Sonic Generations

Long have i been waiting for sonic to finally return to its roots and give us the game play we enjoyed on console like the mega drive and sega saturn and here it is sonic generations where we can play as 2 sonics from dfferent decades.

Battlefield 3

So its that time of the year when all the shooters grace our consoles and compete for that all important number 1 spot.First up we see battlefield 3 released upon the world to try and take some of the attention from call of duty but the big question is can it do it.

Languishing at the bottom of IMDb...My Forgotten Five

This one is a special request from Da Boss, The Dregg Man, who asked about those films you see on IMDb that have a rather poor rating for one reason or another but you really like, secretly or otherwise. So I present those films I feel have been given a raw deal, or ignored for whatever reason. I'll be the first to admit you're unlikely to find any masterpieces here, but some that I truly believe are worth a re-evaluation.

Hellraiser: Inferno (2000) - Coming along not so long after the well-intentioned but studio-butchered "Bloodline", a valiant attempt to come full circle, came this oddity which excels over parts 3 and 4 for by taking a step back from the mythology and doing a stand-alone story, fitting as the legend goes that many Lament Configuration boxes were made over the centuries. In this instalment we meet Detective Joseph Thorn, an exceptionally gifted but deeply flawed homicide cop with a knack for solving the most gruesome of crime but also a penchant for drugs, hookers and infidelity. After his discovery of the infamous box at a murder scene, he finds his life spiralling into dark visions and possibly teetering on insanity. The faithful need not worry, Doug Bradley does pop up as the ever reliable Pinhead, but what takes this a step above is his almost supporting role to the excellent Craig Scheffer as Thorn, in what unfolds as a genuinely unsettling and darkly humorous morality tale. Ignore the straight-to-video repuattion and seek this one out, you won't be disappointed. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=77yCHOd3c60

They (2002) - OK, so no-one is ever going to accuse Laura Regan of giving Meryl Streep sleepless nights, but her rather unsympathetic characterization aside, this little horror gem hits the spot for me every time. At a time when "Sam Raimi Presents" on a cover or poster had me cringing ("Boogeyman" or "30 Days Of Night" anyone?), seeing Wes Craven's name attached as producer here was actually a comfort, as here his influence is very apparent, as this is a pleasingly unironic things-that-go-bump-in-the-night story. Student Julia Lund (Regan) is traumatised after witnessing the suicide of estranged childhood friend Billy, with whom she shared a history of "night terrors" as a youngster. his obtuse warning's about "them" and "staying in the light" seem to her as the rambling of a disturbed mind, until she meets his two friends at the funeral and discover that, like her, that thing from their childhood nightmares seems to be coming back for an unwanted visit. As mentioned, Regan does not make the most likeable lead, but the monsters themselves are treated with respect, suitably shrouded in darkness and with some stunning sound design to them, and the end has a brilliantly sour touch to it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dy1x23yLuSg

Cube 2: Hypercube (2002) - Firstly, just let me state that Vincenzo Natali's stunning original "Cube" is actually one of my favourite films ever, and probably the best low budget sci-fi ever made.With that in mind, and his approval, the producers only really had one option here; bigger, better, faster, more. And so we open again with an unexplained disappearance and the waking of a group of seemingly random people in the cube, only this time, whoever is behind this ingenious deathtrap seems to have raised the stakes: time and space and almost reality itself seem to be conspiring to stop any kind of escape. We have a diverse but realistic and interesting bunch of characters:, the teacher, the PI, the shrink, the geek, the lawyer and, most interestingly, the blind student and bonkers OAP (senior citizen for our American readers, natch). And added to some great character acting considering the restraints of filming, the effects have truly been beefed up, all I will say here is watch out the diamond. And as with the original, the ending will leave you with a wonderful sense of unease, but do yourself a favour and ignore the missing-the-point-prequel Cube Zero. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R4N86WL4TvM

Mimic (1997) - How has this film almost been written out of film history? To be fair Mira Sorvino has never really capitalised on her Oscar for "Mighty Aphrodite" and is a strange (but good) choice for a sci-fi heroine, but the rest of the cast, namely Josh Brolin, Charles S. Dutton and Jeremy Northam are much more dependable. But for many it should be heralded as the English language debut of none other than Guillermo Del Toro, so how it remains largely unnoticed is a mystery to me. The story is solid and sometimes ingenious stuff: entomologist Sorvino and her partner (Northam) save the city from a plague of cockroaches which is decimating the child population by genetically engineering a giant bug to attack the roaches, with the bug itself bred to have a limited natural life. Needless to say, all concerned underestimate their new creations ability for adaptation, and when people start to go missing underneath the city, the teams physical and mental prowess is tested to the limit. Stunning visuals, set design, an intriguing creature and, thankfully, a decent script, all add up to make this an unsung hero of the "creature-feature" genre. And for once, the two straight-to-video sequels are actually weel though out and worth your time too. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LL-GB11uyTI

Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977) - And so to what many see as the biggest folly in both horror and sequel history, John Boorman's frankly insane metaphysical follow-up to my favourite film ever. On paper, most of it seems pretty straightforward: three years after the death of Fathers Karras and Merrin at the hands of the possessed Regan McNeil, Father Philip Lamont (Richard Burton) is sent to investigate the real events surrounding the exorcism and subsequent deaths, as Merrin's reputation is under threat from those on the inside trying to discredit the authenticity of the case rather than have the church admit the possibility of any supernatural occurence. To this end Lamont finds the now 16 year old Regan staying in New York with housekeeper/nanny Sharon and in the care of psychiatrist Dr Gene Tuskin (Loiuse Fletcher, the film's saving grace). This is where I will leave the plot details, as anything else could potentially spoil what must rank as one of the most genuine curios in film history. The film was panned for many reasons:, Burton and Fletcher seem to be in two completely different movies, her in the contemporary 70's and him from a Hammer style schlockfest; the bizarre borderline comical dialogue ("I am Pazzuzzu!") to the downright puzzling African-set scenes with James earl Jones in full tribal get-up. But what keeps it watchable is the flashes of genius that pop up; the aerial effects are wonderful, the story, at heart, is an interesting musing on the nature of good and evil and man's possible evolution to overcome this, and it also boasts one of the late Enio Moriconne's most out-there soundtracks. If you only see one, widely-panned movie, make it this one. Oh, and it has officially the most batshit crazy trailer EVER! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tFspymGVZLY

So there you have it: I'm not claiming you will like all of (or indeed any) of these, but I do say make up your own mind before you listen to the doubters.

In Cinemas:- The Advenutres Of Tin Tin: The Secret of The Unicorn

Plot:-

After buying a model ship at a market place Tin Tin (voiced by Jamie Bell) gets kidnapped by Sakharine (Daniel Craig), then manages to escape and ends up on a fantastic adventure with drunken sailor Captain Haddock (Andy Serkis).

Review:-

As a child I loved the old Tin Tin cartoons. They were light, and they were fun. For the first time ever, Herge's wonderful creation has been brought to the big screen in a feature length adventure.

First and foremost Tin Tin looks incredible. Peter Jackson and Weta were the first to use Motion Capture succesfully, James Cameron and Avatar perfected it, and now Spielberg has dabbled his hand in this useful technology. The depth and colour are breathtaking, the characters incredibly detailed and after only a short period of time you forget that you're watching animation and not live action on screen.

Script and plot wise, The Secret Of The Unicorn isn't brilliant. It feels rushed, and at times the trail they follow can be slightly confusing. The main reason for this I think is to keep the run time down as this is aimed at at families and children. They could not afford to run beyond 105 minutes at the risk of losing the attention of the younger audience.

In saying that it is still an enjoyable watch. The voice performances are solid, with Daniel Craig oozing sinisterness and arrogance with every syllable. The main star of the show, unsurprisingly, is Andy Serkis. His portrayal of Haddock is funny, and extremely well done, with his Scottish accent near perfect. (I say near perfect, he mispronounces a few words and as a Scot I noticed them all).

There is plenty of humour abound as well, going from the slapstick which comes mostly from Thompson and Thomson (Simon Pegg and Nick Frost), and a few great one liners from Captain Haddock. There is a particularly funny moment right at the start when Snowy wrecks Tin Tin's house chasing a cat.

The biggest success in 'Unicorn' is Snowy, Tin Tin's faithful Terrier. Snowy is a joy to behold and steals nearly every scene throughout the movie. Displaying intelligence and silliness that you'd expect to see from man's best friend!

Verdict:-

Over-all decent fare. It is worth watching for the visuals alone, however it could have been so much better if they had spent a bit more time on the plot and a bit less on everything else.

6/10

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DW6TkX1YOK8

Lord Of The Rings:- 10 Years on

By Euan ' Trepo Brandybuck' Campbell

Over the past week or so, I've taken the time to watch the extended editions of Lord Of the Rings on Blu Ray, in celebration of the upcoming tenth anniversary of the release of 'The Fellowship of the ring'.

Its hard to believe that ten years have past. In movie terms we've seen some great moments and some truly terrible ones. We've seen a whole generation of movies pass with Harry Potter ( I'll be covering those in a few weeks time), and the star wars prequels have come and gone (ok so episode one was '99 but the others were in the noughties).

Reflecting back, it makes me appreciate once again how good LOTR actually is.

For the first time in history it was decided to film all three movies together, back to back. Some say this was crazy, I say this was inspired.

From the very first moment I was gripped. The back story of the ring of power gave Weta a chance to flaunt their magic early on, and from that moment they never looked back.

From here Peter Jackson took us on a mesmerising, sweeping adventure full of everything you could possibly hope for in movies.

Now the cynics would say that all they did was convert books to movies, but they did so much more.

As an avid fantasy fiction reader, I can admit that reading Lord Of the Rings is no pleasure cruise. Its long, and a lot of it is slow moving, and often the detail was overwhelming, so to convert this epic trilogy into a movie friendly story was a momentous challenge.

First and foremost, for me casting is everything. With the right cast you can accomplish anything, and Lord Of the rings combined a wealth of up and coming youngsters (Elijah Wood, Orlando Bloom) with a few carefully selected veterans (Sir Ian McKellen, Christopher Lee, John Rhys-Davies) in key places to hold it all together.

Ok some of the performances in patches were not what you could call quality , but over-all the standard was high. None so more than what Viggo Mortensen displayed as Aragorn.

Aragorn is the key to the whole thing in my opinion, if they got him wrong then the whole thing would have crumbled, but fortunately after a last minute decision by Jackson and Co, they got their man.

Viggo's performance was intense yet subtle, fierce yet Tender, and he displayed a leadership that carried the rest of the cast on this epic journey.

The trilogy is much too long to do a synapsis, so I won't bore you with one, but to be honest if you're reading this article now, then you'll have seen the the movies yourselves so doing one would be pointless.

LOTR brought epic battles and quiet emotion. It brought comedy and fear, Love and anger.

It took the time to develop the characters in a way that gave a connection to its audience, and it delivered stunning set pieces back to back.

I for one will admit to getting emotional at the Grey Havens, watching the movies make me feel like I have been on the journey myself, and that is a rare quality in modern day cinema.

LOTR also brought with it the first succesful use of motion capture technology, which has already benifitted some of the best film-makers of our generation.

The Creature Gollum is magnificent achievment, and displays a truly incredible performance from And Serkis, which I believe should have gotten recognition from the Academy (I'll touch on this more in a future article).

So here we are 10 years later. The Lord Of The Rings does not look dated in anyway. It is still as moving and breathtaking as it was the first time I saw it, and Iv no doubt I will feel this way every time I watch it in the years to come.

'I will not say do not weep, for not all tears are an evil'