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

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

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Transformers Optimus Prime on David Letterman

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

Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist is a film from an up and coming director starring up and coming young comedy stars. Peter Sollett puts in a credible stint directing Michael Cera and Kat Dennings in a rambling journey of discovery of two young teens across Manhattan in search of a secret gig.

Nick (Cera) is as mixed up as the next teenager. The fact that he’s recently been unceremoniously dumped just adds to his angst. In a bid to win back the woman he thinks he loves Nick composes a series of ‘mix CDs’ trying to convey his feelings. What Nick doesn’t realize is that his ex is such a callous b*?&h that she’s been binning the CDs.

Norah, another insecure teen has been retrieving said CDs and has marveled at their composure, whilst totally ignorant of the identity of the creator. The scene is therefore set for this little lot to come together in freakish coincidence. The place in question is at a gig for his high school band the Jerk-Offs. The rest of the band convince Nick to stop wallowing in self pity at his parents’ house and go play the gig. He does have an ulterior motive though, his favorite band ‘Where’s Fluffy’ (don’t know which is worse, the Jerk-Offs or Where’s Fluffy!) are playing a secret gig somewhere in Manhattan and Nick intends to find out where.

At his own gig Nick sees his ex, Tris, in the crowd with another guy and at the same time Norah is in the crowd with her eye on Nick. Norah, not knowing that Nick is Tris’s ex-boyfriend, asks him to be her boyfriend for five minutes to prove to Tris that she’s dating someone. When Norah kisses Nick Tris gets jealous. Norah’s friend Caroline then appears hideously drunk and needs taking home. Nick’s band mates offer, as they saw the kiss between Nick and Norah and think it might be healthy for Nick to spend some time with her. Nick and Norah then leave to find the elusive Where’s Fluffy gig while Nick’s friends manage to loose the paralytic Caroline. The rest of the film chronicles Nick and Norah’s quests across Manhattan to find the gig and also find Caroline. Whilst looking for these things will they also find love?

If you’re after a plot driven story that’ll keep you on the edge of your seat then look elsewhere. What we have here can be described with words such as ‘sweet’ and ‘nice’. It’s a romantic comedy for the youth of today. The plot ambles about a bit at times, but this film isn’t about the plot, it’s about the characters, it really doesn’t matter what the journey is, just that it happens and over the course of it they find each other after having both had bad relationship experiences.

Peter Sollett seems to have raided Judd Apatow’s gang of actors for the main roles here. Both Cena and Dennings put in subtle but endearing performances. There aren’t any onscreen fireworks between the two, but they manage to convey a connection that grows between them over the course of the night. In terms of a romantic comedy the onus is more on the romance than the comedy, but it does have its moments.

The picture on this 1080p Blu Ray is pretty good, if not reference standard. Detail is pretty strong throughout, whilst there is a bit of inconsistent grain. Blacks and contrast are pretty solid, which is good for a film shot entirely at night and the colour pallet, while a little limited, conveys a New York neon night quite well. For the sound we get a very nice Dolby TrueHD 5.1 track. This is a character driven film, not action driven, so dialogue presentation is all important and there are no problems here. The rears don’t get too much of a workout, but do convey the crowd noise of New York at night. This is a film that, other than the characters, is dominated by music and some excellent indie tracks appear throughout the film and sound pretty damn good.

We get a nice selection of extras on the UK Blu Ray as well. There’s an interesting commentary where the main protagonists (director and star actors) draw over the screen with marker pens to highlight what they’re saying. I found it quite interesting for about the first ten or fifteen minutes, but it got a bit annoying after that. Other than that there’s an interactive playlist that pops up little facts about the film now and again. There’s a 5 minute puppet version of the film voiced by Kat Dennings which is a bit weird, but all in good fun. There’s a short behind the scenes video diary which is probably worth a look and the usual deleted scenes footage.

All in all if you’re in a mellow mood and want a slow paced, character driven story about two lonely souls that find each other then you could do much worse than to put this in your Blu Ray player.

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

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Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist, Blu Ray Review

Dr Peter Venkman (Bill Murray), Dr Ray Stantz (Dan Aykroyd) and Dr Egon Spengler (Harold Ramis) are parapsychologists at New York University. It is quickly established that Stantz and Spengler are at least semi serious about their work whereas Venkman is just using it to hit on women. Everything however is about to change as they get kicked out of the University. Venkman explains that it was their destiny so that they can go into business together, and so Ghostbusters was born; a company created to rid normal people of the ghosts and spectres that haunt their daily lives.

Business is initially very slow but after a couple of high profile jobs they find that they are being inundated with calls about spooky spectres, in fact business is so good that they have to take on a fourth person and employ Winston Zeddmore (Ernie Hudson). Across town Dana Barrett notices that her eggs are cooking themselves on kitchen worktop and she has an entity lurking in her fridge. Louis Tulley (Rick Moranis) is her health conscious, geeky neighbour discovers large devil dogs in his apartment.

It would seem that Barrett and Tulley live in a building which is a conduit to another world and the team must rush over there to protect Dana and the stop the mighty Zuul from taking over the city. Will they get there in time? Will they save Dana and Louis? Will they have funny one liners to drop? You will have to watch it to find out.

I think Ghostbusters is one of those films that just ingrains itself into your brain, A true icon of 80s movie making it has pretty much everything that a good family film should have and what’s even better is that it doesn’t ever get dull even all these years later as my teenage son is a fan.

The script is fun too; written by Aykroyd and Ramis it is a great selection of witty comments, one liners and quips. Bill Murray does seem to get the lion’s share of these and so it could be argued that this is a Bill Murray film, but I disagree with that, sure he is prominent in the film but not to the detriment of the other actors although I would say this film is probably one of Murrays best outdone only by Groundhog Day.

In fact that is one of the big plus points of the film in that a little time is taken to build the characters, we like and we care about them all but each has their own way, their own personality which provides us with different types of comedy; from Moranis’ geeky accountant, to Murrays dead pan they all will make us laugh.

Another thing which I think is appealing is that even though it is a family comedy movie they haven’t dumbed it down, they all come out with these large complicated scientific explanations and the great thing is that we as the audience all get it, to a certain degree we do anyway and that is half the charm of the film as well as the special effects which although some look a bit dated these days were top class in 1984.

Overall I think Ramis and and Aykroyd did a wonderful job with the script and Ivan Reitman did a wonderful job of directing the proceedings. This is a great classic movie and one that every movie lover should own.

9/10

Audio:

Mine played out in Dolby Digital 5.1 and it is a pretty decent track. Dialogue and soundtrack are mainly front based and are well balanced. The surrounds are used on occasion but I would have liked to see them utilised more, the few times that I noticed them I thought that my rear speakers had blown and were producing a rasping sound

6/10

Visual:

The picture on this blu-ray release has been cleaned up and it is a pretty good transfer. I didn’t noticed any damage or serious flaws although the colours sometimes seemed a bit muted on occasion.

For the most part the Special effects stand up well to a High Def release, the only real let down was whenever the “devil dogs” were involved, especially in the apartments, but then this movie is very old and all the other special effects seem to have stood up a little better.

7/10

Special Features:

There is a wealth of extras on this blu-ray disc

Cinechat: This is like MSN but for use when watching a film, you will of course need an internet connection for this feature, personally I don’t know if I want to chat to people whilst watching a film, and if I did I would want an external keyboard rather than the PS3 remote in order to input text.

Commentary with Ivan Reitman (Director), Harold Ramis (Egon Spengler) and Joe Medjuck (Associate Producer): The three guys sit down to talk about the film.

Blu-wizard: According to the blurb this feature allows you to customise the way you view the special features, it allows you to create a playlist of extras that you want to see.

Slimer mode: This is a picture in picture commentary with some graphics running the top and bottom of the screen which would normally be the black lines of a widescreen picture. The volume of this feature seems quite low.

Ecto-1: Resurrecting the classic car (15.37): as the titles hints at, this is all about the Ghostbusters car, how they chose it and its restoration of it when they wanted to release the game. An enjoyable little extra and I think everyone would agree that the restoration work was top drawer.

Making of Ghostbusters video game (11.18): Another self explanatory special feature.

Ghostbusters Garage, ECTO-1 Gallery (5.27): A bunch of still photographs showing the famous car before and after restoration. There is a little moving footage to and it is displayed to us as a rolling gallery.

Ghostbusters the video game preview (1.43): This is basically the trailer for the video game. I’ve never played the game but it doesn’t look to bad.

Scene cemetery: Scenes that were killed off or shortened in the released film, the quality of the clips is quite poor.

1984 Featurette (9.45): This is a making of feature made a the time of the movie, the audio is quite low, the presenter seems to be lacking a little personality too, but an interesting document from the period, this is all un-restored footage.

Cast and Crew Featurette (10.53): A good 10 minute chat with most of the guys about the film and their feelings about it, Bill Murray isn’t in any of the modern extras though. Although I have to say that I watched all of these extras in order and I have to say the Dan Aykroyd seems to go off on one dropping scientific explanations wherever he can, he is obviously really interested in the entire paranormal thing.

SFX Featurette (15.22): The setup for this feature was quite bland. They had a bunch of people that has worked on the film all sitting in the same room and they each spoke about the SFX and how the bits and pieces were filmed, with the occasional movie clip thrown in.

Multi Angle Featurette: there are three multi angle features here; Spook central exploding, she’s a dog and crossing the streams. I must say that I don’t get the feature, 1st you get a bad quality version then a better quality version that plays.

Storyboard comparisons: compare the story board to the actual movie.

10/10

Overall:

A great family movie that I never tire of seeing.

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

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Ghostbusters – Blu-Ray 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

With some film titles you never really know quite what you’re getting. Bride Wars is not one of those films, it does exactly what it says on the tin! As such, all men out there should know they’re deep in ‘chick flick’ territory here. Not only is it a chick flick, it’s a chick flick for chicks obsessed with weddings!

Liv (Kate Hudson) and Emma (Anne Hathaway) have been friends since they were little girls. They both witnessed a wedding in June at the Plaza hotel in New York that left a lasting impression. Since that day both have been obsessed with living out this fantasy, they’re both just waiting for the right guy to pop the question.

With an amazing coincidence (it is a film after all) both girls get proposed to by their respective boyfriends within a coupe of days of each other. After heading to the best wedding planner in New York they find that there are three slots on two dates left in the Plaza in June. Liv takes one date and Emma the other and everything seems to be going swimmingly. It’d be a very boring film if this were the case though, and sure enough a clerical error means that both girls are booked into the two slots on the same day. Nightmare!

Rather than be reasonable about this and come to some kind of agreement, or even have a dual wedding, things start to get nasty between the lifelong friends when they both stubbornly refuse to move their date. Things escalate from harsh words to practical pranks with spray-on-tan and hair dye. Will this date come between them? Will either of them end up making it down the isle alive? If you’re a die-hard chick flick fan then delve in and find out.

I can’t really say this is a romantic comedy. It’s all about weddings so you’d think that’d be the case but a romantic comedy needs to have two people in love. What we have here are two friends who have partners that we’re barely introduced to. The men in this film don’t just get a backseat, they’d be lucky to get that, they’re positively squashed into the car boot as an afterthought. The whole film revolves around Liv and Emma. With Kate Hudson and Anne Hathaway in starring roles you wouldn’t think that was a bad thing and indeed their performances are pretty good. The material they’re given however, doesn’t live up to their acting and comedic abilities. Things start out OK, their relationship starts to sour nicely, the witty banter flies. Unfortunately the viewer can see that there are several reasonable options open to both of them to resolve the situation. Their refusal to consider any of them makes you loose sympathy for either of them. As their antics descend into childish, and quite nasty pranks, you actually start to actively dislike them.

We all know that things can’t end that way though and sure enough, there’s an about-turn in the final chapter that gives us the sickly-sweet ending required of a good chick flick. The writers did leave in an option for a sequel as well and I’m not actually sure whether I want to see the option realized or not. I don’t mind a chick flick from time to time. This one however left me a bit cold. I think it might have had something to do with the fact that there were no decent male characters that I could empathize with. Having been married, and listened to my (now) wife banging on about wedding arrangements for what seemed like months, the idea of watching a film where this is two-fold just does not appeal. My wife on the other hand (just to give you a female perspective) quite liked the film, but even she thought the central premise was just unreasonable, even if she did like the comedic antics that followed. The scores below will be from my perspective, for the female readers however, my wife would’ve scored the main movie as a 7.

The video and audio on this Blu Ray are both well above par. Video-wise we’re treated to a very nice 1.85:1, MPEG-4 AVC, 1080p encode and audio-wise we get a 5.1 DTS-HD track that can get quite lively during the more active sequences and retains good, clear dialogue throughout. Extras are the usual fare, deleted scenes, alternative opening, behind the scenes featurettes etc. The most original Blu Ray extra would be the Something Old, Something New feature where wedding trivia pops up during the film playback (one for the girls again though).

Overall this is a an hour and a half of girly light entertainment. It won’t have you rolling in the isles but the main stars drag the most out of what is there and make it watchable.

 

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

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Bride Wars, Blu Ray Review

As an Owen Wilson fan Marley & Me was one of those films that I had down on my cinema watch list that I just never found the time to see. It doesn’t seem all that long that it was on at the cinema either, but it’s release on DVD and Blu Ray has just been announced for the 6th of July (see press release below for details).

Marley & Me

The Heartwarming Story Starring

Academy Award-Nominee Owen Wilson & Emmy-Winner Jennifer Aniston Arrives on Blu-ray Disc and DVD on 6th July 2009
 

From the director of the Devil Wears Prada and based on the best-selling novel by John Grogan, Marley & Me leaps onto Blu-ray and DVD on the 6th July 2009 from Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment .  Featuring an A-list cast that includes OscarÒ-nominee* Owen Wilson (Night at the Museum) and EmmyÒ winner** Jennifer Aniston (The Break-Up) the film tells the hilarious tail of a family who learn some important life lessons from their adorable, but naughty and neurotic dog. 

When newlyweds John and Jenny Grogan (Wilson and Aniston) leave the snow of Michigan for the beaches of Miami, they decide to test-drive their parenting skills by adopting an energetic yellow Labrador retriever named Marley.  However, it’s not long before their adorable 12-pound puppy transforms into a highly-strung, boisterous and uncontrollable 100-pound troublemaker. From flunking obedience school, chewing through dry wall, and taking a bite out of the sofa Marley causes absolute chaos wherever he goes.  Despite the mayhem he generates, Marley sees the Grogans through the ups and downs of life and the countless challenges that come with it and soon they discover that Marley, “the world’s worst dog,” somehow brings out the best in them.

The delightful comedy adventure features a supporting cast that includes OscarÒ-winner Alan Arkin (Best Supporting Actor, Little Miss Sunshine), Eric Dane (“Grey’s Anatomy”) and Golden GlobeÒ-winner Kathleen Turner (Best Actress, Prizzi’s Honor).

Go fetch Marley & Me on 6th July!

Blu-ray and DVD Special Features:

Featuring fun and love for the entire family, Marley & Me includes the following special features on both the Blu-ray and  the DVD:

·         Digital Copy – transfer an entire copy of the film to a portable device such as the family’s Laptop, iPod or iPhone
·         Finding Marley – a look at the process of finding and training the 20 plus dogs that feature in the film
·         Gag Reel 

Blu-ray Exclusive Features:

·         Dog Training Trivia Track – Picture-n-Picture feature
·         Dog Training 101 featuring BonusView video
·         Breaking the Golden Rule – the “Golden Rule” being ‘never work with children or animals’. In this piece the cast and crew discuss breaking that rule and the fun they had working on the film
·         On Set with Marley: Dog of All Trades – we “talk” to Marley and learn about his hopes, dream and aspirations
·         When Not to Pee – what it takes to recreate an “accident” that occurred on set during filming
·         Animal Adoption – a discussion about the benefits of adopting a dog from an animal rescue centre and the importance of doing your research before getting a pet of any sort
·         Deleted Scenes – with commentary from Director, David Frankel  

Product Details:

Release date:                       Monday 6th July 2009
Running time:                      115 mins
Format:                                  DVD & Blu-ray
Certificate:                            PG
Price (DVD):                         £19.99
Price (Blu-ray)                    £24.99

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Marley & Me News

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