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Film & TV on DVD - John Doe News & Reviews

Greetings Film Fiends and welcome to John Doe's Film Blog. 30 years of dedicated celluloid obsession has meant that I have seen a few films. Drawing attention to some of the lesser discussed gems that I love. Cult classics, obscure curios and quality genre pictures. This blogs purpose is to translate some of my passion for these films and with luck, inspire you the reader to go check em out.

Comedy - Film & TV on DVD

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My Name is Bruce – Be Warned

July 22nd 2008 00:02

Bruce Campbell gets out the BOOM-STICK!.

My Name is Bruce Poster

“Unlike most action stars I can speak…what’s the word? English!” – Bruce Campbell

Everyone’s favourite lantern jawed cult hero Bruce Campbell is famous for his part as Ash in the Evil Dead trilogy and for cameos in a multitude of other Sam Raimi’s films since. His legacy extends to summoning the spirit of the king, brilliant as retirement village Elvis in Bubba Ho-Tep and numerous other horror curios like Maniac Cop.

Sam Raimi and Bruce Campbell on Evil Dead

Now the big man himself stars in and Directs the horror comedy My Name is Bruce. The cock sure B grade legend plays himself. Buying into his own image when a small town in Oregon is invaded by “the chinese god of war, protector of the dead” he thinks he is the only man capable of smighting the beast, he is wrong!
“You need someone who can take on a heinous monster and stop it in its tracks…That would be me.” – Bruce Campbell

A comic book hero

Written by Mark Verheiden who worked on the Battlestar Galactica reimagining and co starring buddy Ted Raimi (Army of Darkness), My Name is Bruce is due for release in October in the US and on DVD in January 2009.

Bruce in make up for My Name Is.

The new trailer (below) for the film had JD trying to conjure a “she-bitch”, “just to give it some sugar”. So crack out the “boom stick” and get ready to chug some bourbon, molest some women and whip some evil oriental butt.

Monster hunting in the woods

On a side note if you are even remotely a fan of Bruce, check out his autobiography titled If Chins Could Kill: Confessions of a B Grade Movie Actor, it’s a frank and hilarious behind the scenes struggle of sub-existence within the film industry.

Dani Kelly co-stars in My Name is Bruce

Images courtesy of evildeadnews.com

My Name is Bruce Trailer

Bruce Campbell, Roger Corman, Rob Zombie and Faizon Love with Jon Favreau for Dinner for 5 – Part 1.

Bruce Campbell interviewed by Craig Ferguson

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Posted By: JohnDoe - Category: Action, Film News and Views, Comedy, Horror

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Pushing Daisies - Season 1

May 6th 2008 00:04

Pushing Daisies – Coming to DVD this September.

The cast of Pushing Daisies

Creator: Bryan Fuller
Starring: Lee Pace, Anna Friel, Jim Dale, Chi McBride, Kristin Chenoweth, Swoosie Kurtz, Ellen Greene,

Reading the Daily Orble stats today John Doe noticed that, despite not posting on a TV related topic in over 6 months he is ranked number “1” in the TV Blogs category.

This seems unfair to all the brilliant TV writers floating around the Orbtastic community. Dedicated Telephiles like Nina’s delicious TVbabble, Meggie on TVchitchat, and the newest member of the bunch Mike Wheeler at Extremecritic all deliver quality copy. So today is the start of incorporating a little more regularity with small screen contributions in order to earn the accolade.

At home in the Pie-Hole

Amongst the wave of new shows that launched pilot episodes last season the shiny sunflowered plaything of choice in this house has been Pushing Daisies.

Coming to DVD September 2008, Pushing Daisies is like a paisley Tim Burton vision that’s penned as if Edgar Allen Poe had a sunny disposition. Funny, touching and twisted, again Creator/Producer/Director Bryan Fuller (Dead Like Me, Wonderfalls, Heroes) tackles the macabre and unexplained with a sly humour that illuminates it’s morbid darker edges.

Quirky and luminous, “The facts were these”…Ned the Pie Maker (Lee Pace) is different. He has always been different. As a child young Ned discovered that he could bring the dead back to life by touching them. As these things go, there is a balance, this no miracle without a price. Once his flesh has come in contact with the deceased a second time they immediately return to eternal slumber. If Ned tries to tempt fate and let someone live beyond their minute reprieve from expiry, then someone close by die’s instead.

Ned is NOT touched by an angel

The adult Ned now owns a pie shop and assists Private Investigator Emerson Cod (Chi McBride) in solving mysterious murders. One day the pair stumble upon a girl named Chuck.
“Well, it's pretty much I bake pies and wake the dead. I live a very sheltered life.” - Ned

Ned on the case with Emmerson Cod and a primate

Charlotte Charles aka Chuck (Anna Friel) was Ned’s youthful sweetheart and after years of separation Ned still has the bug, so of course once he reanimates her pre rigamortuous limbs, he refuses to obey the rules. Someone close by dies.
“You said you wanted to know who killed me so that justice could be served. See, I don't think that "Justice" was on the menu. Maybe as a side dish, but not as an entrée.” - Chuck

Anna Friel as Chuck

Unable to hold hands, kiss or do the other their’s is a uniquely complicated relationship. Olive Snook (Kristin Chenoweth) is the singing waitress whose flame burns bright for Ned, emotions that will never be reciprocated. That’s the character introductions as of the first episode, so no spoilers.

Kristen Chenoweth is Olive

To look directly at the delectable cinematography exploding with a vibrant palette of colour widens the orbs of the iris. The synthetic atmosphere bolstered by the exaggerated sincerity of the narrator’s solemn voice (Jim Dale) forms a sweet peach tone that’s tasty on the buds and delectable to digest.

The riddled screenplay of quick minded, snappy banter toys with vocabulary and character emotions are invariably phrased to remember.

The cast are a chemical concoction, a Neapolitan flavour of bubbly, spontaneous and cynical behaviour. Expanding on what he bought to the screen as Jaye’s brother in Wonderfalls, Lee Pace (Infamous, The Good Shepard) as the always playing-catch-up Ned is likeable and charming.

Anna Friels (Me Without You, Goal) is sweet without annoying, optimistically avoiding the pitfalls of her Chuck love interest character type. It doesn’t hurt that she is cute in a Zooey Dreschnel way because of freedom from stereotype.

See what Johnny means about Anna Friel?

For John Doe it’s Chi McBride (Narc, The Frighteners) as Emmerson Cod that manages to garner the most laughs aside from the narrator. His tough as nails without the heart of gold matter of factness is unwavering in amusement levels.

As Chuck’s grieving paternal Aunt’s Lillian and Vivian Charles, Ellen Green (Leon: The Professional, The Cooler) and Swoosie Kurtz (Huff, Rules of Attraction) deliver there dry sardonic lines with aplomb.

Not as saccharine as it may first appear there is an abundance of wit and originality to be found in every episode. Each chapter has a cinema quality to it’s inception that guarantees JD follows every new story with joyful eagerness.

Pushing Daisies Trailer

An impromptu musical number, Olive Swoon covers Olivia singing "Hopelessly Devoted to You"

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Posted By: JohnDoe - Category: Television, Comedy

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Iron Man (2008) - Trailer Included

April 30th 2008 00:00

Ore Mined and Polished

The nice people at Paramount sent John Doe a press invite for Iron Man on Monday night and he just has to thank them for their kindness. It is admittedly fun seeing a super-hyped movie before the global release and geek boys spoil the surprises.

Iron Man arrives this week

Director: Jon Favreau
Starring: Robert Downey Jnr, Jeff Bridges, Terence Howard, Jon Favreau, Gwyneth Paltrow

Stan Lee must be loving the financial rewards of movie adaptations. Kudos due to him since his reign as the comic book king in an era where the medium was considered intellectually defunct. Expanding his dominance over the genre, Iron Man is the first production Marvel has fully funded.

The character of Iron Man is not as widely worshipped as his other creations like Spiderman, X-Men and The Hulk, but is certainly as richly drawn. The film version definitely falls into the kiddie friendly category, opting for a “rock’n’roll” approach to the violence (established as AC/DC’s Back in Black blares over the opening) and side stepping many opportunities for a satire on pro-war propaganda, instead this is a non offensive action comedy.

Taking the anti hero Tony Stark out of Vietnam and transporting him to modern day Iraq for a more contemporary feel the film does attempt to remain true to the source in many other respects.

The story begins as the nihilistic, self serving and egotistical weapons inventor/manufacturer Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jnr) peddles his wares in the desert.

After a successful demonstration of his latest WMD his convoy is promptly ambushed and an injured Stark is left near dead. Evil terrorists abduct him and demand he build the weapon of choice for them to use in there perceived fight for freedom.

Degraded, fearful and humiliated Tony is awakened to his destructive life’s folly and plans a metal skinned escape. Using only the raw materials available he constructs a bullet proof prototype Iron suit that also has the benefits of increasing his strength and even achieves flight over short distances.

It’s enough for him to evade the clutches of bad men and soon he is back on US soil with a change of heart and a new found determination for true heroics, as Iron Man

The Dude is a villian, Air America is a hero - welcome to the dawn of steel

John Doe says:
It’s unfair to compare Iron Man with adult minded fare like Batman Begins or Sin City because of its distinctly family minded execution. When sizing it up against its obvious competition like Daredevil, Electra and Fantastic Four the film is above average. It’s light, fun entertainment, sometimes witty, occasionally exciting and boosted by two stellar performances. The staggering FX bear a Hollow Man style on the simulated design and development scenes. The inspired set pieces and costumes are excellent.

According to imdb.com the Director Jon Favreau (Made Zathura), describes the film as "a kind of independent film-espionage thriller crossbreed; a Robert Altman-directed "Superman", with shades of Tom Clancy novels, James Bond films, "RoboCop" and "Batman Begins".

Well he did get part of it right, the Robocop stamp is on just about every sound byte and frame that captures the mechanical giant in the lens. In fact at about the half way point JD yearned for someone like Paul Verhoeven at the helm to play with the ripened social commentary that is never plucked. It would have been nice to see a little blood in a story with so much carnage, what we get is the A-Team slug shot philosophy.

As for the espionage it really isn’t present aside from a token sub plot that is never fully realised and of course the element of Q gadgets galore. An unresolved love interest thread is unfortunately given more time than the spy angle.

It’s certainly not all bad, credit has to go to Favreau for at least holding back and never unleashing a full bodied CGI assault of quick edit action that drags on to be remembered as a blur, there is strength in economic combat.

If anything the film is too controlled in its delivery. The build up to the conflicts is more enjoyable than the events. The film wants to achieve terminal velocity and lift off but the clanging and crashing only ever feels like a leisurely jog instead of a supersonic sprint of pounded steel. The real joys arrive whenever Stark is tweaking the suit, honing features, witnessing each new evolution and the preparation for battles.

The screenplay is full of humour, some works, others are experiments in cliché, this is a obviously a set up for sequels. JD loves films that take their time to develop characters or anticipation, but the pacing of this seems off because there really is no pay off or plot, the journey is the essence for audience satisfaction or disappointment.

The highlight of the film is the lead characters. Robert Downey Jnr (Less Than Zero, Zodiac, Chaplin) is charismatic and charming as the playboy/bubble boy who like the Scarecrow in the Wizard of Oz finds out he has a heart. Even great in lame films, here you can tell he had a fair bit of free reign and according to gossip much was improvised in rehearsal.

Matching, if not exceeding his co star, Jeff Bridges (Big Lebowski, Thunderbolt and Lightfoot) goes all Lex Luthor, shaving his head cue ball bald. Taking aplomb in every dialogue delivery his daunting performance is far from the sleep walking through a role that many other big name stars deliver when answering the siren call of a massive pay-check for a potential franchise.

The rest of the players are rather forgettable. Standing beside a pair of titan thespians only highlights how lacking Gwyneth Paltrow (Royal Tenenbaums) is in onscreen energy, passion and presence. As the 007 Money Penny clone, Pepper Potts she stops the movie in its tracks whenever she appears and sadly can’t even muster up chemistry with her fictional love Tony Stark.

Terrence Howard seems to channel Cuba Gooding Jnr as the military sidekick, boring as you would expect.

John Doe is a little over critical in his review, Iron Man is truthfully good popcorn fodder. The reason for the less than stellar critique is due to the obvious sanitising or aversion to potentially dark moments. Several times, in the action and character scenes there is room for substance that is neutered. Wisely Favareau is career minded and caters to the studios “please everyone” creed any time things begin to get a bit edgy, something the idealistic JD hates.

Read Cib's review for Iron Man HERE

Iron Man - The Trailer

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Posted By: JohnDoe - Category: Action, In Cinemas, Fantasy/Adventure, Comedy

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Juno (2008) - Trailer Included

February 13th 2008 00:01

Juno's Arc

Juno Poster

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Posted By: JohnDoe - Category: In Cinemas, Drama, Comedy

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Fight Club (1999) - Trailer Included

November 22nd 2007 00:01

Bare Knuckle Head Job

Special Edition DVD cover available in Australia

Director: David Fincher
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Clerks (1994) - Footage Included

November 1st 2007 00:03

Requiem for the Slackers

Warning the language and footage used on this scribbling will offend someone, somewhere. Or maybe everyone, everywhere.
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Dog Day Afternoon (1975) - Footage Included

October 26th 2007 00:02

2 Disc Special Edition available in Australia

Director:Sidney Lumet
Writer:Frank Pierson
Starring:Al Pacino, John Cazale, Charles Durning
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The Big Lebowski (1998) – Trailer Included

October 25th 2007 00:00

Heroic Lethargy

John Doe’s life has gone full tilt boogie in the two weeks, yearning for 36 hour days the time just hasn’t been there to post and so it is with regret that he apologises to visitors for the lack of new material. He will aspire to be more diligent, but in the interim, on with the post at hand.
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Withnail and I (1986) - Trailer & Footage Included

September 28th 2007 01:21

Withnail & I

In my humble opinion Withnail and I is the cleverest comedy ever written. It’s also the wittiest, shrewdest, and most poignant. In fact, I’d be bold enough to say it is one of a handful of screenplays I regard – regardless of genre – as pitch perfect. I think it should be studied in film courses (perhaps it is, I know if I was teaching I’d be thrusting it upon my students, stating emphatically; “This is a masterpiece of screenplay writing, which just so happens to be a masterpiece of filmmaking.”

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Posted By: Bryn - Category: Comedy

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Miami Blues (1990) - Trailer Included

August 30th 2007 05:08

Hot times in Miami's vice.

DVD Cover

Writer/Director: George Armitage
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Prizzi’s Honor (1985)

August 20th 2007 00:00

The Godfather of Killer Romance

The UK DVD Cover - Available in Oz

Director:John Huston
Writer:Richard Condon
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Mumford (1999)

August 7th 2007 00:00

That Old School feeling

DVD Cover

Writer/Director: Lawrence Kasdan
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For Your Consideration (2006) - Trailer Included

July 4th 2007 00:00

Oscars Bitch.

For Your Consideration Poster

Writer/Director:Christopher Guest
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Idiocracy (2006) - Trailer Included

June 13th 2007 00:20

Idiocracy

Coming Soon to DVD - Apologies JD received a promo disc for this but can not find the specific release date anywhere.

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