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20080820 Wednesday August 20, 2008

New issue onsale NOW!

Get your hands on a slice of proper DVD entertainment. This issue we are going absolutely MENTAL for TV, and have selected the 101 essential TV discs that you need to spend your hard-earned cash on. Check out number 1, you probably haven’t even seen it yet you flaming walrus!



As well as a TV roundup the likes of which you absolutely will not find ANYWHERE else, we also hooked-up with the smoothest man in the movie business, Kevin Spacey, and he told us all about new card-sharp flick 21, Vegas and his new life at the Old Vic.

Neil Marshall gives us the skinny on Mad Max love-in Doomsday (you’ll find that nestled between a Dark Knight and a Matrix Blu-ray exclusive BTW) and we are telling you that Ray Stevenson, Nazi Zombies, and The Punisher: Warzone are what smart people are gassing about right now. Don’t worry, it’s all part of our news avalanche that's comin' for ya.

Oh, and did we mention reviews? More than anyone else in DVD land (that, people, is a cold, hard fact) and do you know what? We ACTUALLY review them. That might sound weird but you want to be careful out there, some charlatans will write reviews based on what they think they know, not what they’ve actually seen on disc. So, here’s what we took a look at…


Doomsday, Street Kings, 21, One Missed Call, Shutter, Where In The World Is Osama Bin Laden, Persepolis, My Brother Is An Only Child, Never Back Down, Escape From New York (Blu-ray), The Fog, Cool Hand Luke, Zodiac DC, Batman Begins (Blu-ray), Chuck Season 1, Supernatural Season 3 and loads more. Seriously, LOADS. Yeah, I italicised the commas. How d'ya like them beans?

Go get some. You’ll find us in magazine shops. Even the bad ones.


Caught on the web: Lego Fight!

This month in caught on the web, in homage to The Matrix (coming to Blu-ray, yes sirree bob), we find movies redefining the fight scene. First up: Lego Fight!

Gratuitous violence is better when there’s no risk of a flesh wound. If you’ve ever thought the Legoman smirk hid a sinister underbelly, see that suspicion played out in ass-kicking glory.

 


Caught on the web: Grandma Fight Club (deleted Scene from Little Nicky)!

This deleted scene from the Little Nicky movie is the epitome of bad taste. But if you want a laugh at OAPs battling it out for a baying audience, this is the clip you’ve been waiting for.

 

 


Advertisement

Caught on the web: Freaky Food Fight

It’s tabletop warfare in this trippy short film. The finest in world cuisine re-enact historic battle scenes that culminate in croissant carnage and chip massacre...


Caught on the web: Robot Fight!

Looking more like robots showing off their shapes on the dance floor than an actual fight, this is a reminder that the dangers of machines ruling the planet is a very distant threat.


Anchorman 2 EXCLUSIVE!

Adam McKay was in town yesterday to promote John C Reilly and Will Ferrell's new funny, Step Brothers, and we were lucky enough to grab a bit of time with him. The conversation turned to Wake Up Ron Burgundy, the feature-length tale pulled together from the off-cuts of the original movie (it's out tomorrow Anchor-fans), and the prospect of Anchorman 2: here's what he had to say...

"I’m probably going to do another movie but then after that I think we might go do it, so two years away maybe. I think we have to [make Anchorman 2], I think it would be too much fun, we get to really do some crazy stuff without anyone second guessing us."

And will he be reuniting the Channel 4 News team?

"You have to – we’ll see who wants to come back. I guess the trickiest will probably be Vince Vaughn because his price is so high now and he’s so successful, but I know Rudd, Carell and Koechner have all said they’d come back, so that’s the team, as long as we have the team back we’re ok."

Sweet Lincoln's mullet!

Step Brothers is out in cinemas on the 29 August, and will be reviewed in a future issue



20080730 Wednesday July 30, 2008

The Muppet Show Is Better Than Prime Suspect. But Only A Bit Better.

The list of the 101 Greatest TV Shows of All Time is finally finished and non-negotiable. The article is coming along nicely (it'll be in issue 120 of DVD & Blu-ray Review in the shops 21 August).

Here's a little teaser:

The Muppet Show is at number 42

Prime Suspect is at number 43

That means The Muppet Show is better than Prime Suspect. But only by one place.

What do you say to that!


Stereo Wars Vs The Punisher

Last Friday, approx 7.00pm and  DVD & Blu-ray Review is doing a telephone interview with the affable Ray Stevenson, star of Nazi Zombie movie Outpost who's soon to play Frank Castle (aka 'The Punisher') in the new movie The Punisher: War Zone. He's over in the US having been at Comic Con and we're having a lovely chat about manly subjects like war and guns. Suddenly, from the other end of the office comes this insanely loudly rock music. 'Cranked up to 11' loud. Loud like we're in a dirty rock club. Mr Stevenson is understandably flustered. I can't remember what I was talking about and have to do the wild finger-clicky thing to get Editor Ali's attention (which he loves) to find out what the hell's going on.

Apparently it's 'Stereo Wars'.

We share an office with our naughty-big-sister publications Classic Rock and Metal Hammer. This is what CR Editor Sian Llewellyn had to say on the matter:

"Oops. ;)

"Since CR got a very nice new stereo a few weeks ago, we and Hammer have indulged in a spot of after-hours “Stereo Wars”. We each pick a song and then crank it up to all hell to see who wins.

Said night in question, CR was prepared for battle with Whitesnake’s 'Still Of The Night'. Hammer were trying their luck with The Scorpions’ 'Rock You Like A Hurricane'."

Alexander Milas, Metal Hammer Editor responds:

"Ms. Llewellyn, These stereo wars you speak of are in flagrant violation of the Future code of conduct and I’m dismayed you’d implicate me into such an egregious abuse of stereophonic equipment in some ridiculous ‘stereo war’. Especially seeing as CR’s is so inferior to ours, I’d find it more appropriate to term such competition ‘A stereo slaughter’."

The tykes.

Well fine. But don't come running to us if The Punisher wants to have a word about where the missing 15 seconds of his interview went. We hope he smashes your bloody stereos... (we don't).

 

The interview with Ray Stevenson will be featured in issue 120 of DVD & Blu-ray Review, in the shops on 21 August. Outpost will be reviewed in issue 121, out 18 Sept.


20080723 Wednesday July 23, 2008

Best Tv Shows Of All Time - Your Choice

The office is on fire. It's not actually on fire, you understand, but it is ablaze with debate as we prepare our definitive, all encompassing list of the 100 best TV shows of all time. It'll be exciting. It'll be controversial. But it'll be a celebration of 100 of the best bits to hit the box since TV began.

Above: Production Ed. Dan is unconvinced about the inclusion of Dawson's Creek

DVD & BLU-RAY REVIEW NEEDS YOU!

Everyone's got something to say about what the best shows were - we'd like to hear your thoughts. Are you a sucker for Supergran? Do you get high on Heart Break High? Do you love to hang with The Kids of Degrassi Street?* Email us (dvdbr@futurenet.co.uk) or pop over to the forum and let us know your top three TV shows ever. Send us a few words about why those shows float your boat and we might put you in the magazine!

*Even though Degrassi Junior High was clearly better. 'No Way Stephanie Kay!' Legendary stuff. Unbeatable...


Hancock Helmer To Head Hercules

Words: Ailsa Caine

Anyone familiar with the work of Kevin Sorbo in the TV series can stop mopping their fevered brow: the subject is due to get a serious makeover. ‘Hancock’ director Peter Berg is set to produce and direct Universal’s ‘Hercules: The Thracian Wars’.  Talking to Variety, producer Barry Levine said what appealed to the creative team was that Hercules was “character driven, about a character who’s more man than god, with conflicts and redemption".

The film will be based on Steve Moore’s five-issue comic book series released through Radical Publishing, with the script penned by Ryan Condal. Radical are the publishers behind ‘Caliber’ which is being developed as a project for John Woo, so there could be an interesting run of big budget flicks coming our way.

Or, Berg could potentially run out of steam before he’s even got going. Considering he’s already signed up to direct the Frank Herbert epic ‘Dune’, this feels like a scramble to cash in on what Berg achieved with ‘Hancock’.

Despite the success of the flick, there was some mixed feeling about how Berg handled the material. Whatever - we liked it. A ‘Will Smith Charisma’ vehicle was unlikely to go too far wrong, so it’ll be interesting to see how subsequent projects pan out. 

Whatever the conclusion, the powers that be have racked up a fair few projects to keep Berg busy over the next couple of years. Here’s hoping that it’s not a case of pile ‘em high and sell ‘em cheap.

Read what Berg had to say about Dune as we chatted to him following the Hancock release, check out this alternate opener and why not have another look at this piece of Hancock hilarity. Still funny.


20080722 Tuesday July 22, 2008

Win! BFI Titles On DVD!

Do you like good movies? We've got four classics from the BFI to give away to five Review readers...

Read More

20080718 Friday July 18, 2008

100 Greatest TV Shows Of All Time!

This week we've spent hours agonizing, bickering and debating to finally come up with a ranked, definitive, all encompassing list of what exactly are the 100 greatest TV shows of ALL TIME. We have a white board. We have little bits of paper with TV shows written on them. We have blue tack. It's been a tough ride, there were paper cuts on the way, but we think we've finally cracked it. At last we have what we believe to be a truely comprehensive list of the GREATEST shows to ever adorn our screens - from US event TV to classic British comedy, from super heroes to housewives, political satire to teen angst, we've got it all.

The full list is going to be appearing in issue 120, in the shops on 21 August. We don't want to spoil it but we thought you might like a little teaser of the work in progress, so here's a snapshot of our white board, mid-way through the creative process. Enjoy. Or even discuss.


20080717 Thursday July 17, 2008

DUN DUN DUN DUN-DUN! Terminator: Salvation trailer goes live...

It's just a teaser trailer, and we had to watch it about three times before deciding that, no, it wasn't broken but was supposed to look like that. Then again, you'd expect any video footage shot during the War Against The Machines to look 'a bit Cloverfield'...



Josh Brolin (or whoever it will be) will have to hit the gym big-time if he's supposed to be playing the meat-covered version of that badass robot at the end, though.

20080716 Wednesday July 16, 2008

RO-BOX IN DISGUISE

Even for the obviously unemployed, these people have far, FAR too much time on their hands:



The guy at the end clearly got to wear the Optimus Prime outfit by dint of being the best at Transforming, although Starscream lets the side down somewhat by not really getting into the spirit of things with his unconvincing robotics skills. Still… AWESOME!

20080710 Thursday July 10, 2008

The Short Goodbye

Hello!

 

Deputy Editor, Mike Carhart-Harris here – soon to be no-longer Deputy Editor. The longest-serving member of the editorial team by some way, after issue 119 I’ll be leaving DVD & Blu-ray Review for pastures new and, literally, greener (Dorset, if you must know...) for a life of actually having to buy the DVDs I want to watch like a normal person. Mad.

 

If you’ve read an issue of DVD (& Blu-ray) Review magazine over the past four and a bit years, there’s a good likelihood that you’ve been confronted by my fevered scrawlings (well, typings) on all manner of digital versatile discs littering the pages. (For your info, first one was the R1 of the eminently forgettable – and forgotten – Duplex in issue 64. Last was the brilliant Son Of Rambow, coming soon to issue 119. I call that progress.)

 

You may have wholeheartedly agreed with them. They may have had you spitting blood all over our lovingly put together pages. In both cases, I’m glad. If they made you go out and buy a DVD that’s brought you endless joy (or avoid one that could have spelled untold misery), even better.

 

Since joining the mag team in March 2004, I’ve had tons of fun, had the chance to interview lots of genuinely famous people and – best of all – been paid to sit and watch films and TV for a living. (Believe me, it becomes a chore after a while. No? You’re right, I’m a jammy git.) Oh, and put together the reviews section for the world’s greatest – and still the UK’s No 1 – DVD magazine. Erm... why am I going again?

 

Having now completely contradicted the title and intention of this blog post – about which you probably care not a jot – I wish you a fond farewell... and thank you for not sending me too many threatening letters!

 

Goodbye!


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