Saturday 9 October 2010

My A to Z of DVDs - D

So onto the Ds and a real mixed bag here

Daddy Day Care - 6/10
Eddie Murphy in another 'after Beverley Hills Cop' role which means he's not very good in it. In short Daddy Day Care is about a guy who gets fired so starts a nursery and eventually makes it fun and brings him closer to his shy son. It's watchable because the kids do come out with some classic funny lines and the film overall is just quite harmless

Dead Poets Society - 8.5/10
"Carpe Diem Lads! Seize the day. Make your lives extraordinary" - Dead Poets Society is an excellent film about trying to carve individualism into a strict regime that tries to enforce academic success only and explores the journeys the boys go on to get that individualism. This is a powerful film, and Walton Academy makes me imagine of what it might be like to be in Halls of Residence at Durham University. Robin Williams is exceptional in the role of Mr Keating and inspiring the students to be different. I did shed a tear when Neil gives his superb performance in disobeying his father to act in Midsummer Nights Dream before he is taken home and ultimately kills himself. And who can forget the final scene with the boys standing on their desks after Mr Keating is dismissed uttering the words "Oh Captain my Captain". If you haven't seen it then you must

Dennis The Menace - 4.5/10 
We all know the story of Dennis, his neighbour Mr Wilson etc. I guess the difference in this film is that it is done so that Dennis doesn't mean to be naughty it just kind of happens - he often tries to help Mr Wilson but ends up creating havoc. It's not very good it lacks much humour but I guess if you were a kid you would love it. For me though it misses the mark and just ends up a little boring

Dockers - 8.5/10
If ever you have doubted Adult Education and it's impact then watch this film which is written and developed by Sacked Liverpool Dockers telling their story. This film is real-life you can feel the emotion and issues coming across in it and can sense that the writers have lived it. The film tells the story of the Liverpool Dockers dispute through the eyes of the dockers themselves the impact it had on their family, the struggles amongst friends, and the way that they were let down by their own Trade Union, not on a local level but on a national level. It is good...but it could have been great. As someone with real interest in the topic I wanted more real footage linked in with the story and a little bit more edxplaining how the Scab was shunned by his family to highlight how emotional the dispute was. Casting Ricky Tomlinson playing the Scab is a stroke of genius and he has gone on record stating it was one of the hardest roles he had ever played due to his own Trade Union beliefs. If you haven't heard/seen anything about the Liverpool Dockers then do so

***Also in this DVD is a documentary called "Writing the Wrongs" which focuses on the Workers Educational Association (WEA) classes and scriptwriters, recalling their stories from the dispute and what it meant. It follows the script through from beginning to it's inception and shows how emotional it was including a scene where Jimmy McGovern, who has written a section explaining why the Scab character is in the right and one of the Docker writers are arguing over how that can feature as it shows something that should never have been - people turning on thier own. Definately see this***

Dodgeball - 5.5/10
I loved this film the first time I watched it - now not so much. The Dodgeball story is an adaptation of that classic underdog story coming good - but with a twist, this time it's about saving Average Joes Gym and saving a bunch of no-hopers. There isn't enough character exploration and development of the secondary characters though and the jokes just aren't that funny once you have heard them before. I know this film started a mini-trend of people tryng out Dodgeball etc which is fine but the film now misses the mark

Dogma - 8.5/10
Alan Rickman, Jay and Silent Bob, Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, Chris Rock to name but a few. Another Kevin Smith film and this is a classic. Top quality story that takes a tongue in cheek look at religion and its evils as well as all the complications surrounding it! The way Dogma is done, the set-up layout and characters within it make it not only funny but also very enjoyable. My DVD however broke just before the end (I now have 3 DVDs that won't work - Mallrats; Chasing Amy and now Dogma - all View Askew Kevin Smith films for some weird coincidence) which was incredibly frustrating but the film on the whole is one of the better ones that Film4 have been a part of

Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story - 7.5/10
This is a Biopic of Bruce Lee - following his life, how he built p his reputation, what his driving force was and also exlores his demons that he was never able to shake. The film has a lot of action and shows the challenges that Lee faced both from inside his community and outside. He recovered from having his back broken to establish his way of martial arts that earnt him an enhanced reputation and broke out into the big screen. However it also shows how he was taken advantage of and dismissed by Hollywood in favour of other 'Western' actors. His work though in Hong Kong and other countries was huge and led to him being known for his work before his death of which the cause still remains a mystery to this day. The film is okay and has a lot of action in it and Lee is a very interesting character. It could have gone deeper though

Dumb and Dumber - 3/10 
I remember when this was first released and everyone raved about what a great film it was and how funny Jim Carrey was. Well I hated this film, it is just stupid, there is very little humour in it and it just gives off an air of desperation to try and get jokes! I know it's not meant to be taken seriously but it actually left me quite annoyed by just how bad it was

So that's all the Ds done - a good bunch (Dogma, Dockers and Dead Poets Society) in with some dross (Dumb and Dumber, Dennis the Menace)

Onto the Es which should be quite a quick one

Cheers