Iron Maiden: Maiden England '88 (2013)

Throw out your wonky VHS copies because the Maiden England gig finally makes it to disc. It’s even better than before because it includes the previously omitted encores (Run To The Hills, Running Free, and Sanctuary).
The band seems to be enjoying it as much as the audience, except maybe for Adrian, who just likes to get on with it, no frills. There’s a new 5.1 mix if you like that sort of thing. I didn't listen to it, so I can’t comment further.

4 muskets firing out of 5

Ginger Snaps: Unleashed (2004)

The second Ginger Snaps film focuses primarily on younger sister Brigitte.
There’s a not very subtle role reversal, but it doesn't just rehash the first story from a different point of view, it takes the character some place new.
Like its predecessor it avoids most of the irritating clichés. There are a few moments where it drifts into screaming teenager horror movie territory, but they're brief and therefore forgiveable.
It’s a darkly humorous tale fraught with urgency and… erm… bite.

3 overdue library books out of 5

Ginger Snaps (2000)

Director John Fawcett avoided almost all the hateful teen horror movie clichés that existed when Ginger Snaps was released. He brought something fresh to a genre that was content to churn out shit wank-fantasy like The Craft (1996) year after year.
The two girls are tailor made for their roles, particularly the brooding younger sister Brigitte (Emily Perkins). They may not look very much alike but they act like sisters should.
The film is heavy with metaphor in the first half, then erupts with some Sam Raimi inspired terror in the finale. And there's no cheap CGI in sight.

3½ moon hairs out of 5

THE MAJESTIC [2001]

With The Majestic, director Frank Darabont set out to make a movie that would have folks saying "they don't make them like that anymore".

For the most part he succeeds, it's got a great cast of characters all of whom seem vaguely familiar but I could never quite place my finger on it, some good ol' fashion scene set ups and exits, melodramatic romance, fantastic soundtrack and Jim Carrey playing a straight-man role that seemed tailored for Jimmy Stewart.  The film loses it's balance a few times but Carrey, Martin Landau and Laurie Holden keep it stitched together.   If you're not familiar with Frank Capra's style of golden era film-making then this one ain't for you.  If you are, then you're in for a real treat.

3½  Big Parades out of 5

Rio Bravo (1959)

Sitting down to watch John Wayne in a Howard Hawks Western means you’re in for a good time, but I admit I’m not in love with this one as much as the film world seems to think I should be.
Wayne as Sherriff is fantastic as always. Dean Martin had a tough job but he did it well. Ricky Nelson looked at home with a guitar but less so with a gun; it was early in his acting career and he was still inexperienced. The Feathers character (Angie Dickinson) was a square peg in a round hole; she didn't bring enough to the clique to warrant inclusion.
Everything else works and by the end we know why each unequivocal decision was made.

3½ sing-songs in the jail-house out of 5

OINGO BOINGO: FAREWELL - LIVE FROM THE UNIVERSAL AMPHITHEATRE [1995]

Power-pop nerd-wave act Oingo Boingo called it quits in 1995 and recorded their 3 hour plus Farewell concert for DVD & CD.  

Starting out with a bit from Boingo's Forbidden Zone days, it's apparent we're in for a detailed career retrospective.  The performance is a high-octane joy to watch, with giant skeleton marionettes, evil clowns playing percussion and a bizarre array of instruments the band created themselves.  The costumed audience is just as fun to watch, making it seem like a devil's carnival show meshed with Revenge Of The Nerds moshing on amphetamines.  The show goes uninterrupted, with some juicy little bonus features depicting the before & after moments back stage as well as a brief history of the band.  It's a must have for any fan of the cult classic music act.  

4 creepy singing puppety children things out of 5

Fuck (2005)

A documentary about the most versatile word in the entire English language. After a brief exploration of the etymology, a number of people give their reasons for using the word or abstaining from using it. I didn't recognise half of them, but that’s nothing new for me.
What's clear was that the film is definitely not representative of English speakers as a whole. 90% of participants were American and most of them felt the need to bring politics into the equation. I really couldn't give a shit about America’s proclivity for censoring its own political language, so I was very, very bored most of the time.

Warning: The film uses footage from the end of Brian De Palma’s Scarface (1983), so if you haven’t seen it you’ll be in spoiler territory.

2 tedious bombs out of 5

THE ELEPHANT MAN [1980]

David Lynch adapts Sir Frederick Treves' writings about his personal experiences with Joseph Merrick (curiously renamed John Merrick) in the beautiful black & white bio-pic The Elephant Man.

It's a deeply absorbing story where a smile or the smallest of compliments mean the world to someone who lives in such an ugly world.  Lynch wisely hides Merrick's face for a large portion of the film and when we finally do see it, he's developed the story enough so it hardly even startles the viewer.  It occasionally dips into the surreal soundscapes and bizarre "dream sequences" Lynch is well known for but it never takes away from the dramatic impact of the film.  A personal all-time favorite of mine.

5 human beings and not animals out of 5

THE GREEN MILE [1999]

Frank Darabont succeeds in bringing Stephen King's serial novel The Green Mile to the screen, moving the heart in a similar fashion as he did with The Shawshank Redemption. 

It's filled with wonderful performances by actors who fully understand the colorful and fascinating characters they're portraying.  The beautiful camerawork, music and art direction help make the 3 hour plus film never feel as long as it really is.  It's a dark, grim, yet strangely uplifting, reminder that there's magic in this world and how we'll find it in the most obscure of places.

4½ mice on the Mile out of 5

THE PACT [2012]

Nicholas McCarthy's ghost story The Pact starts out overly rushed and littered with some questionable performances.  I was ready to write it off.

Then suddenly at the 30 minute mark it took a turn into the scary and fully absorbed me into this strange sunny California world.  It staged several frightening scenes in the stark daylight which normally is difficult to make effective but they pull it off with flying colors leading me to scream like a little girl in one moment.  It never really falls into the clichéd scares, silly twists or tries to be too smart for it's own good.  A simple scary little film that manages to rise above it's multiple plot holes.  

2½ holes in the wall out of 5

Overkill: Live at Wacken Open Air 2007 (2008)

It was a joy to get an updated official release from these guys. More than half the tracks were performed on the Wrecking Everything (2002) disc, but there's new content too (Thanx For Nothin', Skull and Bones, Old School, Walk Through Fire). It's a typical no frills concert video that doesn't do anything much different from the hundreds of other concert videos, but the quality of the performance earns it a high score.
It only lasts 50 minutes, but it's non-stop Overkill from beginning to end. If you're a fan of the New Jersey quintet, then track it down forthwith.

SETLIST 01. Rotten to the Core 02. Elimination 03. Necroshine 04. Thanx for Nothin' 05. Skull and Bones 06. In Union We Stand 07. Walk through Fire 08. Wrecking Crew 09. Old School 10. Fuck You

3½ gifts from mom out of 5

Robocop (1987)

The first and best Robocop film is an attack on capitalism, privatisation and the media that puts the individual on one side of a set of broken scales and corporate profit on the other. It’s a violent comic-bookish film that isn't afraid to go to the dark places where ambition lives and daylight doesn't reach.
The Unrated Director’s Cut adds some horrifyingly guilty-fun OTT violence. Verhoven was forced to make cuts before they’d even grant him an R (18) rating! It’s a little creaky in places, but mostly it's aged well considering it's over twenty-five years old and had a modest budget to begin with.
Basil Poledouris’ Robo theme will remain in your head for days.
Melty-skin guy still gives me the wiggins; just knowing that particular scene in approaching causes anxious gut-flutters every time.

4 directives out of 5

MONTY PYTHON'S THE MEANING OF LIFE [1983]

British comedy troupe Monty Python really push the boundaries in their final feature film 1983's The Meaning Of Life. 

Instead of following clear narrative like their previous two films, the Python's loosely collect a series of sketches sort of following the theme of life from beginning to end.  This approach makes for a bit of a drawn-out mess, occasionally making the film seem longer than it really is.  Nevertheless, the film contains some of the best material the Python's ever did.  Each member's performance are top notch with surreal exaggeration and delightful subtle bits as well.  It's a jumbled mess but the good material heavily outweighs the dull moments. 

3½ live organ transplants out of 5

The Replacement Killers (1998)

TRK was an attempt to capture and adapt for an American audience the kind of magic that John Woo had delivered in his native China.
Woo produced and reportedly helped choreograph the action scenes.
Chow plays a similar kind of conscientious character as he played in the aforementioned Hong Kong films. The dual wielding pistol stance and his trademark gurn are present and correct.
The film lacks the edgy professionalism of Woo's works, but it was a valiant effort. In its defence, it's a lot better than some of the crap he himself did when he started making films in English.

3 forgeries out of 5

STOKER [2013]

Park Chan-wook's first venture into the world of Hollywood is a disturbing one indeed.  Stoker makes your skin crawl with utterly sick delight for the beautifully shot and acted thriller that it is.

It's packed with literary allusions galore, delicate sound design and haunted music, all of which seem to be wrapped in a twisted Hitchcockian Gothic fairytale storytelling, courtesy of Prison Break star Wentworth Miller.  There's so many tiny details reflecting on older stories, you'll want to see it again just trying to pick out what is what.  It might not hold up to Chan-wook's previous films but it's a beautiful alternative to some of the other films in the cinema at the moment.  

3½ shoes out of 5

Do the Right Thing (1989)

A drama that unfolds slowly over the course of one scorching hot summer day in Brooklyn. As the temperature rises, so too does the tension and the tempers of the inhabitants.
The film is like a play in which the stage is an entire street; it feels cut off from the larger city for the purposes of drama, which emphasises its self-sufficiency and its tight community values.
Being a Spike Lee film means it's a political sledgehammer, but it doesn't overwhelm the well-scripted character moments, of which there are many.

4 slices with something extra out of 5

SOUND CITY [2013]

Sound City is a documentary by musician Dave Grohl and his love for the now defunct Sound City music studios.  The birthplace of classic albums by Nirvana, Johnny Cash, Tom Petty, Neil Young and many more, the film is more about the love of making music and collaborative creations rather than just the studio itself.  It's funny, interesting, heartbreaking, inspiring and most of all, filled with dedication to the musical craft and the people who do it right.  The flow of the film is a little messy but in the end it gets it's point across clearly in an entertaining fashion.

With Grohl being part of the band that made me pick up an instrument in the first place I already had a great respect for him and now with this film, that respect just skyrocketed even further.  

4 Beatles in Nirvana out of 5

The Omen (2006)

A remake of the 1976 Richard Donner film of the same name. Did they use the same script? There are some minor differences, but ninety-nine percent of it is identical. Why bother? It’s not like the original was a turd. I don’t blame the director. He got offered a job and he took it. I blame the producers.
Exploitation isn't just a genre in Hollywood; it’s a way of life.
Liev Schreiber is fine, but he’s no Gregory Peck. Mia Farrow and Pete Postlethwaite put everyone else to shame, except the wonderful Michael Gambon who unfortunately only got about two minutes of screen time.

1½ revelations out of 5

Flying Dagger (1993)

A direct translation of the film’s title is Crazy Dagger and Flying Sky Cat, which is much more apt but still doesn't even begin to describe how bat-shit crazy it all is. It’s a wuxia action comedy written by Wong Jing with a large dollop of innuendo, self-parody and wire-work that’s off the scale.
The plot has something to do with bounty hunters and a villainous fox, and then someone drinks piss. The English subtitles are a mess, so not only will you be reading and watching, you’ll be decoding. It makes the film even more head exploding than it already was. Fun times.
It managed to attract a hell of a cast, many of whom will be well known to fans of the genre.

3 helping hands out of 5

ONE NINE NINE FOUR [2009]

One Nine Nine Four is a documentary by Below Par Records co-founder Jai Al-Attas & narrated by skateboarder Tony Hawk, which documents the rise and fall of the power punk-pop scene that surrounded the year 1994.

Beginning with Operation Ivy, Bad Religion and Nirvana paving the way for "the year that punk broke", the film might serve as more of a nostalgic trip for the folks who lived in that era rather than teaching us anything new.  It interviews the pioneers of that era including Green Day, blink-182, Rancid, The Vandals, NOFX and more, all of who are always funny and entertaining speakers.  It leads right up to it's demise in the late 90's with the introduction of nu-metal, boy bands and pop tart princesses but curiously never mentions it's revival in the mid 2000's.  Not a necessarily great doc but a charming ride down memory lane.    

3 times of your life out of 5

The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976)

If not for Clint, I don't think the film would be even half as good as it is. It has some great dialogue, but the crux of the story, despite the symmetry of the protagonist unwittingly finding something he lost along the way, is mostly drifting along in need of cohesion. It's not until the last third that the story I wanted all along began to take shape.
I'm aware that many people will disagree (most of my own family!), but that's life. It's Clint that brings it weight, mostly because we associate him with his previous roles. He also excels behind the lens, filling the frame beautifully and unafraid to leave parts of it vacant when needed.

3½ 'baccy expectorations out of 5

[REC] [2007]

Writer/directors Jaume Balagueró & Paco Plaza add some much needed terrifying adrenaline to the found footage genre in  the first of the [REC] horror film series.

By playing with claustrophobia, hysteria and horrified confusion, [REC] manages to keep you permanently on edge as soon as the story kicks into high gear.  Besides an impressive performance from Manuela Velasco, the rest of the cast of characters are a little one dimensional but you'll never notice with your poor little heart beating too fast to really think about it.  It's a simple little movie that delivers the goods to the jaded horror movie buffs waiting for something scary to come along again.

3½ dogs named Max out of 5

Way of the Dragon (1972)

Sometimes titled with the definite article and sometimes without, WotD is the film in which Bruce Lee fights Chuck Norris in a Roman coliseum, like modern day gladiators, while a kitty cat spectator sits on high. Beyond that it's basically the same old story: Bruce's character arrives from overseas and helps some family members that are being exploited, this time in the restaurant business; there's an attractive woman (Nora Miao) for him to engage with; a traitorous countryman weasels about; and it culminates in a death match that enables Lee to show how lightning fast he really was.
It was the only film that Bruce got to direct before he died; he did well, especially on the finale. He also wrote and co-produced the work.

3½ trips to the shitter out of 5

HAUNTED [1995]

I'd been avoiding Haunted for so long, as I loved James Herbert's novel as a kid I didn't want to see it get ruined or changed from what I imagined it as.

I know it's not a classic story to begin but it's terrible to see director Lewis Gilbert butcher the living hell out of it.  He tones it down by taking it out of the modern age and turning it into a period piece therefore neutering it into a ho-hum BBC movie of the week, with terrible dull lighting & camera work, melodramatic music and cliche "scares" galore.  The character of David Ash was a moody, alcoholic asshole in the novel and in the film all his flaws are taken away making for a insanely boring character.  Aidan Quinn & Kate Beckinsale do well with what they have but it's never enough to save the film from the borefest that it is.

1 missing dog out of 5

An Inconvenient Truth (2006)

American politician Al Gore’s attempt to get the world to wake up to climate change and global warming might sound boring on paper, but it’s a genuinely engaging 90 minutes and a definite eye-opener.
It’s essentially a high profile slide show, but Gore is an excellent orator and unlike most politicians he appears to want to answer difficult questions.
It’s a fact that statistics can be presented in a biased way, so there are pictures to back up the claims and the camera rarely lies.
It’s focussed largely on America but is relevant to the whole world. It’s a film everyone should see. It should be mandatory.

4 statistics out of 5

The Defender (1994)

aka: The Bodyguard from Beijing

Jet Li plays a super-efficient bodyguard hired to protect Christy Chung's spoilt little rich bitch character. She's used to getting her own way, so resents his interfering methods. He doesn't care. Neither did I.
Christy is as beautiful as ever and Jet is as competent as ever at the fighting, but it's all very silly outside of that.

2 yawns out of 5

THE ANIMATION SHOW: VOLUME ONE [2003]

Beavis & Butthead creator Mike Judge and the lunatic behind Rejected, Don Hertzfeldt compile an impressive collection of animated shorts of all sorts of styles and mediums.

Included are Judge's original Office Space shorts, a trio of fantastic Adam Elliot claymations, a bizarre Bill Plympton, a brilliant stop-motion film from Germany called The Rocks and many more.  Don Hertzfeldt bookends the film with his special brand of what-the-fuckery as well as a hilarious intermission where he rips the "wonderful" world of 3D films a new asshole.  The only weak submission in the bunch are the inane and terribly childish Ricardo shorts by Corky Quakenbush.

4 homicidal balloons out of 5

OZ THE GREAT AND POWERFUL [2013]

Sam Raimi directs a film about an everyday Joe who unexpectedly gets whisked away into a strange world where he's thought to be more than what he really is.  It's called Army Of Dar---...wait a sec.  It's called Oz the Great and Powerful.

It serves as a prequel to L. Frank Baum's Oz novels, allowing the writers to do whatever the hell they want as long as it leads up to the events in The Wonderful Wizard Of Oz.  Filled with astonishingly beautiful visuals, great performances from all the witches and a wonderous score from Danny Elfman, you'd think it'd be enough.  Sadly, it falls short of the magic of the originals, drags it down with overly dull dialogue and a somewhat lacklustre performance from James Franco as the title character.  See it on the big screen while you can because on a television set nearly everything worth seeing will be lost.  

2½ yellowbrick potholes out of 5

The Eye (2002)

Asian horror that gave me fierce wiggins. I watched it alone at 1 a.m, which is when all horror should be watched. It’s the story of a blind woman who receives a cornea transplant. Afterwards she begins to see horrific things that most sighted people can’t.
It’s not the most original concept, but the tension and the atmosphere the Pang brothers create makes the film more than memorable. If the final act had kept the pace it would score higher. Fans of Asian horror won't be disappointed. Pray you don't need to use an elevator after watching.

3½ dead things out of 5

Unforgiven (1992)

Clint revived his tough as nails cowboy persona for one last time, and simultaneously managed to breathe life back into the Western genre which had been on its last legs for many years. With help from three of the finest old guy actors working at the time, he delivered a film about what it means to be a man with a gun and what it takes to kill. Another Eastwood classic.

5 visible scars out of 5

Hanzo the Razor: Sword of Justice (1972)

The title of Hanzo’s first innings should really be pluralised because he has two swords of justice. The first is his trusty katana. The second he keeps sheathed unless there’s a lady to be interrogated. He beats it regularly to keep it strong. He knows that torture rarely gives results, so he dishes out unbridled pleasure instead. One poke from Hanzo’s weapon and the ladies spill, literally and metaphorically.
The film is a weird mesh of styles; Chanbara, Jidaigeki and Pinku eiga with funky Blaxploitation music. It does all of them well, but structurally it feels like a number of episodes stitched together.
Seeing Shintarô Katsu penetrate a bag of rice will haunt me forever.

3 cock-cam shots out of 5

TETSUO: THE IRON MAN [1989]

Shinya Tsukamoto tests your patience in the most disturbingly entertaining ways in the low budget sci-fi cult classic Tetsuo: The Iron Man.

A fairly simple story about a man turning into a murderous machine is shot, edited and scored in such a frantic, unsettling style that will more than likely turn most folks away.  It drills at the brain and grates at the nerves without ever worrying if it's offending your senses.   It's purely a visual and auditory attack to your sanity but done with such passion and fascination it's irresistible.

4 sexy tentacles out of 5

Doc's stuck his Nuts in The Clock for a more in-depth review of the film. 

THE CROSSING GUARD [1995]

Sitting in the director's chair, Sean Penn fumbles around with his own script in the clumsily executed drama The Crossing Guard.

Penn can't decide if this is a straight-faced drama or an artsy independent film and in turn hurts the narrative flow quite a bit.  To add salt to the wounds, his dialogue and dramatic arcs are so excruciatingly terrible they belong in a TV movie of the week.  There were several points where I wasn't sure if it was just really, really bad humour or Penn actually wanted us to take it's aimlessly bizarre moments seriously.  Even the impressive cast seems to be lost while performing a favour for their actor turned "director" friend.

1 "hilarious" bus ride out of 5

Superman Returns (2006)

Kudos to Dir. Bryan Singer for not giving us another unnecessary franchise reboot. Unfortunately, his continuation of the Superman story isn't very good. Brandon Routh is the only one of the principal actors that I felt was well-cast. Kevin Spacey looks the part but he brings nothing unique to the role of Luthor. Kate Bosworth is too young, too empty and just plain shitty.
I liked that it was both respectful and referential to the older films, the comics, and even the Fleischer cartoons, but ultimately the film is much too long and much too boring to recommend.

2 comic covers recreated out of 5

The Machinist (2004)

An emaciated Christian Bale plays a man ill at ease in his daily routine. His presence also makes other people uneasy. Is his insomnia making him a little crazy, or is the world just not quite right?
There’s a sense of strain prevalent throughout. Even when it’s referencing other sources it manages to keep its own identity fully intact, due in part to the understated lighting, but mostly thanks to a focussed narrative and Bale's commitment to doing what was needed. He was like a walking skeleton.

5 post-it notes out of 5

Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children Complete (2009)

Advent Children is a sequel to the FF VII game. The threat that was presumed gone threatens to resurface, which is bad news for everybody that didn't get killed last time. Such is life.
It's Cloud’s story mostly. Much of his allure was in his mystery, so giving him more screen time is both a good and bad thing. Nevertheless, if I understood the narrative correctly, then I really liked it. The conflict is both internal and external and one complements the other.
My biggest gripe is that some of the action scenes could have benefited from more clarity; they were too damn flashy and frantic.

3½ baptisms out of 5

EDIT: if you prefer the original version of AC, it's covered HERE.

LES TRIPLETTES DE BELLEVILLE [2003]

Sylvain Chomet brings us into a bizarre animated world of characters exaggerated to surreal perfection in Les Triplettes de Belleville.

With it's richly detailed animation, minimal dialogue, wildly surreal sense of humor and magnificent music it becomes all too apparent that films like this don't come around often enough.  Chomet crafts a dark story line, glossed over with colorful imagery and upbeat slapstick, while tipping his hat to the classic films of Jacques Tati, all of which makes for one of the most delightfully entertaining films I've ever seen.  

5 fat Oscar awards out of 5

Superman IV: The Quest for Peace (1987)

Nuclear Man? Seriously?
Mr Furie, go to your room and think about what you did.

0½ franchise killer out of 5

WOULD YOU RATHER [2013]

David Guy Levy takes the concept of the party game "Would You Rather" and turns it into a deadly game of fate in this thriller of the same name.

Running along the same lines as torture porn, it's easy to compare it to the Saw films but it's bumped up a bit more due to a single tense setting, dark humor, snappy dialogue and an entertaining cast including Brittany Snow, Jeffrey Combs and a brief yet effective part played by John Heard. The film lacks any sort of character backgrounds, with the exception of Snow's, so we're not too surprised to see who the last player standing is in the anti-climatic final 20 minutes.  I'll probably forget all about this film by the end of the week but it was sick fun while it lasted.

3 barrels not full of monkeys out of 5

12 ANGRY MEN [1957]

Director Sidney Lumet made his feature film debut with the legal drama classic 12 Angry Men....and wow, what a debut it is.

An impressive cast makes their mark with a variety of distinct characters with captivating dialogue and precise direction.  In fact the whole film is set in one room so it completely relies on the dialogue and performances, which not once loses your interest.  The photography is fantastic as it slowly and subtly gets more and more claustrophobic as tempers raise.  There's not a whole lot I can say about this film that hasn't already been said.  It's simply one of those must see movies for lovers of film.

5 public avengers out of 5

Superman III (1983)

Prepare your face for a severe palming. A lot of Part III is campy comedy drama. Sure, it's based on a comic book, but that's no excuse for piss poor slapstick. I'm talking custard pie comedy. Really.
It's a shame because in the middle section Reeve gives his best performance of the whole series.
Also, removing him from Metropolis gave him room to let the Clark character grow beyond a clumsy oaf.
Seeing Annette O'Toole play Clark's first love, Lana Lang, was fun. She would go on to play Clark's mom in the Smallville TV series years later.

2 far removed from the Brainiac script out of 5

THE SNOWTOWN MURDERS [2011]

Justin Kurzel's The Snowtown Murders is an immensely upsetting film based on the true story of the Bodies-in-Barrels murders in South Australia.
The bleakness of the film doesn't really make for entertainment but more a hypnotizing character study that I would have rather not gotten so heavily involved in.  It features a terribly realistic torture scene, animal brutality & mutilation and a constant uneasiness that leaves you feeling sick.  What's interesting is it almost completely ignores the gory side of the murders, with minimal kills on screen and instead digs deep into the characteristics of the murderers which is downright haunting.  It's not a fun film but most definitely a well-crafted one that deserves recognition.

3½ kangaroo bits out of 5

Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut (2006)

Richard Donner shot Superman I + II back to back, but production stopped on II before it was finished. For reasons too long to explain Richard Lester shot a new version of II and it got released. That film contained footage from both directors but was primarily Lester's. This superior cut is as close to Donner’s original vision as was possible to get. Wiki claims that approximately 83% of the footage is Donner’s.
It’s still flawed but less so. Much of the crap has been trimmed (although the fight over Metropolis remains). Superman is more forceful in his decision making. Marlon Brando's scenes are restored. Unreleased cues from John Williams are used. Almost everything is better. Even if you own the other one, still buy this one.

A super strong 3½ restorations out of 5

Love and Honour (2006)

The last entry in Yôji Yamada's Samurai trilogy deals with love and honour; both states that can set you free or trap you in a vice-like grip.
Like the two previous films it's a character driven story with very little swordplay, but unlike them it’s more focussed on the conflict that arises from what is unknown rather than what is unsaid.
The protagonist Shinnojo Mimura, again a warrior on low pay, isn't afraid to act on his feelings; he uses them to his advantage when love becomes a casualty and honour must be reclaimed.

5 fallen leaves out of 5

Superman II (1980)

The writing team fix some of the problems that plagued the first film but throw in some new ones to replace them.
There's danger this time. The trio of antagonists have a legitimate reason for targeting the man in tights and the ability to carry out their threat. It’s lucky that the Kryptonian language is the same as English.
Superman pulls some new powers out of his repertoire that he didn't have before; they’re called his deus ex machina powers.
Again, Reeve and Kidder save the film from itself. When Reeve is out of costume he’s acting as Superman who's acting as Clark Kent; that’s talent.

3 product placements out of 5

THE AWAKENING [2011]

I love a good ghost story, especially the ol' fashioned types like The Orphanage and The Others.  They never cease to give me the wiggins something fierce...until now.
Nick Murphy's The Awakening is light on the creepy factor and resorts to cheap jump scares a bit too much.  Apart from some great performances from Rebecca Hall and Dominic West and the beautifully haunting photography, this uneven yawner challenged me to stick around till the end.  Surprise, surprise.  There's a nonsensical twist that seems pretty formulaic when it comes to these stories.  M. Night would roll his eyes.

2 creepy singing bunnies out of 5

SOME GUY WHO KILLS PEOPLE [2011]

Some Guy Who Kills People is a slasher flick that can be enjoyed by the whole family, with it's charming characters and oddball sense of humor.

The slightly off-kilter Kevin Corrigan plays a guy who is recently let out of the nuthouse, with a serious grudge against the guys who bullied him in highschool.  Needless to say the bodycount begins rising as Corrigan reunites with his estranged 11-year old daughter.  It's a bit of rough ride with glaring flaws but due to it's quirky spirit and great supporting cast, including a scene-stealing Barry Bostwick, this film is a great way to spend an evening in.  If you're a Corrigan or Bostwick fan then this film is an absolute treat.

3 scoops of ice cream out of 5

Click to see budarc's Nuts.

ABSENTIA [2011]

Writer/director Mike Flanagan's spooky low-budget thriller Absentia never would have happened without the success of a Kickstarter campaign.  

Flanagan does a great job at naturally revealing the main characters of the sisters and their troubled pasts.  With it's tight budget, the film could have easily crumbled but the strong writing and performances from Katie Parker & Courtney Bell hold it all together quite gracefully.  It made me think of a setting just on the edge of a David Lynch world with traces of a Guillermo Del Toro ghost story (me thinks the small role by Doug Jones isn't a coincidence). It's not necessarily scary but provides enough startling scenes and creepy atmosphere to fully absorb my attention, considering it had little to work with.

3 tunnels out of 5

Superman: The Movie (1978)

The original cosplayer needs no introduction. The first 50 minutes are fantastic. Director Donner brought a real sense of scope and intimacy with his framing and his timing, but the remainder of the film is less successful.
When Reeve appears a shift in the story begins and it’s a bad one. I'm not blaming Reeve, he was perfect. The problem is Lex Luthor is non-threatening. The dilemma that Superman faces is underplayed and the resolution is weak.
I believe what makes the film so enduring is Reeve's and Kidder’s onscreen chemistry and the iconic musical score.
The extended cut adds extra Brando, which pleased me greatly.

3 cheers for bulletproof spandex out of 5

SILENT NIGHT [2012]

Indie-slasher director Steven C. Miller loosely remakes the controversial cult classic Silent Night, Deadly Night for the modern age with sadistic delight.

It's not really a great film but then again it never really tries to be.  Instead it's filled with entertaining gory kill sequences and hammy dialogue & acting, particularly Malcolm McDowell who is blessed with delivering some of the worst lines in the film (something about avocado & hummus on his burgers?).  With a whopping 27 producers working on the film you can expect a mess.  Who cares?  Silent Night is a terribly fun mess for slasher fans.

2½ brass knuckles for Santa out of 5