Trailer Alert - The Descent 2

Way back in 2005 a little known horror film rocked my world. Hot off the hit that was Dog Soldiers, Neil Marshall's next film made it into my top 5 of that year! I introduced it to every person that ever spoke to me about movies. If you could wear a DVD out, my 2 disc edition would have needed replacing long ago. (along with The 5th Element, but that's a different post)

The Descent.

The plot was simple and the movie scared the absolute pants off me. Of course it helped that I knew nothing about it!! Once you know any bit of information about this film it kind of spoils it.

Anyhow, I watched Eden Lake a month or so ago, and learnt that its director James Watkins next project was a sequel to the Descent.

I have no idea how they plan on pulling it off, but watching this trailer leads me to believe they are using the U.S ending as a starting point. (Yes, the film had multiple endings depending on which country you saw it in)

Anyways....see for yourself:

Rant Alert: Physical Media Vs Downloable Content

In the last few days I have started to get very angry with the number of people who have asked for my opinion regarding the future of home entertainment only to lambaste me with information about how digital downloads are going to be the future and you won't be able to buy discs anymore etc etc.

I say what a load of crap.

Whilst the music industry may have suffered a loss and a kick in the teeth with the invention of the mp3, people still buy CD's. Not as many people, but they still do.... in fact I would say most people who do not purchase their music on a physical disc fall into 3 camps. The first are pirates who don't pay for anything anyways so really they don't count. The second are those who use ipods, or other personal audio devices that link to a PC or MAC. The third are the ones who can't find that elusive album anywhere in the physical world and as an absolute last resort (or because its easier) they pay to download it.

MP3 is not as good as a CD. PERIOD. If you are listening to your music on an ipod or headphone based system you do not get to argue with me about this. If you are listening to your music on an all-in-one sound system or Bose lifestyle system you also don't get to argue with me. Sure 80% of people claim they can't hear the difference, but there are so many factors as to why this may be the case that I am not going to argue. MP3 cannot be as good as CD and that is a technical FACT. (look up Lossy compression to find out why)

I had the pleasure for 5 years of my life, working in a HIFI store, and not somewhere like JBHIFI or Harvey Norman, but a specialist HIFI store. We dealt with products designed to do only one thing. Recreate music the way it was meant to be heard. When you listen to an MP3 on a $10,000 sound system (and $10,000 is not expensive by the way) it sounds like the music was recorded underwater and then the recording was dragged by 8 horses across the country on a gravel road. Now don't get me wrong, CD is still nowhere near the best format for listening to music, but it is by far the best quality you can get main stream. Now I am not expecting everyone to rush out and spend $10,000 on a sound system; and I appreciate that the reason MP3's have become so popular is its ease of use and lack of physical space requirement, but to this day people still buy CD's. Why? and does sound quality play a part? well, actually, I don't think it does. I think people like to get something for their money. If I am going to spend $30 on something, I want to be able to hold it in my hand, read the back cover for track listings or band biographies in the booklet. I want to have something physical. Not to mention that if I have an ipod or some such, I can just rip the disc to mp3 anyways, but I will always have the original. (don't even think about telling me I can burn mp3's to CD so my argument is mute. See my rant above about sound quality of Mp3)

wow, this post is already quite long and I haven't even got to movies.

Blu-ray disc will be here to stay for quite some time. So will DVD. Movie downloads may come into play, but they will never fully succed or replace a physical media device. Escpecially not anytime soon.

Last week DVD sales accounted for 87% of the home movie market. Blu-ray accounted for 12% and digital downloads..... 1% thats right.....1 %

Blu-ray sales were up 81.72% compared with this time last year, whilst DVD sales were down 17.58% Digital Delivery, whilst up was only 32%

One of the biggest issues is with delivery. Most people do not have a lot of bandwidth available to them. To download a movie in Blu-ray disc quality is going to cost you upwards of 25GIG, that is going to take a few hours even at some of the fastest internet speeds currently available!

What do they do to fix this.....compress the title. What does that mean? Well, it means a reduction in quality....can you see the difference? Well, a blind test conducted by the Custom Electronic Design and Installation Association (or CEDIA) says you can. They got participants to look at 2 systems setup and configured identically except for source material. The first source was a Blu-ray, the second was a high definition MP4 file downloaded using Apple TV - both of the same feature film. The results: 92% said the Blu-ray looked better!!

You can read more about this test here

If you want to watch your movie on an ipod or PSP, fine download a crappy compressed copy from itunes (although a number of companies are now providing digital versions with the physical copy!), but for actual Flat Panel and Home Theater Style movie watching you cannot get anything in a download that remotely comes close to the picture quality of a Blu-ray, add to that the joy of actually being able to physically hold the product in your hand.

DVD won't be gone anytime soon either....with so many discs available at such greatly reduced prices, those that can't see the difference or those that don't feel paying the extra for Blu-ray is worth it, will still lap up DVD products for years to come.

There is so much going on in the world today that none of these types of arguments seem really worth spending the time on.

Like so many other arguments I will end this one with...."why can't we all just get along"

Each format has its own reason for existence. If having all 3 remains profitable, then why can't we just keep them, why does a specific format or delivery service have to win?!?!

What are your thoughts or comments?

TV...TV & TV on DVD

This week I have spent much of my time watching Eureka on DVD, I stopped watching midway through season 2 and then forgot about the show altogether, but now I am re-watching them all in anticipation of not only the season 3 DVD release on the 30th, but new Season 4 (although really the 2nd half of Season 3) episodes starting on July 10th!! The show is quite entertaining and does have quite a number well thought out episodes. Not being a scientist I am unsure of how accurate all of the "science speak" is, but I find it easy enough to follow for the most part.

I have also checked out Richard Hammond's short but sweet series for the National Geographic channel entitled Engineering Connections. In it, Hammond takes us through the design and implementation stages of 4 major engineering feats and explains where the technology originated from.

The first episode focuses on the Airbus A380 and how the technology to keep this thing in the air relates to an eagle in flight, a Mongolian bow (as in bow & arrow) and a 19th century rocket.

Next up is Taipei 101, one of the world's tallest and most sophisticated buildings. Hammond shares how the building and construction share commonality with bird cages, bamboo, car brakes and yachts.

Hammond then travels to Hawaii to visit the Keck Observatory, home to the world's largest telescope and an amazing mirrored lens array that shares technology derived from a sand blaster, a spy plane and a theramin.

Last and by no means least we have the Troll A Gas Platform, the largest structure ever moved by man. It has a connection to a 19th century French gardener, a 16th century German mayor, an American motoring engineer.

Overall I felt that the series did feel a little high school oriented and I found Hammond's constant repition of the places or objects name to be very annoying, but the series did still have quite a bit to offer and was certainly as entertaining as it was educational.

Terminator Salvation (2009)

I have never really been a die hard Terminator fan. If I had to pick a favorite, I would say the first is probably going to be it. Having watched the extras on the DVD though, I think I would have liked it more if Lance Henriksen had been the Terminator, but that's probably just me.

Anyway, almost 25 years after the first appearance of Terminator on our screens comes the fourth installment. I didn't dislike it, but it was not a great film. I do not understand this penchant for destruction. A movie should have a purpose and the action should compliment the story, well this story doesn't make any sense and thus the action and violence is just as senseless.

The film has a fairly strong cast which is such a shame as not one of them has anything decent to do in their role; with the possible exception of Sam Worthington as Marcus Wright, but even the possibilities of his character are largely left unexplored. Christian Bale does what he can as John Connor, Bryce Dallas Howard is wasted picking up the role from Claire Danes character in the third installment.

The film doesn't actually add anything new to the time line as far as I can tell, it basically just explains a bit in the middle and then does its own thing for another 90 minutes, which quite frankly means lots of things blow up and there are a lot of loud noises. Once again....so much potential wasted on pointless action sequences. It is not quite as bad as a Michael Bay(splosions) movie, but it is not much better either.

The Children (2008)

When you make a horror movie, the thing that usually helps make it so scary is having characters that you can relate to or sympathize with. The Children apparently didn't get the memo.

A family Christmas holiday gone wrong as a series of unfortunate incidents lead to an escalating series of tragic events that may or may not have been perpetrated by the young children.

The premise is interesting, but not entirely original. What would happen if your children suddenly took ill and decided that your time on Earth was at their discretion? The film reminded me a little of Zombies (a.k.a Wicked Little Things) albeit a daylight version. There are certainly some disturbing and genuinely creepy moments, but on the whole the parents reactions to the occurring events got more and more annoying to the point where I just wished they would hurry up and be killed. There is also something to be said about making children appear creepy, this film uses make-up and the obvious director's cue of "Make a scary face".

All is not entirely lost, the film has some great cinematography and the eerie music helps the little hair stand on end as required. The film is quite graphically violent too so if you are a bit squeamish you may find yourself covering your eyes at times.

It is a shame that the film makes no attempt to explain the continuing decline in mental state of its lead characters, or the useless actions and reactions of the adults, even the teenage daughter was a little more intelligent than them and that really is saying something! All I can hope is that if this series of events occurs to me, that I act far more mature and intelligently than the adults in this film.

Trailer Alert - Final Destination 4

Okay....3D....honestly.....

Anyway, here is the trailer for The Final Destination; lamest franchise name ever....still going to see it though :P~

Easy Virtue (2008)

Nearly 10 years after his last film director Stephan Elliot brings us Easy Virtue. I enjoyed both Eye of the Beholder and Priscilla Queen of the Desert and having seen a documentary on the making of the former I was surprised to see a new film from him at all! Killing Priscilla is a documentary filmed during the making of Eye of the Beholder. If you want to be a director I strongly suggest you seek it out and watch it as it is one of the most candid and incredible accounts of film-making I have ever seen, but anyhow on to Easy Virtue.

Based on the Noel Coward play, Easy Virtue is certainly an easy to watch and entertaining film. A young Englishman meets and falls in love with an American gal and brings her home to meet the parents. In fact, this film has quite a bit in common with Meet the Parents only in a period setting. We get wonderful performances by all involved, I particularly liked Colin Firth's disheveled portrayal of the Colonel, and Kristen Scott Thomas captures the cold and manipulating Mother perfectly too.

The film is beautifully shot in cinema scope with great use of the English manors and countryside. The music selection is interesting, with use of a brass swing band to play songs such as Car Wash and Sex Bomb as only a 1920's swing band could, as well as providing an upbeat score.

On the whole I enjoyed watching Easy Virtue. The dialogue was witty and edgy as Noel Coward often is, the performances were excellent and the experience was altogether refreshing in this time of action blockbusters who substitute effects for plot.

Lesbian Vampire Killers (2009)

Sadly, Lesbian Vampire Killers is not as much fun as its title would have us believe. A small English town has a curse placed on it by a vampire queen. The curse ensures that all of the towns womenfolk after turning the ripe old age of 18 become enslaved by lesbians that also happen to be vampires. The townsfolk keep the lesbians at bay by sending tourists and presumably people they don't like to a cabin in the middle of the forest as what I can only guess is a sacrifice. Fast forward to present day and 2 friends head off for a hike in the countryside and happen upon the aforementioned cursed town. After watching a VW van full of hotties depart the local drinking establishment the boys think they have hit pay dirt, but of course we know better.

Lesbian Vampire Killers tries very hard to establish a style of its own, but we are not presented with anything that hasn't been attempted more successfully by other films, even the main characters are very reminiscent of other more superior character roles!. The 2 male leads for example are just a poor mans photocopy of Simon Pegg & Nick Frost's characters from Shaun of the Dead. Paul McGann plays a priest trying to protect his daughter who is about to turn 18, he is also the films main source of exposition and yet appears in a series of plot extensions that seem to serve very little purpose as well as being the stereotypical priest with the know-how. I appreciate the air of B-grade tongue in cheek humor that is present, but it just doesn't live up to even B-grade standards. I should also point out that the vampire queen is supposed to be Camilla, a vampire that out dates even Dracula and has also appeared in countless movie outings.

Well, maybe my expectations were a bit high, but I was quite disappointed with Lesbian Vampire Killers. It is not the worst film of the year, but I wouldn't rush out to see it in cinemas.