Blu-ray Movie Review: THE RUM DIARY (2011) Starring Johnny Depp and Michael Rispoli

The Rum Diary is one of those movies which I wasn’t really all that excited about, other than the fact it starred Johhny Depp I knew very little about it. I added it to my LoveFilm rental list some time ago now thinking id Depp’s in it then it can’t be that bad, I hadn’t read any reviews prior to I was going in blind so to speak, what I found was a little gem which has since received mixed reviews regarding its comparisons to the book on which it’s based. First, I posted the trailer back in 2011 when the movie was released so why no go check that out first?

Starring: Johnny Depp, Michael Rispoli, Giovanni Ribisi, Aaron Eckhart, Amber Heard, Richard Jenkins and Amaray Nolasco

The Plot

Johnny Depp plays Paul Kemp, a hard-drinking journalist who takes the opportunity to move out to Puerto Rico in the 1960’s. Kemp takes a job at a struggling local newspaper but quickly becomes involved with his co-workers hard drinking island life ways, lead off the path he is persuaded by a millionaire Sanderson (Eckhart) to become the word smith for a brochure he needs developed for a new hotel he is building. Complications arise when Kemp finds himself lusting after Chenault (Amber Heard), Sanderson’s girlfriend and it quickly become apparent to Kemp that Sanderson is everything that he disagrees with and Kemp makes it his personal need to take down the “bastards”.

The Verdict

 First off, have you read the book? Yes this movie is based on a book by Johnny Depp’s good friend Hunter S. Thompson, he initially wrote it back in the 60’s when he was out in Puerto Rico looking for work as a journalist, it’s kind of a diary of his time there from what I gather so far. Depp wanted to bring this movie to the big screen and for that he got on board not only as the lead actor playing his very good friend but also as producer too. I’ve never read the book and until doing research for this was unaware of who Hunter S. Thompson was, if you want to compare previous working then you could check out Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas another novel of his which was brought to the
big screen starring Depp and from what I’ve read its very similar.

The Rum Diary is one of those movies where nothing actually happens, everything that was achieved by Thompson happened following this story which is even alluded to during the end credits, “this is the end of one story, but the beginning of another”. In the two hours spent here you basically see Paul Kemp (Depp) and Sala (Rispoli) making their way
around various exotic locations in the Caribbean whilst drunk or high on drugs. I wouldn’t let that put you off though because the drunken and drug induced states do lead to some very funny moments in this movie which in my opinion can be enjoyed even without knowing the backing story of the book.

Giovanni Ribisi is amazing in this movie, a little eccentric, as he is most of the time but honestly everything I have seen this guy in lately I have really enjoyed, not just the movie but more importantly his performance in it. It’s hard to believe that Phoebe’s brother in
Friends has turned himself into such a house hold Hollywood A-lister but there are a couple of times throughout The Rum Diary where Ribisi doesn’t just match Depp in acting talent, he goes over and above owning the screen in his alcoholic, Nazi record propaganda listening state. Ribisi’s purpose in the movie is played to perfection, what’s the point in what they try to do as journalists? When at the end of the day greed and corruption wins over. Take the “bastards” down as Hunter S. Thompson said back in his

For those of you who love Johnny Depp movies then I’m sure you will love this movie too, I really liked it but what I would say is that if you are not into heavy dialogue between characters then Johnny’s rum swigging pirate character may suite more to your tastes. The Rum Diary is probably a movie which suits people who like to read books, I’m not
one of them but I enjoyed the dark humour and what the movie stands for. I can’t say that I was all that happy with the ending but at the end of the day I watched it, enjoyed it and if any one asks I can say, yeah I’ve seen that.

Would I watch it again?

I don’t think I would choose to watch this again if I had other “more exciting” options, but if there was nothing on and I just wanted something to give me a laugh then I could sit through this again, the two hour run time didn’t seem that long the first time around.

 

Blu-Ray Movie Review: MONEYBALL Starring Brad Pitt and Jonah Hill

My latest LOVEFiLM rental landed through the door earlier in the week and it’s a movie which has been sitting on my “to watch” list for quite some time now, Moneyball, the story of pro Baseball team the Oakland A’s and their general manager Billy Beane.  There are a couple of reasons I wanted to watch this movie which I will get into below but just in case you get bored before then, you should know that the main reason is because the Oakland A’s have a very similar policy to my team Newcastle United in how they scout players with future sustainability in mind.

Starring: Brad Pitt, Jonah Hill, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Robin Wright, Chris Pratt and Kerris Dorsey

The Plot

Brad Pitt plays Billy Beane the general manager of the Oakland A’s Baseball team, the movie picks up in the last game of the pro league 2001 season when the New York Yankees beat them in the World Series (I think). We then roll into the 2002 season with Beane loosing his star players and having to start from scratch in building up another team on a wage budget which is nowhere near big enough to compete with the teams at the top. Beane decides that conventional scouting methods are no longer working and after his latest attempt at a signing goes awry he employs Peter Brand (Jonah Hill) as his assistant general manager, stops listening to what the scouts are telling him and drafts players based on statistics. This leads to the Oakland A’s equalling the record of the most consecutive games won by any pro league Baseball team.

The Verdict

I have to be honest here, Moneyball is not generally the type of movie that I’d watch, a heavy drama with a lot of dialogue, not that I mind that I just think sometimes when a film is over two hours long I may get a little bored of sitting watching people talking. There are a couple of reasons I wanted to watch Moneyball, first off was the story, a very similar one in sporting terms to that of the football club I support in England. Newcastle United have done a very similar thing to the Oakland A’s Baseball team, not in using statistics to pick players but deciding on developing their own players as well as scouting out talent on the cheap that can be sold on for profit in future seasons.

I knew very little about what the Oakland A’s and their general manager Billy Beane (Bard Pitt) had done or achieved, that’s mainly due to the fact that I know absolutely nothing about the sport of Baseball, one of my old bosses went to see a Baseball game when he was in America, he told me if I ever wanted to be bored stiff for three hours then Baseball was a sure fired way of making that happen. I read the story of the Oakland A’s when the movie was due for release and I posted the trailer, right then I could see similarities between what they had done and what Newcastle United were doing. Objective achieved on both sides of the pond I suppose because Oakland A’s are now the model of how a pro league Baseball team should be run, same goes for Newcastle United. Other clubs in both professions are looking to adopt models set up by either club in order to obtain financial sustainability and a degree of success on the pitch.

As for the movie, I have to say I enjoyed it, I was toying with the idea of not watching it but decided to give it a go, before I knew it I was nearly an hour in. We all know Brad Pitt can act but it’s a while since I’ve watched him in anything and I have to say I was very impressed with his ability, even when just sitting in silence on the screen he really put across the stress he was going through, it was delivered brilliantly by Pitt who done an outstanding job of displaying a character who could at first see things unravelling before his eyes whilst at the same time remaining confident to his doubters, most notably the Oakland A’s manager Art Howe (Philip Seymour Hoffman) who again done a brilliant job with his character, but even at the conclusion of the movie with the success the team have had he still does not agree with using statistics to draft players.

A massive nod is due here for Jonah Hill who plays Peter Brand in the movie, the Oakland A’s assistant general manager, a Yale graduate who designed the computer program that would statistically analyse every Baseball player in the league. Apparently getting on 1^st base is important, I have no idea what that means but clearly this young kid did. Jonah Hill is well known for playing hilarious comedy roles, which of course he is very good at but you have to take your hat off to the guy here as he proves that his acting ability goes far beyond that of a funny man portrayed in movies like Knocked Up.

I’d say that Moneyball can be enjoyed whether you’re a Baseball fan or not, clearly I’m not but the movie is based more on the characters, the dialogue and how the stresses took their toll before ultimately paying off in the long run. It should probably be noted that the Oakland A’s are yet to win the World Series in Baseball but the Boston Red Sox, who adopted their policy and offered Billy Beane $12.5m (which he turned down) to help them implement his model have now gone on to win the World Series. I only hope it pays off for Newcastle United and we go and win the Premier League, what do you think fellow Geordies?

Would I watch it again?

I’d have to say that I would be looking at other more action/thriller type movie options first, although the story and acting from all involved was very good, it was pretty tough going at over two hours long.

 

Blu-ray Review: TERMINATOR SALVATION Starring Christian Bale and Sam Worthington

This review has been on hold for a while now, for some reason it’s just sat in my draft list, I guess I just didn’t get round to it for some reason. Luckily there is not much on TV right now so I have little else to write about other than what I’ve seen described by many as a pretty lame effort at a fourth Terminator movie from a director who has won awards for music video direction and also made Charlie’s Angels.

Starring: Christian Bale, Sam Worthington, Anton Yelchin, Moon Bloodgood, Common (the Rapper), Helena Bonham Carter and Bryce Dallas Howard

The Plot

Starting off in 2003 we see Marcus (Sam Worthington) currently imprisoned in Longview State Correctional Facility, there he is sitting on death row and is convinced by the prison doctor (who must secretly work for Skynet) to donate his body for her research. After he agrees to that we jump forward to 2018 where John Connor (Christian Bale) and his Human resistance have just staged an unsuccessful attempt on Skynet, Connor is the only survivor and discovers that a new T-800 is being developed, not long after this an Amnesic Marcus wakes up naked in the middle of nowhere and meets teenager Kyle Reese (Anton Yelchin) before later bumping into Blair Williams (Moon Bloodgood) who convinces him to meet with John Connor before heading to Skynet.

The Verdict

For me Terminator Salvation failed on any level to come up to scratch of its James Cameron counterparts from 1984 and 1991, the latter 1991’s Terminator 2 stands in any list as one of the best sci-fi movies of all time, changing CGI in Hollywood to what we expect to see these days, Salvation doesn’t bring anything new and exciting like that to the table, yes there is lots of CGI used to good effect but as far as Terminator and its story goes this movie really done nothing for me. As a stand alone action movie with a name other than Terminator attached then I think this may well have been better received when released back in 2009.

If you like action movies then believe me you will probably enjoy Terminator Salvation, but I would imagine hard core Terminator fans panned this for ruining their beloved franchise. I wouldn’t class myself as a hard core fan of the series, yes the movies are brilliant especially the two mentioned above but I’m not a massive sci-fi fan. Action is a plenty in this movie and it isn’t let down by its two main cast members Christian Bale and Sam Worthington, there is no great dialogue between the pair but in a movie with so many gun battles and explosions you rconcentration really isn’t on that side of things. What hard core Terminator fans may have enjoyed (if anything) in this instalment is the amount of futuristic gadgetry on display courtesy of Skynet, those little motorbike Terminators provided some excellent chase scenes through the desert, we even get a guest appearance from a naked Arnold Schwarzenegger (I think this was CGI though) who has been confined to the Terminator processing plant for this movie.

I read a couple of reviews myself once I’d seen the movie and thought I’d put into this review a question that they posed there, is Terminator Salvation just an average movie in a franchise which demands greatness? Personally I wouldn’t pass Salvation off as an average movie, I enjoyed it, there is after all plenty of action to be had but as far as Terminator movies go I think this would be better treat as a stand alone summer actioner where director McG gets to blow up loads of technologically advanced buildings.

All in all I don’t think Terminator Salvation was that bad, not great as a Terminator movie admittedly but good enough to sit an watch with a beer whilst not having to think to hard about what is going on.

Blu-ray Special Features

Extended Version - Watch the move in it's extended format rather than the theatrical version, you get this option from the main "Play" button and this is the one I watched.

Maximum Movie Mode - Watch the movie hosted by Director MCG via "Walk On" don't ask me what that is I didn't watch it.

Chat iQ - Watch the movie whilst attached to a social network with a whole load of other people from around the world, you can comment at any point and people can reply.

Reforging The Future - This is an extra which has hidden extras inside, a nice little look at how the idea was thought of, how much work went into thinking of how the Terminators would look. Some great interviews including that of Christian Bale who I'm really not all that crazy on. This wasn't the best Terminator movie made of course but when you see this you see that was not what they were trying to do, their idea was to start a whole new story and they done a pretty good job with that.

THE MOTO TERMINATOR - A look at how the motorbike Terminators were designed, they were pretty cool in the movie and that coolness continued into the extras.

FOCUS POINTS - A great one for super massive movie geeks, you can watch a whole array of extras here. I'm not even going to mention them, why? Well, if I got the comments to warrant it or maybe the movie was a little better then I may have been more interested.

TRAILERS - You know this one by now, all the theatrical trailers which were released for the movie plus some trailers from the company who released the Blu-ray. Again, I didn't watch it, saw the movie that was enough really.

Would I watch it again?

I really haven’t decided yet, I suppose an extra viewing before the release of Terminator 5 (whenever that is) would probably be quite handy as you could re-cap where they left things off in the fourth movie. That’s how good it was I don’t remember.

MM&T Rating: MM

Blu-ray Review: BROOKLYN'S FINEST (2010) Starring Richard Gere, Ethan Hawke and Don Cheadle

My latest rental arrived from LOVEFiLM in the shape of Brooklyn's Finest, a movie which I had promised myself a long time ago but just never got round to. I suppose eventually I would have caught it on TV but that just wouldn't have been as much fun would it?

Starring: Richard Gere, Don Cheadle, Ethan Hawke and Wesley Snipes

The Plot

The story of three cops, Tango (Cheadle) working deep undercover, so much in fact that he no longer knows where his morals lie, Sal (Hawke) a corrupt cop who steals money from drug dealers in order to provide his family a better life and finally, Eddie the precincts oldest cop due to retire at the end of the week. The stories all roll individually before they all meet up (sort of) for one final encounter.

The Verdict

If you love cop drama's like Training Day and Rampart then Brooklyn's Finest is definitely your type of movie, was it for me? Not really, It's one of those where noting really happens, the story is very similar to Training Day only this time Ethan Hawke is openly corrupt, at least in Training Day he resisted a little. It's a good story and you do feel very invested in the characters, maybe not so much their immediate face value choices but more the situation they find themselves in whilst seemingly being abandoned by the NYPD. 

I think Brooklyn's Finest owes it's character investment to the actors, lets face it none of the guys mentioned above are armatures, even Wesley Snipes as resident top dog gangster puts in an impressive turn. If your not the biggest fan of some of these guys you do have to admit that they put in good performances. Had it been lesser actors involved Brooklyn's Finest may not have turned out so well.

I wouldn't say I didn't enjoy the movie, I get the story and the emotion that it's trying to put across but it's just not my thing, or at least I feel it's nothing different from what I have already seen in this genre. It's one of those movies where I enjoyed watching the extras more and getting some screen time from the guy who wrote the script, you can check out what I thought of that a little further down.

Brooklyn's Finest is very dark and gritty, pretty much what you would expect from this genre telling a tale of corrupt cops caught up in various situations with drug dealers in New York.

Blu-ray Special Features

CONFLICT & CHAOS - The Life of a New York City Cop - A look behind the movie and how the inspiration came about for the story, what compelled the actors to take part and how they prepared for their roles. Some real truth's are spoken from Director Antoine Fuqua in relation to real police officers.

From The MTA to the WGA - At only five minutes long this is one of the best Special Features I have seen. It looks at Brooklyn's Finest screen play writer Michael Martin, a guy who was working for the MTA (Metropoltian Transport Authority), he was broke and needed a new car so he looked online and found a screen writing competition with a first prize of $10k he wrote Brooklyn's Finest and came second before he knew it Hollywood was on the phone and Antoine Fuqua wanted to make his movie - A true rags to riches story.

Boyz N The Real Hood - Another really good extra showing where Brooklyn's Finest was shot, in the real housing projects of New York. Director Antoine Fuqua gave a lot back to the community which is still seeing the benefits to this day.

Deleted Scenes -  I didn't watch them all, the way I see it they are deleted for a reason.

Trailer - Speaks for itself really, the theatrical trailer for Brooklyn's Finest.

On the main Blu-ray menu there is a "Set Up" option, this allows you to choose which version of the movie you watch, have the subtitles on or off and also the opportunity to have commentary from Director Antoine Fuqua. I didn't bother with any of that, the movie is over two hours long to start with.

Would I watch it again?

No I don't think I would

Rating: MM

Blu-ray Movie Review: THE SOCIAL NETWORK Starring Jessie Eisenberg

I have actually put off watching The Social Network, I've heard plenty people say that it’s a pretty good movie but I just never really felt inclined to watch it. I know who Mark Zuckerberg is of course and I know many people have tried to sue him over the actual ownership/idea behind Facebook, I can’t say it really interested me though, after all without his genius programming knowledge Facebook would probably never have been what it is and my Blackberry would be a lot quieter with updates.

Starring: Jessie Eisenberg, Rooney Mara, Dustin Fitzsimmons, Joseph Mozello, Andrew Garfield and Justin Timberlake

The Plot

The Social Network is the story of Facebook owner Mark Zuckerberg and takes us back to the fall of 2003 when one night Zuckerberg grabbed himself a beer and started coding for a site which at the time he called "The Facebook", an idea adapted from an internal Harvard computer system which was already in place. What follows is Facebook’s rise to revolutionise the way we communicate and the legal battles that Zuckerberg faced following Facebook going live.

The Verdict

Been putting off from watching The Social Network? Then let me tell you, stop there and get out to buy or rent this on DVD OR Blu-ray, really the movie is that impressive and it’s a complete comparison from what I was expecting, I really enjoyed the way the story was
told, although mostly fictional from what I'm lead to believe. Also the acting by all involved was something else with Eisenberg as the real star of the show.

If your thinking that The Social Network will just be a geek fest then you are wrong, also if you think that Zuckerberg writing pages and pages of Internet code is going to give you an idea that will make you a billionaire you are wrong. The Social Network is not going to give you any ideas like that its more character based with some very good laughs thrown in for good measure. The characters where the best bit for me, apart from Zuckerberg himself you have Eduardo Saverin (Andrew Garfiled) the co-founder of Facebook and in all honesty the money behind the venture, I actually felt quite sorry for this guy as he considered Mark Zuckerberg to be his best friend, then you have Dustin Mosovitz (Joseph Mozello) co-owner of Facebook, who seems to take more of a back seat. Finally Sean Parker (Justin Timberlake) the founder of Napster and the man who helped Zukerberg propel Facebook to where it is today.

I really liked the way the movie was handled set in the present day in court room scenes, well offices with solicitors, Zuckerberg and others arguing over the ownership of Facebook, what it done was every bit of the story we got told in the room was a flashback to how it played out, I really liked that and have to say The Social Network really is a great movie and not what I was expecting at all, I can’t recommend it enough.

Would I watch it again?

Yeah, totally, I thought this was really good and I can’t wait to see it again.

Rating: MMMM

Blu-ray Review: DUE DATE Starring Robert Downey Jr

Ok, so I've had this review of Due Date sitting waiting half finished for weeks now, reason? Well, it really wasn't all that good. In fact I would go as far as to say that it's pretty rubbish and I don't recommend it at all, the worst rental movie I have seen so far, bare in mind I haven't been renting that long.

Starring: Robert Downey Jr, Zach Galifianakis, Michelle Monaghan, Jamie Foxx and Juliette Lewis

The Plot

It's pretty straight forward really Downey Jr plays Peter Highman, a high strung businessman who needs to get home to LA in time for the birth of his first child, all is going well until he bumps into aspiring actor and Two and a Half Men fanatic Ethan Trembley (Galfianakis). The pair get into an argument on the plane before being thrown off and having bans placed on them. Stuck with no way home Peter is forced to hitch a ride with the extremely strange Ethan.

The Verdict

I have to say I was really disappointed with Due Date, the film on a whole failed on every level for me and quite honestly I was board and only watched it to the conclusion in order to type out what will be a very short review with some Blu-ray extras. Considering the two lead characters who were involved I really was expecting more, I had thoughts of The Hangover and other movies of that calibre what I got was something which really just seemed rather pointless.

It’s a road movie as you’ve probably gathered and with no real story other than Downey Jr needing to get home Due Date is left to rely on dialogue between the actors, that would probably have been fine with Doweny Jr however he is let down majorly by Galifianakis which is a shame because I do like the guy he is very funny. Unfortunately the
funny does not quite roll in Due Date and he just comes across as pretty stupid and unbelievable.

Sound and Colour - As always with Blu-ray these are both brilliant, being a road movie they run past plenty of nice locations so the picture quality is there to be seen.

Itsrainingtwoandahalfmen.com

That's: It's Raining Two and a Half Men.com, yes the website does actually exist because I know those of you who haven't seen this movie already will be thinking about Googling it, that's what I did. The site is fictional of course, as it's set up by Zach Galafinakis' character Ethan Trembley in the movie because he is a huge fan of Two and a Half Men. The site used to feature a head shot of Ethan Trembley, now it just diverts you to the Warner Brothers sales page offering you the chance to buy the Due Date DVD or Blu-ray, personally I wouldn't bother with either.

Blu-ray Special Features

The Complete Two and a Half Men Scene Featuring Ethan Trembley - This was actually funnier than the movie, maybe they should have just done a feature length episode of Two and a Half Men starring Zach Galfianakis and Robert Downey Jr.

Deleted Scenes - Yeah, well the scenes are deleted for a reason. That's all I have to say.

Gag Reel - Very funny, similar to that of The Hangover, they should probably have left some of these in, the movie would have been a lot funnier.

Due Date: Too Many Questions - Another look at the scene where Ethan has just offered Peter a lift and he is trying to get to know him better by asking "too many questions", it wasn't funny first time round nor was it funny on the extra scene although they did throw in some extra questions (I think).

Due Date: Action Mash-Up - A quick flick of all the movies action scenes, it lasts seconds and hardly seems worth the effort. This seems to be a feature on Todd Philips movies as he included a Action Mash-Up on The Hangover.

Would I watch it again?

No, I'd sooner watch The Hangover on repeat.

Rating: M

Blu-ray Review: THE TAKING OF PELHAM 123 Starring Denzel Washington and John Travolta

The Taking of Pelham 123 Starring: Denzel Washington, John Travolta, Luis Guzman, John Turturro, Victor Gojcaj and James Gondolfini

The Plot

Walter Garber (Washington) starts what’s due to be another dull and uneventful day in his office dispatching New York subway trains from the comfort of his desk, things go down hill about mid morning when criminal mastermind Ryder (Travolta) and his gang of thugs take over a subway train and bring it to a stop in the deepest darkest and hardest to reach area of the subway network. Ryder wants $10m off the state otherwise he will start to take further action, not wanting to speak with NYPD’s lead hostage negotiator dispatcher Garber is left to get to know Ryder and his intentions whilst a game of cat and mouse ensues.

The Verdict

I have to say right from the off I was impressed with The Taking of Pelham 123, not only does it come with a brilliant front and supporting cast but considering the story restricts itself to a subway and underground exchange control room it flows nicely and never lets up. On saying that, had it not been for actors like Washington and Travolta then it may well have been a very different story, I suppose you could compare Pelham to Phonebooth another movie primarily based in one location which relies heavily on the dialogue of two good actors.

It’s that dialogue between Washington and Travolta that holds this movie up where it is for me, don’t get me wrong Pelham is not the best movie I have ever seen but I did find it very enjoyable and easy to watch. This is Director Tony Scott’s fourth collaboration with Denzel Washington and the first which has seen the leading man Washington take more of a sit down less action stance, their previous efforts include the brilliant Man on Fire and Déjà vu along with Unstoppable which was reviewed here last year. Denzel pulls off the leading role in convincing style as you would expect and for me out of him and Travolta he is the better actor.

The movie kept it real off camera, I did think Travolta as Ryder was very convincing as the leader of a criminal gang who was willing to do anything in order to get his ransom demands. Ryder’s backing crew were also convincing and I’m saying that after most of the three didn’t speak and had nothing to do other than look menacing. They done that well because they are real convicted criminals, in particular Victor Gojcaj a former Albanian gang member who came to the set to advise, he impressed Tony Scott so much that he hired him for the movie (he was also in Unstoppable), a move that Producers were not to happy about to start with.

I would have to say that Pelham had it’s down sides, one being the excessive use of the word Motherf**ker from John Travolta, I’m not one who’s offended by it and don’t mind hearing it but in my opinion it was used excessively in this movie and it could have done without it. The ending was somewhat predictable too, again I haven’t seen the original so don’t know what happened there but this was very disappointing considering the amount of build up it had.

Blu-ray Special Features

Cine Chat: - Watch the movie whilst connected to a social network via BD-Live, this allows you to interact with others watching the movie, I don't imagine you would see that much of the movie.

Commentary With Tony Scott: - Watch the movie with commentary from Director Tony Scott. There is also an option to watch the movie with commentary from writer Brian Helgeland and producer Todd Blake.

NO TIME TO LOOSE, The Making of Pelham 123: - One of the better movie extras I have seen, a lot of research went into Pelham 123 as I'm sure is the case with all movies. Tony Scott sent the producer off to the MTA along with Denzel Washington, it was great to see how intense Washington was in studying the character he would be playing, the role of Walter Garber was originally a cop but Washington convinced them to cast him as a civilian for the effect.

The Third Rail, NEW YORK UNDERGROUND: - A look at how Pelham 123 was centred on the New York Underground scene. 

From The Top Down, Stylising Character with Danny Moomdjan and The Lab Salon: - A strange movie extra featuring a hair stylist who works on all of Tony Scott's movies, can't imagine it took so much effort to shave John Travolta's head and make him look like Bono.

Marketing Pelham: - A look at the various trailers that where made for Pelham 123.

Trailers: - What it says on the tin, trailers for other movies.

Would I watch it again?

I would definitely check this movie out again.

Rating: MMM

Blu-ray Movie Review: TAKERS (2010) Starring Idris Elba, T.I and Paul Walker

I’ve been sitting on my latest rental from LOVEFiLM for well over a week now, I’ve just not had the time. I really didn’t know to much about Takers and can’t remember hearing all that much about it when released. I didn’t let that put me off and I’m pleased about that because of all the movies I have seen lately this is one of the ones I have enjoyed the most. Seriously, if your looking for a good action thriller then this is your squeeze.

Takers Starring: Idris Elba, Paul Walker, Matt Dillon, Hayden Christensen, Michael Ealy, Jay Hernandez, Chris Brown, T.I. and Zoe Saldana.

The Plot

Gangsters Gordon Crozier (Elba), John Rahway (Walker), A.J. (Christensen), Jesse Attica (Brown) and Jake Attica (Ealy) are celebrating in grand style having just completed their latest high end back robbery, meanwhile their former crew runner Ghost (Tip “T.I.”
Harris) is released early from prison with inside information on a job he wants them in on, problem is they usually leave a year between jobs this needs to be done in a week. The siege of an armoured truck carrying $30m with Russian Gangsters also getting a cut, throw into the mix hard nosed Detective Jack Welles (Dillon) and your left with a classy action thriller where no one knows who can be trusted.

The Verdict

Do you remember 2007’s American Gangster with Denzel Washington, yeah? Well think of his character Frank Lucas, the way he held himself the way he rose to the top of the pile. He was never flashy never done anything out of character that could arouse suspicion. Take that turn it on it’s head and think more like 1995’s Heat starring Al Pacino and Robert De Niro, knock 20 years off the actors and you are left with Takers, a much faster paced and harder hitting action movie than Heat was. That’s not to say Heat was a bad movie, I thought it was great but, if it’s something like Heat you want to see and don’t have the three hours of your time to give up then believe me Takers is a well worthy opponent.

The action in Takers is top notch and right up there with the best I have seen, not only do you get great action here but there is also a worth while story which has you rooting for the criminals more than the cops. Takers is exactly the type of action movie I love, one I
could watch time and time again. It’s helped by a star cast and one surprising but worthy inclusion, four of the main cast stood out for me. Idris Elba first off playing crime boss Gordon Crozier, then you have Hayden Christensen an actor I haven’t really seen to much of but man can he kick ass and with some style too, I’ll then move to Michael Ealy I know plenty about him and as always he doesn’t disappoint, his on screen brother and surprise of the movie is rapper Chris Brown who turned in a sublime performance. I’m not a massive fan of Chris Brown as I’ve stated before but I think Hollywood action roles will be
coming calling following this performance. Matt Dillon plays Detective Jack Welles and I have to be honest along with the four mentioned above Dillon really adds some intensity to this movie. Again, I’m not his biggest fan but this may be the perfect sort of role for him. I’m not a person who can see Paul Walker as a kick ass action man, I’ll agree the guy is good at driving fast cars but as far as beating people up goes, not for me. In Takers he doesn’t do to much of that but shadowing what the Directors and Producers say in the extras he does have a sophisticated smooth suave about him kind of like Steve McQueen, he always seems one step ahead managing to talk or think his way out of a situation as apposed to causing a huge punch up.

Honestly, if you haven’t seen Takers than I can’t recommend it highly enough. If there is one thing that disappointed me it was the fact I watched it on an afternoon, meaning I had no beer to watch it with. Takers is top draw Saturday night entertainment with a brilliant story and loads of pumped up action from a brilliant cast. Finally on the verdict, I’ve seen a lot of hate thrown at this movie because it’s a blatant rip-off of The Italian Job, I have never seen either version of that so can’t compare.

Sound & Colour

As always with Blu-ray the picture quality is brilliant, I would expect noting less. As far as the sound goes, it could have been better. Usually when I review Blu-rays I say that I have to turn down my TV at certain parts, even in The Hangover. In Takers I didn’t have to do that and feel like they were holding back, even drowning out some of the audio in the explosive action scenes.

Blu-ray Special Features

Trailers - It should probably say advertisements for all Screen Gems and Sony Pictures productions, telling you to take a look at the BD Live features on your disc - Then there are some trailers which I didn't watch.

Commentary with Director Jason Lessenhop, Producer Will Packer, Producer Jason Getter and Tip "T.I." Harris - Speaks for itself really, watch the movie again with commentary from the Director and producers.

Executing The Heist: The Making Of Takers - Writers came up with the story after Seeing Heat starring Al Pacino and Robert De Niro. The directors say There is nothing that Idris Elba can not do, I have to agree with that one. This really was the directors hats off to the cast, who admittedly are all super cool throughout this movie. It Was really good to see that the actors done most of the stunts themselves, even live action sequences with them running through the street. They insisted on moving cars in order to get their blood pumping.

Take Action - This is the perfect extra for this movie as action was at it's most paramount, kick ass is not the word. I agree with the writers and Directors Chris Brown is absolutely amazing in this movie considering his acting experience, also brilliant was Hayden Christiensen who kicks ass. It was really good to see how they done the Helicopter explosion at the beginning of the movie, it the went on to show all the effects behind the armoured vehicle siege, no wonder things cost so much.

Yeah Ya Know (Takers) By T.I. Music Promo - A look at all the movies best bits with T.I. track "Yeah Ya Know" in the background, kind of a shorter version of Take Action.

The Music
In a movie which was produced by T.I you can expect plenty rap music even in the extras and that’s exactly what you get, they also throw in a little rock for you heavy action entertainment.

Would I watch it again?

Absolutely, to all the Takers haters out there just take it for what it is, good fun.

Rating: MMM

Blu-ray Movie Review: SHUTTER ISLAND (2010) Starring Leonardo DiCaprio

My latest rental from LOVEFiLM turned up last weekend and I put off watching it for a while, probably due to the fact that there has been so much on TV lately but, more importantly I though it may be a little scary, only kidding. Shutter Island is a movie that I have wanted to see for a long time but suppose I just never got round to it. Now that
I have finally seen it the ending didn’t really shock me as I knew there was a twist in store. Will I give that twist away, well let’s see.

Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Mark Ruffalo, Sir Ben Kingsley, Emily Mortimer, Patricia Clarkson and Max Von Sydow

The Plot

Teddy Daniels (DiCaprio) is a U.S Marshall, it’s 1954 and he and his partner Chuck Aule (Ruffalo) have been sent to Boston’s Shutter Island Ashcliffe Hospital for the criminally insane, whilst there they are to investigate the disappearance of a patient. Things on the
island are not all they seem and Daniels finds his investigation methods hampered when Dr Cawley (Kingsley) denies him access to the patients records. Daniels begins to think that he has been drawn to the island as part of a sinister plot. A hurricane then breaks out cutting off any communication with the main land causing more dangerous inmates to escape and before long Daniels begins to doubt his own sanity as the puzzling clues mount up.

The Verdict

I’ll say first off that if you are planning on watching Shutter Island then you better make sure that you clear your schedule, at 2 hours 20 minutes it's a bit of a haul and requires all of your concentration, especially if you want to pick up all the little clues it throws you pretty much right from the beginning. It's one of those that straight off I really didn't enjoy to much but looking back and thinking of everything about the movie you realise how brilliantly crafted it was.

It's a thriller sitting on the fence of horror that will leave you with a lot of questions. Shutter Island is a movie that I think would be best to watch more than once, during the first viewing you are so engrossed in what DiCaprio's character is investigating that you forget to watch what is actually going on, I don't want to give to much away but lets just say that on the second viewing you will force yourself to watch the movie from a different angle altogether.

As far as the acting goes well, it goes without saying really. I thought DiCaprio was amazing in Inception and like I said there you can see why so many big directors and producers want to work with him. Sir Ben Kingsley speaks for himself and in Shutter Island along with Max Von Sydow the pair prove a more than admirable match for DiCaprio. I really didn't know to much about Sydow before seeing this, I've no doubt that I have seen him before but jut don't know where, along with Kinsgley the pair play a blinder as the seemingly shifty unconventional Doctor's.

Shutter Island is a must see movie, that will leave you thinking, what just happened? Accompanied on the Blu-ray disc are two of the best movie extras I have seen which provide a real insight into the story (keep reading for those). If you are looking for a movie which does not require much effort then Shutter Island probably won't impress you to much, otherwise strap yourself in and enjoy the ride.

Sound and Colour

Pretty amazing as you would expect, the dark scenes definitely have added intensity with their dull lighting and creepy characters. The sound was brilliant with the stand out moment for me being the initial approach to the Island, what appears to be fog horns turns into a blistering sound track.

Blu-ray Special Features

Behind The Shutters - Don't watch this until you have seen the movie as it gives the plot away.

At nearly 17 minutes long Behind The Shutters is one of the most insightful movie extras I have seen, not that I watch many, only on Blu-ray for the sake of these reviews. I loved watching this, very interesting especially hearing from the author of the book, his take on the movie and the actors involved but also to see how respectful DiCaprio was of the author, the ideas he had for the character of Teddy but didn't want to commit to in case that was not what the writer wanted for the character.

very clever the way the author of the book explained how he sneaked in the first clew that Teddy was not as he seemed when Ruffalo could not unstrap his gun, then the nurse's who were giving him cocky answers during their de-briefing of the escaped patient.

Into The Lighthouse - Again, don't watch this if you haven't seen the movie otherwise you will spoil the ending.

I'm really not one for extras but Into The Lighthouse and Behind The Shutters are probably the best I have seen up to now, this wasn't quite as good as the last but I still found it interesting. As it suggests this is a look into the character of Teddy and his visit to the lighthouse, but before we go there it runs through the sequence of his personal problems, or demons which have put him where he is. The feature explores the avenues of mental illness that someone would be in and there is an interview with a real psychologist who worked on the movie. It also takes a look at the location at which the movie was shot.

I wasn't crazy about the movie but, it is interesting what you find out about afterwards when you watch the extras, and I have to say that on seeing these scenes it helped me understand a little better as to what the movie was about and the idea behind it.

The Music

It was brilliant, I'm no lover of classical music but that opening sequence on the boat when they were travelling to Shutter Island, the music makes that scene just like in DiCaprio's previous movie Inception the music score was exceptional and really added to the intensity of the movie, and I say that even when I didn't enjoy the movie so much.

Would I watch it again?

I think I would actually, I may not have enjoyed it as much as Inception but I think it's one of those that watching a second time you will figure a lot more out.

Rating: MMM

Blu-ray Review: IRON MAN 2 Starring Robert Downey Jr

My latest rental from LOVEFiLM.com arrived swiftly as always, I was really looking forward to Iron Man 2, after putting off seeing the first one due to my usual dislike of this type of movie I eventually got round to it.  I thought the first one was a brilliant movie, you can check out my thoughts one it HERE.  Otherwise strap yourself in for Iron Man 2 in Blu-ray with the quality backing track provided once again by AC/DC.

Starring: Robert Downey Jr, Gwenyth Paltrow, Don Cheadle, Scarlett Johansson, Sam Rockwell, Mickey Rourke and Samuel L Jackson

The Plot

Billionaire playboy Tony Stark has now revealed his secret to the world, he is Iron Man. That has opened up some problems for Tony though, as he now faces pressure from the government, the military and the public to allow his technology to be used openly, never mind being so selfish. Tony’s refusal and continued arrogance annoys the public figures and his biggest rival Justin Hammer (Sam Rockwell) who is more than happy to make the weaponry for the military but just needs someone with the technical know how of Stark before he builds his army of remote controlled Iron Men.

The Verdict

Tony Stark is a bit of a dick for the first hour of this movie, in fact I can't tell you a movie where I have rooted for the bad guy more, Micky Rourke's Whiplash was brilliant especially the scene at the Monaco Gran Prix where he just walks out onto the track and starts cutting up cars with his electric chains, this comes across brilliant on the Blu-ray.  It's only when you get to 1 hour 15 minutes that you start to root for Tony a little when he is given a wake up call Dharma Initiative style when S.H.E.I.L.D boss Nick Fury delivers a video of his father telling him that he is the greatest thing he has ever created.

I thought the ending was a little dissapointing, I was expecting a more spectacular showdown between Iron Man and Whiplash, the rivalry between the two started in spectacular style with the Monaco Gran Prix fight but, the build up to that in Russia was also very good.  The final fight didn't quite go on long enough for me, I mean Whiplash had an army of Drones and then he even turned up himself, in real life Micky Rourke would probably kick Downey Jr's ass so, yeah this could have gone on longer.

Although an arse to start Downey Jr still puts in a brilliant performance as Tony Stark here, Iron Man 2 is exactly what it says on the tin, an action movie which in the superhero genre can only be currently contended with by the Dark Knight movies, add in a
superb performance from the brilliant Mickey Rourke as the disgruntled Russian with a score to settle against the Stark family and you have yourself a winner. Scarlett Johansson in leather, anyone? Man she looked good, if this movie was under performing in anyway (which it didn’t do) Natalie or Black Widow would have more than made up for it. I have to hand out a nod also to the ever so cool Samuel L Jackson as the head of S.H.I.E.L.D Colonel Nick Fury.

I still really enjoyed this movie and if anything it has given me a little understanding of who S.H.I.E.L.D are and what to expect when the new Avengers movie comes out this year followed by Iron Man 3 which will start filming in May this year. 

Sound & Colour – Brilliant on Blu-ray as you would expect in a superhero special effects bonanza again, the sound is particularly good but get ready to turn down your TV especially when the big action sequences kick in, in surround sound this would have been even more brilliant. The colour was also great, especially the scene at the Monaco race track with Whiplash unleashing a bit havoc, the detail provided for High Def junkies is supreme.

Blu-ray Special Features

It depends which version you by, I only saw the one disc edition with an audio commentary track from Director Jon Faverau, I didn’t watch that and I also had the S.H.I.E.L.D data vault which is the ultimate superhero movie fan extra, this is all the information on S.H.I.E.L.D characters in detail along with information on all the weapons
available to them. I’m not one to sit through all that but I’m sure someone has.

The Soundtrack

The brilliant track is provided once again by AC/DC, and the fun starts right at the beginning of the movie when Stark makes an appearance at his annual event, hard rocking AC/DC simply add fuel to the already brilliant action.

Would I watch it again?

Yeah, like the first one I would watch this again but I look forward to this years Avengers and Dark Knight Rises more.

Rating: MMM 1/2

Blu-ray Review: INCEPTION Starring Leonardo Di Caprio

I finally got the chance to put my new Blu-ray player to the test thanks to my latest rental from LOVEFiLM, they sent me Inception a movie which I have been put off watching, not because I didn’t think I would like it I just never got round to it, good thing about rentals when you pay for them and have to send them back it tends to force your hand a little into watching the movie.  I’m pleased I did because I have to say straight off that Inception is one of the best movies I have seen in a long time.

Starring: Leonardo Di Caprio, Joseph Gordon Levitt, Tom Hardy, Ellen Page, Ken Watanabe and Cillian Murphy

The Plot

Di Caprio plays Dom Cobb, a skilled thief who is top his game in the world of corporate espionage, but not as we know it.  Cobb is an expert at stealing people thoughts whilst they are in the dream state deep from within the subconscious when the mind is at it's most vulnerable.  Cobb is brilliantly skilled but his job has cost him everything and has made him an international fugitive, he is offered one final job to pull of the impossible "Inception" where he must plant an idea as apposed to stealing one.  Cobb quickly gathers an expert team and they get to work on the subject but, they can't account for the security and conscious problems they encounter along the way.


The Verdict

Am I dreaming?  Is Leo dreaming?  Seriously I think I got this movie but the more and more I think about the different levels I was taken to during this movie and the amount of layers involved, who is doing what and where, this is a masterpiece a word I have seen associated with it many times.  I have put off watching it due to the fact that I'm not the biggest Leonardo Di Caprio fan but, I have to say that this is easily one of the best movies I have ever seen.

Even if your not the biggest fan of Leonardo you can not doubt after watching Inception just why he is such a massive box office big budget draw, not only do you get Leo here but also Joseph Gordon Levitt and Ellen Page who are both sublime.  However the person I was most impressed with was Tom Hardy who plays Eames in the movie, this guy is exceptional.  The moment we met him on screen you are drawn to him as a powerhouse he owns the screen and I can see why he has pulled a signature roll in upcoming movie The Dark Knight Rises.

I love the way this movie started, in a dream, well actually a dream within a dream in what is a pretty confusing start, you have to make sure you are switched on with this one otherwise you will quickly loose track.

Inception really is edge of your seat type stuff, mind you I wouldn’t move any further than the edge otherwise you will miss something and loose the plot of what’s actually going on especially during the long dream with all the levels.  What was so great about inception was the how close to life it actually was in relation to dreaming, that feeling of weightlessness you get when you think you are falling before you get that kick which wakes you up, then take it one step more with something I’m sure we can all relate to, music.  For me it’s not music but I get what it means by sound bringing you out of a dream, it generally happens to me about 6am when my alarm is going off for work, the alarm comes part of your dream or at least that’s what you think.

Sound and colour - 10/10, full 1080p was invented for movies just like this one, the detail during the dream scenes is absolutely amazing, the best probably being the Paris Cafe scene where stalls full of fruit are exploding everywhere.  The sound was brilliant and that's without a surround sound system, it's one of those where if nothing is happening then you need it tuned up but when something does happen like the Paris Cafe scene then you are reaching for the remote in order that you don't wake anyone up.  I would imagine in surround sound with Blu-ray this would be even better again.

Blu-ray features

Extraction Mode:  The full movie which breaks off in parts for interviews with cast and production members including Christopher Nolan himself.

The Inception of Inception: A fantastic look at the Director and writer Christopher Nolan's idea behind Inception, he tells us that he started writing the script to Inception 10 years before it's release and tried to turn it into a smaller movie, however this wasn't possible due to how deep the human mind would go in the different levels of dreams.

The Japanese Castle: The Dream is Collapsing: A look behind the scene on how the come to build the set of the Japanese castle during the earthquake.

Disintegration of The Paris Cafe: Same as the previous, a look at how they set the scene of the Paris Cafe.

Constructing Paradoxical Architecture: Another great little look at how Christopher Noland and the set designers went about creating the illusion of the staircase which loops over and over.

The Freight Train: It's great to see just how much work goes into putting a freight train rolling down the street in the middle of a city.

Ambush on the City streets:  A look behind what was for me one of the best scenes in the movie, how did they get ambushed? it's their dream they are supposed to be in control, exceptional.

The Tilting Bar: Again, this is a look behind the bar scene in the second layer of the dream, the one where they are running around the walls and ceiling in the hotel corridor.

The Rotating Corridor:  Same scene as the above and one of the scenes in the early script, watching how they did this without throwing up was very impressive.

The Mountain Fortress:  A real closed down Ski resort in Canada, this was one of the movies best parts for me.

Simulating Zero-G: A look at how Joseph Gordon Levitt done the scene in the corridor.

Limbo: The Idea of Unconstructed Dream Space: A look at the unconstructed dream created by Cobb (Di Caprio) and Mal (Cotillard).

The Fortress Explosion: Another look at one of my favourite scenes.

The Music of Dreams: The music in this movie was very intense, this looks at how they came up with it.

The Dream Share: A look at how the actors need to be during each part of the dream so the movie would look great, they all done a great job wouldn't you agree?

Would I watch it again?

Without doubt, this is one of the best movies I have ever seen and it’s one of those that on a second watch you may well pick up a better understanding or possibly confuse yourself even further.

Rating: MMMMM