DVD | Born Into Brothels

I was fortunate enough to be sent an advance copy of the DVD Born Into Brothels. I say fortunate, as it’s a real eye opener rather than a fun filled night in front of the TV.

What started out as a New York photographer’s desire to photograph the prostitutes who live and work in Calcutta’s red light district. She found the task impossible as neither the prostitutes nor their clients wanted to be photographed. They were too scared.

Instead of giving up, she decided to live in the red light district so that she would be accepted. It’s here that she discovered the children.

If you think prostitutes in one of the world’s poorest cities have it bad, you haven’t met the children of prostitutes. From birth they are written off, not by their parents but by society.

The documentary starts off with an interview with a 10-year-old girl, who tells of the men who visit ‘not being very nice’ and ‘normally drunk.’ Then she hits you with an unexpected blow; ‘all the women want to know when I’m going to join the line.’

At age ten, this girl is of the age where she’s expected to earn money. And because of the stigma attached to being a child of a prostitute, there is only one way for her to earn money.

But what can one New York photographer do? She takes a group of children from her street and starts to teach them how to look at the world differently, through the camera lenes. It doesn’t take long for her to see that these are normal children with some exceptional talents.

Along the way, as well as creating talented photographers, she works tirelessly through the bureaucracy to try and find a School that will take these kids. One child she even manages to get invited to an international photographers conference, and their photos appear in Amnesty International’s calendar.

So is there a happy ending? I’m not telling. What I will say is that if watching this documentary doesn’t affect you in some way, you must be made of stone.

One point of warning, even though it’s subtitled, there is one prostitute with anger issues who uses all manner of swear words, so if you’re easily offended, you have been warned, but try not to let this keep you from watching an amazing story of the power of one.

Retail release date: 26 Jan 2006

West Wing Actor John Spencer Dies

Sad news for West Wing fans as John Spencer (Leo McGarry) dies of a heart attack.

Somebody Gets Killed? Quick, Figure Out What Video Game It's Like!

Ok, so I stole this from Game|Life, but I thought it had some merit so I decided to post it here as well:

So a prostitute was run over by a car, deliberately, in New Zealand. That's sad. What's ridiculous is that everyone is now falling all over themselves trying to find a link to video games.

Another said: "Isn't this scenario the kind of thing that the PlayStation game, Grand Theft Auto, requires of players? Perhaps there is a connection."

"Another" who, you ask? A witness to the crime? The investigating officers? No: some random person who wrote in to the newspaper.

Read the actual piece and you'll find that the "link" in the headline is that a prostitute got run over by a car, and you can run over a prostitute with a car in Grand Theft Auto, according to random people with absolutely no connection to the case whatsoever.

Meanwhile, only after ten paragraphs of this absolute twaddle, are the actual details of the actual crime discussed.

I'm going to go bash my head against the wall now.

X-Box | Fahrenheit

David Cage claims in a recent interview that most games are constructed the same way that porn movies are. His game of course is very different.

Well, at least in game play, but some of the content is the most sexually risqué of any game that I’ve ever played and would rival that of GTA’s hacked scenes. A shower scene and several sex scenes would put this game in the porn category for many people.

Fortunately this 3D, highly interactive adventure game brings a fresh new breath into an almost stagnant games industry, by re-hashing the tradition text-based adventures of old and giving it the full graphic makeover.

You get to play various characters that interact with a host of others. Imaginative and intuitive game controls mean that skill as well and creative thinking are required to beat this game.

Relatively short (it’s the quickest game I’ve ever managed to complete), its lack of stamina is compensated with the (apparently) almost endless routes through the story you can take. It is possible to make it through the game without being assaulted with sex scenes, though some opponents (of video games) would argue that these scenes were put there to make (young impressionable players) you want to go back and play again to see if you can find them.

Graphically it’s great, not mid blowing, but pretty damn amazing. Control wise the camera can be a right pain in the arse at first, but once you get used to it’s habits, it’s a breeze.

One interesting thing is the emotional state of the characters – this is how you live or die in the game. Get too depressed and you commit suicide. So you have to keep your characters mental heath in check (sex makes the main character very happy!).

But there are also some ethical dilemmas. I’m at the park and see this boy drowning, I can help him, but I’m wanted by the Police. I try to help him but every time I try to save him, two Policemen patrolling the park see me and arrest me. So after 4 – 5 tries, I just walk away and ignore the boy. My in game mental health takes a hit, but so does my real mental health. I know this is only a game, but should I have spent more time trying to work out how to save the boy, rather than skipping to the next scene to see what else the game has in store?

Are games getting so complex that they are at the level where that can prick social conscience? Who knows, maybe I just need more sleep.

DVD | Code 46

Code 46, a futuristic thriller starring one of my favourite actors, Tim Robbins turned out to be a bit of a dud.

Whilst it’s premise and basic theme was an interesting one, similar to that of Gattaca, huge plot holes and a pace that barely rivals paint drying let the entire movie down.

This is sadly one to be avoided.

DVD | Lost S1

I only watched 3 episodes of Lost when it came on TV. I couldn’t really get into it that much, and I’d discovered that it was going to be a whopping 25 episodes long. I just couldn’t see my self committing to watching that many weeks of TV.
But when the Season 1 DVD came out I figured it would be worth a go. What I didn’t know is that it would take me less than a week to watch all 25 episodes! I don’t know why, but the story just grabbed me and I had to find out what was going to happen next.
For the most part Lost was perfectly paced, with enough mystery and intrigued to keep me hooked. And that’s the beauty of TV on DVD. If I’d had to wade through the advert breaks and wait a whole week for the next episode, I’d have given up, but watching it at my (some what maniacal) own pace, with no interruptions from global corporations trying to take my money made for a riveting and enjoyable series.
So what makes a group of people, survivors from a plane crash, stranded on an island that doesn’t exist, so damn interesting? Well, putting aside the twisting storyline and mysterious properties of that Island there were two factors that really grabbed me.
Firstly there was the way the Lost kept giving you flash backs into the survivors previous life. It was more the way these flashbacks were orchestrated. You’d be given just a taste of what they were like, and it was designed to make you think of them in a certain light. But as you got to know them, more flash backs showed that they were actually quite different. It gave strength to the old adage: Never judge a book by it’s cover. It’s quite interesting to see how quickly we jump to conclusions rather than waiting to see if there’s more than meets the eye.
Secondly, it was like these survivors were being given a second chance. No matter what they had done in there previous life, now they were on an island with 40 other strangers, their slate was wiped clean. They were given the opportunity top become something better, to tackle and overcome any issues that may have been dogging them before. It was almost as if God had granted them clemency, albeit trapped on an island they may never get off.
So if you’ve never seen Lost, or like me, just couldn’t be bothered with it on TV, give the DVD a go. Trust me, you’ll love it as much as I did!

DVD | Kingdom of Heaven

The crusades are an interesting subject matter for a filmmaker, very risqué some may say. What it does offer up is plenty of opportunities for Ridley Scott to do some huge battle pieces and plenty of gory blood letting. But if you watch this movie for the action you’d be missing the point and probably come away disappointed.

As a historical movie, what Kingdom achieves is quite good. It shows the situation for what it most probably was – a melting pot of peoples, creeds and purposes. People went on the crusades for many reasons. Some wanted to spread the love of God, some wanted to be judge and jury on a people they didn’t understand, some went for fortune, and some for control.

Most powerfully it shows what can be done with understanding and acceptance and pure motives. And it shows that even the most unlikely and un-ready man can find peace if he learns from his journey.

DVD | Empire of the Sun

There’s been a few good movies from my childhood being released onto DVD of recent years and it’s funny how the movies seem so different to how you remember them. Empire of the Sun is one such movie.
I liked it as a kid, though I wouldn’t have raved about it, but now as an adult I think it’s an amazing film.
Unlike most war movies, Empire of the Sun isn’t about the fighting so much, it’s more about the civilian population and how war effects them. More specifically it’s about a little boy and the loss of his innocence. Stranded after loosing his parents in the mad rush as Japan attacks the Western sector of China, this well-to-do English boy has to fend for him self, he soon hooks up with a couple of maverick American merchant sailors who help him out for a while and then he finds himself in and interment camp.
It’s in no way a feel good movie, though it does have the predictable happy ending, but it is based of the experiences of a English boy lost in Japanese controlled China. It’s an important movie because rather than taking sides, it shows a side of warfare that is often overlooked: The devastating effect it has on the civilian population.

DVD | The Woodsman

It’s hard to review a movie like The Woodsman. It’s difficult to find the right words to use. Somehow saying that it was a fantastic, brilliant movie, doesn’t seem right when you find out what the subject matter is.

But it is a fantastic movie. It’s compelling but disturbing viewing. You’re not sure which side you want to take, because all your pre-conceived judgements have had to been thrown out the window.

There are many characters in this movie for people to relate to, but it’s Kevin Bacon’s character, Walter, that we should be rooting for. Even though we would never in real life.

You see Walter has just spent 12 years in prison for a crime he did commit: Molesting little girls.

So why, you may be asking, would anyone want to see a movie about a child abuser? For one it’s got Kevin Bacon in it. Lets face it, Kevin takes these unique roles and nails them. And it’s a movie not so much about abuse, but hope.

So OK, there might be some spoilers coming now.

In the movie Walter finds love and acceptance in the form of a hard-edged formally abused female workmate. They both fins acceptance in each other and are able to share past hurts. But Walter also finds prejudice through the cop (played by the ever capable Mos Def) and some of his other work mates.

He also finds redemption, through two sources. One is by stopping another serial child abuser who he witnesses through his apartment window. Walter recognisees the guys actions because of how he used to act. But left with no way to alert anyone, Walter struggles with what to do until one day he snaps and beats the guy up. The scene and concept works better in the movie. Of course this isn’t the best way to go about dealing with criminals, but what else could Walter do? Tell the police? A convicted child molester goes to the police to convince them he knows something? No.

His second act of redemption comes in the form of a would be victim. Struggling with his inner demons and trying to become normal is a sure to fail task with out the support of everyone around you. Walter has the support of only a few people and the ever-present judgement of everyone else. It’s a battle that the demons are bound to win. Except for one thing. His would be victim has a surprise for him. When Walter sits down in a deserted park with this little girl he ahs chosen, through talking to her he accidentally discovers that her daddy is already abusing her in the same way that Walter used to abuse little girls. Walter had always believed that what he did never hurt anyone, but now with the tears and pain on this little girls face, he realises who he was, and he gets the strength he needs to let the girl go.

It’s not a happy-joy-joy ending. Walter may be on the road to recovery, but the film leaves us with no doubt that it’s going to be a rocky road.

But a review can’t do this movie justice. The movie has many layers, and should be viewed far more widely than it will. The Mall scene in particular will change the way you see today’s fashion trends, and what it’s doing to our children.

But be warned, it’s not an easy movie to watch, it’s not popcorn entertainment in anyway. It’s disturbing and has a lot of sexual/nude scenes. But in the end, is a powerful, worthwhile movie.

Movie Quote #3

What movie does this quote come from?

There's wrong, and then there's wrong, and then there's this.

Most Games Are Like Porn!

In an interview with Jumpbutton Magazine (issue 2 coming soon) David Cage dropped this stunning revelation on the state of gaming:

Most games offer a disruptive narrative, similar to what you’d find in porn movies. You get a couple of minutes of story to set the context, the set and the characters, then an action sequence; then another bit of story to set the context for the next scene, to prepare the next action sequence, and so on.
No one cares about the story because it is not perceived as a key component of the experience. In games, like in porn movies, the user is there for the ‘action’, not the story. But most of all, the story and the action do not progress together but turn by turn (Story/Action/Story/Action).

And I have to say, that after playing Cage’s Fahrenheit, and thinking about most other games that I’ve played, he’s right!

DVD | Wicker Park

This movie took it’s time coming to retail DVD (I only get to review retail releases, and sometimes the period between rental and retail can be strangely long) and it wasn’t quite what I expected.

What the trailer showed was a totally different movie to what was actually delivered. The trailer promised a fast paced intriguing thriller, the movie on the other hand was more a look at love and the lengths some people will go to get it, and what happens when you loose it.

And in that it’s a pretty good movie. Nothing to rave about, but an interesting tangled story that shows the highs and lows and desperations of love, and it does it with out showing any real ‘flesh’ witch is pretty dam amazing for a Hollywood movie these days.

DVD | War Of The Worlds

I reviewed WOTW after seeing it at the cinema, so I’m not going to re-hash what I thought of it, you can go read it here. What I am going to say is that yes, it does survive the small screen experience and is still a damn good popcorn movie.
So what about the extras? Well they were pretty much run-of-the-mill. But what you do get is some insights on why the movie ended up being the way it was. For one, they (Tom, Steven and the dude who wrote the screenplay) got together and made up a list of what they DIDN’T want to see in the movie, such as famous landmarks being destroyed and other such cliché’s which I though was a damn good way to approach the writing of a movie.

Best line: Can you think of a plan that doesn’t involve your ten year old sister joining the army?

History Channel to use Video Game Content

The History Channel is turning to video games to re-create key battle scenes for a new World War II documentary.

Brothers in Arms: The Untold Stories of the 502nd, a pair of one-hour documentaries debuting Dec. 18 (in the USA), will feature video-game graphics from Gearbox Software's Brothers in Arms video-game franchise.

"A lot of the stock footage from D-Day has been seen over and over again, and there's very little footage, if any, from the paratroopers of the 502nd who went in during the early hours of the D-Day invasion," said Gregg Backer, executive producer of Foglight Entertainment, which created the documentaries.

The documentaries for the first time will also attempt to portray real World War II veterans as they appeared in the war.

Gearbox took photos of some of the World War II vets interviewed for the show, and re-created them in the game as they looked when they fought in Normandy as young men of 18 and 20 years of age.

The software company said it spent more than a year studying Army maps, photos and journals to create the virtual documentary.

"The emotional attachment to these soldiers is different when you see the places they're talking about in full 3-D and in living color," Backer said. "You feel like you're there in 1944 with them as they recount their heroics."

Actor Ron Livingston, who starred in Steven Spielberg's Band of Brothers miniseries on HBO, will serve as the host of the shows.

Retired Col. John Antal, Gearbox's historical director, said the Brothers in Arms games depict true historic battles on authentically re-created battlefields -- and it was the games' authenticity that was the major selling point for The History Channel.

He added that Brothers in Arms is also used by the U.S. Army to train soldiers at West Point Academy. Instructors use the games to train cadets in tactics, leadership and military history.

Antal said the recently released Earned in Blood game, which shipped in October, has a Skirmish mode that cadets are using to practice realistic head-to-head tactical combat.

It's not the first time the History Channel has turned to video games to dramatize documentaries. Decisive Battles, an original series focusing on key battles in ancient history, used graphics from The Creative Assembly's real-time strategy game, Rome: Total War.

XBox 360: Only In America!

Armed Robber Takes Two Xboxes
In a real-life display of video game violence, an armed robber held up a Stafford, Virginia Electronics Boutique store to get his hands on a pair of Xbox 360 game consoles. The perp made off with the boxes even as a line of die-hards waited patiently outside the store, and was later apprehended by police. As much as this seems like an extreme effort to own one of these hotly sought-after game systems, the robber might have made a substantial profit had he managed to list the systems on eBay. Fortunately, nobody was harmed in the incident.

Xbox 360 Selling for More Than Three Grand on eBay
If you thought US$699 was a lot to pay for a game console, you're not alone. But that doesn't mean there aren't plenty of people out there who are willing to pay a whole lot more. A quick browse on eBay shows that tons of folks are laying out serious cash to get their hands on a 360, with some auctions surpassing the US$3,000 mark. Not 21 hours after the console's midnight release, one auction closed with a final sale price of US$3,350.

99 Sleeps to go, only 99 sleeps...

Auckland, November 22, 2005 - It’s only 99 sleeps until New Zealanders can get their hands on the world’s most powerful games console, the Xbox 360.

Microsoft today announced that two versions of the console will go on sale from 12:01am on March 2nd, 2006. Consumers will be able to choose from the Xbox 360 at RRP$719.95* and the Xbox 360 Core System at RRP$549.95*.

“Amazingly realistic gaming experiences are now within our reach,” said David McLean, Regional Director, Entertainment and Devices Division, Microsoft Australia and New Zealand.

“Xbox 360 ushers in a whole new generation of gaming. Game characters and environments are just like the real world or as fantastic as the imagination can dream up. The New Zealand lounge room has not seen richer or more detailed games.”

Xbox 360 is the first console that lets gamers enjoy the freedom of wireless gaming, as standard. The Xbox 360 offer will include the console, 20GB hard drive, media remote, wireless controller, component high-definition cable and Ethernet cable. Xbox 360 Core System delivers the same powerful gaming as Xbox 360, but starts with the basics and lets you expand at your own pace. The Xbox Core system includes the console, composite AV cable and wired controller.

Both packages come with a complimentary Silver subscription to the world’s leading online gaming service Xbox Live, which provides gamers new ways to compete and hone their skills.

There are currently more than 200 games being developed for the Xbox 360, with 18 titles now launched in the United States and other markets. A full list of titles available on New Zealand launch will be available in 2006.

A wide range of Xbox 360 accessories will be available on launch. The current list includes:

· Wireless (RRP$89.95*) and wired (RRP$69.95*) controllers

· Play charge cable (RRP$39.95*)

· Rechargeable battery pack and cradle (RRP$59.95*)

· Battery pack (RRP$24.95*)

· 20Gb hard drive (RRP$189.95*)

· 64MB Memory unit (RRP$59.95*)

· Wireless networking adaptor (RRP$189.95*)

· VGA cable (RRP$59.95*)

· Advanced AV pack (RRP$44.95*)

· High Definition AV pack (RRP$59.95*)

· Headset (RRP$59.95*)

· Faceplate (RRP$34.95*)

· Universal Media Remote (RRP$59.95*)


Xbox 360 consoles, games and accessories will be available from leading retail outlets.

Hhhhmmmmm, better start saving hard!

Games Plus Suck

I don’t buy games very often, and when I do I make sure I get the best deal I can. I’ve discovered that GP Store normally has the best prices before postage. But EB (what is with THAT site??) will match their competitors price, so…

I normally look online, then go to EB and get if for the GP price, minus the postage. Trouble is on Saturday EB had sold out of Brothers In Arms: Earned In Blood, so I decided to try my luck at the new Games Plus store. They had heaps of copies of the game, but the price was $89.95 not the $82.95 advertised by GP. So I grabbed a copy of the game and took it up to the counter. I asked the guy if that was as low as they could go. He said that they’d already taken $10 of the recommended price. When I told him that GP had it for $82.95 he said that there was nothing he could do.

Nothing he could do? So this new gaming store, raised out of the ashes of Central Park doesn’t have the ability to be competitive? I wonder how long they will last?

So what was I to do? My wife wanted to go to The Warehouse, so I figured I could get it there, and fortunately they had one copy left, at a staggering $78.98!

Now I don’t like buying games at the Warehouse, in fact this was the first time, as I like to support the small specialist stores like EB who help bring gaming to the masses and keep the price lower.

So what’s the moral of this story? It has none; I just wanted to rant about how much Games Plus suck!

And to say what a friggen awesome game Brothers In Arms: Earned In Blood is. It’s a step up, nay, a friggen leap up from the original, especially in enemy AI and difficulty, but it’s just as much fun and just as addictive.

That’s all, end of rant.

X-Box | Heroes Of The Pacific

Like many World War II games released over the last couple of years, Heroes puts you right in the middle of the action from the get go. This time you’re at Pearl Harbour when the Jap’s attack, and it’s up to you to save the day (again).

All sound a little to familiar? Well not to worry, this isn’t your usual WWII shooter; it’s a combat flight ‘simulator.’ And don’t let the word simulator scare you, cause it’s not really, though it does have two settings, simulator and arcade.

Sitting on the runway in your plane as luck would have it, you get to take off and prevent the Jap’s from destroying too many planes, and then some!

Once you’ve helped save the day (well, not quite save the day, but you know what I mean) it’s off to another Pacific hotspot as the game unfolds through some 30 missions, taken from actual military actions in WWII.

Along the way you take part in all manor of air combat with a variety of planes and upgrades available.

Graphically the game is amazing, with clouds, smoke and exploding planes all around you.

The gameplay is easy to get into (even if you, like me, skip the training part!) but is challenging enough to keep you coming back to try and get that little bit further.

Heroes brings a new dimension and a whole heap of fun to the WWII genre.

DVD | The Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy

I’ll be honest and say that I’ve never read the book, or anything to do with the book. I’m a complete idiot when it comes to everything about this cult classic, and I get the feeling that I’m now going to be misquoted as saying, “I’m a complete idiot” with out the context of the previous sentence. Oh well, that’s life, don’t panic.

Anyway, back to the movie, Guide is a rather quirky British comedy. The kind of comedy where you don’t laugh out loud, rather chuckle inside at the absurd nature of what’s going on, and the subtleties and such. In that, it’s going to depend a lot on your taste for humour weather or not you enjoy this movie.

I for one enjoyed it, and coming at it from a ‘complete idiot” point of view, didn’t know if it was true to the book, or an absolute abomination. And I don’t care. What I saw turned out to be a rather interesting road trip/love story.

And also a kind of parable.

You see, the main character, Arthur Dent is so totally unprepared for the end of the world; it’s only his friend (from above) that saves him at the last minute, still in his pyjamas no less. The crazy thing is that notice of the impending destruction had been posted eons ago, but no body ever took notice. It’s a similar situation we find ourselves in, from a spiritual point of view; we all know the end has to come soon (the average lifespan of human is 70 or 80 years) but most of us would rather sit around with a bag over our heads then do anything about it. A lot of Christians are just as bad, and they have no excuse, they’ve read the notice and are still wearing bags.

Any way, back to the movie. Guide is a wondrous, visually stunning and imaginative movie, that should be seen by everyone who never got round to reading the book, especially those who love British humour.

Movie quote: It won't affect me, I'm already a woman.

DVD | Coach Carter

MTV. Not exactly renown for making great movies, especially not inspirational movies. But take a true story about controversial basketball coach who made national news after he locked out his never-lost-a-game basketball team because their academic performance wasn’t up to scratch. Place in this story the ever so talented Samuel L Jackson, as Carter, and you have the makings of a fantastic movie.

Coach Carter didn’t have to be the coach, it was a passion of his, not just Basketball, but also believing in people and wanting so much more for them, and such is the theme of this movie:

We all have the ability to live extraordinary lives. But working against us fulfilling our potential is belief. We have to believe in our selves, and the people around us have to believe in us also. It’s about the hidden potential in each of us that society often quashes through subtle (and sometimes not so subtle) messages. And it’s about one man who was prepared to take a stand and effect change in his community.

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate, our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us.

Your playing small does not serve the world; there is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure about you.

We were all meant to shine as children ... it is not just in some of us, it is in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same as we are liberated from our own fear. Our presence automatically liberates others.

Of course it’s flawed and predictable in places, but it warms the heart and make for a relaxing, feel good evening in front of the TV.

DVD | Top Gear: Revved Up

Top Gear has to be one of the most unnecessary shows on British TV, well, apart from coronation Street. I mean It’s a car show, but it doesn’t really give you any practical advice what so ever. And the amount of money they spend on a show with no purpose is astounding.

So why is it so popular? Because it’s damn hilarious. It’s pure entertainment. It’s fun.

Richard Hammond (yes, the short guy) fronts this DVD collection of some of the best and most requested clips from the latest series. Being an occasional watcher I was pleased to see plenty of stuff that I hadn’t seen before, but even the stuff I had seen before still had me in fits of laughter.

So weather you like cars or not, this is a DVD that’s gonna tickle your funny bone, if you have one, that is.

Movie Quote #2

"So this is how liberty dies - with thunderous applause."

What movie is the quote from...?

DVD | Revenge Of The Sith

The galaxy is weary after three long years of war. Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi have become legendary heroes in their campaigns against the droid forces of the evil General Grievous. Anakin and his secret wife, Padme Amidala, have been separated for months, and he finally reunites with her to learn that she is pregnant. He is plagued by visions of her dying in childbirth, haunting images of a possible future. Anakin is determined to stop her from dying, no matter the cost. This leads Anakin down a dark path to commit terrible deeds. Obi-Wan Kenobi must face his former apprentice in a ferocious lightsaber duel on the firey world of Mustafar. Blah, blah, blah.

I used to be a Star Wars fan, and thought highly of George Lucas, but that was when I was younger, and Star Wars was a visionary movie. A ground breaking visual feast that set Hollywood ablaze. Lucas was pushing the boundaries of what could be done, and was inventing some of the best visual effects that have far reaching implications for today’s movies.

But then he decided to do the prequels. The world had moved on, but George hadn’t. Both episodes 1 & 2 were massive disappointments (to me anyway) but rumour was that he’d got it right with Episode 3: The Revenge Of The Sith.

Sadly the rumours were wrong. This was no better. Cardboard cut outs could act with more character than the small ensemble of actors in this movie. But you can’t blame the actors too much, it must be hard to try and act a scene when there is no scene. Nothing but green screen. Lucas’ over reliance on computers that so blighted the first two, now destroyed any hope of a decent final movie.

Sure the computer graphics are stunning. But they are all too perfect, and the inability of any actor to really be able to grasp the idea of acting on non-existent sets, with non-existent characters, destroys the story. I could go on but I won’t, it’s to easy to pick apart Lucas’ terrible decision to not use real sets or models.

And because it’s a sequel, the main fight scenes, the ones that should have had you on the edge of your seats, were about as exciting as watching paint dry. Sadly, knowing that both people in a duel to the death actual survive till the next movie kinda takes all the excitement away.

But it’s not all doom and gloom for the Sith. If nothing else, the movie answered all those nagging question we had about Darth, Luke and Co. And it showed in spectacular form how dangerous a mix power without character is. As the ever powerful Skywalker was lead astray by the subtle leading of the dark side, it was easy to see that a life grounded in Godly character is the only thing that’s going to keep the dark side at bay.

So basically, if you liked the first two, you’ll probably love Sith. If, Iike me you wish that Lucas had either left the franchise alone or given it to Peter Jackson, then you’ll hate it.

DVD | Batman Begins

Batman Begins is, as you’ve probably heard, the Batman Movie that the fans have been hanging out for. Well, I’m not fan, but compared to what has been done before, I’d say that this was the best, and could almost make me into a fan.

But for a comic book movie, it doesn’t really feel like a comic book movie. The real emphasis is on building the character of Bruce Wayne and his ascent into his alter ego Batman.

The movie starts off with Bruce as a little boy, falling into a well and waking up a cave of slumbering bats – it’s a defining moment in the movie, of which there are several. Another such moment is when bat-like characters in a play his Parents and himself are attending freak young Bruce. He convinces them to leave early, and its here that the defining tragedy occurs, a petty thief murders his parents.

Pretty soon we see Bruce as a man, bent on revenge, but it’s not until he finds a shadowy group of vigilantes who help him overcome his fear and train him to be a fighter for justice that he realises his true calling.

Along the way Bruce has to make many decisions, and it’s how he grows through these decisions that we see a man transformed from a vengeance is mine kind of guy to the honourable, lets do what’s right incarnation of Batman.

Batman Begins is a dark movie, set in the dark underworld of a city going to the dogs. Organised crime and conspiracy is rampant, and whilst Batman uses truth to bring light to the world, the movie it’s self is aided by some appropriately humours moments curtesy of the ever capable Morgan Freeman and Michael Caine. The funny thing is these two veterans seem more at ease in there roles that Christian Bale does in his. Maybe it’ just me, but sometimes when he’s playing the part of Batman, she’s not always that convincing. Maybe I’m too cynical, and it’s only a minor point.

Another minor point is that the movie ends about 5 minutes too late, and finishes on a very un-needed cheesy moment. That along with more time needed for focussing on his training are my only two gripes about this movie. But now I’m just being picky.

A fantastic movie, with some great themes, set on a very dark backdrop of despair.

Movie Quote #1

"That's not a knife. THIS is a knife."

What's the movie?

DVD | Rock School

This documentary revolves around failed rock star Paul Green and his after school music school. Not so much a place to learn music, but more a place to be forced into the rock genre through constant verbal abuse form self taught ‘teacher’ Green.

His approach to encouragement is akin to that of Idol’s Simon Cowell, but where as Cowell has some redeeming features (namely his charisma), Green has no redemption. His school borders on chronic child abuse.

So why bother with Rock School? Well, as a documentary it does a damn fine job of showing the life of Rock School, and the journey that the participants take. It shows that if you’re strong enough to take on Green, he’ll kick you out – for all he wants is to be worshipped – a kind of Peter Pan crossed with a Hitler-ish control freak mentality. He needs the kids more than they need him. They are his wellspring of eternal youth.

Wether intentionally or not, Director Don Argott manages to produce a fairly entertaining documentary that leaves you wanting to give Green a spoonful, not, make that a bucketful of his own medicine. You’ll have to assume that this is the way Green really is as no sane man would do all that just for the camera. You also have to wonder if his tactics really work, as yes, he gets them to play some of the (apparently) most difficult rock music in the world, but is he just creating copycats or nurturing real talent?

Disney to buy Pixar?

Pixar's split with Disney was very public, and now Pixar is going it’s own way… leaving the likes of Toy Story and The Incredibles in Disney's library.

But have they really split, or is there more to the story?. ABC, a subsidiary of Disney has recently been helping out Pixar's parent company Apple. ABC made episodes of "Lost" and "Desperate Housewives" available for download via Apple's new iTunes video download service. Apple website MacDailyNews suggests that not only may the two giants be getting back together, but Disney may be on the verge of actually buying Pixar.

"Mr. Jobs would consider a sale at the right price." But at what price? The company's market value is $5.9 billion, but Disney already owns the Pixar movie catalogue, so it's not like that will be part of the deal.

It’s obvious that nothing will happen though, until after this weekend.

Why? Chicken Little opens this weekend. If it’s a hit, Disney will think that they don’t need Pixar, but if it flops, who knows?

The real question in many peoples minds is what would happen if Disney did buy Pixar? Would they do the wise thing and leave Pixar to do it’s thing, or will they quash the creative spirit of Hollywoods only film studio never to have a flop?

Is Disney better off without Pixar? I think not. Is Pixar better off without Disney? A resounding yes.

DVD | The Machinist

The Machinist is a real head-trip. It’s designed to keep you on edge, to keep you wondering, to keep you confused. From the use of lighting, to the music and the concentration camp survivor looking Christian Bale. It’s one of the best psychological thrillers of the year.

The problem with reviewing a movie like this, is that it’s so very easy to give too much away, so I will warn you that reading this before seeing the movie may give the ending away.

You’ve been warned!

The main character, Trevor Reznik is suffering from a bad spell of insomnia, and hasn’t slept for a year. He spends his time compulsively cleaning his apartment and his hands. His only human companionship outside of work is split between a prostitute who’s fallen in love with him, and an romantic relationship with a waitress at a 24hr café.

But it’s at work that things really start to go wrong, as he starts to hallucinate and see a co-worker that no one else can see. With his mind transfixed by this person his concentration lapses causing a horrific injury to one of his workmates. Things go from bad to worse as he starts doubting his own sanity.

Paranoia and conspiracy theories abound in his head, and it’s not until he starts to look inside that he starts to discover the truth.

In a brilliant conclusion to this finely crafted masterpiece, we realise that we’ve been looking at the ability of guilt to destroy a life, and the freedom that confession can bring. For a gritty and dark movie it’s redemptive look at the power of truth over darkness is amazing, and we end up understand exactly why facing up to our responsibilities and problems works much better than trying to hide things we’d rather didn’t exist.

Jobs Sells 1M Videos!

Steve Jobs and Apple have done it again! Proving that he still has the golden touch, Jobs announced that iTunes Music Store customers have purchased and downloaded more than one million videos since they debuted on October 12. Customers can choose from over 2,000 music videos, Pixar short films and hit TV shows for just $1.99. Top downloads include music videos from Michael Jackson, Fatboy Slim and Kanye West; Pixar’s “For the Birds” and “Boundin’”; and episodes of ABC’s hit TV shows “Lost” and “Desperate Housewives.”

“Selling one million videos in less than 20 days strongly suggests there is a market for legal video downloads,” said Jobs. “Our next challenge is to broaden our content offerings, so that customers can enjoy watching more videos on their computers and new iPods.”

Now, I really want an iPod. Donations can be made....

You’ve been splogged!

At first glance, it seems like a regular blog. But look closer and you'll see there's something very odd about the blog's content: It's very familiar. Too familiar.

That's because you wrote it, six months ago, on your own blog. The rest of the content doesn't make sense: The same word repeated over and over again. There are ads all over the sidebar for products like Viagra and mortgage loans.

This, you realize, is a splog, and you're the victim.

"Splogs," or spam blogs, are the latest way for spammers to manipulate the blogosphere for profit. The phenomenon hit an all-time high recently, when Google's blog-hosting service, Blogger, was inundated with more than 13,000 fake blogs spawned by a script (all have since been taken down).

Splog topics are often so nonsensical and wide-ranging they can be hard to pinpoint. Scott Beale of Laughing Squid said some really strange splogs have shown up on his watch list, everything from "Phish Rocks, Dude" to "Geeks Meet Greeks."

But why do sploggers do it? How do you know if you've been splogged? And what can you do to stop it? Here are a few tips:

[read the full article at wired.com]

Armageddon Games Preview Part 2

Ubisoft’s King Kong is looking pretty damn impressive. An action/adventure that looks to have enough action to keep even a hardened gamer happy. The one Ubisoft title that I had been hoping to take a look at, I couldn’t find. Brothers in Arms was an awesome game, and it’s sequel Earned In Blood looks even better on the trailer, but with out actually playing it, I wouldn’t want to rave about it too much!

Rockstar were showing off The Warriors. An classic movie turned into a video game. The look and feel of the game was good. Easy to get into, with the usual controls, but it suffered from the same problems as most action/adventure games: you can’t always take the most direct route. An interesting title, but not one that blows you away!

Sony’s latest party toy is BUZZ! The Music Quiz. A TV game show styled music knowledge game that will be a hit at parties and other gatherings this Christmas – you have be warned!

But the big one would have to be Microsoft and the X-Box 360. Now there is a sexy console. Sleek and with curves in all the right places, and a controller that just melts into your hand. Sadly theirs no official date, or price. In fact other than a jaw dropping trailer of a couple of games, Microsoft didn’t have much of anything. But I will say one thing; It’ll be worth the wait when it reaches NZ sometime early next year. Forget buying Christmas presents and save your money for a 360!

Armageddon Games Preview Part 1

Friday night saw the gaming industry in NZ treat the media to a preview of all that’s good and coming up over the next few months. Highlights were:

V8 Supercars 3
The early code on this game looks flippin amazing. Only got to play on one track: Bathurst. The think that struck me first was the incredible feeling of speed. It really was a step up from the last couple of games. The graphics of course were better, a lot better. The franchise is heading towards more of a simulation which is friggen awesome, so the handling was noticeable harder, but this being early code, handling will change, so I was told. The other main feature was the inclusion of racing rules, and it wasn’t long before my dangerous driving style that won me races in previous V8 games, earned me a drive through penalty.

The Path Of Neo
I didn’t play this much, ‘cause it was incredibly hard not knowing what I was supposed to be doing, but watching the Atari guy (who obviously had played it before!) I was blown away. Not just by the graphics and the fluid gameplay, but also by the fact that the game looked just like the movies. There was the foyer shootout from the original Matrix, and even the burley brawl. This is going to be THE game for Christmas.

More later.

DVD | Hotel Rwanda

Back in 1994, over a period of 100 days, an African country named Rwanda imploded with unrestrained racial fury. Almost a million people were slaughtered. And the civilized West saw the images on the TV news as we ate dinner, and did nothing about it.

Well, we did evacuate our own people. White people.

The UN was helpless and hopeless, with their hands tied with the ropes of bureaucracy. Rwanda would become a word that described the Western civilisations darkest hour, when we turned our backs on people in desperate need.

Hotel Rwanda focuses though not so much on the failures of the West, but the actions of one man. Paul Rusesabagina.

Paul Rusesabagina was a hotel manager in one of Rwanda’s flashest hotels, and when the violence flared up he did everything he could to protect his family. Initially he didn’t care about anyone else but his family. He would have died to save them. But then his family began to grow, as more and more people came to seek refuge, his eyes were opened, his heart broken and he became an accidental hero who did everything he could to save the lives of over a thousand people.

Hotel Rwanda is a heart-wrenching movie; it’s an emotional roller coaster that will leave you stunned. But it’s also one of the most inspirational movies of the year. It brings to life Edmund Burke’s famous quote: The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.

Don Cheadle gives an outstanding lead performance, bringing a reality and passion to his character, and the movie it’s self does an amazing job of portraying the situation with as little visual gore as possible. Having said that, the movie is rate M and recommended for audiences 16 and over, as whilst the content may be controlled, the feel and atmosphere of the movie make sure you know what is going on.

NZ Post does KONG stamps!

But of course, I mean why wouldn't they? Expect a mad rush of Kong stamps appearing on letters, of course the sucky thing is you can't send the 'real' Kong stamp on an over seas letter, as Kong himself only appears on the 45c stamp....

RIP Vanilla Coke

I got some devestating news on the weekend. A friend who works for coke told me that they were about to ditch Vanilla coke. What am I going to do? I'll have to start drinking water again.

PS: Stay tuned, I've got some movie reviews coming!

News | Peter Jackson to do Halo!

Ok, so when Microsoft first announced that they wanted to bring Halo to Hollywood and create a blockbuster movie, I was a little cynical. I mean video games haven’t always made the best movies, and hell, Halo isn’t even all that as far as games go. At least in my humble opinion.

But news out yesterday brings hope for the project: Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh will be executive producers, and the whole shin-dig is being done in Wellington. Whilst it would have been better news if Peter had also been named as the Director, it will be interesting to see how this little movie works out.

Here’s the official blurb from the good people at Microsoft…..

Triple-Academy Award® winners Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh have been signed as executive producers of Halo®, the forthcoming feature film based on Microsoft’s hugely popular game for Xbox and Windows PC.

The movie will be filmed in Wellington, with the pair providing creative counsel on all aspects of the film through WingNut Films. It will make use of the team’s award-winning production and post-production facilities, including Weta Digital Ltd, Weta Workshop Ltd, Stone Street Studios and Park Road Post, to create the mind-blowing creatures, miniatures and effects Jackson and Walsh are famous for.

Peter Jackson, a gaming fan, said: “I’m excited to bring Halo’s premise, action and settings to the screen with all the specificity and reality today’s technology can provide. I’m a huge fan of the game and look forward to helping it come alive on the cinema screen.”

Jackson’s involvement isn’t the only Kiwi connection to the game, however. One of Halo’s developers is Bungie Studios’ Chris Butcher, who grew up in Kakanui, a small town just outside of Oamaru.

Microsoft New Zealand product marketing manager Tom Hunt, said: “This is an incredible announcement, both for Xbox and for New Zealand. Halo is the most popular game on Xbox and has a massive local following, and the character Master Chief has become a cult figure.

“We can’t wait to see the game brought to life on the big screen, and we can’t imagine anyone better placed to do this than the legendary team of Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh.”

Pre-production on Halo will start immediately, with shooting due to begin in May 2006. The film is scheduled to be released by Universal Pictures and Twentieth Century Fox studios in mid-2007. Acclaimed UK novelist and screenwriter Alex Garland (The Beach, 28 Days Later) wrote the original feature film adaptation, and a director is to be announced shortly.

Nobody's Perfect #1

Continuity can be a problem, and for the most part mistakes go unoticed by most movie goers, but I have to ask, how does an extra olive appear on your stick.....

Constantine 2?

Ok, so I haven’t been posting very regularly recently, but that’s because I’ve been working 10-12 hour days and I’ve been too whacked to even think about movies. Reading other peoples websites and stealing their stories is much easier at the moment, so when I came across a rant about Warner Bros dragging their feet over a Constantine sequel that tickled my fancy, at one of my favourite movie sites, I decided to let y’all have a read.

Now he comes up with some good points, is a tad rude in places (you’ve been warner!!hahahahqahaha), and ends up with a similar thought to me, but I’m gonna take a stand and say to Warner Bros: Don’t do it. A Constantine sequel would suck big time. Like most sequels do. I mean the great thing about Constantine was the originality of it, the fresh-ness of it, something that can’t be carried into a sequel.

But hell, enough of my ranting, read the stolen rant right here:

With recent news that Warner Bros are twiddling their thumbs and playing with their executive balls when considering a sequel to this year’s CONSTANTINE one can only sigh the deepest of sighs when thinking of their salivating eagerness to flick the often abused green-light sequel switch for the likes of MISS. CONGENIALITY, CATS & DOGS and SCOOBY DOO.

The comic book Keanu starrer may not have bought in the same kind of buckage as most of the aforementioned cinematic shit-splats but it was by no means a flop and, most importantly, the film possessed (please hold)… IDEAS. Now, repeat that once again like that badly animated paedo looking fella from ‘Sesame Street’; I-D-E-A-S.

CONSTANTINE was not a perfect film, but for a big-budget Warner release it was something of a revelation (no pun intended.. or was it?).

Fans of its source material, Vertigo’s "Hellblazer" comics, were concerned that their foul-mouthed, chain smoking, cancer-ridden anti hero John Constantine would come out the arse end of the Hollywood Machine acting more like Hugh Grant in Richard Curtis’ ‘LOVELY LOVE IS LOVELY’ (coming soon).

They needn’t have worried; with newcomer Francis Lawrence coming good, CONSTANTINE only went through a handful of alterations; his trademark olive jacket did a ‘Kingpin’ and morphed to black and his Liverpudlian twang was twisted into the calming tones of one Ted Theodore Logan. But the quirks, defects, cynicism and addictions remained. A minor miracle if you consider that nowadays it’s virtually impossible for a studio to allow you to simply commit a cigarette to celluloid, the fact that Reeves was sucking back 20 cancer-sticks a second and coughing up blood into a rusty plug-hole was something to behold (am I sick?).

Then of course there’s the whole religious to-do, a backstabbing Gabriel (excellently played by an androgynous Tilda Swinton), multiple suicide attempts AND the concept of the Devil and God treating the human-race like a planet of toy Weebles (but, oh how we DO fall down). All of this in a ‘mainstream’ studio flick?

I’ll happily take a different coloured coat and a transatlantic switcheroo over Sandra Bullock falling over and the systematic rape of an iconic childhood cartoon canine anytime.

So, the argument against a sequel? Well, I suppose this is where those predictable and jaded Keanu bashers come out of the woodwork. Criticising Keanu Reeves’ thesp abilities seems to be a no-brainer knee jerk reaction for some film geeks, most of these critiques are often riddled with ‘Excellents’, ‘Duuuudes’ and ‘Woahs’. Ingenius.

Well for my money Keanu Reeves is a movie-star, I enjoy watching his performances and I will happily pay the admission price to see him playing a time-travelling valley dude, a lovelorn vampire hunter, a Chilli Pepper bashing surf-cop, a Dennis Hopper decapitating bus driver or a Commodore 64 infecting Martial Artist.

Reeves seems to have a precise and graceful movement on camera as if his use of the space around him and his knowledge of the frame is as much a tool as his own physical performance, it’s intriguing to watch and to instantly dismiss his abilities is most non, non-heinous.

I wasn’t a particular fan of the MATRIX trilogy, in fact I didn’t even warm to the original so whilst I endured the unforgivable debacle that was RELOADED and REVOLUTIONS with a somewhat smug and self-satisfied grin on my handsome face, I joyfully observed my Morpheus loving buddies turn their salty popcorn even saltier with their pathetic tears.

BUT ask yourself this? Who else could have played Neo? The true test of a great iconic movie character (Dirty Harry, Peter Venkman, Ferris Bueller, The Godfather, Deuce Bigelow; European Gigolo) is when you simply cannot imagine another actor playing that part. Who of Reeves’ peers could have entered the mainframe so effortlessly? John Cusack? Sean Penn? Charlie Sheen? Deuce Bigalow; European Gigolo? Reeves all the way.. dude.

So with this in mind and the fact that CONSTANTINE is now cleaning up around the globe on DVD what’s Warner’s problem? They’ve already gotten through the controversial material unscathed and built a foundation (and a following) for a very intriguing franchise…so what’s the delay Bugs?

Maybe they’ve had visions of CONSTANTINE : RELOADED?

The author of this column is Dan Palmer, not OnScreen. Just in case you didn’t get that from my intro.

Have an awesome weekend now y’all.

What Movie Am I #22

Sean Penn plays a death row inmate.

DVD | I Heart Huckabees

Convinced that a series of coincidences involving a doorman hold some secret to life's largest riddles, Albert Markovski seeks the help of a detective agency unlike any other. . . which leads him down a path that questions the essence of existence itself.

So starts the bizarre movie that is Huckabees. And I use the term movie very loosely, as this is a movie unlike any other. It’s a movie which seems to have no plot or direction. A movie that claims to be a comedy, but uses very intellectual humour. Not that intellectual humour is bad, at least it gets you thinking about what you’re watching, but I do like a bit of slapstick now and then.

So to say that Huckabees is a very funny movie could be true, but it could also be a lie – It’s kind of a parody of the movie itself, it depends on what you believe humour to be.

So I guess you could call Huckabees one of those strange movies. A movie about the meaning of life, about how we’re connected, about our needs. I’m not sure that it answers any of the questions that it poses, but it does make you think, and thinking is good for the brain.

What I can say for certain, is that Huckabees has some outstanding acting.

DVD | 2B Perfectly Honest

This is an interesting little comedy. It starts out as a predictable movie, but soon the main character gets in a bit of bother, and not long after, weird stuff starts happening. Most of the time you’re left wondering what is going on, but in the end everything is sorted out. It wasn’t a huge barrel of laughs but did connect with my Bible reading the next day, Proverbs 32:4-5.

News | New Website

One or two people may have noticed that there have been no movie news or reviews for a week now. Sadly I’ve been very busy at work and just haven’t had time to write any reviews. I have seen a few DVDs, so don’t worry, reviews should start appearing later this week.

One of the things that has kept me busy over the past week is a new Christian Music Website that I’ve been working on. It’s pretty much an example of what you can do for next to no cost, with just about no knowledge of html (I created the main page with Mozzila’s free web page creator!).

News | A Scanner Darkly

Whilst these posters might not excite many people, I quite like them. They are bold, well cropped and are more of a tease than trying to portray anything but the feel of the movie.

And lets face it, the movie is gonna rock big time.

Click here to see the whole range of posters, thanks to JoBlo.com

DVD | Constantine

I received Constantine on DVD yesterday, so any plans I might have had for last night were out the window. I looked the kids in their rooms, sat down with the wife, lights out and settled in to see how well the movie had translated from big screen to DVD.

Let me tell you, it’s still as good as it was the first time. Sure, it’s diminished a little by the size, but lets face it, more and more people are buying bigger TVs and more of us are staying home to watch movies, so size isn’t the issue it used to be.

And what of the whole disc of extras? Well, you’ll have to wait for that, that’s my weekend job.

If you like spiritually significant, freaky supernatural-edge-of-your-seats thrillers, with deadpan acting by Keanu, then you’ll love Constantine.

If you don’t like that sort of thing, well, you should!!

DVD | Harsh Realm

Harsh Realm, part The Matrix, part Apocalypse Now was created by Chris Carter and dropped by Fox after only 3 episodes. Consequently it never made it ti New Zealand as a TV programme, but now 6 years later it’s arrived on DVD.

Basically, the story goes like this: The US Military have created a virtual reality world that mirrors our world, and have been using it to train their forces. But someone has discovered how to hack in to the programme and has taken over, so now the military must send someone in to take him out.

The storyline didn’t grab me either, but the first episode did. Being based in a huge virtual world much like the Matrix, gives the series huge scope and stops it from getting tired. It’s action packed and the characters are loveable, add to that some light cheese moments and you have the perfect sci-fi series.

Whilst it does suffer occasionally in the special effects department, the quality is great and shows no hint of dating despite it’s 6 year hiatus in Fox’s wharehouses.

Be glad that this has finally seen the light of day in good ole New Zealand.

DVD | Million Dollar Baby

Million Dollar Baby is one of those funny films. It’s not one that I would have picked, but there wasn’t a lot else available at the time. It’s also not a film that had me on the edge of my seat.

But the more I think about the movie, the more I like it. The way Morgan Freeman’s character narrates reminded me of The Shawshank Redemption. But Freeman isn’t the main focus; he’s more of a constant background piece. The main characters are played by the ever-capable Clint Eastwood, and Hilary Swank, who gives an outstanding performance.

Basically a story regret and looking for redemption, Million Dollar Baby brings two very different people with similar hurts and needs, together in a journey of acceptance, trust and commitment. Two characters who have let down or been let down by their respective families find in each other a family worth fighting for.

Fortunately Eastwood stays away from Hollywood clichés and delivers a knock out blow that you don’t see coming in the form a huge twist that changes the entire focus and direction of the movie.

And it’s a twist that I’m gonna stay away from as it will ruin the movie if you haven’t seen it.

As I said earlier, this movie didn’t keep me on the edge of my seat, but it did keep me thinking long after the movie was over. So if you’re looking for something to think about, a movie that’ gonna give your grey matter something to do, then grab a copy of Million Dollar Baby.

Quote | Scott Derrickson

“To me, the horror genre is the genre of non-denial. It's about admitting that there is evil in the world, and recognizing that there is evil within us, and that we're not in control, and that the things that we are afraid of must be confronted in order for us to relinquish that fear. And I think that the horror genre serves a great purpose in bolstering our understanding of what is evil and therefore better defining what is good. And of course I'm talking about, really, the potential of the horror genre, because there are a lot of horror films that don't do these things. It is a genre that's full of exploitation, but the better films in the genre certainly accomplish, I think, very noble things."

Scott Derrickson, director and writer; The The Exorcism of Emily Rose.

X-Box | Fahrenheit

You are Lucas Kane. You are sitting in a male restroom, your wrists had been hacked with a knife and you’re not completely sure who you are or where you are. Another man walks into the restroom and proceeds to use the washbasin. Suddenly you rise from the toilet and stumble towards the man. But you can’t control your actions; you’ve been possessed; your eyes are white, rolled back and your face expressionless. You’re floating above your body, watching as you lunge towards the man with the knife knocking him to the floor. Then you sit on the man and stab him on the restroom floor in a sacrificial killing. Suddenly, you are released from your possessed state, return to you body and realise the atrocity you’ve just committed. Shocked and stunned you drop the knife and panic quickly sets in.

This is where the game begins and you take control. But I use the term ‘game’ lightly as this plays more like an interactive action thriller. Kinda like those old school text adventures, but this time instead of typing ‘west’ you get to move your character around and interact with the environment and other people. But be careful, everything you do has a consequence.

Having only played a short demo, I’m hooked and can’t wait till it’s released. The graphics are beautiful, if somewhat dark and moody, but that sets the tone for the game

Fahrenheit is going to be one of the most original and addictive games of the year.

DVD | Cellular

Starting off a little cheesy, this popcorn thriller owes a lot to the very underrated Colin Farrell thriller Phone Booth, which is no wonder as Larry Cohen wrote them both.

But no matter how it starts, the ride gets fast very early on and turns into a very solid thriller, with some laugh out loud scenes just to let you know it’s only a movie. A great combination of elements makes for a very enjoyable watch that in the end keeps you hooked to the very last frame.

The funny thing is, the main bad guy, the ever capable Jason Statham seems somewhat out of place in a movie populated by faces your recognise, but no actual real players (unless you call Kim Basinger a real actress).

Trivia
The movie the kidnappers are watching is "Final Destination 2" Also there is an announcement at the aiport for "Volé Flight 180 to Paris," a reference to the original "Final Destination" Both are New Line productions, as was Cellular.

DVD | Finding Neverland

I like movies with Johnny Depp in them, hell I even enjoyed 21 Jump Street (in it’s day). He seems attracted to the unusual, challenging roles, and he usually nails them.

Finding Neverland is based on the experiences of author J M Barrie during the time he wrote the children’s classic Peter Pan. Coming off the despair of writing a major flop, Barrie meets a widow and her four boys one day in the park. He finds and instant connection and bonds with the kids, re-kindling his imagination, and helping him discover Neverland.

But the time he spends with the widow and her family has consequences he never dreamed of. (I’m not gonna spoil it for you, you’ll just have to rent/buy the dvd!)

Neverland is an enchanting movie, and the theme of unconditional love and acceptance of children really brought to life Matthew 18 where Jesus extols us to become like little children, and to welcome the children. It’s a sad indictment of adulthood that we often loose the imagination and excitement that we had as children.

Fortunately Depp brings his character to life and creates and believable oasis in a time and society that frowned on such unruly behaviour. Neither action packed nor edge of your seats, Neverland pleases in other ways. It speaks to the heart and leaves you with a feeling of hope.

Trivia
In the scene where the families are sitting down for a formal dinner, and Barrie is entertaining the children, behind the scenes the producers and Depp used a fart machine to make the children laugh more.

News | Some Movies Suck!

Thanks to Joblo for this tip off, but according to the New York Times, the reason that people aren’t going to the movies so much any more could be due to bad marketing, high fuel costs, or shock, horror, too many Hollywood movies these days are just not good enough.

Yep, it’s official, too many recent movies have sucked. Hhmmmm, but is this news to anyone, hell I commented on this fact a while back, but hey if the NYT says so, then it must be true.

Oh dear, poor Hollywood, they might just have to think for a change and start creating some truly interesting movies, now that would be something to look forward to!

News | Saw 2 Poster Banned

Ok, maybe it’s because I’m not American that I don’t get how that wonderful country works. Or maybe it’s just that regulating bodies around the world all don’t make sense – hell the Aussies decided to ban GTA:SA after nude sex scene became unlockable – so what about the thousands of games already sold? Does that make you a criminal for owning a copy? Ooops, getting off topic.

So, Lions Gate released a teaser poster for Saw 2, and the MPAA didn’t realise, at first. But now they’ve seen it, they don’t like it so they’ve banned it. Fair enough, we have to keep ‘unacceptable’ content off our movie posters don’t we?

So what’s the deal with the replacement? Hell, I can’t see how less offensive it would be, but then, I didn’t find the fist one offensive!

Spot the difference!

Trailer | Jarhead

Now this is looking like a damn funny anti-war movie, with some deadpan black humour a-la American Beauty. Could be a winner. Check out the trailer, like now!

What Movie Am I #21

My title is Yiddish for 'monster'.

DVD | Young Adam

I struggled with this movie. It’s so bleak and dark, and every second scene seems to have nudity or sex or both. The funny thing is it never felt like it was gratuitous nudity, rather another element in a sad spiralling life story.

The cinematography is wonderful, moody, well thought out, but still, because the movie is, so the scenery is too: bleak and dreary. You can probably guess at this stage that this doesn’t have ‘Hollywood Blockbuster’ or ‘edge of your seats thriller’ written all over it. In fact it moves at a deafeningly slow pace. But if nothing else, the acting is riveting, with Ewan McGregor translating the lead role with believable authenticity.

And I think that’s the point. And it’s the only point that I could grasp from this movie: life then was slow, bleak and depressing. So much so that our (anti) hero is so desperate for some life that he mistakes sex for fulfilment and wanders on a journey of regret from one women to another, not realising that he’s destroying himself and many others along the way.

A sobering look at the reality of sex without love.

News | Tsunami Movie

I guess we shouldn’t really be surprised at this news, Hollywoood after all only ever has one thing on it’s mind: profit. But is it just me, or does it seem a little too soon to be talking about a movie based around last year’s Tsunami disaster?

Writer/Director Michael Patwin doesn’t seem to think so. His low budget movie aims to have a ‘historical’ feel to it.

And what’s the main focus of the movie? The story of an American man who, in the aftermath of the disaster walks barefoot for seventy miles to find his wife and child.

Apparently Patwin was inspired to write the story after reading news stories of locals who had walked to find their loved ones.

Hhhmmmm, so why change it to a (presumably white) American, and not leave it as a local. Oh that’s right, if it’s not about Americans, it won’t sell. Hell, if we really want to make it into an American story, they should angle it some how to make Al Qaida responsible for the tsunami. Yeah, now that’s a movie even George W could get behind...

DVD | The Real Da Vinci Code

Dan Brown’s best seller The Da Vinci Code stirred up a storm of controversy when it was released, mainly due to the claims it made about the Holy Grail.

Ask most Christians and weather they’ve read the book or not, they’ll tell you that it’s a load of rubbish. Me, I’ve read the book. Interesting story, quite action packed in places, but a little too preachy for my liking. The thing that really irked me about the book though, was that at the start Dan claims that whilst the book is a novel, most of it is based on fact.

So it was with keen interest that I watched The Real Da Vinci Code last night. It was a bit of en eye opener. I’d grown up knowing about the traditional Holy Grail – the cup that Jesus drank from at the last supper, but I didn’t know that there was more than one version of this story, and that it was just that. A story. A novel in fact. One of the first works of fiction is the story of the Holy Grail. The cup of Christ is nothing but a best selling novel, written so long ago that most people take it for historical fact.

But what about the other stuff in Dan’s book? The secret societies, locations and even University departments. None of it is real. Sure, Dan did his research and found out about all these things that he wrote about, but what he didn’t realise (at least, let’s assume he didn’t realise) was that like countless people before him, he had been had. He’d uncovered stories that he either wanted to be true, or didn’t have the time to investigate properly.

And what of Leonardo’s painting of the Last Supper? What of the secret messages hidden in that? According to the DVD, there is likely a hidden message in it, but more of a shout out to the man who paid for it to be painted then any secret societal code.

But the question that doesn’t get answered by this DVD is who’s the biggest sucker? Dan Brown for not getting his facts right or countless readers who believed everything he said.

DVD | Criminal

Criminal is an interesting little movie about 2 con artists who meet by accident and decide to team up. The older, wiser one, mentoring the younger, less sure one. It starts slow and seems predictable, I mean it’s not rocket science is it – one of them is our to fleece the other, right?

Well if I told you, It’d ruin the movie for you. But hey, it’s not as predictable as it might first seem. For the most part, you’re wondering who’s gonna fleece who, switching between the two of them from scene to scene as the movie progresses.

And then more characters come in, and you don’t know how the hell it’s gonna end, and it ends up being a really enjoyable movie.

The really weird thing is. Is that it’s unbelievably honest, right at the end of the movie, when you’re sitting back smiling and laughing, it fades to black and the words ‘Based on the movie Nine Queens’ appears. And you think damn, that’s weird. I mean have you ever seen a movie that admitted to ripping off another movie? I know a lot of movies are rip offs of other movies but do they ever admit to it? Hmmmmm, weird.

But a good little movie, and a far better thing to watch on a Monday night than say, Desperate Housewifes…….

DVD | Saw

I’ve been excited about Saw ever since seeing the teaser trailer with the lady and the contraption on her head. Sadly I couldn’t get to see it at the movies, but as the saying goes; good things come to he who waits.

I picked up an ex-rental copy of Saw from my local Video Ezy for only $12.50 this week and the timing was perfect, with my wife at a ladies weekend, I was able to watch it last night.

I can’t say too much about the story line, as I don’t want to risk ruining it for any one who is still waiting to see it, but let me say that the journey wasn’t how I had expected it. But man, what a ride it was. I was glued to the TV for the full length of the movie – no popcorn or coke required!

Visually spectacular, Saw keeps the heart rate going through plenty of gore – not just gore for gores sake, but twisted gore. Situations that any sane mind just couldn’t come up with – but that’s the point of the movie, serial killers are seldom sane of mind!

And the twists and turns are great, you never quite know what’s going to happen next, and you never see the end coming – definitely not a Hollywood ending!

The acting? You wanna know about the acting? Well to be honest no matter how excited I was about this movie, the cast left me with doubts. Danny Glover never excites me and Mr Princess Bride himself Cary Elwes, well he was great in The Princess Bride, but in a gritty, dark as hell, serial killer movie?

Well blow me down with a feather if Cary didn’t give the performance of his career – who knew he had it in him? And Danny – he was damn fine as well. It just goes to show that you don’t need the latest hot actor to make a great movie.

If you liked Seven, then Saw is for you. If you cried for weeks when Bambi died, better steer clear.

DVD | The Brotherhood Of War

Ok, I’ll admit, I love a good modern war movie. Saving Private Ryan and Band Of Brothers are my two favourite DVDs. Hell I even enjoyed A Very Long Engagement and that was more a love story.

But the Korean War isn’t a historical event that gets a lot of movie attention, so It was good to see a Korean movie that gave an honest approach to it.

Sure the story line revolves around two brothers, and this may have caused a few of the more unbelievable points in the movie, but you’ve got to remember that Korean culture puts greater emphasis on family and respect.

The first 25 minuets is used to get us familiar with the brothers, their families and their dreams. It’s a good ploy to get us personally connected to the main characters and feel for what happens to them. It shows the human side to war very well.

As well as showing the human side of war, the movie sets out to show how dehumanising war is. It’s a brutal war movie – very similar to the opening scenes of SPR in it’s cinematic carnage.

Brotherhood however goes much further than SPR, it takes us through the entire war, showing us how dangerous war is in dehumanising us, and creating an environment for atrocities on both sides of the conflict. Brotherhood doesn’t set out to say who was right and who was wrong. Rather it seems to be more of an anti war movie.

This isn’t a movie for the faint of heart, Director Je-gyu Kang leaves nothing to the imagination when dealing with the battle field or the atrocities of war. This is one of the most visually gruesome war movies that I’ve seen, but it has to be to make it’s point. War is hell, hell is ugly, war is ugly, this movie is visually and emotionally ugly.

But it does have a redemptive ending, and ending that gives us hope. And ending that is hinted at in the beginning, but comes by way of an unexpected journey.

All in all a great movie, showcasing Korea as a credible player in the world of movie making.

I’m not sure when this DVD will get released in NZ. I think it has a September release in Australia so sometime in October would be a good guess.

What Movie Am I #20

Way back in 1986 I had Meg Ryan and Anthony Edwards play husband and wife, but more importantly this movie was the breakout role for my main star who went on to such roles as a Nascar Driver, a Samurai and more recently a dad.

X-Box | Doom 3

Ok, so this is where I admit I’m not a hardcore gamer. Sure I’d love to spend more time playing games, but I have a job, way too many DVDs to watch and more importantly a lovely wife and three beautiful daughters to spend time with. You can probably judge from this that I’m probably not that good at games either. Hell, whilst I’m being honest I’ll admit to only ever fully completing 2 games – V8 Supercars 2 and Brothers In Arms (easy setting!).

So what’s a useless some-time gamer like me doing with a copy of Doom 3? Well I saw it in a bargain bin. And it was the special edition metal case version. And to be honest once again, it was the cool metal case that made me buy it. Sure I had wanted to play the game ever since seeing the screen shots and reading about it, but I’m crap at FPS, and I tend to go for the more ‘realistic’ ones like Rainbow 6 or Brothers In Arms. I don’t really see the need of playing a game where alien scum are hell bent on killing me. I also like the fact with the aforementioned games you get other men to send ahead of you. Obviously I’m a wimp.

So anyway, there I am Saturday night (well, technically it was Sunday morning), kids have been asleep for hours and the wife has just taken The Da Vinci Code to bed, so I fire up the X-Box, grab the headphones and turn off the lights. I decide to go for the standard skill setting – not going to try and be a hero, or take it to easy. The first thing I notic is how damn good the graphics are. Then there’s the way you walk, with a little bit of a head bob/body sway. None of the standard FPS gliding here. And the sound, my footsteps echoed down the metal hall, whilst various announcements blared at me from various speakers and the static hum of machinery buzzed around me. This was a game that took emersion seriously – I was hooked, hell, I was THERE. I was in the game and the game hadn’t even really started.

First I had to get my orders and then get armed. My first mission was to locate an AWOL scientist on one of the lower levels. I met various people on the way, and was temped to test out my sidearm on most of them, but figured I might need the bullets later. It was a freaky enough trip getting down there – not being quite sure if there were any monsters waiting for me. There wasn’t

I found the missing scientist and he wasn’t too pleased to see me – through again of testing my gun, but held on to self-control. I should have popped one in his head as it turns out. Suddenly all this freaky light and sounds start happening around us, and then as soon as it’s died down. The scientist comes at me with a rather unsettling I-want-to-kill-you look in his eyes. I’m not too sure if I’m allowed to kill him (I obviously don’t have killer instincts) but when he starts laying into me I decide to put a couple of rounds into him, and then a few more.

I’ve got new orders now – orders are being screamed over the intercom to re-group. There’s also a whole lot of screaming and dying going on over the airwaves. I’m not looking forward to the journey ahead of me.

I start off down a familiar poorly lit corridor, gun in had, freaking-my-ass and wondering what’s ahead of me when some one - make that something – starts shooting at me – no problem, I’ll shoot back. To cut a long story short, I never made it back to the top. I dispatched all manner of ‘men’ and monsters and picked up a few spare weapons along the way, but I wasn’t quite up to the task. And when I died, instead of having another go as I normally would with any other game, I ripped the headphones off and turned the light on.

I was emotionally exhausted and physically drained. I’d been fully emersed in the game for about 20-30 minuets – a short game session even by my standards, but I’d had enough excitement for one night. I will be having another go next weekend, no doubt about it. And I will get to the end of the level. I will.

But if it’s not the freakiest most enjoyable ‘realistic’ game I’ve played, I don’t know what is. Sure GTA SA is a heap of fun, but it’s a cartoon compared to Doom 3, and Brothers In Arms is a realistic journey, but Doom 3 was full on, no rest, relentless action fest that left me breathless.

But it’s not perfect. No game ever will be. It suffers like all FPS from the very linear play. You HAVE to go here to get THIS to go THERE. Sure there’s plenty to find and places to go that you don’t have to – but game play is VERY scripted. But this wasn’t a biggie for the short period that I was playing, and like I said, I’ll be back with vengeance next weekend to give it another go.

What Movie Am I #19

Robin Williams plays a doctor and Robert De Niro plays his patient.

DVD | Bullitt

Steve McQueen is the king of cool. There was just something about him. Charisma I suppose. But having only seen him in 2 prison break movies I wasn’t sure what to expect in a cop movie.

Now a word of warning, classic movies can seem tired at times, especially to a generation spoilt by special effects blockbusters, but I think Bullitt manages to stand the test of time somewhat. The story line is pretty basic, with a bit of a twist, but it’s good enough to keep the story moving along.

The real highlight of the movie though is the car chase scene, and it’s got to be one of the best. Looking for realism, there’s no 200 cop car piles ups as seen in the Blues Brothers, in fact this is purely a two care chase, with no special effects. And you know what, not having all the candyfloss of exploding cop cars actually makes for a refreshing change, and an edge of your seat ride.

All in all the movie rides on weather or not you like Steve McQueen movies or a good car chase, as the plot has some glaring holes, an gets a little confusing in places.

DVD | Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow

I wasn’t expecting much from this movie and I still ended up being disappointed. But it was for different reasons that I expected.

Knowing that the entire movie was done on blue screens with no real sets – just like the hideous Episodes 1 & 2 of Star Wars – was for me what was going to let the whole movie down. I figured that after George Lucas tried unsuccessfully to do an ultra-realistic movie this way, and failed, Sky Captain would suffer the same fate.

In this I was dead wrong. Instead of trying to make the movie ultra-realistic, the soft focus, tonal range and colouring of this movie all lend itself to more of an animated feel than a live action movie. From just a visual perspective this movie is awesome.

So what lets it down? I was expecting a superhero type action adventure movie, with huge battle scenes that would blow me out of my seat. Instead what I got was a very cool looking, but slow paced drama. Hell, The Incredibles was more an action movie than this was.

But maybe it was just my expectations that ruined the movie for me. If I knew it was going to be a period drama (albeit a fantasy period drama) then I may have been pleasantly surprised. So who’s to blame for my miss-choice of movie type? Did I not investigate the movie enough before ordering, or was the movie wrongfully promoted as an action flick?

Hhhmmm, let me see…. “innovative… special effects that will thrill you and amaze you right through to the action-packed finale.”

I guess they just figured that angling it as an action movie would sell it better than a drama…

DVD | Carnivale

Carnivale is a period drama for people like me how don’t like period drama. It’s dark and brooding. It’s a tale of good and evil, darkness and light. But it never lets you know which is which. It keeps you on your toes.

Superbly filmed, acted and thought out, it’s one of the most original TV series I have seen in a while. Though it’s based around the lives of a travelling Carnivale (hence the name) it’s really about two people – one a young man trying to come to terms with his supernatural ability to heal, who takes a job in the Carnivale after his mother dies. The other is a preacher who gets a very clear mandate from God, but to fulfil this mandate, people start to die.

Both it seems are on a journey of discovery, and it’s unlikely that they will meet, at least in this the first season. But it’s a journey that’s both compelling and sad. The Carnivale is a place where the weird and wonderful find solace in their own company – who make money by having people come gawk at them, A strong subplot is the way prejudice was rampant, and how these people are treated as outcasts, just because they are not the societal norm.

The twist is that the preacher’s (played with an air of sinisterness by Shawshank’s most hated guard, Clancy Brown) mandate is to another group of outcasts, immigrant workers. So we’re left rooting for both sides of this eternal conflict. Only time will tell which side we should to cheering on. For the time being I’m going to enjoy the ride.