KILLING THEM SOFTLY review

After learning some insider information, a local crime boss and his two hired hands turn over a mob poker game, placing the blame on Markie (Ray Liotta), the organiser of the game. A representative with a guarded interest hires Jackie Cogan (Brad Pitt) to sort through the mess and restore order to the area.

Obscurity Files - Valley Girl

When misfit teen Randy (Nicolas Cage) meets Julie at a high school party he wasn't invited to, they instantly feel an attraction despite coming from different worlds. He's a city rat whilst she's the titular Valley Girl, but they try to overcome the peer pressure felt on both sides to embark on a great '80s high school love affair.

The Good, the Bad and the Blu-rays

Not the busiest of weeks, but there's one or two gems among this week's selection of new DVD and Blu-ray titles.

ANTON CORBIJN: INSIDE OUT DVD review

Following the renowned photographer, music video director and filmmaker, Anton Corbijn: Inside Out is now available on DVD.

The Good, the Bad and the Blu-rays

Finally, the big summer blockbusters are starting to arrive on DVD and Blu-ray, with this week's only major release being the biggest hit of them all.

The Good, the Bad and the Blu-rays

A couple of days late but still as valid a source of information as it ever was, here's the ups and downs of this week's new DVD and Blu-ray releases.

JAMES BOND: Licence to Photoshop

Although I'm not what you'd call a fan of the franchise, I know I'm not alone in thinking that Daniel Craig was an unconventional choice to play James Bond. Sure, Craig is a fine actor who can handle the required action scenes easily and he can be a charming bastard with the ladies, but he spends most of his time looking like a bulldog chewing a wasp whilst entering a gurning competition and being angry about winning it.

Exhibit A

Hearing my call (that I don't actually remember making), it appears that the new issue of Empire Magazine has taken steps to soften his image, mainly by softening his image. Now resembling what Tintin's older brother may look like, only time will tell if Skyfall sees Mr Bond teaming up with a salty old sea captain and a little white dog to stop a dastardly plan hatched by the villainous Red Rackham, also played by Daniel Craig in some sort of meta-twist that seems to be the in thing nowadays.

The new issue of Empire is on sale now.

The Good, the Bad and the Blu-rays

This week's selection offers a variety of delectable meals, depending on whether you're hungry for classic re-releases, big bouncy 3D boobs, music documentaries, or even The Hunger Games.

ELEVATOR - Raising the bar for rip-offs

In the immortal words of Kylie Minogue, better the devil you know, and in what can only be described as a do-over of M. Night Shyamalan's Devil but with added terrorism, we now have the simplistically titled Elevator. Lifting* heavily from Devil's cover art but without the reverse crucifix and with added dodgy photoshopping (look, they're on floor 13! The deadliest of all high rise building levels!), Elevator clearly wants to look like Devil as much as possible, going so far as to have a trailer that's almost a shot for shot remake of Devil's.

So, there's the old lady, the annoying nervy guy and plenty of other stock characters to keep you guessing which one the terrorist is. Oh, and if the chubby guy with the little goatee looks familiar, you probably know him better as this guy...

Devin Ratray, always holding a place in our hearts and minds as Buzz McCallister from the first two Home Alone movies (the only two that count if we're being honest), appears in this film as the one of trapees. This is the point where we'd usually make a sarcastic comment about how they've been relegated to starring in straight to DVD rip-offs of other films, but if you want to compare Ratray's career to Macaulay Culkin's... well, at least Ratray is still making movies.

If you've already seen Devil, curiosity over Devin Ratray's role must be the only real reason to watch Elevator, so I'm going to recommend that they just take that next step and change the title to something like this...

*Yes, that was meant to be a pun.

Rather helpfully, I've gone and fixed the UK poster for A Night in the Woods

ORIGINAL

 

FIXED

There we go, much better.