Matt to meet Halle 'Storm' Berry and Hugh 'Wolverine' Jackman!!

Yep, these two Xmen are coming to London this week...

I'll be putting some questions to them and checking out the new film!!

Yes, am excited!


"Halle shows that she's not going commando"

Darkmatters: H O M E

Film Review: When A Stranger Calls

"Phoning the Samaritans is more fun!"

When A Stranger Calls (15)
Dir. Simon West

Reviewed by Matt Adcock

Alas this was not as I first thought a good-natured warning documentary about the dangers of unannounced cold callers selling cleaning products or wanting to talk to you about the afterlife. Oh no this is a flashy and completely vapid remake of the much better ‘babysitter terrorised by crank calling maniac’ from the ‘70s of the same name.
Simon ‘Tomb Raider’ West directs and I don’t care if he was born just down the road in Letchworth, he proves here once again that he can’t deliver a film really worthy of anyone’s time or the obvious money poured into it.
Now I might be going out on a limb, but if you choose to see a horror film, I don’t think it’s too much ask that it at least tries to be scary and / or a bit grim. When A Stranger Calls fails on both counts – even the immortal line when the police tell the babysitter: "we've just traced the call...its coming from inside the house!" brought a resigned ‘Hhmmpphh’ from the audience rather than any yelps of terror. As for grimness, the Stranger starts out promisingly by having previously torn a babysitter and her charges apart with his bare hands. But when he’s finally used up all his prepaid credit on crank calls and has to turn up and do his menacing in person, he is absolutely pathetic. In fact I kind of felt a bit sorry for him (played by Tommy ‘Sin City’ Flanagan – see now you know his name he’s not even so much of a stranger anyway) as his master plan to add another babysitter to his list of kills is thwarted easily by such a young unarmed teenager. Ah well, at least you can play the semi fun game of ‘which minor character will get killed?’ but even this is painfully obvious – see that bitchy blonde friend with ‘kill me’ on her back? Want to hazard a guess yet?
OK so Camilla ‘Jurassic Park 2’ Belle is cute as the babysitter who attracts the stranger’s twisted attentions but she has very little to do except creep nervously along shadowy corridors, occasionally answer the phone and look worried.
Yes the visuals are reasonably slick but they can’t redeem this terminally boring waste of time. You know kids your parents were right when they told you "Just say ‘no’ to strangers"…

Darkmatters rating system (out of 5):

Action ö - weak and surprisingly dull
Laughs öö - I do find crank calls funny
Horror öö - way below minimum required for a 'horror film'
Babes ööö - Camilla Belle is pretty cute

Overall öö


"Hey, this is the women's showers..."

Darkmatters: H O M E

New Sony VA1 Desktop... It will soon be mine!!

"say what you like about Apple Macs being sexy... I'm still choosing SONY"

My old (well 3year+) Advent PC is starting to play up so the good Lord told that it's time to go out and buy a new home desktop... And look at this little baby that Sony have thoughtfully just brought out... I was SOLD even before reading it was Blu-Ray compatible!

Here's the blurb:
The amazingly versatile Sony VGC-VA1 combines a PC, Hifi, Television and DVD player into one sleek and unique space saving design.
It features a powerful Intel Pentium D 820 2.8GHz processor, 1024MB RAM and a generous 250GB hard drive for all your music and photos. You can also watch and burn DVDs and CDs with the front loading double layer DVD±RW drive.

The 20 inch widescreen LCD display features X-Black screen technology for wonderfully bright and crisp images. You'll have access to all free to air channels via the digital TV tuner and you can record up to 4 hours worth of programmes to DVD. It sounds great too with built-in surround sound speakers and a dynamics woofer.

This digital wonder arrives with a remote control, a wireless keyboard and mouse as well as a comprehensive software package.

Thank you Jesus...

Darkmatters: H O M E

Film Review: Three

"It's more the spear than the look actually"

Three (15)
Dir. Stewart Raffill

Reviewed by Matt Adcock

Let's count the reasons to go and see this film..

One,

erm two,

ah, nope there's only two - and they both belong to Kelly Brook!!

Director Stewart 'Mannequin 2: On the Move' Raffill actually does an OK job here in that instead of trying to bother with any real danger, plot or engaging dialogue - he opts for the "wow - just look at Kelly Brook in a bikini will you!!" school of film making... And it's quite effective, topped only by the "oh man, now she's naked!" moments...

That's about it really - you decide if this is what you want to see or not...

Here are some shots of miss Brook to aid you:


"The new paint on ipod proved popular and looked great..."


"Mmmmm she's all there..."

Darkmatters: H O M E

PS3 With New Dual Shock Controller

"Diane... I've seen the future and it's PS3 shaped!"

OK - so I'm over excited... PS3, November, must get a grip...

Sony wise up and stick wireless-ness and motion sensing technology into the Dual Shock (see below) - a good move as it's still the best controller out there!


"Kikizo show it off - look closely at that 'new' controller"


"This is PS3 gaming... yes please!"


"Tiger Woods PS3... he's smiling cos he knows it's the best he's ever looked in game form"


"DO NOT UNDERESTIMATE THE POWER OF PLAYSTATION>>>"

Darkmatters: H O M E

Warning Cloud 9 Heatwave Approaching

"Beach volleyball just got hotter... but wasn't it always quite hot?"

This is a warning to the good people of the UK - be careful when you're renting your next DVD as it might soon be Cloud 9 which has been out for a while in the U.S. and contains not only Burt Reynolds but also scenes like this:


"As in the classic speech in Police Academy... I think this slide speaks for itself!"

There you are... warning almost over!?

That cute woman sporting the 'all pink athletic gear'?
That's Marne Patterson... She's 26, just in case you were wondering...

Darkmatters: H O M E

Film Review Mission: Impossible III

Mission: Impossible III (12a)
Dir. JJ Abrams

Reviewed by Matt Adcock

Predictably, your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to have your pleasure senses slickly beaten into submission by 2006’s first real heavy-duty action blockbuster.
And I do mean ‘beaten’ because you’ll be reeling as M:I III delivers its payload of top quality action, vertigo inducing stunts and palm sweating suspense over and above the call of duty. Director JJ ‘Lost and Alias’ Abrams proves he can do serious business on the big screen, Tom Cruise carries off his macho duties effortlessly and Philip Seymour Hoffman plays the slimiest, nastiest bad guy to grace the screen in some time.
Foxy babes are on hand too in the shapely forms of Michelle ‘Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang’ Monaghan as Tom’s cute wife / obvious kidnap target and Keri Russell as fellow agent codename ‘Blonde Bit’.
Best of all for me though was a killer performance by home grown funnyman Simon ‘Shaun of the Dead’ Pegg as Benji Dunn - a kind of Q-style computer boffin who saves Tom’s ass – give that man a supporting actor Oscar!! I loved him in Channel 4’s Spaced and absolutely can’t wait to see next year’s Hot Fuzz police comedy.
Anyway, Mission Impossible III manages to pack just enough plot around the outstanding action sequences (if you’re not thrilled by the missile and helicopter attack on a bridge you should check yourself for a pulse) to keep you guessing. I won’t spoil it for you but needless to say that Cruise’s mission does indeed look highly erm, impossible.
What more do you need to know? If you don’t like action films then there’s a tiny chance that you won’t enjoy this, but even then it’s entirely possible that M:I III will convert you.
One of the friends I saw this with told me afterwards that I shouted ‘whoa that’s cool’ at least five times – that’s five times more than in most films. M:I III really does blow away the first two M:I films and should definitely be on you ‘must see’ list, in fact it’s so good that almost made up for my guttedness at Spurs’ failure to hang on to 4th place in the Premiership…
Anyway, this review will self destruct in about 2 years or so when M:I IV will possibly set an even more impressive entry into the series!?…but it’s going to be an almost impossible mission to top this one!

New rating system (out of 5):

Action ööööö - some of the best ever
Laughs ööö - a few quality moments thanks mostly to Simon Pegg
Horror öö1/2 - fairly brutal beatings for a 12a
Babes ööö - you'd want to be given resuscitation from M Monaghan!

Overall öööö


"Who's laughing now IceMan? Ha ha ha ha ha, oh sorry wrong film"

miiission impossible 3 photos and trailer

Darkmatters: H O M E

Family Guy on the PSP!!

"Devon Aoki wears a snake to celebrate the fact that Family Guy is coming to consoles"

Family Guy Game

Just as I sit down to watch Family Guy Season 4 on DVD, I read news that it is also being made into a game - an action title for Xbox, PS2 and PSP.

As Games Radar say: "Developed by High Voltage, the game features three of the show's cast as playable characters, each with their own story and objectives. Gamers will be able to control fat necked father Peter Griffin as he attempts to stop Mr Belvedere (an '80s sitcom character) from taking over the world; as baby Stewie, battling his equally evil brother Bertram; and as the canine Brian trying to escape imprisonment. From the screenshots provided the game seems to share the same crisp animation and scattergun cultural references as the show, but we'll have to wait to see if it works as a game."

Here's a screenshot, fingers crossed that they do this well...

"Die die die, kill kill... have a little nap. World conquest Baby Stewie style!"

Click to see more Devon Aoki in DOA Dead or Alive Movie

Darkmatters: H O ME

Calvin and Hobbes - best ever comic strip!!

"Calvin and Hobbes just sum up life... explore it!! It's waiting!"

Impossible but Wonderful

I love being a dad, it's hard to put into words the delight, pure joy and absolute adrenalin buzz that having a strong father / son relationship brings. I guess I was lucky, I had a great father who would always make time for me and now, years after he has died it's some of those little things that we used to do - that stick in my mind...

I love my two sons, they are everything that is good in life and I want to be an amazing dad, so that I can help them grow into the men that they are destined to be - knowing that their dad loves 'em and will always have their backs.

And this links to Calvin and Hobbes how? you ask...

Well my eldest son Luke (Skywalker) Adcock has got good taste in comic strips and has really gotten into Calvin and Hobbes. Tonight we read some of my favourite ones (Stupendous Man -see below, Snow Sculptures etc etc) and one of the greatest things about C&H is that it covers so many poignant seasons of life...

"absolute genius - click it to read it bigger"

But our C&H collection of paperback books is beginning to fall apart from repeated reads... And surfin the net to see what 'long lasting' Calvin and Hobbes books are available I found these:

"thou shalt not covert thy neighbour's COMPLETE CALVIN AND HOBBES... but it yourself!"

Wow... that'll hit the spot - over 1,400 pages, every C&H comic strip ever published... Colour too, oh yes, there is a God!!

Read lots of Calvin and Hobbes here: http://www.rabittooth.com/calvin.htm

Darkmatters: H O ME

Matt Brings Eternal Sunshine To His Wife...

What scenes appear where'er I turn my view? The dear ideas, where I fly, pursue, Rise in the grove, before the altar rise, Stain all my soul, and wanton in my eyes.

How happy is the blameless vestal's lot! The world forgetting, by the world forgot. Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind! Each pray'r accepted, and each wish resign'd...

To dream once more I close my willing eyes; Ye soft illusions, dear deceits, arise!

Selected exerts from Alexander Pope’s Eloisa to Abelard

"cheap B&B's in Skegness are liable to disappear in the night!"

Watched Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind snuggled up with my lovely wife last night... It was her first time, and I'm glad to say that she loved it!!

Great film - and best Kirsten Dunst scene ever (you know the one)...

Read the whole poem here: http://quotations.about.com/b/a/080763.htm

Matt Does The London Anime All Nighter

The prophecy spoke of 5 men who would rise to unique and dubious challenge:
Matt, Matt, Mike, Alan and Dan were their names… (The names have not been changed to protect the innocent).
This is the tale of that fateful night – 29 April 2006 – things have not been the same since…

London – Anime ‘all nighter’ of Sci Fi London 5
Reviewed by Matt Adcock

The venue:

"8 hours - 4 films - more Sci Fi geeks than you could possibly imagine"

Apart from the badly managed waiting for the first film to roll, this was a cool night. We met up with a panicked Landsman (first to arrive) who was beginning to think we’d stitched him up by abandoning him to a nerdfest of epic proportions – everywhere you looked a living embodiment of ‘Comic Book Guy’ from The Simpsons was discussing the finer points of Deep Space 9 or Jedi Religious coding… and the gentle ‘hum’ of large man body odour stalked the corridors.

Other bonus things were that newly released Rogue Trooper was freeplaying on the PS2’s and Xboxs, freebie DVDs, posters, copies of 2000AD and other assorted sci fi ness were dispensed – then it began after a fun heckling session. Where the director of the festival proudly told us that he’d secured the Japanese print of FFVII – not the badly dubbed U.S. version. To which Mike shouted out “but I can’t read!!” – it set the tone nicely!

First up was…


GHOST IN THE SHELL 2: INNOCENCE
(Japan 2004, Dir: Mamoru Oshii, 100mins, Colour)

A classic sequel to a classic film. Innocence is a film of extraordinary beauty, a hauntingly meditative reflection on the nature of humanity and the artificial.
This was a crowd pleaser even if it did take a bit of following…

When machines learn to feel, who decides what is human?
In the stunning opening sequence of Mamoru Oshi's follow-up to his acclaimed anime Ghost in the Shell, we fly over a glowing, futuristic cityscape before descending into its labyrinthine streets. Here, hero cyborg Special Agent Batou (Akio Ohtsuka) pursues a murderous gynoid (a robotic sex doll - seeing as you asked) into a narrow alleyway. In an explosive confrontation, the doll attacks him, then self-destructs - and it all looks absolutely breath takingly beautiful.
So many scenes in Ghost in the Shell 2 could be framed and hung on the wall as acclaimed works of art - I can honestly say that I've never been quite as entranced by a film's looks... ever. You really should seek this film out, if only to witness the five minute 'parade' scene' (the sequence took a year to create), and is a tapestry of ornately decorated dragons, glowering demons, giant elephants and lion dancers. Beneath this massive cutting edge CGI spectacle scurry the hand-drawn figures of human spectators, dwarfed by the parade's Byzantine grandeur. The scene is utterly otherworldly, a space that is alive and yet nearly devoid of human presence as the hailstorms of confetti blend in the shadowy, inky reflections on the windscreens and windows of cars moving through future Tokyo (now a lawless city of sun-scratching spires, complete with a gothic cathedral that appears built out of old computer parts). And don't get me started on the villain’s lair, it is a Tudor manor constructed entirely of stained glass, where people, birds, and even fire are frozen in time.
Many films have looked at the increasingly blurred distinction between human, and machine. Innocence, takes this further and adds animals into the mix - a helicopter looks and sounds like a wasp, an airplane flaps its mechanical wings like a bird, and a submarine 'swims' through the deep with like a giant dolphin. Obvious references to Blade Runner and a host of sci fi specialities abound but there are also quotes from the bible, Milton, Confucius... There’s as much here to entertain your mind as your eyes. Plus some kick ass shoot-outs and a convoluted mystery… Highly recommended!
The initial free Red Bulls washed down some dodgy Nicotinamide / Ginseng tablets, things were getting a bit trippy and we were only one film in…

Darkmatt Rating: öööö1/2 (hard sci fi eye candy)

Then it all got a bit weirder as Karas screened:


"Destruction rarely looked so good... but what the hell was it all about?"

KARAS: THE PROPHECY
UK PREMIERE
(Japan/USA 2006, Dir: Keiichi Satou ,80mins, Colour)

Karas, (The Crow) is best described as Batman with a Samurai Sword or a Cyber-punk version of The Crow. Set in Tokyo, populated by both humans and ghostly beings, Karas is the city's guardian. Tokyo is thrown into disarray as a former Karas named Eko attempts to seize power. Yurine, an entity representing the will of the people, stands in Eko's way with her newly risen Karas. Essentially, the new Karas runs from place to place battling the various monsters who are out to test his skill. Character development doesn’t happen so it’s hard to tell exactly what’s going on. Some of the artistry is confusing and overloaded, possibly intentionally, but very distracting none the less.Now two Karas emerge to destroy all the demons or all humanity. Which Karas will prevail? You might not know what the hell is going on from the opening to the end but it’s still an interesting battle freakout piece of anime…
WTF? was the standard response, it felt like our brains had been removed and given a serious full colour kick in…

Darkmatt Rating: ööö

Dazed and confused were prepared for the main event… FFVII: Advent Children...

Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children
UK Big Screen Premier
(Japan 2004, Dir: Tetsuya Nomura & Takeshi Nozue, 101mins, Colour)

Copious cups of coffee helped wash down the free Purbeck’s Chilli Red Ice Cream – so wrong it’s almost right, but only as long as you follow it up with a hit of Honeycomb Hash flavour to put out the fire!
Anyway, two years after the events in "Final Fantasy VII", a disease called 'Seikon-Shoukougun', or 'Geostigma', is spreading through the planet. This disease is believed to have been caused by the body fighting off foreign material that invaded the body two years earlier, at the end of "Final Fantasy VII". Guilt-ridden and haunted by his past, ex-SOLDIER Cloud Strife has decided to live a secluded, solitary life away from his friends while maintaining "Strife's Delivery Service", whose headquarters is located in Tifa Lockheart's bar, the Seventh Heaven. Tifa's bar serves as an orphanage for children stricken with Geostigma. Here, Tifa keeps an eye on Barret's six-year-old daughter, Marlene, while Barret searches the planet for an alternative energy source to the Planet's energy, Mako. One day, Cloud receives a phone call from the former Shinra, Inc. president, Rufus, asking him for protection from a mysterious man named Kadaj. Kadaj, in the meantime, along with his brothers Loz and Yazoo, are searching for their "mother", and seem to believe that Cloud knows where to find her. Meanwhile, Vincent Valentine has been wandering the planet gathering information on Kadaj's scheme, and Cloud and his friends must come together again to fight these new enemies.

This wasn’t the “big gay leather prettyboy cockfest” that formed Mike’s initial reaction and that reflected that fact that if you haven’t played the game – you may struggle to invest in the film and as such despite it’s technical achievement… you might think it weak and choc overblown with sentiment. Mike went on to complain that FFVII “made Bambi look like a hardcore snuff movie”…And I have to admit that whilst I enjoyed it, I would have liked to have seen some CGI blood splashing over the screen at points.

Visually though FFVII: AC is the best example of what CGI can deliver to cinema that I’ve ever witnessed. In a word: AWESOME and a treat to see it on the big screen!

Darkmatt Rating: öööö

Some men simply can’t take a whole night of Manga insanity and thus it was that Dan snuck away like Judas in the garden of Gethesemane but without returning with a bunch of soldiers and crucifying us…

THE PLACE PROMISED IN OUR EARLY DAYS
or Kumo no mukô, yakusoku no basho as I like to call it...
(Japan 2004, Dir: Makoto Shinkai, 91mins, Colour)

This was the killer – dawn was breaking and we’d been caffeine-ated up to and beyond the eyeballs - Beyond the Clouds, we were in The Promised Place… But in an alternative reality, the end of World War II saw Japan split into separate states; the Union and the Alliance. Two science students, Takuya and Hiroki, spend their time building a jet that will take them to a mysterious tower that appeared on an island on the Union side of the border. The story focuses on three children with a dream, Sayuri, Takuya, and Hiroki, of flying to a huge tower on the horizon with a mysterious purpose not disclosed to the general public.
Did you get that? A massive, mysterious tower… Going right into the sky!!
Reactions were generally positive to this one even though to quote Mike “it wasn’t the violent action and f**kfest” he was hoping for… as mentioned Dan had left before this one but he did text me that he was regretting that choice because it was raining and the tubes weren’t running yet… That just shows that you have to be hard core if want the reward… or something?
Final Red Bulls were being downed now, Mike was on hand to spray any of us who began to fade into unconsciousness with his nifty but shocking ‘cold water spray’ – man that really perked you up!!

Darkmatt Rating: öö1/2

Finally after 8 hours of brain frying visuals we emerged blinking into the Sunday morning London drizzle. Mike went on his way back south and Alan n Matt n I took in an impromptu McBreakfast once we’d made it back to that sunny place we like to call Hitchin….

So it was over but yet it will live in the memory until next year!?

Peace out

M

Darkmatters: H O ME

Casino Royale Poster and Trailer

"meaner and moodier... I like it!"

Bond is shooting his stuff all over the internet (Filmstalker.co.uk)- check the poster above and shots of DC below.

Also if you fancy seeing the new bond trailer - you can here: joblo.com


"you have the right to remain silent... forever"


"They say 'size doesn't matter' but I think it does!!"

Darkmatters: H O ME

Film Review: 16 Blocks

16 Blocks (12a)
Dir. Richard Donner

Reviewed by Matt Adcock

It’s almost 9am and man I feel rough. I look rough, I’m completely out of shape and my bum leg is playing up. Been drinking all night, just trying to kill time till I get off duty, get home to my bed and crash – welcome to my life as one NYPD’s finest.
What I don’t need right now is to escort a smart mouthed petty criminal 16 blocks so he can give evidence in court. What I really don’t need right now is to have to battle an army of thugs, assassins and their well placed contacts on the streets of Manhattan. Want to know the best part? The scumbags who are trying to kill my witness are corrupt cops, and I’m a marked man if I cross them. Now, where did I put my gun?

16 Blocks is a near real-time action thriller from Lethal Weapon creator Richard Donner. Bruce Willis is the weary loser cop hero who must protect rapper Mos Def’s fast talking witness. The odds are stacked against them making the short 16 block journey to the courthouse alive. Firstly Willis’s detective Jack Mosley is a limping grizzled, hung over waste of a police badge. Secondly he’s up against pretty much the rest of NYPD including his crooked former partner (a slimy David Morse). It’s a good set up for a couple of hours of gunfights, chases and unlikely cop / crim bonding.

Director Donner knows how to deliver the big screen goods and Willis is given licence to do what he does best – run around looking worried with a gun in the face of impossible odds. Def is good too in a modern take on Eddie Murphy’s character from 48 Hours (just not quite as funny), although he is kind of irritating and his stupid nasal voice grates after a while.

16 Blocks certainly lets you see a darker side of New York, the action takes to the roofs, alleys, basement sweatshops and dingy stairwells which I never spotted when I was over there. This fun action flick should please Willis fans and anyone looking for a lower key quality alternative to the blockbusting juggernaut of M:I:III which is on pretty much every other screen right now.

Even the overstated moralising ‘that people have the ability to transform themselves for the better’ can’t stop 16 Blocks being a smart choice of film to pick for some action distraction.

Darkmatt Rating: ööö1/2 (Donner / Willis deliver in this fun action tracker)


"RUN... Nick Nolte and Eddie Murphy want their 48 Hrs royalties!!"

Links - Bruce Willis was also good in: Hostage

Darkmatters: H O ME

SOCOM: Fireteam Bravo PSP Review

"shoot people everywhere you go!"

SOCOM U.S. Navy Seals: Fireteam Bravo PSP
Reviewed by Matt Adcock

After that unfortunate incident with the uzi 9mm and the packed commuter train, I've been ordered to seek 'blood lust therapy' and as luck would have it - SOCOM: Fireteam Bravo came out on the PSP in the UK yesterday!

So now on my way home from work, the only people I'm shooting are rogue enemies who have been deem hostile by the U.S. government - so no real change there then.

Fireteam Bravo is SOCOM on the go, it's a little rougher graphically - see below - but it delivers all you could want in terms of gameplay and is one of the best shooters on the PSP. Missions a nice and varied, a new 'lock on' system makes it all bit easier (good when you just need a quick hit - and you don't have to use it when you want to 'hunt' enemies)...

Have been merrily blowing people away now for hours and hours, this is an addictive little package and even better over the web or wireless connection - it comes with a nifty head piece into which you can scream abuse like 'see you in hell mother...' at the other human players (not advised on a packed commuter train!).

You can even link to your PS2 via USB and share stuff with SOCOM 3, which is a nice little bonus.

Darkmatt Rating: öööö (kill kill kill, then have a nice cup of tea)


"just a walk in the park"


"all guns blazing, against a helicopter gunship?"

Bonus gaming news... First screenshot of PS3 Tomb Raider:*


"Welcome back Miss Croft... looking very good if I may say so?"

Darkmatters: H O ME

*Not really!!

Keira tops FHM's Sexiest 100 Woman 2006

"proving that you need to have massive up front assets to be sexy?"

Keira Knightley is tops

Actress and all round gorgeous bit of fluff Keira Knightley has topped the UK readers of FHM's poll of the world's 100 sexiest women.

We can take Pride and not a little Prejudice in this result that proves British men have good taste...

Glamour model Keeley came second in the poll, closely followed by US actress and Tom's dream woman - Scarlett Johansson.
Also in the top 10 were Lost's Evangeline Lily, Jessica Alba and Jessica 'Daisy Duke' Simpson.
Sci Fi nerds obviously know their women as they helped get Dr Who's Billie Piper almost into the top 10 (11th place), followed by also attractive Sienna Miller.

The survey got nearly 2 million votes... And the magazine's editor Ross Brown said: "FHM's 100 sexiest women in the world is growing year by year and 2006 has seen more votes than ever. Keira Knightley truly deserves to be the winner of our 2006 poll and she's an English rose like no other."


"Keira celebrates winning the poll with a night out in Luton's Buck Wilds"


"languishing down in 60th place... spare a thought for Anna Kournikova... she's still worth it!?"

More lovely shots of Keira Knightley

Darkmatters: H O ME

X Men 3 Website Launches and New Poster

"you might not know it but I think it translates 'this is gonna kick ass!'"

So the 'Last Stand' of the X Men is getting closer and it's still looking good (although I'm still a bit worried that they might have cocked it up)... Have a look at the official site by clicking the link below - you can study your favourite mutants up close... *ahem* Shadowcat *ahem*

www.x-menthelaststand.com

Click this for more X3 artwork

Film Review: Silent Hill

Silent Hill (15)
Dir. Christophe Gans

Reviewed by Matt Adcock

Aarrrrgghhh!! It’s horrible… No, please not another horror film based on a video game! But yes, here comes Silent Hill stumbling in the stagnant, stench filled footsteps of Doom and House of The Dead, easy money for a cynical Hollywood milked from fans of the games.

But wait, what’s this? Something isn’t right; it’s just made more the $20million in its first weekend. It has a cool French director (Christophe ‘Brotherhood of the Wolf’ Gans) and a credible gorgeous actress in the lead role (Radha ‘Man on Fire’ Mitchell). Add a wonderful cinematic sense of nightmare dark, deeply foreboding atmosphere, introduce some spot on representations of the games’ creatures that defy logic and twist reason – and then stand well back because Silent Hill is a blood soaked mutant’s head and shoulders better than it has any right to be.
Does that make it a great film? No, not really. But what it does mean is that this is one creepy, skin-crawling horror film that gently manipulates you psychologically rather than opting for any jump – where did that zombie spring from type scares.

I must warn you though that if you haven’t played the Silent Hill games then there’s a good chance that you’ll not have the foggiest idea what the hell is going in after the first half an hour. That’s basically because Silent Hill is a ‘foggy hell’ where nothing is right and everything is tainted with a look and feel all its own.
The plot is that plucky mother Rose (Mitchell) is searching the cursed town of Silent Hill for her missing daughter Sharon (nicely played by young Jodelle Ferland). Sean Bean is on hand but offered little to do as Sharon’s father and Laurie Holden plays a gun totting motorcycle cop – in that most unenviable of roles as ‘heroic but ultimately expendable friend of the hero’.
The town itself looks amazing, a persistent raining white fog of ash gives it a superbly ‘other worldly feel’, I was really surprised at how good almost every frame looked. The special effects of the demonic creatures are suitably grizzly even if the levels of gore do veer wildly over the top at points – strong stomachs required…
So not a film for the faint hearted, but a slow burning nightmare that at least tries hard to do justice to the source material and might just change your mind about video game adaptations.

Darkmatt Rating: ööö (flawed but worthy - if you like you movies sick)


"Silent Hill's health service = you might want to consider going 'private'"

Earlier post about Silent Hill which includes alternative artwork and link to 10 minute preview

Darkmatters: H O ME

Ricky Gervais Rocks The Simpsons

"Glass half full kind of guy"

Homer Simpson, This Is Your Wife (Season 17 episode 15)

Wow... Tonight's Simpsons was excellent - not least because it had a class cameo by Ricky 'The Office' Gervais.

Mostly it was a ode to the joys of High Definition TV and was packed with great in jokes - one of the best I've seen for some time.

Apparently Matt Groening, creator of The Simpsons, who invited Gervais to write and star in this episode of the hit cartoon, is apparently a big fan of Gervais' BBC comedy 'Extras' and was a bit gutted when he wasn't offered a reciprocal deal... He told WENN "He didn't ask me, it would have been perfect for me because I worked as an extra when I first moved to Los Angeles."


"uncanny huh?"

Click here to read what happened when Matt Adcock met Ricky Gervais

Darkmatters: H O ME

Matt's off to Silent Hill

"Only the Dark One opens and closes the door to Silent Hill..."

We shall see - review this weekend.

In the mean time you can check out 10 mins of the film by clicking here:

http://media.putfile.com/MTV-Sneak-Peak---Silent-Hill

"Radha 'Man on Fire' Mitchell... star of Silent Hill"

Darkmatters: H O ME

Cameron Diaz models rubber dress

"some photos really don't need captions..."

Cameron Diaz update

Two things that make me very happy - fine women and rubber dresses (just ask my wife!?)

Anyway... was just looking to see what the lovely miss Diaz is up to - have yet to see 'In Her Shoes' but have been told it's worth checking out - when I stumbled over these rather fetching shots of Cameron.

Thought I'd share them with you...

Oh and in case you were wondering - before returning for Shrek the 3rd, Diaz will next be on the big screen in The Holiday, playing a woman having trouble getting a bloke... which sounds a bit far fetched but hey...


"is it just me or is it hot in here?"

Other babes you may appreciate:

Keira Knightley

Slave Girl Leia

Leighton Meester

Jennifer Garner

DOA Movie

Kari Wuhrer

Darkmatters: H O ME