Film: We're The Millers

When a small time drug dealer agrees to bring a shipment back from Mexico he thinks the perfect cover is to be a family man, so he recruits oddball friends and neighbours to play his fictitious brood.

Along the way they encounter another travelling family while also trying to evade a rival dealer and deliver the drugs on time.

The entire cast look like they’re having fun and it comes across on screen. Jason Sudeikis (Horrible Bosses) is great as the downtrodden pot dealer Dave and Jennifer Aniston delivers another hilarious and sexy  turn as stripper Rose, who has to convince everyone that she’s the perfect Mother. The pretend kids of the family are the hapless Kenny (Will Poulter) and streetwise Casey (Emma Roberts).

There are plenty of laughs here with Poulter especially giving a show-stealing performance, look out for the spider scene!

Without doubt the best comedy of the year so far.

We’re The Millers is in cinemas now.

Ric’s Rating: Essential    

Film: Hamlet 2

Steve Coogan (Alan Partridge) is failed actor turned drama teacher Dana Marschz in this 2008 comedy.

When a group of delinquents join the class Marschz must use his awkward street-smarts to help the troubled youths express some creativity, but following a string of critically savaged plays the school decides to close the drama department leaving the teacher to ponder his (and his students’) future.

Is producing a sequel to one of the world’s best loved plays the answer?

American audiences unfamiliar with Coogan’s brand of humour didn’t take to this film but it isn’t as bad as you might expect. Marschz’s life is in tatters as his job and personal life fall apart and Coogan performs adequately in the role, even delivering some very funny physical comedy moments.

Elisabeth Shue (Cocktail, The Karate kid) pops up as a parody of herself and her inclusion also brings from the star-struck Marschz.

Unfortunately the films climax (the performance of Hamlet 2) detracts from the comedy on offer and contains very few laughs itself, ensuring that Coogan follows in the footsteps of British comedians such as Rik Mayall (Drop Dead Fred) and Lenny Henry (True Identity) who also have a Hollywood flop in their CVs.

Ric’s Rating: Dodgy. 

Film: Only God Forgives

A family of criminals come up against a cop with a brutal sense of justice in this thriller from the team behind Drive.

When Billy (Tom Burke) goes looking for cheap thrills it ends in murder and events escalate when the cop on the case gives the victim’s Father a chance for retribution.

Billy’s brother Julian (Ryan Gosling) goes looking for revenge but his own morals prevent him from taking the action his Mother (Kristen Scott Thomas) demands.

Director Nicholas Winding Refn has served up another visual delight that is punctuated by explosions of violence. The film looks fantastic (great use of colours) and feels very atmospheric but too often veers off on a self-indulgent direction that makes the viewer wonder what exactly is going on.

Only God Forgives would have been so much better as a straight-forward revenge thriller but remains enjoyable thanks largely to the screen presence of Vithaya Pansringarm as the sword-wielding  supercool cop Chang.

Catch it in UK cinemas now.

Ric’s Rating: Good.

Book: Stolen Prey by John Sandford

An entire family has been murdered in the most horrific scene Lucas Davenport has ever seen. The level of violence and ruthlessness makes him immediately suspect the involvement of a Mexican drug cartel but he can find no evidence whatsoever to support this theory.

A tale of robbery, greed, drugs and murder follows featuring a whole host of unsavoury characters which includes: Three Mexican hitmen, disgruntled bank employees, a questionable Mexican cop and his assistant, along with Virgil Flowers who now has his own spin-off series of books.

While attempting to get to the bottom of all this Lucas must cope with an arm injury caused when he became the victim of opportunistic muggers. Will he catch up with them?

Being familiar with this series definitely enhances the reading experience as this one on it’s own doesn’t quite have the excitement of previous efforts, but as part of the series it’s another reasonably satisfying outing for Davenport and Co. largely thanks to the gripping finale.

Ric’s Rating: Good.        

Film: The Wolverine

News of a dying friend brings Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) to Tokyo and he is soon caught up in a tale of kidnap, murder and treachery.

During his pursuit of Yakuza thugs Wolverine is injured and inexplicably his healing powers do not seem to be working. Hurt and confused he must rely on fighting skills alone to get to the bottom of things and rescue the girl.

Based on a popular graphic novel this feels rather hurried to me. There is little time to get to know any of the new characters and the confusing timeline created by the many X Men sequels, prequels and spin-offs doesn’t help either.

Jackman (as always) is excellent as the snarling hero but the other performances and characters on show bring little to the table. The poisonous Viper just isn’t in the same league as Magneto or even Mystique and I’m fast becoming very tired of huge fighting robots.

This one is for Marvel / XMen / Wolverine fanatics only.

Ric’s Rating: Dodgy.   

TV DVD: Run

A Mother attempts to keep her wayward Sons out of trouble, an illegal immigrant wants out of the life she has, a former drug addict tries to stay clean and a Polish immigrant discovers that her boyfriend has been murdered. These are the four connected stories that make up this UK tv drama which was recently shown on Channel 4.

Olivia Colman (Broadchurch) delivers another fine performance as the long-suffering Mother but it’s Lennie James’ portrayal of former addict Richie that really steals the show. The episode where he just can’t seem to catch a break while attempting to mend his relationship with his daughter is by far the best of the series.

Run is a well written drama with good performances all round but it does suffer from a severe lack of humour. The makers of these types of shows would do well to remember that real life, even in the most trying circumstances, often makes us laugh. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not asking for a comedy but a series like this is crying out for one or two lighter moments.

Run is available on DVD now in the UK.

Ric’s Rating: Good

Film: Pacific Rim

Take the best (and some of the worst) elements of Transformers, Godzilla, Armageddon, Real Steel, Top Gun and Starship Troopers and you end up with Guillermo Del Toro’s Robots Vs. Monsters mash-up starring Charlie Hunnam (Sons Of Anarchy) and Idris Elba (Luther).

The Earth is under attack from huge monsters knows as Kaijus so the World unites to combat the common enemy. Their solution is to build robots of similar size to the beasts, these robots are piloted by two humans and fully loaded with all kinds of weapons, they are known as Jaegers. Initially the Jaegers repel the threat but soon the Kaijus develop new ways to attack and the Jaegers (and their pilots) are deemed redundant.

Led by Commander Pentecost (Elba) a small group continue to pilot the remaining Jaegers and come up with a plan to eliminate the threat for good.

Dominated by CGI fights this is very silly at times but in a cheesy sort of way it remains enjoyable, if you can get past the first 30mins or so. Hunnam is fine as the jaded Jaeger pilot brought out of retirement for the final mission and Idris Elba exudes authority as the officer in charge. There is also a cool turn from Ron Perlman (Hellboy, Sons of Anarchy) but the two scientists are very irritating indeed.

If you can see past the dodgy dialogue and often unintentionally funny monsters this is an easy viewing adventure that requires no thinking on the part of the audience.

Pacific Rim is in cinemas now.

Ric’s Rating: Dodgy.    

Film: Dark Skies

Something strange is happening in the Barrett family home. There are noises during the night and wife & Mother Lacy even wakens up to find an elaborate structure made out of household items. Are the children suffering from a sleep disorder or is there something more sinister going on?

Soon young Sam mentions “The Sandman” who comes to his room at night and events spiral out of control when both parents begin to have seizures. All of this does teenager Jesse’s blossoming love life no good at all.

The title probably gives away the cause of these events but I’m not going to do it here as the less you know the better.

The tension mounts gradually and there are some very creepy moments leading to a nerve-shredding climax with a nifty twist.

Dark Skies is available on DVD in the UK from 5^th August 2013.

Ric’s Rating: Highly Recommended.

Film: Maniac

From the brutal opening scene this re-make of the 1980 film leaves the viewer in no doubt what this is all about. I suppose the title is a bit of a clue as well.

Elijah Wood (The Lord Of The Rings) is Frank Zito, a loner who lives in the run-down shop previously owned by his Mother. Their business was restoring mannequins but these days Frank spends more time talking to the dolls than repairing them.

When he isn’t interacting with the mannequins Frank goes cruising for victims who are despatched with increasingly graphic and violent methods, ending with Frank’s own peculiar fetish.

A professional photographer asks if she can use the mannequins in her exhibition and an uneasy friendship begins. Of course Frank’s distorted view of reality soon becomes apparent leading to trouble for all involved.

I haven’t seen the original but I imagine that this is a pretty close re-make. There are many scenes saw through Frank’s eyes and the soundtrack has a seventies slasher movie feel to it. Elijah Wood proves that his creepy turn in Sin City was no fluke as he delivers another convincing portrayal of a deranged killer.

The extreme violence here will put people off and despite the explanation of how the main character came to be what he is there is a distinct lack of any redeeming features.

Maniac falls into the category inhabited by films like Irreversible and the I Spit On Your Grave re-make in that it isn’t exactly a pleasant experience but I have to admire the gutsy presentation of horrible events and the exploration of a disturbed mind.

Ric’s Rating: Good.       

Film: Slice & Dice: The Slasher Film Forever

This documentary film explores the history of the slasher movie. Love them or hate them you simply can’t ignore them and everyone has a favourite slasher movie bad guy. Freddy Kruger, Michael Myers and Jason Voorhees have been with us for around 30 years and survived countless rubbish sequels and re-makes of varying quality.

Slice & Dice explores the origins of the genre. Psycho features heavily and the “video nasties” of the late seventies / early eighties are also covered extensively. Contributors include Corey Feldman, Tobe Hooper and Tom Holland along with recent slasher type directors Patrick Lussier and Jeffrey Reddick.

Unfortunately this is a bit too laden down with clips. There are countless showings of beheadings and various other death scenes and these too vary greatly in quality. From grainy straight to video flicks like The Burning to recent re-makes like My Bloody Valentine 3D.

This is more aimed at the slasher movie connoisseur than the casual fan but the feature packed 2 disc set does contain some fantastic footage that helps increase the value of the package on offer.

Slice & Dice: The Slasher Film Forever is available on DVD in the UK now.

Ric’s Rating: Good.    

Book: Sinema 3: The Troy Consortium by Rod Glenn

Hannibal Whitman returns in the third instalment of Rod Glenn’s serial-killer thriller series.

The world thinks Whitman is dead but he has been secretly rescued, rehabilitated and trained by a secretive organisation known as The Troy Consortium. Their purpose is to eliminate any form of threat to Great Britain that the courts can’t deal with.

Whitman, his appearance altered, is soon set up with a new identity, but it isn’t long until the consortium hand him his first murderous assignment.

Things work well for a while and despite Han’s longing for certain elements of his previous life he begins to settle into his new persona, and excels in his work for the consortium.

Events take a surprising turn when the powers-that-be decide to get rid of all of their “assets” leaving Han and his new-found allies no option but to fight back.

Following some spectacularly violent action scenes, which have become the hallmark of this series, we find ourselves back in the setting for the first Sinema novel, Haydon.

Haydon is now a ghost town of Whitman’s making which is haunted by the spirits of former friends that became victims in the notorious “experiment”.    

The reformation of a diabolical character continues here as this time out we are firmly behind Whitman, especially when a feared adversary threatens his former lover.

Sinema 3 is a continuation of the previous books and won’t work if you haven’t read the others, but if you’re a fan of serial-killer stories that aren't predictable whodunits then do yourself a favour and read this fantastic trilogy.

Click the Rod Glenn label for my reviews of the previous books and more.

Ric’s Rating: Essential.    

Book: The Good Girl by Sinclair Macleod

Insurance investigator turned private detective Craig Campbell returns in Sinclair Macleod’s sequel to The Reluctant Detective.

This time out Campbell takes on the case of a missing girl in St. Andrews, a Scottish town famous for its University and golf course which attracts visitors from all over.

The girl in question is a farm worker from Poland who came to Scotland so that she could help support the family back home. Her disappearance is reported by a fellow worker who is gravely concerned.

The investigation leads Campbell from the migrant worker community to the student body of the town and then into the world of escorts and prostitution.

Throw in a brilliant sub-plot with Craig’s feisty Mother looking into the discovery of a dead baby and you have all the ingredients of an excellent thriller that manages to retain a light-hearted tone thanks to Campbell’s humorous outlook.

Before picking this up I’d recommend reading the first in the series as there are several references to past events. In any case I always find that any book in a series is more enjoyable if you know the characters history.

The Good Girl is another brilliant example of the current Scottish crime fiction scene.

Ric's Rating: Highly Recommended