Rocky Balboa - review

Rocky Balboa (12a)
Dir. Sylvester Stallone

Reviewed by Matt Adcock

Just when you thought it was over, that the mighty ‘Italian Stallion’ had limped off the world stage with the inglorious beating that was ‘Rocky V: What the Hell was I Thinking’ more than fifteen years ago.
But some legends live on and there have been rumours of a return. Surely at 60 there can be no fight left in the once legendary world champion? But what if there was? Could it be possible that given one last shot at glory he could rise to the challenge? Wouldn’t it be something to behold if just for one last time he could prove that those born with a warrior’s heart will always step up and face their destiny? And what a way to go!! Wouldn’t you rather go out on a high – doing what you love, even if it cost you your life? No-one wants to face the long slow fading away in obscurity alone, bitter and full of ‘what ifs’?
Stallone, as the writer, director and star of this ‘one last gasp’ tale of everyone’s favourite pugilist chooses the path of ‘final shot at glory’ – which is just as well really. Rocky says at one point: “Let me tell you something you already know. The world ain't all sunshine and rainbows. It is a very mean and nasty place and it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life!”
The Rocky film franchise really ran itself into the ground with part V and I was skeptical that this one could turn it around. But POW – here’s a solid uppercut to the nostalgia centre of brain through the use of emotional flash backs. BOOM – that’s got to hurt - a right hook to the cynical thought that this was just a desperate cash in and CRUNCH – a knockout blow is seeing the old timer training for his showdown with fate in a homage to the first film complete with original music… The film critic in me is out for the count...
I’m delighted to report that for anyone who’s ever enjoyed a Rocky film, this one is a reverent finale that does what you want it to do in about as honourable a fashion as possible.
Rocky might tell his son that “The only kind of respect that matters is self-respect” – but with this fine farewell Rocky Balboa has re-earned my respect too.

Prepare to cheer for one last time…

Darkmatters rating system (out of 5):

Action ööö - lots of build up and a good payoff finale

Laughs öö – add more stars if you find his accent funny

Horror ö – nothing very grim (unless you get freaked by veins)

Babes ö – never been a Rocky strong point

Overall ööö1/2 (the eye of the tiger, the heart of a lion, the plot of a monkey)

"it ain't over till it's over... but now it is over - until Dawn of the Zombie Balboa"

Darkmatters: H O M E

11:14 - review

11:14 (15)
Dir. Greg Marcks

Reviewed by Matt Adcock

11:14 is a bad time of night… 46 minutes to midnight, things can get a bit out of hand, people may do things that they will regret in the morning, innocence, reputations and even lives will be lost. It’s going to get nasty, but it’s great fun to watch!!
We’re getting reports of a crime outbreak occurring around a small radius on the outskirts of town. There’s been a hit and run fatality, an unidentified corpse has been found in a drink drivers’ trunk, somebody has been throwing various objects (burning books, hamburgers, other food products and intimate body parts) out of a moving vehicle and it seems that some guy’s been spotted holding up a convenience store. But perhaps more importantly, who’s that promiscuous honey in the short skirt? How come she’s seeing 3 different guys and at least two of them believe she’s pregnant? What won’t they do to try to get her cash in order to take care of it? What happened to those punks in that camper van? How the hell did one of their penises end up severed - lying on the tarmac? Damn, that’s got to hurt…
11:14 is an interlocking singularity of live changing events, each linked somehow and all based on the time of the title. It’s a delicious puzzle, played out from various points of view – it’s a film that you’ll want to watch twice, just to revel in how cleverly the film makers mess with your head (think Donnie Darko meets Memento)!? It’s stylish stuff and benefits from a stellar cast including the seriously cute Rachel Leigh Cook – who really goes for it as the teen vamp, looking all like butter wouldn’t melt on her hypnotically curvy breasts until she goes and literally screws a guy to death!? Patrick Swayze has fun as her disapproving dad, Hilary Swank is on hand as a store clerk who gets held up and shot and upcoming talent like Ben Foster and Colin Hanks all put in good work.
For me it felt a lot like ‘Go’ – young lives intersecting, most of them getting wrecked in the process… basically it seems that life can be unhinged by the smallest thing - at any age…

Darkmatters rating system (out of 5):

Action ööö - compelling and clever but grim

Laughs ööö – some juicy dark humour

Horror ööö – brutal in parts

Babes öööö – Rachel Leigh Cook is very hot!!

Overall öööö (11:14 - a bad time of night but a great fun film)


"Rachel Leigh Cook... central to a lot of mischief!"

Links

Drax Review

Darkmatters: H O M E

Smokin' Aces - review

Smokin’ Aces (18)
Dir. Joe Carnahan

Reviewed by Matt Adcock

Joe Carnahan is my kind of guy, he’s a director at the top of his game who delivers thrills of serious magnitude; whatever the subject matter. I loved his cool first big time feature ‘Narc’ - a tensely paranoid cop thriller and his smooth promo short ‘The Hire: Ticker’ which starred Clive Owen and was made for BMW. So it’s fair to say that it was with much anticipation and excitement that I settled down in the glamorous Screen 1 of Cineworld Luton to witness his latest output Smokin’ Aces… I emerged dazed and exhilarated – it felt like I’d been hit by a freight train of stylishly shot carnage packed with gleefully smart dialogue and off the wall comedy moments, delivered by a plethora of unforgettably madcap characters. My pal Kevin who I saw it with was grinning too, we couldn’t really find words to explain what we’d just witnessed… But we knew it had been good!
Smokin Aces is a film that serves a litmus test as to your capacity to enjoy action movies that are given licence to go wildly over the top. I can see many people just not ‘getting it’ – or being offended. I smirked when I read BBC reviewer Stella Papamichael’s description that it was a “garish carnival of drooling lunacy”, she didn’t mean it as a compliment but I think it could be taken either way!?
The plot is simple - the world’s most notorious bounty hunters and assassins are about to wage war in a race to take out Buddy "Aces" Israel, a mob informer with a million dollar price tag on his head. You don’t need to know much more than that as the joy is in watching the assembled hit people going about their business, whilst the FBI try to protect the dodgy gangster squealer. There is a top notch cast including good guys Ryan Reynolds and Ray ‘middle name is hard man’ Liotta as the two central FBI agents backing up Andy Garcia as a careworn senior operative. And then there’s the bad guys who come in all shapes and sizes from the foxy singer Alicia Keys who certainly makes an impression through to TV show regular Jason Bateman who puts in a quality turn as a seedy lawyer. The most praise however has to go to Ben Affleck (never thought I’d ever write those words) giving the best screen performance of his life - from beyond the grave no less after having been casually mown down en route to the finale.
Basically, Smokin’ Aces is a nitrous boost of 'blood, guts, bullets and octane' – good name for a movie that…

Darkmatters rating system (out of 5):

Action öööö - this is the action film you need to start the year with!!

Laughs ööö – you'll laugh

Horror öööö – yeah it's blood soaked

Babes ööö – Alica, yes please

Overall öööö (A must see for action fans - highly recommended)

"if you didn't buy her album, she be looking to put you down..."

"Quality stuff from Reynolds redeems him from Blade 3"

Links

Visit Joe Carnahan's blog here!!

Darkmatters: H O M E

Which superhero are you?

I was hoping for The Shadow (above drawn by the awesome Bill Sienkiewicz)
or maybe Batman but the machine tells me...

Your results:

You are The Flash

95%
The Flash

---

80%
Superman

---

70%
Spider-Man

---

70%
Catwoman

---

65%
Hulk

---

65%
Green Lantern

---

60%
Batman

---

55%
Supergirl

---

Fast, athletic and flirtatious...


Check out my lunchbox!?
- am a little concerned about being 55% Supergirl...

Click here to take the "Which Superhero am I?" quiz...

Darkmatters: H O M E

Straightheads - review

Straightheads (18)
Dir. Dan Reed

Reviewed by Matt Adcock

Welcome dearly beloved, as it sayeth in Deuteronomy ‘…thine eye shall not pity; but life shall go for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot...’ so must newbie director Dan Reed have read and takeneth to his heart and pondered these things.
Then Reed didst write and direct Straightheads a movie much filled with sickening physical violence, some almost engaging erotiscism, some more violence – this of a sexual nature, some ill considered comedy moments (these may yet prove to be unintentional) and a well worn ‘revenge’ plot… He did maketh this movie with the talented and rather lovely Gillian Anderson of X-Files acclaim and partner her with cool young Brit wide boy supernova Danny ‘you calling me a C888?’ Dyer. And low it make lots of movie goers quite excited at the thought of this 18 rated dark and disturbing tale of ‘normal’ people (she’s well off, he likes a bit of dope) getting in touch with their primal beast natures in order to visit vengeance of great fury upon evil redneck scumbags. Some did contemplate a ‘Straw Dogs’ for the new millennium, others looked to Straightheads being a slicker and generally not as scrappily crafted update along the lines of ‘I Spit On Your Grave’ – no one could have predicted quite what the end result would be, until now…
For low, Verve Pictures have seen the glory and are releasing Straightheads in the UK in April and thus in anticipation of that day, this is my testament having witnessed the entire 79mins as to whether the film succeeds or instead manages to sully the already pretty badly sullied name of revenge horror films…

I left the screening not quite knowing what to make of Straightheads. It is certainly a confident debut by Reed, he manages to bring a very right here, right now ambiance to the movie and if you’re a fan of Dyer or Anderson then you’ll undoubtedly enjoy at least parts of the proceedings. The initial set up – boy installs security system in rich bird’s apartment, she thinks he’s cute and asks him to accompany her to a glamorous work ‘do’ where they get saucy with each other and share some genuine feeling repartee sucks you in nicely. But you must already know this is not a standard romance and before you can ask “who’s the rapist nutter in the Land Rover?” the two lovebirds are being assaulted and beaten to a pulp and left for dead.
A chronic lack of Police competency coupled with a plot boosting coincidental crossing of paths leave the way open for a revenge of the Straightheads set up which they duly deliver… In eye watering style too – I’m guessing that it’s not every day that you see a man taking an anal enema featuring the long barrel of a sniper’s rifle complete with sight!?
The main problem with Straightheads though is that it struggles to maintain its tone, veering from grim, disturbing and bleak (which is how it should play out to do a nasty tale like this well) to badly comic (this might be either because Dan Reed is much sicker puppy than anyone suspects or that Danny Dyer just can’t help but be a bit of a laugh – which worked really well in Severance, but spoils the atmosphere here).

Overall, if you’re looking for a new Brit violence related horror, you should see this ASAP because it delivers enough grimness to satisfy. Another reason you might want to check it is because Anderson gets naked – and in style - Scully fans out there please stop drooling!!
Also if you’re following Dyer’s acting career and have enjoyed films like Football Factory, The Business and Severance – Straightheads will deliver enough of his geezer-ish charm to entertain.

For those simply looking for a coherent and thought provoking study about violence and revenge, this might not quite hit the mark because the characters are only marginally sketched out and the ‘bad guy was forced into his diabolical actions’ twist isn’t very convincing.

Reed might yet be a talent to watch but I’m pretty sure that Nick Love’s Danny Dyer starring film OUTLAW which hits UK in March will be better than this.

Here endeth the lesson...

Darkmatters rating system (out of 5):

Action ööö - delivers just about enough
Laughs ööö – more than expected, but that's not a good thing!?
Horror öööö – some scenes will make you wince!
Babes öööö – Anderson, you still so would...

Overall ööö (Not the great new hope of British horror but a decent effort)

Links:

Straighthead blog

Official Website

Another blog review (less positive)

My review of Severance (over at TheFilmAsylum)

Darkmatters: H O M E

Get ready for OUTLAW!!

"Another Danny Dyer vehicle - follow up Severance (out on DVD today)!"

My Outlaw review

My Straightheads review

Check the trailer here

Read more about it here

Also check this way cool film news site - especially if you like foreign films!

Darkmatters: H O M E

Employee of the Month - review

Employee of the Month (12a)
Dir. Greg Coolidge

Reviewed by Matt Adcock

My name is Zack, I work for Super Club – a low cost, bulk buying Costco alike emporium where buying less than 10 of anything is for wimps… It is my sworn ambition to win the heart of super hot new checkout girl Amy but she only has eyes for those elite workers, those ‘best of the best’ who rise above mere mortals to become ‘employee of the month’. This is my story, it is a tale of pain, of suffering but most of all is it a tale of slacking – because that’s what I do best.
Employee of the Month is the perfect film for anyone who has ever had to suffer a duff job. It lifts the lid on the unsavoury rivalry that competitive bonus induced reward structures can generate and most of all it puts a big smile on your face whether you want it to or not.
Made in the noble tradition of lowbrow slacker comedies (the pinnacle of which is still Clerks), Employee of the Month was much funnier than I expected. There were points when it almost even served as regression therapy – helping me deal with the psychological disorder that I’ve always attributed back to my time as a warehouse stock picker for Argos. “Arrgghhh, no please, I don’t want to go on the refund till again!!” – Hhhmm sorry about that.
Anyway, the movie sees box-boy hero Zack (Dane ’Saturday Night Live’ Cook) battling against the uber cashier Vince (Dax Shepard) for the love of sexpot Amy (Jessica Simpson). One of them will walk away ‘Employee of the Month’, get the girl and enjoy the spoils of battle, the other will be humiliated – and that’s the whole plot.
It’s deliberately offensive, with jokes about short sightedness, age, height, colour of skin and sexuality, it’s also very sexist with Simpson required to do nothing but turn up smile and jiggle her talents in various low cut tops. Despite all is it somehow manages to stay good natured enough to enjoy and is without doubt the funniest film of the year (so far) – this being only the second week of 2007.
January is often a graveyard month for films, so it is nice to have something almost worth watching land on our screens so quickly. Having said that, I’ve also a good feeling about what looks like being a stylish action packed overdose of carnage in Joe Carnahan's Smokin’ Aces- next week’s review...

Darkmatters rating system (out of 5):

Action öö - enough (never thought I'd be tense during an against the clock checkout battle)
Laughs ööö – more than expected
Horror öö – risk of duff job 'flashbacks'
Babes ööö – Simpson is a blonde hottie

Overall ööö (no classic but half decent fun)


"Simpson trying to remember her lines for Employee of the Month?"

Links:

The Guardian Review (also 3 star rating)

Moviefreak.com Review (2 out of 4 stars)

My review of Simpson's last film - The Dukes of Hazzard

My review of a slacker film you might not have seen 'Bums'

Darkmatters: H O M E

The lost films of 2006

These were films that I saw but didn't get round to reviewing in 2006 - there are some real crackers and none that ranked below a 3 star 'should check this out' rating so here are my quick thoughts on each...


A powerful London crime lord you really need to keep in with tells you that he’s looking for a young girl, she must be cute - about eleven or twelve, he wants her for a night and will pay you £500… what will you do? Welcome the nightmare world of London to Brighton a film that starts bleak: It's 3:07am, two girls burst into a run down London toilet. Joanne who is very young is crying her eyes out and her clothing is ripped. World weary hooker Kelly's face is bruised and starting to swell. Somewhere else a half dressed man lies in his bathroom bleeding to death… and this is as nice as it’s going to get...

Overall öööö (a powerhouse British double barrel shotgun blast of crime thrills to the face!)


The victim has been cut in half, all the organs removed, blood drained from the body, and the mouth sliced ear to ear. Film noir never looked so good and I was sucked right in.

Worth seeing if only for the women... Scarlett Johansson is hot, Mia Kirshner is hotter still and Hilary Swank get lines like: "I think you'd rather f**k me than kill me. But you don't have the guts to do either..."

Overall ööö1/2 (lots of people didn't like it but I thought Brian De Palma delivered a winner)


"My easy-going nature is gettin' sorely f**kin' tested."

Nathan 'Firefly' Fillion is a genius actor and he gets to do some good stuff in this over the top sci-fi monster mash of a B Movie. Alas as a film it just didn't quite hold together but still I'd say you should check it if a fan of nerdcore sci-fi!

Overall ööö (a near miss, nice effects - shame about the story)


"My name is Dalton Russell. Pay strict attention to what I say because I choose my words carefully and I never repeat myself. I've told you my name: that's the Who. The Where could most readily be described as a prison cell. But there's a vast difference between being stuck in a tiny cell and being in prison. The What is easy: recently I planned and set in motion events to execute the perfect bank robbery. That's also the When. As for the Why: beyond the obvious financial motivation, it's exceedingly simple... because I can. Which leaves us only with the How; and therein, as the Bard would tell us, lies the rub."

This one divided people - some loved it, others hated it, I kind of liked it a lot...

Overall ööö1/2 (You come near here I start throwing bodies out the front door)


"Now you're looking for the secret... but you won't find it because you're not really looking. You don't really want to know the secret... You want to be fooled..."

This was a slow burning masterpiece which I bought into in a big way. I've enjoyed all of Nolan's films so far and had just finished reading the similarly themed Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell. It might not be an action flick but it built up a spine tingling sense of menace that stayed with the viewer... nice one!!

Overall öööö1/2 ( I was watching closely, and you should too!)


"what happens when that lazy, 20-something malaise lasts into your 30s?"

Still slacking beyond the call of duty and blessed with some of the funniest dialogue ever e.g.:

Randal: All right look, there's only one return, okay, and it ain't "of the King," it's "of the Jedi."

Hobbit Lover: Oh, Star Wars geek.

Randal: Oh, I'm the geek? Look at you two whipping out your preciouses.

Elias: You'll have to excuse him, he's not "down" with the trilogy.

Randal: Oh, what the f**k happened to this world. There's only one trilogy you morons.

Hobbit Lover: You know what, maybe we should start calling your friend Padme, 'cause he loves Manakin Skywalker so much, right? [in robot voice]: Danger danger, my name is Anakin. My sh*tty acting is ruining saga.

Elias: [chucking] Yeah, you're crazy Jar-Jar.

Overall ööö1/2 (not up to the standard of Clerks but still very funny and as a Star Wars and LOTR fans I was torn!?)


"Its like the sixties. But with less hope."

Reviewing films isn't all 'work work work'... sometimes you get to witness the extremes of what man and his camera have to offer in the 'line of duty'. So where can you go if you're looking to see tons of real sex, gay, straight and every which way? Well, if that's what you've a hankering for then the Shortbus will take you there. It's a trip not for the faint of heart, those adverse to seeing other people's private parts close up being sucked and pleasured should run, not walk from this film... You could and many people would call it porn I guess but I think there was some sort of plot going on - and there were a few laughs e.g. this line: "These people spend all night sucking cock and eating ass, and then hit the buffet claiming they're vegan."

Overall ööö (Discretion strongly advised)

Check out my films of 2006 here

Or my Review of 2006 here

Darkmatters: H O M E

Film Review: Night at the Museum

Night at the Museum (PG)
Dir. Shawn Levy

Reviewed by Matt Adcock

At the Museum of Natural History, something unnatural is occurring… Big time.

I know it sounds far fetched but stay with me here – Shawn Levy has finally made a half decent film!?
Yes the hack director who single headedly murdered the Pink Panther remake serves up a family pleasing CGI heavy treat. Oh and only slightly less amazing is the fact that everything in the Museum featured in New York comes alive and wreaks havoc at night including a T-Rex dinosaur skeleton!
Ben Stiller stars as hapless dad Larry who is having problems holding down employment whilst juggling his child care duties and payments to his ex-wife. He gets the job of night guard at the museum which is run by strict Mr. McPhee (a superb comedy cameo from Ricky ‘The Office / Extras’ Gervais) but little does he know quite what he’s in for… You see there is an ancient Egyptian curse that grants life to every exhibit in the museum – that includes such wild and wacky characters such as Teddy Roosevelt (Robin Williams for once to be credited for playing in his usual ‘waxwork dummy come to life’ style), Attila the Hun and various creatures great and small.
Pick of the visual effects is the T-Rex which is less terrifying once you realise that it just really wants to play ‘fetch’ with one of its bones. But most fun comes thanks to feuding miniature diorama characters – the Romans Legions led by an excellent Steve Coogan as Octavius versus a whooping cowboy posse led by Jedadiah (Owen Wilson) who wake up to wage war on each other with dangerous glee.
Of course there is an unlikely love interest on hand in the shapely form of Carla ‘Sin City’ Gugino but full marks to the filmmakers for not going too far down a slushy romantic dead end. Night at the Museum is all about manic slapstick fun and it delivers in spades everything from a monkey slapping contest, stampeding wildlife – including a mammoth and a miniature remote control car chase (Wilson referencing his Dukes of Hazzard role).
It probably needs to be seen with an enthusiastic kid or two in tow for maximum enjoyment - both my boys were especially impressed with the notion of riding a T-Rex skeleton and pronounced the film as being “pretty awesome” overall. I found it mildly diverting and couldn’t find much to dislike – so if you haven’t ventured out to a museum for a while, this one should certainly be considered.

Darkmatters rating system (out of 5):
Action ööö - madcap
Laughs ööö – enough
Horror öö – a bit tense (if you're 6)
Babes ööö – Carla ‘Sin City’ Gugino is hot - see below

Overall ööö (enjoy with kids but maybe not on your own)


"Gugino in Sin City... but surely that other bloke is my mate John? see next photo..."


"paintball scars from his pre marriage stag day 2006"

Darkmatters: H O M E

Grindhouse vs Hot fuzz trailer showdown

These two are currently at the top of my MUST SEE in 2007 list...

If you've been unlucky enough not to have come across them yet - check out the posters and trailers below and let me know what you thinks... Hardcore horror action violence or hardcore comic action violence - the choice is yours!!





GRIND HOUSE TRAILER






HOT FUZZ TRAILER


Darkmatters: H O M E

Film Review: Eragon

Film reviewers are getting younger all the time – this review is by Adcock junior…

Eragon Review
By Luke Adcock (aged 9)

I saw Eragon with my dad and I thought it was brilliant. I think my favourite character was Eragon (played by Edward Speleers) because he is talented with the sword and skilful with the bow. My least favourite character was Durza (Played by Robert Carlyle) although he had some impressive magic. Eragon’s mentor ‘Brom’ (Played by Jeremy Irons) was a bit doubtful in Eragon at first because Eragon got over-confident and didn’t really trust Brom himself. The climax is a huge, deadly battle between the Varden – the good guys and the evil king Galbatorix’s (Played by John Malkovich) out-numbering evil creatures. It was really exciting and fun to watch! Another great part is when during the great battle Durza uses dark magic to create a monster made out of shadow and battles Eragon. The effects of Durza’s death were wicked with sparks flying everywhere. Saphira (Eragon’s dragon voiced by Rachel Weisz) was really cool and it looked real, the scales and everything! She was extremely fast and was very good at flying. She was another of my favourite characters and she looked good. Although Saphira looks cute as a young dragon, she grows to an immense height and length, at least two times Eragon’s height and 3 times his length. One of the main baddies is the shade, Durza, he has a dark poison in his nails that he actually uses to kill one of his own army and he poisons the beautiful Arya, (Played by Sienna Guillory) an elf and princess of Ellesméra. My 3rd favourite character is Murtagh (Played by Garrett Hedlund) because he is fantastic with the bow and the sword, including the fact that he is an overall brilliant fighter. Plus he saves Eragon’s life twice! Although he does look like a dark character with his deep black hair and black eyes, he is actually good. The enemy assassins were freaky especially the ‘Ra’zac’ because its face was crawling with beetles!
My thoughts about Eragon aren’t like many other peoples that I have read because I have only positive comments. I would definitely give Eragon four and a half out of five stars because it is a great thriller and adventure in one. Even though some people thought that it was weak or that it wasn’t that good, I completely disagree because I really enjoyed it. The Overall I think Stefen Fangmeier (The director) has done a fantastic job and I’m reading ‘Eldest’ (The 2nd book after ‘Eragon’) by Christopher Paolini at this moment. I hope they make a film of it one day!

Luke's rating: ****1/2 (out of 5)


"I'll take the one on the right please!"

Darkmatters: H O M E

Film Review: Perfume

Perfume: The Story of a Murderer (15)
Dir. Tom Tykwer

Reviewed by Matt Adcock

Here’s something worth sniffing out at a cinema this week but only if you’re hankering for a tale of freakish obsession and psychotic murder laced with moral dilemmas and copious nudity… You’ll need to be able to stomach a fiendishly macabre plot, buy into some fantastical notions of sensory manipulation and not flinch from a large scale on-screen orgy which surely pushes the edges of what a 15 rating can show?
Anyway, Tom Tykwer is the man who brings the much loved bestseller by Patrick Suskind to life and he does it with some lavish, stylish direction. The film is aided considerably by having a great cast including veterans like Alan Rickman and Dustin Hoffman but even these are put into the shade by newcomer (and if you’re reading this in Biggleswade – local
boy) Ben Whishaw. It is he that plays central character Jean-Baptiste Grenouille; a man with a unique gift / curse in that he is obsessed with the fleeting world of scent. He has the most amazing sense of smell to the point that he can detect things going on around him from the merest inhalation and it is his ever more desperate attempts to capture the soul essence or life odour of beauty itself that leads to his murderous ways.
You see unfortunately for the gorgeous targets of Grenouille’s affections, the process of capturing their scent involves them being killed, shaved and wrapped in animal fat which is then distilled. Top of the sniff crazy murderer’s target list is flame haired beauty Laura (played with mouth watering sensory vulnerability by Rachel ‘Wendy from Peter Pan’
Hurd-Wood). She is the embodiment of Grenouille’s first dangerous crush which led him to kill (a plum seller played by the equally lovely Karoline Herfurth).
In order to help condense the source material’s provocative rich textures and evocative psychological idiosyncrasies a useful voice over by John Hurt is employed. This allows the filmmakers to inject some of the fine prose from the novel into the proceedings and fill in on useful incidental details.
Perfume was once deemed ‘unfilmable’ by the late great Stanley Kubrick, yet this successful adaptation manages to deliver the thrills, chills, scents and shocks of the novel with aplomb. It’s certainly no stinker, in fact thanks to Whishaw’s powerhouse performance you can almost smell the teen spirit dripping from the screen.

Darkmatters rating system (out of 5):

Action ööö - languid but tense

Laughs öö – not many

Horror öööö – nasty in parts

Babes öööö – yes - lots of!!

Overall öööö (sensory compulsion - highly recommended!)

"he's behind you...Karoline Herfurth about to meet her end..."

Darkmatters: H O M E

Hot films for 2007

"2007 sees Spidey turn to the dark side..."


"an old friend comes to dinner... again"

Film to look out for 2007!
By Matt Adcock

2007 is looking like a sequeltastic bumper year for films – we will get to witness live action Transformers stomping over the scenery and Mr. Bean making his big screen comeback – here are some future films that you might want to look out for.

January
Mel Gibson’s Apocalypto looks intriguing whilst Will Smith is set to deliver fun and feeling in Pursuit Of Happyness…

February
Grab a nice Chianti and savour the rise of a monster (Lecter) in Hannibal Rising or prepare to witness the British film of the year from the Shaun of the Dead team comes police action comedy Hot Fuzz!

March
David Fincher's eagerly awaited crime thriller Zodiac should deliver big thrills and Frank Miller’s 300 looks set to provide large scale comic book based battle heroics on a whole new scale.

April
Sci fi oddness Sunshine from Trainspotting’s Danny Boyle has to worth a look and revenge of the normal people in Straightheads starring Gillian Anderson and Danny Dyer could be a powerful journey too.

May
Get ready for some serious blockbuster action as Spider-Man 3 swings onto screens closely followed by Johnny Depp and Keira Knightley in Pirates Of The Caribbean: At World's End – do the words ‘must see’ mean anything to you?

June
Shrek The Third is one you’ll want to check out, whilst Fantastic Four 2: The Rise Of The Silver Surfer could well be considerably more fantastic than the first one and of course has Jessica Alba returning.

July

"live free and DIE HARD!!"
More big scale action with Bruce Willis in Die Hard 4 or Live Free Or Die Hard, magical mischief is back in Harry Potter And The Order Of The Phoenix plus what might just be the animated film of the year: The Simpsons Movie comes to town.

August
Holiday monster hunting in 10,000 BC, teen detectives in Nancy Drew and a trilogy is completed with Matt Damon’s The Bourne Ultimatum.

September
Take a trip back to Sin City in the aptly titled Sin City 2 or find some higher brow drama from Atonement - Ian McEwan's wartime novel about innocence starring Keira Knightley.

October
Halloween thrills from the yet another remake – this one of Halloween itself by Rob Zombie or try Stardust a fantasy with a great cast attached including Robert De Niro.

November
American Gangster sees Ridley Scott directing Denzel Washington, whilst I Am Legend sees Will Smith faces off against vampires in a post-apocalyptic world where he's the last man alive (as you do).

December
Family animation Bee Movie looks fun – it is the tale of a young bee who has just graduated from college but is disillusioned at his lone career choice of: making honey. And let’s hope that the second National Treasure film starring Nicolas Cage and subtitled: The Book of Secrets is better than the first one!

Hopefully something for everyone…


"Matt's tip for comedy of 2007..."

Check out my films of 2006 here

Darkmatters: H O M E

Darkmatters Review of 2006

Welcome to a quick snapshot of this blogs' year...


Top 5 ‘most read blogs’ of 2006

Tom Wade twade link
Filmstalker filmstalker link
Bina 007 bina007 link
2 Minute Movie Reviews 2minreviews link
Fresh Visual freshvisual


Top 5 search terms used to find Darkmatters:

Katrina Bowden (babe!!)
see her here

Leighton Meester (another babe...) see her here

"He doesn’t look a thing like Jesus" (killers' lyric)Check them here

Slave girl Leia (Star Wars babe) see her here

Sony VA1 (techno wonder)cool stuff link


Top 5 movie scenes of 2006

Rocket launcher shoots down passing passenger jet by accident (Severance)

Holly Valance as Christie puts on her bra (DOA: Dead or Alive)


Superman saves falling aeroplane (Superman Returns)

Hockey rink shootout (Running Scared)

The Pale Man awakes (Pan’s Labyrinth)



Top 5 movie babes 2006

Keira Knightley


Leighton Meester


Holly Valance


Kate Beckinsale


Evan Rachel Wood



Top 5 books read in 2006

Haunted: Chuck Palaniuk review
Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell: Susan Clarke
Altered Carbon: Richard Morgan review
All Fun and Games Until Someone Loses an Eye: Christopher Brookmyer
The Straw Men: Michael Marshall review


Happy Christmas readers!!

Darkmatters: H O M E