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Blu-ray Review: Weeds Season One

By prawn1 Sunday December 28, 2008

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Doobie, dope, roach, reefer, grass, Mary Jane, boom, splif, ganja, herb. Marijuana goes under several names and is a contentious issue with many people. And Weeds Season 1 takes a satirical look at it in an affluent, suburban context.

In Weeds, housewife Nancy Botwin (Mary Louise Parker) is a recent widow living in the Los Angeles, California suburb of Agrestic. Having lost her breadwinner husband to a heart attack, Nancy is hurled not only into a financial crisis, but into a single-mother role, having to console sons Silas (Hunter Parrish) and Shane (Alexander Gould) as they mourn their father’s passing. As the debt increases, Nancy discovers the community’s insatiable desire for marijuana, and becomes the neighbourhood weed dealer to make “easy money” and maintain the lifestyle her family is used to.

Blu-ray Review: Iron Man

By prawn1 Friday December 26, 2008

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Meet Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr). The son of deceased weapons manufacturer, Howard Stark, Tony is an arrogant (yet charming) billionaire and genius who spends as much time building machines as he does chasing the ladies. As a stop on his globe-trotting tour, Tony is visiting Afghanistan to promote his company’s state-of-the-art missile system, the Jericho, when his convoy is attacked and he is taken prisoner by a terrorist group, the Ten Rings. Injured in the attack, Tony is nursed back to health by fellow prisoner, surgeon, and translator, Dr. Yinsen (Shaun Toub). Already possessing a vast cache of Stark Industries weapons, the terrorists want Tony to build the new Jericho system for them as well, and in exchange they will set him free.

Will Tony submit to the terrorists or does he have other plans in mind? Read more after the jump.

Blu-ray Review: 3:10 to Yuma

By prawn1 Thursday December 25, 2008

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Even though the Western genre has fallen out of favour with the general movie-going public in recent decades, it doesn’t prevent filmmakers from trying to revive it. And 3:10 to Yuma is latest attempt to bring the Western out of the cold. Based on an Elmore Leonard short story that was last adapted to screen in 1957, director James Mangold remakes 3:10 to Yuma into a less psychological but more action-packed film.

In 3:10 to Yuma, Dan Evans (Christian Bale) is a simple man deep in debt, trying to hold his family together and save his ranch from the ravages of drought. In desperation Dan volunteers to be part of the posse that will escort notorious train robber Ben Wade (Russell Crowe) to a town named Contention, where he’ll be put on the 3:10 train to a prison in Yuma. For this, Dan will be paid a much-needed $200 by the railroad company.

Will Dan and the posse deliver the prisoner to Contention in time?

Blu-ray Review: Superbad

By prawn1 Wednesday December 24, 2008

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In Superbad, best friends Evan (Michael Cera) and Seth (Jonah Hill) are two weeks away from graduating high school, and are desperate to lose their virginity before going off to different colleges in the fall. They are, however, far from popular — Evan is a shy sweater-wearing geek and Seth is chubby potty-mouth who can turn any conversation into a lewd sexual innuendo.

Seth has finally scored them an invite to a house party but only if he can bring booze for the under-age crowd. The only problem is that both Evan and Seth aren’t old enough to buy alcohol legally, but their uber-geeky friend Fogell (Christopher Mintz-Plasse) says he can organize an ID. Optimism quickly fades as Fogell rocks up with the horrendously fake ID claiming he’s a 25-year-old Hawaiian organ donor whose name is simply, McLovin.

Is this the start of a slippery slope to disaster? Find out after the jump.

The Day The Brain Stood Still

By prawn1 Wednesday December 24, 2008

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If the likes of Roger Ebert and the stoutly Barry Ronge can review movies, I don’t think it’s a far stretch for me to try my hand at it.

So, with brevity in mind, and a not-so-solid grasp of the English language, behold my movie review!

The Day the Earth Stood Still

What it should have been called: The Day The Brain Stood Still

The plot: We puny humans are horrible caretakers and as a result global warming is killing the Earth. Some alien elders are not pleased about this, and send a spaceship to Earth, bearing an emissary Klaatu and his large robot, GORT.

Klaatu has come to assess whether humanity can reverse the environmental damage we’ve done to the planet. His mind gets practically made up when he gets shot by the military and detained. Using cunning alien trickery he escapes and decides that the humans need to be destroyed to save the earth.

It is now up to astrobiologist Helen Benson (Jennifer Connelly), her obnoxious step-son Jacob (Jaden Smith), and altruism expert Professor Barnhardt (a cameo by John Cleese) to try dissuade him. It doesn’t take a brain scientist to guess the outcome.

Blu-ray Review: Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby

By prawn1 Tuesday December 23, 2008

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“America is all about speed. Hot, nasty, bad ass speed”. This (fake) quote from Eleanor Roosevelt sums up America’s fascination and lust for speed. To give you an idea of how popular NASCAR racing is in America, the Talladega Superspeedway in Alabama has seating for 175 000 spectators! By comparison the largest NFL stadium in Washington, D.C. can only accommodate 80,000 spectators.

Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby tells the story of Ricky Bobby (Will Ferrell) who was born in the backseat of his Dad’s speeding car. The dope-smoking Reese Bobby, Ricky’s dad (Gary Cole) skips out on the family and Ricky grows up treasuring the only bit of wisdom his father left him — “If you ain’t first, you’re last.”

Ricky and his best friend, Cal Naughton Jr. (John C. Reilly), become drivers for the Wonder Bread NASCAR racing team and are soon known as the “Shake ‘n Bake” duo. Ricky becomes NASCAR’s most popular driver, and enjoys the fruits of his labour, amassing an obscene amount of money, a bleached-blond trophy wife, and two cute (but utterly rude) sons Walker and Texas Ranger.

Ricky’s perfect world is about to hit a speed bump. Hit the jump to see where it goes.

Blu-ray review: Vantage Point

By prawn1 Monday December 22, 2008

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United States President Henry Ashton (William Hurt) is in Salamanca, Spain to attend an anti-terrorism summit. An American cable news channel is tracking the event, and Rex Brooks (Sigourney Weaver) is directing traffic from the OB van, when she notices Secret Service agent Thomas Barnes (Dennis Quaid), back on detail so soon after taking a bullet for Ashton earlier on in the year. She watches on her monitors as Ashton is introduced by the Spanish mayor, and is about to deliver his speech. Without warning, Ashton is shot twice in the chest, and utter chaos ensues. She watches as Secret Service agents surround the president and usher him into an ambulance, and amid the confusion, a massive explosion goes off in the plaza, completely destroying the podium and killing several people. At this point, the camera rewinds to the point in time where we initially joined Brooks, but the perspective changes.

The tagline for Vantage Point is “8 Strangers. 8 Points of View. 1 Truth”, and over the same 23-minute period that is looped over and over, the assassination of the U.S. President unfolds through the eyes of different people. With each perspective and subsequent rewind, a valuable new piece of the puzzle is revealed.

How complex does the puzzle get? Read on and find out.

Blu-ray Review: The Tudors Season 1

By prawn1 Sunday December 21, 2008

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If you’re anything like me, school history lessons left you yawning and, with a faint mouldy scent in your nostrils. English history especially always seemed so tedious with its endless supply of royal Charles’ and James’. The one English king who stood out from the rest was Henry VIII – the rather portly man with the neat red beard, elaborate clothing, and a penchant for chopping off his wives heads!

It’s good to be king and in Showtime’s Golden Globe-nominated series The Tudors, prepare to see King Henry VIII as never before. The handsome, athletic, virile Henry (Jonathan Rhys Meyers) is in a loveless marriage to his brother’s widow, Catherine of Aragon (Maria Doyle Kennedy). The young, hot-blooded Henry delights in combat sports and chasing women. His obvious philandering doesn’t seem to make much of an impact until he falls desperately in love with Catherine’s lady-in-waiting Anne Boleyn (Natalie Dormer). Henry didn’t happen to meet Anne by chance; she was “pimped” by her father Thomas Boleyn (Nick Dunning) so that he and the Duke of Norfolk (Henry Czerny) could gain favour with the king.

Will Henry get the jewel he desires? More after the jump.

Blu-ray Review: Surf’s Up

By prawn1 Sunday December 21, 2008

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Penguins. I don’t like them (childhood nightmare, don’t ask) but lots of people do. They’re cute, they dress in black and white outfits, and they walk funny. Trust Hollywood to cash in on this. Now, after March of the Penguins, Madagascar, and Happy Feet, comes the animated flick Surf’s Up.

Surf’s Up is a mockumentary that tells the story of fatherless Cody Maverick (Maverick Senior had an unfortunate confrontation with the business end of a whale). Cody (voiced by Shia LeBeouf) is an up-and-coming surfer living in Shiverpool, Antarctica. When surf talent scout Mikey Abromowitz (voiced by Mario Cantone) visits the area, Cody gets recruited to compete in the Annual Big Z Memorial Surf-Off, an homage to Z, a deceased surfing legend whom Cody has idolized since childhood.

Will Cody get some bad sets at the Surf-Off? Find out after the jump.

Blu-ray Review: Men in Black

By prawn1 Saturday December 20, 2008

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Adapted from Lowell Cunningham’s cult Marvel/Malibu comic book series, Men in Black is definitely a comedy sci-fi classic that deserves a place in your Blu-ray collection. This film is action packed and highly entertaining with excellent performances by the inspired pairing of Tommy Lee Jones (Agent Kay) and Will Smith (Agent Jay) who protect the earth from the scum of the universe.

James Edwards (Will Smith), an energetic young NYPD detective is recruited to a top-secret underground government agency known as Division 6 by Agent Kay. The agents from Division 6 are known as the Men In Black on account of the smart black suits they wear as a uniform, and as Agent Jay (Will Smith) says himself, he does make that suite look good. The suit is just the beginning; Kay shows Jay the ropes and introduces him to an incredible array of extra terrestrials that have come to earth for one reason or another. Initially it seems that most of the alien visitors are benevolent or just slightly crooked, but soon through a bizarre chain of events involving a farmer and a small ginger cat, Kay and Jay realise that they are dealing with a deadly intergalactic terrorist plot…