DVD: Paintball

A team of thrill seekers are cuffed, hooded and abandoned in Redball
Woods. They then embark on a game of survival in this surprisingly good action horror.

Quickly subjected to a violent ambush the eight strangers suddenly realise that what they thought was a game is something far more sinister.

This is a simple idea and we have been here many times before in films like Surviving The Game and Southern Comfort but it is very well executed.

The production team behind The Machinist and Quarantine serve up a fast paced atmospheric treat here as the hunter stalks his prey. Alliances form and break as everyone realises that their lives depend on each decision they make.

The acting from a cast of unknowns is a bit below par but that is a small complaint in this type of film. Recommended for action / horror fans that aren't too fussy.

Ric's Rating: 68%

DVD: Wrong Side Of Town

The marketing people behind this straight to dvd action film have made a clever move. They have convinced everyone that professional wrestler Dave Bautista (known as Batista to grapple fans) is the star, every advert, trailer and poster, even the one featured here, has him as the main man.

The star is actually fellow (slightly less popular) wrestler Rob Van Dam, so called because of his likeness to Jean Claude.

RVD (as he is known) plays an ex Navy Seal caught up in all sorts of trouble when a night on the town with his new neighbours results in the accidental death of a local gangster.

As RVD fights his way home Batista eventually turns up as an old Navy buddy.

The acting is what you'd expect in a film where wrestlers are the stars but Batista does show enough charisma and screen presence to merit another chance. RVD I'm not so sure about, like his wrestling persona he seems slightly awkward and the fight scenes are pathetic given the fact that he spends most of the film with an injured leg but still manages to high kick when required only to then be barely able to hobble away from the carnage.

You could do worse on a boys night in with a few beers but this is strictly for fans of wrestling.

Ric's Rating: 48%

TV Show: Castle

America's latest police procedural show arrived on UK screens last
night. The little known Alibi channel has pulled off a coup here as this show deserves to be every bit as popular as it's similar rival The Mentalist.

Nathan Fillion is Richard Castle, a successful crime novelist who, thanks to friends in high places, gets to ride shotgun with NYPD Homicide Detective Kate Beckett (Satna Katic).
Bringing an alternative viewpoint he is able to help the cops with their most tricky cases.

In the pilot episode the duo must solve a spate of killings based around stories in Castle's books.

The show is good, light hearted fun that often plays for laughs despite the grim subject matter and Castle's home life proves to be just as challenging as working with the police. He has his teenage daughter (Molly Quinn) and aging actress Mother (Susan Sullivan) to contend with.

All cast members have great chemistry and seem to be enjoying their work.

Give it a try.

Ric's Rating: 74%

Film: Clash Of The Titans

Avatar's Sam Worthington heads the cast in this remake of the
fondly remembered 1981 movie of the same name.

The story has been dumbed down to a simple tale of revenge as Perseus (Worthington) sets about killing God of the underworld Hades (Ralph Finnes) after the death of his family.

Lots of battles with CGI monsters ensue including Medusa who isn't as scary as the 1981 version. Memories of Krull and The Beastmaster come flooding back and this is at times very enjoyable but severely lacks depth.

Worthington is completely miscast as the Greek hero. His Australian accent and GI Joe haircut are out of place and the fact that all around tower over him doesn't help. This is also a totally wooden performance lacking charisma, saved only by support from Liam Neeson, Liam Cunningham and Mads Mikkelsen.

Overall this is still a fun film but even a fleeting apearance by Bubo the mechanical owl from the original doesn't up the charm factor.

Ric's Rating: 58%

Book: Fragment by Warren Fahy

It all starts off surprisingly well as Nell Duckworth (no relation to Jack & Vera)
and her team of scientists and the tv crew accompanying them decide to venture onto the remote unexplored Hender's Island.

A battle between humans and the super predators of the island follows and we have nice character development with Geoffrey Biswanger and Thatcher Redmond, scientists with opposing views and values.

Unfortunately the final third is where it all goes wrong as the book descends into predictable sentimentality and the creatures get more and more bizarre.

Mr Fahy would have done well to stick to the action and gory elements of the story and a different ending would have left an altogether more satisfying feeling instead of the Deary Me one that the schmaltziness of the ending creates.

Ric's Rating: 41%

Film: Shutter Island

Someone Is Missing declares the tagline to this film, I think it's
Martin Scorsese.

Leonardo DiCaprio and Mark Ruffalo play Federal Marshalls sent to investigate an apparent escape from a formidable mental institution.

From the get go I suspected this would be a bit ropey as the boat ride to the island was so cheaply filmed you could almost see the set wobbling. Then we have DiCaprio in a part that he is still too fresh faced for, I couldn't get on board with him playing this grisled war veteran tortured by his past. Ben Kingsly and Max Von Sydow collect their paychecks playing doctors but both have no decent material so maybe it's harsh to blame them for the shoddy performances they produce.

This film also suffers from The Sixth Sense Syndrome where I guessed the twist about 90 minutes before I was supposed to rendering the remainder of the film pointless.

All a bit boring so nothing much to recommend unless you are easily pleased or want to watch DiCaprio just for the sake of it.

Along with The Wolfman this enters the all new 2010 Turkey category.

Ric's Rating: 21%

DVD: Long Weekend

More like an eternity as we join Jim Caviezel (The Count Of Monte Cristo) trying to save his marriage on a romantic getaway.

These are thoroughly loathsome characters and I was wishing a grisly demise for them both within 10 minutes.

The theme of nature fighting back against the damage caused by humans is lost as it just takes too long for anything to happen and when it does you don't care.

There is something compelling about watching a warring couple and the performances are ok, they just can't save the dire material they have to work with.

Give this a miss unless your a big Caviezel fan.

Ric's Rating: 24%

DVD: Love Happens

This bittersweet romance is not the usual comedy that one would expect
from Jennifer Aniston.

Eckhart plays Burke Ryan, who after the accidental death of his wife, writes a memoir on coping with grief, the success of which makes him a minor celebrity.

During one of his seminars he meets Aniston who plays a florist just out of a messy relationship.

The two embark on a slow burning relationship which helps each come to terms with their own problems.

Nothing special here but Aniston and Eckhart are endearing enough in their roles to make this reasonably enjoyable.

Ric's Rating: 54%

DVD: Tony

Tony is the type of character that we all encounter at some point in any city. He is a loner, a bit of an odball, unemployed, unclean, desperate for approval and acceptance.

Played brilliantly by Peter Ferdinando Tony finds himself in various situations that he cannot quite handle throughout the film, some of which have dire outcomes.

The story kind of shuffles along without really going anywhere but the uneasiness of it all and Ferdinando's performance make this worthwhile for any fan of Henry: Portrait Of A Serial Killer or the book Killing For Company.

Ric's Rating: 88%

Film: The Crazies

Timothy Olyphant (Deadwood) and Rhada Mitchell (Pitch Black) star in
this remake of a little known George A Romero film.

It all kicks off when local cop Olyphant is forced to shoot and kill a gun weilding, seemingly drunk, mechanic.

More and more townsfolk begin to show symptoms of some strange zombie like disease when the military move in and start rounding everybody up.

What follows is an enjoyably frantic fight for survival amongst total chaos and both Olyphant and Mitchell deliver good performances and are supported well by Joe Anderson as the deputy.

Some well placed moments of humour amidst all the carnage add to the feeling of desperation but this is no comedy horror, the humour simply depicts ordinary people reacting with wit and sarcasm in a very surreal situation.

Recommended to all horror and thriller fans.

Ric's Rating: 79%

DVD: Triangle

Melissa George (Amytiville Horror, Paradise Lost) stars in
this horror/mystery type thriller.

She plays a single mother struggling to cope with her autistic young son who decides to treat herself to a day sailing with some friends.

After a slow start this film becomes very interesting as people begin to be bumped off and we are thrown into a very strange environment indeed.
Unfortunately it all becomes a bit muddled and leads to a rather silly ending.

This film borrows heavily from Memento and could have been so much better if a true purpose to it all was revealed.

A big surprising consolation is that this shows that Melissa George can actually act, she delivers a good performance and should now go for some serious parts instead of all these dodgy horrors.

Ric's Rating: 51%

Book: Cross Country by James Patterson

Alex Cross is on the trail of yet another psychopath in this latest offering of
the long running series.

This one starts with a bang as Cross is called to a murder scene only to realise that one of the victims is an old flame of his and the pace and action doesn't let up as the pursuit of those responsible leads to Nigeria.

The change of setting is very welcome and throws Cross into a world where he is an Alien and struggling to even survive from the get go while trying to remain focused on his reason for being there, confronting The Tiger. A small complaint about Cross himself is that he remains whiter than white in even the most trying of circumstances, this is a character that could do with a few vices.

The Tiger is an horrendous villain and more than a match for Cross (who is without his huge buddy Sampson) in every way and this makes for a tense battle between the two.

Ghastly settings like the KiriKiri prison and the refugee camps bring home the horrors of Africa and some of the atrocities comitted reminded me of the film Blood Diamond, we have killer kids here too and anyone who enjoyed that film will like this.
Bear in mind that although Alex Cross was played adequately by Morgan Freeman in a couple of films (Kiss The Girls, Along Came A Spider) this is no sixty something character, Cross is still a reasonably young man.

A must for any fans of the series, this is also recommended to any fans of fast paced action thrillers and the short chapter format helps the story hurtle along to it's conclusion.

Ric's Rating: 88%