What I Watched This Week (w/e August 10th 2008)

DVD

Ratatouille (Blu-ray) - This will never get the love that the Toy Story films enjoy as they are as close to perfection as is possible for an animated film and Ratatouille, whilst a magnificent technical achievement just doesn't move you in the same way. It's certainly a film you'd use to showcase the 'wow' factor of Full HD (I never noticed on DVD or at the cinema that Linguini has a small beard!) as the animation is stunning and the quality of the picture breathtaking but the film isn't as engaging as, say Toy Story 2 or, more recently, WALL-E are. It has its detractors but I think it's a lovely film to watch, brilliantly voiced, scored, written and directed and shows that Brad Bird is the 'go-to' guy when a project is in trouble. :D






Surf's Up (Blu-ray) - There have been several pretenders to Pixar's crown - Dreamworks, Blue Sky Studios and, with this, Sony Pictures Animation but none have come close to dislodging Pixar as the undisputed masters of CG animated features. Sony had some success with Monster House and Open Season and Surf's Up is a perfectly watchable and likable movie but it doesn't have the class or magic that stands Pixar apart. If you haven't seen it, Surf's Up is a mockumentary about surfing penguins (and a John Heder voiced chicken) coming from around the world to compete in a tournament on Pen Gu island. Newcomer Cody (Shia LaBeouf) idolises the late Big Z (Jeff Bridges) and is determined to win and beat Tank Evans (wonderfully voiced by Diedrich Bader) but, finding himself outclassed and humiliated before the competition commences, seeks guidance from local hermit Geek. Like I said it's a very likeable film with some very funny moments, great voice acting and innovative direction which really gives it a documentary look and feel. :)


Bug (DVD) - Directed by William Friedkin who made the brilliant films The Exorcist and The French Connection, Bug follows waitress Aggie (Ashley Judd) who is menaced by her ex, newly released from prison and traumatised by the disappearance of their sun 10 years ago. One night her friend R.C. calls over with friend and drifter Peter Evans (Michael Shannon) who stays the night and, liking his company, she invites him to stay longer. After a night of passion Peter finds aphids in the bed and, before you can say A Scanner Darkly, the entire room is infected and Peter is in desperate search of the source. Friedkin delves into some very dark and disturbing themes and imagery as the film progresses and, whilst strictly speaking not a horror, there is enough weirdness and unsettling material here to keep me hooked until the rather abrupt yet satisfying ending. :)












Cliffhanger - Review of the Blu-ray Disc here.






Stargate - Review of the Blu-ray Disc here.






Day of the Dead (2007) - Review of the DVD to follow shortly.
Alive - Review of the DVD to follow shortly.

Cinema

Charlie Wilson's War - I saw this at the local Arts Centre and, despite the crackly stereo sound, enjoyed it as much as I did in the multiplex. Charlie Wilson is such an incredible character that the casting of Tom Hanks seems a little odd as he's best playing an everyman, but he does an excellent job as the larger than life Congressman from Texas who spearheads the congressional financing of the Mujahadeen in their fight against Soviet Army in Afghanistan. Julia Roberts is also very good as Mrs. Herring, who uses her womanly wiles to get Congressional support for her own pet project. Stealing every scene, however, is Philip Seymour Hoffman, a great actor who knows what to do with such an eccentric character as Gust Avrakotos. This is a funny, entertaining and informative film that takes some very serious subject matter and deals with it in a way that makes it accessible to a mainstream audience. :)









Hellboy II: The Golden Army - It's been so long since I saw Hellboy that I can't really use it as a point of comparison so I'll have to judge this on its own merits. At times it felt like the second part of a trilogy in terms of character dynamics and relationships but for the vast majority of the running time it was a fantastic fantasy film. The script was funny, the pace didn't lag, the cinematography, character design, special effects make up, CGI and direction were all excellent and Ron Perlman was again great. He was more than ably supported by Selma Blair and especially Doug Jones, who showed that he didn't need David Hyde Pierce to provide the voice of Abe. Luke Goss continues to surprise as an actor after his fine performance in Blade II - who'd have expected that from one half of Bros? - and was a great bad guy. Del Toro has recently been making one film for him and one for Hollywood - this is the closest that a mainstream Hollywood movie has felt like a personal del Toro film.

It's a great visual experience, especially the troll market scene, and one to see on the big screen if you get the opportunity. Although he has stiff competition from Terry Gilliam and Tim Burton, del Toro, for me, really is the master of warped fairytales. I'm going to re-watch Hellboy at some point in the next fortnight before I see this again on general release. :D

Television

Although the 2008 season is still some weeks off, the pre-season has been far from uneventful with 'Farve Watch' reaching fever pitch as the legendary Green Bay quarterback retired and then eventually unretired after months of 'will he, won't he' media speculation. This week he was officially reinstated and Green Bay decided to move on and so traded him to the New York Jets - a move that suited everyone but also left all involved bar Coach Mike McCarthy looking bad. So, on with the pre-season games beginning with the Hall Of Fame Game
Indianapolis Colts vs. Washington Redskins - With Peyton Manning nursing a tender knee and avoiding his team mates so as not to get an infection it was down to the rookies to play for the backup spots - players like Marvin Harrison and Bob Sanders also didn't feature and out of the rookies, QB Colt Brennan impressed. These games don't really mean much, it's more a case of seeing what players can do and whether they are worth a spot on the 53 man game day roster.

New Orleans Saints vs. Arizona Cardinals - This, like the other game, took place in the early hours so I was glad of the V+ Box so I didn't need to stay up till 4:30am and could skip through the commercials (especially the rather annoying Premiership football one and the slightly disturbing Orangina ad featuring a deer in a bikini :/ ). As I said the games don't mean much but the football is still eminently watchable and it's good to see what the young players can do and who to look out for in the regular season. The Saints look good and if they can get a ground game going will surely win their division and be rivals for the NFC Championship with the much fancied Dallas Cowboys.

South Africa vs. Argentina - South Africa used the week off in the Tri Nations to play a friendly against the Pumas to celebrate Mandela's 90th birthday. After 30 minutes the team from South America but consisting almost entirely of Europe-based players were leading 9-0 but that was as good as their day got as the Springboks came roaring back, scoring 9 converted tries to run out comfortable winners with a score of 63-9, reflecting their superiority in the second half.