This is the second review this month where i haven't seen the first film in a series of films so I am entering Ride Along 2 with eyes on just the film instead of going by the standards of the first. The film follows soon to be brothers in law James (Played by Ice Cube) and Ben (the films saving grace Kevin Hart) as they head to Miami on a case to take down a Drug Dealing gang who are bringing in drugs to Atlanta. But E-Gad Ben's wedding is only in 2 days! what follows is some shenanigans, a car chase and a shoot out as the boys try and crack the case before the big day.

Remember the 90's? you must do it was the years of such great films, especially action comedies. You will obviously also remember that the 90's is when Will Smith was big and Martin Lawrence was still doing decent acting roles like...well Bad Boys. Ride Along tries to be this and misses the mark completely. The buddy cop movie seems to have lost its edge in recent years (hopefully this will be changed in The Nice Guys later this summer) and instead of trying something new Ride Along 2 uses every 90's cliche you could use. 

Kevin Hart is the saving grace in this film in a film filled with mediocre acting. I'm sorry to say Ice Cube just doesn't give a good performance here compare to his previous films. I can see the James role being filled with other, more polished actors and the film could have been a little better, Someone like maybe Dwayne Johnson but we will see when the two star in Central Intelligence later this year.  Even Kevin Hart's comedy relief got a little stale though around the half way mark and i'm a big Kevin Hart fan.

On a positive note this isn't the worst cop comedy out there, and once you get used to Ice Cubes one dimensional acting this is actually pretty enjoyable for most of the film. The action scenes are very good and the funny moments are very funny. If you have a lazy evening in or a few hours on a weekend to kill then Ride Along 2 is a good choice.

(p.s Please don't kill me Mr Cube.......)

When you hear a bunch of Critics out there in the reviewer-verse telling you that a film is terrible, especially an X-Men film (remember the reviews of X-3) alot of fans will tend to listen. This is a shame, as in the past i have myself heeded these words only to really enjoy the film being slated, The Worlds End being a prime example of this. Myself personally I thought this third installment to the First Class Trilogy was an amazing addition.

Now since meeting 4 years ago my wife was not really a Marvel fan but she did enjoy the X-Men films. She actually places X-Men Apocalypse ABOVE Civil War, something which may shock people. Now as great as Civil War was you need to review this film differently, I mean it is a totally different universe and compared to some of the other X-Men Titles (Wolverine: Origins or X-3) there is no bloody reason for such a bad reaction.

Apocalypse is a builder, to this I mean it takes a little while for the story to build up, but this isn't a bad thing. We have a new class of Mutants to introduce without doing a total backstory on each of them, I personally wanted to know what happened to Raven and the other heroes from the previous two films. Then the scene in the woods happen, the scene where you actually see why Magneto would go ape shit crazy and want to murder the human race and join forces with Apocalypse.  As our fiendish villain goes, another point of complaint, I really liked this guy. Look at the pointless Villains we have seen in the MCU films, at least Apocalypse poses so kind of threat to mankind. 

A slight complaint would be I would have liked more back story on Psylock's character a it felt like she was just placed in the line up and it is getting hard to work out the actually timeline now, however these are minor things and as a whole I can't really fault  the film

It is a little difficult for a film like X-Men Apocalypse coming out right after possibly the BIGGEST success in Disney Marvel's MCU to get a positive reaction. Civil War was amazing and yet at the moment they are both in cinemas at the same time. I think alot of fans, even comic book fans, are kind of getting a little bit of Superhero Fatigue with so many big films being released so early. With Batman V Superman, Marvel's Civil War and even Fox's MASSIVE hit with Deadpool has Apocalypse just hit screens at the wrong time? Is this the wrong time to getting into a film pissing contest with Disney Marvel? I personally thing if we got this film nearer to the time Doctor Strange was being released, say two week prior, then the reviews wouldn't be as bad.

X-Men Apocalypse is a definite must see film, it is full of some brilliant actions scenes and has an amazing cast of young talent who will mold the series in the upcoming 90's based X-men film and even Gambit and X-Force.

​THE STORY:
It’s the love story that every woman dreams of.  Boy meets girl.  Girl wakes up in boy’s bed.  Boy kicks girl out.  Girl realises that a zombie apocalypse is upon them…  Eek!  Deb (Maria Thayer) and her awkward one-night stand Ryan (Michael Cassidy) then band together and take off on a mission to ensure to ensure the safety of their loved ones.
 
While Thayer and Cassidy bounce well off one another, most of the comedy weight rests on Deb’s more than capable shoulders.  Her verbal diarrhoea begins as excruciatingly humiliating, but her unique spirit and oddball nature soon become as infectious as the zombie epidemic, making her a refreshing source of comic relief.  Even her shoes are ridiculous as her hideous wardrobe puts one in mind of a 2-year-old that has just raided her mother’s closet to play dress-up.
 
She is allowed some well-deserved relief when Ray Wise finally emerges with that wicked glint in his eye, having last appeared on the horror radar in Adam Green’s Digging Up The Marrow (2014).  He plays Ryan’s villainous father who may know more about the current crisis than he leads our two mismatched heroes to believe…
 
EXTRAS:
Where the Bloopers are concerned, the antics are more of the pale Grey’s Anatomy variety – the kind where you “had to be there” to get it – as opposed to any of the side-splitting improv you might find on Anchorman (2004).  The Making Of on the other hand is a true bonus, as the gags and the humour filter through nicely.  And, of course, you get to see more of Ray Wise, who is just as funny in person as the characters he plays, if not funnier.
 
LAST WORDS:
As consistently funny as this movie is, for me it did something that I have never seen before in comedy.  They saved their best joke for last, by turning a firm staple in zombie mythology on its head, whilst at the same time satirizing the AIDs crisis.  And with that I finished watching Night of the Living Deb laughing harder than I did than when I started.  Now, that’s the best way to go out.  That’s the way a comedy should end.

THE STORY:
A group of friends who awaken after a night of hard partying on the beach find they must remain exactly where they are, or risk being devoured by the creature that lurks beneath…the sand…  Can Jamie Kennedy save them?  Can he fuck!
 
This pile of crap is about as mysterious as The Grudge.  You go in the house, you’re gonna die.  You touch the sand, you’re gonna die.  We’re talking about a hungover band of head-shaking, selfie-taking, finger-snapping “like OMG” morons here, so whether or not they will touch the sand is not an issue.  So where’s the tension?  Halfway through the movie it dawned on me that I don’t even give a fuck what the creature looks like!
 
The premise is certainly simple enough, but not even Jamie Kennedy can salvage this wreckage of bad acting and daft writing, as he looks like the result of when celebrities read too many mean tweets about themselves.
 
Although The Sand is pitifully worse than mediocre, the movie does break with predictable storytelling tradition when concerning the asshole/semi-villain of the piece.  You know – the cunty one who everyone wants to die but doesn’t usually get it until the third act.  In this case, it’s the bitch who put the moves on the main girl’s boyfriend.  Not only does she not get her comeuppance, she becomes one of the only two survivors – a spot that is most commonly reserved for the lead and their current/new beau.
 
LAST WORDS:
It’s just such a pity.  Even if the script is bad, even if the acting is bad, so many film-makers can still get away with a half-decent movie if they would just stop employing piss-poor special effects, get practical and get some kick-ass Savini-style shit in there.  Who the fuck is inspiring these people?  

During the 90's there was two big names in sports entertainment, Vince McMahon and the leader of the WCW product Eric Bischoff. He is the man who created the NWO, who beat WWE into the ground for years and, even when WWE brought WCW he came back and became the greatest heel Raw GM of all time.

In this DVD set we go behind the scenes of the real life of the sports entertainment icon, beyond the Monday Night War documentaries or the fall of WCW stories, we get to see the real man behind the legend from his younger days in AWA to his rise to power in WCW and the life he lead leading to all of these milestones, very similar to the Paul Haymen documentary. 

Eric seems like a pretty decent guy who knows the mistakes he made and admits to them. He also has a react section of the documentary where we see his reaction to the thoughts of the superstars about his days in WCW and explains a few things which may have been fabricated a little bit.

This is yet another interesting documentary of the man who created the biggest era of Sports Entertainment but my only gripe is that after the JBL Special is their any more we needed to know? but aside from this the set has extra documentary footage, the JBL 2 parter and his other WWE Network special top 10 controversial moments which were fun to watch anlong his some of Eric's Greatest moments 

Great Watch.  A must buy for wrestling fans.

​THE STORY:
The souls of five strangers linger in limbo as they try to find a way to return to the land of the living.
 
AfterDeath  certainly has enough ingredients to make a reasonably enjoyable movie.  Unfortunately this promising premise is those half-decent looking special effects are wasted on a badly written script and poor casting choices.
 
One helpful bit of advice to good film-making is “Show, Don’t Tell”.  Understandably, due to the complicated setup of their purgatory, there is room for some explanation so that they don’t lose their audience.  However, it doesn’t stop there.  There is just far too much exposition, to the point that it renders the movie boring.
 
The chemistry between the five strangers is just non-existent, and only two out of the whole group are remotely likeable – not including the main character.  I found Miranda Raison’s depiction of Robyn to be cold, while Elarica Gallacher – who put in a great performance as Carmen in Oliver Frampton’s The Forgotten (2014) – didn’t shine through for me in this one.  Her character, Patricia is painted as a vapid good-time girl who isn’t particularly interesting and doesn’t have anything useful to say.  By the time the film finally decides to grant us a little more perspective on who she really is, it’s too late to care.
 
LAST WORDS:
It’s a shame that so many crucial components didn’t work out, as amongst all the mistakes and missteps there is a good movie in there somewhere – an imaginative and original one too.
 

​THE STORY:
After barely surviving a motorcycle accident in South America, January, played by Amy Manson, returns to the family home in England to recuperate.  With her long-term memory compromised and still unable to walk, she is at the mercy of their hospitality as they isolate her in their stately manor.  If only she could remember why she left home in the first place.  Well, she’s about to find out…
 
Out in the middle of nowhere.  Cut off from the rest of the world.  No WiFi.  No iPhones.  No technology to speak of save for an old television and a washing machine.  It’s a recipe we all know and dread, and for good reason.  Because it works so well, especially when it involves someone, a director, who knows exactly what they’re doing.  And Mr Adam Levins does this by using the house, its tall, long hallways, its locks, its windows, its cracks under the door – treating it as if it were its very own character.
 
You may recognise some of the cast for their previous notable work in the world of horror.  Nora-Jane Noone doesn’t seem to have aged a day since her stint as Holly in Neil Marshall’s creepy claustrophobic classic, The Descent (2005).  Simon Quarterman, January’s boyfriend, Callum, starred in two films by William Brent Bell: 2013’s Wer and infamous found footage flick, The Devil Inside (2012).  The wonderful James Cosmo has always been a force to be reckoned with, so is perfectly cast as January’s domineering father.
 
If there’s only one gripe I have with this fine film, it’s this: the discovery of Callum’s fate.  This movie is far too clever for a revelation as ridiculously obvious as a shallow grave dug but a few feet away from a pile burnt familiar clothes.  I can forgive the South Park style gunshot wounds.  They do invoke a titter.
 
LAST WORDS:
Estranged is a very well made, suspenseful affair.  However, if you’re familiar with this year’s earlier DVD releases, such as Unconscious (2014) and M. Night Shyamalan’s The Visit (2015), the film’s big twist loses much of its impact.  That said, you’ve got to respect a director who can create tension with something as unassuming as an eyelash curler.

​THE STORY:
Young Tommy, played by Clem Tibber, must now live in squalor with his father (Shaun Dingwall) on an abandoned estate.  When Tommy hears strange noises at night coming from the flat next door, his father is reluctant to believe his stories as the place has been sealed up for some time.  Finding a new friend in Carmen, played by Elarica Gallacher, who works at the local café, he convinces her to help him solve this eerie mystery.
 
Not since critically acclaimed The Babadook (2014), have I seen a horror that applies more depth into its makeup than your clichéd jump scares and things that go bump in the night.  It’s sad to watch the little pup being thrust into such a harsh environment, whilst being denied contact with his emotional constant, his mother.  The father is of no comfort and makes no secret of what an imposition his son is.  In vast contrast, new friend Carmen makes for a great companion as she gradually takes a shine to Tommy, despite having already been hardened by the life.  She too has her own demons to battle it out with.
 
The conditions alone that poor Tommy has to live in when the sun goes down verge on apocalyptic, with nothing but electric camping lanterns to help them see through the dark.  The claustrophobia created by these box-sized bedrooms, shrinking corridors and tunnel-like stairwells is unnervingly palpable to say the least.  The scenes in the creepy red room, the apparent source of the noises, are where the movie reaches its fever pitch, very much akin to the terrifying jail cell sequences in Anthony DiBlasi’s Last Shift (2014).
 
LAST WORDS:
Another triumph for Metrodome, The Forgotten is easily their best horror release since last year’s Halloween offering of Brit werewolf flick Howl (2015).  It presents us with fully-fleshed sympathetic and complicated characters and a creeping atmosphere that claws at your throat with its dirty fingernails.

​THE STORY:
As Dr. Herbert West, played by the legendary Jeffrey Combs, discovers the new possibilities of his Day-Glo serum, he seduces his former associate Dr. Dan Cain (Bruce Abbott) who has dedicated himself to the world of medicine into teaming up one more time with the promise of rebuilding his ex-girlfriend, Megan.  Meanwhile, his deceased arch nemesis Dr. Hill has returned from the grave with a plot to exact a most gruesome revenge indeed.
 
Thanks to Tartan Grindhouse my first viewing experience of Bride was like watching the entire film from inside that dim movie theatre from Martin Scorsese’s remake of Cape Fear (1991) as Robert De Niro’s maniacal laughter billows cigar cloud after cigar cloud into the air.  Everything dark.  Everything smoky.  But now that Arrow have cast their crystal eyes over this ghoulishly gory horror classic, the sheer genius of Screaming Mad George’s work, in particular the soul-wrenching conditions of the titular Bride herself, can now be appreciated in all their weird and wonderful glory.
 
The last of George’s riotously wacky practical effects to receive restorative treatment was 88 Films’ release of Children of the Corn III: Urban Harvest (1995) back in Feb of this year.  Perhaps best noted for that hilariously kooky punch-packing finale.  My point being, whether you’re watching Society (1989) – another Arrow restoration – or 1988’s Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master, without a doubt, the show will always belong to him and his amazing creations.
 
Combs, of course, plays sanity-starved West with everything he’s got.  So caught up in himself and his goals that you can’t help but titter while shaking your head in sympathy for the poor mad theman.  Abbott continues to play the sulking heartbroken romantic, completely unaware of the power that his wounded charm has on his future Bride.  Strangely enough, in the end he gets the girl even though he reveals himself to be quite the shit by rejecting his new Bride, who in turn rejects herself – more ways than one!  The bat-winged Dr. Hill manages to muster a fair degree of menace, and trust me, that’s pretty admirable considering the odds that are stacked against him.
 
LAST WORDS:
A step up from its original, thanks in no small part to its SFX legend.  The heart-wrenching (wink) destruction of the Bride is perhaps his crowning achievement.

PLOT: Room tells the extraordinary story of Jack (Jacob Tremblay), a spirited 5-year-old who is looked after by his loving and devoted mother (Brie Larson). Like any good mother, Ma dedicates herself to keeping Jack happy and safe, nurturing him with warmth and love and doing typical things like playing games and telling stories. Their life, however, is anything but typical--they are trapped--confined to a 11-by-11-foot space that Ma has euphemistically named Room. Ma has created a whole universe for Jack within Room, and she will stop at nothing to ensure that, even in this treacherous environment, Jack is able to live a complete and fulfilling life. But as Jack's curiosity about their situation grows, and Ma's resilience reaches its breaking point, they enact a risky plan to escape, ultimately bringing them face-to-face with what may turn out to be the scariest thing yet: the real world.

I missed out of a fair few of the Oscar season releases at the start of the year but the one film me and my wife got to see was Room, a film which in my opinion should have got more Oscars than it did. Room is a near perfect drama film, a film which got me on the edge of my seat at several moments which is something that NEVER happens!

Jacob Tremblay is amazing in this film, a young actor with a huge future ahead of him, the scene where Jack makes his escape from the room is the most tense edge of your seat scenes I have ever seen, Jesus I held my breath for so long I could have passed out! (well not really but you get my drift). Brie Larson, who won best actress for her role in this film, took us on a emotional Rollercoaster like no other film out so far this year as we watch the progression from the room to going back to the real world which both characters must go through is harrowing.

One of the best dramas out in stores right now! amazingly directed and adapted, very well acted and well just perfect. Sad, Harrowing and the best drama film you will see on DVD today. GO AND BUY!