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The Wire: Complete HBO Season 2

starring: Dominic West, Wendell Pierce, Lance Reddick, Idris Elba, Amy Ryder

October 10, 2005
Having been unimpressed with first series of The Wire, I only started watching this, the second series, due to the endless critical praise that I kept seeing every time I picked up a newspaper. And I'm glad I did. The second series of The Wire is a huge improvement on the first. The story is deliberately slow to get into its stride but nevertheless is compelling from the opening credits to the final fade. This is a high quality Police drama which shows the good and the bad in everyone; the criminals, the stevedores and the Police all have very human qualities, both strengths and weaknesses, and the divide between crime and order is a realistically hazy one. A highly realistic drama showing the pitfalls of Police investigative techniques, the ... Read More:

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The Wire: Complete HBO Season 3

starring: Dominic West, Idris Elba, Michael K. Williams, Sonja Sohn

February 05, 2007
Take a close look at the cover of the season three dvd and you will notice something: Avon and Stringer, together in the same car, but looking in different directions. That tells you all you need to know about these two 'brothers' in season three of The Wire. Whilst Stringer is greasing palms to make the most of the properties they control Avon is glad to be back in the game, keeping control of the corners, and regaining his place on the street. Season three brings us back to the problem of drugs in Baltimore and one man's plan to combat the problem. Major Colvin jokes at one stage that to meet the crime reduction targets he has been set he is going to legalise drugs. But his throwaway comment isn't too far from the truth. By creating zones where a ... Read More:

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28 Days Later/28 Weeks Later [2003]

starring: Cillian Murphy, Catherine McCormack, Rose Byrne, Jeremy Renner, Harold Perrineau
directed by: Danny Boyle, Juan Carlos Fresnadillo

September 10, 2007
28 Days Later was a great film and was a cute reminder of how basic we could be; Creme De Menthe and candles, Budgens booze counter, say no more. As for the film, great! To film London deserted was a feat in itself. The storyline was conventional (zombies/virus), but the way it was portrayed was exceptional. As for 28 Weeks Later, well, it was definitely a follow-on, but with it's own twist. The ending being the destruction of Europe by those saved at all costs was good. Will we see a third film..? Watch this space.

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The Reaping [2007]

starring: Hilary Swank, David Morrissey, Idris Elba, Stephen Rea, AnnaSophia Robb
directed by: Stephen Hopkins

August 20, 2007
This is a kind of reimagining of Rosemarie's baby, a scientist who spends her time debunking miracles or inexplicably odd environmental disasters is sent to a small town which is experiencing plagues of the biblical variety.

There are revelations about the scientist, why she has lost her faith, the town, they arent what they seem, and a child who is scapegoated by the townspeople as the source of the trouble.

While its not a total surprise (unless you where surprised by "twists" like that in The Sixth Sense) there is an entertaining "twist" just at the finish of the story, which leaves a kind of cliff hanger and talking point but doesnt leave you wondering what was going on or leaves you feeling like the movie's some how incomplete. ... Read More:

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Tyler Perry's Daddy's Little Girls [2007] (REGION 1) (NTSC)

starring: Gabrielle Union, Idris Elba, Louis Gossett Jr., Tasha Smith, Tracee Ellis Ross
directed by: Tyler Perry

June 12, 2007
I like Tyler Perry - ever since I saw 'Why Did I Get Married?' (the play version and then the film with Janet Jackson) - I wanted to see Daddy's Little Girls. I ordered it, and the day it arrived I sat down with my two eldest daughters to watch it.

It made me cry, it made me laugh, and it made me happy. Yes, it was corny and cliched. Yes, it ended too soon. And some of the characters were definitely only 2 dimensional.

But for all of that, I felt it was a film that showed that black men love their kids too, can be there for them, and that love should not depend on your income or status.

Heartily recommend.

P.S. Idris Elba is seriously FINE!!!!

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The Reaping [HD DVD] [2007]

starring: Hilary Swank, David Morrissey, Idris Elba, Stephen Rea, AnnaSophia Robb
directed by: Stephen Hopkins

August 20, 2007
Very good movie, enjoyed it. There's a Stephen King feel about this movie but not exactly. Unusual happenings in a bible belt town in the US brings an expert investigator who has always had scieniic explanations to the miracles she has investigated. However this time she has tough questions to answer. Enjoyed the ending too. Actors do a great job too. Surprised that I did not hear about this movie before. Only bought it as HD DVD's were going very cheap at present. I would have given it 4.5 or 5 stars for enjoyment, but gave 4 stars as there are other movies and classics like some academy winning movies, and this is a comparative rating.
Also the HD DVD picture quality is very good.

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Gospel [2005]

starring: Clifton Powell, Boris Kodjoe, Idris Elba, Tamyra Gray, Omar Gooding
directed by: Rob Hardy

April 03, 2006
I thought this film was amazing i really touched me the music is also amazing it really made me get into the film more i would really like to know what the song is called on the funaral scene if so send me a messege or something on tomappleton123@hotmail.co.uk

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Sometimes In April

starring: Idris Elba, Noah Emmerich, Debra Winger
directed by: Raoul Peck

April 03, 2006
Sometimes in April is the real deal. It is ferocious in it's criticism of both Belgian colonialism and UN involvement in the genocide, in a way no other film has had the balls to do. It starts at the beginning of the route of the genocide, unafraid to lay blame where blame belongs - at the feet of the West who cowardly turned their backs on the 1994 consequences of their historical mess-ups. The main character is a Rwandan - none of this White Boy Saves Africa syndrome - and he honestly and convincingly portrays a human story as opposed to a sensational 'what kind of people would do that' narration that comes across in other films about the genocide. Peck is also deliberate in the scenes he choses to shoot - the lack of violence leaves the audience to consider the facts, ... Read More:

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Prom Night [2008]

starring: Brad Davis, Jessica Stroup, Brianne Davis, Brittany Snow, Kelly Blatz
directed by: Nelson McCormick

October 13, 2008
This film is an emotional thriller its brilliant to watch and has you on the edge of your seat all the way throught..love it!! x

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28 Weeks Later [Blu-ray] [2007]

starring: Robert Carlyle, Imogen Poots, Mackintosh Muggleton, Catherine McCormack, Rose Byrne
directed by: Juan Carlos Fresnadillo

October 29, 2007
It always frustrates me when people review the blu ray version of something, and then fail to mention how well it travels to this stunning new HD format. After all, if you weren't interested in that aspect of it, you would have stuck with DVD right?

28 Weeks Later is a sequel to the sleeper hit 28 Days Later, which was of course famous for being shot in a part-verite manner on video instead of film. This sequel obviously has a much bigger budget and scope (many of the aerial scenes of a deserted London obviously benefit from CGI, and there are some really big action setpieces involving snipers, helicopters and even the firebombing of the entire Isle of Dogs). However, it also (largely successfully) tries to maintain that gritty, handheld look that marked the first ... Read More: