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	<title>Obsessed With Film &#187; Reviews</title>
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	<link>http://www.obsessedwithfilm.com</link>
	<description>Movie News, Movie Reviews and Movie Trailers</description>
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		<title>Mike revels in WASTING AWAY</title>
		<link>http://www.obsessedwithfilm.com/reviews/mike-revels-in-wasting-away.php</link>
		<comments>http://www.obsessedwithfilm.com/reviews/mike-revels-in-wasting-away.php#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 30 Sep 2009 10:28:50 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Michael Edwards</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[DVD Reviews]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[DVDS]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Review]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Reviews]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[dvd-review]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.obsessedwithfilm.com/?p=26453</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Some of you might remember my bitter (if somewhat naive) disappointment with Mega Shark vs Giant Octopus. Far from being the B-movie cheese-fest I wanted, it was just a cheap money spinner that cynically looked to cash in on the surprising popularity of its trailer. After that bitter experience I have been a little more cautious in approaching low-budget genre films, and so it was with relatively low expectations that I revved up the Wasting Away DVD earlier this week. I can tell you now, my faith in low-budget innovation was instantly restored.

The film is essentially a gimmicky take on the zombie genre: military experiment to create super-soldiers goes wrong, toxic sludge is irresponsibly disposed of, and ironically ends up in another experiment when it contaminates a beer ice-cream made by a bunch of twenty-somethings. But once they ingest it, the world seems a strange place. Everything moves really quickly and people react to them differently. What can it be? A stranger appears and tells them it's because they, like he, are now super-soldiers and they must save mankind from a nasty virus they've been contaminated with. So, blissfully unaware that it's they that have been mutated into zombies, they ...]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Mike heads THREE MILES NORTH OF MOLKOM</title>
		<link>http://www.obsessedwithfilm.com/reviews/mike-heads-three-miles-north-of-molkom.php</link>
		<comments>http://www.obsessedwithfilm.com/reviews/mike-heads-three-miles-north-of-molkom.php#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 18 Sep 2009 17:51:26 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Michael Edwards</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Documentary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Review]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Reviews]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.obsessedwithfilm.com/?p=26361</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[What goes on three miles north of a small Swedish town called Molkom? Well,  it's a rural area in lush countryside so you'd expect the usual mix of hunting, nature walks, sightseeing and so on, plus maybe a decent sized logging industry. But in actual fact there is a large hippie commune called Angsbacka. Labelled a 21st century playground for adults, the sprawling space opens its gates of thousands of international international visitors, including two British filmmakers, to spread their lifestyle.

The film follows a hand-picked group of festival-goers as they engage with one another in 'sharing groups', get roasted in a pitch black sauna while a shamen purifies their spirits, indulge in some tantric sex, fight one another user the power of their auras and, of course, hug some trees. This festival is the perfect subject for an entertaining documentary, and debut directors Robert Cannan and Corinna McFarlane really make the most of it.

The first thing to note is that group dynamic they pull together works perfectly. They have a thinker, an arrogant exhibitionist, a troubled soul, an archetypal hippie (who used to be a goatherd) and, the icing on the cake, a cynical Australian who unwittingly ends up at ...]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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		<item>
		<title>Mike is underwhelmed by THE FIRM</title>
		<link>http://www.obsessedwithfilm.com/reviews/mike-is-underwhelmed-by-the-firm.php</link>
		<comments>http://www.obsessedwithfilm.com/reviews/mike-is-underwhelmed-by-the-firm.php#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 16 Sep 2009 11:43:19 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Michael Edwards</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Review]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Reviews]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[gary-oldman]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.obsessedwithfilm.com/?p=26350</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Another remake (I continue, unapologetically, to hate them) is coming our way this week, now in the form of eighties TV play The Firm.

A far cry from the eighties Syndey Pollack/Tom Cruise thriller, this 'The Firm' is set in East London and follows the fortunes of young lad Dom. After an encounter with Bex, the enigmatic leader of the ICC (a reference to the West Ham Inter City Firm, or group of yobs) he is drawn into the heady, destructive joys of football hooliganism.

It's the kind of morality/coming of age tale we've seen a million times before. Dom is seduced by a world of violence that he feels empowers him, and allows him to escape the banality of his family life. Soon, however, he learns that the seedy underworld of the East End is not all it's cracked up to be, and finds himself in deep trouble. Meanwhile ringleader Bex is a family man, whose actions soon have severe ramifications for those innocent loved ones who have been consistently turning a blind eye to his thuggish leanings.

As a remake, it brings little to the original. Gary Oldman played the part of Bex in the original, making it a hard act ...]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>JULIE &amp; JULIA</title>
		<link>http://www.obsessedwithfilm.com/reviews/julie-and-julia-review.php</link>
		<comments>http://www.obsessedwithfilm.com/reviews/julie-and-julia-review.php#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 09 Sep 2009 17:06:14 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Oliver Pfeiffer</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Meryl-Streep]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Reviews]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.obsessedwithfilm.com/?p=26250</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Sleepless in Seattle director Nora Ephron whisks up a treat, (so to speak) with this double entree of female culinary endeavors. Julie &#38; Julia unfolds with parallel stories from two different eras; the first concerns eccentric middle-aged housewife turned true-to-life professional culinary expert Julia Child (Meryl Streep – a forever ogling Mrs Doubtfire/Hyacinth Bucket type) and her efforts to publish her ‘Mastering the Art of French Cooking’ book in McCarthy era Paris. While the second involves present day 30 year-old New Yorker Julia Powell (Amy Adams – bright eyed, bushy tailed) and her challenge to dish up the aforementioned book’s 524 recipes in just 365 days.

Both women are married to very supportive and patient men, (they would have to be!) courtesy of character players Stanley Tucci and Chris Messina respectively, who lust over their decidedly average looking leading ladies like they are smothered in dairy milk chocolate. Thankfully these sickly scenes don’t deter from the delicious comedic thrust: a particular highlight comes from watching Streep’s hilarious attempts to speed-chop an onion (and later unsuccessfully flip a pancake) during professional culinary classes. Streep is arguably the stronger performer with the better role here and is a treat (sorry) to watch, even ...]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>2</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Mike is gazing into the FISH TANK</title>
		<link>http://www.obsessedwithfilm.com/reviews/mike-is-gazing-into-the-fish-tank.php</link>
		<comments>http://www.obsessedwithfilm.com/reviews/mike-is-gazing-into-the-fish-tank.php#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 09 Sep 2009 08:32:50 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Michael Edwards</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Fish Tank]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Reviews]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.obsessedwithfilm.com/?p=26254</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Gritty council estate dramas are becoming a big thing for UK cinema. They provide a simple, accessible set, social commentary and, most importantly, suit the grainy aesthetic of DV filmmaking as so can be made on a micro-budget. Unfortunately, this has meant that a crowd of KIDULTHOOD emulators and derivates have popped up all over the place.
However, FISH TANK provides an early sign that the genre is also expanding beyond a gimmick to target UK youth audiences and fill this country's niche in the international film market.
Set outside of London (gasp) on a council estate in Essex, FISH TANK is focussed on the story of 15-year-old Mia. She's just been thrown out of school, has fought with her friends, and is heading down a route of self-destruction. Her sister is too young to offer any real support, and her mum is more interested in partying than raising her children. But one day a new man appears in their life.
When Mia wakes up one morning to see Connor (Michael Fassbender) in the kitchen, she is torn between anger and lust. Soon the relationship between Connor and Mia's mother blooms, and he begins to bond with the whole family, but just as ...]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Moon Review</title>
		<link>http://www.obsessedwithfilm.com/reviews/moon-review.php</link>
		<comments>http://www.obsessedwithfilm.com/reviews/moon-review.php#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 09 Sep 2009 08:28:49 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Oliver Pfeiffer</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Reviews]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.obsessedwithfilm.com/?p=25712</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Moon is a bit of a space oddity in this climate of brash big-budgeted blockbusters. It’s a mesmerizing, slow burning, modest sci-fi drama that marks the imposing and thought-provoking debut of its 38-year-old director Duncan Jones. Judging from the intergalactic intrigue it shouldn’t come as much of a surprise to learn that Jones is the son of singer extraordinaire David Bowie, aka Ziggy Stardust and The Man Who Fell to Earth.

Gearing up for metaphysical excursions Moon commences with the mundane mining duties of isolated and lonely astronaut Sam (Sam Rockwell), who, with only his smiley monitor-faced computer, Gerty, (Kevin Spacey, vocals soothingly synthesized) for company, is coming toward the end of his lonely three-year stint on the titular satellite. Events take a surreal turn after he hallucinates, crashes his moon buggy and wakes up in the infirmary to be told by Gerty that he has been unconscious for several days. Venturing back to the scene of the incident he is surprised to discover his injured self still inside the discarded vehicle. Later back at base attempts to engage with his apparent doppelganger are met with animosity.

Jones orchestrates a sedated, intriguing narrative flow that manages the extraordinary feat of feeling far ...]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>2</slash:comments>
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		<item>
		<title>Simon Says THE DAMNED UNITED is a Lesson in Character Acting, but not in Adaptation&#8230;</title>
		<link>http://www.obsessedwithfilm.com/reviews/simon-says-the-damned-united-is-a-lesson-in-character-acting-but-not-in-adaptation.php</link>
		<comments>http://www.obsessedwithfilm.com/reviews/simon-says-the-damned-united-is-a-lesson-in-character-acting-but-not-in-adaptation.php#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 30 Aug 2009 20:14:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Simon Gallagher</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Reviews]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[The Damned United]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[David Peace]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Michael-Sheen]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Red Riding Trilogy]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.obsessedwithfilm.com/?p=26111</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[

It was always going to be an enthralling prospect- a cinematic take on David Peace's astounding and controversial non-linear novel charting Brian Clough's disastrous and brief tenure in charge of Dirty Leeds. Our original review said enough about the film itself back on its cinematic review, so I'm looking to offer something slightly different...

While most critical reception will have looked little further than Sheen's central performance- and it's a cracker- the supporting cast are exceptional, with the pick of the bunch being a selection of the very best British character actors in the game today- Jim Broadbent as Sam Longson, Stephen Graham as Billy Bremner and Timothy Spall as Peter Taylor- along with the traditionally more functional style of Colm Meaney, who is exceptional as Don Revie the Clough-styled villain of the piece. Spall deserves as many plaudits as Sheen for his take on Clough's right-hand man, and the dynamic between the two is mesmorising, even if the writer's have manipulated it so it appears as more of a romance than might have really been the case. It is no secret that the men were devoted to each other professionally, and personally (even if some of Clough's actions might suggest ...]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>13</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>MESRINE &#8211; NOW THAT&#8217;S A GANGSTER MOVIE&#8230;</title>
		<link>http://www.obsessedwithfilm.com/reviews/mesrine-now-thats-a-gangster-movie.php</link>
		<comments>http://www.obsessedwithfilm.com/reviews/mesrine-now-thats-a-gangster-movie.php#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 27 Aug 2009 15:51:57 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Michael Edwards</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Review]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Reviews]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Vincent Cassel]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.obsessedwithfilm.com/?p=26096</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[MESRINE: PUBLIC ENEMY NUMBER ONE is about to hit cinemas in the UK, so it seems about the right time to extol the virtues of this unsung gangster classic - along with the first half of its cinematic whole, MESRINE: KILLER INSTINCT. Together they tell the story of legendary French gangster Jacques Mesrine, a ruthless crook and man of violence whose return from war in Algeria saw him shun a normal life in favour of the criminal underworld.

Obsessed with his own image, and with the power and celebrity that being an uber-crook brought him, Mesrine led a life of violence, debauchery and, later, self-doubt. These films capture every aspect of this fascinating life with the rapid pace, kick-ass action and visual flair that recent genre companions like PUBLIC ENEMIES lacked. And if you thought Johnny Depp put in a good performance as Dillenger, wait until you see Vincent Cassel blast out of the screen as he packs Jacques Mesrine with the kind of energy more at home in an atomic blast.

The first of the two films (KILLER INSTINCT) is, unsurprisingly, not about a 90s SNES game, but actually about Mesrine's induction into and rise within a large French gang led ...]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Simon Says MY OWN WORST ENEMY may be Christian Slater&#8217;s route back to the top&#8230;</title>
		<link>http://www.obsessedwithfilm.com/reviews/simon-says-my-own-worst-enemy-may-be-christian-slaters-route-back-to-the-top.php</link>
		<comments>http://www.obsessedwithfilm.com/reviews/simon-says-my-own-worst-enemy-may-be-christian-slaters-route-back-to-the-top.php#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 24 Aug 2009 22:23:17 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Simon Gallagher</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Christian-Slater]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[My Own Worst Enemy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Reviews]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.obsessedwithfilm.com/?p=26037</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[

Christian Slater's star has often threatened to fizzle out completely over the past decade or so. After early career promise pointed towards a likely heady future status- some film fans (myself included) even going as far as to see shades of Jack Nicholson in the intensity and the eyebrows. But when you think about it, Slater hasnt really made a great deal of unforgettable movies- Heathers, True Romance and Interview with a Vampire were about as good as it got to start with, and Slater had the considerable accolade of appearing in The Undiscovered Country opposite Captain Kirk and Co, but after a funny uncreditted turn in Austin Powers, he pretty much dropped off the A-List map. And then, he went and made The Good Shepherd (no, not that one) and Alone in the Dark, either side of the worst film in living memory- Churchill: The Hollywood Years (essentially an extended and unnecessary skit on the way Hollywood paints history- everything it said could and should have been said in a three minute SNL sketch)- and he flirted dangerously with dropping off the C-List.

Yet, against all odds, Slater has somehow been able to claw his credibility back- his appearance in the ...]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
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		<item>
		<title>Once Upon A Time in Cannes&#8230; Simon saw INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS</title>
		<link>http://www.obsessedwithfilm.com/movie-news/once-upon-a-time-in-cannes-simon-saw-inglourious-basterds-and-loved-it.php</link>
		<comments>http://www.obsessedwithfilm.com/movie-news/once-upon-a-time-in-cannes-simon-saw-inglourious-basterds-and-loved-it.php#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 21 Aug 2009 12:25:51 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Simon Gallagher</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Cannes 2009]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Inglorious-Bastards]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Melanie Laurent]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Michael Fassbender]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mike-Myers]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Movie News]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Quentin-Tarantino]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Reviews]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Top Stories]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[brad pitt]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.obsessedwithfilm.com/?p=24004</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Most people will have now started to hear the early buzz around Tarantino's latest (thank God for Twitter eh?), and read my frankly profane initial reaction. I stand by it whole-heartedly, and I'm more than willing to indulge Tarantino's proclamation that Inglourious Basterds is a bona-fide masterpiece. You'll notice the plot details are conspicuous by their absence: if you wanted to know them in detail, the script is online (plus the multifarious reviews who have gone Spoiler crazy today), and if you have chosen not to read that I assume me spoiling it now would simply be unwelcome.



Firstly, I feel it necessary to address some of the issues that other early reviews have focused upon negatively. Rad this slowly, take in every word and digest: Inglourious Basterds is a FANTASY film, if you want a realistic war epic, this isnt the place to come (and if you didnt get that from the trailer, then shame on you for not paying attention). It is a hybrid pulp fiction set in World War II, which has to rank as an enormously brave thing to do: the saturation of that particular market is such that I was inclined to think we probably didnt need ...]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>5</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>James takes on DISTRICT 9!</title>
		<link>http://www.obsessedwithfilm.com/reviews/james-takes-on-district-9.php</link>
		<comments>http://www.obsessedwithfilm.com/reviews/james-takes-on-district-9.php#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 20 Aug 2009 12:35:06 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>James Bean</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Neil-Blomkamp]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Peter-Jackson]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Reviews]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Sharlto Copley]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[district-9]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.obsessedwithfilm.com/?p=25858</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[

The first sign that District 9 would be a unique piece of work took place in the first five minutes when the setting of the film is revealed. District 9 does not take place in the overcrowded city of Los Angeles, or the politically relevant area of Virginia. The mothership of the creatures instead landed in Johannesburg, South Africa. It is just dissapointing that a film with so much potential and so much originality could succumb to some of the traps of the convential Hollywood Summer Blockbuster.

This isn't to say that it is all bad, and in fact, more than half of the film was incredible. Visually, technically, emotionally, and metaphorically speaking the better half of the film was a real treat, and helped me root my emotional tendons into the heart of it. When it came time however for the film to limp into its final act, it had lost much of its original steam, and veered off into corners that seemed irrelevant to the overall message of the movie. I wont spoil any of it for you, but you will notice a very specific turn of events that will make you question what newcomer director Neil Blomkamp and producer ...]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>3</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Martyn says 500 DAYS OF SUMMER is the perfect remedy for a broken heart!</title>
		<link>http://www.obsessedwithfilm.com/movie-news/martyn-says-500-days-of-summer-is-the-perfect-remedy-for-a-broken-heart.php</link>
		<comments>http://www.obsessedwithfilm.com/movie-news/martyn-says-500-days-of-summer-is-the-perfect-remedy-for-a-broken-heart.php#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 17 Aug 2009 15:09:05 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Martyn Conterio</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[500 Days of Summer]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Joseph Gordon Levitt]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Movie News]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Reviews]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Zooey-Deschanel]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.obsessedwithfilm.com/?p=25823</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[

Hands up, who has ever had their hearts broken and it felt like the end of the world? If so, and one imagines it is a good majority, (500) Days of Summer is the perfect remedy. It is a film sailing the troubled waters of unrequited love with style and good humour. As a take on the genre; it feels fresh and honest.

For too long now, romantic comedies have been aimed at the women-who-can’t-get-a-decent-boyfriend demographic focusing on sexist stereotypes and turning a great genre into a cynical marketing ploy known as ‘the chick flick.’ The type of movie John Cusack makes when he’s had a flop or needs to fund an indie project. They are ten-a-penny.  So when one comes along that tries to reclaim the genre, it can only be a good thing. Director Marc Webb’s debut takes a philosophical, Woody Allen-type approach than most films of this type would ever dare: delivering a film wholly from a male perspective.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s Tom, a lonely greetings card writer, is an idealist. Therefore like all idealists, his dreams will never match the reality. Like many of history’s greatest writers and poets he believes in the redeeming, soul-elating power that is ...]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>AFTER DARK: SLAP SHOT (1977)</title>
		<link>http://www.obsessedwithfilm.com/reviews/after-dark-slap-shot-1977.php</link>
		<comments>http://www.obsessedwithfilm.com/reviews/after-dark-slap-shot-1977.php#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 17 Aug 2009 05:04:06 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Tom Fallows</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[After Dark]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[George Roy Hill]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Paul-Newman]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Reviews]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Slap Shot]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.obsessedwithfilm.com/?p=25097</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[

Directed by George Roy Hill

Slap Shot marked the third collaboration between director George Roy Hill and star Paul Newman and finds the duo at their most juvenile. This is a good thing. Under the guise of a sports satire set in the world of professional hockey, Slap Shot is instead an anarchic, violent, drunken brawl of a movie that leaves you as bloody and dazed as the players on the ice.

The story, for what it’s worth, deals with a deadbeat North American hockey team on the brink of annihilation. On a seemingly endless losing streak, the owner decides to sell the Charlestown Chiefs and send the players back into 9 to 5 hell. Unable to prove their worth by playing ‘old time hockey’ (i.e. well) player-coach Reggie Dunlop (Newman) decides on a new approach. Seeing the crowd’s love of violence (“They don’t want ya to score goals – they want blood!!!”) the team go ape shit and slash, hack and smash their way towards the Championship trophy.

With Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) and The Sting (1973), Hill and Newman showed an easy charm both in acting and direction. But freed from the niceties of the mainstream and doey-eyed ...]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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		<item>
		<title>Simon Says LESBIAN VAMPIRE KILLERS is a bit of a pain in the neck. Chortle.</title>
		<link>http://www.obsessedwithfilm.com/reviews/simon-says-lesbian-vampire-killers-is-a-bit-of-a-pain-in-the-neck-chortle.php</link>
		<comments>http://www.obsessedwithfilm.com/reviews/simon-says-lesbian-vampire-killers-is-a-bit-of-a-pain-in-the-neck-chortle.php#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 17 Aug 2009 05:02:51 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Simon Gallagher</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[DVD Reviews]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[James Corden]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Lesbian Vampire Killers]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mathew Horne]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Reviews]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.obsessedwithfilm.com/?p=25491</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[



(Apologies to the distributors and to Simon for the late posting of this review. The editor's fault...)

The evolution of any movie career- particularly those that involve a successful beginning in television- is an intriguing spectacle. For the few that win sustained notoriety, thousands fall by the wayside, no matter how auspicious their beginnings. With Gavin &#38; Stacey, James Corden and Mathew Horne struck comedy gold- the storylines, the humour and the pathos were just sublime and the series' two spell-binding seasons and Christmas specials easily stand shoulder to shoulder with The Office and Flight of the Conchords as the best comedy series of the past ten years.

Why they then had to follow their sitcom up with the terrible "sketch-show" formatted Horne &#38; Corden is a total mystery to me, and could well have spelled the end of their flirtation with stardom, like the proverbial second experimental album spelling the end of a potentially huge rock act (Terence Trent D'Arby, know your shame). So, the success of their inevitable and often difficult transition into a big screen project on the back of a tenuous immediate track record looked less of a certainty as it may have had Lesbian Vampire Killers come out immediately following ...]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>2</slash:comments>
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		<title>Simon Says There&#8217;s Just One More Question&#8230;</title>
		<link>http://www.obsessedwithfilm.com/reviews/simon-says-theres-just-one-more-question.php</link>
		<comments>http://www.obsessedwithfilm.com/reviews/simon-says-theres-just-one-more-question.php#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 17 Aug 2009 04:34:35 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Simon Gallagher</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Columbo]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[DVD Reviews]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Peter Falk]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Reviews]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.obsessedwithfilm.com/?p=25496</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Columbo Series 10, Vol 2


Thanks in part to a furious repeating cycle on British television, Columbo has taken its place alongside Diagnosis Murder and Murder She Wrote as the staple ingredients of the unemployed and the unemployable's daily diet of day-time television. It seems that the lazy generation simply cant get enough of that wonderful scowling little man. But, I warn you, do not be duped by the title- this is in fact a selection of the made-for-TV movies starring Peter Falk's legendary detective, and not the actual conclusion of a tenth TV series: the plus side of course is that you're far less likely to have seen them all a thousand times while pretending to be too ill to go in to work.

In this CSI governed era, as flashy technique and camera angles take the place  of genuine detective work and ingenuity (and even dare I say it, proper characterisation- say what you want about Horatio or them other ones, they'll never have the unbridled appeal of the originals from the 70s and 80s heyday), it is difficult to imagine that anything like Columbo will ever hit the screens again. The closest we had recently was Monk, but he was arguably ...]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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		<item>
		<title>Simon Says&#8230; TWO LOVERS is a little self-indulgent</title>
		<link>http://www.obsessedwithfilm.com/reviews/simon-says-two-lovers-is-a-little-self-indulgent.php</link>
		<comments>http://www.obsessedwithfilm.com/reviews/simon-says-two-lovers-is-a-little-self-indulgent.php#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 17 Aug 2009 03:56:47 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Simon Gallagher</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[DVD Reviews]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Gwyneth-Paltrow]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Joaquin-Phoenix]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Reviews]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Two Lovers]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.obsessedwithfilm.com/?p=25707</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[



Part of me inevitably gravitates towards the opinion that what Joaquin Phoenix did next will painfully overshadow this particularly good film. A shame as well, because this is the first time in a long while that I have actually believed Phoenix deserves any of the many plaudits he's steadily picked up since stepping out of the shadow that was cruelly robbed of us when his brother died.

No doubt Phoenix's true motivations will be made clear soon enough (as if anyone is still fooled) but long after the beard lies forlornly shone in the basin of his sink, the intellect behind the intention will be questioned. If, as suspected, Phoenix is merely frolicking in the well-trodden ground that used to be Andy Kaufman's favourite haunt, I would have to wonder why he felt the need to do it, unless an uber-post-comic documentary arrives purporting to chronicle the much vaunted "real story" behind the revelation. Wouldn't that be the ultimate comment on our celebrity-obsessed cultures? A true punk on the Heat/Us Today generations.

But, Oh God, what if he's being serious- and as long as there is the thinnest of suggestion shall be burdened with this particular fear?



Anyway, on to the business of reviewing. First off, ...]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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		<title>Simon Says STREETS OF BLOOD might well be good&#8230;</title>
		<link>http://www.obsessedwithfilm.com/reviews/simon-says-streets-of-blood-might-well-be-good.php</link>
		<comments>http://www.obsessedwithfilm.com/reviews/simon-says-streets-of-blood-might-well-be-good.php#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 17 Aug 2009 00:30:15 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Simon Gallagher</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[50-Cent]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[DVD Reviews]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Reviews]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Sharon Stone]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Streets of Blood]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Val Kilmer]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.obsessedwithfilm.com/?p=25702</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[

I would love to be able to sit here and tell you I'd reviewed Streets of Blood and had been completely blown away- that I had just watched Val Kilmer cement the comeback he playfully hinted at with Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, and 50 Cent notch up his breakout performance that would surely see him fully accepted as an actor in his own right.

Sadly though someone has kidnapped my postman. Seriously, I know there is talk of a strike once again over pay (try working in retail you Postman Pat fucks!) but I havent had so much as a Reader's Digest Winners Acknowledgement for two weeks. Having expected a raft of review discs in the same period, I'm more than a touch miffed at the conspicuous lack of even the lightest thud on the mat of Obsessed Towers in the morning.

So, instead I'm stuck with just advertising the releases Ive missed out on (I refuse to stream things generally), and watching some of the millions of DVDs I've bought over the past six months. Yesterday, as a link to the Val Kilmer led Streets of Blood, I watched Top Secret! (a lesser known output of the Zuckers). Needless to say, it's ...]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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		<item>
		<title>SIN NOMBRE: screw the issues, let&#8217;s make a movie!</title>
		<link>http://www.obsessedwithfilm.com/reviews/sin-nombre-screw-the-issues-lets-make-a-movie.php</link>
		<comments>http://www.obsessedwithfilm.com/reviews/sin-nombre-screw-the-issues-lets-make-a-movie.php#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 13 Aug 2009 20:59:32 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Michael Edwards</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Cary Fukunaga]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Review]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Reviews]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Sin Nombre]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.obsessedwithfilm.com/?p=25733</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[

Making a film about a big issue is a tricky business. Take Iraq for example, although The Hurt Locker seems to be fighting the trend, the norm is to lure audiences with a few cool-looking battle scenes and then hit them with a barrage of moralizing opinion. The list of films that fit this category is edging toward endless: Lions for Lambs, In the Valley of Elah, Stop-Loss etc etc.

The same was in danger of becoming true with immigration. Reams of dramas, recently headed by The Visitor, strive to teach us the value of immigrants and of tolerance. The trouble is that these are things we can't be told, these are things we learn, and things we experience. Films have the power to do that, by telling us these stories and letting us think for ourselves. Luckily this is something that writer/director Cary Fukunaga realised when he devised the exciting, intriguing and dramatic thriller Sin Nombre.



After making a short film on the subject of immigration, Fukunaga travelled central America researching material for a feature film. He travelled atop trains loaded with emigrants, spoke to those who left their homeland, and visited imprisoned gangsters to discuss human trafficking. From this fertile ...]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>THE UGLY TRUTH is these women do exist!!</title>
		<link>http://www.obsessedwithfilm.com/reviews/the-ugly-truth-is-these-women-do-exist.php</link>
		<comments>http://www.obsessedwithfilm.com/reviews/the-ugly-truth-is-these-women-do-exist.php#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 07 Aug 2009 14:31:02 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Matt Holmes</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Gerard-Butler]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Reviews]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[katherine heigl]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[robert-luketic]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[the-ugly-truth]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.obsessedwithfilm.com/?p=25577</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[

I've read an awful lot of critic bashing for The Ugly Truth, the second Katherine Heigl-led big screen romantic comedy, and most of the angst for it seems to have built up because of a succession of movies in the genre, including 27 Dresses, Bride Wars and most recently The Proposal that feature successful and immensely pretty but unlikeable and shrill women, who must learn to go through a psychological make-over, and basically become "easy", lowering their standards so they can find a man and be happy. 

The thing is, even though the critics claim that to be the case with The Ugly Truth, if you look closely at the movie, you'll find it actually projects a completely the opposite image... but in any case, when a character like the one Heigl plays in this movie is so wound-up, maybe a change of attitude isn't actually a bad thing. 

Women like this have seen too many romantic comedies with characters played by Richard Gere and Tom Hanks that no sane person in the real world could ever live up to and every man they are with never works out for very long because usually they haven't lived up to the Prince Charming that ...]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Mike gives ADAM the TROPIC THUNDER test?!?!?!</title>
		<link>http://www.obsessedwithfilm.com/reviews/adam.php</link>
		<comments>http://www.obsessedwithfilm.com/reviews/adam.php#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 06 Aug 2009 00:36:03 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Michael Edwards</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Adam]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Hugh Dancy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Max Mayer]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Reviews]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Rose-Bryne]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.obsessedwithfilm.com/?p=25500</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[

If there's one thing Tropic Thunder has taught me, it's that films about mental disability can bring rich rewards - but also great scorn. It was with the warning against 'going full retard' ringing in my ears that I went to check out Adam, the rom-com/drama starring Hugh Dancy and Rose Byrne about the relationship between a young woman and her neighbour who suffers from Aspergers syndrome.

The film opens with some high drama, as we are introduced to Adam (Hugh Dancy) in the immediate aftermath of his father's funeral. Now living alone in his apartment, we watch him as he tries to cope with his life alone and we are gradually inducted to his condition (it's a little like autism). His life is about to get more complicated as his new neighbour Beth Buchwald (Rose Byrne) moves in.



Slowly, the get to know one another and grow closer. But, as you might expect, it isn't easy. And to show us this writer/director Max Mayer decides to stage a series of plot devices to provide hurdles for the pair to overcome together. Beth's father happens to be a shady accountant accused of some suspect activity, and Adam's job security plummets. As other mishaps happen ...]]></description>
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