Blogcritics Author: Tony Woolstencroft

Announcement: Short-content feeds

Phillip Winn — Sun, 26 Aug 2007 12:00:00 EDT

Sunday, August 26, 2007, marks the switch of all Blogcritics.org article feeds from full-content to short-content. This is the result of several converging factors, and is unfortunately a permanent decision (as permanent as any decision can be on the web, that is). We are aware of all of the reasons that this is a Bad Idea, and we are aware that some of you will be quite upset about having to click on something to read the free content, and we're sorry. Unfortunately, despite great effort, full-content feeds are not currently economically viable. Two other factors are involved: full-content feeds have resulted in an unprecedented level of content theft, with BC content appearing on many websites, usually spam sites, without attribution or permission. This duplicate content causes a cascading set of problems, not the least of which is that search engines generally aren't favorable to duplicate content, and don't always guess correctly. Finally, our RSS advertising partner is strongly in favor of short-content feeds. We hope that you'll continue to subscribe to BC via RSS, and when an article grabs your eye, it's only a click away, still free on the BC website. Thank you for your understanding.

Movie Review: Brooklyn Rules

Tony Woolstencroft — Tue, 1 May 2007 17:29:50 EDT

1985. The most powerful of the five New York Mafia families, the Gambino family, is filled with unrest. Following the appointment by Carlo Gambino of his cousin and brother-in-law Paul Castellano as his successor in the late 1970s, the family has split into two camps. The Manhattan faction remains loyal to Aniello Dellacroce, an old time underboss they think should have become the new Don. The Brooklyn faction sides with Castellano. One of the premiere movers and shakers in the Manhattan camp is John Gotti, soon to become possibly the most well-known Mafioso since Al Capone, after organising the assassination of Castellano.This is the backdrop against which Brooklyn Rules is set, but it is most definitely not a mob picture. It’s a story about friendship. Specifically it's about the friendship between Michael, Carmine, and Bobby, who are first introduced in 1975 sitting in church, where Michael steals from the collection plate, before the boys sneak out, for their first encounter with the violent side of Brooklyn life. They discover the corpse of an executed wiseguy sitting in his car, shot twice in the head. Michael keeps his gun, Carmine takes his cigarette lighter, and Bobby takes home a puppy they find in the back seat.Flash forward ten years. Michael has scammed his way into Columbia University hoping to become a lawyer (his self-confessed lack of a conscience makes this profession a perfect fit, he says), Carmine is looking for respect, money, and power by working for the local Mafia capo Caesar Manganaro, and Bobby just wants to get a job with the post office, marry his girlfriend and settle down. But the fallout from the Gambino family war is destined to affect all three of them.Director Michael Corrente gets wonderful performances from his cast. Freddie Prinze Jr. is a revelation as Michael, giving the performance of his career. I hope this marks the start of a career revival – he proves here that he has far too much acting talent to be wasted in roles like Scooby Doo’s Fred. Scott Caan plays the vain wiseguy-wannabe Carmine to perfection and it’s impossible to watch him without being reminded (in a good way) of his father's Sonny Corleone. Jerry Ferrara (in a complete departure from his Entourage role) is totally convincing as Bobby, the sweet-natured, unambitious heart of the group. Alec Baldwin is as good here as he was in The Departed (for me, he very nearly stole that film). By turns charming, charismatic, and psychotic, he makes every second of his limited time on screen count. Mena Suvari struggles to make much of an impact in the under-written role of Michael’s high society girlfriend, and there’s a brief but extremely funny turn from Robert Turano as Bobby’s father.Sopranos writer/producer Terence Winter has filled his screenplay with marvelous scenes. All of the dialogue is top notch -- funny, touching, and always convincing. The relationship of the three friends is portrayed in such a believable and uncontrived way that you are sucked into their story. This sense of reality is another of the film's many strengths. The pacing is pretty near perfect. There are some very funny moments, some very violent moments (mostly shown offscreen), and more than anything else, there are lots of moments which make you wish you had three friends like these.This is the kind of film that comes along very rarely nowadays. Character driven, shot on location with none of what’s come to be known as the MTV style of hyperkinetic quick cuts and goofy camera angles, it remains true to its characters throughout. Kudos to all concerned for producing the most entertaining film I’ve seen this year. I urge you to go and see it.If you'd like to find out more about Brooklyn Rules, visit the film's website or the MySpace page.

A rabid film fan and self-confessed World of Warcraft junkie, Tony Woolstencroft lives by the mantra "I may be getting older, but I refuse to grow up".

DVD Review: Rank

Tony Woolstencroft — Wed, 18 Apr 2007 21:03:39 EDT

I have a confession to make. Before I started to watch John Hyams’ documentary Rank, the only knowledge I had of professional bull riding came from watching films like Junior Bonner and J.W. Coop. I had never heard of the Professional Bull Riding World Championship, held in Las Vegas every October. After spending 90 minutes following the three top riders over the course of the 2004 championship, I’m now much better educated. I was expecting big, bluff, macho cowboy stereotypes with big hats and belt buckles the size of their heads. What I got came as a surprise. Hyams’ film follows Brazilian-born rancher Adriano Moraes, third-generation rider Justin McBride and born-again Christian Mike Lee through the gruelling 7 day competition as they try for the title and the million dollar prize money. They are all without exception, fairly low-key, very focused individuals, and extremely personable. 34 year old Moraes, one of the oldest riders and top ranked going into the contest, has been riding professionally since the age of 18. He’s a two time World Champion already and has the scars to show for it. In one telling scene, the softly-spoken Moraes matter-of-factly catalogues his injuries: he’s broken bones in his nose, cheeks, shoulders, and legs; dislocated his elbow; suffered torn triceps; and been gored through the stomach. He’s lost count of the number of metal pins and screws holding his bones together. McBride, 25, is following a family tradition. His grandfather died in the ring at the age of 48. He has no interest in the bulls beyond the ride, describing them as a “pain in the ass. They’re like a 20 year old kid with a 3 year old mentality – they just want to tear up shit, and they’re big and strong enough to do it”. He’s shown riding with a busted ankle, hobbling away from the bulls at the end of each ride. Lee on the other hand says his “only talent is livestock”. At 21 he’s the youngest of the three riders, and has already suffered a cracked skull and seriously damaged his sight in one eye.We get brief glimpses of these men’s lives away from the ring: Moraes with his wife and children, who are already following in their father’s footsteps; McBride strumming his guitar, giving a somewhat shaky rendition of a risqué country song, visiting his grandmother; Lee with his wife (they married when he was 19 and she was 17), and his church group. We’re also taken behind the scenes with a look at the business behind the riding, specifically with the D&H Cattle Company of Oklahoma. Owners Dillon & H.D. Page take a great pride in their bulls, one of which, Mudslinger, has won the Bull of the Year award three times running.But the film really comes alive with the rides themselves. The rider is required to hold on for at least 8 seconds to score any points. They score for the length and form of the ride, and also the quality of the bull they’re riding. It’s in these moments that the dangerous nature of this most extreme sport becomes apparent. We see riders slammed, stomped and stretchered out of the ring. The film is structured so that the rides are intercut with the other behind the scenes footage, and title cards showing Day One, Day Two etc keep the tension building until the finale. It becomes apparent that the riders themselves don’t really see each other as rivals – the real contest is the rider versus the bull. And 8 seconds can be a very long time. Moraes comments that riding a bull isn’t like riding a horse: once a horse bucks you off it only wants to run away – the bull wants to come after you.Enter what used to be known as the rodeo clown (and also dress as such) but are now called bodyguards. These are the guys whose job it is to distract the angry 2000 lb bull so the rider can leave, or be carried out of, the ring. We meet Rob Smets, who has been doing the job for 27 years, during which he’s broken his neck twice and been gored once. “It’s like boxing”, he says. “No matter how good you are, sooner or later you’re gonna get hit. Then you find out what God gave you for a heart”.This is one of the most fascinating, compelling, tense, gripping documentaries I’ve seen. For the bull riding fan, there’s enough of an insight into what goes on outside the ring. And for the casual viewer looking for something different, this certainly fits the bill. You will be drawn in, and you will care about these three people. Give it a shot – you won’t be disappointed. The DVDPresented in 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen, this is mostly a very good looking transfer. There are one or two moments of slight shimmer, but the picture is generally sharp and clean.The mostly dialogue driven audio track is very well presented (although only a standard stereo track). The film features some very atmospheric music (wisely avoiding stereotypical country music) and this is crisp and clear. Extras include a look at the recording sessions featuring Unseen Hand putting together the atmospheric music that is such a key part of the film, a fascinating look at how the actual sounds of the bulls and the rides were recorded (due to the very loud music played, only 10% of the sound recorded at the actual event was useable – the remaining 90% had to be recreated afterwards), and an entertaining and informative commentary featuring director John Hyams, producer Jon Greenhalgh and co-producer and sound guy Neil Fazzary.

A rabid film fan and self-confessed World of Warcraft junkie, Tony Woolstencroft lives by the mantra "I may be getting older, but I refuse to grow up".

TV Review: The Shield - Episodes 1 and 2 (Season 6)

Tony Woolstencroft — Thu, 12 Apr 2007 18:54:01 EDT

The Shield is not your average TV cop show. In the opening episode of the first season, the “hero,” detective Vic Mackey, murders undercover cop Terry Crowley, who has been placed inside Mackey’s Strike Team to gather evidence of corruption. Over the course of the next five seasons, Vic and the team commit a hefty catalogue of criminal acts including obstruction of justice, extortion, theft, and finally armed robbery. This is also a show that’s constantly pushing the limits of how much gore, sex, and violence can be shown on cable.But for me, what this show is really about is family, and how far a man will go to protect and provide for that family. In Vic’s case, “family” not only covers his wife and children, but the rest of the strike team, Shane Vendrell, Curtis “Lem” Lemansky, and Ronnie Gardocki. These are not evil men, although they commit evil acts. They are fiercely loyal to each other. Out on the streets, facing down gangs, constantly putting their lives on the line, using whatever methods necessary to keep their district safe, they are ruthlessly effective. For Vic and his team, the ends definitely justify the means. In their view, they simply don’t get adequately rewarded for what they do, so they take a little here and there to make up for that. Unfortunately for them, life is not that simple and their lives began to spiral downward after Crowley’s killing. Only Vic and Shane know the truth about what really went down, the others believing the killing was the result of a drug bust gone bad.Tragedy struck the family at the end of season five (the show’s best season so far) when Lem was killed by a grenade tossed into his car by Shane, worried that Lem was going to come clean about the team’s crooked past to Forest Whitaker’s obsessive IAD detective Lt Jon Kavanaugh. Season six begins and ends with two powerful sequences set to the late Johnny Cash singing “I Hung My Head”. The team gather at Lem’s grave and Vic makes it clear he will go to any lengths to avenge Lem’s murder as he embarks on a frantic hunt for the Latino drug lord Guardo, who he mistakenly believes is responsible. Shane is trying unsuccessfully to deal with the guilt of what he’s done, putting himself in harm’s way during a tense hostage situation at a methadone clinic. Time is running out for Kavanaugh’s investigation, and he is driven to desperate measures to put Vic away. The second episode sees the departure of Forest Whitaker, whose magnificent performance was such a highlight of the previous season. Kavanaugh’s failure to convict Mackey leads to him planting evidence implicating Vic in Lem’s murder. Vic is slowly unraveling, kidnapping Guardo’s girlfriend in an attempt to force him to return from Mexico, despite Shane and Ronnie’s misgivings. Newly promoted Captain Claudette Wyms and former partner “Dutch” Wagenbach are suspicious of the evidence provided by Vic’s former informant Emolia, and eventually the truth is revealed, resulting in Kavanaugh’s arrest and a final confrontation with Vic through the bars of a prison cell. One of the show’s strengths lies in its unusually well developed supporting characters. Veteran actress CCH Pounder, as Claudette Wyms, has never been better than the moment when she faces down Kavanaugh and orders him out of the room so she can begin to question Emolia, gradually breaking her down by pointing out that she has been used by both Vic and Kavanaugh. Jay Karnes’ sympathetic performance as Holland “Dutch” Wagenbach, struggling to cope with the promotion of his former partner and his infatuation with a female rookie, is a masterpiece of understatement. Cathy Cahlin Ryan’s portrayal of Vic’s estranged wife Corrine, Catherine Dent’s Danny Sofer, forced to return to work early after giving birth to Vic’s baby in order to get her promotion, and Michael Jace’s sexually conflicted Officer Julian Lowe are just some of the other noteworthy performances in a series that just keeps getting better. It’s a tribute to the general high standard that they aren’t overshadowed by the central characters of Vic and Shane, played so well by Michael Chiklis and Walton Goggins. Former precinct Captain now turned Councilman David Aceveda seems to have been sidelined during these early episodes which is slightly disappointing, but I’m sure we haven’t seen the last of him. This ranks as some of the best TV drama ever – gripping, suspenseful, brilliantly written and acted. If you’re not watching it, you should be. If you’ve never seen The Shield before, do yourself a favour, grab the first five seasons on DVD, stack up season six on the Tivo, and take a week off.

A rabid film fan and self-confessed World of Warcraft junkie, Tony Woolstencroft lives by the mantra "I may be getting older, but I refuse to grow up".

TV Review: Blood Ties - A Promising Start

Tony Woolstencroft — Tue, 20 Mar 2007 22:49:44 EDT

As a long time fan of Tanya Huff’s Vicki Nelson series of books (aka The Blood Books), I approached the new Lifetime TV series with some trepidation. I wasn’t so much worried about how the supernatural elements would translate to the screen. With almost every network leaping on the current genre revival bandwagon, this show would only succeed if the three main characters were successfully portrayed. You would have to believe and more importantly, you’d have to care.Three episodes in and my fears have been mostly laid to rest. Vicki Nelson, a Toronto PD detective who chose to quit the force rather than ride a desk after developing retinitis pigmentosa (a condition which means her night and peripheral vision is gradually failing) is played to perfection by Christina Cox. She has the right combination of toughness, vulnerability and looks to carry off the part. Dylan Neal as Vicki’s ex-partner detective Mike Celluci does a great job with a character that could have come across as stuffy. Finally Kyle Schmid’s portrayal of graphic novelist Henry Fitzroy, who also happens to be a 450-year-old vampire and the illegitimate son of Henry VIII, is sexy, seductive, playful and dangerous. These three have a wonderful chemistry together that really makes the show come alive. My only casting reservation at the moment is Gina Holden’s Coreen who is unfortunately stuck with the sidekick role, but hopefully her character will be given something meaningful to do as the series continues.The two part pilot episode is a reasonably faithful adaptation of the first book in the series, Blood Price. Vicki is walking home from a date when she witnesses an attack on a young man by a cape-wearing figure. She gives chase but the figure vanishes and unfortunately she’s too late to save the victim. The cops arrive, including Vicki’s ex-partner Mike Celluci, and they discover the victim has bite marks on the neck and is drained of blood. The following day Vicki gets a visit from the victim’s girlfriend Coreen, who is not happy with the police investigation and wants Vicki to take the case. As the body count rises Vicki is drawn to the theory that a vampire is at large in the city. When she continually spots the same man as she carries out her investigation, she discovers that Henry Fitzroy is indeed a vampire but not the person responsible for the murders. He has his own reasons for not wanting a vampire killer on the loose in his city.The two become partners and as Henry faces an old enemy, Vicki becomes more open to the previously unknown supernatural elements around her. They discover that the killings have a purpose and they must stop the perpetrator or face hell on earth.This episode introduces all the characters and sets up the Vicki/Mike/Henry love triangle. There are plenty of sparks among the three leads and as Vicki’s relationship with the frustrated Mike is rekindled it feels real. Vicki’s and Henry’s mutual attraction is also believably handled. Standard vampire conventions are dispensed with – Henry wears a cross, has a refection, and has no aversion to garlic. There is plenty of snappy, well-written dialogue. The only thing that lets the episode down is a fairly poor villain which shows the obvious lack of a decent budget.Episode three, "Bad Juju", deals with voodoo and zombies and is not based on any of the original books. Vicki is visited by a young woman named Angelique who is searching for her missing brother. After Angelique and her escort are attacked, Vicki attempts to defend them but the assailant seems unresponsive to her attacks, kills Angelique’s escort, then knocks Vicki to the ground and takes off after Angelique. The police arrive with Celluci in the lead, resulting in a heated discussion about Vicki’s involvement. This leads to a magic moment where Vicki storms off indignantly, and Celluci calls out “Garbage can, 12 o’clock” just in time for Vicki to avoid a collision.Vicki turns to Henry for help, who identifies her assailant as a zombie and advises Vicki to drop the case. Kyle Schmid gets his chance to shine here with Henry’s “don’t forget what I am” speech. As they are drawn further into the investigation, it becomes apparent that Angelique may not be what she appears, and Vicki becomes the victim of a voodoo curse. This episode manages to improve on a good beginning with some brilliant throwaway dialogue such as Vicki and Henry questioning a barman, “I’ll have a beer, and him… you don’t want to know”, and Henry’s comment on zombies in the movies, “Don’t trust the movies – look what they did to vampires”. Hopefully the series has a sound base to build from, and if they can avoid the old Kolchak trap of each episode turning into a “monster of the week” formula, it could be around for a long time to come.

A rabid film fan and self-confessed World of Warcraft junkie, Tony Woolstencroft lives by the mantra "I may be getting older, but I refuse to grow up".