Is the bible sexist?

"see below as Matt tries to justify 'tasteful' photos like this on his blog..."


Is the bible sexist or is it just me?

One of Matt's occasional blog ponderings prompted by a conversation...

Being a Christian film reviewer can be hard, on the one hand you have the whole Old Testament which depicts pretty much a totally patriarchal society.
By modern value systems, you’d have to call it a ‘sexist’ way of life.
I guess at least they didn’t have blogs back then - where they could post pictures of impossibly gorgeous women on for no other reason than the blog owner found them ‘pleasing to the eye’… As above...

Is it so wrong? Does that make me a sexist git? I mean some of those ‘great’ servants of God had like King David certainly had time for the ladies (his eight wives, in case you were wondering were: Michal, a daughter of King Saul. Ahinoam of Jezreel. Abigail, previously wife of Nabal. Then Maachah, Haggith, Avital, Eglah and Bathsheba.)

Obviously I’m happily married and hope to grow old with one and only stunning supermodel wife but I seek a healthy spiritual balance… Especially because I am fascinated with films and reviewing them for a hobby means that I do get to see so many gorgeous females on screen… Is window shopping wrong, especially when you have no intention to buy?
Anyway, back to the topic at hand, some guy today told me that the Bible is not sexist overall because it records all kinds of sin; slavery and bondage and the failures of its greatest heroes (like David again for his adultery with Bathsheba, and his subsequent murder of her husband to try and get away with it), yet it also gives us the answer and the cure for sin. You know redemption through Christ... and all that.
I’d have to add that the New Testament where Jesus gets to put his views across it is much more empowering to both sexes. So go and debate it for yourself…

And in an almost connected conclusion I’ll just recommend a click over to my friend Tom’s blog:

http://tomwade.blogspot.com/ where his write up of ‘In Her Shoes’ includes the poignant line: “Cameron Diaz walking around with hardly any clothes on for the whole film – hang on – suddenly this movie doesn’t seem that bad at all…”

Here endeth the lesson – I’m off to watch Bullet Boy.

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Xbox 360 vs Sony PS3 - whatever turns you on

"choose your weapon"

Xbox 360 vs Sony PS3

So the Xbox 360 launches in the UK this week (I've played a demo unit and it is "nice enough" but not critically not quite nice enough to make me want one - yet)...

Here are a couple of links to articles about the new systems - looks like the usual new release 'bugs' are hitting the 360 with some machines 'turning themselves off' or 'freezing mid game':
X Box 360 Glitches

Latest from Sony seems to be that they will present PS3 At CES Jan 2006: CES 2006

My favourite computer games story from the web today is this one taken from: www.gamesasylum.com

The Family Media Guide has issued their "2005's TOP 10 ULTRA-VIOLENT VIDEO GAMES".

Although no doubt intended as a warning to adults buying presents for little gamers, it's possibly more likely to be used as a check list for naughty kids...


Check these:

GTA: San Andreas - "murder, theft, and destruction on every imaginable level"

Narc - "the ability to kick enemies' heads off"

50 Cent: Bulletproof - "loots the bodies of victims to buy new 50 Cent recordings and music videos"

Condemned: Criminal Origins - "a new level of detail to various injuries"

True Crime: New York City - "plant evidence on civilians and shake them down to earn extra money"

and for those sick bunnies out there - Resident Evil 4 - "During the first minutes of play, it's possible to find the corpse of a woman pinned up on a wall - by a pitchfork through her face."

As Games Asylum's own Jake Rukin says: "Most of those make the games sound more appealing than any review ever could. And indeed better than they actually are. Great job!"

You have been warned!!

So are you lovin your new 360 or waiting for the godlike PS3... let me know... or read my first thoughts on Narnia

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Film Review: Transporter 2

Transporter 2 (15)
Dir. Louis Leterrier

Reviewed by Matt Adcock


“Have a good life. What’s left of it…”
If you like your action movies slick, polished and impossibly fun – the film choice of the moment should be Transporter 2. For maximum enjoyment you should try not to think, at all, and on no account expect anything believable to happen, this is a film that is going to be remembered as the loudest, stupidest, most over the top, action overdose of 2005.

I found myself loving it.

Jason Statham’s heroic Frank ‘the transporter’ Martin can dodge bullets, survive improbable falls, take on 20 men in unarmed combat and drive his bulletproof Audi with more swagger than Jose Mourinho will ever have.
Here Frank’s up against a slimy villain called Gianni (Alessandro Gassman), who takes his job very seriously and whose chief hitman is named Lola - a supermodel with a clothing aversion (the hard bodied Kate Natua). I tried to find out a bit more about miss Natua and her online biography reads: ‘She started modelling at 15.’ As there wasn’t any more I can only guess it might one day continue ‘and hasn’t stopped since…’ but if you’ve ever had a hankering to see a gorgeous blonde kickboxing in her designer lingerie then Transporter 2 should be on your recommended viewing list.

Now I’m not trying to be sexist here but one might call Transporter 2 a ‘boys’ film – only inasmuch as it really loves its cars, is fetishistic regarding its handguns and deliver bouts of crunching violence ever few minutes without fail – many of which feature the half dressed Lola. If you’re a woman reading this and thinking ‘but Matt - I love cars, handguns and crunching violence’ then my apologies – you’re my kind of girl - but you get the idea.
The less you know about the plot the better (it’s wafer thin) but be assured that the car chases are up there with Bad Boys or Blues Brothers, the dialogue is dumb but quotable and the production values put Transporter 2 very much in the big league of action films.

Luc Besson (who produces and co-writes) makes a potent team with director Louis ‘Unleashed’ Leterrier. The Transporter films look set to continue delivering enjoyably daft, high end thrills for those who find James Bond that bit too high brow and complex.

Anyway, I did see another film this week – something about a Lion, a Witch and a Wardrobe - a sure fire contender for film of 2005 but more of that next week!!

Darkmatt Rating: ööö (stupid, violent and sexist action?... yes please!!)

Reviews of other films and stuff you might want to read indexed here

" 'Dirty' Lola had ruined another pair of stockings killing the cop for his jacket "

Underworld: on UMD looks better than ever...

"Kate Beckinsale... the perfect kick ass female lead..."

Underworld: UMD extended version

Ah some things in life are just major pleasures... and having the much maligned Underworld on UMD is one of them. Being able to get a dose of Kate in her very sexy all rubber outfit anytime, anywhere... in perfect picture quality... Very pleasing!!

I'd strongly recommend getting Underworld on UMD - it really does look and sound amazing!!


"Kate in another 'all rubber' outfit'"

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Matt's been to Narnia...

"one small step for man... into a wardrobe... one giant leap for movie fans!"

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

First impressions by Matt Adcock

No – this is not a review, although I am itching to tell you all about The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe as a film – that is embargoed until the 04 Dec (so check back then)… Now you can read it here: narnia lion witch wardrobe review

Having seen the film though, what I can tell you is this: Narnia is just awesome, it’s a place of wonder and joy, courage and betrayal, oh and the cheekiest talking beaver you’ll ever see…

"Jadis the white witch is scary enough to freak out younger children - but only the wussy ones"

What else can you expect?
Well, just imagine a nigh on perfect representation of the classic children’s tale, the children stars are great, the special effects are magical in a way Harry Potter can only dream about and the end battle is Lord of the Rings in scale and production values, but with a much wider variety of combatants. You really can't say you've ever seen a fantasy battle until you've seen a centaur make a two sworded attack lunge at a witch in a chariot pulled by polar bears...

One top bit of dialogue, which you can catch in one of the trailers, is this:
A cool looking griffin comes to land next to young King Peter and tells him –
“The enemy come in numbers far greater than our own.”
To which the brave Centaur General standing the other side of Peter (who is on his white unicorn) replies –
“Numbers do not win a battle.”
You’ve got to love Peter though as he quips –
“No, but I bet they help.”


"There is forgiveness - even for traitors in the land of Narnia"

It's no exageration to tell you that my heart blazed with pleasure watching this film – there really is only one holiday film to choose this year – and it is The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe!!

Click this: earlier post about chronicles of narnia inc trailer link

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Pattern Recognition - William Gibson

Pattern Recognition
by William Gibson

Reviewed by Matt Adcock

Possible contender for book of the year... Pattern Recognition by William 'king of cyberpunk' Gibson was an absolute joy to read. Cool, stylish and severely paranoid - having worked in Marketing and PR my whole career the concept of someone who could 'divine' marketing trends and had a logo aversion to boot was one that sucked me in big time!!

So the plot is something like this: Cayce Pollard is an expensive, freakily intuitive market-research consultant. In London on a job, she is offered a secret assignment: to investigate some intriguing snippets of video that have been appearing on the Internet. An entire subculture of people is obsessed with these bits of footage, and anybody who can create that kind of brand loyalty would be a gold mine for Cayce's client. But when her borrowed apartment is burgled and her computer hacked, she realizes there's more to this project than she had expected...

"PATTERN RECOGNITION is William Gibson's best book since he rewrote all the rules in NEUROMANCER.

Gibson casts a master extrapolator's eye on our present, and shows it to us as if for the first time."
--Neil Gaiman,author of AMERICIAN GODS

Darkmatt Rating: öööö (tasty future vision - too close for comfort)

Here's an excerpt:

In the kitchen she runs tap water through a German filter, into an Italian electric kettle. Fiddles with switches, one on the kettle, one on the plug, one on the socket. Blankly surveys the canary expanse of laminated cabinetry while it boils. Bag of some imported Californian tea substitute in a large white mug. Pouring boiling water. In the flat's main room, she finds that Damien's faithful Cube is on, but sleeping, the night-light glow of its static switches pulsing gently. Damien's ambivalence toward design showing here: He won't allow decorators through the door unless they basically agree to not do that which they do, yet he holds on to this Mac for the way you can turn it upside down and remove its innards with a magic little aluminum handle. Like the sex of one of the robot girls in his video, now that she thinks of it. She seats herself in his high-backed workstation chair and clicks the transparent mouse. Stutter of infrared on the pale wood of the long trestle table. The browser comes up. She types Fetish:Footage:Forum, which Damien, determined to avoid contamination, will never bookmark. The front page opens, familiar as a friend's living room. A frame-grab from #48 serves as backdrop, dim and almost monochrome, no characters in view. This is one of the sequences that generate comparisons with Tarkovsky. She only knows Tarkovsky from stills, really, though she did once fall asleep during a screening of The Stalker, going under on an endless pan, the camera aimed straight down, in close-up, at a puddle on a ruined mosaic floor. But she is not one of those who think that much will be gained by analysis of the maker's imagined influences. The cult of the footage is rife with subcults, claiming every possible influence. Truffaut, Peckinpah . . . The Peckinpah people, among the least likely, are still waiting for the guns to be drawn. She enters the forum itself now, automatically scanning titles of the posts and names of posters in the newer threads, looking for friends, enemies, news. One thing is clear, though; no new footage has surfaced. Nothing since that beach pan, and she does not subscribe to the theory that it is Cannes in winter. French footageheads have been unable to match it, in spite of countless hours recording pans across approximately similar scenery. She also sees that her friend Parkaboy is back in Chicago, home from an Amtrak vacation, California, but when she opens his post she sees that he's only saying hello, literally. She clicks Respond, declares herself CayceP.

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"This is how I imagine Cayce Pollard to look... damn, maybe they should make a film?"

The Exorcism of Emily Rose

The Exorcism of Emily Rose (15)
Dir. Scott Derrickson

Reviewed by Matt Adcock

Do you believe in God? OK, how about the Devil? As Emily Rose writes in a letter “Some people say that ‘God is dead’, but how can they believe that when I show them the Devil?” and whatever your beliefs or lack of, The Exorcism of Emily Rose – which is based on real events - will make you reassess where you stand on the whole God/Devil question.

If you’ve seen the trailer for The Exorcism of Emily Rose, it wouldn’t be unfair to be expecting something like a remake of ‘The Exorcist’ with added court scenes. Also as it was directed by Scott Derrickson, the chap who made the straight to video: ‘Hellraiser part V: Inferno’, you might see Emily Rose as a dumb, cash in, shock-a-thon. I’m pleased to say that this is not the case.

The good news is that to enjoy this film you don't need to know much about the real Emily’s life story, medical science, exorcism, or even the Bible. This is a powerful and well crafted film that I would happily recommend to priests and pagans alike – as long as you’re not of an overly nervous disposition…
Derrickson said in a recent interview: “I don’t care what you believe, There are questions that everybody has to reckon with. Audiences need a way to face their fears, and culturally, we are as afraid as ever.” With Emily Rose he has managed to make a film that works both as a thinking person’s horror movie and a credible homage to the age old battle between the forces of light and darkness – played out in a courtroom. The novel central gambit is the trial of Father Moore (Tom Wilkinson), accused of negligent homicide because Emily Rose died shortly after the priest’s failed ‘exorcism’. What I liked best about the film is that it lets you make up your own mind as to whether Emily was possessed by demons, or rather suffered from ‘psychotic epilepsy’. Emily's story is told in evidence as flashbacks and it is mostly in these moments that the scares come, but be warned there are some good ones!

Emily Rose has already gone down well in the US where it posted the third-biggest September box office opening ever of over $30million. I dare you to go and see her yourself, but remember as Father Moore tells his agnostic attorney, “Demons exist whether you believe in them or not.”

Darkmatt Rating: öööö (The power of Christ compels you - to see this film!!)

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"It was not wise to piss Emily off at 'that' time of the month"

Invited to meet the GEISHA (Ziyi Zhang)

"stunning"

Geisha Feeling

I normally don't get to see my post before I go to work, and so it is that sometimes I have cool things waiting for me when I get back from a hard day making the world a better place through the arcane practice of PR...

Obviously much that arrives is the usual rubbish - do you want a new credit card / insurance / wife etc... but every now and then there is a nugget of smile inducing loveliness to find. Today I got an invite to meet the stunning Ziyi Zhang, star of House of Flying Daggers (first film I bought on PSP UMD) - read my review here: review house of flying daggers and the soon to be released Memoirs of a Geisha...


"Um Matt, my dress is falling off... can you give me hand?"

Yes it will mean tough day of watching the new film, then eating lunch at a cool hotel before meeting the gorgeous Zhang... It's not so much a 'yes/no' question as a 'hell yes!'

"Ziyi slips into something more comfortable... I'm just out of shot to the right - see the look she's giving me... Obviously impressed by my ripped 6pack, toned muscles and black hotpants..."

So Tuesday looks like being a 'better than average' day - topped off in the evening when I'll be taking my eldest son Luke 'Skywalker' Adcock to the multimedia London showing of The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe...

Reviews of other films and stuff you might want to read indexed here

Film Review: Kiss Kiss Bang Bang

"Oh man... if you think she looks cute here - scroll down to the shot of her in her Santa outfit!!"

Kiss Kiss Bang Bang
Dir. Shane Black

Reviewed by Matt Adcock

Shane Black I could just Kiss Kiss Bang Bang you for making this film… I have been a devout disciple of your work (writing credits at least) since your excellent 1987 Lethal Weapon… way to start a whole movie genre of tasty violence laced with buddy comedy… and even though the Lethal Weapons became rather less lethal and less funny as they progressed they did deliver a fairly consistent bang for the buck (and I don’t care what you say…Patsy Kensit’s topless / death in Pt 2 is still a classic movie scene). And you bestowed the rather cool The Long Kiss Goodnight and the absolutely geektasticly Bruciesome The Last Boy Scout – one of my all time favs…

So now you’ve finally stepped up and made your directorial debut and I’ll be gutted with a rusty chainsaw in some backwoods cabin if it isn’t an absolute cracker - a home run… What can I say – top stuff!!

Robert Downey Jr is back on the cool fast track thanks to his Harry Lockhart – hero / narrator and his genuine chemistry with co-star Val Kilmer is just great to behold (and I usually hate Kilmer with a vengeance). But most of the kudos has to go to the stunning Michelle Monaghan, ouch, she’s so hot in this film it shouldn’t be allowed…

"Happy Christmas... virtually guaranteed wearing that!!"

So if you have even a passing interest in action, comedy or just excitingly fun thrillers - KKBB should certainly be a film you see sooner rather than later!!

Darkmatt Rating: ööööö (a dead cert for my top ten films of the year)

Read what my new pal Tom thought of it here: kiss-me-no-wait-shoot-me

"Bambi on the rampage... just one of the many visual gags in Kiss Kiss Bang Bang"

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Burnout Legends meets Philippians 4

Fix your thoughts on what is true and honorable and right.
Think about things that are pure and lovely and admirable.
Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise...

Philippians 4v8

You know - this verse of scripture makes me wonder in no small part whether the Apostle Paul had secretly gotten hold of a PSP and copy of Burnout Legends from the future as a 'thanks for all your hard work' from the Lord...

It certainly fits even if it he may have gone on to say: 'and then put your opponent into the wall as you take the lead in your tricked out car'.

If you have a PSP and haven't bought Burnout Legends yet... this is the sign you've been waiting for - do it!!!!

Film Review: The Constant Gardener

The Constant Gardener (15)
Dir. Fernando Meirelles

Reviewed by Matt Adcock


Every once in a while you come across a film that stops you in your tracks, grips you from start to finish and leaves you thinking about the world in a completely different way. No, that film is not Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - which is a fun slab of dark flavoured magical nonsense at best, I’m talking about The Constant Gardener.
Based on the best-selling John le Carré novel and from the Academy Award-nominated director of City of God. This is quality filmmaking that exceeds expectations with stunning cinematography, classy acting and nicely paranoia inducing plot.

In a remote area of Northern Kenya, do gooding activist Tessa Quayle (Rachel Weisz) is found brutally murdered. A doctor who was travelling with her – and may have been her lover - appears to have fled the scene, and the evidence points to a crime of passion. Members of the British High Commission in Nairobi assume that Tessa's widower, mild-mannered Justin Quayle (Ralph Fiennes), will leave the matter to them. Unfortunately they hadn’t banked on his desire to find the truth behind his wife’s murder and in doing so he uncovers a deadly global conspiracy. Basically, in case you haven’t been keeping up on current events – it seems that big pharmaceutical companies are right up there with the arms dealers when it comes to king sized scumbags and regard for human life. A measure of just how moving the plight of the people featured in this film is, when the film was completed, the filmmakers set up The Constant Gardener Trust to help the inhabitants of the slums near Nairobi where the crew had been filming. I can honestly say that if you have even an ounce of humanity knocking around in your heart you too will be deeply affected.
Rachel Weisz and Ralph Fiennes, both bring a wonderful essence of realism to their roles and their on screen chemistry has a sizzle not often found in such high brow fare.
If you like your thrillers chock full of slow burning tension, insidious bad guys who will stop at nothing to keep the truth hidden and even the occasional eyebrow raising saucy scene then you’ll be wanting to book an appointment with The Constant Gardener at your earliest convenience. Otherwise you could follow the crowds and catch young Mr Potter as he packs in as many punters as possible before the box office festive double whammy of Narnia and King Kong hit next month.

Darkmatt Rating: öööö (pure class - a 'must see' film)

"stunning photography - of the stunning Rachel Weisz"

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Narnia... will rule the box office this winter?

The Chronicles of Narnia - The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe

Preview anticipation...

Got my lavish quality and completely over the top sliding Narnia press screening invite today, and man if the marketing is any indication of how much attention to detail the film has undergone then the so called 'box office battle of the big 3" this winter is already over...

There is much speculation out there as to which will gross the most from Harry Potter 4, King Kong and Narnia... All 3 have massive fan bases and whilst HP was good, it's still not a "classic" in my opinion. Kong is looking very tasty in a "we're going to make Jurassic Park look like a whiny little bitch" way and maybe it's my born again Christian in me speaking but something inside is telling me that Narnia might just have what it takes to come out on top.

Whatever happens, it's the cinema going public that benefit from 3 great films...

It will be fascinating to see how this all pans out!!

Reviews of other films and stuff you might want to read indexed here

Harry Potter: Goblet of Fire REVIEW

Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire (12a)
Dir. Mike Newell

Reviewed by Matt Adcock

“Dark and difficult times lie ahead, Harry.” These are the words of warning that Hogwarts Headmaster Albus Dumbledore gives Harry in his fourth film outing. But ‘dark and disturbing’ would be an apt descriptor for The Goblet of Fire, because here more than in any of the previous three, the powers of darkness are gaining strength and closing in on young Mr Potter and they mean to finish him.

New Potter director Mike ‘Four Weddings and a Funeral’ Newell embraces the more mature tone of Goblet of Fire with aplomb, traditional light relief like Harry’s adoptive family, the bumbling Dursleys, have been ejected so that the levels of tension and lurking dread can be ramped up. For me this is where the Harry Potter films change from spooky children’s fiction to supernatural adult fiction based in a children’s world. It's by far the darkest one yet, stepping into real horror territory at points, with a sustained sense of menace and a gruesome climatic graveyard scene certainly worthy of its 12a certificate.

Goblet of Fire might not be suitable for many children but it is epic in scale and gorgeous in its use of special effects – a rooftop dragon chase is a superb heart in the mouth experience, the mer-people below the black lake are nicely freaky. Dark Lord Voldemort (a deliciously nasty turn by a disfigured Ralph Fiennes) is on the fast track to becoming a baddie of Darth Vader proportions.

It’s not all ugly though, Hermione (Emma Watson) turns out to be a real hottie in her Yule Ball gown, and new girl Fleur Delacour (French actress Clémence Poésy) is sure to generate a host of teen male admirers... (see above)

Harry (Daniel Radcliffe) and Ron (Rupert Grint) play their well-worn parts with conviction and a nice sense of teenage awkwardness. And the adults are generally good too, even if it does feel that some of them such as Alan Rickman’s ‘Snape’ are short changed by only getting a few minutes screen time.

Harry’s fourth year sees him taking part in the legendary ‘Triwizard Tournament’ a contest to find the greatest magical student. But behind the scenes there is a plot to kill Harry and bring Lord Voldemort back to power. Who can Harry trust? Will he triumph over the forces of evil arranged against him? And most importantly, will he manage to get a date to the ball?

There’s only one way to find out…

Darkmatt Rating: öööö (Fans will love it, OK, most people will love it)

Goblet of Fire photos

My first Reaction to the film

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Genius Artwork: Banksy

"love this - it's pure quality by Banksy"

A Kindred Spirit

Have been admiring the 'work' of celebrated graffiti artist 'Banksy' for some time and after stumbling upon his website tonight I though I'd share a link to it so that you too can see the genius stuff he's been doing. Be sure to read his press cutting section where stunts like his 'putting a stuffed rat in a glass box on the wall at the Natural History Museum' and it not being taken down for several hours are detailed in papers like The Guardian...

http://www.banksy.co.uk/


"click this to see it properly then tell me this is the best thing you've seen today?"

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Game Review: Fired Up PSP

PSP: Fired Up

Reviewed by Matt Adcock

Die scum, die die die… Arrgghhh – eat my shiny guided missile dirtbag… Aha hah ha like that did you? Liked that machine gun in the head as I pushed your humvee into a ditch? Well there’s plenty more where that came from…

Oh Hi, sorry about that, - just been playing FIRED UP on the sexy little PSP. Is Fired Up any good? In a word ‘yes’ if what you’re looking for is a shallow blast em up with cool graphics and tons of playability.

It might not have the depth of GTA: Liberty City Stories or the sheer replayability of Lumines but if you have an itching to take on your friends in vehicle combat free for all, this could be you game of choice.

The single player is fun but gets repetitive quickly, the multiplayer is great fun too. If you see this discounted over the Christmas holidays then pick it up, otherwise definitely worth renting for few days – by which time you’ll either need to have it on your shelf or will have been gratified enough by it’s immediate pick up and blow the crap out of everything gameplay.

Darkmatt Rating: ööö (Fun blowing stuff up - great multiplayer!)

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"Fired up - about as sexy as Holly Valance"

Harry Potter: Goblet of Fire Review in 5 days...

Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire...

My review is now live!!........... harry-potter-goblet-of-fire-review

Here are some cool photos from the film!!


"Harry tries out a lightsabre but finds that he's no Jedi"


"altogether now... he's behind you!"


"foreigners eh? come over here and steal our women..."

Click here for my first reaction to goblet of fire

King Kong... great new photos!!

"I say, do you come here often?"

These cool shots and many more can be found over at: cinemablend.com


"KONG in full effect!!"

Yes, I'm excited about this film!!

Grand Theft Auto PSP: Liberty City Stories

"Within minutes of loading up GTA: LCS you'll be flying high!!"

Grand Theft Auto PSP: Liberty City Stories

Reviewed by Matt Adcock

My review copy of Grand Theft Auto:Liberty City Stories for the PSP arrived today and I am now in a state of shock...

LCS on the PSP is just amazing, it really is a new GTA game even though it's based on the mean streets so well known to anyone who has played GTA III. The controls, the graphics, the sense of fun / violence / freedom are all back in abundance!! This is stress relief on an unprecedented scale... And wireless multiplayer (open city deathmatch, tank 'king of the hill' and capture the limo are all excellent) pure things of beauty that I can't adequately describe in words - I urge you to check out the official site here: Rockstargames

This is the killer game that the PSP has been longing for and it exceeds expectations across the board. I'm only a couple of hours in to the new plot but as those fat guzzling McDonald types would say "It's what I eat and what I do", erm, I mean "I'm lovin it!"

I'll post an update once I've played this through for a week or so but for now there's only one score I can give this...

Darkmatt Rating: ööööö (THIS IS HAND-HELD PERFECTION and you owe it to yourself to buy it!!)

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"Liberty City Stories - even sexier than the lovely miss Ellis"

As the good people over at Kikizo.com say:
"Liberty City Stories is the next instalment in the Grand Theft Auto series, just as Rockstar has been saying all along. The initial familiarity with the city itself could be divisive of players' opinions... but the decision becomes obvious once multiplayer games get going. The singleplayer mission may well just be a 'greatest hits' of past GTAs... this is still GTA people, come on. The multiplayer hi-jinks make this an essential purchase... and just in time for Christmas too, who'd have thunk... "

BBC Radio 1 links to Darkmatters...

God bless Radio One... They obviously know quality film reviews when they see them because no sooner had my last review gone online when I started getting hits linked over from the BBC Radio One Newsbeat page...

And there blinking away in their 'News from the web' section was a link across to my humble blog - so a big "hello" if you just came by via Radio One!!

And if you don't know what BBC Radio One is - here's link to follow: bbc.co.uk/radio1/news/entertainment

Film Review: Saw 2

Saw II (18)
Dir. Darren Lynn Bousman

Reviewed by Matt Adcock


As the tagline goes… “Oh Yes, There Will Be Blood” and Saw 2 certainly delivers on this gruesome promise. If you’ve seen the innovatively sick SAW then you’ll know what to expect: Sicko genius ‘Jigsaw’ is back doing what he does best – setting live pawns in games which the most likely outcome will be their horrific demise…

I was worried the Saw 2 would be a cheap and nasty cash in sequel that didn’t add anything to the first film but came away having been impressed by this grungy follow up. There are some great references – everything to throw away lines like ‘up this street it’s the Last House On The Left’ to a passable twist in the tale.

Donnie Wahlberg does OK as the cop who is personally drawn into one of Jigsaw’s games and Shawnee Smith is hot as the main female character. But Tobin Bell walks away with this film as Jigsaw himself in a spellbinding turn that reeks a tragic mixture of complete nutjob and tortured genius.

The moral of the story is that if you don’t appreciate your life, one day you might have it taken from you and although it’s a stretch, it is this kind of moralising that kept my interest (and I don’t think there will be many other Christians out there telling you that this is a decent film).

Saw 2 is a premium choice for anyone looking for a twisted tale in the vein of Se7en or SAW. It might not be a classic but it earns a blood soaked place in the hall of respected horror films – just be sure you have a high grimness tolerance or you’ll might not make it to the satisfying ending…

Darkmatt Rating: ööö (grim fun for all the family- if your family is seriously screwed up...)

Reviews of other films and stuff you might want to read indexed here

"You know - with 'assets' like that I think you'll live longer than I will"

New Feature: Other film sites / blogs of note

"Darkmatt, we have contact"

Film Blogs and Beyond...

One of the coolest things about having a film review blog is that it attracts contact from other film nuts from across the planet...

And in the spirit of blogging - posting links to stuff that you think other people might like to check out - I'll be uploading links to a selection of film related blogs and websites which I like:

First up is 'The Silent Bob Shrine' - click here to go visit the shrine for yourself...
http://silentbobshrine.blogspot.com/

This is the first what might be a regular linkage post thing, if you know of a tasty film blog or site that I should check out then let me know!!