Ho ho ho! Christmas is just around the corner and during this festive time you can be sure to find more than a few DVD-shaped presents under the tree… Here’s my pick of the crop this month, which includes a manic trip down under with The Inbetweeners lads, a revisit to the violent but effortlessly stylistic Sin City and a disaster movie that can quite literally be described as a whirlwind catastrophe!
The Inbetweeners 2
The last time we caught up with the four ‘frieeeeends’ from Rudge Park Comprehensive, all seemed to be going rather well for the boys. They had survived their first mental lads holiday in Malia relatively unscathed, and returned to England with four lovely new actual girlfriends in tow. One year later though, and things have inevitably gone to pot. Will’s housemates are turning his life at Uni into a living hell; Simon, despite being the only one to still have a girlfriend, is becoming increasingly scared by her obsessive behaviour and Neil’s missing his best mate Jay, who is on a gap year in Australia. The solution to all their problems? To catch the next flight to Oz and go visit Jay, who in his letters to Neil, has been rather over-elaborating his situation as only he can.
Chaos – of course – ensues when Will meets an old friend, Katie, and makes amusingly embarrassing efforts to woo her (Singing the entirety of The First Time Ever I Saw Your face in front of a campfire, for example) and get in with the spiritual backpacker lot she hangs out with. While Jay, who is heartbroken after being dumped by his girlfriend Jane, is determined to win her back. Big laughs are to be expected of course (Neil’s irritable bowel syndrome incident at the water park is an especially crude, but hilarious scene), but there are also a few moments where, knob gags and girl chasing aside, we get to really focus in on the group’s friendship. And in the end, though it is hysterical to watch them fail at life so hard, that’s what the original show was really about – a group of misfits, who neither fit here nor there, but fit in perfectly with each other.
The Inbetweeners 2 is available to buy from 1st December 2014*
Into The Storm
Disaster movies have taken a bit of a decline in recent years. It’s a fact that is sad but true. While they were all the rage in the nineties (Armageddon, Volcano, Twister…), these days people aren’t so convinced by the threat of natural forces impacting us on such a destructive scale. And to be fair to people, films like 2012 – the last disaster movie I can remember – certainly didn’t help matters. But Into the Storm is the most recent effort to try and recapture our love for weather-based chaos. Starring Hobbit star, Richard Armitage, the film is set in a small town called Silverton in Oklahoma. Armitage stars as a hard-eyed father of two and vice-principle of the local high school; not quite the scientific hero you would expect the main star to be in a film like this, but I suppose in an effort to break cliché, that could be argued as an admirable move. There are also a group of documentary makers that come to the town, desperate to finally capture footage of a storm after a year of near-misses elsewhere. As luck would have it, one of the worst storms ever (with devastating tornadoes and hail and everything) hits the town and causes catastrophe.
I won’t lie, it’s not the perfect disaster film. It takes a while to really get going, since it’s main goal in the opening half hour is to establish that the town is just your everyday normal place where normal people live and abnormal things like freak weather incidents just don’t happen. But when the storm eventually does hit, the film and it’s mildly engaging characters begin to fire up a bit, making the action amongst the tornado quite intriguing. The effects, as you would expect in a film of this decade, are also thankfully pretty good. Into the Storm is admittedly not the best of my pick this month, but I admire it’s efforts to try and re-engage us with the very real prospect of natural disaster. And while it’s got nothing on The Day After Tomorrow or indeed Twister, it is better than 2012 – and that gives me hope.
Into The Storm is available to buy from 15th December 2014*
Sin City 2: A Dame to Kill For
Based on Frank Miller’s graphic novel series, Sin City 2: A Dame to Kill For, picks up where it’s 2005 neo-noir predecessor left off. In a format similar to Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction, there are various story-lead parts to the plot that interweave with each other to make a whole. Mickey Rourke and Jessica Alba return as Marv and Nancy Callahan, whilst Bruce Willis also makes a somewhat miraculous appearance as the ghost of his original character, John Hartigan. The cast this time around also includes Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Josh Brolin, and Eva Green as the eponymous ‘dame’; whilst pop star Lady Gaga too, makes an appearance as a waitress. In truth this film isn’t for everyone.
As you might expect in a place called ‘Sin City’, the stories are awash with violence and nudity, and have an immense feel of Tarantino-ness to them (which is to be expected, given his small directorial contribution to the first film), as well as a cartoon-like quality, most recognisably seen in films like Kick Ass. And while the storylines can be a little confusing and sometimes rather ridiculous to follow, the style of this film, like it’s predecessor, cannot be understated. The cutting contrast of the monochrome is stunning – as is the unique colour-processing used on certain objects of significance. For cinephiles, there is much to be admired about the aesthetics of this film, but regular movie-goers might also enjoy the thrill of this film – just so long as you’re not squeamish!
Sin City 2: A Dame to Kill For is available to buy from 15th December 2014*
Hawking (TV Movie) Blu-ray
Of course, this month marks the end of another year and as we look forward to 2015 in the world of film, one of the earliest cinematic morsels for us to savour is the latest take on the fascinating life story of renowned scientist, Stephen Hawking. The Theory of Everything, starring Eddie Redmayne and Felicity Jones, is set to be released on the 2nd January and is already being applauded by critics. However, before that, you might want to visit this similarly acclaimed 2004 BBC adaptation, which is now being released on Blu-ray and stars a pre-Sherlock Benedict Cumberbatch in the first ever on-screen portrayal of the infamous Professor.
This TV version depicts Hawking’s earlier years as a PHD student at Cambridge University, as he searches for the origins of the universe and finds love with his first wife, Jane Wilde. It also explores the beginning of his life-long struggle against Motor Neuron Disease – the debilitating illness that has since rendered him mute and wheelchair-bound, and was initially thought to end his life two years after diagnosis. With a brilliant performance by Cumberbatch as he effortlessly spins the genius yarn of Hawking (as he has with so many other brilliantly minded characters such as Sherlock, Vincent Van Gogh and Alan Turing), whilst also retaining heart and imploring your most heartfelt sympathies for the professor’s tragic plight. Also featuring the talents of Alice Eve, Lisa Dillon and John Sessions, Hawking is 90 minutes of brilliance, well worth watching this month.
Hawking is available on DVD now and on Blu-ray from 8th December 2014*
Also out on DVD and Blu-ray this month*: Hercules (1st), The Expendables 3 (8th) and Sex Tape (26th)
*Please note that all release dates referenced are UK only. International release dates may differ.
Words by Annie.