Sphere Review
For all you Sci-fi horror fans, here’s my Sphere review for your delectation.
Release date
27th March 1998
Review
So my tastes in films is really starting to show here. Sci-fi and horror are my staple. and as usual the usual sites are marking my film tastes down with no real reasoning. The explanation of Rotten Tomatoes saying “Sphere features an A-level cast working with B-grade material” were obviously waiting for the snogging cowboys or something because they were in the wrong cinema. I personally thought that by the time the plot twists played out the film was flawless.
From the get go, this film has a great feel to it. The throw away comments that help establish scale and characters are a plenty as you would expect when you have a film that deals with situations and physics outside our normally daily experience. This is something that does not have to be done as obviously in very geeky Sci-fi shows because its fan base is already familiar with the universe.
Sphere is geared toward a larger audience, this is made obvious by the great cast. Hoffman, Jackson & Stone. As such,
Sky movie listings for Christmas 2011
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Sky movie listings for December 2011
Looking for the Sky movie listings for December 2011. well, all your movie needs for this Christmas are listed below. 
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The Warrior’s Way Review
The Warrior’s Way Review
Release date
3rd December 2010
Review
When the movie started, it reminded me of some of the fantastic epic films coming out of the far east at the moment from the likes of crouching tiger to hero. But very quickly the dynamic changes, the protagonist leaves for the old west and there’s some great comical moments that reminded me of Kung-Fu hustle. The mostly English speaking film has American actors portraying most of the roles except for the protagonist and one of the anti heroes.
Sky Movies listings for November 2011
Sky Movies listings for November 2011
The list that does exactly what it says on the tin; a directory of all the movies showing on the Sky Movies channels. Below are the Sky Movies listings for November 2011:
Enemy of the State: Be kind Rewind
Review
This time for my be kind rewind section I watch Enemy of the State.
This great film staring Will Smith and Gene Hackman is very well put together. It creates a beautiful atmosphere throughout the film that makes me feel like I am reading a novel come alive. But, it is let down by a single scene. When Jack Blacks character is asked to enhance an image taken from CCTV footage and then Read the rest of this entry »
Battle: Los Angeles
Review
When the film started it felt like a straight to TV job. I saw the posters for it a while ago and I know it was in the cinema but every now and again you see films that are clearly made by production companies that do TV stuff and it feels obvious. Most of the films on the Sci-Fi chanel for example (Sharktopus). They obviously, and fair enough, want to have a go at the big screen.
The soundtrack was straight out of the film school soundtrack template. Track 1: Orchestral battle scene. Track 2: Feel good classic American hit for the opener and tension musac dabbed all over the hammed up speeches and monalogues. Perhaps Yamaha are giving these tunes away with the keyboards these days instead of the samba button. It’ll get more use, that’s for sure.
They held back on the monster effect with long range shots, cutaways and shakey-cam. This is always useful as it is the bane of cheap films where the monsters are ruined by close ups. That was until 30 minutes in and as suspected the effect was indeed shit! But then something happened, the effects improved after this stage. It was like they new I was thinking they would ruin the effect and did so just to fuck with the audience. The bipedal aliens looked like they were going to be obvious CGI but when it came to the crunch they did a good job. Towards the end you see loads of them and when they interact the puppets are great.
The acting came with so much ham they could have been selling sandwiches. A couple of scenes attempted to grip the heartstrings but it felt forced and pointless. The whole film felt formulaic and played to so many clichés. But this blind reviewer loved it. I lapped up every corney line and I wanted more. My bread and butter is sci-fi TV shows and this had a bigger budget and the feel of some of the better ones (Stargate SG1 and Battlestar spring to mind).
I ordered the American Hot Pizza with hot and spicey chicken wings and they did not fail to deliver either. What a great combo for a blokes night in with dirty food and sci-fi on the telly.
My Rating
I give this 3.5 stars out of 5.
Better than average because I loves me some sci-fi but the forced acting, unimaginative structure and dodgy dialogue left a bitter taste.
Rating: 
Cast
-
Aaron Eckhart - Ssgt. Michael Nantz -
Will Rothhaar - Cpl. Lee Imlay -
Ramon Rodriguez - 2nd Lt. William Martine… -
Cory C. Hardrict - Cpl. Jason Lockett -
Jim Parrack - Lcpl. Peter Kerns -
Gino Anthony Pesi - Cpl. Nick Stavrou
IMDB Description
A Marine Staff Sergeant who has just had his retirement approved goes back into the line of duty in order to assist a 2nd Lieutenant and his platoon as they fight to reclaim the city of Los Angeles from alien invaders.
IMDB Rating
5.9/10
Rating:
Rotten Tomato Rating
35%
Rating: 
Pearl Jam Twenty
Review
Pearl Jam Twenty, why? because it’s the 20 year anniversary of the band. but of course it’s also a play on the title of their début album, ‘Ten’. I think I can also say this is their best album to date without offending anyone.
Normally when I watch music documentaries I am driven to finish them for the information. But so many of them suffer from not being very good at holding the audiences attention, so I find myself looking at my watch. With Pearl Jam Twenty, the pacing was perfect, I only checked my watch once and that was because the beers we snuck in to accompany the film hade made there way through me already. But don’t fear, as it turned out, I had a mere 15 minutes remaining so was able to hold my own until the end (small cheer for my bladder).
The timeline of the documentary was pretty consistent but they jumped around to newer footage when they felt they needed to help the story along or to inject a bit of tempo. It starts with the band before Pearl Jam (Mother Love Bone) this essentially had all the members but ended when the lead singer, Andrew Wood, died of a drug overdose. It came right up to present day and covered some of the tragic events Roskilde tragedy on 30th June 2001.
The stand out moment of the documentary was the comparisons they drew with Spinal Tap because of the drummer situation. A few of us in the audience chuckled at that.
My Rating
A full house! 5 white sticks out of 5 dark glasses.
Rating:
Summary
Really well put together documentary that had excellent pacing. A must see.
UK Release date:
20 September 2011
Cast & rating
All Pearl Jam members with archive footage from the likes Kurt Cobain and Stone Gosard and more.
Official description
Pearl Jam Twenty chronicles the years leading up to the band’s formation, the chaos that ensued soon-after their rise to megastardom, their step back from center stage, and the creation of a trusted circle that would surround them-giving way to a work culture that would sustain them. Told in big themes and bold colors with blistering sound, the film is carved from over 1,200 hours of rarely-seen and never-before seen footage spanning the band’s career. Pearl Jam Twenty is the definitive portrait of Pearl Jam: part concert film, part intimate insider-hang, part testimonial to the power of music and uncompromising artists. — (C) Official Site
IMDB Description
A documentary on the band Pearl Jam that marks their 20th anniversary in the year 2011.
IMDB Rating
9.5/10
Rating:
Rotten Tomato rating
62%
Rating: