>> DVD REVIEWS
A LOT LIKE LOVE
Release date October
Director Nigel Cole
Starring Ashton Kutcher, Amanda Peet
After a hot summer, sometimes it’s easier to forego the relentless onslaught of blockbuster CGI and opt instead for the cooling charms of a good old-fashioned romantic comedy.
Whether or not it’s because Hollywood seems to have recently targeted virtually the entire genre exclusively at teens, or it’s just simply down to a lack of good scripts, the leaders of the modern love story (When Harry Met Sally, Sleepless in Seattle) have now become dusty relics, never really bettered since they breezed into cinemas on the wings of their own light-heartedness over a decade ago.
Perhaps it’s because this type of film can so easily drift into the kind of blancmange that’s barely worth the celluloid space it occupies, let alone any notion of repeat viewing (and let’s be honest, there’s been a few).
To be fair, A Lot like Love is not one of these films, although it does have an alarming tendency to teeter on the edge of its own saccharine dessertspoon. Amanda Peet (Identity, The Whole Nine Yards) and Ashton Kutcher (The Butterfly Effect, That ‘70s Show) are both charming enough in this tale of Oliver and Emily, two will-they-won’t-they friends who, after a spontaneous introduction to the mile-high club, meet up intermittently over the course of their twenties, each turning up to save the day just when the other is in crisis.
It tries to be When Harry Met Sally, but sadly Kutcher, whilst vaguely charming in a lumbering type of way, is no Billy Crystal. Peet on the other hand gives it her all and does her level best with some criminally clunky dialogue (although a 30-something woman portraying an 18 year old does not in this instance quite ring true).
As is often the case, the chemistry between the two leads creates enough of a feel-good factor that you’ll forgive everyone involved and be carried along to the inevitable dénouement in a fluffy sort of way.
James Howard
BATMAN BEGINS
Release date October
Director Christopher Nolan
Starring Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Liam Neeson, Morgan Freeman
Summer 1997: Batman & Robin hit cinema screens worldwide, and with it, a franchise slipped into the shadows and darkness ensued. Fast-tracking forward a decade, the superheroes have taken over the asylum, with this millennium seeing the genre go from the awesome (the X-Men & Spiderman series) to the irksome (Fantastic Four anyone?) Yet, amidst the box office domination of its successful predecessors, DC comics’ favourite hero waited patiently in the wings.
Now the bat is most certainly back folks. With a monster gross at the box office this summer it’s official: Batman is here to stay. After years in a semi-permanent state of development hell, Batman Begins emerged carrying a unique bite – could this be his best outing yet?
Taking the helm with a mature ease, Chris Nolan has battled through the film’s troubled conception and created a multi-layered depiction of the bat’s beginnings. Gone are the aesthetical blends of Gothicism inherent in Burton’s originals. Instead, Nolan’s bat is a different beast altogether. This is Batman for a new, socially conscious generation.
Faced with Gotham City’s citizens being subjected to a fear-inducing toxin (check the allegories people), Batman’s latest foe comes in the sinewy form of Arkham Asylum’s twisted Doctor Crane a.k.a. ‘The Scarecrow’. Cloaking a secret alliance with the mysterious League of Shadows, his presence casts an ominous threat of doom over Gotham City. Drenched to the core, Nolan’s portrayal of Gotham: a city engulfed by crime, is a bold image to behold. Working on dual levels - architecturally and profoundly - this atmospheric setting is the ideal playground for Bruce’s evolving bat.
Bale is astounding, and coupled with awesome scenes of action - watch in awe as the new look Batmobile rampages through the city - this IS the bat’s best outing yet.
Emerging triumphantly from the shadows, Batman Begins is a revelation; Nolan has craftedan action-packed picture of incredible magnitude. Through it, a franchise is reborn.
Shaun Davis
KUNG FU HUSTLE
Release date October
Director Stephen Chow
Starring Stephen Chow, Wah Yuen
Don’t think Bruce Lee meets John Travolta. Instead, picture an array of self-parodying dancing/fighting martial artists, with a hint of American-style slapstick thrown into the equation for good measure. Got it? You really need to watch this film, which was a surprising, if slightly cult-like hit, refusing to conform to a particular brand or category. It is a genre that stands alone, pawing at the variety of inspirations that surround it, which is part of its hilarious and mainstream-defying appeal.
We have become accustomed to serious, arty deliverances from the East and its captivating culture – post-modern pictures of cinematographic beauty and finely choreographed fight scenes with sweet music and soft-sloping landscapes, such as those in Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, The House of Flying Daggers and Hero. Kung Fu Hustle refuses to be taken seriously and has no hang ups on sophistication and statement, which is a fresh take on the popularised martial arts theme.
The Hustle sees Sing (actor/director Stephen Chow), who so desperately wishes to become a member of the Axe gang - fronted by Brother Sung - that he creates a feud between them and the townspeople of slum-centric Pig Sty Alley. The town’s landlady (Qiu Yuen, of former Bond-girl status in The Man With the Golden Gun) rules it with a harsh hand, and when Sung et al begin the hustle, we discover that certain unassuming locals are to kung fu what Skywalker is to Jedi.
Chow may engage in a self-induced whack-attack that, following his other films such as Shaolin Soccer, reaffirms his status as all out action-comedy crazed, but the film is a real and unusual treat.
Choreographed by legendary Sammo Hung and Yuen Wo Ping (The Matrix), and the humour aims to entertain in a popcorn spitting type of affair. So long as you don’t choke, I think you’ll be exceedingly chuffed with the results!
The action and fighting are characteristically accurate and lovingly attentive to detail.
Hannah May