DVD Movie Reviews

Back in 1987, Arnold Schwarzenegger called the shots in his attempt to escape an alien in the Amazon jungle. In 2010, the plot has become a little more sophisticated, to the point where Predators opens with people free-falling from the heavens with no memory (of course!). The first to land, saved by his parachute is Royce (Adrien Brody). Before too long, he’s joined by a heap of professional killers with the exception of Edwin (Topher Grace) who’s a doctor. Like Royce, none of them know why they’re there or even where they are but quickly, they catch on that something is hunting them (ooo, scary!). Royce assumes control of the group who eventually realise that they’ve landed on an alien planet and are going to be gobbled up unless they get thinkin’ fast! Once predators themselves, they’ve now turned into the hunted thanks to a new breed of alien predators. Now that’s payback for you!

For most of us, the thought of exams doesn’t bring back pleasant memories: cramming sessions, stress, multiple questions (if you were lucky) and that trusty red marker! Think that’s bad? Consider what these eight poor souls have to endure as they’re put into a windowless room, seated separately, given a pencil and an answer sheet. Seems pretty standard so far, right? There’s even the stern enforcer who lays down the ground rules… but here’s the twist: for this set of participants, this is really a recruitment exercise. There’s one job position available and one of the eight candidates has just what the high profile organisation is searching for. Who will emerge victorious? Well, before that’s determined, there are a whole lot of alliances to be formed and betrayals to be had. Sheesh! We sure are glad that our days of sitting in exam rooms are over but it sure does make for a gripping 90 minutes to watch.

There are actors we love for their charm and then there are those like Michael Caine, a veteran of the screen who demands our attention. Here, he plays Harry Brown, an elderly man who spends his days visiting his dying wife as well as sharing a drink and playing chess with his best friend, Leonard (David Bradley). The neighbourhood he lives is in quite rough with drugs and violence a daily occurrence. When Harry is informed that his wife only has minutes to live, he rushes to be by her side but is denied the chance to say goodbye properly by a local gang loitering in the underpass he needs to go through to reach the hospital. Things go from bad to worse when Harry learns that Leonard has been murdered by members of a local gang. Soon, they turn their attention towards Harry and this is when Harry Brown takes quite an unexpected turn!

Never shying away from the difficult questions in life, Hung is one of those shows that falls somewhere between a comedy and a drama. Not that it matters because either way, it doesn’t pull its punches and explores the fine line between being everything you could have ever aspired to be and just falling short. The great thing is that there’s one character that everyone will identify with in Hung. Whether it’s Ray (Thomas Jane), the guy who uses his God-given “assets” to get what he wants, or his ex-wife Jess (Anne Heche) who has everything but still isn’t happy, you’ll see yourself in one of the characters depicted. Jess has the big house, the nice clothes and even the great new husband but still finds herself doting over her inability to connect with her two kids. And then there’s Lenore (Rebecca Creskoff), a woman with absolutely no morals. Whew… yes, this is a very twisted (but always entertaining) bunch!

Trust us: we never thought we’d be critiquing a flick starring a former Backstreet Boy. Yes, the day has come thanks to Kill Speed which stars Nick Carter alongside Andrew Keegan (some of us will remember him as one of those poster boys that we hung on our wall “back in the day”). But before you roll your eyes at the cast, give Kill Speed a go because take it from us: there’s not one moment where you won’t be sucked in by this action-fest! Set in the desert in Southern California, this flick follows the drama that arises when a crew transports a large amount of methamphetamines in their high-tech planes. As you can imagine, pretty much nothing goes to plan and the crew are forced to think on their feet in order to avoid major problems. Yeah, scoff all you want at Carter’s presence but we’ll promise you one thing about Kill Speed: it won’t “break your heart”.

You know that when you see Steven Seagal and his team of cops swarm around you, you’re in massive trouble. Welcome to Steven Seagal: Lawman which is pretty much all about the main man himself asserting his authority (for real, this is reality TV) as a deputy sheriff in Jefferson Parish, Louisiana. You can’t possibly watch this show without thinking of others such as Cops as Seagal and his two sidekicks set on patrol in pretty much every episode, enforcing justice. So who do they meet along their travels? Drug dealers, shady characters and pretty much the usual suspects but the interesting thing about Lawman is that Seagal’s presence works wonders: most of the time he’s just on-screen to provide good reaction close-ups while the other officers do the “dirty work”. And of course, we are given an insight into Seagal’s do-gooder character as he visits kiddies in hospital or mentors his fellow officers. All together now: “Ahhh”.