The Imaginarium of Dr Parnassus

The Imaginarium of Dr Parnassus

This is the second DVD I chose in the offer, along with “the infidel” and immediately like many other I was drawn in by 2 things:

The Imaginarium Of Dr Parnassus Poster

1.       The ensemble cast. Christopher Plummer, Andrew Garfield, Heath Ledger, Colin Farrell, Jude Law and of course Johnny Depp.

2.       The death of Heath Ledger. Like many people it was upsetting to see one of the worlds finest young actors die, however I wanted to see his performance post Dark Knight, to see if he was as good as he was in the Dark Knight.

When I first saw the trailer I didn’t think very much of it, however my fiancée persuaded me to watch it, unfortunately I was right with my first instincts, the ensemble cast are excellent and the acting that they provide for the viewer is nothing short of excellent, however this is where the positives stop.

I will start with a basic statement which popped into my head within the first 30 seconds:

“OH MY GOD!, THIS IS SO WEIRD”

I looked at my fiancée, she looked at me and we both mouthed

“WHAAAAAAAT THE HELL!”

Now, I know I said I was going to stop with the positives however, the one more positive I will say is that the film is beautiful on a high definition TV (I can’t speak for a standard television). The film is excellently shot and is one of the real stand out things about the movie.

The film isn’t bad, its just weird…………very weird. I think this distracts from the story itself, you are so overwhelmed by what is happening that you completely forget what the story is about.

Basically its about a travelling troupe including Christopher Plummer (Dr Parnassus), Lily Cole (Valentina), Andrew Garfield (Anton) and Vern Troyer (Percy), they each have their own roles, and initially I didn’t understand as to why they were doing what they were doing, until I realised that the characters are in fact portraying God (Christopher Plummer) and his disciples, then the devil pops up in to the story which changes the dynamic, he keeps an eye on this troupe, because God is trying to put together 12 disciples again to what I could gather end the war between good and evil. However Heath Ledger is found hanging from a bridge and God believes he could be a good disciple, however Heath’s character can’t remember anything, thus is useless, until the Devil proposes a game in which the first to 5 souls wins the war, from then on, all different manor of things happen.

It just gets weirder and weirder and weirder. There’s so much weird that its hard to follow.

Unfortunately it had no redeeming qualities, and to be quite honest I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone, because it will just have you asking yourself questions, one of them being:

“Why!”

The Infidel

The Infidel DVD Case

I have wanted to watch this film for quite some time but never got round to it, and as there was nothing new out at my rental store, so I decided to pick up this in a offer, 5 Films for £5, this was the first one I picked up, I didn’t expect much from this film, however I was pleasantly surprised.

Omid Dajlili is the main character in this light hearted tale, of believing that your someone that your actually not, this time in a literal sense, all his life   he has been brought up to be a Muslim, however when his mother dies, he starts to pack her things up and keep the things that he wants, meanwhile his son is due to marry a beautiful woman in which the woman’s mother is about to marry also…….to a Muslim extremist, Omid Dajlili’s son tries to persuade his dad to try and be a “good” Muslim, however while removing the things from his mothers house, he comes across an Adoption certificate in which it shows that he is adopted after 2 Weeks of being born. It turns out that his biological parents are actually “Jewish”.

Unfortunately in the midst of this his wife starts to think that he is cheating, and basically it brings about many hilarious moments, with Omid trying to toil with being Jewish, pleasing the new father-in-law, pleasing his loving and maybe not so supporting family and finally trying to find his biological parents if they are still alive.

The cast is chosen very well, and although the acting doesn’t need to be amazing, it is very well executed and the characters are funny especially, the father and son relationship in the beginning and the relationship between the father and the father-in-law bring some colourful situations to the front of the film.

The film itself I really enjoyed, liked the actors and actresses chosen for the roles, and Omid Dajlili is just as funny as he is in his stand up comedy, its definitely a film you can just relax and watch and like I said I think it will put a smile on your face and you will be glad to have watched it.                                                                                                                                                

New Page COMING SOON!

Have you seen films in the past that you wish you could have an up to date review on, well, I have decided to open up a new page called "Wet Wednesdays", this will show films I have watched lately, but are not new releases.

Im excited about this page opening, due to it allowing more writing time and to gain more confidence in my writing ability, I hope you will share the same enthusiasm.

I have been inspired by "Orange Wednesdays" so I have decided to call it "Wet Wednesdays" for people that dont have the money to go to the cinema or go to the cinema in the rain.

Switchfoot - Vice Verses

 "Vice Verses" Album Cover

So after what I thought was a slight disappointment of an album, “Hello Hurricane”. The next instalment in the band’s career is “Vice Verses”, I was expecting a lot from this album, maybe a little too much. Some of their earlier work are some of my favourite albums of all time, such as, The Beautiful Letdown, it had many stand out songs like I Dare You To Move, Ammunition etc.

So with previous instalments a bit hit and miss, I was hoping for something new and brilliant, however I am disappointed with this album, I have listened to it twice through, and have struggled to find any stand out songs apart from one, “Blinding Light” and maybe “Dark Horse”.

Jon Foreman’s voice is brilliant as ever, and lyrically it is excellent, but there is something missing that I cannot quite put my finger on. The album relies heavily on the bass guitar to carry it through the allotted time, which has changed their normal method of executing the albums in which they have produced.

I can’t quite tell what it is lacking, but its something that is integral to the album being successfully, maybe if I listen to it a few more times it may grow on me but for the time being, I cant see it redeeming itself any time soon unfortunately.



Switchfoot



Like I said, I don’t think there is enough stand out qualities for this album to be successfully, however it won’t stop me from buying their future albums because, before this album they have made some amazing ones, maybe they are going through a transitional stage.

Vice Verses Track Listing

1. "Afterlife"
2. "The Original"
3. "The War Inside"
4. "Restless"
5. "Blinding Light"
6. "Selling the News"
7. "Thrive"
8. "Dark Horses"
9. "Souvenirs"
10. "Rise Above It"
11. "Vice Verses" 
12. "Where I Belong"

Gears of War 3

So here we are……..the end of the road for Delta Squad. This time out Marcus is looking for his dad, Santiago has grown a full blown hobo beard, Cole has shaved his head and Baird, well he is still good ol’ cocky Baird.  Delta Squad has a few new additions as well, Anya, Jace, and yet another Carmine. These new additions really help you to understand what the characters are going through and that the COG forces are really stretched and are struggling to save humanity itself.

The lambent have taken over from the horde, but for how long Im not too sure, I have a funny feeling the horde are back somewhere in the game, I’ve yet to see them yet. (Im only on Act I Chapter 4). This time it’s even longer with each act consisting of 6 Chapters and there are 5 Acts.

Delta Squad

Anyway, so what has been improved on this year? Well funnily enough the graphics look 10 times sharper than usual, the visuals in the videos are excellent and some of the best on 360 and in game visuals are top notch too. After playing LA Noire with EA’s new technique of making sure the characters say the words with its mouth rather than just making there mouth move, no game has really touched the same ground as it stands on, although GOW this year isn’t using the same technique, it doesn’t fall to short from it, the lip sync is very good and its nice to see EPIC giving it a good bash and trying to make the characters seem more real. The expressions on their faces are excellent and you can truly tell how they feel and what they are going through.

Marcus Fenix

One of the largest features they have improved on and it may sound mundane from the start, however it really helps your experience, there is now a new menu system in which you can look at what level you are depending on how well you have done in previous campaigns (GOW 1 & 2) and depending on how well you have/are done/doing in GOW 3’s Campaign and Multiplayer depends on how much XP you have, (the Highest Level being 100 an d lowest level 1). Not only does it hold this feature but you can see how far you have progressed to getting your achievements, you can see the Medals and Ribbons you have attained in doing certain things in multiplayer (i.e. Get 2 Quick Kills : The Double!). This feature is an excellent addition and pops up on the screen when you have completed a particular task. As an added incentive players that have completed certain achievements and previous campaigns in GOW 1 & 2 are rewarded very well, I personally love this feature as it shows to other players what you have done, without looking at your achievements (I.E. complete campaign on highest difficulty and receive a particular Gun Skin or even a costume such as Cole wearing his thrashball uniform instead of cog uniform). Also in the menu system is the ability to quickly track where you are in the leader boards for all those people that want to game competitively. All in all there is something for everyone.

There are some new guns in the game, some of them I have no idea what they do as I have had no experience in wielding them:

Retro Lancer (with a Charging Bayonet)

Sawn-Off Shotgun

One Shot (The Ultimate Sniper Rifle)

Incendiary Grenade

The Digger Launcher

The Multi-Turret

Xbox 360 Cover

The multiplayer part of the game has continued on its brilliant route of being some of the best online experience in gaming. A few old maps have returned with great relief, one of my favourite maps of all time has returned; Gridlock except with a twist, it’s at night.

 There are now 6 game modes online:

-          Team Deathmatch

-          Warzone

-          Capture The Leader

-          King Of The Hill

-          Wingman

-          Execution

EPIC have also brought back casual mode for people to get used to the way GOW is played online.

Another mode has been added for online which is called Beast mode, which requires you to team up as the Horde/Lambent to take on Waves of COG Soldiers and heroes, so essentially it’s the same as the returning Horde mode except you are the horde rather than the COG, which I think is a nice twist to the mode.

I won’t be speaking much about the campaign as everyone knows what the campaign is about and what it has to offer, however I will say one thing and that is, from what I have seen it is ironically EPIC.



Anya



So overall, so far from what I have seen, it is an excellent addition and easily the best from the GOW Series, hopefully the ending will be as epic as the beginning. The graphics are outstanding and the new additions to the game modes and weapons are excellent and welcomed with great respect. I am really looking forward to playing the rest of the campaign and getting some good hours online.

Graphics: 9/10
Storyline: 10/10
Sound: 10/10
Replayability: 10/10
Overall: 9.5/10