Promotional posters make this movie out to be a bad-ass action romp, something in the vein of The Expendables, but it's actually a comedy with some perfunctory thriller twists, more similar to The Long Kiss Goodnight. Perhaps it was just my mood on the day, but I found the movie extremely cloying ( Read more... )

Sanderson is a far more diligent and proficient writer than Jordan. The Gethering Storm is superior to the last half dozen books Jordan churned out, and if you're up to the book and considering reading it, I recommend that you do ( Read more... )

I dislike the humour of a lot of CGI movies, it's usually glib, exaggerated and reliant on pop culture parody, but Despicable Me had me actually laughing in places. There are some clever elements (the kids' story, the bank of evil looking for return on investment) and authentic moments. The minions weren't irritating like they could have been. I ( Read more... )

This film was nothing like I expected - it was in Spanish, set decades ago in Spain during Franco's rule, and is full of gore and physical and psychological violence. More significantly, the fantasy elements were secondary to the tale of a girl growing up in a brutal environment, and a resistance movement against the fascists. To go into spoiler ( Read more... )

I was pretty impressed with Chris Nolan's new movie - The Dark Knight was a lot to live up to, but he does it here. And despite all the internet bleating about how complicated the movie is, it's really not - I found it straightforward to follow. I won't state much about the storyline, but if you haven't seen the movie I advise you to steer clear of ( Read more... )

I saw the French film "Welcome" recently, and had mixed feelings about it. The story concerns a 17-year-old illegal Iraqi immigrant to France, trying to get to the UK where the girl he likes is; he encounters a Gold medallist swimmer and takes lessons in order to cross the English Channel ( Read more... )

More Ghibli.

Pompoko was interesting but far too slow, long and concerned with testicles. Yes, you read that right, it's part of the Japanese folklore of Tanuki. It's ultimately a war being lost, about folklore being lost, about urban development and the modern era. I didn't like the tanuki that much (they were a bit lazy, ineffectual and annoying ( Read more... )

I went on a Studio Ghibli binge too ( Read more... )

I just finished the second season, and really it's just the last episode or so that's worth watching - skip the pointless and stupid Endless Eight (fastfoward to check out their costumes if you want to ( Read more... )

Bleach on TV, dubbed into English. What could be worse?

The episode when his father is "revealed" as a captain. That's right.