Hopefulness for the future

Yeah, I'm still crap at updating here on blogger, but hey my mind goes other places. Yet another time to not promise regular updates and just see what happens.

Entertainment News

• George Clooney and Renée Zellweger are rumoured to be dating again, the pair dated briefly in 2001 and where seen recently cuddling and holding hands in a restaurant
• Naomi Campbell as been threatened with arrest after she failed to appearer at an hearing at a Manhattan Court, very naughty girl.
• First Chyna and Sean Waltman have a scary sex tape, now it's the turn of Screech himself Dustin Diamond, Diamond's manager actually hope the release of the tape to the public will help raise his profile, aren't you just a little bit curious?
• and that's it Dustin Diamond can't be topped.

Entertainment News

• Mel Gibson comes out of hiding to make his first public appearance to promoto "Apocalypto" since his drink driving arrest back in July.
• Shockingly, since you'd expect it to be drug related, Keith Richards was massively drunk on the set of the third Pirates of the Caribbean and had to be proped up when his scenes where getting filmed.
• David Beckham has found solace in Tom Cruise, I made it sound gayer then it actually is, it was more to do with Beckham been dropped from the England squad.
• Lindsay Lohan is angry at reports she's split up with her fiancee Harry Morton, the Hard Rock Cafe heir, apparently there still together.
• Cindy Crawford is in trouble with certain people after she allowed her 5 year old daughter to model swimwear.
• Bruce Willis tells the world he is a democrat.
• Some sad news, the church in which James Brown did his bit in Blues Brothers as burned down.

Hostel

Eli Roth, director of Cabin Fever can talk the talk, but can he walk the walk, let's start with Cabin Fever, what's the best way to describe it? Average, yet people where excited to see it, but are many people actually a fan of the movie? Hostel, is Eli Roth's second movie and his mouth flapped more and more and how much of a mind fuck the movie would be, but the film with the tag Quentin Tarantino presents where Eli Roth finally learns to walk the walk.

The answer, I've got to say is NO. The film for the first part seems like the movie Eurotrip- obnixious Yanks abroad in Europe- trying to be funny and never been funny, the film takes the From Dusk Till Dawn approach by going all out the window the second half, the boys are told of an Hostel, that's full of women who are pretty much up for it.

Let's talk about the torture scenes, you must have heard about them, or seen the tantilizing glimpses on any number of the trailers- Yes, they are squemish (as is a bit at the end of the movie), but they come too little too late, the interest as already severely wained in the movie. Japanese directing maestro Takeshi Miike as a small role, it's recommend you check out some of his movies instead (if you already haven't).

The film is not that good, moments of gore and attempted humour never sit well together, the film is probably a lesser movie then Cabin Fever. Watch National Lampoon's European Vacation and The Texas Chain Saw Massacre straight after each other instead.

**

Entertainment News

• Marcia Cross, the redheaded one from Desperate Housewives is expecting twins, when I read the headline "Cross Expecting Twins", I instantly thought of Arrested Development slaphead David Cross, now if that was the case that would have been newsworthy.
• Robin Williams, as left rehab and as moved in with a sober friend to save his marriage, do you think he remembers he made Jacob the Liar?
• 80s "heartthrob" Lou Diamond Phillips as been charged in with domestic battery in Los Angeles, nothing funny there, if he as hit his wife he deserves what he gets.
• Jet Li is still ademant he's giving up martial arts movies, hating the fact the theme is always revenge, look for Li in the remake of 12 Angry Men.
• In the best news- Showgirls is to be transformed into a Las Vegas musical, please get Jessie Spano to be in it please, please, I'll fly over to Las Vegas to see it.
• George Lucas as donated $175 million to the USC, the place that provided him with his filmmaking education in a generous gift, just a shame half of his directorial filmography is the Star Wars prequels.
• Saturday Night Live as cut it's cast from 16 down to 11 (with no new cast additions) among those going are Chris Parnell and Horatio Sanz---now who's going to giggle during every sketch there in distracting the other performers. The fat one from Kenan and Kel is safe BTW.

Shock Treatment

Wow, you have to be impressed at how regulary I update this blog. Months on end it seems I fail to do any update whatsoever, then I come on after a bit and promise big changes then... NOTHING, a big fat nothing- promises of changes, maybe a couple of updates here and there, So for now- No promises, If I update it, I update it.

Planned watching:

• Good Night, And Good Luck.
• Demolition Man
• Uncle Buck
• Shock Treatment
• Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead

What I've been watching

First off, Monday so the arrival of the special edition of V for Vendetta, which is a fantastic (though it seems negatively recieved by Alan Moore purirists) and was reviewed by me back when I saw it at the cinema, American Dreamz, could of been a biting satire of the American President and American Idol but doesn't have any teeth, Mandy Moore looks hot in it though. A film I'd not seen since Childhood without realizing Spaceballs is noticebly not one thing: that funny, a couple of good jokes aside, a lot of it just falls flat, The Ice Storm, one of my favourite films from 1997 (in a year that included L.A Confidential and The Big Lebowski) with a particulary memorable turn from Christina Ricci, it should be noted it's wonderfully acted by all and is Ang Lee's best film to date.

Just finished watching R.S.V.P. (2002), a horror with some neat little ideas- notable as it was the last role for Glenn Quinn, and also featuring Jason Mewes, you have to believe that there was a couple of drugs flying around the set (Quinn died of a heroin overdose) - the movie is ultimately okay, but feels a tad been there done that, The 'Burbs (1987) is incredibly underrated and is a film that before recently watching it hadn't seen for a fair few years. Bruce Dern as the military-nut neighbour is a standout. I think that's all I've watched the last couple of days.

I watched four films on one night, Our House (aka Duplex), Death to Smoochy, Wonderland and 12 Angry Men, all but 12 Angry Men I'd never seen before and all but 12 Angry Men could be described anything but lukewarm. Our House and Death to Smoochy are both black comedies directed by Danny DeVito. In Our House, DeVito basically retraces Throw Momma from the Train with the usual likeable leads of Ben Stiller and Drew Barrymore, who are honestly not bad, the problem with the film is, it never picks up momentum, Death to Smoochy is better -just- thanks to the lead roles and one genuinely heartbreaking moment, it was made during Robin Williams, dark career period and is certainly a weaker movie then Insomnia, watchable but not completely great. Wonderland, starring Val Kilmer, tells the true story of ex-porn star John Holmes (his story was kind of the inspiration for Dirk Diggler in Boogie Nights) and tells the story of a murder of a bunch of drug dealers and their unlucky houseguests from various points of view a lá Rashomon, it never really reveals the surface of the subject or the event in question and leaves you wanting more, there is one scene at the beginning with Kate Bosworth that is so unbelievably sexy. However, 12 Angry Men is a true cinematic masterpiece, excellently performed by the 12 actors, the film draws you in, wanting to know more, a true testement to less been more, this movie is impossible to fault.

Jack Warden

1920-2006

So I'd got an amazingly good value MGM box-set consisting of ten films for £10, earlier in the week, and the first one I watched out of the box was 12 Angry Men (1957) and was going to talk about what a marvellous film was, but a couple of days ago, one of the actors, Jack Warden died aged 85. Warden had a long, long career and it was sad to hear of his passing- I can also remember the Problem Child movies as a kid (also starring the now sadly deceased John Ritter) and in my teens the underrated Things to Do in Denver When You're Dead, films all done in the twilight of his career--- 12 Angry Men is a wonderful film- it should be rightly described as a classic and I'll talk about it more on a later date.

Got MILF?

Yes I am an idiot.

It was an episode of Malcolm in the Middle repeated the other day, can't go wrong with two older women like these.

Let's talk about The Constant Gardener (2005) a bit, the recent batch of "serious" movies have bored me a bit, you know the Oscar baiting (sometimes borderline television movie) though sometimes usually well made and occasionly engaging- just left me with a couple of hours of feeling nothingless. I'm glad the partly British made (or British in spirit) Constant Gardener, changed that. Watched about the same time as Lord of War both make an interesting double bill- Gardener deals with profiting from pharmacetucials, War profiting from arms dealing. Rachel Weisz as never been better (granted pretty much everything else I've seen her in would hardly class as changelling roles) but the bitter poignanticy of knowing her character is killed before the opening credits making Ralph Fiennes plight for truth and justice that all much better. There is one scene towards the end of the movie in the third act, that is just so heartbreaking- words can't truly describe the scene which will stay with me for a long time. Recommended action: watch it.

Entertainment News

• James Gandolfini as gone in for knee surgery therefore delaying the start of the new Sopranos season. Like we wasn't going to wait two years for it anyway.
• Hugh Laurie as been given a huge pay rise for his role in the show "House" upto $300,000 from an original reported mid five figure salary. Rule Britannia.
• Diane Lane chopped off her hair on live television for charity, bless her.

And that's it.

slow news day.

Red Buttons dies aged 87

I was sad to hear of the death of Red Buttons, who died Thursday aged 87.

Many consider his greatest role "Saynora" in which he won the best supporting actor Oscar for in 1957.

However, it's in his roles for "The Longest Day" (a movie in which he stole the show) and "The Poseidon Adventure", as well as his guest spot on "ER" I will probably best remember him for.

A hugely talented performer, Red, you will be missed.

The Return of Captain Invincible

Hello, I'm back finally- I've decidedI've got to take the site in a different way, because of what seems like my extreme ADD, this blog is not particulary holding my interest any more. you'll see the changes coming soon.

Been a while since I've updated here. One reason- big family crisis. I'm going to start trying to update more frequently ASAP.

Robot Chicken Season One

Thoughts Before: Well, I'd seen first sketches through various internet sites and the idea intrigued me, Adam and Joe Show in Britain did a simlair thing using toys from our childhood to act out the scenes and it's a thing that will always appeal to me. And I seem to already have a lot of stuff with Seth Green in it.

Review: The show is very, very funny- the animated sketches never outstay their welcome (the show is only about 11 minutes long) and features an all host of celebrity voices (Macaulay Culkin, Scarlett Johansson, casts of That 70s Show and Scooby Doo), how can you not like it when Superman steals Catwoman's Hello Kitty underwear, or a Cannonball Run sketch (Dom DeLuise and Burt Reynolds are in it!!!), or a Smurfs sketch based on Seven, or many, many more funny sketches.

A good thing about the show he doesn't feel it needs to explain to the geeks out there- A Sleepaway Camp reference!- and occasionly just goes for insane humour in places.

Stand Out Moment: So many sketches to pick from, erm...George Bush in his office in the Armageddon sketch, (zoom zoom zoom!), it annoys my nephew when I do an impression of that.

Conclusion: Recommended to fans of animation, and it's another moden classic from the Adult Swim Channel- 20 episodes are on this set, so there is enough to enjoy and laugh at. (R1 only)

****

Mario Bava Double Bill

A Bay of Blood

(aka Twitch of the Death Nerve)

Thoughts Before: Mario Bava as got quite a reputation in the Giallo fans circles and this movie, by whichever title it's goes is usually one of the first mentioned. I was expecting blood and insane deaths.

Review: And you blood and insane death by the plenty, clearly ripped off to pieces by the Friday the 13th franchise- this movie is insanely difficult to keep track of whose a murderer and whose a victim. It's the sort of film you'd watch not for the story (everybody as their eyes on becoming owners of the bay)- This is typical Giallo (that is a good thing) with great moments (I flinched a couple of times), gratiatous nudity and good characters (It would have been great if the husband and wife team of the fortune teller and bug-scientist got their own spin-off movie- if they didn't die horrible in the movie) and a really, really cool ending. Mario Bava's visual flair is apparent and keeps you hooked from the first moment.

Stand Out Moment: As to be the ending, so cool and unexpected, a moment that lingers on the mind forever.

Conclusion: Rightly, should be regarded as the godfather of all the 70s/80s slashers movies since it was raped and pilaged so much. Excellently directed with memorable characters, recommended.

***** Hatchet for the Honeymoon

Thoughts Before: Bay of Blood came through the post on the Wednesday, watched it that today, loved it, knew my local used DVD shop had this in and went and brought it on the Friday. I was pretty unfamiliar with this film compared to some of Mario Bava's other movies.

Review: This just might be better then A Bay of Blood, this is even more visually stunning then that movie, like most of Bava's imput the story is 2nd place, it's everything else, the insane characters, moments (as a filmmaker I might rip off this film royally)- the plot as a man marrying brides on their wedding days to find out who killed his mother, like a lot of Italian Horror it doesn't matter just soak yourself in and your in for a treat.

Stand Out Moment: The insane wedding dress dance knife attack sequence

Conclusion: Excellent, excellent movie, it's hard to know whether to class it as a Giallo, because there is actually so little blood compared to it's counterparts, this film as many excellent moments, recommend. And the UK release DVD I brought, features an hour long Bava documentary that is also very good.

*****

Aliens Among Us (aka Alien Avengers II) Thought's Before: Sometimes you just expect a movie to be bad, that can be a good film, I only brought it cause it stars the lovely Julie Brown. The fact it's only been released in some European countries on DVD. Might be a giveaway sign. Review: Like I said, I only brought this because of Julie Brown and imported it from Holland (I never would have given it a second look otherwise)- who her and Cheer's Norm- George Wendt are both incredibly likeable and funny in the leads. The movie is a harmless if unmemorable way to spend 90 minutes (a couple of times during the duration I held a smile) , the film tries to mix genres (sci-fi, horror, comedy, western), never really settingly on any. The film is credited Roger Corman presents, so you should know what you are getting with that. Stand Out Moment: Justice, new sherrif style, it'll make you never want to speed. Conclusion: Energertic peformances and some funny moments. I'm a fan of Julie Brown, so I'm gonna be on the side of liking this, thank you very much. **

Upcoming reviews include two Mario Bava Giallo classics, another Allan Arkush movie Heartbeeps, Meet the Fockers, the 2005 remake of the Longest Yard, Ed Wood's masterpiece Glen or Glenda, teen comedy How I Got into College, I Love You to Death, a Curb Your Enthuisasm special, a Julie Brown movie that doesn't seemed to be released in any English speaking countries, Shane Black's directorial debut Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, Robot Chicken Season One, The Doom Generation, Revenge of the Nerds I&II and NewsRadio Season Three.

Christ, that is a lot on my to do list...

Rock n Roll High School

Thoughts Before: I've seen a lot of "youth" movies but Rock n Roll High School was one I always missed. Seeing the wonderful Ramones featured so heavily in the soundtrack and also acting appealed to me a lot.

Review: So I got this and Death Race 2000 from E-Bay from the same seller and both arrived and found their ways into my DVDs player on the same day, both have a things in common- both are 70's Roger Corman, arguably the best Corman era and Paul Bartel's involvement.

Rock n Roll High School absolutely rocks- unusual, funny, kick ass soundtrack, likeable performances, P.J Soles in the lead role as never been cuter (same goes for Dey Young), a memorable villianous turn from Mary Woronov, while the film belongs to Paul Bartel as the music teacher who is absolutely hilarious and scene after scene that lingers on the memory, It's fair to say the music of Ramones is better then the acting but they have a memorable prescene in the movi and the movie is succesful in creating it's own reality (a giant rat doesn't seem out of place). Allan Arkush's finest directorial moment.

Stand Out Moment: P.J Soles singing Rock n Roll High School in gym, sang with such ferocious enegry.

Conclusion: Like Death Race 2000 it's not a perfectly made movie, but it's such unquestionable fun the movie sticks with, if your a fan of the earlier batch of teen comedies you'll certainly love this.

*****

Death Race 2000 Thoughts Before: I remember owning the video back in the early 90s and even then knowing it was a cheaply made movie. I though honestly can't believe it took me nearly 5 years to own the title on DVD. Review: Death Race 2000, yes you can tell it didn't have a massive budget- but that only adds to the wonderful appeal, with Roger Corman producing you know what your getting for your money. Coming in at around 80 minutes the movie never outstays it's welcome, the movie from a slew of Corman produced 70s racing films as auto racing has the concept, it's not only how fast you drive, but how many pedestrians you hit with David Carradine as Frankenstein taking on (among others) Sly Stallone's Machine Gun Joe in the brutally bloody, funny race. With the underrated (as a director and actor) Paul Bartel directing the film with a cast on top from (aswell as gratious nudity!!!) the film is the very defintion of the perfect B-Movie. Stand out Moment: Euthensia future style- nurse's leaving dying pensiors in the middle road to be killed only for Frankenstein in a sick twist of humour sort of way mow down the nurses. Conclusion: Death Race 2000 is a fantastic relic of the 1970s, anybody who likes there films a bit cultish will absolutely adore.

*****

Beautiful Girls

Thoughts Before Watching: I've seen Beautiful Girls quite a few times but haven't seen it since the end of 1999, so that is a good couple of years. I used to really like this movie and Natalie Portman's terrific performance always stood out for me. I am lookinh forward to seeing it again.

What's Good?: Natalie Portman is absolutely amazing and the rest of the cast fill there roles very well- Max Perlich should get more work. There are some great one line zingers ("Somebody's been eating retard sandwiches")- Ted Demme (who died in 2002) directs probably his best movie (Blow comes close) and Scott Rosenberg's script is not like the other films written by him that come to mind (he wrote Con-Air).

What's Bad?: On occasion the dialogue can feel just like like "cool" things spouted by the actors.

Defining Moment: "Sweet Carolina", the former high school gang sing along to the Neil Diamond classic. The Cameron Crowe moment not done by Mr. Crowe.

Overall: A very, very good movie with likeable and human characters, I'd recommend this to anybody who likes character based dramady.

****

I'm updating the idea of how I do reviews on this blog, expect changes in the coming days that makes this place different.

Bumper shopping today included:

• Curb Your Enthusiasm Season Four
• At Last the 1948 Show
• Do Not Adjust Your Set
• Rocky and Bullwinkle and Friends Season One
• Beautiful Girls
• I Love You to Death
• Irma La Douce
• Neighbors
• Hot Pursuit
• Goin' South
• D-Day: The Sixth of June
• The Young Lions

Recent E-Bay (to come...) (all on Region One)

• The Man Who Knew Too Little
• The Oblong Box/Scream and Scream Again
• The Masque of Red Death/The Premature Burial

Out of the stuff from Axelmusic.com NewsRadio Season Three is arriving first according to there handy tracking system, and How I Got into College should be here soon. Look's like there is a lot to watch in the next couple of weeks.

Updated 12/4/06

Add a Danish version of Forgotten Silver and an Aussie version of Glen or Glenda, the bloody horror Bay of Blood, Death Race 2000 and Rock and Roll High School to the e-bay purches

I'm Happy as I've ordered the following R1 DVDs from Axelmusic.com:

• NewsRadio Season Three
• Grounded for Life Season One
• Robot Chicken Season One
• Clone High Season One
• The Doom Generation

And off E-Bay

• How I Got into College

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

Scorsese and De Niro, Kurosawa and Mifune, Carpenter and Russell, Raimi and Campbell, some directors and actors are just meant to go together- Tim Burton and Johnny Depp have had a terrific run and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory continues it.

Now I've read the original book many times, seen the Gene Wilder movie many more times, so there was some fear- Planet of the Apes was a book, then a film, then Tim Burton remaked it, POTA was still fresh in the Mind.

I shouldn't bother going through the story, you all must know it by now- it's a good story that strikes a chord with kids and kids at heart.

Johnny Depp part-Michael Jackson/Howard Hughes- is unsuprisingly excellent- his appearance on screen is instantly welcome. Freddie Highmore as Charlie gives a genuine unannoying child performance. Deep Roy equally shines as every Umpa Lumpa and the kids minus Charlie are so unlikeable, as the audience member is filled with glee when they get there just desserts.

This adaptation is closer to the book then the Wilder version- the songs from the Umpa Lumpa's are from the book and is a likeable and sweet film. The film clearly as the Tim Burton magic, full of wonderful colour and sets and Wonka is clearly as much a Burton character as a Dahl character.

Magical with moments that can take you straight back to your childhood- anchored by a wonderful performance by Depp, the film will be a favourite for years to come.

****

I'm suffering a bit of writer's block at the minute, that's why reviews haven't been done the alst couple of days

V for Vendetta Cinema Review Hooray...after been seriously underwhelmed at the cinema this year, a film as finally come along that as reinstated my interest in the cinema year of 2006.

Based on the British graphic novel by Alan Moore (who had disowned the movie before a single shot) and set in an 1984 dystopian society- the titular "hero" V (Hugo Weaving, amazing considering his face is never seen) bombs up parts of London whilst Eveie (Natalie Portman) is witness to one such event on November 5th (Guy Fawkes Night- "Remember, remember the fifth of November"). V is planning something big excactly a year from the now which involves the people uprising.

The moments to the 1066 Overture are fantastic, as his the Benny Hill moment (you'll know what I am on about when I see it) and this the Wachowski's brothers (who wrote the script) here that made The Matrix and not it's sequels and James McTiegue makes a visually stunning directorial debut

The cast is awesome, Weaving of course, as his the love of my life Ms. Natalie Portman, suitably managaing emotions whilst juggling an English accent, the supporting cast of mostly British actors are fine such as Stephen Fry.

Overall, the film is extremely well made and watchable, with terrific moments and performances, I recommend this. I give it A for Awesome

****

Expected reviews to be added later today: cinema review of V for Vendetta (seen a week late), Andy Kaufman's only starring movie role Heartbeeps, and a pair of remakes Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and the Longest Yard

Today's entertainment news from around the world:

• Keith Carradine files a civil law suit against Hollywood P.I Anthony Pellicano after discovering he was among the stars named in a wire-tapping scandal.
• Isaac Hayes as rubbished reports that a stroke was the real reason he quit South Park.
• Jessica Simpson as dumped her record label Columbia to join Epic, she's doing a lot of life changing at the minute, it's not long since she dumped Nick Lachey.
• Paul Newman is backing a bill to protect image and vocal rights for actors.
• David Hasslehoff is fighting off rumours that claim he terrorised his estranged wife in front of their kids, claiming she needs help.
• Randy Quaid is suing the producers of Brokeback Mountain for $10 million claiming they lied to him about how big of a project the movie was.

R.I.P

Richard Fleischer

I was sad to hear of the death of director Richard Fleischer, who died aged 89 and whose career spanned countless decades- his work including the original Dr. Dolittle, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, Tora! Tora! Tora and two films with Arnold Schwarzenegger: Conan the Destroyer and Raw Deal.

My DVD Collection

I thought I'd post some pictures of my DVD collection (some of the DVDs are not pictured), but this is the jist of how obsessed I am with DVDs. There is a lot of television DVDs and the rest are in alphabetical order. I own about 800 at the moment, I did own over 1100 at one point, but sold many to fund the Trip to America.

The Good Girl

Okay pop quiz hot shot, Friends was one of the most successful shows on television for ten years but there big screen experiences leave little to be desired- okay Courteney Cox in Scream, Lisa Kudrow in The Opposite of Sex, both deserve mentions as good movies. But on the other hand you've got Matt Le Blanc's Ed and Lost in Space, Cox's The Shrink is In, Matthew Perry's Whole Nine Yards and it's sequel, David Schwimmer's The Pallbearer- it's just a lot easier to list the turkeys, the big fat stinking turkeys. The Good Girl certainly instantly joins the list of good movies.

Jennifer Aniston is so un-Rachel, this is one of those small indepenent movies and she actually shows she can act, but it helps she is surroned by an awesome cast, Jake Gyllenhaal- Those Gyllenhaal kids are some talented bastards- you feel sorry for the kid cause he appears unbalanced, John C. Reilly is as always excellent, as the naive husband and Tim Blake Nelson as his best friend, Zooey Deschanel is lovely and brilliant as a co-worker at Aniston's store with almost zero customer care skills and Mike White (he wrote this, and also wrote episodes of Freaks and Geeks, School of Rock, Chuck and Buck and Orange County) and is talented as both an actor and a writer.

The film is fair to probably to describe as typical indie fare, but there is nothing wrong with it falling into that category- nothing pretty much happens, is a way to describe this movie, but everybody involved with this movie shows great talent, and Aniston will no longer just be known as Rachel. Funny and sad in equal measures it was a great little movie to watch with some wonderful little moments and performances. Recommended for those who don't need explosions and car chases.

****

The Untouchables

I was pretty young when I saw The Untouchables for the first time, it was probably one of the first grown up films I ever saw, my parents where quite liberated in what films I could watch. And when I watched earlier today for the first time in a couple of years, the film stood up tremendously well with awesome performances, awesome set-pieces, David Mamet's excellent script and Ennio Morricone's awesome musical score.

The Untouchables is the story of Elliot Ness (arguably I'd say he's only been as good in JFK) battles mob boss Al Capone (an awesome Robert De Niro) during prohobition era Chicago with the help of his group of Untouchables (Sean Connery's excellent Irish cop, a career making turn from Andy Garcia and a wonderful role for Charles Martin Smith).

Director Brian De Palma's movie is beautiful in every frame, it makes you wish you could experience 1930s Chicago, the set pieces stand out, the opening expolsion ("Mister, mister you forgot your bag!"), Capone going wild with a baseball bat, two major deaths, and the Battleship Potemkin influenced pram and staircase shoot out, and a memorable ending. Untouchables is a brilliant movie in every single department.

Ennio Morricone's great score probably helps, (the entire film could be paint drying but it still would be remember as beautiful) as does Mamet's sparkling script ("If they send one of yours to the hospital, send one of there's to the morgue..."), but the film could have easily been made in the 1940s, the 1960s or the 2000s it's so timeless.

The Untouchables is probably in my top 25/30 movies of all time- whilst De Palma's Scarface seems to get all the plaudits, this along with Carrie is the true De Palma masterpiece.

*****

The V for Vendetta Preperation: I'm going to probably see V for Vendetta tomorrow, thought I'd get in practice for annoying sayings to put in the review: A for Awesome B for Bad C for Crap D for Dull E for Excellent F for Fantastic G for Great H for Horrible I for Interesting J for Joyless K for krazy L for Lobotomy M for Marvellous N for Nonsence O for Original P for Pathetic Q for Quiet R for Rockin' S for Shit T for Terrible U for Unwatchable V for Vast Scenes That Slowed Down the Pace of the Movie W for Watchable X for Xcellent and Xciting Y for Yawn Z for ZZZZ Of course what pointless remark I make depends on the enjoyment of the movie. At least Natster is in it though.

Today's Entertainment News from Around the World:

• Futurama is coming back for 26 episodes, no it isn't, yes it is, no it isn't, conflicing reports annoy me
• South Park vs Tom Cruise: It's all to do with Scientology, Cruise threatened to boycott a Paramount premiere, if a Paramount owned station didn't drop the Scientology episode.
• The Simpsons will run for at least two more seasons, in that time Simpsons will pass the 400th episode landmark.
• The sequel to the brilliant Sin City as been delayed- director Robert Rodriguez is waiting for up the duff Angelina Jolie.
• Portia De Rossi (Arrested Development rules) blames Ally McBeal for the eating disorder she had, I'm pretty sure she means the show as an whole, rather then the fictional character she didn't play.
• Not really news but related to the above, Harrison Ford as never seen an episode of Ally McBeal featuring his girl Calista Flockhart in the lead role.
• I'll pass judgment until I see X-Men 3, but X3 director Brett Ratner is already in line to direct the much discussed Wolverine spin-off.

Yes, I've still been very slow at updating this past week. I haven't watched much this past couple of weeks that is ready for review.

I'm probably going to see V for Vendetta this week on Tuesday, so expect a review on Wednesday.

I did also start watching the original Village of the Damned, but was pretty tired when I watching it (not the fault of the movie), but it seemed pretty atmospheric, I expect to rectify it later in the week (maybe later today).

Stay Classy

Today's Entertainment News from Around the World:

• Funnyman Jack Black elopes and marries his musican girlfriend Tanya Haden, good for him
• Desperate Housewives' Nicolette Sheridan as got engaged to funny perm haired crooner Michael Bolton, there is hope for the rest of us yet.
• Jessica Simpson snubs a meeting with President Bush, because of conflincting political motivations.
• Despite some rumours Will Ferrell did not die in a freak paragliding accident, a short statement was released "I have no knowledge of Will Ferrell paragliding"
• Phil Collins as seperated from his wife, apparently she heard his music.

Havoc: Unrated Edition

Maybe I'm just growing into a bit of a miserable twat this year, I've been unimpressed by a lot of the recent movies I've seen and a film gaining a one star rating was bound to come sooner then later and Havoc directed by Oscar winning director Barbara Kopple and Oscar winning screenwriter Stephen Gaghan (Traffic) is sadly the first.

Maybe white people pretending to be wiggers just doesn't interest like it does some people, maybe the fact the script was on the shelf for over ten years said something, or maybe the fact it went straight to home video (despite the Oscar pedigree) could have been a slight clue. The film is basically about rich valley girls trying to be street (with dum dum dum- consequences at the end of the movie). They are some plus points and mainly reside inside the clothing of ex-Disney princess Anne Hathaway and Bijou Phillips, whilst Freddy Rodriguez and Joseph Gordon-Levitt aren't bad in their roles, whilst Michael Biehn and Laura San Giacomo just seemed wasted. The film just lacks any real life or spark and would fail to interest anybody into this sort of life and culture. In the lead Anne Hathaway clearly as a career away from Disney and does show it, but the kid making the video just comes across as a bit of a cliche.

Sadly, it's not a very good movie, there's about a thousand and one youth films out there, that are much better, better. Just give it a miss unless you want to see Anne Hathaway and Bijou Phillips topless. (R1 only)

*

Team America World Police

If it comes from the creators behind South Park (Trey Parker and Matt Stone), you kind of already know what your getting yourself into- you already know it's gonna lean a tad towards the taboo, South Park is usually take no prisoners (at the time of writing this- Isaac Hayes whose voiced Chef for years quit because of the recent Scientology episode) and Team America is clearly influenced by the work of Gerry Anderson (it's amazing to think an idea like this wasn't done before).

Team America is about a global police force dedicated to maintaining global stability who recruit Broadway actor Gary Johnstone to go undercover and learning that power hungry North Korean dictator Kim Jong Il is out to destroy the world. Team America is a funny movie, the film from the first second is a piss take of the Hollywood big budget movies, most notably Michael Bay- and gleefully in the opening scene destroys Paris landmarks, the songs are pretty good (Everybody has Aids, America Fuck Yeah, etc) which is not unexpected after South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut and the appearances of the anti-war celebrities- The Film Actor's Guild (which stands for F.A.G) political opinions aside is pretty damn funny- You've got Michael Moore, Tim Robbins, Susan Sarandon, Sean Penn, Matt Damon (very, very funny) and all host of others- at least you can call it an equal rights attack and it is as really a memorable sex scene.

Parker and Stone have made a decent film with some very funny moments, whilst I'm never going to consider this the greatest comedy ever made, it was good for a chuckle or two (like South Park I guess) and really worth a watch.

***

The Hills Have Eyes Cinema Review Something I didn't do much of last year was go to cinema, I was pretty broke last year cause of saving and did manage to see a couple of films on the big screen during the year, this year I hope to remedy the fact, and Tuesday is the cheapest day to go to cinema, the Cinema Review on this blog might become a regular fixture.

So this the remake of the 1977 "classic" (the original though enjoyable is not or never was the greatest horror movie out there) the first horror remake to hit this year in what will be the year of the horror remakes (The Omen 666 and The Wicker Man are coming) and some people have been trumpeting this and a whole bunch of other horrors as the return of grown up horrors and there are moments when this film is pretty brutal, but in all honestly it's bit meh.

It comes across closer to the Wrong Turn then to the original movie (it is a lot better then Wrong Turn though) and is pretty well cast: Aaron Stanford, whose a very underrated actor is very good in the lead role as Doug and the quest towards the end nearly almost fully draws you in, the rest of the family that get stranded in the middle of the desert are pretty good: Kathleen Quinlan (from Breakdown- never go on anywhere with her) and Silence of the Lambs serial killer Ted Levine playing a good guy her both good in the parent roles. whilst Dan Byrd as the son and Emilie de Raven (Claire from Lost, not another woman to travel with), both give suprisingly strong performances, the mutants though though never reaching the peaks of Michael Berryman are pretty memorable, but it's the dogs that steal the show (Beauty and Beast). Whilst I complained that Final Destination 3 did not have any character development, this just seemed to last an age to take off.

Overall, I'd probably would watch it again (I promise to review this again the future, after a DVD release), because part of me feels it does deserve another watch (I'm admitting I might be wrong on my first viewing). P.S I can't be the only one who feels a bit uneasy when a baby is put in the path of danger.

**

I haven't forgot about this.

I'm just in the middle of watching a lot of stuff (television wise)- expect reviews before long of the following:

Eerie Indiana: Complete Series

Taxi Season One

Pee-Wee's Playhouse Volume One

Garden State

Whodafunkit? An actor best known for a (top) sit-com, writing and directing (and starring in) something so Scrubs star Zach Braff takes the lead role as Andrew "Large" Largeman, an actor constantly in a lithium induced coma, who returns home to Jersey when his mother dies, so far, so production line indie...

and it's like that for the first 25 minutes, and it's watchable- Braff, Peter Sarsgaard and Ian Holm hold the screen- but in the 25th minute it all changes, the film in a moment becomes special- I am of course talking about the scene Natalie Portman enters, the magic that Portman brings to this movie is out of this world- you instantly fall in love with her character, the compulsive liar Sam.

Portman completely makes the movie, why she wasn't nominated for a Best Actress Oscar is bewildering, to be fair this film doesn't feature the greatest quality of writing that ever existed , sometimes just feeling like a series of scenes, but Portman and the other performers make it worthwhile, Sarsgaard as Braff's old best friend also stands out in a fine ensemble.

This truly is a great film (the shortcomings are only nitpicking) and If your a fan of Ms. Portman, you'll love this so much, everybody else I'll like it too.

*****

Greg the Bunny: Complete Series

Another of those television show, that I love so much that didn't even last a complete season, Greg the Bunny lasted a dozen or so episodes in 2002, and takes the premise of the title character Greg, one of the 3.2 million fabricated Americans ("puppets") living in the US. Wanting a job that doesn't involve working only on Easter, he convinces his roommate Jimmy Bender (Seth Green) to find him a job on the kid's show "Sweetknuckle Junction," which his father Gil directs (Eugene Levy). While Greg thinks he's going in for a backstage office job, he inadvertently bluffs his way into becoming a cast member.

Greg the Bunny instantly in my mind draws comparisons with Peter Jackson's Meet the Feebles both obviously target the Jim Henson creations- but GTB mixes a human cast (in this world both exist remember) and is funnier then Jackson's creations overall- Greg (voiced by Dan Milano) brings the right level of innocence to a cute little bunny (and doesn't always quite understand something sexual) and other brilliant puppet cast members- Count Blah, with a weird speech impedement (he can't help but say blah after everything), Warren, a classically trained actor (even goes for an audition for Gary Oldman at one point), Susan, a giant puppet and the likeable Tardy the Turtle, who is slow. The human cast don't let the side down either you've got Seth Green (always likeable in everything he does), Eugene Levy (the man is seriously funny), Bob Gunton (crossing dressing Sweetknuckle Junction co-star, brilliantly deadpan), Sarah Silverman (The executive, a bit of a bitch- great value) and Dina Waters (as Dottie Sunshine, really likeable, you find out she as the reputation of been a slut) round off a really unique network television show.

There was some neat guest stars during it's short run, I've already mentioned Oldman, but you get Marilu Henner, Lindsay Sloane, Sasha Alexander and a really brilliant turn from Corey Feldman as himself.

I recommend this show, the characters grow on you really quick, the interaction between human and puppet is brilliant, another show it makes you sad to watch the last episode (R1 only)

****

Aqua Teen Hunger Force Volume One

Another of the Adult Swim cartoons I brought back from America, and there is one thing that is surprising is how consistently funny Adult Swim shows are considering there made for late night television.

Like Harvey Birdman (that I'd previously reviewed) Aqua Teen are very short coming in at about 12 minutes a piece- and during the course of the first volume seem to get even funnier.

Who are the Aqua Teen Hunger Force- Frylock, whose a box of fries and probably the most intelligent of the team, Master Shake, an obnixious milk shake and Meatwad a meatball who can shape shift into a hot dog and an igloo. The other main character is their landlord Carl.

Every episode starts with the evil Dr. Weird inventing something that goes wrong usually impacting on the Aqua Teen (or not). The standout episodes include adventures with the Rabbott (about a giant mechanical rabbit), Leprechauns using the Rainbow Maker 400 to steal shoes. Best of all is the appearances of the Moonities, appearances of the stupid aliens (probably Eastern European), Ol' Drippy, Happt Time Harry doll, Master Shake selling Meatwad to the circus, the pop up banners on the internet, the missing PDA and best of all the two-dimensional alien characters (pictures below) that end up corrupting Meatwad- genuis cartoon creations.

This show is brilliant and the first volume of four released so far, you've got brilliant characters (Master Shake's unneccesary bullying of Meatwad is great) and is a very, very funny show. Recommended.

****

A Christmas Story: Special Edition I was sad to hear about a week ago, the passing of actor Darren McGavin, now McGavin had a long and varied career that went back to the 1940s and he had roles in films such as The Man With One Arm and to later work such Raw Deal and Billy Madison as well as the lead role in the series Kolchak: The Night Stalker, but there will always be one role I’ll eternally remember him for playing the father in the 1983 movie A Christmas Story. I think there will be a lot of people affected by his death just because of how much this movie did and still means to them. A Christmas Story, maybe is the ultimate christmas movie, (you can say It’s a Wonderful Life etc), this is the Christmas movie even though you feel like your coming more like Scrooge want to watch every Christmas. Never mind that it's set in the 1940s, the plight is generational for any kid that wants the one thing, in this case Ralphie dreams of owning a Red Rider BB gun (brilliant recurring line- "You'll Shoot Your Eye Out"- but it's really about family and been together. This film as everything in a Christmas movie: a scary santa, a leg lamp, the pink bunny suit, when Ralphie swears and as to have his mouth washed out with soap, it geniuenly when I was younger put me off swearing.

The film did end up inspiring the Wonder Years and it's hard to believe it was based on a book (In God We Trust, All Others Pay Cash by Jean Shepherd) that was a series of writings for Playboy. The casting is perfect from the young actors- Zack Ward as the school bully Scut Fuckus maybe the greatest bully ever committed to celluloid- as her the adult actors, which parents aside are usually horrible people who shouldn't be near kids.

Outstanding Christmas movie, that I could watch anytime for warm fuzziness that as aged well, (Geek note: Yes I do own Christmas Story figures) and along with Kolchak, for anybody would be a fitting tribute to the memory of The Old Man- Darren McGavin (thanks for the memories!) (R1 only)

*****

Closer Since today is the day of the Academy Awards, I thought I’d review a movie that should have at least won one of the best supporting catergories (Clive Owen and Natalie Portman were nominated)- instead (side note: I couldn’t generally remember for a moment what actually won) Million Dollar Baby carried home a lot of the gold. Patrick Marber, who wrote the play and adaptated the screenplay (god, I remember him for Knowing Me, Knowing You with Alan Partridge) that deals with four people (played by the good looking foursome of Julia Roberts, Jude Law, Clive Owen and the ever lovely Natalie Portman) and their relationships ups and downs, why she would we care though? Good looking people having these issues boo hoo, go and find somebody else equally attractive, but that is the power of the writing and the performances- it draws you, you do care, you do feel emotion whether good or bad. Like I’ve said the power is in the acting Natalie Portman is a wonderful (she plays a stripper aswell!!!!) as is Clive Owen, Jude Law is probably the most charismistic he’s been since The Talented Mr. Ripley, Julia Roberts though, it doesn’t feel like she as much to do and her performance doesn’t stay on your memory for long. Things like the Internet Chat, Clive Owen called Julia Roberts a Fucked Up Slag and Natalie Portman in a thong stay in your mind for a long time.

Quality performances, writing and directing (from Mike Nichols) make this an exceptional movie for anybody who likes grown up movies. *****

The Oscars

So the Oscars are tonight and to be honest this year I've been perfectly disinterested but there is some top class talent among the nominess who I'd like to see take home a baldy-

Actor in a Leading Role

I'd be happy if Phillip Seymour Hoffman (Capote) or David Straithairn (Good Night and Good Luck) won, I wouldn't be disappointed if the other nominees Terence Howard (Hustle and Flow), Heath Ledger (Brokeback Mountain) and Joaquin Phoenix (Walk the Line).

Actor in a Supporting Role

Give it to George Clooney for Syriana, Paul Giamatti who's been nomintated for Cinderella Man might get it by proxy, Jake Gyllenhaal is probably the (bookies) favourite, Matt Dillon (Crash) and William Hurt (A History of Violence) neither I can see winning.

Actress in a Leading Role

though I haven't seen none of their movies I'd like either Keira Knightley (Pride and Prejudice) , Reese Witherspoon (Walk the Line) or Felicity Huffman (Transamerica) who I can see winning, Charlize Theron shouldn't win for North Country and I feel Judi Dench (Mrs. Henderson Presents) is like Meryl Streep she gets nominated when the Academy can't think of anybody else.

Actress in a Supporting Role

Rachel Weisz deserves it for Constant Gardener, Michelle Williams might win for Brokeback (I reckon Brokeback will win most awards tonight), Frances McDormand (North Country), Amy Adams (Junebug) and Catherine Keener (Capote-no nomination for 40 Yeard Old Virgin) I can't comment on.

Director

Ang Lee (Brokeback Mountain) will win but George Clooney (Good Night and Good Luck) is maturing as a director so fast and may steal it, I can't see Spielberg winning (though Munich is a strong movie) and I think Capote will be better known in the future for it's performances.

Best Picture

I predict Brokeback Mountain, I'll feel cheated if Crash wins (It can't be the best film of 2005), whilst Capote and Munich are more there for numbers IMO, the dark horse like for director will be Clooney's Good Night and Good Luck

Animated Award will go to Howl's Moving Castle

Adaptated and Original Screenplays will go to Brokeback Mountain and Good Night and Good Luck respectively.

So there you go some of my predictions.

Truth be told it's rare the Academy gets it right- Driving Miss Daisy, Forrest Gump, A Beautiful Mind come to mind of winning the Best Picture and not even been the best film of the year. Sure it's probably a nice thing to put on your C.V for somebody and it's also been a night to embarass yourself (Sally Field, Gwyneth Paltrow, Halle Berry), dress nice (or horrible) and wear million dollar jewellery, but I don't think it truly holds that much importance to people.

Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law Volume One

Whilst on Holiday in America, I brought real (obsessive amount) lot of DVDs and a couple where Adult Swim cartoons (Aqua Teen Hunger Force, Brak Show, Home Movies etc) but Harvey Birdman was the first title I made it through.

Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law is a near perfect creation, mixing the "classic" Hanna Barbara cartoons with adult situations- of course the more memorable episodes are probably the episodes featuring the best known HB characters: Shaggy Busted (Scooby and Shaggy are stopped by the police and there natural gibberish leads the police to believe there under the influence), Death By Chocolate (Boo-Boo is a revolutionary who sends boobytrapped gift baskets and cookie bouqets to the heads of corporate America) and The Dabba Don (Is Fred Flintstone a Mafia Don) there are many good episodes in the set, the creators go back into the Hanna Barbara archive and mix the old cartoons in (and it's hard to tell sometimes where one stops and one ends).

There is a lot of genius in the surronding characters creations including Harvey's assissant Peanut (he is a ***** creation), his boss Phil Ken Sebben (Ha! Ha!) and paranoid lawyer Reducto (who carries a shrink ray)- all in all a wonderful little show, every episode is short (they come in at about 12 minutes) so there is never chance of them staying at there welcome.

I recommend this to any fan of animation, people who like the more "adult" friendly cartoons and people who have a special place of Hanna Barbara cartoons will both more then love this.

****

Entourage Season One

American Cable channel HBO as consistenly provided quality programming from The Sopranos, Oz, Six Feet Under to The Larry Sanders Show and Curb Your Enthuisasm. There programming as always seemed to different to other American TV shows (maybe cause swearing is allowed as is nudity). Entourage is about Vinct, Chase (Adrien Griener) a rising star in Hollywood, his best friends join his entourage. Meet Eric (Kevin Connelly), Turtle (Jerry Ferrera) and Johnny Drama (Kevin Dillon): three guys from Queens dedicated to helping their film-star buddy Vincent navigate the absurdities of modern-day Hollywood--where sex, parties and super-agents rule the town.

It's fair to say Entourage is nothing special in it's genre- Hollywood on TV as been done better before but it's a fairly decent entry into the genre- it really offers nothing new within this first season, which is only eight episodes long, the dilemma's (though there's the use of bad langauge) sometimes seem slight (Vincent doesn't want to go to a High School reunion, going on a talk show etc) and the overall story arc doesn't grab the audience enough.

Jeremy Piven is excellent as Vincent's agent Ari as is Kevin Dillon and some decent guest stars pop up including Mark Wahlberg (who executive produces), Jessica Alba and Larry David, and Monica Keena, Debi Mazar and Samaire Armstrong have memorable recurring roles. Adrien Griener whilst probably easy on the eyes for the girls is pretty bland in the lead role that needs to exuberate charisma. Overall, pretty good I'll probably buy the next series if it comes out on DVD, I like it enough, the acting is pretty much strong and there are some good jokes there.

***

Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith

(spoilers) Is the Star Wars saga finally over?- the second trilogy is finally complete after Episodes I and II disappointed fans, antcipation was still high for Episode III after all- this was the one you'd get too see Anakin become Vader, the Jedi get wiped out, Luke and Leia being born, millions of fans hoping this would be the one Jar-Jar gets slaughtered. This was the prequel everybody had been waiting for- fans could excuse the weaknesses of the first two prequels- because this would be it- this would finally shut up the Star Wars fans-

Well let's go back to the original set of films- my favourite Star Wars films of them all is The Empire Strikes, I love the rebel taking a beating, fleeing Hoth, Luke's hand coming off, Han in Carbonite, the twist, ESB as an incredibly dark tone for a movie that the kids can see, and happily ROTS is the closest Star Wars films since to this tone- we got all them things we wanted (except the Jar Jar slaughter sadly)- We start with a kick ass opening scene that takes a straight into battle with Obi Wan and Anakin trying to save Senator Palaptine- Count Dooku (Christopher Lee) is suprisingly killed within the first fifteen minutes- because any Star Wars fan know the true villian of the piece as yet to show his colours. After the rescue, the film which was the main problem of the first two prequels becomes uninteresting when there's a lot of dialogue, George Lucas has never been brilliant at dialogue (Harrison Ford once said to Lucas "You can type this shit, but I can't say it")- the gushy love story between Anakin and Padme continues, but not as bad as Episode II. The film comes back into it's own with the death of Mace Windu (Samuel L. Jackson not going out like some punk!) and the assassination of the Jedi Knights (it's no Goodfellas but it's decent), Yoda fights Palapatine and the final battle between Anakin and Obi-Wan may be the best of the saga- Padme then dies during child birth of a broken heart(!) and we see Anakin become Vader which is cool until he speaks ("Nooooooooooooo") and then truly the prequels and sequels become one (not a perfect one but still...)

Ewan McGregor as got better with each prequel in my opinion, you finally just about believe he could become the legendary Alec Guinness, Hayden Christensen is also much improved as Anakin (he suffered a bit from whiny teen syndrome in the last movie) whilst the film belongs to Ian McDiarmid as Palapatine, whose been consistently good during the entire prequels and may arguably give the best performance in the entire saga, the lovely Natalie Portman (after two brilliant performances in 2004) as nothing too do but look pretty (something she does really, really well) and Chewbacca's appearance is not as bad as I thought it would be.

Overall a good way to end the series- not perfect, I'd happily watch this a couple of more times, I kind of was tied between giving it 3 or 4 stars- I feel like I should be a bit stingy- like I've said it's all come full circle as far as six films- but now instead of perfect trilogy (the originals) now it's an imperfect saga of movies.

***

Chappelle's Show Season One Dave Chappelle and his Chappelle's Show as as a bit of coverage at the moment, after Chappelle had done the first two seasons of the show, he signed a $50 million contract for a further two seasons, a little bit into filming for the third season, he disappeared, went to Africa, reappeared on his farm, Chappelle's Show probably finishing in the process. A couple of questions might go through your mind- was he worth $50 million to begin with, why did he walk away and what is up with him and if you haven't seen the show- is it any good? The first season runs for 12 episodes- there are many, many laughs to have a long the way, Dave Chappelle as natural charisma and easily carries the show, the first episode features Chappelle playing a blind white supermacist called Clayton Bigsby, now this very funny sketch (IMO) will be where the viewer gets divided- some people will feel it's in bad taste and (perhaps rightly so) will where the Chappelle's Show experience end for them. Look out for anything with the character of Crack head Tyrone Bigguns (particulary his first appearance in the second episode), other stand out sketches in this include Reperations 2003 (where black people finally get reperations from slavery), Inside Chappelle's Show Studio (Big Foot, Little Foot), Frontline: Racist Hollywood Animal Stars, Dave starring in own video game, The Player Hater's Ball, R Kelly: Piss on You Music Video and any appearance by comedy writer Paul Mooney. A lot of very funny sketches and as a strong hit to miss ratio, but like I say not everybody's cup of tea.

I recommend this for fans of comedy that's near the knuckle (but intelligent) and it's good to see Chappelle finally get a moment in the sun after supporting turns in movies like Con Air and the Nutty Professor and not only that be such a great show in the process

****

Arrested Development Season One I'm not sure since the Simpsons mid-90s prime I've laughed so hard and so much at a television programme which sadly as I write this looks to finishing once and for all- the show revolves around Michael Bluth (Jason Bateman), the “normal” one in a family of crazies, who is forced to stay in Orange County and run the family real estate business after his father, George Bluth Sr (Jeffrey Tambor), is sent to prison for shifty accounting practices. While George Sr. spent the last year in the slammer discovering his newfound Judaism and recording inspirational tapes, Michael spent it picking up the pieces and trying to teach his offbeat family how to live without an endless expense account. All the while, Michael has also been trying to do right by his 14-year-old son, George Michael(Michael Cera), an earnest kid who works diligently at the family’s frozen banana stand. The Bluths are led by manipulative matriarch Lucille Bluth (Jessica Walter), a socialite who is as icy as her martinis. Then there’s the oldest son, Gob (Will Arnett), a womanizer and struggling magician (sorry, “illusionist”) whose biggest trick will be to make a real job appear. The youngest brother is Buster (Tony Hale), a neurotic professional grad student and glorified mama’s boy (he spent 11 months in the womb). The Bluth siblings are rounded out by cause-obsessed sister Lindsay (Portia de Rossi), who is married to the hapless Tobias (David Cross), a doctor-turned-actor who might get more work if he wasn’t a self-proclaimed “never-nude.” Lindsay and Tobias are the ultra-permissive parents of Maeby (Alia Shawkat), a 14-year-old who loves finding unique ways to rebel against their overindulgence.

Like I've already said the show is very, very funny it also one of the most intelligent written sit-coms ever written (it requires the audience to have a memory), excellent moments include Gob entering prison after making a promise to the warden that he'd get out in 24 hours (the end to this is LOL hilarious), Liza Minnelli's funny recurring role as Lucille 2 (romantically linked to Buster of all people), anytime Henry Winkler shows up as the families terrible lawyer, Michael losing in short term memory thanks to Lucille, the possibly stand out marijuana, teach a lesson episode, Tobias' never nude problem, Lucille adopting a 14 year old Korean boy, the "blind" attorney, Maeby's illness fraud, George Sr trying to set up the family's accountant, the take your daughter to work day and the season finale. These are just moments that have come to me, there is so many more.

The cast are very funny- Will Arnett is a future star, De Rossi is even better then she was in Ally McBeal, David Cross and Tony Hale are also brilliant, old pro's like Jessica Walter and Jeffrey Tambor round off an amazing cast.

Recommended to anybody who likes to laugh (we are not talking people who list Friends as their favourite sit-com), this should forever be known as a legendary sit-com in years to come ("why oh why didn't it last for years!"). Awesome.

*****

Please release Slingshot on DVD

It's got Thora Birch (I've been obsessing a lot about her lately) and was completed in 2005. The rest of the cast features Julianna Marigulies and David Arquette and his about two cunning and manipulative drifters venture into Farifield County, Connecticut looking to seduce wealthy and lonely housewives. There is no offical word yet from either side of the pond but anything starring the lovely Ms. Birch is on my wishlist.