Editorial - The Actors Wasteland of Today

And now for my next editorial, I decide to read about another topic that’s actually only really come into my more prominent thoughts, and that is the nature of actors in today’s movies.

And some of you are asking: why am I writing about this, well I feel this is a big issue in the same vein as Warner Home Video changing their logos on older films and after The Dark Knight, the utter sludge of films that have come don’t seem as interesting nor as well written.

And for this editorial I want to use two examples, the first being Get Smart, here was a wonderful cast, Steve Carell, Anne Hathaway, Dwayne Johnson, Alan Arkin, Terence Stamp (yes folks, General Zod himself), Bill Murray and James Caan and on the crew one of the top action cinematographers Dean Semler, to me that is money in the bank as well as surefire laughs but instead, Director Peter Segal has them fight each other in a series of non stop action, stunts and Computer Generated fireballs, where is the material for these guys, I want them to make me laugh like crazy, not try to kill each other.

Another example is a movie called The Women, a chick flick in every sense of the word and also stars one of my favorite actresses, Annette Bening who was wonderful in Mars Attacks but yet as I looked at the cover sheet for the DVD, all I could think was “Bening deserves better”.

But in closing, both of these examples remind me of something my aunt told me, “Actors are only good as their scripts” and she is absolutely right, especially where Get Smart is concerned, these actors working today can only do so much with the material they’re given and when it’s not there, you can’t help but feel that the time you spend watching a movie that suffers from poor script material could be better spent elsewhere.

Fallout 3 - Initial Impressions

Greetings, Friends.

I finally have Fallout 3 and I gotta say: "Holy Jesus", this game is so dense and varied and the look of the wasteland by day is simply marvelous.

But again, these are only initial impressions as I've not made very much progress through the game at the moment.

Take Care,

Sim W.

Film Review - Home Alone (1990)

Home Alone stars Macaulay Culkin as Kevin McAllister who is accidentally left home alone in his Chicago home after his family rush to the airport for a flight to Paris where they plan to spend Christmas with relatives that live there, but Kevin will have to deal with some unexpected trouble.

I’ll keep this one short and sweet folks, Home Alone is a movie that is of two minds as far as I’m concerned, Culkin is wonderful and has no problems carrying the weight of the film on his tiny shoulders as he goes about dealing with being left home on his own unfortunately the rest of the film is not as good and considering that Writer John Hughes did what I consider a modern day Christmas classic in Christmas Vacation with Chevy Chase the year before this film’s release, this film disappoints by comparison.

Despite that, the good parts entertained me so I’m going to give it a 3 out of 5.

Editorial - Mad Max E-Mails

Earlier this year I contacted both Roadshow Entertainment and Warner Home Video regarding new Special Edition discs for Mad Max 1 and 2, Roadshow own the video rights of Mad Max and Warner own the video rights of Mad Max 2.

Here’s what Roadshow had to say:

My Head Office has advised that we cannot confirm if we will be doing anything for the 30^th Anniversary of Mad Max.

And here’s what Warner had to say:

Currently there are no plans to produce a Special Edition of Mad Max 2 in the near future however there could be a possibility further down the track.

From the tone of things, the e-mails sound hopeful that something will happen as both are the only two DVD’s left on my wanted list, if they are, they’ll keep it under wraps and release the info, it’s exciting to see and as that wise man once said: “Only time will Tell.”

Word of Warning - Quantum of Solace

Hi guys.

I'm just piping in to say that my review of Quantum of Solace will be late as I won't get to see the film until early December.

Just so you all know.

Film Review - Silence of the Lambs (1991)

Silence of the Lambs stars Jodie Foster as rookie FBI agent Clarice Starling who is recruited to her first major field case by her boss played by Scott Glenn in order to speak with a monstrous killer called Hannibal Lecter played by Anthony Hopkins so that the FBI can catch a serial killer called Buffalo Bill, but Starling will have to confront all she believes in order to stop this twisted madman.

Silence of the Lambs is a film that I admire very much, Jodie Foster’s performance is one of the greatest I’ve ever seen from any film and Jonathan Demme’s direction is tight and tense but unfortunately, the film creates a major flaw by essentially turning into a perverse slasher film in the second half as the kidnapping plot turns a little too sexual and once Foster gets inside the villain’s house, the film turns into an Alien style haunted house film.

Despite that though, this film deserves a 3 and a half out of 5.

Film Review - The Fugitive (1993)

The Fugitive was first released in 1993 and is based on a hit TV series from the 60’s, Harrison Ford stars as Dr. Richard Kimble, a respected Chicago doctor whose wife is murdered and he is the prime suspect, after managing to escape after a bus derails, Kimble goes on the run but determined to catch is US marshal Sam Gerard, played by Tommy Lee Jones.

I will say up front that I enjoyed this film a lot, it has some great energy and great performances by Ford and Jones, complimenting each other perfectly, the film also has some good stunt sequences, one in particular where Ford jumps off a dam to avoid capture is nearly exhilarating on its own.

If there were some problems I had with the film, it would be the front loading of action, Andrew Davis was the director of the movie and does a pretty good job but I do wish he kept a slightly tighter hold on the reins as the film does lose some of its footing in the second half, I felt that this held the film back from being a near classic of its genre.

Out of 5 I’m going to give this a 3 and a half, it has great energy in the beginning but runs out of it as the film winds down.

Editorial - The Summer Movies of 2008: The Knight that ruled them All

With this year’s blockbuster season now over, I thought it was time to take a retrospective look at the movies I saw as well as this season as a whole.

And my verdict is that this year was somewhat better than 2007 and 2006, both of which were not that good as the movies had wall to wall action and no plot, this year was about the same with Indy IV and Get Smart relying a lot on it rather than real screenplays but while Iron Man in May was a winner, taking the runner up spot, there was one that destroyed all that came against it.

And that was the Dark Knight; this has been covered elsewhere in both my review and editorial on its record breaking box office but this as well as Batman Begins from three years ago have set the bar not only for superhero movies but also summer films in general, having proved that a entertainment film can still have heart, ideas and reality in them and not be mindless action fests.

It will be interesting to look at next year’s lot and hopefully there will be some good ones, but as I’ve said before, only time will tell.

Film Review - Full Metal Jacket (1987)

Full Metal Jacket stars Vincent D’Onfrio as a new US Army recruit during the Vietnam War who goes through all the trials and tribulations of boot camp with the sergeant from hell played by R. Lee Ermey, but their training will not prepare them for what’s to come.

Although I enjoyed Full Metal Jacket, I have to admit that I also found it a little strange to watch, I enjoyed the visual look of the camp as well as the barracks, as it looked like a real setting rather than a stage but once the second half kicks in and we head for Vietnam, the film loses a lot of its energy and has the feel of being shot on a backlot.

All in all, I’m giving Full Metal Jacket a 3 out of 5 for while I enjoyed it, I also felt it was a little strange.

Film Review - V for Vendetta (2006)

V for Vendetta, based off the graphic novel by Alan Moore, stars Natalie Portman as Evey Hammond, a local TV station worker which is also under control of the totalitarian government, which V, voiced by Hugo Weaving is trying to free London from and after rescuing Hammond from a rape gang, he thinks the two of them together just might pull it off.

I enjoyed V for Vendetta and the ideas behind it but I found it seriously flawed, for one the first time we see V he talks for nearly 15 minutes which gets a little tiresome and the biggest problem I had was that like Superman Returns, the villain was weak and in this case, sorely miscast, someone like Terence Stamp would have been much better and it might have given the film the juice it needed.

All in all, 2 and a half is my final rating.

In Memorial: Stan Winston – 1946-2008

As I’ve noted in my reviews of Iron Man, Stan Winston, the effects master behind such films as Terminator, Aliens, Jurassic Park and Batman Returns, sadly passed away on June 15^th this year to multiple myeloma.

In my mind, this is a huge loss for film fans and the industry in general, as many films that benefited from the work he did on them really stuck in the minds of viewers, I mean the work on Iron Man from earlier in the year, the dinosaurs in Jurassic Park, the Alien Queen in Aliens, the Terminator and T-1000 from T1 and T2 and so on and so forth.

Another area where this is a huge loss is that he also knew how to seamlessly integrate CG effects with the real thing, as seen in Iron Man, Terminator 2 and Jurassic Park, many other film companies have done good CG work such as ILM and WETA Digital, but Winston’s studio knew how to do it right.

On that note, it saddens me to write this but it also saddens me that very little fuss was made by the world press considering he won 4 Oscars, but again I can’t say I’m all that surprised either, as the press are far more interested in tabloid headlines from the likes of Paris Hilton, Angelina Jolie, Amy Winehouse etc etc, I know I might be trying to do the same thing with the press and their treatment of this but Winston was a true movie legend and film fans like myself will miss him dearly.

Film Review - Deja Vu (2006)

Déjà vu stars Denzel Washington as a New Orleans police officer who is investigating the destruction of a boat in the area, but his work leads him to a special unit in control of a sophisticated time machine that could help him change the past to make sure this doesn’t happen again.

For the first half of Déjà vu, I was with the film for it had a good style thanks to director Tony Scott as well as a solid performance by Washington, but as it went into the second half and into the science of the time machine, it got very weird and for my money, lost a lot of its momentum and became bogged down with endless exposition scenes.

And because of that, this film gets 2 and a half out of 5.

DVD/Blu-Ray Review - Iron Man: Ultimate 2 Disc Edition

The Film:

Iron Man is a new big screen adaptation and stars Robert Downey Jr. as billionaire weapons developer Tony Stark who finds himself in captivity in Afghanistan, but after managing to escape his captors, he returns home and finds he’s a changed man, one wanting to protect the people he put in harm’s way.

Iron Man ranks second behind The Dark Knight (look for extensive coverage of that release soon) as the best film of the 08 blockbuster season, one that sadly misfired more than anything else, Downey is very solid as Stark as is Jeff Bridges though some might have trouble picturing The Dude as a villain but the real surprise was Gwyneth Paltrow as Pepper Potts, after many misfires with female roles in these kinds of films, Paltrow hits every note perfectly as does director Jon Favreau and the late great Stan Winston with his effects work, one could not ask for a more fitting end to an amazing screen legacy sadly cut very short: 3 and a half out of 5.

The DVD:

Iron Man comes in a new single disc and 2 disc DVD edition as well as a 2-disc Blu-Ray edition, what I am looking at here is the 2 disc DVD edition and I suppose all of you reading this are probably asking themselves this: how do I feel about it?

Well first off, lets start off with the video quality and sadly, it’s a bit of a mixed bag, certain scenes such as exterior shots look very good and have a real sparkle to them but some of the scenes in Afghanistan look very rough and some of the night scenes look too similar to last year’s Transformers, one last note is the use of player generated subtitles for the Afghan spoken in the film instead of the ones burned onto theatre prints, although its not that bad this time, I do wish this practice would cease, all in all the video gets a 3 out of 5.

Despite my problems with the video, the audio is a huger step up, excellently capturing the feel of the sound mix as it was heard in theatres, from the ear device used by Jeff Bridges to the feeling of flight created by Iron Man, this mix is a very good one and should please fans: 4 and a half out of 5.

And now, onto the extras which I will breakdown disc by disc:

Disc 1:

Deleted and Extended Scenes: Presented here are 11 deleted scenes which for the most part are good and there are a couple of gems to be found here, but like most deleted scenes, these were wisely left out as the film would become bogged down and overlong if they were left in.

Disc 2:

Featurette – I am Iron Man: This is a seven part look at the making of the film similar in style to the Beginning making of on the Phantom Menace DVD, this is actually a rather solid making of as it nicely goes into the shoot in a way that isn’t normally covered on most discs for newer films, one sad note however was the interview footage with Stan Winston who died not long after the film’s release and this film rightly serves as a fitting end to an amazing legacy, this legend and titan will be truly missed.

Featurette – The Invincible Iron Man: This is a six part look at the history of the Iron Man character as well as the famous villains, heroes and storylines that have come with him throughout the years, while I enjoyed this extra I wish that the “Demon in a Bottle” segment was longer, as I would like to have known more about that story.

Featurette – Wired: The Visual Effects of Iron Man: This is a near half hour look at the creation of the main visual effects of the film, whilst this feature was okay, watching people sitting in front of computer monitors does get tiresome after a while.

Robert Downey Jr. Screen Tests: Here are three screen tests with Robert Downey Jr. testing for the role of Tony Stark; personally I thought Downey’s casting was spot on so thumbs up for including the tests that got him the job.

The Actors Process: Here we see Downey as well as Jeff Bridges showing us rehearsals in their roles before shooting begins, I’m actually a little indifferent to this feature for while it’s a good inclusion pits a pity that we don’t get any between Downey and Paltrow, as they made a great pair.

The Onion “Iron Man Trailer” Segment: This is a weird extra concerning a faux E! style segment discussing the buzz to the film’s trailer, just like the actors feature, this left me indifferent.

Still Galleries: Presented here are four still galleries, concerning concepts, tech, production and posters, this is actually one of the better extras on this set as you get to see some of the original concepts devised for the movie.

The Blu-Ray version:

We aren’t done yet folks for I have now had a chance to look at the Blu-Ray version and in terms of comparing it to the 2-disc DVD version, there is actually a slight tilt in favor of the Blu-Ray version as the Video Quality to me anyway, felt more natural and less filtered as the DVD version, the audio was pretty much the 5.1 track from the DVD version but remixed for HD resolution, so only a marginal increase there.

On the extras front, there are only a couple of major exclusives, first is the hall of Armour which gives viewers a chance to examine up close the various Iron Man suits in the movie, personally I think this extra does not do the suits justice as they don’t have the same element of beauty that they had in the film.

Next is a BD-Live trivia quiz, which I have not looked at and last but not least is the teaser and theatrical trailers made for the film on Disc 2, the teaser and main trailers are good but the international trailers aren’t, one gets the feeling these were left off the DVD version due to disc space reasons.

Final Thoughts:

Iron Man is a great entertainment with top notch casting and effects but whilst the current DVD and Blu-Ray versions are good, they aren’t great, one gets the feeling that there will be a better release down the track but the film itself is the reason you should buy this.

Film Review - Tightrope (1984)

Tightrope stars Clint Eastwood as New Orleans police detective Wes Block, who is also quite kinky with women, so much so that he hand cuffs them to the bed, but when a mysterious killer starts killing women from that section of the city, Block must confront his own fears in order to do his job.

Tightrope is an interesting film as it shows Eastwood, normally the action star playing a real slouch but the movie itself I found uncomfortable to watch, its not that I didn’t hate it necessarily, far from it but I’ve never really been a fan of the use of sex in the movies and this did little to change that opinion.

Apart from all that, 3 out of 5 for Tightrope.

Editorial - Blu-Ray Disc: Cutting through the Kool-Aid

Continuing with my annual series of editorial features, I now aim my sights at the new Blu-Ray disc format and debate whether I feel it will succeed DVD as the next new format or not, cutting through the PR kool-aid as it were.

And to be fully honest, my answer actually divides two ways, on one hand Blu-Ray gaming which is in use on the PS3 discs I feel will very much outdo DVD gaming which is used by the PC and Xbox 360 formats due to the larger disc space, GTA IV’s Liberty City on the PS3 to me was very immersive and had some incredible detail and look, especially at night.

But on the other hand, Blu-Ray as a format for films sad to say is not that big of a leap over the current DVD format, which when introduced was a huge leap over VHS and lets face it, VHS was a very limited format, big tapes, a modified picture instead of the true widescreen picture and wear and tear on tapes.

DVD on the other hand, had the widescreen picture as it was in theatres, digital surround sound, interactive menus, chapter selections and for the first time, the ability to see making of documentaries and deleted scenes and other such extra material.

Blu-Ray only really refines that to include more interactive material and take a 2 disc set like the one made for Bonnie and Clyde to use as an example and fit it on one disc, which I like and think is a cool idea but in terms of Audio/Visual improvements, to me it was razor thin between this and an upscaled DVD and as a friend pointed out to me, its also the same movie, whether you loved it or hated it.

And its also how I would describe this format in terms of films, Blu-Ray just feels like a razor thin improvement and not that great big of a leap over DVD as that format was over VHS, I know this won’t win me many friends but its just one persons honest opinion.

Film Review - Shaun of the Dead (2004)

Shaun of the Dead stars Simon Pegg in the title role of Shaun, an electronics worker in the suburbs of London and whose girlfriend is starting to hate him because of his roommate Ed, played by Nick Frost, but one day things in this suburb start to get a little unusual.

Compared to Hot Fuzz, which would come three years after this film, I didn’t enjoy Shaun as much, I felt that the storyline felt like a movie version of their TV series Spaced but with zombies added in and I also felt that the mix of comedy and horror didn’t quite work, but it wasn’t a bad film by any means, it was one I felt that was a little uneven.

In closing, 3 out of 5 for Shaun of the Dead.

Film Review - Back to the Future (1985)

Back to the Future was first released in 1985 and stars Michael J. Fox as Marty McFly, a teenager who accidentally travels through time to 1955 and also accidentally prevents his parents first meeting, and if he doesn’t get them together soon, he won’t even exist.

Like some other movies I’ve reviewed, this one was 50/50 for me, I really enjoyed the performances by Michael J. Fox and Christopher Lloyd as his friend who helps him to get back home and I also enjoyed the brisk pace and sweet yet sincere tone the film has.

But I also felt that the film was a little bit of its time, the film was made in the time where Steven Spielberg and John Hughes ruled the box office and although they’ve made some good films on they’re own terms, the mix of the two in terms of ideas I felt detracted slightly from the film.

Out of 5, I give it a 3 and a half, Fox and Lloyd are great but the story leapfrogged a little too much at times.

Film Review - Doomsday (2008)

Doomsday is a British movie which concerns a lethal virus that spreads throughout the UK so badly that Scotland is quarantined, but 25 years later there are rumors of survivors so newcomer Rhona Mitra is assigned a special strike team to clarify the truth, but what they find is not what they seemed.

It saddens me to say this, but this movie was a huge disappointment, it started it off well but when it went into the Mad Max stuff with one character almost a clone of Wez from Mad Max 2, the film went downhill very quickly and turned into another Mad Max imitation.

All in all, a 1 out of 5, as the film left me very disappointed in the end.

Film Review - Mars Attacks! (1996)

Mars Attacks! stars an all star cast of Hollywood stars including Jack Nicholson in a dual role, Pierce Brosnan, Michael J. Fox and Sarah Jessica Parker among others as Martians invade Earth and decide to demolish it as well as kill all humans, including all the sexy mamas.

And by the judging the tone, I actually loved Mars Attacks, it has a great sense of style and humor and it also contains the first instance of the head in a jar later seen in Futurama, although you have a cavalcade of stars, the real stars were Annette Bening as a hippie and Frank Welker doing all of the Martian vocals also helps to steal the show.

All in all, a firm 4 out of 5 for Mars Attacks, great fun.