home home fw home plus home vn aircraft black books cd dvd food history how
to... links old news pictures pond projects quotes soft sounds
weather
page updated:
2008.04.30
My DVDs in alphanumeric order
 |
aeon flux A
reimagining of the radical mtv animated short series.
Rather confused, but with some nice old fashioned sci fi
ideas. 3/5 |
 |
alien A classic.
The director's cut and the original theatrical release.
The new version being 6 mins shorter probably improves
the pace a bit, but the extra bits were removed for good
reason. The deleted scenes are interseting though, and
the documentaries show how well they managed with late
70s technology. 5/5 |
 |
aliens 1 of those
sequels that is at least as good as the original film.
The extra scenes generally improve it, but the
"frontier" terraforming family stuff should
really have been left on the floor. If only they could
have kept it up. 5/5 |
 |
alien vs predator
Mostly a silly idea, but excellent visuals of the main
opponents. 3/5 |
 |
amelie Charming
film set in an airbrushed Paris. Amelie sets about making
life better for those around her, but things get
complicated. Nice surreal touches. You should see this. 4/5 |
 |
animatrix Bought
unseen. A mixed bag of authorised explorations of the
matrix world(s). The Final Flight of the Osiris is
excellent, by the Final Fantasy team. 3/5 |
 |
blade runner I
haven't even played this right through since buying it.
I've seen it so many times already. I just had to own it.
A shame they made such a mess of it on 1st cinema
release, with the voiceover etc. 1 of the few cases where
I think they made a better film than the original book. 5/5 |
 |
crouching tiger hidden
dragon Bought unseen. I can see that this is
well made, but it still looks like people dangling on the
end of wires. Oh well. 1/5 |
 |
daredevil Another
comic conversion. Quite well done, I thought. A bit
deeper than spiderman, to which it is often compared. 3/5 |
 |
dark blue world A
couple of czech pilots flee to britain to fly spitfires.
A nicely told story. 4/5 |
 |
final fantasy
Watching it again shows the weaknesses of the plot, but
it is still an important, ground breaking film. Repeated
watching is really required, as the 1st few times you
tend to be admiring the quality of the animation. The DVD
(2 actually) is stuffed full of extras. 4/5 |
 |
flight of the phoenix
Waited years for this to be released in any format. I
read the book on holiday at the cottage in wales. Plane
ditch/crash in the desert. A german engineer proposes
making a viable aircraft out of the wreckage. The others
are not too pleased when it turns out he designs free
flight model aircraft for a living. Lots of other themes
explored along the way. I don't have a clue why this is
in the war section ? 4/5 |
 |
gladiator I'd
already seen it 2x (including on the ferry to Bilbao on
the Portugal trip). It is a bit of a classic though.
Excellent digital rendering of ancient Rome, a haunting
theme, intelligent handling of ancient religion and
politics. The 2 DVD (count them) set contains lots of
extras. The deleted scenes show that it could have been a
more thoughtful experience. The cinema format imposes an
unfortunately short time limit.Still has some daft
American ideas though, like the distance between Germany
and Spain ! manages to somehow escape the ubiquitous
"happy" ending. 5/5 |
 |
the golden compass
Or rather northern lights, as the 1st book of the dark
materials trilogy was originally called. Fairly nicely
adapted, despite changes to the timeline, and missing the
book's wonderful ending. It all seems a bit rushed.
Jordan college oxford looking familiar from my time
there. 4/5 |
 |
hero Bought
unseen. Well actually I had of course seen some of the
prettier fight sequences. Some of the most beautiful
imagery I have ever seen. The use of colour is a bit
strong, but impressive. The fighting is as silly as
usual, but well done. By the time of the 1st twist it
started to get really interesting. 4/5 |
 |
hot fuzz Bought
unseen. Although there have been lots of clips of course.
Another them gets the simpon pegg treatment. A bit of a
slow start and an over the top ending. Still, well made
and fun. Again, a case of spot the reference(s). 3/5 |
 |
house of flying daggers
Bought unseen. Very pretty and lots of twists, but
probably not as good as hero. 3/5 |
|
jean de florette
and manon des sources The 2 films of
Pagnol's book (which I haven't read). A bit of a shame
that they couldn't have put them together on 1 DVD, or at
least in the same box. Excellent drama based on the land
of southern France and the petty squabbles between
various groups of people. 5/5 |
 |
joan of arc
Bought unseen. Luc Besson directing Milla Jovovich.
Should be good, right ? Wrong. The realisation of the
scenes is fine, but somehow it doesn't hang together.
Slightly spoiled by knowing the story beforehand. Why is
it in English ? Should have been called Jeanne d'Arc -
surely ? 2/5 |
 |
I robot An
intelligent update of the original stories. A bit too
much action hero stuff thrown in, but some good ideas and
effects. 4/5 |
 |
LOTR return of the king
Bought unseen. Only the last 3rd of the story, but still
tediously long. Nicely made cinematically I suppose.
Echoes of the star wars trilogy (surely the other way
round ?). The everchanging size of the hobbits is a bit
off putting. Still looks like he was making it up as he
went along. 2/5 |
 |
master and commander
Bought unseen as a duplicate xmas present. A rasonable
look at life on the ocean. Borrows lots of stuff from
darwin's voyage of the beagle. Not too sure about single
ships going 1 to 1. I thought sea power was about
numerical superiority. 2/5 |
 |
matrix A
remarkable fusion of a vagely intelligent scifi theme
with shiny black leather style, guns, and philosophical
musings. Yet to be resolved in the other 2 films. A
replacement for the VHS copy. 4/5 |
 |
matrix reloaded.
More of the same. Far too much fighting, but some
interesting ideas, and nice visuals. When did you last
see a shipment of black ducatis on top of a lorry, fueled
up ready to go ? 3/5 |
 |
matrix revolutions.
Much maligned by the critics, but some very nice ideas in
here. Yes Neo disappears for a lot of the film, but it
isn't just about him. The siege of zion is awesome. Once
again the 1 to 1 fighting gets silly. The ending is
unclear, open to interpretation. 3/5 |
 |
nikita. An update
fom my VHS copy. Excellent original french cinema,
unnecessarily redone for the americans as assasin. 4/5 |
 |
pitch black That
very rare thing - a decent scifi/horror film. Mostly
unknown actors always helps me to get into the film
without being distracted. A bit derivative maybe, but
show me a film that isn't. Excellent crashing spaceship
sequence. The beasties are good, a shame we don't see
more of them. Some rave thing as an extra for some reason
- Australians eh ? 4/5 |
 |
queen of the damned
Bought unseen. Not very good really. Akasha badly
miscast. Australian rock seems inappropriate. 2/5 |
 |
red planet An
attempt to make a bang up to date scifi film about the
terraforming and 1st manned mission to Mars. Has a lot
going for it, covering solar radiation problem,
unreliable hardware, personal relationship problems.
Unfortunately it gets a lot wrong too. That infamous
lifesaver for film makers, artificial gravity. Mars
gravity looks like Earth, when it should be 30%. Only 1
female crew (Carrie Anne Moss) is in charge, separated
from the rest for most of the film. The support robot
having a "military" mode is ludicrous. Russian
space hardware having a "My 1st Computer" user
interface. 3/5 |
 |
resident evil 1
of the more successful game adaptations. 4/5 |
 |
resident evil apocalypse Rather
confusing sequel - not much of milla jovovitch screen
time. 3/5 |
 |
resident evil extinction Remarkably
good for a number 3. Highly derivative of course, from
films such as alien, mad max 2, etc. but in a good way.
Probably weakest in the inevitable big fight at the end,
but some nice ideas and locations.. 4/5 |
 |
respiro Bought
unseen. A look at life in a poor fishing village in
Sicilia. Lovely photography, and an exploration of
society values and freedom, but ultimately doesn't go
anywhere. 2/5 |
 |
the right stuff
Saw this 1st time on tv 2005. The story of early rocketry
including supersonic aircraft and the mercury capsule
space shots. Some excellent shots of the starfighter. 3/5 |
 |
rollerball 1975 I
saw this when I was still at school. Much better than the
recent remake. Very much a 70s view of the future, but a
far more thoughtful film, with better visuals. 3/5 |
|
run lola run (lola rennt)
A bit of an attempt to break the standard format. German,
but the English dub available on the DVD is pretty good.
Lola's boyfriend Manni gets himself into a jam, and Lola
only has a few minuted to sort it. This goes horribly
wrong, then time warps around and she gets another
chance. See it. 4/5 |
 |
serenity A
condensation of the tv series, and better for it, with
nice pacing and plenty of sci fi ideas. 3/5 |
 |
shaun of the dead
Not as good as it's supposed to be, or the tv spaced
series. Spoiled a bit by all the well known faces. Still,
entertaining enough. 3/5 |
 |
spiderman 1 of
the better comic to screen adaptations. I was never very
impressed by the character at the time. The darkness of
his situation is well done, and he is well cast. The
effects have been criticised, but they look OK to me. The
bad guys have always let spiderman down and the goblin
here is no exception. A lot of the photography is poorly
composed - there is often far too much confusion in shot,
to see what is going on. 3/5 |
 |
spiderman 2 An
excellent sequel. Rather silly bad guys again, but an
intelligent exploration of the super hero thing. 4/5 |
 |
tomb raider A
mostly excellent translation of the game to a film.
Angelina looks good as Lara. The general feel of the game
is retained, even down to the rather wooden performances
of the supporting cast. The plot makes about as much
sense too. Once again the deleted scenes might have
helped a bit to make a darker, more intersting film. The
effects are generally good, but some of the flips through
the air are obviously done on wires, and the handling of
the bike is rather unlikely. 4/5 |
 |
tomb raider 2 Mostly
sequel by the numbers. Let's cram in more of the same,
and oh yes, we didn't do the wet suit in the 1st film.
Unfortunately the love interest doesn't work, and the
plot is so shot full of holes that you just can't be
bothered with it. Unlike last time, the deleted scenes
would have just made it even more tedious. On the other
hand, it is tomb raider, and does feature Angelina Jolie.
3/5 |
 |
ultraviolet Yet
another dystopian society with a new twist on vampires.
Effects not very good. The visual style is a bit
annoying. There is a bit of a story hidden under all the
fighting. 3/5 |
 |
underworld A much
better film than widely credited. Loads of guns and black
shiny stuff of course, but also an intelligent, complex
story with lots of characters with their own agenda. Not
to mention a sense of history. Oh... and Kate Beckinsale.
4/5 |
 |
underworld evolution
The long awaited sequel, with a teeny bit of prequel.
Probably best not to worry too much about the plot, but
looks good. 3/5 |
 |
un long dimanche de
fiancailles WW1 historical romance. Sad, funny,
very french, with an unfeasibly complex plot. Worth a
look though. 3/5 |
 |
van helsing
Bought unseen. An ambitious romp through the genre. Hugh
Jackman "reprising" his x-men role as
wolverine/werewolf, but also using elements of clint
eastwood, batman, 007, etc. Kate Beckinsale mostly just
looking good. Obviously had a lot of money spent on it,
but only moderately entertaining. 2/5 |
 |
withnail and I A
faithful recreation of the end of the 60s. 2 resting
actors decide to escape to the country for a short break.
Doesn't sound very promising, but this is probably 1 of
the best/funniest films you will ever see. 5/5 |
 |
x-men A good
effort at bringing the comic to the screen. Mostly quite
faithful to the spirit, if not the detail. Unfortunately
this means a lot of the characters are rather childish.
The bad guys don't have much to say. I really missed
Angel. Maybe things will improve with the sequel. 4/5 |
 |
x-men2 After the
scene setting of the 1st film, there is more time to
explore here. It really mnotors along. Repeated viewing
required to get all the sub plots going on. Again, nice
to have so many lead characters. Still missing Angel.
Bring on #3. 4/5 |
 |
x-men3 Too short.
Too many new characters, too briefly drawn in. Some
established characters ignored. Still good though. It
seems future projects will concentrate on single
characters. 3/5 |
 |
bill bailey - part troll
Not as good as the earlier material, but still very good. 4/5 |
 |
black books This
has many of the usual flaws of situation comedy, but it
has enough moments of brilliance to make up for it. With
the excellent Bill Bailey. "I ate all your
bees" 5/5 |
 |
black books 3
Undimmed 5/5 |
 |
green wing 1 1st
series of ground breaking comedy, with a story that
unfolds gradually. 5/5 |
 |
long way round
Ewan mcgregor and charley boorman bike east around the
world. Not exactly roughing it, with massive support, and
a curious 3rd bike to film the stars. Still entertaining. 3/5 |
 |
the mighty boosh 1 and 2
Hard to explain. The adventures of howard moon and vince
noir. Caught up with it part way through the 2nd series -
now a chance to catch up. 3/5 |
 |
the mighty boosh
live The tv show taken on the road. A bit slow at 1st,
but has its moments. 3/5 |
 |
scaptain scarlet - series
1 Groundbreaking CGI animation of an old
favourite. Slightly modernised. Again, plots not up to
much, but so stylish. 5/5 |
 |
scaptain scarlet - series
2 More of the same. Disappointing end with no
conclusion ie. the reset switch is hit at the end of
every episode. 4/5 |
 |
farscape - peacekeeper
wars A conclusion to the hastily axed tv series.
Ties up the loose plot lines, but still a rather
unsatisfactory ending. 3/5 |
 |
charley boorman's race to
dakar An entertaining, if rather narrow look at
the dakar rally. 4/5 |
 |
spaced I only
caught on to this during the 2nd series. Excellent value,
with the whole 1st series and all the out takes. A unique
look at what it is to be 30 something. 5/5 |
 |
spaced 2 The 2nd
series. 5/5 |
 |
smack the pony
best of series 1 and 2. Shame it's not the whole 2
series. Also, you would think you would be able to turn
off the canned laughter with DVD technology, but no. 3/5 |
 |
blue oyster cult - a long
day's night. A live recording 2002 with the 3
core guitars of the original band, featuring a lot of
material from the 1st 3 CDs. Lacking the energy of the
early live sound. Rather light on extras - just a few
quick interviews on the night. 3/5 |
 |
glastonbury. A
good representation of the festival experience. 4/5 |
 |
gogos - live in central
park What Belinda carlisle did before her solo
career. A competent all girl west coast band playing
rather unmemorable tunes. Jane Weidlin doing her very
best pixie impression, as ever. 3/5 |
 |
hawkwind - solstice at
stonehenge 1984. Indifferent performance, badly
mixed, actually reasonably well filmed, but ultimately
disappointing. Apparently Alan Davey's 1st live show. Nik
Turner mostly just getting in the way and honking on the
sax. The free festival atmosphere is interesting. 1/5 |
 |
hawkwind - night of the
hawks 1984. Indifferent performance, inadequate
lighting, bad camera work and laughable computer
graphics. Notable for Nik Turner fronting. 1/5 |
 |
hawkwind - the chronicle
of the black sword This is a bit poor to be
honest, with some indifferent performance, inadequate
lighting, bad camera work and laughable mucking about
with the sword. Still, I suppose, it was 1985. 1/5 |
 |
hawkwind - chaos
1986 Typical live set of the time. Very muddy sound,
fairly indifferent performance, embarassingly bad
dancers. Typical. Still, It is hawkwind, a piece of
history. 2/5 |
 |
hawkwind - classic rock
legends A much better effort this, originally
filmed to be shown on TV, the visuals and sound
reproduction are quite good. Could have done without the
fire eaters dancing out of time though. 3/5 |
 |
hawkwind - love in space
From various locations during the 1995 live promotion of
the Alien 4 cd. Rather good actually. Suffers a bit from
concentrating on those tracks - could do with a few more
classics. 4/5 |
 |
heather nova - live at the
union chapel 2004 At last, a dvd from heather.
Pretty much the live set that we saw, except curiously
missing all of the old classics. Maybe a dvd of the
earlier, heavier stuff is in the pipe ? Hope so. Recent
stuff is pretty and thoughtful, but lacking the old
energy and passion. Still, heather on dvd. The videos
included are more interesting and artistic in a unique
way. 2/5 |
 |
kate rusby - live from
leeds. A live recording in a tiny old fashioned
theatre. So much folk music is tedious twaddle, but
that's also true of all genres. She is very good. Video
and sound production is excellent. 3/5 |
 |
led zeppelin - the song
remains the same I saw this at the cinema 2x I
think. Weren't the 70s horrible ? Live sound has come a
long way since then. A bit of history. 3/5 |
 |
motorhead - 25 and alive
After 25 years Lemmy is still doing it in 2000. Pretty
much a standard Motorhead set with some guest guitars on
the final overkill. various documentaries, extras and a
CD too. 4/5 |
 |
mylene farmer - music
videos I found out about Mylene from watching
MTV years ago. Bought several of the CDs on trips to
France. This is a collection of all the 1st videos. Some
of them are more like mini feature films, with some
continuity from 1 to the next. Some of the earlier stuff
is a bit primitive, but it soons moves on to the
classics. 5/5 |
 |
mylene farmer - music
videos 2 and 3 The next lot. A bit more varied,
with different directors having a go. 5/5 |
 |
mylene farmer - live a
bercy A live concert. You might think this is
elaborate staging, but see the Mylenium Tour. 5/5 |
 |
mylene farmer - mylenium
tour A more recent (2000) live concert.
Elaborately staged with lots of costume changes. It's a
long time coming, and when it does, her arrival has to be
1 of the most dramatic ever staged, as she descends like
an angel. Excellent. See it. 5/5 |
 |
mylene farmer - avant que
l'ombre 2006 and a return. Again, elaborately
staged, and another long, spectacular entrance. More of
the same, but it's excellent stuff. 5/5 |
 |
paola turci - stato di
calma apparente 18 tracks recorded live with a
small invited audience, plus 3 video tracks and an
interview. 4/5 |
 |
pretenders - greatest hits
Chrissie Hynde has had a long career. A lot of
line up changes (not all due to deaths). Some of this
stuff dates back to when I was at university, so it is
understandably primitive. Some of the later stuff has
also been rather cheaply produced. It is very annoying
that it is not in chronological order. I could do without
the UB40 stuff. having said that, there are some
essentials on here. There is also a 45min documentary. 3/5 |
 |
pretenders - loose in la As
far as I know the only live dvd. Excellent to see the old
stuff performed live with passion.. 4/5 |
 |
rick wakeman - live 2000 Rick
plays his twiddly bits. Just him and various keyboards.
Some of it seems too fast and over fussy. The actual
keyboard sounds are not that good even on the CD. 2/5 |
 |
sarah mcLachlan -
mirrorball A live concert 24 tracks spanning her
career. All of the musicians seem to be a bit dressed up,
presumably for effect. I'm only really familiar with the
stuff from the CD Surfacing. Sometimes I fear she gets a
bit boring, but others are excellent. Angel (last track)
is 1 of my all time favourites. 3/5 |
 |
shakira - live and off the
record A live concert in rotterdam. A full live
set, benefitting from electric guitar. CD included 4/5 |
 |
shakira - mtv unplugged A
live "acoustic" set from Shakira before she
decided to sing in english and go for world domination.
Totally in espanol. vary latin American. 3/5 |
 |
shakira - objection
(tango) Included in the special edition Washed
and Dried CD. 2 versions of objection and a
"making of". Excellent. 5/5 |
 |
sheryl crow - rockin' the
globe live Sheryl doing her thing live. On
guitar, bass and piano. I thought there were some guests
(including Chrissie Hynde) on 1 of her live CDs ? maybe
that was something else. 4/5 |
 |
voice of the beehive -
don't call me baby A live tour from 2004. Not as
tight as the the original shows, but nice to (see and)
hear those classic pop songs.. 3/5 |
 |
yes - keys to ascension A
live concert from 1996. Covers material from most of
their career(s). The stage gear is rather outdated, but
do they care ? Technically excellent of course. I don't
think seeing them adds anything to the music. In fact,
it's rather distracting. Historically interesting though.
3/5 |
 |
yes - yes years A
documentary covering the whole story. Remarkably
complete, although it is annoying only to see short
sections of tracks, and nothing at all from Jon
Anderson's solo project Olias. 3/5 |
