What I Watched This Week (w/e September 21st 2008)

Blu-ray

30 Days of Night - Based on the graphic novel by Steve Niles, who co-wrote the screenplay, this takes place in a remote Alaskan town where the sun sets almost entirely for a month every year and most of the inhabitants leave, with only the essential or crazy remaining. As dark approaches, something is very definitely amiss as the town sheriff (Josh Hartnett) finds that the town's cellphones have been stolen and burned, the sled dogs killed and, bit by bit, the infrastructure taken down by a stranger (Ben Foster).

This heralds the arrival of a group of vampires whose leader (Danny Huston) has targeted the town for a month long feeding frenzy. The vampire design is very different from the norm, with them more like dogs or sharks than the traditional aristocrat with pointed canines and the ancient dialect and chilling screams identifies them as very old and very scary.

I've rarely been as impressed by Hartnett as in this, with now genre staple Melissa George giving great support as his estranged wife. There are knowing nods to vampire films, with lines like "Just because something stopped Bela Lugosi doesn't mean it can stop these things." ensuring that the audience knows the characters are aware of vampire lore.

It looked fantastic, though the blacks aren't quite as deep as I'd expect but the DTS Master soundtrack is excellent. Unfortunately, as this was a rental, I didn't have time to watch the extra features or, as I wanted to, watch it again, so it's another for the wishlist and I'll read the book next week! :)

Enchanted - When I saw this at the cinema I had no idea what to expect and was slightly put off by the musical nature of the opening animated sequence. It carries on through the film as it goes to live action but is self-referential in the same way as Scream and Shrek - creating the very same type of film that they are gently mocking. The scene where Giselle (superbly played by Amy Adams) calls all the vermin of Manhattan to clean up the apartment belonging to cynical divorce lawyer Robert (Patrick Dempsey) parodies all the Disney cartoons where woodland creatures help out the female lead character. Susan Sarandon is brilliant as the wicked stepmother and Timothy Spall puts in a typically accomplished performance as her henchman Nathaniel who loves her but is basically treated by her as a doormat. Enchanted is a lovely film that makes you laugh and cry and is, as the title suggests, enchanting!

The AV quality is superb but the extra features were a little disappointing - a commentary would have been a welcome addition. :D

Mongol - If the other two instalments in the planned trilogy about Genghis Khan are as good as this, it'll be a superb cinematic achievement. Reviews of the Blu-ray Disc and DVD on the site.

Starship Troopers 2: Hero of the Federation - Part of the Starship Troopers Box Set - review to follow.

Starship Troopers 3: Marauder - Released both as part of the box set and individually - review to follow once I've watched all the extras.

DVD

Feast - A gory and occasionally funny horror flick by the winners of the third season of Project Greenlight, review here.

Jack Brooks: Monster Slayer - A B-movie comedy horror that asks not to be taken seriously and, as such, is great fun; it's a good disc to boot - review here.

P2 - Disappointingly formulaic horror from the creators of Haute Tension - review here.

World Rally Championship 1985-89 - Fantastic coverage of some wonderful racing by cars that were banned for being too fast. Review to follow once I've seen the last couple of discs.

Cinema

Eden Lake - With a premise that could have been proposed by Paul Dacre, this British horror movie begins with a very contemporary problem: you have taken your girlfriend, to whom you plan to propose, on a camping trip to a picturesque flooded quarry and a group of kids show, play loud music and generally annoy you. Do you a) ignore them and hope they'll go away, b) move to a different location when you really don't want to or c) intervene and turn their music down?

When Steve (Michael Fassbender) goes for option c, the feral children don't like his interference and unleash an assault, first verbal, then physical that makes this a very nasty and occasionally wince inducing horror movie that is sadly not too hard to believe. I'm not sure whether writer/director James Watkins and the team behind the superb The Descent took the violence too far, but it all seems contextualised and not exploitative. Kelly Reilly is excellent and it was good to see Thomas Turgoose in one of the more complex child roles. :)

Somers Town - From Shane Meadows comes this charming and witty story of a young runaway from Nottingham (Thomas Turgoose) who goes to London and, after being mugged, befriends the son of a Polish migrant worker. They base their friendship around the love of a French waitress and there are plenty of funny and heart-warming moments. I thought Eurostar's sponsorship would show and result in a heavy handed advertising campaign for the company but, when the two boys travel to France, it fits and doesn't seem tacked on for commercial reasons. :)

The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas - I haven't read the book on which this was based but making a film about the holocaust for children is a daunting task - the sheer scale of the atrocity has never yet been fully captured on film but this does a very good job, albeit in a slightly fantastic way, showing the events through the innocent eyes of a child. When his father, a soldier, is posted to the country, Bruno (Asa Butterfield) has to leave his friends behind and try and busy himself in unwelcoming surroundings.

An avid reader of adventure books, he goes exploring to find the 'farm' he saw from his bedroom window where the men and children wear striped pyjamas like his. Finding a huge electrified wire fence with barbed wire on the top and a boy his age (Jack Scanlon) on the other side, he is confused by the barrier and the disparity between the ideology his teacher is teaching him and his sister and the young Jewish boy who he befriends. Both young boys are brilliant, Vera Farmiga is very powerful as Bruno's mother and David Thewlis gives a nuanced performance as his father and camp commander.

The ending and the holocaust theme rightly deserve a 12A certificate and it's certainly not a film for younger children - even those nearer secondary school age will probably need someone to talk to after the film has finished. :)

Television

Prizefighter: The Heavyweights 2 - I was at the Newcastle Arena to watch the second Prizefighter event (the first was at the York Hall) and it's a fantastic concept, great for those at the event and just as good on TV. There is bound to be a third (at least) and boxers will learn the best approach, though the draw helps, as Sam Sexton who fought first in both the quarter and semi's saved energy to score a TKO victory over a tiring Chris Burton in the final.

Ryan Rhodes vs. Jamie Coyle - I can't believe how long it's been since the Sheffield boxer become the youngest man to claim (and win outright) a Lonsdale belt and he still has all the skills that took him to World title challenges. Coyle showed amazing courage and heart as he absorbed heavy head shots throughout the 12 rounds and I was amazed that his corner let him hear the final bell. On the undercard, Derry Matthews only needed to stay on his feet to win but was knocked out (and seemingly unconscious) by a hellacious left hook from Martin Lindsey.

Help For Heroes Charity Match - Though it was a shame that Jonah Lomu had to withdraw through injury, it was great to see such legends as Scott Gibbs, Laurence Dallaglio, Martin Johnson and Will Greenwood (who was fantastic) strap on the boots again to raise money for a rehab centre for injured service personnel. The game was much more competitive than I expected as the Help for Heroes XV played an international select XV with some members of the armed forces sharing the field with British Lions and World Cup winners.

NFL - In the game at the Meadowlands, Cincinnati met the Super Bowl winning New York Giants (still seems weird writing that) and the Giants' defence had a field day with Carson Palmer, sacking him six times. The lead changed six times en route to an overtime victory for the home team. The AFC South clash between Jacksonville and Indianapolis is cooking up into a great game but the evening was ruined (for me) when the Pats were stomped on by the Dolphins.