Paul Blart: Mall Cop brings Kevin James to the silver screen in a leading role for the first time. Sure he shared the credits with Adam Sandler in I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry, but this is his first time out there on his own. Not satisfied with the leading male role, he’s also gone for producer and writer as well!

For those that aren’t that aware of Kevin James, he started out his career as a stand up comedian and moved to TV sit coms from a few appearances in Everybody Loves Raymond to his own vehicle King of Queens. It was only a matter of time before he took a swing at Hollywood. His first role was quite a successful turn in Hitch as the hapless Albert Brennaman and the role of a chunky guy, hopeless with affairs of the heart is essentially the role that he’s repeating here.

Paul Blart is a chunky middle aged single father. He’s a security guard at a local mall, but has ambitions of becoming a state trooper. For the last eight years he’s taken the entrance exam and for the last eight years he’s failed the physical. Will this year be lucky number 9? Weeelllll……..No. Paul suffers from hypoglycemia and literally stumbles a few inches short of the finishing line after a stellar performance. It seems that Paul is destined to shepherd people around shops in a dead end job.

Dead end it may be, but Paul approaches his job with diligence and a seriousness that his fellow colleagues don’t share, they’re essentially clock punchers, while Paul genuinely feels he has a duty to maintain order within the mall.

On a day like any other in the mall Paul comes across Amy (Jayma Mays) for the first time. She’s just opened a hair extension stand in the mall and it’s love at first site (for Paul that is). Reasonably successful initial flirting is followed by a disastrous bar incident that leaves Paul thinking he stands no chance with Amy at all. What he doesn’t reckon on, is the mall being taken over by an armed bunch of X-gamer bandits and Amy being taken hostage. Paul is the only other person left free in the mall. He’s the only man who can foil the crime and rescue the girl. Is he man enough for the task? Will his sugar levels hold out? Watch and find out.

Financially Paul Blart was a cinematic success with a worldwide gross of nearly $183 million from a $26 million budget. Critically it was pretty universally panned and I really can’t see why. No, there’s not too much depth here and as a comedy it won’t have you rolling in the aisles, but I thought it was pretty entertaining and definitely had enough funny moments to make it a decent comedy. Kevin James made the character of Paul Blart slightly too much of a sad case for me (I think he could’ve still generated the sympathy for the character without making him quite as pathetic as he is), but this is a small issue and easily forgotten. The rest of the cast are pretty good Jayma Mays seems to have ‘extremely cute girl’ roles pretty much nailed. If there’s a role that requires a girl to be extremely cute it’s pretty much a straight fight between her and Amy Adams. There are a few other faces in there that you’ll recognize (a happy Madison regular in Erick Avari amongst others) and the X-gamer bandits (BMX riders, skateboarders and free runners) are all real sportsmen and women, not actors at all, which I only found out during the extras, so they can’t have done that bad a job (they did have very limited lines though, most of the time they were doing what they do best chasing Paul around the mall).

The picture quality of this Blu Ray version was pretty damn good. Presented in 1.85:1 MPRG-4 1080p that is clear with good whites, blacks and colours, very little grain and no real digital artifacts to mention it’s pretty much as good as you could hope for for a comedy. We’re also treated to a full Dolby True HD soundtrack which holds its own as well. In a pretty empty mall there isn’t really that much call for a booming soundtrack so I can’t really say that it’ll rock your house or push an HD surround setup to its fullest but it does its job well and the audio is always crisp and clear (always vital in comedies lest you miss the jokes).

The extras on this disc are pretty much the usual fare. There’re the now obligatory deleted scenes (and you can generally see why they hit the cutting room floor), the commentary with Kevin James and Todd Garner and a whole load of featurettes that cover the stuntwork done by the X-gamers.

If you’re in the mood for some light hearted, easy to follow, won’t tax your brain too much, feel good comedy then look no further. Worth a watch in my opinion.

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Paul Blart: Mall Cop Blu Ray Review

At the moment within banks across the world being scrutinised due to their gross mismanagement this film would always garner a little more interest than just a standard film of this genre, however we need to look back into the late 1980’s/early 90’s for the inspiration around this particular film. This being BCCI (Bank of Credit & Commerce International) which, if you read the entry in Wikipedia, seems to draw more than just a slight resemblance to the fictional IBBC as portrayed in “The International”.

Whereas banks these days are being investigated due to bad management and excessive bonuses the IBBC seems to have gone several steps further by getting involved in arms dealing, be that supplying African rebels with small arms, or supplying both Palestinians AND the Israelis with weapons all the way up to purchasing missile systems and assassination.

Louis Salinger (Clive Owen) and his partner are close to exposing the IBBC by meeting with a high ranking executive from the bank however things get awry when Salinger’s partner is killed in front of him via mysterious means. With the stakes now personal he teams with assistant district attorney Eleanor Whitman (Naomi Watts) and together they try and get enough evidence against the bank in order to expose what it does.

“The International” is a competent thriller rather than an action film; it was originally geared to be a period piece set in the late 70s early 80s however after some heated discussion that idea was forgotten and due in no small part to the current banking crises they made it a  contemporary film, one that could even be accused of being a little slow in places with the one best action scene taking place inside the Guggenheim Museum in New York towards the later half of the film, (which was actually a massive recreation of the museum that was set up in Germany) however the toned down nature struck me as being more realistic and that for me was a welcoming change to the “blow everything up” rule that permeates this genre.

This is helped in no small part by the male lead, Clive Owen. Owen is an actor that I have always felt was on the brink of doing great things, and he has indeed been in some pretty good movies; a while ago I even thought that he would make a good James Bond before Daniel Craig took that and made it his own. But here he seems to be in his element as a tough Interpol agent who is out to do well, but is frustrated at almost every turn. he fleshes out his character with a suggestion of some haunted past which he brings into the character just enough to make you think that those events still plague him.

Naomi Watts as DA Eleanor Whitman seems to have been shoehorned in so that we have a pretty, blonde female in scene, that isn’t to say she didn’t bring anything to the role at all because she did and she did compliment Owen well, but I always felt she was there for the look on the screen rather than any necessity for the story indeed it states in the extras that the character was originally going to be a man, which would have been a guy too many in the movie, so I am glad that they kept with a female in the end.

For the bad guys the three standouts for me were Jonas Skarssen (Ulrich Thomsen), Wilhelm Wexler (Armin Mueller-Stahl) and the Consultant (Brian F. O’Byrne). Skarssen comes across as every inch the CEO of a large bank, but also as someone that makes those tough decisions without the experience of having been the one carrying those decisions out, he comes across as all business and quite ruthless when in the comfort of his large, state of the art HQ in Luxemburg but reveals his true self when caught outside of a comfortable (for him) situation.

Mueller-Stahl strikes me as a ruthless man, although someone that was not always that way, he gives a speech in the film to indicate (to me) that he was pushed by others into being the man that he was today, and that he would have been a good man had he been able to control events, this off course is just what I took from it, you may think something else entirely.

Lastly I liked the whole idea of the consultant played by Brian F. O’Byrne whom is essentially an assassin. He looks totally non descript and yet is quite deadly and it certainly made me think that there must be so many people around that look so harmless and yet are not what they seem be it on your train or walking to work, even in your workplace. although saying that he is non descript is not 100% true as there is something you find out about him during the film that would make him a person who is not that inconspicuous, but from a normal person in street giving a casual look he is non-descript.

Overall I liked the film, the main male lead very good in the whole and all the supporting actors were believable from corporate lawyers through to New York detectives. There are some good set piece action sequences that hold up well, the best of which was set in the Guggenheim and it is all about bad bankers who are people we all love to hate at the moment.
7/10

Audio:
The score adds real atmosphere to the movie, giving it a sense of dread in the places where it is needed, I played this via 5.1 Dolby Digital and thought it very good, there was a nice balance between fronts and rears with lots of effects being heard through the surrounds. The dialogue was clear and when needed the bass was punchy and clean.
8/10

Visual:
I found the visuals to be stunning, the pictures when in the cities seems to take on a gun metal, tungsten look which sets itself off brilliantly against the architecture that is portrayed, and again when out in Istanbul the sandy look of everything lends a fantastic contrast to what we have seen before, I just wish that I had a Blu-Ray capable drive in the computer so that the screen shots could show the superb clarity of everything.
10/10

Special Features:
There are a number of extras including the almost obligatory commentary, but I think the ones that stand out are the making of and shooting at the Guggenheim. If you do manage to sit through all the extras then you will see that the same material crops up in certain parts. I also found the commentary to be quite taxing to listen to.
7/10

Overall:
An above average thriller, with stunning visuals and a decent audio track the special features seem comprehensive enough although they do repeat in places
7/10

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

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 International – Blu-Ray Review

The Punisher:

There have been three Punisher films. The first back in 1989 starred Dolph Lundgren as Frank Castle or the Punisher as he is more widely known. The second, also called The Punisher was in 2004 and starred Thomas Jane in the leading role and also had John Travolta in it. The latest incarnation is called The Punisher: War Zone and yet again the main actor has changed, this time Ray Stevenson has taken the Punisher moniker for an outing, Thomas Jane leaving the franchise due to alleged creative differences. Marketed as a reboot of the series it never really harks back to anything in the past accept some very short flashbacks when Frank Castle holds the corpses of his murdered family, obviously turning the once exemplary military man into the one facial expression Punisher that he is today.

Frank Castle/The Punisher (Ray Stevenson) is (at a basic level) an anti-hero vigilante taking down bad guys that for some reason the law cannot seem to touch. This time he goes after mob boss Gaitano Cesare and in the process of taking him and his organisation out he disfigures Billy (The Beut) Russoti in a glass crusher. Billy who now goes by the new name of The Jigsaw is bent on revenge and sets about implementing a plan whereby he can kill The Punisher, that plan includes releasing his psychopathic brother Looney Bin Jim (Doug Hutchinson) from the asylum. In the meantime The Punisher who mistakenly killed an FBI undercover agent when fighting the mob family withdraws in on himself and considers giving it all up, however he is forced to change his mind when the wife and child of the agent he killed is targeted and he dons the suit of the punisher once again to try and make the wrong things right.

The Punisher is a gruesome movie that is heavy on the gore and light on the storyline, indeed in the first ten or fifteen minutes our main protagonist doesn’t say a word, he merely has a determined grimace and an available arsenal that would put Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Commando to shame as he slaughters wave after wave of heavily armed gangsters (that cannot shoot straight) whilst spinning upside down from a chandelier.

There were other points that brought the movie down for me too. For example some of the accents came across as forced and clichéd in certain scenes. Also as the guy is a vigilante, officially the law is supposed to be after this guy AND they know his identity, he doesn’t try to mask who he is and yet they haven’t been able to capture him in 6 years, in fact a lot of the Police don’t seem that interested in catching him at all, after all he is dispatching all the criminals and judging by the number of files in the Punisher task force section there can’t be many bad guys left on the planet. But they make a half hearted show of trying to do something when they introduce F.B.I agent Paul Budiansky (Colin Salmon) yet he carries out his work relatively unhindered.

All these things I mention may make it seem that I didn’t enjoy the film, that isn’t true, in fact I admit that I although I thought it would be exceptionally bad, I actually enjoyed it as the credits rolled. Anyway this Marvel Comic adaptation is never supposed to be that realistic. In fact the decision on it you like this movie or not will be on if you like liberal bloodletting or not.

Ray Stevenson who plays Frank Castle/The Punisher is fitting for the role; he is certainly a big enough guy although his facial expressions never seem to change much regardless of if he is angry, or sad. I saw him recently in Outpost, another B film that is actually very good and I think he is a capable actor.

Dominic West who plays Billy Russoti overplays it a bit I think on occasion in terms of both acting and the accent that he uses. And his brother (in the film) Looney Bin Jim (Doug Hutchinson) overplayed the crazy a little too much as well. If they had maybe toned things down a tad I feel that they would have been more convincing.
7/10

Audio:
My AMP does not play the soundtracks that come with High Definition movies and so I listened to it in 5.1 Dolby Digital. The Dialogue comes across clear and concise although it is all mainly through the front array with hardly anything through the rears. So I was disappointed that the soundtrack did not utilise the surrounds more.
5/10

Video:
Some of the colour palette used seems a little weird; they have gone for a heavy implementation of Brown, Green or Blue hue (for example) in a lot of places. They do seem to work well however but it came across as a little strange initially, there are some decent camera angles used to keep things interesting although the detail seems a little soft in places.

Special Effects are well done; I think that is where the bulk of the estimated $22,000.000 budget went,
7/10

Extras:
Extras wise we have the almost obligatory commentary with Director Lexi Alexander and Cinematographer Steve Gainer, we then have a number of fairly short features such as The making of Punisher: War Zone, which spends time with the Director Levi Alexander and the main cast members. Then comes Training for the Punisher which takes us through some of the moves Ray Stevenson had to learn in order to be convincing as an ex military man. The Weapons of the Punisher takes us through all the nice shiny guns that everyone uses whereas Meet Jigsaw gives us a short with Dominic West and his makeup routine when he becomes Jigsaw. The last real extra is Creating the look of the Punisher where it explains about the heavy colour hues that I mention in the video part of this review, they decided that there should be no more than 3 main colours in any scene and I suppose that it actually works.
6/10

Overall:
I was entertained by the film, the bad points that I mention in the review did not spoil the film to the point whereby it was terrible so I would class this as an above average B film. As for how it compares in terms of quality to the two other Punisher films I have no idea as I have not seen those version. I would say that if you like deep meaningful story lines then this is not for you, however if you like heavy violence and gore then this will push the right buttons for you. You can check out more information on the website at http://www.punishermovie.com/
7/10

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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Punisher: War Zone Blu-Ray 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

Terminator 3 continues the story of John Connor and his battle against the time travelling machines and against his destiny. It’s also a bit of a divergence for the franchise in a couple of ways. Firstly the director, Jonathan Mostow has the unenviable task of stepping into James Cameron’s shoes. Secondly we have a female terminator, thirdly it’s the first terminator film not to feature Sarah Connor and fourthly it’s not trying to be a film by itself, but is trying to set the scene for the battle against skynet in the future.

Time has moved on. John Connor is now in his early 20s. The date that his father said was judgement day has come and gone, but still he’s not at ease. It turns out that judgement day hasn’t been stopped by the antics of Sarah Connor in Terminator 2, only postponed. Terminators still exist in the future and so does time travel. This time a female terminator, dubbed the T-X (terminatrix), has been sent back in time. Her mission is to ideally kill John Connor. Since he’s dropped off the electronic grid and can’t be found, the T-X has secondary targets, John Connor’s lieutenants in the future. As in the second film a T-800 terminator is sent back in time as protector for John. Arnold is back!

After a minor motorcycle accident John is looking for medication but doesn’t want to go to a hospital where ID will be required. In the middle of the night he breaks into a veterinary practice and manages to patch himself up. Coincidentally this is the practice that Kate Brewster works at. Kate and John went to school together before the events of Terminator 2 took place. Kate is also on the list of the T-X’s secondary targets as she’s John’s future second in command (and wife).

When Kate is called in for a late night cat emergency, she finds and captures John. Before she has the chance to alert the authorities she hears a crash and a gunshot, the T-X has arrived. Whilst trying to kill Kate the T-X finds, and identifies John Connor’s blood (seems the new models have DNA analysers built into their tongues). Her primary target now found, her mission is now to kill John. Just in the nick of time the T-800 arrives to save John and Kate and they go on the run. Can they evade or eventually kill the T-X? Can they postpone judgement day yet again? These are the key questions in T-3.

In terms of the cast Arnold reprises his iconic portrayal of a killer robot from the future. I read somewhere that he undertook a punishing fitness regime to get back in the kind of shape he was in back in the day and it certainly worked. Edward Furlong is replaced by Nick Stahl as John Connor, Claire Danes plays Kate Brewster and Kristanna Loken plays the T-X. There’s no room for Linda Hamilton here, they’ve killed her off in between movies.

The story has moved on in time, but not really in terms of formula. Two beings come back from the future. One to kill, the other to protect. Initially it’s a race to acquire the target, then a chase film from then on in whilst the main characters try to find a way to kill the seemingly invincible terminator. In those respects this film doesn’t really bring anything new to the table, it’s pretty much by the book and we’ve seen it all before. I’m aware that a lot of people didn’t really like the 3rd Terminator film. In my own opinion, if you consider it as an action film then it’s a damn good one. If you look at it as part of the franchise then it’s definitely the weakest of the three. Whilst Kristanna Loken does a good job as the T-X, she’s just not as menacing as either Arnold in the first film, or Robert Patrick in the second and other than that it follows the formula of the first two too much.

It’s not until the last act that it starts to digress from that formula and get a bit interesting and for me it makes the whole film worthwhile. It sets the franchise up for the next couple of films about the battle against the machines in the future, one that John Connor is destined to lead. That’s the film I’ve wanted to see since I first saw the flashback sequences from the first film. The ending of this film raises some mouth watering possibilities.

The Blu Ray release of Terminator 3 is a great advert for the format. Both picture and sound are up there with other reference disks. If you want to showcase your setup this could well be among the disks you put on to show off to your mates. Picture is very clear and crisp. The picture is a very good 1080p 2.40:1 widescreen presentation. Colours are great, as is detail and contrast. For the audio we have a Dolby TrueHD track that is better than anything the release has had before. Now this is the type of film that will benefit from a full surround sound system and if you have an HD surround sound system you’re in for a real treat.

The extras have all made it across from the HD DVD release a few years ago, which is nice. We get a very nice picture-in-picture commentary with the director with a few of the stars popping up now and then. Personally I’m not a huge fan of commentaries, but having it as picture-in-picture really worked for me, as well as hearing the extra material you can see some behind the scenes footage at the same time. As well as this pip commentary you also get three other non-visual commentaries, a documentary, and a couple of other smaller features that look at the terminator outfits, toys and video game. There’s also one deleted scene and a pretty out of place blooper reel.

If you’re a fan of the Terminator franchise then this is the best the film has looked and sounded. Yes, it’s not quite as good as its predecessors, but it’s still a damn good action film with some great action sequences. The best thing the film does though is set the franchise up for the next film, and that’s the film that fans, and myself, have been awaiting for a very long time.

 

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

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Terminator 3, Blu Ray Review

No. 1 – I’ll kick off the list with one of my favorite sci-fi action films, Blade. I’ll include the other films here as well, but predominantly I want the first in the franchise. The nightclub scene at the start will be amazing in HD sound and the film overall will be brilliant in full HD. I’ve no idea why it hasn’t been released yet, from some of the obscure titles they’re releasing now you’d think a well received franchise like this would’ve been out ages ago. It’s just been given the HD treatment in America so hopefully a Blu Ray release is on the cards for us in the UK.

No.2 – Here I’ll put one of my more obscure, and guilty pleasure titles, the 1995 film Hackers. This highly stylised look at the hacking community can’t be taken too seriously, it’s a fun film with a very young Angelina Jolie and a great soundtrack. It reminds me of University days (and nights spent in the Hacienda) and of the computer game Wipeout for some reason. The soundtrack will definitely benefit from the HD treatment and the vivid colours used in the film style will pop nicely in HD. For the film’s fans like me out there I can find no plans to bring this to Blu Ray for the time being. Lets hope they get round to it soon!

No.3 – I’ll be a bit more predictable and go with Star Wars here (I held out as long as I could!). Again, I’ll go with the whole franchise in one choice, otherwise the top 10 list would be dominated with the sequels. I’ll even include the prequel films here as well, although my love will always be with the original trilogy. If they’ve got a decent source to get an HD transfer from then these will just be amazing on Blu Ray. Knowing George Lucas, he won’t want to bring them out until they’re near perfect as well (lets hope he doesn’t start tinkering with them again though!) but that means that, although their appearance on Blu Ray is inevitable, they might not appear for a while.

No. 4 – This one could be for region 2 DVD never mind Blu Ray. As far as I know it’s never been released over here (or if it was it went out of print very quickly and was never brought back). The film is Major League, a baseball comedy starring Charlie Sheen, Tom Berenger and Wesley Snipes. I can’t say that I’m a huge sports film fan and have never really watched that much baseball (except when I’m in America and am bored in a hotel room) but for some strange reason I love this film. It brings together a great bunch of characters, has some great comedy and the usual feel good sports movie plot where a bunch of underachievers pull off the impossible and win. It’s not a big action film that’ll benefit from a great HD soundtrack, but the picture could be good. I’d just love to be able to add it to my collection!

No.5 – And before you know it here we are at the end of the first installment. I’ll end on another sci-fi/fantasy flick, Highlander. I’m can’t say I’m that bothered about the sequels for this one, just the original will do. This is a film that gets better after a few watches. The jumping through the timeline can be a bit confusing the first time through, but after you’ve got that straight it’s one of the all time classics. It’s not got that big a soundtrack, but the visuals could benefit greatly from the HD treatment. A lot of the scenes are in dark, murky conditions so the extra detail possible on a Blu Ray would be very welcome.

That’s the first installment over with (and not a single mention of a Hobit!). Check back for the other five, there might be a couple of surprises in there (for me as well, I’ve only just managed to scrape five together for this, need to go away and have a wander through my DVD collection!).

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Kirk’s Movie Blogspot 7th March

Max Payne (Region 2):
Max Payne (Mark Wahlberg) is a cop. He is a moody, angry soul with a permanent scowl who obsessively works on cold case files in an attempt to find clues as to who killed his wife and baby. He finds a lead which may help him and he pursues it. On his quest he comes across Mona Sax (Mila Kunis) whom he eventually joins forces with after her sister is killed possibly by the same people who killed Max Payne’s family. Max finds evidence of a cover up at the highest level with several clues pointing back to a drug called Valkyr made by Aesir Pharmaceuticals which just happens to be where his wife worked. Will Max find those responsible? Will he get to shoot them? And will he get more work as a gravel voiced talk over guy?

Max Payne is yet another on of the films that are based on a best selling game (of the same name) and as we have seen in the past (Alone in the Dark, Bloodrayne) things have not always turned out that well. Whilst I am happy to say that this movie doesn’t hit bottom like those two films it doesn’t full its potential. But I think that the only reason for this is that nothing really happens during the first half of the film, so much so that my partner told me that she was “going to bed because this is boring”.

This is a real shame as I think that Wahlberg is convincing as the grimacing Max Payne, anyone who has played the game will know that the look on Max’s face throughout that was a scowl and that is exactly what we get there, Max has nothing to be happy about, indeed, max has nothing really left to live for except to deal out revenge on those responsible for killing his family, indeed on certain flash backs we she the spirit of his wife tell him “not yet Max”.

We even have gorgeous Bond girl Olga Kurylenko in the film as a call girl in the film but I felt she was never really utilised enough, in fact I would have preferred to see her in the role of Mona Sax; not that Mila Kunis (who did play her) wasn’t any good as she was, but because I am a complete fanboy of Ms Kurylenko and felt her smouldering good looks should have been on screen more. That said Kunis does favourably as an assassin.

Other people of note are Beau Bridges as BB Hensley, Ludacris as Lt Jim Bravura and Chris O’Donnell as Jason Colvin whom are all there to either help or hinder Max in his quest for revenge. Chris O’Donnell playing the better of the three roles mentioned here.

The movie itself I didn’t feel was overly long, but it did feel unbalanced, not much happens in the first half of the movie and all the action and shooting comes in the last half, some would say that makes sense and yes it does, but I felt that it was a case of so little going on in the first 50% of the film that it could actually be construed as being a little boring.

Looks wise the film is stunning, Director John Moore (behind Enemy Lines) has captured the film-noir influence of the game and has brought it to life here as a dark, foreboding environment with snow flurries to add to the cold desolate chill of the place, The special effects too were all in the same style and quite stunning, in fact the look and feel of the film reminds me of a cross between Sincity, Constantine and 300, sound wise too it is all things good as the LFE rumbles out deep bass especially with each gunshot, it is a real gem on the eyes and ears.

Overall I think that Max Payne has just missed the mark. It isn’t a terrible film and I think that the viewer will be entertained but it is unbalanced and something is missing, whether it is a big of character development or something more interesting in the first half I don’t know, but something is amiss. As a game to film conversion I think it is one of the superior ones out there it looks and sounds beautiful and I do wonder if they will make a second as there is a second game called The Fall of Max Payne.

Extras:
The special features may as well not be there as all you get are three weblinks, I hope the full retail version gives more than this, pathetic.

Overall:
I feel that Max Payne has really captured the look and feel of the game very well but something has been lost in the execution of it. It is worth a watch but it doesn’t pick up until the last half.

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Max Payne DVD Review

Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. Boy oh boy has that never been truer. Uma Thurman kicks ass and takes names. If she says it’s Christmas you better start singing carols!

Quentin Tarantintos’ fourth film. I would also say it’s his most reserved and ostentatious work in equal measure. That snappy dialogue for which he has become renowned remains, but severely diluted. It is replaced be stunning visuals, action scenes not seen from a mainstream movie, and more blood than Dracula’s’ bank!

Uma Thurman plays ‘The Bride’. Bang bang and she was shot down (if you’ve heard the Nancy Sinatra theme tune you’ll get that). Badly beaten, shot and left for dead on her wedding day; all this from her best friends. With friends like that you sure don’t need enemies.

The Bride used to be a hired assassin for ‘Bill’ and his deadly viper squad. She wanted to leave, he didn’t. I’m sure most people would settle for no redundancy payment if her fate were the alternative! The rest of her viper buddies are the ones she is now sworn to track down and mutilate.

This movie (and presumably the forthcoming volume 2) revolves around her sheer thirst for revenge. I obviously don’t want to give too much away but lets just say you wouldn’t bet on her getting the scalps (literally) of her prey.

Lucy Liu and Vivacia A. Fox (how cool a name is that) are the two henchpersons (got to be politically correct) in this volume. Both are really cool and obviously hot! Though Uma doesn’t really give a damn about that and neither should you young man!

Tarantinos’ influences are obvious in this movie. All things Oriental, from manga to Hong Kong Kung Foo movies of the seventies, are obviously close too his heart. I think from the way he doesn’t have anywhere near as much dialogue in this film as usual shows he wants to be true to these genres. Respect to the man for even trying it. Even more respect for actually pulling it off.

The DVD is a little disappointing with regards to extra features. I think that is probably because a special edition has already been lined up featuring Volume 2. The quality of the sound,
Dolby Digital 5.1 and DTS, is stunning. As you may expect from ‘himself’ the music is loud, proud and a major part of the movie. I don’t think any Taranrino film would be allowed a poor sound package. The picture quality was excellent too, showing all the amazing colour this film has to its finest. Widescreen format 2.35:1 was used.

Making of Featurette. A 22-minute piece which featured all the stars of this volume, QT and the films producer. I think this was a really informative and enjoyable look at how this film was brought together. There is something really magical about watching Tarantino talk up his love of all things cinema. He highlights how this film was conceived and gives specific examples of which films and actors influenced this project.

Three Trailers. Usual Fayre here really. A volume one teaser trailer, and a ‘bootleg’ trailer. The ‘bootleg’ trailer actually gives a little insight into the film which actually wasn’t touched upon in this volume, so was worth a watch. The third trailer is a teaser for volume 2. This is really cool and well worth a watch. Uma in a convertible looking like something out of a Hitchcock classic.

5,6,7,8′s Perform. The band featured in the film perform two of their no doubt biggest hits live on set. I defy anyone to buy their album on the back of this performance. If they lived next to me I would surely call the noise pollution agency.

To sum this film up is difficult. To some it will be their
Godfather, to others it will be
The Island Of Dr Moreu. It is possibly Tarantinos’ least openly commercial work, but because of his hiatus will probably end up being his most watched movie to date. I personally loved it. To see an established director put all his cards on the table and say ” double or bust” is rare. He deserves to succeed where others have failed to tread, if for no other reason than it may just free other like-minded souls from their shackles.

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Kill Bill Volume 1: DVD Review

Eagle Eye is the 2008 action/thriller directed by D.J. Caruso (sounds like he should be doing the club scene!) and written by Dam McDermott. The film opens with the military tracking a terrorists leader in the Middle East. Unable to get absolute confirmation that their intended target is actually present at the funeral they’re observing, the president, against the recommendation of the computer and the secretary for defence (Michael Chiklis), the president orders the attack to go ahead anyway. After the attack it’s determined that the funeral-goers were all civilians and the attack prompts a series of retaliatory bombings.

We then leave the Middle East and meet Jerry Shaw (Shia LaBeouf). Jerry, a Stanford University dropout, works at a photocopying shop, is permanently short of cash and is generally unremarkable. After a pretty normal days work Jerry finds out that his air force lieutenant twin brother has been killed. After the funeral he tries to withdraw some money from an ATM and is amazed when the balance comes up at over $700,000. On arriving back at his apartment, pockets stuffed with cash, he finds it inexplicably full of packages containing guns, military equipment and enough ammonium nitrate to make a sizeable bomb.

Whilst wondering what the hell is going on Jerry’s mobile rings. A female voice tells him that in 30 seconds the FBI will arrive at his apartment and arrest him and that to escape he must leave now. Jerry asks too many questions of the voice and ignores her warnings and sure enough the FBI come crashing into the apartment and arrest Jerry. Meanwhile, in another part of town, another unremarkable individual, Rachel (Michelle Monaghan), has just dropped her son off at the train station. Later that evening, whilst out drinking with her girlfriends, she too received a phone call from the mysterious woman. She’s told that unless she does as she’s told her son’s train will be derailed. Rachel is directed towards a Porsche, given directions and told to wait at an appointed spot.

Jerry, after being questioned by FBI special agent Thomas Morgan (Billy Bob Thornton) is eventually allowed his phone call. When he picks up the phone, he finds the mysterious woman on the line. He’s told that he’s been ‘activated’ and needs to follow directions or their will be severe consequences. His escape from federal custody has been planned and this time Jerry does as he’s told. Once out of the federal building Jerry tries to go against the voice’s directions and gets on the wrong train. Immediately the train stops and reverses directions. The mobile of the guy across from him goes off and it’s for him, it seems that whoever is directing him can see him and his actions no matter where he goes. How is this possible?

Jerry and Rachel’s paths cross as Jerry is directed into the Porsche that Rachel is driving. After determining that they’re both unwilling pawns of the mysterious voice they’re given a series of instructions that lead them into increasing danger. Along the way they meet other pawns of the voice. What does a gem cutter, a musical instrument mender, a single mother and a photocopy worker have in common. Is the voice a good guy or a terrorist hatching a plot in retaliation to the bungled American attack? Will Morgan figure it out and manage to foil whatever is being planned? I can’t really say much more about the plot without giving it all away, so you’ll just have to watch it to find out.

From other reviews of Eagle Eye words like ‘preposterous’ and ‘derivative’ have been used. Derivative I can see a bit, there are definitely strong influences from other films, Enemy of the State and The Matrix for a start, but then that’s no bad thing in my book. Preposterous again I can kind of see, but to me it isn’t really a negative. If you like your thrillers grounded in gritty realism then this won’t be for you. If you like a good, fast paced action film with a few twists thrown in, then like me, you might quite like this. Personally I’d say it’s more of an action film than a thriller. After being first introduced to the characters Caruso keeps the pace at maximum overdrive and it never really lets up. You might figure a few of the twists out and tie a few of the plot points together before they’re properly revealed, but as mentioned, I thought this was more of an action film, so the whole film didn’t hang on the plot twists.

All the major actors play their parts well, LaBeouf is stepping into the leading man shoes quite well these days. Picture and sound were both very good, extras are a little sparse, it’s always nice to get deleted scenes, you don’t often get anything decent and certainly two out of the three here are a bit nondescript, but one of them added a little something to the narrative and personally I would’ve included it. There’re the usual behind the scenes features detailing how the movie was made and bizarrely there’s a gag reel, which for a comedy is kind of expected, but for a thriller is a bit strange.

If start watching this film expecting a serious thriller, which it seems to have been marketed as you’ll probably be disappointed. If you can suspend your disbelief, slip your brain into neutral and enjoy an action film with some pretty good chases in and some elements of a thriller then you’ll probably enjoy this.

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Eagle Eye, DVD Review