Monday 8 December 2008

Film: JCVD


The film establishes Jean-Claude Van Damme, who is playing himself in an alternate reality, as an out of luck actor. He's out of money, his agent can't find him a decent production, and the judge in a custody battle is inclined to give custody of his daughter over to his ex-wife. He returns to his childhood home of Brussels: where hes still considered a national icon.

When he goes into a post office to receive a wire transfer, he finds himself in the middle of a hostage situation. Due to an unfortunate mistake, the police believe Van Damme is responsible for the crime. As the events are played from different perspectives, Van Damme finds himself acting as a hero to protect the hostages, as well as a negotiator as the presumed perpetrator. Van Damme is forced to play a different kind of hero by accepting responsibility for crimes he didnt commit and the life mistakes that he made.

I robbed the above from IMDB as it was easier! lulz. This movie is probably one of JCVD's strongest, he is finally able to show he can act outside of his martial arts outings and the film is an entertaining surprise. Told 'out of order', in a Pulp Fiction style, all the pieces come together in a blackly comic and sometimes emotional way. This is well worth checking out to see the muscles from Brussels in a new light.

Sunday 7 December 2008

Film: Resident Evil Degeneration :A second opinion:


Here's my two pence...

Once again Capcom cashes on a project that is as nearly as old as me,
but this time is not a huge pile of wank.
Spinning off from the games, rather than those dire films with Mila howeveryouspellherlastname, we are once again greeted with the T Virus.
Hin3s already told you the plot but suffice to say it’ll start with the walking dead and end somewhere around the point of mass mutation and OTT action sequences (ala every RE game plehed). The gfx are jaw dropping, at times you forget you’re watching a cartoon, the atmosphere is just right and the drama is done with enough subtleness that you get drawn into the characters plight.
I recommend a viewing; you could do worse with your life…like pleh Resident Evil 5 for instance.

Friday 5 December 2008

Resident Evil - Degeneration


Resident Evil - Degeneration or 'Baiohazâdo: Dijenerêshon' is the first full CGI Resident Evil movie to be released and it is set 7 years after the Racoon City 'incident'.
After a T-Virus outbreak on a plane and in an airport terrorists threaten to release the virus on the world, conveniently Clare Redfield is on hand to save the day, and, along with Leon 'Scott' Kennedy they fight their way through some zombies ( i say some as there really isnt a huge amount of zombies in this film. :-( ) to save the world.
Pretty much same old same old and for the life of me i can't see how this release managed to get 9.0/10 on IMDB. IMO watch it if you're bored or a true fanboy otherwise leave the undead where they belong......6ft under.

;-)

Tuesday 2 December 2008

Film: My Name is Bruce


Bad acting, poor storyline, lame budget, yet i lol'd all the way through it!
Bruce Campbell is one of those actors you either like or dislike but it can't be denied that he is the master of B-Movie acting, its the way he delivers those tacky one liners, it gets me every time lol.
In this directorial debut he shows he still has it, and i doubt he'll ever lose it as the film was a perfect parody of himself, even the use of Ted Raimi worked.
But tbh if you haven't enjoyed Bruce Campbell in the past i doubt very much you'll like this, whereas me i loved it and hope Bruce decides to get back into acting proper and make summit evil deady in the future.

Monday 1 December 2008

FILM: Saw V


Saw or Bore? The original Saw is still by far the best of this ever deteriorating franchise, as it was fairly original and had a good twist, the sequels are poor imitations bourne out of greed and the audience ever wantant need for violence, as we know, money talks and bullshit walks and by this measure this is walking tall! It only seems to lose a few million each sequel, so of course Lionsgate continue to churn it out on a yearly basis whilst not paying a great deal of attention to the scripts or acting. The movies have become centred around the "traps" and these are obviously a centre piece again, but lets face it, once you've seen one mutilation, you've seen them all, so there are no shocks here unless you are a total lightweight. The fifth movie basically fills in the gaps and backstory and there are five new victims who serve little purpose other than to showcase the latest traps and cowardace of human nature, so it's all filler and no thriller. To this end you may ask why I continue to watch, a mixture of boredom and wanting to find out if Dr. Gordon from the first film will make an appearance (as his story was never concluded) to how it will end (if it does!) The sixth (and presumably final) installment is due next Halloween and we can only hope it is the last, although if it makes further monies I'm sure Lionsgate will continue to milk it to the point of being even more ridiculous. I won't hold my breath. 

Film: Transporter 3

Time for sum film stuffs.
It was said that Luc Besson wrote the plot to Transporter 2 on the back of a beer mat, well I guess this time it was the back of a postage stamp.

If you were in the club that thought Transporter 1 was a good film, let down by cutting out most of the good martial sciences, then you’ll be asking for a refund on that subscription. Transporter 3, more like Wastespotting 3, has a plot that barely exists; something about a large yank corporation wanting to dump its waste in France (tbh where else would you dump your waste?) add the kidnapping of some bitch daughter of some twat minister and the transportation of her to nowhere, and you have your film.

So what about the martial sciences I hear you ask, there here, but the choreography its so bad that the camera literally cuts angle on every flex of muscle to hide it, the dialogue sounds like someone threw a dictionary through a shredder then pieced it back together with a chainsaw and the car stunts are so ludicrous they’d look out of place in a Bond movie.

So if you have an hour and a half of your life you want to lose, I suggest you go shit pins, it’ll be far more enjoyable.

Sunday 30 November 2008

ALL TIME CLASSICS: Highlander


Based on the first motion picture and centred around fellow clansman to Connor MacLeod, the series follows Duncan MacLeod and his many adventures through the ages as a 400 year old immortal. If you've seen the movies you know to expect sword play and romance and of course continuity errors abound! But it was a far more entertaining series than the many poor sequels the movie spawned and is a cult series with many fans, myself included. The characters were worth investing in and it had an entertaining six season run which was unfortunately soiled by a very poor final season, cancelled before it could be realised and concluded weakly. It will always have a place in my fandom and I can only hope the reboot of the movie will finally realise some justice to the numerous wasted sequels!

Saturday 29 November 2008

ALL TIME CLASSICS: Miami Vice


Well we've listed our current favourite TV shows keeping us entertained in 2008. But I think maybe it's time to give credit to those shows of yesteryear that still hold a place in our hearts. So, my first offering is a show that some call the most influential show of all time, Miami Vice.

The show follows Detective James "Sonny" Crocket and Ricardo "Rico" Tubbs of Miami's vice unit as they work undercover to bring down criminals in the Florida state. The show set trends for fashion and especially it's musical content, however being an 80's show, has very much dated and not stood the test of time very well. What has though, is the stories and characters and there where some amazing episodes in it's five season run. This show will always be one of my all time favourites regardless to age, something the recently released movie failed to capture.

Friday 28 November 2008

Soul Eater


Time to add a real cartoon to the mix, none of this wank yank cartoon stuff!
Soul Eater is one of the finest Anime series's i've seen to date. Insanely funny, completely over the top and nice and violent.
Basic premise, its set in Death City where kids team up to collect the souls of evil ppl. Teams consist of pairs, a fighter and a weapon, yes one of the pair transforms into a weapon, its so cool, i want one!
The characters are so diverse and albeit strange which only adds to the mix, add the usual crazy jap drama, character dev and constant array of bad guys that never stay dead and u got urself an entertaining 25 minutes every week. Obviuosly this is not being aired anywhere but the land of the rising, so if you wanna chess it out go here and stream it http://www.souleaterfan.com

House


Now i aint usually into these medical drama things, but when the lead character is a sarcastic hateful drug addict, well i'm shurely entertained.

I do enjoy how the show is set up, more like a murder mystery with the illness being the murderer, but considering its in its 5th season, ud think the cast wud stop saying how House is wrong when we all know hes rite, hes always fucking rite lololololololololol

Thursday 27 November 2008

Eleventh Hour


Sticking with the whole 'when science goes wrong' Eleventh Hour is an American remake of a British TV show, funny as i'd never heard of it until the remake appeared lol.

Its got a sort of hybrid X-Files thing going down, male character, Dr Jacob Hood plehed by the brilliant Rufus Sewell (Dark City), is a insanely brilliant scientist who can solve anything and his hot female side kick, Rachel Young plehed by Marley Shelton (Grindhouse/Planet Terror), just kicks ass.

So far its just a run of freak of the week science gone bad episodes but all have been highly entertaining, whether or not possible. Hopefully a stronger storyline will appear, but for now its a fun way to waste an hour of your life.

Fringe


Fringe is my topic of discussion. Image if you will a descent attempt at what the X-Files should have been, couple that with an interesting array of characters, yes even including Mr D.Creek Jackson, and you have a highly entertaining show.

For me the most fun is had with Dr Bishop, who portrays a brilliant mad scientist on the brink of insanity.

So far it is in keeping with an X-File theme, ie you haven't a fucking clue why any of it is happening, but with that being said its prob the best thing i watch from the west.

My own worst enemy


Quite a new show here and, unfortunately, it's nearly finished due to poor ratings and viewing figures this show ceases to be after only 9 episodes.
I'm still going to write about it and give it a mention cos i think it's really worth watching.
Christian Slater plays Henry Spivey an efficiency expert with a nice family life ( wife, kids etc). Little to Henry's knowledge he has a split-personality in the form of Edward Albright. Edward is a 'double hard bastard' operative who has no problem in traveling round the world to pop a cap in the a$$ of some cartel like bad guy. There is a remote controlled switch inside their head to control which of the personalities is dominant at any given time, this all goes well until.....the switch breaks and the 2 personalities pop up randomly whether it be during a gun fight, after sex or just while driving down the road.

Christian Slater plays both personalities with style, skill and believability and this show is well worth watching and i would recommend it to anyone. If only they would continue making it. :-(

;-)

Batman: The Brave and the Bold


Right this a brand new cartoon series from the already brimming franchise of Batman. At first glance you think you've dropped through a time warp and are watching the original cartoon from way back in the day, you're not, bear with it it does improve......honestly. ;-)
Basically in every episode Batman teams up with another hero from the DC universe and that makes up the episode. So far the Man himself has teamed up with the blue beetle, Plastic-Man and a brief glimpse of the Green Lantern. Although these 3 ( Green lantern not so much ) are lesser known heroes the stories are entertaing and more than enjoyable to watch...
Roll on the 3rd episode and lets hope the series continues as it started cos if it does ima one happy bunny. ;-)

Terminator: Sarah ConnOR Chronicles


Well tbh, the show is fairly dire, I don't really know why I watch it, other than as a "filler" between all the other shows I watch from week to week. Nothing really seems to advance from one episode to the next, much like Heroes really, I think I just watch it through boredom half the time, but then I do that with Heroes and that is really getting annoying as well! Maybe it's time I cut these two shows loose and hope the stations do the right thing and cancel them for something worthwhile!

Entourage


This is a series about a young actor called Vinnie Chase and his buddies Eric, Drama (his brother) and Turtle and the highs and lows they experience in Hollywood as Vinnie tries to make it as a grade A actor. The show is pretty pointless and doesn't really follow any set storyline, but the reason I enjoy watching it so much is because it is really funny, some of the scrapes and situations the boys get involved in from week to week are brilliant. The comedy highlight has to come from Vinnie's agent Ari Gold, played by Jeremy Piven, who has some of the best insults ever to grace the TV and often has me laughing out loud! It's light entertainment at it's best and a real fun show to break the monotony of real life.

Lost


I love this show, it's had it's ups and downs, but still keeps me entertained and now with an ending in sight and with two final seasons to go, the story has really picked up and is going somewhere, with none of the fillers of the previous seasons. I think most people know about it, so there's no point in going into description, but it's a show that shaped many others around it at the time. Luckily it hasn't suffered the same drop in quality as much as these other shows, especially as it has an expiration date, the producers can conclude it properly. Looking forward to seeing what the hell it's all actually about in the end!

Prison Break


Prison Break, a show that should only have lasted one season, now into its fourth!!! What seems to keep the show fresh is the reinvention it gets from season to season. In the first season it was all about the Prison Break, Michael using his superior intelligence to break his innocent brother out, the second they were on the run and in the third the tables where turned and this time Linc had to get Michael out! Now in the fourth season, the inmates are out of jail but almost still in their own personal "prison" as they try to take down the "Company" which framed them, how long they can continue is anyones guess, but it does seem to carry on with some decent scripting, which stops it hitting the dire lows that show like Heroes seemed to be. Again, like Knight Rider, you love it or hate it, sometimes it's quite brilliant, others it's almost laughable, but I've stuck with it for four years now and it continues to entertain, albeit as far fetched as you can get! But hey, that's TV for ya!

Dexter


This show is simply a work of genius. Dexter is an anti-hero, a character with a "dark passenger", a man who feels the need to kill and has very little emotion. He is brought up by his step father, a police officer who instills him with a 'code' to follow - he can only kill those who only deserve to be slain, i.e. those who escape justice. When he's not dishing out his brand of 'justice', Dexter moonlights by day as a forensic blood splatter expert, the perfect cover, whilst also trying to conduct a "human" relationship with his girlfriend Rita and her two children. The first two seasons where some of the best TV I have seen since Lost began, but unfortunately season 3 seems to be dropping in quality due to a weaker storyline. I will continue to stick with this show for now, as it has been a breath of fresh air, but it could be closer to jumping the shark than not!

Knight Rider ( 2008 )


Well this is definitely a marmite/ peanut butter show....you either love it or hate it. In my case i love Knight rider and peanut butter so that's a Brucey Bonus. I will admit that there are a few flaws/ cheesy moments in the show but i believe that just makes it more like the original show, granted it's a new car/team/hero etc but i feel like i did wen i first watched the original Knight Rider. Justin Bruening will never replace The Hoff but he leads the show well and there are some interesting characters involved also to add interesting sidelines to the stories.
The best thing of all is KITT's transformation ability, whether he's a Mustang, a Pickup truck or hard a$$ monster ( attack mode) it sort of distracts from the fact that a Mustang can not, and will never be a good choice of vehicle to house KITT.
But, i will continue to watch and rave to people about it no matter the pesonal abuse i get for it. ;-P

Smallville


Lex has gone, Lana has gone ( but then returned), Jor-El has gone (?).....but on the plus side, Doomsday has reared his ugly a$$ head and Brainiac is still 'floating' around. lol. I stopped watching Smallville during the 4th season cos i woz bored senseless of it but picked it up again towards the end of the 7th season and woz instantly addicted again.
As with most series' now-a-days Smallville does have its bad episodes, but, they seem very few and far between compared to other shows around at the moment. Unfortunately we gotta wait till next year ( Jan 15th) to see if the grandness continues or are we being built up for a huge flop.
Will Clark banish Doomsday, will Doomsday batter the shit out of Clark then go live on a desert island for a few years, will Chloe regain her lost memories, will Lana leave again for more plastic surgery, will Michael Rosenbaum be replaced to bring back the hair impaired villain?????? So many questions so little social life!!! ;-)

Heroes


Lets start out on a very touchy subject....HEROES. Love it, hate it, once loved it etc. Personally i think this show did hit a bit of a low at the start ( and middle) of season 3 but i feel the last couple of episodes have made up for these poor episodes ( obviously written by someone who hasn't watched the previous 2 seasons). I'm still gonna watch Heroes, partly to see where the fuck it is going and secondly cos Hiro is Da man. ;-)