Devil May Cry: The Anime Series.

What seems like a very long time ago I played the first Devil May Cry video game and I liked it a lot, I never played any of the sequels but I really enjoyed the original game.

Flash forward several years and I find a Devil May Cry anime series on Blu-ray and it's cheap so I grabbed it hoping the series would be half as much fun as I remembered the game being, well frankly it wasn't the first few episodes were pretty dull and repetitive, it did improve as it went along but for me it just lacked something, I've certainly seen far worse anime but I was hoping for more from this one, maybe my expectations were just too high.

Shazam! Vol. 1 (The New 52)

Just finished another collection of DC's New 52 line, this time it was the rebooted Shazam, it was a decent read, nothing special but I think it has the potential to develop into a great series, the Shazam reboot is written by Geoff Johns who also wrote the excellent Aquaman reboot.

I'll be interested to see what happens with this series as it moves forward.

Marvel: Then & Now - A Night With Stan Lee, Joe Quesada, Hosted by Kevin Smith

I picked this up cheap from Amazon a while back and I was kind of looking forward to watching it as the people involved are in my opinion entertaining speakers and it had the added bonus of raising money for charity but sadly this DVD had no production value, it has all sorts of audio and picture issues, it's like someone with their first camcorder and no real idea what they were doing produced it, since it was to raise money for charity I tried to be tolerant but I just didn't enjoy this DVD.

If you are a truly hardcore Kevin Smith or Stan Lee fan this might be of some interest I guess but I just can't recommend this DVD.

The Dark Knight Trilogy

I've recently rewatched Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight Trilogy on Blu-ray, this series of films really is a mixed bag for me, I always enjoy Batman Begins, I like The Dark Knight but I think it's rather overrated and well The Dark Knight Rises is a bit of a mess.

Whatever the flaws of the various films in the series it was nice to see the material treated seriously and for the most part realistically and it has to be said the Blu-rays look and sound great.

I do think it's a pity The Joker didn't play a part in the final film, maybe it would have been better for the series if they went with a different villain for The Dark Knight and introduced The Joker as the major threat in the last film as he is Batman's most well known adversary.

The Dark Knight Trilogy is a flawed but reasonably entertaining series of films and if somehow you haven't seen them check them out on Blu-ray if you can, it's worth it.

Hyperdrive

I enjoy a good sci-fi comedy, I really do and at the time it was being broadcast I thought Hyperdrive was OK, nothing special but OK, if I had to be honest I was mainly watching the show because of Nick Frost but I seem to remember the show was getting a lot of bad press at the time and I didn't think it deserved it.

A year or so ago Amazon had the complete series DVD boxset on sale and I grabbed it well because it seemed to be a great deal but it wasn't the show is horrible, I have no idea what I was thinking and I found I had no memory at all of the second series but I was positive I'd seen it.

I like the idea of Hyperdrive and in terms of production value it stands out but sadly it's rarely funny or even mildly enjoyable.

Caprica

Recently study has been taking up a lot of my time but when I wasn't in class or working on assignments I managed to watch the single season of Caprica.

I had been putting off watching the show as most of what I had heard about it was well to be frank pretty bad and I did see the pilot when it was first released on DVD and I thought that was for the most part slow and boring and I'd heard the came complaints levelled against the series.

As it turned out I rather liked the show, the fact that it wasn't full of action and space battles like it's parent show the recent Battlestar Galactica remake was a good thing as far as I am concerned, I understand why fans of Battlestar Galactica didn't embrace the show as it's so different but ultimately I think that's their loss.

I wonder if the series would have done better if Caprica wasn't a spin-off of another show, it would be interesting to see what the reaction would have been if Caprica had run for a few series and then the producers gave us Battlestar Galactica as a sequel.

The Fly (1986)

Just rewatched David Cronenberg's remake of The Fly, it was nowhere near the gore fest I thought I remembered it being, funny how things change, I always enjoyed the movie but there were a couple of bits I remembered as being somewhat gory and I guess the effects and makeup work still hold up pretty well and the movie looks great for a film of it's age.

I never saw The Fly in cinemas and have only ever seen it on VHS and DVD previously, when I rewatched it the format of choice was Blu ray, for a while I was finding it hard to decide if there was some DRM issues with the picture in some scenes or if Jeff Goldblum was wearing some very subtle makeup early on in the film as his skin often seemed to be an odd colour, to be honest I'm still not entirely sure but I guess it is possible I was seeing some subtle makeup that I just hadn't noticed before,

I enjoyed seeing the movie again but now that I have I doubt that I'll feel the need to revisit it again any time soon, I'm kind of shocked that there hasn't been another remake of this story recently but at the rate Hollywood is pumping out remakes and sequels I guess it's only a matter of time.

A Nightmare on Elm Street ( 2010 )

Having recently rewatched  A Nightmare on Elm Street I thought I'd give the recent remake another viewing and to be honest I kind of wish I didn't.

I don't hate the remake but it's very bland despite the casting of the usually excellent Jackie Earle Haley as Freddy.

For all the technical advances that have been achieved since the original movies was made it's still the superior movie and it's a real shame because I do think the remake introduces a couple of interesting ideas but they never really follow though and use them properly.

I seriously doubt I'll ever bother watching this movie again and sadly I guess this attempt at a reboot has probably killed the franchise for good.

Oblivion

I've recently rewatched Oblivion on Blu-ray, despite the fact It stars Tom Cruise I enjoyed the movie in theatre but I have to say I enjoyed the movie far more with a second viewing and the Blu-ray is just gorgeous, it's movies like this that the HD format seems to have been made for.

Oblivion isn't a game changer in terms of story telling but it was nice to see a movie with a definite style to it as opposed to the somewhat generic blockbuster summer films we seem to be fed by the studios these days, it's not a movie I imagine I'll watch often but I can see me popping it into the Blu-ray player every couple of years and drinking in the visuals as well as the excellent soundtrack my M83.

I, Vampire Vol. 2: Rise of the Vampires (The New 52)

So far I've only picked up a handful of DC's New 52 comic titles and to be honest I've been disappointed by most of them but I've really enjoyed what I've read of I, Vampire.

It has superheroes, vampires, zombies ( mummies ), vampire hunters, zombie vampire vampire hunters ( don't ask ) and a whole bunch of Van Helsings.

Trust me it's fun.

Indestructible Hulk, Vol. 1: Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.

From what I can gather this new Hulk series by Marvel Comics is pretty popular but I have to say it just doesn't work for me, it's not that I think it's bad as such but it just doesn't feel like the Hulk or at least the Hulk I knew and loved.

Volume 1 contains the first 6 issues of the series and there were a few interesting ideas in there and a nice gag that calls back to the TV series but frankly  unless volume 2 was dirt cheap I doubt I'd ever bother picking it up.

A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984 )

A while back I picked up the Nightmare on Elm Street Blu-ray boxset and while I was disappointed to see it didn't include Freddy vs Jason I thought it was a great price for all those films and I planned to rewatch them strait away but of course me being me it didn't happen.

I found myself with a few hours to kill earlier in the week so I finally cracked open the shrink wrap and gave the movie that started it all another viewing.

I was pretty impressed with how good the movie looks in High Definition for a low budget horror movie made in the 80s, sure some of the effects look kind of dated but the movie still works.

Nightmare on Elm Street is a franchise that had it's highs and lows but I'm looking forward to see the rest of the film in the series in high definition......ok well maybe not part 2 and Freddy's Dead but I'm looking forward to the rest of them.

Sleeping Dogs

Well I finally got around to playing and more importantly finishing Sleeping Dogs and what a fun game it was, it's like someone stole all my Johnnie To DVDs, sprinkled them with some sort of magic and made them into a game.

Sequel Please !

The World's End

Anyone who knows me well knows that I'm a huge fan of the TV series Spaced so when a lot of the talent behind that show went on to make movies it was going to attract my attention.

First came Shaun of the Dead and I loved it, in some ways it was like looking at myself when I was 10 years younger than I was at the time although I had few undead problems than the characters in the movie.

Next came Hot Fuzz and again I was presented with a movie I truly enjoyed and have rewatched many times since.

Now we come to The World's End, well I guess the dream run had to end eventually but The World's End is slow to get started but is rather amusing during the middle section but I'm afraid the end is just too far over the top and well in my opinion stupid.

I truly hope the team of Wright, Pegg and Frost get together to make another movie sometime soon and maybe recapture some of their old magic but for me The World's End was a bit of a disappointment.

So Where exactly is Rodney Dangerfield when you need him ?

I know what you're thinking and I bet it's something along the lines of "What the Hell ?"

Well as it turns out I've gone Back to School ( see what I did there ? ), about 2 o:clock last Wednesday afternoon I got a phone call asking if I was still interested in returning to study and I said that I was and with that I was asked to go and see someone by 4:00pm that day, the interview went well and I was informed that I had a place in the course if I wanted it, the only slight problem was that I would be starting the following morning.

Basically I had to jump in head first with very little notice and so far it seems to be going well, the return to any form of study hasn't been too hard to adjust to but some things like my somewhat neglected blog have been neglected a little more than I would liked this past week or so.

I've seen some cool movies and done some other stuff recently and sometime soon I hope to tell you about it.

Pacific Rim

Last Sunday I saw Pacific Rim, it was a movie that I thought looked rather pretty based on the trailers I had seen for it but I was honestly unsure if I'd enjoy it or not.

Well a couple of friends and I decided we'd go check it out and I think it's safe to say all three of us really enjoyed the movie.

One person I know has dismissed the movie ( he hasn't actually seen it ) as Transformers meets Godzilla however I'd describe it as Transformers meets Godzilla only it's fun.

Seriously it's giant monsters duking it out with giant robots, what more could you want ?

The upcoming new version of Godzilla has a lot to live up to now.

A WTF ? Moment.

For anyone reading this who didn't know I am divorcing my wife, I won't go into exactly what she did but it's a relationship that can't be salvaged and lord knows I tried.

Today I received a letter from a solicitor demanding I do something I have been doing for well over 6 months and can easily prove I have been doing ( and think it's reasonable to expect I do so ), demanded plans and specification for a gate I'm not having constructed at our family home, you read that correctly, plans for something I'm not doing, on top of that she only wants to communicate via lawyers.

Apparently I am a particularly unreasonable person but in this case I think I'll do everything the solicitor asks, I shall met the responsibilities that I believe it's reasonable I should meet, I shall supply the non-existant plans for the non-existant gate and I will refrain from talking to her or contacting her other than through our respective lawyers.

This whole situation would be funny if it wasn't so stupid and the bit I really don't understand it the fact she paid someone to do this, a genuine WTF ? moment.

The Breakfast Club

Recently I had a discussion with a friend about John Hughes' films, basically I said I wasn't really a fan which was apparently shocking, especially for someone of my age.
Fast forward a couple of weeks and I see The Breakfast Club cheap on Blu-ray so I grabbed a copy and I watched it this morning and I'm still not a fan, didn't hate it but I will never need to see that movie again.

The one thing I did and do really like about The Breakfast Club is the song Don't You ( Forget About Me ), it's a song I've always liked.

For the record I do like Ferris Bueller's Day Off but as far as the rest of Mr Hughes' movies go I think I'll pass.

Man of Steel

Last night I finally found the time to see Man of Steel, I had been really looking forward to seeing this movie but for one reason or another I just wasn't able to see it as quickly as I would have liked.

I should probably say upfront up until last night I though Superman: The Movie was the best superhero movie ever made and any actor who is stepping into the role played by Christopher Reeve is a brave man indeed, well my opinion hasn't change and I still feel that Superman: The Movie is the best superhero movie ever made.

That being said I did enjoy Man of Steel but I also feel it has some real issues, I really liked the new take on Krypton in this movie and I liked the new take on the character of Superman himself but frankly I think they should have left a showdown with General Zod and the renegade Kryptionians until a sequel, in this film they pretty much trashed a large part of Metropolis, how do you top that ?

Added to that they kill off General Zod at the end of the film, why do so many superhero movies kill off their villains ?, I'm perfectly ok with the way they killed off Zod and the reasoning behind it I guess but I really do think it should have happened in a later film, all I can say is that Luthor, Brainiac or whoever the big bad in the next film is had better be impressive.

Another thing that did slightly annoy me was the powers thing, according to the movie the renegade Kryptonians were wearing environmental suits to protect them from Earth's different environment, as soon as those suits were damaged or compromised in any way the wearer instantly had superpowers to rival Superman's and yet the movie seemed to suggest they slowly built up to that level over time for Superman, unless I missed something that seemed to be a fairly glaring mistake.

I liked Man of Steel, I really did but it felt a little bloated at times and some things seemed to need a better explanation, one of the people I saw it with summed it up best I think when she said she's seen it and enjoyed it for what it was but doesn't need to see it again and that's pretty much how I feel as well, of course me being the type of person I am I'll end up owning it on Blu-ray anyway.

Marvel Cinematic Universe: Phase One - Avengers Assembled (10-Disc Limited Edition Six-Movie Collector's Set) [Blu-ray] (2012)

Over the last week I have been watching Marvel Cinematic Universe: Phase One - Avengers Assembled ( boy that's a mouthful ), I've had the boxset sitting here for a while and while I enjoyed the various movies I had seen them before so I lacked any motivation to re watch them, I was at one point planning to watch them in the lead up to my going to see Iron Man 3 but that came and went and still I hadn't made a start on the movies.

Well now it's over and done with and I've come to a couple of interesting conclusions:

Firstly: The Incredible Hulk is a much better movie than it's generally given credit for and Edward Norton is a much better Bruce Banner than Mark Ruffalo was when the role was recast for The Avengers.

Secondly: Iron Man 2 isn't the total travesty I though I remembered it being.

Thirdly: The Avengers is probably the weakest film in the series (m in my opinion ), I'm not saying it's bad, I rather like parts of it but there are parts of this movie I just don't enjoy at all.

I am looking forward to the rest of the Phase 2 movies, I can't say I loved Iron Man 3 but I can appreciate that they tried to do some thing different and to me that's a good sign that Marvel are prepared to take some risks with their movies.

Run Lola Run

I've always enjoyed this movie, it's a seemingly simple idea on the surface but when you get right down to it a lot of though had actually been put into this film and despite it's obvious low budget I think it works really well, it certainly goes to show you don't need to spend ten of millions of dollars to make a clever and enjoyable film.

One slightly annoying thing about the Blu-ray release is the fact that the disc defaults to the English dub instead of the original language, being lazy I left it in English for about 10 minutes, it has to be one of the worst dubbing jobs I've heard in ages, I guess if you wanted a bit of a laugh it might be worth giving it a listen.

I really enjoyed seeing Run Lola Run again and it looked pretty good on Blu-ray and it was so ridiculously cheap as well, there really is no excuse for not having seen it anymore, not when you can own the movie for slightly more than the cost of renting it ( in Australia anyway ).

Westworld

I watched Westworld on Blu-ray for the first time last night and I was pretty impressed with how good it looked for a movie of it's age and despite the many times I've seen it I still enjoyed seeing it yet again, hopefully Futureworld looks as good in it's HD release.

A nice little surprise was the inclusion of the pilot to the spin-off  TV series Beyond Westworld, I'd heard the series was pretty bad and the pilot lived up to it's reputation but I've always thought it was a shame more wasn't done with this franchise.

Maybe it's time for a Westworld remake.

Beyond Westworld.

I'm a big fan of the movie Westworld and it's sequel Futureworld but one of the few shows I have never seen was the spin-off TV series Beyond Westworld.

I was perfectly aware of the show's reputation for being pretty bad but I've just finished watching Logan's Run the series and well it couldn't have been worse than that ( to be fair Logan's Run does have a couple of really good episodes, it also has a whole bunch of ordinary and some outright terrible ones.

Recently I picked up Westworld and Futureworld on Blu-ray and was pleasantly surprised to discover that the pilot for Beyond Westworld was included on the Westworld disc.

It's an odd series based on what I can gather from the pilot, it seems to take place soon after the end of Westworld and pretty much ignores Furureworld but at the same time explores and expands on ideas from that movie and yes it was pretty bad.

One day I might hunt down the remaining five episodes out of a morbid curiosity but I think most people can safely give it a miss.

Tron: Legacy

So today I found myself listening to Deft Punk's soundtrack for Tron: Legacy, this led to me watching the movie and I've now decided I rather like both of them.

It's strange how someone's opinion about a movie can change, the first time I saw the movie I thought it was ok but nothing special, I enjoyed it a little more the second time around and today I really enjoyed it, maybe I was just in the right kind of mood.

I hope it's not too long until the next film.

Marvel Zombies

I've just finished reading the first volume of Marvel Zombies, it's something I had been interested in checking out for a while mainly because of the fact it had been written by Robert Kirkman ( The Walking Dead ).

Maybe I had unreasonably high expectations for this series but honestly I thought it was pretty bad, I enjoyed the first issue but after that it was all downhill, I know there were later series so I guess the original must have been popular but for the life of me I'm not sure why.

For me Marvel Zombies was a disappointing series, I did like Sean Phillips artwork but this left me with no real desire to ever read any further Marvel Zombies stories.

Ashes to Ashes

While dealing with the dramas and hassles of the last couple of weeks one of the things I did was re watch Ashes to Ashes.

While I enjoyed seeing the show again I still don't feel that it's as strong as Life on Mars ( the proper version and not the American produced abomination ) but that being said I would have been more than happy to see another series or two of either show or even both.

Even though it is a sequel to Life on Mars I think Ashes to Ashes works well on it's own however it can be appreciated more if the viewer has actually seen it's parent series.

If you have never seen either of them what are you waiting for ?, seek them out, it's well worth it.

Logan's Run: The Complete TV Series

I remember when Logan's Run was on TV back in the 70's and I remember loving the show as a kid and it was always something I wanted to see again which just goes to show how powerful nostalgia can be, I had been sorely tempted to buy a bootleg DVD set of the series on more than one occasion but resisted in the hope that the series might eventually get an official DVD release.

As I hoped the series did eventually get an official DVD release and it's a bit of a mixed bag, the picture quality on some of the episodes including the pilot is pretty poor, I wasn't expecting anything to compare to modern television production standards but surely there were prints of some of these episodes in better condition than the versions used to master the DVDs, cramming all 13 episodes including the feature length pilot episode onto just three DVDs didn't help matters either.

Technical issues aside the show itself is also a bit of a mixed bag, I really enjoyed some of the episodes and other not so much but overall I'm glad I got these DVDs, the one thing that did shock me was how well I remembered some episodes of a show I hadn't seen in over 30 years.

Life and other hassles.

Well life has been pretty busy as of late, a few days ago my Grandfather had a rather nasty fall and while he hasn't suffered any permanent injuries he did come out of it rather battered and bruised and that has been keeping me rather busy, getting old happens to us all but over the last six months or so I've seen someone who was always vital and energetic considering his age seems to have suddenly actually become an old man and it bothers me more than I thought it would.

It must be tough to discover you can't do some of the things you used to and on occasion you may need to actually ask for help, hopefully I handle it as well as he seems to have.

Supernatural: The Anime Series

I finally finished Supernatural: The Anime Series, the show was a bit of a mixed bag in terms of stories, I really enjoyed some of them, a lot of them were kind of average and a few of them were just plain terrible, I think it's fair to say it was an interesting experiment but I have no real desire to see any more anime episodes based on Supernatural but given how the show ends I guess the producers were hoping the show would get a second season.

Star Trek: Into Darkness

I've now seen Star Trek: Into Darkness twice, the first time I saw it I really wasn't sure what I thought of the movie, I really liked parts of it but there were some things that really annoyed me about the movie as well.

My first viewing was with some sci-fi fans but they weren't big fans of Star Trek as such, the second time I saw it I was with Star Trek fans ( one who was a rather cute blond but that had nothing to do with me wanting to see it again ) and I enjoyed the film more with the second viewing I still found certain aspects well to be honest annoying.

The movie starts out with a fun action sequence and things are moving along nicely, then we get to the main story and for the most part I was OK with that as well but it really started to grate on my nerves the seemingly constant paying homage to Star Trek 2: The Wrath of Kahn, I just didn't and still don't feel there was the need for it, personally I would have preferred a wholly original story and hopefully in the next chapter of the rebooted movie franchise that's exactly what we'll get.

It must be said that Benedict Cumberbatch was in my opinion perfectly cast as *cough* John Harrison and in the next film Karl Urban needs to be given more to do as his take on Dr McCoy is near perfect.

The Road

This afternoon I watched a movie called The Road, I think I'd had the movie on Blu-ray for more than a year but somehow never got around to watching it until today.

Basically the world as we know it has come to an end, I don't think the movie even mentions what happened just that things have fallen apart and there is virtually nothing left, it's the story of a father and son and what they have to do to survive.

I think it's a good movie but it's the sort of movie you need to be in the right mood for as it gets a little dark at times.

Well it's been one of those weeks.

Well as weeks go it's been kind of crazy, not bad as such just crazy, stuff has been happening but that has kept me far busier than I usually am, things should have settled down by the weekend and it will hopefully be business as usual here, for the few people who follow my blog thank you for your patience.

Teen Wolf

I have only recently watched the first season of Teen Wolf, I kind of liked the movies back in the 80's but as much as this show is supposedly based on those films or at least the first one the TV show and the films really have very little in common.

Originally I assumed this was a show I would have no real interest in and that it would pretty much be an angst filled teenage drama and while it has aspects of that at times I never expected it would be fun.

Firstly most of the werewolf effects in the show are terrible even for a mid budget TV show ( at least they are in season 1 ) and the show was entirely predictable during it's first season and I don't think they did anything that even mildly shocked me but the cast actually has some degree of chemistry and the whole thing has been presented in a fun way.

Much to my shock I'm looking forward to seeing season 2.

Alphas

For a while now I had been hearing about Alphas and what I had been hearing was mostly very good so I made a note of it and planned to catch it one day, the first season came and went, the second season came and went and I still hadn't gotten around to watching it, then the news came that the show had been cancelled.

Eventually I saw the season 1 boxset on sale so I thought I'd grab it while it was going cheap, my DVDs eventually arrived and I sat down and watched the first disc, my initial thought were "I don't get it".

I understood what was going on and what the show seemed to be about but I just didn't get what all the fuss was about, some friends told me to stick with the show and that it was a little slow to get started but it did improve and they were right it did indeed improve but it didn't become must see viewing as far as I was concerned, I think it would be fair to say I like the show but don't love it and that I am interested in seeing the second and final season but it's not something I NEED to see.

Maybe I've just gotten jaded and cynical but it seems like I've seen this basic story plenty of times in the past and Alphas didn't really do anything new with it, at least not during the first season anyway.

Chronicle

To be honest I was start to get sick of the recent found footage type films that have become popular again so as a result I had put off seeing Chronicle, I had friends that had told me they thought I'd really like it and as it turns out they were right.

The film starts out as these type of films seem to introducing it's main characters and it seemed like it was going to be a fairly low budget affair but the lead characters start developing special abilities and the film becomes more and more impressive, this isn't your typical Hollywood mega-budget blockbuster but I found I was ( mostly ) impressed by what they managed on a technical level and it's simple story was told in a fairly compelling way.

Definitely worth a look if you get the chance.

Superman: What Price Tomorrow

I recently picked up a hardcover collection of the first 6 issues of DC Comics relaunch of Superman, I'd seen some of the artwork online and I knew that I didn't like some of their design choices for the new Superman, what I didn't expect was that it would be one of the worst things I'd read in years, the artwork is for the most part bland and I generally enjoy Nicola Scott's art ( if memory serves me correctly she was finishing art by George Perez on at least some of the issues so that may have something to do with it ) but what I really didn't expect was how boring the story was, sadly it was one of the worst things I've read in years.

Superman is one of DC's flagship titles so I was expecting something special when it came to the Superman relaunch, perhaps my expectation were too high but I have no real interest in reading any more stories based on this incarnation of Superman.

I also recently picked up a couple of other New 52 trade paperbacks but based on how wrong they got the Superman relaunch I'm not sure I want to read them any time soon.

The Wicker Tree

I'm a big fan of the original version of The Wicker Man so I awaited the release of The Wicker Tree with a mixture of curiosity and dread, I didn't think for a moment it could equal the original film but I hoped for something decent and to be fair The Wicker Tree is a decent film, the main problem is that anyone who has seen The Wicker Man pretty much knows exactly what to expect.

Like the previous film I enjoyed some of the music in The Wicker Tree and it had some funny moments, what it didn't have was the sense of ever building dread and tension that was present in The Wicker Man, it became fairly obvious what was going on early in the film so it was a case of waiting for it to happen.

Sadly The Wicker Tree is somewhat of a missed opportunity but that being said it's still far better than the American remake of The Wicker Man.

Doctor Who: The Forgotten

One of the things I picked up while I was in Sydney for the Lords of Time convention was the hardcover trade paperback Doctor Who: The Forgotten.

Basically The Doctor loses his memory and with the help of Martha Jones explores what appears to be a museum dedicated to his past lives and using various items on exhibit within begins to remember who he is, meanwhile a mysterious observer hatches a his deadly plot for revenge.

The Forgotten was a fun read, it features the first 10 Doctors as well as several of the companions and is chock full of references to both the classic and new series that will no doubt amuse fans of the show.

I did find the basic concept behind this story reminded me a bit of Terrance Dick's novel The Eight Doctors but I still enjoyed the story despite this.

Resident Evil: Retribution

I enjoyed the first four live action Resident Evil movies, they weren't what you could call good movies as such but they were big dumb fun and because of that I was kind of looking forward to seeing the latest film in the series.

Honestly I thought Resident Evil: Retribution was a piece of crap, pretty to look at but story wise very disappointing.

The Force Within Us

The Force Within Us is the second film made by Star Wars fan Chris Macht and this film explores the positive effects the Star Wars movies have had on Macht's and others lives.

I was really looking forward to seeing this film after enjoying Macht's first Star Wars documentary The Force Among Us and while I did enjoy it I didn't feel it was quite as entertaining as his first film, I did enjoy The Force Within Us and I do believe it's worth seeing but for me at least it just wasn't quite as good as the original film.

The one thing that did amuse me was upon finishing the film seeing my name in it's credits, I had completely forgotten that I'd supported this film via Kickstarter and if Macht was to produce another Star Wars documentary I'd happily support that as well.

Jedi Junkies

I'm sucker for these fan produced documentaries, generally they follow a similar format and try to make the same points ( but often not very well ), Jedi Junkies is another in a series of documentaries about Star Wars fans and how they aren't as socially inept as they are often made out to be.

I enjoyed it.

Dune

A very flawed movie I've always had a soft spot for is David Lynch's Dune and a while back I picked it up on Blu-ray.

Visually it's an improvement on the previous DVD releases but that's kind of a mixed blessing, I've always thought some of the visual effects in Dune were substandard even when the film was first released but now on Blu-ray you can really see just how bad or should I say dated they are.

Dune on Blu-ray isn't a must own title for most people but I'm glad I have it, I wonder if it's too much to hope that the extended version might one day get a Blu-ray release as well.

Being Human series 3

I really enjoyed the first two series of Being Human when I watched them so I was looking forward to seeing the final series featuring all of the original cast but honestly I thought the first few episodes were kind of weak.

Things did improve once a previous villain returned to the show and it felt more like the series I had enjoyed before, well until I got to the series final episode, it was pretty obvious what was going to happen but everything was too drawn out and well to be frank boring.

Series 3 had some good episodes but it also had more than a few duds, I have the series 4 Blu-rays but I'm not sure I'm in much of a hurry to see them, I know some of the cast wanted to move on to other things and cast changes nearly always hurt a show but this series was just dull for about half of it's 8 episode run.

Hopefully things will pick up in series 4, I also have season 1 of the US version of Being Human, once I've had the time to watch it I think it will be interesting to compare the two.

Blood: The Last Vampire

I had been interested in seeing the live action version of Blood: The Last Vampire for a while now, it started out well but it wasn't long before it all went horribly wrong.

My advice, avoid this stinker and re-watch the anime instead.

Spider-Man: The Birth of Venom

There was a time when I was a massive Spider-Man fan, I used to buy all the comics, watch the cartoons, if there was a Spider-Man story I had to experience it.

I clearly remember all the stories that introduced Venom, a character I've never liked all that much back then and my dislike for the character remains to this day so I've never really understood why Venom became such a popular character.

Re-reading the collected version of the origin of Venom has done nothing to make me appreciate the character more, in fact all it did was remind me how much I didn't like Todd McFarlane's artwork at the time, while it was certainly stylised it didn't care for the way he drew a lot of the main characters, thankfully that improved over time.

It was interesting re-reading the introduction of a major marvel character, it's a pity it wasn't for the most part enjoyable.

Wolverine

No not the upcoming movie but a collected version of the comic mini-series from the 80's that new film draws heavily upon.

It's a decent read but I didn't think it was as good as I remembered but then the last time I read that story was back when it was originally published.

It will be interesting to see how much material from this story is actually used in the new movie.

Game of Thrones - Season 2

Well now I'm all caught up on Game of Thrones, I enjoyed the second season more than the first and I now have a greater sense of the show actually building towards something.

For my money Peter Dinklage and Charles Dance are by far the stand out actors in this series and the show is worth watching just for their performances alone.

I'm looking forward to picking up the season 3 Blu-ray boxset when it's released.

Game of Thrones - Season 1

Sometimes there is a TV show or movie that comes along and it would seem that if anyone was destined to love it, it would be me and sometimes that for whatever reason just doesn't happen, for me Game of Thrones is one of those shows.

Now I'm not saying I dislike the show, it's fine but I just really don't get what all the fuss is about, I enjoy stories with political machinations, treachery and a bit of war just to top it all off and Game of Thrones has all of that.

Last year I watched the first five episodes of the first season of the show and I just lost interest, I didn't really feel anything so I stopped watching, it was only the anticipation of various friends of mine for season 3 that motivated me to start watching the show again.

I have to say things started to improve in the latter half of the season but I still don't consider Game of Thrones to be this amazing fantasy epic there is no denying it's potential to develop into something amazing but for me it's just not there yet.

I'm planning on cracking open the shrink wrap on season sometime over the next couple of days, I'm hoping thing continue to improve and the show evolves into the amazing fantasy epic I wanted it to be.

The Death of a Friend

I am sad to announce the death of a beloved friend and faithful companion of the last few years, yes my extremely hard working Playstation 3 has finally given up the ghost.

I can't really complain I guess, it has certainly worked extremely hard as a Blu-ray player and games console, now I need to decide if I want to purchase another one or just wait until the release of the next generation Playstation console.

This has prompted me to get a dedicated Blu-ray player which was something I had been meaning to do for some time anyway but at the moment I have a bunch of partly completed or unplayed Playstation games that now I don't have a working console I really want to play.

I could slum it and play games on my X-Box 360 but it's just not the same.

Captain America: The New Deal

I'm not a huge Captain America fan, I like the character but I've never felt any compulsion to collect the comics, I might pick up a storyline here or there and I did enjoy the recent movie based on the character, I've just never felt any compulsion to collect or regularly read Captain America comics.

The New Deal was originally part of a relaunch of the character that took place after the September 11 terrorist attacks and it deals with terrorism and not hatched by some returning super villain who will be once again defeated by our all conquering hero.

The first issue mostly takes place at Ground Zero and is an extremely compelling read, the remaining five issues aren't bad as such but they feel rather contrived and some of the events that take place seem rather unlikely.

I think The New Deal is a story I'll need to re-read at some point as I'm really struggling to form an opinion about it, I rather liked the artwork featured in the book but I just can't decide if I liked the story or not, if nothing else it's given me something to think about and that's something.

Skyfall

I watched Skyfall again last night, I was entertained by the movie when I first saw it in the theatre but I can't say I was impressed and I certainly couldn't understand why everyone else was raving about it, upon viewing it a second time I found I liked it a lot more but I still wouldn't call it a classic Bond film.

One thing I will say it that it was one of the best looking films in the series and the Blu-ray looked fantastic, I hope the producers of the series can maintain the excellent visual quality on display in the film.

There were things I liked about the movie such as the new Moneypenny and the fact that this movie had a little more sense of fun to it but there were also things I didn't like such as the new Q, the replacing of Judi Dench as M and the fairly ordinary revenge plot.

It's not that I thought Skyfall was bad, I guess I just didn't think it felt like a Bond film ( don't get me started on Quantum of Solace ), now with Skyfall it seems like the rebooting of the franchise has been completed and maybe we can get back to some classic 007 style action once again.

Clerks

If ever there was a movie that didn't need a Blu-ray release it's Clerks, Kevin Smith himself said so right there on the disc but sure enough it's now been released in HD and it's the best looking print of the movie I've ever seen but really that's not saying much.

The Blu-ray edition of the movie is packed with extra material including a feature length documentary about the making of Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back ( yeah I know I'm thinking exactly the same thing ).

Clerks on Blu-ray isn't the crystal clear high definition experience some people will foolishly be hoping for because of the format but it is a fun independent film that is packed to the point of bursting with special features and on top of that pretty damn cheap and all of that makes the movie well worth picking up once again.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

Last night I watched the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie on Blu-ray, I hadn't seen the movie in ages, I always think of all three of the live action movies in this franchise as being pretty weak completely forgetting the first film is actually pretty good but after the first film the quality in the series quickly foes from bad to worse.

Now I'm not by any means saying this film is a classic but it is cheesy fun and you can't have pizza ( well I guess you could but who would want to ) without cheese.

The Blu-ray is a no frills affair and the picture and sound quality is pretty good considering the age of the film but then I got all three of the live action films for a mere $10 so I really can't complain.

A fun little story, I saw Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles during it's original theatrical run and that's where I met the woman I would eventually marry, now 20 plus years later I've seen it on Blu-ray for the first time and I'm in the process of divorcing her - life can throw you some funny little quirks sometimes.

I Sell the Dead

I Sell the Dead was a movie that had been sitting in my to watch pile for ages, a friend of mine had told me he really enjoyed it and I got a Blu-ray copy of the film dirt cheap but I just never got around to watching the movie.

As it turned out that was a big mistake, the movie starts out full of atmosphere, it reminded me a lot of the classic Hammer Horror films but before too long it gets kind of crazy, Army of Darkness kind of crazy and that in my opinion isn't a bad thing.

I guess this was supposed to be a horror / comedy but honestly there just isn't much in the way of horror in this movie but what you get is a fun period film about the misadventures of a couple of grave robbers and it really is a lot of fun.

Dragon Age: Redemption

OK I admit I probably never would have given this a second glance if it wasn't for the fact I enjoy Felicia Day's web series The Guild even though I own but still haven't played Dragon Age: Origins.

Basically this is a low budget ( and I mean low budget ) web series based on the Dragon Age video game franchise and it has a certain charm to it I guess but honestly I just didn't really like the writing, the story felt rather contrived in places and at times didn't entirely make sense.

The projects budget I'm sure is to blame for a lot of the stories shortcomings, at times it felt like some scenes weren't completed or shot at all, I bought the web series on DVD and at times the whole thing just felt choppy, the cast all seemed like able and their performances were reasonably engaging.

If you happen to be a Felicia Day fan ( and she sure seems to have a lot of them ) this might be worth checking out but even if you aren't a fan I think you would be better served checking out The Guild instead.

All of that being said I would be interested in seeing what Ms Day and her crew could do with an improved budget and more time but for me anyway Dragon Age: Redemption feels like it could have been great but failed to live up to it's potential.