It’s difficult to put a genre to Alex Proyas latest film ‘Knowing’. Disaster movie, drams, thriller, science fiction, they’re all in there somewhere, what it certainly is, is different.

In 1959 a class of young children are asked to come up with an idea to mark the opening of their new school. One girl, Lucinda, a bit of a loner, comes up with the winning idea, to bury a time capsule containing pictures drawn by them of what they think the world will look like in 50 years time. The children paint the expected pictures of rockets and robots. All except for Lucinda. Lucinda hears whispering voices in her head and they tell her to write down a massive sequence of numbers. She frantically writes but runs out of time just short of the final few numbers. The teacher is surprised by Lucinda’s contribution but includes it in the capsule anyway. Later that day, after the capsule has been buried, Lucinda goes missing. A search party is raised and the grounds of the school are thoroughly searched. The teacher finds Lucinda in a cupboard under the stairs having frantically scratched the final numbers into the door with her fingers until they bled.

Shoot forwards 50 years and John Koestler (Nicolas Cage) is a professor of astrophysics at MIT. He’s a widower, with a young son, who lost his wife recently in a hotel fire. His son, Caleb, attends the same school where the time capsule was buried and the 50 year ceremony is about to take place. When the enveloped from inside the capsule are distributed amongst the present day children, Caleb gets Lucinda’s envelope. That night John absent-mindedly puts his glass of scotch (he drinks a bit too much in the evenings these days) down on the page of numbers. Glancing at the numbers contained within the glass ring he notices a sequence that piques his interest (91120012996). Being an astrophysicist he sees the numbers as a puzzle to be solved. Pretty quickly he manages to break the numbers down into a date, 09/11/01, the date of the 9/11 terror strike in New York. After googling 9/11 he also finds out that there were 2996 deaths that day.

In a rather intense night for John he manages to find dates and numbers of deaths for pretty much every major disaster for the last 50 years, all predicted in this sheet of numbers. Not all of the numbers form the date and number of dead though, some don’t seem to mean anything at all. John tries to convince a colleague of what he’s found and while he thinks it’s a bit creepy he’s not totally convinced. John then tells him that not all of the events are in the past. One string of numbers says that 81 deaths will occur somewhere the following day. Come the next day and John is stuck in a traffic jam, in a storm, going to pick his son up from school. Glancing at his sat nav he notices a sequence of numbers that describe his longitude and latitude. He then realises that the unexplained numbers on the sheet are in fact the location of the disaster. Looking at the location for today’s predicted event he notices that it’s at the exact same location that he’s currently at! While up ahead there’s been an accident  up ahead it isn’t bad enough for 81 deaths. Just then a passenger plane comes hurtling out of the sky having been struck by lightening, narrowly missing John and crashing in the next field. Sure enough, 81 people died in the crash.

Scientist that he is John has to try and find an explanation for these numbers and why they came to be in his possession. He tries to track down Lucinda, only to find she died of a drugs overdose a few years before. The next best thing is her daughter, Diana. Initially Diana wants nothing to do with John, telling him that her mother told her that she heard voices and that they told her terrible things. It’s not something that Diana remembers fondly and wants to put behind her, and not expose her own daughter, Abby to either. In desperation John makes another prediction to Diana from her mothers numbers, that the following day 191 people would die in New York, but Diana refuses to listen.

John seems compelled to try and stop the upcoming event and so phones through a warning to the authorities. On the news was a threat of a bomb in New York, so John assumes that’s the event and that it’ll happen at the location predicted. Just in case the authorities don’t act he heads to New York anyway, only to find that his tip off wasn’t acted upon and the local police think he’s a suspect and chase him into the subway, where the real event, a train crash happens with John too close for comfort.

When he returns home he finds Diana and Abby at his house waiting for him. They’d seen the news of the accident in New York and she’d realised that her Mother was telling the truth and wasn’t crazy. John then explains that the last sequence of numbers is incomplete, the location isn’t present. Diana also notices that what seem like the last numbers, 33, are in fact EE written backwards.

Things aren’t quite as straight forward as they seem however. This isn’t just a disaster movie, there’s something more sinister at work here. Strange men pull up to the house in a car and, without saying a word, give his son a black stone. It turns out that Caleb and Abby can both, from time to time, hear the whispering voices that Lucinda could. John needs to find out what’s behind all of this, why did he get the numbers if he can’t stop the events from happening? How is his son linked to all of this? John and Diana head to the remote portable trailer that was the last home of her mother. There, scratched into the bottom of her bed they find that EE actually stands for Everyone Else. The last sequence of numbers is actually predicting the end of the world! Is this the one that John is supposed to stop? What do the sinister silent men want with the children? I’m afraid I can’t say any more ‘cause that’d just give it all away.

I have to admit that from the trailers I’d seen for the film, I thought it was a pretty standard disaster flick with a bit of weirdness thrown in with the list of numbers. In actual fact there’s a lot more weirdness here than you at first think. At first it’s subtle, but throughout the film it gains pace until there’s a dark and sinister thread to the film that takes it into a different genre. Personally I found this quite refreshing, this isn’t the usual Hollywood fare offered up to us 9.9 times out of 10, this film dares to be different and while the ending has to be seen to be believed (and has been highly criticised) again, I admired it for its bravery.

There is a sombre tone to the film throughout. Nicolas Cage doesn’t play a happy man. A man that’s just become a single father through the death of his wife, it’s lead him to question everything he believed about how the universe works. The cast throughout are very good, I’m a bit of a fan of Mr Cage and while I can’t quite see him as an MIT astrophysicist, he pulls of the rest of the character rather well. Rose Byrne is also excellent as Diana, there’s quite a realistic interaction between her character and Cage’s, thankfully Alex Proyas kept it straight and didn’t try and introduce a romantic angle to their relationship, that wouldn’t have been right at all.

The cinematography is also quite dark throughout the film, there’s a real sense of foreboding that increases throughout the film as things start to become more sinister. The picture quality of the DVD is excellent upscaled on my 37” LCD and while for long stretches of the film the Dolby Digital 5.1 track has little to do but dialogue (which it does very well though), when it is called into action during the more intense scenes it does so with aplomb. There are a few nice surround effects in there as well, but again, they’re only during the action sequences which are few and far between.

Overall I thought it was well worth a watch. I can’t say that I came away from it with the usual Hollywood feel good feeling, but that’s part of it’s charm, it doesn’t take the usual Hollywood formula but instead decides to tread some new ground and good on it for trying. It’s flawed in a couple of areas, the significance of certain things doesn’t come across well and other things aren’t really explained, but I guess it just leaves you to use your own imagination and come up with those explanations yourself.

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Knowing, DVD Review

Mumbai Calling is the latest in a long line of British sitcoms, but one that is fairly modern, almost completely original, and utterly different from anything that as come before. The shows premise revolves around British-Indian Kenny Gupta (Sanjeev Bhaskar), who is unwillingly sent to India to improve the profitability of his companies call centre, Teknobable. Also appearing is Terri Johnson (Daisy Beaumont), who was sent in to assess the job being carried out by Kenny, and Dev Raja (Nitin Ganatra), the extremely laid back call centre manager who works solely for the money and doesn’t really care how the call centre is run as long as he can have a laugh and catch a glimpse of the odd belly dancer.

Throughout the series the call centre attempts to address the various problems that the Indian workers have in communicating with their British customers; from not being able to understand regional accents, to lacking assertiveness and occasionally losing their temper. All of these issues are tackled with some truly absurd plot lines that involve everything from Bollywood heroes, the Indian mafia and a drink driving cabbie, all the way up to a photocopied rear-end. Yet despite how clearly ridiculous the plots are, they gel perfectly with the sitcom format and series as a whole, making it easy to watch, without the need to pick holes in the plot.
 
Characterization fits exactly the same pattern, as almost every character (bar Kenny Gupta) is played in such an over the top fashion, and as a complete stereotype, that they become almost pantomime like; Dev Raja possibly being the main culprit, as he is every bit the Indian counterpart of The Office’s David Brent (doesn’t enjoy work, sex mad, constantly messing around and often making a fool of himself, although Dev is liked by his peers, and is actually a good friend to them), Terri Johnson is the 30 something single business woman that we have seen so many times (workaholic that holds a deep sadness within and is just itching for Mr. Right to come along and whisk her away) and even some of the call centre employees are stereotypes, such as the cowardly young man that’s being forced into an arranged marriage because he is too scared to stand up to his parents and the and the cynical woman who is trying to do her job correctly and help the customers but can’t because she is surrounded by idiots that just won’t listen to her. Yet again, despite the characterization being heightened beyond the point of reality, it works in this situation, and many of the characters funniest moments come from their absurdly heightened stereotypical natures.
 
The idea of setting the show in an Indian call centre was an extremely clever one, as practically every British viewer will be able to relate to being put through one to of those terribly annoying call centres where  it is difficult to understand the unhelpful foreigner speaking on the other end. This series is clever because it approaches that subject matter from the other side of the coin completely, expressing just what a difficult job the Indian call centre operatives really have in dealing with nuisance callers, terrible computer software and a great deal of the seemingly retarded British public.
 
Direction and the style of the show are also interesting as it is very fast paced and something that appears pretty new to British comedy, featuring many seemingly random and irrelevant (although very funny) sequences that are reminiscent of a ‘Family Guy’ style “Just like that time I… (Insert random joke)”. Like most other sitcoms the plots are very episodic, so it wouldn’t have mattered if you missed one or two during it’s TV run, and the only real lasting plot element is the will they/won’t they relationship between Kenny and Terri; a relationship that is nowhere near as intriguing as the Ross and Rachel dynamic, or even entirely believable, but it does have its moments, both funny and sweet.
 
All in all this is a fresh new comedy show that despite being overly Asian is quintessentially British; featuring every type of famed British humour, including toilet jokes, endless innuendos, a good deal of slapstick and downright silliness, and even the odd clever lengthy set-up. In truth it’s surprisingly good, and despite a possibly off putting setting, it’s a barrel of laughs from start to finish; granted characters are all heightened beyond realistic levels, the situations are ridiculous and the humour is daft, but aren’t those all the things that make a good British comedy funny?

Picture:

The picture quality of Mumbai Calling can be summed up in two words, consistently average. That is not to suggest that this is in anyway a bad transfer, although it is somewhat under whelming; the series uses a wide range of vibrant and bright colours, as well as the mucky mid tones of the Indian streets, and the contrast stands up rather well to these extremes, as does the picture quality itself, with little if any noticeable difference between the indoor studio shots and the scenes set outdoors in the Indian sun. There’s no real grain to speak of, for a DVD transfer, but the detail levels aren’t especially high either, and as almost all of the series was shot indoors the overall impression is that they could have done better. Anyone not looking for superior quality, or content with mid range quality, will be more than impressed, because there are no problems, but this transfer certainly won’t hold water against other TV series such as the BBC’s impressive transfer of their Robin Hood series (Blu-ray picture on that release is superb).

Audio:

Audio, as with the picture, is nothing spectacular. Being a sitcom Mumbai Calling doesn’t need the most diverse and expansive soundfield, however it could have greatly benefited from some bustling street noise emulating from the rear speakers (during the outdoor shots), however being released with only two channel stereo that was not possible. However, sound levels are extremely clear with dialogue clearly audible over the hustle and bustle of the Indian call centre, and once the volume level is set it will never need to be altered. A big drawback on the audio front though is the Mumbai Calling theme tune, which is possibly on of the most annoying themes ever created, and played repeatedly over the DVD menu, and several times during each episode.

Extras:

Mumbai Calling has three extra features, a making of, a series Promo and an interview with Sanjeev Bhaskar and Nitin Ganatra. The making of featurette is extremely long (lasting just over an hour), and unnecessarily so; there’s the usual behind the scenes look, interviews, outtakes and other assorted extras, but each feels stretched. There are some interesting moments and anecdotes in it, such as the discussion of how Indian culture affected the shoot (needing to have everything blessed every morning and refusing to remove pigeons from the set) and how Nitin was mistaken for a terrorist while running through an airport to attend his child’s birth, and it is clear that everyone who worked on the show loved the experience, however this feature is only for hardcore fans, as it becomes tremendously tedious very quickly.
 
The promo, as you may have guessed, is just a long advert, and one that actually manages to make the series look less funny than it actually is; one to avoid. The interview with Sanjeev Bhaskar and Nitin Ganatra is similarly pointless as it has a rather bland tone and neither one really expands on the series or provides any interesting info or anecdotes.

The Bottom Line:

Mumbai Calling is a very good comedy series for one simple reason, it’s funny. It’s no Fawlty Towers, it’s no Blackadder and it’s certainly no Only Fools and Horses, but it has all the elements of a classic British comedy; toilet humour, innuendo and slapstick all tied in with suitably ridiculous plots. The acting is somewhat over the top, but that suits the characters and situations perfectly, there are some interesting guest stars (such as Richard E. Grant) and a new and suitably modern setting. The extras on the DVD are largely a waste of time and the picture and audio quality is far from astounding, however, that shouldn’t deter anyone from watching this laugh out loud comedy. Obviously anyone who isn’t usually into comedy should stay away, but viewers that like a good laugh are such to enjoy the series and at around £12 it’s a bargain price for a series that comes highly recommended.

The Series: 7/10
Video: 6/10
Audio: 6/10
Extras: 3/10
Overall: 6/10

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Mumbai Calling Series 1 DVD Review

Director Of CTU (Counter-Terrorism Unit), Los Angeles, Jack Bauer (Sutherland) sees his daughter to bed and is called in to the office when the CIA becomes aware of a threat to Presidential Candidate David Palmer (Haysbert). As Bauer investigates the threat against Palmer, he realises that there is probably someone on the inside, and that there is no one he can trust, leaving himself and his family in danger. Filmed in real time, we live with Bauer, Palmer, their families and the CTU team over 24 hours, the longest day of their lives…

I didn’t see this on TV, so I’ve watched all 24 episodes without missing one (which usually happens when I try to watch a TV series). I very nearly didn’t sleep in the two weeks it’s taken to find the time to watch and entire TV series. After the first few episodes, which introduce the characters, it becomes very hard to switch off – brilliantly acted, incredibly well directed and ending each episode with a cliffhanger, it becomes an obsession. The real-time aspect means that you find yourself wondering what is going on at that time on another sub-plot. Often you see two or three stories on-screen, and as it takes many episodes to resolve even the smallest story, you keep coming back for more, and just when you think you’ve figured it out, there’s a twist you didn’t see coming and another story starts up.

There’s so much to the story I would like to talk about but can’t simply because to say anymore will be to ruin the surprise (and excitement) of watching this without prior knowledge. But believe me when I say that this is the best TV show I have ever seen, and nothing has come close to entertaining me much as this series has. Obviously it’s tough to keep up such momentum for 24 episodes, and it does lull after the first dozen episodes, and some of the events do beggar belief, but it is still engaging throughout, supported by great performances – particularly from Sutherland and Haysbert.

The Series is presented on 6 disks, 4 episodes on each. Image is widescreen and clear, but ultimately it’s a TV presentation and so quite grainy at times. The 2.0 soundtrack is clear, but only uses the surround channel for the haunting music. You also get an alternate (and quite different ending), which is good, and a teaser for series 2, which I will be watching! I would have liked to see commentaries or a making of documentary – explaining the logistics behind making a real-time TV show, but perhaps we will see that on Season 2.

Many of you out there will have heard a lot about this but baulked at the price tag. All I can say to persuade you is that this is probably the best TV show ever to come out on DVD and worth every penny – if you only watch the series once you will get value for money.

Film:	★★★★★★★★★★
Video:	★★★★★★☆☆☆☆
Audio:	★★★★☆☆☆☆☆☆
Extras:	★★★★☆☆☆☆☆☆
Overall:	★★★★★★★★☆☆

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24 Season 1, DVD Review (Archive)

Marley & Me is the true story of John Grogan (Owen Wilson), his family, and their dog Marley. Based on John Grogan’s best-selling autobiographical book of the same name ,this is a true American dramedy (half drama, half comedy), following the Grogan family from John and Jenny’s (Jennifer Aniston) wedding, through multiple house moves, job interviews, pregnancy scares and mishaps, births, and the one constant throughout; Marley, the Grogan family dog.

Marley & Me is based on John Grogan’s best-selling autobiography, of the same name, which was in turn based on a series of newspaper columns he wrote, while working for a high profile Florida newspaper, chronicling all major, and many mundane, events in his family life, that were often centered around the often comical antics of the family dog Marley.

The film begins shortly before Grogan accepts the job at the Florida newspaper (with his wedding), and details the decision making process behind buying the now infamous dog (as a way to prevent his wife from getting pregnant), his career shift from mediocre journalist to insanely popular column writer, and the growth and evolution of his relationship with wife Jenny and their children.

The first thing to note when choosing to watch Marley & Me is that it isn’t a typical romantic comedy; anyone expecting the usual boy meets girl while walking dog, boy and girl grow close, boy and girl have a tiff, boy and girl live happily ever after plot, will be severely disappointed. When the film begins the boy and girl have already met and fallen in love, and instead the film follows their marriage over a period of 13 years, including all its highs and lows, from pregnancy to vacations and even neighborhood break-ins. However the main focus of the film, is the relationship that grows between each of the family members and Marley, “The World’s Worst Dog” (according to John Grogan), as despite chewing furniture, swallowing jewellery, and some rather inappropriate humping, Marley’s affectionate nature shines through and he really becomes a member of the family.

Both Owen Wilson and Jennifer Aniston perform the films comedy elements with ease despite the fact that the film isn’t the usual rude teen/slapstick comedy that Wilson usually shines in or the sitcom/child friendly ventures that have made Jennifer Aniston so popular, yet there is plenty of comedy here, practically all of which revolves around Marley’s antics, with the remainder being made up of some clever and witty character jokes, all of which are at least chuckle worthy, if not laugh out loud funny. However it is in all of the films emotional scenes where the true acting talent of the main stars shows through, as there are tears of joy as well as sorrow, plenty of rage, and a good deal of humility all conveyed by both of the headlining stars, and both Wilson and Aniston performed their respective parts very well, with Owen Wilson’s being possibly his most adult (although not entirely his most convincing) performance to date.

Direction and cinematography here are nothing awe worthy, and stick fairly close to genre standards, with little flair being shown, although such a style has only become standard because it works well for the genre, and whilst not being especially fresh or modern, the style works perfectly well for the film.

In short Marley and Me is a true heart-warming family story, as it is both suitable for family viewing and tells the story of a real life family and everything that they experience over a thirteen year period, and while it is aimed mostly at the romantic-comedy loving female audience it’s also suitable for men as it’s a different story that is both funny and emotional and has several scenes that just about any viewer will be able to personally relate to. The film isn’t without its problems, such as despite occurring over thirteen years and having children that by the films close are at least coming to the end of primary school, the main stars don’t appear to age even a day and both finish with a full head of blonde hair despite finding each others first grey hair near the beginning of the film. However it’s a film that delivers exactly what it promises; a tale that guarantees to give a good hard tug on every viewer’s heart strings, and leave them thinking “aw.”

Picture:

The DVD release of Marley and Me has a picture that is at the height of DVD capabilities; the colour palette isn’t overly strong but has enough pop to make the right elements clearly stand out, flesh tones are completely natural, and the detail level is also fairly high. This is a top quality DVD transfer with as little grain or image problems as possible, and for people who crave superior image quality Marley and Me is also being released on Blu-ray Disc, and if the DVD is anything to go by the picture on the Blu-ray edition should be nothing short of superb.

Audio:

Marley and Me plays with a 5.1 soundtrack which, strangely for a new release, is only available in English. As with any drama/comedy the soundtrack won’t prove to be a speaker testing extravaganza, because there are no car chases, no gun fights, and no scenes that require much in the way of surround, however the sounds used are very effective; dialogue is heavily anchored to the front speakers, being both clear and easy to understand, music resonates mostly from the front, with quieter sounds emanating from the rear speakers, and there is a good deal of ambient noise in the many outdoor scenes which add to the realistic feel of the story. Overall Marley and Me received a very effective, although not noteworthy, soundtrack.

Extras:

Marley and Me has a plethora of extras including a look at finding and training the 22 dogs used to play Marley (“Finding Marley”), Cast and crew discussing working with children and animals (“Breaking the Golden Rule”), a talk with Marley (“On Set With Marley: Dog Of All Trades”), a short detailing how difficult it was to recreate an accident that happened on set (“When Not To Pee”), deleted scenes with commentary, a discussion about the benefits of adopting a dog (“Animal Adoption”) and finally a gag reel.

Unfortunately the review disc only contained the “Finding Marley” and gag reel extras, but both were certainly worth a watch; they are both short enough so that they don’t become boring (8 and 5 minutes respectively) and the Finding Marley featurette is interesting in how it explains how some of the best scenes in the film were spur of the moment suggestions made by the dog trainers, how unruly and funny some of the dogs were, and how they had to undergo ‘anti-training’ in order to become Marley. The gag reel isn’t overly funny and seems more of a montage for the cast to look back at fondly, yet there are moments that are likely to make you smile, the funniest of which involving the crew trying to get a perfectly clam and happy baby to cry on cue, and having great difficulty in attempting it.

Having only seen two of the features it is impossible to provide a true rating, but from those two it appears that any fan of the film will likely enjoy watching the extras on this disc, because they are amusing, short and easy to watch, and have the same tone as the film itself. Anyone who opts for the Blu-ray version will also receive two additional features revolving around dog training; a picture in picture training trivia track, and a dog training 101 bonus view video.

The Bottom Line:

Marley and Me is a surprisingly good film, the acting from the main cast is solid, the story is everything it should be; amusing, heart-warming and full of emotion; and it doesn’t fail to gain a reaction from the audience. It’s also a film that is well suited to just about any occasion; it’s a film that parents can enjoy with their children, it’s perfect for any couples romantic night in, or even just a girlie night alone with a bar of chocolate. The film itself has also been given a good release package as the DVD version at least has a top quality picture, an effective yet not awe-inspiring soundtrack, and extras that perfectly fit the tone of the film and are very easy to watch. This is definitely a film that is more suited to women than men, but there’s plenty for male viewers to enjoy; in short it’s an emotional story that’s well worth buying and would make a great present for any lady.

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Marley & Me, DVD Review

Bourne and Marie (Franka Potente) are living quietly on Goa and trying to put his past behind them or at least what he remembers of it. However, they are roughly brought back to reality when a Russian assassin (Karl Urban) frames Bourne for a double killing in Berlin, one of them a CIA operative, and then tracks him to Goa and tries to kill him in an attempt to cover his tracks.

Jason still can’t remember all the details of his past but suspects his former Treadstone pals are behind the attempt on his life so he’s intent on living up to the promise he made them two years ago if they didn’t leave him alone. Meanwhile, the CIA have taken the bait set up by the Russian killer and, out for revenge for the killing of their man, are now out to get Bourne for once and all.

Both are headed for a showdown but neither knows that the real truth goes far deeper and further back than either could have suspected…

Review

Matt Damon returns as Jason Bourne in this realistic and gritty spy thriller where, unlike most sequels, this successfully continues the story left at the end of The Bourne Identity. A lot of the original characters and cast return with a plot that is nicely woven through the events and characters of the original and it runs at a reasonable and occasionally furious pace throughout.

Director Paul Greengrass also successfully picks up where Doug Liman left off and gives us the same solid and realistic feel with no gimmicks that made the original a success. More of Bourne’s no frills fighting talents and a couple of good car chases mean that there’s plenty of action for the adrenalin junkies and the action runs consistently as Jason moves from Goa to Naples, Munich, Berlin and ending in Moscow. Another thing to note is that there are no “Q” division type gadgets or suave dinner-suit locations used, everything is true to life and as realistic as they could make it.

The only complaint I have is that some of the edits in the faster scenes are cut a bit too sharply and I sometimes felt tempted to rewind and watch it again to see what actually happened. I’m sure it’s deliberately done to give the film it’s sometimes furious pace and you don’t really miss anything important but you’re left going “What was that?” or “What happened there?” a few times.

As for the acting, Matt Damon is again excellent as Bourne, now haunted by dreams of a past he can’t remember but determined to find out the truth. Franka Potente returns briefly as Marie, the girl who gave him a lift that changed her life forever and Brian Cox is as nasty and duplicitous as ever as Ward Abbott, Treadstone’s CIA overseer. Julia Stiles and Gabriel Mann return in slightly more involved roles this time as ex-Treadstone staff Nicky and Danny Zorn.

New faces in this instalment are Joan Allen and Karl Urban. Allen is particularly impressive as CIA depute director Pamela Landy, who’s in charge of the hunt for Bourne and really shows that she can fully play the game in the predominantly male oriented secret service. Urban, whom you might not recognise as Eomer from The Lord Of The Rings, plays the Russian assassin Kirill and really looks the part, no archetypal bad guy dialogue, he just gets on with the job and is totally convincing as a ruthless killer.

The picture is presented in 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen and is pretty good throughout with an excellent transfer, although the predominant use of hand-held camerawork and the somewhat muted colours give the film a more down-to-earth and gritty look. All of this is quite deliberate and follows on from the look of the first film and it all works quite well. Also worthy of note was Greengrass’s decision to do all of the stunts as realistically as possible and with no CGI involvement and the combination of all of the above mean that the results worked very well.

The soundtrack is presented in Dolby Digital 5.1 and is a reasonable, if nothing special, mix. Dialogue is front based and clear throughout along with John Powell’s score but the surround effects are fairly low key and ambient except during the car chases and action sequences, where they kick in very well indeed. Could have been better given the material though. There’s a fair amount of subtitle use as most of the action takes place in non-English speaking locations but it works okay and is never too long as to detract the viewer. Of course that meant that some of the cast had to learn a fair bit of Italian, German and Russian but they carry it off very well and sound convincing.

I watched The Bourne Identity the night before I watched this, just to get into the mood like, and thoroughly enjoyed both films. All in all, The Bourne Supremacy is a very successful instalment in the Bourne saga – bring on The Bourne Ultimatum.

Extras

Explosive Deleted Scenes – Five deleted scenes lasting just over seven minutes in all. There’s no explanations as to why these were cut and none of them are “explosive” so I’m assuming they were cut for timing or pacing reasons but a few of them are worth watching.

Matching Identities: Casting – Director Paul Greengrass talks about casting the movie with some interview snippets from producers Frank Marshall and Patrick Crowley along with the main cast members. A bit of a mutual praise session and nothing special., lasting for just under five and a half minutes.

Keeping it Real – A five-minute piece on how the production team kept the film as realistic as possible, giving it a documentary style and looking spontaneous and unrehearsed. Focuses a lot on the choice of Paul Greengrass, due to his work on Bloody Sunday, and how his directorial style was perfect for this film. More interview material with the producers, director and cast.

Blowing Things Up – 2nd unit director and stunt coordinator Dan Bradley talks about the gas explosion scene in Munich, where a number of the stunt team are blown a fair distance by the blast. Again, the emphasis was on avoiding the use of CGI effects and it was all achieved using more traditional visual effects. There’s also some input from the special effects foreman, the producers and Matt Damon. Quite interesting but it only lasts for four minutes.

On the Move With Jason Bourne – A little five-minute piece on some of the locations used in the film and the conditions of shooting in these places, which were actually as stated in the storyline. Focuses on Berlin, Moscow and Goa.

Bourne To Be Wild: Fight Training – A short but interesting four and a half minute look at the movie’s big fight scene between Bourne and Treadstone agent Jarda (Marton Csokas) in Munich. The producers and Paul Greengrass talks about the setting and how scrappy it should look while well respected fight coordinator Jeff Imada talks about the moves, using the same Philippino fighting style that Matt Damon was trained in for The Bourne Identity.

Crash-Cam: Racing Through The Streets of Moscow – An interesting look at how the team tried to better the car chase in The Bourne Identity and how they planned to film it in such a way as to let the viewer feel like they are in the car. Good stuff and again, all real stunts and cars. Lasts six minutes.

The Go-Mobile Revs Up The Action – A look at the impressive and amazingly flexible Go-Mobile high-speed stunt car rig. It allows a car being used in an action scene to be driven at high speed by an experienced stunt driver, while still having the actors sitting behind the wheel. It also allows for camera shots to be taken from just about any angle into the car during the action. Looked like real fun for Matt Damon! Lasts seven minutes.

Anatomy of a Scene: The Explosive Bridge Chase Scene – This is a behind the scenes look at shooting the scene in Berlin, where Bourne evades his pursuers by vaulting off a rail station bridge and landing on a passing barge on the river. There’s not a great deal of “anatomy” or “explosive” detail here but there are a few funny moments. Lasts just under five minutes.

Scoring With John Powell – Yet again another almost five-minute long piece, this one concentrating on the film score. Composer John Powell talks about how he and his team went about scoring the movie – using some of the existing themes from the previous film, inventing new ones and avoiding doing it the traditional way of patching together lots of well-known songs and tunes. He also discussed his intent in tricking the audience by changing the cues we’d normally expect to hear in the lead up to certain events.

Feature Commentary With Director Paul Greengrass – A fairly entertaining commentary from Paul Greengrass with all the usual elements of plot development, production anecdotes and trivia. I have to admit that I’m getting a bit jaded listening to commentary tracks, life’s too short. Still, Greengrass does a reasonable job here and if commentaries are your thing, it’ll not disappoint.

DVD-ROM Content – Again Universal have chosen the Windows only InterActual Player to deliver the DVD-ROM content so here’s one unimpressed Mac user. Seriously though, if it’s on the DVD, you should be able to find it yourself and avoid this problematic piece of software. Can’t think why they’d want to alienate us minority groups like this but it gets them a negative score from me.

Trailers – Promotional trailers for Van Helsing, The Chronicles Of Riddick, The Chronicles Of Riddick: Pitch Black Special Edition, The Bourne Identity Special Edition and Billy Elliot The Musical.

Overall

With a sound story basis coming from a writer like Ludlum, The Bourne Supremacy is a solid action thriller and an excellent sequel to The Bourne Identity. If you like spy movies, you’ll almost certainly enjoy this and if you liked The Bourne Identity, then it’s a must see as you won’t be disappointed.

The picture and sound are pretty good throughout but the extras package have a bit of a “Never mind the quality, feel the width!” feel to them and I feel that they could have taken eight of the nine mini-featurettes, lasting about 42 minutes in total, and put them into a much better and more added-value “Making Of” documentary. Still, it makes for a reasonable evening’s entertainment!

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The Bourne Supremacy, DVD Review

The Crow is a film that has been in my DVD collection for sometime. Having recently upgraded the disc I had for the R2 Scandinavian 2 disc Limited Edition steel-book version I thought that I would review a film that is amongst my favourite movies.

Eric Draven (Brandon Lee) and his fiancée Shelly (Sofia Shinas) are murdered on the eve of their Halloween Wedding by T-Bird and his gang of delinquents sent over there on the orders of Top-Dollar (Michael Wincott).

Legend has it that when someone dies The Crow carries their soul to the land of the dead but sometimes something so bad happens that a terrible sadness is carried with it and the soul can’t rest. Sometimes the Crow can bring that soul back to put the wrong things right.

So at its basic level it is a story of revenge and Let’s face it, that storyline isn’t exactly over spilling in the originality stakes but don’t let that put you off as Director Alex Proyas and director of photography Dariusz Wolski     have created a wonderful visual feast of entertainment that sets The Crow apart from other movies of its ilk.

On watching this movie again recently I was reminded of Blade Runner; The depressing look and feel of the locations. The seemingly endless rain that falls down on the filth of the city but at the same time it is filmed in a graphic novel style not a million miles away from the more recent film noir Sincity. But on top of this if anyone remembers the Max Payne PC game from way back in 2001? This is how I imagined the real life world of Max Payne to look like.

The casting is spot on in all areas but special mention needs to be made for Brandon Lee. He is absolutely fantastic in this, his look is very much the Batman’s joker and I could really believe that his look influenced the make up in Heath Ledgers character. Another similarity between Ledger and Lee is that they both died young and in tragic circumstances, Lee was actually killed by a faulty prop gun during the making of this very film and his face was digitally superimposed on another actor in several shots. The tragic scenes that were filmed when the accident occurred were destroyed without being developed and are not in the movie at all. But I think this would have been the movie that would have propelled him onto bigger things.

His acting is spot on here. Take the opening scenes for example when we see him emerge from the grave and make his way back towards the now deserted apartment that he shared with his fiancée I could feel the pain and confusion of what was happening to him and the initial difficulty he has in coming to terms with what was going on.

Ernie Hudson plays the humane policeman Sergeant Albrecht, he is a shining light in what is mainly a sea of filth, he attempted to pursue the case when Shelly and Eric were killed but was stonewalled at every turn and eventually demoted. But when he sees Eric again he tries to help (after getting over the bewilderment of seeing a dead person alive). He even manages to get a few light hearted moments.

Sarah is a streetwise kid mostly abandoned by her barmaid/whore mother Darla (Anna Levine) and fends for herself most of the time; she was good friends with Shelly and Eric and misses them both very much. I thought she played her role very well, she seemed natural in the role and not wooden at all, I am surprised that she has not acted since.

Michael Wincott has always come across as a good bad guy, or shady character in a number of movies that I’ve seen him in, he just has that bad guy face and his gruff voice lends an air of malevolence that is on par with John Malkovich at his most evil. In fact in one scene we see him with a samurai sword on his back and for some reason I thought that he would have looked very good in “Highlander”.

For me the film has everything, stunning visuals, a great soundtrack, decent bad guys and some pretty good acting, if that doesn’t get you going then I am at a loss of what will.

Audio/Video:
I listened to this via a DTS soundtrack and it was awesome. The soundtrack was punchy and loud, bass rippled through my front room with that satisfying low noise. The haunting music suits the images on screen so well.

The dialogue was clear and concise too, never being overshadowed by the soundtrack. Surrounds were used nicely too with various effects panning the room.

Visually I found the transfer to be stunning, it is a very dark movie but I never felt there was a lack of detail, there was no detectable damage, it was a joy to behold.

Extras:

Disc 1:
Audio Commentary with Producer Jeff Most and Screenwriter John Shirley:
I was wondering why it wasn’t the director giving the commentary; Saying that the dialogue is quite interesting in explaining the dynamics of the story.

Disc 2:
A Profile on James O’Barr:
This is the guy that wrote The Crow graphic novel. A fairly interesting look at the creator of the comic, he seems like a fairly nervous guy and we find out about his life and the sad things that happened in his life that went on to influence his drawings.  We get excerpts of his drawings but the camera work when he is on screen is terrible, way too close and shaky. However I was enthralled by it and had to watch it till the end.

Brandon Lee’s Final Interview:
Watching this interview you can’t help but be amazed that he didn’t live to see the end of the movie. It is only a short interview but he obviously has a passion for the role, I think he would have gone on to great things.

Extended Scenes:
We are presented with 3 extended scenes that were shortened for the theatrical release. I enjoyed watching the scenes but I think that the idea to shorten them was ultimately a good one.

Deleted Footage Montage:
A collection of deleted scenes to music, not much in the way of dialogue accompanying it. I like the haunting music to the film so I found it a decent watch.

Original Poster Concepts:
A few still pictures on potential posters for the film, some better than others.

Production Design:
Another set of still on drawn production ideas.

Storyboards:
Another set of drawings depicting certain areas of the film.

Overall:
I think that this is a superb release, the steel-book itself feels like very good quality, the film is a superb gothic tale which was a great transfer and punchy audio. It is a well acted film with high production values and was of course the last film Brandon Lee made, a superb example of the genre.

Reviewers set up:
32” Sony Bravia
Harman Kardon AVR7300 through KEF Q Series Speakers
PS3 via HDMI Connection (Video) and Optical connection via the AMP (Audio)

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The Crow – DVD Review

Season 7 is the final season of the Shield, and it’s clear from start to finish that the series hasn’t lost any of the hard-hitting, gritty realism, that’s had fans hooked since early 2002. The stories are as edgy as ever, there’s plenty of action, brutality, and a plot that twists and turns so often that once you start watching, you won’t be able to stop. It’s also the most shocking series yet (fans will know that’s a pretty bold statement to make), as there’s about ten or eleven episodes (out of a 13 episode series) with cliff-hangers so surprising that not only will they make any viewers jaw hit the floor, but leave them with only two thoughts; “wow!” and “what’re they going to do next?”

The Shield was created by Shawn Ryan (writer for Angel, showrunner for The Unit, and co-wrote Terminator Salvation) and revolves around the exploits of the L.A.P.D. within the fictional Farmington District. The series’ main protagonist is Detective Vic Mackey (Michael Chiklis), who heads the Strike Team; a four man unit that deals solely with gang related crimes, and aren’t above planting evidence on suspects, beating confessions out of them, and even occasionally raising the bar to outright murder and other questionable activities used to keep peace on the streets and supplement their income.

The main issue presented by the series is the use of force, and corruption within the police department, as the actions of Vic and the rest of the Strike Team are not only vicious, but immoral and downright illegal, yet they always seem to do more good than harm; granted now and again they ‘forget’ to turn in a brick of heroin to evidence, or make back-room deals with drug dealers and murderers, but all the beatings, murders and stitch-ups they ever conduct are against people that are truly deserving; serial rapists, paedophiles, murderers, pimps or drug dealers; and because of this no viewer can truly hate Mackey or the Strike Team as a whole.

In the pilot episode Mackey was referred to as “Al Capone with a badge” but as another detective pointed out, as long as people feel safe, and crime is down, as far as the public are concerned “it’s don’t ask, don’t tell,” and while most people may agree with that in real life, we have not only been told, but shown the actions of the Strike Team for the past six years, and as this is the last ever season fans were itching to find out if Mackey would finally get his comeuppance, or what depraved acts he would have to commit to escape scott free.

The next section of the series review should only be read by people that have seen at least the first six series of The Shield, as while it contains no real Season 7 spoilers, it does refer to events from earlier series. People that haven’t seen the earlier series’ should skip ahead to Acting/conclusion, Picture/Audio quality, Extras and the Bottom Line.

Season 6 ended with Shane (Walton Goggins), once again, being in way over his head with a gang; the Armenians, which led to him letting slip that Vic had ripped off the money train, and even kidnapping Vic’s wife and children to protect them from an Armenian hitman. Season 7 kicks off with a bang, as within the first few seconds Shane’s wife is bound and gagged, and Shane is receiving a beating from Vic and Ronnie (David Rees Snell) and is forced to tell them about the Armenians and just how screwed they all are.

From that point Vic, Shane and Ronnie are again forced to work closer together, and the season’s early episodes focus on the efforts to catch and kill any Armenians that know of their involvement in the money train robbery and could, by association, be a threat to their families. Shane is trying to find the Armenians before Vic and Ronnie, in order to keep his involvement in their predicament under wraps, and once more tries to redeem himself for killing Lem back in season 5.

Vic and Ronnie (him especially) aren’t too forgiving; they want to end the Armenian threat, find out how involved Shane is, and if not to avenge Lem’s death outright, to at least cut all ties with Shane. Inevitably tensions boil over, and the surprising actions of some of the main characters shift the story in a totally new direction. Without giving too much away, the remaining members of the Strike Team find themselves in more trouble than they have ever been in before, it’s clear that at least one if not all of them are going down, either to prison or the morgue, and the team’s inevitable descent to hell comes extremely rapidly from that point onwards.

The shift mentioned occurs in episode 8 (titled “Parricide”) and it is possibly the finest episode of The Shield ever produced; it has some of the best writing, best acting and most nail-biting moments of the series entire run. It is an episode that will not only have viewers on the edge of their seats, but holding their breath for the full 45 minute episode simply willing certain characters to do/not to do certain things, and this episode (more so than most, yet all in this season are brilliant) is a perfect example of why The Shield has been so beloved by fans, why the first season gained the most Emmy nominations for a basic cable drama, and just what an all-round brilliant show it was.

Unfortunately however, The Shield has now ended, and most people reading this will be interested in one thing above all else, ‘was the finale any good?’ and in short, it was unexpected. That comment shouldn’t be taken too negatively, as there are many things about the final episode which would more than please the shows legions of loyal fans; the fact that it was written solely by Shawn Ryan (shows creator and sole writer of the pilot episode), that references and even appearances are made by supporting cast members from earlier seasons, and most importantly of all, that every major storyline is satisfactorily and realistically closed.

Spoilers End

Realistic is a word that perfectly describes the series’ ending; as whilst it may not be the ending that most fans were expecting, it’s one that would probably have happened, had the events of the entire series been real; and on reflection, it was truly a piece of writing genius to end the series in such an unexpected, realistic and still shockingly powerful way.

As one would expect, the finale is tied up almost entirely with the fate of Vic, and it’s one of many episodes that keeps you guessing right until, and even past, the episodes closing scene. It’s an extremely powerful episode that will memorize just about anyone watching, there’s unexpected twists even at such a late stage in the game, and it is acted so well that the emotions of all key characters can actually be felt by the people watching, an example would be any one of several scenes where the camera holds steady for 30-40 seconds on a close-up of Mackey’s face, with no background noise or anything but his expression to convey the complex emotions felt by the character, and they are all scenes which Michael Chiklis pulls off exceptionally well.

The acting in this series is nothing but superb, Michael Chiklis is as convincing as ever as Vic Mackey, the tough cop that believes he is trying to do the right thing, and effectively carries the wider range of emotions needed to be conveyed by his character this series; having to show sadness, empathy, and convey a feeling that he knows he is taking things to far, and is disgusted with himself, but is unable to stop.

However it isn’t just Michael Chiklis that deserves all the credit, as the acting from the supporting cast is also exceptional; Walton Goggins, as Shane Vendrell, had to carry his character through some especially dark times during the season, and despite being an extremely difficult character to like, he was convincing and created a character that was easy to hate, yet deserving of an innumerable amount of empathy. David Rees Snell has the finest season of his Shield career as the third Strike Team member, Ronnie Gardocki, and it’s a season described in the commentary as the corruption of Ronnie because in several episodes Ronnie is forced to commit acts worse than he has ever done onscreen before. He’s an extremely likeable character, and it’s nice to see him get more screen time than has been awarded him in the past, and while David’s acting might not be as critically praised as that of Michael Chiklis or Walton Goggins, he easily matches their stellar standard and his performance far surpasses simply being believable, making it easy to feel for his character.

The rest of the regular cast also have their fair share of screen time and decent stories this series, Billings’ law suit reaches its climax, Dutch (wonderfully played by Jay Karnes) becomes involved in a disturbing case regarding a potential teenage serial killer, and the extent of Claudette’s (a character played to perfection by CCH Pounder) illness is made clear, and Aceveda (Benito Martinez) edges ever closer to the mayors desk.

To sum up, The Shield is, and has always been, a magnificent series, and season 7 is impressive enough to not only contend with but even surpass some of the earlier series’. The acting from all regular cast members, guest stars and even those reappearing in smaller supporting roles (the return of Tavon was a personal highlight) is as near perfect as possible, the stories are just as shocking and powerful as ever, with Vic barely hanging on through most of the series’, and the individual tragedies that befall a number of key characters are enough to move viewers to tears.  This is one of very few series’ that can be classified as essential viewing, as the writing quality, the show’s style and overall impression of the show haven’t failed to disappoint for seven years.

Picture:

The Shield has always been known for it’s gritty look, and as with all earlier series’ you can expect a good deal of grain on this transfer, something which is so noticeable that it even warrants a mention in the season openers commentary. However, grain here isn’t the result of a bad transfer, but rather a reflection of the series’ on-the-fly style of filming, and use of handheld cameras that provides a near documentary style look to the show. For that reason alone it should not be put down, and the fact that contrast remains consistent throughout and the picture looks a good deal better than the earlier series’ mean that whilst being far from perfect, the picture quality is more than adequate (actually adding to the realistic feel of the show), and doesn’t distract from the edgy storylines contained in each episode.

Audio:

Audio on previous Shield boxsets has been pretty limited, with seasons 1-6 having only 2 channel mixes, and unfortunately whilst online info states that season 7 has a 5.1 audio track, it only played in standard 2 channel stereo, with no options to change to 5.1. It’s understandable that the fast paced nature of the show, use of handheld cameras and the crews style of filming, would make it difficult creating a full 5.1 track during filming, but The Shield is a show that could really benefit from some decent surround sound; there are numerous action sequences, scenes on city streets and even quiet moments where the low hum of fluorescent lights being heard through the rear speakers would provide another level to the show and help to further immerse the viewer; however this isn’t the case, and season 7 of The Shield still has the same tired audio quality of the first season. A track that will be far from impressive, but boasts clear dialogue, ambient, and action noise levels throughout, and while it will not heighten the experience of the series, neither will it distract from the compelling story.

Extras:

As with all previous The Shield boxsets there are deleted scenes for every episode (51 scenes in total) with optional commentary by creator Shawn Ryan, and while the scenes themselves may prove interesting (but brief) the commentary really isn’t needed, as it generally consists of ‘this was a good scene but we cut it for time’ and little else.

There is also episode commentary on every episode, with commentators changing from main cast members, to writers, directors and crew, and they are surprisingly easy to listen to and informative. The commentaries conducted solely by the writers can become somewhat tedious, but the ones with directors and cast (particularly the finale) are interesting enough to please both fans and casual viewers alike; as they are littered with stories about the decision making processes, behind the scenes antics, banter between cast members, interesting question posed to one another and funny anecdotes, that all prove worthy of a listen.

Finally there are two making of featurettes: “Last Call: The Final Episode”, which is only really for real fans, as it mainly consists of the cast giving small speeches and heartfelt goodbyes to one-another, and “Nobody Expects to Lose, Nobody Expects to Die: The Shield’s Final Act”, which is more of a traditional making of, with some interesting cast and crew interviews conducted before, during and post filming, behind the scenes shots, and recapping the final season and showing how the ending was reached.

The most puzzling extra(s) of all come on the final disc, as there are ‘deleted scenes’ from the final episode, that seemed strangely familiar, because they were in fact only deleted in the U.S. and anyone who watched the finale on Channel 5 would have already seen these scenes. The scenes even appear in the episode when watching them on the DVD, the only difference being that in the deleted scenes section, they have worse picture and audio quality. Even more baffling, is the ‘bonus episode’ which is the U.S. version of the finale, which is exactly the same as the one that aired here, but with the ‘deleted scenes’ actually taken out, and unfortunately the only way to watch the two-part finale as a whole is to view the ‘bonus episode’ with removed scenes.

In short, a nice collection of extras, with many interesting deleted scenes and commentaries and a nice making of featurette, although the ‘bonus episode’ really wasn’t needed.

The Bottom Line:

Summing up, season 7 of The Shield is pure television brilliance, it’s the perfect (even if rather unsettling) ending to possibly the best show on television and has lost none of its impact since its hard-hitting pilot first aired. All major stories are summed up powerfully well, there’s a closing montage that’s brought many viewers to tears, and no-one could argue that there could have been an ending that better suited the characters and situation that they found themselves in. Granted the picture quality is far from perfect, but that’s a stylistic choice rather than a transfer issue and actually adds to the realism of the show. The audio also isn’t up to scratch with most new releases, but that shouldn’t put anyone off when there’s a plot this intricate, gripping and truly shocking. Season 7 isn’t the place to start if you’ve never seen The Shield, because events from not only seasons 2-6 reach their culmination, but so does the storyline first opened up in the shows pilot episode. If you already own seasons 1-6, then 7 is a must buy as it rounds everything off brilliantly, otherwise the soon to be released, excellently presented, complete box set, comes highly recommended.

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The Shield Series 7, DVD Review

If I were a schoolteacher I would bring John Hamburg (Writer/Director) to the front of the class and slap his legs. Not only has he copied other peoples work, he has failed to add anything original of his own. Every joke, set piece and character in this film has been done a million times.

The cast of this film should also be doing better for themselves. I think there may have been some agents fired after the watching of this puppy. Ben Stiller playing a Ben Stiller role; slightly neurotic, sensitive, geeky type who is involved in a lot of physically painful comedy. The character he actually plays (Reuben Feffer) is a risk analyst for an insurance firm. Thus he lives his life by balancing risks in everything he does. At the start of the movie he marries Lisa (Debra Messing) who then cheats on him on the first day of their honeymoon with Claude (A buff looking Hank Azaria), who is a native of St Kitts and a scuba instructor. Heartbroken he returns home to be comforted by best friend Sandy Lyle (not the golfer but actually Philip Seymour Hoffman). He then embarks on the singles scene where he meets childhood schoolmate Polly Prince (Jennifer Aniston).

The film is supposed to be about opposites attract I suppose because the two main characters couldn’t be more different. Reuben doesn’t do anything that he thinks may harm him, which includes eating nuts at a bar. Polly is supposed to be flighty, quirky and a bit like Goldie Hawn circa 1975. The fact she likes salsa dancing proves just how wacky she is! The way the film plays out neither of these two could possibly like each other never mind fall in love. If I went on some of their dates I’d have a restraining order against me!

The sad thing is there are two very funny characters in the film that aren’t used anywhere near enough. Stan Indursky (Alec Baldwin), who is Reuben’s’ boss is excellent. When he is trying to cheer Reuben up by telling him his wife is nothing but a “dime store hooker”, and to get over her, is priceless. Baldwin is on top form and that’s not something that leaves my lips without careful consideration! Sandy Lyle (Hoffman) is also very funny in parts. His advice is usually misadvised but ultimately proves to be good comedy. He is a washed up child star who is living off one role years ago and still likes to think of himself as a star.

Ultimately this film is just too much of a caricature to succeed. It is badly paced and under scripted. All involved would be best advised to forget as soon as possible, that’s what I’ve done!

The DVD itself wasn’t up to much either. The picture quality was average and was presented in Widescreen 1.85:1. The sound quality, again was no more than average, was in Dolby Digital 5.1 and DTS.

The extra features were on a par with the film. Nothing new, nothing memorable. The y consisted of a commentary by the director John Hamburg. This was standard fare and nothing to tell the kids about.

There was the original opening with optional commentary. Thank the Lord this never made the cut. Must have been the worst opening to a film ever.

Deleted scenes with optional commentary. A selection of scenes which are best watched with the commentary as at least you know why they weren’t in the cut. Most were refused because it affected the films pacing! Are you kidding, the poor editing man could have ended up with a half hour sitcom pilot if he was worried about pacing!

Rodolfo goes to hollywood. This is a spook interview with Rodolfo, the ferret in the movie. Guy turns up hoping to meet star of film, ends up with ferret, probably about right.

The outtakes weren’t up to much either I’m afraid. I don’t think I laughed at any of them.

Theatrical teaser trailer. This was a U.S. trailer of the film, and was pretty much all you had to see really.

Making of featurette. This was a lot of back slapping. “Ben is so great”, “Jennifer is so great.” All the main cast and the director and producers explain their ‘vision’ of the film. Avoid.

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Along Came Polly, DVD Review

I have not seen a good, newly released horror film in sometime, so when I was asked if I wanted to review B.T.K I jumped at the chance, although I made that choice simply by looking at the cover on Amazon, even though I should know that you shouldn’t judge a book (nor a film) by its cover.

The film is based upon the real life murderer Dennis L. Rader who was captured in 2005 and sentenced for the murders of 7 women, 1 man and 2 children. B T K stands for Bind, Torture, Kill, for the style he used to killhis victims. This film is a fictional piece and does not represent the crimes that he is actually convicted of.

Writer/Director Michael Feifer has directed 11 movies so far, none of them I have heard or and none of them scoring over 4.3 on IMDB so I prepared myself for a major disappointment as I put the disk in the player; but ratings have been wrong before, will they be wrong now?

Kane Hodder plays the part of Dennis Rader and he has the thickest neck in the entire world. He is a family man, a man with a decent job as a compliance officer although he does come across as over zealous and a complete jobs-worth in this and a man with a passion for binding, torturing and killing innocent people.

As I said earlier because of looking at the directors previous movie outings I was preparing to be disappointed with the film however, I have to say it was not as bad as I had first feared, although by no means perfect I felt that there were elements that came across very well; the gory bits were convincing, and there were scenes that had some genuine tension and I suppose that these surprised me as I was expecting the film to be terrible. The problem for me was the story or lack of one. The entire film for the most part seemed to be a series of set pieces for the crimes that are committed with little to no story in-between and that is where, for me, it falls down, although saying that it is suggested that the film could be a dream sequence which would explain the set piece type of story.

Acting wise Kane Hodder is actually pretty good, he is a big guy and can look menacing and yet harmless at the same time. He actually has a lot of experience within the movie world mainly as a stunt man working on films such as se7en and enemy of the state but also as an actor where he has played Jason Voorhees in various Friday the 13th movies; however he is let down by some of the supporting actors, the worst of which were the actresses who played his daughters they could not convince me that they had any range of emotion and this stood out like a sore thumb, Dru Ashcroft who played Sharon being the worst culprit, so much so that in a few emotions scenes towards the end of the film, when you look at her she is showing just zero emotion to the situation that is unfolding, and when she does do something like cuddle her mother she turns her face away from the camera and you know its because she would just not be convincing any other way.

There isn’t really much else to say about the film, it is not mind numbingly terrible and from what I’ve read about the other B.T.K movies that are out there then this one may well be the best of them yet, but at the same time there are enough poor points to keep the movie in the category of an average B-Movie which is mildly entertaining.

Picture:

The picture is surprisingly good for a low budget film. The image is sharp and clear. Even on some of the brighter scenes there was no real blooming of any kind, blacks were nice with little detail lost, The dream sequences where everything is tinged with yellow looks particularly clean too, overall I was very happy with the picture quality.

Sound:

The score consists of a creepy musical undertone that permeates throughout its running length, at the beginning it comes across as quite creepy but soon fades into the background and is quite unmemorable. I couldn’t really hear much going on in the surrounds on this Dolby Digital 5.1 track. The dialogue was sometime quite low, but generally was sufficient even though it only came from the front array, there are no real loud noises and certainly nothing to test any speakers really, overall the sound was sufficient.

Special Features:

Audio commentary with Director Michael Feifer and Actor Kane Hodder:
This was quite an interesting commentary, it is pretty lively from the directors side of things, Kane is more subdued but we are treated to a decent analysis of each scene and the ideas of the director.

Behind the Scenes:
The director talks us mainly through the crimes that take place within the film, certainly not something to watch before watching the main feature as it would like spoil those scenes in the film, we do find out that the entire shooting period of the film was 10 days, which concerned me somewhat as I did indeed watch this feature before watching the main feature. This feature is around 19 minutes long

Overall:

It is a mildly interesting film although does have problems with the story and some of the actors performances but from what I’ve heard this seems to be one of the better B.T.K movies out there. If B-Movies about serial killers is your thing then this maybe worth a rental but you would need to be a die-hard fan in order to purchase.

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B.T.K (Bind, Torture, Kill): DVD Review

Legally Blonde and Legally Blonde 2 were both warm and cuddly, cute and fuzzy chick flicks starring Reese Witherspoon as Elle Woods, perky, pink, but ultimately shrewd and intelligent. She proved herself first in law school and then in government. Now we have a third film baring the name, this time called Legally Blondes (it’s twins this time!). Reese Witherspoon is no longer starring, and the film is much the worse for it.

The film focuses on Elle Woods’ cousins Annabelle and Isabelle. Like Elle, they’re blonde, perky and pink, oh, they’re also identical twins (played by Camilla and Rebecca Rosso). Unlike Elle they’re not American, they’re British and the opening of the film sees them moving from England to America due to their father’s new job. Once stateside they get partial scholarship to a prestigious prep school. They rapidly fall foul of the school megalomaniac Tiffany (Brittany Curran). It seems that the school is quite elitist and those students on scholarships are ridiculed and shunned.

Tiffany, jealous that the twins are considered more attractive than her, eventually hatches her grand plan to get them expelled and frames Isabelle and the boy that Annabelle has a crush on for cheating on a history test. In a school court the girls must play council and prove their innocence.

Going in to this film you’d be excused for thinking it’s a direct sequel to the Reese Witherspoon films. Other than the mention of Elle Woods’s name, there are no other ties between this film and those. Reese Witherspoon is down as an executive producer, but for her sake I hope that was in name only. The first two undeniably fit in the ‘chick flick’ genre, but were aimed at adults. Legally Blondes however is aimed at a much younger crowd, mainly pre-teen girls. If your daughter likes Hannah Montana then you’re in the right ballpark.

Where the first two films had a certain charm (mainly the first, it went a bit downhill in the second film), that charm was pretty much entirely due to Reese Witherspoon’s considerable acting and comedic ability. Take her out of the equation and substitute in a couple of newcomers (their only other credits are for a few Suite Life of Zack and Cody episodes) with no comedy timing at all and for adults watching it’s bordering on painful.

If you do consider it a follow on for the first two films then the plot is thin and the acting woeful (way too smiley and perky, the twins even manage to smile during a conversation about their mothers death). If you consider it for the pre-teen girly crowd then it’s probably right up their street (my daughter’s only one though so I’m spared all that for now!).

In making a tenuous link to the first two Legally Blonde films the makers have made a mistake. Viewers may think it’s aimed at the same market and if that market is you then stay away there’s nothing for you here. If however you have a pre-teen that’s dragged you to see Hannah Montana or The Bratz Movie or any of the High School Musical films then this harmless fun may be something to keep them quiet and out of your hair for a couple of hours.

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Legally Blondes DVD Review