It's SOUND! "A QUIET PLACE" the 2018 Movie - A Review by Mark Barry...

"It's SOUND!" 

"A Quiet Place" Is Good Old Fashioned 

By-The-Seat-Of-Your-Soiled-Pants Movie Entertainment

And Easily One of 2018's Best Films...

"A Quiet Place" is top-notch entertainment!

OK - for sure there are event holes in the plot galore (as some have gone to pains to point out) - but I say Blubber my Bum to that. Because I have not seen a movie deliver so much with so little in such a long time.

Real-life husband and wife team John Krasinski and Emily Blunt show once again they are both individual and collective class acts in "A Quiet Place" – Evelyn and Lee Abbott silently clutching their petrified family as they run from empty towns. Eventually after horrible losses – they end up as a small but still naked and vulnerable unit – surviving a year later on a wheat farm in a world invaded by ravenous beasties (Dad's long list of unanswered SOS signals show that few others seem to have been so resilient or creative in staying alive).

Newcomers Millicent Simmonds and Noah Lupe play the Abbott kids - Reagan a deaf girl watching over her younger more able-bodied brother Marcus (who is even more scared of the oversized gremlins than his older sister). Mum and Dad principal leads Krasinski and Blunt needed quality here and man did they luck out. Both young actors are revelations - each having to convincingly show amped up naked terror without the use of words or for that matter any kind of sound. To make matters worse - mummy's tummy is expanding and that innocent one's newborn noises will draw those pincer-like gnashers and blood frenzy if they're not minute-by-minute careful and uber prepared.

The slimy but fast-vicious creatures wow - cleverly introduced bit-by-bit to maximise their impact. They're similar in creepy slimeball horror to that other-worldly ugly bug in Netflix's fabulous TV Show "Stranger Things" – now a cult programme that has thrilled millions across two Seasons and made most of its young leads global stars.

For sure the arrival, wherefore and purpose of the aliens is perhaps left a little too sketchy – but this is a film that stands on the family's survival alone and I thought that was all "A Quiet Place" needed (keep to the point – pure and simple). Many also expressed disappointment in the ending, but I thought it was economical and shotgun brilliant. And kudos should also go to Marco Beltrami for his staggeringly effective score (jump baby jump) and to Scott Beck who co-wrote the script with Krasinski and Bryan Woods. 

After "A Quiet Place" and its expertly strangulating-your-jugular primal tension (delivered for a mere $18 million dollars when others costing ten times that don't deliver at all) - Hollywood will be sitting up and taking notice of John Krasinski, throwing scripts at the tall American by the post Brexit dozen (he also Directed the movie and IMO should be nominated for his work).

Fab and then some...and well done to all involved...

MIss Sloane on BLU RAY - A Review of the 2017 Film starring Jessica Chastain, John Lithgow, Michael Stuhlbarg and Sam Waterson - A Review by Mark Barry...

Fantastic Film with a Huge And Varied Cast 

Working With Ballsy and Clever Writing...

Who doesn't love a whodunit and especially one with brains built in and a ballsy leading lady gouging your viewer eyeballs out every time she’s on screen?

After many crafty plot twists about devious and dubious lobbying techniques puppet-handled by unaccountable power and the self-serving righteous vermin behind guns – the movie ends up in a courtroom with a conscious choice for our sought-after piece-of-work fixer Elizabeth Sloane - you either fight the beast or you sell your soul (like you may have done in the past) and capitulate to it.

All of this lofty yet highly entertaining subject matter is expertly handled by a long line of quality lead actors and actresses including Michael Stuhlbarg (the scientist in "The Shape Of Water" and Edward G. Robinson in "Trumbo"), John Lithgow (Winston Churchill in "The Crown"), Sam Waterson (boss Charlie Skinner in Aaron Sorkin's "The Newsroom"), Mark Strong and stunning ladies like Jessica Chastain, Alison Pill and Gugu Mbatha-Raw (all with too many great films to mention).

I thought "Miss Sloane" was brilliant – bristling with fabulous talent and actors drawn to the piece no doubt by seriously great writing from Jonathan Perera. As the cold hand of evil behind all that is calibre ammunition, lucrative velocities and even the right to bear arms - for sure some of the hijinks towards the finale may reek of a 'too clever clever' plot device for its own clogs. But by that time you're enjoying it all so much, it's a miniscule niggle in a very big and tasty pot of political gumbo. This is a script that makes you think, that informs and appalls spent bullet by spent bullet and yet still manages to shed light on the deliberately murky world of gun procurement, their easy-peasy sale and the devastating outcome of their encouraged use. And that's to be applauded.

My only feeling is that the movie "Miss Sloane" and its finely cut edges might have denied it credibility at the time of release precisely because it was so damn entertaining, thereby blocking what I feel would and should have been thoroughly deserved Oscar nominations. The Academy makes another mistake (won't be the first time folks).

In the meantime check out this sleeper on BLU RAY that so many seem to have missed. And to Director John Madden - well done sir, and more please right soon…

"Darkest Hour" - A Review by Mark Barry of the 2017 Film Starring Gary Oldman...

"...Facing Fearful Odds..."

Darkest Hour - The 2017 Film (A Review)

It's Friday, 12 Jan 2018 in the UK and we've just come from a packed cinema - opening night for "Darkest Hour" - so this review covers the film with the BLU RAY details to follow when its released later in the year.

First up – "Darkest Hour" is your first port of call for movie magic in 2018. Having said that and although it moved the audience I was with in a big way - it's far from perfect as a film - especially at the outset. But when it settles down and works - Joe Wright's latest is masterful stuff – rammed to the gunnels with a huge array of British talent and brilliance. The entire cast is magnificent - seriously stepping up to the acting plate for what you feel they instinctively know is a prestigious project.

Given the press and attention lavished on it - you might also think the whole film is dominated by Gary Oldman's utterly extraordinary performance as Winston Churchill (Oscar nominated and surely his first statue in the bag – he's already taken the Golden Globe this week) – it’s not. What makes it work is a combo of three things actually. Oldman as lead of course giving his version of Churchill unbelievable humanity under all those superlative prosthetics. Second is stunning support parts from a whole array of quality actors - Ben Mendelsohn as the stuttering, smoking King George IV, Kirsten Scott-Thomas a Winnie's long-suffering but quietly supportive wife Clemmie and absolute career bests from Ronald Pickup as the beleaguered ex Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain (a committed pacifist who had seen what carnage war brought to the ordinary man in World War 1) and especially Stephen Dillane as the capitulating silver-tongued Viscount Halifax (he played Stannis Baratheon in Game Of Thrones) - a performance so strong that it almost threatens to take Oldman's thunder. Add in great writing from Anthony McCarten and steady Direction from Joe Wright ("Pride & Prejudice" and "Atonement") - and "Darkest Hour" had tears streaming down our collective cinematic kissers - and on more than one occasion. Even Lily James whose beauty always sees her getting slotted into the 'pretty girl' role - gets her best part too as Churchill's secretary and typist Miss Layton. During one harrowing scene – she sits stilled in pain - unable to type any further - staring down heartbroken at a letter dictated by her boss that will send thousands of men to their death at Calais in order to act as a diversion for the hundreds of thousands stranded on the French coast at Dunkirk (the entire British Army) as European countries and freedoms falls like dominoes to Nazi invasion and tyranny. "Darkest Hour" is full of moments like this. The staggering sacrifices that had to be made and who had the sheer brass to make such crushing decisions...

A half-hour in and as "Darkest Hour" begins to settle down it starts to become an emotional stealth film - the information flow making you realize the sheer gravity of what was happening and to whom - the worst and best sides of humanity making you wince and beam in equal measure. Winston giving the order for Operation Dynamo - the flotilla of small privately owned boats heading to Dunkirk as a nation rallies around 300,000 of its stranded troops (Dario Marianelli and his score finally delivering an emotional sweep the movie really needed). The fabulous dialogue intensity in the War Room when Winston needs to silence the wimps and the naysayers – a one-on-one with the King in a quite bedroom where the PM finally gets the support of someone that matters (a former doubter) – a conversation with President Roosevelt on the phone (a wonderfully detached David Strathairn). In fact I can’t help thinking that it would be a hard heart indeed that would remain unmoved when faced with this level of emotional onslaught.

Then there’s the huge history of it – the fate of the Western World resting on such odd shoulders. His obvious big heart living in tandem with a monumental ego (many felt his initial speeches to the House of Commons were simply grandstanding by a washed-up aristocrat) – his sheer will of personality - instilling self-belief into a nation - understanding that they needed heady strength and even belligerence instead of tact and diplomacy (Spillane's character makes sense every time he speaks but also creepily lacks spine in the face of adversity). There are moments in this film when your chest heaves with the weight of what Churchill had to endure - the American Government hiding behind laws and agreements as England and its inhabitants lay moments away from destruction by true evil (and Roosevelt knew it) – a small man helpless in an even smaller broom closet with the walls slowly closing in. The cabinet bickering and jockeying for position of 'least personal blame' when a nation's very soul hung in the balance - his past military failures in Gallipoli constantly thrown in his face as evidence of his unsuitability for the job of waging war. His copious alcohol consumption, wheezing on chomped cigars, slurred speech, fits of forgetfulness and cantankerous outbursts with staff while he cheerily gives the public V-signs as if all is a bed of roses (apparently the government actively avoided public speeches because Winston came across as a sozzled mumbler). It's all here. And in the end - and perhaps even because of his faults and blemishes – a nation – our freedom - saved by an old beaten-up man with seemingly limitless inner reserves of oratory and grit. And of course as it all comes down to ‘that’ speech which Oldman delivers with beautifully controlled power and finesse - more than a few bodies in our row of seats applauded and felt their chests swell with British pride (and I’m an Irishman).

So why the four-star review and not five? There are times - especially in the first half hour - when it all seems incredibly hammy in places - and you fear that all those glowing reviews must have been carefully placed hype. And it's not really helped either by a Dario Marianelli score that often feels more 'Carry On' than 'Keep Calm'. The jokes are good but can too often grate or worse - feel forced (what a jolly old curmudgeon he was). And a very staged 'Meeting The Ordinary People On The London Underground' scene where an embattled Winston takes solace from the common folk’s stoicism and courage feels like a Richard Curtis outtake complete with the token coloured passenger amazingly able to quote McCauley's poem "Horatio At The Bridge" verbatim and right on cinematic cue (its famous words title this review). And when it comes to the all-important and rousing speeches - did Churchill actually borrow from an American Journalist (William Simms not mentioned) for his penultimate speech of never surrendering made in the House of Commons post Dunkirk. And where's his Irish friend and lifelong advisor Tipperaryman Brendan Bracken who was a key player behind the scenes and some say also contributed to the famous monologues. But despite this - through it all is Oldman delivering a mighty acting performance that brings mammoth-sized pathos to the man – filling him with doubts – tenderness – hurt – even childishness – behavior the Nazis used as actual propaganda during the Blitz to come. Flaws or not – such is his investment in the part – Oldman has you glued - hanging on his every word and gesture. It's a career best and when you take into account the dark power and honesty in his astonishing Directorial debut about working-class alcoholism "Nil By Mouth" (a difficult watch worth the difficulty) – long overdue credit.

Given John Lithgow's truly extraordinary and humane turn as the great man in Season 1 of "The Crown" (a performance he should have won awards for) - Oldman delivers even more Winston - layer after layer of Churchill the man and the endless enigma. Beautifully done boys - flawed in places for sure - but a triumph nonetheless.

And come Tinseltown's Big Day - if Gary Oldman doesn’t win the Oscar for Male Lead in "Darkest Hour" then the UK Government can toss aside leaving the EU for the moment and concentrate on a land-based invasion of America. Given their present President's appalling leadership – hell they might even welcome it...

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"The American President" on BLU RAY - A Review by Mark Barry

"...And I Wanted To Be Better Than The Last Guy..."

Before the genius of "The West Wing" - uber-writer Aaron Sorkin gave us the prelude film "The American President" starring Michael Douglas as a handsome and popular POTUS - Andrew Shepherd. Opening with a 63% popularity approval rating after three years of office - Douglas plays a smart and restrained President who is widowed in his private life and trying to raise a young daughter while he runs a complex country and staves off war just about everywhere.

Martin Sheen is brilliantly cast as The President's pal and top advisor - A.J. - Sheen already displaying the dialogue subtleties that would endear him to the world when he took the big oval chair four years after the movie in 1999's TV winner "The West Wing" (a show he dominated for seven years until Season 7 brought it to a close in 2006).

Throw in quality actors like White House staffer Ana Deavere Smith (who would go on to be in the West Wing TV show), newspaper editor John Mahoney (from "Frasier"), Michael J Fox and David Paymer as the hopeful and driven writers and policy makers for Shepherd's administration and the outside menace - an effective bad-guy in a smugger than smug Richard Dreyfuss - a political opponent who spots that the President's 'new girlfriend' the environmental lobbyist Sydney Ellen Wade is an opportunity to be exploited in a re-election environment by claiming that she’s privy to too many secrets (beautifully played by a luminous Annette Bening). Combined you get a rom-com with brains, a modern-day political satire with heart and all of it washed down with state dinners, situation room pathos (someone somewhere dies under the guise of a proportional response) and the sheer sexiness of power in the hands of good guys actually trying to do something lasting with it. Deftly directed by Rob Reiner - 1995's "The American President" was slickly written, superbly played and classy to the hilt.

The BLU RAY has an immaculate print - the best I've ever seen the movie look (an anamorphic 2.35:1 widescreen transfer). Re-watching it in this clarity has been a joy and makes me ache for the day someone-somewhere finally gives "The West Wing" a BLU RAY reissue akin to The Sopranos or The Wire - remastered and re-loaded. Disappointingly - and given that so much could have been expounded upon - the BLU RAY has zip in the way of Extras and Subtitles are only in English. At least there's a 5.1 Surround mix as well as the standard 2.0 Stereo.

So - beautiful to look at but let down by a lack of Extras that would have so enhanced this brilliant and underrated bit of movie magic. In the meantime enjoy this political feast - set back in a time when the words "American President" actually had some respect attached to them and not the buffoon presently disgracing the office on a daily basis...

"Before The Devil Knows You're Dead" on BLU RAY – A Review by Mark Barry of the 2007 Sidney Lumet Film...

http://amzn.to/2t0rBsa

"…Everything's Wonderful…"

When LED ZEPPELIN released "In Through The Out Door" in 1979 (their last studio album) - the famous design company HIPGNOSIS provided them with six different album covers hidden behind outer brown paper bags (the sleeves were identified as A, B, C, D, E and F on the spines). The wordless cover shot is a photo of a man sat on a barstool lighting a piece of paper with a match while five other people watch him do it - a barman, drinkers, a hooker in the corner over by the jukebox etc. So each of the six sleeves is the man lighting the piece of paper - but from their viewpoint - front (barman), sideways (drinker), behind (hooker)...

I mention all of this because Sidney Lumet's 2007 "Before The Devil Knows You're Dead" is the cinematic equivalent. The bulk of the film is a jewellery heist that goes disastrously wrong - but told from different angels and at different times. We get the day of the robbery, three days before the robbery, hours after the robbery. And each time we revisit a scene - we see the same stuff and people - but with more information presented to us that shows how and why the whole thing came apart - and more importantly - the truly horrible consequences that follow on from lies and greed.

30-something New Yorker's Andrew and Hank Hanson (Philip Seymour Hoffman and Ethan Hawke) have major financial problems. Hank (Andy's younger brother) has a daughter with his embittered and estranged wife Martha (Amy Ryan) who keeps demanding alimony payments and trips to The Lion King that he simply can't afford. Andy is adrift - his job - his love life - his kid - and his general lack of spunk towards people and decisions are quickly making him look like and feel like a loser. His older and considerably cockier brother Andy works for a real estate company and gives the illusion of wealth and control. But he's fiddling client accounts and regularly raiding the cash box to feed his recreational habit with a local dealer who puts heroin in his arm in a plush apartment and asks no questions (permanently dressed in a silk nightgown - he isn't interested anyway). Then there's Andy's sexy but slightly unhinged girlfriend Gina (Marisa Tomei) who is 'doing' his brother Hank every other Thursday in an ménage-a-trois smug Andy knows nothing about.

But Andy has a foolproof solution to everyone's financial woes with a whopping $600,000 payoff. They do over a small 'mom & pop operation' in a Westchester suburb on a Saturday morning when its quiet and elderly shop-hand Doris opens up at 0800 a.m. No guns, no problems, insurance pays up after they're gone - the only hitch is that it belongs to Charles and Nanette Hanson (Albert Finney and Rosemary Harris) - their own Father and Mother. Hank is amazed at such a suggestion at first - but soon money is bearing down on him and they commit. But Hank stupidly ropes in a barroom lowlife called Billy (Brian F. O'Byrne) because he doesn't have the guts to do the actual robbery himself (as requested by Andy). Bobby turns up on the day playing thrash metal in their rental car to get psyched up and packing a gun. And instead of Doris - mum Nanette opens Hanson Jewellers. But Mum isn’t about to cower in the corner...

The legendary Director of 12 Angry Men, The Verdict, Q&A, Network and Dog Day Afternoon - doesn't do 'nice'. Characters in this unfolding melodrama are mean and often unrelenting in their arrogance - and of course there's a price to pay for that when Daddy Charles (who at first seemed like a pushover) becomes obsessed with finding out 'who' so callously took his beloved wife from him.

Brilliantly written by Kelly Masterson - this is not an easy watch - its tone is brutal, nervy, unsettling and dark - and it pointedly refuses to go to redemptive for the ending (all the more realistic for not doing so). But what makes the movie tick is an astonishing troop of actors who could knock down walls with their skills. Principal among these is of course the recently passed Philip Seymour Hoffman whose scenes with a syringe hanging out of his chunky body lying on a bed now have a deeply sad and poignant feel to them. Not to be outdone - Ethan Hawke pours on serious acting chops throughout too - as does Marisa Tomei who bravely spends a lot of the movie conspicuously naked in long and awkward scenes with both Hoffman and Hawke. Michael Shannon and Brian B. O'Byrne only add to their huge portfolio of class work. Adding to all this quality is the powerhouse talent of Albert Finney who has to only sit at a table looking down -and say the words "Let Her Go" (about his wife) and he has you in tears.

Despite his advanced years - Lumet embraced digital technology with a vengeance because (as he explains in the Extras) he could get the 'eye-to-screen' visual quality and style he wanted. I mention this because filmed entirely in HD - the BLU RAY picture quality is fabulous throughout. The razor-sharp scenes filmed on sunny/leafy New York streets offer up a light and colour palette that is beautiful. It's also defaulted to 1.85:1 Aspect Ratio so fills your entire screen. AUDIO is English 51.1 DTS-HD and English 5.1 Dolby Digital while the lone SUBTTLE is English SDH.

The Documentary "How The Devil Was Made" includes interviews with the Director Sidney Lumet, Producers Michael Cerenzie and Brian Linse, Actors Hoffman, Hawke, Tomei (and others) and location footage.

"You used to have the world by the balls...now I'm not sure you've got any..."  - arrogant Andy says to Hank as he pitches him the heist in a bar.

It may not be everyone's idea of Heaven but give this acidic little monster 10 minutes of your time...before...

PS: the USA disc is REGION A LOCKED so won't play on our machines - avoid that.

The Revenant on BLU RAY - A Review by Mark Barry...

"...You Speak Of Honour When You Don't Know What It Is..." 

The Revenant on BLU RAY

Balls-to-the-wall, visceral, epic filmmaking - I haven't seen an audience glued to the screen and engaged both mentally and physically with a movie since the halcyon days of "Gladiator" way back in 2000. Make no mistake - Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu's "The Revenant" will make you bleed-baby-bleed and more than earns it mighty 12 Oscar nominations by way of sheer bravura and the amazing visual feast your presented with from the first frame to the last. All this and you sit there thinking - I know they're only piddly nancy-boy ‘actors’ in the real world - but the cast must have gone through physical Hell to get this level of ‘real’ in the can...

Having said that – 2015’s “The Revenant” from the Oscar-winning Director of last year's "Birdman..." has its minor problems for sure. At 2 hours 40 minutes it’s overly long (feels more like three hours) – and in a bid to make you feel like you're in the moment - the dialogue comes at you off-screen at times as characters shout and scuffle - but I'm not sure if that trick works. Plus you could argue that you spend 70% of the movie watching Leonardo DiCaprio crawling around in mud and on icy ground (a lot) and Tom Hardy's Jeff Bridges "True Grit" mouth-full-of-marbles mumbling can be very difficult to decipher at times too. And that last shot stills puzzles. But overall - these are trivial things given that I noticed many people holding in wee-wee because they couldn't bear to miss twenty seconds of it.

And then there's the scenery brought to you by Cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki – a malevolent beast one moment - soul-stirring the next. You get 1820’s fur-trading British Columbia in the fall and winter – a relentless snowy wilderness with muck and more muck – creaking bare trees – icy breathes broken up by life-giving campfires – arrows in the neck – muskets blasting... Scene after scene seers its way into your brain - DiCaprio plunging into the icy waters of a river where he’s built a rock nook to trap fish swimming upstream – grabbing one of them with his bare hands and proceeding to munch into with ravenous teeth and starvation gusto – removing the innards and squatting naked inside of a felled horse to survive the night - buried in a clay grave dug for him by the greedy trapper John Fitzgerald (Tom Hardy) and left for dead – an Indian he befriends that builds a tepee of branches and furs as the blizzard rages so that the wounded and collapsed Glass can let his wounds recover - and the final knife battle with Hardy’s curmudgeon character as the snow turns a different colour than white.

But even more memorable than those is one of the film's centrepieces. Out scouting the woodland one morning - the two-prong attack on DiCaprio's character Glass by a three-ton grizzly bear (defending her two cubs) left the audience breathless and coiled in their seats in genuine horror. How they filmed this sucker I will never know – but if this is CGI's capability in 2015 - then it’s amongst the best I’ve ever seen – period. Ryuichi Sakamoto and Alva Noto's instrumental music is haunting throughout too – huge string chords that feel as epic as the landscape and pack a mighty punch. Smartly Inarritu also does well to not let the rivers and mountains and forests dominate everything by having scenes of real emotion as DiCaprio's character talks to his Indian wife's ghost in their native tongue – mumbling to his son that everything's going to be all right - love transcending the elements that seem to want to kill you at every moment.

The huge and seriously dedicated ensemble cast is uniformly stunning and must be mentioned. Leonardo DiCaprio plays hunter and trapper Hugh Glass who has married an Indian girl (actress Grace Dove, herself a Shuswap Indian) and fathered a son Hawk (a breakthrough performance from Forest Goodluck). But soldiers raised their village to the ground (as they did much of the indigenous population) and murdered his wife who now comes to him in whispers and dreams. Trapper Glass therefore protects his boy with a near heathen tenaciousness as his half-breed origins and burnt face (from the initial village attack) are ridiculed by another force of nature – Pelt Trader John Fitzgerald (a towering performance from England’s Tom Hardy). Trying to keep all the savagery at bay is Captain Andrew Henry played by Ireland's Domhnall Gleason (Brendan Gleeson's son) – another properly brilliant performance after his superb turns in "About Time", "Ex Machina" and "Star Wars: The Force Awakens". But even more impressive is the young British actor Will Poulter who plays the cherub-faced Bridger - a frightened and gullible boy in a cunning man's world - he is magnificent here. The huge array of real Red Indians are cast from varying surviving tribes and are suitably ferocious and giving in their different guises – scalping the devil white man in one scene and trying to negotiate ‘honour’ with a bunch of drunken French trappers in another. The rage of what was done to them and their women and children permeates throughout the entire film.

But its DiCaprio and Hardy who hold the whole thing together – both putting in huge performances that deserve statues. Their warring duo dynamic reminds me of “Jeremiah Johnson” (1972) and “Seraphim Falls” (see reviews) where two frontier men fight it out in the elements with knives and hatchets and anything else that comes to hand. There’s a scene by a night time fire where Hardy’s character talks of his starving father in the wilderness who discovers God in a cluster of trees – Hardy’s chilling survivalist instincts are the stuff of budding actor’s dreams and will surely be used at the Oscar ceremony by way of demonstrating what a powerhouse he’s become. And if Leo doesn’t bag a statue for this film – then someone in the Academy needs to be led to the nearest snowdrift and dropped there in their Sears and Roebuck underpants...

When it’s released - the BLU RAY will be a feast for both the eyes and ears – and I’m pre-ordering that home-cinema monster today.

Besides - as the credits rolled I noticed that two of the real Red Indian Actors used (portraying a Pawnee Prostitute and an Arikara Warrior) were called  'Mariah Old Shoes' and 'Cody Big Tobacco'. This is my kind of movie.

“The Revenant” isn’t Laura Ashley cutesy or Daniel Boone sappy for damn sure – and not everyone will enjoy its hurting storyline and our even darker treatment of the indigenous population of such a breathtaking landscape. But it is an astonishing piece of ‘event’ cinema that demands your attention.

And when you think about the sheer amount of fluff and lazy sequels out there in 2015 (and yet to come in 2016) - that’s an achievement worth supporting with my comfy ass on them there wilderness seats...

"...Release The Hound!" – The Hound Of The Baskervilles on BLU RAY (Arrow Video Version 2015) - A Review by Mark Barry...

"...Release The Hound!..."

Hammer Horror fans are going to love this. Not only is the full-screen aspect colour print restored to its finest lustre in decades (there's an occasional white spec here and there - but little that detracts and much that enhances) – this June 2015 Arrow Video reissue of Hammer's 1959 Sherlock Holmes Classic "The Hound Of The Baskervilles" comes loaded with new Extras that are properly indepth and delivered by experts and real enthusiasts. The fact that it also includes several crew and contributors who actually worked on the film opens up the factoids in the most delicious way. Let's get to those juicy EXTRAS first...

1. Release The Hound! – A brand new 2015 documentary on the making of the Hammer Classic. Features interviews with Assistant Director Hugh Harlow, hound mask creator Margaret Robinson interspersed with knowledgeable comments from Film Historian Kim Newman and Mark Gattis – actor, documentarian and co-author of the BBC's "Sherlock" starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman. There is much discussion on the actors chosen for the parts by both Gatiss and Newman – Peter Cushing as a more dismissive Holmes with his actor's love of props and huge attention to period detail – the underrated British actor Andre Morell as Dr. Watson fresh from his barnstorming appearance in "Quatermass And The Pit" - determined to rescue Holmes' sidekick from the comic portrayal of the character by Nigel Bruce in all the previous Fox Pictures – Christopher Lee as the rather pompous Sir Henry Baskerville doomed and cursed by the cruelty of a distant relative who murdered a girl on the moors for sport (David Oxley as the mad-eyed Sir Hugo and Maria Landi as the heaving bosomed Cecile Stapleton who gets to run around and heave a lot). There's also discussion on the 'adorable', quiet and organised Director Terence Fisher (Peter Bryan did the screenplay from Conan Doyle’s book). About 35 to 40 minutes.

2. Andre Morell: Best Of British. A hugely affectionate tribute to the actor Andre Morell (1909 to 1978) who played Dr. Watson in the film – includes a lot of succinct and articulate contributions from his actor son Jason Morell. Andre had parts in "Ben Hur", "The Bridge On The River Kwai" and was one of the first actors to use TV as a career outside of typecast parts in films.

3. The Many Faces Of Sherlock Holmes – 1986 documentary narrated by Christopher Lee - clips of a large number of actors who have played the famous sleuth

4. Actor’s Notebook: Christopher Lee – Archive interview with the actor recalling his work on the "Hound"  film

5. Hounds Of The Baskervilles Excerpts – Christopher Lee reads from Conon Doyle’s books "Mr. Sherlock Holmes" and "The Hound Of The Baskervilles"

6. Original Theatrical Trailer – in unrestored Black and White

7. Audio Commentary – recorded 2 April 2015 by Marcus Hearn the Official Hammer Films Historian and author of several books on the subject – along with Jonathan Rigby author of "English Gothic"

8. Image Gallery

The moment the hysterical score cross the screen during the credits – the clarity is instant – the names are clear and the image lovely. When you view the Extras that show the moment Cushing is introduced as Holmes – snoozing through the pompous deliberations of Francis de Wolff as Dr. Richard Mortimer (“Ha!) – the difference couldn’t be more marked. The film itself has its clichéd moments and the actual attack of the Hound with its cheesy mask (pre CGI) is perhaps not the greatest moment in Horror History – but there’s so much to love in this tale of Moorish dastardliness – not least of all the great pairing of Cushing and Morell – both getting their moments to shine – while Christopher Lee looks like he’s going to turn into Dracula at every given opportunity.

A wonderful reissue and one that fans will thoroughly enjoy...

Looks Good: BLU RAY Keepers and Sleepers - 100 Films You Probably Don't Own But Should - Volume 1 - A to G... by MARK BARRY (100 Indepth Reviews About Great Films and Their Exceptional BLU RAY Reissues)

Looks Good: BLU RAY Keepers and Sleepers - 100 Films You Probably Don't Own But Should - Volume 1 - A to G...

"Cinema Paradiso"

Making movies suggestions is a precarious business - one man's Hilton Hotel is another man's Doghouse Dive. And looking at the 100 choices listed below - a body could easily holler - where's Blade Runner or Close Encounters Of The Third Kind or Gladiator (and other obvious stuff like that). But I figure any true film buff will already own these. 

Volume 1 in this series mixes familiar with off-the-beaten track and covers the letters A to G (with 2 more clusters of 100 to follow). All time frames are touched upon (1930 to 2013) - with quality restorations you may have missed highlighted too. I hope to have provided you with enough information to tempt - but not enough to spoil it. And I also make no bones about preferring a movie that lifts the spirits up - even if you have to get a bit bloodied en route. 

Living in London - each four/five star review is based on the Region B BLU RAY release – and if the film is only available elsewhere – I’ve incorporated American and European versions where their Region Coding will allow play on our UK machines. US customers reading this book simply refer to/buy the Region-A releases of the same titles. Technical info also includes – Aspect Ratio, Audio Settings, Languages, Subtitles and Extras etc. 

Hope you enjoy it…

INDEX:

1.    21 Grams ****

2.    360 *****

3.    (500) Days Of Summer *****

4.    About Time ****

5.    Across The Universe *****

6.    The Adjustment Bureau ****

7.    Adventureland ****

8.    The Adventures Of Robin Hood [1938] *****

9.    The African Queen *****

10. The Air I Breathe ****

11. All About Eve *****

12. All Quiet On The Western Front *****

13. Almost Famous - Extended ****

14. Amelie *****

15. American Violet *****

16. Angel-A ****

17. Anonymous ****

18. Anuvahood ****

19. The Apartment *****

20. As Good As It Gets *****

21. Babel *****

22. Babette’s Feast *****

23. Barney’s Version *****

24. Beautiful Girls *****

25. Before The Devil Knows You’re Dead ****

26. The Big Picture ****

27. The Birdcage *****

28. Blackthorn ****

29. Blazing Saddles *****

30. The Blind Side *****

31. Blow *****

32. The Blues Brothers *****

33. Brassed Off *****

34. The Bridges Of Madison County *****

35. Brief Encounter *****

36. Bright Star *****

37. Bubba Ho-Tep *****

38. The Bucket List *****

39. Cadillac Records *****

40. Captain Phillips *****

41. Caramel *****

42. Centurion ****

43. Charlie Wilson’s War ****

44. Chocolat *****

45. The Cider House Rules ****

46. Cinema Paradiso [25^th Anniversary Edition] *****

47. City Of Angels ****

48. Cloud Atlas ****

49. Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs *****

50. The Company Men ****

51. Cool Hand Luke *****

52. Copland [15th Anniversary Edition] *****

53. Corman’s World *****

54. Crash *****

55. Crazy Heart *****

56. A Dangerous Method ****

57. Dante’s Peak ****

58. Dead Fish ****

59. Dean Spanley ****

60. Deception ****

61. Deep Blue Sea ****

62. Definitely, Maybe ****

63. Deja Vu ****

64. Delicacy *****

65. Die Hard 4.0 ****

66. Dirty Rotten Scoundrels *****

67. Duets ****

68. Easy A ****

69. Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind *****

70. The Extraordinary Adventures Of Adele Blanc-Sec ****

71. Fargo [2014 Remaster] *****

72. Fast & Furious 5 and 6 *****

73. The Fighter *****

74. Filth *****

75. Fly Away Home *****

76. Flypaper ****

77. Four Lions *****

78. Fracture ****

79. Frankie Go Boom *****

80. Frequency ****

81. Frida *****

82. The Front Page (Extrablatt on GERMAN BLU RAY) ****

83. Frost/Nixon *****

84. The Full Monty *****

85. Garden State ****

86. Get Shorty ****

87. The Ghost ****

88. The Giant Mechanical Man [aka “Love In Detroit”] *****

89. Girl Most Likely ****

90. Glory (Mastered In 4K) *****

91. Going The Distance ****

92. Goldfinger *****

93. Gone Baby Gone ****

94. Good Vibrations ****

95. Good Will Hunting [15th Anniversary Edition] *****

96. Gran Torino *****

97. The Grey ****

98. Grosse Pointe Blank *****

99. Groundhog Day *****

100. The Guard ****

MARK BARRY (June 2015)