive such massive upheaval. But luckily, the writing is so good and the twists and turns feel so natural that these big gambles always pay off.
And as well as being quite daring in terms of the content of an hour-long TV show, House is also a series that's unafraid to take chances with structure. Episodes like the first season's "Three Stories" (which provides some insight into House's own chronic medical condition), the sixth season's "5 to 9" (which focuses on Cuddy's day-to-day life and has the regular cast only show up occasionally) or the seventh season's "Bombshells" (a musical episode, at least partly) serve to shake up the show just at the point at which you're beginning to become overly-familiar with its format and formula. And the series often saves its best and most daring material for the various season finales, such as the brilliant House's Head/Wilson's Heart two-parter that concludes season four, in which a complex flashback structure is coupled with some heartbreaking and unexpected plot developments. The result is one of the strongest stories the show ever pulled off - a title that's perhaps shared with the storyline that concludes season five and opens season six (which I won't even describe here as it would be a major spoiler). Suffice it to say that if you like TV that always plays it safe and never tries to challenge its viewers, House might not be the show for you.
IT STARS THE BEST ANTI-HERO IN TV HISTORY: Well, I had to get around to him eventually! Unsurprisingly, one of the biggest attractions of House is - well, House. The charismatic, compelling and highly-intelligent character that lends the series its name is the show's greatest triumph for one simple reason: any sane person should really hate his guts. Because House is really the nastiest person you can imagine, outside of an outright criminal (although he often strays into that region too). He's cruel to his enemies and even crueller to his colleagues (and even to his one true friend, Wilson, who often bears the brunt of House's temper and pettiness); he's so selfish that he simply doesn't care about the chaos that's caused to others by his Vicodin addiction or frequent dalliances with the law; he's needlessly belligerent, constantly seeking to cause pain and disharmony even when it's completely unnecessary; and he's the ultimate cynic, saddled with a mindset that's exemplified by his "everybody lies" mantra (which, more often than not, sadly turns out to be accurate).
But somehow, despite all of those reprehensible character traits, you find yourself rooting for House throughout the series. Perhaps that's because there's a vicarious thrill in seeing someone be as mean, nasty and downright rude to people as you secretly wish you could be. Perhaps it's because House's brilliant mind and ability to cure even the most complex and unusual diseases makes up for his unpleasantness as a person. Or maybe, just maybe, it's because we occasionally get glimpses of a far more complex, emotionally-damaged and vulnerable person behind House's carefully-constructed facade - and as the series goes on, we gradually come to understand House, even if we never truly like him. For anyone who only knows actor Hugh Laurie as the bumbling Bertie Wooster or the idiotic Prince George from Blackadder, then Dr Gregory House is a revelation, and one that anchors the series solidly, even through its weaker storylines.
Hopefully, over the course of the preceding eight paragraphs, I've given you a flavour of what I think makes House such a great show, and why I think this complete eight-season boxset is such a worthy purchase. I'm sure that fans of the series will already have ordered their copies - but for anyone who's never seen the programme before, I envy you: because you've got eight years of one of the most compelling TV shows ever made to look forward to. Just remember one thing: it's never Lupus.
This is a beautiful film with real heart. It is about a disperate group of British pensioners who have gone to India to enjoy an idilic retirement in a luxury hotel. What they find when they reach Jaipur is not the hotel in the brocure, it is infact only just standing up partially through the enthusiasm of its owner.
The situation brings out the best in some residents, giving them a new lease of life, while it brings out the worst in others. It is great characterisation given life by the cream of British actors. Non of the characters are 1 dimensional and there is always a reason for the way they react to their situation.
The cinematography is beautiful and captures the beautiful chaos of India through a first time visitors eyes. And as I had just got home from that part of India I recognised the atmosphere that the film showed.
All in all a lovely gentle film that is both funny and emotional without resorting to twee or over sentimentality.
If adrenaline were a movie, it'd be 'The Raid'. A fast paced, well directed, superbly acted, unremittingly violent but morally sound film. 'The Raid' is a multicultural movie in every sense of the word: An Indonesian production, written & directed by Welshman Gareth Evans, this Asian police thriller makes most Hollywood action movies look bloated and nonsensical by comparison.
Iko Uwais ('Merantau') is a good cop, part of a SWAT team sent into an apartment building in Jakarta to arrest a powerful crime lord. Their mission turns out to be a feint and the paramilitary policemen soon realize they've been suckered into a trap, as they find themselves up against an army of heavily armed henchmen. With no back up and their numbers dwindling (shot, stabbed, beaten to death) Uwais leads the fight-back whilst trying to complete a secret, altogether more personal, mission of his own.
'The Raid' features a great combination of marksmanship and martial arts (Indonesian fighting technique Pencak Silat), with quiet, charismatic hero Iko Uwais leading from the front in one spectacular fight scene after another. 'The Raid' combines all the martial arts action of a good Donnie Yen film with the brutal but balletic gun-play of early John Woo movies like 'A Better Tomorrow', 'Hard Boiled' and 'The Killer'. Easily the best action film of 2012, 'The Raid' raises the bar for action and is a must see for all fans of the genre.
One of the few genres we do better than most here in the UK is the horror, and Inbred is a solid example of that. It has its flaws, but what you want from a good horror is a bag full of thrills, plenty of blood, and some action, and it delivers.
Set in an old mining town in Northern England, the film sees a couple of careworkers take a group of troubled young folk for a weekend away. As you can imagine, the kids are not afraid of using the likes of four-letter words, which makes for some entertainment before the horrors really get underway.
It's not long before they meet some of the people local to this remote town, and naturally, they don't quite make for ideal neighbours on what was intended to be just a weekend away. Thankfully for us, they turn out to be a group of cannibals, and not everyone that came for the trip is going to make it out alive.
The good thing about Inbred is that, despite the relatively low budget, it delivers on some very good visuals, with some brilliant and highly convincing horrors and gore. The low-budget films don't always, or even often, give you blood and guts that you can really believe, but Inbred is the exception to that rule.
What lets it down slightly is both the premise, which is perhaps a little too contrived, and a few of the periphery performances.
For the most part, however, director Alex Chandon and his co-writer, Paul Shrimpton, have provided another great entry in the British horror market that is well worth seeking out. With Halloween right around the corner, now is the perfect time.
Breaking Bad is a show that gets better with every season, and the fourth, a claustrophobic, air-tight relent upon the nerves is no different. After the tense conclusion in the last season's fantastic episode, Walter White (Bryan Cranston), former mild-mannered chemistry teacher, has truly been seized by the forces of the criminal underworld, a consequence of his decision to begin making Crystal Methamphetamine after being diagnosed with cancer in the first season. With his young partner and protege Jesse Pinkman (Aaron Paul), he must face the wrath of Gus Fring (Giancarlo Esposito), his enraged employer who has made it clear that he will only keep Walter around for as long as he needs him.
One of the things that sets Breaking Bad apart from most other shows on television is it's willingness to make the audience turn against it's protagonist, Walter. As the series has gone on, Walt has treaded deeper and deeper into immoral and villainous behaviour, and much of this comes to a head in the fourth season, as Walter transcends the boundaries of "hero" and enters into the world of the "anti-hero". It's also impossible to predict what will happen next in the season - Head writer Vince Gilligan seems to have an innate ability to keep you on the edge of your seat, and I can guarantee that at one point during the season, you will finish an episode and sit gawping at your screen.
With some superb performances from the likes of Cranston (It's no wonder the man has won nine awards for his portrayal of Walt) and some incredible cinematography that will keep you interested even if nothing is happening, this is truly a season, and a series, that is not to be passed up.
Walter White, Family man, teacher, and the biggest Crystal Meth cook in New Mexico, must face off with his ruthless employer Gus Fring while all the while being sucked into a chaotic moral vortex.
Get ready for the strangest show on TV...
After creating hit shows Nip/Tuck and Glee, Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk delivered this bizarre mix of old and new school horror set inside the classic setting of a haunted house. We follow a family, the Harmons - father Ben (Dylan McDermott), mother Vivien (Connie Britton) and daughter Violet (Taissa Farmiga) - as they move into their new house unaware of the horrors that await them. Throughout the series we learn more about the house's strange and violent history by means of flashbacks to different years and we encounter a rotating cast of troubled, often malevolent individuals.
Aside from providing the most unpredictable TV series of last year, the series is just so chock full of fascinating characters, great performances (particularly from Jessica Lange as the enigmatic neighbour Constance and Evan Peters as repeat visitor Tate) and an unsettling, often terrifying vibe that makes the show as unnerving as it does perversely entertaining.
There are so many shows out there that blend into the crowd but American Horror Story is definitely not one of them. For those after something a bit different this show most definitely satisfies that need.
The better of the two Snow White movies released in 2012, but both Tarsem Singh's helium light comedy 'Mirror Mirror' and Rupert Sander's dark and brooding 'Snow White and the Huntsman' have something in common; in that the evil queen is 'fairer' and more interesting a character than Snow White. Whether it's Julia Roberts' manicured-to-within-an-inch-of-her-life regent in 'Mirror Mirror' or Charlize Theron's highly strung, shape-shifting sorceress Ravenna in this, film-makers seem to have cottoned onto the fact that getting a good villainess is the way to liven up an otherwise run-of-the-mill movie.
Now 'Snow White and the Huntsman' may go onto be remembered for its behind the scenes shenanigans than for what's actually on-screen, which is a shame, because first time director Rupert Sanders takes a good, revisionist stab at the old tale; in which Snow White (Kirsten Stewart) escapes the clutches of her wicked stepmother Queen Ravenna (Theron) only to be protected by the huntsman (Chris Hemsworth) ordered to capture her.
Kirsten Stewart is better than usual and, for once, doesn't sound like she's struggling to read her lines off a cue card, whereas Chris Hemsworth makes for a suitably strapping hero who, for reasons unknown, plays the huntsman with an unconvincing Scottish accent. And though it's a good gimmick to see actors like Bob Hoskins, Ray Winstone et all shrunk down as The Seven Dwarves, I'm not entirely convinced that its fair, after all, dwarf actors only have a limited set of staple roles so its only right that they get some priority in the casting process, and if Mirror Mirror could find real dwarves, there's no reason why Snow White and the Huntsman couldn't. The cast are all on form throughout, but its Charlize Theron who holds the film together; her insane and shouty performance just manages to stay on the right side of camp. And though she's not quite as glamorous as Gudrun Landgrebe in Ludvik Raza's 1992 version, Queen Raveena certainly tries; what with her (ridiculously over-directed) milk bath scene, scheming out loud in the castle and making an impassioned case for her right to suck the life out of her kingdom, Theron cranks up the tyranny and cuts loose with one of her best, most memorable performances in a long time. In fact, she's so good that I almost forgot Sigourney Weaver's hugely underrated turn as the evil queen, in the generally underrated 'Snow White: A Tale of Terror'.
The CGI is all top drawer work by companies like 'Rhythm & Hues', 'Legacy', 'Baseblack', 'Bluebolt' and many others: there's a giant Troll, phantom armies, the old bird-to-woman metamorphosis, a brilliantly realized Enchanted Forest, Sprites and all manner of fantasy elements woven into a vast landscape fraught with peril and wrecked by conflict. Japanese anime fans will notice narrative and aesthetic similarities with Tsuneo Ninomiya and Jinzo Toriumi's classic anime 'The Legend of Snow White' not to mention the white stag in the Enchanted forest, borrowed from Hayao Miyazaki's 'Princess Monoke'.
I've given this film an extra star because director Rupert Saunders has really made an effort to shoot some visually arresting scenes, and though he's borrowed heavily from the Japanese masters as well as taking ideas from Tim Burton's 'Sleepy Hollow' and sometimes going for style over substance. He's also worked in some great scenes (e.g. what looks like sunlight shining through a canvas tent turns out to be a flaming arrow, the prison escape on horseback and our first look at The Sanctuary / Enchanted Forest). 'Snow White & The Huntsman' is an entertaining fantasy adventure; it won't make many 'Best Films' lists but makes for a worthy addition to this story's long and illustrious history on film.
There's something to be said for going in ignorant of a sport before you watch a film or TV show about it. Take 'Friday Night Lights' for example; I know next to nothing about American football yet it stands as one of my favourite shows of all time. The same goes for 'Goon's chosen sport: hockey. But, as is the case with all great sports films, the sport itself does not matter. The characters, the team, the family; these are the reasons why these films continue to be made and continue to be loved.
'Goon' sees Seann William Scott as Doug 'The Thug' Glatt, a dim but loveable bouncer with a talent for beating people up. After his fighting prowess is discovered by a local hockey coach, he finds himself playing the part of the team's enforcer, or Goon. It isn't long before he is playing in the Canadian big time for the Halifax Highlanders. While helping his team to the play-off's, Doug must tussle with love, life and his future, as well as the opposing player's looking to knock his teeth out.
I have been a fan of Scott for a long time, going back to his best-known role as Stifler in American Pie. However, if you weren't a fan of that particular character, do not let that put you off 'Goon'. Scott is brilliant as a loveable underachiever with a big heart and even bigger fists. It is impossible not to root for this guy; he is unrecognisable compared to the Stifmeister. The majority of laughs come from Doug's best friend Pat, played by Jay Baruchel. He is the typical vulgar yet caring friend who entertains nonetheless. Like Doug, the film has a big heart and does a good job balancing the humour, romance and balls-out bloody violence.
It is worth noting, this is a film with a lot of fighting and, thankfully, the film doesn't pull any punches. Personally, I love the amount of blood, teeth and broken bones the dishes out. However, the more squeamish among us may find themselves covering their eyes for some of the more prolonged fistfights.
'Goon' is a feel-good, violent and funny hockey film about the beauty of the bloody side of the game. Rumour has it a sequel is in the works and I can't wait to see the next chapter in Doug's story.
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