REVIEW: Pixels

PIXELS is the latest Adam Sandler movie which preys upon people within a decade of Sandler’s age bracket and hoping that the lure of retro arcade classics will help this movie become the blockbuster that it promises to be. Up front and centre on both the poster and the trailer, is a gigantic Pac-Man that is terrorising the world. But before we go that way, where did this idea come from? Was it Sandler’s inspiration or some other source?

 

Well the truth is, is that it is based on a mini movie that had all the hallmarks of a fantastic idea. Check it out the clip, by clicking here.  It  was fantastic as an idea so it was to go without saying that someone somewhere would be wanting to take it further and sprinkle the “magic of Hollywood” ‘pon it. Sadly, it was Da Sandler who got his mitts on it. Part of the appeal of Adam Sandler films, original ones anyway, was the young goofball, wanting to be loved and trying to get the girl. Now he’s older, the template doesn’t fit quite so well, and this movie is a very similar premise, and sometimes it borders on creepy. In this movie the love interest is a really pretty girl who is visually a lot younger than the ageing Sandler and it looks more like a dad pursuing a daughter than two people who would fall in love.

 

However, besides that fact, Sandler’s character doesn’t really have any redeeming features (apart from really good at certain video games (read 80’s arcade machines)) so it’s difficult to see how those two would get together even in the constraints of this movie. There’s a sequence where the two of them are in a cupboard and it just doesn’t make any sense and feels rather strange to watch. You may have noticed that I have not even told you the names of these two characters, as the story is so weak I can't even recall them. But, IMDb promises me that Adam Sandler's character is called Brenner and Violet (Michelle Monaghan) is the love interest. Backing up those two characters, we have Kevin James (as the President of the United States?!), Game of Thrones star Peter Dinklage, Josh Gad and the creator of Pac Man himself, Professor Iwatani (even if he is played by an actor).

 

The movie goes like this (but if you have seen the trailer it basically explains the premise) but it’s this – in the 1980’s NASA send a message of greetings into space to show them what our lives are like in the 1980’s – complete with the arcade games of the day, speeches and music videos from the megastars of the day and more. However, instead of a message of hello to the universe, they took it as an act of war and therefore create arcade game characters to come to Earth to destroy us. It’s times like this when they should have just stuck with The Carpenter’s “Calling All Occupants…” song and left it at that. Anyway, this premise sounds damn good on paper – but as with a lot of movies these days it seems that it is not the inspiration but the execution of it that lets the movie down. As described, we have a talented cast with a mix of experience and the film does show sparks of brilliance on occasion, but this is few and far between. This is a copy and paste sci-fi action movie that doesn’t really take anything further forward in terms of story or character development.

 

The problem with this movie is that it’s a fantastic idea and has an epic selling point, and, like most movies of that ilk, it’s the execution of the idea that it falls prey to. Character development is mostly non-existent – and for the pixelated characters it relies solely on what we know in pop culture and that’s about it. Adam Sandler exclaims each video game character as if to tag it – the only thing missing is a hashtag graphic at the same time while he says it. In fact, as cheesy as it sounds, that wouldn’t look too much out of place in this movie. The movie then is heavily special effects laden and low on just about everything else. Even the low-fi HD pixelated characters are shallow.

 

Adam Sandler is getting older and the schtick that worked when he was younger just sparks of desperation and doesn’t seem to work in this instance. I think he needs to move on and try being a different type of character and move with both his audience and his career. The movie is below average and even the most die-hard fans of sci-fi and/or retro gaming (which demographic it is clearly gunning for) would struggle to say it’s a good movie (and yes, I’m one of them). The only film worse I have seen in 2015 is Fant4stic Four (see my review here) and this isn’t much better. If I had to sum it up – it’s all looks and no personality.

 

Pixels is out now on DVD and Blu Ray and digital download.

 

POPSCORE: 5/10

What am I talking about? Pixels movie
Where can I find out more? http://www.sonypictures.com/movies/pixels/
If you liked this try: King Kong (latest Peter Jackson version), Night at the Museum (which is far superior), Independence Day (ID4), Wreck it Ralph (which does the licensed characters a lot better)

Anything else?
The closing credits re-run a synopsis of the movie in 8-bit style.       

REVIEW: MOVIEBLAST: Crimson Peak (15) & Mr Holmes (PG)

Double review time as we go to MOVIEBLAST and binge watch on streaming site Wuaki with EE Film Club...

Crimson Peak (15) is Guillermo Del Toro's latest foray into fantasy horror starring everyone's favourite Marvel MCU antagonist, Tom Hiddleston. Backed up with other talent including Mia Wasikowska and no less than two actors from a Foxy's Favourite movie Pacific Rim (which is also directed by Del Toro) is this gorgeously shot fantasy horror.

The movie starts with a well-to-do family in America. Their daughter, Edith (Wasikowska) is coming to terms with the death of her mother (which includes seeing ghosts) and dealing with her overprotective father. When well spoken Englishman Thomas Sharpe (Tom Hiddleston) comes to America to try and get some financial backing for an invention, love gets in the way. Trying to woo her dad for cash and  his daughter for marriage, Sharpe uses his influence to try to achieve both aims. When disaster strikes. however, a love struck Edith returns to England with Sharpe and his sister Lucille (Jessica Chastain). Meanwhile her childhood friend Dr Alan McMichael (Pacific Rim's Charlie Hunnam) finds some unsettling news about these English visitors and goes to retrieve her from the ramshackled manor house in rural England.

Crimson Peak is a delightful film to look at using colour in such a lovely way. The sets, costumes and cinematography are fantastical and a pleasure to look at - however I found the movie to be a bit bland, unlike the scenery. I love most of Del Toro's works but this one just fell a bit flat. I feel maybe that it was to slow and took a while to say what it needed to. Hiddleston's look was far too similar to Loki in the MCU for my liking but his performance was strong. Alice in Wonderland's Mia Wasikowska was great in her role, even though some of her outfits looked like she raided Lady Gaga's wardrobe. The supporting actors were fab too.

Overall this movie looks the business but ultimately fails to deliver on time. It felt more like a paint by numbers horror movie; one for beginners - more fantasy than scary but it's ok nonetheless. Decent for a night in, but not much more. I loved the Johnny Depp fronted Dark Shadows, which is what I expected this movie to be like (from the DVD cover and look of the movie) but it wasn't. Not the strongest entry into Del Toro's collection but probably one of the prettiest to look at.

 

Crimson Peak is out now on DVD, Blu Ray and all good streaming sites.

 

POPSCORE: 6/10

Mr Holmes (PG) stars Sir Ian "Gandalf" McKellen as the ageing Sherlock Holmes in his twilight years. Years later, after his final assignment, Mr Sherlock Holmes has retired to the country to attend to bees and live in a country house. Estranged from Dr Watson and never married, Holmes lives alone save for his housekeeper Mrs Munro (Laura Linney) and her inquisitive son, Roger.

Holmes befriends Roger who keeps him on his toes. Roger is similar to Holmes in a way and is impressed by his mental capacity to think logically and deduce problems and mysteries. However, here's the rub - and the interesting crux of this film - Holmes is diagnosed with dementia!

I have wanted to see this film for some time. The idea of having a literary character develop dementia - (especially for one such as Holmes who is famed for his mental capacity) - is quite a unique take on the mythos of Sherlock Holmes. As his mental capacity declines, with the help of the ever inquisitive Roger, Holmes tries to piece together his last assignment of which he has forgotten.

McKellan plays the younger Holmes and the ageing one well and brings a human side to the man who was almost robot-like in his reasoning and deduction. He infers the frustration well as you would expect from a character famed for his mental capacity. Roger is played well by the young Milo Parker and I can see great things for him in the future.

If you are looking for excitement, edge of your seat Sherlock you are so looking in the wrong place - that is the domain of Cumberbatches or Downey Jr's. This is a slow burning drama, chronicling his decline in mental health and all that goes with it. I would say it's a drama... no, it would be more of an exploration of an idea on film of how this premise would pan out. There is some semblance of story - but the most exciting parts are told in flashbacks. It's not the best film in the world but has such an interesting premise it is worth a watch on a cosy night in or a rainy Sunday afternoon.

Mr Holmes is out now on DVD, Blu Ray and all good streaming sites.

 

POPSCORE: 6/10

REVIEW: Star Wars: The Force Awakens (iMAX) 3D Version (12A)

In 1983, young people the world over saw the conclusion to one of the most quintessential sci-fi series of films ever known. They were introduced to the Ewoks, story arcs were completed and people went home satisfied. Names like Luke Skywalker and Han Solo became household names in reality and legend in the fictional universe. Since then, they have never really left our imaginations or pop culture. Darth Vader died in Return of the Jedi, but redeemed himself, and all was good in the world.

 A few decades later, George Lucas decided to try and replicate the mania that was prevalent back after the first trilogy was released. In 1999, it came amid fanfare and you couldn’t go wrong with great actors like Ewan McGregor and Liam Neeson could you? Er, yes, yes you could.

The “new” trilogy, Episodes I-III (Lucas loves his numerals) or “the rubbish ones” – whatever you would like to call it, seemed like a shameless cash in and a major step back for Star Wars as a franchise. There had already been an amassed back story both forward of the “original trilogy” and back. In keeping with the canon, Lucas had to go back – and retell the story before the characters we knew. Some of it hit home –Yoda was good but the CGI version lacked the appeal of the “muppet” version of the originals though. Darth Maul was intense but vastly underused and with the exception of the endgame of the first movie, was pretty much a redundant character. Anakin in the first movie was just basically a young Wesley Crusher, and the relationship between Anakin and Padme in the later ones, was just weird. And the biggest issue of all was a Gungan called Jar Jar Binks. Lucas had tried to recreate the Star Wars we loved but it just didn’t work very well, even though, I personally thought Episode III wasn’t really that bad.

Lucas sold the rights to Star Wars to Disney a few years ago for about $4billion and basically will never have to work again in about 150 lifetimes. Meanwhile, Disney thought about how they could do what they did with Marvel and turn a troubled franchise into something remarkable. First, they scrapped everything as canon, other than the new cartoon series and the movies. Which caused a bit of a stir – but the good thing was Chewie was still alive! They have kept this previous canon though and now refer to it as “legend” but is not part of the new storylines created henceforth. Which makes sense really since the future as written in the previous canon was getting cluttered and making a new movie to fit in with it all (except for making a book into a screenplay (which I think was bandied about after the conclusion for Episodes I-III)) would have been difficult to say the least.

Then, they drafted in JJ Abrams who had been rebooting the Star Trek franchise. I’m sure many fans, like myself, were concerned about this as the Trek reboot wasn’t bad, but could have been better and… what the hell is going on with all the lens flare? It was unnecessary and made the film seem shiny and distracting.  Social media was wondering about the movie – would it be more JJ Abrams or will it be more Jar Jar Binks? After something like a two year tease, on 17^th December (or 18^th depending) The Force Awakens opened…

…And broke every box office record in the galaxy.

The Force Awakens stars unknown actors John Boyega and young starlet Daisy Ridley as Finn and Rey respectively.  As you may not have seen the movie yet and may wish to I will try to avoid major spoilers but I will be telling you some things so you have an idea at what the film is about. If you do not wish to know, go down my review and read the final paragraph which is a conclusion about the film and will not tell you any spoilers.

 

Firstly I waited to see the iMax 3D version and it was a very good version indeed. The 3d was good (some cool parts where things fly out at you) and this is the sort of epic movie you would want to see in iMax.

If you are still with me – let’s go…

Possible light spoilers ahead - (skip to last paragraph)

The film begins with a Resistance pilot named Poe who has a funky droid called BB-8, and is seeking to find Luke Skywalker who has disappeared. As an attack force led by the mysterious Kylo Ren, Poe tries to escape. Meanwhile we see a stormtrooper tussling with his conscience – something we’ve never really seen before in a Star Wars movie - and this makes them more individual. The new Stormtrooper outfit is smarter and snazzier, and, like most of the equipment, vehicles and outfits in the movie, have been upgraded to a more modern look. X-Wings are now black, and TIE fighters look more swish – but are still as fast. Poe is caught, but BB-8 escapes to pass the message on.

There’s a slew of new characters in the mix too – Finn (the Stormtrooper mentioned above), Rey (a young lady who is great flying spaceships, using a blaster, a lightsabre, etc), Poe (who, sadly, has the same name as a Teletubby) and lovable droid BB-8 (who, let’s be honest, is R2-D2 for the social media generation). Backing up this glamourous new bunch include the old favourites Han Solo, Chewbacca, Luke Skywalker, Leia and the droids, Threepio and Artoo.

For the bad guys there’s the wannabe Darth Vader - Kylo Ren (who’s got a history), General Hux (a fanatical with a crisp RP English accent that would make the BBC proud), a multitude of Stormtroopers (including one played by Daniel Craig) and a creepy hologram called Snoke (who is apparently a Supreme Leader).

JJ Abrams had a very difficult path ahead of him, but, like a Jedi (do there is no try) he has excelled himself in this movie. Minimising lens flare and sticking to Star Wars lore as much as he can, Abrams gives the yearning public the best Star Wars movie since Empire Strikes Back in 1980. The movie has elements of a paint by number Star Wars with an X-Wing sequence right out of Star Wars and other set pieces similar. What could become a generic rehash instead becomes familiar and makes it feel more true to the Star Wars feel of this picture.

Locations are built with the cast actually there, so there is a lot less CGI than you would expect – though it is necessary in a world full of lightsabers and laser guns.  The technology has been given a makeover – a bit like the difference between a Ford Escort and a Ford Focus – both are similar cars but one looks a bit more modern and swisher than the previous one.

Harrison Ford returns as ladies’ favourite, Han Solo, and it’s like he has been in character since Return of the Jedi as so comfortable has he slipped back into the role. The dynamic is still there with Peter Mayhew’s Chewbacca and they are a great sight to see on the big screen again. Chewbacca is fantastic – especially with some of the asides he does which are just fab. But the moment they both walk back onto the Millennium Falcon and Solo utters, "Chewie, We're home!" complete with that half smile of his, just pretty much sets the nostalgia chimes ringing.

The new cast do a sterling job of carrying such a weight on their shoulders and Princess (who is now General) Leia is woefully underused. BB-8, the new circular droid, fills in for the loveable duo of C-3PO and R2-D2, and, when all are on screen together they go from Laurel & Hardy to the Three Stooges. BB-8 seems more sonorous than the legendary Artoo, but both can share the screen without taking one from another.

Poe, the Resistance’s best fighter pilot, is introduced right at the start and has some cool moments, but, like Leia, is only in it sporadically and he seems a funky enough character who could give Han Solo a run for his money. Finn, the turncoat Stormtrooper, seems capable of great things but spends most of the movie hyperventilating and running away from things. This is a direct contrast to Rey, the heroine of the piece who can basically do everything and is good at everything which takes things away from her character a bit as she seems to be able to do everything the other characters can’t and then some.

Then we have the bad guys – leading the chase is Darth Vader wannabe Kylo Ren, resplendent in black with a funky lightsaber and a mask and voice that would rival Vader’s own. However, the mystery is not as shrouded as Vader was as we only have to wait half way through the movie to see him without his mask.

Finally, no Star Wars movie would be complete without a Death Star or something of that ilk and The Force Awakens doesn’t disappoint in this part either.

Spoiler over - (you can continue reading now)

In conclusion, Star Wars: The Force Awakens is clearly made by a director who both grew up with the franchise and adores it in equal measure. There’s enough similarity with the other Star Wars movies (by this I mean the original 70’s trilogy) to feel familiar yet enough difference to move it on and appeal to the next generation. There is a feel that this version of Star Wars reflects in the younger generation how their parents felt in the 70’s and 80’s growing up. The hype machine is in hyper speed and the merchandising is bordering on silly. But, the movie itself is a sturdy piece of filmmaking that is a worth addition to the franchise. This will go down as a classic in itself and make stars of the new actors representing the characters. The movie has shocks, twists, action and adventure, and that’s all you need in a good sci fi movie – especially Star Wars. I cannot wait for the next one, but the 30-odd year wait was worth it for this one. Well done JJ Abrams, you are now officially up there with Lucas, Spielberg and the other director greats. Star Wars: The Force Awakens is out now at all good cinemas.

POPSCORE: 9.5/10

What am I talking about? Star Wars: The Force Awakens movie
Where can I find out more? www.starwars.com/the-force-awakens
If you liked this try: Any of the other Star Wars movies, any Star Trek Movie, Spaceballs,   

 

Anything else?

This film follows on 30 years (ish) from Return of The Jedi - both in the story and in real life.
Abrams cast unknown actors for some of the lead roles - and much was made of the auditions in London earlier this year.

REVIEW: Mad Max: Fury Road (15)

George Miller, the septuagenarian director, returns with his latest Mad Max movie - Mad Max: Fury Road. No Mel Gibson here, but replaced by the ladies favourite, Tom Hardy. Also featuring a few other well known names including South Africa’s finest, Charlize Theron, Mad Max takes it forward for the next generation.

Using a dazzling array of amazing stunts (here’s to the old school) and minimal computer aided special effects, Mad Max features a dystopian world where everything seems to be miles away, and the people are all a bit strange.

The world in which they live is one I would never like to live in, but it draws you in with its dystopian vibe and barren landscape. Tom Hardy grunts his way through the movie, and for all that he plays the titular character, the main character, it could be argued, that Furiosa (Theron) is the main hero(ine?).

The bad guys are suitably clownish and crazy with a side order of sinister and evil. The movie is pretty much a road trip from one place to another – then they turn around and come back again. Although light on story, the movie is a dazzling array of stunts and explosions and there is an awesome guitarist with flames coming out of his guitar which pretty much plays for the entire movie as the soundtrack.

The cars (sorry, I think I would be better placed saying vehicles) are characters unto themselves and are often garishly made. Imagine The Fast and the Furious cars with horns and pipes and spikes and a jaded paint job and you wouldn’t be too far from this movie.

The movie is really quite good and I enjoyed it even though it was light on story and heavy on action. But, when a movie is this gripping, you can forgive such fallacies.

There are a couple of points about the movie I want to raise though – this includes the fact that Mad Max doesn’t really feature in this movie as much as he should have, and there was not a lot of dialogue or work for Hardy to do – apart from being tied up and being grumpy. Nicholas Holt’s character Nux, was suitable crazy and helped keep up the frenetic tempo we would expect the film to be. He also gets the best line: “Oh what a day, what a lovely day!”  Theron does a good turn as the heroine taking the slave girls away from the antagonist, and trying to save them. She is suitably kick ass and is a strong independent woman.

The movie overall is a good one, and there is talk of a few sequels too – hopefully Max will be featured more in it, but if not, maybe there’s more scope for a Mad Maxine or something. Who knows?

Mad Max: Fury Road is available on DVD, Blu Ray and download/streaming now.

POPSCORE: 8/10 

What am I talking about? Mad Max: Fury Road

Where can I find out more? http://www.madmaxmovie.com/

If you like this try: The original Mad Max movies, Fast And the Furious (if you like the road trip/car racing part), The Book of Eli, I Am Legend (both of these if you like the apocalyptic loner thing)

BYTE: Decisive December

I'm Paul ... and this is Paul & The Popcorn...

Welcome to a Decisive December, and, what's more - CHRISTMAS! The time for goodwill to all men - and of course children, women and animals - Christmas - however you perceive it, is the time to love each other, share that family time and generally try to make the world a better place. In January, the landscape changes to the new year and that is when we can start new, better habits and look forward to the year head, while simultaneously looking back over the journey we have come.

BUT! 2015 is not over by a long shot, even though, on the 9th December 2015 we still have a good three weeks or so of the month left. Lots of announcements for next year but the biggest thing this month is STAR WARS!

The hotly anticipated film number 7 of the unbelievably popular franchise is stirring emotions and the hype machine is in more overdrive than the Death Star crossed with a Borg cube! There's plenty of conspiracy theories, fan pics and suggestions and even curious things from the cast themselves but there's a few things we can be sure of - the original cast (where possible) is in it, and there is officially no Jar Jar Binks. I've got tickets for the iMax version in 3D - so I'll drop a review off as soon as I see it. Or near as!

Let's get to the computers - Star Wars has infiltrated this medium too with Star Wars: Battlefront - haven't played it yet but it looks great and has some great visuals. Looking like perfect match between FPS and our beloved Star Wars, it takes some of the iconic backdrops and allows you to take part in numerous battles the galaxy over. Is it any good? If you've played it - let me know in the comments.

The Steam Autumn sale has just recently finished and the new one, the awesomeness that is the Steam Winter Sale is (allegedly) kicking off on 22nd December. Save your money as there will be bargains aplenty.

If you are interested in Steam games but want to expand your horizons from just the triple A rated blockbusters and have a peek at other offerings - including indie developers, you could do no worse than checking out a SteamCrate. It says that each game is worth at least £3 and you get 10 random games each month - which could be anything from the latest releases to goodness-knows-what. I have subscribed to this and I'm going to do a review soon - so keep an eye out for it to see if it is worth it or not. They give you a 10% discount if you subscribe to their mailing list too, so it's worth doing that if you want to take advantage.

Looking at the latest stuff as well:

>   Xbox Live:  Games with Gold this month includes:

XBOX ONE gives you:

The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing

Knight Squad

Thief

XBOX 360 gifts to you:

Castlestorm

Sacred 3

All the Xbox games have limited availability and are yours to keep once you have purchased them. However, some are only available at the beginning of the month, some at the end and some longer than that. Generally though, there are some games for the first two weeks and then a different set two weeks after, so you need to move quickly.

>  PSN: PS Plus this month is as follows:

PS4 has:

King's Quest: Chapter 1: A Knight To Remember*

Gauntlet: Slayer Edition

PS3 gets:

SSX

Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon

Vita receives:

Freedom Wars

Rocket Birds: Hardboiled Chicken

Of course usual rules apply in that if you stop your subscription those games'll stop workin'. I know this to be true because it has happened to me.

* King's Quest is a five part game - I'm expecting you will have to pay for Chapters 2-5 - season pass is listed currently as £23.99.

Origin has another game on the house and it's Jade Empire: Special Edition - this was an awesome game in it's time so get it now before it's gone forever. As always you need to have an Origin account to get this - but it's really worth the time to get this game as it's fab. If you like Knights of the Old Republic and the more recent Old Republic MMORPG you'll love this.

As always we have Loot Crate and Nerd Block unboxings to look forward to...

...AND Marvel Collector Corps in December which, I'm told, is Guardians Of the Galaxy!

It's time to go now but - have a brilliant Christmas and a fabulous new year and I'll see you soon.

Keep being awesome!

Until next time

Paul

REVIEW: The Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse (15)

For those of you that know me, I have a few film rules - any movie that is two words long starting with "The" as the first word and any movies that have a sentence for a title immediately start my alarm bells ringing on the quality of the forthcoming movie. other things that worry me is sequels with the same characters but different casts playing them or a production company I've never heard of. Luckily, the "directed by M. Night Shayamalan" proviso has been removed as you may have seen an earlier post on this blog. In it, I actually thought his last movie, The Visit, wasn't that bad.

So already the film has warning bells ringing as it's practically a sentence for a title. But, unlike She's Having a Baby or The Englishman Who Went Up A Hill And Came Down A Mountain (or whatever it was called) the title of the movie sounds actually quite fun. And you know what? The film was fun too.

The film is all about three teenage lads who are all scouts. Ridiculed for still being in the scouts at nearly college age, the trio try to fit in. However when Augie is to be promoted to getting his Condor badge (whatever that is in Scout talk!), the three go camping to celebrate and to be awarded his badge from the rather strange Scout Leader Rodgers (David Koechner) - a man who has all the hallmarks of Ranger Smith from Yogi Bear and a penchant for Dolly Parton. The three lads - Ben, Carter and Augie are basically stereotypical teenagers - think the Goonies without Data. Ben is more of a leader type, wanting the girl and torn between the difficult friendships between the other two. Carter is just a typical teenager desperate to throw away his childhood, and see as much boobies and sex as possible. And Augie, the one who's desperately holding onto the Scouts and his childhood and is the geeky one, and the one who is cramping Carter's style. Along for the ride when things get a bit difficult is Denise, a kick ass blonde lady who works in a strip club called *ahem* Lawrence of Alabia. Her vocation it turns out, as she cocks a shotgun, is that she is a cocktail waitress and not a stripper.

Still there is plenty of body parts and gore and blood in this crazy tale of a town ridden with infected zombies. The start of the movie locks you in for what's in store as a stoner janitor enters a laboratory and accidently reanimates a dead person by falling onto some equipment and starts a zombie infestation. When the town is over run with zombies, its up to the three Scouts to use their uncanny scouting skills to help them save the town.

The violence is bloody and stupid at the same time and the movie itself is like a mish mash of others I'd seen before. If you stuck Shaun of the Dead in a blender with say, the Goonies, Ghostbusters and World War Z and siphoned it through a sieve, you would probably be metaphorically doing something as stupid as this film. It's nowhere near as good as those films mentioned just now but it is a different take on the zombie movie. It's fun, it's stupid and it passes the time. There are some generally laugh out loud bits - like zombie cats and some interesting uses of music in the movie - especially to Britney and Dolly, but it was never going to be a blockbuster. There are some silly moments too - all I'm saying is the trampoline scene - and this pretty much rounds off the whole movie.

Overall it was a fair attempt at the zombie genre - and an enjoyable watch. One for the lads or for some light hearted buffoonery. There's plenty more movies that are way better - but it's just good enough to spend some time with. Check it out and let me know what you think.

The Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse is out now at all good cinemas.

POPSCORE: 6.5/10

What am I talking about? The Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse

Where can I find out more? http://scoutsandzombiemovie.com
If you liked this try: The Goonies, World War Z, Shaun of the Dead, This Is The End

REVIEW: SPECTRE (12A)

It's been nearly 10 years that we have seen Mr Daniel Craig slip into the white tuxedo of cool and brining back the next iteration of Bond to a contemporary audience. In Casino Royale nearly 10 years ago in 2006, Daniel Craig was rough, gritty and a man's man. The women loved him for his ... well probably for the blue Speedo's which he managed to rock very well apparently. Seriously though, in a world getting sick of the camp and the pie in the sky gadgets, it brought James Bond to the modern times. Die Another Day was so out there it practically signalled the end of Bond altogether and the ageing Pierce Brosnan (who had held the franchise quite well up unitl then) was becoming a parody of himself.

Craig, in my eyes at the time, wasn't a suitable James Bond. However, after seeing his performance in Casino Royale my mind was changed. I ate my hat, swallowed my words, what ever you want to say. This version of James Bond was realistic, gritty, painful and witty and had the charisma of his previous incarnations but has a silent deadliness in his dealings with others. When, at the beginning of Casino Royale, he is asked about his first kill his quarry responds with, "the second one is much..." and off goes the gun and Bond replies coolly, "yes, considerably."

...that was one of my favourite lines of the first movie, and he does have some cool retorts, especially in the torture scene of Casino Royale. Quantum of Solace followed which took place straight after this movie and felt like the extended, straight to DVD sequel movie that was more of an extension to Casino Royale rather than a movie itself. Still it wasn't bad, but it didn't drop much hope for the one after that. But things did change.

Skyfall pretty much decimated the box office and, to me, it only felt like five minutes ago that that movie was at the cinema and Adele's track, Skyfall, was doing the rounds and doing it's own record breaking as it was. Skyfall was a conscious move by the makers to bring Bond back to what we know and there were a lot of changes made to set up Spectre, Daniel Craig's fourth outing as our favourite spy.

Spectre then, is probably the Bond movie that is starting to get back to the Bond that our parents grew up with. Still maintaining the Bond we know from the Craig era and using ideas from the others, this is both a moving forward movie with the story but also an homage to the old ones. Some parts are blatant visual cues or references to the old movies, and some reference the more recent ones.

Spectre feels like it is a movie that has a story to tell and is on for quite a long run time, so you have to strap in for the ride. The action is judiciously spaced with character and plot developments and sometimes the talking and walking is on for a bit too long before anything exciting happens. For those who have seen all the other Craig era movies, then there is plenty to get your teeth into as it answers some questions, raises some others and has some nice references so you feel you are moving along with the character as they develop (i.e. there's a rather fetching porcelain bulldog on Bond's table near the beginning of the movie).

Director Sam Mendes and, of course, Daniel Craig return for the next instalment of the James Bond franchise. Most of the characters return from the previous movie - Mallory (Ralph Fiennes) from Skyfall comes into his own in this one, which is good because he came across as a bit of nasty piece of work in Skyfall. That role now is filled by 'C' or Max Denbigh who is wanting to disband the 00 initiative and have something more modern and new in it's place (involving drones and computer surveillance). I can't help but feel he would love to hang out with Silva from Skyfall with all of his computers. But 'C' is the least of our worries as Bond discovers the mysterious organisation SPECTRE led by the mysterious Oberhauser (Christoph Waltz) who has been "the architect" of Bond's misery since Casino Royale. Or, at least, so he says.

Backing up Bond once again is new pals Moneypenny and Q (Naomie Harris and Ben Whishaw respectively). I had my concerns about them changing Moneypenny too - but Naomie Harris does such a fantastic job that I was glad to hear that the makers of Bond want to keep the aforementioned characters (and their actors) for a few movies more.

Spectre starts at the Day of the Dead festival as Bond is following a lead to try and uncover the truth about recent events (i.e. what happened in Skyfall). As MI6 is undergoing changes in the office, Bond is told that, after causing some chaos, he is destined for some time off. As he leaves the office he enlists the help on Moneypenny and Q to continue his off-the-record investigation of this mysterious syndicate. Along the way he meets some rather attractive ladies in the form of Monica Bellucci and Lea Seydoux who provide the exotic Bond girl love interest. Bellucci claims the record of oldest Bond girl (though she isn't in it very long) and Seydoux's Madeleine Swann, though sexy, gives Bond a run for his money every now and then.

Heavy on exposition, story and character development, Spectre takes Bond into its next chapter. There is a lot going on here and it's great. The action sequences come when they are ready and when they do they are worth waiting for. There's some surprises, nods to the other movies and feels like a follow on though this could stand in it's own right. This is a great movie and is up there with the best, but in my opinion its not quite as good as Skyfall or Casino Royale.   

SPECTRE is out now at all good cinemas.

POPSCORE: 8.5/10

What am I talking about? SPECTRE, the latest James Bond movie

Where can I find out more? http://www.007.com
If you liked this try: The James Bond movies Casino Royale (2006), Quantum of Solace - basically the Daniel Craig era Bond, any of the Bourne series, Taken, Mission: Impossible series of movies 

Anything else?

The theme tune for this one is called The Writing's On The Wall and is performed by current pop star Sam Smith.  

SPECTRE is an acronym standing for Special Executive for Counter-intelligence, Terrorism, Revenge and Extortion. It is a fictional global terrorist organisation featured in the James Bond novels by Ian Fleming and prominent in the 1960s James Bond films.

BYTE: Original October

I'm Paul ... and this is Paul & The Popcorn - welcome to Original October - even though it's nearly finished!

The leaves are a-fallin' from the trees, it's getting colder and darker and we get to brush off our Hallowe'en costumes and go for the original cosplay on 31st October! Shortly after in November we have bonfire night and the month after that we are at Christmas. but before all that - we have October and here it is.

Let's look to the cinema - out this month is the latest James Bond offering SPECTRE which looks superb - but as I visit to see it will I think this will be better than Skyfall? Or will it be more Sky-fail? I'm going to see it on Wednesday - so I'll let you know.

Let's get to the computers - biggest release going forward looks like the old Call of Duty franchise will be reanimated (as there's probably zombies in this one) with the muchly anticipated Call Of Duty: Black Ops III.

Looking at the latest stuff as well:

>   Xbox Live:  Games with Gold this month includes the full games of Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes and The Walking Dead: First Season on XBOX 360 and for the posh 'uns who have XBOX ONE you are treated to Valiant Hearts: Then Great War and The Walking Dead: First Season to download free if you are a subscriber. So lots of subtitled titles here this month.

>  PSN: PS Plus this month is as follows:

PS4 has:
Broken Age
Super Meat Boy
Unmechanical Extended
Kick Beat
Kung Fu Rabbit

PS3 gets:

Unmechanical Extended

Kick Beat
Kung Fu Rabbit
Chariot

Vita receives:
Broken Age
Super Meat Boy

Of course usual rules apply in that if you stop your subscription those games'll stop workin'.

As always we have Loot Crate and Nerd Block unboxings to look forward to...

...AND Marvel Collector Corps in October which I received this morning and has the theme - VILLAINS.

It's time to go now but - have an awesome October and I'll see you soon.

Keep being awesome!

Until next time

Paul

REVIEW: The Visit (15)

M. Night Shyamalan's latest movie is The Visit,  a weird cross pollen genre of horror-black comedy with an over egging of found footage.  Having a peek at some lovely factoids about this movie, apparently M. Night made two versions of this movie - a comedy version and true horror one and the finished one is kind of a mix up of both.

The story begins as single mom decides to send her children - 13 year old Tyler (who pretty much steals the show with his charisma - if a little overbearing at times) and his older sister Becca, who is much more matter-of-fact and has an interesting vocabulary considering she's supposed to be about 15. In a vain attempt to get her mom to make peace with her estranged parents, Becca decides to make a documentary about their week long visit to see "Nana" and "Pop Pop". Although her mom isn't too forthcoming about why she abruptly left the house she grew up in and turned her back on her parents - Becca is desperate to find out the truth. When the kids go away, mom goes on a holiday with her latino lover, Miguel and the kids meet their grandparents for the first time. However, when the rule is not to leave the bedroom after 9.30pm, the modern teenagers flaunt this rule (mainly to sneak downstairs for some midnight snacks) and their grandparents are not all what they seem.

M Night has had a difficult time of late from the heyday of when he was awesome and could do no wrong - hit after movie hit came - Signs, Sixth Sense, Unbreakable - and it seemed he was. Then came the dross that was The Last Airbender and After Earth and his credibility was practically non-existent. Still he is churning out the movies, when maybe he should have stopped. However, this movie isn't bad, but he still has a long way to go to reach the former awesomeness that was his original set of movies. Shyamalan takes the now clichéd route of found footage and takes a stab at this genre - and those expecting a jumpy horror will be disappointed. Tyler (played excellently by Ed Oxenbould) is both endearing and wholesomely annoying, but is a welcome comic relief in the movie. His matter of fact sister - Becca (Olivia DeJonge) is also great as the sensible one, but she doesn't have enough time to develop as a character rather than a person to help the narrative along. The grandparents are suitably strange and Deanna Dunagan plays Nana with the endearing dodderiness of an old lady one minute and the slight of madness in the next. Pop Pop is also a strange character who is as grumpy and withdrawn as the children's mom is outgoing and loud.

The movie is definitely not one of M Night Shymalan's best, but it's certainly a step in the right direction for redemption after the recent disappointments he has helped fill the bargain buckets with in supermarkets. I have high hopes that he will be back as the go-to director for tense thrillers and people will again say - how awesome is that movie. This movie is above average, but I think that he is getting his form back and I hope that as he continues we'll be seeing a lot more awesome movies from this director who gave us such memorable movies in the past.

The Visit is out now at all good cinemas.

POPSCORE: 6/10

What am I talking about? The Visit - the movie
Where can I find out more? http://www.thevisit.com.au
If you liked this try: Paranormal Activity, Insidious, Sinister and any of the multitude of sequels. I would even suggest The Gallows or to a lesser extent the Blair Witch Project.

BYTE: Super September

I'm Paul ... and this is Paul & The Popcorn - welcome to Super September!

As the we leave the summer behind, September springs forth with a number of confusing weather patterns and darker nights - but also my birthday, a few more cool movies at the cinema and the transfer window closes on the football which means only one thing - FIFA is out and people are playing it!

But before we get to the computers let's look to the cinema - now blockbuster season is waning, there is still lots more to look forward to - films such as October's SPECTRE (the latest James Bond outing for Daniel Craig) and November's Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2 and December's Star Wars offering, the movies of 2015 haven't quite finished blowing your mind just yet. One on my "to see" list is Matt Damon's latest The Martian which looks superb - but at first I thought it was a sequel to Interstellar. If you've seen that movie, you'll know what I mean.

Let's get to the computers - the Star Wars themed next exciting installment of Disney Infinity 3.0 is now available and not only are we treated to some classic Star Wars charactes to play but also the new ones from the new movie are there too. Mickey & Minnie Mouse are also available as are the cast of Pixar's latest movie Inside Out. This expands the game somewhat and to round it off the Hulkbuster and Ultron are also available for the playset. Cool huh?

I also visited York comic-con which was a fantastic adventure at York racecourse. There was plenty of things to see and buy - and I came home with Jack and Sally Pop Vinyl's from Nightmare Before Christmas.

Looking at the latest stuff as well:

>   Xbox Live:  Games with Gold this month includes the full games of Crysis 3 on XBOX 360 and for the posh 'uns who have XBOX ONE you are treated to The Deer God and, surprisingly, Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition to download free if you are a subscriber.

>  PSN: PS Plus this month is as follows:

PS4 has:
Driveclub: PlayStation Plus Edition
Grow Home
Teslagrad
Super Time Force Ultra
Xeodrifter

PS3 gets:

Teslagrad

Twisted Metal

Vita receives:
Super Time Force Ultra
Xeodrifter
La Mulana Ex

Of course usual rules apply in that if you stop your subscription those games'll stop workin'.

Origin have another Game On The House which is Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2.

As always we have Loot Crate and Nerd Block unboxings to look forward to...

...AND Marvel Collector Corps in October.

It's time to go now but - have a super September and I'll see you soon.

Keep being awesome!

Until next time

Paul

REVIEW: American Ultra (15)

American Ultra stars contemporary starlets Jesse Eisenberg as Mike Howell and Twilight's Kristen Stewart as his long suffering girlfriend, Phoebe Larson. In a small town, Mike Howell is in a "perfect" relationship with his girlfriend. He works at a small convenience shop, is pursuing his dream of being a comic book artist and everything is going great. Great, until a new director of the CIA comes into play and decides that Mike is on his hit list to be eliminated. The former director takes umbrage to this and decides to warn Mike about his impending doom. Then the story unravels to find that Mike is actually a highly trained and genetically modified super soldier that has been deactivated. So, naturally when the CIA goes after him, the former director reactivates him. This then gives him heightened senses and abilities - not bad for a guy who likes to get drunk, stoned and suffers panic attacks.

What could be best described as Trainspotting meets Salt, American Ultra has the graphic violence of a manga comic or anime with a black comedy undertone. I found Eisenberg's character hard to like, and spends most of the time running away or cowering in the corner. But when he does fight it is both gruesome and quite gripping. What could have been an edge of your seat action flick becomes more of a run and hide operation and we only see flashes of this guys abilities. He is almost a superhero in his own right but we don't get to see enough of that.

Topher Grace plays a fantastically smarmy bad guy as the CIA director Adrian Yates and is as smarmy as he is dangerous. The ever reliable John Leguizamo is fantastic and basically plays himself - which is what he always does and it's great. It's also nice to see Bill Pullman in the mix too. Eisenberg plays a decent Mike - but the character himself doesn't really have much going about him. Kristen Stewart doesn't do bad acting here and is sometimes (I said sometimes) endearing but generally joins in the with run and hide/getting caught mould for most of the movie.

Although the movie is full of bloody violence, drugs, sex references and bad language there is one awesome moment where one of the head henchman called Laugher, has a moment with Mike after trying to kill him. He asks Mike who controls him. Mike replies, "No-one," and Laugher shows some real humility by replying innocently - "that must be nice." It was a fantastic and moving piece of cinematography which was probably one of the highlights of the film. The other spark of brilliance was when Mike is pinned down by a gun man in his own house and he throws a pan in the air and shoots a bullet to ricochet off it. It's things like this that make you think a bit more thought and this could be downright awesome!

The zero to hero storyline and the basic premise have been seen a million times before, but the movie is really strange but I can't put my finger on why. It's seems to be a bit all over the place and I was desperately trying to think what score I could give it and I found it difficult. I though 6/10 but that is totally doing it an injustice because it's actually ok as an action movie. Then 7/10 is being too generous. Even 6.5/10 is not quite right so, for the first time ever I'm giving a movie:

POPSCORE: 6.8/10

What am I talking about? American Ultra the movie
Where can I find out more? http://www.americanultrathemovie.com
If you liked this try: The Bourne Identity, Salt, Scott Pilgrim Vs The World, Hot Fuzz

EVENT: Sheffield Film & Comic Con

On 15^th & 16^th August, Sheffield’s Motorpoint Arena held their Showmasters fronted Film & Comic Con featuring an array of stars from the silver and small screen – and the slight peppering of sports stars. I knew I was in for a good convention when I walked in, saw ‘Hacksaw’ Jim Duggan and said, “Alright” and he replied “Alright” too.

First order of the day was to see the various stalls and sellers which had everything from replica swords to those Funko POP! Vinyls I love so much. There were cosplayers everywhere and some cool photo opportunities.

The celebrities were out in the gangway at various points and the stalls were in the stadium itself. To the back of the room there were photo opportunities with props and to the sides were two discussion areas – one for the cosplayers and one for the celebrities. The first order of the day was a caht with the wrestlers – WWE Hall of Famers “Million Dollar Man” Ted DiBiase and “Hacksaw” Jim Duggan took to the stage along with a TNA Tag Team Champion duo to talk about their experiences in the wrestling worlds. DiBiase was very candid about the goings on and said it was a very competitive market and is a very lonely life as you are always on the road. Duggan added that working with an inexperienced wrestler could be very painful. DiBiase said that a lot of the matches are predetermined – but the actual match (although they know the winner) was all improvised as it happened which made it more exciting. The tag team contributed through their eyes of more modern wrestling but it was quite interesting finding out about the classic wrestling I grew up with – and all of them seemed really nice people.

After the Wrestlers Talk the next guy up for a chat was none other than Michael Biehn, who discussed about Aliens, Hicks, Terminator and Kyle Reese. He said that and Aliens sequel had been greenlighted but he has not been asked to reprise his role yet – but he would be up for it if he was asked. He also said that although he hated what happened to his character in the sequels, this new movie will be a sequel to Aliens and will forget the Alien 3 and the really poor Alien Resurrection. Hopefully it will forget the AVP movies too.

I got to meet “Hacksaw” Jim Duggan and he was a lovely person and really friendly. We “Hoooooo”’d together and he signed my Wrestlemania Box Set DVD collection. I was tussling with the idea of getting a signed photo, but I have it in my head that I’d like a set of DVD’s signed by different wrestlers. I’m considering doing this with my Star Wars collection too. What do you guys think? Put a comment and let me know.

There was the opportunity to pose with some props and those of you regular readers to my blog will know I had my photo taken with the clockface from Back to the Future when I went to Newcastle Comic Con back in March. Here was even better – you could pose with Doc Brown’s tombstone or sit on the throne from Game Of Thrones. Best of all though – you could get a photo sat in the DeLorean from Back To The Future. I, of course, jumped at the chance and to get a photo for £5 in such an iconic car, it will be a picture I will treasure for a long time to come.

After the Delorean and Duggan I wanted to see Robert Englund, arguable the most popular guy at the event this time. I took a ticket to see him – number 297 no less. Even by 3pm he was nowhere near that. He was spending a lot of time talking to the fans and taking pictures so I never got to meet him – but he will be on my list next time. We did however get to see his talk which involved a skit about Freddy vs Jason and Freddy Vs Chucky (which of course Freddy would win). He was very entertaining and really enjoyed the talk and this rounded off my day.

I had early bird tickets and they cost £15 but you could have got standard ones for a bit cheaper, £8 I think. It was a well organised and enjoyable day with some great celebrities and all of us had fun. Well done Showmasters – I’ll have to come to Sheffield next year.   

REVIEW: MOVIEBLAST: The Gift (15) & The Man From U.N.C.L.E (12A)

THE GIFT (15) is  the latest movie starring Jason Bateman as Simon, a successful businessman with everything he ever wanted.  Simon gets a dream job and as a result has to move back home to an enviously lavish house with his doting wife. When Gordo (Joel Edgerton) his old classmate appears and leaves gifts outside his door things get creepy. However when Simon decides the gifts are getting too much and tells Gordo to leave him alone, a sinister letter from Gordo saying he will no longer let bygones be bygones threatens everything Simon knows. The Gift is a psychological thriller from Blumhouse Productions (who also were involved with Insidious and Sinister).  Good, thought provoking movie but not the horror I was expecting. 

POPSCORE: 7/10

THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E (12A) is Guy Ritchie’s take on the classic 60’s spy series has hit the cinema this week – and the question is – how did he do? Combining acting talents of Henry Cavill as Napoleon Solo and The Lone Ranger’s Armie Hammer as Russian KGB agent Ilya Kuryakin, this action fest is ready to blow your mind.

We are at a juncture whereby we are now in 2015 and the Sixties – which seems a long time away now – is ripe for picking from TV series and shows that have been beloved then but maybe forgotten now. Like Mission: Impossible, The Man from U.N.C.L.E was a much loved spy series and it has now been given a more modern makeover. I am not very familiar with the original series but remember my parents loving it back in the day – so this time I took my mam with me to see what she thought. Her answer? It’s nothing like the original.

The mismatched duo attempt to foil a standard world domination plan featuring a nuclear bomb. To do so they need to work together despite their differences and obvious distain for each other. Napoleon Solo, a smarmy ex-con with a penchant for speaking exposition and the grumpy but capable Russian special agent, Ilya Kuryakin find themselves in a race against time to save the world. It’s all very predictable and formulaic but it’s a fun movie nonetheless – I enjoyed it but it’s apparently very different from the original.

Henry Cavill plays a good role as Napoleon Solo, and Armie Hammer (known mostly for the dire The Lone Ranger) puts in a good performance as his Russian counterpart. Hugh Grant drops in here and there to add a little Britishness to the proceedings and the love interests are beautiful and deadly in equal measure. It’s a run of the mill spy film, based on a beloved 60’s show and it’s not bad. Good for a Sunday afternoon or if you’ve seen all the blockbusters out then there’s this to fill the void while you are waiting on the next hit movie. It’s not quite up there with Mission: Impossible, but the ending suggests there may scope for some sequels.

POPSCORE: 7/10

REVIEW: Inside Out (U)

For people of a certain age (by this I mean my age give or take a few years either side) there was a comic strip in the British kids comic The Beano called The Numbskulls. They were jelly bean shaped creatures with arms and legs and lived in the head of people and they would work together to operate the human body. I guess for the following generation you could say it was a bit like a Mech robot with a pilot or two but in a more organic way. For those of you familiar with either or both of these references – this is what Inside Out is kind of like. For those who don’t know what I’m talking about – read on. In fact just read on regardless because I need to tell you a bit more.

Inside Out is Pixar’s latest offering and is based around a young girl of around 11 years of age who is quite happy with her life. Then everything gets turned upside down (as opposed to Inside Out) when her father gets a job and they have to move from the leafy countryside to municipal surroundings of none other than San Francisco.  A simple story you may assume – but this story chronicles the effect it has on this little girl called Riley – in particular from an emotional stand point in ones head. Inside our heads (according to the movie) we have a set of fuzzy creatures that represent some emotions – Joy (glowing, radiant and ever optimistic), Sadness (who’s always feeling (and looking) blue), Fear (who’s always wanting to run away), Disgust (‘nuff sed) and Anger. All of these work together to create Riley’s mindset and, after a whistle stop introduction of human developments (and how these mind creatures appear and develop) they throw our heroine into this situation and this is where the film really gets going. A large potion of emotion, six helpings of imagination and a side of light comic relief in the form of Bing-Bong (Riley’s imaginary friend from when she was little) round off a thought provoking emotional journey of a movie.

I really liked this one and it really made you think. The trailer (of which I have seen a number of times) suggested that we would be bouncing around heads – as we saw her mam and dad talking at a dinner table – but really this visiting of other people’s heads is rare and mainly done for a contrast or for comic effect.  Some of this movie is inspired – and it’s so creative it nearly deserves it’s own genre. This film could easily have been terrible – and it’s a very tough subject to do right. I believe they did well. It would have been so easy for some sort of combat between an emotion like Joy (as a kind of superhero) and, say Sadness (a kind of supervillain) to fight in her head to represent some sort of internal monologue and how the girl would react outwardly. Instead it provides a thought provoking approach of saying there are actually times we need to be angry or sad and by working with the emotions rather than repressing and hiding them, it’s actually really good for you. Yes, it’s actually that deep. From a children’s perspective it’s more of some cute colourful fuzzy characters doing some interesting, and sometimes silly, things. 

Pixar are famous for their awesome movies including classic titles like Toy Story, Monsters Inc. and Cars. However they have recently been off the boil making sequels like Cars 2 and Monsters University which weren’t quite as good as their previous portfolio – however this is definitely a back to form for them. It’s both original and thoughtful on what at first glance seems a mundane plot for a story.

Inside Out is out at all good cinemas now.

POPSCORE – 8.5/10

What am I talking about? Pixar’s Inside Out (movie)

Where can I find out more? http://movies.disney.co.uk/inside-out

Anything else?

Some of the memory balls in Riley's mind contain scenes from other Pixar movies, such as Carl and Ellie's wedding in Up .

In the middle of the control console, the top three buttons form Mickey Mouse, otherwise known as a hidden Mickey.

According to director Pete Docter, each emotion is based on a shape: Joy is based on a star, Sadness is a teardrop, Anger is a fire brick, Fear is a raw nerve, and Disgust is broccoli. He noted that he likes broccoli very much, however.

 

 

REVIEW: Ant-Man (12A)

Ant-Man (don't forget the hyphen) is out at cinemas now and is the latest offering from the House of Ideas. Starring Paul Rudd as Scott Lang and the inheritor of Hank Pym's (Michael Douglas) suit, Ant-Man is the latest Avenger to have a stand alone movie. Rocked by director fall outs and trouble from the outset - plus living in the shadow of the most recent Avenger's movie - can it live up to expectations... and is it any good?

Ant-Man starts with a nod to the 80's where an aged Peggy Carter and Howard Stark are trying to reach a deal with a younger Hank Pym over his Ant-Man technology - but the plan doesn't go too well. Although the sequence is just a bunch of people in a room - the special effects are subtle but brilliant. Michael Douglas is de-aged to look younger, while the ever pretty Hayley Atwell is computer generated to look older. We then fast forward to present day - a brawl in a prison where Scott Lang (Rudd) is serving time for burglary (not robbery because that implies violence - he's a cat-burglar). He gets released on the a same day and goes back home in an attempt to connect back with his estranged daughter Cassie, who views him as a hero.

Lang gets back to his friends apartment as he needs a place to crash, and by a friend through a friend through a friend (which is done in a comedic fashion) he learns that an old bloke has left his house empty and there's something of value in the safe. Working out that he needs money to get a place so he can see his daughter, Lang reluctantly takes on the job. After a really clever break, in all he finds is "a motorbike suit and a helmet". They escape without incident and Lang decides he's taking the suit anyway and goes back to the apartment.

Lang gets curious over this suit as it is not your run of the mill bike suit so, like all of us would, he tries it on... but for some reason stands in the bath tub. As he fiddles around he finds it shrinks him to the tiniest size and becomes Ant-Man. While small and negotiating a running bath tub, nightclub and falling out of a window, Hank Pym's voice in his helmet explains to him that the place he broke into was the Pym residence and he let him take the suit. He then recruits Scott Lang to take over the mantle of Ant-Man and take on the might of the disillusioned Darren Cross and the YellowJacket suit - built for war and to be able to take on the myth that was Ant-Man.

There's an array of great cast members all working together on this movie - Atwell is in it only at the beginning (again in a flashback) but Evangeline Lilly plays a great Hope Van Dyne - Pym's daughter. The movie is slightly comedic and funnier than the previous Marvel ones and I think they took a risk with this one. There are a lot of people reviewing this movie and hammering it - but to be honest I found this movie quite good. No, it's not anywhere as near as the Iron Man or Avengers movies, not even Captain America. But it's infinitely better than the Marvel's of old - Fantastic Four and Spiderman. I really enjoyed this - though I had my reservations about Rudd as Lang and that Ant-Man would be in a stand alone movie.

The special effects are used in a different way - instead of seeing BIG - which we all know Marvel can do with ease and panache - it's all about the small. Ant-Man controlling ants as allies, clever moments like fighting inside a briefcase or a toy train track are both inspired and funny in a strange way.

I think this movie needed to be made regardless of whether it was good or not because it's needed to take the overall story of the MCU forward. The incorporation of these characters and in particular the tech (suit, Pym particles, etc) will help set up Phase Three. I erroneously stated in my Age of Ultron review that AoU was the end of Phase 2 - but it isn't - this movie is. If you stay to the end of the credits you will know why.

Overall this movie was good. Funny moments, a different perspective and sets up the next phase nicely. Yes it could have been better - but it will do. Roll on next year for Captain America. If you still  want your Marvel fix though, Fantastic Four - or Fant4stic will be out around 8th August.
 

Ant-Man is out now in all good cinemas.

UPDATE: I have been to the cinema to see this a second time in 3D - nothing to write home about but still good fun to watch a second time around.

 

POPSCORE: 8/10

What am I talking about? Ant-man movie
Where can I find out more? http://marvel.com/antman

If you like this try: Avengers: Age Of Ultron (2015), Iron Man trilogy

Anything else?
This is actually the end of "Phase 2" of the Marvel Cinematic Universe or MCU. Definitely. I'm right this time.
One of Lang's friends goes undercover as a security guard. He says "Can I whistle?" and Lang comes back with, "No, don't whistle." He does so when he's undercover and whistles the tune "It's a Small World After All."
The movie was originally due to be directed by Edgar Wright, but he left and it's now directed by Peyton Reed.
Thomas The Tank Engine and Baskin' Robbins are featured in this movie.
There IS a sequence a few minutes into the credit sequence so don't leave as soon as the credit roll - and there's an even BETTER bit at the end.
Apparently, Ant-man WILL return...  

REVIEW: Spy (15)

Paul Feig returns with his written, directed, etc the latest spoof spy movie with the name of… Spy! Melissa McCarthy stars as Susan Cooper, a desk dweller in the CIA who is logistical support for suave secret agent Fine (Jude Law). When he goes missing in action, it’s up to Susan to avenge him and go and track down the evil mastermind behind the trading of nuclear weapons.

That’s basically the premise – maybe a little clichéd but you know, it’s not that bad. McCarthy shines as the almost bumbling inept spy – but has moments of brilliance and sass that take this film in a different direction you would expect. But it’s the supporting cast that help out as much as McCarthy’s performance. Jason Statham is simply fabulous as a parody of himself with lines like – “I landed a car, on a moving train, when I was on fire. I was on fire, not the car...” and another classic line – “I had my left arm ripped off and I put it back on with my right arm,” to which a disbelieving Susan Cooper says – “I’m not sure that’s medically possible!” Other stars in close support include British TV’s Miranda Hart (basically playing herself even though she’s a character) and the suitably sinister Rose Byrne playing one of the bad guys.

I really enjoyed this one and although it’s not laugh-out-loud funny, some of the humor is either stupid and silly or clever and inspired. I watched this twice so it’s fun enough to watch again. I was really worried about the Ghostbuster’s remake as I found one of Feig’s previous efforts Bridesmaids (which also featured Melissa McCarthy) to be a bit lacklustre and desperately a shadow of the Hangover and no where near as good. However, I think Spy is superior to that movie and it’s given me a little bit of faith with the Ghostbusters reboot in 2016. 

POPSCORE – 7.5/10 

What am I talking about? Spy (movie)
Where can I find out more? http://www.foxmovies.com/movies/spy

Anything else?
Paul Feig has worked with Melissa McCarthy before in Bridesmaids and will be again in the forthcoming Ghostbusters reboot due in 2016.