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The Shield : Series 2

Childrens Toy Shop > DVD > Action and Adventure
starring: Michael Chiklis, C.C.H. Pounder, Catherine Dent, Walton Goggins

August 09, 2004
Anyone who read my review of Season 1 of The Shield is probably wondering why I subjected myself to this, the second season. My review for those who haven't read it (and why would you have) wasn't overly complimentary, in fact, it almost bordered on the negative. Well visiting the US on holiday earlier this year I caught an episode of Season 2 and for some reason felt a certain affection for the characters (particularly Dutch boy) and also realised that I quite missed a series with plot lines so bad they're funny. So to cut a long story the same length I purchased Season 2.

Now I'm not sure if with age my critical eye is becoming a little myopic or if I have developed a certain affection for The Shield like that for a really annoying ... Read More:

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La Haine (Special Edition) [1995]

Childrens Toy Shop > DVD > Action and Adventure
starring: Vincent Cassel, Hubert Kounde, Said Taghmaoui
directed by: Mathieu Kassovitz

September 27, 2004
Its rubbish. I persevered with up to half way, but could not take any more. Nothing happened and you simply do not care about the cliche characters. Do yourself a big favour and give this total bore a miss.

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Constantine [HD DVD] [2005]

Childrens Toy Shop > DVD > Action and Adventure
starring: Rachel Weisz, Keanu Reeves

November 20, 2006
The story is simple; self-centered John Constantine: Hellblazer (Keanu Reeves) did a "no no" in his youth ensuring him a place in the underworld and to compound the problem he is to be short lived due to a smoking habit.

Mean time he, due to his accident he has the ability to see angles and demons. Even though he is conceited and knows where he will be going he still finds time to do some good for mankind and in the process send a few demons back where they came from.

Something has gone horribly wrong with the balance. And with the aid of his young sidekick and a medium that is well done by (Rachel Weisz) he intends to get to the nature of the problem.

The character of Constantine comes from the DC comic world and ... Read More:

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Pirates Of The Caribbean - The Curse Of The Black Pearl - 1 disc [2003]

Childrens Toy Shop > DVD > Action and Adventure
starring: Johnny Depp, Lee Arenberg, Orlando Bloom, Keira Knightley, Geoffrey Rush
directed by: Gore Verbinski

May 22, 2006
As countless people have remarked the success of Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (*phew*) came as somewhat of a surprise given its origins as a ride at one of the Disney theme parks. The threat was that it would be a "comedy adventure", and we all know those words side by side normally lead to dire scripts, slapstick violence, and poor acting. Somehow though the whole thing came together wonderfully thanks to a number of factors.

Firstly there's the script. Its a tight beast that maybe could have done with the tiniest bit of trimming but not so much as to be a flaw. Its difficult to imagine how the cast couldn't have had a whale of a time delivering the lines they've been given. The crosses, and double crosses that ... Read More:

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Deadwood : Complete HBO Season 2 [2005]

Childrens Toy Shop > DVD > Action and Adventure
starring: Timothy Olyphant, Ian McShane, Molly Parker, Jim Beaver, W. Earl Brown

March 06, 2006
Deadwood puts all the other stuff to be found on the telly way into the shade...in fact it kicks the rest into crapdom. The dialogue here is excellent, the story-lines are believable, intelligent and clever, and the suspense kicks in from the beginning. The characters are superb, human, real. Someone here has made a lot of effort to get things right and should be commended for their work. I will repeat myself here....the dialogue, the script, is excellent. If I could give this 6 or more than 5 stars I then would. Brilliant. Brilliant. Brilliant. Thank you Mr Milch.

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A Bridge Too Far (2 Disc Special Edition) [1977]

Childrens Toy Shop > DVD > Action and Adventure
starring: Dirk Bogarde, Laurence Olivier, Ryan O'Neal, Maximilian Schell, Liv Ullmann
directed by: Richard Attenborough, Sidney Hayers

May 24, 2004
This is almost a classic war movie, with A Cecil B DeMille "cast of thousands", including a multiplicity of stars as noted by other reviewers. At the time of release (1977), it was critiqued as "an hour too long" by some reviewers, which is too harsh a verdict for such a detailed overview of one of the much-analysed battles of World War 2.

The film has both narrative and action which capture the viewer and character performances which are finally toned, remembering that many of the key participants were still alive at the time of release. The battle scenes are well done, albeit with very obvious use of 1970s artillery pieces and tanks in certain scenes.

The major flaw in the movie is its obligation to the 1970s Zeitgeist of the "all war is ... Read More:

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Spider-Man 3 (2-Disc Edition) [2007]

Childrens Toy Shop > DVD > Action and Adventure
starring: Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst, James Franco, Thomas Haden Church, Topher Grace
directed by: Sam Raimi

October 15, 2007
This is one of the best films I have seen in a long, long time. Sitting in my living room on christmas day 2007 watching it for the first time I was blown away. In the first half hour the action is already unfolding. Thomas Haden Church is an excellent new take on the sandman revealing that he's "not a bad person," he's "just had a bad life." Toby maguire is once again flawless, the same goes for James Franco and Kirsten Dunst too. J.K Simmons is once again hillarios as the sadistic editor of the daily bugle. Topher Grace is a brialliant Eddie brock. Harry dies in the end and the whole thing is really quite depressing. All in all a very good third installment.

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Shane [1953]

Childrens Toy Shop > DVD > Action and Adventure
starring: Alan Ladd, Jean Arthur, Van Heflin, Brandon De Wilde, Jack Palance
directed by: George Stevens

October 06, 2003
I shall always remember the thrill as a small boy when my parents took me to a local cinema to watch a western. Randolph Scott and particularly Joen McCrea were the order of the day at the time. But Shane was such a hard act to follow regular westerns were just not the same after. Shane played by Alan Ladd, was so good that even with the enhanced photography of today there are not many westerns that can hold a candle to this thoughtful film.

It is interesting that the original intended casting was for Montgomery Clift to play the part of Shane and for William Holden to portray Joe Starrett. Whilst I can see the logic of these selections, Katharine Hepburn as the Mrs. Starrett just does not seem right somehow.

For me however, the character of Wilson played ... Read More:

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Naruto Unleashed Complete Series 2 Box Set [2007]

Childrens Toy Shop > DVD > Action and Adventure
by: Naruto Unleashed

December 24, 2007
Naruto returns for a second series after the amazing first one. It carries on exactly where it left off. With the remaining candidates for the chunin exams, including the nine rookies of the leaf village, about to enter the forest of death.

The forest of death story arc takes up half of this series boxset. It sees the genin ninja using their skills to gather the earth and heaven scrolls and to get to the tower at the centre of the forest within 5 days. Each team starts off with either a heaven or an earth scroll, so the objective of the exam is to steal the required scroll from rival teams, while at the same time trying to protect their own scroll. This leads to an action packed story arc full of twists and turns in the plot. There is also some lovely characterisation with characters such ... Read More:

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Deja Vu [2006]

Childrens Toy Shop > DVD > Action and Adventure
starring: Val Kilmer, Jim Caviezel, Denzel Washington
directed by: Tony Scott

May 14, 2007
In the beginning of what appears at first glance to be a well constructed thriller, Tony Scott (Top Gun, True Romance) seems to very carefully lay a number of important building blocks in place. I was impressed with the first half hour of so of the movie, one I wished to see because, in spite of some turkeys, Tony Scott has turned in some great pieces too. Once the sci-fi element was unravelled, the scripting went to great pains to make suspension of disbelief as easy as possible on the part of the viewer, once again a point for the movie-makers.

It wasn't long, however, before the whole thing just descended into an absurd action mish mash, the viewer's credulity being stretched further every moment, and seemed to abandon the carefully constructed base on which it was built in favour of mediocre ... Read More: