Category: Film Reviews

The Year Dolly Parton Was My Mom DVD Review: Canada, Eh?

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The Year Dolly Parton Was My Mom DVD/Blu-ray, released on 27th May.

Tara John’s directorial debut is the coming-of-age story of Elizabeth (Julia Sarah Stone), an 11-year-old on the brink of an adolescence that is taking its sweet time in getting here and making a woman of Elizabeth in 70’s Canada. Amid the frustration on awaiting her period and the complicated politics of pre-pubescent friendships, Elizabeth learns via a school science project that she’s actually adopted.

The news inevitably creates a myriad of problems for Elizabeth and her family. Her mother Marion (Macha Grenon) tries to connect with her daughter but is held back by her shame of not being Elizabeth’s real mother and the idea of 50s womanhood that she’s lived her whole life by. Do It!

Dracula – Prince of Darkness Review: Silent But Deadly

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Dracula: Prince of Darkness on Blu-ray Available From 5th March

Sparkly Twilight vampires might be all the rage right now but you just can’t beat a good old fashioned Dracula movie.  Hammer’s classic vampire movie, Dracula Prince of Darkness, is released on Blu-ray this month and thanks to a fantastic restoration job, the lure of the legendary bloodsucker is as strong as ever.  

The Kents are Alan and Charles, two well-to-do brothers and their wives, Helen and Diana, travelling in the shadow of the Carpathian Mountains.  As the classic Dracula tropes dictate they of course stop off at a tavern only to be warned that they should avoid visiting a particular castle (guess whose?).  Do It!

Whisper of the Heart Blu-ray Review: Clever Whisper Or Heart Related Pun

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Blu-ray Releassed on 9th January 2012

Based on the manga of the same name, Whisper of the Heart is the 1995 Studio Ghibli coming-of-age film film that is now available on Blu-ray but despite its charm and beauty, the hardcore Ghibli crowd may find themselves dissatisfied with this one.

Shizuku Tsukishima (Brittany Snow), a middle-school girl whose nose is always in a book, embarks on her first adolescent relationship with the antagonistic yet sensitive Seiji. The two inspire each other to follow their dreams but Shizuku struggles to cope when Seiji’s passion for making violins leads him to move away to Italy. Fighting with her family over her future, Shizuku is sure that if she can write a whole book by the time Seiji returns, she’ll prove to them that she has what it takes to follow her heart. Do It!

Things I Observed/Noticed/Became Aware Of As I Watched Girl With A Dragon Tattoo

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Or the alternative title, When Reviewers Get Lazy.

This is not a complete review because basically I can’t be bothered and nobody asked me to write one. Whatevs. Plus it’s holiday time, glad tidings and all that jazz so I get a free pass on doing blog stuff.

Here are just a few things I noticed about Girl With a Dragon Tattoo, the David Fincher remake. These aren’t all my thoughts, just a few of them. Spoilerish. Do It!

Cars 2 Review: Start Your Engines…..And Drive Away

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On DV Release From 21st November

There’s a good reason why Finding Nemo, Toy Story and Wall-E are classed as ‘beloved’ Pixar films. All of them have engaging characters, compelling stories and, most importantly, they have heart. This indefinable trait is what will keep children and adults alike talking about these films for years to come, why they’ll share them with the next generation and why no one cares whether or not they’re one of the highest grossing films for Pixar. I only wish the same could be said of Cars 2 but whenever this film is written about, the biggest point of the story seems to be how much money it made which is unfortunately the most interesting part of the Cars 2 phenomenon. do It!

Hugo Review: Paris Je T’aime…Kinda

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HUGO: On General Release From 2nd December 2011

The 3D bandwagon has had some extra weight thrown on to it since Martin Scorsese decided to use the technology to make Hugo, a charming Christmas movie based on the book ‘The Invention of Hugo Cabret’. Going up against other three-dimensional fare like Arthur Christmas, Hugo may be able to hold its own but this Parisian adventure might not be quite the draw Scorsese hopes it will.

Orphaned Hugo (Asa Butterfield) is living inside the walls and clock towers of a large Paris train station, keeping the clocks in working order and avoiding the vigilant station inspector (Sacha Baron Cohen). Do It!

Toy Story 3D Blu-ray Review: Play Time

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Toy Story 1 3D Blu-ray: On General Release From 14th November

Just in time for Christmas, Disney are releasing the wildly successful Toy Story trilogy on 3D Blu-ray, joining the other Disney re-releases Beauty and the Beast and The Lion King. There’s still some debate over how effective 3D Blu-rays are but make no mistake, if you were going to give it a go, there’s no better trilogy to try it out with.

Being the very first Pixar movie, it’s hard to believe Toy Story could be so unbelievably close to perfect but you’d be hard-pressed to find a fault with this fantastic film. Audience members will definitely have a fondness for the 1995 design style of the film that’s almost nostalgic but with the Blu-ray quality, it looks as good as most animated features today do. Do It!

The Legend of The Soldier Review: Little Drummer Boy

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The Legend of the Soldier: On DVD Release From 10th October

For those of us not up on the historical beef between Napoleon’s army and the Catalan rebels in 1808, Legend of the Soldier, paints a vivid picture of the battle of Bruc in which one Spanish drummer boy defeated the invading French army. As important as this legend may be to the Spanish, UK viewers may well be scratching their heads as the story relies on a pre-existing knowledge of the battle, so it wouldn’t hurt to do a little research before watching as much is left unexplained.

In the wake of the battle, a simple coal miner/military drummer boy, Juan (Juan José Ballesta) tries to return to his normal life and his beautiful fiancée Gloria (Astrid Bergès-Frisbey). The French’s defeat is bitter for Napoleon who orders brave Captain Maraval (Vincent Perez) to bring back the head of the Spanish drummer. Maraval and a band of soldiers travel to Juan’s small village in the Catalan mountains and slaughter his family and kidnap Gloria in an effort to draw him out. Do It!

The Nightmare Before Christmas 3D Blu-Ray Review: Dream Come True?

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The Nightmare before Christmas 3D Blu-ray: On General Release From 3rd October 2011

It seems Disney are going all out in an effort to convince audiences that 3D is the way forward and, for the most part, it seems to be working. Disney have been carefully choosing their re-releases from the vaults and Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas seems like the perfect candidate for a 3D Blu-ray release. Though the 1993 animation is a family favourite, can it stand up to HD scrutiny?

Jack Skellington is the thin-limbed leader of the kooky cast of characters living in Halloween Town. After spending year after year surrounded by ghosts and ghouls, Jack leaves in search of something new and finds Christmas Town. When Jack convinces Halloween’s inhabitants that they should try Christmas themselves, things go horribly wrong for the expectant children of the world who instead of receiving puppies and dolls get shrunken heads and vampire teddies. Do It!

Chalet Girl Review: Fresh Powder

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On DVD Release From 3rd October 2011

Despite being pegged as a Cinderella story on a snowboard, leave your preconceptions at the door because Chalet Girl is a far more effective film than UK audiences gave it credit for upon release.

Felicity Jones stars as Kim, a skateboarding prodigy whose mother’s untimely death via car crash put the kibosh on Kim’s dreams. Living with her out-of-work father (Bill Bailey) and working in a fast-food place isn’t cutting it for Kim anymore so she jumps at the chance to be a chalet girl in snowy Austria. Showing Kim the ropes is Georgie (Tamsin Egerton), the posh totty who is inexplicably working as a chalet girl for Bill Nighy and Brooke Shields. Gossip Girl’s Ed Westwick and One Tree Hill’s Sophia Bush are their handsome son Johnny and fiancée Chloe. Do It!