Advantages: Great fun, great insight into retro gaming Disadvantages: If you don't like video games, forget this film
Living as we do in the age of Playstation 3 and Xbox 360, with their cutting edge graphics and movie-scale production values, it's easy to forget that the gaming landscape was once a much simpler place, where fancy 3D graphics were unheard of, where the arcade cabinet was king, and where Donkey Kong ruled the world. Today, games like Donkey Kong, Pac Man and Space Invaders have almost faded from living memory, consigned to legend and that misty, ... ...of hardcore gamers scattered around the world, these old classics are still very much alive. The King of Kong is a window into this strange sub-culture, the people who make it tick, and the competitive personalities who push themselves to win the title of the World's Greatest Donkey Kong Player. In the early Eighties, a talented young gamer named Billy Mitchell set the world record for the highest ever score on Donkey Kong. Since then, he's used ...
Advantages: I know about the character now Disadvantages: The whole things is a bit of a mockery
...read with much praise in a number of places about TV Journalist Donal MacIntyre's latest project A Very British Gangster in which he looks at the activities of Dominic Noonan, a self confessed gangster, I was keen to see this feature length documentary movie for myself.
I can only assume that the project began as one of MacIntyre's TV projects, the award winning journalist and director handling real life topics that often others would shy away from. ... ...feels very small scale like a TV documentary, as opposed to features length documentaries that are made for the wider audience.
This true life documentary at first seems like some bad version of Channel Fours successful TV show Shameless. Making a series of what are arguably very serious gangsters operating in the UK today look like clowns. The man at the head of the family Dominic Noonan employing a variety of inexperienced thugs to do his bidding, ...
Advantages: Interesting, rousing, entertaining Disadvantages: Bit biased, less insightful than the book
...hours of Extras on the Taking Liberties DVD, including:
- Making Of Taking Liberties featurette - crew interviews and behind the scenes footage
- Original promo - Theatrical trailer - Director's commentary - Additional extended interviews with Rachel North, Mark Thomas, Joanna Lumley, Boris Johnson, Shami Chakrabarti, Henry Porter, Andrew Gilligan, Lord Carlisle - Additional and extended footage of action at demonstrations
- More information on ... ...claims for their ID card scheme
SUMMARY
I'd like everyone to have watched this at least once; for most people, it's an eye-opener. Failing that, it's worth owning for the front cover alone [Tony Blair grabbing some guy by his nuts].
For those who want something more indepth, I'd suggest checking out the book, also called 'Taking Liberties', and written by Chris Atkins. ...
Advantages: Nice insight into parts of his life Disadvantages: Not really long enough to go into alot of detail
If you've never heard of Bruce Lee then frankly you must have been living under a rock for the past 40 odd years, Bruce Lee was to martial arts what Elvis Presley and The Beatles were the modern music. His impact of the world of martial arts was unprecedented and since his legacy no one has ever managed to replicate the mammoth success that he had. Without Bruce Lee there would be no Jackie Chan or Jet Li as he managed to change the way people see ... ...across the globe. Bruce Lee was born on the 27th November 1940 in America yet all his family were of Chinese origin. He started practising the art of Wing Chun which is a popular style of Kung Fu and quickly became a master at his craft. After appearing in TV Shows and several Hollywood blockbusters which were centred around his craft, he became a legend in the industry before his untimely death on the 20th July 1973 at the age of 32, there have ...
Advantages: Real Live Movie Clippings, Sound Recordings, Family Interviews, Film Like Capability Disadvantages: None
A documentary produced by Jonny Persey, based on the true story of Donald Crowhurst, amongst he's fellow travellers, on an individual boat world boat race, which departed from England in 1968. This was the most memorable race of the century, as it was the first solo non-stop round the world yacht boat trip.
The story concentrates on the build up of the race, the race itself and the sailors experience around the world until the end, with real film ... ...friends and family. The film focuses mainly on Donald Crowhurst and he's own battle with the race(which was the hardest out of all the other eight-and caused him to commit suicide), but also revealed clippings of the other 8 travellers, who were also involved in the race.
An interesting documentary concentrating on the isolation of the sailors, and what affected them, or didn't affect them at sea. For instances the French sailor found himself at ...
