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Oasis - Lord Don't Slow Me Down
- By James Ellaby
What makes a good music DVD? It's very difficult to say, over than that the DVD has to reflect the music of the band its about, otherwise it will be a waste of time for all concerned. If Lord Don't Slow Me Down was a typical 'road documentary' with a sycophantic American narrator detailing every amazing gig Oasis played on their 2005/06 tour, it wouldn't fit their image or attitude at all. Instead, it goes for a very rough and formless collection of snap-shots of life on the road. Of course, one of the main dangers of something like this is that you could even end up with a real-life version of This Is Spinal Tap, but Oasis are hardly the kind of band to be putting little versions of Stonehenge up on stage with them. Plus they wouldn't want to put out anything that makes them look stupid, so the ones who come out of this looking a little foolish are the media (of course) and (slightly less obviously) some of the fans. There's lots of clips of inane interviews with Noel and/or Liam in various countries, but all asking the same bland ill-informed questions, with the most memorable being an Italian radio show where there is a big build-up (in Italian) before one of the hosts excitedly introduces Noel as 'Liam Gallagher'. To his credit, he just turns to the camera and laughs, though you wonder what kind of carnage might have ensued if the camera hadn't been rolling. Meanwhile, the fans generally come across as crazy and stalkerish (certainly one 46-year-old American fan who writes a letter asking for the band to stop their gig at a certain point to acknowledge him as the biggest Oasis fan) or just drunken oafs. Or girls who flash their boobs at gigs (all at the City Of Manchester Stadium), which could well be a way of marketing some upcoming tour (come and see Oasis! free boobs!). Some of it (Liam seemingly falling asleep during a phone interview) looks a little staged, but the handheld, black and white filming of Baillie Walsh gives everything a very gritty and real feeling, even when a midget is delivering Liam's birthday cake in a scene straight out of a David Lynch movie. The lack of narration does have its downsides though, making it rather difficult to know who anyone is outside of the Gallagher brothers, as none of the roadies, band-mates, etc, get introduced, though the band's commentary track is there to help out with that. In terms of extras, you get that audio commentary, plus a Noel Q & A with out-takes from the film, plus a bonus disc with the entire City of Manchester Stadium gig from 2nd July 2005, which could obviously have been a perfectly serviceable DVD on its own. The packaging is lovely too, so Lord Don't Slow Me Down is pretty much an essential purchase for Oasis fans...
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TMNT
- By Paul Bullock
By 'eck, things have changed since I were a lad. Back in the day, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secrets of the Ooze was the first film I ever saw at the cinema. Obviously, it was rubbish, but just as predictably it set off an obsession with all things green and scaley that lasted me through to the end of the first animated series, Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles, in 1996. Then all went quiet. The Turtles slipped off the radar, branded as a relic of the 80s that gave work to Vanilla Ice and Corey Feldman. But nostalgia is a powerful thing and as the 20th Century turned into the 21st, everyone realised that Feldman was actually a golden god, Mr Ice was deserving of the postmodern reality TV show treatment and the Turtles were counter culture icons. So the mutant greenies came back again for a new 2003 series, TMNT, which returned the characters to the dark roots of Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird's original 1984 comic series. Now this film develops that grimness even further. The Turtles are no longer happy-go-lucky party dudes, but miserable, tormented souls. Leonardo is undergoing a voyage of self-discovery to see if he really is fit for leadership, Donatello is an unsatisfied computer technician, Michelangelo is a kids' entertainer and Raphael has morphed into James Dean and become seething vigilante the Nightwatcher, unbeknownst to his brothers and Master Splinter. So TMNT is clearly not for very young kids, but nor will it play particularly well to those old enough to remember how naff the characters were - probably one of the reasons it struggled slightly at the box-office earlier this year. However, if you’ve got a kid between the ages of 8-12, this is corking entertainment. The CG animation looks stunning (although it does struggle to capture realistic human faces), while Kevin Munroe directs with real swagger and creates a script that gives the voice actors (Chris Evans, Patrick Stewart and Sarah Michelle Gellar) some pleasing dramatic meat to sink their teeth into. A commentary, alternate and deleted scenes and interviews with the cast make up an impressive DVD package to a film which is well worth a watch. Even if it does lack a theme song as toe-tapping as the one I danced around to in my youth.
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CLASSIC
DVD REVIEW: Firefly - The Complete
Series
- By Paul Bullock
Imagine a world where Han still
shoots first, Yoda’s still
a wise old sage and Darth Vader’s
still a cool ass bastard with
a sex pervert’s penchant
for heavy breathing, rather
than a whiny teenage bastard
with a penchant for actually
being a sex pervert. Well, who
needs to imagine - we’ve
got Firefly. Or rather we had
Firefly. Joss Whedon’s
first televisual outing outside
of the Buffy universe, this
genre-blending masterpiece debuted
in 2002 and was cancelled almost
immediately after by network
Fox. It was hardly surprising,
really. Set in the year 2517,
Firefly is a philosophical sci-fi-western-actioner
that’s difficult to get
your head around. The American
characters frequently slip in
and out of Chinese, the show’s
Big Bads, cannibalistic humans
called Reavers, are barely even
glimpsed and most of the episodes
are set either on the dilapidated
ship Serenity or an arid western
landscape. Throw in a morally-ambiguous
preacher, strong-minded prostitute
and hard-edged captain (Nathan
Fillion's Mal Reynolds) and
you have a show that's ratings
poison in the eyes of the suits.
So you’d think they’d
want to give what little audience
there is a proper chance to
get to grips with this strange
new world by airing the ninety
minute pilot, Serenity, first.
Alas, logic doesn’t come
in to the world of Fox and instead
they pushed the pilot to the
end of run, began with second
episode The Train Job (which
was totally re-written by Whedon
and producer Tim Minear over
one weekend) and proceeded to
air the other episodes out of
order too. Yet still Firefly
is a masterpiece and that's
why it's our inaugural Classic
DVD of the Week. Watching it
at your own pace across a number
of nights and in the order it
was intended, you get an appreciation
of what a ground-breaking and
intelligent show this is. Seventh
episode Jaynestown epitomises
its brilliance. Jayne, the ship's
muscle, returns to the location
of an old, failed heist, only
to find the townsfolk revere
him as a god-like hero. Writer
Ben Edlund considers how the
false myths and religions surrounding
a long-past incident can often
have more value than the truth
and comes to a thought-provoking
conclusion that will please
neither truth-seeking rationalists
nor religious zealots entirely.
This episode also showcases
the sweet relationship between
mechanic Kaylee and ship doctor
Simon, which hands a bit of
heartwarming humanity to some
of the darker episodes such
as Safe, Out of Gas and Heart
of Gold. Mal takes centre stage
in Our Mrs Reynolds, The Message
and Trash, but as this is a
Whedon show it's the gutsy young
girl who's the one to watch.
Simon's sister River is a mentally
tormented genius who was kidnapped
and turned into a living weapon
by the villainous Alliance,
who now aim to hunt her down,
thus bringing endless troubles
to the crew of Serenity. In
closing episode Objects In Space
she is finally accepted by the
crew for helping to get rid
of Boba Fett-esque bounty hunter
Jubal Early. It’s a wonderful,
warm way to end the season and
the fact that the episode also
sees Whedon express his existential
leanings merely confirms why
the show was cancelled before
its time. Star Wars directed
by Stanley Kubrick? Far too
good for TV, but perfect for
DVD.
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