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What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas, right?  Well not if you accidentally get married (and the accidentally win 3 Million Dollars with your new wife’s quarter) it doesn’t.  What Happens In Vegas is the story of Jack and Joy, two completely different people who decide that a trip to Vegas is just what they need to get over their own miserable existence.

Trouble is, when they accidentally meet, it’s like a firecracker has gone off and all inhabitations go out the window.  But not long after the bang has faded and Jack and Joy have sobered up do they realise the monumental mistake they have made.  Only one thing to do, get the marriage annulled.

Fate it seems has other things in mind for Jack and Joy as they land in front of a very pro-marriage judge who sentences them to 6 months of ‘hard marriage’ with compulsory weekly marriage counselling.

Any movie, especially a comedy, that includes Ashton Kutcher and Cameron Diaz in lead roles immediately sets off warning bells in my head.  It’s like putting two of the worst actors together and thinking that name recognition alone will make for a funny movie.  But strangely, this movie really works, it’s funny, seriously, in places you’ll be rolling on the floor.  And what’s more (and this might be considered a spoiler, but c’mon, this movie is as predictable as Obama getting elected) for a modern comedy about marriage, it turns out to be surprisingly supporting of marriage, which makes for a refreshing change.  It’s also not a soppy romantic movie that propagates the myth that marriage is a perfect fairy tale, but rather shows us that true love is worth fighting for.

So if you like a good cheesy, predictable and outrageously finny romantic comedies, then What Happens In Vegas is a sure bet.

Reviewed by: Jonathan Read.
Also Reviewed by: Josh Bowlin.
Rating: M – Contains offensive language and sexual references.
Release Date: December 18th, 2008
Stars: Cameron Diaz, Ashton Kutcher, Queen Latifah, Lake Bell, Dennis Farina, Rob Corddry, Jason Sudeikis, Treat Williams, Deirdre O’Connell, Michelle Krusiec, Zach Galifanakis, Krysten Ritter, Andrew Daly
Length (Minutes): 94
Media Format: DVD
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Languages: English
Subtitles: English
Supported Audio: Dolby Digital Surround 5.1
Director: Tom Vaughan
Studio: 20th Century Fox

The Tracey Fragments follows Tracey as she races against time and the approaching blizzard, through her fractured memories two stories are told, one of a tormented 15 year old girl from a dysfunctional family who is manically searching for her brother who she hypnotised into believing he was a dog, then lost track of him in the park by a river.  It’s also a story of ho and why she lost him and as both stories converge towards the final we discover why Tracey’s mind is so fragmented.

The Tracey Fragments is by no means an easy movie to watch – or follow, its almost constant use of multi image split screen cinematography well reflects the tormented mind of a 15 year old girl, but by over laying slightly different angles of the same scenes, whilst repeating and overlapping the conversation, doesn’t make for an enjoyable experience.

Had it been used more sparingly, even as a scene transition the outcome might have been easier to view and comprehend.

Despite the difficulty with the visual approach,  Ellen Page does a wonderful job of playing a convincing adolescent girl, lost, not only physically but emotionally and spiritually.

Reviewed by: Jonathan Read.
Rating: R16 – Contains violence,offensive language,sex scenes and content that may disturb.
Release Date: October 15th, 2008
Stars: Ellen Page, Ari Cohen, Max McCabe-Lokos, Erin McMurtry, Julian Richings
Length (Minutes): 74
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
Languages: English
Year of Original Release: 2007
Supported Audio: Dolby Digital Surround 5.1
Studio: Vendetta Films
Media Format: DVD
Director: McDonald, Bruce

A good vampire movie is a rare thing. Take Twilight for example. Twilight is not a good vampire movie; in fact I’d go as far as to say it really isn’t a vampire movie. The immortal un-dead are more of a figure of speech, a way to tell an age-old story, to add a little spice to an otherwise redundant tale. Blade and Underworld are fast food for the masses, neither satisfying nor nutritious. 30 Days of Night was a pleasure, but somewhat of a guilty pleasure. Then we have Let The Right One In (Låt den rätte komma in).

Let The Right One In is a spell binding fairytale of a vampire movie, a love story between a mortal 12-year-old boy and a vampire in the body of a 12-year-old girl. It’s a tale of acceptance, love, freedom and empowerment. It’s a warning that good and evil never really have a defined line of separation, that hope and tragedy go hand in hand with each other.

Oskar (the boy) is lonely. He gets bullied everyday and school and dreams of taking bloody revenge. His low self esteemed (not helped by the bullying) prevents himself from believing in his own abilities and petrifies any chance of revenge, or even standing up for himself.

Eli (the girl, vampire) moves into the apartment next door with her father. She only comes out at night (naturally) and sparks up a friendship with Eli. Her father harvests human blood for her to feed on so that she doesn’t have to risk hunting for herself, but he’s getting on in his years and fails more often than he succeeds.

Oskar shows Eli that there is more to life than cravings, that love can give you a strength you never knew existed, in return Eli gives Oskar the strength of mind to be bale to stand up to his bullies and watches over him to make sure he stays safe.

It’s a beautifully orchestrated tale that ambles along at a sedate pace, mesmerising you with its charm and ordinariness. In the end however, Let The Right One In flips everything on its head with a twist so genius that you just don’t see it coming, but once you’re there everything that happened throughout the movie makes perfect sense.

No blockbuster special effects or pounding rock soundtrack and a decidedly restrained use of gore gives Let The Right One In an air of reality (yes, I’m aware that vampires don’t exist) that allows the viewer to leave their brains engaged and encourages you to think about what’s going on. It’s here that you have to decide for yourself who the real monsters are and where the line dividing good and evil, hope and despair lies.

Reviewed by: Jonathan Read.
Rating: R16 – Violence, content may disturb.
Duration: 114 mins.
Genre: Horror, Drama.
Director: Tomas Alfredson.
Actors: Kåre Hedebrant, Lina Leandersson, Per Ragnar, Henrik Dahl, Karin Bergquist, Peter Carlberg, Ika Nord.
Release Date: 8th January 2009.

I’ve already done my ten best movies of the year and now that the New Year has rolled around, it’s about time I put my 10 favourite DVDs in a list form, so here goes:

1 | [REC]
Hey, I have a soft spot for Zombies and it’s been a while since I saw a good Zombie film, so when [REC] was released on DVD I whipped round to a mates place and watched it on his projector.  An original, edge of your seats, single location Zombie film that will get your heart pounding.

2 | The Black Balloon
Autism is close to my heart, so when Warner Bros released The Black Balloon in December it went straight into my DVD player.  People have been raving about Heath’s portrayal of the Joker, but the best performance I have seen this year would be that of Luke Ford playing the Autistic Charlie.  This is one movie that will break your heart.

3 | I Am legend
This Will Smith flim got a mixed response by critics and moviegoers alike, but for my money, I loved this apocalyptic tale with plenty of action and thought provoking messages.  It’s a pity they decided to over romanticise the ending though.

4 | Shooting Dogs
Hotel Rwanda might have got all the accolades a few years back, and I don’t want to make light of the movie, but for my money, Shooting Dogs was a much grittier take on the horrific events that took place in Rwanda, coupled with a message of hope, this is a movie worth watching again.

5 | Stranded
I first discovered the story of the Andes plane crash survivors a while back when I saw Frank Marshall’s Alive.  As good a movie as Alive was (at the time) it pales in comparison to watching Stranded and hearing from the survivors themselves, their take on the harrowing experience.  Slow at times, it’s still a compelling watch, and worth getting through to see their press conference at the end.

6 | Lost Season 4
Lost may have lost it’s way in season 3, but it injected itself with a double dose of adrenaline in season 4, easily making it the best thing on TV.

7 | 30 Days of Night
I might be a fan of Zombies, but vampires have never impressed me.  That is until the graphic novel turned into a move, 30 Day of Night weaved it’s blood splattered magic on me.  Relentless and somewhat believable, this is the best vampire movie I had ever seen.

8 | Cashback
Quirky but highly original, Cashback won’t be everyone’s cup of tea, but this tale of an insomniac with the ability to stop time has that special little something that made it one of the more memorable movies of the year.

9 | Day Watch
Visionary Russian director Timur Bekmambetov wowed everyone when Night watch got released, that after finishing Day Watch he was asked to direct 2008’s Hollywood blockbuster Wanted.  Now he’s working with Tim Burton to bring Shane Acker’s 9 to life.  Brilliant special effects driven entertainment.

10 | Death at a Funeral
There’s nothing like a good dose of black humour to round out the top ten, and Death at a Funeral will make even the most cynical of viewers crack up.

Now I will warn you up front, I am a fan of Adam Sandler. Yes that’s right, I am one of those people who actually enjoys the wacky and somewhat disorganized comedy that Sandler has mastered. Of course from having seen all of his previous films, there was a voice sitting in the back of my mind that warned me about a family film involving Adam Sandler. Often his humour is edgy based around adult themes and not just abstract. So the thought of Sandler teaming up with Disney put lots of questions in my mind. Such as, would the clean family nature of Disney water down Sandler’s funniness? Would Sandler’s edginess push a Disney film in a direction that doesn’t hold true to Disney’s core values? Or would Sandler’s wackiness be completely lost on an audience of kids?

Perhaps I was over thinking it a little before I entered the cinema, if there is one thing I have learnt as a film reviewer it is normally best to leave preconceptions at the door and enter with a clean slate of expectations.

So the story unfolds, Skeeter (Sandler) grows up as the son of a hotel manager whose love of a good story shapes Skeeter into a free spirited and laid back guy. On the flip side Skeeter’s Sister Wendy (Cox-Arquette) has always been the more serious of the siblings and when Wendy need’s to go out of town for a job interview she calls on Skeeter to babysit her two children. Of course something crazy happens when Skeeter’s imaginative Bedtime stories start to impact his normal day to day life.

So without giving away too much about the plot and the key comedic moments, Bedtime Stories weaves imaginative fairytale like bedtime stories into normal modern day life creating a cinematic experience that was very funny and very satisfying. I found myself laughing so hard at times that my seven year old daughter even asked me to laugh quieter.

The characters bring such wonderful collaboration to life that is a brilliant escape from the stress of day to day life, even if it is for just 90 minutes.

Reviewed by: Jon E Clist
Releases: Boxing Day
Rating: PG – Course Language
Running time: 99 minutes
Genre: Family Comedy
Starring: Adam Sandler, Courtney Cox, Kerri Russell and Russell Brand
Director: Adam Shankman

Pitched as a “contemporary reinvention of the 1951 science fiction classic”, ‘The Day the Earth Stood Still’ is a surprisingly compelling story of the sudden and somewhat final call to accountability to the human race. In what starts out as a trademark ‘Alien Invasion’ cinematic tale, we see a collection of strange energy spheres appearing all over the planet. As is usually the case, we see the American’s take charge of the international situation with an overpoweringly cocky attitude that further indicts the human race towards judgment. After all why not put together a crack team of the world’s brightest scientists (Who all seem to be American) in order to investigate and dissect the new and somewhat ominous spheres.

Enter the Alien, ‘Klaatu’ played by Keanu Reeves in his usual blank emotion-less serious manner. Now normally I might begin the critique of the two dimensional acting of Reeves, however as in ‘The Matrix’, it actually works for style and feel of “The Day the Earth Stood Still”. As he comes out in a strange biological suit he is met with resistance as he is shot by one of the multitudes of police, army and swat teams surrounding the landing site. This is where we see the captivating character of Dr Helen Benson (Jennifer Connelly) develop in intense connection with the alien. Connelly shows great class in her role of Dr Benson as she struggles to balance her desire for scientific answers with her natural instinct to protect her son (Played by Will Smith’s son Jayden Smith)

Now we get down to the nitty gritty of the film. The special effects and cinematography works well and create a nice consistency as the story unfolds. The acting is generally fine. The pace and flow of the film stands up and aids the unfolding of the plot to connect the audience with the general theme of needless destruction of the planet without being overly emotional about a topic that has generally crated such immense polarity of views and opinions worldwide, that of the impact of humanity on the planet.

The Verdict: Solid but not amazing cinema. An enjoyable film that does what it sets out to do, in merging science fiction with a social conscience.

Reviewed by: Jon E Clist
Releases: 11th Dec
Rating: M – Medium Level Violence
Running time: 104 minutes
Genre: Science Fiction, Fantasy
Starring: Keanu Reeves, Jennifer Connelly, Kathy Bates & Jayden Smith.

Life is always hectic at Chicago’s County General E.R., even more so now that Carter has left to find himself somewhere in the back lots of Africa.  This would be the season that proved that it didn’t need the nostalgia of original cast members to keep it going – though Carter does pop up in a couple of Episodes, County General was going to have to prove it’s self worthy, relying on new faces and plenty of interesting medical cases.

And prove itself it does – it’s not like Carter was carrying the whole show, the cast has been changing from season to season just like a real hospital would.  County General works just like any living, breathing ER in metropolitan USA, it’s just a little condensed, with a wide array of interesting cases and personal dramas to make sure the we the viewers never get bored.

It’s a strange magic that County General weaves in my life, I can’t pin point why I love the show so much, I think it’s that I’ve grown up with it, watching it on TV from season one, falling away in the later seasons only to rediscover it with the gradual release on DVD.  The dynamic nature of the ER, coupled with personal drama keep me hooked from episode to episode.  The production is tight and everything is balanced to perfection.  It’s a visual treat – albeit a little graphic in places that keeps the heart pumping and the brain engaged.

Things did get a little hazy towards the end of this season and I was worried that it was going to end on a whimper with it’s political posturing, but then the final episode comes out like Mike Tyson on steroids and punches you till you’re dizzy.  The only downside now is the long wait for season thirteen to make it onto DVD and the cliffhanger to be resolved.

Who lives, who dies, life always hangs in the balance at County General.

Reviewed by: Jonathan Read.
Rating: R13 – Contains violence and content that may disturb.
Release Date: December 1st, 2008
Stars: Goran Visnjic Maura Tierney Mekhi Phifer Sherry Stringfield Parminder Nagra Linda Cardellini Shane West
Languages: English
Year of Original Release: 2005
Studio: Warner Bros
Media Format: DVD
Length (Minutes): 926
Director: Various
Supported Audio: Dolby Digital Stereo
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1