Britgeek here.
I'm going to break away from what has become the norm this week with this bumper review edition of my column. I've been up to my eyeballs – quite literally – watching and reviewing, so here are my thoughts on which of the newest DVD and Blu-ray releases to hit the UK you should pick up or avoid.
I hope you enjoyed my world exclusive look at those ultra-rare stills from the upcoming THE PERSUADERS! Blu-ray box set. Tony Curtis and Roger Moore behind the scenes? Amazing!
ATTACK THE BLOCK (Blu-ray)
Have you ever posed the question what would a gang of teenage thugs in South London do if their council estate was overrun by aliens? Me neither. But Joe Cornish clearly has, and his debut film is the result. Now, I'm fully aware that I'll probably cop a lot of flak for this, but I'm not about to rave over ATTACK THE BLOCK. I'm exceptionally happy for its success in the US as a British film, and it's nice to see Cornish make the switch from comedian to feature film-maker. I grew up watching his show with Adam Buxton in the '90s. I just didn't find the film that funny. In fact, I didn't find it very funny at all, and it has undoubtedly one of the worst opening scenes for a comedy that I've ever seen. It's hard enough to care for characters based on the dregs who give “Broken Britain” its name (those outside the UK probably wouldn't understand), but ATTACK THE BLOCK goes one step further and begins with the teens mugging a young female nurse at knifepoint. I'm sorry, but that particular scene is just overly malicious and really impacted upon my enjoyment of the rest of the movie. Beyond that, I just could not invest in any of the characters and was rooting for the aliens (which reminded me of the creatures from THE LANGOLIERS) to rip them to pieces. I'd probably do that in real life, too.
Extras: Behind the Block: an hour-long behind the scenes feature; Creature Feature: the alien effects of ATTACK THE BLOCK; Meet the Gang; the cast and crew of the film; It's a Rap; Unfilmed Action: a look at scripted scenes that were never shot; trailers; three audio commentaries with director Cornish, the cast and executive producer Edgar Wright.
INSIDIOUS (Blu-ray)
INSIDIOUS is one of my favourite horror films of the year and one of the most refreshing movie experiences I've had in recent memory. It's as if SAW creators James Wan and Leigh Whannell threw a bucket of ice water on me during a hot summer's day. I couldn't have said that many, many years ago when haunted house movies were far more prevalent and horror wasn't dominated by ultra-violence, but I can now. And what's so brilliant is that Wan and Whannell have done a complete 180 with this film and absolutely defied the generic conventions that they personally innovated with SAW. They were a huge part in redefining modern horror, and it'll be interesting to see if films of INSIDIOUS' ilk will start to catch on given its incredible financial and creative success. This is a tremendous, scary film, and I would love to see it playing as a double feature with Ti West's similarly fantastic THE INNKEEPERS.
Extras: Horror 101: The Exclusive Seminar: director Wan and writer Whannell discuss the genesis of INSIDIOUS; On Set with INSIDIOUS; INSIDIOUS Entities: the design of the ghosts in the film; theatrical trailer.
HEAVENLY CREATURES (DVD)
One of the many things that I love about Peter Jackson is that he is such a diverse film-maker and has risen so far from humble creative roots. From making bizarre, silly and fun, Troma-inspired movies like BAD TASTE and BRAINDEAD to becoming a Hollywood heavyweight with THE LORD OF THE RINGS trilogy and KING KONG, Jackson has come a long way in 20 years. The same can be said for Kate Winslet, who made her feature debut in HEAVENLY CREATURES, the film that put Jackson on the map, and for good reason. Remastered and looking better than ever, this tragic, fantastical story about two schoolgirls in New Zealand with an unbreakable friendship is compelling from the first scene right to the gut-wrenching finale.
BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY'S (Blu-ray)
Audrey Hepburn arrives on Blu-ray in her most iconic role in BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY'S, a film that needs no introduction. The HD transfer is absolutely stunning and makes an already colourful movie that much more vibrant. It's a real visual treat.
BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY'S is one of those films that brings about a stupid grin on my face for its entire duration. It's such a light, easy watch, yet very funny and charming. Hepburn and George Peppard are both wonderful and you really get to know their characters. You want to step inside their world – '60s NYC – and know them in the flesh; interact with them in the same memorable ways as they do in their scenes. Well I do, at least. For me, it's as thoroughly engrossing as it is enjoyable.
Extras: An audio commentary with producer Richard Shepherd; A Golightly Gathering: cast and crew reunite to discuss the cocktail party in the film; Henry Mancini: More Than Music; Mr. Yunioshi: An Asian Perspective; Breakfast at Tiffany's: The Making of a Classic; It's So Audrey! A Style Icon; Behind the Gates: The Tour; Brilliance in a Blue Box: a feature on Tiffany's; Audrey's Letter to Tiffany; galleries; theatrical trailer.
13 ASSASSINS (DVD)
Takashi Miike has wowed me in the past with the likes of AUDITION and ICHI THE KILLER, and now he has done it again. A remake of Eiichi Kudo's JUSAN-NIN NO SHIKAKU from 1963, a film which I must confess to have had no prior knowledge of (although it's now firmly on my radar), 13 ASSASSINS is an incredible samurai film that commands your attention from the very first scene and leaves you utterly breathless by its epic climax. Miike is not only one of Japan's most prolific film-makers, but one of its most visionary, and he proves that more so in 13 ASSASSINS than any of his previous films. It's his most mature effort to date, and one of his simplest. The plot is anything but contrived and the first half builds and builds and segues into one of the greatest battle sequences ever lensed. Although I could have done without the flaming CG bulls.
Extras: 23 minutes worth of deleted scenes, an interview with Miike, and the trailer.
THE PANIC IN NEEDLE PARK (DVD)
Al Pacino is best known for his three amazing performances as Michael Corleone in Francis Ford Coppola's THE GODFATHER trilogy, and yet the film which earned him that role has fallen under the radar over the years. THE PANIC IN NEEDLE PARK was Pacino's second-ever feature and the movie that Coppola screened for Paramount when he began his fight to get the then-unknown actor the seminal part. And thank the stars he was successful in his bid to cast him. So, not only is THE PANIC IN NEEDLE PARK an excellent film that paints a sad and tragic portrait of the lives led by heroin addicts in '70s New York City, it's also incredibly important; the film that started it all for Pacino, if you will. Stark, grimy, voyeuristic and, above all, realistic, this movie really deserves to be seen.
Extras: Two behind the scenes features: Panic in the Streets of New York and Writers in Needle Park.
PIECES (DVD)
Most definitely one of the all-time most unintentionally hilarious horror films I've ever seen, Spain's PIECES from 1982 is a real Friday-night-with-a-beer-and-your-mates kind of movie. It's easy to see why it's one of genre maestro Eli Roth's favourites with its over-the-top blood and guts. It follows the teen stalk and slash formula down to a tee, yet somehow manages to become a complete mess halfway through, which only serves to add to the comedy. Drenched in viscera and peppered with cheap scares, PIECES may be 80 minutes of egregious trash with chainsaws, but it's still a gorily good time.
Extras: Pieces of Jack: An Actor's Experience of Spanish Splatter; Pieces of Deconstruction: Looking Back at a Grindhouse Gorefest; an audio commentary with film critic Calum Waddell and Fangoria's Tony Timpone; the trailer.
PAGE EIGHT (DVD)
Bill Nighy, Rachel Weisz, Michael Gambon, Felicity Jones and Ralph Fiennes, among others, make up the all-star cast of PAGE EIGHT, a BBC TV film written and directed by David Hare (THE READER), which premièred at this year's Edinburgh Film Festival. Billed as a spy thriller, the only link PAGE EIGHT has to the fast, furious and over-the-top world of James Bond and all the other connotations of such a label is that the story involves MI5. The film is much more of a drama, smart script and all, and with a calm and quiet, yet compelling lead performance from Nighy as an intelligence analyst in possession of a document that could spell the end for MI5. A solid watch.
Extras: What's the story?; Who are the Characters?; The Cast....; Playback Trailer.
AS BLOOD RUNS DEEP (DVD)
Retitled from MESKADA for its UK release, the seriously underrated Nick Stahl stars as a detective investigating the murder of a young boy during a burglary in a small town where everyone knows everyone, and they don't take too kindly to outside interference. First it feels like a low-key TV drama, then it moves into Coen brothers territory, only not nearly as good as anything they've ever done. Stahl is the best thing in this slow, pedestrian picture.
That's all from me. Stay tuned for more AICN UK content, including a full review of the aforementioned brand new and gorgeous THE PERSUADERS! Blu-ray box set!
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TTFN.
