THE STORY:
Police Officer, Daniel Carter, played by The Conspiracy’s Aaron Poole, finds himself trapped along with the remaining staff and a few patients of a closing hospital. Outside, they are surrounded by strangers in robes. Inside, an unspeakable horror is growing in the shadows. And what waits for them below is even worse…

So we got a lone cop – hold up! Why the fuck are they always alone? You’d think after over half a century of serial killers and monsters that writers would’ve learnt proper police procedure by now??? So we have our lone cop who ends up duty-bound to remain at a hospital that is almost deserted due to being packed up for a move. This is literally the same setup as 2014’s Last Shift, a much simpler and scarier horror movie.

I love my practical effects. Give me them over CGI any day of the year. So I was getting my life to see them in heavy usage in this movie. In fact, I couldn’t get enough. Every cut away to another shot was such a tease. The influence of Carpenter’s The Thing is undeniable here. But this movie was also giving me Hellbound: Hellraiser II (1988) and Wishmaster (1997), the mutilation massacre scenes in particular.

The monsters attack sequence in the basement, although they looked awesome, I mostly got horror video game from them. The showdown scene also gave me a very generic, been there done that vibe. The villain’s dialogue was recycled and uninspired. It felt like I was watching a cheap Event Horizon (1997) rip-off.

At the halfway point of the movie I couldn’t help but get the feeling that the makers wanted to take things in a direction which their budget wouldn’t allow. The story certainly seems much bigger than what it second half of the film descends into, which is perhaps one of the most pointless rescue missions in horror. There are certain movies where you just know that if the villain gets to someone, then they are fucked. No two ways about it. They are fucked. And yet this is what the remainder of this movie is wasted on.
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LAST WORDS:
Sometimes it really does take more than a few awesome practical effects.

Our first war based movie of the week, Their Finest is one of the best British films I have seen in the past few years. amazing acting, brilliant story and heart breaking moments throughout, this is a must see film.

Based on the novel Their Finest Hour and a Half, Their Finest follows the story of writer Catrin Cole who is hired by the by the government to help write the screenplay to a more realistic and emotional story of two twins who saved a group of soldiers during Dunkirk. Tasked with creating the more feminine dialogue Catrin gains the respect of head writer Tom Buckley and a spark becomes apparent (a spark Catrin can't follow trough with because of her relationship with artist husband). When the film's producer and writers find out the story of the twins may not be as truthful as once thought Catrin and the team rush to turn the story around, still keeping in with the initial premise. With the war destroying London, a film picking up a full head of steam and a will they won' they love story, Their finest brings everything to the table.

Created by the same people behind the film One Day (you must see this is you have not already) Their Finest is a highly emotional film. Gemma Arterton is great as Catrin, see is feisty and fights her corner in an era of male egos. You could see her as a writer in the war, you could feel the passion for her craft. I didn't realise the character of Tom was played by Sam Claflin though, I spent the whole film thinking he was Nicholas Hoult!, seriously they could play brothers. Bill Nighy put in yet another great performance aswell as aging actor Ambrose Hilliard, with his brash actor bravado and his growing romance with his new agent, which is a nice side story to fill in the gaps, it makes his character likeable. Nighy also adds in the comic relief, something he does very well.

This is created by the same people who did One Day, as I already mention, so expect some heartbreaking scenes. The war happening around the film takes you right into what live must have been like in a more street style, but this isn't the heartbreaking moment, that you will have to wait and witness yourself.

This fine is one of the best examples of British cinema and writing I have seen in such a long time, I love seeing the writing process and the chemistry between the three writers (mostly the growing attraction between Catrin and Tom), I feel the war setting was a perfect choice for such a film too. The flowing inclusion of the real life twins and their continued story, even if they were not seen really apart from when Catrin visits them, was nice to hear. The final part of the film is so well done also, and threatens to get you weeping in into your popcorn. This is a must see, a great film to see at the cinema too.

What a waste of my reviewing time this DVD collection is. To be frank this collection pisses me off, and for good reason! This isn't just stretching the ICONIC so fair it could wrap around the world 50 times but it is just 3 matches... that is it, and all this for the price of £5.99 (amazon price). 

The matches are just a stupid selection, Balor vs Neville & Balor vs Tyler Breeze???? how are these iconic matches? Where is Balor's match vs Samoa Joe at NXT London? Where is his final NXT match against Bobby Roode and Joe where he teams with Shinsuke? Blaor has had so many brilliant matches in NXT that these matches seem like stupid choices.

This whole set is a waste of money. There is now need to have this being released unless it is a look at his career so far, which can be made much easier now WWE have ties with some of the UK based promotions Balor once worked for.

Save your 5.99 and just pay out for WWE Network where you can watch his previous NXT matches there. Pointless. 

Bloody hell Mel Gibson knows how to make a movie! Hacksaw Ridge is a true to life war story like no other, a film which is violent and moving and shows that you don't need to kill to be a hero.

The film is the story of Desmond Doss, a religious man who is very VERY dedicated to his beliefs. He will not kill and he will not hold a weapon, something which gets him in very hot water with the US Army. We follow his court battle to give him the right to train and enter battle without holding a weapon, we see his beautiful relationship blossom with nurse Dorothy and then we see Doss in one of the most harrowing war scenes in modern cinema as he and his unit fight the Japanese forces in the  Battle of Okinawa. A bloody battle which saw Doss save 75 lives without firing a single shot.

This is a harrowing film, what Doss does to protect his people, the lengths this man went to is just amazing. Doss is a Seventh-Day Adventist, a man of deep faith, and Andrew Garfield (The Amazing Spiderman) plays it down to a tee. Garfield is amazing in this film, the passion in his eyes, the depth of his performance, it was all perfectly done. The rest of the cast did an equally brilliant job here too, but one person stood out as well as Garfield and that is Vince Vaughan. Vaughan plays it straight but with his comedy chops he adds that aspect of Sgt Howell's demeanor really well.  

The direction in this film is also fantastic, Gibson doesn't shy away from the violent nature of war with some horrific scenes which really open your eyes to how brutal and graphic war can really be. Hacksaw Ridge was so raw and heartbreaking but it also goes to show you don't need to be holding a gun to save lives and protect your country. This film should have be given more of a nod at the Oscars. It is up there with the greatest World War 2 true life movies of all time. This film has cemented Mel Gibsons place as a top director while also showcasing the talents of the whole cast.

This is a MUST watch. So pick this up this coming may on DVD and Blu-ray.

After the release of a great documentary about DDP recently I was looking forward to another exciting DVD release from WWE, however as usual WWE are back on the pointless money grabbing train with one of the most pointless WWE documentaries they have released to date.

This three disk DVD set is the backstage goings on during the 2016 RAW after Wrestlemania. The WWE superstars of now and the past share their thoughts on the night after the big one, telling us what their favourite moments are and we also have the reactions of the debuting superstars like Enzo and Cass and Baron Corbin. This is a perfectly good little documentary for the WWE Network but as a DVD release this is pretty poor.

The saving grace is the second two disks which showcases some of the moments which happened over the years on this big night. We get some of the okay moments of the Attitude era including The formation of the Tripe H era of DX which sees the return of X-Pac, a great match between Y2J and Eddie and Hollywood Hogan turning face on his NWO brothers. We also got some moments of the ruthless aggression era including the debut of Goldberg on Rock Appreciation Night, The confrontation between HBK and Cena after their Wrestlemania match in 2007 which lead to a battle royal for their Tag Team Championships in a Ten Team Battle Royal, and the emotional Ric Flair retirement speech. And wo can forget the great current era raws after Mania where The Rock and Cena set a match for the following years wrestlemania, Brock Lesner's shocking return and the amazing fatal four way match between Styles, Cesaro, Owens and Y2J. 

These moments give the set some positives but this could have been done in a showcase style, like with the Best Of WCW collections. We also get a limited amount of actual post Mania matches here which is a shame.

Overall while it was nice to see some of those big moments again, this set is pointless and a waste of money. you can watch all of these on the Network. 

 Smurfs are back! but this time we are getting an animated adventure instead of he awful live action films we got a few years back. The only problem is that this new animated movie doesn't have much to offer either.

So the story follows four members to the smurf family, Hefty, Brainy, Clumsy and Smurfette as they go in search of a hidden village of smurfs in the forbidden forest to warn then about the impending doom of the wizard Gargamel. We meet a new city of smurfs, all of them female, which leads to Smufette possibly finding her purpose in her smurf life.

What we get is a journey of four friends through this new world, with a mix of slightly humorous Gargamel scenes and pop music  ​but the problem is that the film falls a little flat for 80% of the film. The voice acting is fine, the animation aspect is also a nice change from the films that came before, but there is no sense of urgency, no added excitement throughout the film. The story was boring, that is the only way I can put it really but in fairness to the film The Smurfs hits its target audience well. This is a film made for the younger viewer, and if your child is under 10 they will no doubt love the colours and the cool pop music and even love the Smurfs themselves, however if you are the parent, or like me and my wife the unexpected viewer who hoped for something good, you are in for a long 97 minutes.

THE STORY:
Nicolas Cage plays Gary Faulkner, a man tasked by God to travel to Pakistan to find the elusive terrorist leader, bin Laden.
 
Once again, crazy Cage is back.  But if we’re all being honest we never truly thought he left.  If it’s possible, Army finds the world’s richest B-movie actor playing it nuttier than his mad-eyed turn on Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance.  And if we’re really being honest, I found his portrayal of Faulkner to be extremely fucking annoying.  Not only does he strangely resemble a much bloated version of Brent Spiner’s scientist from the Independence Day movies, but he also manages, all too easily to, not outshine, but to obnoxiously drown out every single one of his screen partners.  These include the reliably hilarious Wendi McLendon-Covery, bar one excellent line.
 
The movie itself…can feel a little long.  There’s nothing wrong with Faulkner not making it to Pakistan until halfway through the movie.  Theoretically, there’d be nothing terrible about the film not arriving in Pakistan until the final act.  But the fact that you have to put up with Faulkner until the extraordinary situations he gets himself into balance out his eccentric character, and things actually start to become funny, it can be a little trying.
 
Denis O’Hare and Rainn Wilson work great together.  Their conversations are hilarious.  What the fuck Russell Brand is doing in this movie, I don’t know.  Even playing God he’s just hopeless because it’s just Russell Brand in a toga, or whatever the fuck he’s wearing.  Same hair, same accent, same everything, like a really bad cameo that won’t stop recurring.
 
LAST WORDS:
For those of you who are most likely more familiar with director Larry Charles’ work helming Sacha Baren Cohen movies, Army may be a welcome escape from the asylum.  As usual, Cage’s performance will either liven up or kill a movie dead.  Make your own decision on that one, but I say, reel it in, Cage.  Reel it in.