Warner Bros

'The Dark Knight Rises' DVD (Review)

May 21, 2013 by TheBoyAndMe 4 Comments

A few months ago, I was a kind wife and agreed to receive 'The Dark Knight Rises' on DVD for Mr. TBaM. I'm not a personal fan of Christian Bale as Batman, I prefer old school Michael Keaton, however, I knew Mr. TBaM really wanted to see this, and so I found myself sat in the living room with my laptop for comfort while he watched the film. Only I didn't get very far with blogging that night as I became engrossed in the film. Sorry Michael! Over to Mr. TBaM to tell you why:

In 2005, Christopher Nolan reinvented cinematic Batman. Out went the cartoon heros and villains – no more Arnie dressed as an icicle, no more Clooney having the most recognisable jaw in the modern world yet being undetected by Gotham's finest, and DEFINITELY no more Chris O'Donnell and "that" batsuit. In their place, Christian Bale brought on a more rounded and thoughtful Bruce Wayne than any prior incarnation, and Nolan delivered stories bearing a much closer resemblance to the source material, yet with the same level of complexity that you'd expect from any of his other films.

2012's Dark Knight Rises starts eight years after the events of The Dark Knight. As Wayne intended, Batman is a wanted man, whilst Harvey Dent is remembered as the hero that Gotham needed. Commissioner Gordon is stepping down, but will he be tempted to finally tell the truth about the events of the past? As the third film of the trilogy, DKR has its own story to tell as well as resolving elements of the previous two. As such, it introduces a new villain – Bale, excellent played by Tom Hardy – as well as a new hero, Joseph Gordon Levitt's John Blake. Considering that both had also been in Nolans previous hit film, Inception, it's fair to say that even before the film starts expectations are high.

Thankfully, it delivers. Bale has the skill to deliver everything expected of him and makes his portrail convincing both as Batman the hero and Wayne the businessman (Robert Downey Jr take note!). Michael Caine, Gary Oldman and Morgan Freeman all offer excellent support, although Anne Hathaway as not-actually-referred-to-as Catwoman is more forgettable.

As for the plot, it is difficult to describe too much without giving away spoilers. There are some stunning action sequences – in particular, the sequences in the underground prison, and the siege of Gotham at the end. Anyone familiar with the original comics would probably not fall into the same assumptions as the rest of us, but even when all the secrets are revealed there's more than enough to sustain a second or even a third viewing.

I received a copy of the DVD for the purpose of this review, my husband's opinion is honest and unbiased.

'Scooby Doo: Mask Of The Blue Falcon DVD' (Review)

March 5, 2013 by TheBoyAndMe Leave a Comment

Scooby Doo is one of those timeless characters that reaches across to both children and parents alike with his madcap capers and craaaaazy, cunning, conundrums!

ScoobyDooMaskOfTheBlueFalcon

Scooby Doo: Mask of the Blue Falcon is a brand new adventure for 2013 and tells of the goings-on at the 'Mega Mondo Pop Cartoon-a-Con with celebrated comic book characters headlining at the convention. However, all goes dramatically wrong (in pure Scooby fashion) when Mr. Hyde unleashes monster bats, howling hounds and sinister slime upon all the revellers. It's time for Fred, Daphne and Velma to help out Scooby and Shaggy to tap into their inner superhero to prevent the convention from being a wash-out.

Included in this disc are bonus vintage cartoons (Comic Book Caper, Reflections in a Ghoulish Eye and The Scooby Coupe), alongside the opportunity to stream and download the movie onto computers, tablet computers and smartphones using Ultraviolet technology. Ultraviolet is such a clever piece of technology and makes it perfect for out and about entertainment by being able to download it onto a mobile device.

Scooby Doo: Mask of the Blue Falcon is available from Amazon priced at £9.99.

I was sent a copy of this disc for the purpose of this post.

Sammy's Great Escape (Review & Giveaway)

February 19, 2013 by TheBoyAndMe 18 Comments

Last week I took The Boy to the cinema for only his second time, more significantly his first time seeing a film in 3D.

Having to wear the special glasses confused him at first, and he was reluctant as he hates things on his head. That was until the film started; he sat bolt upright and reached out to grab the fish swimming towards him. He then pulled the glasses down, looked at the blurred image, pushed them back up again and tried to grasp the fin of the turtle lazily transversing the ocean.

It was magical.

The film, Sammy's Great Escape, was really very good, entertaining and brilliantly animated throughout with worthwhile rendering into 3D, but seeing my son think that he was under the sea with the marine life was enchanting. I thoroughly recommend a trip to take your little ones there.

©2013 Warner Bros. Entertainment. All rights reserved. © 2012 AROUND THE WORLD IN 50 YEARS SPRL PARADIS FILMS SARL EAGLE PICTURES

"Sammy and Ray, leatherback turtles and friends forever, are enjoying an atoll’s water and sand, shepherding new hatchlings Ricky and Ella out to sea. Suddenly, a poacher swoops in and ships them off to be part of a spectacular aquarium show for tourists in Dubai. The kingpin of the place, Big D the seahorse, enlists them in his plans for a great escape. But with their new friends Jimbo the bug-eyed blob fish, Lulu the snippy lobster and a whole family of penguins, Sammy and Ray hatch breakout plans of their own. That is when little Ricky and Ella arrive, determined to break in to rescue them. After a series of thrilling adventures and narrow escapes, our heroes head south to meet up with Shelly, Sammy’s first and only love."

To celebrate the release of Sammy’s Great Escape, in cinemas February 15^th, Warner Bros. Pictures and TheBoyandMe are offering one lucky reader the chance to win an ‘Adopt a Turtle’ pack from the Marine Conservation Society.

The pack contains:

A cool cuddly turtle toy

Talk Turtle – the MCS newsletter on turtle conservation work – delivered twice a year

A fact sheet and pictures of turtles in the wild

A personalized adoption certificate

To be in with a chance of winning this pack, please complete the Rafflecopter form below.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

The Marine Conversation Society is a leading UK charity working to protect sea life. Leatherback turtles like Sammy and Ray are critically endangered, but you might be lucky enough to see one when they visit UK seas to feast on jellyfish. The ‘Adopt a Turtle’ pack helps protect sea turtles in the UK and overseas. Find out more at mcsuk.org/adopt.

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'New Year's Eve' DVD

December 31, 2012 by TheBoyAndMe 3 Comments

And so at 11pm on New Year's Eve, 2012 I am about to settle down with Mr. TBaM to watch a DVD, mainly because there's nothing on television (what a surprise), but also because I can't think of a better time to watch a film called, fittingly, 'New Year's Eve'!

I have traditional films that I like to watch over the festive period, some of them are schmaltzy, American, Hallmark style films, but the main one is 'Love, Actually'. I adore this film, not only because of the brilliant storyline and clever writing, but because of the plethora of celebrities throughout and trying to work out how their stories tie together. Another film which is good at linking many people's lives together is 'Valentine's Day,' and 'New Year's Eve' has been created by the same people.

With a huge ensemble cast (Halle Berry, Sarah Jessica Parker, Michelle Pfeiffer, Katherine Heigl, Jessica Biel, Ashton Kutchen, Hector Elizondo, Robert de Niro, Jon Bon Jovi, Zac Effron, and oodles more) and the promise of Times Square on the biggest night of the year, what's not to love?

Amendment (New Year's Day):

We thorougly enjoyed this DVD. 'Valentine's Day' was a little bit of a let down, a touch too schmaltzy and the storyline was predicatable. However, the acting and storyline in 'New Year's Eve' was a lot stronger; less predictable and not everything turns out happy and twee. The acting from Robert de Niro and Michelle Pfeiffer is clearly strong, Hilary Swank is a bonus addition, and the male leads are not the main focus. I think the production team have learnt from 'Valentine's Day' and this film is a lot more memorable.

I was sent these product for the purpose of this post.

Rock Of Ages (Review)

November 7, 2012 by TheBoyAndMe 3 Comments

Tom Cruise, bare-chested in leather trousers and guy-liner.

I'll just let you think about that for a few seconds shall I?

…

need a bit longer?

…..

I know, I didn't think it would work either. Especially not when I heard he was going to be singing '80s classic soft-rock anthems.

But the thing is, it really does!

And I think it's because it's such an unexpected sight to see the usual clean-cut Cruise acting in such a racy, rock-star manner that it completely works.

The concept of the film is of a young girl who follows her dreams of heading to Hollywood in 1987 and making it big as a singer alongside all the other soft-rockers. Through a fateful mugging, she ends up working as a waitress in The Bourbon Room which had launched many a career. A relationship between Sherrie (for she has a name) and Drew (another wannabe singer) starts up, as it was always going to, and provides many a beautifully sang duet.

That bit is all lovely and sweet, but I'm 35 and a bit beyond a 'young love' story now (unless it involves Chuck Bass on the Upper East side).

After about 25 minutes the secondary storyline (and possibly the most important) starts up. Enter Stacee Jaxx, otherwise known as Mr. Mission Impossible himself. He returns to play at the bar which helped launch his career and whose owner (Alec Baldwin – I know!) is being threatened with a campaign to close it, led by Catherine Zeta Jones.

And this is where the film gets good.

Really good!

I cannot, and will not, tell anymore about the adults' escapades because it would spoil it. However, this film is way more than a sweet love story between Sherrie and Drew. It's about Tom Cruise showing he's actually a very comedic actor using an incredibly funny script, while showcasing the best songs of the era. And unlike Pierce Brosnan in Mamma Mia (because this film has come from a stage-show as MM did), this action figure doesn't let the whole film (and the fans) down by not being able to sing. He can, they all can. Especially Mary J. Blige who also makes a surprise appearance.

Rock of Ages has become my new favourite film, I've watched it three times since being sent it, and I only haven't watched it more because I lent it to a work colleague and she's not given it back yet! Hire it, buy it, download it, but watch it! It's really air-guitar rockingly good!

I was sent this DVD for the purpose of this review, my opinion is honest and unbiased.

'Dark Shadows' DVD (Review)

November 5, 2012 by TheBoyAndMe 1 Comment

I'm a sucker for a Johnny Depp film, especially it's a Tim Burton film. By and large, they are (combined with Helena Bonham Carter) a pretty talented trio who can virtually guarantee a film's success. Therefore I'd been hankering after watching Dark Shadows for a while, and when I was sent it to review I was extremely chuffed.

Dark Shadows follows the tale of Barnabus Collins (Depp) who was a Liverpool-born, aristocratic young batchelor in America in the 18th century. His wealthy family had founded Collinstown and they lived in a spectaculorly gothic mansion full of secret tunnels, grandeur and adoring servants. Angelique (one such maid) fell deeply in love with Barnabus following a fling and when he rejected her for his true love, the little witch set about destroying his life, family and fortune, casting a spell causing his beloved's death and him to become a vampire. Once the local town's people heard he was a vampire, he was captured and entombed for just under two centuries deep beneath the ground.

Cut forward to 1972 and the mansion is a shadow of its former self with his remaining descendants trying hard to maintain some form of status quo against the poverty they live in, enforced by Angelique's business which has taken over Barnabus' beloved town. Until one day, when the foundations for a restaurant of the golden arches is being dug, and the workmen discover a box with a blood-thirsty vampire inside. What happens next in the film is a case of vengeance and determination as Barnabus tries to salvage his family's name against the twists and turns of every truly dark Burton film.

There are some surprise appearances in this film, and big names with it. Eva Green, Johnny Lee Miller and Michelle Pfeiffer are main characters throughout, alongside Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham-Carter. Eva Green makes for a truly wicked and dastardly witch to Johnny Depp's vampire, Helena Bonham-Carter is… a bit mediocre if I'm honest; I don't really see what her character adds to the film at all. I liked the relationship between Barnabus and his female descendant, Michelle Pfeiffer, and she does a pretty good job in the film. Johnny Depp is good in the film (when is he not?) but he doesn't quite cut it as a blood-sucker for me, I'm too used to him being mischievious or slightly whacky and seeing him as a comedic killer in this vampire comedy just seemed a bit strange. Especially when his appearance in Sweeney Todd actually gave me nightmares.

Dark Shadows is a good film. It's not one of the terrific trio's best, but it's certainly watchable and enjoyable; I will watch it again and I will chuckle and gasp in all the right places because the combined cast and storyline is amusing.

I was sent this DVD for the purpose of this review, my opinion is honest and unbiased.

The Summer Of Sport Just Got Spooky (Review)

August 20, 2012 by TheBoyAndMe 1 Comment

You would have to be a deep sea diver or an ostrich to not know that this Summer is a massive one for sports in the UK: Andy Murray in the Wimbledon finals started it off and it finishes in a few weeks time with the conclusion of the games which shall not be mentioned. (It's a bit like Voldemort you see, I'm frightened of the coloured rings coming and striking me down!)

The Boy has really got into the swing of things and we had another mini sporting event earlier today, courtesy of Warner Brothers who sent us a sports day package to celebrate the release of Scooby Doo'sAll Star Laff-A-Lympics.

We had great fun racing each other in the running race, and the sack race was something never encountered before as we both almost fell over. The beanbag championship was a far more sedate affair and The Boy just beat me to it!

Scooby Doo's All Star Laff-A-Lympics is a great DVD to continue the sporting enthusiasm this Summer, as Scooby-Doo and friends go to compete in the World Invitational Games. However in typical Scooby fashion a statue comes to life and threatens to spoil the fun and games until all is settled in a typically deductive manner. The reason this is labelled as All-Star is that Fred Flintstone and Barney Rubble make a special appearance in it. It's a cracking DVD and great fun. The Boy doesn't particularly like spooky, but I've watched this with his older cousin who adored it.

I was sent this product for the purpose of this post. All opinions are honest and unbiased.

"Lego Batman 2: DC Superheroes" Wii (Review)

July 17, 2012 by TheBoyAndMe 1 Comment

As a departure from the normal films that we are sent from Warner Bros. to review, we were recently sent a Lego Batman package in order to review the newly released Lego Batman 2 on Wii. Inside the box was a copy of the game, alongside a selection of Lego Batman themed goodies to keep The Boy amused.

However, while The Boy is busy pretending to be the caped crusader and playing with his first ever Lego, it's over to Mr. TBaM for the actual game review:

LEGO Batman 2: DC Super Heroes (to give it its full title) is the latest in a long line of LEGO console games, and features a whole host of Warner Brothers characters – not just Batman, Robin and all their baddies, but even Lex Luthor and Superman himself.

We were fortunate enough to be sent the Wii version of LB2, and from the start two things were obvious: firstly, due to its '7' PEGI rating this is not a game for The Boy, this is definitely Daddy's plaything; and secondly a lot of time had been taken making sure that the game impressed from the outset.

The scale of the game is simply immense. Starting out chasing after the Joker after he interrupted the Man of the Year awards, and then reducing numerous other villains along the way into their constituent blocks, you are taken out into Gotham City and then the wider world.

The gameplay can be confusing initially, especially for somebody new to the LEGO genre, and good coordination is definitely needed as the Wii version requires both the Wii remote and the nunchuck controller. The graphics also suffer slightly in comparison to the PS3 and Xbox versions simply due to the greater graphical capabilities of the latter consoles.

The positives far outweigh these minor niggles, though. The game is fast-moving and the challenges of each section are so different that there's no danger of boredom through having to simply follow sets of repetitive moves. With a reported minimum of eight hours just to reach the end of the game – and countless more in finding all the hidden elements – this is certainly a value-for-money investment as the long and potentially waterlogged Summer break approaches.

Lego Batman 2: DC Superheroes is available to buy for the Wii from Game for £23.99

We were sent this game for the purpose of this review, all opinions are honest and unbiased.

Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close (Review)

July 2, 2012 by TheBoyAndMe 3 Comments

One of the films that I wanted to see in the cinema several months ago was the collaboration between Tom Hanks and Sandra Bullock. If ever there was a film that was likely to be a success, then starring those two A-listers was surely going to do it? However at the time I knew it was a little sobering and we ended up going to see a pathetically shallow RomCom instead.

When the DVD of Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close popped through the door a week or two back, I was delighted. I could blub away to my heart's content and allow my mascara to flow freely in the comfort of my own home.

Only my mascara didn't flow, neither did the tears, because whilst sad in parts this film is actually incredibly heart-warming and inspirational.

Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close tells the tale of eleven year old Oskar and his journey to reconnect with the memory of his father, a year after he died in the 911 atrocity. The only child of Thomas and Linda, Oskar always had a close relationship with his father and when he died on 'The Worst Day', Oskar was the one to discover the emotive answerphone messages from him. One year on, and he wanders into his father's closet to try and catch hold of his unravelling memories and discovers a mysterious key in an envelope with the name 'Black' on it. Oskar sets out on a journey to ask all 400+ Blacks across the five boroughs of New York to ascertain who 'Black' is and what the key fits.

This film is emotive, of course it is. However, I actually felt that the presence of the events of 911 actually played a really small part of the film, as did Bullock and Hanks. The star of this film, in more ways than one, is young Thomas Horn in the role of Oskar. The way that he deals with his journey visiting the multitude of potential links to his father is enthralling, the way that they react to him is heartwarming. His Aspergers' is only really touched on after half an hour of viewing, and it is refreshing to not have it throwing a shadow over the main purpose of the film.

While Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close does have big names in it and the story evolves from one of the most well-known events in modern history, it is so much more than either of those elements. If you are looking for a damn good film to hire or buy, get this.

We were sent a copy of this film for the purpose of this review. My opinion is clearly honest and unbiased.

Journey 2: The Mysterious Island (Review)

May 28, 2012 by TheBoyAndMe 2 Comments

A few months ago I was invited to a screening of the new Warner Bros 3D family film Journey 2: The Mysterious Island. I was unable to go as it was a work day and regretted it even more when I started seeing the trailers for it everywhere. Mixing live action with CGI, the cinematography of this film looks amazing and awe-inspiring.

Journey 2: The Mysterious Island is loosely based on the Jules Verne’s novel The Mysterious Island and follows the adventures of a young lad called Sean (Josh Hutcherson from Bridge to Terabithia) after he receives a coded distress signal from a mysterious location where nothing is known to exist. He is determined to find the unknown island, especially as he is convinced that his grandfather (Michael Caine) is the one to have sent the signal. With the help of his stepfather (Dwayne Johnson aka The Rock), a helicopter pilot and his beautiful, strong-willed daughter (Vanessa Hudgens from HSM) they set off on a journey to prove its existence and rescue Sean's grandad. However, they soon discover this island is full of giant creatures, mountains of gold, deadly volcanoes and secrets galore. The final adventure is trying to escape before earthquakes shatter the island's structure and send it into the confines of the sea, buring its treasures forever.

See why I wanted to watch it now?

Luckily for me, we were sent a copy of the film (released today) and as it's a PG The Boy can't watch it. However, Mr. TBaM and I will be settling down to watch it tonight. I've seen the first twenty minutes of it, and it's enthralling and captivating, humorous and entertaining. It reminded me of a cross between Lost and The Goonies, with a little of Indiana Jones thrown in for good measure.