So today I ordered my brand new monitor/TV, the Iiyama Prolite C480T from Overclockers. As it's technically a present for my 21st birthday, we put the order on my mum's VISA card. Five minutes later, the phone rings. It's an automated call claiming to be from Halifax, the VISA company. Without actually stating what the intention of the call is, it asks us to confirm details about the credit card, including the expiry date.

Now wait a minute, you say. Surely people aren't just going to enter credit card details during an unsolicited call that doesn't even let you speak to an actual person? Exactly, so we called up Halifax's help-line, and after a great deal of holding on the line, we were eventually informed that it was indeed a bona fide Halifax call, to confirm that my mum was aware that she had just debited a large amount of money to her credit card.

The bottom line is that I can't believe a credit card company would do a thing like that. To actually call someone up and ask them to hand over their credit card details without proving who they are strikes me as completely absurd and a really silly thing to do in an age where fraud is rife. If it had indeed been a fraud and we had been a bit more gullible, we would have promptly handed over the details to a complete stranger.

Anyway, no harm done at the end of the day. I look forward to receiving my monitor at some point this week.

Potential release dates have begun appearing for the DVDs of Dario Argento's Il Cartaio (The Card Player):

Italian DVD by Medusa: possibly July 7th
Source: Dark Discussion

UK DVD by Arrow: August 2nd according to Amazon
Source: Dark Discussion

There's also the US special edition from Anchor Bay in the pipeline, and I think it's to be expected that it will be the best of the lot, but when it will appear is anyone's guess. I think I may end up getting all three releases, knowing how little self-restraint I have, but I will for now definitely be getting the Italian release. If the UK release is similar or just a carbon copy I won't bother with it, but I'm 99% sure I'll also get the Anchor Bay when it materializes.

My Little Eye is a fairly intriguing little film. A British production shot in Canada with an American and Canadian cast, this is essentially a "Big Brother" version of The Blair Witch Project. Basically, five people accept a challenge to live in isolation in a house for six months. If they last the full time, they all get $1 million. If one person walks, they all lose. It will all be broadcast over the internet to subscribers. Everything is fine until the last week or so, when things start going bump in the night and everyone starts becoming paranoid. The paranoia turns to desperation when it becomes clear that someone is trying to kill them. Of course, being shallow teens (or twentysomethings?), they decide it would be better to wait it out so they can win the money.

I'm really undecided as to whether this is a good film or not. Although The Blair Witch Project was probably a pretty original idea when it first came out, it's a style that has been done to death now. Shaky cameras, digital video, grainy footage, things going bang off-screen, hysterical young adults screaming and saying "fuck" a lot... you get the picture, I assume. It's done reasonably well, but the pay-off is far from satisfying, and at times it pretty blatantly breaks the rules by showing footage that could never possibly have been captured by a hidden camera. I'll probably have to watch it again to make my mind up about it, but my reaction so far has been fairly luke-warm. 5/10, possibly 6/10.

Decent film. It's ridiculously biased and quite obviously edited to milk Michael Moore's point of view to the utmost, but I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing. All filmmaking, especially documentary filmmaking, is going to be biased, and this type of material is essentially preaching to the choir. I very much doubt that anyone is going to come away from Bowling for Columbine with their opinions on gun control changed. Anti-gun people (I would count myself in this category) will probably have something of an "I told you so" response to the film, whereas gun nuts will just respond by pointing out the blatant manipulation and complete lack of objectivity. The documentary's biggest flaw is its structure: although it's all very interesting, it's messily edited and doesn't really seem to go in any specific direction, especially at the beginning.

Overall 4/5.

IGN has a great interview with Ralph Bakshi, where he talks about, among other things, the state of the animation industry and Peter Jackson's version of The Lord of the Rings.

My brother had his last exam yesterday (that's him finished with school now), so today, to celebrate, the whole family went to Pizza Hut at Braehead Shopping Centre for lunch. Afterwards, while perusing HMV, I discovered that they had a special offer of three DVDs for £20. Being too good to pass up, and wanting to spend my compensation money from Royal Mail, I decided to take a gamble and buy three DVDs that looked interesting, so I selected Ed Wood, Tim Burton's black and white comedy about the famous director; Bowling for Columbine, the anti-gun documentary by sweaty hippo Michael Moore (I'd already seen most of it on TV); and My Little Eye, a horror movie that supposedly puts an interesting spin on reality TV. I also bought Donnie Darko, which believe it or not I have never seen. For shame!

I unreserved Scary Movie 3. I'm not convinced I'll have enough time to give it a fast turnaround and still deliver a decent review.

Just when I was thinking TV was going to suck this summer, it seems that Channel 4 have mended their ways and actually picked some interesting contestants for this year's Big Brother. Actually, "interesting" is an understatement. "Downright ridiculous" is nearer the mark. Let's see, the contestants include:

1. Ahmed, the Muslim asylum seeker who hates gay people.
2. Marco, the most flamboyantly camp man on earth.
3. Jason, the nude model from Glasgow.
4. Kitten, the stereotypical anti-conformism butch lesbian.
5. Stuart, who describes himself as "the most intelligent person on earth".

While this may be going overboard, the reactions on the usual forums predictably amount to a whole lot of whining about it being "trash TV", "desperate" and "over the top", despite the fact that by and large these are the same people who moaned that last year's was too boring. Some people were just born to sit and bitch about things that don't particularly matter. This should be an entertaining diversion during the long and disgustingly sweaty summer months at least. And who knows? Maybe we'll get a bitch-fight between Ahmed and Marco?

I've listened to this CD most days since I got it, trying my best to get sick of it so I can be objective. So far, it hasn't succeeded. It's actually a damn good album.

Note: About a year ago I reviewed Madame Lavigne's previous album, Let Go -- my first and so far only CD review. This is something I desperately need to correct, because although I am not what you would call a music aficionado, I do listen to music quite a lot -- usually the same handful of albums and scores, admittedly -- and I would quite like to write a bit more about it. That said, I'll probably make Under My Skin my next review, just for completeness' sake. No telling when it will appear, though.

A lot of people have said that this album sounds more or less the same as the previous one. I disagree. There are similarities, to the extent that it's the same performer, and some of the ideas behind the songs are the same, but other than that she's grown out of her "I'm so different" phase. Only a couple of the songs have any overt reference to the "don't tell me what to do" mantra of the first disc. This second outing eschews the somewhat manufactured catchy numbers in favour of songs with a bit more weight behind them. Most of them are closer to what someone like Michelle Branch would sing (albeit with a slightly more rock-oriented edge), and only one song, He Wasn't (which is actually pretty good) recalls the more bratty, marketable sound of the first album. This one is a lot more reflective and exacting than Let Go, and although I don't think any of the songs are as good as the best ones on that previous CD (I'm thinking I'm With You and Naked primarily), it never sinks to the lows of the cringe-inducing Sk8r Boi and Complicated. This will probably really disappoint the teenybopper fans who like to dress up as Avril Lavigne and squeal the lyrics while musing about how different they are and how the whole world hates them. Not only has she ditched the oversized tie, she's also matured well beyond her noxious fans. Waaaah.

Overall: 4/5. When I wrote my review of Let Go I said that I hoped her next album would abandon her more obnoxious side in favour of the deeper, more mature element that it hinted at. Well, my hopes were realized. Congratulations, Madame L. You've put out a decent CD that feels a lot more genuine than your previous work.

Note: One thing that bugs me about this CD is that the UK release includes a bonus track at the end that has a lot more in common with her earlier work than the rest of the disc. I wouldn't mind this inclusion if it didn't come directly after a much more sombre and reflective piece in which she sings about her dead grandfather. It's like when something tragic has happened in a TV show, and as soon as the credits start rolling the announcer jubilantly breaks in to flog the latest reality TV fad.

One more thing: I spent ages trying to work out why this CD had a "Parental Advisory: Explicit Content" label slapped on it. Eventually I realized that, for some people, the words "shit" and "ass" require this kind of fanfare. So there ya go, parents. Don't buy this CD if your kids have sensitive ears. (They even went as far as to asterisk these words out in the lyrics found in the little booklet inside the case. I ask you.)

It turns out that the Chinese Tom and Jerry set is not quite uncut. Mammy Two-Shoes has been completely removed (badly) from the cartoon Puss 'n' Toots. However, I have not yet found any other cuts, so overall this is still a fantastic set.

Bear in mind, also, that the MGM logo at the start of each cartoon has been replaced by a cheesy "Buddha Video" logo.

About a week ago I won an auction on eBay for the Chinese 6-DVD set of Tom and Jerry, featuring every single one of Hanna and Barbera's films of the ferocious feline and mischievous mouse, barring the later Cinemascope cartoons. Not only that, but this set presents these whimsical animated delights in their original uncut form. No overdubbing of Mammy Two-Shoes or removal of blackface gags here! The quality is a bit crappy (looks sub-laserdisc to me, but I doubt it's VHS-sourced), but the quality of the cartoons shines through. This is an absolutely amazing set, so if you find it, don't pass up the opportunity to buy it. It's even region-free, so people still living in the world of police state DVD will even be able to play it (assuming their TVs support NTSC)!

Source: SignOnSanDiego.com

Moral panic and fiery fury are spreading throughout America today with the news that manufactured music giant MTV has manufactured a channel specifically aimed at viewers of the homosexual bent (swish!). No doubt we can expect lots of music videos featuring Richard Simmons, Boy George, Elton John and N*Sync.

Okay, I'll stop now.

Seriously, I applaud this decision by MTV. I just think it's a real shame and a worrying relfection of society that a special channel has to be created in order to incorporate the tastes of people with "alternative" lifestyles.

About two weeks ago a cardboard box containing the DVDs of The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King and Walt Disney Treasures: Walt Disney on the Front Lines left the offices of DVD Pacific in sunny Florida, home of retarded Governer Jeb Bush and his horrible lackeys. But that's beside the point. The point is that it hasn't turned up, and while it's always possible that Jeb intercepted it and decided to prevent a foreigner such as myself from getting his greasy mits on it, it is far more likely that the neanderthal hoodlums at Royal Mail in sunny Britain have somehow mislaid it, and if Channel 4's recent documentary Third Class Post is anything to go by, is probably right now being kicked around a nicotene-carpeted office floor, stamped on or stolen. The fact that I have since received two DVDs that were dispatched a significant amount of time after this package does not bode well. Also, DVD Pacific's web site tells me that they are not responsible for non-courier shipments that go missing, and as an international customer I have to wait up to 45 days to contact them regarding the matter. Hopefully it'll turn up eventually, no soubt sodomized and stamped with a customs charge from the goons at Mount Unpleasant, but I don't think I'm that lucky.

Don't Torture a Duckling (R0 USA) is my first introduction to Lucio Fulci, a giallo director most renowned for his exaggerated and sadistic gore than for any real artistic skill. This film, however, is generally regarded as an exception to the rule, and I have to say that it was a pretty well put-together film.

The film deals with a remote Italian village in the mountains, where an unknown killer is murdering various obnoxious little boys (you know, the kind that fire slingshots at animals just for the hell of it). At first it seems like it might be the village idiot, but pretty quickly it becomes clear that he is an innocent bystander. There are plenty of suspects, including the pushy reporter from out of town, the village priest, the mad woman who lives in a cave, the rich modern woman who winds up horny pre-pubescent boys by strolling around nude, offering them some action and then not showing up... You get the picture. A typical giallo cast, all with something odd about them. What's most interesting about this film is its complete lack of a single protagonist. This means that absolutely no-one is off the hook: every single person is a potential suspect. While this works well for the mystery aspect, it hurts the pacing a little, as at times it just feels as if the camera is wandering around, following different characters with no real purpose.

It's an intriguing film, though. While Lucio Fulci certainly doesn't have the artistic eye of Dario Argento or (I suspect, having not seen any of his films but having heard a great deal about him) Mario Bava, he is reasonably competent behind the camera, with lots of wide panning shots, abrupt zooms and careful framing. There is actually very little gore in the film, barring a brutal flailing scene and the over-the-top and unrealistic demise of the villain at the very end. I enjoyed the film overall, but I would have to say that it's not amazing. I very much doubt that I'll pick up more of Fulci's work, at least at the present time, particularly if this is regarded as his best work.

8/10

PS. The dubbing is dreadful, and the transfer on the DVD appears to come from a laserdisc.

My compensation cheque for the damaged Chance poster finally turned up today: £28. Never let it be said that complaining gets you nowhere. This is the first time I've ever complained about this sort of thing, and I expect that I will do it again in the future if I ever have cause to. As a result, I've more or less got the Chance DVD and poster for free, which does a great deal to placate the stinging feeling of having parted with close to £30 for it.

...Censors.

There's not a lot that needs to be said on this, but I think I'm going to say it anyway. I can't understand the thoughts of those who want to censor things, be they films, TV shows, books, comics, songs or whatever. It just makes no sense to me. What goes on inside the heads of people like that? They must be mentally unbalanced at least. I mean, what kind of mental make-up does it take for someone to arbitrarily cut someone else's work and think they're doing a good thing? Do they go home to their significant others and say "Great day at the office, honey! I just butchered someone's pride and joy!" Obviously there's something I'm not getting, because people like these do exist, and they must have a good reason for thinking the way they do. Perhaps it's a power trip: they just like the idea of having control over what someone else is allowed to release into the public. There's no place in a civilized society for censorship, that's for sure.

Source: alt.animation.spumco

Spumco's Stephen Worth has confirmed that there will be a DVD release of the original Spumco Ren & Stimpy episodes, uncut, in the near future, featuring commentaries, still galleries and more.

I heard today that there's a R&S DVD in the works... all the original Spumco episodes. There'll be audio commentary, and John is hoping to get them to include a special treat along with it as a supplement... I don't want to jinx it, but I'll let you know if they go for it.

I've reserved the review copy of Scary Movie 3 at DVD Times. The first was quite funny, the second was crap, so I wonder how this installment will work out? With a change of directors -- from the Wayans Brothers to Naked Gun director David Zucker -- I'm expecting a significantly different style.

Charlie over at Dark Discussion has written a very interesting brief history of the Technicolor Italy cinematographic process Techniscope, a 2.35:1 format that was prolific in gialli throughout the 1970s. Check it out here.

Technicolor Italy introduced Techniscope commercially in 1962 as a cheaper route to allow filmmakers access to the big-budget 'look' of a 'scope movie, and the ever visually-minded Italians leapt on the format like a pack of bloodthirsty dogs. Techniscope's relative cheapness was chiefly derived from its need for little outlay to switch from standard stock, most importantly in its ability to utilise standard spherical lenses rather than requiring expensive new anamorphic ones. There were other factors too, all of which combined to allow Techniscope stock to be shot in standard cameras with far less wastage. Technicolor in America were taken by surprise by the format, developed as it was by their Rome office. Although a handful of US movies were shot in the format, Technicolor actively discouraged US producers from buying the stock.

I haven't watched the entire unrated cut yet, but I've looked at most of the extras (barring the commentary) and glanced at the new transfer.

First of all, the extras aren't really hugely impressive. This is certainly nothing like the extensive treatment Columbia gave Panic Room earlier this year. There isn't much on the second disc, and although there are perhaps three new featurettes, the rest are carried over from the earlier release. On disc 1 there is an interesting enough one-hour documentary about the so-called history of vampires and werewolves that is something like what you would find on the Discovery Channel during the summer holidays. It's intriguing, but sort of silly at the same time.

The transfer is fairly different from the previous one. The colours look about the same, but it is noticeably sharper. At least some of this increased sharpness, however, is due to additional edge enhancement, and while I think there is a bit more detail as well (I'll have to do a detailed analysis to make sure), the edge enhancement adds a fair bit of ringing on occasions. I originally gave the transfer for the theatrical cut DVD a 10/10, but I think that, looking back on it, it's more of a high 9. I think this new transfer would also be a 9: both work out as being about equal in terms of quality, but for different reasons.

I got a pretty large amount of mail this morning:

- A card urging me to vote in the upcoming European elections (unfortunately, there are no nipples on it either).
- The R1 Canadian DVD of Underworld (2-disc unrated director's cut). It comes in a very cool case and features a miniature comic book.
- The R0 USA DVD of Lucio Fulci's Don't Torture a Duckling, a giallo I recently ordered.
- The CD of Avril Lavigne's second album, Under My Skin. The case is filled with logos warning of strict copy protection, but right this minute it's ripping to my hard drive through Creative Playcenter. Suck my dick, BMG Copy Control! I paid for the frickin' thing, so I'll do what I want to do with it. Avril says "don't tell me what to do", so please respect her oh-so-original attitude. I have a feeling it's going to become popular with teenagers in the very near future.

I've reviewed The Giallo Collection (R0 USA) at DVD Times.

Source: Melon Farmers

The British Cinema Advertising Association (CAA) has ordered the sight of a bare nipple to be removed from an advertisement urging people to vote in the European parliamentary elections that is due to be screened in cinemas throughout the continent. Apparently the sight of a child being breast-fed upsets these people. Never mind the fact in everywhere else in Europe (except Ireland, which is not showing the commercial at all) the thing will be screened unmolested. This is laughable. It really is.

They're

just

breasts

you

fucking

wackos

They come in all shapes and sizes, and they never did any harm to anyone. Quite the opposite, in fact. They provide nourishment for children and pleasure for adults. So next time you see a naked breast, don't run shrieking for cover. Instead, appreciate the wonderous creation that is the bosom.

Legacy Animation, the studio formed by a number of laid-off Walt Disney Feature Animation Florida artists, is no more.

Source: Animation Nation

Source: DVD Times

The cover art, specs and release date (August 10th) have been announced for the US DVD release of Kill Bill Vol. 2. As far as I am aware nothing was cut from the Western releases of Vol. 2 (unlike Vol. 1), so I'll probably just get this or the UK release this time round.

Source: Dark Discussion

David Cronenberg's Videodrome is getting the Criterion treatment, with a 2-disc set featuring a director-supervised transfer, two audio commentaries, and loads of other extras. Crash has been growing on me, so I might end up checking out this, and his other Criterion-released film, Naked Lunch.

I haven't updated the Jokes and Funny Quotes page for ages, but this exchange really put a smile on my face. It deals with some obnoxious comments that the ever-moronic right-wing, gun-toting prat known as Charleton Heston made about Sarah Polley, a Canadian actor with somewhat left-wing views.

So what? Every day there's someone somehwere who's angry at me.
--Sarah Polley, commenting on Charlton Heston's remarks about her

Having one of those reds in a position to influence our children is unthinkable.
--Charlton Heston

Isn't red one of the colors of the American flag?
--Sarah Polley

Hello, happy people! Recently I was looking through my very earliest news postings on Whiggles.tk, and I came to the shocking realization that, back in the Autumn of 2001, I had a lot of hatred in me. I was consumed by a burning passion to crucify several groups of people and burn their children at the stake. The old Whiggles.tk mentality was essentially a process of: (1) take something that ticks me off slightly, (2) magnify the effect this has on me by about 1000, (3) make a long-winded and vitriolic post about it, and (4) insert at least one "fuck" or "shitface" per sentence for good measure. Since then, I have mellowed out. I no longer hate each and every person in the world, and it is no longer my desire to cause offense to everyone who reads my site (although I might still offend some people, it is no longer my primary goal). The focus of the site has, overall, changed.

That said, from time to time I still get an uncontrollable urge to spew out all my inner hatreds. And that is precisely what this page is for. The I Hate... page is a continually updated list of people, phrases and things which annoy me. I like to think I am a relatively tolerant person, but from time to time someone will say or do something that will just drive me round the bend. Small children, for example. People on the bus who talk to someone three seats away on their cell phones. Without further ado...

I hate...

If you only read one DVD review this week, read this hilarious one by Mike Sutton at DVD Times, as he traipses through the wonderful world of dreadful music that is Phil Collins and his husky, voiceless wailings.

The next number, “Billie Don’t Lose My Number” is very 1985 in every respect. It’s got meaningless lyrics – it never seems to be established whether the eponymous Billie is male or female – and an electro-pop backing that was dated when it was recorded and sounds even more risible now. The crowning touch of naff-appeal are the echo effects which have been laid on in an effort to make the song sound even worse than it is. I’ve been trying to work out the story of the song and have failed miserably. At one point, Billie is exhorted to keep hiding because the narrator is on his/her side; at the next, he/she is told that he/she has to run for his/her life; then, that he/she is nowhere that the narrator can’t find him; then that nobody, including the narrator, knows where to find him/her. I’m sure that this could be represented – and potentially solved - by a mathematical formulae. If anyone can come up with one, send it to me care of DVD Times. The song ends with an orgasmic cry of BILLLLIIEEE from Mr Collins that excites him so much that he has to remove his jacket. That’s the hottest action of the evening.

It has just occurred to me that I have only slightly over a month to write my 6000 word dissertation. That includes collecting data, analyzing it, writing the 6000 words, handing it in for checking, making corrections, and getting it bound. This scares me a great deal. I'd better get to work on it.

Source: Flagship Studios

Flagship Studios, the game development company set up by the disgruntled former Blizzard North bosses, has announced that their publisher will be the mighty Namco. Although they don't have any details as to the specifics of their upcoming game, there is some cool concept art on their site, and they say it will be an RPG. There's also an interview with Flagship CEO Bill Roper at Silven Crossroads.

Good news, people (or at least good news for me). Blue Underground is working on a follow-up to Anchor Bay's excellent The Giallo Collection. Volume 2 will include the following films: Death in the Cat's Eyes, Strip Nude for your Killer, Forbidden Photos of a Lady Under Suspicion, Girl with the Yellow Pajamas, The Fifth Cord, and Death Laid an Egg. Gotta love those titles!

Source: Gorezone (scroll down a bit)

This link also lists Blue Underground's upcoming Four Flies on Grey Velvet (the lost Argento), although no specs as of yet.

I've made some big improvements to the News Archive. It now includes all the layout and formatting of the main site, making everything look much more integrated. For example, here's this month's archive.

Source: Animation Nation

There is an absolutely great letter on Newsday.com which shows that at least some members of the public are most definitely of the opinion that Disney chucking 2D animation is a bad thing. The situation is summed up extremely nicely by this eighth-grader:

During spring break, my family and I took the animation studio tour at MGM Studios in Florida. A man showing us a few sketches and backgrounds from the new Disney movie "Home on the Range," said something startling. He said that Disney plans to stop making animated movies drawn by hand and shift to the newer 3-D computer animation technique, which was used in such hits as "Toy Story" and "Finding Nemo."

When we heard this, almost everyone in the room gasped. How could Disney end all those years of wonderful 2-D animation in favor of a computer?

[...]

I am sure that if he were still alive today, Walt Disney would definitely not be one happy guy. The tradition of beautifully hand-drawn feature-length Disney movies, starting with "Snow White" in 1937, will be gone. The legacy that Walt Disney devoted his whole life to will be swept away with the click of a mouse.

Yes, it's here ahead of schedule. I got tired of waiting and decided to set up Whiggles.tk version 6 before the end of the month. Movable Type was actually quite a bit easier to configure than I was expecting, and it's certainly much less hassle than updating manually. It gives me more incentive to post stuff, too.

So what's changed?

Well, first of all, you'll probably notice the new bar along the top of the screen. This is a nice little Javascript that David at The Unlucky 13 discovered. I think it works quite well. If a section has sub-sections (and that includes News, DVD & LD and Misc.), mousing over them will bring up a drop-down menu, which in my opinion speeds things up quite a bit.

I went through the manual news posts for this month and converted them all to Movable Type, so you can see them all right now. News for the previous months is now in a zip file in the News Archive.

I got rid of a few of the crappier Opinion articles, as well as all of my DVD reviews that were hosted here. (My DVD Times reviews are still available, of course.) I decided that the DVD reviews here were way below the standard I am now capable of, so I may revisit them at some point. In any event, most of my reviews are at DVD Times, so there's not much missing.

There's a whole lot of new stuff planned in the weeks to come, including a special section where I bitch about things that tick me off, as well as (hopefully) some new image comparisons and a bunch of other stuff I haven't come up with yet.

So, enjoy the new site, and if you have any feedback you'd like to give me, you can either let me know via email, or via the much-missed comments option.

Often with box sets, the final film is a disappointment. Not so with The Giallo Collection: in fact, I think they've saved the best for last. The Bloodstained Shadow surprised me -- in a positive way -- on a number of occasions: the superb performance by Craig Hill, the appearance of Stefania Casini from Suspiria, Stefania Casini's nude scene (hehe), the identity of the killer... it's all good. An excellent giallo. The story centres around a young university professor who returns to his home town of Venice to visit his brother, a priest. Strange things start happening as members of a séance cult are stalked and killed off. This is the only film in the collection to be shot in 1.85:1 instead of 2.35:1, and it is visually very different. It was made at the tail end of the 1970s, when people seemed to be losing interest in giallos, whereas the other three were all shot at the beginning of the decade, when the giallo was at the height of its popularity. It has a more naturalistic look, but that's not a bad thing. There are a number of great set-pieces, including a lengthy stalk scene in broad daylight, and a great scene with a falling crucifix.

Any problems? Well, one thing that bothered me was the somewhat conservative viewpoint of the film. In particular, I found the portrayal of the paedophile character way too stereotypical: a rich, posh old man who is also gay. It just seemed tacky and obvious. Overall, though, a solid 9/10. Excellent film: I'll be checking out more of Antonio Bido's work.

Picture: 8/10. This may be the sharpest-looking in the set, but it is let down by a slightly green tint and a number of moments of heavy damage. Audio: 5/10. As usual, mixed too quiet, but slightly clearer than the other films. Let down, however, by a rather long stretch in the middle that features a lot of crackling and distortion (coinciding with the print damage). Extras: 3/10 -- great interview with Bido, a filmography, and a trailer. The usual suspects.

Overall: 8/10.

And this gives us a grand total for The Giallo Collection of 8/10. Well worth the buy despite the sound quality and relative lack of extras.

I've reviewed Wizards (R1 USA) at DVD Times.

The third film in The Giallo Collection, The Case of the Bloody Iris, is a reasonably interesting whodunit affair, with a decent list of suspects, but overall I found its style a little off-putting. The film has a very stark, brightly lit and almost ugly look to it, a far cry from the richness of the previous two films. Furthermore, I couldn't help thinking that a rather interesting angle involving a group sex cult was dropped way too early, to the extent that it seemed to have little to do with the story itself. The performances are neither here nor there, but once again a number of the characters are quite badly dubbed. Overall 7/10 -- more enjoyable than Who Saw Her Die? but definitely not as good as Short Night of Glass Dolls.

Image quality: 7/10. This one is much more washed-out and a bit blurrier than the other two, and there are a few scenes with some very odd film damage: it looked a bit like excessive water spots to me. Audio: 5/10. Extras: 1/10 -- all that's included is a trailer and an alternate (i.e. censored) version of one of the stabbing scenes.

Overall: 6/10.

The second film in The Giallo Collection, Short Night of Glass Dolls, is a much more intriguing affair than Who Saw Her Die? Told in an unconventional manner, it opens with the discover of the body of a dead man. However, the man's mind is still working, and he attempts to work out how he ended up "dead". Set in Soviet Prague (it being the 1970s and all), there are a lot of conspiracy theories, crazy accents and evil policemen, resulting in a strong plot that continually surprises. The performances are all pretty good, although as usual the dubbing is weak. In particular, I very much liked Barbara Bach in the role of the girlfriend who suddenly disappears without a trace. She had very nice... uh, talents. The cinematography is also very strong, much more vivid than Who Saw Her Die? (Both films were directed by Aldo Lado.) Overall 8/10, since while it's solid it isn't exactly groundbreaking, and I also felt that there were a few moments in the middle where the pacing sagged and the whole thing became less interesting.

Image quality: another 8/10. A little soft in places, and there are a few missing frames here and there, but once again the encoding is masterful. Audio: same as before, so another 5/10. The extras, too, are a 3/10: essentially, this is the same package as Who Saw Her Die?

Overall: 7/10.

Two down, two to go. I'm debating whether to watch The Bloodstained Shadow or The Case of the Bloody Iris next.

My review copy of Wizards (R1 USA) arrived this morning. I'm not particularly impressed with the film, I must admit. It's rambling and inconsistent, the cel animation sucks (the rotoscoped stuff looks cool though), and I find the use of Nazi propaganda films and World War 2 stock footage somewhat distracting and more than a bit pretentious. The 30-minute interview on the disc with Ralph Bakshi is a lot more entertaining.

Full review coming by Friday, I think.

You may remember the debacle of the damaged Chance poster from a few weeks ago. If you've forgotten, here is a little reminder:

See, I'm quite happy to have Amber Benson's name scrawled on the poster. I am not, however, happy with the neat little personal signature Royal Mail added. This signature is called "folding the fucking thing in half and covering it with dents and scratches". I filled out a compensation claims form the day I received it but, surprise surprise, heard nothing from the pirates at Royal Mail. So today I got on to them, and the apologetic telephone monkey on the other end of the line more or less kissed my ass profusely and awarded me compensation of £28. Not bad, considering I paid around £30 for the poster, DVD and shipping combined. See? Complaining does work sometimes.

I've watched the first film in The Giallo Collection: Who Saw Her Die? This film deals with a sculptor living in Florence whose young daughter is murdered and her body dumped in the canal. Our hero (played by George Lazenby, who was also James Bond for a brief period) sets out to track down the killer, but predictably soon finds his own life in jeopardy. This is a pretty straightforward giallo: it doesn't really spring any surprises and sticks pretty rigidly to the standard formula. The performances are reasonably good, although the dubbing on the child characters is unanimously awful. The photography is decent and Ennio Morricone's score is, as usual, strong. I think I need to watch the other films in the collection before commenting on its quality as a whole, but I would give Who Saw Her Die? a 6/10.

The DVD transfer is pretty strong: slightly soft at times, but no visible edge enhancement and not too much noise reduction applied. 8/10. The audio is less strong: it's the original mono recording, but it's a little on the scratchy side and by and large mixed too quiet. 5/10. Also included is a 12-minute interview with director Aldo Lado, a biography for Lado, and the original trailer. 3/10.

Overall: 6/10.

One down, three to go. I'll also be doing a full review of the box set for DVD Times at some point in the future.

Oh yeah, and I'm also getting a review copy of Fox's R1 release of Ralph Bakshi's Wizards, which includes a commentary from the man himself. I haven't seen the film before, so I'm looking forward to seeing if it is as stylistically interesting as the flawed but fascinating The Lord of the Rings.

The Giallo Collection (R0 USA) arrived this morning. Four films in one. :)

Whiggles.tk v6 is almost complete, but I'll be holding its release back until June 1, because I plan on switching back to Movable Type for news updates and want to keep the News Archives organization relatively straightforward but not starting the new set until the beginning of the month. You can probably expect the site to go down for a day or so at that stage whilst me and Lyris wrangle with the idiotic intricacies of Movable Type and its bamboozling configuration.

Spirited Away was good fun, although unfortunately it was spoiled slightly by a family sitting behind me who had a number of young children who squirmed and jumped about throughout the whole screening. I've never understood young children who feel the need to vocalize everything they see. "Dragon!" they squealed when dragon Haku appeared on the screen. "That's Chihiro!" on numerous occasions. Gah. The film, of course, looked much better on film: the look is much darker and higher in contrast than the DVD, and being alive with grain makes it feel more legitimate. Colour-wise it looks like a completely different movie: there's way more blue in it, and stuff that looks grey on the DVD is black on the big screen. Overall film remains much more aesthetically pleasing than digital.

I've reviewed the R2 Japanese DVD of Mizu No Onna (Woman of Water) at DVD Times.

The Glasgow Film Theatre is doing a one-off screening of Spirited Away tomorrow at 11.30 am. I will of course be going to see it. I've never seen it on the big screen, on a film print, before. I wonder whether it'll be the Japanese version or an English dub.

These made me laugh: hilarious "reviews" of The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions.

The Matrix Reloaded
The Matrix Revolutions

Source: DVD Times

Disney has unveiled the specs for its upcoming special edition DVD of Mulan. As I suspected, it will be a digital transfer (bah!), and there is a fair number of kiddie features and music videos. However, it is promising to note that there is a commentary, as well as progression reels and what is hopefully a decent making-of documentary.

On a side note, the cover art, available at Ultimate Disney, looks truly awful:

Wonderful Days (R3 Korea, Limited Original Edition) and Mizu No Onna (R2 Japan) both arrived this morning.

ATI users: the latest Catalysts have been released. Download here for Windows XP. Release notes here.

I've reviewed Alice in Wonderland (R1 USA Masterpiece Edition) at DVD Times.

The final version of Warcraft III patch 1.15 is now available. To download, either connect to Battle.net or go here. For a full list of what's changed, go here.

Battle Royale was on Channel 4 last night. (I swear, if they just disconnected all the other channels we wouldn't be missing anything, as 4 is usually the only one with anything worthwhile on offer.)

In case you've never heard of it, this is a Japanese film set in the near future, where juvenile crime levels have reached an all-time high. To help combat the rising violence, a new law has been implemented. Every year, one class of school kids is chosen at random and sent to an island, where they are made to fight to the death. Only one will survive. Each child wears a metal necklace and, after three days, if more than one person is still alive, the necklaces will explode, killing all the kids.

The film is pretty good. Not exactly as shocking as I was led to believe (although that is usually the case), it has a rather confused stance on the whole issue. On the one hand, it seems to be preaching a conservative "respect your elders" message, but on the other, it condemns the solution that is implemented to deal with the unruly kids. So what is the director's stance? Is it the kids who are the enemies, or the adults? No idea.

8/10. I'll probably pick up the DVD at some point, maybe nearer my birthday.

Source: Buffy.nu

It seems that a sixth season of Angel is currently in negotiation with NBC, who have said that they would be willing to produce the show if public interest is high enough. This sounds extremely good, since from what I've heard, the writers had great things planned for the sixth season before the WB cancelled the show (including the return of Oz, last seen in Season 4 of Buffy). David Boreanaz (Angel) has recently said that he is partially glad the show is ending, but if it was to continue I wonder if it might be possible to keep it going without him if he didn't want to do it (the title would be a problem though).

My 21st birthday is fast approaching, and my parents have promised me a larger than usual present. I've set my eyes on this very impressive TFT monitor:

http://www.iiyama.co.uk/pdf/c480t.pdf

The Iiyama Prolite C480T is a 19" monitor that doubles up as a progressive scan TV, complete with TV tuner and SCART and component inputs. It offers some very impressive features, including noise reduction, picture-in-picture, picture enhancement, image scaling (lets you toggle between stretching lower resolutions and displaying them windowed) and presets for watching movies and games. At Overclockers UK, this shells in at £752 which, as you can probably gather, is quite a lot. I'm not sure exactly how much my parents are willing to pay, but I'll definitely put something forward.

I've reviewed Cabin Fever (R1 USA) at DVD Times.

I've reviewed L'Uccello dalle Piume di Cristallo (The Bird with the Crystal Plumage) at DVD Times.

I've reviewed Door Into Darkness at DVD Times.

I actually watched Crash some days ago, but forgot to do a write-up. Mainly, that's because my response to it was somewhat lukewarm. This is the film that rags like the Daily Mail tried to have banned, but in reality there's very little in it that is even remotely shocking. It's just people having sex with each other, sometimes inside cars, sometimes not. To some extent it toys with the connection between danger and sex, suggesting that tension heightens the pleasure derived from the old koo-koo-katchoo. In reality, though, none of the characters are particularly interesting, so I found it hard to really care about what happened. I'm assuming the austere, detached atmosphere was what Cronenberg was going for, but I'm sure I would have been more interested if the lead hadn't been such a bland, reactionary feller.

6/10

Still, Cronenberg seems like an interesting director. I need to see some more of his work. Who knows, I might buy the Criterion Naked Lunch at some point.

I've reviewed Chance (R0 USA) at DVD Times.

Beyond Divinity arrived this morning. Very fun, but a little confusing at times. It's more puzzle-oriented than Divine Divinity.

I've now completed the demo and ordered the full game (there's a special offer at the Beyond Divinity web site where you can order a soundtrack CD and signed novel). This is a very different game from Divine Divinity. It's much more like a Baldur's Gate game than Divine Divinity, which was more like Diablo. I like it. I also find the new skill system quite interesting. The storyline seems good too.

Yesterday when I was in town I finally found something to spend my HMV vouchers (which I got when I returned Spirited Away) on. I bought the UK DVDs of Bound and Crash.

Bound first (I haven't finished watching Crash yet). This film was the directorial debut of the Wachowski brothers, better known as the gentlemen behind The Matrix and its two horrible sequels. The good news is that Bound is an infinitely superior movie to the Matrix line-up: it's well-made, surprising, and unpretentious. (By the way, the US DVD is censored, so if you're interested in this movie, get it from elsewhere.)

Yesterday I went to see Kill Bill Vol. 2. Overall, I would say I enjoyed it about as much as the first volume, but it wasn't as consistent. The first part of the film was actually quite boring: very slow-paced, not all that interesting. It started becoming enjoyable once it cut to the flashback footage of the Bride being trained by Pai Mei, the crazy old kung fu man who keeps stroking his beard. It's a very long-winded film -- it feels at times like it should have been edited down a bit more -- but overall I enjoyed it. Make sure you stay for the credits: they're great.

Overall: 8/10

Recently, I've been playing the PC RPG Divine Divinity a lot. Despite its silly title, it's actually a very good game with a large world, decent quests and a reasonably good character system. Another game in the "Divinity" world, Beyond Divinity, is coming out pretty soon, and there is a demo available. From what I've read about it, it looks pretty good and I'll probably end up getting it.

Read more about the game here.

Download the demo here.

I've reviewed Kill Bill Vol. 1 (R2 Japan) at DVD Times.