Category: Reviews

DVD REVIEW-FAST GIRLS

Fast Girls is a film that tried to cash in on the Olympics but was not allowed to use the words “Olympics,” “London,” and “2012.” As a result, the film revolves around a group of female athletes training for the fictional 2011 World Championships. Co-written by Noel Clarke and directed by newcomer Regan Hall, the movie is billed as a comedy/drama, but it fails to deliver on both fronts.

The film stars Lenora Crichlow (Being Human) as Shania, a talented sprinter from the ‘wrong side of the tracks’ who is approached by relay coach Tommy (Clarke) to join the team. However, she struggles to be a team player. While it is refreshing to see a British production with strong female leads, Fast Girls quickly becomes a cliché-ridden film. The romance between Shania and Carl feels contrived, and the movie falls back on the same old tropes we’ve seen in countless other films.

Noel Clarke’s performance as Tommy is rather bland, and it feels like he wasn’t the original actor cast for the role. Phil Davis has little more than a cameo as Shania’s original coach, and it’s a waste of his talent. While the film does engage the audience at times, it’s hard to stay interested when the plot is so predictable. The “feel good” climax is the icing on the cake of this disappointing film.

Overall, Fast Girls is a film with potential, but it fails to deliver on its promises. The strong female leads are refreshing, but the plot is predictable and clichéd, and the performances are lackluster. If you’re looking for a film about female athletes that delivers on its promises, this one falls short.

⭐⭐

    • Behind the Scenes: Cast Training/ Costume Design/ The Relay/ Fast Girl Championship/ Night Shoot.
    • Interviews: Lenora Chrichlow/ Lily Jame/ Noel Clarke/ Bradley James/ Regan Hall/ Rupert Graves/ Lorraine Burroughs/ Lashana Lynch/ Dominique Tipper/ Damian Jones/ Ben Rimmer/ Shani Anderson/ Jeanette Kwakye.
    • Trailer

Episode 69: The Dark Knight trilogy

In which Martyn and Ash are joined by Martyn’s friend, Chris. The trio is joined by Phil from the who’s he podcast.

They discuss Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy. The Dark Knight Series is a set of three Christopher Nolan Batman movies. It includes Batman Begins (2005), The Dark Knight(2008), and The Dark Knight Rises (2012). Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Gary Oldman, Morgan Freeman, and Cillian Murphy appeared in all three movies.

The Trilogy is considered by many to be one of the best of all time. Batman’s grounded portrayal was universally acclaimed.

The podcast is available from all good podcast services, such as but not limited to Amazon Music, Podchaser, Player FM, Stitcher, and Apple Podcasts.

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Check out one of Ash’s other podcast Hammered Horror



Blu-Ray review: Woman in black

What makes The Woman in Black so refreshing is its adherence to old-school psychological horror, featuring an isolated and haunted mansion, rocking chairs, beheaded dolls, random screams, mysterious deaths, untold secrets, dangerous silence, suspiciously hostile locals, a hallucination sequence, and horrifying consequences. While some eyebrows were raised when Daniel Radcliffe was announced as the leading man, his performance as Arthur Kipps, a down-on-his-luck solicitor, is captivating. Despite spending much of the film alone in the haunted mansion, Radcliffe manages to hold your attention throughout.

Arthur is tasked with settling the affairs of the late Mrs. Alice Drablow, but upon arriving in the remote town, he is met with hostility from the villagers who clearly do not want him there. As Arthur unlocks the secrets of the mansion and the land, the story’s haunting mood is established effortlessly by director James Watkins. While the build-up is slow and steady, the payoff is worth it.

The Edwardian setting itself is unnerving, and the film’s cinematography, creepy sound effects, and Marco Beltrami’s eerie background score only add to the chilling atmosphere. The Woman in Black is not a film for those expecting non-stop jump scares like in Saw, but for fans of classic horror, it is a must-see.

While younger audiences may not appreciate the film’s slow pace, Daniel Radcliffe’s performance, combined with the film’s gothic setting and haunting mood, makes The Woman in Black a standout horror film that proves Radcliffe’s talent beyond the Harry Potter franchise.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Episode 66: Shaun of the Dead

In which Martyn and Gerrod attempt to review Shaun Of The Dead.

WARNING: without Pete or Ash this episode turns filthy, fast.

The podcast is available from all good podcast services, such as but not limited to Amazon Music, Podchaser, Player FM, Stitcher, and Apple Podcasts.

Check out our Youtube.

Socials:

Twitter:

Martyn – @BadWilf

Gerrod –@InGerrodsMind

Pete – @BeeblePete

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Martyn-@BadWilf



‘Turtles’ reboot series previews at MCM

The self-published, 1984 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comic book brought artists Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird intense interest from media, movie studios, television and toymakers. Since then, the comic has continued with no end in sight and new rightsholder Nickelodeon intends the slew of animated series, toys and films to continue in force.

Eastman and a sneak preview of the latest CGI-animated series (illustrated at right) came to Britain’s largest genre event, the MCM London Expo this weekend. Also present was Rich Magallanes, a senior VP at Nick focussed on the series’ writing.



‘It comes from a sincere place’ was a phrase used more than once by Eastman. As an artist, he was also struck by the series’ extension of his classic New York skylines into ‘twenty city blocks’ and the re-introduction of the logo design he did back in the ’80s.

Another throwback to the original Turtles is their best human pal, April O’Neil.  Once more it’s she who names the turtles and she’s back in a laboratory instead of being reimagined as yet another plucky girl reporter.

Always controversial has been the direction of the original, violent parody toward a younger audience. ‘We’re trying to touch the whole family,’ says Magallanes, who notes that although ‘they’re not busting heads’ the turtles are still ‘world defenders,’ laying the smackdown upon a variety of inhuman baddies. Nevertheless, ‘they want to be teenagers first, playing around with each other and having fun.’

Magallanes considers the comic and films ‘extensions of the core series’ but both men are keen to allow the comics to remain true to their origins. Peter Laird is taking a much-needed break from the franchise but Eastman is working with IDW on issues of new and reprinted stories. Meanwhile, a fifth Turtles film is currently in production, by Transformers director Michael Bay.

When Bay described the turtles as ‘aliens’ recently instead of mutated Earth turtles, many fans went ballistic. As the movie is in a much earlier stage than the TV series the outcome of this controversy is unclear, although Eastman appreciates the fact that the famous ‘ooze’ that mutated the turtles in the first place can be considered alien in origin. Eastman: ‘Michael Bay’s heart is in exactly the right place.’

Like the film, the TV series will begin its story afresh. ‘We want to reset it and grow it even bigger,’ says Magallanes. He feels the story of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles lends itself to extended storytelling. ‘We get to live with it.’

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles premieres this autumn on Nickelodeon.

DVD REVIEW-Clone

Originally called ‘Womb’ this straight to DVD release has a pre-Doctor Who Matt Smith playing the recently deceased lover of Eva Green. It’s sat on the shelf for a couple of years, but due to Smith now being the Doctor, it’s finally getting a release.

Smith has recently died and Green has decided like you do to clone him and raise him as her son.
I was initially intrigued by the premise, it isn’t every day you see a sci-fi movie shot as an art-house flick and I think this movie shows us why. It is beautifully shot, but the pacing is slow and you find yourself switching off after about 10 minutes.

Any dramatic tension that could have been built up over the course of the movie is lost on beautifully stunning, but out of place shots of a beach.



Episode 65: The Avengers (Assemble)

In which Martyn, Gerrod and Ash take a look at The Avengers, or Avengers Assemble. Then Ash talks to two women about a puppet: Check out Ash’s excellent podcasts , Night’s at the round table. and Hammered Horror.

The show can be accessed via different places, including Miro, Stiticher, Blubrry and Itunes.

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Gerrod – @ingerrodsmind

Check out the Bad Wilf Vlog.

App review-Zombies, Run!

In this day and age, it isn’t easy to motivate yourself to go for a run. So along comes Zombies, run!.

It’s an episodic audio story, that turns your run into a game. It uses your iPhone’s GPS to track your pace. If you slow down, the moans and groans of the walking dead get louder. At £5.49 it’s cheaper and more fun than a gym membership.

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Film review-Avengers Assemble

In 2005 Marvel realised they could make their own movies, the problem was that they had sold the rights to all their A-list characters. All they had left was Ant-Man, Nick Fury, Hawkeye, Black Widow, Captain America, Twins who got their powers from unicorns and the recently acquired rights to an Iron Man film. They decided not to go with the unicorn twins, but instead with Iron Man and in 2008 they used the first “Iron Man” movie to lay the groundwork for The Avengers. Finally, in 2012 we get the most highly anticipated comic book movie of the past decade and it was worth the wait.



This is not just a Marvel movie, it’s also a Joss Whedon movie and fans of Whedon will spot his signature stamped all over it. The script is classic Whedon it’s smart, funny, dramatic, ridiculous, yet over-all brilliant. It reminds you why he was such a power-house on tv, back in the day.

The hardest challenge this movie faced was giving all The Avengers equal screen time and for the most part, they did.

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